Martin Eayrs

Martin Eayrs

Freelance Consultant
Manchester, UK

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I am British by birth and a qualified teacher (TEFLQ and QTS). I have a Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (Manchester), a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (Manchester) and a Masters degree in Linguistics and English Language Teaching (Leeds).

Before becoming a language and educational consultant I had extensive experience teaching English as a second or foreign language in both the State and Private sectors. These posts included:

• Visiting Lecturer, University of Bedfordshire, UK
• Academic Director, INTO Manchester, UK
• Head of International Study Centre, Lancaster University, UK.
• Lecturer, Essex and Salford Universities, UK
• Private language schools (Bell, Eurocentre, Pilgrims and IH, UK)
• Owner/Director of Victoria School of English, Buenos Aires
• Head of Department, Universidad de los Andes, Trujillo (Venezuela)
• British Council teacher in Kuusankoski, Finland
• Secondary School teaching in Manchester, UK

I have given many talks and workshops (see here) and have published extensively in the area of English Language Teaching (see here). As from 2000 I have specialised in the area of English for Academic Purposes. I have given many talks and workshops (see here) and have published extensively in the area of English Language Teaching (see here).

Recently I have been involved in accreditation inspections of schools, colleges and universities; in moderation of academic programmes, exams and dissertations; as a translator from (Argentine) Spanish into English); as an oral and written examiner and as reviewer and item writer for exam boards. In the last few years I have sat on a number of CEFR standard setting boards and alignment panels for new examinations. My wider interests and recent experience are summarised below.

I am currently available for short and medium term projects in the following general areas:

• Teaching Advanced English courses online or face-to-face
• Moderation and assessment of English language courses and programmes.
• Alignment of English exams with CEFR levels.
• Item writing for English language tests and exams.
• Lectures and workshops in the general EFL area. More.
• Translation and text correction. More
• Proofreading of academic texts. More

More information about these activities can be found using the menu bar above.

I travel regularly between the North of England and southern South America and will consider commissions either on line or in either of these areas.

I can be contacted here.

Curriculum Vitae

AREAS OF INTEREST

• Schools inspections and accreditation
• Moderation of programmes and modules
• Item writing for examination boards
• Reviewer of test and examination papers
• Assessor/Examiner for oral and written exams
• Course/syllabus design and materials development
• Expert witness in assessment of English language skills
• Consultant on English Language Teaching issues
• Copyediting and proof-reading of draft texts
• Translation consultant (Español-English)

CURRENT INVOLVEMENT

• Item writer for EuroExam International (Hungary)
• Item writer for Oxford University Press
• Item Writer for Language Research Network (Global)
• Item writer for PSI Services (UK) Ltd.
• Item writer for Plan Ceibal, Uruguay
• Item writer for National and Kapodistrian University of  Athens, Greece
• Item writer for Language Teaching & Research Press, Beijing Foreign Studies University
• Item writer for Pearson Test of English (Academic), PTE-GEN, PTE-Home, Barracuda and Young Learners exams
• Item writer for telc GmbH, Germany

OCCASIONAL INVOLVEMENT

• Subject Specialist working on EAP test development for Northern Consortium United Kingdom (NCUK)
• Visiting Lecturer, CRELLA, University of Bedfordshire
• Part time lecturer in EAP/EFL, University of Salford
• Review team member (Educational Oversight) for the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education
• Review team member (Educational Oversight) for the Independent Schools Inspectorate (PFE)
• Member of British Accreditation Council Inspectorate
• Inspector for the Accreditation Body for Language Services
• External Examiner for Northern Consortium United Kingdom (NCUK)
• IELTS examiner for the University of Manchester
• IELTS Life Skills examiner for the British Council
• Oral assessor and writing examiner for Cambridge ESOL
• Skills for Life ESOL examiner
• Item writer for British Council's APTIS Exams
• Item writer for OUP's Oxford Test of English
• Assessor for College of Teachers
• Member of IATEFL Publications Committee
• Administrator for IATEFL's Facebook page
• Committee member of NATESOL
• Member of Asociación de Profesores de Inglés Zona Andina y Línea Sur (Argentina)

