The etas journal the magazine for english professionals
1. Journal
THE ETAS
T 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 S
ESP - TEACHING ENGLISH FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES
TEACHER-TO-TEACHER PROJECT Matopo Primary School
Volume 27 - No. 3 • Summer 2010
ISBN9771660650003
3. And it’s always such a pleasure and good
fun. Life, after all, whether in a state of
suspended animation or not, is far too
short to be taken seriously.
So, many thanks to Alison Wiebalck, Sue
Wood and all the contributors to the ESP
Special Supplement. Indeed, as ever,
many thanks to all the other valued
contributors, supporters, sponsors and
advertisers, without whom none of this
would be possible.
John Raggett
An apology
On page 41 of the Spring Journal two
book reviews were credited erroneously.
It was Elizabeth Ulrich who reviewed New
Cutting Edge and it was Laura Camacho
who reviewed Primary Colours – Pupil’s
Book 4 and 5.
As the Editor, it was my error and I
apologise unreservedly.
JR
Book Reviews
“A critic is someone who knows the way but
can’t drive the car.” So said the celebrated
critic Kenneth Tynan (1927-80). Well, you
can prove him wrong.
You may have noticed that there are no
reviews in this edition of your Journal. That’s
because there is none. Nicola Martignoni,
our Book Review Editor, is feeling lonely and
would love to hear from you. She has got lots
of books to review. Indeed, a full list can be
found on the ETAS website. Just go to
www.e-tas.ch/services/books-to-review,
it’s that easy. Or you can give Nicola a ring
on 091 795 11 66 or contact her by email
at bookreview@e-tas.ch
As a reward for your endeavours, you get to
keep the book you review. And your views
are important.
Every Wednesday, when I look at the great
clock in Bern, I am reminded of the part
it played in Einstein’s early musings on
relativity. He formed the notion that for
a photon of light leaving the big hand at
12 o’clock, it would be, forever, 12 o’clock.
Time slows down the faster you go. And
it stops altogether when you reach the
speed of light.
But our lives aren’t like that, are they?
They’re the other way round. The faster we
go, the faster time goes. There’s always
something to do. Then when you’ve done
that, there’s something else to be done.
And, before you know it, the day, the week,
the year’s gone. On the other hand, for
my Dad, who’s 92, life passes him by very
slowly. All his friends are dead and it’s
only going down his local pub every night,
for a couple of pints of Guinness to guard
against anaemia, that keeps him going.
So, I have developed a strategy to find an
equilibrium between these two extremes.
This Editorial is being written on the
anniversary of my birth. But it’s not a
birthday. In 2003 I stopped having birthdays.
Stopped, that is, until 2018. That’s when
my wife will have caught me up. Then we’ll
be the same age, our lives will be in sync
and I can start having birthdays again.
But, in the meantime, in this state of
suspended animation, I can be busy and
still have plenty of time. Makes perfect
sense, doesn’t it? Doesn’t it?
Well, it’s certainly been useful this year.
Straight after the AGM, there was the SIG
Day Programme to sort out. That’s for the
ETAS SIG Day 2010, 11th September 2010,
Kantonsschule Zürcher Oberland,
Bühlstrasse 36, Postfach 1265,
8620 Wetzikon. Don’t forget.
Then, straight after that, there was this,
the Summer Journal, to pull together. But
that’s ETAS – always something going on.
Editorial
ETAS Journal 27/3 Summer 2010 5
“ Even while they teach,
men learn.”
Seneca
ETAS Office and Library
Please note the special office hours in July and August:
Monday 9 - 12 a.m., Tuesday 2 - 4 p.m., Wednesday 9 - 12 a.m.
The Office and Library will be closed from 5 - 9 July and 2 - 9 August.
Enjoy the summer!
Sketches for the Summer Journal provided by Mark Fletcher
NEWS
4. Past President’s Report
Here we are again, wrapping up our teaching
for our well-deserved summer holidays, renewing
our ETAS (and IATEFL) memberships, reading
another spectacular Journal, and, hopefully, after
dipping into that subject, getting motivated to try
more ESP lessons.
Alas, first things first! Our membership renewal
deadline is July 31st. Before you leave for
greener pastures this summer, please renew
your ETAS (and IATEFL) membership and save
us time and money by taking care of this matter
before August.
As you may have noticed, we’re trying a different
renewal system this year. For this reason, we have
included in this issue the document you need to
use to pay your membership dues. Please read
the information on this page carefully.
Some good news for our prospective members!
We now offer retired and student memberships –
at about half the price of individual membership.
If you qualify, or if you know someone who does,
please take advantage of this exciting new offer!
If you’re not an ETAS member yet, join us today.
Your membership contribution will help us reach
our goals and enable us to offer you the services
you want and need.
If you are an ETAS member already, why not
consider joining the ETAS volunteer team?
The Committee Nomination Form is on page 9.
If you don’t feel ready to join that executive
group, we have dozens of committees to match
your talents. Please contact me so we can
discuss how and where we can put your creative
energies to good use.
If the articles in this issue manage to stimulate
you to think about your classroom experiences
and come to a richer awareness of their
significance, then part of our goals will have
been achieved. In particular, I hope the ESP
articles in this Journal whet your appetite for
more info on that special interest area.
Finally, this column is decidedly brief because
I hope to see you all at the SIG Day on Saturday,
September 11th in Wetzikon. The SIG Day
Program included in this mailing outlines the
comprehensive workshop and networking offers
that the ESP SIG and eleven other SIGs have put
together for you. As usual, the tough decision
won’t be whether to attend or not, but which
workshops to choose.
See you in September!
Amy Jost
Past President
ETAS Journal 27/3 Summer 2010 7
“Technology: the knack of arranging the
world so that we need not experience it.”
Max Frisch, Swiss novelist and playwright
NEWS
Membership renewal information
It’s time to renew your membership for another year (July 2010 – June 2011).
An invoice (with payment slip) is sent out together with this Journal.
If you have already renewed for next year, or if you have informed us that
you wanted to cancel your membership, then there is no invoice enclosed
(if in doubt, contact us at office@e-tas.ch).
Thank you for supporting ETAS through your membership this past year.
With this support we will continue to provide the services which ETAS is
proud of, such as:
• three excellent Journals
• two annual national events: the SIG Day and the AGM
• regional workshops organized in the ETAS Regions
• Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and networking opportunities
• an up-to-date website and e-newsletter with international,
national and local information
• a postal library service for ELT materials (within CH only)
Please also note these additional points:
n Joint IATEFL membership
As an Associate Member of IATEFL (International Association of English of
English as a Foreign Language), ETAS can offer Basic IATEFL Membership to
its Individual members for only CHF 40. - (one-year membership / normal
price = £45). Conditions:
• Be a current Individual member of ETAS
• Payment for both ETAS and IATEFL membership must be received by
31 July. Any later payments will not be credited towards IATEFL membership
• It is not possible to join that scheme at another time during the year.
It will be possible to renew the joint membership next year at renewal time
• Please note that the Basic IATEFL membership does not include
any IATEFL SIGs
If you’d like more info about IATEFL, check www.iatefl.org
n Email addresses
The email address we have for you appears on the payment slip (central
part). Please check it and send any corrections to office@e-tas.ch. If you
haven’t provided us with an email address, please consider doing so, so
that we may also contact you that way if needed.
n ETAS membership details
Contact details of ETAS members are on a list which is available in printed
form to our members. ETAS Associate Members (EFL publishers, etc.) can
buy the list and use it for commercial purposes. If you do NOT wish your
name and details to appear on the list, please inform us (office@e-tas.ch).
We look forward to your membership renewal – by 31 July!
Should you decide not to renew your membership, please let us know
by 31 July (office@e-tas.ch). Thank you.
