This book presents the results of a case study that, as part of the European Communities Comparative Evaluation Project, was conducted on the EC Pilot Project Community Languages in the Secondary Curriculum, carried out in London, Birmingham and Nottingham. The case study consists of a document analysis, interviews with some of the projects key persons, observations in community language classrooms, and a mail survey among community language teachers. The book strongly argues for giving minority languages a more stable place in the curriculum.

This book provides a practical overview of the most important methods in the field. Readers are drawn into classrooms where various teaching methods and approaches are being used. They are encouraged to reflect on their own beliefs and to develop their own approach to language teaching. - Publisher.

This book is a reflective account of the work of the European Centre for Modern Languages, Graz, during its first medium-term programme, which lasted from 2000 to 2003.It presents some of the major current issues in language education that were dealt with during this programme and provides insight into the way the projects run by the ECML tried to address these issues and to develop practical, usable approaches to dealing with them.

Provides a comprehensive and unique examination of global language learning outside of the formal school setting Authored by a prominent team of international experts in their respective fields, The Handbook of Informal Language Learning is a one-of-a-kind reference work and it is a timely and valuable resource for anyone looking to explore informal language learning outside of a formal education environment. It features a comprehensive collection of cutting edge research areas exploring the cultural and historical cases of informal language learning, along with the growing area of digital language learning, and the future of this relevant field in national development and language education. The Handbook of Informal Language Learning examines informal language learning from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Structured across six sections, chapters cover areas of motivation, linguistics, cognition, and multimodality; digital learning, including virtual contexts, gaming, fanfiction, vlogging, mobile devices, and nonformal programs; and media and live contact, including learning through environmental print, tourism/study abroad. The book also provides studies of informal learning in four national contexts, examines the integration of informal and formal classroom learning, and discusses the future of language learning from different perspectives. Edited by respected researchers of computer-mediated communication and second language learning and teacher education Features contributions by leading international scholars reaching out to a global audience Presents an exciting and progressive selection of chapters in a rapidly expanding field of research and teaching Provides a state-of-the-art collection of the theories, as well as the historical, cultural and international cases relating to informal language learning and its future in a digital age Covers 30 key topics that represent pioneering findings and new research The Handbook of Informal Language Learning is an essential resource for researchers, students, and professionals in the fields of language acquisition, English as a second language, and foreign language education.

This volume investigates the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic regarding teaching languages online. In this regard, it focuses on the effects of online/remote teaching on teachers and teacher educators, considering the challenges that they have faced, how they tried to deal with these challenges, and the opportunities that arose while teaching during the pandemic. The chapters include narratives by teachers working in different countries around the world, and present their first-hand suggestions for good practices and solutions. They also highlight various tools, techniques, and solutions specific to individual countries, but transferrable to other similar contexts around the world. The book will be a valuable resource for pre- and in-service teachers, and teacher trainers involved in teaching English as a Foreign and Second Language, and will be of interest to practitioners who wish to understand multinational perspectives on online teaching, and its challenges and opportunities.

This open access book presents an account of five teacher educators who, over a two-year period, undertook a research project with five teachers of languages other than English in pre-secondary schools in New Zealand. Their collaborative aim was to develop students’ intercultural capability in the context of learning a new language. The school participants were typical of many in New Zealand’s pre-secondary sector; the teachers had limited language-teaching experience and limited prior knowledge of how to develop the intercultural dimension in their language classrooms, and the students were largely at the beginning stages of learning a new language. The book discusses the findings obtained using a range of data collection methods, including classroom observations, reflective interviews with teachers, and focus groups with students. It documents instances of breakthrough and growth for teachers and students and reveals the problems and tensions. Lastly, it reflects on the lessons learned in the course of this project and speculates on the roles that teacher education needs to play if the goal of intercultural capability is to be better achieved in language classrooms, both in New Zealand and internationally. Of interest to a wide range of stakeholders in the area of education, the book allows readers to gain an understanding of the opportunities of working with teachers through an action–research model, alongside the challenges that this brings and ways in which intercultural capability may be strengthened.