tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68013416933130509112011-09-26T21:44:09.858+08:00It's a new day with a new way in an old country.<br /> Teaching English in China is exciting.<br /> You never know what will happen next.<br /> They never know what I will do next.Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.comBlogger1371100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-44813287511247320522009-05-22T14:14:00.000+08:002009-05-22T14:14:00.369+08:00

One of the big problems with all of the IELTS writing books is that they use very complex high-level examples of writing to demonstrate how it’s done. This is the most ridiculous thing!I talked to a couple teachers who supported such an idea and they told me that the student will not learn everything from the samples but they will catch some of it.I disagree.If you want to learn how to ride a

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-69616675360881886532009-05-15T19:36:00.002+08:002009-05-15T19:36:00.400+08:00

1. According to research, it is too difficult for highly trained examiners to measure English proficiency spanning more than 9-10 levels. (Covering a scale of no ability to highly proficient.)2. Even measuring 10 levels professional examiners can be wrong 27% of the time.3. On such a scale, for classes that meet once or twice a week for 45-minutes, it may take a full year of training or more to

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-36084310104119402392009-05-08T19:21:00.001+08:002009-05-08T19:21:00.789+08:00

One major problem teachers have brought up is that material is boring. Although it is quite easy to find that material is boring it actually leads us to a much more difficult but important and useful question. What material is exciting? What coursebook do you know of that makes students excited to come to class? What books have made your class the most interesting class the students attend in

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-16541132681411943052009-05-03T09:52:00.000+08:002009-05-03T15:37:49.066+08:00

A teacher asked for help, "A student has asked me to suggest TV shows that have easy-to-understand dialog. I'm afraid that I'm not well versed in current TV programming. Does anyone have any suggestions? We're looking for shows in the North American market."I am always on the lookout for material that really interests my students and is at a level my students can understand, ie: Krashen's i+1.I

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-3176210996483528522009-04-24T15:55:00.000+08:002009-04-24T15:55:00.827+08:00

One of the most popular on-line games on Yahoo is Literati. It is just like Scrabble. I described this game to this list several months ago and invited everyone to join me for a game which we played one night.It's a great game to play with friends or students. While you play there is a little 'chat' window where you can talk about words, the weather, whatever. I think the maximum number to play

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-51940958579234825382009-04-17T00:10:00.002+08:002009-04-17T00:10:00.531+08:00

SPELLING AND VOCABULARY REVIEWSCRABBLE: It's almost embarrassing to get paid money to play Scrabble but we're professionals and have to be ready to endure anything. As I've mentioned in earlier posts I like to teach from our coursebook for an hour and then like to do something else with the class. I was really surprised at how appealing Scrabble turned out to be. Especially when my students found

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-62151596117672986882009-04-12T00:03:00.000+08:002009-04-12T00:03:00.142+08:00

If you find yourself with a large number of tests to correct and little time to do them you could make a cut-out template to help you.What I like to do though is to make a recording of the answers on my computer, using the 'sound recording' feature under Windows accessories. I then play the recording, sometimes even speeding it up to 200%, and check the papers.The advantage of recording it on the

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-3820737088866408062009-03-28T13:50:00.000+08:002009-03-28T13:50:01.004+08:00

As a former IELTS examiner I have been asked many questions about the test. Here are some answers: 1. "I HAVE A DOUBT, CAN WE UNDERLINE THE TEXT, WHAT WE WANT IN THE READING PARAGRAPHS. IS IT ALLOWED? OR NOT? I THOUGHT IT IS NOT ALLOWED. PLEASE CLEAR THIS.” Yes, you can mark on the reading and listening test booklets or make notes on the writing task sheet, underline, anything you want. All

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-59841484856120709752009-03-25T23:17:00.002+08:002009-03-25T23:38:35.433+08:00

For business related dilemmas, problems and issues for your students to sort out I recommend two books by Cambridge. These are part of their 'photocopiable resource' book series and has teacher instructions, etc, etc."BUSINESS ROLES - 12 simulations for Business English"Two of the twelve units are:"Polluting the river - This US fridge maker has been secretly polluting the river for decades.

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-23903464417678944322009-03-22T13:45:00.003+08:002009-03-25T23:39:23.177+08:00

I am using 'Discussions A-Z, A resource book of speaking activities' published by Cambridge. It's expensive, but worth it to me as I've been able to use it a lot in my training.It has photocopiable pages. I'm teaching an IELTS class and will photocopy 3 pages for the students. During the week, the students will call me three times and we'll do a page each time. This is an English by telephone

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-9369064165473858702009-03-21T13:52:00.004+08:002009-03-29T21:02:35.113+08:00

Linda couldn't talk to me. She had studied English for about 12 years during her schooldays. She studied grammar and memorized words.Her friend, a finance manager in an American company, wanted to introduce me to her. I met them at the Starbucks in the center of Guangzhou, China.Linda was the finance manager in a state-owned enterprise in the cold food chain logistics industry. Her company was

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-747781691929936112009-02-11T01:10:00.005+08:002009-02-11T01:20:51.674+08:00

A teacher shared what he thought students want. I added my own thoughts. "I HOPE THE TEACHER CAN HELP ENHANCE MY INTEREST TOWARDS ENGLISH LEARNING THROUGH VIVID METHODS, SUCH AS GAMES, SONGS, SHORT PLAYS, STORIES, ETC."I've found that students don't want games all the time. They don't want movies all the time. But they do want a variety of activities."I HOPE THE TEACHER CAN CORRECT MY

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-13975506924957106832008-10-03T22:28:00.000+08:002008-10-03T22:29:44.021+08:00

TOO MANY STUDENT MESSAGESI get a lot of Emails from my students. As I mentioned before, I am seriously spamming my hundreds of students with thousands of messages. So I get quite a few Emails back from them, usually telling me what they are doing to improve their English in response to my tips and encouragement. I also get a lot of Emails of holiday greetings from them during the holiday season.

