The problem of the applications of grammatical theories to language teaching occupied a prominent place in applied linguistics in the Sixties. This article reviews the most important publications of the period on the subject. It shows how structural and transformational-generative grammars, often applied too directly and crudely, were accorded too dominant a place in language teaching methodology; they were later integrated into pedagogic grammars, which take into account the acquisition and use of the language as an instrument of communication.

Ever since Aristotle and Plato (The Categories; Cratylus), linguists have considered language to be the pairing of form (sounds or gestures or written strings) and meaning. This is true for all meaningful linguistic units from morphemes, through words, phrases and sentences, to discourse. Generally speaking, semantics is the study of how form and meaning are related. However, semantics is more narrowly construed as excluding those meanings that derive from speaker intensions and psychological states, as well as sociocultural features of the context. Furthermore, the boundary between semantics proper and pragmatics is intensely debated and to some researchers constitutes an empirical question. Formal semantics came into being as a system describing formal languages, that is, the mathematical and logical languages of computing machines as opposed to the natural languages of human beings. However, in the late 1960s the philosopher Richard Montague argued that natural languages such as English could be fruitfully described using the same rigorous rules and correspondences utilized in the description of formal languages. Modern formal semantics was born and is currently prospering as a branch of linguistics.

06–01Akira, Mochida & Harrington, Michael (U Queensland, Australia), The Yes/No test as a measure of receptive vocabulary knowledge. Language Testing (Hodder Arnold) 23.1 (2006), 73–98.

06–02Biddle, Rodney (Gunma Prefectural Women's U, Japan), What makes a good English class? Perceptions of individuality and the group among Japanese EFL students. The Language Teacher (Japan Association for Language Teaching) 29.8 (2005), 3–8.

06–03Burden, Peter (Okayama Shoka U, Japan), The castor oil effect: Learner beliefs about the enjoyment and usefulness of classroom activities and the effects on student motivation. The Language Teacher (Japan Association for Language Teaching) 29.10 (2005), 3–9.

06–04Corbeil, Giselle (Acadia U, Canada), Effectiveness of focus on forms instruction: Different outcomes on constrained and free production tasks?Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics (Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics) 8.1 (2005), 27–46.

06–05Dastjerdi, Hossein Vahid, Talebinezhad & Mohammad Reza (U Isfahan, Iran), Chain-preserving deletion procedure in cloze: A discoursal perspective. Language Testing (Hodder Arnold) 23.1 (2006), 58–72.

06–06Guan Eng Ho, Debbie (U Brunei Darussalam, Brunei; [email protected]), Why do teachers ask the questions they ask?RELC Journal (Sage) 36.3 (2005), 297–310.

06–07Honna, Nobuyuki (Aoyama Gakuin U, Japan; [email protected]) & Yuko Takeshita, English language teaching in Japan: Policy plans and their implementations. RELC Journal (Sage) 36.3 (2005), 363–383.

06–08Jenkins, Jennifer (King's College, U London, UK), Implementing an international approach to English pronunciation: The role of teacher attitudes and identity. TESOL Quarterly (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) 39.3 (2005), 535–543.

06–09Kato, Asako (Fudoka Seiwa High School, Japan), The visual text speaks louder than the written text: An examination of the revised Monkasho English I textbooks. The Language Teacher (Japan Association for Language Teaching) 29.5 (2005), 3–13.

06–10Lazaraton, Anne (U Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA; [email protected]) & Noriko Ishihara, Understanding second language teacher practice using microanalysis and self-reflection: A collaborative case study. The Modern Language Journal (Blackwell) 89.4 (2005), 529–542.

06–11Li, Defeng (Chinese U Hong Kong, China; [email protected]), Teaching of specialized translation courses in Hong Kong: A curricular analysis. Babel (John Benjamins) 51.1 (2005), 62–77.

06–12McCaughey, Kevin (California, USA; [email protected]), Thekashasyndrome: English language teaching in Russia. World Englishes (Blackwell) 24.4 (2005), 455–459.

06–13McEachron, Gail (College of William and Mary, VA, USA) & Ghazala Bhatti, Language support for immigrant children: A study of state schools in the UK and US. Language, Culture and Curriculum (Multilingual Matters) 18.2 (2005), 164–180.

06–14Reza Hashemi, Mohammad & Farah Gowdasiaei (Ferdowsi U Mashhad, Iran; [email protected]), An attribute-treatment interaction study: Lexical-set versus semantically unrelated vocabulary instruction. RELC Journal (Sage) 36.3 (2005), 341–361.

06–15Savickienė, Ineta & Violeta Kalėdaitė (Vytautas Magnus U, Kaunas, Lithuania), Cultural and linguistic diversity of the Baltic states in a new Europe. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (Multilingual Matters) 26.5 (2005), 442–452.

06–16Sercu, Lies (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium), María del Carmen Méndez García & Paloma Castro Prieto, Culture learning from a constructivist perspective: An investigation of Spanish foreign language teachers' views. Language and Education (Multilingual Matters) 19.6 (2005), 483–495.

