LitIssue 23.oct 08 GI Newsletter Issue 23

GI
GISIG
Newsletter
The Newsletter of the Global Issues Special Interest Group
September 2008 Issue 23

01 Editorial Claudia Connolly
02 Coordinator’s Report Mike Solly
03 Putting the brakes on complexity Bill Templer
04 Critical Literacy Chris Lima
05 Education for World Citizenship Charles Merciera
06 Learning to live our Global Language: Hilary Hunt and Margot Brown
Human Rights Education in the Language classroom
07 ELF and other Fairy Tales Hugh Dellar
08 Think piece: The Critical Global Citizenship Educator Maureen Ellis
09 Summary of GI online discussion Maureen Ellis
10 News from MATUPO primary school, Zimbabwe. Teacher to Teacher project 2008 Cindy Hauert
Teaching Materials
11 A poem for Earth Day Iqbal Muhammad
12 In the Green House Michael Berman
13 The Key Michael Berman
14 Endangered Species Yasmeen Lunpe Farid
and Zakia Sarwar
Book Reviews
15 Constructivist Strategies for teaching English language learners Bill Templer
16 The Future Society in a Global Economy Maureen Ellis
17 The National Geographic, Footprint Reading Library Claudia Connolly
Price £4.50 Free for GISIG members ISSN: 1026-4310

EDITORIAL
Dear Readers,
The first publication from the new GISig committee! At last we made it!
Having before received newsletters nonchalantly in my inbox or at the front door, I now
appreciate all the shared work that goes into a publication and I now have quite a new
appreciation of them! Thank you to all our contributors, it’s wonderful getting a first look in
at what sort of work people are doing and the scale of interest within Global Issues, but
moreover the drive and belief , that you will see reiterated in the collection of articles here,
that there is increasingly a place for Global Issues within ELT. Be it through Educational
policy, teacher development or materials.
I’m pleased that we have been able to offer here ‘Think pieces’ as well as teaching materials,
enabling the ever important theory into practice. I hope that this will remain the case for
future publications and look forward to receiving new articles and materials for the next
edition which will be published in February.
Just a quick mention concerning the last issue, we think we may have omitted to mention a joint
authorship of an article: Greening an Intensive English Programme, this was written by both
David Royal and Kira Davis GISIG Newsletter, Jan 08, Apologies to Kira for the omission of her name.
Claudia Connolly
Newsletter Editor
This newsletter needs you to write for it !!!
Contact the Newsletter Editor, Claudia Connolly, if you wish to submit an article or for additional
information.
claudiarichardson@wanadoo.fr
Coordinators Report
Dear Colleagues
A very warm welcome to our latest Newsletter which, after a bit of a delay, we hope you will
agree was worth waiting for! We are a largely brand new committee and so we are doing a
number of things for the first time. My debut newsletter task as coordinator of writing this
Coordinator’s report is a pleasurable breeze compared with the task of our new newsletter
editor, Claudia Connolly who has put this together pretty much single-handedly and gained a
bit of technical know-how into the bargain. I hope you agree it is a great start.
GISIG continues to be on online only publication and feedback I have had seems to support
this for both environmental and cost reasons. We are planning, however, to print off some
bound copies which could be offered for sale or for use at key events. We are interested in
your feedback on this policy, and on any other GISIG matters (please send to me or any other
committee member).
If you have not visited our website recently http://gisig.iatefl.org/ please do have a look. Our
website Manager, Nik Peachey, has created an easily navigable space that is increasingly full
of content of interest to GISIG members. However, a good website is, of course, only as
good as what is on it. Please do send Nik anything that you feel may be of use to other
members. We are also currently looking into the possibility of an interactive element on the
site and at a password protected area specifically for GISIG members.
GISIG is no longer the smallest SIG – not by some way in fact. Membership has never been
higher and is currently at 247. This means that we are now in a position to look seriously at
having some extra events and activities in the programme (in addition to the Pre-Conference
event will be running with Teacher Development SIG at the annual conference in Cardiff next
Spring). It is also, I think, a reflection of the increasing importance that Global Issues have in
our profession, and, in an increasingly globalised world, the key role that teachers can play in
introducing critical and varied views of the world through language teaching.
Not long ago it was the case that the numbers on our discussion list (currently 164) were
higher than GISIG membership itself. While discussion list numbers continue to rise, it is
now clear that many members of GISIG are not members of the discussion list. If you are
able to join, I urge you to do so, as the list is very active (anywhere between about 30 to 100
postings a month) and everyone is welcome to contribute. We recently had a moderated
discussion on Critical Global Citizenship, and we plan to have more in the future. Perhaps
you would like to volunteer to lead such a discussion.
And so….back to newsletter editors. Many of you know (by name if not by site) Esther
Lucas. Following her 90th birthday, Esther decided, twenty five years after many people, to
“retire” from active membership and not renew her subscription to IATEFL. Esther was
central in the production of several SIG newsletters and has been an active member of GISIG
as well as a well known and respected figure in IATEFL generally. She has worked for a
number of NGOs promoting peace and dialogue –and has organised joint workshops that
bridged ethnic and religious groups in Jerusalem. I am sure you will join me in wishing
Esther all the best for whatever she next turns her hand to!
IATEFL GISIG Newsletter, Issue 23 (September 2008) 2

The next Global Issues newsletter is due in February and your contributions are very
welcome.
Warmest regards to you all
Mike Solly
Mike.solly@yahoo.co.uk

Global Issues
Special Interest Group GISIG Committee Members
The Global Issues SIG, created in 1995, aims to
provide a forum among ELT practitioners to stimulate Coordinator: Mike Solly
awareness and understanding of global issues, and Mike.solly@yahoo.co.uk
to encourage the development of global education
within language teaching.
Deputy Coordinator: Maureen Ellis
Our aims t.ellis2@ukonline.co.uk
• To assist in the exchange of information and

ideas surrounding issues within ELT such as Newsletter Editor: Claudia Connolly
peace, justice and equality; human rights and claudiarichardson@wanadoo.fr
social responsibility; globalisation and world
development; social identity; and the role of the
English language and English Language Discussion List Moderator: Karen Hallows
Teaching in the world. Karen@murasakiblue.com
• To exchange ideas on integrating peace
education, human rights education, development
education and environmental education into Website Manager: Nik Peachey
language teaching. nik.peachey@btinternet.com
• To help members fulfil the two roles a language
teacher has in society: the conveyer of linguistic
knowledge and the educator to enable students Membership Officer: Muhammad Iqbal
to understand better how the modern world muhammadiqbal722@hotmail.com
functions.
• To equip learners with the knowledge, skills and
values which can help them confront both local General Committee Member: Paul Woods
and global problems. rphwoods@gmail.com
• To promote a less Eurocentric perspective within
ELT.
• To provide a counterbalance to the idea of For more information about the SIG,
language teaching as necessarily high tech and contact Mike Solly or any other
profit generating. For example, we hope to committee member.
provide a forum for those developing successful
methods of teaching large classes with minimal
resources - typically working within poorly funded
state systems in the developing world, where the
majority of students learn English. For more information about IATEFL
contact:
What we offer
IATEFL
Darwin College
GISIG aims to offer members:
University of Kent
• 3 mailings per year (2 newsletters and one
Canterbury
other publication), including a wide range of
Kent, UK
articles and reviews.
Tel: + 00 44 (0)1227 824430
• A lively online Discussion List. Fax:+ 00 44 (0)1227 824431
• GISIG programme at the Annual IATEFL
Conference. Email: generalenquiries@iatefl.org
• Pre-Annual Conference Events and other
GISIG events.
• Preferential rates for attending events. http://www.iatefl.org/
• Website - including electronic newsletter,
articles, contacts list, news of events.

Putting the brakes on complexity
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. –A. Einstein
By Bill Templer (University of Malaya)
In this article I discuss the need for a leaner, simpler English and will develop four theses:
Say it plainer: downsizing discourses in L1

A simpler, ‘satisficing’ English for most ELLs
Voice of America Special English: a unique neglected resource
Class matters
Thesis 1. Say it plainer: downsizing discourses in L1

Talking about English native-speaker youngsters in American schools, William DuBay
(2008a) recently noted:
We face an enormous task in the educational/academic world, where good writing is

still equated with complexity. In the early years, especially, progress is equated with
difficulty. Students in the upper grades, however, never learn how to put on the
brakes and tone down the complexity to meet the needs of different audiences.
This notion of putting on the brakes and toning down complexity for native-speaker
communication at levels average native speakers find comfortable to grasp is at the core of
the Plain Language movement in the U.S., Great Britain, Holland and elsewhere. The Plain
Language Association International is increasingly active across the globe
(http://www.plainlanguagenetwork.org ). Innovative ways to ‘downsize discourses’ are also
central to the work of the recently founded Simplification Centre at the University of Reading
( http://simplificationcentre.org.uk ), an exciting initiative.
i
Plain language discourse targets its audience, at their level of reading ease -- for clarity and
comprehensibility. The principle here is that ordinary people have a right to communicate –
and be communicated to -- in language they understand, at their comfortable level of
comprehensible input, their authentic literacy.
Texamen in Holland (www.texamen.com ) has research indicating that some 50% of Dutch
population has a maximum comfort zone in reading proficiency of about 8th grade, equivalent
to B1 level in the Common European Framework scale. In many of our discourses, we swim
in a world of texts at C1 academic level, even higher. Yet Texamen contends that it is
possible to communicate almost the information in our society at A2 level. The implications of
that are far-reaching
( http://www.texamen.com/index.php?id=11 ). Dubay (2008b) notes in a similar vein:
For a long time, we have known that the average reader in the U.S. is an adult of
limited reading ability. Almost 50 percent of adults read below the 9th-grade level.
That's 104 million people. Some 21 percent, 45 million, read below the 3rd-grade
level. By addressing reading skills, plain language gains specific and measurable
goals.

Mazur (2000) provides an overview of the Plain Language research & practice community.
Thesis 2. A simpler, ‘satisficing’ English for most ELLs (English Language Learners)
Putting the brakes on complexity is also relevant for students learning English as a lingua
franca (ELF). It does not entail ‘dumbing down’ but coming to respect what ‘reading ease’
ii
(Flesch-Kincaid scales) and readability can mean for our less privileged, ordinary students
(Dubay, 2004). A downshifted leaner model geared to about 1,500-1,800 word families as a
‘satisficing’ target is a more reasonable level of real proficiency for many average learners,
especially for those of us teaching low-income learners, often “in difficult circumstances”
(Michael West, 1960). West (1955) repeatedly stressed a key point: “A vocabulary of 2,000
words is good enough for anything, and more than one needs for most things” (p. 70). This
strong lexical base can be repeated and recycled until its literally in the learner’s bones,
mastered and ‘over-learned’ until it becomes a tool for semantic ‘leverage,’ a minimalist
model to say almost anything. My suggestion: get learners to that point in ELF proficiency,
and then they can work autonomously, either staying at that plateau and deepening their
mastery of it, or continuing on to more advanced levels largely on their own, mainly through
extensive free reading (Krashen, 2004a; 2004b). Krashen (1997, p. 20) thinks that is a
“reasonable goal.”
This can lay a super-solid foundation that most students never really construct as they rush
up the slopes of complexity, memorizing vocabulary of ever lower frequency and greater
difficulty. And students can, through such extensive reading and listening, learn almost
‘subconsciously’, to write better, speak better (ibid.; Krashen, 2004a). Research in the
International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching (http://www.ijflt.com ) substantiates this
hypothesis, as does much work reviewed in Krashen (2004a).
Thesis 3. Voice of America Special English: a unique neglected resource

One time-tested simpler mode of English -- both for pre-intermediate-level learners and more
proficient students who want “recreational” reading to really strengthen foundations -- is VOA
Special English (SE), launched in 1959 on shortwave (now online:
http://www.voaspecialenglish.com ). It is a power tool for a ‘leaner’ comprehensible input at
pre-intermediate level.
SE works with a compact vocabulary of 1,500 ‘high-frequency’ headwords, available in a

Word Book online. Sentences average 14 words. There are few adjectives, almost no idioms,
with generally one ‘proposition’ per sentence. Syntax is transparent. There is substantial
syntactic parallelism and lexical repetition, without being repetitious. The speed of spoken SE
is 90 words per minute, about 25% slower than 'normal' speaking tempo, good for listening
comprehension and for really learning pronunciation. As Shelley Gollust (Special English
chief) recently commented: "It’s almost like Hemingway. You can write something easy and
direct, and it’s more powerful that way” (Goodman, 2007). It is my view that Special English,
made active for speaking and writing, can serve as a reasonable proficiency target for many
average ordinary learners. Students can continue to deepen their control at that level, for
most learners and communicative needs, it is enough.
A 30-minute daily broadcast provides 10 minutes of world news, followed by two feature
reports (20 minutes) in 14 categories, for listening and simultaneous reading. Learners can
find hundreds of articles, can browse, self-select what interests them, all at a very
comfortable reading level. It is a good springboard for “free voluntary Web-browsing”
(Krashen, 2007), inside the SE site.
The SE archive, going back to January 2001, now has over 5,000 separate feature texts
online, many with MP3 audio. This comprises something pretty close to what Krashen

envisions as a “library of print and aural comprehensible input” (1997, p. 44). Moreover, it is
expanded by 14-15 new texts per week. SE online is a vast storehouse of “authentic” (ibid.,
p. 34) texts for extensive reading and listening. It can also be utilized for “narrow reading”
(ibid., pp. 31-32) focused on a particular topic area (like health or economics), as well as
‘narrow listening’ (Krashen, 1996). Many feature reports are a kind of ‘ESP Lite,’ adding
technical vocabulary where needed. The archives now contains more than 350 easily
understandable articles on health and medicine, for example, and in excess of 350 feature
stories on business and economics, and much else. Special English is also a window onto
American life and culture, present and past, and what’s happening around the world.
Surprisingly, there is no published research on VOA Special English, and few students or
teachers in Southeast Asia, for example, have ever heard of it (Templer, 2009). No known
research is ongoing in the PRC, Thailand, Malaysia or Indonesia (personal communications,
RELO Damon Anderson [Beijing] and RELO Michael Rudder [Jakarta], May 2008).
Moreover, the VOA is prohibited by congressional law from broadcasting inside the US, so
SE is unknown to many ESL learners stateside. Shelley Gollust & others are suggesting the
need to change that law (Smith-Mundt Act 1948).
Though run by the U.S. government, this is not a propaganda channel. It's coverage is quite
balanced. Biographies, for example, have included Margaret Sanger, Billie Holiday, Kurt
Vonnegut, Bob Dylan (http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2008-06-08-voa2.cfm ).
Teachers can guide students to learn to read such media texts ‘against the grain,’ because
ideology – “meaning in the service of power” (Thompson, 1990, p. 8) – is always there,
waiting for critical literacy strategies to demask it (Richardson, 2006). My view is that VOA
Special English is one of the few good things the American government does; ditto for their
Plain Language site (http://www.plainlanguage.gov ).
For starters, recommend to your students to do ‘free voluntary reading’ with VOA Special
English online 25-30 minutes a day, at their leisure. Weave it into your mosaic of multimodal
teaching materials. Engage in some empirical action research on its value, how students
respond. I’d like to see some probing mini-case studies of learners and their perceptions
(Stake, 1995).
Simple English elsewhere

