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There is a close relationship between language and culture, and a review of the literature indicates less attention is given to the enrichment of cross-cultural and pragmatic awareness in the classrooms. The role of culture in language learning is often overlooked in language classes. The notion of cultural competencies is often derived from English-speaking countries, and though students can learn from such a perspective, it does not provide a good model for developing their cultural and pragmatic competencies. Using students' own cultural experiences would be a good way to enhance their cultural and pragmatic competencies. This investigation involves a qualitative approach, and the participants involved 10 EFL lecturers and 20 EFL students from China. Data was collected by using in-depth interviews, classroom observations, and field notes. The role of technology in enhancing these skills is highlighted in this study. The results indicated that the bidirectional approach of integrated language and cultural elements enhanced their pragmatic competence. The use of technology further promoted learner autonomy and independent learning. The study highlights the limitations of the unidirectional approach in language teaching and advocates a bidirectional approach to enhance pragmatic and cultural competencies, which can be ideal for EFL settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effects of co-teaching between native and non-native English teachers on English as a foreign language (EFL) students' English proficiency in China, and then explores the students' perceptions of the collaborative form of teaching. Based on the co-teaching schemes created by the previous researchers, this experiment adopted three co-teaching models: (1) one teaching/one assisting model, (2) team teaching model, and (3) station teaching model. By comparing the effects of co-teaching with those of traditional teaching, the study found that the students who were co-taught by a native and a non-native English teacher made more gains in English proficiency than those who were taught by one teacher alone. The findings from the attitudinal survey indicate that the students generally held a positive attitude towards co-teaching and that they attributed the success of this experiment to three benefits in co-teaching: ideal linguistic environment, complementary teaching behaviors, and favorable cultural atmosphere. [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]

Informed by literature on developing pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) through teacher collaboration, this study aims to investigate the trajectory of PCK development among business English teachers through module team collaboration in Chinese context. Drawing upon multiple sources of data including observation, semi-structured interview, and teaching materials from three case teachers, this study explores how PCK components were developed in one academic year when case teachers participated in module team collaborative activities. The findings show the individual differences among the three participants in their PCK development and reveal that two key PCK components-Knowledge of students' understanding and Knowledge of instructional strategies have developed through teacher collaboration. This study suggests the collective inquiry in teacher collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In second language teacher education, while much attention has been centered on the “content” of teachers' cognitions, the “process” of language teachers' cognitive change has remained relatively unexplored. To fill this gap, this study investigated the process of belief change among three pre-service language teachers during the teaching practicum in a university in China. The findings of the study show that student teachers' beliefs experienced different processes of change during the practicum, including confirmation, realization, disagreement, elaboration, integration, and modification. The sociocultural factors that contributed to these changes are also discussed. The paper concludes that in order to facilitate the belief change process and promote student teachers' cognitive development, an open and supportive environment is needed to maximize their practice and learning during the teaching practicum. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]