In the last few years Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have emerged as a transforming element in language teaching and learning and have become an integral part of many courses of English for professional and academic purposes (ESP). This collection brings together contributions from ESP teachers, who provide an account of educational experiences involving ICTs and share their practices, successes, failures and reflections. Most papers in the volume report on blended learning experiences, where teachers use either Course Management Systems like WebCT or Moodle, or online learning environments created by themselves. The contributions give ideas on how to develop pedagogically sound online language learning materials. Additionally, they discuss issues related to online language pedagogy and promote the development of online learning.

This collection offers a critical examination of online language teacher education programs (OLTE), looking at a range of issues which have informed their development and the challenges and opportunities in their implementation from a TESOL perspective. Positioning itself uniquely amongst the growing literature at the nexus of technology and language learning, the book focuses on language teacher education programs designed for academic and professional credentials in online environments. Introductory sections provide a brief historical overview of the OLTEs as we know them today, with examples from a global range of programs toward demonstrating their theoretical and philosophical foundations. The second section of the book explores the paradigm shifts borne out of OLTE in the modes, media, and tasks employed and their subsequent impact on instructional efficacy. Subsequent chapters turn a critical lens on OLTE in raising questions around accessibility its implementation in less technologically developed environments, issues of quality measures and accreditation, and practicum concerns. Taken together, this collection is a state of the art of online language teacher education programs and lays the groundwork for future research on the nexus of online education, teacher education, and applied linguistics.

Mastering the American Accent is an easy-to-follow approach for reducing the accent of non-native speakers of English. Well-sequenced lessons in the book correspond over eight hours of audio files covering the entire text. The audio program provides clear models (both male and female) to help coach a standard American accent. The program is designed to help users speak Standard American English with clarity, confidence, and accuracy. The many exercises in the book concentrate on topics such as vowel sounds, problematic consonants such as V, W, TH, the American R and T and others. Correct lip and tongue positions for all sounds are discussed in detail. Beyond the production of sounds, the program provides detailed instruction in prosodic elements such as syllable stress, emphasis, intonation, linking words for smoother speech flow, common word contractions, and much more. Additional topics that often confuse ESL students are also discussed and explained. They include distinguishing between casual and formal speech, homophones (e.g., they're and there), recognizing words with silent letters (e.g., comb, receipt), and avoiding embarrassing pronunciation mistakes, such as mixing up "pull" and "pool." Students are familiarized with many irregular English spelling rules and exceptions, and are shown how such irregularities can contribute to pronunciation errors. A native language guide references problematic accent issues for 13 different language backgrounds. Publisher's Note: Products purchased from Third Party sellers are not guaranteed by the publisher for quality, authenticity, or access to any online entitlements included with the product.

English Studies Online: Programs, Practices, Possibilities represents a collection of essays by established teacher-scholars across English Studies who offer critical commentary on how they have worked to create and sustain high-impact online programs (majors, minors, certificates) and courses in the field. Ultimately, these chapters explore the programs and classroom practices that can help faculty across English Studies to think carefully and critically about the changes that online education affords us, the rich possibilities such courses and programs bring, and some potential problems they can introduce into our department and college ecologies. By highlighting both innovative pedagogies and hybrid methods, the authors in our collection demonstrate how we might engage these changes more productively. Divided into three interrelated conversations — practices, programs, and possibilities — the essays in this collection demonstrate some of the innovative pedagogical work going on in English departments around the United States in order to highlight how both hybrid and fully online programs in English Studies can help us to more meaningfully and purposefully enact the values of a liberal arts education. This collection serves as both a cautionary history of teaching practices and programs that have developed in English Studies and a space to support faculty and administrators in making the case for why and how humanities disciplines can be important contributors to digital teaching and learning. Contributors include Joanne Addison, William P. Banks, Lisa Beckelhimer, Dev K. Bose, Elizabeth Burrows, Amy Cicchino, Erin A. Frost, Heidi Skurat Harris, John Havard, Marcela Hebbard, Stephanie Hedge, Ashley J. Holmes, George Jensen, Karen Kuralt, Michele Griegel-McCord, Samantha McNeilly, Lilian Mina, Catrina Mitchum, Janine Morris, Michael Neal, Cynthia Nitz Ris, Rochelle Rodrigo, Cecilia Shelton, Susan Spangler, Katelyn Stark, Eric Sterling, and Richard C. Taylor.

"A research-based ... grammar series for beginning- to advanced-level students of North American English. The series focuses on the grammar structures most commonly used in North American English, with an emphasis on the application of the grammar structures to academic writing. ... It is designed for use both in the classroom and as a self-study learning tool"--Introduction.

This volume contains a selection of the papers, seminars and workshops presented in the First International Conference on English Language Teaching and Learning (ICELTL1), held at the University of Santiago, Spain, in September 2008, as well as a number of valuable original contributions by other specialists who were involved in the conference. It aims to represent the views of teachers, scholars, researchers, teacher trainers and curriculum developers from all over the world, from the USA and Japan to Europe. It is addressed to ELT teachers, researchers and professionals who want to reflect upon and develop their knowledge and practice of current issues in English language teaching and learning. Current problems in many of the areas of ELT are given different solutions depending on the context in which respective contributors conduct their work. It is precisely this international perspective that makes this volume unique and illustrative of different realities with a similar objective in mind: the implementation and improvement of English language teaching. The various contributions have been organised in four main sections that correspond to the major focal topics of the conference: teacher training and development, classroom management and practice, new technologies and language teaching, and research on learner language.

This book is an authoritative text that explores best classroom practices for engaging adult learners in beginner-level foreign language courses. Built around a diverse range of international research studies and conceptual articles, the book covers four key issues in teaching language to novice students: development of linguistic skills, communicative and intercultural competence, evaluation and assessment, and the use of technology. Each chapter includes teaching insights that are supported by critical research and can be practically applied across languages to enhance instructional strategies and curriculum designs. The text also aims to build intercultural competence, harness technology, and design assessment to stimulate effective learning in formal instructional settings, including colleges, universities, and specialist language schools. With its broad coverage of language pedagogy at the novice level, this book is a must read for graduate students, scholars, researchers, and practitioners in the fields of language education, second language acquisition, language teaching and learning, and applied linguistics.