Recent SLA research recognizes the necessity of attention to grammar and demonstrates that form-focused instruction is especially effective when it is incorporated into a meaningful communicative context. Designed specifically for second-language teachers, this text identifies and explores the various options for integrating a focus on grammar and a focus on communication in classroom contexts and offers concrete examples of teaching activities for each option. Each chapter includes a description of the option, its theoretical and empirical background, examples of activities illustrating in a non-technical manner how it can be implemented in the classroom, questions for reflection, and a list of useful resources that teachers can consult for further information.

This text is a highly accessible and authoritative approach to the theory and practice of teaching writing to students of English.

Why do speakers of all languages use different grammatical structures under different communicative circumstances to express the same idea? Professor Lambrecht explores the relationship between the structure of the sentence and the linguistic and extra-linguistic context in which it is used. His analysis is based on the observation that the structure of a sentence reflects a speaker's assumption about the hearer's state of knowledge and consciousness at the time of the utterance. This relationship between speaker assumptions and formal sentence structure is governed by rules and conventions of grammar, in a component called 'information structure'. Four independent but interrelated categories are analysed: presupposition and assertion, identifiability and activation, topic, and focus.

This volume focuses on priorities for research in language pedagogy. The aim is to give an up-to-date overview of current thinking about important research issues such as the viability of large scale comparisons, the quantitative/qualitative research controversy, new trends in language testing and evaluation, and the role of different learning environments. In their discussions of these issues researchers from the US and from different countries in Europe show to what extent the priorities differ on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

The articles in this volume commemorate A. Ronald Watson, a member of the National Foreign Language Center in Washington. They focus on two topics - foreign language policy and pedagogy. Many of the articles reflect Walton's interest in the teaching of non-western European languages.

This Cambridge Element examines the role and nature of focus on form in second language acquisition. An overall assessment of the role of instruction and the nature of language is provided. Instruction might have a facilitative role in the rate of acquisition. The Element briefly reviews empirical research examining the relative effects of different types of focus on form and presents some of the key implications for second language learning and teaching. An effective focus on form type is one that is input and meaning oriented. Manipulating input to facilitate language processing and form-meaning connections might enhance second language acquisition.