Another possible site for free listening and reading is http://simpleenglishnews.com/. It offers
very short texts on daily news, maintained by an American based in Budapest. The Simple
Wikipedia is yet another online source for easier material to read, growing by the week.
These leaner text bases can serve as a springboard for ‘autonomous learning’ and new
pathways in self-study and a more social ‘constructivist’ toolkit of independent strategies in
acquiring ELF (Reyes & Vallone, 2008). Students who wish can also try their hand reading
and listening to the regular VOA broadcasting, in normal American media English. For
extensive listening at lower intermediate level, another strong site is http://www.eslpod.com,
run by one of Krashen's associates, Jeff McQuillan.
Thesis 4. Class matters

An easier acquisition target for average learners of ELF is particularly relevant in a world
where only a small percentage of kids & adults have the socioeconomic privilege to acquire a
higher proficiency level in ELF, and gaps grow ever wider between the haves and have-nots
across a shrinking globe. Money talks. Money talks English. Class matters in classrooms
across the planet. Dave Hill (2003) notes: “Those who can afford to buy clean water don’t die
of thirst or diarrhea. In schooling, those with the cultural and economic capital to secure
positional advantage in a local school quasi-market do so. Those who can’t, suffer the
consequences.”

In a class-sensitive pedagogy for TESL/TEFL, we try to assess what the impact of these
socioeconomic and cultural disparities may be among our own students, and why they may
be uninterested in books, resistant to over-disciplined instruction, unmotivated to learn much
L2, and from social backgrounds where a “highly interiorized literacy” (Ong, 1982) and
culture of reading are not part of the life worlds of ordinary working families. In what ways
does our own “highly interiorized” literacy distort how we perceive the literacy of Others, in
particular working-class learners from the social majorities in the Global South? Often they
control and love a rich oral culture, while they are “less influenced than mainstream middle-
class groups by essay-text literacy and the school systems that perpetuate it” (Gee, 2008,
pp. 73-74). Educational equity means respecting the authentic realness of their experience
and life worlds (Reyes & Vallone, 2008), their basic dignity.
We need to build a foundation for working-class pedagogies of ELF, within curricula of

solidarity with our students. The work of the Center for Working-Class Studies (CWCS) at
iii
Youngstown State University in Ohio is very relevant in this connection.
References
DuBay, W. (2004). The principles of readability. Cosa Mesa/CA: Impact Information

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1b
/bf/46.pdf
(accessed 10 June 2008).
DuBay, W. (2008a). What is plain language? PlainLanguage listserv, Yahoogroups, 30 May.
DuBay, W. (2008b). Comment on article. PlainLanguage listserv, Yahoo groups, 7 June.
Gee, J.P. (2008). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses. 3rd ed. London:
Routledge.
Goodman, J. D. (2007). Easy does it: Language made simple. Columbia News Service,
November 11.
http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2007-11-13/goodman-simpleenglish (accessed 9 June
2008).
Hill, D. (2003). Global neo-liberalism, the deformation of education and resistance. Journal for
Critical Education Policy Studies 1(1).
http://www.jceps.com/?pageID=article&articleID=7%3E (accessed 5 June 2008).
Krashen, S. D. (1996). The case for narrow listening. System 24(1), pp. 97-100.
Krashen, S. D. (1997). Foreign language education. The easy way. Culver City/CA: Language
Education Associates.
Krashen, S. D. (2004a). The power of reading. 2nd ed. Westport/CT: Heinemann.
Krashen, S. D. (2004b). Applying the comprehension hypothesis: some suggestions.
International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 1(1), pp. 21-29.
http://www.tprstories.com/ijflt/IJFLTWinter041.pdf (accessed 11 June 2008).
Krashen, S. D. (2007). Free voluntary web-surfing. International Journal of Foreign Language
Teaching 3(1), pp. 2-9. http://www.tprstories.com/ijflt/IJFLTJuly07.pdf (accessed 10
June 2008).
Mazur, B. (2000). Revisiting Plain Language. Technical Communication 47(2).
http://www.plainlanguage.gov/whatisPL/history/mazur.cfm (accessed 10 June 2008).
Ong, R. (1982). Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word. London: Metheun.
Reyes, S. A., & Vallone, T. L. (2008). Constructivist strategies for teaching English language
learners. Thousand Oaks/CA: Corwin.
Richardson, J. E. (2006). Analysing newspapers: an approach from critical discourse analysis.
Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. Thousand Oaks/CA: Sage.
Templer, B. (2009). Discovering VOA Special English. Forthcoming.

Thompson, J. B. (1990). Ideology and modern culture. Cambridge: Polity Press.
West, M.. (1955). Learning to read a foreign language. London: Longmans Green.
West, M. (1960). Teaching English in difficult circumstances. London: Longmans, Green.
1
A very user-friendly utility for calculating ‘reading ease’ and readability grade level is:
http://www.online-utility.org/english/readability_test_and_improve.jsp (accessed 10 June
2008).
1
Readability is discussed here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Readability ; Bill Dubay’s website
is instructive, strong newsletter: http://www.impact-information.com/ (accessed 11 June
2008).
1
See the excellent material at the CWCS, Youngstown State University:
http://www.centerforworkingclassstudies.org (accessed 10 May 2008).
Bio: Bill Templer is a Chicago-born educator with research interests in English

as a lingua franca and critical applied linguistics. He has taught on a lot of
peripheries, now at the Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya , KL
bill_templer@yahoo.com
Critical Literacy and Global Citizenship Education

By Chris Lima
National stereotypes, slavery and abolition, AIDS and women, news and the media,
folk tales, literature and global awareness. The items in this apparently disjointed list
have many things on common: all topics are approached from a critical perspective
that questions given assumptions and tries to look at these issues from different
angles. All of them were intended to be discussed in English language lessons and
debated by language learners with their teachers taking the role of debate facilitators.
Moreover, they are all topics included in a set of online materials written by English
language teachers from Brazil and Peru with no previous experience as material
writers, but with large experience as educators.
For teachers already engaged in global citizenship education and global
issues bringing such topics into the language classroom is no big news at all. The UK
Department for Children, Schools and Family (DsES) published the curriculum and
standards guidance document called Developing the Global Dimension in the School
Curriculum back in March 2005 stating the importance global education,

The global dimension incorporates the key concepts of global citizenship,
conflict resolution, diversity, human rights, interdependence, social justice,
sustainable development and values and perceptions. It explores the
interconnections between the local and the global. It builds knowledge and
understanding, as well as developing skills and attitudes.
However, for most teachers and learners living in countries and societies that
are just emerging from decades of dictatorship, such as some countries in Latin
America, or countries in which, for political or religious reasons, controversial and
polemical issues are still taboo or utterly forbidden, the idea of discussing social
justice and responsibility, access to information, and cultural representations in the
classroom is a huge step towards a new understanding of education. That English
language teachers have embraced such ideas and concepts of their role as
educators, going beyond the teaching of linguistic codes and the four skills, is
something that shows us how intrinsically connected the ideas of education and
social and professional responsibility are.
The political nature of education

According to a document published by the Development Education Centre,
Birmingham (2003)
Education is inherently political as it involves values and goals in relation to

such fundamental questions as ‘What kinds of individual and society we are
trying to shape?’ These questions cannot be answered in a factual and
technical way because they are questions of opinion, value and ideology and
there are inevitably disagreements and conflicts. Hence they are political.
Topics such as the ones chosen by the teachers engaged in our project are
eminently political not only because of their very polemical nature but also because
the way texts and contexts are presented to students. The critical literacy approach
to global citizenship education proposes the reading of texts in the ‘context of social,
historic, and power relations, not solely as the product or intention of an author’
(Cervetti, 2001). Furthermore, learners are invited to question the positions advanced
by texts, the dominant representations and the interests served by such
representations and readings. Teachers and learners ask themselves the
perspectives voiced and silenced in texts, their own perspectives of the topic and are
invited to reflect on the connections of such perspectives with their own local/global
context. For example, in the material about slavery and abolition (Walker, 2008)
before and after reading texts in favour and against slavery, students are invited to
discuss questions such as,
• What is your surname? Where are you from?

• Do you think your ancestors were slaves, or slave-owners or neither or both?
• What were the basic claims (about human beings) of the anti-slavery
movement in England? How did they differ from what was ‘the received
wisdom’ at the time?
• What cultural and social aspects have been heavily influenced by the contact
between European/American and African civilisations?
• How different would the societies in all the continents involved in the slavery
trade be nowadays if this had not happened?

• How would you define slavery today?
• Do you have contact with actions or attitudes that you could call ‘slavery’ in
your daily life (family, work, school)?
• Do you think there are socially accepted forms of slavery in your community?
If so, think of which they are and why it is so; if not, think of whether they ever
existed and when they were abolished.
Global issues and English language teaching

English language teaching has historically suffered from lack of content. Focus on
grammar and lexis and on methodologies, such as the communicative approach,
have deprived language teaching of a subject matter and contributed to the
perception that language is something dissociated of real life. The closer to it
students would get in the classroom would be a role play of a tourist in a restaurant
or going shopping in an English-speaking country. How real it is for the majority of
language learners in our times around the world is something highly debateable, to
say the least. What the critical literacy approach to ELT education proposes is to
integrate language learning to the discussion of global/local issues in order to help
learners to
• construct their own answers to these issues;
• establish non-judgemental attitudes toward others;
• develop a local and global sense of relationship;
• respect (yourself and others ) and be respected;
• understand who we are and our places in the world;
• survive uncertainty and complexity and be OK
• prompt change within;
• learn about others and about themselves.
According to Maley (1992),

English language teaching has been bedevilled with three perennial problems:
the gulf between classroom activities and real life; the separation of ELT from
mainstream educational ideas; the lack of content as its subject matter. By
making global issues a central core of EFL, these problems would be to some
extent resolved.
We would add that by making critical literacy the approach to citizenship education,
we are also giving to English language teaching the educational value that it has lacked,
since we are helping learners to see world issues from a perspective that enables them to
examine their own values and attitudes and to analyse the values and attitudes that are
brought to them by texts – written, visual and oral. We are helping teachers and learners to
make informed choices and responsible decisions in a world that is increasingly
interdependent in economic, cultural and linguistic terms.
The critical literacy in ELT project

The project started with the Hornby Summer School Brazil 2006, has been supported
by the Hornby Trust and the British Council and was one of the winners of the 2007
British Council Innovation Awards. The overall aims of the critical literacy in ELT
project are to expand the knowledge and understanding of the implications of critical
literacy in ELT education; to develop a strategy for research and dissemination within
existing teacher networks and to publish relevant ELT sample materials for different

levels and age groups, produced by educators on topics related to local/global issues
and grounded in their own teaching contexts.
To know more about and get engaged in the critical literacy in ELT project, please
visit the British Council Brazil ELT Community at http://www.britishcouncil.org.br/elt
References
Carter, C., Harber, C. & Serf, J. (2003). Towards Ubuntu: critical teacher education for
democratic citizenship in South Africa and England. Birmingham: Development Education
Centre.
Cervetti, G., Pardales, M.J. & Damico, J.S. (2001). A Tale of Differences: Comparing the
Traditions, Perspectives, and Educational Goals of Critical Reading and Critical Literacy.
Reading Online, http://www.readingonline.org Posted April 2001. International Reading
Association, Inc.
Department for Children, Schools and Family. (2005) Developing the Global Dimension in
the School Curriculum. DfES 1409-2005DOC-EN http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/publications
Maley, A. (1992) Global Issues in ELT, Practical English Teaching, (13 (2): 73.
Walker, S. (2008). Looking at Slavery and Abolition. CL in ELT Materials.

http://www.britishcouncil.org.br/elt
Bio
Chris Lima is the coordinator of ELT and literature projects developed in

partnership with the British Council. She is based in Brazil and her main
interests are English literature, teacher education and networking.
chrislima90@yahoo.co.uk

42ND ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL IATEFL CONFERENCE
AND EXHIBITION
http://www.iatefl.org/
IATEFL holds its International Annual Conference & Exhibition every spring, which is
attended by around 1500 ELT professionals from 70+ countries. It involves a 3.5 -4-day
programme of over 300 talks, workshops and symposiums and, in addition to giving delegates
a chance to meet leading theorists and writers, and exchange ideas with fellow professionals
from all sectors of ELT, it enables them to see the latest ELT publications and services in a
large resources exhibition involving around 70 ELT-related exhibitors.
The 43rd IATEFL Annual International Conference and Exhibition will be in Cardiff 31st
March - 4th April, at the City Hall and Museum.
Global Issues and Teacher Development Pre conference event

Cardiff 2009
That wouldn’t work for me, would it?
If you are reading this you are obviously someone who believes in your own development and
probably the development of those around you. Perhaps you go to conferences, join teachers’
associations, read methodology books, take training courses and all these no doubt lead to
your increased awareness of what it is to be a teacher, but do the ideas proposed always fit
with the reality of your teaching life and/or your beliefs about teaching?

