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Thor May - Curriculum Vitae

resumé of Thorold (Thor) MAY, PhD       nationality : Australian           d.o.b 1945
internet location	http://thormay.net
contact	thormay AT yahoo.com
address:	Brisbane, Australia. Mobile tel. (+61)  0479 154 831
occupation:	Writer, lecturer, researcher, teacher, teacher trainer (English language & linguistics)

last update: May 2011

This CV may be opened in PDF format here

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Personal Details: Australian ; born 8 September 1945; male, 168 cm, 68 kg, single, very fit and active (distance running for over 50 years). PhD in language teaching productivity : testamur (diploma document); transcript; abstract; thesis. The thesis is also online in the University of Newcastle research depository at http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/804346 . Referees (2010): 1. Dr Christo Moskovsky, Thor May's doctoral supervisor; 2. Professor Fu Li, [English; Chinese versions] Vice President of Zhengzhou Railway Vocational & Technical College (my co-employer in a joint venture with Holmes Institute); 3. Iris Hong-Park, former Academic Coordinator of Holmes Institute. Links to earlier referees may be found in the sitemap of this website. Publications List: click here to view a current publication list. Research list 1: a number of papers relating to technical linguistics are indexed at http://thormay.net/lxesl/tech1.html Research list 2: a (larger) number of papers relating to teaching methodology etc, including my doctoral dissertation, are indexed at http://thormay.net/lxesl/teach1.html Other writing: a personal website at http://thormay.net contains my articles, stories and poems, mostly post-1995, as well as teaching materials developed for students, and academic papers. Content ranges from aphorism to book length and covers many subject areas. Preferred Intellectual style: playing Devil's Advocate, i.e. as a friendly provocateur challenging accepted wisdom. I'm delighted to be argued down and proved wrong every time, but every government, business, college, colleague, student and friend needs this kind of challenge to grow! If you can graciously defend your practices, actions and beliefs they might be worth something. I'm with Socrates on this: "the unexamined life is not worth living." CV Content : the document below has been broken into several sections for easy reference 1. Three short videos, designed to give some quick substance to Thor May's character; 2. A tabulation of courses taught & related activities a) University lecturing and tutoring; b) Language teaching and some related projects 3. A full list of formal qualifications with links to scanned diplomas 4. A chronological list of employing institutions with positions occupied 5. A summary of general skills and experience 6. Personal foreign language skills: see my Language Study Index

Thor, December 2009

see the video, "Teaching English is Fun " (4.5 minutes) here

see the video, "Born 1945 - Still Running Strong" (2.5 minutes) here

see the video, "The Journey of a Passionate Skeptic " (4 minutes) here

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Part 2 - Courses Taught & Related Activities

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)

Topic		Institution
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 ( Newcastle)		- University of Newcastle, NSW (tutoring)
Critical Thinking Skills		- University of the South Pacific – Suva, Fiji + distance ed. & satellite teaching

b) Language Teaching & Related Activities

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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

Curriculum Focus		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
Industrial/workplace ESL – needs analysis, curriculum preparation, delivery and assessment		- Adult Migrant Education Service, Melbourne – at a variety of onsite industrial ventures
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

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Activity		Venue
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)
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

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Part 3 - Formal Qualifications:

a) Accredited. The qualifications in this section are accredited. That is, they are certified in the official way which academic administrative officers, employers and government departments require. Much more rarely (unfortunately) there may be a genuine interest in the real substance of what an individual knows and has investigated in his field. In my case this goes well beyond formally accredited documents. Those interested in this extra range of knowledge are advised to also look to section b) below.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) 2010, University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia. Thesis topic : "Language Tangle : Predicting and Facilitating Outcomes in Language Education." Using a series of twenty case studies, this thesis deals with issues of knowledge worker productivity.

PhD testamur + transcript. (The transcript covers official enrolment in earlier studies too, 1978 to 2010, including long periods when I was actually lecturing linguistics in other places and mostly not studying).

An abstract of the dissertation can be seen here. The thesis itself may be viewed here. The letter of completion (pdf file) from the University of Newcastle, formally announcing the award may be viewed here. A current reference (2010) from Dr Christo Moskovsky, Thor May's doctoral supervisor, may be viewed here. .

Master of Applied Linguistics, University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia. (2005) [Newcastle U. is a national university established under an Australian act of parliament]. High distinction in all subjects : Transcript .

Masters Qualifying (Honours 1st class equivalent) in Linguistics, University of Newcastle NSW,  Australia (1978). The research essays supporting this were also reviewed by an external examiner (Macquarie University). Most institutions today would document this one year postgraduate program as a coursework Masters degree.

Postgraduate Diploma of Teaching - Transcript Document, Auckland Secondary Teachers College, New Zealand (1975; now a division of Auckland University); Teaching English as a Second Language specialization. Many institutions today would document this one year postgraduate program as a coursework Masters degree.

Bachelor of Arts - Testamur ; Bachelor of Arts - Transcript Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand (1974); majors in Linguistics and Social Anthropology

RSA/Cambridge Certificate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (1996) International TESOL Training Centre, Holmes Colleges, Melbourne, Australia

Certificate IV in Workplace Training Category 2: Assessor (1997) Kangan Batman Institute of TAFE, Melbourne, Australia

b) Non-accredited

PhD Candidature in Linguistics, University of Melbourne, Australia - in abeyance formally; (undertaken in the early 1990s. I am still interested in this area of cognitive linguistics for private research). A substantial amount of work (about 50,000 words) was done towards this PhD, and some material published (e.g. see Postsupposition & Pastiche Talk and the Generative Oscillation Model). Note that this is an entirely research doctorate (no coursework), but a rough equivalence of its status might the American concept of ABD. An evaluation and recommendation (2004) by my previous University of Melbourne supervisor, Professor Nicholas Evans, may be seen here. ( I was enrolled in an unrelated, previous PhD at the University of Newcastle in the early 1980s which also resulted in some significant publication -- see the Masters information below).

