Spring Journal 2013 - English Teachers Association of Switzerland

V O L U M E 3 0 • N O . 2 • S P R I N G 2 0 1 3T H E M A G A Z I N E F O R E N G L I S H P R O F E S S I O N A L SISBN 9771660650003ETAS J – linking the needs of English teachers and language professionals for practicalbut stimulating tips for day-to-day teaching and professional enhancement with insightsdrawn from academic disciplines and scholarly practices

ContentsETAS Organisation 4Editor’s Notes • Ceres Pioquinto 5ETAS NewsPresident’s Report • Ann Humphry-Baker 7ETAS Journal Call for Articles 7Faces of ETAS Support • Vicky Loras“Life is about creating yourself”: an interview with Ruth Benvegnen 9Faces of ETAS: Teacher Feature • Valerie Safai“You can’t be a good teacher unless you enjoy it!”: an interview with Helena Lustenberger 10AnnouncementsFeedback: what our readers say… . 11ETAS Professional Day Poster 12AGM and Convention 2014 Poster 13AGM and Convention 2014 Call for Papers 14ETAS Teacher-to-Teacher Project • Cindy HauertNews from Matopo Primary School, Zimbabwe: scholarship recipients and dormitory update 15ETAS 29th AGM and Convention SupplementForeword • Barbara Chuck 16Minutes of the 29th Annual General Meeting 17Annual Committee Reports: The Year in Review 18President’s Report, Ann Humphry-Baker 18Administrator’s Report, Corinne Tschumi 18National Coordinator’s Report, Hazel Trepp 20National Events Chair’s Report, Barbara Chuck 20Publications Chair’s Report, Ceres Pioquinto 21Public Relations Chair’s Report, Paul Henderson 23Secretary’s Report, John Raggett 23Teacher Development Chair’s Report, Cindy Stieger 24Treasurer’s Report, Raymond Rogers 24Web Chair’s Report, Steve Lander 24PlenariesMess and Difficulty • Adrian Underhill 25Developing thinking in young learners • Marion Williams 26From curiosity to challenge in life and ELT • Tim Murphey 28Workshop Reports 30Main ArticlesLiterature review: research and arguments for and against grammar correction • Karlyn Butler 37What we can do to make students believe in assessments • David Mearns 40Voices of ExperienceReverse translations • Philip Kerr 42Teacher and learner motivation through translation • Tanju Deveci 44Corpora in the classroom • Ken Lackman 46My term doing Dogme • Douglas MacKevett 48Versatile beginnings • Elsbeth Mäder 50Teaching vocabulary and catering to different learning styles • Asli Lidice Gokturk Saglam 52Class management – chaos to calm or calm to chaos? • Sharon Noseley-Kalantzis 54InsightsOn Modern Linguistics and dialect studies: an interview with Dr David Britain• Julie Mangold-Kecskemeti 56Jeremy Harmer: Reflections on ELT, language, verse, and music • Vicky Loras 58The Techy Corner • Illya Arnet-ClarkHere comes the blog lady… . • Illya Arnet-Clark 60Virtual teaching • Patricia Daniels 61Teach ESL online? Who, me? • Shannon Poulsen 64Brave New Classroom • Nasy Inthisone Pfanner 67Special Supplement: Reflective ELT PracticeForeword • Vicky Loras and James Taylor 68The Reflective Practice Blues • Adrian Underhill 68Evidence-based reflective practice • Thomas S.C. Farrell 69The role of peer observation in developing a critically reflective approach to language teachingand teacher development • Andrew Hart 70Reflections on using iPads for teaching and learning in Indonesia and Japan• Roger Palmer and Septina Nur Iswanti 71Reflections on creating a Reflective Practice Special Interest Group in South Korea • Michael E. Griffin 73My greatest mistake • Nick Michelioudakis 74From the RegionsBaden Workshop Report • Speaking and writing for the BEC Vantage and Higher 76Lausanne Workshop Report • Teaching Business English with film extracts (new material) 76Graubünden Workshop Report • Teaching the phonemic symbols in the classroom 76ReviewsA Look at Books 77ETAS Journal Book Review Guidelines 78ServicesMembership and administration 79Library updates 80Library order and check-out form 82THE MAGAZINE FOR ENGLISH PROFESSIONALSVolume 30 - No. 2Spring 2013Publisher:ETAS English Teachers Association,SwitzerlandRue de l’Hôpital 32CH-1400 YverdonEditor and Publications Chair:Ceres Pioquinto, PhD, Muriemail: publ@e-tas.chCopy Editor:Diane Theobald, Biel/BienneBook Reviews Editor:Helena Lustenberger, ZugEditorial Board:Illya Arnet-Clark, EmmenbrückePatricia Daniels, AuwVicky Loras, ZugJulie Mangold-Kecskemeti, SolothurnValerie Safai, ZürichJames Taylor, San Jose, Costa RicaGraphic Design:Ron SumnersSumners Graphics, Baaremail: layout@e-tas.chPrinter:Kalt-Zehnder-Druck AG, ZugISSN: 1660-6507Price for non-members: CHF 20.–Circulation: 1400Advertisements:To place an advertisement inETAS publications, please contactETAS Administrationemail: office@e-tas.chCover design: Ron Sumners© Each article in this ETAS Journal is the propertyof its author(s) and may not be reprintedwithout prior permission of the author. Opinionsexpressed by contributorsto this Journal do not necessarily reflect thepolicies of ETAS or the opinion of theETAS Committee.Articles, letters and reviews are accepted onthe basis of appropriateness and general interestto ETAS members.The publication of an article or advertisementdoes not necessarily constitute product orservice endorsement by ETAS. The ETAS Journalteam reserve the right to alter or edit for reasonsof clarity or brevity.ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013 3

ETAS OrganisationThe CommitteePRESIDENTAnn Humphry-Bakerpres@e-tas.chRegional Coordinators (RCs)BADENCaroline Ricklibaden@e-tas.chSIGs (Special Interest Groups)Business English (BESIG)Cindy Hauertbusiness@e-tas.chVICE PRESIDENTHazel Treppvpres@e-tas.chNATIONAL COORDINATORAnita Towersnatco@e-tas.chNATIONAL EVENTS CHAIRBarbara Chucknatev@e-tas.chPUBLICATIONS CHAIRCeres Pioquintopubl@e-tas.chPUBLIC RELATIONS CHAIRPeach Richmondpure@e-tas.chSECRETARYCatherine Shultissecr@e-tas.chTEACHER DEVELOPMENT CHAIRCindy Stiegertede@e-tas.chTREASURERRaymond Rogerstrea@e-tas.chWEB CHAIRHansjoerg Stiegerwech@e-tas.chETAS ADMINISTRATION(Office and Library)Corinne TschumiRue de l’Hôpital 32CH-1400 YverdonTel: +41 (0)24 420 32 54Fax: +41 (0)24 420 32 57email: office@e-tas.chwebsite: www.e-tas.chPhone hours:Monday and Tuesday 9 – 12 a.m.Wednesday and Friday 2 – 4 p.m.If you are a current member of ETASand want to join (or leave) a SIG,just contact ETAS Administrationemail: office@e-tas.ch(Please note that you need to haveemail access to join a SIG)BASELKatharina Hegy andAntoinette Breutel O’Donoghuebasel@e-tas.chBERN/NEUCHÂTELKim Bisson and Annette Leimerbern@e-tas.chCENTRAL SWITZERLANDVacantGENEVAVacantGRAUBÜNDENPeter Pasquillgraubuenden@e-tas.chSOLOTHURN/OLTENFiona Emms and Sue Niklessolothurn@e-tas.chST. GALLENLiudmila Viaroukinast.gallen@e-tas.chTICINONicole Jaks and Ruth Castaneraticino@e-tas.chVALAISBarbara Bréchet Mottiervalais@e-tas.chVAUDRuth Benvegnenvaud@e-tas.chZÜRICH/WINTERTHURSue Wood and Corinne Freizuri-winti@e-tas.chIndex of AdvertisersCambridge English Language Assessmentand Cambridge University Press 84Cambridge ESOL SG GmbH 2Cambridge University Press 8Cross-CulturalChristina Kwokcrosscultural@e-tas.chDrama & LiteratureIan Sowers and Bianca Müllerdrama@e-tas.chEnglish for Specific Purposes (ESP SIG)Alison Wiebalckesp@e-tas.chExaminations, Testing& Assessment (ETA SIG)Neil Bullockexamination@e-tas.chImmersion/CLIL (ICSIG)Eveline Reichelimmersion@e-tas.chLearning Technologies (L Tech)Illya Arnet-Clark and Anel Aubertlearning-tech@e-tas.chResearch (RSIG)JoAnn Salvisbergresearch@e-tas.chSchool Management (SM SIG)VacantTeacher Development (TD SIG)Michelle DiPietrodevelopment@e-tas.chTeacher Training (TT SIG)Gigi Saurerteacher-training@e-tas.chTeenUrs Kalbererteen@e-tas.chYoung Learners (YL SIG)LeAnn Barnesyoung-learners@e-tas.chCastle's English Institute 43Flying Teachers 19Macmillan Education 22Oxford University Press 66TLC - The Language Company 83University of Cambridge ESOL 63Moving? We’d like to move with you!Please let us have your new address BEFORE or right after you move.Send an email to office@e-tas.ch or use the change of address form on page 79.4 ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013

Editor’s NotesIn this issue. Thirty years is no small featfor any publication to hang around that long– obviously it’s doing something right! Threedecades ago, on December 1983, the firstETAS Newsletter premiered, making this yearETAS Journal’s 30th year of publication: atime that merits celebration of the past andthoughts on the future. Three decadeshence, ETAS J is still growing, and with thelessons we have learned in the archives,we are inspired to continually improve ourprofession and our practice by striving topresent significantly not just more articlesbut more of the kind that are as equallyentertaining and engaging as they areenlightening. Three decades hence, ETAS J’sproduction values remain committed toutmost quality, though with a far moredefined purpose: the cultivation of an activeand growing connection between ourAssociation and the global ELT community.Thanks to various technologicaladvancements and the expansion of theinternet, our generation has been givenunprecedented access into the world’simmense store of human knowledge andequally unprecedented entry into the vastonline community of ELT professionals,much of which had been unavailable to ourcolleagues only 20 years ago. Whateverelse can be said, ETAS J is enjoying amoment in the sun – right now, it is arguablysmarter than it has been in years!So it is both awesome and humbling to openthis publication year and find ETAS Journal’suniverse ever expanding. Consequently,readers will notice that since the last sevenissues we have actively sought to expandour audience and to widen our scope toreflect our continuing interest in promoting acritical and meaningful discussion, not justamong ourselves but with ELT professionalsacross the globe. As Editor, I am immenselyproud of the diversity of our authors as wellas of the fact that their works resonatewith our own interests and way of thinking.I am overjoyed to note that our Call forArticles continues to draw responses thatexemplify good writing, research focus,and provocative inquiries expressed increative and erudite writings on a varietyof ELT issues.This being an AGM issue, we open thisvolume with the Convention Supplement,including the Annual Committee Reportsdetailing the year’s accomplishments aswell as challenges – an excellent reason formembers to read them if they considerthemselves proud ETAS members and careenough about its future. Also included in thesection are workshop reports and we thankthe presenters for sharing their insights,expertise, and time, and our report writersfor their excellent summaries that bringthose presentations to life on these pages.For the first time, we are able to includethree outstanding papers presented at the“For goodness sake do something differentnext Monday morning.”John Fanselow“A language is not just a body of vocabulary or aset of grammatical rules… . Every language isan old-growth forest of the mind.”Wade Davis“The test of truth in life is not whether wecan remember what we learned in school,but whether we are prepared for change.”Andreas SchleicherPlenaries and we owe a profound debt ofgratitude to Adrian Underhill (Mess andDifficulty), Marion Williams (Developingthinking in young learners), and Tim Murphey(From curiosity to challenge in life and ELT)for generously sharing their respectivearticles with our readers.Readers will note the importance ETASJournal attaches to the internationaldimension of English Language Teachingand to the thriving terrain that it opens forexploration to professionals and researchscholars. In this spirit our Main Articlesrubric opens with Karlyn Butler’s Literaturereview: research and arguments for andagainst grammar correction. A Lecturer atthe University of Regina in Saskatchewan,Canada, Butler trains a critical eye on theopposing debates surrounding grammarcorrection, exploring the various studiesthat have been undertaken both in supportand in critique of grammar correction.Concluding that this “continuing battle” isunlikely to benefit teachers, Butler insteadcalls for studies that examine whichspecific forms of grammar correction aremore effective or have more short orlong-term benefits.In the second article in this section, Whatwe can do to make students believe inassessments, Turkey-based David Mearnsdescribes how he and his colleagues in aprivate school have developed a CEFR-basedformative assessment tool not just todetermine their students’ level of English,but to help them develop self-confidenceand assist them in realizing their learningneeds and outcomes.As part of ETAS Journal’s interest inhighlighting our myriad experiences in theclassroom, our section on Voices ofExperience features articles by sevenexceptional writers from distinctly variedplaces of origin. In Reverse translations,Austria-based Philip Kerr revisits thedebates surrounding the assumptionthat English is best taught throughEnglish alone, arguing for the use of thestudents’ own language as a resource forlearning languages.In much the same trajectory, Tanju Deveci’sTeacher and learner motivation throughtranslation describes how his attempts tofind an alternative approach to teachingthat is less troublesome to students ledhim to experiment on the different ways theGrammar Translation Method may be usedproductively to teach students whotranslate from their mother tongue toEnglish and vice versa.Ken Lackman’s Corpora in the classroomunderscores the usefulness of the onlinecorpus website in providing essentialinformation about language usage suchas collocates and affixed forms and othergrammatical and lexical structures.Douglas MacKevett’s My term doing Dogmedocuments his experiment in the use of thismuch-debated alternative model of teaching.Putting Dogme’s key concepts andprinciples to test at a university-level coursefor 14 weeks only convinced MacKevett thatmaterials-heavy is still his preferred methodof teaching.In Versatile beginnings, Elsbeth Mäderprovides valuable tips on using first andsecond sentences from stories and novelsfor teaching various language structuresand skills, with the added value of gettingstudents interested in reading.Teaching vocabulary and the associatedchallenges of finding the best method forteaching and the best way to motivatestudents are the central themes of AsliLidice Gokturk Saglam’s Teachingvocabulary and catering to different learningstyles. The article’s conclusion highlightsthe importance of teaching using tailor-madeactivities that accommodate a variety oflearning styles as the key to effectivevocabulary teaching.The final article in this section, Classmanagement – chaos to calm or calm tochaos? by Sharon Noseley-Kalantzis,addresses one of the major issues ineducation: How do we maintain control inthe classroom yet still give our students thefreedom to explore, create, and experimentwith the language? Her conclusion providessome of the answers: “Classroommanagement involves not only how wedeliver the syllabus, but how well we createfor our students an environment conduciveto learning.”Moving on to our next section, Insights, itis a privilege to welcome two distinguishedguests: Dr David Britain, Chair of ModernEnglish Linguistics at the University of BernETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013 5

Editor’s Notes(On Modern Linguistics and dialect studies)and Jeremy Harmer (Reflections on ELT,language, verse, and music). Follow theirinterviews here to hear about their currentprojects, professional engagements, andpersonal thoughts.Beyond stressing how the articles in thissection speak to each other, I will refrainfrom presenting a summary here of TheTechy Corner as Illya has already deliveredsuch an articulate and insightful introductionto the collection. As always I am gratefulthat she agreed to this task with acharacteristic cheerfulness matched onlyby the keenness of her insights.Finally, ETAS J is proud to celebrate threedecades of service to English LanguageTeaching with this Special Supplement onReflective ELT Practice. The first of ourmany offerings to commemorate this30th-year milestone, this project isdedicated to those who came before uswho had the vision to turn ETAS from beinga mere possibility into the thriving realitythat it is today. This is also ETAS J’s initialgift to all English teachers who believe thatby exploring their own teaching throughcritical reflection they will develop anawareness of their attitudes and changethem to benefit their professional growth,as well as improve the kind of support theyprovide their students; who understandintuitively as Paul Coelho that a teacher“…isn’t someone who teaches something,but someone who inspires the student togive of her best in order to discover whatshe already knows”. For putting togetherthis Special Supplement, I thank Vicky Lorasand James Taylor. I am both proud andindebted to the authors for their commitmentto excellence in teaching – what a joy and achallenge it was to be working with them.All in all, the quality of writing, creativity, andoriginality of thought in this issue have beenoutstanding, and we’re looking forward toreading and publishing more.Acknowledgments. The number of peopleto whom I am profoundly indebted forcontributing their articles is growing witheach issue. I am pleased to acknowledgethe splendid work of the authors included inthis Spring edition – their participation helpsto define and shape the field of EnglishLanguage Teaching while their confidencethat we would give their writings a rightplace among those fine pieces in anatmosphere reflecting scholarly integrity isat once humbling and challenging. I amhighly gratified to have worked with such apatient, generous group of authors whohave produced – if I may boast on theirbehalf – such excellent work. On a personalnote, seeing the various facets of the ELTworld through the eyes of these fine writershas been truly enlightening.Not all the work that nurtures and containsthe energy behind every issue of ETASJournal is visible to the naked eye: theendless long-term strategic planning, thenumberless editorial decisions, budgetmanagement, oppressive deadlines – allthis may seem remote to our readers whoseinterest are in the articles, but for ourproduction team they are as real as the airwe breathe and constitute not just the highbut also the low moments of our publicationwork. Especially, to Diane and Ron, myenormous debt of gratitude – for eachmoment we end and begin again, forensuring a beautiful finished product, forsharing with me the value of intellectuallabor, and for being with me all the waythrough the myriad trying circumstances thathounded the production of this particularlylarge issue.ETAS J work being a collaborative enterprise,we were joined once again by our trulyexcellent Editorial Board, talented anddedicated colleagues who care enoughabout ETAS J to volunteer their time andeffort so that this issue comes together:Illya Arnet-Clark, Vicky Loras, HelenaLustenberger, Julie Mangolgd-Kecskemeti,and Valerie Safai. I am delighted to welcomeour two newest members with whom I havealready had the great pleasure of working –Patricia Daniels and James Taylor. Equallyat home in the real world and in SecondLife, Patricia brings with her many years ofprofessional experience in virtual teachingand an academic interest in digitalliteracies – a wealth of experience thatmakes her the best person to manage oursocial media platforms and to give ETAS Ja vibrant web presence. No stranger toETAS J, James continues to impress hisreaders with his Silent Movies series. Thistime he is offering us not just his articlesbut his time and talent as the other newestmember of our Editorial Board from hisbase in Costa Rica, lending ETAS J a trulyinternational perspective. My gratitude toboth of them for gracing our Editorial Boardwith their participation.Delighted though I am to welcome our newBoard members, I am also saddened to pairthese greetings with farewells to DorothySommer after working with us in our lastseven issues all the way from Germany andto Vicky Loras who has made the SpecialSupplement in this issue her swan song –to both of them, profound thanks!And thanks to the staunch support ofCorinne Tschumi and colleagues on theETAS National Committee, we stay on trackand well-focused on our vision.Moreover, I appreciate very much all theongoing support and positive feedbackETAS J has been receiving in emails orthrough our Feedback section, as well asin messages sent by way of Twitter or theETAS J Facebook page. Once again, thankyou to all our readers, for the numerous andmany kind words of encouragement.We hope readers of this issue will find therange of perspectives compelling andthought-provoking enough to get them tosend us their own writings. But first let mebelabor the obvious: to all our prospectiveauthors, please take the time to read oursubmissions guidelines included in everyissue and posted on our website before yousubmit your work and help us bring out thebest in them.So, Readers, interested in submitting, or likewhat you see? Do share this invitation withyour friends on Facebook and Twitter. Visitus on the ETAS website (www.e-tas.ch),check us out on our Facebook page, orfollow us on Twitter @ETASJOURNAL. As youleaf through these pages, I hope that youfind something worth taking the time to stopand appreciate.Finally, contemplating ETAS J’s 30th yearhas kept me focused on issues ofconnectedness and continuity in the Journal.I am mindful of the Journal’s links to a pastand to a future in which we will see theemergence of new writings, new scholarship,new pedagogical approaches to ELT, newresearch and teaching tools, and most likelya new model of journal publication. I amalso aware of the role ETAS Journal hasplayed, and could play to a greater extent,in making ELT professionals and scholarshere and elsewhere aware of each other’swork. My vision for ETAS J has always beento foster the Journal’s role in strengtheningthese various links: between generations ofELT professionals, between eras of ELTresearch and scholarship, and betweenregional or national writings that promotecritical and meaningful conversations, notjust among ourselves but with ELTprofessionals worldwide. I hope that mywork on ETAS J will play some small part incontinuing this project.Ceres Pioquinto, PhD“En ce moment même dans cet ouvrageme voici.” (In this very moment, in this work,here I am. Yes.)Derrida, 19806 ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013

ETAS NewsPresident’s ReportNo matter how long the winter, spring issure to follow.As I write this report under grey, snow-ladenskies, I wonder whether this proverb willcome true this year. However, with any luck,by the time you read this we will be enjoyingall the delights of a real spring.Since my last report, a number of excitingthings have been happening in the ETASworld. First of all, as you have probablyalready noticed from the contents of thisJournal, there was the ETAS 29th AGM andConvention at the end of January inSierre/Siders, Valais/Wallis. This was awonderful event, impeccably organised byBarbara Bréchet Mottier and her team, whoeven managed to organise the sun to shineon us! Barbara Chuck, National Events Chair,put together an excellent programme, withtalks and workshops on a wide variety oftopics – something for every teacher to enjoyand learn from.The opening plenary by Adrian Underhill gaveus a lot to think about concerning mess anddifficulty. When you read his article onpage 25, you’ll find out why mess is goodand natural and why we should develop oursystemic thinking to progress and change.There are some excellent ideas which I hopewill help ETAS face up to its challenges in thecoming years. And I’m trying to do somethingdifferent every day!If you didn’t make it toSierre/Siders, you can readarticles by two of our otherplenary speakers, MarionWilliams and Tim Murphey. Of course, it’smuch better to watch and listen to a liveplenary, but you will still find plenty toengage and interest you. You’ll find out whyhumans stood up 6,000,000 years ago andwhat that has to do with language, as well aswhy and how we should be teaching thinking.When one AGM and Convention is over, it’stime to start thinking about the followingone. And the following one is a very specialevent for ETAS as it will be our 30th. ETAShas come a long way since the first AGM andwe intend to celebrate in style! BarbaraChuck has secured a beautiful venue for usin Thun, on the lakeshore with breathtakingviews of the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau. Putthe date in your diaries now: 25th and 26thJanuary 2014. You won’t regret it.This is a special event for me too, as it willbe my last AGM as President, so if you’dlike to take over this rewarding position, oryou know someone who does, please letme know!The next ETAS event to look forward to,which is currently being organised by thebrand new Events Subcommittee, is thenew-look Professional Development Day(formerly SIG Day) on September 21st inBaden, with Pearson sponsoring Nicky Hocklyas the plenary speaker. The EventsSubcommittee, headed by HazelTrepp and Amy Jost, has beenworking tirelessly to get this eventoff the ground when it looked as if we mighthave to cancel it, so please do come alongand enjoy the programme that Cindy Stieger,Teacher Development Chair, has arranged forus. With such an enthusiastic and energeticgroup of volunteers, the day is destined tobe one to remember.The Committee is collecting ideas for thefuture direction of ETAS and our next meetingat the beginning of May will be devoted todiscussions and brainstorming about wherewe hope to go from here. You’ll be able toread about the results of this meeting in thenext issue of the ETAS Journal.Now – as the sun comes out and springdoesn’t seem to be so far away after all –my report is almost over and you can readthe rest of yet another fascinating Journal,thanks to Ceres Pioquinto and herPublications team. You’ll find out whatEnglish teachers in Switzerland and aroundEurope are doing, through interviews (alwaysa favourite of mine) and articles, bothpractical and theoretical. And see if youcan spot yourself or your friends in theAGM snapshots taken by Ron Sumners.Ann Humphry-BakerETAS PresidentETAS NewsETAS Journal Call for ArticlesThe ETAS Journal invites the submission of articles on various aspects of language teaching and methodology, lesson ideas, surveys of teachingmaterials, and reports that address language issues in Switzerland or the surrounding countries. Book reviews and brief reports or summariesof work in progress which address similar issues are also welcome. Please adhere to the following guidelines when submitting your work.Submission may be in any of these formats:Full-length articles: articles in this category advance conceptual, research-based, or theoretical arguments that bridge theory and practice inESL/EFL. Articles must be fully grounded in current literature and must not exceed 2,500 words, including references.Voices of Experience: articles in this category feature descriptions of teaching techniques or activities, teaching methods, best practices,professional development, and other useful information. Articles should specify audience, materials, procedures, and teacher reflections onprocedures. Submissions to this section should not exceed 2,000 words, including references.Perspectives: submissions to this section are of the following types: (1) reactions of readers to articles and reviews published in the Journal,and rejoinders; (b) viewpoints and opinions expressed in the form of a report, commentary, or interview on topics of current interest.Submissions should not exceed 1,500 words.All manuscripts for the above categories should be in Times New Roman, font size 12. The referencing system used should be APA 6thEdition (sample formats available online at http://owll.massey.ac.nz/referencing/apa-interactive.php or check ETAS Journal 2012 editions).Deadline for the Winter 2013 edition: 15th September 2013Deadline for the Spring 2014 edition: 15th January 2014Deadline for the Summer 2014 edition: 10th March 2014Deadline for the Winter 2014 edition: 12th September 2014The Editors reserve the right to make editing changes without prior consultation with the author(s). Authors will be contacted regarding anymajor editing or revisions. All contributors will receive one complimentary copy of the ETAS Journal.Please send submissions, including a short biodata, as a Word document by email attachment to the Editor at publ@e-tas.chETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013 7

