Autoren & Autorinnen stellen sich vor

Isobel Williams studied English Language and Literature in the UK. As a student, she worked on a voluntary programme, teaching English to immigrants. After moving to Germany, she taught EFL and ESP at various institutions and organizations in Baden-Württemberg. Now living in Berlin, she is once again teaching on a voluntary basis.
Isobel has been a Cornelsen author since 1991. Among the titles she has written for Cornelsen Berufliche Bildung are Office Matters, Caring for People and, as a co-author, Crossover Wirtschaft 1 & 2.
Isobel’s aims are to motivate learners and encourage autonomous learning.

Michael Benford studied French and German at Cambridge before getting a teaching qualification in modern languages at London University. After that he studied English as a Foreign Language and obtained a Royal Society of Arts qualification in 1976. He came to Germany that year and first taught electricians and metalworkers at a vocational training college before moving on to a commercial college, where he now teaches. Michael has been with Cornelsen since 2005. His titles include Kickstart your English and Electricity Matters.

David Clarke taught at Gymnasien and a BBS for ten years before leaving school service to become a freelance language trainer and EFL materials writer, designing and teaching courses in Business and Technical English for the IHK in Arnsberg, Bochum and Hagen, as well as running in-company courses. In his capacity as materials writer, he was invited by Cornelsen & Oxford University Press (COUP) to work on Focus on Success and Focus on Business with Mike Macfarlane, an association that has now lasted over 25 years. Among numerous other writing activities, including trainers for Cornelsen Scriptor, David also worked as a principal author on Focus’s Austrian sister titles, Focus on Modern Business and, with Steve Williams, Focus on Modern Technology for VERITAS. David’s most recent titles are Focus on Business, Technical English at Work – The New Edition and Job Matters – Metalltechnik.

Michael Macfarlane taught for several years in Japan, then completed an MA in Applied Linguistics in the UK before working for the British Council in the Middle East. After this, he moved to Oxford University Press first as an in-house writer and then as project development manager. Later, he became a freelance writer and consultant. Together with David Clarke, Mike has been involved with the Focus on Success and Focus on Business projects since the very first editions were published in the 1980s. He is a well-known ELT author who not only writes for Cornelsen but also for Oxford University Press and for publishers in the Middle East and southern Europe.

Dr Steve Williams studied German language and literature in the UK; he now lives in southern Australia. Steve has over 20 years’ experience in educational publishing; since 1996 he has worked as a freelance author, writing materials for teaching English and German. He has written several coursebooks, revision aids and exam trainers for Cornelsen Verlag and its Austrian partner VERITAS. Steve’s aims are to engage young learners through interesting and varied topics and tasks, and to pass on to them his own enthusiasm for foreign languages and cultures.

As a teacher of English and economics as well as an interpreter and translator, Josef Herrmann has been in the profession for a long time. His experience covers teaching at a Kaufmännische Schule (WG, BK, WS and Berufsschule) and working as a lecturer of Business English and General English at a Fachhochschule and a Berufsakademie.

Josef Herrmann’s fields of interest range from modern teaching methods, computer assisted language learning, learner autonomy, bilingualism to psycholinguistics. Some of these interests are also reflected in books and articles he has written dealing with teaching methods (CALL) and the evaluation of educational software for learning foreign languages.

Josef Herrmann is also engaged in mentoring/teaching students who are enrolled in a teacher training programme at university.

Carlo Dirschedl besuchte nach einer Berufsausbildung zum Schornsteinfeger die Berufsoberschule, bevor er Bautechnik und Deutsch an der TU und LMU München für das Lehramt an beruflichen Schulen studierte.
Es folgten Unterrichtstätigkeiten an Berufsschulen und Berufsoberschulen in Würzburg, München und Altötting. Von 1993 bis 1999 war Carlo Dirschedl Mitarbeiter am Bayerischen Staatsministerium für Unterricht und Kultus. Es folgten zwei Jahre Tätigkeit als Stellvertretender Schulleiter an der Staatl. Berufsschule Dingolfing. Seit 2001 ist er Schulleiter der Beruflichen Schulen in Altötting. Carlo Dirschedl arbeitet seit 1990 als Autor und Herausgeber in mehreren Projekten - Deutschbücher und zahlreiche Arbeitshefte - mit dem Cornelsen Verlag zusammen.

Heiko Pohlmann studierte an der TU München die Fächer Elektrotechnik, Deutsch und Arbeitswissenschaft und unterrichtete dann viele Jahre an der Berufsschule Fürstenfeldbruck.
Nach der Tätigkeit als Seminarlehrer und als Referent an der zentralen Lehrerfortbildungsstätte in Bayern im Fach Deutsch ist Heiko Pohlmann heute als Seminarvorstand am Staatlichen Studienseminar für das Lehramt an beruflichen Schulen Südbayern tätig. Außerdem ist er im Bundesverband der Lehrerinnen und Lehrer an beruflichen Schulen (BLBS) aktiv. Heiko Pohlmann ist Autor unterschiedlicher Werke. Für den Cornelsen Verlag war er als Herausgeber und Autor des Werkes „Das Deutschbuch für Berufsschulen/Berufsfachschulen in Bayern“ tätig.