Considerable research has evidenced the important influence of attitudes on the language learner under the umbrella of motivation. Similarly, several studies have highlighted the close relationship between motivation and performance. Yet little research has examined the relationship between attitude, performance and change of attitude in the English as a Foreign Language setting. This thesis focuses on undergraduates’ attitudes towards learning English in the Mexican context, specifically in Southeast Mexico. Despite the closeness of Mexico to the United States, there has been a lack of studies researching students’ attitudes towards learning English. This study’s research questions aimed to explore undergraduates’ attitudes towards learning English, the factors that influence such attitudes, the relationship between attitudes and performance, the existence and power of factors predicting attitudinal changes, and the presence of such changes over time. In order to answer the research questions, the study adopted a longitudinal mixed- method approach. The field work took place at the beginning and end of the academic year 2014-2015. Attitudes were collected by pre- and post- questionnaires. Performance was evaluated by using the University’s Institutional English Diagnostic Test (EDII) results of 704 newly admitted students and the final year scores of 161 initial students. At the beginning of the students’ second academic year in 2015, 12 secondyear students were interviewed. The findings of this study suggest that four salient attitudinal factors affected performance. They are 1) EFL attitudes, 2) socio-cultural impact, 3) linguistic exposure, and 4) classroom experience. Linguistic exposure, and Socio-cultural impact were among the predictors of students’ performance. Although most students showed initial positive attitudes towards learning English, findings also indicated that attitudes could change over time based on attitudinal/motivational factors. These insights have implications for possible changes with regards to English curriculum and lesson planning in the institution of higher education, but also for continuing research on attitude change in other institutions in Mexico and in the ELT community at large.

This study is concerned with examining the speech act of apology by Iraqi Arabic native speakers (IANs) and Iraqi English foreign language learners (EFLL). It aims at examining the strategies and functions of apologies produced by two groups of participating speakers as well as their perceptions of apology. This study is significant and necessary for the field of pragmatics and politeness theories. It represents a new cultural study that has not been previously examined. From pragmatic and politeness perspectives, all previous research has focused on the realization of apologies rather than how they are perceived. To fill this gap, the current study is believed to be the first that examines both producing and perceiving apology in terms of politeness1 (producing actual speech acts) and politeness2 (perceiving them). The apologies elicited in this study were represented by written and spoken responses. The former was elicited by a Discourse Completing Task followed by a Scale Response Task while the latter was stimulated by an Open Role Play followed by a Semi-Structured Interview. In both cases, the situations designed for eliciting apologies were systematically different and varied according to the social status, gender, age and social distance and the severity of offence. The main results showed that the choice of apology strategies was highly influenced by the collectivistic nature of Iraqi culture as well as the socio-religious conceptualization of apology. The results also showed that, unlike the Iraqi Arabic native speakers, the Iraqi EFL learners were less aware of pragmatic competence than of grammatical competence. The perception of apologies achieved by the Semi-structured interview revealed the participants’ conceptualization of apologies in different contexts. Thus, from a functional perspective, we found that the functions of apologies performed in L1 (Iraqi Arabic) were different from the function of apologies performed in L2 (English). Further, the Iraqi Arabic native speakers tended to use extended apologies for certain offences while the Iraqi EFLL employed a single apology strategy or a non- apology strategy.

This study investigated two important and strongly associated educational components i.e. curriculum change and the professional development of teachers. The context of this research is the province of Punjab in the period following the implementation of the most recent change to the secondary school National Curriculum for English (CC2006). The major research question posed was, ‘what are secondary school English teachers’ perceptions of CC2006 and professional development opportunities available to them to facilitate the implementation of CC2006?’ The study adopted a mixed method approach. Data was collected by questionnaire to teachers; interviews with local education authority officials and provincial curriculum and professional development bodies; lesson observations and post observation interviews. The research explored perceptions of the challenges and difficulties teachers faced to implement CC2006; the impact of professional development on teaching and learning; and differences in teachers’ perceptions according to their personal and professional determinants. To provide a richer illustration of the variables under investigation, case studies of four schools were produced. The findings revealed that teachers or head teachers were seldom consulted during the planning or design phase of CC2006. Teachers were offered only one ‘centralized’ workshop and no formal support was available at district or school level to prepare them to implement curriculum change. However their general perceptions about CC2006 were positive. The challenges and difficulties teachers experienced in implementing CC2006 related to students; resources; administration; curriculum; and teachers’ personal factors. The findings lead to recommendations that the Provincial Government should develop support mechanisms and professional development activities for teachers to ensure the successful implementation of CC2006. In addition, the providers of professional development could enhance and tailor their TPD activities to include monitoring and follow up support systems to ensure the successful implementation of CC2006.

