Aptis for Teachers is a new assessment service for teachers that measures and diagnoses language levels, according to the Common European Framework of Reference. The test is available to all English teachers and it measures all skills: Grammar and Vocabulary, Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening in a modular format so that you are able to test only the skills or combination of skills that you need. You can find more information related to this innovative assessment service in the documents listed below.

What are the Action Research Awards?

The Action Research Awards sponsored by Aptis for Teachers from the British Council has been developed specifically for English teachers from all education sectors in an attempt to better understand better the conditions and constraints that English teachers face in their classrooms across the Americas. The ultimate goal of the scheme is to provide a platform and an opportunity for teachers to begin to tackle these conditions and constraints in a way that will shed some light on what is needed in the field of ELT to improve learning outcomes amongst language learners across the Americas.

This year’s Action Research Awards will take place through an application process that will run from 15th July 2014 until 31st August 2014. Applicants will be informed by 15th September, 2014 whether or not their proposals have been successful.  There will be a total of 6 awards given across the Americas of up to £4,000 GBP for projects of one (1) year duration and £2,000 for projects that last six (6) months. Each proposal must be a minimum of six (6) months and a maximum of one (1) year in duration.

Successful applicants should be aware that the final output of the project will be in the form of a research article to be published in an online journal specifically created to provide a space to share best practices and experiences. There may also be opportunities to share the results of the project through participating in national and regional ELT conferences and seminars.

Meet our Experts

The Scheme itself is led by Julian Edge and a team of highly qualified ELT experts spread across the region. These experts will serve as mentors for successful applicants and will serve as guides throughout the duration of each action research project. You can find out about our mentors listed below by looking at thier bios in the document list at the foot of this page.

• Julian Edge – United Kingdom
• Dario Banegas – Argentina
• Magdalena De Stefani – Uruguay
• Bernardo Cruz Bello – Mexico
• Henrick Oprea – Brazil
• Carlos Rico Tinoco – Colombia
• Paula Rebolledo – Chile

The team of experts has put together an Action Research Guide so that applicants that are perhaps not so familiar with carrying out Action Research projects can use this to develop their proposal. The guide is a great starting point for finding out about or for refreshing your knowledge on Action Research.

What should your application include?

The proposal that needs to be submitted in order to take part in the scheme should include the following:

• Personal Details of Applicant
• Institutional Affiliation i.e. where you work and where the project will take place
• Title
• Introduction
• Situation/Teaching Context
• Problem/Difficulty or Area of Research/area of Focus
• What you are going to do or intervention and timeline i.e. Objectives of the project
• Anticipated results
• Budget

There is a format for application that can be found below.

In order to qualify for the award, teacher-researchers should:

1. be a native of the country where they live and work;
2. be a qualified teacher in terms recognised in that country;
3. have a minimum of five years’ teaching experience following qualification;
4. be in regular employment, teaching English for at least 12 hours per week;
5. have  a communicative ability in English at least equivalent to CEFR B1;
6. have reliable internet access and be in a position to communicate via email and Skype® or other appropriate electronic media.

We expect successful proposals to demonstrate that teacher-researchers:
1. have observed their working context carefully;
2. have identified a credible focus for their action-research project;
3. have done some preparatory thinking and reading about how to proceed, both methodologically and with regard for the welfare of all concerned;
4. have done some preparatory thinking about how they might want to spend the research funding;
5. have gained the necessary permission from all interested parties to carry out the proposed research;
6. have given some thought to how they might communicate the results of their research.

Who should apply?

We are particularly interested in applications from teachers who:

• work at primary and secondary levels in their state education systems;
• have established the possibility of cooperation on their project with one or more colleagues, but we do not exclude other possibilities.

Please send your completed applications as well as any questions related to the scheme toawardscheme@britishcouncil.org

British Council tiene abierta la convocatoria para el Premio Action Research Award Scheme, cuyo objetivo principal impulsar la enseñanza del Inglés en América Latina. La convocatoria está abierta hasta el 31 de Agosto de 2014.

El apoyo comprende una asignación de 4,000 libras esterlinas para los proyectos de un año de duración, y 2,000 libras esterlinas para los proyectos de 6 meses de duración. El objetivo del premio identificar las condiciones y limitaciones que enfrentan los profesores de inglés en sus aulas, para afrontarlas de mejor manera y clarificar las principales necesidades en la Enseñanza del Idioma Inglés (ELT) contribuyendo en últimas a mejorar el aprendizaje del mismo.

Para ser seleccionados, los participantes deben ser nativos del país donde viven y trabajan; ser profesores calificados bajo criterios reconocidos en su país; tener un mínimo de cinco (5) años de experiencia en enseñanza luego de haber obtenido su calificación como profesor; tener un empleo en enseñanza de Inglés con al menos doce (12) horas semanales; poseer una habilidad de comunicación equivalente a CEFR B1 mínimo; tener buen acceso a Internet y poder comunicarse vía mail, u a través de otro medio electrónico.

Para aplicar, se debe enviar el formulario completo con la propuesta de trabajo, a awardscheme@britishcouncil.org. Este correo debe incluir: datos personales del concursante; Institución a la que está afiliado; título; Situación o contexto dónde enseña; Problema; dificultad o área de investigación; qué se pretende hacer, o intervención y cronograma, además de objetivos del proyecto; resultados anticipados y presupuesto.

 Para mayor información, visitar: Action Research Award Scheme