Considering joining ETAS? A membership application form is on page 38.
5. Nominations to the ETAS Committee 2011 – 2013
Nominations
If you wish to nominate someone, please complete the
form below and send it, no later than 18 August 2010, to:
ETAS Administration, Rue de l’Hôpital 32, CH-1400 Yverdon
Nominations are invited for the following positions on the Committee:
• President
• National Coordinator
• Publications Chair
• Public Relations Chair
• Secretary
• Web Chair
JOB DESCRIPTIONS:
President
• Acts as spokesperson for ETAS
• Keeps the membership informed of decisions taken and goals set by the Committee by means of the
• President’s Reports in the Journals and at the AGM
• Is responsible for calling the AGM and for writing the agenda
• Acts as coordinator for all Committee activities and organizes regular meetings
National Coordinator
• Liaises between the Committee and the Regional Coordinators
• Ensures that the Regional Coordinators are informed as to their role within ETAS
• Is responsible for communications and coordination among the Regions
Publications Chair
• Is both coordinator and editor of all ETAS Journals and publications
• Liaises between the Committee and the Editorial Team
Public Relations Chair
• Promotes ETAS in Switzerland and internationally
• Organizes press coverage of national events and ensures ETAS is promoted in as many national
and regional events as possible
Secretary
• Takes minutes at ETAS Committee meetings and deals with correspondence
• Assists in editing and compiling national events workshop reports
Web Chair
• Administers the website
• Liaises between the Committee and the Web Team
• Trains and assists ETAS members and employees in remote admin of the website
I wish to nominate for the ETAS Committee:
Name
Address
Telephone Fax
Email
For position of
Proposed by
Telephone Fax
Email
Signature
Seconded by
Telephone Fax
Email
Signature
Nominee’s Signature
About the Nominee*
*Please include here a brief description of yourself including nationality, academic background, teaching experience and ETAS experience.
ETAS Journal 27/3 Summer 2010 9
NEWS
6. IATEFL Conference in Harrogate
22 ETAS Journal 27/3 Summer 2010
April 6th - 11th, 2010
Imagine the ETAS AGM and Convention
multiplied by a hundred and you’ll get an
idea of what it’s like to attend an IATEFL
Conference. The sheer number of participants
and workshops on offer was overwhelming,
and it can be rather exhausting trying to
fit so many activities into a few days.
Still, I wouldn’t want to have missed this
amazing event.
I was lucky enough to be able to attend the
pre-Conference dinner on Tuesday night with
our Past President, Amy Jost. I met everyone
on the IATEFL Committee and quite a few
other very interesting people. The highlight
was a short after-dinner talk by none other
than David Crystal, whose wit and polished
delivery style make him a favourite amongst
TEFLers of all breeds.
The next day I took part in the BESIG
pre-Conference event. Again, it was a chance
to catch up with friends and acquaintances
and to hear the latest on what’s going on in
the world of teaching Business English …
or is it teaching English for business? This
is the perennial question, and we BESIGers
can spend many happy hours debating it.
Then it was Thursday and the Conference
kicked off. I can’t possibly list every
workshop I went to, but a few stand out
in my mind: the Plenary Session on
Friday morning by Kieran Egan, who talked
about the process of students’ cognitive
development (sounds deadly boring but,
believe me, it was not); Scott Thornbury’s
talk on the secret history of methods,
which was as enlightening and amusing
as only Scott can make it; Peter Gundy’s
presentation on urban myths and English
grammar, which left me more confused
than ever but with a lot to think about; and
a very interesting presentation by Runyararo
Magadzire, a professor from Zimbabwe who
talked about the challenges of educating
students from rural areas in her country,
obviously a topic very close to my heart.
Oh, and then there was the Macmillan
Global event, accompanied by copious
supplies of wine. I’d like to tell you more
about it, but it’s all a bit of a blur.
On Friday, our Teacher Development Chair,
Steph Wimmer, had a brainwave: let’s
interview Scott Thornbury and publish the
talk in our Journal. And we did. It was so
much fun and quite interesting to find out
more about how teacher trainers are using
Dogme, inspired by Scott’s unflagging
promotion of this controversial method.
The chance to rub shoulders with so many
of the movers and shakers of the EFL
world, plus the opportunity to meet so many
fascinating people from so many places:
that’s what it means to go to an IATEFL
Conference. A wonderful, glorious experience
that I can wholeheartedly recommend.
Cindy Hauert
ETAS Vice President, Treasurer and
Business English SIG Coordinator
At this year’s IATEFL in Harrogate one
of the biggest ‘buzz’ topics was that of
Teacher Training Unplugged. After watching
an inspiring workshop from Anthony
Gaughan and Izzy Orde, I decided this was
well worth an interview. A few hours later
I’d managed to hook up with Anthony, Izzy,
Scott Thornbury and our very own Cindy
Hauert in a hotel lounge where we shared
early evening drinks and a candid chat
about what it means to ‘unplug’. I’m
delighted to share the insights from this
chat and you can be sure this discussion
will continue in one way or another at
future SIG Days.
Stephanie Wimmer
ETAS Teacher Development Chair
Anthony Gaughan is a teacher trainer
based in Hamburg, Germany. He has
worked as a language teacher for 15
years and worked on CELTA for the past
five years.
Izzy Orde has worked as a teacher in
Germany since 2001. She has worked in
teacher training for the past five years
and works as a CELTA tutor, as well as
providing in-house teacher training.
Scott Thornbury is a world famous EFL
author and trainer.
Steph:
The first question, turning to Scott.
Could you tell us a little bit about what
teaching unplugged is? You’ve recently
co-authored with Luke Meddings a book
entitled Teaching Unplugged. What is
Teaching ‘Unplugged’?
Scott:
Well, Teaching Unplugged, the book, grew
out of Dogme ELT, the discussion list in
a sense which grew out of an article
that I wrote over 10 years ago. It drew
an analogy between the Dogme film
movement at the time, which advocated
a trimmed down, low-tech, human centred
cinematography. I saw this as a useful
analogy for what I saw at the time, as a
teacher trainer working in International
House Barcelona, as being a dependency
or over-reliance on materials, particularly
coursebooks but not just coursebooks.
Also the kind of technologies which were
starting to appear and are now tending
to dominate our lives as teachers.
Teaching Unplugged, which came out
last year, was a sort of synthesis of the
thinking that had emerged out of that very
rich discussion that had taken place over
the past ten years. It is an attempt to
crystallize some of the elements of the
Dogme teaching movement and boil it
down to some basic principles that could
be applied in any context. And also show
practical applications, classroom activities.
Steph:
So that’s Teaching Unplugged; what is
‘Teacher Training Unplugged’? And why
did you decide to ‘Unplug’?
Izzy:
Maybe we should start with the ‘why’,
I think.
Anthony:
We were a bit like Scott was ten years
ago, becoming a bit disenchanted with
lessons that he was seeing based on
coursebooks and materials. We were
starting to become a bit disenchanted
with the lessons that we were seeing
occasionally on CELTA teacher training
courses that we ran. We felt that the
lessons were less successful than
they could have been because of an
over-reliance on materials, handouts,
extreme forward planning and then
forcing the students through the plan
rather than making any adaptations.
We feared, first of all, once the trainee
teachers had left and started teaching
in that way, they’d lose their jobs pretty
quickly because the students would not
tolerate it. And we found it professionally
a bit dissatisfying. We also found that
there was a certain stress developing
within us because we thought we were
doing our best to produce teachers
who taught in a way that we liked, yet
occasionally, despite our best efforts,
we seemed to be producing teachers who
were teaching in ways that we didn’t like.
