ELT: The Basics

Michael McCarthy is Emeritus Professor of Applied Linguistics, University of Nottingham, UK, and Honorary Professor of Applied Linguistics, University of Valencia, Spain. He has (co-)authored and edited 60 books and was co-founder (with Ronald Carter) of the CANCODE spoken English corpus. He has lectured in 46 countries and has been involved in language teaching and applied linguistics for 57 years.Steve Walsh is Professor of Applied Linguistics and Communication, School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences, Newcastle University, UK. He is also a visiting professor at the University of Hong Kong. He has published 10 books and more than 100 research papers. He has been involved in English Language Teaching and English language teacher education for more than 30 years in a range of overseas contexts.

This admirably accessible introduction to ‘the basics’ of ELT provides a review of key elements of English language teaching that is ideally suited to trainee teachers and those early in their career. Drawing on the authors’ wide-ranging knowledge and expertise, this informative text combines real world data with reflective tasks as it outlines key elements of language teaching and learning. With its suggestions for further reading and discussion of pathways for professional development, it provides an excellent overview for those starting out in ELT.Graham Hall, Northumbria University, UK

• AcknowledgementsIntroduction to the Reader1 THE RAW MATERIAL: LANGUAGE KNOWLEDGE THE EL IN ELTSUBSTANCETHE STUFF OF LANGUAGESOUNDSINTONATIONWRITINGFORMWORDSGRAMMARLEXICOGRAMMARMEANINGHEALTH, SAFETY, AND DINOSAURSWHAT DO YOU MEAN?COMPLETING THE LANGUAGE PUZZLETHE DISCOURSE PROCESSDISCOURSE IN THE CLASSROOMTEMPLATES AND GENRESWRITING, SPEAKING, OR BOTH AT ONCE?ENGLISH IN THE WORLDFROM VARIATION TO VARIETIESACCENTS AND DIALECTSTHEN WHAT?FURTHER READING2 LANGUAGE SKILLSKNOWLEDGE AND SKILLTHE COMMUNICATION MATRIXLISTENINGA STREAM OF SOUNDBEFORE, DURING, AND AFTERTALKING BACKBOX-TICKINGTHE TWO-SIDED COINWHOSE VOICE?SPEAKINGGO WITH THE FLOWTELL MEWHO’S LISTENING?MIND THE GAPTHINGS TO CONSIDERREADINGWHY READ?STRATEGIESTEXTS: EASY OR HARD?TEXTS: KEEP IT SIMPLE?WRITINGPENS AND KEYBOARDSTIME DELAYAUDIENCE DESIGNPRODUCT AND PROCESSTHE FIFTH SKILLFURTHER READING3 THE MAIN ACTORS: LEARNERS AND LEARNINGWHO ARE OUR LEANERS?AN EARLY STARTNATALIA THE COMMUNICATORSCHOOL AND PEERSIN AT THE DEEP ENDGROWING UPCLILTHE TEENSADULT LEARNERSPATHWAYSA BUSY LIFENATALIA’S MOTHERTHE THIRD AGELEVELS AND LABELSEFL? ESL?MORE PATHWAYSMOVING THROUGH ABCCAN-DO AND CORPORAHOW DOES IT HAPPEN?ACQUISITIONALL IN THE MIND?SLA: HAPPENING OR DOING?LANGUAGE OUT THEREA SOCIO-CULTURAL ANGLECONCLUSIONFURTHER READING4 SYLLABUSES, MATERIALS, METHODSORGANISING LEARNINGCURRICULUM AND SYLLABUSORGANISING A SYLLABUSGRAMMAR AT THE CENTREVOCABULARYTHE LEXICAL SYLLABUSTAKEN TO TASKTASKS TO THE FOREA MIXED GRILLMATERIALSMATERIAL ISSUESARE THEY REAL?DO THEY WORK?METHODOLOGYFASHIONS COME AND GOWHAT LIES BEYOND?FURTHER READING5 BEING A TEACHERORGANISING YOUR WORKTHE CLASSROOMPLANNING THE LESSONCLASSROOM MANAGEMENTYOU AND YOUR COLLEAGUESNATIVE AND EXPERT USERSOBSERVATIONYOU AND YOUR STUDENTSTHE HUMAN FACTORINTELLIGENCEPOWER, ROLES, RELATIONSHIPSIDENTITIESWE ARE WHAT WE SAYJUST YOU AND MEDOING LANGUAGE TEACHINGSO FARPPP? III? TBL? PLEASE NOTICEERROR CORRECTIONGRAMMAR IN THE CLASSROOMSIMPLICITY TO COMPLEXITYPOWER OF THE -ING FORMVOCABULARY: IN THE MIND AND IN USEGETTING TO THE COREREALISTIC GOALSALL IN THE MINDPRONUNCIATIONWHOSE PRONUNCIATION?INTONATION PLUS PRONUNCIATIONCONCLUSIONFURTHER READING6 CLASSROOM INTERACTIONINTERACTINGTALKING THE TALKEASY AS 1, 2, 3SETT: SELF EVALUATION OF TEACHER TALKMANAGERIAL MODEMATERIALS MODESKILLS AND SYSTEMS MODECLASSROOM CONTEXT MODECOULD DO BETTER (CIC)CONCLUSIONFURTHER READING7 LEARNING HOW TO DO IT: TEACHER EDUCATIONELTE PATHWAYSWHAT TEACHERS SAYGETTING STARTED: PRESETCELTABY DEGREES: BA AND MAGAINING ENTRYKEEPING GOING: INSETDELTAPROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ‘IN THE WILD’THINKING IT THROUGHA WAY FORWARD?WHERE’S THE EVIDENCE?IT’S GOOD TO TALKTHE RIGHT TOOLS FOR THE JOBSTIMULATED RECALLENHANCING SETT: SETTVEOFURTHER READING8 TECHNOLOGY IN AND OUT OF THE CLASSROOMOUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEWCORPORALOOKING AT LANGUAGECORPORA, TEACHERS, AND LEARNERSELT ONLINETECHNOLOGICAL COMPETENCIESMANAGEMENT COMPETENCIESTEACHER INTERACTIONAL COMPETENCIESTAMING THE WILDERNESSMOBILE LEARNINGSCREENING MATERIALSLET THE MACHINE DECIDE?AUTOMATED ASSESSMENTINTERACTION AND THE BOTTHE JOURNEY AHEADFURTHER READINGGlossary of Key TermsReferencesIndex