Thursday, 24th April (Cambridge)

Posted on April 24, 2025 by roycross

1. An interesting piece from Chatham House on the relationship between China and India, which they suggest will be of ‘greater long-term significance’ than the relationship between the US and China https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/2025-04/2025-04-23-how-china-india-relations-will-shape-asia-global-order-bajpaee-jie.pdf

The China–US relationship is widely regarded as the key defining geopolitical relationship of the 21st century. But relations between China and India arguably hold greater long-term significance. These two Asian nations are the world’s most populous countries (together accounting for almost 40 per cent of the global population), and its second largest and soon-to-be third largest economies, respectively. Both are competing for influence and leadership amid the emerging multipolar global order. Yet, despite its importance, the China–India relationship is poorly understood outside of those two countries. This research paper traces the trajectory of, and key factors behind, that relationship and challenges several misconceptions.

2. The next NATESOL event, at 16:00 UK time next Wednesday, 30th April, is Teaching English in a Multilingual World: Navigating Opportunities and Challenges with Mai Nguyen. More info and registration here https://www.natesol.org/event-details/teaching-english-in-a-multilingual-world-navigating-opportunities-and-challenges

Here’s the abstract for Mai Nguyen’s talk: As English continues to function as an international language, multilingualism has become the norm in language classrooms worldwide. This talk explores the dynamic relationship between English language teaching and multilingual contexts, with an aim to discuss both opportunities and challenges for language teachers and researchers. Drawing on my recent research on World Englishes in Vietnam and Indonesia, I will present cases where English teachers in these contexts have made efforts to teach English as a language that exists in multiple varieties to school learners. I will also highlight practical strategies for promoting inclusive, responsive practices, such as integrating localised English samples and encouraging students’ home languages and cultures in English lessons. At the same time, challenges, such as the strong influence of native-speaker ideals on local teaching materials and on what teachers and students believe makes a good English learner and speaker, will be critically examined. By connecting research and practice, this session hopes to offer insights and strategies while also promoting discussion on how to make English language teaching and learning more equitable, effective, and relevant in today’s multilingual world.

3. Two-minute readings by professional actors from each of the six books shortlisted for the International Booker Prize https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/watch-the-international-booker-prize-2025-shortlist-films

Try Ambika Mod’s reading from ‘Heart Lamp’ by Banu Mushtaq? https://youtu.be/C2XZ8R2U_k4

4. Two potentially related stories?

One from Literary Hub, On the Real-Life Story of Deep-Cover Russian Spies Living As American Families https://lithub.com/on-the-real-life-story-of-deep-cover-russian-spies-living-as-american-families/

and the other from Timothy Snyder on The Next Terrorist Attack – And What Comes After https://snyder.substack.com/p/the-next-terrorist-attack

5. And, finally, to my surprise and pleasure, free to watch on the Mosfilm YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@Mosfilm_eng/videos, along with lots of other classics of Russian cinema, the whole of Andrei Tarkovsky’s film, The Mirror https://youtu.be/NrMINC5xjMs

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Tuesday, 22nd April (Richmond)

Posted on April 22, 2025 by roycross

1. It’s United Nations International Mother Earth Day today https://www.un.org/en/observances/earth-day

Mother Earth is clearly urging a call to action. Nature is suffering. Oceans filling with plastic and turning more acidic. Extreme heat, wildfires and floods, have affected millions of people. Climate change, man-made changes to nature as well as crimes that disrupt biodiversity, such as deforestation, land-use change, intensified agriculture and livestock production or the growing illegal wildlife trade, can accelerate the speed of destruction of the planet. That is why we need to recover our ecosystems.

Lots of stories https://www.un.org/en/observances/earth-day/stories

and resources https://www.un.org/en/international-mother-earth-day/page/international-mother-earth-day-resources

2. Keith Kelly on CLIL (Content & Language Integrated Learning): What Austria Gets Right https://youtu.be/VZ7R99yjNIo

Keith highlights the strengths of Austria’s approach to CLIL in a global context. Drawing on real classroom examples and an Austrian study on communication in the curriculum, he discusses what makes the model successful and how it can grow further.

