Even with recent emerging technologies, textbooks still maintain their significance in language education (Richards, 2015) in the form of digitized resources (i.e. e-teaching materials) (Li, 2021). However, one concern voiced over textbooks is their failure to include pronunciation (Nikolić, 2018). Pronunciation is significant for successful communication (Pennington & Rogerson-Revell, 2019) and since teachers serve as role models for language learners (Richards, 2015), and textbooks are their primary teaching materials (King, 2010), this issue needs reconsideration. In Turkish primary and secondary education curricula, pronunciation is insignificant, almost excluded in the primary education curriculum and slightly included in the secondary one (Ministry of National Education, 2018a, 2018b). To this end, the English textbooks published by the Turkish Ministry of Education were analyzed with respect to pronunciation. The quantitative content analysis of 11 textbooks (second-twelfth grades) revealed congruent results with the curricula. It was found that there was more suprasegmental than segmental activities and that the pronunciation activities were centered in the secondary school textbooks. It was further observed that the activities were mainly of a description and analysis nature according to Celce-Murcia et al.’s (2010) framework, implying that learners are provided with insufficient communicative pronunciation activities. This contradicts the curricular objectives aiming for communicative competence for which pronunciation plays an essential role. The study concludes that the content of English textbooks should be re-evaluated concerning communicative pronunciation activities.

During the past few decades, creating autonomy in language learners has been considered as a milestone in the success of language learning programs. Most of EFL/ESL teachers apparently do not belittle the significance of autonomous learning because adding to one’s knowledge is the learners’ duty. However, knowing how many teachers value this concept and take practical steps to promote it in class is equally important. The answer to this question would result in understanding the differences between teacher beliefs and teacher practices regarding the fostering of autonomous learning in the class. To learn these issues, the present mixed-methods study made use of a questionnaire in the quantitative phase, and open-ended questions along with interviews to serve as the qualitative data. Analysis of the data indicates all teachers acknowledge the significance and necessity of promoting autonomy for learners in EFL classes. However, the quantitative data reveal a statistically significant difference between what they believe in and what they actually do in practice. The qualitative data also indicates that such a difference exists and suggests that it is caused by students’ passive learning styles and low levels of motivation and the pressure that the teaching demands place on the teachers. Several implications are provided regarding how EFL teachers can foster autonomy for learners in their teaching process.

This paper is focused on one of the most common and basic ways of processing corpus information; concordance, and how it can be used in the classroom to offer language learners useful vocabulary that they would face in genuine conversations and help them detect language patterns as this ability helps them with their learning process. In addition, a sample of a corpus-based activity will be presented to show how classroom activities based on corpora can be developed. What is more, this paper has the purpose of encouraging teachers to use this type of activity and to offer them a straightforward guide to follow.

Teacher identity is complex, changeable over time, and a poly-component assembly like the social identity. Since there were some problems in analyzing teacher identity with the existing binary methods using NNEST (Non-Native English-Speaking Teacher) and NEST (Native English-Speaking Teacher), various analyzing methods were adopted in this study, such as investigating the linguistic identity of the participants. The primary purpose of the study was to investigate teacher identity of two female professors teaching English conversation in Korea and find out how their different teacher identities and learning and teaching experiences affected their teaching practices. Data collection consisted of six semi-structured interview sessions with two participants and one classroom observation for six months. To triangulate the data, the study analyzed the classroom observation field notes and background survey sheets along with the transcripts of the interviews. The present study discovered that the first participant (EB-elective bilingual) positioned herself as a NNEST and Korean who spent most of her lifetime practicing and teaching English in Korea with studying experience for about three and half years in the U.S. In the meantime, the second participant, a circumstantial bilingual, perceived herself as a NEST and Korean, who studied and practiced English in the U.S. and in some Asian countries but taught English language mostly in Korea. Even though both professors confessed that a well-prepared class was important, their different linguistic identities, learning and teaching experience caused the different teaching practices. In addition to such findings, the present study attempted to uncover the relationships between teachers’ NNEST identity and their actual teaching practices in the classroom. Hence, this study offers important implications for teaching English conversation in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) contexts.

This study analyzes three textbooks that have been used to teach English to eighth graders in Ecuadorian public secondary schools from 1993 to midyear of 2019. The textbooks in question included Our World Through English (OWTE) 1, Postcards 1A, and Viewpoints English A1.1. This work provides a descriptive review of how such textbooks supported students´ learning. A checklist was used for the evaluation of the structural elements. Out of the three textbooks, OWTE contained more content than what could be handled beyond instructional time and students’ linguistic background. Postcards and Viewpoints contributed to better conditions for learning English in Ecuadorian classrooms. Both included a more manageable amount of content. Viewpoints provided more guidance and opportunities for students to practice the language in meaningful ways. The study suggests that when designing a textbook for English as a foreign language (EFL) instruction, the decision-makers in Ecuadorian public institutions should use comprehensive criteria that integrate different aspects of a textbook including its length and the elements that compose its units.

