This collection examines the promise and limitations for computer-assisted language learning of emerging speech technologies: speech recognition, text-to-speech synthesis, and acoustic visualization. Using pioneering research from contributors based in the US and Europe, this volume illustrates the uses of each technology for learning languages, the problems entailed in their use, and the solutions evolving in both technology and instructional design. To illuminate where these technologies stand on the path from research toward practice, the book chapters are organized to reflect five stages in the maturation of learning technologies: basic research, analysis of learners' needs, adaptation of technologies to meet needs, development of prototypes to incorporate adapted technologies, and evaluation of prototypes. The volume demonstrates the progress in employing each class of speech technology while pointing up the effort that remains for effective, reliable application to language learning.

In Verbal Hygiene, Deborah Cameron takes a serious look at popular attitudes towards language and examines the practices by which people attempt to regulate its use. Instead of dismissing the practice of 'verbal hygiene', as a misguided and pernicious exercise, she argues that popular discourse about language values - good and bad, right and wrong - serves an important function for those engaged in it. A series of case studies deal with specific examples of verbal hygiene: the regulation of 'style' by editors, the teaching of English grammar in schools, the movements for and against so-called 'politically correct' language and the advice given to women on how they can speak more effectively. This Routledge Linguistics Classic includes a new foreword which looks at how the issues covered in the case studies have developed over time and a new afterword which discusses new concerns which have emerged in the last 15 years, from the regimentation of language in the workplace to panics about immigration and terrorism, which are expressed in linguistic terms. Addressed to linguists, to professional language-users of all kinds, and to anyone interested in language and culture, Verbal Hygiene calls for legitimate concerns about language and value to be discussed, by experts and lay-speakers alike, in a rational and critical spirit.

Reading in Asian Languages is rich with information about how literacy works in the non-alphabetic writing systems (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) used by hundreds of millions of people and refutes the common Western belief that such systems are hard to learn or to use. The contributors share a comprehensive view of reading as construction of meaning which they show is fully applicable to character-based reading.

The book explains how and why non-alphabetic writing works well for its users; provides explanations for why it is no more difficult for children to learn than are alphabetic writing systems where they are used; and demonstrates in a number of ways that there is a single process of making sense of written language regardless of the orthography. Unique in its perspective and offering practical theory-based methodology for the teaching of literacy in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean to first and second language learners, it is a useful resource for teachers in increasingly popular courses in these languages in North America as well as for teachers and researchers in Asia. It will stimulate innovation in both research and instruction.

Reading in Asian Languages is rich with information about how literacy works in the non-alphabetic writing systems (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) used by hundreds of millions of people and refutes the common Western belief that such systems are hard to learn or to use. The contributors share a comprehensive view of reading as construction of meaning which they show is fully applicable to character-based reading.

The book explains how and why non-alphabetic writing works well for its users; provides explanations for why it is no more difficult for children to learn than are alphabetic writing systems where they are used; and demonstrates in a number of ways that there is a single process of making sense of written language regardless of the orthography. Unique in its perspective and offering practical theory-based methodology for the teaching of literacy in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean to first and second language learners, it is a useful resource for teachers in increasingly popular courses in these languages in North America as well as for teachers and researchers in Asia. It will stimulate innovation in both research and instruction.

The field of second/foreign language teacher education is calling out for a coherent and comprehensive framework for teacher preparation in these times of accelerating economic, cultural, and educational globalization. Responding to this call, this book introduces a state-of-the-art model for developing prospective and practicing teachers into strategic thinkers, exploratory researchers, and transformative teachers. The model includes five modules: Knowing, Analyzing, Recognizing, Doing, and Seeing (KARDS). Its goal is to help teachers understand

• how to build a viable professional, personal and procedural knowledge-base,
• how to analyze learner needs, motivation and autonomy,
• how to recognize their own identities, beliefs and values,
• how to do teaching, theorizing and dialogizing, and
• how to see their own teaching acts from learner, teacher, and observer perspectives.

