HRH The Duke of Edinburgh ESU English Language Book Award
The ESU is proud to announce that it’s 2008-9 competition winners were presented their certificates at Buckingham Palace on 12 November.
2009 Award winners
Winner: English for Specific Academic Purposes, Garnet Education.
Highly Commended:
Oxford Word Skills by Ruth Gairns and Stuart Redman, Oxford University Press
International English for Call Centres by Barry Tomalin and Suhashini Thomas, Macmillan Publishers India Ltd
Best Entry for Teachers: The Developing Teacher by Duncan Foord, Delta Publishing
Best Entry for Children: Teaching with Bear by Mary Slattery, Oxford University Press
History of the Award
The widely respected Duke of Edinburgh English Language Book Award was founded in the 1970s to recognise the book published in the previous year that has contributed most to the understanding of the English language.
The judges were impressed by the quality of last year’s entries and were pleased by the usefulness of the winning entries. Noting the wide variety of entries in recent years, the English Language Council, chaired by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, has agreed that this year’s award will allow the judges to recognise the best entry aimed at children and the best entry aimed at teachers.
Prizes
The authors and publishers of the winning entry and highly commended works take part in a presentation ceremony at Buckingham Palace in November.
The results are widely reported in the press, professional newspapers and journals; in ESU newsletters and on the ESU website. The winner and runners up may use the ESU logo, and acknowledgement that they have won or been highly commended in the Duke of Edinburgh’s English Language Award.
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh ESU English Language Book Award 2008
The joint winners of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh ESU English Language Book Award 2008 are Always On by Naomi S. Baron published by Oxford University Press (New York)) and Oxford Student's Dictionary (for learners using English to study other subjects) published by Oxford University Press.
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh presenting the award to Naomi S. Baron, and OUP representative.
The judges were delighted to reward the “thought-provoking” Always On. This is “a fascinating account of new on-line and mobile technologies; not so much about language as about behaviour.” It is “thoughtful without being patronising” and tackles a popular and fluid topic in an academic but interesting way.
Oxford Student's Dictionary (for learners using English to study other subjects) is “an incredibly useful aid for teachers and students” and as the subtitle suggests meets the needs of an increasingly important group of learners; the panel found it to be “clear, original, very relevant and helpful.”
OUP team collecting the award from HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
The highly commended entries, which were also the best entries aimed at teachers, are the “topical and innovative” Uncovering CLIL by Peeter Mehisto, Maria-Jesus Frigols and David Marsh, published by Macmillan Education and How to Teach Listening by JJ Wilson, published by Pearson Longman, described as, “a lucid and useful overview of current thinking.”
The judging panel were pleased to note the wide variety of entries to this year’s competition. These reflect current trends in English Language teaching including English for Specific Purposes and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). The judges were particularly pleased to see entries which included the issue of cross-cultural communication and understanding.
HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh KG KT presented awards to the winners of the ESU English Language Book Award at Buckingham Palace on 12 November 2008. Alison Waters, from the ELT department of the Oxford University Press commented, "My colleagues and I enjoyed the day very much. It was a great privilege to be awarded the ESU prize jointly with OUP USA and receiving the award from Prince Philip in Buckingham Palace was especially exciting. Having the Oxford Student's Dictionary recognized in this way makes us very proud of our editorial efforts and being able to chat to Prince Philip about it and meet other authors and publishers who were also receiving awards made the ceremony very special indeed." Naomi S. Baron reminded us that, "Eight years ago I was privileged to have a book “Highly Commended” by the English-Speaking Union, and to come to Buckingham Palace for what I assumed was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Winning this year’s Duke of Edinburgh English-Speaking Union English Language Book Award – and returning to Buckingham Palace for the elegant awards ceremony – was truly humbling."
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh ESU English Language Book Award 2007
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh presents the English Language Award to Katy Wright and David Cato representing Pearson Longman
The winner of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh English Language Book Award 2007 was The Practice of English Language Teaching by Jeremy Harmer (Pearson Longman). The judges were pleased to reward such an all encompassing, impressively lucid and extensively researched entry. The panel was keen to empahsise that this is much, much more than a new edition, describing the winning book as a cornerstone for all English language teachers and trainers.
Jeremy Harmer tells us how he felt winning the HRH Duke of Edinburgh ESU English Language Book Award: "I was absolutely thrilled to win the ESU prize. It was an enormous boost not only for myself but also for the many people who were involved in the making and production of the book - including the teachers who gave their time and effort in the filming of their lesson 'stories' that accompany the book. But I feel, strongly, that the award also recognises the exceptional expertise of language teachers and methodologists all over the world whose concerns, practices and research I have tried to reflect as accurately as I can. I am still humbled by the honour of the prize. It will spur me on to continue telling people about the developments and discoveries of the people in this profession who do so much for language teaching and for the interests of their students."
Nick Boisseau of Delta Publishing and author Lindsay Clandfield receive their certificate
The highly commended entry, Dealing with Difficulties by Luke Prodromou and Lindsay Clandfield (Delta Publishing) offers sensible, useful and reassuring advice. The judges believe that it is an enthusiastic, inspiring collection of strategies which would benefit every teacher.
Author Carol Read and Jill Florent of Macmillan collect their award
500 Activities for the Primary Classroom by Carol Read (Macmillan) was also highly commended. It presents a good variety of excellent activity ideas with clear language focuses. The judges were pleased to be able to reward such a rich resource aimed at primary schools.
Eligibility and Entry Requirements for 2010 Award
- Books published from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010 are eligible to enter
- There is no limit on the number of entries from any given publisher or individual.
- Entries must be submitted by 12 noon Wednesday 21 July 2010