With reference to language teaching, this research examines current trends in the combination of pictures and print. Assuming that when combined in texts, these utilize differential disclosures of visual and verbal feature, the research establishes some important provisos. Foremost among these is the stipulation that words and pictures do not communicate with each other in the same way. Thus although, on paper, they may be comprehensibly united, in their disclosure of features they remain mutually exterior and coded apart. Generalising from this, the study surveys other sources of exteriority in ELT. To investigate these, it is necessary to mediate across features which, though brought into contact, remain heterogeneously regulated and coded apart. Similarly, the researching of visual and verbal texts becomes a form of crosscultural arbitration. It therefore needs to account for (and bring into agreement) features extraordinarily combined. Since, by definition, these do not ordinarily communicate with each other in the same way, it is argued that they ought to be central to any field driven by considerations of foreignness. Because, for reasons of exteriority, the operandi of both linguistics and art history appear problematic, the research instead opts for an intervening modus vivendi. Thus Deleuze and Guattari's (1987) research metaphor of the 'nomad' is taken as germane. Since this provides some inkling of a conceptual middle ground, it serves as a general guide to observation and is pursued to a point where visual and verbal texts can be more equitably described. The description makes it possible to observe effective but hitherto unnoticed uses of space. Turning on points of framing, spatial positioning, multilinear connection and - beyond whatever is visible - lines of correspondence with language, these reveal that visual and verbal texts do indeed follow multiple but orderly lines of combination. Having described the principles behind these multilinear visual and verbal combinations, it becomes possible to re-appraise their role in language teaching. Again, therefore, the research concludes that since they seek to interrelate multiple but ordinarily noncommunicating parts, 'nomadic' orientations in general - and visual and verbal texts in particular - ought to be at the very heart of language teaching.

This thesis investigates the second language (L2) acquisition of aspect. Aspect is considered to be a universal property of language (Chung and Timberlake, 1985; Comrie, 1976; Klein, 1994, 1995; Smith, 1991, 1997). Therefore, all natural languages are thought to be able to convey the same aspectual meanings. However, languages do not always convey these meanings in the same ways. For example, although French and English are able to convey viewpoint aspect by tense, they differ from each other in the particular aspectual meanings they map to individual tenses. In other words, English and French differ in how they pair form with meaning for viewpoint aspect. In German, viewpoint cannot be conveyed by tense alone and semantics and pragmatics are required for viewpoint interpretation (Bohnemeyer and Swift, 2004). So whilst languages are able to convey the same meanings, there are differences in how they go about doing this. This raises the question of the role of learners‘ L1 in the L2 development of aspect (e.g. Domínguez, Arche and Myles, 2011; Gabriele, 2005, 2009; Montrul and Slabakova, 2002, 2003; Slabakova, 2000, 2002, 2008). In other words, do differences in how aspect is expressed in the L1 affect how it develops in the L2? The role of prototypes in the L2 development of aspect has been widely documented as an influencing factor (e.g. Andersen and Shirai, 1994, 1996; Bardovi-Harlig and Bergström, 1996; Bardovi-Harlig, 2000; Labeau, 2005; Salaberry, 1998, 2000). The Aspect Hypothesis (Andersen and Shirai, 1994, 1996) indicates that learners are sensitive to prototypes: L2 development is characterized by initially pairing prototypes of viewpoint with situation type. These form-meaning relationships then become less restricted as L2 proficiency increases. Central to this thesis is the effect to which L1 form-meaning pairings and prototypes affect the L2 development of aspect. This study‘s research questions are as follows: How do learners express perfective and imperfective viewpoint aspect? What role do L1 form-meaning pairings have in the L2 development of viewpoint aspect?  What role do semantic prototypes have in the L2 development of viewpoint aspect? What are the theoretical implications of the role of L1 background and semantic prototypes on L2 development more generally? Participants are English- and German-speaking university learners of French L2 (n=75) and a control group of French native speakers (n=6). C-test results established two significantly different learner groups: a low group and an advanced group. Learners were further divided into groups based on L1 background, resulting in: English low group (n=19), German low group (n=19), English advanced group (n=19), German advanced group (n=18). Participants undertook three tasks: two picture-based spoken narratives and a Sentence Interpretation task. Results show significant differences between learners in production and interpretation. Differences are attributable to both proficiency level and L1 background. English low group learners are significantly different to German low group learners for viewpoint marking, especially in imperfective contexts, whereas English and German advanced group learners are not significantly different from each other. Furthermore, tense selection is subject to a semantic prototype influence, with advanced group learners influenced more than low group learners. It is argued that L1 form-meaning pairings for viewpoint aspect significantly influence L2 development at the early stages of L2 development. However, as L2 proficiency increases L1 influence begins to recede and learners develop L2 form-meaning pairings. At the more advanced stages of L2 development, semantic prototypes significantly affect tense use. Furthermore, prototypical effects appear to increase with proficiency, contrary to the Aspect Hypothesis.

