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This chapter explores the contributions and potential of narrative inquiry in English language teaching. Two stories of experience are presented and used as a touchstone throughout the chapter. We begin by discussing key terms—narrative inquiry and English language teaching and learning—to set boundaries for the review. The latter term led to a literature of learning of English as a second, third, or other language in predominantly English-speaking cultures and environments. The former term led to an experiential literature focused on language learning in life contexts. The narrative inquiry research literature is traced through the social sciences, educational studies, and language learning literature. Experiential characteristics of narrative inquiry are brought forward, and a detailed narrative inquiry analysis is made of two specific studies. In addition, life-based literary narratives are named and described. The contribution of narrative inquiry lies in its potential to permit and encourage the study of English language teaching and learning in the context of life and in the pursuit of broad educational questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Action research focuses simultaneously on action and research. The action aspect requires some kind of planned intervention, deliberately putting into place concrete strategies, processes, or activities in the research context. Interventions in practice are usually in response to a perceived problem, puzzle, or question that people in the social context wish to improve or change in some way. These problems might relate to teaching, learning, curriculum or syllabus implementation, but school management or administration are also a possible focus. This chapter describes the origins of action research, its relationships to other forms of empirical research, its reach and development, its central characteristics, and the current debates that surround it. It also considers the scope of action research in the applied linguistics field and concludes by looking at future directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter provides an overview of recent qualitative research in classrooms examining English language learners (ELLs). I first present common features of qualitative research and review debates regarding research paradigms in the social sciences and humanities. I also discuss the role of triangulation and capturing participants' insider or emic perspectives in qualitative research and highlight various data collection methods and ways of combining macrolevel and microlevel analyses, particularly in ethnographic research. Ethical issues, difficulties obtaining informed consent in classroom research, and criteria for evaluating qualitative research are then considered. Three qualitative studies that have been deemed exemplary and meritorious by scholars in English language education are then presented, and some common themes in current qualitative classroom research with ELLs are identified. The chapter concludes with some directions for future qualitative research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teacher language awareness (TLA) is receiving increased attention among researchers, teacher educators, and those responsible for quality assurance in language education. This chapter aims to summarize current thinking and research about TLA and to consider future directions for work in the area. Whilst acknowledging the need for TLA to encompass a broad awareness of language in communication, the chapter concentrates specifically on TLA as it relates to the language systems. The first section of the chapter outlines the nature of TLA and explores its potential significance in pedagogical practice. The next section examines the main research findings within TLA and also in interconnected areas such as L2 teachers' cognitions about the linguistic content of their teaching. This is followed by an outline of current approaches to the development of TLA in teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) programs. The chapter then considers issues of current debate, in particular the TLA of native-speaker (NS) and non-native-speaker (NNS) teachers, before concluding with a discussion of future directions in researching and developing TLA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have seen increased attention being given to the notion of genre in the area of English language teaching. This is especially the case in the teaching of English for specific purposes (ESP), the teaching of English in Australia, and the teaching of composition studies in North America. The main approaches to the analysis of genres in these areas are the ESP perspective, the work of the Sydney school, and the composition studies view of genre in what is sometimes called the new rhetoric. There are a number of ways in which each of these perspectives on genre overlap and ways in which they are different from each other. Much of this is due to the different goals of each of these views of genre and the differing theoretical positions and concerns that underlie the various perspectives. This chapter discusses insights that have been gained in each of these areas and what they might mean for English language teaching. It discusses debates and concerns about genre-based approaches to language teaching, and also considers future directions for genre-based language teaching and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1994 South Africa has been transformed from an isolated, apartheid state into an Afro-modernist democracy linked to the rest of the world. Our chapter locates itself within this post-apartheid historical moment and reports on the findings of an ELT teacher research group, the Wits Multiliteracies Research Group that has focused, since 1996, on the applicability of multimodal pedagogies to multilingual, multicultural classrooms in Johannesburg (Cope and Kalantzis 2000; Kress and van Leeuwen 1996, 2001). Multimodal pedagogies work across semiotic modes, including the visual, written and spoken language, the gestural, the sonic, and the performative. In South Africa, writing culture is underdeveloped, except in educational institutions where success is unattainable without access to written language skills in English. Our research in early childhood, secondary, and tertiary classrooms reports on the limits and possibilities afforded through the use of different representational resources in the representation of meaning, suggesting that multimodal pedagogies can broaden the base for representation by opening up the third ground in the struggle between mainstream schooling literacy demands and cultural difference. In their multiple configurations, such pedagogies have the power to unleash creativity, intelligence, and agency through the creation of symbolic identity objects and practices that lead to creative rapprochements in a society struggling to heal itself after a painful, traumatic past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information and communication technologies are having a profound affect on all aspects of language use, especially in written communication. The purposes of writing, the genres of written communication, and the nature of audience and author are all changing rapidly with the diffusion of computer-mediated communication, both for first and second language writers. This chapter reviews research on the relationship of new technologies to writing and discusses the implications of