One of the central paradoxes of textbook authorship in Indigenous languages is that some of those for whom the textbooks are intended find it challenging to read them. Here, through examining cases of Quechua across the Andes in Peru and in Ecuador, we consider the role of orthography in this paradox. Textbook authors must decide on an alphabet…

From a sociocultural perspective, collaborative writing tasks offer opportunities to negotiate in decision-making processes while also sharing responsibility for the production of a single text (Storch, 2013, "Collaborative writing in L2 classrooms." Bristol: Multilingual Matters). Although research has found benefits for such tasks…

Beginning Pashto is part of a set of materials for teaching oral and written Afghan Pashto. The Pashto writing system is taught in the first unit of the book and is used in the presentation of the material from then on. In the first three units, material is provided also in a romanized transcription. After that, the transcription of a word or…

This is the third text in a series of Mandarin Chinese learning texts. It continues with the theme of learning to communicate in various forms, emphasizing in this text on going to and coming from places. Contents include: (1) Acknowledgments; (2) Introduction; (3) Unit Four, Going Places and Doing Things; (4) Appendices; and (5) Introduction to…

This is the second text in a series of Mandarin Chinese learning texts. It continues with the theme of learning to communicate in various forms, especially with time and location, and the hanzi writing system is introduced. An MP3 file accompanies this book. Contents include: (1) Acknowledgments; (2) Introduction; (3) Unit Three, Time When:…