With quite a few of us humble ALTs going for the special license this year, I thought it’d be helpful to make a sort of reading list for people aiming for that next step who may lack the basis a master’s or teaching degree gives you. (Of course, not to imply reading a stack of books and articles is the equivalent).
So to all of our wonderful professorial regulars, give us some material! Theories of second language acquisition to be familiar with, books on designing a good ESL curriculum, whatever you’d want someone you’re looking to hire to have read.
9 comments
Books for substitute teachers?
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As a teacher in Japan (licensed) you don’t have all that much freedom when it comes to curriculum design, you **must** follow MEXT’s guidelines and use the books they choose. Your only real freedom is daily/weekly structure and extra activities. Shouldn’t you already have training? MEXT mandates all licensed teachers take a university course to obtain a real license. The special license is only to cover homerooms when they don’t have enough Japanese citizens that have real licenses. You are a long term sub if you have a special license.
Probably will not help you with a special license but maybe a masters. Teaching in Japan can be rather locked down.
* I always enjoy Vanpattens [theories in second language acquisition.](https://www.amazon.com/Theories-Second-Language-Acquisition-Introduction/dp/1138587389) Concisely written with examples of different experiments behind the theories.
* Also his [Key Questions in Second Language Acquisition](https://www.amazon.com/Key-Questions-Second-Language-Acquisition/dp/110870817X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=key+questions+in+second+language+acquisition&qid=1681393446&s=books&sprefix=key+questions+in+secon%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C253&sr=1-1) Does a good job at explaining rather confusing generative research on SLA.
* [While We’re on the Topic](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35817467-while-we-re-on-the-topic) is a lot more teacher oriented compared to the other two which are more theory oriented.
* Dr. Florencia Henshaws [Common Ground](https://www.amazon.com/Common-Ground-Language-Acquisition-Classroom/dp/1647930065) is probably one of the best communicative teaching books out there. Does a great job connecting theory to the classroom.
* Paul nations W[hat Every EFL teacher Should Know](https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/dp/1599662663) is also fantastic and concise.
For general classroom management:
* Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov
* The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher by Harry Wong
For effective unit planning:
* Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins
Not sure how helpful they will be for passing license test, but I learned a lot from these two books.
Doing Task-based Teaching, by Dave Willis and Jane Willis.
Syllabus Design, by David Nunan
As a beginner text, Cambridge’s TKT (Teaching Knowledge Test) text is great. Basically it’s a run down of language teaching vernacular, concepts, and practice. It’s a summary book of CELTA content, but very accessible for people “trained” only by dispatch or eikaiwa.
The Elements of Language Curriculum by James Dean Brown.
Learning Vocabulary in Another Language by Paul Nation.
I think as others have said… pedagogy books/articles are only really useful for academia. During my days at uni I think that Peter McLaren and his ‘constructivist’ theory were seen as being a solid starting point for contemporary teaching theory. Some hate the guy and see him as brainwashing kids with radical communist ideologies though (so go figure – academia’s about exploring the philosophical side of things, not ‘learning how to be more confident in front of a class’).
I think the reality of teaching is that unless you’re being paid as a senior curriculum planner, you’re not there to be a smartarse who argues teaching philosophies with their seniors. You’re there to teach what your seniors/customers want in the way they want it.
Heck… I had 2 masters degrees in teaching by the time I left Japan (plus a bachelors with a very high GPA). I was not exempt from following my eikaiwa’s materials / preferred structure. TBH I didn’t mind their structure anyway! People complain but in essence their focus was on getting kids to share their knowledge and there were lotsa games/songs rather than cramming. Shrug. Just go with the flow… if you REALLY wanna be a teacher then do a teaching degree (they’re not hard!)
Conversation Analysis and Second Language Pedagogy
A Guide for ESL/EFL Teachers
By Jean Wong, Hansun Zhang Waring (2021)
An accessible introduction to the Conversation Analytic (CA) approach, particularly in relation to EFL/ESL. Plenty of specific examples, glossaries and discussion/reflection questions at the end of each chapter.
Alternative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition
Edited By Dwight Atkinson (2011)
Includes chapters from leading researchers each introducing the basic tenets of one of the prominent social approaches to language acquisition
One book I still go back to over and over isn’t about teaching but about English linguistics.
The Framework of English by Kim Ballard