Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 15 September 2010 - English language teaching (ELT) professionals in the Arabic speaking world are today reminded that they only have until 30 September 2010 to apply for this year's British Council ELTons awards and see their innovations in English language teaching recognised internationally.

The ELTons are the only international awards that celebrate the wealth of innovative new English language teaching (ELT) resources that help English language learners and teachers achieve their goals. The awards are run by the British Council in collaboration with Cambridge ESOL.

Winners of this year's awards will be announced at a prestigious ceremony in London, UK on 3 March 2011. Each winning entry will receive a ₤1,000 prize and become part of a growing network of previous ELTons winners from around the world.

ELT professionals in the Arabic speaking world can apply in two of its three categories: The Cambridge ESOL International Award for Innovation and The Macmillan Education Award for Innovative Writing. There is also a UK Award for Innovation.

The Macmillan Education Award for Innovative Writing, now in its second year, is sponsored by Macmillan Education and gives previously unpublished writers the opportunity to win a £1,000 prize and have their work published. Through this award the British Council aims to discover and encourage up and coming ELT authors to take the next step in their writing careers.

The Cambridge ESOL International Award for Innovation and the UK Award for Innovation are now well established and thriving and reward published ELT products and services developed around the world or in the UK.

This year sees the introduction of the British Council Lifetime Achievement Award, to be awarded to an ELT professional who has made a substantial contribution to the ELT profession throughout their career.

Nic Humphries, British Council Director for English in the Middle East and North Africa said:

'These global awards are a fantastic opportunity to recognise some of the many innovative English language teaching products and creative authors around the world.

'There are some wonderful examples of where English Language Teachers in the Arabic-speaking world have applied novel techniques to ensure a high quality of English language teaching for their learners. These include Emma Pathare from the Dubai Women's College, UAE who won an ELTon in 2008 for 'The Vocabulary Course': a ground-breaking, stylishly designed product that enables learners to increase their vocabulary.

'I would encourage other ELT professionals in the region to aspire to her success, apply for these awards and see their creativity celebrated at an international level too.

'As one of the leading providers of English Language teaching and a world authority on English the British Council is proud to be running these international awards for the ninth year, with our sponsor Cambridge ESOL - bringing the ELT community together to celebrate innovation in our profession.'

Any ELT professional can apply for consideration for one of the categories including authors, teachers, trainers and publishers. Application packs can be downloaded from www.britishcouncil.org/learning-eltons and the deadline for submissions is 30 September 2010. Applications will be judged by a panel of ELT experts.

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ELTons
The ELTons (British Council Innovation Awards) are offered to outstanding new language learning products and services, and aspiring ELT authors, that use innovative ideas to help learners achieve their goals, or to innovative research which has clear practical benefits for English language teaching. Fro more information please visit http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning-eltons

The British Council
The British Council works in over 100 countries and territories worldwide to build intercultural understanding between the UK and other countries through the arts, education and training, science and technology, sport and good governance. Our income in 2008/09 was £645million, of which grant-in-aid from the British government was £209million. For more information, please visit: www.britishcouncil.org/me

For more information contact:
Karen Ryan
English Projects Manager
British Council
Phone:  + 971 4 313 5530
Fax:  + 971 4 337 0703
Email : Karen.raye@ae.britishcouncil.org  
PO Box 1636, Dubai, UAE 

© Press Release 2010