The COVID-19 pandemic is a huge challenge to education systems. Most governments around the world have temporarily closed schools, universities, and colleges. At the same time, teachers and students are encouraged to use the online and distance learning programs and platforms as an alternative. In the present study, we proposed a series of…

This edited book documents practices of learning-oriented language assessment through practitioner research and research syntheses. Learning-oriented language assessment refers to language assessment strategies that capitalise on learner differences and their relationships with the learning environments. In other words, learners are placed at the…

To enhance pedagogical innovation, the study reports on an investigative study using surveys and teacher participant observation of 121 English-major undergraduates about using problem-based approach under active learning framework in business English teaching, learning outcomes, and suggestions for the teaching and learning process to cultivate…

Special class secondary school physics teachers represent outstanding secondary school physics teachers in China. This paper analyzes the personal life histories of 13 outstanding secondary school physics teachers. We coded and analyzed the sample materials and summarized the laws of professional development of outstanding secondary school physics…

As part of a mixed-methods reconnaissance action research study, I assessed the impressions teachers had of using an innovation configuration for vocabulary instruction at an English education center in China. The quantitative data strand consisted of lesson artifacts and documents. The qualitative data strand consisted of semi-structured…

In light of pedagogical innovation, this study reports a two-stage survey with 172 participants from English-major and non-English-major programs on their needs of production-oriented approach and perceptions of effective implementation strategies in business English courses at a Chinese university. The results of the study suggest that while the…

Animal vocal behaviour represents a certain meaning, which is the explicit expression of animal emotions, needs and communication. Different from human language, animal vocal behaviour is very abstract, and the learning material of animal vocal behaviour is also more difficult to obtain. It is hard for college students to recognize vocal…

The Chinese teaching research system was created, improved, and developed in response to the ongoing process of addressing issues and needs in teaching in China's primary and secondary education system. The teaching research system is an important and integral part of the Chinese approach to managing teaching. Its 70-year course of development can…

This article reports on a classroom-based study that examined perceptual mismatches in the interpretation of task-based ELT materials in the Chinese university context. The study looked particularly into the micro-evaluation of the task-based English lesson. Based mainly on qualitative analysis, findings showed that there was a general agreement…

This paper highlights how returnees and knowledge diaspora are important sources for China's human resources development, identifying push and pull factors that also contribute significantly to innovation in the higher education sector. By outlining China's key projects and schemes for recruiting international professional workers, the paper…

The emergent cyber-violence along with the omnipresence of digital media has made the development of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' digital empathy a shared concern among contemporary language educators. Yet how this could be done in EFL/ second language (L2) pedagogies remains underexplored. Informed by a conceptualization of…

This paper describes a study of ICT-related teacher development in the context of a national reform of College English teaching in China. The reform, in which emphasis was placed on use of information and communications technology (ICT) in classroom teaching and self-access learning, had challenged teachers of English as a foreign language to…

English language learning (ELL) websites and digital resources have been recognized as an important source of linguistic and cultural knowledge for English as a foreign language (EFL) learners to explore. The up-to-date information carried by authentic materials is invaluable for learners to develop an understanding of the target language/culture.…

The focus of this research is on an international distance discussion class carried out in Chinese between university students in Japan, China and Taiwan using videoconferencing. Smiling was used as an interactional index in an analysis of the archival footage of the recordings of the discussion between native speakers (NS) of Chinese and…

Few studies have been conducted at the tertiary level on Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). The current study aims to gather and share preliminary data concerning CLIL in higher education at several universities in different countries. A questionnaire and brief description of the project and its objectives were emailed to all…