IATEFL: the interview
Cindy Hauert with Scott Thornbury
NEWS
7. ETAS Journal 27/3 Summer 2010 23
Then we asked ourselves some hard
questions about why that could be. We real-
ized that our system, the CELTA course that
we had designed and adapted over time,
wasn’t well geared to producing the sort of
teachers that we intuitively wanted to be
taught by. Teachers who listened to their
students, teachers who responded
to their students, teachers who were
flexible. Teachers who didn’t go in with
a fixed plan.
And so we decided that we needed to do
something about that. Our first attempts
were to change the systems, to add more
details, to try to make it clearer what we
meant. That just made the problem worse.
The trainees just got more stressed with
this overload of course superstructure. And
then we started to realize that we were
behaving in the very way that we detested!
Izzy:
We weren’t practising what we preached.
Anthony:
And that was making us unhappy. So we
decided to rip the plugs out, metaphorically
speaking, and change things.
Izzy:
So we had this feeling and when we came
to IATEFL last year, Anthony went to the
launch of Teaching Unplugged. He got the
book, read it in the week after IATEFL and
came back to Hamburg. “You’ve got to
read this,” he said. “How do you feel about
unplugging CELTA?” With some time and
reflection, I thought, this might be the
answer to the problems and frustrations
that were building up.
Anthony:
I should say at this point that I’d previously
seen Scott talk and I’d read things online.
I knew about the book and the question
had kept coming back to me: “Yes, but
can novice teachers do it? And, more
importantly, can they be taught to do it?
And can you design a training course
along those lines?” The questions were in
the room. So finally when the book came
out, it gave me the impetus to really say,
“Well, why don’t we try it?”
Izzy:
So we sat down with a blank sheet and
asked ourselves, “What do we need to do
from the beginning, where do we need to
start?” One of the things I find really
interesting is we realized that we’d been
starting (on our courses) perhaps with
the wrong things. We’d been starting with
standard staging for receptive skills and
classroom management. Things which are
totally foreign to a novice teacher. And we
thought, let’s start (the course) with
things that aren’t totally foreign. Let’s
start with listening to somebody – which
is something we all do. Let’s start with
getting conversations going, which is
something we all do. And let’s start by
enabling trainees to say, “OK, this is
something you (the student) said. Let’s
try and make this better,” and that’s also
something that we do when we’re talking
to somebody who doesn’t speak English.
If we don’t understand we might say,
“Ah, so you mean… .”
Steph:
Recasting or rephrasing.
Izzy:
These are natural things, so why not start
with these skills, which people bring to
the CELTA course already? But in trainees’
minds these skills are not given much
priority. They think, “I’m coming to a CELTA
course and I’m going to learn all these
techniques and I’m going to learn all this
grammar.” And so we started with these
skills and found very simple ways to
unplug our input so we were getting the
trainees to focus on these skills.
Steph:
This sounds fantastic and very admirable
but I’m sure what many people will ask
themselves is, how do you then fulfil the
criteria that you need to fulfil in order to
get people through the CELTA?
Anthony:
Well, I think there’s a bit of a logical fallacy
or a false belief that just because you’ve
got criteria you can only fulfil those criteria
in certain ways. We found that if you start
to encourage novice teachers to work in
the way we’ve described, then they start
working with their students. As soon as the
trainees start to work on their students’
language or engage their students, then
they are automatically going to display
behaviours that link to criteria.
Our job as trainers is surely to look at
what we see and map it onto criteria. Not
to have a set of criteria and hammer those
into our trainees. It’s our job to interpret
their behaviour, not their job to conform to
various criteria. Because a criterion is just
a descriptor and it can be realized or
operationalised in myriad ways, so we
just need to be more flexible. I think that
the actual CELTA award allows plenty of
latitude for that but it’s human error that
makes it this monolithic, institutionalized
thing. People believe that you can’t do
things differently, therefore things aren’t
done differently.
Steph:
So could you say that just as in the normal
regular language classroom we can
address grammar points in the Dogme
way, exactly the same principles can apply
in a Teacher Training context?
Anthony:
Absolutely. We changed our mindset, then
it was easy.
Steph:
I suppose what a lot of people might say
is, “Well, that sounds great, but what about
the results? Are they still passing? Has it
affected the results?”
Anthony:
Well, I have to admit that we do have fewer
candidates as a percentage now who get
Pass grades. There are three pass grades -
Pass, Pass B, Pass A - and Fail. And since
we shifted to an unplugged methodology
we have had fewer Pass candidates but
that’s only because we’ve had more Pass
Bs and notably Pass As as a percentage
of our grouping.
Steph:
Wow.
Anthony:
You can’t extrapolate from this, it may just
be chance, you may just have candidates
who are more capable but it’s suggestive.
Steph:
It certainly is.
Izzy:
And Teaching Practice students have
explicitly told us and the trainee students
that they really like the lessons.
Steph:
You’ve obviously had some success with
this on a CELTA course, but how would
this be applicable in a broader teacher
training context?
Izzy:
It is definitely applicable. As a trainer I have
become far more confident on the CELTA
course to deal with issues as they come
up and I have experienced this happening
equally on courses that I run as an
in-house teacher trainer with experienced
teachers. I think that it could be applicable
in lots of different contexts.
Anthony:
It’s obviously difficult when you’ve got
institutional pressures that are intolerant
of perceived different approaches. That’s
something that needs to be overcome in
different ways. But I do find it interesting
that, for example, in the UK in state
education there is a slow move away from
extreme criterion reference testing from
a very young age and from performance
based indicators, and so on. It’s a slow
8. 24 ETAS Journal 27/3 Summer 2010
IATEFL Conference in Harrogate
April 6th - 11th, 2010
return to a less empirical age but it allows
then more conversation, it allows more
engagement with the ideas that the
students bring to the room.
So if it can happen there, why can’t it
happen anywhere else? At the moment
I think we’re slowly returning to a more
conversational, human period. With less of
an attempt to be quantative and scientific
and this belief that you can define what
teaching competence is, then scale
somebody on that competence. Essentially
it’s always a human judgement, so why
can’t we be human about it?
Steph:
Well, I have to say I’m really excited about
this and really look forward to hearing
more about this in the future.
Cindy:
I would love to hear how this could be
applicable to DELTA courses.
Scott:
This is one that’s engaged me because
I’ve done Dogme sessions as a one-off
on both CELTA and DELTA courses. What’s
interesting is there’s much less resistance
at the CELTA level than the DELTA level
and part of the reason is that they’ve
(the CELTA candidates) got no baggage.
With all this history of using and depending
on coursebooks, you then tell them that
language teaching is not about teaching
grammar in a chalk and talk way, rather
it’s about creating language learning
opportunities in the classroom and running
with them. For a lot of people that makes
perfect sense.
When I’ve taught on CELTA courses, often
halfway through towards the end of the
course after they’ve been grappling with
coursebooks for the last 3 weeks,
somebody comes and says, “Well, you
don’t actually have to grapple with
coursebooks.” They think, “(sigh of relief)
Oh, what a relief. You mean, it’s OK?”
But when you go into a DELTA course
they’re propped up with this apparatus,
their materials, and they think they ought
to be constantly making materials or using
materials. So on a DELTA course when we
first started this Dogme approach we were
saying, “Come on, you guys. Do more with
less and it’ll create spaces in your lessons.”
Steph:
How did they react to that?
Scott:
Huge resistance. They would say, “No, no, I
couldn’t possibly do that.” It was like, “What
if I run out?” And we’d say, “Well, just talk to
the students.” And they’d say, “About what?”
We’d say, “Imagine you were outside the
classroom, what would you say?” Of course
it’s easier said than done. People in DELTA
situations, of course there’s a lot at stake.
