Roy Cross's Blog

1. The claim that “children use five times more words when playing outdoors compared to indoors” caught my attention when I read it in the leaflet in our weekly vegetable box a few weeks back https://wickedleeks.riverford.co.uk/features/weathering-lifes-storms/

Which research, though? The claim is repeated endlessly all across the web – for example, in this CBeebies piece which is quoted as ‘evidence’ in several other places: if the BBC said it, it must be true! https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/grownups/why-should-children-play-outside I can’t find the specific piece of research that underpins this claim.

I did find this, which is an account of a ‘systematic review protocol’ to conduct a systematic review of the topic rather than completed research https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9566327/ PDF below.

2. I had a bit of a Kafka-surf on Sunday. I can’t now remember what started me off, but it must have been some subliminal sense of the centenary of his death on Monday. Here’s some of what I found.

Kafka Online (run by someone called Gregor!)  https://www.kafka-online.info/

An Oxford University research project, Kafka’s Transformative Communities https://www.kafka-research.ox.ac.uk/

Author Franz Kafka’s life was far from kafkaesque, biopic shows from The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/may/03/author-franz-kafka-life-kafkaesque-biopic

From The Guardian, ‘Where to start with’ – A handy guide to the authors you’ve always wanted to read https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/may/04/where-to-start-with-franz-kafka Lots of other authors here https://www.theguardian.com/books/series/where-to-start-with

BBC Radio 4’s Words and Music series: Prague and Kafka https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001znxg

five essays, In the Shadow of Kafka https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b05vsz4y

In Our Time on ‘The Trial’ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04pv8j1

‘Orwell vs Kafka’, a series of programmes in which Ian Hislop and Helen Lewis explore the extent to which the works of George Orwell and Franz Kafka continue to express the reality and frustration of life in the 21st century https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00201sm/broadcasts/upcoming

A series of programmes on Drama on 4 over the next fortnight https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04xxp0g/broadcasts/upcoming

You can either read or listen to this one by Nicholas Lezard, The wry humour of Franz Kafka https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-wry-humour-of-franz-kafka/

3. I’m not completely sure what ‘instructional leadership’ is, which is I guess one good reason for signing up for this FutureLearn course from the British Council, Exploring Instructional Leadership in Education https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/exploring-instructional-leadership You’ll need to open a Future Learn account, which is free and easy. Not only for those of you who are already school principals!

Topics covered include:

• Overview of instructional leadership
• Understanding and practising instructional leadership
• Leadership practice and its impact
• Defining a school vision
• Engaging school staff
• School leaders role in raising standards
• Monitoring, evaluating and reviewing school and classroom practice

Here’s the Wikipedia entry on instructional leadership https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instructional_leadership

4. The winners of the Pink Lady – the apple, I think! – Food Photographer of the Year for 2024 competition have just been announced https://www.pinkladyfoodphotographeroftheyear.com/finalists-gallery-2024/

5. And, finally, Colm Tóibín’s latest novel, ‘Long Island’, his sequel to ‘Brooklyn’, is the current Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001zlzs (I’m not completely sure that they call it Book of the Week any longer.) ‘Brooklyn’ is also available, here https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/b00k87g8

1. My first car was a Triumph Herald. Although some of my friends might now be surprised to hear this, I re-built the entire car – engine, gearbox, suspension, the lot – with a little help from the garage across the road. I knew exactly how it worked. My next car was a Volkswagen Golf GTI and I still remember lifting up the bonnet for the first time and thinking, “This looks a bit different!” The only thing I can do on my current car, a Ford Puma, is top up the windscreen wash and pump up the tyres – and that’s a long-winded introduction to this item on three tools that Ethan Mollick has developed to help us get more out of ChatGPT. I’ve no idea what’s under the bonnet of ChatGPT, but I’m determined to keep renewing my driving licence! You’ll need a ChatGPT account to access the tools.