Interest in foreign language, in particular English, education in China has grown considerably in the past three decades, not only in terms of linguistic aspects, but also, more recently, its cultural dimension. The recent syllabuses for non-English and English majors have placed emphasis, to varying extents, on the development of students’ cultural knowledge and/or intercultural communicative competence. The purpose of the research reported in this dissertation is to provide a panoramic picture and a characterisation of the conceptions of culture and its role in English language teaching and learning in China. The research was designed as two discrete, but related, studies: a survey of academic publications; and a field study. The survey aimed at providing a systematic account of the main themes and emphases of writings about culture teaching and intercultural communication studies. Its aim was to discover the research interests, beliefs about culture and the role of culture in foreign language, mainly English, education, and culture teaching techniques. The field study employed semi-structured interviews and non-participant classroom observations to investigate Chinese university EFL teachers’ conceptions of culture and beliefs about culture teaching, and their instructional practices in the classroom. The findings from the studies indicate that the writers and the teachers shared a similar, fairly circumscribed, range of conceptions about culture and culture teaching. Culture is viewed principally as one’s way of life; the role of teaching culture in language learning as presenting factual information relating to products, practices and perspectives. Culture teaching is regarded as important and necessary in foreign language teaching, and its goal as the development of knowledge about cultures and awareness of other cultures. The main culture teaching techniques used in education are introduction, comparison and culture, and student projects Nonetheless, teachers were found to have little acquaintance with culture theory and to lack pedagogical training in culture teaching. They rely predominantly on their own, personal and largely limited, knowledge about and experience of other cultures and tend to focus on the development of students’ language proficiency without sustained cultural input. Despite the rapidly expanding scholarly literature on these topics, it appears to have very limited influence on actual foreign language teaching in universities. On the basis of these findings, a tentative model for cultural education in FLT in China is proposed, comprising (1) developing teachers’ beliefs about and knowledge of culture and culture learning; (2) strengthening comparative cultural studies and cultural pedagogically-oriented research, especially by teachers themselves; (3) developing expertise in culture-related pedagogical practice; (4) extending opportunities for both teachers and learners to gain immersion experiences in other cultures.

Research into L2 reading is well developed. Most of this research, however, views reading within a cognitive and linguistic theoretical framework. It may be argued, however, that an understanding of the reading process can no longer be achieved if restricted to linguistic and cognitive activities. This thesis attempts to draw on sociocultural perspectives to describe ESL academic reading development. A longitudinal approach is adopted to explore the perceptions and experiences of academic reading of a group of Malaysian undergraduates studying in a British university over a period of two academic years. Using multiple case study design and phenomenography as guiding principles, data collection methods include individual interviews and reading diaries. This research has been conducted in a university in the United Kingdom with five male and six female Malaysian undergraduates. All the participants were fluent English as a Second Language (ESL) speakers. Data were analysed based on phenomenographic and thematic analysis principles, using qualitative data processing software, Nvivo10. The findings suggest that these participants’ perceptions of academic reading are influenced by their perceptions of the role of English in the UK, by the complexity of the texts they read and by their lack of academic language proficiency. Their reading strategies consist of support, cognitive and metacognitive strategies. The dynamic nature of their reading strategies is characterised by their reading strategy reinvention and reading strategy adjustments, influenced by a range of text and reader factors. Text factors include the linguistic features in discipline-specific texts and the text medium. Reader factors include motivation and background knowledge. This research has made a contribution to the understanding of the sociocultural elements that influence ESL academic reading development in the UK.

