ISSN 2412-6578

March/April 2019
Issue 267
www.iatefl.org IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019 1
March/April 2019
Issue 267
ISSN 2412-6578

From the Editor Contents

First of all, I would like to start by saying a
huge thank you to everyone who sent me  2 From the President
messages telling me how much you liked
the new Voices, which made its debut in  3 Keynote: Delta Module 2 with young learners
January. I really appreciate it! I’m glad David Valente
the new design was well received, and
I would like to thank our designer Keith Feature articles
Rigley for his hard work and creativity. I  6 An ESOL fairy tale: Cinderella and her principles
think we all agree that the new look is Emily Bryson
both fresh and appealing.
I’d also like to welcome Harry Kuchah Tania Pattison, Editor
 8 So you want to self-publish your ELT materials, part 2
as President of IATEFL; you’ll find Harry’s Walton Burns
first letter as President in this issue. I’m sure we all wish Margit 10 Google Classroom: the benefits of blended learning
Szesztay a speedy recovery from illness. Anastasiya Shalamay
In this issue of Voices you’ll find papers to appeal to members
in many sectors of ELT. Whether you’re a classroom teacher, a 12 And don’t criticise what you can’t understand
manager, a teacher trainer or a materials writer, there is some- Karin Krummenacher
thing here that will interest you. Our Keynote paper is by David 13 My life in ELT
Valente, Coordinator of the YLTSIG, who discusses the need for Alan Mackenzie
greater attention to be paid to training for YLT teachers on the
Delta modules. Emily Bryson’s area of expertise is ESOL, which she
15 What’s happening in … Nigeria
calls the ‘Cinderella of ELT’; she presents principles for teaching
Agnes Okpe
this population. Walton Burns completes his two-part series
on self-publishing, with lots of practical advice, and Anastasiya
Regular columns
Shalamay discusses the use of Google Classroom. Have you found 17 Materials reviews
yourself agreeing or disagreeing with something you’ve read in Ruby Vurdien, Reviews Editor
Voices? Karin Krummenacher has—read her response to a recent
Voices article on working as a non-NEST in the UK. Inside IATEFL
The latest contributions to our two new regular features come
from the UK and Nigeria. Alan Mackenzie has worked in Japan,
19 Focus on the SIGs
Thailand, India and Pakistan and now jointly runs an ELT consult- 24 My first IATEFL Conference
ing business in the UK. He has plenty of words of wisdom to share Rajasekaran Venkatraman
based on his extensive experience. Agnes Okpe, a regular speaker
at IATEFL conferences, shares her thoughts on the ELT situation in
26 From the Associates
Lou McLaughlin
Nigeria. Don’t forget our regular Materials reviews section, which
features a variety of books for different areas of ELT, and our 27 Coming events
Associates report, where you can read about the history of ELTAI,
28 Who’s who in IATEFL
our Associate in India.
As I write this at my home in rural Canada, it’s cold and wintery.
But spring will soon be here and spring means one thing: confer-
ence season! I have a new coursebook coming out in the spring,
which means that my conference trips this spring will take me Contact us
across Canada. But the big one for me—and for many of you—is, Head Office and Publisher
of course, the annual IATEFL conference. In this issue, many of (for general information about IATEFL and details of advertising rates)
our SIGs talk about their plans for PCEs and SIG Showcase days. IATEFL, 2–3 The Foundry, Seager Road, Faversham, Kent ME13 7FD, UK
Are you planning to come to the conference for the first time this Telephone: +44 (0)1795 591414
year? Read Rajasekaran Venkatraman’s article on what it was like Email: info@iatefl.org  Web: www.iatefl.org
to come to IATEFL as a first-time presenter and scholarship winner. Follow IATEFL on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram @iatefl
Finally, I really encourage all of you to write for Voices. This is
your magazine, and the more contributions we get from around
Editorial Office
Correspondence relating to Newsletter content should be clearly marked for the
the world, the more interesting it will be. I’ll be giving a talk at the attention of ‘The Editor of IATEFL Voices’ and sent to the above address.
Liverpool Conference on how to write for Voices—do come along; I The Editor can be also contacted by email at editor@iatefl.org.
would love to meet you.
See you in Liverpool!
Tania Pattison
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2 IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019 www.iatefl.org
From the President
Building communities of
practice
I am writing this message to you from
Afghanistan where, together with the local
British Council office, I have been working
with 50 Afghan colleagues to set up English
language teacher communities in the
country. Over four days of workshops, we
have each shared stories of our English
language learning experiences and those
super teachers who made us love the
English language; we have also shared sto-
ries of our own successful English language
lessons and reflected on why they were
successful, and we have learned about
how our little teacher communities might
eventually grow to become Associates of
IATEFL. These stories have helped us real-
ise how much we can grow as a community
of practitioners, learning from and with
each other when we find time to break the
routine and isolation of our classroom to
commune with like-minded professionals.
What is more, over the four days, we have,
through our personal stories, celebrated
the power of our professional identity
over religious, cultural, racial and gender
differences.
In May last year, I participated in the
inaugural pre-conference event (PCE) of
Africa TESOL in Dakar, Senegal, co-
organised by IATEFL’s Global Issues and
YLTSIGs. The PCE consisted of two plenary
sessions and eight hands-on workshops on
different aspects of language education;
it was attended by nearly two hundred
teachers from across Africa. At the event,
a timid-looking young man approached
Linda Ruas (then GISIG Coordinator) and
me asking for help to develop ELT in his
country, Guinea Bissau (GB). Since then,
the relationship between GISIG and ELTA
GB has become a true example of the
difference we can make when we reach
out to, learn from, and share with profes-
sionals like us—we who share with our
colleagues in Afghanistan the experience
of working in extremely difficult circum-
stances, some of which are never known to
ELT professionals in otherwise privileged
parts of the world. Last year, we welcomed
ELTA GB as our Associate and since then,
their work has featured in a GISIG pub-
lication. Ali Djau (that’s his name) has
been invited to speak to other African TA
leaders at the Hornby school in Ethiopia
and ELTA GB has been working with GISIG
on creating a new national curriculum and
materials for their teachers, and more joint
GISIG–ELTA GB newsletters.
Harry Kuchah Kuchah I have so far received from members,
has been involved Head Office staff, SIG Coordinators, past
in English language Presidents and trustees, I feel sufficiently
teacher education equipped to step into Margit’s shoes and
since 1996 and has
worked with different am looking forward to continuing to help
teacher communities the association flourish. It has been an
in Africa, Europe, South absolute joy for me to work under Margit’s
America and Asia. His leadership and in many ways, she has been
interests include TEYL, EMI, Teaching English
a ‘big sister’, sharing her ideas, thoughts
in challenging circumstances and CPD.
and experiences with me even from her
sick bed! I would like to wish her a quick
Joining a professional family
recovery and trust that she will soon be
My encounter with Ali Djau reminds me back with us doing the things which matter
of my first IATEFL conference in Aberdeen to our community.
in 2007. As a teacher from Sub-Saharan
Africa with very little exposure to the rest Looking forward to the past
of the ELT world, the conference was, for Over the last 52 years, IATEFL has grown in
me, more than a pilgrimage to the Holy many ways and thanks to the hard work
Land of ELT; it was both overwhelming of previous leaders and their teams, we
and intimidating! It was here that I met have become the place where people come
the faces behind some of the books I had together to support each other and feel
studied as a student teacher; it was here part of a family. Like every thriving com-
that I learned that these authors were munity, we have also had to restructure
human beings, ready to share their knowl- our organisation to suit its purpose. IATEFL
edge, friendship and warmth with me; has a three-fold identity as a membership
and it was here that I was invited into the organisation, a UK-based charity and a
international family of English language business. Yet, it is important that we do
professionals! not lose sight of the fact that we are, first
The Aberdeen conference showed me and foremost, an organisation for teach-
that in IATEFL everyone’s contribution is ers where professional energy and verve
valued, and this gave me the confidence supersede administrative structures and
to take on some roles such as Joint Events personal ambition. With this in mind, I
Coordinator for the YLTSIG, Development hope to work with you to make the ‘I’ in
Manager and later Newsletter Co-editor IATEFL tall and bold through our activities
of ReSIG and member of the Associates and presence within and out of Europe; to
Committee. Through these roles, I have continue to help our team of trustees in
benefitted from the mentorship of experi- developing mutually respectful and benefi-
enced and generous colleagues and have cial relationships with our sponsors and
learned from the experiences of profes- strategic partners; to see more and more
sionals working in contexts that are both classroom teachers and teacher trainers
similar to and different from mine. share their challenges and success stories
on our big stage. More importantly, I hope
A bit too soon …
to be your servant, not your leader. Can
While I was looking forward to eventually you help me serve you?
taking on the presidential role following
my election as Vice President last year, With best wishes,
I did not expect it to happen so soon! Harry
However, thanks to the enormous support
The International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language
was founded in 1967
Registered as a Charity: 1090853  Registered as a Company in England:
2531041
Disclaimer
Views expressed in the articles in Voices are not necessarily those of the
Editor, of IATEFL or its staff or trustees.
Copyright Notice
Copyright for whole issue IATEFL 2019.
IATEFL retains the right to reproduce part or all of this publication in other publications, including retail
editions.
Contributions to this publication remain the intellectual property of the authors. Any requests to
reproduce a particular article should be sent to the relevant contributor and not IATEFL.
Articles which have first appeared in IATEFL publications must acknowledge the IATEFL publication as the
original source of the article if reprinted elsewhere.
www.iatefl.org IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019
Keynote: Delta Module 2 with
young learners
David Valente, Coordinator
of the IATEFL Young Learners
and Teenagers Special Interest
Group, questions the use of
Delta Module 2 for teachers
of young learners
My Module 2 training journey
I have been working on Delta Module
2 for the past decade, ever since this
particular Cambridge Assessment English
teaching award went modular in 2008.
Like a number of Delta trainers, I started
as a local tutor for the distance Delta
and gradually progressed to fully-fledged
face-to-face and online courses. I became
an external assessor for Module 2 (M2
hereafter) in 2013 and have worked on
many variations of the course: part-time
extensive, full-time intensive and distance
learning programmes. Throughout this
period, I have tutored several candidates
who were teaching young learners for their
M2 lessons as well as externally assessed a
number of young learner teachers.
Given that M2 is based on an ‘adult
default’ view of ELT and lacks adjustments
at the syllabus, assessment criteria and
course administration levels for teachers
of young learners, this poses a major
challenge for candidates and tutors alike.
I have found it crucial to provide a strong
focus on age-appropriate pedagogy while
simultaneously enabling candidates to
meet the highly adult-orientated M2
requirements. My young learner teacher
training background has enabled me to
rise to this major challenge. However,
given the particular needs of global YL
training contexts, my hot topics feature
questions whether taking this particular
award with young learners is somewhat of
a ‘contradiction in terms’.
The award’s journey into TEYL
Early predecessors of the Delta Modules
were two separate qualifications: the Royal
Society of Arts DTEFLA (Diploma in the
Teaching of English as a Foreign Language
to Adults) and the DOTE (Diploma for
Overseas Teachers of English). These were
merged in 1988 by Cambridge Assessment
English to become the DELTA (Diploma of
Teaching English Language Teaching to
Adults).
In the mid-1990s, Lynette Murphy
O’Dwyer led an initiative to form what
Cambridge Assessment called the ‘YL
David Valente has 20
years’ experience as
a teacher, academic
manager, educational
consultant, teacher
trainer and materials
developer. His
specialist interests
include teacher
development, materials writing and inclusive
practices. David has been delivering
Cambridge Delta Modules 2 and 3 training
courses with candidates who teach children
and teenagers for the past decade; he is also
an external assessor for Delta and CELTA.
sub-committee’ of key TEYL specialists.
The core members were John Clegg, Lynn
Durrant, Carol Read and Melanie Williams.
There were additional meetings with other
YL ELT professionals such as Annie Hughes
and Diane Phillips, who also provided
invaluable input and feedback on the
development of two higher-level YL ELT
awards: the DELTYL and the YL Extension
to DELTA. Carol Read took the lead within
the YL sub-committee for developing these
qualifications and the skills and compe-
tencies she identified were the result of a
long process of developmental work and
consultancy with the wider YL teaching
community by the same YL sub-committee.
It is unfortunate that Cambridge
Assessment English finally decided not
to offer a separate diploma for teaching
YLs. However, the developmental work
undertaken on the DELTYL influenced the
later modularising of the DELTA (as its
current format) including widening into
the YL field by providing the option of
taking M2 with young learners (as well as
the YL specialist option for Delta Module
3). In 2008, the minimum learner age for
M2 assessed lessons was set at eight year
olds and above and, as de Nagy (2016: 19)
highlights, this was ‘a move which many of
us welcomed as it further lent weight and
recognition to this vital area of ELT’.
It is crucial to highlight that the vision
of the YL sub-committee centred fully on
the development of YL-specific teaching
skills and competencies. The committee
members were in no way advocating the
use of adult-centred ELT approaches to
training teachers of young learners. This
is where a serious contradiction arises:
a diploma level, advanced practitioner
qualification in TEYL is much needed and
desired globally, but not one which adopts
an ‘adult ELT default’ position to the
content of input, lesson observations and
written assignments.
3
The timeline then becomes rather
blurred, but at some point over the
past decade, the learner age limit for
M2 assessed lessons was removed.
Personal communication with Cambridge
Assessment English indicates that the
introduction of ‘any age’ was in response
to stakeholder feedback, which highlighted
that children are learning English at an
ever younger age. The Assessment Manager
notes, ‘We also stipulated that teachers
needed to provide adequate depth in the
background assignment. You can only
teach a very limited amount to 4 year olds
but the research should be broader than
the specific language being taught’. For
me, this further highlights the mismatch
of M2 regarding age-appropriacy as well
as the perception of ELT for children being
a watered down version of adult-centred
target language.
The current M2 picture
To identify current realities when tutoring
M2 candidates taking the course with
young learners, I conducted a survey for
M2 tutors in March 2018. The focus of this
survey is seen in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Focus of March 2018 survey
In acknowledging that ‘young learn-
ers’ is an umbrella term which often
causes confusion due to differences in
national education systems and transition
stages, I used the International Standard
Classification of Education (ISCED)
mapping criteria in the survey to refer to
different age ranges:
❚ Early Years (2 to 5 year olds)
❚ Primary (6 to 10 year olds)
❚ Secondary (11 to 17 year olds)
Thirty Delta M2 tutors responded,
including heads of teacher training at M2
centres providing both face-to-face and
4 IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019 www.iatefl.org
online delivery modes. Respondents were
a mix of full-time employees as well as
freelance trainers based in Europe, Asia
and the Americas. They represent a variety
of M2 teacher training roles including face
to face, online and local tutors.
Key findings from research with
tutors
Tutors reported a stark difference between
candidates’ everyday teaching realities
(which include a significant number of
weekly timetabled YL classes) and the
focus of assessed teaching on M2 courses—
see Figure 2.
Figure 2: Everyday teaching realities vs.
assessed teaching on M2
This again evidences the prevailing
tendency for M2 courses to perpetuate
an ‘adult ELT default’, despite candidates
needing to upskill their YL pedagogy for
their day-to-day teaching.
Tutors were also asked to report on ways
they accommodate and include the needs
of candidates undertaking M2 with young
learners. I focused on these aspects of the
award specifically:
a) Background essays
Figure 3 shows the approaches currently
adopted to candidates’ background essays
when preparing candidates who teach YLs
on M2.
The above reflects significant incon-
sistencies among centres as well as
Figure 3: Adaptations by tutors
an absence of guidance from the M2
Cambridge Assessment English Handbook.
Furthermore, 25 per cent of tutors are
telling their candidates not to mention
YLs in the title, the analysis, the issues
section or the teaching suggestions of the
background essay. This is alarmingly high
and is indicative of the mismatch between
course content and global YL ELT teaching
contexts, realities and needs.
b) Input sessions
Tutors were asked whether they include
a focus on different YL age ranges in
addition to adult learners during input
sessions. Results are shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4: Extent to which training for
different age ranges is addressed
Figure 5: Tutors’ perceptions of competence
This may reflect the age ranges candi- and confidence in training to teach
dates are teaching during the M2 course different age ranges
and centre responses to accommodate
d) Assessment criteria
them, despite there being no explicit
I noticed a similar trend to the findings on
inclusion of YL pedagogy in the current M2
lesson planning and post-lesson feedback
syllabus.
regarding the relevance of the M2 assess-
ment criteria, as shown in Figure 6.
c) Lesson planning and feedback
Tutors’ perceptions of their competence
and confidence when supporting can-
didates with lesson planning and when
providing post-lesson feedback on lessons
with young learners were also sought. An
obvious correlation was found between
planning and feedback, as Figure 5 shows.
As M2 can be undertaken by candidates
who teach any age range (potentially
including early years learners) the findings
above indicate a significant YL training
skills gap and further reinforces the ‘adult Figure 6: Tutors’ perceptions of relevance
ELT default’ emphasis of the award. of assessment criteria
www.iatefl.org IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019
Clearly, tutors’ perceptions of relevance
strongly relate to learner age range,
whereby the younger the children, the
less relevant the assessment criteria. This
raises concerns for candidates wishing
to take M2 with very young children and
emphasises an urgent need for age-related
adjustments to the criteria.
e) Recommended reading lists
To gain a fuller picture of centre provision
for candidates taking M2 with young learn-
ers, tutors were asked whether books for
different age ranges are included in centre
reading lists. The results, shown in Figure
7, are unsurprising given the lack of YL ELT
methodology titles on the M2 reading list
provided by Cambridge Assessment English.
Figure 7: Inclusion of books on teaching
different age ranges on reading lists
This is further evidence of a lack of sup-
port for candidates and in my view, unfairly
positions YL ELT as being inferior to adult
ELT. It also ignores the crucial importance
of age-appropriate pedagogy and does not
help foster child-centredness.
f) External assessors’ visits
Tutors were asked whether they notify
external M2 assessors of the age range of
learners in LSA4 lessons. Responses were
evenly distributed, as captured in Figure 8.
Figure 8: Extent to which tutors notify
external M2 assessors of the age range of
learners
Given tutors’ perceptions of gaps in
competence and confidence when tutoring
candidates who teach young learners (and
the fact that most assessors are them-
selves M2 tutors), a lack of systematic noti-
fications could result in assessors being
inadequately prepared to externally assess
lessons. This in turn could undermine
the credibility of the external assessment
process and related results.
5
The elephant in the training
room
So far I have focused mainly on peda-
gogical concerns related to M2 with YLs;
however, as Etchells (2015) asserts, all
ELT professionals working with learners
under 18 years of age need to be aware of
child protection and safeguarding issues.
We need to prove to parents/caregivers,
teachers and children that we are doing
everything possible to protect the well-
being of the learners in our care. Etchells
further maintains how every teacher and
institution working with children has a
vested interest in this.
In reality, in many M2 contexts this is the
elephant in the training room given that
some M2 candidates, tutors and external
assessors are having classroom contact
with learners under 18 without compulsory
Disclosure and Barring Service (or equiv-
alent) checks in place for child protection
and safeguarding. There is also currently
an absence of any DBS requirement from Figure 10: Recommendations for changes
Cambridge Assessment English for M2
tutors and assessors. While this could be Longer term M2 review and
regarded as an oversight, it has serious revisions
risks to the integrity of the qualification and A more research-driven approach clearly
may also be perceived as negligent when it needs to be adopted in order to genuinely
comes to child protection and safeguarding. address the identity crisis facing M2. This
would necessitate reforming a YL sub-com-
Summary of issues and concerns mittee with a similar function to the group
The findings of my initial small scale in the 1990s. Such a committee should
research evidence the acute M2 identity comprise Delta M2 tutors/assessors with
crisis as I alluded to earlier. This has been a strong YL background in tandem with
caused by a move to opening the award to recognised global YL ELT specialists. My
teachers of all age ranges without neces- own personal ‘wish list’ for this commit-
sary adjustments as Figure 9 shows. tee’s remit would include a longer term M2
review and the revisions shown in Figure 11.
Figure 9: Summary of issues and concerns
Adjusting the M2 award
To respond to the concerns above, the
existing M2 award can be readily adjusted,
for example by reinstating the minimum Figure 11: Recommendations for long-term
age range of learners being observed on M2 revisions to Delta M2
and setting this as six and above (due to
the highly specialised nature of early years References available from the author on
pedagogy). Other recommendations for request.
changes which can currently be imple-
mented are presented in Figure 10. yltsig@iatefl.org
6 IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019 www.iatefl.org
An ESOL fairy tale: Cinderella
and her principles
Emily Bryson outlines
principles for teaching ESOL
learners
I
teach ESOL in the biggest Further
Education college in Scotland. There
are around 1,200 ESOL students at
the college, mostly refugees and asylum
seekers, with a fair number of migrant
workers and British citizens, too. We have
a core textbook that we follow for all our
grammatical and vocabulary needs, but
really, what the learners need is functional
English to help them arrange a building
repair, find a volunteer placement or
secure employment.
ESOL practitioners often refer to ESOL
as the ‘Cinderella’ of the EFL world. While
her stepsisters General English, Business
English and English for Exams can search
through their walk-in wardrobes of lan-
guage-focused finery, Cinderella’s choices
are limited to a drawer of equally fine texts
published only by her fairy godmothers.
I have been teaching ESOL at City of
Glasgow College since 2007 and in that
‘‘
ESOL practitioners
often refer to ESOL as
the ‘Cinderella’ of the
EFL world
’’
time have attended countless IATEFL
Conferences. Every year, I come in eager
anticipation that Cinderella’s fairy god-
mother has waved her magic wand and
created new resources that will provide
my learners with the practical language
skills they need to navigate their daily
tasks. I just can’t help feeling jealous of
Cinderella’s stepsisters.
To quote bestselling author Toni
Morrison, ‘If there’s a book that you want
to read, but it hasn’t been written yet,
then you must write it.’ Although Toni was
doubtless speaking about fiction, A−Z of
ESOL is the book I really felt needed to
be written for me, for Cinderella, for my
colleagues, for my students and for all
other ESOL teachers and students around
the world.
Emily Bryson is an ELT
materials writer and
ESOL lecturer at City of
Glasgow College. She
has written digital ELT
materials for publishers
such as Macmillan and
the British Council
and has developed a
wide range of ESOL for Vocational Purposes
courses. Her book, A−Z of ESOL, is published
by Academic Study Kit.
While traditional publishers focus their
attentions on the more lucrative EFL
market, Academic Study Kit is a small
independent publisher which recognises
the needs of ESOL learners and the
importance of affordable, appropriate,
learner-centred materials. I was fortunate
to meet the Director, Julie Pratten, at
IATEFL Glasgow in 2017. She told me that
she was looking to commission A−Z of
ESOL and on my telling her that I was an
experienced materials writer with an ESOL
background, she asked me to submit a
sample. She liked the pumpkins and mice
that I brought her, so she waved her wand
and together we created A−Z of ESOL.
Having taught ESOL for a long time, I
was well aware of the kind of materials
I wanted Cinderella’s fairy godmother
to create; they had to complement my
principles of ESOL teaching—principles
which I’ve developed over the course of
my career and which are personal to me,
though shared with and inspired by many
others.
The ten principles
1.  Be learner centred
ESOL learners must be at the heart of
every lesson. The social practices approach
puts learners at the centre of all learning
and creates a warm and welcoming class-
room environment. Teachers plan lessons
around their learners, so if a student
comes to college and asks what the writing
on the side of a medicine bottle means,
the teacher will deliver a lesson on just
that.
2.  Keep it appropriate
With learners at the heart of the learning,
it is crucial that lessons are appropriate
to their needs. Cinderella often has to
wear hand-me-downs from her stepsis-
ters which don’t often fit perfectly, so
they need to be tailored. For example, a
common topic in general English might be
holidays. One might assume holidays to
be an inclusive and people-pleasing topic.
Let’s not forget that Cinderella has limited
funds and often doesn’t have the right
to work or the paperwork to allow her to
travel. In ESOL, we take Cinderella to the
free local museum to distract her while her
stepsisters jet off to the Seychelles.
3.  Keep it real
The social practices approach focuses on
equipping learners with the functional
skills they need for their daily lives. They
may need to know how to read a school
report or what to do in an emergency
situation. I’ve had students who told me
they phoned for an ambulance because
they had a bad headache, or that the fire
services visited them when they used a
disposable barbecue in the living room of
their high-rise flat. Since then, I’ve always
incorporated practical lessons on respond-
ing to emergencies and regularly take my
classes to the local fire station for class
trips.
4.  Include literacy
Many ESOL students have ‘jagged pro-
files’. You may find that Cinderella is
confident with speaking and listening but
has minimal literacy skills. Even at higher
levels, I find myself reminding students to
write in sentences, use paragraphs and not
to forget their capital letters. I spend a lot
of class time on reading, writing, phonics
and spelling.
5.  Include ICT
We are living in a digital world, yet
Cinderella doesn’t always have the same
access to technology as her stepfamily. My
learners can’t afford unlimited data for
their smartphones and often lack confi-
dence with computers. In many cases, they
struggle to use ‘shift’ to add a capital letter
or even to use a mouse. This can be quite
challenging when passwords insist on the
inclusion of a capital letter.
Never give up on ICT. I always find the
first month of helping my beginners to
access the Virtual Learning Environment
(VLE) at the college extremely frustrating,
but they soon learn that constantly phon-
ing for a password reset is fun for no one! I
guess my students are pretty lucky in the
grand scheme of fairy tales; they attend a
well-resourced college with computers in
every corner. If I’m in a classroom without
computers, I’ll ask students to use their
www.iatefl.org IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019 7

