Written by leading international experts, this handbook provides an accessible resource to task-based language teaching for teachers, as well as academic researchers. Chapters in the volume are presented in a reader-friendly style, with ideas made accessible through case studies, questions for discussion, and suggested further readings.
Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is an innovative approach to language teaching which emphasises the importance of engaging learners' natural abilities for acquiring language incidentally. The speed with which the field is expanding makes it difficult to keep up with recent developments, for novices and experienced researchers alike. This handbook meets that need, providing a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of the field, written by a stellar line-up of leading international experts. Chapters are divided into five thematic areas, and as well as covering theory, also contain case studies to show how TBLT can be implemented in practice, in a range of global contexts, as well as questions for discussion, and suggested further readings. Comprehensive in its coverage, and written in an accessible style, it will appeal to a wide readership, not only researchers and graduate students, but also classroom teachers working in a variety of educational and cultural contexts around the world.
Bringing together state-of-the-art chapters written by leading scholars, this volume provides a comprehensive reference on theory and research of corrective feedback. It will be a key resource for researchers, graduate students, teachers and teacher educators who are interested in the role of feedback in second language teaching and learning.
Task-based language teaching (TBLT) has been attracting the attention of researchers, curriculum developers, teacher trainers and language teachers for many years. However, much of the available literature and research has been from a psycholinguistic perspective, driven by the desire to understand how people acquire a second language. Far less research has been carried out as to whether TBLT works for real teachers and real learners in a classroom environment. This book aims to offer a unique contribution by uniting a discussion of task-based pedagogical principles with descriptions of their application to real life language education problems. It provides an account of the many challenges and obstacles that the implementation of TBLT raises and discusses the different options for overcoming them. The book contains a substantial body of research from Flanders, where the implementation of TBLT has been a nationwide project for fifteen years in primary, secondary and adult education.
Providing a comprehensive survey of cutting-edge work on second language learning, this Handbook, written by a team of leading experts, surveys the nature of second language learning and its implications for teaching. Prominent theories and methods from linguistics, psycholinguistics, processing-based, and cognitive approaches are covered and organised thematically across sections dealing with skill development, individual differences, pedagogical interventions and approaches, and context and environment. This state-of-the-art volume will interest researchers in second language studies and language education, and will also reach out to advanced undergraduate and graduate students in these and other related areas.
Experimental syntax is an area that is rapidly growing as linguistic research becomes increasingly focused on replicable language data, in both fieldwork and laboratory environments. The first of its kind, this handbook provides an in-depth overview of current issues and trends in this field, with contributions from leading international scholars. It pays special attention to sentence acceptability experiments, outlining current best practices in conducting tests, and pointing out promising new avenues for future research. Separate sections review research results from the past 20 years, covering specific syntactic phenomena and language types. The handbook also outlines other common psycholinguistic and neurolinguistic methods for studying syntax, comparing and contrasting them with acceptability experiments, and giving useful perspectives on the interplay between theoretical and experimental linguistics. Providing an up-to-date reference on this exciting field, it is essential reading for students and researchers in linguistics interested in using experimental methods to conduct syntactic research.
The Handbook of Technology and Second Language Teaching and Learning presents a comprehensive exploration of the impact of technology on the field of second language learning. The rapidly evolving language-technology interface has propelled dramatic changes in, and increased opportunities for, second language teaching and learning. Its influence has been felt no less keenly in the approaches and methods of assessing learners' language and researching language teaching and learning. Contributions from a team of international scholars make up the Handbook consisting of four parts: language teaching and learning through technology; the technology-pedagogy interface; technology for L2 assessment; and research and development of technology for language learning. It considers how technology assists in all areas of language development, the emergence of pedagogy at the intersection of language and technology, technology in language assessment, and major research issues in research and development of technologies for language learning. It covers all aspects of language including grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, listening, speaking, pragmatics, and intercultural learning, as well as new pedagogical and assessment approaches, and new ways of conceiving and conducting research and development. The Handbook of Technology and Second Language Teaching and Learning demonstrates the extensive, multifaceted implications of technology for language teachers, learners, materials-developers, and researchers.
Demonstrates the principles involved in planning and designing an effective syllabus. This book examines important concepts, such as needs analysis, goal-setting, and content specification, and serves as a useful introduction for teachers who want to gain an understanding of syllabus design in order to modify the syllabuses with which they work.
