Monthly Archives: July 2023

Late yet again this week, but this time for an excellent reason: this year’s cohort of Hornby Trust MA scholars paid a visit to Cambridge yesterday! 1. Thanks to Graham Stanley for this, UNESCO’s Global education monitoring report, 2023: technology … Continue reading →

1. We prefer things to be black and white, with no shades of grey. Tobias Ellwood, the chair of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee, made the mistake of suggesting in a video recently that the Taliban had some … Continue reading →

Late again this week, this time due to an unusually painful bout of sciatica. Suggestions from fellow-sufferers will be most welcome! 1. This one doesn’t mince its words: “The use of English as the common language of science represents a … Continue reading →

1. I can’t remember where I came across this ELT Buzz collection on nativespeakerism – LinkedIn, maybe? https://www.eltbuzz.com/tag/native-speaker/ Ironically, ELT Buzz itself https://www.eltbuzz.com/ has a bit of a native speaker vibe, but it does a good job hoovering up news … Continue reading →

1. Here’s an update on the current free IATEFL offer: 2. It’s World Youth Skills Day on Saturday, 15th July. Here’s a sobering post on the World Bank Education for Global Development blog https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/youth-economic-disengagement-harsh-global-reality-remember-world-youth-skills-day Seven out of every 10 youth … Continue reading →

One day late as I got carried away with Hansjörg Schneider’s ‘The Basel Killings’ yesterday … 1. Something a little different to start with today: two articles from The Conversation by Gavin Harper of Birmingham University on rare metals and … Continue reading →

1. I’m going to try to keep this simple. At 12:00 UK time this Saturday, 8th July, British Council China are reporting on their recent research project, Online Teacher Research Mentoring for Professional Learning: Experiences of Chinese English Teachers. Five … Continue reading →

1. Thanks to Robin Skipsey for sending this one, prompted by the 110-year-old Cambridge exam questions the other day, 10 ‘grammar rules’ it’s OK to break (sometimes) by Steven Pinker https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/15/steven-pinker-10-grammar-rules-break 2. Native Speakerism – what is it and why … Continue reading →