This thesis examines professionalism of English language teaching (ELT) in one particular setting, the state of Kerala in southern India. It reveals that there is an independent and unrecognised professionalism amongst ELT professionals in the setting. This includes a lack of recognition of the efficacy of methods and approaches traditionally used in the setting and a lack of recognition of the informal professional development that is happening in the setting. This professionalism is unrecognised by local ELT professionals because of their belief in ‘Western TESOL’. I am only able recognise it when I learn, through an autoethnography of my own professionalism, to put aside my own preoccupations with ‘Western TESOL’. The initial objective of this study was to attempt to gain insights into local perspectives surrounding ELT methodology and teacher education, set against a background of a perceived need for methodological change in the setting. However, once the study had begun, it became clear that my own professional background and experiences, my ‘Western TESOL’ ‘professional baggage’, combined with the fact that I was coming into the setting as an outsider, seeing it through distant eyes, was affecting the ways in which I was viewing the setting and interpreting the events happening within it. As I began to offload some of this ‘professional baggage’, realising that my ‘Western TESOL’ understanding of the setting did not necessarily match local participants’ understandings of it, I began to question and re-evaluate the data I had collected. For example, I realised that I was focusing on what I saw as the negative aspects of what I was observing and being told about ELT in the setting, and comparing these to approaches to ELT in ‘Western TESOL’ settings that I was more familiar with. Over time, I began to look at these same aspects in a more positive light, seeing different perspectives and valuing what I was seeing or being told in different ways. My re-evaluations of the data from the setting over time also thus became a focus of the study. The study as a whole is therefore ethnographic in terms of attempting to understand local perspectives, using open-ended questionnaire, classroom observation, interview and field note data, with an autoethnographic dimension to acknowledge the influence of my own distant eyes perspective in understanding these local perspectives. It brings into focus how I, as a researcher, through re-evaluating my own data and as a result gaining greater insight into my own positioning, was able to give credit to different perspectives on the data collected, particularly the data from classroom observations and teacher accounts of practice, and in the light of this to offer possible ways forward for ELT in the setting. It has implications for local ELT professionals in terms of understanding and appreciating their own professionalism. It also has implications for TESOL professionals in unfamiliar settings in terms of the need to understand the complexity of these settings, rather than make hasty judgments about local practices, particularly in the case of ‘Western TESOL’ professionals working in ‘non-Western TESOL’ settings. It may therefore be of interest both to ‘Western’ teachers, teacher trainers and academics working or researching, or intending to work or carry out research, in settings with which they are not familiar, particularly ‘non-Western TESOL’ settings, and to local TESOL professionals and academics in the setting for the study.

This research is motivated by the need for a better understanding of the nature of student-centred interactions in university settings. Although there is now a considerable amount of research into written academic English, studies of spoken academic English, particularly of student-centred, disciplinary-specific events, are still relatively few in comparison. This work aims to go some way towards redressing the balance. The study provides a description of a variety of linguistic features of one type of speech event, problem-based learning sessions (PBLs), within the context of a postgraduate programme in Medical Genetics. PBLs are underpinned by a very clear pedagogy driving their incorporation into academic programmes: through a cycle of tutorials, individual research and presentations, students develop content knowledge and the skills thought essential for the professional practitioner. Although common within the field of medicine, there has been relatively little research into how the discipline and pedagogy are realised linguistically. This study analyses a specially compiled corpus of five complete PBL cycles, each with two stages. It comprises over 12 hours of speech, approximately 115,000 words and is searchable as a whole and for each stage. By applying a variety of approaches, including Conversation Analysis (CA), Corpus Linguistics, and aspects of Discourse Analysis, this allows for a more detailed and fine-grained analysis of student discourse than one approach alone. Applying CA, the study identifies features of the overall organisational structure and the different patterns of talk found in each stage. Academic functions common to the stage two presentations are also identified. The corpus-based analysis investigates three specific linguistic areas: keyword analysis is used to explore vocabulary as a marker of the discipline and approach, personal pronouns as markers of engagement, and the structural and discourse functions of lexical bundles. The investigation into how the interactions unfold and the consideration of keywords reflect the discipline and underlying epistemology of PBL sessions. Clear differences in the frequency and use of personal pronouns and lexical bundles are evident in each stage, indicating that both the mode (spoken) and the nature of each speech event (highly interactive exchanges or presentations) affect linguistic choices. This study of a bespoke corpus provides an in-depth analysis of a disciplinary-specific, student-centred speaking event. This may be useful for EAP teachers and task and materials designers working with students on pre-sessional programmes who need academic language support. Methodologically it adds to the growing number of studies taking a multidimensional approach (i.e. in methodology and focus) to understanding spoken academic discourse.

