We invite friends, colleagues, past and present, students and former students to post tributes and share their memories of Alan.
37 thoughts on “Tributes and Memories”
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We invite friends, colleagues, past and present, students and former students to post tributes and share their memories of Alan.
Comments are closed.
I was devastated to hear about the passing of Alan Waters. I found him an inspiration as a professional over many years, but also a very likeable and personable companion. My very best regards to his family and friends, and all who knew him..
I learned of Alan’s passing only yesterday (October 4) and am still deeply shocked and saddened by this very unexpected news.
Like a good many ELT professionals, I first became acquainted with Alan’s work as a result of the ground breaking book on ESP, which he co-authored with Tom Hutchinson back in the late 1980s. Nearly 3 decades on, copies of this still grace my office book shelves, and I believe it is still an absolutely seminal text for anyone who may be interested in the history and development of ESP- indeed, as I later joked with Alan, there should probably be a clause in my Will which says that a copy of his blood cell materials will be buried with me when I go. His contribution to our profession has been immense and the world of ELT is now significantly poorer without him in it.
With regard to Alan the man, it is one of my deepest regrets that despite our online friendship, we never managed to meet in person. Some 3 or so years ago now, he agreed to be one of the interviewees as part of my research into the history and development of EAP, and although we kept up a friendly correspondence, we never did manage to make good on our plans of having a pint or two together. Indeed, it was in emailing to try and arrange that long overdue drink for later this month (October 22, 2016) that I found out about his untimely death. I so very much wish that I had had the opportunity to let him know in person how grateful I was for his support and to try and repay some of his many kindnesses.
Alan was a true gentleman and a genuinely nice guy. He will be sorely missed.
I took my MA in TESOL in 2005-2006. Alan was my supervisor. I remember feeling worried about my first coursework. When the result came out, I happened to meet him. I was about to tell him about the score when he approached and complimented me on getting 65/100. I told him I often got 80 or 90 out of 100 back home, and that score wasn’t really good. He explained that it was really good as very few could get 70 or over.
Later in the year we had a trip to Lake District. Many of my classmates (Katherine was one) joined. Keith Johnson was with us as well. Now I still keep some photos of that memorable trip.
I am really sorry to hear the news. I wish I could be at Lancaster. I miss Lancaster, Alan, my former, dedicated teachers:Keith Johnson, Martin Bygate,Veronica Koller, Jane Sunderland and many others.
Alan was a lovely person – a great companion in my academic/professional life and a dear friend forever.
For four years (1995-1999) we worked fantastically well on the Philippines English Language Teaching (PELT) Project -him as the IELE project consultant and me as the in-country project coordinator. We traveled to different parts of the Philippines through that project, meeting and collaborating with hundreds of teachers, supervisors, and Education Ministry officials who were all in agreement of what a kind and dutiful person Alan was and loved him. Always ready with a good sense of humor that lightened the load in the face of a complex government bureaucracy, never left any stone unturned when organizing the training seminars with many different groups of people in a cultural context that was foreign to his. His professionalism set the tone for the brand of trainers that came under his mentorship.
We did our PhD almost simultaneously together, using data from the PELT project for the theses. His was on the School-based Follow Up Development Activity (which was his brain child for the project) and mine was on the process-orientation to trainer training. We also published a few articles together; long after the project was finished, we still did collaborative research on Philippine educational issues and practices and continued to co-author articles.
Those years of PELT and the PhD also introduced me to Alan’s two loves: hill-walking and the opera. Staying with the Waters family almost always included a wonderful trip to the Lakes and a sublime experience at the opera house.
In December last year, Alan made a side trip to Manila for a couple of days to give a talk and a workshop to teachers, sponsored by the Ateneo Center for English Language Teaching and British Council. He had been in Taiwan for a few weeks to give a course to teachers. While in Manila, we managed to organize lunch for him with the PELTs. It was a happy reunion with a lot of laughter that only Alan could provoke! His talk and workshop were well attended and much appreciated.
