Language Teaching Autonomy and Peer Interaction, Thus Including a Broader Doi:10.1017/S0261444806213703 Spectrum of Pedagogical Options
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Abstracts Language teaching autonomy and peer interaction, thus including a broader doi:10.1017/S0261444806213703 spectrum of pedagogical options. http://writing.berkeley.edu/tesl-ej 06–208 BERTINETTO,PIER MARCO (Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy; bertinetto@sns.it) &MICHELE LOPORCARO, The sound pattern of Standard 06–210 CANAGARAJAH,A.SURESH (City U New Italian, as compared with the varieties spoken Yo r k , U SA ) , TESOL at forty: What are the issues. in Florence, Milan and Rome. Journal of the TESOL Quarterly (Teachers of English to Speakers International Phonetic Association (Cambridge of Other Languages) 40.1 (2006), 9–34. University Press) 35.1 (2005), 131–151. doi:10.1017/S0025100305002148 This overview delineates the direction of pedagogical developments since the 25th anniversary issue of This paper is a condensed presentation of the phonetics TESOL Quarterly. Three tendencies characterise our and phonology of Standard Italian, compared to the professional practice: (a) a continuation along the most prestigious local accents, viz. those of Florence, earlier lines of progression (i.e. in opening up the Milan and Rome. Although historically based on the classroom to learning opportunities, integrating skills Florentine pronunciation, and traditionally identified and teaching for specific purposes); (b) a radical reori- with it, Standard Italian is nowadays used by trained entation along new paradigms (i.e. in understanding speakers such as stage actors and (but less and less motivation and acquisition in terms of social so) radio and TV speakers. The present paper aims at participation and identity construction; in developing depicting the most salient features of Standard Italian, methods from the ground up, based on generative still a matter of primary reference in language courses, heuristics; in widening testing to include formative comparing them with the characteristic features of the assessment; in accommodating subjective knowledge three most prominent local varieties, with which the and experience in teacher expertise); (c) unresolved foreign learner is most likely to be confronted. All debates and questions about the direction in certain traditional (and sometimes widely debated) issues of domains (i.e. when and how to teach grammar; Italian phonetics/phonology are addressed in the most whether to adopt cognitivist or social orientations in ecumenical setting possible. SLA, testing and teacher education). Our professional http://journals.cambridge.org/jid_IPA knowledge gets further muddled by the new movements of globalisation, digital communication, and World Englishes, which pose fresh questions that are yet to be addressed. However, grappling with these concerns 06–209 BRUTON,ANTHONY (U Seville, Spain; has engendered realisations on the need for local situ- abruton@siff.us.es), Process writing and atedness, global inclusiveness, and disciplinary collabor- communicative-task-based instruction: Many ation that are of more lasting value. common features, but more common http://www.tesol.org limitations? TESL-EJ (www.tesl-ej.org) 9.3 (2005), 33 pp. 06–211 DAVIES,ALUN (Aichi Shukutoku U; Japan Process writing and communicative-task-based in- alun1917@yahoo.co.uk), What do learners really struction both assume productive tasks that prompt want from their EFL course? ELT Journal (Oxford self-expression to motivate students and as the University Press) 60.1 (2006), 3–12. principal engine for developing L2 proficiency in the doi:10.1093/elt/cci076 language classroom. Besides this, process writing and communicative-task-based instruction have much else The literature suggests that teachers may rely more in common, despite some obvious differences. They often on intuition when making course planning have common rationales, similar foils, common justific- decisions than on informed assessment of learners’ needs ations and comparable procedures. It is argued that (Barkhuizen 1998, Spratt 1999). This article proposes a they also have a number of limitations, both inherent more principled alternative to the intuitive approach, and circumstantial. The inherent limitations largely based on the use of teacher-designed class-specific reflect a lack of equilibrium between planning, questionnaires intended to obtain context-relevant data teacher intervention and student initiative, while the from learners as an aid to better course provision. The circumstantial ones are due to their being hatched focus is firmly on the local level, on individual teachers essentially for ESL instruction in privileged university and their classes, rather than on institution-wide surveys, contexts. The argument is that, logically, there should be since this is where success or failure of courses is a progression from more to less instructor intervention ultimately determined, and where plans for action or support and from less to more student initiative, derived from questionnaire data will be acted upon. Lang. Teach. 