this research for English language learning and teaching. Issues addressed include the participatory dynamics and linguistic features of computer-assisted classroom discussion, the impact of e-mail exchanges on students' writing process, and the relationship of writing purpose to student outcomes in multimedia authoring. The chapter also addresses areas of debate and concern, such as whether the internet fosters plagiarism, and whether new forms of computer-mediated writing serve to complement and enhance more traditional forms of writing or detract from them. Finally, future trends in technology-intensive writing, such as the increased importance and nature of electronic literacy, are also discussed, as are the implications of these trends for teaching and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conceptual and epistemological grounds of literacy are being stretched as the encoded worlds we navigate increasingly interpenetrate multicultural, multilingual, and multimodal contexts. The twenty-first century finds us at a critical juncture for reevaluating English language and literacy teaching agendas. The technological revolution has facilitated and augmented human communication such that everyday interactions now essentially include digital interfaces. Language, text, and discourse norms and practices are being rapidly expanded and reinvented in response to new media and global networks. The language driving the majority of intercultural web traffic is English, which reinforces its position as a global language and adds an insidious dimension of cybercolonialism. Teachers are in crisis: domains for English language socialization now extend from known geographical and social contexts to the global panorama of the virtual world in which we, too, are learners. Information and communication technologies (ICT) have created new literacies that are required by learners of all ages if they are to fairly contend for academic and economic success. This chapter examines the evolution of literacy into multiliteracies and considers how this epistemological shift affects ELT. Digitally responsive, pedagogically strategic, ecologically sensitive English language and literacy teaching and learning practices are discussed in conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of computer technology in English language teaching and learning is accepted, often uncritically, in many settings, even though in other settings, computers are not available, while in still other settings, teachers and learners often lack the necessary computer literacy skills to exploit the technology effectively for language teaching and learning. While many articles and books discuss tips for using computer-based technologies in the classroom, research studies tend to be small scale and seldom generalizable. Still lacking is a rigorous approach to the study of the implementation of computer-based technologies (both how the technologies are implemented and which technologies are chosen); the effects of computer-based technologies on instruction (including effects on the role of the teacher); the effects of computer-assisted instruction on language learning; and the integration of computer-assisted instruction into curriculum design. This chapter summarizes extant research in these areas, while identifying the assumptions underlying much of the literature on the use of new technologies. The chapter also predicts, from the existing research data, what would be necessary for computers to be ubiquitous and part of teachers' repertoire of instructional approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter aims to extend our understanding of spoken discourse by first outlining some of the major features of spoken language, and by doing so, highlighting the differences between spoken and written language. It will then describe some of the major approaches to analyzing spoken language, beginning with the approach taken by Sinclair and Coulthard (known as the Birmingham School) and then moving to conversation analysis and to systemic-functional approaches. We also consider recent work on genre theory and how this has been underpinned by the development of spoken corpora. The chapter will then center on some of the principal debates in the study of spoken language. These include problems of transcription and the representation of context, prosody, etc., and problems arising from the centrifugal tendency of spoken language away from standards and collective norms (as compared with the more homogenous nature of written varieties). The debate also includes critical issues of ownership of a language such as English, where many spoken varieties (both native and non-native) are in daily use around the world. Additionally, the problem of lack of codification of spoken grammars and the absence of a "canon" of spoken texts will be raised as an issue for pedagogy. The chapter concludes with a consideration of the contribution technological advances are likely to make in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional view of grammar as simply a collection of word classes and rules for their combination is being supplemented by theories that conceive of grammar in terms of its cognitive and social origins. Such theories are being used to support research from psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic perspectives into the learning and teaching of language and how grammar is implicated in such processes. This chapter looks at three models of grammar that are representative of the major paradigms currently informing ELT research and practice: grammar as structure, grammar as mental faculty, and grammar as functional resource. It concludes with a look at some of the issues surrounding grammar and future directions for research and teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter reviews key vocabulary research and draws a number of teaching and learning implications from that research. Lexical areas addressed include the amount of vocabulary required to use English, what it means to know and learn a word, the incremental nature of vocabulary acquisition, the role of memory in vocabulary learning, incidental and intentional vocabulary learning, techniques for effective vocabulary teaching, and the role of learning strategies in vocabulary acquisition. The insights and techniques discussed in this chapter can help teachers develop more principled, and hopefully more effective, vocabulary programs for their students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter discusses the implications of recent second language acquisition research in the field of phonology for second language teachers, including the question of whether adult second language learners can trigger a new phonological structure that is not present in the first language. I will look at processes of Chinese and Japanese learners of English acquiring the [l]/[r] contrast, and then will follow this up by looking at the implications of Matthew's work on Japanese learners being instructed in acquiring a variety of English sounds and how phonological theory explains their results. Work by Atkey on the acquisition of Czech palatal sounds will also be described to illustrate the conditions under which people can perceive new sounds. The chapter will conclude with a list of the implications for second language teachers of recent research in phonology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter proposes a framework for conceptualizing the nature of academic language and the pedagogical