English language teaching methods and language learning styles have changed dramatically over the past decade in Asia and the surrounding regions. Huge efforts are being made by teachers from the K-12 system, as well as at the tertiary level, to move away from the traditional Grammar-Translation Method towards more communicative approaches to teaching and learning, including the use of project – and task-based learning and technology-enhanced language learning, just to name a few of the more frequently used methodologies. In this book, the authors shed light on the changes in ELT in Asia and the region over the past 10 years or so as seen in the wider context of language policy, which puts greater value on the acquisition of English and the new directions in learner-centered classrooms which encourage student autonomy and voice and place students as active decision-makers in the learning process.With the title of “Departing from Tradition: Innovations in English Language Teaching and Learning”, this book showcases some of the innovations in ELT that are currently happening in this rapidly growing field. Given the growing importance of English and the enormous energy and enthusiasm in the region for learning the language in both formal and informal contexts, ELT will continue to flourish. This volume will offer insights into the tremendous changes that have been made in secondary and university English language classrooms across the region.

A beautifully illustrated contemporary Haggadah for the Passover Seder, as interpreted by the world-renowned philanthropist and Jewish leader Edgar M. Bronfman. This Haggadah will inspire and delight all ages. Designed to foster Jewish pride, Edgar Bronfman’s text continues the traditional commandment to retell the Exodus story of slavery and freedom for future generations. The Haggadah teaches people of all ages about Judaism with a fresh perspective while helping to define Passover for everyone at the Seder table. The author’s creative approach weaves together meaningful readings, from the nineteenth-century abolitionist Frederick Douglas to a lesser-known poet, Marge Piercy. Bronfman captures the young reader’s imagination when each child, teenager, and adult assumes the role of a character in the Exodus story, or perhaps to become one of the story’s narrators. Watercolor paintings, created specially for this book, illustrate its main parts: the Seder plate’s symbolic foods, the parting of the Red Sea, the forty-year journey, the giving of the ten commandments on Mount Sinai, to name a few. The Bronfman Haggadah is a welcome addition for the avid collector, as well as to be used as the Haggadah of choice to enrich the Passover Seder experience with its refreshing interactive approach.

A constructive model of engagement with unjust laws from the ground up The current political atmosphere would suggest that law is imposed only from above, specifically by the chief executive acting upon some sort of perceived populist mandate. In Law from Below, Elisabeth Rain Kincaid argues that the theology of the early modern legal theorist and theologian, Francisco Suárez, SJ may be successfully retrieved to provide a constructive model of legal engagement for Christians today. Suárez’s theology was developed to combat an authoritarian view of law, suggesting that communities may work to change law from the ground up as they function within the legal system, not just outside it. Law from Below suggests that Suárez’s theory of law provides a theologically robust way to mount a counter-narrative to contemporary authoritarian theories of law, while still acknowledging the good in the rule of law and its imposition by a legislative authority. Suárez acknowledges the crucial contribution of citizens to improving law’s moral content, without removing the importance of law’s own authority or the role of the lawgiver. Law from Below argues that the dialogue between legislators and the community provides Christian activists with a range of options for constructively engaging with law in order to have a positive impact on society.

Sonic Ruins of Modernity shows how social, cultural and cognitive phenomena interact in the making and distribution of folksongs beyond their time. Through Judeo-Spanish (or Ladino) folksongs, the author illustrates a methodology for the interplay of individual memories, artistic initiatives, political and media policies, which ultimately shape “tradition” for the past century. He fleshes out in a series of case studies how folksongs can be conceived, performed and circulated in the post-tradition era – constituting each song as a “sonic ruin,” as an imagined place. At the same time, the book overall provides a unique perspective on the history of the Judeo-Spanish folksong.