Educators Blog
British or American English? Which to choose when developing a curriculum
English is the most popular language to learn as a second language1 and is being studied by millions of people all around the world. So if you’re facing the task of developing a curriculum from scratch, you’ll undoubtedly have to decide whether to use British or American English for the entire curriculum. This is a tough decision, and there’s no quick answer to this question, since there are several factors to take into account. Main differences between British and American English. Before we delve into the different factors that would help a teacher decide whether to prioritise British or American English, let’s quickly recap what the main differences are. It boils down to variations in pronunciation, regional accents, spelling, and vocabulary (including idioms).[…]
Techniques for motivating students through distance learning
Modern technology, faster Internet connections and the ever-growing amount of people wanting to learn English have created a true boom in online TEFL teaching classes in recent years. It is often a wonderful solution for both teachers and students indeed, but some teachers struggle with the part of motivation when teaching remotely, since their contact is through a screen rather than face to face, which comes with certain limitations. So to help you along, we’ve compiled a list of techniques that will help you motivate your distance learning TEFL students. Impeccable planning and material preparation. While lesson planning is already important for normal face to face TEFL classes, it becomes absolutely essential when teaching English online […]
Assessing whether students have understood a given topic
Assessing understanding correctly is an essential skill that any English teacher should master as soon as possible, on the contrary it can seriously disrupt the students’ learning process and cause frustration, lack of motivation, not to mention poor results. First of all, the question “do you understand” is an absolute taboo, because it’s well-known that students aren’t always sure whether they have understood, or have in fact not understood, but are too self-conscious about admitting it. So, we’ve outlined several useful strategies you can use in the TEFL classroom in order to assess your students’ understanding of a certain vocabulary or grammar topic. We advise you to use the strategies to assess […]
Popular approaches to curriculum development
Now an incredibly rapidly expanding field, English Language Teaching has come a long way since the 18th century when the first language approaches and methods were devised and tested. Fortunately, gone are the days where the language teacher would stand in front of the classroom reciting rules for students to copy in their notebooks, or demanding students to repeat endless drills without any type of context. In this article, we’ll introduce you to the most popular approaches used in curriculum development in recent times. Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) is an approach to teaching a second or foreign language within the primary and secondary school system where one or more subject matters are taught in that language. […]
Growth of ESL classes around the world
There’s not a shadow of a doubt about it: the English language teaching industry has experienced massive growth over the past few decades, and it is set to keep growing at an equally impressive rate in decades to come. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering the English language has steadily consolidated itself as the most important language for business, education, entertainment, culture and general global communication, and it is estimated that 1.75 billion people worldwide now speak English to some degree. Both large and small English language businesses part of the US$ 63 billion a year ESL industry are growing and it’s believed that 100,000 new English teaching positions open every year.1 In this article we’ll explore the main factors driving the growth of ESL classes around the world and […]
How technology is shaping the modern classroom
Language equals communication, and the way humans communicate has been developing at lightning speed with the development of technology and the Internet. Thirty years ago, exchanging letters with a fellow English learner pen pal at another school was considered an exciting and challenging real-life interchange for students to practise their English, and computer programmes to assist language learning were almost non-existent.Fast-forward to 2020, where we can connect to people with audio and video almost anywhere in the world in real-time provided they have a computer or smartphone and an Internet connection, and there is a wealth of websites, programmes, and apps specifically designed to help students learn English more quickly. It’s nearly impossible to disconnect technology from the modern learning […]