The History of Teaching English as a Foreign Language, from a British and European Perspective

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HISTORY OF TEACHING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
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Notes on contributors
A. P. R. (Tony) Howatt, now retired, was formerly Senior Lecturer in Applied 
Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh, of which he is a graduate. After leaving 
university, he taught English as a foreign language in Cartagena, Spain, and in 
Cologne, Germany, returning to Edinburgh in the early 1960s to study for the 
Diploma in Applied Linguistics. After a period in Sweden, he returned once more to 
Edinburgh to take up an appointment in the Department of Applied Linguistics where 
he was Head of Department from 1990 to 1993. His publications include A History 
of English Language Teaching, published by Oxford University Press (2nd ed., 2004, 
with H. G. Widdowson), and his current research interests include the history of 
language in education.
Correspondence to: Tony Howatt. Email: [e-mail]
Richard Smith is Associate Professor in the Centre for Applied Linguistics at the 
University of Warwick. His teaching and research interests include the history of 
language teaching and of applied linguistics; textbook analysis; bottom-up innovation 
in ELT/TESOL; learner and teacher autonomy; teacher research engagement; and 
teaching English in ‘difficult circumstances’. He is Co-Editor of the journal Language 
and History, as well as Key Concepts Editor for the ELT Journal. His publications 
in the history of ELT include The Writings of Harold E. Palmer: An Overview 
(Tokyo: Hon-no-Tomosha, 1999), and the two edited multi-volume projects Teach-
ing English as a Foreign Language 1912–1936: Pioneers of ELT (London: Routledge, 
2003) and Teaching English as a Foreign Language, 1936–1961: Foundations of ELT 
(London: Abingdon, 2005). He is the founder of the Warwick ELT Archive.
Correspondence to: Richard Smith. Email: [e-mail]