8. Emphasise intercultural local area. It’s a challenge to get Cinderella

communication
Cinderella is inclusive and welcoming to
all. She is inquisitive, respectful and happy
to interact with people of all shapes, sizes
and beliefs. ESOL classes are, by their very
nature, multicultural. I can have students
of ten or more nationalities in a room
at one time, so it’s essential that they
understand and respect each other. When
I wrote A−Z of ESOL, I included a variety of
out and about when she faces so many
barriers, but it is possible.
Reflection
So these are my ten principles of ESOL
teaching. They influence how I teach and
how I write, and they inspired the lessons
in my first book. I wrote the book—with

‘‘
lessons to support this multiculturalism as
well as follow-up ideas such as class trips Cinderella is
to places of worship. inclusive and welcoming
9.  Embrace taboos to all … ESOL classes
While her stepsisters shy away from taboo are, by their very
subjects such as politics, religion, gender
equality, sexual orientation and discrim-
ination, Cinderella welcomes these with
open arms. Cinderella’s fairy godmother
nature, multicultural
’’
the help of her fairy godmother, Academic
at Academic Study Kit encouraged me to
smartphones. This gives them the con- Study Kit—as I was tired of watching
include these topics in A−Z of ESOL: ESOL
fidence to access the VLE wherever they Cinderella wait for her handsome prince.
learners need to know about the politics
have free Wi-Fi. I also encourage them I can truly say that A−Z of ESOL fits
of the area they live in, the religious
to find IT classes in the community, for Cinderella’s dainty little toes perfectly
beliefs of their classmates, LGBT rights
example at their local library. and will help many ESOL practitioners live
and what to do if they experience discrim-
happily ever after.
6.  Encourage employability ination. For example, the ‘D for Diversity’
lesson introduces learners to the concept emilybryson@outlook.com
To me, employability is the fifth
of protected characteristics and facili-
skill. Finding a job in an English speaking
tates non-judgemental debate, while ‘F
country is challenging not only because
for Forms’ has an equalities monitoring
of the language barrier, but also because
section, including sexual orientation,
it can be a whole new process. In some
disability, religion, gender, nationality and
countries, if you want to find a job you may
ethnic origin.
just ask your family and friends, or go to a
local roundabout where recruiters will ask 10. Create
around for their desired skills. The idea of opportunities
selling yourself on paper, identifying skills for language
and qualities and dressing appropriately acquisition
for an interview can be very alien concepts, ESOL students are
so it’s essential we train our learners to do very lucky in that
these things. their local area
can be their class-
7.  Teach study skills
room. The students
I often find that the students who progress that progress the
the fastest are the ones who have com- most quickly are the
pleted high school or further education ones who are out and
in their own country. They have the study about volunteering,
skills to know that they are responsible for working or attend-
their own learning, they do their home- ing a local club or
work and they study at home. In A−Z of community group. I
ESOL, I included a quiz to allow students to like to use the ‘K for
reflect on their study skills and share their Knowing local people
best practices with their peers. and places’ lesson
In class, I teach my learners how to copy from A−Z of ESOL
notes from the whiteboard as well as when encouraging
which worksheets to keep for further my learners to get
reference and which ones to use for involved. Students
practice, then file in the bin. I encourage read some examples
them to use vocabulary notebooks and to of activities in a
take graded readers out of the library. I local area before
also teach them the ‘look, say, cover, write, discussing what they
check’ method to practise their spelling might like to do and
at home, and I give them homework every what opportunities
lesson. are available in their
8 IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019 www.iatefl.org
So you want to self-publish
your ELT materials, part 2
Walton Burns concludes
his two-part series on self-
publishing in ELT
T
his article is the second in a series on
self-publishing in ELT. In the previous
article, I discussed what to publish.
In this part, I’d like to focus more on how
to self-publish. What do you need and
where can you get it?
Illustrations
You must ensure that any art you use (or
any third-party content) is royalty/license
free, that you have commercial rights or
that it is in the public domain. Be sure
to read any licenses carefully, including
Creative Commons, which often require
attribution or prohibit changing the image.
Unsplash and FreeRange Stocks are my
favourite free image sites. Depositphotos
offers affordable plans, often on sale, for
access to 100 images. Shutterstock and
Adobestock have the best variety and are
relatively cheap if you only need a few
images.
Walton Burns has been Vellum, both Mac only, but very user-
friendly. Draft2Digital is free and easy-to-
self-publishing since
2007, including selling use and will distribute your ebook as well
materials on his blog,
as convert it. So will Amazon’s KDP and
through Teachers Pay
Teachers and through Smashwords, although they are slightly
his independent less user-friendly.
publishing company, Professionals use Adobe InDesign, which
Alphabet Publishing. is expensive and has a steep learning
He has also written and edited materials for
curve. But you will have complete control
Oxford University Press, Macmillan, Compass
Publishing and Pro Lingua. over your book’s formatting, and InDesign
can even do print books (or websites or
If you need very specific images, more). If you have an .edu email, you get a
consider hiring an artist. There are many discount on all Adobe software.
qualified freelance professionals on
Reedsy or LinkedIn, and the cost varies
‘‘ Book design is an
with experience and ability. Fiverr.com
is full of affordable, talented freelance
artists, but you have to be specific about
under-appreciated art
what you want as the artists don’t tend to because, done right, you
’’
have ELT experience. don’t notice it
Editing
A good copy-editor will ensure your prose Vellum and Draft2Digital will also pro-
is clear and follows style conventions duce print book files, but with limitations.
consistently. Again, Reedsy and your So if you have complex formatting needs,
social network are great places to look for you’ll want a professional designer.
editors. You can also
post an ad on the
Book design
Editor’s Association Book design is an under-appreciated art
of Earth Ad Space because, done right, you don’t notice it. It
group (https:// involves choosing fonts and line spacings,
www.facebook. placing page numbers and headers, and
com/groups/ inserting images and sidebars. It also
EAEAdSpace/). means ensuring the text looks nice on the
If your book is page. Bad book design will turn people off
complex or intro- your book.
duces a very new Again, Reedsy or LinkedIn are great
methodology, places to look. Your editor or illustrator
you might want a may also do book design or recommend
developmental editor someone. Some agencies even offer
who can look how illustration, editing and design services as
well you’ve realised a package.
your idea. For simpler Then there’s the DIY route. If you have
works, you might at the time and the interest, it is possible to
least run it past your learn basic design. You can find books and
students or your online courses to learn the software and
colleagues. design principles, and study books like
yours to learn conventions. I’ve designed a
Book creation few simple activity books myself. Do they
software
look as nice as my professional designed
It is a bit of a process ones? No, but they’ve never been criticised
to create an ebook either. In fact, a few successful independ-
out of a Word docu- ent presses design everything themselves
ment, but fortunately in Word!
there are a variety of
free or inexpensive Cover
software options to Book covers catch the buyer’s eye and help
help you, including customers understand what your book is
iBook Author and about. There are also conventions in ELT
www.iatefl.org IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019
that a professional designer will know.
Coursebooks for adults should look a cer-
tain way and graded readers for children
another. So a good cover designer is a val-
uable asset. Again, I love Reedsy, and Fiverr
is a low-cost option. If you’ve already hired
an illustrator or book designer, they may
do your cover as well. Some less expensive
options include the following:
❚ Buy a blank cover created by a designer
on spec.
❚ Buy a stock photo and add the title
and author. Experiment with fonts and
colours to keep it clean and readable.
❚ Use a free cover template from Canva.
com, Amazon’s KDP or another book
distribution site. Change the colours and
fonts, and replace images.
Don’t forget the back cover. Readers look
at them while deciding whether to buy and
even websites will usually show them. And
even though an ebook doesn’t need one, it
can help.
Look at many back covers of books like
yours to get idea of what kind of informa-
tion they provide and how they are written,
but typically, back covers start with a blurb.
Then there’s a paragraph or two about the
contents of the book. Think about what will
convince a customer to buy, such as the
intended audience and key features of the
book.
Distributor
Finally, you’ll need a service to print (for
paperbacks), distribute and sell your
books. Print-on-demand (POD) services
help you avoid the upfront costs of
traditional printing because in POD, your
book is only printed when someone buys
it. There’s also no need to store your
books. The biggest and most popular POD
services, Amazon’s KDP and IngramSpark,
will also distribute and ship your books for
a commission. KDP also sells your books
directly on Amazon. Both offer services
to convert your book to an ebook. KDP
also has book layout and cover templates,
should you want to avoid hiring profes-
sional designers. IngramSpark charges
a fee to create your books, but offers
discounts periodically.
BookBaby is known for strong customer
service. They charge a set-up fee but not a
commission. They also offer a broad range
of editing, marketing and design services,
including ebook formatting. Draft2Digital
and Smashwords both do ebooks only,
including conversion, and are free.
You may want to work directly with book-
sellers such as Kobo or Apple Bookstore.
You will keep more of the profit because
you don’t pay a commission, but it’s more
work visiting all those sites and keeping
track of revisions.
9
Marketing to read the book and maybe give a blurb.
Unfortunately, just because you’ve written Even if they turn you down, they may give
it doesn’t mean people will necessarily buy good feedback.
it or even see it. Marketing matters. Sadly, Conventions and book fairs
there’s no magic bullet to selling, but these It’s very gratifying to sell books in person
are some things that have worked for me: at a teacher convention. But it’s also an
Book description invaluable time to talk to potential buyers
Book-selling websites rely on the book and find out what they do and do not want
description and keywords to help custom- from materials. Local teacher conventions
ers find the book they want. Your distribu- are usually affordable, and while you
tion and/or sales website will have a place may not cover your expenses, you’ll gain
to enter both, as well as a book category. knowledge and also build your visibility
and name recognition.
‘‘
Self-promotion
Don’t sell your
Make yourself an authority by writing arti-
book directly; sell your cles, presenting at conferences, blogging
expertise and people will and other professional activities. Don’t sell
find your book
’’
your book directly; sell your expertise and
people will find your book.
A good description expands on the back It’s impossible to say everything in one
cover, adding more detail and information article and nothing can replace a network
teachers will need to know such as what of fellow authors (and your own experi-
exactly the book contains and how it is to ence). There are professional associations
be used. For keywords, think of what you such as the IBPA and informal groups on
type in to search for materials like yours, social media. You can even write to your
as well as key features customers might favourite self-publisher and ask a few
search for. questions; we’re a generally friendly lot
and raising the profile of independent,
Journal reviews
self-published materials helps us all.
Journals reviews are read by teachers and
administrators who are looking for new wlburns@gmail.com
materials, so it’s a natural audience. Query
first to ensure your
materials match
their interests and
be prepared to wait
for the review to be
published as journals
plan months or years
in advance. Also,
don’t neglect ELT
blogs, which often
have wide followings
as well.
Customer reviews
People like to know
that other people
liked the book, and
many bookselling
sites run on algo-
rithms that make
books with many
reviews more visible.
Influencer blurbs
The best blurbs
come from influential
voices, so it’s worth
reaching out to a few
well-known people in
ELT whose interests
match your materials.
Write a polite query
asking if they’d like
10 IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019 www.iatefl.org
Google Classroom: the benefits
of blended learning
Anastasiya Shalamay
provides an introduction to
Google Classroom
T
eachers constantly deal with new
challenges: mixed-ability students,
ESP classes where all students have
different timetables, intensive courses that
have to fit into three weeks. When I have
to tackle something similar, I usually turn
to blended learning: teaching face-to-face
and then building on that outside the class
by letting students do extra work online.
However, the choice of tools available
may seem overwhelming, especially if you
haven’t taught online before.
In this article I would like to share my
experience of working with a simple,
easy-to-use online platform, which could
become your first step in moving towards
blended learning. That platform is Google
Classroom.
What is Google Classroom?
Google Classroom is a free service created
specifically for studying online. It is
Anastasiya Shalamay is ❚ Open https://classroom.google.com.
❚ Sign in using your Google login.
a teacher of English and
German, a Pearson Test ❚ Follow the instructions on the main
of English examiner, page; they are really user-friendly and
and a Cambridge CELTA
should confuse neither you nor your
and CELT-P/S trainer
from Ukraine. She has students!
taught and managed
teachers in a variety How is a typical course run?
of contexts, from ESP to YLs. Anastasiya is As a very straightforward and simple tool,
interested in teaching and tutoring online,
the current version of Google Classroom
which she has been doing for three years.
includes only three basic tabs—see Figure 1.
suitable for any subject you might teach
1. Stream
(not only languages!) and comes in two
This is a tab where you can monitor what
slightly different versions: one for schools
you, other teachers or students have
and one for personal use. The latter simply
added to the platform. It’s not that dif-
means that your students will be using
ferent from a Facebook wall: you navigate
their own Google accounts when accessing
the platform; to be able to do that they
‘‘
have to be at least 13 years old. No matter A student is able to
if you are a teacher or a student, a Google join 30 classes per day,
account is the only thing you need to start
or join a course. to a maximum of 100;
Doesn’t it just create extra work
this would be a surreally
for the teacher?
It would be a lie to say it didn’t. However,
I believe that the benefits outweigh the
eager student!
’’
through it by scrolling. It also includes a
disadvantages, and to-do list on the left, which is very handy:
it doesn’t take much you can move to grading your students’
time, especially work right from there as soon as some-
as you gain more thing is submitted.
experience.
2. Classwork
How easy is This is where you add course materials and
it to set up a divide them into topics (you can compare
Google Class? them to coursebook units). It is also the
main tab where your students are going
It shouldn’t take
to study. As of 2018, three task types are
you more than two
offered: an assignment, a question and
minutes! Follow these
material. Assignments require students to
steps:
hand in a file, questions are just like forum
Figure 1: Three basic tabs on Google Classroom
www.iatefl.org IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019
discussions, and materials are what you
would like your students to read or watch.
No matter which task you want to set up,
Google also lets you attach files from your
computer or drive, add YouTube videos or
refer students to other websites.
Everything is synced perfectly: the
Classroom sets up a separate folder for
each class on your Google Drive, adds
deadlines for you and your students to
‘‘ I have found it
to be a very easy
and effective way to
supplement one-size-
fits-all coursebooks with
your own materials,
not to mention that it’s
also eco-friendly and
’’
timesaving…
the Google Calendar and lets you check
assignments in Google Docs. You can
also copy the tasks that you have already
created from one course to another.
3. People
This tab is where you enrol your students
by sending an invitation, and where you
contact them later. If you find yourself
working with too many students, you can
share a class code with them, so that they
can join on their own.
How many students can I teach
this way?
If you use your personal account as a
teacher, you are allowed to create 30
courses per day and enroll up to 250
participants (teachers and students).
That makes Google Classroom a handy
tool even if you lecture to large university
classes: just leave the invitation code on
the whiteboard.
A student is able to join 30 classes per
day, to a maximum of 100; this would be a
surreally eager student!
How exactly do I connect it
to what students are doing in
class?
I have tried the following uses of Google
Classroom, and all have worked really well:
❚ providing weaker or stronger students
with extra activities;
❚ keeping track of what was done in the
lesson for those who were absent (espe-
cially in business English or ESP);
❚ providing students with authentic mate-
rials and graded tasks;
❚ editing a vocabulary bank together;
❚ setting up project work (for teenagers in
particular);
11
❚ letting students submit their own mate-
rials to work with (especially in ESP);
❚ using the class as a resource library
(e.g. with large numbers of university
students or on teacher training courses);
❚ using it as a common workplace for
several groups taking the same course or
sharing the same learning goals (again,
good for university students or for exam
preparation); and more.
Conclusions
I have been using Google Classroom for
two years now and my students have had
no problems with the interface so far. It
encourages them to take responsibility for
their learning and take as much from the
course as they would like. I have found
it to be a very easy and effective way to
supplement one-size-fits-all coursebooks
with your own materials, not to mention
that it’s also eco-friendly and timesaving
(think of all that photocopying we do in
the staffroom!). I don’t think that Google
Classroom alone is the best choice to
run ‘pure’ online courses because there
are quite a few more advanced Virtual
Learning Environments (VLEs) out there,
but I would definitely recommend it for
blended courses or just to add variety to
your classes from time to time.
shalamay.anastasiya@gmail.com
12 IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019 www.iatefl.org
And don’t criticise what you
can’t understand
Karin Krummenacher
responds to Elaine Hodgson’s
feature article ‘The times they
are a-changin’—in ELT, too’
from Voices 265 (November/
December 2018)
T
he lines that follow have the poten-
tial to be misunderstood, so let me
make very clear, before we take this
any further, that this is not against Elaine
personally, and that I am extremely happy
to hear that she had a very positive expe-
rience as a non-native English-speaking
teacher. This article is not to diminish her
achievements or to anger her, but it is to
say that her experience is the exception
rather than the norm. I believe it is wrong
to declare the war against inequality as
anywhere close to being won. Yes, there
have been changes, but no, the times
themselves are not a-changing. Elaine
used Dylan’s words from one of his most
popular songs, so let me do the same:
‘There’s a battle outside and it is ragin’.’
The curse it is cast
Discrimination in ELT is still widespread,
and it starts with something as seemingly
trivial as our names. Elaine Hodgson’s
name sounds Western, English if you
like—a huge plus. Others are not as lucky.
Someone I trained on a certificate level
course, although American born and
bred, was unable to find work in China
because his name sounded ‘too Asian’.
Another ex-trainee of mine was turned
down after a Skype interview with a Korean
school because her look was ‘not Western
enough’—she had just got up, and her eyes
did not look round enough. But this is not
a problem limited to Asia. A pre-school
English teacher in Prague broke down in
tears in front of me, a stranger, because
children’s parents complained about her
‘dark complexion’. These are not tales from
the past; they all happened within the last
five years. I won’t even start on the stories
I’ve experienced myself.
And don’t speak too soon for
the wheel’s still in spin
The school that employed Elaine in the UK
is an absolute role model. They obviously
value experience and qualifications over
nationality—exactly the way it should be.
In my experience, this is the case for many
schools (maybe even the majority) in the
Karin Krummenacher
is a freelance teacher
trainer on certificate
and diploma level
courses and university
programmes. She
holds a Delta and an
MA Education from
the University of
Derby. Her last Dylan concert was slightly
disappointing, but having grown up in a
Dylan household she will always value his
socio-political stories.
UK. Unfortunately, outside the UK, count-
less schools have different hiring policies
and advertise, pretty shamelessly, that
they have native-speaking teachers as one
of their (supposedly unique) selling points.
Elaine writes, ‘I have no reliable data
to back up my impressions’ and specu-
lates that non-natives only compete with
equally qualified native speakers on the
job market. If this were true, I wouldn’t
write this piece—there’s absolutely nothing
wrong with healthy competition. Now, the
good news is that there is reliable data to
back up impressions. The bad news is that
data shows that qualified non-native, often
local, teachers compete with unqualified
native speakers—and lose.
Language centres in Vietnam hire
unqualified native speakers because they
look Western, and over 250,000 foreigners
(that’s two thirds of the foreign work-
force) who teach in China are unqualified
(Wibawa and Xiao 2018). Of job ads in
ELT worldwide, 75 per cent ask for native
speakers (Ruecker and Ives 2015) and the
fashion of advertising for ‘native-level’
teachers simply shows that nothing has
substantially changed: natives are still
seen as the ideal everyone is measured
against. Wang and Lin (2013) describe poli-
cies that in fact support nativespeakerism
in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Korea.
Unfortunately, the governments of these
countries still subscribe to the idea that
only native speakers can teach authentic
or standard English and neglect qualifi-
cations in favour of recruitment of ‘inner
circle’ passport holders.
You better start swimmin’ or
you’ll sink like a stone
Nativespeakerism is alive and well.
Personal experiences with it depend
largely on our own positionality, geography
and teaching context (Lowe and Kiczkowiak
2016). And while, again, I’m very pleased
whenever I hear of good experiences of
non-native-speaking English language
teachers, plenty of members of our indus-
try do not have such positive experiences.
While Elaine’s recommendation to become
well-qualified is a very good one, quali-
fied individuals have no weight to throw
around in this battle. We need backup
by heavy infantry: organisations, teacher
training associations and accreditation
bodies, powerful networks of training
centres and language schools, and experts
need to take a stance against inequality in
English language teaching. It is no longer
fashionable to remain neutral based on
the political nature of the topic. Yes, this
is a Swiss person telling everyone to stop
claiming neutrality; that’s how far it has
come. Discrimination is wrong, and it is
happening.
‘Our old road is rapidly agin’. Please get
out of the new one if you can’t lend your
hand.’ We cannot applaud ourselves for
what we’ve achieved until even the most
conservative student in the most rural part
of the world asks for a ‘qualified teacher’
instead of a backpacker with a Western
look and name because the industry has
eradicated the distinction between native
and non-native speaking teachers in
favour of qualified and unqualified teach-
ers in their hiring practices. The chance
won’t come again.
References
Lowe, R. J. and M. Kiczkowiak. 2016. ‘Native-
speakerism and the complexity of
personal experience: a duoethnographic
study’. Cogent Education 3/1: 1−15.
Ruecker, T. and L. Ives. 2015. ‘White native
English speakers needed: The rhetorical
construction of privilege in online teacher
recruitment spaces’. TESOL Quarterly 49/4:
733−756.
Wang, L. Y. and T. B. Lin. 2013. ‘The
representation of professionalism in native
English-speaking teachers’ recruitment
policies: a comparative study of Hong
Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan’. English
Teaching 12/3: 5−22.
Wibawa, T. and B. Xiao. 2018. ‘Australian
travellers teaching English overseas
without qualifications cause alarm’.
ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/
news/2018-09-22/unqualified-travellers-
teaching-english-causing-alarm/102
20830?fbclid=IwAR3bHIYRG33YaMjq
Ih-4JgXhBE67ALioKcz4Kd6AmkkrBH_
KL0C4UnP6QAU.
karin.krummenacher@gmail.com
Would you like to respond to something
you have read in Voices? Please get in
touch at editor@iatefl.org.
www.iatefl.org IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019
My life in ELT
IATEFL member Alan Mackenzie talks about his
life and work
1. Tell us a little about your career path. How did you get to
where you are now? What made you choose this direction?
As a graduate in Environmental Science in 1989, during the miner’s
strike in the UK and way before the world went green, my options
were counting trees or deer. Instead, I decided to take ‘a year’ out
teaching English in Japan, and come back to the UK and get a ‘real’
job later. Little did I know that was going to take 25 years!
A number of the companies I worked for in Japan don’t exist
anymore, victims of changing fortunes and shifting markets.
Simul Academy still does, though having been bought over and
remoulded, it doesn’t quite have the same flavour it used to.
As a keen new teacher straight out of a rubbish language
school, the rigour of the content- and skills-based programme
developed at Simul through CNN and BBC news videos and news-
paper articles was highly stimulating. I went on to develop the two
highest levels of Simul’s programme, equivalent to CEFR C1 and C2,
for a number of years and was branch manager in Ochanomizu.
Becoming a manager was a strange experience. One day you
are one of the teachers, the next you are alien to them and are
supposed to have the answers to every question they can throw
at you. If you don’t have an answer, there must be a conspiracy in
there somewhere, rather than a lack of knowledge on your part.
‘‘
Us workaholics tend to forget that
it’s not all about work. Life is often more
important
’’
Since I had never had a qualification and this was now six years
into my teaching career (and I did think of it as a career at this
point), I needed a piece of paper that said I could teach. Luckily,
Simul hosted the Teachers College Columbia branch campus
programme in Tokyo: my next big PD boost. I loved every course I
took at TC and thrived there—so much so that I was invited back
to teach on the programme, delivering the course on Developing
Autonomy with Nanci Graves (RIP, whom I will always regard as
my mentor and guru, even though she would have hated those
labels). I have now designed, written (with Russell Stannard)
and delivered the NILE Online MA Module in Developing Learner
Autonomy for the last four years.
The MA qualified me to teach at universities and colleges,
so I left Simul and moved into a completely different sector of
education. In my first year, I was nominated for the award of best
newcomer to college and university education by the College
and University Educators Special Interest Group of the Japan
13
Association for Language Teaching (or
CUE SIG of JALT). At the meeting where I
was presented with the award, I was also
nominated as coordinator of the SIG;
that lead to three mini-conferences with
proceedings, doubling the membership
and subsequently being put in charge
of organising the JALT International
Conference at a very difficult time for the
organisation. However, it happened—and
Alan Mackenzie has very successfully—and we made record
been in ELT for 30
years. He is now surpluses, helping to get the organisation
an independent back on an even financial and organi-
consultant sational keel. Those experiences were
and director of where I gained my project management
TransformELT. In 2019
skills.
he will visit seven new
countries and one new Coming up to 40, and having been in
continent.  Japan 15 years, I decided there were other
places to go and things to do. I wanted to
leave Japan while I loved it, and I still do. So I took a position with
the British Council in Thailand, working on teacher development
projects. In 2008 that became an East Asia regional position, and
I later moved to India and Pakistan, working on larger and larger
scale projects.
So, 25 years later, when I needed to move back to the UK, the
‘real’ job turned up in the shape of a Directorship at NILE, in
charge of project development and management. That move,
home to the UK, of all the moves to weird and wonderful coun-
tries I have made, involved the most hard work! Administratively,
financially and culturally, moving to England—my latest foreign
country—has certainly taken the most energy.
Last year I started my own consultancy company, TransformELT,
with Sarah Mount and Alan Pulverness. In the last two years, we
have worked in 16 different countries and the list is growing.
2. What does a typical day look like for you?
There is no such thing. One day I can be in Georgia, as I am now,
on a scoping visit, meeting with MoE officials, head teachers,
students and teachers, and observing classes. The next I could be
writing all day: writing reports for Kuwait, doing materials devel-
opment projects for BC, firefighting a project with issues, recruit-
ing consultants for France or writing proposals for West Africa.
3. What do you particularly enjoy about your work? What
inspires you?
Watching people learn and change what and how they do things
inspires me. Being an active agent in the change process has
always been very satisfying: whether helping learners to express
themselves in ever more complex language, or, more recently,
14 IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019 www.iatefl.org

