ETP Issue 107

Issue 107
November
2016
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The Leading Practical Magazine For English Language Teachers Worldwide
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Study skills for teens
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Fari Greenaway
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Teaching teens teaching teens
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Chris Roland
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Taming the teenager

Rachael Harris
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Younger and younger

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Eve Conway
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• practical methodology
• fresh ideas & innovations

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• classroom resources
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• new technology
• teacher development
• tips & techniques
• photocopiable materials
• competitions & reviews
w w w . e t p r o f e s s i o n a l . c o m
COBUILD Advanced
Learner’s Dictionaries
Ltd
Authentic English at your fingertips
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new
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Now available in
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British & American

ENGLISH
www.collinselt.com
Contents MAIN FEATURE BUSINESS ENGLISH PROFESSIONAL
STUDY SKILLS FOR TEENS 4 TEACHING NEGOTIATION 2 32

Fari Greenaway equips her students with the skills David Tedone considers the role of cultural expectations
to learn better in business negotiation
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FEATURES TEACHER DEVELOPMENT
TEACHING TEENS TEACHING TEENS 8 TEACHING TEENS 46
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Chris Roland takes a back seat as his teenagers Pete Clements, Martin Sketchley and Emma Paul
lead the class share their experiences and insights
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TAMING THE TEENAGER 11
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Rachael Harris offers survival skills
TECHNOLOGY
HIGH FIVE! 13
Michelle Hughes has suggestions for successful THE EDMODO EXPERIENCE
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teenage classes Laura Nanna tries out a social learning platform with
her teenage classes
HOMEWORK: SAVE THE PLANET! 14
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Nasy Pfanner goes green FEATURING FILM 3 54

Kieran Donaghy focuses on vocabulary in short films
THE BEAUTIFUL GAME 16
FIVE THINGS YOU ALWAYS WANTED 57
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Ken Milgate finds inspiration in football

TO KNOW ABOUT: VIRTUAL REALITY
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PRIVATE TUITION 18 Nicky Hockly discusses the place of VR in language

Maaouia Haj Mabrouk discusses the pros and cons teaching
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of extra lessons
WEBWATCHER 59
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DEAR DIARY ... 20 Russell Stannard takes a trip on Tripline

Dan Vowles promotes writing as a means to fluency
development
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BROKEN ENGLISH 38 REGULAR FEATURES

Michele Crawford finds she has to watch her own
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language IT WORKS IN PRACTICE 36
REVIEWS 40
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TEACHING YOUNG LEARNERS SCRAPBOOK 42
CREATING THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT 22 COMPETITION RESULTS 53

Ben Moorhouse uses displays and resources to help
his students write PICTURE PUZZLE 60
YOUNGER AND YOUNGER 26

Eve Conway describes her experience of teaching
students of different ages
Includes materials designed to photocopy
• www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 107 November 2016 • 1

Editorial
D
o you teach teenagers? Love them or loathe And if you’ve ever wondered whether typical teenage
them, the majority of teachers will, at some point behaviour is confined to humans, take a look at the Scrapbook
in their careers, have at least one teenage class. photocopiable worksheet – it has some surprising information
And for many, this is a source of real pleasure. about ‘teenagers’ in the animal kingdom.
As Jeremy Harmer puts it in The Practice of English Language
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Teaching (Pearson 2015): ‘Far from being problem students
(though they may sometimes cause problems), teenage students One of the phonemes
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from our new posters
may be the most enjoyable and engaging to work with.’
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This issue celebrates the teaching of teenagers – quite literally
in the case of Chris Roland, who describes classes where
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some of the teaching is actually done by the teenagers In October this year, ETp said goodbye to its teenage years
themselves. and reached the age of 20. To mark this occasion (and thanks
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to Mark Fletcher who did the artwork), we are offering two free
Other contributors offer tips and strategies for teaching teens
pictorial phonemic symbols posters for you to put up in your
successfully. In our main feature, Fari Greenaway sees the
classrooms. These are available to download by contacting
teenage years as the ideal time to teach our students study
Megan Davies at megan.davies@pavpub.com.
skills that will set them up for life. For Rachael Harris, the
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focus is on skills that teachers can develop to enable them to
bond more effectively with their adolescent students, and
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Michelle Hughes offers some activities that teachers can use

to get their teenage classes off on the right foot.
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Pete Clements, Martin Sketchley and Emma Paul all have Helena Gomm
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considerable experience of teen teaching. They share their Editor

helena.gomm@pavpub.com
reflections in an insightful ‘question and answer’ article.
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Rayford House, School Road, Hove BN3 5HX, UK
Tel: +44 (0)1273 434943 Email: info@etprofessional.com

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Fax: +44 (0)1273 227308 Web: www.etprofessional.com

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Editor: Helena Gomm Published by: Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd,
Rayford House, School Road, Hove BN3 5HX
Editorial Consultant: Mike Burghall
© 2016, Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd
Designer: Christine Cox
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Cover photo: © Highwaystarz-Photography / Getty Images
ISSN 1362-5276
Advertising Sales Manager:
Subscriptions: Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd,
Carole Blanchett
Rayford House, School Road, Hove BN3 5HX
Tel: 01536 601 140
Email: info@pavpub.com
Mobile: 07479 969 437
Email: carole@cb-advertising.co.uk Numéro de Commission Paritaire: 1004 U 82181.
Prix à l’unité = EUR14.75; à l’abonnement (6 numéros) = EUR59.
Publisher: Emma Grisewood Directeur de la Publication: Emma Grisewood
Pages 42–44 include materials which are designed to photocopy. All other rights are reserved and no part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system or transmitted without prior permission in writing from the publishers.
2 • Issue 107 November 2016 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com •

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Study skills
M A I N F E AT U R E
for teens
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Fari Greenaway looks s well as teaching English, these skills to teenagers, as they are near
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my job also entails talking to the beginning of their learning careers
at how we can make our teenage students, their and still receptive to new ideas and new
parents and their teachers. ways of doing things.
students more effective The teachers usually complain that the
an To be effective learners, there are
students don’t take notes or don’t study several things that teenagers need to
learners. at home, and the parents often complain know:
that progress is slow or that their
How to find information in the things
children barely study outside class. When
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they read.
I speak to the students, I ask if they have
studied useful reference sections of their How to write, including the use of
books (they haven’t), if they have used good punctuation and spelling, and
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the CD-ROM that comes with their how to proofread.

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coursebook (no) or if they have How to organise their time.

translated the irregular verb list (am I
mad?). When asked why not, they look How to take useful notes in class and
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perplexed, wondering if I am trying to how to organise those notes.

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catch them out, and tell me it was not set How to remember things.
as homework – so why would they do it?
How to cope with exams.
Teaching study skills How to revise for exams.
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Study skills enable students to be effective The first two points are usually covered
learners. They help them to make better in skills lessons which focus on reading
use of their time, both in and out of and writing. For example, we draw our
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class, and to achieve the best results they students’ attention to how to find
can. It is particularly important to teach information when we ask them to
underline where they found the answer
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to a question in the text.

The other points are more likely to
be neglected. For some teachers, this is
because there is an assumption that the
students should already know these
things; for others, it does not seem to be
a priority, given all the other essentials
in the syllabus that must be covered.
However, if students are not taught
these skills, how are they supposed to
Mark Fletcher
use them? If a student doesn’t have the

skills to make the most of their learning,

the vast majority of what we do in class Classroom idea categorised. Why not try an experiment
is a waste of time. For this reason, any Colour-code your photocopies. If you with your students to find out if this is a
time taken in class to organise our give out lots of photocopies in class, use successful technique for them?
students and instil good study habits is different-coloured paper for each skill or
Give the students 20 seconds to
never wasted. system, so that the students find it easier
memorise a random selection of
The question of how best to to organise their work in folders and to
around 16 words, and then see how
organise our study time (point 3) is a find past worksheets that they want to
many they can remember.
large and important one with many review.
variables, depending on the individual Give them another 20 seconds to
learner, and it is well worth discussing in How to remember things memorise a different selection of
class. However, I will not go into it here, Encourage your students to think about words, grouped into categories, and
as there is already a large amount of their own learning styles, how their own see if they remember more.
material that addresses the topic of time memories work and how they learn and If the experiment is a success – it has
management, both written and in the remember best. Depending on your been when I have done it – discuss
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form of videos available on the internet. educational context, you may find that why this was. If it is not a success,
In this article, I will discuss the the students have never considered the discuss why not. Were the students
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remaining four points. idea that there might be more than one distracted? Were they tired?
way to learn and are unlikely to have
Learning study skills
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thought about how they themselves How to cope with exams
learn and process information best.
How to take useful notes in Do your students leave answers blank or
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class and how to organise Classroom idea 1 make mistakes in exams when you know
those notes Give your students a handout with a they really do know the answer?
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In an ideal world, all our students would selection of vocabulary items to learn, Encourage them (by displaying a
come to us as responsible, well-organised then brainstorm different things that checklist and reviewing it before each
learners. Until that day happens, it is might help them to remember these exam) to do the following:
inevitable that they are going to need words, eg underlining, highlighting
an 1 Read the instructions carefully.
some help. different types of words in different
My first recommendation is to lead 2 Underline the key words in the
colours, doing drawings, repeating a
by example. Designate clear sections on word in their head, using a word in a instructions and the questions.
the board for different things. For sentence that is true for them, 3 If they really can’t do one part or
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example, you could have a column for translating it into their L1, etc. question, move on and come back to
new language, where you include it later.
Ask the students to use a variety of
information such as word category (‘v’
methods to study the words you gave 4 Plan their time – check the time
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for verb, etc) and phonemic script. Draw

them, but give them only a few available and check how many
your students’ attention to this feature of
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minutes to do this. questions they have to answer within

the board, and help them to understand
why it is a good idea. Have another clear Ask them to turn the handout over that time.
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section on the board for homework. and give them a quick test. 5 Check their answers for mistakes.
Make sure the students copy it down,
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Have a discussion about which

and check that they have done so. methods worked for each student and Classroom idea
In many classes that I observe, the why they think that is. Share and brainstorm ways to deal with
teachers of older teenagers still stress. For example, you could use a
ion
successfully use the same systematic Classroom idea 2 Cambridge-exam-style collaborative

routines they would use with younger Studies, such as that by George Mandler, task (such as the example below) to
students in order to instil good habits: indicate that we remember vocabulary encourage the students to consider the
they give the students time to write their
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items better when they are chunked or best ways of combatting stress.
homework down and check that they
have done so properly (How often do
Think positively.
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students not do homework because they

didn’t note it down accurately?); they set
aside time for writing down new
Eat healthily. Relax and do exercise.
vocabulary, and check the students’
understanding of that vocabulary; they
ensure that the students have different
categories in their notebooks and How effective do you think
remind them to use them (What kind of these suggestions might be for
expression is that? A collocation? Great! dealing with exam stress?
Write it in the collocation section of
your notebook); and they remind the
students when to take notes and what to Prioritise your studies. Get more sleep.
take notes of.

Study skills
Go through any meanings they might
Ways for you to revise not understand, and ask them to work
with a partner to prioritise the list
for teens
a) Create a revision timetable. (numbering the items from 1 = most
b) Write notes – list vocabulary, useful, to 10 = least useful). There are
grammar, useful expressions and no correct answers: the aim of the
chunks of language in different activity is simply to raise the students’
How to revise for exams awareness of the different things
categories.
How many of your students only think they could and maybe should be
about studying the week – or even the c) Organise your notes, then read doing at home.
day – before an exam? We know that them through, underlining key
cramming is not learning, and that for words.
new concepts to move into our long- d) Be a teacher – explain a language
term memory, they have to be revisited point to a friend or classmate. The message for teachers is that we
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on many occasions. So, how can we should not presume that our teenage
e) Make your notes easy to read,
encourage our students to study and students will come to us as readymade
eg use colour-coding or titles and
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revise outside class to help their progress great learners. We need to equip them
subtitles.
in class? with the skills they will need to be able
Students who are intrinsically f) Use spider diagrams to collect all to achieve success. Study skills provide
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motivated to learn English may do all the language you know about a students with the autonomy to progress at
manner of study outside the classroom. topic on a single page of your their own pace and to take responsibility
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For those who aren’t as motivated, notebook. for their own learning.
frequent brief tests or quizzes, based on g) Allocate time to do some exercise
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revision and set as part of the and to relax.
homework, are one way of encouraging Mandler, G ‘Organization and memory’ In
weekly revision, without eating too h) Draft model writing answers. Spence, K W and Spence, J T (Eds) The
Psychology of Learning and Motivation:
much into class time. i) Practise writing and doing other
an Advances in Research and Theory
exam papers at speed under exam Academic Press 1976
Classroom idea 1
conditions.
Put your chosen grammar and
j) Periodically read through what you Fari Greenaway was the
vocabulary topics or writing genres (eg teens coordinator in
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have studied. Academia Británica

essay, article or review) into a hat, and
Sierra in Córdoba, Spain,
ask the students to pull out a topic and for many years and is
create a poster for homework. hours studying, but few hours studying now the Director of
Studies. She has been
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well or effectively. We can help them to teaching English for over

In the next lesson, you can set a task ten years, mostly in
reflect on what they do in their study
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based on reading and reviewing their Spain, and is learning to

time and encourage them to think about love teenagers. She
classmates’ posters, which you display studied English and
what works best for them.
in class. linguistics at university
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and has been published

Even our intrinsically-motivated Classroom idea 2 in several journals and
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textbooks.
students can always benefit from a few Give the students a list of different
thefari@yahoo.co.uk
pointers. Students may spend many ways to revise (see the example above).
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This is your magazine. We want to hear from you!
It really worked TALKBACK! For guidelines and advice,
for me! Do you have something to say about

write to us or email:
Did you get inspired by something you
an article in the current issue of ETp?
read in ETp? Did you do something English Teaching professional
This is your magazine and we would
similiar with your students? Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd,
really like to hear from you.
Did it really work in practice? Rayford House, School Road,
Do share it with us ... Hove BN3 5HX, UK

