Teaching English To Second Language Learners In Academic Contexts

Teaching English to Second Language Learners in Academic Contexts: Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking provides the fundamental knowledge that ESL and EFL teachers need to teach the four language skills. This foundational text, written by internationally renowned experts in the field, explains why skills-based teaching is at the heart of effective instruction in English for academic purposes (EAP) contexts. Each of the four main sections of the book helps readers understand how each skill—reading, writing, listening, and speaking—works and explains what research has to say about successful skill performance. Pedagogically focused chapters apply this information to principles for EAP curriculum design and to instructional activities and tasks adaptable in a wide range of language-learning contexts. Options for assessment and the role of digital technologies are considered for each skill, and essential information on integrated-skill instruction is provided. Moving from theory to practice, this teacher-friendly text is an essential resource for courses in TESOL programs, for in-service teacher-training seminars, and for practicing EAP teachers who want to upgrade their teaching abilities and knowledge bases.

Adopting a learner-centred approach that places an emphasis on hands-on child SL methodology, this book illustrates the practices used to teach young second language learners in different classroom contexts: (1) English-as-an-Additional-Language-or-Dialect (EAL/D) – both intensive EAL/D and EAL/D in the mainstream (2) Language-Other-Than-English (LOTE) (3) Content-and-Language-Integrated-Learning (CLIL), (4) Indigenous (5) Foreign-Language (FL). It will be particularly useful to undergraduate teachers to build upon the literacy unit they undertake in the first years of their course to explore factors that constitute an effective child SL classroom and, in practical terms, how to develop such a classroom. The pedagogical strategies for teaching young language learners in the six chapters are firmly guided by research-based findings, enabling not only pre-service teachers but also experienced teachers to make informed choices of how to effectively facilitate the development of the target language, empowering them to assume an active and effective role of classroom practitioners.

English Language Teaching (ELT), especially English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL), has been witnessing unprecedented changes in curriculum, teaching methodology, and the application of learning theories. This has created a demand for teachers who can teach English to learners of varied cultural, socio-economic and psychological backgrounds. The book, in its second edition, continues to discuss the modern trends, innovations, as well as the difficulties and challenges in teaching and learning ESL in a non-native context. The book, with contributions from many experts (each one specializing in a particular field) from countries such as UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, India, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, China, and Japan, provides new methods, strategies and application-oriented solutions to overcome the problems in a practical way. The book deals with all topics pertinent to English as a Second Language or English for the non-native speakers, and these are further reinforced by a large number of examples and quotations from different sources. The new edition comes along with thoroughly improvised chapters on Narrative Inquiry for Teacher Development (Chapter 13) and Mass Media, Language Attitudes and Language Interaction Phenomena (Chapter 23): to provide an insight on the innovative approaches in Teacher training and in classrooms, and new approaches and changing language dimensions in the world of media, and in general. What distinguishes the text is its focus on modern innovations and use of technology in ELT/CLT (Communicative Language Teaching). Postgraduate Students of English, teachers, teacher-trainees (B.Ed./M.A. Education/M.Ed.), and teacher-educators who are concerned with teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) should find this book immensely helpful.a

The education of second language teachers takes place across diverse contexts, levels, settings, and geographic regions. By bringing together research, theory, and best practices from a variety of contexts (ESL/EFL, foreign language, bilingual and immersion education), this book contributes to building meaningful professional dialogue among second-language teacher educators. Featuring an international roster of authors, the volume is comprised of 18 chapters organized in four thematic sections: the knowledge base of second language teacher education; second language teacher education contexts; collaborations in second language teacher education; and second language teacher education in practice. Second Language Teacher Education: International Perspectives is an essential professional resource for practicing and prospective second language teacher educators around the world.

Language in academic settings, also referred to academic language, has gained attention in the field of second language learning owing to new understandings of the complexities of language inherent in learning academic content, and new efforts to assess English learners’ language proficiency in the context of school learning. The concept of academic language as distinct from social language has been in the academic literature since the mid-1950s, and surfaced as a major construct in the field of bilingual education in the 1980s. Many readers will be familiar with the ideas of BICS and CALP, first introduced by Jim Cummins in the 1980s. This book presents a critique of academic language as a separable construct from social language, and introduces current research efforts to understand how English learners interact, interpret, and show understanding of language in academic contexts in ways that re-think and go beyond the distinction between social and academic language. The book is organized into three main sections, each with a range of chapters that consider how academic language plays into how children and youth learn academic content as emergent bilingual students in school settings. A Foreward and Afterward offer commentary on the book and its contents. The intended audience for this book is graduate students, teacher educators, and researchers interested in issues of language and content learning for English learners, the new mainstream of schools across the nation. There is something for a wide range of readers and students of second language acquisition in this volume.

For millions of individuals all over the world, speaking in a second language is a daily activity. It is therefore important that research in applied linguistics should contribute empirically to the study of second language spoken interaction. The aim of this volume is to make such a contribution by providing research-based insights into current approaches to the teaching and learning of this skill. Two key dimensions define the papers included here−their novelty and scope. First, the book provides a novel approach to the study of speaking in a second language by combining recent findings in usage-based linguistics with current issues in teaching. Second, the chapters cover a range of theoretical perspectives, including sociolinguistic and interactional competence, gestures, dynamic systems theory and code-switching. The volume offers a contemporary analysis of research in second language speaking that will be of interest to researchers, graduate students, teachers and other professionals working in the fields of communication and applied linguistics.

Storybridge to Second Language Literacy makes a case for using authentic children’s literature—alternately also referred to as ‘stories’ or ‘real books’—as the medium of instruction in teaching English to young learners, particularly in contexts where children must access general curriculum subjects in English. The author first proposes theoretical foundations for the argument that illustrated children’s books are superior to traditional language teaching courses in the primary school. She builds the case around the motivational power of stories, the language and content of quality children’s literature, and the potential of literature to contribute to development of second language academic literacy. She then reviews research of the past thirty years that clearly supports her claim. Finally, she uses transcripts from real classrooms to illustrate how teachers in diverse contexts make use of stories. Through the classroom vignettes, a practical model of literature-based instruction emerges that is adaptable to a wide range of primary school teaching contexts, including English as a second language contexts in core-English countries. Storybridge to Second Language Literacy compiles in one volume solid theoretical foundations for story-based instruction, research evidence of the past thirty years supporting the approach (not currently available in a single source), and extensive classroom vignettes illustrating diverse practical applications (not lesson plans).This makes the book valuable for anyone in the field of young learner ELT. MA students in TESOL will find the book useful and will develop an understanding of why and how literature-based instruction works and develop insight to guide their practice. Members of TESOL Elementary Education, EFL, and Bilingual Education SIGs, and IATEFL Young Learner SIG will be interested in the volume. Instructors of teacher development courses should also find the proposed volume a valuable addition to assigned readings. Each chapter is followed by ‘Think about it’ questions and ‘Try it out’ suggestions.