Roy Cross's Blog

1. I was speaking to Steve Mann earlier today and he didn’t tell me he was newly famous. Scroll down the page for his video interview with John Shackleton on his new report on remote-delivered CPD – videos work very well for this ‘introductory’ purpose, I’m realising (more slowly than some people, I’m sure) https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/understanding-effectiveness-professional-development-opportunities-teachers-delivered

PDFs f both the full version and the summary of Steve’s report below.

2. In his interview, Steve mentions Otter – an unlikely name perhaps for conversation transcription software. Check it out here https://otter.ai/login I haven’t quite worked out yet if there’s a free version or not. If there is, I could see it working interestingly in the classroom with students recording and transcribing language tasks.

3. Two typically wacky pieces from Atlas Obscura https://www.atlasobscura.com/ One on two time zones in one city, Mumbai/Bombay https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/bombay-time and a second on a ‘ghost flight’ between Egypt and Israel that’s about to celebrate its fortieth anniversary https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/air-sinai-ghost-flight

4. And, finally, three versions of a classic British recipe, Summer Pudding, that this year, yet again, I am determined to make before the fruit season is over!

https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/european/british/summer-pudding

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/summerpudding_90295

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/summer-pudding

1. One for the weekend? A new UNESCO report on last year’s Mobile Learning Week, Beyond disruption: technology enabled learning futures https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000377753 The event focused on how technology can be used to ensure learning continuity and quality during the disruption caused by the pandemic. PDF below. If you’re pushed for time, read the Executive Summary – PDF also below!

2. Years ago, when I was reluctantly working with a reluctant class of Danish teenagers on their English pronunciation, I was challenged to pronounce the name of the Danish national dish, Rødgrød med fløde (red berry pudding with cream), to their satisfaction before they were prepared to continue with the lesson. As I remember, I was saved by the bell for break! Here’s a piece about the Danish language and the challenges it poses for its young learners https://theconversation.com/danish-children-struggle-to-learn-their-vowel-filled-language-and-this-changes-how-adult-danes-interact-161143

3. Gordon Brown’s time as UK Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010 was not a great success, most people feel, in contrast to his decade as Chancellor (Finance Minister) from 1997 to 2007. He received much praise, though, for the role he played during the global financial crisis of 2007-2008. He’s talking at the LSE at 13:00 UK time next Tuesday, 6th July on Seven Ways to Change the World – How To Fix The Most Pressing Problems We Face More info and registration here https://lse.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vW_jzph4Raybc0FdlSiEnw

4. And, finally, the Cambridge Conversations series ranges very widely, from the roles of China and India today, to sustainable food production, to matter and antimatter, to privacy. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgQ5yelXopaqSusO2xldgiX0v9JJr8rRv Try David Runciman on Can our faith in democracy survive the pandemic? https://youtu.be/TiCYc_8ipfE

1. You need to register on the National Poetry Day website to be allowed to download their learning materials; it’s well worth doing so https://nationalpoetryday.co.uk/education/free-education-resource-downloads/ One example of (very) many lesson plans for all levels and ages built around a single poem here https://nationalpoetryday.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/NPD-2021-Resource-Poetry-By-Heart-7.pdf and attached below. Eletelephony ~“Once there was an elephant/Who tried to use the telephant …”

2. Fancy an intellectual challenge? Sign up for this year’s University of Birmingham Sinclair Lecture (in memory of Professor John Sinclair) at 18:00 UK time on Thursday, 8^th July: Of wo/men and machines: an interdisciplinary take on language in use by Professor Dagmar Divjak https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/edacs/departments/englishlanguage/events/2021/sinclair-lecture-2021.aspx

Dagmar leads the Out of Our Minds project at Birmingham, which aims “to lead a step-change in research on language and language learning by capturing the linguistic knowledge adult speakers build up when they are exposed to a language in natural settings. These insights will help with the development of strategic language teaching materials to transform the way in which we teach foreign languages”.

