Language learning, teaching, and assessment
Classroom based research, language testing, and learner autonomy.
Research in this section covers Classroom-based research, Testing and assessment, and Autonomy. See also topics in Second language acquisition and bilingualism. and Vocabulary and corpora.
Classroom-based research
Classroom-based research addresses topics relevant to teaching, learning, and using an additional language (L2) in the classroom. It draws on a wide range of qualitative methods (e.g. action research, ethnography, case studies, narrative research, classroom observation) and quantitative methods (e.g. quasi-experimental and experimental methods). LALS staff undertake and supervise classroom-based research in a variety of classroom contexts in and beyond Aotearoa-New Zealand.
Active research projects in this area
- Extensive reading (ER) in language learning
- Integration of ER into the classroom
- ER and instructed SLA
- The affordances and constraints of online ER
- Using project-based learning to develop intercultural capabilities in a Vietnamese university EFL program
- The role of vocabulary in the teaching of listening in a EFL program at a Chinese university
- Projects focused on task-based language teaching (TBLT):
- Using TBLT to teach Japanese oral language skills in a beginner-level university program
- The role of the textbook in communicative and task-based teaching in a Vietnamese university EFL program
- Using TBLT to teach intercultural pragmatics and conversational communication in an EFL program at an Indonesian university
- Introducing TBLT to teachers in a remote rural secondary school in North-west China
- Projects focused on translanguaging and heritage language settings:
- The use of pedagogical translanguaging to support children's multilingual development in Māori puna reo and Samoan a'oga amata
- The use of interactional sociolinguistic discourse analysis to reach deeper understandings of how translanguaging practices function in puna reo and a'oga amata
- Understanding the influence of visual messages sent to students through the linguistic landscapes of learning settings (schoolscapes), especially in early childhood settings and primary schools in Aotearoa
- Heritage language education in mainstream and community-taught settings, currently focusing primarily on te reo Māori, Samoan, Tongan, Tokelauan, Ukrainian, and Sinhalese in Aotearoa
- Vietnam EFL teacher development through teacher research in Vietnam
- Analysis of classroom discourse
- Research on engagement features of teacher talk in vocational education (see Discourse analysis)
Researchers able to supervise in this area
Testing and assessment
The central concerns of language testing include the development, validation, and analysis of language tests. Language assessment, on the other hand, focuses more on the classroom use of language assessment for the purposes of learning and teaching.
Researchers able to supervise in this area
Learner autonomy
The School has a strong tradition in research in learner autonomy and learning strategies. The School also collaborates closely with the Language Learning Centre, which facilitates and supports independent language learning.
Active research projects in this area include
- How do language learners actively approach, manage, and control their own learning processes for the successful completion of learning tasks?
- How can learners develop as independent, social, and responsible individuals?
Researchers able to supervise in this area
English for Academic Purposes and English for Specific Purposes
Active research projects in this area include
- What are features of vocabulary and discourse in academic texts?
- What are features of vocabulary and discourse in trades education in English medium and bilingual contexts?
- How does specialised vocabulary grow over time?
- What are the features and demands of vocabulary in academic texts?
- What changes do we see in the discourse of print genres (e.g. news; product product information) when the genres move to a digital platform?
- What are the features of student discourse on online educational discussion forums such as Canvas and Blackboard?
- Metadiscourse features of student and professional writing
- Visual meaning in academic and professional writing