Roy Cross's Blog

Blog version: https://roycross.blog/

1. The first of two heterodox pieces of research, free-to-read from Language and Intercultural Communication, Working with/beyond ‘language’: insights from a listening walk with young men from asylum-seeking backgrounds in a rural treescape by Khawla Badwan, Caitlin Nunn & Kate Pahl from Manchester Metropolitan University https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/14708477.2024.2373156

This article takes readers on a journey that narrates research reflections from a listening walk in a forest with a group of young men who migrated to the UK as unaccompanied asylum seekers. This listening walk is framed as a generative and disruptive research encounter through which we explore how our linguistic and cultural differences ‘encounter each other, adjust to each other, oppose each other, agree with each other and produce the unpredictable’ (Glissant, 1996, p. 98).

PDF below.

2. And the second, free-to-read from the latest issue of Current Issues in Language Planning, The politics of distraction in English-medium higher education across three global settings: a collaborative autoethnography by Sarah Hopkyns from the UK, Sender Dovchin from Australia & Shaila Sultana from Bangladesh https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rclp20/5/3

English-medium instruction (EMI) is on the rise around the world, due to globalization, internationalization and neoliberal ideologies which equate English with social capital, prestige, and success in the labour market. While many EMI policies aim to equip students with English as a ‘lingua academia’, produce ‘neoliberal subjects’ and compete in university ranking systems, such policies often overlook larger sociolinguistic, sociohistorical, and sociopolitical issues at play.

While you’re there, take a look just a little further down the page at the intriguingly titled Failing interventions to harness English fever infiltrating early childhood education in South Korea: politics of distraction by Jee-Hee Kim from Hong Kong & Tae-Hee Choi from the UK – also free access. PDFs of both articles below.

3. The 2024 Teacher Tapp Guide to the 7 Types of Teachers on Social Media is an interesting read, even if you’re not running a business targeted at teachers. 29% of UK teachers do not now use social media at all for work purposes, up (a lot) from 20% last year.They don’t use social media for work at all. Sure, they might have accounts on Facebook or Instagram but they’re using them to chat to friends and escape work! https://teachertapp.co.uk/app/uploads/2024/07/7-Types-Of-Teachers-On-Social-Media-2024.pdf

PDF below.

4. Another post about the recent UK general election from Carne Ross’s blog, Out for the Count – at the tip of democracy’s spear, kind ofhttps://carneross.substack.com/p/out-for-the-count

5. And, finally, carnivorously and possibly eccentrically, another chance internet encounter generated by my ignorance, How To Make A Turducken https://youtu.be/mRT1WQXqdCw

1. We need to give small companies the chance to be heard from time to time, so here’s

a) Generative AI Misuse: A Taxonomy of Tactics and Insights from Real-World Data from Google DeepMind https://arxiv.org/pdf/2406.13843

b) Khan Academy Founder Sal Khan on the Future of Learning from Microsofthttps://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/podcast/khan-academy-founder-sal-khan-on-the-future-of-learning

2. And here’s the CEO of another small start-up on the Logan Bartlett Show, Sam Altman talks GPT-4o and Predicts the Future of AI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMtbrKhXMWc

3. Handbrake turn: here’s some natural intelligence. For this week only (I think), Haruki Murakami’s ‘The Art of Fiction’ interview from The Paris Review https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2/the-art-of-fiction-no-182-haruki-murakami

Also free this week, from The New York Review of Books: https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2007/03/01/gods-of-the-mall/

Here’s Wikipedia on the handbrake turn https://w.wiki/AcCQ

4. It’s been a while since we visited the UKFIET blog. Here’s the most recent post, The Impact of the Language of Instruction on Foundational Literacy and Transitions from Pui Ki Patricia Kwok, Nisha Thomas, Catherine Young & Ann Veitch https://www.ukfiet.org/2024/the-impact-of-the-language-of-instruction-on-foundational-literacy-and-transitions/

The role foundational literacy plays in successful learning outcomes of children and young people is widely recognised. Without a solid development of foundational literacy, children will encounter a wide range of challenges throughout their schooling and potentially in their life outcomes. In many multilingual contexts, apart from developing literacy in their familiar languages, students are often challenged by the need to simultaneously develop literacies in multiple additional languages – including ones that are unfamiliar to the local communities. While there are many varied and contextual reasons for this, a common challenge is the early transition to a different Language of Instruction (LoI).

