Roy Cross's Blog

1. The next in NILE’s Insights series is on Critical Perspectives in ELT, at 16:00 UK time on Tuesday, 23^rd March, and investigates how and why might language teachers incorporate social justice education into their language teaching practice?

More info here https://www.nile-elt.com/news/nile-insights-critical-perspectives-in-elt/887 and a registration link here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nile-insights-critical-perspectives-in-elt-registration-144985428319 Jason Skeet chairing; Rose Aylett, Maria Heron and Alan Pulverness discussing. (No Simon Smith – he’s just a pretty face on this occasion!)

2.  Lots of new, interesting stuff on the UKFIET blog https://www.ukfiet.org/blog/ since last I mentioned it, including pieces on Vietnam, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, working with refugee language students, and this set of videos on the Abidjan Principles https://www.ukfiet.org/2021/second-anniversary-of-the-abidjan-principles-video-series/

Start with video #5 if you want a quick (animated!) introduction to the Abidjan Principles https://youtu.be/bbVyjGztGBQ

 3. This year’s NATESOL Annual Conference will be on Saturday 15^th May, which is a little while away. The call for papers, however, closes on 2^nd April. More info here https://natesol.wordpress.com/annual-conference-2021/ and in the two attachments below. If your paper is accepted, I’ll pay your £5 fee from my savings on commuting to work over the last year. I did ask Tony Picot for his usual joke, but I was disappointed to receive the following reply: Sorry. Too busy with my new hobby to think of a joke. I’ve taken up blindfold archery. If you’ve never tried it, you don’t know what you’re missing! 

4. And, finally, are you a super-recogniser? https://theconversation.com/super-recognisers-some-people-excel-at-both-face-and-voice-recognition-156817

1. Here’s another of the ECML’s project micro-sites, this one on teacher competences for languages in education: https://www.ecml.at/ECML-Programme/Programme2016-2019/TowardsaCommonEuropeanFrameworkofReferenceforLanguageTeachers/tabid/1850/Default.aspx Lots of material, including a short introductory video. I’ve attached the project flyer below.

2. Three good recent posts on the Oxford English Language Teaching Global Blog:

Erika Osváth on digital burnout https://oupeltglobalblog.com/2021/02/22/digital-burnout-students/

Ruth Gairns and Stuart Redman on learning vocabulary https://oupeltglobalblog.com/2021/03/15/learning-english-vocabulary-2/#more-15534

Charlotte Murphy on student engagement online https://oupeltglobalblog.com/2021/03/01/student-engagement-online/3.

If you’re still not quite 100% confident using break-out rooms in Zoom, you should read this guide written by a self-proclaimed geek Joe Fedewa for non-geeks like you and me https://www.howtogeek.com/717822/how-to-use-breakout-rooms-in-a-zoom-meeting/

4. The next webinar from the Lancaster Literacy Research Centre http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/literacy-research-centre/ is at 11:00 UK time this Friday, 19th March: ‘Transitions in students writing: what do we know from theory and research?’ with Soledad Montes Sánchez from Chile, who’ll be looking at the transition from school to university, with a particular focus on disadvantaged students. More info and registration link here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/transitions-in-students-writing-what-do-we-know-from-theory-and-research-tickets-142870598807

5. And, finally, today’s phobia is allodoxaphobia. What’s your view on it?

1. ‘Making our classrooms more inclusive’ is the title of the programme that my colleagues in what the British Council calls ‘Wider Europe’ (it’s a long story) are offering from 11:00 UK time on Thursday, 18^th March. More information and a registration link here: https://www.eventsforce.net/britishcouncil/frontend/reg/thome.csp?pageID=2086452&eventID=3898&traceRedir=2

PDF of programme attached below – a stellar line-up!

2. Bloomberg allow you two free articles a month, I think. Here’s a decidedly sombre one on the future of USA-China relations https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-03-14/max-hastings-china-might-defeat-america-in-war-over-taiwan that might make for a good discussion class with older pupils.

 3. And here’s another possible discussion stimulant. Last time pandemic restrictions allowed me to visit University College London’s Institute of Education, which must now have been over a year ago, I remember being astonished by the plethora of adverts for essay writing factories – or ‘essay mills’, as they’re often called – stuck to every available surface. No need to write your own essays if you’re rich enough to pay someone else to do so! Here’s a piece on essay mills for WONKHE by Paul Greatrix of Nottingham University which gets quite hot under the collar https://wonkhe.com/blogs/banning-essay-mills-its-time-to-act/ Be sure, though, to read the first comment below the piece by the two lawyers who come in for fierce criticism from Mr Greatrix in his article.

4. I’m taking part in the opening session of the YORStory Online Storytelling Festival at 09:00 UK time on Saturday, 20^th March talking about Plain English (even though I’m not entirely sure what Plain English is). The programme is an eclectic one and includes Rafa Honigstein, the football pundit, and Ian Martin, one of the writers of the very sweary and very successful TV series, The Thick of It – as well as experts on plain English.

