Do you want to communicate easily and freely in Italian? Master Italian grammar and broaden your vocabulary with your very own Italian Tutor. This contemporary interactive workbook features 200 activities across a range of grammar and vocabulary points with clear goals, concise explanations, and real-world tasks. By studying and practicing Italian grammar you'll understand how the language really works and be able to speak Italian with clarity and ease. What will I learn? The Italian Tutor: Grammar and Vocabulary Workbook covers a comprehensive range of the most useful and frequent grammar and vocabulary in Italian. You can follow along unit by unit, or dip in and dip out to address your weak areas. As you progress, you will be introduced to new vocabulary and combine it with the grammar to complete extensive exercises. You will then practice the language through authentic reading and writing practice. You will achieve a solid upper intermediate level* of Italian grammar. Is this course for me? The Italian Tutor: Grammar and Vocabulary Workbook can be used as a standalone course or as a complement to any other Italian course. It offers extensive practice and review of essential grammar points and vocabulary and skills building. The personal tutor element points out exceptions and gives tips to really help you perfect your Italian. What do I get? This Italian workbook offers a range of clear and effective learning features: -200 activities across a range of grammar and vocabulary points -Unique visuals and infographics for extra context and practice -Personal tutor hints and tips to help you to understand language rules and culture points -Learn to learn section offers tips and advice on how to be a good language learner 22 short learning units each contain: -communication goals to guide your studies -grammar explanations with extensive exercises -vocabulary presentations and activities -reading and writing sections to consolidate your learning *This workbook maps from Novice High to Advanced Mid level proficiency of ACTFL (American Council on Teaching Foreign Languages) and from A2 Beginner to B2 Upper Intermediate level of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) guidelines. What other courses are available? For further study and practice, see Get Started in Italian (ISBN 9781444174717) and Complete Italian: Teach Yourself (ISBN 9781444177343). Rely on Teach Yourself, trusted by language learners for over 75 years.

Communicating Identities is a book for language teachers who wish to focus on the topic of identity in the context of their classroom teaching. The work provides an accessible introduction to research and theory on language learner and language teacher identity. It provides a set of interactive, practical activities for use in language classrooms in which students explore and communicate about aspects of their identities. The communicative activities concern the various facets of the students' own identities and are practical resources that teachers can draw on to structure and guide their students' exploration of their identities. All the activities include a follow-on teacher reflection in which teachers explore aspects of their own identity in relation to the learner identities explored in the activities. The book also introduces teachers to practical steps in doing exploratory action research so that they can investigate identity systematically in their own classrooms.

Using a reader-friendly, structured approach, "Qualitative Research in Applied Linguistics: A Practical Introduction" presents an easy-to-follow and straightforward guide to qualitative inquiry. Written by leading authors in a clear, informal style, it is an essential companion for graduate students and practicing teachers embarking on their first qualitative research study in applied linguistics.
The ten central chapters introduce core qualitative research approaches and commonly used data collection methods. Each of these chapters offers:
- A comprehensive guide to help you understand and use each approach or method
- An illustrative example from applied linguistics research to help you see the approach or method 'in action'
- A succinct outline of how you can avoid common mistakes and improve the quality of your research
- Discussion questions and tasks to give you hands-on experience working with each research approach or data collection method
Additional chapters offer engaging introductions to the qualitative research cycle, ethics, and writing up your research. There is also a glossary of important key words.
This book has been carefully written to provide you with the essential research knowledge, skills - and confidence - you need to begin your qualitative research project.

This book examines approaches to teaching students who aim to make the leap from "advanced" or "superior" proficiency in a foreign language to "near-native" ability. While there are an abundance of publications on classroom techniques and methods for lower levels of instruction, almost nothing exists about the transition, which is vital for those who intend to use foreign languages in high-level arenas. Compiled by leading practitioners in this area of foreign language teaching, the book fills the gap for those developing programs at the "advanced to distinguished" level.

