The role of the English language, used around the world for international diplomacy, aviation, health, economics, technology, education, and research, cannot be overstated. In places where English is not the first nor an official language, the task for second language teachers in elementary schools through college to perfect students' language…

Pinyin is a sound-annotating system for Chinese characters using Roman letters. Teaching and learning Pinyin has been an important educational practice in Mainland China for native Chinese children, and it is also typically taught to beginning learners of Chinese as a foreign/second language in tertiary-level classrooms. However, whether it should…

These are exciting and challenging times for English language curriculum development for school-age learners. The global reach of English has spurred a rethinking of its role in education and, consequently, a rethinking of how to teach it. The accounts in this volume represent differences in educational systems, language teaching traditions,…

As EFL programs become more prevalent throughout the world, the cultural implications of English teaching are more often debated. These cultural considerations are extremely relevant in Islamic cultures, where English education can be viewed as contributing to the influence of Western Christian or secular pedagogy. This potential clash of…

Reading is a multileveled, interactive, and hypothesis-generating process in which readers construct a meaningful representation of text by using their knowledge of the world and of language. Reviewing research on the reading process, it is clear that context, script (a form of general event representation derived from and applied to social…

The language-across-the-curriculum (LAC) movement in Britain began in the 1960s with a few secondary school experiments, from which developed more coordinated attempts to lower interdisciplinary barriers. This movement was characterized by emphasis on the language-learning link, the crucial role of discussion in the learning process, and the…

This book is one in a series of publications intended to help improve secondary instruction by addressing a central educational issue: teaching children how to think. This volume focuses specifically on how students can be encouraged and helped to think critically from the outset of learning to read in a foreign language. It draws on both recent…

The Language Awareness Working Party is a task force of Great Britain's National Congress on Languages in Education (NCLE) concerned with individual and societal sensitivity to and conscious awareness of the nature of language and its role in human life. Its principal overall objective is the promotion of language awareness in a variety of forms…

This paper suggests that the whole language approach, widely used for first-language reading instruction, is the most appropriate means for teaching reading to learners of English as a second language (ESL). Drawing on research evidence, seven basic tenets of whole language instruction are explained and applied to ESL reading instruction. These…

Articles presented include: "Introducing the New Literacy" (John Willinsky); "The Emergence of Literacy" (Nigel Hall); "Media Education: The Limits of a Discourse" (David Buckingham); "Extracts from 'Thought and Language' and 'Mind in Society'" (L. S. Vygotsky); "From Communicating to Talking" (Jerome Bruner); "What Does It Mean To Be Bilingual?"…

This collection of papers, most of them originating with the British Council, concern programs of language instruction undertaken in developing countries as a form of international technical assistance. The following are included: "The Role and Status of English as a Subject in the Zambian English-Medium Context" (Roy Wigzell);…

The guide for developing curricula and instructional materials is intended for use in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction and instruction in other second/foreign languages. It presents an overview of the course designer's task and some available techniques. First, assessment of educational needs and relevant societal factors is…

A collection of papers focuses on research perspectives and educational policy and practice concerning language in Africa. Articles include: "Language Policy in Tanzania and the Hidden Agenda" (Rehema Rajabu, Deo Ngonyani); "The Post-Primary Swahilisation Scheme in Tanzania: From Debate to Struggle" (Hermas Mwansoko);…

The resource book was designed for teachers of adult learners of English as a second language (ESL). It provides background information on language acquisition, adult learning, and cross-cultural issues, and presents specific teaching techniques and activities. An introductory section outlines the principles of adult and second language education…

This journal is intended to assist language educators in Hong Kong schools in developing and maintaining high standards of instruction in both English and Chinese. The 11 issues presented here contain articles, some in English and some in Chinese, on a variety of language education topics, including: language education planning; instructional…