Second Language Teacher Education : A Cognitive and Evidence-Based Perspective

How do students acquire a second language? How can teachers most effectively teach a second language? How do students and teachers develop communication in the language classroom? This book provides an evidence-based approach to effective language teaching to inform day-to-day classroom teaching. Written specifically for a language teacher training programme, this book is an accessible introduction for those who have little to no background in linguistics or second language acquisition. Alessandro G. Benati structures this book around ten key questions that have driven the field of second language learning and language teaching. This provides readers with an understanding of the main ingredients responsible for language learning, and the relation between how theory and research inform best practice. In order to achieve this, students and teachers need to know what language and communication are, and how acquisition of language happens. Pedagogical features in each of the ten units include: call-out boxes highlighting main ideas, further clarification sections to explain key terms, reflection boxes for students to pause and consider reading and its applications throughout, tasks and quizzes at the end of each unit to consolidate learning, and a teacher education evaluation form at the end for readers to reflect on the programme.