Category Archives: TEFL celebs/ TEFL heroes and villains

How I became Sandy McManus

Posted on 06/05/2011 by alexcase

Although some people online have somehow had their suspicions that I actually am that (formerly?) famous foul-mouthed TEFL blacklisting anti-Semite from Brighton, I am most certainly not. “Foul-mouthed” was often true until my daughter first copied me, “from Brighton” is … Continue reading →

Posted in TEFL heroes- Sandy McManus | 7 Comments

An interview with Andrew Wright

Posted on 30/12/2010 by alexcase

One of the many nice things to come out of the storm in a TEFL cup that was my attempt at making a list of the 100 most influential books in TEFL was Andrew Wright agreeing to an interview, and here it … Continue reading →

Posted in Andrew Wright | Tagged | Leave a comment

EL Gazette campaign to save UK TEFL

Posted on 25/07/2010 by alexcase

As usual, I can find little to add to what the ever fabulous Melanie Butler has to say here, except that if you think this doesn’t concern you, just think about TEFLers fleeing the UK and further flooding the teaching … Continue reading →

Posted in EL Gazette, TEFL heroes- Melanie Butler, TEFL in the UK | 3 Comments

An interview with Katie of TEFLlogue (History of TEFL blogging Part Three)

Posted on 15/05/2010 by alexcase

In my interview of EFL Geek, he mentioned Katie of TEFLlogue fame as someone he most missed from the TEFL blogosphere, and I’m sure everyone who was active at that time will feel exactly the same way. She was incredibly … Continue reading →

Posted in EFL geek, TEFL blacklist, TEFL blogs, TEFL heroes- Sandy McManus, TEFLlogue | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Rod Ellis on theory and practice

Posted on 01/02/2010 by alexcase

“SLA research is not capable of providing teachers with recipes for successful practice. It should be treated as providing teachers with ‘insights’ which they can use to build their own explicit theory. It is on the basis of this theory- … Continue reading →

Posted in Cambridge Delta, Linguistics, applied linguistics and SLA, MA Applied Linguistics, MA TESOL, Rod Ellis | 7 Comments

Evidence-based teaching?

Posted on 24/01/2010 by alexcase

Evidence-based medicine is all the rage at the moment. While not lacking in critics and almost certainly leading to the dismissal of some brilliant mavericks and their ideas alongside the control of crackpots and incompetents, all the evidence seems to … Continue reading →

Posted in Cambridge Delta, Cambridge ESOL, TEFL Heroes- Michael Lewis, TEFL heroes- Michael Swan | 51 Comments

Development, blogs, books and Japan- An interview with Darren Elliott of Lives of Teachers blog

Posted on 09/01/2010 by alexcase

We all seem to be seeing your name around a lot recently. A masterplan to become the next Thornbury/ trying to keep yourself busy while your wife watches Japanese television/ sleep disorder/ other? I think it takes more than a … Continue reading →

Posted in Cambridge Delta, CELTA, Critical Mass ELT, Eikaiwa, Experience of Language Teaching, first TEFL job, MA TESOL, Teacher training, Teaching English in Japan, TEFL, TEFL blogs, TEFL conferences, TEFL heroes- Rose M Senior, TEFL heroes- Scott Thornbury, TEFL qualifications, TEFL reviews, TEFL villains- Jennifer Jenkins, TEFL workshops | Tagged | 8 Comments

A typical TEFL biography (and one big difference)

Posted on 04/01/2010 by alexcase

The typical bit: “I did not know what I wanted to do but I did know what I did not want to do.  I did not want to work in the UK. “ and the untypical bit: “A panel of misguided … Continue reading →

Posted in British Council, TEFL, TEFL heroes- Alan Maley | Tagged | 1 Comment

Interview- TEFL Hero Jon Marks on the life of a full-time TEFL writer

Posted on 31/12/2009 by alexcase

It’s been a while since I’ve used the TEFL hero category, and I’ve even stripped some people of the honour (and Sandy MacManus has been pretty close a couple of times), but I’m glad I kept it going because Jon … Continue reading →

Posted in Cambridge Young Learner Exams, Delta Publishing, EFL exams, ELT publishing, English Teaching Professional, General English textbooks, getting into ELT publishing, Getting published, Grammar games, IELTS, links, Photocopiable worksheets, PPP (Presentation practice production), Teaching English in Korea, TEFL, TEFL career planning, TEFL games, TEFL heroes- Jon Marks, TEFL pay, TEFL Tradesman, textbooks, Writing ELT textbooks and materials | Tagged | 2 Comments

"Save UK ELT" Number 10 petition

Posted on 24/11/2009 by alexcase

I haven’t yet signed because I know nothing about the law in question (I usually wait for Melanie Butler of EL Gazette to make up my mind for me on things like this). If you want to find out more … Continue reading →

Posted in TEFL heroes- Melanie Butler, TEFL in the UK | 11 Comments