Corpus-based instruction, also referred to as corpus-based linguistics, is essentially the study of genre texts for the production of materials that fit a specific group of second language learners. For example, if a group of students is learning the language in order to read medical articles, a specific teaching program can be set up based on the…

This paper argues for considerably higher expectations for the qualifications of language teachers by focusing on what preparations could and should offer. Because efforts to address issues of teacher preparation confront tacit assumptions about language teaching, the paper draws on the experience of literature training and hiring as a parallel in…

This paper discuses how to integrate games into junior high school English classes in Japan. The first section, "The Present Situation," explains both external and internal influences on the current situation of English education in Japanese junior high schools, proposing solutions and introducing the advantages of using games to teach English as…

The brain is the organ of knowledge and the organizer of human abilities, the means of recognizing a face in a crowd, of conversing about experiences and images, of forming thoughts and developing ideas, and of instantly understanding words coming rapidly in conversation. This book seeks to explain how the brain accomplishes all that it does.…

Noting that the National Council of Teachers of English Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar is working towards formulating national goals for grammar instruction at all levels of schooling, this paper explores what teaching English grammar is all about. The paper contends that, acknowledge it or not, English teachers are engaged in a…

This book explores the nature and purposes of formulaic language, examining patterns across research from the fields of discourse analysis, first language acquisition, language pathology, and applied linguistics. There are 14 chapters in 6 parts. Part 1, "What Formulaic Sequences Are," includes (1) "The Whole and the…

The years when a young child's language skills are "exploding" are the years between three and five. What can make a dramatic difference in a child's life is if parents take a few minutes a day to read to him or her. Reading to a child helps him or her become a successful reader. The child develops a sense of phonics and learns that stories have a…

The role of grammar instruction in proficiency-oriented second language instruction (POI) is examined, drawing on research and theory on second language use and instruction. Several premises are stated: (1) formal grammar has an important role in POI, while focus on form and communicative practice should be maintained; (2) in POI, a syllabus that…

Based on a 1972 lecture from a Lower Saxony Inservice Teacher Education Course at the Ludwig-Windhorst-Haus, Holthausen bei Lingen, West Germany. (DD)

Slightly revised version of a lecture ( Zur grammatischen Beschreibung kommunikativer Elemente in Sprechakten'' Y On Grammatical Description of Communicative Elements in Speech''I) presented in Saarbrucken, West Germany, November 10, 1972. (DD)