Innovator – helps generate good ideas https://chatgpt.com/g/g-JaiQEuHRU-innovator

AI Intern – helps you with a task https://chatgpt.com/g/g-hGcvnaT7R-ai-intern

Framework Finder – helps locate and apply frameworks to your problem https://chatgpt.com/g/g-vZ7SgKBOh-framework-finder

2. I’ve just discovered Jason Anderson’s blog https://jasonanderson.blog/ Lots to explore! His latest post, which Jason describes as a “working blog post”, i.e. one on which he welcomes comments and contributions, is On the Origins, History and Understanding of Test-Teach-Test in English Language Teaching – where did the idea come from?

Stacks of stuff on Jason’s website, too https://www.jasonanderson.org.uk/index.html

3. This New Yorker film, Swift Justice: A Taliban Courtroom in Session, may not fully meet your expectations https://www.newyorker.com/video/watch/the-new-yorker-documentary-swift-justice-a-taliban-courtroom-in-session I’m pretty sure it’s free to view; please let me know if that’s not the case.

I’m less confident, though, that non-subscribers will be able to access this, the story behind the film, “Swift Justice” Looks Inside a Sharia Courtroom; Cross fingers crossed you can! https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-documentary/swift-justice-looks-inside-a-sharia-courtroom

4. Shadow World from BBC Radio 4 is the story of brazen theft over a prolonged period by a senior member of staff at The British Museum https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m001zlz0

5. And, finally, ‘Night Train’ – see if you recognise the drummer! https://youtu.be/aaeaFMXLDfs?feature=shared

1. Clint Eastwood is an astonishing 94 – ninety-four! – years old today. Here’s The Guardian’s list of his twenty best films https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/may/30/happy-94th-birthday-clint-eastwood-his-best-films-ranked

Thirty-two years on, I need to get round to watching Unforgiven!

2. Free to download until 6^th June from Cambridge University Press, Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Developmental Education by Matthew E. Poehner & James P. Lantolf https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/sociocultural-theory-and-second-language-developmental-education/0E29C88DDF3A3FE95F1FCDEAAC9153A8

Sociocultural Theory (SCT), as formulated by Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky nearly a century ago, is distinct among traditions in the field of second language (L2) studies in its commitment to praxis. According to this view, theory and research provide the orienting basis for practice, which in turn serves as a testing ground for theory (Vygotsky, 1997). This Element offers a synthesis of foundational concepts and principles of SCT and an overview of two important areas of praxis in L2 education: Concept-Based Language Instruction, which organizes language curricula around linguistic concepts, and Dynamic Assessment, a framework that integrates teaching and diagnosing learner L2 abilities. Leading approaches to L2 teacher education informed by SCT are also discussed. Examples from studies with L2 teachers and learners showcase praxis in action, and emerging questions and directions are considered.

3. Tobias Carroll’s monthly The Watchlist of novels in translation for Words Without Borders is always wonderfully eclectic. Here’s this month’s https://wordswithoutborders.org/read/article/2024-05/the-watchlist-may-2024-tobias-carroll/

4. Something of a paradox here? Gaelic schools thrive while native language declines https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c722dewd93vo

5. And, finally, semi-colons from Toby Litt this time [colon] https://awritersdiary.substack.com/p/on-semi-colons

1. It’s too late to offer to present but it’s certainly not too late to attend the Trinity-Regent online conference, The Future of English Language Teaching, on Saturday 15^th June. A wide range of speakers from all around the world: full programme and registration here https://resources.trinitycollege.com/foelt/events

2. What worries me about all the cover-ups we’ve uncovered in the UK recently is how many have we not yet uncovered. Here’s a piece from The Conversation by Anthony Montgomery from Northumbria University https://theconversation.com/why-are-organisational-cover-ups-so-common-230998

Anthony’s piece includes the YouTube video of Paula Vennels being questioned interrogated by the inquiry lawyers.