less travelled. Always say yes to opportunities.

ELT professionals from Uzbekistan
helping teachers to teach in ever more rewarding, efficient and
creative ways.
It is seeing the patters and connections embedded in the com-
plexity in a situation; understanding how it works in a systemic
way; working out which buttons to push to enable change to
happen; then actually operationalising them so that large-scale
changes do happen within education systems. How can that not
If you bang your head against a brick wall until
your head is bleeding, get out. Nothing ever
changed through willpower alone, so stop sweat-
ing it.
Everything happens for reasons. Your job is to
find those reasons and see what kind of change
they inspire.
7. What is next for you? What are you hoping
or planning to do in the future?
Now that TransformELT is moving into its third
year, we have already established ourselves as
an innovator in the field and have gained trust
and praise from across the industry. I would like
to build on that initial success and consolidate it.
We don’t want to become too big: world domina-
tion is certainly not our aim. I want to keep being
involved in interesting, quality projects around
the world and ensuring every day continues to be
different. Visiting one or two new countries every
year would be nice. Although this year it’s up to seven already!
8. Is there anything else you want to say to Voices readers?
Step back from your current situation for a few minutes. Take a
look around. Are you really doing what you want to be doing? Or is
there an opportunity out there that might be more interesting? A

‘‘
be exciting and inspiring?!
Step back from your current
4. What challenges do you encounter in your work, and how situation for a few minutes. Take a
do you deal with them?
look around. Are you really doing

’’
Complex contexts, difficult people, different ways of working,
unwieldy systems, mad travel schedules, overdemanding clients
what you want to be doing?
and underwhelmed participants: just deal with it. Seriously. Don’t
let your ego get involved; develop your ability to step back men-
different way of engaging your students or colleagues? An oppor-
tally; know when not to push; know when to quit.
tunity to share something that you have had fun or success with?
That last one is important. These days, people seem to be
A different career direction you have been toying with but not
particularly tenacious. Quitting is seen as losing. It isn’t. It is living
committed to? A suggestion for dealing with a problem, that you
to do something otherly creative another day. Most importantly,
could discuss with your colleagues or manager but haven’t yet?
find a close friend to rant at. Tell them all about everything that
Take that step and see if you can enable that change to happen …
is going wrong. Get it all off your chest, then stop. Park it. Change
the only risk is that things stay the same as they always have.
your mindset to ‘deal’ and think about how you are going to
change the situation. amackenzie@transformelt.com

5. What accomplishment are you most proud of?

Spending the bulk of my mum’s last year on earth with her rather
than working all the time. Having the foresight to take the time
to do something more important with my life in 2018 while she
needed me. Us workaholics tend to forget that it’s not all about
work. Life is often more important.
‘My life in ELT’ profiles people who are making a difference in
ELT around the world. If you would like to be featured here, or
if you know someone who deserves recognition, please get in
touch at editor@iatefl.org.

6. What advice would you give to some-

one who wants to do the kind of work
that you do?
Projects succeed because they have
planned outcomes and change mechanisms
taking the context into careful consid-
eration. The inherent complexities and
risks are mitigated against and progress
is carefully monitored, with adjustments
made at appropriate points within a flexible
project design.
But that is not how good lives are led.
In your own development, don’t fix a
direction at the expense of stopping to
see where your options lie. Take the paths With CLIL trainers in Kazakhstan
www.iatefl.org IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019 15

What’s happening in … Nigeria

Agnes Okpe outlines the ELT situation in Agnes learners—Nigeria is no excep-
Ada Okpe tion to this.
Nigeria (PhD) is an The suprasegmental features
educational
of English such as syllable,
Introduction consultant,
researcher, stress, rhythm and intonation
The English language is a global one, used almost everywhere; as
teacher, stand as obstacles to learning
Kucha says, it could as well be ‘a life-giving language’ (2016: 152). speaker/ English. Whereas most Nigerian
In many parts of the world, it is a second language, but in Nigeria presenter at languages are tonal, English
in particular, it is not only a second language but the lingua conferences and a Chief Lecturer
is stress-timed. Consequently,
franca: the medium of instruction in schools, and the language at Kaduna Polytechnic, Nigeria.
She runs Step-Up Educational even the teacher has to engage
of trade and commerce, government, the legal system and much
Services, a firm devoted solely in constant practice in order
more. Nigeria is a multilingual nation with over 500 ethnic groups. to English language teaching and to serve as a true model to the
Of the three major languages (Hausa, Yoruba and Ibo), none com- teacher training. learners.
pares with the English language in terms of use, and the quest for
Interference, the transfer of
a national language has not yielded any result that will override
habits associated with the first language (L1) of a learner into the
the position of English.
second language (L2), is a major challenge in an EFL learning envi-
There are always challenges in the teaching and learning of
ronment. While it manifests at the level of syntax and semantics, it
English as a foreign language, some of which are ‘natural’ (Okpe
is particularly challenging at the phonological level. ESL speakers
2010) in the sense that they are not specific to a specific region
in Nigeria have difficulty realising the quality of English vowels in
but are normal phenomena wherever English is learned as a sec-
three major areas: distinguishing between the tense (long) and lax
ond language (SL) or foreign language (FL). Bright and MacGregor
(short) vowels, producing the English central vowels (/ø/,/‰…/ and
(1990) support this, saying that there is nothing to interfere with
/´/) and articulating diphthongs such as /Iᵊ/,/eᵊ/ and /uᵊ/.
the formation of conventional habits in the native speaker, but
the grammatical apparatus programmed into the mind as the first Extrinsic factors
language interferes with the smooth acquisition of the second. These factors include problems caused directly or indirectly by
government policies and the social issues bedevilling the country,
The challenges of ELT in Nigeria
which have a direct impact on education. In an investigation that
The problems of ELT in Nigeria can be categorised as emanating I conducted in collaboration with Martha Onjewu on the abolition
from intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The intrinsic factors are the of teacher training colleges and its implications on the teaching of
inherent problems with the teaching and learning of English as English in Nigeria (2016), the following findings were revealed:
a second language; the extrinsic factors are those relating to
❚ Teacher training colleges produced better teachers in general
variables outside the language itself.
and ESL teachers in particular. Hence the teachers who went
Intrinsic factors through these institutions were better equipped and pro-
duced better students (like the first African Nobel Laureate in
The structure of the English language and that of the indigenous
Literature, Wole Soyinka, the renowned writer Chinua Achebe
languages of Nigerian learners differ considerably, thereby con-
and a host of others); they showed more commitment to their
stituting a major challenge in the learning process. For example,
profession; they were happy with their choice of teaching
while there are 20 or 21 vowel phonemes in English, many Nigerian
English as a career; they were more innovative, making the
languages have between five and nine. For example, Yoruba has
learning programme a memorable experience that learners
seven while Ibo has eight. Studies in other parts of the globe
recalled with great delight; they were more interested in
have shown that there is hardly a one-to-one correspondence
personal development; and above all, they were more sensitive
between the English language and the language of the ESL

