ESL/EFL Teaching: Principles for Success

With ESL/EFL Teaching,Yvonne and David Freeman provide an expanded and updated revision ofWhole Language for Second Language Learners. As in the original edition, the authors provide a readable explanation of second language teaching methodology supported by numerous classroom examples. In addition, the new edition includes detailed discussions and examples of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teaching as well as many scenarios from ESL (English as a Second Language) classes. Throughout the new edition, which contains almost 50 percent new material, the emphasis is on teaching language through meaningful content.

The Freemans contend that teaching practices based on sound principles are essential for English language learners. To set the stage for the principles, the authors provide an overview of orientations that ESL/EFL teachers have taken. They describe well-known language teaching methods that fit each orientation and then present the orientation that is most consistent with principles that lead to success. Each of the subsequent chapters develops these principles in detail.

Major features of the book include: a readable discussion of orientations to language teaching and a description of traditional methods that have been used to teach a second or foreign language; recent research in ESL/EFL teaching and bilingual education; rich classroom scenarios taken from real classrooms; helpful charts, checklists, and lesson ideas for teachers to use in planning and evaluation; detailed descriptions of thematic teaching in ESL/EFL classrooms at different grade levels including bibliographies of relevant literature; and clear explanations of content-based approaches including sheltered English, ELD, and SDAIE.

YVONNE FREEMAN is a professor at the University of Texas, Pan American. Yvonne and David Freeman are the authors of several books from Heinemann, including La ensenanza de la lectura y la escritura en espanol en el aula bilingue (1998), Teaching Reading and Writing in Spanish in the Bilingual Classroom (1997), and Between Worlds: Access to Second Language Acquisition (1994), which won the MLA Mildenberger Prize.DAVID FREEMAN is a professor at the University of Texas, Pan American. David and Yvonne Freeman are the authors of several books from Heinemann, including La ensenanza de la lectura y la escritura en espanol en el aula bilingue (1998), Teaching Reading and Writing in Spanish in the Bilingual Classroom (1997), and Between Worlds: Access to Second Language Acquisition (1994), which won the MLA Mildenberger Prize.