The British Council is pleased to announce its 2020 call for research proposals under the ELT Research Awards scheme. Through this successful and popular scheme, we aim to facilitate the production of innovative research to benefit the learning and teaching of English throughout the world by co-funding a number of partnership awards. Resulting articles will be published as part of the British Council Research Papers series online. The deadline to submit your research proposal is Friday 6 March 2020.

What is the purpose of the ELTRA 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 will normally be only with the institution and not with an individual. 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 four areas:

  • Language for resilience
  • English as a subject
  • English Medium Instruction (EMI) and multilingual education
  • English for empowerment

We will prioritise proposals in these four areas. 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.

For more details, please see the attached document 'ELTRA 2020 announcement'.

All applications for a research award proposal must be submitted within the ELTRA application form (attached) by Friday 6 March 2020. Send the completed form to: eltra@britishcouncil.org. The decision on awards will be communicated by 11 May 2020.