This study investigated whether or not English as a Foreign Language (EFL) has an impact on the identity and sense of agency of Saudi women studying English in Saudi Arabia; and how Saudi women perceive the role of English in negotiating their identity and roles in the Saudi community. The study also aims to provide a better understanding of the status of English in Saudi Arabia in general, and as it pertains specifically to Saudi women; and what discourses instigate Saudi women to invest in learning English in Saudi Arabia. The study was informed by a mélange of theoretical underpinnings, most notably, ‘braided feminism’ that encompasses three feminist traditions (poststructuralist feminism, intersectionality, and Islamic feminism). Mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) were used to collect the data; and 12 Saudi women were interviewed to get their perceptions on the topic. The findings indicate that English in Saudi Arabia is highly prized and considered as a key to employment and individual economic prosperity. Despite the consensus on its importance to Saudis and the Saudi society, the magnitude of its importance and the possibility of it being exaggerated were heavily debated. Three levels can explain the widespread use of English in Saudi Arabia: 1) macro (national and societal changes), 2) meso (changes in foreign language education policies), and 3) micro (language usage by social groups and individuals in Saudi Arabia). The data revealed a wide array of investment discourses in the form of: (a) push and pull factors for learning English, and (b) push and pull factors for choosing Saudi Arabia to learn English. The participating Saudi women felt that learning English had a positive impact on their identities; and that the most positive impact was to their positive personal traits. The data also showed how Saudi women assume various identity positions and how learning English helped them to navigate through various positions. The most important finding in this section was that the agency of the Saudi women was not one of resistance, but rather, of piousness; i.e., Saudi women chose to exercise their agency by conforming to the religious norms and traditions in Saudi Arabia, and at the same time, strove to change these structures to allow more freedom. In addition, the study revealed several obstacles that could hinder the Saudi women’s investment in English. The study concluded with implications for the participants, researchers in this area, language institutes in Saudi Arabia, and foreign language policy makers Kingdom-wide.

A needs analysis (NA) is widely viewed to be a key process in the development and ongoing revision of Language for Specific Purposes programmes (e.g. Brown, 2016), of which English for Academic Purposes (EAP) is typically considered a part. Determining and describing learners’ language needs is important, as such information can be used when selecting or developing instructional activities for language learning, teaching and assessment, including L2 academic listening comprehension development. Though some EAP listening NA studies in a number of contexts exist, there has been a dearth of detailed analyses of lecture-listening processes. Moreover, past EAP listening NA studies are limited in their NA methodology. Therefore, the present exploratory, sequential mixed-methods NA research sets out to address these gaps by investigating the cognitive processing demands of Saudi Arabian students’ listening in academic lectures (in an English Language and Literature department). The study aims to investigate their target and present listening needs, and language-learning listening wants. This study collected, sequenced and triangulated data through a five-phase NA approach. The qualitative strand began with a spoken target language analysis of five real-world (linguistics and literature) lectures (Phase 1) to establish target listening needs in terms of cognitive processes and sub-skills. Following this, stimulated-recall interviews (Phase 2) were conducted with seven students who listened to the lectures collected in Phase 1 to identify their present listening needs in terms of cognitive processes, sub-skills and strategies. Interviews with five content lecturers and three students were then carried out (Phase 3), in which some data from Phases 1 and 2 were discussed to gather data on processes, sub-skills and strategies in relation to target, present and language-learning listening needs. Data generated from these three qualitative phases were analysed according to a listening framework developed on the basis of the literature (Field, 2013; Khalifa & Weir, 2009; Young, 1994; Vandergrift & Goh, 2012; Aryadoust, Goh & Lee, 2012). Next, an expert panel review session was held with four participants (Phase 4) to validate the processing needs identified by the researcher by means of randomly selected excerpts from Phases 1–3. This fourth phase thereby aimed to bridge the qualitative strand (Phases 1–3) and the next quantitative one (Phase 5). All previous phases in turn informed a student questionnaire designed for Phase 5. This questionnaire was completed by 205 students, it collected data pertaining to all of this study’s types of needs. Descriptive statistics and a principal component analysis were conducted to analyse the questionnaire data. The qualitative results generally reveal that academic lecture listening triggers an array of lower-level (input decoding, lexical search, syntactic parsing and propositional meaning) and higher-level (inferencing, building a mental model, creating a text-level representation, creating an intertextual representation) cognitive processes as well as different processing sub-skills related to these seven cognitive processes. They also show the use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies in order to process aural input from lectures in the study’s target language use (TLU) situation. Although the qualitative strand shows the use of several lower-level cognitive processes and sub-skills, considerable focus seems to be given to higher-level processes, in particular building a mental model and creating an intertextual representation while listening. The quantitative results show various similarities to the processes found in the qualitative strand, though a number of differences are also present. On the basis of the quantitative strand, 12 components are shown to emerge in terms of both target and present listening needs. Methodologically, the study suggests that NA research should employ different methods in which data collection and analyses are sequenced and blended. Furthermore, the study identifies several cognitive demands (processes, sub-skills and strategies) that are recommended to be enhanced in L2 EAP listening courses so that learners can function competently in their future study area, i.e. the TLU. On the basis of the findings, an (L2) academic listening model in the context of real-world lecture listening processing is formulated, one which specifically includes sub-processes that deal with lengthy discourse processing. Such sub-processes include the imposition of a hierarchal structure on speech, which might be less prominent in other types of listening.

