Despite English’s status as a lingua franca, language courses, schools and materials are still marketed using anachronistic images of ‘Englishness’ and targeted at purely aspirational audiences. This talk analyses those contradictions, using examples from different sources: the cultural content of course books, advertising and news media, in which the native speaker model retains real power in a globalised world that at the same time undermines it. Finally, an alternative approach is suggested, promoting the need for learners to occupy their own space and fashion their own voice in an English-speaking world that is rapidly changing.

Click here to see the handout for the talk.
Click here to see an abridged version of the Powerpoint.
Click here for a link to ETP magazine where an article based on the talk appeared.

Some of the adverts used in the talk.

This workshop analyses the nature of teaching materials, focusing on the sanitised and safe approach taken by many course book writers. Why are topics of great social importance, such as Aids, consistently avoided? Why do many teachers have to supplement their courses with materials that truly engage their students and reflect popular culture? Why is there such a discrepancy between the real world and its ‘ELT? version?

Using a survey as a springboard for discussion, we firstly examine the topics and areas considered most and least ‘taboo’ by a cross section of teachers, then focus on ways in which new slants can be discreetly introduced into a teaching programme. We will then focus on practical ways to ‘spice up’ conventional material, find alternative sources for our texts and broach ‘uncomfortable topics’ in a ‘comfortable way’. A variety of practical examples is presented throughout.

Click here to see the handout for the talk

Click here to see an abridged version of the powerpoint

In spite of its great popularity, little has been done to implement the lexical approach in either syllabus design or course book content. This workshop will look at ways some of the central principles of this approach can be applied to daily classroom practise.

This workshop pays particular attention to the use of spoken texts. Firstly, at the way naturalistic/real-life conversations can be presented in teaching materials as useful input for learners and then, at how students can be encouraged to incorporate high-frequency spoken chunks of language to improve their fluency. Video and audio examples from ‘New Framework’ will be presented to complement the presentation.

Click here to see the handout for the talk

Click here to see an abridged version of the powerpoint

At the heart of plurilingualism, is the capacity to recognise how different languages interrelate and overlap. The Common European Framework suggests that the aim of language education is to for students to develop a linguistic repertory and sees learning as a lifelong process, rather than being based on a mastery of a particular language at a particular time. What are the implications for language learning and teaching in the light of such a shift of focus? This plenary discusses and reassess the roles of L1 and L2 in the teaching and learning process. Using my own experience of learning Portuguese as a practical example, I examine the learning styles I adopted in relation to the different Multiple Intelligences. Which ones worked and why? What conclusions can be drawn about the kinds of activities we should be promoting in class? In answering these questions, I promote the idea that we should be encouraging ‘speaking to learn’ rather than ‘learning to speak’ in our classroom.

Click here to see the handout for the talk
Click here to see an abridged version of the powerpoint