GI Newsletter 2009 Summer

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Issue 24

Summer 2009 Issue 24

GLOBAL ISSUESIntegrating global education into language teaching

SI

Committee Coordinator: Mike Solly

Deputy Coordinator: Maureen Ellis

Newsletter Editor: Claudia Connolly

Assistant newsletter Editor: Xiabing Wang

Website manager: Nik Peachey

Discussion moderator:Muhammad Iqbal

Price £4.50 Free for GISIG members ISSN: 1026-4310


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IATEFL’s Global Issues Special InterestGroup (GISIG) was created in 1995 and aimsto provide a forum among ELT practitioners tostimulate awareness and understanding ofglobal issues, and to encourage the develop-ment of global education within language

teaching.

Membership of GISIG offers:

•

A bi-annual GISIG newsletter , packedwith discussion and practical ideas forteaching Global Issues and addressing possible constraints in low resource con-texts together with the latest theories and

book reviews.

• Occasional other publications, for example proceedings of and papers from our

events.

• Reduced rates to GISIG events.

• Social networking:

http://global-issues.ning.com/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gisig/

• GISIG website at http://gisig.iatefl.org

• The opportunity to become involved inthe running of the Global Issues SIG,learn about organizing conferences, helpto edit newsletters and web sites, and

enhance your professional development.

How to join

Individual membership of IATEFL costs £43(with reduced student and retired rates). Thisincludes free membership of one Special Inter-est Group (e.g. the Global Issues SIG) and the

associated membership benefits listed above.

If you are already a member of IATEFL but nota member of GISIG, SIG membership costs

only £13.50 per year.

Institutional membership of IATEFL costs£138 and entitles an institution to 3 copies of IATEFL Voices 6 times per year, the attendanceof 4 staff to IATEFL events at member rates,and the other associated membership benefits

listed above. There is also the opportunity foryour institution to join a SIG (e.g. GISIG) and

receive 3 copies of each GISIG newsletter for

£25.

The easiest ways to join are on-line at http://www.iatefl.org/join.asp, or by telephoneIATEFL on +44 1227 824430, fax +44 1227

824431.

G L O B A L I S S U E SI n t e g r a ti n g g l o b a l e d u c a t io n i n t o l a n g u a g e t e a c h i n g

S I G


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Letter fromLetter fromLetter fromLetter from

the coordi-the coordi-the coordi-the coordi-

natornatornatornatorDear Colleagues,

A warm welcome to our latest, and

new look, newsletter.

The last few months have been very

active for the Global Issues SIG with

two successful events, two moder-

ated discussions on the discussion

list, and a recently launched interac-

tive web presence on a new platform

http://global-issues.ning.com In ad-

dition, we are revisiting the aims and

purpose of the SIG and we hope that

our broad aims will be taken up byIATEFL generally and more for-

mally.

The first of this year’s two events,

held in central London in February,

was a two-day symposium on

Equal Opportunities and Diversity

in ELT with the British Council.

This followed on from the initial SIG

event held last year also in conjunc-

tion with the British Council . Theevent was attended by around 100

people and included 2 former

IATEFL presidents among its five

speakers (Catherine Walter and

Adrian Underhill). The construction

of the programme was drawn up

jointly with the BC and a representa-

tive from GI SIG, and there was also

a GI SIG reporter at the event (see

article in this edition of the newslet-

ter).

Global Issues SIG also played a sig-

nificant role at IATEFL Cardiff, with

the second event of the year being a

Pre-Conference event (run jointly

with Teacher Development SIG)

which was a very practically based

day long event on overcoming diffi-

culties in teaching in different and

challenging contexts, a lively OpenForum, several presentations on

Global Issues by committee mem-

bers, and a leading role in an

IATEFL signature event (Equal Op-

portunities and Diversity in ELT:

Getting it right). In addition it was of

course, as ever, an excellent opportu-

nity to gather ideas and opinions for

future activity for the SIG.

We look forward to your continuedinterest and involvement in the SIG.

If you would like to submit an article

to the newsletter please contact

([email protected] )

and if you have any suggestions for

the SIG, or for future events please

contact me.

Very warmest regards

Mike SollyGISIG coordinator

[email protected]


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Raising Teenagers’ Global Aware-

ness via Extensive ReadingDavid Valente P.15

Teaching Human Rights with

children

Claudia Connolly P.19

The Doctor Lukman Michael Berman P.22

A course book for the Chinese

marketXiaobing Wang P.24

Getting it Right,

British Council and Global Issues

Sig Symposium

Xiaobing Wang P.25

IATEFL Global Issues Aims Editor P.7

Reigniting, Retooling and Retiring

in English Language Teaching.Neil Mc Beath P.11

Nik Peachey’s Blog Nik Peachey P.14

Greater diversity and the need for

differentiation in classes.Samantha Deans P.9

Content


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General Committee member: Paul Woods

12 Reasons why you may want to

read HLT

It is a free website magazine.

It offers a wealth of articles every two month.

You can read nine years worth of articles from

the HLT archive.

You can download or print out your favourite

articles.

You can keep in touch with recent trends and

developments in ELT.

The contributors come from all over the worldoffering new perspectives.

You can find practical ideas as well as more

theoretical papers.

It can help you in your TT education if you are

in pre-service.

It can help you in training future teachers if

you are a teacher trainer.

It will help you improve your own teaching.

It will help you reflect on your own teaching.

It is a great tool for self-development.

If you would like to contribute some articles, con-

tact:

Editor’s e-mail: [email protected]

Hiroshima Peace Media Centre http://www.hiroshimapeacemedia.jp/mediacenter

The Hiroshima Peace Centre is seeking to advance

the abolition of nuclear weapons and a braoder

peace in the world. It is the only madia agency in

the world dedicated exclusively to the coverage of

peace related concerns. Launched in January

2008 by the Chugoku Shimbun, Hiroshima’s Daily

Newspaper. The Hiroshima Peace Media Centre

maintains a bilingual English Japanese website

with local and International news.

For more information contact: Adam Beck

[email protected]


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Global issues is always looking for articles, book reviews and teaching mate-rial from individuals who are interested in sharing their diversity and experi-ence within ELT. Send your articles to: [email protected]

SIG Full page Half

page

Quarter

page

Inside

front

Inside

back

Back

page

GISIG

£200 £100 £50 £250 £250 £300

Global Issues IATEFL

Publication advertising rates, 2008

If you would like to place an advertisement in one of the Global Issues

newsletter please contact the GI Newsletter Editor

Claudia Connolly

[email protected]


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IATEFLIATEFLIATEFLIATEFL

Global IssuesGlobal IssuesGlobal IssuesGlobal Issues

Aims Aims Aims AimsThe Global Issues SIG, created in 1995,aims to provide a forum among ELT prac-titioners to stimulate awareness and un-derstanding of global issues, and to en-

courage the development of global educa-tion within language teaching.

We are currently reviewing our aims andwould like to invite readers to join our online discussion at http://global-issues.ning.com/ to help us redefine

them.

These are our current aims:

•

To assist in the exchange of infor-mation and ideas surrounding is-sues within ELT such as peace, jus-tice and equality; human rights andsocial responsibility; globalizationand world development; social iden-tity; and the role of the English lan-guage and English Language Teach-

ing in the world.

