TESL-EJ publishes academic titles in electronic format. Our books are copyrighted and registered with the U.S. Library of Congress.
If you have an idea for a book, please refer to the guidelines at the bottom of this page.
New, May 2024
Tips for Writing Well: Research-Based Principles
By Scott Alkire
110 pages
This book is free for download in PDF from this site. It is also available on Amazon in ebook and paperback formats. All of the profits from this book go to supporting TESL-EJ’s mission to remain free from advertising, and free from subscription fees. Thank you for considering a purchase.
This book contains 25 easy to read and easy to follow tips on effective academic writing. The topics range from how to find sources, to improving your style, to grammar and proofreading.
New, March 2024
Reflective Practice for Language Teachers
By Thomas S. C. Farrell, TESL-EJ Board Member; Free from the British Council
The book assumes no previous familiarity with the idea of reflecting on teaching. You will be introduced to the purpose and importance of reflection and guided through its historical roots. By reading this book, you will have a clear definition of what the process of reflective practice is, making it accessible and relevant to your teaching.
Written with language educators in mind, the book gives you a straightforward framework designed to help you engage easily in reflective practice. At each step, you will find an example of an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher following this framework and demonstrating how reflection can be a powerful tool for refining and developing your teaching approaches.
November 2021
English Language Teaching in Latin America
Edited by Paul Davies
164 pages
This book is available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback formats. 100% of profits from this book go to supporting TESL-EJ’s mission to remain free from advertising, and free from subscription fees. Thank you for considering a purchase.
This book contains a collection of articles published in an ELT online magazine or website that Paul Davies ran as a retirement hobby from August 2018 to July 2020, English Language Teaching in Latin America, or ELTinLA. Contributors include: Edward Amador Pliego, Rosalina Domínguez Ángel, Veronica Espino Barranco, Jeremy Harmer, Claudia Liliana Hernández Hernández, Jorge Alberto Hernández Téllez, Martha Lengeling, Angela Llanas, Laura López González, Celso Pérez Carranza, Richard Rossner, Paul Seligson, Rebeca Elena Tapia Carlin, and Amanda Wilson.
Download a free PDF version here.
Appropriate English Teaching for Latin America
by Paul Davies
328 pages
This book is available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback format. 100% of profits from this book go to supporting TESL-EJ’s mission to remain free from advertising, and free from subscription fees. Thank you for considering a purchase.
There are basic elements of ELT wherever it is practised around the world, but ELT should also vary significantly according to students’ characteristics and needs, their learning contexts, their native language, and other factors, which may vary greatly from region to region and country to country.
All Latin American countries have most major factors related to ELT in common, but many are notably different from countries in Europe, Asia and Africa.
This book is about ELT specifically in Latin America, past, present and future.
Download a free PDF copy here.
Scotch and Holy Water—Tumpane’s account of his years living in Diyarbakir, Izmir, and Ankara—describes plenty of imbibing. It also describes expeditions to ruins, hijinks in nightclubs, and wacky interactions with Turks, Kurds, and expatriates. Although entertaining and well written, the book was never picked up by a publisher. Tumpane self-published Scotch and Holy Water in 1981 but, without national distribution and marketing, the book went largely unnoticed. We are pleased to share this treasure with our readership.
New Edition
Harmony of Babel: Profiles of Famous Polyglots, by Kató Lomb (264 pages)
What’s new in this edition?
This edition feature 20% new content, including:
- an Editor’s Preface discussing the value of polyglots for SLA research
- the transcript of an interview Dr. Lomb did for Hungarian TV in 1974
More information:
In the late 1980s the distinguished interpreter and translator Kató Lomb profiled and interviewed 21 of her peers in search of answers to basic but deep questions on the nature of language learning. She asked:
- “When can we say we know a language?”
- “Which is the most important language skill: grammar, vocabulary, or good pronunciation?”
- “What method did you use to learn languages?”
- “Has it ever happened to you that you started learning a language, but could not cope with it?”
- “What connection do you see between age and language learning? ”
- “Are there ‘easy’ and ‘difficult,’ ‘rich’ and ‘poor,’ ‘beautiful’ and ‘less beautiful’ languages?”
- “What is multilingualism good for?”
The answers Lomb collected from her interlocutors are singular, provocative, and often profound. Grounded in real-world experience, they will be of interest to linguaphiles who are seeking to supplement their theoretical knowledge of language learning.
