The Editor and Board of Language Teaching are pleased to announce that there were two tied winners of the 2011 Christopher Brumfit thesis award: Dr Cecilia Guanfang Zhao and Dr Catherine van Beuningen. Both theses were selected by an external panel of judges on the basis of their significance to the field of second language acquisition, second or foreign language learning and teaching, as well as their originality, creativity and quality of presentation.

After explaining why consideration of the use of technology in second language (L2) teaching in the primary and secondary sectors is necessary, this systematic review presents a keyword map of 117 studies of technology in L2 learning since 1990. It reveals that research effort in these educational sectors has increased in line with technological developments and there have been important differences between the primary and secondary sectors in the adoption of applications. There then follows an in-depth review of 47 post-2000 studies investigating the efficacy of technology in the teaching of L2 English. It asks what technology has been used and why, what evidence there is that technology facilitates language learning, and what other insights can be drawn from the research in this field. The evidence that technology has a direct beneficial impact on linguistic outcomes is slight and inconclusive, but it may impact indirectly and positively on learner attitudes and behaviours and may promote collaboration. On the whole, the research reviewed lacked the quality that would reassure practitioners and policy-makers that technological investment is warranted. We argue that future research needs to provide a tighter link between technological applications, Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theory, and learning outcomes.

This article reviews the literature on the relatively new field of materials development for language learning and teaching. It reports the origins and development of the field and then reviews the literature on the evaluation, adaptation, production and exploitation of learning materials. It also reviews the literature, first, on a number of controversial issues in the field, next, on electronic delivery of materials and, third, on research in materials development. It identifies gaps in the literature and makes proposals for future progress in materials development and in the research within the field. Much of the literature focuses on materials for learning English but the same principles apply to materials for learning any L2, as has been acknowledged by some of the authors whose publications focus on materials for learning other languages.

Until recently, the assumption of the language-teaching literature has been that new languages are best taught and learned monolingually, without the use of the students’ own language(s). In recent years, however, this monolingual assumption has been increasingly questioned, and a re-evaluation of teaching that relates the language being taught to the students’ own language has begun. This article surveys the developing English language literature on the role of students’ own language(s) in the language classroom. After clarifying key terms, the paper charts the continuing widespread use of students’ own languages in classrooms around the world and the contemporary academic and societal trends which have led to a revival of support for this. It then explores key arguments which underpin this revival, and reviews a range of empirical studies which examine the extent and functions of own-language use within language classrooms. Next, the article examines the support for own-language use that a range of theoretical frameworks provide, including psycholinguistic and cognitive approaches, general learning theory and sociocultural approaches. Having explored the notion of ‘optimal’ in-class own-language use, the article then reviews research into teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards own-language use. It concludes by examining how a bilingual approach to language teaching and learning might be implemented in practice.

According to generative linguistic theory, certain principles underlying language structure are innately given, accounting for how children are able to acquire their mother tongues (L1s) despite a mismatch between the linguistic input and the complex unconscious mental representation of language that children achieve. This innate structure is referred to as Universal Grammar (UG); it includes universal principles, as well as parameters which allow for constrained variation across languages.

This article analyzes research in second/foreign language teaching and learning conducted in Taiwan over the period 2004–2009. Representative articles published in local refereed journals and conference proceedings – not readily accessible outside Taiwan – are reviewed to reflect current trends in English teaching and learning. The main themes discussed include English-in-education policy and curriculum, research on English-skills development, and assessment.

The analysis presented here highlights the fact that research in Taiwan not only follows international trends but also satisfies specific needs in local sociolinguistic contexts. Additionally, this paper sheds light on why the international readership of this locally conducted research remains very limited, and concludes by outlining the challenges that researchers face and the gradually shifting status of English in Taiwan in this increasingly globalized world.

Aim To recognize doctoral thesis research that makes a significant and original contribution to the field of SLA and/or foreign/second language teaching and learning.