• To exchange ideas on integratingpeace education, human rights edu-cation, development education andenvironmental education into lan-

guage teaching.

• To help members fulfil the two rolesa language teacher has in society:the conveyer of linguistic knowl-edge and the educator to enable stu-dents to understand better how the

modern world functions.

• To equip learners with the knowl-edge, skills and values which canhelp them confront both local and

global problems.

• To promote a less Eurocentric per-

spective within ELT.

• To provide a counterbalance to theidea of language teaching as neces-sarily high tech and profit generat-ing. For example, we hope to pro-

vide a forum for those developingsuccessful methods of teachinglarge classes with minimal re-sources - typically working withinpoorly funded state systems in thedeveloping world, where the major-

ity of students learn English.

Redefining:

Bill Templer, one of our members hassuggested the following to help us rede-

fine our aims:

We seek a more global and socially inclu- sive perspective within ELT, sensitive tolocal diversity. We hope to empowerlearners to become more critical citizens. To this end, we strive to exchangeideas and information on a broad array ofsocial issues, including education for peace, justice, and equality; humanrights, social responsibility and socialchange; globalization and a sustainableenvironment. We explore ways to improveEFL teaching and learning among theworld's social majorities, where oftenonly minimal resources are available, andto integrate inventive high-tech approaches wherever possible.

Join in the discussion and let us knowwhat you think, we hope that our aims

might be taken on and reflected broadlywithin IATEFL as a whole. Have your say.


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Greater diver-Greater diver-Greater diver-Greater diver-

sity and thesity and thesity and thesity and the

need for differ-need for differ-need for differ-need for differ-

entiation inentiation inentiation inentiation inclasses.classes.classes.classes.

By Samantha Deans

Learners are not a homogenous group. They candiffer greatly in terms of linguistic, educational,

cultural and socio-economic background. Thesefactors and many others including age, work ex-perience, length of time in the UK, immigrationstatus and experience of learning English canaffect language learning. Learners also come toa class with different expectations (of themselves,of the teacher, of teaching and learning), goals,interests, confidence levels, needs, learningstyles, abilities and of course, personalities.

Teachers may be finding more and more EFLlearners studying alongside ‘traditional’ ESOLlearners (asylum seekers, refugees and immi-

grants from settled UK communities) leading

greater diversity and the need for differentiation in

classes. Learners with very little basic educationand/or literacy in their mother tongue may sharelessons with educated professionals.

Given the wealth of ELT materials that alreadyexist, it would seem easy to cater for such widediversity within classes. However, the traditionaltarget audiences of many EFL resources differgreatly from the profile of EFL and ESOL classestoday. A lot of EFL materials are aimed at young,educated, affluent Europeans who are in the UKfor a short period of time, not people who areplanning to settle in the UK or who have already

been here for a significant period of time andmore significantly, not refugees who have comefrom war-torn countries and interrupted educa-tion. References to Elvis Presley and Madonna –the stars of many an EFL course book – fall ondeaf ears in an ESOL class.

What’s your favourite pop group? A questionguaranteed to orchestrate a lively discussion inan EFL summer school class of European teen-agers fails to generate a single note in an ESOLclass of Somali housewives .Of course, we can’tassume shared cultural knowledge and values in

any class, not just in an ESOL class, and it is upto the teacher to choose materials which are ofinterest and relevance to his or her students.

Does this mean the only place for Headway et alis the archives of ELT? No, but it does mean acertain amount of adaptation and inventiveness isrequired.

The following are possible failings of EFL coursebooks and ways to overcome, or at least adapt,them.

• Very busy pages with many activities writ-

ten in different fonts. Select one activityfrom a page and retype it in a clearer font


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with fewer distractions on the page.

• Socially or culturally inappropriate content.Take the idea of the activity (e.g. a findsomeone who … mixer) and edit the irrele-vant content, changing “Find someone who

… has done a bungee jump” to somethingmore accessible and likely.

• Lack of diversity in course book charactersand cultural information. Ideally, materialsshould reflect the various cultural back-grounds and ethnic groups of the learners.Provide learners with the language andtools needed to discuss the similarities anddifferences between their different coun-tries and their home countries and the UK.

Does this mean the teacher has to plan lessonsfor each individual learner? No, but is does meana certain amount of adaptation and inventivenessis required to cater for all learning styles,strengths, weaknesses and abilities.

The following is a list of ways in which differentabilities and learning styles can be catered for.

Grouping

• Pair less confident learners with more con-fident learners. Stronger readers, for ex-

ample, can read vocabulary cards aloudwhile the less confident reader listens andfinds the appropriate card or image givingboth learners a sense of knowledge andachievement.

• Pair less confident learners together sothey can divide tasks between them beforesharing their answers.

Listening activities

A listening comprehension activity clearly benefitsstudents with a preference towards auditorylearning and those with good receptive skills.Learners may have lived in the UK for a consider-able period of time and consequently, have rea-sonably good listening. However, some of theselearners may struggle with writing, especially un-der time pressure. For them, filling in gaps whilelistening to a tape is very challenging. One sup-port strategy is to provide learners with the tape-script in the form of jumbled sentences whichthey have to number. On the other side of thisexercise, provide something more challengingsuch as a gap fill exercise. A double-sided activ-ity allows learners to decide for themselves whichversion they work on.

If one side of the activity shows the utterances intheir entirety (but in the wrong order) and theother shows the correct order (with missingwords), learners are able to check their own an-swers at the end.

Writing activities

Provide sentence cues or a jumbled model exam-ple for less confident learners. Alternatively, askprovide learners with a template with missing in-formation to be filled in.

Speaking activities

In role play activities, provide a model dialogue orflow chart of suggested utterances for less confi-dent learners. Learners can then substitute infor-mation as necessary.

Allocate roles in role play activities according tostrengths and weaknesses.

Reading activities

Make comprehension questions more challengingfor stronger learners by jumbling up the wordswithin the questions. Learners have to unjumblethe words to make the questions before findingthe answers. Ask learners with lower literacy toscan for information rather than read for details(for example, How many job advertisements areon the page? How many jobs are full time?).

Similarly, provide question cues rather than thewhole question for stronger learners. Learnershave to make the questions before finding theanswers. Adapt comprehension questions into aquestion and answer matching activity for lessconfident learners.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary gap fill exercises can be easilyadapted to suit more confident and less confidentlearners. Provide gaps for the missing words forstronger learners (for example, The opposite oftall is ____________) while supporting less confi-

dent learners by providing some of the missingletters (for example, The opposite of tall iss____t). In both cases, provide the missing vo-cabulary answers at the bottom of the page. Thiscan be folded over if necessary for stronger learn-ers and left unfolded for less confident learners torefer to.

Alternatively, lay out vocabulary matching exer-cises in two columns. More confident learnerscan fold over one side of the page to make theactivity more challenging. Fill in some of the miss-ing letters in crosswords for less confident learn-

ers.


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General ideas for differentiation

Provide learners with a certain number of tasks(for example, 10). Tell learners that a proportionof these tasks (for example, 5) must be com-pleted and that the additional tasks are optional.

