"Authentic communication is an essential and often overlooked component of deeper levels of learning, student engagement, and the achievement of educational equity. Authentic Communication means using language and other communication systems for meaningful purposes such as building up ideas, changing people's minds, solving key problems, and sharing important thoughts and feelings. It imparts many benefits, not the least of which are language development (especially important multilingual learners), enhanced content understanding, thinking skills development, student engagement, and enhanced social and emotional skills. Jeff Zwiers makes a strong case for shifting to an educational paradigm in which Authentic Communication is central to all teacher practice. He provides practical advice to teachers of all grade levels and subject areas on how to infuse opportunities for Authentic Communication in a variety of classroom contexts"-- Provided by publisher.

The authenticity challenge --From pseudo- to authentic communication -- Cultivating a classroom culture of communication -- Authentic reading -- Authentic listening -- Authentic speaking -- Authentic writing -- Authentic conversing -- Addressing the challenges with teacher creativity.