http://www.livesofteachers.com teaching and learning languages Fri, 03 Sep 2010 02:25:30 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 A series of conversations with people involved in English language teaching. Researchers, linguists, teachers, materials designers, trainers, writers and learners. teaching and learning languages Darren Elliott http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3664/3359385859_058d483bf3.jpghttp://www.livesofteachers.com EFL, ELT, teaching, linguistics, languages, training, learning, teacher development, English, TEFL, TESOL no Darren Elliott darrenrelliott@gmail.com http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/06/11/an-interview-with-larry-davies-organisational-structures-educational-administration-and-online-learning/ http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/06/11/an-interview-with-larry-davies-organisational-structures-educational-administration-and-online-learning/#comments Fri, 11 Jun 2010 09:21:04 +0000 darren http://www.livesofteachers.com/?p=596 http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/06/11/an-interview-with-larry-davies-organisational-structures-educational-administration-and-online-learning/feed/ 3 Download Here I talked to Larry at the JALTCALL conference  in Kyoto about his career, technology, the future of higher education and had a great time! Please enjoy! His presentations, via Prezi, are here… and worth a look. ] an interview with larry davies from darren elliott on Vimeo. www.livesofteachers.com Download Here I talked to Larry at the JALTCALL conference  in Kyoto about his career, technology, the future of higher education and had a great time! Please enjoy! His presentations, via Prezi, are here… and worth a look. ] an interview with [...] Darren Elliott technology, education, learning, language, English, teaching http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/06/07/an-interview-with-joy-egbert-engagement-technology-and-flow/ http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/06/07/an-interview-with-joy-egbert-engagement-technology-and-flow/#comments Mon, 07 Jun 2010 03:54:26 +0000 darren http://www.livesofteachers.com/?p=582 http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/06/07/an-interview-with-joy-egbert-engagement-technology-and-flow/feed/ 1   an interview with joy egbert from darren elliott on Vimeo. Download Here Joy Egbert was in Kyoto, Japan for the 2010 JALTCALL conference and gave the keynote speech on student engagement. In this interview we talked about that, teacher training, creating ‘flow’ and ‘micro-flow’ situations, and working in limited technology contexts. Joy has a book coming out this year on the last topic, which I am very much looking forward to reading. I had read a little about flow and the name Csikszentmihhalyi (which Joy can not only pronounce, but spell without reference to notes) but it was good to hear about the relationship between flow and teaching from someone who has been working in that area. Check google scholar to find Joy’s articles. But in the meantime, watch Tina Weymouth playing bass in this clip… that’s flow, I think ; D   an interview with joy egbert from darren elliott on Vimeo. Download Here Joy Egbert was in Kyoto, Japan for the 2010 JALTCALL conference and gave the keynote speech on student engagement. In this interview we talked about that, teacher training, [...] Darren Elliott ESL teaching English language learning education technology clean http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/05/27/an-interview-with-kip-cates-global-education-and-language-teaching/ http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/05/27/an-interview-with-kip-cates-global-education-and-language-teaching/#comments Wed, 26 May 2010 20:36:06 +0000 darren http://www.livesofteachers.com/?p=566 http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/05/27/an-interview-with-kip-cates-global-education-and-language-teaching/feed/ 1 download here an interview with kip cates from darren elliott on Vimeo. Kip Cates is an English teacher based in Japan but with an interest in collaborating with teachers and learners across Asia and the rest of the world. Just over twenty years ago, he founded the Global Issues in Language Education (GILE) SIG in JALT to help network with likeminded global educators. Kip was representing his SIG at the PanSig conference, a yearly get together for members of the association special interest groups for cross-pollination. This year, we met in Osaka. In this interview Kip and I discuss the Asian Youth Forum, what global education is, why it is important and how technology can facilitate it, and Kip’s own experiences in Europe as a young man. We didn’t have time for the peace boat, Temple University or life in the Middle East! Maybe we can do a part two some day…. Kip’s website is at http://www.kipcates.com/ This is my first