Comments on: books you should read

By: darren

darren — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 02:29:50 +0000

I LOVE the sound of that! I just picked up a book from a dusty shelf in a backroom office that apparently cost three and six when it was published in 1961… How, asks the author, are the educational theories of Ancient Greece, Rome and Palestine relevant in the technological age. How indeed, E.B. Castle?

No doubt teachers in the future, flying around in jet packs and teaching via thought transfer from microchips in their brains, will think us quaint too….

The Andrew Wright book you mention is magnificent. When I was little I wanted to be a comic book artist or a palaeontologist, and those years spent toiling over a grubby notebook with a biro were the best preparation for a ‘career’ in ELT I could have had. A scribble on the board gets the point across, keeps things in English, lightens the mood and plants a memorable image all in a few seconds. By giving teachers the confidence to draw, Andrew Wright deserves a medal!

By: Nicky

Nicky — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:39:32 +0000

I’ll get right on it! Funny you should mention Wright’s Pictures for Language Learners, which is an all time favorite of mine. I think another of his, 1000 Pictures for Language Teachers (or something like that) probably improved my teaching skills more so than any other methodology book I’ve ever read.

I think however that Jack Lonergan’s “Video in Language Teaching” (from the year 1984!) is the one most ripe for dissection. I’ll keep you posted! Congratulations on a great blog, by the way!

By: darren

darren — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:57:16 +0000

I love that idea… send me something! I reviewed Ben Goldstein’s excellent ‘Working with Images’ not so long ago, and couldn’t help but compare it to Andrew Wright’s ‘Pictures for Language Learning’, from the same series with a twenty year gap. Both approaches work very well, but it is fascinating to look back on a pre-internet age (which really isn’t so long ago).

By: Nicky

Nicky — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:58:00 +0000

I too jumped on the TEFL.net reviewing bandwagon some time ago. Apart from that, I have a whole slew of methodology books from the Stone Age (i.e., the 80s) which could be interesting to read and compare what was “news” then to what’s “news” now…

By: Twitted by livesofteachers

Twitted by livesofteachers — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:32:22 +0000

[...] This post was Twitted by livesofteachers [...]

By: darren

darren — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 11:46:31 +0000

Thanks Alex… as you know I received one from you this very week and it looks like a doozy. I’ll try to get it read within a year this time….

If you want to get a brand new shiny book, get in touch with Alex here

http://edition.tefl.net/category/reviews/

(and while you are about it, read through some of the reviews already there)

Alex, a guest post from you would always be welcome. Any old classics you’d like to tell us about?

By: Alex Case

Alex Case — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 08:51:24 +0000

Great idea. And love “slightly damp academics”

If you want to know where Darren gets his new books from, please ask me

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Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:40:24 +0000

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