English didactics is a multi-faceted area of research, which concerns student teachers at every level of teacher education, teachers in school and researchers. We all have a shared interest and common goal: to explore and promote insight into both theoretical and practical aspects of English teaching and learning.

The book opens with a historical overview of English teaching in Norway. Each chapter is devoted to a specific area of the subject and discusses the topic in a historical context, before exploring various theoretical concepts and relevant research. The topics are also discussed in relation to previous and current Norwegian curricula. Special focus is given to discussing practical classroom work as well as theoretical and practical challenges related to the topic of each chapter.

This second edition of Teaching English in the 21st Century: Central Issues in English Didactics has been revised and updated to take into account the changes in The Knowledge Promotion of 2020 and recent research. The book brings together historical, theoretical and practical aspects of the subject. As such, the book is an invaluable tool for teachers, student teachers, researchers and others engaged in the continuously developing field of English didactics.

All chapters in this book have been peer reviewed. 

Anne-Brit Fenner is retired Associate Professor of English Didactics in the Department of Foreign Languages at the University of Bergen, where her field of research has focused on intercultural competence, the teaching of literature and learner autonomy. She has published a number of international articles and has coordinated several Council of Europe projects. Based on many years of teaching experience, she has written English textbooks and has been involved in developing national curricula.

Aud Solbjørg Skulstad (Dr.art.) is Professor of English Didactics in the Department of Foreign Languages at the University of Bergen. She has been engaged in pre-service education of teachers of English since 1996 and she teaches at graduate and postgraduate levels. Skulstad supervises MA students and PhD candidates within English didactics, and she has also been the supervisor of a prize-winning PhD project within Spanish didactics. Her main research interests include the teaching and learning of text construction, the development of genre awareness, multimodality, English for specific purposes, genre analysis and analyses of text-based English language learning, particularly learning materials and learner texts.