TESOL, Applied Linguistics

Teaching Vocabulary explores different approaches to teaching vocabulary in ESL/EFL classrooms. It provides an overview of the place and importance of vocabulary in English language learning and teaching in an easy-to-follow guide that language teachers will find very practical for their own contexts. Topics covered include understanding vocabulary, the importance of vocabulary, relevant research findings that impact vocabulary, knowing your students’ vocabulary levels, and how to teach vocabulary effectively. [Note: The attached file includes the Table of Contents, front matter, and a sample of Ch. 1.]

Whereas there has been some research on the role of bottom-up and
top-down processing in the learning of a second or foreign language,
very little attention has been given to bottom-up and top-down
instructional approaches to language teaching. The research
reported here used a quasi-experimental design to assess the relative
effectiveness of two modes of academic English vocabulary instruction, bottom-up and top-down, to Chinese university students
(N = 120). The participants, divided into two groups—bottom-up
and top-down—were exposed to 48 hours of explicit vocabulary
instruction. Their achievement was measured with two vocabulary
tests, Academic Vocabulary Size and Controlled Productive Knowledge, administered at the start (T1) and at the end (T2) of the treatment. Analyses of the test scores reveal that at T2 the bottom-up
group slightly outperformed the top-down one on both vocabulary
size and controlled productive knowledge. With respect to the former, the bottom-up group’s superiority was found to be statistically
significant, although with a relatively small effect size (g2 = .05).

Although a great paucity exists in scholarly studies on education in Somalia, the scarcity is more evident in the English studies area, particularly English as a Second Language (ESL) or English as a Foreign Language (EFL) (used interchangeably in this study), where almost none had existed until Mohamed Eno's MA TESOL Dissertation in 2005 and his recent article in the Journal of Somali Studies in 2017. Influenced by both the paucity and the latter study in 2017 1 , which recommended further examination of ESL/EFL area studies, this research investigates EFL students' perceptions of what they consider as more motivating or most motivating skill among the four second language acquisition (SLA) skills of reading, listening, speaking and writing. 2 Consequently, the results reveal that learners do not perceive more listening as a very motivating factor compared to more speaking, identified as the most motivating skill and ahead of more writing in the overall ratings. With very low results on the whole, more reading, on the other hand, is much below both speaking and writing in significance, though ahead of listening as a potential motivator. Interestingly, the findings also reveal persistent learner misunderstanding of the interlinkedness of the four skills, with a misperception that acquisition of one skill is independent of the others, as captured from an analysis of the vagaries in their responses.

This paper concentrates on VOICE form of our speech in English language. And the first reason for writing on this topic is to EXPLAIN why some of the ideas about certain Voice conversions are incorrect. And why it was necessary to do it? Because a lot of the most authentic grammarians have certain incorrect ideas about certain aspects of Voice conversions and prescribe such incorrect rules, damaging the English language learners.

And the second reason is to inform the ones who are learning English as a second/foreign language the instances in which it is appropriate to use Passive voice. While the use of Passive sentence is a vital part of the English language, its use is not random but exception. But, many English language learners and users of English as second/foreign language randomly use Passive sentences, making their speeches unnatural. So, it is necessary that they know in which instances we use Passive voice.

This paper not just tells by isolated statements but EXPLAINS by reason the areas it covers.

This paper:
1. Defines what VOICE is;
2. Explains the rules for constructing original Active and Passive forms;
3. Explains the rules for converting Active into Passive and Passive into Active;
4. Explains why certain traditional conversion prescriptions are incorrect; and
5. Informs in which instances we use Passive voice.

Due to the idiosyncrasy of human psychology, the way of learning varies from person to person. Therefore, irrespective of what method it is, one single method cannot randomly teach all persons. So, to produce the most effective result, the Informed Eclecticism is the best approach to teach the English language as much as generally all subjects. Under this approach, the teachers must, first, evaluate the specific context to identify what technique it requires and, then, pick and choose technique(s) from the existing ones or, if not available, then invent one to apply to that context. Thus, the approach requires the teachers to know:
1. all the existing approaches and methods, and
2. how to evaluate the demand of any unpredictable context.

