This thesis investigates teachers' and students perceived difficulties in implementing communicative language teaching (CL 1) in English language classes in Bangladeshi secondary schools. It examines the extent to which factors both from the teachers and students perspective contribute to these difficulties. This study used multiple methods to explore teacher and student practices and perceptions regarding CLT (Golafshani, 2003), and it was influenced by an ethnographical approach (Denzin, 1994; Jeffrey and Troman, 2004; Hammersley, 2006). Quantitative methods such as statistical analysis of classroom observation 'data have been used alongside qualitative methods such as thematic analysis of interview data. Classroom observation reveals that teachers apply only minimal CL T principles in their classroom practice. Interview data reveal that there were two major perceived difficulties in implementing CLT in the classroom: pedagogical difficulties and environmental and personal difficulties. The factors that contribute to perceived pedagogical difficulties include insufficient training for both pre-service and in-service teachers; low English proficiency; inconsistency between the CLT approach and the national examination system; teachers' orientation- to traditional methods; the role of private tuition; isolated grammar practice; separation of female and male students in the school, and teachers' lack of familiarity with general teaching techniques. Interviews also reveal that environmental and personal difficulties are perceived to inhibit CLT classroom instruction. In order to work towards the provision of quality English language teaching in Bangladesh, this thesis reflects on the significant barriers to implementing CLT in Bangladeshi secondary schools and considers the steps that need to be taken to better prepare teachers for teaching English in this and other similar contexts. A thorough understanding of the multiple pedagogical, environmental and personal difficulties that teachers and students face in the English language classroom will help teacher educators and policy makers understand the complexity of implementing pedagogical change in this context.

This dissertation explores, by means of an empirical investigation based on a bi-directional approach to learner's interlanguage, whether second language learner groups of typologically different languages acquire the respective target language sociopragmatic rules in realizing a speech act of compliment responses, at both levels of compliment response type and semantic formula. As the means to deepen this investigation, several contextual and psychological variables, such as social distance and relative power between the interlocutors, cognitive consistency, and attribution of compliments, as well as leamer's learning backgrounds and gender, were integrally studied in relation to pragmatic transfer. The quantitative and qualitative analyses of data collected by an oral discourse completion test and verbal reports from two second language learner groups (i.e., Japanese learners of English and American learners of Japanese) and two native speaker groups (i.e., native speakers of Japanese and native speakers of American English) revealed that Japanese learners of English have less difficulty in learning target language cultural patterns in compliment responses than American learners of Japanese, and that 'normal' transfer and reverse transfer occur in inverse directions. The study proposes a consistent explanation for these bi-directional effects of pragmatic transfer under the Markedness Differential Hypothesis (Eckman, 1977): the former occurs from unmarked to marked, while the latter from marked to unmarked. The dissertation also identifies (a) specific situational and psychological conditions inducing negative pragmatic transfer, (b) the roles of transfer of training and overgeneralization, as well as negative transfer, in formulating the pragmatic aspect of interlanguage, and (c) common gender differences in two groups of native speakers, which second language learners neither bring over from first language to interlanguage nor master in second language acquisition.

This study explores the attitudes towards language and its maintenance by the first- and second-generation new diaspora (post-1947 immigration) Telugus living in London, UK. With a population of less than 10,000, Telugus are a sub-minority group living predominantly in the Hounslow and Newham areas, and the majority of them working in IT-related jobs. Based on their time of arrival (pre- and post-2000), two waves of participants, 109 in total, participated in this first sociological study of language in the UK. Using surveys, interviews and field observations, language use in domains and social networks, ethnolinguistic vitality, and perceptions about language and identity were studied. Restricted use of the heritage language and a low vitality towards the own language group suggest that there is a rapid language shift within the second generation. The early first-generation migrants (wave 1) showed more integration into the dominant society and language shift is complete among their children. This was due to the dispersed settlement patterns, a small heritage language network, length of residence and favourable attitudes towards the dominant language and culture. The first generation of wave 2 was observed to be more active as a group and have favourable attitudes towards the maintenance of their heritage language. Reasons for this include increased networking opportunities with the Telugus in London/UK, opportunities to live as cohesive communities, increased contact with India and advances in communication technology. Children of wave 2 were observed to have oracy skills; however, the high vitality assigned to the dominant group and the use of English among same-language friends suggests subtractive rather than additive bilingualism. The new communication technologies, travels, kinship ties, media and cultural associations are allowing people to get together and celebrate their identity through festivals, films and cultural events. The study finds that there has been an increase in Telugu cultural activities around London in recent years. However, they do not seem to influence the language maintenance of the second generation of each wave. Findings suggest that language shift rather than maintenance is dominant. However, the identity of being a Telugu is maintained, regardless of linguistic ability.

