This study investigates the language variation of English as foreign language (EFL) learners in the virtual environment of blogs in an Omani context. To this end, multiple data resources were used comprising student-writers’ blog-texts with their comments and hyperlinks, and interviews with them. The corpus comprises eight posts in Blog 1 and fourteen posts in Blog 2, written over two semesters of an English foundation course. The study responds to four primary questions, 1. To what extent can my students’ blog-texts be conceptualised as belonging to a register? 2. To what extent can my students’ blog-texts be conceptualised as belonging to a genre or as an emergent genre? 3. How do the student-writers construct their voice and express themselves in their blog-texts? 4. What is the role of blogs in EFL writing classes in the context of this study? The study uses a systemic functional framework focusing on register and genre analyses. The register analysis was carried out using UAM software, through which the ideational, interpersonal and textual metafunctions of the blog-texts were examined. The register analysis showed that these blogs are an informative type of blogs with a weak tenor indicating the characteristics of both spoken and written modes of language. The genre analysis showed that the blog-texts are generally consistent with Rose and Martin’s (2012, p.130) genre categories. It also indicated a genre hybridity in some blog-texts, through which blog-texts signify the stages of various genres. The register analysis also helped in understanding how student-writers construed their textual self-expression, voice and stance. This study contributes to the present knowledge on how meanings are constructed throughout the discourse in online environments such as blogs; it supports and advances the previous investigations regarding online genre/s and register. The findings can have implications in ELT, as teachers can identify the particular lexico-grammatical features that need to be introduced in writing classes regarding text types; it can be also a way to recognise what learners know and need to know about the genre and register of texts. The findings offer some further study in the field of language and technology, particularly the role of blogs in EFL classes.

This research project focuses on situations where Japanese volunteer workers use English to communicate with local interlocutors in a diverse set of overseas countries, including Kenya, India and Jamaica. Before being dispatched, volunteers take an intensive ten week language learning programme in Japan, to act as preparation for using English during their time overseas. There are two strands to this project, firstly research into the conceptions of English held by teachers and students at the language training centres in Japan, relative to the overall context of language pedagogy and usage. Secondly, experiences of the overseas volunteers are investigated in terms of language and communication. This structure to the project allows for a consideration of the relationship between: a) conceptions of English and appropriate language learning for this context and b) experiences of language and communication in the target contexts of language usage. Exploring this relationship will facilitate the discussion of locally relevant issues in the pre-service language pedagogy for future JICA volunteers and for language education in other related contexts. The research methods which are used here derive from a discourse analytic approach to interviews and focus groups, and linguistic ethnography. In terms of conceptions in the pre-service pedagogical context, a range of perspectives are demonstrated, where some participants orientate strongly to standards-based conceptions of language and others adopt a more flexible, intelligibility-based view of global communication and language pedagogy designed to facilitate it. In terms of the post-pedagogy uses and experiences of English in the locations of voluntary work, the linguistic forms utilised in the communication are diverse in nature, and could be characterised as problematic by some ELT practitioners. In the extracts presented here, non-alignment with standard language forms does not lead to a reduction in mutual intelligibility between the participants. Instead, a reluctance or inability to align with and accommodate to interlocutors leads to the interactional trouble which does occur. Further aspects of the volunteer interactions are analysed and discussed such as cultural dimensions and matters of personal and professional identity. Regarding the implications of these findings for how a locally relevant, situated ELT pedagogy can be realised by language teachers at JICA and in related contexts, such a pedagogy would need to account for linguistic diversity in global uses of English, and for the development of vital intercultural communication skills such as the ability to achieve specific pragmatic moves in interaction and how to handle reductions in intelligibility, including situations where an interlocutor is not mutually working to scaffold interactive success. A standards-based orientation towards language pedagogy is problematised based on the investigation’s results, and suggestions are provided for raising teacher and learner awareness of issues in international communication which facilitate an intelligibility-based view. This project therefore contributes to a growing body of research into English in global contexts in terms of how teachers and learners conceive of language and communication relative to grammatical standards, the nature of real-life global communicative practices and the implications of this for language pedagogy.

