Language Teachers, Politics and Cultures

Rather than the usual technical problems of teaching a foreign language that are only politely discussed within specialized gatherings well advertised as such, Byram (education, U. of Durham, England) and Risager (language teaching, Roskilde U., Denmark) show that foreign language teaching has a strong political character and responds to the social and political changes of the world. They take their own countries and comparisons between them as case studies of current changes. For example they ask language teachers about how increased mobility through Europe has affected their teaching. They do not provide an index. US distribution by Taylor and Francis. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Michael Byram taught languages in secondary school and adult education. At Durham University since 1980, now emeritus, he has researched the education of linguistic minorities and foreign language education. His most recent book is From Foreign Language Education to Education for Intercultural Citizenship (Multilingual Matters) and he is the editor of the Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning.

Karen Risager is Dr.Phil. and Professor in Cultural Encounters at the Department of Culture and Identity, Roskilde University, Denmark. She has conducted interdisciplinary research for thirty years within the fields of language and culture teaching, cultural studies and sociolinguistics, internationalisation and intercultural competence, and the language and cultural learning of adult migrants. She is one of the initiators of an interdisciplinary Master? s programme in Cultural Encounters, focusing on culture, language, identity and power in a global perspective. Selected publications: Language Teachers, Politics and Cultures (Multilingual Matters 1999, with Michael Byram) and Language and Culture: Global Flows and Local Complexity (Multilingual Matters 2006).