This thesis investigates the idea that the grammatical system of a language influences aspects of thought patterns and communicative behaviour. It examines the linguistic conceptualisation of motion events in English and Tunisian Arabic (TA) in order to contribute to current debates in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research and its associated field of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). The main research questions are whether in learning a typologically different language, the conceptualisation acquired through first languages (L1) interferes with the learning of the conceptualisation inherent in a second language (L2). In order to address these questions, I adopt three analytical frameworks: a grammatical framework based on Talmy's (1985, 2000) binary distinction between verb-framed and satellite-framed languages, a discourse framework based on Berman and Slobin's (1994) application of Talmy's typology to verbal behaviour; and a ‘Whorfian' framework based on Slobin's (1987, 1996b) Thinking-for-Speaking' (TfS) hypothesis. A fundamental claim of the TfS hypothesis is that the grammar of a language and the discourse preferences of its speakers play a fundamental role in shaping linguistic thinking. From this follows the prediction that L1-based conceptualisation resists change when a typologically different L2 is learnt in adulthood. A comparison of the TfS behaviours of speakers of L1-English (L1-Eng), L1-TA, and ‘advanced' L2-English (L2-Eng) whose L1 is TA support this prediction. Based on the notion of ‘motionisation' – a term I coin in order to describe a conceptual strategy L1 speakers of English use when TfS about events – I show that linguistic habits are not only decisive in how the same TfS content is expressed (e.g. run from the jar versus run out of the jar), but more importantly, it is decisive in situations where speakers are ‘forced' to pick out different aspects of the same reality for TfS purposes. The findings reported here have implications for L2 English learners, in general, and, in particular, for learners of English whose L1 may be characterised as a verb-framed language.

This exploratory study into content teacher views on English as the medium of instruction (EMI) in federal tertiary settings in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was conducted to add to the emerging number of EMI studies in the country and the Arabian Gulf. While other UAE studies have canvassed views from two or more stakeholders, this study looked to focus only on teachers. Working within an interpretive paradigm, rich data were sought from a purposive sample of 45 teachers for an open questionnaire and 9 teachers for semi-structured interviews; the interview themes emanating from questionnaire data analysis. The research framework was built on the researcher’s own experiences in the research context, the assumptions that emerged from those experiences and a review of pertinent themes from the literature, which tended to be grounded in critical theory. These concepts were the macro-policy areas of education and language policy, the synthesised analysis of language policy in education and subsequently a review of themes emerging from EMI studies globally, regionally and in the UAE, which led to a focus on the problem areas of language proficiency and appropriate language pedagogy for this specific research context. Findings suggest that although there is some support for EMI among the sample there is also recognition of attendant problems with the policy caused in the main by students’ insufficient language ability for Bachelor’s study in English and question marks over the need to aspire to native speaker proficiency in a society where various Englishes as a lingua franca are used between citizens who do not use English as their mother tongue. These causes lead students and teachers to enact policy to create learning opportunities. Enactments include skills avoidance, simplifying materials, reducing content and code-switching into Arabic. The absence of Arabic in the higher education curriculum is also questioned, given evidence that it is relevant for students’ future employment; be it in the public or private sector. Recommendations include that English remain an integral part of the curriculum given its relevance for later employment but that the choice of EMI as the model for learning be reviewed to see if other approaches may be more appropriate. It is also recommended that Arabic be included in the curriculum in some form given its importance for students’ careers. Finally, if EMI remains the chosen linguistic approach, teachers are recommended to continue enacting as part of their professional practice to ensure that their students get some benefit from their relatively challenging study environment.

This study sought to further understanding of EFL teachers’ knowledge of speaking assessment and how their knowledge informs their speaking assessment practices in classrooms. Based on a socio-cultural perspective, the present study aimed at investigating EFL novice teachers’ current knowledge and practice of speaking assessment in a Libyan secondary school context. The study is based on the interpretive paradigm and adopted social constructionism as a philosophical stance. Quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection were employed in two sequential phases. The findings of this study indicated that EFL novice teachers’ current knowledge of speaking assessment is complex and that was reflected in the different ways these teachers interpreted the concept of speaking assessment and in the ways they expressed their beliefs and values regarding how speaking assessment needs to be or is implemented in the classroom settings. Three main issues regarding teachers’ knowledge of speaking assessment emerged from the data. The first issue is that these teachers, although showing some variability in their knowledge and practice, seem to base their assessment practice on a view of spoken language being more about linguistic content than communicative effect. Secondly, that they mostly seem to afford more importance to summative assessment than to formative assessment. Thirdly, they have a view of assessment that focuses on the content to be assessed rather than on the process of assessment. The findings also indicated that while teachers refer to contextual factors that influence how they implement their knowledge into practice, their understanding of the notion of assessment seems to have more influence on their implementation of speaking assessment as process than that of the context. That is, their current understandings of the notion of spoken language seem to contribute to their current practice of speaking assessment. Also of significance are the participants’ views of the role of context. The results showed that although contexts are similar in some aspects, especially those related to institutional factors, teachers’ views show the uniqueness of the context, especially in the light of the unanticipated social, political and institutional changes. The implications of this study suggest that these EFL novice teachers’ current knowledge of language and of assessment goes beyond factual knowledge to their perceptions of language and their understandings of the purpose of assessment. They also suggest that context plays a role on their current knowledge and practice of speaking assessment. Thus, this study provides further understanding that what these teachers know and how they use their knowledge in practice arises from a complex interweaving of context and individual understandings.

