Books

Kearns, John (ed.), Translator and interpreter training: Issues, methods and debates. London: Continuum, 2008. Pp. xv + 223. ISBN 978-08264-9805-2 (pbk).

This is an in-depth study by a number of international contributors on the issues surrounding the increasing professionalization of the language-media sector, and its demands for ever more highly trained employees with broader skills repertoires. As a research area, education in the fields of translation and interpreting has received growing attention in recent years, with the increasing professionalization of the language-mediation sector demanding ever more highly trained employees with broader repertoires. This trend is evidenced in the present collection, which addresses issues in pedagogy in a variety of translation and interpreting domains. A global range of contributors discuss teaching, evaluation, professionalization and competence as they apply to a range of educational and linguistic situations.

Raya, Manuel Jiménez & Sercu, Lies (eds.), Challenges in teacher development: Learner autonomy and intercultural competence. Frankfurt am M.: Peter Lang, 2007. Pp. 236. ISBN 978-3-631-55806-5 (pbk).

This is a book in which various pathways toward the development of teacher competencies in promoting learner autonomy and intercultural competence are discussed. It focuses on the potential of action research, self-reflection, constructive learning and self-report activities for teacher development, offering a number of more theoretically oriented chapters on teacher beliefs, intercultural competence, learner autonomy, action research and e-Learning. It also documents a number of case studies in which teacher educators have tried to support teachers in exploring and developing their own attitudes and beliefs regarding learner autonomy and intercultural competence, and considering ways to promote learner autonomy and foster intercultural competence amongst their students and in themselves as teaching professionals.

Salaberry, Rafael, Marking past tense in second language acquisition. London: Continuum, 2008. Pp. xiv + 289. ISBN 978-1-84706-238-3 (hbk).

This book provides an analysis of the difficulties faced by native speakers of English in the learning of Romance languages, and in so doing proposes a comprehensive model of the acquisition of tense-aspect marking. While L1 speakers of English may quickly learn to identify and, to some extent, use the Spanish perfective and imperfective verb endings, the L2 representation of tense-aspect distinctions among both beginning and advanced learners requires a comprehensive multidimensional analysis. Through a detailed examination of new and existing empirical data, this monograph proposes a new model for examining tense-aspect marking in L2 acquisition, which reconciles competing, alternative hypotheses.

Statham, Liz (ed.), Counting them in: Isolated bilingual learners in schools. Stoke on Trent: Trentham, 2008. Pp. xvi + 116. ISBN 9781858564258 (pbk).

Isolated bilingual children in schools are easily overlooked, yet leaving them unsupported prevents their ever realising their full academic potential. This book is for schools, pre-schools and colleges which have isolated bilingual learners. It offers guidance to staff on appropriate principles and strategies so they can develop and implement consistent good practice and give all their pupils equal access to educational opportunities and success in life. Using case studies from a rural area of the UK, the book describes proven good practice in working with the education authority on building capacity, developing the role of specialist teaching assistants, tackling racism, involving parents in the life of the school, initial assessment and inclusive strategies for special educational needs.

Journals

Indian Journal of Applied Linguistics. Bahri Publications, 1749A/5, 1st Floor, Gobindpuri Extension, P.O. Box 4453, Kalkaji, New Delhi 110019, India. ISSN 0379-0037. Vol. 33.2 (2007), pp. 5–140.

A special issue devoted to international multidisciplinary research where language and linguistics is a core concern in understanding mental processes. Papers in this issue cover areas including cognitive language processing, aphasia, the exploration of speech motor control abilities, strategies of information retrieval, the psychological factors affecting a learner's autonomy in L2 learning, language specific factors affecting speed and accuracy of cognitive processing and significant predictors of early literacy development in kindergarten-age children.