Developing Advanced English Language Competence

This volume presents a systematic approach to developing advanced English language competence at tertiary level. It includes the reflections of experienced language teachers and teacher-researchers in the English Language Competence programme at the University of Vienna and provides examples of good practice, amalgamating teaching expertise and research with aspects of curriculum design and programme management.

The book addresses a growing academic and professional interest in understanding advanced language learning and use. To date, research has tended to investigate advanced proficiency from a specific theoretical viewpoint, for example cognition, psycholinguistic processing strategies, or the assumption of a critical period or the age factor. In contrast, this work examines advanced proficiency from a curricular and instructional perspective by providing a profile of advanced-level language development in a specific institutional context. It brings together three areas of language education: curriculum design, pedagogical practice, and research. Within this triangle, advanced English language education is the focus or, conversely, advanced English language education provides the lens through which links between curriculum design, teaching, and research can be established.

Armin Berger is a senior lecturer and post-doctoral researcher in the Department of English and American Studies at the University of Vienna, Austria, where he acts as academic coordinator of the English Language Competence programme. His main research interests are language testing and assessment, speaking for academic purposes, washback effects on language teaching and learning, and language assessment literacy. He is the author of the book Validating Analytic Rating Scales: A Multi-Method Approach to Scaling Descriptors for Assessing Academic Speaking.

Helen Heaney works as a senior lecturer in the Department of English and American Studies at the University of Vienna, Austria. Her PhD was on developing a tertiary-level English reading comprehension test. She has taught ESP in diverse settings, from academic English to medical English and tourism. Helen's special interests are language testing and assessment, innovative approaches to languageteaching and learning, and reading comprehension.

Pia Resnik is Professor in ELT Research and Methodology at the University College of Teacher Education Vienna/Krems, Austria, and teaches courses in (educational) linguistics at the Department of English and American Studies at the University of Vienna, Austria. Her research interests include all aspects surrounding LX users of English, with a particular focus on emotions in multilingual contexts and the psychology of language learners. She is the author of the book Multilinguals’ Verbalisation and Perception of Emotions.

Angelika Rieder-Bünemann is a senior lecturer in the Department of English and American Studies at the University of Vienna, Austria. She received her PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Tübingen, Germany. Her research interests include second language vocabulary acquisition, technology-enhanced language learning, learner autonomy, and Content-and-Language Integrated Learning.

Galina Savukova earned her PhD in English from the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York and is now a senior lecturer in the Department of English and American Studies at the University of Vienna, Austria. She has taught general and specialized English-language courses at tertiary level in four countries. Her current research interests include teaching advanced writing and speaking in academic contexts, feedback and reflective learning, and foreign language teacher education.