Abstract The language of artificial intelligence (AI) guidance documents in higher education (HE) institutions reflects broader societal dynamics and raises important questions about inclusivity and accessibility. This study investigates how selective (Russell Group) and less selective UK universities craft their student-facing AI guidance documentation, focusing on the language and discourses embedded within these documents. Using critical discourse analysis (CDA), documents from six UK universities (three less selective institutions from the top of the intergenerational mobility rankings and three highly selective universities from the bottom) are analysed to explore differences in language, style, content, and framing of agency and responsibility. Findings reveal that selective universities often adopt hierarchical, authoritarian language that emphasises individual student accountability for the proper use of AI tools. Such an approach reflects selective universities’ institutional approaches to power and hierarchy and aligns with broader societal worries about the influence of AI. In contrast, less selective institutions adopt a relatively more inclusive and explanatory rhetoric more consistent with the expectations and needs of students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.

Abstract This paper introduces an instrument, the Classroom Approaches to CLIL and Translanguaging Inventory (CACTI), to help primary and secondary teachers and academic researchers collaboratively develop awareness of bi/multilingual practices when academic subjects are taught in English. While teachers can develop explicit awareness of their language policies and practices, and of critical gaps that require action toward more equitable and productive learning spaces, researchers can learn what different bi/multilingual practices mean to teachers, and what concerns are salient for teachers regarding these practices. The practices may include (1) teaching for knowledge transfer across languages, (2) cultivating linguistic analysis skills, (3) raising critical awareness of the value placed on different languages in society, (4) developing bi/multilingualism and bi/multiliteracies, and (5) involving ALL students’ languages in the social and academic life of the class, even if they are not the official medium of instruction. Besides explaining what brought us to develop the CACTI, we illustrate two ways it can be used for collaborative reflection, one with pre-service teachers and one with in-service teachers. For each application, we discuss how our understanding was challenged by teachers, and what insights we offer for teachers on theirs.

Abstract In this conceptual article, the author introduces decolonization as an alternative to social justice frameworks. As stakeholders in second language (L2) teaching, the author stresses decolonization as a means for L2 researchers to work against colonial practices in educational research, which negatively impact historically disenfranchised communities. Specifically, Patel’s (Patel, Leigh. 2016. Decolonizing educational research: From ownership to answerability. New York: Routledge) answerability framework is introduced as a practical method to support decolonization in L2 research. The article is made up of four main sections. The first section explains the concept of settler colonialism and highlights how it is ingrained in educational research. In the second section, the author defines decolonization and distinguishes it from the more popular social justice movement. In the third section, the author summarizes four computer-assisted language learning (CALL) papers which were featured in a recent special issue on the topic of social justice. The author then provides a critical analysis of the reviewed studies from a decolonial perspective in the fourth and final section, while also suggesting ways in which researchers and educators can re-orient their work towards decolonization.

Abstract This research adopts a collective case study to explore the quantity (time allocations for key literacy components and group configurations) and the quality of English language arts (ELA) instruction for Grade 1 English language learners (ELLs) across six classrooms in three Indiana elementary school districts during the 2019–2020 school year. Three teachers (treatment group) were participants in a year-long professional development (PD) program consisting of ELL teacher licensure coursework (plus instructional coaching for two of the treatment teachers). The other three teachers (control group) did not participate in the PD program. Analysis of video-recordings of teachers’ ELA instruction, coded video instances, and time allocations reveal that overall treatment teachers allocated more time for the ELA block, more time for vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency instruction, and in general provided higher quality instruction. The findings provide evidence of the effectiveness of the PD program for improving ELA instruction for ELLs. However, both control and treatment teachers have some discrepancies in the quality and quantity of their literacy instruction compared to evidence-based research. This study holds important implications for literacy educators as they identify and employ strategies best suited for ELLs.

Abstract Student teaching has been conceptualized as an experience that translates into ample teaching practice and meaningful teacher knowledge. Such a conceptualization misses issues that emerge from student teaching as social practice (i.e., the distinctive ways people engage in activities associated with a particular domain of knowledge in a specific social context). Using interview data from a larger qualitative study that investigated pre-service teachers’ learning experiences, I conducted a discourse analysis of Lany’s perspective on her student teaching experience. Unlike other student teachers, Lany perceived the social practices at her placement to be unjust, holding student teaching with contempt and wanting it shortened. Findings indicated an expectations-reality dissonance in student teaching and the reproduction of socially constructed school norms and unequal social relations between school personnel and Lany. These constrained Lany’s abilities to practice teaching and shaped her identities. The study sheds light on the need for teacher educators and other tangential agents to more actively advocate for those who are apprenticing teachers to ensure quality education.

Abstract In this article we suggest a framework for researching the study abroad experiences of English language teachers, and analyze data from a study of higher education English teachers from four Southeast Asian countries who completed graduate studies at a Canadian university. We present data from interviews with 10 participants which took place in their home countries four years after taking the program. Research questions and interview questions relate to the relevance of the program to participants’ professional practice, the challenges they faced when applying knowledge in their local contexts, and the opportunities and benefits that came with completing a Canadian graduate program. In our data analysis, we highlight a combination of local, national, and transnational factors, as well as cultural differences, that affected the application of knowledge learned in Canada. We conclude by considering a number of implications for educators involved in study abroad programs for English language teachers.

Abstract Language proficiency, when expressed as a grade or a mark, is often associated with the notions of measurement accuracy, reliability and trustworthiness. In this article my focus is on English as an additional/second language proficiency in the past fifty years or so. I will suggest that the notion of proficiency is an artefact influenced by the ebbs and flows of intellectual movements and conceptual recontextualizations. The onset of the concept of communicative competence in the 1970s serves as the point of departure for this discussion. I will explore the ways in which this primarily research-oriented concept has been filtered through a particular set of disciplinary and ideological perspectives that led to a pared-down view of language communication and a universalist approach to curriculum development and assessment of proficiency. After that I will turn to the recent research findings and theorizations in fields such as academic literacies, English as a Lingua Franca, flexible multilingualism and translanguaging to show the need for a more empirically situated, dynamic and fluid approach to language use and language proficiency. Further exploratory work is needed at this watershed moment. I will illustrate some of the challenges by analysing some of the conceptual and technical difficulties found in an international language curriculum and assessment framework as it attempts to embody a more dynamic and situated approach. In the final part of the discussion I will suggest a set of basic questions for further reflexive analysis and research.