Using the speech act of refusals and formulaic language as focuses of analysis, this thesis aims to explore whether or not grammatical proficiency and development is distinct from pragmatic proficiency. The data were collected from 36 Thai EFL learners at three proficiency levels: low intermediate, intermediate and advanced, using four open role-plays. The role-plays were designed to incorporate different combinations of sociolinguistic variables of power and distance, as expounded in Brown and Levinson's politeness theory. The data were analyzed from two perspectives: pragmatic and lexicogrammatical. In the pragmatic analysis, the data were segmented in to refusal moves and interactional function categories. Drawing on politeness theories of face-saving, the analysis focused on a comparison of the learners' use of refusal moves, the pragmatic orientation of their refusal moves in refusal episodes and face-saving manoeuvres. The lexico-grammatical features of the data were analyzed in terms of their formulaicity. Sixteen native speakers of English were asked to identify formulaic sequences in the role-play transcription. The formulaic sequences identified were tallied, analyzed in terms of proportion, frequency and variety, and compared across the three proficiency levels. The analyses show that 1) the pragmatic orientation of refusal moves of the learners at the three proficiency levels was similar but 2) that the use of refusal moves to mitigate the force of refusals was slightly different across the levels; 3) the overall language produced by the advanced learners had the highest proportion of formulaic language, but 4) in the lexicalizations of refusals the low-inter-mediate learners used more formulaic language than the other two groups. The results indicate that the pragmatic aspects of the learners' refusals seem to be independent of their proficiency level while the way they used formulaic language in the role-plays and in the lexicalizations of refusals are related to proficiency level.

The global spread of English and the role played by TEFL in this phenomenon is a subject of debate among EFL educators and researchers; this study provides new insights into this complex situation in relation to the Islamic faith in a way that has not yet been addressed in the literature. There has been an increased interest among researchers concerning the relationship between faith and ELT; however, to this date, no empirical studies have been conducted with regards TEFL and Islam. The study is, therefore, providing rich insights into this area. In doing so, in light of the wider socio-political, ideological or religious issues connected to the spread of English, the study draws on the experiences of nine Western Muslim EFL teachers in the KSA by qualitatively investigating their views on TEFL and the global spread of English in the KSA with particular reference to their Islamic faith and its relationship with their profession The study also addresses how Islam relates to the perception of these processes and how it affects their professional practice. The study is, therefore, particularly significant as it can play a role in encouraging Muslim EFL teachers to relate the macro-level theoretical discourses and educational policies to the micro-level of classroom practice and contribute to the ongoing debate concerning the role played by TEFL in the KSA. The study also has the potential to raise awareness among Muslim educators in the KSA and other Muslim countries of the wider complex processes intertwined with the global spread of English and its impact on EFL education. This investigation as also shed light on a number of ethical questions in relation to how Western Muslims who have travelled to the KSA perceive the relationship between their faith and their role as EFL, which may open new ways for Muslim professionals to combine their faith with their profession. In-depth interviews were conducted with the participants and the data provided new insights into the perceptions of TEFL and the global spread of English. The participants not only described the global spread of English and TEFL as value-laden, politically and ideologically driven, but also as a facilitator in terms of communication and cross-cultural understanding and as a necessary tool to acquire in today’s world. The data collected also showed that the relationship between Islam and TEFL was not described in dichotomous terms, which meant that this conception was the result of the participants’ personal understandings of their faith. The findings also emphasised on the preponderant role of the participants’ Islamic faith on their personal and professional lives. The study’s main contribution relates to two essential notions that have been debated among applied linguists: ownership and appropriation of the English language. The research showed that Western Muslim EFL teachers appropriate and claim ownership of the English language in a way that has not yet been addressed in the literature. Finally, the study shows that language teaching issues are inextricably intertwined with broader issues such as religion, culture or politics and suggests that the links between Islam, politics and language need to be explicitly addressed within the ELT arena.

The rapid growth of computer-mediated communication (CMC) which has become available through the development of new communication technologies provides many English learners with relatively more opportunities for exposure to international communicative activities in English than they had in the pre-digital era. This phenomenon has attracted research attention to the question of the use of digital literacy practices as a means of second language education. There have been many studies on CMC and second language education, however, little is known about EFL learners’ L2 identity (second language identity) development in online gaming communities and its possible significant effects on L2 learners’ motivation and learning success. Through narrative interviews with 10 Korean EFL learners in their twenties, this research explores how young adult Korean EFL learners’ online communication experiences in English while playing a massively multiplayer online game, League of Legends, influenced their L2 identity evolvement and how their constructed L2 identity impacted their offline learning attitudes. Narrative interviews were conducted and the interview data were processed with a thematic analysis in order to identify thematic patterns while trying to allow categories which could be identified from the data as well. The findings indicated that the participants had realized important factors of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) paradigm through text-based interactions in online gaming contexts. They realized that English is used as a contact language in a global community, that there are varieties of English as well as so-called native English speakers’ in the community, and that pragmatic use of English focusing on intelligibility rather than on accuracy is important for efficient communication. Their realization of some concepts of ELF paradigm was helpful for them to be confident and motivated in using and learning their target language not only in online communities but also in offline situations. Although it is a small-scale study, it has been able to fill some gaps in knowledge into what sort of factors can positively influence EFL learners’ L2 identity construction and how out-of-class virtual activities can affect EFL learners’ overall learning dispositions such as their confidence and motivation in using and learning the language. Even though adverse effects stemming from the addiction to video games have caused social problems around the world, the insights gained from this study could demonstrate that there are a number of potential qualities of online gaming communities. The characteristics of the online gaming community that were found to positively influence EFL learners’ learning attitudes might be conducive to the classroom practice or utilized as out-of-class learning activities, especially for young adult learners. For example, the egalitarian relationship among the gaming community members might be an important factor that English teachers could reflect on in terms of creating a constructive learning environment in their classes. Also, EFL learners might utilize the opportunities of using English in various online communities according to their interests to enhance the overall construction of their positive L2 identity and ultimate learning success.

