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The thesis explores the importance of connotation within English as a lingua franca (ELF) and the implications for teaching ELF. The importance of such research is that should connotative meaning be shown to be of crucial importance, this must be taken into account in the development of a methodology for ELF. This is particularly important as tìie understanding of ELF is only now emerging, together with a related pedagogy. As a starting point the thesis explores the views of high school teachers and university lecturers in Thailand aâ an example of a country where ELF is an important issue for pedagogy. The focus is on issues related to the teaching and use of ELF, including linguistic imperialism. The literature on intercultural communication is then discussed with particular reference to English as a lingua franca. From this discussion a hypothesis is developed for testing, that "successful intercultural communication using ELF cannot take place without a substantial similarity in connotative meaning between interlocutors in relation to key words and phrases used in discourse”. Given that there has been no previous attempt to explore connotative meaning within ELF, one of the contributions of this thesis is the development of the research instruments designed to test the hypothesis. Research instruments used were questionnaires; recorded interviews based on the responses to the questionnaires; video-recorded dialogues between informants; separate tape- recorded "stop-start" interviews of informants whilst viewing the video recordings of the dialogues; semantic differential testing of key words and phrases selected from the dialogues; and word association testing of such key words and phrases. The thesis explains the rationale behind such instruments and their application in a research pilot with subsequent refinements for the main study. The analysis showed that overall, 81% of the communication events that were able to be categorized provided some form of support for the hypothesis, compared to 19% of such events providing evidence tending to contradict the hypothesis. The conclusion reached was therefore that connotative meaning was indeed, extremely significant in successful communication in ELF and the implications of this finding for theory, research methodology and practice are considered.

This embedded mixed method case study aims at shedding light on the use of English proficiency exams as placement tests and their viability as predictors of future academic performance. Most predictive validity studies achieve correlation coefficients in the range of 0.20-0.30 (In 1988, Davies suggested that 0.30 was an acceptable correlation for predictive validity studies.) when such exam results are compared with final course marks and/or GPAs, meaning that the results of language proficiency exams tend to have limited usefulness in admissions decisions. The Common Educational Proficiency Assessment (CEPA) is the focus of this research project. The results of the CEPA form a major part of admissions criteria for tertiary institutions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The CEPA has been reported to have achieved very high correlations (i.e. 0.699 in 2007) when compared to final first semester marks. This study examined this phenomenon at a large, vocational college. In addition, through an exhaustive exploration of college practices, and the input and opinions of a wide variety of stakeholders, creating a vivid picture of the context within which the CEPA operated, this study identified variables which may contribute to the success of the UAE CEPA as a placement instrument. The efficacy of using regionally- produced exams rather than internationally produced ones to not only gauge linguistic competence, but also to predict future success in an English readiness programme (required before matriculating) is considered. It is hoped that the results of the study may lead to improved predictive validity for regionally or locally produced placement tests at other institutions.

Learning English in Taiwan has become a primary economic concern as industry has recognised the need to compete within global markets in which trade is carried out predominantly in English. The national, longitudinal achievement data in English has consistently demonstrated a substantial gap in English between candidates (age 13) living in urban and rural locales. This thesis explores differences in secondary school students' access to English as a foreign language in four schools in Taiwan. The schools were chosen to represent locales dominated by different ethnic groups. Multiple methods were employed and the design of the research was guided by Rogoff's description of planes of analysis. Questionnaires adapted from Scribner and Cole' (1981) seminal work on literacy were used to assess students' engagement in learning English in everyday contexts. Classroom observations were conducted in eight classrooms, two in each school, and semi-structured interviews were carried out with students, teachers and parents. Key findings reveal that students from various ethnic groups and locales have access to different socio-cultural resources that position them differently with respect to formal school English learning. The study found a greater asymmetry in rural in contrast to urban locales between school and community values such as ethnic cultural legacies. In some schools teachers accessed students' ethnicity and dialect to bridge between school and outside school knowledge. Individual students' access to English followed complex trajectories that often reflected tensions relating to ethnicity, gender and social class background. Learning English was found to be a value-laden practice that has been exacerbated by the heightened political pressure to learn English to ensure Taiwan's place in the global economy. The theoretical and methodological approaches, and findings bring to light some of the socio-political implications to English language teaching for practitioners, policy makers, and academics concerning foreign language learning in countries such as Taiwan facing competition in global economic markets.