Master of Arts in Formal & Applied Linguistics, *Greenwich University, Hawaii, U.S.A. (1994).   Based on refereed publications & earlier accredited work done at the University of Newcastle for a discontinued PhD in theoretical linguistics.. At the time, the regulations of Newcastle University itself were unable to accommodate cross-crediting my PhD work to an M.A. Greenwich University engaged my Newcastle University supervisor & head of linguistics, Dr Peter Peterson, as an adjunct examiner. In 2004 Greenwich University became defunct. The Greenwich Masters document is therefore no longer accredited , although the work supporting it, including a thesis, is very substantial. Certified Greenwich University transcripts are available under the stewardship of Akamai University at http//www.greenwich.edu.

c) <> Qualifications translated into Korean (2006)<> pdf file . This Korean version does not include post-2006  qualifications. 

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Part 4 - Chronological List of Teaching & Academic Appointments to 2011

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From	To	Employer	Position Held
from January 2011	~	Officially retired on an Australian pension. Actually writing books and open to offers or ideas.	note: a strange condition of the Australian pension is that I remain either in Australia or in one of 24 "reciprocal agreement countries" for two years, starting January 2011.
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
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
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
February 1998	August 1998	1. Self-employed  2. Postel Australia Ltd., Melbourne	1. Writer/editor  2. p/time evening telesales
June 1994	13/2/98	Kangan Batman TAFE, Dawson St, North Coburg, Vic. 3058, Australia	ESL Teacher / Co-ordinator  (technical English for mechanics); International consultant (Indonesia)
October 1993	June 1994	*Western TAFE, now Victoria University, Footscray, Victoria, Australia	Sessional ESL Teacher (*concurrent with PhD research)
October 1990	July 1993	*Adult Migrant Education Service  (AMES), Myer House, Elizabeth St, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	Sessional ESL Teacher (*concurrent with PhD research)
July 1987	July 1990	University of the South Pacific, PO Box 1178, Suva, Fiji	Lecturer in Linguistics: phonology, sociolinguistics, language acquisition, syntax; teacher training
February 1987	June 1987	University of Technology, Lae, PNG	Lecturer in English for Special Purposes (surveying; electrical & mechanical engineering; biology)
August 1986	Dec. 1986	*AMES, Cabramatta, NSW, Australia	Sessional ESL Teacher
March 1986	July 1986	*University of Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia	p/time Lecturer in  Linguistics: sociolinguistics, syntax, semantics; seacher training for ESL
February 1985	Dec. 1985	University of Technology, Lae, PNG	Lecturer in English for  Special Purposes (surveying; electrical & mechanical engineering; biology)
February 1984	Dec. 1984	*University of Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia	p/time Lecturer in  Linguistics: sociolinguistics, syntax, semantics
February 1983	Dec. 1983	Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, Australia	Lecturer in Linguistics : language acquisition (L1, L2); teacher training
February 1978	Dec. 1982	*University of Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia	p/time Lecturer & tutor in  Linguistics: sociolinguistics, syntax, semantics ; voluntary Red Cross refugee tutoring
1979	1982	*Newcastle TAFE College	Evening ESL Teacher
January 1977	Dec. 1977	AMES, Melbourne, Vic., Australia	Sessional ESL Teacher
February 1976	Dec. 1976	Tangaroa Secondary College, East Tamaki, New Zealand	English and Economics  Teacher: students 75% Polynesian
1962	1975	A wide variety of semi-skilled jobs in Australia, NZ and UK	Various; many concurrent with undergraduate study

appointments marked * = concurrent with PhD research

Other Employment (1961-75): accountancy; clerical (industry & Public Service); newspaper (editorial); airport flight dispatch; van driving; warehouse work; iron working & ship repair; labouring; commercial cleaning, taxi driving etc. + university study.

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Part 5 - Summary of Skills & Experience

• Extensive experience since 1978 as a university lecturer in Linguistics and as a teacher to young adults in ESL/EFL, including ELICOS (English language intensive courses for overseas students), IELTS preparation and English for Special Purposes.
  
• Tertiary teaching/lecturing experience in Australia, South Korea, China, Fiji, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Experience as a technical English consultant in Indonesia.
  
• Directly involved with teacher training at Pusan University of Foreign Studies (Busan, South Korea), tthe University of Newcastle (NSW), The University of the South Pacific (Fiji), and Southern Cross University (NSW).
  
• Familiarity with a range of language teaching methodologies and tertiary NESB* student needs. Experienced at integrating ESL/EFL teaching with the content teaching of Engineering, Business Studies, Science courses, and so on. Skilled in both oral/aural language development and writing/reading enhancement. (*NESB = non-English speaking background).
  
• Long professional & personal engagement with overseas students and other people of non-English speaking background.; i.e. in addition to teaching, have represented o/s students as secretary of Newcastle Postgraduate Student's Association; have edited NESB theses; have assisted immigrants personally etc.
  
• Ability to write fast, clear, coherent prose in many styles.
  
• Ability to translate complex, technical ideas into simple learning tasks.
  
• Working with IBM type PCs (evolved to MS Windows O/S) since 1983. I own a variety of computers, and maintain several personal Internet sites containing hundreds of pages of my own writings.
  
• Self-taught knowledge of many mechanical repairs; heavy truck licence; able to sail a yacht; excellent general knowledge with strengths in history, geography & current affairs.
  
• Experienced consultant; able to negotiate with senior management; mature teaching, lecturing & tutoring skills with adults and secondary students; skilled seminar leader.
  
  
  

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