Nearly half a century has passed since Hymes proposed the concept of communicative competence to describe the knowledge and skills required for the appropriate use of language in a social context. During these decades, a number of scholars have applied and refined this concept. In language education, communicative competence has been identified as a major objective of learning. This book will inform readers about communicative competence as a highly complex construct encompassing an array of sub-competencies such as linguistic skills and proficiencies, knowledge of socio-cultural and socio-pragmatic codes, and the ability to engage in textual and conversational discourse. Findings from research in related disciplines have pointed to the significance of factors that can contribute to the attainment of communicative competence. Various teaching practices and relevant Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools will be also introduced and discussed to achieve communicative competence as a complex ability. It is a timely contribution to current research on key areas in the teaching, learning and acquisition of second/foreign languages.
This volume offers a comprehensive, empirical and methodological view over new scenarios recently emerged in language teaching and learning, such as blended learning, e-learning, ubiquitous, social, autonomous or lifelong learning, and also over some new (ICT-based) approaches that can support them (CALL, MALL, CLIL, LMOOCs).
Language teaching approaches, methods and procedures are constantly undergoing reassessment. New ideas keep emerging as the growing complexity of the means of communication and the opportunities created by technology put language skills to new uses. In addition, the political, social and economic impact of globalisation, the new demands of the labour market that result from it, the pursuit of competitiveness, the challenges of intercultural communication and the diversification of culture have opened new perspectives on the central role that foreign languages have come to play in the development of contemporary societies. This book provides an insight into the latest developments in the field and discusses the new trends in foreign language teaching in four major areas, namely methods and approaches, teacher training, innovation in the classroom, and evaluation and assessment.
The testing and assessment of language competence continues to be a much debated issue in foreign language teaching and research. This book is the first one to address the testing of four important dimensions of foreign language education which have been left largely unconsidered: learner autonomy, intercultural competence, literature and literary competence, and the integration of content and language learning. Each area is considered through a theoretical framework, followed by two empirical studies, raising questions of importance to all language teachers: How can one test literary competence? Can intercultural competence be measured? What about the integrated assessment of content-and-language in CLIL and teaching? Is progress in autonomous learning skill gaugeable? The book constitutes essential reading for anyone interested in the testing and assessment of seemingly largely untestable aspects of foreign language competence.
This open access book presents an account of five teacher educators who, over a two-year period, undertook a research project with five teachers of languages other than English in pre-secondary schools in New Zealand. Their collaborative aim was to develop students’ intercultural capability in the context of learning a new language. The school participants were typical of many in New Zealand’s pre-secondary sector; the teachers had limited language-teaching experience and limited prior knowledge of how to develop the intercultural dimension in their language classrooms, and the students were largely at the beginning stages of learning a new language. The book discusses the findings obtained using a range of data collection methods, including classroom observations, reflective interviews with teachers, and focus groups with students. It documents instances of breakthrough and growth for teachers and students and reveals the problems and tensions. Lastly, it reflects on the lessons learned in the course of this project and speculates on the roles that teacher education needs to play if the goal of intercultural capability is to be better achieved in language classrooms, both in New Zealand and internationally. Of interest to a wide range of stakeholders in the area of education, the book allows readers to gain an understanding of the opportunities of working with teachers through an action–research model, alongside the challenges that this brings and ways in which intercultural capability may be strengthened.
This book provides a contemporary and critical examination of the theoretical and pedagogical impact of Michael Byram’s pioneering work on intercultural communicative competence and intercultural citizenship within the field of language education and beyond. The chapters address important theoretical and empirical work on the teaching, learning, and assessment of intercultural learning, and highlight how individual language educators and communities of practice enact intercultural learning in locally appropriate ways. The book offers comprehensive, up-to-date and accessible knowledge for researchers, teachers, teacher-trainers and students.
