This study explored how Iranian EFL learners and native English speakers conceptualized the impolite use of "please" in interaction. Moreover, attempts were made to examine whether Iranian EFL learners and native English speakers differ in using the impolite version of please in their communications. To this end, informal conversations…

This study reports on findings of an investigation into the relationship between ideal L2 self as a motivational variable and willingness to communicate in English (L2 WTC) in and outside the classroom. Participants were a total of 90 university students majoring in English as a foreign language (ELF) at a foundation university in Ankara, Turkey.…

The aim of this comparative study is to investigate the deployment of interactional metadiscourse features in two different academic genres. For this purpose, a small, specialized corpus of 48 research articles and book reviews from seven different disciplines were collected. The conclusion sections of the texts written by non-native speakers of…

This study investigated the reading demands of restricted-use items administered to South African grade 9 learners as part of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2015. The method proposed by Mullis, Martin and Foy (2013) was used to categorise items into low, medium and high readability groups. The 'knowing' domain…

The Safe Schools Coalition Australia's teaching resource All of us, or 'Safe Schools', as it became known, was subjected to unrelenting attack from politicians in the Australian Parliament. This paper draws on analysis of the Australian Parliamentary Hansard, examining 18,000 words spoken about Safe Schools by Senators and Members of Parliament…

The role of social work education is to prepare students to work with individuals, families, and communities, many of whom have one or more disabilities. Yet most social work programs include limited disability-specific content in their programs, and with a deficit-model focus. Recent changes in the National Association of Social Workers Code of…

The importance of argumentative writing has long been recognized. However, many foreign language learners struggle to make effective argumentation and use appropriate language in argumentative writing. In this study, we proposed a blended learning design to address students' problems with argumentation and language use in argumentative writing…

We examined dynamic assessment's (DA's) added value over traditional assessments for identifying Spanish-speaking English learners' (ELs) risk for developing mathematics disabilities, as a function of the language of test administration (English vs. Spanish), type of math outcome, and EL's language dominance. At the start of first grade, ELs (N =…

The orientation toward a knowledge-based economy has led to the increasing need to pursue advanced degrees to further improve one's competitiveness in society. Research on postgraduate programs has thus sparked interest from multiple perspectives, among which, generated written artifacts such as dissertations have become the center of attention.…

The relationship between the polite and conventional nature of friendly language and the sincerity of the writer's feelings is a central topic in linguistic and historical research on friendship in epistolary communication. This relationship can be understood in the context of the emotional values and conventionalised emotional practices that…

This research explored the practices of one science teacher, expert in her field, as she worked to enact science discourse that incorporated language in naturalistic and rigorous ways. Difficulties in mastering the language of science contribute to troubling and persistent achievement gaps across demographic and gender groups. Science learning is…

Social work is language work, and yet the profession has operated without a fully critical theory of language difference. Rather, a model of language as merely a neutral conduit of communication has prevailed, with the result that language issues have been addressed mostly as problems of translation. But a more rigorous approach to language as an…

The aim of this paper is to investigate the discourses that emerge when Sweden's Art and Music School leaders talk about the inclusion of pupils with disabilities in relation to policy. A starting point is that both earlier studies and policy documents have revealed inclusion problems within Art and Music Schools. The research question is: how are…

When threatened with ostracism, children attempt to strengthen social relationships by engaging in affiliative behaviors such as imitation. We investigated whether an experience of ostracism influenced the extent to which children imitated a partner's language use. In two experiments, 7- to 12-year-old children either experienced ostracism or did…

This paper explores the applications of pattern grammar and local grammar in English language teaching, focusing specifically on the design of teaching materials. It shows that grammar patterns can be systematically analysed from a local grammar perspective, and further argues that the practice of local grammar analyses helps to raise language…