Teaching the Four Skills in ELT

International Perspectives on Teaching the Four Skills in ELT: Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing is a research-based volume which aims to introduce diverse teaching ideas and experiences about teaching English language skills and sub-skills around the world. The edited volume attempts to acknowledge international perspectives in English Language Teaching (ELT) that emerge from diverse local pedagogical practices with different cultural and geographical backgrounds. Palgrave Macmillan has published the book under the International Perspectives on ELT series. The book is edited by Anne Burns (University of New South Wales, Australia) and Joseph Siegel (Örebro University, Sweden). The audience of the book is researchers and practitioners interested in teaching English language skills and sub-skills worldwide. 

The book consists of 18 chapters: the opening chapter (Chapter 1), Listening (Chapters 2-5), Speaking (Chapters 6-9), Reading (Chapters 10-13), Writing (Chapters 14-17), and the concluding chapter (Chapter 18). In the opening chapter, the editors gave an overview of the rationale and the aim of the book, and themes and issues on teaching language skills. Then they moved to global and local innovations and finalized the chapter by the structure of the book and the conclusion section.

Part 1 ‘Listening’ includes four research-based chapters focusing on English language teachers’ perceptions of listening in Brazil and German, Spanish, and French language teachers in England (Chapter 2); prevailing second language teaching listening practices in China (Chapter 3); the development of listening courses for tertiary level students in Japan (Chapter 4); and listening instruction in English for nursing education, an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course, at a Canadian university based in Qatar (Chapter 5).

Part 2 ‘Speaking’ brings perspectives from teaching English speaking in primary schools in Cameroon based on innovative techniques (Chapter 6); ELICOS courses for international students in Australia (Chapter 7); teaching speaking strategies in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programs in Canada (Chapter 8); and online teaching of conversational English to adults through Skype in Russia (Chapter 9).

Part 3 ‘Reading’ includes contribution concentrating on using authentic literacy texts for developing K-12 students’ reading skill in the Czech Republic (Chapter 10), encouraging tertiary students’ critical thinking and collaborative work through teaching reading skill in Indonesia (Chapter 11), improving ESL students’ autonomy in a reading course in the US  (Chapter 12); and employing authentic texts in teaching reading regarding adult migrants’ social and cultural context through meaningful dialogues in New Zealand (Chapter 13). 

Part 4 ‘Writing’ deals with college students’ descriptive writing whose first language is Arabic in Israel (Chapter 14); boosting tertiary students’ autonomy and writing accuracy by employing indirect corrective feedback on writing in Vietnam (Chapter 15); using writing portfolios to improve students’ self-reflection writing in Hong Kong (Chapter 16); and empowering Brazilian learners’ writing skill at a private language institute through a process-genre approach tin Brazil (Chapter 17). Finally, in the concluding chapter (Chapter 18), the editors share their insights about future directions in teaching language skills and summarize noticeable points in the previous chapters.

Although there is no teaching and research experience and idea from the Iranian ELT community in the book, International Perspectives on Teaching the Four Skills in ELT seems a suitable book for the Iranian ELT context. This book is rooted in a range of culturally and geographically diverse contributions compared to several available ELT books in Iranian tertiary education, which have limited scope based on Western schools and universities' settings. This is a feature that makes the volume a truly international resource for ELT practitioners and researchers worldwide. The chapters are also practical and address a variety of pedagogical approaches, educational levels, types of school, and educational contexts. Moreover, at the end of each chapter, there are four to five reflection questions that help readers to make a connection between what they have learned from the chapter and the Iranian English language teaching context.