A commemoration to celebrate Tim's life will take place on Wednesday 23 September 2009 at Westmere.
Tim rejoiced in the title “kidult” and included me in the same category, people who retain childish enthusiasms for matters which you might expect to be treated seriously. He was a kidult over Arthur Ransome, but just as much over data-driven learning and all the playful programs that he created in the early eighties. I have abiding memories of him at a conference where, after a slide show of gleaming banks of computers in use at some American institution, he produced his ZX81 from a baggy jacket pocket and plugged it into a black-and-white TV to demonstrate something far more instructive and riveting. I will miss the way he laughed and chortled and then lowered his voice to engage you in his enthusiasm. He was extraordinarily clever himself, but he never made anybody else feel stupid; on the contrary he made the people round him feel, and perhaps be, cleverer. I have lots to thank him for. John Higgins
I was staring at my computer screen through my tears as I was writing this message after I learnt of Tim's death, on March 19th.
I can still remember my first meeting with Tim, in 1985, at a Lancaster Computer Assisted Language Learning seminar, when we were sharing the idea that we had invented that wonderful machine, the computer, in our imaginations long before it existed. From now on, each time I give yet another class about concordances to my students I will fondly remember Tim who introduced me and so many others to the wonders of Data Driven Learning. I was pleased and surprised that on his DDL page, Tim had put a link to my university page, calling me "France's King of CALL". Like many others who knew him I have fond memories of Tim's enthusiasm, intellect and genuine modesty. I am very sad indeed. Tim "he did things his own way". I should add that his own way never was against other's ways but a new, original way, a way that made us see the world with new eyes.
"Good-night, sweet prince;
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest."
Joseph Rézeau - Université Rennes 2 - France
Tim’s death is a sad and untimely loss. It was in the early eighties that I arrived at EISU to do a PhD with Tim as one of my supervisors. At that time the Unit was housed on the 12th floor of the Muirhead Tower, and for a while I shared an office next door to Tim’s, from which loud laughter could be heard issuing at intervals. I found out that this was usually during his one-to-one sessions with students, and recall him in my mind’s eye saying enthusiastically, “You see? That’s it!”, with a gleam in his eye as the student got his point, or more probably saw it for themselves,.
My PhD got sidetracked for various reasons, but strong among them was Tim’s infectious enthusiasm, and my realisation that if what Tim was doing with mini-concordancing had been available 25 years earlier, my own language learning path would have been made much easier, and my progress much faster. The potential was obvious.
Tim was not only a brilliant teacher but also quite a gently crafty student. We attended Chinese evening classes together for a couple of years, under a succession of untrained and not very good teachers. One, who had little grasp of the difficulties learners faced, used to whip through the exercises at breakneck speed, leaving most students switched-off. Tim however had another way of satisfying his learner needs, and used to say, “That was a very interesting exercise. Do you think we could do it again?”, and the whole class was grateful to him.
Tim lived the idea that learning should be fun. He will be long remembered, and long missed. Philip King
‘A brilliant mind’ is perhaps an overused term but in Tim’s case it is entirely appropriate, though he never used his erudition against anyone, and was always modest, supportive of colleagues and generous to generations of students. I had the privilege to be one of Tim’s colleagues for many years and he taught me a lot. He was a true ‘applied linguist’, always concerned to turn theory into something of pedagogic value. He had an engaging sense of humour, and I shall miss his booming laugh and the shake of his shoulders as he seized on another incidence of life’s absurdities. Chris Kennedy
It is a big blow when I heard that Tim passed away. I'm so very sad. Perhaps, 'sad' is not enough to describe what I'm feeling now........... In those years supervised by Tim, I learn his genuine character. He is like a father to me. Just prior to my teaching, I heard the sad news from Lixun Wang. With a pair of swollen eyes, I told my student about my MA and PhD life in Birmingham, how lucky I was to be Tim's last student, how thankful I am to have Tim supervise me and how much I learn from him. My students listened and shared my great respect toward him. They gave their very sincere condolence.