If learners succeed in completing the obligatorytasks, they will feel they have achieved the objec-tive rather than failed to answer everything. Theadditional tasks can be completed by ‘fast finish-ers’ or assigned as homework if necessary. Useproject work as a way to allocate tasks to learnersaccording to their ability, learning styles,strengths and weaknesses. Try to provide differ-entiated versions as double-sided worksheets.This not only saves paper, but allows learners tochoose from a selection of activities if they arefeeling below par or up for an additional chal-lenge.

Summary

Providing differentiated worksheets and supportstrategies (sentence or vocabulary cues, havingaccess to examples and so on) allows learners towork towards the same outcomes, rather thanhaving a whole class working on different things.Differentiation increases motivation, interest andrelevance while providing more opportunities forachievement and success.

While there is a huge industry devoted to the pub-lication of EFL materials, there seems to be much

less in the way of ESOL resources. As the num-ber of ESOL students grows, so does the needfor ESOL appropriate materials.

More and more publishers are beginning to pro-duce teacher resource books based on existingEFL textbooks. Such resource books haveadapted, simplified activities based on the exer-cises in the original course books. Until more ofthese photocopiable resources are available,teachers may have to continue adapting tried andtested ELT materials.

Biodata

Samantha Deans teaches English at the BritishCouncil in Paris, France. She has taught EFL

and ESOL in Germany, Japan, the USA and theUK. She is interested in materials development

and has recently been working on ESOL specificresources for the UK market.

If you would like to try out some of the teaching mate-

rials mentioned here, please contact Sam directly at

[email protected]


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Reigniting, Re-Reigniting, Re-Reigniting, Re-Reigniting, Re-

tooling and Re-tooling and Re-tooling and Re-tooling and Re-

tiring in Eng-tiring in Eng-tiring in Eng-tiring in Eng-

lish Languagelish Languagelish Languagelish Language

Teaching.Teaching.Teaching.Teaching.

By Neil Mc BeathBy Neil Mc BeathBy Neil Mc BeathBy Neil Mc Beath

This paper was originally written as part of a chapter

for a book of the same title which is to be published by

the University of Michigan Press. When I submitted

the chapter, I was unaware that, back in the early

1970s, the UAE editor had been a member of the

steering committee responsible for the original RSA

Certificate in the Teaching of English as a Foreign

Language to Adults. He took exception to some of my

criticisms, and returned what I had written, together

with no fewer than thirteen comments, including sug-

gestions that my arguments were unclear. I, in turn,

rebutted his criticisms, whereupon he informed me

that he was ”reluctantly” rejecting my submission. The

paper is now offered with passages in bold italics,

indicating where changes have been made, or material

inserted, in an attempt to make my meaning clearer.

Then; Igniting and tooling up.Then; Igniting and tooling up.Then; Igniting and tooling up.Then; Igniting and tooling up.

In the preface to The Language Teaching Matrix,

Richards (1990), states “Teaching depends on the ap-

plication of appropriate theory, the development of

appropriate instructional designs and strategies, and

the study of what actually happens in the classroom.Because these ingredients will change according to the

teaching context, effective teaching is continually

evolving throughout one’s teaching career.” (P. vii).

Today, few people involved in education would dis-agree with those sentiments. They are the essence of

reigniting and retooling. When I began teaching EFL,in 1974, however, Richards’ comments would have

been close to heresy.

In those days, the Royal Society of Arts’ Certificate in

the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language to

Adults was based on what Richards (1998; 46) de-scribes as the “noncompatible view, which is based on

the belief that a particular teaching conception is valid,

and that others are unacceptable and should be dis-

couraged.” The RSA beliefs were firm. “Good” teach-

ing was presentation-practice-production. No language

other than English should ever be used in the class-room. Choral drilling was effective. The RSA Certifi-

cate was a “highly esteemed qualification”(Richardson

1977), and its holders needed no further training.

In fact, Richardson’s praise for the RSA Certificate

was hardly impartial. The quotation comes from the

RSA Examinations Boards’ report on its own activities

for the years 1976-77. At that time the Certificate had

been in existence for only two years, and 477 candi-

dates had successfully completed the course. It was far

too early to say how the qualification was regarded, because at that stage it had only rarity value. A further

1334 had been referred in the written section; referred

in the practical; failed outright, or failed to complete

the exam. Their views are not recorded, although one

disappointed candidate was later moved to describe

the process as “dishonest and unfair” (Cooke; 1979)

I failed the Certificate. According to my assessor, my

personality “was in general unsuitable for teaching”.

That might have been a good time to retire, but I ques-

tioned the assessment. I was already a qualified andexperienced teacher of English literature. I felt I was


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“unsuitable” because of my age and my gender.

On my RSA course there had been 14 women, 2 men,

and I had been the youngest by at least a decade. In the

1970’s in England, EFL training was something under-

taken by middle-aged, middle-class ladies; people who

wanted to be qualified for a few hours part-time teach-

ing in local Further Education centres. The colleges, of

course, encouraged this. For them, the RSA Certificate

was a license to print money. The low pass rate, to-

gether with the referral system, allowed for repeat business. The teachers-in-training could be used as

unpaid instructors on day release courses, thereby sav-

ing the cost of a qualified teacher, and teacher-training

allowed full time staff to claim a higher grade of re-

sponsibility, which reflected well on their Head of

Department. Even so, teaching EFL was not a career;

it was not a job for “proper teachers” (Gillett 2008)

I, however, wanted to make it a career, and so I aban-

doned the RSA approach. I took a year’s sabbatical

leave and taught for one of the Association of Recog-

nised English Language Schools. I also took the Trin-

ity College Diploma in TESOL, which was more rig-

orous than the RSA Certificate. I had to study compul-

sory phonetics, and take an oral examination as well

as a practical teaching test – but I passed.

Now; reignited and retooledNow; reignited and retooledNow; reignited and retooledNow; reignited and retooled

I teach in the Language Center at the Sultan Qaboos

University in Oman. This is my second period inOman. From 1981 to 2005 I was a Flight Lieutenant in

the Royal Air Force of Oman, teaching English to Air

Force and Army personnel, including officers and

other ranks. At different times I worked with Artillery,

Ordnance, Armour Brigade, Force Medical Services

and Signals personnel. I taught Air Force Cadets, Air-

craft Engineering Technicians and Ground Support

personnel. In those days I taught English for SpecificPurposes (ESP), or, more accurately, English for Mili-

tary Purposes (EMP). Every new course meant retool-

ing; becoming familiar with new workplace texts,

mastering new language domains, and new registers of

address. Professional development courses – M.Sc. in

ESP from Aston University in England; Masters of

Applied Linguistics from Macquarie University in

Australia; a Certificate in Using the Internet for Teach-

ers aided the retooling process.

Now I teach English for Academic Purposes (EAP);

another acronym that was unknown in 1974. Then,

there was just English for Overseas Students. The con-cept of ESP waited for Robinson’s (1980) pioneering

work. Varieties of English waited until Kachru’s

(1992) publication. The concepts of needs analyses;

concordances; appropriate registers; language domains

were equally futuristic to my RSA Certificate tutor so

in terms of theory, we have made major advances. No

one, today, would be able to offer a course of “tricks

for teachers” and claim that this was teacher training.