Slightly dodgy AI-generated subtitles in English that probably aren’t necessary!

3. Here’s The Daily Telegraph obituary of Pope Francis https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/80a4ce285163a940

When on March 13, 2013, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was asked formally if he accepted his election as bishop of Rome he replied in Latin: “I am a sinner, but I trust in the infinite mercy and patience of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Three days later he explained his reason for choosing the name Francis, after Francis of Assisi. “For me, he is the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation,” he said. “How I would like a Church which is poor and for the poor.”

4. In 1940, Captain Robin ‘Tin Eye’ Stephens (named after his ever-present monocle) interrogated the German spy Wulf Schmidt and turned him into a double agent. The latest podcast from the National Archives tells some of the curious stories behind their new exhibition, MI5: Official Secrets http://tnaontherecord.libsyn.com/mi5-official-secrets

PDF of podcast transcript here and below https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/mi5-official-secrets-show-notes.pdf

mi5-official-secrets-show-notesDownload

5. And, finally, man and cormorant in perfect harmony https://youtu.be/l5WBlVXRU0A

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Thursday, 17th April (Cambridge)

Posted on April 17, 2025 by roycross

1. Economic concepts in pictures from Visual Capitalist https://www.visualcapitalist.com/

These are their most popular graphics https://www.voronoiapp.com/posts/most-popular

and here’s the global economy in 2025 https://www.voronoiapp.com/economy/-How-the-World-Economy-Will-Look-in-2025-3358

and in 2050 (but before the Trump assault on it began, I think) https://www.voronoiapp.com/economy/Visualizing-the-Future-Global-Economy-by-GDP-in-2050-127

2. A podcast interview from The Conversation with Rob Brooks, Professor of Evolution at the University of New South Wales, How AI could influence the evolution of humanity  https://theconversation.com/how-ai-could-influence-the-evolution-of-humanity-podcast-254163

Some of the leading brains behind generative AI have warned about the risk of artificial superintelligence wiping out humanity, if left unchecked. But what if the influence of AI on humans is much more mundane, influencing our evolution over thousands of years through natural selection?

3. Advice from the University of California, Berkeley on how to Protect yourself from “Doxxing” https://oercs.berkeley.edu/privacy/privacy-resources/protect-yourself-doxxing Yes, I admit I found this because I needed to look up exactly what doxxing meant!

4. The Banksy Story, from BBC Radio 4 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m001nwhs

The story of Banksy’s rise, the stunts, the culture and the story of how the work became so valuable. And why it’s not always a blessing to have a Banksy painted on the wall of your house!

Here’s a CNN piece on some of his recent work in Ukraine https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/banksy-ukraine-murals/index.html

5. I meet the author of this article occasionally when I’m out walking. Let me know what you think? https://www.tesolunion.org/journal/details/info/0MzA09LmRi/TESOL-Teacher-Education-in-2034:-Some-Predictions PDF below.

TESOL Teacher Education in 2034 – Some PredictionsDownload

[file x 1]

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Tuesday, 15th April (Richmond)

Posted on April 15, 2025 by roycross

1. Trump vs Harvard, two NYT gift articles from the front line of the battle for academic freedom in the USA:

The Trump Administration’s Letter to Harvard https://tinyurl.com/mrucmzf7

Harvard’s Response to the Trump Administration https://tinyurl.com/3rzmv455

2. A persuasive piece for Lit Hub by Viet Thanh Nguyen, Most American Literature is the Literature of Empire https://lithub.com/viet-thanh-nguyen-most-american-literature-is-the-literature-of-empire/

The problem for imperial literature under Trump is that he sees no need for soft power, only hard power. The Trump innovation during Trump II, the Sequel—and Americans love sequels—is to dispense of any sense of imperfection, which is what imperial literature explores, as well as the notion of rules, domestic or international.

