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Previous research has examined the impact of various factors on the academic success of undergraduate students in English Medium Instruction (EMI) environments, with the aim of improving students’ academic outcomes. However, clarity regarding the necessity and sufficiency of these factors for EMI academic success remains elusive, limiting a comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon. This study used crisp-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (csQCA) to analyse data from 16 empirical studies that investigated factors influencing the academic success of social science undergraduate students in EMI settings, using the EMI Academic Success (EMIAS) model. The findings revealed that English language proficiency emerged as a necessary and sufficient condition for EMI academic success, while students’ characteristics appeared to be a sufficient but not necessary condition. In addition, three causal configurations leading to EMI academic success were identified among four condition variables – English language proficiency, students’ characteristics, educational background, and English language support. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the determinants of EMI academic success and highlights the importance of students’ English language proficiency and their characteristics in the context of EMI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the learning outcomes described by experienced teachers attending a program designed to enable them to come together to engage in professional development through structured and systematic reflective practice. In the first part of the paper, we look briefly at some of the challenges of defining "reflective practice". We then describe the particular project we worked with, and present the collection and analysis of interviews with seven teachers and survey data from 35 teachers working within and near to schools in Vermont, USA. Six themes emerged from the teachers' responses: (1) Renewed enthusiasm for teaching; (2) Looking at teaching with "fresh eyes"; (3) Shifts in understanding teaching; (4) Becoming more reflective and aware as teachers; (5) Enhancing the quality of student learning; and (6) Building professional communities.

Universities and colleges in Canada and other English-speaking countries have become increasingly concerned with linguistic and cultural diversity and internationalizing their campuses, both to enhance local and international students' experiences on campus and to prepare them to function in their careers and the larger society. Most international students are non-native English-speaking (NNES) and need support to develop the English language proficiency required for engagement in the academic demands of the Canadian university milieu. This small-scale study at a Canadian university, by way of a survey and follow-up interview, addresses the gap in our understanding between academic skills that are required at the graduate level and those that learners of English find difficult. The findings suggest that by targeting academic skills that are both required and difficult, efficiency can be achieved in the design of programmatic supports for developing English for academic purposes (EAP). The findings further suggest that international students may lack independent strategies for advancing their English-language proficiency and that these too can be targeted in an EAP program.

Argues that student evaluation that focuses explicitly on the relationship between the teacher's intentions or goals and the students' perception of learning in terms of those goals is distinct. Defines goals-based evaluation and provides a conversation with individuals who have used it in various English-as-a-Second/Foreign-Language teaching and teacher training contexts. (Author/VWL)

Cantonese tertiary-level students taking a general education course taught in English at the Chinese University of Hong Kong were asked to rate their own English language skills development in relation to six specific areas. They were asked to identify what they had learned in relation to other aspects of the course. Responses indicated that students felt their English skills had increased in all areas, particularly in speaking and listening. (Author/VWL)

Peace Linguistics (PL) has, in some ways, been around for many years. However, most applied linguists do not appear to have ever heard of PL much less studied, researched or taught it. In recent years, especially in 2017 and 2018, that has started to changed, beginning with what appears to be the first PL course of its kind ever to be taught. That course was taught at Brigham Young University--Hawaii (BYUH), offered by the English Language Teaching and Learning Department, initially as an elective, with no prerequisites, then offered in conjunction with the BYUH Peacebuilding program. One of the questions that has been asked with increasing frequency in recent years is: What does Peace Linguistics look like in the classroom, with students, teachers and course materials, as well as with assignments and assessments? This paper provides initial answers to those questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to review efforts to develop the field of Peace Linguistics. Based on reviewing 20 years of published articles in the Journal of Peace Education and The International Journal of Peace Studies, I identified what appears to be a significant and on-going disconnect - a gap - between Language Studies and Peace Studies, or between Language Education and Peace Education, or between Peace Education/Studies and Linguistics/Applied Linguistics. In the second part of this paper, I explore this gap in more depth, and propose some possible reasons for this disconnect. In the third and final section, I give some details of a new course, Peace Linguistics, piloted by the English Language Teaching and Learning Department at Brigham Young University-Hawaii, in January and February of 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For some time, change has been the driving force in language teaching and learning. This seems to be even truer today than it was in the past, and seems set to be even more so in the future, which raises the questions of how to identify what is known and what is needed by teachers managing the changes, and how to address any needs. In this study, we asked 35 experienced secondary school teachers of English in Hong Kong to rate their own change-related knowledge, skills and personality characteristics, to find out how they would rate themselves in the various areas, and to consider whether such information can be of use in identifying change-related support needs. The results show that the teachers self-assessed some of their change-related knowledge, skills and personality characteristics as more and some less developed than others. Reasons are put forward to explain these different ratings, and ways in which such information might be used to identify teachers' change-related needs are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article evaluates the mattress from Inditherm Medical that uses its innovative flexible polymer technology and offers information on its contribution to patient warming.