Despite much research on how multilingual learners view the linguistic properties of language, how they perceive languages as cultural capital has been far less investigated. Drawing on the theories of social cognition, this study explores how multiple foreign language learners' impressions, as a lens to observe their multilingual awareness, are…

The United States continues to be a top destination for international students pursuing an advanced degree. Some information about the characteristics of international students applying to graduate programs in the United States is available, but little is known about how these characteristics are related to test taker performance on graduate…

This paper adds an organizational dimension to the body of literature on international student mobility. Existing studies examine push/pull factors and student motivations, neglecting that students' motivations and demands are not necessarily spontaneous, but can be shaped by external forces. Drawing on interview, archival and observation data…

Teacher professional development (TPD) is regarded as crucial to fostering teacher improvement. Recent calls for the internationalization of teacher education and professional development, including teachers undertaking courses taught abroad, have enhanced the scope of TPD opportunities. Yet, little is currently known about how such international…

As a neoliberally-driven test, China's postgraduate entrance exam is gaining an increasing attention nationwide due to the intense competition in the local market and the dramatic size of Chinese students taking the exam. Under the neoliberal mechanism, Chinese candidates are ideologically self-regulated and emotionally-driven to mobilize their…

Fairness and social justice has been the subject of much discussion in educational research, and concerns about fairness are paramount in the milieu of high-stakes admission testing. This study explored stakeholders' perceptions of the fairness of a high-stakes graduate school admission test, the Graduate School Entrance English Examination…

This article is a personal view of the application of results from three areas of research that I believe are relevant to developing second language speaking in the classroom: task repetition, pre-task planning and communication strategies. I will discuss these three areas in terms of level of research application--where research is not applied…

This study explored how the GRE Analytical Writing Section Discussion Forum, an informal online language learning community in China, functioned to support its members to improve their English writing proficiency. The Community of Inquiry (CoI) model was used as the theoretical framework to explore the existence of teaching presence, cognitive…

This book proposes a new paradigm for English language teaching based on concepts from English for Specific Purposes (ESP) research and applications as well as from growing evidence relating pattern recognition to language learning ability. The contributors to the volume argue that learners should not try to become proficient all-around users of…

Business English in China has evolved into a degree programme from an ESP teaching programme in the past decades. The degree programme of Business English major intends to cultivate multi-skilled talents of foreign language to better satisfy the real needs of society and economy through curriculum design and teaching method innovation activities.…

The advancement of computer technologies has brought a plethora of technological innovations in educational settings. It is no exception in teacher training and education programmes around the world as the growth of professionalism has made the distance doctoral programmes possible for mid-career English language teaching (ELT) practitioners. The…

This article outlines the necessity for investigating the attitudes of local students towards the use of the English-medium instruction (EMI) strategy in their programs in China. It starts by presenting an overview of English as a global language, how English is emphasized in China, and briefly presents the concept of "Attitude" and how…

With the rise of the internet and new communication technologies, language learning has moved beyond the classroom walls. This volume presents a range of important studies on innovative ways for learning languages outside the classroom. Chapters discuss MOOCs in the UK, Belgium, China, and Italy for studying a range of languages, research on new…

In higher education institutes (HEIs), Operations Management programmes (OMPs) are among those programmes attracting a substantial amount of international student enrollment. With the current situation that the government is reducing its funding input, the UK HEIs' financial balance relies more than before on the international students who pay…

This paper investigates the extent to which Chinese students are prepared for academic writing in higher education in the UK, by seeking evidence from a group of 40 Chinese students at a UK university. A mixed-methods approach combining both questionnaires and interviews was adopted to generate data. The main conclusion was that the training that…