26
OCT
2009

In Tune with English

As a musician, I’m always interested in ways of incorporating music and the arts into instruction. I think that “Using Songs in the ESL Classroom” was one of the earliest professional presentations that I ever gave.  Here, however, is a new twist: an English...
08
AUG
2009

Textbook adoption? Not in California.

The Los Angeles Times reports on the implications of statewide budget cuts for education: no new textbook adoptions for grades K-8 until 2016!  The state superintendent of instruction is quoted as saying, “It could be close to a generation before we see new...
17
JUN
2009

Teaching Languages with Technology

I’m back from a terrific time in Chile, hosted by colleagues at Universidad Andres Bello in Santiago. They were wonderful hosts, and while there, I gave a talk called Teaching Languages with Technology. Several of the teachers at the university joined in and gave brief...
22
MAY
2009

Looking for stories about intercultural communication

For possible inclusion in a forthcoming book on culture, we are seeking brief stories of experiences that you as teachers have had that involve aspects or dimensions of culture and intercultural communication. These stories could be situations or realizations that you have had...
11
MAR
2009

TESOL in Denver

If you’ll be at the TESOL conference in Denver, Please join me for the presentations listed below. Handouts and PowerPoints will be available a day or two after the presentation. Check the Resources page for teachers, trainers, and consultants.  I hope to see you there.  ...
22
DEC
2008

The reason that we teach

In mid-December I was flying back to Burlington, Vermont from LaGuardia airport in New York. A couple with a small child, dressed in a slightly unusual fashion were in the wrong seats, and were properly relocated to the very back row of the 20-seat plane where I was sitting. The...
12
NOV
2008

Making Connections

Congratulations to authors Jo McEntire and Jessica Williams on the publication of Making Connections Intermediate: A Strategic Approach to Academic Reading. This terrific intermediate level reading book has just been published by Cambridge University Press, and the whole...
08
OCT
2008

Non-verbal communication in the presidential debates

Researchers have long believed that individuals communicate as much or more through non-verbal communication as they do through the actual words that they use. Edward Hall and Erving Goffman have suggested that facial expressions, gestures, body language, and tone of voice can be...
09
SEP
2008

Gender differences

We know that gender roles have changed over time and that, to some extent gender roles vary from one culture to another. Yet we usually think that as a culture becomes more “modern” the differences between genders become smaller. But some new studies, summarized in this New York...
25
AUG
2008

New leaders for TESOL

After careful deliberation, the 2008-2009 TESOL Nominating Committee (pictured at left) has put together the slate for elections for upcoming positions on the Board of Directors and the 2009-2010 Nominating Committee. View the slate and read the candidates’ biographies and...