This text explores fundamental issues relating to student literacies and instructor roles and practices within academic contexts. It offers a brief history of literacy theories and argues for "socioliterate" approaches to teaching and learning in which texts are viewed as primarily socially constructed. Central to socioliteracy, the concepts "genre" and "discourse community," are presented in detail. The author argues for roles for literacy practitioners in which they and their students conduct research and are involved in joint pedagogical endeavors. The final chapters are devoted to outlining how the views presented can be applied to a variety of classroom texts. Core curricular design principles are outlined, and three types of portfolio-based academic literacy classrooms are described.
This book addresses practical teaching matters, including lesson planning, motivation, classroom management, as well as moral and political issues. This is a valuable source book for both teacher educators and classroom teachers. It covers a wide range of key areas, including lesson planning, classroom management, and motivation. It also delves into the moral and political dimensions of teaching. Discussion of these areas is supported by extensive quotes from real teachers and is well grounded in academic theory. The treatment is sufficiently challenging to interest the experienced teacher, but covers matters of basic practice of concern to the beginner. This is an invaluable tool for both in-service teachers and those wishing to further their professional development.
This book, by one of the leading figures in applied linguistics, provides a wide-ranging and comprehensive treatment of the major issues. Its six chapters take the reader through the major tenets and debates in the field and are essential reading for anyone involved in applied linguistics and language teaching today. It outlines the historical roots of the field and its major developments over the years, and examines current issues such as language modelling and the analysis of discourse. While not neglecting theory, the book takes a practical approach and language teachers, as well as university level students, will find it a useful read.
This volume explores the field of contrastive rhetoric, the study of how a person's first language and culture influence his or her writing in a second language. It presents a comprehensive view of the research in this field, emphasizing the connections between contrastive rhetoric and the related disciplines of composition studies, cultural anthropology, translation studies, and text linguistics. Connor draws on this research to provide sound advice for dealing with cross-cultural issues in a variety of second language writing contexts. Her goal is to make teachers aware of the many factors influencing their students' attempts to compose effective texts and to help teachers draw on the resources individual learners bring to the writing task. It is a solid reference for researchers and teachers in the field of second language writing.
The Council of Europe released a preliminary version of the Manual for Relating Language Examinations to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) in 2003. A variety of institutions and individuals conducted case studies to pilot this draft version, prior to its revision in 2008/9. This volume features selected case studies presented at a colloquium in Cambridge in December 2007, where practitioners and academics shared their experiences of applying the Manual procedures. Projects included the linking of a single test to the CEFR, the linking of suites of examinations at different levels and large-scale national studies undertaken by examination boards and specialist research institutes. As well as describing their approaches and reporting their findings, contributors reflect and comment on their experience of using the draft Manual. An introductory chapter explains the development of the CEFR and the draft Manual, discussing their relevance for the future.
In 1998 and 1999, three of the largest providers of educational tests introduced computer-based versions of proficiency tests for English as a foreign language. Around the same time, many institutions began to offer Web-based tests for particular language courses and classes. These two phenomena have greatly added to the momentum of work in computer-assisted testing and mean that assessment through computer technology is becoming a fact for language learners in educational settings and therefore for teachers and researchers. This book is the first to consider the theoretical, methodological and practical issues and their implications for language-teaching professionals wishing to engage with computer-assisted assessment. It overviews the work in the field, evaluates examples of assessment though computer technology, and provides language teachers and researchers with practical guidelines for implementation.
Through the words of more than 100 practising language teachers, The Experience of Language Teaching provides a detailed picture of teaching and learning in communicative classrooms. Using a teacher-generated framework it covers a range of aspects of classroom life: how teachers create environments suitable for language practice, how they get students 'on-side', how they manage tricky students, how they enhance the learning experience, how they develop and maintain a spirit of community. The book demonstrates how paying attention to both the learning and social needs of their class groups enables language teachers to behave in flexible ways that promote learning. This book will be of interest to teachers, teacher educators, researchers and to anyone interested in finding out what it is like to be a language teacher at the present time. The Experience of Language Teaching was winner of the Ben Warren International Trust House Prize in 2005.
