Search

Over the last 25 years, scholars have proposed several recommendations for including spoken grammar in second language classrooms. However, recent studies point to potential challenges in this endeavour: learners may feel inauthentic when using what they see as 'native-speaker' forms, and interlocutors may see these forms as less acceptable when used by non-native speakers. This paper examines current recommendations for teaching spoken grammar in light of these issues and proposes a functional teaching approach that presents spoken grammar as a communicative resource rather than a formal characteristic of native-speaker usage. It then reports on a pilot study exploring the feasibility and students' reception of such an approach. The paper concludes that it is possible to adapt spoken grammar pedagogy to be more socioculturally sensitive, and that teaching should aim towards a fuller understanding and appreciation of the affordances of spoken grammar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a study of EFL classroom talk with the focus on how teachers successfully encourage and elicit student dialogic talk through questioning. It is based on observation data from forty-nine classes involving eleven teaching staff in a university in central China. The findings reveal the difficulty of engaging students to be the first to participate in dialogic interactions in a culture where deeply engrained reserve is the accepted norm. Two teacher questioning patterns are identified that are effective in eliciting students' first dialogic contribution in each interaction. These patterns can also serve as a profitable investment to elicit subsequent productive talk from students. This study also argues for a situated, contextualized analysis of classroom talk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the effects of blogging as an approach to journal writing in the EFL writing classroom by means of a 16-week comparative experiment involving two groups of EFL college students. The experimental group (EG) was required to blog daily while the control group (CG) was asked to do so using traditional pen-and-paper methods. The writing performance and general attitudes to and perceptions of journal writing in both groups were evaluated through a writing test and a semi-structured survey. The research results show that blogging a journal helped the students to achieve a greater improvement in their writing than did the regular pen-and-paper treatment. Additionally, although both groups developed similar learning attitudes in general, the EG experienced significantly less anxiety in writing than did the CG. This suggests that the blogging approach is an effective approach for students in developing both writing skills and learning attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Educational institutions are placing increased value on language tandems owing to the language development opportunities they offer for learners of modern languages. Where these learners lack autonomous language learning strategies, however, the results can be disappointing, with limited linguistic development taking place. This paper reports on recent research into the language tandem experiences of international study abroad students during their period of study at a British university. When it became apparent that the students lacked skills in managing their language tandems to meet their learning needs, strategy instruction was introduced to facilitate more effective language learning strategy use. The findings suggest that such an intervention can significantly increase learners' ability to create a language tandem which meets their learning needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of individuals undertaking IELTS has continued to grow in recent years, standing at approximately 3 million candidates per year in 2016. As a result, this high-stakes, high-pressure test has become firmly entrenched as a global gatekeeping institution, regulating the international flows of people for migration and academic study. This paper provides critical perspectives on the design and administration of the IELTS test from the viewpoint of the often-ignored, yet key stakeholders in IELTS: the test-takers themselves. It argues that, with the growth in the need for recognized and trusted evidence of English language proficiency internationally, the co-owners of IELTS have amassed enormous global power over the lives of millions of people, with considerable ethical ramifications. It critiques seven features of IELTS and suggests implementable solutions to enable IELTS to become a more democratic and humane testing system, imbued with potential for learning, for the benefit of its test-takers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on a study of the validity and reliability of tests administered in an EFL university setting. The study addresses the question of how well face validity reflects more objective measures of the quality of a test, such as predictive validity and reliability. According to some researchers, face validity, defined as the surface credibility or public acceptability of a test, has no theoretical basis since it is based on the subjective perceptions of stakeholders such as teachers and students. However, due to lack of time or resources, or due to a perceived lack of competence, practitioners tend to rely on the ‘appeal’ of language tests, rather than seek empirical evidence. This article describes several ways of evaluating achievement tests, comparing their results in order to shed light on what measures can and should be taken to ensure that achievement tests accomplish their purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examines the results of an intervention conducted with adult EFL learners in Barcelona, Spain, to foster engagement with the target language outside class time. As part of the programme, the messaging service WhatsApp was used to carry out a range of voluntary communicative tasks, in learners' own time. Familiarity with this tool made it easy to use, and learner feedback was positive. Analysis of the resulting chat transcript indicated that (1) off-task participation increased as learners appropriated the space as a vehicle for their own communication, (2) off-task interactions fell predominantly into two categories: administrative and social, and (3) despite being voluntary and unevaluated, with minimum teacher intervention, English was overwhelmingly the language of choice within these interactions. We hope this study can serve as an example of the possibilities offered by the WhatsApp medium in an EFL context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reverse linguistic stereotyping (RLS) has been shown to affect students' attitudes towards non-native teachers as well as their performance and retention of information. This study investigates ESL students' preconceived ideas about non-native English teachers. Seventy-one students enrolled in an intensive English programme at a southwestern university in the United States listened to two speech samples produced by an advanced non-native speaker. Using a matched guise technique, students were led to believe that there were two speakers: a Caucasian teacher and an East Asian one. Students showed proclivity to RLS as measured by their speech evaluations, their comprehension scores, and their teaching competence ratings. These findings