The Saudi English language education has experienced a continuous process of reform and revision. Recently, the Saudi English Language Curriculum (SELC) has been introduced to the research and practice community. The lack of research investigating language policies in the Saudi context is where the current study situates itself. Thus, a qualitative documentary analysis was carried out to study the document. The findings suggest that the newly reformed curriculum recognises the new global status of the English language, though implicitly. However, this recognition of English as a global language is not reflected in the desired practices. The native-speaker model seems to be the one that SELC has adopted. This is shown in the use of CEFR as the assessment reference of grading and in the traditional teaching approach. Regarding culture depiction in SELC, there was an emphasis on the role of culture in language education. The local culture (source) has received a considerable amount of attention in the form of topics relevant to Saudi Islamic culture yet the understanding of the notion of culture was still that of a traditional one. A number of research implications and limitations are reported in the conclusion of this paper.

Native-speakerism has generated much debate in the field of English language teaching, with the general assumption that native English-speaker teachers (NESTs) are better teachers and would be learners' preference over non-native English-speaker teachers (NNESTs) given the choice. Despite challenges against such an assumption in recent decades, it is argued that NESTs are still prioritized over NNESTs. Studies on learners' perceptions of NESTs and NNESTs and the factors behind them have produced inconclusive findings, which prompted the present study in post-colonial Hong Kong, where English is a language of privilege. To gain a better understanding of the reality, 253 students from various academic programmes in a tertiary institution in Hong Kong were invited to complete a questionnaire which aimed to elicit their views and preferences concerning teaching by NESTs and local English teachers (LETs, i.e., NNESTs) after being taught by NESTs. Factors affecting their preferences were also explored using open-ended questions and correlation tests. The findings suggest a minor preference for NESTs, but LETs are favoured in terms of effectiveness. Experience with NESTs and learners' English proficiency may also have notable influences over learner preferences. These findings have practical implications for teacher deployment for English courses or programmes at tertiary institutions.

In the light of national educational reform known as National Foreign Language Project 2020 (NFLP 2020), Information Communication Technology (ICT) was integrated into the language teaching curriculum, which required English teachers to possess technological skills and knowledge - CALL competencies (Computer Assisted Language Learning) to implement into their teaching practice (MOET, 2014). Although numerous training courses were organized to enable teachers to master these competencies, the efficacy of those courses were not explored comprehensively. This study was conducted to examine the development in teachers' perceptions of their CALL competencies before and after the course, as well as their attitudes towards technology's utilization, and the relationship between attitudes and self-perceptions of CALL competencies. Results from data analysis documented positive attitudes towards technology and advancements in the perceptions of their competencies. However, learner attitude was not a predictor of this development. Suggestions for improvements in future ICT courses are also included in the study. This pioneering research in the local context could potentially contribute to enhancing the effectiveness of ICT courses and consequently better realize the NFLP's goals and ambitions with the provision for the extended period to 2025. It also helps to illuminate the global portrait of CALL teacher education.

Motivation is a key factor in determining success in foreign and second language learning. However, the relationship between motivation and intended effort, ＂a mediating factor between motivation and success＂ (Papi, 2010, p. 468), has been studied mostly quantitatively rather than qualitatively, and even fewer studies have addressed this relationship among elementary school students in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts, especially in rural districts. In response, this study examined such a relationship qualitatively drawing on Dornyei's (2005) L2 Motivational Self System as the theoretical lens in a fifth grade class in Taiwan. The purpose was to bridge the divide between rural and urban contexts. Data collection involved participants' drawings and written responses to motivation-related questions, interviews, and the researcher's observations and reflection journal. The study found no direct or linear link between motivation to study English and intended effort. In addition, this relationship was social. Furthermore, participants' learning experiences played a critical and complex role in mediating intended effort. The findings suggest that teachers should create motivated learning experiences rather than try to motivate students through tests.

This study aimed to examine junior college students' group dialogues on the use of high-level comprehension features in an EFL reading class. The participants were one high-ability group and one low-ability group in terms of discussion proficiency. Eight representative discussions conducted in the students' first language served as the major data source, which were analyzed for discourse features linked to high-level thinking and comprehension, based on the criteria identified by Soter et al. (2008). Interviews and students' reading logs were collected to provide supporting evidence of how the EFL learners undertook their group reading tasks. The results revealed that both focus groups, to some extent, were able to incorporate all discourse features that indicate high-level learning and comprehension of texts without regard to discussion proficiency. The major differences were that the high-ability group had more uptake questions, whereas the low-ability group engaged in longer and more numerous episodes of elaborated explanations and of exploratory talk. That the low-ability group exhibited more talk and indicators of quality discussion than the high-ability group could be possibly explained with the genre of reading materials, personal belief about reading stories, and the use of nonverbal information and of personal connections. Despite the differences, the two groups demonstrated the language of high-level comprehension to ＂interthink＂ deeply about the text. The study concludes that through incorporating discourse features linked to high-level comprehension, students could guide one another toward deeper engagement with the text in group reading.

過去二十年間，「教師認同」引起廣泛討論，但關乎「專業英文(ESP)」老師之相關研究則非常少。本研究檢視一位EAP課程老師在準備、教授企業ESP課程之過程，透過其個人經歷、省思，探討其「教師認同」發展與角色轉變。資料收集工具包含教師個人課前省思、備課與授課日誌、雙週訪談、研究後訪談。歸類分析之研究結果顯示，ESP教師必須吸收大量新知、學習跟學生共同架構知識，扮演ESP學習議題的問題解決者、在課堂中有著多工角色，在教學方式、課程進度與活動方面，需持續調整自己。此外，ESP教師必須調整自身的不同角色，並解決不同角色之間的衝突。

The popularity of the internet enables people to communicate at a low cost. Moreover, as English continues to spread globally within educational systems in various countries, the language barrier between speakers of a different fist language is gradually fading. People of a different first language now use English as a lingua franca (ELF) to communicate with each other. In the past, most studies on intercultural communication involved native-speakers and non-native speakers of a language (Sharifian, 2009a, p.4). There was insufficient attention to intercultural communication in a lingua franca setting when both sides use a second language to communicate. This paper draws from the findings from five ELF intercultural projects conducted by the author to discuss how cultural frameworks in ELF settings influence students' online written communication. Students' email and forum records as well as their reflections of the experience participating in the project were qualitatively analyzed to identify communication gaps. Preconceptions derived from the students' own culture, stereotypes about their partner's culture, influence from the students' L1, and incongruent understanding of certain English words were found to play key roles in ELF intercultural communication. Issues in ELF intercultural communication and its implications for ELT in Taiwan are discussed.