News@MQ

Staff Books

Photo of Tamil CinemaTamil Cinema – The cultural politics of India’s other film industry
Edited by Selvaraj Velayutham

Until now, academic writings and study of Indian cinema has focused primarily on Bollywood – the popular name given to the Mumbai-based Hindi film industry. Yet the south India-based Tamil film industry has actually overtaken Bollywood in terms of its annual output of films.

This book – the first ever academic publication on the subject – critically examines the cultural and cinematic representations in Tamil cinema. It aims to introduce and present a theoretically informed study of one of India’s largest, most prolific and increasingly significant cinemas. It outlines its history and distinctive characteristics while considering a number of important themes such as gender, religion, class, fandom, cinematic genre and the politics of identity and diaspora.

Throughout, the book cogently links the analysis to wider social, political and cultural phenomena in Tamil and Indian society, providing an exciting and original contribution to an under-studied field. It also helps to facilitate a fresh consideration of the existing body of scholarship on Indian cinema.

Routledge
www.routledge.com


Photo of Language Teacher ResearchLanguage Teacher Research in Australia and New Zealand
Edited by Anne Burns and Jill Burton

This volume of the Language Teacher Research Series focuses on teaching and learning experiences in Australia and New Zealand, which encompasses a large geographical area with diverse policies and practices. The authors examine their various learning environments and share reflections and insights that can promote effective teaching practices, cross-cultural understanding, and improved learning outcomes in English language classrooms in other parts of the world.

The format is designed so language teachers with varied expertise and educational qualifications can pick up this book and others in the regional series and make comparisons about issues, background literature, procedures taken, results and reflections without having to work too hard to find them.

Each chapter of the book highlights clearly the specific goals, questions, research, and findings that are important to the author’s local context. Some of the topics covered in the book include: tailoring teaching materials to stimulate authentic learning and communication; designing research procedures to fit individual inquiry purposes and needs; focusing on oral communication skills and reading for meaning as ways to advance student learning; understanding student factors that can hinder progress in English language learning and bridging differences between students from varied educational cultures.

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL)
www.tesol.org


Back to News@MQ home page