In this issue's state-of-the-art article, Lucie moussu and Enric Llurda discuss research on non-native English-speaking teachers of English, highlighting throughout the need for more considered social recognition of the native-speaker/non-native-speaker identity. After discussing the current legitimacy of such labels in the light of research, they argue for a more reasoned approach both to the definition and function of non-native-speaker teachers, in particular in light of recent research on World Englishes. Particular attention is paid to the perception of the non-native and native-speaker teachers by students and to the attitudes and beliefs of both these students and hiring staff regarding such teachers' perceived differences, strengths, and weaknesses. In the final part of the paper the authors address past and present research methods used in studies and suggest areas, such as longitudinal and classroom-based studies, where future research might usefully add to the current state of knowledge. The article is accompanied by Amir Soheili-Mehr's review of four recent books.
In the January issue, we commented that a number of plenary speeches this year would focus on the National Standards for Foreign Language Education in the United States. In this issue, basing her arguments on Dell Hymes's portrayal of communicative competence and building on notions from sociocultural theory and the concept communities of practice, Sally Magnan questions the hierarchical ordering of the Standards, especially the primacy of Communication over Cultures and Communities. Richard kern's plenary focuses on the Connections Standard and argues for the importance of analysing texts (written, oral, visual and audio-visual) in language teaching. The goal is to give students the chance to position themselves in relation to distinct viewpoints and distinct cultures, and to make connections between language and other symbolic ways of making meaning between language and other disciplines, and between language and culture.
The Plenary Speeches section will also be covering a number of key speeches from the University of California at Berkeley Language Centre Lecture Series. Ecological approaches to language learning and teaching have aroused much recent interest in the field as both native and non-native speakers find themselves operating in increasingly multilingual and multicultural environments. Claire Kramsch considers what an ecological perspective on foreign language education might look like, based on complexity theory. She also discusses her recently-proposed notion of ‘symbolic competence’ and explores how symbolic competence might be developed through foreign language education in institutional contexts.
In the Replications Studies section, Scott Crossley and Danielle McNamara replicate a previous study by Crossley and colleagues (2007), offering a more comprehensive study of second-language reading texts than that provided in the original paper by investigating the differences between the linguistic structures of a larger and more specific corpus of intermediate-level reading texts.
In the Research in Progress section, Simon Borg and Sophie Ioannou Georgiou survey recent research publications of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL), and members of the European Centre for Modern Languages led by Susanna Slivensky publicise the activities of the Centre and highlight specific projects currently in progress.
