Learning Teaching: A Guidebook for English Language Teachers

Jim Scrivener's book is an excellent resource for those who are learning to teach ESL or for those teachers who need new ideas and/or professional development. I have been using this book for 10 years as a foundational textbook part of a teacher training course at the Tennessee Foreign Language Institute ([...]). But are you kidding me? You can buy this book from the publisher for no more than $30, including shipping. Be careful of those charging more for this book. Don't be duped -- it is golden, but not gold-plated.

Scrivener's "Learning Teaching" was the standard book on the Cambridge CELTA course that I did, and it was there that I got my first look at it. It has proven useful as a foundation to the whole teaching thing, and it is an immensely practical book. The book covers pretty all aspects of teaching, from the use of course books, planning a syllabus, getting meaning across, restricted practice and more. It is a thin book, so the coverage is introductory and definitely not in-depth. The chapters are arranged in a logical, topical order, and you will get information and input on error correction, using time lines and more. A lot of this is stuff that I still use in my own teaching. Scrivener touchs on many tried and true techniques. The skills are also covered, not just the language side of things. So, there are also elements of written work and so on. With all this considered, it should be noted that the book is somewhat dated now. It is written with the "Presentation, Practice and Production" methodology in view, or similar methods such as "ARC" and so on. Later developments in teaching, such as Task-Based Learning, do not get any coverage. However, the techniques presented in "Learning Teaching" work well in these more modern contexts. For a foundation that is solid and enduring, and will be with you for years, "Learning Teaching" is a great starting point. While not as modern as it once was, it is still a valuable addition to the library and shelves. It has been a book I have referred back to periodically over the years, and one I appreciate having around.

Learning Teaching is a fantastic read for any ESL/EFL teacher. My wife recommended that I read this book to expand my knowledge of teaching English. She was taking the CELTA course and this book is required reading for her. I was very impressed with the format that this book is written in. Scrivener doesn't just write a "how to" book, but he dichotomizes and analyzes the different aspects of teaching, the classroom as well as materials used. I found his approach very useful because he has the reader think and analyze what is going on and why, basically having the reader not only absorb information, but interact with it. This book is informative and well written. The chapters are developed around common teaching themes such as classroom management, planning, and vocabulary. He also includes teacher toolkits which contain activity suggestions, observation tasks and teacher reflection ideas. Overall this is a great book, and I highly recommend it to new teachers as well as experienced language teachers who wish to further hone their craft.

Had I not read this book I probably would have gone straight into the classroom, neglected to rearrange the chairs - and thoroughly bored and frustrated my students! I only wish other languages could be taught in the same way so that people with English as their L1 would have more opportunity to learn other languages and thus increase their social and business opportunities. The parts of this book that I found most useful were: the jargon bank (glossary) at the back; the diagrams; and the exercises. The latter mostly being used as food for thought.

this book is chock full of usefulness for the novice and experienced english as a second language teacher alike. very thorough and well-organized, it is also well-written and at times also quite funny. i recommend it highly if you have no experience in this field and are looking for a book to tell you more about the bricks and mortar of what you are actually getting yourself into, as it goes into plenty of detail about things you have never thought about before setting foot in a classroom on the teacher's end. but it is equally great for more experienced teachers, being as i said well-written and in no way plodding or pedantic (unlike SOME esl teaching books i have had the pleasure of trudging through.)