This volume was conceived as a first book in SLA for advanced undergraduate or introductory master’s courses that include education majors, foreign language education majors, and English majors. It’s also an excellent resource for practicing teachers. 

Both the research and pedagogy in this book are based on the newest research in the field of second language acquisition.  It is not the goal of this book to address every SLA theory or teach research methodology.  It does however address the myths and questions that non-specialist teacher candidates have about language learning.

Steven Brown is the co-author of the introductory applied linguistics textbook Understanding Language Structure, Interaction, and Variation  textbook (and workbook).

The myths challenged in this book are:
 

§  Children learn languages quickly and easily while adults are ineffective in comparison.

§  A true bilingual is someone who speaks two languages perfectly.

§  You can acquire a language simply through listening or reading.

§  Practice makes perfect.

§  Language students learn (and retain) what they are taught.

§  Language learners always benefit from correction.

§  Individual differences are a major, perhaps the major, factor in SLA.

§  Language acquisition is the individual acquisition of grammar.

This collection has been written to address the fact that there seems to be little concerted, systematic effort to understand what type of writing is taught across elementary, secondary, and college second language (L2) writing contexts and to understand how it is being taught on this long educational continuum (K–16). This book sets out to contribute to what is perceived as a lack of the full picture on the teaching of L2 writing from K–16. The impetus to look across educational settings, particularly at the places of transitions, stemmed in part from the recent state-wide educational reforms. Given the gap in the L2 research that straddles all educational settings, this volume addresses the need for a closer teacher collaboration and deeper, clearer understanding of writing goals in each of the educational settings and across them on the K–16 continuum.
 
The chapters examine the writing that English learners are producing because of the Common Core and the writing they are required to do once they reach the college or university, and then consider where the intersections exist—that is, what do educators think English learners ought to be writing across educational levels?
 
Each chapter describes the educational setting where the researchers were engaged, examines specific issues related to transitions, and offers—where relevant—recommendations for classroom practices, teaching strategies, and instructional materials that may be useful for practicing teachers and all others professionally engaged in educating writers across K–16.
 
 

Service-Learning: What Every ESL Teacher Needs to Know gives practical information on implementing service-learning in the field of TESOL. Service-learning⁠—"the accomplishment of tasks that meet genuine human needs in combination with conscious educational growth"⁠—has developed into a pedagogical approach that incorporates student learning and reflection with curricular concepts while partnering with community organizations. Following an overview of service-learning in the field of TESOL, this text includes sections on incorporating service-learning in an ESL course, finding appropriate community partnerships, making decisions about culture- and language-based lessons, assessing students, and making the experience meaningful. Also included are four specific strategies to help readers make the case for service-learning to administrators. 

SLIFE: What Every Teacher Needs to Know helps readers deepen their understanding of Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (SLIFE). Because of their limited, greatly interrupted, or sometimes nonexistent participation in formal education, SLIFE face challenges in the classroom that go beyond language and content. Often SLIFE need to develop basic literacy skills and foundational subject-area knowledge, as well as to learn how to engage in the discourse and practices of formal educational settings. So what can teachers do to help these students succeed and to recognize and honor their knowledge, skills, and cultural capital? SLIFE: What Every Teacher Needs to Know centers around four guidelines for teaching SLIFE: question assumptions, foster two-way communication, explicitly teach school tasks and academic ways of thinking, and promote project-based learning. Discussion of the Mutually Adaptive Learning Paradigm (MALP), is also included.

Step It Up recognizes the unique opportunities that mixed-level classes provide for students to challenge themselves, to learn to communicate with a wide variety of speakers, and to fill in the gaps in their learning, regardless of their individual proficiencies. Step It Up is a time-saver for teachers of multilevel classes.

Each chapter focuses on a different academic discipline (education, art, history, business, geology, ecology, nutrition, language and culture, and literature). Chapters include three readings at three fluency levels-called the First Step (intermediate), Second Step (high-intermediate to low-advanced), and Third Step (advanced). Corresponding vocabulary development exercises, comprehension questions, group discussion questions, and wrap-up activities encourage students to work at their own learning levels even as they are asked to interact with the group and share the expertise that they have gained from the material.

Step It Up can also address the needs of learners who don't fall into the traditional categories and who will benefit from activities at different levels to help fill in gaps of their knowledge of English.

Covering the spectrum of grammatical structures, The Structure of English teaches why grammatical structures are important and how to use them through literary illustrations and clear explanations of grammar's effective use and communicative function. It is directed at future English teachers, as well as the new ESL/EFL teacher.

With an emphasis on discourse function throughout, students are never expected to rely on lists of unrelated, constructed example sentences. Rather, when major points of grammar are presented, the structures are illustrated with rich, "real world" contexts excerpted from literature (mostly American), including novels, short stories, poems, essays, and drama. Exercises in the companion workbook are likewise based on naturally occurring stretches of discourse.

Though informed by modern linguistic theory, explanations are framed in more traditional terminology and are designed to help build students' confidence in using English grammar by deepening their understanding of its forms and functions..

For advanced ESL students and graduate TESOL and certificate programs.

One of the hottest topics in education today is trauma-informed pedagogy. Much of what has been written in this area comes from counselors, therapists, and other experts in this field, but there is very little written specifically about the effects of trauma on English learners. This book has been written to address this need. The authors have sifted through the literature on trauma and social-emotional learning (SEL) to provide the material that applies directly to English learners. This book was written mainly for teachers of students with immigrant backgrounds and for the building administrators who support them, including counselors, paraprofessionals, and social workers.
 
This book is designed to provide a practical resource to help educators better understand the possible traumatic backgrounds of their students and how that could be affecting their academic, social, and emotional lives. It also focuses on how school personnel can create a safe environment in schools and classrooms to help students recognize, nurture, and expand the internal resilience that has enabled them to weather past situations and that will allow them to continue the healing process.
 
One chapter is devoted to the topic of self-care for educators who are working so hard to help students be resilient. An appendix features a list of recommended books on the topics of personal migration and resilience.