Authenticity in the Language Classroom and Beyond: Children and Adolescent Learners (Tesol Classroom Practice)

This volume in the TESOL Classroom Practice Series presents instructional practices that are particularly successful with children and adolescent language learners. These practices take into account the unique needs and characteristics of these age groups and reflect a wide range of educational contexts, goals, and challenges from classrooms in the United States, Latin America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. Authenticity is the unifying theme that connects language learning experiences to the everyday lives of young learners. However, the definition of authenticity in ESOL embraced by the authors in this volume is not static or externally imposed by native uses and norms. Rather, authenticity is a dynamic concept that is constantly defined and redefined through interactions among learners, teachers, community members, as well as by our languages in contact, and our larger societal contexts. Through their descriptions and reflections, the authors are able to establish what counts as authentic language in their particular settings.