This thesis reports on a qualitative, longitudinal investigation into what shaped and sustained the motivation of two cohorts of L1-English learners of Italian during a beginners‟ course. Motivation was not limited here to L2 learning, but extended to what the participants perceived as the dynamic interplay of personal and contextual influences, responsible for their sustained participation and engagement with the learning environment. The distinctiveness of the study firstly lies in its methodological approach which, unusually for L2 motivation research, is entirely qualitative on epistemological grounds, in an attempt to give learners a true voice and position them firmly at the centre of the enquiry. Innovative aspects are also the choice of L1-English adult learners of a foreign language as participants, and that of Adult Education as a setting, given that L2 motivation studies have traditionally involved learners of English as a foreign or second language in schools or universities. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken at the beginning, middle and end of a 30-week Italian beginners‟ course, using the Dörnyei-Ottó (1998) Process Model of L2 motivation as a loose conceptual framework. Summative focus groups were also conducted in the final stage. The data was analysed using an interpretive approach to explore salient themes and issues from the participants' perspectives. The findings suggest that, whilst the learners‟ initial goals and reasons for joining the course appear to have fuelled initial motivation, the positive learning experience and interpersonal dynamics developed in the classroom were largely responsible for sustaining it. The study also reveals novel insights into L2 motivation from adult learning perspectives, which take into account social participation and leisure participation motives. Finally, the thesis proposes a new conceptual model, which may prove useful in order to flexibly represent the dynamic, situated and complex nature of adult FL motivation – and arguably L2 learning motivation in general.

This thesis presents an examination of the perception and production of Standard Southern British English (SSBE) vowels by Syrian Arabic (SA) Foreign language (FL) learners. The focus of this thesis is the FL learners who learned their English in their country and mostly by non-native teachers. Thus, by definition, the FL learners do not have native English input on a daily basis. This thesis reports on an empirical investigation of the Second Language (L2) perceptual and production patterns of a group of FL learners, which has received little interest in the literature, combining insights from current cross-language speech perception (Perceptual Assimilation Model) (Best 1994, 1995, 1999) and L2 learning models (Speech Learning Model) (Flege 1995). These models were mainly developed to account for early and advanced L2 learners, respectively. Thus, this study aims to develop an account for the perception and production of FL learners based on current L2 models. Results indicate that the specific learning context of FL learners is reflected in their perception and production patterns. For example, these learners live in a predominantly L1 environment, and their L2 input is mainly taken in a classroom and mostly by local teachers. However, this study argues that though FL learners lack native L2 input, they do have access to the phonology, syntax, and structures of the L2 via direct teaching. It is also shown that the perceptual patterns of the learners succeeded in predicting their production patterns, which has implications on the perception-production link for L2 learners, in general, and for FL learners in particular. The main outcome of the present thesis is that it develops an account of the perception and production of FL learners. It outlines the main principles for a proposed Foreign Language Model, in which the peculiarities of FL learners are taken into consideration compared to other groups of learners.

This study explores the perceptions of a group of EFL lecturers in a Thai University towards professional learning and the types of learning activities they are engaged in. It also investigates the nature of their work culture. The data presented in this study are drawn from a semester-long period of qualitative field study. In essence, the data suggest that participants engaged in several types of learning activities, both inside and outside the workplace. The participants relied more on formal than on informal professional learning activities. The inequality of access to professional learning opportunities for different groups (full-time, part-time, and non-Thai lecturers) was highly noticeable. The part-time lecturers’ constraints to access learning opportunities appeared to result from the institution’s workplace policy. With regard to work culture the data suggest that the lecturers worked and learned together with their colleagues in small sub- group form. The nature of this sub-grouping behaviour has not been identified in the work culture literature to date and was termed ‘workplace-kinship’. The data further expose that participants worked in isolation (individualism) most of the time as part of their adaptive strategy. Given the findings, this study contributes to more understanding of the teacher professional learning situation in a particular Thai Higher Education institution and calls for more awareness of teacher workplace interactions, job embedded professional learning activities, and the equality of teacher professional development opportunities, particularly the visibility of part-time lecturers in the Higher Education system.

