How do we know the state of the learner arriving in our classroom?
How do we know if they are motivated to learn? What does a motivated student look like? While we think they look motivated to learn, their interest may be peaked by something completely different.
Students come to the classroom with a complex range of social and cultural contexts...
The new school year has already started. After the first two weeks’ lessons we realise that:
The coursebook we have chosen doesn’t work the way we had expected;
The topics do not attract our students’ interest;
Some of our students have learning gaps from previous years;
They can’t use grammar correctly to express themselves;
They have...
A language certificate at the age of 12, 15 or 16? What’s the point?
To answer this question, it is important to remember that FL learning is not meant to be merely a school subject for learners with no specific use later on in their lives. In Greece learners aspire to make good use of a foreign language and the accompanied certification at a later stage...
Who has not experienced moments seeing that flash of interest in students’ eyes, smiling as the bell rings because the energy is so high and no one wants the period to end? How do we extend these moments? How do we create an environment that keeps students stimulated and craving more? How do we have more fun? How can we prevent ‘boredom’?
What is it that...
The current issue of ELT NEWS focuses on teacher development and adult learning.
The Indian poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore (1996) believed that just like a lamp can never light another lamp unless it continues to burn its own flame, teachers can never truly teach unless they are learning themselves. As a child Tagore abhorred formal...
In the current issue of ELT NEWS we focus on teaching English to young learners.
Knowing how children learn their first language can help us teach them a second language. All children can speak at least one language when they come to school. Think about how they learned their first language. Think about how your baby acquired his/her first...
Major changes are happening in ELT triggering new educational models and transformations. New technologies are being developed creating opportunities and challenges for the sector.
In this issue we accommodate the views of some of the most influential FLS owners and practicing teachers whose innovative and creative ideas have had an impact on the ELT...
A couple of months ago, I was having lunch with some friends. After lunch I was approached by the host’s daughter, a beautiful teenage girl. She would sit for a B2 exam in May and she was not sure which one to take. She needed advice. I asked her if she had ever heard of the Common European Framework. She hadn’t.
I agree with Maria Davou (read her...
In 2020, online learning leapt to new levels of prominence as people all over the world adapted to challenges imposed by the pandemic. Students found new ways to learn, instructors found new ways to teach, and organizations found new ways to support their communities.
In 2020, a record number of people turned to online learning as a source of hope...
Teaching will be online for the foreseeable future
As the COVID-19 Pandemic runs its course, many governments are implementing measures that limit the number of people congregating in public places. Such measures have disrupted the normal functioning of schools and universities. The duration of such measures has been extensive – and is likely to continue...
How long does it take to reach C1 and C2 Level?
It takes at least 18 years in general for a native speaker to reach C1 level in his own language, so you can hardly expect that a teenage or adult foreigner can take any less than a decade to approach that level.
The CEFR framework is a quantitative indication of a qualitative set of complex social skills...
However, the question of how grammarHowever, the question of how grammaris to be taught is at the heart of oneof the most enduring controversies inEFL. A wide range of opinions is foundin the field. Some maintain that explicitgrammar rules absolutely must betaught and drilled, or students will becondemned to a lifetime of fossilizationat an early stage of...
Editorial: Learning new stuff and master new skills is unavoidable
We all want to acquire new skills and master new material more easily and with less angst. There is the sheer joy, the feeling of satisfaction, and the sense of achievement in mastering something. And we hate to feel overwhelmed, stupid or frustrated because things don’t seem to come...
Back-to-school is looking a little different for many teachers nationwide this year, as they grapple with returning to their classrooms amid a pandemic.Whether your school is planning on a virtual, in-person, or hybrid approach, you can count on us to help you navigate the new year. July/August's issue is out, full of ideas to ease your way to the...
Training myself to be curious
“The more courses I take and the more I learn, the hungrier I feel for more knowledge. It’s like training myself to be curious.”
Learning for learning’s sake is a rewarding experience. And once you start learning, it’s difficult to stop. The trick is to choose a subject that you really care about and know what you...
During my long career in ELT I have attended numerous seminars, conferences, workshops in Greece and abroad and I still do. As I reflect on all those events, I am so grateful to the amazing teacher leaders I have encountered; their impact on my own practice was immeasurable. I returned to my classroom reinvigorated and ready to shine my own...
Some of the topics featured in this month's ELT NEWS
The CiELL project team is developing open educational resources based on comics that are highly visual and free for English Language teachers and learners to use. - Learn more about this amazing project by reading the related article at ELT NEWS April issue.
How hard is it to...
Teaching English to young learners
Early learning of English in the school context is becoming more common in our days. However, for a class of youngsters to flourish we need to create a pleasant climate in the classroom where kids can communicate through movement and play. The best way of working with very young learners is to set goals and...
Language testing is a powerful social tool used by language policymakers to promote a desired and favoured section of society as winners and accepted ones, and the rest as losers, failures and rejected ones. Though voices have been raised against the door - keeping nature of tests and attempts have been made to make testing student - and...
Learners carry around dictionaries not grammar books
In the current issue of ELT NEWS we focus on vocabulary learning. Vocabulary is central to any language because without sufficient vocabulary students cannot understand others or express their own ideas. A favourite quote of mine comes from linguist David Arthur Wilkins who said: “While...
