K.E.M..A. 4687 ENTYO KEITO AP. AEIA 2013 K.E.M..A.

:: Developing Examination Skills................................2 Anne europenne du interculturel .......................3 How to cope with your teaching deficiencies .......4 View from the provinces .........................................6 M ......................................10 Social Psychology and ELT authority ...................12 Keep the faith ........................................................13 ........................................................15

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Feed and LearnAsk children at the British Council in Athens about the connection between colouring, jigsaws and pet food and you will hear the same answer. That is that they were all part of the Teaching Centres campaign to collect food to feed the stray cats and dogs of Athens. The campaign was organized by British Council teacher Litsa Andreou in cooperation with the Greek Animal Welfare Fund and Nine Lives a local charity feeding stray cats. The campaign itself is part of the ongoing effort of the British Council not only to support local charitable organisations but also to add a valuebased strand to its language programmes for children. Despite the preparation involved, both teachers, the children and their parents received this effort enthusiastically judging from the amount of food collected during the campaign 87 kilos over 6 weeks. The effort was well-received elsewhere too - on behalf of Sandy (the oldest cat in the National Gardens), Carole Macbeth of the Greek Animal Welfare Fund wrote many thanks for caring about us and thanks again for the yummy food. The campaign itself recognized childrens contributions of pet food by encouraging them to colour and sign a piece of a board-displayed jigsaw which when finally complete made a happy and very full cat and dog. For more information on the campaign, please contact litsa.andreou@britishcouncil.gr

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Developing Examination Writing SkillsWriting is a challenging process even at the best of times and one which can be a solitary even isolating experience when the supportive atmosphere provided by adequate teacher preparation and guidance is lacking. With building a solid and valid foundation for teacher support in mind, we teachers should not miss the opportunity to write the same tasks we require of our students. Why? Simply to provide ourselves with the opportunity to reflect on the writing process itself and come to grips with the difficulties our student writers will face. I suppose, in essence what Im saying is that we shouldnt preach but practise as well not only to remind ourselves of the writers task and reaffirm the validity in the eyes of our students of the guidance we provide them but also to provide students with a model. So what's next? Work with the model! Theres little or no point in presenting students with a model and hoping that the model on its own will help students improve their own writing or understanding of those key ingredients which together make writing successful. Effective writing requires a number of things from a high degree of organisation and development to a careful choice of lexical and grammatical items. Model analysis needs to consider both. On a textual level, students could be encouraged to identify the blocks of meaning rather than the physical boundaries of text or paragraphs. In doing so, we can then draw attention to their relative size; highlighting the importance of balance and development; and their characteristics; pointing writing, but also to provide concrete hints and tips for students, the preparation and analysis of models is thus of some importance but does support stop there? Is support concerned only with what is done before students write? No, a good deal of support can be provided through the provision of meaningful comments. Perhaps the greatest feeling of satisfaction that a student gets is from a well-constructed teacher comment showing that his/her work has not been treated as a potential source of error but read by an interested reader. But what constitutes a valid and reliable comment? What are its ingredients? Borrowing illustrious labels, I would like to suggest that a successful comment addresses 4 basic principles those of quality, quantity, clarity and relevance. Much time could be devoted to a discussion of what these encompass but briefly quality is a matter of appropriacy both in terms of word choice and message, quantity is not so much the number of words but rather the number and balance of blocks of meaning. Clarity, on other hand addresses the question and looks at task achievement whereas relevance looks at the particular piece of work as part of the students writing history. Summarising the development of examination writing skills necessarily involves presenting students with opportunities to practice the various forms and functions of writing within the examination context. Practice, however, does not make perfect if done in isolation and without the support of adequate guidance from the teacher of which the approaches suggested here a few.

Cliff ParryBritish Council

out where a richer range of grammar or words is used. It is equally important to consider the words that make the sentences which then build the text. We could thus encourage students to identify those word sets that give rise to theme, the importance of repetition or replacement, collocation or ellipsis and the use and number of conjunctions. Aiming not only to refresh our insight into the mechanisms of

