As individual institutions of education at all levels respond to the call for greater accountability and assessment, those who teach literacy face the challenging task of choosing what to measure and how to measure it. Both defining literacy clearly and tying that definition to strategies for assessment are two of many challenges faced by educators, theorists, and members of the public who assume responsibility for assessing literacy as well as developing and improving literacy programs. In a pluralistic and democratic society sensitive to multicultural variation, we need to find our way between the competing needs for inclusiveness and for clear and useful standards. Multiple definitions of literacy raise the issue of whether there can be a standard or set of standards and if so, what they are in an environment of multiple literacies. Indeed, the downside of the defeat of older monolithic notions of literacy is the undermining or at least the questioning of well-established methods of literacy assessment. To some extent, the older methods of assessment have been revised in the light of more expansive definitions of literacy. But will this kind of revision be enough? How are the criteria for judgment to be known and applied? Thus, this volume addresses the problems of assessing literacy development in the context of multiple and inclusive definitions. Each section consists of chapters that deal with the issue of definitions per se, with standards in postsecondary settings, with the K-12 situation, and with alternative, non-school environments where literacy is critical to human functioning in a democratic society.

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.

What does best practice in online education look like? How can educators make use of the affordances offered by online environments to bring out the best in the children they teach? These questions are answered in this new textbook, written with experienced teachers, novice educators and teacher educators in mind. Meskill and Anthony offer a wealth of examples of what successful online teaching looks like, and provide a rich source of practical, conversation-based strategies for optimizing online learning. This book will inspire anyone teaching or planning to teach fully online, or in a blended or hybrid format, by demonstrating how well constructed online conversations constitute powerful teaching.

Originally published in 1909 and written by British born Australian academic and Emeritus Professor of Classics in the University of Adelaide, Henry Darnley Naylor, this textbook is aimed at school students as well as undergraduates and provides 'assistance in acquiring Livian style'. Featuring an index for quick reference, this book includes a full explanation of language points and is written for practical use: 'if the reader will cover the columns on the right hand side of chap. iii and then compare his version with that of Livy, he can have no ground of complaint, for he will have learnt a great amount of valuable Latin'. This book will be of value to scholars of Latin, classics and the history of education. A later publication More Latin and English Idiom in 1915 accompanies this book.

This book presents a comprehensive and detailed study of literacy practices and language use outside of the classroom by university students of Japanese. It investigates both tasks related to classes (e.g. homework and preparation for classes) and voluntary activities in the target language (e.g. watching TV and writing emails) and discusses how values, motivations and types of activities differ between the two contexts. It employs sociocultural perspectives to observe reading and writing activities within and under the influence of individual and social contexts, such as learner motives, peer networks and the language classroom, and contributes to the related research areas in the field of second language acquisition, such as motivation, autonomous language learning and language learning strategies. Crucially, the book not only documents out-of-class literacy activities, but also examines which teaching practices facilitate and promote such out-of-class language learning and use. It considers which literacy activities in the target language students undertake out-of-class, which factors encourage or discourage such out-of-class activity and how and with which tools they undertake these activities. As such the book provides guidance for classroom teaching and suggests that slight changes to teaching practices in the classroom may enhance autonomous learning outside the classroom.

This book explores the role of the teacher in dual language bilingual education (DLBE) implementation in a time of nationwide program expansion, in large part due to new and unprecedented top-down initiatives at state and district level. The book provides case studies of DLBE teachers who: (a) implemented the DLBE model with fidelity; (b) struggled to implement the DLBE model; and (c) adapted the DLBE model to meet the needs of their local classroom context. The book demonstrates the way teachers as language policymakers navigate and interpret district-wide DLBE implementation and the tensions that surface through this process. The research, conducted over four years using a variety of methods, highlights the challenges and opportunities faced by teachers implementing DLBE, and will be of interest to both teachers and administrators of DLBE programs as well as scholars working in bilingual education.

This book reports on a longitudinal study of the acquisition of pragmatic markers in written discourse in a third language (English) by secondary students living in the bilingual (Spanish and Catalan) Valencian Community in Spain. It examines pragmatic transfer, specifically positive transfer, in multilingual students from a holistic perspective, taking into account their linguistic repertoire and using ecologically valid classroom writing tasks in a longitudinal study. It tackles the issue of task-based language teaching from a multilingual perspective by presenting a study which takes place in natural classroom contexts where real classroom tasks are used to explore the interaction between languages in multilinguals. The book combines a focus on multilingual language development and pragmatics and discusses the resources multilingual learners take to the classroom.

