Roy Cross's Blog

1. Here’s an article by Simon Borg on Video–based observation in impact evaluation https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149718921001026?via%3Dihub Free of access, with a really useful bibliography containing links to a large number of related open-access articles. PDF below.

2. Full disclosure: I admit to being wholly non-objective about the IATEFL, English UK and British Council PRELIM project: it’s the best thing since sliced bread. I thought this webinar for Eaquals by Rose Aylett and Martyn Clarke on their report on PRELIM 1 was tremendous, and a highly recommended watch, especially if you’re thinking of applying for a PRELIM 2 grant https://www.eaquals.org/eaquals-events/event/rose-aylett-martyn-clarke-learning-partnerships-lessons-from-prelim/resources/

Thanks to Lou McLaughlin for making the recording available to non-members!

3. A technical but accessible piece from Emma Walland of Cambridge University Press and Assessment on Understanding grading, standards and grade inflation in England https://www.cambridge.org/news-and-insights/insights/grading-standards-blog2 Grade inflation is (perceived to be) a problem in many countries around the world, I think?

4. This week’s phobia is ergophobia, from which very few people reading these messages of mine suffer!

5. And, finally, this month’s Hay Festival book of the month is Bewilderment by Richard Powers, described as “an arresting tale about the need to keep those we love safe. Theo Byrne is a promising young astrobiologist who has found a way to search for life on other planets dozens of light years away. He is also the widowed father of a most unusual nine-year-old, whose fears he soothes with inner voyages to fantastical worlds”.

There’s a free online reading and Q&A with Powers at 19:00 UK time on Thursday 21^st October. More info and registration here https://www.hayfestival.com/book-of-the-month-october-2021

1. Both sides of the globe involved, exactly twelve hours apart, in this UK-Australia Higher Education Roundtable at 09:00 UK time on Thursday, 14^th October, The importance of global expertise and local action in the fight against Climate Change More info and registration here https://ukaustraliaseason.com/event/the-importance-of-global-expertise-and-local-action-in-the-fight-against-climate-change-a-higher-education-roundtable/

2. Heather Michael is giving a webinar for National Geographic Learning on the ‘three pillars of an International Baccalaureate (IB) education’ Combining International Mindedness, Interdisciplinary Instruction, and Service Learning in the English Classroom at 14:00 UK time on Wednesday 20^th October (repeated at 02:00 UK time on Thursday 21^st October, if that’s more convenient).

More info and registration link here https://webinars.eltngl.com/20-october-combining-international-mindedness-interdisciplinary-instruction-and-service-learning-in-the-english-classroom/ I don’t think I’d worry overly much about that IB focus, if you’re not teaching IB – the IB travels quite well!

3. Ceri Jones and Katherine Bilsborough gave a very-well-received talk on Eco-literacy: What? Why? And How? https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/eco-literacy-what-why-how as part of the series of talks TeachingEnglish put on for World Teachers’ (good apostrophe!) Day, and …

… you can find the recordings of all the talks here https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/news-events/world-teachers-day/2021

4. And, finally and more seriously than usual, Education Cannot Wait is the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crisis. Here’s their annual report for 2020 https://www.educationcannotwait.org/annual-report-2020/ and here’s the executive summary if you’re in a hurry https://www.educationcannotwait.org/annual-report-2020/executive-summary/ PDFs of whole report and of executive summary only below.

1. Something I didn’t know before today is that today’s the International Day of the Girl Child – more info and stacks of interesting links here https://www.un.org/en/observances/girl-child-day “Did you know that the global internet user gender gap is growing, from 11 per cent in 2013 to 17 per cent in 2019, and is widest in the world’s least developed countries at 43 per cent?” That first stat is perhaps (just) the more surprising of the two.

The site includes a Thomas the Tank Engine video on Gender Equality https://youtu.be/WWkrQMVqB3s. I’m not quite sure about Thomas’s new accent …

2. Just in case you’ve not yet heard about PRELIM 2, here on the IATEFL website is all the info you need to apply on behalf of your teachers’ association: https://www.iatefl.org/prelim-2 and, if you’re an accredited UK language centre, here on the English UK website is what you will need https://www.englishuk.com/prelim-project

PDF copies below of the application form for teachers’ associations and the report that Rose Aylett and Martyn Clarke from NILE wrote on PRELIM 1; the UK application form is an online one, available from the page above and direct here https://englishuk.wufoo.com/forms/prelim-project-ii/

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3. My favourite ex-prime minister and Allan Goodman, the President of the Institute of International Education, have written a powerful piece on Education in an Age of Displacement for the Project Syndicate website https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/graduate-education-fellowships-for-refugees-and-displaced-people-by-gordon-brown-and-allan-goodman-2021-10

In Brown and Goodman’s own words, “With the number of displaced people on course to double by mid-century, if not sooner, developing their potential is crucial. Extending hope and opportunity to young people at risk of being left behind is a powerful way to advance human rights, promote equality, and foster peace and stability.”

