methods\initlet

Initial Letter for Possible Contributors to a proposed text titled . . . Particular Approaches: Local Perspectives on English Language Instruction

Greetings,

John Murphy here. My colleague Pat Byrd and I are writing to ask if you would be interested in contributing a chapter to a professional development book. We are at the initial planning stages and we think you would be an excellent contributor to the project. Here is the gist: We plan to serve as co-editors for an L2 teacher development text designed as a core text for MATESOL Methods type courses. We will be soliciting manuscripts of individual chapters from a range of TESOL specialists who are all scholar-teachers in their own rights, and all of whom have strong track records of publications bridging the gap between theory and practices of English Language Teaching (ELT). In addition to our contributions as editor-contributors, we envision 12-16 additional chapters from an equal number of scholar-teachers. Each chapter will provide an articulation of one scholar-teacher's way of teaching a particular ESL/EFL course within a specific context/instructional setting. We'd like the collection to encompass as diverse a range of teaching settings worldwide, as possible. An individual chapter will NOT reflect a generic discussion of ELT but will focus on a particular ESL/EFL course being taught (or recently taught) in the real world. To help ensure the collection will be easier to use within MATESOL Methods type courses, we will ask each contributor to follow a similar organizational plan. If you are interested in learning more about the chapter organizational plan, we have posted it as a website on the internet (see the URLs immediately below) or let us know and we will forward hard copies (or email copies) to you:

Full Version ==> http://www.gsu.edu/~esljmm/methods/chapstructure.htm or Skeleton Version ===> http://www.gsu.edu/~esljmm/methods/struskel.htm As mentioned above, none of the chapters will be devoted to any of the global (i.e., designer) methods already widely discussed in TESL/TEFL literatures. Rather, each chapter will focus on a particular ESL/EFL course, treating a specific skill/topic/content area, as the course is taught by either the contributor or the contributor's collaborator/co-author (e.g., an ESL/EFL teacher with whom the contributor works closely). In addition to the website, we have more details available to share with you. For example, I can forward reprints of two of my own journal articles reflecting an earlier (published) version of the kind of chapter-discussions we have in mind. We think the reprints will be useful as illustrations of possibilities. If you are interested in seeing these materials, please let me know (by phone, e-mail, or snail-mail, as you prefer). To anyone who is not "internet active," I will forward the chapter format (and any other requisite materials) upon request. If you decide to participate in this project, the first piece of prose we will be asking you to forward is a two page description of the ESL/EFL course you will target as the centerpiece for your subsequent manuscript. [link to ==> time-line info.] A two page description should include background information such as setting for the course, type of institution in which it is offered, type of students, needs focus of the course, length of course, course objectives, etc. We will then use a set of 12-16 such prose descriptions as components of the book proposal to publishers. Pat and I hope we can work with you on this project. Even if you decide not to participate, we are very interested in hearing from you concerning suggestions for other possible contributors (i.e., "scholar-teacher/TESOL-specialists" as described above).

Best wishes

John Murphy
Associate Professor
Department of Applied Linguistics and ESL
College of Arts and Sciences / Room 1018 Urban Life Bldg
Georgia State University Atlanta, GA 30302
(404) 651-3224 (W)
(770) 270-9028 (H)
FAX: (404) 651-3652
Home page: http://www.gsu.edu/~esljmm/methods/home.htm