They’re being assessed constantly. It’s very
difficult to be spontaneous and natural
when there is somebody sitting in the back
of a room ticking boxes.
Anthony:
And is it fair to say that on CELTA courses
in terms of achievement, you imagine a
rising scale as the course proceeds,
whereas with DELTA it’s flatlined, from the
beginning to the end? You are more or less
graded against the same competence
levels. You either get above the benchmark
or you don’t. And it doesn’t matter if it’s
Week Four or Week Eight on an intensive
course, is that fair?
Scott:
Yes, I think it’s very fair to a certain extent.
But I think DELTA courses, like CELTA
courses, are run very differently in different
centres. There’s always a tension on DELTA
courses, even more than on CELTA courses.
There’s a tension between it being a
developmental course and it being an
evaluated assessed course. A kind of
career efficiency measure. We always tried
to treat our DELTA courses, and they still
do in IH Barcelona, as a developmental
process, which just happens to be
assessed. But there is a tension there.
What’s interesting now, as Dogme becomes
a kind of orthodoxy, is that people are
doing Dogme lessons endlessly as part of
their experimental practice. So it’s almost
a standard thing to do a Dogme lesson as
part of a Diploma course. It’ll be interesting
to see if in, say, ten years’ time, tutors on
DELTA courses say, “Well, that’s not
experimental anymore, that’s what everybody
does. Here’s a coursebook, that would be
experimental!”
But the question of resistance is interesting
and for me, listening to Izzy and Anthony
yesterday has confirmed the suspicion
I had that there is less resistance on
pre-service courses unless you’ve got
teachers who may have taught in another
context in a very transmissive sort of
way. Most CELTA candidates are very open
and adaptive.
Anthony:
But what’s interesting is that we get
candidates coming to us from all over the
world and from parts of the world whose
educational traditions, from their own
reports, are transmissive and authoritarian
in terms of methodology. They deliberately
come to learn to do something different
but because of their educational history,
however many thousand hours they’ve got
in the classroom, they find it difficult
because it goes against the grain.
Steph:
It’s a habitual pattern.
Anthony:
Yes, they want to be different but they
find it difficult to be so. So you get that
kind of resistance that isn’t necessarily
intellectual resistance.
Izzy:
I think it’s difficult sometimes to be aware
of what your own beliefs really are. We’ve
had situations where you’ll talk to
someone and they’ll say, “I think this and
this and this and this.” But what they do
is very different and they are not aware of
this discrepancy.
Anthony:
As time goes on I become increasingly
aware of which high school teachers I’m
modelling myself on tacitly and it’s quite
frightening actually.
Steph:
There’s some research that’s been done
in psychology that looks at what are called
mirror neurons.
Scott:
Oh yes.
Steph:
It’s very fascinating. It suggests that the
neurons in your brain actually start to mirror
the behaviour, feeling and attitude of
whoever is in front of you. That says a lot
about how we are as trainers and teachers.
Scott:
And that links to what Izzy was saying
before, about this mismatch between the
way that you train and what your objectives
are. And when you align the way that you
train with the way that you want people to
teach, you are setting an example. What
I liked about what Anthony and Izzy were
talking about yesterday is that right from
Day One, Hour One of the course, there’s
this kind of input built in. So they’re doing
in the training sessions what they will be
doing hopefully in the teaching sessions
and thinking about the whole process,
setting up these loops that run right
through the whole course.
Steph:
Yes, it’s often not what we say or what
we receive in terms of verbal advice but
actually the way people are.
Scott:
Exactly. People learn from role models and
that kind of thing much more than people
being told a lot of stuff.
NEWS
9. ETAS Journal 27/3 Summer 2010 25
Anthony:
And at the end of the day, what we’re doing
is not remotely innovative. Like you were
saying earlier today and have said before,
there’s nothing new under the sun. We’re
using loop input, we’re using modelling an
awful lot, we’re using conversations a lot,
we’re using brainstorming a lot and
elicitation, those kinds of things. These
are standard issue, these have been
around for donkeys’ years and all we’re
doing is using them in a fairly radical way
and not allowing other stuff to get in the
way. We’re modelling, asking questions,
leaving silence for them to think about it,
or talk about it. We are demonstrating -
well, not even demonstrating – we’re really
teaching the people who the trainees are
going to be teaching and then asking
them to pay attention and tell us what
they notice.
Steph:
This is a small point but quite a lot of
people are uncomfortable with silence and
uncomfortable with pausing and unable to
actively listen; it’s a skill.
Izzy:
That’s why we start early.
Scott:
Izzy’s earlier point is actually a good one
in that these are actually skills that we
bring from real life, these social skills, and
they’re underestimated. Some people are
not very good at them; you weed them out
prior to the course. But it’s not rocket
science. I keep saying that all the time
about language teaching - it’s not rocket
science, it’s not a very sophisticated
discipline. Yet it requires sophisticated
social skills; eventually it requires
sophisticated language analysis skills but
that’s not going to happen overnight. But
the ability to listen, respond, reformulate:
these are not a million miles away from
what we do in any type of social context.
If you’re good at talking to kids and
scaffolding what they’re saying, without
wishing to belittle language learners,
you’re probably good at dealing with
language learners.
Steph:
It’s almost as if we have so many concepts
of what being a teacher is that the
concepts get in the way.
Scott:
Absolutely, there’s a lot of baggage that we
bring into the equation. Again it’s maybe
weeding out at a pre-course stage and
asking people, “Who was the teacher you
most admired at school and why? What
would you like to emulate?” And if they
say, “It was Mr. Biggins, the maths master
who drilled us and caned us,” then I’m
not quite sure that they’re cut out for this.
Anthony:
There is obviously an issue there because
at the interview stage we’re making value
judgments about candidates, deciding who
we think is going to be able to succeed.
For whom is our course well suited? And
that decision has to be made.
Izzy:
I don’t know whether we’re saying to whom
is our course well suited so much as to
whom is being in a classroom and teaching
people well suited?
Steph:
It seems the most important basic aspect
is that the person should have good
people skills and social competence.
Scott:
Yes, that was the thing at the beginning of
your session yesterday, asking us to think
about what the criteria for an A grade
candidate are. One of the things that came
up with the group I was with was that it’s
not only pedagogical skills but also social
skills and the recognition that there’s a
huge amount of overlap between the
two; then exploiting the social skills for
pedagogical purposes. So a training course
tries to bring those two things together.
You’ve got to have the pedagogical skills,
you’ve got to be a good manager. You’ve
got to know your language analysis, etc.,
etc., but it’s not a separate thing from
social skills. These skills can be blended
to achieve the same objective.
Steph:
Scott, Anthony and Izzy - on behalf of ETAS,
thank you very much.
Article edited by Cindy Hauert and
Steph Wimmer
“We all know that
Prime Ministers are
wedded to the truth
but, like other
married couples,
they sometimes
live apart.”
Saki (Hector Munro)
10. 26 ETAS Journal 27/3 Summer 2010
News from Matopo Primary School,Zimbabwe
NEWS
I’ve heard from our partners on the ground
in Zimbabwe that things are really moving.
Bags of cement and piles of bricks have
been bought and transported to the
schools where work will soon commence
to refurbish the dilapidated infrastructures.
The toilets at Matopo Primary need only a
lick of paint to be declared officially ‘open’.
Many textbooks have already been
delivered to all of the schools in the
project. There’s still lots of work to be
done, but we’re off to a good start.
I’m looking forward already to our visit in
October and seeing the progress with my
own eyes. And of course the fourth annual
Teachers’ Workshop Day will
be taking place as well.
