2024-present
Newsletter Archives

Welcome to our July 2024 issue! Our feature article is an inspiring description by a team of English teachers in Montenegro of an EFL service-learning project they designed  that had students carry out health surveys,  lean parks, plant trees, help orphanages, visit senior centers and work in a soup kitchen.

Two global events this summer are the Olympics and Paralympics in Paris. To  commemorate these, our main theme this  issue is sports and global issues. We kick off with (1) an EFL unit by Tim Grose on the topic of “sportswashing” with case studies from around the world. Next (2) is a report on a  GILE SIG forum on “sports and English” that featured a famous Japanese Olympic  volleyball coach. Following this is (3) a 2-page spread of class ideas, activities and resources  for teaching about the Olympics. This issue also includes a round-up of all the latest global education news. Have a great summer!

• Summaries of articles on global themes from ELT journals and the mass media

• Conference Report I: PanSIG 2024 (May 24 - 25 in Fukui, Japan)

• GILE PanSIG Forum: Japanese Athletes, Global Sports and English

• Conference Report II: IATEFL 2024 (April 16 - 19 in Brighton, England)

• Teaching about Sportswashing in EFL by Tim Grose

• Service-Learning Projects for EFL in Montenegro by Dragana Radoma, Milka Cerovic and Marija Bojic (ELTAM)

• Upcoming Events: Hiroshima/Nagasaki, European Day of Languages & more!

• Special Feature: Teaching about the 2024 Olympics

• Language teaching textbooks on global education themes

• Book Corner: Books on sportswashing, the Olympics and promoting tolerance.

    Welcome to our first GILE Newsletter of 2024! It was a shock to start the year in Japan with a major earthquake in Ishikawa and a plane collision at Haneda airport. Let’s hope the rest of the year will be more peaceful with fewer natural (and man-made) disasters! This winter issue contains: (1) a description by Jennie Roloff-Rothman of a global issues course she designed on the topic of baseball, (2) an article by Kirk Johnson on a 4-year Peace Wall project he carried out with his students, (3) a report by Timothy Ang about a college LGBT unit he devised for his EFL social issues course and (4) a response by John Spiri to last issue’s theme of banned books. Our special features this edition include a preview of upcoming events for the year 2024 plus ideas on how to teach about the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. This issue also includes a tribute to the late peace educator Betty Reardon, information on Japan’s new 2024 banknotes, a conference report on JALT 2023 (Tsukuba) plus teaching resources for Valentine’s Day, Women’s Day, Landmine Awareness Day and Earth Day.

    Welcome to our first issue of the new academic year! The spring break is over, cherry blossoms are gone and classes are back in session. Our theme this issue is non-governmental organizations. This includes (1) a report by Kristen Sullivan on an “International Volun-teering” course she designed where students support Japanese NGOs, (2) a profile of Seibo Japan which engages students in raising funds for Malawi, and (3) a section on “Teaching about NGOs” that includes class activities, resources, NGO lists and profiles. April 7th marked six months since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, a brutal conflict that has led to a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. To address this, we feature an article by Shelley Wong (USA) and Fatima Hamad (Palestine) who share their thoughts on the crisis, describe its impact on Palestinian teachers and students, and outline actions we can take. Also included are teaching ideas for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, a conference report on TESOL 2024 in Florida and a round-up of all the latest global education news. Good luck with your spring semester!