5 ways to use songs to teach English
Songs are a very versatile resource that teachers can use to make lessons more engaging and fun. But how can...
Month: May 2023
Listening difficulties: going beyond ‘They speak too fast!’
Have you ever listened to someone speak in a foreign or second language and thought to yourself, ‘Why are they...
Global Voices 32-3
Terence, CambodiaIt was the 19th century American essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson, who is often quoted as having written ‘Life is...
The observer
I often observe lessons and carry out feedback sessions in my role as director of studies and teacher trainer. The...
Outcomes of a teacher dialogue 32.3
Professional learning pairIn our first teacher dialogue article, ‘Starting Points for Learning’, we coined the term Professional Learning Pair (PLP)...
Knowledge foundations for research-engaged language teachers Part 1
This article is the first of a three-part series that examines some of the key concepts and approaches that teachers...
Why we teach
IntroductionLet’s begin with a question. Why do we teach? After several years in the profession and amid our everyday busy...
The (un)critical period
The younger the better, they say. Penfield and Roberts (1959:236) famously asserted that there is a specific time frame during...
Forty years of research on expert teachers
As teachers we don’t always think of ourselves as experts. Yet I believe we should. Just as in all domains...
Methods, approaches and techniques: do they really matter?
If I cast my mind back to working through the Unit one requirements for the Trinity Dip TESOL, I remember...