As teachers, our work is informed by our beliefs. Our beliefs about what constitutes good classroom practice. Our beliefs about the nature of language.

It is my professional credo that People learn when they want to. This implies that a sine qua non of the teacher's job is to motivate. I devoted much of my MA research to the study of motivation in language learning. I have subsequently come to believe that motivation is largely conditioned by the learning materials we use.

My professional energies have become increasingly devoted to creating materials which will serve both teacher and student alike. The pages which follow provide a few examples of my work. These have been developed over the last year at a large language training centre in Kuwait.


Colin Toms - a brief, selective overview.

Born: London, England, in summertime. The only child of a print engineer and a shipping clerk.

Educated: an English public school, which taught me healthy skepticism. A South London Polytechnic, which taught me the joy of learning. And Reading University, which taught me self discipline.

Married: happily.

Children: none.

Languages: French and Japanese, both spoken with a strong London accent.

Likes: British humour, keeping fit, books, music, restaurants, good conversation and the occasional glass of wine.

Dislikes: people who lack consideration for others.

Ambitions: to author a series of superior ELT textbooks and then devote my retirement years to a Ph.D.


Colin Toms can be contacted at: benji_55@hotmail.com