PDF of programme below, and if, having looked at the programme, you decide you’d like to sign up, here’s the link https://www.yorstories.com/ You need to click on ‘Select a Plan’ and then select the free option for the YORStory Festival 2021-World Storytelling Day.

5. And, finally, some digital literature. All free – or all the ones I’ve tried are, at least – and rather fun: https://editionsatplay.withgoogle.com/#!/ Try Breathe by Kate Pullinger https://editionsatplay.withgoogle.com/#!/detail/free-breathe

Posting early today, as I have an afternoon off, whoopee!

1. If you’re working in primary school or working with primary school teachers, I think you’ll find it both useful and enjoyable to attend this webinar on using picture books in the primary classroom at 12:00 UK time on Thursday, 18th March https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/picturebooks-european-primary-english-language-teaching-pepelt-virtual-resource-primary

The webinar will also include an introduction to the PEPELT project – Picturebooks in European Primary English Language Teaching https://pepelt21.com/

One of the speakers, Gail Ellis, co-wrote with Jean Brewster a book for primary English language teachers that I think I’m right in saying is still the most downloaded British Council publication ever, Tell it Again! I’ve attached a PDF below and you’ll find a link and more info here https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/tell-it-again-storytelling-handbook-primary-english-language-teachers

2. This is good (and open access; you may need to register), and I’ve just discovered it: Globe: A Journal of Language, Culture and Communication https://journals.aau.dk/index.php/globe/index

Here’s a link to an interesting piece on ‘exclusionary-inclusion’ by Kamal Raj Devkota from Tribhuvan University in Nepal: https://ddrn.dk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Globe-2018.pdf#page=119 and I’ve attached a PDF of the whole special issue of Globe in which Dr Devotka’s piece was published below.

3. Venice Irving from Jamaica has a new podcast in her Becoming a Happy Teacher series – just in case you aren’t already a happy teacher! https://anchor.fm/becomingahappyteacher/episodes/Introducing-Teacher-self-care-esam1g

4. A reminder about York St John University’s online course for teachers, Changing Englishes https://changingenglishes.online/ Well worth a look if you’ve not already paid a visit!

5. And, finally, a tour of Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s Tate Britain show, Fly in League with the Night: https://youtu.be/6ee5gGkW7nk Here’s her Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynette_Yiadom-Boakye I’d not heard of her before but I like the show!

1. My intention today is to not mention a single webinar: let’s see! (And let’s see also whether some of my more particular colleagues object to the formulation ‘to not mention’.)

Are you suffering from Zoom fatigue? What’s your personal rating on the ZEF scale? More info here https://news.stanford.edu/2021/02/23/four-causes-zoom-fatigue-solutions/ and a link to the Stanford University survey to assess your ZEF rating here https://stanforduniversity.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1RpkgSOyl1fPhpY PDF of the research paper below. I scored 37 on the ZEF scale …

2. DEAR is a movement that appears to be gaining popularity in schools here in the UK – to judge by the number of mentions it’s received recently. Here’s two blog posts about it https://readlistenlearn.net/blog/drop-everything-and-read and https://educationblog.oup.com/secondary/english/if-you-do-one-thing-make-sure-its-drop-everything-and-read-dear

3. If you’re into Donna Leon and her urbane Venetian detective, Commissario Guido Brunetti https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guido_Brunetti_novels then you might like to pop in to Daunt Books tomorrow – well, their YouTube page – to watch an interview with her https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7b45jrzxt4aDdXWEEYDdHA Not available till tomorrow.

4. There’s an Inuit Film Night at 18:00 UK time on Sunday evening at the Polar Museum here in Cambridge as part of their Big Freeze Polar Art festival: https://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/museum/bigfreeze/ Free tickets available here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/big-freeze-art-festival-film-night-tickets-141850756431 You need to register but once you’ve done so, you can watch the films at your convenience for the next 24 hours.

The film night is a partnership between the Polar Museum and the Native Spirit Foundation: https://nativespiritfoundation.org/

5. And, finally, a friend sent me this: http://aero.tpk.edu.hk/~engweb/learn_and_know/can_you_read_this.html See what you make of it. I’m not sure how serious the science underpinning it is …

1. First up tonight, a (very!) short notice invitation from the University of Oslo to attend their (slightly delayed) celebration of International Mother Language Day tomorrow, Friday 12^th March. The event starts at 08:30 UK time. More info and Zoom link for tomorrow here https://www.hf.uio.no/multiling/english/news-and-events/events/conferences/2021/International-Mother-Language-Day/Mother-Language-Day

I’ve attached a PDF of the programme below.

