It seems a while now since Dr John Macalister was so heavily involved in planning the new OCESOL syllabus. The syllabus has stood the test of time and is used by a variety of ESOL students throughout New Zealand. Of particular value to teachers is the focus that John placed on matching syllabus tasks to the normal classroom work of students, so that teachers do not have to develop a completely separate programme of work. This means that a Speech New Zealand exam is able to ‘flow out’ of the work students are already doing. In designing the syllabus in this way, John showed a deep understanding of the needs of the busy ESOL teacher.

We decided to catch up with John and see what he’s doing now. Currently on the staff of Victoria University of Wellington’s School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, John is teaching and coordinating courses in academic writing and language teaching methodology, and also teaching a course on the second language curriculum. His book (co-authored with I. S. P. Nation) Language Curriculum Design has just been published by Routledge.

He has worked on English language teaching and course design projects in Kiribati, Namibia and Cambodia and has recently been involved in the Vanuatu Education Assistance Programme as a teacher trainer. At present he’s contributing to a training course for teachers of Samoan in New Zealand.

With established research interests in second language reading and writing, lexicography and New Zealand English, John has recently begun researching fluency in both speech and reading. In a recent groundbreaking study, he looked at the effectiveness of speed reading courses for ESOL students, concluding that a well run speed reading course can enhance students’ reading fluency. His work on spoken fluency development will be of particular interest to teachers working with the Speech New Zealand OCESOL syllabus, and we look forward to seeing the results of his research.