This text goes back to basics by investigating fundamental assumptions about the way English should be defined and taught as a foreign language. It looks at different attitudes to English teaching, and critically examines proposals for course content.

This edited book brings together a collection of research-based chapters that address a variety of topics related to the teaching of English in different contexts around the world. The chapters are informed by a critical approach to research, employing a variety of research methods to question and problematize taken-for-granted definitions and practices in areas such as classroom pedagogy, testing, curriculum, language policy, the position of English as a medium of instruction, educational management, teacher education, materials and evaluation. This book addresses a major gap in theoretical and research literature in the area of teaching English, and it will be of interest to trainee and practising teachers, research students and scholars of EFL and TESOL, and researchers in applied linguistics.

There are several issues in English teaching on which applied linguists take very different positions: e.g. linguistic imperialism, the validity of critical discourse analysis, the pedagogic relevance of corpus descriptions of language, the theoretical bases of second language acquisition research, the nature of applied linguistics itself. This book presents exchanges between scholars arguing different positions, and directs attention to the key points at issue.

This book offers a succinct theoretical introduction to the basic concepts in language testing in a way that is easy to understand. In the Japanese context, this book is highly recommended for university faculty members involved in obtaining assessment literacy, teachers who want to validate their exploratory teaching and testing, or applied linguistics students new to the language testing field. The book is divided into four main sections. The first provides an overview of the principles of language testing. The next contains short extracts from the testing literature with questions which stimulate further thinking. Section 3 is a list of references with brief annotations and Section 4 a glossary of referenced testing terms.

The Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning is an authoritative reference dealing with all aspects of this increasingly important field of study. Offering a comprehensive range of articles on contemporary language teaching and its history, it has been produced specifically for language teaching professionals and as a reference work for academic studies at postgraduate level. In this new edition, every single entry has been reviewed and updated with reference to new developments and publications. Coverage has been expanded to reflect new technological, global and academic developments, with particular attention to areas such as online and distance learning, teacher and learner cognition, testing, assessment and evaluation, global English and teacher education. Themes and disciplines covered include: Methods and materials, including new technologies and materials development Contexts and concepts, such as mediation, risk-taking in language learning and intercomprehension Influential figures from the early days of language teaching to the contemporary Related disciplines, such as psychology, anthropology and corpus linguistics It covers the teaching of specific languages, including Japanese, Chinese, Arabic and African languages, as well as English, French, German and Spanish. There are thirty five overview articles dealing with issues such as communicative language teaching, early language learning, teacher education and syllabus and curriculum design. A further 160 entries focus on topics such as bilingualism, language laboratories and study abroad. Numerous shorter items examine language and cultural institutions, professional associations and acronyms. Multiple cross-references enable the user to browse from one entry to another, and there are suggestions for further reading. Written by an international team of specialists, the Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning is an invaluable resource and reference manual for anyone with a professional or academic interest in the subject.

This book introduces a new field of educational research called teacher learning, as it applies to the teaching of languages. Up until recently, the study of second language teacher education has focused mainly on the knowledge base and specific skills needed for effective teaching. This book invites us to look at teacher education from a fresh point of view, through an exploration of the thinking and learning processes of individuals as they learn to teach. Seventeen original articles, based on studies done in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, provide examples of pioneering research into the ways that individuals learn to teach languages, and the roles that previous experience, social context, and professional training play in the process. The collection thus helps establish a research base for this newly developing field.