This study was an examination of peer review use in English composition courses at a Japanese university. Approximately 100 students in four writing classes engaged in four modes of peer review modes: face-to-face, handwritten (both on-draft and using an evaluation sheet), and computer-assisted. The learners in the study represented a range of proficiencies, from lower-intermediate to advanced, so the assigned writing passages were limited to single paragraphs rather than full-length essays, which has typically been the case in prior research in this area. Each peer review session was preceded by training in peer review, including modeling and whole-class editing, as well as suggestions for each particular mode the learners participated in. After each session, students completed questionnaires in order to assess their evaluations of the activities, both as reviewers and comment receivers. The questionnaire data were then analyzed using a variety of statistical methods--including Rasch analysis descriptive statistics, and parametric and non-parametric measures--first to validate the questionnaire instrument, and second to ascertain the degree to which each peer review modes was viewed favorably or unfavorably received by the participants. Additionally, the participants' written drafts and peer comments were quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed in order to answer several research questions that focused on: the number and type of peer suggestions the learners made in each mode, the number and type of suggestions that were incorporated into later drafts by the authors, the degree to which suggestions and revisions were affected by learner proficiency, and the accuracy of the peer suggestions. For the research questions concerned with learner evaluations of the peer review modes, findings were mixed. The participants responded favorably to reading others' drafts and receiving comments, but they were less comfortable reviewing and making suggestions for their peers. Computer-assisted peer review was the most positively received overall, particularly from those in the High Proficiency Group. Person measures for Low Proficiency learners, on the other hand, were generally higher for on-draft peer review, while those for Intermediate Proficiency participants tended not to indicate strong endorsement for any particular mode. In order to answer the next set of research questions, the participants' drafts and peer suggestions were analyzed. Most of the learners' suggestions, particularly for those in the Low Proficiency Group, tended to be local in nature, concerning such areas as word choice, grammar, and mechanics; fewer suggestions were made at the sentence- or whole-text-level. In terms of incorporation of suggestion by authors into later drafts, oral peer review led to the highest rate of suggested revisions while review using an evaluation sheet of guided questions resulted in the lowest rate. Learner proficiency did not have a significant bearing on suggestions or revisions, except in the case of the High Proficiency Group, whose members made significantly more suggestions during computer-assisted peer review than during the other modes. Finally, over 73% of peer suggestions were determined to be accurate across all four modes. These findings indicate that peer review can work on even the most limited of scales with learners of even modest language proficiency. No single mode of peer review succeeded in all areas, and instructors are encouraged to blend different modes if possible. However, if a single mode is preferred or required, computer-assisted review is strong choice. / CITE/Language Arts

This study is a qualitative inquiry of eight mid-career second language (L2) teachers’ identity evolution. These teachers have or had full-time or tenured teaching experience in secondary schools in Japan. Since they were mid- and later career teachers, they have explored their development, what they are now, and why they keep growing. They have all made meaningful voluntary changes in their professional lives. To make meaningful voluntary changes at moments of transitions, the teachers have made choices and negotiated, or juggled, their identities. They are successful teachers who have tenaciously pursued what matters to themselves professionally throughout their lives. One unfilled niche in the L2 teacher development and education is research on redefining L2 teachers who began their careers in secondary education in Japan, make meaningful voluntary changes in mid-career, and make apparently difficult work situations negotiable. The three purposes of this study are to (a) explore why and how L2 teachers’ identity evolution and their professional growth at mid-career happen; (b) learn more about the complexity of teacher change mechanisms at mid-career, and; (c) highlight ways that teachers whose professional development has stalled can grow out of their stagnation by examining the lives of successful mid-career and later career teachers. Eight L2 teachers participated in this study, recruited between 2005 and 2010. Interviews are the main source of data collection. I triangulated the data with email exchanges, class visits, and public documents such as Curriculum Vitae, syllabi, and curriculum descriptions given to students in a current or former class, handouts used in class, and published research articles. The data analysis was grounded in Riessman’s (2008) thematic and structural narrative analysis for identity evolution. Using these frameworks, I analyzed the data by(a) looking for stories and events in the telling as well as searching for identity negotiation and evolution with the participants with thematic analysis, which applied to all the participants, and (b) seeking contextual, discursive, and interpersonal cohesion and meanings with structural narrative analysis, which was applied to one participant. What each participant deemed important determined what kind of L2 teacher they wanted to become. With their efforts to keep evolving as L2 teachers through reflection, action, and negotiation they became consciously aware of what mattered to them. Their conscious awareness prompted them to exercise agency to plan meaningful changes. / Teaching & Learning

