Graded Readers: an underexplored thesaurus
My interest in Graded Readers began when I ran my own language school back in the 90s. I made a very brave decision at that time; I inserted a course between the end of one level and the beginning of the next to improve skills, using one Reader over a period of a few lessons. I had realised that students were...
To Test or Not to Test? That’s the Question
For many people testing is a symptom of a very sick education system because all our educational energy is taken up with covering the content of the test, developing test taking strategies and preparing the students for their exams. Where, in all that, is the education of the individual?
There are lots of...
Supplementary Materials, Do they work?
Course books are regarded as the core of teaching materials in the classroom and serve as pivotal role to facilitate the instructors’ teaching in the classroom. Penny Ur has described a textbook as a principal basis for instructors to follow on a systematic manner to carry out teaching in a language course.
What...
SHOULD WE FOCUS ON TEACHING OR CONTENT?
We live in an era where everything (almost) is instant. Social media, the internet and technology in general has made us seek for instant approval, instant satisfaction and instant everything. If you want to buy something you go to Amazon or Skroutz and in a few clicks your order is processed. If you want instant...
In the past two decades there has been a temptation to simply try to get through formal and foreign language education unscathed, to focus on the language exams success data and get the best possible place in the local market place. But this short-term outlook is a barrier to genuine improvement of the human resources we have in our country.
In formal...
Developing Reading and Listening skills
The current edition of ELT NEWS focuses on Reading and Listening. Listening is receiving language through the ears. It involves identifying the sounds of speech and processing them into words and sentences. When we listen, we use our ears to receive individual sounds (letters, stress, rhythm and pauses) and we use...
May's issue focuses on professional development and adult learning. But what is learning? How do people learn? What are the principles of learning?
Who does not want to acquire new skills and master new material more easily and with less angst? Who does not want to feel satisfaction, and the sense of achievement in mastering something?
The key to...
Writing is a key component of language and it remains a real-world skill. Writing well is really a big challenge for both native and non-native students. In general, it is much bigger with the students of English as a foreign language. Students nowadays have very little interest in writing which is so important to fulfill the education requirements. This...
March's issue is dedicated to the skeleton of any language, grammar. Our contributors explore the art of teaching grammar and try to investigate if learners actually need grammar and if so what kind of grammar lessons do they need.
In addition, we look at how we can build rapport with our students, how we can use feedback and teacher evaluation for our...
A comprehensive guide to language exams with tips from examination bodies, oral examiners and teacher trainers.
Tips for
Pearson Test of English
ECPE
LanguageCert
KPG
STYLE
TIE
Classic International ESOL
Speaking Skills: How to motivate adult learners at B2+ level
The Effect Of Speaking Topics On Candidate Performance
Communicative...
Issue 330 (December 2017) marks the end of 2017 with fun Christmas activities for the classroom. Being the end of the year we look at the most popular read articles of 2017 on our site.
Our contributor George Knoring gives tips on how to help students tackle text anxiety. Ms Melponi Ioannidou teaches adjectives through Instagram while Cliff Pary takes...
In November's issue we look at Language Certification, the role of Language Tests as well as the whys and the why nots of sitting for an exam. In addition our contributors, Dimitris Primalis and Marina Siskou tackle the problem that we often face with writing assignments and how to spark the learner's interest for writing.
We also talk to Nigel...
October's issue focuses on how to help your students develop language skills with contributions from George Knoring, Dr Luke Prodromou and Dimitris Primalis. The Feature Section tackles reading, speaking, writing and listening.
Steve Vassilakopoulos gives 5 practical tips on how to become a better teacher. Nick Michelioudakis explains why there are so...
Το τεύχος Σεπτεμβρίου του ELT NEWS εστιάζει στις μαθησιακές δυσκολίες με μία σειρά άρθρων από έκγριτους παιδαγωγούς και καθηγητές ειδικής αγωγής. Αναλύουμε τη δυσλεξία σε μικρούς και μεγάλους, τις μαθησιακές δυσκολίες στη ξένη γλώσσα καθώς και πώς μπορεί ο εκπαιδευτικός, έγκαιρα, να εντοπίσει τα σημάδια των μαθησιακών δυσκολιών και να συνεργαστεί με τους...
The July/August issue of ELT NEWS features a back to school section full of ideas and tips to start the new academic year in the best possible way. We also explore how storytelling can be used in the classroom and how music and songs can boost language learning.
This month ELT NEWS travels to Riga, Latvia for the EAQUALS International Conference and reports on the future innovations in language testing and teaching. We also discuss the challenge of teaching listening skills, why blogging is beneficial for language learners and why FL Schools should have an online presence in social media and the net.
In May's issue Maria Sachpazian reports on the 51st IATEFL Conference in Glasgow and Zafi Mandali talks to Jamie Keddie. In our feature section (Teaching Adults), Maroussa Pavli, Peppy Frytzala, Chryssanthi Papadimitriou and Aris Mazarakis give their own insight on the subject.
If you are interested in receiving ELT NEWS call us at 210...
The enormous amount of existing materials for the teaching of English to young learners might lead us to think that everything has been invented and nothing is left to be discovered in EFL. But when you are in a real classroom working with children you realise that not all existing materials are equally successful in the class. Why is that? Why do...
In this month's issue:
Teaching to the test. Is it educational malpractice
Tests + Stress = Problems for Students
Why doesn't my stuff care about training?
SPECIAL FEATURE
Exam Time
Teaching to the Test:How bad is it?
Why students are being classified into different proficiency levels
In this month's issue we explore the value – or lack thereof – of coursebooks in the ELT classroom. Most teachers would agree that no matter how attractive an ELT coursebook might look, its real strengths and hidden weaknesses will unfold only in action, that is, in actual classroom use. The process of choosing the right course...
