At the core of contemporary U.S. language education policy is the dichotomous dividing of bilingual students into English Learners (ELs) who are entitled to extra support and non-ELs who are not entitled to this support. In this article, we genealogically trace the normative assumptions that go into this framing of the issue. We begin by examining…

The research note focuses on the alignment aspect of English language proficiency (ELP) assessments, one of the required types of validity evidence for the federal peer review process of states' assessment systems. A basic tenant of current U.S. education policy is the alignment between what a test assesses and what content has been determined as…

The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for languages, which was originally meant for the European context is now being widely accepted by many non-European countries. The education system in Malaysia, as outlined in the English Language Education Roadmap for Malaysia (2015-2025), has adopted the framework. Although this has taken place…

The birth of China's Standards of English Language Ability (CSELA) marks a new era of English education in China. As the country's first national English standard, CSELA is expected to significantly refine the current system of English assessment and further improve the quality of English education. Due to its relatively short history, there is…

This paper analyses the current situation of English as a foreign language (EFL) writing in basic education in mainland China with a focus on the English curriculum standards, instruction and assessment. The National English Curriculum Standards launched by China's Ministry of Education ratified a general framework for EFL writing instruction and…

This study explored how secondary school EFL teachers engaged in professional learning opportunities when they participated in the development of ELT materials. While increasing research has examined language teaching materials and teacher learning, the two research fields have remained largely disconnected, hindering the potential of materials…

Reclassification, the process by which English learner (EL) students exit EL classification, often determines ELs' access to mainstream academic coursework. While existing research finds that many students who demonstrate English proficiency do not reclassify, few studies evaluate policies that effectively reclassify eligible students. This study…

Lesotho went through various phases of curriculum implementations and all were never fruitful until in 2009 when the new policy was adopted. The study therefore sought to investigate an extent to which the LGCSE English Language syllabus aims correlate with the secondary education aims. This study adopted a qualitative research orientation…

The increasing demands on faculty members and students to conduct research might result in domination in supervisor-student relations across cultural contexts. This study aimed to explore how students' research relationships with their supervisors are manifested within TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) postgraduate curriculum in Iran's…

In the US K-12 public school settings, each state's annual English language proficiency (ELP) assessment, as part of an educational accountability system, has tremendous impact on English learner (EL) students' academic paths and success. It is thus critical to establish a robust validation framework and empirical evidence to ensure that states'…

This study investigates cultural standards in the context of foreign language teaching from the perspective of two countries: Turkey and Russia. It compared both countries in terms of how they treat culture in foreign language education. The purpose was to identify commonalities and differences in cultural standards between the two countries.…

This paper explores how "English learners (ELs)" or who we prefer to call "multilingual learners" are labeled and positioned in policy documents and leading education research documents respectively. Attending to the urgent call for serving the growing number of linguistically and culturally diverse learners, this study delves…

This paper aims to provide a comprehensive narrative of the current status of Chinese language teaching at upper secondary schools in the Czech Republic. Processes involved in developing the Chinese language curriculum in upper secondary schools were mapped through a qualitative survey. Representatives of 20 schools were interviewed to identify…

National curriculum standards for different countries mean some International Baccalaureate (IB) schools must often balance IB and national standards. Literature on how schools find this balance is limited. Using a qualitative case study design, we examined the perspectives of teachers of English in a Chinese IB school that recently employed a…

This paper contributes to the growing scholarship on internationalization of higher education, particularly in non-Western contexts. Literature in non-Western contexts highlights tensions around adopting approaches seen as 'global standard' where these reflect inequalities of power and prestige, shaped by coloniality. Drawing on conclusions from a…