Articles

When we decide to present new language items to learners explicitly, there are two underlying approaches for the differing techniques we can use – deductive and inductive.

In 'real-life' listening, our students will have to use a combination of the two processes, with more emphasis on 'top-down' or 'bottom-up' listening depending on their reasons for listening.

Rhythm is both a feature of and product of the phonological structure of English. 

Getting students to participate in writing activities in class can be an arduous task. Despite our best efforts as teachers to make the prospect of writing a fun and collaborative activity, it is often met with groans of reluctance.

If telling my students "And now we're going to practise listening," elicits looks of dread and fear, announcing reading practice can often elicit yawns, heads descending to desks, or eyes ascending heavenwards.

In this article I will review the arguments for and against teaching taboo language and using taboo subjects, then look at some practical ideas for teachers who decide to use this area of language.

There seems to be a widely held belief that English, in common with the British who speak it, is a very formal language. In my experience, English does not seem any more or less formal than other languages.

Reading and listening texts are often used in the ELT classroom to practise receptive skills and / or as the introduction to a topic or language point.

Why should we encourage students to use dictionaries? Dictionaries develop learner autonomy. They are a handy resource for researching different meanings, collocations, examples of use and standard pronunciation.