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IN THE CLASSROOM
Teaching teens
teaching teens
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Chris Roland turns dozen students between the around the students’ emergent language
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ages of 12 and 14 walk into needs (if those teachers have been given
his students into teachers. my academy classroom. the opportunity and had the inclination
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Most sit down in chairs to develop the required skills). Our
around the sides of the room. Three teenage learners are not experienced
remain standing, hovering round the teachers, though, and the type of lessons
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teacher’s desk. ‘Ah yes, Eloy, Carmen, described here do need preparation if
Julia, it’s your turn today, isn’t it?’ I say, they are to be fruitful for, and fair upon,
remembering the system we have the students who lead them and the rest
recently set in motion. ‘I’ve just got to
an of their classmates. So one or two weeks
tell the class a couple of things, then it’s before they start teaching, the students
over to you.’ After I have made my are put into groups of three or four and
announcements, they rearrange the assigned a page of the book and a date:
ing
furniture at the front, adding another ‘Isabel, Luisa and Alex, you’ll be
table, then take their places. There is a teaching page 48 on the 18th of this
minute or two of transitional buzz, month. Alberto, Clara and Ana, your
during which I take my place amongst page is 49 on the 20th’, and so on.
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the rest of the class, and then for the Even though they will be teaching
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next hour it is the three teenagers who different pages, everyone gets the same
are running the show. hour of class time to prepare their
respective lessons. Here, they decide
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Preparation which exercises from their assigned

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pages they will do. This hinges upon

Experienced teachers might be able to what the point of their lesson is, so, first,
shape a lesson around topics that come I ask them to look at the exercises and
up in open-class conversation and identify the underlying language
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Three student teachers prepare to start their lesson.

structures and functions. Next, they assessed activity,
need to decide who in the group will awarding each
introduce each activity and what student in the group
instructions and explanations they will a mark out of ten,
give to the class. For this, I encourage according to the
them either to script what they will say following criteria: a
or make supporting notes. They also possible two marks
need to agree upon who will operate any for starting work
audio recordings and who will go round quickly; up to two
checking that their colleagues are marks for
on-task. cooperating well
Of course, the student teachers need with partners; two
to know what the correct answers to any marks for talking in
exercises they cover are, and they need English about the
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to look over any texts they are going to lesson; two marks
teach to ensure they understand them for assuming an
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and have identified any tricky active role,
vocabulary they might be asked about. contributing and knowing what the ‘The best student teachers’, I tell my
group is doing at all times; and, finally, classes, ‘are not always the ones who
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Planning two marks for producing a finished are better at English, but those who
orderly lesson plan. can explain what to do and what things
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During their lesson preparation, the mean most clearly – and normally, they
This forms part of what I term
students have access to the teacher’s have thought about all this before their
rolling consequence, which involves
book for advice on staging and for the
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teenage students seeing the immediate lesson begins.’
answer keys. They can also listen to any
usefulness of what they are doing, or
audio recordings in advance. From a
have just done, in the subsequent step of One final word about the planning
certain perspective, we might say that
a project. Here, the quality of their lesson stage: students will often ask if they can
the class they will teach can be seen as
preparation is reflected by feedback from
the end product of the structure
an include games in their lessons. My usual
the teacher (you) and in the quality of answer is that, provided the language
provided for them and exploited by
the lesson they are able to give. The content of the page(s) they have been
them in this key preparation stage.
quality of the lesson they actually give is allotted is covered, one short game is
ing
One clear indication that they have

reflected again by feedback from you allowed. General vocabulary revision
made good use of their time is the
and by how comfortable they feel at the games, especially Hangman, do not
production of a lesson plan. I have
front of the class. The quality of the always work very well, though, as they
shifted towards giving more guidance on
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students’ performances whilst some of require considerable skill on the part of

this in recent years. In our first round of
their classmates are being the teachers is
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student-led classes, which are the ones the moderator to keep the activity alive
reflected by those very same student- in terms of pace and flow.
you can see in the photos in this article,
teachers’ evaluations, and by the fact
I began with a freer, more hands-off
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that behaving well and working with the

approach. It was actually one of the
student-teachers is a reliable way to Participation
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students who produced the first, rather

ensure that they reciprocate and Whilst giving their lessons, the student-
novel, lesson plan on her own initiative.
cooperate as students another day, when teachers are responsible for evaluating
It consisted of a collage of exercise
it is your time to be the teacher. the contributions of the rest of the class.
answers, photocopied from the teacher’s
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manual, cut out and stuck onto

coloured paper. This was overwritten Page and Your instructions What are the What words or
with her own notes, which included exercise (What will you students doing? grammar do the
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scripted instructions, staging and number (or need to explain? (Include groups, students have to
example tables for a short presentation. details of any What details will pairs, time allowed, learn? How will you
I have since made it a standard other activity) you include? What number of words and know if they have
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requirement that each group produce a difficult questions sentences, etc.) How learnt them? Include
finished lesson plan, and that each student might the students will good students answers to exercises
in the group has a copy of it, so that if ask?) get a high score? in this column.
anybody is absent on the day, the rest
can still teach. The template I currently
provide is shown opposite, although the
final format of the plan is up to the
students – just so long as there is one.
Performance
Depending upon the class, I may also
make the preparation phase itself an

Teaching teens
What is certain,
and what I have
teaching teens
observed very
clearly, is that when
freed up to manage
I provide them with blank tables for this, lesson material by
but I let them decide upon the criteria for themselves, teenage
evaluation and whether they work with students sometimes
numerical entries or comments. This is a take the initiative
task they rise to, inventing a wide range and come up with
of categories, including homework explanations or
completed, participation, attitude, turns on a task that
reading or speaking skills, pronunciation the teachers
and groupwork. It is also a task that they themselves might
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take very seriously. When they ask how not have done. The
their marks will be used, my response is student featured in
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usually the following: ‘Your exact the last photograph,
During their lessons, the student- for instance, used her first language to
appraisals will not appear on the report
teachers fill out evaluation tables for provide her classmates with a translation
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cards of your classmates, but how well they
their classmates, but it is they of unless that was far more accurate
work in your lesson, which will be reflected
themselves who decide upon the than the translation I had been using for
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by the feedback you hand me at the end,
criteria for success and the format well over a decade. Another student-
will certainly play a role in their end-of-
their entries will take. teacher from the same group told the
term marks.’
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class that they were going to do a
traditional dictation and that the
Practice By turning the moderation of our
dictated material would be a paragraph
coursebook content into a
During these lessons, I take a back seat, taken from a full-page reading text in
communicative act in itself, and by
speaking as little as possible, if at all. The the coursebook. Before closing their
an
highlighting and supporting student-to-
student-teachers can refer any difficult books to do the dictation, the class had
student language required for the giving
questions to me, and occasionally I may five minutes to look at the full text and
of instructions and explanations, based
intervene to remind a student that they familiarise themselves with its argument
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around those book exercises, we increase

might be making those student-teachers’ and language. The twist was that he
the students’ activity and their scope of
lives more difficult than they need to be. refused to say in advance which the
thinking, and we allow a deeper
Beyond the language classroom, we dictated paragraph would be, giving
penetration of the material. The result is
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often assume a greater responsibility for them a very valid reason to read all the
calmer, more engaged students who,
the content of what we say than we do paragraphs as closely as possible. ‘You
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without exception, in the case of my

during a language lesson, where we need to look at all the paragraphs because
own students, ask if they can lead more
primarily concentrate on using the it might be any of them,’ he explained,
classes during the year.
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correct forms. In the ‘real world’, ‘and if you concentrate now, the dictation
speaking is much closer to action, in that will be easy.’
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we have personal and practical reasons Power Examples such as these serve to fuel
for saying what we say – and personal Classes like these also constitute an my conviction that our students are our
and practical consequences follow. In the exercise in how to manage power in an most powerful resource.
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classroom, our students operate within a organised and structured way that is
reduced scope of action, as compared to beneficial to everyone. Respect for the
when they get outside – reduced choice I would like to thank the students
teacher figure or ‘teacher as person’, a
appearing in the photos, and their parents,
of when to speak, reduced levels of given that is usually demanded by
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for allowing me to use the images.

personalisation, reduced opportunity to default, develops towards respect for the
decide what to speak about or to whom, teacher role. Whoever is in the driving
reduced movement and reduced sense of Chris Roland is a teacher,
seat on a particular day is the one that
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teacher trainer and general

‘doing’ in general. In an English class, needs to be listened to, as it is they who ‘ideas man’ based at ELI, a
speaking can sometimes feel divorced language academy in
have done the groundwork and have Seville, Spain. He considers
from doing. Speaking is just speaking – knowledge to share. I would like to himself a ‘4x4’ or ‘all-terrain
speaking for speaking’s sake: to practise. think this helps the students to move teacher’, meaning that he
covers young learner,
The student-led lessons described here more flexibly between positions of lesser teenager and adult classes.
help restore the connection between and greater responsibility and between He enjoys thinking about
things that work and do not
speaking and doing. What the student- the roles of helping and being helped. work in classrooms, the
teachers say is their lesson. In this sense, These are also, I believe, characteristics limitations of classes as
both spaces and events,
we manage to lessen the sensation of that would be shared by a fairer, more and the distribution of
suspended reality or the feeling that our sustainable, society in general. power, both in lesson time
and beyond.
students’ lives are in some way on hold
until the lesson is over. chris.roland@gmail.com

Taming the
IN THE CLASSROOM
teenager
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Rachael Harris has n my opinion, it is essential to have You can only make a
a positive relationship with a
first impression first
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some advice for getting student in order to be able to teach
them well, and with no group is Start the year with a friendly but firm
on well with teens. this more important, or more difficult to attitude. We are lucky to teach a subject
achieve, than with teens. that will be of direct, practical use to
our students in their future lives and
an
Some of them stare at you with such
loathing, sniff and sigh at everything jobs, so point this out to them. We are
you pull out of the hat, or are simply also fortunate to be surrounded by the
downright rude – how could you ever English language: on the internet, in
ing
survive a year with them, let alone teach music and on TV, so play on that – find
them anything? This article will give you out what your students like and
some ideas on how to get on with incorporate it into as many lessons as
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difficult students and get the best from you can.

your class. A fun way to do this is to ask the
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students to write a phrase about

themselves on a slip of paper, something
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that no one else knows or that they are

particularly proud of. Put these phrases
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into a hat. The students then pull out a

phrase and must go round asking the
rest of the class questions to find who
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wrote the phrase. They then write the

name of this person on the paper. Keep
these slips of paper and use the ideas
when choosing your lesson topics.
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A good way to get to know your

students is to ask them to write you a
letter, telling you about themselves;
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accept L1 if they can’t express

themselves in English. This is also a
discrete way of finding out if there are
any sensitive subjects they would rather
avoid.
On the subject of sensitive issues, it
is interesting to note that most
coursebooks contain chapters about
describing your family. Many students
Mark Fletcher
are at an age when their parents are in

the middle of a divorce! Before starting
this unit, I always remind my students

Taming the
they will have to choose a career (a job, (detention) kicks in. There is no need
me?), find accommodation, pay taxes, to tell them off. At the start of every
teenager
and do all the things they see their lesson, I ask who has forgotten
parents getting stressed over. For many, something. The students put their
this is very difficult. Add peer pressure hands up, and jokers are crossed off
and the fear of failure to that, and you or detentions noted. There is no
that we are here to learn and not to spy have a potentially dangerous mix. And by grudge-holding.
on each other; if they don’t want to dangerous, I mean very dangerous: look
share information, they should do what out for your students. If you see any signs A ‘neutral’ noise: I have a small hand
every good language student does: of self-harm or worse, then talk about it bell which I use to close a speaking or
invent the information! I then remind with colleagues or superiors. Suicide is pair activity. This is much better for
them that I am married to three the primary cause of death amongst my vocal chords, and makes it easier
different people, have 14 children and teenagers in many Western countries. to get attention than yelling louder
enjoy embroidery in my spare time. This than a roomful of teens.
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is also a good technique to get reticent
pupils to speak, no longer will ‘I’m an Be informed Have a clear idea of acceptable
only child’ be an excuse to avoid While nothing beats experience in most behaviour, and deal with anything
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participating – get them to invent some situations, and teaching teens is no unacceptable immediately. For me,
siblings, and while they’re at it, make exception, there is something to be said this starts with a look, followed by
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them famous! for finding out as much as you can. If one warning, then the student moves
one of your students is dyslexic, find out places, then they have to leave the
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It’s never too late to how you can best help them. If your room. However, you need to balance
class is hyperactive every Tuesday, find this against the fact that everyone can
make a good impression have an off-day. If you spot a student
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out what lesson they have before (I bet
Wherever you are in the school year, it’s you it’s either sport or double maths!), who is really not comfortable with an
not too late to make a good impression. and deal with this information activity on a particular day, get
Keep the doors open, and always be appropriately. everyone started and then go up to
willing to start again. Always remember an them and say discreetly ‘I can see
that you are the adult in this relationship, Give choice you’re having a bad day, why not just
and start each new lesson afresh. In order do these exercises quietly today?’ If the
to do this, avoid phrases such as ‘Typical!’ Young people are told what to do by circumstances are exceptional and
everyone around them. However, teens
ing
and ‘I knew you wouldn’t do the they recognise that they can’t get away
homework’. Never tell a student off in are old enough to want their freedom with this every lesson, they will
front of their peers, but don’t hesitate to and will cause trouble in order to get it. usually play the game, and so –
have a quick chat after the lesson. You Offer your classes as many choices as surprisingly – will the rest of the class.
h
don’t necessarily have to do this possible: If they see you dealing kindly with
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immediately after a lesson that went badly Do you want the test on Tuesday or someone who is not doing well, they
– when you risk the student walking out Thursday? will respect you all the more.
on you. Instead, it may be a good idea to
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Do you want to do these exercises in

wait a couple of lessons until things have
class or at home?
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calmed down, then explain your

objective – that they learn useful English Would you prefer to start with the Finally, as with any teaching, there’s no
skills – and ask them what they need vocabulary exercises or the listening ‘one-size-fits-all’ miracle problem-solver
from you and how you can help them. comprehension? that will work all the time. However, if
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Every opportunity to power-share will you can keep calm, get to know and
Be watchful: everyone help your students take control of their respect your teenage students, and also
learning. let them know you and what you want,
you meet is fighting a
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then teaching teens is definitely the best

battle you know nothing Lead by example job in the world.
about
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Remain calm, explain what you expect,

