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...
By Dorothy Cleary 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...
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 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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
By Dr Jeremy Koay A limited view Pride and Prejudice, Frankenstein, and Romeo and Juliet are examples of some of the most well-known literary texts. Such texts are usually the works of authors from decades or centuries...