The Foundations of Teaching English as a Foreign Language

by Paul Lennon

An introductory textbook that assumes no prior knowledge of linguistics or second language acquisition, this book presents a comprehensive overview of the theoretical foundations, methods and practices of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) for pre-service teachers. Lennon covers the theoretical bases for TEFL and addresses second language-acquisition research, past and present EFL teaching methodology, as well as psychological and social approaches to individual language-learner variation. Further chapters provide extensive yet accessible coverage on essential foundational topics, including chapters on pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, literature and testing. Offering a sociocultural approach in which the teacher is seen as a facilitator and supporter of students' self-directed learning, this text provides the prospective teacher with the knowledge and skills to be an effective educator in the EFL classroom.



The targeted EFL focus makes this book ideal for pre-service teachers and for teacher training programmes around the world. Each chapter includes a Food for Thought section with questions for reflection and a Further Reading list.

Genres: Linguistics

330 pages, ebook

Published July 12, 2020

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was assigned reading for my summer linguistics class. Although this book is focused on TEFL (teaching English as a second language), it has many useful principles and pedagogical suggestions that would help any language instructor. It does cover a lot of differing theories, but it does give many concrete teaching examples for different age groups. The last chapter was useful on various test strategies and standardized tests, any teacher could benefit from that information to make better tests that give a fair indication of the student's comprehension of the course material.

Many seminary professors could improve their Greek and Hebrew classes if they used some of these principles, especially the reading strategies and output focused methods described. Dr. Kevin Grasso on Biblingo is one of the few linguists and biblical scholars who has advocated for using ESL principles for pedagogy in biblical languages.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an academic book. I read parts of it in relation to my work. It is well researched and well written.

[R J · Rating 4 out of 5]

good text for many aspects of language teaching and learning