This is a book written for language teachers, prospective teachers, students in the language teaching departments and researchers working in this field. This book includes the issues related to language teaching, how to do it effectively and how to focus on different language skills such as listening, speaking, reading and writing in the language classroom. It is believed that this book will facilitate the process of teaching English as a foreign and/or language in different language teaching contexts all around the world. It consists of thirteen chapters which are concerned with important issues to be taken into account while teaching a second and/or foreign language.

This work identifies developmental stages in the acquisition of object pronouns by instructed second language learners of Spanish. It examines learners ranging from beginner to advanced, where the most advanced are themselves teachers of Spanish language courses. Study abroad experience is also a variable in the data. The book explores language production from a functionalist perspective, examining form-to-function and function-to-form mappings. It provides insights into related developments in production, placement and processing of object pronouns. Detailed analysis reveals that the most powerful predictor of performance across levels and within levels for each of these is the level of the learner.Formal instruction and the study abroad experience is examined, both the specific instruction on object pronouns and overall exposure to instruction.

"Teaching Materials and the Roles of EFL/ESL Teachers" is published amidst a decade long increase in academic publications and training courses concerned with the evaluation and design of English language teaching materials. It is timely to consider what effect the advice on offer has had on teachers' practice. Are teachers evaluating materials carefully, using textbooks in the ways expected by textbook writers, developing their own materials, and mediating between materials and learners in the ways advised in the professional literature? The book explores these issues from a variety of perspectives. The views of publishers/textbook writers, those contributing to the professional literature, and teacher educators are synthesised to establish a 'theory' of how teachers can best fulfil their roles vis-a-vis materials and learners. This is then compared with 'practice', as represented by published accounts of teachers' actual practices and learners' perspectives. The conclusion reached is that teacher education in materials evaluation and design is essential and suggestions are offered as to the form this might take. The book is intended particularly for MA students and teacher educators concerned with materials evaluation and design, but is of interest to all those concerned with the publication and use of English language teaching materials.

Investigating English provides a framework for the study of English language. It is aimed at South African tertiary students, and encompasses a year’s course.

Basing the book upon the premise that language is a complex system of signs for human communication, both aural and written, Glenda Heinemann explores the nature of language, considering such issues as the inseparable link between form and meaning, the relationship between language and thought, and how words determine the way we conceptualise the world ans relate to other people.”

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has now become a feature of education in Europe from primary school to university level. CLIL programmes are intended to integrate language and content learning in a process of mutual enrichment. Yet there is little consensus as to how this is to be achieved, or how the outcomes of such programmes should be measured. It is evident that a further type of integration is required: that of bringing the practice of CLIL into closer contact with the theory. In this, it is necessary to establish the role played by other fundamental aspects of the learning process, including learner and teacher perspectives, learning strategies, task design and general pedagogical approaches. The first part of this book provides a variety of theoretical approaches to the question of what integration means in CLIL, addressing key skills and competences that are taught and learned in CLIL classrooms, and exploring the role of content and language teachers in achieving an integrated syllabus. The second part takes specific cases and experimental studies conducted at different educational levels and analyses them in the light of theoretical considerations.

Brave New Digital Classroom examines the most effective ways to utilize technology in language learning. The author deftly interweaves the latest results of pedagogical research with descriptions of the most successful computer-assisted language learning (CALL) projects to show how to implement technology in the foreign language curriculum to assist the second language acquisition process. This fully updated second edition includes new chapters on the latest electronic resources, including gaming and social media, and discusses the realities and potential of distance learning for second language acquisition. The author examines the web, CALL applications, and computer-mediated communication (CMC), and suggests how the new technologically assisted curriculum will work for the foreign-language curriculum. Rather than advocating new technologies as a replacement for activities that can be done equally well with traditional processes, the author envisions a radical change as teachers rethink their strategies and develop their competence in the effective use of technology in language teaching and learning. Directed at all language teachers, from the elementary school to postsecondary levels, the book is ideal for graduate-level courses on second language pedagogy. It also serves as an invaluable reference for experienced researchers, CALL developers, department chairs, and administrators.

Processing Instruction is an approach to grammar instruction for second language learning, contrasting with traditional grammar instruction in its focus on structured input rather than learners' output. This book compares student assessment after traditional grammar instruction and after Processing Instruction to assess the positive benefits of this method of second language teaching. Rather than examining sentence-level tasks, the study looks at the relative effectiveness of Processing Instruction on discourse-level linguistic ability. Case studies using empirical data from second language learners of Japanese, Italian and English are used to highlight the benefits to the learner of this method of enhanced input. This monograph will be of interest to postgraduates and academics researching second language acquisition and applied linguistics.