In this day-long workshop we will be looking at what we can do about the gap between the
ideas that we come into contact with and the reality of our day to day teaching and as such
will look at, among other ideas, course book design, diversity, geopolitical realities, and
dealing with large classes. We will try to come up with individualised approaches towards
dealing with methodogical and pedagogical input that mean we can each take what is most
appropriate for ourselves from such input.
These approaches should not only help us benefit maximally from the ensuing conference, but
also beyond, and the close cooperation of an all day workshop will, we are sure, form strong
bonds with the other participants which will leave us in great shape for the rest of the
conference.

Education for World Citizens
By Charles Mercieca, Ph.D.
President
International Association of Educators for World Peace
Dedicated to United Nations Goals of Peace Education,
Environmental Protection, Human Rights & Disarmament
Professor Emeritus, Alabama A&M University
Education is derived from two Latin words: e (out of) and duco (lead). Hence,
education is a process that is meant to lead people hopefully from ignorance into
knowledge, from darkness into light, and from confusion into clarity of mind.
However, people could be led the other way round. It all depends on who is the
educator and on the willingness people have to see things genuinely into true
perspective.
Seneca’s Educational Philosophy
In the early first century A.D., Roman philosopher Seneca was very much
concerned with the welfare of all people. He believed that a good education may
eventually bring joy, comfort and satisfaction to every human being without
exception. He was convinced that this was possible through a good education, which
enables everyone to view the entire world and say, as he stressed: “Omnis orbs
terrarium patria mea est – The whole world is my native land.”
To this end, Seneca stated that a true and meaningful education is one that
would prove to be beneficial to everyone across every continent. Needless to say, if
the entire world is, indeed, my own native land then I must be a genuine world
citizen. Since then, this philosophy of education has been implemented merely on a
few regional areas but never on a global scale.
A recent example of this is the European Union where people of various

countries in Western Europe could travel to other countries without a passport. They
could also work anywhere they want in these nations like each one of them was just
one’s native land. However, for the past 2,000 years, Seneca’s concept of education
for world citizens was never put into operation.
As a matter of fact, it was never taken seriously on a global scale, which

explains why we have had, and we are still having, so many conflicts, struggles and
wars, where everyone has been a loser and no one a winner. We may begin to
understand why we have so many nations where we find people living still in abject
poverty, deprived of all the basic essentials of life.
In order to understand where we stand with each other at this stage of history,
we need to bring to our mind the words which former US President Dwight
Eisenhower told the US Congress in his farewell address. He reminded them saying:
“Remember that all people of all nations want peace, only their government wants

war.” This good and peace-oriented US President also revealed great concern about
the weapons industry and the military industrial complex, which he viewed as “two
dangerous elements that, unless brought under control, may serve as the destruction
of civilization the way we know it today.”
Evaluation of our Priorities
Over the next 50 years which followed, the words of this US President proved
to be prophetic. Several nations, headed by the United States, emerged to become
literally monsters of our earthly community. Such nations put the bulk of their money
on the manufacture and sales of more and more weapons and the waging of more
and more wars. As a result, the infrastructure of many of our cities has been
destroyed with tens of thousands, amounting to millions, becoming homeless. As a
consequence, these people have been also deprived of the necessities of life, which
would include food and medicine.
Besides, millions end up being refugees living like discarded furniture for all
practical purposes. To turn insult into injury, most government officials who have
enriched themselves through the manufacture and sales of weapons and through the
waging of wars, view these lethal weapons and disastrous actions as a “necessity to
safeguard the lives of their people!” We need only one ounce of common sense to
realize that people starve to death and die of manifold illnesses primarily because
their respective governments do not really care about them.
Education for world citizens instills in us great love and respect not only for our
relatives and friends but for all people around us and across the world. This kind of
education enables us to feel responsible not just for the members of our immediate
family but also for every single human being on earth. This type of education enables
us to see all people in the entire world as members of one same body: humanity. If
someone smashes one of our toes, our entire body will immediately enter into an
agony of pain, not just the one smashed toe alone.
Most governments are somewhat suspicious of the idea of promoting an

education for world citizens. The more belligerent countries identify this kind of
education with peace, which is viewed as their enemy. Since they make plenty of
money through the manufacture and sales of weapons and the promotion of wars, as
explained earlier, they view peace as a threat to all that “blood” money they made
and they are still making.
In fact, if we were to analyze carefully the foreign policies of belligerent

nations, headed by the United States, when their government’s representatives visit
governments of the poorest nations especially, they tend to offer them mostly
weapons and military equipment. All that these nations need desperately is food for
their hungry, medicine for their sick, and homes for their homeless. It seems quite
obvious in many ways that those government officials, who try to sell or buy weapons
and to assist in the waging of more wars, may be viewed with virtual certainly to be
thoroughly corrupt.
Proper Exercise of Our Responsibilities

The New Webster Dictionary of the English Language describes criminal as
“guilty of a crime, wicked, atrocious, villainous, and felonious.” When we procure
elements, which lead to the destruction of the infrastructure of cities and entire
nations, along with the merciless massacre of thousands and millions of innocent
people, we certainly qualify to be viewed as criminals in the strict sense of the word.
After all, we are fully responsible for the horrible and atrocious disaster of such a
crime. Crimes of this nature would not have been possible if education for world
citizens was fully in operation.
The Seneca approach to education on a global scale is still feasible, even

though we would have to do plenty of home work to this end. As we already know, all
the mess we have in this world originates mostly from a hand-full of people we have
in the government who proceed to abuse their power with no remorse whatsoever.
All we need to do is to prepare a future generation that is properly equipped to
replace hatred with love and war with peace. Besides, we need to instill in our future
generation the idea that the best gift we could give on earth is to enable people to
live in peace with themselves and with others.
We also need to imbue the young generation especially with virtues such as
prudence, meekness, patience, perseverance, kindness and detachment from the
material things of this world. We need also to equip them with a philosophy that
would view the spiritual and physical strength of people as a top priority. Like St.
Catherine of Siena used to say: “Anima sana in corpora sano – A healthy mind is
found in a healthy body.” When the mind is healthy, it will be able to put priorities
where they belong, especially in relation to all human beings.
Since the concept of education for world citizens is vital to the survival of the
human race as we know it today, we should not hesitate any longer to start
implementing it in our classrooms. No permission or approval is ever required in life
from anyone when it comes to doing something that is good and fully beneficial to all
human beings around the world.
Charles Mercieca, Ph.D.

President of the International Association of Educators for World Peace.
Learning to live our global language: Human Rights Education in the language
classroom
By Hilary Hunt and Margot Brown
“Dignity and justice for all of us”

This year is the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). It is
an important occasion to ensure that our rights are a living reality - that they are known,
understood and enjoyed by us all.
The Preamble to the UDHR reminds us that “every individual and every organ of society,
keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to
promote respect for these rights and freedoms …” (authors´ emphasis). Education is a
human right in itself and learning about our human rights and developing appropriate skills
for action are part of that right. Such learning is human rights education. As an educator, you
fulfil people’s right to education. This article is a contribution to supporting teachers in the
English language classroom to include human rights in their teaching.
“As a teacher of English, having the chance to explore how a human rights
education can be experienced and really lived in a language classroom setting
gave me a whole new perspective of my role as a teacher, a teacher who does
not only lead an English learning process but also contributes to develop social
awareness of how issues such as freedom of expression, equality of
opportunity and non-discrimination can be dealt with in a language class,
especially in a country where the violation of human rights is simply
unbelievable.”
Martha, September 2006

Spanish-speaking teacher of English in South America 1
What is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?

The UDHR was one of the first documents published by the newly formed United Nations, in
1948. Reaffirmed repeatedly by all nations of the world, the UDHR and its core values -
inherent human dignity, justice, non-discrimination, equality, fairness and universality - apply
to everyone, everywhere, always.
The UDHR is a living document that matters not only in times of conflict and in societies
suffering repression, but also in addressing social injustice and achieving human dignity in
times of peace in established democracies.
1
student in my English language classroom at the University of Belize 2002/3 (HH)

The UDHR has inspired more than 60 human rights instruments, including legally binding
treaties. It is the most translated document in the world – it is now available in over 335
languages.
What are human rights?
Human rights are ours because we are human. They belong to all human beings regardless
of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
property, birth or any other status. Human rights are
• Universal – because they belong to all people everywhere.

• Inherent - because every human being is born with human rights.
• Inalienable – because no-one can take our rights away. We always have all our rights
even when we don’t know about them or they are being denied or violated.
• Indivisible – because we cannot choose to respect some rights and disregard others.
• Interdependent - because respect for one right improves respect for other rights;
denying one right threatens other rights.
As Katarina Tomasevski, the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education,
2003, said:
“Education ... is the key to unlocking other human rights”.
What are the benefits of integrating human rights education into my language
classroom?
On Human Rights Day, 10 December 2004, Kofi Annan, then United Nations Secretary-
General, said “Human rights education is much more than a lesson in schools or a theme for
the day; it is a process to equip people with the tools they need to live lives of security and
dignity.”
If the aim in language teaching/learning is to promote constructive communication and

develop life skills, human rights education is more than relevant. Human rights are the core
values uniting us as members of the human race; in the language classroom they provide a
powerful tool to learn the skills to live together peacefully in our shared world. We all have
the right to know all our rights, to understand the responsibilities inherent in respecting them.

Human rights education is values-based education, based on the over-arching
authority of over 60 years of international commitments to education and human
rights. All UN member States are legally obliged, through international treaty, to
educate all people within their borders about human rights.
UNESCO puts human rights education at the heart of quality education. UNESCO’s
international Linguapax project, started in 1987, considers that:
“Education is a fundamental part of the process by which individuals are socialised,

thereby acquiring values, attitudes and behavioural patterns. By presenting the learner
with communicative practices different from his/her own, language teaching offers an
excellent means of promoting values and representations favouring the development of a
culture of peace.”
(Starkey 2002, p14)
Rights literacy requires knowledge and understanding of human rights concepts,

instruments, organizations, people, realities and remedies. It requires both curriculum
content and the learning environment to be built on respect for human rights values and
principles.
I experimented with integrating human rights education into my TESOL classrooms in

India and Belize. Despite my considerable human rights experience and familiarity with
the concepts, documents and arguments, I had to learn how people would react in the
classroom and how to successfully use the subject matter at the appropriate level. I
started small – with language and topics of human interest. “What is an ideal woman?”
stimulated intense and hilarious discussion among husbands and wives in rural Tamil
Nadu. I then based my approach more explicitly on specific rights and freedoms in the
UDHR: right to equality and freedom in dignity and rights (Article 1); freedom from
discrimination (Article 2); freedom from degrading treatment or punishment (Article 5);
freedom of opinion and expression (Article 19), freedom to access information without
interference (Article 19); right to education (Article 26.1); right to education about human
rights and for world understanding, tolerance and friendship (Article 26.2).
Hilary Hunt

Human rights education can enhance the acquisition of formal language skills – speaking,
listening, reading, writing, comprehension and analysis. Language learning and human
rights are both avenues to explore the connections between people and places. Critical
thinking, making informed decisions, growing self-esteem, confident self-expression, taking
responsibility for personal behaviour, valuing diversity, caring about others, are a few of
many other positive outcomes.
Overall, human rights education enriches the teaching/learning experience in both multi- and
mono-cultural language classrooms because it:
• Is a model for inclusion and constructive cooperation

• Uses a common language of global values to understand the context and complexity
of specific global issues in an uncertain world
• Uses real-life experience and situations to develop language
• Creates awareness and appreciation of similarities and differences – of opinion, of
experience, of aspiration, of opportunity
• Puts human rights into practice to benefit people
• Motivates learners
“I have been working here with taboo topics and those dealing with human rights, and
I'm nicely surprised because I have seen that what I learnt from you has been very useful
in my classes. Now the students are more reflective about their role in our society.”
Jorge, September 2006
Spanish-speaking teacher of English in South America 2
What do I need to be able to introduce human rights education into my language

classroom?
Some subject knowledge, materials, a commitment to human rights principles, motivation,

and courage, in some settings, are the main tools to start and to succeed.
2
student in my English language classroom at the University of Belize 2002/3 (HH)

Teachers need access to key human rights texts and materials. Materials in the public
domain have legitimacy – texts of human rights instruments (original and simplified) such as
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and
those which relate to professional standards; country and thematic human rights reports;
domestic laws; documents from national Human Rights Commission and human rights
NGOs. Good sources of information, materials and ideas for classroom activities include the
UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UNESCO, UNICEF and Amnesty
International. Newspapers, magazines and TV broadcasts are full of potential.
The teacher’s commitment to the success of human rights education and his or her own
respect for human rights are two sides of the same coin. How do teacher attitudes and
behaviour encourage learners to use and develop their language and communicative skills,
or not? To form ideas and express opinions on personal, new, sometimes controversial
issues, or not? How do teachers listen?
A human rights-friendly classroom is a place of mutual learning, and learner involvement is

as fundamental to human rights education as it is to language learning. Students can
transform human rights principles into reality through developing classroom behaviour
policies, being accountable to them and evaluating their effectiveness. Students’ personal
knowledge or experience motivates learning both the topic language and the language and
skills of debate and critical analysis. Students might have more direct experience of human
rights issues than the teacher who knows the language.
A multicultural class is a mini-world within which to explore human issues of global

importance. The greater the mix of age, language, race, colour, religion, gender, sexual
orientation, the more positive the action teachers have to take to provide equality of
opportunity to participate. Most students feel safer working with human rights issues in pairs
or small groups, just as they do in the English language. Teachers can develop their own
confidence by starting with the least controversial subjects – the rights with which few
disagree. Their own interest in the world is essential. Universal themes which stimulate high
levels of interest and participation are: human security/ freedom from fear; freedom from
violence; the reality of the UDHR; gender relations; displaced people; children’s education;
the tension between different rights and the rights of different people.
What are some of the difficulties in integrating human rights education into the
language classroom?

