Current Trends in the Development and Teaching of the four Language Skills

Current Trends in the Development and Teaching of the four Language Skills builds connections from theory in the four language skills to instructional practices. It comprises twenty-one chapters that are grouped in five sections. The first section includes an introductory chapter which presents a communicative competence framework developed by the editors in order to highlight the key role the four skills play in language learning and teaching. The next four sections each represent a language skill: Section II is devoted to listening, Section III to speaking, Section IV to reading and Section V to writing. In order to provide an extensive treatment of each of the four skills, each section starts with a theoretical chapter which briefly illustrates advances in the understanding of how each skill is likely to be learned and taught, followed by four didactically oriented chapters authored by leading international specialists. These pedagogical chapters deal specifically with four key topics: 1) areas of research that influence the teaching of a particular skill; 2) an overview of strategies or techniques necessary for developing a particular skill; 3) an approach to the academic orientation of a particular skill, and 4) unique aspects of teaching each skill. Moreover, all chapters incorporate two common sections: pre-reading questions at the beginning of the chapter in order to stimulate readers' interest in its content, and a section entitled suggested activities at the end of the chapter in order to allow readers put the ideas and concepts presented into practice. The accessible style and practical focus of the volume make it an ideal tool for teachers, teacher trainers, and teacher trainees who are involved in teaching the four language skills in a second or foreign language context.

Autorentext

Alicia Martínez-Flor, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain; Esther Usó-Juan, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain.

Inhalt

Preface;

Section I Theoretical perspectives on language learning and teaching

Esther Usó-Juan, Alicia Martínez-Flor Approaches to language learning and teaching: Towards acquiring communicative competence through the four skills

Section II Listening

Alicia Martínez-Flor, Esther Usó-Juan Towards acquiring communicative competence through listening

Michael Rost Areas of research that influence L2 listening instruction

David J. Mendelsohn Learning how to listen using learning strategies 79

Tony Lynch Academic listening: Marrying top and bottom

Goodith White Teaching listening: Time for a change in methodology

Section III Speaking

Alicia Martínez-Flor, Esther Usó-Juan, Eva Alcón Soler Towards acquiring communicative competence through speaking

Martin Bygate Areas of research that influence L2 speaking instruction

Christiane Dalton-Puffer Questions as strategies to encourage speaking in content-and-language-integrated classrooms

Rebecca Hughes Turn-taking awareness: Benefits for teaching speaking skills in academic and other contexts

Anne Burns Teaching speaking: A text-based syllabus approach

Section IV Reading

Esther Usó-Juan, Alicia Martínez-Flor Towards acquiring communicative competence through reading

William Grabe Areas of research that influence L2 reading instruction

Anne M. Ediger Developing strategic L2 readers... by reading for authentic purposes

Mary Lee Field Finding a path to fluent academic and workplace reading

Eddie Williams Teaching reading: Individual and social perspectives

Section V Writing

Esther Usó-Juan, Alicia Martínez-Flor, Juan Carlos Palmer Silveira Towards acquiring communicative competence through writing

Ann M. Johns Areas of research that influence L2 writing instruction

Barbara Kroll Techniques for shaping writing course curricula: Strategies in designing assignments

Christopher Tribble Written in, written out: Who sets the standards for academic writing?

Alister Cumming Teaching writing: Orienting activities to students' goals

List of Contributors