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Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is an educational approach that combines the teaching of subject content with language learning. Originally developed in Europe, CLIL has since been adopted across diverse educational and geographical contexts. This Element offers a comprehensive overview of CLIL, tracing its origins and global development. It examines the theoretical foundations of the approach, as well as key implementation strategies and their impact on language acquisition, content understanding, learner motivation, and attitudes. Special attention is given to how CLIL addresses diversity in the classroom. The text also explores innovative pedagogical practices, such as translanguaging and multimodality, that promote deeper learning and student engagement. It concludes with a discussion on assessment and teacher education within CLIL contexts and outlines the steps needed for its continued growth. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
This Element provides readers with an overview of major approaches, concepts, and research on language teacher emotions (LTE) along with related pedagogical approaches. It begins by situating LTE within the context of the affective turn in language education. The discussion then moves through psycho-cognitive approaches, followed by critical perspectives on LTE, highlighting key concepts and research contributions within each framework. The Element next explores pedagogical approaches to LTE, offering practices that can be used in teacher education programs alongside a set of reflective questions that foster critical inquiry on emotions among language teachers. Finally, it addresses ethical concerns and outlines future directions for LTE research.
Data-Driven Learning (DDL) can be broadly defined as the use of corpus tools and techniques for learners and teachers of foreign or second language, typically in the form of concordances derived from authentic texts for inductive learning of lexicogrammar. This Element is a practical guide for language teachers and graduate students intending to explore or upgrade their use of corpora in the language classroom and beyond. In today's context, where advances in computing and information processing dominate our social and professional interactions, the use of corpora emerges as a prime resource with which to approach data-driven language learning and teaching, developing language awareness, noticing skills and critical thinking for learning that generative AI cannot do for you.
Metacognition, the awareness and regulation of one's own learning process, is a cornerstone of effective language learning. This element is a ground-breaking text that offers a comprehensive guide to incorporating metacognitive strategies into the teaching of reading, writing, vocabulary, and listening. This element stands as a bridge between theoretical frameworks and actionable teaching practices, enabling educators to enhance their students' language proficiency in a holistic manner. This element is replete with case studies, examples from diverse learning contexts, and evidence-based practices. It is an invaluable resource for language educators who aspire to cultivate independent learners capable of self-assessment and strategy adjustment. By fostering metacognitive awareness across all facets of language learning, this element empowers students to take charge of their own learning journey, leading to more profound and lasting language mastery.
This Element offers readers an overview of the theory, research, and practice of teaching academic writing to second language/multilingual (L2) students. The Element begins with a discussion of contextual features and some of the most common settings in which L2AW is taught. The Element then defines and shares examples of several concepts, pedagogical approaches, and teaching practices that are particularly relevant to L2AW instruction. Reflective questions guide readers to consider how these aspects of L2AW might be carried out within their own educational settings. Finally, the Element considers the rapid changes in technology and their influences on texts and academic writing.
This Element examines the foundational building blocks of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) teaching. The emergence of ESP teaching as a global movement has been driven by economic, social, and educational factors. Currently, examples of ESP teaching can be seen across a wide variety of learner groups and contexts. Underlying this variety, two core concepts unify the field – teaching addresses learners' work- or study-related language needs, and teaching targets specialized English. These mainstay concepts have come to assume a taken-for-granted status in the field, and recent discussion and analytical review of them has been limited. The Element scrutinizes the concepts, examines the ideas behind them, identifies potential issues in their application and attempts to forge new links.