There’s a short introductory video to the project here https://outofourminds.bham.ac.uk/ and an invitation to participate in their research here https://outofourminds.bham.ac.uk/participate/

3. I moved to Scotland in 2005, to work in our office in Edinburgh. Without any doubt, the biggest shock of my first few months was my first encounter with the strength and depth of ‘sectarian’ – Catholic vs Protestant – feeling, as expressed in very straightforward terms at a Dunfermline-Rangers football match. Here’s a piece by the eminent historian of Scotland, Sir Tom Devine, on what it means to be an Orangeman Protestant in Scotland today: https://www.scottishreview.net/TomDevine577a.html

4. And, finally, The Percussion Diaries by Bernhard Schimpelsberger, a story of rhythm and rumba drummers in Cuba, as shared by a colleague earlier today https://youtu.be/7S5C2cU1R9Y

I still blush when I remember the time my colleagues made me dance – arrhythmically – in public in Cuba …

1. Good notice of this one, as previous SHAPE events have booked out quickly: The Future of Schools, daily from 12^th to 16^th July. More info here https://shape-education.org/future-of-schools-2021 and registration here https://share.hsforms.com/1BMpkWlL6R8WM2U3uqegUUQ3iz8b Recordings and notes (and cartoons!) of past SHAPE events here https://shape-education.org/events

2. I mentioned The Teacher Trainer journal back in October, in the context of Tessa Woodward’s retirement as editor after thirty-four years. It’s now got a spanking new editor, Phil Dexter, and you can learn about his plans for the journal here (and download for free a number of recent issues) https://pilgrimsttj.com/ PDFs below of the last issue and the index to articles since 2016.

3. I spent a year teaching at Mount Herman School in Darjeeling between school and university which I often look back on as my tipping point between childhood and adulthood, and I’ve been reading about India ever since: here’s one ‘long read’, by Amartya Sen, on the British legacy in India, Illusions of Empire https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/29/british-empire-india-amartya-sen and here’s another, by William Dalrymple, on The East India Company: The original corporate raiders https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/04/east-india-company-original-corporate-raiders

4. You’ll need to explore this Bradford Literature Festival programme, to find out what’s free and what’s not https://www.bradfordlitfest.co.uk/ This morning’s Sylvia Plath event was free https://youtu.be/T4QuDF8FSbo and I’m pretty sure that tomorrow’s event on Dara McAnulty is also free https://www.bradfordlitfest.co.uk/event/dara-mcanulty-young-naturalist-wild-child/

5. This week’s phobia, courtesy of my colleague Marta, is pagotophobia. She says I clearly don’t suffer from it!

1. The mEducation Alliance is “focused on promoting the usage of good EdTech practices and improving the effectiveness of EdTech initiatives globally” https://meducationalliance.org

The mission of Learning Equality (LE) is to “enable every person in the world to realize their right to a quality education, by supporting the creation, adaptation and distribution of open educational resources, and creating supportive tools for innovative pedagogy” https://learningequality.org

Together, they’re holding an e-café meeting at 16:00 UK time tomorrow, Wednesday 30^th June – register here https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMlduqvpzkvG9bp9zWGgaq9Y6TQlo-h53dQ?timezone_id=Europe%2FLondon

Here’s more info on LE’s low-cost, low-tech platform, Kolibri https://learningequality.org/kolibri/ , based in part on the notion of the ‘Sneakernet’, which Shivi Chandra and Vahid Masrour from LE will be talking about tomorrow.

2. I don’t know much about ELT Concourse https://www.eltconcourse.com/ and I can’t for the life of me remember where I learnt about it.  Its “general purpose (…) is to provide free resources for anyone working or studying in the field of English Language Teaching” – explore and let me know what you think, please!

3. Recommended by a friend in Thailand: Tomos Roberts’s ‘The Great Realisation’ https://youtu.be/Nw5KQMXDiM4 “A bed time story of how it started, and why hindsight’s 2020” …

4. And, finally, here’s a piece from The Spectator on the consequences of Japan’s punishing workplace culture, which introduced me to the notions of ‘window men’ and ‘freeters’ https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/japan-s-punishing-workplace-culture

1. Set aside your prejudices – in either direction – and sign up for this book-launch-cum-discussion at 15:00 UK time next Friday, 2^nd July: The History of Grammar in Foreign Language Teaching. More info and registration here https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIkcO-srD4vHdMm4e3KOtQH7r3UTJqyRIIs The book’s editor, Simon Coffey, and four other contributors will join moderator Richard Smith to discuss “the social, moral and educational factors that have shaped the development of ‘grammar’ in foreign language education”.