You don’t know what is going on in your and always have high expectations: give Rachael Harris has
students’ lives: many live in difficult your students a mark to step up to. taught teenagers and
situations or suffer abusive or neglectful primary students for
Model the kind of behaviour you want almost ten years in a
relationships. Even for those who seem from them. To avoid shouting, I secondary school in
to have everything in their favour, things Geneva, Switzerland,
recommend the following: where she is responsible
aren’t always easy. Many adults today for the specific learning
remind children that ‘they don’t know A well-established reward/sanction difficulties (SpLD) policy.
She is ETAS (Swiss ELT
they’re born’, but an iPad and the latest system: I give each student two association) Teen SIG
cool bag isn’t everything. Growing up has ‘jokers’ per term. These can be used and joint Geneva
regional coordinator.
always been scary; our teenage students for ‘forgotten’ homework or
have left the warmth of ‘carebear’ land, equipment. After they have played
fabenglishteacher@gmail.com
and are aware that soon, all too soon, both jokers, the school sanction

IN THE CLASSROOM working towards: How many papers are
High five!
there? What percentage do you need in
order to pass? They can use their
coursebook to find the answers.
4 Find out about their goals

and interests
The more we know about our students,
the easier it is to connect with them and
create a supportive and encouraging
learning environment. Open-ended
Michelle Hughes offers tips for starting successfully
sentences are a great way to do this. For
with teenage classes. example: I’m looking forward to ..., An
easy way for me to remember new words is
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eaching teenagers can be fun and 2 Dig a little deeper ..., etc. The students could complete them
rewarding, as long as you make Now that everyone’s on a first-name individually and then share their answers
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an effort to get to know them and basis, it’s time to get to know one another in small groups. Move around the room
to manage your classroom effectively. a little better. Brainstorm what the as they do so, listening to their answers.
Here are five suggestions with some students would like to find out about Be sure to get some group feedback at the
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activities to get you started. each other. You will get the typical end. Make notes about what you find out,
and use this information when preparing
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things, of course, such as age, family, etc,
1 Get your class to gel but encourage them to think outside the your future lessons.
It may seem obvious, but start by box a little and they will come up with
Be firm but fair
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ensuring that you and your new class 5
some more unusual things to find out
find out each other’s names. An about: your hero, a dream you have, etc. If you really want a trouble-free time
‘Introductions’ activity that involves a This is also a great opportunity to check with your teenage classes, it is essential
little creativity and some light-hearted how well the students can form questions. that you establish classroom rules.
fun will be both enjoyable and Give support as needed, and make a note Remember to be firm but fair in your
an
memorable. Most importantly, it will if you think there are areas you will need approach. Your students will probably
mean that your students (and you!) will to work on in the coming lessons. groan if you mention class rules, but
remember each other’s names. Once you have nine or ten questions, make sure to deal with the issue. A little
ing
An activity I love is creating class ask the students to stand up and mingle, time invested in classroom management
nicknames. Explain that the students and then to get together with a partner. at this stage will lay the foundations for a
have to take turns to introduce Give them two minutes to find out their great year ahead. Ask the students what
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themselves, using a positive adjective partner’s answers to some of the they expect from you, as their teacher,
which starts with the first letter of their prepared questions. At the end of two and what they think you expect from
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first name. They also have to remember minutes, call out ‘Change!’ and they pair them. Talk about expectations regarding
what everyone else said. Demonstrate by up with someone new. Before the activity classroom behaviour, use of English in
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introducing yourself. For example, ‘Hi, starts, warn them that they will be giving class, bringing coursebooks, timekeeping
I’m Marvellous Michelle’. The next feedback at the end, so they should try and homework. Should any students
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student might say ‘This is Marvellous to remember as much as possible about overstep the line, be sure to rein them in,
Michelle and I’m Amazing Ana’. Even their new classmates. As your students reminding them of the importance of
the quietest-looking student will light up are chatting, discreetly take note of any respecting each other and listening when
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when they hear themselves referred to mistakes and use your notes to give you or their classmates are speaking.
as, for example, ‘Fantastic Filipa’. Get feedback at the end of the activity, or Showing teenagers that you respect
the students to help each other out in keep them to prepare a future lesson, them and their individuality but, at the
coming up with adjectives. focusing on common errors. same time, that you expect them to
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As they enter the classroom for the Once they have spoken to most of make an effort in class to develop their
next lesson, I refer back to the their classmates, get everyone to sit language skills is the key to maintaining
nicknames that the students took on, down again and tell you what they have a happy, smooth-running class.
Pa
saying things like Hi, Intelligent Ines or found out about each other.
Happy Henrique and Creative Carla, can Michelle Hughes is an
English teacher and
you work together? This always brings 3 Get stuck in Director of Studies at
lots of smiles and helps everyone a language school in
Students love starting a new book. If you Portugal. She has a
remember each other’s names – some of are using a coursebook, create a quiz so Postgraduate Diploma
the nicknames even stick for the year. they can get to know it. Working in pairs, in Teaching English to
Young Learners from
You don’t need much, if any, they can find the answers to questions Aston University, UK,
preparation for this, but do check your such as What page is the irregular verb list and a Master’s in English
Language Teaching from
class list beforehand, in case you have a on? In what unit will we learn about sport? the University of
number of students with the same first Which unit looks most interesting to you? Limerick, Ireland.
initial. If so, make a list of possible Why? etc. With an exam class, set some
adjectives to use if the students get stuck. wellmichelle@gmail.com
questions about the examination they are

IN THE CLASSROOM
Homework:
save the planet
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Nasy Pfanner warms to eenage students are often Personalising the topic
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environmentally aware, and
To bring the topic closer to home, I
an activity that calculates our discussions about how we can
save the planet generally strike asked the students to do three things:
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carbon footprint. a chord with them. 1 to keep a food diary for a week,
including information about where
Topic: carbon footprints the food came from;
In the coursebook that my students 2 to make a list of where 15 items of

an their clothing were produced and the
(aged 15–16) are studying, there is a
chapter about the environment which materials they were made of;
features information about the human 3 to calculate their carbon footprint,
ing
population, how much food and water using a calculator available on the
we need, predicted rises in global internet.
temperatures, the importance of
Food
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recycling, the limits of natural resources,

etc. One of the topics is the ‘carbon For the food diary, the students had to
lis
footprint’: the amount of carbon write down what they ate for breakfast,
dioxide released into the atmosphere as lunch and dinner, plus any snacks, and
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a result of the activities of a particular they had to make a note of where the
person, organisation or community. In foods came from. They soon realised that
Pu
one of the coursebook activities that we finding out this information was not
did, we were given the distance from always straightforward. Sometimes a
London to Naples and we had to food label would say where the food was
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calculate and compare the carbon packaged, but wouldn’t give the country
footprint of a person travelling between of origin. Some items contained several
these two cities using different modes of ingredients from a variety of countries.
transportation: car, train, aeroplane, As a result, the students had to take a
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ship and horse. really close look at the labelling, and

sometimes do further research, in order
to determine where their food came from.
Pa
Clothing
When it came to examining their
clothing, I made it clear that simple
pieces of clothing such as socks,
underwear or caps were fine; they didn’t
have to be anything fancy. The students
soon realised that the cheaper clothes
were generally made in developing
countries where wages are low and the
workers have few rights. They had to list
the raw materials used to make the

clothes, and then try to figure out how
long the clothes had to travel before they
made it to the local shops.
By making these lists, the students’
awareness of environmental issues was
raised, and they found the information
quite surprising.
Calculating the footprint

The third element of the task involved One person stood next to the
using a calculator to work out each board and wrote down how
student’s carbon footprint. There are a many planets each student
lot of carbon footprint calculators would need to support their
available on the internet, but not all lifestyle. Each one called out their
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were suitable for our purposes. For result for everyone to hear, and we
example, some required the user to enter continued until everyone had had their I would definitely recommend using this
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a postcode in the United States; others turn. At the end, we tallied up the activity with teenagers. It addresses a
needed some kind of registration. I number of planets and divided this by complex issue, so it is most suited to
wanted a calculator that was simple to the number of students who did the students who have studied English for at
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use, so I had to search for a while to find assignment. The result was that it would least four years – they need a certain
one. In the end, the calculator that best also take more than two planets to level of language in order to carry out a
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suited our needs was from the World support our average lifestyle! The meaningful conversation on the topic.
Wide Fund for Nature. In order to students were not really surprised, Even if your own coursebook doesn’t
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calculate your carbon footprint, it asks because they realised that the way we all have a chapter on environmental issues,
many questions about your lifestyle. For live in the western world uses up far you can still create your own learning
example, about how much meat you eat, more energy and creates more carbon materials and do the activity. Look up
the percentage of food you waste, your emissions than the lifestyle of a simple information about carbon footprints on
methods of transportation, how often farmer in a developing country. the internet: there are a lot of materials
an available and many articles are suitable
you travelled last year, the type of home
you live in, how much money you spend for schools. Make a list of useful
on clothes or a pet in a typical month, vocabulary items: this could include
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what you recycle, etc. such words as bottle bank, landfill site,
litter, reusable, water shortage, pollution,
and so on.
In the first part of my activity, the
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students were only asked to list food

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Since we did this activity, I have been items. If I do it again, I will ask them to
back to the WWF website and noticed produce a list of drinks as well. I believe
it is just as important to know whether
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there has been a change to the

calculator. It no longer says how many your orange juice comes from South
Pu
I tried the calculator out on my own

planets are needed to support a person’s America or your bottled water comes
first, and then demonstrated it to the
lifestyle, but it shows a person’s carbon from the mountains in your own
class. I was shocked by my results, which
average compared to that of a person in country. The assignment is simple to do,
showed that it would take more than
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the United Kingdom and the world and is popular with teenagers because it
two planets to support my lifestyle! I
average. Conveniently, it also shows a doesn’t involve essay writing or
mostly use public transport and I do a
breakdown of carbon emissions and grammar exercises! Most importantly,
lot of recycling, so I was quite sure that
offers tips on how to reduce these. the students learn that saving the planet
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I would have a small carbon footprint.

As with any other homework, there starts with them.
It took less than five minutes to
calculate my own footprint, and I were a couple of students who didn’t do
the assignment. However, those who did
Pa
thought it would be a fun activity that Nasy Inthisone Pfanner

my students would enjoy. So I set it for the work enjoyed it because it was was born in Laos, but
something different and authentic. Up grew up in the US. She
homework. For some of the questions, has published articles
the students needed help from their until they were given this task, they had about education and
not paid much attention to where their Lao-Americans. She is a
parents, eg what had been done to their part-time English teacher
house to improve energy conservation, food and clothes came from or how at BORG Dornbirn-
much impact they were having on the Schoren, a secondary
how the house was heated, etc. school in Vorarlberg,
environment. This is perhaps surprising, Austria. She is also a
as Austria is quite a ‘green’ country and part-time Educational
Comparing footprints people here are generally environmentally
Doctorate student at the
University College of
A week later, I collected in the students’ active. For instance, children are taught London Institute of
food diaries, lists of clothes and Education in the UK.
to recycle at primary school, and there is
information on their carbon footprints. nasypfanner@gmail.com
a recycling bank on nearly every corner.

IN THE CLASSROOM
The beautiful
game
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Ken Milgate finds that football helps students
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express statistical data with comparative ease.
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rofessional football matches the number of shots on goal
are nowadays subject to an the number of shots on target
enormous amount of post-
the number of goals scored
match analysis, giving a perfect
opportunity to exploit the statistical the number of yellow cards
an
information supplied for revision and the number of red cards
consolidation of the grammar of the number of offsides
comparison – in particular, the
ing
the number of fouls committed To familiarise themselves with the

distinction between countable and correct terminology, the students could
uncountable, number and amount, the number of corners won
be given a copy of Figure 1, which
comparatives and superlatives. the number of saves shows some typical statistics for a match
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Detailed match analyses are a regular the number of completed passes between Teams A and B, and instructed
feature of sports coverage in newspapers
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the number of completed tackles to take turns to ask each other

and on the internet. Such data could questions. Here are some example
easily be obtained and exploited as All the above are in the plural form and questions they might produce:
b
language teaching material. And since are, therefore, countable and expressed
football is a topic that frequently engages How many shots on goal did Team A
as a number. Usually, the only
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the teenage mind, this kind of analysis make?

uncountable aspect of a football match,
provides an excellent opportunity for expressed as an amount, is possession. How much more possession did Team B
getting your teenage students onside, have than their opponents?
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targeting the language you want them to Which team’s goalkeeper made more
Team A Team B
learn, tackling an important area of the saves?
(home) (away)
language, and scoring highly for
providing a lesson on a topic that really 41% Ball possession 59% Which team scored more goals?
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interests them, thereby saving them from What does the number 9 refer to in the
3 Goals 1
another ‘countable and uncountable’ chart?
class based on the contents of someone’s 32 Shots 9
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Did Team B win more corners than

fridge. Of course, if none of your Team A?
8 On goal 5
students is interested in football, you
will have scored an own goal, but that is 4 Fouls 12
unlikely and, as a good teacher and
Comparatives
12 Corners 4
coach, you will, of course, have A comparative analysis of Figure 1
investigated their preferences in advance! 2 Offsides 1 would produce the following facts:
0 Yellow cards 3 Team A spent less time on the ball

Countable and than their opponents.
0 Red cards 0
uncountable Team B had a greater share of the
You will often find that the sports media 4 Saves 5 ball.
produce charts of the following: Figure 1 Team B had fewer shots.

