Rushed off my feet. No time to put any news and views together in recent months. This one will be more views than news, and a bit loose. So, what’s going on? Work I expected loads more cancelled projects due… Read More ›
materials writing
Materials writing news and views, March 2020
One-year anniversary of these posts. Cool! New releases Congrats to Billie Jago, who has authored these practice tests for Cambridge C1 Advanced: This is the first time I’ve come across the publisher Prosperity Education. Looks like they are mainly exam-focused,… Read More ›
Materials writing conversations #6: the packager
This is a completely imaginary conversation. No characters in the convo are based on real people – I’m just bored and imagining conversations I might have with editors… Editor: Thanks so much for this work. You’ve clearly put a lot… Read More ›
Materials writing news and views, February 2020
I’ll hopefully keep this update going this year. Bit busy at the moment so here are a few very quick updates and some useful links. New releases Express Publishing are promoting a new book English for 21st Century Skills (Mavridi… Read More ›
The benefits of using an ELT coursebook
Late last year I read the Jordan and Gray/Hughes exchange on ELT coursebooks, which appeared in ELT Journal. It’s an interesting discussion if you haven’t read it yet. I generally agreed more with Hughes, but that’s to be expected; I… Read More ›
Research in brief: reading disruption of a textbook
The research Winter, C. (2018). Disrupting colonial discourses in the geography curriculum during the introduction of British Values policy in schools. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 50(4), 456-475. Open access, click here. Summary The aim of the study was ‘to expose and disrupt… Read More ›
How to annoy commissioning editors (and find work)
Another ‘how to become a materials writer’ article has popped up – Kirsten Holt’s article for ETPro offers some more good advice for budding writers. Every time I read one of these posts I’m itching to chip in. I really… Read More ›
ELT materials writing – my year in review
It’s been quite a good year on the writing front. Balancing writing with full-time teaching is tough, but the rewards are great! It’s only three weeks until our xmas holidays so I’m calling this the end of my writing year…. Read More ›
More on developing meaning-building skills in reading
This post follows on from Rachael Roberts’ great article on developing meaning-building skills in reading. As Rachael says, comprehension questions have their place but they also have their limitations. Tasks that develop meaning-building skills, which you could use alongside/instead of… Read More ›
Trends in the ELT materials market (?)
I don’t know what the trends are. No facts here. Just my opinion. I’m interested – do you agree/disagree/take offence/think these are pointlessly general statements/etc? Please comment! Key markets for most publishers seem to be China, Mexico, Turkey and Brazil…. Read More ›
ELT Planning 