4. This month’s issue of HLT has just been published https://www.hltmag.co.uk/oct21/ For starters, try either

Alan Maley on Wisdom Stories https://www.hltmag.co.uk/oct21/wisdom-stories-for-teacher-education

or Surati on Using Quizizz https://www.hltmag.co.uk/oct21/using-quizizz-as-a-formative-assessment

You can check out Quizizz – which started life in Bangalore – for yourself here https://quizizz.com/

5. And, finally, some unreconstructed Thomas the Tank Engine for comparison purposes https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo5AoxvDzhX1Gua_aU2Rr6w

1. Two blog posts from Pearson to start us off today:

first, one that does exactly what it says on the tin from Joanna Wiseman, 6 practical online teaching tips to kickstart the new school year https://www.english.com/blog/6-%EF%BF%BConline-teaching-tips-new-school-year/

and second, one about family life and routine from Donatella Fitzgerald, 4 steps to make sure the transition back to school goes well https://www.english.com/blog/4-steps-transition-back-to-school/

2. The second pair of webinars from my East Asia colleagues in their Teacher Takeaways series take place next week:

Robin Skipsey from British Council Japan on Teaching Listening at 09:00 UK time on Tuesday, 7^th October

and Davide Gilmartin from British Council Vietnam on Teaching Writing at 09:00 UK time on Thursday, 9^th October

More info here https://www.britishcouncil.cn/en/teach/2021webinar and flyers for both events and a PDF of the whole programme below – you’ll also find recordings and handouts from the two earlier events in the series on the site.

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3. If you missed William Dalrymple’s historical perspective on what’s happening in Afghanistan at present for the Asia Scotland Institute, Afghanistan – Doomed to repeat the mistakes of past wars, you can find the recording here https://youtu.be/h9mpotnFTSc I thought it was good.

4. A number of interesting observations on the ELT and education businesses from Alexander Broich, one of the top people at Cengage, in this interview with Rupert Barclay from the Cairneagle education consultancy.

The page is nicely laid out, with both the whole interview and a series of interview extracts on specific themes https://www.cairneagle.com/cairneagle-in-conversation-with-alexander-broich/

On the impact of Covid, for example, Alexander observes, “If you think about a rock concert or cruise ship experience, the replacement in COVID was not great. So I expect people to go back on cruise ships and back to rock concerts. But if you are a professional nurse and you want to take a course which has to fit around your schedule, to sit in a classroom at a given time with a commute of an hour back and forth was not the greatest setting pre-COVID.”

5. An ‘enhanced index’ is not a term I’m familiar with, but the Contemporary African Poets enhanced index is a marvel, searchable by poet, country and region https://africanpoetics.unl.edu/contemporarypoets

It’s now part of a bigger project, the African Poetry Digital Portal; here’s more info on that https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/stories/AfricanPoetryPortal

6. And, finally, Fajer from the Syrian London Ensemble, eight musicians and graduates from Syria’s renowned Damascus Conservatoire https://youtu.be/mjbdxYLaBjk I think fajer might mean dawn in English?

1. I’m not a very big fan of software like Flip Builder, but I am a fan of EL Gazette. Here’s a thought-provoking piece by Alice Rogers, Can we decolonialise TEFL? Ask flipping Flip Builder to take you straight to page 30! https://elgazette.com/elg_archive/ELG2109/mobile/index.html

2. “Who could have forecasted that internationalisation would transform from what has been traditionally considered a process based on values of cooperation, partnership, exchange, mutual benefits and capacity building to one that is increasingly characterised by competition, commercialisation, self-interest and status building?”, ask Jane Knight and Hans de Wit, the authors of this piece for University World News, What contribution has internationalisation made to HE? https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20181010093946721

3. Thanks to Ann for that last one, and thanks to Ian for this one from Times Higher Education (THE) by Anna McKie, How many international students is too many? https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/how-many-international-students-too-many

“International students are too easily framed, both inside and outside the sector, as a problem or a burden. They’re not. They’re just an absolute gift”, says one interviewee. (You’ll need to register to read; doesn’t take long.)

4. And thanks to Ann for this piece as well, by John Claughton for the Independent Education Today website on The Teaching of Languages – https://ie-today.co.uk/comment/the-teaching-of-languages/

“The intelligent teaching of languages can address a number of key issues within the curriculum”, he says – if only more people here in the UK were listening.

