The learning ELT professional

Abstract

It is quite possible that people who are not familiar with Malta have no idea of the strength and resilience of its ELT sector. That is a pity because, as in so many other areas of life, the islands (to use a rather blunt cliché) punch above their weight. And it is not just the numbers – though they are impressive; it is also the care that goes into the nurturing of the industry and the inspection system which the ELT Council oversees and which does its level best to make sure that the students who pour into Malta every year are given the best care, both pedagogic and pastoral. Something else that the council does is to organize an annual conference with the express aim of involving the teachers in the latest thinking, research and feelings about how languages should be learned and taught. You would think we would know about all that by now, but – and this is one of the reasons that what we do is so continually invigorating – the pieces never seem to quite fit. There is always something more to think about, something new and challenging to engage our interest, some new ‘metaphor’ – in Lightbown and Spada’s (2013) words – to alter our thinking. Humans, especially humans-in-groups, which is how most people prefer to learn languages, just will not conform to strict and easily-interpretable measuring. Nowhere is this more true than in learning, where the variables of personality, motivation, environment, interpersonal classroom interaction and pedagogical intervention all play their part. One of the ways that teachers can try and fit the pieces together in this vast pedagogical jigsaw is to read research. Often contradictory and sometimes counterintuitive, what researchers tell us has to inform what we do; it is foolish to discount the findings of studies both small- and large-scale as some teachers are occasionally inclined to do. And anyway, there is an alternative, a complimentary path that we can follow, a path which will keep us going and which can inform every aspect of our practice. This is Action Research – which is a natural process for a reflective teacher. [Excerpt from the Preface by Jeremy Harmer]