An action-oriented approach views "users and learners of a language primarily as 'social agents', i.e. members of society who have tasks (not exclusively language-related) to accomplish in a given set of circumstances, in a specific environment and within a particular field of action. While acts of speech occur within language activities,…

In this article, Naouel Zoghlami draws on needs analysis as a fundamental approach to inform the design of a professional English curriculum at the Cnam, a unique French research institution of higher education dedicated to lifelong learning. While needs analysis is still not widely used in the development of English for specific purposes programs…

Despite the developments in the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) field, the field of ESP Teacher Education (TE) remains neglected. Research in the area of ESP TE has not been given much attention, and the opportunities ESP practitioners have for Professional Development (PD) are very limited. This chapter describes the development of a…

The School of Languages and Applied Linguistics at the Open University (OU) radically re-designed its modern languages curriculum in 2014, launching its first suite of new modules in 2017. The institution as a whole has since also developed a new employability framework. Our paper describes the principles underpinning the design of the new…

Assessment is a critical part of teaching and learning so it is important that students are encouraged to engage positively with it. The Institution-Wide Language Programme (IWLP) at the University of Leeds redesigned its model of assessment for modules at upper-intermediate and advanced levels, broadly equivalent to the Common European Framework…

Despite the contributions language centres across the globe have made to language education and higher education in general, few publications have a specific focus on research work produced by language centre faculty. The purpose of this reviewed, edited volume entitled "Tertiary Education Language Learning: A Collection of Research,"…

In our society, which is full of images, visual representations and visual experiences of all kinds, there is a paradoxically significant degree of visual illiteracy. Despite the importance of developing specific visual skills, visual literacy is not a priority in school curriculum (Spalter & van Dam, 2008). This work aims at (1) emphasising…

The present volume collects papers from InnoConf19, which took place at the University of Southampton on the 28th of June 2019. The theme of the conference was 'Treasuring languages: innovative and creative approaches in HE'. The contributions collected in this peer-reviewed volume aim to reflect on best practice in higher education. They showcase…

In this volume, language learning and professionalization are explored by addressing the existing gap between pressing needs for enhanced soft skills in work environments wherein technology-mediated, multilingual communication is increasingly the norm, and current foreign language teaching and learning offerings in higher education. Considering…

This paper reports on a research project in a university English as Foreign Language (EFL) program in Japan which explored ways to sustain active participation in e-learning tasks. The tasks were intended to improve students' scores on the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), a test used by businesses to make hiring decisions.…

Summer pre-sessional courses in English for academic purposes (EAP), which prepare growing numbers of international students for degree programmes at UK universities, are facing greater challenges in how to provide the physical space and human resources for their effective and efficient delivery. The affordances of the internet now make other…