This study investigates topic development in EFL classrooms at a university in Thailand, adopting CA as the research methodology. The majority of previous CA research into topic has focused on explicating talk in ordinary conversations, and only a few studies have been conducted in institutional settings, with EFL contexts particularly ignored. There is also a lack of studies which examine how exactly topics are developed through talk in EFL classrooms and how they express explicitly their reflexive relationship with institutional goals. This study therefore aims to extend existing knowledge by focusing on how topic, as a central concept co-constructed by teachers and students and students and their peers during the course of their talk, is related to the pedagogical purpose in different L2 classroom contexts (Seedhouse, 2004). More specifically, the machinery of topic development, combined with the organisation of turn-taking, sequence and repair, is examined inductively using CA. The data were selected from a database of audio and video recordings of 11 hours of EFL lessons. By following the pedagogical focus and what actually happens during the teachers’ and students’ conversational procedures in two different L2 classroom contexts, namely meaning-and-fluency and task-oriented contexts, certain patterns of topic initiation, shifting and ending are uncovered. The findings demonstrate that topic delivers the institutional business by developing a dual-faceted character. Topic-as-workplan is static, homogenous and pre-determined for all teachers and students whereas topic-in-process is dynamic and heterogeneous talk-in-interaction, with the teachers and students talking a topic into being so that the same topic-as-workplan results in different ways that turn-taking is organised with respect to topic-in-process when performed by different teachers and students. In relation to topic development in two classroom meaning-and-fluency contexts, the findings show that epistemic imbalance (Heritage, 2012) between the teacher and the students plays a vital role in driving sequences of talk and topic in one classroom, but not in the other. While the topic observed in the meaning-and-fluency context is developed in the normative epistemic iii sense, the topics-in-process progress through the imagination of the students in the task-oriented contexts, which involve role-play. Variable approaches are thus necessary in the analysis and evaluation of participation in the development of topic in different L2 classroom contexts. This present study argues that much remains to be investigated in terms of the micro-interactional practices used by teachers and students in L2 classrooms and as part of an overall architecture of how participants develop particular topics in relation to the specific pedagogical focus in which they are engaged. The study also suggests that research into institutionality of interaction should probe more closely the role of topic in relation to institutional goals.