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Anne europenne du interculturel 2008La Commission europenne se penche, depuis longtemps, sur le thme du dialogue interculturel, la fois au sein des tats membres de l'UE, et galement dans les tats tiers, et insiste sur la diversit qui enrichit les socits europennes. L'anne 2008 a t proclame, par la dcision n1983/2006/CE du Parlement europen et du Conseil, anne europenne du dialogue interculturel. Cette dcision fait suite l'adoption par l'Unesco en octobre 2005 de la convention pour la protection et la promotion de la diversit des expressions culturelles, dans laquelle la France a jou un rle de premier plan. Cerner le concept de culture s'avre un exercice difficile et prilleux. Car, l'ide qu'elle se dessine, de nos jours, souligne que nous sommes le produit non pas d'une culture mais de plusieurs cultures, multiples facettes d'un mme diamant. Nous mettons en avant l'une ou l'autre facette, la faisons scintiller en fonction de la situation. Ceci rend son contour encore plus complexe dlimiter car on ne peut pas la figer sur le papier une fois pour toutes. Dans ce nouveau contexte, l'interculturel suppose, en effet, une interaction et dans cette interaction, distinguer ce qui relve de la culture ou des cultures ou mme des enjeux de pouvoir ou des conditions sociales. Avec la mondialisation l'interculturel est devenu un concept trs mdiatique au point que l'on peut se demander si l'on ne fait pas face un phnomne de mode plutt qu'une ncessit. Mais, l'interculturel a toujours exist sans que l'on s'attache le nommer. En effet, la rencontre des cultures a toujours eu lieu et elle a permis l'humanit d'voluer. Il n'est pas de culture qui soit reste l'identique au cours des sicles. Certes, les changements se sont souvent effectus selon des contraintes, des ruptures, des mises en jeu de pouvoir. Mais les repres culturels se sont galement modifis de l'intrieur. Toutefois, tout changement intervenu ne devient culturel En d'autres termes, la dmarche interculturelle ncessite non seulement un apprentissage des autres mais aussi une plonge en soi-mme pour voir de quelle faon son propre conditionnement culturel faonne le regard sur les autres. _ cet gard, saluons l'introduction de l'essai argument, preuve crite des niveaux DELF B1, B2 et DALF C1, C2, dont le contenu renforce la prsence de l'approche interculturelle en pdagogie (1). La question centrale de la dmarche interculturelle pourrait se rsumer la question suivante: L'apprentissage interculturel peut-il amoindrir les conflits? On pointe ainsi souvent les diffrences culturelles mais on aborde plus rarement la complmentarit culturelle. Car apprhender l'autre, ce n'est pas seulement l'apprhender comme porteur d'une culture mais aussi comme une personne humaine. Si l'interculturel se place autant au centre des proccupations de ce dbut de sicle et voque souvent les difficults et les freins qui l'accompagnent, le dbat se pose en des termes diffrents, savoir comment mettre profit la diversit culturelle croissante de nos socits, la dynamique inhrente chaque culture, et crer des synergies pour inventer de nouvelles faons de vivre ensemble. Plus qu'un contenu fig, c'est une attitude qu'il faut acqurir et ce n'est pas la moindre des difficults car toute personne demande du temps pour tre modele et inflchir sa pense. En somme, l'approche interculturelle en pdagogie dfend l'ide qu'il convient de faire grandir une nouvelle gnration qui promeuve le respect et l'acceptation de l'Autre.(1) Russir la production crite mthodologie de l'Essai: B1-B2. EDITIONS TEGOS. 2007 Russir la production crite mthodologie de la Synthse et de l'Essai: C1-C2. EDITIONS TEGOS. 2008

par Constantin TEGOSqu'aprs plusieurs gnrations car les transformations d'habitudes culturelles ne se ralisent pas du jour au lendemain. Mais si, aujourd'hui, l'interculturel devient si prgnant c'est parce que nous sommes dans un monde de changement qui va s'acclrant. C'est donc autant les mutations d'avec nos repres culturels d'hier au sein de nos socits que les volutions lies la rencontre de cultures diffrentes, la tendance pluriethnique de nos socits que les mutations des autres socits face au dferlement de valeurs trangres qui sont en jeu.

