Cross-Language Mediation in Foreign Language Teaching and Testing

Rezensionen / Stimmen

This study tackles a timely and yet underinvestigated area of foreign language education, that of cross-language mediation. By casting new light on the limitations of a narrowly monolingual vision of language education and testing, the book offers a substantial contribution to researchers and practitioners alike. Readers are invited to venture into an ambitious plurilingual perspective, one that stresses the dynamic and reflective nature of the language learning process. -- Enrica Piccardo, The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada This inspired book is a must-read for professionals in the field of language teaching and testing, which is politically guilty for contributing to the view that the foreign language learning results are best when languages are kept apart from one another in the classroom. In this context, it has shown total disregard for the development and assessment of learners' cross-language mediation competence: the stirring concern of this well-researched study. -- Bessie Dendrinos, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece This book provides a well-written, comprehensive review of the concept of mediation, its development and applications today as a form of translanguaging in social, pedagogic and linguistic contexts. The author provides an empirically-based taxonomy of textual mediation strategies and suggests ways of developing descriptors for aspects of translanguaging and mediation. The work represents a significant contribution to an under-developed but crucial field of enquiry. -- Brian North, Eurocentres Foundation, Switzerland