I have professional / research interests and supervise research students in the following areas:
History of language teaching & applied linguistics; Textbook analysis; The cultural politics of ELT/TESOL; Learner autonomy; Teacher development / practitioner research; Teaching English in 'difficult circumstances'.
BACKGROUND
Before coming to Warwick in January 2000, I taught in France and - for a period of 13 years - Japan. My PhD research was in the area of history of language teaching, and in 2002 I founded the Warwick ELT Archive, a unique collection of materials relating to the history of teaching English as a second/foreign language, c.1880-1980. I am currently Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the A.S. Hornby Educational Trust and a member of the Executive Committee of the Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas. In 2008 I was elected joint convenor of the AILA (International Association for Applied Linguistics) Research Network on Learner Autonomy (re-elected for 2011-14) and in 2011 became coordinator of the IATEFL Research Special Interest Group. In the Centre for Applied Linguistics I am now co-convenor (with Ema Ushioda) of the English Language Learning, Teaching, and Assessment (ELLTA) Research Group, having previously been jointly responsible for the setting-up of the Doctorate in Education (Applied Linguistics and English Language Teaching) programme and having recently taken the lead (with Steve Mann) in a comprehensive redesign of the Centre's MA in ELT programmes.
TEACHING PROFILE
Courses Taught
MA module: Professional Practice (English Language Teaching Studies and Methods)
[details]
MA module: Syllabus, Materials, and Task Design
MA module: Research Methodology
EdD/PhD and MA Research Methodology
MA module: ELT Methodology
MA module: English as an International Language
[details]
RESEARCH PROJECTS
Click on the link below to view all research projects
Hunter, D. and R. Smith. Forthcoming.(2012) 'Unpackaging the past: "CLT" through ELTJ keywords
'
ELT Journal
66
(4), (0951-0893)
Smith, R.(2012) 'A.S. Hornby's life and legacy'
ELT Journal
66
(1), 1 - 5 (0951-0893)
Smith, R., with S. Choi, S. Reid, G. Sky and D. Hunter(2011)
Directory of UK ELT Research, 2009-10
(978-086355-664-7) London: The British Council
Smith, R.
(2011) 'Harold E. Palmer's alternative "applied linguistics"'
Histoire Epistémologie Langage
33
(1), 53 - 67 (0750-8069)
Ushioda, E., R. Smith, S. Mann and P. Brown(2011) 'Promoting teacher-learner autonomy through and beyond initial language teacher education'
Language Teaching
44
(1), 118 - 121 (0261-4448)
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