Milestones in ELT

A series of classic texts from the British Council, made available online to celebrate the British Council's 75th and 80th anniversaries.

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The foreign language learning process

This 1978 publication is a report of a small-scale research project into language learning by adult learners. This was a relatively early attempt to ask learners about the 'strategies and techniques' that they use to learn a language, and the author, GD Pickett, who was at the time Deputy Director of the British Council's English Teaching Information Centre, states that his intention was for the project to be 'a starting off point' which could encourage further research in this area.

Voices from the new democracies: The impact of British English language teaching in Central and Eastern Europe

This short 1996 booklet, edited by Jenny Pugsley and Geraldine Kershaw, aimed to evaluate, in an informal way, the ELT work of the British Council in central and eastern Europe, 1989–95, during the transition from Communism. The British Council was able, with new UK government funding, to step up its English language teaching and teacher training in the region, meeting rapidly growing demand from the new democracies.

The development of ELT: The Dunford seminars, 1978–1993

This 1997 book, edited by Gerry Abbott and Mike Beaumont, is a compilation of selected papers from the annual residential seminars for ELT specialists employed or sponsored by the British Council which were held mainly at Dunford House, Sussex, during the period 1978–93.

English language teaching, volume 1 issue 1

The first issue of English Language Teaching, subtitled 'A Periodical Devoted to the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language', was published in October 1946. Originally issued by the British Council and now published by Oxford University Press, the journal has continuously served as a focal point for the profession.

ELT Guide-1: Communication games

Devised by the British Council's English Language Teaching Institute (ELTI), specifically Donn Byrne and Shelagh Rixon, this 1979 publication is a teacher-friendly handbook which presents a range of games designed to promote the communicative use of language in the classroom.

Teaching structures in situations

This title, published in 1967, was intended to be the first in a series of booklets designed to be of practical help to teachers of English as a second language, especially in West Africa. The booklet provides a clear overview of the methodological orthodoxy of the time, situational language teaching.

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