06–17Stempleski, Susan (City U New York, USA), Developing fluency: Some suggestions for the classroom. The Language Teacher (Japan Association for Language Teaching) 29.6 (2005), 31–33.

06–18Swan, Michael (Freelance), Legislation by hypothesis: The case of task-based instruction. Applied Linguistics (Oxford University Press) 26.3 (2005), 376–401.

06–19Ter-Minasova, Svetlana G. (Moscow State U, Russia; [email protected]), Traditions and innovations: English language teaching in Russia. World Englishes (Blackwell) 24.4 (2005), 445–454.

We closely replicated Nurmukhamedov and Sharakhimov (2021), which was the first study to examine the lexical profile of general-audience English podcasts. Nurmukhamedov and Sharakhimov (2021) found that podcast listeners should have a knowledge of the most frequent 3,000 word families and 5,000 word families, respectively, plus proper nouns, marginal words, transparent compounds, and acronyms in order to achieve good and high-level listening comprehension. We followed the methods and procedures of the initial study with a much larger corpus. Specifically, a total of 8,862 podcast transcripts sampled from 12 general-audience podcast programs were used to compile the 14-million-word corpus. Results of the study confirmed Nurmukhamedov and Sharakhimov's (2021) findings in the vocabulary size required to understand general-audience English podcasts. However, some minor differences pertaining to individual podcast programs were revealed, indicating that the sampling of data had an effect on the lexical demand. These findings provide solid evidence to support the validity and generalizability of the initial study's findings. Implications for second language teaching and learning are also discussed.

05–104Alwright, D. (U of Lancaster, UK), From teaching points to learning opportunities and beyond. TESOL Quarterly (Alexandria, VA, USA) 39.1 (2005), 9–32.

05–105Beckett, G. & Slater, T. (U of Cincinnati, USA), The Project Framework: a tool for language, content, and skills integration. ELT Journal (Oxford, UK) 59.2 (2005), 108–116.

05–106Belcher, Diane D. (Georgia State U, USA; [email protected]), Trends in teaching English for specific purposes. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (Cambridge, UK) 24 (2004), 165–186.

05–107Berne, Jane E. (U North Dakota, USA), Listening comprehension strategies: a review of the literature. Foreign Language Annals (Alexandria, VA, USA) 37.4 (2004), 521–533.

05–108Bohn, Mariko T. (Stanford U, USA; [email protected]), Japanese classroom behavior: a micro-analysis of self-reports versus classroom observations with implications for language teachers. Applied Language Learning (Monterey, CA, USA) 14.1 (2004), 1–35.

05–109Byon, Andrew Sangpil (Albany State U, USA; [email protected]), Learning linguistic politeness. Applied Language Learning (Monterey, CA, USA) 14.1 (2004), 37–62.

05–110Carrell, Patricia L., Dunkel, Patricia A. (Georgia State U, USA; [email protected]) & Mollaun, Pamela, The effects of notetaking, lecture length, and topic on a computer-based test of ESL listening comprehension. Applied Language Learning (Monterey, CA, USA) 14.1 (2004), 83–105.

05–111Chacón, Carmen Teresa (U of Los Andes Tachira, Venezuela; [email protected]), Teachers' perceived efficacy among English as a foreign language teachers in middle schools in Venezuela. Teaching and Teacher Education (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) 21.3 (2005), 257–273.

05–112Dewey, Dan P. (U of Pittsburgh, USA), Connections between teacher and student attitudes regarding script choice in first-year Japanese language classrooms. Foreign Language Annals (Alexandria, VA, USA) 37.4 (2004), 567–583.

05–113Dogancay-Aktuna, S. (Southern Illinois U, USA), Intercultural communication in English language teacher education. ELT Journal (Oxford, UK) 59.2 (2005), 99–107.

05–114Doyé, Peter (Technische Universität Brunschweig, Germany; [email protected]), A methodological framework for the teaching of intercomprehension. Language Learning Journal (Rugby, UK) 30 (2004), 59–68.

05–115Erling, Elisabeth J. (Freie Universität Berlin, Germany), The many names of English. English Today (Cambridge, UK) 21.1 (2005), 40–44.

05–116Flowerdew, Lynne (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China; [email protected]), An integration of corpus-based and genre-based approaches to text analysis in EAP/ESP: countering criticisms against corpus-based methodologies. English for Specific Purposes (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) 24.3 (2005), 321–332.

05–117Grabe, William (Northern Arizona U, USA; [email protected]), Research on teaching reading. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (Cambridge, UK) 24 (2004), 44–69.

05–118Jackson, J. (Chinese U of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; [email protected]), An inter-university, cross-disciplinary analysis of business education: perceptions of business faculty in Hong Kong. English for Specific Purposes (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) 24.3 (2005), 293–306.

