From time to time Dr. Richards will respond to questions posed to him here.Only general questions related to important issues in language teaching will be answered. Questions on other issues will not be acknowledged or answered.
In many instances the information you need can be found on the internet so please search there before contacting Dr. Richards with a question.
The International TESOL organization as part of their 50th anniversary have honored Jack Richards as one of the 50 TESOL specialists worldwide to have made a significant impact on language teaching in the last 50 years.
A book edited by David Nunan and Jack Richards, Language Learning Beyond the Classroom, has received an excellent write-up in ELT Journal. Reviewer Phil Benson concluded:
Nunan and Richards end their preface to the book by outlining several themes that emerge from it. Out-of-class activities, they argue, address some of the limitations of classroom-based learning, especially through opportunities for authentic language use and real communication. Benefits include, in addition to the development of language and communication skills, enhanced confidence and motivation, personal growth, and intercultural awareness. They also conclude that there is a need to integrate out-of-class and classroom learning, by setting clear goals for out-of-class activities, preparing students, and providing follow-up activities. These are sound conclusions to a book that deserves to be widely read and discussed.
The full review is available at the ELT Journal website.
See Lixin Zhang play on the Tiromoana Summer Concerts page…
Professor Merrill Swain interviewed Dr. Richards in January 2016 about his new book: Key Issues in Language Teaching.
As long-time supporter of the Gisborne International Music Competition, Jack has been invited to become the patron of the event.
Ms. Jane Putnam has been appointed curator of the Jack C Richards decorative arts collection. In this capacity she will develop a data base for the several hundred items in the collection, monitor the condition of items, prepare documentation on pieces and liaise with galleries displaying items from the collection.
Key Issues in Language Teaching – a major overview and discussion of the field of English language teaching, was published in September 2015, by Cambridge University Press. Jack has been working on this project for over 5 years. The final book is 826 pages and is available both as a print book and an e-book.
Jack’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.
The piano concerto commissioned by Jack from New Zealand composer Gareth Farr in 2014, had a repeat performance on April 1 2015.
Pianist Tony Lee returned to perform the concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London.
Following the enthusiastic reception of the piece for bassoon and piano Jack commissioned from Chinese composer Gao Ping, Jack has commissioned a further piece – a trio for piano, flute and bassoon. You can hear the bassoon and piano piece played on Saturday Jan 10th 2015 during the Tiromoana Summer Concert Series here.
Two of Dr. Richards books will be published in Korean Translations: Curriculum Development in Language Teaching, and Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics and Language Teaching.
Dr. Richards has been awarded the Award for Patronage 2014, by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand, acknowledging his support for music and the arts. Read more here.
Dr Richards has accepted an invitation to join the Faculty of Education at the University of Auckland as an honorary professor. In this role he will consult with research students and give guest lectures.
The book A Splendid Isolation, by Sheridan Gundry, about Gisborne from 1950 – 2012 contains this section on Professor Richards.