Graham Davies

Good point, Audrey! There are many players from abroad who play for English teams and a fair number of them have a good command of English. I am not aware, however, of many English players having had much success in learning foreign languages. How far did Becks get with his Spanish?

Thanks to David for his illuminating comments on the situation in primary school language teaching in Sweden. I didn't realise that the situation was similar to that in the UK at this level. Teaching young children a foreign language requires a high degree of specialised skills. I can imagine why Swedish children learn English in spite of the teaching that they receive. Young Swedes, in common with young people in many parts of Europe, are constantly exposed to English. I have only visited Sweden four times, but it was obvious that English was all around you: pop culture, sport, slogans on teeshirts, etc. I have been to Norway, Denmark and Finland many times, and the situation is much the same. My brother used to work for Statoil in Norway. He never bothered to learn Norwegian as all business was conducted in English. In the early 1980s I visited an upper secondary school (students aged 16+) in Norway and was invited by the English language teacher to take a conversation class with a group of about half a dozen students. Their English was impressive. I noticed that two of the students were wearing Manchester United football scarves. I asked them about this, and it turned out that they were keen followers of Man United. They also watched "Match of the Day" every Saturday, which was beamed out to Norway direct from the UK, with the commentary in English. Now there's motivation for you! (Norway follows UK football throughout the winter season - there's not a lot of football played in Norway during their severe winter.) In the UK, however, we are constantly "protected" from foreign languages. Every time a French- or German-speaking politician appears in news broadcasts there is a voice-over that stifles the speaker's voice. COuldn't we have sub-titles instead, and then at least we might get some listening practice.

Matt writes: The one that is really catching on among language teachers is Moodle (http://moodle.org) probably because of the large number of different languages in which it is available - 47 at the last count. The EUROCALL 2004 conference featured Moodle in one of the pre-conference workshops, and there were a couple of papers on Moodle. See the EUROCALL 2004 website: http://www.e-lisa.at/eurocall/ You could try writing to the EUROCALL discussion list to see if anyone wants a translation job. By the way, ALWAYS use a native speaker of the target language when employing a translator. This is standard practice in the translating profession. Non-native speakers make more mistakes than they think they do! I know - I've worked as a professional translator: from German into English. I would NEVER attempt to produce a publishable translation from English into German without having it checked by a native speaker of German. Here is the URL of the EUROCALL discussion list: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/eurocall-members.html EUROCALL's main website is at: http://www.eurocall-languages.org

The DfES claims that children (in England) will be "entitled" to learn a language from the age of seven (KS2) under it's new policy. See the document entitled "Languages for all: languages for life - a strategy for England": http://www.dfes.gov.uk/languagesstrategy See also the site of the National Advisory Centre on Early Language Learning: http://www.nacell.org.uk But "entitlement" is one thing and the reality is another. There is so far little evidence that there will be enough properly trained primary school teachers to put the government's policy into action. Regarding the achievements of chidren at secondary school, fewer and fewer are reaching a useful level in MFL, i.e. that corresponding to the Common European Framework (CEF) Level B1 (Threshold), although the "Languages Ladder", an initiative recently introduced by the DfES, is (finally) making an attempt to relate our national qualifications to the CEF. See: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/languages/DSP_languagesladder.cfm Personally, I think they are a bit optimistic. I don't believe that Higher GCSE is equivalent to Level B1 - which requires around 350-400 learning hours to reach, assuming that learners are motivated and have a good learning environemt. Have a look at my (deliberately provocative) article at: http://www.camsoftpartners.co.uk/ictmfl.htm "Information and Communications Technology and Modern Foreign Languages in the National Curriculum: some personal views"

Audrey writes: I have had similar experiences in Spain and in other European countries. I speak fluent German and I go skiing in Austria every year. I always find it hard work getting Austrians to speak in German to me. Everyone in the tourism industry can speak English and they are keen to use it. I don't force the issue unless I can see that they are struggling to express something and then I switch to German - as on the occasion when my ski instructor was trying to tell our group that when exercising a certain move one had to distribute one's weight evenly across the sole of the foot. I translated what he wanted to say and from that point on became the unofficial interpreter for the group - and I rarely bought my own beer for the remainder of the holiday!

