Page 5 - ELG1807 July Issue 459

WELCOME .
EDITOR’S LETTER
IT’S SUMMER AND EVERYONE IS HAVING

FUN. AREN’T THEY?

Summertime is here, ELLs are making headlines and some of the
oldest shibboleths are being challenged, Melanie Butler writes theteam

Well, Betsy DeVos certainly seems to be enjoying herself, as our page 12
article suggests. When the US education secretary isn’t supporting guns in MELANIE
schools ‘to protect from potential grizzlies,’ she is busy watering down the BUTLER,
editor-in-chief,
federal regulations which hold schools to account for the education they started teaching
give their English language learners (ELLs). EFL in Iran in
Ells are making news around the world. In New Zealand, language 1975. She worked
for the BBC
schools are struggling to recruit teachers for refugees. A British school World Service,
in Dubai, by contrast, has taken in seven Syrian refugee children free of Pearson/Longman and Modern
charge. English Teacher magazine before
In the UK, the Bell Foundation is also doing its best to help. Its EAL Assessment Framework taking over at the Gazette in
1987 and also launching Study
scooped an ELTon at the recent British Council awards. Turn to page 33 for a full breakdown of Travel magazine. Educated in ten
the winners. schools in seven countries, she
Even the world of methodology is hotting up this summer. As we report on page 10 yet speaks fluent French and Spanish
and rather rusty Italian.
another US study claims to call into question Krashen’s input hypothesis. Their findings?
Students who were made to produce language performed better on comprehension tests than IRENA
BARKER,
those who learnt through input only. commissioning
Our magazine is shifts fails in the courts, but even here the methodologists are questioning studied French
If an appeal against
The Brits have never taken much notice of Krashen,
editor,
payment for sleep-in
some core beliefs. Terry Phillips, on page 30, calls into
and linguistics at
Durham, UK and
question the dominance of phonics, arguing that it will
taught English in France for two
not work as well with L2 children.
years. Her subsequent 15-year
summer schools may
And for real fighting talk, go to page 22, where Sarah
read staff the minimum wage Priestley and Tom Flaherty call into question the greatest career in UK news journalism
find they have to pay
includes reporting for local and
EFL shibboleth of all: by challenging the notion that all
regional newspapers, a news
agency and a 10 year stint at the
lessons must be fun.
Times Educational Supplement
‘What about assuming that young learners can quite
per hour, even when
magazine.
happily cope without the classic EFL fun and games?’
they say.
in more than they are sleeping six-year-olds, it went down a storm with the bilingual FEDERICA
TEDESCHI,
Don’t tell this to Timmy the Lamb, star of the new
senior reporter, is
YouTube video series Learning Time with Timmy,
a NCTJ-qualified
reporter who
produced by the British Council and Aardman
gained journalistic
animations. Designed to teach English to two to
experience in
150 countries children of our commissioning editor Irena Barker. But Malta, Italy and the UK. She holds
a masters in international relations
from the University of Perugia,
what did she think of its lively tones? Turn to page 32 to
Italy as well as a Celta from
find out.
Westminster College, London
As the tennis fans gather in a leafy south London
and has taught languages at a
suburb, the Wimbledon School of English serves up an
university and schools in London.
Federica, who also freelances in
ace in its British Council inspection for the second time
and we have 6,700 British summer season as tennis championships and cricket matches. However, as we report on ANDREA PÉREZ
video production, is a member of
in a row, take a look at page 34 to find out the secret of
an NUJ committee.
their success.
Residential summer schools are as much a part of the
EGIDO, online
and production
page 20 they may be under threat from the taxman.
online subscribers they have to pay staff the minimum wage per hour, even when they are sleeping. manager,
If an appeal against payment for sleep-in shifts fails in the courts, summer schools may find
has a BA in
journalism from
Complutense
But, I can hear school owners shriek, we all worked long hours in summer, it’s the tradition.
University, Madrid and a masters
Tradition it may be. But while rates of pay have gone up in summer schools recently, hours on
in corporate communications
call and on duty haven’t got any shorter.
So summer schools beware. If the tax man cometh, you may well be from Kingston University,
London. She previously worked
facing hefty fines. MELANIE BUTLER, on the international desk at the
Spanish newspaper La Razón.
And that wouldn’t be fun at all. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF She joined the Gazette as online
and social media editor in 2015.
*Data from 2017 editorial@elgazette.com 5
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