Silence is a key pedagogical issue in language education. Seen by some as a space for thinking and reflection during the learning process, for others silence represents a threat, inhibiting target language interaction which is so vital during second language acquisition. This book eschews stereotypes and generalisations about why so many learners from East Asia seem either reluctant or unable to speak in English by providing a state-of-the art account of current research into the complex and ambiguous issue of silence in language education. The innovative research included in this volume focuses on silence both as a barrier to successful learning and as a resource that may in some cases facilitate language acquisition. The book offers a fresh perspective on ways to facilitate classroom interaction while also embracing silence and it touches on key pedagogical concepts such as teacher cognition, the role of task features, classroom interactional approaches, pedagogical intervention and socialisation, willingness to communicate, as well as psychological and sociocultural factors. Each of the book’s chapters include self-reflection and discussion tasks, as well as annotated bibliographies for further reading.

Silence is a key pedagogical issue in language education. Seen by some as a space for thinking and reflection during the learning process, for others silence represents a threat, inhibiting target language interaction which is so vital during second language acquisition. This book eschews stereotypes and generalisations about why so many learners from East Asia seem either reluctant or unable to speak in English by providing a state-of-the art account of current research into the complex and ambiguous issue of silence in language education. The innovative research included in this volume focuses on silence both as a barrier to successful learning and as a resource that may in some cases facilitate language acquisition. The book offers a fresh perspective on ways to facilitate classroom interaction while also embracing silence and it touches on key pedagogical concepts such as teacher cognition, the role of task features, classroom interactional approaches, pedagogical intervention and socialisation, willingness to communicate, as well as psychological and sociocultural factors. Each of the book’s chapters include self-reflection and discussion tasks, as well as annotated bibliographies for further reading.

This book uncovers the challenges posed by globalization to Asian jurisdictions in English language teaching and teacher education.

This book focuses on the emotional complexity of language teaching and how the diverse emotions that teachers experience while teaching are shaped and function. The book is based on the premise that teaching is not just about the transmission of academic knowledge but also about inspiring students, building rapport with them, creating relationships based on empathy and trust, being patient and most importantly controlling one’s own emotions and being able to influence students’ emotions in a positive way. The book covers a range of emotion-related topics on both positive and negative emotions which are relevant to language teaching including emotional labour, burnout, emotion regulation, resilience, emotional intelligence and wellbeing among others. These topics are studied within a wide range of contexts such as teacher education programmes, tertiary education, CLIL and action research settings, and primary and secondary schools across different countries. The book will appeal to any student, researcher, teacher or policymaker who is interested in research on the psychological aspects of foreign language teaching.

How and why is silence used interculturally? Approaching the phenomenon of silence from multiple perspectives, this book shows how silence is used, perceived and at times misinterpreted in intercultural communication. Using a model of key aspects of silence in communication – linguistic, cognitive and sociopsychological – and fundamental levels of social organization – individual, situational and sociocultural - the book explores the intricate relationship between perceptions and performance of silence in interaction involving Japanese and Australian participants. Through a combination of macro- and micro- ethnographic analyses of university seminar interactions, the stereotypes of the 'silent East' is reconsidered, and the tension between local and sociocultural perspectives of intercultural communication is addressed. The book has relevance to researchers and students in intercultural pragmatics, discourse analysis and applied linguistics.

Why are second language learners in Japan's universities so silent? This book investigates the perplexing but intriguing phenomenon of classroom silence and draws on ideas from psychology, sociolinguistics and anthropology to offer a unique insight into the reasons why some learners are either unable or unwilling to speak in a foreign language.

This edited collection provides a state-of-the art overview of research on willingness to communicate (WTC) in a second and foreign language. In particular, it includes innovative studies seeking to demonstrate the ways in which WTC can be examined within the framework of complex dynamic systems, how the construct is related to self-assessment, reticence and extroversion, and what is signifies in the case of immigrants. Another group of papers is related to the role of technology in fostering WTC in different contexts. The volume also comprises papers that touch on methodological issues in the study of WTC such as experience case sampling, the network approach or the integration of the macro- and micro-perspective. The book will be of values to researchers interested in the study of WTC but will also provide inspiration for students, teachers and materials writers.

This book presents innovations in teaching and learning science, novel approaches to science curriculum, cultural and contextual factors in promoting science education and improving the standard and achievement of students in East Asian countries. The authors in this book discuss education reform and science curriculum changes and promotion of science and STEM education, parental roles and involvement in children's education, teacher preparation and professional development and research in science education in the context of international benchmarking tests to measure the knowledge of mathematics and science such as the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and achievement in science, mathematics and reading like Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Among the high achieving countries, the performance of the students in East Asian countries such as Singapore, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and China (Shanghai) are notable. This book investigates the reasons why students from East Asian countries consistently claim the top places in each and every cycle of those study. It brings together prominent science educators and researchers from East Asia to share their experience and findings, reflection and vision on emerging trends, pedagogical innovations and research-informed practices in science education in the region. It provides insights into effective educational strategies and development of science education to international readers.

This volume aims to familiarize readers with the varieties of world Englishes used across cultures and to create awareness of some of the linguistic and socially relevant contexts and functions that have given rise to them. It emphasizes that effective communication among users of different Englishes requires awareness of the varieties in use and their cultural, social, and ideational functions. Cultures, Contexts and World Englishes: demonstrates the rich results of integrating theory, methodology and application features critical and detailed discussion of the sociolinguistics of English in the globalized world gives equal emphasis to grammar and pragmatics of variation and to uses of Englishes in spoken and written modes in major English-using regions of the world. Each chapter includes suggestions for further reading and challenging discussion questions and appropriate research projects designed to enhance the usefulness of this volume in courses such as world Englishes, English in the Global Context, Sociolinguistics, Critical Applied Linguistics, Language Contact and Convergence, Ethnography of Communication, and Crosscultural Communication.

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.