In this article, we describe and evaluate a research utilization initiative designed to bridge the teaching English as a second language (TESL) research-practice gap by fostering the formation of and supporting professional learning communities (PLCs) in adult ESL instructional contexts. We review literature on teachers' professional reading,…

Anglosphere universities are a site of growing concern about students' use of professional English language editing and proofreading services for the correction of academic writing. Students' use of such services raises issues of ethics and academic integrity as well as fundamental questions about how value is allotted to the labour involved in…

In the ongoing and constantly expanding discussion surrounding cell phones in the classroom, a theoretical complement to the practical side of the issue is generally lacking. This is perhaps understandable. Many teachers are still trying to deal with the simple presence of cell phones in the class, and managing a classroom in which the presence…

One possible hurdle to implementing the Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) approach is uncertainty about how to turn target tasks into materials that can be used in the classroom. This article discusses the steps taken to create materials for one target task (communicating with a police officer during a traffic stop) in a manner that provides a…

For many years the Canadian government has been committed to resettling refugees. Recently, this commitment has been expanded, as more than 25,000 Syrian refugees have been admitted into Canada. As refugee students struggle to adapt to a new environment, English as a second language (ESL) educators are called upon to play a significant role in the…

Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) has become increasingly recognized as an effective pedagogy, but its location in generalized sociocultural theories of learning has led to misunderstandings and criticism. The purpose of this article is to explain the congruence between TBLT and Expansive Learning Theory and the benefits of doing so. The merit…

The concept of determiners is widely employed in linguistics, but mostly absent from English Language Teaching (ELT) materials (dictionaries, teacher-reference books, and student-oriented texts). Among those employing the concept, there is near-universal confusion between determiners and pronouns, arising mainly from an analytical and…

In a marketized environment, ESL providers, in common with other postcompulsory educational institutions, canvass student satisfaction with their services. While the predominant method is likely to be based on tick-box questionnaires using Likert scales that measure degrees of satisfaction, qualitative methodology is an option when rich data is…

Studying task repetition for adult and young foreign language learners of English (EFL) has received growing interest in recent literature within the task-based approach (Bygate, 2009; Hawkes, 2012; Mackey, Kanganas, & Oliver, 2007; Pinter, 2007b). Earlier work suggests that second language (L2) learners benefit from repeating the same or a…

The purpose of this article is to analyze a task included in the LINC Home Study (LHS) program. LHS is a federally funded distance education program offered to newcomers to Canada who are unable to attend regular LINC classes. A task, in which a language structure (a gerund) is chosen and analyzed, was selected from one instructional module of LHS…

This study examines how three age-on-arrival (AOA) groups of Chinese-background ESL students use two types of cohesive devices on a standardized essay exam. A discourse analysis of 90 first-year students' expository writing samples was conducted to ascertain how factors such as first language (L1) and length of residence (LOR) in Canada influence…

Two contradictions are inherent in our research into referencing practices and the subsequent development of teaching strategies to remedy inappropriate practices. First, aggregate studies and teaching strategies that tend toward a one-size-fits-all formula for researching and teaching referencing do not consider individual differences in…

English is a compulsory subject in many secondary EFL classrooms; thus the questions that arise for teachers are how to motivate learners in general and how to help them come to appreciate the value of English learning activities in particular. This article is based on the premise that learners benefit not only from becoming intrinsically…

One of the central challenges of ESL teaching is striking the right balance between form and meaning. In pronunciation pedagogy, this challenge is compounded because repetitive practice, which has been shown to enhance phonological acquisition and promote fluency, is widely viewed as being incompatible with communicative principles. This article…

Presents a framework for examining culture in an English-as-a-Second-language instructional context. An explanation of the rationale behind the framework is followed by a description of the way the framework was applied to Language Instruction for Newcomers (LINC) curriculum guides to test its usability as an analytical tool. (Author/VWL)