ETAS NewsFaces of ETAS Support“Life is about creating yourself”:an interview with Ruth BenvegnenVicky: Ruth, it’s a great pleasure to have thisinterview with you after meeting you for thefirst time in the summer and hearing aboutall the great things you are doing for ETAS.Thank you for the time.Ruth: Thanks for choosing me - I’m honoured.Vicky: Let’s start with your invaluable workwith ETAS. You have been the RegionalCoordinator for Vaud since 2009. What doyou enjoy the most in this position?Ruth: Meeting the local members. Vaudwas quiet for a few years when there was noRC and local members always had to travelquite far when participating in workshopsand conferences. When I took over threeyears ago, it was satisfying and rewarding toget people together on local turf again andoffer them sessions with good, sometimeseven international, speakers. Organisingthe Vaud weekend conference last Januarywas a highlight. I know so many peopleappreciated that it happened ‘down our way’and I was glad to be part of that.Vicky: But did you always plan to be anEnglish Teacher when you moved here fromEngland? Do tell us a little bit about yourfirst days in Switzerland.Ruth: Hmm, well, the initial reason at thetime was that I fell head over heels in lovewith a ski instructor I’d met during a week’sholiday in the Alps celebrating my father’s50th birthday in 1987. I quit England to livewith him (!). My first ever job in Switzerlandwas selling hot chestnuts in that ski resort’svillage square. Following that initial blip(which only lasted half a season!), I travelledaround the French-speaking part ofSwitzerland, mostly working as a barmaid,learnt French, and eventually met my futurehusband – a butcher from Lausanne. So Iguess you could say that I initially came herefor one relationship and ended up staying foranother A. That was 25 years ago.Vicky: And for nearly 20 years you ran yourown Young Learners’ school very successfully.Could you tell us how you decided to start it?Ruth: Yes, I decided to start it for severalreasons. Firstly, with the birth of my firstchild and her subsequent bilingualapprenticeship, I became fascinated withhow children deal with words. One of mygood friends had just started a franchisedYL extracurricular Language Club and herenthusiasm encouraged me to do somethingsimilar. To start me off, I took a rather vaguecourse in ‘Teaching English to YLs’ and,after finding a classroom nearby, gaily beganmy Young English Club adventure.Vicky: We would also love to hear aboutsome of the most memorable moments youhad as a school owner and the challengesyou met and overcame along the way.Ruth: Initially, I only wanted a “littlesomething” to keep my Mummy Mindoccupied. However, the demand was sogreat that before I even opened I had toemploy two teachers to help with the extra,overflowing classes. I think I – we – justcoped with the initial years of the YEC. Wegrew from 0 to nearly 500 students in sixschool years, and except for the teaching, allthe rest of the work was a one-woman-show,and that one ‘woman’ (me) had two smallchildren at home and no cleaning lady. Itwas a tough time, but an exceptional timetoo. I guess this was the time when I felt asif I started to belong in Switzerland, that itwas my country too, that I had a role to play,and it was working. It was a good feeling.I think if I were to choose two things thatwere ultimately important to me during mytime as a school owner, they would be thechildren and my team of teachers. Thechildren – I loved them all, even the difficultones. And there were hundreds of them.And my team of teachers? I think I wasparticularly lucky. I had some very loyalstaff who stayed around for years, who wereparticularly supportive during difficult times,and who shared the trials and jubilationsover the years. Obviously some came andwent more quickly than others, but I waslucky to have a solid core of people whomI could count on.Vicky: Alongside teaching and running aschool, you also pursued a Master of Arts inTeaching English to Young Learners. How didyou choose the specific field?Ruth: This MA was specific to my field ofinterest. It was so gratifying throughout mystudies to see how my own approach toteaching had theories linked to it and namesbehind it, without me even realizing. I loveddoing this MA, particularly because I waslucky enough to model my own YL classesto suit whatever project the MA requiredfrom me. I was able to do research in myown classes or in another teacher’s classeswithout so much red tape as some researchstudents are faced with. It was fascinating.It was – granted – pretty tough to do italongside running the YEC, but it was worthevery extra minute.Vicky: And now?Ruth: Well, the Young English Club recentlymerged with Key English School and I amnow involved in a course for future primaryteachers, Teaching English to Young Learners,at Lausanne’s Haute Ecole Pédagogique.I am also working for Lausanne University’sin-service training project to bring Vaud’sprimary teachers up to B2 level, a cantonrequirement for 2015. It’s all highly excitingand challenging stuff. I’m loving it! Even ifI sometimes miss teaching the children.Vicky: You have been an ETAS member fora long time – what would you advise peoplewho are thinking of becoming members buthave not done so yet?Ruth: I would say to them, “What are youwaiting for?!!” It is a little discouraging tosee that in Vaud, one of Switzerland’slargest cantons, ETAS only has around 60members. An increase in members wouldcertainly help volunteers to feel as if theirinvaluable work was further recognizedand appreciated. ETAS is one of the mostprofessional English Teacher organisationsI know, amazingly run by passionateprofessionals who give up much of theirfree time to helping it all along. It offersplenty of opportunities to network withother professionals all over the country,usually through professional workshopsand conferences. The rich professionalexchanges I have had in the past arepriceless. I have been a member sinceI started teaching here in Switzerland andcertainly will be for my entire career. In myhighly satisfying albeit occasionally bumpyprofessional route, ETAS has been a friendof mine all the way. I can’t imagine myselfwithout it and the support I have had overthe years from the people in it. I’m soglad I found it! I hope that many othersfind it too.Vicky: Ruth, many thanks again for thiswonderfully candid interview. I hope ourreaders will appreciate the example you’veset and follow your lead in taking a moreactive role in ETAS.Vicky LorasETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013 9

ETAS NewsFaces of ETAS: Teacher Feature“You can’t be a good teacher unless you enjoy it!”:an interview with Helena LustenbergerValerie: Helena, it’s a pleasure to finally puta face with the name! As teachers, we’re allso very busy and it seems there’s never adull moment to spare. So thank you for takingthe time to share your insights with us.When I was searching for a teacher to featurefor the Spring issue, I wanted to turn tosomeone who has not only been with ETASfor quite some time, but has continued tovolunteer throughout the years. Your namepopped up immediately! So, tell us a littlebit about yourself.How did you end up here in Switzerland andthen in Zug?Helena: When I was a student, I met myhusband while working here in the summerholidays. He was working as a chef in ahotel and I was working as a waitress. Itwasn’t ever my intention to stay or movehere. It was a temporary idea and then I justgot stuck. I got a job working for EastmanChemical in Marketing, so we moved to Zugand I’ve been living here ever since.Valerie: When and how did you make thetransition from Marketing to ELT?Helena: When I was a student doing myEnglish degree, I had to do a year in Franceas a teacher’s assistant and I hated it. Soit was a long time before I considered beinga teacher again. Then, after a few years inMarketing my husband decided to open hisown restaurant. We had our own restaurantfor five years, but I decided that I didn’t wantto do that anymore. So my husband stayedin catering and I retrained as an Englishteacher. I’ve been teaching now for over 20years. I feel that this was actually whatI was supposed to do all along.Valerie: You’re currently teaching Generaland Business English at the KBZ(Kaufmännisches Bildungszentrum Zug)and for the LBBZ (LandwirtschaftlichenBildungs- und Beratungszentrum) agriculturalcollege in Cham, as well as for two women’sorganizations. Could you tell us a little bitmore about the atmosphere and challengesof teaching young adults Business Englishat the agricultural college?Helena: The college is a working farm.The students bring bags of hay into theclassroom that they’re doing experimentson. And at the moment there’s a bucket ofgrass growing in the classroom. There arecows and calves where I park my car. Andlots of flies coming in the window! At theentrance, there’s a basket of apples you canhelp yourself to. There’s also a farm shop.The students are learning to be agriculturalengineers, so they need Business Englishas part of their curriculum, for example – tobenefit from field trips to other countries.Most of them have been to Australia, NewZealand, or Canada to do practicalexperience on farms. So they need to beable to converse in English on a very basiclevel. Teaching Business English to farmerscan be quite challenging because they’ve10 ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013rarely set foot in offices. So I have to tryand relate situations to farm experiences.So when I’m teaching uncountable andcountable nouns, then we’re talking aboutwheat and pigs.Some of them are full-time students, andsome of them work part time. One studentsaid to me this morning that he might belate tomorrow because he has to feed thecows before he comes to school while hisparents are on holiday. It’s very challengingbecause for some of them, English is thelowest priority. But I try to make it fun andinteresting for them.Valerie: That sounds like a very exciting andbusy schedule! Despite that, you still findtime to volunteer. What activities are youcurrently involved in?Helena: I’m the new Book Reviews Editorfor ETAS Journal. And after two years on aSIG Day LOC, I’m now on the NationalEvents Subcommittee, helping out for theupcoming Professional Development Day(formerly SIG Day) in September 2013.Valerie: What other kinds of volunteer workhave you had the privilege of doing, whetherfor the teaching profession or in general?Helena: I started volunteering, or ratherbeing bulldozed into things, as a child. Mymother was a volunteer and she was forevercollecting money for something. And so forme, this was natural. I remember doing ‘Boba Job’ as a Brownie. You went around doingjobs for people at home and they would payyou a shilling, which was a bob in old money.So you cut the grass, or you went shoppingfor somebody. They gave you the money,which you gave to the Brownies for charity.And that’s how it started for me. I’ve donevolunteer work all my life. I never thought ofit as being anything special.I also worked for Claro for several years,which is a fair trade organization herein Switzerland, and was president of theTenants’ Association where I lived before.Valerie: John Ruskin was quoted as saying,“The highest reward for a person’s work isnot what they get for it, but what theybecome because of it.” In what ways do youthink volunteering has enriched you?Helena: I think that there’s a lot of truth inthat. If you do something good, in turn itmakes you feel better. But I don’t think thatshould be the primary motive. I think thatyou should want to make a difference. AndI think as teachers, we want to make adifference. We like to see students passan exam and make progress. I don’t reallysee that there is a great deal of differencewhether you get paid for it or not, if youcan make a little bit of difference.I would say that for ETAS, I’ve frequentlybeen asked to volunteer in a number ofways from which I’ve developed loads ofnew skills. I find that I am actually verypersuasive and I’ve become really great atgetting money out of people for sponsoring.And it’s very rewarding to help in a team, tobring out the best in each other, and to puton an event – an event that benefits a lot ofpeople in so many ways. It may be very hardwork, but it’s really fun to see that you’vebeen working for months and that you’vecreated something. I’m not a great artist.I’m not going to write a novel. But it’s myway of being creative. You can bounce ideasoff each other, and be supportive of eachother. If you feel it’s getting a bit too much,you can help each other out. And then youcan go and party and celebrate your success.So I don’t think you can emphasize thepersonal benefit enough – the fun, thesatisfaction. It’s like being a teacher – youcan’t be a good teacher unless you enjoy it.I don’t think you can be a successfulvolunteer unless you enjoy it.Valerie: If you could choose only fiveadjectives to describe how you feel whenyou’re volunteering, what would they be?Helena: Interested. Curious. Engaged.Happy. Excited.Valerie: Why curious?Helena: To find out where things are going;where it’s leading to; what the point of it is.For example, when I worked for the fair tradeorganization, we used to raise money forprojects in Africa. I was always aware thateven though I wasn’t getting anythingmaterial out of it, my small contribution wasgoing to help a woman in another country,less fortunate than me, feed her children.The CHF 5 that I would spend on a cup ofcoffee can buy a woman a bag of seedsthat she can plant. I just find that thepossibilities and opportunities are thereand we should make the most of these.Valerie: There’s a saying that “Volunteers areseldom paid; not because they are worthless,but because they are priceless!” I think manyteachers within the ETAS organizationcertainly share the same sentiments for whatyou’ve done and are doing. If someone isthinking about volunteering, what wouldyou like to say to encourage them to takethe step?Helena: If you do volunteer work, you canlearn skills or improve on skills that youalready have, which will benefit you as awhole person. And it’s not a question ofbeing a do-gooder. It’s a question of workingtogether to make a better place for us allto live in. And if we all give a little bit of ourtime to each other, we will get some backas well. We’ll benefit from other peopledoing things for us too. I think it’s giveand take. It’s not just give. And in the end,everyone wins.Valerie Safai

ETAS NewsAnnouncementsFeedback: what our readers say… .The latest Journal is very interesting again indeed, a good mix of articles on theoretical and practical aspects of ELT, andgives much food for thought. What I especially appreciate is that besides practical material like my own articles, I getinformation about research and theoretical linguistics nicely presented in articles that sum up findings from various sources.For someone with too little time to read all the interesting books out there, this is just perfect. For example: Evan Frendo,Challenges in Business English teaching, and Daniel Xerri and Stephanie Xerri Agius, The use of literature in ELT, and others.I also like the section Crossing Borders. Thank you and your team so much for all your efforts. – Elsbeth MäderJust wanted to let you know that the Journal arrived in the post today. The interview looks good and I think the whole Journal ismost impressive – it compares very favourably with journals produced by international ELT organisations, I feel. – Briony BeavenCongratulations on the latest issue of the Journal. It looked great! – James TaylorI thank YOU for all the positive energy! When I saw the Journal, I could not believe it! Very beautifully designed, also includingmillions of useful ideas for teachers! I still have to read all the articles thoroughly! – Christina MarkoulakiI have read your latest issues and your Journal is excellent! – Charles ReiI continue to be impressed with the work you and your team have done on the Journal! – Elizabeth UlrichETAS 2013S N A P S H O T SETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013 11

ETAS invites you to Baden to join us for the firstETAS ProfessionalDevelopment Daywith Special Interest Groupson Saturday 21st September 2013at ZIS Zürich International School, Baden Campusand zB. Zentrum Bildung − Wirtschaftsschule KV BadenAfter 12 years of offering SIG Days, ETAS is trying a new format for this 2013 event.Come along, get involved, check the event out, give us your feedback,spoil yourself in a spa in Baden, and help us to design meaningfulProfessional Development Days for you!1983-2013CELEBRATING3030YEARS of ETASand beyond!12 ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013

Conference for English Teachers in Thun25-26 January 201430th AGM and Conventionat KK-Thun andGymnasium SchadauCome and join us!More info: www.e-tas.chETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013 13

ETAS NewsETAS 30th AGM and Convention Call for PapersSaturday 25th and Sunday 26th January 2014at the KK-Thun and Gymnasium Schadau in ThunIf you would like to offer a presentation for this event, please complete the form below and return it(preferably by email) by Friday, 12th July 2013 to:Barbara Chuck, ETAS National Events ChairJesuitenweg 162, CH-3902 Brig-Glis, Switzerland, natev@e-tas.chWe are happy to receive proposals for theoretical or practical workshops and talks. At previous conventions, workshops where practicalclassroom ideas were presented attracted most participants. At the same time, there is a real demand for workshops dealing withmethodology, language, culture, exams, and teacher development. Furthermore, we would like to extend our workshops for primary andlower secondary school teachers.We cannot, however, guarantee a minimum number of participants.Technical equipment: all the classrooms in Thun are equipped to a very high standard (digital projector, interactive whiteboard, laptop,stereo with loudspeakers). If you have any special requirements, please pass on your requests by Friday, 23rd November 2013 at thelatest. Any requests received after that deadline cannot be guaranteed.Name of presenter:Institution/Affiliation:Full postal address:Tel: Fax: Email:Please choose: Name of sponsor: * Independent presenter: *Address of presenter (if different):Email of presenter (if different):Type of presentation: Workshop Talk Publisher’s presentationDuration: 45 min. 60 min. 90 min.Equipment required:Title of presentation:Brief abstract (max. 100 words / make sure you specify your target group):Presenter’s biodata (max. 30 words):* IMPORTANT:If you are SPONSORED by your school/company: If you are an INDEPENDENT presenter:Convention • you get free registration for the Convention • you get free registration for the ConventionMeals • your meals will be invoiced to your sponsor • ETAS will cover the cost of your lunches.If you choose to have the Saturday eveningdinner, you will need to pay for it.Sponsor • your sponsor will be mentioned in the • (n/a)AGM and Convention ProgrammePlease note that there will be no honorarium or paid expenses, nor reimbursement for photocopies.After the Convention, we invite you to email your handouts to our Web Chair (wech@e-tas.ch). He will upload them on the ETAS website, from wherethe participants will be able to download them. If you prefer to email any documents to the participants yourself, make sure you collect their emailaddresses at your workshop.IMPORTANT: Please note that as a speaker you will still need to fill in a registration form for the Convention in due time, either through our website(www.e-tas.ch) or using the Registration Form in the printed AGM and Convention Programme (available in October), or simply by email (office@e-tas.ch).14 ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013

ETAS NewsETAS Teacher-to-Teacher ProjectNews from Matopo Primary School Zimbabwe:Scholarship recipients and dormitory update“Educate a woman, you educate a nation,”said Deputy President, PhumzileMlambo-Ngcuka, speaking on theimportance of girls’ education at the 4thannual Women’s Parliament Conferencein Cape Town, South Africa, on 28thAugust 2007.These are fine-sounding words and similarsentiments have been proclaimed on manyoccasions by ‘well-meaning’ pundits aroundthe globe. However, it often seems that themore people talk, the less anything reallyhappens. But we in ETAS walk the talk!Just read on to find out what has happenedsince my last report, thanks to yourengagement and support, ETAS membersand friends.First, I am pleased to present here eightof the 10 new girls who will join our girls’scholarship program in 2013.* The girlsare 12 and 13 years old, and in many casesare either orphaned or living with a singleparent or with grandparents. When NormaFerguson (our partner on the ground inMatopo whom you have previously readabout here) interviewed the young ladies,she found that all of them have familyobligations, such as garden duty, in additionto their schoolwork, as well as varioushobbies and interests. For many localfamilies, home gardens are not only sourcesof daily bread but also of small income.I was impressed to note that aside fromwishing to pursue familiar professions suchas teaching or nursing, several of the girlsdream of becoming business managers andlawyers! As these young women have beenchosen to participate in the program basednot only on their disadvantagedhome circumstances but alsoon scholarly merit, this does notreally surprise me. Nevertheless,I’m inordinately pleased to seeit. True, these are only dreamsat this stage, but we are givingthe girls a chance to make theirdreams come true. This is whatI mean by walking the talk!no doubt that this improvement in theirlives will reap results in the classroom andbeyond. This is what I mean by walkingthe talk!I’m already looking forward to being therein person in August and meeting this year’sscholars for the first time. As well, I lookforward to seeing how the 10 scholarshipbeneficiaries for 2012 are getting on.In the meantime, plans are also afoot toorganize several volunteers from ETAS andHochschule Luzern (where I teach) to helpthe girls with their English. I really hopethis works out: it would indeed show howwe are walking the talk!More to follow…Cindy HauertDormitory building in progressTo make a donation to the project and helpus walk the talk:English Teachers Association SwitzerlandTEACHR TO TEACHERZürichPostal Account / Post FinanceAcct number: 17-653380-8IBAN CH18 0900 0000 1765 3380 8Note: TEACHR is not a mistake - it hasto be listed that way due to lack ofcharacter space*Two of the girls, Noxolo Dube and SakhileMaphosa, were unable to attend Norma’smeeting. I hope to have their photos andprofiles by the next update.Second, some no less excitingnews is that our vision ofbuilding a separate dormitoryfor our scholarship recipientsis coming true! All credit andthanks for this achievementmust go to ETAS member andcurrent Treasurer RaymondRogers, who spent a lot of timegoing around with hat in handto banks and other sponsorsto obtain the necessary funds.As I write, the dorm is nearlyfinished and the girls will beable to move in at the end ofJanuary. They are simply thrilledto have their own space to work,study, and socialize, and I haveETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013 15

ETAS 29th AGM and Convention SupplementForewordIntroductionThe 29th AGM and Convention on26th-27th January 2013 started on acold but stunningly beautiful winter’s dayin Sierre/Siders. The sun was just aboutto shine on the snow-covered mountainswhen the first participants arrived and theLOC welcomed everybody graciously.The previous evening some of the publishers,presenters, and participants had alreadyenjoyed the warm hospitality and deliciousValais platter at Imesch Vins Sierre SA,organized by Beverley Todeschini andher husband.PlenariesThe secret of a successful conference isto have good speakers. In our four plenarysessions we were able to engage fourhighly-acknowledged professionals in ELT.Adrian Underhill captivated the audiencewith his song and he explained in humorousterms the difference between mess anddifficulty and that mess was not alwaysnegative and that we should try sometimesto think “outside our boxes”.Adrian Underhill: “Thank you so much fora most enjoyable ETAS convention... . I doappreciate the way you and the Committeehosted my visit and took care of my needs,and I found the academic and socialexchange with ETAS members moststimulating. Sierre too was a joy to visit,especially in that glorious sunshine! Andthe Château Mercier... !”The afternoon speaker was Kate Fox, thewell-known anthropologist, whose talk aboutthe hidden rules of English behaviour waspresented in a witty and eloquent manner.The audience particularly enjoyed thislight-hearted talk after a hard day’s work!On Sunday morning Marion Williams engagedthe audience with a selection of activitiesthat teach thinking skills to young learners.She describes her experience as follows:Marion Williams: “Thank you for inviting meand for your wonderful hospitality. I think itwas a superb venue and I loved the views ofthe mountains. I am very pleased to hearthat participants found the talk helpful andinteresting. I found the participants verypositive, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic;it was a nice group to work with, and I likedthe way everyone joined in the activities inthe plenary. The people who came to myworkshop were particularly positive, andI was impressed by the way they workedhard and creatively together.And many congratulations to you forputting such a successful event together.As past president of IATEFL, I can say thatETAS has always impressed me.”Throughout his talk Tim Murphey posedthe question, “What are you doing now?”Answer: “Collectively energizing ourimagination.” He showed us briefly theshort story of the last 6 million years inconnection with language learning.Tim Murphey: “Just wanted to say thanks somuch for your great collaborative leadership.I really enjoyed coming back to ETAS andseeing how it has grown and developed,thanks to people like you… .”Such an event could not take place withoutthe sponsors bringing in our distinguishedplenary speakers: thanks to British CouncilSwitzerland (Kate Fox), ETAS (Tim Murphey),Helbling Languages (Marion Williams), andMacmillan Education (Adrian Underhill).WorkshopsForty-four workshops were held over thetwo days, offering an interesting variety ofinspiring topics that were appreciated by themajority of the participants. The subjectsranged from motivating learners to jugglingwith language, testing and speaking, andwriting activities.Acknowledgements and thanksA huge thank you goes to the members ofthe LOC who carried out the following tasks,among many others:Barbara Bréchet Mottier (project manager)and her LOC team – Leonard Adkins (PR),Barbara Althaus (registration desk, speakers’hospitality), Alexandra Bossetti (registrationdesk), Rita Jenelten (registration desk),John Raggett (Book Exhibition), Bob Schärer(registration desk), Beth Sollberger (raffle),Beverley Todeschini (Friday evening event,wine tasting), Monica Zumstein (IT support),and all the HES-SO caretaking team!Our ETAS President, Ann Humphry-Baker,wrote to the LOC: “You all did an amazingjob this weekend - everyone I talked to saidit was a wonderful conference... . You andyour team planned and executed a greatevent and ETAS is very grateful. The venuewas ideal, the talks inspiring, the organisationimpeccable, and the wine intoxicating!”Heartfelt thanks go to Monsieur ClaudeRoch, Minister of Education of Valais, forhis talk about the importance of Englishlanguage learning, and Monsieur FrançoisSeppey, Director of the HES-SO Valais/Wallis,University of Applied Sciences WesternSwitzerland, for generously donating theuse of the venue. With its technicalstate-of-the-art rooms, this modern building,so close to the station, proved to be theideal venue for workshops, while its airy andbright corridors, equipped with coffeefacilities, provided publishers with excellentspace for the Book Exhibition. Sierre’sMayor, Monsieur François Genoud, warmlywelcomed the participants. ETAS is gratefulto him for his generous financial support.Furthermore we would like to thank thecatering team who supplied us with goodlunches on both days and with an excellentdinner on Saturday evening at theRestaurant Le Bourgeois.An AGM and Convention would be hard toimagine without Corinne Tschumi, ourAdministrator, who pulled strings behind thescenes and made sure nothing was forgotten.She was ably assisted by Ruth Buholzer onSaturday and by Amy Jost on Sunday. Awarm thank you goes to Ron Sumners, whoseemingly tirelessly took pictures on bothdays and whose results show in this Journal.I would also like to thank all our workshoppresenters, whose dedicated work formedan important basis of the convention. Theworkshops provided teachers with newideas or new reflections on old ones;useful teaching materials were availablefor integration into classroom activities.Many thanks to all the following sponsors(listed alphabetically):academia • croissants SundayBlack Cat • bagsCambridge University Press• one year’s membership to CambridgeEnglish Teacher, pensCasino de Saxon • 10 entrance ticketsCity of Sierre • Aperitif wineFondation Pierre Gianadda Martigny• 10 entrance ticketsMigros Valais • water and dried fruit forSaturday and Sunday/PlenarySpeakers’ giftNILE, Norwich Institute for LanguageEducation • Raffle: first Grand PrizeOffTheShelf English Bookshop • soft drinksOxford University Press • notepadsPearson Schweiz AG • dictionariesRouvinez Wines Sierre • wine tastingSL&C Supercomm Languages &Communication • Raffle: secondGrand PrizeTLC – The Language Company, Baden • fruitUniversity of Cambridge ESOL Examinations• Aperitif food, croissants SaturdayValais centre Exams Manager Rep:Sally MayorZenhäusern Bakery • 15% off croissantsand rollsConclusion and outlookLast but not least: we have already startedplanning the next AGM and Convention inThun, which will take place on 25th-26thJanuary 2014. ETAS will then be celebratingits 30th anniversary and I can alreadyassure you that this will be a special eventwith great surprises! So, don’t miss it!Barbara ChuckNational Events Chair16 ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013

