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Thorold
(Thor) MAY, PhD
Australian citizen
Brisbane, Australia. Mobile tel. (+61) 0479 154 831
thormay@yahoo.com
Editing Service: Plain & Fancy Language House
pdf version
Career Profile
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[Thor May, January 2013]
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Thor May is an editor, writer, lecturer, researcher, teacher and teacher
trainer in English language & linguistics. He has been teaching English
to non-native speakers, training teachers and lecturing linguistics since
1976. This work has taken him to seven countries in Oceania and East Asia, mostly with tertiary students, but with a
couple of detours to teach secondary students and young children. He has
special skills in adapting English language teaching to technical subject
areas (e.g. mechanics, nursing etc). Altogether, he taught young adults for
five years in China and
seven years in South
Korea. He has trained teachers in Australia, Fiji
and South Korea.
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Qualifications
2010 Research Doctorate (PhD), Language Tangle, dealing with language
teaching productivity. The official version of this dissertation is
available online from the University
of Newcastle, NSW at http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/804346
2005 Master of Applied Linguistics, University
of Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
High distinction in all subjects.
1997 Certificate IV in Workplace Training Category 2: Assessor Kangan Batman
Institute of TAFE, Melbourne,
Australia
1996 RSA/Cambridge Certificate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language,
International TESOL Training Centre, Holmes Colleges, Melbourne, Australia
1975 Postgraduate Diploma of Teaching -,Auckland
Secondary Teachers College, New Zealand
(1975; now a division of Auckland
University). Teaching
English as a Second Language specialization.
1974 Bachelor of Arts - Victoria University of Wellington,
New Zealand.
Majors in Linguistics and Social Anthropology
Published papers can be seen online
at http://independent.academia.edu/ThorMay. I have also posted a number of essays on wide ranging topics to this site, reflecting a round-table discussion meetup, Active Thinking, which I host in Brisbane bi-weekly. As of January 2015 there are some 79 papers (pdf) in my repository at the site, as well as some teaching material. From statistics, this content appears to be widely read. Academia.edu itself has over 11,000,000 member researchers worldwide.
Referees (2010): 1. Dr Christo Moskovsky, Thor
May's doctoral supervisor; 2. Professor Fu Li, [ English; Chinese versions]
Vice President of Zhengzhou Railway Vocational & Technical College (my
co-employer in a joint venture with Holmes Institute); 3. Iris Hong-Park, former
Academic Coordinator of Holmes Institute. Professional affiliations: Australian
Linguistics Society Personal Details: Australian ; male,
168 cm, 68 kg, single, d.o.b. 1945; very fit and active (distance running for
over 50 years).
My editing service, Plain & Fancy Language House, is specialized to help with documents written by non-native speakers of English. I am also always open to opportunities in teaching, lecturing or
entirely new career challenges. Some current media are embedded at the end of this CV.
Experience in Chinese institutions:
Experience in South Korean institutions:
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From
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To
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Institution
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Position
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August 2004
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August 2007
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Chungju
National Universtiy, Chungju,
South Korea
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Visiting Professor in English Language: undergraduate
EFL
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September 2003
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August 2004
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TESOL Unit, Pusan
University of Foreign Studies, Busan,
South Korea
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Visiting Professor in Applied Linguistics (postgraduate
course for Korean teaching graduates, cross-credited with international
MAs). See course content here.
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September 2000
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August 2003
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Youngsan University,
Busan, South Korea
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Visiting Professor in English Language: undergraduate
EFL
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Courses
Taught & Related Activities 1976 to 2010
a) University lecturing & tutoring
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Topic
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Institution
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Second language acquisition
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- Southern Cross University* - Lismore NSW (* at that
time, NRCAE)
- University of the South Pacific – Suva, Fiji +
distance ed. & satellite teaching; also Honiara, Solomon Islands summer
program
- Pusan University of Foreign Studies – Busan, South Korea
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Child language acquisition
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- Southern Cross University* - Lismore NSW (* at that
time, NRCAE)
- University of the South Pacific – Suva, Fiji +
distance ed. & satellite teaching; also Honiara, Solomon Islands summer
program
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Sociolinguistics & Pragmatics
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- University
of Newcastle, NSW
- University of the South Pacific – Suva, Fiji + distance ed. & satellite teaching
- Southern Cross University* - Lismore NSW (* at that
time, NRCAE)
- Pusan University of Foreign Studies – Busan, South Korea
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Semantics
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- University
of Newcastle, NSW
(tutoring)
(note also own research, especially 2nd PhD work at University of Melbourne)
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English phonology
– segmental & non-segmental
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- University of the South Pacific – Suva, Fiji + distance ed. & satellite teaching
- Pusan University of Foreign Studies – Busan, South Korea
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Introduction to linguistics
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- University
of Newcastle, NSW
(tutoring)
- University of the South Pacific – Suva, Fiji + distance ed. & satellite teaching
- Pusan University of Foreign Studies – Busan, South Korea
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Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language
– methodology and teacher training (including trainee
practicums)
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- University
of Newcastle, NSW
(Education Faculty)
- Southern Cross University - Lismore NSW (aid project
for Solomon Islands
teachers)
- Pusan University of Foreign Studies – Busan, South Korea
- Holmes Institute with ZRVTC (joint venture) – Zhengzhou
China
(seminars for Chinese teachers of English)
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Historical linguistics
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- University
of Newcastle, NSW
(tutoring)
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b) Language Teaching & Related Activities
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Curriculum Focus
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Venue
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IELTS and
Preparatory English
- for Nursing & Business Studies students – needs analysis,
curriculum preparation, delivery and assessment; program evaluation for
joint venture partners; syllabus development of an English for Nursing
program; teaching method seminars for Chinese teachers of English. The
program aimed to send Chinese students to Australia.
