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As the demand for English language education grows in Asia, there has been a parallel growth in the development and implementation of standardized tests at the local level. Offering much-needed context on locally produced tests in Asia, contributors examine emerging models for English language assessment and the impact these large-scale tests have on the teaching and learning of English. Chapters address the following well-known and developing high-stakes tests in different regions across Asia: the GEPT, the TEPS, the VSTEP, the CET, the EIKEN and TEAP, and the ELPA. Brought together by world-renowned testing assessment scholar Cyril Weir and the Language Training and Testing Center (LTTC), ...
Due to the competitive edge it confers on students, educational institutions, and non-English speaking nations in a globalized economy, English as a medium of instruction (EMI) has been gaining popularity in tertiary education in non-native English-speaking (NNES) countries. Institute-wide EMI implementation has often been imposed by top-down decisions, in combination with the optimistic view that the horse should always be placed before the cart. However, emerging evidence suggests that the delivery of such programs to NNES students has led to new pedagogical challenges and learning problems that go beyond the scope of language learning and teaching and deserve immediate attention. For exam...
This unique book gathers articles from the numanistic perspective of multidisciplinarity and innovation, connected by three main theoretical interests or overarching themes: music, semiotics and translation. Offering an eclectic collection of innovative papers that address such topics as culture, musicology, art consumption, meaning, codes and national identities, to name a few, it has a broad appeal across the humanities and social sciences. The contributing authors draw on various schools and methodologies, including psychology, psychoanalysis, social semiotics, semiotic modelling, deconstruction and cultural analysis. By approaching established themes in new and challenging ways, this highly engaging book has the potential to advance the state of the art in various topics. It appeals to all scholars investigating cultural identity, linguistics and translation, music consumption, performance, semiotic theories and various intersections of these and related topics.
"Validating Second Language Reading Examinations describes the development of an empirical framework for test validation and comparison of reading tests at different proficiency levels through a critical evaluation of alignment with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). It focuses on contextual parameters, cognitive processing operations and test results and identifies parameters for the description of different levels of reading proficiency examinations. The volume explores procedures for linking tests to the CEFR and proposes both qualitative and quantitative methods that complement the procedures recommended in the Council of Europe's Relating Language Examinations to the Com...
Against the backdrop of uncritical promotions of English-medium instruction (EMI) in higher education globally, this edited volume maps out the political, ideological, and policy-related issues of EMI programs in multilingual and multicultural universities in Asia. In this volume, EMI researchers and practitioners involved in different Asian countries and regions have collaboratively unpacked the critical dimensions of EMI programs in higher education, with a goal to provide must-needed resources for researchers, graduate students, higher education leaders, and policymakers. This volume is the first of its kind in that it provides an exclusive and critical tapestry of EMI at multilingual uni...
The study of genre is scattered across research disciplines. This volume offers an integrative perspective starting from the assumption that genres are cognitive constructs, recognized, maintained and employed by members of a given discourse community. Its central questions are: What does genre knowledge consist of? How is it organized in cognition? How is it applied in discourse production and interpretation? How is it reflected in language use?
This volume explores the cross-linguistic diversity, and possibly inconsistency, of the span of linguistic means that signal reported speech and thought. The integration of broad linguistic (viewpoint in conversation and narrative) and cognitive (theory of mind and understanding the inner life and thought of others) strategies for handling mixed points of view will be considered.
Focusing on English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) in the Arab Gulf states, the authors consider both sociolinguistic and pedagogical perspectives, and explore practical implications. This edited volume features chapters covering how teachers are negotiating the linguistic challenges posed by EMI; issues of ownership, choice and agency; the scaffolding of academic literacies; how to support the development of content teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge in EMI settings as well as the benefits of a bilingual education. Chapter authors all have extensive local experience that they draw upon reflectively in their writing. Policy-makers, teachers and teacher educators wondering how they can best balance the need to develop competence in English in students of all ages on the Arabian Peninsula in a globalizing world, together with the concern to nurture Arabic language, culture and identity, will gain rich insights from this book. Postgraduates and researchers exploring issues surrounding EMI, both locally and internationally, will benefit from the arguments presented in this volume.
This book presents both theoretical research methods and practical uses of qualitative consumer and marketing research in Asia, as well as approaches to research with extended viewpoints and case studies on the specific research practices, identifying the distinctive characteristics and conditions of the Asian market. Starting with an introduction and a rationale for qualitative consumer and marketing research, which discuss interpretive research perspectives and key qualitative research traditions underlying the research, it then elaborates on research design, formulating research directions, research questions, research methods, research validity and reliability, as well as research ethics...