As the American superhero films continue to increase their popularity around the globe, and because of the reccurent criticism against their poor and stereotypical representation, this essay aims to analyse the two newly made productions Man of Steel and Wonder Woman from a gender perspective. The essay argues a difference in Superman and Wonder Woman’s superhero images and further discussess the opportunities as well as potential problems the superhero narratives can offer to discuss gender in the EFL classroom.

The main purpose of this research is to investigate the beliefs of trainee teachers regarding generating English language learners' Willingness to Communicate (WTC), the relationship between their beliefs and practice and the influence of teaching practicum to their beliefs. This study took place in the Indonesian context in which EFL trainee teachers' belief-practice relationships regarding learners' WTC is still an understudied domain. Thus, this study was designed to fill this gap in current research. Three Indonesian EFL trainee teachers participated in this study during their teaching practicum. The study is within an Interpretive paradigm and utilizes a case study approach. Methods of data collection included classroom observation and semi-structured interviews. The findings showed that trainee teachers' learning experience significantly influenced their beliefs and governed their teaching. Some of the trainee teachers' beliefs were clearly manifested in their actual teaching (e.g. using explicit approaches particularly in teaching grammar). Other beliefs (e.g. creating interactive classroom activities) were not demonstrated. Several intrinsic factors such as trainee teachers' English proficiency level and confidence, and extrinsic factors such as large class size and students' responses were found to affect the relationship between trainee teachers' beliefs and practice. Most of their beliefs (e.g. learners' language knowledge as the key factor to communicate in English) remained unchanged after the practicum. Other beliefs, such as the need to use English and BI proportionally were not enacted in their teaching practice during the classroom observations. This study provides important implications for initial English language teacher education programmes, teacher professional development and for the field of teacher cognition and WTC.

In Sweden and in many places around the world there is a great discussion about using L1 or not in teaching. The fact that 43% of the pupils having a parent speaking another language do not qualify for upper secondary studies in Sweden is worrying. The aim of the thesis was to collect a classroom teacher's experiences and how the teacher perceived the pupils' participation and the perspectives of the mother tongue teacher over three lessons. The research was carried out in a multilingual grade 3, consisting of 19 pupils. The focus was the experience of the classroom teacher and mother tongue teachers. The result was positive for pupils in many ways but the organisation of how to use L1 is an issue to solve. The data collection was carried out through observations from three lessons and interviews with teacher and mother tongue teachers. Recommendations for further studies include to get a better point of view concerning the organisation round mother tongue tuition and how the pupils develop their knowledge. / <p>Educational work/ English</p><p>Pedagogiskt arbete/ Engelska</p>

This research investigated the main sources of occupational stress that tertiary English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers experience in the United Arab Emirates. A secondary focus was to identify the coping strategies used by EFL teachers who exhibit low levels of stress, and what types of support were needed by EFL teachers who exhibited moderate to high levels of stress. While theories abound in the literature on the reasons for stress and its consequences for teachers, little is known about the role of coping strategies and their specific usefulness in eradicating stress. Given the nature of the research questions, an interpretivist mixed methods approach was deemed appropriate. Data collection methods included a pre-tested online survey followed by 26 semi-structured interviews and a Likert-style questionnaire which were used to gain an in-depth understanding of the quantitative aspects of stress levels. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were used to examine the coping strategies of 113 self-identified EFL teachers with low stress levels. They were analysed through theme analysis and triangulated with other data to increase the robustness of the results. The sources of teacher stress derived from the analysis are ranked according to the 20 cited as most significant by the participants. They are discussed in detail under the headings of stressors related to classroom teaching, administration leadership style, professional issues and their own assessment as teachers. The strategies teachers use to cope with these stresses are varied and range from activities to attitudes. Key recommendations for the teaching faculty centre on general health and well-being, and overall workplace focus. Clearly, EFL teachers suffering from workplace stress must take care of themselves physically, psychologically and emotionally. Yet teachers in the UAE also expressed a desire for administrators who practice more democratic leadership styles, and acknowledged that the attitudes of their students toward learning English had a considerable impact on their own practices. Further inquiry is recommended into a more complete examination of teacher stressors and their relationship to cultural factors, specifically two of the cultural dimensions found in the UAE (power distance and uncertainty avoidance), which were found to be particularly relevant to stressors in the category of leadership style and practices.

