Competence in both spoken and written English is very important for all learners regardless of their hearing ability. Previous studies reveal that hearing-impaired learners face several challenges in their written English. These challenges affect their communication, which is likely to affect their education and career aspirations. The thrust of…

In the related literature, it has been discussed that issues related to foreign language lexicon have been ignored; therefore, a solid theory of foreign language lexicon has not been constructed yet. In the framework of Turkish as a foreign language, the literature lacks both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. To this end, this longitudinal…

This article discusses the findings of an empirical study that investigated the writing practices in a multilingual, rural, fourth-grade classroom in Kenya. The study was undergirded by Bakhtin's heteroglossia. Analysis of texts indicated that these emergent multilinguals used multiple semiotic resources to maximize the chances of meeting the…

This paper seeks to explore the extent of definite article usage variation in several varieties of English based on a classification of its usage types. An annotation scheme based on Hawkins and Prince was developed for this purpose. Using matching corpus data representing Inner Circle varieties and Outer Circle varieties, analysis was made on…

Our purpose in this paper is to foreground contextual issues in studies of situated writing practices. During a year-long case study in a rural Kenyan secondary school, we applied a number of ethnographic techniques to document how 32 girls (aged 14-18 years) used local cultural and digital resources (i.e., donated digital cameras, voice…

In December 2007, unprecedented violence erupted in Kenya following the announcement of disputed presidential election results. The electorate was divided along ethnic lines and tribal clashes bordering on ethnic cleansing escalated. Those supporting opposing camps found themselves on the wrong side of the political divide leading to killings,…

This paper reports on a comprehensive corpus-based study of regional and stylistic variation in the distribution of the English present perfect. The data represents ten English varieties of both the Inner Circle and Outer Circle, covering four major text types: conversation, news reportage, academic and fictional writing. The results are discussed…

This contribution discusses problems of students' academic writing in Africa. It sketches the wide field of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and argues that reference, coherence and complexity are key concepts for evaluating student writing at university level. It uses material from African corpora to substantiate this claim and to illustrate…

Noting that composition studies in the United States has devoted little attention to cross-national perspectives on student writing and its roles in wider cultural contexts, this book presents research studies from six nations (China, England, France, Germany, Kenya, and South Africa) on academic writing development in the dominant language of…

Discusses achievement motivation among distance education students, and describes a study of Kenyan primary school teachers enrolled in an in-service training course taught primarily through correspondence. A modified Thematic Apperception Test will be used to determine the correlation between achievement motive and performance score in written…