Based on original research, this book explores the fundamental relationship between research and practice in English language teaching. Teacher Research in Language Teaching uses empirical evidence taken from an international survey of over 1,700 teachers and educational managers, over a period of six years. It examines their views of research, whether they read ELT research, and whether they do their own research. The author goes on to explore the process which teachers go through in learning to do research, and the research cultures within teaching institutions. The book concludes with a review of the key findings to emerge from the research and a discussion of strategies through which language teacher research engagement can be promoted more productively.
Speaking is a central yet complex area of language acquisition. The assessment of this crucial skill is equally complex. This book takes teachers and language testers through the research on the assessment of speaking as well as through current tests of speaking. The book then guides language testers through the stages of test tasks, rating practices and design.
This book explores the emerging area of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) in academic settings. The emergence and recognition of English used as a Lingua Franca (ELF) offers new opportunities for investigating language change and language contact. This volume explores the use of English in an academic context and between speakers from a range of language backgrounds, and is the only book to date to present spoken academic English from a non-native speaker perspective. Data examined from the one-million-word English as a Lingua Franca in Academic Settings (ELFA) corpus provides an in-depth account of how speakers use and shape the language through dialogue in intellectually and verbally demanding situations. Available separately as a paperback.
This important volume on the critical pedagogical approach addresses such topics as critical multiculturalism, gender and language learning, and popular culture. Critical pedagogies are instructional approaches aimed at transforming existing social relations in the interest of greater equity in schools and communities. This paperback edition on the pedagogical approach addresses such topics as critical multiculturalism, gender and language learning, and popular culture. Committed to language education that contributes to social justice, the contributors explore the meaning of creating equitable and critical instructional practices, by exploring diverse representations of knowledge. In addition, recommendations are made for further research, teacher education, and critical testing.
This Studies in Language Testing volume explores the impact of multilingualism on language assessment. It considers ways of describing and comparing language qualifications to establish common levels of proficiency, balancing the need to set common standards and at the same time sustain linguistic diversity. Three broad themes are explored. Quality and diversity are addressed via avenues such as the quality of examinations and codes of practice, as well as the research on impact in various state certification projects. In relation to ethics and diversity, several papers focus on the complex relationships between linguistic identity and diversity on one hand, and immigration and citizenship policy on the other, as assessment increasingly interfaces with language proficiency requirements for citizenship and for active participation of newcomers in social, occupational and democratic processes. Transparency and diversity are examined through the relationship of examinations to the Common European Framework from a number of different perspectives.
This volume introduces a new concept, 'criterial features', for the learning, teaching and testing of English as a second language. The work is based on research conducted within the English Profile Programme at Cambridge University, using the Cambridge Learner Corpus. The authors address the extent to which learners know the grammar, lexicon and usage conventions of English at each level of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). These levels are currently illustrated in functional terms with 'Can Do' statements. Greater specificity and precision can be achieved by using the tagged and parsed corpus, which enables researchers to identify criterial features of the CEFR levels, i.e. properties that are characteristic and indicative of L2 proficiency at each level. In practical terms, once criterial features have been identified, the grammatical and lexical properties of English can be presented to learners more efficiently and in ways that are appropriate to their levels.
Language Testing Matters explores the social and educational impact of language testing and assessment at regional, national and international level. It brings together a collection of 20 edited papers based on proceedings of the 2008 ALTE Conference in Cambridge. The selected papers focus on three core strands addressed during the conference: new perspectives on testing for specific purposes; insights on testing policy and practice in the context of language teaching and learning in different parts of the world; reflections on the impact of testing among differing stakeholder groups. With its broad coverage of key issues, combining theoretical insights and practical advice, this volume is a valuable reference work for academics, employers and policy-makers in Europe and beyond. It is also a useful resource for postgraduate students of language testing, for practitioners, and anyone else seeking a better understanding of the social and educational impact of language assessment.
