Author Archives: roycross

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 →

1. Black Mountains College https://blackmountainscollege.uk/ are organising a ‘climate careers fair’ at 10:00 UK time on Saturday 30th April, to “explore the impact that the new era of climate and ecological crisis will have on the concept of a career … Continue reading →

1. This piece of research, reported on in The Guardian, puzzles me. England state school pupils as happy with life as private school peers is the headline https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/apr/07/england-state-school-pupils-as-happy-with-life-as-private-school-peers-survey But what do you make of this? “Those who attended fee-paying independent … Continue reading →

1. My British Council colleague in Lima, Ralph Grayson, is looking for a consultant to develop resource packs to accompany recordings of the plenary sessions from the recent BBELT conference. More details here https://pe.live.solas.britishcouncil.digital/sites/default/files/280322_tor_new_ways_of_teaching_academic_consultant.pdf Nothing ventured, nothing gained? 2. Another … Continue reading →

1. How can I use different languages in my teaching? is the title of the latest episode in the TeachingEnglish podcast series by Chris Sowton and Kris Dyer https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/british-council-teachingenglish-episode-8-how-can-i-use-different-languages-my-teaching “Students’ home languages should be seen as assets in the English … Continue reading →