As in all new teaching/learning situations, there are difficulties, and the teacher´s own
knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviour, preparation and confidence will help create a
nurturing environment for human rights education in the language classroom. It might be a
daunting prospect when the words “human rights” are synonymous for many with “other
people,” “controversy,” “danger,” “politics,” “fear” – and thus avoided. But human rights are
for all. Models of equality, non-discrimination, and respect for all views, will encourage
students to express ideas, in English, without fear.
It’s more learner-friendly to encourage understanding of the positive, unifying aspects of

human rights and to explore the realities of provision, protection and denial of human rights
rather than focus on violations. When students feel passionately about an issue, which they
will, teachers also need strategies and skills to prevent and resolve conflict.
Teachers might have to assess potential difficulties, professional and personal, in their
institutional and country environment. Managers’ and colleagues’ unfamiliarity with human
rights education can cause suspicion; traditional communication patterns can be even more
inhibited when controversy threatens. Topic choice will be affected by local conditions and
experience, for example, where countries are engaged in armed conflict, or where political
realities restrict freedom of expression.
Conclusion
‘Human interaction is fundamental to the aims of the language teacher’, conclude Michael
Byram and Manuela Guilherme in their appraisal of Human rights, Cultures and Language
Teaching (Osler 2000, p76). Human rights teaching provides a common language to enrich
that interaction. Students affirm their right to education in the language classroom. The
language of rights aspires to a decent and peaceful world for us all – the language classroom
can use it as a means to that end.
We advocate beginning with UDHR Article 26.2 as a valuable statement of principle:

“Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the
strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote
understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations…”

A good practice checklist starts with these 5 points:
1) Use the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the classroom, in student-friendly
and original language, to develop English, human rights and intercultural competence
2) Recognise the value of subject knowledge
3) Integrate language and human rights content using real-life examples
4) Integrate rights-respectful pedagogy and classroom practice
5) Be prepared to take the plunge
References
• OSLER, A (ed) (2000) Human Rights, Cultures and Language Teaching. Citizenship
and democracy in schools. Diversity, identity, equality. Stoke on Trent: Trentham.
• STARKEY, H. (2002) Democratic Citizenship, Languages, Diversity and Human

Rights. Guide for the development of Language Education Policies in Europe. From
Linguistic Diversity to Plurilingual Education. Council of Europe, Strasbourg
Resource links:
UN
¾ UDHR
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Pages/60UDHRIntroduction.aspx
OHCHR Resource Collection on Human Rights Education and Training.

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/education/training/collection.htm
Human Rights Education

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/PublicationsResources/Pages/TrainingEducation.asp
x
ABC -Teaching Human Rights: Practical activities for primary and secondary
schools
hilarybelize@googlemail.com
Biodata
Margot Brown was until recently the National Coordinator of the Centre for Global
Education, based at York St John University, York, UK. She has developed training and
development programmes on global issues, including human rights, citizenship, diversity and
sustainability in the UK and in many other countries. She has published practical handbooks
for teachers and written on issues of citizenship for teachers of languages and others.

Bio data
Hilary Hunt, now based in England, is a freelance human rights education consultant, co-founder
and former Executive Director of the Belize Centre for Human Rights Studies and former TEFL
lecturer at the University of Belize Regional Language Centre. Her TEFL experience includes
working with rural women in India and Spanish-speaking immigrants in Belize.

ELF - and other fairy stories
By Hugh Dellar
As the use of English as a Lingua Franca spreads, and as more and more people around the world come to
some degree of English, so the arguments about appropriate norms and models for the classroom have raged long
main thrust of many of these arguments has been that as the majority of conversations in English are now held betwe
speaker and non-native speaker, the imposition onto English language teaching of a tyranny of native-speaker norms
is no longer appropriate. Instead, we all need to be teaching ELF - English as a Lingua Franca - or else Globish (G
Personally, I believe that many of the arguments that have dominated conferences over recent years are
misrepresentations of reality. Here, I aim to strip away some of the misconceptions surrounding the subject, to explor
they can do and to suggest some alternative ways of viewing the inexorable spread of English.
The idea that native-speaker English somehow exerts a tyrannical hold has become increasingly popular over
and yet where is this dominance reflected? Now, of course, the majority of actors who record EFL material are
speakers, and many of the biggest-selling course books are written by native-speakers, but speaking as a native spe
can honestly say that the vast majority of EFL material is many miles away from the English I frequently encounter
native-speaker-only contexts. Have those who complain about native-speaker dominance been into any classrooms
taught from the dominant course books? What, for instance, is native-speaker like about this exchange from a well-
book?
Extract:
Your surname's Jones, isn't it?
> Yes, it is.
And you're 27, aren't you?
> Yes, that's right.
You weren't at home last night at 8, were you?
> No, I wasn't. I was at the pub.
But you don't have any witnesses, do you?
> Yes, I do. My brother was with me.
Your brother wasn't with you, was he?
> How do you know?
Because he was at the police station. We arrested him last night.
Or this, from another?
It must be very strange to be back home after such a long time.

> Yes, it is. I . . . I mean, it's lovely to see everybody and I really appreciate my bed.
Let's have a look at these photos, then.
> Well, they're all mixed up at the moment. I've got to sort them out.
Um, this looks nice. Where is it?
> Where do you think it is?
Ah, well . . . it must be somewhere really hot. It looks like paradise. I suppose it could be Thailand or Bali, or it could even be India.
> No. I'll give you a clue. It's an island in the Pacific Ocean.
Hawaii.
> No, I didn't go to Hawaii.
Oh right. I thought you'd been everywhere. It's probably Fiji, then.
> That's right. Oh, it was lovely. This man wanted me to marry his daughter. She was beautiful.
EFL material is littered with similar examples and teachers develop good radar for sensing the exact points at
native-like conversation ends and grammar-dominated models takes over. Now, I am not saying that EFL materials sh
completely on native-speaker norms - I will move on clarify this point in due time - but what I am saying is that the
native-speaker norms dominating ELT are really not borne out by the evidence.
The screeching about the dominance of native-speaker English has had a seriously detrimental effect on t
teachers view their jobs. An unnamed linguist claims that he feels "sorry for poor learners of English who spend hours
time trying to master the RP sounds of /th/ and /th/, as these are difficult sounds to learn if they do not exist in your
and, it turns out, they are not used in many varieties of English anyway." My first thought on reading was where on e
classes where students spend hours trying to learn these things? In most classes I observe, you're lucky if

pronunciation at all being taught, let alone whole hours devoted to minimal pairs! So, again, the nature of reality is b
here to suit a particular kind of argument. My second thought, then, was how easily these kinds of comments can le
feeling it's simply not worth the effort; that there's no point bothering with all manner of aspects of English as stude
need them anyway, especially in conversations with other non-natives and besides, some natives don't even bother w
all." At heart, I fear much of the current debate about ELF has an anti-teaching sub-text close to its core.
Obviously, these are slippery slopes for us to start to go down, but ones I think many teachers find themselves
evidence of this all over the place. At a recent conference I attended in Poland, I heard someone put forward the
international contexts, the simpler, the better". It put me in mind of George Orwell's monstrous Doublespeak, the lang
upon us in some parallel or futuristic totalitarian world where words are kept to a purely functional minimum and whe
with 'good', 'ungood', 'plus good' and 'doubleplusgood' - a world few of us would want to inhabit, surely.
This desire to simplify and strip away the language we teach runs deep among the ELFers - and, of course,
we obviously do need to ensure that things are kept simple for students - and that we don't end up teaching things w
utility when items that are more useful, items with broader surrender value, are available instead. However, on
problematic areas for the proponents of ELF or Globish lies in their attitudes towards level - and what should be taught
A well known linguist writes of an advanced-level French student who uses the word 'chill out' instead of 'relax', and
that this is a "native-like" form. She claims that this student may well be rewarded in exams for use of such language,
real world, when he engages in conversation with other non-natives, he'd be at a disadvantage as he would not be ac
himself to the listener, who might well not understand the expression. Similar arguments have cropped up again and a
years. Another well known linguist, has argued that as corpora based on conversations between non-native speakers
use of phrasal verbs and idioms than corpora based on the language of native speakers, these areas of the language
place in ELT materials. Such ideas were echoed by a teacher at a school I did a talk in last year who said, "I see in yo
level book, you have some idioms. Well, what happens if my German student learns, say, "I felt like a fish out of wate
with a Greek speaker who doesn't understand him?"
What happens in the real world is exemplified by a conversation I overheard in Istanbul airport last Decembe
delayed and I was killing time when a German man approached the counter near where I was sitting and asked the
desk "Excuse me. Is there an ATM machine near here?" The woman looked slightly scared and said "Please?" The
tried again "A cash machine? To get money?" "Sorry. I no English" came the response. At this point, the German guy
out and acted putting it into a cash machine and asked once more "Money?" At this, the woman replied "Oh! Yes! Y
and waved with her arm.
Now, this conversation was clearly an example of English being used as a Lingua Franca by two non-nativ
conduct a transactional exchange. What can we conclude from this exchange? Should we deduce that the Ger
somehow learned too much English and is adopting too "native-like" a model of English? This would seem to be the c
many of ELF's proponents would draw. If we follow the logic of this linguist’s claims, a seething can of worms opens b
ADVANCED student should use 'relax' instead of 'chill out', are students also wrong to use - and are we as teachers,
wrong to teach - items such as "great"? Surely "very good" should suffice! And what about "boiling"? Why bother whe
say "very hot"? Let's forget about "Do you mind if I?" with its strange positive response of "No, not at all" - and let's jus
OK if I . . .?". Let's purge the syllabus of "I can't stand it" and "I love it" and stick to "I don’t like it" and "I really like it"!! W
the lexicon can go as they are essentially other ways of saying simpler concepts: so it'd be goodbye to 'SPARE time / k
more 'I overslept', forget 'sort out' and why worry about 'unemployed' when you can just go for 'He doesn't have a job!'
Obviously, there is an absurd reductionism about such arguments and it leads to a kind of Basic English that
right mind would suggest would be sufficient to allow non-natives to carry out all the many and varied conversations the
have amongst themselves! I would suggest instead that perhaps we should admire the German man's ability in th
accommodate himself to his listener, to paraphrase his meanings and grade his language down when required to
deduce that perhaps it's the Turkish woman here who needs to work on her language.
The point here surely is that whether we are native or non-native speakers, when talking to others, we have to
assumption that they speak English at roughly the same level that we do. To do anything other than this is to patron
we are talking to. What would the linguist and co suggest the German man should do in this conversation? Start
"Money?" What would you think if he started like this? Presumably you'd assume that he couldn't speak English! And h
then feel when you discovered that he could? Talked down to, at the very least!
Starting from the assumption that the people we are talking to speak English at roughly the same level as our
mean we will necessarily always be understood, but it does suggest that if we find that we aren't, we are all capable of
In fact, I would suggest that in general fluent non-natives are often better at doing this than many native speakers! I
more language we know, the better we are at paraphrasing and stripping our language down.

There is, however, a wider and more complicated issue that arises from the linguist’s comments about 'chill ou
the difficulty students face with language - and the degree to which they perceive items as idiomatic or "native-s
depends to a degree on the learner's own first language. In French, for example, "chill out" is actually used as a loan
become very common. On top of that, "chill out" has also become an international word through music. In other word
speaker, far from trying his hardest to be a native speaker, could well have just been using the word which came mo
him in the circumstances!
To complicate things further, whether we are aware of it or not, students themselves often seek out idioms
expressions in English. All languages contain idioms, expressions and metaphorical ways of saying things, and learn
ways of saying these things in English is part of what makes language learning fun and interesting. In a recent Pre-Inte
class, one student arrived late - and left the door open, letting a draught in. One of my Chinese students became very
asked "How to say in English? In Chinese, we have expression: How long your tail is!" "Oh yes. I know what you mea
say, "Were you born in a barn?" I'll write it up on the board." "Oh. Very useful." In this instance, of course, the idio
different from one language to another, but in many cases, as with "I felt like a fish out of water", for instance, yo
expressions are very similar in Arabic, French, Spanish, Chinese, English . . . which is always nice to know.
An additional problem revolves around the fact that students often simply translate directly from their own langu
realise that things are not always the same in English - and this occurs even when they are talking to other non-native
the anti-"native-like" teachers do, for instance, when a German student shouts to Japanese "Huh? Do you think I have
my eyes?" Even if this sentence is intelligible from context, which wasn't the case when this happened in one
Intermediate classes, there's then the risk that the other student will think this is the actual English expressions and le
they'd be much better off - if you believe that students should be learning things that have maximum utility among f
English, the expression "Do you think I was born yesterday?" or "Do I look like I was born yesterday?"
One ELF argument has been that a student who uses an expression like "Do you think I have cucumbers on
say, "He drinks like a horse" is somehow being creative or else expressing their cultural identity and that to correct the
is to stifle both identity and the creative impulse. For me, this is to wilfully misunderstand what creative means. Th
creative about simply translating an idiom word for word from L1 - or misusing a common idiom such as "eats like a ho
surely comes from knowing idioms and expressions in the first place and then subverting them. Anything e
interlanguage!
Note, by the way, that I am not saying here that I believe that idioms like "Were you born in a barn?" or "Do y
born yesterday?" should necessarily form part of course book material or be in the syllabus at these low levels. Inde
them appears in any level of my own course books. Rather, I am simply saying that there are often times when as te
forced by circumstances to make principled decisions about such matters in the classroom.
The next issue to address here is the fact that the French student who used "chill out" was an ADVANCED s
the major problems that ELF / Globish people face is the whole issue of vocabulary. Who gets to decide that someth
like" and who gets to say what is supposedly more "neutral"? If we are teaching ELF, should we just never teach "c
what do you teach at Advanced level? And how do our students ever get to be like the non-native speakers suc
Seidlhofer who speak incredible English? How do they end up becoming like the any number of businessmen or polit
Javier Solano, Ban-Ki Moon or Kofi Annan - or other high-fliers such as Pedro Alonso or Arsene Wenger? As an Italian
conference I attended recently, "You must remember, what people are calling International English is what we speak
trying to speak something else - English!"
To move closer to the heart of what models are most appropriate for our students, let us consider the notion th
of conversations our students engage in will be with other non-native speakers. Despite the fact that this may well be tr
doesn't mean they will never talk to native speakers. Take Spain, for example. Over 1 million Americans and 17
people visit Spain on holiday every year - and obviously many tens of thousands of Spaniards travel to Britain or the
year, around 100,000 British people leave the UK and join the 1 million-plus Brits already living in Spain, whilst the UK
100,000 long-term Spanish residents. Now, all of these movements of people are bound to result in people talking
When you start doing the maths, that's several million conversations a year in which non-native Spaniards will fin
engaged in all manner of conversation with native-speakers, conversations which will cover all manner of subjects
bound to be both transactional AND interactional - and obviously the better the Spaniards English (and, of course,
native-speakers ability to grade language down, where necessary), the more smoothly these conversations will go.
Add to this the fact that many, many Spaniards themselves already speak something approaching native-like
that they may well often engage in conversation with other non-natives who speak similarly excellent English - s

