Applied Language Learning

Download or read book Language Play, Language Learning written by Guy Cook and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2000-02-03 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book has two related purposes. The first is to demonstrate the extent and importance of language play in human life; the second is to draw out the implications for applied linguistics and language teaching. Language play should not be thought of as a trivial or peripheral activity, but as central to human thought and culture, to learning, creativity, and intellectual enquiry. It fulfils a major function of language, underpinning the human capacity to adapt: as individuals, as societies, and as a species.

Download or read book Language Teaching and Skill Learning written by Keith Johnson and published by Wiley-Blackwell. This book was released on 1996-01-09 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book argues controversially that second-language acquisition has much in common with other forms of skill learning, and that there is much to be learned about the business of language teaching by considering the views and practices of teachers in other domains. For many Applied Linguists, language is unique among human skills, incomparable in its acquisition and use to other forms of behaviour. Their study of second-language learning and teaching may thus draw on knowledge about first-language acquisition, but not on what is known about the learning of non-linguistic skills. This book argues against such an approach. It begins by considering arguments for and against the uniqueness of language. It reviews the recent literature in second-language acquisition, looking both at general learning theories (which account for language alongside other skills) and opposing theories (mostly based on the study of Universal Grammar). The book then turns to language teaching, and in a programmatic way considers what insights may be gained by viewing language within a general skills framework. Particular attention is given to how the teacher may help students to make consciously learned language automatic.

Download or read book Learner Contributions to Language Learning written by Michael Breen and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-09-15 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since it was first established in the 1970s the Applied Linguistics and Language Study series has become a major force in the study of practical problems in human communication and language education. Drawing extensively on empirical research and theoretical work in linguistics, sociology, psychology and education, the series explores key issues in language acquisition and language use. What the learner contributes is central to the language learning process. Learner Contributions to Language Learning provides a uniquely comprehensive account of learners' personal attributes, their thinking, their feelings, and their actions that have been shown to have an impact upon language learning. Containing specific chapters from leading names in the field, this book provides both a review of what has been discovered from previous research and identifies important future directions for research on learner contributions. It is a landmark volume setting the agenda for language learning research in the 21st century and it provides invaluable information for all those engaged in language teaching. The contributors to the volume are- Michael P. Breen Bonny Norton Anna Chamot Rebecca Oxford Rod Ellis Anna Pavlenko James P. Lantolf Anita Wenden Diane Larsen-Freeman

Download or read book Listening in Language Learning written by Michael Rost and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-06-17 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines listening as both a means of achieving understanding and as a teachable skill. The underlying theme of the volume is that an integration of cognitive, social, and educational perspectives is necessary in order to characterise effectively what listening ability is and how it may develop. It introduces listening from a cognitive perspective, and presents a detailed investigation of listening in social and educational contexts. The study concludes with an analysis of how listening development can be incorporated effectively into curriculum design.

Download or read book Errors in Language Learning and Use written by Carl James and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-12-02 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Errors in Language Learning and Use is an up-to-date introduction and guide to the study of errors in language, and is also a critical survey of previous work. Error Analysis occupies a central position within Applied Linguistics, and seeks to clarify questions such as `Does correctness matter?', `Is it more important to speak fluently and write imaginatively or to communicate one's message?' Carl James provides a scholarly and well-illustrated theoretical and historical background to the field of Error Analysis. The reader is led from definitions of error and related concepts, to categorization of types of linguistic deviance, discussion of error gravities, the utility of teacher correction and towards writing learner profiles. Throughout, the text is guided by considerable practical experience in language education in a range of classroom contexts worldwide.

Download or read book Autonomy and Independence in Language Learning written by Phil Benson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-06-06 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The topics of autonomy and independence play an increasingly important role in language education. They raise issues such as learners' responsibility for their own learning, and their right to determine the direction of their own learning, the skills which can be learned and applied in self-directed learning and capacity for independent learning and the extents to which this can be suppressed by institutional education. This volume offers new insights into the principles of autonomy and independence and the practices associated with them focusing on the area of EFL teaching. The editors' introduction provides the context and outlines the main issues involved in autonomy and independence. Later chapters discuss the social and political implications of autonomy and independence and their effects on educational structures. The consequences for the design of learner-centred materials and methods is discussed, together with an exploration of the practical ways of implementing autonomy and independence in language teaching and learning . Each section of the book opens with an introduction to give structure to the development of ideas and themes, with synopses to highlight salient features in the text and help build upon the material of previous chapters.

Download or read book Applied Linguistics in Language Education written by Steven McDonough and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-05 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Applied Linguistics for Language Education' covers those areas of applied language study that are most directly relevant to language teaching, testing, and teacher education. It focuses on the fundamental questions raised for research by the practice of language teaching and research. The reader is thus introduced to the current research climate through consideration of germane controversial issues. If any conclusion about applied linguistic research in the last twenty years is possible, it is that we cannot take anything for granted!Steven McDonough opens with examples of language teaching, teaching materials, and learning a foreign language, which teachers and language learners will recognise, drawing out questions from these which are addressed throughout the rest of the text. Arguments and data from research of all kinds are brought to bear on these and other background issues that are raised, for example: the nature and effects of classroom discourse; the challenges and utility of linguistic theory and linguistic descriptions; what knowing a second language means for proficiency and for processing; nature and nurture in second language learning; how people process language in classrooms and beyond; the role of instruction and the roles of teachers; and measuring achievement.Complex issues are laid out in a clear and accessible style, and many examples are used, mainly, but not exclusively, from English and learning English as a second language. However, the principles apply to learning or teaching any language as a second or foreign language, and 'Applied Linguistics for Language Education' is the most concise overview of current linguistics presently available.