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The present mixed-methods study explored first-year undergraduate students of a highly selective university in Kazakhstan's perceptions of having private tutoring (PT) and how far it had helped them gain a place at this university. The quantitative data were collected through a close-ended questionnaire from 144 participants to understand their socioeconomic backgrounds and PT experiences over the previous two years, in terms of the scope, types, costs and the subjects studied in the PT they had received. The subsequent qualitative data were collected through interviewing 8 participants to capture in detail the perceived impact of PT on their overall achievement. The study found that 86 out of 144 participants (60%) had received PT. Most of them (72%) had sought PT as an enrichment strategy to obtain higher scores in high-stakes examinations and thus secure a place at that university. Some participants explained the disadvantages of PT, including the financial burden on their families and it being a potentially unfair advantage in a competitive context. The findings of the study are instructive for educators and policy makers in Kazakhstan in revealing the limitations of schooling in the public sector. The pedagogical implications and areas for ongoing research are suggested.

This quantitative study examined the scale, nature and effectiveness of private supplementary tutoring (PT) at one of the transition points in Kazakhstan's education system during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were collected from 366 secondary school students. The findings show that 73.8% of participants received PT, mainly to help them prepare for the university entrance examination. Seventy-four percent of fathers and 83% of mothers were holders of university degrees and they had the economic means to invest in more and better PT for their children. Thus, PT has the potential to be a force for reducing equity, and so effective policies to regulate PT should be adopted.

This qualitative study explores the English learning experiences of 30 Grade 5 students from three mainstream schools in Kazakhstan during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was informed by Benson et al.'s (2011) four-dimensional model of language learning beyond the classroom: (a) location (physical vs. virtual), (b) formality (formal vs. informal agents), (c) locus of control (other-directed vs. self-directed goals) and (d) pedagogy. Data were collected through online individual interviews and students' drawings. The data suggest that the participants' English teachers used mainly Zoom and WhatsApp platforms for delivering the online classes. The participants were critical of their English teachers' practices, particularly, the overuse of WhatsApp, the scarcity of co-operative activities and delays in responding to inquiries. Consequently, 16 participants (53%) were receiving face-to-face and virtual private tutoring in English (PT-E). Although face-to-face PT-E may be unsafe during the pandemic, PT-E was a parental strategy to free themselves from the burden of tracking their children's progress. The participants acted agentively, not only reflecting on the disadvantages of online education but also on its benefits, including its being more convenient and able to help them improve their self-reliance and technology skills. The pedagogical implications and areas for further research are suggested.

This qualitative study documents the experiences of 38 Grade 5 students and their six female teachers from four state-maintained schools in Kazakhstan teaching/learning English during emergency remote teaching and learning (ERT&L). It was guided by Kearney et al.'s (2012) framework that provides three dimensions that influence individuals' teaching and learning experience when using technological devices: "personalisation," "collaboration" and "authenticity." The data collected through online individual interviews and students' drawings suggest that the participants asserted their agentive reflexivity and critical awareness of the advantages and drawbacks of their ERT&L experiences. Several teachers indicated that although ERT&L helped them make financial and professional gains, they had difficulty assessing their students' progress online, and work overload had negative impacts on their well-being and quality of life. Many students criticised some English teaching practices during COVID-19, including the allocation of more homework, and lack of co-operative activities and individual attention. The study has pedagogical implications and provides further evidence of the need for stakeholders to take the well-being of teachers into account, promote collaboration between different social actors and provide teachers with proper training in the use of online platforms. It also stresses the importance of using participatory research methods involving children to capture their thoughts and interpretation of their emergency remote learning experiences.

This study aims to map the literature on shadow education using metadata extracted from 488 publications indexed in the Web of Science database. It is termed as shadow education because much of its content mimics what is learned in schools. The study uses bibliometric procedures to describe and visually represent available literature on shadow education in terms of main sources, key authors, institutions, and countries leading the production and dissemination of research on shadow education. Further, the study elaborates on h-classics publications to obtain an in-depth understanding of the most influential scientific outputs in this domain. Key findings of the study are that research on shadow education: (a) has experienced steady growth over the last decade; (b) is disseminated through a wide range of outlets, mainly in the disciplines of sociology of education, economics of education, educational psychology, and language education; (c) is published mainly by scholars working in East Asia and the United States; (d) has focused on tangible (quantifiable) benefits related to improved examination results; and (e) reveals how this form of instruction primarily benefits students hailing from high socioeconomic backgrounds, thereby contributing to greater educational inequality. This study also suggests pedagogical implications and areas for ongoing research.

