http://www.livesofteachers.com

In these podcasts, Darren Elliott talks to teachers and language professionals around the world about teaching, learning, research and experience.

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An interview with Jeannette Littlemore (metaphor and gesture)
Posted: November 2010

An Interview with Jeannette Littlemore from Darren Elliott on Vimeo. It was great to see Jeanette’s workshop, and to talk to her afterwards about the research she has been engaged in regarding metaphor and gesture.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

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Teacher Training for Complete Novices
Posted: September 2010

I don’t think the hiring practices of English conversation schools in Japan are unique. If I were feeling charitable, I might suggest that such schools are looking for character and potential in their hires… presentable young men and women, native speakers, who can get along with others.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

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An interview with Larry Davies
Posted: June 2010

HereI 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!

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

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An interview with Joy Egbert
Posted: June 2010

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.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

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An interview with Kip Cates
Posted: May 2010

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.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

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An interview with Hayo Reinders
Posted: May 2010

Download HereThis 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…..

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

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An interview with Barbara Hoskins-Sakamoto
Posted: May 2010

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.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

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An interview with Jennifer Jenkins
Posted: April 2010

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….

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

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An interview with Angela Buckingham
Posted: April 2010

Angela is a texbook writer, teacher, teacher trainer and sometime commenter on this very blog! You can see her interview in video form here.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

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An interview with Scott Thornbury
Posted: April 2010

An audio version of the video interview we did at the JALT conference in Shizuoka, Japan.

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 podcast in MP3 format.

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An interview with Miles Craven
Posted: April 2010

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.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.