Here’s part of a recent letter I received
from Patson Mpofu, the Deputy
Headmaster at Matopo Primary School:
DEAR CINDY. We are fine. The builders have
finished plastering the blair toilets and we
have to paint them as soon as Dennis
supply us with paint. They are classic I tell
you. The builders are starting to renovate
our classrooms on Wednesday the 31 March
under the Federer Project. We hope to do
one block per term and then paint and put
the right chalk boards. I am sure the
classrooms will be good by the time you
come for the workshop this year.
He ends by sending loving greetings to
all of you, and I’d also like to thank
everyone who has been involved in some
way this year. Without you, the project
wouldn’t be possible. I hope I haven’t
left anyone out.
Cindy Hauert
ETAS Teacher-to-Teacher Project
Thank you to these members who are teacher pen friends:
Thank you to these
kind sponsors:
TLC Baden (who are
sponsoring four teachers)
Wirtschaftsschule KV Baden
Martina Lazaro
Katherine Stoney
Fay Rogers
Jayne Herzog
Ann Humphry-Baker
Laura Camacho
Caroline Rickli
Sharon Acton
Katharina Hegy-Bürgin and
Kim Bisson
Thank you once again to the
Roger Federer Foundation
Thank you to Lori Kaithan and team
at Cambridge ESOL Winterthur/Zürich
for donating materials
Thank you to these members who
donated their birthday presents:
Brigitte Zulauf and
Rosemarie Allemann
Nicola Feyen
Sarah Pralong
Melony Looschelders
Adrian Zingg Hendey
Clarisse Schroeder
Rosemarie Allemann
Rose Nassif Travers
Sally Atherton
Cristina Maritz
Caroline Rickli
Cecilia Böttger
Colleen Murray
Martina Lazaro
Annalisa Ghidossi
Olivia Büchler
Katharina Hegy-Bürgin
Urs Kalberer
Astrid Ischer
Laura Camacho
Alison Rappaz
Gabriela Graf
Caroline Grünig
Ann Humphry-Baker
Luisa Lurati
Katherine Stoney
Amy Jost
Brigitte Zulauf
Christine Anjri
Linda Salamin
Tracy Hauri
Sarah Giles
Tessa Osborne
Paul Dummett
Kim Bisson
Nancy Buck
Ruth Jacob
Christina Workman
Gael Barnea
Michelle Eliasek
Anne O’Brien
Kristine Germann
Andrea Rüegger
Ryan Metzer
Elena Yourassoff
Astrid Carigiet
Aggeliki Christou Black
Sharon Acton
Rachel von Werder
Elisabeth van den Heuvel and
Catherine McFaddon
11. Faces of ETAS: Support Report
Rebecca Mantle
Rebecca Mantle is a Cambridge University
Press Senior ELT Advisor for Switzerland.
She is a familiar face at ETAS events and
at the next SIG Day (Sept. 11th, Wetzikon),
Rebecca will be hosting a workshop.
It’s workshop B11 and it’s entitled
Rediscover Reading.
Rebecca comes from Birmingham, England,
where they speak with a very distinctive
accent, although Rebecca bears no trace
of it. She obviously went to the right
school before going to Cardiff University
to read French and Spanish with European
Studies. During her time at university,
Rebecca started teaching. She taught
English to Air France employees.
However, after graduating in 1999, she
didn’t teach; she worked in Sales for three
years. This was in London, first for IBM,
then for L’Oréal. After that, it all gets a
bit complicated. There was this boyfriend,
you see. He got a job in Neuchâtel. So
Rebecca came to Switzerland after doing
her CELTA in Madrid. She taught English
in Neuchâtel, in school and in-company.
Two years later, she did the DELTA at
IH London.
After teaching another year, she got a
job with another well-known international
publishing house where she worked for
two years. She got married and took the
opportunity to spend six months in
Singapore in 2007. Then it was early
in 2008 that she got a job with CUP and
she’s been settled ever since. Rebecca
hasn’t given up her studies, though. At
the moment she is studying (online) at
Aston University for her MSc in TESOL.
Oh, and preparing her SIG Day workshop.
I can’t wait.
John Raggett
28 ETAS Journal 27/3 Summer 2010
Faces of ETAS:Teacher Feature
Rosmarie Zysset
Many of you will recognise Rosmarie
Zysset. She is one of the charming ladies
who helped with the registrations at this
year's AGM. That Saturday morning was
the first time I had met her. As it turned
out, like most ETAS members, she has a
fascinating history.
Rosmarie comes from Unterkulm in
Aargau and she did not train as a teacher.
After leaving commercial college in 1968,
she worked in Rome and Florence as
an au pair and learned Italian. Then she
went to Brussels to work as a trilingual
secretary (French, German and Italian)
in an import-export business.
The next, obvious, move was to work
as a waitress in a Swiss restaurant, the
Alphüsli, in Montreal, Canada. There,
she could speak French and learn
English. It was here, also, that she met
her future husband. He was such a tall
guy that Rosmarie thought he must be
Canadian. He didn’t know where she
came from. So it took a while and it came
as a big surprise when they discovered
they were both Swiss.
To cut a long story short, they came
back to Switzerland in 1972 and married
in 1973. Obviously, when you marry you
settle down. This, they did, for five years
in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, US of A.
And it was here that their daughter was
born in 1977.
The three of them came back to
Switzerland in 1979. And it was then
that Rosmarie started teaching at the
Migros Club School, first in Zofingen,
AG, where her two sons were born (in
Zofingen, not the school), and then in
Biel/Bienne, which is where she is now.
And her connection with ETAS meant that
we were lucky enough to have Rosmarie
help us at the AGM.
John Raggett
NEWS
“Money isn’t everything but
it sure keeps you in touch
with your children.”
J. Paul Getty
12. NEWS
ETAS Journal 27/3 Summer 2010 29
ETAS 27thAGM and Convention
29 - 30 January 2011, Lucerne
CALL FOR PAPERS
If you would like to offer a presentation for this event, please complete the form below and return
(preferably by email) by Friday July 30th to:
Kathy Hatch, natev@e-tas.ch
ETAS National Events Chair, Zimmereiweg 1, 8965 Berikon, Switzerland
We are happy to receive proposals for theoretical or practical workshops and talks. At previous conventions,
workshops where practical classroom ideas are presented have attracted most participants. At the same time,
there is a real demand for workshops dealing with methodology, language, culture and teacher development.
We cannot, however, guarantee a minimum number of participants.
Speaker's technical equipment requirements: please pass on your requests by Friday 26th November
at the latest. Any requests received after that deadline cannot be guaranteed.
Name of presenter:
Institution/Affiliation:
Sponsor:
(Please state if you would like ETAS to sponsor you*. You will be informed by email
at the end of August whether your proposal has been accepted or not)
Address:
Tel:
Email:
Address of presenter (if different):
Email of presenter (if different):
Type of presentation:
(e.g. paper, talk, workshop, publisher’s presentation)
Duration: 45 min. 60 min. 90 min. 45 + 60 min. 60 + 90 min. 45 + 90 min.
Audience: experienced inexperienced all
Equipment required:
Title of presentation:
Brief abstract (max. 100 words):
Presenter’s biodata:
* If ETAS agrees to sponsor you, you will be entitled to the following:
• honorarium (CHF 75.- for 45 min. / CHF 100.- for 60 min. / CHF 150.- for 90 min.)
• free registration for the Convention, including lunches on Saturday and Sunday, but excluding the Saturday Dinner
• 2nd class train travel within Switzerland (receipt required)
• materials (photocopies, etc.): max. of CHF 50.- per workshop
Please note that as a speaker you will still need to register for the Convention in due time, either through our website (www.e-tas.ch)
or using the Registration Form in the printed AGM Programme (available in November) or simply by email (office@e-tas.ch)
13. BADEN
W O R K S H O P :
Production skills for BEC Vantage
& BEC Higher
P R E S E N T E R :
Tony Orford
D A T E :
26th February 2010
Castle’s School in Basel boasts an
impressive BEC pass rate of 96%. On
Friday, 26th February Tony Orford, who runs
the school, made the journey to Baden and
presented a practical and informative
workshop on how to better prepare
students for the BEC Vantage and BEC
Higher exams.
