This article explores three current, influential English language teaching (ELT) curriculum approaches to the teaching of English in public-sector schools at the primary and secondary level and how the theory of each approach translates into curriculum practice. These approaches are communicative language teaching (CLT), genre-based pedagogy, and content and language integrated learning (CLIL). For consistency across approaches, the theoretical underpinnings of each will be briefly described according to a matrix of curriculum factors including:

• • the view of language and language acquisition underlying the approach

• • how learners’ needs are construed

• • the nature of the content and materials

• • the teacher's role

• • the context

• • how language is assessed

This is followed by a discussion of research on how each approach is implemented in primary and secondary contexts, the extent to which the theory is put into practice and factors that influence its success in the classroom. Implications for the future of curriculum development in ELT will be discussed. These implications address the viability of CLT in primary and secondary schools, the role of knowledge about language in curriculum implementation, and teacher roles and identity.

This timeline looks at explicit uses of corpora in foreign or second language (L2) teaching and learning, i.e. what happens when end-users explore corpus data, whether directly via concordancers or integrated into CALL programs, or indirectly with prepared printed materials. The underlying rationale is that such contact provides the massive contextualised exposure needed for language learning, but in a more controlled way than purely haphazard exposure via regular reading or listening, thus promoting or enhancing noticing, language awareness, autonomy, and ultimately producing ‘better learners’. It interweaves with many other notions in language teaching, from authenticity and autonomy to induction and constructivism, taking in much of what we know about language from corpus linguistics itself – its fuzzy, probabilistic nature and the importance of lexical patterns, collocations, chunks, frequencies and distributions. Commonly known as data-driven learning or DDL (Johns 1990), the approach goes back several decades; yet despite its impressive pedigree, a frequent lament is that it remains a marginal practice. Teachers may not be aware of DDL if it is absent from their initial training, or may see it as a research activity confined to higher education. While corpus consultation may appear too demanding for school-age learners, there are connections with the web searches that are already a frequent practice for many. Though lack of uptake is sometimes attributed at least in part to a dearth of empirical research, this claim is increasingly difficult to defend, as witnessed by the number of entries in this timeline and the hundreds of others not included. For a balanced discussion of the limits of DDL as well as what it can reasonably achieve, see Kaltenböck & Mehlmauer-Larcher (2005).

The advocacy of task-based language teaching (TBLT) has met with resistance. The critiques of TBLT and the misconceptions that underlie them have already been addressed in Ellis (2009) and Long (2016). The purpose of this article is to move forward by examining a number of real problems that TBLT faces – such as how a ‘task’ should be defined, the nature and timing of the ‘focus-on-form’ required, how to determine task complexity and sequence tasks, the role of explicit instruction, the timing of focus on form and the teacher training needed to ensure effective uptake of TBLT – and to also consider what solutions are possible. Disagreements exist regarding the relative merits of task-based and task-supported language teaching. I will propose that a hybrid/modular syllabus that allows for a balance between an object-oriented and a tool-oriented view of language teaching offers the most promising way forward.

Second language (SL) teacher educators tirelessly teach others how to teach. But how often do we actually define teaching? Without explicit definitional activity on this fundamental concept in second language teaching (SLT), it remains implicit and intuitive – the opposite of clear, productive understanding.

I therefore explore the question, ‘What is teaching?’ in this paper. First, I establish the claim that the SLT literature rarely defines teaching explicitly, in part because of its technical ‘how-to’ focus. Second, I offer a heuristic definition of teaching as evolutionarily adaptive behavior (TEAB) – as existing in humans because it enables adaptation to varied and complex ecosocial circumstances. In contrast, animals have quite modest adaptive powers, so it may come as a surprise that TEAB is not uniquely human. Therefore, third, I review research comparing animal and human teaching in order to help us understand the latter better. Fourth, I describe teaching as studied by anthropologists – as it varies across human groups. Formal teaching is relatively rare from an anthropological perspective, and relatively recent at that. Fifth, I employ the results of this definitional exercise to exploratorily examine what happens in SLT classrooms. Finally, I discuss implications and future directions for the ideas presented here and conclude.

In this article, I present an agenda for researching help options for second language (L2) listening in computer-assisted language learning (CALL) environments. I outline several theories which researchers in the area draw on, then present common points of concern identified from a review of related literature. This serves as a means to establishing the need for this research agenda and also informs the approach suggested for the six research tasks I propose classified under four themes: learner perceptions and experiences; comparisons of different conditions; learner variables; and learner training.

Most language learning research is carried out either in classrooms or among classroom learners. As Richards (2015) points out, however, there are two dimensions to successful learning: what happens inside classrooms and what happens outside them. Rapid development of online media, communications technologies and opportunities for travel has also expanded the world beyond the classroom for language learners. Language learning and teaching beyond the classroom (LBC) is, thus, emerging as a field ripe for the development of new research agendas (Benson & Reinders 2011; Nunan & Richards 2015). We propose potentially fruitful avenues for research here under the headings of settings for learning, learning processes and teaching.

As one of the two ‘educational special zones’ in China, Shanghai is launching a new round of curriculum reforms centring on lide shuren, viz. ‘fostering integrity and promoting rounded development of people’ (Hu 2012). Apart from piloting a new plan for Gaokao, the national college entrance examination in 2014, a ground-breaking endeavour by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission was to establish 17 key research centres at higher institutions for 16 basic education subjects in an effort to push forward city-wide curriculum innovations through in-depth university-school collaborations. Founded in 2016, the Shanghai Centre for Research in English Language Education (SCRELE) is one of these key research platforms.