This conceptual paper deals with ways in which gesture or embodied utterances create deictic expressions (i.e., deixis) that are relevant to second language teaching and learning. While many gesture types have been found to be material carriers of meaning (McNeill, 1992; Vygotsky, 1986), deictics have the ability and function to create new…

In today's globalised world, a single named language such as English, Norwegian or Spanish, no matter how 'big' it is, rarely satisfies all the needs of communication, cooperation, education or any other area of human life. Neither is the entire language repertoire plausible for everyday use, simply because it is impossible to use too many…

While language is clearly an important aspect of (labor) migration, there have not been many contemplations and interrogations, although truly compelling and necessary, on language varieties and their place and position in labor migration and transnational work in the contemporary world, and hence why we intend to do so in this article. In our…

An enduring contribution of Richards Sparks' work has been his exploration of the relationship between a learner's first language (L1) and a language that he or she learns subsequently (L2). The present paper considers that relationship from the perspective of learners and teachers of a 'foreign' language in classroom settings. The paper first…

The effect of first language transfer on second language acquisition and learning has been a major theoretical concept in second language research and pedagogy since the 1950s. In order to give a historical perspective, the authors offer a brief presentation of some of the major topics from the broad spectrum of issues that have been examined by…

The prevalent use of ELF in global communication necessitates a rethinking of what theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches are appropriate to explain the changing and complex nature of intercultural interactions, particularly, those whereby English is recognised as a passport. This review accounts for ELF interactions in terms of…

To investigate how the process of peripheralisation usurps internationalisation experiences within the global higher education centres, this article draws on two separate case studies, one conducted in Finland and the other in the UK. In both contexts, Anglophone hegemony plays an important role, but in different manners. In the Finnish case,…

Exploring the Yiddish language of my father, grandmother, her grandmother, and beyond, this autobiographical article frames language as an ever-changing space where identities are negotiated, formed, and contested. Placing the history of Yiddish alongside my own familial relationship to the language, I explore how the stories of individual lives…

With the expanding role of English medium instruction (EMI) worldwide there has been an increasing use of English to teach content subjects at tertiary level. In implementing EMI a common assumption has been that the primary issue affecting successful EMI is the English proficiency level of the EMI instructor. This paper reviews this assumption by…

In recent years, the rapid growth and unprecedented dominance of the English language has transformed the world's linguistic ecology and promoted anxiety and debates about its future. The language has developed into a leading international lingua franca used by millions of speakers in different linguistic and cultural contexts worldwide. This…

Mother-tongue education has increasingly become a keyword in formulations of development goals, especially the Sustainable Development Goals (2015). Achievement of these goals acquires a grave sense of urgency in light of the ever-increasing threat to the very fabric of our linguistic diversity. The basic premise of this article is that Gandhian…

Research on economic activity in Africa consistently ignores the importance of individuals' linguistic repertoires. We argue that an important contributing factor to the persistence of this lacuna is the lack of visibility of language in the social and economic data that is collected by governments through social surveys. We examine the specific…

In this paper, the role and nature of language and language development will be discussed. Research and theory in second language acquisition has demonstrated that (i) language is an abstract, implicit and complex system. Input (ii) plays a key role in language development; despite the fact that some knowledge of language is innate (iii). Overall,…

Research has seen a growing recognition of the crucial role pronunciation plays in teaching English as an International Language (EIL), in achieving effective communication and its close link to the mastery of other aspects of language teaching and learning. In spite of its recognised importance, pronunciation is still a marginalised skill in many…

The following interview was conducted with Catherine Elder in spring of 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic. Cathie has had a varied career in language testing, including work at universities in Australia and New Zealand and at the Language Testing Resource Center in Melbourne. In this interview, Cathie shares some highlights of her somewhat…