selected readings
This list of current articles on English as a Foreign Language and English Teaching is provided by the Information Resource Center (IRC), U.S. Embassy Bangkok, for your reference only. For full texts, please contact the information resource centers or libraries near you, or email irc@state.gov for recommendations. The list will be updated periodically.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect U.S. government policies. Non-U.S. government articles may be copyrighted and subjected to the terms of use as specified by the copyright owner.
"Co-teaching in the ESL Classroom"
Andrea Honigsfeld and Maria Dove. Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, Winter 2007, 7 pages.
The authors explore the transferability of co-teaching models and techniques from the field of Special Education to that of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). They review five possible co-teaching configurations and offer suggestions on avoiding potential pitfalls. They conclude that co-teaching can (a) become an effective support for inclusive practices to accommodate the needs of diverse English Language learners; (b) help all students meet national, state, and local standards; (c) establish a vehicle for creative collaboration between English as a Second Language (ESL) and mainstream teachers.
“ESL Students Discover the Rewards of Reading through Reader Response Journals”
Helene Dunkelblau. Encounter, Summer 2007, 6 pages.
The article discusses the author's experience of using reader response journals to help improve the reading skills of foreign students learning English as a second language (ESL). Reader response journals are described as informal literature logs in which students focus on their personal reactions to a story rather than on strict literary analysis.
"Is There an "Academic Vocabulary"?"
Ken Hyland and Polly Tse. TESOL Quarterly, June 2007, 19 pages.
This article considers the notion of academic vocabulary: the assumption that students of English for academic purposes (EAP) should study a core of high frequency words because they are common in an English academic register. The authors examine the value of the term by using Cox-head's (2000) Academic Word List (AWL) to explore the distribution of its 570 word families in a corpus of 3.3 million words from a range of academic disciplines and genres. The findings suggest that although the AWL covers 10.6% of the corpus, individual lexical items on the list often occur and behave in different ways across disciplines in terms of range, frequency, collocation, and meaning. This result suggests that the AWL might not be as general as it was intended to be and, more importantly, questions the widely held assumption that students need a single core vocabulary for academic study. The authors argue that the different practices and discourses of disciplinary communities undermine the usefulness of such lists and recommend that teachers help students develop a more restricted, discipline-based lexical repertoire.
"Learner Experiences in Web-Based Language Learning"
Jeong-Bae Son. Computer Assisted Language Learning, February 2007, 16 pages.
The World Wide Web offers a global database of authentic materials that can enhance language learning and teaching. This study examines the use of the web for language learning through a study of English as a second language (ESL) learners' experiences in web-based language learning (WBLL) activities in an English language intensive course for overseas students (ELICOS) context. It observes ESL learners performing selected activities on the web and investigates their perceptions and attitudes toward the web activities.
"Perspectives on Technology in Learning and Teaching Languages"
Richard Kern. TESOL Quarterly, March 2006, 28 pages.
Rapid evolution of communication technologies has changed language pedagogy and language use, enabling new forms of discourse, new forms of authorship, and new ways to create and participate in communities. The first section of this article identifies and discusses four key issues arising from the recent technology-related literature (the status of CALL, its theoretical grounding, its cultural embeddedness, and its effectiveness). The second section synthesizes research findings from three current areas of research: computer-mediated communication, electronic literacies, and telecollaboration. The third section develops implications for teaching and research, highlighting the importance of the teacher, new understandings of language and communication, critical awareness of the relationships among technology, language, culture, and society, and new trends in research methods.
"Reflecting on the Cognitive–Social Debate in Second Language Acquisition"
Diane Larsen–Freeman. The Modern Language Journal, December 2007, 15 pages.
Firth and Wagner's (1997) call for a more socially and contextually situated view of second language acquisition (SLA) research has generated a great deal of discussion and debate, a summary of which is offered in this reflective commentary. Given the individualistic, cognitive origin of the SLA field, such controversy is entirely understandable. With different ontologies and epistemologies, the two views, individual/cognitive and social/contextual, have had little impact on each other. These days, a theoretical pluralism prevails. Eventually, their differences may, though it is not clear that they will, be settled empirically. Another possibility is for there to be a reframing of our understanding, and the author offers chaos/complexity theory as one means for doing so. Indeed, the solution the SLA field has perennially adopted when there are conflicting views is to seek a larger frame, one that acknowledges the contributions of each perspective.
"Schema Theory and Knowledge-Based Processes in Second Language Reading Comprehension: A Need for Alternative Perspectives"
Hossein Nassaji. Language Learning, June 2007, 35 pages.
How is knowledge represented and organized in the mind? What role does it play in discourse comprehension and interpretation? What are the exact mechanisms whereby knowledge-based processes are utilised in comprehension? These are questions that have puzzled psycholinguists and cognitive psychologists for years. In this article, the author reviews and critically analyzes the major assumptions underlying schema theory and the processes that it postulates underlie knowledge representation and comprehension. The author considers an alternative perspective, a construction integration model of discourse comprehension, and discusses how this perspective, when applied to second language reading comprehension, offers a fundamentally different and more detailed account of the role of knowledge and knowledge-based processes that second language researchers had previously tried to explain within schema-theoretic principles.
"Subjective Assessment of Listening Environments in University Classrooms: Perceptions of Students"
Susan M. Kennedy, et al. Noise & Vibration Worldwide, June 2007, 1 page.
The article presents an assessment on the listening perception of university students. The evaluation was undertaken to develop a questionnaire-based measurement to investigate the factors that enhance, impair or do not affect the perception of listening quality for classroom purposes. It reveals that English-second language students decrease their perception of listening ease (PLE).
"The Universal Language"
John K. Waters. T H E Journal, January 2007, 6 pages.
The article discusses the use of language-learning technologies by teachers of English as a Second Language (ESL). Between 1989 to 1990 and 2004 to 2005, enrollment of English language learners (ELL) in U.S. schools increased by 150%. According to Kristina Potter, senior director of ELL curriculum development at Pearson Digital Learning, more teachers are using computers and software in their ESL programs. Pearson offers its English Language Learning and Instruction System software line which can be deployed on desktop computers, installed on district servers or delivered via a Web browser.
[Last update on June 20, 2008]