ETAS 29th AGM and Convention SupplementMinutes of the 29th Annual General MeetingSaturday 26th January 2013, HES-SO Valais/Wallis, Sierre/Siders1. WelcomeThe members were welcomed by Ann Humphry-Baker, President.2. Approval of the AgendaThe Agenda was unanimously approved.3. Approval of the Minutes of the 28th AGM in Yverdon-les-Bains,printed in the ETAS Journal (Spring 2012), p. 17.The Minutes, with no changes, were unanimously approved.4. Annual ReportsThe Committee Members’ Annual Reports were presented.Each Report will be published in the ETAS Journal (Spring 2013).Publications Chair: Ceres PioquintoNational Events Chair: Barbara ChuckTeacher Development Chair: Cindy StiegerVice President/National Coordinator: Hazel TreppWeb Chair: Steve LanderSecretary: John RaggettTreasurer: Raymond RogersPresident: Ann Humphry-Baker5. Auditor’s ReportThe Report on page 14 of the 29th AGM and ConventionProgramme was unanimously accepted.6. Approval of the Budget for the new fiscal year (2012 - 2013)The 2012 - 2013 Budget on page 11 of the 29th AGM andConvention Programme was unanimously accepted.7. Election of Committee membersA number of Committee members stepped down at this AGM.They were warmly thanked for their service.National Coordinator: Hazel TreppPublic Relations Chair: Paul HendersonSecretary: John RaggettWeb Chair: Steve LanderAn equal number of new Committee members were elected,by acclamation, at this AGM. They were also warmly thanked.National Coordinator: Anita TowersPublic Relations Chair: Peach RichmondSecretary: Catherine ShultisWeb Chair: Hansjoerg Stieger8. AnnouncementsThe President thanked the Regional and SIG Coordinators who werestepping down for their hard work and their valuable contributions.Baden co-RCs: Sarah Giles and Jenny GuerneCentral Switzerland RC: Donna AebersoldGraubünden RC: Peter PasquillSt. Gallen co-RCs: Paul Raper and Francesca ElsaesserExaminations, Testing & Assessment SC: Nina BlaettlerShe then welcomed the new Regional and SIG Coordinatorsand thanked them for volunteering.Baden co-RC: Caroline RickliSt. Gallen RC: Liudmila ViaroukinaTicino co-RC: Ruth CastaneraCross-Cultural SC: Christina KwokExaminations, Testing & Assessment SC: Neil BullockNext, Ann welcomed the new members of the Editorial Board andthe Events Subcommittee.Editorial Board:Helena LustenbergerValerie SafaiThe Events Subcommittee:Eva BietenholzAmy JostAlice KnöpfelHelena LustenbergerAlessia PratkaValerie SafaiHazel TreppFinally, the President thanked Corinne Tschumi for all herhard work in the past year.Cindy Hauert then presented the latest news from our currentTeacher-to-Teacher Project, working with Matopo Primary School inZimbabwe and helping send girls on to secondary school. Sheshowed us images of the second class of secondary schoolscholarship students and told us that their dormitory is being built.This building is being built with funds raised entirely by ETASTreasurer, Raymond Rogers. She also said that the FedererFoundation is now in its third year of supporting the project.Cindy’s report will be published in ETAS Journal (Spring 2013).9. Any Other BusinessFree membership draw for all contributors to ETAS Journalduring the past year. The draw was won by James Taylor.The President declared the meeting closed.Catherine Shultis, SecretaryETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013 17

ETAS 29th AGM and Convention SupplementAnnual Committee Reports: The Year in ReviewPRESIDENTREPORTAll over the world, the past year has beenone of challenge and change, be it political,financial, or social. The same could be saidof ETAS itself, although on a much smallerscale, of course.What kind of change has ETAS been facing?When ETAS was founded 30 years ago, theTeaching English as a Foreign Languageprofession was a very different one. WhileSwiss teachers of English working in thecantonal educationalsystems had a cleartraining path, manyprivate (and some state)employers believed thatall you needed to teacha foreign language wasto be a native speaker.You and I know this tobe a long way from thetruth, but at that time,it was not easy to findcourses and workshopson TEFL, so ETAS fulfilled a great need.Nowadays, there is a plethora of courseson all aspects of TEFL around Switzerland(and the world), both face-to-face and virtual,some expensive and some free, catering toa wide variety of teaching situations. Wheredoes ETAS fit in this new order?Another change that ETAS has to deal withis the falling numbers of members. Althoughthe quality remains the same, every yearour membership dwindles due to membersretiring, moving out of the country, orchanging profession. As most of our incomecomes from membership fees, this is a realproblem. Fewer younger teachers are joining,perhaps because they feel that what ETAShas to offer them can be found elsewhere.ETAS is run by volunteers, except for ourAdministrator, Corinne Tschumi, who is ouronly salaried employee. However, it has tobe said that Corinne can also be consideredas a volunteer, considering all the extra workshe does! Nowadays it is getting more andmore difficult to persuade members tovolunteer for ETAS – the Committee hasbecome expert in arm-twisting!Given these changes (which do not concernonly ETAS, as many other associations andinstitutions are having similar experiences),what are the challenges we have to take up?Regarding the changes in professionaldevelopment, I believe that ETAS has areal advantage over other organisations inthat it is run by teachers of English workingin a variety of professional situations inSwitzerland. We target you, not all Englishteachers around the world. AttendingETAS events doesn’t just mean furtheringour knowledge of ELT, it is also a greatopportunity for networking. Many ETASmembers would not be in their jobstoday without the contacts they’ve madethrough ETAS.While all this is true, the challenge is notonly to give ETAS members what they needbut also to provide them with what theyhaven’t yet realised they need! Innovationand change are what allow an organisationto develop.We need exciting new ideas to attract allthose teachers who haven’t realised whatETAS can do for them, and what they cando for ETAS…If our income is falling, what can we doabout this? Put up membership fees or findnew sources of income? What do you think?Where is ETAS going? What do we want theAssociation to look like in ten years’ time?ETAS would love to have your ideas. Writeto me, or post a comment on the website.As a Committee, we’ll be devoting our nextmeetings to this issue. We’ve alreadyreceived some very interesting andinnovative suggestions, but I’m sure youcan come up with many more.We have already responded to the difficulty infinding volunteers to put on national eventsby setting up an Events Subcommittee,headed by Hazel Trepp, ETAS Vice President,assisted by Amy Jost, former President andall-round volunteer. With their team, theyare currently enthusiastically organisingthe next national event, which will be theProfessional Development Day in Septemberin Baden.As you can see from the AGM Minutes, theCommittee has changed, with four membersstepping down and four newcomers joiningthe Committee. I have very much enjoyedworking with Paul Henderson, who hasmoved to New York, with John Raggett,who has moved to Leipzig, and with SteveLander, who, as far as I know, is staying inBasel. We’re not really saying goodbye toHazel Trepp as she is staying on as VicePresident. I wish all four every success intheir new roles and thank them warmly forall they have done for ETAS.We welcome onto the Committee AnitaTowers, Peach Richmond, Catherine Shultis,and Hansjoerg Stieger. I’m looking forwardto working with and getting to know them inthe coming year. I am sure they are readyto embrace the challenge!Ann Humphry-BakerETAS PresidentETAS membership numbers 2011/2012ADMINISTRATORREPORTPlease find below the numbers for the pastmembership year (July 2011 to June 2012).During the past membership year we had thepleasure of welcoming 98 new members. Onthe other hand, there were 152 membershipcancellations, most of whom were teacherschanging careers, retiring, or moving abroad.Reduced membership feesIf you have recently reached the officialSwiss retirement age and have a postaladdress in Switzerland, you can continuesupporting ETAS by taking advantage of thereduced membership fee. We also offer areduced membership rate for students.Contact me for more information.Tell your colleagues about ETASHave you got colleagues who don't knowabout ETAS? Tell them about ourAssociation! Show them our website(www.e-tas.ch) or invite them to join youat an ETAS regional workshop or nationalconference. If you email me their postaladdress (office@e-tas.ch), I’ll be happyto send them a complimentary copy ofthe Journal with an invitation to applyfor membership.Any questions?As usual, feel free tocontact me if you haveany questions regardingETAS membership,advertising, exhibitingbooks, our mail-serviceLibrary, registrationsfor national events, and others.Thank you for your excellent collaborationand ongoing support!Corinne TschumiETAS AdministratorETAS AdministrationRue de l’Hôpital 32CH-1400 YverdonTel: +41 (0)24 420 32 54 *Fax: +41 (0)24 420 32 57email: office@e-tas.ch* Phone hours:Monday and Tuesday: 9 - 12 a.m.Wednesday and Friday: 2 - 4 p.m.Total NewCancellationsTotal30.06.11 members 30.06.12EvolutionIndividual 967 + 94 - 143 918 - 49Institutional 86 + 3 - 6 83 - 3Associate 20 + 1 - 3 18 - 2Total numberof members1,073 1,01918 ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013

NATIONAL COORDINATORREPORTSome changes and challenges face ourRCs in the coming year. I am stepping downafter four years as National Coordinatorand am handing over to Anita Towers.I am leaving an almost complete team ofexperienced RCs to help her settle into herposition. I have been sharing informationwith her over the past months, am veryhappy for the RCs that she has agreed totake over, and wish her much successand enjoyment in the position.In the past year, all Regions wererepresented by RCs and between themthey offered between one to five workshopsor networking events each. We also flewthe ETAS banner at several external eventsin Zürich, Horgen, and Freiburg. RuthBenvegnen headed the AGM andConvention LOC last year in Yverdon andBarbara Bréchet Mottier has led the LOCfor this weekend in Sierre/Siders.Similarly, Donna Aebersold was involvedon the LOC of the AGM and Convention inLucerne 2011 and the two SIG Days in Zug.As every year, there are a few changesin RCs to report:RCs who handed over to new RCsor are leaving now:Paul Raper and Francesca Elsaesser,RCs St. GallenSarah Giles and Jenny Guerne, RCs BadenPeter Pasquill, RC Graubünden (thanksare also due to ex-RC Astrid Carigietwho stood in for Peter at the last eventin Chur in November)Donna Aebersold, RC Central Switzerland(for more than 10 years)Thanks to all the above for ALL theyhave done for ETAS over long and shorterperiods of service.New RCs starting in the past yearor starting now:Ruth Castanera, co-RC TicinoLiudmila Viaroukina, co-RC St. GallenCaroline Rickli, RC BadenRuth, Liudmila and Caroline, I wish you awarm welcome and smooth start as RCs.Regions looking for a new RC:These changes mean that at present wehave vacancies for RCs in two Regions:Central Switzerland and Graubünden. Ifany of you are from those Regions andwould consider taking over this position(or know someone who could), pleaseget in touch with the outgoing RCs orour new National Coordinator.ChallengesThe work and responsibilities of RCs willremain much the same in the coming yearbut the ongoing challenge is to attract newmembers. The only way for RCs to keepoffering regional events is if there areenough local members to attend. RCsneed to hear from the members and theyneed your support to be better able toserve you – continuing to offer qualityworkshops and networking events.In an effort to take some of the burden offRCs as LOC organizers for national events,a new Events Subcommittee is beinglaunched this weekend to take over thelong planning and look after issues suchas venue, sponsorship, and exhibitions.This should lighten up the load on RCs andmake the position more attractive.A final thank youI would like to thank again all the RCs,SCs, and the Committee, past and present,for the super cooperation over the years.This has made my job easier and also apleasure. On behalf of the RCs, thank youalso to publishers and presenters willing totravel to various parts of the country to givea workshop for ETAS members. I’m sorry ifI cannot name everyone or have missed outanyone. I look forward to continued contactwith you in the future as I continue to workfor ETAS on the Committee and as Chair ofthe Events Subcommittee.Hazel TreppNATIONAL EVENTS CHAIRREPORTMy first year as National Events Chair hasbeen very challenging and certainly involvedmore work, especially computer work, thanI could have imagined.My first practical challenge was to find avenue for the 2013 AGM and Convention.It didn’t take long to come up with the ideaof the HES-SO Valais/Wallis for threereasons. Firstly, during my time as projectmanager for the lower secondary schoolteachers’ training in the Canton of Valais,many of our workshop sessions were heldthere, so the premises were familiar.Secondly, ETAS held the 2004 AGM andConvention there – I was part of the LOCand since then have had a good contactwith the Valais RC Barbara Bréchet Mottier.Thirdly, Sierre/Siders is within easy reachof my home. I contacted Barbara and shespontaneously agreed to be the LOCCoordinator and after having checkedthe dates, we knew that an event therewould be feasible.The next challenge for me was a flood ofemails and it was difficult to prioritise theseat first. During that time I was very muchsupported by Corinne Tschumi, who wasalways there to answer my questions whenI didn’t know exactly what was to be done.A highlight was in March when I attendedthe IATEFL in Glasgow with other Committeemembers. There I also had the pleasure ofmeeting colleagues from my project work atthe PH-Valais. My priority was to find guestspeakers for the plenaries and there ofcourse (I had attended IATEFLs before)I concentrated on the big names such asAdrian Underhill, Marion Williams, JimScrivener, Jeremy Harmer, and others.Out of the blue we were contacted by TimMurphey, who is professor at KandaUniversity of International Studies in Japan,who said he would be in Switzerland at thetime of the AGM and Convention. I happilycontacted him, as I remembered him withpleasure as my first ELT trainer in Rolle, VD.My next main task was to contact variouspublishers and the British Council, as wellas write to plenary speakers and negotiatepossible presentations. The cooperationhere all went very smoothly.The downside of taking on this job wasthat my predecessor had already left forthe States and the files she gave me couldoften not be opened. During my summerholidays, mainly in Cornwall, I received manysuggestions for workshops and then thenext challenge was to arrange them in fourblocks with different themes. So far, sogood. For me then the really unexpectedlyhard work came when I was supposed tocompile all the documents and there wasno template I could use. My husband andI spent hours setting up a template basedon the previous year’s programme. Theresult of the cooperation based on the hardwork of the Editorial team (Ceres, Diane,and Ron) can be seen in the programme.Barbara Bréchet Mottier and I formed theLOC team in early autumn consisting ofBarbara Althaus, John Raggett, BeverleyTodeschini, Monica Zumstein, AlexandraBossetti, Leonard Adkins, and Rita Jenelten.We met regularly to discuss and finaliseall the details for the AGM. We have agood rapport and everybody on the teammade significant contributions. Here wewere again very much supported byCorinne Tschumi and the whole ETASCommittee – many thanks!Barbara Chuck20 ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013

ETAS 29th AGM and Convention SupplementAnnual Committee Reports: The Year in ReviewPUBLICATIONS CHAIRREPORTETAS Journal: harnessingopportunities, fostering connectionsIn the tradition of Annual Reports, here’s agraphic representation of our ContentsProfile from Winter 2010 to Winter 2012, togive our readers some ideas of the stepswe are taking to build ETAS Journal into apremier publication and to convey somethingof the excitement, originality, andimportance of what we are doing here.so in the years to come. Though the topics,themes, and approaches of our publishedarticles are remarkably diverse, they shareone thing in common – a passionateengagement with ELT, whether in thedomain of theory or in the field of practice,that transcends national boundaries.• ‘Untethered to geography’: demographicprofiles of ETAS J contributors – our listof contributors coming from a wide varietyof geographic settings and culturesThe care with which our reviewers readarticle submissions contributes greatlyto the high standards of our articles.• Identity – ETAS Journal has finallyestablished its place among the mosthighly regarded international ELT journalsworldwide with contents that are not onlyintegrative and challenging but alwaysvibrant, engaging, and accessible as wellas reflective of the vast field of ELT andthe aspirations of our readership.Contents/ Winter 2010 Spring 2011 Summer 2011 Winter 2011 Spring 2012 Summer 2012 Winter 2012Thematic Rubrics 52 pages 52 pages 60 pages 76 pages 84 pages 76 pages 88 pagesETAS News, etc. ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓AGM and Convention ✓ ✓Supplement + - + 31 reports + 37 reports - -Workshop ReportsMain Articles - - 3 3 3 3 4Perspectives - - (New) 1 1 - - 4Voices of Experience - - (New) 1 4 3 4 5Insights - - - - (New) 1 1ETAS CrossingBorders - - - - 3 (New) 6 6SIG Day WS reports 25 reports - - 20 reports - - 24 reportsThe Techy Column - - (New) 1 2 3 3 The TechyCorner(renamed)4Special Supplement Drama - YL TT - Research -5 articles 13 articles 10 articles 7 articlesFrom the Regions -Workshop Reports 1 4 4 2 4 1 8Book Reviews 5 9 1 10 5 1 4Table 1: Contents Profile Summary, Winter 2010 – Winter 2012Achievements:two years and seven issues later, we haveexpanded from 52 pages to 88, our contentsare bursting with outstanding articles, ourauthors coming from a wide variety ofsettings and cultures, many of them fromhalfway across the globe. Here are some ofthe highlights worth mentioning:• ETAS Crossing Borders - the initiativebegun in the Summer edition to connectus to the global ELT community by linkingcultures and sharing expertise is growingand attracting a lot of interest. Articles inthis section invite us to examine howthese works bear upon our own teachingpractices and professional perspectiveswhile challenging us to transcend ourown particularity.• ETAS J and the social media – ETAS Jnow occupies a more visible, more robustpresence in the ELT virtual communitywith our social media accounts. Readersand contributors can now follow ETAS Jon Twitter (@ETASJournal) and Facebook.• Variety of articles – vibrant, intellectualexchange within the ELT field was a majoremphasis in 2012 and will continue to becontinues to grow. The diversity ofcultures and expertise they representoffer complementary and contrastingviewpoints to our own experience,understanding, and practice of ELT.• Ripple effect in other articles – newarticles inspired by those previouslypublished in the ETAS J are starting tomake their appearance in our pages.This ripple effect demonstrates thegradual but increasingly spreadinginfluence of ETAS Journal writings onother authors and readers.• Citation of ETAS J articles – even morenoteworthy, ETAS J is beginning to occupya space in the bibliographies and in-textcitations of other articles. Becausecitation is one of the best indicators ofa publication’s place in scholarlydiscussions, this means that ETASJournal is not only being read and isconsidered a valuable resource but isinfluencing the ELT field in profoundlysignificant ways.• Peer review – without the time andexpertise freely given by our peerreviewers, the Journals could not function.Reality checkThat all this took us just two years andseven issues is a reason for celebrating.But reality has a way of intruding into ourdreams, ruining even our best-laid plansand tempering our celebrations. DecliningETAS membership – which translates todeclining income and, eventually, decliningreadership – means that providing for theJournal in perpetuity or without limits canno longer be assured. As ETAS J facesserious challenges in terms of dwindlingresources and rising printing cost, we needto start thinking about the future of journalprinting, exploring possibilities fordeveloping new publication models, andadapting new methods, if only to dispelthe threats to our viability. So, expect tosee some changes this year as we lay outplans for streamlining our contents.At the moment, these streamlining planshave yet to take a definite shape, but onething I do know for sure is that we willalways have great writing, we will alwayshave thoughtful and captivating images,and we will continue to strive for new waysto bring them to you.ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013 21

Yet, though the prospect of dwindlingresources is understandably worrying,it is only half as daunting as trying to fillour Journal only with articles exclusivelyby ETAS members. To me, nurturingpassionate writing for publication amongour very own members remains thegreatest challenge. So I throw thischallenge back to our readership: thoseof you who feel you should be readingsomething else or are not getting whatyou want, then write it and send it to us.FuturecastingDespite the uncertainties facing ETAS,ETAS Journal is entering a period whereinnovative articles and thematic interestsare leading us into new ways of engagingwith the broad field of ELT and into differentparts of the globe. This year also includesa major milestone in the history of ETAS:we are marking the 30th anniversary of thefounding of ETAS as well as ETAS Journal’s30th year of publication. And as ETAScontinues to provide a venue for a widerange of professional developmentseminars and workshops representingthe diverse intellectual interests of itsmembers, ETAS Journal hopes to continuebeing its voice and face to the world witha new project: ETAS Journal’s very ownwebsite! Watch out for it, as we aim toreach out to an increasingly global, diverse,and growing readership.ThanksBecause journal production is thequintessence of collaboration, my greatestdebt of gratitude goes to my productionteam, Diane and Ron, and members ofour Editorial Board: Illya Arnet-Clark,Vicky Loras, Helena Lustenberger, JulieMangold-Kecskemeti, Valerie Safai,Dorothy Sommer – and beginning thisSpring – Patricia Daniels and James Taylor.I hope this report manages to convey asense of their extraordinary achievementsand their equally extraordinary commitmentto excellence in publication.Gratitude also goes to all our ETAScolleagues and members as well as thoseELT colleagues from around the world whohave extended their support so generouslyto the Journal as authors and contributors,peer reviewers, and readers. Without thetime and expertise they have freely given,the Journal could not function.And to all our readers: I appreciate yourcontinued interest in our offerings and hopethat you will remain involved in the life ofETAS Journal for many years to come!With gratitude,Ceres PioquintoPUBLIC RELATIONS CHAIRREPORTIt has been a privilege to be engaged in thework of public relations for ETAS for the last18 months, a post which I have had to giveup with reluctance as I am now residing onthe other side of the pond – as they sayover here (although when they say it overhere, they actually mean over there – wheremost of you are). Despite my departure,I will remain a committed member of ETAS,and will try to be of some use in some way.I look forward to getting the Journals butwill have to forego the guilty pleasure oftrying to spot myself in a photo at the backof a workshop until I can find a way to getmyself over for the AGM and Convention.ETAS has a bright future but there remaina number of challenges that have to beaddressed, chief among which is ourdeclining membership. The 2011 surveyof the ETAS individual membership showedthat we are not a young bunch and we arenot getting any younger. However,membership is not going down becausewe are passing on to pastures new(metaphorically or – in my case – otherwise).In fact, the rate at which we are losingmembers is actually in decline.Unfortunately, the rate at which we arerecruiting new ones is in even greaterdecline. It is not abundantly clear to mewhy that should be the case, but it mightbe due to the fact that people are countingthe pennies more these days.Due to the engagement of ETAS RegionalCoordinators and volunteers, ETAS continuesto be an important presence at regionalteacher training events and educationalexhibitions in Switzerland. Workshopscontinue to provide local talent with theopportunity to sharpen their presentationskills and share their enthusiasm andknowledge. Over the last few years,publishers have provided more and morehigh-quality training days and workshopsfor free. ETAS has taken every opportunityto associate itself with such events and, inmy opinion, should continue to do so.On the national level, the 2012 AGMand Convention and the SIG Day wereexceptionally well-run and well-attendedevents. The quality of the plenaries, inparticular, was, I suspect, as good as youwill find at any national event anywhereelse in the world.As my last act as Public Relations Chair,I conducted a questionnaire among ourinstitutional members to find out how wecan continue to improve the quality of ourservices, the results of which I hope to beable to share with you in our next Journal.It has been a privilege to work with Ann andthe other members of the Committee, andof course with Corinne.Bonne continuation!With my best wishes,Paul HendersonSECRETARYREPORTAs I write this report, I am assailed bywaves of nostalgia. This is the last reportthat I will write for ETAS. In the spring,I am moving to the beautiful baroque cityof Leipzig.From year to year, the Secretary’s Reportis pretty much the same; it’s just the datethat changes. As usual, I have been doingthe Minutes and answering the manyrequests for information from people whowant to come and work in Switzerland, ofwhich there has been a sudden flurry sinceNovember. There are still loads of peopleout there who want your jobs. Indeed,I have often thought that it might be aninteresting research project to investigatethe connection, if any, between the numberof requests received and the Europeanunemployment rate.I have been a member of ETAS since Iarrived in Switzerland in 2006. At my firstAGM in Solothurn, I volunteered to helpwith the Journal. Since then, most of mytime within the organisation has beenspent filling vacancies here and there untilsomeone better could be found. And, tothat end, I am very pleased that CatherineShultis will be assuming the Secretary’srole at the AGM.So, the time has come to thank ETAS forall the friendship, the fun, and the careeropportunities it has afforded me over thepast seven years. As I always state in myreplies to the enquiries: ETAS is the bestorganisation in Switzerland for careerdevelopment and networking, particularly if,like me, you are an independent operator.Thank you, ETAS. I will miss you all.John RaggettETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013 23