What is the place of grammar in language teaching? How necessary it is for a teacher of English as a Foreign Language to have a knowledge of English grammar? How necessary it is for the teacher to have a knowledge of the grammar of the students' language or languages? Abstract This essay tackles three main topics. The first one is the place of grammar in language teaching. The role of grammar is to help students discover the nature of language, to put in understanding that language is consist of predictable patterns that make what we say, read, hear and write intellectually meaningful. Without grammar, without the set of rules and structures, there will be no effective communication at all. However, the teacher approach of teaching a language does not necessarily need to focus on grammar, language teaching approach is also depending on the age of the learners. Second topic is, 'how necessary it is for an ESL teacher to have a knowledge of English grammar?', which is elaborated below together with the third topic which is, 'how necessary for ESL teacher to have knowledge of grammar of students' native language or languages?'.

The NNEST Lens invites you to imagine how the field of TESOL and applied linguistics can develop if we use the multilingual, multicultural, and multinational perspectives of a NNEST (Non Native English Speakers in TESOL) lens to re-examine our assumptions, practices, and theories in the field. The NNEST lens as described in and developed through this volume is a lens of multilingualism, multinationalism, and multiculturalism through which NNESTs and NESTs—as classroom practitioners, researchers, and teacher educators—take diversity as a starting point in their understanding and practice of their profession. The 16 original contributions to this volume include chapters that question theoretical frameworks and research approaches used in studies in applied linguistics and TESOL, as well as chapters that share strategies and approaches to classroom teaching, teacher education, and education management and policy. As such, this volume will be of interest to a wide range of students, practitioners, researchers, and academics in the fields of education and linguistics.

The scope of this article is Prescriptive Grammar.
Any English user may need a quick reference concerning conditionals in general. However, many users have an incorrect idea that, when we use past perfect in the if clause, it is ALWAYS incorrect to use “would or would not + base form of verb” in the main clause.
Therefore, the objective of this article is:
1. to define CONDITIONAL (IF) sentences in general and their BASICs; and
2. to correct the incorrect idea that, when we use past perfect in the if clause, it is ALWAYS incorrect to use “would or would not + base form of verb” in the main clause. We use this pattern in MIXED CONDITIONAL.
Whether we use “would/wouldn’t + have + past participle” or “would/wouldn’t + base form of verb” depends on whether the event is a Third Conditional or Mixed Conditional event.

This article reviews the developments in significant pedagogical and research domains in TESOL during the 50-year history of TESOL Quarterly. It situates these developments in the shift from a modernist to postmodern orientation in disciplinary discourses. The article also considers the changes in modes of knowledge dissemination in the journal by examining the changes in locations of research, authorship, article genres, and research methods. While there is an evolving diversity in the disciplinary discourses of TESOL that can appear to be a threat to the field’s coherence, the article argues that this diversity can contribute to a more plural knowledge base and constructive disciplinary growth for TESOL.

TASK 3: Prepare a diagnostic test for a class of students you are about to take over. You should specify the age and approximate suspected level of the students. Briefly explain the purpose of each section of the test. State any time limits imposed; if none, state the expected duration. Note: Importance of Diagnostic Test: In order to provide students a creative and effective lessons, diagnostic test is a must, especially for teaching an English language. Diagnostic test may not actually show the actual knowledge the students have, but it can give ideas and guide to teachers what to bring to the table. As for the students, it can help them realize what areas in English language they are proficient (we are talking about the four language skills: Reading and comprehension, Writing, Listening and Speaking) and what areas they should need to work on.

This dissertation project examines patterns of stance in essays written by high- and low-performing students in two upper-level undergraduate courses, one in political theory and the other in economics. It employs methods of linguistic discourse analysis, drawing largely on Appraisal Theory (a subset of Systemic Functional Linguistics), in combination with methods from corpus linguistics and theoretical insights from rhetorical genre studies. It examines how recurring patterns of stance in students' essays correspond to the goals and assessment criteria for writing in the courses, as revealed through interviews with the instructors and analysis of selected course material. Through this robust set of analytic approaches, the study aims to make explicit patterns of stance in student writing that correlate with high- and low-graded essays and with the disciplinary contexts. The broader aim is to render explicit patterns of interpersonal meanings constructed in students' texts that construe such abstract qualities as critical reasoning, complexity and nuance in argumentation, and control of the discourse—features identified by the instructors as valued in student writing. The study contributes to the field of composition and rhetoric by pinpointing discursive resources that enable some student writers to construct more discipline-congruent styles of argumentation than others. Specific findings show that, while the two essay assignments require different ways of using language to construct valued stances, the high-performing writers in both contexts more consistently construct a "novice academic" stance while the low-performing writers more consistently construct a "student" stance. The former is marked by the rhetorical qualities of contrastiveness, dialogic control, critical distance, and discoursal alignment, or assimilation of the disciplinary discourse. In contrast, the “student” stance is marked by frequent personalizing moves, repeated references to the classroom discourse, and comparatively infrequent use of discursive resources that construe the rhetorical qualities listed above. These findings have implications for instruction in writing in the disciplines (WID) contexts, specifically in terms of how instructors can refine their metalanguage about writing for discussing stance with students explicitly and in detail.