conditions that foster its development. Academic language proficiency is distinguished from both conversational fluency and discrete language skills and defined as the ability to understand and express, in both oral and written modes, concepts and ideas that are relevant to success in school. Extensive reading is crucial for academic language development because less frequent vocabulary, most of which derives from Greek and Latin sources, is found primarily in written text. Also, grammatical constructions and discourse structures found in typical written text differ significantly from those found in conversational interactions. The implications of this conceptualization of academic language for English language teaching in Hong Kong are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowing, using and learning a language are forms of what is often called cognition. Ideally, theories of cognition account for its representation, processing, and acquisition. Linguists in the generative school and connectionists give radically different accounts of these three dimensions of cognition, and therefore hold different views on the acquisition of speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills in a second language. Recent developments in cognitive science also result in new definitions of implicit and explicit learning, different from Krashen's notions of acquisition and learning that have influenced L2 pedagogy for more than 20 years. The chapter focuses on fluency, emphasizing the importance for L2 learners to automatize their word recognition skills in listening and reading and their word retrieval skills in speaking and writing. With regard to explicit grammar instruction, it is argued that although explicit knowledge cannot be transformed into implicit knowledge neurophysiologically, explicit grammar instruction may indirectly be beneficial to the establishment of implicit knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter considers the current state of classroom assessment of English language proficiency and use, and argues for the existence of two often conflicting assessment cultures, a learning culture and an exam culture. This chapter characterizes the key principles and practices in each culture, and suggests that these two cultures stem from differing ideologies that pose great obstacles to reconciliation between effective selection instruments (usually called tests) and humanistic assessment. The chapter suggests that planned innovation in assessment is unlikely to be successful without vastly improved attention to teacher preparation in relation to assessment. It is further proposed that because the principles and practices of the exam culture reflect the dominant ideology in the discourse of educational economics and politics, this domination can only be altered by paying conscious attention to teachers' voices, particularly through professional development activities conducted as an integral part of the process of establishing value systems for educational assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter examines research on English language learner identity in postsecondary contexts. It focuses first on how demographic research classifies students according to commonalities, overlooking significant differences. It then examines how ethnography and critical ethnography reveal more complex notions of identity, thereby offering insight into where institutional and pedagogical reform might be needed. The examples of critical ethnography, in particular, show students as active participants in their learning who should be consulted about institutional labels, testing, placement procedures, and teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter discusses the development of the concept of autonomy in ELT and makes particular reference to its role in helping teachers come to terms with changing landscapes of teaching and learning. It then goes on to outline what we know about autonomy and its implementation to date and to discuss three current issues of concern: the social character of autonomy, learners' knowledge of the learning process, and teacher autonomy. The chapter concludes by indicating possible future developments in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter addresses the complex question of what makes a classroom environment motivating. It will be argued that in order to understand the psychological tapestry of classroom life, we need to adopt an interdisciplinary approach and draw on research findings from a number of different areas within the social sciences, such as group dynamics, motivational psychology, educational studies, and second language research. The assumption underlying this chapter is that the motivating character of the learning context can be enhanced through conscious intervention by the language teacher, and accordingly the main facets of the environment will be discussed with such a proactive and practical objective in mind. Key concepts to be addressed include group cohesiveness and interpersonal relations, group norms and student roles, the teacher's leadership styles, and the process of facilitation, as well as the main phases of a proactive, motivational teaching practice within a process-oriented framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For school-aged students who are learning ESL, the discourse of the classroom must simultaneously construct curriculum knowledge and be a site for second language development. This chapter focuses on academic language learning in the ESL school context, in particular on how language learning is mediated through classroom discourse. While linguistic, social, and sociocognitive traditions have interpreted the nature of interaction differently, it is seen in all of them as playing a major part in learning and language development. The chapter draws on research in sociocultural approaches to pedagogy, systemic functional linguistics (SFL), and second language acquisition (SLA) studies in examining the relationship between classroom discourse and the development of ESL students' academic language learning. It argues that interactions should be examined both for their effectiveness in fostering language development and also for the impact these interactions have on how students view themselves. The chapter concludes with some implications for classroom practice, which suggest how teachers can orchestrate classroom discourse for academic language learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter discusses academic achievement and social identity development among bilingual students with respect to changing demographics of increased linguistic diversity and poverty for school-aged children in the United States. Institutional policies and practices are described that lead to blaming the victims of institutional inequity for low test scores and high dropout rates. Contrasting paradigms in literacy research are also discussed in relation to how perspectives of monolingual meritocracy lead to language loss and perpetuation of deficit discourses that negatively affect social identity formation for bilingual students. The authors argue that educators can play an important role in transforming inequities in the politics and practices of schooling, and they provide a model for the successful academic achievement of English language learning (ELL) and bilingual students. The model includes three essential components for literacy development and academic achievement: (a) human resources, including ELL students, their families