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-7668857937748839502008-10-03T21:32:00.000+08:002008-10-03T21:34:02.157+08:00

Krashen tells an interesting story of the time he studied French. He talks about how his "excellent" teacher taught grammar and taught vocabulary and corrected errors -- and how they learned through comprehensible input.~~~A Summer as an Intermediate French StudentBy way of conclusion, I would like to report on some recent personal experiences as a student of French. The class I attended in the

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-16903862059145421272008-10-03T21:29:00.001+08:002008-10-08T22:52:29.871+08:00

I don't think I ever stated people should not teach grammar. I only said it does not work.I never teach grammar rules. My students have had enough of that and after about 10 years they still don't have their grammar straight.However, I do correct incorrect grammar when I hear it. So does that indicate that I believe teaching grammar works? No, to the contrary. I have students that I have

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-25710427379741047322008-10-03T21:26:00.002+08:002008-10-03T21:29:48.210+08:00

Why do I continue to correct their grammar? I consider it a form of Comprehensible Input. It is a feedback of their own sentence. I believe they will NOT benefit in a conscious grammar rule way: "Oh, right! Grammar rule #27: Pronouns of gender. Females = she & her, Males = he & his." Krashen brought this out very clearly in his description of learning French which I published previously.But

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-74819902395599556792008-10-03T21:25:00.006+08:002008-10-08T22:56:30.459+08:00

A teacher, implying the near impossibility of the effectiveness of Comprehensible Input, wrote:"How many hours of standard, educated English will a native speaker have been exposed to by, say, age 15. Whatever number you pick, if you expect an EFL student to use the language at an equivalent level without error correction or grammar instruction, you'll have to find a way to get that student an

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-57287530013519301592008-10-03T21:24:00.000+08:002008-10-03T21:25:16.539+08:00

To settle this point and answer the question, I would like to invite teachers who support grammar teaching to design a lesson or series of lessons to teach pronouns of gender in such a way that a student could "learn" it in one week or even one month in such a way that a student will use it correctly more or less consistently.Then I suggest that teachers who do not support grammar teaching, with

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-89620958564599558382008-10-03T21:22:00.001+08:002008-10-03T21:24:00.013+08:00

To answer those who argue that grammar teaching is necessary, I would like you to engage in a thought experiment.Imagine that I am having a party. There is music, snacks, drinks and many guests. All of the guests are my friends. I am delighted when you arrive. "Hi! I'm so happy you could make it! Here, have a drink! Let me take you around and introduce you to some of my friends."This is Bob. He

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-84292228101501290392008-10-03T21:20:00.001+08:002008-10-03T21:21:36.747+08:00

A teacher asked about spamming my students, "How much time do you estimate it takes to compose and send out a message?"I use an Excel file and a Visual Basic program I wrote called "BOB". On one Excel sheet I keep the student names, Email addresses and some other information. On the other sheet I keep the "content" for the messages like message subject and message body.Most of my BOB messages

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-67304744943424683052008-10-03T21:11:00.004+08:002008-10-03T21:19:04.411+08:00

A teacher referred to my experimentation with a tablet computer so I'd like to tell everyone about that. Five years ago I bought an ACER C110 Travelmate 11 inch notebook computer. You can twist the screen on this computer and lay it down on top of the keyboard and use it like a tablet computer. It was quite small and had an external DVD drive. I bought it here in Guangzhou and it cost 16,OOO Rmb.

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-81447576166934545222008-07-05T22:26:00.005+08:002008-07-05T23:02:17.312+08:00

The following is a post of mine to the TESL-L teacher list in May 2006:A teacher asks, "What makes a commercial more or less useful for classroom use? If you had to choose between two commercials to use in your class, how would you make the choice?"I think commercials are becoming increasingly sophisticated as advertisers rely more and more on the soft sell approach. No longer can the housewife

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-24664668391289447052008-05-08T13:50:00.003+08:002008-05-08T13:57:13.390+08:00

A teacher describes his experience at using tele- & videoconferencing in teaching: "While teaching in France I was asked to teach on an online course. IMHO it was a disaster. People came and went from the virtual room and nobody seemed to know what was going on. It was a bit like one of those horrible dreams you have about having no control of a class. I think it MIGHT work IF you have the

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-5431481505403732402008-05-02T19:55:00.006+08:002008-05-02T21:02:25.858+08:00