2. Two events next Monday, 15^th March: the earlier of the two, at 10:00 UK time, is The Spectator magazine’s debate on the impact of the pandemic on disadvantaged children’s learning, The Learning Gap. More info and a registration link here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-learning-gap-tickets-141437811301  I’m aware there are degrees of disadvantage globally which position this UK debate very much at the less disadvantaged end of the cline, but I’d expect The Spectator’s editor, Fraser Nelson, to chair a lively event. You need to register in advance.

3. The second event next Monday, at 12:00 UK time, is a talk by Ken Hyland, who’s a professor of applied linguistics at the University of East Anglia. Ken’s talk is entitled Why is peer review broken and how do we fix it? and will examine whether it’s true that all peer reviewers are ‘slow, biased, contradictory, hurtful or wilfully obtuse’? More info and a registration link here: https://www.bigmarker.com/UEAUK/Why-is-peer-review-broken-and-how-do-we-fix-it

4. WARNING! This one’s actually an advert and the product it is advertising, a virtual reality course, is well beyond the means of most of us, not to mention the cost of the virtual reality googles. I’m posting it, though, not as an advert but as an example of what is now technologically possible https://www.ecenglish.com/en/young-learners/virtualreality Click on the embedded videos and while you’re at it, do some window shopping for goggles https://www.oculus.com/quest-2/ How long before we can all afford this technology, I wonder? Maybe not so very long?

5. And, finally, having conducted a small straw poll yesterday evening, I now suspect that not as many people know about this site as I had thought! https://theenglishchannel.britishcouncil.org/content

1. A little flurry of webinars to start with. First, this coming Friday, 12th March, the next webinar offered by the Lancaster Literacy Research Centre (LLRC) is by Gee Macrory on New Orthographies in the Primary Languages Classroom and the challenges they pose for young language learners. More details and booking here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/new-orthographies-in-the-primary-languages-classroom-tickets-142845806653

The LLRC has an interestingly eclectic back catalogue of webinars here: http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/literacy-research-centre/

2. My British Council colleagues in Uzbekistan have been under-publicising an interesting series of webinars in conjunction with the Uzbek Ministry of Education and the Norwich Institute of Language Education (NILE) on English Medium Education. The next one is on Friday, 12^th March, at 10:00 UK time https://www.facebook.com/BritishCouncilUzbekistan You’ll need to scroll down the page a little.

3. Every NATESOL webinar comes with a free joke, courtesy of Tony Picot. NATESOL’s next webinar is at 10:00 UK time on Saturday, 13^th March: Learners as Partners: Voices from Different Contexts ~ a learner-centred discussion hosted by Alex Holloway & Clare Courtney from NATESOL. Please register before the end of your Thursday here https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfF1U8jmeGbEXwI2x4EJlWSCszKbHoLPdAqhsz3m0Z2UWjlwQ/viewform

Tony’s latest? ‘I was teaching grammar last week. Asked a student to give me two pronouns. She said, “Who? Me?”’ Stop groaning at the back and please don’t let the joke inform your decision on whether or not to attend the webinar!

4. There’s a good lesson to do with interpreting graphs and data in this OECD report somewhere: http://oecd.org/economic-outlook and, if you need it, you’ll find guidance on creating lesson materials AND publishing them here on Macmillan Education’s one stop english site https://www.onestopenglish.com/lesson-share-/creating-lesson-materials-for-lesson-share/1000134.article This page is free to view – not all are – but you need to register.

5. And, finally, who suffers from zymocenosilicaphobia? Hands up!

1. At 17:30 UK time tomorrow, Wednesday 10^th March, you can join the latest Bilingual English Project webinar, on Helping students process and understand texts: insights from reading test developers. More info and registration here https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1363760968907825422?source=EES+uk

and PDF below with info on both the event tomorrow and the one on 24^th March on Developing literacy by putting literature at the heart of planning in Secondary. (Careful – times on the PDF are Spanish time, one hour ahead of UK time.)

2. At 11:00 UK time on Thursday March 11^th, the first anniversary – yes, twelve months have passed! – of the declaration of the pandemic, The Conversation are hosting a panellist discussion on How coronavirus has changed us https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNenRRF1Ovk As the rubric has it, “It’s easy to forget what things were like before the pandemic, now we are so used to wearing masks, washing our hands constantly and keeping metres apart from other human beings wherever we can. But the truth is that coronavirus has changed our lives completely – from the way we work to our social interactions and how we spend our leisure time.” (Panellist discussion is a new one on me.)