Background. Previous research on written feedback has taken place mainly in campus-based settings. Written feedback to Non-Native English speaking Online Doctoral students is under-researched. Aim. The purpose of this study is to explore the attitudes, perceptions and actions of Non-Native English Speaking (NNES) Online Doctoral students toward the written feedback that they receive from their Native English Speaking (NES) doctoral research supervisors. This research will address questions about these students’ attitudes and perceptions regarding written feedback and the feedback providers. Furthermore, the investigation’s research findings point towards practical application by doctoral research supervisors. The Social Presence, Transactional Distance and Second Language Activity theories frame the interpretation of the findings. Sample. 100 online doctoral students completed the online survey of which 41 completed enough of the survey to be included in the study and 10 telephonic or Skype interviews were conducted. The survey respondents lived on different continents and represented seventeen distinct first languages, namely Afrikaans; Arabic; Chinese; Croatian; Dutch; French; German; Italian; Malay; Malayalam; Mandarin; Portuguese; Romanian; Russian; Spanish; Swedish; and Turkish. Method. A survey preceded and informed the 10 individual semi-structured interviews. An exploratory sequential, mixed methodological approach was used to develop an understanding of the main themes related to what NNES online doctoral students do with written feedback. Findings. This study focuses on the intersection of the online modality with the language issues encountered by NNES online doctoral students as opposed to campus-based NNES doctoral students or NES online doctoral students. The focus of this study is not a comparison between campus-based and online NNES and NES students but is intended to reflect upon issues that will promote the use of written feedback to improve the NNES online doctoral students learning experience. This study found that while NNES online doctoral students share many of the experiences of NNES campus-based students and NES online doctoral students, the combination of online and language issues compound the NNES online doctoral students’ ability to make good use of the written feedback that they receive. This combination of online and NNES has significant implications for policy, institutional guidance and practice.

Learning and teaching English language from a distance is considered to be a new initiative in the tertiary level of the education system in Saudi Arabia. This research study was conducted to explore the e-tutors’ perceptions of their roles in a Distance English Language Learning Programme (DLLP) in one of the Saudi universities. It further inquiries how these perceptions in this specific context of teaching and learning may help their learners take control over their learning. To fulfill this aim, I adopted an exploratory case study design to gain an in-depth understanding of the topic. Moreover, the following overarching research question was formulated: What are the perceptions of e-tutors about learning and teaching processes in the context of DLLP? A specific focus of the research was to explore the ways in which the tutors might support their distance learners to be autonomous and attain a level of control over their learning. Three data collection methods were used, namely document analysis, reflective journals,and semi-structured interviews. A sample of 14 e-tutors was purposely selected from one Saudi university. Content analysis was used to identify critical issues in the collected documents while a thematic analysis framework (Braun and Clark, 2006) was adopted to interpret the data from the reflective journals and semi-structured interviews. Emerging themes include some interesting, unexpected issues related to this teaching context, such as the cultural constraints and their impact on e-learning in Saudi universities, and the necessity of the use of L1 by the e-tutors in their teaching of the English language. This study’s findings contributed to developing a framework which helps e-tutors to encourage their distance learners to control and manage their learning of English as a foreign language in this specific DLLP. It is hoped that such a framework will be beneficial for other e-tutors in similar teaching environments.

