I was wondering if there would be a point in creating a set of diacritics for English with the goal of making it easier for children and adolescent or adult learners to acquire proficiency in reading and oral comprehension, think niqqud in Hebrew. It seems someone put this idea into action - they called their project FUNetix: https://funetix.org/home-2/

However, there is no research on the results. Bummer.

This afternoon I tried a new format: I called it "PhD Plätzchen" – an informal forum to ask questions and chat about things to consider when thinking of doing a #PhD in #linguistics or #LanguageTeaching. A dozen of my current and former M.A. students turned up and we chatted over a lovely selection of Christmas biscuits (that the students brought along and, in some cases, baked themselves!) and tea. No silly questions, no taboo subjects. We talked about salaries, toxic supervisors, #WissZeitVG, #IchBinHanna, projects, scholarships, pensions, publish or perish, etc.

Perfect timing as, just today, the job ads for 12 new #PhD positions at the CRC 1252 "Prominence in Language" went online: https://sfb1252.uni-koeln.de/en/about-the-crc/vacancies. If anyone is interested in applying for my project (B10 on gender), do get in touch!

New publication: "Interview with Steve McCarty" [on his professorial accomplishments in Japan].

The College and University Educators research group of the Japan Association for Language Teaching has honored me with their second annual Veteran Teacher Voices interview on my teaching career in Japan. I critique the foreign language teaching profession, discuss future trends of increasing foreigners in Japan, the need for English, and long-term effects of AI on language acquisition.

I believe educationalists will find this article interesting: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/386424805

和訳 - Japanese translation which I edited: スティーブ・マッカーティとのインタビュー（日本での教授としての業績）: https://researchmap.jp/waoe/misc/48628107/attachment_file.pdf

Publications on bilingualism and language teaching: https://japanned.hcommons.org/bilingualism

#TEFL #Japan #Japanese #LanguageEducation #LanguageTeaching #LanguageLearning #bilingualism #InterculturalCommunication #FacultyDevelopment #career #retirement #InternationalMarriage #OnlineEducation

@linguistics @edutooters @academicchatter

So I have some new research/teaching outputs. First is a questionnaire study with Gretchen Clark on language teachers with ADHD:
http://www.marcjones.tokyo/2024/11/19/new-publication-language-teachers-with-adhd-self-efficacy-and-framings/

The other is my presentation from Sunday about teaching duoethnography for critical multiliteracies. http://www.marcjones.tokyo/2024/11/19/new-presentation-using-duoethnography-to-foster-critical-multiliteracies/

On my reading list and to be used as a discussion piece and for #vocabulary building in my #online #English classes: The future of European competitiveness: Report by Mario Draghi - both sections can be downloaded here:
https://commission.europa.eu/topics/strengthening-european-competitiveness/eu-competitiveness-looking-ahead_en #languageteaching

A pleasant surprise in the office on my return from my holidays yesterday! Check out the website for the Online Supplements and an #OpenAccess version: https://elenlefoll.github.io/TextbookMDA/ #AcademicChatter #linguistics #LanguageTeaching #ELT

The Past, Present, and Future of Language Learning in Italy and Great Britain

***CALL FOR PAPERS***
The Case of English in Italy, and of Italian in Britain
9 Nov. 2024
Pembroke College, University of Oxford
Deadline: 2 Sept. 2024
http://italianstudies.ox.ac.uk//content/cfp
#CfP #languageLearning #languageTeaching #SLT #ELT
@languages

So I freelance for a magazine with #EFL assignments for secondary schools.

I have just sent a message to my project manager asking this:

'Is pupils making a recruitment video for illegal border crossings' is too far beyond what is deemed acceptable?' with my argumentation (getting people enthousiastic and selling something = transferable skills etc).

I know the answer, but it'd be an interesting assignment for pupils anyway.

