Dear Readers,

Welcome to the June 2016 issue of HLT. At Pilgrims in Canterbury we are getting ready for the summer, and we hope to welcome many of you on our teacher training or language courses. If you cannot make it to Canterbury in the summer, you can always come throughout the year, especially to attend our unique course Pilgrims Coaching for Professionals. The summer will be over fast, and then we will have a chance to meet at a number of conferences in the autumn, IATEFL Poland, TESOL France, ETAI Israel, Fisher Conference Romania just to name a few.

As for the C Group activities Daniel Xerri and Sarah Mercer Are Organising a Conference on Creativity on 23 September 2016. Do not miss two C Group articles: Ways of Promoting Creativity in the Classroom by Vicky Saumell, and Questionnaire on Teachers’ Views about Various Aspects of Creativity in Language Teaching by Tamas Kiss and Alan Maley.

Alan Maley, one of the founders of the C Group, is the author of major article 1: ‘More Research is Needed’ – A Mantra Too Far? . Originally Alan Maley submitted it for publication as part of a collection devoted to research in ELT. He raised a number of issues critical of research but, just before it was to go into print, the publisher withdrew the chapter from the publication! Of course, we are glad to publish it in HLT, and you can read the text for yourself (with an introduction by Alan Maley) and the reactions of 15 prominent TEFLers in Responses to the Chapter: More Research is Needed – A Mantra Too Far? by Jim Scrivener, Willy Cardoso, Peter Medgyes, Mario Saraceni, Dat Bao, Tom Farrell, Tamas Kiss, Richard Watson-Todd, Scott Thornbury, David A. Hill, Brian Tomlinson, Rod Ellis, Rod Bolitho, Penny Ur and Adrian Underhill.

Those interested in critical thinking and some broader issues related to teaching English will be interested in Looking Beyond English: Language and Development for 2015 by Steven Graham, and Language and Power: Critical Practice in ELT in the Chinese Classroom by Ka Hang Wong.

Those interested in culture will surely enjoy reading When Two Languages Collide: French Culture Assimilation and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Instruction in Canada by Michael T. R. Madill. For those interested in pronunciation there is It’s About Pronunciation Not Accent by Ezana Habte-Gabr, and for those into relationships in the classroom and classroom management there are Is It Always the Teacher’s Fault? by Mandana Arfa Kaboodvand, and Don’t Panic! It’s Not the Titanic: Tips for Classroom Management by Merve Oflaz.

You will find some practical classroom ideas in Using Words from Pop Songs by Simon Mumford, Skating by Mark Fletcher, Authentic Teaching: Less is More by Joanna Łucka and Daria Domagała, and Downloadable Worksheets from Tune into English March and April 2016 by Fergal Kavanagh.

There are four articles on new titles and publications that will interest language teachers. In Short Book Reviews Hanna Kryszewska is looking at the new series The Round Minis, There is information on three new books in: English for Diplomatic Purposes, ed. Patricia Friedrich, Clean Language in the Classroom, a New Book by Julie McCracken, Crown House Publishing and Dream On from a New Book Interaction Online, CUP by Lindsay Clandfield and Jill Hadfield. Also the Student Voices section contains short reviews of books on the use of ICT, social media, blended learning and various apps in ELT, written by university students training to be future teachers (Pre-Service Teachers/MA Students at University of Gdańsk, Poland, Review Books on Using ICT in Language Teaching)

Enjoy the June issue of HLT

Hania Kryszewska
HLT Editor
e-mail: hania.kryszewska@pilgrims.co.uk