Earlier than usual this week, to give you chance to catch the first item below at 09:00 UK time tomorrow, Tuesday morning …

1. Scroll down (a fair way) to June in the ‘Live Webinars’ section of the LanguageCert webinars for teachers page, where you’ll find information and Zoom links for a series of four free webinars on developing the four skills which starts with Listening Skills at 09:00 UK time tomorrow, Tuesday 18^th June https://www.languagecert.org/en/preparation/webinars/webinars-for-teachers

Reading, writing and speaking skills at the same time each day this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

2. If you’re not a language teacher, the title of this Trinity webinar with Emily Bryson at 16:00 UK time this Wednesday, 19^th June, may well cause some confusion – Scaffolding Success: Visual Tools to Supercharge Self-Evaluation and Progression https://www.trinitycollege.com/qualifications/teaching-english/transformative-teachers/scaffolding-success-visual-tools

If you are a language teacher, you’ll probably be fine, but here’s the Wikipedia page on scaffolding, just in case https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instructional_scaffolding

3. The latest free-to-download (for a week or ten days, usually) Cambridge Element in Language Teaching is Language Learning beyond English: Learner Motivation in the Twenty-First Century by Ursula Lanvers from York University https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/language-learning-beyond-english/E08DD5F982E17F239B42435302F6ED02

Here’s the blurb: This book addresses three questions:

a) Can Global English unequivocally be framed as a ‘killer’ language for learning LOTEs (languages other than English)? If so, under what premises?

b) What are the rationales and justifications for learning LOTE in the age of Global English?

c) What are the pedagogical and policy implications for learning LOTE in the age of Global English? What can we learn from current (best and less good) practice?

Attempts to engage learners in learning a variety of languages – rather than just English – often fail to achieve desired results, both in Anglophone and non-Anglophone contexts. Can English be blamed? What can policymakers and educators do to address the crisis? A new matrix of rationales for language learning is proposed, advocating an interconnected, socially embedded justification for language learning.

Existential questions for LOTE teachers? I promised Jim and Heath I wouldn’t make the PDFs too easily available ….

4. Scroll down the Green ELT events page until you get to Vicky Saumell’s webinar at 16:00 UK time this coming Friday, 21^st June, AI and climate change: friends or foes? https://green-action-elt.uk/events/

Here’s Vicky’s abstract: So-called Artificial Intelligence is taking the world by storm and people are finding ways to use it in every field. But when it comes to environmental education in general and climate change in particular, can we be sure it is a good fit? We’ll look at ways in which AI can help teachers who are addressing climate change education, but we will also look at current issues that may prove controversial.

5. And, finally, how not to spill your coffee from the Oxford Sparks series https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clXv-UFE_Vs

More Oxford Sparks videos here https://www.oxfordsparks.ox.ac.uk/

including The magic of mangroves: defending the defenders https://www.oxfordsparks.ox.ac.uk/videos/the-magic-of-mangroves/