3. Recordings of all the plenaries from last week’s IATEFL conference in Edinburgh https://www.iateflconference.org/about-the-conference/plenary-recordings

The conference started with IATEFL’s first woman president (in 1993), Catherine Walter, looking back on a long and illustrious career that began in 1972, 50 years on: what has changed?, https://youtu.be/b-3WN0lN-uU

and ended with a daughter and father double act from eleven-year-old Alicia Waters Galán & Harry Waters, Five burning questions to education from a young changemaker https://youtu.be/mzMLyUfaNMM

4. Michael Feldstein’s latest post on his E-literate blog, AI Mindscape Prompting https://eliterate.us/ai-mindscape-prompting/ The title gets explained in the post!

Michael: Today’s post is going to get both a little geeky and a little trippy. But I promise it will come back to education. I’m trying to get at some little-discussed aspects of how AI works and the implications for how we work with it. Today I’ll be chatting with Gemini Advanced 2.5 Pro (experimental). Gemini, welcome to the show.

Gemini: Thank you for having me, Michael. It’s a pleasure to be “on the show” and part of this conversation for e-Literate.

5. And, finally, without further commentary, First They Came by Pastor Martin Niemöller https://hmd.org.uk/resource/first-they-came-by-pastor-martin-niemoller/

PDF below as well – please share!

First They CameDownload

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Thursday, 10th April (Richmond)

Posted on April 10, 2025 by roycross

1. First up tonight, a good news, bad news piece from The Guardian, Energy demands from AI datacentres to quadruple by 2030, says report https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/apr/10/energy-demands-from-ai-datacentres-to-quadruple-by-2030-says-report

The IEA forecast indicates a sharp rise in the requirements of AI, but said threat to the climate was ‘overstated’

2. An interesting, related report from Teacher Tapp on teacher use of AI in the UK, AI Spy: Tracking the AI Tools Teachers Use , https://teachertapp.com/app/uploads/2025/01/AI-Spy-Tracking-the-AI-Tools-Teachers-Use.pdf

Key Findings:

1. Most AI brands are still in their infancy and teachers’ use, recognition and likelihood of

recommending them is relatively low, although there are outlier brands that are doing very

well. But this is a fast moving space and teachers’ adoption of AI is growing.

2. Many AI brands offer multiple tools and functions. Given the recent growth in brands

offering these functions, along with many having low recognition and usage amongst

teachers, it seems likely that the market will not support all of them in the longer term.

3. Teachers who use generic AI tools, such as Chat GPT, are more likely to also use

education-specific AI brands and products. Brands offering AI education solutions may

find it useful to promote the benefits of their tools, such as enhanced privacy settings or

training on specific curricular models, to regular AI users in order to grow usage.

4. Teachers use AI tools to generate a wide range of resources, including lesson plans,

worksheets, model answers, comprehension questions, and assessments. Many teachers also

use AI tools to differentiate learning materials for students.

TeacherTapp AI-Spy-Tracking-the-AI-Tools-Teachers-UseDownload

3. A piece from BOLD that confirms what many of us may have suspected, Children’s awareness of stereotypes about school pathways https://boldscience.org/childrens-awareness-of-stereotypes-about-school-pathways/

And here’s the npj Science of Learning article by Lisa Bardach and her colleagues discussed in the piece Does students’ awareness of school-track-related stereotypes exacerbate inequalities in education? https://www.nature.com/articles/s41539-023-00203-9 PDF below as well.

Does students’ awareness of school-track-related stereotypes exacerbate inequalities in educationDownload

4. A ‘benefit of the doubt’ piece for Chatham House by Heather Hurlburt, Trump’s ‘liberation day’ tariffs are likely just the beginning of a longer-term vision https://www.chathamhouse.org/2025/04/trumps-liberation-day-tariffs-are-likely-just-beginning-longer-term-vision

Amid strident rhetoric and shifting targets, many observers have written off Trump’s tariff agenda either as a thoughtless time bomb that may wreck the global economy or as a negotiating tactic. But they are missing the bigger picture.

