In his state-of-the-art review Amos Paran presents a very positive outlook on the use of literature in language teaching and suggests that in EFL, at last, there has been a move towards integrating language and literature. Reviewing recent research on reading, learning, and teaching literature in a variety of foreign languages, he focuses on the definition of literature, the language of literature, and on textbooks, and looks at emerging research in this area. Principled evidence is emerging which shows the benefits of using literature; this has much to offer language learning, as it combines attention to meaning with attention to form. The paper is accompanied by a comparative review of books by Heather Hewitt.

In this issue's state-of-the-art article, Lucie moussu and Enric Llurda discuss research on non-native English-speaking teachers of English, highlighting throughout the need for more considered social recognition of the native-speaker/non-native-speaker identity. After discussing the current legitimacy of such labels in the light of research, they argue for a more reasoned approach both to the definition and function of non-native-speaker teachers, in particular in light of recent research on World Englishes. Particular attention is paid to the perception of the non-native and native-speaker teachers by students and to the attitudes and beliefs of both these students and hiring staff regarding such teachers' perceived differences, strengths, and weaknesses. In the final part of the paper the authors address past and present research methods used in studies and suggest areas, such as longitudinal and classroom-based studies, where future research might usefully add to the current state of knowledge. The article is accompanied by Amir Soheili-Mehr's review of four recent books.

The Editor and Board of Language Teaching are pleased to announce that the recipient of the 2007 Christopher Brumfit thesis award is Dr Irina Elgort.

The resurgence in the use of literature in language teaching has been accompanied by an increasing number of research articles in this area. Research (in a number of second languages) has looked at the type of interactions and the type of language that arise from classroom discussions about literature, as well as at the views of teachers and learners. Importantly, the reactions that learners have to incorporating literature in their language lessons are linked to the type of approach and type of task that are used in the classroom. The paper surveys the existing research, as well as evidence from practitioners about approaches that are used and the range of works and authors that are taught.

Although the majority of English language teachers worldwide are non-native English speakers, no research was conducted on these teachers until recently. After the pioneering work of Robert Phillipson in 1992 and Peter Medgyes in 1994, nearly a decade had to elapse for more research to emerge on the issues relating to non-native English teachers. The publication in 1999 of George Braine's book Nonnative educators in English language teaching appears to have encouraged a number of graduate students and scholars to research this issue, with topics ranging from teachers' perceptions of their own identity to students' views and aspects of teacher education. This article compiles, classifies, and examines research conducted in the last two decades on this topic, placing a special emphasis on World Englishes concerns, methods of investigation, and areas in need of further attention.

From 2008, a new section of the journal will be dedicated to academic studies which use a replication approach. We invite submissions of previously unpublished articles based on literal, approximate or constructive replication of a previous study or studies of an aspect of L2 education. In keeping with the survey characteristics of Language Teaching, we also encourage submissions of meta-analyses which attempt to combine or synthesise a series of comparable research replications.

This article examines curriculum from a social contextual perspective in which enactment – teaching and learning – is the central process, to which planning and evaluation contribute. It looks at the ways two kinds of contexts, target-language embedded and target-language removed, influence language curriculum planning and enactment. It provides a brief history of syllabus design and a rationale for moving beyond syllabus as the primary construct for curriculum planning. It then explores the classroom as the context of enactment and the role of the teacher as catalyst for curriculum change. It reconceptualizes the classroom as a learning community with potential links with real, virtual and imagined communities. It briefly explores integrated approaches to evaluation and assessment and concludes with examples of promising directions and suggestions for further research. Examples of practice that illustrate concepts are provided throughout the article.

Research on reading skills transfer has taken shape in two major disciplines: second language (L2) acquisition and reading. Inevitably, its evolution reflects major conceptual shifts in their respective research sub-fields. In L2 research, as a case in point, transfer was initially viewed as interference stemming from first language (L1) structural properties. This view, however, was significantly altered by the subsequent postulation that the language proficiency underlying cognitively demanding tasks, such as literacy and academic learning, is largely shared across languages, and therefore, once acquired in one language, it promotes literacy development in another (Cummins 1979). Reflecting the latter view, the current conceptualizations of transfer uniformly underscore the facilitative nature of previously learned competencies as resources available to L2 learners (e.g. Genesee et al. 2007; Koda 2008).

