This thesis examines the development of lexical richness as observed in L2 writing performance. A study was conducted that observed gains in a series of measures of lexical diversity and lexical sophistication in the written production of a group of EFL learners. Participants were 34 intermediate undergraduate Chilean students (Spanish Ll). Two sets ofL2 writing tasks were collected for the study: three standardised tests (ie IELTS Writing Task 2) and two in-house tests (ie course assessment). Scripts collected were analysed to obtain three sets of measures, first, a set of lexical diversity measures (ie D, R, and TTR with adjusted-length texts); second, a set of lexical sophistication measures (as yielded by the Lexical Frequency Profile); and third, a set of proficiency scores provided by expert IELTS examiners for the standardised data. Gain patterns over time were then observed for the three sets of measures. Results of the study show modest but statistically significant gains in lexical sophistication in both the standardised and the naturalistic data sets. In contrast, no gains were observed in lexical diversity in any data set. Although L2 writing proficiency improved over time, no relations were identified between lexical richness measures and proficiency scores. At the same time, results indicated a wide individual variation for each measure used in the study.

In the early stages of language learning, vocabulary plays a crucial role since vocabulary knowledge is considered to establish a significant basis in language learning, especially foreign languages. However, vocabulary learning is one of the major challenges foreign language learners face during the process of language learning. Most EFL (English as a foreign language) students feel frustrated by the sheer volume of English vocabulary. The development of vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) is one of the most crucial areas of research in the field of foreign language learning. Important effects of training in the use of VLSs have been established by a number of researchers (AI-Fuhaid, 2004; Wu, 2006). In order to better understand the difficulties of foreign language students learning vocabulary through my own learning and teaching experiences, I decided to investigate my teaching practices through the supplementary instruction of VLSs. This inquiry aimed to examine how I could improve my teaching practice in the context of a Taiwanese higher education institution in order to accommodate a strategic approach to vocabulary learning. It was also an attempt to investigate whether or not VLSs could help participating students in their English vocabulary learning in this context and how this systematic experience could develop my own professional practice. A three-stage approach within an action inquiry framework was adopted. Both qualitative and quantitative data were gathered and analysed over a six-week classroom teaching period with a view to understanding the classroom processes and how best to improve my practice in teaching vocabulary. Overall, the analysis of these data found that, despite limitations, there was evidence to support the effectiveness of the VLSs interventions in having a positive impact on students' vocabulary learning, attitudes, and motivation and in enhancing my own professional approach to vocabulary teaching practices in this context.

Many children experience challenges with learning English as an additional language (EAL) which include; understanding the meaning of words decoding words, reading accuracy and fluency. Research suggests that phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge are the two best predictors of success in learning to read, particularly for a beginner reader of English. Evidence suggests that one:to-one tutoring programmes implemented by volunteer students improve the reading ability of struggling readers. This thesis outlines the design and first ReT evaluation of a one-to-one volunteer tutoring programme aimed to improve the reading and concentration abilities of children aged 5-8 years learning EAL. This evidence-based tutoring programme adopted promising approaches for developing reading in both monolingual and EAL children and was implemented by volunteer undergraduate students over 12 weeks. Eighty-two EAL children with reading difficulties were recruited and individually randomised into either an intervention or control group. An outcome evaluation found no strong evidence that the tutoring programme had an impact across the reading ability and concentration outcomes which may indicate that a manualised approach is unsuitable for all EAL children. Exploratory analysis found no significant effects for gender but significant effects for dosage when reading words accurately and fluently. A process evaluation identified some issues with implementation and fidelity of the programme, attrition and a range of abilities within the sample. This study emphasised the benefits of utilising a mixed-method design in order to explore the full effects of a tutoring programme. Future trials should consider recruiting a larger sample of children and screening to identify the lowest achievers. Moreover, longer intervention programmes that compare different types of volunteer tutors and different lengths of interventions may be useful to assess suitable tutors and the ideal length of one-to-one tutoring programmes.

This study aims to examine the effects of applying corpus driven learning, language learning strategies, English writing strategies, online collaborative writing, and peer feedback on how EFL undergraduates conduct business writing. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were applied to analysing relevant data collected from 80 undergraduates studying at a university in southern Taiwan. They were allocated into two classes: the control group and the experimental group. Over the 2012/2013 academic semesters, the following four major treatments: (a) corpus linguistic features and techniques, (b) language learning strategies, (c) English writing strategies, and (d) online collaborative writing and peer feedback, were implemented in the experimental group and after-hours online learning platforms. The grades of pre-test and post-test were analysed from various respects, so the effects of applying these treatments on business writing were assessed. Most participants from experimental group highly evaluated the effectiveness of applying the blended four-treatment approaches to facilitating them in making significant progress in business English writing. In this experimental research, as no difference between the mean pre-test scores of the experimental group and the control group was found, those participants who attended the experimental blended four-treatment course for one academic year would, on average, achieve a post-test score 22.321 points higher than those undergraduates from the control group during the same period of time. The blended four-treatment approaches did not deny the value of the traditional teacher-centred pedagogy; instead, the teacher's intervention was still functioning in the whole project. However, the blended student-centred approaches prevailed over the teacher-centred pedagogy, aiming·to stimulate EFL undergraduates to reinforce their independent and autonomous learning ability and boost their potential within the ZPD framework. Most participants claimed that they could explore the appropriate word choices, grammatical and semantic patterns, and styles of business writing by using DOL and online resources.