The book investigates how American learners of Arabic realize the speech act of refusal in Egyptian Arabic in different speech situations, varying by setting, topic, social distance, and interlocutor status. Two groups of learners, one at the intermediate level and the other at the advanced level of Arabic proficiency, and two baseline groups of native speakers of Egyptian Arabic and native speakers of American English participated in the study. Data were collected using the role-play method, which allowed for the elicitation and analysis of refusals at the discourse level. This type of analysis, which helps us reach a better understanding of the distribution and recycling of refusal strategies over a number of turns to achieve communicative goals, is rarely done in speech act research in general and in Arabic speech act research in particular. This study provides evidence of negative pragmatic transfer from L1 among American learners of Arabic. It also provides evidence that pragmatic transfer occurred more frequently among the advanced learners. The advanced learners, however, exhibited an overall higher level of pragmatic competence than their intermediate counterparts. This book is an excellent resource for instructors of Arabic as a foreign language as well as Arabic textbook writers and curriculum designers.

First published in 1909, as the fourth edition of an 1898 original, this book presents a discussion of the educational process in relation to modern languages. The text is divided into two main sections: the first relates to the teaching of modern languages in secondary schools; the second relates to the training of modern language teachers. A bibliography is included and notes are incorporated throughout. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the development of modern language teaching and the history of education.

Research-Driven Pedagogy: Implications of L2A Theory and Research for the Teaching of Language Skills brings together the essentials of second language acquisition (SLA) theory, research, and second language (L2) pedagogy. Uniquely, the design of this book helps researchers and practitioners make explicit connections between theory, research, and practice; learn about and conduct classroom research to contribute to the relevance and applicability of SLA research; and improve current L2 curriculum and instruction in light of current theory and research. The volume offers critical reviews of the most relevant, current SLA theory and research about receptive, productive, complementary, and nonverbal communication skills, as well as willingness to communicate (WTC). Each chapter is formatted to include five major topics about each language skill: (1) major theories, (2) critical reviews of salient/current research, (3) commonly-used data collection and analysis techniques, (4) summary of specific pedagogical implications of pertinent research and theory, and (5) theory and research-driven scenarios/activities that can be used in teaching. A teacher or a researcher can pick any chapter in this volume to learn about the most important language skills (e.g., reading, writing, nonverbal communication), while having all-in-one place access to almost everything they would need.

Despite advancements in and availability of corpus software in language classrooms facilitating data-driven learning (DDL), the use of such methods with pre-tertiary learners remains rare. This book specifically explores the affordances of DDL for younger learners, testing its viability with teachers and students at the primary and secondary years of schooling. It features eminent and up-and-coming researchers from Europe, Asia, and Australasia who seek to address best practice in implementing DDL with younger learners, while providing a wealth of empirical findings and practical DDL activities ready for use in the pre-tertiary classroom. Divided into three parts, the volume's first section focuses on overcoming emerging challenges for DDL with younger learners, including where and how DDL can be integrated into pre-tertiary curricula, as well as potential barriers to this integration. It then considers new, cutting-edge innovations in corpora and corpus software for use with younger learners in the second section, before reporting on actual DDL studies performed with younger learners (and/or their teachers) at the primary and secondary levels of education. This book will appeal to post-graduate students, academics and researchers with interests in corpus linguistics, second language acquisition, primary and secondary literacy education, and language and educational technologies.

Now in its third edition, Teaching and Researching Reading charts the field of reading (first and second language) systematically and coherently for the benefit of language teaching practitioners, students, and researchers. This volume provides background on how reading works and how reading differs for second language learners. The volume includes reading-curriculum principles, evidence-based teaching ideas, and a multi-step iterative process for conducting meaningful action research on reading-related topics. The volume outlines 14 projects for teacher adaptation and use, as well as numerous new and substantially expanded resource materials that can be used for both action research and classroom instruction.