This thesis examines the degree to which motivational factors influence the successful acquisition of English as a foreign language in female Emirati and Omani learners. The research participants were female third-level students taking foundation English and English for Specific Purposes courses in a university in the United Arab Emirates and a teacher-training college in Oman, both of which are based on an American model. Problems frequently occur when learners similar to those described in this study go through higher education, particularly when the institutions in question are based on a Western model. Such problems may include reluctance to assume responsibility for their learning (Ali, 2003) and a perceived lack of successful language acquisition. Undoubtedly, high school education with its traditional emphasis on rote learning and memorising exam questions plays a role (Canning & Bornstein, 200 I), as does the sociocultural context, which means that students have almost no opportunity to socialise outside their family environment. However, in the wider context, Western culture is having an enonnous impact on the entire region, primarily due to the media's reporting of regional and political affairs. Such reporting has also resulted in heightened tension in the region, which have been the subject of demonstrations on university campuses and anxiety in some language classrooms where English language teachers are for the most part native speakers of English. It is against such a background that changes are taking place in the educational systems across the region, with English assuming more significance as a language of instruction. Arabic is being phased out as the primary language of instruction in many instances. This has an impact on the learners' motivation to study the English language. Studies have suggested that motivation to learn a foreign language may be affected by attitudes towards the target language community and fears of loss of identity (Lambert, 1979; Pool, 1979; Williams, 1994; Costelloe, 2001; Kharbat, 2002), thus indicating that the macro-context may be one of the motivational factors involved in successful language acquisition. Some recent studies have also focused on the role of power in language learning, arguing that it is one of the factors that affect motivation (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991; Lightbrown & Spada, 1993; Norton, 2000). In English language education, studies have been conducted on linguistic imperialism (Philippson, 1992) and resistance to such imperialism (Canagarajah, 1999) which refer to the impact that underlying political, religious and socio-economic issues may have on motivation to achieve a higher level in the English language. The results of the study I have undertaken similarly show that participants' acquisition of the English language was affected by a number of motivational factors, including the macro-context of power relations and culture, as well as the micro-context of the classroom, where the teacher, curriculum and materials all had a role to play. Many of the participants appear to have a clear grasp of how both the macro and micro contexts influence their motivation to study English and achieve a high level in the language. These findings suggest that in order for learners to achieve a higher level in the English language, language planners and policy makers need to be aware of how both the macro and micro contexts influence language acquisition. The research emphasizes a necessity for both administration and for instructors in higher education institutions in Oman and the UAE to conduct needs analysis amongst the learners so that their needs, as well as those of other stakeholders, can be catered to. Such measures should support the learners as they strive to achieve a measure of success in English language acquisition. The findings of this research propose that a greater understanding of the role of motivational factors may conceivably have a valuable part to play in raising standards of English language acquisition in Arabic-speaking countries.

International university education is now a significant and growing part of tertiary education worldwide. In the Asia Pacific region, internationalization is viewed as a lifeline for universities to secure their long-term survival in an increasingly competitive education market. The use of English as a global and academic lingua franca is connected to both international student interaction and institutional outreach. This thesis reports the findings of a large-scale research project investigating attitudes towards the English language of university students from Japan, Korea and China studying at an international university in Japan. The context for this study is Japan’s most internationalized university, an institution in which greater interest has been engendered by recent governmental and sector efforts to increase the internationalization of all Japanese universities. Previous research has focused on a single population’s attitudes about the study of the English language, utility value of the language, or preferred English variety. My study compares students’ views about these issues with the attitudes of their counterparts studying at non-international, domestic universities in their home countries (China, Korea). More than 800 students from six universities in three countries participated in this research into linguistic attitudes, a study supported qualitatively by focus group-style interviews. This research found that the internationalization of tertiary education in Japan has affected students’ attitudes towards English language use. At the same time, despite exposure to different varieties of English on a campus where almost half of the students come from overseas, the students from the international university continued to view American English and British English as their preferred performance targets. Chinese and Korean students studying abroad at the international university acknowledged Asian English varieties, but also reported these varieties as causing problems. Internationalized study environments do not appear to change the status of well-established standard varieties as preferred performance models.