This study investigated the relationship between vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) used by English major undergraduates and their performance on vocabulary size tests (VLT and PVLT) in Taiwan. The aims of this research were fourfold : (a) to investigate the overall patterns bf VLS used by the participants, (b) to explore the correlation between the ten subscales of VLS and vocabulary size tests, (c) to look into the gender differences of VLS use as associated with their performance on vocabulary size tests, (d) to find out the incremental growth in vocabulary size tests among freshmen, sophomore, and junior participants and indentify which subscales were relevant to the four word levels of vocabulary size tests. The participants included three hundred and one English major students in the research location who successfully completed a modified VLS questionnaire along with combined vocabulary size tests for data collection. Data for this research were then analysed using statistical methods, descriptive statistics, correlation analyses independent sample t-tests, and linear regression analyses. The research findings shed light on the identification of the overall patterns of VLS use, the correlation between the VLS and vocabulary size tests, the gender differences in VLS use and performance on vocabulary size tests, and the identification of the progress of vocabulary acquisition and strategies relevant to specific levels of vocabulary size tests. The insights gained in this study may lead to raising the awareness of the policy makers, the school administrators,and the course designers and the teaching instructors in the research location who are interested in the relationship between vocabulary learning strategies used by these English major undergraduates and their performance on vocabulary size tests.

This study aims to investigate Taiwanese EFL senior high school students' vocabulary knowledge and their use of vocabulary learning strategies. The participants were 202 senior high school learners from two different schools in central Taiwan. The research instruments of this study include the Vocabulary Learning Strategy Questionnaire (VLSQ), the Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT), the Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS), and Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) reading comprehension. After the three achievement tests and questionnaire had been completed, 18 students from both high proficiency and low proficiency groups volunteered to take part in the semi-structured interviews. The results of respondents' Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT) showed that on average, the vocabulary size of Taiwanese third year senior high school learners was approximately 2,000 words, which did not meet the level required for reading basic English authentic texts. Learners' breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension were found to be strongly intercorrelated. With reference to the use of vocabulary learning strategies, the participants of the current study were merely moderate users of vocabulary learning strategies. Regarding the gender differences in the use of vocabulary learning strategies, an independent samples t-test indicated that female learners not only outperformed their male counterparts in the overall strategy use, but.significant differences were aiso found in the use of determination strategies, social strategies. and metacognitive strategies. As for the strategy use between different proficiency levels, an independent samples t-test revealed that high proficiency students adopted overall vocabulary learning strategies more often than low proficiency ones. Also, significant differences were also found in determination strategies, social strategies, memory strategies, and metacognitive strategies between these two groups of learners. From the following semi-structured interviews, the results indicated that there were distinctive perceptions of learning vocabulary between high proficiency and low proficiency learners in the five major areas: (1) perceptions of knowing a word, (2) awareness of the importance of vocabulary knowledge in learning English, (3) learners' difficulties in learning second language vocabulary, (4) learners' approaches to useful sources, and (5) self-regulation in learning vocabulary.

Because of the global spread of English, many countries teach the language as a school subject with the rationale that it is an important international language, i.e. English as an International Language (EIL). Japan is one such country. In Japan, teaching EIL has another objective alongside improving students' ability to use EIL: this is to develop their 'international understanding'. However, what Japanese students learn in their English classes is not EIL but the English language and culture of two particular groups of English native speakers: American and British speakers of English. The same situation is true of pre-service English teacher education programmes. This partial representation of the international profile of English seems often to result in a biased understanding of EIL. To investigate what norms and values student teachers of English hold in relation to the English language, a case study was conducted investigating a one-semester university course in Tokyo that explored the pluralistic nature of English. The purpose of the case study was to gain insights into students' perceptions of English within a teacher education context, and to investigate whether receiving instruction in issues surrounding EIL, particularly the diversity of English and multilingualism in the world, would affect their perceptions of English. The students' initial and unfolding perceptions and the instructional effects were investigated through questionnaires, interviews, classroom observations, teaching materials and students' writing. The findings suggest that whilst the instruction broadened the students' understanding of the global role of English, it did not significantly affect their beliefs about appropriate norms of English for international communication. Based on these findings, I argue in favour of introducing the concept of diversity in English at earlier stages of English language learning in order to improve students' understanding of EIL and their ability to use English for international communication and international understanding.

