Launching the ELTons 2013
12 September 2012
The British Council has made a worldwide call for applications to the ELTons 2013. Celebrating its eleventh year, the awards, run by the British Council and sponsored by Cambridge ESOL, are a celebration of innovation and excellence in English language teaching (ELT) from around the world.
ELT professionals can apply in five categories this year: Excellence in Course Innovation, Innovation in Learner Resources, Innovation in Teacher Resources, Digital Innovation, and Local Innovation, as well as The Macmillan Education Award for Innovative Writing.
Michael Carrier, Director of Business Innovation and Partnerships for English and Exams at the British Council said: "The ELTons have grown to become an essential fixture in the ELT calendar and we are proud to host this event with our sponsors Cambridge ESOL and Macmillan Education. The ELTon awards are a wonderful opportunity to showcase innovative ELT products and creative ELT authors from around the world, and we are delighted to be able to bring the ELT community together to celebrate innovation in our profession.
In this new digital age where everyone can gain access to information everywhere, it is even more important that we learn how to innovate digitally while guaranteeing educational quality and principles, and this is what the ELTons help us to focus on.”
Since last year, UK and international ELT professionals have competed alongside each other in the same categories – in recognition of the increased mobility and globalisation in the sector.
The Macmillan Education Award for Innovative Writing is sponsored by Macmillan Education and gives previously unpublished writers the opportunity to win a £1,000 prize and have their work published. Through this award the British Council aims to discover and encourage up and coming ELT authors to take the next step in their writing careers.
The British Council Lifetime Achievement Award, now in its third year, awards an ELT professional who has made a substantial contribution to the ELT profession throughout their career. Michael Carrier added, “In any profession there are a number of outstanding leaders and innovators who change the landscape of the profession and have a lasting impact on the way that we think about our work. Each year we are award the British Council Lifetime Achievement Award to one of those outstanding leaders in English Language Teaching, to celebrate their long career in ELT and to express the profession’s gratitude for their contribution to how we work and how we help our students and teachers in their aspirations. Past winners of the award have included Alan Maley, Ingrid Fairbairn and Brian Abbs, and we look forward to celebrating this year’s Lifetime Achievement winner.
The British Council is the UK’s cultural relations organisation, and builds relationships for the UK through English, education and the arts. It teaches English in more than 80 countries through face-to-face contact and innovative methods including radio, the internet and mobile technology.
Any ELT professional can apply for consideration for one of the categories including authors, teachers, trainers and publishers. Application packs can be downloaded from http://englishagenda.britishcouncil.org/eltons and the deadline for submissions is 23 November 2012.
Applications will be judged by a panel of ELT experts and the winners are announced at a prestigious ELTons awards ceremony, held in London on 22 May 2013.
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For more information, contact Mark Moulding in the British Council Press Office on +44 (0) 207 389 4889 – or mark.moulding@britishcouncil.org
Notes to Editors:
ELTons
The ELTons (British Council Innovation Awards) are offered to outstanding new language learning products and services, and aspiring ELT authors, that use innovative ideas to help learners achieve their goals, or to innovative research which has clear practical benefits for English language teaching. For more information please visit http://englishagenda.britishcouncil.org/eltons
The British Council
The British Council creates international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and builds trust between them worldwide. We are a Royal Charter charity, established as the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations.
Our 7000 staff in over 100 countries work with thousands of professionals and policy makers and millions of young people every year through English, arts, education and society programmes.
We earn over 75% of our annual turnover of £739 million from services which customers pay for, education and development contracts we bid for and from partnerships. A UK Government grant provides the remaining 25%. We match every £1 of core public funding with over £3 earned in pursuit of our charitable purpose.
For more information, please visit: www.britishcouncil.org. You can also keep in touch with the British Council through http://twitter.com/britishcouncil and http://blog.britishcouncil.org/.