Efforts to improve educational achievements in Israel are at the forefront of national concern. In acknowledging the crucial role of the teacher in this endeavour, this enquiry explores the prominent instructional practices of effective teachers of English as a Foreign Language in Israeli elementary schools. The qualitative study is placed within a social constructivist perspective of learning that, in turn, serves as a foundation to the authentic pedagogical approach as determined by Newmann et al (1996). A multiple case study was conducted, whereby observations were carried out in the classrooms of five teachers recognised to be effective in their practice, and followed up with post- observation and post-data analysis interviews. The data collected from each case individually was subsequently used to engage in a cross-case analysis. The analysis offers clear indication that all teachers provide significant opportunity for pupils to construct knowledge using a variety of techniques and strategies. There is also evidence to show –albeit to a lesser extent, that relevance in instruction, promoted primarily through the topic of the lesson and opportunities to develop intrapersonal skills, plays an important role in the practice of the effective teachers in this study. Both aspects identified are central to the notion of authenticity in instruction. The enquiry concludes with the suggestion that the findings from this study could be used as a basis to explore the extent to which the aspects of instruction identified feature in the practice of effective teachers in a wider context, with a view to developing a national model of pedagogy that would promote much-needed and sustainable educational improvements in the Israeli context.

This doctoral thesis examines the relationship between social identity and the learning and use of English as an International Language (EIL). It reports on a study involving Emirati students at a foreign university in the UAE where English is used as the medium of instruction. The study investigates how the students conceptualize the relationship between identity and the English language. The people of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) like many others in the Arabian Gulf and elsewhere realize the need to learn English. Most of the country’s communication in business, economy, science and health is carried out in English. This requirement comes from the fact that the Emiratis constitute only 19% of the UAE population (Mohammed, 2008), while the rest are non-Arabic speakers. The expatriates either have English as their mother tongue or use English as a medium of daily communication. However, since 2008, there has been a major debate in the media concerning the loss of the Emirati language and identity in the UAE (Al Baik, 2008; Gulf News, 2008; Musabih, 2008; Saayegh, 2008, accessed 14/10/2008; Gulf News, 2008, accessed 23/8/2008). It has been pointed out that nationals not only have to adapt to the new language, but also to the accompanying ‘Western culture’, including different norms, values and ideals that may conflict with the learners’ own Arab Muslim beliefs and ideologies. Previous studies have explored a long-standing debate which centers on the issue of whether we can teach a language successfully without teaching its accompanying culture (Kramsch, 1993, 1998; Byram, 2002, 2010; Beykont, 2002; Brown, 2000; Risager, 2011, 2012; Hinkel, 1999; Dervin and Risager, 2014). It has been argued that in a globalized context, English has become the gatekeeper to higher education, a high-income job, and information (e.g. through the Internet) (Phillipson, 1992; Pennycook, 1994; Holliday, 2005; Canagarajah, 1999; Phan, 2008; Sharifian, 2010; Rapatahana and Bunce et al, 2012). Moreover, English in many contexts is regarded as a status symbol of the elite (Holborow, 2000). The present study adds to this debate by investigating the place of English in the UAE, where the non-Arabic speaking expatriates outnumber the locals. It discusses this situation in general and particularly investigates the attitudes of eight Emiratis towards EIL. The study was interpretive and qualitative. The data were gathered by means of interviews with eight student participants and analysed thematically. The study reveals that there is considerable disconnection between the language policy intentions and the implementation of Arabic and English teaching and learning in schools and higher education. Moreover, the findings suggest a detachment between the ideologies practices of Emirati people and the policy of the government of the UAE. They also reveal that although participants are discontented with the Arabic status within their country, they still use English extensively in their daily communication. In addition, Emiratis often negatively assign low status to the Arabic language.

This study has two primary goals. The first is to develop a concordance-based cloze test (henceforth ConCloze), the process of which can be divided into seven stages, ConCloze 1–7. The second goal is to investigate the validity of score interpretations, which can be categorized into five aspects according to Messick’s (1995) model of construct validity: content, substantive, structural, generalizability, and external. By validity, Messick (1989: 13) referred to an integrated judgment of adequacy and appropriateness of construct-related inferences based on, e.g., item responses, observations. The sampling methods are convenience and snowball samplings, seeking non-native English speakers of mixed backgrounds in first language, who are studying in or have graduated from higher education. The analytical measures include reliability analysis, verbalization analysis, usability testing, correlation analysis, content analysis, regression analysis, Rasch modeling, sample analysis, and thematic analysis. The construct domain is found to be very likely composite: at least lexical-semantic knowledge, knowledge of synonymy, knowledge of collocation, knowledge of grammatical structure, world knowledge, knowledge of word association, knowledge of semantic prosody, and knowledge of individual and compositional lexical-semantic content are tested. The test purpose is initially set to be a proficiency test on professional and academic English grammatical and vocabulary use, which is eventually refined in light of empirical findings in the investigation into a proficiency test on academic English vocabulary use, with the primary domains of knowledge of lexical-semantics and knowledge of word association. The subdomains involved become knowledge of core components in word meaning, knowledge of individual and compositional lexical-semantic content, knowledge of collocation, and knowledge of semantic prosody, with world knowledge, synonymy knowledge, and knowledge of grammatical structure functioning as construct-peripheral. Judged by the adequacy and appropriateness of response and score interpretations, an integrated evaluation is that the construct inferences for the ConCloze item type have validity.