This thesis explores and develops the potential of interactive television (iTV) technology for language learning. Through a modified form of the socio-cognitive engineering approach (Sharpies et al., 2002a), a range of learner centred design activities were carried out and a system developed to provide cross platform support, blending iTV and mobile phones, for adult language learners.

This study proposes a practitioner-oriented model for fostering student academic, social, emotional, and cognitive (ASEC) engagement in learning activities, and it assesses its potential to achieve such aims. The rationale underpinning this research is that the UK currently faces a social problem of negative attitudes towards foreign language learning. This is manifested by the steep decline in the number of schoolchildren that take up Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) in upper secondary education. In light of this, research has consistently demonstrated that attitudes towards learning languages can be transformed if we regularly provide students with engaging experiences in the classroom. Unfortunately, pedagogical solutions that guide secondary schoolteachers on how to engineer engaging classrooms on a daily basis are scarce in educational research. This study uses an action research approach to assess the potential of the proposed pedagogical model to stimulate student ASEC engagement in MFL contexts. This entails two consecutive implementations of the model among a group of 19 Year 9 (difficult and male-dominated) students of Spanish by means of two long-term learning activities. The results from both implementations seem to confirm that the proposed practitioner-oriented model can contribute to promoting student engagement in learning activities at academic, social, emotional, and cognitive levels when it is fully deployed. The study contributes to the field of MFL primarily by offering an assessed pedagogical model that can stimulate regular student ASEC engagement in the MFL classroom, which, in turn, may contribute to the positive transformation of student attitudes towards foreign language learning.

This thesis is a journey which started investigating CLT innovation and implementation in Syrian schools and, due to the armed conflict in the country, ended with another layer of focus on the impact of Syria War on (education and) ELT, teachers and students. Employing a qualitative approach, the data incorporated audio-recordings and interviews as the two main research tools in the study. The lesson transcripts from two teachers in Syria (Grade 7) and a teacher in a camp school in Turkey (Grade 8) were explored in light of retrospective interviews to uncover how far teachers responded in their actual classroom practices to CLT curriculum innovation tenets and how implementation challenges, including teachers’ cognitions and contextual realities, influenced their practices. Celebrating diversity rather than uniformity, I also endeavoured to appreciate teachers’ own complex reasoning on their practices and how they made sense of their teaching in their immediate contexts. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 other Syrian teachers to further elicit perspectives on contextual forces and teacher beliefs, suggestions for a locally feasible ELT pedagogy and the impact of the current war circumstances on their lives and careers. The analysis of the data reveals the value of seeing teachers as agents of their own practice both in ‘normally’ difficult circumstances and in extreme crisis situations. Teachers’ pedagogical decisions and practices seem to be grounded on their beliefs as to what is viable rather than on the MoE plans. The study points to the significance of not only appreciating teacher beliefs and agency in establishing context-sensitive ELT pedagogies, but also capitalising upon local teachers’ experiences and perspectives and involving teachers in both educational planning and implementation. The final layer of the thesis shows that it is valuable to explore teacher agency in crisis situations and to consider ways to extend the literature to recognise conflict-affected ELT as a research area in which locally produced pedagogies are encouraged, supported and developed within the constraints of displacement and refugee camp schools.