This essay presents an ecocritical reading of water imagery in selected poems by Carol AnnDuffy, with focus on Duffy’s personified water-voices, how water illuminates history, andDuffy’s metaphor of language as water. After a consideration of the problematics of teachingpoetry in the EFL classroom, the essay concludes that Duffy’s poetry holds potential forstudents to develop environmental literacy, both in content and in form.

This study employed the L2 Motivational Self-System (Dörnyei, 2005) as a framework to compare differences in the types of motivation reported by Chinese learners of English in a foreign language context (China) and a second language context (USA). It followed up on studies by Taguchi, Magid, and Papi (2009) and You and Dörnyei (2016). The participants consisted of 61 current students at an American university who come from Mainland China. This study adopted a mixed-method approach, using an internet-based questionnaire followed by an individual interview. The investigation aimed to explore what types of English learning motivation Chinese students have in different contexts, as well as to compare the shift in Chinese students' motivation when they move from an EFL (China) to an ESL (USA) context. A recent study conducted by You & Dörnyei (2016), provided a solid empirical description of the main features of language learning motivation in China. The detailed information presented in You & Dörnyei's study serves as a baseline to further explore the differences in English learner motivation in different settings. The findings of this study can be used as a reference to align English language learners' motivational self-system with their own pattern of development.

Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) is considered innovative in foreign language teaching. However, the body of research on TBLT employment in vocabulary instruction is still modest. This study explored teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding vocabulary instruction using TBLT. This study examined such application among Vietnamese high-school EFL teachers (N = 60) using a mixed methods research design. Data were collected using online questionnaires. Data analysis showed that 53.6% of the participating teachers associated vocabulary instruction with TBLT. However, regardless of their years as instructors, they still found it challenging to implement TBLT vocabulary instruction due to numerous factors. In fact, 66.2% of the participating teachers acknowledged a variety of constraints in applying TBLT, among which, exam-oriented curricula were reported as the biggest impediment.

