James Dean Brown

English today is a global language embedded in a great variety of social contexts, resulting in linguistic and pedagogical variation. Taking a new look at the teaching and assessing of English as an international language (EIL), this text highlights overarching principles and provides specific strategies for responding to questions and challenges posed by the changing demographics of English language learners and users around the world. Teaching and Assessment in EIL Classrooms introduces an original, coherent framework in which needs analysis, pedagogical principles, and assessment are integrated describes variables that influence effective teaching and assessment and the characteristics of various EIL teachers and learners emphasizes that pedagogical and assessment decisions need to be based on the learning and teaching needs of each specific EIL context includes specific principles and strategies for teaching and assessing grammar, oral language, and literacy skills in EIL classrooms provides strategies for integrating computer-mediated language into EIL classrooms in ways that promote cross-cultural awareness, language development, and individualized learningTimely, accessible, and practical, this text for graduate and pre- and in-service courses on language teaching and assessment is at the forefront in providing valuable information and guidance for enabling principled and context-sensitive praxis in EIL classrooms worldwide.

A straightforward entry to understanding crucial components of phonological literacy, this essential text explains the theoretical and practical rationale for teaching connected speech (CS) and offers useful pedagogical applications. Brown and Crowther describe the basic phonemes (including consonants, vowels, and diphthongs) of spoken North American English and examine word stress, utterance stress, and timing, as they are related to CS. With accessible, non-technical language, the authors show how phoneme variations, simple transitions, dropping sounds, inserting sounds, and changing sounds operate, and how CS is integral to English language teaching, especially for developing non-native users’ oral English communicative ability. Each chapter features explicit discussions of pedagogical ideas targeting L2 learners, further resources, and CS-oriented exercises that are accessible and easy to implement for L2 teachers. These exercises are accompanied when relevant with recorded audio examples of CS production at www.routledge.com/9780367697570.

A straightforward entry to understanding crucial components of phonological literacy, this essential text explains the theoretical and practical rationale for teaching connected speech (CS) and offers useful pedagogical applications. Brown and Crowther describe the basic phonemes (including consonants, vowels, and diphthongs) of spoken North American English and examine word stress, utterance stress, and timing, as they are related to CS. With accessible, non-technical language, the authors show how phoneme variations, simple transitions, dropping sounds, inserting sounds, and changing sounds operate, and how CS is integral to English language teaching, especially for developing non-native users’ oral English communicative ability. Each chapter features explicit discussions of pedagogical ideas targeting L2 learners, further resources, and CS-oriented exercises that are accessible and easy to implement for L2 teachers. These exercises are accompanied when relevant with recorded audio examples of CS production at www.routledge.com/9780367697570.

Introducing Needs Analysis and English for Specific Purposes is a clear and accessible guide to the theoretical background and practical tools needed for this early stage of curriculum development in ESP. Beginning with definitions of needs analysis and ESP, this book takes a jargon-free approach which leads the reader step-by-step through the process of performing a needs analysis in ESP, including:how to focus a needs analysis according to the course and student level;the selection and sequencing of a wide variety of data collection procedures;analysis and interpretation of needs analysis data in order to write reports and determine Student Learning Outcomes;personal reflection exercises and examples of real-world applications of needs analysis in ESP.Introducing Needs Analysis and English for Specific Purposes is essential reading for pre-service and in-service teachers, and students studying English for Specific Purposes, Applied Linguistics, TESOL and Education.

Introducing Needs Analysis and English for Specific Purposes is a clear and accessible guide to the theoretical background and practical tools needed for this early stage of curriculum development in ESP. Beginning with definitions of needs analysis and ESP, this book takes a jargon-free approach which leads the reader step-by-step through the process of performing a needs analysis in ESP, including:how to focus a needs analysis according to the course and student level;the selection and sequencing of a wide variety of data collection procedures;analysis and interpretation of needs analysis data in order to write reports and determine Student Learning Outcomes;personal reflection exercises and examples of real-world applications of needs analysis in ESP.Introducing Needs Analysis and English for Specific Purposes is essential reading for pre-service and in-service teachers, and students studying English for Specific Purposes, Applied Linguistics, TESOL and Education.