Last August I visited Tim in Birmingham after the 2008 TALC Conference and we had nice Chinese Dim Sum together. I showed him the photos of Mike Scott and he was very happy to see his old friend in the photos again. .......... I wish I could show him around Taiwan again as he did some years ago. I wish he could visit his penguin friends he made acquaintance with on his cruise trip in 2006/7. He often mentioned how cute his penguin friends were to smile at him, looking at him over their shoulders on the island, as if they were saying hello and goodbye... Hsing-Chin Lee (Former Ph.D. student)
Tim was a great scholar and a kind and caring human being. He was a great supporter of the early TALC conferences, where his presence and thoughtful input really helped to jog thinking along. His ideas on data driven learning were radical – and all the better for that. I will miss him.
Should there be an afterlife, I have little doubt that Tim, Eugene and John are busy there working on new ideas! What interesting discussions those would be to hear. We are diminished by these losses. Tony Mcenery
I likewise remember Tim's love of Brazilian novellas and his passion for and knowledge about jazz. He was a very fine linguist, and generous in his willingness to share ideas. Eugene did indeed value him enormously - they were alike in loving language work for its own sake, not instrumentally nor for the sake of a career, but just because it fascinated them. Tim put my obituary for Eugene on his website for many years, and I hope someone does the same for Tim. I feel saddened that, with John's death just over a year ago, two of the greatest minds I encountered at Birmingham have both gone
Very best and in sadness Michael Hoey
Tim was very important in my life and I have great admiration for him as a person and as a thinker and teacher. I have put some memories of Tim at http://www.lexically.net/personal_pages/memories%20of%20Tim%20Johns.html
Mike Scott
Tim Johns was one of the ‘greats’ of Applied Linguistics and a truly unique academic. His mantra ‘research is too important to be left to the researchers’ says much about him: a great respect for the students he worked with; a driving curiosity about language; and a healthy irreverence towards ‘ivory tower’ research. These qualities led his own scholarship: although he published a number of widely read and often-quoted papers, much of his most influential work is to be found in his ‘kibbitzers’, which demonstrate teaching as an inspiration for research and research in the service of teaching.
Tim was the kindest and most generous of men. He advised me when I was a young EFL teacher looking to expand her horizons, and I know that around the world there are dozens of others whose lives he touched. Susan Hunston
I worked closely with Tim for 25 years and he was the almost perfect colleague. We collaborated on materials and generally shared the same approach to teaching, music and life! Tim was someone you could go to with a problem about English, ESP and teaching in general, and he would always come up with an excellent suggestion. Our collaboration on team teaching with Highway Engineering and Plant Biology remains the the most creative aspect of teaching I have ever been involved with.
He was a great materials writer and every time I drive down the Bristol Road and through Northfield and see the huge pubs in that area, l still think of his note-taking exercise on Why The Pubs Are So Big in Birmingham?. Tony Dudley-Evans
I wanted to share a few memories regarding my former co-supervisor, Tim Johns. His work on Data-driven Learning (DDL) was so inspirational that I decided to research in this area, and after graduation I have still been using his approach with my students. During my time in Birmingham, as an international student, sometimes you felt you got lost in the academic world, particularly when you were writing up the thesis, but with his insightful comments and thorough supervision, I was always drawn back on the right track and went through all the difficulty. Outside the classroom and his office (which was quite unique in a way), he was a good-natured person with a warm personality. Most importantly, he is a good example of a person who is a scholar in nature, always looking at things from different perspectives and thinking and projecting ideas ahead of the time. He was also a great, adventurous traveller. I will remember our trip to the North of Thailand a few years ago with him posed for photos along side the Thai elephants. He will be missed by all his students. May he rest in peace.Tony Sripicharn (former Ph.D. student)
Tim Johns introduced me to Applied Linguistics over forty years ago. It was May 1968, and we were both at a briefing for British Council links with the then Czechoslovakia - learning how not to get photographed in compromising ways in hotel rooms. He told me he was going to teach English Language at Charles University in Prague. I had never heard of teaching English *Language* - at the age of 22, I was ignorant enough to think there was only 'English *Literature*!
