Abstract Sulis et al. (Sulis, G., A. Mairitsch, S. Babic, S. Mercer, and P. Resnik. 2024. ‘ELT Teachers’ Agency for Wellbeing.’ ELT Journal 78(2):198–206.) make some interesting and valid points about teacher agency, burnout and attrition. But, while fully accepting the value of what they have to say, in this response to their article I would like to suggest that it is not enough, and I attempt to suggest positive courses of action to deal with this long-running and ongoing threat to teacher wellbeing.
Abstract These reflections on the Point and Counterpoint by Brown (this issue) and Vincent and Ajayi (this issue) draw together and comment on shared themes and continuing issues.
Abstract Internationally operating professionals communicate using English as a business lingua franca (BELF) with partners from various linguacultural backgrounds. A pedagogical challenge is addressing these complex transcultural interactions in a structured way that is not simplistic or stereotypical. To address this challenge, the concept of linguacultural levels and orientations is useful. In business, multiple levels of linguaculture interact: regional, organisational, work team, and individual. Simultaneously, three main linguacultural orientations operate: home, target, and universal. Employing a content analysis of five popular, globally distributed business English textbooks, this case study found that the textbooks emphasised regional and organisational levels of culture while deemphasising the team and individual levels. They contained a balance of orientations. Using textbooks as an example, the findings offer insights into how BE materials, including professionally written, authentic, learner-generated, or GenAI-created, can address culture in nuanced, structured, and balanced ways to prepare learners for transcultural workplace communication.
Abstract Despite increasing calls in academic literature for a more social justice-oriented approach to ELT, there remains some scepticism within our profession about how to implement it. This article problematises dominant practices in ELT today, identifying methodological, content-related, and ideological shortcomings that imply a need for significant change. Analysis of literature reveals that prescriptive models, common in many ELT contexts, do not adhere to some core principles of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), and are out of step with academic discourse. Prescriptive ELT also fails to meet the profession’s obligations to effectively develop critical literacy. A re-examination of the core principles of CLT and associated methodologies reveals that ‘strong’ versions of CLT, which value learner input, negotiation of content and the incorporation of learners’ lived experiences, can easily be applied within a social justice-oriented curriculum, thereby addressing both ideological and methodological deficits.
Abstract While task-based language teaching (TBLT) has been extensively researched in controlled experimental settings at tertiary level, few studies have explored its adaptation to exam-oriented contexts, especially in secondary school education. To address this gap, this qualitative study explores how eight secondary school EFL teachers adapted TBLT to the demands of a Chinese exam-oriented education system. Through interviews and classroom observations, we uncover these teachers’ strategic adaptations and practices such as aligning tasks with exam content, strategically reducing task interaction time, and integrating elements of traditional teaching methods. These localized approaches reflect a pragmatic response to exam pressures while striving to maintain a focus on students’ communicative ability. Significantly, this study moves beyond simply documenting adaptations and the factors behind them to propose a novel Localized TBLT Framework. This framework offers practical steps for implementing TBLT in exam-oriented contexts, providing valuable guidance for EFL educators in similar settings globally.
This study examines how locally produced elementary-level ELT textbooks from China, Egypt, Russia, and T & uuml;rkiye frame opportunities for learner participation and construct learner agency. Focusing on curricular architecture across three dimensions-multimodal and multilingual resources, localisation of contexts and content, and global citizenship and intercultural participation-we demonstrate how these textbooks structure what learners are invited to do, say, and become in classroom contexts. The findings indicate that while the materials frequently position learners as active and culturally situated participants, the forms of agency they construct are largely pedagogically managed and bounded. As a result, learner participation is often guided toward predetermined outcomes, limiting opportunities for open-ended meaning-making, critical engagement, and more expansive expressions of agency. We propose a teacher toolkit designed to support teachers in noticing opportunities for curricular modification and invite learner agency.