When I heard about the shocking news that he had suddenly died I thought that perhaps, he had come to Manila last December to say goodbye! When I realized that he died while on his morning walk with Sooty, I imagined where it was – in that wooded area where he had stories to tell about the trees and the birds and Sooty’s antics around the orchard. That was how I remembered it as I recalled the two occasions when I went with Alan on his morning walk back in July 2014.
Goodbye Alan, dear friend. You are sorely missed. Thank you for everything that you have been to me, to my family, to the teachers in the Philippines that benefited from your goodness and gift of teaching. May God keep you in His warm embrace and take you to heaven with His angels. And may He comfort Mary, Jeff, and Robert in their sorrow.
It has taken me awhile to come to terms with this devastating news of Alan’s passing. It was difficult for me to choose the right words to describe Alan… not only because he was my favourite lecturer/supervisor/mentor in Lancaster where I obtained my degree and PhD, but more significantly he has contributed immensely in touching and enriching my life as a lecturer and supervisor. In the office where I work in Borneo Sabah, I still keep a photo I took with Alan together with my family during my PhD graduation in 2007. He was and will always be my source of inspiration! Not only was Alan a passionate, outstanding, and caring scholar/teacher/lecturer/supervisor, he was also someone whom I called as a friend. He has shown the way and share with all of us (his student/supervisee) how we can touch people’s lives. Let this legacy of his be our inspiration to continue to make a difference in the lives of our students, friends , and colleagues. In my opinion, that’s the best way to remember Alan, and I’m sure that’s how he wants us to always remember him. Departed, but never forgotten, RIP Alan.
I cannot even put into words how saddened I became when I heard such shocking news. I grew up academically and professionally in Lancaster with Dr. Alan when I was an M. A. TESOL (2007 – 2008) student. I feel like a part of my English language teaching profession has gone with him. I always loved him. It was very obvious that he was polite, outgoing, hardworking and smart. He taught me Innovation Management in Language Teaching. He influenced me extraordinarily with his expertise and arguments. He could, sometimes, greet me in Swahili, my Tanzanian national language. I feel it was too early for him to go home. It just makes me so sad. I have lost Dr. Alan and I cannot get him back. He is gone but will live on in me and the entire ELT congregation worldwide. If his spirit would hear me, I could not hesitate telling him:
“Thank you Dr. Alan for all that we learnt from you and all that you gave us. You enriched my language teaching profession insisting on being innovative to match with the changing world. You absolutely made a difference in ELT. I loved you for what and who you were and what you stood for. You are gone, so special, such a classic unique giant of a man. May you rest in peace for eternity. You are so loved and so missed”
Alan was a very special person in my life. He was my PhD supervisor and someone who always believed in me and encouraged me.
I’m very very sorry to hear about his sudden death.
He the type of person that is very difficult to meet nowadays, specially in the academic world. He was very generous and gentle. Also, he always had a smile on his face and he was rarely in a hurry. At least this is the impression I got from him. He was a role model for me and I will never forget everything he did for me personally and professionally.
On my Viva day, he and his wife Mary invited me for a meal to celebrate my PhD. They didn’t have to do that, so this meant a lot to me. This is the kind of gesture that made Alan so special.
As a part-time student living far from Lancaster, I didn’t know Alan very well. He seemed very kind whenever I met him and talked about his love of walking and his connection to Dorset, where I live. From reading the comments on this site, I sense that many of you will miss him greatly.
Silver bells
Sounding in the birch trees
A presence in absence
When the soul flies
Left behind with the reed wall’s air
Our sorrow, not theirs
First of all, no more heart problems, thank God – in fact, I’m healthier now in most respects than I’ve been for many years, due to weight loss, regular exercise, etc.
I’m very impressed that ……………(ellipsis)………………
And our main family news is that we have recently moved house – to somewhere still in Lancaster, but a smaller and more ‘secluded’ place.
I do hope that we may meet again in the not too distant future, but meanwhile, thanks again for getting in touch, and a very happy 2016 and Year of the Monkey!