and communities, and ESL and bilingual education professionals; (b) dialogic pedagogy; and (c) a curriculum for democratic citizenship, and economic and community development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this chapter, Toohey, Day, and Manyak discuss theoretical perspectives and empirical research that advance our understanding of the complex social processes involved in young children's acquisition of ESL. In the first two sections, they examine post-structuralist and sociocultural theories of identity and of mediated practice, highlighting constructs that provide insight into children's second language learning. In the last two sections, they review recent studies of young children's ESL learning that have applied these theoretical perspectives. The studies reveal how learners' identities, classroom practices, and learning resources interweave to inhibit or promote children's acquisition of English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter discusses the implications for assessment of changes in our conceptualization of English language learning. The chapter begins by proposing that different models of language and language learning result in very different perceptions of language learning goals and hence, different judgments of individual success and failure. This is exemplified with reference to a two year longitudinal ethnographic study of Hong Kong-born Cantonese-speaking students completing their final two years of English in a Melbourne secondary school. The detailed linguistic analysis of the students' written argument revealed a shift in the students' preferred genre, a shift apparently linked to the very different expectations and socialisation practices of Australian and Hong Kong schools as well as to conflicting subject discourses. However, the evaluation, and the consequences, of this shift depended on which model of argument and its development was foregrounded by teacher-assessors. In the absence of any clear guidance from examination boards, teachers made their own implicit and, usually, negative judgments without realising their own involvement in the co-construction of the students' arguments. The chapter concludes with some implications for assessment policy and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major thrust within the language teaching profession at the present time is the development and deployment of standards for instructional design. The standards movement has had a significant impact on curriculum development in Europe, North America and Australia. Within the International TESOL Association, standards have recently been developed for the following: Pre-K-12 content and assessment standards; standards for Intensive English Programs; adult education program standards; community college employment standards; standards for workplace language training; P-12 teacher education standards; teacher education standards for community college non-credit and credit programs; and adult education, and university programs. In this chapter, I will trace the evolution of the standards movement and relate it to the other two major performance-based movements: the objectives movement and competency-based education. I will then describe and exemplify three different types of standards: content, program, and teacher standards, before concluding the chapter by looking at ideological aspects of standards-based instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theory and research on second language acquisition have long acknowledged the significant influence of learner identities—that is, how learners see themselves and are seen by others in relation to the target language and culture. Learner age has likewise been a central theme in second language acquisition research. These two important factors intersect in the case of adolescent language learners. Adolescence is regarded as a particularly malleable and difficult age in the development of social identity and conception of self, and even more potentially problematic for multilingual and multiethnic English learners. In this chapter, I first briefly outline current debates and cross-cultural research about adolescence as a unique developmental stage in identity development and suggest potential implications for English language learning. I then outline major strands of investigation on the role of social context and social identity in adolescent English language learning, including research in social psychology and intercultural communication; research in social psychology, clinical psychology, and clinical health; research in educational anthropology and sociology; and research on critical theory, cultural studies, and poststructuralism. The chapter concludes with a summary of current debates and directions for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter explores the positive contribution that ideas and constructs from both the business and management training and the adult education literature can make to the theory and practice of workplace ELT curriculum design. Specifically, the chapter looks at how workplace stakeholders can provide a business voice to the ELT curriculum processes, how business-training planning and evaluation frameworks can assist ESP workplace practitioners in reconceptualizing the curriculum process, and how a review of adult learning research can help ESP workplace practitioners better understand the English language needs of professionals in the workplace. Unfortunately, the applied linguistic literature is, for the most part, school-based, leaving workplace ELT programs poorly researched and documented in terms of curriculum theory and practice. The chapter will report on studies of workplace English carried out in Hong Kong and the Philippines. The first Hong Kong study (Lockwood, 2002) investigated the way in which frameworks from business management and training can be used in ESP workplace training to ensure workplace stakeholders and thus the organization as a whole are better represented in the process. The second Hong Kong study (Hamp-Lyons et al., 2002) provides insights into how different stages in a professional career (in this case accountants) impact the kind of written language expectations of that professional. Two studies conducted in the Philippines in the business processing outsourcing (BPO) industry, specifically within call centers in Manila, illuminates further the language demands of the increasingly globalized workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter reviews recent trends in the conceptualizations and formats of tests used to determine whether non-native speakers of English have sufficient proficiency in English to study at English-medium universities in English-dominant countries. The review focuses on published research informing a new version of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), but a range of similar tests internationally is also considered. Prominent among the issues guiding research and development on these tests are the following: construct validation, particularly refinements in the description of testing purposes, evaluations of the discourse produced in the contexts of testing, and surveys of relevant domains and score users; consistency, including fairness in opportunities for test performance across differing populations, reliability through field-testing and equating of test forms, and sampling of multiple, comparable performances from examinees; and innovations in the media of test administration, including various forms