2008 Shortlist

The shortlisted books for the 2008 prize are as follows:

Listening in the language classroomListening in the Language Classroom

Winner

John Field
CUP

Listening in the Language Classroom challenges the orthodox approach to the teaching of second language listening, which is based upon the asking and answering of comprehension questions. It critically examines the practices and assumptions associated with this approach, and suggests ways of revising them.

The book's central argument is that a preoccupation with the notion of 'comprehension' has led teachers to focus upon the product of listening, in the form of answers to questions, ignoring the listening process itself. It goes on to propose a radical alternative to the comprehension approach and provides for intensive small-scale practice in aspects of listening that are perceptually or cognitively demanding for the learner.

How to Teach ListeningHow to Teach Listening

JJ Wilson
Pearson Longman

This latest title in the How to… series, How to Teach Listening provides a practical guide to the theory of listening in the language classroom and the skills required in its teaching.

Contents include an explanation of the main principles behind listening in the language teaching classroom; a discussion of key topics such as authenticity, testing, and using technology for listening; practical ideas for conducting an effective listening lesson; strategies to ensure the long term development of students' listening skills; and a task file of photocopiable training activities.

Working with Images Working with Images

Ben Goldstein
CUP

Working with Images contains over 75 practical teaching ideas for the language classroom. Activities involve the use of both low-tech and high-tech images and are suitable for a very wide variety of teaching contexts: young learners and adults; specialised and general English; richly- or minimally-equipped classrooms.

The design of the activities allows teachers to adapt and apply the ideas to other topics. The accompanying CD-ROM contains a bank of images, ready for immediate classroom use.