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How to cope with your teaching deficienciesWho said you were perfect? Who died and made you god? Who did you last talk to and said you had a wonderful accent? And what on earth did they mean by that? Most teachers of EFL in Greece work either as holders of the national university degree on English Literature or as holders of a certification degree issued by british or american university institutions. Neither is taught how to teach English as a Foreign Language no matter what they would like or are made to believe... So teaching is a self taught skill that is based on talent one might say or an unusual inclination meant to develop only in few or even a tool kit based on built-up experience that comes with beginners and ends years later if ever with proficient students. One falls admittedly in one or more of the categories above and needs to always rethink of their professional skills if they want to remain in the teaching profession. But how does one cope in this misty landscape where greek gods can help no more than by making you doubt... Here are some useful and well tested tips on how to keep up with your abilities as a teacher if and when at the end of a serious self-evaluation you are able to detect your deficiencies: Dont despair! Talk to your fellow colleagues who seem more experienced. Share your ideas with them colleagues and ask them to share theirs with you. Most would only be too glad to help. Look into the available bibliography, no matter how old it might seem. You never know what might work for you and your students Be prepared to test yourself along with your students. Never ask your students to write something, like an essay if you are not sure you could informative text or for entertainment. The language is still alive and kicking and everchanging. Do what you ask of your students. Correspond with someone, read lyrics, subscribe to magazines or newsletters of your interest Learn other foreign languages. Multiculturalism in the world will certainly come to your door as students of a nationality other than greek are probably already your students. How do you expect them to deal with a language other than their own, other than greek, which they are told they have to learn and which is being taught to them by a non native speaker of that language? Confusing, ha! Train yourself and push other colleagues to do the same. There are a number of seminars that cost nothing and cater for all needs. But even if you cannot afford a paid seminar or your boss does not care to help you do so, set up your own study/training group. Work on the provision of teaching aids (new methodolgy handbooks etc.) to your school. Most foreign language school owners those who respect what they do- have access to a number of possibilites to fill the bookcase in the school with advanced working/studying material. Keep informed, interested and passionate about teaching EFL Find out as much as you can about your actual students needs as to EFL and focus on teaching good english rather than sitting successfully for the X exam. Good Luck!* Mado Baboula (mbaboula@hotmail.com) has studied english, law, public relations/media as well as counseling, and has been an EFL Teacher for many years. She is also active in Youth Training and Press Office work for projects concerning the underprivileged. She is currently working in the private EFL education sector.

Mado Baboula* write it yourself Practice your oral communication skills. Try out different accents Show real interest in your students learning difficulties and refer then to an expert if you are not sure you can help them out Use the target language most of the time. But for your classroom the students dont have the opportunity to practise the L2. Remember that tv english cannot count as speaking material! Keep studying the language yourself. Read english as literature text, newspaper

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View from the provincesTeachers are well aware of the benefits of using songs in the classroom. Many course books employ songs as a way of consolidating target language and they can certainly be successful at providing a feelgood factor at the end of the lesson. However, songs can do a lot more than that. When chosen well they can inspire students with their subject matter and create the focus for a whole range of activities. The song can be the main focus of the lesson and not just an added extra. the box, dont press the red button!

Writing

Depending on the level the teacher can choose an appropriate writing task. For lower levels, students can send a postcard from space, describing the spaceship, the view from the window and what the astronauts are doing or did yesterday. For higher levels students can write a daily blog from space, describing their emotions, hopes and fears, as well as daily routines and schedules. by John Batrick Another reason Space Oddity is a As an example of this approach lets look John is a teacher and language useful choice for the classroom is that the at some activities that could be used with school owner and lives in Ioannina lyrics form a complete but brief the song Space Oddity by David narrative. There are three clear divisions in the song Bowie. Oh no! you cry, thats far too old for my which make it possible to analyse as discourse. That is to students. Well, yes it was first released in the 1970s but say learners can identify features of each section that with the correct handling a song like this can still really make it distinct from the others. Learners can be strike a chord. For a start, space travel is still making the encouraged to give titles to each section, drawing on news and in fact the whole process of countdown, lift-off vocabulary particular to each part. Each section could be and orbiting has hardly changed since the first astronauts. revealed in turn, with students predicting what will Whats more, the lyrics of the song are open to happen. Students can the write their own Part 4, or interpretation in such a way that space travel is only one sequel, to the song. of the possible levels of meaning.

Role-play and improviseFluency practice with higher levels can be encouraged with role play. Students use their imaginations to explore related situations before, during or after Major Toms space flight. The teacher supplies cards to each group with the scenario and basic instructions. Situation 1 You are Major Toms wife: talk to your family about your anxieties. You are the daughter. Situation 2 You are Major Tina: explain to your family why you think its important for a woman to carry out this mission. You are the husband. Situation 3 You are a politician: explain to the president why you think the mission must go ahead despite warnings from the engineers.

