Current Trends in the Development and Teaching of the four Language Skills builds connections from theory in the four language skills to instructional practices. It comprises twenty-one chapters that are grouped in five sections. The first section includes an introductory chapter which presents a communicative competence framework developed by the editors in order to highlight the key role the four skills play in language learning and teaching. The next four sections each represent a language skill: Section II is devoted to listening, Section III to speaking, Section IV to reading and Section V to writing. In order to provide an extensive treatment of each of the four skills, each section starts with a theoretical chapter which briefly illustrates advances in the understanding of how each skill is likely to be learned and taught, followed by four didactically oriented chapters authored by leading international specialists. These pedagogical chapters deal specifically with four key topics: 1) areas of research that influence the teaching of a particular skill; 2) an overview of strategies or techniques necessary for developing a particular skill; 3) an approach to the academic orientation of a particular skill, and 4) unique aspects of teaching each skill. Moreover, all chapters incorporate two common sections: pre-reading questions at the beginning of the chapter in order to stimulate readers' interest in its content, and a section entitled suggested activities at the end of the chapter in order to allow readers put the ideas and concepts presented into practice. The accessible style and practical focus of the volume make it an ideal tool for teachers, teacher trainers, and teacher trainees who are involved in teaching the four language skills in a second or foreign language context.

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.

This collection is comprised of papers submitted to the 3rd International Online Language Conference (IOLC) held in September 2010. IOLC 2010 was a two-day conference which aimed to provide a forum for academics, practitioners, experts and students to debate current international issues and challenges in the broad area of language learning and teaching. This annual world-renowned conference takes place over the internet, allowing participants to save accommodation and flight expenses and at the same time helping to save our planet by reducing CO2 emissions. All submitted papers went through a double blind review process before a decision was made. This was to ensure the quality level of the conference is kept high.

In recent years, the traditional way of teaching has been substituted by online teaching. Teachers have had to think about efficient and effective teaching methods and activities in online delivery that can keep students interested and engaged. It is important to examine teacher cognition and its relevance to classroom management and teaching practice as the role of technology in teaching and learning cannot be overestimated. The Handbook of Research on Teacher and Student Perspectives on the Digital Turn in Education examines the cognitions of teachers and students, their attitudes and perceptions regarding online teaching, and their personal experiences and challenges regarding the use of online platforms and digital tools. This book discusses the implementation of digital technologies in primary, secondary, and tertiary education that facilitates the learning and teaching process and creates a student-centered environment. Covering topics such as digital literacy, student engagement, and pedagogy, this reference work is an essential resource for practitioners, scholars, administrators, policymakers, researchers, academicians, instructors, and students.

This volume focuses on multimodality in various communicative settings, with special attention to how non-verbal elements reinforce and add meaning to verbal expressions. The first part of the book explores issues related to the use of multimodal resources in educational interactions and English language classroom teaching, also involving learners with disabilities. The second part, on the other hand, investigates multimodality as a key component of communication that takes place in different specialized domains and genres. The book reflects a variety of methodological approaches that are grounded in both quantitative and qualitative techniques. These include multimodal discourse analysis, multimodal transcription, and multimodal annotation software capable of representing the interplay of different semiotic modes, such as speech, intonation, direction of gaze, facial expressions, gestures and spatial positioning of interlocutors. The research collected here highlights the increasingly important role of multimodality in communication across different genres and communicative contexts, and offers new perspectives on how to exploit multimodal resources to enhance the learning of English for both general and specific purposes.

Several factors have resulted in increased intra- and inter-state migration. This has led to an increase in the enrollment of students with diverse linguistics backgrounds, placing more academic demands on educators. Linguistic diversity presents both opportunities and challenges for educators across the educational spectrum. Language ideologies profoundly shape and constrain the use of language as a resource for learning in multilingual or linguistically diverse classrooms. While English has become the world language, most communities remain, and are becoming more and more multicultural, multilingual, and diverse. The Handbook of Research on Teaching in Multicultural and Multilingual Contexts moves beyond the constraints of current language ideologies and enables the use of a wide range of resources from local semiotic repertoires. It examines the phenomenon of language use, language teaching, multiculturalism, and multilingualism in different learning areas, giving practitioners a voice to spotlight their efforts in order to keep their teaching afloat in culturally and linguistically diverse situations. Covering topics such as Indigenous languages, multilingual deaf communities, and intercultural competence, this major reference work is an essential resource for educators of both K-12 and higher education, pre-service teachers, educational psychologists, linguists, education administrators and policymakers, government officials, researchers, and academicians.

