This is a collection of thoughts, comments and articles regarding some of the issues and discussion points that have been raised in our English Discussion Forums. Many topics have links to related discussions and polls to be found in our forums so that you can read up on what other people have had to say on these points, and of course you can add your own opinions to any or all of them.
Broadband Britain- Backwards to the Future
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
Why the UK is going to suffer from its failure to create the infrastructure for true broadband.
Burnout in the Flame Wars
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
A look at how our Delphi forum went wrong.
Cockney Rhyming Slang
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
About Cockney Rhyming Slang and a discussion on whether splitting infinitives is wrong.
Creationism in UK Schools
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
Creationism is being taught in a number of academies in the UK.
Dave's ESL Cafe
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
A look at what is wrong with Dave ESL Cafe.com.
Do Exams Damage Learning?
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
A look at whether English language examinations stop students from learning real English.
E-Raters in Marking Students' Writing
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
Can computers correct students' writing?
EFLese Course Materials
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
How the Internet offers an alternative to the world of EFL/ESL course books.
Emotional Intelligence in ESL
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
A look at whether Emotional Intelligence has anything to offer ESL.
English as an International Language
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
Comments on English as an International Language, English Spelling, and Are Numbers Infinite?
English Teaching Franchises
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
A look at English language school franchises in Japan.
English Teaching Franchises 2
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
A look at the profitability of the largest chain of franchises in Japan.
English, a Crazy Language Indeed!
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
A couple of light-hearted and entertaining looks at the English language and why it can sometimes be so confusing to learn.
ESL Employment
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
Is ESL employment in the doldrums?
ESL Quizzes and Tests
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
A look at how we try to structure our Quizzes and Testing Section.
Factoid Learning
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
Is ILT necessarily an impoverished 'factoid' way of learning?
Fora & Forums
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
Many speakers of English maintain that the correct plural of forum is fora rather than forums because it is a word of Latin origin, but is this right?
Foreign Language Learning
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
Foreign languages are no longer compulsory in Britain.
Humanistic Teaching
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
Has Humanistic ESL teaching had its day?
ILT Access in Further Education in the UK
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
A survey of whether FE Colleges in the UK have external computer access for their students.
ILT in learning English in schools and colleges in the UK
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
ILT in learning English in schools and colleges in the UK.
International English?
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
A look at whether native or non-native speakers are better nowadays.
Internet Language Polls
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
A look at whether language polls can reflect usage and help ESL learners.
Is English an easy language to learn?
Category: Learning English
Topic: Learning and Teaching
Some people say English is an easy language to learn, and others that it is the most difficult. Many speakers of languages are proud to say that their language is one of the hardest of all. But is this true? Are some languages harder than others?
Is Language Infinite?
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
Comments on Wilhelm von Humboldt's phrase that language is 'the infinite use of finite means'
Language and Culture
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
Cross-cultural awareness training should be part of any English language instruction since culture teaches us what is appropriate to say and do, says Stefan Chiarantano
Language, Thought & Sapir-Whorf
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
Does language shape thought? Like all the best debates, the argument over whether thought controls language or language controls thought is ultimately unprovable.
Learn Grammar; I didn't!
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
Should grammar be taught to native speakers or not?
Monetizing Educational Blogs
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
Can the educational bloggers make money?
Open Source Teaching
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
Comments on 'Using ICT to share the tools of the teaching trade: A report on Open Source Teaching' February 2004, Becta
Separable and Inseparable English Phrasal Verbs
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
A look at separable and inseparable phrasal verbs in our phrasal verb dictionary.
Swear words
Category: Teaching English
Topic: Learning and Teaching
Do they have a place in the EFL classroom, or is it considered taboo?
Taking Control of the English Language
Category: Learning English
Topic: General
Tips on how you can speak and communicate better in English. How can I express myself better in English? How can I listen to and understand English better? How can I improve?
Teaching Inversion
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
Is inversion worth teaching?
The Origin of Language Debate
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
Some thoughts about the argument put forward by Steels and MacWhinney, in contrast to that put forward by Chomsky and Pinker.
The Pimsleur Method
Category: Learning English
Topic: Learning and Teaching
The Pimsleur Method is heavily advertised on the internet at the moment, but is it all it's touted to be?
The Silver Ring Thing
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
A look at the arrival of the Silver Ring Thing in the UK.
UKeU
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
A look at the problems with UKeU, the government's flagship for UK university education online.
When Did Forward Thinking Become a Thing Of The Past?
Category: Teaching English
Topic: Learning and Teaching
Thoughts on the lag in the effective use of the Internet in teaching second languages
Who Needs Proof?
Category: General Articles
Topic: General
In these modern days of grammar and spellcheckers, what's the point of proofreading?