It is a heavily debated issue: To define language, which one is the controlling authority between the Descriptive Grammar (DG) and Prescriptive Grammar (PG)?

Observing those debates, it seems like the debaters make it unnecessarily complex. I think the logic in favor of the DG is pretty straightforward. And the objective of this paper is to explain in simple manner the reason that the DG is the dominating authority.

The PG is just a guideline that is unrelated to or merely coincides with the time of use. And it is the DG that defines exactly what the language is. In other words, simple is that, to evaluate a linguistic item for its current validity, we must inquire how the native speakers naturally (meaning popularly and consistently) use it at the time of the inquiry.

While the use of appropriate linguistic items is essential for successful communication in any language, sociocultural factors also play an important role. Intercultural communicative competence is one dimension of sociocultural awareness that has been recognized as integral for communicative competence, but its practical application remains a challenge, possibly due to the fact that language educators tend to have more knowledge about the target language than its related cultural aspects (Celce-Murcia, 2007). While cultural references are, even if implicitly, prevalent in textbooks, teacher discourse, and the media, they are often reduced to “American” or “British” while the culture of speakers of English from many other countries, including Brazil, are often ignored. Another important dimension that positively affects language and cultural learning is the representation of one’s identity (Norton, 2013). In this sense, implementing intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in English Language Teaching (ELT) allows learners to express their identities while engaging in meaningful discussions about cultural views. This article provides a brief overview of communicative competence and draws on Byram’s (1997) model of ICC to suggest pedagogical applications aimed at validating student identity in English language classes, particularly but not exclusively, in Brazil.

For the purpose of use and understanding a language under natural condition, listening occurs more and have more impact than the other three. Listening is a must while the other three are not. Accordingly, listening is not only the most important skill but, indeed, the most essential element to constitute the structure of the language learning mechanism.

Let us suppose that you are a research linguist, tormented by some doubts and questions about the state of your profession, and not constrained by having to repeat a catechism of "known truths" to Linguistics 101 students, and not worried about employment tenure. How would you actually go about tackling "the central problem of linguistics", namely how we acquire and maintain knowledge of the probability of systemic relationships in a language?

The purpose of this narrative inquiry is to explore stories of teacher development experienced by English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in a graduate seminar in Vietnam. The author was the instructor for the course, entitled Literature and Language Teaching. Three types of data were collected: course documents, a professional diary kept by the author, and student portfolios, including diary entries, writing assignments, lesson plans, and group projects. Within a narrative framework, this study reveals the authoring processes underlying professional development in lived experience. Specifically, three narratives are (re)constructed around the theme of expectations— a collective seminar participants’ story about overturned expectations, an individual participant’s story about revived expectations, and a curricular story about fused personal and professional expectations. Teacher development is thus perceived not as a linear process of skill-building, but rather as a multidimensional process of narrative construction that problematizes boundaries between the personal and the professional and emerges as a  story of coming to understand experience in ways that promote teacher praxis.

The focus of this study of the literature is on the latest display resource for instructors, the Interactive Whiteboard (IWB), a device that allows for seamless transitions from visual to aural to tactile manipulation on an interactive board, as well as access to all of the Internet's resources. Government education departments have extensively marketed this resource, making large sums of money (in education standards) available for schools to acquire interactive whiteboards without waiting for, or even sponsoring, research into its impact in the classroom. Much of the literature, according to this review, supports the use of IWBs, but on extremely shaky evidence. More extensive studies have cast doubt on the claims made for IWBs, claiming that rather than creating an environment that alters teaching and learning, most teachers simply incorporate this new resource into their regular teaching routines. It has been demonstrated yet again that resources do not change teaching, and so there are minimal, if any, flow-on effects for student learning. Rather, teachers must change in order to alter teaching.