In spite of plethora of motivational studies in a number of contexts (see Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2009, Csizér & Magid, 2014), there has been little investigation of the language learning motivation of Polish learners of English. Thus, this mixed-methods research set out to address this gap by investigating the motivational characteristics of Polish learners, the structure of their motivation and its relationship to proficiency. The study also sought to examine the role of important others and factors such as gender, location and parents’ education in language learning motivation. Data for this study was collected using a motivational questionnaire, the Oxford Quick Placement Test and semi-structured interviews. 599 14-to-16 year old Polish learners of English filled in the questionnaire, which contained scales from both applied linguistics and educational psychology. 398 students also completed the proficiency test and 20 students participated in semi-structured interviews. Factor analysis, MANOVA, ANOVA, t-tests and Structural Equation Modelling were used to analyse the quantitative data, whereas the interviews were transcribed and coded. The quantitative results show that the students endorsed international orientation more than instrumentality and had moderate self-efficacy beliefs and English self-concept. Their scores on the intrinsic motivation and self-regulation scales were also in the average range, whereas those on the ideal L2 self were rather low. The qualitative results, however, reveal substantial variation between individual learners. In a model of language learning motivation of Polish learners, the influence of goals on self-regulation was mediated by self-constructs and enjoyment derived from language learning. The model also points to a link between motivation and achievement. In their efforts to study English, Polish learners appeared strongly supported by their parents, and their learning environment was also shaped by English teachers and peers. A further three factors, namely gender, parents’ education and school location were also found to play a role in language learning motivation.

The benefits of using formative peer assessment have been broadly recognized by educators. However, in the context of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching, research into the effectiveness of peer assessment has produced mixed results. One major focus of research is how training can influence the effectiveness of peer assessment. A number of case studies have reported positive outcomes using particular training methods, but there is relatively little research into the application of such training methods and their effects in ordinary EFL classes. This thesis reports a study of training in peer assessment in the context of a typical EFL class. The details of the training are explored in some depth, including evidence of its effects on the nature and quality of peer assessment and the reasons for those effects. A quasi-experiment was designed to investigate the effectiveness of the extensively discussed ‘Step Training’ proposed by Min. Data were collected in the form of students’ written feedback, essays, video recording, questionnaires and interviews. The nature of students’ feedback and the quality of their essays were explored. Classroom interactions were analysed and interpreted using socio-cultural theory. Analysis of the questionnaires revealed students’ attitude towards the training and perception of their capabilities in working on peer assessment. Student interview data was analysed thematically. The findings provide a complex picture of the peer assessment training. First, the ‘Step training’ appeared to lead to improvements in the quality of both essays and peer feedback. Secondly, analysis of the classroom discourse suggested that socio-cultural factors had both positive and negative effects on the students’ learning. Moreover, ANCOVA analysis of psychological features such as attitudes towards and perceptions of the peer assessment training suggested that the students were less influenced psychologically by the training. Finally, analysis of interviews identified students’ concerns about the design of the training course. In conclusion, it is suggested that for a typical EFL writing class, the effectiveness of a rigid training method such as ‘Step training’ should be reconsidered to take into account the influence of socio-cultural factors in classroom interaction. Rather than relying just on students’ end products to monitor the effectiveness of training, socio-cultural interaction should also be examined, as this is important in developing an identity as an effective peer assessor. Suggestions for improving the design of peer assessment training are provided.

