Roy Cross's Blog

1. First of all, an invitation from my colleague, Ann Veitch: “Please join our EME in HE research / publication dissemination event on Wednesday 1st December, 13.00-15.30 UK time. This is our ‘launch event’ for the British Council perspective on EME in HE, the global EMI in HE mapping study and the EME in HE current practice case studies in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. Link for registration and more details: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/english-higher-education-challenges-opportunities-current-practice-future-trends.“ I’ll remind you a bit nearer the time!

2. Next Thursday, 18^th November, at 18:00 UK time there’s an online café in the Being Human festival with a focus on accent biases, where they come from and how they can be acknowledged and avoided. The café includes an ‘interactive accent bias experiment’ and a lightning talk on accent prejudice. More info and registration here https://beinghumanfestival.org/events/accent-and-identity    

3. Scroll down this page https://uclappliedlinguistics.wordpress.com/research-events-2/ for recordings of the recent University College London Centre for Applied Linguistics EMI/EME events with Beatriz Gonzalez-Fernandez and Ernesto Macaro.

4. And, finally, a short video from Ready to Run that maybe not all of you will feel able to use in class https://vimeo.com/606494954 plus accompanying learning pack (PDF below as well) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cxD4xc1gAcYGy0S6jL2uwr7wWgc0iKqs/view

1. Two opportunities next Thursday, 18^th November, to join this OUP web event with Jane Setter, Pronunciation for a Global World, at 09:30 and 17:30 UK time. More info and registration here https://elt.oup.com/events/global/Pronunciation-for-a-Global-World?cc=global&selLanguage=en and below is another copy of the OUP position paper on the topic just in case. Three cheers for international intelligibility: hip, hip, hurrah!

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2. Time for a Thai perspective on ELT, I think. Here’s the research blog of King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi in Bangkok https://sola.pr.kmutt.ac.th/homesola/index.php/sola-researchblogs/ Assessment, ASEAN, class size, attitudes to native speaker teachers of English – and much more.

3. I missed Climate Tuesday yesterday, so here’s The Conversation’s current page on COP 26 by way of reparation https://theconversation.com/uk/cop26 Articles including meat eating, transport, shipping, wave power and – to my astonishment – the endangered coral reefs of Scotland!

4. Can Our Societies Withstand the Pace of Technological Change? was the title of a NESTA event last week with Azeem Azhar, the author of the well-regarded Exponential View newsletter on the future of technology and society https://www.exponentialview.co/ The recording of the event is here https://www.nesta.org.uk/event/nesta-talks-to-azeem-azah/ Azeem talks about his new book, Exponential, and outlines “four areas of technology that are accelerating at exponential rates: AI and computing, biology, renewable energy, and manufacturing. These technologies are getting cheaper and more widely available but our institutions, from legal systems to businesses, are struggling to adapt to this pace”. Not free, strictly speaking, but at present – here in the UK, at least – the Kindle version of Azeem’s book is available from Amazon for 99p.

5. And, finally, this week’s phobia, metathesiophobia, will sit uneasily with that last item on Change …

No message tomorrow; back on Wednesday!

1. Starting next Tuesday, 16^th November, Teaching pathways: How to teach listening https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/teaching-pathways-how-teach-listening

Learn over four sensibly-paced weeks how to design listening tasks and improve the active and effective listening skills of your students.

2. There was a good piece in the old-fashioned paper Guardian on Saturday that took a long time to make its way up onto the web, but it got there today: Should we leave the classroom behind? by Laura Spinney https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/nov/08/the-big-idea-should-we-leave-the-classroom-behind

“My 21-year-old goddaughter”, says Laura, “a second-year undergraduate, mentioned in passing that she watches video lectures offline at twice the normal speed. Struck by this, I asked some other students I know. Many now routinely accelerate their lectures when learning offline – often by 1.5 times, sometimes by more. Speed learning is not for everyone, but there are whole Reddit threads where students discuss how odd it will be to return to the lecture theatre. One contributor wrote: “Normal speed now sounds like drunk speed.”

So I guess that means I sound permanently inebriated!

3. And here’s another good piece by Spinney, who clearly had a productive weekend, that I chanced upon while waiting for the classroom piece to appear, Can history teach us anything about the future of war – and peace? https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/nov/07/can-history-teach-us-anything-about-the-future-of-war-and-peace

Steven Pinker famously claimed ten years ago that violence is declining. Not all historians agree.

4. This Naomi Klein piece from the London Review of Books, Let Them Drown: The Violence of Othering in a Warming World, is available to non-subscribers for this week only https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v38/n11/naomi-klein/let-them-drown

There’s also a recording of the author reading the piece, which originated as the 2016 Edward W. Said London Lecture.

