Professor Jack C. Richards

The official website of educator Jack C Richards

Joshua Han wins two prizes in Aarhus

Josh-and-JackJack’s 12 year old piano protégé Joshua Han won his second international young pianist’s competition in less than a year, winning both the Category A 1st Prize as well as the Audience Prize at the prestigious Aarhus International Piano Competition for young pianists in Denmark in March 2015. In August 2014 Joshua won the first prize in the Ettlingen International Competition for Young Pianists, in Ettlingen, Germany.

Josh and his family were guests at Jack’s New Zealand summer house in January 2015, and Josh and his brother Oscar – a very talented violinist – performed at a charity concert in Gisborne.

Arts, Music, News, Patronage

Teaching absolute beginners

Question:

Submitted by N. Kazemi, Iran

How should we start teaching English to absolute beginners who neither know even a single word in English nor have any literacy skills even in terms of recognizing the English alphabet?

Professor Richards Responds:

It will be necessary to start with vocabulary recognition, phonics, and then to build up a core recognition and productive vocabulary, using pictures and translation.  Production should be very limited initially until these core requirements have been met.

In the classroom, Language learning, Questions & Answers

Teaching Materials

Question:

Submitted by Monsume, Azerbaijan

Are visual aids and technological resources included as teaching materials?

Professor Richards Responds:

Yes indeed. Teaching materials refers to any of the resources that the teacher makes use of to support his or her teaching. This includes a wide variety of print and technology-based resources.

Questions & Answers, Teaching

Objective of Teaching English to 7-10 year olds

Question:

Submitted by Adriana Patrus, Brazil

I teach English to primary schoolchildren in Brazil. The classes are monolingual and they range from 22 to 30 students. They speak Portuguese the whole time except for a few minutes of repetition, drilling, singing and an occasional speaking activity. They have been able to master quite a range of vocabulary but no attempt to speak it yet. Should we feel frustrated that they don’t try to speak the odd words they learn in the monolingual classroom? What should be ultimately the primary objective of teaching English to 7-10 year olds?

Professor Richards Responds:

Yes I think frustration would be an approriate response.  I suggest use more activities that require production of simple phrases and words that they have learned, such as games and simple dialogs. The following are examples of goals for courses for young learners:

  • To develop a set of core vocabulary and expressions for use in simple conversation
  • To build confidence
  • To provide the motivation to learn English
  • To encourage ownership of language
  • To encourage children to communicate with whatever language they have at their disposal (mime, gesture, key word, drawings, etc.)
  • To encourage children to treat English as a communication tool, not as an end product
  • To show children that English is fun
  • To establish a trusting relationship with children and encourage them to do the same with their classmates
  • To give children an experience of a wide range of English language in a non-threatening environment
In the classroom, Language learning, Questions & Answers, Teaching

Bottom-up, Top-down or Interactive Processing

Question:

Submitted by Hannah, Korea

I wonder if the activity below makes use of to bottom-up processing,  top-down processing or Interactive processing.

Task: Read a sentence and then listen to a sentence on tape to decide if the meaning is the same or different.

Professor Richards Responds:

In order to complete this task the listener has to hold the spoken sentence in short term memory, decode its meaning, and then compare the result with his or her understanding of the written text. The extent of bottom-up or top-down processing involved will depend on the contents of the sentence, since it may or may not draw on background knowledge or culturally specific schemata. No interactive processing is involved if we use this term to refer to interaction with a speaker.

In the classroom, Language learning, Questions & Answers

New Key Issues in Language Teaching book

Question:

Submitted by Muhammad Shujaat, Saudi Arabia

When will your new book Key Issues in Language Teaching be launched?

Professor Richards Responds:

Publication of the book has been delayed due to difficulties in clearing permissions for many of the citations that occur through the text, of which there are several hundred. Some greedy publishers have been asking up to $1000 to cite a 45 word extract from a journal article, and some have not yet responded to requests to cite from sources they hold the copyright for. In many instances I have hence had to rewrite and rephrase citations due to copyright restrictions. My publisher has informed me that she has set March 22 as the deadline to clear copyright issues, and anything not clarified by that date I will have to rewrite. She is now suggesting a June 2015 publication date for the e-book and a July date for the print book. WATCH THIS SPACE!

Questions & Answers, Textbook writing

Course book versus Textbook

Question:

Submitted by Elaine Borges, Brazil

Is there is a difference between the definition of “course book” and “textbook” for teaching second/foreign languages?

Professor Richards Responds:

No these two terms are used interchangeably.

Questions & Answers, Teaching

Teaching Young Learners

Question:

Submitted by Niloofar, Iran

What would you recommend for someone wanting to learn more about teaching young learners?

Professor Richards Responds:

There is a module on young learners as part of the TKT test, which you can access on-line.

Questions & Answers, Teaching