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This study explored the language assessment literacy (LAL) level and language testing and assessment (LTA) needs of 57 English teachers at senior high school level in Taiwan. An LAL test, three quantitative questionnaires and a qualitative survey were administered, conveying the overall LAL level and LTA needs of the participants. The qualitative survey then elicited their perceptions of and perspectives on classroom-based assessments and national high-stakes tests with regard to a newly implemented national curriculum (i.e., 108-Curriculum). The results show that the teachers lack adequate LAL to varying degrees, depending on their demographic background. Additionally, the participants identified some assessment topics, from large standardized testing to applying test results. They also reported their greatest training needs: providing feedback, finding teaching content, and assessing integrated skills. The teachers' qualitative accounts generated five themes, from education in testing and assessment as a useful tool to the gap between classroom-based assessments and the national tests. The results not only refine assessment modules in the teacher education programme but suggest a direction for the assessment training of English teachers. The study concludes by suggesting future LAL investigations in the English-teaching context of Taiwan or wider international communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intercultural competence refers to people's ability to understand and respect each other across all types of cultural barriers, and racial literacy stands out as a fundamental component of this competency. Particularly, in Korea, which has recently rapidly become a multicultural society, understanding diversity and cultivating racial literacy are important competencies. To achieve this goal, the teacher's role is important in developing and operating English classes using various teaching materials. This study introduces the development and application of an innovative online intercultural exchange programme conducted in a middle school using multiple technology resources. Going beyond dealing with superficial textbook coverage of multiculturalism, this programme encourages students to reflect on their own prejudices and share cultural experiences through engaging in technology-based open discussions and critical thinking about sensitive issues. In this paper, we first introduce the online intercultural exchange programme and teaching materials that we designed and operated for one semester and then carefully examine each class activity aimed at improving students' intercultural competence and racial literacy. Finally, we report the presiding teacher's reflections on the impact of this programme on the students in the class and suggest points for further discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on the salient role of neoliberalism in education have increased rapidly in recent years. These studies highlighted the presence of neoliberalism in language teaching materials in different contexts. However, research exploring the reality of neoliberal mentality in young learners' (YL) English language teaching (ELT) materials are sparse. Contributing to this barely-touched line of research, this study, employing a mixed-methods approach, examined the two most frequently used young learners' ELT textbooks (i.e. 'Family and Friends'; 'Super Minds') taught in Iranian private language institutes. We further explored teachers' perspectives on neoliberalism. The findings revealed that young learners' textbooks are notably filled with neoliberal values such as 'fame & celebrity' and 'material wealth'. The qualitative findings also revealed that most teachers are unaware of the presence of neoliberalism in the textbooks. Implications for teachers, young learners, and policymakers are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study explored the antecedents and potential solutions to boredom in online English classrooms from the perspectives of 105 Thai EFL university students. Guided by a qualitative approach, an open-ended survey and semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data. The thematic analysis of the data revealed nine antecedents that contributed to students’ boredom in online English classrooms. These included monotonous teaching, difficult content and tasks, lack of interaction, screen fatigue, mode of learning, teacher’s personality trait, input overload, technical issues, and class timing allotment. As for solutions to students’ boredom, the present participants suggested that students’ boredom in an online foreign language classroom can be reduced by promoting innovative teaching, encouraging and motivating students, choosing the right classroom environment, increasing teacher-student interaction, shortening lecture hours, and turning on video cameras. Altogether, this study contributes to the emerging research trend, that is, the aspects of students’ boredom in the foreign language online classroom and concludes with recommendations for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the unique status of English as a super-power among foreign languages in Korea, and researchers’ increasing interest in Korean parents’ zeal for achieving their children’s early bilingualism and willingness to invest heavily in private English education outside of school, insufficient attention has been paid to the role of parental involvement and English-friendly home environments in Korean children’s early bilingual education. Accordingly, this case study of one Korean family provides an in-depth exploration of how the home language environment, family language policy, and parental investment affected the children’s bilingual development as well as other aspects of family dynamics. The results show that such family capital as parents’ English language proficiency, ability to support and sustain English language practice at the home domain in an ELF context, and access to learning resources can support their consistent efforts to provide a rich linguistic environment with positive psychological support in the home domain. Pedagogical implications for Korean parents with high aspirations for their children’s bilingual development are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to explore the relationship between reading motivation, reading engagement, strategy use, and L2 reading proficiency and the predictability of the first three factors on L2 reading proficiency in a group of Iranian EFL learners. The participants were selected based on a nonrandom purposive sampling technique. They were asked to complete the MRQ, reading engagement questionnaire, the SILL, and an IELTS reading test. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software. The findings indicated that there existed a meaningful positive relationship between reading motivation and L2 reading proficiency as well as reading engagement and L2 reading proficiency. There did not exist a positive relationship between strategy use and L2 reading proficiency. The results also revealed that reading motivation and reading engagement predicted the L2 reading proficiency of the participants. Furthermore, a significant difference existed among the low, intermediate, and high-proficient L2 readers in terms of reading motivation and reading engagement. Implications of the study are presented in the article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic writing is a social practice in which the writer interacts with both texts and people and uses the interaction as a learning resource. While academic interaction in the classroom setting has been extensively investigated, student interaction that takes place without teacher supervision remains largely unexplored. Since autonomy is a key component of academic interaction, autonomous peer feedback practices among postgraduate students may be of some interest. This paper reports on an exploratory case study of peer feedback among a small group of postgraduate students in a master's programme in translation studies in a prestigious Chinese University. The findings offer insights into the role of peer feedback in advancing academic literacy and forming scholarly communities in an emerging discipline. The case study provides an opening into the research area of autonomous peer feedback and suggests avenues for further, more substantial research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some recent research has focused on the students' silence and inviting more student voice. This paper investigated the reasons behind Iranian undergraduate students' silence in English classes and stepped further to give voice to those students' attitudes toward English with the belief that inviting and including student voice could improve the overall participation of silent students in English courses. One hundred freshmen and sophomore undergraduate students majoring at the University of Isfahan volunteered to take part in this study. From among them, 60 students who indicated they were silent in English classes were asked to complete a survey adopted from Life. In addition, 20 of the students were interviewed to pinpoint the intentions behind their silence. Thus, the paper took an in-depth look at the reasons for the Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students' silence, drawing from detailed examination of the students' own accounts, comparing and contrasting them. The results of this study explicitly states reasons behind the silence of the EFL students in English classes. It also put forth various solutions that could easily be implemented in pedagogical settings by English instructors to break the silence of EFL/English as a Second Language (ESL) students. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study was an attempt to investigate the relationships among stressors, contextual variables, self-efficacy and teacher burnout in Iran as an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) context. A battery of questionnaires was administered to 216 English language teachers of private language institutes. Using Amos version 20, structural equation modelling was run to examine the proposed model of the study. The findings showed that contextual variables could directly cause teacher burnout. They could also do so indirectly by giving rise to stressors, which would in turn increase burnout. The results also highlighted the possible direct and indirect role of self-efficacy in reducing teacher burnout. We argue that self-efficacy could function as a mediator or moderator variable which would reduce the negative effects of contextual variables and stressors on teacher burnout. The results of the present study have important implications for various stakeholders in pedagogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the use of reflective journals to help develop the autonomy and decision-making of in-service teachers of English as a foreign language in Turkey. It investigated how teachers gained autonomy and decision-making skills when they were given the opportunity to critically reflect on the classroom processes in their own contexts. The participants were six in-service teachers teaching at various state schools in Bursa, Turkey. These teachers were restricted by the curriculum the Ministry of Education designed, and the pre-service training they previously received about language teaching. They needed to go beyond these limitations. For this purpose, reflective journals were used to help develop teachers' autonomy and decision-making skills. The data from the journals were analyzed by seeking themes in relation to their professional development. The results demonstrated that the teachers improved their vision by analyzing the teaching process in their contexts and started to make more informed decisions on different aspects of teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic portfolios are one of the potentially influential e-learning developments that could successfully find its way into language learning classes all around the world, although in Iranian EFL context students are not entirely familiar with them yet. The primary objective of this paper was to answer questions regarding the effect of e-portfolio on the students' writing proficiency. Also, the potential effect of gender on their use of electronic portfolio was investigated as well. 157 male and female Iranian English-major students were involved in the study during one academic semester. The data obtained from a quasi-experimental design, comparing electronic portfolio assessment and conventional method of teaching writing, was quantitatively analyzed. The findings revealed that the application of e-portfolio has a significant effect on students' writing proficiency. However, gender had no impact on their use of e-portfolio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]