In simple practicalities, moreover, there have been

similar advances. On a daily basis, my students are

urged to search the internet for relevant information.

At the end of their foundation year, they are expected

to have the ability to make a powerpoint presentation.ICT is an integral part of our daily lives. In 1974, tech-

nology was a bolt-on extra; it meant using a reel-to-

reel tape recorder, and a once a week visit to the Lan-

guage Laboratory.

IATEFL, TESOL Arabia and the Materials Develop-

ment Association provide further logistic support, as

do their Special Interest Groups (SIGS). Now we have

a choice of professional journals, SIG Newsletters, on-line SIG communities, the cyber-journal Humanizing

Language Teaching, and Dave’s ESL Café. In 1974,there was only the English Language Teaching Journal

and IATEFL, falsely described by my RSA Certificate

tutor as “an organization for senior academics only!” –

a sort of round table at which only Chomsky, Halliday,

Quirk, Leech, Svartik, Greenbaum and Crystal would

be welcome.

RetiringRetiringRetiringRetiring –––– in the sense of leavingin the sense of leavingin the sense of leavingin the sense of leavingthe field.the field.the field.the field.

I am not ready to retire, but there is evidence that

many EFL teachers have long since given up. At the

40th

IATEFL International Conference, Swan (2007)

looked back to the first ATEFL conference and re-

marked how significantly the organization had grown.

In one sense he was correct. IATEFL connects farmore teachers than it could ever have imagined doing

at its foundation. Its associate teaching organizations

span the globe. And yet…. at the First Conferencethere were 90 delegates. At the 40 th, there were about

“unsuitable” be-“unsuitable” be-“unsuitable” be-“unsuitable” be-

cause of my agecause of my agecause of my agecause of my age

and my gender.and my gender.and my gender.and my gender.


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1000.

Given the exponential rate at which EFL has devel-

oped globally, and the criticism that its expansion has

aroused in some quarters (Phillipson 1992) surelythere should have been far more delegates? The in-

crease just quoted represents an annual gain of only

25 people a year . Why do so few EFL teachers join

professional associations? Or, perhaps more cogently,

why do EFL teaching associations currently attract so

few practitioners?

Could it be that EFL is in the position described by

McCourt (2005) where those who actually teach, the practitioners who interact with students on a daily ba-

sis, are left behind? These people are the backbone of

the profession, but the rewards go to those who leavethe classroom, and move into administration. Tennant

(2008) points out that there is something seriously

flawed about a system that allows beginners to betaught by inexperienced teachers. I would suggest that

there is something equally flawed that promotes good

teachers out of the classroom, and into managerial

positions for which they may have shown no aptitude.

Why, moreover, is it possible for Tajama (2007; 6;

2008;159) to report that, in Vietnam, language schools

are still hiring “’backpacker teachers who visit ……and teach English to cover their air fare and travel

around Vietnam or ‘expat wives’.“ This situation

should have changed years ago. In a country as politi-cally regulated as Vietnam, there is no excuse for al-

lowing language school proprietors to increase their

profit margins by employing cheap, unqualified la-

bour.

These so-called “teachers” perpetuate the myth that

any speaker of a language can also teach it. They also

short-change their students, offering simplistic views

of language, and “rules” of doubtful validity, fre-

quently based on prescriptive attitudes to language

which are not supported by any data. Most impor-tantly, however, they depress salaries for ALL teach-

ers, and in particular for those non-native speakers

from the host nation; people who have trained and

qualified only to find that their efforts go unrewarded.

The RSA ladies of the 1970s have retired. The profes-

sional demands on EFL teachers have been trans-

formed almost beyond recognition, and there is a net-

work of support to retool serving teachers and reignitetheir motivation. If, however, we do nothing to protect

these gains, then we will have lost the battle. EFL

teaching must cease to be a job; it must become a ca-

reer.

[email protected]

References.

Gillett, Carly. (2008) A proper teacher. IATEFL Voices 205. P.

15

Kachru, Braj. (1992.) The Other Tongue; English across Cultures.

Urbana. University of Illinois Press.

McCourt, Frank. (2005.) Teacher Man. London. Fourth Estate

Phillipson, Robert. (1992.) Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford.

Oxford University Press.

Richards, Jack C. (1990.) The Language Teaching Matrix. Cam-

bridge. Cambridge University Press.

Richards, Jack C. 1998. Beyond Training . Cambridge Cam-

bridge University Press.

Richardson, E. 1977. Report on the Society’s Examination Board

for the Season RSA Journal No. 5256 . P. 727.

Robinson, Pauline. (1980.) ESP (English for Specific Purposes)Oxford. Pergamon Press.

Swan, Michael. (2006.) The first and fortieth (I)ATEFL confer-ences. In Briony Beaven (ed) (2007) IATEFL 2006; Harrogate

Conference Selections. Canterbury; Kent IATEFL. Pp. 10-11.

Tajana, Tina Hiroko. ( 2007/2008). English in Ho Chi Minh City;

Vietnam.

JAFAE Newsletter 23, P.6. Reprinted in World Englishes 27/1, Pp.

158-159.

Tennant, Adrian. (2008) Why are we standing on our heads?

IATEFL Voices 205 P. 19


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Nik Peachey’s

blogsOver the last two years I have beenworking to try to help English languageteachers and students access onlinetechnologies to develop their Englishthrough digital literacies.

The main thrust of this work has beenthrough my blog publications. I regularlypublish free non commercial materials onthree blogs. These are:

Nik’s Learning Technology Blog: http://

nikpeachey.blogspot.com/This site includes almost 100 articles ondifferent web based technologies. Thearticles include evaluations, video tutori-als and teaching suggestions to helpteachers and teacher trainers exploitthese free technologies.

Nik’s Daily English Activities: http://daily-english-activities.blogspot.com/This site is for autonomous EFL | ESL

learners. Here they can find more than100 simple online activities that they can

do each day to help improve their Englishand digital literacy.

N i k ’ s Q u i c k S h o u t : h t t p : / /quickshout.blogspot.com/

This site includes news, tips and linksresources for educationalists interestedin what is new in learning technology andELT. There almost 200 short postingswhich cover a range of free technologies,software and websites.

Access to free technologies coupled withthe knowledge of how to use them to im-prove teaching and learning will be a cor-ner stone to developing high educationalstandards and offering our students thebest possible chance of a better future inthe 21st century.

Not every teacher and student in theworld has access to the internet, butwhere they have we should be doingeverything in our power to help them torealise their educational aspirations, en-rich their lives and share their culture

through language.

This is my small contribution to that goal.