The topic of my three-part thesis is pragmatic information in EFL dictionaries. The thesis started with literature review and theoretical explorations of pragmatic information for EFL dictionaries (Module 1). Based on the findings from this first Module, I approached pragmatics focusing on lexical items and their pragmatic behaviours in context, seeking to collect empirical data for describing pragmatics in EFL and lexicographical contexts (Module 2). However, it is important to raise the question of whether pragmatics and lexicography can ever be made compatible at all, since they have different goals, approaches and methods in dealing with different types of meaning. Their units of descriptions are also different; while dictionaries are in principle concerned with words and phrases, pragmatics deals with utterances and discourses. More importantly, dictionaries are basically concerned with decontextualised meanings, and are expected to set out relatively fixed meanings, perhaps prescriptively, in the form of a dictionary definition or explanation. In contrast, descriptive pragmatics treats meaning in context. In this third module, I will be working towards my conclusion that they are indeed compatible, with particular emphasis on politeness.

This thesis reports a study using a corpus of lecture introductions to explore the generic features of the language used. The main research questions: What are the main communicative functions of this sub-genre? How are the functions realised? Are there any disciplinary differences in university lecture introductions? are explored using two complementary methods of analysis; genre analysis and corpus analysis. Analysis of eighty-nine lecture introductions from the BASE corpus1 resulted in a Lecture Introduction Framework which posits a two-level classification which first differentiates lecture content orientation (Thompson, 1994) versus listener orientation (Dubois, 1980). This yields three main functions, with additional sub-functions original to this study. The study reveals differences in the frequency of different sub-functions in the four disciplinary domains, reflecting different disciplinary cultures and knowledge. The corpus analysis generated a word frequency list for lecture introductions, giving a rich linguistic description of the lexis used. Further analysis on one of the three main functions; the Set Up Lecture Framework Function uses WordSmith Tools 5 to analyse the linguistic realisations of the three subfunctions, which are also the top three most used sub-functions in the corpus. Analysis of pronouns and keywords further supports the finding that there are disciplinary variations in lecture introductions.

The purpose of this research study was to explore the possibilities of critical pedagogy and critical literacy in an English language course at a higher education institution in the Sultanate of Oman. Its aim was to propose an alternative curriculum for an English language pathway module by introducing socially-contextualized generative themes, position questioning and post-methodological teaching and learning strategies which would lead to an increased engagement with multiple perspectives hence an increased level of critical awareness. Moreover, the study sought to provide a platform for students’ voice where their views and choices were not only taken into consideration but had a direct impact on the direction of the critical intervention. The present study did not try to advocate for a new pedagogical framework that is prescriptive in nature but rather emphasize the ephemeral and hence dynamic nature classroom methodology. The study took place at a private higher education institution in the capital city of the Sultanate of Oman. The site of the intervention was a lower level English language vocabulary and reading focused module that served as support for English language majors. The participants were two teachers who had taught the module in the past as well as a group of students who had enrolled in the module at the time of the intervention. The group of student participants was entirely composed of females who possessed various levels of English language proficiency and originated from various parts of Oman. Data were collected during three intervention stages, following an action research design, through multiple methods: interviews, focus-groups, tests, questionnaires, observations. The research diary kept during the intervention represented another data source and an important instrument of recording instances of reflection on action. Participant confidentiality and anonymity was maintained throughout the data collection and analysis. The collected data was analysed following the principles of thematic analysis but also keeping in mind the democratic character of action research. Thus, a comparison of the researchers’ interpretations of the analysis with the experiences of the participants as well as the opinions of the external observers was undertaken. Several major themes emerged from the data at the different stages of the intervention: students’ needs and abilities, the need for a reformed curriculum, assessment of the students’ level of critical literacy, positioning and identifying multiple perspectives, students’ views on the critical intervention and their development of critical awareness as well as challenges and caveats at the intervention stage, students’ resistance versus emotional attachment to the module. In terms of readiness for a critical intervention, students and teacher participants held different views, as teachers associated readiness with a high level of critical thinking and language proficiency whereas students associated it with interest and emotional attachment. The majority of student experiences during the critical intervention were clustered around a shift in perspective which did not only evidence their increased sense of awareness of the world and its various social issues but also an increased display of empathy and compassion. Students also avowed an increased improvement in all four language skills as a result of this experience. Student silence had an impact on the reshaping of the intervention hence proved an opportunity for reflection and change. The key findings of the study suggest that, although considered a high-risk endeavour, critical pedagogy offers ample opportunities for English language education as students’ attitudes to it were generally positive. Students wish to take an active role in authoring the course of their learning and will make apparent their choices even through opposition, resistance and silence. Furthermore, critical pedagogy needs to be understood in the context of possibility as it is not a prescripitive set of rules or strategies nor automatically democratic and free from imposition. It is constantly informed and transformed by its authors’ and its participants’ contributions. The study has thus brought an overall understanding of the possibilities of critical pedagogical endeavours as well as the possibilities of critical action research to illuminate the phenomena of critical literacy and participant voice.