We then spent an eventful year in Prague (1968 - 69 was a time of massive political upheaval there), establishing a friendship which has been lifelong. He told me about his introduction to his passionate interest in ELT through teaching at an International Language School in Bournemouth, followed by the inspiring Diploma in Applied Linguistics at Edinburgh, where he was (I inferred - Tim would never say this!) a star student of the legendary characters of the field, Julian Dakin and all the rest. In Prague he sought out and worked with great figures of the Prague School - Firbas, Daneš, and more.
More importantly for me, in 1969 when I returned to England, he started teaching my then 'boyfriend', Milan Ivanič, English using the as yet un-invented 'communicative method', involving a lot of table tennis and whisky. When we all met up again in England in the early 70s Tim put his foot down about Milan's English: you two must STOP speaking Czech together at once! So the following morning, we woke up and started speaking English from that day onwards.
In 1980 our son was born and we had little hesitation in naming him after our best friend. From then on, Tim Johns became known in our family as 'Big Tim', and Tim Ivanič as 'Little Tim' or 'Velký' and 'Malý', even when Tim Ivanič grew to be taller than his namesake. In this way, Tim's name will live on to future generations.
In 1982 Tim encouraged me to pursue my own developing interest in Applied Linguistics. Thanks to his advice, I hesitantly applied for the MAELT in Lancaster in 1982. In this, I have a lot to thank him for, and the field of Applied Linguistics can blame him for the subsequent 26 years you were saddled with me!
As everyone knows, Tim pioneered the field of concordancing as a tool in the EAP classroom, writing one of the very first programs in a form which could be used on an Amstrad computer (does any one remember those?) - work which is better described by other contributors to this page. As well as being such a creative thinker and great contributor to the field, he was a wonderful generous friend and colleague, always thinking of other people before himself.
As very old friends, all my family grieve for him and will have long-lasting happy memories of all our good times together. Roz Ivanic
I first met Tim in China (1982) when he and Flo Davies came to work on ESP projects. The three of us, with our Chinese friends, initiated the "First International ESP Conference." I'm sure that since then, there have been many more.
The Chinese loved Tim, and he had a great time there. Crowds formed every time he gave a talk. He's one of the few foreigners I know who loved Chinese opera....
Later, Tim introduced me to his (and Flo's) wonderful work on reading and summaries, which I immediately began to use for a variety of purposes. The last time I saw him was at a TESOL Conference where I was discussing summaries, When he walked in, I said, "Uh,oh, There's the guy I stole it all from." Tim just laughed and asked whether he could distribute my handouts.
What an intelligent, thoughtful person Tim was! We'll miss him. Ann M Johns
Tim realised the importance of computers for Applied Linguistics long before anyone else did, and his early work in this area was truly pioneering. A sad loss. Paul Meara
Tim was one of the first persons I met in Birmingham in 1980 when I started my PH.D. under the supervision of John Sinclair. Everything was new for me then. There was so much to read and so much to think about in order to catch up with "the Birmingham School". I used to visit Tim in his office to ask him for the papers he had written or just to talk about my worries and ideas. He was always willing to listen and help with excellent hints. He was always available during the time I lived in Birmingham and I am very grateful for all I learned about linguistics while having a cup of coffee in his room. I am sad he has gone. I am sad that John has gone too. Both of them were brilliant minds and great human beings.
Adriana Bolívar (Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas)
Tim helped to introduce me to the use of computers in language processing during my undergraduate course, and later supervised my MPhil research. He was an extremely generous and inspirational teacher and a superb colleague. He shared his very extensive knowledge freely, and was always ready, and able, to discuss almost anything. His death is a great loss both academically and personally. Geoff Barnbrook
Tim was a wonderful friend, teacher and colleague. I owe him a great deal. We worked quite closely together in his early retirement years and I remember especially his contribution to my final year literature course on children’s literature. Tim taught some sessions on Arthur Ransome. The undergrads were absolutely enthralled. I then discovered he had arranged weekly viewings of the film versions of the set texts at Westmere. These occurred every Friday afternoon to a 100% attendance and all at Tim’s expense. He was equally generous with his time in advising students in regard to their assessed work for the course. I remember one young woman saying to me, ‘Wow! A real university don’. I know exactly what she meant. Murray Knowles