This is my

small contri-

bution to

that goal


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Raising Teen-

agers’ Global

Awareness via

Extensive

Reading

By David Valente

Socio-cultural / wider educational background

In early 2008, I took a 10-hour bus trip fromBangkok to Nongkhai, in the north-east of Thai-land. During the journey, I curiously glancedaround to see how many of the travellers on thefull coach were reading, and, if so, what materi-als. I noticed quite a few texting on their mobiles,

others skimming newspapers while I (the onlynon Thai onboard) was the sole person reading abook. This anecdotal example confirmed what I

had observed more broadly while living in Thai-land, whether taking the plane, sky train or social-ising with Thais - reading outside of academic /professional environments for pleasure, i.e.“extensive reading”, is neither widespread norcommonplace in Thai society. Many children and

teenagers do not acquire good reading habitsfrom parents / carers further exacerbating thechallenges facing English language teaching inprimary and secondary schools, which asMackenzie (2009) highlights, include:

• absence of literate print environments

due to insufficient resources

• lack of good models of reading from

English teachers (as many as 80% are

non-English language graduates)

• limited teacher training without focus

on developing learners’ literacy skills

This was the context for my previous post asHead of Young Learner Programmes at BritishCouncil, Bangkok where I approached the task ofenabling Thai young learners to read extensively.Focus groups with parents / carers who enrolledtheir children in after-school and weekend Englishcourses indicated they were very keen to seetangible improvements in their children’s readingskills for the following specific purposes:

• an increase in Content and Language

Integrated Learning (CLIL) - reflected

in a growing number of university sub-

jects taught through English medium

• a good IELTS score required for fur-

ther / higher education abroad and for

some Thai university programmes

• to play a meaningful part in world busi-

ness

• to access knowledge and interact

online

These reasons are shared by many parents / car-ers worldwide and being a ‘good reader’ is clearlyessential to being a key player in today’s global-ised world, where English has become a linguafranca (Jenkins, 2007) for educational advance-ment and international business, as Ellis (2004:1)maintains, “to be active and informed citizens ourpupils need reading skills.” As English teachersof young learners, I believe it is crucial that we

take our broader ‘educator’ remit seriously andact as agents of change to enable our learners to


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participate in the highly competitive global mar-ket.

Mainstreaming ‘Global Awareness’The remit I refer to above is closely linked to theBritish Council’s goal to increase the use of Eng-

lish as a tool for international communication andintercultural understanding which also includesencouraging respect for human rights and de-mocratic values. For me, this involves increasinglearners’ ‘global awareness’ via three keystrands:

• international view

• global citizenship

• intercultural dialogue

I have adopted the following ‘working definitions’of the above concepts to concretise and makethem directly applicable to the classroom context:

International View

This encompasses what Ellis (ibid:2) calls“universal themes” which challenge learners toplay with ideas and feelings and address impor-tant issues. These include climate change,friendship and tolerance, love, family, loneliness,personal and cultural identity, gender, ethnicity,sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief and

age.

Global Citizenship

According to Oxfam Education (2008:2) theGlobal Citizen is someone who:

● is aware of the wider world and has a sense oftheir own role as a world citizen

● respects and values diversity

● has an understanding of how the world works

● is outraged by social injustice

● participates in the community at a range of lev-els, from the local to the global

● is willing to act to make the world a more equi-table and sustainable place

● takes responsibility for their actions

Intercultural Dialogue

For the British Council (2008:3), intercultural dia-logue recognizes that:

The world in which we all live is a world ofdifferences – differences within cultures aswell as differences between cultures. Intercul- tural dialogue acknowledges that differences

exist and seeks to develop mutual trust andunderstanding between people with diverseopinions, viewpoints and values.

To develop these three strands I applied the Brit-ish Council’s “mainstreaming” approach by em-bedding key aspects of global awarenessthroughout the English language syllabus. Wecannot lose sight of the fact that we are first andforemost language teachers and, rather than de-livering one-off, stand alone lessons on aspectsof global awareness, we need to build them intothe language and skills focus of a lesson series.In this way, learners are developing their linguisticability while simultaneously increasing their globalawareness. This follows the principles of up-to-date thinking on how children learn and contem-porary YL teaching, including cross-curricular andwhole-learning approaches. Embedding globalawareness within language and skills focus alsoensures challenging issues around equality anddiversity, for example, are presented within thescope of the learners – according to their agesand language levels.

To exemplify how this worked in actual classroompractice, I will outline a lesson series I used whileteaching an Intermediate level teen class at Brit-ish Council, Bangkok between 2007-8.

My class profile

My class consisted of fourteen Thai female andmale teenagers aged between 12 and 14. As aresult of parental / carer pressure, they attendedEnglish class throughout the academic year everyFriday evening after a long week at school. Per-haps not surprisingly, they lacked motivation and

interest in the set coursebook which did not ap-peal to their ages or cultural backgrounds. Bothinformal oral feedback (during reflective reviews)and formal written feedback (during mid coursesurveys) indicated they preferred a more ‘fun’approach to learning related to their interestswhich they identified as sports, music, celebritylives, ICT and design. All members of the groupstated that they were not very interested in litera-ture or reading texts in general. This lack of inter-est is highlighted by Ellis (ibid) who explains how,“some [learners] may be reluctant readers in theirfirst language so tackling a novel in a foreign lan-

guage with perhaps 200 or so pages of dense


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ext, no illustrations and many unfamiliar wordscan be daunting.”

I was therefore faced with the multi-layered chal-lenge of meeting their parents / carers’ expecta-tions of improved reading skills; my pedagogical

obligation to enable my learners to access read-ing materials and inspire them to read for pleas-ure; my educator remit to raise their global aware-ness, all the while making sure the lessons re-mained fun and relevant to my teens’ interests…I’m sure this is a familiar scenario for those of youwho teach teenagers worldwide!

An integrated approach

Clearly then, for my ‘reluctant readers’ a highlycreative approach to fostering good reading hab-its was required. Given that my ultimate goal wasto encourage my learners to read for pleasureand select their own books outside of the class-room I needed to set up thorough “scaffolding”inside to make this an achievable reality. Accord-

ing to Read (2008:6):

… scaffolding is a temporary construct whichcan be put up, taken down, reinforced andstrengthened, or dismantled piece by pieceonce it is no longer needed, and as children[and teenagers] develop language and skillswhich enable them to act in an increasingly

competent, confident and independent way.

As they were reticent to work with contemporaryteenage novels, I quickly realised that my selec-tion of extensive reading materials could not beconfined to written texts and needed to incorpo-rate the interests they expressed during needsanalysis and feedback to be sufficiently engagingand build confidence. Ellis (ibid:5) argues that,“we need to recognise the value of any mediathat enhances or encourages reading” and withthis principle in mind, I decided, rather than start-ing with extracts from books, I would draw on a

range of teen-relevant media as scaffolds, includ-ing DVD versions of books, teen blogs, web-quests, social networking sites, animations etc. Ithen developed the framework on the followingpage to plan a syllabus around extensive readingmaterials using Read’s (2007:237) topic-web ap-proach. The methodology I adopted can be char-acterised by what Ellis (ibid) refers to as “readercentred” where activities provide plenty of oppor-tunities in class for learners to discuss and writecollaboratively about their personal responses tothe reading materials. In my experience, theseindividual interpretations are absolutely essential

in enabling learners to raise their global aware-ness surrounding the issues embodied in the ma-

terial. I also incorporated these principles for-warded by Ellis (ibid:5):

Pupils have to be stimulated to recognise thevalue of bringing their own expectations andexperiences to bear … Opinions and interpre-

tations must vary, and their exchange andevaluation is a vital part of the interactivelearning process, involving language development, cultural awareness and growth in over- all educational terms.