simultaneous podcast and video release. You have a choice of formats today! download here an interview with kip cates from darren elliott on Vimeo. Kip Cates is an English teacher based in Japan but with an interest in collaborating with teachers and learners across Asia and the rest of the world. Just over twenty years [...] Darren Elliott TEFL, English, language, linguistics, teaching, learning, education, global issues http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/05/11/an-interview-with-hayo-reinders-podcast/ http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/05/11/an-interview-with-hayo-reinders-podcast/#comments Tue, 11 May 2010 05:38:47 +0000 darren http://www.livesofteachers.com/?p=547 http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/05/11/an-interview-with-hayo-reinders-podcast/feed/ 1 Download Here This is the audio version of my video interview with Hayo earlier this year. I’m by no means a gamer*, but I was fascinated to hear Hayo address the question ‘Do computer games really contribute to language learning?’ as keynote speaker at the 4th International Wireless Ready Symposium in Nagoya, Japan. The answer? They can, but….. I meant to ask a little more about the institutional obstacles to success in incorporating technology into language learning. One thing Hayo alluded to in his talk was the difficulty in controlling who and what learners come into contact with in the online world. Here in Japan the age of majority is twenty, so technically many of my students are still children! My personal preference would be to give them a little training in online ’smarts’ and let them free, but I realise life is not so simple and that we have a duty of care. How should we approach this problem, then? Do you think fears about security / ‘bad’ language / inappropriate content are justified? Or that firewalls and filters just end up shackling us? It was great to finally meet Dr. Reinders and he gives a great interview here, despite being on a nine-hour time difference from his home in London. I first came across his work when I started looking into self-access learning and learner autonomy, and we discussed these topics too. For all things ‘Reinders’ I recommend his website “Innovation in Teaching”. As well as many, many fine articles you can find a clip of Hayo on Pakistani breakfast television….. *apart from ‘Urban Dead’, but that’s more about my love for zombies than my love for computer games Download Here This is the audio version of my video interview with Hayo earlier this year. I’m by no means a gamer*, but I was fascinated to hear Hayo address the question ‘Do computer games really contribute to language learning?’ as [...] Darren Elliott gaming, technology, education, autonomy, self-access, language, teaching, learning http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/05/03/an-interview-with-barbara-hoskins-sakamoto-podcast/ http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/05/03/an-interview-with-barbara-hoskins-sakamoto-podcast/#comments Mon, 03 May 2010 14:27:38 +0000 darren http://www.livesofteachers.com/?p=543 http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/05/03/an-interview-with-barbara-hoskins-sakamoto-podcast/feed/ 4 Download here This is a podcast version of the video interview available here. If you have ever taught children, you may well have come across the ‘Let’s Go!‘ series, now on the third edition and a multimedia behemoth! I met with Barbara, one of the authors, at the ETJ Chubu Expo in October 2009 and she was kind enough to give this interview. She is delightful company and I wish I’d left the camera running because we talked for as long again after I turned it off. She has a lot to say about teaching children and professional development in particular, but we also touched on a few other topics. If you haven’t already, you should check out Barbara’s blog and have a look for her on twitter (@barbsaka ). Being in this part of the world opportunities to meet members of the online ELT community are limited, so it is always especially enjoyable to catch up with someone as lovely as Barbara… even if it is only a few times a year ; D If you like this, please subscribe via iTunes as there are plenty more on the way. Download here This is a podcast version of the video interview available here. If you have ever taught children, you may well have come across the ‘Let’s Go!