English Pedagogy Research Articles

A Diversified Teaching Model of Business English in Multimodal Perspective

Abstract Traditional business English pedagogy has predominantly relied on an unimodal teaching approach, which often fails to satisfy the demands of contemporary talent development. Addressing this inadequacy, this study advocates for the establishment of a diversified teaching model from a multimodal perspective. Furthermore, it introduces a comprehensive evaluation framework designed to assess the efficacy of various business English teaching methodologies. This evaluation model employs the K-means clustering algorithm for data segmentation, utilizes both positive and negative indicators for constructing metrics, and integrates the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method with gray system theory for robust analysis. The research was conducted at AB University, where experimental and control groups were established to critically assess the effectiveness of the diversified teaching approaches. Results indicate that the experimental group’s average business English score was 53.1, which is significantly higher by 10.94 points than that of the control group (P<0.01). Moreover, notable differences were observed in students’ classroom behaviors, including course engagement, responsiveness to teachers, and learning attitudes, all showing highly significant improvements in the experimental group (P<0.01). Similarly, in terms of teaching quality, the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group across the dimensions of content design, lecture delivery, and overall teaching impact (P<0.01). This study not only underscores the effectiveness of the proposed diversified business English teaching model but also provides a theoretical and empirical foundation for its evaluation.

Boosting Preservice EFL Teachers' Reading Skills via Visual Media

This study investigates the efficacy of metacognitive reading strategies, supplemented with visual media, in improving English reading comprehension abilities among pre-service English as a Foreign Language (EFL) educators. The study intends to enhance reading comprehension test performance by employing a quasi-experimental design that includes pre-test, intervention, and post-test phases. The study included a total of 102 preservice EFL teachers who were currently engaged in a course focused on communicative language learning in an English pedagogy undergraduate program. The intervention consisted of utilizing metacognitive methods in conjunction with visual media. The effectiveness of this approach was assessed through the administration of a widely recognized Reading Comprehension Test (RCT), a Metacognitive Strategy Questionnaire (MSQ), and supplementary visual media. The results demonstrate a substantial improvement in average reading comprehension scores, increasing from 0.5 to 0.72 after the intervention. The study utilized a mixed-methods approach, including questionnaires and interviews to collect qualitative data on students' assessments of the intervention's efficacy. The findings indicate that students consider the metacognitive strategies to be useful at all stages of reading, including pre, while, and post reading. The incorporation of visual media, such as videos and infographics, played a crucial role in promoting metacognitive knowledge, monitoring, and control strategies. This study emphasizes the potential of integrating metacognitive strategies with visual media to greatly improve reading comprehension skills in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) settings.

Pre-Service Teacher Mentors’ Perceptions Regarding Their Role and Preparation for Mentoring in Chile

The study of pedagogical internships has gained greater importance over the last decades around the world. In Chile, many researchers have been attempting to delve deeper into this reality; however, little is known about the experiences of preservice teacher mentors when tutoring pre-service teachers of English pedagogy. Following the qualitative paradigm, this exploratory descriptive study aims to investigate the perspectives and expectations of pre-service teacher mentors’ regarding their key roles as mentors in initial training. Seven English teachers with experience as mentor teachers were interviewed. One group interview and four individual interviews were conducted with English teachers working with preservice teachers in their practicums. Thematic analysis was employed to analyze the data. Issues related to the multiple roles of mentor teachers were discussed, as well as the relationship they construct with their students, the university, and the school where practicums are carried out. The main findings of this study suggest that pre-service teacher mentors expected clear guidelines from universities and the government to better guide future teachers. Moreover, they expected to be more involved in training pre-service teachers to contribute to their classrooms. Implications shed light on the need for incorporating the voices of pre-service teachers’ mentors in future research studies concerning pedagogical practicums in elt in Chile.

Research on the Development of College English Pedagogy System in Cross-cultural Perspective

Abstract Current college English programs at universities suffer from an inadequate teaching system and poor practical results, which hinder the effective development of students’ intercultural communication abilities and reduce their interest in learning the subject. This study integrates the output-oriented approach with blended teaching techniques to develop a college English teaching model. Utilizing University A as the research subject, we designed questionnaires and conducted teaching comparison experiments to evaluate the model’s effectiveness. The entropy value method calculated the weights of formative evaluation indices, while the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model assessed the teaching quality. The results of the data analysis show that the reading character of students in class A under the blended teaching mode shows significant differences. The total score of reading level score is 21.07 points higher than that of students in class B with traditional teaching, and the speaking score rises by 3.468 points. The quality of college English teaching in University A was rated good, with a comprehensive score of 90.32 points using the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model. The POA-based college English blended teaching model and formative evaluation system provide a new reference for innovating the college English teaching model in colleges and universities and boosting the intercultural communicative competence of college and university students.

