AL Forum, October 2024
Letter From the Editors
Andy Jiahao Liu, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
Raj Khatri, George Brown College, Toronto, ON, Canada
Letter from the Chair-Elect
Miriam Moore, University of North Georgia, Gainesville, Georgia, USA
The Potential Methodological Innovation of Qualitative Comparative Analysis in Applied Linguistics And TESOL
Yu Tang, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Andy Curtis, City University of Macau, Macau SAR, China
This article is for TESOL professionals who are considering carrying out research, and those who are carrying out research now, based on the premise that theory and practice should feed into and come out of each other in mutually beneficial ways—and research is one key way of connecting the two.
Sociocultural Theory, Posthumanism, and Their Intersection in Language Teaching
Anna Bartosik, George Brown College, Toronto, Canada
How does a trained language teacher who has been exposed to sociocultural theory—a leading theory in language learning and teaching—give in to a seemingly unconnected theory? Anna Bartosik shares how her research in language teacher professional development has encouraged her to explore language teaching through the lens of a posthuman framework.
The Hydra Confronted: Addressing Unequal Englishes in English Language Classrooms
John Paul Obillos Dela Rosa, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois, USA
With the global status of English today as the world’s most widely spoken language, there is a compelling need to address the issue of viewing the different varieties of English unequally. This article uncovers the notion of “unequal Englishes” and the ways by which we could help promote linguistic diversity and linguistic justice in our respective English classrooms.
Interlocutor’s Impact on Chinese EFL Learners’ Communication Strategy Application
Bingjun Zhang, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
Second language learners often use communication strategies (CSs) to address linguistic challenges. My research examines how Chinese English learners adopt CSs in interactions with different interlocutors. Through classroom observations and questionnaires, I aim to uncover CS frequency and preferences, explore differences in strategy use, and propose pedagogical implications for enhancing communication skills.
On Monteiro’s (2024) Review of “Local Language Testing: Design, Implementation, and Development”
Slobodanka Dimova, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Xun Yan, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
April Ginther, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
This invited response is part of the author-reviewer conversation initiative at TESOL Applied Linguistics Forum. In this dialogue piece, Dimova, Yan, and Ginther, the book authors of Local Language Testing: Design, Implementation, and Development (Routledge, 2020), respond to Monteiro’s book review published in the Winter/Spring Issue (2024) of AL Forum.
Book Review of “Innovation in Learning-Oriented Language Assessment”
Fang Wang, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
Have you ever felt the pressure and intensity that you or your students bear in a landscape dominated by standardized testing? Have you explored how daily assessments may empower teachers to pinpoint potential issues and tailor their instruction to effectively meet student needs? Whether you are a teacher or a researcher, if you answered ‘yes’ to the question(s), this book will serve as an invaluable resource, offering profound insights into how daily assessments can significantly enhance student learning.
A Book Review Of “Internationalizing Learning in Higher Education: The Challenges of English as A Medium of Instruction”
Jiayan Zhang, Independent Researcher, Shenzhen, China
English as a medium of instruction (EMI) arose as an emergent need with the internationalization trends in higher education; internalized higher education is worth more studies and reflections on different perspectives of EMI instruction. This book review not only provides a concise summary of key issues related to EMI, but also shares personal thoughts based on the author’s experience as a language professor in an EMI law program.