And what happened to the dream of the multilingual European Union in which everyone was supposed to be able to handle two foreign languages as well as their mother tongue? In most EU countries virtually every young person can communicate adequately in one foreign language as well as in their mother tongue, but in the UK we remain resolutely monolingual. Mother tongue plus two foreign languages, however, is just a pipe-dream now, not only in the UK but elsewhere in the EU. How many countries put an effort into teaching two foreign languages at school? Not many. The trend in most EU countries is to teach just one foreign language at school: English, which is now the de facto lingua franca of the EU. In most EU countries the status of the second foreign language in the school curriculum has slipped badly - a message that was conveyed by Dr Hans-Friedrich von Ploetz, Germany's former ambassador to the UK, in his aptly entitled keynote, "Multilinguales Europa: Illusion oder Zukunftschance?", at the European Year of Languages conference in Berlin, 2001. I have worked as a consultant to the EC in Brussels on several occasions. Meetings are usually conducted in English. French is used only occasionally, and I have only ever needed to use German (my first foreign language) when socialising with German-speaking colleagues. The onslaught of English is due to continue in the recently expanded EU, I'm afraid. One of the reasons is economic. How can we afford to translate every important document issued by the Commission into all the EU languages?

The government's policy on languages is an unmitigated disaster. We are only just beginning to see the knock-on effects that it will have. Languages in HE are already in a sorry state. Fewer and fewer students have been filtering through from the schools into HE for a number of years now. I write from personal experience as former director of the language centre at Thames Valley University (TVU) - or Ealing College as it used to be known. During the 1970s we were sending students to Brussels to sit the demanding exams for entry into the translating and interpreting professions - and many passed and enjoyed successful careers as professional linguists. But the supply of suitable students coming through from the schools dried up, and in the late 1990s the language departments at TVU were forced to close.

The main problem with broadcast material is that the broadcaster may not actually own the rights to it and therefore cannot give permission to someone else to disseminate it further. Two of my former colleagues, both teachers of English as a Foreign Language, thought it would be a good idea to produce a book on watching the news for EFL students, consisting of transcripts, worksheets, vocab lists, etc, accompanied by video recordings of authentic news broadcasts. They found a publisher who was willing to publish the book and set about taping news broadcasts and producing the materials that would be contained in the book. After they had been working on this project for some time, they sent the recordings and the first sections of the book to the publisher. The publisher immediately asked if they had sought permission from the appropriate sources to disseminate the video recordings, to make the transcripts, etc. They hadn’t, so they immediately set about this task. It wasn’t that easy, however. When they approached the TV companies they would often be referred to a news agency that sold them the rights to broadcast the material – and often for a limited period. The news agency would often refer them to a free-lance team that had produced the film – and so on. Finally, they gave up and just wrote to ITV asking them for a selection of broadcasts over which ITV had copyright and restricted themselves to these materials. In other words, it makes more sense to work the other way round: find out what you are allowed to use first rather than leaping in blindly and getting in a mess over copyright.

Political humour was a prominent feature of life under a Communist regime. Here are two jokes that we told to me by an East German and a Russian. East German: What’s the difference between East and West Germany? Visitor: I don’t know: East German: We have Marx and they have Capital. (Or in German, “Wir haben Marx und sie haben das Kapital.”) It’s 1975. A Russian is being informed by an official that his application for a new car, which he made two years earlier, has been approved and that he can expect delivery in January 1980. The Russian asks the official, “On which day in January?” “January 15th”, replies the official. “Morning or afternoon?” asks the Russian. “I’m not sure,” replies the official, “Is it important?” “Yes,” says the Russian, “I’m expecting the plumber in the afternoon.” I visited Minsk in 1995 – in the supposedly post-Communist era, but Belarus in the immediate post-Communist era was not a lot different from what it was before. I stayed in an unmarked hotel, which was guarded by a soldier in the lobby carrying a sub-machine gun. I paid 75 US dollars per night to stay in the hotel – which was equivalent to twice the monthly wage of an average teacher in Belarus. The restaurant in the hotel had just nine items on the menu: three starters, three main courses and three desserts. Every evening we went through the same routine. The waitress would ask what we required, and two of the items in each group would be unavailable – but the waitress never indicated in advance which ones. You had to work through each group, asking for each item in turn until you hit the one that was available. There was little to buy in the shops in Minsk. I looked in vain for something memorable to take home. On the positive side, the Minsk underground transport system was clean, efficient and very cheap. I went to a concert one evening – a balalaika ensemble and some excellent singers. The theatre was elegant, with comfortable seats - and cheap. There was a moving moment in the middle of the performance when a very elderly member of the audience – an old soldier, proudly displaying his medals – rose from his seat and walked up to the stage to present one of the female singers with a rose. He was clearly very infirm and took ages to get from his seat to the stage. Everyone waited patiently, the singer graciously accepted his rose, and the audience applauded enthusiastically.