Team A won three times as many
P W D L F A GD Pts
corners as Team B.
Team A scored more goals than Team G 38 23 12 3 68 36 32 81
Team B. Team H 38 20 11 7 65 36 29 71
Team A managed more than three Team I 38 19 13 6 69 35 34 70
times as many shots as their opponents.
Team J 38 19 9 10 71 41 30 66
Team B committed three times as
many fouls as Team A. Figure 3
The students could be asked to produce drew four games fewer. The champions
Mark Fletcher
similar sentences in an analysis of a real won 23 games, three more than the
match. As a follow-up exercise, they runners-up and four more than the teams
could produce a statistical summary, in third and fourth position.
modelled on the following example:
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Team G suffered only three defeats,
Despite having less possession than their four fewer than Team H, three fewer than
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opponents, Team A won the match 3–1. Team I and seven fewer than Team J.
In terms of goal-scoring opportunities, Overall, Team G ended the season ten
Team A had more than three times as points clear of Team H and 15 points
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many as their opponents, of which barely clear of Team J.
a quarter were on target.
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As for discipline, Team B committed
twelve fouls, compared with Team A’s Teaching grammar in isolation can be a
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four, and were yellow-carded three times, turn-off for some students. Relating
while Team A escaped any punishment. Superlatives grammar to a specific purpose on a theme
Play was halted for three offside that the students find engaging (hopefully)
To practise the use of superlatives, more
decisions, the away side being punished should produce greater understanding and
than one match would need to be
once; the home side won the corner count
twelve to four.
an
subjected to analysis. Figure 2 gives data an end to, for example, uncertainty over
for four teams. amount and number.
A statistical analysis of Figure 2 will At the same time, the process will
underline the correct phrases for making
ing
Team C Team D provide the information needed to

answer these questions: comparative judgements and reduce the
57% Ball possession 43% amount of time needed to correct a
Which team had the least share of ball
2 Goals 2 number of mistakes.
possession?
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Let’s hope that this exercise is a

14 Shots 5 Which team had the most shots?
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match that has a positive result in

3 On goal 2 Which team conceded the most corners? normal playing time, without the need
Which team committed the greatest for extra time and the dreaded penalty
b
16 Fouls 10 shoot-out!
number of fouls?
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7 Corners 2 If Leicester City can do it, so can

Which team had the fewest shots on your students!
3 Offsides 3 goal?
Ken Milgate has over
2 Yellow cards 1 40 years’ experience of
Reporting data
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teaching ESOL in
0 Red cards 0 further education. He is
The ability to write continuous prose a reflective practitioner,
correctly to record statistical data is an with research interests
Team E Team F in innovative teaching
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important life skill. Of course, it has strategies, and he used

70% Ball possession 30% many applications beyond the world of to be Chief Examiner
and Distance Learning
1 Goals 2 sport, but football provides the perfect Tutor for Eurolink,
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medium to practise it. A brief summary preparing prospective

ESOL teachers
20 Shots 10 of the information contained in Figure 3 worldwide.
6 On goal 2 might be as follows: marken@milgatefamily.co.uk
In terms of goals, Team J were the
8 Fouls 15
highest scorers and also the team to
10 Corners 2 concede the most goals, finishing the PICTURE PUZZLE
season with a goal difference of 30, the Answers
1 Offsides 4
third-best return in the table.
0 Yellow cards 3 With regard to match results, both scholar, trainee, student, pupil
Team I and Team J won 19 games, four
0 Red cards 0 Theme: Synonyms for learner
fewer than the champions; Team I drew
Figure 2 the most games, with 13, while Team J

The spread of private
Private
OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
tuition
Statistics show the remarkable spread of
private tuition in North America, Asia
and Europe. According to Jenni Russell,
writing in the New Statesman in 2002, ‘it
has become one of the most important, yet
also unacknowledged, factors in a child’s
school performance’. In the Republic of
tuition
Korea, around 90 percent of elementary
school students receive private tuition; in
India, the figure is around 60 percent. In
Hong Kong, 85 percent of secondary
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school students receive tuition after
school. In the USA, the government
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invests around $134 billion in private
tuition and enrichment programmes for
low-income students. The global private
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tutoring market is expected to surpass
$102.8 billion by 2018.
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In my own country, Tunisia, private
tuition is having a devastating effect on
‘W dM
Maaouia Haj ith fees for one-to-one family finances. Even lower-income
tuition starting from £50 families strive hard to find tuition fees
Mabrouk considers an hour, she now earns for their children. Around 70 percent of
more than the our students take lessons outside school,
whether after-school headmaster who was once her boss.’ This and Tunisia reports the world’s ninth
an
is what journalist Julia Llewellyn Smith highest rate of private tuition. People
lessons are a blessing wrote in the Daily Mail in October 2011 seem convinced that mainstream
about a former school teacher, now schooling is not enough to guarantee
ing
or a curse. giving private lessons on an almost daily social and economic success and that
basis. Like this journalist, many people private tuition is essential.
focus on the financial aspects of
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conducting private lessons, as if the extra

income were the main reason behind it.
The factors involved
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In fact, private tuition is a much deeper One of the factors that play a part in the
social and economic phenomenon, spread of private tuition is peer pressure.
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worthy of closer investigation on the Parents feel it is their duty to ensure

part of all participants. educational success for their children, and
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By private tuition, I mean lessons in they feel guilty if they cannot provide
academic subjects, such as maths, what the parents of their children’s
science and languages, given to students classmates can give their offspring.
ion
in addition to the teaching they are Sometimes, parents feel the need to give
receiving in mainstream schooling. It their children a better education than they
does not, therefore, include extra- received themselves, or are seeking to
curricular subjects such as soccer and reproduce their own academic success in
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ballet, nor does it include extra help their children. Since no schoolwork is ever
given by teachers or family members on 100 percent perfect, many parents are
a voluntary basis. Private tutoring is not pushing their children into private tuition
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like sports coaching, where the aim is to to improve their school grades, even if
promote the student’s physical and those grades are already satisfactory by
mental well-being. Instead, it targets the any reasonable standards.
student’s weaknesses in one particular Another factor is the increase in the
school subject and, given the global amount of testing that is done in
demand for learning English, private educational systems, and the emphasis
English tuition is an important element. that is placed on good results. The
With the growing demand for private tuition market flourishes as
excellence in education, more and more increasing numbers of students rush to
emphasis is being put on private tuition take more and more tests, particularly
as a means of helping students achieve those that are identified as necessary to
better grades and climb the social ladder. secure good jobs.

Set up a code of conduct or code of
Mark Fletcher
ethics for private tuition, to be signed
by all the different stakeholders,
including teacher unions and parents.
Make sure private tutors use effective
measurement tools to help them keep
track of their students’ progress and
keep the parents abreast of that
progress.
Reduce class sizes in mainstream
education. In my country, large classes
may account for the rush to private
tuition, where the classes are much
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smaller.
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Improve curricula content and
teaching methodologies in
mainstream schools. Include new
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technologies and more motivating
methods, so as to raise the students’
ed
interest in schoolwork and to make it
more appealing.
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Reduce the importance given to
school examinations, particularly the
numerous achievement tests.
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We may deplore private tuition, or we
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may embrace it as an excellent idea. We

The problems involved have outside school, many feel that they may even be involved in it ourselves.
cannot do without it. Whatever our attitude to it, private
Although private tuition is widely So perhaps the news isn’t all bad or tuition is a fact of life in many countries,
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practised, it often has a bad reputation. all good. However, the main problem is so we need to address the issue and try
Newspapers tend to present a negative
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that there is a lack of solid research, and to make the experience as beneficial as
image of it – citing lack of quality in some much of the evidence both for and possible for our students.
of the teaching, the drastic reduction of against private tuition is anecdotal. As
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children’s free time and opportunities to Jenni Russell points out, ‘there is no
play and socialise with their peers, and the
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official information on the extent of

pressure it puts on them, particularly in Global Industry Analysts Inc ‘Private
private tutoring, because it is in nobody’s tutoring – a global strategic business
their teenage years. Part of the problem interest to collect it. Parents are often report’ 2014
seems to be inadequate supervision and reluctant to admit to it, and schools would Llewellyn Smith, J ‘£100-an-hour tutors
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regulation of the private tuition sector, rather take the credit for their pupils’ and children woken at 5am to study: Meet
especially when it is compared with results themselves’. the parents who’ll do ANYTHING to get
mainstream schooling. their offspring into grammar school’ Daily
However, in its Education Sector Mail 2011
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Newsletter, published in 2009, Suggestions for Russell, J ‘The secret lessons’ New
UNESCO identifies some of the benefits solutions Statesman 2002
of private tuition: ‘Private tuition can be
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What evidence we have suggests that

a positive thing. It can help weak students Maaouia Haj Mabrouk
private tuition can profit students, is an ELT inspector and
to catch up, and strong students to aspire
provided it is practised in a better way. teacher trainer from
even higher ... Pupils may learn better, Tunisia whose job
Here are my suggestions for improvements consists of supervising
precisely because they have chosen the
that could be made, both to private tuition teachers’ work and
tutor, and they or their families are introducing them to
itself and to mainstream education, so that new methods and
paying, It can build human capital, which
the need for private tuition is reduced: approaches for teaching
in turn aids economic growth.’ English. She is studying
Children’s own attitudes towards Increase the quality of private tuition for a PhD in English
methodology, and her
private tuition are often ambivalent. by more regulation. Make sure it takes interests include culture
Although it is unpopular because it place within schools, or in places integration and
assessment.
exerts enormous pressure on them and which can be regulated and licensed
takes up much of the little free time they mayaenglish@gmail.com
by the education authorities.

Dear
WRITING work of John Anderson, a psychology
professor at Carnegie-Mellon University,
USA, during the 1970s. Declarative
Knowledge consists of things about which
we can say ‘I know that ...’. By contrast,
Procedural Knowledge refers to those
things about which we can say ‘I know
how ...’.
I know that a bicycle has two wheels,
diary...
but I know how to ride it. I acquired this
ability through repeated, scaffolded
attempts – and most of my early
attempts resulted in complete failure: I got
a lot of scraped knees. The key feature
td
of my childhood efforts to develop as a
cyclist is that I didn’t accept this as a
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permanent deficiency. I absolutely believed
that I would become able to cycle and,
in spite of all the negative evidence, I
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persisted. This self-deterministic outlook
is what Carol Dweck has called the
ed
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Dan Vowles takes a any of the Chinese ‘Growth mindset’, in contrast to the
students I teach excel at ‘Fixed mindset’. Of course, falling off a
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practical view of teaching tests of receptive skills, bicycle was never really bad. I was rarely
such as reading and travelling very fast when I fell, and usually
a productive skill. listening. Test scores of 95 to 100 percent wore some protective gear, such as a
are not uncommon; indeed, lower scores helmet. When I fell, I fell a few feet to the
may be seen as ‘failure’. This is thanks, ground. I didn’t do my cycling practice
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in part, to an educational background high in the sky, pedalling on a cable tied
founded upon rote memorisation, as between two tall apartment buildings.
well as a societal expectation that elders We can apply these lessons to the
ing
are revered (listened to). The high scores development of productive language skills,
prove these methods have merit, and provide a low-risk task to help our
evidenced in league tables and top- students to improve without fear of harm.
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scoring test papers. However, to develop

the productive skills of speaking and
The skill of writing
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writing, we need a different approach.