Other UKFIET blog posts here https://www.ukfiet.org/blog/

5.And, finally, here’s Henry Oliver’s take on The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien on his blog, The Common Reader https://www.commonreader.co.uk/p/the-hobbit-by-jrr-tolkien

I can’t quite make up my mind about Oliver: when he’s good, as in this piece, he’s very good; sometimes, though, he’s a bit precious!

1. Transcendence to start with today, transcendence in the AI context, where it means that the machines are taking over. Transcendence: Generative Models Can Outperform The Experts That Train Them https://arxiv.org/pdf/2406.11741 PDF below.

Abstract: Generative models are trained with the simple objective of imitating the conditional probability distribution induced by the data they are trained on. Therefore, when trained on data generated by humans, we may not expect the artificial model to outperform the humans on their original objectives. In this work, we study the phenomenon of transcendence: when a generative model achieves capabilities that surpass the abilities of the experts generating its data (my emphasis). We demonstrate transcendence by training an autoregressive transformer to play chess from game transcripts, and show that the trained model can sometimes achieve better performance than all players in the dataset.1 We theoretically prove that transcendence is enabled by low-temperature sampling, and rigorously assess this experimentally. Finally, we discuss other sources of transcendence, laying the groundwork for future investigation of this phenomenon in a broader setting.

2. Multilingual pedagogies for all: Language-inclusive teaching and learning at 09:00 Bangkok time (03:00 UK time) on Tuesday 9^th July from the UNESCO Asia Pacific Multilingual Education Working Group will offer “practical solutions for preparing teachers to lead multilingual classrooms and will highlight promising practices and concrete examples from various countries”. More info and registration here https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/unesco-and-unicef-webinar-address-challenges-multilingual-classrooms-linguistically-diverse-asia?hub=84624

Multilingual pedagogies are instructional strategies that incorporate two or more languages in the teaching and learning process. In the Asia-Pacific Region, where an estimated half of the world’s languages* are spoken, multilingual education can leverage existing linguistic resources and cultural backgrounds to enhance learning experiences and make more accessible, engaging and effective educational content.

With Kathleen Heugh from Australia, Sangsok Son from Thailand, Dhir Jhingran from India and Maria Mercedes Arzadon from the Philippines. PDFs of concept note and speakers’ notes below.

* Currently 3,582 languages and declining … https://www.ethnologue.com/

3. A piece by Elif Shafak on Lit Hub, 75 Years of 1984: Why George Orwell’s Classic Remains More Relevant Than Ever https://lithub.com/75-years-of-1984-why-george-orwells-classic-remains-more-relevant-than-ever The adverts are now a bit annoying on Lit Hub but stick with it! I’d not come across the distinction between ‘solid’ and ‘liquid’ lands before.

4. For those of us with an interest in the results of today’s General Election here in the UK, here’s Helen Lewis’s handy guide to when the especially interesting constituencies declare https://helenlewis.substack.com/p/bluestocking-extra-election-night You don’t have to stay up very late at all: if the Conservatives lose Basildon and Billericay, due to declare very early at 00:15 on Friday morning, then their goose is well and truly cooked – and you can go to bed with an easy conscience!