I have had limited experience in Communist countries, but this may be relevant. I spent many holidays in Yugoslavia during the 1960s and early 1970s. Yugoslavia was not part of the Soviet Bloc, however, and it’s government was not hardline Communist. It was a poor country and there were shortages evident in the shops, but then this was characteristic of many non-Communist poorer countries at the time. Yugoslavia was a very pleasant country to visit. The people were friendly, food was generally good and plentiful, and the weather was fantastic! East Germany was a lot different. I spent a month living with a family in Leipzig (then part of East Germany) in 1976, when I was attending a refresher course for teachers of German. There were rigorous checks at the border on the way in, and one had the feeling that one was being watched a good deal of the time. Shortages in the shops were frequent. My landlady used to get up at 5 o’clock every morning in order to join the long queues for basics such as bread, fruit and vegetables, meat and coffee. But, as a Westerner, I could buy all kinds of Western goods in the Intershops, which only accepted currency in Deutschmarks rather than the valueless East German marks. I bought my landlady coffee beans and a large pack of detergent in an Intershop as a farewell present – greatly appreciated! There was widespread ignorance about the West. While dining in a restaurant in Leipzig I got into conversation with two farmers attending a trade fair. When they realised I was English (English visitors were rare in East Germany in those days) they asked me a lot of questions and told me how wonderful life was in East Germany, with its free education system and free national health service. I don’t think they believed me when I told them that the UK also had a free educational system and a free national health service. On one occasion I was walking across the forecourt at Leipzig station and was stopped by a beggar (of North African origin, I think). I politely refused to give him anything and walked on. Immediately afterwards a uniformed member of the Free German Youth (FDJ – Freie Deutsche Jugend) approached me and asked if the man was begging for money. Stupidly, I confirmed this, and the FDJ lad ran off after him and dragged him off to the nearest policeman. Generally, East German was depressing. After one month in Leipzig I was glad to be able to leave. On the train to Frankfurt I met an East German pensioner visiting relatives in the West, and we chatted most of the time. East German citizens were strictly controlled with regard to the countries that they could travel to, but there were few restrictions on pensioners travelling abroad, because it did not matter if they returned or not. The East German government was quite happy for West Germany to pick up the bill for maintaining their pension if they decided to settle in the West! The worst thing about East Germany was the heavily fortified border, and the ruthless ways in which the border guards would shoot anyone trying to leave the country illegally. In 1963, when I visited East Berlin, the area near the Wall was covered with wreaths and memorials commemorating people who had lost their lives trying to escape. I was in Berlin and Rostock during the week that the Wall came down in November 1989. The heavily fortified border practically crumbled overnight. Read my account at: http://www.camsoftpartners.co.uk/berlin.htm I visited Hungary once during the Communist period, in 1988. It was similar to Yugoslavia in many respects – quite liberal in comparison to some of its neighbours, and there was little evidence of serious shortages of food. From 1991 to 1996 I visited Hungary around 20 times in connection with a project that I was managing under the EC’s TEMPUS programme. In just five years I watched Hungary take a massive leap forwards. It was a delight to be able to work there and observe the people pick themselves up by their own bootstraps.

David asks: It's been an uphill struggle - for the whole of the 28 years in which I have been involved in ICT. The ICT4LT website that I edit includes a module entitled "Computer assisted language learning (CALL) methodology: integrating CALL into study programmes" (Module 2.1). It's the least-visited module out of a total of 16 different modules. The most visited modules focus on classroom concordancing (Module 2.4) and multimedia CALL (Module 2.2).

