ELT research partnerships

What is the purpose of the ELTRP Scheme?

• To facilitate the production of high quality research from the UK relevant to ELT practitioners.
• To improve access of ELT policy makers and professionals worldwide to high quality and relevant research from the UK.
• To facilitate and encourage the establishment and maintenance of active research links between ELT professionals and policy makers in the UK and overseas.

Who may apply?

Any person resident in the UK with an affiliation to a UK educational institution. The award agreement may be with either the individual or the institution.

Note: Although the applicant must be resident in the UK, the research may, in whole or in part, take place outside the UK or by persons not resident in the UK.  

What type of activity can be considered?

The British Council is particularly interested in research within the following areas:

• Learning & teaching of English at younger ages
• ICT and new technologies in ELT
• Teacher education and training
• English language testing and assessment and applications of the CEFR
• English language programme evaluation
• English for development: Social, economic, political aspects of English, education, and language teaching.

However, proposals for any research activity relating directly to the learning, teaching, or assessment of English as a foreign, second, or additional language will be considered.

There must be a clear research output which the British Council will disseminate and which must be in a format that can be shared publicly and without cost throughout the world. Successful applicants must produce a final article on the project, and in the case of longer projects, an interim report. This would normally include the rationale, methodology, findings, discussion and implications, and references. See Guidelines to authors for more information. In addition to this output, researchers are encouraged to publish further outputs elsewhere, for example in peer-reviewed journals and at conferences.

What type of activity is outside the scheme?

• The research must not have already taken place or be underway.
• The research output / final article must be in English (though there may also be a version in another language).
• Funding will only be agreed for a maximum initial period of one year.
• This scheme is not intended to fund the fieldwork of Ph.D. candidates or similar.
• We define research as original investigation undertaken in order to gain knowledge and understanding.
• Researchers / institutions currently in receipt of a research award cannot apply for a new one. Recipients of awards will become eligible to submit research proposals when the research report has been accepted for publication by the British Council.

Previous ELT Research Partnership projects:

• The transition from primary to secondary, Aston University
• Inspiring state school English teachers, University of Leeds
• English as a lingua franca in HE, York St John University
• The use of learners' L1 in ELT, University of Northumbria
• Identity in ELT, University of York
• Assessing Teaching Practice, University of Ulster
• Attitudes to English as a language for international development in rural Bangladesh, The Open University
• Learner Autonomy: English Language Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices, University of Leeds
• Researching cognitive processes in reading and in the computer-based testing of reading, through the use of eye-tracking technology, University of Bedfordshire 
• Using online learning objects to develop intercultural awareness in ELT: a critical evaluation in a Thai higher education setting, University of Southampton
• Global Survey of EYL teachers’ qualifications, experience and career path development, University of Essex
• Making oneself understood by international students: the role of metaphor in intercultural communication, University of Birmingham
• Primary school children with English as an Additional Language: a multi-disciplinary and international approach, University of York
• The impact of training on the classroom practice of Chinese secondary school teachers: evaluation of a UK programme, Reading University
• Global practices in teaching English to young learners, Aston University 
• Computers and learner autonomy: trends & issues, Salford University
• Perceptions & methods of learning English as an additional language by Singapore primary school children with dyslexia, De Montfort University
• Identifying best practice in ELT INSET, Lancaster University 
• European vocabulary project, Manchester University

How will an award be made?

A panel of ELT specialists will evaluate each proposal against a series of criteria. The Director English Language of the British Council will make a final decision on how to allocate awards, taking into account the recommendations of the panel on each proposal, and the overall balance of the portfolio of awards. We may ask the advice of external experts on an in-confidence basis as part of the evaluation. We reserve the right to contact applicants to request or negotiate an amendment to any aspect of the proposal, including budget items, in order to best meet the objectives of the scheme.

What criteria will the British Council apply in judging whether to make an award?

• The potential impact of the research on ELT practice.
• The relevance of the project and research output to ELT professionals.
• The originality of the contribution to its field within ELT.
• The quality of the research design and the qualifications and experience of the researcher(s).
• The amount of funding requested and proportion of funding from other sources. We expect to favour proposals which demonstrate funding from other sources including but not restricted to, the applicant's own institution.
• The proposal’s contribution to the aims of the scheme, including international research collaboration where appropriate. We expect to favour applications which demonstrate an element of international collaboration.

What amount of award will be made?

• Awards may be made for amounts up to a maximum of 20K GBP.
• We will consider proposals in three tranches: up to 5K GBP; 5-10K GBP, and 10-20K GBP. Our intention is to encourage a wide range of new research and the total funds available are limited. We expect this will favour proposals at the lower levels of funding.
• We do not expect the partnership awards to cover the full costs of the research, but to fund essential elements of the research without which the research would not take place. Proposals should make clear how the other costs of the research will be funded. Proposers of jointly funded research must agree to the full conditions of the award (see below).
• The proposal must make clear what expenditure items the award will fund. The scheme will not fund items of equipment which institutions would normally be expected to possess (for example computing equipment including laptops). Nor will it fund conference or seminar attendance to disseminate findings unless specifically invited to do so by the British Council (see ‘dissemination’ below).
• Our standard timing for the payment of awards will be 50% on acceptance of the award, and 50% following the receipt of a satisfactory final report. However, individual needs will be taken into account.

What are the conditions of the award?

• The British Council will own the intellectual property rights of the research output / final report or enjoy a licence to disseminate the research output / final report at its own discretion with no limitation on time or territory. This will be specified in individual letters of agreement.
• The proposer, institution, and researchers must explicitly acknowledge the support of the British Council through an ELT Research Partnership in any written or spoken dissemination of the research process and all outputs arising from it.
• The British Council reserves the right to make freely and publicly available information on the proposal form of successful proposals, any reports and research output.
• The British Council will inform applicants of whether the proposal is successful or not. It will not enter into further discussions, or offer advice on proposals.  The decision of the British Council regarding partnership awards is final. 
• Successful proposers must satisfy the British Council that the expenditure has been incurred in accordance with the original proposal.
• Proposers must agree to the terms and conditions of the scheme, which will be outlined in detail in a grant letter to successful applicants.

What are the benefits of the award to the successful proposer?

• Financial support which enables the research to take place.
• Dissemination of the research by the British Council as an example of quality research from the UK with full acknowledgement of the researchers and their affiliated institutions.
• The right to refer to the research as funded by the British Council ELT Research Partnership scheme.
• Support with access to appropriate partners, teachers and learners overseas as agreed on a case by case basis. 

How will the research be disseminated by the British Council?

• Publication as part of the British Council Research Papers series online.
• Hardcopy, digital and e-book compilations of selected partnership project outputs and reports to be published and distributed to British Council ELT contacts worldwide.
• Invitations to researchers to attend relevant meetings, seminars and conferences worldwide with the support of British Council and its partners at the British Council’s discretion.

What is the timeframe for ELTRP scheme?

• Proposals must be received in by the British Council by 26 April 2013.
• Decision on awards will be communicated by 1 June 2013.

How can I apply?

All applications for a research award proposal must be submitted within the ELTRP application form. Send the completed form to:

eltra@britishcouncil.org

Deadline: 26 April 2013
Please ensure the document is saved in Microsoft Word as a .doc document (NOT .docx). 

Download the application form.