All good wishes
Alan
The above is part of Alan’s email message replying to my season’s greetings. His passing away was a real shock and still I can’t believe this great loss… He was my supervisor for my PhD study after Keith, my former supervisor, retired. Both of them did all that they could to bridge the gap which might occur with the change to my supervision. Alan continued to give me advice and tremendous support, which has not been limited to the academic but extended to deep understanding and consideration of each one of his students including me. His devotion will never be forgotten.
Alan, now are you taking rest in “much more ‘secluded’ place”? I don’t know how distant the future will be when we “meet again”, but please do remember you’re in the hearts and thoughts of so many students of yours with respect and gratitude! Missing you…
I am so lucky to be involved in his last MA TEFL cohort at Lancaster University. I remember the first ice-breaking activity organised by him; I remember the notes sticked around his computer to remind himself of things to be done; I remember the lake district walk he led and he was passionately talking about his love to lake district; Lake District is one of the main reasons that kept him so many years in Lancaster; I remember he’s so excited about the book-Analects of Confucius and told me he used one quote during his presentation at a conference in Beijing; I remember our last meeting in Lancaster last year and he talked about his heart problem clamly; I was a bit shocked that he lost weight a lot and worried about his health, but he seemed very possitive and had a lot of plans for his retired life; I remember the last reccommendation letter received from him this March…These things came to my mind again and again when I heard his sudden passing.
Alan is one of the big names in the field of ELT and is welcomed and popular in China. He was invited to speak at conferences and to do academic interview. He is and will be remembered by us. He was a gentle, noble, kind and knowledgealbe man. May his soul rest in eternal peace.
Alan was a lovely man, a very supportive colleague and a wonderful teacher. My strongest memory will always be of teaching with him. There are literally thousands of his students all over the world who will feel saddened by the news of his passing but will also always be grateful that they had the chance to be taught by this consummate professional.
Thanks, John. Hope all’s well.
Yes, indeed what a lovely man Alan was. It was a great duo you and he had together in the PELT Project. Unforgettable! I’m forever grateful.
I have only known Alan since 2012 when I came to Lancaster rather nervous about filling his shoes following his retirement. He was so kind and generous in filling me in on all the courses I was taking over from him, sending me his excellent materials and so gracious in answering my many questions. It made my start to teaching at Lancaster so much easier. It was obvious from his materials how much time, thought and care he had taken to support his students – with annotated bibliographies, sample answers, materials from textbooks, motivating questions… so many ideas to help them build up their knowledge and understanding of the topic areas, and to ensure the topics and assignments were relevent to their particular needs. What stood out in all of this was his care for his students, the depth of his teaching experience – both in teaching EFL and in textbook writing, and his obvious committment to helping his students achieve their best. I have no doubt they were exceedingly grateful for that. For myself, it was a hard act to follow!
I am also grateful to Alan for his encouragement to me in research and supervision. In SLAAT research meetings he was always ethusiastic and interested in ideas about teaching and learning, never taking over the discussion, graciously listening to what everyone had to say, although his practical teaching experience was way beyond all those of us present. Alan was a lovely incredibly kind person, ready with a smile, and willing to chat anytime. I will miss him.
I first met Alan when I studied my MA, taking the course: Innovations in English language education, taught by him and Tom Hutchinson in IELE (George Fox building). Alan’s professional knowledge, critical insights, ways of interacting with students with passion, understanding and care inspired me much and influenced my view of teaching and being a language teacher. During my PhD study, every time I saw Alan in the dept. research group meetings, dept’s social events, and IATEFL conferences, he always showed warm concern, encouraging me with warm smile and words with full of wisdom. In several Lake District walks I attended, my classmates and I enjoyed Alan passionately sharing with us history, scenes, people (e.g.,Wordsworth) in the Lakeland. Also, Alan came to congratulate me in the mixing bay in Bowland right after I passed my PhD viva.