This study investigated the viewpoints of students with English as an Additional Language (EAL). Specifically, I used Q methodology to highlight some of the viewpoints of learners with EAL on the strategies used by adults to support them in school. A Q set of 46 statements was produced, with each statement describing a strategy for supporting learners with EAL. The Q set was developed firstly through the use of two focus groups involving 11 students aged between 9 and 15, secondly through consultation with relevant professionals, and thirdly through a literature review. I then asked 30 participants aged between 9 and 18 to express their viewpoint through a Q sort exercise, by ranking strategies according to helpfulness. Factor analysis was used to identify viewpoints which were common to a group of participants. In the results section I present each of the emerging viewpoints as a Q sort arrangement, and also as a written description produced by interpreting the factor analysis results. The four viewpoints which emerge are discussed, along with the implications for professionals needing to provide personalised support, and also stay in touch with the viewpoints of individual students with EAL in school. It is hoped that the current research will address the need within the literature to include the voice of students with EAL in planning for their education.

The present study evaluates English 6, an official textbook used for grade 6 pupils in all secondary schools all over Vietnam, in the teaching and learning context of the Mekong Delta. The research was conducted in two stages: a theoretical evaluation and an empirical evaluation. The theoretical evaluation was based on the researcher’s experience, expertise, and the literature on textbook evaluation. The empirical evaluation was based on data collected from 22 teachers and 313 pupils at 8 different secondary schools in four different provinces in the Mekong Delta in the form of questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, documents and classroom observation. The evaluation sought to find out the users’ views on the textbook, its impact on users and the users’ recommendations for improvement. The results of the evaluation show that the textbook • suits the teaching and learning context and culture, • gives much help to both teachers and pupils, • receives positive responses from teachers and pupils. Beside these merits, the textbook needs to be improved in the following ways: • More varied types of activities, especially ones which help pupils practice using the target language communicatively, should be added to the textbook content. • Free practice activities should be added after the controlled ones to help pupils practice speaking and writing creatively. • The textbook should be supplemented with language material from different resources such as picture stories, comic strips, etc. • The supporting resources need to be more widely available and better, both in terms of physical appearance and quality. The findings also indicate that textbook writers should carry out learner needs analysis before writing new textbooks to make sure they meet learners’ needs.

The last few decades has seen a definite increase in the number of countries that have incorporated English as a Foreign Language (EFL) into their Primary Education compulsory curriculum. Improving language learner competences through an early start can be affected by a disregard of the teaching-learning context. In fact, publications on strategies for teaching children scarcely mention the impact of this factor on the learning process in school. This research project addressed this issue by identifying the challenges that Chilean early primary school teachers face, and investigated the contextual factors that can facilitate or hinder the teaching-learning process. Data were collected from EFL teachers working in this sector through an online questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, classroom observation, and group interviews with children aged 9. This research project followed a mixed methods approach, featuring quantitative and qualitative methods from two concurrent studies: a survey study and an intervention project. The findings of this research reveal the main challenges in these classrooms were related to monitoring learning. Additionally, this study shows that contextual features, such as limited time for planning, lack of parental involvement and a mismatch between policy and school reality, affected the teaching-learning process. The findings also show that teachers in Chile used age-appropriate activities for teaching children; however, they felt that their teaching context impaired their use. Similarly, group work was only occasionally used in Chilean EFL classrooms, partially due to well-known drawbacks and the time constraints involved. Children in these classrooms showed their preference for activities that involved movement and gave them an active role, as well as those which provide collaborative and cooperative classroom opportunities. These findings highlight the complex dynamic interactions in the young language learners’ classroom. In order to further understand the examined context, the tenets of Complexity Theory were incorporated. These findings also draw attention to the evaluation of the expected results and implementation process, considering the local classroom context and the complex interactions of the different components within the classroom as a crucial element to this process.