About the author:
Kató Lomb (1909–2003) was called “possibly the most accomplished polyglot in the world” by linguist Stephen Krashen. One of the pioneers of post-war simultaneous interpreting, Lomb worked in 16 languages for state and business concerns in her native Hungary. In addition, she wrote several books on language and language learning in the 1970s and 1980s. Her first book, Polyglot: How I Learn Languages, was first published in English by TESL-EJ in 2008.
An Introduction to Second Language Research Methods
Design and Data, 2nd Edition
Dale T. Griffee, (360 pages) Free PDF available for TESL-EJ readers. A paperback version is available on Amazon.com. A Kindle version is also available.
About the Book
An Introduction to Second Language Research Methods: Design and Data (2nd edition) enables classroom teachers to become classroom researchers, and in doing so, to improve their understanding of their teaching.
Changes made for the second edition include a new chapter, an expanded glossary of terms, combining the references, and three new appendixes.
With Languages in Mind: Musings of a Polyglot
Kató Lomb. Translated by Ádám Szegi, Edited by Scott Alkire (212 pages, PDF only)
About the Book
Kató Lomb (1909–2003) was one of the great polyglots of the 20th century. A translator and one of the first simultaneous interpreters in the world, Lomb worked in 16 languages for state and business concerns in her native Hungary. She achieved further fame by writing books on languages, interpreting, and polyglots. In With Languages in Mind, originally published in Hungary as Nyelvekről jut eszembe… (1983), Dr. Lomb presents her views on subjects ranging from language differences, language use, the inherent compromises in interpreting, and language learning.
“[I]nterestedness…plays a decisive role in the success of language learning.
“The root of interestedness is the Latin inter esse: to be inside, to be between.
“Our education system, unfortunately, cannot put the student in the center of linguistic events. Our curricula are exam-centered, grade-centered, and textbook-centered. The student, the subject of education, somehow remains outside the language to be acquired. But László Németh wrote that ‘personal involvement and the desire to experiment can make all kinds of work a labor of love and a formative power.’ Only communication that addresses us and concerns us can open a gap in the wall of the ‘foreign’ language to be acquired.”
Originally published in Hungary as Nyelvekről jut eszembe…by Gondolat, Budapest, in 1983. Copyright © 1983 Gondolat.
Reflective Writing: A Way to Lifelong Teacher Learning
Edited by Jill Burton, Phil Quirke, Carla L. Reichmann, and Joy Kreeft Peyton (188 pages, PDF only)
Excerpt from Chapter 1:
Writing Leads to Community
We never see one another and we never speak directly, yet through the writing our intimacy is complete. (Duncker, 1996, p. 74)
Reflective writing about teaching is a way of inviting others into our classrooms to see what is going on there and to think about the ramifications of certain problems and successes. Teaching can be an isolated and isolating experience. Reflective writing about teaching is a way of expanding our world beyond the individual classroom. (Burton, 2007, Response #50)
Polyglot: How I Learn Languages, Second Edition
Kató Lomb. Translated by Ádám Szegi and Kornelia DeKorne (215 pages, PDF only)
Excerpt from Chapter 1:
What Is Language?
There may be no other word in the world that has as many connotations as this noun does with its few letters. For an anatomist, it will recall the set of muscle fibers divided into root, body, blade, and tip. A gourmet will think of tasty morsels in stewed, pickled, and smoked forms on the menu. A theologian will surely be reminded of the day of red Pentecost. A writer will think of a tool that dare not rival Nature, and a poet will imagine a musical instrument. And if spoken by a poet of genius? “You won’t remain with empty hands under the empty sky” (Antal Szerb).
Archived first edition found here: Polyglot: How I Learn Languages, First Edition
Book Submission Procedure
If you have an idea for a book, or a manuscript in preparation, please send us a prospectus that includes the following elements:
- A cover letter explaining the purpose and scope of the book, as well as progress made on it
- A copy of your C.V. (and C.V.s of all co-authors or co-editors)
- A table of contents
- A sample chapter
- A projected timeline
Please note that we do not publish textbooks or books intended for students. We are looking for academic titles only.
Send your prospectus to: ed-in-chief@tesl-ej.org. Include the words book prospectus in your subject line to receive quicker attention.