Our IATEFL panel: a summary
This post is a summary of the IATEFL panel discussion about Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYL), in which I was involved, along with Vicky Loras, Juup Stelma, Magdalena De Stefani and María...
View ArticleRecently Read: The IATEFL edition
During IATEFL, I made extensive notes about the sessions that I attended, as I had planned to write up summaries for this blog. It seems, however, that there’s already quite a lot of material available...
View ArticleNon-Native Speakers of English need not apply
A while ago I wrote a post where I argued that the preferential hiring of Native Speaking English Teachers is discriminatory, and having made my case I thought that there would be no reason to revisit...
View ArticleRevisiting the Target Language Democratisation narrative
Back in the early days of English Language Teaching, teachers were keen to make all learners speak the Queen’s English and viciously suppressed linguistic diversity. Thus, they perpetuated Imperial...
View ArticleBook review published: Critical Perspectives on Language Education
I am happy to say that the Linguist List has just published a book review by yours truly, for an edited volume titled Critical Perspectives on Language Education: Australia and Asia Pacific (Dunworth...
View ArticleTissue rejection
It seems that it’s been a while since I wrote an ‘Asked and Answered’ post, but here’s an interesting question that found its way into my inbox: What is meant by tissue rejection in language teaching...
View ArticleCall for contributions: Innovative writing in English language teacher...
Of all the calls for papers that find their way in my inbox, I think that this one is one of the most original: English Language Teacher Education and Development (ELTED), the open access peer-reviewed...
View Article“I honestly can’t understand what’s so bad about taking a language test!”
“I honestly can’t understand what’s so bad about taking a language test!” This remark, uttered in genuine exasperation, was delivered by a member of the governing board (Επιστημονικό Εποπτικό...
View ArticleHow can complexity inform ELT? Diane Larsen-Freeman has some ideas
Yesterday, I blogged about this symposium that aims to explore the ‘connectivities’ of ELT, i.e, the ways in which ELT bridges languages, cultures and disciplinary boundaries. The more I think of the...
View ArticleCall for Papers: 18th Annual Conference of the English Department, Bucharest...
I was just sent the following invitation for a conference which will take place in Bucharest next June, which I am posting here, in case it is of any interest. The English Department of the University...
View ArticleThis year’s ELT Journal debate
ELT Journal are holding their annual debate at IATEFL in Manchester on Monday 13 April 2015. This year's motion is Language testing does more harm than good. In the latest issue of ELT J (unfortunately...
View ArticleThe history of ELT: A different perspective
I am willing to venture that, at some point in their careers, all the readers of this blog attended some kind of 'Approaches and Methods' module, which most likely traced the development of language...
View ArticleCall for Chapters: English-Medium Instruction in Japan
A call for chapters has been issued for an edited collection focussing on English Medium Instruction (EMI) in Japanese higher education. The book, to be edited by Howard Brown (University of Niigata),...
View ArticleCLIL and immersion
In view of the increased popularity of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) approaches, it is perhaps surprising that there appears to be little consensus about what the term actually means,...
View Article“Primary English Language Teaching does more harm than good”
As education systems around the world are keen to increase the English Language Teaching provision in primary schools, the ELT Journal debate examines possible drawbacks of such policies. The post...
View ArticleChapter published: Understanding and Challenging ‘the Known’
I am happy to announce the publication of an edited volume which takes a critical perspective on English Languate Teaching, and contains a chapter by me. The book The volume, edited by Damian Rivers,...
View ArticleIndividuals in Contexts: Psychology of Language Learning 2
About this post: This is a post advertising an academic conference about the Psychology of Language Learning, which took place in 2016. The content is no longer current, and it is retained here for...
View ArticleTeaching English to Young Learners: Some insights from the literature
In view of the increasing interest in Teaching English to Young Learners worldwide, it's time to look at what the literature on Second Language Acquisition can tell us. The post Teaching English to...
View ArticleCall for papers: 14th Symposium on Second Language Writing
The 14th Symposium on Second Language Writing (SSLW 2015) will take place on 19th – 21st November 2015, at the Auckland University of Technology. The theme of the conference is: Learning to write for...
View Article“Exclusively hiring native speakers is not discrimination” Seriously?
A reaction to prevailing practices in language education that continue to discriminate against qualified teachers who are not native speakers The post “Exclusively hiring native speakers is not...
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