This edited collection considers the relationship between task-based language teaching (TBLT) and technology-enhanced learning. TBLT is concerned with a number of macro-tasks such as information gathering and problem-solving as well as evaluative tasks, all of which are increasingly available via online and Web-based technologies. Technology Enhanced Learning refers to a broad conception of technology use in the language classroom and incorporates a range of interactive learning technologies such as Interactive Whiteboards and mobile learning devices.The popularity of Web 2.0 technologies (blogs, wikis, social networking sites, podcasting, virtual worlds), as well as practical applications of mobile learning, place a fresh emphasis on creating project-orientated language learning tasks with a clear real-world significance for learners of foreign languages. This book examines the widespread interest in these new technology-enhanced learning environments and looks at how they are being used to promote task-based learning. This book will appeal to practioners and researchers in applied linguistics, second language acquisition and education studies.

Although there is an extensive literature on the teaching of English as a Second or Other Language, there is very little published research on the teaching or learning of Chinese in similar contexts. This book is the first to bring together research into the teaching and learning of Chinese as a foreign language to non-native speakers, as a second language to minority groups and as a heritage/community language in the diaspora.The volume showcases the contribution of researchers working in such areas as language teaching and learning, policy development, language assessment, language development, bilingualism, all within the context of Chinese as a Second or Other Language.This is an exciting extension of teaching research beyond the traditional TESOL field and with be of interest to researchers and practioners working in applied linguistics and Chinese language education worldwide.

Written by internationally renowned academics, this volume provides a snapshot of the field of applied linguistics, and illustrates how linguistics is informing and engaging with neighbouring disciplines. Chapters in this second volume present an overview of new (and interdisciplinary) applications of linguistics to such diverse fields as economics, law, religion, tourism, media studies and health care. Both volumes represent the best of current practice in applied linguistics, and will be invaluable to students and researchers looking for an overview of the field.

"Between Two Grammars builds on earlier works in the field of language learning and teaching and brings new ideas about language teaching in a Creole-speaking environment. Using Jamaica as the example, the history of education is examined with a view to explaining some of the current attitudes to schooling and the objections to accepting Jamaican Creole (Patois/Patwa) as a necessary part of the consciousness of the classroom teacher. Constructed with an understanding of the unique requirements for language teaching in the Caribbean, whilst integrating theory and practice, Dr Byan s recommendations in Between Two Grammars are the result of years of research within the fields of sociolinguistics, language education, Caribbean history and teacher education. Educators, whether in training or in practice; and Education policymakers will find Between Two Grammars not only an enriching presentation of the nature of language debates in the Caribbean but also an empowering tool for improved language teaching practice. "

This book proposes the study of literary texts as a vital component of L2 linguistic and cultural knowledge. The research, conducted with students of Italian in Australia, is situated in the wider L2 context, and compared to studies on students' perceptions of English and French literary texts in countries such as Canada, Italy, Australia, Germany and the Ukraine. The first part of the book takes the debate on the inclusion of literature in language education as a springboard for posing crucial questions about how students, and educators, view literature. The theoretical framework draws from educational, linguistic, philosophical and literary theories, and focuses on the role of awareness in learning and the role of the learner's experience. The second part of the book evaluates an innovative approach to teaching and learning L2 literature, and discusses the application of this to the language classroom. Containing a balance of theoretical and practical concerns, this book will be invaluable reading for researchers of applied linguistics and second language acquisition.>

Bringing together multiple sources of data and combining existing theories across language teacher cognition, teacher education, second language motivation and psychology, this empirically-grounded analysis of teacher development in action offers new insights into the complex and dynamic nature of language teachers' conceptual change.

Materials Development in Language Teaching aims to help readers apply current theoretical principles and research findings to the practical realities of developing and exploiting classroom materials. The authors also suggest new ideas and directions in materials development, which readers can pursue for themselves. This book is accessible to readers with little previous experience in the field, and is essential reading for all those involved in developing materials for language teaching. In the second edition of this highly popular title, each chapter has been comprehensively revised and updated to take into account both recent research and the significant technological developments since the first edition was published in 1998. Two new chapters have been added to assess the potential of electronic media for materials development. These chapters include an overview of the technologies available, as well as individual case studies and activities.

Japanese Language Teaching examines the practical aspects of the acquisition of Japanese as a second language, underpinned by current theory and research. Each chapter examines the theory and practice of language teaching, and progresses to a consideration of the practical design of tasks for teaching. The final section applies theory and practice to an empirical case study, drawn from a classroom with Japanese as a second language. With its emphasis on practice underpinned by contemporary theory, this book will be of interest to postgraduates studying second language acquisition and applied linguistics.>

"Learning Chinese" teaches basic conversational and literary skills in Mandarin. It is designed to build language ability while stimulating learners' curiosity about the linguistic structures of the language as well as the geography, history, and culture of China. Conversational lessons are separated from lessons on reading and writing characters, allowing instructors to adapt the book to their students and to their course goals.

