In response to calls for an assessment tool that provides a separate performance dimension from the linguistic quality-oriented measures of complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) and guided by systemic functional linguistic (SFL) theories, this study introduces a set of fine-grained objective measures of communication/content/function…

Critical thinking (CT) is widely viewed as an essential skill for college students. Nevertheless, the use of CT skills in the classroom often varies across disciplines. This article summarizes perceptions of CT, including various definitions and constructs as well as barriers to its implementation in higher education. Faculty members from various…

This article explores the potential of phonetic symbols in pronunciation teaching/learning, with a focus on English language teaching (ELT). After a brief contextualisation of current views of pronunciation instruction in the second-language (L2) teaching literature, the article reviews some of the potential advantages of, conditions for, and…

The multidisciplinary nature of English language courses prompts teachers and students to pursue meaningful tasks that delve on significant issues in society. One significant project that classes can develop are advocacy presentations that help stimulate awareness and engagement among different stakeholders. This practical paper presents three…

While Canada's multiculturalism and bilingual education represent an opportunity for educational sectors to foster students' intercultural citizenship, in New Brunswick -- Canada's only officially bilingual province -- provincial language ideological debates (LIDs) may create structures impeding Anglophone French immersion (FI) students'…

The English pre-class language, as one of the educational languages, has a direct impact on realization of the objectives of a class. This paper gives a detailed analysis of the value of the English pre-class language, its related theoretical proof as well as its main characteristics, which proves the significance of the pre-class language.

While the field of materials development has grown in the past twenty years, covering areas like EAP and ESP, there remains a need to elaborate further the strategies and to develop a process for developing materials for EALP courses such as legal writing. Legal writing in particular poses unique challenges like the complex system of legal writing…

This paper applies Oakeshott's distinction between work and play to his philosophy of language education. The first part explores his critique of the vocational rationale for learning foreign languages and his affirmation of the intrinsic value or playful character of the activity. The second part of the article endeavours to give practical…

There are two broad approaches to the research and teaching of second-language (L2) pronunciation--'bottom-up' and 'top-down'--which roughly align with structural and communicative approaches to language teaching. A bottom-up approach, explicitly focusing on de-contextualised linguistic forms, is structuralist and predominated in the second half…

This article, taking the translation courses for English majors in Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics Dongfang College as an example, starts from the current teaching problems of translation courses in application-oriented colleges and universities. In order to clarify the teaching system, highlight the local characteristics, and find a…

This Forum article is a contribution to the development of a securitization perspective on language education. We construe securitization of applied linguistics as the tendency to align national goals for language education, including Teaching English as a Second or Other Language (TESOL) and foreign languages, with broader national and security…

Just over ten years ago, Block (2007, p. 2) called the increasing attention that second language researchers-and social scientists at large-were giving to the construct of "identity" an "obsession." Since then, the identities of those who use, learn or study a language have been investigated in greater detail (e.g., Benson,…

French is the sixth most commonly spoken language in the world and the second most taught language in the European Union. There are 274 million people who speak French worldwide. Since the introduction of the term 'Francophone' in 1880 and the establishment of the International Organisation of Francophonie in 1970, countries that use French as an…

This research study examines the pedagogical considerations and linguistic challenges regarding teaching Portuguese to speakers of Spanish. That the Portuguese language is similar to Spanish presents a unique set of advantages and challenges to students and instructors. The study of this population of students has grown considerably since the…

The present conceptual analysis begins with an assertion that the most fundamental act in any educational endeavors is establishing their goals. The discussion proceeds to reviewing recent pertinent literature that presents Vygotsky's theory of development as a useful source in providing guidance to establishing the goals of education in rapidly…