1. The application process for A. S. Hornby Educational Trust scholarships for study in the UK has just opened for English language teachers from outside the UK to study on the one-year MEd TESOL at the University of Exeter from September 2024. The deadline for receipt of applications is 1 March 2024, and there are two (online) application forms to complete, the Exeter University one, which you need to do first, and the Hornby Trust one, both to be found here https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/funding/award/?id=4676

More info about the scholarships and the Hornby Trust more generally here https://www.hornby-trust.org.uk/scholarships#Scholarships

A life-changing experience, say previous Hornby scholars!

2. I missed this balanced article by Ann Veitch in EL Gazette the first time round back in July, Is EME beneficial to students? https://www.elgazette.com/is-eme-beneficial-to-students/

“In basic education (BE), the perception of governments, parents and learners is often that learning subjects through English is advantageous for educational and career success, but there is little (if any) evidence to support this view.

“In higher education (HE), there are many perceived advantages to EME, including economic growth, university prestige, access to intercultural learning, increased student revenue and increased competency in English, However, again, evidence to support most of these benefits is limited or lacking, partly due to a lack of monitoring and evaluation of EME programmes.”

PDF below (which I hope doesn’t get me into trouble with the editor-in-chief).

[PDF x 1]

3. Here’s a peach (rhymes with Veitch) of a freebie from Peachey Publications, Cooperative Learning and the Sustainable Development Goals https://payhip.com/b/obOwr Big file so not attached to e-mail but on WhatsApp and the blog.

“With its practical approach and rich content, this book equips teachers with the tools they need to foster collaborative environments, enhance language proficiency, and cultivate global citizenship through engaging and impactful lessons.” (I still haven’t quite come to terms with ‘impactful’ but that’s my problem, not Nik’s!)

4. What should those of us who voted ‘remain’ in the Brexit referendum make of this article from PLOS One, I wonder? Cognitive ability and voting behaviour in the 2016 UK referendum on European Union membership https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0289312(PLOS stands for Public Library of Science.) PDF below.

Plus a recent Radio 4 Analysis programme on The Democratic Brain, which explores similar territory https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001r1gn

“Our brain is a wonderful machine, but it can also short-circuit. What happens to us when emotions and politics intersect, when the democratic, listening brain is cut off, or when we succumb to ‘hate speech’? Research using the latest brain scanners shows that the older part of the brain called the amygdala is ‘triggered’ by emotional responses out of proportion to the impacting stimulus. So, perhaps are we after all wolves in human clothing? Not necessarily: we have also developed the frontal cortex which the scans show is stimulated by rational argument. What can scanning the brain reveal about our political affiliations? Can the field of neuro-politics improve political discourse or leave us open to manipulation?”

5. And, finally, some absurd trolley problems from Neal https://neal.fun/absurd-trolley-problems/ More good stuff from him here https://neal.fun/ Not quite sure who Neal is, mind you – he might be a bot!