Passionate professionals who are committed to the development of

The author giving a conference talk ELT in Nigeria
16 IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019 www.iatefl.org
Lagos, Nigeria
to learners’ needs and were more apt at providing solutions to
those problems.
❚ There was a general decline in students’ performance after the
abolition of the training colleges. The falling standard of educa-
tion in general had a ripple effect on ELT. The ideals of the train-
ing colleges had been centred on a five-year programme which
provided thorough preparation for teaching at the foundational
level of education—the primary school. As the institutions were
closed, a huge vacuum was left, especially in English language,
which is the medium of instruction. It is pertinent to say that a
failure at the primary level is a failure at all levels of education.
In another piece of research that I conducted with Onjewu
(2015), our findings echoed the concerns expressed by scholars
like Jowitt (2005) and Olaofe (1999) over the falling standards of
education; of particular concern was students’ poor performance
in English in secondary examinations such as those administered
by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National
Examination Council (NECO). Among the various factors shown to
be responsible for this downward trend, the teachers of English
were identified as paramount. We found that some teachers go
into teaching English as a last resort and were only pretending to
love the job. Others are hired by private school owners who, in
a bid to maximise profits (at the expense of quality), employ the
services of non-professionals.
Furthermore, there is a general misconception that anybody
can teach English, and those who studied English as their major
only did so because they could not obtain admission to a ‘more
prestigious’ course. The study also made clear that some ‘trained’
teachers are incompetent and that many of them dislike teaching.
Social factors
Like many nations of the world, Nigeria has had her fair share of
troubles. The nation has witnessed political instability, insur-
gencies and economic depression, all of which take their toll on
the lives of the country’s citizens. In a 2015 paper, presented at
IATEFL in Manchester and published in Conference Selections, I
outlined the horror faced by victims of insurgency and its devas-
tating effects on education. Also, in my presentation at IATEFL in
Brighton (2018), I discussed the effects of economic downturn on
the nation, the people and the teaching of the English language in
particular.
These are some of the issues that work against ELT in Nigeria.
The effects of social problems include millions children who are
not in school because of insurgency, the destruction of schools
and educational materials, the dearth of
instructional materials and personnel,
insufficient funding for education, and a
general lack of interest in school because of
demoralisation among victims.
The good news about ELT in
Nigeria
ELT in Nigeria does not comprise only tales
of woe. So much is being done by individ-
uals and various organisations to remedy
the situation and give ELT in the country a
boost. Professional bodies like the English
Language Teachers’ Association of Nigeria
(ELTAN) and the Nigeria English Studies
Association (NESA) and others are working
round the clock through research and
publications, conferences, workshops and
seminars to bring about an ongoing change.
Individual English teachers with a flair for
the profession embark on professional
self-development programmes and organ-
ise ‘train the trainers’ workshops for teachers of English. Large
organisations and various NGOs are working on the improvement
of ELT. For example, the British Council in Nigeria is currently
working on a project for training teachers and increasing their
awareness of how to use the resource materials available on the
British Council’s website. Even the government has improved in
the degree of attention paid and funding allocated to education.
Conclusion
In one of our studies, teachers complained of poor remuneration,
lack of interest by learners, lack of motivation from their employ-
ers, and instructional materials, among other things. Despite the
efforts being made, these areas need attention in order for ELT
in Nigeria to progress to the next level. Above all, ELT teachers in
Nigeria need to develop awareness of the use of the Internet for
improved performance in the English classroom.
agnesokpe@yahoo.com
References
Bright, J. A. and G. P. McGregor. 1970. Teaching English as a Second
Language. Harlow: Longman.
Jowitt, D. 2005. Nigerian English Usage. Lagos: Longman Nigeria.
Kucha, K. 2016. ‘ELT in difficult circumstances: challenges, possibilities
and future directions’ in T. Pattison (ed.). IATEFL 2015 Manchester
Conference Selections. Faversham: IATEFL.
Okpe, A. A. 2010. ‘Problems of teaching English Language.’ A paper
presented at the Workshop on Performance Improvement Course for
English and Mathematics Teachers in the North-Central Zone, Minna,
Nigeria.
Okpe, A. A. 2016. ‘Teaching English in an atmosphere of insurgency:
the Nigerian example’ in T. Pattison (ed.). IATEFL 2015 Manchester
Conference Selections. Faversham: IATEFL.
Okpe, A. A. 2018. ‘ELT strategies in a depressed economy: the case of
Nigeria’. A paper presented at IATEFL 2018 Conference, Brighton, UK,
10−13 April 2018.
Okpe, A. A. and M. A. Onjewu. 2015. ‘EFL/EL2 teaching in Nigeria: a
choice or a charade’. Procedia: Social and Behaviorial Sciences 199:
743−747.
Okpe, A. A. and M. A. Onjewu. 2016. ‘The abolishment of teachers’
training colleges and its implications on ELT in Nigeria’. Procedia:
Social and Behavioral Science 232: 307−310.
Olaofe, I. A. 1999. ‘Fostering functional literacy at tertiary and
university levels’ in T. O. Oyetunde, J. S. Aliyu and Y. Aboderin (eds.).
Literacy and Reading in Nigeria. Lagos: NERDC press.
If you would like to write about what’s happening in ELT in your
own part of the world, please get in touch at editor@iatefl.org.
www.iatefl.org IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019 17

