Interview mit Stephen (Would you have marked it Wrong?) Speight

Stephen Speight

English Teacher, Lecturer, Oberrat TU Dortmund, Author

What made you decide to settle down in Germany?

My wife is German, and we wanted the children (3 and 5 when we emigrated) to end up bilingual, which they have.  I came across originally for 3 years but decided to stay as my work as an educational author was getting off with the ground, and I was quite happy in Dortmund.  We sold our house in Formby and bought one in the Sauerland  when the decision to stay had been taken.

Could you say a little about the stages of your career as a teacher and writer in Germany?

I had 8 years as an English teacher and lecturer at a College of Education before the invitation to come to Germany.

I started as a Lektor, and moved up over the years to Akademischer Rat then Oberrat.  The PH in Dortmund turned into a Uni along the way, which was a bonus.  I was in charge of the practical language work in English for the whole of my time there, and also taught technical English to mechanical and electrical engineers in the Maschinenbau department (I still sometimes check or translate articles for them).  I eventually finished my doctorate on Basic Conversation (for second language learners).

I have helped to write 3 compete generations of English textbooks, mainly for the Hauptschule, plus 20 or so stories at various levels.  I am still working for Schöningh on materials for the Oberstufe, most recently (my fifth contribution to their ‘Discover’ series), inevitably, on the environment.

My academic interests were modern English lit., Landeskunde and  the teaching of second language conversation.  I published various articles on the last two topics in PNU and elsewhere, and did quite a bit of lecturing on them over the years. My big hit was of course, ‘Would you mark it wrong?” with plenty of examples, and quiz material for participants.

Looking back, I can say that the textbook work was very gruelling because the editors at one major publisher always wanted to ‘improve’ the work of the authors.  We were often just getting started on a new unit when the previous unit came back full of instructions to modify it according to editorial wishes. There were always deadlines, of course, plus the need to fit in all the Lehrplan requirements (Pensen). By contrast, working for Schöningh is pleasant – they let me put in more or less what I want, and rarely change anything.

Your column, ‘Would you have marked it wrong?’ was a perennial dependable source of advice on grammar for English teachers. I, for one, found it very helpful. What were the grammatical points you were most often asked about?

I turned my column into a book a few years ago.  The longest units were those dealing with tense and aspect, singular and plural, determiners (articles etc.), prepositions, German English and translation problems.

Looking back at that column, what do you feel about it now?

I think it was worth doing it – and over the years I received some very nice letters from teachers who felt they had been helped.  I tried not to do it in too much of a ‘schoolmasterly’ style, and I think that was appreciated.  Perhaps it was an advantage that linguistics had not really been invented when I was a student! English language classes at Oxford were all about learning Anglo-Saxon and reading Beowulf.

You write not only graded school readers but also write and edit a wide variety of educational materials such as workbooks and text collections. Which of these works do you enjoy writing the most?

Stories and text collections.  Workbooks in the series I worked for were generally written by other people. Herr Clemens Radau, who died a few years ago, was brilliant at that kind of material, and at non-boring exercises of all kinds.

What’s in your pipeline?

Time for some fiction!

Can you tell us a little about what you do in your free time?

Sailing in the summer, caravanning out of season (Provence, Costa Brava, Devon and Cornwall), jogging, playing the harpsichord, assisting my wife as the under-gardener – she’s the boss, but we’ve got nearly 2000 square metres, so there’s plenty for both of us. Helps to keep us fit.

You live in Schleswig-Holstein. Do you like it there?

Yes, very much. We are only about 5km. from the sea/our harbour, and the countryside is very attractive up here.  There may be a bit of genetic memory involved – this is Angeln, ancestral home of the Anglo-Saxons!

What is your relationship to England?

I very much enjoy visits with the caravan and to my brother and a cousin who lives in Yorkshire, but have no wish to move back.  I have always been against the English class system and probably have a chip on my shoulder about it.  I went to Marlborough Grammar School, and at the other end of the town was Marlborough College – a leading public school.  The College boys could almost have been a different species.  Same again in the army (2 years national service), the officers and other ranks business.  While I was working for Nato in Fontainebleau I discovered that things were much more relaxed in your army. A very good thing.

What can you say about the current state of English society and culture?

I’ll keep it brief!

The class business and the two education systems which keep it going are a disgrace in my view.  I also think Britain should play a much more positive and active role in Europe.  On the other hand, the general quality of life, particularly outside big cities, is very pleasant.  We are good at small towns and country villages (except where incomers make houses too expensive for the locals – back to the class system again).

Das Interview führte Paul Davenport. Er bedankt sich herzlich für die Beantwortung der Fragen.

Kommentieren ist momentan nicht möglich.