Modern English Teacher December 1993 [antikvár]

EDITORIALThis is the eighth issue of the new METand it differs slightly from the previousseven issues in that Classroom Ideasthis time has no 'theme'. So far the articles inthis section have all focused on one aspect ofteaching: the four skills, integrated skills,language work, songs and music. In this issuethere is a 'miscellaneous' collection of articles.There are two reasons. One is that not allClassroom Ideas articles we receive neatly fita theme. The other is that, if an article doesfit a theme, it seems a pity to keep it waitingfor publication until the next time that themecomes up.So that made me wonder whether you thinkthemes are a good idea. If so, should METhave a theme for Classroom Ideas in everyissue? Or maybe just occasionally? And if youdo like the idea of themes, what themes wouldyou like to see dealt with? A few possibilitiesare: language and literature, one-to-oneteaching, project work. Do you have any otherideas? Please let me know what you thinkabout this.Although there are no themes in this issue,there are certain 'threads'. One is that theClassroom Ideas section has three contributionsfrom one country - Japan.Another thread is the issue of language trainingfor teachers: Alan Pulverness, Joint ChiefExaminer of CEELT, writes in Exam Mattersabout this test of language ability for non-native speakers, and Philip Kerr, ofInternational House in London, examines thelanguage component of teacher training coursesfor native speakers.And then there are walls! In Tips and HintsMichael Orr, of the University of Navarra inSpain, and Patricia Ahrens, of Moray HouseInstitute in Edinburgh, both suggest ways ofmaking use of them.I would like to thank Philip Duerdoth, directorof Studies at Inlingua, Singapore, for writingto us about one of the entries for the language-learning competition that was published inVol 2 No 2:"I was relating Rhodhri Jones' Tales fromSlovakia (The Lydia Knizakova Method) toour head of Mandarin here in Singapore.His response to the Method - memorisingincomprehensible chunks, then gettingsomeone to explain them - was that thatwas how IV2 billion people in Chinalearned. So Rhodri's mother-in-law isobviously in good company!"I look forward to hearing from you.Thérese TobinPlease send letters and articles to:Modern English Teacher,Macmillan ELT, Houndmills,Basingstoke, Hants RG21 2XS