Jim@SpongeELT

Review: Language Testing – Tim McNamara

I’ve been revising my testing, evaluation and assessment theory as of late in preparation for some work that I have coming up, and it’s been great to get back into an area that I’ve always been interested in. I’ve been involved in assessment in some way or another for the past ten years, and I’veContinue reading “Review: Language Testing – Tim McNamara”

Musings of an academic manager: 2023/24 in review

It’s now September, and I’ve finally had some time to sit down and write again. The last academic year has been particularly busy, and one of the things that I usually ‘cut out’ is the blog, unfortunately. This being said, now that I’m in relax mode (kind of – tomorrow I start back in theContinue reading “Musings of an academic manager: 2023/24 in review”

The Three Series: Three things managers can do at the end of the academic year

This is part of The Three Series. In Spain, we are coming to the end of the academic year, and I don’t know about you, but for me this year has flown by. I’m glad to say that many of my teachers have said the same thing – I hope this indicates that the yearContinue reading “The Three Series: Three things managers can do at the end of the academic year”

Review: More than a gap year adventure – Martin Hajek

For those of you who follow ELT blogs, you’re probably familiar with Martin Hajek’s TEFL in Colombia, which has loads of good stuff. Martin and I have interacted a few times over the years, as ELT bloggers do, but one day, Martin got in touch and asked if I wanted to collaborate on a projectContinue reading “Review: More than a gap year adventure – Martin Hajek”

Review: The Art and Science of Language Teaching – Lara Bryfonski and Alison Mackey

Many years ago, Teresa Pica (1994) wrote a brilliant article titled: Questions from the Language Classroom: Research Perspectives. This article aimed to answer common questions that teachers have about teaching through the research lens, and did this brilliantly in my mind. So, when I heard that Lara Bryfonski and Alison Mackey’s recently published book, TheContinue reading “Review: The Art and Science of Language Teaching – Lara Bryfonski and Alison Mackey”

The Three Series: 3 (well 6 actually!) books for managers in ELT

This is part of The Three Series. I read a lot of books, but unfortunately I don’t have enough time to review all of them in detail. This being said, I wanted to put together a post that focused on books for my managers out there! What follows here is a list of six titles thatContinue reading “The Three Series: 3 (well 6 actually!) books for managers in ELT”

Review: From Teacher to Trainer – Matthew Ellman and Peter Lucantoni

For the fans of Sponge Chats, you will recognise the two names in the title of this post. I’ve had both Matt and Peter on to talk about their experiences in teacher education, and in both of those Sponge Chats, we spoke about their book From Teacher to Trainer – and I’ve finally found theContinue reading “Review: From Teacher to Trainer – Matthew Ellman and Peter Lucantoni”

Musings of an academic manager – Reflections on implementing a task-supported syllabus 1

This year, we are implementing a task-supported syllabus in the academy where I work. It has been a while in the making, with the plans for this being drawn up last academic year – in fact, my assignments for the NILE MA Trainer Development module were centred on it. I thought I would slowly writeContinue reading “Musings of an academic manager – Reflections on implementing a task-supported syllabus 1”

Review: Models and Metaphors in Language Teacher Training – Tessa Woodward

Few names have such a strong connection to language teacher education as Tessa Woodward, and it’s a bit a strange that I’ve yet to review any of her books, having read many of them throughout my career. Here I am, though, after many years of dipping in and out of Woodward’s Model and Metaphors inContinue reading “Review: Models and Metaphors in Language Teacher Training – Tessa Woodward”

Article notes (Reading Room 3) – Informing and transforming language teacher education pedagogy – Johnson and Golombek

‘Article Notes’ is a set of blog posts in which I write down my notes about articles that I read. These notes are not meant to be ‘academic’ or ‘formal’; rather, they are my ramblings and immediate thoughts in reaction to the content I read. I’ve written them up to help me remember the article,Continue reading “Article notes (Reading Room 3) – Informing and transforming language teacher education pedagogy – Johnson and Golombek”