Strengthening the interface between research and pedagogy in business English and beyond

As part of the special issue “Business English: Research into Professional Practice”, this article aims to contribute to a major discussion in the field of business English concerning ways of strengthening the research–pedagogy interface. The article is a commentary on my previously published paper, “Forging a link between research and pedagogy: A holistic framework for evaluating business English materials” (2009). In this commentary, I discuss various aspects of the paper, including the significance of its proposed approach to connecting research with pedagogy, the influence of the paper on business English and other fields, and the application of its ideas by practitioners to business English materials evaluation and beyond. I also reflect on the paper's influence on my subsequent work as both a researcher and a practitioner. I conclude by suggesting future directions that should help to bring research closer to pedagogical practice.

Harmony in Learning: Integrating Technology and Tradition in English Pedagogy

This research explores harmony in English language learning by integrating technology and tradition in pedagogical approaches. Through literature studies, classroom observations, and interviews, this study found that harmony is achieved by balancing the use of modern technology, such as online platforms and applications, with traditional values in learning. The results showed that this integration enriches students' learning experience while maintaining local cultural values. This research provides insight into how English language teachers can create learning environments that combine technological advances with traditional heritage, providing the basis for the development of holistic learning strategies.

Navigating complexity in plain English: A longitudinal analysis of syntactic and lexical complexity development in L2 legal writing

Since the 1960s, legal writing pedagogy in the United States has been heavily influenced by the plain English movement, which largely discourages the use of legal jargon and overly complex syntactic structures in legal documents. While these efforts to democratize legal English are laudable, it is unclear whether plain English practices can accommodate the needs of multilingual, foreign legal writers who have not yet acculturated to the U.S. legal discourse. Using mixed-effects modeling, this study tracks the development of syntactic and lexical complexity in 246 hypothetical legal essays written by 31 international Master of Laws students enrolled in a year-long legal language course. Results show that after one year of instruction, students demonstrated a significant increase in the use of nominalizations and sophisticated vocabulary. However, their sentences became notably shorter, and there was a marked decrease in the use of noun phrases with pre-modifying adjective within semesters. We discuss the intersection between plain English and academic writing practices and their impact on second language (L2) writers’ developmental trajectories. We also highlight important caveats to consider when implementing plain English pedagogy in legal language classrooms.

Pedagogy of Communicative and Technical English for Engineering Students at Tertiary Level: A Case Study in Bangladesh

Pedagogy refers to the manner and exercise of teaching, emphasizing an academic subject or theoretical concept. This paper explored the Pedagogy of Communicative and Technical English for Engineering Students at the Tertiary Level in Bangladesh. Furthermore, this paper investigated to demonstrate the holes between students’ existing level of competence and intended needs. This study imitated the quantitative approach to collect data using questionnaires. Beneath the simple stratified sampling method, the study collected data from 52 undergraduate and graduate engineering students and 12 ESL/EFL instructors from several government engineering universities in Bangladesh. This study’s findings disclosed a deficiency of practical communicative skills in engineering students. The findings also addressed the lack of engineering students in Technical English. In addition, the offered courses were not satisfactorily meeting the students’ demands. Furthermore, the class conducting approaches were inadequate to correspond to engineering students' needs. Considering the findings, this study formed a few suggestions to diminish the holes in the engineering students’ existing and target needs of communicative and Technical English.

Multilingual development: English in a global contextby PeterSiemund. ed. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press. 2023. 289 pages. ISBN: 9781108844024 (hardback), 9781108926089 (paperback), 9781108915540 (epub)

AbstractWith the deepening of globalization, multilingualism has emerged as a common phenomenon, and English has gradually developed into a hub language. In this context, Peter Siemund's edited book, Multilingual Development: English in a Global Context delves profoundly into multilingual upbringing and development from an innovative perspective of English as a global lingua franca. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the book combines insights from linguistics, sociology, psychology, and education to investigate how individuals grow up in today's interconnected world and discusses various aspects that influence their language development with a focus on the pivotal role of English. Key issues such as language policy, identity, and the pedagogy of English as a second language are examined in various geographical and social settings. Logical, coherent, and accessible, the book provides valuable perspectives on multilingualism and offers nuanced insights for scholars, policymakers, and educators, which can serve as an essential reference for anyone interested in multilingual development.

