ebook Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan

       Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan Practical English Language Teaching is designed for the practicing teacher who may or may not have had formal training in teaching English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL). Methodology texts currently available make too many assumptions about the background knowledge o f their readership. The authors o f the chapters in this book keep such assumptions to a minimum This is not to say that the concepts underlying the chapters are dealt with in a trivial manner. Rather they are given an accessible treatment which is richly supported by teaching materials and ideas, and illustrative extracts from wide range o f classrooms. 

        Practical English Language Teaching consists o f three sections: Exploring skills, Exploring language, and Supporting the learning process. The first main section, Exploring skills, begins with an introductory chapter that defines and illustrates the concept o f methodology. The next four chapters introduce the four key “macro skills” of listening, speaking, reading and writing. In the second section, Exploring language, we look at language from a somewhat different perspective. Here the chapters are organized in terms of the different systems that make up the language: the sound system, the vocabulary system, the grammatical system, and the discourse system which shows how language itself is organized and reflects the com m unicative purposes that bring it into existence in the first place. The final section, Supporting the learning process, looks at some o f the ways in which the learning process can be supported - through teaching styles and strategies, effective use of commercial coursebooks, and by a variety o f other means. Practical English Language Teaching brings together the work of 15 world-class specialists in ESL/EFL. The value o f publishing an edited collection, rather that a single-authored volume, is that we have been able to draw on the knowledge and experience o f the top specialists in our field.

       One o f the problems with most edited collections is that they are unevenin terms of their treatment and approach, and in terms of the assumptions that they make about the reader. This collection has a degree o f coherence unusual in edited collections. The coherence has been achieved through a clear chapter-by-chapter framework, and the use of detailed writing guidelines. The length o f each chapter has been controlled for accessibility. Each chapter could have been a book in its own right. H owever, we wanted to present readers with the essentials in terms of conceptual background, theory, and research. These provide the basis for a series o f key teaching principles which are illustrated with pedagogical materials and authentic classroom extracts.