science

Scott Thornbury

Scott Thornbury is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Scott Thornbury rather than just read about it. In short: Scott Thornbury (born 1950 in New Zealand) is an internationally recognized academic and teacher trainer in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT). Along with Luke Meddings, Thornbury is credited with developing the Dogme language teaching approach, which emphasizes meaningful interaction and emergent language over prepared materials and following an explicit syllabus.

Key takeaways

Scott Thornbury belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Scott Thornbury to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Scott Thornbury from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Scott Thornbury (born 1950 in New Zealand) is an internationally recognized academic and teacher trainer in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT). Along with Luke Meddings, Thornbury is credited with developing the Dogme language teaching approach, which emphasizes meaningful interaction and emergent language over prepared materials and following an explicit syllabus. Thornbury has written over a dozen books on ELT methodology. Two of these, 'Natural Grammar' and 'Teaching Unplugged', have won the British Council's "ELTon" Award for Innovation, the top award in the industry (in 2004 and 2010, respectively). Thornbury is also the series editor for the Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers, and the author of many academic papers on language teaching. His 'A-Z of ELT' blog is one of the most influential and well-visited blogs in the field of ELT. His approximately 15 textbooks for beginning and intermediate learners have been published by major academic presses, including both Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press, although his recent stance regarding 'Teaching Unplugged'—also the title of one of his methodology books—is often described as being strongly anti-textbook. Currently, Thornbury is Associate Professor of English Language Studies at the New School in New York, and Academic Director at the International Teacher Development Institute (iTDi).

Publications

Academic books Thornbury, S. (2019). Scott Thornbury's 101 Grammar Questions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Thornbury, S. (2017). Scott Thornbury's 30 Language Teaching Methods. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Thornbury, S. (2013). Big Questions in ELT. The Round. Corbett, J., and Scott Thornbury, S. (2010). Intercultural Language Activities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Thornbury, S., & Meddings, L. (2009). Teaching unplugged: Dogme in English Language Teaching. Surrey, England: Delta. Thornbury, S., & Watkins, P. A. (2007). The CELTA course: Certificate in English language teaching to adults : trainee book. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Thornbury, S. (2006). Grammar. Resource books for teachers. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 97 locations in Worldcat Thornbury, S., & Slade, D. (2006). Conversation: From description to pedagogy. Cambridge language teaching library. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press . 187 copies listed in WorldCat Review, Friedman, D. " Theory and Practice: Conversation: From Description to Pedagogy by Thornbury, Scott. The Modern Language Journal. 93, no. 1: 124-125, 2009 Thornbury, S. (2006). An A-Z of ELT: A Dictionary of Terms and Concepts Used in English Language Teaching. Oxford: Macmillan Education.. Thornbury, S. (2005). Beyond the Sentence: Introducing Discourse Analysis.. Oxford: Macmillan Education, 2005. Thornbury, S. (2005). How to teach speaking. Harlow, England: Longman. Thornbury, S. (2004). Natural grammar: the keywords of English and how they work. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 97 listings in Worldcat Thornbury, S. (2002). How to teach vocabulary. Harlow: Longman. Translated into Chinese, as 如何教词汇 Beijing: World Knowledge Publishing Corporation, 2003. ISBN 978-7-5012-2083-0 Thornbury, S., and Underhill, A. (2001). Uncovering Grammar. The Teacher Development. Oxford: Macmillan Heinemann English Language Teaching, 2001. ピアソン・エデュケーション, Tokyo : Piason edyukeshon, 2001 ISBN 978-4-89471-854-8 新しい英文法の学び方・教え方 / Atarashii eibunpo no manabikata oshiekata (How to learn a new way of English teaching) Thornbury, S. (1999). How to teach grammar. Harlow, England: Pearson Education. 282 holdings in WorldCat Thornbury, S. (1997). About language: Tasks for teachers of English. Cambridge teacher training and development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 272 copies in WorldCat

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Scott Thornbury

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Scott Thornbury claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Scott Thornbury before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Scott Thornbury ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Scott Thornbury

In research: Scott Thornbury appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Scott Thornbury in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Scott Thornbury is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1950 births, American academics of English literature, Applied linguists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Scott Thornbury outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Scott Thornbury in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Scott Thornbury means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Scott Thornbury out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Scott Thornbury in simple terms?

Why does Scott Thornbury matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Scott Thornbury?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Scott Thornbury.