Richard Johnstone

• Univrsity of Stirling

The format for the present review is similar to that of previous years, though the number of references to research published before 2008 has been somewhat increased in order to identify a few key studies which have influenced some of 2008's published output. In selecting the texts for discussion, I have sought to offer the reader what I consider t...

My research review of 2007 is somewhat shorter than in earlier years in order to allow space for the journal's impressively increased number of other articles. This naturally adds to my problems of selection, especially as 2007 witnessed the welcome appearance of new international journals in the form of Innovation in Language Learning & Teaching a...

My previous review (of 2004 and 2005 together) was delayed for reasons beyond my control and therefore could not appear as planned in the journal, but the publisher generously agreed to make it available on-line through their website, where it can be accessed (see Johnstone 2006). In the interim the journal has changed. The abstracts are no longer...

The teaching of a modern foreign language (in many cases, English) to children at primary school is a major policy priority in many countries across the world. In order to develop a well-informed policy, it is necessary to be clear about the influence of the "age" factor and to avoid any assumption that merely by beginning "early" one guarantees su...

Most of the annual reviews which I have prepared for the present journal discuss roughly 100 articles published each previous year in top international research outlets. Even with such a high number per year, considerable selectivity has to be applied – the number of abstracts appearing up to the end of the October 2005 edition of Language Teaching...

The present review refers to studies published in leading international research journals in 2003. It gives priority to published research on learning, teaching and policy in respect of second, modern foreign or additional languages. The aim is not simply to describe or summarise the studies which have been selected for comment, but rather to ident...

My commission is to examine critically current research evidence on early language learning (ELL) at primary school and its relationship to policy-making. While priority is given to developments in England, developments in Ireland, Scotland and the continent of Europe are also discussed, as is the extent to which all of them are informed by researc...

The present review refers to studies published in 2002 in leading research journals. It focuses in particular on learning, teaching and policy in respect of second, modern foreign or additional languages. The comments offered about particular studies are not intended to summarise them (for that, it is best to refer to the actual abstracts which the...

As is customary in this annual review, the focus is on research which has been published mainly in international research journals and which has a bearing on the teaching of languages and on those aspects of languages learning and use which seem to have implications for teaching. For the most part, it is additional languages which are under discuss...

[Full access at: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/Doc/156792/0042162.pdf ]

Although much more limited in scope and intensity than second language (L2) immersion, MLPS (Modern Languages at Primary School; known elsewhere as FLES, Foreign Languages at Elementary School) is being extensively implemented across the European Union as a reflection of national and European Commission (EC) policies. Despite an increase of researc...

Aspects of communication, particularly in the language classroom, that contribute to or inhibit communicative interaction are discussed in this 11-chapter book. The first chapter offers a general discussion of the elements of interpersonal communication. Chapters 2 and 3 outline strategies that language teachers might adopt to engage and sustain co...

Five teachers of French in first year classes, using a package of mastery learning materials devised by the researchers, were followed through two units of instruction (approximately ten weeks). This paper describes the materials used, and the data collected by systematic lesson observation, by analysis of test results and by interviews with the te...

The present paper discusses developments in the communicative approach to foreign language learning in Scottish secondary schools at three points in time: in 1977 when conventional audio-visual methodology was still in full swing; from 1978 to 1981 when the new ‘communicative’ projects such as 'Tour de France'm were being piloted; and, since 1981,...