Basically, the only safe material that you can share online is: (i) material that you have created yourself as an original work, (ii) printed material that is out of copyright, e.g. texts created by authors that have been dead for over 70 years, (iii) audio/video material created over 50 years ago, (iv) material that has been specifically declared to be in the public domain. The are a number of copyright concessions for education, e.g. (i) allowing you to make off-air recordings and store them indefinitely, providing your school has bought an ERA licence, (ii) allowing you to make copies of extracts of printed works and use them for teaching purposes, providing your school has bought a CLA licence. See: http://www.intellectual-property.gov.uk/st...x_education.htm But the issue of dissemination is fraught with problems. I am currently editing a document in collaboration with two colleagues that aims to provide guidance on managing and setting up a digital language lab or multimedia ICT suite. The target audience is mainly MFL heads of departments, school technicians and senior management teams. The document contains a substantial copyright section, spelling out in plain English what you are allowed and are not allowed to do. The document will be published by CILT later this autumn: http://www.cilt.org.uk Basically, copyright boils down to the question of ownership. Any work that has been created is owned by someone, and they have the right to determine how it is used. You don’t have to register copyright when you create a work; copyright is automatic. What you are allowed to do under the terms of your school’s ERA or CLA licence in your classroom is quite different from what you are allowed to do in the context of a wider, “virtual” classroom, e.g. the Web. If you place materials on a public website then you are publishing them, i.e. making them available for onward distribution. Unless the original material is clearly stated to be free of copyright, or unless it is not covered by copyright legislation by virtue of its age, it is illegal to download, scan or otherwise copy materials for onward distribution, even if no financial gain takes place. It is a common misconception to think that there is an exemption for educational usage. In most countries no such exemption applies, other than certain specific arrangements for research. Nor is it the case that an item is “in the public domain” because it is published on the Web. A work is only in the public domain if it is specifically stated to be so. The potential penalties in law for breach of copyright are draconian. A copyright owner may go to court to demand that all copies of all works in question are either destroyed or delivered to the copyright owner at the transgressor’s expense, and there are huge financial compensations which may be asked for. Ignorance of the law is never considered as an excuse, and if it could be proven that the transgressor knew that the item was in copyright and that the laws of copyright did not allow for copying, a criminal prosecution could also ensue against the person who did the copying. This is theoretical, however. I am not aware of many cases where draconian action has been taken. I do, however, recall the (true) story of a supply teacher turning up at a school where he was due to replace a teacher on sick leave. On his arrival he collected a pile of work for the sick teacher’s students from the secretary’s office, which he found to contain multiple copies of a substantial chunk from a coursebook that he had written. He left the school immediately, depositing this “evidence” at the local police station. A court case ensued and the school was fined 4000 pounds. Just recently, two requests from teachers appeared in the Linguanet Forum, asking other teachers to make copies of published audiocassettes and books for them. This is quite clearly illegal, and I sent an email to the Forum indicating that they were on dodgy ground. Shortly afterwards, the author of the audiocassettes and the publisher of the books sent their own warnings to the Forum. Moral of this story: If you publish on the Web you never know who is watching you! There is a new profession, the copyright bounty hunter, that makes a living doing this, and there are software packages such as Cerberus and Eve2 that can scour the Web searching for plagiarised texts. See: http://www.didascalia.be/cerberus.htm (bottom of the page) http://www.canexus.com/eve A word of warning about “adaptation”. Adapting a work without permission, with or without acknowledgement, when it comprises something other than a quotation of a small part, may well infringe the copyright and “moral rights” of the owner. Finally, care should be taken about cross-referencing to other works, such as a website address with a hyperlink. This may not always be legal without permission. As a general rule of thumb, always ASK the copyright owner for permission to disseminate their work. Many public bodies and publishers are quite generous, providing you make clear precisely what you intend to do with their material. I recently approached the BBC for permission to include a screenshot of one of their Web pages in an article I am writing for Elsevier. The BBC replied with an immediate "yes" and they do not require a fee, providing full acknowledgement of the source is given. Elsevier, in turn, insists on such permission being confirmed in writing.

David writes: I always advocate a large amount of time devoted to pedagogy and methodology in the training courses that I offer.