Some people have written me for information about some games I have been using. I got one or two of them off the TEFL-China website but then modified them. So I'll just explain them here.There is a certain quality to finding good learning and practice activities that require no prep on the teacher's part. Sometimes these types of things work out much better than activities consuming many hours of

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-89152264023171634452008-04-30T11:26:00.001+08:002008-04-30T11:30:37.975+08:00

I would venture to say it is risky to use any songs that the students themselves don't recommend. Just ask them who and what they like and they are eager to let you know. Remember, if you like it they probably don't.I believe teaching songs may be one of the most undervalued methods of TESL. Just think: the students usually love them (low affective barrier), they are catchy and easy to remember,

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-58987171637736082242008-04-30T10:42:00.002+08:002008-04-30T10:52:40.368+08:00

One teacher wrote:"I often have the TV on in the background when I'm writing or marking papers or working on my website. I'm not really paying attention to it (the TV), but more and more words seem to seep through. I believe it is helpful. Students to whom I have mentioned it, though, seem skeptical. (Of course they are! It doesn't fit within that very small box called Chinese English teaching

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-76739245880989629642008-04-06T17:12:00.003+08:002008-04-06T17:19:24.381+08:00

In a discussion with many teachers, one of which was me, Betty Azar said:"What we DO mean when we say that 'grammar teaching works' is that students develop their interlanguages faster and with better results when a grammar component is included in a balanced program of second language instruction. This is clear not only to experienced teachers, but is clear in the cumulative research into

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-50509837606982504522008-04-06T17:00:00.004+08:002008-04-06T17:11:46.353+08:00

In a discussion with another teacher he suggested that Chinese students may have trouble learning pronouns of gender. However, recall that the question is if grammar teaching works.Bringing up the question of the way Chinese deal with pronouns really only points out more problems with grammar teaching. After being taught the grammar rules, after being drilled endlessly, as they are in China, on

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-10497646895923466012007-12-06T04:38:00.000+08:002007-12-06T08:57:26.007+08:00

When our students take the big exams are the only questions they get right the ones the teacher "taught" them? I don't think so. I would like to know how effective is teacher "teaching" as compared to indirect learning.I think they are answering some questions on the test correctly for items that they were not "taught". If so, then how did they learn them? I believe Comprehensible Input is

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-17262374149266261722007-11-22T18:10:00.000+08:002007-11-22T18:50:58.142+08:00

We hear a lot of advice about how to teach vocabulary, how to bring the mass of vocabulary to the student so the student has the right word when she needs it. But instead of looking at it from the mass to the useful word, let us look at it from the useful word to the mass. In other words, how did that student actually acquire that word?...a sort of lexical forensics, if you will.I have been

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-88281172722319949112007-11-22T18:09:00.001+08:002007-11-22T18:09:56.763+08:00

"I have an intermediate ESL class in a community based adult ed setting. Although the class is offered twice a week, most can only come once or they start off with regular attendance and then disappear. I have heard of this in all kinds of settings, materials, teachers, languages, public and private instruction. Does the number of students have anything to do with it ? I will only offer once a

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-63956446144760943652007-11-22T18:05:00.000+08:002007-11-22T18:06:43.950+08:00

We can borrow some ideas from military medicine. I first got interested in this when I found out that banks, brokerages, telcos and insurance companies were using it to retain customers.Triage[1] a system the military uses to judge how serious injuries are and to prioritize treatments. Companies adapted[2] triage to use in their data mining systems to highlight customers who seemed to be taking

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-25148952005985411002007-11-22T18:02:00.000+08:002007-11-22T18:04:26.101+08:00

It is not only important for us to know what to teach but we also must know what NOT to teach.Our time with our students is limited. So we should definitely focus on what English will benefit our students the most in the period during and shortly after our training.I've met teachers who say that someday the student may need a certain bit of obscure English or English skill. The problem is that it

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-58947263176438737572007-11-22T17:59:00.000+08:002007-11-22T18:00:49.776+08:00

On the TESL-L mailing list, a teacher asked the question below about error correction. As it seems to be something we're interested in, I'm including my reply. - dk"I,m an English teacher in China. I'm teaching 2 classes with 56 students each. When I teach writing, I'll use differnt methods to encourage my students to write about their own ideas. To my joy, they like writing very much though it

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-45994949324492085902007-11-22T17:56:00.000+08:002007-11-22T17:57:17.988+08:00

Self-correction, except for typos or some "absent-minded" errors, is very difficult for students because if they knew it was wrong they wouldn't have done it in the first place. Peer-correction isn't fun and it is difficult for students to fully trust their partner's evaluation. The question that puzzles many teachers is what is the best way to help students to improve in areas where they make a

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-61570125450552353692007-09-04T10:58:00.000+08:002007-09-04T11:16:04.381+08:00

One thing that students and teachers really struggle with is boredom. Maybe I'm just easily bored but I have yet to find a book or teacher that really keeps the student's interest from cover to cover, it doesn't matter how good they are.Sometimes I think that the way English teaching works is that we often trap ourselves into thinking "inside the book". Publishers have little interest in helping

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-17750379980470784042007-08-31T10:08:00.000+08:002007-08-31T13:58:50.421+08:00