This text explores fundamental issues relating to student literacies and instructor roles and practices within academic contexts. It offers a brief history of literacy theories and argues for "socioliterate" approaches to teaching and learning in which texts are viewed as primarily socially constructed. Central to socioliteracy, the concepts "genre" and "discourse community," are presented in detail. The author argues for roles for literacy practitioners in which they and their students conduct research and are involved in joint pedagogical endeavors. The final chapters are devoted to outlining how the views presented can be applied to a variety of classroom texts. Core curricular design principles are outlined, and three types of portfolio-based academic literacy classrooms are described.
This book addresses practical teaching matters, including lesson planning, motivation, classroom management, as well as moral and political issues. This is a valuable source book for both teacher educators and classroom teachers. It covers a wide range of key areas, including lesson planning, classroom management, and motivation. It also delves into the moral and political dimensions of teaching. Discussion of these areas is supported by extensive quotes from real teachers and is well grounded in academic theory. The treatment is sufficiently challenging to interest the experienced teacher, but covers matters of basic practice of concern to the beginner. This is an invaluable tool for both in-service teachers and those wishing to further their professional development.
This book, by one of the leading figures in applied linguistics, provides a wide-ranging and comprehensive treatment of the major issues. Its six chapters take the reader through the major tenets and debates in the field and are essential reading for anyone involved in applied linguistics and language teaching today. It outlines the historical roots of the field and its major developments over the years, and examines current issues such as language modelling and the analysis of discourse. While not neglecting theory, the book takes a practical approach and language teachers, as well as university level students, will find it a useful read.
This volume explores the field of contrastive rhetoric, the study of how a person's first language and culture influence his or her writing in a second language. It presents a comprehensive view of the research in this field, emphasizing the connections between contrastive rhetoric and the related disciplines of composition studies, cultural anthropology, translation studies, and text linguistics. Connor draws on this research to provide sound advice for dealing with cross-cultural issues in a variety of second language writing contexts. Her goal is to make teachers aware of the many factors influencing their students' attempts to compose effective texts and to help teachers draw on the resources individual learners bring to the writing task. It is a solid reference for researchers and teachers in the field of second language writing.
The Council of Europe released a preliminary version of the Manual for Relating Language Examinations to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) in 2003. A variety of institutions and individuals conducted case studies to pilot this draft version, prior to its revision in 2008/9. This volume features selected case studies presented at a colloquium in Cambridge in December 2007, where practitioners and academics shared their experiences of applying the Manual procedures. Projects included the linking of a single test to the CEFR, the linking of suites of examinations at different levels and large-scale national studies undertaken by examination boards and specialist research institutes. As well as describing their approaches and reporting their findings, contributors reflect and comment on their experience of using the draft Manual. An introductory chapter explains the development of the CEFR and the draft Manual, discussing their relevance for the future.
In 1998 and 1999, three of the largest providers of educational tests introduced computer-based versions of proficiency tests for English as a foreign language. Around the same time, many institutions began to offer Web-based tests for particular language courses and classes. These two phenomena have greatly added to the momentum of work in computer-assisted testing and mean that assessment through computer technology is becoming a fact for language learners in educational settings and therefore for teachers and researchers. This book is the first to consider the theoretical, methodological and practical issues and their implications for language-teaching professionals wishing to engage with computer-assisted assessment. It overviews the work in the field, evaluates examples of assessment though computer technology, and provides language teachers and researchers with practical guidelines for implementation.
Through the words of more than 100 practising language teachers, The Experience of Language Teaching provides a detailed picture of teaching and learning in communicative classrooms. Using a teacher-generated framework it covers a range of aspects of classroom life: how teachers create environments suitable for language practice, how they get students 'on-side', how they manage tricky students, how they enhance the learning experience, how they develop and maintain a spirit of community. The book demonstrates how paying attention to both the learning and social needs of their class groups enables language teachers to behave in flexible ways that promote learning. This book will be of interest to teachers, teacher educators, researchers and to anyone interested in finding out what it is like to be a language teacher at the present time. The Experience of Language Teaching was winner of the Ben Warren International Trust House Prize in 2005.
