Digitalised learning with its promise of autonomy, enhanced learner choice, independence and freedom, is an intuitive and appealing construct but closer examination reveals it to be a rather simplistic proposition, raising the following questions. -What do we mean by autonomy? -What are we implying about the role of the teacher, the classroom, and interaction between learners? -What do we understand about the impact of technology on the ecology of the learning environment? This book describes the use of a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) by a group of advanced English language learners in Mexico, comparing what students thought and what they did in response to the technology. The theoretical aim of the book is to work towards the construction of a theory of the development of autonomy and virtual learning in an EFL context. Enhanced understanding about the relationship between autonomy and technology has the potential to inform academics, software designers, materials writers, teacher educators, and teachers and to help learners in their quest to acquire a foreign language.

At a time when environmental humanities and sustainability studies are creating new opportunities for curricular innovation, this volume examines factors key to successful implementation of cross-curricular initiatives in language programs. Contributors discuss theoretical issues pertinent to combining sustainability studies with foreign languages, describe curricular models transferable to a range of instructional contexts, and introduce program structures supportive of teaching cultures and languages across the curriculum. Exploring the intersection of ecocritical theory, second language acquisition research, and disciplinary fields, these essays demonstrate ways in which progressive language departments are being reconceived as relevant and viable programs of cross-disciplinary studies. They provide an introduction to teaching sustainability and environmental humanities topics in language, literature, and culture courses as well as a wide range of resources for teachers and diverse stakeholders in areas related to foreign language education.

Diese Einführung in englischer Sprache präsentiert in 14 Kapiteln die grundlegenden Themen und Gegenstandsbereiche der Englischdidaktik. Gleichermaßen praxisnah wie theoretisch fundiert, behandelt der Band zentrale Prinzipien und Kompetenzbereiche eines modernen Fremdsprachenunterrichts. Ausgehend von den zentralen Akteur/innen (Lehrende und Lernende) und mit Blick auf die Teilbereiche der Sprach-, Literatur- und Kulturdidaktik werden zudem Vorschläge für den Einsatz unterschiedlicher Materialien und Medien diskutiert. Weitere Kapitel widmen sich den institutionellen Organisationsstrukturen und dem Bereich Assessment/Diagnose. Der Band erscheint in zweifarbiger Gestaltung, mit Definitionen und Beispielen sowie mit zahlreichen Abbildungen. This comprehensive introduction presents the fundamental topics and issues of TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) in 14 chapters. Integrating both profound theoretical and creative practical considerations, the central principles and competence domains of modern foreign language teaching are discussed. Starting with the main classroom agents (teachers and learners), the chapters outline a variety of content areas (language, literature, cultural issues) and thoroughly review materials, media and methods. Additional chapters are concerned with the historical development of English language teaching, its current institutional organisation as well as assessment and evaluation.

Current Issues in Second/Foreign Language Teaching and Teacher Development: Research and Practice represents a collection of selected papers from the 17th World Congress of the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA), which was held in August 2014 in Brisbane, Australia. The volume comprises 18 chapters presenting current research projects and discussing issues related to second language acquisition, teaching and teacher education in a variety of contexts from around the world. This collection of research papers will be of use to both new and seasoned researchers in the field of applied linguistics. Teacher educators, language teachers and language policy makers will find this volume equally useful as the papers address current issues in language education.

Language learning is a complex and challenging endeavor. For students to achieve the desired proficiency in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) their institutions need to invest time, effort and huge resources in order to cater for different learning styles. To be cost effective, many language-teaching institutions strive to provide intensive foreign language (FL) instruction to reduce the time period needed to learn the target language. This explains the current interest in combining differe...

Pragmatics in Language Teaching examines the acquisition of language use in social contexts in second and foreign language classrooms. Included are 2 state-of-the-art survey chapters, and 11 chapters reporting the results of empirical research. The empirical studies cover three areas: incidental acquisition of pragmatics in instructed contexts, the effects of instruction in pragmatics, and the assessment of pragmatics ability. The studies address a number of areas in pragmatics, from speech acts and discourse markers to conversational routines and address terms, and represent a range of target languages and contexts in the United States, Asia, and Europe.