Students must speak and write – often! The two productive skills, speaking and
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Speaking and writing are not skills writing, are linked. However, the primary
wherein a student will ever be assessed practice medium that I want to
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as ‘100 percent perfect’. Language just recommend is writing. Writing has many
doesn’t work like that. Even counting the advantages over speaking as a means to
millions of native-speaker authors, poets communicative fluency development.
ion
and singers, nobody has ever produced a Writing allows a little thinking time.
‘perfect’ utterance. Numbers and test Also, in the beginning, low-risk tasks for
scores must become secondary. The first practising productive skills are very
aim is comprehensibility. As learners important. Shy students may fear failure,
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develop, they can try more complex become inhibited and not display their
grammar and lexical techniques, such as true talents. But writing can be practised
synonyms, passive and active voice, or anonymously, alone, at home, while
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parallel structures. Even later, they can sitting on a bus – in fact, at almost any
focus on style, and attempt to use rhyme, time. Nobody will judge or ridicule the
rhythm, connotations, collocations and student who is writing in a book.
colloquialisms, moving closer to the level Furthermore, it is difficult to gather
of an educated native speaker. At this and use a record of spoken language. It is
stage, fluency is expected, and accuracy possible to record speech, but it is hard
is the main aim. to ‘scan’ the entire recording to find
particular strengths, weaknesses or areas
to focus on. By contrast, an entire written
The productive skills page can be viewed simultaneously, and
It is important to distinguish between two the learner can choose to focus on as
types of knowledge, as mentioned in the many or as few parts of their writing as

desired at that time: such as ‘verbs’ or ‘first easily lapse by leaving too much time a diary will naturally focus on many past
sentences in a paragraph’ or ‘handwriting’ between our efforts; as a result, writing tense activities, providing lots of practice.
– whatever they choose to concentrate on. may feel alien and may soon be Students can also be encouraged to use
Lastly, of course, oral fluency practice discarded. If we routinely perform an future tenses or conditional ‘if clauses’ to
implicitly requires a conversational activity every day, it soon becomes speculate and discuss future plans. For
partner. If English is not the dominant natural, normal and habitual. We can all example, ‘Tomorrow I will ...’, or ‘If ...,
local language, such partners may be schedule between 15 and 30 minutes a then ...’. They will need a trusted resource
difficult to find. Of course, few people day for a meaningful process. to compare their own emergent grammar
would be willing to wander around talking with correct English grammar. I
to themselves as an educational method. recommend English Grammar in Use by
The risk of appearing insane outweighs
How to write Raymond Murphy, an accessible source
the reward of a little learning. Every night, at a set time (again, to set a for self-study and self-reference. Mistakes
permanent habit), the students should can be corrected after the diary entry has
write in their diary about the day’s events. been written. Systematic practice, allied
What to write
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They should try to use correct grammar, to a grammar textbook for reference
So students should write; but write what? spelling and punctuation in their diary. (and self-editing), will rapidly develop
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We want a subject which our students Practice will not make perfect if they the student’s technical ability.
are intimately aware of and interested practise badly. But they should not
in. Remember the role of relevance in agonise over perfection. They should aim
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promoting student motivation, and the to do good work, whatever good work is
link between motivation and for their own level. They will be writing Later, students can begin to focus upon
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improvement. In my own classroom, I about their day’s experiences, but they lexical, grammatical or stylistic variations.
often find the most able students have should try, over time, to discuss and cover This is conducive to success in academic
exams such as IELTS, which prioritise
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ulterior motives for improving their a wide range of topics and situations,
English, notably the Marvel Cinematic moving on from banal lists of meals and eclectic vocabulary and grammar
Universe and the BBC’s Sherlock series. other consistent aspects of their daily life. patterns. I forbid my own students to use
Hobbies vary, but there is a topic which They can write about their friends, certain over-used words and expressions.
suits all students: themselves. Everyone enemies, colleagues, classmates, a range
an Food may never be called delicious or a
has an opinion of themselves, and they of characters, as well as collective delicacy, it may never be referred to as
know themselves well enough to discuss in concepts such as family, so they have the cuisine. Their repertoire of terms to
great detail. They are their own favourite opportunity to employ the absolute limit describe emotional response, taste, texture
ing
subject. Therefore, the most suitable of their available language. and the cooking process has grown
task for writing skills development is a Several times during each writing rapidly as a result. Or, if the focus is on
personal diary, where students can talk session, the students will find that they varied subordinate coordinations, they
may forbid themselves to use because, and
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about their lives and their feelings. lack the vocabulary to write that they are
thinking. Perhaps they know the word in only allow since, however, although and
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their native language, perhaps not. In furthermore, until they have become very
When to write either case, at this time, the student must skilled in using a wider range of
conjunctions. This process of shifting
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A nightly diary serves the same function use an English dictionary and thesaurus
for the language student as an artist’s to find suitable vocabulary. New focus and nightly repetition will soon
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sketchbook: free and unrestricted vocabulary, found and immediately used, develop capable, confident authors.
rehearsal of productive skills. It allows is already in the process of becoming Anderson, J R and Lebiere, C J The
the student as much time as necessary to part of their active lexicon. This is good, Atomic Components of Thought
ion
gather their thoughts. This is important, relevant vocabulary to learn, already Psychology Press 1998
as, in the beginning, the student’s proven to be required by the learner. Dweck, C Mindset: The New Psychology
spontaneous utterances will be vastly Nobody wants to waste their limited of Success Ballantyne Books 2007
inferior to their polished, premeditated time studying obscure words they’ll Murphy, R English Grammar in Use CUP
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writing. And just as artists can return to never actually use in the L2. This new 2004
their historical sketches and see progress, vocabulary should be underlined in the
diaries from years past will provide diary entry, emphasised, and used again as Dan Vowles comes from
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proof of the student’s development. It is London, UK, but he is

soon as the opportunity arises. With each currently teaching in
an endless process of practice and successive use, the word will become more Wuhan, China. His
refinement, which must be embraced teaching style involves
intrinsically part of the learner’s English ‘inception’ (as in the
with no expectation of an ending. vocabulary, until it is readily available to science-fiction film of that
Some students may feel that their them. Students may also deliberately focus name), where people are
persuaded to do things
writing skills are inadequate for keeping their writing upon one small part of while simultaneously
a daily diary. They may be right. That is their day, to concentrate on topics which being convinced that it
was their own idea. On
the very reason why they should keep a they have recently learnt in class, giving the best days, his
daily diary. There is no secret which will opportunities for vocabulary practice. students don’t even know
they are taking a test:
unlock potential fluency better than a Typically, the grammatical they think they are playing
commitment to relevant practice. In the construction of the past tense is Blockbuster.
early stages of habit acquisition, we may problematic for my Chinese students, and danielvowles@hotmail.co.uk

Creatingtheright
environment
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A
Benjamin Moorhouse s I said in my articles in ETp as helping to develop their confidence
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Issues 105 and 106, and as in writing. Instead of asking for our help,
sees displays and resources we all know, writing can be they can refer to the different displays
challenging for young and resources, and use these to create
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as the keys to helping learners. Good writers require: the best piece of writing they can.
In this article, I will share some ideas
students write. Linguistic knowledge: knowledge
for displays and resources that can help
of sentence structures, vocabulary
you support young learners with
and punctuation.
an linguistic, genre and topic knowledge
Genre knowledge: knowledge of and with the writing skills that will,
the organisational structures, specific hopefully, lead to the development of a
ing
linguistic features, social purposes positive attitude towards writing.

and intended audiences of the
different genres. Linguistic knowledge
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Topic knowledge: knowledge of Students often use the same words and
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the topic and theme they are writing sentence patterns again and again,
about. unless we give them the confidence to
move out of their comfort zone and try
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Writing skills: these include skills

in pre-writing, drafting, revising, something new. Providing students with
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editing and publishing. word displays and resources can help us

do this.
A positive attitude: writers need
to feel confident and motivated to Displays
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write, and need to be interested in A good place to start when creating the
the topic and writing task. right writing environment is with the
classroom itself. We can utilise the walls
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Sometimes we make writing with young

learners harder for ourselves and them and desks to provide our students with
by setting tasks that are too difficult, or scaffolding and support. This can be in
the form of word displays, including:
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throwing them into the deep end of

writing without any resources to help A list of high-frequency words.
them. This leads to a sea of questioning The Dolche word list is the most
hands being raised, poor quality work famous of these and includes the 220
and a negative attitude towards writing. most common words in young
One way we can make the job of children’s literature. The complete
teaching writing a little easier for list can be found at www.mrsperkins.
ourselves is through creating the right com/dolch.htm.
writing environment. One technique for
achieving this is to provide our learners A verb table of regular and
with displays and resources. These can irregular verbs. Often, different
give them the support they need, as well languages have different ways to

signify time. Young learners can have
difficulty with tenses, so displaying a Big – Alternative word list
verb table can remind them that they
might need to use a different tense. large huge massive gigantic enormous
I tend to display a list of common
irregular verbs, to make it easy for
Say – Alternative word list
my students to double-check that
they are using the correct past form.
yell shout whisper ask answer
A display of everyday nouns.
These can be categorised and explain cry argue reply suggest
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matched to the theme or topic of
the writing task. I always have
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permanent displays of words for dictionaries, where the words are Once the students write something,
people, animals, transport and places, organised by categories and supported by their work can be displayed, either in
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as these are used in lots of different pictures. Students can find things easily, their own classroom or around the
writing tasks. and the pictures help with meaning. For school for other classes and visitors to
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older or more proficient learners, writing read. These can become authentic
A display of adjectives. Adjectives
aids such as the Descriptosaurus series of examples of the genre.
can be presented in pairs of
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books can help inspire and motivate
opposites or with pictures to help
students to take risks with their writing.
with the meaning.
Students can be given their own
A word of the day/week/month. word banks. These can be organised
This is a great way to introduce alphabetically or by themes. Space to
an
different words and make writing a draw a picture and write a sample
bit more fun. You can encourage sentence or translation in their first
your students to use the chosen language can help the students to link a
ing
word in their pieces of writing – and word to its meaning.

praise those that do! Alternative word lists can be
included in the word banks to help the
These word displays can be either
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students try out new words. See the

permanent or temporary. A great thing
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example above. You can display ‘real-life’ meaningful and

to do is to make them interactive. purposeful texts such as the daily
When you read a new word in a book schedule, classroom rules, date and
Genre knowledge
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with your learners, add it to the display. weather charts, news of the day and signs.
The students can be encouraged to add Sometimes our learners may not have Your students can then see texts in action!
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words to the displays too. had much exposure to the genres we

ask them to write, in either their first Resources
or second language. We need to help If you have a reading corner, include lots
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them with the organisational structures, of examples of the target genres you
specific linguistic features, social want your students to write. If they are
purposes and intended audiences of the writing a leaflet for a restaurant, make
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genre. As discussed in my article in ETp sure you collect examples from the
Issue 105, this can be done through text local community. These can help inspire
deconstruction of an example text, the learners and expose them to real
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together with extra support from genre features and authentic language.
displays and resources. Even if these are in the students’ first
language, they can help with the genre
Great downloadable classroom display Displays features and can lead to discussion on
material can be found at: www.sparklebox. Authentic examples of different genres how we can make a leaflet in English.
co.uk and www.mes-english.com. can be placed around the room for the You can provide task-specific
students to read and interact with. You checklists to help remind your students
Resources can ask the students to bring in samples about the elements they need to
I have found that when it comes to to share with their friends and put up include in their writing. They can be
writing, regular dictionaries are not much on display. You can also have a sample reminded to use the checklist at
use with young learners. Instead, it is text on display with the structure and different stages of the writing process.
better to provide children’s picture features of the text labelled. Checklists can help the students to

Creating theright
environment Pre-writing Drafting Revising Editing Publishing
We think of We write We improve We check We create
include all the essential elements of the our ideas. our ideas in our writing. our work. the final copy.
genre. However, students need to be sentences and
We plan our We share
taught how to use checklists properly, writing. paragraphs. our work.
and not just see them as ‘tick sheets’
that just have to be completed. Here is
an example for a restaurant leaflet:
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Checklist for a restaurant leaflet
Topic knowledge Writing skills
Remember, a good leaflet should include
Hopefully, our students are writing Not all of us can become good writers
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the following things:
about something they already know naturally. We need to be taught some
about. If not, it can be good to give important skills. Students need to know
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Restaurant leaflet features them some input through shared that they have to brainstorm ideas, draft
reading to help them learn more about their writing, and then revise and edit it
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1 The restaurant’s name the topic. This can then be reinforced to make it the best piece of work they
with displays and resources. can. Displays and resources can be used
2 The restaurant’s phone number to remind the students of these
Displays important stages of writing.
3 The restaurant’s address
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You can have an area in the classroom
that includes information about the Displays
4 The restaurant’s slogan topic that the students are writing We can put up displays that remind our
about. If they are writing restaurant
ing
students of the stages of the writing

5 Opening hours leaflets, you could make a display of process. Students can use these to
different restaurants in the community, visualise where they are along the
6 The food people can eat their menus and slogans, etc. You could process, and where they need to go
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add a word display of food and drinks. next. (See above.)

7 The drinks people can drink
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As Pauline Gibbons suggests, you can When we put our students’ work
jointly construct a mind map of your on display, we can include their drafts as
8 Prices of the food and drink students’ current knowledge of the well as their final copies. The students
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topic. The mind map can be added to can then see how their writing ‘evolved’,
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9 Special offers throughout the writing process. and others can see how their
classmates’ work improved at each
10 Pictures or photographs Resources stage of the writing process.
of the food and drinks
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From your classroom library, you could

select books about the theme or topic Resources
Templates can be provided at the your students are writing about. These Different graphic organisers for
beginning of each assignment to remind can be promoted at the beginning of the different stages of the writing process
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the students of the important genre lesson, and the students can be can help with developing writing skills.
features of the particular writing task. encouraged to use them when they are These help the students focus on one
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See the example below: writing. stage of the writing process at a time.
Checklists can be provided at each
Genre Audience Purpose Context stage of the process to remind the
students of what they need to do. On
What am I Who am I What is the Why am I page 25 is an example for the editing
writing? writing for? writing for? writing it? process.
Restaurant leaflet People in the To tell people about I am opening a new

neighbourhood my restaurant. restaurant.
Maintaining a
To make people
positive attitude
want to eat here. It seems common sense to ask our
students to do some writing at home,

students can choose whether to do an
Editing checklist easy one or a more difficult one.
Read your Check the Check the Check the Read your
work. spelling. punctuation. tenses. work again.
This article has provided suggestions on
how we can create a supportive writing
environment for our young learners
through the use of displays and
as it is time-consuming and we have want to write about or to brainstorm resources. By creating a language-rich
tight curriculums that we need to get ideas for their writing pieces. Make the classroom, we can support their
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through. Sometimes, we don’t want to homework optional and give choices. development of both the knowledge
waste precious class time on writing. This makes it low-pressure and less and the skills they need to become
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However, we need to be careful when high-stakes. Remember to provide the successful writers of English. This will
asking young learners to write too students with suggestions for resources hopefully ensure that our students
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much at home. I have had mixed results or for where they can find examples of develop and maintain a positive attitude
when setting writing for homework. texts. For instance, if the students are towards writing and won’t find it
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Some students rush it and just want to writing restaurant leaflets for an frustrating or overly challenging.
get it done, others get a lot of support imaginary restaurant, you could give them
Gibbons, P Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding
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and make a great piece of writing that is, the following tasks to choose from: Learning (2nd edn) Heinemann 2015
however, not their own. Some learners Wilcox, A Descriptosaurus: Supporting Creative
1 Collect examples of restaurant
don’t have any support at home for Writing for Ages 8–14 (2nd edn) Routledge
leaflets from your neighbourhood to 2013
writing in English, and may struggle to
share with the class.
put their ideas down without your
an Benjamin Moorhouse
guidance and support. All the wonderful 2 Think of different food and drinks is a lecturer of English
displays and resources we have talked language education in
you would like to include in your the Faculty of Education,
about above are unlikely to be available restaurant leaflet.
ing
The University of Hong

Kong. He has extensive
at home. This leads to frustration and experience teaching
3 Brainstorm some restaurant slogans.
poor quality work and, as a result, the young EFL learners.
A slogan helps attract people to your His research interests are
students develop a negative attitude L2 homework, L2 literacy
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restaurant. It should be short and

towards writing in English. and teaching young
catchy. For example, McDonald’s learners.
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If you want to utilise the time

slogan is ‘I’m lovin’ it’.
between classes to support the teaching
of writing, get your students to collect As you can see, some of these tasks are
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examples of texts, to research topics they benmoorh@hku.hk

more challenging than others, and the
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ion
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This is your magazine. We want to hear from you!

