front cover of Assessment Myths
Assessment Myths
Applying Second Language Research to Classroom Teaching
Lia Plakans and Atta Gebril
University of Michigan Press, 2015
This volume was conceived as a "best practices" resource for assessment in the way that Vocabulary Myths by Keith S. Folse is one for reading and vocabulary teachers. Like others in the Myths series, this book combines research with good pedagogical practices.
 
The book opens with an introduction that reviews many key assessment terms and concepts.
 
The myths examined in this book are:
  • Assessment is just writing tests and using statistics.
  • A comprehensive final exam is the best way to evaluate students.
  • Scores on performance assessments are preferable because of their accuracy and authenticity.
  • Multiple choice tests are inaccurate measures of language but are easy to write.
  • We should test only one skill at a time.
  • A test’s validity can be determined by looking at it.
  • Issues of fairness are not a concern with standardized testing.
  • Teachers should never be involved in preparing students for tests.
Implications for teaching and an agenda for research are discussed in a conclusion. 
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front cover of Authentic Materials Myths
Authentic Materials Myths
Applying Second Language Research to Classroom Teaching
Eve Zyzik and Charlene Polio
University of Michigan Press, 2017
The use of authentic materials in language classrooms is sometimes discussed as a reliable way to expose students to the target language, but there is also disagreement regarding what kinds of authentic materials should be used, when they should be used, and how much of the curriculum should revolve around them. This volume in the Myths series explores the research related to the use of authentic materials and the ways that  authentic materials may be used successfully in the classroom. Like others in the Myths series, this book combines research with good pedagogical practices.
 
The myths examined in this book are:
  • Authentic texts are inaccessible to beginners.
  • Authentic texts cannot be used to teach grammar.
  • Shorter texts are more beneficial for language learners.
  • Activating background knowledge or making a word list is sufficient to prepare students for authentic texts.
  • Authentic texts can be used to teach only listening and reading.
  • Modifying or simplifying authentic texts always helps language learners.
  • For learners to benefit from using authentic texts, the associated tasks must also be authentic.
The Epilogue explores the challenges of using authentic texts in the classroom and calls for more research. 
 
 

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front cover of Culture Myths
Culture Myths
Applying Second Language Research to Classroom Teaching
Andrea DeCapua
University of Michigan Press, 2018
Culture Myths is intended for all educators who work with culturally and linguistically diverse students. The book is designed to help readers observe, evaluate, and appreciate cultural differences in values, beliefs, behaviors, attitudes, and worldviews by focusing on the underlying and mostly invisible reasons for these differences. Developing an awareness of one's own cultural assumptions deepens understanding and empathy and contributes to the breaking down of the cultural barriers that can affect communication. 

A goal of this book is to help readers strike a balance between minimizing cultural differences and assuming similarities across cultures on one hand, and exoticizing other cultures or accentuating surface differences on the other.
 
The myths about culture as it relates to the classroom that are explored in this book are:
  • We are all human beings, so how different can we really be?
  • The goal of education is to develop each individual’s potential.
  • Focusing on conversational skills in the classroom is overrated.
  • Not looking at the teacher shows disrespect.
  • How something is said is not as important as what is said.
  • Everyone knows what a good instructional environment is.
  • By the time students get to middle or high school, they know how to be a student.
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front cover of Listening Myths
Listening Myths
Applying Second Language Research to Classroom Teaching
Steven Brown
University of Michigan Press, 2011

This volume was conceived as a "best practices" resource for teachers of ESL listening courses in the way that Vocabulary Myths by Keith S. Folse (and Writing Myths by Joy Reid) is one for reading and vocabulary teachers. It was written to help ensure that teachers of listening are not perpetuating the myths of teaching listening.

Both the research and pedagogy in this book are based on the newest research in the field of second language acquisition. Steven Brown is the author of the Active Listening textbook series and is a teacher trainer.

The myths debunked in this book are:

§  Listening is the same as reading.

§  Listening is passive.

§  Listening equals comprehension.

§  Because L1 language ability is effortlessly acquired, L2 listening ability is too.

§  Listening means listening to conversations.

§  Listening is an individual, inside-the-head process.

§  Students should only listen to authentic materials.

§  Listening can’t be taught.