This study explores issues relating to the participation of English as an additional language (EAL) pupils within the National Literacy Strategy and in particular the Literacy Hour. A review of the literature highlighted a range of issues relating to the English language demands placed upon beginner EAL learners within the mainstream classroom, with many EAL pupils excluded from the communication process due to their inability to 'keep up' with classroom discourse solely in a language that they are only just beginning to learn. Inclusion within the curriculum can be increased by encouraging the use of the pupils' home languages within the classroom. The 'ideal' scenario is considered to be copious amounts of bilingual support from a bilingual class teacher or bilingual assistant. However there are serious constraints placed upon such support in terms of the availability of bilingual staff members, the range of languages to be covered particularly in classrooms where a number of languages are present and the provision of relevant funding. In reality, bilingual support is often provided on a piecemeal basis and for only certain languages within a class, resulting in a 'double dose' of exclusion for some EAL pupils. Existing home language support for many EAL pupils is therefore non-existent or inadequate. This study aimed to address the need for increased home language support via the medium of the computer. With the increasing profile of ICT use within the school environment, it is suggested that ICT offers a cost-effective way of providing home language classroom materials. A key feature of the study was the development of computer-based 'talking stories' which provide a practical means of utilising home languages within the Literacy Hour. Based upon initial fieldwork findings, computer-based home language materials were designed, piloted and implemented. The short term effectiveness of these home language materials in assisting EAL pupils to identify unfamiliar English words and to retell stories in English was systematically evaluated. It was found that listening to a story with a home language translation increased EAL pupils' ability to correctly identify unfamiliar English words compared to a story presented in English only. These gains also remained over time indicating that the EAL pupils had retained the meaning of the unfamiliar words following exposure to the stories. Listening to a home language translation also enabled EAL pupils to provide more detailed story retellings suggesting that an increased awareness of the components of the story was gained in comparison to a story received in English only. Initial fieldwork findings conducted in two primary schools sampled for this study, uncovered feelings of frustration experienced by young EAL learners due to the teachers' reliance upon the English language as the means of communication in the Literacy Hour. The enjoyment gained from the use of home language materials and their perceived value for EAL pupils was also captured. This mixed-methods research approach therefore enabled the experiences and perceptions of EAL pupils, teachers and support staff in relation to the Literacy Hour to be explored and also provided the opportunity to design home language 'talking stories' aimed at increasing 'access' to the Literacy Hour for EAL pupils. Whilst this educational tool is not considered a panacea for the educational disadvantage faced by EAL pupils, it does offer one form of practical help for both pupils and teachers.

The main research question of this study was why Arab learners of English as a Second Language should make so many reading and spelling errors. An analysis of a corpus of misspellings, taken from handwritten technical reports, showed that most errors involved vowels: either omission, addition, substitution or inversion, and that misspellings often resulted in the loss of some of the phonological properties of a word. Experiments carried out in the course of the study showed that both phonological and orthographic routes in reading were also affected. Orthographic deficiencies were more pronounced with lower-level learners, indicating that this was a developmental trend, and would improve as learners' English did. Previous researchers have suggested that the errors might be caused by a difference in strategies used for processing the written forms of LI Arabic and L2 English. However, an investigation of current research in L2 reading showed that orthographic similarities between Arabic and English should have meant that ESL learners benefited from their LI reading strategies, rather than being held back by them. According to Frith's (1985) model of reading and spelling development, appropriate instruction plays a vital role in the acquisition of alphabetic skills. Subsequent extensive practice is necessary for a learner to develop good orthographic reading and spelling skills. The second part of this thesis presents an investigation of the state education system in the United Arab Emirates. This study showed that a failure at the level of instructional methodology and materials was probably the major cause of the reading and spelling errors made by Arab learners. As a result of qualitative and quantitative deficiencies in their input, which prevent them from successfully mastering reading and spelling in English, it has become apparent that the learners tested do indeed suffer from a 'developmental lag'.