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Developing complexity through a focus on form
In a recent IELTS exam, I had to assess someone who lived locally, with a British passport. I’m not sure if she could have been called a native speaker, but I’m pretty sure that most people meeting...
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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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Helping students with connected speech
There is a huge difference between what our students see printed on a page and what we actually say in everyday speech. In a recording of a TESOL Spain Presentation on Youtube (well worth watching),...
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Task repetition: helping students to improve accuracy,repertoire and fluency
I am very far from being a fluent Polish speaker. In fact, after four years of hard study and living in the country, I was still probably only about B2 level. However, if you happened to hear me...
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Pay it forward: free downloadable lesson
A new free downloadable lesson about the concept of ‘pay it forward’, incorporating reading, speaking, video, grammar and writing. ELT Resourceful – Pay it Forward-Pre-Int level ELT Resourceful – Pay...
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Living without money: free downloadable lesson
A free downloadable lesson about Heidemarie Schwermer, who lives without using money. Suitable from Upper Intermediate (B2) upwards, the lesson uses an authentic newspaper article, and focuses on...
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The chicken nugget experiment- a free downloadable lesson
A free downloadable lesson based around a video of British chef, Jamie Oliver, demonstrating exactly what does go into cheap chicken nuggets to a group of American children. It’s pretty revolting, but...
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The Icing on the Cake- free downloadable lesson
A free downloadable lesson based around another wonderful animated true story from http://www.storycorps.com. The conversation between a mother and daughter looks back on the family’s struggles as poor...
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The Science of Smiling: free downloadable lesson
A free downloadable lesson about why smiling, even when we don’t feel much like it, can actually make us happier. The lesson starts with a short video, demonstrating the impact of smiling on the...
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Q&A: Free downloadable lesson
A free downloadable lesson using another wonderful animated authentic recording from http://www.storycorps.com. Joshua, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, interviews his mother, giving us insights into what...
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Real Beauty? Free downloadable lesson
A free downloadable lesson based around the recent Dove advertisement, showing the huge difference between women’s views of their looks and how other see them. The lesson starts by focusing on...
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Try something new for 30 days : Free downloadable lesson
A free downloadable lesson, based around a short TED talk by Matt Cutts on how carrying out 30 day challenges helped him to improve his life. Suitable from PreIntermediate/A2+, the lesson starts with a...
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A good deed: Free downloadable lesson
A free downloadable lesson, based around an authentic audio recording from Storycorps.com, where Virginia recalls a good deed her father did during the Great Depression in America. Suitable from...
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Teacher echo, teacher echo: helpful, or greedy and controlling?
Recently listening to Cecilia Lemos’ great talk on recasting as a form of correction, and how she had decided it was not always very effective, I started thinking again about teacher echo. Recasting...
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Secrets of a Long and Happy Marriage: Free downloadable lesson
A free downloadable lesson, based around an authentic video. Selma and Kenny couldn’t be at their grandson’s wedding, so they recorded a toast- and some advice. Suitable from PreIntermediate/A2+, the...
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Food waste: a free downloadable lesson (for GISIG Food Issues month)
A free downloadable lesson, based around an authentic new video. One of the biggest supermarkets in the UK has recently come clean about just how much food it wastes. The video talks about this, and...
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Gratitude: a free downloadable lesson
http://thanksgiving.holidayscentral.com/entertaining/thanksgiving-gratitude-tree#.UuZBaRDFKUl A free downloadable lesson, based around an authentic video. Research shows that feeling grateful for what...
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Breaking the ice: a collection of getting to know you activities
Click here to go to my latest blog post for the British Council Teaching English site, with lots of getting to know you activities for new classes, or more established ones.
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Oral correction- insensitive or vital?
It’s a cliche, but there’s also some truth in this video. As Mark Bartram and Richard Walton point out in their seminal book, Correction, ‘You don’t correct a mistake, you correct a person.’ If...
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Seizing the moment: when to correct students’ spoken language
Photo Credit: [phil h] via Compfight ccAssuming you believe that there is some value in teacher corrections (see my last post), the next question might be when to correct. In my initial teacher...
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