Becoming a Language Teacher : A Practical Guide to Second Language Learning and Teaching

by Horwitz, Elaine K.

• ISBN13: 9780205430826
• ISBN10: 0205430821
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-01-26
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

Becoming a Language Teacher is a ground-breaking resource in an era when mainstream classroom teachers must focus on language development. Unlike other methods books which concentrate on language for conversational purposes only, Becoming a Language Teacher recognizes that academic literacy is the goal of many language teachers and essential to the school success of English Language Learners.

Author Biography

Elaine Horwitz is Professor of Curriculum and Instruction and Director of the Graduate Program in Foreign Language Education at the University of Texas at Austin.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
What Do Language Teachers Think About?	p. 1
What Should I Know about Language Learners and Language Teaching Settings?	p. 3
Types of Language Learning Settings	p. 4
Learner Characteristics	p. 7
Younger Learners and Stages of Cognitive Development	p. 17
What Should I Know about Second Language Acquisition?	p. 23
Theories of Second Language Acquisition	p. 24
The Critical Period Hypothesis	p. 38
How the Theories Differ on Important Language Teaching Issues	p. 38
Implications for Language Teaching	p. 43
What Should I Know about Language Teaching Methodologies?	p. 48
Language Teaching Methods	p. 49
What Is the Best Language Teaching Method?	p. 59
Content-Based, Learner-Centered, and Task-Based Approaches to Language Teaching	p. 60
From Teacher-Centered to Learner-Centered Approaches	p. 61
How Do You Teach a Language?	p. 65
What Should I Know about Teaching Listening?	p. 67
The Importance of Listening Comprehension	p. 69
Obstacles to Teaching Listening Comprehension	p. 69
The Listening Process	p. 73
Some Guidelines for Developing Listening Activities	p. 77
Activity Ideas	p. 79
Assessing Listening Comprehension	p. 86
What Should I Know about Teaching Speaking?	p. 91
The Importance of True Communication in the Language Classroom	p. 92
Obstacles to Teaching Speaking	p. 94
The Development of Speaking Ability	p. 99
Some Guidelines for Developing Speaking Activities	p. 102
Activity Ideas	p. 105
Assessing Speaking	p. 110
What Should I Know about Teaching Reading?	p. 115
The Importance of Reading	p. 116
The Reading Process	p. 116
Types of Second Language Reading	p. 117
Learning to Read in a Second Language	p. 118
Types of Reading Materials	p. 119
Helping Students Develop Effective Reading Strategies	p. 120
ESL Teachers and Content Reading	p. 122
Some Guidelines for Teaching Reading	p. 123
Activity Ideas	p. 125
Assessing Reading Comprehension	p. 130
What Should I Know about Teaching Writing?	p. 135
The Writing Process	p. 136
Types of Second Language Writing	p. 138
Helping Students Develop Effective Writing Strategies	p. 141
Some Guidelines for Teaching Writing	p. 145
Activity Ideas	p. 147
Assessing Writing	p. 151
What Should I Know about Teaching Academic English in Content Classes?	p. 157
The Development of Academic Language	p. 159
Generation 1.5 and Transnational Students	p. 161
Scaffolding, Contextualized Input, and Thematic Units	p. 162
Promoting Second Language Development in Content Classes	p. 163
Academic Literacy	p. 166
Integrating Language Skills Using Thematic Units and Task-Based Activities	p. 170
Some Guidelines for Teaching Language through Content	p. 171
Activity Ideas	p. 172
Assessing Language in Content Classes	p. 174
How Do I Know What to Teach?	p. 181
How Do I Assess Language Learning?	p. 183
Standards	p. 184
Issues in Language Testing	p. 188
Testing Approaches	p. 191
Testing for a Variety of Purposes	p. 193
Testing the Standards	p. 194
The TOEFL and the ACTFL OPI	p. 196
How Do I Plan My Classes?	p. 202
Planning for Your Students	p. 205
Common Language Teaching Activities	p. 210
Where Do I Go from Here?	p. 219
So, Am I Now a Language Teacher?	p. 221
Thinking of Yourself as a Language Teacher	p. 221
Becoming Open to New Ideas about Language and Language Teaching	p. 222
Becoming a Better Language Teacher	p. 223
Your Future as a Language Teacher	p. 227
Beginning Your Journey as a Language Teacher	p. 228
The Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory (BALLI) ESL Version	p. 232
Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS)	p. 235
Teacher Foreign Language Anxiety Scale (TFLAS)	p. 237
Glossary	p. 239
Index	p. 251
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