Author Archive
We ask a lot of our teachers, I think. We ask for high professional standards, for well-planned and effectively executed lessons, for them to take time to give student feedback, be at Parents’ Evenings, deliver pastoral care; to look after the wellbeing of their learners in a number of ways. But we don’t always focus ...
The article suggests features that enable teachers to distinguish between communicative and non-communicative activities. It offers some tasks to help them see this difference. Also, the author suggests ways of converting boring grammar exercises into meaningful communicative activities, and provides some examples for practicing such converting. The information is not new, but it is not widely ...
I recently had the following conversation with a two-year-old: Me: What did the farmer give the cows to eat? Boy: It wasn’t a farmer. It was a lady. This dialogue reveals something depressing but not totally surprising. By the age of two, this child has already absorbed the cultural messages we are all bombarded with: that some roles ...
“Gender is not an easy conversation to have. It makes people uncomfortable, sometimes even irritable. Both men and women are resistant to talk about gender, or are quick to dismiss the problems of gender. Because thinking of changing the status quo is always uncomfortable.” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - We Should All Be Feminists It can be hard ...
"A decade working in mental health/support needs/autism and challenging behaviour was never as challenging as this 8 weeks teaching in occupied East Jerusalem!!!! My master’s thesis is definitely chosen - psychological effects of occupation on children and their education. And this doesn't even skim the surface of the effects on parental behaviour!!!!" Mhairi Claxnie, British Council ...
I came across this e-book one day on the Amazon website, and was instantly attracted to its theme. I have delivered talks to audiences in Taiwan for many years, and I’ve always sought out ways to improve. Seeing that it covers many important aspects of giving and delivering talks in an ELT context, I bought ...
In From Rules to Reasons, Danny Norrington-Davies presents an alternative way of looking at grammar in class. Instead of focusing on narrow, potentially limiting rules, he suggests that teachers can look at the underlying reasons behind a speaker or writer’s grammar choices. There are text and task-based lessons included to try in class and various ...
As a contributor to the very first issue of the IHJ, I was extended the huge courtesy and trust of an invitation to guest edit this 20th anniversary issue. It was an honour and a privilege that delighted and daunted me. It allowed me, like many of our contributors, to read back through the issues ...
Chapter 1: In the Labyrinth It was February 1975. I was newly arrived in London and eager to return to Greece under whose spell I had fallen en route from the Antipodes. On the way I’d spent a few weeks in Italy visiting a friend who had a temporary job teaching English. He let me watch ...
My good fortune It’s been my good fortune to have worked for International House for 27 years from 1972 – 1999. I did the four-week Teacher Training week course (for £35.00!) at 40 Shaftesbury Avenue in July 1972 with a brilliant trainer, Derek Hooper. The entire building was jam-packed with staff and students all the time. ...