Songs are useful in EFL / ESL classes because of so many reasons. They contain authentic language and are a goldmine for language teacing points like grammar, vocabulary and a nice and joyful activity for fostering listening skills. They can also provide invaluable information about cultural aspects of the target language. Some key reasons songs can work exceedingly well in the foreign language classroom include the following: Read more…
Since the publication of the “Lexical Approach” by Michael Lewis in 1993, Language teaching practices have been widely reviewed and discussed. So what are the features of the Lexical Approach? Is it a revolution in the profession of language teaching or just an evolution? What are its claims? How can it be implemented in the classroom? Read more…
Categories: Methods Tags: approach, collocate, collocations, grammar, grammar and vocabulary, Lexical approach, lexical items, lexis, method, methodology, Michael Lewis, vocabulary
The natural approach developed by Tracy Terrell and supported by Stephen Krashen,is a language teaching approach which claims that language learning is a reproduction of the way humans naturally acquire their native language. The approach adheres to a communicative approach to language teaching and rejects earlier methods such as the audiolingual method and the situational laguage teaching approach which Krashen and terrell (1983) believe are not based on “actual theories of language acquisition but theories of the structure of language ” Read more…
Dictation is one of the oldest language teaching activities. It is perhaps for this reason that it has been neglected recently by teachers, claiming that it is too teacher centered, uncommunicative, boring and old fashioned. But is dictation without any merit? Is it really old fashioned and uncommunicative? Read more…
Categories: Articles Tags: activities, activity, advantages of dictation, aural skills, dictation, dictation test, dictations, integrative activity, scoring dictation, testing, variations of dictation, why dictation
Assessment englobes everything from nationwide accountability tests to local learners evaluation to everyday classroom quizes. Some teachers contend that over use of any kind of testing may hinder the very process of learning, claiming that we shouldn’t teach to the test but rather teach to the standards. While this is true, we can not deny the importance of testing in gathering information about learners. The more information we have about students, the clearer the picture we have about achievement or where gaps may occur. Hence the utility of summative and formative assessment.
Both formative and summative evaluation are equally of paramount importance and are an integral part of information gathering in any balanced assessment system. Teachers should not depend too much on one or the other. Otherwise the reality of student achievement in your classroom becomes blurry. Read more…
Information technology has made it possible for internet users to access information, knowledge, and the world news much easier than ever. It was unconcievable 20 years ago to think that one day you will have access to a library with tousands of free books online that you can make use of as you wish. Read more…
A lesson plan in three steps
The objective of this activity is to help students understand cause and effect relationships, recognize them when reading and use them in their writing and speaking. Read more…
Learning strategies or study skills determine the approach for achieving the learning objectives. The strategies are usually tied to students needs and interests to enhance learning and are based on many types of learning styles. However, not all of our students develop strategies to deal with their studies spontaneausly. Sometimes teachers need to make students learn how to learn. Here are some strategies that can help your students be successful in their studies. Read more…
writing
This activity helps students identify the elements of a paragraph and learn how to write a paragraph. The materials recquired are envelopes containing individual sentences, a tape and sheets of paper.The paragraphs can be taken from books or written by the teacher and are arranged in a series of individual sentences using a large font. Read more…
Textbook are designed to englobe different units based on different topics. Because of the constraints of time or fear of being boring we follow the order of the units of the textbook. We rarely go back to previous units to recycle the linguistic elements studied before. This, of course, may have terrible consequences on the learning process as what we teach is retained in our students memory only for a short period. I suggest in this post that we deal with language textbooks differently: using them in a circular way, with the possibilty of revisiting previuosly taught linguistic elements, instead of a linear one, which refers to the teaching of the language following the order of the textbook. Read more…
