Packing your entire life into two suitcases and a rucksack ready to move continents isn’t a particularly easy task, especially when your approach to books and clothes is pretty much the opposite of Marie Kondo’s (although I’d very much like to get rid of some of the work clothes I’ve just bought as they really don’t “spark joy” in me…).
This reminded me of the BBC Radio 4 programme, Desert Island Discs, where celebrities have to choose eight tracks, a book and a luxury item to take to a desert island. What, I wondered, would the ELT version of this be? So I asked the following question on Twitter and got loads of replies (thanks everyone, there are so many books I want to read now!).
EFL teachers/teacher trainers. If you had to do a Desert Island Discs thing with your favourite ELT methodology books, teaching resources etc….what would you take? #packing #ELTchat
— Emma Johnston (@Emmita_J) March 4, 2019
So, here are the books I actually ended up packing. As my new job involves both teaching in a private language school and teacher training, I tried to pick resources that would be both interesting for me and potentially useful for my future trainees.
- Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom (by Tricia Hedge). I found this to be a really useful overview of different theoretical and methodological issues when I was doing Delta.
- Teaching English Grammar: What to Teach and How to Teach it (by Jim Scrivener). This book was known as “the magic grammar book” in a previous job and, looking at it, it’s easy to see why. It covers a wide range of grammar points and provides example situational presentations, information about meaning (including possible CCQs) and form, and examples of common student errors.
- Another one by Scrivener: Classroom Management Techniques. So many ideas in one book!
- Teaching Unplugged (by Luke Meddings and Scott Thornbury). I really want to experiment more with Dogme…I don’t think I’ve quite “got” it yet. I don’t normally have problems with noticing and clarifying emergent language but then don’t always know where to go from there.
- About Language (by Scott Thornbury). For those tricky grammar questions.
- From Rules to Reasons (by Danny Norrington-Davies). I read bits of this last year and enjoyed trying out some of the ideas. Hopefully, now I’m finished with Delta, I’ll have more time and mental space to keep experimenting.
- ELT Playbook 1 (by Sandy Millin). It’s always exciting to buy a book by someone you know (Sandy was my DoS at IH Bydgoszcz). And the reflection tasks will be useful for my teaching and also for teacher training.
- Listening in the Language Classroom (by John Field). Is it cheating if it’s on Kindle?! I read this book right in the middle of Delta Module 2 and want to try some of the ideas for developing bottom-up listening skills with my new classes in Chile.
And one object:
- Rory’s Story Cubes. Great for creative activities and so much fun!
What are your Desert Island ELT Books?
(The idea for this post was taken from a task in Sandy Millin’s ELT Playbook Teacher Training.)
Emma's Language Journey 