2. I’d prefer to have tried this one out, but I haven’t had the software installed on my laptop yet. Cambridge English have developed English Adventures for young learners, starting at A1 level, using the Education Edition of the very popular Minecraft game. Instructions on this page https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/learning-english/games-social/english-adventures/ and if you’ve got a Microsoft 365 licence, you’re good to go! You may need some help from your students, I guess, and maybe my granddaughter can help me!

3. The last episode – so far! – in the Pearson Experiences series is Critical Thinking with Christina Cavage. You’ll find a series of four webinars, a podcast and a short introductory video from Christina on this page https://www.pearson.com/english/professional-development/experiences/critical-thinking.html and you’ll find the whole Experiences series here https://www.pearson.com/english/professional-development/experiences.html

I thought I’d mentioned this series before but can’t find any evidence of having done so – sorry if this is repetition!

4. And, finally, give this a go if you have ten minutes to spare this weekend: http://exhibitions.britishcouncil.org/ I got a bit lost first time round but got there in the end and decided that this was my favourite http://exhibitions.britishcouncil.org/gallery-new.html?categories=cat4,cat2&lang=en#slide13

The whole British Council art collection can be found here http://visualarts.britishcouncil.org/collection

1. The most recent issue of ELT Journal, which is a special issue devoted to Comprehensive Sexual Education in ELT, is available for free here https://academic.oup.com/eltj/issue

If, like me, you’re not 100% sure what might constitute ‘comprehensive sexual education in ELT’, you’ll find Dario Banegas and Dimitris Evripidou’s introduction to the issue here https://academic.oup.com/eltj/article/75/2/127/6249549

This issue’s Key Concepts article by Nicholas Bremner on Learner-centredness is here https://academic.oup.com/eltj/article/75/2/213/6253155 PDFs of both pieces below.

2. The next event in the Centre for Language Education Research at Queen’s University Belfast’s seminar Series, at 12:00 next Tuesday 29^th June, is An Emerging Research Agenda for Multilingual Cities with Professor Lorna Carson from Trinity College Dublin. More info and registration here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/seminar-series-research-agenda-for-multilingual-cities-prof-lorna-carson-tickets-158886815743 Professor Carson’s claim is that “there is a lack of a serious and sustained research agenda regarding the relationship between the languages spoken by citizens and the city itself”.

3. Here’s the Bell Foundation’s excellent Great Ideas feature on ‘Barrier Games’, complete with introductory video https://www.bell-foundation.org.uk/eal-programme/guidance/effective-teaching-of-eal-learners/great-ideas/barrier-games/ A ‘barrier game’ is a particular type of ‘information gap activity’. Lots more great ideas in the menu bar on the right of the page!

4. And, finally, a very listenable podcast interview with (Lord) Gus O’Donnell, who was press secretary to UK prime minister John Major and cabinet secretary, head of the civil service and permanent secretary of the Cabinet Office to three other prime ministers – Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron. He sounds a surprisingly normal bloke! https://www.globalgovernmentforum.com/leading-questions-podcast-civil-service-leadership/

1. It’s possibly not so very surprising that the number one collaboration tool in this list is Prezi, given that it’s a post on the Prezi blog https://blog.prezi.com/collaboration-tools-for-hybrid-teams/ See how many you’ve heard of: I only scored two out of six (including Prezi).

2. Had we but world enough and time, we could discuss the use of the colon in this MOOC’s title: Exploring English: Food and Culture https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/exploring-english-food-and-culture Three hours a week for four weeks, and learn how to cook some classic dishes along the way!

3. Two lively sessions with Joe Dale for British Council Indonesia that deserve a wider audience next.  The first, Quick Wins With Technology in The BYOD Language Classroom https://youtu.be/OC2UykEkh6M (BYOD? Bring Your Own Device!) The second, Having a play! Simple interactive activities for remote teaching https://youtu.be/kfCN6NawKTI

4. This one will never become an English lesson – well, I don’t think it will, but you never know! It’s the UK’s Independent Commission on Aid Impact (ICAI) 2019 report on ‘How UK aid learns’  https://icai.independent.gov.uk/review/how-uk-aid-learns/ and their assessment two years later of the UK government’s response https://icai.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/ICAI-follow-up-2019-20-reviews.pdf PDFs of both below.