The global spread of English and its wide-ranging use worldwide have exerted a great influence on the socio-cultural and sociolinguistic situation and led to a substantial change in language use, pedagogy and policy. This changing situation of English use has brought about the new emerging mode of communication, which is English as a lingua franca (henceforth ELF). The hybridity and heterogeneity is an inevitable result of frequent and widespread language contact in ELF situations, and this variability and diversity is characterised as the primary nature of ELF communication. This fluid and hybrid nature of ELF communication has resulted from the need for more accommodative and adaptive behaviour in the interaction. Therefore, accommodation has been considered as one of the most influential and effective pragmatic strategies in ELF. The research reported in this thesis aimed to investigate how flexibly and effectively ELF speakers deal with the variability and diversity by employing various accommodative strategies, and the study is particularly focused on pragmatic accommodation among East Asian ELF speakers. The findings of the study show that East Asian speakers of ELF strategically and dynamically engage in pragmatic processes of co-construction of meaning and accommodation and adopt convergent pragmatic strategies such as repetition, paraphrase, and utterance completion. The high frequency of accommodation strategies for solidarity seems to indicate that East Asian speakers of ELF draw on their own cultural values and communicative behaviours, which emphasise positive politeness and rapport-oriented relationships in conversation, and the result suggests the need for reconsideration of communicative competence in order to foreground the significance of pragmatic and strategic competence in intercultural communication settings. The study provides pedagogical implications of the need for awareness on sociolinguistic issues in teachers education and suggests a more ELF-oriented and diversity-driven teaching approach.

The objectives of this study are to assist Thai university students to develop their writing by using a teaching approach that focuses on the introduction of discourse within a genre approach based on the teaching and learning cycle of Feez (1998). This approach is considered suitable for an approach to teaching writing focused on discourse, because its design requires English language teachers to consider the importance of the whole text. It allows students to view texts as a whole, not in separated sentences, especially when they organise and connect ideas during writing. The study draws on both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The quantitative approach concentrates on the development of the students‟ writing by comparing the mean scores from the initial and final writings of students. Forty students were requested to complete four writing assignment during the course. The data were analysed by employing a pair sample t-test to compare initial and final scores. The iii qualitative approach deals with how peer feedback helps promote reader awareness and the attitudes of students and teachers. The qualitative data were gathered by various instruments, such as questionnaires, interviews, students‟ reflective writing, peer feedback, and so on. The results of the study revealed that: 1) students can perform better in writing ability, demonstrated from the overall scores. There is significant difference (p<.05) between the overall mean score in the final assignment and the initial assignment; 2) students are concerned about how to provide sufficient information for the readers. They understand the role of the writer, which is to provide more information for the readers, and are aware of the role of the reader; 3) the use of peer feedback is beneficial for students, and it also promotes student awareness of the sense of audience; 4) The attitudes of the students and teachers were positive towards teaching that focused on discourse structure. The students found that it was useful for them, because they realised how to connect and organise cohesive text; 5) most of the teachers noted that it was beneficial to be introduced to the way of teaching writing through approach focusing on discourse structure. 6. The modified version of Feez‟ cycle of teaching and learning is beneficial and support students to improve their writing through the course. 7. Portfolio assessment is an effective measure that helps students gauge their progress and allows them to see their writing improves in later drafts. 8. Students‟ reflective writing helps them promote their awareness of readers during the course.