The purpose of this chapter is to summarise the principles that underpin the communicative approach in general and the use of authentic texts as a main source of target language input in particular. Although the communicative approach did not arise directly from language acquisition research, we shall see that in its fundamentals it coincides closely with the findings of that research. We shall also see that the increasingly central role that authentic texts have come to occupy in communicative language teaching methodology can be justified as much in terms of language acquisition research findings as in terms of basic communicative principles.

The article reports the results of a cross-linguistic production study the main goal of which was to identify the impact of animacy and thematic asymmetries on linear order and subject choice. The experimental study was carried out on a sample of heterogeneous languages, namely German, Greek, Turkish, and Chinese, which allows us to draw generalizations about several typological variables. In order to investigate the impact of different configurations of animacy and thematic role properties, argument realization was tested with three classes of experiencer verbs: (a) experiencer-subject verbs, (b) ±agentive experiencer-object verbs, and (c) non-agentive experiencer-object verbs. The experimental findings show that animate-first effects occur across languages, an expected result under the view that these effects come from asymmetries in the mental representation of the referents which are independent from particular grammatical properties. Experiencer-first effects depend on the (non-)agentivity of particular verb classes in the lexicon, and as such are language-specific. Indeed it turns out that the experiencer-first effects we observe in languages such as Greek and German are not replicated for Turkish and Chinese. These results mirror the (non-)canonicity of experiencer-objects in the languages investigated.

This project aims to investigate the potential of Web 2.0 tools in the development of communicative competence in English language amongst undergraduate students. The theoretical framework that underpins this study is rooted in national and European policies emerging from the Bologna Process. It focuses first of all on the role of the English language in the fulfillment of Bologna stated goals and, secondly, it analyses the methodological and pedagogical challenges derived from the objectives and guidelines established. Besides this, the Bologna Process is also understood within a changing economic and social landscape, where ongoing innovation in Information and Communication Technologies have generated a rapid production and dissemination of information on a global scale. This new framework has originated new challenges as far as English language teaching and learning in higher education is concerned. These include the creation of a dynamic environment leading to both dialogical and dialectical learning, thus enhancing opportunities to communicate and act through and in English. The methodological approach adopted in this study consisted of an action research project over two semesters in the course units: English II and English III, from the degree course in Tourism at the School of Technology and Management, of the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu. Stemming from the core theme of each course unit and intended learning outcomes, interactional tasks using Web 2.0 tools and involving the construction of collaborative outputs were designed and implemented. The analysis of the information retrieved points to a markedly positive impact of Web 2.0 tools on the implementation of interactional tasks in English language learning in higher education. The students’ active involvement in solving authentic tasks, the encouragement of cultural awareness, and the development of individual and collaborative (meta) competences all attest to the importance of social networks, wikis and podcasts in English language learning. This study represents an innovative and very positive contribution for applied linguistics studies, legitimizing Web 2.0 applications as an exceptional strategy in meeting the goals raised by Bologna.

In most of the literature on second language (L2) acquisition, reading processes are not considered, nor is the potential of authentic texts as a source of linguistic input. On the other hand, the literature on L2 reading rarely deals with reading as driving language acquisition. This article links the two fields of L2 input/interaction research and L2 reading in a way that enables the insights from each to fertilize the other. After a discussion of the theoretical issues in both areas, the article identifies connections between the two fields and presents an approach that encourages several layers of interactive processes in reading authentic texts. The article details various steps in the approach and the different layers of interaction involved in each, as well as the relation of this type of interaction to L2 acquisition and L2 reading.

This paper examines the subprocesses of reading, as they have been identified in L1 and L2 reading research, and the two types of input that they require; the data from the text, on the one hand, and the data that the learner has stored, on the other. It argues that through activities designed to work with each one of the subprocesses in turn, attention can be focused both on the subprocess itself and on the language data used by it, and that language awareness is thereby developed. A set of activities, designed in such a way as to match each of the subprocesses of reading, is linked to a sample text in English. It is argued that when readers carry out these activities, whether the text is L1 or L2 for them, an awareness both of the language data and of the different subprocesses of reading ensues. When the text is in L2, and stored language data is inadequate for a particular subprocess to operate, it is argued that the activities proposed allow the new language data from the text to be processed and stored more effectively, developing language, and L2 reading fluency, and language awareness.