This paper used three participatory methods- children's drawings, photographs, and group interviews- along with a short questionnaire to explore Grade 6 pupils' experiences and perceptions of the private tutoring (PT) they had received in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. The questionnaire data suggest that 316 out of 406 (79.87%) attended PT. The qualitative data from 30 pupils reveal that the participants' motives of having PT ranged from adult-imposed reasons (e.g. complying with parents' wishes by studying for an elite school place) to reasons associated with achieving their ideal selves by boosting their interest in learning and imagining themselves working/studying abroad or pursuing an international career. The participants acted as proactive agents by explaining not only the PT benefits but also its disadvantages, including the unethical practices of some schoolteachers, increasing tiredness and it being a potentially unfair advantage in a competitive context. This study suggested pedagogical implications and areas for ongoing research.

With the growth of English medium instruction (EMI) on a global level, the number of multilingual students writing their master's theses in English is increasing. However, research on students' experiences of writing them in English in non-English speaking contexts is scarce. This paper reports on the challenges and strategic learning efforts of eight Kazakhstani students while working on their master's thesis projects in a Kazakhstani EMI university. The qualitative data collected from a written narrative and three subsequent semi-structured interviews revealed that almost all the participants had a clear preference for a directive supervision style, whereby supervisors give stage-by-stage guidance. The result was a clash of expectations, miscommunication and confusion between supervisors and supervisees in some cases, especially since most supervisors come from English-speaking countries. Two participants, however, favoured a "laissez-faire" supervisory style where the supervisor orchestrated their supervisees' learning efforts implicitly by giving them room to work independently. All participants also articulated certain effective strategies to confront the diverse challenges associated with constructing a new identity for themselves as researchers, time management, and 'imposter syndrome'. From this qualitative study, practical recommendations for developing the effectiveness (quality) of master's thesis supervision in EMI universities are made.

Phenomenography is an empirical approach to ascertain the qualitatively different ways in which individuals experience and understand aspects of the world around them. Originating in educational research (Marton, F., & Säljö, R. (1976). On qualitative differences in learning. 1- outcome and process. "British Journal of Educational Psychology," 46(1), 4-11), phenomenography has since been deployed in a range of disciplines, including marketing, nursing and physics. This paper traces the development of traditional phenomenography, together with its ontological and epistemological underpinnings. It also addresses some questions related to the methodological assumptions of phenomenographic research -- the most common research methods, characteristics of the sample and the relationship between a phenomenographer and their participants. The fundamental strengths and weaknesses of phenomenography and some issues regarding the validity and reliability of phenomenographic studies are also discussed. By doing this, the paper aims to encourage scholars to consider the possibilities and opportunities offered by taking a phenomenographic approach in their future research.

This paper explores Arab postgraduate students' situated experiences and their actual and dynamic use of learning strategies at a UK university. The qualitative data collected from a written narrative and five subsequent rounds of individual semi-structured interviews suggest that most participants initially clung to their 'aschematic' future selves as they articulated relatively distant goals without employing the appropriate learning strategies to get to them. They anticipated achieving native-like proficiency in English and forming meaningful friendships with locals once they were in the host environment. In response to the changes in assessment mode and the practice of some influential actors, however, the participants gradually began to articulate proximal goals until they visualised their ideal self and embraced the appropriate strategies. The findings of the current study underline the significance of introducing pedagogical interventions in all phases of study abroad to avoid student sojourners' maladaptive behaviour, such as the setting of unrealistic or impractical goals, and deepen their language and intercultural learning. Directions for further research are also suggested.

Unequal access to language learning resources has been exacerbated by the global expansion of English private tutoring (EPT). Despite its popularity, no study has examined the implications of EPT during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this mixed-methods study explored the nature and effectiveness of EPT that first-year Kazakhstani undergraduate students had experienced over the previous 12 months during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was informed by Benson's (2011) model of language learning beyond the classroom. Data were collected through a close-ended questionnaire and semi-structured online interviews. The study found that 318 out of 750 (42.4%) had experienced EPT, and 64% of respondents had received face-to-face EPT although it was considered a health risk during the pandemic. All the interviewees perceived EPT sessions as an encouraging environment for coaching towards the university entrance examination and expanding their knowledge. They attributed this mainly to the individual attention they obtained from their tutors, which was lacking in online classes with their English teachers due to teachers' indifferent attitude to students' questions and the limited duration of video conferencing sessions. The participants acted agentively by evaluating the advantages and drawbacks of online EPT. Pedagogical implications and areas for further research are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