With the dominance of the Web in education and English language learning, new literacies have emerged. This thesis is motivated by the assumption that these literacies need to be integrated into the Egyptian pre-service EFL teacher education programmes so that EFL student teachers can cope with the new reality of language teaching/learning. Therefore, the main objective of the present study is to develop a theoretical understanding of the relationship between Web-based new literacies and the teaching of TESOL in a way that supports the possibility of expanding Egyptian pre-service EFL student teachers’ language-related literacy practices by integrating some Web-based new literacies into their education programme, with specific reference to the context of Assiut University College of Education (AUCOE). This requires accomplishing minor objectives represented in: (1) identifying the range of those Web-based new literacies that Egyptian EFL student teachers need in this ICT-dominated age; (2) identifying those Web-based facilities beneficial to them, and why and how they can be beneficial; and (3) generating framework for EFL curriculum design based on both literature and empirical data. To accomplish this, a design-based research (DBR) methodology drawing on a pragmatic epistemology is developed and employed as the main research paradigm informing this design study. Thus, the research design involves a flexible three-stage research framework: (1) the preliminary phase, which acts as a theoretical and empirical foundation for the whole study, and informs a preliminary design framework; it involves reviewing relevant literature and obtaining empirical data through documentary analysis (100 documents), online questionnaire (n=50), and semi-structured interviews (n=19); (2) the prototyping phase that involves two iterations (36 participants in the first iteration, and 30 in the second) conducted in the Egyptian context to test the proposed design framework. Each iteration acts as a micro-cycle of the whole design study, and thus involves its own objectives, learning design, research methodology and procedures (in line with the main DBR methodology), and results; (3) the assessment/reflective phase which, based on the prototyping phase results, presents a final design framework for expanding EFL student teachers’ language-related literacy practices. This has implications for the EFL curriculum design process within the Egyptian context in general, and AUCOE in particular. Results indicate that throughout the two iterations, it has become evident that the process of expanding EFL student teachers’ language-related literacy practices by integrating some Web-based new literacies into the AUCOE pre-service programme is quite feasible once some design principles are considered. Some significant conclusions and educational implications are provided, along with some main contributions to knowledge in TESOL/TEFL, language-learning theory, research methodology, and educational practice as far as the Egyptian context of pre-service EFL teacher education is concerned.

This study has been undertaken using an interpretive methodology in order to examine the socially constructed views of Saudi EFL teachers and their decision-making with regards to the appropriate cultural models for EFL textbooks in Saudi public schools. The study also examines the factors affecting the teachers’ views and how they apply their beliefs in their classrooms. In addition, the study will also examine if the Saudi EFL teachers have any concerns about what they have been through and examined and accordingly investigates how they address their pedagogical decision-making in the classroom. Moreover, this study is interested in looking at EFL teachers as local teachers teaching a global language. In view of the exploratory nature of this study and its context-specificity, the naturalistic orientation of interpretive and social constructivism as an epistemological stance were selected. The research design employed a concurrent mixed methods design using an adapted version of Cresswell (1996). In this study, the participants were Saudi Arabian EFL teachers from one city in Saudi Arabia teaching in all of the three public education levels (primary, intermediate and secondary). The data collected were both qualitative (interviews and open-ended questionnaires) and quantitative (close-ended questionnaires). For the interviews, 14 male and female teachers equally interviewed, whereas for the questionnaires 280 male and female participated. The data collection of both data qualitative and quantitative occurred at the same time during my field journey in 2009 in Saudi Arabia. I used the SPSS descriptive statistics for the analysing the quantitative data and used exploratory content analysis for the qualitative data. The study findings revealed that the Saudi EFL teachers were not satisfied with the cultural content currently promoted in the Textbooks as they inappropriately contradict the local cultural values. Thus, they believe that for a better cultural content, the textbooks should therefore include a mixture of different cultures that do not mismatch with the local. And as they are controlled by some educational and social factors, they are limited to practice what they think is appropriate to apply in the classroom, therefore, their decision-making in this regards to some extent are to be controlled. In addition, the findings of the current study revealed that the Saudi EFL teachers show their openness to other cultures based on their glocal position as local Saudis teaching a global language. The conclusion of the study has some suggestion and implications to improve the cultural content of the EFL textbooks as well as implications for the EFL teachers in general and their practices and decision-making with regards to the textbook. Furthermore, the study proposed a model for the appropriate EFL textbooks for each educational level and can be applied locally in the Saudi context and globally for other similar context around the world.

