Showing papers in "Language Teaching in 2003"

Teacher cognition in language teaching: A review of research on what language teachers think, know, believe, and do

Abstract: This paper reviews a selection of research from the field of foreign and second language teaching into what is referred to here as teacher cognition – what teachers think, know, and believe and the relationships of these mental constructs to what teachers do in the language teaching classroom. Within a framework suggested by more general mainstream educational research on teacher cognition, language teacher cognition is here discussed with reference to three main themes: (1) cognition and prior language learning experience, (2) cognition and teacher education, and (3) cognition and classroom practice. In addition, the findings of studies into two specific curricular areas in language teaching which have been examined by teacher cognition – grammar teaching and literacy – are discussed. This review indicates that, while the study of teacher cognition has established itself on the research agenda in the field of language teaching and provided valuable insight into the mental lives of language teachers, a clear sense of unity is lacking in the work and there are several major issues in language teaching which have yet to be explored from the perspective of teacher cognition.

Task-based instruction

Abstract: This article is organised in five main sections. First, the sub-area of task-based instruction is introduced and contextualised. Its origins within communicative language teaching and second language acquisition research are sketched, and the notion of a task in language learning is defined. There is also brief coverage of the different and sometimes contrasting groups who are interested in the use of tasks. The second section surveys research into tasks, covering the different perspectives (interactional, cognitive) which have been influential. Then a third section explores how performance on tasks has been measured, generally in terms of how complex the language used is, how accurate it is, and how fluent. There is also discussion of approaches to measuring interaction. A fourth section explores the pedagogic and interventionist dimension of the use of tasks. The article concludes with a survey of the various critiques of tasks that have been made in recent years.

Annual review of research

Abstract: The present review refers to studies published in 2002 in leading research journals. It focuses in particular on learning, teaching and policy in respect of second, modern foreign or additional languages. The comments offered about particular studies are not intended to summarise them (for that, it is best to refer to the actual abstracts which the present journal publishes). What is on offer is a personal selection made because some aspect of a particular article seemed to be of particular interest or to reflect an important trend, and I have attempted to link such elements together to form a narrative. Compared with previous years, two important themes seemed to gather particular momentum in 2002: first, the role of ‘frequency’ in acquisition; and second, the impact of complex and contradictory global factors on everyday pedagogical practice, thinking and attitudes. As in previous years reference is made to the abstracts. Thus, Tarone (2002: 03-158) refers to an article by Tarone published in 2002 and reflected in the 2003 series of this journal as abstract 158. In previous years I have discussed ICT (information and communications technology) in a separate section of its own but this has now been integrated into other sections, reflecting a process of ‘normalisation’.

Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in Germany: a personal overview of developments in research

Abstract: There is an unavoidable dilemma in any attempt to put together an overview of the research results for one subject within a discipline. A subject area is either so small that the overview is straightforward but perhaps of interest to only a few, or the subject area is much wider – in which case there is the inevitable danger that the overview will be relatively subjective. This means that some activities may be disregarded while others are given more emphasis than another observer of the subject might have considered appropriate. For example, I have not included the teaching of literature, a complex subject with its own rich research tradition. Being fully aware of both the risks and the advantages of subjectivity, I present this very personal view of foreign language learning and teaching in Germany.

Current trends in teaching listening and speaking

Abstract: Acquiring good listening and speaking skills in English are the main concern of many second and foreign language learners, and today's English teacher needs to be well versed in current approaches to the teaching of the aural/oral skills. In this paper, current trends in the teaching of listening and speaking will be examined and some of the most important terminology that is used in contemporary professional discourse about each issue will be highlighted.

Selected research published in Spain 1999¿2002

Abstract: In this first of a series of country-specific reviews of published research, my aim has been to highlight current lines of research in Spain which are either new in themselves or have taken their starting-point from existing international research agendas. In the preparation for this review more than one hundred papers were reviewed from over forty journals, conference proceedings, and books edited during the period 1999–2002. Inevitably, however, a ‘selection’ of recent research is just that. Demands of space are, of course, paramount but – in the light of the sheer volume of work published in Spain over the period – some kind of personal criterion inevitably needed to be used for the inclusion or otherwise of a paper. I have decided primarily to highlight experimental or quasi-experimental research which, though it might be based on, or targeted at, a local population or context, also has considerable interest for the wider readership of Language Teaching. Such a decision is not meant to imply a personal preference for such research over other kinds; rather I wished on this occasion to highlight what I perceive as a recent increase in interest in Spain in such studies. Many national university PhD programmes now include the production of an original piece of experimental research as an obligatory requirement of the course, and much of the research cited below has its origins therein. Conversely, this has meant that other, equally valid and commendable, published work has had to be omitted or mentioned only in passing. Amongst these are the numerous on-going reports on locally-initiated and government-funded research projects which are currently operating in many higher-education establishments, as well as teaching and learning materials production carried out with European Union (EU) initiatives. For example, current and recent LINGUA and COMENIUS projects in which there has been considerable Spanish representation include PINOCCHIO (the production of Italian language and culture materials for use in mainstream secondary education – University of Seville), SUBJECT PROJECTS (the production of plurilingual didactic tools for use in European secondary schools – University of the Basque Country), ARTEMIS (the creation of an advanced communicative course for L2 Greek–University Complutense of Madrid), and LEARNER AUTONOMY (an inventory of training needs and current practices for the teaching of learner autonomy in foreign language (FL) teacher training–University of Granada).