ESL School

Key figures in ELT

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:26:02 +0000

Hello again,

Like many teachers and trainers of my generation, I was deeply affected by the work of Stephen Krashen. His acquisition/learning distinction made a lasting impact on ELT, although ...

Which course?

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:37:03 +0000

Hello again,

The most frequently asked question from those wishing to embark on an ELT career is: which course should I take? Such is the question raised recently by somebody wanting to know if he should take a TEFL or a TESOL course .

The simple answer is...

Exploiting the Internet

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:08:52 +0000

Hello again,

The Internet has had a profound effect on the way English language teaching organisations operate. I thought it would be interesting to do a survey of how the Internet is being used. One of the most valuable aspects of the Internet is its accessibility. No matter how ...

Book of the month

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 13:21:25 +0000

Hello again,

This month’s book is a classic study of pragmatics that should be in every school’s reference library. Geoffrey Leech’s Principles of Pragmatics was first published by Longman in 1983. Pragmatics had ...

Movers and shakers

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:33:06 +0000

Hello again,

I wonder who you consider to be the most influential people in English language teaching. Perhaps we should start with the...

Debunking native-speaker supremacy

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 10:01:02 +0000

Hello again,

The native English speaker seems to have all the advantages when it comes to finding teaching posts. A native speaker with few or even no qualifications to teach English often has greater credibility with employers then a highly qualified non-native speaker. To understand ...

This month's conferences

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:28:11 +0000

Hello again,

Have you taken a look at some of the conferences and workshops running this month?
I have noted a few in this post, but I am sure that with a little Internet research you will be able find something...

Meaningful meetings

Sun, 31 May 2009 19:34:12 +0000

Hello again,

I have never met anyone who thinks meetings are useful. Everyone seems to think that they waste precious time that could be used better on other activities. Okay, perhaps I exaggerate. But generally ...

Planning your career in ELT

Fri, 29 May 2009 10:45:01 +0000

Hello again,

Is it just my perception or does ELT have a greater share of whingers than other professions? People are always telling me how they find ELT poorly paid, over-burdened, and with poor career prospects. Well, if that’s how you feel, do ...

Ageism in ELT

Wed, 27 May 2009 09:24:55 +0000

Hello again,

Discussions of ageism in ELT crop up fairly regularly and cause me to think about the topic in a way that goes beyond the simple complaint that employers often discriminate against older teachers.

The first question I ask is whether ageism is more...

Reflections on motivation

Sun, 24 May 2009 10:35:31 +0000

Hello again,

Language learning is not a quick and easy process. In a world in which instant gratification is expected, the time and effort needed to learn a language can seriously demotivate learners. This is a trend that I think will deepen ...

Book of the month

Mon, 18 May 2009 10:16:27 +0000

Hello again,

This month I have chosen Zoltan Doernyei,(2001) Teaching and Researching Motivation
ISBN 0-582-38238-6, Persons Education Ltd., xii+295pp. Like the author, we may feel that the whole topic of language learning motivation is “characterised by a confusing plethora of competing theories, with little consensus and much disagreement among researchers”. Thus this book ...

Preparing for inspection

Thu, 14 May 2009 10:16:43 +0000

Hello again,

Any school belonging to an accreditation scheme will have to accept regular inspections to check its standards. For all the staff involved ...

Measuring progress (again)

Thu, 07 May 2009 08:59:20 +0000

Hello again,

A recurring issue in language teaching and learning is how to measure students’ progress. Here, I am making a distinction between assessing or evaluating knowledge and providing an indication of what has been achieved after a course of study. It might sound like...

Teachers and the flu epidemic

Tue, 05 May 2009 11:24:08 +0000

Hello again,
Is it an epidemic or a pandemic? I suspect that if you are a teacher working in Mexico you won’t be pedantic about it. With the country virtually shut down, what protection do you have?

I doubt if hopeful teachers ...