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Why do questions about idioms often leave us "tongue-tied" in our classrooms? This book takes a look at learning and teaching idioms from two perspectives. First is a survey of recent work on learning and teaching idioms from diverse perspectives in the linguistics and educational research literature. The survey includes definitions of idioms from theoretical and pedagogical literature, focusing in particular on cognitive, cross-linguistic, and social-constructionist research. Second is a summary and critique of idiom textbooks and classroom practices from around the world. The book contains the sections: Dedication, Acknowledgments, About the Authors, and chapter 1: Introduction: Who Is Afraid of Teaching Idioms? Next is Part 1: Theoretical and Pedagogical Research into Learning and Teaching Idioms and its respective chapters: (1) What Is an Idiom?; (2) How Are Idioms Acquired? On the Brain and Idiom Acquisition; (3) How Are Idioms Taught? Methods and Materials; and (4) How Are Idioms Taught? Classroom Strategies and Activities. Then follows Part 2: Teaching Idioms to English Language Learners around the World and its respective chapters: (1) Teacher Perspectives on Teaching English Idioms; (2) Student Perspectives on Teaching English Idioms; (3) Example Lessons for Teaching Idioms From Around the World; (4) Overview and Critiques of Resources for Teaching and Learning Idioms; and (5) Conclusion: Keep the Ball Rolling "Strategies, Resources, and Tips for Developing Your Own Idiom Resources and Curriculum." The book concludes with References, an Index and the following appendices: (1) Glossary of Key Terms; (2) Idioms with Definitions and Example Sentences; (3) Teacher Survey; (4) Student Survey; and (5) Images of Key Parts of the Brain.

Over the last 30 years, inquiry-based teaching has become a highly valued component of professional development and practitioner research in Australia and New Zealand. This volume of the Language Teacher Research Series focuses on teaching and learning experiences in those two countries, which encompass a large geographical area with diverse policies and practices. The authors examine their various learning environments and share reflections and insights that can promote effective teaching practices, cross-cultural understanding, and improved learning outcomes in English language classrooms in other parts of the world. Following are some of the topics covered in Language Teacher Research in Australia and New Zealand: 1) Tailoring teaching materials to stimulate authentic learning and communication. 2) Designing research procedures to fit individual inquiry purposes and needs. 3) Focusing on oral communication skills and reading for meaning as ways to advance student learning. 4) Understanding student factors that can hinder progress in English language learning, and 5) Bridging differences between students from varied educational cultures. The thirteen chapters highlight clearly the specific goals, questions, research, and findings that are important to the authors' local context and are presented after an Acknowledgments and Series Editor's Preface section: (1) Language Teacher Research in Australia and New Zealand (Anne Burns and Jill Burton); (2) Talking to the Locals: Community Research and Hong Kong Students in an English Language Immersion Program (Australia) (Jill Brown and Vernon Crew); (3) Cultural and Academic Contexts: What Difference Do They Make to EAP Students? (New Zealand) (Averil Coxhead, Judy Hunter, Jane Pierard, and David Cooke); (4) Teaching Conversation and Negotiation Skills Using Teacher-Made, Semiscripted Conversation Models (New Zealand) (Heather Denny); (5) Learners, Lessons, and Vocabulary: Factors Affecting Recall and Retention (Australia) (Toni Dobinson and Paul Mercieca); (6) Strategies for Success in International Examinations (New Zealand) (Carol Griffiths); (7) Multilingualism Down Under: The Use and Disuse of Non-English Heritage Languages Among Mixed-Bilingual-Parentage University Students (Australia) (Iman Makeba Laversuch); (8) Exploring Student Responses in an Immigrant Language Program (Australia) (Pamela McPherson); (9) Exploring Critical Appraisal Through Teacher Research With ESL Postgraduate Engineers (Australia) (Gavin Melles); (10) Reconciling the Roles: Reflections of an Academic Practitioner in TESOL (Australia) (Jennifer Miller); (11) Open My Eyes, Reveal My Blindness: Cultural Awakening in Teacher Education (Australia) (Eleanor Peeler); (12) Teaching Literacy to Deaf Adults: Maxims for Mapping Uncharted Territory (New Zealand) (Kevin Roach); and (13) A Second Language Learner's Attempts at Text Comprehension in Biology (Australia) (Tanya Taylor-Cox). The book concludes with References and an Index.