[pt] A presente tese de doutorado tem como objetivo investigar o discurso dos livros didáticos de ensino de inglês como língua estrangeira e sua relação com a construção de identidades sociais dos alunos. Buscando verificar como estes livros representam sócio-discursivamente o mundo e os contextos culturais relacionados à língua alvo; observar em que medida oferecem oportunidades de voz aos alunos; e como situam-se em relação ao ensino e aprendizagem da língua inglesa, esta pesquisa adota uma teoria de linguagem de base sistêmico- funcional, uma perspectiva sócio-interacionista de ensino e aprendizagem e uma abordagem crítica de discurso e de cultura. A partir de uma visão não-essencialista das identidades e considerando a sociedade inserida na pós- modernidade, este trabalho analisa doze livros de ensino de inglês, de seis séries didáticas, nos níveis iniciante e intermediário. Os livros foram selecionados de acordo com parâmetros de variação quanto aos seus objetivos comunicativos, público alvo, local e data de publicação, bem como mercados consumidores. Os tópicos e os contextos culturais foram investigados para identificar a visão de mundo representada em cada livro (metafunção ideacional); as atividades propostas foram relacionadas aos papéis sociais imaginados pelo autor para os usuários projetados do livro e às oportunidades para o aluno mostrar sua voz (metafunção interpessoal); e a organização estrutural do material (metafunção textual) foi estudada com a finalidade de identificar as crenças do autor em relação ao processo de ensino e aprendizagem de inglês como língua estrangeira. A análise do corpus mostrou que as escolhas dos tópicos e dos contextos culturais propiciam uma visão de mundo que pode induzir os alunos a adotar determinadas identidades que são apresentadas como certas, socialmente aceitas e legitimadas nos livros. Os resultados apontam para uma visão de mundo, em oito dos doze livros, americanizada e europeizada, sendo o status e a visibilidade determinantes de sucesso, tal como na sociedade pós-moderna. A organização dos livros didáticos, muitas vezes tematizando o componente gramatical, mostra que os autores, em sua maioria, vêm o processo de ensino e aprendizagem como um conjunto de regras formais a serem apreendidas e reproduzidas e não como uma forma de agir no mundo. A análise das atividades propostas mostrou que há pouco espaço para a cultura dos aprendizes e poucas oportunidades para que mostrem sua voz e exerçam livremente suas identidades. Os resultados da pesquisa apontam para a importância da discussão das questões relevantes ligadas ao uso do livro didático e necessidade de conscientização dos alunos, professores e pesquisadores quanto à força social e discursiva destes materiais, que podem interferir na construção de identidades, de mundos e de crenças. / [en] The purpose of this research is to investigate the discourse of English as foreign language coursebooks and its relation to students´ construction of social identities. In order to observe socio-discursively how these books represent the world and the cultural contexts related to the English language; to investigate the extent to which they offer voice opportunities to students; and to identify the beliefs they reflect concerning the teaching and learning of English, this thesis adopts a systemic-functional approach to language, a socio- interactionist view of teaching and learning and a critical perspective of discourse and culture. Adopting a non-essentialist view of social identities and considering the insertion of society in post modernity, this research analyzes twelve English coursebooks, from six different series, at beginner and intermediate levels. Books were selected according to variation parameters involving communicative objectives, target audience, both place and date of publication, and consumer market. Topics and cultural contexts were investigated to identify the world view expressed in each book (ideational metafunction); exercises and activities were both related to the social roles imagined for projected book users and to students´ voice opportunities (interpersonal metafunction); finally, the structural organization of the materials (textual metafunction) was studied to identify authors´ beliefs concerning the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language. The analysis showed that the choice of topics and cultural contexts provides a world view that may lead students to adopt certain identities which are presented as the right ones, socially acceptable and legitimated in several books. Results also indicate, in eight out of the twelve books analyzed, the representation of an American and European world view, where status and visibility are crucial to success, in accordance with post modern society. The organization of the materials, which generally thematize grammar, shows that most authors understand the teaching and learning process as a set of formal rules to be apprehended and reproduced, rather than a way of acting in the world. The analysis of the exercises and activities showed that there is little space for learners´ cultures and few opportunities for them to show their voice and perform their identities freely. Results of this research point to the importance of discussing these issues and making students, teachers and researchers who deal with coursebooks aware of the social and discursive force inherent to the materials, which can interfere with the construction of identities, worlds and beliefs.

