Monthly Archives: April 2022

I have a day off tomorrow for my stepson’s thrice-Covid-postponed wedding and it’s the Early May Bank Holiday next Monday, so I’ll be back next Tuesday, refreshed – I hope! 1. Two from my colleague Ann to start with: The … Continue reading →

1. NATESOL have very kindly made TEN FREE PLACES available for their annual conference on Saturday, 14th May, the theme of which is TESOL Today: Local, Global, Equal & Open https://www.natesol.org/event-details/natesol-annual-conference-2022-1 Here’s their blurb: “Our focus is on how TESOL … Continue reading →

1. ‘The French town where the lighting is alive’ is one of many pieces on the BBC Future site https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220407-the-living-lights-that-could-reduce-energy-use There’s a Future Planet section https://www.bbc.com/future/future-planet/ Try this one, ‘The Caribbean mangrove forest that defied destruction’? https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220329-how-a-caribbean-community-restored-its-dying-mangrove 2. Here’s the … Continue reading →

1. Another free book from Cambridge University Press in their Elements in Language Teaching series, Reflective Practice in Language Teaching by Thomas S C Farrell https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/reflective-practice-in-language-teaching/DFC2E45025AE1A9520A4A1A5B832B872 One of the author’s intentions is to call “attention to the importance of emotions … Continue reading →

1. The River Thames is now considered one of the world’s cleanest ‘city’ rivers, but only sixty years ago, it was declared “biologically dead”. Here’s the story of its resurrection https://theconversation.com/from-biologically-dead-to-chart-toppingly-clean-how-the-thames-made-an-extraordinary-recovery-over-60-years-180895  2. At 16:00 UK time on Tuesday, 26th April, … Continue reading →

1. An older piece (2019) from The Conversation that I chanced upon the other day, Why are so many languages spoken in some places and so few in others? https://theconversation.com/why-are-so-many-languages-spoken-in-some-places-and-so-few-in-others-116573 Before you read the piece, why do you think it … Continue reading →

1. On the face of it, developed countries were much more generous with Official Development Assistance (ODA) aid in 1960 than they are today, with 0.54% of GDP spent on aid compared to 0.33% in 2020 https://www.oecd.org/dac/financing-sustainable-development/development-finance-standards/official-development-assistance.htm 2. A fair … Continue reading →

1. It’s Earth Day this Friday, 22nd April, and the Climate Action in Language Education team are celebrating with a special event at 11:00 UK time, “to launch a new research publication, ‘Climate action across the global English language teaching … Continue reading →

Back online on Tuesday – it’s Easter weekend here in the UK. 1. First of two from Language Magazine: A Superpower Hidden in Plain Sight, a piece by Adeola Whitney about viewing linguistic diversity as an asset rather than as … Continue reading →

1. Assessing learning, with Carolyn Westbrook and Richard Spiby, is the title of a new, six-part series of English Teaching Talks videos https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/english-teaching-talks-assessing-learning-0 Introductory video here https://youtu.be/9PzCYx4sWu0 Other subjects in the series so far are Integrating ICT with Nik Peachey … Continue reading →