More than 80 years have passed since Bauer and Leander's historical grammar of Biblical Hebrew was published, and many advances in comparative historical grammar have been made during the interim. Joshua Blau, who has for much of his life been associated with the Academy of the Hebrew Language in Jerusalem, has during the past half century studied, collected data, and written frequently on various aspects of the Hebrew language. Phonology and Morphology of Biblical Hebrew had its origins in an introduction to Biblical Hebrew first written some 40 years ago; it has now been translated from Modern Hebrew, thoroughly revised and updated, and it distills a lifetime of knowledge of the topic. The book begins with a 60-page introduction that locates Biblical Hebrew in the Semitic family of languages. It then discusses various approaches to categorization and classification, introduces and discusses various linguistic approaches and features that are necessary to the discussion, and provides a background to the way that linguists approach a language such as Biblical Hebrew-all of which will be useful to students who have taken first-year Hebrew as well those who have studied Biblical Hebrew extensively but have not been introduced to linguistic study of the topic. After a brief discussion of phonetics, the main portion of the book is devoted to phonology and to morphology. In the section on phonology, Blau provides complete coverage of the consonant and vowel systems of Biblical Hebrew and of the factors that have affected both systems. In the section on morphology, he discusses the parts of speech (pronouns, verbs, nouns, numerals) and includes brief comments on the prepositions and waw. The historical processes affecting each feature are explained as Blau progresses through the various sections. The book concludes with a complete set of paradigms and extensive indexes. Blau's recognized preeminence as a Hebraist and Arabist as well as his understanding of language change have converged in the production of this volume to provide an invaluable tool for the comparative and historical study of Biblical Hebrew phonology and morphology.

Language learning strategies have been a topic of research for roughly three decades. Broadly speaking, that research has focused on classroom tuition, predominantly at secondary level. Increasingly, however, language learning occurs in independent settings, whether at distance, on Institution-Wide Language Programmes (IWLPs), or in virtual environments. Success in independent language learning is achieved by autonomous individuals with a capacity for self-regulation. Yet we still know relatively little about the specific means they use to learn effectively, whether in terms of the affective strategies they employ to sustain motivation, the metacognitive strategies required for planning, monitoring and evaluating their learning, or the specific cognitive strategies applied to difficult learning tasks. These are all discussed and evaluated in Language Learning Strategies in Independent Settings.

Building Capacity promotes the vision that the teaching of African languages can best achieve its aim of boosting the economic and cultural development of the Africans if they are made to work in synergy with a revamping of the course contents of international languages that will be taught within the frame of a development-oriented literacy curriculum. Great emphasis is put on the oral skills in the use of African languages as they are to serve as a link between the community and the school for the ultimate revitalization of the positive aspects of African cultures in a world beset by globalization. The book is supplemented with a sample of texts in the appendix that are meant to be a bridge between formal texts taught in classrooms and literacy texts that can raise the genuine interests of the local populations in that they address their immediate needs. Among the possible topics language teachers are encouraged to explore in their classes are those concerning economic development, but also such issues as health, education, the environment, food security, and conflict resolution. "In the face of the growing interest in the use of African Languages by Africans as symbols of personal and cultural identity and as means of empowering the rural communities in the entreprise of national development,the need for a methodologically appropriate manual to guide the teaching and learning of African languages becomes urgent.This book is a timely response, predicated on a policy of the symbiotic use of African languages along with partner (foreign-official) languages, to attain a balanced level of economic and socio-cultural development.It is based on a compendium of well- thought-out principles geared towards a rapid acquisition of written and oral language skills that are congruent with and reflect the socio-cultural and economic concerns of the linguistic community." Beban Sammy Chumbow, Professor of Linguistics, University of Yaounde I "Among the numerous proposals in this book is the necessity for Africans, and I would add, for the communities of Asia and Latin America, to re-think the contents of their language courses and assign them an objective which aims at the integral development of their communities. It is indeed imperative that these courses reflect clear objectives of seeking social, cultural, and economic developments that harmonize with African, Asian, and Latin American values that are deep rooted in their respective various cultures." Jean-Pierre Angenot Professor of Linguistics, Federal University of Rondnia, Porto Velho, Brazil.

