The purpose of this study was to explore the reasons for low retention rates among students in the Chinese classes in upper secondary education in the Czech Republic. The principal research question was whether Chinese characters were the main reason why many students decided to stop attending their Chinese classes. Semi-structured interviews with…

Text classification and text gradation are important for language teachers. Profiling and readability studies examine textual and linguistic features that determine text difficulty. Arabic, as an under-resourced language, suffers from a lack of such studies which results in material developers and textbook writers relying on their intuitions and…

The purpose of this article is to present qualitative and quantitative tools to assist teachers and authors of examination materials in their preliminary assessment of text complexity/difficulty according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The qualitative scales were compiled specially for this study, based on previous…

This article reflects on the epistemological steamrolling that the 2021 Ofsted Curriculum Research Review (OCRR) accomplishes: in part, by the positioning of the problem and solution through highly selective cherry-picking (omitting key causal factors); in part, through the discursive move of acknowledging complexity before offering simple and…

This study was an attempt to investigate the effect of choice theory-based instruction on Iranian EFL learners' vocabulary achievement. To fulfil the purpose of this study, 60 female advanced EFL learners were selected from among a total number of 90 learners through their performance on a piloted sample Cambridge ESOL Certificate of Advanced…

Despite English being a core and compulsory part of the curriculum for Chinese English-as-a-second-language (ESL) learners, it is nevertheless often highly challenging for them. This is partly due to the discrepancies between English's citation and spoken form and the lack of recognition this pronunciation receives within ESL classrooms. With this…

The purpose of this study was to develop a deeper understanding of a group of South African English Second Language (ESL) Foundation Phase teachers' understanding of, skills in, and training needs to teach phonological awareness (PA) effectively. A qualitative research approach placed within an interpretative paradigm was utilised in two phases.…

To date, research into vocabulary learning strategies has mainly made use of questionnaires about studying preferences in general or of interviews following a specific study task, focusing on finding out which strategies were most popular. The present investigation attempts to provide more insight into the effects of the parameters of timing and…

Based on a prior study by Chen and Truscott, the present study investigated the possible effects of repetition (repeated exposure) and L1 lexicalization on the incidental acquisition and retention of 10 English target words by 90 Persian-speaking EFL learners at an Iranian university. Seven aspects of vocabulary knowledge were measured, including…

Whether the study of languages should be a core element of a balanced and broadly based curriculum for all pupils in England's 11-16 state-funded secondary schools is also part of a wider debate concerning how to harness England's rich linguistic and cultural diversity and improve the quality and range of language skills of the country. While…

This paper discusses the role of various linguistic sub-disciplines in teaching Finnish and Hungarian. We sketch the profile of the two languages, including difficulties in learning and teaching them, and the context in which they are taught in the UK. Using examples from our own teaching, we argue that a linguistically oriented approach is well…

This study aims to highlight aspects of difficulty encountered by Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) learners and to explore the factors underlying these aspects. Data were gathered through a Chinese Language Learning Difficulty Survey from 164 CFL learners, mostly in British higher education. The survey data provided useful exploratory findings.…

Discusses some of the complex questions differentiation raises that have been glossed over as unproblematical and questions some of the assumptions underlying differentiation that have remained unchallenged. Areas needing further research are discussed. (13 references) (CK)