Providing a scaffold for building a holistic understanding of what happens in the language classroom, this model eventually enables teachers to theorize what they practice and practice what they theorize. With its strong scholarly foundation and its supporting reflective tasks and exploratory projects, this book is immensely useful for students, practicing teachers, teacher educators, and educational researchers who are interested in exploring the complexity of language teacher education.

This book demonstrates the relevance of an integrational linguistic perspective to a practical, real-world need, namely the learning of languages. Integrational linguistics' shunning of both realist and structuralist theories of language, its commitment to an unwavering attention to the perspective of the language user, and its adherence to a semiology in which signs are the situated products of interactants interpretive behaviour, mean that it radically reconceptualizes language learning and language teaching. Detractors have implied that IL is so 'philosophical' or 'theoretical' an exercise that it has no useful bearing on the practical problems of language learning. These papers refute that misconception by demonstrating how an IL stance can help disentangle the conflicting considerations and contradictory assumptions that arise in a host of language teaching situations: first, second- and foreign-language classrooms in a diversity of settings (including India, Australia, the United States, and Hong Kong), with different age-groups of students, whether the focus is on speech or writing, and in more informal settings.

Schools, colleges and universities are investing a great deal in the purchase of computer resources for the teaching of modern languages, but whether these resources make a measurable difference to the learning of language students is still unclear. In this book the author outlines the existing evidence for the impact of computers on language learning and makes the case for an integrated approach to the evaluation of computer-assisted language learning (CALL). Drawing on current and past research linked to CALL and e-learning, the author builds a comprehensive model for evaluating not just the software used in language learning, but also the teaching and learning that takes place in computer-based environments, and the digital platforms themselves. This book will be of interest not only to language teachers and CALL researchers, but also to those interested in e-learning and general research methodology, as well as designers of educational software, digital labs, virtual learning environments (VLEs) and institutional budget holders.

This volume offers an introduction to the field of second language acquisition with a particular focus on second language Spanish. It connects key issues in the acquisition of Spanish as a second language to theoretical and empirical issues in the field of second language acquisition more generally by exemplifying central concepts in second language acquisition through the exploration of the most widely researched structures and most recent developments in the field of second language Spanish. It is written for a non-specialist audience, making it suitable for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses and readers, while its treatment of recent empirical developments also makes it of interest to researchers in second language Spanish as well as allied fields.

Assessment is omnipresent and multifaceted in contemporary institutions of higher education. This collection provides a sound and revealing overview of language and (inter-)cultural assessment practices in European higher education and beyond (Australia, China and Japan). It addresses mainly the following questions: What sort of assessment is taking place? What purposes does it serve? What representations do teaching staff and learners have of assessing language and (inter-)cultural competences in higher education? The chapters were first presented at the bilingual conference (English and French) Assessing language and (inter-)cultural competences in Higher Education at Turku University (Finland) in 2007. L'evaluation est un phenomene multiforme et omnipresent dans l'enseignement superieur. Ce volume collectif propose un large eventail d'articles, qui passent en revue les pratiques d'evaluation en didactique des langues dans les systemes educatifs europeens mais aussi en Australie, en Chine et au Japon. Les auteurs s'interrogent sur les questions suivantes : quels types d'evaluation sont mis en oeuvre dans le superieur ? Dans quels buts ? Quelles representations les enseignants et les apprenants ont-ils de l'evaluation des competences langagieres et interculturelles ? Les textes qui constituent l'ouvrage ont ete presentes au colloque intitule Evaluation des competences langagieres et (inter-)culturelles dans l'enseignement superieur, organise par l'Universite de Turku (Finlande) en 2007.

This landmark volume provides a broad-based, comprehensive, state-of-the-art overview of current knowledge and research into second language teaching and learning. All authors are leading authorities in their areas of expertise. The chapters, all completely new for Volume 2, are organized in eight thematic sections:

• Social Contexts in Research on Second Language Teaching and Learning
• Second Language Research Methods
• Second Language Research and Applied Linguistics
• Research in Second Language Processes and Development
• Methods and Instruction in Second Language Teaching
• Second Language Assessment
• Ideology, Identity, Culture, and Critical Pedagogy in Second Language Teaching and Learning
• Language Planning and Policy.

