The global textbook has an enormous influence upon what is taught in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms. As Akbari has noted, our era is not simply "postmethod", but one of "textbook-defined practice". What happens, then, when a global EFL textbook is selected for use with Year 1 students at a Thai university? How…

This paper reports a study that investigated the motivations towards teaching of six pre-service English teachers enrolled on a teacher education course in Hong Kong. A qualitative case study approach was adopted, using data gathered from pre- and post-course interviews with individual participants, their dialogue journals with the teacher…

Positioned against the background of the Council of Europe's interest in developing intercultural competence through education, the study presented in this paper investigates the impact on intercultural visual literacy of the Council of Europe's "Images of Others--An Autobiography of Intercultural Encounters through Visual…

Influenced by contemporary research into the interconnectedness of language and culture, many Indonesian teacher education courses have introduced "new" subjects such as "Intercultural Communication" and "Cross-Cultural Understanding", hoping to unsettle their students' traditional assumptions that language is…

Language pedagogy in Australia, North America and Europe has been influenced in the past 20 years by a sociocultural understanding of language and culture, which has asked teachers to adopt an intercultural approach, integrating critical cultural reflection within language learning. Due to the diversity of backgrounds, however, different groups of…

This article investigates the premise that literary texts use language in aesthetic, imaginative and engaging ways that have considerable potential to extend the learning of bilingual pupils. It draws on research findings from a qualitative study that examined the value of developing pedagogic practices for emergent bilingual learners at the…

An increasingly important curricular aim of teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) is to develop learners' intercultural competence for communication with people from different cultures through English. English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' perceptions and practices in relation to integrating culture with English learning have been…

Heritage language education has come to prominence worldwide. Despite the increasing number of Chinese heritage language learners and Chinese schools in the USA, little attention has been given to teachers. This study investigated three heritage language teachers' professional identity and beliefs about curriculum and instructional practices in a…

This study explored the beliefs of "non-native English speaking" teachers about the usefulness and appropriacy of varieties such as English as an International Language (EIL) and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), compared with native speaker varieties. The study therefore addresses the current theoretical debate concerning "appropriate" target…

This study demonstrates how English Programme in Korea (EPIK) is an example of Korea's active response to the globalization process through which Korea not only accommodates external demands but also strategically pursues national interests through equipping its citizens with a command of English. EPIK, affiliated with the Korean Ministry of…

In this paper we will present the main principles behind language planning in the Ikastolas (Basque medium Schools), where a plurilingual school model has been developed as a way of promoting minority languages in a globalised world. We will start by contextualising the Ikastolas' language policy, briefly tracing their history from their…

This paper investigates the code-switching behaviour of two native speaker teachers teaching their mother tongue--French and Korean, respectively--to predominantly English monolingual students in New Zealand secondary schools. A close analysis of these teachers' classroom discourse and their perceptions about classroom language use reveals a range…

The identity formation of Australian-trained Vietnamese teachers of English is explored by looking at their experiences as TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) students in Australia and as teachers of English in Vietnam. On the one hand, the paper consolidates the understanding of identity in relation to difference and…

This paper explores ways of using culture and cultural practices as an informing principle in ESL teaching. To research culture and ESL teaching, we conducted focus groups with teachers in an urban ethnically diverse school in Toronto, Canada and their student teachers during their month-long practice in the school as a part of a Bachelor of…

A qualitative, ethnographic investigation of a Canadian, undergraduate, advanced Hebrew course composed of heritage language learners of diverse backgrounds examined the fluctuating notion of the target language (TL) community in second language teaching. Data collection techniques of participant observation, in-depth, semi-structured focus group…