Many scholars have investigated metadiscourse use in academic settings, but they have mostly explored written data, such as academic essays and research articles. However, spoken discourses like student presentations are rarely explored. Extant studies tend to focus on metadiscourse investigation in either native or non-native English learners' writing or speaking respectively. We argue that a comparative investigation of non-native English learners' speaking and writing permits understanding their lexical choices for making their discourse coherent. This study examines written and spoken metadiscourse markers of Indonesian EFL students, highlighting potential similarity and or differences as well as their distinctive features. In doing so, we refer to Hyland's (1998, 2004) metadiscourse markers: the interactive and interactional taxonomy. This attempt is necessary given that writing or speaking is a social practice where speakers or writers' need to provide audiences with a "channel" to understand the message. Hyland's taxonomy of metadiscourse markers enables us to shed important light on "social engagement" among speakers, writers, and audiences in the respective context. In terms of research method, we employed a quantitative approach. The data were gathered from eight student presentations and seventy writing tasks in an Academic Writing class. The findings demonstrate that interactive markers are used more frequently than interactional devices in both spoken (1616) and written discourse (278). The interactional markers, on the other hand, are reported to happen only 855 times in spoken and 133 times in written discourses. It also echoes Indonesian EFL students' communicative strategic preference that tends to connect and highlight the arguments in lieu of displaying participants' involvement.

This article shares helpful, research-backed ways that parents can support minority languages in their children's lives. Many parents around the world face language struggles, including losing heritage languages to the community language or trying to support a foreign language to increase future opportunities. For example, parents in Mexico may want to encourage their children to speak Nahuatl with older family members, but the children prefer Spanish due to its widespread use and status in the community. This same family may encourage their children to study English in order to increase future employment and travel opportunities. However, asking children to become bi- or even trilingual can feel like a time-intensive, stressful, and expensive task. It doesn't have to be a negative experience, though! This article provides tips and strategies, both theoretical and practical, for encouraging minority language study and use in the household, touching on aspects of bilingualism such as literacy, inter-sibling language use, technology, and cost-cutting measures. Families from all over the globe and of any size can utilize this information to encourage bilingualism or multilingualism in their families.

La historia de la Facultad de Idiomas de la Universidad Veracruzana se remonta a 1952, cuando nace en la ciudad de Xalapa, capital del estado de Veracruz, México. Aunque en un inicio comienza como una simple escuela de enseñanza del idioma, su evolución pronto lleva a la integración de la escuela a la recién fundada Universidad Veracruzana. Desde ese momento, y hasta la actualidad, ha habido un sinfí­n de cambios, tanto internos como externos. Conocer esos cambios y contextualizarlos dentro de la historia de la institución y de los eventos en la disciplina se vuelve importante para conocer la forma en que diversas etapas institucionales han sucedido, y cómo estos cambios han impactado a la Facultad y la disciplina de enseñanza de idiomas. Debemos señalar que la Facultad de Idiomas de la Universidad Veracruzana fue pionera en la enseñanza de idiomas en México, lo que hace particularmente interesante el desarrollo de la disciplina de la enseñanza de idiomas en un contexto donde no existí­a la práctica ni escuelas o institutos donde se aprendiera sobre el tema. Dentro de la investigación doctoral que sustenta este trabajo nació la necesidad de elaborar esta cronologí­a, de forma que fuera posible observar los acontecimientos que dieron cabida a la integración de tecnologí­as en la Facultad de Idiomas y quiénes contribuyeron a esta integración. Así­, será posible observar en qué momento han llegado las polí­ticas sobre tecnologí­as, principalmente digitales y de TIC, de la institución y bajo qué condiciones. Este trabajo, por tanto, elabora dicha cronologí­a a partir de diversas fuentes escritas, y considerando las orales y anecdóticas, aunque tratando de ubicarlas en un plano documental. En este documento se buscó ser exhaustivo, pero las limitaciones de información hicieron esto difí­cil. No obstante, se logró un documento con información suficiente para contextualizar a las tecnologí­as digitales en la Facultad de Idiomas de la Universidad Veracruzana.

This investigation focused on the speaking-skills component of the syllabi of Technical English I and II (Regulation 2013) at Anna University in Chennai, India. It was meant to formulate strategies for effective schemes to develop the English-speaking skills of engineering students in the colleges affiliated to the University. The major research tools consisted of data collected from: (1) A questionnaire for the students' survey, and (2) Focus group interviews with students. The interpretation of the students' survey was sub-divided into: (1) The learners' background and their comprehension of spoken English, (2) The learners' participation in the speaking activities, (3) The learners' problems with the speaking activities, and (4) The learners' expectations of their teachers and teaching. The focus group interviews were conducted after analyzing the responses to the questions in the students' survey. The paper concludes with recommendations to enhance the speaking-skills component of the course.