Professor John Michael Klapper

National Teaching Fellow 2000 I am interested in language teacher development and the learning and teaching of foreign languages, in particular the development of undergraduate foreign language proficiency. Following PGCE training and a short period in secondary education, I worked as a Lecturer in Russian and German at Wolverhampton Polytechnic and, since 1990, have worked as Director of the Centre for Modern Languages, University of Birmingham, where I also teach and conduct research in the Department of German Studies. I have developed a range of language learning resources in Russian, worked on a number of different learner grammars in German, co-directed a national teacher training programme for language tutors in HE (supported by the Fund for the Development of Teaching and Learning), and in my National Teaching Fellowship project, DELPHI (www.delphi.bham.ac.uk), created web-based training modules and resources for HE language teachers for use on both initial and in-service training courses. I have also conducted research into foreign language progression amongst students on degree courses and during residence abroad. This is a topic I hope to explore further in future. Recent publications include 'Effective Learning and Teaching in Modern Languages' (London: Routledge, 2005) jointly edited with J. Coleman; and 'Understanding and Developing Good Practice: Teaching Languages in Higher Education' (London: CILT, 2006). I also have a research interest in German writing under National Socialism.