The Practice of English Language Teaching, 5th edition

Abstract

Harmer’s The Practice of English Language Teaching is aimed primarily at teachers working in the British ELT tradition. It is appropriate for practising teachers who wish to recapitulate and update their professional knowledge, or who find themselves engaged in English-language teaching without having undergone normal vocational training. It is also widely used on training courses for the Cambridge CELTA and DELTA exams. It would have less to offer to, say, a qualified secondary-school teacher of English in Europe or elsewhere, though this is not to say that it would have no value for such readers. It has very wide scope, addressing not only the methodology of English-language teaching and the supporting theories, but also a range of more general pedagogic questions. This new edition covers much the same ground as its successful predecessors, but includes additional material dealing with such issues as the growing attention to English as a lingua franca, the renewed interest in translation and mother-tongue use, the current advocacy of ‘teaching unplugged’, and the increased use of digital approaches to testing. Harmer’s characteristically extensive coverage of the literature has been updated by an impressive range of references to recent professional writing. Besides a DVD containing authentic lesson extracts and discussions with teachers, the book is accompanied by new online material including worksheets designed ‘to put the theory into practice’.