The article introduces a learning-oriented approach to test preparation that could help in easing the tension between learning and assessment. The first part of the article discusses the different concepts that are usually used in the context of test preparation. The second section reports on the literature pertaining to the effects of test…

This study investigated the nature of dyadic interaction between secondary English language learners (ELLs) engaged in mathematics peer tutoring sessions. An analysis of 15 ELL expert/novice student-tutoring dyads and three mathematics teacher/ELL novice dyads revealed the importance of questions and wait time in developing novice tutee ownership…

This article develops Phillips and Ochs's (2003) framework for policy borrowing, particularly their theorisations about indigenisation of international programmes. It uses the example of communicative language teaching (CLT) in Bahrain, exploring teacher perspectives regarding the effects of CLT on the preexisting arrangements in the national…

In this theoretical article, the author explores the perceptions that drive the development of family literacy programs aimed at preparing limited-English-proficiency (LEP) families for schools in the United States. Examining English language learning with regard to power dynamics within a society and culture, the article considers the spectrum of…

Although alternative perspectives continue to be part of TESOL research methodology, there are approaches to social science inquiry that are still not widely known to researchers in the field. More specifically, it may be argued that language education research needs further qualitative approaches that can interweave research and life, language…

This article reports on a small, classroom-based study exploring the use of a task to teach the passive in an English for specific purposes context. The participants were 34 adult Japanese male learners, all security professionals, ranging in proficiency level from elementary to advanced. The task was designed to highlight the form--meaning…

Contemporary K-12 standards-based educational reform has emerged as a central focus of scholarship in TESOL, with robust discussions (practical and theoretical) addressing the shift from ESL as a subject matter unto itself to teaching standards-based content in English (and the standardized assessment of students' achievement across those content…

With the prospect of economic growth, governments in many parts of the world where English is spoken as an additional language have pushed for educational reforms and introduced English at the primary school level. However, the implementation of such reforms along with a general lack of training opportunities available to primary school teachers…

This article delves into the issue of incorporating sociolinguistic aspects of language and culture into the current primary English textbooks in Vietnam. The authors first provide an overview of primary English teaching in the Vietnamese setting and then evaluate the current primary English textbooks in relation to the objectives of foreign…

This article explores the teaching of an acceptable alternative articulation to correct the mispronunciation of the English /l/ sound by speakers of some Asian languages and dialects who struggle to differentiate the English liquids /r/ and /l/. Although teaching pronunciation, and especially segmentals, has generated controversy over whether…

Regardless of their level of academic preparedness, international students face distinct challenges that arise from language issues as well as ones of a personal and social nature, all of which can lead to frustration and failure (Bossio & Bylyna, 2006b). This article discusses an online survey carried out in a Canadian college that identified…

The extant research literature on emergent bilingual spelling focuses on developmental patterns and the interference of first language with second language. The purpose of this article is to provide teachers with an alternate view of emergent bilingual spelling in an effort to influence spelling instruction in the classroom. Writing samples…

This article reviews the current literature on second language writing and service-learning. Service-learning has grown in popularity in higher education over the past two decades, but comparatively little research has been done on the learning experiences of second language writers in service-learning courses. This article outlines the major…

In this article, the researchers explore how insights from complex systems theory might resonate with the experience of TESOL practitioners and argue that complexity can function as a shared discourse space where connections might be drawn between research and practice. The article grew out of a meeting between TESOL practitioners and researchers…

The present study investigates how and when learners decide to correct one another in interaction. In exploring how two learners used strategies in interaction to scaffold or be scaffolded by their interlocutor in an effort to negotiate and communicate meaning, this study finds that the two participants primarily used recasts as their preferred…