Pre-listeningIn order to create a strong opening to the lesson and engage the students (Harmer:2004) the perfect prelistening task is watch a video of astronauts in action. Theres plenty of material available, but for this song its good if the ground control staff are shown as well as astronauts.

Class debateHigher levels can debate the pros and cons of spending money on space travel. Is the expense justifiable and what other priorities does mankind have?

In conclusionSo there you have a few ideas on how to bring the song to the front of the lesson. Using the song as your starting point, theres no limit to where you end up, much like Major Tom really! And remember Songs are a great way to engage students

Act it outAgain the level of the class will determine the type of task. Fun exercises for younger students could include miming actions in zero gravity. The comic element is supplied by the student astronaut moving in slow motion while the class/ground control view Major Tom on camera and report his actions, hes brushing his teeth, hes reading a book The context is also suitable for practicing giving instructions, Open

How to play the songDont just fall into the trap of playing the song on the CD player. Students soon become familiar with stale routines and now listen to the song may be the cue for some students to switch off. Surprise the class, make use of technology, create a happening! Play the song using Youtube. There is an incredible variety of songs with video to create extra interest. For the internet savvy you can even upload a class version of the song! Try a class karaoke. Sing along with the CD but have students hold a microphone for a bit of fun.

7 Dont use songs just for listening practice, use your imagination too Song lyrics are discourse, explore the possibilities The song is not the place to finish; it can be the starting point. Ground control to Major Tom Ground control to Major Tom Take your protein pills and put your helmet on Ground control to Major Tom (10, 9, 8, 7) Commencing countdown, engines on (6, 5, 4, 3) Check ignition, and may God's love be with you (2, 1, liftoff) This is ground control to Major Tom, You've really made the grade And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear Now it's time to leave the capsule if you dare This is Major Tom to ground control I'm stepping through the door And I'm floating in the most peculiar way And the stars look very different today For here am I sitting in a tin can Far above the world Planet Earth is blue, and there's nothing I can do References Harmer J. 2004 How to Teach English Longman John Bartrick can be contacted at bartrick@hol.gr Reprinted by kind permission of TESOL GREECE Here are the lyrics to Space oddity by David Bowie. You can find countless other song lyrics at letssingit.com or, for the more adventurous, lyrics and music at ultimate-guitar.com

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Though I'm past 100,000 miles I'm feeling very still And I think my spaceship knows which way to go Tell my wife I love her very much, she knows Ground control to Major Tom, Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong Can you hear me Major Tom? Can you hear me Major Tom? Can you hear me Major Tom? Can you... Here am I floating round my tin can Far above the moon Planet Earth is blue, and there's nothing I can do... Ground control to Major Tom, Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong Can you hear me Major Tom? Can you hear me Major Tom? Can you hear me Major Tom? Can you...

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Social Psychology and ELT-authorityNick Michelioudakis (B. Econ., Dip. RSA, MSc [TEFL]) has been working in the field of ELT for more years than he cares to remember. He is currently a teacher at the Deree College. He likes to think of himself as a front-line teacher and is particularly interested in one-to-one teaching. When he is not struggling with students, he likes to spend his time in a swimming pool or playing chess. If you would like to ask any questions, make any comments read some of his published articles or find out about forthcoming events, please visit his site at www.michelioudakis.org.

Picture a nurse working in a hospital. The phone rings, she answers it. The caller identifies himself as a hospital physician and directs the nurse to administer 20 mg of a certain drug to a particular patient. Note the following: a) the doctor gives his instructions by phone which is against the rules, b) the medication is unauthorized, c) the medicine bottle clearly states Max daily dose 10 mg and d) the nurse has never seen this person or heard his name before. What does the nurse do? What would you have done? Now forget this example for a moment and read on. What follows is in my opinion one of the most horrifying experiments ever. Milgrams famous experiment: (Described in Brehm, Kassin & Fein 2002) You agree to take part in an experiment on the study of memory. You go to the laboratory where a researcher clad in a white robe is waiting for you along with another volunteer. The researcher explains the basic idea, which is to see how punishment affects learning and memory. One of the two volunteers is to be the teacher and the other the learner. Lots are cast. You are the teacher. The role of the learner is to study a list of pairs of words until he can remember them perfectly. Afterwards, the learner is taken to a cubicle where he is strapped into something suspiciously reminiscent of an electric chair. The researcher then takes you to a small room with a board full of switches. You can clearly see the learner from there. The researcher explains the procedure. The teacher (you that is) calls out a word. If the learner can remember the second word of the pair, then you continue. If not, you throw a switch which administers an electric