happens all the time at conferences like IATEFL, for example - and you do really have to start questioning exactly
English ELF fans would like us to teach.
One of the many problems with ELF / Globish proponents is that it is never entirely clear whether they are ac
for greater tolerance of variation from Native-Speaker norms or some alternative model. My hunch over the last few y
that it’s the latter. The author of World Englishes, argues that the variations in native speaker English make it invalid a
many other writers have suggested that far more attention be paid in classrooms to World Englishes - or Emerging Eng
are also often called. However, as I have already suggested, whilst the fact that English is used a global Lingua Fra
doubt, the notion that there might be such a thing as ELF is far more contentious. Any attempt to define ELF as an enti
native-speaker norms is doomed from the outset. If native speakers are no longer to be the model, who is? Penelope
Merkel? You folk out there listening to or reading this? And, if so, then which of you? Or is the Nigerian security guy a
who almost none of my students ever seem to be able to decipher? Or is it the Kurdish cab driver I had drive me to the
flight here, who spoke broken pidginised English? Alternatively, as some suggest, should we just be exposing our stu
the above and more, liberally sprinkling Singaporean English, Malay English, Nigerian English - whatever these labe
and so on into our classroom stews - and leaving our students supposedly free to decide which they wish to copy?
Ivor Timmis, who works at Leeds Met, has carried out some quite extensive research into the attitudes of b
students AND teachers around the world. Intriguingly, but perhaps not that surprisingly, he found that the vast maj
though especially of students - see native-speaker competence as their goal, regardless of their ability - or lack of -
lofty heights and also regardless of whether they envisage themselves in the future talking to natives or non-natives. O
research does not go into what we actually mean by native-speaker English, but there is little doubt that for almo
student of any foreign language, the educated native speaker remains both the desired model and also the ultimate
well-meaning liberals may pretend that all versions of the language are equal - honestly! If only we weren't all so pr
reality is that that some forms are more equal than others and it is useful for our students to learn the models which m
insider status!
Similar arguments to these have flared around the issue of how best to teach working-class kids in the UK
American kids in the US. In the 60s and 70s, there was a well-meaning, but severely misguided, attempt to teach
British kids in their own dialects, whilst the Ebonics movement in the US had similar aims for black Americans. This id
led black activist and politician Jesse Jackson to claim that there was a conspiracy afoot which was both "foolish a
black students throughout the United States" and that the result was "teaching down to our children".
My feelings about ELF are very similar. Whilst some linguists may well be correct that certain sounds are no
order to be understood whilst speaking English in an international context, and whilst one unnamed linguist may well a
when she notes that communication is not hindered if students drop such "nativised" grammatical annoyances as the
or if they confuse who and which, add redundant prepositions, use definite and indefinite pronouns differently or warp
questions, we have to ask ourselves is merely "being understood" what students want in the word of globalised English
Obviously, there is a huge difference between haranguing students for making these grammatical and
mistakes and imposing endless correction on them (which I personally believe happens very infrequently) - and consci
not teach them. I feel that a lot of the ELF rhetoric has come about simply as a response to bad teaching - whether rea
As such, if there really are teachers out there who spent hours on /th/ and /th/, then they should stop it! If you do w
elderly colleagues used to do with her Elementary students and lecture them for half an hour on the difference betw
'bathe', then don't! If you spend hours and hours at the same level fretting about whether or not students use the third p
given contexts, then you're wasting both their time and your own!
Clearly, we only have a limited amount of time to spend in class, and we all do need to make decisions about
is useful for our students. As such, it's seems sensible to ensure that what we teach is language which is as widely use
This means that raw native-speaker data is not actually that useful. Rather, we need to be informed by educated n
usage and to make decisions about how best to 'cook' it for students' consumption based on informed intuition. If th
example, that we end up teaching I'm meeting a friend tonight instead of I'm meeting up with a friend tonight . . .
to finish some work instead of the more native-speaker-like I just need to finish off some work, then that's fine by m
at Pre-Advanced levels. In the same way, I would personally always opt for teaching a standard range of question
lower-class London standard one-size-fits-all tag of 'Innit'. And I would tend to prefer "There are lots of proble
increasingly common "There's lots of problems". There may well be aspects of native-speaker speech you decide
perhaps because they're too high level, perhaps because they're regarded as too lower class, or perhaps be
regionalisms. This may be especially true if you're teaching in a non-English speaking country. Does this mean, howe
items should be completely removed? Even at Advanced and Proficiency levels? I am not so sure. In the end, of cou
decide what goes on in my classrooms and what goes into my coursebooks. It is you, the educated, often non-n

teachers, who then have to make the decisions about what you teach in your classes. I hope that what I have done to
else, is to make your choices just a little bit more principled and informed.
NB (The Editor has not included the names of linguists referred to in this article, but will be inviting them t
Hugh Dellars argument in the next GI issue.)
If you have any questions or comments on this talk, please feel free to email me at:
hughdellar@mac.com
Selective bibliography:
ELT Journal Debate at IATEFL Aberdeen: ELTJ 2007 61
Jenkins, Jennifer: The spread of EIL: a testing time for testers ELTJ, 2006 60 42-50
Jenkins, Jennifer: The times they are (very slowly) a-changin' ELTJ 2006 60 61-62
Jenkins, Jennifer & Modiano, M & Seidlhofer, Barbara: Euro-English English Today 68 17 13-21
Kirkpatrick, Andy: World Englishes Cambridge University Press 2007
Modiano, M: Linguistic imperialism, cultural integrity and EIL ELTJ 2001 55 339-347
Prodromou, Luke: Correspondence ELTJ 1996 50 88-89
Prodromou, Luke: Correspondence ELTJ 1996 50 371-373
Seidlhofer, Barbara: Research perspectives in teaching English as a lingua franca Annual Review of Applied Linguisti
Seidlhofer, Barbara: English as a lingua franca ELTJ, 2005 59 339-341
Timmis, Ivor: Native-speaker norms and International English: a classroom view ELTJ 2002 56 240-249
Biodata
Hugh Dellar is a teacher and teacher trainer at the University of Westminster and the
co-author of the General English series, INNOVATIONS, published by Heinle
Cengage. His main interests revolve around teaching natural useful language. He
gives talks and workshops all over the world.

Pre online GISIG discussion think piece: The Critical Global
Citizenship Educator. 27 June, 2008 By Maureen Ellis
Global Citizenship is not ‘charity for distant places’, nor simple answers and telling
people what to do. It is not too difficult for children, nor an extra subject to be
crammed into the school syllabus. For those who value diverse, vernacular, ‘glocal’,
yes glocal citizenship, and civic collaboration … the search is on for models of
transformative learning, which build on a bio-spheric view of Man, on the many flows
and ‘scapes – ideo, finance, techno, sacri, media, - waiting to be explored, on
wisdom which combines Western Euro-centric, and indigenous knowledges, to
create global citizens empowered to participate in the affairs of their societies in
keeping with Greek, Vedic, Taoist and other forms of enlightened praxis.
While educational documents on the global dimension or global citizenship prioritise

critical thinking, the diverse origins of issue-based educations; the parallel work of
NGOs in development education as against progressive educators in global
education; and more recent initiatives in citizenship education; have resulted in a field
that is a historical, under theorised, marked by ideological differences. In its list of
knowledge, skills, values and attitudes for Global Citizenship, Oxfam prioritises
critical thinking. Some educators question the appropriacy of ‘is outraged by social
injustice’, as one of Oxfam’s defining features of a global citizen. ‘Developing a
critical evaluation of representations of global issues …’ is also top of the Values and
perceptions, which form one of the eight key concepts in the DfES document
‘Developing the global dimension in the school curriculum’; the other seven are
Global citizenship. Conflict resolution, Social justice, Sustainable development,
Interdependence, Human rights, and Diversity.
Questions of a global citizen’s rights, responsibilities, and democratic representation,

raise issues of identity, and the components of the academic identity of a ‘critical
global educator’. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences and the importance given to
Creative Thinking, the notion of Situated Learning, Activity and Actor Network
Theory, encourage current emerging models of work-based professional
development which can combine the expertise of Development NGOs and
community learning in the professional world of critical global educators.
Contested representations of globalisation make talk of universal Global Citizenship

seem utopian, or a superficial slogan exploiting a constructive ambiguity, while its
adjunct of democracy is in danger of being transformed into a wholly economic
concept, with education seen as one more product. Undemocratic control of a
knowledge-based, assessment-driven curriculum; a depoliticised view of citizenship
and civic education tied to nationalism; resistant institutional, administrative
structures; and the functional discourse of lifelong learning are some factors which
militate against development of the critical disposition so fundamental to an authentic
democracy.
Charged with reproducing or empowering, conserving or renewing, challenge and

change, the Janus stance of the school is further threatened by research which
indicates practitioners’ sense of inadequacy, reduced efficacy, and reluctance to
address controversial issues. While the social and cultural objectives of education for
global citizenship are relatively easier to implement, a real understanding of the

political, economic, environmental and technological repercussions of rapid
globalisation creates substantial implications for teacher education. Most significant
global issues are interdisciplinary, and future generations will need to know more
about these currently separated subjects, to deal with challenges to national identity
and representative democracy, and to address unanticipated social and moral
questions. This makes the global citizenship agenda highly relevant and worthy of
our attention.
Some issues in the field we might discuss, are:

• Whether global citizenship education should be taught at all / discretely / or
integrated across the curriculum;
• Requirements / repercussions for initial and in-service teacher training;
• Opportunities and obstacles in the professional development of the critico-

creative global educator;
• Questions of professional stance, bias, indoctrination, since personal values

are deeply implicated;
• Appropriacy, feasibility, and justifications for / against evaluation in this field.

Some would say unless evaluation is part of the agenda, the subject will never
be taken seriously?!
• Suggested models for global citizenship education, which combine theories of

learning with our understanding of youth culture, the potential of cyber-
activism, and the aims of GC education.
GI SIG Summary of discussion on: ‘The Critical Global Citizenship

Educator’. By Maureen Ellis
Dear GISig Colleagues,
To begin with, a sincere thank you to those who contributed to the discussion, and all
who participate peripherally in this ‘community of practice’. Apologies for not being
able to express the many ideas I wanted to in ‘plain talk’ in the initial think piece; I
had hoped that starting on a more conversational note would encourage readers to
persevere with the tighter packaging later, and was also trying to include something
for everyone – almost impossible in these contexts!
Bill kicked off with the value of teachers in ‘difficult circumstances’ sharing their
‘honest narratives’, to contribute to the theory / praxis of critical citizenship. Robert
described his experience in China, his feeling ‘compelled’ or ‘obliged’ to raise
controversial issues, though conscious of the students’ different perspectives. His

remarks reminded us that our decisions and choices influence what goes on in ‘the
corridors, my office, campus grounds, etc’. My original use of ‘critico-creative’ was
meant to capture the positive ‘searching for constructive, creative alternatives’,
unfortunately often excluded from the term ‘critical’. Working within nationalist
interpretations of ‘citizenship’ can certainly present contradictions for GC educators.
When Bill says ‘indigenous knowledge’ can be ‘a code word for revitalizing and
preserving what is truly reactionary’, and elsewhere, the ‘downside of tradition’, ‘red-
green’, or ‘socialist view’, it confirms the way language, ‘the cloud machine’ is so
crucial in both revealing and concealing, reflecting and diverting our messages. For
me this reinforces the need for ‘critical literacy’, including media / visual /multi-modal
and every form of critical thinking in the education of global citizens, doubts
underlined by Ian’s questions: whose models? and ‘a guise’? Unless we work
towards a model which is open to dialogue, exchange, democratic pluralism, we may
be manipulated to simply provide the economic fodder for an economic, consumerist
globalisation.
Julie’s suggestion that we need to ‘make an 'evolutionary leap' to put local cultural
particularities in second place in order to achieve our collective survival’, raises the
difficulty of reconciling individual identity within the many real and virtual communities
and constellations of practice in which each of us participates. In some ways a global
world will lead to a more selective appreciation of what is distinctive and worth
treasuring at the local level, an ‘engagement, imagination, and alignment’ of the local
with the global (3). In response, Bill directed us to community environmental
engagement in Leeds (4 and 5).
Thanks to Esther Lucas for references to David Bridges’ philosophical justification