Materials reviews
This selection of Voices materials three papers argue that online language teachers require
reviews has a mixed theme. In his different skills and training from face-to-face teachers, and
review of Assessment across Online that teacher performance must also be rated according to dif-
Language Education, Neil McBeath ferent criteria. This may seem a simple point, but too many
concludes that assessment should trainee teachers continue to be assessed by one-size-fits-all
reflect students’ wants and needs. criteria, while educational institutions apply their own idi-
Clare Maas maintains that The osyncratic interpretations of what constitutes ‘good’ teaching.
Image in English Language Teaching For this reviewer, the entire tenor of this collection is
is a good resource on why and encapsulated in the title of the very first paper: ‘The online
how to promote visual literacy in language learning imperative: maximising assessment
the classroom. Jonathan Culbert practices to ensure student success’. Assessment should focus
claims that Teaching and Learning on what is important, not on what is easily marked. It should
the English Language: A Prob- Ruby Vurdien manages reflect students’ wants and needs, rather than be used as a
lem-Solving Approach provides a White Rose Language yardstick to measure teacher, or school competence. Above
balanced account of the language School in Spain. She all, it should accurately reflect students’ achievement, not
learning and teaching field. Finally, has been an EFL teacher look for shortcomings.
for over 30 years. She
Zsuzsanna Cipak highlights that is also a teacher trainer Neil McBeath
Her Own Worst Enemy: A Serious and a Cambridge English Freelance
Comedy About Choosing a Career Speaking Examiner. Her nmcbeath33@gmail.com
contributes towards students’ research interest focuses
language development. Have a on CALL. The Image in English
good read! Language Teaching
Kieran Donaghy and Daniel Xerri
Assessment across Online (eds.)
Language Education ELT Council, 2017
Stephanie Link and Jinrong Li 202 pages
(eds.) ISBN: 978-99957-1-151-1
Equinox Publishing for CALICO, This book is an edited compi-
2018 lation of interesting essays on
226 pages papers presented at five editions
ISBN: 978-1-78179-701-3 of the Image Conference, which
This is the third book from the aims to promote visual literacy
Advances in CALL Research and by exploring ways of using
Practice series published by the images critically and creatively
Computer Assisted Language in ELT.
Instruction Consortium (CAL- The introduction explains the new importance of extra-
ICO). It is therefore fair to say that it is the work of—and linguistic elements in modern communications of meaning,
intended for—CALL enthusiasts. However, it deserves a far demonstrating convincingly that speech or writing are
wider audience as it raises important questions about the now often part of the ‘ensemble of resources for making
future of assessment. The book is a collection of 12 papers, meaning’. Although still and moving images have long since
divided into four sections: ‘Assessing learner progress and been found in language classrooms and coursebooks, they
development’; ‘Assessing online teachers’; ‘Assessment tools previously played a supportive role, rather than being a key
for online environments’ and ‘Future directions for online carrier of information alongside the language. These essays
language assessment’. address the implications of this shift for English language
In many ways, this collection breaks new ground. At teaching. The common assumption is that language learners
the start of this century, an Oxford Resource Book for nowadays need to both understand and create multimodal
Teachers called The Internet found it necessary to include a expressions of meaning.
five- page glossary that comprised terms like ‘attachment’, Although not explicit from the content pages, the essays
‘cookie’, ‘download’, ‘email’, ‘firewall’ and ‘search engine’. are grouped as follows:
The assumption was clear: ‘mainstream’ teachers would be 1. video materials;
unfamiliar with these terms. 2. social media images and memes;
Since then, many teachers have found themselves working 3. other image sources (e.g. objects around us, learners’
on MOOCs—Massive Open Online Courses—or in TREs— productions);
Technology-Rich Environments—with students who have 4. classical arts (artworks, poetry); and
been described as ‘digital natives’, ‘cyberkids’ or ‘netizens’. 5. narratives and imagery (e.g. digital games, comics).
Even so, technological advance has often outstripped ped- The essays present compelling reasons for incorporat-
agogical adaptation. In many institutions, online language ing more work with visuals into ELT classrooms. Antonia
education has meant no more than incorporating tools like Clare, for example, explains why using video is so benefi-
M-Reader and Turnitin into a traditional syllabus. cial, naming factors such as authentic input, affective and
This collection of papers suggests that far more is needed; cognitive engagement, and access to diverse cultures. Paul
this is particularly apparent in the second section, where Driver shows how features of typical digital games, such as
18 IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019 www.iatefl.org
cognitive flow and realistic interaction, can help develop for-
eign language competence, and are not merely a fun bonus
activity. He mentions example games (such as ‘Phonopath’
or ‘Her Story’) and describes how he has used them in his
teaching, giving practical ideas and inspiration to readers.
Elena Dominguez Romero and Jelena Bobkina share some
practical tips for promoting visual literacy, with a copiable
list of questions to help learners analyse internet memes.
The book includes both theoretical essays and practical
techniques. It is thus an all-round discussion of using images,
rather than a simple collection of activities. It also includes
empirical reports providing support for the ideas presented.
Written in an accessible tone, the book is a valuable resource
on why and how to promote visual literacy in language
classrooms and will undoubtedly be interesting and useful
for teachers in many contexts.
Clare Maas
University of Trier, Germany
cmmaas@uni-trier.de
Teaching and Learning
the English Language:
A Problem-Solving
Approach
Richard Badger
Bloomsbury, 2018
282 pages
ISBN: 978-1-4742-9042-5
According to the blurb, the
author is Head of Taught
Postgraduate Programmes at a
UK university. Not surprisingly,
the book has the feel of an introductory textbook for exactly
such a course, providing an overview of language learning,
teaching and its elements, such as grammar, vocabulary and
the four skills.
In 16 concise chapters of very readable prose, it presents
an even-handed account of the field. I particularly liked how
the author consistently frames practical concerns such as
lesson planning and giving feedback within wider compet-
ing and complementary theories of learning and teaching.
University lecturers and students alike should find this book
accessible and useful.
As a mid-career English for Academic Purposes tutor, I
am perhaps not the target reader. Yet, there was much to
enjoy, including the odd surprise; for example, a chapter
on spelling—an innovative flourish and fascinating to read,
although perhaps these 11 pages could have been put to
better use, like in developing the only slightly longer chapter
on discourse.
An unequivocal strength of the book is its many figures
and tables. These mostly expand on the text, distilling infor-
mation from sources, and presenting it in a clear, impactful
way. For instance, one of Dörnyei and Csizer’s ten command-
ments of motivation is mentioned in the text, but all ten are
neatly presented in an accompanying table. This is typical of
the approach throughout.
Activities for the reader are another common feature.
These, however, would benefit from keys and commentaries,
such as in the chapter on grammar. Readers are asked to
draw syntactic trees for several sentences, but there is no
indication whether these are correct.
Finally, and to the publisher’s shame, the manuscript does
not appear to have been proofread. Typos abound (on one
double-page spread I stopped counting at ten), distracting
and detracting from what is being said. Moreover, they are
not always simple spelling errors. Figures and tables are
regularly mislabelled, and in an especially egregious exam-
ple, the summary of the chapter on pronunciation says the
chapter has just discussed ‘how people learn grammar’.
Jonathan Culbert
Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
jonathan.culbert@xjtlu.edu.cn
Her Own Worst Enemy:
A Serious Comedy About
Choosing a Career
Alice Savage
Alphabet Publishing, 2018
68 pages
ISBN: 9781948492034
As part of the Integrated Skills
through Drama series, Her Own
Worst Enemy is a useful resource
for teachers looking to supple-
ment their young adult/adult
English language courses with a project.
The book as a whole could be viewed as a core reading
text—a script with some language-focused activities follow-
ing a structure familiar to English language teachers. Both
teachers and students are guided through a variety of prepa-
ration activities focusing on the theme of choosing a career.
Previewing activities include guided discussions and two
three-page-long texts focusing on STEM (Science, Technol-
ogy, Engineering and Mathematics) and Liberal Arts careers
which are at the centre of the play. The script has flexible
production options, so teachers and students can be creative
in adapting the script for the stage, videoing or using as a
rehearsed reading. Furthermore, students can also assume a
variety of cast and production roles, giving them a chance to
explore their own talents.
The script mimics a range of authentic communicative
situations, opening it up to various language-focused activi-
ties. In fact, there are some activities in which students can
develop their understanding of pragmatics and how they can
use language to convey their intentions, for instance, encour-
aging someone by learning about ways to express attitudes
and opinions and putting this into practice in situational
role-plays.
Additionally, short vocabulary-building exercises help
students make connections between situations, characters,
their emotional responses and their own experiences. Being
able to make these personal connections may facilitate
students’ engagement with the story and topic, which they
can further explore in various ways, as suggested in the
Post-Performance section of the book. Following the pro-
duction, students can participate in a talkback session with
the audience, or write an alternative ending or sequel to
the story, thus providing an opportunity for free language
practice, while alternative endings and sequels can also be
exploited for production.
Overall, the book contributes to students’ language devel-
opment at an intermediate level while also engaging them in
a topic they can relate to, resulting in meaningful learning.
Zsuzsanna Cipak
EAP Instructor, Langara College, Canada
zsuzsanna_cipak@yahoo.com
www.iatefl.org IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019
Focus on the SIGs
Business English SIG
Conference in Romania
BESIG held its 31st Annual Conference
in Iași, Romania, from 15−18 Novem-
ber 2018, with the theme ‘Exploring
the frontiers of business English’.
We found it useful to re-examine the
current state of practice in the field
and look into the opportunities and
challenges that we face over the next
few years.
The plenary speakers set the
tone of the conference. Andy Hock-
ley discussed the fundamentals of
organisational behaviour, drawing
interesting parallels between our
business learners’ activities and the
way we run our language teaching
organisations. He discussed different
business models and organisational
cultures and their application to our
teaching. Professor Catherine Nick-
erson explored the use of technology
in the business English classroom,
sharing a series of classroom-based
studies into mobile learning with a
focus on business and the benefits of
flipping the classroom. Nick Robinson
challenged us to rethink the way we
do things as we navigate through the
reskilling revolution that is changing
both our learners’ workplaces and our
own. He encouraged us to consider
the business skills we will all need for
the future and the place English holds
in this new world.
In addition to the plenaries, we
enjoyed a line-up of over 60 sessions
and eight keynotes. This year’s con-
ference included several innovations.
One was the live sessions where dele-
gates watched trainers applying their
methods and techniques to students
in real time. Another innovation was
the coaching strand, which allowed
teachers to gain insights into how
to develop their own potential and
that of their trainees. We also held a
publishers’ panel discussion, where we
listened to insiders from the publish-
ing industry discussing the changes
and challenges they face in their work.
We were especially proud of our first
debate, with the motion that ‘Business
English teachers are not qualified to
teach business English’. Helen Strong
and Bob Dignen delighted us with
their views and perspectives on this
topic and made it one of the highlights
of the conference.
The BESIG team in Iași, Romania
Looking ahead
BESIG continues to renew itself. We
have welcomed three new committee
members, Andreea Katia Nechifor
(Events Coordinator); Ellen Keates
(Newsletter Editor); and Mary Szugfil
(Administration and Development
Coordinator). You can read more
about them on the BESIG website. Our
website continues to improve, and the
new members-only section containing
years of archived materials is attracting
a lot of visitors.
Finally, we have much to look
forward to in 2019, with a long list of
online and face-to-face events, as well
as social media discussions, all of which
are listed on the website. We fully
expect BESIG to remain an important
place for business English practitioners
from all over the world to exchange
ideas. We hope you can join us.
Dana Poklepovic and Evan Frendo
Joint Coordinators
besig@iatefl.org
English for Speakers of Other
Languages SIG
IATEFL Liverpool 2019
Please join us on 1 April for our PCE
entitled ‘Meeting challenges and
exploring solutions in the ES(O)L class-
room’. The field of teaching ES(O)L is
growing at an urgent pace and ES(O)L
practitioners are required to navigate
many challenges and issues in the class-
room that are framed and impacted by
external factors such as migration and
globalisation. Our PCE theme is aimed
at examining some of the most pressing
contemporary issues in our field and
19
providing practical classroom ideas. It
will provide a great opportunity to meet
other ES(O)L practitioners.
Presentations are as follows:
• Dr Mike Chick will discuss the
contextual challenges that ES(O)L
practitioners face and base his talk on
research he carried out in Wales. He
will share the lessons that he learnt
and make the case for creating a more
unified ES(O)L profession.
• Johanna Stirling will present five
ideas on how to provide weak spellers
with the support they need.
• Emily Bryson will run a workshop
on how to create accessible learning
materials which are both engaging
and motivating.
• Philida Schellekens will look at activ-
ities designed to address the chal-
lenges presented by multilevel classes.
• Jenifah Abu-Hassan will explore the
challenges of taking a subject such
as feminism into the ES(O)L class-
room without causing tension among
learners.
Please visit our website
https://iateflesolsig.wordpress.com/ for
details about the day.
SIG Showcase
Registration for the full conference
allows you to enjoy our Showcase day
on Tuesday 2 April. During the day we
will hold our Open Forum where you
will be able to meet the SIG Committee
and other members.
Newsletter
Please consider submitting articles for
our newsletter; these can be sent to
esolsig@iatefl.org.
20 IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019 www.iatefl.org
Webinars
Please visit our web site for more
details about the webinars we will hold
in the coming months.
Follow us!
Lastly, don’t forget to follow us on
Facebook and Twitter @iateflesolsig.
Lesley Painter-Farrell and
Oya Karabetca
Joint Coordinators
esolsig@iatefl.org
English for Specific Purposes
SIG
Liverpool PCE
We are getting ready for all our
activities in Liverpool. Our PCE event
this year will be a joint one with
BALEAP and EAQUALS and will focus
on Quality Assurance in ESP: academic
and occupational purposes. Our
speakers will be Tony Prince (NILE),
Conrad Heyns (BALEAP) Maxine
Gillway (BALEAP), Kevin Knight
(Kanda University of International
Studies in Chiba, Japan), Gary Riley-
Jones (Goldsmiths, University of
London), Didem Mutcaligolu (Bilgi
University) and our ESP scholarship
winner Milena Tanasijevic from
Serbia. We will also have a forum on
‘Setting up a national Quality Assurance
scheme’ with a case study from Turkey.
SIG Showcase
Our SIG Showcase will take place
on the second day of the conference,
Wednesday 3 April. Join us for the
event, which will be a combination
of sessions, workshops and our Open
Forum where you can meet us and
Members of the ESPSIG Committee
provide your input on how we can
shape our future activities.
Publication
We are delighted that the 51st issue
of Professional and Academic English
is now out. It contains a wide range
of articles, reports and book reviews
showcasing ESP research and practices
from different parts of the world.
Looking ahead
Currently, we are in the process of
planning two events in 2019 outside
the main conference and will soon
announce our hosting institutions. We
also have a new committee member,
Albena Stefanova, who will work on
how we can increase membership
benefits through scholarships
Looking forward to meeting you in
Liverpool.
Ayşen Güven
Coordinator
espsig@iatefl.org
Global Issues SIG
Liverpool PCE
GISIG is jointly running their PCE in
Liverpool 2019 with TDSIG. We have
a fantastic line-up with speakers from
all over the world. Our two keynote
speakers will be Steve Brown, talking
about ‘What’s so funny about peace,
love and understanding?’, and Lizzi
Milligan, who will be focusing on ‘The
global injustice of English Medium
Instruction in low-income contexts’.
Cinema Inspirations
In association with MaWSIG, GISIG
ran a ‘Cinema Inspirations’ competition
where ELT professionals submit a
lesson plan based on a film related to
global issues. The winners were Helen
Strong, Michelle Worgan and Mandana
Arfa Kaboodvan. Helen won a free
place at the GISIG PCE and Michelle
a free place at the MaWSIG PCE.
Mandana is already presenting at the
GISIG event so wasn’t able to accept,
but both committees loved her lesson
plan and felt she deserved a mention.
Hands Up Conference,
University of Lancashire, 6 April
2019
Plans have been finalised for this event
in the coming year and it’s going to
be another wonderful day. You can
find out more information by visit-
ing the Hands Up Project Facebook
page at https://www.facebook.com/
handsupproject/.
Here’s the latest update from Nick
Bilbrough about the conference and its
theme:
Some exciting news! If you are going to
this year’s IATEFL conference in Liverpool
you could stick around for an extra day
and go to the Hands Up Project annual
conference which will take place just
down the road at UCLAN in Preston on
Saturday 6 April. The theme this year is
‘Language and resilience’, and there will
some great speakers including Tony Cap-
stick, Scott Thornbury and many others,
and lots of performances of theatre made
by Palestinian young people. It costs just
£15 to register (more details soon) and
this will include a cooked Palestinian
lunch. There’ll also be a coach to take
people straight from IATEFL to UCLAN.
We’re proud to be sponsored by Cam-
bridge University Press, the British Council
and GISIG.
We hope you can make it as it’s
close to Liverpool and scheduled to
start right after the IATEFL Conference
finishes—couldn’t be more convenient!
Julietta Schoenmann
Joint Coordinator
gisig@iatefl.org
Leadership and Management
SIG
Last year
Since March 2018, LAMSIG has been
involved in four face to face events –
our annual PCE, partnered with TDSIG
on the subject of ‘Personalised teacher
development’; the annual IH Barcelona
conference, which we have now been
a part of for five years, including 2019;
the ELT Forum conference in Bratislava,
Slovakia; and a day of conference-style
workshops with ELT Ireland in Cork.
www.iatefl.org IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019
In addition, we have put on—as we do
every year—three free webinars.
This year
In 2019, in addition to the Barcelona
