The complexities of teaching English as a second language to those newly arrived in Canada are addressed with insight and humour in this book. Brian Morgan draws extensively on his own teaching experience in Canada and China to reinvestigate the nature and aims of ESL teaching and to formulate approaches to becoming a more effective ESL teacher.

Morgan's central principle is that ESL theories, materials, and approaches should be relevant to the social, political, and cultural conditions of each group of students. He stresses the importance of finding subject matter that will provide meaningful content for lessons, suggesting that discussion topics such as ecology, gender roles, changing social identity, and employment equity are often valid and appropriate for immigrant groups. Written for teachers by a teacher, the book includes lesson plans, examples of students' work, and vivid anecdotes of classroom incidents, presenting an important new perspective on ESL teaching.