Alan is one of very special teachers I met in Lancaster. I never forget Alan’s generosity, in 2006 (when I was still in Lancaster studying), he came to Taiwan for British Educational Exhibitions. He told me this and I then mentioned Alan’s visit to my mom. Despite a very brief meeting (only 10 minutes), my mom was very impressed by Alan’s extreme friendliness, kindness and great sense of humor. What made me even more amazed is that Alan communicated so well with my mom who only knows very limited English, only a few survival English expressions. Alan even asked the staff there to take a photo of him and my mom and e-mailed me, which meant a great deal to me and my family. Ever since, when talking about my study and days back in Lancaster in family gatherings, my mom always think of Alan, saying he was such a wonderful teacher and feeling privileged of meeting him. Last year, when he came to Taiwan for a conference, because of my work schedule, I couldn’t go to see him. We then had a few e-mail correspondences, fondly discussing the updates of people we know and ended by planning to see each other again in future conferences in UK. Now, it is not possible. It’s a great loss to the ELT field, but Alan will never be forgotten. His legacy has made tremendous impact upon colleagues, students and people and will continue to make a difference in their lives. I felt so blessed to know Alan as a great teacher and scholar. My family and I miss Alan; we always remember his dedication and compassion, being intellectually inspiring and meanwhile humble, kind, genuine, warm to those around him. RIP Alan, our deepest sympathies and prayers to his family.
I first met Alan in 1997, when I came to work at Lancaster. But he was known to me before then, through his work. In the 70s and 80s we worked in similar institutions (he in Lancaster’s IELE and me in Reading’s CALS), doing similar things. The ESP work of Alan and his colleagues was truly pioneering, and his was one of the Lancaster applied linguistic names that was on everyone’s lips at the time. It is still there now. His contribution to applied linguistic was, and is, considerable.
My contacts with Alan were relatively few during the period when he continued to work in the IELE. Then when the IELE closed, he came to work in the Department (at that time called “Linguistics and Modern English Language’). It was then that we started to have a lot to do with each other, thrown together on various applied linguistic and TESOL MA programmes. He really was a pleasure to work with. He was full of common sense (not a quality with which all academics are endowed). He was obliging, flexible and hard-working. But most of all he was a kind and generous teacher with a real human touch – always prepared to look beyond the student to see the person behind. He was also, of course, a highly experienced professional with knowledge of peoples, practices, and educational systems around the world. These are very rare qualities, and people like him are invaluable on programmes involving language teachers.
When I retired, and when he retired too, we became more friendly, meeting every six weeks or so for dinner and a natter. The nattering was sometimes gossip about applied linguistic matters, but it was during this time that I came to realise fully what a man of culture Alan was. His interests were as wide as his reading, and he read widely indeed. But music was his particular passion, and much of our nattering was musical. He was particularly knowledgeable about German romantic music, but it was more than a question of knowledge. It was passion. I recall that when he went to Vienna to teach (an experience which we also shared, and did some nattering about) he went, like many music lovers, to visit Mahler’s grave there. Many music-lovers go to look at the grave. But Alan was different. He took flowers and laid them there. He was not a tourist, but a pilgrim. I also recall hearing him, unexpectedly, talking on Radio 3 one Saturday morning, when he had phoned up to make some comment on air about a favourite piece of his, Tippett’s ‘Concerto for Double String Orchestra’. Music was a real love, and he knew lots about it. Another of his passions was of course walking, and an image I shall carry for a long time is of him, dressed for the hike, his trusty dog Sooty at his side.
I had dinner with Alan just a few days before he died. I commented on how well he looked, and how sensible he was being about what he ate and drank. It is so sad to think of him as gone. I shall miss our natters, but most of all I shall miss him.
As people have written here, Alan was an extremely kind man. One thing I have noticed in talking with colleagues about him over the last few days was that we are now realising how thoughtful he was in the topics he would bring up with people. He’d know just the subject to bring up to make his conversationalist smile and relax. He knew so much about so many things but wore this knowledge gently, never showing any arrogance.
