Purpose: This paper describes oral language as a multi-faceted and unconstrained phenomenon, including its social purpose in societies and the implications of this for education. It provides a critique of the concepts of oral language which have come to dominate literacy and language education policy across the Organisation of Economic…

This paper attempts to examine in a descriptive way the pioneering model of "World Englishes" proposed by Kachru in the mid-1980s that allocates the presence of English into three concentric circles: The "Inner" Circle, the "Outer" Circle, and the "Expanding" Circle. The Inner Circle presents the countries…

One of the most interesting studies on the role of L1 and contrastive analysis in vocabulary teaching is by Laufer and Girsai (2008). However, due to some methodological issues, their research findings are open to criticism and controversy. The current study aimed to replicate the research with a more rigorous design to re-investigate the…

This article recounts the lived experience of a Rwandan English teacher's journey from his village to international opportunities for scholarship and work, enabled by his agency in navigating the country's changing linguistic landscape. Using the narrative inquiry research method, the study uncovers an insider's perspective on Rwanda's switch from…

This article introduces Tofa'a'anolasi, a novel Samoan research framework created by drawing on the work of other Samoan and Pacific education researchers, in combination with adapting the 'Foucauldian tool box' to use for research carried out from a Samoan perspective. The article starts with an account and explanation of the process of…

A summary of the book "Linguistic Imperialism," by Phillipson (1992) is presented here. The purpose is to highlight its current scope and permanent values in consonance with intuitions, criticism and alternatives proposed by Latin America Modernity/coloniality Group. Criteria of analysis are based on a re-reading of the work in the light…

The present qualitative study sought to explore the relationship between English language learning and identity reconstruction from the viewpoints of Iranian language learners. The data were collected by means of focus-group interviews with forty-five male intermediate learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). To define the concept of…

Neoliberal ideology compels people to develop language skills as human capital. As English is considered to be the most useful language for global communication, learning, and teaching, English has been promoted in many countries. However, the belief that English connects people from diverse linguistic backgrounds in a borderless society…

The purpose of this paper is to highlight how globalization and the development of knowledge-based economy is effecting the higher education system of Malaysia. This reflective analysis examined the policies and practices, in the higher education of Malaysia that internationalizes its higher education systems; the impact of globalization and the…

This article explores how a group of educators and researchers enacted an inclusive process of conceptual growth involving teachers and teacher educators as active agents, knowledge builders and meaning-makers in the development of a Pluriliteracies approach to Teaching for Learning (PTL). The evolution of a working model based on five emergent…

Although a voluminous amount of literature addresses language-in-education policy in Africa, one area in which the literature remains sparse is the role of minority languages in education. This article presents an overview of complex issues regarding the hegemony claims of different minority language groups in Zimbabwe. Given the relatively small…

This multidisciplinary collection examines the connections between education, migration and translation across school and higher education sectors, and a broad range of socio-geographical contexts. Organised around the themes of knowledge, language, mobility, and practice, it brings together studies from around the world to offer a timely critique…

This article presents an overview of the perceived importance and accelerated spread of English language education, both formal and informal, in three East Asian countries (i.e. China, Japan and South Korea) against the backdrop of globalisation and emergent ideological, sociocultural and educational trends. It begins with a review of the recent…

This article begins by critiquing the long-established acronym CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning). We then go on to report on a small-scale study which examines how student non-native speakers of English use a range of digital devices beyond the classroom in both their first (L1) and second (L2) languages. We look also at the extent to…

This paper questions notions of individualism underpinning technocratic approaches to education that marginalise indigenous and migrant peoples' knowledges in tertiary education. Focusing on New Zealand ("Aotearoa") with its colonial and immigrant history, its Maori and Pacific Islander citizens, the authors ask whether education, as its…