Did someone mention Humpty Dumpty? https://youtu.be/iyIDg6m4gA0

5. And, finally, not free but at a serious discount from the good people in Norwich with whom I now work part-time, in celebration of NILE’s thirtieth birthday, 30% off ALL their courses AND the matching accommodation https://www.nile-elt.com/

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Tuesday, 8th April (Cambridge)

Posted on April 8, 2025 by roycross

1. The latest issue of the European Language Gazette has just been published. Here’s all the issues, including the latest one (you can also sign up for the newsletter yourself) https://www.ecml.at/Resources/Newsletter/tabid/1385/language/en-GB/Default.aspx

Here’s a page I’d not noticed earlier, a comprehensive Multilingual glossary of key terms in language education https://www.ecml.at/Resources/ECMLglossaries/tabid/5484/language/en-GB/Default.aspx

2. A piece from Tribune by Owen Hatherley, Socialism at the Milk Bar https://tribunemag.co.uk/2025/02/socialism-at-the-milk-bar/

The authoritarian socialist regimes of the twentieth century tried to rescue people from ‘kitchen slavery’ through communal eateries. In Poland, they survive and thrive.

A note on the history of Tribune, another of those magazines I’ve lost sight of over the years: Tribune was established in 1937 as a socialist magazine that would give voice to the popular front campaigns against the rising tide of fascism in Europe. For eighty years it has been at the heart of left-wing politics in Britain, counting giants of the labour movement like Aneurin Bevan and Michael Foot among its former editors.

3. As reported in Publishing Perspectives, recent statements from the UK Publishers Association and Cambridge University Press condemning Meta’s use of copyrighted content to train its AI model, UK Publishers and Cambridge University Press call out Meta and piracy in Generative AI training https://publishingperspectives.com/2025/03/uk-publishers-and-cambridge-call-out-meta-and-piracy-in-generative-ai-training/

When employees at Meta started developing their flagship AI model, Llama 3, they faced a simple ethical question. The program would need to be trained on a huge amount of high-quality writing to be competitive with products such as ChatGPT, and acquiring all of that text legally could take time. Should they just pirate it instead? Guess what they did?

4. The Last Climbing Boy film tells the tragic story of George Brewster https://vimeo.com/1067652561?share=copy

Exactly 150 years after George’s death, a blue plaque has been unveiled in his honour at Fulbourn, just outside Cambridge. He was the last ‘climbing boy’ to die in England, and his death triggered a much greater transformation of British industrial society. On 11th February 1875, George was forced by his master to climb and clean a chimney at what was then the County Pauper Lunatic Asylum in Fulbourn. Fifteen minutes after entering the chimney, he became stuck. In an attempt to rescue him, an entire wall was pulled down. He was eventually pulled from the chimney but died shortly after.

5. And, finally, a good listen for your next bus, train or plane ride, the most recent episode of ‘The Writer’s Voice’ series in The New Yorker: David Bezmozgis Reads “From, To”, his story from the April 14 2025 issue https://tinyurl.com/53cykftx Lots more writers reading their own stories here https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-writers-voice

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Thursday, 3rd April (Richmond)

Posted on April 3, 2025 by roycross

1. The Healthy Linguistic Diet team, Thomas Bak and Dina Mehmedbegovic-Smith, relaunched their website on the International Day of Multilingualism last week. Here it is! https://healthylinguisticdiet.com/bali-hld-model-launching-on-the-international-day-of-multilingualism-27-3-2025/

2. I hope this one from The New Yorker is accessible, Are We Taking A.I. Seriously Enough? by Joshua Rothman, as what he has to say seems to me to be really important https://www.newyorker.com/culture/open-questions/are-we-taking-ai-seriously-enough

There’s no longer any scenario in which A.I. fades into irrelevance. We urgently need voices from outside the industry to help shape its future.

3. This could be one of your two free New Statesman articles each month: What is school for? https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/education/2025/04/what-is-school-for

The struggle for control of the national curriculum is a fight for the soul of English education, says the author, Pippa Bailey – nothing less!