3. You can read and/or listen to Why AI Can’t Replace Teachers by John Spencer here https://spencerauthor.com/ai-wont-replace-teachers/

For all the hype about AI replacing teachers, the reality is that teachers are irreplaceable. It is a deeply human endeavor. The teachers who can leverage this human element through authentic learning will ultimately prepare students for an unpredictable world forged by AI.

Lots more stuff from John on his YouTube channel here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRmWJULBr4CIP5xUucVgOvw

4. Scroll down the page a little for details of the next Green Action ELT event at 14:00 UK time this coming Friday, 31^st May, Green classroom projects https://green-action-elt.uk/events/

In this session, Cynthia Mann will talk about how you can use project-based learning to introduce climate action into your classroom. It will include the key features of PBL and strategies to develop engaging climate action projects which can achieve greater learning outcomes for your students, whether it’s a primary, secondary or adult classroom. She will showcase a number of projects to inspire you, as well as look at some of the challenges of PBL/climate action and, of course, some solutions. There will be plenty of practical ideas to help you design an engaging project for your classroom, whether it is based within or outside of the curriculum.

5. And, finally, I’ve resolved to make better use of my New York Times ‘gift article’ quota – the subscription costs me enough! Here’s The Essential Don DeLillo https://tinyurl.com/mseuac2a

More ‘Essentials’ here https://tinyurl.com/25c3xrkt Let me know if you’d like me to gift you one.

1. I’ve somehow contrived to miss this report, Great Teaching Toolkit: Evidence Review, over the last four years since it was published by Cambridge Assessment International Education and Evidence Based Education (EBE) in 2020 https://2366135.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/2366135/Great%20Teaching%20Toolkit%20Evidence%20Review.pdf

Here’s a short video introduction from Rob Coe of EBE https://evidencebased.education/great-teaching-toolkit-evidence-review/

PDFs of the full report and the Executive Summary only below, and here’s the beginning of that executive summary:

What are the best bets for teachers to invest time and effort in if they want their students to learn more? We have reviewed existing research studies and frameworks that are relevant to the components and routes to improvement of teacher effectiveness. Our aim is to help teachers make better decisions about what they can best do to improve their effectiveness. In summary, we have identified four priorities for teachers who want to help their student learn more:

1. understand the content they are teaching and how it is learnt

2. create a supportive environment for learning

3. manage the classroom to maximise the opportunity to learn

4. present content, activities and interactions that activate their students’ thinking

Some of you may now be saying to yourselves, “That’s all very well and easily enough said, but the how is what interests me”. You’ll be pleased to learn that the report goes into considerable detail on the how!

2. I meant to include this on Tuesday, when I mentioned Vicky Saumell’s plenary at the IATEFL conference in Brighton, but better late than never! IATEFL continue to offer a wide range of professional development opportunities, the large majority free to non-members. Lots of good stuff here https://www.iatefl.org/events

What, I wonder, should one read into the fact that the two Business – business! – English SIG events listed fall within that small minority of events that are not free to non-members?

3. Two new posts from Alexandra Mihai on her blog, The Educationalist https://educationalist.substack.com/

i) Let’s burst some bubbles (again)! expressing nostalgia for the pandemic;

ii) The Facilitation Survival Guide about how “taking a step back and not being in the centre of attention, while actually guiding the discussion or learning process, can sometimes take more effort than ex cathedra teaching”.

4. Here’s something deeply depressing which I hope doesn’t upset too many people, America’s Monster: How the U.S. Backed Kidnapping, Torture and Murder in Afghanistan https://tinyurl.com/hxdtzank

And something less depressing and ever so slightly surprising on the part of our justice system – but maybe I’m just getting old and cynical – from The Guardian, Julian Assange wins right to appeal against extradition to US https://www.theguardian.com/media/article/2024/may/20/julian-assange-wins-high-court-victory-in-case-against-extradition-to-us

5. And, finally, here’s a recent article from The Spectator by Philip Patrick, Why are the Japanese so bad at English? https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-are-the-japanese-so-bad-at-english/ A more sympathetic piece than its title might at first suggest!

