<em>Discourse and Context in Language Teaching: A Guide for Language Teachers</em> by Marianne Celce-Murcia and Elite Olshtain. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000, viii+279 pp.

Abstract

Discourse and Context in Language Teaching: A Guide for Language Teachers by Marianne Celce-Murcia and Elite Olshtain Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000, viii+279 pp. Reviewed by Elissa Ikeda University of California, Los Angeles This new book by Marianne Celce-Murcia and is Elite Olshtain offers valu- able information and pedagogical suggestions for any language teacher or trainer of teachers. The focus on the role of discourse in language teaching: how to prepare learners for communicative interaction (written and spoken) by exposure to authentic language use and a focus on the social and cultural environment (p. within which communicative language processing and interaction take place I recommend I the book to novice and experienced teachers who wonder how language classroom. At the in a to incorporate research in cipplied linguistics into their same time, think it should yield even better results methods class where group discussion can allow for even greater absorption of and interaction with the material. Underlying the the target language. text is the philosophy that language must be taught at the discourse level in order to produce learners As with many others who can communicate effectively in who espouse a communicative teaching approach, Celce-Murcia and Olshtain appeal to the model of communicative com- petence put forth by Canale and Swain (Canale 1983; Canale & Swain, The authors argue that language must be taught in relation to discourse and pragmatic considerations. level, in As an example of this, the authors cite the following: At sentence which an analysis does not distinguish between word order choices for separable phrasal verbs, the sentences Edward gave up at the his reward and Edward gave his reward up are equivalent. Analysis discourse level, however, dem- onstrates that the word order choice hinges on it the deSired emphasis and (p. 56). newness of the direct object in the context in which appears the Another issue of central importance and discourse processing promoted tive interpretation in the is schema for language knowledge book. The authors emphasize that effec- bination of both top-down and bottom-up processing. and production of written and spoken discourse involve a com- As a result, diagrams and skills examples in each chapter relate both types of processing to the specific types of being discussed, as well as to each other. In the knowledge or processing production of spoken discourse, for instance, speakers draw on their knowledge of phonology, syntax, and vocabulary (bottom-up processing) as well as knowledge of the participants and sociocultural rules of appropriacy (top-down processing). Indeed, the book's content and organization are built on the assumption that effec- Issues in Applied Linguistics ISSN 1050-4273 Vol. © 2000, Regents of the University of California No.