I put up slides from my presentation with Gretchen Clark yesterday on Workplace Orientations of Language Teachers with ADHD. http://www.marcjones.tokyo/2024/05/13/presentation-workplace-orientations-of-teachers-with-adhd/

How can "kitty litter" and "litter of kittens" mean two completely different things? What a stupid language.
#efl #englishlanguage #languageteaching

The JALT Learner Development SIG held a 30th Anniversary Conference at my university last autumn. 30! Hard to believe I had been at the 20th! The post-conference publication is out now.

https://ld-sig.org/spring-2024-volume-31-no-1/

New on my blog - Exploring Duoethnography in ELT Research Ecosystems: Accessibility, Misuse, and Further Horizons. Basically I sum up some of the ideas behind my bit of the thinking in the recent article I wrote with @Nimorapi . #ResearchMethods #LanguageTeaching http://www.marcjones.tokyo/2024/02/04/journal-article-exploring-duoethnography-in-elt-research-ecosystems-accessibility-misuse-and-further-horizons/

AI has a noun problem (or rather, a fixation on them), and it's not good for our #LanguageLearning content. Here are some tips for getting round it!
#languages #polyglotlife #MFLTwitterati #mfl #ArtificialIntelligence #LLMs #ChatGPT #LanguageTeaching

https://www.polyglossic.com/ai-noun-problem/

New year calls for a new #introduction – especially as mine's been out-of-date since March 2023...

So, I'm now a #postdoc at the Department of Romance Studies at the University of #Cologne . I work in the fields of applied #linguistics and foreign language #education. I like all things related to #CorpusLinguistics, #SLA, #LanguageTeaching, #Rstats & #OpenScience!

I also work as a freelance conference interpreter ( ) and like trains , bicycles , tea , cake & emoji!

I would like to thank the University of Erfurt and the Open Access Fund of the State of Thuringia for supporting the #OpenAccess publication of my monograph.

Schauer, G.A. (2024). #Intercultural competence and #pragmatics. Palgrave.

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-44472-2

#InterculturalCompetence , #ModernForeignLanguages , #MFL , #HigherEducation , #languagelearning , #LanguageTeaching

The British Council is probably the single largest player in the global #Languageteaching industry. On top of running its own schools and accrediting other schools, the BC also runs onlines classes and hosts online IELTS exams. While the BC is ostensibly a #charity, its #onlineworkers are all employed by for-profit #outsourcing (“payroll”) agencies.

https://www.onebigunion.ie/post/british-council-online-teachers-and-examiners-speak-out

#ChatGPT Custom GPTs are finally here! I've put one together to create standalone language learning resources for any language, topic and level - give it a go here: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-DU2c5tYFO-language-learning-resource-creator #langtwt #mfltwitterati #LanguageLearning #ai #aieducation #LanguageTeaching

#academia folks: are there any "standard" textbooks on teaching how to *read* academic English, in English? Whether aimed at native speakers or ESOL leaners?

Rafi Saleh reviews two books related to translanguaging for the journal Applied Linguistics. In my view, his analysis displays a kind of disciplinarity whereby generalities about plurilingualism are vulnerable to criticism from various quarters, but by specifying the perspective, such as policy or ontology, differing stances can both be true.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/374532611_Multilingual_Perspectives_on_Translanguaging_The_Invention_of_Multilingualism

#translanguaging #bilingualism #multilingualism #LanguageEducation #LanguageTeaching

@linguistics @Bilingualism

Steve's publications on bilingualism: https://japanned.hcommons.org/bilingualism

Too many decades in Japan, but surprised to find that "kawaii" ([Japanese-style] cute, adorable, etc.) has become a loanword in English. Many technical or other English terms that I use are not in the Scrabble Dictionary, but kawaii is. Cuteness is ubiquitous in contemporary Japan, and apparently getting exported. The attached screenshot is from our family LINE group.

I have always advised college students to use Romanized Japanese terms in sentences if there is no English equivalent. This lengthy "List of English words of Japanese origin" would have been handy when I was teaching classes of mixed international and Japanese students. You might also find it of reference or interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Japanese_origin

- Steve McCarty at Humanities Commons: https://japanned.hcommons.org

@linguistics @Bilingualism @edutooter