Introduction

For several reasons, we have chosen the last two words in this booklet’s title ‘Teaching additional languages’ rather than commonly used terms ‘second languages’ or ‘foreign languages’. Students may actually be learning not a second but a third or fourth language. ‘Additional’ applies to all, except, of course, the first language learned. An additional language, moreover, may not be foreign since many people in their country may ordinarily speak it. The term ‘foreign’ can, moreover, suggest strange, exotic or, perhaps, alien - all undesirable connotations. Our choice of the term ‘additional’ underscores our belief that additional languages are not necessarily inferior nor superior nor a replacement for a student’s first language.

Our view is that students should be taught how to use an additional language clearly, accurately and effectively for genuine communication. They should read and listen to live language; they should speak and write it in ways that can be understood by native and non-native speakers. Learners, moreover, should eventually be able to produce and comprehend additional languages independently without the aid of a teacher

We begin by presenting some key general principles of such ‘communicative language’ teaching and follow with principles about particular kinds of teaching. In each case, we briefly summarize the research, and then discuss classroom practices that follow from it. At the end of each section is a list of suggested readings that expand on what has been presented, and provide additional principles, research and classroom activities.

References: Celce-Murcia, 1991; Hadley, 1993; Nunan, 1999.