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to explore the literacy practices of marginalized adolescent youth in India and the relationship of these practices to imagination and identity construction. More than just tools for communication, language and literacy practices allow individuals to express their selves and identities as they voice their thoughts, negotiate meaning (Dyson & Genishi, 2005; Gee, 2003), and enact themselves within society (Janks, 2010; New London Group, 1996). This qualitative case study took place in Lucknow, India; the subjects were a group of adolescent girls at a nonprofit all-girls school in a seventh-grade classroom. Using discourse analysis, the data revealed the ways in which the girls used literacy to agentively position themselves as actual selves in their societies, as imagined social selves and others, in relationship to social others, and in imagined events.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the phonetic production of fricatives across differing word positions and task types. Further knowledge about the fricative production of second language learners of English would potentially improve the ability to teach correct pronunciation and improve the productivity of second language programs. All participants in this study were native speakers of Mandarin Chinese with English as their second language. A total of 12 subjects participated, all of whom had English proficiency ratings ranging from novice to advanced. The speakers were between 21-51 years of age, with each speaker having between 2 to 6 years of experience learning English in their country of origin. Using acoustic and spectral moment analyses, the acoustic nature of four types of fricative productions (/f/, /θ/, /s/, and /ʃ/) were analyzed as a function of linguistic task type and word position. Although a number of measures were found to differ significantly as a function of word position and task type, the majority of statistical analyses were not found to be significant. This lack of significance may be due to the specific methodology used, the speakers’ atypical voicing patterns, and/or decreased length of sound productions. Findings of this study may indicate that second language learners’ production of fricatives vary minimally across differing word positions and task types.

This thesis documents my exploration of professional development of four experienced English language teachers of diverse background taking the MA TESOL programme at the University of Manchester. Having considered professional development to be about change construed broadly to professional identity and teacher beliefs, I explored it through a series of individual in-depth interviews held throughout the programme. The majority of the interviews focused on the teachers' ongoing life and development and allowed the teachers space to make meaning of what they were going through and how they were developing as they engaged in the programme. On the basis of the interviews, stories about the teachers and their year were constructed. Within the stories, I synthesized what I had learned about the teachers' experience and highlighted the changes that I could see had happened to their professional identity and teacher beliefs. The stories provide a vivid example of professional development of experienced English language teachers through a master's degree. They also bring to the fore the significance of future-directed thoughts for how teachers develop professionally, which is rarely acknowledged in the existing literature. I further use the stories as a ground to conceptualize professional development of the four teachers to account for the important role their thoughts about the future played in it. Using the concepts of imagined identity and antenarrative, which I borrow from the literature, I describe it as an iterative pursuit of an ever-evolving imagined identity, or identities, and antenarrative, or antenarratives. Finally, I examine the cases using the conceptualization as a lens and offer some further insights about professional development in TESOL.

