Interview
 David Nunan
Dr. David C. Nunan is a world renowned linguist and specialist in the field of TESOL.
An acclaimed author of many teacher training textbooks as well as coursebooks,
Professor Nunan has also served on a number of executive, academic and editorial
boards. He is past President of TESOL
(Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages), is currently the President of
Anaheim University and teaches at the Hong Kong University.
He resides in Hong Kong with his family.
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On Teaching
ELT: How has ELT changed since you started in the profession?
DN: When I started teaching, we were in the grip of audiolingualism. So the biggest
change I experienced was the impact of communicative language teaching, which
began to have an impact in the mid-1970s, and is still going on today.
How do you find ways to motivate yourself as a teacher, lecturer, and
researcher?
I love what I do, and when you love what you do, then you are automatically
motivated. I sometimes stop and think "Gee, they actually PAY me to do
this!"
On Research
Over the past decade, there has been a shift towards the idea of student
independence when they learn English, and substantial research has been done on
'learner-centered' approaches to teaching. Is this the way English is going to
be taught over the next decade?
This really depends on the context. In some contexts, the degree to which you
can foster independent learning is restricted by either cultural factors or the
prior learning experiences of the students. Learner-centeredness is more of an
attitude that an approach. Also, I would not say that learner-centeredness is
necessarily synonymous with independence - although in most situations it is.
How much of your work time involves academic research? What avenues are you
currently pursuing and why?
About one-third of my work time involves academic research. Currently, I am
involved in two projects. One of these looks at the impact of new technology on
learning outcomes. The other is looking at how learner conceptions of language
and learning change as a result of exposure to learner-centered instruction.
In your experience as a professor to candidates for the Master-level
TESOL/TEFL courses, what generally separates a 'good' thesis/dissertation from
an 'excellent' one?
The excellent dissertation has a degree of creativity and originality that is
generally missing from the 'good' dissertation.
On Textbooks
How long do you spend on research and writing for any course textbook?
It generally takes around four years, although my new series for younger learners,
Go For It, took seven years, and involved writing eight drafts.
What aspect of the writing process is the most time-consuming?
Rewriting successive drafts as a result of feedback from teachers who pilot the
materials. I have to achieve a compromise between my ideas and what teachers and
learners are ready to accept.
Both your course series 'Listen In' and 'Speak Out' have been described by the
publisher as "Made for Asia". Does this imply that particular teaching techniques
or exercises are more effective for an Asian setting than an international one?
I think that the basic concepts apply to most EFL situations - e.g. don't overload
the students with lots of new vocabulary and grammar, don't ask learners to come up
with language that they haven't been specifically prepared for etc. The biggest
difference is in terms of the topics, the contexts in which the language is taught,
and the overall 'look' of the materials.
Your latest course textbook, 'Go For It!', is aimed at middle and high school
students. What motivated you to write a course for such a group?
I wanted to see whether my ideas on learner-centered instruction and task-based
learning could be made to 'work' with low-proficient learners in the 10 - 15 year
old age range.
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