Training is THE key to success in implementing technology in education. The NOF initiative was largely a failure because it did not do what it set out to do, namely offering subject-specific ICT training across the curriculum. Most of the NOF training providers just offered generic ICT training - and this simply didn't work. Those training providers that offered training in just one subject area, e.g. CILT in MFL, had a far higher success rate (very positive feedback from their trainees) than the generic training providers. I write from experience, as I spent several hectic months at the end of the NOF training period picking up the loose ends for a generic training provider, mostly by going into schools and delivering face-to-face training sessions for MFL teachers. I have helped create a substantial MFL-specific ICT training resource at http://www.ict4lt.org, a site that was set up with the aid of EC funding. It's not a course, just a set of resources that you can dip into, read onscreen (not the best idea, as reading from the screen is around 25% slower than reading from the printed page - v. Jakob Nielsen's numerous writings on this topic) or print off (a better idea) and read seated in a comfortable chair with a cat on your lap. See also my report on the MFL/iCT situation that I wrote for the European Commission at: http://www.camsoftpartners.co.uk/docs/ICC_...eport_Final.htm which is part of a Europe-wide report on the IMPACT of ICT in MFL teaching and learning. NOF is covered in Section 2.2. My conclusions regarding the impact are covered in Section 6. See also: Davies G.D. (1997) "Lessons from the past, lessons for the future: 20 years of CALL". In Korsvold A-K. & Rüschoff B. (eds.) New technologies in language learning and teaching, Strasbourg: Council of Europe. Also on the Web at: http://www.camsoftpartners.co.uk/coegdd1.htm (regularly updated). Davies G.D. (2003) "ICT and Modern Foreign Languages: learning opportunities and training needs", Scottish Languages Review 8, Scottish CILT: http://www.scilt.stir.ac.uk/SLR/index.htm Davies G.D. 2003 "Perspectives on online training initiatives". In Felix U. (ed.) Language learning online: towards best practice, Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger. Littlemore, J. (2002) "Setting up a course in ICT for Language Teachers: some essential considerations", CALL-EJ Online, 4 (1) at http://www.clec.ritsumei.ac.jp/english/cal...littlemore.html As for learning platforms, I still remain to be convinced that this is the right way to go. A well-designed website (not a VLE), combined with offsite resources such as CD-ROMs, DVDs and printed materials and plenty of face-to-face teaching - what some people call "blended learning" - seems to be a more sensible approach. There is growing evidence that students are getting bored with online learning, and there was certainly evidence during the NOF period that teachers were not happy about online training in ICT.

Re Chris's message: Feeling frustrated when one does not understand the jargon is a common feeling. I remember feeling just as frustrated when I learned to drive (Clutch? Declutch? What do you mean?) and when I first began to take an interest in football (Striker? Sweeper? Eh?) - I attended a rugby-playing school and simply did not understand the terminology and the rules of the game. But, as I said before in an earlier message, one just has to LEARN jargon when one is confronted with a new subject. The problem with ICT is that it is so fast-moving that new terms are coined every day and that some ICT concepts cannot be easily expressed without using jargon, e.g. how does one talk about "broadband" without resorting to a very long-winded alternative? Technicians are a special category. They often use Geek Speak, which they think sounds good as well as being confusing to laypersons. I found this on the Web at a Geek Speak site: "Hey...are you going to the rally on the dotted quad?" Translation: "A dotted quad is the slang term for an Internet Protocol (IP) address, the numeric location on the Net that a machine is assigned so that data can be sent to it. Think of it as the same concept as the numbers on a house, put there so that the post office can deliver the mail. Dotted quads are called that because when you read them, they look like four numbers, each between 0 and 255, separated by periods, or dots. Here's an example of a dotted quad: 66.218.71.81" http://onlinetonight.net/geekspeak/

Interesting info. Each of the three partners in our business draws less than the annual salary of an NQT. This is enough for me, as my drawings from the partnership are just a supplement to my teachers’ pension (also less than the salary of an NQT). However, there are certain benefits in operating as a business, so there are “hidden” supplements to what the partners withdraw in cash. For example, a proportion of the expenses involved in heating and lighting the house from which I work can be offset against tax. Similarly, a proportion of telephone bills and expenses involved in running a car can be offset against tax – although I don’t use my car much these days as I work from home and don’t need to travel on business, apart from the occasional trip to the bank and post office. This is all above board, by the way, and calculated according to strict rules by our accountant and approved by the Inland Revenue When I was a young teacher I could not understand why I could not claim tax concessions for certain things that I needed in order to do my job. Teaching colleagues in Germany seemed to fare a lot better, claiming for books, home offices, computers, conference fees and expenses and travel to and from work, etc. The Inland Revenue in the UK definitely discriminates against employees, offering them very few tax concessions compared to what is offered to self-employed people – or to those on high salaries who can afford to employ an accountant.