Teacher effectiveness research (TER), as a multifaceted phenomenon, is a seminal part of most educational agendas upon which a successful teacher appraisal system tends to be contingent. Whereas there is a wealth of research on teacher effectiveness in mainstream (general) education, there is a dearth of studies on it in second/foreign language education, thereby sowing seeds of doubts apropos of the extent to which findings in mainstream education can be applied to L2 education. A paucity of cutting-edge research in the Middle-eastern context is another missing piece of the jigsaw testifying to a need for further research on teacher effectiveness. Taking such lacunae into consideration, this study endeavours to inquire into EFL teacher effectiveness in the Iranian higher education context as its main objective. With this end in view, a number of research questions are formulated whereby the main constructs are identified. This study is aimed at investigating lecturers’ understanding of teacher effectiveness and its pertinent appraisal model, and more specifically, delving into their perceptions of teacher appraisal in Iran. Measures of evaluation, opportunities of which lecturers can avail themselves to improve their effectiveness, and lecturers’ ideal appraisal system are other areas which are examined in this research. In this study, a mixed methods exploratory sequential design is adopted to address the proposed research questions. Close-ended and open-ended questionnaires and semi-structured interview are the instruments utilised for data collection. The collected quantitative and qualitative data are analysed with the help of SPSS and NVivo, respectively. The analysis of both sets of data culminated in the emergence of six major themes, i.e. lecturers’ understanding of teacher effectiveness and the qualities of an effective teacher, measures of evaluation, opportunities and strategies conducive to improving teacher effectiveness, the Iranian appraisal system, non-teacher-controlled factors impacting on teacher effectiveness, as well as lecturers’ perceptions of an ideal appraisal system. Following a myriad of ideas garnered through data analysis, a differentiated appraisal model informed by lecturers’ voices is proposed. Based on the findings which provided evidence for some imperfections in the nexus between policy and implementation, this study concludes that there is still some room for improvement in teacher appraisal in 3 Iran. Important amongst others are better alignment between teacher appraisal and teachers’ professional development needs, transparency of the appraisal, and use of all types and forms of teacher evaluation. The study brings to the fore further implications, conclusions and suggestions for future research which are presented in the final chapter of this thesis.

This thesis investigates the effects of strategy training on ESL learners' strategy use and performance on oral communication tasks. Research into the teaching and learning of speaking in the ESL context is relatively neglected and strategy training is unheard of in very many L2 oral classrooms. A review of strategy research pertaining to the speaking skill has identified unresolved issues, leaving many unanswered questions. To address these issues, this study has adopted a quasi-experimental design and an interventionist study has been implemented in the junior ESL classroom in Hong Kong. The study has identified two major categories of strategies (i. e. direct and indirect) for learners' use in group discussion tasks. Three intact groups were involved in the intervention: one received training in the use of direct strategies, one in indirect strategies, and one had no strategy instruction. A multi-method approach (i. e. task ratings, questionnaires, observations and stimulated recall interviews) has been used to assess the impact of the intervention on students' strategy use and task performance. The findings show that that it may be useful to teach ESL students in the use of direct and indirect strategies for oral communications tasks. Direct strategy use may be related to language improvement whereas indirect strategy use may be related to task effectiveness and language improvement. It may be desirable to help low-proficiency students to develop strategic competence to compensate for their lack of linguistic competence. Last but not least, it may be desirable to adopt a systematic, eclectic approach to assessing the impact of strategy training and to incorporate the stimulated recall methodology to the teaching and research of the speaking skill as a unique avenue to students' thoughts and learning processes.