event, which has already taken place,
we look forward to welcoming you
to our PCE in Liverpool with the title
‘Looking backwards, moving forward—
effective evaluation and improvement’.
We are also looking forward to working
again with ELT Forum and Pilgrims at
their annual conference in Bratislava,
Slovakia. Details of all of these events
can be found on our website at https://
lamsig.iatefl.org/events/upcoming-
events. This is also where you will find
news of events not yet listed here as
soon as they are confirmed.
Developing the SIG
The LAMSIG committee held a day-
long strategy meeting in late 2018.
We reviewed member feedback and
suggestions and looked to the future.
As a result we came up with a series
of objectives that the SIG will work on
over the next year (and beyond). These
objectives include investigating setting
up a certification system for the various
professional development content that
we already offer (webinars, articles,
videos, conferences); setting up a
mentor programme for members;
and building our networks and
communication, including producing
more regular newsletters and other
publications. Also, as a result of the
strategy meeting we have expanded
our committee in order to better help
us reach the community of managers
and leaders in ELT more effectively.
Andy Hockley
Coordinator
lamsig@iatefl.org
Learner Autonomy SIG
Liverpool PCE
The title of our PCE in Liverpool is
‘Supporting educators in developing
language learner autonomy’. During
the day, we will tackle the crucial
question of how educators can best
be encouraged and supported in
developing language learner autonomy
in their contexts. The programme
will be flanked by two plenary talks
and will feature an invited workshop
with valuable tips for your own
practice. The morning plenary by Ema
Ushioda, ‘Motivational perspectives
when developing language learner
autonomy’ will investigate both the role
of motivation in enhancing students’
autonomy in general, as well as the
role of the educator as a key factor in
Ema Ushioda Giovanna Tassinari
autonomous learning environments.
The afternoon talk ‘Opening spaces
for learning: language advising for
autonomy’ by Giovanna Tassinari, will
look at the diverse role of autonomy
in language advising contexts. The
workshop session ‘Affective, cognitive,
metacognitive, and practical tools
for teachers in promoting learner
autonomy’ by Jo Mynard and Scott J.
Shelton Strong, will give participants
the opportunity to explore tools which
promote dialogue and reflection in
different learning environments.
Last but not least, interactive poster
sessions will give all participants the
opportunity to share their experiences.
SIG Showcase
On Tuesday, 2 April, LASIG is hosting a
number of exciting speakers for our SIG
Showcase at the IATEFL Conference.
You can find the schedule for both days
on our website under ‘Events’.
Event in Germany
On 6 September, we will hold our
one-day event ‘Reforming the foreign
language classroom—empowering
students to take ownership II’ at the
Braunschweig Institute of Technology
in Braunschweig, Germany. It is the
second event in a series and will
focus on language learning in school
settings that have taken their first
steps towards supporting learner
autonomy. At the kick-off event in
Essen, we formed networks that will
engage in implementing some of
the ideas that were developed. The
goal for Braunschweig will be to
present findings from their networks,
sharing insights and materials.
New contributions that support the
dissemination of learner autonomy
in school settings as well as teacher
education are welcome.
Autonomy in Language Learning
e-book series
Last but not least, several publications
by LASIG members originally published
as e-books will be republished and
available in print format in 2019. Titles
available for purchase in print format
include:
21
• Learner Autonomy in Second Lan-
guage Pedagogy and Research:
Challenges and Issues, edited by Klaus
Schwienhorst
• Fostering Learner Autonomy: Learn-
ers, Teachers and Researchers in
Action, edited by Christian Ludwig,
Annamaria Pinter, Kris Van de
Poel,Tom Smits, Maria Giovanna
Tassinari and Elke Ruelens
• Autonomy in Language Learning:
Opening a Can of Worms, edited by
Carol J. Everhard and Jo Mynard,
with Richard Smith
Details can be found on our website
at https://lasig.iatefl.org/books/.
Christian Ludwig
Coordinator
lasig@iatefl.org
Literature SIG
Liverpool PCE
You already know, I’m sure, but just
to remind you: our PCE at Liverpool
will be a joint event with MaWSIG,
the IATEFL Materials Writing Special
Interest Group. This joint venture will
surely appeal to members of both SIGs.
Some teachers of literature create
their own activities to accompany the
texts they teach; others use published
activities but they often adapt them. So,
all LitSIG members will be interested to
hear how professional materials writers
create their activities—not forgetting
the important matter of marketing
and selling them! And our MaWSIG
colleagues—professional materials
designers—often incorporate creative
texts into teaching materials, so our
PCE will interest them. We will build
into the day opportunities to mingle, so
that we can all exchange expertise and
ideas.
There’s a detailed programme on the
IATEFL website (https://conference.
iatefl.org/pce_mawlit) and on the
LitSIG website (https://litsig.weebly.
com/), but here is a preview. David
Crystal will give the opening plenary,
‘Language BLANK literature: from con-
junction to preposition’, arguing for the
integration of language and literature
teaching. Then Chris Klein Wolf and
Eduardo Wolf will talk about using
Shakespeare; Cheryl Palin will show
us what materials writers can learn
from the great literary writers; Alan
Pulverness will tell us about the British
Council’s BritLit project; Walton Burns
and Alice Savage will show how
theatre and video scripts can help teach
communication skills; Helen Holwill
and Nicola Prentis will demonstrate
how to write—and sell!—graded
22 IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019 www.iatefl.org
readers; and Hania Bociek will show
us ways to use visual artworks.
SIG Showcase
On the second day of the conference,
Wednesday, we have the LitSIG Show-
case, opening with Andrew Wright’s
workshop on stories and poems. After
lunch Robert Hill and Annett Kamin-
ski will give talks on traditional stories.
The final sessions focus on music in
ELT: John Gardyne will talk about
using Gilbert and Sullivan, and Chris
Walklett will give a workshop on the
songs of the Beatles—well, we are in
Liverpool! See you there!
Follow us
Follow us on Facebook at https://www.
facebook.com/LitSIG/ and Twitter at
https://twitter.com/Lit_SIG.
Robert Hill
Coordinator
litsig@iatefl.org
Materials Writing SIG
Liverpool PCE
Our PCE on 1 April 2019 will be a
joint event with LitSIG, the IATEFL
Literature Special Interest Group. Most
teachers who use texts taken from
the arts—be they literary, visual or
musical—create activities to accompany
them. Many of these teachers create
materials for publication, or would like
to know more about how to do this.
Similarly, professional materials writers
often incorporate creative materials
into their publications, or would like
to explore how to do so. This joint
event is a fantastic opportunity to share
expertise and experience in doing just
that. Our stellar line-up includes David
Crystal, who will give the opening
plenary, followed by sessions from
Chris Klein Wolf and Eduardo Wolf,
Cheryl Palin, Alan Pulverness, Walton
Burns and Alice Savage, Helen
Holwill and Nicola Prentis, and Hania
Bociek. Snap up your PCE ticket now!
The ‘What about ...?’ webinar
series
MaWSIG ran a series of monthly
webinars between September and
February called the ‘What about...?’
webinars. Each webinar was led by an
expert or experts in specific aspects of
materials writing. Brian Tomlinson
gave the first webinar entitled ‘What
about principles for materials devel-
opment?’ Vicky Saumell asked ‘What
about writing digital materials?’ Prof.
Dr Henning Rossa and Dr Karoline
Wirbatz’s webinar was ‘What about
writing CLIL materials?’ Dr Catherine
Above: MaWSIG
members at their
Christmas party in
Oxford, December
2018
Right: If you
haven’t yet seen
Manuscript,
MaWSIG’s
revamped annual
ebook, you can
download a copy in the members’ area of
the IATEFL website. It’s available in PDF and
ePub formats.
Walter answered some of our biggest
questions about grammar in course-
books in ‘What about writing grammar
activities?’ Dr Elaine Hodgson asked
‘What about writing teacher’s guides?’
Finally, Leo Selivan gave us some great
ideas for addressing lexis in our mate-
rials in ‘What about writing vocabulary
activities?’ Recordings of the webinars,
as well as blogs featuring responses to
unanswered questions from the webi-
nars, can be viewed at https://mawsig.
iatefl.org/.
James Styring
MaWSIG Publications Coordinator
mawsig@iatefl.org
Research SIG
Online discussion
ReSIG hosted an online discussion
on 6−9 December. The theme was
‘Narrative knowledging—what is it and
how does it relate to your research?’
The speaker was Gary Barkhuizen,
with Chris Banister moderating.
Information can be found at http://
resig.weebly.com/online-discussions.
html.
Webinar
ReSIG hosted a webinar on ‘Anxiety
in English Language Teaching’ by
Christina Gkonou on 28 January. A
recording of the webinar can be found
at http://resig.weebly.com/webinar-
foreign-language-learner-anxiety.html.
Online discussion
Dr Assia Slimani-Rolls and Professor
Richard Kiely moderated an online
discussion on ‘Professional develop-
ment and practitioner research’ in
February 2019. For more information,
please visit our website.
ELT Research newsletter
Edited by Mark Wyatt, Emily
Edwards, Dario Banegas and Amol
Padwad, ELT Research, the ReSIG
yearly newsletter, is to be sent out to
our members in February 2019.
Conference
ReSIG and the Creativity Group are
jointly organising a conference on
‘Spontaneity in the English language
classroom: understanding and research-
ing’, to be held on 30 March 2019 at
the University of Oxford. For more
information, please visit http://resig.
weebly.com/joint-event-exploring-
spontaneity-in-the-elt-classroom.html.
Liverpool PCE
The ReSIG PCE, ‘Communicating and
learning from research’ will be held
on Monday 1 April. The event features
keynote speakers Dr Anne Burns and
Dr Richard Smith; David Nunan as
discussant; and poster presentations by
students, teachers, educators and aca-
demics involved in research. We offer
members one scholarship to attend
this event. We’d like to congratulate
this year’s winner, Elis Constantinous.
For more information about the event,
please visit http://resig.weebly.com/
conference-resig-pre-conference-event.
html.
SIG Showcase
Our SIG Showcase takes place on
Thursday 4 April and will conclude
www.iatefl.org IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019
with a forum for anyone who is
interested in learning more about what
we do. Members and non-members of
the SIG are welcome to participate. For
further details, please visit the ReSIG
website.
ELTRIA conference
ReSIG is supporting the forthcoming
ELTRIA conference, ‘ELT research in
action: bringing together two commu-
nities of practice’ in Barcelona, Spain,
on 26–27 April. For more information,
visit http://resig.weebly.com/
conference-elt-research-in-action---
universitat-de-barcelona.html.
Dr Ana Inés Salvi and
Dr Kenan Dikilitaş
Joint Coordinators
resig@iatefl.org
Teacher Development SIG
Liverpool PCE with Global
Issues SIG
Very soon we’ll be exploring the
intersection of social justice and
teacher development at our PCE!
Our talks and follow-up Open Space
discussions with speakers range from
issues involving EMI to gender-based
issues to discriminated populations
to criticality in teacher training, plus
all tangents within. More information
about this event can be located at
tdsig.org/pce.
Developod: the teacher
development podcast
New episodes are released every
few months where we focus on a
wide range of teacher development
situations with interviews and stories
from teachers all over the world.
In episode 8, Silvana Richardson
talks to us about the importance of
and practical examples of creating
an organisation-wide culture of
teacher development. In episode 9,
we talk with Jacob Palmer, who
is experimenting with Teaching
Proficiency through Reading and
Storytelling with his YL students in
Taiwan. At the time of writing, we’re
currently working on episode 10,
so we’ll leave that one as a surprise
for readers. You can listen to and
download episodes at bit.ly/developod,
or you can subscribe to them wherever
you get your podcasts!
#tdsiglive
Every two months, we host a live chat
either on Facebook or Twitter where we
can all come together for an informal
chat about topics relevant to our own
development as teachers. Last October
we talked about ‘Experimental TD’ and
in January, ‘Taking reading into our
practice’. Find out about upcoming
#tdsiglive at tdsig.org/tdsiglive.
Other upcoming events
We’re working on a few events in
the coming year. Look for us at the
InnovateELT conference in Barcelona
17−18 May and find all dates to circle
on your calendar at
tdsig.org/upcoming-in-tdsig.
Tyson Seburn
Coordinator
tdsig@iatefl.org
Teacher Training and
Education SIG
Liverpool PCE
We are running our PCE in Liverpool
with BESIG, entitled ‘Training
(business) English teachers to prepare
learners for modern workplaces:
integration of soft skills’. We’re pleased
to have Ben Knight, Gordon Lewis
and Ros Wright as our speakers.
For more information, visit https://
conference.iatefl.org/pce_betted.
New logo
At TTEdSIG we’ve been busy bees
lately! After running a logo competition
in September, we now have a new look.
The bee theme reflects our focus on
collaborative, practice-based training
and education, and was designed by
Dervis Saltik from Izmir University of
Economics.
Our new logo
Webinar programme
Our rebooted webinar programme
is well underway, with great
sessions from Anthony Gaughan
on 11 November 2018 and Lindsay
Clandfield on 19 January 2019. We’re
looking forward to a webinar from
Marisa Constantinides in March 2019
on the topic of continuing professional
development (CPD) for new teacher
trainers.
Burcu Tezcan Unal
Coordinator
ttedsig@iatefl.org
23
Young Learners and
Teenagers SIG
Liverpool PCE
In many global contexts, the pedagogies
used in English lessons in pre-schools,
primary and secondary schools
remain completely separate from the
language-driven approaches found in
out-of-school English courses delivered
by private providers. The 2019 PCE,
‘Building bridges and finding common
ground in TEYLs’, aims to identify
common ground and build bridges to
enable TEYL practitioners to emulate
and integrate best age appropriate
practice from both worlds.
We will kick off with an opening
plenary by Janet Enever, who will
focus on early years (ages 2–5) and
primary (ages 6–10) in a talk entitled
‘21st century ELT for 3–10 year olds’.
This will be followed with a second
plenary by Dave Spencer focused on
lower (ages 11–14) and upper (ages
15–17) secondary, ‘(R)EVOLUTION:
New ideas seeping into secondary
education’.
The plenaries will be followed by
four shorter ‘TED’ talks:
• Early years: ‘Building bridges to the
primary classroom: engaging early
literacy practices’ by Joan Kang Shin
and Luciana Fernandez;
• Primary: ‘Primary learning: bor-
rowing the best from ELT and the
mainstream’ by Shelagh Rixon and
Amanda Davies;
• Lower secondary: ‘Making English
your own: developing ELF-aware
lower secondary students’ by Dirk
Lagerwaard and Bruno Andrade;
and
• Upper secondary: ‘The next step:
preparing upper secondary learners
for the future’ by Leticia Moraes and
Simon Pounder.
After the TED talks, delegates will
be invited to participate in an Open
Space format, where they will decide
which age range team (early years
or primary or lower secondary or
upper secondary) they prefer to join
according to their interests. This will
offer delegates an excellent forum for
deeper engagement with the speakers
via Q&A.
We intend to wrap up the PCE with
an interactive workshop facilitated by
Virginia Parker exploring how we can
reconcile the ‘two separate worlds’ in
TEYL.
David Valente
Coordinator
yltsig@iatefl.org
24 IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019 www.iatefl.org
My first IATEFL conference
Rajasekaran Venkatraman,
IATEFL conference first-time
speaker and Ray Tongue
Scholarship winner in 2018,
outlines his experiences
I never thought I would attend an
IATEFL annual conference in person.
Before I talk about my scholarship
experience, let me outline my journey
as English teacher, which will help
others to understand the experience
better. In 2003, I became a Lecturer in
English at an engineering institution in
a rural area of Tamilnadu, India. I had
no exposure to ELT, but my thirst for
knowledge prompted me to seek oppor-
tunities to learn about the field.
My first professional development
opportunity was a workshop organised
by the English Language Teachers
Association of India (ELTAI), where
I learned about the digital tools that
I still use today. I became a member
of ELTAI and started attending every
workshop, seminar and conference;
this helped me to meet people in the
ELT world and to gain knowledge
about the latest developments in ELT,
especially digital tools, my main area
of interest. When ELTAI introduced the
IATEFL Wider Membership Scheme, I
enrolled and started receiving Voices
regularly.
In the early years of my career,
my focus was on attending as many
professional development events as
possible within India; I never thought
about attending a conference in a
In the main auditorium
Dr Rajasekaran
Venkatraman is an
Assistant Professor
of English at VIT
University Chennai
Campus, Tamilnadu,
India. He has been
teaching Technical
English, Business
English and Legal
English for fifteen
years and is currently
supervising five PhD scholars. He blogs at
www.drrajasekaranv.blogspot.com.
foreign land. It was not until I joined
my present institution, VIT University Having fun in the Exhibition hall
Chennai campus, that I had this oppor-
tunity. With the support of the univer- the Ray Tongue scholarship. I should
sity, I presented my first paper outside thank Sarah at Head Office for her
India, at the University of Kelaniya, Sri help.
Lanka, in 2016. Further, I was invited
as a keynote speaker to international Preparing to attend the
conferences in Singapore and Malaysia conference
in 2017. I would like to offer the following
advice to international delegates
Applying for the IATEFL planning to attend the Conference in
scholarship Liverpool, or future conferences.
I first thought about applying for an
IATEFL scholarship in 2017; however, Paying registration fees
After acceptance of a proposal, speak-
by the time I tried to apply, the dead-
ers need to pay their registration
line had passed. I decided to try again
fees. The best way to pay is with a
in 2018, and this time I started the
credit card. Paying through a bank is
process well in advance. I browsed
a time-consuming and laborious task,
through the list of scholarships avail-
and international transfers incur higher
able on the IATEFL website and after
charges than credit card payments.
noting down all the requirements,
eligibility criteria and other details, I
narrowed my list to those scholarships
Getting a visa
After registration, IATEFL will send
that I was eligible to apply for.
a letter of invitation; this is required
I made use of IATEFL webinars and
for a visa application. It is imperative
Voices articles, especially ‘How to write
to check the visa application well in
an effective IATEFL conference pro-
posal’ and ‘First-time IATEFL attendees advance so that we can prepare all the
and scholarship winners’ experiences’. required documents to apply for visa.
These resources offered me guidance in Submission of required document is
preparing my proposal. As I was unsure a crucial part in the visa application
about the topic I should choose for my process. I would advise delegates to
presentation, I took a break to think
about this. Later, I narrowed down on
the topic and submitted my application.
Suddenly, one day I received an
email stating that my application
was incomplete. At this point, I owe
a special thanks to IATEFL for their
follow-up mail to applicants. After
receiving that email, I realised what
I had forgotten. I uploaded all the
required details and submitted the
application successfully.
After the selection process, to my
great surprise I received a mail from
IATEFL stating that I had been awarded With IATEFL Patron David Crystal
www.iatefl.org IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019 25