(1), and on teaching controversial issues (2), and to Muhammad Iqbal for General
MacArthur’s quote on the urgent need for each of us to use our agency to address
the abolition of war.
Deborah shared with us her class experience of Open Space methodology, (6),
highlighting the role of teachers as facilitators, who enable students to articulate their
views. This was extended to the need to encourage empathy with different
perspectives, and the exchange of views (Mike); the importance of critical thinking if
teachers are to feel empowered, and an understanding of the connections between
everyday events and cultural, social, political and economic forces (Krishna).
Developing the question of Open Space discussion, Bill provided a link to Marina
Satrin’s article on Horizontalism in Argentina (7), an account of ‘another power’
created through social relations and the process of creation, dismissing political
institutions and leaders in favour of individual autonomy and communication as
stages towards freedom. This account of small-scale local movements, involving
exchange of medical, media and IT software services in Tomas (taken spaces),
offers an encouraging model of social regeneration. It also portrays an example of
the use of the internet in promoting a sense of global civil society, and the potential
for cyber-activism.
Although this summarises our discussion so far, I hope you will continue to share
your ideas and experiences in relation to the delivery of critical global citizenship, its
various contextualised and mediated forms and meanings, and the potential it offers

to satisfy the need, and in some cases the demand of young people, for an education
which addresses the social and moral issues relevant to a rapidly changing world (8).
1. Bridges, D. (ed) (1997) Education, Autonomy and Democratic Citizenship:

Philosophy in a changing world. Routledge.
2. Wellington, J. J. (1986) Controversial Issues in the Curriculum. Blackwell
3. Wenger, E (1998 / 2006) Communities of Practice. New York: CUP.
4. http://www.greensocialist.org.uk/ags/
5. http://www.greensocialist.org.uk/ags/resources/manifesto2008.shtml
6. http://www.osdemethodology.org.uk/criticalliteracy.html
7. http://info.interactivist.net/node/4546
8. http://www.dea.org.uk/ourglobalfuture
NEWS FROM MATOPO PRIMARY SCHOOL, ZIMBABWE

TEACHER-TO-TEACHER PROJECT, 2008
By Cindy Hauert
It was Thursday, October 4th, 2007, 2:35 in the afternoon. Our Land Rover, having
carried us 1,250 kilometers from Johannesburg—the last 50 k’s over a rough, stony
track—finally stood in front of Matopo Primary School, 60 k’s south of Bulawayo in
Zimbabwe. And we had a flat tire!
While my husband Peter, aided by a Matopo teacher and closely supervised by a

group of 6th grade boys, dealt with the tire, I set about making sure that everything
was ready for the big day tomorrow—the Matopo Primary School Teachers’
Workshop Day.
A year of preparation had gone into the planning of the event. It all started on my last
visit to the school in August 2006. At the time, I wasn’t even sure if ETAS was going
to choose Matopo as its Teacher-to-Teacher project for 2007, but I rather off-
handedly offered to run a workshop about teaching English for the Primary School
teachers on my next visit, and before I knew it the proposal had snowballed into a
major event, with teachers from the surrounding primary and secondary schools also
eager to participate.
Thanks to ETAS support, we were able to organize catering for the event, which is
quite a tall order in Zimbabwe these days as food supplies are extremely scarce.
Denis Paul, our trusty on-the-spot go-between for the T-2-T project, had to make
forays to South Africa and Botswana to obtain most of the necessary items, while
local gardeners pitched in with fresh produce. It was all delivered by donkey cart on
the morning of the workshop.

Matopo Primary School Headmaster Newman Ncube was in charge of invitations and
organized transport for some teachers. As it turned out, several teachers came from
as far away as 15 kilometers on foot in order to take part!
Deputy Headmaster Patson Mpofu was busy behind the scenes as well, liaising with
Denis and making sure everything would run smoothly.
A big worry was the three parcels I had sent to Denis in Botswana, containing
donated items such as bags, paper, pens and pencils, name tag lanyards and books
for the school library. There was a customs glitch (a long story which I won’t go into
here!) and I wasn’t even sure if Denis had managed to get hold of the parcels in time
for the event. I was really counting on those bags and nametags for the workshop
itself, and was also looking forward to the looks on the teachers’ faces when I
produced all the goodies! In the end it was “just-in-time” delivery—Denis brought the
parcels that evening and his wife Sandy, Peter and I stayed up late packing the bags,
including the booklets I had had printed in South Africa for each teacher.
Coming up with the workshop content was a major challenge. What to prepare? I
would be working with a very diverse group of people, dealing with a different culture,
and with virtually no infrastructure—in fact, I wasn’t even sure about the level of
English of the participants. This is not exactly something you can do a Google search
for! No published material was going to be suitable either. I was stymied.
Finally I worked out a rough draft of what I thought might be a workable concept and
sent it to Newman and Patson for their approval. My idea was to present a wide
variety of activities, none of which would require more than paper and pencil, then let
the teachers work in small groups to figure out how they could apply them in their
classrooms. To my amazement (and relief!) it all worked like a charm.
I started the ball rolling by asking the group “What is English?” They must have
thought I was a bit dim and informed me that “It’s a language”. Yes, we all know that,
I said, but what is English for you? Give me some adjectives, please. Then I started
getting answers such as “English is difficult.” “English is interesting.” “English is
important.” (Nobody said it was easy!) After this ice-breaker I moved on to explain my
goals for the day: to go light on the theory and spend most of our time exploring ways
to liven up our English lessons without always having to rely on printed materials,
which are scarce and expensive. I wanted them to realize that the ideas in their own
heads, and those of their pupils, are their most precious resource.
We played games, told stories, even drew pictures, while at the same time working
on a few grammar points and talking about some down-to-earth topics such as letter
writing. The teachers were so enthusiastic and motivated that the energy just filled
the room. They especially liked activities which allowed them to get up, mill around
and exchange ideas, and I was bowled over by the brilliance and originality of
thinking they displayed. There was lots of laughter and noise and I sometimes
thought the roof, which isn’t in a very good state anyway, might just lift off and fly
away!
The time flew by and as we completed the last activity, I drew breath to make a
formal conclusion and to thank everyone for such a special experience. I’d hardly
finished when the room erupted with singing, and everyone rose from their seats and

began to dance. Before I realized what was happening, I was hoisted onto sturdy
shoulders and carried around the room! They had even prepared gifts, some lovely
examples of local wood carvings, which have pride of place in my living room at
home.
In short, the event was such a success that we’ve decided to repeat it this year!
I’m so grateful to all ETAS members who have given donations and moral support
during this project, and very pleased to have the chance to continue this year at
Matopo Primary School. Things will sadly only be getting even worse in Zimbabwe
before they get better, so the school, the children and their teachers really need all
the help they can get. They have proven that they can make the most of our
generosity over and over!
“I am exceedingly delighted that our English workshop became a reality and a great
achievement in as far as international organization is concerned”, wrote Patson. He
told about the many teachers and other professionals from Zimbabwe who are
leaving the country “in search of greener pastures.” But, he continues, “As for me and
my family we will press on, cling on, forge ahead and we will never surrender
Zimbabwe. We will never settle for less and destroy the future of the children…”
About the Teachers’ Workshop he wrote: “The knowledge and skills we learnt will
nourish the pupils.”
Cindy Hauert
shumbashaba@pauls.co.zw
As you all know, the proceeds from the raffles at our national events go toward the
Teacher-to-Teacher project, but did you realize that you can make a donation any
time? The bank details are as follows:
English Teachers Association Switzerland
TEACHR TO TEACHER (that's how it's listed due to lack of character space)
Zürich
Postal Account/Post Finance
Acct. Number: 17-653380-8
IBAN CH18 0900 0000 1765 3380 8
BIC POFICHBEXXX
If you’d like to correspond directly with Matopo Primary School, you can send an
email to Patson at this email address: matopoprimaryschool@yahoo.co.uk or
patsonmpofu@yahoo.com
(You may need to be a little patient to get a reply, as the infrastructure is not
infallible.) Alternatively, you can write “snail mail” to Mr Newman Ncube, Mr Patson
Mpofu, Matopo Primary School, PB T-5391, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Sandy and Denis would also be willing to tell you more about life in Zimbabwe these
days: shumbashaba@pauls.co.zw (and would appreciate your thanks!)
I’ve set up a blog about the Matopo Primary School project:
www.matopoprimaryschool.blogspot.com Have a look!

And if anyone has a great idea for the next Teachers’ Workshop Day at Matopo, I’d
love to hear from you. Cindy Hauert.

A Poem for Earth Day
My Mom

Oh, my mom
Earth dot com
You have trees
Giving me breeze
Feed me grain
Nourish my brain
Thy milk green
I can't wean
We are one
Move around sun
You are me
Do you 'gree?
We ain,t two
I am you
By Muhammad Iqbal,
Muhammad Iqbal is an English Instructor in Vocational Training Institute Narowal,

Pakistan working for poverty alleviation and rehabilitation of the poor in Punjab. He
holds a masters degree in English Language and Literature from Punjab University
Lahore, Bachelor of Education and a Certificate in French. Writes poetry in Urdu,
Punjabe, Persian and English. After the earthquake in Pakistan he started to write
poetry for humanising children because he felt the world direly needs humanistic
generations when disasters are increasing double and triple in the world. He is also a
membership officer of IATEFL GISIG Committee.
muhammadiqbal722@hotmail.com
Lesson 1

IN THE GREENHOUSE
By Michael Berman
Level: Upper Intermediate to Advanced
Target Audience: Adults
Language / Skills Focus: Listening & Speaking
Materials: Photocopies of the story / worksheet to hand out after the storytelling.
IN CLASS
Pre-listening: Some people talk to their plants or play music to them because they
believe it helps them to grow better. Ask the class what they think of the idea as a
lead-in to the tale. Alternatively, you could invite the learners to consider the following
questions, in pairs or small groups, and then report back to the class with their
findings: How do you tend to get on with the people you work with? Do you work
together well as a team or does there tend to be a lot of in-fighting? What can be
done to solve problems such as this?
While-listening: Pause after “He rushed outside, still in his pyjamas, to see what the
problem was and he found … “and ask the learners to predict what.
Post-listening: Hand out the photocopies. Ask the learners to work through the
exercise under the story individually, and then to compare their answers in pairs or
small groups.
Find words in the story which mean the same as: a. succulent / b. tended / c. blessed
with / d. a heated argument / e. almost coming to blows / f. get themselves into a
state / g. gradually fade away / h. a chance to take effect / i. forthcoming / j. generally
regarded as / k. a hush descended over the greenhouse / l. bowed their heads in
shame
COMMENTS
As a follow-up activity, you could find out what relaxation techniques the learners are
familiar with, and then invite them up to the front to teach them to you and their
classmates.
IN THE GREENHOUSE
Gilbert Greensleeves was very proud of his tomato collection and his succulent, perfectly formed
specimens regularly won him prizes in horticultural competitions all over the land. He tended his plants
as if they were his babies and, in a way, they were as Gilbert and his wife had never been blessed
with any children of their own. So he was most upset when he woke up one fine summer morning to
find a terrible commotion going on in the greenhouse.

He rushed outside, still in his pyjamas, to see what the problem was and he found all the tomatoes
having a heated argument. In fact, the dispute had got so out of hand that the tomatoes were almost
coming to blows. He tried to calm them all down and to make them see sense but without success and
was at a total loss as to what to do.
Fortunately, he knew a bit about relaxation techniques, which he’d learnt to help him cope with his pre-
competition nerves, and in desperation he decided to try them out on his beauties. After all, he didn’t
want them to get themselves into a state, especially just before the annual finals. It wasn’t easy but he
eventually managed to attract their attention and to persuade them all to follow his instructions.
“Good. Now I’d like you make yourselves comfortable and close your eyes,” he began. “Feel the
tension gradually fade away from the tops of your juicy heads to the tips of your little green toes.” Here
he paused for a moment to give his words a chance to take effect and to produce the desired results.
“Now focus on your heads,” he continued “and become aware of the fibre that extends from your
crown chakra and what it’s connected to.”
After a couple of minutes, one of the more forthcoming tomatoes, generally regarded as the leader of
the pack, broke the silence. “But we’re all connected to each other and we all come from the same
source,” he observed.
“That’s it exactly,” Gilbert Greensleeves replied. “So now you’ve solved one of the mysteries of life.
When you fight against each other, you’re only fighting against yourselves. And perhaps now you can
be more understanding and tolerant towards one another in future.” A hush descended over the
greenhouse as all the tomatoes bowed their heads in shame. It was clear that they had all learnt their
lesson and Gilbert returned to the house with his head held high, his mission having been
accomplished.
And from that moment onwards, Gilbert Greensleeves never had another problem. His tomatoes lived
in perfect harmony and won him even more prizes than before!
***
Find words in the story which mean the same as:

a full of juice – succulent
b looked after – tended
c lucky enough to have – blessed with
d an enormous row – a heated argument
e on the point of hitting each other – almost coming to blows
f become agitated – get themselves into a state
g disappear slowly but surely – gradually fade away
h time to work - a chance to take effect
i extrovert and outspoken – forthcoming
j by and large considered to be – generally regarded as
k they all finally quietened down – a hush descended over the greenhouse
l showed remorse for their actions - bowed their heads in shame
Lesson 2
These materials are taken from Michael Berman’s book "Tell Us

A Story" (Brain Friendly Publications 2008), it presents an
Forexample
many of usoflifeEnglish throughforPersonal
is spent searching something Development that
that we never seem ablecan be The
to find.
usedbe
reason for this can perhaps with a inPre-Intermediate
found the following Sufi tale:class:

The Key
A drunk is searching for something on the ground under a street lamp. A friend sees him
there and asks him what he is doing. "I'm looking for my key," the drunk says. The friend
helps him search but half an hour later they still have not found the key. The friend asks, "Are
you sure you lost it here?" "No," replies the drunk, "I lost it inside my house." "Then why are
you looking here?" - "Because the light is here" was his answer.
Choose a suitable moral for the tale. If none of the suggestions below appeal to you,
then find one of your own:
a. Many hands make light work (English)

b. One dog barks because it sees something; a hundred dogs bark because they heard the
first dog bark. (Chinese)
c. Eyes can see everything except themselves. (Serbo-Croatian)
d. A candle lights others but consumes itself. (English)
e. Do not look for apples under a poplar tree. (Slovakian)
f. A needle wrapped in a rag will be found in the end. (Vietnamese)
Now work with a partner and tell each other what you are looking for in life and what you are
doing to make sure you find it:
Michael Berman BA, MPhil, PhD (Alternative Medicines) works as a teacher, a writer,
and Core Shamanic Counsellor. Publications include A Multiple Intelligences Road to
an ELT Classroom and The Power of Metaphor for Crown House, and The Nature of
Shamanism for Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Books due to be published in 2008
include Soul Loss and the Shamanic Story and Divination and the Shamanic Story by
Cambridge Scholars Publishing, and Tell Us A Story (a resource book for teachers
on storytelling) by Brain Friendly Publications . Michael has been involved in teaching
and teacher training for over thirty years and has given presentations at Conferences
in more than twenty countries.
Contact: Michaelberman@blueyonder.co.uk
Website:www.Thestoryteller.org.uk

Endangered Species
(Haliaeetus Leucocephalus)
By Yasmeen Lunpe Farid and Prof. Zakia Sarwar, Karachi
spelt@cyber.net.pk
It is said that over 60 million years ago the dinosaurs wallowed in great, green swamps and
prowled through hot, damp forests. But suddenly they were completely wiped off the face of
the earth. Why? What happened? It is still a mystery. Some scientists say that perhaps a
meteorite hit them. After that mankind inhabited the earth and since then strangely many
animals and plants have vanished from our planet .With each passing day, humans seem to
be needing more and more space to live; they are grabbing more and more lands in the
name of survival—Is it really their need or greed that they are clearing away the hedges,
streams, marshes and trees for their own selfish gain, callously making the creatures and
plants living there, homeless? What is worse, those creatures that stay are often destroyed
either by hunting, poisonous spray or by polluted air or water. As a result there is a whole
range of animals, birds, and plants that have become extinct or are categorized under
“endangered species”. Although efforts are going onto save them but we still need to do
more. Now our greatest hope lies with our children and youth therefore, a campaign should
be started at all schools and colleges, to make them aware of the importance of maintaining
ecological balance and saving endangered animal and plants species.
The following lesson plan is designed on a text about Bald Eagles which are in danger of
getting extinct not because of a forthcoming meteorite from sky but due to human actions
which are no less harmful than a meteorite striking them. This lesson plan can be adapted for
all levels and in all areas of teaching like history, geography, science or art.
Bald Eagle of North. America
The bald eagle – Haliaeetus leucocephalus – is truly an - American bird—it is the only eagle unique to North
America. It ranges over most of the continent, from the northern reaches of Alaska and Canada down to northern
Mexico.
Male bald eagles generally measure 3 feet from head to tail, weigh 7 to 10 pounds, and have a wingspan of
about 6½ feet, Females are larger, some reaching 14 pounds and having a wingspan of up to 8 feet. This striking
raptor has large, pale eyes; a powerful yellow beak; and great, black talons. The distinctive white head and tail
feathers appear only after the bird is 4 to 5 years old.
Bald eagles are believed to live 30 years or longer in the wild, and even longer in captivity. They mate for life and
build huge nests in the tops of large trees near rivers, lakes, marshes, or other wetland areas. Nests are often re-
used year after year with additions to the nests made annually, some may reach 10 feet across and weigh as
much as 2,000 pounds Bald eagles normally lay two to three eggs once a year and eggs hatch after about 35
days.
The staple of most bald eagle diets is fish, but they will feed on almost anything they can catch, including ducks,
rodents, snakes, and carrion. In winter, northern birds migrate south and gather in large numbers near open

water areas where fish or other prey are plentiful.
Bald eagles have few natural enemies. But in general they need an environment of quiet isolation; tall, mature
trees; and clean waters. However the conditions have changed over much of the bald eagle’s former habitat.
Due to loss of their natural habitat eagles preyed on farm live stock, but again, large numbers were shot by
farmers, ranchers, and others.
The greatest threat to the bald eagle’s existence arose from the widespread use of DDT and other pesticides
after World War II. DDT was sprayed on croplands throughout the country, and its residues washed into lakes
and streams. There, they were absorbed by aquatic plants and small animals that were eaten by fish. The
contaminated fish, in turn, were consumed by bald eagles. The chemical also interfered with the bald eagle's
ability to develop strong shells for its eggs. In addition to the adverse effects of DDT, bald eagles also died from
lead poisoning as a result of feeding on hunter killed or crippled waterfowl through pistol shots containing lead
which led to in advertent contamination of the waterfowl
Putuxent's scientists enhanced the species' breeding potential by removing the bald eagle's first clutch of eggs
and incubating them artificially. These captive-hatched bald eagles were an important source for restocking wild
populatioins in certain areas of the country and helped to re-established a broader distrubution. Patuxent's
program came to an end in 1988, as bald eagles began to reproduce more successfully in the wild, and the
center turned its efforts towards other more critically endangered species. Two other methods are generally used
now to enhance the number of bald eagles. First, Eaglets used for reintroduction may be captive-hatched or,
since usually only two young per nest survive; they may be transferred from a bald eagle nest with a clutch of
more then two. These "extra" eaglets are placed in the nest of an adult pair whose own eggs are infertile or fail to
hatch. The "foster parents" readily adopt the chicks and raise them as their own.
Another method, called hacking, is a procedure adapted from the sport of falconry. At 8 weeks of age, nestling
eaglets are placed on manmade towers located in remote areas where bald eagle populations are low or non-
existent. The eaglets are kept in an enclosure and fed by humans who stay out of sight. When the birds are
capable of flight, at about 12 weeks old, the enclosure around the artificial nest is opened and the birds are free
to leave. Food is still provided at the release site until birds learn to fend for themselves in the wild.
With these and other recovery methods, as well as habitat improvement and the banning of DDT, bald eagle
populations have steadily increased. While habitat loss still remains a threat to the bald eagle’s full recovery,
most experts agree that its recovery to date is encouraging.
Soon this national symbol soaring the skies may become a common sight for Americans to once again behold.
Reading comprehension
activity # 1
Prediction: The teacher shows the text and asks the students to guess the topic of the
lesson and discuss.
activity # 2
Reading quickly

Ask SS to work in pairs and answer the following questions by skimming very quickly through
the beginning lines and the ending lines of each paragraph.
Q.1 Global question; Is there any hope for Bald eagles' survival in the future?
Q.2 Which paragraph talks about Bald Eagles-
1) Physical features___________
2) Nesting habits ___________
3) Eating habits ___________
Q.3 What is the name of the deadly pesticide that killed bald eagles.
Feedback is taken randomly in the class.
activity #4
True-False. First the SS work individually and then check their answers with their peer in
groups of three.
Feedback is then taken. For the lower levels line numbers may be mentioned for guidance.
Activity Instruction: True False Don't know
Read each sentence and tick (a) the correct column

by refering to the lines mentioned in the text
1. Bald eagles are found both in North and South

America
2. Bald eagles' head / Fail feathers start growing after 4

to 5 years
3. These birds live longer in the wild than in cages

(captivity, natural habitat)
4. Bald eagles change their nests every year
5. Bald eagles lay eggs once a year only
6. Bald eagles eat fish only (staple diet)
7. They like to live in crowded places(Isolation)
8. Bald eagles do not have a lot of natural enemies
9. Petuxent’s scientists are also working to save other

endangered species
10. Eagle is the national symbol of the United States of

America
Answers for teachers: 1-F; 2-T; 3-F; 4-F; 5-T; 6-T; 7-F; 8-T; 9-T; 10-T
Reading for details

The main purpose at this point is to check the students’ complete grasp of the text and
comprehension of the subject matter. It requires detailed study and individual concentration
but for primary level or weaker learner group pair work might be more effective. However this
activity should also be timed and feedback taken either in groups or jointly as the time allows.
Also the SS may answer the questions orally or as written work in class.
activity # 5
Arrange the following in sequence to describe the other main cause besides DDT, leading to
Bald Eagles' extinction. Extend this exercise for explaining the function of transition signals.
For higher level learners sequence markers may be omitted and they can be asked to first
arrange the sequence and then write a paragraph using sequence markers. Punctuations
may also provide some clues for the exercise.
a. Hunters often shoot waterfowls with bullets which have lead in them, and are poisonous.
b. As a result when the bald eagles
eat these poison waterfowl they
often die.
c. Bald eagles feed almost on
anything they can catch.
d. The killed or crippled waterfowl
therefore are poisoned.
e. They eat waterfowl snakes and
carrion.
Answers
1-c, 2-e, 3-a, 4-d, 5-b
Activity # 6
Students work in pairs or individually to indicate the different recovery methods being used to
enhance Bald Eagles’ population by writing one sentence about each. For example:
Method:
1. Removing or incubating eggs artificially
2.-------
3.-------
V. Post Reading:
Activity # 7
The following completion exercise will further help in ensuring the learners’ comprehension of
the given text. SS can work individually first and then discuss in groups. ii Complete the
following.
Major Cause of Threat to Bald Eagles' Extinction After World War II
1 (DDT/Pesticides)
Sprayed On
2.
Residue washed on
3.
4.Water Plants/ Tiny animals

Absorbed by
eaten by
5. Fish
Contaminated fish eaten by
6. Fish
7 Causing the extinction of bald

eagle
Answers: 2: Croplands; 3: Lakes & Streams; 5: Fish; 6: Bald eagles
Activity # 8
Oral discussion can be held on the further causes and possible measures that could be
taken to prevent extinction of Bald Eagles/birds
Extended study-A project
The class can work on a project jointly or in groups regarding endangered birds or animals
suggesting the measures that could be taken to save them. This can be related to our
Pakistani environment as well
VI. Extended Study further research.
List of some creatures (large or small) in danger of extinction
Elephants
Whales
Tiger, Leopards
Rhinoceros
Walrus
Panda
Grizzly bears / polar bears
Deer
Butterflies
Swans

Turtle
References:
1. Nature in Danger, Vol 4, 1993 World book Inc. A Scott Fetzer, UK
2. Endangered Species, U.S Department of Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1995.
Constructivist Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners

Book review by Bill Templer
Constructivist Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners. Sharon Adelman Reyes
and Trina Lynn Vallone. 2008. Thousand Oaks/CA: Corwin Press. ISBN 978-1-4129-3687-3
(paperback). xvi, 191 pp. $33.95
This innovative volume is especially relevant for GISIG. It shows very concretely how
teachers can develop a “critical constructivist practice” to teaching EFL in a variety of
contexts. Adelman Reyes and Vallone introduce teachers to basic tenets of the constructivist
classroom (Vygotsky et al.), linking this with an approach to critical pedagogy and critical
literacy (Freire et al.) – a TESOL that teaches even young learners to dare to name and
critique the elephant in the room: their own experiences of oppression, cultural exclusion and
silencing. As linguist Jim Cummins says in his foreword, the book “represents a breath of
fresh air” in the North American contexts of TESL, helping to implement “instruction that
creates contexts of empowerment not just for students but also for educators.”

The first five chapters lay out perspectives in SLA, constructivism, critical and ‘culturally
responsive’ pedagogy, an “approach based on using students’ identities and backgrounds as
meaningful sources of their education” (Nieto, 2004, p. 402). The presentation is geared in
particular to instructing ELLs in the U.S. elementary public school context. A strong argument
is developed for inclusive bilingual classrooms, contra monolingual ‘immersion,’ looking even
to the “bilingual whole language learning community” (p. 26). The book’s very human
narrative core, 37 percent of content (chaps. 6-8), consists of detailed descriptions of ESL
teaching in three different elementary school classrooms (2nd, 5th and 8th grade), taught by
Jill, Maria and Monica, with kids from a range of immigrant backgrounds, largely Latino and
Iraqi, lower-income.
These windows onto actual practice in the form of extended visitations attempt to bring home
to teachers “just how powerful constructivist approaches can be in engaging learners actively
in knowledge building” (Cummins). And you hear the actual students’ voices here, as
description of class activity is coupled with repeated teacher reflection on what is happening.
Chap. 9 outlines an engaged “Critical Constructivist Education for ELLs.”
A Glossary provides definitions of 51 terms in SLA and constructivist pedagogy. Monica’s 8th-
grade class centered on students engaged in a project of describing their own experiences
as Latino immigrant kids, tapping their cultural funds of knowledge, and their own narratives
and biographies – and the discrimination they have faced. So there is also a useful
appended questionnaire for oral history projects by Irma Olmedo, an exponent of oral family
history as an ESL method. The Bibliography of 101 references gives teachers an array of
useful materials, including a key volume on learning theory that substantiates constructivist,
collaborative pedagogies (National Research Council, 2005). I would also recommend
Marlowe & Page (2005), a handbook with fresh ideas, likewise from Corwin, not mentioned.
In developing a culturally responsive ESL pedagogy, the authors are keen to stress the need
for validating home language and heritage, bringing in students’ life worlds, native
languages, affirming their identity and self-esteem. Adelman Reyes and Vallone are
particularly interested in how classrooms serve as dynamic arenas where students
“renegotiate their identities in the process of classroom discussion” (p. 79) – important for
any kind of interactive critical pedagogy – and advocacy -- we espouse. There is also ample
illustration in all three classroom narratives of “context-embedded instruction,” a
constructivist mainstay: aspects of the external world -- like “insects” as a hands-on class
project in Jill’s 2nd-grade class -- provide a basis for highly collaborative, student-shaped,
‘fun’ learning of ESL, grounded on problem-solving. Maria’s classroom of Iraqi youngsters
offers special insight into the problems of working with heavily traumatized learners (a
chapter guest-written by a Polish ESL teacher based in Ohio, Barbara Nykiel-Herbert).
The downside of this book for some may lie in its concentration on teaching immigrant ELLs
in a highly specific North American context, and equity advocacy for additive bilingualism
3
there. But much can be extrapolated to wherever you are. The book serves as an
introduction to constructivist pedagogy specifically for ESL. It can generate ideas for sparking
your classroom inventiveness. It can help turn you into creative critical literacy educators in
solidarity with your students and their communities.
References
Marlowe, B.A., & Page, M.L. (2005). Creating and sustaining the constructivist
classroom. Thousand Oaks/CA: Corwin Press.
National Research Council (2005). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, school.