Said once described environmentalism as ‘the indulgence of spoiled tree-huggers who lack a proper cause’. Klein takes him gently but firmly to task for doing so.

1. This year’s ELTons awards ceremony will be live online at 13:45 UK time on Monday 15^th November https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/eltons-innovation-awards-2021-live-online

and the shortlisted finalists this year are a truly global collection: New Zealand, Japan, Russia, China, Brazil, Gaza, Belarus ….  https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/eltons-innovation-awards-2021-finalists

2. I’m not entirely sure what to make of a report entitled ‘Building a more equitable, sustainable, peaceful world through international exchange in a post-pandemic world’ written by the following countries (only): Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States https://education-services.britishcouncil.org/news/reports/building-more-equitable-sustainable-peaceful-world-through-international-exchange-post See what you think?

To be fair to my British Council colleagues, they do observe in their contribution that “ … tolerance for inequity in partnerships between developed and developing countries is wearing thin. Low- and middle-income countries are demanding to be at the table when international research projects are discussed, fully involved in their design and equal recipients of the rewards – such as enhanced institutional reputations”. PDF below.

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3. Next Wednesday, 10^th November, at 16:00 UK time, Christopher Hart from Lancaster University will be giving the first talk in this autumn’s GoldLingS series on ‘Animals vs Armies: Metaphors and Metaphor Resistance in Anti-Immigration Discourse’. More info and booking here https://www.gold.ac.uk/calendar/?id=13772

“Immigrants to the UK are routinely denigrated by mainstream media as part of longstanding campaigns for more restrictive immigration policies. Amidst this discursive context, public attitudes toward immigration are generally negative (…) In this talk, I consider two metaphorical themes characteristic of anti-immigration discourse: militarising metaphors and dehumanising metaphors.”

4. You might like to pop into the PEN blog, Transmissions, over the weekend https://pentransmissions.com/

This post by Andrew Lownie, The Mountbatten Materials: Censoring an Archive, was a bit dispiriting, though https://pentransmissions.com/2021/11/02/the-mountbatten-materials-censoring-an-archive/

5. And, finally, this really can’t be right, can it? https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/nov/04/a-was-average-a-level-grade-at-independent-schools-in-2021-dfe-data-shows

1. Next Monday, 8^th November at 16:30 UK time sees the Cambridge Annual Distinguished Lecture on Second Language Learning and Teaching by Alastair Henry from University West in Trollhättan (wonderful placename!), Sweden: Motivational Persistence in Multiple Language Learning: Identities, Vision, and Goal Self-Concordance

More info and registration here:  https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJctcuCrrjItHdEYjDLBdE4XNnQ1UOUj4-HS

“Endurance is crucial to success in language learning. Along the often long road to fluency, diversions, hurdles, and setbacks can be many.”

2. Next Thursday, 11^th November, at 09:00 UK time on the other side of the world from Trollhättan, is the next ‘Zoominar’ in Universitas Negeri Jakarta’s ‘Language, Society, Education’ monthly programme, with Fauzia Shamim from Ziauddin University in Karachi, Pakistan talking about the ‘Effects of digital multi-modal communication on language norms, conventions and use’.

Zoom meeting ID 9747372 6718 and password PASCAUNJ (I think that’s all you need, but I’ll check.)

“There has been an exponential increase in multi-modal communication mediated through digital media in recent years, especially during the pandemic. This study investigates how the use of various digital media platforms and apps by Generation Z has impacted the norms, conventions and use of language, including grammar, vocabulary and appropriacy in regard to purpose and audience. The findings have important implications for teaching-learning of English language in higher education settings, particularly in non-native English speaking countries.”

3. I’m reliably informed that ‘the NATESOL beast will awaken for the new academic year with a very interesting presentation for EAP practitioners’ next Saturday, 13^th November, at 10:00 UK time: ‘Connecting language across the curriculum: inclusion, differentiation and access through EAP’ with Bee Bond from Leeds University.

More info and registration here https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdp8Rh5DgeJeT9I-P0zFzG4JXrWNeQce6WDzxDPqpswIET96w/viewform

“In this webinar, (Bee) will begin by questioning the purpose and position of EAP in the curriculum. Drawing on practical and insightful case studies, (she) will outline the impact that ignoring language(s) in the curriculum can have on both students and staff.”

4. There’s a free event from the UK National Centre for Writing at 19:00 UK time next Tuesday, 9^th November: Meet the World: Barcelona, written and translated will celebrate the recent publication of The Book of Barcelona, about a city which is ‘a melting-pot of cultures and (…) (a) myriad truths’.

