After the success of our 20th Anniversary edition of the IH Journal last time out, we’re picking up where we left off to keep the momentum going. The journal reaches ever more readers with each iteration and the response to our call for papers this time was hugely encouraging. Almost 50 teachers from all over ...

Leading up this year’s YL Conference in Bucharest, it dawned on me that as YL teachers we are kind of spoilt (for choice) - it’s never been easier to find, and in abundance, information, resources, and new ideas. But, we are also kind of saturated and in danger of that age old struggle – making ...

This is obviously not an appropriate title for an article in a fashion magazine, but for us working in the field of English language teaching, this might just be a gateway to lessons designed for the 21st century. What I will aim to do in this article is to give you some ideas and tips ...

Why Teach Listening? Teaching listening skills is possibly the hardest part of our job as EFL teachers. It is much harder when you teach listening to Young Learners (YLs) in a non-English-speaking environment. With very little English exposure at home or in mainstream schools in countries where English is not widely spoken, YLs need thorough guidance ...

What is Oxford Owl? Oxford owl is an online site with an archive of free graded readers available to anyone, once they’ve set up an account. The archive contains a fantastic collection of beautifully illustrated books, including the Biff Chip and Kipper series, which I grew up reading as a child. Each book has an audio ...

What is this article? An esteemed colleague of mine once talked of the ‘dumbing down’ of teacher training, citing the excessive use of abbreviations and acronyms (e.g. ICQ, CCQ, etc.) on CELTA courses as indicative of this in that they tended to “…discourage critical analysis of techniques and… limit trainee options” (Hazell, 2015). It is an ...

What is this article? In the previous article, I spelt out what could be considered the tendency towards a ‘dumbing down of teacher training’, using the example of the overuse of jargon. However, I think this example is indicative of much deeper, more fundamental issues. Here, I will illustrate this phenomenon with further examples I have ...

Post-CELTA Observations As a Director of Studies, it is part of my job to observe teachers. One particular observation was of a teacher – let us call her Jill – who had recently completed her CELTA. Jill had previously worked at the school, so I was familiar with her teaching style and preferences. In this particular ...

Introduction Governments and education providers around the world are increasingly requiring tertiary teachers to engage in professional learning in order to enhance course quality and achievement outcomes (SOLAS, n.d.). Certainly, as teachers we want to participate in professional learning activities—such as reflecting upon our teaching, observing and being observed, and being mentored—to improve our practice. This article ...

“I want to improve my teaching practices so students learn better”. Most teachers will say it, or why would we bother doing this job (it's probably not to get rich)? However, as with anything, there´s a wide schism between intentions and making them reality. Observations are commonly used to bridge this gap and help teachers with ...