Language Teaching Competences

This book explains in practical detail how an understanding of competences can have an impact on all aspects of professional development. Areas covered include: • key terminology • factors leading to the development of teaching competence frameworks • in-depth exploration of the European Profiling Grid and the Eaquals Framework for Language Teacher Training and Development • practical advice on using language teaching competences for assessment and self-assessment in a range of teaching contexts

Spanning the divide between the theory and praxis of competency-based teaching in tertiary language education, this volume contains invaluable practical guidance for the post-secondary sector on how to approach, teach, and assess competencies in Bologna-adapted systems of study. It presents the latest results of prominent European research projects, programs of pedagogical innovation, and thematically linked academic networks. Responding to a profound need for a volume addressing the practical aspects of the newly designed language degrees now being rolled out across Europe, this essential contribution pools the insights of a prestigious set of scholars, practitioners, and policy makers from diverse parts of Europe and the US. It will inform crucial decisions about instituting and evaluating competencies in a new generation of language studies programmes. ​

Foreign language teaching can be challenging in many ways. With that in mind, an award-winning EFL teacher offers insight into significant aspects of the learning process, the ideal learning environment, alternative learning settings, CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) applicationsall while presenting innovative, proven teaching methodologies. Eugenia Papaioannou shares pair and group activities designed to assist foreign language teachers/trainers in optimising their teaching competences for learners ranging in age and abilities. While emphasising the development of a learners linguistic skills, Papaioannou presents case studies and approaches intended to: illustrate the benefits of an effective learning environment in L2, boost a learners confidence, enhance teacher/trainer competences, help teachers create conditions for active learning, and offer insight into course design, teaching approaches, and positive outcomes. Optimise Your Teaching Competences offers a step-by-step description of the ideal learning environment that will help foreign language teachers adjust teaching approaches to respond to the way the brain learns, ultimately ensuring a world full of assured, successful learners.

This volume examines many of the complex issues regarding the language skills and professional competencies acquired by students studying Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) at universities in the United Kingdom and across Europe. It also outlines the innovative pedagogical strategies, methods, and resources employed by language academics to help graduates transition from university into the world of work through their MFL studies. These issues were discussed at the Professional Competencies in Language Learning and Teaching conference that took place on 12th-13th July 2018 at the University of Nottingham. The conference that was organised as a collaboration between the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures and the Confucius Institute of the University of Nottingham brought together researchers, practitioners, employers, and experts working on 21st century professional competencies and language education.

This is a book written for language teachers, prospective teachers, students in the language teaching departments and researchers working in this field. This book includes the issues related to language teaching, how to do it effectively and how to focus on different language skills such as listening, speaking, reading and writing in the language classroom. It is believed that this book will facilitate the process of teaching English as a foreign and/or language in different language teaching contexts all around the world. It consists of thirteen chapters which are concerned with important issues to be taken into account while teaching a second and/or foreign language.

Providing a series of chapters, written by teacher educators in three continents, this edited volume explores the concepts, challenges, possibilities, and implementations of competency-based instruction for developing English competencies in English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts. Recent trends in education have emphasized the need to develop competencies that connect learning with real-life performances. This need has brought about a massive increase in the number of studies and scholarly works devoted to research into competency-based education. However, for teachers and learners of EFL, it is challenging to develop competencies for using a language that does not seem to connect with their real-life scenarios. The chapters apply the concept of competency-based instruction in different EFL contexts and are structured around three themes: Theory: current thoughts on theories of competency-based education Research: empirical research on competency-based teacher education Practice: integrating competency-based instruction into teacher education This book offers examples of competency-based EFL teacher education through both research and practical applications. In addition to the innovation in competency approaches, the inclusion of language learning in virtual environments offers a valuable resource for scholars, educators, researchers, and all those concerned with current and future education.

The introduction of communicative competence as the goal of second and for eign language teaching has led to recognition of the role of context in language learning and use. As communicative competence is defined by the social and cultural contexts in which it is used, no single communicative competence can serve as the goal and model for all learners. This recognition has had an impact on program design and materials development. One significant change is that the choice of a teaching method is no longer the primary concern. Instead, the first step for the program designer is becoming familiar with the social and cultural features of the context of the language being taught. This includes a consideration of the uses speakers make of the language, their reasons for using it, and their attitudes toward it. Contexts of Competence: Social and Cultural Considerations in Commu nicative Language Teaching explores the relationship between context and com petence from a theoretical and practical perspective. Its audience is applied linguists in general and language teaching practitioners in particular. The overall aim of its five chapters is to provide a framework for consideration of various contexts of language learning and use and to guide the implementation and development of models of communicative language teaching that are responsive to the context-specific needs of learners.