Reflective practice (RP) has been widely promoted in many second language teacher education programs to foster pre-service teachers' pedagogical competence. However, the effectiveness of RP has often been questioned and challenged due to its lack of authenticity in practice. This Viewpoint paper focuses on the issue of authenticity of RP and how…

A growing interest has been witnessed in analysing second language (L2) learner motivation in English as an Additional Language (EAL) instruction around the world. Despite extensive scholarship in this area, revisiting learner motivation is warranted due to some unprecedented developments that impact EAL teaching, such as the prevalence of World…

Vijay Kumar Bhatia retired from his role as a professor at the City University of Hong Kong and is now Visiting Professor at the Hellenic American University in Athens, and Adjunct Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He has extensive experience of teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels over a period exceeding 50 years in…

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been varied, and while there was a clear upsurge in the use of technology in language and learning contexts during the worst lockdown periods, the long-term impact on technology usage remains to be seen. As has been widely noted, lockdowns forced teaching into remote modes, making technology indispensable.…

The literature on how to develop competence in giving academic presentations (AP) (e.g. Zappa-Hollman, 2007) shows that apart from basic communication skills (i.e. the ability to speak accurately, fluently and appropriately), university students are expected to perform specific roles and develop advanced skills for intellectual exchange and the…

Linking adverbials are important for creating textual cohesion in both written and spoken English. While there are reference grammar books describing the usage patterns of linking adverbials and studies investigating learners' difficulties in using these cohesive devices, there is little discussion on how to effectively teach and learn them. By…

The uniqueness of the Language Classroom and its complexity raises a need for foreign language teachers to develop necessary skills and knowledge to observe, analyse and evaluate their classroom discourse. Hence, interactional awareness of language teachers is an integral part of pedagogical and practical knowledge. In this article, the…

Thailand has seen several English language curriculum reforms over the last 20 years, all of which were found to have failed to lift Thai students' standard of English language proficiency across all levels of study. In 2014, the Thai Ministry of Education announced the introduction of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages…

This study investigates how the model of Authentic Leadership applies to language teaching and its implications for future directions in teacher education programmes. Data was collected from 56 native-speaking English teachers through an online survey consisting of specific open-ended and short answer type questions. The results of the study…

Although politeness markers are frequently used in written and spoken communication, pragmatic studies have not sufficiently explored the instruction of such markers to English as a foreign language (EFL) learners who lack sufficient opportunity to communicate with native speakers to acquire them in the context of use. Ignoring politeness as a…

The development and implementation of language teaching programs can be approached in several different ways, each of which has different implications for curriculum design. Three curriculum approaches are described and compared. Each differs with respect to when issues related to input, process, and outcomes, are addressed. Forward design starts…

Grammar can be viewed both as knowledge and as ability. When viewed as knowledge, the focus is on rules for sentence formation. When viewed as ability, the focus is on how grammar is used as a resource in the creation of spoken and written texts. Twelve principles are proposed as the basis for a pedagogy that focusses on acquiring learning to use…

In 1999 a critical thinking syllabus was issued by the education authority to all junior secondary school English language teachers in Hong Kong. Different from the earlier curriculum guidelines, the syllabus highlights the importance of thinking in English language teaching and learning, and developing students' critical thinking through the…

The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology issues a document known as the Course of Study Guidelines on average once every ten years. This document states the overall and specific goals for English education in Japanese junior and senior high schools including specifying the contents of ministry approved textbooks.…

The potential of online language learning has received much attention recently. This paper reports the design of an online writing system featuring learning support for non-native students during their writing process. The central premise is that in the online writing situation, students are in great need of writing aids. The proposed system…