Teaching Skills

Why you need to stop punishing your students: solutions for 3 common problems

In many of the young learner classes I watch, teachers try to control their students’ behaviour using punishment. In this article, I’m going to tell you   why punishment causes more behaviour problems than it solves  which punishments are the most destructive  alternatives you can use to stop negative student behaviour  how to prevent… All categories, How to..., Teaching skills

Top 10 Tips for Teaching English with Drama

Do you have any tips about teaching English with Drama? After experimenting and learning with English teachers from many different countries and cultures, here are 10 of my most useful tips. All of these tips are simple, adaptable and easy to implement while teaching English with Drama. Think of the skills, not just the performance A performance… All categories, Teaching skills, Theme based learning

Debating: how to teach debate effectively

When teachers talk about debate and debating classes, it never ceases to make me smile and think, ‘Oh dear …’. This is both from a teacher training and a teaching perspective; where there’s always one enthusiastic trainee who wants to have ‘debate’ as the focus for their speaking lesson. Then there are those teachers that include ‘debate’ in their… All categories, Teaching skills, How to...

Why Grammar Matters: 3 Key Takeaways for TESOL Teachers

After 20 years of teaching English in Asia, my thoughts on teaching grammar have swung. When I started my teaching career, I honestly thought that we should not teach grammar to EFL/ESOL students. After all, many native speakers do not know grammar, so why would we expect our EFL/ESOL students to know it let alone be able to explain it. Surely, we… All categories, How to..., Teaching skills

Listening: the most important skill for teachers

We’re always encouraging our learners to listen for a purpose. But, how often is it that we focus on our own listening skills as teachers rather than maintaining that ‘instructional teacher mode’ and ‘tune in to the language and errors?’ Nothing’s wrong with identifying errors; it’s an essential part of our role as TESOL teachers, either in the… All categories, Teaching skills, ESL activities

When students say, we’ve done this before… Perfect!

How often have you heard a learner say, ‘I know this’ or ‘we’ve done it before’? I can sometimes raise a smile when a learner says it, but when a teacher says, ‘they know that’ or ‘they’ve done that’, I can only stop and ask myself, ‘do they?’ or ‘have they?’ When learners and teachers say they ‘know it’ or have ‘done it?’ They likely mean they’… All categories, ESL activities, Teaching skills

Breaking the Myths of Online Learning

Despite becoming more and more popular in recent years, there is still a certain stigma attached to online learning. Even in this digital age; the idea that face to face learning is somehow superior to e-learning is a commonly held view. “I much prefer being in a real classroom with other students and a real teacher” is something I’ve heard many… All categories, Careers in TESOL, Teaching skills

Answering the questions TESOL teachers fear most

‘We never follow maps to buried treasure and X never, ever marks the spot’, according to Indiana Jones. If you’ve ever wanted to be an Indiana jones type but thought it’s only some Hollywood fantasy and I’m only an English teacher, think again. We can all be language archaeologists and perhaps we should be; it might answer some of those seemingly … All categories, Teaching skills

Hooked on context: the essential element for developing reading skills

Receptive skills are the means by which we interpret written and spoken language. Reading is one of the ways we do this. In order for learners of English to be able to understand simple written texts (short sentences, short articles, newspaper headlines, etc.) or longer texts, complex thinking processes need to be developed and practiced.… All categories, Teaching skills

3 Key Takeaways from the Teaching Young Learners Extension Certificate (TYLEC) Course

Earlier this year, I stepped back into the primary school classroom to teach two groups of young learners (one group of mostly P3s and another group of P6s) as part of my studies and assessment on the Trinity College London Teaching Young Learners Extension Certificate (TYLEC) course. Even though I’ve taught young learners before and completed my … All categories, Certificate courses, Teaching skills

How to teach writing: writing lesson ideas

So you're looking for writing lesson plan ideas, and you're not sure where to start. Does any of this sound familiar? Yes, but writing is boring. Is it? Sure, but writing could be time spent in class doing fun speaking tasks. Who said you can’t do both? But my students get more out of class from interactive activities. Exactly – writing… All categories, Teaching skills, How to..., Certificate courses, ESL activities

Integrating skills in English language classes

Don't forget to visit our CPD training calendar for upcoming training events! English language teaching can be separated into systems, skills, and phonology. Systems refer to grammar, whereas skills denote reading, writing and listening, and speaking. Phonology incorporates elements of pronunciation, such as intonation, connected speech, and… All categories, How to..., Teaching skills, ESL activities