This paper evaluates Voki, a digital platform for creating speaking avatars, in the context of Global Englishes Language Teaching (GELT). It firstly outlines the benefits of using animated characters in online tools to personalize language lessons and engage students. As a web-based application, Voki offers various customization options, including…

This article argues for the possibility and importance of infusing frame semantic insights into task-based lesson planning. "Frame semantics," a cognitive linguistic theory that takes a usage-based view of meaning, ties in with task-based language teaching (TBLT), which emphasizes second or foreign language learning through…

The multidisciplinary nature of English language courses prompts teachers and students to pursue meaningful tasks that delve on significant issues in society. One significant project that classes can develop are advocacy presentations that help stimulate awareness and engagement among different stakeholders. This practical paper presents three…

This paper reports on the development and piloting of Classmoto, an online application designed to measure learner engagement. The application enables teachers to collect real-time analytics of student social, affective, and cognitive engagement. The results are immediately visible to the teacher. We investigated and reported on the engagement…

In content and language integrated learning (CLIL) classrooms, it is assumed that non-language content subjects provide more authentic communicative contexts for students to learn a foreign/second/additional language (L2). However, learning abstract concepts and academic language in an L2 simultaneously is also challenging for CLIL students. It is…

The Canadian government implemented the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program to help immigrants integrate into Canada. However, research indicates that the LINC program fails to achieve its integrative goals. Using Fairclough's analytical concepts of genre, discourse and style, this article closely examines a unit of LINC…

Increased trade, commerce and business transactions at the international level are placing a substantial demand upon working professionals and college students who must learn English, the lingua franca of international business, in order to thrive in a competitive global workplace. Learning English as a second language (L2) can be a daunting task…

This study analyses the teaching scripts and structure of lesson practices of a Singaporean English teacher at two different levels of class through a comparative analysis. Specifically, it aims to clarify how his view of teaching as tacit knowledge determines the structure of the lessons. The emphasis here is on the examination of a Singaporean's…

CLIL focuses on the integration of content learning and additional language learning. However, it is increasingly recognized that the re/presentation and communication of discipline-specific content involve not only language, but also other semiotic modes (such as visuals and gestures). This is accelerated by the advancement of digital…

The term 'CLIL' has been used in Australia for over a decade, and the approach has helped to invigorate languages education in both primary and secondary schools. In particular, the flexibility of CLIL has led to a range of teachers accessing CLIL training: from teachers in structured programs where schools have committed to organisational change,…

In line with the other contributions to this issue on teaching pragmatics, this paper provides teachers of German with a two-day lesson plan for integrating authentic spoken language and its associated cultural background into their teaching. Specifically, the paper discusses how "jaja" and its phonetic variants are systematically used…

The need for multimodality in meaning-making and knowledge representation is critical in this contemporary time when teachers are faced with not only diversity in classrooms but also a great number of technological tools to choose from. Digital storytelling implies creating stories with multimodal tools including text, images, audio and videos. As…

This article argues that the most commonly used lesson plan pro formas in language teacher education are inappropriately premised on an outcomes-based approach to teaching, one that is in conflict with what we know about how languages are learnt and how experienced teachers teach. It proposes an alternative, affordance-based approach to lesson…

This article explores the teaching of English to speakers of other languages as an art, and as such, how teachers can engage in the creative process to develop their own teaching and encourage students to gain more meaningful and effective language skills. Drawing on the work of psychologists, art educators, and creative pedagogy, the writer…

The marketization of education in countries like the UK may be seen as part and parcel of the rise of neoliberalism as the dominant shaper of policy and practice in many societies from the late twentieth century onwards. This paper explores how marketization has impacted on two initial teacher preparation programmes and focuses on the Cambridge…