One of the common practices in many basic schools in Ghana is the constant reminder to students to speak English at all times, and the threat of sanctions to those who do not abide by this language regulation. Considering that Ghana is a multilingual country, one would have thought that any of the Ghanaian languages can be used by students at…

This article explores whether the perception of learner autonomy that is promoted in language pedagogy is suitable for preparing students to perform successfully in the changed circumstances of the use of English. Recent developments, which include the growing role of English as a lingua franca and computer-mediated communication (CMC), give rise…

After the re-establishment of independent Estonian statehood in 1991, Russian lost its privileges as the dominant and official language in Estonia, and Estonian continued as the only official language. This paper attempts to map the position of a Russian-speaking teacher within the sociological categories of power and language, based on the…

English spoken by those who do not share their first language is increasingly referred to as English lingua franca (ELF). For ELF speakers, it can be a challenge to express conflicting opinions, as a common language and/or cultural background cannot be taken for granted. This is recognized by writers of business English textbooks, who provide…

Although the value of serious games in education is undeniable and the potential benefits of using video games as ideal companions to classroom instruction is unquestionable, there is still little consensus on the game features supporting learning effectiveness, the process by which games engage learners, and the types of learning outcomes that…

Webtools provide language students a uniquely authentic audience with which to share their creativity and growing proficiency in the target language. Students tend to write/speak more--and better--when using these tools in the language classroom. Webtools form an enjoyable and pedagogically sound way of getting students to create and have fun with…

The author analyses tendencies presented in recently launched EU reports claiming that newly published data reveal a need to rethink approaches to individual and social multilingualism. In the first part of the article approaches to individual as well as to societal multilingualism are discussed from a historical perspective. In the second part…

In this review the authors considered all the documents pertaining to the teaching of reading in Botswana primary schools from independence to the present. The purpose was to get the big picture with regard to the status of reading education. The results are reported in four categories: (1) Reading in the Classroom; (2) Reading and Policy; (3)…

Masaki Oda is a Professor of Applied Linguistics at Tamagawa University in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in Sociopolitical Aspects of Language Use. Prof. Oda got his PhD program from Georgetown University, where he also taught Japanese for several years. He returned to Japan in 1990 and began teaching EFL and training EFL teachers at Tamagawa…

Since Do Coyle and Hugo Baetens Beardsmore published their Special Issue on "Research on Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)" in the "International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism" in 2007, there has been a great deal of interest and debate about the approach, which under the umbrella term of Content…

While the medium-of-instruction (MOI) has been seen as one of the most crucial decision-making areas in language policies, it is curious that the equivalent Japanese expression to MOI is absent from educational policy documents. In a nation where the Japanese language is called the national language and enjoys the status of an official language,…

This paper examines French as a second official language (FSOL) teachers' perspectives as they relate to the inclusion of immigrants who are learning English (IMMs), in elementary FSOL education in an English-dominant region of Canada, in particular within French immersion. In this paper, I have tried to examine the question of access to…

The thoughts on a language history within a European context sketched out here represent an attempt to extend the concepts of regional and particularly national language history by adding a third dimension: transnational language history in Europe. After a few general thoughts on the extended area of research, in which so-called external language…

Saudi Ministry of education is highly concerned with the pursuit of excellence in effective EFL teaching-learning in the arena of education but it experiences tardy progress especially in college level. This is a common scenario in almost every stage of learning in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Behind this backdrop, this paper explores the new…

Four out of five immigrants to Canada speak a language other than English or French as a first language. Immigration is increasingly transforming francophone minority communities. Allophone children acquire minority status on multiple levels within French-language schools, where they can become both a linguistic minority and a cultural minority…