shock to the learner. However and at this point you may start feeling a bit queasy with every new mistake the shocks increase in strength by 15 volts. All is fine in the beginning. The learner makes some mistakes and you duly administer the shocks but you can see that the latter, although causing discomfort to the learner, are not really that serious. Yet, the intensity keeps going up. In the 75-105 V range you can hear the learner groaning. At the 150 V level he shouts that he wants to stop. The researcher calmly prompts you to continue. It is obvious now that the shock level is such that the learner cannot concentrate, so he keeps making mistakes and the punishment continues. You can see the learner writhing in agony and screaming at the 190-240 V level. After that he stops, though you can see his body jerk with each shock. The shocks go up to the 450 V level. Do you carry on? Fortunately, this was just an experiment. Subjects (the teachers) later found out that no shock had actually been administered and the learner was in fact an actor. Yet what matters is what they thought was happening. Under these circumstances how far up the scale would you have gone? Well, 65% of the subjects went on to administer the maximum shock possible! Why? 1 Applications in the field of ELT: According to Milgram, the most important finding of this study was peoples extreme willingness to obey authority (Cialdini 2001). While his purpose was to alert people to how dangerous this can be, let us for a moment suspend all moral objections and look at the principle itself. Can we use it?

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I believe that what this experiment shows has huge implications for classroom management. If ss can see us as authority figures, the chances are that we will have very few problems with discipline and our work will be that much easier. How can we come across as more authoritative? Cialdini (2001) mentions three factors, to which I would add a fourth one. Titles: If you have them, flaunt them! Especially among adults, a Ph.D. , DOS, Teacher Trainer or ESOL Oral Examiner may well carry a lot of weight. 2 Clothes: Various experiments have shown that a uniform greatly increases compliance. Teachers normally do not wear uniforms, but in my experience being welldressed never fails to produce a positive effect. 3 Trappings: Little things like accessories, gadgets, a professional-looking mobile phone or a good briefcase also add to the overall effect (Bernstein & Nash 2005). The place is also important; when the experiment was conducted in a less prestigious office, compliance dropped to 48% (Wren 1999). Professionalism: This is less tangible. However, being generally organized, giving an outline of the course or lesson at the beginning and most importantly explaining the rationale of what you do by sharing with ss some of the findings of research in the ELT field certainly help in making you come across as a competent professional. Going back to Milgram, there are some further points worth mentioning: Proximity: The closer the researcher was to the teacher, the higher the compliance rate (Aronson 1999). So it is not enough to just issue instructions to our ss; we have to circulate, be among them, helping, redirecting and monitoring. This is vital especially in pair/group work activities (Dornyei 2001). Defiance: The presence of a coparticipant who defied the experimenter reduced compliance rates to 10%! (Bernstein & Nash 2005). The implication is clear; the presence of one disruptive s can play havoc with classroom discipline. In such cases the T and the institution need to take quick and decisive action. 4 Graduated involvement: One factor which certainly contributed to the high level of compliance was the fact that the teachers delivered the shocks bit by bit. If they had stopped halfway, it would have been very difficult for them to

justify to themselves why they had gone up to that stage in the first place (Wren 1999). Once again, we see that in order to get our ss to do something hard it is best to do it step-by-step. Having started work on, say, a project, their initial commitment may well see the whole thing through. Voluntary commitment: Please note that all the teachers were volunteers. Time and again we come across this element: people are far more willing to co-operate/comply if they feel that they have done so without external pressure or even rewards. The moral here is: a) wherever possible, give ss a choice; even an onerous task seems far less so if you have chosen it yourself! (Cialdini 2001) b) beware of offering rewards; you may increase initial excitement but you may also be depriving learners of the inner motive. I am sure that if Milgram read this article he would be horrified. He had meant his research as a warning against compliance as an illustration of what blind obedience to authority can make people do. Yet here I have been advocating all along that we make use of this factor in order to induce discipline. The point is that there are cases when it can be positive. In a variation of the original experiment, the learner demanded that the experiment continues despite the intense pain he appeared to feel. The experimenter on the other hand ordered the teacher to stop. In every case, the shocks ceased immediately! It seems that we obey authority for good or evil (Wren 1999). The principle is there the point is how we choose to use it. PS: What about the nurses mentioned in the introduction?? Well, 95% of them (!!) dutifully prepared to administer the drug, before being stopped and told that the . 14

