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Simon Gooch
Tutor in English For Academic Purposes, Faculty of Social Sciences
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Biography
I've been a teacher of English for over 35 years now - and I'm still smiling! I've worked in a number of fascinating places including Turkey, Spain, Hungary and Oman and had many brilliant experiences working with both students and teachers. I've been a tutor for English for Academic Purposes for over 10 years at different UK universities and have recently helped develop some of the quite unique pre-sessional PEAP courses here at the University of Nottingham, including PEAP 4, PEAP Engineering, PEAP Business & Management and PEAP Education. I now work with students as part of the ALACS team.
I have an MA in Applied Linguistics for English Language Teaching. Professionally, I'm particularly interested in the practicalities of teaching and how to make the EAP classroom a more challenging and academically stimulating environment where all students can work co-operatively in pursuit of their own personal goals. I am a member of BALEAP (a professional association for tutors of English for Academic Purposes) and EAP in the East Midlands and regularly attend meetings to share ideas and experiences with EAP tutors from other institutions. I have also written articles and (co-)presented at a number of BALEAP Conferences and PIMs on a variety of different EAP-related areas such as testing, discipline-focussed EAP, prosody in academic speaking, reflection and the use of student conferences.
Teaching Summary
As a teacher of English for Academic Purposes, I'm really interested in how writers in different academic disciplines use language, both when writing and speaking. I'm also interested in how to help… read more
I go walking, mainly in the Peak District, whenever I can (and whenever I'm not likely to get too wet!) and if you see a cyclist battling against a head wind (why is it always against you rather than behind you?) along the Nottingham canal, then it could be me on my way to work. I swim regularly (though not in the canal!)
I have some practical building skills, though these are in short supply - at the moment my kitchen is in a state of chaos ....
As a teacher of English for Academic Purposes, I'm really interested in how writers in different academic disciplines use language, both when writing and speaking. I'm also interested in how to help encourage and develop critical thinking and how this might differ across different disciplines. As part of this, I'm also very interested in the role of reflection as a way to helping students develop more confidence and belief in their own abilities. More recently, I have become interested in how to introduce digital technologies into the EAP classroom and how these might emcourage a more independent approach to learning.
All of the above areas tend to come together in my main interest - EAP course design. I love the challenge of fitting different strands and key elements of courses together to try and make a coherent and purposeful whole which will have true benefits for students moving onto their specific academic courses.