Children and youth from refugee backgrounds have complex language experiences owing to their journeys away from their homelands often taking them through multiple contexts. This study was motivated by a desire to better understand the language resources of students newly arrived as refugees in Australia and their embodied and contextualised…

This paper examines the efficacy of academic support interventions provided by the Swinburne College Student Hub for international students enrolled in the Postgraduate Qualifying Program (PQP) or English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS). Interventions for PQP students encompass plagiarism checking, paraphrasing,…

This study examined the experiences of students from refugee backgrounds (SfRBs) as they transitioned from Intensive English Centres (IECs) based at metropolitan high schools in Western Australia (WA) into higher education. Focus group discussions revealed that SfRBs were highly motivated and held aspirations for completion of tertiary study.…

The University English Centres of Australia (UECA) 'Assessment Symposium: Assessment Practice in a Changing World' at Southern Cross University in October 2022 highlighted the growing interest in integrated assessment in Australian university direct entry programs (DEPs) for English as Additional Language (EAL) students. In keynote presentations,…

This article enters the debate about the complex and dynamical nature of second language acquisition (SLA) by discussing and commenting on Pallotti's critique of Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST). Pallotti's critique brings to the fore the argument that, due to its anti-reductionist stance, CDST research fails to observe three fundamental…

In this paper, we present and illustrate four principles used to develop discipline-specific academic language tutorials for students who enter university with low levels of academic language proficiency. The tutorials are part of a university-wide language support program following a post enrolment language assessment (PELA). The principles…

Action research has enjoyed phenomenal growth in the field of education as a catalyst for teacher professional learning with a view to school improvement, but it is commonly remodelled across various local settings. Adopting a Schatzkian perspective, this study investigates the experiences of a range of teachers engaging in an action research…

This brief report presents the preliminary results of the textual data analysis within a qualitative longitudinal study that examines ESL adolescent writers' voice in their academic writing as they transition from a High School Preparation (HSP) intensive English program to mainstream high schools (HS) in Sydney, Australia.

This article considers the challenges heralded by digital technology in relation to the management of academic integrity on high-stakes Direct Entry English Programs in Australia. Firstly, a number of the ways in which students are using digital tools to complete assignment writing are examined. Secondly, findings from a review of academic…

Language teachers constantly create, adapt and evaluate classroom materials to develop new curricula and meet their learners' needs. It has long been argued (e.g. by Stenhouse, L. [1975]. "An Introduction to Curriculum Research and Development." London: Heinemann) that teachers themselves, as opposed to managers or course book writers,…

In multilingual Australian classrooms, one of the biggest challenges for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) learners is mastering the academic language they need to succeed at school. Unlike everyday language, academic language refers to the abstract, complex and challenging language that students need to understand, evaluate, synthesise…

The challenges of gaining access to opportunities to use the target language in contexts of study abroad, international education, and migration are well documented. In this Sydney-based study, these are reconceptualized as challenges of access to English in an English-speaking but increasingly multilingual, city. The notion of "context"…

The Interaction Approach argues that negotiation for meaning and form is conducive to second language development. To date, most of the research on negotiations has been either in face-to-face (FTF) or text-based synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) modes. Very few studies have compared the nature of negotiations across the modes.…

While there is a body of research concerning the education of students with migrant or refugee backgrounds, little of this research focuses on primary school-aged children. In order to address this gap, the current paper utilises data gained from an ethnographic study to consider the challenges and opportunities associated with diverse classrooms…

Educational experiences during childhood are critically important for development, but migrant children often experience unique challenges. To ameliorate these, extra training in English language--such as provided by the intensive English language programme in South Australia (IELP)--is frequently offered to children taking on English as an…