This book investigates the impact of language learning and study abroad on the career options and choices of US-based alumni of all ages. It reports on the results of a mixed-methods study which used both an extensive nationwide survey and qualitative life history interviews with 54 participants systematically selected to represent a broad range of backgrounds and professions. International education experiences are shown to exert considerable influence on the aspirations and career paths of individuals in a wide variety of fields (e.g. education, healthcare, business, government service). The long-term benefits of language study are illustrated both in narratives from individuals whose work requires proficiency beyond English and from participant comments on improvement in their use of English for international communication. The book will be of relevance to a wide audience of international education professionals in addition to researchers and students in applied linguistics and language education.

Tasks in Second Language Learning aims to bring more fully into debate the holistic nature of language learning, which tasks are one way of achieving, and to outline the research implications of this perspective. It sets language learning tasks within a broad educational and social science perspective, with a consistent focus on the principles and practices of their use in the language classroom. Using case study data, illustrative materials, transcript data, and close analyses of published research studies, it provides ample and lively illustration of the contributions of a range of specialists in research, teaching methodology and materials development, and of the authors' own argument.

Non-native language teachers have often been viewed as an unavoidable fate of the profession, rather than an asset worth exploring and investigating. Now that non-natives are increasingly found teaching languages, and particularly English, both in ESL and EFL contexts, the identification of their specific contributions and their main strengths has become more relevant than ever.

As a result, there has recently been a surge of interest in the role of non-native teachers but little empirical research has been published so far. This volume is particularly rich in providing different approaches to the study of non-native teachers: NNS teachers as seen by students, teachers, graduate supervisors, and by themselves. It also contributes little explored perspectives, like classroom discourse analysis, or a social-psychological framework to discuss conceptions of NNS teachers.

This collection of original essays brings together contributors from both sides of the Atlantic to discuss the implications of the new media for the creation, delivery and assessment of English studies. Strategies by which digital technologies can serve professional, scholarly and pedagogical needs in a completely new way are explored in the context of the role and mission of humanities in the electronic age, student learning from a distance, teaching e-lit, electronic tutorials and interdisciplinarity and collaboration in a virtual environment. Including a useful Glossary of Terms and lists of Further Reading and Key Individuals in the field, this will be an essential volume for all teachers of English Studies.

Key Issues in the Teaching of Spanish Pronunciation: From Description to Pedagogy is a resource that encourages Spanish teachers and curriculum designers to increase their incorporation of pronunciation into the classroom. Combining theory and practical guidance, it will help language practitioners integrate the teaching of Spanish pronunciation with confidence and effectiveness. The international group of scholars across its 15 chapters is made up of individuals with well-established research records and training in best pedagogical practices. Key features: A range of topics including vowels, various classes of consonants, prosody, the use of technology, the role of orthography, the importance of both perception and production, individual learner differences, and teacher training; Overviews of descriptive, empirical, and acquisition-based research associated with each aspect of the Spanish sound system; Guidance on the difficulties that teachers face when incorporating the teaching of pronunciation into the classroom; Clear explanations of concepts, accompanied by an abundance of concrete examples and references; Multiple sample activities and lesson plans tailored to different levels and backgrounds of students; A bilingual glossary of terms to help the content reach the widest audience possible. Written in a clear and accessible manner, Key Issues in the Teaching of Spanish Pronunciation is an essential resource for teachers of Spanish at all levels. It is also an excellent reference book for researchers and both undergraduate and graduate university students interested in Spanish phonetics and language acquisition.

The authors describe evaluation as a way of understanding and developing language programs: the thematic and background section sets out the decision-making, quality management, and learning functions of evaluation. Case studies illustrate the diversity of evaluation contexts, functions and approaches, documenting the ways in which evaluation processes and outcomes inform and facilitate program development, and contribute to explaining how language and teacher education programs constitute opportunities for learning. The ways in which evaluation practice can be researched and developed to maximize policy, institutional and program effectiveness is included, and a comprehensive set of resources for those commissioning, undertaking or researching language program evaluations concludes the text.

