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Old habits die hard...English teaching and learning steps back from the brink of change Nov 9, 2011: Where is English language teaching going in the next few years? UK ESOL providers were up in arms about cuts, but refused to change the way they worked and taught as blended and social learning models reduce teacher talk time and direct contact hours. Does the UK government wants us to be social entrepreneurs and embrace the 'Big Society' whilst continuing to stack the dice in the favour of big business and the status quo...read on?

Is ELT safe from social media? Jul 18, 2011: How will Google+ and Facebook, and many other websites like Avaaz.com have an influence on English language teaching and learning, especially the business side of the industry that is often quite incestuous? This is a discussion from my private group called Teaching English on LinkedIn. I hope it makes you think ( I have removed my correspondent's surname, image and links to protect his privacy but I know him well).

The Native Speaker English teacher versus the Non-Native Speaker English teacher debate Mar 14, 2011: What are the main issues concerning Native Speaker versus Non-Native Speaker English teachers? This is something that gets a lot of people wound up and confused. On the tube I heard two people discussing what the issues were and trying to make some sense of how the global English language teaching industry operates.

'How long does it take to learn English?' LinkedIn TESOL group discussion.... Jan 6, 2011: Someone posted 'how long does it take to learn English?' in the TESOL group discussions on LinkedIn....a piece of string question really and possibly a fun provocation (it was posted in lots of other ESL groups) but I liked it because it really drew some interesting responses. I posted 'about 18 hours!' and provided a link to the EOT case study with Jane as evidence in one group... and the moderator promptly removed it. This is my (possibly) second effort at debate in the TESOL group on LinkedIn...

Resistance is futile...'Learning Styles' de-bunked...the end of the classroom is nigh! Dec 21, 2010: This comment is from our LinkedIn group, Teaching English...I posted the news that learning styles are officially tosh and this is where we got to just now...

The English as a Second Language Slave Trade Dec 8, 2010: The TEFL business moves native speaker teachers around the world for meagre wages but they are a fairly finite commodity. 2bn learners and 4m TEFL teachers makes for good business for someone.

'Free' to keep the status quo - are we being duped? Oct 14, 2010: 'Free' content and technology is all well and good, but I think I have identified a form of commercial protectionism from the established big players who finance competitions for innovative solutions but insist on open-source access for all to the intellectual property contributed. Take the The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation who recently announced the Next Generation Learning Challenges.

Creating English language teaching and learning materials for the future Jun 2, 2010: This presentation on virtual learning spaces was delivered at the British Council's Policy Dialogue 2 in Kolkata in November 2008. I talk about the relationship between planning materials for use in what I call finite space (classroom) and infinite space (real world and online) and come to conclusion that content will need to be different to that which most publishers and institutions used then and still do today.

'Remarkable'...Stephen Krashen comments on English Out There 'before and after' case study - News Flash May 17, 2010: Stephen Krashen, the world famous academic and ELT expert, listened to and commented on our 'before and after' audio case study of a Chinese student using English Out There course materials and doing focused speaking practice from the lessons using social media platforms like Facebook and Skype.

Beginner to Intermediate English in 18 hours, is it possible? You decide, listen to this audio. May 11, 2010: I have witnessed learners at English Out There in London improve their English speaking and listening skills very rapidly but I have never followed a learner's progress as closely as I have with Jane and Waldek using online social media and web telephony such as Facebook and Skype.

I was quite surprised when I listened to the clips together. Why don't you have a listen and see what you think?