Chapter 2 discusses the dilemma posed by the requirement that ‘communicative’ English be taught in a foreign language classroom – which is naturally different from real life – and suggest different ways out of this dilemma as general possibilities. The chapter therefore provides a practical applied linguistic background for the more theoretically motivated chapters that follow. We argue that many of the teaching dilemmas triggered by the setting of the foreign language classroom relate to the fact that the classroom provides its own ritual space, in which the conventions and practices and related rights and obligations holding for daily life are turned upside down.Thus, a key dilemma invariably facing the foreign language teacher is how to teach real-life language use in a non-real-life setting.

While Chapter 7 looked at teacher-centred practice (and you can return there to refresh your understanding of pedagogy), we now turn to the vast array of student-centred practices that are available for application in the history classroom. This chapter identifies student-centred practice examples, links to theory that support this type of pedagogy and provides examples of how to incorporate activities in your history teaching planning.