ELTWeekly Issue#9, Book of the week: Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching

The ELT book of the week for the ninth issue of ELTWeekly is:

Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching

by Diane Larsen-Freeman

Book Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2 edition (May 11, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0194355748
• ISBN-13: 978-0194355742
• Price: $18.67

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

A fully revised and updated edition of this popular introduction to language teaching methodology, which describes different methods and approaches in language teaching. It provides practical, step-by-step guidance for new teachers and introduces more experienced teachers to new approaches and teaching ideas. 

About the Author

Dr. Diane Larsen-Freeman is a Professor of Education and Director of the English Language Institute at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She is also Distinguished Senior Faculty Fellow at the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont. She has spoken and published widely on the topics of teacher education, second language acquisition, English grammar, and language teaching methodology. In 1997, Dr. Larsen-Freeman was inducted into the Vermont Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1999, she was named one of the ESL pioneers by ESL Magazine. In 2000, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Heinle and Heinle Publishers.

Customer Reviews

Margo E DelliCarpini

I am an ESL teacher and I teach Methods and Materials of TESOL at the University Level and I am very pleased with this book. It is clearly written and the methods, from the Audio-Lingual Method to Content Based Instruction, are presented in a format that facilitates pre-service and in-service teachers’ understanding of the theoretical background of language teaching, and the book provides relevant follow up activities that promote professional growth and allow the learner to apply what they have just learned. My students have given me very positive feedback about the chioce of this as one of the texts that we use, and they all say that they wish to keep the book on the shelves of their professional libraries.I refer to it frequently as both a professional in the feild and as a teacher educator.

M. Dove

The methodologies presented in the first six chapters are each a compendium of obsolete second language teaching techniques. The information is interesting but not valuable. In its later chapters, this book successfully describes common methods used in today’s classroom. It is a fairly good reference book for beginning ESL teachers to have.

J. Marren (Glen Ridge, NJ USA)

Unlike many texts for educators, Larsen-Freeman’s survey of the methodologies that can be used in ESL is concrete and practical. The book devotes a chapter to each technique, from Grammar/Translation to ALM to Communicative Language Learning. In each case the author describes a lesson in minute detail, breaks apart the pieces, and then examines the principles underlying the steps in the lesson. Larsen-Freeman’s point, which I think every good teacher instinctively realizes, is that every method has something to recommend it, and the best approach is to have a cookbook of methods at one’s disposal. In an individual class, with any individual student, it’s hard to predict what the key to learning will be. This book is simple when explaining theory, and detailed when it comes to practice–a good combination for the working teacher.