Abstract This article reports on a British Council—funded project that sought to develop teachers’ understandings of multilingual pedagogies in linguistically diverse primary schools in northern Vietnam. The project trained English teachers to lead teacher activity groups (TAGs) with colleagues from other subjects, based on the assumption that English teachers, due to their specialist knowledge of how languages are learned and taught, could act as agents of multilingualism in their schools. The study examined how TAGs supported teacher learning, collaboration, and the development of teacher leadership in multilingual pedagogy. Fifteen English teachers and thirty subject teachers participated across fifteen primary schools. Data included interviews, TAG meeting recordings, and reflective journals, analysed thematically. Findings indicate that TAGs fostered collaboration and increased awareness of multilingualism, although leadership development was uneven. The project identified some systemic factors as barriers to linguistic inclusion, such as policy–practice tensions.
Readers Respond is a forum for individuals to contribute their own reactions, perspectives, or experiences in relation to a specific article or articles published in a recent issue of ELT Journal. These views are not necessarily those of the Editor, the Editorial Panel, or the Publisher. This article responds to Takahashi, S. 2025. Pragmatics in Japanese EFL Education: Textbook and Teacher Insights, ELT Journal 80/1 (this volume).
In recent years, the spread of online content in the form of forums, YouTube videos, podcasts, and TikTok videos has made it easier than ever for learners to access English language content to supplement their classroom learning. A disturbing part of this new online landscape is a collection of disparate communities known collectively as the manosphere. Deeply misogynist in nature, these communities view feminism as responsible for the decline of society. This manifests as a constant stream of hate-filled rhetoric against women, and the promotion of toxic masculinity. In this Comment piece, I issue a warning to language teachers of the danger that pernicious manosphere content as a site of language learning poses to language learners around the world. I also offer practical suggestions as to how teachers can use critical language pedagogy to evaluate this content in a nuanced and responsible way and help their students to construct counternarratives.
This qualitative multiple case study investigates how microteaching supports the development of embodied pedagogical competence and teacher identity among English majors outside formal teacher education programmes in Korea. Although participants entered the course with theoretical knowledge, the first microteaching cycle revealed difficulties in task launch, interactional control, and classroom presence. Utilizing video-supported reflection and peer feedback, participants redesigned lessons in a second cycle. Findings show three shifts: participants moved from procedural replication to context-responsive adaptation; embodied strategies such as gesture and stance became more intentional; and identity evolved as learners negotiated new teacher roles. The study suggests that iterative microteaching can bridge the gap between knowing about teaching and enacting it, providing a compact practicum for English majors without school placements. Implications for designing reflective microteaching in ELT are discussed.
In many English language teaching classrooms, learners approach reading texts primarily as sources of answers rather than as opportunities to construct meaning. This comment piece describes this pattern as procedural reading: a form of engagement shaped by repeated exposure to comprehension tasks that reward efficient answer location. While such strategies are adaptive in assessment-oriented contexts, they may narrow learners' conception of reading and limit opportunities for deeper comprehension. Drawing on classroom observations, I explores how common task formats can influence reading behaviour and reader orientation. I then outline practical ways for teachers to rebalance task design to support both exam performance and meaningful engagement with texts. The aim is not to reject efficiency, but to restore balance between answer-focused and meaning-focused reading.
This article explores the practices of an expert online English teacher in the politically difficult context of post-coup Myanmar. While much existing research focuses on the limitations of teaching in such settings, this study documents successful, locally adapted practice. Findings show that the teacher did not rely on advanced technologies but used low-bandwidth tools and flexible strategies to manage regular power cuts and poor internet access. Her teaching was shaped by a strong sense of care for her students, with relationship-building and emotional support seen as essential to learning. At the heart of her approach was a deep understanding of the political and social context, which informed every aspect of her technological and pedagogical decisions. These findings offer practical implications for teacher education in crisis-affected settings, arguing for a shift towards the development of strategic, context-sensitive problem-solving skills.