I was incredibly fortunate to have had Alan as my PhD supervisor and then he became a treasured friend of myself and my family. He was the most special and kind supervisor – a truly great teacher. He was patient and dedicated, always finding time to share his wisdom, experience and wonderful critical insights – how I will miss his guidance as my mentor, helping keep my feet firmly on the ground. And all of this with his characteristic, wonderful sense of humour and exceptional kindness and generosity of spirit. My Dad and I have been lucky enough to have enjoyed several walks with him on the Lakeland fells – in true ‘Herdwickian’ fashion – no such thing as following the main paths, when challenging, uncharted routes trodden only by sheep were to be explored. Somehow words are woefully inadequate to express how terribly sad we are and how very much my family and I will miss him – he truly leaves a great hole in our lives as well as within the larger ELT community. Our heartfelt sympathies go out to his family.
I first encountered Alan as the co-author (with Tom Hutchinson) of ‘English for Specific Purposes’, which was seminal in the field for reasons Greg has identified. It was widely referred to as ‘The Green Bible’. I then met Alan when as a Teaching Fellow he employed me to teach Study Skills at the IELE on the Summer programme in the mid-1980s, for which I was hugely grateful. Alan also oversaw what were then then the Communicative Teaching of English, English for Specific Purposes and Diploma programmes. I taught on CTE. Those were the days when the British Council funded individual teachers to attend teacher development programmes, and people (including the tutors) met people from countries they’d never met people from before, including many teachers from sub-Saharan Africa. I’m proud to have been a co-author of Alan’s (with Joan Allwright and Terry Bray) of an article on the ‘Language Learning Experience’, in which the teachers were exposed to four lessons of a brand new language, and had to analyse their experience. I recall Alan being hugely appreciated and admired by these teachers (one teacher from Zaire used the phrase ‘Alan Waters himself’) – not only as an educator, but in the weekly well-attended evening socials. Alan also arranged and participated in many Lake District trips and walks. I also recall him doing a reading of Wordsworth’s poetry at the University, and the room was full.
Outside work, along with Jane Parsons and Tony Parsons, who also taught at the IELE, I did many Lake District walks with Alan, sometimes with his then young spaniel Rusty. He was a great walker, lover of the Lake District, and companion. He neither talked too much nor too little and was always interesting.
Alan was a very special and generous person and I have been moved to read all these tributes to him.
Alan was our Course Director of M.A. TESOL during 2009-10 when I did the course as a Hornby scholar. He was my adviser too. Our out of the classroom meetings were also interesting. We discussed politics, literature, language curriculum. He has a special concern for me always. I learnt my academic writing from him. He demonstrated the unique skills a teacher should have – compassion and firmness together. He was firm and strict in . his assignment checking and the comments were of immense help for someone who wants to learn academic writing. At the same time he was very friendly and compassionate to people and their problems. GREAT LOSS TO ELT WORLD. When I met him in the Liverpool IATEFL conference again, he came rushing and hugged me. I felt elevated. Alan, THANK YOU. YOU WILL CONTINUE TO LIVE WITH US OUR WORK AND ELT RESEARCH.
Alan was an extremely kind, wise and generous colleague. He was my initial mentor in the department when I joined Lancaster in 2008. I couldn’t imagine a more supportive colleague, always willing to give advice and guidance, when I was just really beginning my career in the UK. He went well beyond duty to make sure that my transition to Lancaster was as smooth as possible. I will never forget the party he hosted to welcome Judit Kormos and me, the annual Lake District walks, the way he reflected about Wordsworth when visiting Grasmere, our chats about his puppy Sooty, and the memories he shared about his sons growing up when I just had my first son born. Alan was also an excellent and passionate teacher educator and an exemplary programme director; students adored him. He was a wonderful colleague who will be truly missed.
I was so so sad to hear that Alan is no longer with us. During my time in the Department, he was one of my favourite colleagues. We often used share a coffee in his office down the corridor in Bowland College and always had a great giggle together. He was very kind and gentle but also very funny with a mischievous sense of humour. My heartfelt condolences to his family.
