ELTtime Garnet Education

In the final episode of season 1 of ELTtime, our Senior Editor, Chris, speaks to Zarina Subhan about experiencing racial bias in ELT. They dive into discussions about different kinds of privilege, what it’s like to be judged by the colour of your skin before your teaching ability, and how the representation of race in ELT coursebooks and other materials can be improved.

Let us know if you enjoyed the episode! Get in touch with any suggestions or questions – you can find us at @garneteducation everywhere!

LINKS

Book: Color, Race and ELT, Shades of meaning by Andy Curtis and Mary Romney
Book: Why I’m no longer talking to white people about race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
Book: Race and ethnicity in English Language Teaching, Korea in focus by Christopher Joseph Jenks
Article: The intersectionality of gender, sexuality, race and native-speakerness: Investigating ELT teacher identity through duoethnography by Luke Lawrence and Yuzuko Nagashima (Journal of Language, Identity and Education)
Zarina’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zarina-subhan-a9372052/

CHAPTERS
0:19 – Introduction

1:17 – English identity: assumptions and credibility

11:08 – Being a woman in ELT

13:09 – Intersectionality: race and gender

16:31 – Racism in the workplace: classroom vs colleague experience

21:19 – Privilege and awareness

23:25 – The question of responsibility: educating people on racism

30:44 – Defining and understanding privilege

32:48 – The portrayal of race in ELT materials

41:20 – The loss of indigenous culture to economic power

43:16 – Perceptions of traditional non-western clothing

45:13 – Final comments

47:06 – Outro

47:25 – Bonus: Season 2 news!

In today’s episode of ELTtime, Rachel, Matt, Ella and Jaz all sat down together (whilst we were still in the office) for a TeaBreak! With Jaz as the moderator, Rachel, Matt and Ella look back at their teaching experiences and discuss how well teaching English prepared them for a career in ELT publishing.

Let us know if you enjoyed the episode. Get in touch with any suggestions or questions – you can find us at @garneteducation everywhere!

LINKS
There are no links for this episode.

CHAPTERS
0:20 – Intro

0:48 – Teaching experience

1:10 – Rachel’s teaching experience – Greece

2:07 – Matt’s teaching experience – Japan

3:31 – Ella’s teaching experience – Spain

4:55 – Pressure to get through materials quickly

7:12 – Transitioning into publishing

7:23 – Rachel: started as a writer before moving into editing

8:39 – Matt: did a publishing masters, worked in other publishing fields

10:11 – Ella: did an English Literature masters, work experience

11:20 – Does teaching prepare you for working in ELT publishing?

13:22 – Skills needed for editing vs teaching

15:23 – Teaching grammar

16:32 – Content development and teaching

17:45 – Using Teacher’s Books as a tool

18:53 – Time management as a teacher vs editor

23:05 – What parts of teaching doesn’t prepare you for publishing?

27:25 – Thinking about the publishing process as teacher

29:05 – What do you miss about teaching?

32:22 – Favourite thing about ELT publishing

35:03 – Outro

In the sixth episode of ELTtime, our Digital Editor, Jaz, chats with Julietta Schoenmann about how best to incorporate the wide topic of global issues into your lessons. How do you talk about the climate crisis without frightening young learners? How can you include the UN sustainable development goals in your lesson plans? Should any topics be avoided?

Let us know if you enjoyed the episode. Get in touch with any suggestions or questions – you can find us at @garneteducation everywhere!

LINKS
UN sustainable development goals

UN student resources

IATEFL Global issues SIG

Article: Helping young learners deal with the climate crisis

21st century skills in ELT classroom book: coming soon!

CHAPTERS
0:19 – Intro

1:46 – Defining what we mean by ‘global issues’

2:28 – Connecting global issues to ELT

4:18 – Modern student experience

5:26 – Empathy and understanding

6:44 – Taking action

7:56 – Global citizenship, not political

9:13 – UN sustainable development goals

10:55 – UN student resources

11:28 – Should any topics be avoided in the classroom?

13:26 – Being realistic about how serious the topics can be

14:56 – Allowing students to express a preference on topics

15:46 – Teaching the climate crisis

17:02 – Using Greta Thunberg and Malala in the classroom

18:25 – Listening to students

19:28 – Activity of ‘personifying’ climate change

21:51 – Outro

Today’s special episode of ELTtime addresses the global COVID-19 pandemic. The virus is causing unprecedented levels of disruption to education – schools are closed, students are unable to attend lessons in person, international students can’t travel overseas, and institutions are forced to reschedule courses and exams. As a result, now more than ever before, English language teachers around the world are finding themselves with an urgent need to become effective online educators.

In today’s episode, Garnet’s Digital Manager Matthew George talks to experienced English language Teacher/Teacher Trainer, Julietta Schoenmann. Julietta talks over the nuts and bolts of how to get going as an online teacher, and then offers a wide range of insights into how to manage online classes, how to make the most of the tools and resources at your disposal and how to maintain student motivation.

