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Humanising Language Teaching
Year 1; Issue 3; May 1999

Editorial

Welcome to Issue 3 of Humanising Language Teaching. If you enjoy this issue and have not seen Issues 1 & 2, why not have a look by clicking on Previous Editions.

Our Main Article in this issue focuses on humanising the university language class and voices from Seville University explain why being taught in a humanistic way is three dimensionally superior to pithless, boring, traditional exercising. Jane Arnold invites her students and her colleagues to meet you.

The Short Article in this issue describes the controversial area of conflict between head teacher and classroom teacher. The voice of the writer is an angry one and many 'zines would shy away from publishing it. I feel that deletion of almost all references to anger in what I have read about teaching and learning is absurd. Anger is a major factor in schools and other learning environments and should be dealt with in the literature.

The Student Voice this time is a lament in verse: An Exile's Poem. "Z" could not have written and circulated her poem in her learner group had the atmosphere not been right.

The Jokes in this issue have their locus in academia, 'sociology department' jokes. I have been emailed by several readers castigating me over publishing what they have decided are anti-Jewish jokes in Issue 1.

The joke I used about two Jewish businessmen who shared a lover, were taken from a book by Moni Ovadia Perche No? L'Ebreo Corrosivo, (Why not? The Corrosive Jew), Bompiani, 1996. Ovadia, born into a Jewish family in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, uses Jewish jokes to illustrate various aspects of (mainly) Yiddish culture. Here is the joke alluded to in the book's title:

"A Gentile asks a Jew: "Why do you Jews always answer a question with a question?" And the Jew replies: "Far vos nisht? (Why not?)".

I hope you enjoy the magazine this time.

Have you heard about the August 1999 Pilgrims Conference on Humanising Language Teaching, to be held from the 22nd to the 28th at The University of Kent at Canterbury, UK? People can sign up for day long workshops with these animators:

  • Bernard Dufeu, Psychodrama
  • Luke Prodromou, Oral Grammar
  • Bonnie Tsai, Teaching through the Arts
  • Mario Rinvolucri, Co-counselling
  • Peter Medgyes, Humour in the Classroom
  • Jim Wingate, Humanistic Ways With Young Learners

Donald Freeman, from The Experiment in International Living, in Vermont will be the main guest speaker, and Tessa Woodward, editor of The Teacher Trainer, will also do a plenary.

The three outstanding features of this conference are:

  • A powerful animation team
  • A series of mini courses over five days, rather than you flopping from one short presentation to the next.
  • The very reasonable price of £360 for the week.

Hope to see you on our hilltop in Canterbury.


Mario Rivolucri, Editor.
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