I remember how Alan’s friendliness and helpfulness were always there. His office door would be open and he would stop and give his full attention, whether it was a work-related question or a query about a good hike in the Lakes. And much of the time there was a smile on his face and a sharp sense of humour.
Thanks to the University of Lancaster for creating this space for tributes to Alan. His passing will leave his family bereft and is a great loss to us all. As visitors to his website (www.alanwaters.org.uk) will realise, Alan and Mary’s time in the then rather remote Sierra Leonean town of Kabala in the early 1970s was a formative period for them both. It was a place that allowed Alan’s love of eccentric characters full rein. That was when I, as a young British Council officer, first got to know him, and I remember my visits to Kabala with great fondness – we explored the surrounding area and climbed hills together during the day, and in the evenings over our beers he offered some of the most stimulating conversation in the country.
Subsequently we worked in different countries but I valued Alan’s company too much to lose touch. We were able to visit him and his family in Thailand, and it was always a pleasure to call on them when we were in Britain and travelled up and down to Scotland. We looked forward to his wry but good-humoured and self-deprecating take on so many topics, as well as the intellectual rigour he brought to our discussions. And 35 years after we met in Sierra Leone we once more walked the hills together as Alan had time to explore the Lake District. Alan did not always have a smooth path through life, but sadnesses and difficulties seemed to increase his concern and compassion for others. He remained engaged and perceptive, invariably cheerful and eager for new ideas and experiences. The lives of those of us who have been privileged to enjoy his company over the years have been greatly diminished by his passing.
Alan was a kind, wonderful colleague. He made me feel so welcome when I started work on the ELT Journal Review panel and went out of his way to be hospitable. I always enjoyed talking to him and learnt a great deal from him. I still consult his book on ESP syllabus design. I feel lucky that our professional paths crossed. My heartfelt condolences to his family.
So very sorry to lose you Alan. You were a great colleague to have around, from the moment when I was a newcomer to the department and didn’t know one face from another, or one door from another to when I retired (and all the doors had changed, but yours was always helpfully just opposite mine). Sorry not to have enjoyed more walks together, more pictures on top of Green Gable, more concerts, or just tea and sandwiches out at Galgate. Gin remembers you from the late 1970’s when you joined the Department (was it from Kuwait), and brought first-hand knowledge of classrooms and teacher development to the IELE, and helped to attract many others to the Institute. Collaborating on modules was always enriching. Exchanging ideas about research projects always provoking. And now so sad not to be able to follow – even at a distance – the furrow you continued to plough so consistently in your seminars. Mary and your family are in our thoughts.
I just found out. I am deeply sorry! It’s so sad.
Alan was responsible for my MA programme in TEFL, in 2005-06, and one of my favourite teachers and people in general, when I was in Lancaster that year. My classmates and I owed him a lot, he was there for us whenever we needed something and his kind and genuine smile is what I will always keep in mind. I feel so bad for not having contacted him all this time. Whenever Lancaster comes to mind, Alan’s face is always there. What I will definitely never forget is our trip to the Lake District, which was embraced by his great sense of humour and his discrete way of teaching everything he knew to those who didn’t. I am sure he will be missed. I hope some day I can be the teacher he was.
May you rest in piece, wonderful teacher! Thank you for everything you taught me and for your kind heart! I am happy to have met you!
Alan was a wonderful person – a dedicated scholar, an immensely supportive colleague and and someone with an incredible wit and – what could be – a very dry sense of humour.
I first met Alan during my job interview at Lancaster and then a few months later in the summer of 2005 during the EAP programme, when he was directing it and I shadowed him as the incoming EAP Director . During these first few months at Lancaster, Alan showed me what good mentoring and team-work looked like. We spent hours in his office and I will always remember his incredible patience with the new colleague who had just started her first academic appointment and asked him endless questions about various aspects of management, classroom observations and curriculum development. At the end of the EAP programme, I also discovered what a talented (and again very patient!) dancer he was when our final programme party with the students turned out to be a Ceilidh.
