49th Annual IATEFL Conference and Exhibition Hugh Dellar talks to Nik Peachey

http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2015/interview/interview-hugh-dellar



I will not make a secret of it! I never, ever and I do mean never miss presentations by Hugh Dellar at IATEFL. The reason is that he manages to present in a way that combines the theoretical with the practical in a meaningful way which is entertaining at the same time. In his interview to Nik Peachey, Hugh talks about his new project, using National Geographic photos in teaching as a part of a publishing project, he gives tips about how visual material can be used in class and finally gives us some advice on what to do if we want to become involved in Materials’ Writing. 

‘’Underestimating the power of the pictures.’’
Hugh Dellar mentioned that this new project made him look at pictures from a teacher’s and a writer’s point of view.  He had the courage to admit that before getting involved with this project he had underestimated the strength of the archive, thinking that it hosted very dramatic pictures of wild life, for which he didn’t necessary see a purposeful use in the language classroom.  The writer and speaker went on to add that it is not always the pretty pictures that get the job done in class. Sometimes, what we need is the ambiguous and the unusual to spur more discussion. Both interviewer and interviewee agreed that the NG pictures are very global, which means that the teacher can bring in lots of different aspect and allow points of cross-cultural comparisons. Hugh Dellar also made mention of using videos in class. He mentioned that they are predominantly used as a means of listening practice, which gets students to decode information. He then added that he is also interested in using videos as a means of encoding, by getting learners to repeat or act out what is on the video.

Tips for using images in class.
When asked by Nik Peachey to give some practical pointers to teachers who want to find their own visual resources, Mr. Dellar mentioned that right now there are so many available resources that teachers need to be critical in their choice of visual material. The writer advised teachers to think of the language aim first, the output they want their learners to produce and the language they want to emerge in class and based on that they to look for pictures.

Referring to videos, Hugh Dellar mentioned that sometimes the videos used in class are interesting but not useful and it is difficult to balance the unity of the input. It is also problematic to manage to find graded input and then focus on the language and not only on the content. ‘’This is a lot to ask of individual teachers.’’ Mr Dellar said ‘’and I don’t know if I could do that when I only had three years’ experience of teaching.’’

Tips for teachers who want to try out writing materials.
Hugh Dellar pointed out that the bad thing is that the smaller publishing houses, which had the time and the energy to mentor young writer and bring them slowly out, have sold out to larger, international publishing houses.  This means that there is less room for face to face mentoring but on the upside we get to benefit from the wider diffusion of expertise. ‘’There is a lot more sharing and pulling of expertise about how to develop your craft.’’ Hugh Dellar pointed out and Nik Peachy was quick to add that novice materials’ developers do not have to work in isolation anymore. The speaker agreed with that point and mentioned that teachers who want to become writers can benefit from joining groups such as Teacher2Writer who train teachers to become writers and from getting involved in the Material’s Writing IATEFL SIG which will give them the opportunity to learn from other people’s experience.
Finally, the speaker raised another interesting point when he said that it is a challenge for any teacher to write materials in such a way so that other teachers can use them. Obviously, it is one thing for the activity to work for the teacher who has designed it, but how well does it actualize when a different teacher uses it? For this reason, Hugh urged teachers to share their material to see if its value is transferred in other people’s classrooms.  I particularly liked the fact that Hugh Dellar referred to editors as the voice of the teachers who are not like you and the comment he made about the important part this unseen heroes play.

 
Hugh Dellar presenting at #IATEFL2015 on ''Can a picture tell a thousand words?''  Photo by Eftychis Kantarakis


 
 Personal comment
What I got out of this interview was a reminder of what a daunting and complicated task it is to write materials that will be taught in the absence of the writer,  in diverse teaching settings, ones in which the writer has never taught. Despite that the tasks will have to be meaningful, purposeful and worth the time learners and teachers will spend on them. Every single teacher becomes (and should become) a mini-material’s developer while planning lessons and designing tasks. The difference is that we know how we intend to use this material and what we want it to generate. Giving it a shape that is immediately understood by other professionals is quite different and infinitely more complicated.  


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