This is a resource for researchers and practitioners in a range of applied linguistics fields, including TESOL, language education and more generally, discourse analysis and stylistics. Pedagogically, this translates into recognition that students can be helped to develop a critical understanding of literary discourse as linguistic communication to the mutual enrichment of their literary, linguistic and cultural understandings. A conceptual map of the field, relevant researchable topics, research guidance and resources, and illustrative case studies drawn widely from real life teaching and research contexts are provided.

Community-based Language Learning offers a new framework for world language educators interested in integrating community-based language learning (CBLL) into their teaching and curricula. CBLL connects academic learning objectives with experiential learning, ranging from reciprocal partnerships with the community (e.g., community engagement, service learning) to one-directional learning situations such as community service and site visits. This resource prepares teachers to implement CBLL by offering solid theoretical frameworks alongside real-world case studies and engaging exercises, all designed to help students build both language skills and authentic relationships as they engage with world language communities in the US. Making the case that language learning can be a tool for social change as well, Community-based Language Learning serves as a valuable resource for language educators at all levels, as well as students of language teaching methodology and community organizations working with immigrant populations.

A thoroughly updated edition of this prize-winning, readable introduction to the main theories of first and second language acquisition.
This book introduces you to some of the language acquisition research that will help you not just to evaluate existing materials, but also to adapt and use them in a way that fits what we currently understand about how languages are learned.
-Content including new research and new areas in pedagogy to provide an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of research in the field.
-Chapter Preview s and Summaries with round-up questions.
-Companion website with vodcasts, content updates, and shared user content.
-Also available as an e-book.

This book investigates the relationships between learner strategy use and performance on second language tests. To this effect, it examines the construct validity of two questionnaires, designed within a model of human information processing, that purport to measure testtakers' self-reported cognitive and metacognitive strategy use. It then examines the construct validity of the FCE Anchor test, developed by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate, to measure second language proficiency. This book is a useful resource for those interested in understanding the effects of strategy use on performance, for those interested in training students to use strategies in language classrooms and for those interested in using structural equation modelling as an analytic tool for examining the effects of socio-psychological background variables on performance.

Understanding what constitutes expertise in language learning and teaching is important for theoretical reasons related to psycholinguistic, and applied linguistic, enquiry. It also has many significant applications in practice, particularly in relation to the training and practice of language teachers and improvements in students' strategies of learning. In this volume, methodologies for establishing what constitutes expert practice are discussed and the contributions address the fields of listening, reading, writing, speaking and communication strategies, looking at common characteristics of the 'expert teacher' and the 'expert learner'.

The term 'new learning environments' has, in the past, been employed almost exclusively in relation to discussions on the use of computers in language learning. This volume seeks to provide a broader interpretation for language learners, teachers and researchers who are increasingly involved in language learning beyond the traditional environment of the classroom. Contributors explore a range of theoretical and pedagogical frameworks which inform the development of new learning environments, the forms these environments take, and how they are created and sustained. This volume explores the issue of whether new learning environments call for new methodologies and support new kinds of learning, the extent to which they can be developded within schools and universities, and their potential role in language learning within the wider community.

A book that develops an understanding of practices at the very centre of language education - the classroom. It is written for postgraduate students in Applied Linguistics and Education, and practitioners, whether in TESOL or other language teaching, In Part 1 the author explores key concepts in unpacking the complexity of classroom life. In Part 2 existing research and practice are examined through a series of research case studies. Part 3 provides a template for research activity and suggestions for projects and methodologies, and Part 4 collects resources for readers keen to follow up the themes developed in the book .

The starting point for this collection is a chapter by Dick Allwright on the language learning and teaching classroom experience entitled "Six Promising Directions in Applied Linguistics," The other distinguished contributors respond to this discussion with their own interpretations and from their own experience. The collection problematizes prescription, efficiency, and technical solutions as orientations to classroom language learning. Complexity and idiosyncrasy, on the other hand, are recognized as central concepts in a move towards centralizing teachers' and learners' own understanding of "classroom life," in the contexts of language learning, adult literacy education and language teacher education.

