Elite Olshtain

Discourse and Context in Language Teaching: A Guide for Language Teachers is part of the Cambridge Handbooks for Language for Language Teachers series. This book recommends that language teachers incorporate an awareness of discourse and pragmatics in their teaching if they wish to implement a communicative approach in their classrooms. After two introductory chapters on discourse and pragmatics, the authors show how a discourse perspective can enhance the teaching of traditional areas of linguistic knowledge and the teaching of language processing skills. This awareness of discourse is then carried over to curriculum development, assessment, and classroom research. With discussion questions and activities at the end of each chapter, this book can be used in methods courses or in-service training programs.

Recognizing that teachers are often involved in planning and developing courses as part of their responsibilities, the authors of this book have set out to describe the factors which must be considered in constructing courses and materials. They cover: the fact-finding stage, establishing realistic goals, surveying existing programmes, realizing goals through instructional plans, selecting the shape of the syllabus, and considerations involved in constructing communicative curricula and syllabuses. All of these aspects are considered against current theories of language learning. Examples of different types of materials are discussed, and the process of creating materials is described as the link between the syllabus and the audience. The book ends with a survey of the practical issues involved in organizing writing projects. The book is intended for teachers (and teachers in training) who may be involved in course planning and materials development either on a larger scale, or simply within their own institution.