4. Must Europe always take every opportunity to miss an opportunity? is the plaintive title of this good piece for Engelsberg Ideas by Brendan Simms & Lukas Schmelter https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/must-europe-always-take-every-opportunity-to-miss-an-opportunity/

The Trump administration may finally force European leaders to achieve the elusive goal of political union. The tragedy may be that they have left it too late to deter Russian aggression.

5. And, finally, a gift article from The New York Times about the impact of the Trump tariffs, Trump’s Trade War Risks Forfeiting America’s Economic Primacy https://tinyurl.com/ym64aejc

The United States has steered an economic order for 80 years based on trade and trust, making the country the world’s financial superpower. That vision is now blurred.

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Tuesday, 1st April (Cambridge)

Posted on April 1, 2025 by roycross

1. Here’s an open-access special issue of The Journal for the Psychology of Language Learning on Local Perspectives on Language Teacher Motivation and Engagement edited by Sarah Mercer and David Smid https://www.jpll.org/index.php/journal/issue/view/language_teacher_motivation_and_engagement

Some intriguing titles: how about Unveiling the Motivational Tapestry: A Duoethnographic Journey Into two ESP Teachers’ Motivation in Higher Education by Irati Diert-Boté & Balbina Moncada-Comas https://www.jpll.org/index.php/journal/article/view/diert-bote_moncada-comas or Triggers and Supports of International Visiting EFL Teachers’ Directed Motivational Currents by Kadidja Koné https://www.jpll.org/index.php/journal/article/view/kone?

Here’s Sarah and David’s introduction to the issue https://www.jpll.org/index.php/journal/article/view/smid_mercer/smid_mercer

PDF of that below in case that’s easier.

JPLL introDownload

2. Trump: 6 ways he is already changing the world is a pleasingly non-slick vlog by Carne Ross, who also writes the Diplomatic Anarchist blog https://youtu.be/Rk-8uX7mO14

3. This one’s essential reading if you’re a gum chewer, Chewing gum: another way for microplastics to enter your body? https://theconversation.com/chewing-gum-another-way-for-microplastics-to-enter-your-body-252842

4. Some Stress Is Good for You, Actually – did you know that? Here’s a piece from Time, a magazine I’d been wrongly assuming was no longer with us https://time.com/7271109/some-stress-is-good-essay/

as indeed I had Life https://www.life.com/ Some great photos there!

5. And, finally and restfully – for the viewer, at least! – a video from Fen Farm Dairy about the making of a new cheese, Rædwald https://vimeo.com/1062806478 You may need to sign up for a (free) account.

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Thursday, 27th March (Cambridge)

Posted on March 27, 2025 by roycross

1. TeachingEnglish has just had a two-month focus on Planning lessons and courses. I’ve picked out three items from the riches available:

A. The recordings of the three sessions in the online Creating lessons that work mini-event last week: “three practical sessions all about how to create lessons that work for all your learners”.

How to write great learning outcomes with Cath McLellan & Robert Martinez (not the manager of the Portugal football team) https://www.youtube.com/live/4i9V43YVheo

The secrets to writing classroom materials with Joanna Gore, Kath Bilsborough & John Hughes https://www.youtube.com/live/GN2XmP_kVgE

How to create lessons that work with Melissa Thomson, Sadiku Basiru & Jessica Gallagher https://www.youtube.com/live/-Vc518CMYt4

B. Episode 6 of the Education in focus podcast on Educational planning with Martin Wedell & Rukmini Banerjee, reviewing the importance of planning in education systems https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/professional-development/podcasts/education-focus/education-focus-6-educational-planning

C. A self-study workbook on the theme, Teacher pathways: Planning lessons and courses https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/2024-12/Workbook_for_Planning_lessons_and_courses.pdf

PDF below as well, just in case that’s easier

Workbook_for_Planning_lessons_and_coursesDownload

2. I’m not sure how worried we should be by this video from Tim Mousel, Agentic AI: A Wake-Up Call to Educators https://youtu.be/PX7vbCwd84o If I’ve understood him correctly, AI is now capable of taking a complete online course on behalf of a student, with the course tutor none the wiser.

