This paper presents a case study of a Hong Kong university student's experiences of learning English as a second language (L2) over a four-year period, with particular attention to the changes in her identities and beliefs across time and space. Drawing on a narrative inquiry approach, the study revealed that the student's L2 identities appeared…

Conceptualizing EMI-cum-acceleration policy in a transnational HE market as the regulation and institutionalization of language practices through a chronometrical approach to time for the sake of global economic competition and social mobility, this qualitative case study explores the experiences and enactments of such a policy by six engineering…

Questions asked as part of phenomenographic research are used to critically synthesize findings from the case studies in this issue of English-medium instruction (EMI) in transnational higher education (TNHE). With respect to whether EMI in TNHE can be considered a phenomenon, it is suggested that the phenomenon is more discursive than empirical.…

The aim of this article is to highlight theoretical and practical considerations in design of an intercultural communication course. The first part of the article considers intercultural competence, and uses Bourdieu's notions of education to frame the design of an intercultural communication course. This is followed by discussion of general…

This paper reports on the development of complexity and accuracy in English as a Second Language (ESL) academic writing. Although research into complexity and accuracy development in second language (L2) writing has been well established, few studies have assumed the multidimensionality of these two constructs (Norris & Ortega, 2009) or…

Whether Willingness to Communicate (WTC) is a permanent trait or is modified by situational context has previously been investigated in various studies (e.g. Cao & Philp, 2006; Kang, 2005; MacIntyre & Legatto, 2011). However, most research into WTC has been quantitative or conducted in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) or Study…

Despite growing interest in the theorisation of teacher-based assessment (TBA), very little research has paid close attention to how teachers practice assessment embedded in real classroom contexts. This longitudinal study over one school term reports on the TBA of young learners with English as an additional language (EAL) in New Zealand primary…

This article reports on a case study of negotiation that occurred in peer group oral interactions under assessment conditions. Discourse analysis was used to illustrate how participants negotiated and co-constructed the assessment format itself as well as meaning exchange sequences. Analyses of the data point to the advantage of using peer group…

This paper examines the patterns of language choice and the construction of L2 learning opportunities in foreign language learners' social networks by focusing on how these patterns and opportunities are socially structured in a Japanese language learner's natural interactions. It is based on a range of data, including a script of on-line chat…

This paper reports on an online guided reading program designed and developed by the authors, and implemented in class conditions. The program allows students to read a short story from a computer screen and obtain immediate support, in the form of suggested problem-solving strategies designed to help them overcome the lexical and grammatical…