Registration here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/spektrix/event-detail/?WebEventId=mtw-barcelona

5. And, finally, this year’s Being Human festival starts next Thursday, 11^th November. See what you can find here that you fancy https://beinghumanfestival.org/2021/event-series Pickles, Dickens, biohacking and accents included …

1. This is one that should really have gone out yesterday. Teaching for Climate Action: Schools Shaping the Future is a COP26 event co-organised by the OECD, Education International, and UNESCO at 13:00 UK time this Thursday, 5^th November https://www.ei-ie.org/en/item/25446:register-today-teaching-for-climate-action-schools-shaping-the-future

2. We’re due another visit to the UKFIET blog, I reckon https://www.ukfiet.org/blog/ The usual wide range of posts, including Framing Ecosystems for Childhood Resilience by Stephen Bayley from Cambridge University, whose research involves observing how children in low-income settings develop skills like creativity and problem solving https://www.ukfiet.org/2021/framing-ecosystems-for-childhood-resilience/ and this post by Inderjit Bains from Birmingham University which explores the role of the private sector in shaping learning experiences and outcomes for disadvantaged children in India https://www.ukfiet.org/2021/private-school-inclusion-for-disadvantaged-children-in-india-before-and-during-the-pandemic/ Many of us are by instinct against private education, but maybe that’s just too black and white.

3. A virtual curator’s tour of the current Hokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everything exhibition at the British Museum https://youtu.be/lCwv0nTNKWE Great stuff!

4. And, finally and courtesy of my father, who – although he found it in the Letters column of The Times recently – is not quite sure about the language. The actor Rex Harrison was notorious for his unpleasant behaviour towards fellow actors and audience alike. On one occasion, he was met at the stage door by a woman holding out her programme in the hope of his autograph. He pushed her out of the way, so she hit him with her umbrella. A rare case, said the letter writer, of the fan hitting the shit.

5. I guess you could say that my father suffers from a mild dose of kakologophobia …

A BBC day today!

1. What is climate change? A really simple guide https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24021772

2. The reality of climate change in the Mekong Delta https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-45738136 and the reality of climate change in the Marshall Islands https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-59140269

3. A piece from the BBC on ‘Five dealmakers who will influence the outcome at COP26’: Xie Zhenhua, China’s man for all seasons; Saudi’s resolute defender, Ayman Shasly; Alok Sharma, the Briton in the middle; Sheikh Hasina, the voice of the vulnerable; Teresa Ribera, Europe’s bridge-builder https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-59053257 Might make a good role play for older students?

4. A jigsaw reading exercise here, perhaps? ‘COP26: Four numbers to remember ahead of the climate change summit’ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-59067310

5. And, finally, I’m not at all sure what to say about this https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-59135029 Better for the climate than its conventional equivalent?

1. Some listening first: Jeanne Perret for the Pearson English Podcast on Storytelling – for all ages. https://www.english.com/blog/storytelling-pearson-english-podcast/

Other episodes here https://www.pearson.com/english/resources/pearson-english-podcast.html

2. The next Leiden University Centre for Linguistics lecture in their series on Language Policy and Practices in the Global North and South is a talk by Xiao Lan Curdt-Christiansen from Bath University at 12:00 UK time this Wednesday, 3^rd November: ‘Lost in Translation: Parents as Medium Translators in Intergenerational Language Transmission’.

More info here https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/events/series/language-policy-and-practices-series and registration here  https://universiteitleiden.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5Atf-CrrDIpHtTalMQ7CV6Kbm9DRFJtOmPh

“Family Language Policy (FLP) has received increasing attention in recent years. Of central interest is why some children, growing up in a bilingual environment, become monolinguals while other children, growing up in a monolingual society, become bilinguals.”

New one on me, FLP, but sounds interesting.

3. Dhofar University’s ‘English Scholars Beyond Borders’ online conference on Saturday 4^th and Sunday 5^th December is free to attend. If you’d like to present a paper, you have until 11^th November to submit your proposal.

More info here http://www.englishscholarsbeyondborders.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ESBB-DUIC-2021-detailed-flyer.pdf and PDF below.

4. And, finally and demandingly, for a change of theme and perspective, Timothy Snyder’s recent talk for the Stanford Humanities Center (sic) on “The Five Forms of Freedom” Freedom takes five forms, says Snyder: sovereignty, unpredictability, mobility, solidarity, and factuality. https://youtu.be/O2f97SFlTsg Good subtitles if you want.

1. This collection of papers from Bloomsbury Academic publishers, The Sociopolitics of English Language Testing, edited by Seyyed-Abdolhamid Mirhosseini and Peter I. De Costa, is definitely not to be read through in one sitting by most of us, but maybe we should all dip into it, as the issues it raises are not often aired.

