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Reviewed by:
  • Effective learning and teaching in modern languages
  • Sarah Elaine Eaton
Coleman, J.A., & Klapper, J. (Eds.). (2005). Effective learning and teaching in modern languages. London: Routledge. Pp. 236, $58.30 (paper).

This book offers a broad general overview of numerous topics related to teaching and learning languages in higher education. In it, 21 contributors each address a different aspect of the discipline. The result is a comprehensive introduction to modern languages in universities. The [End Page 348] authors note in the introduction that although English as a second language (which they refer to as EFL) programs at UK institutions are beyond the scope of the discussion, income from such programs may financially sustain those that are its main focus: languages other than English (LOTE) programs (p. xiv). Apart from a brief mention at the beginning of the book (pp. 5–6), ESL/EFL topics are for the most part absent.

Though their principal focus is on the UK, the authors seek to discuss themes that transcend geography (p. xiv), offering valuable insights to language teachers and program administrators from a variety of countries. As both a former student and a faculty member of a languages department at a Canadian university, I found that much of what is discussed does indeed apply beyond the UK context.

The book is divided into four parts. Part 1 offers an overview of university modern languages, focusing on students and staff. In this section, Klapper writes that 'many languages staff are the product of a post-graduate research world still dominated by literary and cultural topics. With a few exceptions, such a profile is not suited to the changing needs of the discipline' and that 'people who are recruited to teach only languages' are 'often effectively second-class citizens on temporary or part-time contracts, with limited career prospects despite holding professional qualifications' (p. 24). These same ideas were expressed 10 years ago by Eskey (1997) and Kaplan (1997), who wrote about the very language courses excluded by the authors here, English programs for foreign students. Nevertheless, the ideas remain relevant today.

Part 2 explores the theory and practice of language teaching. Part 3 discusses modes and contexts of university language teaching. I found the references to the Common European framework of reference for languages (what we in Canada call the CEFR and is referred to in this book as the CEF) a welcome recurring theme throughout Parts 2 and 3, with mentions in chapters 6, 11, and 14. This reinforces the editors' claims that the themes they present extend beyond the UK, at the very least to the rest of the continent.

Part 4 explores the diversity of modern languages as a discipline, with chapters covering topics such as cultural studies, business, literature, linguistics, and area studies.

Some chapters are rich with references and sources of information for further exploration. One example is Coleman and Klapper's discussion of research on language learning (chapter 5). The chapter begins with the assertion, 'For many years there has been a serious discrepancy between second language acquisition (SLA) research findings [End Page 349] on the way foreign languages (FLs) are learned and the way many universities have continued to teach them to students.' I tend to be sceptical of such generalizations, and I was pleased to see that the rest of the chapter proves the validity of the authors' assertion by providing solid references to back it up.

Another example worth noting is chapter 19, 'The Internet and computer-mediated communication,' which offers pages and pages of resources for the reader wishing to delve deeper. Other chapters, such as Holmes and Patten's on literary studies (chapter 26), would be strengthened considerably if they demonstrated how proven research backs up their claims.

At times, there is a sincere acknowledgement of some of the difficulties the profession currently faces, such as when Klapper notes in chapter 10, 'Assessment is arguably the single most important element in language teaching in higher education (HE) and it is certainly one that causes much anxiety for staff new to the profession' (p. 80) or when Thomson, in chapter 18, on computer-assisted language learning (CALL), cautions that 'just as we...

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