help better understand learners' perceptions of language proficiency and teaching competence of a non-native teacher in the context of globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there is a growing call for L2 teachers to invest in using digital multimodal composing (DMC) as an instructional activity, there is a paucity of research on whether and how L2 teachers invest in DMC, and the impact of DMC on their teaching and changing identities remains underexplored. This study reports on a longitudinal case study of an EFL teacher's investment in DMC in a university-based EFL classroom in China. A qualitative analysis of the data gathered from observation, interview, and informal conversation reveals that through investing in DMC this teacher started to renegotiate herself as a composing guide, a peer mentor, and a change agent. These shifts of identity were mainly driven by her enhanced cultural and social capital after investing in DMC, despite constraints from ideology and the policing of technology, language-dominant assessment, and other institutional demands. Implications on using DMC are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored EFL teachers' perceptions of two popular reflection approaches, namely teaching journal and peer observation. The participants consisted of two cohorts of 10 and 11 EFL teachers who attended separate practicum courses in two consecutive years. Each participant was required to submit five teaching journals and five observation forms during the course. At the end, focus group interviews were held to examine participants' perceptions of their reflection experiences. Research findings indicated that the teachers generally favoured peer observations over teaching journals. This preference was attributed to the evaluation criteria in observation forms, alternative teaching models the participants were exposed to, and collegial collaborations developed through post-observation discussions. The teachers also argued that receiving feedback on journal entries, conducting observations prior to keeping journals, and establishing criteria to guide journal writing could further the benefit of the two reflection approaches. The implications for teachers and teacher education are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article responds to recent critiques of the usefulness of research findings to teaching, and the call for teachers to rely on their experiences and intuition. I discuss the fallibility of intuition and then examine the nature of research and of critical thinking and their importance for teachers and teacher education. I provide evidence of how research has been able to broaden and deepen our understanding of teaching and learning in ways that can be applied to both the classroom and to language teaching materials. I end by exploring the ways in which researchers and teachers in the area of second language teaching can continue to support each other: on initial teacher education programmes; through the materials made available to teachers; throughout continuing professional development; and through teacher research. Most importantly, I stress the value of maintaining a two-way dialogue between EFL teachers and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vocabulary knowledge is recognized as an essential element for second language acquisition and reading comprehension. One known way to encourage and support vocabulary development amongst second language learners is keeping a vocabulary notebook. The primary purpose of the present study was to document two aspects of student teachers' own development: (1) linguistic (expansion of their own vocabulary) and (2) pedagogical (internalization of the approach and their readiness/willingness to use vocabulary notebooks in class; empathy towards their own students; and comprehension of the learning processes in light of their own successes and failures in vocabulary acquisition). Participants were 13 third-year students in an English teaching programme at a teachers' college in Israel. A mixed methodology was implemented. Results indicate positive outcomes in target vocabulary acquisition and retention. Results are discussed from theoretical and pedagogical perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2013/2014, I conducted two consecutive cycles of exploratory action research aimed at improving the quality of my French engineering students’ oral presentations in English. Each cycle involved a different group of students. I collaborated with the students extensively throughout the project and found that the experience was highly beneficial for everyone involved. Presentation quality and the learner/teacher experience were enhanced through student engagement in each cycle and from cycle to cycle, with the second group of students building on the experiences of the first. I tried to exploit this positive dynamic by creating and testing two ‘legacy tools’ explicitly designed to communicate ideas and experiences from previous to future student-participants. This article focuses on the project’s subsequent third and fourth cycles, which took place the following year, and demonstrates that, despite their limitations, the tools proved to be an effective way of conveying the findings from one group of students to another, helping to produce richer learner/teacher experiences and better oral presentations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to benefit from feedback on their writing, students need to engage effectively with it. This article reports a case study on student engagement with computer-generated feedback, known as automated writing evaluation (AWE) feedback, in an EFL context. Differing from previous studies that explored commercially available AWE programs, this study focused on a student’s engagement with a freely available AWE system. The construct of student engagement was operationalized in three interconnected dimensions: behavioural, emotional, and cognitive. Data were collected from three sources: ten written assignments completed by the student, AWE feedback on each assignment, and one retrospective interview with the student. Findings from this study suggest that AWE feedback is likely to have a positive impact on EFL writing, but this impact depends on how individual students engage with the feedback behaviourally, emotionally, and cognitively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the fields of Corpus Linguistics and Teacher Education, there is a substantial body of research relating to corpus applications in the classroom. However, the majority of such work relates to teacher training in tertiary education. In this article, a research project is described in which corpus training was included as part of a Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA), the popular four-week teacher training programme. Specifically, the project focuses on web-based corpus tools that provide frequency information. Observations and evidence are offered from both the trainees’ and trainers’ perspectives, and the subsequent analysis reveals a number of trends. Overall, it is argued that corpus tools are a valuable training resource on CELTA programmes in terms of developing language awareness and assisting in lesson planning, but that expecting trainees to use corpus tools during teaching practice remains unrealistic. In the ensuing discussion, practical considerations are