Date: 18-Mar-2011
From: Hayo Reinders <info innovationinteaching.org>
Subject: Call: Books for New Learning Environments Series
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Call for Submissions: New Language Learning and Teaching Environments
I am excited to announce a new book series, published by Palgrave
Macmillan, on 'New Language Learning and Teaching Environments'. Books in
this series are dedicated to recent developments in learner-centred
approaches and the impact of technology on learning and teaching inside and
outside the language classroom. I am now inviting submissions for
full-length manuscripts and edited books.
Aims and Scope
- To publish cutting-edge research into current developments and innovation
in language learning and teaching practice.
- To publish applied accounts of the ways in which these developments
impact on current and future language education.
- To encourage dissemination and cross-fertilisation of policies and
practice relating to learner-centred pedagogies for language learning and
teaching in new learning environments.
- To disseminate research and best practice in out-of-class and informal
language learning.
Rationale
Recent years have seen a shift of attention away from the teacher and onto
the learner and the ways in which the learning process, both inside and
outside the classroom, can best be supported. The use of virtual learning
environments, blended learning, self-access centres, and work-based
learning initiatives, are only some of the manifestations of the desire to
broaden language development beyond the formal institution and into
learners’ lives. Technology has played an important role in facilitating a
reconceptualisation of the ways in which information can be delivered and
shared, not just from teacher to learner, but also between learners
themselves. Technology has also increased our understanding of the
importance of informal learning processes in education and has led to a
recognition of the key role of the wider environment, including the
classroom, the school, the community, and informal networks, in the
language learning process. Related to this, in recent years there has been
a growing recognition of the importance of developing in learners the
ability to draw on this wider environment, and in this way to support their
opportunities for lifelong learning.
At the same time, it is clear that both teachers and learners are not
always ready to develop this capacity. More research is needed to establish
how learning can best be supported and how learners can best be prepared
for taking responsibility for their own learning. Similarly, not much
research exists that investigates what happens outside formal education. It
is unclear how learners manage their own learning before and after taking
courses, in their workplace, and their daily lives, and what the role of
technology is in these. New, innovative methodologies need to be developed
to better understand the specific needs of learners, their learning
preferences, and the ways their learning can be enhanced.
New Language Learning Environments is a term that has recently started to
be used (cf. Alford & Pachler 2007, Conacher & Kelly-Holmes 2007, White
2007) to encapsulate all of these developments. It refers to both the
environments for learning and teaching as well as to the (changes in)
pedagogy needed to sustain them. Research in New Language Environments is
growing rapidly and there is an urgent interest from practitioners who at
present are often unsure about their implementation. Contributions can be
in one of the following areas, but are not limited to only these subjects:
Virtual learning environments
Learner Autonomy
Self-access centres
Blended learning
Distance learning
Self-directed learning
Content and Language Integrated Learning
Work-based learning
Community initiatives
Self-study
Mobile learning
New Literacies
Situated learning
Language Support
Submitting a Proposal
I am inviting proposals for full-length and edited manuscripts. It is
important that proposals are written to take account of the intended
readership and format of the series, as outlined below.
Readership
This series will appeal to informed teachers, teacher educators, and
researchers interested in applied studies. It will include theoretically
solid, edited and single-authored books that make clear practical and
pedagogical connections with learning and teaching. The intended readership
for this series includes:
- Informed teachers: individual titles should appeal to practising
language teachers. Its focus on learner-centred approaches to teaching will
sit well with current thinking about language education, and its applied
nature will make the individual titles important resources for teachers who
wish to improve their teaching by, for example, fostering learner autonomy,
incorporating blended learning in their courses, or developing self-study
materials through a Virtual Learning Environment, but who are unsure how to
start, or who wish to better understand their theoretical foundations.
- Similarly, certain titles are expected to hold special appeal for teacher
educators who could draw on them as resources for theoretical background
and practical ideas on (to name just a few examples) such topics as
'supporting out-of-class learning', 'language teaching in Second Life', or
'Developing self-access resources'.
- Although not the main intended audience, individual titles may be used
for upper-undergraduate or graduate courses in Language Teaching or Applied
Linguistics. Especially titles related to online learning environments may
be useful for the increasing number of courses on 'language teaching
online', or similar topics.
Format
As the book will appeal to practitioners with a theoretical interest, it is
important that individual titles in the series strike a careful balance
between theory and practice. The format and design of all individual titles
will reflect this:
- Overall book length will be kept to a maximum of about 75,000 words.
- Authors will be asked to work to a format that introduces theoretical
background in the first part of the book, followed by a more practical
section that applies the findings from research. For example, a book on
self-access learning would first introduce self-access as a concept and
present research into its efficacy, before (for example) showing how these
findings can help to establish, plan, deliver and monitor the use of
self-access support.
- Authors are encouraged to use practical examples, case studies, or
scenarios, and the publisher will use typographical means to set these
apart from the main text (e.g. in the form of text boxes).
- Authors are encouraged to use ‘mini-summaries’ throughout the text
(either in the side margins or in some other way easily recognisable within
the text) that draw out the main findings and implications for learning and
teaching practice.
- Contributors are asked to include 'recommendations for further reading',
in addition to regular references.
The overall aim of this format is to present topics grounded in theory in
way that makes their connections with teaching and learning practice as
transparent as possible. The tone we are aiming for is ‘seriously friendly’
and 'critically practical', resulting in books that give readers more than
just superficial summaries, but that at all times also keep the realities
of teaching and learning, both inside and outside of the language
classroom, in mind.
Contact
To submit a proposal or to discuss a possible title, contact the series
editor, Hayo Reinders by email on infoinnovationinteaching.org
Please download and complete the Palgrave proposal form:
www.innovationinteaching.org/Palgrave_proposal_form.pdf
In addition, please include the following information:
1) How your proposed title fits in with the aims and scope of the book series.
2) How you will ensure the book appeals to the readership of the series.
3) How, both in terms of content and presentation/format, you aim to strike
a balance between theory and practice.
About the Series Editor - Hayo Reinders
Dr. Hayo Reinders (www.innovationinteaching.org) is Head of Learner
Development at Middlesex University in London. He was previously founding
Director of the English Language Self-Access Centre at the University of
Auckland in New Zealand, and Visiting Professor at Meiji University in
Tokyo. He has published widely in the areas of learner autonomy,
computer-assisted language learning, language teaching research, and SLA.
He has published over a dozen books for academics, language learners, and
language teachers, including four books with Palgrave Macmillan, most
recently ‘Key Concepts in Second Language Acquisition’ (with Shawn Loewen)
and ‘Beyond the Language Classroom’ (with Phil Benson). He is Editor of
Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, an international
peer-reviewed journal dedicated to learner-centred approaches in language
education and Convenor of the AILA Research Network on CALL and the Learner.
Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics
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