Pa
For guidelines and advice,

It really worked IT WORKS IN PRACTICE write to us or email:
for me! Do you have ideas you’d like to share
with colleagues around the world?
Did you get inspired by something you
Tips, techniques and activities; English Teaching professional
read in ETp? Did you do something
simple or sophisticated; well-tried Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd,
similiar with your students?
or innovative; something that has Rayford House, School Road,
Did it really work in practice?
worked well for you? All published Hove BN3 5HX, UK
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contributions receive a prize!

Younger and
younger
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Eve Conway shares her revelations of working with different age groups.
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t’s 11 am and I’m following a bawling to start teaching adults. What it didn’t challenges, and that’s what I’d like to share
child around a classroom as he really prepare me for was teaching with you: the revelations that came along
attempts to hide in cupboards and children, as the course was designed to the way, and my suggested strategies for
climb behind the blackboard or, in his
an
train teachers of adults. In fact, a short working with younger learners.
brief moments of stillness, stands two-week stint as a supply teacher in a
mournfully by the gate, repeating ‘Mama’ primary school was enough to show me Age 15-18
ing
over and over again. Juan is two years that I was out of my depth (think
old and is taking his first English class. classroom chaos, inappropriate activities Some students in this age group look
It’s his first time away from ‘Mama’ and, and a lack of ideas). It’s like the old adage like adults, some of them talk to you as
if they were an adult and some of them
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understandably, this is causing him some that says that if you go into teaching at
stress. At this point, I calmly invite mum, university level, you will be teaching your have language abilities rivalling adults,
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waiting outside, into the classroom to subject, whilst if you go into teaching in a but fundamentally they are not quite
participate. Juan quickly calms down. school, you will be teaching children. This there yet.
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Making a toddler feel comfortable is more important nowadays, as the

requires sensitivity, and involves a demand for children’s classes is growing Development
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delicate balance of parental involvement: globally. In the post-economic-crisis 21st The human brain doesn’t finish
too much and the child struggles to be century, being competent and developing until way into the 20s. As
independent, too little and the child may comfortable teaching children gives you Sarah-Jayne Blakemore reports, one part
ion
get distressed. In moments like these, an extra layer of job security. Add to this of the brain that has been documented
I’m often incredulous about the that the current trend is for learners to to be changing rapidly in the teenage
transformation in my own career over start learning English at a younger and years is the prefrontal cortex. This part
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the years, from a business English younger age, and we see that training of the brain is responsible for decision
teacher in a corporate environment to and development for teachers in young making, impulse control and planning.
knowing how to calm a toddler. learner methodology is crucial.
In the classroom
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So how did I make the jump into

From adults teaching young learners? Well, it wasn’t so I never found classroom management
much of a jump as a gradual transition, an issue with this age group during class
to toddlers taking place over eight years and involving time, but I was struck by how they
Like many English language teachers, my extra study, training and a lot of would come to class and chat politely
initial step into teaching was through experience. I also eased myself into it by like mature adults, yet would seem
taking a certificate-level course. The starting with older teens, then moving on always to have an excuse for why they
course was practical, in the sense that it to younger teens and, little by little, over hadn’t done the homework or why they
covered core areas of teaching, such as the years, teaching students that were came to class 45 minutes late. Even
lesson planning, practical delivery, just a little bit younger than I was used to, when taking exam preparation courses,
language systems and materials, and until last year I started teaching two year many students of this age do little work
afterwards I did, indeed, feel prepared olds. The process wasn’t without its at home.

Strategies Strategies adults, you can give them a task and
Try to give these students short-term Involve the students in course planning, expect them to make inferences about
aims, as planning for the longer term so that they feel they have some control expectations, primary students need
can be overwhelming. Rather than giving over their learning. Show them the everything breaking down and spelling
the students a big test at the end of the syllabus at the beginning of term, and out. My students also seemed to take an
year, smaller, more manageable chunks ask them to categorise items into what exaggerated length of time to do things
of assessment get them more involved Donna Ogle terms a K-W-L chart: What like tidying up or getting out their books.
in the learning process – and this I Know, What I Want to know and,
arguably leads to more effective finally, What I Learnt. Use this as a basis Strategies
learning. Be clear with your for lesson planning. When disciplining Make sure that your instructions are
td
expectations for homework, but try to students, use language that emphasises clear and leave no room for ambiguity.
make tasks motivating and engaging. how their behaviour affects others, If in doubt, use ICQs (instruction-
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Offer frequent feedback and encourage rather than focusing on personal checking questions) to ensure that the
the students to reflect on their qualities in a negative way. Saying ‘Your students have understood the task. For
ia
progress, so that they are at the centre classmates find it difficult to concentrate example, ask ‘Anna, what do you have to
of their own learning experience. with so many distractions’ is more do?’. Think tasks through carefully when
ed
productive than ‘You broke the rules’, as it planning, anticipate challenges and build
Age 12–14 makes the students consider the needs in support accordingly. In addition, try
of others. Lastly, don’t take it personally. to build routines into your classes so
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They talk to you as if they hate you; Just the other day I was told ‘We love your students know your expectations
they look at you as if they hate you; it’s you, but your lessons are getting boring’. In and what is going to happen next.
easy to believe that they do hate you; this way, teens offer some of the most Consider ways that your learners can
but the most important thing is not to honest feedback you will ever get. See it
an be more autonomous. For example, try
take it personally. as an opportunity to develop. giving each person a job during the tidy
up, or have a standard fast-finisher
Development
Age 7–11 procedure. Students of this age need
ing
The prefrontal cortex is underdeveloped, guidance, but they can be some of the
meaning that students of this age have They come to class full of energy, are most naturally curious students you will
some of the same issues as older teens, happy and smiley and easily excitable, ever have.
but a further consequence of this, as but sometimes seem incapable of doing
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Blakemore points out, is that they have anything independently. It often feels as Age 4–6
lis
difficulty seeing things from other if you have to think for them.
people’s perspectives. One part of the As Herbert Puchta asks: ‘Can you
Development
b
brain that is over-active in teens in the imagine what life would be like without
amygdala. This part of the brain causes us Children go through a huge number of reading and writing?’
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to experience emotions and impulses, changes during this stage of their lives,
and is hypersensitive to reward. In and they are now able to do many tasks Development
addition to this, learners of this age that were previously challenging, such as At this age, the students may or may
ion
group are going through puberty and are using fine motor skills to create quality not have started learning how to read
experiencing all the hormonal changes crafts. According to Susan Bastable and and write, depending on their culture
that come with it. Michelle Dart, while learners are now and personal circumstances. If they have
started, their literacy skills are still in
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able to apply logical reasoning to their

In the classroom studies (for example in mathematics), the early stages of development, and
My first experiences with this age group thinking still remains very much on a fluent reading and writing is unlikely.
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were a real eye-opener. My students literal level, and abstraction is still This leads to what Herbert Puchta calls
were frequently off-task and were challenging. a ‘primary oral culture’, where learning
prone to emotional outbursts in the takes place primarily through the oral
classroom. They seemed to have an In the classroom medium. In addition, the students’ fine
inability to see how their behaviour My first impressions were that students motor skills are developing, but are still
affected others. When reprimanded for of this age seemed to be dependent on not fully developed.
problem behaviour, they seemed to feel me for everything. Ambiguity in
persecuted and claimed that I, as the instructions means that they can’t In the classroom
teacher, had a vendetta against them. progress with tasks. Sometimes they As a teacher new to this age group, my
There were days when I dreaded going will sit with their hands up for ten biggest revelation was how much we, as
into the classroom. minutes to ask if they should write in teachers, tend to rely on the written
pen or pencil. Whereas with teens or medium as a vehicle for learning.

Younger and
Development
This time in a child’s life is when they
younger
experience a lot of ‘firsts’: the first time Here are some final tips if you are
they are separated from their parents; dropping down an age bracket as a
the first time they socialise with other teacher:
children; the first time they are in an
Buddy up with another teacher who
environment where ‘sharing’ is valued
Whereas with older children, you can teaches this age group. Share
– yet they don’t really understand the
present vocabulary through texts, this materials with them and observe
concept of sharing. These things can all
only serves to confuse younger children. their classes. Encourage them to
cause anxiety. Linguistically, some of
td
Students also demonstrate huge observe you and give support and
these children will not yet be speaking
individual differences with regard to feedback.
fluently in their first language, let alone
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literacy skills. Some can write words a second language. They also have very Read books on child development, to
and even sentences independently, and short attention spans and tend to get find out the abilities and limitations
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others are barely able to recognise bored quickly. of your new age group.
individual letters. It often requires huge Consider taking an official
ed
amounts of support for students to be In the classroom qualification. I currently train
able to complete a worksheet. Separation anxiety is huge for a two teachers on the British Council and
Instructions written on the board are year old, and can cause tears upon
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Trinity College London TYLEC
useless. Handwriting can also be arrival – and, really, at any point during (Teaching Young Learners Extension
challenging to these students because of the class. When one child cries, this Certificate), and it’s amazing the
the incomplete development of their often distresses other children as well. progress that trainees make, given
fine motor skills. Activities where the learners have to
an adequate support and
‘produce’ can also sometimes cause encouragement.
Strategies them stress, especially if they are not
Present instructions and new language yet speaking in their first language. It is Finally, maintain an upbeat attitude
ing
orally, and check that the students common for students to speak L1 or and build positive relationships with
understand the meaning and are able to not to speak at all during classes. your learners. They will turn out to
produce the language orally before Sometimes they wander off during be some of the most rewarding
moving on to written forms. Children of classes you will ever teach, I promise.
h
activities as they quickly get bored.

this age love being read to, and listening Some toddlers may fight over toys and
lis
to stories helps to create a love of find interaction with others difficult. Bastable, S B and Dart, M A ‘Developmental
literature that will endure into their stages of the learner’ In Health Professional as
Educator Jones & Bartlett Learning 2011
b
later years, so make storytelling a Strategies

Blakemore, S J ‘The mysterious workings of
regular part of your routine. Create a
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Prioritise the emotional well-being of the adolescent brain’ www.ted.com/talks/

literacy-rich environment, with plenty of your students over everything else. If a sarah_jayne_blakemore_the_mysterious_
labels and signs visible, and with child needs their parent in the workings_of_the_adolescent_brain/
transcript?language=en 2012
appropriate books available for the classroom for the first few classes, allow
ion
Ogle, D M ‘K-W-L: A teaching model that

students to look at as a fast-finisher it. Manage your own expectations of develops active reading of expository text’
activity. Make phonics a regular part of what the child is able to produce; don’t Reading Teacher 39 1986
your lesson, to help the students force them to speak before they are Puchta, H ‘Teaching very young learners,
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recognise sound–letter combinations what’s hot and what’s not’ In E-merging forum
ready. Be flexible with your plans and 5 British Council Russia www.youtube.com/
systematically. Differentiate written improvise. Perhaps you planned a watch?v=sRKZA5qjnwI 2015
tasks by having a few different flashcard game, but if a child is upset,
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worksheets to account for varying you may need to get out some toys and Eve Conway is a teacher
literacy levels. Provide opportunities to let him play for a while to help him calm and teacher trainer,
currently working for the
develop handwriting skills by doing down. I once heard the analogy from a British Council in Mexico
air-writing or by giving out handwriting colleague that good early years teachers City. Her interests
include all aspects of
practice sheets. are like ninjas, as they are able to primary and early years
change activities in the blink of an eye teaching methodology
and the professional
Age 2–3 to suit the students’ moods. This is also development of teachers.
a time for plenty of positive ‘firsts’. Try
Their crying is contagious. First one to capture your learners’ imaginations,
starts crying, then it spreads to another using play to encourage a life-long love
child, and before you know it, everyone of learning.
is crying. email.eve.conway@gmail.com

Language The LLL Awards are given by the
Extensive Reading Foundation Congratulations
Learner (ERF), a not-for-profit organisation

that supports and promotes
from
Literature
extensive reading in language
education. The winning book in
Awards
each of six categories is chosen
by an international jury, taking into
account the internet votes and to all the winners
2016 comments of students and

teachers around the world.
and finalists.
Very young learner Adolescent and Adult: Elementary
td
Winner Vera The Alien Hunter 2 Winner Night at the Museum:
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by Jason Wilburn and Casey Kim Secret of the Tomb
Illustrated by Seungjun Park and Bioh Kang by Lynda Edwards
Published by e-future (Graded Comic Illustrated by stills from the film
ia
Readers) Published by Scholastic Readers
ed
ISBN: 979-11-5680-112-2 ISBN: 978-1-910-17334-4
Judges’ comment: fast-paced and interesting Judges’ comments: delightful fantasy book
Finalists with interesting plot twists
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A Letter to Roberto by Jon Maes (Compass Finalist
Publishing); Vera The Alien Hunter 1 by Malala by Fiona Beddall (Scholastic Readers)
Jason Wilburn and Casey Kim (e-future)
Young learner
an
Adolescent and Adult: Intermediate
Winner Vera The Alien Hunter 3
Winner A New Song for Nina
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by Jason Wilburn and Casey Kim