I have had a quick look at the OPEUS site. Re the e-Portfolio facility, the specific requirements of language learners are described at the European Language Portfolio website. It is probably worth having a close look at these requirements to see how OPEUS might benefit language learners and teachers: http://www.coe.int/portfolio The European Language Portfolio is linked to the Common European Framework for Languages, which our government has finally begun to recognise - see the DfES Languages Ladder pages at: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/languages/DSP_languagesladder.cfm See also the European Language Portfolio pages at CILT's website: http://www.cilt.org.uk/elp.htm

David writes: I like the term "spip"! I think I would probably include interactive whiteboards in this category. From what I've seen so far, these expensive pieces of hardware are completely under-utilised in schools. Most teachers using interactive whiteboards could achieve just as much with a laptop and a projector - or even with an OHP and a set of good transparencies. There's a good article at the Greenwich LEA site entitled "Interactive whiteboards - a luxury too far?": http://www.g2fl.greenwich.gov.uk/temp/whiteboards

Chris writes: Try learning a foreign language, Chris. It'll take you MUCH longer than learning the jargon used in this Forum. It took me five years to get to grips with basic Hungarian- as a very experienced language teacher and learner. Think in SIMPLE terms, Chris. What do you EXPECT of new technologies? What aspects of your job would you like to be made easier? New technologies may have the answer, but the learning curve and the problems involved in implementing the new technologies may not be worth the effort. You ony find this out when you get stuck in and get your hands dirty. The relevance of new technologies varies a lot from subject to subject. I am a modern linguist, and there are SOME aspects of new technologies that ARE useful, e.g. I can access up-to-date authentic texts in foreign languages on the Web and keep up and extend my knowledge of languages that I am already familiar with, or I can buy a CD-ROM that will familiarise me with the basics of a new language and take me through lots of practice exercises, enabling me to listen to native speakers, record my own voice and hear what it sounds like. In the end, however, NOTHING can replace a competent teacher and a long stay in the country where the language is spoken, getting lots of practice with native speakers and enjoying the local food and wine. As I indicated in my previous email, I firmly believe in keeping technologies in their proper place. As for the jargon, well that's a bit of a red herring and not a major problem. You just have to LEARN jargon in much the same way as you learn a foreign language, i.e. look up the terms you don't understand and keep reading around the subject until they sink in. It's not THAT difficult. You can start with my ICT Glossary (for mFL teachers) at http://www.ict4lt.org/en/en_glossary.htm and you can use the "define" function in Google, which will give you lots of contextualised references to any jargon you don't understand. Just type "define" in the Google query box, followed by a colon and search term, e.g. "define:bandwidth". I just typed in "define:jargon". I like this definition that came up: highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072400846/student_view0/glossary.html Every subject has its own jargon. Jargon can be a short-cut to expressing things in a more long-winded way, and it therefore has its uses. I am currently following the Ryder Cup. I play golf regularly, but I am sure that the jargon used by the TV golf commentators sounds like a foreign language too. When Peter Alliss says, "He was two clubs short on that shot", I know exactly what he means, but do you? Haven't we been through this debate before? It sounds awfully familiar.

Great analysis, David! I totally agree! Another thing that irks me is the way in which ICT has insinuated itself into all subject areas. Here's the message from the horse's mouth under the heading ICT in Subject Teaching at the National Curriculum website: http://www.ncaction.org.uk/subjects/ict/inother.htm Think carefully about this. You are not only expected to be familiar with the basics of ICT but you are also expected to apply ICT in your subject area. In other words, you are helping the staff of the ICT department to do their jobs! Let's suppose that the above statement read as follows: "As a general requirement, teachers should provide pupils with opportunities to apply and develop their MFL capability in all subjects. For each subject, these translate into specific, statutory requirements to use MFL in subject teaching." This is in fact what happens in many bilingual schools in Europe - and the outcomes are probably a lot more useful! It's high time that the privileged position of ICT in the curriculum and the hype associated with it was subjected to very close scrunity. By that way, if you look at my CV (below) you will see that I am not a Luddite, but I firmly believe in keeping all technologies in their proper place.

