Thorold (Thor) MAY, PhD

PDF of this CV

Australian citizen
Adelaide, Australia. Mobile tel. (+61)  0479 154 831
thormay@yahoo.com

Profile

Thor May is a 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.

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 to this site on a wide range of topics, reflecting a round-table ideas discussion meetup which I host in Adelaide, Australia, Saturday Lunchtime Seminar (https://www.meetup.com/AdelaideLunchtimeSeminar/ ). As of March 2019 there are over 140 papers (pdf) in my repository at the academia.edu site, as well as some teaching material. From statistics, this content appears to be widely read. Academia.edu itself claims 71 million users worldwide, with my material in the top 0.5% accessed.  

Current Status

I ceased formal employment in early 2011 (although I remain open to offers for consulting, teaching, writing, editing etc.). I do run a voluntary language group for newcomers to Australia, Adelaide English as a Second Language Group, which attracts up to 40 people from many countries (https://www.meetup.com/ESL-English-practice-meet-up-group/ ). I also maintain a special interest in China and continue to learn Mandarin.

Personal Details:   Australian ; male, 168 cm, 68 kg, single, d.o.b. 1945; very fit and active (distance running for over 56 years).Some short videos are embedded at the end of this CV.

Experience in Chinese institutions:

From	To	Institution	Position
September 2007	December 2010	Holmes Institute  (Australian-Chinese joint venture) at  Zhengzhou Railway Vocational & Technical College, Henan, China	Foreign Expert, IELTS focus: English Language; Preparatory English for Australian tertiary study (nursing; logistics) : teacher training seminars
September 1999	July 2000	Central China Normal University, Wuhan, Hubei Province, PRC	Lecturer in English Language; EFL for undergraduates & postgraduates; teacher training
August 1998	July 1999	Wuhan Technical University of Surveying & Mapping, (now part of Wuhan University ) Wuhan, Hubei , China	Lecturer in English Language; EFL for postgraduates (MSc & PhD); evening community EFL

Experience in South Korean institutions:

From	To	Institution	Position
August 2004	August 2007	Chungju National Universtiy, Chungju, South Korea	Visiting Professor in English Language: undergraduate EFL
September 2003	August 2004	TESOL Unit, Pusan University of Foreign Studies, Busan, South Korea	Visiting Professor in Applied Linguistics (postgraduate course for Korean teaching graduates, cross-credited with international MAs). See course content  here.
September 2000	August 2003	Youngsan University, Busan, South Korea	Visiting Professor in English Language: undergraduate EFL

Courses Taught & Related Activities 1976 to 2010

a) University lecturing & tutoring

Topic	Institution
Second language acquisition	- 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
Child language acquisition	- 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
Sociolinguistics & Pragmatics	- 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
Semantics	- University of Newcastle, NSW (tutoring) (note also own research, especially 2nd PhD work at University of Melbourne)

English phonology – segmental & non-segmental	- University of the South Pacific – Suva, Fiji + distance ed. & satellite teaching - Pusan University of Foreign Studies – Busan, South Korea
Introduction to linguistics	- University of Newcastle, NSW (tutoring) - University of the South Pacific – Suva, Fiji + distance ed. & satellite teaching - Pusan University of Foreign Studies – Busan, South Korea
Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language – methodology and teacher training (including trainee practicums)	- 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)
Historical linguistics	- University of Newcastle, NSW (tutoring)

b) Language Teaching & Related Activities

.

Curriculum Focus	Venue
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.	- Holmes Institute ( Australia, China) in a joint venture with Zhengzhou Railway Vocational & Technical College, Zhengzhou city, Henan, China
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.	- Adult Migrant Education Service - Melbourne - University of Technology – Lae, Papua New Guinea
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	- Kangan-Batman TAFE – Melbourne

General Adult Migrant English - teacher & coordinator	- 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
Industrial/workplace ESL – needs analysis, curriculum preparation, delivery and assessment	- Adult Migrant Education Service, Melbourne – at a variety of onsite industrial ventures

Activity	Venue
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.	- 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
Child TEFL		- Youngsan University – Busan, South Korea
ELICOS teaching		- Adult Migrant Education Service – Sydney and Melbourne
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.		- P.T. Koba Tin (a division of Renison Gold Mines), Pulau Banka, Indonesia – on behalf of Kangan-Batman TAFE
Language curriculum & resources development - for Solomon Islands Primary school teachers.		- 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.
Language rescue – Banjalang language. – very basic. See Case Study 7 in my doctoral dissertation.		- Southern Cross University – Lismore NSW (undertaken at the request of the Aboriginal Studies Unit and funded by a Commonwealth grant)

Activity	Venue
General Adult Migrant English - teacher & coordinator	- 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
Secondary high school English - in a NZ high school - standard curriculum, but the students were 75% Polynesian so the ESL component was significant		- Tangaroa College, East Tamaki, New Zealand
Secondary high school Economics - in a NZ high school		- Tangaroa College, East Tamaki, New Zealand

Some supplementary media

Thor – debating – 5 January 2015 – Brisbane, Australia

see the video, "The Journey of a Passionate Skeptic " (4 minutes) at http://thormay.net/lxesl/ZZESL_Holmes/zrvtcgraduation2010.htm

see the video, "Teaching English is Fun" (4.5 minutes) at http://thormay.net/docsite/teachingisfun.htm

see the video, "Born 1945, Still Running Strong" (2.5 minutes) at http://thormay.net/docsite/born1945.htm

“Fitness Age” in 2018 (according to a Garmin tracker)

About 6km a day of the steps recorded on this tracker are running with an average altogether of around 11km a day on my feet. Lots of folk are uncomfortable talking about exercise. and find statistics like the Garmin 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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