Monthly Archives: January 2023

1. UnHerd (good double pun) put 10 statements in front of 10,000 UK voters, covering Brexit, gender ideology, political disillusionment, conspiracy, Net Zero, immigration, the monarchy, the cost-of-living crisis, housing and lockdowns. In each case, respondents chose whether they agreed … Continue reading →

1. A piece from my previous employer, the British Council: Vicky Gough’s article for their online magazine, Voices: The British and their secret language regrets https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/british-and-their-secret-language-regrets We are not a nation of happy monoglots, it seems. 2. A piece from … Continue reading →

1. I could imagine that many of us have mixed feelings – at least! – about the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos. This year’s has just ended, and here’s McKinsey’s ‘five key takeaways’ from it https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/themes/5-takeaways-from-the-world-economic-forums-2023-meeting There’s a … Continue reading →

1. Three more on ChatGPT – tell me when you’re getting bored, please! Nick Cave’s view is that This Song Sucks https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jan/17/this-song-sucks-nick-cave-responds-to-chatgpt-song-written-in-style-of-nick-cave From The New York Times, Alarmed by A.I. Chatbots, Universities Start Revamping How They Teach https://tinyurl.com/4zh9wt92 From The … Continue reading →

1. More easily promised than delivered, a values-based education? John Gibbs of Teachers Talk Radio asked Bridget Knight, the author of ‘On the Subject of Values … and the Value of Subjects: New thinking to guide schools through the curriculum’ … Continue reading →

1. Climate Justice: what’s it got to do with ELT? The answer according to Green ELT is, ‘Quite a lot!’ Find out more here https://green-action-elt.uk/events/ and register here for the event at 14:00 UK time next Friday, 20th January https://nile-elt.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUtdeGhqzsuHNOL9nepJhyBR5RkmOfNWVHV … Continue reading →

1. I’ve mentioned NESTA, the UK’s National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, before. Not sure they use their full, long name anymore https://www.nesta.org.uk/ Here’s their annual round-up “of the innovations and ideas that could have implications for the … Continue reading →

1. Two from the TeachingEnglish site to start with: a) A three-module, four-week, nine-hour course on Teaching English through literature, developed in partnership with Macmillan India https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/teaching-english-through-literature b) Maria Jose Galleno from Uruguay talking about effective strategies for enabling teacher … Continue reading →

Happy New Year, everyone! 1. Here’s another academic’s take on ChatGPT: Tony Bates’s Playing with ChatGPT: now I’m scared (a little) https://www.tonybates.ca/2023/01/02/playing-with-chatgpt-now-im-scared/ There’s a growing (sensible) consensus that ChatGPT is not going to go away, so we’d better find a … Continue reading →