Jack C. Richards

Jack Croft Richards (born 28 July 1943) is an applied linguist from New Zealand, specializing in second and foreign language education, teacher training, and materials design. He is the grandson of the New Zealand organ builder George Croft.

He has written numerous articles and books. Most of his books and articles are in the field of second language teaching and have been translated into many different languages. He was appointed full professor in the Department of English as a Second Language at the University of Hawaii in 1981 and later served as full professor in universities in Hong Kong and New Zealand.

He earned a Master of Arts with first-class honours in English from Victoria University of Wellington in 1966 and a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from Laval University (a French language university in Quebec, Canada) in 1972. and a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from Laval University (a French language university in Quebec, Canada) in 1972. He then joined Singapore's Regional Language Centre (RELC) as a specialist in applied linguistics, supported by the New Zealand government.

While at RELC, Richards joined the editorial board of the RELC Journal when it was launched in 1970, and remained closely associated with the journal for more than five decades, latterly as associate editor, before stepping down in 2021; SEAMEO–RELC credited him with guiding the journal’s growth into a publication indexed in the Social Sciences Citation Index.

In 1989, he returned to Hong Kong to establish and lead the new Department of English at City University of Hong Kong as chair professor. He retired from full-time appointments in 1999, after which he continued to teach workshops at RELC Singapore, and Sydney University, and Victoria University as an honorary or adjunct professor.

Publications and major works Richards is an author and educator, with over 150 books and articles to his name. He is also the author and co-author of many widely used textbooks for learners of English including the best-selling series Interchange (5th ed., 2017) which has sold more than 50 million copies world-wide.

In applied linguistics his co-authored Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (with Theodore S. Rodgers) is now in its third edition (2014), and he authored Curriculum Development in Language Teaching (2nd ed., 2017).

He has also contributed to and edited major volumes such as Language Learning Beyond the Classroom (with David Nunan, 2014) and The Cambridge Guide to Pedagogy and Practice in Language Teaching (with Anne Burns, 2012),

That same year, he was appointed honorary professor at the University of Sydney; in 2014, he received the Award for Patronage from the Arts Foundation of New Zealand and became honorary professor at the University of Auckland. Over five decades, his work has shaped both academic discourse and classroom practice in English language teaching worldwide.

In 2023, Language Teaching Research Quarterly published a special issue in tribute to Richards’s six-decade contribution to the field, including an editorial marking his influence on the profession and a systematic review co-authored by Richards himself cataloguing his journal articles, books, and book chapters across 24 journals and 18 disciplines and sub-disciplines.

His early research on error analysis, including Error Analysis: Perspectives on Second Language Acquisition (1974), was influential in the study of learner errors and interlanguage development. and Professional Development for Language Teachers (with Thomas Farrell, 2005). More recent collaborations examine evolving pedagogies and learning contexts.

His arts patronage has included sponsoring composer Gareth Farr’s first piano concerto (2014), funding debut recordings by pianists Lixin Zhang and Tony Chen Lin on the Rattle Records label, and supporting the Gisborne International Music Competition and the NZCT Chamber Music Contest; he has said that royalties from his textbooks have enabled this support for performers and composers.

In 2011, Richards was made an honorary professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Sydney, Australia.

In 2014, Richards was made an honorary professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Classroom Texts & Series

2019. Four Corners. (with David Bolhke) 2nd edition. Levels 1,2,3,4. 2017. Interchange. (with J. Hull and S Proctor) 5th edition. Levels 1,2,3 2012. Speak Now. (with David Bohlke). Levels 1,2,3. 2011. Tactics for Listening. (3 level series). 3rd edition 2004. Connect. (with C.Sandy and C. Barbesan)

Articles

Sadeghi, K., Richards, J. C., & Ghaderi, F. (2019). Perceived versus Measured Teaching Effectiveness: Does Teacher Proficiency Matter? RELC Journal, 51(2), 280–293. Richards, J. C., & Wilson, O. (2019). On Transidentitying. RELC Journal, 50(1), 179–187. Richards, J. C. (2015a). The Changing Face of Language Learning: Learning Beyond the Classroom. RELC Journal, 46(1), 5–22.