ELTon awards explained

The ELTons (English Language Teaching Innovation Awards) are international awards given annually by the British Council that recognise and celebrate innovation in the field of English language teaching. They reward educational resources that help English language learners and teachers to achieve their goals using innovative content, methods or media. The ELTons date from 2003 and the 2018 sponsors of the awards are Cambridge English Language Assessment and IELTS. Applications are submitted by the end of November each year and they are judged by an independent panel of ELT experts, using the Delphi Technique. The shortlist is published in March and the winners announced at a ceremony in London in June. The 2018 awards were held in a new venue, Savoy Place, Institute of Engineering and Technology, London, UK.

2003 winners

2004 winners

2005 winners

2006 winners

2007 winners

2008 winners

2009 winners

2010 winners

2011 winners

2012 winners

2013 winners

2014 winners

Described at the ceremony as a name synonymous with “must-have texts” and “an influence on a generation of students”, influential writer and award-winning poet, Michael Swan was announced as the winner of the lifetime achievement award for his contribution to English language teaching.

2015 winners

The 2015 British Council Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Henry Widdowson, is a leading authority in applied linguistics and in communicative language teaching, an approach which stresses the importance of interaction, authentic, natural language, a focus on the learning process, and on the student's personal experiences both inside and outside the classroom.

2016 winners

Catherine Walter is known by many thousands of teachers and students worldwide as a teacher, lecturer and researcher, most recently as University lecturer in Applied Linguistics at the Department of Education and Fellow of Linacre College, University of Oxford and Vice-Principal of Linacre College (until 2015), as well as senior lecturer at the Institute of Education, University of London, and at academic and teachers’ conferences in over 30 countries worldwide. She is perhaps most renowned by the global ELT community, as the writer of many significant resources on the bookshelves of classrooms worldwide. These include: The Cambridge English Course, The New Cambridge English Course, The Good Grammar Book and How English Works (co-written with Michael Swan). Over the years, her expertise has been sought by the Bell Educational Trust, the British Publishers Association, the University Council for General and Applied Linguistics and the British Council. Catherine Walter has a passion for equality, holding welfare, equality and equal opportunities positions at the University of Oxford and the Institute of Education. Catherine Walter was also the first female chair of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL) and then president.

2017 Winners

Professor Carter (University of Nottingham, MBE for services to education) has been a major positive influence in English Language Teaching, with a service spanning several decades. He has written and edited over forty books and over one hundred articles, including the very influential Cambridge Grammar of English (CUP, 2006), co-written with Michael McCarthy, which won the 2007 British Council English Language Innovation Award. Ron has been a pioneer in the application of corpora (especially spoken ones) to the development of pedagogical materials and teacher resources. Professor Ron Carter has been at Nottingham University since 1979 and has been director of the Centre for English Language Education and head of the School of English. He was a founder member of PALA (Poetics and Linguistics Association) in the 1980s and one of its first chairs. From 1989 to 1992 he directed nationwide the Language in the National Curriculum (LINC) Project. He was elected a life member of NATE (National Association for the Teaching of English) in 2007. He is on the editorial boards of numerous international academic and professional journals. He has lectured in over 40 countries worldwide. He was also chair of BAAL (British Association for Applied Linguistics) from 2003 to 2006 and was recently elected a fellow of the British Academy for Social Sciences. He received an MBE for services to local and national higher education in the 2009 New Year's Honours list and in 2013 was awarded an honorary doctorate (DUniv) from the Open University for his contributions to the field of applied linguistics. He is currently closely involved with the work of Cambridge University Press Syndicates as a member of the Operating Board of the Press and as chair of the Education and ELT Publishing Committee. He also holds an affiliated lectureship in the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages at the University of Cambridge.

2018 Winners

Tessa Woodward is an ELT consultant, a teacher, teacher trainer, and for many years was the Professional Development Co-ordinator at Hilderstone College, Broadstairs, Kent, UK. She has trained teachers in Japan, Switzerland, the UK, USA, and, for short stints, in many European countries. She regularly gives presentations at ELT conferences. She is the founder editor of The Teacher Trainer journal, now in its 31st volume, for Pilgrims, Canterbury, UK. She is a past president and International Ambassador of IATEFL and founded the IATEFL Special Interest Group for Teacher Trainers (now the SIG T Ed/TT). She is the author of many books and articles for language teachers and for teacher trainers. Tessa is also the founder of The Fair List. Her qualifications include an RSA Diploma in TEFL, and an M. Phil in Education from Exeter University.

2019 Winners

Professor David Crystal is one of the world’s foremost experts on the English language.

Professor Crystal’s work, spanning writing, research, talks, lectures, and radio and television broadcasts, have had an enormous influence on those with an interest in language worldwide. His clear, eloquent and often humorous explanations of English grammar, spelling, punctuation and pronunciation, as well as his works on Shakespeare, have inspired generations to understand how language works.

His books can be found in schools, universities and homes around the world, treasured by English language educators and students young and old. Professor Crystal has a global influence. Nominations for the award were received as far and wide as Russia, Ethiopia and New Zealand.

His influence on the world of English extends to its institutions, through his patronage of the UK National Literacy Association, the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language, and the British Council, to name but a few.

As the UK’s national treasure of linguistics, the British Council is honoured to present Professor Crystal with the ELTons award for Outstanding Contribution 2019.

2020 Winners

Opal Dunn is responsible for the enthusiasm of many teachers around the world for using picture books as a flexible resource and to provide children around the world – girls and boys – with exposure to rich, authentic language. Opal wrote many children’s picture books, which were translated into multiple languages and donated hundreds of picture books worldwide. In Japan, in 1977, she pioneered the creation of mother and child groups (the International Children’s Bunko) to support bilingual, bicultural families. Opal was honoured by the Japanese Presidency in 2010 for services to Japanese families. The judges commented she was ahead of her time, in a world where now, more and more children grow up with multiple languages. The judges were quoted as saying ‘nobody has done more, for longer for teaching English to young learners than Opal, and your impact continues’.

ELTons Judges’ Commendations for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

2021 Winners

A.S. Hornby (1898-1978) was a distinguished English language specialist who began his career as a teacher in Japan. He then worked for the British Council and helped found ELT Journal, and, later, IATEFL. While teaching in Japan, Hornby and colleagues compiled an innovative dictionary for learners of English, which became the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, one of OUP’s best-selling titles ever. Hornby donated a substantial part of his royalties to create the A.S. Hornby Educational Trust in 1961.

In partnership with the British Council, during the 60 years since then the Trust has supported over 470 ELT professionals from around the world via Hornby Scholarships, and thousands more via regional schools, an alumni network and Teacher Association project awards. The Trust also supports dictionary-related research and research into the history of ELT.

ELTons Judges’ Commendations for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

ELTons Judges’ Commendations for Environmental Sustainability and Climate Action

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Peace and sustainable development top ELTons Innovation Awards . 2022-03-06 . www.britishcouncil.org.

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