From Reading Nonsensical Jabberwocky to Proposing Topics for English Pedagogy

Portrayed as a monster and villain, narrated in seven stanzas in an iambic tetrameter metrics, Jabberwocky is a phenomenal poem. This poem, loaded with “esoteric” and nonce words, was mostly researched in the realms of translation and psycholinguistics, leading to a dearth of studies in L2 pedagogy. The posed question was “What are some latent themes or topics for ELT material development that can be revealed from the discernibly nonsensical language of Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky poem?” Descriptive phenomenological design suited this study’s purpose to delineate emic language pedagogical aspects of this poem. Thematic analysis was employed by performing a 6-step framework. This current study has yielded three main themes that propose Jabberwocky poem as an alternative source of English material development. The latent themes circumnavigate around morphology, syntax, and phonology. Morphologically, L2 learners could delve further to the two-word-formation processes, namely: portmanteau and coinage. Syntactically, Jabberwocky poem can hone the skill in detecting parts of speech. Phonologically, the concept of phonaesthesia fosters sound interpretation. This study rounds off by thanking Lewis Carroll for sharp-wittedly writing Jabberwocky poem and proposing an alternative to material developers as well as English teachers and practitioners to incorporate this work of art into their instructions.

An empirical study on English preservice teachers’ digital competence regarding ICT self-efficacy, collegial collaboration and infrastructural support

This study aims to investigate English preservice teachers’ digital competence regarding their self-efficacy in information and communication technologies (ICT), their collaboration with colleagues, and the support they received from the infrastructure. A questionnaire based on the “Digital competence of educators (DigCompEdu)” was used in this research. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to verify the hypothesized model using data obtained from 425 graduate students majoring in English pedagogy. This study produced significant findings: (1) English preservice teachers’ ICT self-efficacy has strong or moderate positive associations with their perceptions of collegial collaboration, infrastructural support and digital competence; (2) the association between participants’ perspectives on collegial collaboration and digital competence is statistically equivalent to the association between their ICT self-efficacy and digital competence; (3) although English preservice teachers’ perceptions of infrastructural support have a positive association with their views on digital competence, it is not as significant as the former ones; and (4) further study is needed, as the dependent variables in this study explained only 66% of the variation in collegial collaboration, 44% in infrastructural support, and 78% in digital competence.

Attitudes towards Pedagogical Reflection among a Group of Pre-Service English Teachers

Reflective practice is an essential component of teacher training programs. Moreover, the experience of reflection in pedagogy students led to a deeper understanding of their teaching practices and increased confidence in their teaching skills. This article aimed to determine pre-service English teachers' attitudes towards reflective practice, focusing on their cognitive, affective, and behavioral components. The population of the study was 88 pre-service English pedagogy students, and the study used a quantitative methodology. A validated questionnaire was used to gather the data and treat it statistically. The results show that all participants had a favorable attitude toward the reflective practice, though there are significant differences among each group of participants. It is concluded that attitude towards reflection increases as students gain sufficient experience and knowledge conducting pedagogical reflection practices. The findings suggest the need for a framework to improve attitude components in the English pre-service program and to focus on reflective practice in the early stages of teaching practice to motivate and induce pedagogical reflection from the beginning of the program. This study might be beneficial for tertiary education to foster a positive reflective attitude towards reflection.

Perceptions of Saudi EFL Learners’ Willingness to Communicate in the Extramural Digital Context

This study aimed to investigate the factors that may impact Saudi English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ willingness to communicate (WTC) in an extramural digital (ED) environment. To do this, 50 Saudi EFL learners from different Saudi secondary schools were interviewed. The collected data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings of this study showed that there are three variables affecting the second language (L2) WTC of Saudi learners in the ED context: educational variables (including teacher-centred English pedagogy and use of L1 in the English classroom), contextual variables (including both familiarity with communication partners and familiarity with online communities) and Individual variables (including both L2 self-confidence and L2 anxiety). The findings of this research study contribute to achieving a better understanding of the L2 WTC of Saudi EFL learners in the ED context. Furthermore, the factors illustrated by the study findings can provide insight for teachers and policymakers in Saudi Arabia to promote the L2 WTC of Saudi EFL learners in classroom environments.

Negotiating Religious Discourses in English Language Teaching: Reorienting and Reframing Dominant English Ideologies

ABSTRACT Efforts to decolonise foreign/English language teaching involve recognising the importance of diverse meaning-making resources rooted in speakers’ socio-cultural realities, traditions, and values alongside English practices. This focus highlights the value of multicultural and multilingual environments, particularly in dominant English-speaking contexts, and emphasises how languages and their embedded worldviews can enrich language pedagogy. Although progress has been made in acknowledging and affirming linguistic, cultural, and epistemological diversity, little attention has been given to the role of religious discourses in transformative pedagogies that challenge the finitude of Global English. Based on interviews conducted as part of a larger study, this research explores how religious discourses shape the professional practices of two English teachers in Indonesia. It argues that these discourses, as temporal occurrences, can disrupt the notion that religiously inspired education is dogmatic and closed. Conversely, a religiously-inspired English pedagogy can serve as a potent means to resist dominant English ideologies and the inherent dogmas they perpetuate.

