Vinicius Nobre: Jack, you have worn many different hats throughout your incredible career, contributing to the ELT community in Brazil and worldwide in several ways. Can you tell us a little bit more about your professional ventures so far? How did it all start? What are some of the most memorable landmarks in your professional life?
Jack Scholes: One important and unforgettable landmark for me was being interviewed on several occasions on the talk show Programa do Jô to discuss my work and some of the books I’ve written. But let’s go back to where it all started. I started my career as a teacher of German in England, then went to Germany to teach English. After graduating in Modern Languages, I did a VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas), teaching English in Nepal. Bitten by the travel bug, I travelled around Asia doing short jobs teaching English in several countries such as Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. On my return to England, I taught English in a private language school in London. At this point I really felt the need for further qualifications, so I went to London University to get a PGCE in TEFL.
After this, I became a contract teacher with the British Council to teach at the Cultura Inglesa in São Paulo. It was a 2-year contract and I fully intended to leave Brazil afterwards, but I ended up staying for more than 30 years! This was probably the most memorable landmark in my professional life because Brazil gave me the opportunity to be able to do really exciting, challenging, and amazing things in my career. During this time, I have done a vast variety of ELT-related work, including:
- Six years as Brazil Manager and alsoSouthern Cone Manager for Longman
- Seven years as owner and founder of SBS
- Brazil Area Manager for Phoenix ELT
- Quality Auditor for City & Guilds/Pitman Qualifications
- Senior Academic Advisor at iLang, a web-based language instruction service
- Freelance teacher, teacher trainer,
- NLP trainer, translator
- Author of several books for EFL learners and teachers
I have also been an International Teacher Trainer and Conference Speaker for Helbling English since 2005 and continue with this very enjoyable and gratifying work. Last, but by no means least, I have just retired from one of the best jobs ever as Editor of New Routes.
VN: New Routes has helped thousands of educators develop professionally, shape their views regarding language teaching, keep an up-to-date perspective of the educational scenario and has also given lots of teachers the opportunity to publish their work. Do you feel you have achieved your goals as the editor of NR? How has the publication changed throughout these years?
JS: If what you say about New Routes is true, and I believe it is, then my goals as editor have undoubtedly been achieved. When New Routes was first launched in 1997, most language teachers had little access to publications to provide support and information. One of the major goals of the magazine was to offer features, interviews and articles of direct relevance and immediate interest to teachers in the classroom completely free-of-charge. At the beginning, many internationally renowned authorities on language teaching and learning contributed to New Routes, but in more recent years one of the major changes has been the amazing contributions from Brazilian teachers and educators. There have even been entire issues with only contributions from Brazil!
VN: You have selected and edited hundreds of articles, interviewed really relevant professionals and written your share of content too. Can you share with us some of the stories you will take with you as the editor of New Routes? What are some of the challenges, achievements or funny moments you haven’t really shared with anyone yet?
JS: The biggest challenge as editor was always prospecting for good contributors, convincing them to write, and then having to nag them about deadlines and word length. Major achievements include successfully publishing original contributions from internationally renowned luminaries of the ELT world. I feel particularly proud to have been able to interview many of these. Memorable moments come from the time when I used to record the interview in person, transcribe it and then edit the text for publication. This involves a huge amount of work which can sometimes be really challenging. For example, I remember once interviewing the inimitable Jack Richards at TESOL Vancouver. Jack is from New Zealand, speaks very fast, and often doesn’t complete a sentence before digressing to another fascinating topic! I also had the honour to interview David Crystal in São Paulo when he came to launch his fascinating new book Language Death. After finishing this interview, we were having coffee and chatting and when I told him I would love to interview him about so many of his brilliant works, he excitedly said, ‘Let’s do it then!’ Halfway through the second interview, we were interrupted and told that all the major media were waiting for him, and he very politely said, ‘Well, please just tell them I’m busy talking to Jack.’ The result was not one, but two amazing interviews. David subsequently very kindly wrote a perfect Forword for my book – Slang – Gírias atuais do inglês. David is a brilliant linguist, author of hundreds of books about the English language and is also a charming and very generous man.
VN: As the editor of New Routes, you have witnessed trends, breakthroughs and innovations in the teaching of English as a foreign language. How would you assess the history of ELT in Brazil? How has the landscape changed in the past decades?
JS: Quite simply, the progress of ELT teaching in recent decades in Brazil has been truly phenomenal! Irrespective of any trends or innovations, I have witnessed a lot of hard work, study and incredible dedication of teachers to their craft, which has resulted in amazing and rapid professional development. It is thrilling to see so many Brazilian speakers at international conferences on a par with the best in the world. This is also reflected in excellent and successful materials by Brazilian authors, published nationally and internationally.
VN: And what were some of the watershed events in the history of ELT in your opinion? What approaches, resources, beliefs or historical moments have impacted the teaching of English as a foreign language the most?