England has experienced recent growth in the prevalence of private tutoring (PT). The qualitative study reported in this article aims to explore the perceptions of 14 Year 6 pupils and their teachers from three state-maintained primary schools in East Kent on PT participation and its impact on grammar school admissions. Data were collected through individual and focus group interviews and pupils' drawings. The data revealed that teachers were not totally aware of the scale of PT in their classes and ascribed PT merely to parental decision to prepare their child to pass the 11-plus, grammar school entrance test. However, some pupils indicated that they shared in the decision to have PT, affirming that it was not only for 11-plus test familiarisation and practice. PT also contributed to greater pupil confidence, involvement and enthusiasm for learning, together with improvement in social interactive skills (i.e. intangible benefits). Both teachers and pupils also explained the disadvantages of PT, including the psychological and financial burdens on the whole family and changing the playing field level. Teachers proposed some solutions to help Year 6 pupils without PT. From this qualitative study, pedagogical implications as well as areas for ongoing research are suggested.

This paper reports on a phenomenographic investigation of Arab sojourners' international academic experiences in terms of their expectations, academic socialisation and their strategy use during a ten-week pre-sessional English language course at a UK university. The qualitative data collected from a written narrative and three subsequent semi-structured interviews revealed how the participants' expectations and strategic learning efforts in the new context were influenced by their learning goals, together with their past language learning experiences. Many held a utopian vision of automatic language development and meaningful interactions with locals once they were in the host environment. The analysis of the data also showed the dominance of highly supportive co-national peers, reluctance to engage in intercultural interactions and a clear preference for "native speaker" tutors. The participants gradually began to identify proximal goals by responding positively to strategies meditated by their writing tutors. They did so because academic writing requirements constitute the main form of assessment in their upcoming postgraduate programmes. The findings of this phenomenographic study have practical implications for the improvement of pre-sessional English courses and also provide directions for future research.

This article provides a qualitative inquiry into the influences of immediate family members (i.e. parents and siblings) on a group of Gulf Arab EFL students regarding their language learning experiences and strategy use in their Arab homelands. The participants came from financially comfortable families, with different levels of education. The data collected from a written narrative and four subsequent semi-structured interviews suggest that the occupation and educational attainment of the participants' family figures (mostly parents) affected the amount and kind of support these families offered to the participants while learning English. Less educated parents involved themselves indirectly in their children's English language learning, and their involvement appeared at a late stage in the participants' academic lives in the form of emotional and/or financial support. The language learning strategies (LLSs) used by these participants were mainly exam-oriented. Conversely, higher educated parents contributed to enabling their children to enact their desired future self-images confidently as English speakers from the beginning, for example by sending them to well-resourced private educational establishments throughout their education. From this qualitative study, pedagogical implications as well as areas for ongoing research are suggested.

This article reports data from a qualitative study conducted within the elitist English-medium schools in three cities of Pakistan to claim that theory building, and English teaching practices are still modeled on monolingual biases inherent in the orthodox notions of linguistic purism and Anglo-normative traditions of the 1990s. Orthodoxy is manifest in schools' strong emphasis on direct method and communicative language teaching, and essentialist language management where English is enforced as the sole legitimate language of academic and non-academic transactions. Native language use is attached a stigma and viewed as deficiency in the English language. Such Anglo-normative culture invokes guilty conscience in teachers and students as they disapprove native languages even when they know that they can serve as useful meditating tools for effective content transfer. Crucially, amid English gatekeepers' celebratory attitudes toward English as the sole legitimate language, some teachers still demonstrate deviation from the pervasive linguistic norms. Showing reflexivity and agency, these teachers ideologically oppose the official policy. They discursively generate spaces for negotiating and appropriating the official policies, which signifies that language policy can be a complex multi-layered process rather than a linear, discrete, or top-down phenomenon. Teachers' agency is interpreted as 'decolonial performativity'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As of 2024, almost fifty golden years have passed since the language learning strategy (LLS) concept was first brought to wide attention in 1975. This study analysed 2,580 publications indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection over the past five decades using bibliometric analysis and science mapping visualisation techniques to delineate the burgeoning scholarly discourse on LLSs regarding the leading researchers, countries, institutions, and sources. Author keywords were also analysed to explore the main research topics and h-classics publications were reviewed to understand the key focuses of the most impactful publications in LLS research. The findings reveal that research on LLSs is extremely vibrant despite facing severe competition from the self-regulation front in recent years. The USA, the PRC, England, and Taiwan dominate the production of knowledge in this field, and Rebecca Oxford, Ernesto Macaro, Suzanne Graham and Lawrence Jun Zhang have the highest average citations in their publications about LLSs. Further, System, Modern Language Journal and TESOL Quarterly have been the leading venues of publication for the most impactful outputs. The review of the 55 h-classics gave insight into future directions for LLS research theoretically, methodologically, and/or pedagogically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While quantitative research on the nature and extent of private tutoring in England is increasingly available, very limited evidence exists regarding pupils' voices in evaluating their participation in private tutoring. Thus, the present qualitative study seeks to investigate the perceptions of 14 Year 6 pupils from three primary schools in East Kent of receiving tutoring. Data were collected through semi-structured focus group interviews and pupils' drawings. The data suggest that the participants displayed prevention (ought) orientation by conceiving tutoring as a powerful means to help them to pass the grammar school entrance exam and thus avoid failing their parents' expectations. However, some participants gradually realised that the advantages of receiving tutoring were not restricted to tangible (quantifiable) benefits related to improved examination results. Tutoring also enabled them to achieve their desired possible self-image by boosting their self-esteem and interest in learning, and becoming more confident when socialising with others (i.e. intangible benefits). The participants acted agentively, not only reflecting on the benefits of tutoring but also on its disadvantages including creating pressure on their parents and themselves and being somewhat an unfair advantage in competition. From this qualitative study, pedagogical implications and areas for ongoing research are suggested.

