Tim Edwards

‘Speak only English!’ . . . ‘Let’s be inclusive and use our common language’. Signs or policies such as these in language schools or classrooms are well known to many readers. The two examples give different impressions but have similar background reasons. This article looks at some reasons for, effects of and considerations about such policies. In general, such policies or signs come from an intent to optimise language learning and exposure to the target language (TL), especially in EFL* contexts where the classroom or language school environs might be the only place students are exposed to the language. Use...

How many times have you heard of or met a taxi driver or cleaner in an English-speaking city who arrived as a refugee and used to be a doctor or engineer at home? The stories exist because they are real. You may have met more than you realise. Some such people would have gone to classes such as ‘English for work’ or ‘English for refugees’ hoping to learn the language to get themselves back into their profession. Instead, they may have found the institute or community class’s expectations were that they find menial labour roles and learn language for...

Do you have a class, school or institute – or even national policy – about which variety of English to teach, such as American English (AmEng), British English (BrEng), New Zealand English (NZEng), English as a lingua franca (ELF) or English as an international language (EIL)? More specifically, is there a policy or preference for students to learn and use a specific accent or pronunciation style to sound a certain way? This article briefly outlines a few of the main categorisations of English and related discussions (e.g. prestige languages), then looks at debates around simple intelligibility versus ‘sounding like an...

The author shares his experiences of teaching.

The article describes how a face-to-face university course in New Zealand has had to be delivered online, hybrid and in other combinations and what conclusions can be drawn.

Tim Edwards looks at a tertiary course in New Zealand which has evolved from face-to-face, through online and hybrid, back to face-to-face. He assesses the changes forced on participants and trainers