This overview of applied linguistics research in the Netherlands between 2002 and 2006 is the fifth in a cyclical series of country-specific reviews of published research on foreign-language teaching and learning. About 75 papers have been selected from about twenty journals, conference proceedings, books and reports edited during the period 2002–2006 reporting on experimental or quasi-experimental research that has considerable value for those working in the field of language teaching. The review reveals the issues that currently concern applied linguists and second-language researchers in the Dutch language community: redefining multilingualism, trying to find ways to help minority children achieve at school, keeping a critical eye on current teaching practices, and finding specific ways to improve second- and foreign-language teaching.

The National Standards for Foreign Language Education offer goals for student learning. During the past decade, they have been used increasingly as objectives for foreign language teaching. In the Standards document, the five Standards are presented in a hierarchical order: 1. Communication, 2. Cultures, 3. Connections, 4. Comparisons, and 5. Communities. Looking to Dell Hymes's portrayal of communicative competence and building on notions from sociocultural theory and the concept communities of practice, this paper questions this hierarchical ordering especially in terms of the primacy of Communication over Cultures and Communities. It is suggested that, of the five Cs, Communities should be considered the most fundamental.

Language Teaching Review Panel

Language is not just a tool for communication. It is also a resource for creative thought, a framework for understanding the world, a key to new knowledge and human history, and a source of pleasure and inspiration. The Connections Standard is about linking language and literature study to other disciplines (for example, art, music, film, history, among others) and about getting students to experience unique viewpoints available only through a particular language and its cultures. This presentation will argue for the importance of analyzing texts (written, oral, visual, audio-visual) in language teaching. The goal is to give students the chance to position themselves in relation to distinct viewpoints and distinct cultures and to make connections between language and other symbolic ways of making meaning, connections between language and other disciplines, and connections between language and culture. These connections are not easy to make, but they are essential if we are to prepare our students for the broadest range of language use and allow them to achieve their full communicative potential.

The last decade has witnessed a rapid increase in interest in multilingualism. Whereas a number of scholars in language acquisition research still base their work on the monolingual native speaker norm, others have developed more realistic viewpoints. This article provides an overview of international research on third language learning and teaching, including examples mainly from a European background. It describes sociolinguistic, psycholinguistic and educational aspects of multilingual teaching and emphasizes current research trends in this fairly young area of language teaching. The challenging ways which have been suggested to achieve multilingualism for all necessarily have to address learners, teachers, educators and policy makers. It will be argued that multilingual education can only be successful if language teaching in general is restructured and oriented towards multilingual norms.

My previous review (of 2004 and 2005 together) was delayed for reasons beyond my control and therefore could not appear as planned in the journal, but the publisher generously agreed to make it available on-line through their website, where it can be accessed (see Johnstone 2006). In the interim the journal has changed. The abstracts are no longer there, replaced by a range of different types of contribution. The absence of the abstracts might tempt the reader of the present review to read it in a somewhat different way from before by regarding what I have to say about each article as a kind of abstract. This would be a mistake, because I have never attempted to provide a balanced summary of any article. For a balanced summary, the reader should go to the abstract of the particular article itself, most of which are quite easy to find on-line. In discussing an article, my purpose is simply to select something which I find interesting and maybe reflects a trend.

This paper starts by giving a rationale for why there is value in explicitly teaching second-language (L2) learners pragmatics in the target language. The importance of a research basis for choosing pragmatic materials to teach is underscored, and the focus is put on sources for materials on pragmatics and the means of data collection. Issues in the teaching of pragmatics are considered, including determining which material to teach, how to prepare teachers to teach it, and the role of teachers in facilitating the learning of pragmatics. Next, L2 pragmatics is viewed from the learners' perspective, in terms of the learning and performance of pragmatics, as well as approaches to assessing what it is that learners are able to do in a pragmatically appropriate way. Finally, consideration is given to the role of technology in making pragmatics accessible to learners, with reference to a website for teachers and curriculum writers and to websites designed for learners of specific languages such as Japanese and Spanish. Recent work on virtual environments for practicing Spanish pragmatics is discussed and preliminary findings from a small-scale study of this effort are reported.