Plus At the Hustings: an encounter with real voters from Carne Ross, which confirms my own highly subjective view of Lady Nugee, a.k.a. Emily Thornberry https://carneross.substack.com/p/at-the-hustings

Lady Nugee’s Wikipedia entry here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Thornberry

5. And, finally, something I found down a rabbit hole on the internet, A Dictionary of Victorian Slang https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/a-dictionary-of-victorian-slang-1909/

1. From the National Centre for Writing (NCW), Meet the ILX 10: Rising Stars of UK Writing https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/writing-hub/ilx10/ “This selection is intended to represent to our international community just how pluralistic, diverse, and globally engaged the UK literature scene is.”

Download the pack with more information on each of the writers here https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ILX10-pack-FINAL.pdf

PDF below, in case that’s easier.

2. This could have been (much) better timed on my part, an overview of all TeachingEnglish activity in June and July 2024, with a focus on Understanding educational policies and practices https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/community/top-stories/june-and-july-2024-understanding-educational-policies-and-practices

Lots of stuff still to come in July, and I’ll time things better in future!

3. This one from Gallery Teachers, Using Cuisenaire Rods to Teach English in the Classroom with Anna Cuccia, took me back to the very early days of my career and a wonderful training session on the Silent Way with Mario Rinvolucri. Not sure Cuisenaire Rods are much used nowadays?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGI9Y-WKS4M

Lots more stuff on the Gallery Teachers YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@GTEFL

and here’s the Wikipedia entry on the Silent Way https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Way

4. For ELT teachers and teacher trainers from all over the world, an invitation from Macmillan English to apply to speak at the Advancing Learning New Voices online event on Wednesday 25th September https://www.macmillanenglish.com/new-voices

Deadline for applications? 30^th July!

5. And, finally, ‘Barbara’s Rhubarb Bar’ from Bodo Wartke https://youtu.be/ZYkBf0dbs5I?feature=shared

1. ELLRA https://ellra.org/ is the Early Language Learning Research Association and it’s holding its ‘1st Anniversary Web Festival’ at 12:30 UK time each day next week, starting Monday 1^st July. Programme and registration here https://ellra.org/event/ellra-first-anniversary-web-festival

2. Here’s the first of three pieces from Lance Eaton on AI and plagiarism, AI Plagiarism Considerations Part 1: AI Plagiarism Detectors https://aiedusimplified.substack.com/p/ai-plagiarism-considerations-part

“AI plagiarism checkers – they’re not our friends,” says Lance …

3. And on the very same topic: Researchers fool university markers with AI-generated exam papers https://www.theguardian.com/education/article/2024/jun/26/researchers-fool-university-markers-with-ai-generated-exam-papers

4. I increasingly often use the AI-generated ‘Customers say’ summary reviews on Amazon, for example for earphones: Customers like the sound quality, design, and magnetic feature of the headphones. They mention they’re great at noise cancelling, feel solid, and are long-lasting. Some are happy with the great value, comfort, and great headphones. However, some customers differ on functionality. Read or listen to this one from The New York Times describing a similar approach (about which I feel less happy) to restaurant reviews, The Chef Is Human. The Reviewer Isn’t. https://tinyurl.com/2t4nwewn A new study showed people real restaurant reviews and ones produced by A.I. They couldn’t tell the difference.

5. And, finally, here’s the latestGranta podcast, with Andrew O’Hagan who’s just published his new novel, Caledonian Road https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/andrew-ohagan-the-granta-podcast/id382612249?i=1000657774876

I thought I’d already mentioned Andrew’s own podcast on the sinking of the Argentinian warship, General Belgrano, The Belgrano Diary, but it seems not! Here we go, then https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-belgrano-diary/id1736951748?i=1000650695004

From the blurb for The Belgrano Diary: It investigates the bloodiest and most controversial military action of the Falklands War: a story of government cover-ups and conspiracies; of whistleblowers, crusading politicians and journalists fighting for the story. And caught in the middle of it all, a young officer whose account of what happened contradicted (Margaret) Thatcher’s in every crucial detail.

