Developing writing skills in a foreign language is a highly value-laden practice that is susceptible to the influence of the dominant ideological narratives of a given context. This influence is typically echoed in policies and practices informing the role, scope, and place of writing in curriculum and pedagogy. Using autoethnographic reflections,…

Recent research in the area of physical activity points to the benefits that kinesthetic activity has on learning. The use of movement during the school day has benefits for the cognitive processes of learners, including language learning. This article focuses on dual language programs, where students learn acquire literacy skills and learn…

The opposition between learning as a process of self-cultivation ("Bildung") and learning as a form of vocational training for the workplace ("Ausbildung") is becoming ever more deeply entrenched in the twenty-first-century university. In language education in particular, the distinction between these two competing aims…

This article is excerpted from "More Urban Myths about Learning and Education: Challenging Eduquacks, Extraordinary Claims, and Alternative Facts." The authors discuss some of the most often asked questions related to one basic principle in particular: "transfer of learning." Transfer of learning is seen as the use of…

The accelerative globalization and digitalization in the 21st century have been growingly changing the way we live, interact, learn and work. Consequently, to thrive in the 21st century, besides knowledge and the basic skills, today's students should also be equipped with what is called the 4Cs (communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and…

Dialogic education has become increasingly appealing due to the recognized value of dialogue for the development of students' thinking and knowledge. Yet, its appeal has not catalysed widespread adoption of dialogic education in classrooms due partly to teachers' uncertainty over the conceptualization of dialogic education and the presence of…

The aim of this paper is to look at the impact of recent reforms to the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) and Advanced Subsidiary (AS) curriculum in the UK, which included the teaching of literature in the language classroom in an attempt to make the study of languages more attractive and to better prepare students for university.…

The idea of offering all children and youth an education that is experiential, student centered, engaging, and relevant to life is not a new concept (Dewey, 1938; Kolb, 1981). Preparing students with the competencies, skills, and character for full participation in the 21st century has become the vision of schools, educators, and organizations…

The article analyses the problems arising in teaching English at a technical university, offers and describes a new integrated method of teaching listening, reading and speaking called the Communicative Circle method. The development of the pragmatic, integrated method of Communicative Circle builds upon the linguo-didactic, integrated, and…

Michael Swan and Catherine Walter (see EJ1142765) take issue with the current emphasis in the teaching of listening and reading on higher-order skills-and-strategies training. They argue that L2 learners typically already possess the relevant skills and strategies necessary for listening and reading in L2, and, by implication, can and do deploy…

The call for an expanded, critical and socially-constructed view of literacy in response to contemporary semiotic and technological developments is not new. However, an under investigated area relates to the impact and influence of new media in the teaching and learning of English to speakers of other languages (ESOL). Following an overview of…

The first module of the online Master of Arts (MA) in Translation at the Open University, Introduction to Translation Theory and Practice, includes a language development strand which encourages students to diagnose their own language development needs and introduces them to tools, resources, strategies, and learning communities that will enable…

Ever since Karen Price's ground-breaking work in 1983, we have known that same-language subtitles (captions) primarily intended for the deaf and hearing-impaired can provide access to foreign language films and TV programmes which would otherwise be virtually incomprehensible to non-native-speaker viewers. Since then, researchers have steadily…

This paper reviews three attempts to incorporate technology-enabled online volunteer translation communities into language teaching in formal education. Through taking part in these communities, participants can develop many important skills, including digital, participatory, and information literacy, alongside improving their language skills and…

Critical incident exercises (CIEs) are increasingly used in English courses, and there seems little doubt that in addition to providing English practice opportunities CIEs also help learners build intercultural competence. The question is: What precise aspects of intercultural competence do CIEs help learners build? This article introduces an…