This paper documents the identity negotiation and strategic language efforts of a female postgraduate learner of English from a rural Arab background. She needed to obtain a high score in the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam as a prerequisite to getting an unconditional offer from a UK university. The narrative inquiry reported here used a series of individual semi-structured interviews as the main data, with a variety of means, including written narrative and email exchanges. It is guided by Dörnyei [(2009). The L2 motivational self system. In "Motivation, Language Identity and the L2 Self", ed. Z. Dörnyei and E. Ushioda, 9-42. Bristol: Multilingual Matters] concept of 'possible selves', and Norton [(2000). "Identity and Language Learning: Gender, Ethnicity and Educational Change". Harlow: Longman/Pearson Education] notion of investment in language learning and the distinction between compulsory (i.e. largely regulated by cultural beliefs) and voluntary (i.e. basically internalised within the self) strategies. The data suggest that Noura's language strategic efforts were significantly constrained by her social networks, which limited her personal investment in language learning. Nonetheless, after receiving a Master's grant, Noura acted agentively to accomplish her ultimate vision of being the first women in her village to complete her postgraduate studies abroad, and participate in benefiting her country (i.e. individual and national interest). She did so through building a strong relationship with a Canadian colleague in her workplace, together with adopting other strategies. From this case study, pedagogical implications as well as areas for ongoing research are suggested.

This paper aims to explore the strategic learning efforts and future vision of a group of Arab postgraduate students studying in a British University while writing a dissertation in English (about 15,000-20,000 words). It is guided by Dörnyei's [2009. "The L2 Motivational Self System." In "Motivation, Language Identity and the L2 Self," Chapter 2, edited by Z. Dörnyei and E. Ushioda, 9-42. Bristol: Multilingual Matters] concept of 'possible selves', and Hajar's [2016. "Motivated by Visions: A Tale of a Rural Learner of English." "The Language Learning Journal" 1-17. doi:10.1080/09571736.2016.1146914.] distinction between compulsory and voluntary strategies. Semi-structured interviews with each participant were used to collect data. The data suggest that the participants' language learning goals and associated strategy use for writing a dissertation were essentially influenced by the practices of their dissertation supervisors, who seemed to adopt a 'dynamic assessment' approach. The adoption of dynamic assessment by most supervisors helped the participants to strengthen the vision of their ideal L2 self, and make their goals clearer and more specific. From this qualitative study, practical recommendations to develop the effectiveness (quality) of Masters dissertation supervision at UK universities were made, and areas for ongoing research were suggested.

This paper explores eight Kazakhstani postgraduate students' reflections of their international educational experiences in the UK after their immediate re-entry into Kazakhstan. Special focus was on their language identity development after their one-year stay in the UK. It was informed by Benson et al.'s ([2013]. Second Language Identity in Narratives of Study Abroad. London: Palgrave Macmillan) three-dimensional model of L2 identity: (a) identity-related aspects of L2 proficiency, (b) linguistic self-concept, and (c) L2-mediated aspects of personal development. The qualitative data collected from a written narrative and three subsequent rounds of individual semi-structured interviews suggest that most participants had lofty goals in the first period of their study abroad. They gradually became aware that full immersion in the host country could take a long time, and accordingly, they set concrete goals. The analysis of the data also revealed that the participants exercised their agency in displaying their development of sociopragmatic competence and a global citizenship identity, by respecting different opinions and accepting cultural differences. Nevertheless, some of them experienced racism based on their usage of English and presumed ethnicity. This study underlines the significance of introducing pedagogical interventions in all phases of study abroad to avoid student sojourners' unrealistic or impractical goals and empower their language identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]