The Eltons award ceremony was held at the Delfina Gallery, South East London on 3 March.
There were three categories of awards:
- UK ELT industry
- English Language Teachers Contacts Scheme (ELTeCS)
- British Council Teaching Centres and Exams
UK industry Winners:
Three in a tree - book & multimedia package (Oxford University Press - Vanessa Reilly)
Three in a Tree is a new series for pre-school children. At each level the main Class Book is supported by a diverse range of integrated components, including video and CD-ROM material, an interactive poster, reward stickers, stampers and a puppet. This gives teachers everything they need to create lively and diverse language classes and also focus on key areas of child development, such as motor-skills and personal awareness.
Teacher development is also a key area for this sector. Three in a Tree addresses this with special support for teachers who are new to the pre-school sector and those who need more detailed language instruction. It also offers suggestions for adapting the material to suit shorter and longer lessons without prejudicing either language learning or personal development.
Judges' comments:
“My kids loved this package. There is a real shortage of good material for very young learners and this fulfils a clear need…the production values are excellent”
“A great set of materials and so beautifully produced…it is a practical and attractive package”
Campaign 1 coursebooks (Macmillan Education - Simon Mellor-Clark and David Riley)
The Campaign series of course books is the first fully-featured course for teaching English to personnel on peacekeeping and humanitarian missions. The rationale behind Campaign is that it should offer military English language training that goes beyond technical language by providing a comprehensive syllabus covering all aspects of English for military personnel including necessary exchanges for daily life.
The syllabus was informed by the assessment of several hundred needs analyses and interviews with active service officers and NCOs working in international contexts. It offers a functional approach to learning English and the skills are immediately transferable to real-life situations.
Judges' comments:
“This is a genuine attempt to break new ground and Macmillan should be applauded for this. The package is well put together and has website support. I can see this having great potential as it has been piloted extensively…a really exciting product!”
“Hugely impressed by this entry, particularly the exemplary Teacher's Book, which is an excellent guide to the specifics of the military, and elements of professional behaviour (good teaching habits) which should be on all teacher training courses. Very well designed Student's Books that welcomes the learner in, and allows the learner space to learn.”
Assessing Young Learners (Oxford University Press - Sophie Ioannou-Georgiou and Pavlos Pavlou)
Assessing Young Learners is the first book on assessing children in EFL. Its wide variety of practical classroom activities combine sound assessment principles with appropriate methodology for primary children and promote a positive classroom atmosphere.
Assessment gives children tangible evidence of progress and can help focus on areas that need more work. It also helps teachers to monitor their performance and plan future work, and provides information for parents and school authorities. This jargon-free book integrates assessment into teaching in a practical way. It shows assessment can be sound but fun for children. It helps teachers understand – through example – basic principles for future development of their own assessment techniques.
Judges' comments:
"It is a joy to read such a well thought out and imaginative text book…this strikes me as intelligent and innovative."
“Lots of useful practical ideas on assessing young learners, and innovative in addressing an area where there isn't much available elsewhere."
ELTeCS Innovation winners:
'Viewing British Films Critically: an online course for students from diverse cultural backgrounds'(Teachers and students from Czech Republic, Germany, India, Russia)
Using British films as a springboard for debating cultural differences and intercultural understanding via the Web.
'Workshop on designing materials for human rights education and English language development for upper secondary students in Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan and Nepal' (Teachers and students from these countries, with input from Romanian colleagues)
Raising teachers' intercultural understanding and designing a framework for the South Asian and Caspian Basin contexts.
British Council Teaching Centres and Exams Winners:
Teen Cuts – today’s Vietnam through the eyes of teenagers
In the summer of 2004, senior young learners at the British Council teaching centre in Hanoi made 32 one-minute films about Vietnamese life and culture. The films break down the stereotypes associating the country with war and poverty, and show what it means to be a young person in Vietnam today.
A teaching pack based on the films has been produced for use in British Council teaching centres and local secondary schools, and a documentary about the project shown on Vietnamese national television reached millions of people and raised their awareness of the British Council's work.