of computer and other technological adaptations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter describes and discusses issues in the standards movement in ELT in relation to school-aged learners. Two broad types of standards are addressed: Firstly, English as a Foreign Language (EFL) standards that are written for English as a subject in the school curriculum, which is studied along common pathways by the majority of students; secondly, ESL standards that are written for ESL learners studying in an English-speaking environment, generally with English as the medium of instruction. Common "literacy" standards used to assess ESL learners are also discussed. Research in ELT standards is conceptualized as being three areas of work: the development of ELT standards, the critiquing of ELT standards, and empirical research into ELT standards. References to ELT standards from around the world are provided throughout, as are references to literature in the area. A central thesis in the chapter is that despite variations amongst ELT standards, inevitable because of policy, purpose, and contextual factors, there is a common core of issues and understandings that can and should draw the area of work together. Suggestions for further research, emphasizing the need for sharing of activity, are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter examines the possibilities and pitfalls of classroom-based English language assessment, drawing on both the language testing and classroom assessment literature in English language education as well as educational assessment more generally. The chapter opens with a brief overview of different contexts for language testing and assessment: external, classroom-based, and second language acquisition research. The second part of the chapter presents research findings that highlight different facets of classroom-based assessment: the different meanings of and purposes for assessment, relationships between formative and summative assessment, approaches and frameworks used in teacher assessment, teacher perceptions and implementation of assessment, and the extent to which conventional measurement paradigms are appropriate for assessing the worth of instructional embedded assessment. These research findings lead into a discussion of current concerns and issues, as well as some of the potential pitfalls associated with classroom-based assessment. The final part of the chapter outlines future directions for the field and highlights some of the challenges for both research and professional practice in relation to classroom-oriented assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of English for specific purposes (ESP), which addresses the communicative needs and practices of particular professional or occupational groups, has developed rapidly in the past forty years to become a major force in English language teaching and research. ESP draws its strength from an eclectic theoretical foundation and a commitment to research-based language education which seeks to reveal the constraints of social contexts on language use and the ways learners can gain control over these. In this chapter, I will briefly point to some of the major ideas and practices that currently influence ESP, focusing on needs analysis, ethnography, critical approaches, contrastive rhetoric, social constructionism, and discourse analysis. I then go on to look briefly at some of the effects ESP has had on language teaching and research, arguing that it has encouraged teachers to highlight communication rather than language, to adopt a research orientation to their work, to employ collaborative pedagogies, to be aware of discourse variation, and to consider the wider political implications of their role. Together these features of ESP practice emphazise a situated view of literacy and underline the applied nature of the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter highlights the uncertainty, concerns, and approbation that accompany high-stakes language testing and assessment. It takes as a case study the language assessment of teachers of English in Hong Kong, and, in particular, the innovative performance test of teacher Classroom Language Assessment (CLA). The case study provides examples of major issues such as the validity and reliability of the assessments, the advantages and disadvantages of performance and criterion-referenced testing, and considers, within the issue of stakeholder involvement and reaction, the feedback from professional bodies and the concerns of those being assessed. Topics such as the relationship between academic concerns and the wishes of the clients (the Hong Kong SAR Government) are also discussed in order to explain the somewhat contradictory decisions that sometimes occur. The case study reveals how vital it is to consult and involve as many stakeholders as possible. The chapter ends with a summary of lessons that have been learned and areas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter provides a brief introduction to the international schools network and goes on to discuss how the linguistic needs of students from many different language backgrounds are met in an English-speaking educational environment. The focus is on the secondary level (Grades 6-12, ages 11-18) with particular attention paid to the orientation of students' bilingualism in both the types of program offered and the assessment system embedded in these programs. Specifically, the chapter explores the extent to which these programs promote additive as opposed to subtractive bilingualism among students whose home language is a language other than English. The paper proposes a four-point organizational model incorporating a content-based explicit English language syllabus, equality of certification for all ESL students, ESL awareness for all subject matter teachers, and mother tongue development for ESL students as a core component of their studies. The chapter concludes with directions for policy and professional development for international schools and suggestions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter explores how ESL and mainstream teachers can share understandings, not by abandoning their subject prejudices but by achieving a fusion of horizons, where new understandings emerge as individuals adjust their interpretations in light of the interpretations of others. One of the main issues in collaborative teaching has been how teachers from different discourse traditions and concerns can engage in sustained and productive dialogue. Inherent within the notion of collaborative teaching has been the unproblematic view that an ESL teacher can influence the mainstream teacher's pedagogy. Given the different status and power that ESL and academic subjects have within the social context of schools, this would seem a naive assumption. It will be argued that collaborative teaching is a profound journey of epistemological reconstruction, because ESL and the mainstream teachers' views of language and teaching are embedded within their own disciplinary prejudices and biases. This chapter proposes a model that redresses the pedagogical relations between mainstream and ESL teachers and allows the ESL teacher to have epistemological authority within the mainstream curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large numbers of students in English-speaking countries enter elementary schools speaking little or no English. A review of the research in second language acquisition and effective schooling reveals widespread