Changes in Volume 2:

• captures new and ongoing developments, research, and trends in the field
• surveys prominent areas of research that were not covered in Volume 1
• includes new authors from Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America to broaden the Handbook's international scope.

Volume 2 is an essential resource for researchers, faculty, teachers, and students in MA-TESL and applied linguistics programs, as well as curriculum and material developers.

As technological innovation continues to affect language pedagogy, there is an increasing demand for information, exemplars, analysis and guidance. This edited volume focuses on international perspectives in Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) in all of its forms, including Technology Enhanced Language Learning, Network-Based Language Learning, Information and Communication Technologies for Language Learning.

This book examines the crucial role that sound file selection plays in assessing listening ability and introduces the reader to the procedure of textmapping, which explores how to exploit a sound file. The book discusses the role of the task identifier, the task instructions and the example, and analyses the strengths and weaknesses of different test methods. Guidelines for developing listening items, and procedures that can be used in peer review and task revision are also provided. A range of sample listening tasks illustrates the benefits of following the test development approach described in the book. Developing Listening Tests also provides insights into the advantages that field trials, statistical analyses and standard setting can offer the language test developer in determining how well their tasks work. This practical book will be of interest to researchers, language testers, testing commissions, and teachers engaged in assessing listening performance around the world.

Embracing a sociocultural perspective on human cognition and employing an array of methodological tools for data collection and analysis, this volume documents the complexities of second language teachers? professional development in diverse L2 teacher education programs around the world, including Asia, South America, Europe, and North America, and traces that development both over time and within the broader cultural, historical and institutional settings and circumstances of teachers? work.

This systematic examination of teacher professional development illuminates in multiple ways the discursive practices that shape teachers? knowing, thinking, and doing and provides a window into how alternative mediational means can create opportunities for teachers to move toward more theoretically and pedagogically sound instructional practices within the settings and circumstances of their work. The chapters represent both native and nonnative English speaking pre-service and in-service L2 teachers at all levels from K-12 through higher education, and examine significant challenges that are present in L2 teacher education programs.

In this book, Farr examines the spoken and written language of post-observation teaching-practice feedback on teacher education programs. To do so, she draws upon theories from discourse analysis, conversation analysis, and pragmatics to frame the analysis of feedback meetings and written tutor reports, which are then examined using comparative quantitative and qualitative corpus-based techniques. The overall aim is to determine the defining characteristics of this genre, focusing especially on pragmatic factors, with the ultimate goal of investigating the salient aspects responsible for making feedback both effective and affective. Farr's research draws upon a spoken corpus of feedback interactions and a written corpus of tutor reports from language teacher education and is also strongly informed by data in the form of diary reflections and questionnaire responses from student teachers and questionnaire responses from the relevant tutors.

This edited book examines modern foreign language teachers who research their own and others' experiences of identity construction in the context of living and teaching in UK institutions, primarily in the Higher Education sector. The book offers an insight into a key element of the educational and socio-political debate surrounding MFL in the UK: the teachers' voices and their sense of agency in constructing their professional identities. The contributors use a combination of empirical research and personal reflection to generate knowledge about MFL teachers' identity that can enhance how they are perceived in the social and educational establishments and raise awareness of key issues affecting the profession. This book will be of particular interest to language teachers, teacher trainers, applied linguists and students and scholars of modern foreign languages.

This book explores the impact of the spread of English on language teaching and learning. It provides a framework for change in English language teaching to better reflect global realities and current research. The authors examine the pedagogical implications of the global spread of English, drawing on world Englishes, English as a lingua franca, and global Englishes research. The book proposes key innovations for teaching English as an international language, and outlines key areas for future classroom-based research. The book is essential reading for postgraduate researchers, teachers and teacher trainers in TESOL and second language education programmes.

