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In 1997, Joseph Boyle critiqued the Hong Kong Government’s policy of recruiting native-speaking teachers (NSTs) of English into secondary schools. Boyle examined NSTs from a post-colonial and socio-linguistic stance. He concluded that the scheme was “largely ineffective” and that efforts to expand the scheme would likely fail due to the government’s implicit lack of trust in the capacities of non-native-speaking teachers’ (NNSTs) of English. However, almost two decades later the scheme has expanded across the primary and secondary sectors. The purpose of this paper is to explore how changing educational contexts and reform efforts have influenced conceptions of NSTs as articulated in Hong Kong policy.

The research is approached retrospectively through an interpretivist paradigm, analysing policy documents, implementation materials, evaluation reports, and interview transcripts. Over 41 scheme stakeholders participated in the interviews, inclusive of policy makers, government officials, academics, teacher educators, principals and teachers, who were active over different phases of the scheme.

The intended role and perceived competencies of the NSTs have been impacted by imported education reforms leading to new rationales for maintaining and expanding NST deployment. These shifts, however, lead to new tensions among idealised images of NSTs, their capacities, and the aims of policy makers and scheme implementers.

The value of this paper lies in its reconsideration of the role of NSTs in light of educational reform efforts influenced by global change. This perspective varies from conventional critiques that focus on NSTs’ and NNSTs’ differing capacities as English language teachers by considering the impact of historic developments on later policies, and the tendency of policy makers to legitimise reform by importing international innovations. Second, it demonstrates how idealised images of NSTs simultaneously justify policies and pose challenges to effective implementation.

The purpose of this study is to address the situation that although the theoretical benefits of using drama projects in the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) have been described in a number of studies, researchers have identified a lack of literature on their practical use, particularly in terms of different institutional settings, teaching styles, learning styles and proficiency levels. This paper therefore describes three case studies in universities in Korea, showing that the use of drama projects can be successfully used in different teaching situations and is an effective means of promoting meaningful language learning in students often demotivated by traditional methods and the test-driven classroom.

In these adult-learner EFL settings, a process approach to drama projects aimed to promote meaningful language acquisition and holistic learning in students of different proficiencies and majors. Drama projects were used as: syllabus supplementation by an individual teacher in a Korean-mediated English program (Case Study 1); core content on an English-mediated pre-service teacher training course (Case Study 2); and syllabus content on a Freshman English program taught by 25 native-speaking instructors (Case Study 3). Data were collected from pre/post-course questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and students’ evaluations. These were then triangulated to identify trends in participant perceptions.

Results indicated positive attitude change and promotion of cognition, positive affect and social skills in all three case studies, confirming earlier research findings and showing that the drama project is a viable and effective educational tool for the foreign language teacher, from individual syllabus supplementation to incorporation into a language program curriculum. Rather than resisting the innovation presented by drama projects, the adult learners involved welcomed the opportunities for creativity, autonomy, group work and performance.

The practical confirmation of the theoretical benefits of EFL drama projects across individual and institutional settings indicates the potential value of including them in university language programs and teacher-training EFL curricula, enabling and encouraging language teachers to promote holistic, meaningful language learning.

Significant effort has been made to support pre-service and novice teacher learning in the K-12 context. Less attention has been paid to promoting pre-service and novice second language teacher learning via collaboration with peers and more expert educators at the university level. In order to facilitate this type of teacher collaboration, a mentoring project was incorporated into the existing practicum of a Master of Arts in Teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) program at a US University. The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of the mentoring experiences of four ESL mentor-pre-service teacher pairs in the US University context.

For this research project, eight teachers – four mentor-pre-service teacher pairs – participated as pairs in mentoring sessions focussed on activities such as co-planning, co-teaching, and co-reflecting on teaching. Informed by a sociocultural perspective on teacher learning (Vygotsky, 1978), this study presents case studies of all four pairs in order to demonstrate the complex nature of mentoring. The data analysis focussed on the content of the teachers’ interactions and their perceptions of the mentoring experience.

The study traced the developmental trajectories of the participating teachers over one 15-week academic semester. The study uncovered some critical contradictions that the participants encountered during the mentoring experience, thus pointing to its complexity. The study also uncovered the varied nature of mentoring: whereas in one pair the mentor acted as a more expert other (Vygotsky, 1978), in another pair, the mentoring relationship was more reciprocal.

This study showed that pre-service teachers can develop further through mentoring. Such mentoring can help teachers gain confidence and share teaching strategies. At the same time, the study revealed certain challenges associated with introducing a mentoring project in a pre-service teacher practicum. It is recommended that program faculty as a whole read the rich dialogues produced by participating teachers engaged in relationships focussed on collaborative learning, thereby discovering a foundation for revisions that go beyond individual teaching practices to the programmatic level.

This study’s principal contribution to the field is that it showcases the complex nature of mentoring experiences and the ways in which they differ from each other.

The purpose of this paper is to review literature from the linguistics and language teaching fields on the listener's role in accent perception, and applies the findings towards recommendations for improving listening skills for library faculty and staff who interact with international patrons.

