Resources

Resources for professional self-development

Resources on language learners and language learning

Resources for teaching grammar

Resources for teaching speaking

Background Resources on Communicative Competence

The four competences were first defined, and ways of developing them in language teaching were described, in the work of Sandra Savignon, Merrill Swain, and Michael Canale.

Savignon, Sandra. (1976). Communicative competence: Theory and classroom practice. Paper presented at the Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Detroit, MI. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED135245.pdf
Canale, Michael, and Swain, Merrill. (1980). Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics 1(1): 1-47. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Merrill_Swain/publication/31260438_Theoretical_Bases_of_Communicative_Approaches_to_Second_Language_Teaching_and_Testing/links/0c960516b1dadad753000000/Theoretical-Bases-of-Communicative-Approaches-to-Second-Language-Teaching-and-Testing.pdf
Canale, Michael. (1983). From communicative competence to communicative language pedagogy. In J. Richards and R. Schmidt (Eds.), Language and Communication. London: Longman.

The concept of communicative efficiency comes from the work of Jeremy Harmer.

Harmer, Jeremy. (1991). The practice of English language teaching. London: Longman.

Background Resources on Learner-Centered Instruction

The learner-centered approach to teaching grows out of the educational philosophy known as social constructivism, which emphasizes the active role of the learner in the learning process. Early proponents of the constructivist nature of education include Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, Jerome Bruner, Maria Montessori, and John Dewey.

Summaries of these theorists’ contributions to constructivism are available here:

Social Constructivism. Graduate Student Instructor Teaching & Resource Center, University of California at Berkeley. http://gsi.berkeley.edu/gsi-guide-contents/learning-theory-research/social-constructivism/
Education Theory: Constructivism and Social Constructivism. University College Dublin Open Educational Resources. http://www.ucdoer.ie/index.php/Education_Theory/Constructivism_and_Social_Constructivism

For a list of major works in constructivist theory, go here:

Annotated Bibliography on Constructivism in Education. Institute for Learning Centered Education. http://www.learnercentereded.org/jpact/Current/bibliography.htm

General Language Teaching Resources

Open Educational Resources

Freely available guidelines and similar documents developed by language teaching professionals across a number of different organizations and associations.

Be Prepared: Survival Tips for New Language Teachers
(National Capital Language Resource Center, 2008)

Fundamental Principles of Effective Adult Language Education
(Center for Applied Linguistics, 2015)