This Element offers a review of advancements in willingness to communicate (WTC) in a second language (L2) over the past twenty-five years. It begins with the origin of the concept of WTC in first language (L1) communication research and the seminal and novel conceptualizations of WTC in the L2 context. This Element then categorizes six key perspectives that have informed WTC research: social psychological, cultural, dynamic, ecological, multimodal, and digital. By analyzing representative studies, it elucidates insights gained from these perspectives. The Element then discusses key factors associated with WTC, including individual attributes, situational factors, and outcome factors. This is followed by an overview of and critical commentary on methodological approaches in WTC research. Implications for enhancing L2 learners' WTC in in-class, out-of-class, and digital contexts are discussed. The Element concludes by proposing important venues for future WTC research. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
This Element focuses on extensive reading (ER), a language learning and teaching approach that encourages language learners to read a large amount of interesting and level-appropriate reading materials. Extensive reading has been adopted across educational spectrums, including higher, secondary, and elementary levels, and implemented in diverse language contexts such as English, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, and French. The primary objective of this Element is to offer comprehensive insights into the theoretical foundations of ER, analyze its multifaceted benefits to language learning, address the challenges encountered in its implementation, and propose effective strategies drawn from research for these challenges. The Element concludes with an overview of the latest trends and developments in ER.
This Element addresses the following three questions: can Global English unequivocally be framed as a 'killer' language for learning LOTEs (languages other than English)? If so, under what premises? (Section 1); what are the rationales and justifications for learning LOTE in the age of Global English? (Section 2); and what are the pedagogical and policy implications for learning LOTE in the age of Global English? What can we learn from current (best and less good) practice? (Section 3). Attempts to engage learners in learning a variety of languages – rather than just English – often fail to achieve desired results, both in Anglophone and non-Anglophone contexts. Can English be blamed? What can policymakers and educators do to address the crisis? This Element proposes a new matrix of rationales for language learning, advocating an interconnected, socially embedded justification for language learning. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
Sociocultural Theory (SCT), as formulated by Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky nearly a century ago, is distinct among traditions in the field of second language (L2) studies in its commitment to praxis. According to this view, theory and research provide the orienting basis for practice, which in turn serves as a testing ground for theory (Vygotsky, 1997). This Element offers a synthesis of foundational concepts and principles of SCT and an overview of two important areas of praxis in L2 education: Concept-Based Language Instruction, which organizes language curricula around linguistic concepts, and Dynamic Assessment, a framework that integrates teaching and diagnosing learner L2 abilities. Leading approaches to L2 teacher education informed by SCT are also discussed. Examples from studies with L2 teachers and learners showcase praxis in action, and emerging questions and directions are considered.
This Element reviews the key foundational concepts, beliefs, and practices underpinning approaches to assessment in English Language Teaching. Exploring major concepts and practices through educational, social, and ethical perspectives, it offers theoretically informed and close-to-practice descriptions and up-to-date explanations of the affordances and limitations of different assessment approaches related to language teaching. This Element presents a cohesive and pragmatic framework that allows teachers to efficiently implement tests and assessments in their contexts.
This Element traces the evolution of peer assessment in writing instruction and illustrates how peer assessment can be used to promote the teaching and learning of writing in various sociocultural and educational contexts. Specifically, this Element aims to present a critical discussion of the major themes and research findings in the existing studies on peer assessment regarding the three assessment paradigms (assessment of, for, and as learning), and to identify whether and how peer assessment has served the purposes of assessment of, for, and as learning, respectively in writing instruction. This Element highlights the contextual factors that shape the effect of peer assessment in writing instruction and concludes with directions for future research and implications regarding how peer assessment can be successfully used to improve students' writing development.
This Element offers a comprehensive account of the unprecedented spread of English as a global language by taking historical, sociolinguistic, and pedagogical perspectives. To realize this mission, it opens with an accessible discussion of the historical trajectory of the English language with qualitative and quantitative connections to its contemporary diversity in terms of forms, roles, functions, uses, users, and contexts of English as a global and multilingual franca. Built upon this synchronic-diachronic symbiosis, the discussion is complemented by an overview of major analytical paradigms and trends that promote systematical scrutiny of the English language and its sociolinguistic and educational implications. It ends by showcasing instructional practices, recommendations, reflective questions, and future directions for language educators to revamp their beliefs, commitments, and practices considering the changing needs and realities of the present-day global sociolinguistic ecology and individuals therein.