Over the past few decades, there has been an increased interest in the formulaic aspects of languages, including English. There has also been work conducted into the learning and teaching of formulaic language and its use by non-native speakers. Despite the increase in English language teaching in China, there has, however, so far not been any combined research into the learning, use and teaching of formulaic language in the Chinese EFL context. This study addresses this gap by investigating the written texts of Chinese university students and the learning, use and teaching of formulaic language in this research context. As background to this study, an overview of existing research on formulaic language is firstly introduced, and then the rationale for this study, investigating formulaic language through student written texts, is established by positioning the role of written language in second language research and the relation between formulaic language and genre analysis studies. After these, specific background information on the EFL context in China is presented by supporting the claim that the EFL students in the study are seen as language learners as well as writers and users of English. The research questions that this study sets out to answer are the following: (1) To what extent do Chinese university students use formulaic language in their written English? a) What are the main structures of formulaic language used by these learners? b) What are the main discourse functions of formulaic language used by these learners? c) What is the relationship between the distribution of structural and functional categories of formulaic language in the learners’ written texts? d) How is the formulaic language used differently in the written texts of Year1 and Year 3 university students? (2) What do Chinese university students perceive formulaic language to be? a) To what extent is this perception different in Year 1 and Year 3 students? (3) How do Chinese university students perceive the learning, use and teaching of formulaic language? The results of this research will present formulaic language use in student written texts, and link this use to students’ self-reported processes, strategies and sources of formulaic language learning and use. Nevertheless, student reflections on the teaching of formulaic language in the research context will be introduced in order to address the research questions thoroughly. A mixed methods research design is employed in this study. The fieldwork took place during one semester (16 weeks) at a Chinese university. The participants were 83 students from the Year 1 and 73 students from Year 3 groups in the foreign language department. The main sources of data were firstly, students’ written texts and secondly, in-depth interviews with 12 informant writers. The findings of the research present a well-rounded description of formulaic language use in Chinese university students’ English written texts, by analysing and comparing the distribution of structural and discourse functional categories in the formulaic strings identified by the student perceptions and through corpus linguistic methods. Also, triangulation of the textual data collected from the written texts and perceptual data gathered from interviews shows some discrepancies regarding the perception of formulaic language in English among students and in researchers in the field. This thesis ends with a discussion of the implications and limitation of the present study, and directions for future research on formulaic language in the EFL context.

Promoting EFL learners’ engagement with their targeted aspects of language is vital for successful language learning and acquisition. There has been substantial research undertaken on the role of social networking applications and their various features on promoting EFL learners’ engagement. Previous research has also indicated potential association between increased engagement and knowledge gains and development. The current research seeks to understand and explain the role of mobile microblogging in engaging EFL learners with their L2 targeted vocabulary. It primarily focuses on the use of Twitter as a mobile microblogging tool combined with a designed vocabulary learning task and its impact on learners’ engagement with vocabulary and knowledge development. This study is based on the premise that engagement with vocabulary via the adoption of mobile microblogging tool and task leads to better vocabulary learning and acquisition. This research employed both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Data was gathered using interviews, focus groups, weekly reports, questionnaires, the Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) and Twitter activity measurement. The participants showed positive attitudes towards the adoption of the mobile microblogging tool and task to approach their L2 targeted vocabulary. The findings show that the adoption of the mobile microblogging tool and task offered a great deal to the participants, facilitated approaching vocabulary learning, impacted their engagement and vocabulary gains and knowledge development positively. The study indicates that there is a positive relationship between EFL learners’ increased engagement with vocabulary and their gain and knowledge development. The study also identified a number of challenges the participants encountered during their use of the mobile microblogging. The present research confirms previous research findings and contributes additional evidence that demonstrates how learners’ connectedness is a critical factor in facilitating learning and supporting cognitive development.