ETAS 29th AGM and Convention SupplementAnnual Committee Reports: The Year in ReviewTEACHER DEVELOPMENTCHAIRREPORTETAS Teacher Development has seen a yearof change and is facing a year of challengeahead. I took over the position of TeacherDevelopment Chair from Stephanie Wimmerat the beginning of 2012. I would like tothank Steph for her work in the positionand for organizing the programme for twosuccessful SIG Days in 2010 and 2011.She also started the ball rolling for the2012 programme, for which I am grateful.We have welcomed four new SIGCoordinators: LeAnn Barnes for YoungLearners, Ian Sowers and Bianca Müllerfor Drama & Literature, Neil Bullock forExaminations, Testing & Assessment,and Christina Kwok, who has started anew Cross-Cultural SIG and is the SIGCoordinator in charge. We’re really lookingforward to developing this new SpecialInterest Group. A big thank you to theprevious SIG Coordinators, Nina Blaettler,Gillian Eames, and Joy Cosslett.I would also like to thank the SIGCoordinators, Local Organising Committee,and all the volunteers who organized ahighly successful SIG Day in Zug in 2012.This leads me to our biggest change for2013. The SIG Day is being revamped andrenamed, and we are looking forward to ourfirst Professional Development Day whichwill take place in Baden in September. Wehave taken on feedback from past eventsand look forward to running a successfulProfessional Development Day this year,one that will be even better than our pastsuccessful events.One of the challenges facing ETAS is havingenough volunteers to run our events. Manypeople have been volunteering for severalyears and would like a break. We hadtrouble finding a venue and forming a LocalOrganizing Committee for the ProfessionalDevelopment Day but were able to form anEvents Subcommittee and were relievedand happy to say we could go ahead thisyear. As well as needing help to ensurethe future of the Professional DevelopmentDay, some SIG Coordinator positions havebecome or will soon become vacant.So please consider taking on a role,small or large, in helping us to keepthis important part of ETAS alive.Currently the School ManagementSIG Coordinator position is vacant.Your feedback, suggestions, andnew ideas are always welcome.Cindy StiegerTREASURERREPORTETAS ended the Fiscal Year 2011 - 2012year at breakeven. The marginal positiveresult was due to the recuperation ofCHF 4,400 that had been reserved forZürich cantonal taxes but subsequentlynot needed. Thus, compared to the 2010 -2011 profit of CHF 11,500 CHF, adeterioration in the ETAS financial situationwas underway.As the first half of the Fiscal Year 2012 -2013 year progressed, a noticeable fall inrevenues persisted. As against theprevious year, ETAS revenues went downby 10% and as of 31st December 2012stood at CHF 209,000 as compared toCHF 233,000 a year ago.Although ETAS has sufficient reservesto cover any 2012 - 2013 deficit, theCommittee is reviewing means of increasingrevenues as well as streamlining the ETAScost structure in order to balance theBudget for the 2014 - 2015 Fiscal Year.Much of the falling revenue is explainedby a declining membership. Individual andassociate members declined by nearly11% and individual memberships by 6%compared to a year ago. Individualmemberships are down 37% over thelast 10 years.As an ancillary endeavor, the Committee iscollecting members’ birth years in order tounderstand better the age profile of theETAS membership. Understanding themembership age structure is a key elementin the longer-term strategic planning for theAssociation. With 65% of the membershipcovered at the end of 2012, here is theage distribution profile using the base yearof 2013:ETAS Membership 2012-2013 Age DistributionAge Category20 - 2930 - 34Members822% Dist1%3%% Dist Grouped11%35 - 39 40 6%40 - 44 67 10%45 - 49 89 14%24%50 - 5455 - 5912113619%21% 53%60 - 64 89 14%65 - 69 49 8%70 - 90 29 4%12%TOTAL 650100%WEB CHAIRREPORTThe ETAS website carried on with thesame infrastructure as the previous year. Itcontinues to be a team effort. Many thanksto Hazel Trepp (Regional Coordinators andevents), Cindy Anderson (links), andAntoinette Breutel-O’Donoghue (who tookover the Job Board at the beginning of theyear) for their great efforts and the timethey devoted to the task. Our Administrator,Corinne Tschumi, continued to providetremendous support throughout the year,and made the website a good deal betterthan it would otherwise have been.Feedback on the site has remained verypositive to date.Our survey application was again usedto collect feedback on the AGM andConvention and SIG Day 2012. ETASE-News, the monthly electronic newsletter,was sent out during the year, with atwo-month break in the summer (no E-Newsin July and August) and a one-month breakat Christmas (no E-News in January).After more than four years as Web Chair,I am now handing over to Hansjoerg Stieger,who I am sure will keep the quality of thewebsite very high. I have gained a lot fromrunning the ETAS website and am verysatisfied with how it has developed.I wish Hans-Jörg every success.Site use statistics are available on request.Steve LanderRaymond Rogers24 ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013

PlenariesPLENARYMess and DifficultyA D R I A N U N D E R H I L LThis is a summary of some of the mainpoints from my plenary talk Mess andDifficulty, given at the ETAS AGM andConvention in Sierre/Siders on 26thJanuary 2013, in which I explored threeinterrelated themes:1. Russell Ackoff’s distinction betweenDifficulty and Mess2. Overcoming systems blindness andlearning to ‘see’ systems3. Qualities of (post-heroic) leadershipnecessary to embrace systemicintelligence.Russell Ackoff was a systems thinker,interested in how complexity impacts onsocial systems. Like Donald Schön, withwhom he cooperated, he had experience incity planning, and planners, like architectsand engineers, face both hard problems,like erecting buildings and bridges, andsoft problems, such as how thesestructures impact on human life.Difficulty and MessIn 1974 Ackoff proposed his distinctionbetween Difficulty and Mess. A Difficulty hedescribed as a fairly clear-cut, containedproblem. It is explainable and capable ofresolution within current thinking andtechnology. We may even know what theanswer will look like. When it is solved, thedifficulty will be more or less extinguished.A Mess, however, is extensive, boundaryless,high in uncertainty, and contains manydifferent and changing variables. Everythingis interconnected. Thus it is ambiguous,resists definition, has no single correctview, nor any tidy fix. The aim can only beto adapt and improve the situation, ratherthan to attempt to ‘solve’ it. According toAckoff, “every problem interacts with otherproblems and is therefore part of a setof interrelated problems, a system ofproblems. I choose to call such a systema mess” (1974).As an example, take the building of a bridgeas a Difficulty. It is within current thinking;we know ‘what it looks like’, and we knowwhen it is finished. The technology isavailable, and even if I can’t build it myself,I can find someone who can. However,whether to build the bridge is a softproblem that changes even as you workwith it. Trying to factor together the benefitsand downsides of the multiple impactsit will have on people, communities,landscape, traffic, roads, ecology, boating,economy, and so on constitutes a Mess,further complicated by the unintendedconsequences created by the solutions.People and their viewpoints are part of aMess; in fact, “where there are humansthere’s mess.” The class you teach is aMess, and so is your school, and probablymost of your personal affairs. But note thatpart of the beauty of Ackoff’s use of theterm ‘Mess’ is the absence of the usualnegative connotation. It just describes afact. It’s OK to be in a mess, and in fact ifyou’re alive, that’s what you’re in.The point in all this is not that Mess itselfis a problem, but the tendency to see aMess and to mistake it for a Difficulty. Toattempt to ‘solve’ a Mess as if it were aDifficulty – THAT’S the problem. And thereason it’s a problem is that if you have asystem improvement that improves partstaken separately, you can be sure that thesystem will not be improved. If you createsolutions inside the box of your perspective,you will be simultaneously oblivious of thefurther problems your solutions createoutside your box. Systemic Thinking is adiscipline that has been developed overthe past 50 years to make the full patternsclearer, to see connections and relationshipsrather than isolated entities, and to seehow to change them effectively. This hasinfluenced organisational thinking in anumber of ways, one of which has beenthe formulation of the idea of the learningcompany, or learning school, or team.Learning organisationA learning organisation is one in which allactivities are carried out as conspicuouslearning, and the organisation facilitatesthe learning of all its members while atthe same time, and through that learning,continuously transforming itself (Pedler &Aspinwall, 1998).Thus learning itself is a way of gettingthings done. The activity of learning yourway into a situation has the potential tochange the situation itself. Here is anillustrative quiz that could get you andyour colleagues talking about how openyour own school/college/department is tolearning. Give yourself 3 if your school isjust like that, 0 if it is the opposite, and1 or 2 if in-between.1. It’s easy to get people to listen to andexperiment with new ideas andsuggestions.2. Making mistakes is part of learning.People can be open about it. It is notcareer-limiting.3. Staff members of all ranks give eachother plenty of quality feedback fromabove, below, sideways.4. Everyone is involved in discussing schoolpolicies before adoption.5. People in one department know whatpeople in another department think andneed, and they help each other.The point here is that you have to stopthinking of learning as an individual activityand see it as only meaningful whenconnected up, as an organisationalproperty, a system property. Such questionscan start conversations that help people to‘see’ the system they are part of. Learningto ‘see’ systems is not quickly explainedor learnt from a book but from our daily lifeusing some disciplined way of learningfrom experience. So here’s a favouritelearning mantra of mine, for learning fromexperience. It is a portable form ofexperiential learning cycle, and goes like this:The Mantra: See what’s going on.Do something different. Learn from it.See what’s going on: in yourthinking/feeling/sense making, in youractions, and in your impacts on others(e.g. as a teacher in class). Develop ways tomake your actions visible, to see how youchose what to see, to see the multipleperspectives in any situation. And to seethat you are part of the system you observe.Do something different: if you discern apattern in your actions, try doing somesmall thing differently, not to do it better,but to see better what’s going on. By‘doing different’ you prod the system andit pushes back and begins to reveal howit works. There are essentially three waysto do something different:1. Do something you don’t usually do2. Refrain from doing what you usually do3. Do what you usually do but watch itmore observantlyLearn from it: this means reflect on yourseeing and doing. What provisional insightsdoes it afford? Talk to different people aboutit, value their different perspectives, takethese insights back into your next seeing(Step 1) and doing (Step 2) and test themout. An organisation with a learning ethoswould encourage everyone in it to engagewith this mantra, especially in the smallthings that make up a lesson or a staffmeeting. This mantra could also be acentral part of staff training, annualappraisals systems, Continuous ProfessionalETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013 25

ETAS 29th AGM and Convention SupplementPlenariesDevelopment (CPD), observations andfeedback, parents meetings, and so on,and should be conspicuously connected toschool-wide learning.Here are seven tips for teachers that couldhelp make systems visible, and which couldprovide a starter for the learning mantra:1. Check out the other perspectives inthe room2. Get real. Stop wishing your studentswere different from how they are3. Look for unintended consequences inall your classroom actions4. Bother less about trying to control,and encourage connectivity5. Start conversations about whatevermatters to whoever is there6. See the whole school as an adventurepark for your learning7. Make lesson plans but don’t expectthem to work outNew leadershipNow let’s turn briefly to the issue of thekind of leadership needed to allow any ofthe ideas in this article to take root in anorganisation. When you look at socialstructures through history, you can’t failto notice the human tendency towardshierarchical organisation: putting anall-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful leader atthe top, sometimes referred to as heroicleadership. But this familiar style ofleadership is changing. The traditional,hierarchical top-down approach is workingless and less well in settings wherecomplexity is increasing. It is not smartenough for today’s complexity, where youneed leadership dispersed throughout thesystem. Some of the particular challengesto heroic leadership are:• Control does not seem to work witha Mess. What is needed is connectivity.Single location heroic leadership is notgood at this.• Decisions today are based on uncertainand insufficient data, and cause andeffect are often separated in time andplace and hard to learn from.• There is the increasingly voiced demandthat leadership serves people, notjust itself.• There is the demand that work andeducation should have personalsignificance and ‘worthwhileness’.People want to take values to work,not sacrifice them in order to work.• Leaders need to have self-knowledgeand personal maturity if they are totackle any of the above, in order to seethe problems as they are.These factors draw forth a different kind ofleadership. Here are three characteristics ofthe newly emerging paradigm of leadership:1. Who is a leader? There is a shift infocus from leader to leadership, fromthe person of the leader to the activityof leadership. By unhooking leadershipfrom position, we see that it can comefrom anywhere in a system. Teacher,26 ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013head teacher, parent, or pupil,leadership is the activity of oneperson wanting to get something donethrough other people.2. The focus of leadership action: thisshifts away from the old notion ofinfluencing the community to follow theleader’s vision, and towards the ideaof influencing the community to faceits problems (Heifetz, 1994).3. What holds it all together? Coercion orpurpose? This idea is well expressedby Roger Lewin: “When people arealigned to their purpose, when the gapbetween values and behaviours closes,what people experience is a stream ofease…” (2001). So when personalmeaning and action stack up, energyflows and connection grows. Sharedpurpose begins to develop and to holdthings together. In the absence ofshared purpose, one person’s purposegets imposed on others, and youhave to rely on coercion to holdthings together.ConclusionTo conclude then, according to a systemicview, a healthy school and its leadershipstrive to distinguish mess from difficulty,refrain from trying to solve the former, butmeet it with connectivity rather than control,install connected-up learning as part of theoperating system, and encourage systemicthinking and participation in leadershipactivity, which in turn is dispersedthroughout the system.The message in a nutshell? Embracingmess, learning, and leadership are threesides of the same coin.ReferencesAckoff, R. (1974). Redesigning the future: A systemsapproach to societal problems. New York, NY: JohnWiley & Sons, Inc.Ackoff, R. (1999). Ackoff’s best: His classic writings onmanagement. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.Heifetz, R. (1994). Leadership without easy answers.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Lewin, R., & Regine, B. (2001). Weaving complexity andbusiness: Engaging the soul at work. New York, NY:Texere Publishing.Pedler, M., & Aspinwall, K. (1998). Concise guide to thelearning organization. London, UK: Lemos & Crane.Schön, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner. New York,NY: Basic Books, Inc.About the AuthorAdrian Underhill is a freelance consultant helpingschools to develop their organisational intelligence,and trainer offering programmes on facilitation andleadership. He is a past president of IATEFL. Hisinterests include applications of complexity thinkingto leadership and teaching and the use of actioninquiry in professional learning. He is series editorof Macmillan Books for Teachers (2009), andauthor of Sound Foundations: Learning andTeaching Pronunciation (Macmillan Education,2005). He has just brought out an iPhone/androidapp: SOUNDS: The Pronunciation App. A currentinterest is the role of skilful improvisationin teaching.PLENARYDeveloping thinkingin young learnersM A R I O N W I L L I A M SWhen children leave school, and indeedbefore, they will need to face the challengesof a changing and unpredictable world.They will need a range of decision-makingand problem-solving strategies in order toface unexpected problems that will arisein the future and tackle them competently.However, many school curricula do notfoster this ability. Instead they tend to bebased on systematic, error-free learning,correct answers, assimilation of facts, andassessment by teachers. Life, however,is not full of correct answers; we generallyneed to find the best answer for aparticular problem in a particular situation.And in life, learning is not neatly packagedin small, systematic steps; it is far morecomplex than this. It is thereforeimportant to prepare our learners to facenovel and unpredictable challenges, andfind ways of solving unforeseen problemswith confidence.The growing literature in the field ofteaching thinking shows that thinking canbe taught, and that success in thisventure is largely due to good teaching.An excellent review of the literature inthis area can be found on the websitehttp://www.thinkingschool.co.uk/The thinking movement is expandinginternationally, and the number ofprogrammes on the market is growing.These are described on the website above.Notable are Reuven Feuerstein’sInstrumental Enrichment Program, Blagg etal.’s Somerset Thinking Skills Course,Matthew Lipman’s Philosophy for Children,and David Hyerle’s Thinking Maps. NigelBlagg and his associates provide a clear“problem solving cycle” of six stageswhich involve looking carefully at all theinformation provided, defining the problem,generating approaches to solving it, takingaction, monitoring progress, andcommunicating solutions.In our recent book, Teaching Young Learnersto Think (Helbling Languages, 2012),Herbert Puchta and I provide a theoreticalunderpinning to the teaching of thinking.

We identify 14 different cognitive areas, andprovide 80 activities which teach thinkingskills through English as a Foreign Languagein these cognitive areas, so that languageand thinking develop together. These areasinclude comparisons, categorising,sequencing, focusing attention, memorising,exploring time, space and numbers, causeand effect, decision making, problemsolving, and creative thinking.Below is an example of a numerical activity.Here, the learners need to understand boththe concept and the language of ‘morethan’ in order to complete the activity; thelanguage flows from the task, and thelearners need to thoroughly understand thelanguage in order to complete the task.Next is an example of exploring space. Inorder to complete this activity, learners needto be able to see Tom in different positionsand recognise the direction the buildingsare from his viewpoint. This involvescomplex thinking skills. They also need touse and thoroughly understand the language‘on his right’, ‘on his left’, in front of him’and ‘behind him’. Once again, the languageis not complex, and flows from the task.It is important to stress that the role of theteacher is central to developing thinkingsuccessfully. It is not enough just to givean activity; the teacher needs to model,scaffold, and encourage the thinkingprocess. The following points are vital:• Children should be free to think withoutcriticism. In this regard, all ideas shouldbe listened to and valued by the teacher.• Encourage the learners to listen toeach other.• Encourage creativity; even if an ideaappears to be ‘whacky’, it shouldbe valued.• Allow the learners to take time to think;discourage rushing to finish.• Scaffold the thinking process. Whatinformation do we have? What do weneed to do?• Develop the habit of backing upsuggestions with evidence. Askchallenging questions: How do youknow this? How did you work this out?• Seek ‘best answers’, not always‘right answers’.• Develop a sense of competence,feelings of ‘I can’.About the AuthorMarion Williams was formerly Reader in AppliedLinguistics at Exeter University, UK, where shecoordinated the postgraduate programmes inTESOL. She was recently President of IATEFL. Sheis interested in all psychological aspects oflanguage learning and teaching. Her books includePsychology for Language Teachers (CUP, 1997),Thinking through the Curriculum (co-edited withRobert Burden, Routledge, 1998,) Teaching YoungLearners to Think (co-authored with Herbert Puchta,Helbling Languages, 2012), and Psychology forLanguage Learning (co-edited with Sarah Mercerand Stephen Ryan, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012).ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013 27

ETAS 29th AGM and Convention SupplementPlenariesPLENARYFrom curiosity tochallenge in life and ELTT I M M U R P H E Y“I think the human spirit always wants tomake a contribution. And I don’t thinkthere are enough invitations.”Angeles Arrien (in Briskin et al., 2009, p. 156)Anthropological history and neurosciencecombine to show us the possibilities ofhuman agency and altruism. At the beginningof my plenary, I asked four questions:1. Why did humans stand up 6,000,000years ago?2. Why did women start birthing earlierabout the same time?3. What were the negative and positiveresults of early birthing?4. Why is a turtle trying to fly morebeautiful than a bird sitting in a tree?Research by Rodiger and Finn (2009) showthat, even if you initially get the answerswrong, having thought about the possibleanswers first (wrong or right) makes yourretention stronger (once you get the rightanswers) than if you were just given theright answers immediately. Struggling withpossible answers creates neurologicalnetworks that are more robust.The anthropologist’s viewAnthropologists actually estimate thathumans began standing up six million yearsago. Why this is important for linguists andteachers will soon become apparent. Thereare several theories about why we stood up –the most likely being that we had a senseof curiosity and wanted to see farther. Oneresult of standing and walking on two legswas that our hip structures were reshaped.This resulted in the reshaping of the birthcanal of women and they began giving birthto babies much earlier. Women went fromhaving babies after 13 months of gestationto nine months. This perhaps haddangerous repercussions for the species,possibly reducing our numbers at firstuntil we figured out how to take care ofprematurely born children. However,gradually caretakers realized the infantsneeded more care and started attendingto them longer and longer.repertoire of signs (Lee et al., 2010;Murphey, 2011). This could also havetrained us in theory of mind (VygotskianSocio Cultural Theory), the idea thathumans are very adept (now) at imaginingwhat someone else must be thinking indifferent circumstances, something parentsneed to be good at with their children.In other words, it trained us to have abetter rapport with others, to get in syncwith them (Strogatz, 2003).Another innovation that occurred in everyknown group of humans on the planet isthe advent of midwives. Having birth fourmonths earlier was not only hard on babiesbut coping with narrower birth canalsmeant that women needed help, midwives,to assure they and their infants lived.Premature children with a difficult birthing,along with communal hunting and gatheringof food, brought people together to helpeach other survive. These beginnings ofcommunities led to cultures and eventuallycivilization as we know it (not perfect evenyet, but improving with ups and downs).These initial drives in humans areinteresting to note: curiosity, adaptability(learning), and altruism through bonding.It seems we are often at our best in theworst of times. These are some of thebest characteristics of the species. Butwe also have the opposite tendencies attimes: i.e. to merely do what has been done,force old ways, and to care only for the self.And while community and belonging helpus survive, they are not always positiveand can lead to some negative things(like prejudice against non-members, war,and group-think).Neuroscience: dopamineand mirror neuronsDopamine is the neurotransmitter thatshows we are excited about a variety ofthings, but especially when we realize wecan control something and understand it,or what we call agency (Sapolsky, 2009).Learning to use language meaningfully cancause a dopamine rush because it givesus more control over our environments.These feelings seem to happen mostoften in interactive situations when wecan actually do something with languagewith others. When teachers can createopportunities for students to experienceautonomy and agency, students will feelmore in control and excited about learning.Pearce (1971), and certainly others beforehim, intuitively sensed how “a kind of roughmirroring takes place between our mindand our reality” (p. 1), shaped greatly byour community. Hatfield, Cacioppo, andRapson’s 1994 volume on EmotionalContagion detailed how we catch eachother’s emotions. A little later I describednear peer role modeling (Murphey, 1996;Murphey & Arao, 2001) in which not onlyemotions were caught by others but alsostrategies, beliefs, and behaviors. In 1998,Judith Rich Harris woke a lot of people upwith her book The Nurture Assumption,demonstrating with powerful data thesubtitle, How parents matter less and peersmatter more. At about the same time in the1990s, mirror neurons were discovered inmonkeys, and now are confirmed inhumans as having great importance for ourlearning and socializing habits, as well asthe spread of civilization (Ramachandran,2011). Ramachandran even goes so far asto calling mirror neurons “Ghandi neurons”,since they often elicit altruistic tendencies.Mirror neurons allow us to simulate whatwe see inside of our minds and thus betterunderstand and possibly replicate it.While imitation seems to happen morenaturally in homogeneous groups, toexpand our repertoire we need diversity.Often when we think of foreign languagelearning, we think of diversity. Learning aforeign language is wrestling with diversity:diverse people, diverse customs, diversepronunciations, diverse syntax, diverseThis attending was crucial not only for thesurvival of the individuals but also for thedevelopment of the species. I stress thisattending because it meant caretakersspent more time with infants and bondedwith them such that they probablystarted more extended and intensivecommunicating. Language may very wellhave evolved through caretakers andinfants babbling to each other playfullyand affectionately, and staying long enoughwith each other to develop a shared28 ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013

expressions, and hopefully finding joy inthe diversity and ending up identifying withthe diversity. Learning a new language isalso opening ourselves up to newcommunities. Most people naturally donear peer role modeling (Murphey & Arao,2001; Singh, 2010) and teachers can usethis natural tendency to help students learnmore. But life is pretty boring if you juststay with people who are like you. We needmore diversity modeling (Murphey, in press)through simulation (Iacoboni, 2008). Thiscould also be called diversity peering,which is the bringing of people who arequite different from us into our realms ofimagination and modeling them, suchthat they become our peers (even if onlyimaginary). Children tend to do this muchmore easily and are adaptable and flexiblein these regards, not only with people butalso with animals, sentient beings, andeven objects in the world.The altruist’s turnOur species’s initial drives (curiosity,challenge, and adaptability through bondingas we saw with our anthropologists’ hats)have served us well. However, as notedabove, too much bonding social capital cansometimes create more conflicts and weneed to look at how we can build morebridging social capital and identify withdiversity. We can invite students to lookinto the diverse lives of others who havebecome human rights activists, pacifists,ecological advocates, and adoptinternational postures (Yashima, 2009).We can begin to identify not only withthose strangers in the street but with thosediverse others in strange lands through themassive media networks. With animalrights and ecological activists, we mighteven start identifying with all of nature, andfinally with Gaia (Earth) herself as a livingentity (Cates, 2005). These sideway stepsof identification are imaginable becauseour brains are wired for such imagination(mirror neurons) to stimulate survival – notjust survival of ourselves but of othersand the planet because we essentiallydepend upon each other and our networksto survive.RecapAs teachers we can bring curiosity andchallenge into the classroom and greatlystimulate the learning of our students.Through inviting students to interact andhelp each other we engender their agency,group agency, and altruism through usingtheir natural rapport-making systems(mirror neurons) and excitement atchallenges (dopamine rushes). Teachers’own imaginations are extremely importantin organizing all of this. In the wordsof Cervantes:The greatest madness, the greatestsadness, is to see life only as it really is, /And not as it could really be. Reality isdesperately in need of imagination.And Gandhi and Michael Jacksoncollaborated to say:Be the change you wish to see in the world.I don’t serve my dear world by pretendingto be small,I’ll stand tall, I will stand tall.When you change yourself, you changethe world.And to paraphrase Robert Sapolsky: I knowof no better prepared group of people tochange the world than you. So go and do it,and have a good life.And remember: invite your students tojoin you.Never doubt that a small group of thoughtfulcommitted people can change the world.Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.Margaret MeadReferencesBriskin, A., Erickson, S., Ott, J., & Callanan, T. (2009).The power of collective wisdom and the trap ofcollective folly. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.Cates, K. (2005). Teaching for a better world: Globalissues and language education in Japan. In A. Osler &H. Starkey (Eds.), Citizenship and language learning:International perspectives (pp. 59-73). Stoke, UK:Trentham Books.Harris, J. (1998). The nurture assumption. New York:The Free Press.Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J., & Rapson, R. (1994).Emotional contagion. Cambridge, UK: CambridgeUniversity Press.Iacoboni, M. (2008). Mirroring people: The science ofempathy and how we connect with others. New York,NY: Picador.Lee, N., Dina, A., Joaquin, A., Mates, A., & Schumann,J. (2010). The interactional instinct. New York, NY:Oxford University Press.Murphey, T. (1996). Near peer role models. Teacherstalking to teachers: JALT Teacher Education SIGNewsletter, 4(3), 21-22.Murphey T. (March, 2000). Strategies for zoning in onthe ZPD. Paper presented as part of the colloquium onVygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development, at theAmerican Association of Applied Linguistics AnnualConference (AAAL), Vancouver, Canada.Murphey, T. (2011). The L2 passionate interactionalimperative (for short “The L2 Pie”): It’s hot or it’s not!Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 2(2), 87-90.http://sisaljournal.orgMurphey, T. (in press). Adapting ways for meaningfulaction: ZPDs and ZPAs. In J. Arnold & T. Murphey(Eds.), Meaningful action: Earl Stevick’s influenceon language teaching. Cambridge, UK: CambridgeUniversity Press.Murphey, T., & Arao, H. (2001). Changing reportedbeliefs through near peer role modeling.TESL-EJ, 5(3)1-15. Accessed athttp://tesl-ej.org/ej19/a1.htmlPearce, J. (1971). The crack in the cosmic egg.New York, NY: Pocket books.Ramachandran, V. (2011). The tell-tale brain:A neuroscientist’s quest for what makes us human.New York, NY: W.W. Norton Co. (also see The neuronsthat shaped civilization [video file] athttp://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/vs_ramachandran_the_neurons_that_shaped_civilization.html)Rodiger, H., & Finn, B. (October, 2009). Getting itwrong: Surprising tips on how to learn. ScientificAmerican: Mind Matters. Retrieved fromhttp://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=getting-it-wrongSapolsky, R. (2009, September). The uniqueness ofhumans [video file]. Retrieved fromhttp://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/robert_sapolsky_the_uniqueness_of_humans.htmlSingh, S. (2010). Near-peer role modeling: The fledglingscholars education paradigm. Jan/Feb AnatomicalSciences Education, 3, 50 - 51.Strogatz, S. (2003). Sync: How order emerges fromchaos in the universe, nature, and daily life. New York,NY: Hyperion.Yashima, T. (2009). International posture and the idealL2 self in the Japanese EFL context. In Z. Dörnyei &E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity,and the L2 self. (pp. 144-163) Bristol, UK:Multilingual Matters.About the AuthorTim Murphey is the series editor of TESOL’sProfessional Development in Language Educationseries and co-author with Zoltan Dörnyei of GroupDynamics in the Language Classroom (CUP, 2003).His current research project focuses on VygotskianSocio Cultural Theory (SCT) applications withparticular emphasis on student voice, agency,identity, and community construction at KandaUniversity of International Studies in Japan. Hismost recent books include Teaching in Pursuit ofWow! (Abax, 2012) and the forthcoming MeaningfulAction – Earl Stevick’s Influence on LanguageTeaching (CUP, 2013), co-edited with Jane Arnold.Years ago, Tim produced two LPs (Poets Need theRain and Neuchatelle) and continues to use musicand song to teach. He finished his PhD in AppliedLinguistics from the Université de Neuchâtel,Switzerland.ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013 29

