by Chris Bedwell Context and problem The main motivation for reading DeCaro’s Small Group Communication Synergy (2011) was to gain better insights into the hows and whys of group communication with a view to facilitating the learning experience in one’s own Critical Thinking and Writing classes. Every semester, sectional groups of eighteen engineering students […]
Professional Development
Integration of ICT in English Classrooms in Iran: Affordances and Problems
by Soroor Ashtarian, PhD student Razi University sashtarian@yahoo.co.uk Keywords: ICT, EFL teachers, ICT use, Factors Bio Data Soroor Ashtarian is an English teacher with an experience of over 17 years of teaching in high schools and pre-university institutes in Kermanshah, Iran. She accomplished her masters in TESOL & ICT (Teaching English to Speakers of […]
Choosing the Right International Journal in TESOL and Applied Linguistics
by Willy A Renandya National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) Abstract Choosing the right international journal for your research paper can be a daunting task and the process may seem complicated. This is particularly so if you have had little or no experience publishing in an international journal. This paper provides practical […]
Philip McConnell: A Singapore Master Teacher Speaks Up
by Peggie Chan National University of Singapore (Singapore) Beginnings Philip McConnell graduated from the University of Sussex in 1972, and after his post-grad year in Liverpool, started teaching in 1973 at Rock Ferry High School, a comprehensive school for 11 to 18-year-olds in Merseyside, England. His classes included students of all ages and abilities, […]
Teacher Reflections: Teaching Article Use to Graduate Students
by Chitra Varaprasad National University of Singapore (Singapore) Abstract Many studies have highlighted students’ problems with article use among international students, particularly students from China (Chuang, 2005; Deng et al., 2010; Milton, 2001; Papp, 2004). This paper reports on the impact of an approach to teaching article use to post graduate students (mainly students […]
A Bottom Up View of the Needs of Prospective Teachers
by Peter Watkins University of Portsmouth (Portsmouth, UK) Abstract This article considers the provision of short pre-service initial teacher education courses, such as the Cambridge ESOL CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) course. Its starting point is the experiences of the prospective teachers who undertake the courses. A series of interviews were […]
A Review of “Inspiring Stories”
by Mike Guest University of Miyazaki (Miyazaki, Japan) John Spiri. (2010). Self-published/RIC Publications. ISBN: 4-931424-15-5 100 Pages Content-based ELT textbooks tend to be of two types. First are those which are ESP-oriented: for medical students, the travel industry, business students and the like. The other category tends to be those which are issue-focused, […]
Think Passion: An Interview With Shameem Rafik-Galea
by Peggie Chan National University of Singapore (Singapore) Professor Shameem Rafik-Galea is currently Director of Marketing and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, an appointment she assumed in May 2010. Prior to this, she was the university’s Head of the Department of English, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication for 4 years. Her curriculum […]
Hedgehog or Fox: An Interview with David Kellogg
by Lee Kit Mun National University of Singapore (Singapore) “I actually think I’m a hedgehog who looks like a fox.” This is how David Kellogg described himself, drawing from the analogy made by British philosopher Isaiah Berlin in his essay, The Hedgehog and the Fox. Berlin (1953) classifies writers and thinkers into two main […]
Meet Thomas S. C. Farrell
by Chitra Varaprasad National University of Singapore (Singapore) In addition to being an academic who lectures and researches as Professor in the Department of Applied Linguistics, Brock University, Ontario, Canada, Tom also holds a fifth degree Black Belt in a Korean martial art. He could probably side kick you to the floor in a flash, […]