The thesis draws upon in-depth research into the question of how English Academic Writing (EAW) is conceptualized at a Department of Applied English in a Taiwanese university. A qualitative research approach was taken within a social constructionism framework. Administrators, teachers, and students, were interviewed to explore the impact each of these three streams of influence has on the construction of the idea of EAW within this particular EFL context. These influences add to the mixture forming the conceptualization of EAW with a knock on effect to curriculum planning, teaching pedagogy, and the academic texts students produce. Administrators' design of a writing program and teachers' conceptualizations of EAW have implications for students' experience in learning to write and their own conceptualizations of what EAW is. Excerpts from interviews with teachers across the writing programme reveal how teachers do not share a coherent approach to teaching writing and yet have the understanding that they are conforming to a standardized conception of EAW. This research has important implications for curriculum design and lesson planning in EAW and EFL teacher training. Administrators need to implement a writing program with clear mutual goals as conceptualizations of EAW in an EFL context may be particularly fragile and lack consistency. Further implications of this research touch upon the training EFL teachers receive in graduate programs abroad which contribute to molding their conceptualizations of EAW. This research also points to the importance for administrators, teachers, and students to share a common language with which to discuss EAW issues.

The purpose of this study was to explore why and how stories and drama can encourage children’s participation in class and also affect their learning of English as a foreign language in Taiwanese primary schools. The author takes a strong interest in both fields, English for Young Learners (EYL) and educational drama, and attempts to propose a solution, story-based drama, to two of the more common problems faced by teachers at primary level—mixed ability classes and limited teaching hours. The key methodological approach was action research in a case study format, using mixed methods and gathering quantitative as well as qualitative data in order to evaluate the impact of the author’s teaching on the children’s English learning. The quantitative research data was gathered with the aid of questionnaires responded to by one hundred and nine teachers and thirty-two fifth graders, while the qualitative data was collected from interviews, participant observation, fieldnotes, journals, artefacts, and video and audio recordings. Quantitative and qualitative data analyses revealed that the incorporation of stories and drama into the existing school curriculum was workable, and the story-based drama assisted the pupils to have greater participation in class and a higher degree of improvements than before in terms of their four language and non-verbal communication skills. This was corroborated by questionnaire results, interviewees’ responses, the co-teacher’s observations, and the pupils’ written work. The author recommends that a collaborative approach to curriculum design and research methodology could be adopted by teachers themselves or between teachers and researchers in order to stimulate more research on the use of story-based drama in similar contexts, while deepening our understanding of this resourceful teaching approach.

This research aims to investigate Taiwanese university students' motivation for studying English, changes in their motivation and influences which caused the changes, and their perceptions of the role of English as an international language today. The uniqueness of this study lies in using a mixed methods approach (both qualitative and quantitative) to explore L2 motivation from the perspective of English as an international language (EIL). As well as this, it aims to explore and compare university students' motivation for studying English and perceptions of English today based on their subject difference (English majors versus non-majors; the comprehensive university versus the technology university). This thesis begins with an introduction to English education at the tertiary level in Taiwan and my motivation for doing this study. After that, it reviews relevant literature of L2 motivation and English as an international language. Then, it discusses the use of a mixed methods approach and three research instruments (the focus group interview, the interviews and the questionnaire). After the data of the three methods are presented, the discussion integrates insights from different data sources where relevant. The results show that the majority of the students in this research study English because of instrumental and integrative orientation. However, the term 'integrative' in this study has a different interpretation from Gardner's sense of the notion. In terms of motivation changes, the results show that the students' motivation changed because of various influences such as teachers, curriculum, exams, group dynamics and social experiences etc. Another major finding indicates that although the majority of the students and the teachers are aware of the notion of EIL, they are facing a dilemma about following it in the classroom.

This thesis investigates individual language school student sojourners’ learning experiences in the UK. It takes into account the importance of learners learning through interaction with others in the target language community and recognises how learners’ social networks affect their language learning and use. There are many studies about students who study abroad for academic purposes and immigrant learners, but not many relating to individual language learners in private language schools. In order to fill this gap, this study focused on individual language school learners. With the intention of understanding how the social networks and language learning interact over time as part of their sojourner experience, I utilised different theoretical frameworks that have been applied to other groups of language learners and concluded that these frameworks are also applicable to private language school students. I recognised that in order to understand my participants’ learning experiences I needed to interact with them and also observe how they interacted with their social world. Therefore, formal interviews (semi-structured) and informal interviews (informal group meeting or chat) were the main methods for my study together with observation of interaction in various situations. This study identified the expectations that learners had with regard to the target language community, host families and native speakers’ attitudes towards foreign students, and the realisation that these expectations were higher than what was actually encountered. It also identified the steps the individual language learners took to overcome these disappointments and how they reconstructed their relationships with the target language and community respectively. In contrast with many previous studies which only focused on learning from native speakers, my study recognised that learners sometimes can have more interpersonal contact with their fellow students than native speakers. And consequently they benefit more from these contacts, in terms of language learning, than from native speakers. This thesis also helps language learners and language educators recognise basic theoretical frameworks which could help them evaluate the benefits and problems related to learning through interpersonal contact. And with this understanding learners will be able to facilitate their autonomous learning in the target language community.