English language teaching has undergone a lot of changes with fads and trends coming and going for centuries. With the widespread use of English in diverse contexts, the innovations and changes around the world, English language scholars and practitioners faced new challenges. In the 21st century, there is a great need to examine "old" and to explore contemporary issues thoroughly from different angles. This volume aims at updating perspectives on English language teaching and teacher education, with a special focus on the Turkish EFL context, exploring the status of the English language, learner-centeredness, professional development, conceptualizing teaching, and professionalism. The book will be of value to scholars, prospective and practicing teachers in the TESOL field.

Despite advancements in and availability of corpus software in language classrooms facilitating data-driven learning (DDL), the use of such methods with pre-tertiary learners remains rare. This book specifically explores the affordances of DDL for younger learners, testing its viability with teachers and students at the primary and secondary years of schooling. It features eminent and up-and-coming researchers from Europe, Asia, and Australasia who seek to address best practice in implementing DDL with younger learners, while providing a wealth of empirical findings and practical DDL activities ready for use in the pre-tertiary classroom. Divided into three parts, the volume's first section focuses on overcoming emerging challenges for DDL with younger learners, including where and how DDL can be integrated into pre-tertiary curricula, as well as potential barriers to this integration. It then considers new, cutting-edge innovations in corpora and corpus software for use with younger learners in the second section, before reporting on actual DDL studies performed with younger learners (and/or their teachers) at the primary and secondary levels of education. This book will appeal to post-graduate students, academics and researchers with interests in corpus linguistics, second language acquisition, primary and secondary literacy education, and language and educational technologies.

This book presents a case study of student-writers from multiple cultural and academic backgrounds. It investigates how writing, as an act of identity, can be analyzed along an axis of individual and social influences. This continuum entails a number of related perspectives, including the ways in which individuals reproduce or challenge dominant literary practices and discourses, and how they occupy the subject positions made available in their discourse communities. The analysis of the findings draws on selected socio-semiotic and more broadly, anthropological views of language, which are then synthesized into a multi-aspect model of academic writer identity.

This volume brings together papers on a wide spectrum of topics within the broad area of language acquisition, stressing the interconnections between applied and theoretical linguistics, as well as language research methodology. These contributions in honor of Professor Jan Majer have been grouped in two sections: language learning, and discourse and communication. The former discusses issues varying from aspects of first, second, and third language acquisition, individual learner differences (i.e. gender, attitudes, learning strategies), and second language research methodology to the analysis of features of learner spoken language, the role of feedback in foreign language instruction, and the position of culture in EFL textbooks. The second part of the volume offers a theoretical counterbalance to the applied nature of the first one. Here, the contributions touch upon spoken and written language analysis, language awareness, and aspects of the English language; also, selected issues of language philosophy are discussed. The wide range of topics covered in the publication, authored by specialists in their respective areas, reflects Professor Majer's academic interests and corresponds to the complex nature of the general field the volume aims to portray.

Based on a highly interdisciplinary theoretical framework, Tobias Schroedler provides a comprehensive picture of the value of language skills within the Irish economy. The author manages to present and merge theories from economics, business studies, sociology, and applied linguistics making this an innovative and valuable contribution to the growing field of research on the value of multilingualism and languages. The first of two datasets presented in the book provides a macroeconomic quantification on the economic performance of four different global language communities. The second dataset consists of an expert interview study on the matter. Based on the data analysis, the author derives recommendations for economically beneficial language education policy making.

Drawing on sociocultural theories of learning, this book examines how the everyday language practices and cultural funds of knowledge of youth from non-dominant or minoritized groups can be used as centerpoints for classroom learning in ways that help all students both to sustain and expand their cultural and linguistic repertoires while developing skills that are valued in formal schooling. Bringing together a group of ethnographically grounded scholars working in diverse local contexts, this volume identifies how these language practices and cultural funds of knowledge can be used as generative points of continuity and productively expanded on in schools for successful and inclusive learning. Ideal for students and researchers in teaching, learning, language education, literacy, and multicultural education, as well as teachers at all stages of their career, this book contributes to research on culturally and linguistically sustaining practices by offering original teaching methods and a range of ways of connecting cultural competencies to learning across subject matters and disciplines.

The book deals with the question how students in multicultural EFL-classrooms can be prepared for their role as world citizens. The author shows that teaching English offers important potentials for cosmopolitan education due to its role as a "lingua franca". The study develops the construct cosmopolitan communicative competence as a theoretical framework. It also presents a teaching approach that combines students' life-writing with the discussion of literary texts to advance the associated knowledge, skills and attitudes. The potentials of this approach are evaluated through the assessment of students' competence development.

