All 16 Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) colleges are committed to creating Intentional Networks Transforming Effective and Rigorous Facilitation of Assessment, Collaboration, and Education (INTERFACE). INTERFACE received a Round Three TAACCCT grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. INTERFACE is a strategic alignment between colleges,…

Speaking a foreign language is a complicated process that involves linguistic competence, skills, and strategy use. Communicating through English in English for Academic Purposes courses is a basic requirement for EFL learners, but it can be a challenge. To improve the quality of speech, strengthen components of speaking competence, and raise…

In light of widespread recognition of the need to explore new forms of literacy brought by the contemporary semiotic world, this study explores the potential Critical Thinking (CT) may offer in developing learners' critical literacy in an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) context enhanced with the use of technology. Drawing on research in…

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 catastrophic devastation from recent natural calamities in the Philippines such as Typhoon Yolanda and Central Visayas earthquake in 2013 had made disaster preparedness a primary concern in the country. Prompted by the critical need to use science to save lives, this study developed Science of Survival (SOS) pamphlets titled "When the…

Special education programs vary in the quality of services provided across states, cities, and school districts. There are three major components necessary for a quality special education program for children with complex learning needs. These components include systems level analysis, capacity building for staff, and strong individual student…

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is an empirically investigated pedagogy that has garnered attention from language programs across the globe. TBLT provides an alternative to traditional grammar translation or present-practice-produce pedagogies by emphasizing interaction during authentic tasks. Despite several previous meta-analyses…

The South African National Integrated Early Childhood Development Policy was approved by the South African Cabinet in 2015. Given capacity and financial constraints, all services outlined cannot be implemented in a single step. Priorities must be set. We examine the budget implications (total cost and cost per child) and benefits of the four…

There are two prominent constraints of students' needs analysis; first, the identification of needs in teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP) merely focuses on two main dimensions, namely target needs and learning needs, and less to involve affective factors as the basis of all (including learning experience and achievement motivation).…

The current study explored Iranian learners' prior L1 (i.e., Farsi) experiences, their L2 (i.e., English as a foreign language) writing-related perceptions, and the effects of these writing-related L1 experiences on L2 writing-related perceptions. The data were gleaned from 15 students in a wide range of proficiencies using qualitative interviews.…

Background: The role of safe spaces on university campuses for gay and lesbian students remains a contested issue. This is attributed to the fact that the visibility of these students on university campuses presents a duality: On the one hand, the creation of such spaces provides a sense of communal belonging, safety and visibility for these…

This article reports an investigative study of professional language learning needs of science and language majors in the Chinese university context. Surveys with both rating and open-ended questions and participant observation were conducted with 158 participants from science and language programs who enrolled in business English courses in the…

Despite the steady growth in the recruitment and education of MBA students in China, there is a dearth of research on MBA students' perceptions of Business English Writing (BEW) in this context. This paper conducts a qualitative inquiry into Chinese MBA students' perceptions of BEW in English as a foreign language context in China. Forty-four MBA…

Educational rights and other rights enumerated in federal law support deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) viewers' access to captions in visual electronic media, yet uncaptioned and inadequately captioned media still exist. To determine what is satisfactory in captioned media and what could be improved to ensure access, data were gathered from focus…

Every year, thousands of young people are released from juvenile correctional institutions nationwide. When released, they face immediate challenges as they attempt to reintegrate into the community where they confront significant barriers to success. Understanding how to support youth when they are returning from a period of confinement requires…