This collection of essays on Spanish pragmatics can be understood in its broadest sense in Iacob L. Mey's words as "the study of the conditions of human language use in a societal context." The essays, which can be read independently from one another, revolve around three key areas within the Anglo-American school of pragmatics: speech acts, conversation, and politeness as sociocultural manifestations of communication. The first part of the book emphasizes the study of politeness in different Spanish-speaking communities, paying special attention to the realization of polite speech acts and their cross-cultural and cross-linguistic implications, as well as the face-work that interlocutors conduct in casual conversations and other communicative settings. The second part expands the topic of politeness strategies to the study of new contexts (such as echo questions and conversational repairs) and addresses other language phenomena that can be best explored from a pragmalinguistic perspective, such as evidentiality, mitigation, contrastive emphasis, and topicality and discourse salience. The examples (with the exception of a few literary quotes) proceed from naturally occurring data or were collected through questionnaires, and represent a wide range of colloquial "Spanishes," from Peninsular to Latin American, from monolingual to bilingual, and from native to heritage to second language learners' varieties. The empirical nature of Aspects of Spanish Pragmatics will appeal to a wide range of readers interested in the use of Spanish for real-life communicative interactions, as well as in the topic of intercultural communication and the teaching of authentic language to students of Spanish in the United States.

The work of the Council of Europe in plurilingual and intercultural education is highly influential in Europe and beyond and has been so for many years. The Common European Framework of Reference and its Companion Volume, and related instruments, provide ways in which to implement policies and a broader vision of providing quality and equity in education across the curriculum, a vision which incorporates the core values of the Council of Europe and which educates children and young people to be plurilingual, intercultural and democratic citizens. This book presents this educational vision, demonstrates how it can be realised through the application of Council of Europe instruments in practice, and does so in a way which is easily and quickly accessible to teachers of all subjects and in all educational institutions, as well as to other educationists, including policymakers.

This book closes the gap between theory and classroom application by capitalizing on learners' individuality in second or foreign language learning. The book examines the existing literature and theoretical underpinnings of each of the most prominent learner characteristics including anxiety, beliefs, cognitive abilities, motivation, strategies, styles and willingness to communicate. This strong foundation, coupled with the wide variety of activities that are suggested at the end of each chapter, arms the reader with ideas to conquer the problems created by negative affect and to capitalize on positive, facilitative emotions. The tasks are unrestricted by language and can be modified for use with technology, emergent learners and large classes, making this book a useful resource for both in-service teachers and pre-service teachers in university language teacher education programs.

Arguably the whole point of education is to effect change in what people know and are able to do. Globalization has contributed to a common perception worldwide of the need to introduce changes to the teaching and learning of languages. The success of many attempts to do so has been limited by insufficient consideration of implementation contexts. Understanding Language Classroom Contexts explores and illustrates how what happens in any (language) classroom is influenced by (and can be an influence on) the contexts in which it is situated. A clear understanding of these influences is thus the starting point for planning effective change. The book considers many visible and invisible features of the multiple layers of any context, and provides a framework for understanding the types of factors that may influence whether changes (planned by a teacher or externally initiated) are likely to be successful. The book will help teachers (and educational managers or change planners outside the classroom) to understand why their classrooms are as they are and so to make informed decisions about what can or cannot (or not easily) be changed, and suggests how any changes might be appropriately managed.

Language is of central importance in children's development and vital for their success at school and in the world beyond. Designed for the many professionals involved in encouraging language development, Early Language Development, originally published in 1990, will enable them to get to grips with the practical issues of helping children with language difficulties. John Harris provides an invaluable summary of recent research on language development and how it relates to the practical concerns of language assessment and language teaching. Readers are given a clear account of the ways in which research has expanded our understanding of just what language is and how this has led to different approaches to language assessment. Various theories of language development are summarised and discussed in terms of their implications for language teaching. Dr Harris also describes different ways of encouraging language development and explains how teachers and therapists can overcome the special problems faced by children with particular difficulties, such as visual impairment, hearing impairment, general learning difficulties, and environmental deprivation. With its emphasis on the relevance of research-based knowledge to practical concerns, the book provides a useful bridge between the world of research and practice. It will be of particular interest to teachers of young children, speech therapists, and child psychologists, as well as to students taking courses on child development, and to parents of young children.

