David Nunan
Nunan
David Nunan is an Australian applied linguist, curriculum specialist, and teacher educator whose career has taken him through Australia, Asia, and the United States. Associated especially with Macquarie University and the University of Hong Kong, he became one of the field's most readable and internationally portable methodology writers.
Nunan has long occupied a useful middle ground: serious enough for researchers to cite, clear enough for teachers to keep on their desks. He writes with the reassuring competence of someone who has spent years translating curriculum theory into something schools can actually live with.
Career
- Built an international career in applied linguistics, teacher education, and curriculum design
- Held senior academic roles including posts at Macquarie University and the University of Hong Kong
- Worked extensively in educational publishing and program development
- Became one of the most widely assigned ELT methodology authors in teacher-education contexts
Published Work
- Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom (1989)
- The Learner-Centred Curriculum (1988)
- Task-Based Language Teaching (2004)
- Research Methods in Language Learning (1992)
Influence
- Strong influence on communicative curriculum design and the teacher-friendly presentation of task-based ideas
- Helped normalize learner-centered language in curriculum and teacher-development writing
- One of the key figures in making action research and reflective teaching feel achievable rather than grandiose