​This book presents a study on corpus-driven distribution as the main method of prediction, concentrating on individual semantic features to predict the senses of non-defined words by using corpora and tools, such as the Chinese Gigaword Corpus, HowNet, Chinese Wordnet, and XianDai HanYu CiDian (Xian Han). With the help of these corpora, the study determines the collocation clusters of four target words: chi1 “eat,” wan2 “play,” huan4 “change” and shao1 “burn” through character and concept similarities. The results of this sense prediction study demonstrate that it was able to use off-line tasks to test some participants’ intuition, which supports the theory that different clusters can represent different senses when pursuing a corpus-based, computational approach.

This book explores the responses of Chinese English teachers (CETs) and learners to the Native English-Speaking Teacher/Non-Native English-Speaking Teacher (NEST/NNEST) issue by examining the self-perceptions of Chinese English teachers, the perceptions of Chinese learners, and the real practices of the two groups of teachers in the classroom. It reveals how Chinese students’ and teachers’ perceptions are influenced by the combined forces of Chinese traditional culture and globalization, how Chinese English teachers’ classroom practices reflect their perceptions, and how Chinese English teachers struggle to (re)construct their professional identity as English teachers in the dominant ideology and disempowering discourse of native-speakerism. The findings also shed light on the impacts of globalization on Chinese English teachers’ professional identity and provide ways to empower them as English language teaching professionals. This book will appeal to a broad readership, including foreign-language teachers – especially NNESTs – around the world, graduate students majoring in sociolinguistics, and scholars of globalization.

This book investigates first language (L1) and second language (L2) use in Chinese university classrooms, focusing on the experiences of four Chinese EFL teachers who were teaching non-English major students at four different proficiency levels. It examines these four teachers' actual use of L1 and L2, including the distribution of their L1 and L2 use; the circumstances, functions and grammatical patterns of their language use; and their language use across different frames of classroom discourse. It also explores their attitudes and beliefs regarding this issue in depth, as well as their own perceptions of and reasons for their language use and possible influencing factors. Through its detailed analysis of the teachers' language use, as well as their respective beliefs and decision-making techniques, this book contributes to L2 teachers' professional development and L2 teaching in general, especially with regard to establishing a pedagogically principled approach to L1 and L2 use.

This book explores the state of open education in terms of self-directed learning on the African continent. Through a combination of conceptual, systematic literature review and empirical chapters, readers will get a research-based impression of these aspects in this area. Apart from presenting existing wider trends regarding open education, this book also reports on effective open practices in support of self-directed learning.

This book presents mixed-methods research into Chinese students' willingness to communicate (WTC) in an EFL classroom context. The interrelationships between WTC and motivation, communication confidence, learner beliefs and classroom environment are examined using structural equation modelling on data collected in a large-scale survey. These results are then complemented and expanded upon in a follow-up multiple case-study that identifies six themes which account for fluctuations of WTC over time and across situations. The qualitative and quantitative data provide the grounds for the proposition of an ecological model of WTC in the Chinese EFL university classroom, which reveals that WTC is socioculturally constructed as a function of the interaction of individual and environmental factors inside and beyond the classroom walls.

This book presents one possible pathway towards the advancement of translanguaging pedagogies: teacher–researcher partnerships. Although the existing literature alludes to the value of such partnerships, there is a lack of research that explicitly describes the complex processes of designing and implementing translanguaging pedagogies in primary and secondary school settings (K-12) across various international contexts. Through an expanded focus on teacher–researcher collaboration and the negotiation process, the book unpacks the opportunities and challenges of engaging in contextualized translanguaging designs with reference to broader ideological discourses and systemic structures. By promoting and highlighting teacher–researcher partnerships as one avenue for improvement and transparency, the chapters in this book demonstrate the potential of translanguaging pedagogies in classrooms and further resist the linguistic hierarchies that exist in educational institutions today.

The complexity of 21st century lifestyle makes collaborative research and learning essential for all of the population, both in well-resourced and socio-economically challenged regions. Cross-Disciplinary Approaches to Action Research and Action Learning is an advanced reference source including the latest scholarly research on the examination of the development of a community practice of research in order to improve problem solving in various fields. Featuring extensive coverage on a broad range of topics such as social justice, organizational development, and global economy, this publication is ideally designed for academics, researchers, scholars, and managers seeking current research on the promotion of collaborative research and learning.

Already the focus of much interest for 50 years, the study of foreign language learning anxiety (FLLA) still remains a popular research topic among scholars in Western countries. FLLA is believed to be an important cause of students’ “dumb English”. Considering the paucity of monographs on FLLA in China, this book represents an important step towards filling this gap. The author uses his PhD dissertation as a foundation for reviewing and discussing previous literature, as well as the current status of and major issues concerning FLLA worldwide. The book explores FLLA in China by using innovative triangulated research methodology, combining both quantitative and qualitative methods, namely surveys, focused interviews, and classroom observations. It also highlights the significance and implications of the research results and predicts the future of global FLLA research with a particular focus on China. Readers will discover the latest developments and issues concerning FLLA, causes of FLLA, and verified, effective strategies for alleviating such anxiety.