In this plenary address, I suggest that Complexity Theory has the potential to contribute a transdisciplinary theme to applied linguistics. Transdisciplinary themes supersede disciplines and spur new kinds of creative activity (Halliday 2001 [1990]). Investigating complex systems requires researchers to pay attention to system dynamics. Since applied linguists study language systems that change (for example, as they develop in learners, this is a useful perspective to bring to bear on many of our concerns. To introduce Complexity Theory, I list twelve principles undergirding this perspective and elaborate on three of them: those to do with dynamism, complexity, and the role of context. I then discuss several studies of L2 development that have been informed by the perspective. I conclude by suggesting that the ultimate promise of Complexity Theory is the help it provides in humanizing science.

Following the No Child Left Behind Act (2001), which mandates standards-based accountability for the academic progress of all students, much attention has been given to integrating language and content instruction for English learners (ELs) in K-12 classrooms in the US. Although TESOL and other state-approved language proficiency standards acknowledge that academic English requires progressive linguistic complexity to tackle progressively complex content, they give no indicators for this progression beyond some generalizations about increased sentential variety. An enlightening characterization of linguistic complexity comes from Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), specifying how grammatical choices actually construct meaning, making a strong case for explicit, proactive instruction, and calling for a systematic analysis of the language our English learners need to master. This paper describes an ongoing project to answer this call by charting a developmental continuum of complexity for school-age English learners. Its preliminary analysis is based on some 90 compositions, collected over the course of a year from more than 30 students in a New England middle school classroom.

This review highlights recent doctoral research in English language education and related areas completed between 2007 and 2010 in three countries in Southeast Asia: Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. Out of sixty dissertations initially chosen from major universities in these countries, five from the Philippines, four from Malaysia and three from Singapore were selected for review, the selection being based mainly on their quality of work and representation of key areas of intellectual work in the field in these countries. This review shows how the shared postcolonial identities of these countries and their unique sociohistorical locations help explain the coalescing and diverging agendas and trajectories in English language education doctoral research in the region. Much of the work affirms the dominant intellectual position of the West as the producer of knowledge, so there is a need to reposition the intellectual stance of research in English language education in the region within and emerging from its multilingual but unequally globalizing landscapes. Thus, there is an urgent need for more nuanced attention to socio-cultural factors that impact on English language education in the three countries under review, which, in turn, can help scholars produce new knowledge that can contribute to academic conversations in the field.

The concept of Business English has undergone some major shifts in the last few years because of a number of developments, such as advances in genre theory and the coming together of English for Business Purposes and Business Communication, inspired by the realization that there is a gap to be bridged between the academy and the globalized business world. Drawing on advances in the analysis of business discourses, especially in applied genre analysis, this state-of-the-art review revisits the frameworks currently used in English for Business Purposes and Business Communication (or, more generally, Professional Communication) to suggest an integration of the two approaches for the design of English for Business Communication (EBC) programmes. The study incorporates an extensive review of much of the relevant published work in all the three areas mentioned above to identify some of the main issues in EBC, and illustrates a gradual shift in the rationale for the design and implementation of EBC programmes.

Written corrective feedback, referred to hereafter as ‘written CF’ and also known as ‘grammar correction’ or ‘error correction’, has been a controversial topic in second language studies over the past fifteen years. Inspired by John Truscott's thought-provoking 1996 essay in Language Learning, many different researchers have undertaken new programs of investigation, while others have engaged in scholarly synthesis and argumentation around the topic.

This presentation builds on the concept of orientations to languages other than English in the US first suggested by Ruíz (1984). Using examples from recent ethnographic, sociolinguistic, and policy-related investigations undertaken principally in North America, the discussion explores possible connections between individual and group language identities. It demonstrates that orientations to languages are dynamic inside and outside speech communities, varying across time and according to multiple contextual factors, including the history and size of local bilingual groups along with the impact of contemporary economic and political conditions. Often the conceptions of multiple languages reflected in policy and pedagogy oversimplify the complexity documented by research and raise questions for teaching practice.

