The gradual reintroduction of translation into the foreign language classroom in the last few decades has generated considerable interest among teachers and scholars. A renewed focus on translation as an aspect of language teaching has simultaneously originated from and resulted in the publication of theoretical and empirical studies as well as…

In this paper, we use the lens of embodied language cognition and intersemiosis to argue for the importance of developing creative approaches to language work in classroom settings and we cite as an example some activities from a workshop that was developed for modern foreign languages (MFL) trainee teachers in London…

The CEFR was conceived as part of the Council of Europe's project 'Language Learning for European Citizenship'. The social and political context out of which this project grew has often been lost from view. This is perhaps due to the success of the CEFR not only within Europe but also worldwide. That success is largely due to the quality of the…

This article reflects on the epistemological steamrolling that the 2021 Ofsted Curriculum Research Review (OCRR) accomplishes: in part, by the positioning of the problem and solution through highly selective cherry-picking (omitting key causal factors); in part, through the discursive move of acknowledging complexity before offering simple and…

This article examines indigenous language acquisition (ILA) with regard to the indigenous Yaeyaman language spoken in the Ryukyus in Japan. The focus is on teachers and new speakers in an endangered language community. The following two questions are examined: (1) What kinds of problems do teachers and learners encounter in language revitalisation…

Language teachers are positioned differently depending on whether they are L1 or L2 speakers of the target language. In this article I suggest that, in language teacher education, it can be useful to think explicitly about this positioning as it pertains to both languages rather than just one. I propose a relational two-language continuum based on…

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the applicability of task-based language teaching (TBLT) to state secondary foreign language classes. After discussion of method in general, TBLT is defined and its particularities described. Tasks are assessed as the basis for syllabus and then as the basis for method. In both cases, the proposals are…