3. Also on the AI theme, a piece for The Guardian by Jeanette Winterson, OpenAI’s metafictional short story about grief is beautiful and moving https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/mar/12/jeanette-winterson-ai-alternative-intelligence-its-capacity-to-be-other-is-just-what-the-human-race-needs

I think of AI as alternative intelligence, says Winterson, and its capacity to be ‘other’ is just what the human race needs.

And here’s the ChatGPT story that she’s writing about, ‘A machine-shaped hand’ https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/mar/12/a-machine-shaped-hand-read-a-story-from-openais-new-creative-writing-model Quite something!

4. I’ve just discovered Elif Batuman’s blog, The Elif Life Here’s a recent post on the novel in Japan (and much more in passing), The “Debate over Pure Literature” https://eliflife.substack.com/p/the-debate-over-pure-literature

5. And, finally and belatedly (sorry!), this year’s Five Films for Freedom from the British Film Institute and the British Council: free to watch for only three days more, till 30th March https://arts.britishcouncil.org/five-films

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Tuesday, 25th March (Richmond)

Posted on March 25, 2025 by roycross

1. Here’s the recording of a recent Future of English conversation with David Crystal https://youtu.be/64HRT797Lsc One of the easiest (and most engaging) people I ever interviewed: you just light the blue touchpaper and sit back!

And when you next have a week to spare, you can spend it exploring David’s website https://www.davidcrystal.com/GBR/Books-and-Articles

2.  Denisa Kostovicova’s inaugural lecture as Professor of Global Politics at the LSE – War crimes talk: does it help or hinder peace? – is tomorrow, Wednesday 26th March, at 18:30 UK time. More info and a registration link here https://www.lse.ac.uk/Events/2025/03/202503261830/War-crimes

In her inaugural lecture, Denisa Kostovicova discusses how former opponents engage with the legacy of mass atrocity. War crimes need to be addressed, if peace is to be built. But, in divided societies polarised by violence, war crimes talk can deepen the divisions. Kostovicova draws on her study of post-conflict Balkans and presents lessons for contemporary conflicts. She locates the possibilities for peace in political communication across conflict lines, assesses the risks and considers alternatives, such as arts-based approaches.

3. First of two sent me by Maja Mandekić – Thank you, Maja!

Part 1 of Scam Factories: the inside story of Southeast Asia’s fraud compounds by Ivan Franceschini, Ling Li & The Conversation Digital Storytelling Team https://scam-factories-life-inside.netlify.app/

Ben Yeo is trapped in a scam centre in Cambodia, desperately trying to escape. It’s early 2024 and he’s been here for 30 days. Thirty days since Ben and his wife Moira realised their well-paid new casino jobs were just an elaborate ruse. Now they have to choose: pay their captors a US$20,000 ransom or get to work in the scam compound.

You can read (or listen to) all three parts of the series here https://theconversation.com/scam-factories-the-inside-story-of-southeast-asias-brutal-fraud-compounds-250448

4. And Maja’s second, a piece from The Guardian by James Bailey, What is the meaning of life? 15 possible answers – from a palliative care doctor, a Holocaust survivor, a jail inmate and more https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/mar/22/what-is-the-meaning-of-life-15-possible-answers-from-a-palliative-care-doctor-a-holocaust-survivor-a-jail-inmate-and-more

In September 2015, I was unemployed, heartbroken and living alone in my dead grandad’s caravan, wondering what the meaning of life was. Where was I going to find happiness, or purpose, or meaning? What was the point to all of this?

5. And, finally, a joke from Barry Cryer that has some personal resonance:

A famous comedian visits an old folks’ home to tell them a few jokes. He chats away to them, tells some very good jokes and then his ego gets the better of him. He asks one old lady, “You don’t know who I am, do you?”  She says, “Don’t worry, dear. Matron will tell you.”

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