20
APR
2010

Principles to Practice in Teaching Reading

Jenny Bixby and I will give a talk at CATESOL in Santa Clara on April 24th. The title is Principles to Practice in Teaching Reading and draws on much of the research that we did in preparation for our forthcoming student reading/writing textbook from Oxford University Press. You...
08
APR
2010

Speaking skills for English language learners

On April 17th I’ll be giving a talk at the Literacy New York Volunteer Conference in Saratoga Springs. The participants are mostly volunteers who work one-on-one with individuals and families from an amazing array of cultural and linguistic backgrounds. This talk is on...
18
MAR
2010

Ten Techniques for Teaching Culture in the Classroom

If you’ll be attending the TESOL Convention in Boston, come and see my presentation with Ann Wintergerst on Ten Techniques for Teaching Culture in the Classroom.  The presentation is on Thursday, March 25th from 10:00-10:45 AM in room 153 B.  We’ll be highlighting...
19
FEB
2010

On English Language Materials Writing

Darren Elliot keeps a great blog called The Lives of Teachers.  He interviewed a number of people at a recent conference of JALT (The Japan Association for Language Teaching.)  One of those interviewed was Miles Craven, a British ELT author based in Japan.  Miles talks about the...
21
JAN
2010

Teaching and learning English in Japan

  Tim Murphey had his EFL students at Kanda University of International Studies in Japan talk about their experiences learning English in junior high school and high school.  They then made a very interesting video about their experiences. In it, they ask the Japanese Ministry of...
08
JAN
2010

What makes a great teacher?

Writing in the January/February 2010 edition of The Atlantic, Amanda Ripley follows the efforts of the U.S. nonprofit organization Teach for America to distill the essential qualities of teachers who really make a difference for students in elementary and high schools. She...
06
NOV
2009

New York State TESOL

Pearson Longman co-author Ann Wintergerst and I will be giving a talk at the New York State TESOL Conference in White Plains. The presentation is called Practical Techniques for Teaching Culture. We’ll preview some of the activities from our forthcoming book Tips on...
26
OCT
2009

In Tune with English

As a musician, I’m always interested in ways of incorporating music and the arts into instruction. I think that “Using Songs in the ESL Classroom” was one of the earliest professional presentations that I ever gave.  Here, however, is a new twist: an English...
08
AUG
2009

Textbook adoption? Not in California.

The Los Angeles Times reports on the implications of statewide budget cuts for education: no new textbook adoptions for grades K-8 until 2016!  The state superintendent of instruction is quoted as saying, “It could be close to a generation before we see new...
17
JUN
2009

Teaching Languages with Technology

I’m back from a terrific time in Chile, hosted by colleagues at Universidad Andres Bello in Santiago. They were wonderful hosts, and while there, I gave a talk called Teaching Languages with Technology. Several of the teachers at the university joined in and gave brief...