39, 102–158. Printed in the United Kingdom c 2006 Cambridge University Press 102 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.35.93, on 03 Oct 2021 at 02:38:09, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444806283708 ■ Language teaching The article describes four important benefits of course- beliefs about grammar teaching, grounded in my own specific questionnaires: more cohesive long-term course understanding of SLA. development; increased learner-centredness; more http://www.tesol.org effective materials selection and design; and teacher self-development. The rationale behind the use of class- specific questionnaire surveys is discussed with reference to university-level learners in Japan. 06–214 FARRELL,THOMAS S. C. (Brock U, Canada; tfarrell@brocku.ca) &PARTICIA LIM POH CHOO, http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org Conceptions of grammar teaching: A case study of teachers’ beliefs and classroom practices. TESL-EJ (www.tesl-ej.org) 9.2 (2005), 13 pp. 06–212 ECKERT,GERMANA (U Technology, Sydney, This paper presents a case study that investigated and Australia; geckert@aim.edu.au), Optimal class compared the beliefs and actual classroom practices of sizes in EAP programs. English in Australia two experienced English language teachers with regards (www.englishaustralia.com.au) 22.2 (2005), 12 pp. to grammar teaching in a primary school in Singapore. Areas where practices converged with or diverged One characteristic of university studies is the lecture from beliefs about grammar teaching are examined and format, supported by smaller tutorial groups. If EAP discussed as well as the factors that have influenced students undertake classes in lecture format in larger the teachers’ actual classroom practices. The findings groups, complemented by smaller classes, to what extent suggest that teachers do indeed have a set of complex will this simulation of university learning contexts belief systems that are sometimes not reflected in impact on student’s abilities to cope with university their classroom practices for various complicated studies? This paper describes a research project in which reasons, some directly related to context of teaching. EAP students and teachers took part in a weekly http://writing.berkeley.edu/tesl-ej lecture series. The data collated focused on students’ and teachers’ perceptions of: the effectiveness of lectures on student development; student preparedness for uni- versity; and the effectiveness of the lecture format in 06–215 FELIX,USCHI (Monash U, Melbourne, terms of specific speaking and listening outcomes of the Australia; uschi.felix@arts.monash.edu.au), What EAP course. The study found that the lecture series do meta-analyses tell us about CALL positively impacted on the students’ abilities to cope effectiveness? ReCALL (Cambridge University with university studies. Recommend-ations were thus Press) 17.2 (2005), 269–288. made on which direction further research in this area doi:10.1017/S0958344005000923 should take. A great deal of research has been carried out over the http://www.englishaustralia.com.au past two decades related to the effectiveness of compu- ter-assisted teaching and learning. This large body of work, however, has not produced unequivocal findings, especially in the area of CALL. Our study takes a 06–213 ELLIS,ROD (U Auckland, New Zealand), systematic look at what dedicated meta-research since Current issues in the teaching of grammar: An 1991 might have contributed to this controversial SLA perspective. TESOL Quarterly (Teachers of field. Data was gathered from several hundred studies English to Speakers of Other Languages) 40.1 including ca 20,000 subjects. The paper highlights the (2006), 83–107. benefits and limitations associated with this type of research, synthesizes findings and recommends models The study of how learners acquire a second language and strategies for future research in the context of an has helped to shape thinking about how to teach the agreed research agenda. Our synthesis suggests consis- grammar of a second language. There remain, however, tent positive findings related to L1 spelling, writing and a number of controversial issues. This paper considers reading. While there is some support for this related to eight key questions relating to grammar pedagogy in CALL per se, much work needs to be done before we the light of findings from second language acquisition might reach the levels of confidence enjoyed by some (SLA) research. As such, this article complements Celce- of