Teaching English as a foreign language

Teaching English as a foreign language.Proposals for the language classroom

How can we innovate in the English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom, so that our students are able to use the target language more adequately? This question has, by no means, an easy answer.

In fact, there is an ever-growing body of research attempting to provide a response to this question from many different angles, and, at present, still much remains to be done. The present volume is a modest reply to this question in an effort to increase attention to pragmatic issues in EFL teaching and learning, among which (im)politeness phenomena are crucial. In so doing, the contributions to this volume intend to highlight the significance of a learner-centred pedagogy that takes into consideration learners’ changing needs in an increasingly globalized world, and the consequent flexibility this brings to teacher and student roles, teaching methodologies, and learning materials in the context of the classroom.

The chapters in this book thus emphasize the use of new technologies in teaching and learning processes, learners’ cultural backgrounds with a view to cross-cultural communication and international mobility, and learners’ personalities, attitudes, be liefs and values, with a focus on learners’ freedom of choice in their acquisition of a second or foreign language. All these issues are contemplated from various theoretical approaches and methodological perspectives, which reflect the hybrid and interdis ciplinary nature of this volume.