The Language Teaching Matrix

Book excerpt: For use in courses on language teaching methodology and teacher preparation, this book also serves as an invaluable source for courses in language curriculum development, materials development, and teaching practice. The author views effective language teaching as a network of interactions involving the curriculum, methodology, the teacher, the learner, and instructional materials (hence the metaphor of a matrix). Each chapter discusses and examines the theoretical and practical dimensions of a central issue in language teaching. Among the topics covered are curriculum development, designing instructional materials, teaching listening, speaking, reading and writing, the nature of effective teaching, self-monitoring in teacher development, and language and content. Richards presents key issues in an accessible and highly readable style, and shows how teachers and teachers-in-training can be involved in the investigation of classroom teaching and learning. The emphasis is not on prescriptions but rather on developing effective teaching through understanding the various factors that interact in second language learning and in the second language classroom.