The web on the next page shows the broad areasI selected as springboards for activities and thesecan be applied flexibly and adapted to suit anymaterials. It also depicts how the three strands ofglobal awareness I mentioned earlier have been‘mainstreamed’ throughout the reading materialsin an integrated manner. However, as Readmaintains, while this is a valuable tool for initialplanning, (ibid):

In order to develop a coherent learning se- quence, the activities need to be planned indetail and ordered in a logical way. This involves linking them so that each activity con- solidates and builds on what is to follow…[learners] experience a seamless series ofclassroom events. The activities lead progres- sively to new learning in a way which is bothchallenging and achievable.


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18

If you are interested in using some of the teaching

materials mentioned in this article, please content

David directly at :

[email protected]

Biodata

David Valente is a tutor for the Cambridge ESOLCELTYL / CELTA awards. He is currently a Sen-ior Trainer on a CLIL project with British Council,Qatar. His special interests include whole lan-guage learning and intercultural dialogue in ELT.

References

British Council (2009) Equal Opportunities and Diversity -The Handbook for Teachers of English

www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/resources/books/equal-opportunities-diversity-handbook

British Council (2008) Intercultural Dialogue Booklet http://www.britishcouncil.org/new/Global/intercultural_dialogue_booklet.pdf

BritLit website: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/resources/britlit

Cattell, B. & Agard, J. (2006) Butter Finger Frances Lincoln

Dhami, N. (2004) Bend It Like Beckham Welcome RainPublishers

Ellis, G. (2004) Motivating lower secondary pupils to read InEnglish! British Council magazine for teachers of English inPortugal

INDIE website: http://www.britishcouncil.org/indie

Jenkins, J. (2007) English as a Lingua Franca: Attitude and

Identity Oxford University Press

Mackenzie, A. (2009) CLILing Me Softly in Thailand: Col-laboration, Creativity and Conflict Onestopclil CLIL TeacherMagazine http://www.onestopclil.com/section_magazine.asp?catid=79 Retrieved: 28/2/09

Oxfam Education (2008) Global Citizenship A Guide forSchools:

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/gc/files/education_for_global_citizenship_a_guide_for_schools.pdf

Read, C. (2007) pp 236-239. 500 Activities for the PrimaryClassroom Macmillan Education

Read, C. (2008) Scaffolding children’s learning through storyand drama IATEFL Young Learner

A Flexible Framework for Syllabus Planning

intercultural

dialogue

international

view

teamworking

DVD / ICT links

language

skills

art, craft andprojects

a reading

challenge

drama /

role plays

global citi-zenship

language

systems

songs, rapsand chants

ExtensiveReading Mate-

rial


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19

TeachingHuman Rights

with ChildrenBy Claudia Connolly

Why the story book?

Story telling is a shared, whole class event whichengages children’s attention and imagination.They can also develop language skills in a holisticway. The story book is flexible to different intelli-gences and learning styles and it can bring em-bedded social values to the heart of the class-room. It works with aspects of emotional intelli-gence – that of relating to others and this lessonplan shows how empathy can be encouraged.The following lesson plan uses the book:

‘We are all born free’ is an illustrated Declarationof Human Rights for Children. All the royaltiesfrom the sale of this book go to Amnesty Interna-tional.

Lesson Plan SectionLesson Plan SectionLesson Plan SectionLesson Plan Section


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Lesson PlanLesson PlanLesson PlanLesson Plan

Learning Objectives

Grammar:

To understand and use:

I need / So do I

Social :

To show empathy towards others.

To grow respect for difference and diversity.

To build strategies for conflict prevention.

To develop critical thinking and understand different view points.

Vocabulary:

Everyday needs: a home, family, clean water, clothes, school and a hospital

Activity one (Plenary)

We are all different but we all have We are all different but we all have We are all different but we all have We are all different but we all have

the same needsthe same needsthe same needsthe same needs


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Ask students to look at the two illustrationsfrom, ‘We are all born Free’ and elicit someideas and vocabulary from the images.Prompt answers from features in the illustra-

tions; a home, family, clean water, clothes,school and a hospital .Let the students giveyou a range of vocabulary, including personalobjects, let them have fun with this and evoke

some of their favourite toys.

Questions:

Peace

What can you see?

What colours can you see?

Do you like the picture?

Home

What can you see?

What sort of homes can you see?

Do you like the picture?

What do we all need?

Activity Two (Circle Time)

Circle time is a democratic and creative approach developed by Jenny Mosley in whichthe whole class sits in a circle to look at issues or problems which can include personal,social, moral and health education. It can ex-

plore relationships, feelings, reflections andemotions. In L1 discuss the rules. The rulesaim to ensure emotional safety for the children, making sure they feel safe to participatewithout fear of ridicule and not forced tospeak. It also structures participation and listening. Three basic rules:

• Only one person speaks at a time and oth-

ers must listen.

• You can pass if you don’t want to speak

about something.

• Show respect for everyone at all times.

(You might want to extend this activity to de- signing a poster as a visual reminder for the

class) .

Students stand up and make a circle. Explainto students to take it in turns to step into thecircle and say what they need, recalling itemsthey saw in the illustrations Peace and Home.

Once a student has stepped into the circleinvite other students who have the same needto step into the circle too and say: I do too!

Example:I need my family. Invite all the students who have the same need to step into

the circle and say: so do I!

Continue:

I need my dog! So do I !

I need my friends! So do I!

At the end of the activity explain that ‘we areall different but we all have the same needs’.

Any comments or suggestions about the abovelesson plan, I would be pleased to hear from you:

Biodata

Claudia Connolly MA Education. She is atrained primary English language teacher andmaterials writer. She teaches children at the Brit-ish Council in Paris.

[email protected]


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The DoctorThe DoctorThe DoctorThe Doctor

LukmanLukmanLukmanLukmanBy Michael BermanBy Michael BermanBy Michael BermanBy Michael Berman

Man had hardly appeared in the world, before hebegan to think how not to die of hunger, how toget warm on a bitterly cold day and how to findmedicine against illness. The more people therewere, the more illness appeared.

So, around that time, there also appeared a doc-tor by the name of Lukman. He conceived theidea of relieving the suffering of people, of findinga remedy for illness. Lukman searched for vari-ous medicinal herbs and roots in the fields, in theravines, along banks of rivers and streams, and inmountain pastures. For the healing of wounds hefound akhurbgits (plantain), for the treatment ofSiberian ulcers, ashkhardan (a medicinal root),for the relief of malaria, adjakva (a winter multi-flowered plant), and he discovered the medicinal

properties of a great many other herbs. With flow-ers, with leaves, with roots he cured people of allkinds of ailments. There was only one that he didnot know about: how to cure a toothache.

On one occasion a snake crawled to him and be-gan to beg him, “I frequently have terrible head-aches, cure me!” Lukman agreed to help him, butat the same time he asked whether he knew aremedy for toothache. “If it is not possible tosoothe the tooth with medicine, then it is neces-sary to pull it out, since there is nothing worsethan this suffering”, answered then snake.