1. Two recordings from this year’s IATEFL conference in Brighton on the subject of AI:

i) another excellent plenary, this one by Vicky Saumell The AI factor have we figured it out? https://www.youtube.com/live/2IkCub2jFXs

Vicky’s abstract: The development of AI has become a huge challenge. Predictions abound about how it will affect not just ELT, but the world in general. After a whole year of fast-moving advances in AI development and available tools for a variety of uses within the ELT field, we are still working out what it means for us. We have been learning what it is and what we can use it for, from lesson planning to image creation and automated language learning. But there is more! We have also been trying to elucidate its positive and negative aspects, though it is all quite subjective. Reducing a teacher’s workload, marking learners’ work, planning a marketing campaign can be placed in different parts of the positive-negative continuum. What seems apparent is that it is changing the ELT landscape. But how? What are the implications for different stakeholders in the language learning industry? And how are we coping with the challenges it poses? Becoming aware of AI’s functioning so that we can detect biases and work together towards an ethical use of AI seems to be a logical pathway, which we will explore together in this talk.

ii) The British Council’s very engaging ‘signature event’ – more engaging than some (but not all!) I was involved in – The future of English in the age of AI, described as “a dive into the findings from recent British Council research into the use of artificial intelligence in English language teaching and learning” and including an update on their recent report, Artificial intelligence and English language teaching: Preparing for the future https://youtu.be/g53gW31TLVg PDF of the report below (again!)

2. Also concerned with AI – as nearly everything will be soon? – The future of assessment with Andreas Schleicher, Hayo Reinders & Fran Woodward is the latest in the English with Cambridge Teachers Talk Tech podcast series https://youtu.be/MIzsk0LSmlA?feature=shared A wee bit of an advert for Cambridge but acceptably so!

More Teachers Talk Tech podcasts here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpmCHL8PnXq_7otZSpb-n4IHEFoZpYYbR

3. Some good, clear thinking from Daisy Christodoulou in this post on the No More Marking blog, Your digital education transformation strategy, https://substack.nomoremarking.com/p/your-digital-education-transformation

4. This one’s not about AI: a New York Times ‘gift article’, Can You Lose Your Native Tongue? After moving abroad, I found my English slowly eroding. It turns out our first languages aren’t as embedded as we think https://tinyurl.com/47w4he8n

My family still chortle when they remember me ordering beer in Croatian in Paris and getting more and more exasperated because the waiter didn’t understand me …

5. And, finally, a good piece about Berlin from Katja Hoyer’s blog, Zeitgeisthttps://www.katjahoyer.uk/p/the-battle-for-the-heart-of-berlin

1. First up this evening, two webinars next week:

The first is an ECML event at 16:00 UK time on Tuesday, 21^st May, Exploring the potential of action research in language education: Opportunities and challenges in local and global contexts. More info and registration here https://www.ecml.at/Resources/Webinars/tabid/5456/language/en-GB/Default.aspx Don’t worry about ‘first come, first served’ any more – the ECML has had such a good response they’ve decided to stream the event on YouTube – but it would be helpful if you registered.

Our interactive webinar will explore the potential of action research in language education.

• Why action research?
• How does an action research methodology support language education both in terms of research and practice?
• What are the opportunities and challenges that arise in conducting action research in the sphere of language education?
• How might I go about integrating action research into my practice as a language educator?

The second is an ETS event at 12:00 UK time on Friday, 24^th May, Humanizing AI for Learning and Assessment. More info and registration here https://join.clickmeeting.com/elt-virtual-seminar/

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been transforming education in many ways, a testament to its extraordinary power. With its seemingly limitless capabilities, it affects the way we learn, teach, and assess English language proficiency today. As educators, we have learned to embrace change. The AI revolution, however, can also be a source of doubt and concern. How can we ensure that AI truly contributes to improved teaching and learning? Does the use of AI put academic integrity at risk? Is it possible for assessments using AI capabilities to remain both reliable and fair?