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Jon Naunton: Keep the faithAfter writing Think First Certificate, which is one of the all time best sellers with an unsually long life span at least compared to coursebooks nowadays, did you move on to write other books? Yes, thats right, I wrote two more books for Longman and since then I have written several books for Oxford University Press. Whats the difference, from the authors point of view, when writing a business coursebook or a general coursebook? An exams book is much more focused because you have the final exam and that has a backwash effect on the teaching that preceeds it, so to a certain extent you have to teach to the examination. Theres the market for students who are in work, which is very much based on communication skills, helps students participate in meetings, socialising, telephoning etc. There are about nine or ten key communications skills areas they cover. Thats for people who are in-work. People who are still studying, for example a general business course for university students, people who follow a vocational program that deal with marketing, i.e. what marketing is, the product life cycle, market segmentation, brand extension, you need to include that in that set of vocabulary. For people who are in work, theyve already chosen their specialism, and its much more based on their day-to-day communicative needs. So both categories you focused on (business English and exams) need to produce immediate results with the students. You need immediate payoff and, in a way, the objectives are much more clearly defined than with general English. How much would you say a candidates success or a business persons ability to communicate well in a foreign language is up to the material used or to the teacher using this material? I think the responsibility is shared equally but the most important variable in all this is the student. I remember when I learnt how to swim I was quite scared of the water. Our teacher, I even remember her name, Miss Townsend she was, she gave us a cotton reel to hold. And she held the cotton reel by the side of the pool and there was a piece of string, and the kids swam around the pool. Now there actually is no way that the cotton reel kept us above water, but it gave us the self-confidence to do it, so I think very often with business people youll have someone who is the managing director or the marketing manager of a company who has a huge responsibility and is probably a tyrant to his or her staff, but when they come into your class they are like a little child again. And part of the thing that you have to instil them is confidence. Is it the same as for a exam candidate? Yes and no, because I think you need far more content for the examination. With business English you can very often activate what theyve got and set up scenarios, information gap activities which help translate what they know in what they can do, so that they maximize their communicative competence not focusing too much on accuracy but making sure they can punch like a boxer above their weight. So the teacher is a bit like Miss Townsend holding the cotton reel, proving to a student Yes, you really can do it, you really can through a presentation. And the style of teaching too is quite very different because very often with in-work classes books dont always work. Then what you need to do is use a test and teach test approach. You get the student to do a short presentation on a topic, you record them or you know what they said and say You did this, how can we make it better and then you give them another go for the same or an analogous topic for a second attempt so that they can actually measure. I think being able to measure progress and achievement too with in-work students is basic, particularly as tuition time is much shorter. You might see people for an intensive course for 20 hours. The Cambridge First Certificate, which you specialise in, has undergone changes, the most recent ones being introduced this coming December. Do you feel these changes will have an impact in the way people look at the Cambridge exams? Thats an interesting question. I think that they will still see, because whats happened with the Cambridge exam is that theyve been given a bit of a liposuction. So what theyve done is they have reduced the exam from about five hours to four, a question has disappeared from paper 1, paper 2 is pretty much the same, paper three has beenDuring his recent visit to Athens for the Kosmos Book Exhibitions in April, Jon Naunton, better known in Greece for his best seller coursebook Think First Certificate, spoke to Lingua Franca about his views on the Cambridge examinations with particular focus on the First Certificate.

shortened down to 45 minute. The beast is still the same, so I dont think people will say the beast is different. The beast is definitely Cambridge First Certificate. And I think that it remains a gold standard. I think it is a shame that people are trying to find an exam which is perceived to be easier. Because I think that if people have First Certificate it really does prove they have a good, balanced knowledge across the skills, they have good grammar, they have good vocabulary, and that it can either be a terminus or a springboard to go to higher levels.