Tom Robb’s article on the Google corpus contrasts it with the British National Corpus(1). It seems to me that the British National Corpus is generally regarded as a cornerstone of English, a proper garden like the ones I saw in London with all the flowers and bushes arranged in neat rows in the front of everyone's homes, and Google as a wild field where anything goes and grows.I think teachers

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-32849360505531880092007-08-30T22:51:00.000+08:002007-08-31T07:57:42.980+08:00

I'm working on developing a new course for a vocational college, as I mentioned before. I wanted to do some research on the students who have graduated early this year to see how they are using their English. If students don't use their English they will lose their English. But the English they will use will be the English they need and the English they need will be determined by the jobs they

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-35892720052774750442007-08-07T11:09:00.000+08:002007-08-07T11:32:03.777+08:00

Here are a few ideas for making podcasts for your students:1. Make recordings of your experiences like the time you met someone famous or thought you were going to die in an accident. Don't be boring but be simple.2. Interview friends and other teachers. Don't rely on the friends to be simple enough or talk slowly enough. If the friend is using some language that you feel is too advanced for your

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-62944692713464663422007-08-07T11:02:00.000+08:002007-08-07T11:04:49.977+08:00

One teacher said, "I am particularly interested in SPEAKING activities for the students, and welcome ideas in this regard. Many of our Foreign language courses are very small (one teacher and one/two students), and so there would be a lot of opportunity for the student to speak."I think podcasting may be the wrong tool for this job. I would suggest telephoning.I've been assigning telephone

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-1878892823488106532007-07-29T13:59:00.000+08:002007-07-29T14:18:28.204+08:00

I am often called on to teach oral English. Unlike teaching written English where the students will be submitting a lot of writing samples, oral English offers less opportunity to sample the students' English ability. My primary interest in using the Bob System and some sort of scoring system is in formative assessment. When I have a clear understanding of how they are doing then I have the

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-36928028876955152822007-07-26T14:44:00.001+08:002007-07-26T14:52:38.544+08:00

These are some things that have already been done. I don't post these here as suggestions of what you could do but to give you some ideas that you could adapt:From: MOBILE LEARNING PROJECTSStudents have to carry out scientific enquiry in the context of their discovering and exploring of an environment. Pairs of 11-12 year olds explored a woodland and were presented at certain times with different

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-31891654648749548432007-07-26T14:44:00.000+08:002007-08-08T10:40:08.521+08:00

These are some things that have already been done. I don't post these here as suggestions of what you could do but to give you some ideas of how other teachers are using mLearning in the classroom. As technology improves and becomes more efficient we will be able to do more things similar to this:"Students have to carry out scientific enquiry in the context of their discovering and exploring of

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-45514686161026104732007-07-26T10:14:00.000+08:002007-07-26T11:50:47.275+08:00

The idea of students interacting with an automated teaching system is central to the Bob project. Many other people are promoting an idea called mLearning or Mobile Learning:"Given its definition m-learning could very well be a new form of personal learning that never ends, allowing more and more people to realize how much of our lifetimes on this planet are truly extended adventures in personal

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-40566933012101491472007-07-19T01:52:00.000+08:002007-07-19T01:55:47.150+08:00

In the past, some teachers recommended a way to systematically review vocabulary based on a schedule where the time intervals of review would become longer and longer. I tried to figure out what that would be like for the student.If a student 'learned' 20 words on Day 1, reviewed them the next day, then 3 days after that, 1 week after that, 2 weeks after that, 1 month after that, 2 months after

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-16503485759912020392007-07-15T22:32:00.000+08:002007-07-16T16:27:15.225+08:00

This is a very complicated subject. It is not easy to conduct a speaking test but I will go over just a few things about it and touch on them lightly. There are many ways to do speaking tests. I have studied them, tried some of them and have settled on this way. It is similar to the way I was trained as an IELTS examiner with a few differences.QUESTIONSDesign three levels of questions.(1) Easy

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-90104392943542577152007-07-08T09:27:00.000+08:002007-07-08T09:28:50.283+08:00

Sometimes a few sharp students will answer all the questions I put to the class while some students want to space out, read or chat. To force total class participation I ask all the students to stand up. Then when I put a big question to them like "Give me some words about [whatever the subject we're studying]." Each student who replies with a satisfactory word can sit down. In this way everyone

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-57417161707594296802007-07-03T14:07:00.001+08:002007-07-04T17:34:06.989+08:00

Yesterday, I did a speaking test for 200 students. It's quite a big job and took me all day. But it would have taken much longer if I had never done this before and if I wasn't organized.Some teachers allow students to choose their partner and choose their subject. Sometimes they can do this days in advance. Consequently, some students will find a dialog and memorize it and then perform it for

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-39962676888599519102007-06-23T16:41:00.000+08:002007-06-24T17:51:25.482+08:00

I just got back from an English Safari to the mall this morning with 10 of my students. This time it was with a group of students from a training center. Most are adults with a couple young people.I've been doing about one or two safaris with students every week. This was the biggest group. We attracted some attention. Some shoppers realized there was something special about us and some stood

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-13512359754819913962007-06-22T18:34:00.000+08:002007-06-22T22:50:22.999+08:00

