Nigel Norman

Back on target: repositioning the status of target language in MFL teaching and learning

This paper addresses a major issue in language learning, namely the proportion of target language used by teachers and learners in the MFL classroom. It is essential to establish a pedagogical rationale for its use, as well as to analyse the policy that informs and determines practice. This issue emerged as a key preoccupation in a questionnaire and discussions with teachers in partnership schools involved in initial teacher training. During the academic year 1997–98 there were discussions with 22 schools in 4 LEAs, and 46 teachers completed the questionnaire. In the light of the foregoing, we propose strategies for judicious use of the target language, including pupil use, as part of an overall drive towards more effective teaching and learning.

Grammar in MFL teaching revisited

This paper addresses a major issue in foreign language learning, namely the role and status of grammar within the context of recent policy and curriculum developments. An analysis of National Curriculum and GCSE requirements and their impact upon teachers and learners reveals the need for a significant reassessment of the profile of grammar. The stage is therefore set for a reappraisal of this issue, and a consideration of its compatibility with current communicative methods.

Prescription and autonomy in modern language curricula and materials in Great Britain and Germany: The search for a missing methodology

(1998). Prescription and autonomy in modern language curricula and materials in Great Britain and Germany. The Language Learning Journal: Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 48-56.

Take six books

The world of modern foreign languages learning and teaching never stays in the same place for very long. Given that we tend to go back to methods and aspects of methods already tried and tested in previous generations, albeit with a different slant, the analogy is with a pendulum swinging restlessly back and forth rather than some sharp-pointed machine forging new ground. The purpose of this article is to try to identify where writers think foreign/second language learning is going in the next ten or twenty years. The authors take six research-based books written recently. Some of these have been reviewed in LLJ. The issues raised in these books are looked at afresh from the point of view of their contribution to our knowledge-base about foreign language learning and teaching processes. Those not already reviewed in LLJ deserve attention for the valuable contribution they make to this discussion. Common themes emerge from the reviews of the six publications: • Criticism of communicative language teaching • Learning strategies • Autonomous learning • Grammar • ICT • Suggested ways forward These six books could point the way towards meaningful change. This must be considered seriously. After all, there is little evidence to suggest that what we have done over the years has worked or that what we are doing currently is a great deal better.