This may sound like heresy, but I don't believe in ICT as the panacea. There is nothing special about ICT. ICT is just another tool that you can take or leave, depending on your personal preferences. As a language teacher who saw the rise and fall of the language lab, which was once hailed as the panacea, I am naturally sceptical. See my article "Lessons from the past, lessons for the future" at http://www.camsoftpartners.co.uk/coegdd1.htm where I cite Oppenheimer (1997:45): "In 1922 Thomas Edison predicted that 'the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our educational system and [...] in a few years it will supplant largely, if not entirely, the use of textbooks.' Twenty-three years later, in 1945, William Levenson, the director of the Cleveland public schools' radio station, claimed that 'the time may come when a portable radio receiver will be as common in the classroom as is the blackboard.' Forty years after that the noted psychologist B.F. Skinner, referring to the first days of his 'teaching machines,' in the late 1950s and early 1960s, wrote, 'I was soon saying that, with the help of teaching machines and programmed instruction, students could learn twice as much in the same time and with the same effort as in a standard classroom.' [...] The cycle began with big promises backed by the technology developers' research. In the classroom, however, teachers never really embraced the new tools, and no significant academic improvement occurred." Oppenheimer T. (1997) "The Computer Delusion", The Atlantic Monthly 280, 1 (July 1997): 45-62: http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97jul/computer.htm Here we go again...

I have several Jacques Tati films on cassette and DVD. He was a brilliant comedian and really made the most of the visual medium. There is very little spoken language in his films. His humour hinges a great deal on his awkward physique and mechanical/electrical gadgets going wrong. Often imitated but never surpassed!

Up until I was about 16 I hardly read anything that was not prescribed by my teachers. I can't say that these novels changed my life, but they certainly changed my thinking as a teenager and raised my political awareness: Orwell's Animal Farm and 1984, Huxley's Brave New World. I studied A-level French and German. The prescribed texts were dreadfully boring, and I would not attempt to read them for pleasure even now as an adult. One left a profound impression on me, however, Camus' La Peste (The Plague). Now I read mainly light, humorous stuff. I enjoy reading Bill Bryson and Peter McCarthy. As for movies, the first movie I saw that left a lasting impression on me was Powell & Pressburger's A Matter of Life and Death (released as Stairway to Heaven in the USA), starring David Niven, Maris Goring and Roger Livesey. It's the first movie that I can recall that really exploited the medium rather than just transferring a novel to the screen: http://www.powell-pressburger.org/Reviews/46_AMOLAD/ I have it on video and I have viewed it at least a dozen times. Other movies that I can watch over and over again include The Third Man, Mr Hulot's Holiday, Citizen Kane, almost anything by Hitchcock, The Shining. Regarding the Shining, did you know that virtually everything was filmed at Elstree studios? The opening shots show an aerial view of a landscape in Montana and the exterior of the Timberland Lodge in Oregon, and then the rest was shot on sets at the studios. There was only one real location shot, for the scene where Hallorran talks on the phone - at Stansted Airport. See http://www.unrealaudio.net/theshining2/realoverlook.htm Now THAT's real movie-making - fooled us all!

John writes: The downward slide occurred when there was a shift from advising to inspecting. As a Newly Qualified Teacher in the 1960s, I was grateful for the help given by my LEA's subject adviser. He would sit in on my lessons and, over a cup of tea afterwards in the staffroom, offer helpful advice. I never had the feeling that I was being inspected. The LEA's advisory service offered courses for Newly Qualified Teachers and we had a good relationship with the Education Dept of the local university, whose staff were also very helpful. As David points out, "control freakery ultimately doesn't work". It was control freakery, which manifested itself in senior management no longer TRUSTING managers and staff lower down the scale, that wrecked the institution for which I used to work. And now it's wrecking our whole school system.

John writes: I visited a local school that has an outstanding record of achievement in modern foreign languages, but what the teachers were doing in their lessons and the ICT materials they were using (which is my area of interest and the main reason for my visit) were clearly out of line with what OFSTED requires. I asked the Head of MFL about this. Her reply was something along the lines of "We just fall into line for the inspection and then carry on doing our own thing".