Let us know if you enjoyed the episode. Get in touch with any suggestions or questions – you can find us at @garneteducation everywhere!

LINKS
Hands Up charity project

Online platforms: Zoom, Adobe connect, Blackboard Collaborate

Padlet: online collaboration tool

Vialogues: dynamic video discussions

Flipgrid: video discussions and respsonses

Eaquals Webinars: Teaching live online using Zoom

CHAPTERS
0:20 – Intro

1:17 – Julietta’s background in online teaching

2:20 – The Hands Up Project

3:18 – Online platforms: Zoom

5:20 – Zoom features – breakout rooms, screen sharing, polls

7:22 – Tips for using online tools for the first time

9:44 – Green screens in Zoom

10:44 – Online tools for teachers (Padlet, Flipgrid, Vialogues)

13:26 – How do teaching styles differ online?

16:33 – Disruptive home environments

18:05 – Online breakout rooms for group work

18:59 – Activity types in the virtual classroom and encouraging student autonomy

23:22 – Motivation and keeping students engaged

26:24 – Online tools can provide more variety in activities (e.g., using Google Street view)

27:29 – Encouragement and praise

27:56 – Pitfalls of online teaching: connectivity issues

29:20 – Orientation to working online and multitasking

32:18 – Boundaries and limits

33:37 –What can institutions and teachers do to ensure a positive outcome from this move online?

36:07 – Outro

In today’s episode our Publisher, Rachel, and Academic Director, Chris, sit down to discuss why integrated skills are beneficial in the classroom. They discuss how the real-life application of language is not separated into the four skills, why there is a reluctance from educational institutions to change and how integrated skills provides a way to exploit materials and engage students.

Let us know if you enjoyed the episode! Get in touch with any suggestions or questions – you can find us at @garneteducation everywhere!

LINKS
Journal article: Integrated Skills in the ESL/EFL classroom by Rebecca Oxford (10:28)

CHAPTERS
0:20 – Intro

0:52 – What are integrated skills?

1:33 – Are integrated skills a good thing for ELT?

2:54 – Do integrated skills reflect how we use language in real life?

4:22 – Teaching skills in isolation; focusing on specific skills

6:01 – Skills are already integrated: learning to write by speaking

7:28 – Teaching ‘speaking’ by using texts, pictures or audio

8:33 – Going from receptive to productive skills

9:36 – Focusing on the function of language

10:12 – Is there evidence that integrated skills are more effective?

11:51 – Learning strategies and ‘learning to learn’ skills

13:31 – Formative assessments and switching skills in daily life

15:52 – Integrated skills can flag up specific skills that need working on

17:11 – Reluctance to change: educational, institutional and exam culture

19:33 – Logistical change: institutional infrastructure and scheduling

21:27 – Exploiting materials and engaging students

22:13 – Technology has forced us to integrate skills

22:52 – Final thoughts

In the fourth episode of ELTtime, we introduce a new feature: TeaBreak. A few of us here at Garnet grab a cuppa, and take half an hour to discuss something we’re passionate about within ELT. Today, Alice, Ella, Jaz and Rosie dive into why it’s problematic that RP is used as a standard, make some light-hearted observations about the differences between the way they speak, and discuss some interesting but bizarre Australian words – do you know what Manchester is? (And no, we don’t mean the city!)

Let us know if you enjoyed the episode! Get in touch with any suggestions or questions – you can find us at @garneteducation everywhere!

LINKS
Article: Is RP outdated?

Article: Why people will beat machines in recognising speech for a long time yet

Article: Australian English in the 20th century

CHAPTERS
0:20 – What’s TeaBreak?

1:03 – Introductions (Jaz, Alice, Ella and Rosie)

1:40 – Word (antipodean)

Australia

2:21 – Alice’s Australian accent (8:45)

2:41 – Alice’s Background

3:12 – British and American spellings and pronunciations

3:53 – Non-English speakers and non-British

4:41 – Australian vs British words

8:08 – Australian stereotypes

8:22 – Australian word (galah)

Scotland

8:59 – Rosie’s Scottish accent

9:39 – Alice’s Australian accent

10:02 – Is this a ‘dialect’ thing or a ‘my family’ thing?

America

10:52 – Ella’s American background

Received Pronunciation (RP)

11:23 – What is RP and why can it be problematic?

11:46 – Class and region divides in pronunciation

12:42 – Issues with digital activities

Is there a ‘correct pronunciation’?

15:24 – Regional accent differences

16:02 – Slang and class

17:26 – Voice recognition and audio issues

19:02 – Students mimicking accents

19:49 – American media

20:07 – Australian word (Manchester)

21:00 – Australian idiom (shag on a rock)

21:34 – Final thoughts