Construction Grammar has been a prominent framework in linguistic research for nearly three decades, attracting scholars from various disciplines, including language acquisition, corpus linguistics, and psycholinguistics. While considerable progress has been made in understanding the first language (L1) construction learning of various languages,…

In this three-paper dissertation project, I explore how 'English' becomes a recognizable object within the context of adult ESOL education. Building on scholarship on named languages (Garcia, 2019; Makoni & Pennycook, 2006), the historical construction of languages (Bonfiglio, 2010; Irvine & Gal, 2000), and raciolinguistic ideologies…

Due to the typological differences between Korean's aspect system and English's aspect system in terms of progressive construction "-ko iss," learners can no doubt have difficulty acquiring and using the "-ko iss" construction in learner Korean. This dissertation investigates two main points: (i) how is the "-ko iss"…

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate linguistic variation within ESL/EFL reading textbooks and between EAP reading textbooks and lower-division university textbooks. Specifically, within ESL/EFL reading textbooks, lexical, lexico-grammatical, and formulaic variation was measured within series of textbooks, across textbooks at the…

The current study examines gender representations in Dummett et al. (2016) EFL textbook, Keynote, at Middle Eastern University in the Middle East. Keynote is an EFL textbook that is used to teach students in English for Business I and English for Business II courses. The study followed Fairclough's (1989, 1995, 2001, 2015) three-dimensional models…

The purpose of this case study was to gain an understanding of how reading comprehension component abilities were developed through the English for business purposes (EBP) reading curriculum of the B.S. in International Business and Commerce program offered at the Universidad de Sonora. To gain this understanding, this case study analyzed the…

School and university classrooms remain the standard around the world for second language instruction. However, over the past 20 years various methods of language learning have permeated the educational landscape to include self-study textbooks, language learning software and online teachers. Some models are evidence based while others lack…

Uganda Baptist Seminary (UBS) is accredited by the Ugandan National Council for Higher Education and teaches church leaders from Uganda and its surrounding seven countries. The required language of educational instruction is English, although the students come from a multitude of different native languages. This research stems from a need to…

Second language (L2) writing has been determined to be influenced by what is read, with language learners tending to borrow words and short phrases from input texts while writing (e.g., Wang & Wang, 2015). This phenomenon is referred to as lexical alignment. Only one empirical study has investigated the influence that the linguistic complexity…

This dissertation examines how critical thinking skills are addressed in university-level intensive language programs for international students in the United States. The theoretical framework for this study was built upon Vygotsky's sociocultural theory. Three research questions inquired about language instructors' ability to conceptualize…

A common drawback in traditional language education is that all students in the same class use the same content. Since students may have different backgrounds such as prior knowledge and learning speed, one single curriculum may not be able to accommodate every student. Unfortunately, most students cannot afford personalized language learning,…

This semester-long study was designed to benefit developing Second Language Acquisition (SLA) instructional methods, specifically honing French language instruction, creating a foundation on which to explore the connection between input frequency during instruction and aural comprehension of difficultly acquired forms. Concurrently, five current…

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) classes address the specific professional and technical fields of students learning English and attempt to use appropriate materials and approaches to do so. At the King Abdulaziz Military Academy (KAMA) in Saudi Arabia, ESP classes prepare students for military careers. However, officers who graduate from KAMA…

Despite their importance, teacher's manuals (TM) have never drawn much attention in language teaching research, and therefore they have not been researched from the perspective of pronunciation teaching. It may be that they have not been perceived as having a role more than being an answer key for student materials (Sheldon, 1987). However, TMs…

The perfective marker V-"le" is claimed to be one of the most problematic items in the acquisition of L2 Chinese, perhaps because no unified and comprehensive treatment of it exists in the literature. Although much has been written on this topic, the semantic and pragmatic functions of V-"le" have remained elusive. While linguists and grammarians…