This study aims to relate readability degree with thematic structures, a concept based on Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). The texts chosen were fragments purposively sampled from three popular academic texts written by Pierre Bourdieu (1991) (Text 1), Norman Fairclough (1989) (Text 2), and Bill Ashcroft et al. (2002) (Text 3). The Theme…

This manuscript is a conceptual article that intends to address 'playful creativity' as an underexplored but potentially insightful component of TESOL programs. To this aim, playful creativity is first defined under a critical purview of traditional and recent conceptualizations of creativity. Afterward, 'creative TESOL' is briefly addressed.…

In this final article in this guest-edited issue on synergies in second language acquisition and teaching (SLA/T), we attempt to bring together the main content of this issue in an overall, combined synergy statement, concluding this project as a whole. Let us remind readers of the project: A shared effort by 17 scholars taking 11 different…

This research article presents a study on teacher-educator interactional identities in English language education. The study extends conversation analysis by doing co-analysis and member-checking with three participating teacher-educators to analyze the enactment of their interactional identities in language-based and content-based classes in…

Digital literacy is high on the educational agenda in many countries as it is seen as an essential attribute of a discerning citizenry and a competitive workforce. A host of frameworks and conceptualizations have been proposed--both from scholars and from transnational organizations--for the curricular implementation of digital literacy in…

Choosing which words to teach is a key consideration for language teachers and materials writers. Some studies have shown that teaching words in semantically related clusters can make learning more difficult. However, others argue it is the physical similarity of the referents of words that causes confusion. Importantly, studies have employed…

In this polylog to the special issue on "The rise of Chinese language education policies in the oil-rich Arabian Gulf: New players, discourses and linguistic markets," three researchers with different personal and professional connections to the three languages 'at play' in the region -- English, Chinese, and Arabic -- offer their…

The logics of policy privatisation in schooling, including decentralisation, school autonomy, and discretionary funding mechanisms, shift responsibility for particular types of students onto individual schools and their staff. Burch (2021) asks to what extent the most disadvantaged students in government schools are able to access services most…

Less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) have traditionally lagged behind in terms of the availability of learning/teaching materials and of appropriate pedagogical models. For many languages, online tools, courses, and digital archives have been developed in recent years that offer opportunities for both formal instruction and self-study. Now the…

Immigrants in their later years can succeed at learning English and becoming citizens if they have access to instruction that considers their particular interests and stage of development, including their distinct cognitive, physical, and psychological profiles. Step One, a new age-friendly curriculum, helps older newcomers take the first steps in…

To determine the effects of explicit instruction (EI) and potential moderators in second/foreign language (L2) teaching, this study meta-analyzed 28 primary reports (a total of 67 unique samples, N = 3754). The main results show that EI was significantly effective in facilitating L2 development, with effect sizes ranging from moderate to large…

The purpose of this article is to examine the ethical tensions and considerations that arise in the world language classroom from using pedagogies of discomfort. Although pedagogies of discomfort have mostly been seen through a positive lens in the literature for engaging students with difficult issues in the classroom, there are ethical concerns,…

Teachers often repeat language learning tasks and materials with students year after year. Although some tasks do not render satisfactory outcomes, students' performances can serve as valuable historical autoethnographic data that teachers can reflect on to improve their teaching materials and language learning tasks. In this article, using…

As China is building closer economic and geopolitical relations with oil-rich Arabian Gulf Cooperation Council countries, enthusiasm for learning and teaching Chinese is surging in the region. In Kuwait, whereas Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) education is emerging, research into this topical domain remains scarce, particularly on issues such…

This study investigated the effectiveness of the flipped learning model, compared with the nonflipped learning model, in improving second/foreign language metacognitive listening awareness and perceived strategy use. For this purpose, 40 young adult learners studying English as a foreign language in two intact classes were selected. They were…