Available in print and electronic formats.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 193-213) and index.

"This important new book provides a critical overview of recent classroom-centered research and its implications for the teaching and learning of languages. Chaudron synthesizes and evaluates crucial research about the way student and teacher behaviours affect language learning and discusses research methods.

Second Language Classrooms will be of vital interest to researchers, language teachers, and curriculum specialists, as well as readers with a general interest in education, linguistics, sociology, or psychology." (Book Cover)

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Frontmatter

List of tables and figures

Series editors' preface

Preface

1 Major issues in second language classroom research
The value of second language instruction
The context of second language instruction
Major issues
Learning from instruction
Teacher talk Learner behaviour
Interaction in the classroom
Methodological problems
Overview of the book

2 Classroom research methods
Four traditions in research
General methodological issues
Quantitative and qualitative approaches
Classroom observation and instrumentation
Dimensions of analysis Reliability and validity of research instruments
The traditions in perspective
The psychometric approach
The interaction analysis approach The discourse analysis approach
The ethnographic approach
Conclusion

3 Teacher talk in second language classrooms
Amount and types of teacher talk
Functional distribution of teacher talk
Modifications in teacher speech
Modifications of speech rate, prosody, phonology
Modifications of vocabulary Modifications of syntax
Modifications of discourse
Summary of modifications
Elaborated descriptions of teacher discourse Explanations
Conclusion

4 Learner behavior in second language classrooms
Language production
Learner production and situational factors
Summary
Input generation Age and initiating
Social contexts and functions of initiation
Cultural factors and initiation
Interaction between learners Classroom organization
Task type
Summary
Learner strategies
Summary
Conclusion

5 Teacher and student interaction in second language
Differential allocation of teacher speech to learners
Choice of language
Functional allocation of language choice
Summary
Questioning behaviour
Type of question
Modification of questions
Questioning patterns
Questions in interaction
Summary
Feedback Conclusion

6 Learning outcomes
Teacher input and learner comprehension/production
Rate of speech
Syntactic complexity and repetition
Frequency of input
Summary
Formal language instruction Focus on form
Explicit grammar instruction
Summary
Learner behaviour and learning outcomes
Learner production Learner initiation and interaction
Learning strategies
Summary
Classroom interaction and learning outcomes
Speech addressed to learners
Language of input Questions and learner production
Feedback and learning outcomes
Summary
Conclusion

7 Direction for research and teaching
Methodological issues
Observation instruments
Design
Statistics and reporting
Theory and second language classrooms Implications for research and teaching
Presage variables
Context variables
Process variables
The value of second language instruction

References

Index