The key element of the workshop was the
so-called ‘High Frequency Language’.
This can be subdivided into three categories:
1. Receptive and productive skills:
words/phrases students need to know
2. Receptive skills: words/phrases
students should understand, but don’t
necessarily need to produce, and
3. Nice-to-know: useful but not essential
words/phrases.
The workshop concentrated on the
‘productive skills’ which students need
for the speaking and writing tests.
BEC Vantage and BEC Higher
Productive Skills
Tony stated that three conditions must be
fulfilled in order to teach a successful BEC
examination course and these are:
1. Key grammar: this includes prepositions,
gerunds and infinitives, and present
simple and present continuous. Other
grammar elements are also necessary,
but the three aforementioned areas are
an absolute must and the first two, in
particular, are often under-taught.
2. Strategic vocabulary: certain words
occur repeatedly in the BEC exams and
it is therefore essential that students
are provided with these. Examples are
words such as: turnover, appraisal,
premises, overview, etc.
3. Tools for the job: by providing students
with standard fixed phrases we boost
their confidence and so, hopefully, their
exam performance.
Finally, Tony commented that it is possible
to pass a BEC exam with good vocabulary
and mediocre grammar, but not vice versa.
The feedback was on the whole very
positive, with comments such as, “One of
the most useful workshops” and “Really
appreciated this workshop.” We would like
to thank Tony Orford for a most interesting
workshop with contents that can be
applied in practice immediately.
Jane Saxer
Key Language Trainer
TLC – The Language Company
LAUSANNE
W O R K S H O P 1 :
Maximizing the effective use of
the black/whiteboard in the
EFL classroom
W O R K S H O P 2 :
Teaching speaking to adults
P R E S E N T E R S :
Jayne Herzog and Joanna Watson
D A T E :
7th November 2009
Writing as a teacher who has spent the last
few years resisting, struggling with and,
eventually, almost succeeding in equipping
herself with the skills to tackle teaching
with technology, it was with pleasure and a
comforting familiarity that I returned ‘home’
in this first workshop: back to the good old
black/whiteboard.
First things first: it was time to clean up
our act. With just a few quick strokes of the
pen, Jayne Herzog demonstrated how those
of us who are a little erm... ‘haphazard’ in
our black/whiteboard use could organize
our scribblings into neatly divided sections
on the board - a simple act for which many
of our learners would be extremely grateful,
I’m sure.
This was swiftly followed by a number of
‘time to get off your chair’ activities in
which we were encouraged to get up close
and personal with the whiteboard: the TV
classic What’s my line? proved popular, as
did a Picture dictation and Finish the story
activities. Lots of laughter was had by all
as the brave ones among us took turns at
the board to write and draw. A Board dash
game even had us shouting out ‘voiced’
and ‘unvoiced’ (for /ð/ and /θ/ words) to
aid our colleagues at the board.
It was a fun and lively session, full of
simple yet effective ideas for encouraging
learners to get out of their seats to interact
with each other, using our reliable old
friend at the front of the classroom, the
black/whiteboard. It’s just waiting for its
moment to shine (that is, if the previous
teacher remembers to clean it).
The second workshop in this Saturday
morning double bill gave us an opportunity
to think and talk about why speaking
activities for adults sometimes fall short
of our intended aims, or don’t even make
it off the ground in the first place. Joanna
Watson led us through this analysis,
providing some examples of speaking
activities along the way to highlight her
points, not, as she noted, that teachers
have any problems with speaking when
they get together.
For example, the yes/no/red/white activity
provided a competitive reason for speaking
that many learners (and teachers) enjoy.
In pairs, ‘A’ had to ask ‘B’ questions in
an attempt to get ‘B’ to say one of the
aforementioned words. ‘B’ had to hold
tight and answer the questions without
saying any of the four words. It’s not as
easy as it sounds, and is a good way to
loosen up a shy or reticent group.
Some of the key points that I took away
with me from this session were the
importance of:
• giving learners a reason to speak
• providing learners with enough
planning time
• encouraging and teaching active
listening skills as well as speaking
(i.e. showing interest, checking, asking
questions), and
• providing learners with a sense of
progress (e.g. by recording them at
different stages during the course and
letting them listen to their progress, by
keeping audio journals or by using peer
feedback forms).
Many thanks to Jayne Herzog and Joanna
Watson for their time, ideas and enthusiasm
on a cold, wet Saturday in November.
Jane Annereau
Fribourg
LAUSANNE
W O R K S H O P :
How to enable our pupils to retain
extensive language by using
catchy songs, raps and rhythm
P R E S E N T E R :
Carole Nicoll
D A T E :
23rd March 2010
Carole’s experiences and struggles with
teaching German and French to Scottish
children at both private and state schools
were that it was more difficult and
challenging than she had anticipated.
Hence, she developed a strategy
incorporating catchy songs, raps and
rhythm in order to reach her goals and
objectives. Needless to say, they proved
to be very successful.
Regardless of the technological problems
encountered that morning, she managed to
get her PowerPoint up and running, and it
was very informative indeed. Once started,
we all spent most of our time off our chairs
singing in German, Italian, Spanish and
English. Simplicity was the key to the
exercise and it was a fun-filled learning
experience where she used her raps and
rhythms to magnify the effects.
The main learning objective was to use
these songs as a way to retain maximum
language and eventually create a meaningful
conversation, whilst keeping the tunes
catchy and rhythmic, which would appeal to
children. She also focused on the use of
questions within these songs, which in
itself created opportunities to intermix the
language content.
Some examples of topics covered included
days of the week (Spanish), numbers
Workshop Reports
REGIONS
30 ETAS Journal 27/3 Summer 2010
14. ETAS Journal 27/3 Summer 2010 31
(English and Spanish), colours (English
and Italian), pets (very animated indeed in
Italian and English), parts of the body
(German), etc. We also watched some funny
but informative videos as well as some of
her work with schoolchildren of various
ages in Scotland and London. Admirably,
she had also spent some time in Uganda
teaching local children where resources
were very limited. The point was it did not
matter where she taught, the strategy used
was successful everywhere and at all levels.
She also introduced effective computer
interaction programs which can be used
to learn a foreign language. It was a lively
and fun session, full of simple yet effective
ideas for encouraging students to retain
maximum language whilst having fun.
Some of the key points that I took away
with me from this session were the
importance of:
• teaching children meaningful words
which they can then associate with later.
These meaningful words can then
be used to create a meaningful
conversation
• encouraging and teaching active listening
skills as well as speaking (i.e. showing
interest, checking, asking questions)
• most importantly having fun throughout
and losing our inhibitions
• making effective use of raps and
rhythms to ensure catchiness
• incorporating the computer into the
everyday learning process where
possible
• triggering musical words to enhance
learning and memory.
It was indeed a well spent, fantastic
Saturday morning, and many thanks to
Carole for her time, ideas and enthusiasm.
I am sure that we all cannot wait to put
what we learnt to good use and experiment.
A real eye-opening experience.
Naazlin Badoux
Forel sur Lucens
OLTEN/SOLOTHURN
W O R K S H O P :
Truce is better than friction: building
and teaching negotiating skills
P R E S E N T E R :
Dr JoAnn Salvisberg
D A T E :
20th March 2010
While we typically think of negotiation as a
business skill, the truth of the matter is that
we negotiate constantly, both in business
and in our personal lives as well. This is
not something that only affects students
of Business English. It is a necessity in
daily interactions to be an effective
communicator and build relationships, and
this is what Dr Salvisberg stressed to our
group from the very beginning of this
workshop. We have to understand what it
really is, and then focus on ways to teach it.