“Yes, I understand”, said Lukman, “but the troubleis that I do not know with what and how oneought to pull the teeth”.

“You can pull a tooth with something similar to myhead, with a contraption that would be able toopen and close”.

“That is good advice. In gratitude for it I will in-struct you of the most sure remedy for a head-ache. As soon as you have a headache, lie downon a highway, rolling yourself into a ball, pressingyour head to the ground and closing your eyes.Simply lie motionless, trying to sleep, not paying

attention to anything. After about an hour theheadache will pass completely.”

“Thank you friend”, said the snake, and it crawledinto the bushes, in order to instruct all the snakesof the remedy for headaches.

This is why snakes, even today, after rollingthemselves into a ball, settle themselves in themiddle of the road; and people, creeping up to

them, kill them.

On one occasion, Lukman, after pelting rain,wanted to get across a river which was a swollentorrent. The narrow little bridge, thrown across it,was slippery, since the water was coming upthrough the cracks from below. Lukman slippedand fell into the river. With difficulty he managedto clamber out on to dry ground. Most of themedicines, which he was carrying with him, werelost, and only a few items were deposited by the

current on to the bank. Lukman gathered up thesurviving medicines, and with them he cures peo-ple even to this day.

The story was taken from Bgazhba, Kh.S.(1985) Abkhazian Tales, Translated from theRussian, with new Introduction by D.G. Hunt.(Russian edition published by Alashara Publish-ing House, Sukhumi). The collection can befound in the University College of London library,and it was donated to the library by the transla-tor.

Notes for Teachers

Pre-listening : Have you ever stopped to ask your-self why illnesses exist? Once upon a time therewas a cure for every known illness but unfortu-nately many of them got lost. How did this comeabout? In groups write a story to explain how thishappened.


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Post-listening : What alternative remedies do youknow of for some of the everyday illnesses andcomplaints that people suffer from? Working insmall groups, make a list of them. Then make

sentences about them using the structure IS (or ARE) BELIEVED/ CLAIMED/SAID/SUPPOSED/THOUGHT/ TO BE. For example: Guarana fromthe Amazon is said to give you an energy boostand drinking camomile tea is claimed to be agood cure for a hangover.

***

Michael Berman BA, MPhil, PhD (Alternative

Medicines) works as a teacher and a writer. Pub-lications include A Multiple Intelligences Road toan ELT Classroom and The Power of Metaphor for Crown House, and The Nature of Shamanismand the Shamanic Story for Cambridge ScholarsPublishing. Shamanic Journeys through Dagh-estan and Shamanic Journeys through the Cau-casus are both due to be published in paperbackby O-Books in 2009. Michael has been involvedin teaching and teacher training for over thirtyyears, has given presentations at Conferences inmore than twenty countries, and hopes to havethe opportunity to visit many more yet. For more

information, please visit

www.Thestoryteller.org.uk

Place youradvert

here


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Book ReviewBook ReviewBook ReviewBook Review

A course book A course book A course book A course book

for the Chinesefor the Chinesefor the Chinesefor the Chinese

market market market marketBy Xiaobing Wang By Xiaobing Wang By Xiaobing Wang By Xiaobing Wang

The “New Standard English” series are themost popular English textbook for primaryand middle school students in China. Thefirst eight books for senior school studentsare compulsory teaching materials for thesenior high students. The eight books forsenior schools have some problems in re-gard to equal opportunities and diversity.

Firstly, 80% of the materials in these booksare about the United States and Britain, andnone is about Africa or any other developing

countries in Asia except China. In one typicalcase, a module called “War and Peace”, thereading passages are “WWII NormandyLanding” and “Saving Private Ryan”, as wellas a speech by Winston Churchill withoutmentioning any other countries or events.

Secondly, religions in the world and Chinaare missing in the textbooks. Christianity isclosely related to the development of Eng-lish. And world religions and belief systemsare also critical issues in today's world. Stu-

dents should be exposed to these issues fora better understanding of global issues.

Finally, the publishing company offers onlineaudio and video materials and PPT forteachers to download. But a considerablenumber of the teachers outside urban cen-ters don't have the internet access and can’tmake use of those supporting materials.

In a word, both of the policy makers and pub-lishing companies need to take equal oppor-

tunities and diversity into account for thebenefit of the teachers and students.

Publisher: Foreign Language Teaching and

Research Press ISBN：7-5600-4304-6/

G.2228

Biodata

Xiabing Wang's is studying an MA inTESOL, in the Institute of Education,University of London. She is currentlyexecutive officer in the Students’ Unionand chair of the TESOL SOCIETY in IOE.Before coming to London, she taughtEnglish in secondary schools in Chinafor 8 years. She is a member of IATEFLand was invited to give a presentation

on ‘Dilemmas Facing Chinese FemaleEnglish Teachers’ at IATEFL, Exeter, thearticle was later published in the VOICE

magazine.


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British Council Symposium onBritish Council Symposium onBritish Council Symposium onBritish Council Symposium on

Equal Opportunity and DiversityEqual Opportunity and DiversityEqual Opportunity and DiversityEqual Opportunity and Diversity

in ELT: Getting it Rightin ELT: Getting it Rightin ELT: Getting it Rightin ELT: Getting it Right ---- tooktooktooktook

place on 20/21 February 2009 atplace on 20/21 February 2009 atplace on 20/21 February 2009 atplace on 20/21 February 2009 at

the British Council, Spring Gar-the British Council, Spring Gar-the British Council, Spring Gar-the British Council, Spring Gar-

dens in Londondens in Londondens in Londondens in London ---- This symposium

brought together managers, leaders and

practitioners from the UK and around the

world to discuss and share understandingsfor new perspectives in ELT. We have in-

cluded here summaries of the four principle

speakers during the symposium, kindly put

together by Xiabing Wang.

You can find the talks as video clips online

http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2009/voices-

diversity-and-equal-opportunity-elt-

signature-event

• Session 1: Fiona Bartels-Ellis OBE –

Head of Equal Opportunity and Diversity,

British Council

• Session 2: Fiona Bartels-Ellis OBE –

Head of Equal Opportunity and Diversity,

British Council

• Session 3: Dr Catherine Walter – Sen-

ior Lecturer in Education, Institute of Educa-tion, London

• Session 4: Chris Lima – Hornby

Scholar, University College of St Mark & St

John, Plymouth

Session 5: Adrian Underhill – Consultant &Series Editor, Macmillian Books for Teachers

Getting it Right,Getting it Right,Getting it Right,Getting it Right,

British Council and Global Issues SigBritish Council and Global Issues SigBritish Council and Global Issues SigBritish Council and Global Issues Sig


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Interviews: You can also listen to recorded

comments from a selection of delegates

Session 1and 2

Equal Opportunity andDiversity in ELT - the legal,

ethical and organisational

framework

Fiona Bartels Ellis is Head of Equal Opportu-nity and Diversity at the British Council. Sheis a member of the Higher Education Acad-emy and the Professional Mediators Asso-

ciation. In 2002 Fiona received a Main-streaming Diversity Award from the Euro-pean Federation of Black Women BusinessOwners and in June 2005 was awarded anOBE at the Queen’s Birthday Honours forher equality and diversity work. In July 2008she won the Ghana Professional Achievers(GPA) Award for humanitarian services tothe UK and Ghana.