provided for the integration of corpus tools into CELTA programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is still debate surrounding what constitutes the most effective feedback on EFL learners' writing, particularly in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) settings. Unanswered questions are found in the literature on topics such as the best formats for feedback, the role of technology, authors' authority over written texts, and ways of helping learners develop into autonomous writers. This study explores students' receptivity to an approach to giving feedback on essays which I have developed to address learners' preferences, include various delivery formats, and help students develop into independent academic writers: learner-driven feedback (LDF). In LDF, the feedback is given to the students by the teacher, but the learners 'direct' how and on what they receive feedback comments. The findings from the detailed survey data highlight a high level of student receptivity, and several other compelling reasons for piloting LDF on EAP writing courses, many of which may also justify trialling the approach in other ELT classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study builds upon work in task-based language teaching and literary studies to explore the use of fan fiction as a pedagogical tool in a technology-enhanced university foreign language class. A task-based fan fiction project, The Blogging Hobbit, modelled on blog-based role-play storytelling found in online media fandoms, was carried out in a first-year university course for undergraduate learners of English who were also training to become secondary school English teachers in Sweden. Students were organized into groups, in which each member was responsible for voicing a single character from Tolkien's novel The Hobbit in a blog-based collaborative role-play of a missing moment from the story. Findings revealed that carefully sequenced collaborative fan fiction could facilitate analysis of a literary text, learners' use of creative writing techniques, and language development, particularly at the level of lexis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More attention has been given to note-taking in EFL classrooms in recent years, probably due to growing numbers of EFL students who attend lectures given in English and the importance of note-taking during language proficiency tests. While textbooks and materials for note-taking practice are readily available, classroom techniques for teaching EFL note-taking abilities are far less abundant. To address the gap in EFL pedagogy, this study investigated a scaffolded, step-by-step instructional cycle for EFL note-taking, beginning with decisions about what, when, and how to record information in conjunction with a formal outline format during lecture listening. Eighty-seven intermediate-level Japanese university EFL learners completed pre- and post-instruction notetaking tasks and a questionnaire related to the instruction. Findings showed that learners recorded more information units and adopted a more visually accessible note-taking format following the instruction. Moreover, they viewed the pedagogical cycle as practical and beneficial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to investigate the experience of six early-career teachers who team-taught grammar to EFL college students using data-driven learning (DDL) for the first time. The results show that the teachers found DDL an innovative and interesting approach to teaching grammar, approved of DDLs capacity to provide more incentives for students to engage in discussion, and endorsed its effectiveness in transforming relatively passive students into active learners. The results also indicate some challenges that DDL entailed and possible ways for the teachers to meet them. The challenges included increased workload and technical difficulties in designing DDL materials and conducting DDL-centred activities, but the teachers still eventually improved their DDL teaching by following three key practices: reducing the number of corpus entries used, deploying complete concordance lines whenever possible, and asking the students focused guiding questions. This article concludes with suggestions for future DDL practice in EFL grammar classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EAP tutors are increasingly aware of the issue of reticence in the classroom, especially during small group discussions. They note students’ reluctance to begin discussions in a quiet environment and observe short student contributions in group work. This study captured the perspectives of international postgraduate students studying on pre-sessional EAP programmes before pursuing Masters level studies in TESOL or Applied Linguistics, focusing on small group discussions and the use of background music during lessons, especially during those discussions. The findings indicated positive attitudes towards using background music in these settings, with more than half saying that it should or could be used during group discussions and almost two-thirds saying that they would adopt background music in future in their own language teaching classrooms. The findings of this exploratory study are useful for language teachers as well as tutors in other disciplines and with other age groups. Further research is required in order to consider tutors’ viewpoints and to study the actual effects of background music on group interaction during discussions in classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The two authors observed lessons and interviewed teachers who are experts in e-learning in four different countries (Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United Kingdom) in order to gain an overview of current e-learning practices in the teaching of foreign languages at university level. An analysis of lesson observations and interview transcriptions reveals a number of common trends and issues across institutions and contexts including the types of e-learning tools employed, teaching approaches, and levels of institutional support. A number of recommendations for teachers wishing to embrace e-learning are made, especially for those teachers who are, like the authors, relatively non-technical in their outlook. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the processes and potential benefits of online collaborative learning through a qualitative analysis of the postings made by a group of Malaysian student teachers on an assessed wiki-based collaborative writing project, completed over a period of nine weeks as part of a Bachelor of Education in Teaching English as a Second Language programme in the UK. Three categories of 'talk' are identified and exemplified through the analysis: social talk, planning talk, and language talk, with the findings showing high levels of collaborative behaviour during completion of the task, marked by interactivity, mutual respect, and interdependence; this helped develop a strong sense of a 'community of practice' within the group and a supportive, goal-oriented learning environment. There was also some, but less conclusive, evidence of processes of co-construction of learning and collective scaffolding. The article ends with a discussion of the implications for online collaborative task design and implementation in ESL teacher education contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]