Elementary school English teachers in Taiwan face classes of students with differing levels of English proficiency, to the point where about one-third of the students may have never learned English before, and another third may already have read Harry Potter in English. A successful teacher recognizes that diversity may affect learning and works…

Teachers' subject knowledge is recognized as an essential component of effective teaching. In the foreign language context, teachers' subject knowledge includes language proficiency. In New Zealand high schools, foreign languages (e.g. Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Spanish) have recently been offered to learners earlier in their schooling,…

Describes a practical experiment in which students prepared video materials to present to each other, the aim being to develop student autonomy in learning, class participation, motivation, and accuracy. The student feedback confirmed the success of the experiment; the rationale for this success is presented. (14 references) (GLR)