3. Might you fancy something just a little different at 09:00 UK time on 10th March, dealing with a Samoan system of classroom management and a Pasifika translation methodology called Talanoa? Swansea University cordially invite you to join their research seminar with Professor Averil Coxhead on Researching vocabulary in another language: Lessons from trades, Talanoa and Tongan Click here to register https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScDiHlbj9KZZvfUHTuJR1VV3IOdSmwJV_1JnqOmCn8uF8Mzyw/viewform 

PDF of abstract below, and recordings of other Swansea talks here, including one by Heath Rose on ‘Global Englishes’ https://swanseauniversity.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Sessions/List.aspx#folderID=%22dae194ed-9905-4d50-b651-ac5c011fbafa%22

4. If you enjoyed the first David Heathfield storytelling webinar, join this one which looks forward to a face-to-face future at 14:00 UK time on Thursday, 11th March https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/face-face-storytelling-freedom-share-physical-sensory-space

You’ll find a recording of the first one about online storytelling here: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/online-storytelling-engaging-personal-creative

5. And, finally, Alexandra Mihai’s latest post on her Educationalist blog is Hear me out! – about making the best use of audio materials for teaching and learning: https://educationalist.substack.com/p/hear-me-out As ever, a good list of resources at the end of the post.

1. Two reasons for this message being earlier today: one, because I’m taking the afternoon off (eventually!), the other so that more of you will be able to catch this concert in celebration of International Women’s Day from St John’s Smith Square at 20:00 UK time this evening: https://www.sjss.org.uk/century-music-british-women-1921-2021-directed-madeleine-mitchell The concert is free; contributions are welcome but not required. One of my favourite music venues in normal times!

2. A request from my colleagues in the English for Education Systems Research and Insight team, who are currently embarking on an investigation of English as a global language. “We are interested in the views and opinions of people on trends and movements in English from those who work in English language education in a variety of contexts. The results will be used to stimulate thought and discussion about the ever-changing position of the English language in the world.  We are aware that some of you may already have completed a survey towards the end of last year.  This is a follow-up survey and we would be grateful if you could complete this one too, as it is using a more country focussed lens. The survey is completely anonymous and will take around 10 minutes to complete. If you would like to take part please click on the link below: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/TY9TYQB The survey will be open until 18 March 2021.” Money back guaranteed if it takes you more than ten minutes!

3. A good clear presentation on the use and protection of data (which I think might work quite well with older students as a basis for discussion) by the UK Information Commissioner, Elizabeth Denham: https://youtu.be/Pzk7qOKP8lU

4. An invitation to take part in the webinar “Covid-19 and language education: Making home schooling motivating and fun” that Deirdre Kirwan is delivering on behalf of the ECML at 15:00 UK time on Thursday, 11^th March: https://www.ecml.at/Resources/Webinars/tabid/5456/language/en-GB/Default.aspx Please note that you need to register in advance – well worth the effort! Deirdre’s an engaging speaker and used to be the inspirational leader of a primary school in Ireland – with 320 pupils and more than 50 home languages – where plurilingualism was both celebrated and normalised.

 5. And, finally, free to watch until March 15^th, The Man behind the Microphone, a musical family detective story film about Hedi Jouini, the Tunisian ‘Frank Sinatra’, made by his granddaughter, Claire https://youtu.be/SWf2GjpOGnQ

And here’s the playlist of the soundtrack: https://www.themanbehindthemicrophone.com/music

1. Podcasts, webinars and blog posts from Pearson under the banner of Experiences: ‘a fresh look at important questions’ that aims ‘to come up with new answers’: https://www.pearson.com/english/professional-development/experiences.html  The four topics addressed are critical thinking, STEAM (not the kind that comes out of your kettle), mindfulness and career skills.

Also from Pearson, Warm Up: https://www.pearson.com/english/catalogue/assessment/warm-up.html  No need to take PTE, but Pearson don’t mind if you do!

2. One for your science-inclined students to explore: https://www.britishscienceweek.org/  I suggest they start with the Smashing Stereotypes page: https://www.britishscienceweek.org/plan-your-activities/smashing-stereotypes/

3. From the Royal Opera House here in London starting on Monday 8th March, a week-long celebration of International Women’s day: https://www.roh.org.uk/international-womens-day-2021 Maybe start with this one on Monday? https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/kind-regards-details

4. A wonderfully eclectic Eastern and Central Europe one-hundred-book-long reading list from The Calvert Journal, starting with The Life Written by Himself, written by the Archpriest Avvakum in prison in Siberia in 1660, through to F Letter: New Russian Feminist Poetry, edited by Galina Rymbu, Eugene Ostashevsky, and Ainsley Morse in 2020: https://www.calvertjournal.com/features/show/12441/100-books-eastern-europe-central-asia

The only favourite of mine who appears – to my surprise – to be missing from the list is the Austrian writer Joseph Roth. Here’s a piece about Roth by his long-time UK champion, Michael Hofmann: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/dec/31/featuresreviews.guardianreview20 Tell me if I missed Roth in the list, please!

5. And, finally, 8 professions that are hiring more people in 2021, according to LinkedIn: https://www.facebook.com/worldeconomicforum/videos/1575649839490737/  I’m investing in #7!