ESL School

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:56:38 +0000

Hello again,

I sometimes think that in our desire to teach, we lose the fascination of language as a concept. Of course, concepts may not be of much practical use in the classroom. But I do believe that we need to consider the phenomenon of language in the abstract if we are to understand why some groups of students find it difficult to...

Self-directed learning

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 10:21:15 +0000

Hello again,

What is your school’s view about the learning process? Do you believe that a teacher must be in charge of all the learning activity? There can be strong pressures that reinforce this view: in some cultures learning is seen...

Book of the month

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:52:23 +0000

Hello again,

Recommending a grammar book for teachers is always difficult. Why so? The problem is that that there is an enormous choice of grammar reference books and in order to recommend one I really need to know more about the user. How knowledgeable is the...

Online testing

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 12:18:16 +0000

Hello again,

Placement testing, level testing, exam practice: in the past these areas all had to be devised or organised by schools on behalf of their students. As in so many other areas, the Internet offers a quick and easy solution...

Tracking language change

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:07:39 +0000

Hello again,

I always enjoy reporting on the way our language is changing. The speed and range of communications globally seem to have accelerated the process of change and it is sometimes hard for teachers to keep up. Of course one problem

Beating unemployment

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 07:33:25 +0000

Hello again,

Back from holiday, I find the news is all rather gloomy. Unemployment figures in the UK have reached a new peak and the swine flu has everybody feeling a bit edgy. I can’t make any suggestions about flu but I think TEFL might help some groups worried about unemployment.

With the effects of recession...

Host family?

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:38:16 +0000

Hello again,

As this site tries to appeal to ELT establishments wherever they may be, I don’t usually focus on matters that relate only to schools based in English-speaking countries. This means that the student welfare aspect has been largely omitted. However, somebody pointed out to me that many schools worldwide make arrangements for their students to attend...

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 ...