Pedagogy and research
Reports and research related to language learning and pedagogy
Instructed second language acquisition: Literature Review
(Ellis principles)
Professor Rod Ellis proposes ten principles of effective pedagogy for second language acquisition in a classroom context, based on his review of existing literature in the field.
Published: 2005.
Download the Instructed second language acquisition: A literature review
Intercultural communicative language teaching
This report, commissioned by the Ministry of Education, offers six principles for effective intercultural communicative language teaching.
Authors: Jonathan Newton, Eric Yates, Sandra Shearn and Werner Nowitzki
Published: 2010.
Download the full report Intercultural communicative language teaching
Resource Review Report
Please click on the pdf below to see our review of language resources document as provided to the Ministry of Education. The Centre for Languages undertook a detailed and wide-ranging study of the resources available for different languages being taught in schools in Aotearoa. This document is now under consideration by the Ministry of Education.
Intercultural pedagogies in Chinese as a foreign language (CFL): Literature Review
This article aims to enhance awareness of the importance of explicit intercultural pedagogy in language teaching for both foreign language learners and native language speakers.
Author: Juliet Kennedy
Published: February 2020
Fluency through TPR Storytelling (8th and latest edition): Literature Review
TPR Storytelling is a method of teaching foreign languages. The lessons use a mixture of reading and storytelling to help students learn a foreign language in a classroom setting.
Author: Blaine Ray & Contee Seely
Task-based language teaching for younger learners: Literature Review
This article provides hope for teachers who struggle to comprehend and implement task-based language teaching (TBLT), especially for teaching young and beginner students. TBLT in second language education has been a buoyant topic in research and teachers' professional development (PD) programs.
Author: Annamaria Pinter
Published: September 2019
Task-based language teaching for younger learners - Literature review by Karen Hu (PDF, 150 KB)
Download the article here or click here for Journal Subscription, or you may discuss with your school librarian for assistance.
Visible Learning and the Science of How we Learn - Literature Review by Karen Hu
This is a great book for all subject teachers to understand what actually works in improving students’ learning. It presents a collection of research from both education and cognitive psychology to provide teachers insights into how children actually learn.
Authors: John Hattie and Gregory Yates
Published: September 2013
Visible Learning and the Science of How we Learn - Literature review by Karen Hu (PDF, 68 KB)
Enhancing Language Learners' Intercultural Capability: A study in New Zealand's schools
This two-year project (2016-2017) funded by the Ministry of Education through the Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI), investigates how programmes designed to fulfil the requirements of Learning Languages could enhance Year 7 and 8 school students’ intercultural capability.
Authors: Martin East, Constanza Tolosa, Christine Biebricher, Jocelyn Howard, Adele Scott
Published: July 2018.
ISBN: 978-0-473-44275-0
Enhancing Language Learners Intercultural Capability (PDF, 3 MB)
Pedagogy in learning languages
The Ministry of Education Secondary Teaching and Learning Guides site includes a section that provides an informative overview of effective second language acquisition pedagogy across all curriculum levels.
Evaluation of Teacher Professional Development Languages
This study aims to inform the Ministry about the Teacher Professional Development Languages (TPDL) programme and its impact on language learning opportunities and outcomes for students.
Authors: Sharon Harvey, Clare Conway, Heather Richards & Annelies Roskvist, AUT University
Published: December 2009.
Download the Evaluation of Teacher Professional Development Languages (TPDL) in Years 7 -10 Report
Evaluation of the Language and Culture Immersion Experiences (LCIE)
This report was commissioned in 2008 by the Ministry of Education to determine the effectiveness of the language and culture immersion experiences for teachers on Language and Culture Immersion Experiences (LCIE) programmes.
Authors: AUT University
Published: August 2011.
Subject enrolment statistics
Education Counts has a wealth of statistical and analytical information, reference lists, pathways to other Ministry of Education (and Ministry sponsored) websites, publications such as research and evaluation, Iterative Best Evidence Synthesis, regular monitoring reports, and specialised analysis. This link takes the reader to data showing the number of students studying particular languages at each year level.
Educational Practices Series
Published by the International Bureau of Education in collaboration with the International Academy of Education (IAE), these booklets describe some universally applicable principles identified by research and scholarship. There are a number of publications relating specifically to Learning Languages:
Teaching other languages: Bernhardt, Elizabeth B. (Educational practices series; 20, 2010)
Teaching additional languages: Judd, Elliot L.; Tan, Lihua; Walberg, Herbert J. (Educational practices series; 6, 2001)
Learning languages: a guide for New Zealand schools
This document supports schools and teachers to introduce, deliver, and enhance teaching and learning programmes for Learning Languages. The content has not been revised to reflect the intent of the Learning Languages area in the New Zealand Curriculum, introduced in 2010.
Learning Languages: a guide for New Zealand schools (PDF, 26 MB)
NZALT Whitepapers
The New Zealand Association of Language Teachers (NZALT) maintains a collection of articles and reports on language teaching and learning such as the report Learning Languages in the New Zealand Curriculum produced by Angela Scarino, commissioned by the Ministry of Education.
Learning languages in the New Zealand Curriculum (Word, 158 KB)
Assessment Online
This site includes a resources section that houses a number of research papers related specifically to Learning Languages.
International Capabilities Report
This report provides a summary for schools of the recent research findings about international capabilities completed for the Ministry of Education by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER).
International-Capabilities (PDF, 378 KB)Academic texts
The following academic texts are useful for teachers who wish to understand more deeply the theoretical drivers for the revised NZ curriculum and Learning Languages:
East, M. (2012). Task-based language teaching from the teachers' perspective: Insights from New Zealand. Amsterdam / Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamin.
Ellis, R. (2003). Task-based language teaching and learning. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Nunan, D. (2004). Task-based language teaching. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Learning languages in the New Zealand Curriculum (Word, 158 KB)
Willis, D., & Willis, J. (2007). Doing task-based teaching. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.