One has the right to say, "Well, this version is my personal preference" but no one has any authority to define any certain version as more or less acceptable in terms of general or universal acceptability.

Because English is the global koiné language or the lingua franca of the world, there exists no such thing that one version is more acceptable than other.

The issue of personal preference is quite different from the issue of universal acceptability.

ALL versions including the versions used by both all native and non-native speakers are equally acceptable and fine as long as they are grammatically correct and understandable.

Individuals have their own culture and social structure. They are accustomed to the norms and practices of that social structure. But the advent of new elements brings notable changes in their particular social pattern. These changes have impact on individual's personalities, thinking, and behavior; and the society takes a new look with distinguished characteristics. Ben Jonson, in Volpone, presents a group of diverse characters who seemed to be the representatives of the rising period of protocapitalist economic order. These characters are distinguished by what and how fraudulently they speak to others to boost money and wealth. They are in rivalry against each other, and mostly engaged in the acquirement of material goods over goodwill and moral obligation. Among others Volpone and Mosca are the leading representatives who constantly entice the different entrepreneurial potential to avariciously drive for money, and to finally shatter their hopes. The two mastermind plotters creatively shroud their true sort in entwining linguistic artifice merely to trick the wealth-maniac people by making themselves unsuspected and credible. The difference between right and wrong evaporates from society, and the principles and morality have been at stake. Such society depicted in the play gives a new mode of principles, morality, and good conduct. The attitudes to morality have been under consideration in the analysis.

The JALT Pragmatics SIG Forum brought together three researchers who are investigating learner L2 pragmatic competence and ability through various assessment tools. This paper recounts their presentations and subsequent discussion with forum attendees. The first speaker (Joseph Siegel) discussed the use of oral discourse completion tests and role-play tasks that he used as pragmatic assessment tools in recent research on the topic of pragmatic development during study abroad. The second speaker (Yusuke Okada) investigated the change in a learner's participation in a peer-peer multi-party EFL speaking test comparing her first and second examination and will discuss the idea of interactional competence as an assessment objective. The third speaker (Aki Siegel) assessed one participant’s word search sequences in L2 interactions outside the language classroom through Conversation Analysis. As such, the forum provided insights on several methods for pragmatic assessment.

JALT語用論部会では様々な測定法を用いて学習者の第二言語語用論能力を研究している3名の研究者によるフォーラムを行った。本稿はそのフォーラムにおける彼らの発表と参加者との議論をまとめたものである。第1発表者(Joseph Siegel)は彼が最近携わった学習者の海外留学期間における語用論能力発達研究に用いた測定法である談話完成テストとロールプレイに関する議論を行った。第2発表者(Yusuke Okada)は英語授業での2回の学生間集団会話テストにおける1名の学習者の参加手段の発達を相互行為能力という概念から調査した。第3発表者(Aki Siegel)は会話分析を用い1名の第二言語話者の教室外相互行為での言葉探しシークエンスの変化を評価した。このようにフォーラムでは第二言語語用論能力の評価に用いることの出来る種々の測定法・概念を考察した。

This paper presents a broad evaluation of the Scaffolding Literacy in Academic and Tertiary Environments project (SLATE) drawing from a range of sources, including (a) feedback from some of the key stakeholders involved, and (b) an analysis of student work. First, the paper presents data collected on students’ perceptions of some of the courses supported by the SLATE team. This data is discussed in relation to some of the issues raised in feedback collected from the course lecturers and the SLATE tutors. The paper then shifts its focus and evaluates the project in terms of how the students benefited from the project. This is done by examining how frontloading and supported independent construction helped students in (developing)
their use of grammatical metaphor. The findings of this project evaluation have been used to identify issues that need to be considered in developing similar programmes in the future.

