Mid-career teachers are often described as experienced and comfortable in their jobs with higher motivation and self-efficacy (Hargreaves 2005); yet, at the same time, the mid-career phase has also been portrayed as a period marked by a career plateau and feelings of stagnation (Farrell 2014). Despite the criticality of this career phase and the…

This article reports on a project investigating the impact of a new framework for Readers Theatre on teachers' professional skills. Twenty-one Islamic secondary English school teachers engaged in collaborative professional development training to experience and give feedback on the framework. The article describes the participants' affective and…

The construct of critical cultural awareness (CCA) is often regarded as an element pertaining to intercultural communicative competence (Byram, 1997, 2021). In this model, CCA is defined as the ability to "evaluate, critically, and on the basis of a systematic process of reasoning, values in one's own culture and other cultures" (Byram,…

This study investigates beginning EFL teachers' emotional labor from the perspective of the Activity Theory. Emotional labor is defined as the process of controlling one's emotions and emotional expressions in accordance with the occupational standards for proper emotional expression. Two beginning EFL teachers at Korean junior high schools were…

This collected book analyzes the phenomenon of crisis manifested across various historical periods. It offers unique, multifaceted, and interdisciplinary perspectives on the issues of crises and finds numerous applications in the fields of literature, linguistics, advertising, photography, and foreign language teaching. The collection is divided…

This article offers a critical intercultural perspective to English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education inspired by Freire's conceptualisation of dialogue required in contexts where teachers must comply with hegemonic language policies. Drawing on an ethnographic study with Yusef, a Palestinian-Arab EFL teacher in Israel, I examine how…

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of former intensive English program (IEP) Chinese students by concurrently examining national origin, language problems, forms of capital, culture shock, and institutional programming using qualitative case study methods. The findings give us insights into the students' sociocultural and…

This study critically examines the discursive reconstruction of ethnic hierarchies in English language textbooks used in public schools in post-conflict Sri Lanka. Set against a social and political backdrop of larger nation state-building and national reconciliation taking place in Sri Lanka after it ended a three-decade ethnic conflict, this…

This paper examines ways in which three Moroccan ELT textbooks currently used in teaching second year Baccalaureate students in public high schools promote values of global citizenship. It also investigates the extent to which these textbooks present activities that develop learners' sense of belonging to global and local communities and provide…

More and more Japanese students are studying abroad and the Japanese government has set a target of 180,000 students to study abroad each year by 2020 and is providing financial assistance to students to help achieve this goal. However, is financial assistance enough? Surveys conducted with students from a national education-focused university in…

Seventy-four students in three different Grade 9 classrooms of high-performing learners from the same suburban, comprehensive secondary school, completed a questionnaire focused on their preferences for a friend to stand by his or her position in case of a disagreement, to maintain their own position themselves, and to modify their own stance.…

Although it has revealed the material conditions under which language education programmes are implemented worldwide, research on neoliberalism and language commodification has not yet adequately centred pedagogy. Thus, processes commodifying 'objects' other than language as product go unnoticed in educational settings. Drawing on a four-year…

Tensions between vision and reality in the teaching practicum is a significant issue in research and practice globally, but scanty attention has been awarded to research into areas of tension in teaching practice itself. This paper reports on a study that examines a cohort of Chinese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) student teachers'…

This edited volume offers an insightful theoretical conceptualization of issues central to 21st century foreign language learning and teaching. Drawing on research results obtained in the fields of pedagogy, social psychology and sociology of education, this book provides a comprehensive practical exploration of issues experienced by researchers…

This article considers the role of reading fiction within the school subject of Swedish as a second language. It examines how a group of advanced second-language learners in a Swedish upper secondary school read and discuss a contemporary Swedish novel, how they interact with the text and with each other in relation to the text. Further, it…