ETAS 29th AGM and Convention SupplementWorkshop ReportsA8Testing and assessingspoken English – how canwe do it better?Presenter: Dave AllanTake over 30 experienced English-teachingprofessionals who are interested in thetopic of oral assessment, put them in a bigroom, and have them judge the level of twocandidates doing a speaking exam. Whatdo you get? Brace yourself – results rangingfrom A2 all the way up to B2. In otherwords, total lack of consensus. Should webe worried? I was!This exercise opened our eyes to howdifferently and subjectively we interpretspeaking performance. Yes, we have comea long way with the CEFR: ten years ago,few of us would have known what it was;five years ago, most of us might have heardof it, and today most of us do in fact usethis framework of REFERENCE (emphasisadded). However, Dave argued that theCEFR is not nearly discriminatory enoughto judge language performance with thedelicacy we often need and that criteria inthe form of more detailed verbal descriptorsare needed if we are to evaluate spokenEnglish in a meaningful and consistent wayin many contexts where we need to assessprogress and proficiency within levels.Fortunately, Dave provided us with severaldifferent models. He noted that trainingassessors who used such additional criteriaand followed extensive familiarisation andpractice have achieved levels of inter-raterreliability as high as 0.92 – it is reassuringfor those of us sending our students toexams. In just 90 minutes, we couldn’t quiteachieve that same remarkable level, butthere were some obvious lessons to learn.Many of us are still focusing too much onthe negative, i.e. what the candidate isdoing wrong. This opened the question oferror weighting – do we see the same errorrepeated often as being less serious thana series of several different errors? Whatwould happen if we focused first on whatthe candidate was doing well?Using a set of agreed macro-categoriesand starting at the top (looking first at thecriteria in the highest box in the grids)already helped us obtain closer resultswithin the workshop group.The CEFR is great but it is not enough byitself for many contexts. Anyone involvedin oral assessment needs to use carefullydeveloped tools whose descriptors focusspecifically on the key components ofspoken language communication, ensuringcoverage of both ‘presentation mode’production and the skills needs (includinglistening skills) for effective interaction.I highly recommend this workshop berepeated in future – it’s a must for anyonewho has ever had to judge someone’soral English. Thanks to Dave and all theopen-minded participants for an enrichingtime together.Sylvia GoetzeA9 &B9Truce or friction: learning theart of successful negotiationPresenter: JoAnn SalvisbergJoAnn Salvisberg presented a lively two-partworkshop on how to teach negotiation inlanguage classes. The first workshopfocused on the stages of a successfulwin-win negotiation, while the seconddealt with the language gambits involvedin the process.JoAnn began by pointing out that we spenda great deal of time negotiating – and thisfrom a very early age. She went on to saythat we don’t just negotiate with others,but also frequently have to “trade off”with ourselves.She presented five categories of negotiation,ranging from “casual” (the kind ofnegotiating we do as children, for example)to “critical” (when the consequences of abreakdown in the discussion can havefar-reaching consequences). JoAnn alsoexplained that negotiating takes on a varietyof forms – from haggling over the price offood items at a market to formal businessand diplomatic discussions. Depending onthe projected outcome of the process,negotiations are classified as “adversorial”(win-lose), “accommodating” (lose-win),“compromising” (give-get), “collaborative”(win-win), “distributive” (win-lose), or even“integrative” (when the process itselfcreates value). Dialogue is naturally crucialin all cases, and JoAnn showed us somecommon strategies. Specialists, forinstance, caution against closed questions(“Could you do the job for £15?”) and,unsurprisingly perhaps, recommend the useof conditional forms. What is slightly moresurprising is that it is not the tentativewould they have in mind, but the far moredirect first conditional: “If you do the job for£15 [instead of £20], I’ll supply you with alist of potential clients.”The second workshop explored in greaterdetail the range of expressions (gambits)which can usefully be deployed in anegotiation (e.g. “I’d like to hear your viewson…”; “Would I be correct in saying that…?”;“We’re prepared to…”; “I wonder if you’veconsidered…?”). JoAnn also provided uswith practical ideas on how to get studentsthinking about the general principlesbehind successful negotiations (weparticipated in a business role-play), aswell as some interesting ways of practisingthe key language.In conclusion, I’d like to thank JoAnn fortwo valuable workshops, which wereappreciated by everyone. On the one hand,they provided advice to teachers like me whoare about to give courses on negotiation;and on the other, they gave the moreseasoned practitioners in the audiencesome very interesting food for thought.Guy WalkerA10Developing listeningskills means developingpronunciationPresenter: John HughesJohn Hughes’s workshop was awell-attended and lively 90 minutes on theSaturday afternoon of the ETAS AGM andConvention 2013. His main presentationfocused on the need to introducepronunciation as an overt part of listeninglessons when teaching English, and bydemonstrating some of his techniques,he made the session interactive andentertaining, as well as informative.John began by saying that most studentsof English are more capable of listeningcomprehension than we suppose, but areheld back by simple misunderstanding ofpronunciation. Our students have theknowledge to interpret “What time is it?”on a recording, but often fail to recognisethe actual words that they are hearingbecause pronunciation of the spoken wordis not understood.30 ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013

ack of the mouth (for example,/p – b – t – d – ʧ – ʤ – k – g/).By examining a variety of accents, withcontributions from many of the attendees,John demonstrated how difficult listeningcomprehension can be, given the rangeof accents which our students may beexpected to understand. Suggestedtechniques to help deal with the spokenword included ‘humming’ dialogue, asurprisingly effective way to circumventpronunciation difficulties. Jazz chants werealso used as a way to help students. Thewhole audience was roundly entertained,especially by the interactive exercises whichdemonstrated how to convey intonation,mood, and word and sentence stress.Fun apart, John addresses a seriousproblem for learners of English. He suggeststhat listening exercises should not be simplerepetitions of a recording, with pauses forcomprehension checks, but ratherinterspersed with exercises and activitiesaimed at improving comprehension, throughimproving the ability to understand theactual pronunciation.In summing up, John added that videorecordings, rather than audio-only, are apowerful tool in overcoming pronunciationdifficulties, because they can include all ofthe signs and signals that body languageand facial expression convey.Overall, this session provided valuableinsights and suggestions into how Englishlearners deal with listening pronunciationdifficulties, and how we as teachers canhelp in that process. Thanks go to Johnfor the ideas, energy, and fun, but most ofall for the food for thought!Susan Codringtoncoax your students into learning them – youmight agree that English phonologysometimes needs to be demystified.Adrian began his workshop with a passionatespeech in defence of pronunciation, “theCinderella of the language systems”,arguing that pronunciation infuses alllanguage and even cognitive skills, as wetend to pronounce words to ourselves notonly when reading or listening but also whenformulating our thoughts or memorizinginformation. And yet, pronunciation is oftenreduced to five-minute activities at theend of a unit, outshone by her two “uglysisters”, Grammar and Vocabulary.In order to bring pronunciation back to allclassroom work, we can:1) provide our students with the phonemicchart as a ‘roadmap’ which shows inwhat part of the mouth each sound isproduced (in the front or in the back, atthe top or at the bottom)2) teach pronunciation as a physicalactivity (rather than cognitively), payingattention to four “muscle buttons”:tongue put forward or back, lipsspreading or rounded, jaw and tonguegoing up or down, voice turned “on”or “off”.(See more detailed explanations inAdrian Underhill’s article atwww.britishcouncil.org/a_new_approach_to_pronunciation.docor on his blog:http://adrianpronchart.wordpress.com/)A quick-paced tour of the chart followed.We moved from “top left” vowels to“top right” (/i: - ɪ – ʊ – u:/), “centre”and “bottom” vowels, then pronounceddiphthongs and finally covered consonantsin the same order, from the front to theTo learn about Adrian Underhill’s originalpronunciation teaching technique, you canwatch the official one-hour video of one ofhis seminars at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5RekixAMoM. However, here area few interesting tips that he shared:1) The teacher mimes a sound andenhances it with a gesture andsometimes a situation to imagine(“You’ve got an orange in your mouthso you can’t close it!”). Students firstprepare the position for the sound totake place, then pronounce itresponding to the teacher’s gesture.Only then does the teacher pronouncethe sound themself!2) In the same way, sometimes it’s usefulto ask students not to pronounce butjust to mime a sound.3) Students can compare sounds usinggestures, e.g. pressing a finger againsttheir lips to see if they are pushedforward.4) Individual differences in pronunciationcan be celebrated: “Listen to allthese /ɜ:/”!All this helps to raise students’ awarenessof how and where sounds are actually made.Instead of imitating and drilling sounds, theycan now experiment with them. They literallyknow what they are doing when theypronounce a sound – and this is when thewhole chart stops being yet another thing tolearn and becomes a clear and useful tool.Thank you, Adrian, for a wonderful andhighly inspiring workshop!Anel Aubert© Macmillan EnglishB1A practical approach tointegrating pronunciationinto all language workPresenter: Adrian UnderhillAdrian Underhill, the renowned author ofSound Foundations: Learning and TeachingPronunciation (Macmillan Education, 2005),devoted his workshop to “demystifyingphonology”. If you’ve ever used IPA(International Phonetic Alphabet) rune-likesymbols in a classroom – let alone tried toETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013 31

ETAS 29th AGM and Convention SupplementWorkshop ReportsB2Ten top tips forBusiness EnglishPresentor: Paul EmmersonPaul Emmerson’s objective in this workshopwas to share his ten most useful tips forteaching Business English. Since I recentlystarted teaching Business English,I decided to attend this workshop to hearwords of wisdom from experiencedprofessionals that could help me alongmy journey. I was not disappointed.Paul presented his ideas clearly, in bulletform, with all points being supported bydiagrams, explanations, and examples,and spiced with interesting anecdotes.He also gave us a neat printout of hisPowerPoint presentation and offered toemail it to all participants.I found the talk thoroughly engaging andhis advice extremely helpful. He had somegreat ideas about using a mindmap todescribe a news article to a partner duringpairwork and then repeating the exercisewith a different partner, the exercise beingmore confidently presented the second time.This exercise had the effect of consolidatingwhat the students have just learned andboosting their fluency in speaking.I was also very relieved when he suggestedNOT asking students to read texts out loudin turn and instead to read the text TO thestudents so that they can hear the correctpronunciation. I had actually started to dothis in my classes and was pleased to haveit confirmed as a good thing to do.He advised using positive comments duringfeedback with students, especially if agrammatical structure has been usedcorrectly. It is always a good idea to givethe student due credit.I particularly liked another idea, which wasto assure students that although sometimeslearning can go backwards, this is notnecessarily a bad thing. To stress this point,32 ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013he used the analogy of building a house outof wood. When the house breaks apart andcollapses, then it can be made strongernext time by rebuilding it with bricks.All in all, it was an excellent talk with somegreat ideas which I will certainly use in allmy classes, not just Business English.Finally, I would like to take this opportunityto thank Paul Emmerson for sharing hisknowledge and experience, and for a verywell-prepared, informative workshop.Susan MellorB3Strategies in FL academicwriting: how to identifyindividual needsPresenter: Olaf LendersDr Olaf Lenders’s talk showcased concreteapproaches to the sticky, often inexactbusiness of teaching writing.Olaf began by talking about the academicwriting course he teaches at theHochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, for whichone-to-one sessions between student andinstructor are crucial. Olaf stressed allowingstudents to be introspective, to understandtheir own needs, abilities, and tendencieswhen writing. We then had a chance tosample his preferred framework forself-assessment – Wyllie’s (1993) taxonomyof writing strategies. Here we could identifyourselves as one of five archetypes:• the Watercolourist, a meticulous plannerwho works sequentially from beginningto end• the Architect, another thorough planner,though one who will typically editafter writing• the Bricklayer, who balances discoverywith planning• the Sketcher, who works from a planthat is rough at best and occasionallysequential• the Oil Painter, a pure seat-of-the-pantsdiscovery writer.A questionnaire revealed that most studentstend to be “Sketchers”, favouring only alittle planning. When I asked if this couldhave anything to do with students’ leaningstoward procrastination, Olaf replied,scientifically but not without humour,“...further study is needed on the subject”.When it comes to the nuts and bolts ofwriting, Olaf makes more use of the boonsof technology than I even thought possible.He introduced us to the Academic Word List(AWL), which lists words by their frequencyin academic texts and can help studentsrecognize word families and chunks, andpractice inferring techniques. The listedwords are taken from news reports andfictional and non-fictional texts, giving thisprogram broad appeal. The freeware programTextSTAT can be used to create lists of “keywords in context” (KWIC). A search word like“environment“, for example, can be seen ina number of different contexts. Such lists,known as concordances, help studentsunderstand how a word is actually used.To apply these techniques, students can begiven a short text on any subject and told touse the AWL highlighter tool to identify theAWL words, then list them in the form of aKWIC concordance to see those words inall their possible forms and uses. In short,students gradually build their own corpusof words and analyze those words withdigital tools.The best part? All of these tools are availablefrom multiple sources online, FOR FREE!The takeaway of Olaf’s talk was simple: withthe right tools, students can benefit asmuch from self-discovery as they do frominstruction. Lessons need not revolve aroundsmall mistakes common to only half of theclass as those mistakes can be addressedin the students’ own time. While humaninstructors remain irreplaceable (at least forthe foreseeable century), programs like AWLand TextSTAT help to streamline the process.Many thanks to Olaf Lenders for hisenjoyable, highly informative presentation.Michelle DiPietro

B7Oblique strategies: a powerfultool for energizing languageand contentPresenter: Roy BicknellThis talk explored the ideas of Brian Eno,a musician who once played with the bandRoxy Music and who collaborated withseveral stars such as David Bowie andGenesis. Together with Peter Schmidt,he invented Oblique Strategies, a set ofcards containing statements such as,“Honour thy error as a hidden intention”.These were intended to assist thoughtand jog the mind into thinking of a solutionin the face of dilemmas or breakdownsin creativity.Roy illustrated how strategies such as “workat a different speed” or “look at the order inwhich you do things” could help teachersanalyse their own working style and that oftheir learners. Such strategies might, forinstance, be used to guide an approach tofluency or accuracy. And they may be asource of inspiration in times of difficulty.This talk dealt with a rather philosophicaland intellectual activity whose connection toteaching and pedagogy is not immediatelyobvious. It might have profited from amore interactive approach to the use ofthe strategies for the practising teacher,with some practical exercises aimed atfacilitating understanding of how thestrategies can help in concrete teachingsituations. There can be no doubt, however,that some have found the strategiesuseful. They have become popular to theextent that there are smartphone appsavailable (search for “oblique strategies”)and a website dedicated to them(http://www.rtqe.net/ObliqueStrategies/OSintro.html).Roy’s slides from the talk are alsoavailable on the ETAS website athttp://www.e-tas.ch/events/agm/agm-in-sierre – worth a look if you feel yousometimes get bogged down or stifledand in need of new ideas.Steve LanderB8Not business presentations!Presenter: Ann Humphry-BakerAnn works in an academic context teachingpresentation skills to undergraduates,graduate students, and teachers at all levelsfrom A2-C2. As mentioned in the workshopdescription, a wealth of information alreadyexists on giving presentations in a businesscontext. However, when it comes to findingresources for students or lecturers whoneed to present their research in anacademic context, the range and availabilityof materials is far from plentiful. Becauseof this, I was particularly interested indiscovering the resources and activitiesthat Ann personally recommends and uses.As promised, in her workshop she sharedwith us many of the materials and activitiesshe has found and/or created to help herstudents develop such skills as: confidencebuilding, presentation structure, signposting,and giving constructive feedback. All theactivities she demonstrated and the ideasshe shared with us were invaluable. Herknowledge, experience, and creativity indeveloping these materials to teach herstudents these much-needed skills wereboth rich and rewarding. Her workshop wasvery informative and delivered everythingpromised and more. She even included inher presentation an excerpt using a newPowerPoint alternative called Prezi.Not only was her workshop extremelyinformative and resourceful, it was alsovery entertaining. And the handouts, videos,and activities she presented to us werepractical, pertinent, and simple toimplement in the classroom. The only thinglacking was not having more time to devoteto more detailed personal interaction anddiscussion in relation to all the informationand activities she shared with us. It wasevidently clear that when the group isengaged, time flies!All the participants’ feedback was verypositive. Personally, I had signed up for thisworkshop because like Ann, I teach thistype of course to graduate students andlecturers, which in turn means that I alsostruggle with finding effective material froma rather sparse selection of resources touse with my own classes. So, I must admitthat I was thrilled to be leaving the AGMSunday evening with fresh new ideas andactivities to try out with my own studentsin my Conference Skills course onMonday morning.Cindy AndersonC1Beyond the grammar bookand dictionary: resourcesfor teaching advancedwriting skillsPresenter: Carol WaitesA teacher who teaches employees at theUnited Nations in Geneva, Carol Waitesdoes not deal with ‘beginners’ to English –au contraire! In the domain of internationalorganizations and business, where amastery of English is becoming increasinglyimportant, many people need support atthe C1-C2 level beyond grammar classes.To deal with this, Carol and her team haveturned to the World Wide Web andamassed a superlatively impressive listof appropriate resources for students ofadvanced skills. Some of the subjectsaddressed by these are:• confusing words• register and style• the subjunctive• relative clauses• punctuation issues• creating an ‘accessible’ readabledocumentCarol and her colleagues are fervent andgenerous ‘sharers’, a fact much appreciatedby her grateful audience. Simply access herwebsite (https://sites.google.com/site/etasprofessionalwritingskills/) and startcombing through the links. I warn you, it’snot a quick read − you’ll be overwhelmedby the sheer quantity AND quality: prepareto be amazed!Once again, Carol, you did not disappoint!Thank you for your very organized andpractical workshop.Sharon ActonETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013 33

ETAS 29th AGM and Convention SupplementWorkshop ReportsC6Technical English:who needs what?Presenters: Ian McMaster andMartin BeckThis workshop by Ian McMaster,Editor-in-chief of Business Spotlight, andMartin Beck of MONDIALE-Testing promisedto throw some light on the question of whoneeds what in Technical English.Ian began the presentation in a light-heartedvein: a few stereotype jokes about engineerswill always provoke a laugh. But suchjokes also illustrate the fact that thenon-engineering world often tends to viewengineering and engineers in terms of onecategory, an approach also often takenin the world of teaching and teachingmaterials provision to date. In order to findout more about what engineers, or TechnicalEnglish learners/users, really need,Business Spotlight and MONDIALE-Testingcarried out an outline survey from Octoberto December 2012, asking respondentswhat tasks they have to perform in English,what technical areas they work in, and howimportant Technical English qualificationsare for them.The survey results presented by Ian offeredsome extremely valuable insights. Of 1,004respondents, 68% were in employment(as opposed to being teachers/trainersor students) and well over 80% in their 30s,40s, and 50s. Thus, they were speakingfrom experience in the engineering world.The largest group was from the field ofMechanical Engineering (15%), followed byElectrical Engineering (10%), and ChemicalEngineering (9%). They all reported a needfor English at work, with nearly 50% oftenusing English and nearly 25% using Englishconstantly. The survey also confirmed thatEnglish was needed for a wide variety oftasks, with task importance varying fromone field of engineering to another.Respondents assessed their communicative34 ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013level of English at CEFR levels ranging fromB1 to C1, with the majority at C1. Over 50%reported an interest in an internationallyrecognised qualification.Martin then went on to talk aboutMONDIALE’s newly developed TechnicalEnglish Test, which takes into account thediffering needs in the engineering world bytesting Technical English at a general level(receptive skills) and at a specialised level(productive skills). This is the only test onthe market for testing Technical Englishcompetence and is aimed at CEFR levelsB1 to C1, as identified in the survey. Healso presented the results of an onlinemock test taken at the same time as thesurvey, which confirmed a high level ofcompetence for those completing the test.This mock test of general Technical Englishis available online for anyone interested.Martin also presented some needsanalysis tables for different engineeringfields based on the survey results andlinked to CEFR levels. These can usefullybe used or modified for course, lesson, ortesting preparation.The workshop offered invaluable informationabout learner needs and the way the newTechnical English Test seeks to addressthese needs. Thanks go to Ian and Martinfor a highly informative session.Juliet DawnayC7Making learning easy:embodied and extendedcognitionPresenter: Tim MurpheyTim Murphey needs no introduction – asone of the founding forces behind ETAS andas author of a number of EFL books. He hasspent the last 20 odd years of his careerpursuing his passion for teaching in Japan.In this workshop, Tim shared with us hislatest research interest: embodied andextended cognition in language learning.The workshop started immediately witha two-minute non-speaking activity:participants had to communicate as muchabout themselves as they could in oneminute without using words. Participantswere soon gyrating and laughing, standingon chairs, tossing hair. Thus he introducedus to embodied language learning: the roleour bodies play in language.He then introduced five gestures, had thegroup mimic them, then turn to a partner.Each gesture (for example, sealing your lipswith your fingers) turned out to be an idiom:my lips are sealed. Once the group got thehang of it, he handed them five more. Thisbecame a recurring theme: every 10 minutesor so, he paired participants off to practicethe 10 embodied idioms together.He then moved us on to exploiting catchytunes and jingles for language purposes.So, while the Twelve Days of Christmas mayprovide little useful language, it doesprovide a useful tune to carry The FiveKeys to Happiness, which Tim proceededto teach and sing with us.Tim provided research evidence that, forexample, in a study of centenarians inJapan, 90% reported that they sang on adaily basis. He also referred us to AmyCuddy’s TED video on how posture shapesour attitudes. Essentially, he says, he isusing the brain’s knack for exploitingpatterns and jingles for languagepurposes. Teachers can also usewell-known melodies to embed text: herehe practiced weak forms and connectedspeech (e.g. catsndogs) with us.At the end of his workshop, he showed us acollaborative speed dictation where it’s OKfor students to cheat. He dictates a textvery quickly, too fast for most students.Then they collaborate to complete the text.Tim calls his approach “value-addedEnglish”, enhancing students’ lives withroutines to improve their learning skillsand self-esteem. For readers interested inreviewing some of his work, check out:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_QEJmpxxEw&list=PL274902FC5BDAAA30Most of the 30+ participants thoroughlyenjoyed engaging in the activities Timpresented us. His workshop gave us arefreshing reminder that language teachingis far more than grammar rules andvocabulary lists. For my part, his use ofreview at regular interviews was aneffective way to engage participants in theimmediate learning goals – not deferringthem to a far-off exam. Repetition,redundancy, and regular review still playcentral roles in language learning; if youcan embody them in gestures or extendthem in melodies, so much the better.Douglas MacKevett