prepare a visa documents checklist to

submit a hassle-free application. Do
not wait until the last minute to apply
for your visa; start the process well in
advance to ensure that it is stress free.
Before you apply for your visa, you
need to book round trip flight tickets
and accommodation. In addition, you
need to maintain the required funds in
your bank account.

How to get the most out of

the IATEFL conference
With over 3,000 participants from
across the globe and around 600
sessions, the IATEFL conference will
be a thrilling event, and at times you
may not know how to make the most
of everything on offer. You need to plan
quite well in advance so that you will
not miss the important sessions. My session was attended by 100 participants
There are different types of sessions: Preparing for sightseeing
‘How to …’ sessions, presentations, sightseeing tours, and I advise you to
workshops, panel discussions and If you’re going all the way to the UK, purchase the London Pass which covers
more. I recommend you prepare a min- try to see something beyond the confer- admission to many sites and enables
ute-by-minute schedule for every day ence. Go a few days early or come back you to skip the line.
of the conference to make sure that you a few days later so that you can plan In my case, I arrived in Brighton a
do not miss any important sessions. A to visit other places. Of course, London day early and went on a local tour of
detailed programme will be available probably has to be at the top of your the Seven Sisters, which allowed me to
from March, or you may download list; here you can see iconic places like enjoy the natural beauty of the Sussex
the EventMobi app to schedule your Tower Bridge, Big Ben, Westminster countryside. I also spent three days
sessions. Abbey, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, in London touring all the important
Another important highlight of the Buckingham Palace and many more, places; I was particularly thrilled to
conference is the evening events; these depending on how much time you have visit Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and
are great networking opportunities at your disposal. You may book local Westminster Abbey.
and will allow you to explore the local
culture.
My first priority in Brighton was to
attend SIG events. I attended around
ten IATEFL SIG events to learn about
their functions and priorities. I learnt a
lot from these events. Apart from SIG
events, my focus was on technology, so
I chose to attend mostly technology-re-
lated sessions. I could write a whole
article on what I have learnt from these
different sessions. I can guarantee that
this will be an experience of a lifetime
and a great opportunity, especially for
first-timers.
It was a busy time and a long way
to travel, but it was worth coming to
IATEFL for this amazing experience! Visits to Tower Bridge and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre
26 IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019 www.iatefl.org
From the Associates
IATEFL’s
Associates
Representative
Lou McLaughlin
brings Associate
news.
In this issue we are delighted to
provide you with the story of the origin
and growth of ELTAI, India, one of our
IATEFL Associates. This may inspire
others to join or begin their own Teach-
ing Association (TA).
The committee are very much look-
ing forward to Associates Day, which
will take place in Liverpool in April.
Check the website for further infor-
mation! We would really like to share
your news, so please get in touch with
updates and reports on your events
which have taken place. Please send
this to me, Lou McLaughlin, at associa-
terep@iatefl.org.
The origin and growth of
ELTAI, India
Dr S. Rajagopalan, Patron and
Projects Head, ELTAI
Our association had a humble begin-
ning and has grown into one of the
largest teacher associations in the
world. We started with just six mem-
bers, all from Chennai, and now have
3,864 members and 30 chapters in
different parts of our country.  tion and decided to carry on the good
Journal first, association later
Interestingly, our journal was started
first and our association much later. As
early as 1974, the Journal of English
Language Teaching (JELT)—the first of
its kind in our country—was published,
thanks to a well-known educationist of
that time, the late Padmashree S. Nata-
rajan. He wanted to start a professional
association of teachers of English, but
knowing that teachers would not pay
to join it without some incentive, he
decided to tell teachers they would
get a free copy of the journal if they
joined the association.
The JELT was thus started first,
providing an opportunity for teachers
to acquaint themselves with recent
research findings on the teaching of
English and also share their own expe-
riences. He priced it at just one rupee
per copy and almost single-handedly
promoted its sale. At the beginning,
only a hundred copies were printed
and some remained unsold. He didn’t
give up and soon the circulation went
up; unfortunately it never went beyond
400 copies or so.
ELTAI is born
Eleven years later, in 1985, Mr Nat-
arajan started the English Language
Teachers’ Association of India (ELTAI).
A small group of teachers including
the writer—just six of us—met at his
residence. We had a discussion on the
importance of the professional devel-
opment of teachers as a key factor in
enhancing the standards of education
in our country. At that time, there were
only trade unions of teachers, and they
were concerned with the improvement
of working conditions. At our meeting
Mr Natarajan put forward the idea of
starting an association of teachers that
would organise teacher development
programmes in the form of seminars
and workshops. We all agreed to
help with this venture. Mr Natarajan
said enrolment would be easier if we
guaranteed all members a free copy of
the journal. Thus our association came
into being and we were able to enrol
256 members.
Promoting ELTAI: new
strategies
After the passing away of our founder,
a new team took charge of the associa-
work he had initiated by adopting new
strategies.
To encourage enrolment, we decided
to conduct workshops, seminars and
refresher courses for teachers. Schools
and colleges were told their teachers
would not be charged to attend these
staff development programmes. At
these events, teachers learned about
the benefits of joining ELTAI—a free
copy of our journal (and the chance to
publish in it); opportunities to
develop their teaching competence;
and opportunities to interact with
ELT professionals. This strategy is
working well and we have more and
more teachers coming forward to join
ELTAI.
Another strategy we adopted was
to provide financial incentives for
teachers undertaking action research
and using ICT tools in teaching English.
The provision of some subsidised
memberships offered by IATEFL to our
members has also helped to enrol new
members, as well as familiarising them
with the great work done by IATEFL.
Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
and events
Our SIGs are active. Two of our SIGs,
the English Literature SIG and the
Computer Technology SIG, have their
own e-journals, the Journal of Teaching
and Research in English Literature and
the Journal of Computer Technology for
ELT. These two Open Access journals
may be accessed by clicking on their
direct links on the homepage of our
website, www.eltai.in.
 An important teacher development
event was organised by our Business
English SIG at Ethiraj College, Chennai,
on September 2018. IATEFL BESIG
Joint Coordinator Evan Frendo was
one of the speakers. An international
conference on English literature was
organised by our Literature SIG at
Kilakarai (TN) in 2012 in collaboration
with our Ramanathpuram chapter and
TBAK College for Women.
Projects
ELTAI was one of the first recipients
of the IATEFL Project grant. We used
our grant of £3,000 for our innovative
project on Training the Trainers in Vir-
tual Learning. A group of 17 teachers
were selected from all over the country
and were trained in using Web tools in
ELT; they were then required to train
teachers in their area. 
Another project undertaken by our
Association with support from the
Hornby Trust, UK, was on training
teachers in using smartphones for the
teaching and learning of English.
We are launching another project
early in 2019 funded by the Hornby
Trust, on the use of digital tools for
learner autonomy in communication
skills.
At the request of the District Collec-
tor of Ramanathpuramin Tamilnadu,
ELTAI organised weekend programmes
aiming at enhancing the language skills
of teachers working in government and
aided schools in that region.
We have also provided financial
assistance to teachers undertaking
action research projects designed to
enhance the communication skills of
their students. This was made possible
www.iatefl.org IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019 27

have been a few contributions from our

members to Voices.
Online discussion forums
Opportunities for our members to
interact with one another, and also to
give them updates about our Associa-
tion, are provided by our Google group
discussion forum. Members of the
Computer Technology for ELT SIG have
a separate online forum.
Collaboration with the British
Council
The British Council has been collabo-
rating with us in a range of activities
for a number of years. It provides
plenary speakers for our annual
conferences; along with IATEFL and the
Hornby Trust, it has provided support
in carrying out our projects on virtual
ELTAI conferences provide excellent CPD opportunities and mobile learning and in some
years it has
by a donation from Dr S. Rajagopalan, sponsored an
one of our donor members. ELTAI mem-
Annual conferences ber to attend
the IATEFL
We hold an international conference
annual
every year; our conferences are
conference.
attended by over 600 teachers.
ELTAI: an Associate of IATEFL
As an Associate of IATEFL, we are able
to provide a fixed number of subsi-
dised memberships of IATEFL to our
members. Almost every year a member Delivering
attends the IATEFL Conference with training Web
some financial assistance from us. A tools, thanks
few have won IATEFL scholarships to to an IATEFL
attend the event. In recent years, there grant