Illustrated by Seungjun Park and Bioh Kang by Fiona Joseph
Published by e-future (Graded Comic Illustrated by Redbean Design Pte Ltd
Readers) Published by National Geographic Learning |
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ISBN: 979-11-5680-113-9 Cengage Learning

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Judges’ comment: compelling … the ISBN: 978-1-42404-659-1

drawings are eye-catching Judges’ comments: truly original … you
really feel you know the characters
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Finalists
The Ooze by Kyle Maclauchlan (Atama-ii Finalists
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Books); A Problem for Prince Percy by Herbert The Eighth Sister by Victoria Heward (Black
Puchta and Günter Gerngross (Helbling) Cat); 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by
Jules Verne, retold by Rachel Blandon (OUP)
ion
Adolescent and Adult: Beginner

Adolescent and Adult: Upper-intermediate and Advanced
Winner Sherlock Holmes:
The Speckled Band Winner Battle for Big Tree Country
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by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle by Gregory Strong

Retold by Lesley Thompson Illustrated by Redbean Design Pte Ltd
Illustrated by Giorgio Bacchin
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Published by National Geographic Learning |

Published by OUP Cengage Learning
ISBN: 978-0-19-460905-0 ISBN: 978-1-4240-4886-1
Judges’ comment: exciting plot and Judges’ comments: engaging, exciting and
controlled language enjoyable
Finalists Finalists
The Lift by Julian Thomlinson (National Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë, retold by Helen
Geographic Learning | Cengage Learning); Holwill (Macmillan); Moby Dick by Herman
The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit, retold Melville, retold by Sara Weiss (ELI)
by Michael Lacey Freeman (ELI)
2017 Have you enjoyed a reader that was published in 2016? The nomination and voting procedures for the
Awards 2017 Language Learner Literature Awards will be posted on the ERF website (www.erfoundation.org).
ETpedia 1,000 ideas for English
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information about goods and services similar to those which were the subject of a
previous sale or negotiations of a sale to you
BUSINESS ENGLISH professional
Teaching
languages into English. One example
would be ‘topicalising’, where a sentence
topic is identified, but not the subject.
For example, a negotiator might say ‘As
negotiation 2
for terms of payment [= sentence topic],
[subject omitted] always talk in detailed
discussion’. This may result in
misinterpretations of the meaning and
intention of the speaker, who may
appear to be intentionally vague, which
in a negotiation could have serious
consequences.
td
David Tedone looks at how different situations and The speaker’s choice of a
communication strategy, which is often
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cultural expectations can affect negotiation. based on their first language, may also
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result in miscommunication. Effective
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ost business English seemingly simple functions such as communication in such contexts may
textbooks offer chapters on ‘asking for clarification’ and rely, therefore, not only on ‘intelligibility
ed
negotiating, while others ‘summarising’ may also be discussed but also interpretability’, as Kirkpatrick
are dedicated exclusively and examined strategically. notes. Therefore, even though the
to it. Generally speaking, the language Once the phrases, functions and teacher may introduce western features
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functions needed in negotiations are communicative concepts associated with of ‘communicative competence’ in
relatively straightforward and easy to negotiation are introduced, a structured negotiation, these features should be
identify: one needs to be able to make an roleplay (see Figure 1 on page 33), where considered starting points for
introduction, express an expectation, the students match the phrases with the
an developing negotiation skills, and not be
make, reject or accept an offer, make a functions, can help to solidify their used to constrain or restrict the student’s
counteroffer, query, ask for clarification, understanding and facility with the use of the language. Teachers need to be
make a concession, compromise, confirm, language. Afterwards, the students aware that a student’s use of English in
recap or summarise, and close the deal. should be encouraged to try negotiation practice may incorporate
ing
Nonetheless, these words and phrases, unstructured or free-style negotiations, transferred norms, concepts and
and the concepts they represent, need to using the same or similar phrases. communicative strategies, which alter
be explored. For example, the seemingly the pragmatic context and place the
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straightforward idea of ‘closing the deal’ Lingua franca onus more on interpreting the speaker’s
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could be understood very differently, intended meaning.

depending on the situational and cultural
negotiation Variations from English-speaking
context. As a result, some participants Lessons on negotiation tend to prescribe norms can also be seen in the speaker’s
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may think that a deal is a fixed agreement, certain set phrases, but many students use of inductive reasoning in contrast to
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while others may see it as a starting point, will be using English in a lingua franca deductive reasoning, which is often
with terms to be worked out as needed. context. Therefore, insisting on ‘correct’ preferred in English-speaking countries.
usage of the standard business register Kirkpatrick also cautions teachers
Developing awareness of English, which may be valuable in an that speakers in lingua franca contexts
ion
English-speaking country or for may engage in code-mixing (the use of

Developing our students’ awareness of university study, can be counterproductive vocabulary and syntactic features of two
these language functions enables them and may deprive the students of or more languages), as well as strategies to
to understand not only the language specialised pragmatic relationships and
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save face and increase communication, at

used in negotiation, but also the communication strategies. Teachers the expense of the linguistic form and
communicative concepts or reasons should always take into account the even the goal of the negotiation itself. In
behind such language. Making sure that
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social context in which their students fact, as Kirkpatrick identified, it is

the differences between words such as will use the negotiation skills they are common to see speakers and listeners in
concession and compromise are clear being taught. lingua franca situations adopt a
begins to set the stage for deeper As Andy Kirkpatrick found, in a ‘collaborative rather than a competitive’
analysis of negotiation. A word such as study of lingua franca users in Asia, stance in negotiation, with frequent
concession, for example, may also have speakers often adopt very different checking, repeating of phrases,
very different meanings, depending on approaches to interaction and focus more paraphrasing and even prompting.
the participant. In some negotiating on ‘communicative strategies, rather than Speakers may allow unclear statements
situations, making a concession is an linguistic forms’. Linguistic forms such to pass and suggest vocabulary and
expected formality that the seller would as complex tenses and prepositions may corrections in terminology, and even
give as a social gesture of goodwill. often vary from standard business usage. encourage a speaker not to give up on
Central to all negotiation is the Moreover, learners most likely will trying to get a point across. The speaker
exchange of ‘offer and counteroffer’, but transfer the features of their own may need to spell or write out phrases,

adopt a pragmatically blunt way of
Structured roleplay speaking, and rephrase to avoid colloquial
(Courtesy UCLA Extension Business English Communication Program) expressions and minimise confusion.
Engaging in these negotiated-meaning
Partner A Partner B strategies, speakers may affect the
pragmatic context and alter the focus and
social relationships of the negotiators.
1 Make a proposal.
Negotiation strategies
One of the most widely-read books on
negotiation strategies is Getting to Yes,
2 Reject, make a counter-proposal.
td
by Roger Fisher, William Ury and Bruce
Patton, which is sometimes called a
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‘classic’ and a ‘must read’ for all
3 Accept, but ask for a concession. students. It emphasises the idea of
‘win–win’ negotiations and gives clear,
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easy to follow advice on how to conduct
a negotiation. Another is The Art of
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4 Offer a compromise. Negotiation, by Michael Wheeler, which
centres on the dynamic and, at times,
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chaotic process of a negotiation. In fact,
5 Accept, but add an option or Wheeler characterises the process of
condition. negotiation as ‘learning, influencing and
adapting’. Although acknowledging the
influence of Getting to Yes, Wheeler
an
takes exception to some of the central
6 Ask for clarification.
tenets of the win–win strategy promoted
in it and offers alternatives. For example,
ing
Fisher, Ury and Patton recommend that

7 Restate your position. negotiators separate the people from the
negotiation. That way, the negotiators
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will minimise emotional complications

and focus on the merits of the deal. In
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8 Raise a query (hypothetical

contrast, Wheeler feels that one cannot
statement).
separate the people and their emotions
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from the deal and, indeed, counsels that

a certain amount of ‘emotional
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9 Answer the query. preparation’ should be essential.

Depending on the cultural context of
the negotiation, it may be impossible to
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separate the people from the negotiation

10 Ask for reassurances.
because the entire negotiation may be
predicated on the relationship of the
negotiating parties. In effect, a deal may
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11 Give encouragement and seem illogical from a functional or

reassurance. utilitarian standpoint, but may yet be
agreed to because it is based on
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maintaining an important social

12 Accept the deal in principle. relationship, status and saving face. In
addition, an arrangement may be agreed
to with the belief that changes will
13 Thank the client, restate the readily be made once the project begins.
deal, note the next step. The intermediate roleplay on page
34, which is largely based on price
negotiation, lends itself to two different
strategies, either a win–win approach or
14 Accept the deal; thank the seller.
a win–lose approach. The former would
be a more open discussion, focused on
Figure 1 sharing the risks and rewards of the deal

Teaching Sample negotiation roleplay (intermediate level)

(Courtesy UCLA Extension Business English Communication Program)
negotiation 2 Directions: Using the information below, negotiate a deal

and sign a sales contract.
and attempting to establish a long-term Partner A: Partner B:
business relationship for future sales.
The latter approach would seek to You are a buyer, working for Best You are the CEO of Coffee International.
maximise profit for one side in the Café.
Your goal is to sell a high quantity of your
context of a one-time deal. Your goal is to visit Coffee International premium coffee at the highest price
td
Other important and widely known Inc and buy 5,000–10,000 kg of their possible to Best Café. You also want to
strategic negotiation strategies include premium coffee at the best price establish a long-term sales relationship
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the Best Alternative to a Negotiated
possible. This is the first time you have with them. This is the first time you have
Agreement (BATNA), which was
made a deal with Coffee International. done business with Best Café.
introduced by Fisher and Ury, and the
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Zone of Possible Agreement (ZOPA), Useful facts: Useful facts:
which was introduced by Lewicki,
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1 The regular retail price is $50 1 The regular retail price is $50 per kg.
Saunders and Minton. These can also be
per kg. 2 The regular wholesale price paid by
used to develop strategies for
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negotiation in the ESP classroom. 2 The regular wholesale price paid retailers is $30 per kg.
BATNA raises many interesting by retailers is $30 per kg. 3 The production cost of the coffee
issues, particularly in an intercultural 3 The production cost of the coffee beans is $10. Best Café doesn’t
situation. It addresses the negotiation
beans is ______? Try to guess. know this.
situation in which one’s counterpart
refuses to modify their demands. In that
an
4 10,000 kg or so is your limit. 4 You can give Best Café a discount
case, negotiators need to have an You don’t want to buy more. only if they agree to buy more than
alternative to reaching an agreement (or, 20,000 kg.
ing
in this situation, to the ‘demands’) of the

counterpart. If negotiators do not have
an alternative, they are in a decidedly honest discussion of risk and reward outcome. If trust cannot be established,
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weak position and risk being forced to sharing. In fact, without a significant then a negotiator needs to be prepared
agree to an onerous deal. Some writers degree of cooperation in this situation, to opt out (I Quit position). Therefore,
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on negotiation strategies refer to the ‘IQ’ as well as high levels of trust and students need to realise that a
of negotiating, or the ‘I Quit’ position: flexibility, it is unlikely that the competitive strategy of win–lose would
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the point at which a negotiator gives up arrangement would result in a successful not be appropriate.
on trying to reach an agreement.
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ZOPA refers to a negotiating

technique whereby both parties reveal Sample negotiation roleplay (advanced level)
their true requirements, including budgets, (Courtesy UCLA Extension Business English Communication Program)
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for striking a deal – the theory being that

both sides can identify a ‘zone’ of terms Entrepreneur: Investor:
and conditions that could be reachable
A venture capital firm wants to invest You are interested in the entrepreneur’s
and mutually satisfying. The drawback
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in your new business. The firm is start-up business because of its potential.
with ZOPA, however, is that it requires
both parties to be honest, whereas many willing to help fund your start-up, but You can fund the business fully for one
inexperienced negotiators tend to inflate would need to get significant returns or year, 66% for the second year, and 33%
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their initial proposals with the expectation even a percentage of your business. for the third year. However, you feel that
that some concession, albeit a ‘straw’ The higher amount of money you the entrepreneur does not have much
concession, will be made. If one side is receive from them, the higher experience, so depending on how much
honest and the other is not, then the percentage of return or ownership the money you lend, you will want to attach
honest party is at a distinct disadvantage. firm will require. Try to get as much conditions, such as a percentage of
The advanced roleplay opposite money as you can for your business ownership of the business, management
lends itself more to a cooperative and and minimise the conditions and control if the business does not return a
creative strategy, because more is at restrictions placed on your significant profit, a percentage of patent
stake than a one-time sale. The key to management. Ideally, you would like to rights, the right to initiate a sale or merger
reaching a mutually satisfactory deal have 100% funding for three years with of the business, a job for your son who
would be to identify the ZOPA of both no strings attached. has just graduated from college.
parties, as well as to have an open and