C10Adding sparkle to yourprimary classroomPresenter: Rob DeanNo sooner had Rob started talking thanI sensed this would be a sparklingperformance. And it certainly was. Startingoff in a very engaging and fun way, Robmanaged to get everybody’s attention ina heartbeat, giving us all food for thought.Indeed, the first step towards spicing up theprimary (or any) classroom lies in our ownvivacity and capacity to draw our audiencein, or does it? Within a couple of minutes,I knew that Rob’s presentation was worthit and would fulfill its objective.Rob went on to describe what characterizesour 7 to 11-year-olds. Indeed, how bettermeet their needs than by understandingwho they are and how they really function?Elementary!So, what are they like?• Egocentric yet starting to becomemore social• Novices in the field of logic, but learningto apply it to the world around them• Good at copying patterns• Able to acquire linguistic skills butnot aware of them yetAnd how do they function?• Children need an activity and a contextthat they can relate toIf we believe that Learning English shouldbe about fun and simulation and learning tolike English, we should favour child-friendlytopics and find a visual way of showingthe language.But then comes the question of grammar.• Can it be child-friendly?• Can grammar actually be fun?The two can fit together… . We just have tobring them to life!ROB’S RECIPE FOR SPARKLENo fewer than seven ingredients are needed.1. FUN GRAMMAR with a pinch of fantasy,imagination, creativity, and flexibility.We should use contexts that are knownto the children and choose activitieswhere everybody stands a chance ofbeing a winner. Most importantly, KeepIt Short and Sweet (the KISS principle).2. TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE - thechild is involved as a whole on threedifferent levels (visual, auditory,physical) and thus experiences thelanguage through his/her body.3. CROSS CURRICULAR (CLIL) - becauselearning about other things helpslearn English.4. READING STORIES - a great asset.Stories capitalize on the way children’sminds think. The language they learnthrough stories is more memorable.Again, we should choose suitablestories that they could relate to.5. TASK-BASED - children are notinterested in learning a language.What else is new? However, they areinterested in sharing information andexpressing their feelings. Throughtask-based activities (ranking, problemsolving, surveys…), they will use thelanguage to get things done.6. TECHNOLOGY - in this day and age,technology has taken over ourchildren’s lives, so let’s match theirown world to the classroom…7. MUSIC - because music is aninternational language which engagesthe emotions, the language learnedthrough it is memorable. Again, songsshould be brought to life and thechildren involved though gestures.The workshop was very well put together andpresented. Robert managed to communicatehis passion for teaching and demonstratedthat in order for children to have funlearning, the teacher must have fun too.Many thanks, Rob, for an informative, lively,and fun presentation.Christine CopponnexD3Preparing learners forthe BEC Speaking testsPresenter: Graham WorkmanThis workshop focused on ways of preparinglearners for the BEC Speaking test at bothPreliminary and Vantage levels.Graham started with some short filmextracts, from the film In Good Company.This led to some practical exercises tohelp students talk about their job.The first exercise was a controlled gap-fillof common phrases used in Part 1 of theSpeaking test, where the students needto put the verb in the correct tense. Byusing this worksheet as a study guide, thestudents can practice these expressionscorrectly until they become second natureby the time they take the BEC. This wasfollowed by a worksheet where the studentscomplete the details about their jobs, sothey have the vocabulary needed to talkabout their responsibilities, what the jobinvolves, and what they like/dislike abouttheir job − all topics needed for Part 1 ofthe Speaking test.Moving on to Part 2 of the Speaking test,our next exercise was to decide whichstandard phrases (given to us in aworksheet) would be useful for each mainpoint of a short presentation. We thenbrainstormed some ideas for sequencingwords to be used in the presentation.At that point, we all gave our partners ourone-minute presentation using theseworksheets as guides.After doing the exercise with standardphrases provided by Graham, we next got anew topic and brainstormed our own ideasfor vocabulary and examples by filling out aword star for the three main points. Wethen practiced giving a mini-presentation toour partner, which was an excellent way tosee where we will need to give guidance toour students.As with all of Graham Workman’sworkshops, this was a well-organized,hands-on presentation that kept everyoneengaged from beginning to end. It fulfilledthe objectives outlined in the program andeach person walked away with pages ofideas, activities, and worksheets that couldbe used immediately in the classroom.K. Starr SchoellETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013 35

Voices of ExperienceVersatile beginningsE L S B E T H M Ä D E RAre you an avid reader? If so, how do youexploit this fact in your classroom?Below you will find some suggestions thathave worked well with some of my students:Before reading on, please follow thegiven instructions:Start off by writing down any word thatcomes to mind: e.g. winterNow integrate this word into a sentence:e.g. While looking at the wonderful winterscene on the cover of the ETAS Journal,I had an idea.Now create a follow-up sentence to the onegiven above, but let another person createa follow-up sentence to the sentence youyourself have written.Could the created sentences be thebeginning of any novel? Why/why not?The above task could be the introduction toexploiting the beginnings of novels in orderto tap into your students’ imagination whileraising their awareness for English sentencestructures as well as for register.An alternative introduction could be whatone of my students (an avid reader herself)told me when we were working with firstsentences of actual novels:“In my family we often discuss firstsentences. We thought it a good idea to writea book full of just first sentences. ‘A book fornon-readers’ is what we wanted to call it.As in a good first sentence you will find thewhole novel in there. You only have to readone sentence and then you can switch offthe light in the evening and think about thenovel or go to sleep...”Susanne BaschnagelWith my students I have used a largenumber of first and second sentences fromnovels that happened to be on my shelves.Here’s a random selection from a varietyof novels:1. The journey from the railway station tothe church in the one and only taxiseemed to pass within a minute.2. Richard Cadogan raised his revolver,took careful aim and pulled the trigger.3. The blue waters of the ocean werecalm at dawn; its surface was like aliquid mirror.4. Of all the stores on the main streetof Vista Valley, none got as manywindow-shoppers as the Land-O-Petspet shop.5. “I’m sorry,” Clementine whispered toMr. Scott, “but I never was very goodat carpentry.”6. Flora Parker closed her eyes, strugglingwith a nagging sense that she’d donesomething really bad last night.7. The first Wednesday in every monthwas a Perfectly Awful Day – a day tobe awaited with dread, endured withcourage, and forgotten with haste.8. It was seven minutes after midnight.9. All alone in the Big Woods, and thesnow, and the cold, the little house waswarm and snug and cosy.10. It was the day my grandmother exploded.Full list (50 beginnings) and sourcesavailable from: engl.home.gos@bluewin.chTasks based on beginningsof booksTask 1: reading, speaking,listening, writingIn pairs or small groups, speculate aboutgenres, setting, characters of a book basedon the given first sentences, and then writeone follow-up sentence. / Alternative: letindividual students write follow-upsentences as homework and have thestudents compare, comment, and correctin the following lesson. One of my adultstudents actually got carried away and ona train ride wrote follow-up sentences to50 given first sentences!Here are some examples of what studentshave produced (in italics): are theyappropriate in content, grammar,style/register?1. When Mary Lennox was sent toMisselthwaite Manor to live with heruncle, everybody said she was the mostdisagreeable-looking child ever seen.But in her manner there was somethingthat made everybody curious about her.2. Mrs. Hibbert was a friend.She was an adult and I was a child.3. They were not railway children tobegin with.Fate made them to railway childrenfaster than one is able to imagine.4. Everyone called him Popeye.Full of strength and slyness he caredfor his Olivia.5. The Trivandrum Mail was on time.Luckily this morning seemed tosucceed everything.Task 2: reading, writing,speaking, listeningIn groups, first generate mini-stories fromgiven first sentences by adding onesentence to the given sentence and thenpassing your worksheet on to the nextstudent who also adds a sentence andso on until the teacher stops you. (Tasksuitable for a variety of levels)An example from some lower-level students:The Englishman switched off the engineof the hired car.But he didn’t get out of the car.It was midnight and he was very scared.The Englishman took a knife out ofhis baggage.And began to eat a sausage = Citterio SalamiFinally, students read the mini-stories andthink about what they would add/change inorder to tell them to someone.Task 3: reading, speaking, listeningMatch the given first and second sentences(preferably printed on cards) – this could bedone as a silent activity or by reading thesentences out loud and having co-studentsfind the matching second sentences. Thisactivity is good for raising awareness oflinking words (structure or content). It hasalso made me as a teacher more aware ofsome students’ specific difficulties.Task 4: reading, speaking, listeningStudents get a large number of firstsentences and try to combine them. Somestudents found out that the following twobeginnings (of different books) make agood combination:Flora Parker closed her eyes, struggling witha nagging sense that she’d done somethingreally bad last night. / Cedric himself knewnothing whatever about it.Alternative: in a larger group, individualstudents have a couple of sentences each;together they try to invent a story includingall of the students’ sentences and addingwhere necessary.Task 5: reading, speaking, listeningRead a wide selection of first sentences andthink about and discuss the various ways anovel can begin; then see writing task below.Task 6: writingFirst, students create a character based ona photo or other input like a shopping list(think about gender, age, family, job, home,hobbies). Once the students have somebasic ideas of their character, you can givethem the following task as an exercise inspontaneous writing:Write a beginning:1. the beginning of a conversationbetween your character and anotherperson (1-3 sentences)2. the beginning of a description of aplace somehow related to yourcharacter (1-3 sentences)3. the beginning of a description of yourcharacter or another character somehowrelated to them (1-3 sentences)4. the beginning of an anecdote relatingsome event/incident in your character’spast (1-3 sentences)(The above four varieties are what turnedout to be the most common ways ofstarting a novel.)Task 7: follow-up to Task 6 –writing, speaking, listeningDepending on your students, you can makethem continue writing for homework. Or youjust make them share their ideas in groupsor pairs in speaking. Make them ask eachother some questions in response to what50 ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013

ETAS 2013S N A P S H O T Stheir co-students have written. This waythey will further expand their ideas and maycreate some proper stories.One of my advanced students (aphysiotherapist by profession) came upwith the following sentences relating to acharacter based on a given shopping list:1. “Did you enjoy your walk along thesea yesterday evening?”“I worried a bit because of the stormthat was brewing. The other day thewaves had flooded the beach and twopeople luckily had a narrow escape.”2. My holiday house on the little hill isvery well situated and the view over thebeach is always fantastic and it givesme a feeling of safety.3. I am really surprised how quickly thebaby changed his colour. The seaclimate is fantastic medicine for youngand old people alike.4. Remembering the first guest in my BBalways makes me laugh. The man whocame along expected an old lady andnot a young woman who was changingthe tyres on her car.Task 8: reading, speaking, listeningStudents take along first and secondsentences from any books they are readingor have read, then proceed as in Task 1above. Finally let them share what theirbooks are really about.Task 9: speaking, listeningDiscuss what makes students choose abook in the first place (author, title, cover,blurb on back cover, first page, randombrowsing?) Alternatively, stimulatediscussion by providing them with a list oftitles, a selection of front cover pictures,a selection of back cover blurbs without thetitle, and so on.To sum up, working with beginnings ofnovels can give your students practice in allthe four skills. Moreover, students becomemore aware of how texts link, as well as ofgenres, register, style, lexis, and structures,while teachers may find out more aboutsome students’ specific difficulties andwill then be able to provide the necessarysupport. Last, but not least, it may getstudents interested in reading some ofthe books.For copies of these materials with 50matching sentences and their sources inMS Word, please email Elsbeth Mäder atengl.home.gos@bluewin.chAbout the AuthorElsbeth Mäder first trained as a Swiss primary schoolteacher before studying English at Zürich University,where she earned her Lic Phil I + Dipl. für HöheresLehramt in 1979. In 1987 she opened her ownschool teaching EFL to adults ages 18 – 80. An activemember of ETAS for many years, Elsbeth is a regularworkshop presenter at SIG Days and AGMs andConventions, where she shares her long teachingexperience and love of English.ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013 51

Voices of ExperienceTeaching vocabulary and cateringto different learning stylesA S L I L I D I C E G O K T U R K S A G L A MWhenever teaching vocabulary is mentioned,I remember the animated film Kung FuPanda. In this film, Po, the biggest fan ofKung Fu, wants to be a Kung Fu master.This giant panda is unexpectedly acceptedas a student at the martial arts academybecause of an ancient prophecy. Now, Poneeds to fight against the villain, a vengefulleopard, Tai Lung. Master Shifu, the teacherof the talented and legendary Furious Five(Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper, and Monkey),takes on the responsibility of teaching Po,who appears completely unfit for the task.Po is a unique student with different learningneeds and level of motivation (he seemshopeless at the beginning), and Shifu’stechniques don’t work on him. Shifu hasto find another way to make Po learn:rewarding with food! As a perceptive teacher,Shifu was able to reach his student andmeet his needs.Language teaching is not much differentand many language teachers share manythings in common with Shifu, includingfacing the challenge of finding the bestmethod for teaching and the best way tomotivate students to learn. For instance,in teaching vocabulary the necessity tocustomize teaching accordingly is arecurrent theme that most teachers oftenhave to deal with. I find that vocabularyinstruction is always a challenge. When wereview vocabulary items in class, I noticethat students seem to retain them in theirworking memory for some time. However,being exposed to input does not ensureintake. Besides, newly learned targetvocabulary can be quickly forgotten.How many words do L1students know?Scholars suggest different estimatesregarding this. According to Nagy andAnderson (1984, in Grabe, 2006), L1students encounter 88,000 word familiesin base word forms, inflectional, andderivational affixes. Nation (2001)estimates that L1 learners know about20,000 word families, which meansroughly 40,000 words in an English L1university setting.How many words should anL2 English learner know?Nation (2006, in Grabe, 2006) argues thatL2 learners need to know about 4,000word families, which corresponds to nearly10,000 independent word meanings.Some researchers claim that if all thenames of objects and technical andscientific words used in English areconsidered, then there are between oneand two million words in English (Crystal,1988). Grabe argues that there are about110,000 words in common use.Numbers, numbers, numbers... . At timesthey appear overwhelming and threateningjust like the villain in the story. But withsuitable techniques and training, the enemycan be tackled and overpowered. In learningnew vocabulary, it all comes down to howwell each of these words needs to beknown. What are the best approaches forteaching vocabulary to L2 learners ofEnglish? How can we know that learninghas occurred?Principles for designing avocabulary programmeDiana and Norbert Schmitt (1995)conducted extensive research into secondlanguage vocabulary acquisition and secondlanguage vocabulary teaching. From thisbody of research, certain principles relatedto designing any vocabulary programmehave become evident:1. Incorporate new words into the networkof old-established words withinterwoven associations2. Organise newly learned words such assynonyms, antonyms, or parts ofspeech to facilitate learning and recall3. Teach words which are similar atdifferent time intervals, separately4. Learn through word pairs5. Acknowledge different facets ofknowing a word including a word’sform, grammatical characteristics, rootform, derivatives, frequency, register,and relation to other semantic concepts6. Create opportunities for deeper mentalprocessing such as creating a mentalimage, judging formality, groupingthe word with other semanticallyrelated words7. Have the “retrieval practice effect”by recalling a word frequentlythrough production8. Encourage students to takeresponsibility and pay attention tolearning most effectively9. Recycle vocabulary to learn better10. Expand rehearsal and individualisestudents’ learning11. Cater for different learning stylesI often think about the bedrock ofefficient vocabulary teaching andutilize some teaching-learningtechniques such as asking studentsto keep vocabulary journals and handin written production which requiresusing newly learned words. LikeKung Fu master Shifu, I find myselfchallenged by the task of cateringto different learning styles in theclassroom and finding ways to help mystudents retain and store vocabulary intheir long-term memory. I have tried out acouple of techniques derived from variousliteratures on vocabulary learning in ELTand here I would like to elaborate on someof these word-learning techniques that haveworked for me.Personal organizingPersonal organizing asks students to makejudgments about words. For example,after we had exploited a unit about globalwarming, I asked my students to look attheir vocabulary notes as well as the lessonmaterials (handouts and coursebook) andmake a list of key words that they thoughtthey should learn. Afterwards, I drew amindmap on the board and wrote ‘globalwarming’ at the heart of it. Then, I elicitedother words from their lists of key wordsthat could complete the mindmap in thesun ray effect. So, the task is groupingwords under a category: causes, effects,or what needs to be done. They then list thetarget vocabulary underneath each category:e.g. to ban, to take steps, and to takeprecautions. I think this task is effectivebecause it displays a useful and meaningfulway of organizing the mental lexicon bybuilding semantic mapping throughnetworks and associations.Cognitive depthI often provide students with vocabularyexercises in which they need to makefurther judgments about the newly learnedwords and use them in an appropriatecontext. I sometimes give sentences thatexemplify the target words and askfollow-up questions:• What is the root form of the word?• Which word has the same meaning asthe underlined word?• Which of the following meanings of thegiven word (one word with severalmeanings) would complete thesentence best?• What are the antonyms and/orsynonyms?The student example below illustrates howa student grouped the words by using Text2 Mindmap, a Web 2.0 mindmapping tool.52 ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013

2. Include students in creatingrules, norms, and routines, andunderstanding consequencesIf the learners have a strong and positiverelationship with their teacher, and viceversa, then sets of rules can be based ontrust. Students then feel freer to participate,to challenge prevailing wisdom, askquestions, and disagree safely with oneanother. Students can co-create classroommanagement rules because they want to bethere and they want the classroom to be anengaging place where they can work well.Routines do not have to be boring. Younglearners, especially, need routine and cuesto react and produce language.Harmer (1983) stipulates a Code of Conductthat should be discussed and produced forevery classroom. The point he raises is thatboth the teacher and the students need toknow what the code is. Harmer lists thefollowing reminders for preventing disciplineproblems (p. 210):For the teacher:• Don’t go to class unprepared.• Don’t be inconsistent.• Don’t issue threats.• Don’t raise your voice.• Don’t give boring lessons.• Don’t be unfair.• Don’t have a negative attitude to learning.• Don’t break the code.How many of us are guilty of breakingthese rules?Harmer also points out the importance forteachers to be able to see things from thestudents’ perspective, listing the followingfactors that require a teacher’s carefulattention and understanding:• Time of day plays a role as to how tiredor receptive the student may be.• The students’ attitude and how they viewtheir class and teacher is crucial.• The desire to be noticed, especially inteenage classes, may drive studentsinto disruptive behaviour in order tobe recognized.• Problems at home could also drive achild to seek attention in class.• Two’s company. Two students beingdisruptive together are far more effectivethan one! Their behavior can ofteninfluence the whole group.Emphasizing that prevention is betterthan cure, Harmer (1983) stresses theimportance of drawing up a Code of Conductat the beginning of the school year (p. 213).If you have not started, it is never too lateto start! After setting your rules, displaythem in a prominent place.3. ActivitiesEffective educators experiment withalternative teaching methods to reachstudents with diverse intelligences andinterests. We need to take time to join inwith online discussions, seminars, andconferences which are free and easy toaccess wherever we may be based. Bycreating a Personal Learning Network, wecan share and develop ideas and strategieswith other teachers.The more teachers vary their methods toget all types of students involved, the morecertain they will be to encounter fewerbehaviour problems.Scrivener (2005, p. 79) advises us to:• sequence activities• give clear instructions and set upactivities in a logical manner• rearrange seating if the task requiresmore space or one-to-one interaction• change seating arrangements to allowstudents to circulate• monitor activities and give feedback• time activities and bring them to an endin a logical way4. Techniques and toolsWhen students work together on projects(Project-Based Learning), they learn tocollaborate, communicate, and resolveconflicts. Cooperative learning supportscharacter as well as the social andemotional development of students andprepares them for success in the modernworkplace. This focus on engagement ratherthan management means students areencouraged to take ownership of their ownwork and therefore learning. Letting themset goals together and reflecting on themwill enable them to find a purpose forcarrying out a task. Such skills can helpstudents create products that have realimpact. Allowing our learners to focus onengagement means managementissues disappear.Plus don’t forget the tools!• Use the board! Draw a big sad/angryface when things are getting out ofcontrol and stay silent until the messagehas been taken in!• Use gestures! Cross yourarms/point/stamp your foot andcountdown/whisper sshhhh.• Speak clearly and at an appropriatevolume and speed.• Always have a Plan B and be ready todivert or diverge.• If necessary, seek outside help. Talkto the parents/other teachers anddiscuss solutions.5. Keep it consistent and real!As Harmer (1983) points out, we areteachers with a variety of roles (p. 200):• controller• assessor• organizer• prompter• participant• resourceThe role of the teacher depends to anextent on the function he or she performsin different activities. In other words, wechange roles according to the lesson.When assuming these roles, we mustremain consistent at all times in enforcingour class rules regardless of how we feel onthe day. As we have said before, our learnersneed routines, cues, and rules. Somewherein-between, we find time to develop theirlanguage skills and knowledge!Classroom management involves not onlyhow we deliver the syllabus, but how wellwe create for our students an environmentconducive to learning. Teachers with agood idea of classroom managementusually have their students working andlearning seamlessly.Think back to your own education… .How many great teachers have you had inyour life and why were they great?ReferencesAllen, K.P. (2010, Spring). Classroom management,bullying and teacher practices. The ProfessionalEducator, 34(1).Canter, L., & Canter, M. (1976). Assertive discipline.A take charge approach for today’s educator. SantaMonica, CA: Lee Canter Associates.Harmer, J. (1983). The Practice of English LanguageTeaching. Harlow, UK: Longman.Scrivener, J. (2005). Learning teaching. A guidebook forEnglish Language teachers (2nd ed.). Oxford,UK: Macmillan ELT.Electronic sourcesDreikurs, R. (1968, 1972, 1982). Classroommanagement theorists and theories/Rudolf Dreikurs.Retrieved from http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Classroom_Management_Theorists_and_Theories/Rudolf_DreikursGlasser, W. (1970). Reality therapy and choice theory.Retrieved from http://www.angelfire.com/ab/brightminds/tReality.htmlSkinner, B. (1950). Operant conditioning. Retrieved fromhttp://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/operant-conditioning.htmlOther useful resources:http://www.edutopia.org/classroom-managementresource-guidehttp://www.oxfordmagazine.es/2012/12/01/classroom-management-an-important-concernfor-teachers/About the AuthorSharon Noseley-Kalantzis has been teaching EFL toall levels and ages for the past 17 years. She works inforeign language schools in Greece, starting her daywith Pre-Junior classes and ending it with C2 classes.She also teaches Business English on a one-to-onelevel. During the summer she teaches EAP at theDe Monfort University in the UK. Sharon has beenan ESOL Cambridge Oral Examiner for the past sevenyears in addition to working for the University ofLancashire ESB examination board.ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013 55

InsightsOn Modern Linguistics and dialect studies:an interview with Dr David BritainDr David Britain has held the Chair ofModern English Linguistics at the Universityof Bern since January 2010 and is theco-author of Linguistics: an introduction (CUP,second edition, 2009). Prior to UNIBE, hewas a Senior Lecturer at the University ofEssex in Colchester, England, where he alsoearned his PhD in Sociolinguistics. Dr Britaincompleted a Postdoc in New Zealand wherehe was part of a research team thatundertook the first large-scale social dialectanalysis of New Zealand English. Currently,Dr Britain is an Associate Editor of theJournal of Sociolinguistics, and is on theeditorial board of the Journal of LinguisticGeography, the International Journal ofEnglish Studies, Babel, and the FrenchReview of English Linguistics.We are pleased and honoured to be able tointerview him for this issue.Julie: Let’s start off with your work at theUniversity of Bern. What does the Chair ofModern English Linguistics do?Dave: My job has three main roles: (1) tocoordinate the Linguistics teaching in theEnglish Department and, despite theLinguistics section being very small, toorganise a full and coherent studyprogramme right from the early years ofthe BA to the more specialist andresearch-oriented stages of the MA; (2)to conduct research in my field ofspecialisation, and support the scholars ofthe future to do so too, by supervising MAand PhD theses; (3) as a co-director of theEnglish Department, to supervise andadminister the activities of the Departmentas a whole. From February 2011 to January2013, I was Head of Department.Julie: What is Modern English Linguistics?What does the term encompass?Dave: I like to think of Linguistics in arather broad sense as the study of language.Consequently it encompasses very manytopics. Most fundamentally it considers thebuilding blocks of the language – the soundsand how they are combined together; thewords; how these words are combined toform utterances; and how these utterancesare combined together to form discourse, sothe study of phonetics and phonology, lexis,morphology and syntax, and discourse.Additionally, it includes meaning and howthat meaning is applied in everyday talk.It includes how English has emerged andchanged over time and the many influencesfrom other languages that have shaped itover the years, as well as the influence ithas had on other languages. Important toois how English is acquired both by childrenand adults as well as the structure ofEnglish used by people with a languagedisorder. For me, an especially importantpart of English Linguistics is looking at thedifferent Englishes spoken around the worldand thinking about how they got that way.And as a sociolinguist, I am also interestedin how people’s language use can bothmanifest as well as shape aspects of theirsocial identity. Also important is themechanics of conversation – for example,how we so seamlessly take turns whentalking, how and for what purpose wetell stories, how we begin and endconversations. And this is just a smallset of the topics that could be describedas English Linguistics.Julie: Can you describe your program at theUniversity of Bern?Dave: The BA in our Department is inEnglish in general – Literature and CulturalStudies as well as Linguistics, and we aimhere to provide a solid foundation in thesetopics, whilst ensuring students gaintheoretical knowledge, analytical skills, anda breadth of exposure to work in these fieldsfrom different places and different timeperiods. I like to think of the MA, wherestudents can specialise in either Literatureor Linguistics, as a research orientationdegree – they gain advanced theoreticalinsights, but in addition learn in a muchmore hands-on way how to do linguisticsthemselves, how to collect relevant languagedata, how to analyse it, how then to dosomething with it. I place great emphasistherefore on courses which introducestudents to the joys and difficulties offieldwork, as well as of language dataanalysis. So MA students with a Linguisticsmajor will get their hands dirty, doingLinguistics and not just reading about it.We also work with the Faculty’s Centerfor the Study of Language and Societywhich has an MA in Sociolinguistics. ThisMA brings together many linguists acrossthe faculty to produce a multilingual,interdisciplinary programme on languagein society.Julie: Who is the program for? How mightthe program benefit an English teacherin Switzerland?Dave: Most of our students are of courseat the BA level, and many of them want tobecome teachers of English. We’re veryconscious then of this special audienceand try to ensure that there are regularlinguistics courses which will be of specificinterest to future teachers – courses onsecond language acquisition, for example,or on bilingualism, as well as the basiccourses on the structure and mechanicsof the language. At the MA level, studentsoften examine these issues in more detail.I have supervised MA theses on theacquisition of specific parts of Englishgrammar that are often said to be especiallyproblematic for Bernese students, such asthe past tense.Julie: Let’s talk a little about your researchinterests. One common theme connectsdialect variation and mobility. Why is thisimportant? What are some implications?Dave: A lot of the dialect research inAnglophone countries has explicitly avoidedmobile people or mobile communities.The first dialect studies in Britain, forexample, deliberately sought out ‘NORMs’(‘Non-mobile Old Rural Men’) because itwas thought they spoke the purest dialect,least influenced by external influences.When sociolinguistic approaches todialectology arrived in the 1960s, the studyof dialect moved to some of the largestcities in the world, but again mobile people,people not brought up in that community,were still shunned. In the past 20 yearsor so we’ve been learning that mobilepeople are in fact extremely influentialtriggers of language and dialect change incommunities, so we can’t really adequatelyinvestigate dialect change withoutconsidering them. My early research beganby looking at dialects that had been formedby acts of migration – in England, and thenlater in New Zealand. More recently I’vebeen interested in the more mundane andeveryday mobilities (e.g. commuting) andhow they can affect dialect. Given its effecton language change, and given that we areliving in an increasingly mobile world, I don’tthink we can adequately study dialect andignore the effects of mobility. I also think itwould be fascinating to see if there are anydifferences in the nature of our dialectswhen we are talking on the phone, or, forexample, talking to passengers while drivinga car, contexts where normal face-to-faceinteraction is disrupted in some way. Inthese contexts the speakers are either notdirectly looking at each other (and so can’tuse facial expression and gesture in thesame way) or are not even in the sameplace as each other at all. I’m surprisedthat very little research has examined this.Julie: In 2009 you co-edited a special issueof the International Journal of the Sociologyof Language on dialect death in Europe.Can you share some highlights or insightswith us?56 ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013