1. Short notice, this one: from Aqueduto at 14:00 UK time tomorrow, Wednesday 26^th June, Elevate Your Online Language Teaching Training with AQUEDUTO’s Quality Framework, will be of value to everyone involved in the delivery of online language teacher education courses. More info and registration here https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMsceygpj4uGdMcU4Vr7mpRJWAjDpfNCwhd#/registration

Not perhaps the very snappiest of titles?

2. Is the balance of HE power shifting away from the Anglosphere? Here’s a piece from University World News, Can Northeast Asian countries lead the new waves of TNE? https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20240618104056943

3. History is written by the victors, they say. Samuel Helfont suggests that certainly could have been the case – but may not now be – in this piece for Engelsberg Ideas, The Saddam files and the battle for Iraqi history https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-saddam-files/

We left Iraq on the eve – unknowingly – of the First Gulf War, never to return, having had a hugely rewarding first year, both professionally and personally. I still find it hard to accept that Baghdad today is a better place for most people than it was in 1990, evil man though Saddam was: the price paid for civil liberty has been a very high one.

4. The European Centre for Modern Languages would welcome responses from Europe and beyond to this survey, A short survey on the use of AI in language teaching https://tinyurl.com/y2z4pvuz Scroll down the page a little for the link to the survey in a number of different languages (on the left-hand side).

5. And, finally, a mischievous test of English from Canguro English https://canguroenglish.com/test-your-english/

Blog version: https://roycross.blog/

A day early again today, as I’m off back to school tomorrow to meet some people for the first time since 1973 …

!. Macmillan’s Advancing Learning Fast-forward 2024 is repeated at 10:00, 14:00 and 22:30 UK time on Tuesday, 25^th June  https://www.macmillanenglish.com/training-events/events-webinars/event/advancing-learning-fast-forward-2024

Not quite sure how I’ve missed this hitherto: maybe if my name was ‘Super’, like one of the speakers, I wouldn’t have done! An extra bonus will be Emily Bryson sketch-noting live.

Recordings of the best bits from each of the previous three annual events on the same page down the bottom, and a rich archive of other recordings here https://www.macmillanenglish.com/training-events/events-webinars.

2. Prompted by a LinkedIn post on unemployment benefit around the world which came in for a fair bit of criticism, I thought I’d check what the OECD had to say on the topic. This is what I found on unemployment benefit (and its adequacy), child care costs, etc. within OECD member countries, and it seems to a) vary hugely between countries, and b) be actually quite a complicated area. The UK is right at the bottom of the chart on benefits paid but almost at the other end of the chart for ‘adequacy of minimum income benefits’ https://data.oecd.org/benwage/benefits-in-unemployment-share-of-previous-income.htm#indicator-chart

I had thought this might have provided the raw material for an IELTS-style chart interpretation lesson for an advanced class, but now I’m not so sure!

3. Ample notice of a free hybrid online/f2f event starting at 09:30 UK time on Wednesday 26^th June from the Manchester Centre for Research in Linguistics, Linguistics in Action: Celebrating 10 years of Linguistics Research at Manchester Metropolitan University https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/linguistics-in-action-celebrating-10-years-of-linguistics-research-at-mmu-tickets-911381846637

Two ‘research showcases’: one in the morning, Linguistics in Action: Affecting Change, and a second in the afternoon, Linguistics in Action: Leading Social Justice.

4. The June issue of HLT (Humanising Language Teaching) came out last week https://www.hltmag.co.uk/jun24/ It includes in memoriam pieces by Pilgrims trainers who are no longer with us:

Is it Reigning Cats and Dogs? Or Are You Just Pleased to Cliché? by Paul Davis https://www.hltmag.co.uk/jun24/is-it-reigning-cats-and-dogs

Who Moved My Cheese: An Adaptation by Bonnie Tsai https://www.hltmag.co.uk/jun24/who-moved-my-cheese

And I’m sure Alan Maley would want me to mention the Eco Issues feature https://www.hltmag.co.uk/jun24/eco-issues