This volume in the Language Teacher Research Series (Thomas S. C. Farrell, series editor) presents research conducted by language teachers at all levels, from high school English teachers to English language teacher educators, reflecting on their practices. The countries represented in this book are Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Jamaica, and the United States. The teacher researchers who share their experiences in this volume show how language teachers can become empowered to examine their practices and reflect on ways to refine their approaches. As these professional educators strive to improve teaching and learning, their efforts take a variety of forms. The authors of "Language Teacher Research in the Americas" teach in many different contexts, whether they are in higher education, K-12 schools, or teacher education settings. In relation to their specific contexts, they analyze their teaching practices, reflect on their students' learning environments, and turn the lessons learned into practical instructional strategies that can foster growth-in teachers as well as students. Each author describes specific classroom experiences in the Americas and extracts a more broadly applicable analysis of how to improve student learning. Edited by Hedy M. McGarrell, "Language Teacher Research in the Americas" includes the following topics: (1) Recognizing sources of confusion and tapping students' strengths to promote vocabulary acquisition; (2) Exploring activities that prepare English learners for communication outside the classroom; (3) Gathering information from students, giving them choices, and adapting practices based on what is actually happening in the classroom; (4) Empowering students, through awareness and reflection, to use strategies to enhance their own learning; and (5) Promoting teacher reflection and collaborative problem solving. The studies presented in this volume show that when educators take an inquiry approach to language teaching, they can craft professional development that is personally meaningful and has lasting results for English language learners and teachers everywhere. Following an editor's preface, the contents of this book are as follows: Chapter 1: Language Teacher Research in the Americas (Hedy M. McGarrell); Chapter 2: Understanding Practices: Bridging the Gap Between What Teachers Do and What Students Know (Colombia) (Angela Bailey, Lourdes Rey, and Nayibe Rosado); Chapter 3: Revisiting Peer Review (Canada) (Sandra Burger and Catherine Danforth); Chapter 4: Film in the ESL Classroom: Hearing the Student's Voice (Canada) (Andy Curtis); Chapter 5: ESL Students as Ethnographers: Examining Academic Interactions (United States) (Maria Dantas-Whitney); Chapter 6: Studying Classroom Practices and Learner Perceptions to Improve Test Quality (Canada) (Wendy Fraser and Janna Fox); Chapter 7: Listening to Text and ESL Students: Facilitating Low-Frequency Vocabulary Acquisition Incidentally (United States) (Jami Gurkin); Chapter 8: Promoting Innovative Practices Through Reflective Collaboration (Brazil) (Andrea Jesus, Heliana Mello, and Deise Dutra); Chapter 9: Mi and Myself: Dual Identity in Jamaican Contact Language Speakers (Jamaica) (Mary Hills Kuck); Chapter 10: Local Cultures, Language Politics, and Service Learning in the TEFL Certificate Course (Ecuador) (Kathleen McInerney); Chapter 11: Finding and Leveraging Vocabulary Strengths While Addressing Needs (United States) (Elizabeth Park; Chapter 12: Are Nonnative Speakers Really Able to Converse? (United States) (Eliana Santana-Williamson); and Chapter 13: Learning How to Learn: Metacognitive Strategy Training With Beginning EFL Students (Costa Rica) (Sharon L. Springer). References and an index are also provided.

An openness to new ways of teaching and learning is vital for growth among English language teachers, teacher educators, teachers in training, and students. This volume in the Language Teacher Research Series (Thomas S. C. Farrell, series editor) shares the studies and reflections of teacher researchers working in Middle Eastern countries with students from a variety of cultural backgrounds. These teachers explore aspects of their own practice in university settings, secondary school classrooms, and professional language training institutes. Despite the varied settings, the authors all have a common desire to improve their practice by looking critically at their teaching approaches and their students' attitudes toward learning. These studies unearth assumptions made in different teaching contexts, and shine a light on factors of perception and motivation. Some of the topics covered in these chapters are: (1) How students' perceptions of teachers' language expertise can affect the learning environment; (2) How interaction among students using technology, small groups, or peer feedback can promote new insights; (3) What roles personal anxiety and culturally imposed norms play in classroom dynamics; and (4) Ways to facilitate metacognition, responsibility, and motivation among students so that they learn how to learn more effectively. Each chapter examines a specific teaching and learning environment