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If Reading on Your Own
We designed the Understanding collection for both current and prospective teachers of English to speakers of other languages, either ESL or EFL. The book may be read by individuals for private study or within the context of an ESL/EFL teacher development course. The collection complements the kinds of resources typically included in what are conventionally called “methods texts.” Well known examples of such methods texts include Brown (2000), Celce-Murcia (2001), Harmer (1991), Long and Richards (1987), Nunan (1999), and Ur (1996) to name just a few. They represent broad based introductions to the field of ESL/EFL instruction. The Understanding collection does not compete with such books. Rather, it may be incorporated within teacher development courses as a practical means for enriching the potential of any methods text, such as the ones listed above. Alternatively, the Understanding collection may be used as a sole course text in teacher development courses such as methods, curriculum design, practicum, etc. Although chapters 6-23 are free-standing and can be read in any order, chapters 1-5 should be read before them and in sequence. Of these first five chapters, the fourth and fifth chapters are probably the most important since they establish necessary context and may serve as a conceptual lens for more clearly appreciating later chapters.
If reading
along with others as part of a course
In our
way of offering a TESL methods course we assign one of the methods texts
cited above, most recently Brown (2000) or Celce-Murcia (2001), with the
following course structure. Along with a methods texts we also assign
the Understanding collection as a complementing set of required
reading material. While methods texts survey a wide range of instructional
themes (for example, the teaching of listening, speaking, reading, writing,
grammar, or classroom management) the Understanding collection provides
in-depth illustrations of how experienced ESL/EFL teachers offer individual
language courses in context-specific settings. As the Table
of Contents illustrates, the collection’s core course-description chapters
(6-23) are arranged into four thematic clusters:
- • general
purposes instruction
• the teaching of English as a foreign language
• university credit-bearing EAP courses
• non-credit university-affiliated courses offered through
intensive English programs
In addition to the collection’s Table of Contents, Table 1.1 on page 9 provides a concise depiction of topics highlighted across the Understanding collection’s eighteen course-description chapters. Each of these chapters may be coordinated as assigned reading-for-discussion material to flesh out other ESL or EFL instructional themes. For example, there are one or more chapters centered around each of the major skills areas of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, as well as chapters focused on integrated skills instruction, pronunciation, grammar, refugee concerns, socio-political issues, EFL, child-age instruction, project work, ESP, ITA training, web-based CALL instruction, etc. We are confident that a sufficiently wide range of instructional settings, teaching styles, and approaches to English language teaching are represented in the collection to enhance significantly any MATESL methods course.
Although we settled on the sequence of chapters presented in the collection’s Table of Contents as an aid to readers, there are alternative ways of sequencing and clustering the course- description chapters. A useful feature of the collection is that instructors of an ESL/EFL teacher development course will be able to explore their own ways of sequencing and matching Understanding chapters in conjunction with a methods text (or other assigned readings), course topics, and their own preferences. When making such decisions, the principle underlying our ways of working with the collection is to provide course instructors and students with opportunities to read about context-specific approaches to conceptualizing, organizing, and implementing actual language courses as composed by ESL/EFLcourse instructors themselves. Beyond formal courses in teacher development programs, the Understanding collection serves as a useful resource for any current or prospective ESL or EFL teacher interested learning more about how other experienced teachers offer authentic courses.
If Reading
on Your Own
If you
are reading this book alone, one way to proceed is to examine the collection’s
Table
of Contents and additional chapter information depicted in Table 1.2
(page 9), identify two or more course descriptions that interest you, and
use them as starting points for further reading. Since each chapter
is introduced by an editors’ preface that previews its scope and focus,
another option is to read several of the prefaces in succession before
settling on a single chapter to examine in depth. In fact, reading
all of the editors’ prefaces in one sitting provides a quick overview of
the Understanding collection’s local-perspectives chapters and is
a strategy for becoming more familiar with the entire book that we highly
recommend. At the same time, some readers may prefer to follow the
sequencing of chapters as originally presented. In addition to the
editors’ prefaces, a section titled “Prompts for Discussion or Reflection”
closes each chapter as additional support to readers. These sections
are intended to prompt further engagement with the contributor’s discussion
and with possible connections to teaching in other settings. Also,
the many “Applying the Understanding Lens” windows appearing throughout
chapters 4 and 5 are intended for periodic review while reading chapters
6-23.