Dear HLT Readers,

Welcome to the September issue of HLT. Many contributors have found the time to write on a great variety of topics, although many were on their summer holidays. I would like to warmly welcome some of the contributors from countries such as Iceland, Iran, Colombia and Lithuania which so far have not had a strong presence in HLT.

In this issue two themes initiated in the June issue are continued: Wittgenstein's inspiration for language teachers and drama. Games after Wittgenstein by Marciel Boo in Lesson Outlines offer a wealth of inspiring activities for the classroom which are adaptable to various levels. More ideas come also in Looking Back at Osborne's 1956 Anger by Kristina Leitner and Andrew Skinner, in which the authors describe a number of activities related to one play, while in "The Farmyard" Production Behind the Scenes Olga Ludyga, a young teacher, shares with us her experiences with putting on a play with young learners.

In major article Developing More than Just Linguistic Competence. The Model LdL for Teaching Foreign Languages with a Note on Basic Global English Joachim Grzega deals with the practical issues of teaching English which result from the fact that English has become a lingua franca. Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is another recent ELT trend which is well represented in this issue in articles by three contributions: The Importance of Socio-affective Strategies in using EFL for Teaching Mainstream Subjects by Ezana Habte-Gabr, CLIL Experience in Italian Middle School by Daniela Villani, Italy and CLIL : Content and Language Integrated Learning: Personal Course Outlines. The latter presents impressions and feedback provided by teachers who attended a Pilgrims CLIL course in the summer of 2006. More considerations and observations about our classroom practice are to be found in Student Voices section in a piece by Galina Kavaliauskiene in which her learners voice their preferences and opinions on the various activities they experienced in their language class : Learners' Reflections on Class Activities. In major article Effective Mistake Correction in Writing: The Maltepe Project 2004 by Mahir Sarigül and in Metaphorically Speaking by Steve Darn and Ian White deal with other issues related to our classroom practice. These last two contributions also point towards the next, November issue of HLT which will mainly consist of articles contributed by teachers from Turkey or based in Turkey.

In Corpora Ideas I would like to welcome Piotr Steinbrich whose article Corpora Made Palatable starts a series of his contributions on the subject of practical uses of language corpora in the classroom. In his first article Piotr Steinbrich outlines the role of corpora in our changing perception of the language and shows how corpora can change our classroom practice. The second contribution to the Corpora Ideas section comes from Jamie Keddie who in his article Friendly Grammar also shares with us some practical activities and ways of using corpus data in class.

In the Publications section there are two reviews of Humanising Language Teaching Magazine: Polish Students on HLT Magazine - a Concise Study by Aleksander Sienkiewicz and Michal Kowalewski and Why HLT Magazine is Worth Reading by Anna Rychlicka. The authors' of the reviews come from different backgrounds; the former is offered by pre-service teachers while the latter by a more seasoned and experienced one. The different views offered by the two contributions illustrate how different the expectations of our readers are, possibly depending on their professional experience and age. Bearing in mind that we need to cater for various needs and expectations, in the current issue of HLT as well as in the next ones there will be a good share of practical ideas for lessons with learners of various age groups and levels. For example, in major article Teenage Fiction in the Language Classroom, Lieve Deprez and Johan Strobbe present different ideas and activities around extracts from teenage novels. The article is complete with the actual extracts as well as worksheets and teacher's notes. The book preview in this issue: Brainstorming Activities for Group Discussion by Hall Houston offers many suggestions for pooling ideas and motivating students while in Humour is Serious Stuff: Welcome to the World of Randy Glasbergen by Hanna Kryszewska you are introduced to a most entertaining website and you can find ideas about how to use an on-line cartoon website without the need to print out the actual cartoons, hence without the need to worry about copyright and royalties. Juan Padilla, who has already contributed a major article on using power point for language classes, in this issue starts a series of three articles on practical ideas for putting together impressive and memorable presentations also for young learners: PowerPoint Presentation - 1: The English Alphabet: fruits and vegetables. In her article called Stress, Kasia Kuzma, a young teacher from Poland presents her successful lesson designed for teenagers. Her hard work and willingness to publish can become a role model for many pre-service and young teachers who could also become contributors. The next two articles describe ideas for inspiring projects with learners: Travel Buddy and Global Awareness by Jenny Rúnarsdóttir and Journals and the Language Learner by Daniel Martín del Otero. Finally in the Old Exercise section you find Exercises that Help to Build up Confidence During Exam Time by Paul Davis and Mario Rinvolucri, exercises that come from their brilliant Pilgrims-Longman publication which has become a ( sadly out of print) classic: The Confidence Book.

In this issue there are also many reflections and personal experiences of teachers, who are willing to share their concerns, ups and downs and success stories with us. In her major article Teaching Children with ADHD Anna Jarosz (at the time she wrote the article still a pre-service teacher at English Unlimited Teacher Training College in Gdansk, Poland) presents a case study in the form of a record of her work with one learner with the ADHD syndrome. It is a poignant piece of writing, powerful due to its simplicity and honesty. To realize how deep and important the other teachers' voices are it is enough to look at the key words in the titles of the articles: cornered, self analysis, beware, lying, comfort, heart of the matter or dilemma. I am sure that in many of them if not in all of them you will find food for thought. The articles are: Cornered - the Experiences of Freelance Business English Teachers in Europe by Sheila Vine and Valentina Dodge, A Self Analysis: Language Attrition ESL / TEFL Teachers Beware by Damian Rivers, Lying in a Foreign Language and a Troubled Conscience by Khoram Balaee, Comfort to Teachers by Mette Hein Vester, The Heart of the Matter: Ned Ludd Returns by Lou Spaventa and The EFL writing teacher's dilemma: To Teach Writing Must I be a Writer?, by Ania Szczypka, Judy Wickham, Manuel Rodis, Elisabeth Kalchgruber, Mario Rinvolucri, Jadwiga Dyl, Felix Tejada, Julia Garcia, Mike Fisher, Alina Matusz, Denise Rodriguez (They attended a Pilgrims creative writing course in the summer of 2006).

Of course, there are Readers Letters which touch upon a number of issues. Some issues ago Philip Prowse let us know about a competition: The Extensive Reading Foundation 2006 - Language Learner Literature Award. Now you can meet the winners, look up their books and possibly use them for inspiration for your lessons. David Alexander in his letter raises a number of questions regarding the way Humanising Language Teaching is run and edited. I hope my reply is satisfactory and answers the questions some other readers may have had but have not voiced. There is also a letter concerning some technical problems with navigating across our website If you come across similar difficulties do not hesitate to contact us and let us know what your problem is.

Last not least in the Poems section I would like to welcome a well known ELT writer, Michael Swan who may not be known to everyone as a writer of poetry.

Enjoy the September issue!

Hania Kryszewska HLT editor E-mail: hania.kryszewska@pilgrims.co.uk