and analyzes avenues for improvement in that particular context. However, the overall goal of this volume and the series is to share teacher researchers' findings so that colleagues can extract their own interpretations and plan action steps for improving student learning in other contexts throughout the Middle East and the world. The following chapters are included: (1) Language Teacher Research in the Middle East (Christine Coombe and Lisa Barlow); (2) How Does Language Anxiety Affect Performance in the English Language Classroom? (United Arab Emirates) (Margaret Agbalizu); (3) L2 Learners and Student Evaluations of Teaching: Issues of Language Comprehension (United Arab Emirates) (Ahmad Al-Issa and Hana Sulieman); (4) Spelling Errors of Arab Learners: Evidence for Intergraphemic Mapping (Saudi Arabia) (Maher Bahloul); (5) What Makes a Good Teacher? Investigating the Native-Nonnative Speaker Issue in the Arabian Gulf (Kuwait and United Arab Emirates) (Christine Coombe and Mashael Al-Hamly); (6) Multicultural, Coeducational Group Work Experiences: Creative Collaboration or Problematic Partnership? (United Arab Emirates) (Cindy Gunn); (7) To Mediate or Not to Mediate: Surviving in an Exam-Based EFL Context (United Arab Emirates) (Naziha Ali Jafri); (8) The Effectiveness of Learning Contracts With Arab Learners of English (United Arab Emirates) (Paul MacLeod); (9) Six Hats for Discussion and Writing (United Arab Emirates) (David Palfreyman and Fran Turner); (10) Teacher and Student Perceptions of Best Practices in Teaching (Tunisia) (Ali H. Raddaoui); (11) The Effect of Group and Individual Peer Feedback on Student Writing in an EFL Gulf Context (Saudi Arabia) (Ali Shehadeh); (12) Negotiating With Multiple Repeaters (United Arab Emirates) (Salah Troudi); and (13) Moodling in the Middle East (United Arab Emirates). References and an index are included.

The Language Teacher Research Series aims to connect research and practice by highlighting the insights that teachers themselves describe after examining their own practices. This first volume of the five-volume series presents research conducted by language teachers at all levels, from high school English teachers to English language teacher educators, reflecting on their practices. Each author describes specific classroom experiences in an Asian context and extracts a more broadly applicable analysis of how to improve student learning. The countries represented cover both North and South Asia. Many classroom teachers often feel a "disconnect" between research and practice. This volume successfully bridges the gap by demonstrating how the lessons gleaned from reflective research can be transformed into practical instructional strategies. The chapters include the following topics: (1) Fostering learner autonomy by discouraging teacher dependence; (2) Seeking content that encourages students to engage in second language (L2) discussions; (3) Balancing the focus on test-taking skills and content learning; (4) Helping students monitor and managed their listening strategies; (5) Teaching writing strategies more explicitly; and (6) Comparing students' and teacher's perceptions of the learning that occurs. The format is such that language teachers with varied experiences and qualifications can make comparisons across chapters about issues, background literature, procedures, results, and reflections. The contributors hope that other language teachers will compare and contrast these studies with their own classroom challenges and accomplishments. Chapter details help readers compare and evaluate the examples of teacher research and even replicate some research, if so desired. Chapters include: (1) Language Teacher Research in Asia (Thomas S. C. Farrell); (2) Teaching Character Depiction in Narrative Writing (Singapore) (Antonia Chandrasegaran and Siok-Chin Yeo); (3) Expert and Nonexpert Teachers: Do They Use Different Processes While Learning to Teach? (Thailand) (Sumalee Chinokul); (4) Learner Autonomy in an Asian Context: Independent Learning and Independent Work at the University Level (Viet Nam) (Duong Thi Hoang Oanh); (5) The TESOL Methods Course: What Did They Really Learn? (Singapore) (Thomas S. C. Farrell); (6) Understanding Chinese Students' Teacher Dependence (China) (Gao Xuesong); (7) Challenging Tradition: Creating a Self-Access Language Learning Center in an East Asian Academic High School (Japan) (Chris Hale); (8) Improving Second Language Listening: Awareness and Involvement, (Singapore) (Xuelin Liu and Christine C. M. Goh); (9) From Chalkboard to Lectern to Chalkboard: The Journey of an Applied Linguistics Lecturer (Viet Nam) (Stephen H. Moore); (10) "I Want to Study TOEFL!" Finding the Balance Between Test Focus and Language Learning in Curriculum Revision (Japan) (Patrick Rosenkjar); (11) Bridging the Classroom Perception Gap: Comparing Learners' and Teachers' Understandings of What Is Learned (Japan) (Timothy Stewart); (12) Does Project-Based Learning Work in Asia? (China) (Wang Ge); and (13) How Does Course Content Affect Students' Willingness to Communicate in the L2? (China) (Jennifer Weathers). A list of references and an index are included.