English (ESL) Weblog

Once Upon A School - TED Prize Winner

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:27:00 +0000

I recently watched an inspiring talk given as part of the TED 2008 conference by Dave Eggers, a philanthropist and teacher-at-large (as they describe him). The talk shows ways in which dedicated one-to-one teaching can be provided to pupils who would not normally have access to this sort of personal tuition. What's more, the students seem to lap it up.

The successful and growing network of professionals volunteering their time to shine their light on local students of all ages is only part of the story. His novel approach to teaching and the way he makes learning fun should be an inspiration to all of us.

As Time puts it: "Many writers, having written a first best-seller, might see it as a nice way to start a career. He started a movement instead."

Teacher Training -Grammar Based PPP

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 03:46:49 +0000

As an aside from my usual topics about using computers for language education, recently I am involved in a teacher training programme and would like to share an article I am working on to assist new teachers to plan a lesson.

As part of the course, trainees need to present evaluation lessons using a grammar based syllabus prepared with PPP.

I hope this will be interesting to other teacher trainers and helpful to trainees, and I would like to hear your comments and criticisms.

Lexxica -Vocabulary Analysis

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:45:13 +0000

Lexxica provides resources to determine how much vocabulary a student knows and find gaps in their knowledge. They also claim to be able to accurately assess which words a student already knows.

The site is difficult to navigate and prone to crash. If all goes well, try the V-Check to find out how vocabulary you know (works for native speakers, too) and V-Admin to process your data. There are also flash games, free graded texts and flash cards.

I would be interested if other members here tried it and posted comments.

Lexxica: URL - http://www.lexxica.com/

Site Overview- 2007

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 11:40:02 +0000

Since the end of 2004, we have recorded how many entries we have in some of the sections of our site, which means that we can see how much new content we have created since then.

In 2007, we put the Language Articles, Teaching Articles and PDF Lesson Plans into databases and currently have 26, 31 and 116 entries respectively. These sections are growing fast as we have an additional contributor, Alex Case, who has been adding a lot, which we're very grateful for. There are a further 14 articles in the Members' Area.

In 2007, traffic continued to grow fast, so thank you to all of you for using the site. We hope that 2008 will see many improvements and additions.

Teaching Christmas

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 09:34:59 +0000

We have added a number of lessons for different levels and articles about Christmas and how it can be taught and used in the classroom. There will be more to follow in the next few days, so please check the What's New page for updates.

Teaching Abroad

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 20:42:39 +0000

Are you thinking about teaching abroad? If you are, then this article might help you out. The first thing I've got to say to you is not to allow yourself to be swayed by your emotions or the romantic notion of living in a foreign country. Employers count on this to hook you to come over and likely stay in unsatisfactory working and living conditions. Working for a dud of an employer and living in poor housing isn't a rosy picture, which can happen to you. I don't want to burst your bubble but teaching abroad is peppered with difficulties and challenges. It doesn't have to be a trying process, which prompted me to write this piece. If you think things through carefully and do some planning and your homework you can minimize potential problems and pitfalls. One more thing, don't assume that it's an easy way to make money because it isn't. When you factor in the start up costs and your day-to-day living expenses, you might find yourself no further ahead if you just stayed home.

Steven Pinker on Language & Thought

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 17:12:06 +0000

I've just found the following video in which Steven Pinker looks at language, and the way it expresses the workings of our minds. By analysing common sentences and words, he shows us how, in what we say and how we say it, we're communicating much more than we realise.

Lesson Plans and Handouts

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 13:50:25 +0000

There are going to be some major updates to our Lesson Plans page. Alex Case (publications) has started contributing to the site, and our aim is to have a long-term collaboration. The first batch are available now and we will be updating the page frequently.

Graded Text Analysis

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 02:55:06 +0000

In the last week I have contributed a graded headword analysis script to the Text Analyser in the Members' section (link: http://www.usingenglish.com/members/text-analysis/).

It is based on work I did recently to build a text editor for authoring graded readers with Dr. Robert Waring at Seishin Notre Dame College in Okayama, Japan. Although much simpler than the text editor, it allows teachers and students to run short texts (up to 100,000 characters) against two popular graded lexicons, provided by Dr. Paul Nation at Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand. A detailed description of how to use it can be found off the Help tab when you make your analysis (link: http://www.usingenglish.com/members/text-analysis/graded-analysis-help.php).

New Database

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 09:35:43 +0000

We have added a new glossary in the Members' Area for chatlish and abbreviations used in emails, instant messenger, etc.

Supplementary Teaching Resources for EFL/ESL Teachers

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 20:22:18 +0000

Supplementary Teaching Resources for EFL/ESL Teachers for teaching privates and small groups of students

The e-book "Supplementary Teaching Resources for EFL/ESL Teachers for teaching privates and small groups of students" embraces many aspects of teaching English and is based on the author's experience of teaching English overseas. It is an essential resource for anyone who is teaching privates and working with small groups of students.

Is there/Are there?

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 23:21:55 +0000

'There is/There are' are used to state the existence or presence of something or someone.
Here are some examples:

There's a clock on the wall.
There are six desks in the classroom.
There are four students in the class.
There are two whiteboards in the classroom.

Talking About Routines - a handout

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 23:15:20 +0000

Getting your student or students to talk about their daily routines is a good way to introduce or review the simple present tense. For homework, you could get your students to describe a typical day in their life or that of their father, mother, or friend. They can start off using these examples, "I get at 7 am. I dress. I eat breakfast." Here's a questionnaire I give my students to get them to think about their daily routines.

A handout on the Present Perfect tense

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 03:43:15 +0000

Here's a handout I give to my students on how to use the Present Prefect tense.

Present Prefect

• You use the present perfect (not the past simple) when talking about general experiences.

I've never been to Kyoto.
Have you seen this film?

Lesson Plan/Target Language: What does s/he do? S/he's a (occupation).

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 03:44:32 +0000

Lesson Plan

Target Language: What does s/he do? S/he's a (occupation).

Vocabulary: Teacher, Farmer, Doctor, Cook

Target: Young Learners

Greetings and Warm-up: Greet the class with a good-morning or good-afternoon depending on the time of day. Have the class stand up and respond to your greeting and do a warm-up. Ask the students, "Do you want to sing a song?" Usually, they'll nod and/or begin to twitch and move their bodies. Some will respond with a yes. Songs I teach young learners include the "Eensy Weensy Spider", "Head & Shoulders, Knees & Toes", "The Alphabet Song", "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", "Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush," "Ring Around The Rosey", and "Row, Row, Row Your Boat".