We often hear from speakers of L2 that they "feel different" when communicating through the medium of an additional language. While there has been much exploration of L2-­mediated identity development in naturalistic settings, there is very little conducted within the instructed learning environment of EFL. The present study explores how…

This paper outlines a study being undertaken in an Australian university into the experiences of multilingual and bilingual pre-service teachers at that university. By focusing on these students' diverse language abilities in relation to their studies, and to their developing identities as teachers in multilingual Australia, the study seeks to…

This study used think-aloud protocols to compare essay-rating processes across holistic and analytic rating scales in the context of China's College English Test Band 6 (CET-6). A group of 9 experienced CET-6 raters scored the same batch of 10 CET-6 essays produced in an operational CET-6 administration twice, using both the CET-6 holistic…

Due to the significance of beliefs in giving direction to the activities of educators, the present study examined the beliefs of 12 Iranian pre-service teachers about democratic education. Overall, the findings of focus group discussion and semi-structured interviews pointed to a technicist and often an apolitical view of teaching held by most of…

This study investigated the use of language learning strategies (LLS) and reasons for learning English among Iranian EFL students who began learning English at different ages. The participants (N = 33, both male and female) were divided into two groups of younger beginners (who began learning English before age 9; N = 16) and older beginners (who…

Adopting a qualitative case study methodology, the present study illuminates how two multilingual students enrolled in a U.S. community college ESL class negotiated the sociocultural norms valued in their multiple communities to make investment in learning English in college. Drawing on Gee's theory of Discourse and identity (1996) and Norton's…

Against the backdrop of the rejection of mother tongue-based bilingual education in Southern Nigeria and in Northern linguistic minority areas, this study investigates the micropolitics of language education by interrogating everyday language practices of education stakeholders which are at variance with language-in-education policy. It relied on…

This discussion examines an academic intervention designed to enhance the motivation and classroom engagement of English Language Learners (ELLs) during literacy-based activities. Stemming from a sociocultural perspective of literacy (Au, 1993; Perez, 2004) within a funds of knowledge framework (González, Moll, & Amanti , 2005), our approach…

This qualitative study explores teachers' perspectives on learner motivation for English in Chilean secondary schools. Drawing both on motivation theories and on concepts related to teacher cognition, autonomy and agency, the analysis of 19 semi-structured interviews with Chilean English teachers sheds light on the difficulties that many teachers…

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the challenges facing Irish organisations in the training and development of non-Irish workers. It analyses the importance of fluency in the host country's language and the approach taken by organisations in relation to language training. In-depth semi-structured interviews provide significant insights for the…

For valid educational and cultural reasons, many teacher education institutions promote or allow some pre-service teachers to complete their student teaching experiences in a different country. A select, but growing body of literature suggests positive outcomes of these unique international placements. This study extends and refines the data on…

Qzone weblog is one of the most popular weblogs in China. This study explores Qzone weblog for critical peer feedback to facilitate Business English writing among the Chinese undergraduates. A qualitative case study is conducted by NVivo 8 to analyze the three research data of semistructured interviews, Business English writing assignments, and…

This article presents a qualitative study of five monolingual teachers' understandings of the linguistic repertoires of their multilingual students. These teachers deliver the Saskatchewan provincial curricula in English to Hutterite colony students who are users of three languages: (a) spoken Hutterisch as a home and community language, (b)…

Test takers' beliefs or experiences have been overlooked in most validation studies in language education. Meanwhile, a mutual exclusion has been observed in the literature, with little or no dialogue between validation studies and studies concerning the uses and consequences of testing. To help fill these research gaps, a group of Senior III…

The term code-switching (CS) that occurs in everyday situations, or naturalistic code-switching, has been a controversial strategy regarding whether it benefits or impedes language learning. The aim of this study was to investigate CS in conversations between teachers and students of ESP classes in order to explore the types and functions of CS…