Washington, D.C: National Academy Press.
Nieto, S. (2004). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of multicultural
education. New York: Pearson Education.
See numerous key papers by Jim Cummins, http://www.iteachilearn.com/cummins/ .
Brown, P. & Lauder, H. (2001) Capitalism and Social Progress: The

Future of Society in a Global Economy. Basingstoke: Palgrave
Macmillan
Book review by Maureen Ellis
An excellent choice for anyone looking to understand the economy which underlies
globalisation, the wasted opportunities and dangers of market individualism, the
threat to a deliberative democracy, and a convincing argument for a high-skills
economy and the state’s role in the development of collective intelligence. British and
American contexts are described in convincing detail; statistical information
interestingly packaged and expressed; Keynesian theory explained without technical
terminology or jargon. For those who have recently become aware of the pervasive
and runaway economic forces at work in globalisation, and would appreciate new
insights into the significance of the history we have lived through, in terms of its
implications for global citizenship education, the book makes meaning of social,
economic, and political trends and policies, revealing interconnections, and making
explicit the logic beneath these.
For beginners in Social Sciences, for those who find it difficult to understand why in
an age of such great promise, the gap between rich and poor continues to increase,
and the life of so many in developing countries is getting worse; or why while
examination boards claim more successes, employers complain of the lack of

initiative and creativity in new recruits, I’d recommend this book. Simple, direct
expression of ideas, making explicit the undercurrents and value systems, such as
the smug complacency of the Golden Era, and subsequent damage to democracy
make this an enjoyable read.
While paying some attention to the opposing views of Mead and Murray, the book
explains the links between theories of social development and economic policy, with
consequences for an education controlled by myths, routines and inducements. The
analysis and interpretation show how mega dollar salaries, and a winner takes all
market ideology, which has been extended from sport and entertainment to corporate
management, medicine, financial and legal services, and even universities, has
brought us to where we are.
A major strength of the publication is its contribution to the discourse of globalisation.

While questioning our conceptions of ‘intelligence’, ‘productive’, ‘self-fulfilment’,
‘deserving’, ‘societal versus social policy’, the book provides a valuable range of new
concepts and language: walled economies; economic nationalism; primitive
capitalism; stagflation; magnet economy; casino economy; market individualism;
credential inflation; symbolic analysts; collective intelligence; reflexive solidarity.
Familiar terms like ‘value-added’, ‘choice’, and ‘flexibility’, are given new meaning,
and slogans like: ‘the personal is political’; a ‘cash and keys society’ are fleshed out.
One is left with effective imagery: of society as a sports team; a market economy like
the Monopoly game, randomly reducing inequality to ‘choice, luck and skill’;
corporate global relocations like a Dutch auction, spiralling downwards; or of the new,
increasingly borderless global economy, like an open competition of a golf, tennis or
athletics club.
Although linguists and language teachers would welcome further elaboration of the
analysis of the role of language in this critique of consumerist capitalism, perhaps
such an expectation is unreasonable. A minor irritation which readers of this journal
may be conscious of, is the high number of distracting typographical errors. Yet
confirmation of the subtle power of discourse is extremely satisfying amidst this
essentially socio-economic discussion: Brown and Lauder claim that modernizers
avoid social justice by ‘redefining equality of opportunity as equity’. Their comparison
of Bush and Johnson’s interpretations of ‘education’ are pertinent to the readers of
this journal. Their complaint that the ‘language of individualism’ as primarily a
language of self-understanding, rationality and self-promotion, is limiting to our
thought, will chime with teachers of critical discourse analysis; as will their specific
call for ‘development of a vocabulary’ which will challenge the logic of market
individualism. Roger Scruton’s view in ‘The Meaning of Conservatism’, of equality of
opportunity as an absurdity, which was ‘neither possible nor desirable’, is a
particularly relevant example of language as revealing of underlying ideological
assumptions, in its genetic interpretation of ‘intelligence’.
For some, the book will carry a personal ring, enabling them to name and make
sense of what’s happened to and around them; for instance, the ‘consultants’ who
prefer to resign than be made redundant, the self-styled ‘self-employed’ and
‘freelance’. If you’ve ever regretted that despite increased productivity, profits have
focused too sharply on cost reduction and work intensification, rather than product
innovation or R&D, this book convincingly arranges some of the pieces in the jigsaw.

It explains how primitive capitalism, has meant ‘downsizing’ resulting in ‘Western
sweatshops’, with longer hours, fewer holidays, and professionals ‘playing it safe’ at
work, while shareholders’ profits remain paramount through thick and thin. It may
help explain how the paradox of potential for human freedom, skills, talent as never
before, has resulted in wasted talent, a culture of insecurity and social inequality
Alongside an impressive range of academic sources, the authors rely heavily on

personalised details which stay with the reader. Viewers of British and American TV
satires will be delighted by resonant details which reminded this reader of Charlie
Chaplin’s Hard Times, in Brown and Lauder’s description of skilled women workers
jumping on and off the factory belt to place radiators in front of the headlights.
Similarly their account of a middle-class mum who having satisfied the domestic role
created for her after the war was expected to adapt to the demands of a new role as
‘corporate wife’, and sitting beside the chairman at the firm’s annual dinner, trying to
impress him with her intelligent conversation, found she had leaned over and
chopped up her companion’s dinner into tiny pieces, may conjure up an image of
Margo as socially ambitious wife, Gerry’s executive compromises, and Tom’s
rebellious stance in the Good Life. Elsewhere Frasier’s experience of the vagaries of
corporate downsizing (p.155) synthesises personal perceptions of the economic
history described here.
The book’s urgent demands of a post-industrial society, the need to establish fresh
values of democracy, social harmony and intelligent action, for fear of being swept
away by market forces, ideology, and language remain current. One solution the
authors offer for our post-industrial society, is strategic local alliances, and a strong
helping of reflexive solidarity which celebrates our mutual interdependence, and
shakes off the smug complacency of middle class voters whose lack of self-doubt
and moral will prevents social change. Evaluation of their suggestion of a citizen
wage requires economic expertise beyond the scope of this review.
Finally, their faith in the power of ‘collective intelligence’ which, like Dewey’s
education, needs a ‘widening of the circle of shared concerns and the liberation of a
greater diversity of personal capacity’ requires us teachers, to reconsider our tacit
theories of individual academic development, ‘progress’, and ‘success’.
Bio data
Maureen (Ellis) is a tutor for the Open University and Birmingham University. She is
currently doing a PhD at the Institute of Education, London University, researching
the professional development of the critical global educator.
t.ellis2@ukonline.co.uk

i

National Geographic, Footprint Reading Library
Book reviewed by Claudia Connolly
Footprint Reading Library, National Geographic and Heinle Cengage

learning.
This reading series comes as a breath of fresh air from all corners of the world.
The stories and topics, as ever with National Geographic, are mesmerizing and
extraordinary, opening up minds to the diversity of our natural world and the
populations who live and survive on it.
The Footprint reading library is the first non fiction reading series for English
learners to present real-world stories in print, audio and video. The readers are
grouped into five themes;
1. Fascinating places
2. Incredible animals
3. Exciting activities
4. Remarkable people
5. Amazing science
There are in all, one hundred individual readers, graded into eight levels, from
pre intermediate to advanced and ranging from 800 to 3000 headwords. Each
reader is available with or without a Multi Rom which contains both video and
audio content for that reader.
Every level also includes a step by step Lesson Planner and teaching notes for
each of the Read, Listen and Watch options, as well as photocopiable
worksheets for the learners. It contains a grammar syllabus which covers most
typically taught structures in course books and each reader and video worksheet
provides pre, while and after activities, as well as suggested project work. There
is even a quiz after each reader.

Some example titles:
‘One village makes a difference’ a report about water pollution in New Delhi.
The learners are invited to think about everyday uses for water and invites
discussion. The grammar focus is modal verbs of ability: can/could/be able eg:
One hundred years ago, people (can) ________ travel by aeroplane. The
after reading activity is to write about an environmental problem in your city or
country and can you find a solution? There are some great themes and activities
here for collaborative learning and encouraging critical analysis.
‘Dangerous Dining’ the story of the puffer fish; if it is prepared properly, it’s a
safe and delicious meal, if it’s not, it is a deadly poison. With this reader one of
the after watching activities the learners design a newspaper advertisement for a
fish restaurant including; their fish menu, prices and description. My class of
intermediate 13year olds were enraptured with this topic. The 5 minutes video
supported meaning in context together with the subtitles in English and the topic
content so evidently incited learner motivation.
Research has shown that teenager’s intrinsic motivation for language

learning declines at a conceptual age where they need to engage with
deeper, real interests such as politics and culture. Often course books meet
exam criteria which present domestic, sanitised topics and does not give
intellectual stimulation for lively young minds. (Starkey and Osler, 2001)
I highly recommend these teaching materials. The readers provide a tool for the
language teacher to either create a topic based curriculum or to supplement a
course book. They respond directly to teaching in a cross curricular way and
address the need to teach Intercultural Competence within ELT.
Bio data
Claudia Connolly MA education (applied linguistics).Teacher and materials writer
specialised in Young Learners. She works for the British Council and the University
of Creil in France.

Have you joined IATEFL and GISIG?
If not, it’s time to do it NOW!
How to join:
•Find the IATEFL website at: www.iatefl.org

•Click on how to join
•Complete the online registration form
If you want to become a member of GISIG,

mark Global Issues as your first choice Special Interest Group.
The first choice of Special Interest Group is FREE

ADVERTISING WITH GISIG
If you are reading this, so are plenty of other people … and

they could be interested in what you have to offer.
GISIG aims to produce two publications per year
Publication advertising rates, 2008/2009
SIG Full page Half page Quarter Inside front Inside back Back page
page
GI £200 £100 £50 £250 £250 £300
SIG
If you would like to place an advertisement in one of

the Global Issues newsletter please contact:
Claudia Connolly
GI Newsletter Editor
claudiarichardson@wanadoo.fr
Tel: (0033) (0) 3 44 24 77 02
FOR INSERTS
Please contact IATEFL head Office for issues price per
brochure, diskette or CD-Rom.
Next Issue Due out February 2009
Contact glenda@iatefl.org to advertise


LitIssue 23.oct 08 GI Newsletter Issue 23

Enviado por

Dados do documento

Descrição original:

Título original

Direitos autorais

Formatos disponíveis

Compartilhar este documento

Compartilhar ou incorporar documento

Opções de compartilhamento

Você considera este documento útil?

Este conteúdo é inapropriado?

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

LitIssue 23.oct 08 GI Newsletter Issue 23

Enviado por

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

GI

September 2008 Issue 23

Price £4.50 Free for GISIG members ISSN: 1026-4310

This newsletter needs you to write for it !!!

IATEFL GISIG Newsletter, Issue 23 (September 2008) 2

Warmest regards to you all

IATEFL GISIG Newsletter, Issue 23 (September 2008) 3

• To assist in the exchange of information and

IATEFL GISIG Newsletter, Issue 23 (September 2008) 4

By Bill Templer (University of Malaya)

 Say it plainer: downsizing discourses in L1

Thesis 1. Say it plainer: downsizing discourses in L1

We face an enormous task in the educational/academic world, where good writing is

IATEFL GISIG Newsletter, Issue 23 (September 2008) 5

Thesis 3. Voice of America Special English: a unique neglected resource

SE works with a compact vocabulary of 1,500 ‘high-frequency’ headwords, available in a

IATEFL GISIG Newsletter, Issue 23 (September 2008) 6

Simple English elsewhere

Thesis 4. Class matters

IATEFL GISIG Newsletter, Issue 23 (September 2008) 7

We need to build a foundation for working-class pedagogies of ELF, within curricula of

DuBay, W. (2004). The principles of readability. Cosa Mesa/CA: Impact Information

IATEFL GISIG Newsletter, Issue 23 (September 2008) 8

Bio: Bill Templer is a Chicago-born educator with research interests in English

Critical Literacy and Global Citizenship Education

IATEFL GISIG Newsletter, Issue 23 (September 2008) 9

The political nature of education

Education is inherently political as it involves values and goals in relation to

• What is your surname? Where are you from?

IATEFL GISIG Newsletter, Issue 23 (September 2008) 10

Global issues and English language teaching

According to Maley (1992),

The critical literacy in ELT project

IATEFL GISIG Newsletter, Issue 23 (September 2008) 11

Walker, S. (2008). Looking at Slavery and Abolition. CL in ELT Materials.

Chris Lima is the coordinator of ELT and literature projects developed in

IATEFL GISIG Newsletter, Issue 23 (September 2008) 12

Global Issues and Teacher Development Pre conference event

That wouldn’t work for me, would it?

IATEFL GISIG Newsletter, Issue 23 (September 2008) 13

IATEFL GISIG Newsletter, Issue 23 (September 2008) 14

Seneca’s Educational Philosophy

A recent example of this is the European Union where people of various

As a matter of fact, it was never taken seriously on a global scale, which

IATEFL GISIG Newsletter, Issue 23 (September 2008) 15

Evaluation of our Priorities

Most governments are somewhat suspicious of the idea of promoting an

In fact, if we were to analyze carefully the foreign policies of belligerent

Proper Exercise of Our Responsibilities

IATEFL GISIG Newsletter, Issue 23 (September 2008) 16

The Seneca approach to education on a global scale is still feasible, even

Charles Mercieca, Ph.D.

By Hilary Hunt and Margot Brown

“Dignity and justice for all of us”

IATEFL GISIG Newsletter, Issue 23 (September 2008) 17

Martha, September 2006

What is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?

IATEFL GISIG Newsletter, Issue 23 (September 2008) 18

What are human rights?

• Universal – because they belong to all people everywhere.

“Education ... is the key to unlocking other human rights”.

If the aim in language teaching/learning is to promote constructive communication and

Say it plainer: downsizing discourses in L1