The importance of understanding teachers' cognition has been frequently stressed in connection with an ongoing debate regarding the need for a new knowledge base in English language teacher education. However, as is indicated in Chapter One of the present thesis, there has so far been relatively little actual research into teachers' cognition in the field of ELT, and the majority of studies have focused on pre-service and novice, rather than experienced teachers. Research into experienced teachers has tended to rest on the questionable assumption that characteristics of `experts' can be identified and their knowledge prescribed to novices. Additionally, most studies have been carried out in ESL contexts, not the secondary school EFL contexts in which most teachers of English in the world work. This justifies the focus in the present study on identifying experienced (but not necessarily `expert') teachers' personal theories of good teaching in an EFL secondary school context in Turkey. Both the contents and the overall nature (structure and sources) of such teachers' theories are investigated, as is the extent to which their classroom practices are congruent with their theories. The study adopts a Personal Construct Theory (PCT) perspective which is justified and explained in Chapter Two, and employs repertory-grid and follow-up interviews, and stimulated recall interviews based on video-recordings of lessons (as explained in Chapter Three). Four teachers, whose years of experience range from eleven to twenty-five years, are particularly focused upon. Findings are presented and discussed in four chapters, which focus, respectively, on: participants' core constructs relating to `Significant others' in their past and present experience (Chapter Four); shared views (as revealed by content analysis) relating to professional development, and roles and relationships (Chapter Five); both shared views and individual constructs relating specifically to classroom practice and pedagogy (Chapter Six); and, finally, how the participants' personal theories are put into practice and situational constraints are perceived (Chapter Seven). In Chapter Eight I discuss how the personal theories of the participants in this study appear relatively unaffected by formal theories of teaching and learning but are particularly informed by core constructs which have moral and affective significance. These core constructs have deep roots in participants' personal biographies, and they have, to varying extents, developed ways of mediating them into their practice. This process is explained with reference to PCT, and original findings are also offered regarding the overall structure of teacher cognition and the way teachers respond differently to common constraints. The thesis ends (Chapter Nine) with a summary of implications and limitations of the study, suggestions for future research, and final reflections on theory-practice dissonance.

The aim of this study is to investigate the extent to which Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is adopted and/or adapted by Chinese tertiary teachers of English with the experience of teacher education overseas. It employs a case study approach in order to explore the extent to which CLT is compatible with the Chinese EFL context at tertiary level. Twenty-three informants in four institutions participated in this study (including two participating in the pilot study). Classroom observation and semi-structured interview were adopted as instruments for data collection. By looking into the teaching beliefs and actual practice of the target group, an attempt was made to reveal their general conceptions of CLT and their perceptions of good language teaching beyond CLT, as well as to identify the factors conceived as constraints on CLT implementation in the local context. In addition, through observation, an effort was made to explore the extent to which CLT was adopted and adapted in real teaching practice. Adjustments made by the participants to facilitate adoption of the approach were particularly focused on, as well as the extent to which intercultural experience contributed to effective teaching. The main findings suggest that the CLT is seen as important by nearly all the informants in terms of its effectiveness and contributions, potential usefulness and complexity. Although constraints on CLT implementation were both mentioned and observed, ‘communicative ideas’ were found to be widely reflected in the teaching practice of the majority of the participants. The findings show that great attention is paid to learners as they are nowadays greatly involved in different teaching phases (pre-teaching, while-teaching and after-teaching). There exists a tendency of eclecticism in the teaching practices of many informants and the phenomenon of what is termed a ‘seeming-communicative’ approach is reflected in some participants’ ways of teaching due to a recognition of the fundamental importance of the learning skills of recitation and memorization. The experience of teacher education overseas is generally considered as conducive to enhancing practitioners’ intercultural competence and critical thinking -- two factors identified as essential prerequisites for CLT implementation and seeking of appropriate methodology. The findings give rise to discussion of three major problems in relation to interpreting CLT as an appropriate approach in Chinese EFL teaching context. These problems are essentialism, overgeneralization and labeling. The prevalence of these problems confirms that there is a need to understand CLT and its appropriateness in different cultural contexts from an anti-essentialist perspective.