To begin with, we looked at an interesting
reworking of the well-known Little Red
Riding Hood fairytale. We all know that
story: Little Red Riding Hood travels through
the woods to visit her grandmother, only to
be confronted by a wolf in granny’s clothes
who (in some versions) very nearly eats her.
But what if she and the wolf, instead of
following the basic facts of their story,
engaged in a conversation of stating their
points of view as to why the conflict
occurred, clarifying their understanding of
the situation, stating what they want from
each other in the future to avoid such
conflict, creating a win-win scenario for
each other, and agreeing on actions to
avoid further disasterous situations?
Moreover, what if, before the parting of the
ways, they summarize exactly what they
are going to do in the future to maintain
a good relationship between them?
In teaching negotiating skills, we must
remember what negotiation really is. It isn’t
a contest, but a dialogue whose goal is to
create a win-win situation for both sides.
No one goes home empty-handed. And in
order to do this, students must practice
all of their speaking and listening skills:
• clearly stating facts, opinions and
what they want
• finding out what the other side wants
and what is important to them
• clarifying for understanding, and
• agreeing and summarising.
We looked carefully at the five typical types
of negotiations (everyday, informal, formal,
facilitated, and critical/political) and at a
business-related case study, and practiced
two role-plays (one related to politics/family,
the other a finance/Human Resources
business situation) in order to focus on
each of the needed skills.
Dr Salvisberg’s presentation was excellent,
utilizing some excellent visuals and
YouTube videos, as well as providing the
participants with great resources to use
in the classroom.
We would like to thank Dr Salvisberg for
her thorough presentation and great ideas.
It was definitely a worthwhile and helpful
workshop for all of us.
Michelle Zuber
ST. GALLEN
W O R K S H O P :
Teaching vocabulary at CAE level
P R E S E N T E R :
Simon Haines
D A T E :
25th March 2010
“What’s in a name? That which we call rose
by any other name would smell as sweet,”
proclaims Juliet in Shakespeare’s Romeo
and Juliet. The rose might smell as sweet,
but ‘red round bulbed flower’ does not
invoke the same senses and feelings
associated with the word rose. The
importance of teaching vocabulary and the
correct words was the topic of a workshop
by the well published Simon Haines.
The joint workshop between ETAS and
Cambridge University Press was well
attended with teachers coming not only
from the St. Gallen Region, but also as far
away as Bern. With such a dynamic group
of teachers Mr Haines invited them to
participate in his workshop by asking
questions and having them think of the
difficulties of learning vocabulary by
realizing the vast amount of words they
themselves do not use. His example was
‘oxter’: the area under the armpit and
sometimes used to mean armpit.
A self-proclaimed hater of exams, Mr Haines
made the attendees conscious of the
difficulties and pitfalls of the Certificate in
Advanced English (CAE). Students do not
only need to have a broad and active
vocabulary, but also the ability to deal with
new vocabulary. Vocabulary skills, one could
say, were particularly emphasized because
of the randomness of the CAE. For this
same reason, learning words in lexical
‘chunks’ was also strongly recommended.
Similar to learning the correct term for an
object, learning words in chunks gives
students parts of sentences or ideas
correctly formulated that will help them
to speak faster, and speak and write in a
more natural way.
An array of handouts with examples of
how to better teach vocabulary and make
students cognitive of the importance of
learning not only new words but also their
full meaning, their usage and other words
used in combination with the new lexical
unit gave teachers fresh tools to teach
vocabulary and ensure the success of
their students.
For any teacher, but especially teachers
preparing students for the CAE, this was
an excellent workshop. Mr Simon Haines
made the attendees aware of the difficulties
of the CAE and provided new tools to help
them better teach their students. Teachers
did not leave learning how to teach to the
test, but instead, how to prepare students
for the randomness of the CAE, which in
many respects is very real-life - “You never
know what you’re going to get.”
Christian Langenegger MA
English and German Teacher
Marathon Sprachen
Upcoming workshops are listed on
our website (www.e-tas.ch > Events)
15. 32 ETAS Journal 27/3 Summer 2010
Forthcoming Events
Baden
Workshop:
Getting Grammar Across
Presenter:
John Potts
Date:
Friday 24th September 2010
Time:
16.30 – 19.30
Venue:
The Language Company, Baden OR
Wirtschaftsschule KV Baden-Zurzach, Baden
Cost:
CHF 55.- ETAS member • CHF 80.- guest
Registration:
baden@e-tas.ch or online www.e-tas.ch
Deadline:
Saturday 11th September 2010
Workshop:
This practical workshop will focus on grammar points that
you, the participants, find difficult to analyse and/or teach.
Come with a hitlist of points that you’d like to focus on,
and we’ll cover as many as practicable in the time.
The focus will be on language analysis, followed by
classroom approaches and practice activities.
John Potts is a teacher trainer and teacher living in Zürich.
He has given many ELT courses and workshops, including
extensive grammar courses for teachers. He is course
director of CELTA and DELTA at TLC Baden, and his regular
page on analysing and teaching grammar has appeared in
English Teaching Professional since October 1999.
REGIONS
1. Is there a book that you frequently use in lesson
preparation that you would recommend
everyone to have?
2. Are you aware of the ETAS Library, i.e. the books
that are offered and how to check them out?
Yes
No
3. If you are aware of the Library, how often have you used it?
Once a month
3 - 4 times a year
Once a year
Never
Other (specify)
4. Do you have any suggestion of services or books that the
ETAS Library could offer that would assist its members?
ETAS Library
Library Questionnaire for ETAS members
Book titles that are already available to
members can be accessed at:
www.e-tas.ch/downloads/services/Catalogue.pdf
Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions.
This will be helpful for ETAS in improving its
service and resources for its members.
Please return to:
Elizabeth Ulrich
ETAS Library Subcommittee
Sonnenbergstrasse 17
4573 Lohn-Ammannsegg
elizabeth.u@bluewin.ch
SERVICES
16. To order books from the ETAS
mail-service Library
simply fill in the ETAS Library Order Form
found on the next page (p. 35)
34 ETAS Journal 27/3 Summer 2010
Library Updates
RECENT ACQUISITIONS Please remember to quote the Catalogue Id Number when ordering a book. Thank you!
7552
7572
10408
11215
10107
15498
3012
1006
11214
14015
14012
10607
7507
Mascull B.
Mascull B.
Allum V.,
McGarr P.
Heyderman E.
& May P.
Mackenzie I.
Raggett J. (Ed.)
Corbett J.
Hashemi L. &
Thomas B.
Galvin S.
Hobbs M.,
Starr Keddle J.
Baude A.,
Iglesias M.,
Iñesta A.
Bear D. R.,
Invernizzi M.,
Templeton S.,
Johnston F.
Business Vocabulary
in Use - Intermediate
Business Vocabulary
in Use - Advanced
Cambridge English
for Nursing
(pre-intermediate)
Complete PET
English for
Business Studies
ETAS Journal
Spring 2010
Vol. 27 No. 2
Grammar Handbook
Intercultural
Language Activities
Objective PET
On Camera
Opportunities
in Britain
Ready to Order
Words Their Way
For intermediate level (B1 to B2) learners of English and professionals
looking to improve their knowledge and use of business vocabulary.
Second edition. Self-study reference and practice book, with answer
key, but also suitable for classroom work. With CD-ROM with interactive
practice exercises, games and tests for each unit of the book.
