President, Anaheim University; Emeritus Professor, University of Hong Kong

David Nunan is President of Anaheim University and Emeritus Professor at the University of Hong Kong.

I have been involved in work with not-for-profit organizations for many years now, most notably The Smith Family, a charitable organization in Australia that provides financial and emotional support to enable disadvantaged children in Australia to stay in school, and the Rose Foundation, a hospital in Cambodia that does what it can to help orphaned and badly injured children stay alive. These are good and worthy charities and causes. Supporting them will always get you brownie points, if brownie points are what you want. Whenever I suggest to friends visiting Cambodia that they take half a day out of their busy sightseeing schedules to visit the children’s hospital, they usually take me up the offer and never fail to leave without tears in their eyes and donations on the table.

I also have the honor of working with TIRF, an organization that is not quite as sexy in the work that it does. Indirectly, however, the work of this foundations does is just as important as the organizations mentioned above. The Smith Family and the Rose Foundation are front-line charities. Go into classrooms in the western suburbs of Sydney or walk along the concrete floor of the children’s ward in Phnom Penh and you can see, at first hand, the results of any contribution you might have made. You can see first hand the diploma in the child’s hand in Sydney or the healing scars of the burns victim in Phnom Penh.

TIRF is not quite like that. Its work can be described as “second-line.” Interestingly, however, TIRF’s mission is fundamental to the Smith Family in Australia and the Rose Foundation in Cambodia. Without access to high quality instruction in English, immigrant and refugee children in Australia will never hold a diploma in their hands. Without a sophisticated command of English, young Cambodian doctors will not be able fully to benefit from guided instruction in surgical procedures from visiting surgeons from Europe, North America, Australia and other parts of Asia. Thus the work of TIRF, by supporting research on English language education and use worldwide enables people to carry out other important life goals. It is a truism that English has become the global language. However, unless you travel a lot (and by a lot I mean the 150,000 kilometer a year club!), you may not be aware of just how pervasive English has become. Despite the efforts of a relatively small number of individuals, establishing a solid research agenda for English language education and supporting that agenda financially and in other ways has not been a priority. It isn’t sexy, and, I agree. But, it is essential. The challenge for TIRF, and the challenge for all committed language educators around the world, is to put what they do in perspective and to see that their work is fundamental to saving lives and creating better futures for the people they touch.

TIRF aims to find the resources to support research in English language education. It may not be sexy, and it may be behind the scenes; but in the medium to longer term, it is essential. That is why I give to TIRF and give my support to the foundation in as many ways as I can. If this piece of giving resonates with you, I would also like you to give TIRF your support. Giving to TIRF doesn’t necessarily mean contributing financially, although this never hurts. If you cannot give financially, give to TIRF in other ways. For a start, find out more about the foundation. There are many different ways that you can contribute to TIRF’s mission. Please share what you find out with other like-minded people. TIRF and its supporters and donors thank you.