To date, attempts at empirically validating a construct of academic vocabulary in the form of a frequency list in languages other than English remain conspicuously absent in peer-reviewed journals. This study aims to close this gap by using Russian as a case study to develop an academic vocabulary list and prove its viability through a variety of…

Task-based research has shown the benefits of using tasks in various instructional contexts across different age groups. Although task-based language teaching promotes language learning through authentic real-world tasks, previous research has mainly used controlled pedagogic tasks. The current exploratory, intact-classroom, multi-case study…

This case study compares the discourse behaviors of 2 Chinese teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), one rated high and one rated low by their respective students. The teachers were each audio-recorded for a total of 100 minutes during the 'text session' of an Intensive Reading course. Drawing on Yang's (2010) model of EFL classroom…

This article takes a broadly sociocultural perspective on the development of an Armenian English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher. It focuses on how experiences and actions outside the professional development classroom influence language teacher agency. The paper is framed within activity theory and specifically draws on Galperin's orienting…

Despite the accumulating body of research on teacher cognition and teacher learning in the field of second language (L2) teacher education over the past 2 decades, few studies have followed novice L2 teachers' development over time, and still fewer have focused specifically on teacher identity development. This study begins to fill this gap by…

This multiple case study examines language-focused instruction in 3 university Spanish literature classes to examine the students' and instructors' perspectives on language learning in this context. The classes were studied for a semester through observations, instructor interviews and stimulated recalls, and student questionnaires. Among the…

Argues that student teacher portfolios are a viable, effective, appropriate tool for documenting teacher growth and development and for promoting reflective practice. Traces the unique paths of two pre-service foreign language teachers who constructed a professional identity from the historical and cultural conditions of their classroom…

Reports on three studies of the learning strategies of adult students of second languages. The research identified two distinct approaches to vocabulary learning that differed in aspects relating to independent study, self-initiated learning activities, recording of lexical items studied, review of these records, and practice of vocabulary outside…