Alex, Spain
Funny how life unfolds, isn’t it? When I was a teenager people scoffed at the idea of combining my passions of art and English in a university degree (Lancaster agreed to this ‘non-standard’ BA), let alone a profession. Now I find myself using both English and my artistic eye in ELT editing. Looking back over the decades (and eight countries) I hopscotched through art teaching and English teaching until almost inevitably moving into ELT materials writing. This career path was guided by curiosity and synchronicity, alongside some opportunism and a load of perseverance.
How language learning happens is still a mystery; there is no place in the brain pinpointed as the ‘language section’. I’ve had a go at learning the language in every country I’ve lived in, it’s good to see the world from the student’s perspective and apply that experience where possible. Though we know no single coursebook fits a language learner’s needs, it can be rewarding work. One worthwhile coursebook I authored was a Teacher’s Guide for et al., 2023) where the team really added to the fun!
ELT conferences are a delight (BBELT in Mexico, especially) and some niche presentations and panel discussions have stayed with me, like those dislodging ‘white saviour’ approaches to language teaching and others sharing research evidence of impactful change in classrooms. I’ve met some amazing learners over the years and I’ll finish listing some outstanding experiences I feel privileged to have found myself in across three continents – they’re sorted by country, the learners and what I learnt from those I taught there.
Myanmar: an intensive course for teacher educators at B1-level. The teacher trainers aged from 18 to 60+ lived on campus and dressed immaculately in national teacher uniform. Rote learning was the norm and this British Council partnership with the government aimed to help teachers of large classes broaden their techniques across the curriculum. You don’t need much more than good intentions: people in low-resource contexts learn equally well with chalk boards if the teaching fits their needs.
Italy: an international school. Teenagers from across the world received English as an additional language (EAL) teaching, as withdrawal classes and in-class support for many subjects across the curriculum. Socioeconomic advantage can’t fast track language learning: confidence is fragile and lack of self-belief damages adolescents’ prospects in their L2 or L3.
Mexico: a 21st century skills teacher education project for state school English teachers in remote areas. Teachers described conditions of extreme poverty, the digital divide, insecurity, earthquakes and political upheaval. The drive to learn is powerful and surmounts obstacles; kindness in teachers shows their understanding of their communities.
Through Modern English Teacher, all these threads sort of tie together in retrospect.