"Chinese Grammar Made Easy" presents instructors with innovative and classroom-tested techniques for teaching Chinese grammar. Its communicative, meaning-based approach helps teachers to engage students by bringing grammar into a practical, real-life context. As a reference for daily teaching, this book discusses 150 of the most fundamental and frequently used grammar points that students need to learn in order to communicate successfully. Each grammar point is accompanied by various learning activities to engage students and provide structured practice. Based on research conducted by a team of 25 experienced language teachers, "Chinese Grammar Made Easy" also offers Clear and concise explanations of grammar concepts, Step-by-step teaching instructions, A range of exercises to reinforce each grammar point.By providing pedagogical strategies, this book allows teachers to reflect on the effectiveness of their grammar instruction and to implement methods which fit the needs and interests of language learners. Jianhua Bai is professor of Chinese at Kenyon College and director of the Chinese School at Middlebury College.

Dewey's idea of Project-based Learning (PBL) was introduced into the field of second language education nearly two decades ago as a way to reflect the principles of student-centered teaching (Hedge, 1993). Since then, PBL has also become a popular language and literacy activity at various levels and in various contexts (see Beckett, 1999; Fried-Booth, 2002; Levis & Levis, 2003; Kobayashi, 2003; Luongo- Orlando, 2001; Mohan & Beckett, 2003; Weinstein, 2004). For example, it has been applied to teach various ESL and EFL skills around the world (e.g., Fried-Booth, 2002). More recently, PBL has been heralded as the most appropriate approach to teaching content-based second language education (Bunch, et al., 2001; Stoller, 1997), English for specific purposes (Fried-Booth, 2002), community-based language socialization (Weinstien, 2004), and critical and higher order thinking as well as problem-solving skills urged by the National Research Council (1999). Despite this emphasis, there is a severe shortage of empirical research on PBL and research-based frameworks and models based on sound theoretical guidance in general and second and foreign language education in particular (Thomas, 2000). Also missing from the second and foreign language education literature is systematic discussion of PBL work that brings together representative work, identifying obvious gaps, and guiding the field toward future directions. This, first of its kind, volume bridges these obvious gaps through the original work of international scholars from Canada, Israel, Japan, Singapore, and the US.

Experts and researchers in the field of ICT and language learning are increasingly emphasising that, once a new form of technology has become available, the starting point of research projects should not be the innovation itself but rather its role in the language learning process. This book is aimed at researchers and practitioners in the area of Information and Communications Technologies and language learning who want to integrate research and practice in this emerging field. The book deals with current developments in Europe, with the majority of the chapters focusing on the results of collaborative international projects. It includes two chapters on the place of ICT and language learning in the context of higher education and research in Europe, as well as studies on current developments in areas such as authoring tools, Human Language Technologies, corpora and concordancing, video-conferencing, e-mail tandem networks and the role of the Internet in language learning and teaching.

This book is directed at both researchers and teachers with an interest to establish a multilingual and cosmopolitan culture within classrooms; it contributes to research in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) on multiple levels. The theoretical part sketches a conceptual framework with a competence model for the promotion of global discourse competence as the center of gravity for multilingual CLIL in the social sciences. Along the leitmotif of climate change, the construction of 'cosmopolitan classroom glocalities' for supporting learners' 21st century skills is suggested. Besides defending design-based action research as a research method for bridging the gap between theory and practice, two empirical contributions from a German 10th grade CLIL classroom with English as target language make the preceding theoretical framework tangible. One chapter deals with more language-related issues, whereas the subsequent chapter takes a subject turn. At first, a comprehensive model for multilingual CLIL is presented. It builds on the novel concept of translanguaging, adapted to 'trans-foreign-languaging' for facilitating multilingualism as a daily norm. Thereafter, the model's effect on political judgments is investigated. This chapter concludes in proposing the genesis of a 'perfect equilibrium of emotional and rational learning' for promoting empathy, solidarity, and justice within a democratic and transnational civil society.

This book introduces beginning students and non-specialists to the diversity and richness of African languages. In addition to providing a solid background to the study of African languages, the book presents linguistic phenomena not found in European languages. A goal of this book is to stimulate interest in African languages and address the question: What makes African languages so fascinating? The orientation adopted throughout the book is a descriptive one, which seeks to characterize African languages in a relatively succinct and neutral manner, and to make the facts accessible to a wide variety of readers. The author s lengthy acquaintance with the continent and field experiences in western, eastern, and southern Africa allow for both a broad perspective and considerable depth in selected areas. The original examples are often the author s own but also come from other sources and languages not often referenced in the literature. This text also includes a set of sound files illustrating the phenomena under discussion, be they the clicks of Khoisan, talking drums, or the ideophones (words like English "lickety-split") found almost everywhere, which will make this book a valuable resource for teacher and student alike.