Based on original research, this book explores the fundamental relationship between research and practice in English language teaching. Teacher Research in Language Teaching uses empirical evidence taken from an international survey of over 1,700 teachers and educational managers, over a period of six years. It examines their views of research, whether they read ELT research, and whether they do their own research. The author goes on to explore the process which teachers go through in learning to do research, and the research cultures within teaching institutions. The book concludes with a review of the key findings to emerge from the research and a discussion of strategies through which language teacher research engagement can be promoted more productively.
Speaking is a central yet complex area of language acquisition. The assessment of this crucial skill is equally complex. This book takes teachers and language testers through the research on the assessment of speaking as well as through current tests of speaking. The book then guides language testers through the stages of test tasks, rating practices and design.
This book explores the emerging area of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) in academic settings. The emergence and recognition of English used as a Lingua Franca (ELF) offers new opportunities for investigating language change and language contact. This volume explores the use of English in an academic context and between speakers from a range of language backgrounds, and is the only book to date to present spoken academic English from a non-native speaker perspective. Data examined from the one-million-word English as a Lingua Franca in Academic Settings (ELFA) corpus provides an in-depth account of how speakers use and shape the language through dialogue in intellectually and verbally demanding situations. Available separately as a paperback.
This important volume on the critical pedagogical approach addresses such topics as critical multiculturalism, gender and language learning, and popular culture. Critical pedagogies are instructional approaches aimed at transforming existing social relations in the interest of greater equity in schools and communities. This paperback edition on the pedagogical approach addresses such topics as critical multiculturalism, gender and language learning, and popular culture. Committed to language education that contributes to social justice, the contributors explore the meaning of creating equitable and critical instructional practices, by exploring diverse representations of knowledge. In addition, recommendations are made for further research, teacher education, and critical testing.
This Studies in Language Testing volume explores the impact of multilingualism on language assessment. It considers ways of describing and comparing language qualifications to establish common levels of proficiency, balancing the need to set common standards and at the same time sustain linguistic diversity. Three broad themes are explored. Quality and diversity are addressed via avenues such as the quality of examinations and codes of practice, as well as the research on impact in various state certification projects. In relation to ethics and diversity, several papers focus on the complex relationships between linguistic identity and diversity on one hand, and immigration and citizenship policy on the other, as assessment increasingly interfaces with language proficiency requirements for citizenship and for active participation of newcomers in social, occupational and democratic processes. Transparency and diversity are examined through the relationship of examinations to the Common European Framework from a number of different perspectives.
This volume introduces a new concept, 'criterial features', for the learning, teaching and testing of English as a second language. The work is based on research conducted within the English Profile Programme at Cambridge University, using the Cambridge Learner Corpus. The authors address the extent to which learners know the grammar, lexicon and usage conventions of English at each level of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). These levels are currently illustrated in functional terms with 'Can Do' statements. Greater specificity and precision can be achieved by using the tagged and parsed corpus, which enables researchers to identify criterial features of the CEFR levels, i.e. properties that are characteristic and indicative of L2 proficiency at each level. In practical terms, once criterial features have been identified, the grammatical and lexical properties of English can be presented to learners more efficiently and in ways that are appropriate to their levels.
Language Testing Matters explores the social and educational impact of language testing and assessment at regional, national and international level. It brings together a collection of 20 edited papers based on proceedings of the 2008 ALTE Conference in Cambridge. The selected papers focus on three core strands addressed during the conference: new perspectives on testing for specific purposes; insights on testing policy and practice in the context of language teaching and learning in different parts of the world; reflections on the impact of testing among differing stakeholder groups. With its broad coverage of key issues, combining theoretical insights and practical advice, this volume is a valuable reference work for academics, employers and policy-makers in Europe and beyond. It is also a useful resource for postgraduate students of language testing, for practitioners, and anyone else seeking a better understanding of the social and educational impact of language assessment.