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front cover of Pronunciation Myths
Pronunciation Myths
Applying Second Language Research to Classroom Teaching
Linda Grant with Donna M. Brinton, Tracey Derwing and Murray J. Munro, John Field, Judy Gilbert, John Murphy, Ron Thomson, Beth Zielinski and Lynda Yates
University of Michigan Press, 2014

This volume was conceived as a "best practices" resource for pronunciation and speaking teachers in the way that Vocabulary Myths by Keith S. Folse is one for reading and vocabulary teachers. Like others in the Myths series, this book combines research with good pedagogical practices.

The book opens with a Prologue by Linda Grant (author of the Well Said textbook series), which reviews the last four decades of pronunciation teaching, the differences between accent and intelligibility, the rudiments of the English sound system, and other factors related to the ways that pronunciation is learned and taught.

The myths challenged in this book are:

§  Once you’ve been speaking a second language for years, it’s too late to change your pronunciation. (Derwing and Munro)

§  Pronunciation instruction is not appropriate for beginning-level learners. (Zielinski and Yates)

§  Pronunciation teaching has to establish in the minds of language learners a set of distinct consonant and vowel sounds.  (Field)

§  Intonation is hard to teach. (Gilbert)

§  Students would make better progress if they just practiced more. (Grant)

§  Accent reduction and pronunciation instruction are the same thing. (Thomson)

§  Teacher training programs provide adequate preparation in how to teach pronunciation (Murphy).

The book concludes with an Epilogue by Donna M. Brinton, who synthesizes some of the best practices explored in the volume.

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front cover of Vocabulary Myths
Vocabulary Myths
Applying Second Language Research to Classroom Teaching
Keith S. Folse
University of Michigan Press, 2004

In Vocabulary Myths, Keith S. Folse breaks down the teaching of second language vocabulary into eight commonly held myths. In debunking each myth, he introduces the myth with a story based on his 25 years of teaching experience (in the United States and abroad), continues with a presentation of what empirical research has shown on the topic, and finishes with a list of what teachers can do in their classrooms to facilitate true vocabulary acquisition.

The goal of Vocabulary Myths is to foster a paradigm shift that correctly views vocabulary as fundamental in any second language learning process and demonstrates that research supports this goal-that in fact there is a wealth of empirical evidence to support these views. In addition, an important theme is that teachers have overestimated how much vocabulary students really understand, and as a result, the so-called "comprehensible input" is neither comprehensible nor input.

The second language vocabulary acquisition myths reexamined in this book are:
*In learning another language, vocabulary is not as important as grammar or other areas.
*Using word lists to learn L2 vocabulary is unproductive.
*Presenting new vocabulary in semantic sets facilitates learning.
*The use of translations to learn new vocabulary should be discouraged.
*Guessing words from context is an excellent strategy for learning L2 vocabulary.
*The best vocabulary learners make use of one or two really specific vocabulary learning strategies.
*The best dictionary for L2 learners is a monolingual dictionary.
*Teachers, textbooks, and curricula cover L2 vocabulary adequately.
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front cover of Writing Myths
Writing Myths
Applying Second Language Research to Classroom Teaching
Joy Reid with Keith S. Folse, Cynthia M. Schuemann, Pat Byrd and John Bunting, Ken Hyland, Dana Ferris, Susan Conrad, Sharon Cavusgil, Paul Kei Matsuda
University of Michigan Press, 2008

This volume was conceived as a "best practices" resource for writing teachers in the way that Vocabulary Myths by Keith S. Folse is one for reading and vocabulary teachers. It was written to help ensure that writing teachers are not perpetuating the myths of teaching writing.

Each author is a practicing teacher who selected his or her "myth" based on classroom experience and expertise. Both the research and pedagogy in this book are based on the newest research in, for example, teacher preparation, EAP and ESP, and corpus linguistics. The myths discussed in this book are:

§         Teaching vocabulary is not the writing teacher's job. (Keith S. Folse)

§         Teaching citation is someone else's job. (Cynthia M. Schuemann)

§         Where grammar is concerned, one size fits all. (Pat Byrd and John Bunting)

§         Academic writing should be assertive and certain. (Ken Hyland)

§         Students must learn to correct all their writing errors. (Dana Ferris)

§         Corpus-based research is too complicated to be useful for writing teachers. (Susan Conrad)

§         Academic writing courses should focus on paragraph and essay development. (Sharon Cavausgil)

§         International and U.S. resident ESL writers cannot be taught in the same class. (Paul Kei Matsuda)

The book concludes with a discussion of students' myths about academic writing and teaching written by Joy Reid.
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