The British Council announced the finalists for the ELTons 2017. The ELTons are now in their fifteenth year and are the only international awards that recognise and celebrate innovation in English language teaching (ELT).

The ELTons are the only international awards that recognise and celebrate innovation in English language teaching (ELT). They reward innovative educational resources that help English language learners and teachers to achieve their goals.

In survey of past finalists and winners 88% reported enhanced reputation for their work, their teams and organisations. Many shared examples of how they had built their networks, enhanced professional development and created tangible business benefits as a result. A past finalist noted of their involvement in the ELTons Awards: “It has allowed us to interact with a calibre of potential partner that we might not have been able to reach otherwise.'

Anna Searle, British Council Director English Language said: “We’re delighted to be able to announce the finalists for the 15th British Council ELTons Awards for Innovation in English Language Teaching 2017. A panel of experts began work in January to independently (and individually, behind closed doors) assess each of the products, publications, apps and projects against criteria of: excellence in innovation and functional application to support English language learners and teachers achieve their teaching and learning goals.

The process objectively establishes the high quality of the products and, from a highly competitive field of 115 international submissions, puts forward just 26 as finalists. For this reason, becoming a finalist of the British Council ELTons Awards is no small feat and as we go into round two of judging, we wish all finalists, the companies, teams and individuals involved every success.

Like the judges, we won't find out the winners until the night of the ELTons Awards ceremony in June 2017, where finalists and judges will join 300 leaders from the world of English language education. We're pleased to welcome for 2017 our celebrity host, lexicographer and etymologist, Susie Dent from Channel 4's Countdown, to celebrate the innovations set to shape English language teaching, learning and assessment for years to come.”

The panel of expert judges from the field now return to round two of testing the products for the criteria of innovation and practical functionality for learners and teachers. The winners will be announced at the 15th British Council ELTons Innovation Awards, on Wednesday 14 June 2017, at Altitude 360 in London. The ceremony will be webcast live. Find more information here.

The full list of finalists can be found below:   

Category: Excellence in course innovation

Cambridge English Empower - Cambridge University Press with Cambridge English Language Assessment

Cambridge English Empower is a six-level British English Adult course that offers a unique mix of engaging classroom materials, validated assessment, and personalized practice to enable learners to make consistent and measurable progress.

Find out more about Cambridge English Empower

Dex - Macmillan Education

Dex is a three-level course for teaching English at pre-primary level, offering a range of highly integrated components that provide pupils with home and school practice. Teaching is supported with storycards, vocabulary flashcards and wallhanging, audio and song CDs, nursery rhyme videos, storytelling videos, a puppet, and a bank of fun learning games.

Focus Global, featuring the Word Store - Pearson English

Focus is a blended 5-level English course for upper secondary students. It includes, The Word Store, a print innovation that embeds vocabulary practice into each lesson. It serves as a reference point and enables learners to create a personal vocabulary record as they work through each unit of the book.

Find out more about Focus Global

Impact - National Geographic Learning

Impact is a four-level series that helps teenage learners to better understand themselves, each other, and the world they live in. Impact features real-world content, stunning photographs and video from authentic sources, and inspiring stories from National Geographic Explorers.

Find out more about Impact

Navigate - Oxford University Press

Navigate is a six-level General English course tailored exclusively to adults. The course takes an innovative approach to reading and listening based on academic research as to how adults best learn languages.

Find out more about Navigate

 Students for Peace – Richmond

Students for Peace is a four-level English series for secondary school students, which aims to simultaneously teach English and provide learners with social skills focused on an education for peace and tolerance.

Find out more about Students for Peace

 Category: Innovation in teacher resources

ETpedia series - Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd

ETpedia is a series of collections of ideas for teaching English in both printed book format and a blog. These resources contain a wealth of activities and ideas in one place and the content is divided into units of 10 tips, ideas or activities so that it’s easy to find what you’re looking for. The ETpedia series covers many areas of teaching with current book titles on Young Learners, Business English, Materials Writing and Technology and unit topics including preparation and planning, classroom activities, classroom management and teacher development.