2.  Jamie Clark offers Professional Learning Insights and Digital Content for Busy Educators https://www.jamieleeclark.com/ and produces free posters on key teaching ideas https://www.jamieleeclark.com/graphics

Here’s his poster on Feedback https://tinyurl.com/53c59fnb

and another on Why Don’t Students Like School? https://tinyurl.com/mks9w88s

PDFs of both below.

3. Thanks to Rob Gibson for drawing my attention to this article from Nature, Worldwide divergence of values by Joshua Conrad Jackson & Danila Medvedev from Chicago University https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-46581-5 PDF below.

Social scientists have long debated the nature of cultural change in a modernizing and globalizing world. Some scholars predicted that national cultures would converge by adopting social values typical of Western democracies. Others predicted that cultural differences in values would persist or even increase over time. We test these competing predictions by analyzing survey data from 1981 to 2022 (n = 406,185) from 76 national cultures. We find evidence of global value divergence. Values emphasizing tolerance and self-expression have diverged most sharply, especially between high-income Western countries and the rest of the world. We also find that countries with similar per-capita GDP levels have held similar values over the last 40 years. Over time, however, geographic proximity has emerged as an increasingly strong correlate of value similarity, indicating that values have diverged globally but converged regionally.

4. Here’s a gift article from The New York Times with a quarter century of reading recommendations, The Book Review’s Best Books Since 2000, all 3,228 of them https://tinyurl.com/4e2kffds Be sure to click on the ‘Show all notable books’ link for each year.

And if that makes you want start writing, here’s On How to Start a Short Story from Ali Smith via Toby Litt’s blog, https://awritersdiary.substack.com/p/on-starting-a-short-story-from-scratch

Seductively simple!

5. And finally, from Engelsberg Ideas, Celebrating a century of the red telephone box by Clive Aslet https://engelsbergideas.com/notebook/celebrating-a-century-of-the-red-telephone-box/

1. Thanks to Jaime Saavedra for this one from the OECD, Students, Digital Devices and Success,  https://www.oecd.org/ – scroll down the page a bit. Download here https://www.oecd.org/pisa/aboutpisa/English%20V3_WEB.pdf

PDFs below of the whole report and the ‘Key Findings’ only.

While we’re visiting the OECD site, here’s their recent Recommendation on Artificial Intelligence – it’s one of those ‘having regard to’ and ‘recognising’ documents  https://legalinstruments.oecd.org/en/instruments/oecd-legal-0449

It was amended just a week ago, possibly for the first time since its adoption in May 2019, possibly not.

2. Staying with AI, here’s a recent blog post from Ethan Mollick, Superhuman? What does it mean for AI to be better than a human? And how can we tell? https://substack.com/home/post/p-144115962

plus the paper he refers to that he co-authored with no fewer than eight other humans, Navigating the Jagged Technological Frontier: Field Experimental Evidence of the Effects of AI on Knowledge Worker Productivity and Quality https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4573321

You’ll need a free SSRN account to download the paper for yourself; PDF below.

3. The Warwick ELT Archive is a treasure trove curated by Richard Smith. Here’s Richard’s recent blog post on Louis Alexander https://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/elt_archive/entry/louis_alexander_19322002 and here are the links that Richard includes in his post:

to the page on L.G. Alexander’s life and career https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/al/research/collections/elt_archive/halloffame/louis_alexander/biography/

and to a 1981 talk by Alexander which Alexander describes in his introduction as an ”off the cuff, impromptu attempt to survey some of the significant landmarks in the history of English language teaching in the twentieth century” https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/al/research/collections/elt_archive/halloffame/louis_alexander/archive/alexander_l_g.mp3

Would that I had cuffs like Mr Alexander’s!

4. I’ve just discovered this Cambridge University Press feature, (well-known ELT person’s) Essential Bookshelf https://tinyurl.com/mpb58fh7 PDFs of Rod Ellis’s essential bookshelf: Focus on form, Martin East’s essential bookshelf: Task-based language teaching and Ema Ushioda’s essential bookshelf: Teacher engagement with classroom motivation research below.

