Introduction

The purpose of this book is easily stated. There should, in the second decade of the twenty-first century, be a professional consensus amongst those who teach English to young people, or who teach young people in English, as to how to help them most effectively gain confidence and competence in the use of English. Although this consensus should exist, in practice it does not. The book aims to describe a desirable, intellectually sound and practically achievable consensus around which those who teach English or teach in English could unite.