This book is the first to focus specifically on born-digital texts in EFL teaching, uniting international and innovative scholarship with practical classroom applications. The book develops a theoretically sound framework for curriculum, materials and methods design that takes into account the growing ubiquity of born-digital texts in the digital…

Text classification and text gradation are important for language teachers. Profiling and readability studies examine textual and linguistic features that determine text difficulty. Arabic, as an under-resourced language, suffers from a lack of such studies which results in material developers and textbook writers relying on their intuitions and…

In university-level composition courses, assignment prompts are fundamental in shaping students' understanding of major writing projects. Aiming to be instructive and descriptive while also clear and concise, instructors use a series of moves (Swales, 1990) and modals in writing assignment prompts to express requirements, suggestions, and…

Linking adverbials are important for creating textual cohesion in both written and spoken English. While there are reference grammar books describing the usage patterns of linking adverbials and studies investigating learners' difficulties in using these cohesive devices, there is little discussion on how to effectively teach and learn them. By…

Grammar can be viewed both as knowledge and as ability. When viewed as knowledge, the focus is on rules for sentence formation. When viewed as ability, the focus is on how grammar is used as a resource in the creation of spoken and written texts. Twelve principles are proposed as the basis for a pedagogy that focusses on acquiring learning to use…

It is a fact that each individual is unique. This uniqueness can be physical, emotional, intellectual and/or spiritual. It follows then that in any given learning environment each learner has unique abilities and needs. Consequently, classrooms everywhere, even if they are streamed, are of a mixed-ability nature. Having recognised this factor in…

A review of research on writing textbooks suggests that in general, they do not reflect current theories in either content or instructional approach. Examination of some second language writing textbooks reveals three types: (1) those with a traditional approach emphasizing grammar, form, and models; (2) books acknowledging but not integrating new…

A kit using the concept of puzzles as a focus for developing self-correcting instructional materials for French language teaching is described. The kit, designed for teachers and including 47 ideas organized by theme, contains matrices and cards for a variety of exercises at various levels and suggestions for their use. (MSE)

Trivial Pursuit is a fascinating and popular game most students are familiar with in English. Most are also eager to play it in a foreign language, with the result that inhibitions about speaking are reduced or eliminated and many structures are used. The game is available in German, French, Italian, and Spanish. Some questions about…

The use of the learning task as a basic planning and instructional tool for communicative second language instruction is discussed, and considerations and procedures for designing such tasks are outlined. A task is defined as a piece of classroom work that involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing, or interacting in the target…

The design of instructional materials for second language listening comprehension is discussed, based on the premise that such materials must reflect a view of the nature and processes of listening. Two distinct kinds of cognitive processes involved in listening are examined: bottom-up processing, or the use of incoming data as a source of…

Suggestions for combining cultural exposure and language instruction through class activities geared to American holidays are outlined. General information about gathering holiday-related realia and instructional materials from local newspapers and magazines is provided, and four specific holidays are highlighted. For each holiday, sources of…

A study to develop a methodology for discovering how one important notion or semantic category, "frequency of occurrence," is expressed in words, phrases, or other linguistic devices in academic English began with a search for devices expressing that notion, by analyzing text from a news magazine, a New Zealand geography textbook, and a…

An examination of the role of the principle players in second language learning--teachers, students, and instructional material developers--offers insight into the field of language pedagogy during a period of rapid technological change. All are living in a technologically changing environment but are all affected in different ways. Materials…

An approach to teaching the paradigmatic and reciprocal uses of the "se" construction in Spanish is presented. A system of eight basic categories of the paradigmatic reflexives is outlined, including "do-it-yourself," reciprocal, reflexive of change, consumer, reflexive of interest, optional, change of meaning, and reflexive-only classifications.…