Online here https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338876690_The_Sociopolitics_of_English_Language_Testing and PDFs of whole text and preface only below.

“The contributions in this volume highlight marginalized but significant perspectives on the sociopolitical essence of English language tests and testing by exploring the implications of testing theories and practices from a critical perspective, that is, a view that foregrounds concerns surrounding power inequalities.”

2. Oxford University Press want to know Have your views on teaching changed since 2019? Direct link to survey here https://yonder.online-host.solutions/ASP/P019501/landingpage.asp and they’re honest enough to say it will take twenty minutes to complete.

One possible annoyance is the warning that “If you need to leave the survey and come back please do not close the window as you will have to start again from the beginning”, so settle down with a cup of coffee!

3. The Cambridge University REAL (Research for Equitable Access and Learning) Centre’s Michaelmas (Autumn) Term webinar series starts at 13:00 UK time next Tuesday, 2^nd November, with a talk by Gabriela Martinez Sainz from University College Dublin on “Paulo Freire and climate change education – the role of critical pedagogy and lessons from the Global South”. Series poster here https://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/centres/real/events/Michaelmas%202021%20Seminar%20Series%20Poster.pdf (PDF below) and registration here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/real-centre-seminar-series-tickets-180023293517 .

4. It depends how you look at this latest Teacher Tapp blog post. It’s either ‘more than 50% of teachers think that the behaviour of the students in their classes has remained constant over the last decade’ or ‘more than 40% of teachers think the behaviour of the students in their classes has declined over the last decade’ https://teachertapp.co.uk/whats-the-worst-weather-for-behaviour/

5. And, finally, a recent joint reading from their new books by three very different Bloodaxe poets, George Szirtes, Claire Askew and Annemarie Austin https://youtu.be/cFhfkBi_SNw

More on George Szirtes (inc. video and sample poems) here https://www.bloodaxebooks.com/ecs/product/fresh-out-of-the-sky-1280

Claire Askew here https://www.bloodaxebooks.com/ecs/product/how-to-burn-a-woman-1279

and Annemarie Austin here https://www.bloodaxebooks.com/ecs/product/shall-we-go–1253

Scroll down to the ‘extract’ button on each page for the poems.

1. The next UCL Centre for Applied Linguistics Research Seminar is “Understanding the nature and acquisition of vocabulary knowledge in second languages” with Beatriz Gonzalez-Fernandez from the University of Sheffield at 12:00 UK time next Wednesday, 3^rd November. More info in the PDF below and registration here https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeY8NF3g7GBXF-76BZxsLcBjehwJAuIE0FQbG2IL2AEa_Saew/viewform

2. Also next Wednesday, but at 16:00 UK time, in Birmingham University’s MOSAIC Research Seminar series is a talk by Victoria Odeniyi from the University of the Arts in London: ”Gentle Activism: Decolonising the Arts Curriculum through Translanguaging”. Again, more info in the PDF below and registration here https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/education/research/mosaic/events/victoria-odeniyi-gentle-activism.aspx

3. It’s well worth rooting around in the publications section of the Language and Development Conference Series website http://www.langdevconferences.org/publications.html Two pieces by John Clegg, for example, on English Medium Education in Africa

one from Tashkent in 2003 http://www.langdevconferences.org/publications/2003-TashkentUzbekistan/Chapter%208%20-%20Recognising%20and%20Countering%20Linguistic%20Disadvantage%20in%20English-Medium%20Education%20in%20Africa-John%20Clegg.pdf

and another from Addis in 2005 http://www.langdevconferences.org/publications/2005-AddisAbabaEthiopia/Chapter%204%20-%20Moving%20towards%20bilingual%20education%20in%20Africa-John%20Clegg.pdf

plus the slightly different and more accessible approach to Proceedings (with a capital P) from the last conference in Bangkok http://www.langdevconferences.org/publications/2019-BangkokThailand/Bangkok-Conference-Proceedings-2019.pdf PDFs of all three below (unless they’re too big).

4. Here’s a talk from the recent Cambridge University Alumni Festival on the Legacies of empire in the Middle East, India, and China https://youtu.be/uSt_7hzne4o Very interesting, once they’d agreed who was talking first and second!

5. And, finally and non-multilingually, because it often books up ridiculously early, here’s advance notice of the next Cambridge Schools Conference, at which Iroise Dumontheil from Birkbeck College London will be bravely talking about ‘The adolescent brain’.

More info on Professor Dumontheil’s talk here https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/support-and-training-for-schools/cambridge-schools-conference/november-2021/speaker/

and registration here https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/support-and-training-for-schools/cambridge-schools-conference/november-2021/programme/ (That booking link seems a bit dodgy, so I’ll update it tomorrow if I need to.)