04
AUG
2011

What teachers inspired you?

One of my most memorable teachers was a high school English teacher. Thomas Donovan had been teaching for nearly forty years and was in his sixties when I had him as a 14-year-old student. He was what today we would call “old school.” That is, he was very traditional in the way...
15
JUL
2011

5 great books for teaching speaking in the English language classroom

A recent thread on the TESOL English as a Foreign Language Interest Section e-list discussion group raised the issue of teaching conversation in the EFL classroom. I came up with the following list of useful books for those interested in teaching speaking. Folse, K. S. (2006) The...
16
MAY
2011

Getting hired as an English language teacher

A recent discussion on TESOL’s e-list for the Teacher Education Interest Section provoked some interest in helping novice (and more experienced) teachers find jobs in our profession. Some of the conversation centered around how long a resume should be or in what order....
30
APR
2011

EFL in Saudi Arabia

I’m just back from performing a program review for a couple of intensive English programs in Saudi Arabia. Lots of grist for the intercultural communication mill. Major issues in student motivation and finding the appropriate materials for the curriculum, as well....
11
APR
2011

TESOL presentations online

I’ve added three presentations from TESOL 2011 in New Orleans to the resources page. You can find handouts and PowerPoint slides for Writing Textbooks that Sell, Integrating Culture and Social Responsibility, and Writing Effective Learning Outcomes.
04
MAR
2011

See you in New Orleans!

I’m looking forward to the TESOL Conference in New Orleans coming up during the week of March 20th. Hope to see you there! Here are a few topics I’ll be presenting on.  Look here for handouts and PowerPoint slides after the conference. Authors Wanted Worldwide: Write...
11
JAN
2011

Q: Skills for Success now available

I’m delighted to report that the new book that Jenny Bixby and I have written for Oxford University Press is now available in the U.S. Q: Skills for Success: Reading and Writing 2 can be obtained from your local OUP rep, on the OUP Website, or at Amazon.com.  This is part...
30
OCT
2010

Presentations at New York State TESOL Conference

On November 5th and 6th I’ll be presenting at the New York State TESOL Conference at the Crowne Plaza in Albany. Hope you can stop by for one of these sessions: Principles to Practice in Teaching Reading Friday, November 5, 10:30am-11:30am, Ballroom E How can current principles...
29
SEP
2010

Critical thinking skills in English language teaching

As part of the marketing campaign for the forthcoming series Q: Skills for Success, Oxford University Press interviewed me and some of the other series authors and has posted them on YouTube. In this interview, I talk about critical thinking skills, and about my favorite reading...
26
AUG
2010

Using questions in language teaching

My Oxford University Press co-author Jenny Bixby and I have recently contributed posts to the Oxford ELT Global Blog. We each talked a bit about using questions in the language classroom–this is a key element of our book in the forthcoming OUP series called Q: Skills for...