agreement on the principles that underlie successful programs for these students. However, several factors have limited the implementation of such programs. This chapter reviews the theory and research that supports programs that lead to academic success for English learners. The factors that prevent the development of successful programs are then considered. These include an emphasis on standards and testing, a lack of primary language support, a failure to distinguish types of English learners, and a shortage of teachers prepared to work with English learners. Four keys for academic success for English learners are presented: engage students in challenging, theme-based curriculum to develop academic concepts; draw on students' background—their experiences, cultures, and languages; organize collaborative activities and scaffold instruction to build students' academic English proficiency; and create confident students who value school and value themselves as learners. Each key is explained and illustrated. A curriculum based on these keys provides elementary English learners with the greatest likelihood of academic success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The official English movement in the United States is unique in the world in that the discourse of protection is directed towards English, because of multilingualism, and not against English, in defense of minority languages. This chapter discusses the exceptional character of the official English movement, devoting particular attention to the 104th Congress (1995-1996) when, under the first Republican Party (GOP) majority for 40 years, the status of English in the United States achieved its much hoped for floor action resulting in a successful vote on 1 August 1996. The Bill Emerson Language Empowerment Act (1996) subsequently lapsed, but the official English movement remains, powerful and determined, pursuing energetically its controversial aim of inscribing English into the nation's legal register. That official English is a movement in the United States, with its global economic dominance and cultural influence, invites curiosity as to its aims, origins, politics, and ideologies. The chapter discusses bilingual education as a key site of struggle in language policy in the US. The chapter concludes with a critique of language policy and planning theory in relation to official English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many countries in the world, English is identified as a foreign language with no official status but is increasingly used as the language of wider communication. In a number of these countries it is common that English is learned as a third language. Recent psycholinguistic research on third language acquisition and trilingualism has made clear that the acquisition of an L3 shares many characteristics with the acquisition of an L2 but it also presents differences. Accordingly, the educational aspects of teaching English as an L3 differ from those of teaching English as an L2 and have more implications concerning the optimal age for the introduction of the different languages and the desired level of proficiency in each. In the Basque Country there are two official languages, Basque and Spanish, and English is taught as a third language. Several projects have been carried out in order to improve proficiency in English: the early introduction of English in kindergarten, the use of content based approaches, and the use of English as one of the languages of instruction. This chapter describes the characteristics of these projects and discusses their outcomes as they relate to specific research conducted on third language acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter is concerned with the role English plays as a lingua franca in Europe used by Europeans as a means of communication among themselves and with others. This extension of the use of English and its de facto status as an auxiliary language for global communicative purposes rather than as a traditional foreign language is widely acknowledged and discussed. However, current ways of thinking about English and its learning and use have yet to take this radical change in the role of the language fully into account. If the European ideals of individual plurilingualism and societal multilingualism are to be realized, it is crucial to understand how English as a lingua franca (ELF) functions in complementary rather than competitive relation to other languages. Such an understanding will depend on the fulfillment of two interrelated conditions: a) a proper conceptualization of ELF as common property, essentially distinct from and independent of English as a native language; and b) an empirically-based description of the linguistic properties of actual ELF usage. Such conceptualization and description will be prerequisites for adequately responding to the changing demands and directions that European language policy and language education face at the beginning of the 21st century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

English dovetails with globalisation and now serves so many purposes in continental European countries and in the institutions of the European Union that it is becoming a second language. Some of the political, journalistic and academic marketing of English, is false. There are fundamental paradoxes in the ostensible commitment of the EU to maintaining linguistic diversity and the expansion of the uses of English. Many of the variables affecting the goals and forms of English learning are contrasted in a Global English Paradigm and a World Englishes Paradigm. The conflicting pressures and interpretations of what is at stake in changed uses and forms of English can be traced in its evolving hybridity, in trends towards diglossia, and mythology about how English functions as a ‘lingua franca.' Research into the increased use of English in Germany and Scandinavia is reported on. Moves towards seeing English as detached from Anglo-American norms are scrutinized, and limitations in the existing research are identified. Efforts nationally and in the EU directed towards strengthening multilingualism in education need to address the political, economic and cultural aspects of Englishization and to engage with these more actively in language policy formation and the reform of language pedagogy if the language ecology of Europe is to flourish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The English language has a long history and prestigious status in Argentina. Its presence as a foreign language is closely linked to the birth of the country as a nation. As a consequence, the teaching of English has always been widely encouraged in Argentina. Today, English is part of the curriculum of private and state-run schools. Within the private sector, there is a large number of bilingual schools, some of which were established as ethnic schools by the first English settlers in the 19th century. The success of the first bilingual schools has encouraged many other schools to copy, to varying degrees, their bilingual curriculum and thus create a large network of English-Spanish schools in the country. Education in Argentina has undergone extensive changes in the last decade. The new Federal Law of Education of 1996 has had a special impact on the teaching of foreign languages. Based on this law, English is now compulsory in all Argentine schools—a clear sign of the government's recognition of the importance of mastering the world's lingua franca. In this chapter, the implementation