Wednesday 7 July 2021

Interview with Sue Leather and Jez Uden (Extensive Reading)

Sue Leather and Jez Uden have a new book out on the topic of Extensive Reading and Motivation. I was keen to talk to them after looking into research on extensive reading and finding it to be one of the most effective interventions available to teachers. Here we chat about their new book, and some of the benefits of extensive reading. 


If you would like to read the book then you can get it from Amazon or directly from the Routledge site.


Thursday 1 July 2021

An introduction to evidence-based teaching


So, rather unbelievably, I have a book coming out

In February 2019 I gave a plenary at Ireland ELT. Afterwards, Kirsten Holt of Pavilion said she enjoyed the talk and that someone should really write a book about this kind of thing. Later, at a Pavilion event Kirsten mention the same idea to Carol Lethaby. As it turned out, Carol and I had previously worked together on a couple of papers and Carol and Patti Harries were already working on proposal for a book. 

Two years later and the book is finally out to buy! 

I think this book is quite different to other books on teaching and research (but then again, I would say that). A lot of books about research into teaching are written by researchers attempting to bring research findings to a more general audience. What we have attempted to do is something similar but as all of us are teachers, not researchers, we hope that this will give the work more of a teacher's perspective on things. 

An interesting aspect of the book for me was that it touches on topics that aren't discussed that frequently in ELT. for instance, the information on Cognitive Load Theory, retrieval practice and the importance of background knowledge was largely new to me (though I had seen it mentioned in non ELT books). 

We have tried to provide clear sources for all the claims and pack as many useful ideas into the text as possible. I feel pretty confident that even those who know quite a lot about research will find some interesting takeaways in here. 

And while we do mention learning myths and things that don't have good evidence to support them it isn't 200 pages of slamming learning styles. There is as much "what works" as "what doesn't". The book also features advice for teachers who want to look at research themselves. 

The books is not a "how to" or a "100 great games" type of book. There are no photocopiable practical activities for teachers to use in their next class. That said, it does have a lot of practical suggestions on what teaching techniques might be effective and how materials can be adapted or replaced. The second half is also practical and contains activities for teachers or trainee teachers, so the book could be used on teacher training courses like the DELTA, CELTA or even on MA courses. 

Despite bearing the title "evidence based" we are not making any claims that the book is flawless or the definitive word on best practice in ELT. The word "introduction" is used to indicate that we do not go into minute amounts of detail on every topic. Rather, the book gives and overview on a number of topics. No doubt there will be some who disagree with our conclusions on some topics as it's hard to find 100% agreement on much. There are even parts that the authors don't entirely agree on. That being said we believe we have gone with reasonable positions on the issues we have dealt with. 

Thanks to everyone who has offered advice or constructive feedback over the years! 

I hope you enjoy the book