Research from the past 20 years has indicated that much of natural language consists of formulaic sequences or chunks. It has been suggested that learning vocabulary as discrete items does not necessarily help L2 learners become successful communicators or fluent and accurate language users. Collocations, i.e. words that usually go together as one form of formulaic sequences, constitute an inherent problem for ESL/ EFL learners. Researchers have submitted that non-congruent collocations, i.e. collocations that do not have corresponding L1 equivalents, are especially difficult to acquire by ESL/ EFL learners. This study examines the effect of three Focus-on-Forms instructional approaches on the passive and active acquisition of non-congruent collocations: 1) the non-corpus-assisted contrastive analysis and translation (CAT) approach, 2) the corpus-assisted CAT approach, and 3) the corpus-assisted non-CAT approach. To fully assess the proposed combined condition (i.e. the corpus-assisted CAT) and its learning outcomes, a control group under no-condition was included for a baseline comparison. Thirty collocations non-congruent with the learners’ L1 (Arabic) were chosen for this study. 129 undergraduate EFL learners in a Saudi University participated in the study. The participants were assigned to the three experimental groups and to the control group following a cluster random sampling method. The corpus-assisted CAT group performed (L1/ L2 and L2/ L1) translation tasks with the help of bilingual English/ Arabic corpus data. The non-corpus CAT group was assigned text-based translation tasks and received contrastive analysis of the target collocations and their L1 translation options from the teacher. The non-contrastive group performed multiple-choice/ gap-filling tasks with the help of monolingual corpus data, focusing on the target items. Immediately after the intervention stage, the three groups were tested on the retention of the target collocations by two tests: active recall and passive recall. The same tests were administered to the participants three weeks later. The corpus-assisted CAT group significantly outperformed the other two groups on all the tests. These results were discussed in light of the ‘noticing’, ‘task-induced involvement load’, and ‘pushed output’ hypotheses and the influence that L1 exerts on the acquisition of L2 vocabulary. The discussion includes an evaluation of the three instructional conditions in ii relation to different determinants, dimensions and functions within the hypotheses.

Extensive reading, which implies reading large quantities of easy, comprehensible materials for pleasure, is widely believed to enhance foreign language learning through its wide range of benefits (e.g., increasing reading speed and vocabulary knowledge). Jordanian EFL students are reported to suffer from reading boredom, demotivation and lack of reading fluency and therefore this study proposed the extensive reading approach as a potential solution in a Jordanian EFL context. This study investigated the impact of an extensive reading approach on Jordanian EFL students’ reading speed, vocabulary knowledge, reading strategies, productive skills, motivation for and attitudes towards reading in the target language. A total of ten Jordanian EFL students participated in the study. They were situated in a print-rich environment, where they experienced flow reading and did various extensive reading activities in and out of class. A mixed methods action research design was employed over a 12-week extensive reading programme. Data were collected from multiple sources (e.g., tests, checklists, diaries, interviews and focus group) to add more credibility to the study. The resulting data were both statistically and thematically analysed. The findings of the study showed that the impact of the extensive reading approach was positive on the students’ language skills and motivation to read in the target language. The results also revealed a positive correlation between extensive reading and the language skills i.e., reading speed, vocabulary knowledge and reading strategies. As far as their productive skills were concerned, the results of the study showed little development in the students’ speaking skill and even less visible improvement in their writing skill. The implications of extensive reading in FL curricula are discussed.

Although there is evidence of linkages between the concepts of teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) and tourism, there has to date been little attention paid to this relationship. This thesis amalgamates these two concepts and argues for the introduction of the niche form of tourism, ‘TEFL tourism’. The TEFL tourist is defined as a person who travels outside of their usual environment to teach English as a foreign language, whose role shifts between tourist, educator and educatee at various points in their trip. The TEFL tourism phenomenon is explored through the use of a two-phase research approach employing the qualitative examination of blogs (n=36) written by TEFL teachers based in Thailand and quantitative surveys (n=567). Drawing parallels with associated tourism forms including volunteer, philanthropic, package, cultural, education and nightlife tourism, it is concluded that TEFL tourism is an entity in its own right, with unique characteristics, motivations and experiences. Key findings emphasise that the TEFL experience in Thailand differs considerably from teaching experiences in many Western countries, with aspects such as racial discrimination, celebritism and cultural immersion playing prominent roles in the TEFL teacher’s experience. The use of logistic regression facilitated the analysis of TEFL teacher types, enabling the development of a typology of TEFL tourists in Thailand. TEFL tourists were subsequently classified as leisure-minded; philanthropy-minded; career-minded or expatriateminded. This thesis contributes to knowledge by providing an accurate overview of the TEFL teaching industry in Thailand and its participants. This is first addressed through the examination of the tourism elements and the educational elements within the TEFL experience. The thesis then introduces and justifies the concept of ‘TEFL tourism’ through the development of a definition of TEFL tourism and a typology of TEFL teachers based upon teacher motivations and experiences. This knowledge can be of use to a number of stakeholders involved including prospective TEFL teachers, their prospective employers post TEFL experience, teacher training providers, TEFL recruitment organisations, the Thai educational system and academics.