of the new education law and its impact on the teaching of English in public schools is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many students in English-speaking contexts who are new to the English language have to acquire proficiency in the language, and at the same time learn a range of academic content, some of which is very unfamiliar. The Prism model defines factors that allow for predictions to be made regarding English learners' degree of second language acquisition in an academic context. In this chapter, the authors describe in detail the components and dimensions of the Prism model and describe several currently popular types of education programs for English language learners in the United States in terms of their degree of adherence to the model. Finally, we compare the predictions of the Prism model, using predicted rankings of relative program success, to the actual measured effectiveness of each program in producing varying degrees of English learners' achievement gap closure with mother tongue-English speakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter reports the results of five evaluations of the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (CALLA) conducted in different school settings with various content emphases. CALLA provides instruction through a combination of academic content, language development, and learning strategies in which a five-phase instructional sequence is used to integrate these components in materials design and instruction. Results indicated that English language learning (ELL) students enrolled in CALLA classrooms made substantial progress in acquiring content knowledge and skills, English language proficiency, and learning strategies. These results were sustained with successive cohorts of students. The effects in these evaluations had a high degree of educational significance and were supported by multiple measures of program impact across different school contexts with students from varied grade levels and language backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address the issue of education systems that are increasingly multilingual and multicultural, we must look beyond the acquisition of the second language (L2) system and consider education as language socialization into social practices. This chapter models social practices as frameworks of knowledge structures that link cultural meanings of the practice to meanings in discourse. The model is situated within systemic functional linguistics and focuses on field (or popularly, content) of discourse, showing typical relations between meanings of knowledge structures and language form, the role of atypical or metaphorical relations in constructing advanced knowledge, and how graphics and nonlinguistic media generally can be interpreted as knowledge structures. Some educational implications addressed in the chapter include integrated approaches to language and content, the connection of language and content standards in education, bridges between learners' languages and cultures, and links to strategies for comprehension in reading and discourse awareness in writing. Current concerns include failures of language assessment to deal adequately with the linguistic construction of content in discourse. Future directions include discourse research strategies to support the potential convergence of multimodal literacy, critical thinking skills, and computer technologies; and connections with metaphor and ‘the body,' and with critical linguistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chapter provides a survey of research into task-based foreign language instruction, spanning the last twenty years or so. At the outset, it contextualises task research within communicative approaches to language teaching, and argues that optimistic interpretations of communicative activities as vehicles for language development lack research support. Task instruction research is then linked to a more realistic underlying account stressing a Focus-on-Form. Subsequently, four perspectives on task research are discussed: a psycholinguistic approach to interaction; a cognitive approach to attentional use during tasks; a sociocultural perspective; and the use of focused tasks. The first emphasizes the quality of feedback that can be generated by well-designed interactions. The second explores how different task characteristics and task conditions influence attentional demands, and the scope there is to direct attention to form without compromising meaningful communication. The third explores how task participants collaborate on tasks and reinterpret them as they are being completed. Finally, the fourth approach examines whether it is possible to "seed" tasks with particular language structures without losing the benefits of a primacy for meaning. After the different perspectives have been described, they are compared with one another. Next, a series of controversies within the task literature are examined and the chapter concludes by proposing some future directions for task instruction research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the introduction of communicative language teaching (CLT) in the late 1970s, there have been different definitions and interpretations of the communicative approach to second language (L2) instruction. Not surprisingly, this has resulted in several misconceptions of CLT and how it is implemented in the L2 classroom. While most descriptions of CLT emphasize the communication of messages and meaning, there is disagreement as to whether CLT should include a focus on the analysis and practice of language forms. There is also some debate (and confusion) as to whether the inclusion of literacy skills, use of the first language (L1), and vocabulary instruction is compatible with the principles and practice of CLT. These differences in interpretation and implementation of CLT are sufficiently problematic to suggest that CLT has become a rather vacuous term. Indeed, some have argued that, as a label for a language teaching method, CLT has lost its relevance to L2 teaching. In this chapter, I will describe some of the developments in CLT theory, research, and practice that point to the conclusion that a balance needs to be struck within CLT—one that allows for the integration of more direct instruction of language (including grammatical, lexical, and socio-pragmatic features) with communicative skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of integrating ESL learners into the mainstream curriculum has been the subject of debate amongst educationalists and policy makers in many parts of the English-speaking countries in the past 30 years. The issues concerning the integration of ESL students into the mainstream curriculum are multi-dimensional—the label of ESL itself appears to be part linguistic, part educational, part social, and part political. The main purpose of this chapter is to give an account of the multidimensionality of ESL curriculum and practice. The developments in ESL curriculum and pedagogy within the mainstream education system will be looked at first. The influences of wider concerns such as social integration, and rights and entitlements to equal opportunity in public provision will be discussed next. Recent experiences in California, England, and Victoria will be drawn on to illustrate the multi-dimensional nature of ESL policy and practice. This chapter will conclude with some deliberations on the formulation of an analytical framework that may be used to critically examine any