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Digital literacy is high on the educational agenda in many countries as it is seen as an essential attribute of a discerning citizenry and a competitive workforce. A host of frameworks and conceptualizations have been proposed—both from scholars and from transnational organizations—for the curricular implementation of digital literacy in educational institutions. While there seems to be consensus on what digital literacy is, what has received much less attention in scholarly discussions of digital literacy is the ways in which it is also, fundamentally, an ideological practice. This paper considers what it means to say that digital literacy is an ideological practice and what such a recognition means for teaching or developing it in schools, particularly in the ELT classroom. I critique the prevalent focus on skills and outline how we may develop digital literacy as social practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article responds to Wingate and Hakim's paper, where they criticise English Medium Instruction (EMI) research for not drawing on research and practices from EAP. We concur that this cross-fertilisation of knowledge is beneficial for both fields but emphasise the breadth of the current EMI research agenda, which explores several issues beyond English language and academic preparedness. We also counter their claims of a lack of awareness by highlighting several examples of knowledge exchange, much of which has been driven by EMI scholars working within EAP contexts, and vice versa. Finally, we urge caution in recommendations to uncritically adopt EAP practices from Anglophone university settings into EMI settings, due to the complexities associated with EMI growth and provision, where the challenges raised are not necessarily identical. Overall, we agree with the authors that EAP and EMI have much to gain from each other in their shared endeavours and welcome their calls for future research collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teacher motivation is a key component for increasing teachers' commitment to their professionalism and the quality of their teaching. This paper provides insight into L2 teacher motivation in the context of their sustained engagement with a theatre festival for schools. Drawing on self-determination theory, it investigates how this extracurricular activity enables the teachers to fulfil their individual and professional needs. The findings from eight semi-structured interviews of Slovak ELT teachers suggest the festival offers them a space for satisfaction of their needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness in the long term. The festival enables them to pursue their own intrinsic appreciation of arts and theatre that is then shared with their pupils. Teachers appreciate the co-creative process during the rehearsals, which enhances learners' intrinsic and instrumental value of learning English. They believe the festival fosters their learners' language development in a holistic way, enhancing their emotional and social skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The commonly used categorical system for conditionals (zero, first, second, and third) has been repeatedly demonstrated to be inadequate because it is unable to account for many conditional types attested in actual usage. ELT coursebooks and pedagogic grammars are criticized for ignoring the evidence and persisting with its use, but the reality appears to be that, from the point of view of syllabus designers and materials writers, the usefulness and practicality that the system offers outweighs any concerns related to its accuracy. This paper attempts to resolve this tension by showing how the existing system can be improved rather than simply abandoned. It proposes a revised categorization system that better reflects the reality of conditional usage and takes into account evidence on how learners' knowledge of conditional forms expands and develops as they progress through proficiency levels, but that nonetheless can be practically employed in multi-level teaching materials and courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the expanding role of English medium instruction (EMI) worldwide there has been an increasing use of English to teach content subjects at tertiary level. In implementing EMI a common assumption has been that the primary issue affecting successful EMI is the English proficiency level of the EMI instructor. This paper reviews this assumption by exploring three dimensions of EMI—the cognitive, the genre, and the academic task dimensions of teaching in a discipline—and the role that English plays in developing disciplinary literacy and competence. From a review of EMI teachers' accounts of EMI in Hong Kong as well as other EMI contexts, information is presented to demonstrate the ways in which EMI teachers adapt their teaching in order to prepare for and manage EMI. Goals are suggested for the professional development of EMI teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how a teacher responds to 'learner initiatives' during classroom instruction. Learner initiatives refer to students making 'uninvited' contributions in class when not selected as the next speaker. This paper focuses on learners initiating an interactional sequence through asking the teacher a question. Using conversation analysis, this research describes two practices adopted by a teacher when responding to such learner initiatives. These practices shape how learners participate within learner-initiated interactional sequences and hence the opportunities that occur for learning the target language. The teacher utilizes recipient design to either better understand learner queries or explicitly answer learner questions as part of dealing with learner initiatives. This paper contributes to understanding of how learner initiatives are managed by teachers and has a role to play in teacher education by raising practitioner awareness of how this aspect of classroom interaction can be managed to further learner participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the applications of pattern grammar and local grammar in English language teaching, focusing specifically on the design of teaching materials. It shows that grammar patterns can be systematically analysed from a local grammar perspective, and further argues that the practice of local grammar analyses helps to raise language learners' awareness of the patterned nature of language in use and the close association between patterns and meanings. These in turn offer insights into materials writing. A sample coursebook unit is then offered to exemplify how pattern grammar and local grammar can be applied to derive pedagogical materials for English language teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the ELT profession there has been some discussion regarding the appropriateness of one-month pre-service teacher training courses such as CELTA. These courses are designed on the assumption that graduates will need further support and professional development in their first post. This paper examines the extent to which 115 newly qualified teachers (NQTs) were supported in their first teaching posts and addresses a second concern: do short, intensive courses encourage trainees to develop reflective-practice skills? The findings suggest that generally NQTs are not well supported in their first teaching posts, nor are they provided with adequate continued professional development by the institutions they work for. This is particularly evident in the teaching of young learners. However, most NQTs felt CELTA had sufficiently prepared them to be able to reflect on their classroom teaching in their first posts, despite some obstacles to reflective practice being raised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jason Anderson's proposal, in ELT Journal (2015), for an affordance-based approach to lesson planning raises important issues in teacher education. However, his arguments against the role of planned outcomes in favour of an affordance-based focus using learning opportunities as units of planning fail to acknowledge the complexities involved and teachers' needs in mastering this essential task. By way of response, in this article I first echo the legitimate concerns raised in Anderson's paper about lesson planning, then follow with a critical analysis of three fundamental issues of curriculum planning which reflect fallacies in his core argument. Then, based on a holistic perspective, I propose scaffolding lesson planning in teacher training, using the companion guides of a planning template and the lesson plan pro forma. Practical suggestions are also made for a three-level planning model for EFL/ESL practice with the support of a generic lesson plan incorporating examples of reasoning and ways of representing the decisions made during the plan writing process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author responds to Robert Phillipson's position paper regarding English language education that was published within the issue. Topics covered include Phillipson's commitment to the institutionally authorized conception of English, his definition of the educated native speakers, and his dismissive attitude to English as a lingua franca.