As we were both members of the ELT group, we tended to often meet and chat while I was still at Lancaster. I learned quite a bit about German opera from Alan and when we were in Hong Kong at the same time, we also went to a concert by Stravinsky together that I otherwise would probably not have known of. He was also very knowledgeable about the various walks in Hong Kong and we spent a very warm and sunny day walking on one of the small islands – the memory of Alan wearing a big sunhat and smiling when admiring the local plants and flowers will always stay with me.
My thoughts are with this family – who he loved very much and frequently talked about.
He will be much missed.
Alan was my PhD supervisor for 3 years, and as others have said here, he was the most generous and patient guide anyone could hope for. He was always so gentle, open and encouraging that he made me feel I could do anything. He took a genuine interest in his students and treat us all like valued colleagues even though we were far, far less wise than him. He would invite students and their families to his house for Christmas dinner and was unfailingly kind both to and about others. He was one of the loveliest men I’ve ever met, and I miss him already.
Alan was my supervisor when I undertook my Masters and then later on, for a substantial part of my Doctorate research at Lancaster University.
I remember him and our conversations with great fondness (and now much sadness) – he was very kind, generous and supportive of his students. I learnt much from him over the course of my years in Lancaster – and not merely in matters of academic research but also about walking amongst the beautiful hills of the Lake District (which he deeply loved and where he walked a whole lot), Opera (especially Wagner), Art, History and Culture (in particular, the fascinating interplay and interfaces of East and West).
Even when he retired and was no longer my supervisor, Alan kept in touch via email to make sure that I was on track and that I would persist and endure.
When I completed my PhD and graduated ceremonially just last year, in 2015, it was truly a joy to be able to share the moment in Lancaster with my then supervisor, Jenefer as well as Alan, who made it to the post-graduation Departmental party (amidst all the inconveniences of the electrical black-out which accompanied the Cumbrian floods!).
For me, it was an unforgettable moment to have again – in the very same room – the two people whom I respect and am indebted to the most in my academic life.
It was of paramount importance for me then (even as it is now), to be able to thank Alan for all that he has done, in supporting and being an abiding presence in my Doctorate journey. I was (and am still) very grateful that he was also able to be there, at its very end.
When Alan and I met last December in Lancaster, we talked about the possibility of my family and I visiting him and his wife, Mary again in the UK in the near future. Because of the black-out in Lancaster due to the floods, and the temporary closure of the Thai restaurant in town, we did not even managed to have the dinner which we had initially planned on having. We talked about having a proper meal together if/when I were to visit again, or if he were ever in Asia.
But as it is, it was not meant to be. And for that meal not taken, and for the fact that my family and I would not be able to see him again, nor hear him talk so very passionately and lyrically about the Lakes or Wagner or the artists/artwork which he loved – there is again, that very deep sadness and regret.
My family and I miss him very much.
Natural kindness is what characterised Alan. I had the privilege of co-supervising with him and learned an incredible lot from observing his humble approach to supervision meetings, his gentle way of sharing expertise and knowledge, and his subtle and effective manner of redirecting things when necessary. I’m incredibly grateful for the free teacher training I received in this manner! Alan’s intellectual and personal generosity will be greatly missed.
Alan was an incredibly kind and generous colleague. In the short time I worked with him I learned a great deal from Alan about teacher education and syllabus design. Since his retirement it has always been a pleasure to bump into Alan in the department and chat – I will miss those conversations.
Alan was a lovely guy and a good scholar. His passion for ELT was driven by a genuine interest in the classroom experience of students learning a language. He thought about their struggles and experiences and translated that into research which provided insights for ELT practitioners and researchers. On a personal level, I always enjoyed talking to Alan. He had a great sense of humour and was a quiet, but wise and insghtful, observer of people. He was also a great opera buff – he bought me Ariadne Auf Naxos some years ago as a gift. It was a great present and is now all the more treasured for being a reminder of him.