5. And, finally, punctuation matters – a lot, says the UK Office for Students (OFS), who’ve written quite a serious report about commers and. Full. Stops; Assessment practices in English higher education providers: spelling, punctuation and grammar. PDF below. https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/assessment-practices-in-english-higher-education-providers/

1. It’s taken them a while, but the UK government is now legislating against ‘essay mills’ https://www.gov.uk/government/news/essay-mills-to-be-banned-under-plans-to-reform-post-16-education  I’ve no idea how easy they’ll be to get rid of, as they can operate from wherever round the world they want to, and they seem to have no shortage of customers!

2. The next run of the British Council Language Assessment in the Classroom course on FutureLearn starts on Monday, 18^th October https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/language-assessment Aimed at language teachers in secondary or high schools around the world, and anyone interested in understanding how language assessment works. Free – unless you want a certificate – and has previously been very popular.

3. University College London’s autumn series of applied linguistics ‘research events’ starts a week today, Wednesday 13^th October at 10:00 UK time with Gregory Hadley from Niigata University in Japan talking on Using Grounded Theory in Applied Linguistics Research.

More info, talk abstracts and registration all on this page https://uclappliedlinguistics.wordpress.com/research-events-2/

I need to find out what (a) ‘grounded theory’ is – help, Jim!

4. We all suffered from this week’s phobia, ablutophobia, when we were little, didn’t we?

5. And, finally, this one chimed with me, or rather the ten-year-old, still ablutophobic scholarship boy from the North of England version of me who went to a posh school in Kent. It took me a while to make all my fellow pupils see sense! https://www.the74million.org/article/analysis-clash-of-cultures-clash-of-privilege-what-happened-when-30-low-income-students-of-color-were-admitted-to-elite-prep-schools/

1. A treasure trove from NILE: Education for Sustainable Development – curated resources and teaching materials https://learning.nile-elt.com/d2l/le/lessons/6733/units/71909

You’ll need to register if you haven’t already done so, which also now gets you access to all the Ready to Run videos!

2. Climate change and teacher professional development is the title of the British Council Education Exchange webinar at 16:00 UK time on Wednesday, 13^th October with Matt Larsen-Daw https://www.britishcouncil.org/education/schools/education-exchange-digital-events/climate-change-professional-development

Matt’s the Education Manager for WWF-UK and has lots of good stuff on his own website https://www.wwf.org.uk/get-involved/schools/cop26 Two examples of materials below (intended for students whose first language is English rather than a foreign language, I think, so don’t pay too much attention to the age of pupil suggested)

3.  An accessible piece on the role pancakes play in nuclear fusion from The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/10/11/can-nuclear-fusion-put-the-brakes-on-climate-change

4. And, finally, The Cactus That Came Back from the Dead, from the Canadian magazine The Walrus https://thewalrus.ca/the-cactus-that-came-back-from-the-dead/ “If a cactus can want anything, Mammillaria tezontle likely wants to be left alone …”

1. Rose Aylett and Martyn Clarke from NILE will be reflecting on Learning Partnerships: Lessons from PRELIM for Eaquals at 14:00 UK time this coming Friday, 8^th October. More info here https://www.eaquals.org/eaquals-events/event/rose-aylett-martyn-clarke-learning-partnerships-lessons-from-prelim/ and registration here https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Y5QICsOUS8mJ0Sob641Ccw

You can find a copy of Rose and Martyn’s report on PRELIM 1 below, including reports on all twenty partnership projects: from Afghanistan, Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Georgia, Guinea Bissau, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Palestine, Serbia, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zambia!

2. We’ll be formally announcing PRELIM 2 tomorrow. It’s again a partnership between English UK, IATEFL and the British Council, and will again be managed for NILE by Rose and Martyn. This time round, though, it’ll be offering no fewer than forty partnership grants. IATEFL are offering three webinars this Wednesday, 6^th October, at 09:00, 14:00 and 21:00 UK time (to ensure everyone around the world has the chance to attend) to explain how an English teachers’ association applies.

Please note that an association does not need to already be an Associate of IATEFL in order to apply; we very much hope, though, that the experience of PRELIM 2 will encourage associations that aren’t yet IATEFL associates to apply!

The joining details are the same for all three sessions: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/5463972657?pwd=dXkvbm5rcXJjYzVSeVZBejdCMzRhQT09 Meeting ID: 546 397 2657  Passcode: 944064

3. Very short notice – sorry! – of an event at 12:00 UK time tomorrow, Tuesday 5^th October, to mark the 60^th anniversary of the DAC – Development Assistance Committee: more info here https://www.oecd.org/dac/development-assistance-committee/dac-60-years/ and registration here https://meetoecd1.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7caDdJ4SSEWXGf2Ek2mmhA

The DAC’s best known and most widely-used work is their list of countries worldwide eligible for ODA – Official Development Assistance. PDF below.

4. One of my favourite travel writers, Iqbal Ahmed, has just returned to Kashmir for the first time since the pandemic started. Here’s his Postcard from the High Himalayas https://coldstreampublishers.com/postcard-from-the-high-himalayas/ Wise, quiet observation and never in your face!

