Thanks to the A. S. Hornby Educational Trust, set up in 1961, hundreds of English language teachers from countries in transition have been able to develop their expertise through postgraduate courses in ELT and (applied) linguistics at UK universities, and through British Council-run Hornby regional schools worldwide.

IATEFL Conference Aberdeen, 19-22 April 2007
In 2007 there are 21 Hornby Scholars in the UK from 19 countries studying for Masters degrees at four UK institutions. All contributed in various ways to their panel discussion at the IATEFL (International Association for Teachers of English as a Foreign Language) conference in Aberdeen, 19-22 April, which focused on key issues of commonality and concern in their countries. Six Scholars led with mini presentations on:

			Post-method approaches in countries in transition (Cameroon, Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Nigeria, Seychelles)
			Continuous assessment in the teaching and learning of English (Argentina, Namibia, Uzbekistan)
			Corpus linguistics - applications and issues (Cuba, Pakistan)
			A reflective turn (Brazil, Cuba, India, Mexico, Sudan)
			Student-centred learning (Cameroon, Chile, Mozambique, Russia, Vietnam)

In addition, Hornby Alumni, Ana Falcao, Ragsana Mammadova, George Omona and Amol Padwad reported in separate presentations on projects they have co-ordinated after returning home from the UK. Ana, Ragsana and George were sponsored by the Hornby Educational Trust to present at IATEFL, while Amol, who was sponsored by the Trust in 2006, was invited back this year by IATEFL as one of their 'Distinct New Voices' to update the conference on the latest developments concerning his project.

Finally, Hornby Scholars and Alumni also contributed to the 'online conference' on the web, by being interviewed and filmed, and taking part on the online discussions.

The special Hornby events were as follows:
Hornby Scholars' panel discussion ‘Teachers speak: English language teaching in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Russia’ chaired by Rod Bolitho, Norwich Institute of Language Education

Find out more about the Hornby Alumni presentations

Summary
Scholars are inspired by their Hornby Educational Trust-sponsored Masters courses in the UK. Nevertheless, some ELT approaches and practices may not be suitable for their countries. They explained how they will adapt approaches in practical, culturally sensitive ways on their return.

Some practical recommendations from the Hornby Scholars:

Harry Kuchah, Cameroon summed up the Hornby Scholars' commitment to encouraging teachers to be independent without undermining their authority. Teachers can be helped to think critically, share knowledge, and support each other in developing professional skills. He quoted the African proverb: 'A good father does not give his son meat. Instead, he gives him a bow and arrow and teaches him to hunt.' Harry noted that Scholars have agreed that they will work through PRESET and INSET provision, as well as Teachers Associations, in their countries to share what they have learnt. Where there isn't a TA, they will think of starting one. In addition, Harry explained that the Scholars plan to work with teachers to build 'classroom libraries', i.e. resources of students' written work and indigenous literature to be used in classroom reading and writing activities.

Simson Shilongo, Namibia argued for learner-centred continuous assessment rather than exams-led teaching. He also made the case for 'parent power'. He explained how students don't get adequate feedback on their progress from teachers, who may have classes of 100 or more. A solution for hard-pressed teachers might be to join forces with parents, who are often eager to help support teachers in educating and assessing their children.

Eduardo Gonzales, Cuba and Faiza Abdulwahid, Pakistan recommended the development of more corpora of regional Englishes, and genre and learner-based corpora. They suggested a particular use for these in the teaching of English for Specific Purposes in their countries. They explained how teachers of business English could exploit corpora of students' use of language in various ways in the classroom, for example both in activities to expand the students' linguistic repertoire as well as in error correction.

Krishna Kalyan Dixit, India advocated an awareness of teachers as persons as well as professionals. He suggested that Scholars address the beliefs that teachers hold about learning and teaching, and enable teachers to discuss and challenge methodologies. This would be more likely than a 'top-down approach' to engage teachers in new approaches and encourage them to develop their skills.

Olga Kuznetsova, Russia talked about 'teacher-centred' and 'student-centred' learning. She explained that teachers are often afraid to relinquish control in the classroom. They think that a more 'relaxed', student-centred approach will make the teacher seem lazy and badly prepared. Teacher trainers need to be sensitive to such concerns, and to realise that views on 'student-centred learning' are affected by different cultural and economic contexts.