5. This week’s phobia? Has to be sfairesphobia – here in Europe, certainly!

1. Literary Texts for Teenagers is the title of an Oxford University Press ELT Facebook Live event at 14:00 UK time on 28^th June https://www.facebook.com/47565718326/posts/10161044185623327/

I’ve attached a copy of the homework reading, Using Literary Texts in ELT, below, and if you register on the site (for free) you can also download several other interesting ‘focus papers’ from this page https://elt.oup.com/teachers/generalcontent/focus-papers/?utm_campaign=focus-paper&cc=us&selLanguage=en

2. Here’s the latest edition of the European Language Gazette https://www.ecml.at/News/Newsletter/Gazette56/tabid/4426/language/en-GB/Default.aspx

This time there’s a focus on the forthcoming European Day of Languages – many of those languages are also spoken outwith Europe, of course – and news of a new mobile phone app version of The Secret Agent’s Handbook of Language Challenges. Both handbook and app also adapt well for non-European languages: PDF of handbook below; info on the app here https://edl.ecml.at/Activities/Languagechallenge/tabid/3207/Default.aspx

3. The OECD has just published its annual report on development co-operation https://www.oecd.org/dac/development-cooperation-report/ complete with a short introductory video https://youtu.be/hpXy2Z2TBAI

The report profiles nearly 100 country and foundation donors, for example Sweden, Japan and Chile, plus the Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation, the Lego Foundation and the Wellcome Trust. Not a quick read but worth exploring.

Here’s the OECD YouTube channel if you want to explore more https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBEa3qCF9FAEekWdwMy2guA

4. And, finally, here’s the award-winning poet and writer Kei Miller’s list of the UK’s 10 best emerging writers, described as “an unapologetically, triumphantly diverse list of talents at the start of promising careers” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jun/19/kei-miller-selects-the-uks-10-best-emerging-writers

You can book a free ticket to listen to Kei explaining his choices at 17:00 UK time this Thursday, 24^th June here https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/kei-miller-presents/

I used to pride myself on being up to speed on young writers from the UK, but somehow all those young writers have got old along with me!

1. The first of two attractive online events chronologically this Thursday, 24^th June is an Eaquals webinar with David Coniam from LanguageCert at 14:00 UK time on The fit between English language exams and ‘real’ English: How have things changed over the years – presumably towards more real than less! More info and registration here https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_tHXBfXI1RAulWRhg7TICsQ

2. The second is New Ways of Teaching: Skills and CPD for Teachers, at 18:00 UK time on Thursday, a little later in the UK day than usual, which brings together Wendy Arnold, Harry Kuchah Kuchah, Shelagh Rixon, Alicia Artusi and Graham Stanley to discuss the findings of recent British Council research into the different skills needed by English teachers to support student learning remotely or via a combination of face-to-face and online. More info and registration here https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/new-ways-teaching-skills-cpd-teachers

3. Here’s the latest sparkly podcast from my colleagues in Portugal, a special International Children’s Day themed episode of The Sunshiny Day which includes news of a real-life courtroom drama starring six courageous Portuguese children and teens who are taking on the might of the European Union, Greta Thunberg-style, in a potentially history-making case on climate change policies – and “lots of funny stories, moving music and side-splitting jokes” as well! Scroll down the page to Episode 5. https://spark.adobe.com/page/8xM4IHdgPtfZa/ (It seems that there are two International Children’s Days, just in case you were wondering – one on 1^st June and one on 20^th November.)

4. And, finally, a real treasure trove of a site that brings together all the Poems on the (London) Underground since 1986: https://poemsontheunderground.org/this-months-poems I have especially clear memories of the first six poems from 1986 because we received scores of copies of each in Munich where I was working at the time, and we covered schools all over Bavaria with them. Those were the (better-funded and less-focussed) days!