5. And, finally, you (and your students?) have only 525 episodes of the BBC Radio 4 programme ‘Great Lives’ to choose from, including Sitting Bull, Maria Montessori, Chinua Achebe, Xuanzang, Frida Kahlo, Donna Summer – and my childhood hero, Billy Bremner!

Programme home page here https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qxsb

and all 525 episodes here https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qxsb/episodes/player

1. Thanks to my colleague Skinder for this one: Chimamanda Adichie’s speech at the opening of the Ethnographical Gallery  of the Humboldt Forum in Berlin last week. I’m not sure the Humboldt team quite got what they bargained for in this most eloquent questioning of their gallery’s right to exist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1Cxhq0gF6E Do try to find time to listen – twenty minutes very well spent.

Here’s a good piece from artnet exploring some of the issues https://news.artnet.com/art-world/humboldt-opens-controversial-museums-2011360

And here’s a TED talk by Chimamanda Adichie that nearly 29 million people have watched, The Danger of a Single Story https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en

2. A very rich resource from the History of Language Learning and Teaching (HoLLT) project for anyone interested in the history of our profession https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/CLAS/Research/Modern-languages-research-groups/Learning-from-the-past/Language-Teaching-Learning-from-the-Past.aspx

There are short (ten-minute) introductory videos on each of the five units: Differentiation and diversity; What does it mean to teach culture?; Grammar: “The art of speaking well”?; Target language and (m)other tongue use; Making the case for languages – Policy and advocacy

3. Leiden University have pulled off quite a coup with the first webinar in their new series on Language Policy and Practices in the Global North and South at 12:00 UK time next Wednesday, 6^th October – Bernard Spolsky, no less, eighty-nine-years-young, talking on Can language repertoires be managed? PDFs of the abstract of his talk and the full series programme below, and registration for the whole series of webinars here https://universiteitleiden.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5Atf-CrrDIpHtTalMQ7CV6Kbm9DRFJtOmPh

“In spite of valiant efforts by activists and linguists”, says Professor Spolsky, “it seems that language is no more easily managed than climate and disease”.

4. On which note, here’s a story about a school in London whose leadership might benefit from listening to Professor Spolsky next Wednesday https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/sep/30/oh-my-days-linguists-lament-slang-ban-in-london-school

5. And, finally, another good ‘un from Skinder: Kefaya and Elaha Soroor perform Jama Narenji https://youtu.be/gM60A7YK5mg

1. First of a number of webinars today is the first in Swansea University’s Language Research Centre webinar series at 13:00 UK time next Wednesday, 6^th October, a talk by Wataru Suzuki from Miyagi University of Education in Japan on Languaging in second language learning and teaching: Theory and research.

More info on this talk and the others in the series in the PDF below, and registration for the whole series here https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScDiHlbj9KZZvfUHTuJR1VV3IOdSmwJV_1JnqOmCn8uF8Mzyw/viewform

2. Next Tuesday, 5^th October at 19:00 UK time sees the first in Dublin City University’s webinar series on ‘Aspects of multilingualism in Education’, Sanna Pakarinen from Åbo Akademi in Finland talking about Multilingualism and student identity in Swedish immersion in Finland and in Irish immersion in Ireland.

More info in the PDF below and registration here https://dcu-ie.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcocO2sqjsuGdc-K0S-GROV6QxOEmZOc7R0

3. A little earlier next Tuesday, at 13:00 UK time, Hywel Coleman from Leeds University and David Fero from SCI Taratung will be giving a talk in the University of Reading Applied Linguistics Research Circle’s weekly series, on Accessing health information: Linguistic human rights in Indonesia.

“Linguistic human rights – for example, the right to be educated in one’s own language and the right to use own’s own language in law courts – have been discussed for at least a quarter of a century. Implementation, though, has been sporadic.”

More info in the PDF below; to register, send an e-mail to Rodney Jones at Reading r.h.jones@reading.ac.uk

4. Also from Indonesia, a report on English as Medium of Instruction (EMI) in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Indonesia by a team from Institut Teknologi Bandung, Atma Jaya Catholic University, Diponegoro University Semarang and Leeds University which strikes a similarly admonitory tone to the publications I included on Monday https://www.britishcouncil.id/sites/default/files/the_state_of_english_as_medium_of_instruction_in_heis_in_indonesia_full_report_final.pdf

Film of the launch event here https://youtu.be/hMp54kZ-jWA and PDFs below of both the summary and the full report.

5. And, finally, here’s those clicks that got crowded out by all the whistles on Monday, a lesson in how to pronounce Zulu clicks with Sakhile Dube: https://youtu.be/WHHGOYu6Fl0