Engaging with materials can shape the teaching experience, teachers' practices and mindsets, and, ultimately, students' learning experiences. This issue of "Learning Professional" looks at an area of emerging interest: curriculum materials and the role they play in the daily work of educators and leaders. Educators, researchers, and…

This paper examines the ideological underpinnings of the English as an Additional Language (EAL) curriculum that drive the practice of secondary teachers in Victoria, Australia, and how students' needs and rights are seen and addressed in and through English discourse and hegemony. Bakhtin's (1986) dialogic approach and van Lier's (1996) AAA…

Second language acquisition (SLA) as a sub-branch of applied linguistics has been researched by Chinese and foreign scholars for over 40 years, but few researches have been done on its implications for Business English teaching which needs more language teaching theories to support. This paper makes a review of related studies, and puts forward a…

It is a cliché, but also a fundamental fact that we live in a world where globalization and international challenges, opportunities and relationships play an increasing role. However, how have these changing conditions affected the content of school history? To what degree have curricula and textbooks addressed these challenges? Is the main focus…

This article offers teachers a comprehensive set of questions to ask themselves in evaluating their instructional materials and offers proposals for the adaptation and design of materials. These suggestions are postulated on a definition of language as communication and language teaching as a communicative process. The following are discussed: (1)…

As higher education institutions increase their use of distance teaching methods and materials, they will be increasingly accused of bias in selection of materials and design of curriculum and therefore of misrepresentation of content issues. Such judgments must be made within the discipline and not by administrative or external authorities. (MSE)

Ways in which the French teacher can use print media for language skill development are offered. Classroom techniques for exploiting these texts for instruction in grammar, reading comprehension, writing, and oral expression are presented, including ideas for selecting a variety of authentic materials. (MSE)

The use of microcomputers and courseware for native language instruction is discussed. Five dimensions of instruction that are helpful in evaluating microcomputer use are examined: (1) student motivation; (2) educational objectives; (3) the appropriateness of the computer and related software as instructional tools; (4) the learning model…