Special Issue Of Language Research Articles

Oral skills versus structural knowledge: the Reform Movement and the Grammar-Translation Method

ABSTRACT Considering the most significant international historical research on the history of language learning and teaching since the 1850s as a starting point, this paper builds on the four contributions to this special issue of Language & History to situate the two historical language teaching methods known as the Reform Method and the Grammar-Translation Method in more detail. Before introducing the origins of the Reform Method, the aims and approaches of these two methods are first considered. Then, based on the secondary literature, a brief investigation is made into the possible origins of the German term ‘Grammatik-Übersetzungsmethode’ and the English equivalent ’Grammar-TranslationMethod’, respectively. Finally, the question of whether the Reform Movement can be considered a success or a failure with respect to the dissemination of oral competencies is addressed.

Towards a History of the English Normative Tradition

This special issue of Language and History brings together a selection of papers presented at a workshop at the eleventh conference of the European Society for the Study of English (ESSE) held in I...

Languages in contact, cultures in conflict: English and Spanish in the USA

In October 2014, while I was working on this special issue of Language and Intercultural Communication at the University of Massachusetts, university members and the people of Amherst at large were...

Multilingual resources in classroom interaction: ethnographic and discourse analytic perspectives

This special issue of Language and Education contributes to a distinctive and growing tradition of ethnographic and discourse analytic research on multilingual classroom interaction. To illustrate the nature and significance of the articles assembled here, this introduction provides a brief genealogy of this research tradition. We review two broad generations of studies, along with some of the different orienting theories and methodologies guiding the studies: (1) a first generation of research in multilingual classroom contexts that grew out of the field of linguistic anthropology in North America and (2) a second generation of studies, emerging from the early 1990s onwards, that developed critical, interpretive approaches to the study of multilingual classroom interaction. The second-generation studies were conducted in a wider range of research sites, including post-colonial settings, and they were explicitly framed with reference to language-in-education policies. We then introduce the five articles in this special issue. We argue that they represent a third generation of studies that are opening up new epistemological spaces at the interface with other fields of research, such as multimodality in classroom interaction or ethnography of language policy, while building on the robust foundation of first- and second-generation research in multilingual classrooms.

The structure and agency dilemma in identity and intercultural communication research

Against a backdrop of rapid global transformations, the ever-increasing migration of people across nation-state borders and a wide array of language practices, applied linguists, and language and intercultural communication researchers in particular, often include identity as a key construct in their work. Most adopt a broadly poststructuralist approach, drawing on the work of social theorists working in a wide range of areas such as cultural studies, gender studies and critical theory. However, the complexity of these sources poses challenges for these researchers and the aim of this paper is to discuss one such challenge: the theoretical tension between structure and agency, a tension often mentioned but seldom explored in depth. First, I examine how identity, structure and agency might be defined. Second, I then embark on a selective discussion of how structure and agency have been framed by key thinkers in the social sciences, ranging from Karl Marx to Ulrich Beck, Anthony Giddens and Pierre Bourdieu. Third, I examine the work of Margaret Archer, who has explicitly and deliberately taken on the dilemma of structure and agency and developed a suggestive way of thinking about the interrelationship between the two. Finally, I end with a consideration of how my fellow contributors to this special issue of Language and Intercultural Communication have incorporated structure and agency into their papers, followed by suggestions of how language and intercultural communication researchers interested in problematising structure and agency might proceed in the future.

Introduction to papers from the 5th Workshop on Language Production: The neural bases of language production

The papers in this special issue of Language and Cognitive Processing on the neural bases of language production illustrate two general approaches in current cognitive neuroscience. One approach focuses on investigating cognitive issues, making use of the logic of associations/dissociations or the logic of neural markers as key investigative tools. The other approach has as its primary goal identifying the cognitive and computational functions performed by specific brain areas and understanding the underlying neurobiological mechanisms. The research described in the papers of this special issue applies these approaches to the study of fundamental questions concerning sign language, multilingualism, speech motor control and the interaction between speech production, and comprehension. We discuss how, in doing so, this research sheds light on the cognitive and brain mechanisms of language production.

Exquisite Attention: Introduction to the Special Issue of Language & Literacy

It gives me great honour to welcome you to this special issue of Language & Literacy. In this issue you will find a range of thoughtful and provocative inquiries that reflect some of the diverse range of research in language and literacy education today. This issue was born of the recent marriage of the Language and Literacy Researchers of Canada (LLRC) and Language & Literacy: A Canadian ejournal. From this point forward these two organizations have made a commitment to support each other in their efforts to sustain critical conversations about language and literacy education and research.

Addressing Literacy in Secondary Schools: Introduction

his special issue of Language and Education reports on an independent threeyear research evaluation of a major professional development initiative to promote cross-curricular, whole school literacy policies – also known in the wider literature as ‘school language policies’ – in secondary schools in New Zealand. The findings from this evaluation, we believe, have significant implications for other national contexts. The professional development initiative in question – the Secondary Schools’ Literacy Initiative (SSLI) –was funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Education between 2003–2005 and involved a group of 60 pilot secondary schools, 20 each year.

Young People's Engagement with Digital Literacies in Marginal Contexts in a Globalised World

Claims about the complex ways in which young people's lives are entangled with digital technologies abound, yet insufficient theoretically informed empirical research has been conducted to examine how they use them and with what impact. This special issue of Language and Education presents theoretical and empirical understandings of young people's interactions with digital technologies in schools, homes and communities, and examines implications for educational development in four contrasting sites. The final paper considers the implications of the research for an investigation of young people's use of information and communication technologies in Uganda.