The current study examines the effect of two methods of vocabulary instruction on writing: reading-based vocabulary instruction and writing-based vocabulary instruction. The two methods were compared on their impact on Taiwanese college students' writing quality, number of target words used, receptive vocabulary knowledge and productive vocabulary knowledge. Participants were 84 first-year ) technological college students, who were taught 75 target words over five weeks, receiving either writing-based or reading-based instruction. Reading-based instruction, learning vocabulary from a receptive approach, consisted of receptive learning activities including copying words, translation activities from L2 to L l , choosing and matching activities. Writing-based instruction, learning vocabulary from a productive approach, consisted of learning vocabulary through word pairs, translation activities from Ll to L2, sentence writing and story writing activities. Outcomes were measured on task of writing quality on pre and post picture-based story writing which was scored using two kinds of writing rubrics, number of target words used in post picture-based story writing tasks, receptive vocabulary knowledge as assessed by using a multiple-choice test and productive vocabulary knowledge assessed by using a sentence completion test. Students' pre and post writing attitude and perception toward the two learning methods after treatment were also compared. The findings suggest that the writing-based instruction may be a more effective method than reading-based instruction of improving writing quality and developing productive vocabulary knowledge. Students who received the writing-based instruction achieved higher scores on tests of writing quality and sentence completion, while no differences were found between groups in receptive vocabulary knowledge and writing attitude. The main implication is that learning vocabulary from a writing-based approach for writing may improve writing quality better than a reading-based approach.

This study investigates informal conversations between native English speakers and international students living and studying in the UK. 10 NNS participants recorded themselves during conversations with native speakers. The audio-recordings were transcribed and a fine-grained, qualitative analysis was employed to examine how the participants jointly achieved both coherence and understanding in the conversations, and more specifically how the NNSs contributed to this achievement. The key areas of investigation focused on features of topic management, such as topic initiations, changes and transitions, and on the impact which any communicative difficulties may have on the topical continuity of the conversations. The data suggested that these conversations flowed freely and coherently, and were marked by a relative scarcity of the communicative difficulties often associated with NS-NNS interactions. Moreover, language difficulties were found to have minimal impact on the topic development of the conversations. Unlike most previous research in the field, the data further indicated that the NNSs were able to make active contributions to the initiation and change of topics, and to employ a range of strategies to manage these effectively and coherently. The study considers the implications which the findings may have for teaching and learning, for second language acquisition research, and for non-native speakers everywhere.

The present study aimed to establish an empirical framework for test validation and comparison of level-based test batteries and to identify parameters that are useful to explicitly describe different levels of reading proficiency examinations based on a critical evaluation of alignment of the examinations with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). The scope of the study is limited to CEFR B1 and B2 levels. This study applied Weir’s (2005) socio-cognitive validation framework to examine various aspects of the validity of different levels of the GEPT in terms of contextual parameters, cognitive processing skills, and test results. The CEFR and two levels of a CEFR-aligned multilevel test battery, PET and FCE developed by Cambridge ESOL, served as external referents for a review of the similarities and differences between GEPT reading tests targeting CEFR B1 and B2 levels. To establish ‘situational and interactional authenticities’ (Bachman and Palmer, 1996), this study not only applied automated tools and expert judgment to examine ‘the degree of correspondence of the characteristics of a given language test task to the features of a TLU [target language use] task’ (ibid., 23), but also carried out what O’Sullivan (2006: 183) called ‘an a posteriori empirical exploration of test performance’ to gather evidence of interactional authenticity. The findings support the construct validity of the GEPT in general, but show that its cognitive validity needs to be enhanced by incorporating tasks which test expeditious reading operations. As regards the CEFR-alignment, the findings also show that procedures the Manual (CoE, 2009) recommends for linking an examination to CEFR levels do not produce sufficient evidence to demonstrate equivalence between different examinations that target particular CEFR levels. The results indicate that the GEPT Intermediate level and PET, both of which target the B1 level, are equivalent, while the GEPT High-Intermediate level and FCE, which target the B2 level, are much different not only in terms of test results but also contextual features and cognitive processing operations.