ESL curriculum and practice. The central assumption throughout this chapter is that ESL in mainstream schooling can only be understood properly if we pay attention to its unique position at the crossroads of educational, social, and ideological movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goals of language teaching can be divided into external goals that relate to actual second language (L2) use outside the classroom and internal goals that relate to the educational aims of the classroom itself. Typically, external goals have been measured against the abilities of monolingual native speakers; internal goals have scarcely featured in modern language teaching apart from some alternative methods. Yet, externally, L2 users have different uses of second languages from monolinguals, have a different command of the language, and utilize different skills: L2 users of English in particular need to interact with different types of non-native speakers. Internally, L2 users are different types of people with different cognitive processes and different knowledge of both languages. Language teaching is creating L2 users with mental and linguistic potentials that monolinguals lack. The goals should be to help them on the one hand to function as multilingual individuals in whatever capacity they choose in the diverse situations of L2 use outside the classroom, on the other to acquire the benefits of bilingualism in cognitive ability and language awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is the relationship between national education policy and local educational realities in the United States within the context of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation? NCLB imposed a centralized set of mandates, backed up by punitive accountability requirements, on US schools. In the process, local realities and their historical contexts are dismissed as irrelevant to the overall goal of boosting academic achievement. This chapter notes the parallels between the US situation (the ‘Center' imposing a one-size-fits-all frame on local realities) and the ongoing debates in the teaching of English internationally regarding the dominance of instructional policies and methodologies imposed by academic and commercial interests in Western English-speaking countries (the ‘Center') with little regard for the histories and contexts of local non-Western communities and classrooms in the ‘Periphery.' Contrasting four ethnographic accounts of English language teaching contexts in the United States with the mandates of NCLB, the author suggests that English language learners will be left behind if the definition and implementation of quality education in a given setting are not co-constructed by the communities and educators within the local and historical context of each school and community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter outlines the background to policy and practice in relation to learners of English as an additional language in England. It examines the ways in which mainstream educational policy and practice have attempted to adapt in recognizing that linguistic diversity is the norm rather than the exception in modern British society. Policy and practice for meeting the varied and specific needs of second language learners are set in the context of the introduction of a national curriculum, a focus on literacy, and of developing national processes of monitoring and target setting for raising the attainment of all students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Canadian government likes to indulge in self-congratulatory and often smug statements about how generous it is to the large numbers of newcomers who immigrate into the country. Individual Canadians do indeed seem to be generous and welcoming to immigrants, but these tendencies should not mask the fact that the national government's policy developers support high levels of immigration primarily because this is vital to their perception of Canada's long-term economic and political interests. Canada obtains the full financial benefits of immigration only if newcomers can be integrated into the fabric of the nation's economic life. In that regard, second language education programs are central to the removal of barriers to newcomer integration, especially the inability to speak English or French, the country's two official languages. However crucial the economic contributions provided by these programs might be, it is also important to note they play a crucial role in identity formation, both in terms of what it means to individuals and the nation-state. The ability of these programs to foster identity construction is being limited by funding decisions that limit English language learning to basic levels of proficiency and increasingly place greater emphasis on the limited goal of job preparation. Canadian history and traditions have created a country where our values include tolerance and respect for cultural differences, and a commitment to social justice. We are proud of the fact that we are a peaceful nation and that we are accepted in many places around the world as peacekeepers. As a small population occupying a vast northern land enriched by immigration throughout its history, Canadians have developed a kind of genius for compromise and co-existence. (Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2002a) Canada faces demographic challenges. Birth rates are at a historic low, and Canada's largest age cohort—the baby boomers—is ageing...Immigration will likely account for all net labour force growth by 2011, and projections indicate it will account for total population growth by 2031. For these reasons, ensuring that immigrants and refugees have the skills to succeed in the labour market is key to Canada's future prosperity. (Citizenship and Immigration Canada Immigration Plan, 2002c). Each and every form of ethnic, linguistic, religious, racial and indeed national social identity in Canada has been fabricated into a certain nationality through maintaining the dominance of some social identity (a certain patriarchal Englishness) against and under which...all others are subordinated. (Young, 1984, pp. 10-12) For all its rhetoric about a cultural ‘mosaic', Canada refuses to renovate its national self-image to include its changing complexion. It is a New World country with Old World concepts of a fixed, exclusionist national identity... Canadians of colour were routinely treated as ‘not real' Canadians. (Mukherjee, 1997) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, the national curriculum, which applies to both primary and secondary schools, is the most influential foundation for educational practice. The Ministry of Education (MOE) is responsible for the development of the national curriculum across all subject areas. The national English curriculum, in the past 20 years, has seen some major changes along with the country's social, political, and economic developments. Changes in the English curriculum have had a profound influence on the methodological approaches to ELT in Chinese schools. This chapter, by providing an overview of the development of foreign language teaching in China over the last century, looks particularly into the ELT curriculum changes in the last 20 years with a focused examination of the different approaches taken in teaching and in materials development. The article gives special attention to the recent curriculum innovations and discusses the future directions of ELT in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]