Compared with first language (L1) writing, writing in a second or foreign language (L2) is considered to be more challenging and difficult. The challenges and difficulties may result from both the cognitive and the affective aspects of writing. To mitigate the difficulties of L2 writing and help students master L2 writing, teachers could consider using the pedagogical strategies which can help enhance students' cognition in writing or students' writing performance, and also can help reduce students' fear of L2 writing. One of the pedagogical strategies is online collaborative writing supported by CMC. Collaborative learning helps enhance students' cognitive outcomes, such as academic achievement and cognitive development, as well as produce less anxiety in learning. CMC facilitates collaboration, and also provides more chances for interaction which could result in more thoughts. The more thoughts would facilitate to compose. Therefore, it is assumed that online collaborative writing is more effective than traditional collaborative writing in terms of writing performance and writing anxiety. The present study is a quasi-experimental study. Participants were 101 first-year college students from two intact classes of a private university in Taiwan. One class was randomly assigned as the control class. Participants were engaged in traditional collaborative writing. The other was the experimental class. Students wrote collaboratively via blogs. Before the treatment, both classes were asked to completed a background survey, a pre-test L2 writing anxiety questionnaire, and a pre-test individual writing task. The treatment lasted for ten weeks during which each collaborative group in both classes completed five collaborative writing tasks. After the treatment, a collaborative writing questionnaire, a post-test L2 writing anxiety questionnaire, and a post-test individual writing task were administered to all participants. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted to the students who made the largest, medium, and lowest gains in both classes. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted to analyze the data. In terms of the quantitative results, there were no significant difference in collaborative writing performance and the quantity of individual writing between classes. The experimental class only significantly performed better than the control class in the quality of individual writing. Concerning the writing anxiety measured, the control class was significantly lower than the experimental class. Regarding students' perceptions, the results of the questionnaire showed that the control class made much more positive responses than the experimental class. As for the qualitative results, students' interviews revealed (1) the function of collaborative writing, (2) the features of the media, (3) the difficulty they encounter during collaborative writing, (4) the positive and negative factors influencing their motivation to write, and (5) their suggestions for teachers. The qualitative results support the quantitative results. Overall, this dissertation study found that, based on statistic results, traditional collaborative writing seems to be more effective than blog-supported collaborative writing in decreasing the writing anxiety of the EFL college students with weaker English ability and little writing experience. In addition, according to students' perceptions and interview results, traditional collaborative writing also appears to be more acceptable in this context. Although the statistic results suggest that the effect of blog-supported collaborative writing on writing performance and writing anxiety seems to be limited and little probably due to the use of blogs as individual and synchronous tools, its effectiveness can not be completely denied because students' perceptions and interviews suggest its positive influence and outcome. L2 teachers are suggested to provide more training sessions, employ the collaborative writing activity as an out-of-class assignment, and carefully monitor the process of collaborative writing if they do use blogs in L2 writing instruction.

[pt] Esta pesquisa consiste em uma investigação sobre os aspectos multimodais do Quadro Branco Interativo (QBI) como ferramenta mediadora no ensino de inglês como língua estrangeira (EILE). Inicialmente, procurou-se utilizar os fundamentos da Teoria da Atividade para contextualizar o artefato tecnológico em questão no plano das atividades docentes, desde o processo de elaboração até a execução das aulas. Os conceitos de mediação, atividade de ensino, conjunto e sistema de gêneros correspondem à base para a sistematização e contextualização, em nível individual ou coletivo, das ações e operações referentes ao ambiente de sala de aula em que o QBI se insere. Conforme o estudo circunscrevia-se às questões de ensino, foi desenvolvido um questionário on-line com o intuito de averiguar as perspectivas de um grupo de docentes pertencentes a uma renomada instituição particular, ícone no EILE, através do uso de ferramentas de última geração, entre elas, o QBI. A finalidade principal consistia no melhor entendimento das atividades docentes mediadas pela tecnologia sob análise, buscando-se elementos facilitadores e/ou delimitadores em todo o processo, contrastando essas experiências paralelamente com outros recursos mais tradicionais, como o quadro negro, quadro branco, transparências e slides. Os resultados obtidos favorecem a utilização do QBI em virtude da multiplicidade de recursos disponíveis. Entretanto, argumenta-se que o mesmo não deve ocupar o lugar central no âmbito das práticas docentes supracitadas. / [en] This research consists of an investigation on the multimodal aspects of the Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) as a mediating tool in the teaching of English as a foreign language (TEFL). Initially, the theoretical background offered by Activity Theory was used with a view to contextualizing the technological artifact in question in the field of teaching activities, from the process of elaborating a lesson to the moment of executing it. The concepts of mediation, teaching activity, set of genres and genre systems constitute the basis for systematizing and contextualizing, whether individually or collectively, the array of actions and operations referring to the classroom environment where the IWB is present. Since the study was delimited to the matter of teaching, an online questionnaire was developed in order to check the perspectives of a group of teachers from a renowned private institution, with excellence in the TEFL through the use of state-of-the-art technologies, which also include the IWB. The main purpose of this questionnaire was to obtain a better understanding of the teaching activities mediated by the IWB, by searching for facilitators or delimiters throughout the process, besides comparing these results with more traditional tools, such as blackboards, whiteboards, transparencies and slides/presentations. The results favor the use of the IWB due to its multiplicity and availability of resources; nevertheless, it is argued that it should not be the main focus in any of the teaching activities mentioned above.