Pragmatic competence is a component of language knowledge; therefore, it is as intrinsic to the ability to successfully communicate for a foreign language (FL) learner as it is for a native speaker, especially where perceptions of politeness may vary between cultures. Despite this, pragmatics is under-represented in FL course materials and assessments, and consequently educators are often left unsure as to how to include it in their classes. The result of this is that learners may achieve proficiency in the linguistic competences (knowledge of lexis, syntax, phonology), but remain pragmatically underdeveloped and susceptible to pragmatic failure. The present study seeks to investigate how second language (L2) pragmatic competence can be comprehensively developed in the ordinary EFL classroom, using an explicit teaching method which fundamentally integrates assessment into the instructional process. To conduct this investigation, a novel method was designed and implemented with the participation of advanced Serbian EFL learners. Data sources, including role-play and video-based assessments, interviews, discussions and observations, were then obtained for the purposes of cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis to address three research questions. The first two questions explore how the components of pragmatic competence develop as a result of the instructional method and the role of pragmatic awareness in this. The third question investigates the practicality (validity and feasibility) of incorporating such a method in the classroom context. Findings suggest that the assessment-integrated instructional method constitutes a practical and effective means of comprehensively developing L2 pragmatic competence in the ordinary EFL classroom, as evidenced by the demonstrable development of participants’ conscious knowledge and ability to apply contextually appropriate Head act and External modification strategies. L2 pragmatic awareness appears to be key to the process of developing particular pragmatic sub-competences. Findings also serve to indicate further implications for pragmatics-related instructional methods, such as the phenomenon of ‘pragmatic fossilisation’.

This study investigates the effects of three kinds of textual input enhancements (TIEs) - bold-printing, L2 glossing, and a combination of the two - on tasks aimed at facilitating incidental and intentional vocabulary learning from reading. It explores which other task-related and learner-internal factors influence vocabulary acquisition. Previous research on vocabulary learning from reading found positive effects for the provision of enhancements. However, findings are inconclusive regarding which types of enhancements are most effective for which type of vocabulary knowledge, and there has been little research investigating the effects of ‘obtrusiveness’, i.e. the interruption of the reading flow through consulting glosses. Likewise, few studies have considered how learners interact with TIEs. 269 Danish secondary school L2 learners of English participated in three reading/testing sessions. They read either unmodified texts (control group) or texts in which target words were highlighted in the three enhancement forms. Immediate active and passive recognition and passive recall of target word meaning were assessed in a vocabulary post-test. Volunteers participated in retrospective interviews. To compare the effects of incidental and intentional word learning, for the analysis the data were split into those collected after the first session, where no focus on vocabulary learning was assumed, and subsequent reading/testing sessions, where learners increasingly focussed on vocabulary learning. Correlation computations confirmed the assumed relationship between TIE-use and vocabulary acquisition. The results concerning the impact of the different TIE types varied from session to session, but showed that enhancement use of any type had the greatest impact on establishing a form-meaning link measured in a receptive meaning recall test. Regression calculations revealed that variables such as testing session or text type significantly predicted the outcomes of the vocabulary post-test. Even though many interviewees perceived ‘obtrusiveness’ as problematic, the enhancement types involving glosses led to significantly higher vocabulary post-test scores than bold-printing only. The interviews suggest that especially the enhancement type which combined bold-printing and glossing encouraged learners to focus on the target words in ways that initiate deep processing. Bold-printing of target words, however, often procured results that were similar to those from reading unenhanced texts. Several interviewees found working with such typographic enhancements ‘confusing’. The interviewees described behaviour specific to the different TIE types. Their general TIE approach seemed habit-driven, economical, and related to the cognitive involvement load factor ‘need’. The statistical analysis and the interviews showed that repeated testing had an effect on how learners approached the tasks. These findings shed light on the complexity of the relationship between incidental and intentional word learning and on how research procedures can influence outcomes. The outcomes confirm the usefulness of enhancements for vocabulary learning. However, they also show that great care has to be taken when providing TIEs for any language learning purpose, as learner behaviour related to their application is far more complex, and therefore deserves more consideration, than is currently given.

Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA) is considered a situation-specific anxiety experienced in the context of the foreign language classroom (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991a, 1991b, 1994). Despite the growing interest in investigating and exploring the potential causes and manifestations of language anxiety in many Western and Far Eastern countries, the potential sources of this complicated phenomenon have not been widely researched and identified in Arab EFL contexts. The importance of this research rests on a paradigm, which attests the existence of substantial variation through which FLA is experienced not only across cultural groups Horwitz (2001) but also across regions within a specific country (Yan and Horwitz 2008). In order to fill the gap in literature, this mixed method research design study explored and investigated possible factors associated with language anxieties and the coping strategies used by students to alleviate its existence in the hope that the findings contribute to current related literature. Therefore, the current case study comprised two phases. The first phase explored the scope and severity of language anxiety among all Foundation level male students at a Federal college in the UAE. In the second phase of the study, quantitative data were collected using two inventories and one scale with the purpose of investigating the anxiety levels, effects, sources, and beliefs of language learners. In addition, interviews were undertaken with a sample of teachers and students. Focus group (FG) interviews with students were conducted to gain a deeper understanding of the possible sources of anxiety about language learning and its manifestations, as well as consideration of the strategies that may be used to alleviate its negative effects. The purpose of the 1:1 interviews with the teachers was to explore their views and experiences of the phenomenon of language anxiety. Observations of language sessions were also conducted to triangulate the data gathered from the inventories and the teacher and student interviews. The findings show that some of the student participants in this case study experienced moderate to high levels of anxiety in the second language classrooms. Feelings of anxiety could be attributed to a number of interrelated personal and situational related variables. The findings paved the way for a number of implications and recommendations for future research.

This thesis is about the perceptions of Turkish EFL high school students on peer collaboration. It is contextualized within a study about how to encourage EFL learners in a Turkish public high school to improve their writing skills in English with peers in an online short story writing exercise. Focusing on two central aspects, I first examined EFL learners' interpretations of peer collaboration in the activity and then investigated these learners' perceptions regarding the impact of their peer collaboration on their writing development. I used an exploratory, qualitative research approach. A pilot study impacted on my main study in determining sample size, shaping the research questions and framing focus group discussions. In the main study, two groups of three students, 16-year-old EFL learners at A2 level English proficiency (CEFR), undertook an online collaborative English short story writing exercise over seven weeks using Facebook. I gathered data from focus group discussions, online one-to-one chats and online discussion threads from both groups. It emerged that three types of peer collaboration were engaged in during their story writing activity. The first was ‘collectively contributing’, which occurred in the editing and peer feedback stages of the writing exercise. The second was ‘peer leadership’, which was evident at the beginning and in the middle of the writing exercise, where the participants were initially dependent on the elected group leaders, but they subsequently became increasingly independent. The third pertained to ‘peer affective’ factors, which were found throughout the writing exercise, being concerned with receiving / giving praise and motivational phrases, the use of informal language and humour in writing during the exercise as well as in relation to feeling comfortable with each other. The participants claimed that peer collaboration had positive impacts on their writing development and on their self-confidence in writing English. Moreover, they reported that the group leaders’ feedback was instructional and motivating. Group leaders, however, reported less benefit in terms of their own writing development, although the activity inspired them to want to teach. This study unique in its focus on Facebook groups, contributes to the knowledge about improving high school secondary EFL learners’ writing through collaborative activity and hence, the findings indicate there should be an updating of EFL teaching methods in Turkey.