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

• UK Qualified Teacher Status (DES: 74/11998)
• Fully qualified under British Council's TEFLQ standard
• Masters Degree (MA) in Creative Writing, Manchester Metropolitan University, in progress.
• Masters Degree (MA) in Linguistics and English Language Teaching, Leeds 1979
• Advanced Professional Certificate in Management (BTEC Level 7): in progress
• Certificate in Archaeology, Lancaster University 2010
• Certificate in Family History, University of Central Lancashire, 2008
• Certificate in Business Management, BCIF Essex, 2000
• Postgraduate Diploma in the Teaching of English Overseas, Manchester 1976
• Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), Manchester 1976
• BA (Hons) in English and Spanish Literature, Birmingham 1971

RECENTLY HELD FULL TIME POSITIONS

• External Examiner for International Foundation Programme, University of Bristol
• External Examiner for International Foundation Programme, University of Derby
• Visiting Lecturer, CRELLA, University of Bedfordshire (2010-12)
• Academic Director, INTO Manchester (2009-10)
• Head of Study Group's International Study Centre at Lancaster University (2007-9)
• Lecturer in EFL/EAP at University of Salford, UK (2002-7, 2010-12, 2018-ongoing)
• Lecturer in EFL/EAP at University of Essex (2000-2002)

RECENT CLIENTS INCLUDE

• Argentine-North American Chamber of Commerce (Argentina)
• Banco de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (Argentina)
• Boston Scientific (Argentina)
• City & Guilds
• Escuela Superior de Hotelería (Argentina)
• ExpoUniversidad (Argentina)
• Fundación Antorchas (Argentina)
• Hobson's International Education Casebook (UK)
• International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language
• London Chamber of Commerce and Industry Examinations Board (UK)
• Materials Development Association (UK)
• Modern English Teacher (UK)
• Norwich Institute of Language Education (UK)
• Open University (UK)
• Oxford Brookes University (UK)
• Pearson Education (UK)
• The Argentine Navy
• The British Council ( Argentina)
• The British Council (UK)
• Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina)
• University of Essex Conference Office (UK)
• Universidad de San Andrés (Argentina)
• University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate.

PREVIOUS POSITIONS AND INTERESTS

• Item writer for Cambridge Michigan Language Assessment exams
• Itemwriter for Cambridge ESOL exams
• Item writer for English Language Testing's Password exams
• Item writer for City and Guilds exams
• Item writer for ETS GRE General (verbal reasoning section)
• Editor IATEFL Issues and IATEFL Voices (2000-7)
• Lecturer in EFL at the University of the Andes, Venezuela (1976-79)
• Web content editor and IT section editor for Modern English Teacher (2000-2)
• Web content editor, site administrator and publications production manager for the Materials Development Association (2001-3)
• Section editor for EnglishLive Internet magazine (2000-2002)
• Founder member of British Institute of English Language Teaching (BIELT) and full Fellow until its dissolution in 2002
• Member of IATEFL since 1991, and Committee member 1998-2000, 2010-present
• Owner and director of the Victoria School of English, Buenos Aires (1981-2006)
• Argentine representative for the Federation International de Professeurs des Langues Vivants (1996-9)
• Argentine representative for MENSA (1988-92)
• Chairman of British Community Council Buenos Aires Branch (1994-9)
• Publisher of ELT News & Views, a magazine for South American Teachers of English (1993-200)
• Columnist for Buenos Aires Herald (1982-99)
• Member of the International Phonetics Association (since 1983)
• Certificate in Archaeology, Lancaster University, 2101
• Certificate in Family History, University of Central Lancashire, 200
• Translation work from Spanish to English (ongoing)

A fuller cv is available on request