This research focuses on the reflection practices of 45 young learners of English in Brunei Darussalam. The purpose of the research was to ascertain the feasibility of employing a reflection exercise, as a core component of a writing portfolio assessment procedure, in the context of Brunei Darussalam. The research adopted a case study approach which was specifically aimed at: a) examining the reflection criteria used by pupils; b) identifying any developmental pattern of reflection in the use of these criteria: and c) determining the correlation between writing performance and the pattern of progression in reflection. The findings of the study suggest that the pupils made use of a number of criteria which can be grouped into three categories according to the extent of their approximation to the concept of reflection and their focus on the writing pieces being reflected on. In terms of progression, it was found that a large number of pupils were considered mixed in their reflection, a third showed positive progression, while a small number failed to progress. The correlation between the pupils' writing performance and their progression in reflection was found to be significant, especially among female pupils. The implications of the findings, among others, are that: a) the concept of reflection within portfolio assessment is generally practicable among the young learners in the context of Brunei Darussalam; b) some evidence for positive progression in the use of the selection criteria categories essentially illustrates the pupils' ability to shift the focus of their reflection; c) the evidence to suggest the link between performance in writing and progression in reflection calls for more investigation possibly with the involvement of a larger population sampling. These implications are significant not only for the research community, where there is a clear lack of research of this kind with young learners or learners of English as a foreign language; but also for the Brunei Darussalam context where portfolio assessment is one new approach to assessment being recommended to schools.

This study consists in identifying and analyzing the theory and practice of English language teaching (ELT) in Portugal as far as issues of English as an International Language (EIL) are concerned. Through qualitative and quantitative research approaches (273 questionnaires, 22 interviews, 12 sets of pedagogic materials and 11 documents), it examines, firstly, aspects of EIL in the current basis and secondary education national policies and how ELT materials have interpreted the national guidelines and, secondly, how teachers and students view central aspects of EIL. There is an overall tendency for ELT in Portugal to incorporate the concept of EIL not only because most subjects show awareness of the global role of English today but also because the national ELT policies embrace the notion of EIL. However, while the current policies suggest that English classes should integrate linguistic and cultural aspects of English speaking communities, such directives do not seem to be fully developed in the classroom. Although the English syllabus and textbooks for basic and secondary education show some significant references to some English speaking cultures and English varieties, mainly American English (AmE), some subjects displayed some quite conservative attitudes towards English learning and teaching stating that British English (BrE) is the only variety to be learned and that there is not much usefulness in learning about other varieties. To conclude, this study identifies possible consequences that the findings may bring to the teaching of English in the international, European and Portuguese contexts. Moreover, it emphasizes the importance of expanding the EIL debate to include the voices of the Expanding Circle, in the sense that a thorough analysis of learners’ and teachers’ attitudes toward EIL can help identify the present state and future developments in the use of English all over the world.

This thesis investigates the relationship between the motivation of secondary school teachers and students of English in Malta. The study involved 34 Form Four teachers of English and their 612 students (15 year-olds). A mixed methods research methodology, involving a survey and an interview study which complemented each other, was employed. The survey measured levels of teacher and student motivation and the relationship between them through questionnaires. Some of the teachers who had taken part in the survey were then interviewed about their motivation to teach and their perceptions of the relationship between this motivation and their students' motivation to learn. The results show that mainly two factors link the motivation of teachers and students of English. These are a good rapport between teachers and their students and high teacher efficacy. Both of these factors increase the motivation of the students and their teachers. Type of school and the students' attitudes toward Maltese speakers of English were also found to be influencing factors in the relationship between teacher and student motivation. Recommendations which stem from the study are that teachers should seek ways of professional self-improvement through support groups and Continual Professional Development courses. Other suggestions, both at the school level and the policy level, are put forward. These recommendations, if implemented, should improve teacher motivation which would in turn lead to improved student motivation as a positive relationship between the two has been established. The study is one of its kind in that it has established, for the first time, that an empirical link exists between teacher and student motivation.

The ‘National English Teaching Reform’ at university level, also known as the Reform of College English, was initiated in China in 2003. The new mode of English teaching was a combination of classroom teaching and student self-access learning via CWISs (Campus-Wide Information System). The emphasis of the Reform was on developing the students' all-round ability, especially the ability of listening and speaking. The purpose of this study was to research the implementation of this curriculum innovation in a specific university. The research applied both quantitative and qualitative methods, namely, questionnaires, interviews, listening comprehension classroom observations, and document review. According to the data collected, multi-media facilities were more widely used than before but individual self-access facilities were insufficient for every student to get access when needed. At the same time, full advantage of the facilities was not being taken of. With regard to English Listening Comprehension, students spent more time in practising, but rather than being motivated by a wish to improve their all-round ability, many of them regarded it as necessary primarily for the purpose of passing the nationwide College English Test (CET), a qualification highly regarded by employers. A general finding was that autonomous study had not yet been realised in the university. Various reasons for this are explored, among them the fact that teachers did not provide a bridge between classroom instruction and self-access learning. Teachers' own difficulties in coping with the technology are also considered. Four series of English Listening Comprehension textbooks were designed for the Reform and were recommended by the Ministry of Education. However, the researched University used another textbook package because it was evaluated to be more suitable for students.