‘ series, now on the third edition and a multimedia behemoth! I met with Barbara, one [...] Darren Elliott efl, elt, linguistics, teaching, learning, languages http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/03/31/an-interview-with-jennifer-jenkins-podcast/ http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/03/31/an-interview-with-jennifer-jenkins-podcast/#comments Wed, 31 Mar 2010 10:53:11 +0000 darren http://www.livesofteachers.com/?p=461 http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/03/31/an-interview-with-jennifer-jenkins-podcast/feed/ 5 Download Here I talked to Professor Jennifer Jenkins about English as Lingua Franca, what it is and what it means to us as teachers. As usual, a google scholar search turns up quite a lot of good reading in this area, but I would recommend this short article as a good starting point. Barbara Seidlhofer’s name came up in the discussion too, and I recommend this article as a very important one in the development of the field. Seidlhofer B. (2004) ‘Teaching English as a lingua franca’. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics Vol.24: 209–239 The Vienna-Oxford International Corpus of English is an ongoing attempt to build a sample of non-native interaction in English. Here is a review (mine!) of her 2007 book ‘English as Lingua Franca: Attitude and Identity’ And finally, some commentary on David Graddol’s book (and a free pdf download of the whole thing) which we mention later in the podcast. From this particular conversation? I am still in agreement with the philosophy behind ELF… but it ELF doesn’t need my permission, as a native speaker, to exist and thrive. The fact is that non-native speakers are now driving the language forward. My difficulty, as a teacher, is what I do about it. What is a mistake, and what is just a difference? How does this impact on my writing class? How long have I got to become fluent and fully literate in another language, before I become obsolete? Listen, enjoy, and comment please. But play nice – I know this topic can get particularly feisty…. Download Here I talked to Professor Jennifer Jenkins about English as Lingua Franca, what it is and what it means to us as teachers. As usual, a google scholar search turns up quite a lot of good reading in this area, but I would recommend this [...] Darren Elliott ELF, English, language, linguistics, teaching, learning, education http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/03/22/an-interview-with-angela-buckingham-podcast/ http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/03/22/an-interview-with-angela-buckingham-podcast/#comments Mon, 22 Mar 2010 03:37:19 +0000 darren http://www.livesofteachers.com/?p=449 http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/03/22/an-interview-with-angela-buckingham-podcast/feed/ 0 Download Here Angela is a texbook writer, teacher, teacher trainer and sometime commenter on this very blog! You can see her interview in video form here. If you like this podcast, please subscribe in iTunes, and write me a review! More are available in the archive – just click the ‘podcast’ tag below. I am always interested in talking to people, so email me if you would like to be interviewed for future episodes at darrenrelliott@gmail.com. Cheers! Download Here Angela is a texbook writer, teacher, teacher trainer and sometime commenter on this very blog! You can see her interview in video form here. If you like this podcast, please subscribe in iTunes, and write me a review! More are [...] Darren Elliott ESOL teaching English language learning education http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/03/14/an-interview-with-scott-thornbury-podcast/ http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/03/14/an-interview-with-scott-thornbury-podcast/#comments Sat, 13 Mar 2010 23:05:11 +0000 darren http://www.livesofteachers.com/?p=417 http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/03/14/an-interview-with-scott-thornbury-podcast/feed/ 4 An audio version of the video interview we did at the JALT conference in Shizuoka, Japan. Download Here LINKS Window-dressing vs. Cross-dressing in the EFL Sub-culture. (The article I referred to in the interview… revived by the magic of twitter) The New School- Online MA programme which Scott Thornbury (amongst others) is teaching on. Scott’s own website, where you can see his edited plenary slides and plenty more. There has been a lot of discussion of dogme around the blogosphere recently, triggered by the tenth anniversary of the movement. Not all of it kind…. Romantic Comedy with a Sinister Twist. A Marxist Critique of Dogme ELT. « Marxist TEFL Group Critical DOGME or DOGME with Sympathy for the Critical? | Critical Mass ELT: Reflections on the World of English Language Teaching D is for Dogme « An A-Z of ELT But let’s not forget the prestigious ELTON award! An audio version of the video interview we did at the JALT conference in Shizuoka, Japan. Download Here LINKS Window-dressing vs. Cross-dressing in the EFL Sub-culture. (The article I referred to in the interview… revived by the magic of twitter) [...] Darren Elliott efl, elt, linguistics, teaching, learning, languages, dogme clean http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/03/14/an-interview-with-miles-craven-podcast/ http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/03/14/an-interview-with-miles-craven-podcast/#comments Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:31:08 +0000 darren http://www.livesofteachers.com/?p=413 http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/03/14/an-interview-with-miles-craven-podcast/feed/ 0 An audio version of the video interview we did at JALT 2009 in Shizuoka, Japan. I first saw Miles speak a couple of years ago at another JALT event, and at the time was very impressed with his fair but candid assessment of writing and publishing in ELT. When I started this series he was one of the people I was hoping to talk to, so I was delighted to see his name as a featured speaker.  