Looking back - moving forward: the legacy of Brian Page

Brian Page was an inspirational figure in language teaching and learning. Always a passionate believer in the independence and influence of language teachers, he was a co-founder of the Association for Language Learning and its first President. The essays in this publication reflect both on Brian's contribution to languages education in the UK during his lifetime and on how his ideas still resonate and inspire today.

'Looking back - moving forward: the legacy Brian Page' contains contributions from Paddy Carpenter, Steven Fawkes, Bernardette Holmes, Lid King, Terry Lamb, Alan Moys, Harmer Parr and Ann Swarbrick.

Essays include:

• Reflections - Alan Moys records Brian's professional achievements and pays tribute to his humour and humanity
• Brian's Big Tiger Story - The anecdote which Brian famously used to explain the relationship between communication and grammar
• Brian and the Splendour of Meanings that Matter - Lid King reflects that we should have listened to Brian's misgivings about the introduction of the National Curriculum
• Some Personal Reminiscences of Brian - Paddy Carpenter and Harmer Parr each celebrate the charisma of 'one of the great popular leaders, perhaps the greatest, of the languages world in the UK'
• Bringing People Together: Brian's Continuing Influence - Steven Fawkes argues that Brian's thinking prefigured developments in languages today
• 'There's No Such Thing as a Cognate' - Ann Swarbrick recalls Brian's challenge to her assumptions about listening comprehension - and sets out the conclusions to which it led her
• 'What is French For?' Remembering Brian, who never shied away from asking the unanswered questions - Bernardette Holmes argues that the Graded Objectives in Modern Languages movement led by Briand anticipated today's moves towards 'a more localised curriculum, where teachers and learners exercise greater control over what and how they are taught'
• Taking Hold of Learning: Developing Learner Autonomy - Terry Lamb emphasises the lasting importance of Brian's concept of learner autonomy in language learning but maintains that educational policies have impeded its full implementation

To order a copy for £5, please contact ALL on info@all-languages.org.uk