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- Holmes
Institute ( Australia, China) in a joint venture with Zhengzhou Railway Vocational & Technical College, Zhengzhou city, Henan,
China
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English for
Special or Academic Purposes
- Business Studies / Surveying / Civil Engineering /
Biological Sciences. Needs analysis in close cooperation with specialist
subject lecturers, curriculum preparation, delivery and joint assessment
with specialist subject lecturers. Emphasis on writing skills, with some
student seminar presentation.
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- Adult Migrant
Education Service - Melbourne
- University of Technology – Lae, Papua New Guinea
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English for
non-English speaking mechanics
- needs analysis, curriculum preparation, delivery and
assessment. I also authored and published a book in this field: English for Mechanics
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- Kangan-Batman
TAFE – Melbourne
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General Adult
Migrant English - teacher & coordinator
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- Adult Migrant Education Service – Sydney and Melbourne
- Hunter TAFE – Newcastle
- Australian Red Cross – Newcastle (voluntary teaching for
refugees)
- Kangan-Batman TAFE – Melbourne
- Western Metropolitan TAFE – Melbourne
- Northern Metropolitan TAFE – Melbourne
- Box Hill TAFE – Melbourne
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Industrial/workplace
ESL
– needs analysis, curriculum preparation, delivery and
assessment
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- Adult Migrant Education Service, Melbourne – at a
variety of onsite industrial ventures
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Activity
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Venue
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General & Academic English (also called “Practical
English”)
- for undergraduate and graduate tertiary students
including English language majors, non-English majors and teacher trainees.
Emphasis on oral and aural skills, plus some note taking. Also some adult
community classes in Wuhan.
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- Wuhan University of Surveying and Mapping (now incl. in
Wuhan U.)
- Central China Normal
University, Wuhan,
Hubei Province, China
- Youngsan University, Busan city, South Korea
- Chungju National University,
Chungju city, South
Korea
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Child TEFL
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- Youngsan University – Busan, South Korea
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ELICOS teaching
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- Adult Migrant Education Service – Sydney and Melbourne
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Language
consultancy
- for a mining company
– needs analysis, technical report, pilot program.
The brief was to find a way for Indonesian speaking
mechanics to comprehend technical service manuals for heavy industrial
equipment (bulldozers etc), write basic servicing reports and communicate
with English speaking expatriate engineers.
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- P.T. Koba Tin (a division of Renison Gold Mines), Pulau Banka, Indonesia
– on behalf of Kangan-Batman TAFE
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Language
curriculum & resources development
- for Solomon
Islands Primary school
teachers.
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- Southern Cross University – Lismore NSW. This was a
foreign aid project, funded from Canberra,
and mostly conducted on-site in Lismore where the teachers undertook the
program.
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Language rescue
– Banjalang language. – very basic. See Case Study 7 in
my doctoral dissertation.
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- Southern Cross University – Lismore NSW (undertaken at
the request of the Aboriginal Studies Unit and funded by a Commonwealth
grant)
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Activity
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Venue
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General Adult
Migrant English - teacher & coordinator
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- Adult Migrant Education Service – Sydney and Melbourne
- Hunter TAFE – Newcastle
- Australian Red Cross – Newcastle (voluntary teaching for
refugees)
- Kangan-Batman TAFE – Melbourne
- Western Metropolitan TAFE – Melbourne
- Northern Metropolitan TAFE – Melbourne
- Box Hill TAFE – Melbourne
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Secondary high
school English
- in a NZ high school
- standard curriculum, but the students were 75%
Polynesian so the ESL component was significant
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- Tangaroa College, East Tamaki, New Zealand
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Secondary high
school Economics
- in a NZ high school
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- Tangaroa College, East Tamaki, New Zealand
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Some Extra Media
Thor - debating in Brisbane - January 2015
see the video, "The Journey of a Passionate Skeptic " (4 minutes) at http://thormay.net/lxesl/ZZESL_Holmes/zrvtcgraduation2010.htm
About 8km a day of the steps recorded here are running. Lots of folk are uncomfortable talking about exercise. and find statistics like the Fitbit clip above confronting. I’m not in the game of trying to confront anyone, and am long past trying to impress. Is there always time? There isn’t time not to exercise! I multi-task, listening to podcasts and language courses on my feet. Being fit and keeping fit is the best support for active thinking and a productive life that I have found. The habit of consistent self-discipline transfers to teaching, writing, and all other areas of life.
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