Articles published in the ‘Issue 36: Spring 2014’ Category

Les étudiants en parlent Durant la conférence des directeurs pédagogiques cette année, le thème de la progression des étudiants est revenu à plusieurs reprises. Un sondage réalisé à l’échelle internationale faisait ressortir le progrès comme étant l’un des critères les plus importants d’un cours du point de vue les apprenants. La progression va-t-elle de soi ? Même s’il peut ...

Some time ago I wrote an article entitled, "So you want to open a Language School?" (I.H. Journal, Issue 29, Autumn 2010) and this article is best read in conjunction with that one. There's been so much interest and correspondence from you all (much appreciated) that I've decided to write a follow up, based on ...

At the 2014 IH DOS Conference I shared some ideas for using project work to tackle common problems in YL classrooms and the feedback I got from participants was overwhelmingly positive. And why wouldn’t it be? Nothing quite beats project work for developing the whole child and practicing experiential learning. Project work encourages learner independence, ...

Learner Autonomy is one of those ELT buzzwords, which everyone bandies about glibly. However, when you scratch beneath the surface, things are not as simple as they might have appeared at first glance. While Holec’s (1981:3) definition of autonomy, i.e. the ability to take charge of one’s own learning, is widely quoted, there is no ...

Overview “A radically new approach to studying the culture of English-speaking countries around the world.” This is how Blackcat publishers (www.backcat-cideb.com) are promoting their new coursebook. The course materials consist of student’s book, with audio and DVD materials, with downloadable activities to accompany the DVD lessons (which I did not sample), plus a teacher’s book. It’s ...

Overview of the books Collins Academic Skills series is a new set of books covering several aspects relevant to academic study. They are designed in particular for students from abroad who are studying, or intending to study, at an English-speaking university. The two volumes reviewed here are Writing, for learning to write better academic essays, and ...