Language Teacher Research in Australia and New Zealand

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.