The importance of academic journals in second language (L2) research is evident on at least two levels. Journals are, first of all, central to the process of disseminating scientific findings. Journals are also critical on a professional level as most L2 researchers must publish articles to advance their careers. However, not all journals are…

Neoliberal ideologies, evidenced in locally developed and internationally published imported English Language Teaching (ELT) textbooks, are compared in the context of Malaysia, an outer circle country. Historically, locally developed ELT textbooks have been used to teach English but recently imported books have been prescribed following the…

Team-based project (TBP) has been implemented in some universities to encourage students to be creative and motivated to develop some projects. However, not all EFL teachers in higher education can effectively apply TBP in generating the projects, including English instructional tools for young learners developed by EFL pre-service teachers. This…

This study explores the language association of international students during their adaptation to a new environment and its impact on intercultural communication. It addresses the difficulties, language and cultural barriers, social adaptation problems, and both positive and negative influence of association on language learning. The purpose of…

Mastery of the art of crafting online reviews and responses is essential as a valuable additional tool for enhancing learners' English proficiency in specialised contexts. This study aims to: 1) Examine the formality levels in crafting reviews and responses; 2) Explore face-threatening acts utilised in reviews and politeness strategies employed in…

English argumentative writing is difficult in second language writing for ESL students. Although there has been a lot of research on English argumentative writings, empirical research focusing on claims in argumentative writing is very scarce. Based on the Toulmin model, this paper studied the relationship between the claims and English…

University students, especially language learners, have increasingly been using machine translation (MT) systems in the last decade and for all kinds of texts, including homework, assignments and exams. This ubiquity does not translate into visibility as few teachers address the subject in class. Several researchers have shown that MT systems,…

The enrolment of Chinese middle-class children in elite international kindergartens is a big education industry in China. Our paper is situated in the broader sociology of elite schooling which has yet to fully explore how middle and upper middle-class parents are increasingly sending their children to elite international kindergartens. We present…

Scopus currently plays a crucial role in guaranteeing the quality of journals included in this prestigious database, which in turns represents the reputation of world universities according to well-known rankings, e.g. The QS World University Rankings, The Times Higher Education World University Rankings, etc. Awareness of the research trends in…

This paper explores the trajectories of six young academics (early-stage researchers) currently active in the context of Swedish academia in two different fields: English Linguistics and Political Science. Through a series of narrative interviews, the analysis investigates the development of their scholarly work, the relationship with their texts,…

This case study provides an in-depth analysis of the role of digital technologies in the process of globalisation in higher education in a developing nation in the Global South. We explore some of the triggers and enablers of digital technologies in an East African university that aspires to be a globally recognised research-intensive institution.…

Despite the predominant position of global English, teaching and learning of languages other than English (LOTEs) are gaining increasing attention in foreign language planning in China. This study aims to showcase the development of an elective Arabic language program in a Chinese university through the lens of agency as a spatial, temporal, and…

The meritocratic ideal prescribes that universities should admit students based on academic ability and individual effort. Yet as competition for scarce slots has increased, markets for services to improve the odds of admission have expanded. We use the case of a popular online forum for elite Taiwanese students seeking graduate study in the…

Intensive English programs (IEPs) help speakers of other languages gain necessary language, cultural, and educational skills to succeed in an English-speaking environment (Hamrick, 2012; Toner, 2017). Whereas previous research investigated factors influencing student choice of IEPs in the southeastern United States (Williams, 1994) and in…

The brief report describes an exploratory investigation into changes to three university EFL teachers' teaching practices in a research-intensive university framed by managerialist technologies to improve its visibility and global ranking. The findings revealed that substantial changes have been brought about to their teaching practices in terms…