Reviews

Teaching Languages to Young Learners L. Cameron Cambridge University Press 2001, 288pp., 13.95 isbn 0 521 77434 9 Teaching Languages to Young Learners is very welcome, in that it extends the still-limited range of publications which focus on the theory and practice of teaching of languages to young learners between the ages of ve and twelve. As the author herself says in the Preface (p. xi): This book aims to provide teachers, and the trainers of teachers of foreign languages to young learners, with a useful and workable theoretical framework and set of principles in which they can embed and develop their practice. In that it can be said to be initiating a much needed process of developing an applied linguistics for teaching foreign languages to young learners. This review will explore the extent to which this book fulls the stated aims, in the context that hitherto an accompanying debate about theoretical and research issues has been largely absent (ibid.). The author stresses at the outset that learning is in the centre of the frame (ibid.), and that the book adopts an approach that is learning-centred as opposed to child-centred (p. xiii). This latter distinction is clearly relevant in the context of young learners, where it is essential for the right conditions to be created in order for learning to occur, and where learning is an active, cognitive process. I will begin by giving an overview of the organization and content of the book. Following the preface, there are ten chapters that focus on principles, theories, and practice, a nal review chapter, references, and an index. The preface usefully denes terms, and as is evident from the above quote, it sets out the authors underlying

beliefs about how children learn languages. It then goes on to discuss the organization of the book, and how the chapters relate one to another. A nal note denes the term foreign language, which though not in the title, is the main focus of the book. The author claries that while the data and examples used in the book relate to English as the foreign language in question, the general principles will also be applicable to the teaching of other languages to children. Chapter 1, Children learning a foreign language, provides the foundation for the book, reviewing theories of child development and language learning, and discussing aective factors in the learning of a foreign and second language. The division of language into written language and oral language (p.19), the latter with its own subdivisions, seems to reect the ways in which children learn and use language, and is a move towards developing an applied linguistics in this context. Chapter 2, Language learning through tasks and activities, explores task demands on young learners and how task support can be given in the classroom. The teacher explains that, for the child, a classroom task should have a clear purpose and meaning, whicle, for the teacher, the task should have clear language learning goals (p. 31). The task itself is made up of preparation activities, a core activity, and follow-up activities. An activity from a current coursebook is used to exemplify how this can be applied in the classroom, and there is a chart which sets this task sequence out in terms of goals. Chapter 3, Learning the spoken language, draws extensively on classroom data to explore how learners grow to understand and share meanings in a foreign language classroom context. There is a discussion of listening as providing input for speaking, as well as of the spoken language, with examples of short activities for developing specic listening skills.
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Chapter 4, Learning words, draws on the authors own research into vocabulary development. There is discussion of what knowing a word actually means, the dierent types and functions of words, and how vocabulary can be taught and learnt. At the end of the chapter there is a useful overview of vocabulary learning strategies. Chapter 5, Learning grammar, explores the question of what grammar is, with relevant discussion of the childs emergent grammar, and how there seems to be a progression from learning words and chunks to learning grammar. A set of principles for learning-centred grammar teaching is rst discussed, and then applied to practice in the form of techniques for the classroom. Chapter 6, Learning literacy skills, reviews what the learning of reading entails, in both L1 and L2, and how this feeds into and supports the learning of writing. This chapter explores approaches to teaching and developing reading skills, including the use of phonics and the whole word approach, and the changing role of reading and writing in our fast-moving technological world. Chapter 7, Learning through stories, rst considers stories as discoursea very relevant commentand then explores the features that naturally occur within stories which can support language development. A particular story is used to highlight criteria for selection and evaluation, and to exemplify ways in which stories can be used in the classroom. This particular picture book appears to be aimed at English mother-tongue children of about 8 or 9 years old, a discussion of the possible cognitive/linguistic implications of using mothertongue books in an L2 context might have been interesting here. Chapter 8 discusses techniques for planning theme-based teaching and learning, as well as the challenges of planning not only the whole topic but also the individual tasks. One topic, on potatoes, is used to exemplify underlying principles discussed earlier in the chapter. The chapter ends with a bullet-point list of reminders to ensure that the theme-based teaching is successfula very helpful list! Chapter 9, Language choice and language learning, focuses on the mother tongue and the use of the foreign or second language. The dynamics and tensions which often emerge between these for the teacher and the learners are considered, and there is discussion of these with reference to classroom data. The use of