The Techy CornerHere comes the blog lady… .Illya Arnet-ClarkL Tech SIG Coordinatorlearning-tech@e-tas.chAnyone who knows something about mealso knows that I love blogs. It happened tome as I was taking a course in OnlineEducational Technology with the Universityof London. That word BLOG came up andsomething about it fascinated me. My firsttask in the Blogging module was to findgood examples. Easier said than done!This took up hours of my time and at bestI found dusty old blogs; at worst I discoveredvoyeurism such to turn my cheeks brightpink out of embarrassment for the personwho left such intimacies out in broaddaylight (you won’t catch me hanging myundies out in the street!)I seriously questioned the use and relevanceof this online tool and when asked aboutthis, my tutor shared my doubts. Well, I didend up changing my mind, and althoughI am also guilty of letting blogs go dustyand rusty, I still love them.I have used them for my C1 classes andencouraged the participants to use thisspace to write without pressure and sharethis and that. The first time was a disaster.The second time I began guiding them andgiving them specific tasks. By the fourthtime, the blog flourished. It also becamea resource of useful links that I still goback to from time to time, even though itis no longer used for writing. Seehttp://yourcaeblog.blogspot.ch/I have used them for primary school kids.They collaborated together with others andshared something of their culture with bothadults and peers from another continent.These were short projects with littleendurance, yet the effect was astoundingin that short period of time. There wasactually a desire to write! Now this isspecial, which anyone who has ever taughtkids ages 9 - 12 will surely agree with.I have used them for my own reflectionsabout learning and teaching, and recurrentlydust them off when I take a new course soI can continue to grow in this space I havebuilt. This has been a place to connect withothers from all over the world. In theircomments my readers agree, disagree,question, or even add new ideas to myposts, allowing me to further grow.I have used them for teacher training. Thisyear I am trying out something different. Asa teacher trainer, I am requiring my studentsto blog regularly, even to the point of beinggrade-relevant. After a semester of bloggingI see the following happen: those who blogregularly about the topics we have in classshow greater depth of reflection whenrelating the topics to their own learningexperiences; these are also the studentswho are putting considerable thought intowhat has happened in their practicelessons. My next step will be to requirefewer posts, but have them work in groupsand comment on each other’s postsregularly. Looking at the effect theirreflections have had, I wonder if blogs couldbe used in a similar way for learning English.I imagine learners writing a post after eachlesson, consolidating what they remember,asking about what they did not understand,and commenting on what they especiallyenjoyed or found difficult. What would theeffect of such reflective blogging onlanguage learning be?I have set up one for ETAS to sharethoughts, links, and so on. Now, admittedly,I am not doing a good job at keeping up atit, as you might have noticed. Therefore,I have made some changes for 2013. Thefirst change has been to get an AssistantSIG Coordinator, so let’s give Anel Auberta warm welcome! She’s doing a great jobat helping out.Which takes us to the second change: nowyou can read new posts regularly – expectone to two posts monthly, including postsfrom guest writers. The topic? Anything thatmoves you and is in some way related to theinterests of ETAS. Of course, I need guestwriters, so if any of you, dear readers, feelmoved to add to the blog, please contactme. I will send you an invitation to post onthe blog, or you can send the text to Anelor me by email (learning-tech@e-tas.ch).Now, readers are also needed to make ablog successful. How do you know if youare being read if nobody leaves a message?Well, you can look at the statistics, butyou don’t know how your readers feel afterreading your post. Do they find the topicinteresting? Do they agree or disagree?Are they touched? So I’m also encouragingyou, dear ETAS members, to help keep theblog alive and the discussion going. If youdo go to the blog and read a post, leave acomment. Then go back and see if anyoneelse has left a comment on your comment.This is a simple way to network outside ofETAS and other educational events thathappen periodically.How do you follow the blogs? Very goodquestion! You will often find an orangeRSS feed button which will let you knowwhenever there is a new post. This can beread in your browser or other feed readers.This is particularly useful if you have writtensomething and are hoping for an answer orresponse. If you follow a number of blogs,then a reader is practical. They tend to workmuch the same as an email box. You seewhat is new because it is in bold. You canfind information on the etasblog underBlogging 101.Blogging is one way of encouragingdiscussion and learning outside of class,but there are other ways of doing this andthey are becoming more and more common.For example, an article that appeared inthe Summer 2012 edition of ETAS Journaldescribing how Skype can be used fordistance learning has prompted PatriciaDaniels to share her own experiences as a‘virtual teacher’ in this issue. In an articleappearing in this section, she gives somevaluable advice for setting up a distancecourse using different online tools.Shannon Poulsen also shares herexperience as a distance teacher tostudents in China, including a descriptionof her quite steep learning curve and aconcrete example of what such a lessoncould look like.Finally, Nasy Inthisone Pfanner gives ussome insights into the technologicaldevelopments taking place in classroomsin Austria. She especially focuses on thejoys and advantages of the electronic classbook used for management of classes inthe primary school.I wish you happy reading! If you also haveexperience to share about technology inthe classroom, then you can submit anarticle to The Techy Corner, ask to leavea post on etasblog.wordpress.com, orsimply leave a comment there. Let’s getthe discussion going!P.S. From 4th May - 1st June, JennyVerschoor and I will be giving yet anotheracross-the-borders online course. This timeit will be about digital storytelling. This canbe done with children and adults, and evenfor Business English! If you are interested,check out the ETAS website (e-tas.ch) oretasblog.wordpress.com for moreinformation about digital storytelling course.We hope to see you together with ourArgentine friends!60 ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013

The Techy CornerVirtual teachingIllya Arnet-ClarkL Tech SIG Coordinatorlearning-tech@e-tas.chPAT R I C I A D A N I E L SWhen I commenced teaching, I neverthought that one day I would be introducingmyself as a Virtual Teacher. And I neverthought that I would be confronted with somany unusual reactions when I reveal topeople what I do, especially in Switzerland.Some smile awkwardly and change thesubject. Others take a more direct approachand prod me, making sure I am real, Isuppose, and not some kind of bio-inspiredrobot. Then there are others who haveexperience in this field and are keen toengage in discussion about informationcommunication technologies (ICTs), theirrelevance and possible uses in a virtuallearning environment (VLE).The form of virtual or cyber teaching that Iam involved in is teaching that is mediatedthrough the internet using a web-conferencingsystem such as Skype. I was prompted intowriting this text after reading the articlefrom Vicky Loras (2012) about her personalexperience with Skype in the context ofEnglish language teaching (p. 31). It wasrefreshing to hear her speaking soenthusiastically and openly about herexperiment with this form of teaching andhow both she and her student developedtheir digital literacies as the lessonsprogressed. In this article I will briefly explainhow to get started as a Skype teacherand then discuss the core tools that I useto enhance the learning experience formy students.If the ELT researcher David Graddol iscorrect with his prediction that demandsfor English language learning “will peak ataround two billion learners in the next 10to 15 years” (cited in Peachey, 2011),then I believe it is time for teachers to startthinking about alternative methods ofproviding language instruction. If I wasto apply Goodhue and Thompson’stask-technology fit theory (1995) to thismodel of teaching, then using a Voice overInternet Protocol system (VoIP), such asSkype, seems a logical and appropriatechoice of tool. It is perfect for oralcommunication (even with the slighttechnical disturbances that can occur).It is synchronous, which means authentic,real-time interaction; you can see oneanother, which means body language canbe read to a certain extent, therebyhighlighting a sense of presence; it doesnot require high-level digital literacies,which means most students will not becognitively challenged with the medium andcan concentrate on language learning(Salomon, 1997), and it is free. I use SkypePremium (monthly or yearly subscriptionpossible) because of extra features such asgroup video calling and group screensharing, but this is not a necessity if you areworking purely on a one-to-one basis withstudents. It would seem, then, that teachinglanguage virtually is a feasible alternative totraditional forms of language learning.Getting startedYou will need to download the Skypesoftware that is compatible with yourcomputer. A webcam is essential if you donot have a built-in camera and I wouldsuggest buying a headset with combinedmicrophone so as not to be disturbed by anyexternal background noises whilst teaching.When using a headset, I find I canconcentrate intensively on the student’spronunciation. If you have never used anykind of video conferencing system before,then find someone to test it out on – forinstance, family, friends, or a fellow teacher– and play with the system. Practisenavigating around the screen, try out thechat box, test screen share mode andswapping between websites, upload andsend documents and photos, copy andpaste links into the chat box and open themup. While you are experimenting with thistool, think about how you can incorporatethese features into a lesson (keeping inmind which pedagogical approaches will bemost suitable).Ensure your students also have Skypesoftware installed and all the necessaryhardware. You will need to accept each otheras contacts before you can give them avideo call. I always do a test run withstudents before the first official lesson inorder to check connectivity. Additionally,I inquire about their experience with Skypeand which ICTs they are using on a regularbasis so as to gain a brief overview oftheir digital competency and also to seeif any of their uses overlap with mine.Communicating is the easy part. Locate thestudent’s name in your Skype contact list,click on video call, and when they appear onyour screen, start speaking. The chat boxcan be utilized to assist with vocabularybuilding, to demonstrate how to break wordsinto syllables when pronunciation problemsoccur, to play word games and to giveprompts, and so on. Now that phase one isestablished and you can communicate, letus move onto some other tools in order tobuild up your repertoire of digital resources.Core tools and virtual spacesSome of the tools that I am about todiscuss are tools that enable me to providevirtual spaces for my students so thatliteracy skills can be practised. Theadvantage of having virtual spaces is thatmaterial can be archived for review; thusstudents can compare their progress andI have an overview of the work they areproducing. Some further plus points are thatstudents do not feel so isolated; I can caterfor various learning styles or preferences;the work areas enable flexibility; studentsare empowered with responsibility for theirown learning; creativity is promoted; thelessons are more student-centric, somethingthat is not always easy to achieve in thisspecific VLE; and, apart from improving theirlanguage skills, students’ digital literaciesbenefit. This is a welcome side effect asthese skills can be transposed into work,school, or private contexts. I work mainlywith adult students so security issues arenot a problem but, of course, if you areworking with younger students, this willneed to be addressed and I would adviseinvolving the parents.A tool that I use on a daily basis is Jing, ascreencast and screenshot software, whichrequires downloading. It is an asynchronoustool. I use this to give audiovisual feedback,create tutorials, and set homework.Students respond well to this method offeedback, perhaps because it is easier toavoid ambiguity with audiovisual feedbackas opposed to written. After creating ascreencast or screenshot with Jing, I sendthe student the URL for the video, whichthey can view repeatedly from any device.Active engagement with the material ispromoted and they can archive the URL forfuture use. Jing is user-friendly and can beutilized for individual or collaborativeactivities (including mixed language levels).Voxopop is an asynchronous web-basedaudio tool that I encourage my studentsto use regularly for speaking and listeningpractice. I create private talk groups so thatmy students can communicate with oneanother, or respond to prompts. It is usefulfor discussions, feedback, dictation,storytelling, oral exam practice, vocabularygames, etc. Additionally, students canexplore public groups for extra listening andspeaking practice. The advantage is thatthey are exposed to numerous accents andauthentic language, as opposed to seteducational material. It is suitable for alllanguage levels.For writing skills, I use Google Docs/Driveas a private space where students havetheir individual wikis and group wikis forcollaborative work. During the virtual lesson,we practise writing here or I upload imagesfor speaking and writing prompts. Studentscomplete their homework in this space andI can access it at will in order to preparefeedback, which saves precious lesson timefor other activities. Google Docs can beused as a synchronous and asynchronoustool. If students choose to engagesynchronously in collaborative written work,then they can communicate via the chatbox in Google Docs and do not have touse Skype.Wordle is a web-based tool and notnecessarily designed for education.Nevertheless, it can be repurposed asan effective language tool for synchronousand asynchronous activities. It producesword clouds from extracts of text that youcopy and paste into a box. I upload theseETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013 61

The Techy CornerIllyaVirtual teachingArnet-ClarkL Tech SIG Coordinatorlearning-tech@e-tas.chword clouds either to Google Docs or Linoitfor further activities - for example, studentsmight have to reconstruct the text or createa new one; for vocabulary building orcreating semantic structures; buildingcollocations, etc. It is suitable for alllanguage levels and for collaborative andindividual activities.Linoit, which can be used synchronously orasynchronously, is my other favourite. This isa virtual corkboard or canvas where images,texts, and videos can be posted. Hence, aversatile tool that can be implemented fornumerous activities and accessed at will.I find that Linoit works well with mixedlanguage levels. For example, I can insertan image with writing prompts and studentscan post their answers here or in GoogleDocs, depending on whether it is acollaborative or an individual activity. It canbe used for writing, reading, listening, andviewing audiovisual material. I view it asspace where creativity is promoted both ona collaborative and individual level.I hinted at authentic listening materialabove when discussing Voxopop. In myopinion, authentic audiovisual material isinvaluable as it exposes students toauthentic speech with all its nuances andglobal accents. So where can you findthese resources? I filter through material insites such as YouTube EDU and iTunes U.If I am using a video or podcast during aSkype lesson, it is a simple matter ofpasting the link into the chat box, which canthen be viewed and discussed. Apart fromthese suggestions, I often find suitableaudiovisual material and podcasts fromBBC Learning (UK), english4today, andlearnenglishfeelgood (USA). However, withthe enormous number of readily availableopen educational resources (OERs) on theinternet, there is no need to restrict yourselfto these sites.There are other ICTs that I use, but theabove-mentioned constitute the coretools that I implement on a regular basis.When choosing tools such as these for yourown teaching context, I feel it is importantto consider the needs of your studentsand whether the tool is going to hinderor enhance their learning experience.As Kennedy et al. (2008) suggest, justbecause a student uses a certaintechnology in their free time does not meanthat they possess the skills to use iteffectively for learning (p. 119). Therefore,do not make assumptions about the digitalskills of younger or older students.Introduce tools step by step and move onto others when you are sure that thestudents’ confidence and digital literaciesare adequate, otherwise you might causethem to experience unnecessary frustrationor anxiety.Keep in mind that you should have astrategy for implementing ICTs and that thepedagogy should remain in the foreground.Take time to reflect on what it is you aretrying to achieve with your students andput their needs before yours. I have foundthis leads to a positive learning experiencefor my students, which is highly satisfyingfor me.I am aware that this form of teaching andlearning may not be suitable for all learnersand educators, but it is certainly a viablealternative to traditional classroom teaching.From my experience, it seems especiallypopular amongst students searching for amore flexible and customized method oflearning English. It is a fascinatingenvironment to work in and one I ampassionate about. I am looking forwardto seeing what influence educationaltechnology will have in the future onlanguage learning and education in general.ReferencesGoodhue, D.L., & Thompson, R.L. (1995).Task-technology fit and individual performance.MIS Quarterly, 19(2), 213-236.Kennedy, G.E., Judd, T.S., Churchward, A., & Gray, K.(2008). First-year students’ experiences withtechnology: are they really digital natives?Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 24(1),108–22. Retrieved November 20, 2012 fromhttp://routes.open.ac.uk/ixbin/hixclient.exe?_IXDB_=routes&_IXSPFX_=g&submitbutton=summary&%24+with+res_id+is+res18618Loras, V. (2012). Across time and space: teachingEnglish through Skype. The Etas Journal 29(3), 31.Peachey, N. (2011, July 5). Online alternatives tolanguage classrooms open up to students. TheGuardian. Retrieved November 19, 2012 fromhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/jul/05/online-english-language-learning-peacheySalomon, G. (1997). Of mind and media. Phil DeltaKappan, 78(5), 375-80.Useful linkshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/http://www.english4today.com/usr/video/ytv/http://en.linoit.comhttp://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/eslvideo/index.htmlhttp://patricia-daniels.blogspot.chhttp://www.scoop.it/t/language-learning-digitaltools-and-virtual-spaces?sc_source=mail&_tmc=KZFCH35wEv3nzcMUlRjMzg3vLbrpMrjzv1oWFOBS5L8http://www.techsmith.com/jing.htmlhttp://www.voxopop.comhttp://www.wordle.netAbout the AuthorPatricia Daniels has been teaching in Switzerlandsince 1996. She is currently undertaking an MA inOnline and Distance Education (EducationalTechnology) at the Open University in the UK. Sheteaches English virtually both via Skype and inSecond Life, trains fellow educators in the use ofdigital tools, and translates and provides onlinesupport for clients requiring assistance with Englishpresentations. She blogs, tweets, and uses othersocial media to engage with like-minded people inthe field of education.62 ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013

The Techy CornerBrave New ClassroomIllya Arnet-ClarkL Tech SIG Coordinatorlearning-tech@e-tas.chN A S Y I N T H I S O N E P FA N N E RThere was a time when pupils sat on longbenches behind narrow tables and usedchalk to write on slate in classrooms lightedwith oil lamp and candles. Sadly, suchclasses still exist in less fortunate societies.In modern societies, however, those daysare over or at least changing, in someslowly, in others radically.Pupils and teachers in modern societiesare technologically literate and work andlearn in classrooms that are technologicallyequipped. In these times, to be low-techcomes across as backward. For instance,many 10 to 14-year-old pupils of secondaryschools in Austria get digital homework intheir English classes in addition to theregular reading and writing assignments.The digital homework is incorporated intotextbooks produced by publishers whoassume that every child in Austria hasaccess to a computer. Indeed, they do – Ihaven’t heard of anyone without accessto a computer. See article DigitalHomework for Digital Natives in EnglishTeaching Professional.The purpose of this article is to presenthow technology is taking over theold-fashioned class book and to give adviceon how to implement an electronic classbook in your school.As if digital homework for the pupils werenot high-tech enough, my school cranked upthe notch on technology by implementing anelectronic class book last academic year. Upuntil now, teachers used an old-fashionedclass book or class register (it may have adifferent name depending on what countryyou live in), which was passed on from oneteacher to another during the course of theday. Regardless of the name, the purposewas the same: to log in the absences,tardiness, teaching curriculum, notes, etc.The disadvantages of the book were myriad:1) sometimes it disappeared or got stolen;2) the handwritings were illegible; 3) theexcuses for tardiness or absences that wereplaced in the book occasionally fell out ofthe book and got lost; 4) when a substituteteacher forgot to log the necessaryinformation in, it was difficult to track downthe information; and 5) it had to be archivedfor several years before it was destroyed,thus taking up a lot of paper and space.Simply put, the book was inefficient, notenvironmentally friendly, and cumbersome.At a teachers’ conference two years agowe discussed the advantages anddisadvantages of the electronic classbook over the old-fashioned class book.Although the electronic class book had beenin existence for a while, and, in fact, alreadyin use in other schools, my own school hadyet to adopt it. Consequently, when myschool finally decided to introduce thissystem in the academic year 2011, it wasgoodbye old-fashioned class book and helloelectronic class book!All the teachers got a username and apassword to log into the system. Oncelogged in, the user finds a teachingschedule, a list of pupils, and a space towrite the teaching curriculum, homework,absences, tardiness, notes, list theexamination dates, etc. The electronicclass book also reflects the changes in theschedule and is an excellent record of dailyteaching activity. For instance, a teachersubstituting for another class will easily findthe names of all the pupils of that class ondisplay. If a particular class has not beentaught, it wouldn’t show up on the schedule,providing proof that a teaching assignmenthas not been carried out. Also, when a classgoes on an excursion or a trip, the hourswould not show up on the schedule. It isimportant to fill out each day’s schedule, orit remains on the screen.In my school the administrator is responsiblefor updating the teaching schedule. In caseof substitution and/or missed classes,changes must be posted on the electronicclass book to reflect the real teachingschedule. During the whole academic yearlast year, there were only two mistakes withmy teaching schedule. Two classes I wasnot assigned to teach were erroneouslylisted under my schedule. By mistake, theadministrator placed the wrong classes inmy schedule. It should be noted, however,that this oversight was one of human error,not of system failure.Expectedly, some of the teachers, includingmyself, were overwhelmed by the systemat the beginning. It was a new productand trying to navigate it on our own wasno picnic. With the help of the moretechnologically savvy colleagues, however,everyone eventually learned how to workthe system.To get their opinions on the electronic classbook, I interviewed several teachers andfound out that they preferred it because:1) the information can be filled out anytimeat any place; 2) it can’t get lost or stolen(in the past, pupils used to steal theold-fashioned class book to keep theteachers from noticing their absences ortardiness); 3) it means the end ofindecipherable handwriting; 4) it is 100percent transparent (the headmaster hasaccess to information, such as what pupilsare learning in individual classes); 5) eachpupil’s learning schedule can be seen;6) teachers can write each other notes;and 7) being paperless, it is environmentallyfriendly, and doesn’t take up any space.Only one colleague nearing retirementprefers the old-fashioned class book to theelectronic version. Although she sees theadvantages of the electronic version, shestill prefers the old-fashioned version forthe solid feel of the printed book, much likethose who still prefer the tactile experienceof turning the pages of a paperback toswiping the edge of an e-book reader.Many countries already have such asoftware system. To get started in yourschool: 1) check around to see whatservices are available and at what price;2) discuss with your colleagues (since it isan all-or-nothing plan, either the wholeschool gets the electronic class book orno teacher gets it); 3) if possible, bringsomeone in from another school who isalready using it to provide a moreconvincing, real-life testimony than thevirtual information available on the internet;and 4) check your school’s budget. If yourschool wants it but does not have thefinancial resources, discuss the situationwith parents, who are always helpful.Fundraising events will definitely get youto your goals. Last but not least, should youimplement the system, bring in someoneto explain how it works. It will save a lotof frustration.We have come a long way from the earlydays of primitive furniture and learningmaterials to the sophisticated electronicclass book. There is no turning back theclock. The electronic class book isconquering the classrooms one schoolat a time. With all the schools in Austriathat I know of now using this e-class book,it is a matter of time before it becomesas common as Apfelstrudel. In Bill Gates’swords, “We’re changing the worldwith technology.”ReferenceInthisone Pfanner, N. (2012, May). Digital homeworkfor digital natives. English Teaching Professional.Issue Nr. 80.About the AuthorNasy Inthisone Pfanner earned her Master’s degreein German Language and Literature from ArizonaState University in Tempe and her Master’s degreein Education from the University of Michigan inAnn Arbor. She has published articles concerningeducation in various journals and newsletters andabout Lao Americans for the Encyclopedia of AsianAmerican Folklore and Folklife. Presently, she isteaching English at B.O.RG Dornbirn-Schoren, asecondary school in Vorarlberg, Austria.ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013 67

