Donna Shaw

About me:

I have worked for more than twenty years as an ELT teacher, teaching children in the UK, Portugal and Spain. In 2005, I began working as a primary materials writer for Macmillan Education ELT and since then, I have co-authored four primary ELT course book series. I have also co-authored Social and Natural Science course books in English for primary children and written a number of primary graded readers.

In addition to teaching and material writing, I have been involved in the training and professional development of language teachers, delivering talks and workshops for private and public educational institutions. I have also contributed teaching materials and methodology articles to ELT online magazines. My research interests include student voice, learner interaction, creativity and the development of critical thinking skills in the primary EFL classroom.

Research Project:

I am currently in my second year of the EdD TESOL pre-thesis stage. Over the last two years I have conducted the following investigations:

A critical analysis of the learner’s voice in ELT primary text books (2016): This small scale critical research used a task analysis framework to investigate the extent and role of the learner’s voice in four global EFL text books for primary aged learners.

An inquiry into professionalism and professional identity in ELT textbook writers (2016): This reflective essay sought to explore and question the values, beliefs and biases I hold as an established EFL primary author and to situate my professional experiences within a wider sociopolitical context.

An inquiry into teachers’ perceptions of critical thinking in the primary EFL classroom in Mallorca (2017): This ongoing small-scale, mixed-methods study aims to understand what primary EFL teachers in Mallorca understand by the term critical thinking and elicit their feelings about teaching these skills. The information I collect will help me to identify good practice and understand any challenges that teachers and pupils face.

An exploration of the impact of using pair work speaking activities on creative language use in primary EFL learners (2017): This thesis proposal sets out my intention to conduct a qualitative study to better understand how pair work speaking activities promote creative language use in young learners. It aims to do this by exploring the creative language use of a group of Spanish primary EFL learners during pair work interaction.