Graded Readers: an underexplored thesaurus
My interest in Graded Readers began when I ran my own language school back in the 90s. I made a very brave decision at that time; I inserted a course between the end of one level and the beginning of the next to improve skills, using one Reader over a period of a few lessons. I had realised that students were...
To Test or Not to Test? That’s the Question
For many people testing is a symptom of a very sick education system because all our educational energy is taken up with covering the content of the test, developing test taking strategies and preparing the students for their exams. Where, in all that, is the education of the individual?
There are lots of...
Supplementary Materials, Do they work?
Course books are regarded as the core of teaching materials in the classroom and serve as pivotal role to facilitate the instructors’ teaching in the classroom. Penny Ur has described a textbook as a principal basis for instructors to follow on a systematic manner to carry out teaching in a language course.
What...
SHOULD WE FOCUS ON TEACHING OR CONTENT?
We live in an era where everything (almost) is instant. Social media, the internet and technology in general has made us seek for instant approval, instant satisfaction and instant everything. If you want to buy something you go to Amazon or Skroutz and in a few clicks your order is processed. If you want instant...
In the past two decades there has been a temptation to simply try to get through formal and foreign language education unscathed, to focus on the language exams success data and get the best possible place in the local market place. But this short-term outlook is a barrier to genuine improvement of the human resources we have in our country.
In formal...
Developing Reading and Listening skills
The current edition of ELT NEWS focuses on Reading and Listening. Listening is receiving language through the ears. It involves identifying the sounds of speech and processing them into words and sentences. When we listen, we use our ears to receive individual sounds (letters, stress, rhythm and pauses) and we use...
May's issue focuses on professional development and adult learning. But what is learning? How do people learn? What are the principles of learning?
Who does not want to acquire new skills and master new material more easily and with less angst? Who does not want to feel satisfaction, and the sense of achievement in mastering something?
The key to...
Writing is a key component of language and it remains a real-world skill. Writing well is really a big challenge for both native and non-native students. In general, it is much bigger with the students of English as a foreign language. Students nowadays have very little interest in writing which is so important to fulfill the education requirements. This...
March's issue is dedicated to the skeleton of any language, grammar. Our contributors explore the art of teaching grammar and try to investigate if learners actually need grammar and if so what kind of grammar lessons do they need.
In addition, we look at how we can build rapport with our students, how we can use feedback and teacher evaluation for our...
A comprehensive guide to language exams with tips from examination bodies, oral examiners and teacher trainers.
Tips for
Pearson Test of English
ECPE
LanguageCert
KPG
STYLE
TIE
Classic International ESOL
Speaking Skills: How to motivate adult learners at B2+ level
The Effect Of Speaking Topics On Candidate Performance
Communicative...
Issue 330 (December 2017) marks the end of 2017 with fun Christmas activities for the classroom. Being the end of the year we look at the most popular read articles of 2017 on our site.
Our contributor George Knoring gives tips on how to help students tackle text anxiety. Ms Melponi Ioannidou teaches adjectives through Instagram while Cliff Pary takes...
In November's issue we look at Language Certification, the role of Language Tests as well as the whys and the why nots of sitting for an exam. In addition our contributors, Dimitris Primalis and Marina Siskou tackle the problem that we often face with writing assignments and how to spark the learner's interest for writing.
We also talk to Nigel...
October's issue focuses on how to help your students develop language skills with contributions from George Knoring, Dr Luke Prodromou and Dimitris Primalis. The Feature Section tackles reading, speaking, writing and listening.
Steve Vassilakopoulos gives 5 practical tips on how to become a better teacher. Nick Michelioudakis explains why there are so...
Το τεύχος Σεπτεμβρίου του ELT NEWS εστιάζει στις μαθησιακές δυσκολίες με μία σειρά άρθρων από έκγριτους παιδαγωγούς και καθηγητές ειδικής αγωγής. Αναλύουμε τη δυσλεξία σε μικρούς και μεγάλους, τις μαθησιακές δυσκολίες στη ξένη γλώσσα καθώς και πώς μπορεί ο εκπαιδευτικός, έγκαιρα, να εντοπίσει τα σημάδια των μαθησιακών δυσκολιών και να συνεργαστεί με τους...
The July/August issue of ELT NEWS features a back to school section full of ideas and tips to start the new academic year in the best possible way. We also explore how storytelling can be used in the classroom and how music and songs can boost language learning.
This month ELT NEWS travels to Riga, Latvia for the EAQUALS International Conference and reports on the future innovations in language testing and teaching. We also discuss the challenge of teaching listening skills, why blogging is beneficial for language learners and why FL Schools should have an online presence in social media and the net.
In May's issue Maria Sachpazian reports on the 51st IATEFL Conference in Glasgow and Zafi Mandali talks to Jamie Keddie. In our feature section (Teaching Adults), Maroussa Pavli, Peppy Frytzala, Chryssanthi Papadimitriou and Aris Mazarakis give their own insight on the subject.
If you are interested in receiving ELT NEWS call us at 210...
The enormous amount of existing materials for the teaching of English to young learners might lead us to think that everything has been invented and nothing is left to be discovered in EFL. But when you are in a real classroom working with children you realise that not all existing materials are equally successful in the class. Why is that? Why do...
In this month's issue:
Teaching to the test. Is it educational malpractice
Tests + Stress = Problems for Students
Why doesn't my stuff care about training?
SPECIAL FEATURE
Exam Time
Teaching to the Test:How bad is it?
Why students are being classified into different proficiency levels
In this month's issue we explore the value – or lack thereof – of coursebooks in the ELT classroom. Most teachers would agree that no matter how attractive an ELT coursebook might look, its real strengths and hidden weaknesses will unfold only in action, that is, in actual classroom use. The process of choosing the right course...
