ETAS Journal Issue Archive

Focus: Young Learners  

The theme of the Focus section in the Winter Journal is on the receptive skills of reading and listening. Topics such as authentic listening, the value of teacher research, English for aviation, and how to introduce reading materials to students in a systematic way illustrate the diversity and practical nature of the articles. We hope to motivate and engage not only English language teachers with this Journal but also teacher trainers and learners. 

Focus: Getting started in English Language Teaching (ELT)

The Special Supplement in the Summer Journal focuses on getting started in ELT. We hope that the broad range of articles will inspire readers to develop their careers in ELT and to look for ways to enrich their professional aspirations within this field. 

Jayne Kyte and Antoinette Breutel-O’Donoghue, Focus Editors

Focus on productive skills -- speaking and writing

Eclectic is one of my favourite words. It conveys the impression of a broad and diverse range of items each distinctive in their own way but which, carefully selected and arranged, create a delightful, harmonious whole.

That delightful whole is what we hope you’ll find here. No two pieces are quite the same yet each crystallises the essence of their writer’s knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm to create a harmonious whole on the teaching of the productive skills: speaking and writing.

This edition’s Focus is ESP and covers a wide range of disciplines, including English for: aviation, medicine, business, law, tourism, and catering and hospitality. The ESP focus has also influenced some of the other sections of this bumper Spring/Summer Journal including a number of book reviews for ESP related material, an interview with Derek Callan, and my first piece for the journal – a ‘Class Act’ introduction to writing and working with case studies in legal English.

Digital literacy for language teaching and learning is the focus of this issue.

This is just a sample of the inspiring articles in this issue. Professor James Shapiro talks to ETAS stalwart Eva Göksel about bringing Shakespeare into the classroom. Shapiro's current book project is an examination of Shakespeare in an America divided by Trump. A fabulous read, and very useful for those who do sometimes wonder how to achieve that involvement that eventually leads to appreciation and understanding of great words (regardless of who wrote them).

Helena Lustenberger’s fascinating interview with Professor David Crystal sets the scene for a Focus on Vocabulary. This lexical journey then takes us forward with Hannah McCulloch in conversation with Professor Paul Nation. Then we move to Scott Thornbury’s consideration of Michael Lewis’s lexical approach and the impact it has had on second language learning 25 years after it was first proposed.

Introduction

In this issue. In this Winter 2018 edition we are delighted to welcome you back with a compelling collection of articles and tried-and-tested classroom practices from a broad variety of locations, highlighting diverse perspectives and approaches, all with clear implications for the field of English Language Teaching as well as for us as ELT professionals. 

More on this issue

Beginning with our Special Feature focusing on the life-transforming issue of retirement,consider the following: 

In this issue. For the second time this year, in the spirit of global expansiveness, we offer not one but two Special Supplements. The first, Beyond Swiss Borders: ELT Around the World, gives us insights into English teaching in other parts of the globe and takes us there if not in body as yet then at least in our mind. The second, Research Literacy Part 3, concludes our comprehensive coverage of what is undoubtedly a broad but undeniably relevant subject of research and its link to professional development.