This Element provides an overview of research focusing on language teaching practices for young multilingual learners in primary classrooms in English-speaking contexts. The term 'young multilingual learner' refers to primary school children, with ages ranging from approximately 5 to 12 years old at various English language proficiency levels. Pedagogy-informed research studies conducted in K-5 classrooms are used to develop research-informed pedagogies for young multilingual learners in primary classrooms. The authors use the notion of culturally sustaining teaching practices to provide examples from pedagogy-informed research studies. The focus on early (K-3) and intermediate (4-5) grades provides a range of illustrations of such practices. The Element concludes with implications for teacher education and the preparation of teachers of young multilingual learners.
This Element examines how pedagogical innovation in language classrooms can be mediated through language teacher education (LTE) by subjecting the author's own practices as a teacher educator to scrutiny. Starting from the premise that implementing innovation can be a challenging enterprise, effective LTE is framed as being built on helping practitioners to recognise and confront often deeply-rooted beliefs and adjust subsequent practices through critical reflection on what an innovation may look like both theoretically and practically. A critically reflective lens is then applied to the author's own work as a teacher educator over several years through a research approach known as self-study of teacher education practices or S-STEP. The approach highlights changes to the author's beliefs and practices as lessons emerged from beginning teachers' engagement with innovative ideas. These are presented with the aim of better understanding how teachers' beliefs and practices with regard to innovation can be enhanced effectively.
This Element is a guide to task-based language teaching (TBLT), for language instructors, teacher educators, and other interested parties. The work first provides clear definitions and principles related to communication task design. It then explains how tasks can inform all stages of curriculum development. Diverse, localized cases demonstrate the scope of task-based approaches. Recent research illustrates the impact of task design (complexity, mode) and task implementation (preparation, interaction, repetition) on various second language outcomes. The Element also describes particular challenges and opportunities for teachers using tasks. The epilogue considers the potential of TBLT to transform classrooms, institutions, and society.
This Element focuses on English-Medium instruction (EMI), an educational approach that is spreading widely and rapidly in higher education institutions throughout the world because it is regarded as a lynchpin of the internationalisation process. The main aim of the Element is to provide critical insights into EMI implementation and the results obtained so far in diverse university contexts. After defining EMI and analysing the rapid extension it has experienced, the volume tackles issues such as stakeholders' views on how EMI programmes are being implemented, the impact of teaching and learning both content and language in a foreign language, translanguaging practices in English-medium lectures, and how assessment has hitherto been addressed. Each section aims to bring to light new avenues for research. The Element wraps up with a description of the many challenges ahead.
This Element examines the concept of reflective practice in language teaching. It includes a brief description of what reflective practice is and how it is operationalized by two of its main protagonists, John Dewey and Donald Schön, as well as some of the limitations of their conceptions. This is used as an introduction to how the author further developed their conceptions when operationalizing reflective practice for language teachers through a five-stage framework for reflecting on practice for language teachers. The author then presents an in-depth case study of the reflections of an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher working in Costa Rica as he moved through the five stages of the framework for reflecting on practice. The author then goes on to outline and discuss how reflective practice may be moved forward and calls attention to the importance of emotions in the process of reflection for language teachers.
This Element is a practical guide for language teachers intending to upgrade their online teaching. During the COVID-19 pandemic many teachers were forced to move their teaching online without proper preparation and support. This has led to frustration and stress, and sometimes decisions based not on sound pedagogy but on technological constraints, requirements and opportunities. To balance this negative experience, a research-based, pedagogy-focussed approach has been taken in this volume: step-by-step, teachers are shown how to make decisions about the choice and usage of online tools, how to adapt their pedagogy and teaching strategies to fit with online learning environments, and how to create a positive learning experience for their students. In six sections this Element takes teachers from epistemological considerations to learning theories, from teacher-centred to learner-centred online tuition, and from technological needs to pedagogic choice, ending with suggestions on how to future-proof language teaching.
The central aim of language teaching is typically to prepare learners to communicate through the language learnt. However, much current language teaching theory and practice is based on a simplistic view of communication that fails to match the multilingual and intercultural reality of the majority of second language (L2) use. This Element examines the relationship between language and culture through an L2 in intercultural and transcultural communication. It puts forward the argument that we need to go beyond communicative competence in language teaching and focus instead on intercultural and transcultural awareness. Implications for pedagogic practice are explored including intercultural and transcultural language education.