Articles | TeachingEnglish | British Council

Listening for young learners

Submitted by TE Editor on 31 December, 2011 - 14:49

In this article I will briefly focus on how I try to develop listening skills with our young learners who are learning English as an additional language.

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Sitcoms as a tool for ELT

Submitted by Katherine Bilsb... on 14 September, 2011 - 16:20

English teachers have been using videos in the classroom for decades and, more recently DVDs and online video clips from Youtube or Myspace. Sitcoms are an excellent classroom resource for a number of reasons.

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Global English and the teaching of pronunciation

Submitted by TE Editor on 3 May, 2011 - 08:19

The emergence of so many different kinds (or 'varieties') of international English has caused a number of linguists to question the use of native speaker pronunciation models in the teaching of English.

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Teaching without a coursebook

Submitted by TE Editor on 30 March, 2011 - 08:37

Whether you're starting with a new class or just changing direction a little the decision of how to structure a course without a coursebook can sometimes be difficult for a new or even experienced teacher.

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Testing - why bother?

Submitted by Andy Baxter on 15 March, 2011 - 12:02

This article will ask why we test learners of English. Before I start, let's get some terminology straight. I'm not talking about exams. We as a society need exams.

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Devaluating teaching

Submitted by Andy Baxter on 1 March, 2011 - 13:15

Is our evaluation of teachers any better than our evaluation of learners? Of course, the first thing to say is that no teacher would ever agree to be evaluated in the same way as they evaluate their learners. Every school has in place some form of teacher assessment, but few, if any, are based on a true/false or multiple-choice test the Head produced last night before they went to bed.

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Picture books for all

Submitted by sjmourao on 15 February, 2011 - 12:55

Can I hear you tutting? "Picturebooks for all? But aren't picturebooks for babies and small children?"

There are some wonderful examples of picturebooks, often in board book format, which are specifically for babies and small children, but picturebooks are not just for babies.

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Digital literacies: What are they and why should we care?

Submitted by nickyhockly on 21 February, 2013 - 15:12

It's a wired world. In our increasingly connected society new skills are needed. So-called '21st century skills' are making an appearance in curricula the world over as governments and educators recognise the need to educate children (and in many cases adults) in how to effectively navigate an increasingly digital world.

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Carol Read: The secret of working with children

Submitted by Carol Read on 26 January, 2013 - 08:52

In February 2012, Carol Read gave a workshop at the British Council in Warsaw. Her talk covered a range of primary issues and she gave a number of invaluable tips about teaching primary students. Watch her talk here.

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Class journals

Submitted by Paul Braddock on 4 December, 2012 - 10:52

Students often write in their English classes, following a specific genre in order to do so: the informal email; a job application letter, etc. Of course, it is important that they learn this kind of writing (which is usually essential for exam success), but it doesn’t always encourage them to write for the sake of writing, and to get used to writing in a more relaxed and creative way.

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