Reviews of resources available for secondary teachers

Whether you’re an experienced teacher who has taught literature and film before, or a ‘novice’ somewhat daunted by the requirements of the new A Level languages specification, the Hodder Modern Languages Study Guides are a superb resource for teachers and students alike.

This compendium of initial teacher training (ITT) research projects in language teaching and learning is a good example of partnership working amongst four London providers. There are messages here however, for teachers, trainee teachers and ITT providers anywhere in the country.

This book considers discussion in recent years why adults often state that they have no talent for languages and feel that they can’t succeed.

¿Por qué? – 101 Questions about Spanish is a great read. Working around 101 questions and the answers to them, this punchy format really adds to the book’s appeal.

This handbook is a timely and valuable contribution to the debate on the importance of languages, and will provide teachers with cast-iron research-led arguments for persuading students of the long-term value-added a language skill can bring to employability prospects.

We use ThisisLanguage with all of our KS4 students in French, German and Spanish, and occasionally at KS5. It is the mainstay of our ‘extra’ resources.

There is inevitably a degree of apprehension amongst teachers with the introduction of new specifications about how to offer the best teaching.

This useful book does more than the title suggests. Not only does it explain French verbs and tenses in a very clear and accessible way, but it also refers to the English verbs and tenses, so that the learner can relate to the familiar structures of English at every stage to deepen his/her understanding.

The Language Teacher Toolkit is a treasure chest for every language teacher, whether new to the profession or not.

Particularly for those teachers of a certain age, this book takes a nostalgic look back to teaching as it was before the National Curriculum, the wealth of health and safety regulations applicable to taking students out of school and before the Internet.

Title: Talk: Mandarin Chinese Language: Mandarin By: Yu Feixia, Alwena Lamping, BBC Active Book/CD Pack Price: £15.99 Website: http://tiny.cc/BBCTalkMandarin   There are reasons aplenty why Mandarin might be an attractive language to learn for youngsters and...