March 2017

Jack Richards’ articles the most frequently downloaded

In 2016, Jack Richards’ articles were the most frequently downloaded articles in RELC Journal.

Journal publishers today count the number of downloads of articles as a main indicator of the success of a journal. The publisher of RELC Journal (Sage) reports that Jack Richards’ articles in RELC Journal were the most frequently downloaded articles in 2016. The 10 most frequently downloaded articles in order of frequency were:

Total Downloads

Jack C. Richards and Randi Reppen. Towards a Pedagogy of Grammar Instruction – 2,655 Downloads
Montri Tangpijaikul. Preparing Business Vocabulary for the ESP Classroom – 2,102 Downloads
Martha C. Pennington & Jack C. Richards. Teacher Identity in Language Teaching: Integrating Personal, Contextual, and Professional Factors – 1,616 Downloads
Yan Jiang. Exploring Teacher Questioning as a Formative Assessment Strategy – 1,180 Downloads
Lindy Woodrow. Anxiety and Speaking English as a Second Language – 1,160 Downloads
Jayoung Song. EFL Learners’ Incidental Acquisition of English Prepositions through Enhanced Extensive Reading Instruction – 1,106 Downloads
Jack C. Richards. Curriculum Approaches in Language Teaching: Forward, Central, and Backward Design – 1,090 Downloads
Jack C. Richards. The Changing Face of Language Learning: Learning Beyond the Classroom – 980 Downloads
Zhao Hong Han. Rethinking the Role of Corrective Feedback in Communicative Language Teaching – Downloads 710
Sandhya Rao Mehta. Can Thinking be Taught? Linking Critical Thinking and Writing in an EFL Context – Downloads 648

News

Cambridge University Press to Publish Two New Books by Jack C Richards

Dr. Richards has written a book called 50 Tips for Teacher Development, to be published in 2017. The tips in the book contain a wide variety of activities that teachers can use to plan and manage aspects of their own professional development. They draw on Dr. Richards’ many years of experience in working with teachers at different stages in their professional development. The tips address core aspects of teacher development, including such issues as assessing needs and goals, researching teaching and learning, extending knowledge and skills, and expanding professional knowledge.

Continue reading →

News, Upcoming Books, Work

Jack Sponsors New Zealand Tour by Two Distinguished Latin-American Pianists

In February and March 2017 Jack Richards sponsored a series of New Zealand concerts by EDITH FISCHER – pianist and protégé of Claudio Arrau and Founder and Artistic Director of Semaine Internationale de Piano et Musique de Chambre, Blonay, Switzerland, and her husband JORGE PEPI-ALOS – pianist and composer Professor at the University of Chile, Santiago. Their visit included a piano recital for four-hands as part of the Tiromoana Summer Concert Series (held in Jack and Won Gyu Moon’s New Zealand summer residence) as well as a recital as part of the Creative New Zealand/Jack C Richards Composer in Residence Program at Victoria University, Wellington.

In the photo Jack is seen with Edith and Jorge following their Christchurch recital, and together with Christchurch pianist Tony Chen Lin, who accompanied the musicians on their New Zealand tour.

Arts, Music, News, Patronage

Mother Tongue Teaching vs. Foreign Language Teaching

Question:

Submitted by Gafur Khamroev, Uzbekistan

What is the difference between mother tongue teaching and foreign language teaching?

Dr. Richards responds:

In many countries when students come to school their mother tongue has already been established and teaching in this case may involve learning to read and write a language which the children can already speak. The children have already benefited from thousands of hours of contact with their mother tongue. In the case of a foreign language however, the starting point may be zero, and a limited amount of time may be available in school for foreign language instruction. In this case a careful structured and gradual introduction to the foreign language is normally used, based on a corpus of the most frequent words, phrases and structures.

In the classroom, Language learning, Methods, Questions & Answers, Teaching

Best Way to Translate New Words

Question:

Submitted by Mehrnoosh Panahandeh, Tehran, Iran

When a student gives you a word in his/her native language and asks you for the translation, what is the best solution?

Dr. Richards responds:

There is no reason not to give the translation of a new word. The mother tongue can be a useful resource in teaching and it is a natural reference point for learners. Translation activities which involve students translating words can be the basis of fun activities such as games and group work tasks. Remember however that students come to class to practice English so use translation when needed as a springboard to learn and practice using English.

In the classroom, Language learning, Methods, Questions & Answers, Teaching

Evaluation, Use, and Adaptation

Question:

Submitted by Mohamed Bakkas, Rabat, Morocco

What’s the difference between textbook evaluation, textbook use and textbook adaptation?

Dr. Richards responds:

Evaluation refers to the process by which a textbook is reviewed and assessed according to a set of criteria. There are a number of check-lists that have been developed for this purpose.

Textbook use refers to how a teacher implements a textbook in his or her class, and involved collecting information on how much time was spent on particular activities, what grouping arrangements the teacher made use of, and how he or she used realia and other course components. The focus is on description rather than evaluation.

Text book adaptation refers to changes the teacher made to the book to make it more suitable to a particular class. Changes could include adding or dropping activities, changing activities, replacing topics or content etc.

For further information see my book Key Issues in Language Teaching.

Developing courses, Questions & Answers, Teacher education, Teaching Materials, Textbook writing