Informed by, and seeking to contribute to, discussions about appropriate methodology (e.g. Holliday, 1994), my study as reported in this thesis was concerned with appropriacy of paradigms in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). It explored practitioner perspectives in Thai higher education (HE) in this era when English has become 'the' main international language for intercultural communication (IC). This linkage between English as an international language (EIL) and IC is evident in the strategy of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) - of which Thailand was a founding member in 1967 - for greater economic, cultural and socio-political integration among its members. For practitioners like me, this regional strategic move in conjunction with Thai policies and curricular documentation raises questions about the appropriacy of the established practices of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) in Thailand. My multi-method qualitative case study addressed such questions by exploring the perspectives of three Thai-national teachers of English working in a Thai public university regarding the purposes of, and assumptions underpinning, their teaching of English. As informed by an understanding of their perspectives, I then considered the possible influences which might have shaped these perspectives. The study identified the teachers' main purposes to be short-term, instrumental ones - i.e. for academic study and examination preparation purposes. As such, they tended not to attach much value to the teaching of the cultural dimension (i.e. the target culture of native English speakers [NESs], the students' home cultures and other cultures) or intercultural dimension (i.e. knowledge, skills and mindset needed for engaging people from differing cultural backgrounds). These purposes were underpinned by assumptions they held about the NES linguistic norms as testable norms in TEFL and Teaching English for Academic Purposes (TEAP). The teachers seemed unfamiliar with alternative paradigms - such as Teaching English as an International Language (TEIL) - that might align top-level policy statements and actual classroom practices. This unfamiliarity suggests the inadequacy of the teachers' educational and professional development experiences. The influences from their institution such as exams-oriented and English-medium academic agendas also had repercussions for the teachers' perspectives. Stepping back from the teachers' perspectives, my study suggested discourse inconsistencies across Thai HE regarding paradigms and purposes of TESOL. This situation is unhelpful vis-à-vis the ASEAN foregrounding of EIL for IC, and the consequent need, through TESOL, to prepare Thai students to engage in IC with people within and beyond ASEAN. My study has implications for a direction of change for TESOL in the Thai HE and possibly for similar contexts elsewhere. It offers some suggestions about teacher education that can be supportive of reorienting TESOL towards appropriate and purposeful paradigms.

This research is a case study of stakeholders' perceptions of learning and provision during a specific English language program. The pedagogical context of the program was clearly defined. English teachers from Hong Kong who had either Cantonese or Mandarin as their first language (L1) came to Australia for intensive language proficiency training and assessment. The Hong Kong government determined the program's syllabus, including assessment instruments and criteria in the Syllabus Specifications for the Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers (English Language) (LPATE) (Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), 2000). The Australian provider had created the program from the specifications and had developed appropriate teaching and assessment materials for its implementation in all syllabus components. Additionally, the provider was responsible for administering and marketing the program. Delivery was in immersion mode with the Hong Kong teachers travelling to Australia and residing with Australian 'homestay' families for the 6-week program. The 'guiding issue/question' for the case study was: How did the multiple stakeholders perceive learning and provision? The study drew on a corpus of data collected from the perspectives of various stakeholders within provision of a 6-week in-service and education training program (INSET) (Bolam, 1986) for Chinese first language (L1) primary and secondary school teachers. Stakeholders represented in the study were teachers who participated as learners; the researcher who was a part-time language instructor; a course designer who was a full-time language instructor in the program; and an administrator who also held a wider role in the general marketing of INSET. Multiple forms of data were collected and analysed within a case study design (Stake, 1995, 2000). These included: a document analysis; pretest and posttest questionnaires; semi-structured interviews from individuals and focus groups; stimulated recall interviews from individuals; learner journals; and a researcher journal. Existing knowledge was reviewed through a search of literature, policies and accounts that examined four contextual layers that framed the study and situated it in terms of global, local and intercultural issues. Specifically, the layers were: (a) imperatives for Australian higher education to internationalise; (b) provision of INSET for teachers of English as a Second or Foreign Language (ESL/EFL); (c) language education and proficiency in Hong Kong; and (d) intercultural communication and culture learning as they pertained to an immersion program. While higher education institutions in Australia have recognised the imperative to internationalise, some recent initiatives are poorly researched. Bodycott and Crew (2001a, p. 23) noted a 'dearth' (p. 2) of literature surrounding short-term, immersion versions of INSET such as that used in the