The primary aim of this study is to investigate the contributions of the CEFR linking process, as stipulated by the Manual for Relating Examinations to the Common European F ramework of Reference for Languages: learning, teaching, assessment (Council of Europe, 2003), to the validation argument of a university level English language proficiency examination. It also aims to explore the impact of the linking process on the pre-determined or desired level of the examination under study. This study uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to address the above areas and is comprised of three phases. Phase 1 explores every stage of the CEFR linking process as they are being carried out through field notes, interviews, questionnaires and statistics in order to investigate how well the Manual suggestions capture aspects of validity and guide users in this respect. In Phase 2, the study focuses on an overall investigation of the process through a questionnaire after all stages of linking, viz. familiarisation, specification, standardisation and empirical validation, have been conducted. Finally, Phase 3 examines the Manual itself and its suggestions with respect to validation through a critical analysis of the Manual, a questionnaire and interviews. The study showed that the CEFR linking process helps users focus on particularly the context, cognitive and scoring aspects of validity at all stages, but mostly at the standardisation stage of the process. Provided that data are accumulated systematically at different stages, at the end of the linking process, those undertaking a linking study can put forward a complete validation argument for the examination in question. However, the Manual fails to provide a model that guides users in this respect. The iii process also highlights areas to be considered, should the users set out to design or modify an existing examination to measure at the set desired standards.

Στην εργασία αυτή μελετώ την τοποθέτηση μιας ομάδας εκπαιδευτικών στο ζήτημα της ομοιογένειας (language homogeneity) ή ομοιομορφίας της σχολικής τάξης όπως αυτή εκφράζεται στο Γυμνάσιο κυρίως μέσα από την επιπεδοποίηση του μαθητικού δυναμικού και τη διδασκαλία της Αγγλικής ως ξένη γλώσσα κατά επίπεδα γνώσης. Οι διάφορες και διαφορετικές τοποθετήσεις ή στάσεις (attitudes) των εκπαιδευτικών στο σχολικό περιβάλλον (school context) αποτελούν χαρακτηριστικά στοιχεία που στο σύνολό τους επιδρούν στην σύνθεση των γλωσσικών τους ιδεολογιών, σε ατομικό και κοινωνικό επίπεδο, και επηρεάζουν τις εκπαιδευτικές τους επιλογές και πρακτικές μέσα στην σχολική τάξη. / In this work I discuss the positioning of a group of Junior High School teachers on the issue of language homogeneity in teaching classes as it is expressed in Junior High School through the classification of students in different levels of linguistic performance. Teachers’ various attitudes and positioning on this classification are components which affect or illustrate language ideologies and influence teaching practices and options in the teaching process.

Born into a visual culture, today’s generation of learners generally prefer a visually-rich multimodal learning environment. Tapping into the potential of visuals in language pedagogy, this study was aimed at discovering the impact of a visual presentation of grammatical concepts related to sentence structure on student writing. The study used a mixed methods design to analyse the impact of the visual approach first by statistically measuring sentence variety and syntactic complexity of student pre and post intervention texts and then using interviews to explain the nature of the impact of visuals on student conceptual understanding and its effect on their writing development. Statistical findings reveal that the experimental groups of Chinese students who were taught grammatical concepts in the context of writing instruction using a visual approach outperformed the students in the control groups who were given similar lessons in the context of writing instruction but using traditional printed hand-outs. Qualitative findings suggest that the visuals seems to have increased these students’ conceptual understanding of grammatical items that were taught, and this resulted in more sophisticated and syntactically complex texts after the intervention. The study supports the theory of contextualized teaching of grammar and proposes the use of external visuals that lead to internal visualization based on the cognitive theory of multimodal learning. In so doing, it extends the use of visual learning to grammar pedagogy. However, the findings also suggest that the visual approach would not work effectively in cultures that promote rote learning and decontextualized exercises in grammar with the sole aim of passing the exams. A shift in attitude towards grammar pedagogy in China is deemed necessary.