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Do something different with the coursebook listening
When teachers talk about ‘doing a listening’, what they usually mean is that they will set the scene, pre-teach as (and if ) necessary, then set some questions before pressing play. This kind of...
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How to activate the ‘Useful Language’ box in your coursebook.
From New Total English Intermediate- Pearson 2011 A common feature in many coursebooks is the ‘Useful Language’ box. This is usually a collection of phrases which the authors consider may be useful...
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Adapting ELT resources for ESOL
With thanks to @senicko and #eltpics I was really sorry to miss the recent Twitter chat under #ukesolchat , not least because it’s a pet topic of mine! It looks to have been an interesting discussion,...
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Using a genre approach for writing
As we saw in the last post, all ‘real life’ writing is embedded in a social situation: we write for a specific purpose and audience. We can, of course, also do this in the classroom, but often we are...
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A bouquet of favourite blog posts
For the New Year I wanted to collect together some of the blog posts which have either inspired my posts over the last year, or that would be great follow up reading. In a few weeks, I will celebrate...
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Brainshark presentation of my IATEFL13 talk: Of course! Using a coursebook...
Recently there has been a focus on dealing with ‘emergent language’, rather than following a syllabus. But does this mean that coursebooks are irrelevant? Surely coursebooks are ultimately a...
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How to use a coursebook AND deal with emergent language
Photo Credit: CaptPiper via Compfight cc Recently there has been a focus on dealing with ‘emergent language’, rather than following a syllabus. But does this mean that coursebooks are irrelevant?...
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More than just a worksheet: how to write effective classroom materials.
Many teachers produce their own materials, either from necessity or to provide something more tailored to the needs of their students. However, writing materials for a whole lesson, which really engage...
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Motivating students, staying motivated as a teacher and other things
Thin on the ground? As you may have noticed, my posts have been a little thin on the ground lately. I’m planning to remedy this when the project I’m working on slows down enough for me to catch my...
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Decoding skills for listening: a collection of useful links
About two and a half years ago I wrote a blog post entitled, Decoding skills: a neglected part of listening comprehension? In the time since then it seems that many of us have stopped neglecting those...
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