Studies conducted on reflection claim that when student teachers are being trained to become language teachers, reflective practice should start from the early stages. Rodman (2010) states that reflective practice helps pre-service teachers (hereafter PSTs) to actively consider and reconsider beliefs and practices that allow them to improve their ability to monitor decisions about what and how to teach. However, it has been observed in other studies (e.g. Ward and McCotter 2004) that some PSTs remain at a simple descriptive level of reflection. Kwan and Simpson (2010:417) state that this is because ‘reflection usually begins with an unstructured approach […] which may not enable the teacher to move from a mere ‘thinking’ process to a higher level of reflection and action’. This thesis shows the results of an action research study developed in a public university in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. The outcomes in this study help to understand how collaborative reflections are produced and promoted in a Second Language Teacher Education programme. The study also provides an insight into the concerns, learning and development of Pre-service teachers in Mexico. The main goal of the study was to intervene and introduce the use of various tools, strategies and values to engage in collaborative and dialogic reflection. The findings show that the participants positively engaged in reflective practice with the use of (mainly) two tools (journals and group reflections) and the promotion of reflective strategies, collaborative and dialogic reflection, as well as the support of continuous questioning in a non-threatening environment. Data revealed that the student teachers followed a process of reflection that developed from simple descriptions to a more evaluative process at the end of the intervention.

By taking learning as the axis of scholarship, personal and social epistemologies have a common ground: experience and reflective action. I am not considering learning as a vehicle whose success is measured to the extent that a portion of the external world is appropriated, but as a qualitatively different way to see, understand and handle experience. A scholarship of learning is tightly bound to the experiential roots of objects of study that keep on changing in individual and collective histories. Therefore, a scholarship of learning is not a set of context-free skills but a complex process of transformation of its practitioners’ identity and agency over themselves and their object of study. Such two-fold construction orientates a discipline no less than the ways of knowing, acting and being of those engaged in its investigation. I propose that the object of study of Modern Languages and Cultures should be literacy in the multilayered symbolic codes (some of which are tacit) that make intercultural interchanges intelligible and effective. The scope of this dissertation, however, is restricted to the investigation of deep learning in literacy. My thesis is that Modern Languages and Cultures should not be limited to objects of study, such as language, discourse, texts, films, etc. but has to include the processes of agentification of the learner and making sense of his or her experience in a foreign language and culture. I advocate the investigation of the experiential roots of language and culture in a scholarship of learning which seeks to integrate research and education, on the one hand, and language and content, on the other. Experience and learning are subjective-objective processes, and so I advise the epistemological revaluation of subjectivity. I propose that subjectification (i.e. the construction of the subject) is not only relevant for human development and social well-being, but is a source of knowledge in the Humanities.

This research explores the processes of learning to teach Modern Languages (MLs) in the rapidly changing landscape of teacher education. It employs a postmodern critical ethnographic methodology (Lather, 1991) to examine the experiences of a group of student teachers and me, as their tutor, over the course of a one year PGCE programme. The focus is on how experiences in University and in School shape their emerging professional identities, in particular how these experiences encourage or discourage the development of a creative approach to the practice of language teaching. There is evidence which suggests that ML teaching is often mundane and does not inspire young people to study Languages (The Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted), 2011). However, the pressures of ‘performative’ requirements which privilege that which is measurable (Ball, 2003) act as a discouragement to creativity. This thesis finds that whilst student teachers express a desire to be more creative, they find it difficult to implement their ideas in School. I draw on postmodern interpretations of Marx and Freud to problematize the notion of ‘professional autonomy’ and to argue that the early formation of professional identity is a process of acquiescence to oppressive external structures over which individuals have no control, resulting in the alienation of the individual from the work they do. I also explore questions concerning the nature of subjectivity and the relationship between the individual and the external world through Romantic philosophy and poetry. As both subject and object of this ethnographic study, I employ a reflexive methodology to explore the evolution of my own professional identity. The critical narrative emerges from the data, which reveals how professional identities are simultaneously constructed and alienated.