One measure of the impact of a high-stakes test is the attitudes that test takers hold towards it. It has been suggested that positive attitudes produce beneficial effects while real or anticipated negative experiences can result in the development of attitudes that erode confidence and potentially impact negatively on performance. This study investigated test taker attitudes by exploring the opinions, beliefs, and feelings of a group of overseas trained teachers preparing for a professional gate-keeping test, and examining correlations between attitudes and demographic and experiential factors. The participants were 105 candidates who were enrolled in a preparation course for the Professional English Assessment for Teachers. They were asked to complete a written survey questionnaire with three parts: to determine the nature of their attitude towards the test, to explore the relationship of attitudes and demographic data, and to investigate their perceptions of the sources of their attitudes. Results indicated that there was a slight predominance of negative attitudes, particularly among candidates who had unsuccessfully attempted the test. The main reported sources which correlated with a negative attitude were personal experiences and feelings as well as the impact of other people: notably teachers and other candidates.

This study investigates Vietnamese EFL teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding oral corrective feedback, exploring and seeking to explain some of the relationships between beliefs and classroom practices. Data were collected in primary schools in Vietnam, and consist of 24 classroom observations and interviews with six teachers. Overall, the teachers showed high levels of awareness of the benefits of oral corrective feedback. They nominated pronunciation errors as the most important target for correction in the primary context. In practice, although pronunciation and grammar accounted for the majority of the total errors, leading to the majority of total feedback moves, the frequency of feedback per error was much higher for vocabulary errors. Prompts were reported by teachers to be more effective and more favourable than reformulations, but this preference was not reflected in the classroom observations, in which a large number of didactic recasts were used. The observed discrepancies are interpreted in relation to contextual factors and the influence of different sets of beliefs on practices. It was also noted that the linguistic realizations of these teachers’ feedback moves contained some inaccuracies. Implications for educational practice are discussed.

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It has been estimated that over 40% of people of Greek origin reside outside their home country, maintaining their language and cultural identity in different ways and to different degrees (Tamis 2005). As the proportion of Greek-born migrants in diaspora communities diminishes, their second-, third-, and fourth-generation descendants have been found to develop hybrid identities in which different attributes and values define their “Greekness.” Visits to the homeland and the nature of homeland experiences provide avenues for revaluation of identity, and real-world encounters involving the Greek language can play a significant role in how diaspora and transnational Greeks experience insider or outsider status, exerting an influence on the way they come to see themselves. This article reports on the experiences of Australian-born members of the diaspora, ranging in age from late teens to late forties. Conversational interviews were used to elicit stories of experience, which were then analyzed in terms of a multifaceted identity framework including reflexive, projected, recognized, and imagined identities. The findings reveal a complex interaction between the different facets of identity and shed light on how some individuals can represent experience in ways that reflect an overall positive picture of resilience and cultural clarity.

Abstract This study investigates English as Second Language teachers’ perceptions and the impact of the Professional Up-skilling of English Language Teachers programme, which was designed and conducted by the British Council Malaysia. A review of previous studies revealed a paucity of research focusing on large-scale, standardised teacher professional development programmes that involved English language teachers from both heterogeneous teaching levels (i.e. primary and secondary schools) and heterogeneous districts (i.e. urban and rural). The limited published studies available have been critical of this mode of professional development for a number of reasons, and the purpose of this study was to investigate these issues in the Malaysian context. A mixed methods explanatory sequential design was adopted, which utilised a questionnaire survey, interviews and focus group with the teachers and District English Language Officers. However, this article will focus on the qualitative findings. The findings reveal four major limitations of the programme: in the coursebook materials; negative emotional impact on the teachers, which compromised the potential benefits of the programme; selection of participants; and the amount of follow-up support. The findings have implication on programme designers and providers in designing future teacher professional development programmes. Keywords: Teacher professional development, English language teachers, standardised program, developing country, Malaysia.