In this talk, Fiona firstly reveals the definitionof ‘Equal Opportunity and Diversity

(EO&D).In the field of ELT, ‘equal opportu-nity’ responds to the discrimination of specialgroups and ‘diversity’ concerns a range ofdifferences. She also includes what EO andD is not: it is not about reducing standards, itis not a distraction from more important is-sues, it is not about tokenism and politicalcorrectness and it is not about removing ourprejudices-it is about recognising that theyexist and then questioning them before weact.

The British Council’s frame work of EO&Dconsists of three strands: business, moraland legal, covering the dimensions of; sexualorientation, gender, religion or beliefs, ethnic-ity, age, disability and work-life balance.

Fiona highlights the variety of elements con-tributing to what is driving the EO&D agendain ELT. Among others are the ever-changingglobal context, changing needs and expecta-tions of customers and staff, legislation andthe managing of financial and reputationalrisk. Then some concrete challenges facingthe EO&D agenda are elaborated, including

buy-in from ELT practitioners, culture sensi-tivity, and lack of guidance or support suchas absence of EO&D in training and course-books. The good news is that the BritishCouncil has introduced the ‘Diversity Assess-

ment Framework’ (DAF) in order to monitorEO and D in its ELT operations.

Fiona offered 10 case studies relevant toEO&D issues for group discussion. It gener-ated considerable reflex ion and highlightedthe complexity of the subject. Finally, Fionaconcludes that the promotion of EO&D is aprocess rather than an event.

Session 3

Equal Opportunity andDiversity in ELT

—connecting with Disability

Catherine Walter is a Lecturer in Educationand an Equal Opportunities Coordinator atthe Institute of Education, University of Lon-don (IOE), as well as a writer of award-winning English language teachingbooks. She won the ‘Higher Education Academy National Teaching Fellow’ in 2008.

Catherine delves into the legal and socialdefinitions of ‘disability’, and points out thelatter is not something inherited in the indi-vidual but barriers created by people’s inter-action and environment which can preventthem from participating in activities. In thatcase, anyone might be referred as ‘disabled’in some specific context.

Catherine engaged wittily with the audiencein focused activities about the participantsrelated experience in real life, followed by aquestion time. The first activity was to askthe audience to make a list of the kinds ofdisabilities learners have had in their experi-ence and discuss in 5 groups what sorts ofadjustments they have made for those learn-ers. One question raised here was what if insome countries, there aren’t any relevantlaws available. Catherine suggested in thatsituation, the government and organizationsmay possibly try to find some volunteers to

assist and help the disabled in local commu-nities. The concern in the second activity


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was about the recruiting for teacher trainingcourses. The audience was discussed whenwas the appropriate time for the applicants todisclose their disabilities. Finally it wasagreed that the applicants should have full

freedom to disclose their disability or not. Wecan’t judge someone’s future. What weshould do is to assess their competence ofthe course itself in some carefully designedway and to encourage disclosure as early aspossible.

At the end of the talk, Catherine appeals formore pressure on the curriculum designersfor teacher training courses in order to buildawareness and facilitate disabled learnersneeds.

Session 4

Equal Opportunity and Di-

versity in ELT

—connecting with criti-

cal literacy and classroom

practice Chris Lima is an active moderator of theIATEFL Literature, Media and Cultural Stud-ies SIG and of the Associação de Profes-sores the Ingles do Rio Grande do Sul Dis-cussion List. She is the Project Coordinatorof the BC ELT e-Reading Group and the edi-tor of the Critical Literacy in ELT ProjectOnline Publications. Currently she is basedin Plymouth, Devon, in the south of west ofEngland where she is doing a Masters in

Trainer Development in ELT.

In this talk, Chris juxtaposes critical literacyand EO&D. She underpins the way Globalchanges go hand in hand with changes inthe nature of education. In this century, Eng-lish, as a lingua Franca, is becoming a basicskill for literacy in the world with huge impli-cations. The definition of critical literacy Chrisemploys is an educational practice whichemphasizes the relationship between lan-guage, social practice, citizenship, intercul-

tural relations and global / local issues. AsELT professionals, how can we prepare the

learners to identify with English in this world?Chris scaffolds five aspects which help trans-late critical literacy into classroom practice.Firstly, the relationship between teachersand learners, materials and resources, un-

derstanding of language, global issuesknowledge, and teaching objectives andpractices.

Integrated with EO&D, critical literacy in theclassroom setting urges teachers to startwhere the students are ‘at’. It combines lan-guage teaching with local and global issues,at the same time offering open spaces andopen minds to make sure different voices areheard.

Some questions about the nature and themanagement of the classroom were askedafter the group discussions. Chris respondedthat every class is diverse and that teachersshould encourage learners to think and an-swer the possible problems rather than givetheir own answers. Existing conflicts cannever be avoided, but we can try to facilitatelearners to discuss and negotiate the con-flicts. At last Chris stresses that teachersshould be sensitive to their students’ needs.

The only criteria of the choice of topics in theclassroom is whether it is something benefi-cial for both their language learning as wellas building humanist values.

Session 5

Equal Opportunity and

Diversity in ELT

—bring enquiry and reflec-

tive approaches to teacher

training and practice

Adrian Underhill is a past-president of IATEFL and founder of the IATEFL Teacher Develop-ment Group. He is also a consultant and coach in

leadership development, and Training Consultantto the International Teacher Training Institute at

Embassy CES in the UK. He is series editor ofthe ‘Macmillan Teacher Development Series’ of


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handbooks for teachers.

To begin with, Adrian reflects on the framing ofEO&D as a leadership activity. He distinguishes

the post-heroic leadership as ‘influencing thecommunity to face its problems…’. In order to

fill in the gap between what people value andwhat is actually happening, he emphasises theneed to hold open opportunities in order to en-courage others to contribute. He reiteratesWheatley’s belief that we should ‘depend’ on

diversity.

Adrian illustrates Bill Torbert’s idea of tour terri-tories of experience which teachers can choose to

examine in their work development: values and purposes, thinking and planning, actions and be-

haviours, and impacts and outcomes.

In regard to developing EO&D awareness andcommitment in teachers, Adrian formulates threestrategies. Firstly to get conversations goingamong trainee teachers on whatever aspects ofEO&D have been experienced or have personalmeaning. Encourage reflection, discussion andactions. Notice what is going on in the interac-

tion, and especially something trivial in detail.Last but not the least, develop a culture that

strives to be more richly informed and empatheticregarding learner experience. Listen to the differ-

ences without immediate judgement or correct-ness.

Adrian proposes that in training rooms andstaffrooms people should surface assumptionsand recognize how they look at others, as well asgive insight on how they are different from oth-

ers. Adrian refines the teachers’ role as a facilita-tor, challenging situations under the principles of

empathy, acceptance and congruence.


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GI Newsletter 2009 Summer