Dialogic Appropriation in Academic English Literacy and Pedagogy: Transnational and Translingual Praxis

ABSTRACT This essay presents a decade-long reflective account of resisting (in) and appropriating English that I have experienced as a young, female academic from the Middle East who has been engaged in teaching and researching Academic English pedagogy transnationally. Informed by Bakhtin’s philosophy of dialogue and his notions of insided-ness, outsided-ness and in-between-ness, I highlight the ideological complexities associated with teaching (in) English in both Anglophone and non-Anglophone contexts. I unpack these complexities through diverse scenarios where the tension between ‘Internally Persuasive Discourse’ and ‘Authoritative Discourse’ of English was evident. I propose an alternative curriculum, namely English for Dialogic Purposes as a rich way of appropriating in English and for the English-dominated discourse of academia to allow for polyphony of voices and boundary learning, vital for the multicultural and plurilingual world of education.

Syllable Isochrony in Selected Nigerian Hip-Hops: Implication for Nigerian English Pedagogy

Scholarly attention, especially in the context of rhythmic patterns of Nigerian Hip-hop and implication for Nigerian English pedagogy has been very rare. Hence, the study inquires into whether or not Nigeria Hip-Hop could be an alternative medium to teaching English rhythm in Nigerian schools, especially due to its influx on Nigerian youths, and thereby improve on the pronunciation of L2 learners/speakers. The study sampled four songs from two artists’ rhythmic patterns - Temilade Openiyi (TEMS) and Adedamola Adefolahan (Fireboy DML). The lyrical lines of the selected songs were analysed using metrical grid; an aspect of metrical phonology) to establish the isochronic patterns in the sampled Nigerian Hip-hop songs through segmentation of selected lines of the lyrics in order to establish whether or not divergence or convergence exist in the rhythm patterns of selected Nigerian Hip-hop as noticed in Standard English songs. Boersma and Weenink (2010), software tool for speech signal editing and labeling, this was evident in the following instances://aɪ////keɪm// //ˈsɔːdɪnlɪ:// realised at equal timing of 0.2886 milliseconds (ms). //aɪ həv bɪn kɪlɪŋ// //ˈɛvriˌθɪŋ// at 0.1904ms. //aɪ/ //əm// //ə////kɪŋ// at 0.2251ms; //juː// //dəʊnt// //fiːl// at 0.2901ms; //aɪ// //wɪʃ// //aɪ// //kʊd// //fiːl// //jɔː// //peɪn// at 0.210ms; //aɪ// //traɪd// //tu// //tiːtʃ// //ˈjuː// at 0.3071ms; //aɪ// //wɪl/ /maɪnd/ //maɪ// //mænəs// at 0.310ms; //fɪə// //ɪn// // mai// //maɪnd// /ɪz/ //ə// //ˈwɔːnɪŋ// at 0.215ms; //aɪ// //sɛd// //faɪv// //ɪn ðiː// //ˈmɔrnɪŋ// at 0.234ms; //fɪə// //ɪn// // mai// //maɪnd// /ɪz/ //ə// //ˈwɔːnɪŋ// at 0.3092ms; //aɪ ˈtraɪ tu// //ˈgɛt baɪ// //bʌt aɪm ˈbɜːnɪŋ// at 0.2967ms; //sɛnd// //miː// //a// //lʌv// //ðæt// //juː// //kænɒt// //mɪz// at 0.214ms; //aɪ// //wɪl/ /maɪnd/ //maɪ// //mænəs// realised at 0.221ms; //wəʊnt// //teɪk// //ədˈvɑːntɪdʒ// at 0.318; and //nəʊ// //mɔ// //dæmeidʒɪs// //naʊ// realised at 0.2011ms. This means the syllables were realised at relatively equal timing. The study concludes that there is a divergence in the rhythm patterns of Nigerian Hip-hop which makes it significantly different from Standard British English rhythm structure. This implies that the Nigerian Hip-hop rhythm tilts more towards syllable-timing than stress-timing as earlier posited by Nigerian linguists hence may not be appropriate to teach rhythm in Nigerian schools due to its inability to meet national, international and social acceptability standard.

