With the goal of contributing to ongoing efforts to decolonize ELT, this article addresses the potential of microanalytic research into classroom interaction in disrupting hegemonic forces of coloniality. Microanalytic research provides a step-by-step, minute examination of interactional discourse, and it has the capacity to reveal gaps between…

This paper presents a study of EFL classroom talk with the focus on how teachers successfully encourage and elicit student dialogic talk through questioning. It is based on observation data from forty-nine classes involving eleven teaching staff in a university in central China. The findings reveal the difficulty of engaging students to be the…

For many language learners, listening represents a major source of anguish, with apparent success in the confines of the classroom failing to be mirrored in the ordinary interactions of daily life. One contributing factor may be the continued reliance on listening texts and activities that position the learner as a bystander rather than a…

This article draws on data from a British Council-funded project which aimed both to compare global early English language learning (EELL) pedagogic practices in 2020 with those in 2010 and to investigate current EELL teaching and learning in primary schools. The project had an explicit focus on classroom language practice, that is, the languages…

Translanguaging and codeswitching are frequently employed in second/foreign language classrooms. Though the differences between these two practices have been examined from a conceptual perspective, the potential of translanguaging as a pedagogical resource has not been empirically addressed. This article opens with a concise comparison of…

This article analyses the practices, beliefs, and challenges of in-service Nepali EFL teachers who are required to carry out action research and submit a written report for their performance appraisal. We have analysed action research reports (n = 88) and interviews (n = 6) with public-school EFL teachers. The findings show that speaking,…

This study explores variation in willingness to communicate (WTC) in English between whole-class interaction and dyadic and group interaction, and teacher interaction strategies identified to sustain students' WTC in whole-class interaction that primarily followed the initiation-response-feedback (IRF) pattern. Data were collected from a regular…

Connecting informal and formal language teaching and learning has gained prominence as a way to understand language development among teenagers, but questions remain regarding its application in L2 contexts. This study investigates the significance of such connections in two L2 English classes taught by the same teacher, where students were…

The focal point of most investigations into classroom discourse tends to be on the institutionally sanctioned and legitimized on-task exchanges between teachers and students with particular attention to the I-R-F (initiation-response-follow up/feedback) structure. Liminal spaces of interaction such as during the small talk just before the 'lesson…

At many universities, English serves as a lingua franca (ELF) between teachers and students for whom English is not their L1. Despite the spread of English-medium instruction (EMI), empirical research on the nature of teacher-student interactions in EMI classrooms remains limited. This study examines the use of ELF in EMI engineering classes at a…

This research explores the types of questions teachers ask their students in CLIL classrooms and how they can optimize their use of these questions. It came about as a result of a slowdown detected in the learning capacity of students after the first two years of CLIL programmes in the region of Murcia, Spain. The first data collected demonstrated…

Miscommunications appear to offer powerful L2 learning opportunities. In particular, they often arouse emotions that facilitate event recall, and may motivate learners by providing implicit evidence of the communicative importance and personal relevance of underlying language features. This article reports on a pedagogical approach to utilizing…

Learners' language background is one of the factors which may influence the amount and functions of own-language use in English instruction. This article reports a study in which a group of almost 400 Polish and Norwegian secondary school learners of English were asked how their own languages are used in the classroom, how they use them when they…

English language teachers are expected to use their talk, "teacher talk," effectively; however, teacher education courses do not always clarify how student teachers can achieve this. This article advocates that understanding and using effective teacher talk is crucial for successful ELT and as such is a "threshold concept" in…

The expansion of English teaching in state education systems places increasing demands on English language teachers and how they are trained. A major thrust of these efforts has focused on improving teachers' English language proficiency. This expectation is manifested in policy and pedagogical directives that teachers "teach English in…