The communicative approach to language teaching is based on the theory of language as communication. According to Hymes (1972), language teaching is interpreted by learners as learning through communicative competence. Researchers, particularly in EFL secondary teachers’ classroom practices, have emphasized teachers’ concentration on using grammar translation (GTM) and audio-lingual (ALM) methods. However, most studies did not investigate teachers’ beliefs (as situated in their cultural context) and their classroom practice. Therefore, taking Libya as an example, the aim of this study is to find out whether EFL secondary teachers implement the CLT approach in their classrooms. A data collection triangulation method was utilized involving different research tools. Firstly, an evaluation of a questionnaire distributed to 24 participating Libyan teachers was carried out. Secondly, classroom observations of the same teachers were conducted, applying the communicative orientation of language teaching observation scheme (COLT). Here, the four categories derived from the literature on CLT are employed to determine whether the teaching methodology is communicative. Finally, the same teachers were interviewed to investigate their beliefs and attitudes concerning the CLT approach and its practicality. The results of the qualitative and quantitative data analyses indicated that teachers do not implement the CLT approach. This is due to several factors: low teacher language proficiency; over-reliance on textbooks; class size; time limitations; and lack of adequate training in classroom implementation. An analysis of challenges teachers encounter in implementing CLT and recommendations arising from the study constitute the final chapter of this research.

This Middle East-based study enquires how peer mentoring might enhance professional development of EFL teachers and affect student leaming. Research covering 1999 to 2003 developed my intial peer mentoring initiatives of 1997 and 1998.1 adjusted to various professional roles within three settings. I was supervisor of EFL training, from 1997 to 2001, observer of an RSA Celta teacher training course at the British Council, from February to April 2001 ( interacting between September 2001 and May 2003 with some course participants in their first EFL jobs) and from 2001 onward teacher/coordinator of Social Studies in an English - medium international school attempting curriculum change. Mentoring roles varied accordingly. The action research is interventionist and the methodology leans heavily on the ethnographical approach which contains thick description and analysis of questionnaires, interviews, constructed pro-formas and diary notes. As an insider researcher in the three settings, I have been able to follow closely a process of peer mentoring trials. Highlights of the results are that interactive work that draws on the total experience of the teaching staff of an institution can lead to new implementations in the EFUESP classroom and in curriculum development; that 'traditional' mentoring can lead to a 'monologic' process rather than open dialogic learning; that defined curricula, hierarchical management structures and teachers' own natural defensive attitudes create a climate of non-responsiveness to change. Management does not draw on the total experience of teachers. Students, however, seem to value a perceived collaborative stance by teaching staff. Peer mentoring appears to shift the emphasis from a defined body of subject knowledge and one specific training to skill sharing in the workplace and to balancing pedagogic knowledge with subject knowledge and combining strengths offered by non - native - speaking and native - speaking teachers. Peers can also benefit through interactive use of the internet. The research suggests that international schools and EFL institutions become more responsive to the latent dynamism that exists within their staff and that they hire trained peer mentoring facilitators to promote effective collaboration.

Foreign language learning depends greatly on the quality of the classroom teaching and the extent of the input, output, and the interactions in which learners engage through responding to instructions, asking and answering questions, and undertaking activities both individually and with peers. The aim of this interpretive study was to gain insights into how trainee teachers’ practice activities provided opportunities for learners to speak English as a foreign language at two different public intermediate school classrooms in Saudi Arabia. The study had two types of participants: first, two trainee teachers in their final college year and undertaking their teaching practicum; and second, first-year and third-year students from two different intermediate schools. The aim was explored through research questions guided by the study’s theoretical perspectives of input, interaction and output (Long, 1996; Krashen, 1982; Swain, 1985). The qualitative exploratory data were collected using the triangulated methods of semi structured interviews (both before and after the lesson), lesson presentations, and my classroom observation notes, and contextualised data from the teacher’s preparation book and the pupil’s book were also gathered to situate the analysis and interpretation. The findings suggested that there were many more similarities between these teachers than there were differences. The trainee teachers used the pupil’s book as a transcript for classroom activities. They used their first language to explain second language words. The teachers had some basic knowledge about the role of students’ participation, working in groups and taking risks in language learning. There were limited opportunities afforded by the teacher-learner interaction, and these mostly emerged from students’ spontaneous responses based on real life situations. Indeed, overall, the nature of the speaking opportunities created by teacher-learner interaction in its totality (as a provider of input and as affording situations for output) in the classrooms investigated, was mostly ineffective for developing and enhancing students’ ability to speak English. Theoretical implications and recommendations for creating opportunities for students to speak English are provided.