A teacher in America said: "I asked my students to learn the 50 U.S. states, with capitals and what each state is commonly known for. There was some grumbling about 'Yankee imperialism' or some such comment, but it was important for context knowledge in conversation."I think such ideas should be tested with the "You don't have anything better to teach them?" question. The same goes for teaching

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-30529252594509304842007-06-12T12:38:00.000+08:002007-06-22T22:57:53.902+08:00

Yesterday, I passed out a slip of paper to my college students and asked them to write two things, their English learning problem and anything else they'd like to say to me. I also asked them to put their name on the papers.I have only done this with 200 of my students and I'll do another 100 on Wednesday but I don't expect the feedback to be very different.The main thing they tell me is that

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-11231117791331714382007-05-29T11:05:00.000+08:002007-05-29T11:12:47.392+08:00

Some teachers speak of autonomous learning. Some teachers feel their students are too lazy. Some teachers feel students need to always be pushed to learn.Why is it difficult to get students to study English but it is not difficult to get students to watch television?Is it because watching television is, to put it simply, brainless? Do people have an inherent need for brainless entertainment?Are

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-24892614123235414512007-05-24T14:54:00.000+08:002007-06-21T23:16:04.300+08:00

One friend told me that, as a child, he mistook the line from the old Christmas song which goes, "While shepherds WATCHED THEIR FLOCKS by night..." and always ang "While shepherds WASHED THEIR SOCKS by night..."But I think that we can say that incidental learning actually produces massive results. A tremendous amount of learning is taking place without it being taught, not only new language

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-90810923665987054782007-05-24T14:49:00.000+08:002007-05-24T14:54:52.540+08:00

Do you have a cubbord in your kitchen? I do. I suppose a long time ago it was a board, perhaps mounted on the wall, where cups were kept. Today we commonly speak of it as a cubbord but when we write it we always spell it "cupboard". The word has yielded to the way people want to pronounce it. Language is so very democratic that way.In an article in Slate magazine, "Why Does Bush Go "Nucular"?"[1]

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-26723790143837223792007-05-24T14:48:00.000+08:002007-06-22T23:02:45.611+08:00

In some postings last year I discussed many teachers feelings of frustrations with coursebooks.A friend of mine, visiting from the USA, told me that many professors in universities have stopped using commercial textbooks and make their own books for their students. Indeed, while obviously a great believer in the coursebook, while visiting China, Jack Richards, the other of Interchange by

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-38470918393974824822007-05-24T14:45:00.000+08:002007-06-21T23:12:47.793+08:00

Students do learn and fluently use language that is "untaught" to them. They do this through Comprehensible Input. Although Jack Richards does provide models of "yeah" in his dialogs he doesn't "teach" students to use it.I don't think that we can attribute the widespread use of "yeah" to Jack Richards, Interchange books or any other practice of direct teaching. It is an "untaught" language

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-57962371972658874772007-05-24T14:35:00.000+08:002007-06-24T01:48:22.851+08:00

Many people are interested in using drama in the English classroom. A terrific source for improvised drama is at Improv Encyclopedia:They call these "games" but they are spontaneous role-plays. It is truly a LIMO (Little In Much Out) activity. With little input from the teacher much can be gotten out of the students.Unlike a play, there is no script. All the teacher has to do is to set up the

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-21001566526657105052007-05-07T12:34:00.000+08:002007-05-07T12:40:13.340+08:00

At teacher compared learning various sports to practicing and drilling in English learning when he said, "This is like saying that the only way for a goalie to get better at soccer is by playing soccer games. Golf players should never go to driving ranges, because they can't get a sense of the lie of the land there. Tennis players should never practice against a wall because the wall won't spin

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-34563383238121504012007-04-20T23:58:00.000+08:002007-04-21T00:07:32.757+08:00

I posted a message from a school in China which was looking for a teacher. Because the school director expressed a 'preference' for a female teacher in her 30's a teacher came to the conclusion that "This job is obviously from a racist school, not to mention sexist, to say nothing of age prejudice."I found this response laughable. It's kind of a knee-jerk politically correct automoton response,

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-44506953349192207952007-04-20T23:52:00.000+08:002007-04-20T23:55:15.202+08:00

I can often tell an upper intermediate or advanced student by their one-word reply to a simple question. If I ask a student if they speak English and the reply is "yes" then perhaps their English is quite good but more often than not it is at a lower level. If their answer is "yeah" then I know their English level is quite high.As far as producing the so-called Teacher Speak or Teacher Talk, I

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-53013694163660105072007-03-20T15:17:00.000+08:002007-03-20T15:42:57.283+08:00

Some teachers tried to tell me that China has the worst teachers and students based on the international test results of the Cambridge BEC tests. Is that true? Can we use those tests results and other tests like IELTS and TEOFL to see where the best and worst English teaching is being done? Here are the statistics for 2004 sorted from lowest pass rate to best pass rate, or you could say from

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-40123099745599993382007-03-19T23:01:00.000+08:002007-06-21T23:27:34.018+08:00

As far as teaching students who are working, I'm terribly disappointed with the published materials for English for Special Purposes (ESP). Our school wanted to start several various ESP programs and we did a review of all the books available.Cambridge's Information Technology ESP book, embarrassingly, has vocabulary including for "floppy disk". It is typical of many books on the market. (1) Out

