2016 -2017 awards
The competition in 2016-17 was remarkable, with research into ELT themes such as the role of initial teacher training courses, speaking tests, codeswitching and L2 instructional strategies. Dissertations covered a wide range of contexts including Brazil, Korea and Canada.
The Judging Process
The judging process for the awards is a collaborative and thorough process. Each participating university submits one dissertation which the university judges to have the best potential for impact on ELT policy and practice. The dissertation must already have been marked at distinction level. The dissertations went through three rounds of evaluation. In the first round the dissertations were assessed by a British Council panel who ranked the dissertations according to the potential of the research to change the attitudes, practices or policies of individuals or institutions. The best dissertations were then evaluated by academics from the participating institutions.
The dissertations are available to download below.
Winning dissertation
Jason Anderson | King's college London
A qualitative study into the role of initial teacher training courses in the professional development of experienced non-native speaker teachers of English.
This study aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the role of initial teacher training courses (ITCs) such as the Cambridge CELTA and the Trinity CertTESOL in the professional development and careers of experienced non-native speaker English teachers (NNESTs).
Special commendations
- Yeonwoo Jung | University College London: The effects of SCMC modality and task type on negotiation of meaning
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Inspired by interactionist perspectives, this study investigates whether the patterns of negotiation of meaning among non-native speakers of English are affected by synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) modality, task type and the interaction between the modality and task type.
- Larissa Goulart da Silva | University of Warwick - Academic vocabulary: a corpus linguistic study on how Brazilian students write academic English
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According to Vongpumivitch, Huang, and Chang (2008) and Shawn (1991) the use of academic vocabulary is one of the main difficulties encountered by English as a foreign language students when reading and writing academic English. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the use of academic vocabulary in a corpus of Brazilian students in order to propose pedagogical implications for the teaching of EAP in Brazil.
- Rupert Williams | University of Stirling - Speaking test development in English for Academic Purposes: A pilot study
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Global proficiency exams such as IELTS and TOEFL are ubiquitous within English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and are useful yardsticks for assigning grades and determining course entry criteria. However, several commentators (e.g. Alexander et al. 2008, Schmitt & Hamp-Lyons 2015) suggest that while such summative tests are useful, they often do not adequately prepare students for university study. As a result, there is a need for formative tests that may be used with pre-sessional or in-sessional students.
Finalists
The dissertations are available to download below.
- Camila Fuentes Díaz, Bath Spa University: The Impact of Pleasure Reading in English as a Second Language on Colombians who have a Postgraduate Level of Education
- Yui Suzukida, Birkbeck, University of London: Examining the Segmental and Suprasegmental Correlates of the IELTS Pronunciation Scale
- Louise Bailey, Kingston University: Aiming as high as they can: Teachers’ reflective accounts of approaches to teaching vocabulary and reading to EAL pupils
- Gary Rogers, Lancaster University: The effect of teacher versus peer corrective feedback on spoken English comprehensibility of Vietnamese military officers
- Giacomo Discoli, Leeds Beckett University: Language Proficiency for English Teachers – An English language proficiency and methodology course for teachers who speak English as a Second or Foreign Language
- Georgina Lloyd, Sheffield Hallam University: The influence of linguistic and cultural factors on performance in the role-play assessment taken by International Foundation for Medicine students
- Yan Shi, University of Bath: Listening Anxiety in English Learning Among International Students in A Secondary School in the UK
- Jon Nilsen, University of Birmingham: Investigating the effect of codeswitching and L2 exclusive instructional strategies on learning and retention of L2 vocabulary
- Petra Osborne, University of Brighton: EIL and the adult ESL context in the UK: an investigation into immigrant’s beliefs about the aspects of culture learning that are important for social integration in the UK
- Silke Zschomler, University of Cambridge: A critical hermeneutic phenomenology of adult migrant language learners’ experience of social class in London: struggles for value and values and the potential transformative impact of the language classroom
- Alexandra Warden, University of Chichester in partnership with NILE: Investigating the use of a Flipped Approach to Grammar Input in an English as a Foreign Language Classroom
- Richard Wilson, University of Edinburgh: Teacher Conceptualisations and Implementations of Criticality in a UK University Language Teacher Education Setting: A Qualitative Investigation
- Anamaria Kinga Maior, University of Glasgow: An exploration of the Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game World of Warcraft as a tool for facilitating incidental vocabulary acquisition
- Caroline Norman, University of Leeds: Unlocking Learners’ Experience to Develop Speaking Skills in a Female ESOL Entry One Class
- Svetlana Lupasco, University of Manchester: Professional Learning and Networking Stories of Canadian TESL Practitioners Engaged in #LINCchat
- Guliz Buyukkeles, University of Reading: The washback effect of a high-stakes exit test on students’ motivation in a Turkish pre-university EFL preparatory school
- Daniel Alejandro Guerra Zermeño, University of St Mark and St John Plymouth: A case study of negative affective factors among EFL students performing below expectations in the city of Monterrey, Mexico
- Matthew Leahy, University of Sunderland: An Investigation into What Motivates Korean Students to Learn English and the Effects of L2 Learning Experience on Motivation
- Philippa Clare Way, University of Surrey: LGBT Inclusive Materials in ELT: An investigation into teacher and learner response towards non-heteronormative materials within a UK-based context