Pragmatics Pedagogy in English as an International Language aims to bring to light L2 pragmatics instruction and assessment in relation to English as an International Language (EIL). The chapters in this book deal with a range of pedagogically related topics, including the historical interface between L2 pragmatics and EIL, reconceptualization of pragmatic competence in EIL, intercultural dimension of pragmatics pedagogy in EIL, teacher pragmatic awareness of instruction in the context of EIL, pragmatics of politeness in EIL, pragmatic teaching materials for EIL pedagogy, teachers’ and scholars’ perceptions of pragmatics pedagogy in EIL, assessment and assessment criteria in EIL-aware pragmatics, and methods for research into pragmatics in EIL. This book is different from other books about both EIL pedagogy and pragmatics pedagogy. Exploring the interface between different dimensions of pragmatics pedagogy and EIL, it suggests instructional and assessment tasks for EIL-aware pedagogy and directions for research on EIL-based pragmatics pedagogy. Pragmatics Pedagogy in English as an International Language will be useful for a range of readers who have an interest in the pragmatics instruction and assessment of EIL as well as those whose main area of specialization is EIL but would like to know how EIL, with its rich conceptual and empirical background, can go beyond linguistic instruction to embrace the instruction of pragmatic competence.
Communicative Language and Teaching in Action: Putting Principles to Work serves as an engaging and informative guide for second and foreign language teachers in training or for those pursuing a new career as language educators. The text demonstrates principles and practices of communicative and task-based language teaching, equipping readers with an innovative and effective approach to language instruction. The conceptual foundation of the book is based upon theoretical and empirical findings drawn from second language acquisition research, cognitive psychology, and brain research. It emphasizes successful instructional practices in a communicative and task-based approach to language learning. The book features copious examples of learning activities in different languages and lessons developed by experienced language teachers. Dedicated chapters cover the principles of communicative language teaching and task-based instruction; lesson planning; vocabulary and grammar in language learning; feedback and error correction; the development of listening, oral communication, reading, and writing skills; and assessment. The second edition features updated literature review in all chapters, new and dynamic teacher-training tasks, and reorganized and fresh content throughout the text, as well as a new chapter on writing and language learning. Communicative Language Teaching in Action is an ideal resource for courses and programs in foreign language education.
This volume encompasses the range of research questions on language-related problems that arise in language teaching, learning and assessment. The [150] chapters are written by experts in the field who each offer their insights into current and future directions of research, and who suggest several highly relevant research questions. Topics include, but are not limited to: language skills teaching, language skills assessment and testing, measurement, feedback, discourse analysis, pragmatics, semantics, language learning through technology, CALL, MALL, ESP, EAP, ERPP, TBLT, materials development, genre analysis, needs analysis, corpus, content-based language teaching, language teaching and learning strategies, individual differences, research methods, classroom research, form-focused instruction, age effects, literacy, proficiency, and teacher education and teacher development. The book serves as a reference and offers inspiration to researchers and students in language education. An important skill in reviewing the research literature is following a study’s “plan of attack.” Broadly, this means that before accepting and acting upon the findings, one considers a) the research question (Is it clear and focused? Measurable?), b) the subjects examined, the methods deployed, and the measures chosen (Do they fit the study’s goal and have the potential to yield useful results?), and c) the analysis of the data (Do the data lead to the discussion presented? Has the author reasonably interpreted results to reach the conclusion?). Mohebbi and Coombe’s book, Research Questions in Language Education and Applied Linguistics: A Reference Guide, helps budding researchers take the first step and develop a solid research question. As the field of language education evolves, we need continual research to improve our instructional and assessment practices and our understanding of the learners’ language learning processes. This book with its remarkable 150 topics and 10 times the number of potential research questions provides a wealth of ideas that will help early career researchers conduct studies that move our field forward and grow our knowledge base. Deborah J. Short, Ph.D., Director, Academic Language Research & Training, Past President, TESOL International Association (2021-22) As a teacher in graduate programs in TESOL I frequently come across the frustration of students at centering their research interests on a particular topic and developing research questions which are worth pursuing so as to make a contribution to the field. This frustration stems from the fact that our field is so vast and interrelated, that it is often impossible to properly address all that interests them. Hence, I wholeheartedly welcome this most relevant and innovative addition to the research literature in the field of TESOL and Applied Linguistics. Coombe and Mohebbi have created a real tour de force that stands to inform budding researchers in the field for many years to come. Additionally, the cutting-edge depiction of the field and all it has to offer will no doubt update the research agendas of many seasoned researchers around the world. The 150 chapters are organized in a most powerful, yet, deceptively simple way offering a positioning within the topic, suggesting questions that might direct inquiry and offering a basic set of bibliographic tools to start the reader in the path towards research. What is more, the nine sections in which the chapters are organized leave no area of the field unexplored. Dr. Gabriel Díaz Maggioli, Academic Advisor, Institute of Education, Universidad ORT del Uruguay, President, IATEFL