5. And, finally, two TED talks about sustainable food:

* from Karnataka, A snack’s journey from the farm to your mouth with Aruna Rangachar Pohl https://www.ted.com/talks/aruna_rangachar_pohl_a_snack_s_journey_from_the_farm_to_your_mouth?subtitle=en

* from Arkansas on the other side of the world and with differently accented English, A cleaner world could start in a rice field with Jim & Jessica Whitaker https://www.ted.com/talks/jim_whitaker_and_jessica_whitaker_allen_a_cleaner_world_could_start_in_a_rice_field?subtitle=en

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/

1. Thanks to Artur Taevere for this one: I mentioned to him that I wasn’t quite sure what instructional coaching was last week, and he suggested this introduction, A Beginner’s Guide to Instructional Coaching by Peps Mccrea https://steplab.co/resources/papers/BP6w3bcs/A-Beginners-Guide-to-Instructional-Coaching PDF below.

2. Here’s Die Zeit’s English language podcast, English, please! The titles of the episodes are largely in German, but the contents are reassuringly clearly enunciated English https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/zeit-sprachen-english-please/id1735517072

I reckon most people will be able to work out what episodes such as ‘Is football coming home? Über die Hoffnung englischer Fußballfans’, ‘Im Zug nach London mit einem irischen Krimi im Gepäck’ or ‘Geraubte Kunst – Wem gehört das koloniale Erbe des britischen Empires?’ are about!

3. There’s a TeachingEnglish mini-event next Wednesday, June 19^th – Breaking down barriers, three practical webinars and a panel discussion from educators specialising in equality, diversity and inclusion in ELT to help you make your classroom more inclusive.

Registration and more info here https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/news-and-events/webinars/webinars-teachers/breaking-down-barriers-mini-event

4. What are the highest paying degrees? is a blog post from FutureLearn which tells you which degrees give you the best chance of earning a high salary once you’ve graduated in the UK https://www.futurelearn.com/info/blog/highest-paying-degrees

Before you take a look, which degree comes out top of the pile, do you think?

5. And, finally and very embarrassingly for some, a recent piece from Retraction Watch, How a widely used ranking system ended up with three fake journals in its top 10 philosophy list https://retractionwatch.com/2024/06/12/how-a-widely-used-ranking-system-ended-up-with-three-fake-journals-in-its-top-10-philosophy-list/

1. The first of three on politics this evening, Trust hits new low: 45% of people think politicians put party before country by polling superstar Professor John Curtice https://theconversation.com/trust-hits-new-low-45-of-people-think-politicians-put-party-before-country-232187

I wonder what the comparable figure would be in countries around the world? Maybe not so very much lower than 45%?

2. The second, A Report Card on 14 Years of Tory Rule: Bloomberg Opinion columnists assess what the Conservatives have delivered for the economy, society and Britain’s standing in the world. The challenges awaiting the next government are numerous https://www.bloomberg.com/report-card-14-years-of-tory-rule

Perhaps surprisingly, the one relative bright spot for the Tories according to Bloomberg, would seem to be education.

3. And the third, the Ipsos General Election 2024 site https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/uk-opinion-polls Well worth popping in to the site every now and then over the next three weeks.

And, no, there won’t be three items on the UK General Election every day!

4. The motion at this year’s ELTJ debate at the IATEFL conference in Brighton was ‘This house believes that AI can make language learning more personalised and inclusive for everyone’ https://youtu.be/4SvoWJUy8og?feature=shared

Joanna Szoke proposed the motion, Laura Patsko opposed it, and Alessia Cogo refereed (curious choice of word!) the debate.

5. And, finally, we’ve all heard of Venn diagrams. Not many of us will have heard of the Venn bowling machine, invented by the same man, Dr John Venn, though. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/jun/10/wooden-bowling-arm-john-venn-machine-rebuilt-cambridge-australia-1909-cricket-team