ted power

The real advance in the 1980s and 1990s, was neither in the shambles that has come to be known as CLT [Communicative Language Teaching] nor in the fashion to dress up every piece of learning as a behavioural objective or task to be analysed ad infinitum.

By the time my teaching career came to an end in 1996, learner independence had really taken off and the advent of the Internet meant that a growing population of learners with home computers, based all around the world, could access reading and listening comprehension materials (e.g. newspapers and BBC radio broadcasts) from their homes. I was interested to discover that many teachers were producing special web sites to provide English language learners with new distance learning opportunities. Some sites (e.g. The Internel TESL Journal) maintain lists of resources, linking learners to web sites covering more aspects of English language learning than most teachers know!

I started my own site while recuperating in my parents' home from the collision which nearly cost me my life. During this four-year attempt to gain sufficient independence to return to my own home, it was important for my own self-respect that all the training and experience of previous years did not go to waste. Following a 4-week residential pain management course in 1998 at Unsted Park Hospital Godalming Surrey, where participants were encouraged to set themselves targets, I managed to teach myself sufficient HTML to design basic web pages. I received encouragement from the editor of the Internet TESL Journal, who invited me to submit quizzes and suggested ways I could improve the design of my web pages.

I already had fairly recent material to upload to my site since I had written First Time In England [ my graded reader for beginners ] and Prepare for Discussion [ a suite of materials for higher-level learners including themed crosswords ] during 1997. The need to reduce the clutter I had hoarded since the early 1970s gave new urgency to the task of reviewing all the materials I had collected as both learner and teacher. This offered scope for web pages on Teacher Training & TEFL methodology.


Education and employment

Sep.69-Jul.72


London University External


B.A. Eng, Econ & Fr.


Sep.72-Jul.73


Berkshire College of Education


PGCE Junior/Middle Distinction


Sep.73-Jul.74


Lycée Polyvalent, Tiaret, ALGERIA (14-19 age range)


EFL Teacher recruited by Voluntary Service Overseas


Sep.74-Jul.75


Oxford College of Further Education


Lecturer in English & Mathematics to Pre-nurses


Sep.75-Jul.77


Mayfield Middle School, Walton-on-T.


Head of French


Jun.78-Sep.80


The English Language Centre, Hove


TEFL for varying periods


Sep.80-Jul.82


Fagersta AB Steelworks, Fagersta, SWEDEN


TEFL/ESP and Cambridge courses Dip RSA TEFL


Sep.83-Sep.86


ELC, Hove


TEFL





Swedish Folk High School


Varying periods on Pensioners' Courses.


Sep.84-Jul.86


London University Birkbeck College


M.A. in Second Lang. Learning and Teaching


Jan.87-Jun.87


INISEL Group (Electronics Company) Madrid, SPAIN


TEFL/ESP


Jun.87-Dec.91


ELC, Hove


TEFL


Jan.91-Nov.96


ELC, Hove


Teaching Resources Manager (Main Intensive Course)