Detailed empirically‐based evidence on listening and accented speech can be gathered from the linguistics and language teaching fields, in which researchers have studied extensively the effects of foreign accent on listeners. This paper reviews literature on the role of listener attitude, experience and prior knowledge in the communication process, and outlines a training program for library staff based on evidence from the literature.

The listener's attitudes, experience, and knowledge affect his or her perception of accented speech. Comprehension of accented speech can be improved both through increasing awareness of issues related to accent, and through listening practice.

Library public service staff can improve their listening skills through training programs that include awareness raising, listening practice, and discussion of cross‐cultural communication issues.

This paper synthesizes research not usually found in the library literature, and makes specific recommendations for improving library service based on empirical research.

This study examined the attitudes of high school social studies teachers toward the inclusion of English language learners (ELLs) in their social studies classrooms. A mixed-model methodology was employed by surveying all 344 social studies teachers in the school district. Additionally, eight of these teachers were interviewed to ascertain their attitudes toward including ELLs in high school social studies classrooms. More than three-fourths of teachers surveyed indicated they would prefer that ELLs not be in their classroom until they have “learned” English. Furthermore, the main cause of the negative attitudes seemed to be rooted in the inability of the social studies teachers to effectively modify instruction. The possible results of these attitudes and the efficacy of current policies are discussed.

Inclusion, defined as nondiscriminatory education for all, involves embracing gifted students whose special needs should be considered in curriculum planning and in the teaching methods used. However, inclusion has often been connected with disability and special needs education. It has been claimed that inclusion neglects the needs of the gifted. This chapter identifies ethical challenges in inclusive education, with gifted students as a case example. Several critical misconceptions about gifted students and gifted education are identified as leading to ethical challenges for teachers. These misconceptions are discussed in the ethical framework of distributive justice in teaching, and recommendations are given for ways to support teachers in meeting the needs of gifted students in inclusive educational settings.

The cultures and languages of Africa and Asia have had an immense impact on the use of English language there. Awareness of this impact led to a recognition of new, indigenized varieties known collectively as world “Englishes”. They display a number of linguistic and pragmatic patterns different from native varieties, and these have been the subject of much scholarly activity over the last 30 years. This selected bibliography attempts to introduce the literature to librarians, other than English, linguistics, or education selectors. Interdisciplinary in nature, the study of world “Englishes” has implications for research in the history, culture, sociology, and politics of these regions. Selectors in these subjects and general reference librarians should therefore know more about world “Englishes” to provide more useful assistance to patrons.

Numerous attempts have been made to link a particular learning style to either a particular culture, gender, or even a generation. In a typically heterogeneous online class, it is impossible to address every participant's culture or the degree of assimilation to a particular culture. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to recommend strategies on how to address numerous learning styles in a culturally sensitive classroom environment.

Currently, a literature review of publications in English has been concluded. An upcoming case study at an online university might corroborate the findings.

There are many variations of an instructor's cultural background interacting with the diverse cultures of students in an online university situated in a particular local culture. Consequently, it is prudent to offer a variety of learning opportunities. The more learning styles are accommodated, the higher the chances that learning occurs. Compared with a traditional face‐to‐face classroom where choices between learning options have to be made due to time constraints, the online classroom offers the opportunity to provide a variety of learning opportunities.

The paper presents a variety of learning opportunities that can be considered in the development of online courses. The suggestions are not bound to a particular generation, culture, or gender but are just plain good online teaching that applies to a heterogeneous – just as much as to a homogeneous – student population.

Online learning is spreading in numbers as well as globally. This paper hopes to avoid “colonization” of online learning but to support cultural affirmation within the online learning environment.

The purpose of this project was to develop a web‐based self‐training package for information retrieval using the distance education approach.

The package was developed using the distance education approach with STOU Plan, STOU Plan 2000 and GMS‐VU applied. The distance education model for the web‐based self‐training package was composed of five stages: identifying the learners, design of the package, production of the package, establishing the delivery system, and evaluation. The system development methodology was based on the system development lifecycle (SDLC) with a combination of waterfall, phased and prototyping approaches. There are several phase in SDLC to carry out: problem and objective identification, requirement determination, requirement analysis, package design, package implementation, delivery system and evaluation. Evaluation of the package was conducted in two phases: formative evaluation and summative evaluation using the focus group discussion method. Formative evaluation was conducted during the package development by experts in the field prior to the summative evaluation. The summative evaluation was conducted after the package development had been completed as a pilot study for field trial by target users, consisting of junior library staff and library users. All comments were reviewed and refined in terms of instructional content, design, overall opinion and learning progress before put on production.

The package consists of three main components: About the project, Study modules, References and further readings. Study modules, which is the most important component, consists of ten instructional modules focusing on information retrieval, and self‐assessment through pre‐test and post‐test. The package includes multimedia such as images and sound to attract learners during their learning session. The delivery mode for the self‐training package offers both online and off‐line modes. Online mode is offered when there is network facility and internet connection available, while offline mode is offered through CD‐ROM without requiring network and internet connection. The features and functions of both modes are identical. Moreover, print materials are also included as supplementary media.

Since the module is a self‐directed learning or self‐training tool in information retrieval it can be employed for junior library staff and library users; it provides a training tool for librarians to train library users and supports human resource and development to narrow digital divides and support the right to access information.