current research. A review of literature where INSET had been used for the education of language teachers provided important insights into issues that might affect learning and provision. These involved the extent to which teachers' home country contexts were included in the design and content of programs, whether 'one-off' programs could be effective in the long-term, and what models underpinned the current design of INSET. The major gaps in the literature were (a) reported research on INSET where it is delivered as a short-term, immersion program to South East Asian teachers; and (b) published work on the LPATE as a learning-teaching experience. The current study attempted to address these gaps. While there was an absence of literature on the specific context of the INSET under study, the literature did reveal ways for the teacher/researcher to objectify and reflect on INSET provision. Literature on interactionism and social constructivism provided insights into the role and effect of the teacher/researcher in a data-gathering process. The case study approach was reviewed and Stake's (1995, 2000) design used in the study within a theoretical framework of social constructivism. In its reporting, the case accounts for forces of change surrounding the participants' INSET. These included the internationalisation of Australian higher education and curriculum reform in Hong Kong. At more personal levels, participants provided reflective data throughout the immersion experience. These data from the Hong Kong teachers indicated perceptions of strong positive growth in their English proficiency. This is an outcome consistent with the purpose of the INSET, which was to improve and benchmark proficiency standards. The data also revealed that the teachers had learned much about pedagogy and culture, which formed insights into intercultural negotiation and learning. The providers - an administrator and an instructor - supported accounts their learners had given of learning and provision. Yet, each had particular views regarding what constituted success in delivery of an INSET. While the case study provided detailed explication of the 'nature' of this particular INSET, this researcher supports Crew and Bodycott's (2001) call for further, longitudinal research into the phenomenon. Drawing on findings from this study, specific research questions are suggested to investigate the effects of immersion INSET. Within the constraints of case study method, implications are drawn for the design and delivery of future short-term, immersion INSET. A detailed mapping of what stakeholders reported as culture learning and cross-cultural experiences provided an account of this aspect of the phenomenon. There was strong evidence that a component based on intercultural communication should be included in any future trial to inform INSET design. A new model, entitled 'Intercultural INSET', is proposed for future implementation and research. It incorporates domains of learning established from the case study data and is informed by a theoretical construct designed in the current study and termed, 'Positive Effect Chain'. The proposed model embeds the design within contexts significant to the teacher/participants and to their ongoing critical reflection. This ongoing reflection informs thinking about the proposed INSET course evaluation. Finally, the proposed model extends INSET into a post-immersion phase. This subsequent phase extends participants' INSET interaction, once they have returned to their own countries and to their work in home classrooms. The model seeks enduring and effective learning and requires trial and further study. The case study approach provided a successful vehicle for organising the data of the research and for framing the discussion. It also yielded indications as to the means by which INSET providers might structure ongoing feedback and assessment of their intended curriculum design. These indications are reflected in the proposed 'Intercultural INSET' design.

This field study proposes a basis for the establishment of a professional development program for Vietnamese high school teachers. The social background and the problems of teaching and learning English in Vietnamese high schools are discussed, including the students' goals in learning English in high schools; the teachers' qualifications and the methods of teaching commonly used; the coursebooks and how they are used; learning facilities, and the attitudes and policy decisions of education authorities. To develop effective solutions to these problems, it is necessary also to know the background to teaching and learning English in Hanoi Foreign Languages Teachers' College. In-service training is of vital importance in the education of all nations. A review of what other people have done in this field is included with particular reference to the problems which are relevant to the situation in Vietnam. Given the constraints of funding and work procedures, a short full-time in-service course would be the most practicable for the Vietnamese situation. A survey of the needs of high school teachers in their professional development has been carried out and is discussed in relation to the priorities to be given to various components of an in-service syllabus. The priorities were found to be: to improve the language, teaching techniques and awareness of a communicative approach to teaching and learning language of high school teachers in Vietnam. These priorities having been identified, the study considers: iv 1 - the syllabus model. 2 - the development of specific goals. 3 - the development of content. 4 - possible modifications of the syllabus in the future. The solution to the problem of professional development must take into account not only the work of internationally known authorities, but also the needs of Vietnamese teachers. The proposed course suggests ways of finding out and meeting the needs of participants and points to possible future development.