The current study investigated factors that potentially influenced the pedagogic practices of 132 EFL teachers from 28 secondary schools in a large city in Poland. The teachers completed a questionnaire about the factors that impacted their teaching practices. The primary influences on teaching practices turned out to be the course textbook and…

Dr Mahmoud M. S. Abdallah's article, "The New Territory of Educational Research in TESOL/TEFL: What Novice Researchers Should Know", provides a comprehensive guide for novice researchers in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). It emphasises the importance of research…

This article draws on the notion of communal constructivism to explore its potential to frame and facilitate the development of evidence-informed practice. The explicit aspiration to nurture a research-informed workforce is prominent in discourse across policy makers, educational researchers and teacher professional groups in England; however,…

This paper reports on a project created with the view to improving second language teachers' access to research. Following the steps provided in Lavis et al's (2003) knowledge transfer framework, this project provided second language teachers access to applied second language research and researchers. This paper reports on the teachers' conceptual…

This paper reports on the results of a study that analyzed second language practitioners' and researchers' on-line interactions about six published articles written by the researcher participants. The project used Lavis et al.'s (2003) knowledge transfer framework and Graham et al. (2006) knowledge to action framework as foundations to create a…

In this article I explore epistemological diversity in the field of second language acquisition (SLA) from the perspective that obtains if we examine the moral ends of research, and we ask: In what ways does epistemological diversity relate to enhancing the social value and educational relevance of the research generated by the instructed SLA…

With a view to bridging the gap between elementary (primary) and secondary school second language teachers and researchers, the study reported in this paper identified differences in language register, educators' lack of access to research articles and lack of shared space for researchers and educators to communicate as causes of the gap. There is…

Reviews three Jamaican research projects (two funded by the Ford Foundation, one government funded) which responded to the need to improve English language teaching to Creole speaking children at elementary and secondary levels. The author suggests that immediate government needs give priority to funding for applied research (curriculum reform)…

Society is not in a crisis of literacy, but in a crisis of literate skills. Being literate in today's formal education system means being able to talk and write about language, to explain and sequence implicit knowledge and rules of planning, and to speak and write for multiple functions in appropriate forms. Literate understanding requires far…

This Practice Guide is the first in a series of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) guides in education that are developed by a panel of experts. The guides are intended to bring the best available evidence and expertise to bear on the types of systemic challenges that cannot currently be addressed by single intervention or programs. This…

Limited English proficient adults represent a special population group served by the federally funded Adult Education Act. Usually, limited English speakers attend English as a second language (ESL) classes offered by state and local agencies. In the last decade, changes in the approach to ESL instruction have deemphasized academic ESL and focused…

A review of research bearing on second language teaching methodology looks at what it tells about language processing and production, classroom interaction and second language learning, and learning strategy preferences. The perspective taken is that methodology consists of classroom tasks and activities. Implications of the research for the…

Contends that, although surveys of international achievement have been of interest to the U.S. educational community, these studies are now receiving attention among policymakers. Asserts that significant changes are occurring in world economy and that international achievement comparisons are receiving coverage in the U.S. media. (CFR)

This report contains abstracts of 29 projects funded under the Adult Education National Research Program. The projects are of six types: studies of effective practices and programs, national impact studies, descriptive studies, developmental and design studies, commissioned papers, and technical assistance. Some of the projects examined cover the…

This document contains 23 papers on European trends in vocational education and training (VET) and the development of occupations and qualifications. The following papers are included: "Vocational Socialisation and Competence Development: The Historical Dimension" (Walter R. Heinz); "European Trends in the Development of Vocational…