This book offers a wide range of topics for the scholar interested in the study of English in this unsettling era of disruption in our lives – from linguistics to literature to language teaching and learning. The chapters present snippets of thoughts and critical reflections, findings from action research and other methodologies, and essays on troubling topics for language teachers. The authors are researchers, experienced teachers, and students engaged in exploratory research. The many ideas and suggestions for further reflection and research will inspire teachers and researchers working in many different contexts, both educational and regional. There is something in this book for everybody.

Picture your beginning ELLs reading their way to success! For beginning English language learners, a picture really is worth a thousand words! Picture books can unlock puzzling cultural and social meanings for students at all ages and grade levels. ELL educator Ana Lado illustrates how picture books are an especially useful tool for building important language and social foundations—foundations that students may miss through traditional instruction. Lado provides all the tools you need to engage your English learners with picture books, including how to: Design lesson plans around themed units Select appropriate picture books using specific criteria Incorporate fun and engaging strategies like singing and reenacting Integrate picture-book learning to facilitate development of English Language Proficiency In addition, you will gain access to a searchable online database to find just the right book for your lessons, based on author, title, genre, and English Language Proficiency level. With practical, classroom-friendly techniques, Teaching Beginner ELLs Using Picture Books helps teachers, ESL/ELD specialists, and bilingual teachers transform lessons into richly-illustrated learning opportunities. "This book is a great tool to use when teaching level one students and contains the different strategies necessary for complete English instruction." —Giuliana Jahnsen, ELL Teacher Sterling Middle School, Sterling, VA "This book makes the TESOL standards accessible by summarizing the three main goals of learning a language and how picture books support these concepts." —Blanca L. Campillo, Professional Development Specialist Chicago Public Schools Area 9, Chicago, IL

After more than 20 years of research, this is the first book-length treatment of second language task repetition – the repetition of encounters with a task that involve re-using the same content with the same overall purpose. The topic links task performance with the growing mastery of both the task and of relevant language, and constitutes a site with special potential to promote learning within and across language lessons, and for preparing students for assessment and of course real-world language performance. The volume assembles chapters that complement each other in interesting ways: significant background reviews, studies of patterns of change across task repetition iterations, and reports on the use and nature of task repetition in language classes in on-going programmes. Contributors draw on a variety of interpretive frameworks and report from a range of language educational contexts. The volume will be of interest to language researchers, teacher educators, teachers, and students, as well as others interested in the contribution of task repetition to learning.

Today, information and technological developments grow at a rapid pace. Social and political life becomes more and more complicated and, in this process, active citizenship becomes more essential. Knowledge-driven changes in society and economies require individuals to quickly acquire new skills. Otherwise, it is increasingly difficult for employees to adapt to business life and to find a job. Education has to take account of these circumstances, adapt to the rapid developments in the world and educate individuals to continue lifelong learning. For this, skills such as active and independent learning, assertiveness, creativity, self-improvement, lifelong learning are important. Skill teaching differs from knowledge teaching. Skill is the transfer of knowledge to practice. This process involves a learning process that requires the steps of researching, planning, controlling and correcting. The knowledge should be organized, integrated, transferred into practice, mental and physical resources should be activated, and knowledge use should be demonstrated in practice in order to improve the skill. This book contributes to the teaching of skills and includes basic concepts and skills, language skills, science and mathematics skills, psycho-social skills and visual arts skills. It also explains how to teach skills, how to prepare for activities and how to implement activities in educational settings. These applications are intended to draw attention to skill teaching, to raise educators, to increase the success of education, to improve the skills of students, and to enable them to use the skills they have learned in school outside of school and in complex tasks.