The first two editions
The first edition of The Practice of English Language Teaching^ those years ago could not have been written without the input and reaction of teacher colleagues and students at the Instituto Anglo-Mexicano de Cultura both in Mexico City and Guadalajara. They, and the trainees I worked with there, shaped the structure and content of that first edition.
At the very beginning I benefited greatly from help, advice, and reports given by Walter Plumb, Jean Pender, Richard Rossner, Donn Byrne and lane Willis. Tim Hunt commissioned the book and ludith King edited it.
For the second edition, I was inspired by comments from Richard Rossner, Julian Edge, and Nick Dawson, and spurred on by Damien Tunnacliffe, who together with Helena Gomm and Alyson Lee saw the work through to its completion.
This new edition
Since the publication of the first edition I have had the great good fortune to work with teachers both in the UK and in many other parts of the world. Their responses and concerns, and the enormous amount I have learnt from attending their papers and workshops, led directly to the second edition of the book and have heavily influenced this new version, as have the many teachers around the world whose lessons I have been privileged to observe, and the students I have had the chance to work with.
As this new edition has gone through its various drafts to emerge in this, its final form, a number of people have direcdy helped the process in many varied and thought-provoking ways.
First among these - and someone to whom 1 owe a real debt of gratitude - is Martin Parrott, whose advice, encouragement, robust criticism and suggestions have been a feature of the writing process from the very beginning of the project. His unerring ability to spot problems of both style or substance saved me from many mishaps and inspired me to go further than I might otherwise have done.
Sally Blackmore's reports gave a clear, penetrating account of what the...