Review

"'... the book provides a set of accessible, issues-driven discussions of the "state of the art" in spoken language research and practice. It thus has something to offer researchers and practitioners working in a wide range of professional contexts.' - The Linguist"

Product Description

Spoken language doesn't get the same coverage as written language - this book redresses the balance and fills a big gap in publications. All of its contributions are reporting on new research. It is coherent and wide-ranging - the contributors were chosen for their specialist areas and formulate their chapters to answer a raft of similar critical questions. It informs practice, taking the reader through issues of attitude and ideology, prosody and intonation, classroom methods and assessment.Leading researchers in the field of spoken discourse and language teaching offer an empirically informed, issues-based discussion of the present state of research into spoken language. They address some of the complex and rewarding opportunities offered by these emerging insights for language education and, specifically, for TESOL. They ask whether new data and evidence that spoken discourse is a distinctive genre will challenge existing language theories and teaching. What could be the practical outcomes for curriculum, teaching approaches, materials and assessment? It is a stimulating resource for researchers and for professional and student language teachers.