Despite a significant increase in the number of published genre analyses and a continuing refinement of genre theory, little research has been done to determine the effectiveness of genre-based pedagogy. Research that has been carried out has shown mixed results. One problem that has been identified is that a genre approach requires language…

This paper describes a study in which we investigated the effects of corrective feedback on learner uptake in CALL. Learner uptake is here defined as learner responses to corrective feedback in which, in case of an error, students attempt to correct their mistake(s). 177 students from three Canadian universities participated in the study during…

This paper reports research designed to highlight how three groups of teachers make sense of linguistic, ethnic and cultural diversity in the classroom. The collecting of the data concentrated on the way in which the participants in the study worked together to construct socially negotiated meanings of linguistic diversity within the context of…

Tandem language learning--a configuration involving pairs of learners with complementary target/native languages--is an underexploited but potentially very powerful use of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in second-language pedagogy. Tandem offers the benefits of authentic, culturally grounded interaction, while also promoting a pedagogical…

The textbook is the center of the curriculum and syllabus in most classrooms; however, rarely does it provide enough information for learners to successfully acquire pragmatic competence. This paper reports on a qualitative and quantitative study of 8 English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks to determine…

This study is part of an ongoing investigation of the knowledge base, learning and performance of Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) students in the Canadian province of Quebec. The goal of the broad research initiative is to identify valid and reliable criteria for candidate selection and to provide those who are admitted to a programme…

This paper derives from the innovative language teacher education programme described in a previous article published in "Language Learning Journal" (Burley & Pomphrey, 2002). It outlines the development in student teachers' understanding of their role as language educators through an analysis of the beginning and end of this…

TutorWhile assessment and its effects on learning such as "washback" have been the subject of much debate (e.g. Alderson & Wall, 1993; Bachman, 1995: 356; Alderson & Hamp Lyons, 1996; Shohamy "et al", 1996; Andrews "et al", 2002), assessment as a tool for developmental, not merely evaluative, purposes has…

This study deals with the application of the pragmatics research to EFL teaching. The study explored the effect of explicit metapragmatic instruction on the speech act comprehension of advanced EFL students. The speech acts of requesting, apologizing, and complaining were selected as the focus of teaching. Teacher-fronted discussions, cooperative…

This article reports on the ATLAS project, which addressed the problem of poor recruitment to university courses in the less widely taught (LWT) languages. The results of a survey of school students' attitudes towards learning languages and towards using the web were used to help design a website to encourage students to consider taking up a new…

In order to give language learners a fighting chance outside the classroom, teachers must provide them with consciousness-raising opportunities for developing pragmatic awareness. By attending to pragmatic factors in second-language (L2) situations, student will be better able to make informed choices in negotiating effective communication. This…

The articulatory awareness task, which was found by Griffiths and Frith (2002) to discriminate ex-dyslexic from non-dyslexic adults, was given to three groups of Japanese college students with different English reading abilities. Two unexpected results emerged: (1) Articulatory awareness performance was generally poor across the groups, thereby…

This exploratory study examines corrective feedback in native speaker-nonnative speaker (NS-NNS) and NNS-NNS dyads while participants were engaged in communicative and problem-solving activities via "Yahoo! Instant Messenger" (YIM). As "negotiation of meaning" studies of the 1990s have shown, linguistic items which learners negotiate in…