This volume examines the specific effects that schools have on the performance of immigrant students and linguistic minority groups. Especially in the European context this study fills a gap in examining the effects that schools have on these students' performance and performance differentiation, taking into account school related factors such as resources and teachers, and the influence of other variables like mother tongue and socioeconomic status. This report on an ongoing research project in Portugal examines state schools within the same district, in the same tests over the same assessment period. The study is based on the following set of relationships: between schools that administer proficiency tests to their non-native students; schools that do not use such tests; and schools with verifiable support programs (including physical and digital materials); and between the effect of the school and the predictive values of the nationality, mother tongue and socioeconomic status variables on the performance of non-native students of Portuguese.

Hypertext, e-mail, word processing: electronic technologies have revolutionized textual practices. How does language on screen work differently from language on the page? What new literacy skills are needed and how do we teach them?
Page to Screen collects some of the best contemporary thinkers in the field of technology and literacy. They analyze the potential of the new forms of text, the increased emphasis on visual communication, new forms of rhetoric, learning in the age of global communication networks and new approaches to storytelling.
Page to Screen is compelling reading for anyone interested in Literacy Education, Language Studies, English, Library Studies, Multimedia and Communication Studies.
International contributors include Gunther Kress, Cynthia Selfe and Gail E. Hawisher.

This book provides a multifaceted, multilayered examination of the processes and challenges language teachers face in constructing their professional identities in multilingual contexts such as Hong Kong. It focuses on how professional and personal identities are enacted as individuals cross geographic, educational, and socio-cultural boundaries to become English language teachers in Hong Kong. It explores the construction of language teachers’ professional identities from multiple perspectives in multiple settings, including pre-service and in-service teachers from Hong Kong, Mainland China, and Western countries. Understanding the difficulties and challenges these language teachers face in their identity and professional development is of relevance to teachers and teacher educators, as well as those interested in becoming language teachers in multilingual contexts.

This book is mapping the fields of modern output-oriented teaching, intercultural learning, and drama methods in the foreign language class. It explains that drama-based language learning transcends the usual learning scopes in its practical relevance and its far-reaching contextual implications. By including (inter-)cultural aspects, as well as human and civil rights issues, modern teaching can provide students with new frames of references and shifts their attention from an individualistic worldview towards a more tolerant perception of "the other." The term of "cultura franca" hints at a liberation of cultural restraints and this is exactly what is indispensable in order to educate students to become the interculturally adept speakers our modern time needs.

English-Medium Instruction in Japanese Higher Education provides a touchstone for higher education practitioners, researchers and policy makers. It enables readers to more clearly understand why policies concerning English-medium instruction (EMI) are in place in Japan, how EMI is being implemented, what challenges are being addressed and what the impacts of EMI may be. The volume situates EMI within Japan's current policy context and examines the experiences of its stakeholders. The chapters are written by scholars and practitioners who have direct involvement with EMI in Japanese higher education. They look at EMI from perspectives that include policy planning, program design, marketing and classroom practice.

The papers collected in this book present diverse views and experiences on teaching English and French for specific and academic purposes. The scope of reflection covers a wide spectrum of cognitive areas of ESP and FOS, encompassing a multitude of training aspects and components (curricula, methods and techniques, materials and teaching aids) from the perspective of both LSP teachers and learners. A great range of topics related to work-specific language instruction addressed in the book displays the interdisciplinary nature of the research area, integrating aspects of linguistics, sociolinguistics, didactics and pedagogy. Les textes reunis dans le present volume exposent les idees et experiences relatives a l'enseignement de l'anglais et du francais sur objectifs specifiques et universitaires. Les sujets de reflexion ici abordes couvrent un vaste eventail d'aspects cognitifs et organisationnels (curricula, methodes et techniques, materiels et outils) propres aux formations en ESP et FOS, ceux-ci envisages dans la perspective des apprenants et des enseignants. La diversite d'elements inherents a la formation linguistico-professionnelle discutes par des didacticiens-chercheurs eminents temoigne du caractere interdisciplinaire du domaine d'investigation LSP qui integre les points de vues des linguistes, sociolinguistes, didacticiens et pedagogues.