metalanguage and the role of mother tongue within learner training is also included. Chapter 10, Assessment and language learning, picks up on the authors statement (p. 214) that the nature of childrens foreign language learning might be expected to generate a range of assessment issues in need of attention. These assessment issues and concepts are discussed and dened in this chapter, where assessment is seen as consisting of tests, observation, and selfassessment. The importance of assessment being congruent with teaching and learning is stressed, with assessment needing to reect the languagelearning goals for activities. Chapter 11, Issues around teaching children a foreign language, reviews the constructs as set out in the book, and identies areas ripe for further research and investigation. The chapter concludes with discussion of a selection of pedagogic issues that demand attention. One of the strong points of this book is the use of classroom data to highlight and explore key principles and concepts of language learning in the classroom, in Chapters 3, 5, and 9, for example. This allows the author to link theory to practice, and to focus in on what is really happeningand happensin a young learner classroom. The fact that data is drawn from dierent young learner foreign-language learning contexts is also signicant, as there are still too many emergent theories based on data from L1 classrooms. Extracts from and analysis of classroom data for each of the chapters would have been even more welcome. It would seem to be this sort of approach which will move us towards developing a pedagogy. The focus throughout the book remains on the learner, and on learning-centred teaching. The learner is consistently in the frame, and the author ensures that in each chapter this concept of learning-centredness is paramount. The table where the author presents her division of language for child foreign language learning (p.19), is instantly attractive, and is referred to throughout the book. Traditional divisions, such as the four skills, have never really sat comfortably with young learners, and this approach seems to oer a new and appropriate way of looking at language. There are, however, a number of problems with this book which I feel mainly arise precisely from it being only one book! As the author mentions in the preface, there is a dearth of material on theoretical and research issues in the eld of young learners.

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Although she is right about this, it does seem that she has tried to cover too many of these issues in a single book, where perhaps three or four might have been more realistic. This has resulted in some issues, such as vocabulary and literacy, being covered in depth, while others, such as the theory of how children learn a foreign language, seem to be given more of an overview. A more considered analysis and review of the issues underlying child development, and the learning of the mother tongue and subsequent languages is needed in a book with this stated readership. On the other hand, while the discussion of practical classroom activities and techniques are of interest, they may be less relevant to the readership. Noticeable by their absence are fuller discussions of cognitive issues, including thinking skills and the principles underlying criteria for the selection of tasks and task sequencing with reference to cognitive development, aective factors, such as multiple intelligences and development of the brain, and mention of the work and research of Gordon Wells, Jean Aitchison, Joan Tough, Robert Fisher and Marion Williams, and Bob Burden. Despite the foregoing reservations, there is much to recommend in this book, and it denitely complements those already on the shelves. The authors attempt to cover all the ground from theory and principles right through to classroom examples means that there are entry points for both teachers and trainers. There is also a very full reference section at the back of the book, which can be used to further extend awareness of the eld. To return to the quote from the Preface, given at the beginning of this article, the book certainly provides the beginnings of a theoretical framework and principles, and initiates the process of developing a pedagogy in this area which the research areas identied on pp. 2436 will continue. Published research, such as appears in Rixon (1999) and Moon and Nikolov (2000), further informs this process, and adds to the much needed debate (p. xi) which Cameron has initiated. References Moon, J., and M. Nikolov (eds.). 2000. Research into Teaching English to Young Learners. Pecs: University Press Pecs. Rixon, S. (ed.). 1999. Young Learners of English: Some Research Perspectives. Harlow: Pearson Education.

The reviewer Melanie Williams is a freelance ELT consultant and teacher trainer with extensive experience in the Young Learner eld. She has worked in many parts of the world and contributes regularly at international conferences and to international journals. Her current positions include Joint Chief Assessor for Cambridge Young Learner Courses, NILE Associate Trainer, specialist tutor on the MA TEYL (by distance) for the University of York, and Series Editor of Penguin Young Readers. Her main areas of interest are training and development for teachers and trainers, including the design and use of distance education programmes, the use of readers in the classroom, and assessment. Email: mel.williams@paston.co.uk

Teachers in Action: Tasks for in-service language teacher education and development P. James Cambridge University Press 2001, 299pp., 15.50 isbn 0 521 59689 0 paperback I often lead workshops for in-service teachers. In a typical group, of say 30, there are many hundreds of years of experience in teaching. That experience has been gained with particular age groups in particular educational systems, yet, more often than not, I have zero years of experience teaching in their system. My role, therefore, as far as improving teaching is concerned, can only be one of supporting participants in sharing and learning from their (and others) collective experience, and encouraging them to develop their own action plans for the next step in their professional-learning journey, as well as the skills to carry them out. This is a book for those in similar positions, and I was delighted to be asked to review it. In my reading, the book has four main and almost equally weighted sections: the Introduction; the rst ve chapters, which feature tasks; Chapter 6, entitled Resources for the Trainer, and a nal section of photocopiable worksheets. The book also contains useful suggestions for further reading, a bibliography, and an index. I will describe and comment on each of these four main sections before making some concluding remarks. The introduction to the book starts by describing the books main target audience as experienced and inexperienced trainers working in the in-service

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