5. And, finally, prompted by last Thursday’s statue piece, John Drew has sent me another piece from his Dhaka Daily Star archive, On Shelley, Shoes and the Shifting of Statues – PDF below.

1. At 11:00 UK time next Tuesday 14^th May, the latest in the Lancaster Talks on Linguistics series is on Corpus Linguistics. Three short lectures – a nice idea! – from Elena Semino on Corpus linguistics and healthcare, Vaclav Brezina on New tools and methods in corpus linguistics & Dana Gablasova on Corpus linguistics and data-driven learning. More info and registration here https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/linguistics/events/lancaster-talks-on-language-corpus-linguistics/

2. At 18:00 UK time next Wednesday 15^th May from OUP, The role of music in the classroom with Michael Lacey Freeman. More info and registration here https://events.oup.com/oxford-university-press/The-role-of-music-in-the-classroom and Michael’s abstract here

Music has always had a key role to play in language learning and this is why most of us can remember fragments of foreign language songs from our childhood. These songs, or pieces of songs can creep into our subconscious and stay there. Music sticks in the mind and for this reason, it can help us as teachers to recycle, and reinforce language structures in the classroom, and it can assist students in retrieving important vocabulary. It can also, however, serve many other purposes in the classroom. If used appropriately, it can increase levels of attention, confidence, and engagement, all ingredients that make for motivated students. But how do you find the right music and when should you use it? Join me in this presentation about how to use music to obtain the best results for your students.

3. Also from OUP, the latest issue of ELTJ is a special issue on positive psychology and wellbeing https://academic.oup.com/eltj/issue/78/2 The introduction to the issue by Pia Resnik and Sarah Mercer is free to view, as are the Key Concepts in ELT piece on Intercultural Communication by Will Baker and the piece on ELT teachers’ agency for wellbeing by Giulia Sulis, Astrid Mairitsch, Sonja Babic, Sarah Mercer & Pia Resnik. PDF of the introduction below.

4. Find where your country is in the Reporters without Borders 2024 World Press Freedom Index? https://rsf.org/en/index

5. And, finally and invertedly, a new statue in Washington DC https://tinyurl.com/3e2p7485

1. Something a bit more challenging than usual from Julie Rattray, On the affective threshold of power and privilege https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-023-01093-x PDF below.

A threshold concept= a core idea that’s conceptually challenging for students, who struggle to grasp it—but once grasped, it radically transforms the students’ perception of the subject.

Epistemic justice = universal participation in terms of equality of all inquirers in access to information and knowledge.

2. An interesting NESTA event at 17:30 UK time this Thursday, 9^th May: UK 2040: David Miliband in conversation with Ravi Gurumurthy https://www.nesta.org.uk/event/uk-2040-rt-hon-david-miliband-in-conversation-with-ravi-gurumurthy/

David Miliband, had the political cookie crumbled differently, might have been about to become the new UK Prime Minister; as it is, he’s the president of the International Rescue Committee https://www.rescue.org/

3. Here’s one free CPD opportunity, with the Language Assessment Professionalisation Programme (LAPP) https://lapp.education/en

Are you a language teacher or trainee teacher? Would you like to develop your skills in assessing your students’ language proficiency? If so, this initial training course, developed by Eaquals and ALTE in partnership with mint-digital, will help you.

4. And another, a NILE free Teaching English with Authentic Video course https://learning.nile-elt.com/d2l/le/lessons/6733/units/184886 You’ll need to sign up to the free NILE member’s area.

A new free 10-hour self-access course which will help you to make effective use of the Ready-to-Run video collection and other authentic videos you use in your teaching. You will be able to generate a NILE certificate on completion of the course. Additionally, completing this course will give you access to an additional selection of teaching video materials from the Ready to Run video collection of authentic video, including video content for young learners and the newest of the secondary and adult collection.

5. And, finally, how about some ‘simple’ rice? https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/japanese-rice