Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
The book is an excellent source to all who are involved in foreign language education, from the novice to the experienced teacher. In a reader-friendly style, it presents and discusses important foundations on communicative language teaching (CLT). The language instructor who is familiar with Brown's Teaching Principles will find them rearranged in this edition. In previous editions, Brown presented 12 principles divided into three categories: cognitive, affective, and linguistic. Now this list has been revised: eight principles are presented, instead of 12. The number has been reduced, not because some principles have been discarded, but reconceptualized. Also, the authors do not classify the principles under a category, but still order them from the more individual cognitive psychological ones to principles that emphasize social interactions and the language learner as an agent in a cultural environment. The eight revised principles are: automaticity; transfer; reward; self-regulation; identity and investment; interaction; languaculture; and agency. These principles are taken as foundations for classroom practice and are at the base of every part of the book.In this edition, special attention should be given to four aspects that are new or have been restructured: agency; the importance of sociopolitical contexts; technology; and social responsibility. The notion of “agency,” borrowed from social sciences, as the “ability to act with intention,” is new in second language acquisition. The authors introduce this approach in the book as they connect agency to self-efficacy, motivation, cognition, emotion, and other human capacities that allow the language learner, the “agent,” to act socially in the linguistic and political framework related to the foreign language. Culture and sociopolitical contexts grew in importance in this new edition. It now reflects the significance of current research on ethnicity, politics, and educational philosophy to language teaching and learning. Another chapter to be read with attention is the chapter on technology. Since it plays an important role in people's daily lives today, technology is regarded not only as a sophisticated form for information processing, but as an opportunity for cross-cultural learning through different media and in many situations. While the authors present numerous advantages, they also mention the challenges that technology imposes to the language teacher. Finally, the book concludes with a reflection on the social responsibility of the foreign language teacher, who plays an important role as an agent for making the world a better place, through language and communication. Below, we offer an overview of the six parts of the book.The first part, “Foundations for Classroom Practice,” opens with background information on terms, concepts, and issues in the field of second language education. After giving a scene of a typical language lesson along with questions to investigate the planned events, the authors delineate a historical survey of language teaching trends and methods in the twentieth century. It describes and discusses current approaches in the perspective of eight principles for CLT. By expanding the essence of language teaching, the last chapter of this part illustrates the complexity of the principles and their implications to the language classroom, under the perspective of “agency.”The second part, “Contexts of Learning and Teaching,” explores the environment of learners' needs and appropriate methods. After providing guidelines for two salient variables of age and proficiency level, the last chapter of this part examines various far-reaching issues of culture, ethnicity, identity, and situational politics.In the third part, “Practical Classroom Considerations,” the authors focus on the implementation of new techniques, materials, and modern technology to facilitate interaction in the language classroom. It presents a scheme of courses, programs, and curricula that will provide strong guidelines for lesson planning. Further, the authors redefine techniques and suggest important insights into the application of technology. Interaction in the communicative L2 classroom is widely discussed. The last chapter of this part addresses the dynamics of the classroom: from the physical aspects of the environment to the creation of a positive social climate by the L2 teacher.The fourth part, “Teaching Language Skills,” brings up pedagogical approaches for the four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The authors highlight the importance of integrating these skills into L2 teaching. Based on current research, each chapter discusses different principles and teaching strategies to each skill. It provides practical techniques and assessment guidelines. The last chapter revises the teaching of grammar and vocabulary. It is updated with recent findings on form-focused instruction.The fifth part, “Assessing Language Skills,” provides concepts, issues, and practicalities of assessment in the classroom. Assessment is seen as an integral aspect of the pedagogical process: it guides lesson design, its implementation, and achievement of goals. After reviewing principles and basic concepts in language assessment, the authors offer the reader practical steps to test construction and alternatives to formal evaluation.In the sixth and last part of the book, “Lifelong Learning,” the authors call on teachers' attention to sharpen their senses and to improve teaching skills. This part includes many creative suggestions for effective language teachers' development, and stresses the importance of teacher collaboration. By opening the opportunity to consider social responsibility and critical pedagogy as intrinsic aspects of language teaching, the book urges teachers to be sensitive and responsive to this changing world. After all, language teaching needs to promote communication, understanding, and peace.In conclusion, this book is a great pedagogical resource for educators, linguists, and researchers involved in second language teaching/learning. It gives the most important foundations for teaching a foreign language in the classroom in today's world. It is mainly written for teachers of English as a second language, but foreign language teachers as well as Korean teachers will find it useful and inspiring. It will enable them to apply the results of new linguistic studies to their pedagogical practice. It will help them focus on the motivation to transform their students into social agents who can participate in their environment through the new language they learn.
Thomé-Williams et al. (Sun,) studied this question.