There is no shortage of literature on how to make the learning process a more enjoyable and lasting one for learners. As far as learning English as a foreign language is concerned, a century of formal teaching has helped little in the way of facilitating the task of learning the language. One thing we know for sure is that effective learning hinges upon making the learning process as enjoyable and the learning materials as meaningful to the learner as possible. Learning vocabulary, as the building block of language, will accordingly be fruitful only when the task includes the...

God gave us two ears but only one mouth. This fact highlights the importance of listening in our lives and signifies its intricacy and complexities involved in learning it when it comes to mastering listening as a skill in a foreign or second language. There is no shortage of books, monographs and documents on the value of listening and how it can be developed and consolidated by L2 learners, and indeed, the difficulty learners may face in this regard seem to be concerned with the multiplicity rather than paucity of view points on how their listening problem may be tackled. Although advice...

Learning a second or foreign language has challenged many a learner, and there is no shortage of theories proposed by specialists in a hope to make this intriguing task a bit simpler. The fact is that we are still far away from a perfect understanding of the processes involved in learning a second language which make it so different from acquiring L1. What we do know for sure is, however, that the ability to speak a foreign language requires more than a mere knowledge of its grammatical and semantic rules. Learners must acquire the knowledge of how native speakers use the language naturally...

This book brings together the current theory, research and practical perspectives from different parts of the world on language teacher identity in an attempt to better understand the nature of identities teachers in different contexts develop. By linking theory to pedagogy, the book examines how second language teacher identities are shaped and explores the various links between teacher identities and variables that affect the formation of identities. Theory and Practice in Second Language Teacher Identity includes a foreword by Jack Richards (University of Sydney and RELC), an afterword by...