Academic literacies research emphasizes the importance of social context for understanding student writing development in higher education. In particular, students' choices of textual practices are shaped by perceptions of disciplinary norms and institutional expectations. In contemporary online learning environments, however, student writing is…

The aim of this study is to assess the needs and perceived difficulties of students of a master's degree on Bilingual Education who have had to work on a master's dissertation in English. First, some relevant studies in the field of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) will be reviewed, with a specific focus on those that tackle the challenges that…

In a classroom setting, international students must confront continually evolving negotiations of competence, membership, and identity to validate their place in academic discourse. Pervading their efforts for validation, of course, are racialized issues of generalization, stereotype, power, and access. For many, academic socialization goes beyond…

As a high-stakes standardized test, IELTS is expected to have comparable forms of test papers so that test takers from different test administration on different dates receive comparable test scores. Therefore, this study examined the text difficulty and task characteristics of four parallel academic IELTS reading tests to reveal to what extent…

Although there is now a good deal of research on whether, when, and how to teach Academic Language (AL), we still have a limited understanding of the various ways and reasons we might teach AL to refugee-background students enrolled in U.S. schools--and how to do so without devaluing their existing repertoires, resources, and lived experiences. A…

Students are expected to comprehend and produce increasingly complex texts in upper elementary school, and academic language and literacy skills are considered critical to meeting these expectations. Notions of academic language are also controversial and require careful deliberation when applied to traditionally minoritized populations, including…

As 21st century is the era of modern technologies with different aspects, it offers us to make the best use of them. After tape recorder and overhead projector (OHP), multimedia has become an important part of language classroom facilities for its unique and effective application in delivering and learning lesson. Although in many parts of…

As the number of international students enrolled in North American universities continues to rise it is important that all instructors gain a more complete understanding of some of the issues that students face when they come to university. This article focuses on only one area, how students cope when learning how to write an academic essay, and…

Maastricht University (UM) has a distinct global perspective and a strong focus on innovation. UM offers an array of PhD courses to distance and campus based students who have access to elective, credit bearing modules and the language needs of these students are catered for by the Language Centre. Many PhD candidates choose to take an academic…

This study aims to examine the efficacy of Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) of English as a foreign or second language (L2) through two perspectives: learning gain and learner autonomy. Previous studies have shown that L2 learning combined with media could activate the learning processes, resulting in an easier recall of the target…

This paper is aimed to examine the effects of scaffolding on the development of higher-order thinking skills as evidenced in the academic writing of undergraduates at tertiary levels in the university education system. A lot of empirical research so far has examined the applicability of scaffolding in acquiring writing skills; however, few of them…

Knowledge of morphemes, the smallest meaningful units within words, contributes to word reading skills, vocabulary, and text comprehension. However, selecting which morphemes to teach can present a challenge for teachers. To date, researchers have not systematically analyzed morphemes in English words to determine which ones are most useful for…

This article explores the experiences of international students as they engage in independent learning through formulating dissertation proposals. It contributes new insights by focusing on the 'pre-supervision' stage, where students formulate a research project and write a proposal independently. The analysis draws on questionnaire and focus…

Drawing on conversation analysis (CA), this study examines reported thought (e.g., "you're like 'do I really have to do that?'") and its function in writing center talk. Previous related studies, which are informed by Goffman's (1981) notion of footing, have demonstrated how reported thought (RT) is a resource for modeling undesirable…

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore how experienced teachers use classroom talk to support their pedagogic goals in pre-sessional and in-sessional EAP lessons. Design: Data were gathered by video recording four teachers' EAP lessons. Two lessons were pre-sessional and two lessons were in-sessional. A framework which identified…