GRAHAM V. CROOKES is Professor in the Department of Second Language Studies (SLS), and also has administrative responsibilities there as Executive Director, ESL Programs. He received his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and his MA in ESL from the University of Hawai'i. He also holds postgraduate certificates from the University of London, in education, and from the University of Essex, in applied linguistics.
Dr. Crookes's specialties include theoretical foundations for second language learning, the methodology of second language teaching, and teacher development (including practice teaching supervision). From 1993 to 1995 he was Director of the Center for Second Language Research at the University of Hawai'i, where he initiated and participated in a variety of research projects, including especially work on classroom behavior and teaching outcomes. In 1997 he concluded a five-year term as Co-Editor of the Brief Reports and Summaries section of the TESOL Quarterly, and in 1999 completed his third term on the Editorial Advisory Board of that publication.
Besides teaching regular graduate courses for the UH Dept. of SLS,
he
has conducted courses and workshops for teachers in a variety of
settings
around the world, especially on teaching methodology and on action
research.
He has published in academic journals such as Language Learning,
TESOL
Quarterly, Applied Linguistics,and Studies in Second Language
Acquisition.
He was co-editor (with S. M. Gass) of a two volume series on task-based
language teaching (Tasks in a pedagogical context and Tasks
and
language learning) published by Multilingual Matters in 1993. His
most recent book is A practicum in
TESOL: professional development through teaching practice,
published by Cambridge University Press in 2003.
email address: <crookes@hawaii.edu>
Original text October1996; updated.
And now, in my own voice: My more recent professional interests also include action research, alternative pedagogies in language teaching contexts, language teachers' philosophies of teaching, and the special characteristics of English as a Foreign Language teaching, viewed from a critical perspective.
On the first of these, action research, some time ago I published a review of the area that drew attention to the importance of the participatory, or critical, variety of action research:
Action
research for second language teachers—going beyond teacher research .
On the matter of alternative pedagogies: I see this, first, as a large and diverse collection of perspectives on language teaching, most of which have never been part of the mainstream of education or even of common language teaching, but which because of the special contexts of some second language teaching programs, occasionally have the opportunity to flourish. Some of them are concerned with the person, or indeed of non-mainstream understandings of the person as learner; others are more concerned with the language learner in society, and these may combine this understanding with a desire to improve society. Recently it has been suggested to me that these might be placed under the (optimistic, sunny, and transparent) heading of "language teaching to improve the world"! In recent years I have been able to offer courses on both aspects of this area in our MA program.
I have also reflected, in print, on some aspects of critical pedagogy in the SL teacher education context:
Reflections on an ESL critical pedagogy teacher education course.
More recently, I developed an overview of two components of this area (in a forthcoming book chapter):
(The full range of possibilities here can be explored in our recently-established "specialization" within the MA program in my department.)
Teachers' philosophies of teaching guide their practice, or should do. I have come to believe that it is very important that teacher education programs provide teachers-in-development with the resources to help them clarify their views and values as teachers. Job interviews, teacher portfolios, and contract renewal procedures increasing call for a statement of one's philosophy of teaching. For a short overview of the matter, see this unpublished manuscript; this too reflects my teacher education course offerings in the last few years.
EFL specialists, including students in MA programs based in the U.S. have sometimes complained that their special concerns and issues seem to be neglected within TESOL-oriented programs, or within the research-oriented aspects of the field. Perhaps the situation is improving... the link here is simply to a partial bibliography dating from 2000 that still may be of some use to students: EFL bibliography.
An early attempt to review some issues and actions, written in 1989,
is "Grassroots
action to improve ESL programs". I returned to the matter at
various
times, including 1997 What
influences how and what second and foreign language teachers teach,
and via a small study jointly conducted with Lowell Arakaki back in
1992
(but published much later) on teachers'
working conditions in a small program. This also addresses teachers' idea
sources. A related matter, concern about
the
flow of ideas between teachers and academics in our field, is touched on
in a 1997 piece which refers to a "socioeducational
perspective" on this connection. This was written in a standard
academic voice, to be read by those academics interested in the matter
(one reviewer said it had too many footnotes!); a more accessible
version appeared in TESOL Journal,
and this
is it. Subsequently, I briefly addressed what I believe are the
implications
of these poor working conditions, and in particular, the axing of
instructional
programs, for the US post-secondary FL sector, in this AAAL
conference paper from Spring 2000.
On the matter of teachers' (poor) working conditions again: these
have implications for teacher education in our field, and the actions
of teachers to improve them deserve to be documented. I was happy to be
able to add some parts to work done by a colleague investigating this
area, Steven Talmy, in this joint
paper on the topic. (A revised version of it now appears in the
important new journal Critical
Inquiry in
Language Studies.)
Takashi Yoshida presents an account
of
cultural
multiplicity in Japan.
Melissa Reeve shares her experiences developing
portfolio-based assessment in one of her classes.
Yoneko Narita
reflects
on aspects of teacher
induction programs, drawing upon her time in the JET program.
Terri
Menacker addresses the matter
of
critical
language awareness as the basis of an approach to language pedagogy.
Hye-sun Cho's (2001) MA graduating paper
reviewed a
grassroots teacher development network in Korea.
Additional links on topics of professional interest to me:
Radical/alternative pedagogies
an alternative education network
A recent presentation of teacher research into feminist and critical pedagogy ideas in a Japanese as a foreign language classroom, conducted by two of my colleagues with some assistance from me.
This section is a rough accumulation of additional somewhat relevant links and background information.
Feminist pedagogy and SL studies short bibliography (2000)
Students thinking of publishing: check here for a partial list of journals of relevance to us. There are more journals out there than most people realize, and most of them are always looking for interesting material.
Recent (2004) informal family picture:
Half-minute self-introduction movie