English today is a global language embedded in a great variety of social contexts, resulting in linguistic and pedagogical variation. Taking a new look at the teaching and assessing of English as an international language (EIL), this text highlights overarching principles and provides specific strategies for responding to questions and challenges posed by the changing demographics of English language learners and users around the world. Teaching and Assessment in EIL Classrooms introduces an original, coherent framework in which needs analysis, pedagogical principles, and assessment are integrated describes variables that influence effective teaching and assessment and the characteristics of various EIL teachers and learners emphasizes that pedagogical and assessment decisions need to be based on the learning and teaching needs of each specific EIL context includes specific principles and strategies for teaching and assessing grammar, oral language, and literacy skills in EIL classrooms provides strategies for integrating computer-mediated language into EIL classrooms in ways that promote cross-cultural awareness, language development, and individualized learningTimely, accessible, and practical, this text for graduate and pre- and in-service courses on language teaching and assessment is at the forefront in providing valuable information and guidance for enabling principled and context-sensitive praxis in EIL classrooms worldwide.

Drawing on the second language performance assessment item specifications created in Technical Report 18, this volume describes the creation of actual performance assessment instruments and their validation. After briefly reviewing the background to the project, the book explains the test and rating scale development processes and the administration of the resulting seven-task tests to 60 students from the University of Hawai'i (30 on Form P and 30 on Form Q) and 30 students from the Kanda University of International Studies (on Form J). The results based on task-dependent, task-independent, and self-rating scales are examined in terms of descriptive statistics, multi-faceted Rasch model analyses, reliability estimates, and correlational analyses. These results are discussed at length in terms of the effects of test revision, and in terms of comparisons among the task-dependent, task-independent, and self-rating scales especially with regard to their reliability and validity.

Are you about to start a Master's degree where you will be carrying out research for the first time? Or do you refer to research in your work as a teacher, teacher trainer, or materials writer? However you are involved with research, this book will give you a clear and thorough introduction to all the main types of language learning research.

Over the past decade criterion-referenced testing (CRT) has become an emerging issue in language assessment. Most language testing books have hitherto focused almost exclusively on norm-referenced testing, whereby test takers’ scores are interpreted with reference to the performance of other test takers, and have ignored CRT, an approach that examines the level of knowledge of a specific domain of target behaviours. This book is designed to comprehensively address the wide variety of CRT and decision-making needs that more and more language-teaching professionals must address in their daily work. Criterion-referenced Language Testing is the first volume to create a nexus between the theoretical constructs and practical applications of this new area of language testing.

This book presents a comprehensive, but practical, overview of the different phases and activities involved in the development and implementation of effective survey projects by language-teaching professionals. The text, which includes chapters on planning, designing, gathering, analyzing, and reporting survey research, would be accessible to graduate students, language teachers, administrators, and researchers. The theoretical and practical issues involved in survey design are defined and discussed in digestible chunks. All concepts are explained in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step manner, with ample examples and checklists provided. Each chapter also includes a list of key terms, a set of review questions, and a collection of exercises for practical application. In this text, language-teaching professionals will find all of the crucial information needed to survey students and teachers about their beliefs and practices. The results can then be used for developing curriculum, evaluating the success of language programs, or doing other relevant research.

This technical report focuses on the decision-making potential provided by second language performance assessments. The authors first situate performance assessment within a broader discussion of alternatives in language assessment and in educational assessment in general. Then they discuss issues in performance assessment design, implementation, reliability and validity. Finally, they present a prototype framework for second language performance assessment, based on the integration of theoretical underpinnings and research findings from the task-based language teaching literature, the language testing literature, and the educational measurement literature. The authors outline test and item specifications, and present examples of prototypical language tasks. They also propose a research agenda based on performance assessments.

Designed for language teachers with no previous background in statistics, this book focuses on the skills and processes necessary for understanding statistical research in language learning. Brown explains the basic terms of statistics; the structure and organization of statistical research reports; the system of statistical logic; and how to decipher tables, charts, and graphs. By the end of the book, readers will be able to make knowledgeable judgments about the relative qualities of a study and to assess the value of the results of a study in relation to a specific language teaching situation.