MSI Press Blog

  MSI Press has added to its collection of affiliated books, a self-published book edited by Boris Shekhtman, a prolific author of MSI Press books and books published by Cambridge University Press. Contributing authors include Dina Kupchanka (Specialized Language Training Center), Natalia Lord (Foreign Service Institute), and Svetlana Sibrina (Specialized Language Training Center).   To purchase this book on Amazon. click HERE . For more posts and Boris Shekhtman and his books, click HERE . For more posts about Dina Kupchanka, click HERE . For more posts on language learning, click HERE . To see more affiliated books and learn about affiliated status, click HRE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter.

  Recently released - the audiobook for Communicative Focus  by Boris Shekhtman and Dina Kupchanka. In the current volume, the author describes in detail the theory and nature of the principles and practices used in his approach to language teaching. He is not afraid to talk about some aspects of language learning and teaching, such as the development of lexical and grammatical accuracy, as well as the need for memorization and the development of memory, that have been increasingly omitted from the classroom as a result of the rise in popularity of theories that debase their significance but which are very important, especially if students are to reach the highest level of proficiency. He also discusses some ideas, such as the unique nature of the connection between language and meaning that native speakers experience that non-native speakers must learn to deal with-in differing ways at differing levels of proficiency. His focus throughout is on communication and the nature of...

  Today's excerpt comes from  Communicative Focus  by Boris Shekhtman and Dina Kupchanka -  CF and Traits of Language Learning Individuals     The LCF individual focuses first of all on how to say what he or she wants to communicate. For this individual, how usually requires more attention and effort than what ; in other words, the mechanical plane of communication is more important than the ideational plane. As a result of this the LCF students have one main problem: pausing. Very often the pause reflects the extra time it takes for the LCF to prepare an answer using a low automated pattern. The LCF individual also has to hunt for low automated words to express his or her thoughts. This creates pauses between sentences and between words within sentences. In addition, when the LCF person makes mistakes, whether of grammar or vocabulary (because of low automaticity), he or she often notices his or her mistakes and immediately corrects them, which again give...

  Today's excerpt comes from  Communicative Focus  by Boris Shekhtman and Dina Kupchanka -  The Communicative Focus          We call the correlation between ideational and mechanical planes of speech Communicative Focus (CF). This term was introduced by Betty Lou Leaver and Boris Shekhtman (2002) in the book Developing Professional-Level Language Proficiency . CF convincingly reveals the communicative essence of a person's speech and shows that communicative quality of speech, first of all, depends on how automatic this person is in expressing his or her ideas.     This correlation may have different modes. The ideational and mechanical planes may coincide with each other, which makes CF completely automatic, and this coincidence means that ideational plan has enough controlled mechanical elements to express itself. The ideational plane and mechanical planes may not coincide with each other to this or that de...

  Communicative Focus (Shekhtman and Kupchanka) which has been read for language instructors for year is now available as an e-book. At last! Book description: In the current volume, the author describes in detail the theory and nature of the principles and practices used in his approach to language teaching. He is not afraid to talk about some aspects of language learning and teaching, such as the development of lexical and grammatical accuracy, as well as the need for memorization and the development of memory, that have been increasingly omitted from the classroom as a result of the rise in popularity of theories that debase their significance but which are very important, especially if students are to reach the highest level of proficiency. He also discusses some ideas, such as the unique nature of the connection between language and meaning that native speakers experience that non-native speakers must learn to deal with-in differing ways at differing levels of proficiency. Hi...

    Today's excerpt comes from Communicative Focus  by Boris Shekhtman and Dina Kupchanka -  Communication between Native Speakers and Non-native Speakers and the Essence of Speech We are interested in communication between native and non-native speakers for one very important reason: this is the kind of communication for which all teachers are essentially preparing students. Regardless of the level of our students, whether they are beginners or already near-native speakers, if they want to use their second language, they nolens-volens enter this type of communication. We need to help them to participate in this communication with dignity and power and to close the gap between their language skills and those of native speakers. In order for us to prepare our students in this way, we must be knowledgeable about the specific nuances of verbal communication between native and non-native speakers.     The most obvious difference between the language perfor...

  Many MSI Press authors are teachers -- and a number of them write some darn good books for parents, award-winning books, in fact. Here are some of their works that might interest you: Cindy Alder (K-12) 10 Quick Homework Tips   365 Teacher Secrets for Parents Franki Bagdade (K-12)   I Love My Kids, But I Don't Always Like Them TL Brink (university) How to Argue with an Atheist Ekaterina Filatova (university) Understanding the People around You Christina Fisanick (university) The Optimistic Food Addict Tom Garza (university) Practices That Work Julie Gentile (private) 108 Yoga and Self-Care Practices for Busy Mamas How to Stay Calm in Chaos Emily Graves (university) How to Be a Good Mommy When You're Sick Geri Henderson (university) Healing from Incest Noah's New Puppy Darius Husain (K-12) Road Map to Power Muna Imady (private) Damascus amid the War Road Map to Power Omar Imady (university) Erasures  - affiliated The Celeste Experiment  - affiliated The Gospel ...