This book systematically examines how learning to read occurs in diverse languages, and in so doing, explores how literacy is learned in a second language by learners who have achieved at least basic reading skills in their first language. As a consequence of rapid globalization, such learners are a large and growing segment of the school population worldwide, and an increasing number of schools are challenged by learners from a wide variety of languages, and with distinct prior literacy experiences. To succeed academically these learners must develop second-language literacy skills, yet little is known about the ways in which they learn to read in their first languages, and even less about how the specific nature and level of their first-language literacy affects second-language reading development.

This volume provides detailed descriptions of five typologically diverse languages and their writing systems, and offers comparisons of learning-to-read experiences in these languages. Specifically, it addresses the requisite competencies in learning to read in each of the languages, how language and writing system properties affect the way children learn to read, and the extent and ways in which literacy learning experience in one language can play a role in subsequent reading development in another. Both common and distinct aspects of literacy learning experiences across languages are identified, thus establishing a basis for determining which skills are available for transfer in second-language reading development.

Learning to Read Across Languages is intended for researchers and advanced students in the areas of second-language learning, psycholinguistics, literacy, bilingualism, and cross-linguistic issues in language processing.

Drawing on recent socio-cultural approaches to research on language learning and an extensive corpus of classroom video recording made over four years, the book documents language learning as an epiphenomenon of peer face-to-face interaction. Advanced technology for recording classroom interaction (6 cameras per classroom) allows the research to move the focus for analysis off the teacher and onto learners as they engage in dyadic interaction. The research uses methods from conversation analysis with longitudinal data to document practices for interaction between learners and how those practices change over time. Language learning is seen in learners' change in participation in their in social actions that occur around and within teacher-assigned language learning tasks (starting the task, non-elicited story tellings within tasks, and ending tasks). Web links are provided so the reader can see the data from the classroom that is the subject of the analyses.

This book, which is aimed at researchers in specialised varieties of English, provides an illustration of how linguists can use terms, i.e. the expression of concepts in specialised fields, as entry points to explore any specialised domain, whether academic or professional, and to get acquainted with its history, its culture, and the evolution of the ideas that have nurtured it. Choosing the field of economics as an example, the author approaches terms from a diachronic, descriptive and contextual perspective, focusing on neonyms, metaphorical, ambiguous or indeterminate terms, as well as interface terms likely to underscore the evolving character of the domain. The analysis points out the role of terms as milestones highlighting key discoveries that have shaped scientific fields; terms can also be considered as barometers of the evolution of knowledge in a specific field and of a changing social environment. Whoever thought terms were only interesting for their definitions or for translation purposes will no doubt be surprised at the insights that can be gained from considering them from a different angle and for other purposes.

Despite unsubstantiated claims of best practice, the division of language-teaching professionals on the basis of their categorization as 'native-speakers' or 'non-native speakers' continues to cascade throughout the academic literature. It has become normative, under the rhetorical guise of acting to correct prejudice and/or discrimination, to see native-speakerism as having a single beneficiary - the 'native-speaker' - and a single victim - the 'non-native' speaker. However, this unidirectional perspective fails to deal with the more veiled systems through which those labeled as native-speakers and non-native speakers are both cast as casualties of this questionable bifurcation. This volume documents such complexities and aims to fill the void currently observable within mainstream academic literature in the teaching of both English, and Japanese, foreign language education. By identifying how the construct of Japanese native-speaker mirrors that of the 'native-speaker' of English, the volume presents a revealing insight into language teaching in Japan. Further, taking a problem-solving approach, this volume explores possible grounds on which language teachers could be employed if native-speakerism is rejected according to experts in the fields of intercultural communicative competence, English as a Lingua Franca and World Englishes, all of which aim to replace the 'native-speaker' model with something new.