Scott
Thornbury has written a number of books about language teaching
(including How
to Teach Grammar and How
to Teach Vocabulary), as well as lots of articles for
journals and magazines (such as Modern
English Teacher and English
Teaching Professional).
How
long have you been writing about ELT methodology?
I started writing my first methodology book (About Language,
CUP) in the early nineties, after completing an MA in TEFL
at the University of Reading (although the book wasn't published
until 1997), and have been more or less writing about teaching
ever since.
How
many hours a week do you spend writing?
It depends - if you include articles, reviews, reports,
and managing my website discussion list - I suppose about
10 hours on average.
What
is the key to a successful ELT book?
It has to say something interesting in a way that is relevant
to practising teachers - in a wide range of teaching contexts.
It also helps if it appeals to teacher trainers as much
as teachers - that way it has a chance of getting on to
the book list of training courses.
What
does your book give teachers that others don't?
How to Teach Grammar and How to Teach Vocabulary combine
a fairly up-to-date background in theoretical issues (such
as recent developments like the lexical approach and corpus
linguistics). They are also written in an accessible and
non-technical style, with lots of practical ideas.
What
advice would you give to someone who was thinking of writing
an ELT book?
Find your niche - that is, find a point of view that is
different - or differently expressed - than in the existing
published books on the subject.
What
are your favourite websites?
My own teaching-unplugged,
the BNC
corpus search page, another amazing
corpus-based site, a dawn
chorus in my native New Zealand, and (after my recent
trip to Turkey) this Tarkan
fan site.
What
was the last film you saw and what was it like?
It was called "Italian for beginners" and made
by one of the Dogme 95 group of film-makers, using minimal
means for maximum effect - in the way I think teaching should
be - and, because it was about a language class, it had
an added interest. It was very accurate in portraying the
classroom as a social context as much as an educational
one - or rather, it showed how education (including one's
own personal development) is socially constructed.
What
luxury would you take with you to a desert island?
My computer, since I could not bear to be off-line for more
than 24 hours. Pathetic, isn't it?
What
is your all-time top tip for English teachers?
Stop teaching … start talking.
Join
Scott Thornbury and Jeremy Harmer in the next live
chat session on 24th March at 16.15 GMT.
Read
an article by Scott Thornbury, reproduced for ELT Forum
users.