Verbal protocol analysis (VPA) is a methodology that is being used extensively by researchers. Recently, individuals working in the area of testing, and in language testing in particular, have begun to appreciate the roles VPA might play in the development and evaluation of assessment instruments. VPA is a complex methodology however, and individuals choosing to use the technique require some degree of training in order to maximise the benefits in adopting this approach, and in order to avoid some of the more common misunderstandings and pitfalls associated with the use of verbal data. This book aims to provide potential practitioners of VPA with the background to the technique and a good understanding of what is entailed in using VPA in specific context of language testing and assessment. Tutorial exercises are presented which enable the reader to try out each of the different steps involved in VPA.

Winner - British Council Innovation in English Language Teaching Award 2006 This book was written for language teachers by language teachers, with a view to encouraging readers to use more tasks in their lessons, and to explore for themselves various aspects of task-based teaching and learning. It gives insights into ways in which tasks can be designed, adapted and implemented in a range of teaching contexts and illustrates ways in which tasks and task-based learning can be investigated as a research activity. Practising language teachers and student professionals on MA TESOL/Applied Linguistics courses will find this a rich resource of varied experience in the classroom and a stimulus to their own qualitative studies.

This book features effective artistic practices to improve literacy and language skills for emergent bilinguals in PreK-12 schools. Including insights from key voices from the field, this book highlights how artistic practices can increase proficiency in emergent language learners and students with limited access to academic English. Challenging current prescriptions for teaching English to language learners, the arts-integrated framework in this book is grounded in a sense of student and teacher agency and offers key pedagogical tools to build upon students' sociocultural knowledge and improve language competence and confidence. Offering rich and diverse examples of using the arts as a way of talking, this volume invites teacher educators, teachers, artists, and researchers to reconsider how to fully engage students in their own learning and best use the resources within their own multilingual educational settings and communities.

Addressed to researchers in Applied Linguistics, and to professional teachers working in, or studying teaching and learning processes in, multilingual classrooms, Critical Reading in Language Education offers a distinctive contribution to the question of how foreign language learners can be helped to acquire effective literacy in English. At the heart of the book is first-hand classroom research by the author as both teacher and researcher, demonstrating an innovative research methodology and empirical evidence to support a critical reading pedagogy.

The status of 'Standard English' has featured in linguistic, educational and cultural debates over decades. This second edition of Tony Crowley's wide-ranging historical analysis and lucid account of the complex and sometimes polarised arguments driving the debate brings us up to date, and ranges from the 1830s to Conservative education policies in the 1990s and on to the implications of the National Curriculum for English language teaching in schools. Students and researchers in literacy, the history of English language, cultural theory, and English language education will find this treatment comprehensive, carefully researched and lively reading.

This book is the first in its field. It showcases current and emerging communicative practices in the teaching and learning of ancient languages (Latin and Greek) across contemporary education in the US, the UK, South America and continental Europe. In all these parts of the globe, communicative approaches are increasingly being accepted as showing benefits for learners in school, university and college classrooms, as well as at specialist conferences which allow for total immersion in an ancient language. These approaches are characterised by interaction with others using the ancient language. They may include various means and modalities such as face-to-face conversations and written communication. The ultimate aim is to optimise the facility to read such languages with comprehension and engagement. The examples showcased in this volume provide readers with a vital survey of the most current issues in communicative language teaching, helping them to explore and consider adoption of a wider range of pedagogical practices, and encouraging them to develop tools to promote engagement and retention of a wider variety of students than currently find ancient languages accessible. Both new and experienced teachers and learners can build on the experiences and ideas in this volume to explore the value of these approaches in their own classrooms.

What does 'autonomy' mean within language learning? Should it be enhanced within national, institutional or small group culture and, if so, how can that be done? A variety of new theoretical perspectives are here firmly anchored in research data from projects worldwide. By foregrounding cultural issues and thus explicitly addressing the concerns of many educators on the appropriateness and feasibility of developing learner autonomy in practice, this book fills a gap in the literature and offers practical benefits to language teachers.