The ELTons 2008 awards ceremony took place at the Delfina studios near London Bridge on 7th March. The guest presenter for the evening was the world-famous linguist, David Crystal.
UK Category winners
Learning English Blogs (BBC Learning English – Paul Scott)
The Learning English Blogs transform the concept of blogging from an individual pursuit into a collaborative learning process. The blogs retain a rich vein of individual expression since the ‘student blogger’ writes about topics of interest to them. A ‘teacher blogger’ prepares posts in response to the student’s writings giving feedback on good language use, specific student mistakes and typical language errors, all within the dynamic of a content-based, personalised and meaningful dialogue.
Bookworms Club Reading Circles (Oxford University Press – Mark Furr, Jenny Bassett and Nicole Irving)
Bookworms Club Reading Circles is a unique series that provides all that is needed for running Reading Circles. Carefully graded short stories from Oxford Bookworms are combined with Role Sheets (e.g. Discussion Leader, Word Master, etc.) that help students prepare to take part in the Reading Circle, and ensure that they have natural, meaningful discussions in English. This improves the students' speaking and listening, and also their motivation and sense of autonomy. Bookworms Club is also a great stepping stone to extended reading.
The Flatmates (BBC Learning English – Nuala O’Sullivan)
The Flatmates is a free, interactive, weekly online soap opera for Intermediate EFL students. First, read and listen to Tim, Helen, Khalid and Alice and their tales of love, cheating, football and, of course, arguments about the rent! Second, cast your vote to decide what'll happen in the next episode. Third, study the language point (grammar, vocabulary, spelling or pronunciation) highlighted from each week's episode. Next, take the quiz to see if you've understood the language point. If you get any of the answers wrong, you'll get feedback steering you towards the right answer. Finally, write your response to each week's topic. It might be 'What's your ideal date?' or 'Who was your worst boss?' Then, see your own comments published online and read what other learners around the world have to say too.
International Category winner
The Vocabulary Course (Dubai Women’s College, U.A.E – Emma Pathare)
The Vocabulary Course is a ground-breaking, stylishly designed product, built on extensive academic research. It has been used by over 1500 students so far. Testing shows that its use results in substantial gains in core vocabulary knowledge. The course is popular with both learners and teachers, and its academic basis earned a Manchester University Platt Prize award and a distinction at Master’s level.