You mentioned an easier examination, would that be in terms of language level or more student friendly, as some of the tasks in Cambridge First Certificate are considered to be too complicated. And one more thing, judging by average the Greek candidate, we can safely say that they are below the average age level of candidates in other countries. So, naturally, they do not possess the social skills required to tackle these tasks. Thats right! I think it is important to supply them with models during the course that leads up to the examination and plenty pf practice. Students need clear models, particularly younger ones. I actually think that it helps the candidates a lot to have the writing task contextualised. I remember in the old days, it would be write a story ending with the words and

I never saw her again and that was it. Now students are given much more of a context e.g. and I think that this helps the students with the exam. I generally feel, hand on my heart, that the First Certificate examination is a good thing. There is this English author called G.K. Chesterton and in his Father Brown series he says: The trouble is when people stop believing in God, theyll start believing in anything and I think that what perhaps happened a little bit in the Greek market is that people have lost the faith with the First Certificate examination and they have started believing in anything, any other exam that comes along. And I think that is a pity, because if you look at the research that goes into producing the UCLES exams, the item analysis, the pre-testing it still remains the most reliable and the examination with the most validity. I get the impression that other examination boards are . 14

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trying to jump onto the bandwagon. Greek students look at the Cambridge exams as being very difficult. What do you think about that? That, in the past two revisions, the level of the examination has stayed the same. Thats my instinct, obviously people in Greece who have a far better idea of how their students relate to the exam, is perhaps due to the fact that candidates are getting younger? Not really, but there are also discussions that the general level of the students is dropping and that seeps into language learning as well. Teachers complain that students are getting more and more indifferent as time goes by. I am probably taking a hard line here but I believe it is not up to the examination board to bend itself to the changes or the interests or the maturity of students. The whole of an examination, it is a beacon, a benchmark, something the candidate has to overcome and to dumb the exam down, if I can put it that way, for each generation, seems to me like a

Keep the faithvery poor idea as we will end up with something thats incredibly devalued. What are your immediate plans? You are working with a popular publisher in Greece, New Editions, who are well known for their exams books. I have written Spotlight, which it is a coursebook but not a First Certificate light one. It is a solid, full 60 unit, ten page per unit coursebook and the reason that we chose the title Spotlight is because we wanted to focus, we wanted to shine light on every aspect of the examination and help students with examination technique skills. This is probably the big development for me since my Think First Certificate days. What I would like to tell teachers in Greece is keep the faith, hang on in there!

Jon Naunton BioAfter graduating with a degree in English Jon trained at International House London. He then went on to work with the IH organization for twenty years. On returning to Britain after five years in Italy and Libya, he was director of ILC executive centre in London. He has also had short stints teachingin Germany and Sweden and teacher training in the Sudan and Oman. Rejoining International House London he taught at all levels and trained teachers on numerous Cambridge CELTA and Diploma courses. While at International House he was director of Studies with responsibility for examination classes in charge of a team of more than thirty teachers. His teaching and writing career have also taken him to many different countries notably to Greece, Spain and Poland. In addition, he spoken to teachers in Germany, France, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Russia. He now lives in France where he has worked with university and business school students, and in further education. He enjoys meeting and speaking to other teachers, and has written a number of course-books in the areas of exam preparation, business English and adult general English. His guiding aim is to produce engaging, thorough and reliable material for his teaching colleagues and their students. As well as a degree in English, he has an MA in second language learning and teaching from the University of London, and an MBA from City/Cass business school.

Social Psychology and ELT-authority . 12

Doctor did not actually exist and that it was all in fact an experiment(Cialdini 2001).1 Interestingly, when Milgram asked people this question hypothetically (i.e. not in the context of the experiment) everyone denied that they would do such a thing. Even psychologists failed to guess the results: they predicted that only 1 person in a thousand would go up to that level! (Eysenck 1996) 2 This depends on the context of course. We have to strike the right balance between being respected and creating an

artificial gap between ourselves and the learner which might make it hard for us to work with them, especially on an 1-to-1 basis. 3 Once again, being too formally dressed might detract from our ability to get close to our ss. The point is to look professional without appearing to be distant. 4 I know I sound like a strict disciplinarian but I have known cases when a reluctance to be firm jeopardized the progress of the whole group. We do want to be sympathetic towards disruptive ss but we also have to think of the class as a whole.

References1. Aronson, E. The Social Animal

Worth Freeman, 1999 2. Bernstein, D. & Nash P. Essentials of Psychology Houghton Mifflin, 2005 3. Brehm, S., Kassin, S. & Fein S. Social Psychology Houghton Mifflin, 2002 4. Cialdini, R. Influence Science and Practice, Allyn & Bacon 2001 5. Dornyei, Z. Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom Cambridge University Press, 2001 6. Eysenck, M. Simply Psychology Psychology Press 1996 7. Wren, K. Social Influences Routledge 1999

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