A practical, insightful exploration of natural spoken English based on 20 varied authentic extracts. Exploring Spoken English is a practical guide to the features of natural spoken English, designed for teachers and advanced learners of English for use in groups and for self-study. The material consists of 20 varied extracts of authentic spoken English drawn from the Cambridge University Press and University of Nottingham corpus of spoken English. Each unit contains an activity for the reader and a line-by-line commentary offering new insights into grammar, vocabulary and discourse patterns in the text. Audio CDs to accompany this book, available to purchase separately, contain all the extracts, some re-recorded for the purposes of clarity.

This book presents a corpus-based study of spoken learner language produced by university-level ESL students in the classroom. Using contemporary theories as a guide and employing cutting-edge corpus analysis tools and methods, the authors analyse a variety of learner speech to offer many new insights into the nature and characteristics of the spoken language of college ESL learners. Focusing on types of speech that are rarely examined, this original work makes a significant contribution to the study and understanding of ESL spoken language at university level. It will appeal to students and scholars of applied linguistics, corpus linguistics, second language acquisition and discourse analysis.

Discover the many twists and turns through history that led to the language, accents and turns of phrase which make up modern English

Successful Spoken English demonstrates how spoken learner corpora can be used to define and explore the constituents of successful spoken English. Taking the approach that language learners can speak effectively whilst still using some non-standard forms, this book: Examines databases of transcribed speech from learners at each different CEFR level to analyse what makes a successful speaker of English; Discusses features of communicative competence, including the use of linguistic strategies, organisation of extended stretches of speech, and sensitivity to context; Demonstrates quantitative and qualitative data analysis using corpus tools, looking at areas such as word frequency; Helps to reassess the goals of language learners and teachers, and provides recommendations for teaching practice and for further research. Successful Spoken English is key reading for postgraduate students of TESOL and Applied Linguistics, as well as for pre- and in-service English language teachers.

Vague language ('bags of time', 'doing stuff', 'and all that') is an aspect of communicative competence of considerable social importance. This book examines its function. It spans genre analysis, critical discourse analysis, psycholinguistics and cross-cultural sociolinguistics, and suggests applications in TEFL and directions for future research.

This volume explores the defining element in the work of language teacher educators: language itself. The book is in two parts. The first part holds up to scrutiny concepts of language that underlie much practice in language teacher education yet too frequently remain under-examined. These include language as social institution, language as verbal practice, language as reflexive practice, language as school subject and language as medium of language learning. The chapters in the second part are written by language teacher educators working in a range of institutional contexts and on a variety of types of program including both long and short courses, both pre-service and in-service courses, and teacher education practice focusing variously on metalinguistic awareness for teachers, language improvement, and classroom communication. The unifying factor is that collectively they illuminate how language teacher educators research their practice and reflect on underlying principles.

Explores how literature is used as a model of spoken language and to develop speaking skills in second language learning.

The Routledge Handbook of English Language Teacher Education provides an accessible, authoritative, comprehensive and up-to-date resource of English language teacher education. With an overview of historical issues, theoretical frameworks and current debates, this handbook provides unique insights into a range of teacher education contexts, focusing on key issues relating to teacher and learner priorities, language and communication, current practices, reflective practice, and research. Key features include: a cross-section of current theories, practices and issues, providing readers with a resource which can be used in a variety of contexts; the use of data, transcripts and tasks to highlight and illustrate a range of practices, including examples of ‘best practice’; ‘snapshots’ of ELTE from a number of contexts taken from all around the world; and examples of current technological advances, contemporary thinking on reflective practice, and insights gained from recent research. This wide-ranging and international collection of chapters has been written by leading experts in the field. The Routledge Handbook of English Language Teacher Education is sure to be core reading for students, researchers and educators in applied linguistics, TESOL and language education.