Using Student-Centered Methods with Teacher-Centered Students

This book has a clear message for classroom teachers: student learning improves when teachers introduce their students to strategies for learning as well as teaching them specific language skills. In practice, however, many of the students themselves are more teacher-centered, finding it easier and preferable to depend on their teachers rather than to take on greater responsibility for their own learning, especially if their educational and cultural backgrounds have not prepared them for this new role. Using Student-Centered Methods with Teacher-Centered Students is packed with suggestions for bringing about a successful match between teachers' preferred ways of teaching and learners' preferred ways of learning, while gradually encouraging increased learner autonomy.

The original edition of this book has been widely used by English language teachers worldwide. This new edition offers many fresh ideas, particularly in the area of technology in language learning and teaching.

Marilyn Lewis has spent her life working with teachers and learners from many countries, and believes she has learned more from them than she has taught. A widely published author and reviewer, she currently runs workshops for New Zealand volunteers working with refugees and other immigrants.

To keep balance in her life, Marilyn also spends time learning herself from little pre-school relatives.

Dr. Hayo Reinders, Dutch-born, is currently working at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. The founding Director of the English Language Self-Access Centre at the University of Auckland, he is the editor of Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, and has published numerous books and articles in the area of teacher education. A passionate advocate for helping language students take control of their own learning by focusing on learner strategies and developing learner autonomy, he is a frequent workshop leader on the successful integration of technology and language teaching.

Hayo's interests are by no means confined purely to the classroom: when not teaching, he grows organic fruit and raises goats.