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-59004270281008296532007-03-15T03:29:00.000+08:002007-03-15T03:32:14.610+08:00

A teacher wants to know what students can do to help themselves improve their English outside of class.One of the hardest things to do with students who do not live in an English speaking country is to help them practice their spoken English. Thanks to today's modern technology, this no longer has to be a problem.Skype is a free "telephone" program with which you can call another person computer

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-83867527810095437512007-03-14T21:25:00.000+08:002007-03-14T21:30:26.660+08:00

A teacher said, “That is what I wanted to hear - 'Communicative Language Teaching doesn't exclude grammar or even translation' !!!”Rest assured, Grammar will never be without a job.Up until the 1970's, Grammar used to be the mega movie star of English teaching, a true prima donna. Grammar was simply adored by all fans; teachers and students, alike. Grammar's name featured prominently on every

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-26542399137812408822007-03-13T21:45:00.000+08:002007-03-14T21:29:56.035+08:00

A teacher explained: "I am fluent in my mother tongue because I speak it all the time. But I consider myself a better French speaker as a learner of its rule which I ignored in the former."The big problem with teachers referring to their own learning experiences is that often teachers are good students. Of course, that wouldn't be a problem if our students were good students.Some of us were good

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-38316567207883298062007-03-08T12:31:00.000+08:002007-03-10T07:29:01.151+08:00

After teaching some corporate students, and reluctant to hand out school-type "grades" but still needing something, I developed the idea of a "Participation Index" to have a measure of how involved the student was in the training. This experience gave me a different viewpoint on grades.AttendanceAt my college I had one student who came on the first day of class and again for the final exam. I

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-65543694404548070732007-03-08T11:38:00.000+08:002007-03-08T11:46:39.413+08:00

Although I love movies I seldom use them in the classroom. The biggest problems are that the language is normal or even above normal (flavored with special accents that I have seldom come in contact with in my 20+ years around the world, or peppered with the vocabulary of special interest groups of people like maybe hip-hop). I have few real advanced students who could understand 80-90% of this,

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-38084925288246310542007-03-08T10:24:00.000+08:002007-03-08T10:41:41.399+08:00

I had an interesting discussion with some teachers in Japan about why Japanese students are so quiet in class.But it seems odd to discuss the quietness of Japanese students with you, the reader of this blog, yes, YOU.Why are Japanese so shy? Why do they respond so little? What is it in their culture that causes this situation? What can teachers do to make Asian students more responsive? After all

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-70950178690325427922007-03-08T03:01:00.000+08:002007-03-08T03:06:12.053+08:00

A teacher explains: "I'm sure we think we're trying to help our students, encouraging them to speak, urging them, filling in awkward silences, repeating instructions to 'clarify'. In fact we dominate and intimidate them. They can't get a word in."This teacher and others have given some very good and practical advice. Even Edward De Bono, the father of the approach to Lateral Thinking, had trouble

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-27757461607707231792007-03-08T02:53:00.000+08:002007-03-08T03:06:52.702+08:00

An American teacher working in Beijing said: "In our summer course, we are having students post their own ideas onto Wikipedia. One student had already done this and his article about a ski resort near his home was published but marked as incomplete."I'm sure students get a great thrill out of contributing to something that is as famous and internationally recognized as the English version of

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-39576225126926569132007-03-08T02:50:00.000+08:002007-05-24T16:08:30.206+08:00

Further to our favorite topic, Grammar Translation vs Communicative Language Teaching, I submit this piece of news. I realize it is not exactly on our topic but useful for our discussion:Grammar lessons do not help children write properThe GuardianJoanne LawsonTuesday January 18, 2005New findings suggest that teaching children grammar is of little use in improving their writing skills.The study

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-74954389944469036482007-03-07T16:07:00.000+08:002007-03-07T16:14:06.396+08:00

Some teachers recommend teaching our students the origins of words. That brings to mind some reflections on how word origins actually get in the way of meaning sometimes, for example, with some modern word usages.There are a lot of new words being used in ways that have little to do with their origins in my opinion and I have begun giving the "new" definitions of the words rather than what I

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-85115182459608808072007-03-07T16:01:00.000+08:002007-03-07T16:07:34.031+08:00

A teacher asked: "Can anyone recommend some textbooks or references that I could use in class and what is the course structure for teaching Business Communication?"A lot depends on your students and their level.College/university students have little idea of what kind of business English they will need and they have little or no real knowledge of English in the work place. Publishers have rolled

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-39585428885766533162007-03-07T03:35:00.000+08:002007-06-21T23:21:45.683+08:00

When one teacher suggested that we should make our English lessons enjoyable another teacher countered sharply saying, "I disagree.... Are mathematics lessons enjoyable?"A) If Bill Gates dropped a hundred dollar bill on the floor would he be gaining money or losing money if he stopped what he was working on and took the time to reach down and pick it up?B) If it were possible to fold a sheet of

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-26668351616062606362007-03-07T03:04:00.000+08:002007-03-07T03:25:09.315+08:00

A teacher is looking for some ideas to make his classes more lively. Here are some suggestions on how to power-up his classes and get his students excited about learning English.You said you were playing videos in English with Chinese subtitles. As I said, movies are a little bulky to use easily in English training. But the good news is that most of the time when the students say "We want movies,

