Modern English Teacher December 1993

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EDITORIAL
This is the eighth issue of the new MET
and it differs slightly from the previous
seven issues in that Classroom Ideas
this time has no 'theme'. So far the articles in
this section have all focused on one aspect of
teaching: the four skills, integrated skills,
language work, songs and music. In this issue
there is a 'miscellaneous' collection of articles.
There are two reasons. One is that not all
Classroom Ideas articles we receive neatly fit
a theme. The other is that, if an article does
fit a theme, it seems a pity to keep it waiting
for publication until the next time that theme
comes up.
So that made me wonder whether you think
themes are a good idea. If so, should MET
have a theme for Classroom Ideas in every
issue? Or maybe just occasionally? And if you
do like the idea of themes, what themes would
you like to see dealt with? A few possibilities
are: language and literature, one-to-one
teaching, project work. Do you have any other
ideas? Please let me know what you think
about this.
Although there are no themes in this issue,
there are certain 'threads'. One is that the
Classroom Ideas section has three contributions
from one country - Japan.
Another thread is the issue of language training
for teachers: Alan Pulverness, Joint Chief
Examiner of CEELT, writes in Exam Matters
about this test of language ability for non-
native speakers, and Philip Kerr, of
International House in London, examines the
language component of teacher training courses
for native speakers.
And then there are walls! In Tips and Hints
Michael Orr, of the University of Navarra in
Spain, and Patricia Ahrens, of Moray House
Institute in Edinburgh, both suggest ways of
making use of them.
I would like to thank Philip Duerdoth, director
of Studies at Inlingua, Singapore, for writing
to us about one of the entries for the language-
learning competition that was published in
Vol 2 No 2:
"I was relating Rhodhri Jones' Tales from
Slovakia (The Lydia Knizakova Method) to
our head of Mandarin here in Singapore.
His response to the Method - memorising
incomprehensible chunks, then getting
someone to explain them - was that that
was how IV2 billion people in China
learned. So Rhodri's mother-in-law is
obviously in good company!"
I look forward to hearing from you.

Thérese Tobin
Please send letters and articles to:
Modern English Teacher,
Macmillan ELT, Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hants RG21 2XS Vissza