I remember Alan as a kind, helpful and unassuming colleague, and while we didn’t have many professional points of contact, I enjoyed the gentle and calm atmosphere he brought to work with him. I miss him.
Alan was an active member of the SLLAT research group even after his retirement. Just two weeks ago we had a chat and he was planning to give a talk coming academic year. His view on teaching English around the world and his dedicated care for students will be an inspiration for many of us. It is a great loss for our field and the department. I will miss you, Alan. You were such a kind man and I feel honoured to have met you in person.
Alan was a wonderful colleague, always willing to help and support people who needed help – especially new-comers like myself when I joined the department in September 2004. He was also wonderful to talk to, at coffee or when bumping in to each other on the corridor, always smiling and cheerful, and interested in many topics and sub-disciplines of (Applied) Linguistics.
Importantly, Alan loved music and operas; it was a great privilege to spend a night at the Vienna Opera with him which we planned carefully months ahead in Lancaster. By coincidence, we were in Vienna at the same time. We chose The Tales of Hoffman (Hoffman’s Erzählungen) and both enjoyed the production very much, had a glass of champagne and discussed the production.
We will all miss Alan terribly!
I knew Alan later in his career. But he has documented some aspects of his earlier career on his excellent web site: http://www.alanwaters.org.uk/. He has some great photos of teaching in Sierra Leone (where he met his wife, Mary), as well as Thailand and other places. Before he was in the Linguistics Department, he was in the Institute for English Language Education, which conducted study skills courses, courses for language teachers, and teacher education projects around the world, and he eventually became Deputy Director; he also sometimes taught on MA courses in the department.
Even before I met him, I of course knew English for Specific Purposes (1986), which he wrote with Tom Hutchinson (who was also at the IELE). It was enormously influential, and controversial, in the field. It argued that the various forms of ESP, including English for Business, or Engineering, or Medicine, should not be seen as specialized varieties of English, with specialized vocabulary and grammar. Instead, ESP is an approach to teaching English that starts with the learner’s reasons for wanting to learn English, whatever they are. The two authors also produced a course, Interface, that stressed skills (speaking, listening, reading, writing) rather than specific fields and topics.
Alan had a very difficult time as the IELE was wound down; he believed in its mission and admired his colleagues and their experience and skills. He and Diane Wall then came to the Linguistics Department, where he provided very useful experience of teaching and of training and managing teachers. I admired the way he set about retraining himself, from his practical project focused work to more research focused outputs. He based his PhD on a study he had done of managing a new project for training Teachers in the Philippines; he and Maria Luz C. Vilches had done extensive surveys throughout all the stages of the introduction of a new national curriculum. What links his work on managing innovation and his earlier work on ESP is the argument that, whatever one wants to do in changing language learning, one must take into account the skills, experience, and difficulties of teachers.
When Alan retired, he was able to spend more time walking, usually with his dog. His web site has excellent photos and detailed, often rather challenging, routes. When I saw him in the mixing bay, he would describe his weekend walk, a way up a familiar fell by what seemed to me to be an impossible route.
His other great enthusiasm was opera, especially German opera. He said this enthusiasm dated from a time when he was working in the still-divided Berlin, and the three opera houses all had relatively inexpensive seats, so one could go every night if one wanted. He was a serious, highly knowledgeable, but never pretentious or cultish Wagnerian. I recall when we were driving back from WNO in Liverpool, and he was trying to puzzle out the meanings of The Flying Dutchman. But perhaps the work that was most important to him was Beethoven’s Fidelio, with its vision of liberation.
Alan was thoughtful, idealistic, and intensely loyal to his family, friends, and colleagues. He was always great to talk to, I think because he had a great enthusiasm for whatever he was doing, teaching, listening, or walking, and he resisted the cynicism and irony that academics sometimes take on. I will miss him.
Alan was an outstanding teacher who always put students first. His professionalism, wisdom and patience was an example for everyone who worked with him. I am ever so grateful for his support and guidance when I joined the department in 2008. His smile, advice and unbelievable kindness will be hugely missed.