How are identities constructed in discourse? How are national and European identities tied to language and communication? And what role does power have – power in discourse, over discourse and of discourse? This paper seeks to identify and analyse processes of identity construction within Europe and at its boundaries, particularly the diversity of sources and forms of expression in several genres and contexts. It draws on media debates on Austrian versus Standard High German, on focus group discussions with migrants in eight European countries and on public and political debates on citizenship in the European Union which screen newly installed language tests. The analysis of different genres and publics all illustrate the complexity of national and transnational identity constructions in a globalised world. What is experienced as European or as outside of Europe is the result of multiple activities, some of them consciously planned in the sense of political, economic or cultural intervention, others more hidden, indirect, in the background. Such developments are contradictory rather than harmonious, proceeding in ‘loops’ and partial regressions (rather than in a linear, uni-directional or teleological way). Thus, an interdisciplinary approach suggests itself which accounts for diverse context-dependent discursive and social practices.

This paper reviews 25 doctoral dissertations on second language acquisition (SLA), English language learning and teaching submitted in Poland in the years 2006–2010. The theses were selected for review on the basis of the recommendations of Ph.D. supervisors from leading Polish universities and they are divided into six groups: learner autonomy, individual differences, language subsystems and skills, culture, assessment and miscellaneous. The dissertations are discussed with respect to their main findings as well as their strengths and weaknesses, and the paper concludes with an overall evaluation of the research in terms of its dominant themes and methodology.

Following on from my state-of-the-art article on Language Awareness and language learning (Svalberg 2007), in this paper I will discuss specific research tasks which are centrally concerned with different aspects of language awareness (LA): ‘explicit knowledge about language, and conscious perception and sensitivity in language learning, language teaching and language use’. The overall argument is that research is needed into how LA is constructed by language learners and teachers through engagement with language (Svalberg 2007; 2009). I will sometimes refer specifically to awareness of grammar (form-meaning) but hope the paper will stimulate ideas for research into other LA aspects of language learning and teaching. The absence of other issues and areas (such as LA and multilingualism, intercultural LA, critical LA, LA and language policy) is a function of the personal nature of the paper and the limitations of space.

In a recent state-of-the-art (SoA) article (Stoynoff 2009), I reviewed some of the trends in language assessment research and considered them in light of validation activities associated with four widely used international measures of L2 English ability. This Thinking Allowed article presents an opportunity to revisit the four broad areas of L2 assessment research (conceptualizations of the L2 construct, validation theory and practice, the application of technology to language assessment, and the consequences of assessment) discussed in the previous SoA and to propose tasks I believe will promote further advances in L2 assessment. Of course, the research tasks I suggest represent a personal stance and readers are encouraged to consider additional perspectives, including those expressed by Bachman (2000), Chalhoub-Deville & Deville (2005), McNamara & Roever (2006), Shaw & Weir (2007), and Stansfield (2008). Moreover, readers will find useful descriptions of current research approaches to investigating L2 assessments in Lumley & Brown (2005), Weir (2005a), Chapelle, Enright & Jamieson (2008), Lazaraton (2008), and Xi (2008).

Most academics' intuitions about statistics follow those of naive laypeople – that is, we often think that a sample should reflect the population characteristics more closely than it does, and expect less variability in samples than is truly found in them. These intuitions may prevent us from understanding why modern developments in statistics are needed. Another intuition most researchers hold is that it is better to be conservative when performing statistics, and this may involve adjusting p-values for multiple tests, using more conservative post hoc tests, or setting an alpha value lower than .05 when possible. However, the more we try to control against making an error in being overeager to find differences, the stronger the probability that we will make an error in not finding differences that actually exist. These two forces need to be counterbalanced, and this involves increasing the power of our tests. Robust statistics can increase the power of statistical tests to find real differences. I discuss the need for robust techniques to avoid reliance on classical assumptions about the data. Examples of robust analyses with t-tests, correlation, and one-way ANOVA are shown.

This paper develops the concept of meaningful literacy and offers a classroom methodology – poetry writing – that manifests this approach to ESL/EFL literacy instruction. The paper is divided into three sections. The first deals with the concept of meaningful literacy learning in second and foreign language pedagogy; the second summarizes empirical evidence that characterizes second language (L2) poetry writing; and the third describes the practical aspects of teaching poetry writing. This approach is presented as a way of humanizing the second and foreign language classroom by refocusing on the individual language learner as the center of the learning process.