Improving EFL Teaching in Chinese Universities: Perceptions of Teachers with Oversea Experience

This study aimed to investigate the perceptions of English teachers regarding the adverse effects of teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in China, as well as their proposals for improving EFL instruction in the country. By exploring the views of experienced English teachers, this study provides valuable insights into how English as a Foreign Language pedagogy can be improved in China and other countries. The main research question is about the adverse effects of teaching English as a Foreign Language in Chinese higher education and the ways to improve its instruction. A thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews was conducted on a sample of 20 English teachers who possessed substantial experience teaching in Chinese higher education institutions. The participants’ teaching experience ranged from 3-20 years (SD = 5.3). The analysis involved the establishment of concordant codes and sub-codes, with the aid of two researchers and an external expert, to ensure the reliability and validity of the results. The findings showed that the teachers attributed English as a Foreign Language learners’ English deficiencies to the English teaching curriculum, self-directed learning, and the education system. Finally, the teachers suggested that self-directed learning skills and self-regulation were crucial for effectively applying language in authentic contexts. These findings have implications beyond China and are expected to enhance English pedagogy in other English as a Foreign Language countries. Thus, this research may contribute to improving the effectiveness of English teaching in China and other countries by providing a deeper understanding of the challenges and potential solutions associated with English as a Foreign Language instruction.

Preferencias y opiniones de estudiantes de un Programa de Pedagogía en Inglés con distinto nivel de competencia lingüística acerca del tratamiento de los errores en la escritura en LE: estudio de caso en una universidad chilena

Learners’ preferences and opinions about error treatment have been scarcely studied despite the impact they could have on learners’ engagement with a corrective treatment and, consequently, on the learning of the target language (Lee, 2008; Han, 2017). Thus, this quantitative exploratory study investigates, through the use of a questionnaire, the preferences and opinions of 133 students, with different levels of linguistic competence of an English Pedagogy Program from a national university, regarding the correction of written errors. The results show that, regardless of the proficiency level, the participants highly value error correction, especially of grammatical errors; however, there are significant differences in the degree of importance assigned to grammar in writing and to grammar instruction, with students with a higher level of competence showing greater independence. Despite this autonomy, both groups favour focused corrective strategies with grammatical explanation and prefer teachers provide the correction. These findings have great significance for a context of language instruction since they allow restricting the use of counterproductive corrective strategies, thus enhancing the acquisition of the language.

Digital storytelling as practice-based participatory pedagogy for English for specific purposes

Abstract English for Specific Purposes (ESP) teachers in Higher Education struggle with introducing variation and meaning into courses, while addressing 21st century skills development for global employment markets. Digital storytelling in its many forms constitutes fertile ground for engaging students while learning the specific academic and professional languages for their fields of knowledge, through using English as a lingua franca (ELF). The article presents and discusses a pedagogical framework for digital storytelling (DST) that promotes purposeful learning through EFL in two different contexts, in Portugal and Finland. The framework consists of five storytelling steps: (1) research and audience insight; (2) concept design; (3) scripting and storyboarding; (4) digital production; and (5) publication and engagement. The framework was piloted during the 2021–22 academic year with two first-year Business English classes in Office Management and one second-year ESP class in Tourism Management in a Portuguese Polytechnic as well as with an advanced-level ELF class in International Marketing and Communication in a Finnish University of Applied Sciences. Learning through DST provided students with rich opportunities for engagement and interaction, while also developing their skills in language and communication, storytelling, teamwork, digital literacy, and critical thinking. The DST framework has the potential to promote purposeful learning and empower students as active participants in media culture.

TEACHING AND LEARNING STYLES IN HIGHER EDUCATION: ENGLISH LANGUAGE PEDAGOGY

A documentary review was conducted on the production and publication of research papers related to studying the variables of Learning Styles and Pedagogy in English. The purpose of the bibliometric analysis proposed in this document was to know the main characteristics of the volume of publications registered in the Scopus database during the period 2017-2022 and to identify the current situation in Ecuadorian institutions regarding the study of the variables above, achieving the identification of 34 publications in total. The information provided by the said platform was organized through graphs and figures, categorizing the information by Year of Publication, Country of Origin, Area of Knowledge and Type of Publication. Once these characteristics were described, a qualitative analysis was used to refer to the position of different authors on the proposed topic. Among the main findings of this research, it is found that the United States, with 6 publications, was the country with the highest scientific production registered in the name of authors affiliated with institutions of that country. The Area of Knowledge that made the greatest contribution to the construction of bibliographic material referring to the study of Teaching and Learning Styles in Higher Education for Pedagogy in English was Social Sciences, with 30 published documents. The Type of Publication that was most used during the period mentioned above was the Journal Article, representing 62% of the total scientific production.