Positive Outcomes

This volume is the result of five years of research conducted at the University of Fukui, Japan, and presents the development of a placement interview protocol for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The protocol, originally designed as an alternative to standardized language tests such as the TOEIC Listening and Reading Test, has been devised as a positive, stress-free experience for students and a gentle introduction to communication-based foreign language classes. Conceived through a world Englishes' perspective, the study offers an overview of the context in which the interview system was elaborated, a breakthrough of its components, and a guide to administer it. In addition, the volume comprises a corpus linguistics analysis of the Placement Interview Corpus (PIC), which is composed of a collection of interviews conducted in three different countries with the purpose of studying the flexibility and adaptability of the interview system in different cultural contexts and with different EFL student populations. Nicolangelo Becce earned his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature at the University of Naples "L'Orientale" and has worked as Assistant Professor of English language and American literature at the School of Global and Community Studies, University of Fukui (Japan). He currently teaches Second Language Acquisition (University of L'Aquila) and English as a Foreign Language (University of Naples Federico II). He is the author of Apparizioni spiritiche e fantasmi letterari. Il Modern Spiritualism e lo sviluppo della ghost story (La scuola di Pitagora, 2016) and has published on American literature and US TV series. His latest book project is a linguistic analysis of graphic novel adaptations of literary works and contemporary American TV series through corpora.