Oxford Australia Blog

Sharing our love of education, language, and books

Month: May 2017

  • Phonics is not a dirty word

    By Kate Gurjian, Director, Time to Shine Australia Phonics is a word that is often misused, misunderstood and abused. Despite what some might argue, it is a method of learning that has much to offer Australian children. I am often asked why it is so important to teach children phonics, as opposed to learning words…

  • Why book design matters

    The design team at Oxford University Press might argue with the assertion that you can’t judge a book by its cover. A book’s cover can help tell a story, providing clues as to what lies within, drawing the reader’s eye and shaping their experience. However, there is more to book design than producing an attractive…

  • The pitfalls of following the herd

    Behavioural Economics: A Very Short Introduction author Michelle Baddeley talks to ABC Radio National Life Matters program about ‘Why we herd and how it can harm us’. In the interview, Baddeley discusses the tendency of people to blindly follow the herd, and the pitfalls of this behaviour, which might be at play in overheated housing…

  • We need to manage the ‘underbelly’ of globalisation

    The benefits of globalisation do not come without the need for increased responsibility and cooperation from the international community, according to The Pursuit of Development and Globalization for Development author Ian Goldin. In conversation with Business Insider’s Paul Colgan,  Professor Goldin said governments needed to ensure that they managed the risks involved with globalisation effectively…

  • Oxford Word of the Month: May – Smashed avo

    noun: (also thongaphone, thong-o-phone) a percussive musical instrument formed by a series of hollow PVC pipes of varying lengths, the ends of which are struck with a rubber clapper such as a thong. THE STORY BEHIND THE WORD OF THE MONTH In a 2014 posting on the video-sharing website YouTube a man can be seen…