JS: The first major watershed event was undoubtedly the rise of the communicative approach in the 1970s and the early 1980s and the break away from traditional methods such as grammar translation. Even before and since then we have seen a plethora of approaches, methods and beliefs, all of which have their own value, but all of which are equally open to criticism. It’s important for teachers to keep up-to-date and fully informed. One of the best ways to do this is to join and participate in regional, national and international conferences, if possible. BRAZ-TESOL is a must for any serious ELT teacher. Find out what works best for you and your students and remember that there simply is no one-size-fits-all in ELT. Also be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater, as the wonderful English expression warns.
VN: Considering your vast experience in the field, how do you think the pandemic has impacted the ELT industry? Do you think we are going to face significant changes in the way we teach and learn because of everything we have been through due to the COVID-19 crisis?
JS: In terms of the UK ELT industry specifically, the impact of COVID-19 has been unprecedented, with the massive drop in international student numbers, which has resulted in a huge direct loss in revenue. Distance learning has almost completely replaced traditional teaching methods due to the COVID-19 pandemic and distance learning methodology and online lessons have raised a number of new questions and challenges. I think teachers have reacted positively, adapted well and overcome many of the difficulties, learning new skills in the process. Teachers will be able to continue using and benefitting from many of these new skills and adapting them to their needs once face-to-face teaching returns. I personally have not been able to travel to train teachers, but I’ve been presenting several webinars around the world, which for me are not the same as being able to work with teachers in person, but can still be very effective, particularly in terms of time and costs.
VN: If you were given the power to change anything in the ELT market in Brazil, what would you choose to do? What should we prioritize in order to improve the quality of teaching in our country?
JS: Focus on teaching young learners and establish a policy to support and finance the implementation of compulsory ELT in all schools at primary level. This must also be accompanied by adequate training for teachers and suitable learning resources and support materials specially designed for young learners. Not only would this be of huge benefit to the country and all students, but it would also be effective in allowing children from lower socio-economic backgrounds to acquire a global language and be able to have access to a world of opportunities currently only available to rich students.
VN: We all know that some trends are here to stay while some buzz words will turn out to be mere fads. What should ELT professionals keep an eye on and invest their time in?
JS: The Lexical Approach is definitely a game-changer and worthwhile investing time in. I was privileged to personally interview Norbert Schmitt for New Routes #55 – January 2015. He is one of the world’s leading authorities on vocabulary acquisition, who very interestingly said, “We know formulaic language is important, but we’re still trying to figure the pedagogy out.”
VN: You have met and worked with an impressive range of professionals and might be able to help us answer one of the most difficult questions in teacher development: “What makes a good teacher?”. Based on your experience, how do
we identify great teachers?
JS: Passion! A good teacher is passionate about the subject they teach and shows passion and enthusiasm when they are in the classroom. It becomes contagious! A good teacher should also love to always learn more, love human beings and be passionate about helping others to learn. I often advise teachers who complain about students who don’t want to learn, or don’t seem to be interested, by suggesting they should – Show interest in their ‘apparent’ lack of interest! If a teacher does not have or is not prepared to develop these qualities, they will never be a great teacher. I like this quote from the Lebanese-American writer Khalil Gibran “The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.”
VN: In recent years, we have been witnessing a continuous discussion about the duality of native and non-native speakers as teachers – including the use of the term itself. Having worked with a range of professionals, do you think this is a valid debate?
JS: I’m just surprised this continues to be discussed any more! Quite simply, qualified, knowledgeable, non-native speaker teachers clearly have all the advantages if compared to unknowledgeable, non-qualified native teachers. In any case, the realistic aim of anyone learning any foreign language is to be a highly proficient speaker who has what is termed ‘functional nativeness’ and not to speak like a native speaker (whatever that is supposed to mean!). We need to just do away with this whole concept, especially when used as a marketing tool to attract new students. I’m horrified when I see adverts for
new teachers that stipulate they must be native speakers! Yikes!
VN: You have researched and written books about language, language use and language awareness, helping learners of both English and Portuguese vocabulary in the process of learning a foreign language and what advice can you offer teachers who wish to develop their own lexical range and accuracy?
JS: As David Wilkins once said, “Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.” I presented a webinar for Disal last year entitled – Improving Fluency and Boosting Confidence – where I talked about the important role of vocabulary in the process of learning a foreign language. Click on the link and check it out if you like. The best advice for teachers and learners who wish to develop their own lexical range and accuracy
is to read, read and then read some more!
VN: Do you have a favourite word or expression in English? How about in Portuguese?
JS: A word I like and use a lot in English is – fantastic. One of my favourite words in Portuguese, which is hardly ever used by anyone is – furibundo. It just sounds so nice!
VN: You are an inspiration to a whole generation of teachers. What message would you leave to all the educators who look up to you?
JS: Be yourself and enjoy yourself. Make what you do special, spectacular. Notice and value your triumphs and praise yourself. Think or say something like – Good job! Well done!
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