By Lottie Dowling
In January 2017, I returned to Beijing, China for work after a two-year absence. I left Beijing in 2015 after living there for nine and a half years to move to Australia. Having arrived in Beijing pre-Olympics and lived through the incredible transformation of the...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
A limited view
The zone of proximal development (ZPD) and Krashen’s notion of i + 1 are sometimes misunderstood as expressing the same idea (Lantolf, Thorne & Poehner, 2015). The main difference between the two concepts is that the ZPD focuses on what learners can...
By Lottie Dowling
Globalisation has become an everyday word, often heard in the news, political statements or trade-related topics. We don’t need to look far, however, to see how globalisation affects us all on a daily basis: we drink coffee grown in Brazil, wear clothing manufactured...
By James Jenkin
We see a lot of trends in TESOL. We know ‘grammar-translation’ is out, ‘post-method’ is in.
One tool to do this is Google Trends (trends.google.com), which shows the number of searches for a term over time.
TEFL and TESOL
100 signifies the peak popularity...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
A limited view
Graded readers are generally understood as storybooks that are simplified and adapted for children by limiting the vocabulary range and controlling the grammatical structures. However, content is not limited to storybooks, and there is a significant proportion of...
By James Jenkin
Most people realize that when you teach someone a word, you have to teach what it means. We do it instinctively, often providing a dictionary-like definition: ‘A clock? That’s the thing that tells the time’.
Teacher training courses like CELTA spend a lot...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
A limited view
Trying to improve my English as a secondary school student in Malaysia, I tried to read as many English books as I could. I went to the school library and borrowed books that interested me. Because I hadn’t developed a reading habit in my teens, this...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
A limited view
If language learning is likened to a chemistry experiment, there is probably no room for teacher reflection, as chemical reactions are mostly predictable within controlled environments. However, human behaviour and human interactions are different from chemical...
By James Jenkin
ESP – English for Specific Purposes – describes an English course tailored to a specific job, such as English for Doctors, English for Hotel Receptionists or English for Pilots. In ESP ‘the purpose for learning is paramount and related directly to what the...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
A limited view
A common misunderstanding of task-based language learning is that it does not provide adequate grammar coverage (Ellis, 2009). However, this is not the case. In fact, some advocates of task-based approach suggest that some teaching of grammar should be included in...
By James Jenkin
Teachers are often told they need to write lesson plans. This might be on a teacher training course, or at the school where they teach.
From my experience, it’s often for the wrong reasons. Directors of Studies see producing a lesson plan as a kind of discipline (Of course,...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
A limited view
Peer feedback refers to comments and suggestions that learners receive from their classmates. Students and teachers who are not aware of its benefits and goals are often sceptical about this, and may think it is a waste of time. Given the complexity of the task,...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
A limited view
Some teachers and students, particularly in an exam-oriented learning environment, think that group work is a waste of time. This is often because group activities are not well-designed. Due to unclear instructions and expectations, learners tend to work ...
By James Jenkin
Many language learners (and teachers) like having a course book.
Students feel a book gives a course direction, and makes it seem organized. They can review what they’ve covered. And many modern course books are well-written, attractive and interesting.
However, we can make...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
A limited view
Children’s literature is usually associated with colourful pictures, fairy tales and nursery rhymes. In some families, bedtime stories are a ritual. Some teachers believe that reading stories written for children is useful for second language (L2) extensive...
By Lottie Dowling
In the first week of school holidays in Victoria, Australia, I accompanied 25 young Victorians on a three-day holiday adventure camp – with a twist. This camp had all the usual trappings of a school holiday camp: water-based activities, a campfire session with...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
A limited view
Don’t you know the meaning of ‘key signature’ [a technical music term]? I thought you were an English teacher!
This comment reflects a lack of understanding of the idea that that language is used differently in different contexts. If you are not...
By James Jenkin
What’s an authentic text?
As Thornbury (2006) summarises:
A classroom text is authentic if it was originally written for a non-classroom audience. A newspaper article or a pop song are thus considered authentic (p. 21).
The list of available authentic texts is, literally,...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
A limited view
How do you participate in a conversation if you are not familiar with the topic? What can you do if your listeners misunderstood you? In order to prepare learners for these situations, materials developers should include instances of communication...
By James Jenkin
If you’re planning to become an EFL teacher – great! In my opinion, it’s one of the most interesting, varied and rewarding career paths possible.
The world needs English teachers. In 2006 the British Council estimated by 2021 the number of learners would...
