The effect of first language transfer on second language acquisition and learning has been a major theoretical concept in second language research and pedagogy since the 1950s. In order to give a historical perspective, the authors offer a brief presentation of some of the major topics from the broad spectrum of issues that have been examined by…

Developing learners' intercultural communicative competence is considered to be one of the responsibilities of English language teaching professionals. This responsibility has become ever more challenging in today's globalized world, in which most intercultural communication occurs in English as a lingua franca (ELF) contexts, where a target…

Research has seen a growing recognition of the crucial role pronunciation plays in teaching English as an International Language (EIL), in achieving effective communication and its close link to the mastery of other aspects of language teaching and learning. In spite of its recognised importance, pronunciation is still a marginalised skill in many…

The ASEAN region is home to great ethnic, cultural, political and economic diversity and linguistically, represents a region where both Outer and Expanding Circle varieties of English are spoken. English is designated as the sole working language of the ASEAN region but in reality, it has a different status and performs very different roles in…

The concepts of identity and translanguaging have been a focus of considerable theorizing and research in recent years, and have clarified important dimensions of how people interact in both monolingual and multilingual settings (Barkhuizen, 2016; Creese and Blackledge, 2015; Darvin and Norton, 2018; Otheguy et al., 2018). In this article we would…

With the globalization of the English language, Global Englishes (GE) is a growing research paradigm with numerous pedagogical implications for those learning and teaching English. The study reported here provides insights on pre- and in-service Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) practitioners' perceptions of Global Englishes…

This article explores language policy in Southeast Asia, focussing on two recent state and other institutional reform efforts and directions: one towards English, and the other towards the mother tongues. However, what needs to be highlighted is the bifurcated nature of language policy reforms in the region. That is, these two policy directions…

This article presents a theoretical overview of the concept of teacher identity, particularly focusing on poststructuralist conceptions of what identity means, and shows how these ideas can be associated with ideas about narrative and narrative inquiry. It is argued that it is important for teachers, through reflective practice or teacher…