Dyslexia is a reading and writing difficulty, inconsistent with otherwise normal cognitive ability, which hinders the association of the natural sounds of a particular language (phonemes) with the invented symbols (graphemes) used to represent those sounds. While it is caused specifically by phonological processing problems, it frequently presents with the other manifestations of a multisymptomatic disorder

Post-training reflections from nine overseas NNES students were recorded in relation to the extent to which they perceived potential applications of what they had learned in a Contextually Responsive Teacher Training (CRTT) programme in the learning–teaching contexts into which they were returning as English as a Second or Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) teachers. Pragmatic issues in home contexts concerning resources generally and textbooks particularly were seen to threaten the viability of what was learned. Significantly, all participants projected disillusion with home country context rather than with foreign country training as a personal resolution of the mismatch. Implications are drawn for preventative redesign in relation to the Australian programmes.

This study explores which vocabulary learning strategies a group of female 0KT Computer Science Students of bachelor's degree B2 students at Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University in Saudi Arabia report using over six weeks and their perceptions about using VLS. A mixed-methods approach was used: Following six weeks of training in Schmitt's VLS (1997), solicited diaries and semi-structured focused group interview were used. The findings show that Computer Science learners used a variety of VLSs, where determination strategy was the highly employed and metacognitive strategy was the least employed strategy to learn L2 lexis. The findings also revealed that the participants of this study had more positive (e.g., participant 3 enjoy learning L2 vocabulary using repetition strategy) and some negative perceptions (e.g., Participant 2 found flashcards as time-consuming and boring VLS) about employing VLSs to learn L2 lexis.

In this research paper, I am going to evaluate the appropriateness of the level 1 coursebook for teaching and learning vocabulary. To carry out this study the researcher developed two questionnaires: one for teachers and the other for students. The criteria addressed in the questionnaires were to some extent similar to the criteria identified by the previous researcher with some adaptations according to the needs of the research. Research showed that although, textbooks gave a reasonable contribution to the teaching-learning process both to the teachers and to learners and it offered a framework of guidance and orientation. However, apart from numerous advantages a single textbook frequently does not meet the diverse needs of the learners. This generates a need for textbook adaptation at the activity, unit, and syllabus levels. Adaptation provides teachers with an opportunity to make greater use of their professional skills and for learners to be involved in the learning process. Most learners, too, acknowledge the importance of vocabulary acquisition the participants rely heavily on the textbook.

The Swamp Dwellers is a play of universal appeal. It talks about remote rural and urban society; family life; confrontation of old and new society; psychological conflicts between old and young generations; love for modernity and love for the swamp; the supernatural; unfavourable forces of nature; and so many problems. I have come across a good number of articles and researches on The Swamp Dwellers. Among the researches and various articles on the play, it is hardly found any focus on family ties, love for family, hints of love in trivial squabble between the married in the play. Whenever they speak of their twin sons, Awuchike and Igwezu, Makuri and Alu are seen constantly at each other's throats. But their tiff bears the testimony of deep love for each other and for their future generations, and exhibits great concern for family ties that were in vulnerable condition during the transitional period in the post colonial African states. Akinwande Oluwole Wole Soyinka vividly portrays such family relationships, the individual and socio-cultural tensions pervading in Nigeria in his widely read The Swamp Dwellers. The patches of stories tremendously adorned in the play give a glimpse of family bond throughout the play. The target of this study is to discover the examples of family ties depicted, hinted, and embedded in the play.

A university in Seoul investigated how student gender and proficiency predicted language learner strategy (LLS) usage in order to improve its English as a foreign language (EFL) program. Regarding gender, males employed more strategy usage than females, which corresponded to previous research in Asia, but the difference was not significant. The
associations between proficiency and LLS usage, however, were positive, significant, and moderate to strong. From these results the program: 1 gave lower proficiency students extra instruction on LLS usage; and 2 implemented LLS usage interventions exclusively for female students. The areas that this paper offers guidance for future/similar studies are: 1 using simple internal reliability values to select the most appropriate LLS measurements; 2 innovatively measuring proficiency without costly formal assessments; and 3 making informed policy decisions using observed LLS findings.

