The use of authentic literature, especially novels, has proven electrifying for teachers as well as students: a development mirrored in the success of related methodologies and the increasing availability of materials accompanying literature. The benefits of using novels as textbooks are numerous. Research consistently shows the benefits of…

The EAP placement procedure at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) involves multiple measures to assess the language skills of incoming students, some of which are facilitated and all of which are assessed by ESL faculty. In order to determine the effectiveness of this comprehensive EAP placement process and the effect of the faculty factor, a…

This article investigates the strategies that EFL students used and how they adjusted these strategies in response to various listening test tasks. The test tasks involved four forms of listening support: previewing questions, repeated input, background information preparation, and vocabulary instruction. Twenty-two participants were enlisted and…

This study investigated the extent to which word games and culturally relevant songs and stories could motivate senior secondary school students in Nigeria, thereby enhancing their performance in English. A pre-test/post-test control group design was used. The sample consisted of 100 senior secondary school II students randomly assigned into…

Given the increasing numbers of ESL students in Canadian classrooms, this study investigated how teachers of mainstream classes assess the written work of ESL students and whether they use different assessment strategies for ESL versus non-ESL students. Interviews were conducted with seven mainstream teachers from a private high school in Ontario.…

This case study addressed issues of ESL mainstreaming by examining a teacher's experiences and needs in teaching a social studies class where ESL students were mainstreamed. Extended observations, semistructured interviews, and documentary analysis served to unravel classroom dynamics, showing that the teacher modified various aspects of teaching…

This article focuses on an attempt by a teacher education institute to empower non-English majors to teach English at the primary level, drawing on a preservice English-language teacher education program for undergraduates at the National Institute of Education, Singapore. The course, which has been running for three years, aims to develop student…

This article examines the code-switching (CS) practices of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) young children in kindergarten and grade 1 classrooms. The author argues that their use of CS went beyond relief of psycholinguistic stress or coping with liminality (sense of living between two languages and cultures). Through several narratives…

Recent instructional trends in the field of TESOL emphasize teaching language through course content. The dual focus of content-based English instruction (CBI) provides a way for language teachers to engage learners with challenging material while increasing their linguistic proficiency. This article describes a unit in a CBI course at a Japanese…

This article examines the extent to which ESL learners studying in Canada acquire Canadianisms. Two instruments were used to assess the effect of posited variables on this acquisition: a lexical survey administered to 103 ESL learners in Kingston, Ontario; and a questionnaire about resources, teaching methods, and attitudes administered to their…

This study involving 60 Japanese learners of English investigated the effects of various kinds of form-focused instruction on learners' ability to comprehend and produce polite requests in English. Each treatment group received one of the following: (a) deductive instruction; (b) inductive instruction with problem-solving tasks; or (c) inductive…

This case study of an undergraduate student in a Canadian university analyzes her resistance/acceptance of practices and possibilities for participation in academic discourses. Analyzing her responses to feedback on her writing, this study shows the strategies she engages for negotiating her multiple and contradictory identifications as she learns…

Based on interview data, this study investigated four Chinese graduate students' experiences with writing a literature review at a medium-sized university in Canada. These students, from four subject areas, held varying perceptions of a literature review, but all saw the writing challenges that they encountered mainly as linguistic problems,…

This article integrates findings from earlier research (Roessingh & Kover, 2003; Roessingh, Kover, & Watt, 2005) linking distinct patterns of achievement for diverse age-on-arrival (AOA) cohorts of ESL learners on the grade 12 Alberta English language arts (ELA) examination to their vocabulary and reading comprehension scores on a standardized…

This article draws on the results from 18 round-table discussions and a symposium that involved community, education, and government stakeholders in building a vision for quality, equitable ESL education. The findings suggest six pillars of effective ESL education: comprehensive programming; responsive funding allocation; cultural competence;…