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-35440722032934250552007-03-07T02:48:00.000+08:002007-03-07T02:55:07.137+08:00

Troubleshooting a teacher's problem.A teacher is having some problems with his classes. Despite his efforts he said his classes were too boring. Here is what he said he was doing to get his students interested in English:1. Play English Videos with Chinese subtitles2. Role -play3. Use scores to stress them4. Ask the students to recite passages5. Organize some English contests such as speech

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-47030242269276684122007-03-07T01:51:00.000+08:002007-03-07T02:10:10.561+08:00

One teacher in the USA explained: "As for Allwright's comment, surely everyone knows that the day of 'teacher proof' materials has already arrived. The trend in publishing now is to write teacher's manuals with step-by-step directions and explanations of anything likely to cause the teacher difficulty. I have written half of dozen of these myself."A teacher in Greece declares: "Dick Allwright's

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-24927782932345088012007-03-07T01:44:00.000+08:002007-06-21T23:39:44.932+08:00

During one of my rants against coursebooks a teacher challenged me: "Dave Kees would like to see coursebooks that are more alive and dynamic. That would be wonderful. However, it is the teacher who brings life to the material. A dull teacher could make the most creative material tedious and mind-numbingly boring."I agree with her 100%! But forgive me for my lack of clarity. I don't mean to make

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-89817361204503993382007-03-07T01:13:00.000+08:002007-03-07T03:53:10.922+08:00

Michael Swan, although a supporter of coursebooks, nevertheless warned: "The danger of ready-made textbooks is that they can seem to absolve teachers of responsibility. Instead of participating in the day-to-day decisions that have to be made about what to teach and how to teach it, it is easy to just sit back and operate the system, secure in the belief that the wise and virtuous people who

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-68645854659011725492007-03-07T01:09:00.000+08:002007-05-24T16:11:27.503+08:00

In a discussion we were having Betty Azar explained: "It seems to me that a textbook that provides a solid core of good material is crucial in a classroom..."I really don't wish to argue with Ms Azar. She is certainly my senior in this profession. I haven't used her books but they are being sold here in China and I have never heard a single criticism of them but I have heard considerable praise.

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-78575372165866303452007-03-07T01:05:00.000+08:002007-03-07T01:08:14.344+08:00

One teacher confided, "The first thing I do is to explain why I'm asking for change."I've had entire classes rebel and reject me when they thought I didn't teach enough grammar. I've been told I was the worse teacher a particular student ever had (and he was an adult.) I have taught in classrooms with a big "No Pain - No Gain!" sign over my head that the students' regular teachers had placed to

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-32603498461412499792007-03-07T00:57:00.000+08:002007-03-07T01:03:55.129+08:00

Xiujuan Zhang and Hongna have pointed out the challenges that they've faced as teachers in China. If there were more support or at least tolerance for change it would not be so difficult. Changing academia is one of the hardest things in the world to do. How do you tell the teachers that they don't know?A couple years ago we were having our annual Communicative Approach (CA) vs. Grammar

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-12641578814093248842007-03-07T00:23:00.000+08:002007-03-07T00:49:21.880+08:00

[Photo: Professor Li Xiao Ju and Dave]There was tremendous resistance to the Communicative Approach (CA) when it was first introduced in China in 1980 by Professor Li Xiao Ju at a conference at the Guangzhou University of Foreign Studies. In fact I was told, only one young teacher at the conference welcomed the idea. Even though the Ministry of Education later accepted it as the approved way to

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-2033111985339223172007-03-07T00:19:00.000+08:002007-03-07T00:20:17.902+08:00

Busy teachers had little time to develop a coursebook. It's much easier to shop around and buy a book that fits the need as close as possible even though it may leave a lot to be desired. It's like food. Often it's easier to go to the store and buy a frozen TV dinner than to buy the various ingredients and cook them yourself.So what can the busy teacher do? Beginning teachers may have no recourse

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-37283193758459346852007-03-07T00:17:00.000+08:002007-03-07T00:19:01.088+08:00

Perhaps most teachers use coursebooks. They like the ease the coursebook provides. They like the authority the coursebook presents. (S1: "Why are we learning this?" S2: "Because it's in the coursebook, stupid.") They like the systematic approach of the coursebook.At the same time they know that the coursebook they are using is boring, sometimes missing the mark, has redundant material, is using

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-54750342362602352892007-03-07T00:12:00.000+08:002007-03-07T00:21:41.667+08:00

Except for new teachers, it is an overly simplistic idea that coursebooks are doing a great job of meeting the needs of our students.No publisher or book author knows your students like you do. Look at nearly every single business English book. There are loads of stuff in there that will not help anyone. I've yet to have any students who could make full use of one of those business English

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-48292224077001561742007-03-06T17:21:00.000+08:002007-03-06T17:57:50.740+08:00

I have a sort of Krashenistic view on learning. I like to have tons of material to offer my students and let them select what particular items appeal to them. Although Krashen is focused on reading books, I think in our multimedia world we can extend that to films, TV shows, podcasts, etc. One problem is finding enough material to offer that is i + 1.Here is a website with some "old time radio"

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-81293698708432124272007-03-06T17:13:00.000+08:002007-03-06T17:21:19.116+08:00

In a discussion about classroom speaking activities for students a teacher suggested: "Perhaps there is a middle ground between forcing students to speak and letting them stay completely silent."Most people are shy or timid in unfamiliar situations. Most of us who are professional teachers have gained confidence through the expertise in what we do but may still be timid in unfamiliar situations.