Coming events JULY

3−4 Israel
8th ETAI International Anniversary
2019 15−17 Japan Conference, Jerusalem
JALT Performance in Education: ‘ETAI: 40 years of sharing ideas’
MARCH Research and Practice Conference, Event link: http://www.etai.org.il/etai40/
30 UK Nagoya NOVEMBER
IATEFL Research SIG and Creativity Event link: https://sites.google.com/view/
1−4 Japan
Group joint event, Oxford sddpalresearchconference/home
JALT2019: 45th Annual International
Event link: http://secure.iatefl.org/events/event. 20−23 Japan Conference on Language Teaching
php?id=174
JALT Task-Based Learning & and
APRIL Performance in Education Conference, Learning & Educational Materials Exhibition,
2−5 UK Naha, Okinawa Nagoya City
Event link: https://sites.google.com/view/ ‘Teacher efficacy, learner agency’
53rd International IATEFL Conference, tblpieokinawasdd/home Event link: https://jalt.org/conference/jalt2019
Liverpool; Pre-Conference Events on
1 April 21−22 Montenegro Submissions for the calendar are welcome
Event link: https://conference.iatefl.org/ ELTAM Montenegro Ist International and should be sent to membership@iatefl.org.
Submissions should follow the format in the
Conference. calendar above, and should include submission
JUNE ‘Empowering 21st-century leaners and
deadlines for papers for potential presenters.
So that we receive your announcements in time,
7−8 Slovakia educators: meeting challenges, exploring please check Voices (p. 1) for the copy deadline
solutions’ and the publication month of each issue.
9th International ELT Forum with
IATEFL LAMSIG and Pilgrims, Bratislava
The most up to date version of the calendar can be found on our website
Event link: www.iatefl.org/associates/associate-events
http://secure.iatefl.org/events/event.php?id=171
28 IATEFL VOICES 267 – March/April 2019 www.iatefl.org
Who’s Who in IATEFL
Patron: Professor David Crystal, OBE, FBA
Advisory Council
As Patron: David Crystal
As Editor of the ELTJ: Dr Alessia Cogo
Individual members: Amos Paran, Roy Cross, Adrian
Underhill, Catherine Walter, Johannes Wassenberg
Board of Trustees
President: Harry Kuchah Kuchah president@iatefl.org
Treasurer: Colin MacKenzie treasurer@iatefl.org
Secretary & Chair of Conference Committee:
Ros Wright
Membership & Marketing Committee Chair:
Mojca Belak mmcom@iatefl.org
SIG Representative: Judith Mader sigrep@iatefl.org
Associates Representative: Lou McLaughlin
associaterep@iatefl.org
Digital Committee Chair: Shaun Wilden
digitalchair@iatefl.org
Committee Members
Associates: Lou McLaughlin (Chair), Marta
Bujakowska, Natalie Chambers and Nazli Gungor
Conference: Ros Wright (Chair), Louise Atkins, Angelos
Bollas, Jon Burton, Alison Medland, Sarah Mount,
Leanne Smith, Sarah Ward and Daniel Xerri
Digital: Shaun Wilden (Chair), Louise Atkins, Heike
Philp, Syke Annamma Kumaran, Maria-Araxi
Sachpazian and Mercedes Viola
Finance: Colin MacKenzie (Chair), Karsten Gramkow,
Emily Gross, Wayne Rimmer and Lizzie Wojtkowska-
Wright
Membership & Marketing: Mojca Belak (Chair),
Natalie Chambers, Gerhard Erasmus and
Anthony Gaughan
Publications: Harry Kucha Kuchah (Chair),
Eleanor Baynham, Roy Bicknell and Vicky Saumell
Scholarship Committee: Maureen McGarvey (Chair),
Ben Beaumont, Eryl Griffiths, Christian Ludwig,
Amos Paran, Adrian Tennant and Sarah Ward
Voices Editor: Tania Pattison editor@iatefl.org
Conference Selections Editor: Tania Pattison
cseditor@iatefl.org
IATEFL Representative on the ELTJ panel:
Shelagh Rixon
IATEFL Representative on the ELTJ Management
Board: Catherine Walter
Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
Please visit the individual SIG website for a list of
current committee members
Business English (BE) www.besig.org
Joint Coordinators: Evan Frendo and Dana Poklepovic
besig@iatefl.org
English for Speakers of Other Languages (ES(O)L)
https://iateflesolsig.wordpress.com
Joint Coordinators: Lesley Painter-Farrell and
Oya Karabetca esolsig@iatefl.org
English for Specific Purposes (ESP)
https://espsig.iatefl.org
Coordinator: Aysen Guven espsig@iatefl.org
Global Issues (GI) gisig.iatefl.org
Joint coordinators: Chris Sowton and Julietta
Schoenmann gisig@iatefl.org
Inclusive Practices & SEN (IPSEN)
https://ipsen.iatefl.org
Coordinator: Varinder Unlu ipsensig@iatefl.org
Learner Autonomy (LA) lasig.iatefl.org
Coordinator, PCE and LASIG Showcase organiser:
Christian Ludwig lasig@iatefl.org
Leadership and Management (LAM)
https://lamsig.iatefl.org
Coordinator: Andy Hockley lamsig@iatefl.org
Literature (Lit) https://litsig.weebly.com
Coordinator: Rob Hill litsig@iatefl.org
Learning Technologies (LT) https://ltsig.iatefl.org
Coordinator: Sophia Mavridi sophia@ltsig.org.uk
Materials Writing (MaW) https://mawsig.iatefl.org
Coordinator: Aleksandra Popovski mawsig@iatefl.org
Pronunciation (Pron) https://pronsig.iatefl.org
Coordinator: Catarina Pontes pronsig@iatefl.org
Research (Res) resig.weebly.com
Joint coordinators: Kenan Dikilitaş and Ana Ines Salvi
resig@iatefl.org
Teacher Development (TD) https://tdsig.org
Coordinator: Tyson Seburn tdsig@iatefl.org
Testing Evaluation and Assessment (TEA)
https://tea.iatefl.org
Joint Coordinators: Ceyda Mutlu & Neil Bullock
teasig@iatefl.org
Teacher Training and Education (TTEd)
https://ttedsig.iatefl.org
Coordinator: Burcu Tezcan Unal ttedsig@iatefl.org
Young Learners and Teenagers (YLT)
https://yltsig.iatefl.org
Coordinator: David Valente yltsig@iatefl.org
Associates
(as of February
2019)
ACPI (Costa Rica) www.acpi-tesol.com
ACTA (Australia) www.tesol.org.au
AINET (India) www.theainet.net
AMATE (Czech Republic) www.amate.cz
ANELTA (Angola)
APC-ELI (Cuba)
APPI (Portugal) www.appi.pt
ATECR (Czech Republic) www.atecr.weebly.com
ATEF (Finland)
http://www.suomenenglanninopettajat.fi
ATEI (Iceland) www.ki.is/feki
ATEL (Lebanon) www.atel-lb.org
ATER (Rwanda) http://www.aterw.org/
ATES (Senegal)
ATETE - SELF (Denmark)
AzerELTA (Iran, Islamic Republic Of)
www.eltanet.org
AzETA (Azerbaijan) www.az-eta.org
BC TEAL (Canada) www.bcteal.org
BELNATE (Belarus)
www.ir.bsu.by/kel/teachers/belnate.htm
BELTA (Belgium) www.beltabelgium.com
BELTA (Bangladesh) www.belta-bd.org/
BETA (Bolivia)
BETA Bulgaria (Bulgaria) www.beta-iatefl.org
BNTEA (Benin) www.bntea.org
BRAZ-TESOL (Brazil) www.braztesol.org.br
CAMELTA (Cameroon)
http://camelta-cameroon.weebly.com/
CEPABETA (Cameroon)
CI-ATEFL (Cote D’ivoire)
CLASS (Congo, The Democratic Republic Of The)
CYTEA (Cyprus) cytea.weebly.com
E and M - GATE (Germany)
http://englisch-und-mehr.de
EATE (Estonia) www.eate.ee
ECUATESOL (Ecuador)
http://educ2016.wix.com/ecuatesol-org
EKADEVE (Greece) www.ekadeve.gr
ELT Ireland (Ireland) www.elt-ireland.com
ELTA (Serbia) elta.org.rs
ELTA/GB (Guinea-bissau)
eltagb1.wixsite.com/elta-gb
ELTABB (Germany) www.eltabb.com
ELTAF (Germany) www.eltaf.de
ELTAI (India) www.eltai.in
ELTAM (Macedonia) www.eltam.org.mk
ELTAM (Mongolia) www.mongoliatesol.com
ELTAM (Montenegro) http://eltam.me/online/
ELTA-Rhine (Germany) www.elta-rhine.de
ELTAS (Germany) www.eltas.de
ELTAU (Germany) www.eltau.de
English Australia (Australia)
www.englishaustralia.com.au
ETAG (Georgia) www.etag.ge
ETAI (Israel) www.etai.org.il
ETAS (Switzerland) www.e-tas.ch
FAAPI (Argentina) www.faapi.org.ar
FEELTA (Russian Federation) www.feelta.wl.dvgu.ru
FORTELL (India) www.fortell.org
FORUM (Kyrgyzstan)
GATE (Ghana) www.facebook.GATE
GELI (Cuba)
GEN TEFL (Thailand) www.gentefl.org
HELTA eV (Germany) www.helta.de
HELTA Honduras TESOL (Honduras)
www.heltahondurastesol.com
Head Office
Chief Executive: Jon Burton
Deputy Chief Executive: Louise Atkins
Finance Officer: Emily Gross
Conference Organiser: Alison Medland
Deputy Conference Organiser: Sarah Ward
Sponsorship and Exhibition Officer: Leanne Smith
Membership Officer: Natalie Chambers
SIGs and Publications Officer: Eleanor Baynham
Key Administrator: Katy Suckling
Finance and General Administrator: Linda James
Head Office staff can be contacted via email
info@iatefl.org or telephone +44 (0)1795 591414
HUPE (Croatia) www.hupe.hr
IATEFL Chile www.iateflchile.cl
IATEFL Hungary www.iatefl.hu
IATEFL Peru https://sites.google.com/site/iateflpe/
IATEFL Poland https://iatefl.org.pl/en/
IATEFL Slovenia www.iatefl.si
IATEFL Ukraine
http://ukraineiatefl.wix.com/iateflukraine
IELTA (Iran, Islamic Republic Of) www.ielta.ir
IETA (Indonesia) www.ieta.or.id
IndiaCALL (India) www.indiacall.in
INGED (Turkey) http://inged.org.tr/
JALT (Japan) http://jalt.org
KATE (Korea, Republic Of) www.kate.or.kr
KELTA (Russian Federation)
KOTESOL (Korea, Republic Of)
http://www.koreatesol.org/
KSAALT TESOL (Saudi Arabia) www.ksaalt-tesol.org
LAKMA (Lithuania) lakmaonline.lt/
LATAZ (Zambia)
LATE (Latvia) www.late.lv
MATE (Haiti) www.tesolhaiti.org
MATEFL (Malta) www.matefl.org
MELTA (Germany) https://melta.de/
META (Moldova) http://meta-moldova.md
MEXTESOL (Mexico) http://mextesol.org.mx/?
MORCE-Network (Morocco) www.morcenet.org
NATE (Russian Federation) http://nate-russia.ru/
NATECLA (United Kingdom) www.natecla.org.uk
NATESOL (United Kingdom) www.natesol.org
NELTA (Nepal) www.nelta.org.np
NileTESOL (Egypt) www.niletesol.org
PAET (Cyprus)
PATEFL (Palestinian Territory, Occupied)
SATEFL (United Kingdom) www.satefl.co.uk
Saudi Organization of EFL Education (Saudi Arabia)
SCELT (Slovakia) scelt.wordpress.com/
SELTA (Senegal)
www.selta.sites.google.com/site/englishlanguagecell
SLTA (Sweden) www.spraklararna.se
SPELT (Pakistan) www.spelt.org.pk
TATE (Tunisia) www.tate-tunisia.com
TEA (Austria) www.tea4teachers.org
TEFL China (China) www.telf-china.net
TEFL in Yemen (Yemen) www.yementefl.webs.com
TEFL Qatar (Qatar) www.teflqatar.org
TELTA (Tanzania, United Republic Of)
TESOL Arabia (United Arab Emirates)
www.tesolarabia.org
TESOL Canada www.tesolcanada.org
TESOL France www.tesol-france.org
TESOL Greece www.tesolgreece.org
TESOL Kuwait www.tesolkuwait.org
TESOL Macedonia-Thrace N. Greece (Greece)
www.tesolmacedoniathrace.org
TESOL Spain www.tesol-spain.org
TESOL Sudan (United Arab Emirates)
http://www.tesolsudan.net
TESOLANZ (New Zealand) www.tesolanz.org.nz
Thailand TESOL (Thailand) thailandtesol.org
UALTA (Ukraine) http://ualta.in.ua
UKBET (Bangladesh) www.ukbet-bd.org
UzTEA (Uzbekistan) www.uztea.uz
VLLT (Levende Talen) (Netherlands)
www.levendetalen.nl
WITESOL (United States) http://witesol.com
YamELTA (Russian Federation) www.yamelta.ru
ZATESL (Zimbabwe)