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.

Choose a text

Best of ELTECS

This 1995 publication celebrates the five-year history of ELTECS (the English Language Teaching Contacts Scheme), set up in 1990 'to develop and sustain a network of ELT professionals across central and eastern Europe' following the fall of the Iron Curtain.

The practice of communicative teaching

Edited for the ELT Documents series by Christopher Brumfit and published in 1986, this book complements an earlier volume on General English Syllabus Design, looking at the implementation of communicative syllabuses.

General English syllabus design

This collection of papers emerging from the 1983 TESOL Convention in Toronto examines the role of general syllabuses in state education, at that time a relatively neglected area in comparison with ESP syllabuses. Authors of papers were invited to address three key aspects: the relationship between syllabus and learner; the design of syllabuses; and how a syllabus should be evaluated.

English for specific purposes: an international seminar

This report, which includes papers by John Munby, Henry Widdowson and Tom Jupp, was compiled following an international ESP seminar organised in Bogotá, Colombia, in April 1977. The Editorial notes that, while ESP was seen as relatively new, it was also known to be an 'extension and development of insights', rather than a radically different methodology, and also involved a variety of approaches, not a 'harmonised body of doctrine'.

Common ground: Shared interests in ESP and communication studies

The editors of this 1984 volume in the ELT Documents series describe English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and communication studies (viewed as the teaching of writing and speaking skills to those with English as a first language) as 'two halves of a single profession'.

Self-access: Preparation and training

This practical 1992 booklet, the first in a series, considers ways in which institutions and staff, as well as learners, need to be prepared for self-access learning.

Games, simulations and role-playing

This 1977 booklet from the ELT Documents series contains four main chapters and a postscript which introduce communicative techniques, still at that time in an early stage of development, to a wider audience.

Research and insight

Browse fascinating case studies, research papers, publications and books by researchers and ELT experts from around the world.

See our publications, research and insight