English as a second language

Abstract

English as a Second Language (ESL) education has gained an increasingly important role in career development in science, business, and industry on the global stage. Language teaching practice often assumes that most of the difficulties that learners face in the study of English are a consequence of the degree to which their native language differs from English. One great challenge for adult ESL learners is to reduce or eliminate "foreign accent" in their English pronunciation. This book presents current research in the study of ESL, including brain plasticity and phonetic training in ESL; using authentic newspaper texts in teaching intermediate vocabulary in ESL learners; EFL/ESL teaching in China; and improving reading skills for ESL learners using SoundSpel. © 2011 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.