Pro-ELT is a blended teacher training course. The aim of Pro-ELT is to strengthen English teaching and learning through a blended training approach that includes; quality face to face delivery, supported distance learning and integrated proficiency and methodology training. It delivers quality language teaching and teacher development courses to…

This article begins with a brief overview of some of the salient issues that have impacted on teaching practice in recent years. In order to canvass teacher concerns regarding these issues, a questionnaire was given to a class of practising teachers studying for a Masters degree in ELT at a Turkish university asking them to rate a number of key…

It has been suggested recently that it may be useful for language teaching practitioners to have some knowledge of cognitive linguistics. Cognitive linguistics (CL) provides tools that may help the language-teaching practitioner to gain insight into the semantic potential of words and communicate the meaning of lexical chunks in greater detail…

Teachers are encouraged to enhance professional competence through reflective practice and they are also asked to undertake research to generate evidence for their professional practices. This paper reports on an inquiry into a group of primary school English language teachers' research engagement in the province of Guangdong on the Chinese…

Over recent years, educational institutions have been making increasing use of virtual environments to set up collaborative activities for learners. While it is recognized that teachers play an important role in facilitating learner collaboration online, they may not have the necessary skills to do so successfully. Thus, a small-scale professional…

This paper describes a study of ICT-related teacher development in the context of a national reform of College English teaching in China. The reform, in which emphasis was placed on use of information and communications technology (ICT) in classroom teaching and self-access learning, had challenged teachers of English as a foreign language to…

In this article the author draws on classroom video recordings and student commentary to explore ways in which the kinaesthetic elements of a process drama provided the context and the space for beginner additional language learners to engage with intercultural language learning. In the light of student comments in interviews and questionnaires,…

This article is based on a study which investigated the beliefs about English language learning of 661 first-year university students and their 34 English teachers at a Japanese university. The focus of the article is the shifts in reported student beliefs over a nine-month period of English study between two administrations of the Sakui and Gaies…

After the harmonization process carried out in Spanish higher education following the Bologna Declaration, many universities have decided to introduce English as the language of instruction for some studies. From 2010, the new study programmes have been implemented, and there is an urgency to define what is meant by "teaching in…

The IBT TOEFL has become the principal example of online high stakes language testing since 2005. Most instructors who do the preparation for IBT TOEFL face two main realities: first, students are eager and highly motivated to take the test because of the prospective implications; and, second, specific studies would be necessary to see if…

Discusses the possible advantages and disadvantages of native versus nonnative speakers as language teachers in North American Classrooms. The discussion is based on personal observations that were tested against findings of a survey among both native- and nonnative-speaking teaching assistants and German students with native or nonnative speakers…

Describes the National Endowment for the Humanities foreign-language institutes sponsored by Purdue University, including their results in improving foreign-language teachers' language skills, disseminating effective teaching techniques, the production of stimulating instructional materials, improving teachers' confidence and morale, and…

Surveys the professional characteristics of instructors teaching English as a Second Language to adults in non-credit programs in Ontario. Findings describe the teachers' age and gender, educational backgrounds and professional qualifications, teaching experience, employment conditions and opportunities for professional development. (eight…

Current newspaper articles are used in the form of a weekly short quiz in advanced English reading classes at Nara University of Education. The quiz focuses on the articles' immediacy as a motivating factor for Japanese students who have lost some motivation after passing the university entrance examinations. (Contains seven references.) (LB)

An in-service training program, developed for language center teachers in Finland, is discussed. The program was devised with the help of the University of Birmingham, England, and ran for three years with English as the language of instruction. The content of the program was based on the needs expressed by language center teachers and on the…