Second language teaching seems to be more open to innovation based on
research than foreign language teaching, and that is the case on both sides of
the Atlantic. However, China seems to be a wonderful exception.
There is not enough research to actually evaluate new trends in language
teaching, apart from immersion and CLIL. Also, the concepts and labels
used are not always clearly defined.
Developments on language testing have an indirect effect on language
teaching and through positive backwash this is seen as a positive influence.
For some, the development of the CEFR (Common European Framework of
Reference) is a positive factor, but that view is also contested. Anna Mauranen
observes that:
in more specific domains, a greater AL influence can be discerned: in the
teaching of writing, developments in text and discourse analysis have
directed teaching to more text-based approaches away from the sen-
tence, and corpus linguistics has affected the perception of the target
language. Genre analysis has changed EAP teaching considerably.Andrea Tyler also mentions the growth of research on writing as a process
as a major trend.
132 The impact of AL research