05–119Jarrell, Douglas (Nagoya Women's U, Japan; [email protected]) & Mark R. Freiermuth (Gunma Prefectural Women's U, Japan; [email protected]), The motivational power of internet chat. RELC Journal (Thousand Oaks, CA, USA) 36.1 (2005), 59–72.

05–120Jenkins, Jennifer (Kings College London, UK; [email protected]), Research in teaching pronunciation and intonation. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (Cambridge, UK) 24 (2004), 109–125.

05–121Kern, Richard, Ware, Paige (California U, Berkeley, USA; [email protected]) & Warschauer, Mark, Crossing frontiers: new directions in online pedagogy and research. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (Cambridge, UK) 24 (2004), 243–260.

05–122Lou Leaver, Betty (New York Institute of Technology, USA), Ehrman, Madeline & Lekic, Maria, Distinguished-level learning online: support materials from LangNet and RussNet. Foreign Language Annals (Alexandria, VA, USA) 37.4 (2004), 556–566.

05–123McCarthy, Michael (Nottingham U, UK) & O'Keefe, Anne, Research in the teaching of speaking. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (Cambridge, UK) 24 (2004), 26–43.

05–124McGarry, Richard (Appalachian State U, NC, USA), Error correction as a cultural phenomenon. Applied Language Learning (Monterey, CA, USA) 14.1 (2004), 63–82.

05–125Nassaji, Hossein (Victoria U, Canada; [email protected]) & Fotos, Sandra, Current developments in research on the teaching of grammar. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (Cambridge, UK) 24 (2004), 126–145.

05–126Perrin, G. (German Government Language Centre, Germany), Teachers, testers, and the research enterprise – a slow meeting of minds. ELT Journal (Oxford, UK) 59.2 (2005), 144–150.

05–127Seidlhofer, Barbara (Vienna U, Austria; [email protected]), Research perspectives on teaching English as a lingua franca. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (Cambridge, UK) 24 (2004), 209–239.

05–128Silva, Tony (Purdue U, USA; [email protected]) & Brice, Colleen, Research in teaching writing. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (Cambridge, UK) 24 (2004), 70–106.

05–129Simmons-Mcdonald, Hazel (West Indies U, Barbados; [email protected]), Trends in teaching standard varieties to creole and vernacular speakers. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (Cambridge, UK) 24 (2004), 187–208.

05–130Stoller, Fredricka L. (Northern Arizona U, USA; [email protected]), Content-based instruction: perspectives on curriculum planning. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (Cambridge, UK) 24 (2004), 261–283.

05–131Tan, M. (U of Central Lancashire, UK), Authentic language or language errors? Lessons from a learner corpus. ELT Journal (Oxford, UK) 59.2 (2005), 126–134.

05–132Wilberschied, Lee (Cleveland State U, USA) & Berman, Peiyan M., Effect of using photos from authentic video as advance organisers on listening comprehension in an FLES Chinese class. Foreign Language Annals (Alexandria, VA, USA) 37.4 (2004), 534–540.

05–133Xu, Y., Gelfer, J. & Perkins, P. (U of Wisconsin, USA), Using peer tutoring to increase social interactions in early schooling. TESOL Quarterly (Alexandria, VA, USA) 39.1 (2005), 83–106.

05–134Yeh, Aiden (National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology, Taiwan, China; [email protected]), Poetry from the heart. English Today (Cambridge, UK) 21.1 (2005), 45–51

The Language Teachers’ Target Language project (LTTL) aims to describe language teachers’ target language use domain (Bachman & Palmer 2010) and to develop a language test for future teachers of English. The team comprises four researchers from Moscow State University (MSU) and Southampton Solent University.

As this issue was in preparation, the journal learned with great regret of the passing of John Trim. John was a long-serving member of the Language Teaching Board and his insight and advice proved invaluable for this and previous editors. An expert in the field of phonetics, linguistics, language didactics and policy, John worked tirelessly to improve the state of language teaching throughout his life. Among his key posts, he was director of the Council of Europe's Modern Languages Projects from 1971 to 1997 and supervised significant developments in language learning and teaching, including the Threshold Level and the Common European Framework of Reference.

As a tribute to the man and his work, we are publishing in this and a subsequent issue one of the last interviews John gave, where he looks back with his customary perspicacity at one of the most exciting periods of change in the teaching and learning of foreign languages.

Ema Ushioda is a professor and Head of the Department of Applied Linguistics at the University of Warwick. She has been interested in motivation and autonomy in language learning for over 30 years, particularly from pedagogical and qualitative research perspectives. Recent books include Teaching and researching motivation (3rd ed.), co-authored with Zoltán Dörnyei (Routledge, 2021), and Language learning motivation: An ethical agenda for research (Oxford University Press, 2020).

This seminar took place on 19 April, 2013 at the Centre for Language and Communication, Faculty of Language and Education Studies, The Open University. The seminar was coordinated by Janet Maybin and Theresa Lillis and there were 28 participants, including four postgraduate students, from universities in Britain, Belgium and South Africa.