The thesis presents an investigation into the professional development processes engaged in by lecturers who have taught English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Thailand's Rajabhat universities. The aim of the study was to explore the Rajabhat EFL lecturers' learning processes, and examine how they related to their classroom practice. In particular, the study looked at: 1. how these lecturers acquired and developed their professional knowledge during their careers; 2. how they integrated their professional knowledge into classroom practice; and 3. the impact of professional development on their classroom practice. Historically, the professional development of the Rajabhat EFL lecturers has been predominantly formal, neglecting the informal mode of learning. Furthermore, teachers' professional learning from the classroom has been disregarded. This study attempts to clarify the roles of the two modes of teachers' learning and of classroom practice. The aim of the study was to explore the Rajabhat EFL lecturers' learning processes, and examine how they related to their classroom practice. The study employed a case study design with a qualitative, ethnographic style approach. Three selected experienced EFL lecturers were the research participants. Data collection methods consisted of life history interviews, classroom observations, semi-structured and student group interviews. Data analysis was based on the emic approach. The findings revealed a significant and continual interplay of three elements: the institutional context, the individual teacher, and the teacher's classroom in generating professional development, and thereby, the professional knowledge of the EFL lecturers. Knowledge is acquired and reinforced from both formal and informal professional development but less so from their practice. This was because their meaning perspectives have been focussed less on the students' context, thus addressing insufficiently the impact of their teaching on students' learning. This study provides a significant contribution to academic development in the area of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) in the Thai higher education context. Formal and informal learning, the teachers' personal context, and the role of the classroom as a resource for professional learning all contribute to the development of professional knowledge for these lecturers.

This thesis reports on a mixed-method, sequential, explanatory study on the nature and conceptualisation of anxiety about language learning. Recent years have seen a proliferation of research papers covering language anxiety; however, as yet, very little empirical research has been done to explain anxiety by taking into account the whole environment of the learner. Given that anxiety is one of the most important affective reactions to classroom language learning, conducting more research into it could indeed help students, teachers, and researchers to better understand how anxiety works and what drastic steps could be taken in order to cope with it. The quantitative part of the study involved 128 Greek EFL learners enrolled in general English classes in two private language schools in Northern Greece, who completed a self-reported questionnaire. The follow-up qualitative study consisted of seven highly-anxious EFL students who kept a learner diary for two months. The diarists, along with another six students, also participated in individual, in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Eleven EFL tutors working in the same institutes were also interviewed. The quantitative and qualitative findings were integrated into a meta-inferential discussion.

Relationships between (levels of) EFL performance and memory were explored in six EFL pupils aged between seventeen to eighteen years old in their last year of high school. The pupils were given multiple memory assessments to establish memory ability and multiple EFL assessments to establish levels of EFL performance in reading, listening comprehension and speech. The tests were first quantified and then the pupils' performance was analyzed qualitatively in a method of multiple cross case analysis. Qualitative analyses of six case studies suggest that phonological processing, phonological memory in general and phonological working memory in particular, have an underlying influence on EFL performance. The proposed explanatory link between the phonological aspects of memory and EFL ability is a theorized inner voice factor which facilitates the acquisition of EFL through processes of lexical and phonological priming. Lexical and phonological priming processes were seen to impact all aspects of EFL looked at in this research: vocabulary, syntax, sentence processing (perception and production) and reading. The impact of inner voice on vocabulary acquisition is twofold. First, it triggers appropriate collocates in a cumulative manner. Second, it facilitates intact decoding which enhances learning of new vocabulary provided in written form. The impact of inner voice on syntactic knowledge is by triggering appropriate sentential colligates. Inner voice, as underlying decoding processes, is also suggested as having a significant function in reading ability. Phonological processing is suggested as prerequisite for auditory verbal memory which was seen to have an impact on speech perception and production. The proposed explanatory link between auditory verbal memory and speech performance is auditory word recognition. Visual memory is seen to impact both vocabulary acquisition and reading separately. Two links between visual memory and vocabulary acquisition are suggested: visual spatial memory is proposed as facilitating memory for word configurations and visual sequential memory as underlying orthographic awareness. Importantly, it is proposed that visual memory itself is facilitated when supported by phonological memory in the process of reading. Visual memory is also suggested as facilitating reading comprehension processes by applying visual strategies. The central executive function is seen to enhance all aspects of EFL performance which require processing, control, attention switching and retrieval from long-term memory. However, intact central executive function cannot come into play effectively when the elements for integration are imperfect. Inappropriate learning strategies such as list learning and translation strategy were seen to inhibit EFL acquisition even when memory was intact. In the light of the above, it is suggested that the phonological aspects of processing and memory are the most significant factors underlying EFL performance.