By Dr Jeremy Koay
A limited view
Don’t you know the meaning of ‘key signature’ [a technical music term]? I thought you were an English teacher!
This comment reflects a lack of understanding of the idea that that language is used differently in different contexts. If you are not...
By James Jenkin
What’s an authentic text?
As Thornbury (2006) summarises:
A classroom text is authentic if it was originally written for a non-classroom audience. A newspaper article or a pop song are thus considered authentic (p. 21).
The list of available authentic texts is, literally,...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
A limited view
How do you participate in a conversation if you are not familiar with the topic? What can you do if your listeners misunderstood you? In order to prepare learners for these situations, materials developers should include instances of communication...
By James Jenkin
If you’re planning to become an EFL teacher – great! In my opinion, it’s one of the most interesting, varied and rewarding career paths possible.
The world needs English teachers. In 2006 the British Council estimated by 2021 the number of learners would...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
A limited view
The popularity of mechanical grammar drills in language teaching, still prevalent in some parts of the world, is influenced by the view that grammatical structures are the basic building blocks of language. It is assumed that individuals will be able to use...
By Lottie Dowling
In an increasingly globalised world, it is glaringly apparent that educators need to be providing students with opportunities to develop meaningful global perspectives, developing students’ knowledge and understanding of the world and improving their intercultural...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
A limited view
A traditional approach to sociolinguistic competence is to use and teach language that is appropriate based on the expectations and norms of the inner circle countries, namely Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA. This approach is problematic for two...
By James Jenkin
It’s a truism amongst teachers we shouldn’t ‘teach to the test’. It’s common to hear statements such as:
Not only do students and teachers hate it, but the practice has been shown to actually harm student learning (Singer, 2016)
and
[Teaching to...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
A limited view
Hyme’s (1972) notion of communicative competence consists of four competences: linguistic, sociolinguistic, discourse and strategic. Linguistic competence refers to the knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. Traditionally, English language teaching focused on...
By Lottie Dowling
‘21st century skills’ is a term that has been around for some time now and, despite being 17 years into the 21st century, it seems many people are still grappling with what these skills are, their relevance and how they can be developed.
What are 21st century skills?...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
A limited view
When communicative language teaching (CLT) was first introduced, the term communication in CLT was often misunderstood as conversation. As a result, there was a noticeable focus on speaking activities in language classrooms. Although conversations are a form of...
By James Jenkin
Online English teaching – collaboration-based learning – is booming. In China, demand for online classes is growing at 25% a year (ICEF, 2014).
It’s easy to see why. Learners can potentially access a teacher from anywhere, at any time. An ever-growing variety of...
By Dorothy Cleary
FINDING AUTHENTIC LISTENING MATERIALS
As I said in my introductory blog, authenticity of materials is one of the key elements in supporting learners to feel confident in New Zealand workplaces. It is relatively easy to find authentic written materials, and learners who are...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
A limited view
Going to school is good for you! Says who? What are the goals of teaching and learning? Is education neutral? Is it politically driven? Or is it influenced and driven by ideology and a particular worldview?
Traditionally, teachers were perceived as the source of...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
A limited view
Teachers and learners are often attracted to universal rules that they can apply in all situations. Although such rules do exist, they are often too general and often not very useful in helping learners write effectively. For example, some teachers and learners...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
A limited view
Learning English language in an exam-oriented environment, I was unfamiliar with the idea of revising and editing one’s writing. Essays were often written under time constraints and the focus was on producing an essay in one sitting. In this situation, I...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
A limited view
A common misconception of the sociocultural theory of learning (SCT) is the idea that learners passively receive knowledge from experts, that is teachers or other adults, and that learning is basically a passive copying process.
This misconception is mainly due to...
By Dorothy Cleary
I’ve been involved in teaching English for the Workplace (EWP) classes in New Zealand for over ten years now, and my first comment on the title of this blog is ‘the’ workplace? That large homogenous mythical place where everyone has the same values and...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
A limited view
Being critical is sometimes associated with being judgemental. In other words, reading a text critically is commonly misunderstood as reading to identify only its weaknesses. This misconception is sometimes seen, for example, in undergraduate students’...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
A limited view
A common misunderstanding of independent language learning, partly due to its name, is the assumption that teachers are not involved in a learning experience. Students are sometimes left alone to learn with little or no guidance from their teachers in the name of...