From the RegionsWorkshop ReportsBADENE V E N T T I T L E :Speaking and writing for theBEC Vantage and HigherP R E S E N T E R : Graham WorkmanD A T E : 10th November 2012V E N U E : zB. Zentrum Bildung -Wirtschaftsschule KV Baden“Ready-to-use material”, “Gives me newideas”, “Simple and adaptable”, “Light anddynamic”, “He’s a pro!” These are some ofthe comments made by teachers afterGraham Workman’s informative workshopon teaching Cambridge’s Business EnglishCertificate Exams, designed to assist bothnew and experienced teachers.The workshop began with a viewing of aYouTube clip showing twin toddlers havingan animated conversation with sounds,gurgles, and body language, followed bya discussion of how young childrencommunicate. Moving on, the discussionshifted to the pros and cons of working fora large company, a topic that could very wellfit the first part of the Speaking paper.A worksheet containing basic tasksstudents would have to do in this sectionwas distributed.Other excellent worksheets with a gapsentence exercise where studentsdiscussed among other things their jobs,a word collocation card game, and a boardgame that could be used in any businessclass soon followed. Using theseworksheets could eliminate some of thedrudgery of exam preparation as studentswould be talking about themselves in anentertaining way, thus focusing on grammarand vocabulary painlessly.Graham also presented Part 2 of theSpeaking paper in a new and practical way.In one of these approaches, we brainstormedand practiced what we would do as examcandidates. For the first time, many of usfelt the pressure our students might begoing through during the exams. Grahamguided us through the different preparationphases of this section with more helpfulworksheets and exercises.Role-playing continued as we focused onPart 3 of the paper. Fortunately, we hadpracticed the language for the differentfunctions that are monitored in the exam.Having worked for many years in this fieldas an examiner, Graham was in an excellentposition to provide tips on which structuresthe students should focus on.We returned after a short refreshmentbreak, motivated to tackle the last section,which was on Writing. We participated in adictogloss exercise, which helped us withlistening and vocabulary, as well as writingstrategies. We noted that using thisexercise could make this difficult part ofthe exam more fun for the students.Other suggestions were given for dealingwith the various parts of the Writing paper.Fortunately, worksheets were distributed for76 ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013this so that a wide range of subject mattercould be covered.Yes, you missed an excellent workshop ifyou weren’t there. But no gnashing of teeth!Popular Films for Business English 2 willsoon be available, filled with what we aresure will be very doable and worthwhilelessons. This can only be anothermust-have for any Business Englishteacher’s resource file. Thank you, Graham.As one participant noted, he’s indeed a pro!Frances Clay with Elizabeth UlrichLAUSANNEE V E N T T I T L E :Teaching Business Englishwith film extracts (new material)P R E S E N T E R : Graham WorkmanD A T E : 17th November 2012V E N U E : UNIL, LausanneIn his second workshop in Lausanne on thatday Graham showed us how films can beused for both teaching Business English ingeneral and preparing students for the BECSpeaking exam in particular. This workshopwas not only very enlightening and inspiring,it was also highly amusing.We watched a selection of short extractsfrom In Good Company, a 2004 comedyfilm directed by Paul Weitz and starringDennis Quaid. After each extract Grahamdemonstrated how a language teacher canexploit it to practise relevant businessvocabulary and promote discussion ofrelated business topics. He provided us witha wide range of practice materials and wetried out a great variety of activities thatcombined individual tasks with pair andgroupwork. The language focus of theactivities was on lexis (typical vocabulary,business collocations) as well as on listeningand speaking skills. This was arranged insuch a way that the first tasks after eachextract were always closely related to itscontent (e.g. Listen for the gist!) while thefollowing were more general. The worksheetswere taken from Graham’s recentlypublished book Popular Films for BusinessEnglish 2 (Gem Publishing Ltd., 2012).Graham pointed out that the film extractscan basically be used for learners of anylevel; only the tasks have to be adapted. Healso gave us some handy tips on which areasof Business English typically pose problems:for example, students often have difficultieswith CVs and cover letters and when talkingabout their jobs (“I work as a slave”).The seminar was exceedingly practical,interesting, and motivating. Watching thefilm extracts and then testing the variousactivities was great fun and the participantsgot some excellent handouts. I have takenpart in several of Graham’s workshops nowand I can highly recommend them. They arealways very lively and interactive. If ever youhave the opportunity, go and visit one!Markus DietzGRAUBÜNDENE V E N T T I T L E :Teaching the phonemicsymbols in the classroomP R E S E N T E R : Linda WalshD A T E : 1st December 2012V E N U E : Migros Klubschule, Chur“I believe that pronunciation is the Cinderellaof language teaching, neglected but stillwaiting to surprise everyone with its beautyand elegance!” Adrian UnderhillThere are so many approaches to dealingwith pronunciation in the language learningprocess. All teachers present in thisworkshop were hoping for a motivating,refreshing, and surely joyful experience,and indeed, it was!Linda started by explaining why she decidedto teach all her students, no matter theirage, how to recognize and use the phonemicsymbols: not only for a correct, acceptedpronunciation, but also to increase theirconfidence and thus give them a proper toolfor independent language learning outsidethe classroom.With this in mind, Linda created her ownlearning method which is actually based onthe International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).New, however, is the colour-coding in herPhonemic Symbols Chart: red for vowels,green for diphthongs, and blue forconsonants. Moreover, pronunciation ismade visible by using one example wordaccompanied by its (simplified) picture.The idea behind everything is that “Oncethe student has learnt the symbols usingthis method, it is much easier for them toread the standard black print in any otherpublication regardless if it is in thecoursebook you are using or in a dictionary.”In order to demonstrate how fast her methodworks, Linda started with the vowels; in herchart there are eight short vowels, eachconnected to a drawing, like /e/ in leg, /ə/in mother, /æ/ in hat, /i/ in taxi, /ɪ/ in swim,/ʊ/ in good, /ɒ/ in watch, and /ʌ/ in up.First step was the correct pronunciationdrilling of the respective sound. Then sheintroduced mime and gesture to indicatewhich word and sound she wanted us toproduce, thus making sounds ‘visible’ for uswithout having to look at the chart.During the workshop, Linda gave us lots ofopportunities to practice by handing outcopies from the exercises and activities inher Student’s Book, either concentrating onmere sounds, like in playing Fly-hitting andHangman, or on words, like in playing withmemory cards, or on connected speech,like rewriting whole conversations into thephonetic script.In the end, we all agreed that our workshopwas successful and worth attending: a goodopportunity to reflect and decide on furthersteps into pronunciation teaching, for whichwe thank Linda very much and wish herplenty of further enjoyable workshops!Doina Rozeboom

ReviewsA Look at BooksHelena LustenbergerBook Reviews Editorbookreview@e-tas.chExploring British CultureJo SmithCambridge University Press (2012)ISBN 978-0-521-18642-1128 pages, Book with Audio CDThis recent publication focuses on teachingEnglish through lessons which concern variouscultural elements of modern Britain. I wasparticularly pleased to see it since I had recentlybeen asked to develop a course based onculture in Britain and I had spent a great deal oftime finding out facts and figures myself. Thisbook appears to have it all ready-made andoffers a more interesting palette of activitiesand information than I had managed to puttogether, so I now enhance my own course withactivities from it.The book has photocopiable materials on 18different topics, ranging from an overview of theUK, minority groups, finance, the British classsystem, British foods, Britain and the rest of theworld, home sweet home, to even how the Britishrelax. The topics are up-to-date and interestingboth for students and teachers alike. The pointI certainly appreciate is that the topics arealways split into three levels: Elementary toPre-intermediate, Intermediate, and Advanced.Thus I did not encounter the problem that I haverun into in the past with some other photocopiablebooks where the activities are often frustratinglyunsuitable for the level of students I want to usethem with. In Exploring British Culture, there doesseem to be something for everyone.The book has a clear layout. Each lessonincludes enough material for 45-60 minutes ofteaching but also includes an extension activityto use if necessary. These extension activitiesare also interesting if the teacher wants to dosomething more task-based on the same topic.I particularly enjoyed the book because I learntso much from it. Some of the reading is fromauthentic newspaper articles and texts. Thelistening activities offer a wide range of Britishaccents, with speakers from Liverpool, Glasgow,Ireland, the south of England, and so on. I usethe CD to illustrate some of the differentEnglishes and accents in Britain, and studentsseem to enjoy being able to hear the variationsbetween some of the stronger accents.This book is evidentlysuitable for a course onBritish culture but it isalso good for slipping alesson on British cultureinto any course, eitherongoing semester-basedcourses or a shortintensive course. I likedit, I certainly look forwardto using it again, andrecommend it highly.Ruth BenvegnenAdvanced TrainerFelicity O’DellSix Practice Tests withAnswers and Audio CDs (3)Cambridge University Press (2012)ISBN 978-0-521-18700-8256 pages and a 24-page colour Speaking appendixIf you are looking for new resource material which offers both an introduction tothe Cambridge Advanced English (CAE) exam as well as practice tests, here is abook designed for you. It can either be used as a supplement in a ‘standard’advanced course designed to fulfil the function of a CAE preparation course andwhere there is explicit need for practice tests or as the main course material forvery intensive, ‘lean’ CAE courses (spreading only over a few weeks/months),offering advanced learners direct exam practice from the start.Considering the fact that there is exam guidance at the beginning of the book aswell as an explanatory answer key including tapescripts, this practice resourcedefinitely also lends itself to any ‘lone rangers’ trying to conquer more ground ontheir own at home, alongside the tutored course.“Do we need another practice test book?” you may ask. CUP has already publishedseveral past exam paper books. Well, rather than just offering a set of pastpractice tests, this publication opens with two tests through which the testee isescorted from the beginning to end, thus acquiring important success-guaranteeingstrategies and gaining exam confidence step by step. Tackling each paper thereforebecomes a lot easier and seems less frightening for the candidate. Action plansections, tip and advice boxes, as well as follow-up questions all contributetowards more task transparency for the learner. A regular Cambridge materialswriter, O’Dell has consulted the bank of real candidate exam papers (CambridgeLearner Corpus) to ensure that typical learner errors are highlighted in order tohelp exam candidates avoid common mistakes. Therefore the extra training andsupport provided alongside the first two tests are especially valuable if you arean inexperienced Cambridge exams teacher or you simply want to make sure thatall the tips you give in class are not forgotten, but can be reread at home.Looking at the sections of the book in more detail, the following facts pop out:• The Introduction section includes a meticulous instruction for the use ofthe book, providing learners background on grading as well as a referenceaddress for further information.• Training sections are extensive in Test 1; in Test 2 they are more condensed,reassessing the given tips and adding more; Tests 3-6 are simply bare, unaidedpractice. However, lots of extra help is given even for those tests in the verydetailed and illuminating answer key. The comprehensive explanations clarifywhen options are correct or wrong, offering more instructive information wherenecessary (e.g. underlined sections in tapescripts), and including notes andmodel answers for writing tasks.• There are photocopiable answer sheets to help familiarise potential examcandidates with the layout they would have to cope with in the exam.• The hungry-for-colour-pictures teacher, who occasionally has to play the role ofthe examiner, will certainly appreciate the visual material for six differentSpeaking papers! These provide enough examples for students to see andpractise with. Unfortunately, this book, like so many others, does not providethe learners with Speaking paper model answers of any kind.This last point brings me to the main drawback from my perspective – anexperienced CAE teacher – even though this issue is something that has beenneglected not only by this volume but by most other comparable books on themarket. My experience shows that scores of students have been craving for goodspeaking sample answers they could listen to, which, regrettably, are rare. Likethe scripting and recording that is done for listening tasks, material writers could‘design’ various answers for the speaking tasks and have actors ‘perform’ themto have different models for each question. Detailed comments in the answer key,similar to the ones otherwise provided in this book for all the other papers, wouldthen highlight the ups (and possibly downs) of each ‘performance’. It is, therefore,a pity that this new book, otherwise practically indispensable, has not risen tothe occasion.Nevertheless, Felicity O’Dell’s Advanced Trainer is a valuable addition to any CAEteacher’s or student’s collection of materials.Ketrin MurihiahETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013 77

ETAS Journal Book Review GuidelinesA full book review should be about 500-800 words and should be aconstructive appraisal of one book or monograph, or several works.This review is not primarily a summary; rather it is an analytic or criticaldiscussion of a book or article, hence it comments on and evaluatesthe author's purpose, thesis, contentions, and methods of analysis inan engaging and informative way.A good review may include many or all of these themes:• the intended audience for the book and who would find it useful• a brief background of the author(s), including the circumstances,context, or impetus of the book's creation and publication• the main ideas and major objectives of the work and how effectivelythese are accomplished• the theoretical issues, debates, and trends raised by the work• the soundness of methods and information sources used• the work’s merit in comparison with others on this subject• relevance of the work and its contributions to the field• constructive appraisal of the work’s strengths and weaknesses• for edited books: dominant themes with reference to specific chapters• the intended audience for the book and who would find it useful• coherence and clarity of the author's/authors' presentation,including effectiveness of writing style, organization, and toneThe header of the review should include:• the author’s/authors’ or editor’s/editors’ first and last name(s)(please indicate if it is an edited book)• the title of the book• the year of publication• the place of publication• the publisher• the number of pages• the price if available (and please indicate if paperback or hard cover)• the ISBNAt the end of the review, please include:• the reviewer’s first and last name• institutional affiliationStyle and submission guidelines:The review must be written as MS Word, in Times New Roman, font size 12.Language must be direct and void of unnecessary jargon and technicalterms. Use the active voice as much as possible.All references should be made in-text, rather than as footnotes or endnotes.When citing references, use the APA 6th Edition referencing style.The review must include a statement that the submission has not beenpreviously published and is not being considered for publication elsewhere.Reviews should be written within three months of receiving the materials.Reviewers are welcome to contact the Book Reviews Editor for help or tosend drafts.The ETAS Journal reserves the right to edit reviews for style, conciseness,and consistency. The completed review should be sent as an emailattachment to the Book Reviews Editor: bookreview@e-tas.chTo find the complete list of our most recentBooks to Review, visit the Book Reviewpage of the ETAS website:http://www.e-tas.ch/services/books-to-reviewIf you would like to write a review forthe ETAS Journal and earn the reviewcopy, please contact Helena Lustenbergerat bookreview@e-tas.ch78 ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013

ServicesMembership administrationChange of address formPlease help to keep our records up-to-date by notifying us before you move!Old addressFull nameAddressNew address valid as of:Full nameAddressTelephoneEmailETAS RegionTelephoneEmailETAS RegionPlease return to: ETAS Administration, Rue de l’Hôpital 32, CH-1400 Yverdon or office@e-tas.chMembership application formMembership year: 1st July – 30th JuneMembership contracted between July and December = full fee, between January and June = half feeMembership:I/we apply for membership in the following category:INDIVIDUAL MEMBER (with special rates for students and senior members):SwitzerlandCHF 95.– per annumSwitzerland - Student membershipopen to students* at Swiss state tertiary pedagogical institutionsI've enclosed a copy of my student IDCHF 50.– per annumSwitzerland - Senior membershipopen to senior members** only (Swiss state retirement age)I've enclosed a copy of my identity card or passportCHF 50.– per annumEUCHF 120.– per annumOverseasCHF 145.– per annumINSTITUTIONAL MEMBER: CHF 190.– per annumASSOCIATE MEMBER:CHF 420.– per annumPayment:I/we have paid CHF into the ETAS postal account:Zürich 80-43533-3Please send me an invoice(for Institutional and Associate Members only)Full nameYear of birthAddressIndividual Members only:Please indicate which ETAS Region you wish to join(tick only one):Baden Basel Bern/NeuchâtelCentral Switzerland Geneva GraubündenSolothurn/Olten St. Gallen TicinoValais Vaud Zürich/WinterthurPlease indicate which ETAS Special Interest Groups (SIGs)you wish to join:Business EnglishCross-CulturalDrama & LiteratureEnglish for Specific PurposesExaminations, Testing& AssessmentImmersion/CLILLearning TechnologiesResearchSchool ManagementTeacher DevelopmentTeacher TrainingTeenYoung LearnersI do not wish my name to be passed on to EFL publishersPlease send information on theETAS occupational pension fundPlease send information on theETAS loss-of-earnings & accident insuranceFor queries please contact:ETAS Administration, Rue de l’Hôpital 32, CH-1400 YverdonTel: +41 (0)24 420 32 54, Fax: +41 (0)24 420 32 57email: office@e-tas.ch, website: www.e-tas.chTelephoneEmailDate/SignatureFax* To qualify for student membership, please submit proof of student status (photocopy orscanned copy of student ID with the date of validity clearly visible) to ETAS Administrationfor evaluation.** To qualify for senior membership, please submit proof of retirement age (photocopyor scanned copy of identity card or passport with date of birth clearly visible) to ETAS Administrationfor evaluation.ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013 79

ServicesLibrary updatesRECENT ACQUISITIONS Please remember to quote the Catalogue Id Number when ordering a book. Thank you!Author(s)/Number Title Editor(s) Description Publisher Year Category3024Active Grammar -Level 1Davis F. &Rimmer W.Three-level grammar reference and practice series specially designed toappeal to teenage and young adult learners. Level 1 covers A1-A2 (CEF) levelgrammar points. Suitable for classroom use or self-study. (with CD-ROM)CambridgeUniversityPress2011Grammar andLanguagePractice3025Active Grammar -Level 2Davis F. &Rimmer W.Three-level grammar reference and practice series specially designed toappeal to teenage and young adult learners. Level 2 covers B1-B2 (CEF) levelgrammar points. Suitable for classroom use or self-study. (with CD-ROM)CambridgeUniversityPress2011Grammar andLanguagePractice3026Active Grammar -Level 3Lloyd M. &Day J.Three-level grammar reference and practice series specially designed toappeal to teenage and young adult learners. Level 3 covers C1-C2 (CEF) levelgrammar points. Suitable for classroom use or self-study. (with CD-ROM)CambridgeUniversityPress2011Grammar andLanguagePractice4023Cambridge BusinessEnglish DictionarySpecially created for Business English students, business studies students,and anyone using English in their work. Over 35,000 words, phrases, andmeanings.CambridgeUniversityPress2011Dictionaries4001Cambridge EnglishPronouncingDictionaryJones D.The 18th edition of Daniel Jones's classic guide to contemporary Englishpronunciation. Over 230,000 pronunciations of words, names, and phrases.Includes a CD-ROM with spoken British and American pronunciations ofevery headword.CambridgeUniversityPress2011Dictionaries7510Cambridge EnglishVocabulary forAdvancedHaines S.Covers the vocabulary needed for the Cambridge English Advanced exam.Provides error warnings (to help avoid common mistakes), practice examtasks, useful tips, and techniques for learning and remembering vocabulary.(with Audio CD)CambridgeUniversityPress2012Vocabulary4024Cambridge Learner'sDictionaryFourth edition. Ideal for intermediate learners of English. Over 35,000definitions, written in clear, simple English. With English Vocabulary Profilelevels (A1 to B2). Includes a CD-ROM with British and Americanpronunciations for every word.CambridgeUniversityPress2012Dictionaries1149ClassroomManagementTechniquesScrivener J.Classroom management is about creating the right conditions for effectivelearning - whichever method you use, whatever your classroom is like, andwhoever your students are. This book offers a huge range of down-to-earth,practical techniques that will help you make the most of your teaching spaceand get your students working in more focused ways.CambridgeUniversityPress2012Methodologyand Linguistics2112CLIL ActivitiesDale L. &Tanner R.Resource for both CLIL subject and CLIL language teachers. Contains a widerange of teaching ideas for most CLIL situations. All activities integratelanguage with content and can be adated for use within any school subjectarea. Includes practical ideas for assessment, review and feedback.(with CD-ROM)CambridgeUniversityPress2012Resource Books2113CLIL's Little HelpersInglin O.Practice-oriented manual for those who teach History in English. With teachingexamples and useful CLIL links. Can also be useful to teachers of othersubjects. (The book is in German.)hep verlag2013Resource Books10124CommunicatingAcross CulturesDignen B.Short course (20-30 hours) for intermediate (B1-B2) learners of BusinessEnglish who want to succeed in an international business environment. Drawson inspirational advice from leading figures in the world of cross-culturalcommunication. Covers all types of spoken and written communication(meetings, negotiations, phone calls, emails). (with Audio CD)CambridgeUniversityPress2011English forSpecific Purposes:Business English10123DynamicPresentationsPowell M.Course for intermediate to advanced learners of Business English who wantto excel at presenting. Drawing closely on the world of communication skillstraining, this comprehensive programme covers everything from structuringyour talk to fine-tuning your delivery, including designing your visuals andmastering your body language. (levels B1-B2 / with 2 Audio CDs)CambridgeUniversityPress2012English forSpecific Purposes:Business English3036English Grammarin UseMurphy R.Self-study reference and practice book for intermediate learners of English(4th edition). With a fresh, appealing new design and clear layout, with revisedand updated examples. Perfect for independent studying. With answers,CD-ROM and grammar glossary.CambridgeUniversityPress2012Grammar andLanguagePractice15506ETAS Journal,Winter 2012,Vol. 30 No. 1Pioquinto C.(Ed.)ETAS J - linking the needs of English teachers and language professionalsfor practical but stimulating tips for day-to-day teaching and professionalenhancement with insights drawn from academic disciplines and scholarlypractices.ETAS2012ETAS Journals80 ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013

Author(s)/Number Title Editor(s) Description Publisher Year Category10259InterculturalCompetence inBusiness EnglishCamerer R. &Mader J.Manual and resource pack for Business English trainers who aim at preparingtheir learners for intercultural encounters both in business and othercontexts. Helps trainers to establish the best way of combining the insightsof intercultural theory with their own knowledge and experience inlanguage teaching.Cornelsen2012English forSpecific Purposes:Business English10122InternationalNegotiationsPowell M.Short course (15-20 hours) for Business English learners who want to standout as great negotiators. Draws on inspirational advice from leading experts innegotiations and takes students through the entire negotiation process, frompreparing to negotiating to closing the deal. (levels B1-C2 / with 2 Audio CDs)CambridgeUniversityPress2012English forSpecific Purposes:Business English3030MyGrammarLabElementary A1/A2Foley M. &Hall D.Unique blend of book, online, and mobile resources that ensures you haveall the information and practice you need to master English grammar.Pearson2012Grammar andLanguagePractice3031MyGrammarLabIntermediate B1/B2Foley M. &Hall D.Unique blend of book, online, and mobile resources that ensures you haveall the information and practice you need to master English grammar.Pearson2012Grammar andLanguagePractice3032MyGrammarLabAdvanced C1/C2Foley M. &Hall D.Unique blend of book, online, and mobile resources that ensures you haveall the information and practice you need to master English grammar.Pearson2012Grammar andLanguagePractice1254Needs Analysis forLanguage CourseDesignHuhta M.,Vogt K.,Johnson E. &Tulkki H.This book combines the latest research into language needs analysis withpractical applications, in order to help you tailor language courses forprofessionals at work, vocational schools, and undergraduate and graduatestudents of any discipline.CambridgeUniversityPress2013Methodologyand Linguistics7509Vocabulary ActivitiesUr P.For new and experienced teachers. Includes ideas for introducing, practising,expanding and exploring vocabulary, plus a selection of fun word games, whichare perfect for every classroom. With teacher-friendly activities, requiring littleor no advance preparation. Adaptable to any age or level. (with CD-ROM)CambridgeUniversityPress2012VocabularyTo order books from the ETAS mail-service Library,simply fill in the ETAS Library order form found on page 82H u m o u r C o r n e rHellow HelenaI‘ m lying in bed with a bad influence.So, I can’t come to school toadyBest wishesRoliSource: Helena LustenbergerETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013 81

ServicesLibrary order and check-out formI am an Infrequent User and have enclosed CHF 7.– in stampsI am a Priority User and have paid into the ETAS postal account: Zürich 80-43533-3CHF 35.– for six lotsCHF 70.– for twelve lots(Up to three items, plus accompanying books and/or cassettes/CDs, may be ordered at any one time.)I’ve enclosed a self-addressed adhesive labelPlease send me the following items from the ETAS Library for 23 days:Catalogue No. Title Return by (please leave blank)If any of the above items are not available, please send me the following instead:Name and address:Tel: Fax: Email:Date:Signature:Please return to: ETAS Administration, Rue de l’Hôpital 32, CH-1400 YverdonTel: +41 (0)24 420 32 54, Fax: +41 (0)24 420 32 57, email: office@e-tas.ch, website: www.e-tas.chHow to use the ETAS Library• All current members of ETAS with an address in Switzerland can use the ETAS mail-service Library.• You can order books in two ways:1) As an Infrequent User, you fill in the printed Library order and check-out form (see above) and return it toETAS Administration with CHF 7.– in stamps (to cover postage costs) and a self-addressed adhesive label.2) As a Priority User, you pay for postage costs in advance – CHF 35.– for six lots or CHF 70.– for twelve lots – intothe ETAS postal account. You can then order books online (www.e-tas.ch, click on ‘Services’ then ‘Library’) orby using the paper form as in 1) (but you don’t need to send stamps).• Ordering books online is reserved for our Priority Users.• One order consists of up to three items (including any accompanying books and/or cassettes/CDs).In case some books are out on loan, feel free to give additional titles.The first three items that are available will be sent to you.• If a book you wanted is out on loan, a form will be sent to you enabling you to reserve the missing book,should you still require it. The book will then be sent to you when it is returned to the Library.• Books can be borrowed for up to 23 days.• To request a renewal, please contact ETAS Administration before the return-by date, quoting the title,catalogue number and return-by date of the borrowed items. If the books have not been reserved by anotherreader, you will be given a new return-by date.• Personal viewing is possible by appointment.• The full list of items is available on our website (www.e-tas.ch).An update with recent acquisitions is in each ETAS Journal.82 ETAS Journal 30/2 Spring 2013