In Foreign and Second Language Learning, William Littlewood surveys recent research into how people acquire languages and considers its relevance for language teaching. He describes the most important studies and ideas about first language acquisition, and how these have influenced and developed into studies of second language acquisition. He considers the background of language theories which were current before the present interest in acquisition research, and looks at factors such as learners' errors, whether learners are predisposed to acquire language in certain sequences, why some...

Recognizing that teachers are often involved in planning and developing courses as part of their responsibilities, the authors have set out to describe the factors which must be considered in constructing courses and materials. They cover: the fact-finding stage, establishing realistic goals, surveying existing programmes, realizing goals through instructional plans, selecting the shape of the syllabus, and considerations involved in constructing communicative curricula and syllabuses. All of these aspects are considered against current theories of language learning. Examples of different...

The communicative approach is changing the face of foreign language teaching. It provides an introduction to communicative language teaching for practising classroom teachers. The author gives a single coherent account of the basic communicative ideas, emphasizing those aspects most important in the classroom so that teachers can integrate the new ideas into their own familiar methods. He stresses that a knowledge of grammar remains essential for effective communication.

Richards explains how effective language teaching involves a network of interactions between curriculum, methodology, teachers, learners, instructional materials. Each chapter discusses and examines the theoretical and practical dimensions of a central issue in language teaching. Topics covered include the nature of effective teaching, self-monitoring in teacher development, language and content, and teaching listening, speaking, reading and writing. Richards presents key issues in an accessible and highly readable style, and shows how teachers and teachers-in-training can be involved in the...

Collaborative Language Learning and Teaching is written for teachers, teacher educators and researchers who are interested in experimenting with alternative ways of organising teaching and learning, and who wish to create an environment in which teachers, learners and researchers can work together and learn from one another. This wide-ranging collection of papers focuses on issues such as: The central characteristics of a collaborative approach to classroom research Appropriate theoretical models of language and learning for informing collaborative research Appropriate research methods, tools...

Discourse and Language Education is part of the Cambridge Language Teaching Library series. Discourse analysis describes how such communication is structured, so that it is socially appropriate and linguistically accurate. This book gives practical experience in analyzing discourse and the study of written language. The analyses show the ways we use linguistic signals to carry out our discourse goals and the differences between written and spoken language as well as across languages. This text can be used as a manual in teacher education courses and linguistics and communications courses. It...

Language Test Construction and Evaluation describes the process of language test construction clearly and comprehensively. Each chapter deals with one stage of the test construction process; from drafting initial test specifications, to reporting test scores, test validation and washback. In addition, current practice in the examining of English as a Foreign Language by different examining boards is reviewed in order to compare testing principles with present test practice. The focus is on the practical: it does not assume a statistical background but explains and demystifies the procedures...

Society and the Language Classroom provides a new perspective on classroom research. Through a series of case studies, it examines the ways that learners and teachers behave in English language classrooms in different parts of the world, including Australia, South Africa, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, China and Pakistan, and at primary, secondary and tertiary level. Thought-provoking issues emerging from the case studies include the possibility that: - learners' expectations of what behaviour is appropriate in the classroom may thwart teachers' attempts to bring about change; - innovation may have...

This book provides a comprehensive overview of instituting change in language education programs. The paperback edition provides a comprehensive overview of the theory and practice of instituting change in language education programs. It offers a theoretical framework, a detailed case study, and nine principles for the management of educational innovation.

This text is about what really happens in language classrooms. This paperback edition is about what really happens in language classrooms, both those in which language is the topic of instruction and those where it functions primarily as the medium of instruction. In this collection of 19 original papers, the authors utilize a variety of research methods, with an emphasis on the collection and analysis of data. Chapters investigate such issues as language-related anxiety, curriculum renewal, classroom interaction, teachers' on-line decision-making, and sociopolitical concerns affecting life...