Increasingly, language teachers are integrating speaking, listening, reading, and writing to enhance language acquisition. Integrated language tasks have the benefits of strengthening multiple skills and lending authenticity to classroom activities. The tasks should be designed in a way that exercises all the skills. If both audio and text are used as inputs to a writing task, it is preferable if the student’s output is not over-reliant on one source. This paper describes the results of research on the influence of the medium of input texts (i.e., audio or text) on students’ written output from a reading-listening-writing test. The test required students to write argumentative essays based on content from an input lecture and reading passage and to cite the two inputs using academic citations and references. Using two versions of the test, the researchers tested the hypotheses that the medium of the input text would strongly influence students’ choice of thesis and that, controlling for choice of thesis, students would cite the text more frequently than the audio. Both hypotheses were confirmed. The findings of this study have implications for language professionals who are developing their own integrated skills tasks.

As an essential resource in the context of many classrooms, it relies heavily on the "ease of use" and educational value of ELT coursebooks. Given the ambivalence recognized for its effectiveness among experienced teachers, a teacher survey was conducted focusing on the popular textbooks used in Tertiary education. Another questionnaire has been sent to the ELT issuer. The coursebook English Firsthand 1 appears to represent the appeal of the "global" market and the general "type" based on the "Presentation Practice Production" model. This model has been widely criticized for failing to embody genuine nonverbal goals and, as discussed here, failing to embody the key beliefs of communicative language teaching. rice field. Both this and official content design identify the heritage of activism and lead to "superficial methodologies" that serve the "guidance needs" of inexperienced non-native teachers as the main user marketplace. The response data confirmed that experienced teachers were as disturbing as this facilitated and required significant "interventions" primarily needed to provide more effective communication activities. Was shown. Such efforts may be better incorporated into the potential decisions required by more flexible, unrestricted, option-based alternative models that recognize the expertise that experienced teachers give.

English is often marketed as a key to success, a bridge to the world, a gateway to the future, a door to social and economic improvement, and even as a way to make friends with people all over the world. For many, English is a second language; part of their identity and day-to-day life. However, for many more people around the world, the English language is just another compulsory school subject.
Although the reality of English is very clear to students, the exact nature of English is rather abstract. Does Global English really mean global, or does it mainly refer to North America and Britain? Do students need to be fluent speakers who sound like ‘natives’, or will they be able to get by with intermediate skills? If learners need to use English to communicate with the international community, what type of English should they learn? What materials should we use? What is ‘real’ English? In other words, what is ‘authentic’ English?
In this lecture, I will attempt to discuss some of these troubling questions, and provide a simple solution which can be taken into classrooms and communicated to students. This solution focuses on the empowerment of English teachers, and the reconceptualising of authenticity as a continuum. In this talk, I will present research that uncovers the way the English language is marketed to learners, and trace the effect this has on our teaching approach and sense of efficacy as language teachers. Rather than simply ‘real language’ or ‘newspapers’, I propose that authenticity should be taken to mean that the learning is both personally meaningful and socially relevant to each individual in context. Fundamentally, as teachers we must find our own authentic reasons for working with students, in order to create a culture of authenticity in the language classroom.

A new project commissioned and coordinated by the Council of Europe from 2013 to 2016 has intended to provide an extended set of CEFR illustrative descriptors. In 2001, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) stressed the importance of developing learners' plurilingual competence and pioneered the inclusion of mediation in language teaching and learning to describe a fourth category for communicative language activities in addition to reception, production and interaction (North, 2016). Sixteen years later and taking into account the new communicative needs because of the population movement and the creation of multilingual societies in which language users need to participate meaningfully, the new CEFR now becomes useful in bridging the linguistic gaps by proposing new descriptors (or 'can-do statements') related to the parallel use of languages, language users' willingness to act as interlingual mediators and their capacity to purposefully blend, embed and alternate codes. This paper, written and presented by an expert member of the ad hoc working group concerning the updated CEFR at the Council of Europe, discusses the extent to which the new illustrative descriptors can be creatively exploited for the development of appropriate pedagogies, language programmes, curricula and syllabi for refugees respecting the diverse linguistic resources and making translanguaging possible (Stathopoulou, 2015). The new scales and descriptors for creating pluricultural space and exploiting pluricultural and plurilingual repertoires will be presented while it will be suggested how the updated CEFR can be used for the linguistic and cultural integration of migrants. The paper ends by proposing a renewed vision of language education for migrants based on the updated CEFR, and calls for teachers of refugees to incorporate the diverse languages and cultures in their classrooms thus developing learners' plurilinguistic and pluricultural awareness through an attitude of openness and curiosity.