For upper-intermediate to advanced (B2 to C1) learners and
professionals looking to expand their business vocabulary. Second
edition. Self-study reference and practice book, with answer key, but
also suitable for classroom work. With CD-ROM with interactive
practice exercises, games and tests for each unit of the book.
For pre-intermediate to intermediate level (A2-B1) learners who need to
use English in a nursing environment. Helps develop the communication
skills and specialist language knowledge of healthcare professionals.
The 8 units cover core areas of nursing such as admitting patients,
medical imaging and helping patients with rehabilitation. Suitable for
self-study or classroom use. (with 1 Audio CD)
Preparation course for the PET exam. Covers every part of the exam in
detail. With stimulating topics aimed at teenagers and young adults.
Provides an official PET past exam paper from Cambridge ESOL.
(SB with answers, 2 Audio CDs and CD-ROM)
Course for upper-intermediate and advanced level students who need
to understand and talk about the key concepts in business and
economics. Third edition, thoroughly revised. Covers the most important
areas of management, production and marketing. (SB)
With reports from ETAS's 26th AGM & Convention in Biel/Bienne,
Jan 2010.
For grade 8 (US). Covers: nouns & pronouns, verbs, adjectives &
adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions & interjections, basic sentence
parts, phrases & clauses, etc.
Contains over 80 practical activities and projects that will enable your
learners to examine not only their own language and culture, but also
that of others. Covers topics such as domestic and public life, child-
hood, food, icons, sport, politics and body language. With CD.
Lively course designed to guide students towards success at the PET
exam. Second edition. Includes a practice test booklet (without
answers) and a CD-ROM with further practice activities for vocabulary,
grammar, pronunciation, reading, listening and writing, as well as a
complete PET test (with audio) for self-study or classroom use.
Documentary video for beginner and elementary students. Can be
used alongside Snapshot or any other equivalent course. Real-life
interviews with young people in Britain and America about their
families, favourite sports, music, etc. (video and teacher's notes)
Collection of mini documentaries that give students an insight into
different aspects of life in Britain. Ideal for students using Opportunities
or any similar course at pre-intermediate level and above. (video,
Workbook and Teacher's notes)
Elementary English for the restaurant industry. For students training to
become or working as chefs, bartenders or waiting staff. Provides the
language training they need to be operational in the fast-moving food
and beverage industry. (SB, TB, WB)
Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction. Gives you
all the tools needed to carry out word study instruction that will
motivate and engage students. With DVD and CD-ROM.
Cambridge
University
Press
Cambridge
University
Press
Cambridge
University
Press
Cambridge
University
Press
Cambridge
University
Press
ETAS
Pearson
Cambridge
University
Press
Cambridge
University
Press
Pearson
Pearson
Pearson
Pearson
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
1998
2006
2002
2008
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
English for Specific
Purposes: Medical
PET Examination Books
English for Specific
Purposes: Business English
ETAS Journals
Grammar and Language
Practice
Methodology and
Linguistics
PET Examination Books
Videos
Videos
English for Specific
Purposes: Various
Vocabulary
Number Title Description Publisher Year Category
Author(s)/
Editor(s)
SERVICES
17. ETAS Journal 27/3 Summer 2010 35
Library Order and Check-out Form
I am an Infrequent User and have enclosed CHF 7.– in stamps
I am a Priority User and have paid into the ETAS postal account: Zürich 80-43533-3
CHF 35.– for 6 lots
CHF 70.– for 12 lots
(Up to 3 items, plus accompanying books and/or cassettes/CDs, may be ordered at any one time.)
I’ve enclosed a self-addressed adhesive label
Please 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 Yverdon
Tel: +41 (0)24 420 32 54, Fax: +41 (0)24 420 32 57, email: office@e-tas.ch, website: www.e-tas.ch
How 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 to
ETAS 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 - into
the ETAS postal account. You can then order books online (www.e-tas.ch, click on ‘Services’ then ‘Library’) or
by 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 3 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 another
reader, 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.
18. 36 ETAS Journal 27/3 Summer 2010
Where:
Kantonsschule Zürcher Oberland
Bühlstrasse 36, Postfach 1265
8620 Wetzikon
Tel: 044 933 08 11, Fax: 044 933 08 10
info@kzo.ch
There’s also a map of the building and a link to train schedules at http://www.kzo.ch/index.php?id=468
When:
Saturday, September 11th 2010, 9.00 – 18.00
Plenary Speaker:
Dr John De Jong from VU University Amsterdam (sponsored by Pearson Language Tests)
Plenary title:
Standards in Teaching and Testing
Dr De Jong will speak on three different meanings of the word standard as they are relevant to testing in general
and to language testing in particular.
He will deal firstly with standard conditions for test administration.
He will then discuss how to define standards of attainment. What are the goals of our learning and teaching?
How can they be operationalized in assessment?
Finally, Dr De Jong will examine the third usage as in ‘professional standard’ by mentioning some of the principles
one should strive to uphold in language testing.
SIG Day 2010
NEWS
19. Membership:
I/we apply for membership in the following category:
INDIVIDUAL MEMBER (with special rates for students and retired members):
Switzerland CHF 95.- per annum
Switzerland - Student membership
open to students* at Swiss state tertiary pedagogical institutions
I've enclosed a copy of my student ID
CHF 50.- per annum
Switzerland - Retired membership
open to retired people** only (Swiss state retirement age)
I've enclosed a copy of my identity card or passport
CHF 50.- per annum
EU CHF 120.- per annum
Overseas CHF 145.- per annum
INSTITUTIONAL MEMBER: CHF 190.- per annum
ASSOCIATE MEMBER: CHF 420.- per annum
Payment:
I/we have paid CHF into the ETAS postal account:
Zürich 80-43533-3
Please send me an invoice
(for Institutional and Associate Members only)
Full Name
Address
Telephone Fax
Email
Date/Signature
Membership Application Form
Membership year: 1st July - 30th June
Membership contracted between July and December = full fee, between January and June = half fee
MembershipAdministration
Change of Address Form
Please help to keep our records up-to-date by notifying us before you move!
Old Address New Address valid as of:
Full Name Full Name
Address Address
Telephone Telephone
Email Email
ETAS Region ETAS Region
Individual Members Only:
Please indicate which ETAS Region you wish to join
(tick only one):
Baden Basel Bern/Neuchâtel
Central Switzerland Geneva Graubünden
Lausanne Solothurn/Olten St. Gallen
Ticino Valais Zürich/Winterthur
Please indicate which ETAS Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
you wish to join:
Business English Drama & Literature
English for Specific Purposes Examinations, Testing
& Assessment
Immersion/CLIL Learning Technologies
Research School Management
Teacher Development Teacher Training
Teen Young Learners
I do not wish my name to be passed on to EFL publishers
Please send information on the
ETAS occupational pension fund
Please send information on the
ETAS loss-of-earnings & accident insurance
For queries please contact:
ETAS Administration, Rue de l’Hôpital 32, CH-1400 Yverdon
Tel: +41 (0)24 420 32 54, Fax: +41 (0)24 420 32 57
email: office@e-tas.ch, website: www.e-tas.ch
Please return to: ETAS Administration, Rue de l’Hôpital 32, CH-1400 Yverdon
38 ETAS Journal 27/3 Summer 2010
* Proof of student status will be determined at ETAS Administration upon receiving a
photocopy or scanned copy of the potential member's student ID with the date of
validity clearly visible
** Proof of retirement age will be determined at ETAS Administration upon receiving
a photocopy or scanned copy of the potential member's identity card or passport
with the date of birth clearly visible
SERVICES
20. Join us in the heart of Switzerland
and enjoy the charms of Lucerne
for the 27th AGM and Convention
at Kantonsschule Luzern
29 – 30 January 2011
Be sure to reserve this date in your calendar!
Forthcoming
National Event