Amongst other things, we talked about how a book is put together, design, the pain of writing, the needs of students and teachers and the future of the publishing industry. Download Here An audio version of the video interview we did at JALT 2009 in Shizuoka, Japan. I first saw Miles speak a couple of years ago at another JALT event, and at the time was very impressed with his fair but candid assessment of writing and publishing in [...] Darren Elliott efl, elt, linguistics, teaching, learning, languages clean http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/02/03/an-interview-with-paul-nation-podcast/ http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/02/03/an-interview-with-paul-nation-podcast/#comments Wed, 03 Feb 2010 08:54:33 +0000 darren http://www.livesofteachers.com/?p=260 http://www.livesofteachers.com/2010/02/03/an-interview-with-paul-nation-podcast/feed/ 6 This is an audio version of the video interview I did with Paul Nation last November. Please head over to iTunes and subscribe to catch future podcasts. Download Here This is an audio version of the video interview I did with Paul Nation last November. Please head over to iTunes and subscribe to catch future podcasts. Download Here http://www.livesofteachers.com/2009/11/03/podcast-number-one/ http://www.livesofteachers.com/2009/11/03/podcast-number-one/#comments Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:41:37 +0000 darren http://www.livesofteachers.com/?p=154 http://www.livesofteachers.com/2009/11/03/podcast-number-one/feed/ 5 the lives of teachers – introduction It’s three and a half minutes long, it’s a test, but let’s see how it works. You should be able to subscribe via itunes, but I’m not sure how frequent the content will be. Some audio versions of previous videos to follow though, along with a few new interviews lined up in the next month. If you are interested in appearing as a guest, especially if you are non-native English speaker and/or working in an interesting context, please drop me a line at darrenrelliott@gmail.com or leave a comment in the box below. Cheers! the lives of teachers – introduction It’s three and a half minutes long, it’s a test, but let’s see how it works. You should be able to subscribe via itunes, but I’m not sure how frequent the content will be. Some audio versions of [...] http://www.livesofteachers.com/2009/10/20/an-interview-with-paul-nation/ http://www.livesofteachers.com/2009/10/20/an-interview-with-paul-nation/#comments Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:19:27 +0000 darren http://www.livesofteachers.com/?p=127 http://www.livesofteachers.com/2009/10/20/an-interview-with-paul-nation/feed/ 5 Paul Nation Interview from darren elliott on Vimeo. Paul Nation is  a researcher, teacher and teacher trainer best known for his research into vocabulary learning and acquisition. This interview was conducted by Darren Elliott for www.livesofteachers.com He presented twice at the ETJ Chubu Expo on Sunday, and between presentations was kind enough to answer a few questions. As you would expect we discussed vocabulary, and Paul’s answers were thoughtful and optimistic for the directions that language teaching is taking. The book we refer to in the interview is Michael West’s “A General Service List of English Words“, a hand counted and analysed list of high-frequency words, published more than fifty years ago and in many ways not yet bettered. I also attended the first of Paul’s presentations,  in which he emphasised the importance of a balanced curriculum of four strands. Teachers need to ensure that students participate in meaning focused input and output, in language focused learning (deliberate study) and in fluency development activities in equal measures. Although Paul is primarily a researcher, he is a great communicator of serious ideas with humour and clarity (a point I was trying to make in the interview, but listening back it sounds like I told him he needs to buck up a bit…. sorry!). If you get a chance to see him present, then please do so! Paul Nation Interview from darren elliott on Vimeo. Paul Nation is  a researcher, teacher and teacher trainer best known for his research into vocabulary learning and acquisition. This interview was conducted by Darren Elliott for [...]