English language teaching (ELT) publishing as we know it today has a long and lucrative history, dating, according to Rix (2008), from the Longman publication of Michael West's "New Method Readers" in 1926, to the present day, where annual turnover runs to around US$194 billion (Jordan & Gray, 2019). Some of the sector's…

In ELT (English Language Teaching) departments, prospective teachers come across a wide range of methodological domains which are applied and theoretical. Most of the instructional patterns can be practiced in microteachings. Upon feedback, the mistakes can be corrected and the procedures reworked if required. Nevertheless, syllabus, which is the…

For teaching English to speakers of other languages (ESOL) to be seen as having substantial impact, learning that occurs in the classroom must transfer to situations outside the classroom. Unfortunately, education research shows that transfer can be difficult to promote. Therefore, ESOL teachers may want to ensure that their classes are as…

The article examines changes in language testing textbooks in English since Lado (1961) and proposes that two trends may be discerned. The first shows how the growing professionalism of the field has required an expansion in teaching materials to meet the need for new training programmes. What the expansion also shows is the desire, again a mark…

Discussion of the sequence of tenses and the subjunctive in Spanish language textbooks demonstrates that there is a lack of mechanical morphonological agreement and that subjunctives may have a temporal value independent of that of the matrix with associated semantic differences; that is, subjunctives do not function as neutralized forms…

Discusses pedagogical descriptions in high school textbooks covering Spanish reflexive verb constructions. Points out that these textbooks rarely contain the full reflexive construction displayed with all the grammatical persons and complete English glosses. (17 references) (Author/CK)

Defines the characteristics of a "teaching grammar" (a text that aims to provide teachers of English as a foreign language with the linguistic information that they require for effective teaching) and contrasts such grammars with purely theoretical or linguistic grammars. Uses the passive voice in English to illustrate the contrasts.…

Discusses some of the problems in writing a grammar text, and suggests that grammars should try to be more descriptive, rather than prescriptive. (EKN)

Proposes a more explicit description for reported speech in English grammars and English as a second language textbooks, with emphasis on: a clear differentiation between direct and indirect speech using prosodic, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic criteria; the role of deixis in explaining the internal syntactic adjustments in indirect speech;…

Examines the discrepancy between spoken and written vocabularies in modern standard Chinese (MSC) textbooks that contributes to slow vocabulary development, and outlines a teaching technique to extend students' vocabulary using the ideographic nature of MSC characters rather than phonetic learning to increase efficient use of vocabulary…

Argues that no single approach is satisfactory for teaching all grammatical rules in English-as-a-Second-Language instruction, and that rules must first be distinguished on the basis of certain linguistic criteria before pedagogical strategies can be considered. (17 references) (Author/CK)

The editor of "Heinemann's Science and Technology Readers" responds to questions concerning the objectives and design of the series. The market for technical readers; reader format and difficulty level; illustrations, technical exercises, and the language teacher; and the intended classroom use are discussed. (MSE)

Attempts to identify those dimensions lacking in most adolescent/adult English-as-a-foreign-language coursebooks whose objectives are to foster developmental language learning in instructed social contexts and to assist students in communicating in and learning English. Findings indicate that most coursebooks fail in these objectives. (27…

A new third-year French textbook, in its introduction, describes its rationale and construction. The book's main objective is to provide authentic material for developing students' linguistic skills, focusing on language learning rather than civilization but including a cultural component. The textbook's organization is based on 20 recorded…

Evaluates the role of commercially available foreign language teaching materials, citing the reasons for using these materials as time pressure on teachers, the uncertain language competence of teachers; the materials' visual appeal to students; and the need of a yardstick of progress. The article argues that, failing a revolution in teaching, the…