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 (TEFL), a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) and a Masters degree in Linguistics and English Language Teaching.

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, specialising as from 2000 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). Brief details of my career can be found further down this page.

Recently I have been extensively 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:

• 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

I am based in the North of England but am free to travel, both in the UK and elsewhere. I travel frequently to southern South America, usually staying for up to ten weeks at a time, and will consider commissions there too.

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 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
• Member of Asociación de Profesores de Inglés Zona Andina y Línea Sur (Argentina)

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 & 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