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-31697961347935923862007-03-06T15:47:00.000+08:002007-03-06T16:08:24.701+08:00

In discussing the question of how many words does someone know or need to know I think we need to begin at the beginning and ask owurselves if we know "know"?What does "know" mean? I read your Email messages that you send to me and other teachers. Do I know you? Do I know the Frenchman who asked me to write some copy for his industrial cosmetics supply business in China? Do I know my Chinese

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-43842975479346406852007-03-05T16:13:00.000+08:002007-03-05T16:15:51.724+08:00

Someone asked if culture, as related to the language, should be taught with the language. I think we can all agree the answer is "yes" and "no". This is another example where the question should be carefully framed in our discussions so that we can all be at the same starting point when we answer it.Mert Bland, a teacher with considerable experience all over the world, answers the question if

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-60588362979260077722007-03-05T15:48:00.000+08:002007-03-05T16:24:33.320+08:00

A teacher wrote us: "I noted recently the, I think, generally unannounced passing of LG (Louis) Alexander in June 2003. Alexander was a giant of TESOL in the early 70s when I began using his texts in TEFL situations. When I returned to the field a few years later his hour had passed and he wasn't heard of again. Too much repetition; too much focus on habit formation."Alexander and his "New

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-13417864972687727292007-03-05T12:45:00.000+08:002007-03-07T01:21:04.921+08:00

You can find some excellent news based lessons at Breaking News English. Every couple days two lessons, simple and difficult, are produced on some news article that is hot that day. The lessons are free.They are in HTML, Word and PDF and come with an MP3. They can be easily adapted by the teacher, shortening them or adding additional focus.Sean Banville has done a wonderful job at this. I have

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-25043193216512915802007-03-05T00:47:00.001+08:002007-03-05T00:49:54.705+08:00

A teacher asks for some material to teach Business English to low intermediate students.I suggest that it is not in the students' best interest to begin studying Business English at that level for two reasons:1. They really should get grounded in some basic English before trying to learn a specialty English like Business English. About 95% of their communications will be basic verbs and basic

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-62172627277549117842007-03-05T00:12:00.000+08:002007-03-05T12:27:43.215+08:00

Many teachers have laid out their viewpoints on the appropriateness of the teacher speaking frankly about personal feelings on various issues.I can understand that some teachers, sensitive to being charged with "cultural imperialism" or not being "politically correct", would carefully control their communications to remain absolutely neutral on these issues.But I think the cultural imperialism of

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-76195602741683425852007-03-04T23:49:00.000+08:002007-03-05T00:03:00.237+08:00

Some teachers advocate the teaching of Shakespeare to our students. Shakespeare had a tremendous impact on the English language. There are many idioms and turns of phrase that originated in the writings of Shakespeare. So they feel teaching the old bard would really benefit our students.It may be useful for a very small portion of advanced English students who are interested in literature studies

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-90590576028505982502007-03-01T03:44:00.000+08:002007-03-01T15:33:51.282+08:00

My strategy for teaching IELTS is:1) ENGLISH SKILLS: If there's enough time, work to improve the student's English level through English training.2) TEST PREP: Help the student gain an understanding of how the IELTS test functions. There are various books that deal specifically with the IELTS, how the speaking part works, the two tasks of the writing part, etc. (I always teach my students how to

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-90400639632890078622007-02-27T16:15:00.000+08:002007-02-27T16:25:15.472+08:00

Private Sub Reply_to_message_about_grammar()Dim MESSAGE as StringMESSAGE = "Hello," & Chr$(13) &amp;amp; Chr(10) & Chr$(13) & Chr(10) & "I think the goal is to teach our students to use the language. "MESSAGE = MESSAGE & "Sometimes trying to study the mechanics makes it more difficult and confusing. "MESSAGE = MESSAGE & "The same is true with computers. Most of us just want to use programs. "

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-7565396432614188922007-02-27T00:10:00.000+08:002007-02-27T00:28:55.972+08:00

A teacher lamented: "If, as is the case with many teachers, they have 10 or 11 separate classes once a week for one and a half hours - and, an average of 50 students in each class, - they see around 500 students for a total of approximately 26 hours during a full semester. If there is any super teacher that can focus on the performance of every one of their students under these conditions and,

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-59039357932425823922007-02-26T05:21:00.001+08:002007-03-14T21:19:08.745+08:00

Mert Bland on developing English training for special purposes (ESP): "I always begin where the students are and work outward in a kind of spiral. Like, have each one describe what he does. Ask questions. Have him teach you what security and facilities maintenance are all about. He should know more than you."Mert makes a good point here. It's very easy for the teacher to make wrong assumptions of

Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503105418344773336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6801341693313050911.post-1053921811608338252007-02-26T01:10:00.000+08:002007-02-26T01:11:07.483+08:00

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