Alcón Soler, Eva (Universitat Jaume I, Spain; alcon@ang.uji.es), Does instruction work for learning pragmatics in the EFL context? System (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) 33.3 (2005), 417-435. This paper is based on a study which attempted to examine the efficacy of instruction at the pragmatic level. Specifically, the main purpose of the study was to investigate to what extent two instructional paradigmsexplicit versus implicit instruction -affected learners' knowledge and ability to use request

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... rategies. One hundred and thirty-two students were randomly assigned to three groups (explicit, implicit and control). The three groups were exposed to excerpts including requests taken from different episodes of the TV series Stargate. However, while the 'explicit' group received instruction by means of direct awarenessraising tasks and written metapragmatic feedback on the use of appropriate requests, the 'implicit' group was provided with typographical enhancement of request strategies and a set of implicit awareness-raising tasks. Results of the study illustrate that learners' awareness of requests benefits from both explicit and implicit instruction. However, in line with previous research, the study illustrates that, although an improvement in learners' appropriate use of requests did take place after the instructional period, the 'explicit' group showed an advantage over the 'implicit' one. The empirical study also provides insight into interlanguage pragmatic pedagogy and presents suggestions for future research. 05-373 Butler, Yuko Goto (U of Pennsylvania, USA), Comparative perspectives towards communicative activities among elementary school teachers in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. Language Teaching Research (London, UK) 9.4 (2005), 423-446. 05-375 Ebunlola Adamo, Grace (Delta State U, Nigeria), Globalization, terrorism, and the English language in Nigeria. English Today (Cambridge, UK) 21.4 (2005), 21-26. This paper examines the concept of globalisation in relation to terrorism, and argues that the 'imposition' of the English language on the world, Africa, and in particular Nigeria (through the media, information technology, and other means of propaganda, and under the guise of globalisation) is a form of linguistic terrorism. It consequently views globalisation as another name for imperialism and domination by the West, and argues that the continued use of English in all spheres of life will make the Nigerian state stagnant, if not indeed Lang. Teach. 38, 189-242. Printed in the United Kingdom