The Practice of English Language Teaching is the reference of choice for tens of thousands of teachers of English. This fourth edition offers new input for digital teaching, mixed-ability classes, and assessment.
The Practice of English Language Teaching Review
THE PRACTICE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING is more difficult than the other introduction to English as a second-language teaching guide. It is laden with theory, written in small print, and has an exceptionally dull presentation style. Think of the droning of the worst professor you ever had and it will give you an accurate feel for this book. I was excited about the accompanying CD, but the teaching examples on it were also not very inspiring. If, however, you are interested in the research that leads to the practices used in modern language pedagogy, this book may be for you.
If you are planning on taking CELTA or another practical English teaching course, this book is not very useful. Instead, I recommend “Learning Teaching” by Scrivener or even Jeremy Harmer’s other books in the Longman English language teaching series. This one just doesn’t have the practical material that will be useful when you actually get to the classroom.
Another Review:
This is a good book to read if you are studying to become an English teacher where English is the secondary language for the students though it can be a little difficult to finish. As a learning material book, the theories are plenty and at times ‘heavy’ to read about, though if that surprises you it may be a good time to ask yourself why you want to be a teacher.
If I could complain about one thing though, it is the fact that the author himself is not good at listing exactly where he gets his theories from and whom they belong to, which is frustrating when you’re using the book for your exams. I think I spent a week googling them all to be sure that several of the theories weren’t Harmer’s.
None the less, it’s a great book for becoming aware of some of the methods of teaching, as well as the evolution of teaching throughout the years regarding language, not to mention a great reminder to support students attempts of answering rather than hammering and penalizing them for minor mistakes.
The Practice of English Language Teaching includes:
- English as a world language.
- Theories of language and language learning.
- Learner characteristics which influence teacher decisions.
- Guidance on managing learning.
- Teaching language systems (grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation).
- Teaching language skills (speaking, writing, listening and reading).
- Practical teaching ideas.
- The role of technology (old and new) in the classroom.
- Assessment for language learning in the digital age.
You can also check:
- The Practice of English Language Teaching 3rd Edition
- The Practice of English Language Teaching 4th Edition
