Articles in the ‘Classroom Matters’ Section
Students at different levels of education are often required to write analytically. At middle or high school, they may need to write (for example) an analysis of the causes of an accident. At university, they may need to write analytical essays to examine the relationship between two concepts or ideas. However, many students find writing analytically a daunting task. They tend to be more familiar with descriptive writing, having learned how to write ...
When IELTS candidates stare at their Reading paper, alone and under time pressure, traditional scaffolding techniques aren’t available. We can’t: pre-teach blocking vocabulary. activate schemata by facilitating conversation around the general topic. concept-check to ensure that learners have understood the title and the genre before tackling the details and inferring author’s intention. Our fear is that the candidate will ...
In film-making, ‘mise-en-scẻne’ is used to mean ‘placing on stage’ or ‘telling the story’. This is not only the various design elements of a scene, but literally everything that constitutes one frame. Really everything from composition to form; colour to proximity of characters. It is not only the dialogue between characters, but a range of aspects – 15 fundamental principles – working together to form one frame. In a film the background, connections and the gentle ‘flowing-into-each-other’ of components ...
Can we teach speaking to YLs? One of the most frequently asked questions on YL training sessions I have been to or that I have run is ‘Can we teach speaking to YLs?’. While many ESL/EFL teachers agree with the idea that ‘it is not necessary (or even possible) to teach speaking in any real sense’ ...
How many times have we flicked through the coursebook and thought “My teenagers won't be interested in this” and yet, we go ahead and base our lesson around it anyway? In just a few minutes, you can create much more meaningful contexts which should engage your students more, and hopefully provide a few laughs along the ...
Benefits of Games for YLs (3 – 17 years) Games are an essential part of any YL teacher toolkit. The reason for this is understood when we compare adult and young learners. YLs are in the process of learning how to learn, and games assist YLs in cognitive, social and linguistic development (McKay, 2006). There are ...
An approach to teaching English to Japanese students from highly specialised fields. I’ve been involved in English for Specific Purposes (ESP), particularly with technically-minded students, for the last 18 years in Japan. I quickly began to notice a yawning chasm between the English teacher’s world and the world of the technical specialist. This article is an ...
Speaking exams, be it Cambridge Main Suite or any other, require training in exam strategies, for a simple reason: time limitation. A candidate must structure their speech within a limited time frame so as to demonstrate a range of grammar and vocabulary, and also to have enough ideas to put forth when discussing the questions ...
Trying to encourage our students to both enjoy and benefit from reading texts in class can be a challenge and we often repeat the same task types with limited results. Below are a few extra ideas to help you think of twists on using texts in class to practise a range of skills, focus on ...
One of the issues in EFL is how close to real life the classroom situation can be and realia, i.e. bringing in real objects – clothes, fruit, etc. can be effective. I once observed a lesson where the teacher brought in a box of soil to teach this vocabulary item to her class, the students ...