Another good source for negotiation No consideration of strategies would where the participants are using English
strategy is the website Beyond be complete without the mention of as a lingua franca. Even though the
Intractability, by Guy and Heidi tricks and tactics. Drew Rodgers and students are working in English, they
Burgess, which is part of the negotiation others provide entertaining lists of such may not be able to access the standard
project at the University of Colorado in tactics, which make for lively reading discourse styles, pragmatic conventions
Boulder. There, teachers can find brief and discussions among students of and accepted thinking patterns which
downloadable articles on many negotiation. An illustrative example speakers who are practised in
negotiation concepts, including might include ‘wearing you out’, where a international negotiation speech
‘positional’, ‘distributive’ and negotiation is overly long, complex and communities unconsciously follow.
‘integrative’ bargaining, ‘ripeness’, confrontational, resulting in an
‘game theory’, ‘interests, positions, exhausting meeting during which time
needs, values’ and much more. For the negotiator may make concessions.
td
Classroom discussions can be used to
example, positional bargaining centres Another is ‘nibbling’, where a negotiator
raise awareness of negotiation strategies,
on establishing a position and insisting repeatedly tries to win seemingly
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as well as the cultural ideas underpinning
on it without any thoughts of inconsequential concessions or changes
western discourse styles, and students
concessions, compromises or creative in an agreement, ultimately leading to
should be encouraged to incorporate
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solutions. Unfortunately, positional significant gains. Yet another, known as
them in their roleplays. Discussions and
bargaining tends to occur early on in a the ‘puppy dog close’, refers to the
critiques of these strategies, as well as
ed
negotiation and often leads to practice of offering one’s counterpart an
tricks and tactics, inevitably lead to a
intractable demands and a competitive attractive trial option for free (‘Try it,
lively exchange among students and set
atmosphere. In addition, distributive you will like it’) before settling the
dM
the stage, so to speak, for the next level
bargaining, which is sometimes referred negotiation. As the counterpart gets used
of negotiation, which focuses on cultural
to as a win–lose strategy, seeks to divide to the free trial option, it becomes
values and assumptions. This is perhaps
up a fixed resource, such as a budget or increasingly difficult to give it up and,
more readily done in a multicultural
allocation of workers. These articles ultimately, they end up agreeing to
class, but contrastive comparisons can
raise many important concepts,
an
purchase it as part of the final settlement.
still be addressed in a monocultural class
definitions and issues for student The value of discussing these ideas
by comparing in-group and out-group
discussions, all of which can be in an ESP class dedicated to negotiation
perspectives, as well as gender, age and
examined from different social and is that the students can broaden their
ing
social status differences, and examining

cultural perspectives. awareness of such deceptive tactics, but
the contrasting cultural values of
These concepts are introduced also sharpen their focus on more
different countries as presented in
separately to the students and discussed productive strategies, such as win–win.
published studies.
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after roleplays, during the debrief, In addition, some so-called tactics may,
lis
particularly if they can shed light on the in fact, not be tactics at all, but standard
Burgess, G and Burgess, H (Eds) ‘Beyond
outcome. A very common concept that operating procedures based on cultural
Intractability’ www.beyondintractability.org
proves instructive during the debrief traditions. For example, the tactic
b
Fisher, R, Ury, W and Patton, B Getting to

session is positional bargaining because known as ‘two bites of the apple’ in a
Yes (3rd edn) Simon & Schuster 2011
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it is often a roadblock to reaching a western context describes a situation in

Kirkpatrick, A English as a Lingua Franca
mutually satisfactory deal. Typically, which a negotiator seems to be in ASEAN: A Multilingual Model Hong
students will identify the fact that a negotiating in good faith and working Kong University Press 2010
counterpart was a ‘tough’ negotiator toward closing a mutually beneficial Lewicki, R J, Minton, J and Saunders, D
ion
and refused to budge on his or her deal. However, just as the deal appears ‘Zone of Potential Agreement’ in
demands. As a result, after reading to be set, the negotiator mentions that Negotiation (3rd edn) Irwin-McGraw Hill
through the article on positional he or she cannot commit to the deal at 1999
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bargaining from Beyond Intractability, this time and needs final approval from Rodgers, D English for International
the students can diagnose the problem superiors. To westerners, this may be Negotiations CUP 1998
and then brainstorm ways to avoid seen as somewhat deceptive, as they have Wheeler, M The Art of Negotiation Simon
& Schuster 2013
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getting stuck in such a situation. already revealed the precise conditions

Debriefing sessions can use several of that they would agree to. But in Japan,
David Tedone is
the concepts to reflect on the for example, this is standard operating Professor of Global
communication of the negotiation, procedure and negotiators would Business at Musashino
University, Tokyo, Japan.
depending on the level of student understand that any agreement reached He has an MA in Applied
interest, the complexity of the roleplay, in the meeting would need final approval Linguistics from the
University of
the time available, and the students’ by top management. Massachusetts Boston,
language ability. Some advanced The problem for language students USA, and in 2010 he was
named a Distinguished
students who engage regularly in real with most of these strategies and Instructor at UCLA
negotiations may have experienced some recommendations is that they are, by Extension.
of these situations and will be eager to and large, reflections of western
read the essays from Beyond discourse styles, which may or may not davidtedone@hotmail.com
Intractability and discuss them at length. be effective in international settings

More tested lessons, suggestions, tips and techniques which have all
worked for ETp readers. Try them out for yourself – and then send us
your own contribution. Don’t forget to include your postal address.
All the contributors to It Works in Practice in this issue of ETp will

receive a copy of ETpedia, by John Hughes, published by Pavilion.
td
Musical inspiration Registering a question
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One of the most common challenges when teaching writing is that the What is the first thing you do when you start a class?
students say: ‘I don’t know where to start.’ And this is fair enough: For many of us, the answer is to take the register by
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starting is tough enough for professionals, let alone students who are calling out the students’ names and waiting for them to
writing in a second language. Music helps students to get their thoughts reply with ‘Here’, ‘Yes’, etc. By merely adding a
ed
on paper or a screen by creating a stimulus for the imagination. Here is question, this simple classroom procedure can become a
what I have found successful in practice: valuable class activity in itself.
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1 Use only instrumental pieces. Lyrics tend to create the story for the In the first week of class, I introduce this idea to the
listener, but instrumentals create a vibe that the students can use as students by telling them that when I call their name on
a launch pad for their words. the register, I don’t want them to say ‘Here’ or ‘Yes’.
Instead, I will pose a question for them to answer when
2
an
Provide the same first sentence for everyone, such as Everyone said it
I call their name. Typical examples in the first few
was a bad idea or Here is the thing about life ... . When the students
classes include:
have finished their writing, they can share the different paths their
ing
stories took. Where are you from?

What is your favourite food?
3 I also recommend a quick brainstorming session to provide some
starting points. Some questions to ask might include: How old is the Name an item of clothing.
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person telling the story? Is it a girl or guy? What was the bad idea? This provides the students with an opportunity to get to
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Once the students have some general thoughts about character, ask know each other a little more. Also, it is a chance for me
them to read the first sentence three times, and then play the piece to pick up on any pronunciation or language issues that
of music. It’s always a thrill to see how much writing is accomplished
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arise. I have often found this activity has led to some

in just three or four minutes. very interesting discussions and unexpected windows of
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4 At the end of the piece, discuss with the students how the music learning for the students.
influenced their writing. Was the music sad, mysterious, etc? As the course continues, I ask the students themselves
ion
5 Play two more instrumental pieces, stopping after each one to to create the questions that I will ask.
discuss how the different music is changing their writing. After three Benjamin Filer
pieces of music, take the opportunity for sharing everything written Nagoya, Japan
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to that point for those who are excited about reading out their work.
I recommend that you read out the first sentence as a prompt and
then a volunteer student continues with what they have written.
Pa
Experience has taught me that having the teacher read the prompt
sentence takes the edge off the anxiety of reading one’s work aloud. IT WORKS IN PRACTICE
Do you have ideas you’d like to share
This activity can be used as a warm-up or as a starting point for longer
with colleagues around the world?
works of short fiction, memoirs or articles. This has been one of my most
successful methods of getting output from students over the years. It
Tips, techniques and activities;
helps less engaged students get their words out, and it provides a simple or sophisticated; well-tried
platform for ambitious students to shine. or innovative; something that has
Scott Carter worked well for you? All published
Toronto, Canada contributions receive a prize!

Multi-purpose vocabulary grid
First, identify 20 words that you want to revise, and write them 2 Stand in front of the board (with your back to it), and ask a
in a grid on the board with numbers, as in the example below. student to define one of the words in the grid. Say the word
and try to remember its number, without looking at the grid.
1 cascade 6 usurp 11 peripheral 16 dissolve Then ask for volunteers to do the same.
2 molecule 7 trigger 12 innovate 17 deploy 3 Call out the numbers in the grid for a drill: you say a number
3 tiny 8 diffuse 13 component 18 evacuation and the students say the corresponding word. Based on their
pronunciation, you can decide if you then need to model the
4 circuit 9 inundate 14 obscure 19 flammable word or not.
5 fashion 10 conventional 15 fluctuate 20 suppress 4 Use ‘vocabulary sums’ with advanced learners. You give two
definitions joined by a mathematical symbol (plus, minus,
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Once you have done this, there are several activities you can
multiplied by, divided by). The students have to work out which
use the grid for:
words the definitions refer to, add together (or subtract, etc)
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1 Give a definition and ask the students to say the number of the corresponding numbers and then give a definition for the
the word that matches it. If necessary, you can guide them word that matches the number of the answer. For example:
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towards the answer. For example: T: Very small plus a part of something.
T: It means that something burns easily.
ed
(tiny plus component: 3 + 13)
S: 6.
S: Er ... to melt in water.
T: It’s near the end of the list.
(dissolve = 16)
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S: 18.
T: Close. T: Correct!
Simon Mumford
S: 19.
Izmir, Turkey
T: Right. an
Non-silent movie
ing
With this activity, your students can try their hand at being sound 4 Ask the students to work individually to think of a piece of
engineers. You can make the activity last as long as you wish, but music, a song or several songs to accompany the film. They can
the aim is mainly to boost the students’ confidence, encourage use their mobile devices to look for songs (but listen to them
h
them to listen to each other speaking and get them to speak through headphones).
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coherently on a particular topic. It is suitable for classes of adults

5 Once they have all thought of a song or piece of music, put them
or high school students.
into small groups and ask them to discuss which of the pieces
b
1 First, you will need to choose a short silent animation film. suggested by the students in their group is/are most suitable.
Tell them that they have to come to an agreement on this. You
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There are some very popular ones produced by Pixar, which

you can find on YouTube. Ones that I have used include ‘Partly can write some useful negotiation language on the board for
Cloudy’ and ‘Burn-E’. Note: these are ‘silent’ in terms of them to refer to, or give them a handout with some phrases.
having no dialogue; they do have accompanying music and a
ion
6 They then need to prepare a group presentation of their idea.

few sound effects. Depending on the level of your students,
Instruct them on how to set up their presentation:
choose either a very simple one or one with a more intricate
plot (eg ‘Burn-E’). Tell them that each student in the group must say at least
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one sentence.
2 Tell the students that you are going to show them a short film
Explain that the presentation should explain why the music
and that you want them to find some suitable music to go
fits the mood and storyline of the film.
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with it. Explain that you will show them the original version
first, which has music. Their task is to choose a different piece To describe the mood, they will need to use adjectives, so
of music, or a song, which they think will fit the story; they brainstorm some adjectives with them – or do this at the
can choose more than one piece if they wish. They will discuss beginning of the activity.
this in groups and then present their ideas to the class, For the storyline, teach them how to divide their
explaining why they think their music is suitable for the film. presentation into a beginning, middle and ending part.
3 Show the original film first, then leave it on a loop so the 7 If you wish, you could add another discussion about which
students can refer to it easily, but mute the sound. group had the best idea.
Have fun! Jacqueline Schaalje
Tel Aviv, Israel

Broken
LANGUAGE
English
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ed
I dM
Michele Crawford ’ve had a strange relationship with in Greek but little else. (I didn’t.) And as
the English language over the a budding ELT ‘professional’, here was
discovers what happens to years. In Greece, I made a career of my chance to put some of that language
sorts out of teaching it and writing teaching methodology that I had heard
an
your English after years of books about it; yet, the longer I lived about to the test! I took Greek lessons (the
there, the worse my own English grammar-translation method), acquired a
teaching it outside the UK. became. Not in an obvious way, but Greek boyfriend (the immersion method)
ing
there was, increasingly, a certain and gave myself some extrinsic motivation
‘Greekness’ to the way I expressed by entering myself for a GCSE in Modern
myself in English that didn’t sound quite Greek (which I passed with a respectable
h
right. This was hardly surprising, as I ‘B’, in spite of writing cockroach instead
spent most of my time either in a of fly in the Greek-to-English translation
lis
classroom conversing with people with paper).

limited English language skills, or with And yet, in spite of my efforts, I
b
other long-term ex-pats, most of whom never felt 100 percent (or, if I’m honest,
were suffering from the same syndrome even 75 percent) at home in the
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as me. When I caught myself asking language. OK, I could manage everyday
someone to ‘open’ the light instead of tasks like paying bills, dealing with
switch it on (a direct translation from telesales people, even wrangling with tax
ion
the Greek), I knew things had gone too office employees on occasion. But
far. So when I moved back to the UK making sense of the news on TV
just over a year ago, one of the things I remained a challenge. And humour –
was most looking forward to was being getting a joke (at least at the same time
vil
able to speak my mother tongue again: as everyone else), let alone telling one –
freely, no holds barred, in its natural forget it!
environment. Real English instead of
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the watered-down version. Loss of identity

And what about the impression I made on
Life in a second others? How could they see the ‘real’ me,
language I wondered, when they were viewing me
It’s not that I couldn’t speak Greek. Living through the broken lens of my fragmented
in Athens for nearly a decade, followed language? My Greek friends told me that
by several years in the provinces, I could my British accent was ‘cute’ and gently
hardly avoid it, unless I wanted to live in corrected my mistakes, but I knew it was
a weird Anglo-centric social vacuum, difficult for them to see past these things
surrounded by linguistically-challenged and get a true sense of who I was. And
ex-pats who could just about order a beer who was I? I myself had started to forget.

Aneta Pavlenko reports that It wasn’t just English that had As for my English, I have been back
according to the bilingual writer Alfred changed; I had changed too. My sister on home soil for over 18 months now,
Kazin, ‘to speak a foreign language is to kept asking me why I was shouting when and I am slowly making progress. I still
depart from yourself’. In her I was standing right next to her. I say ‘Have you finished?’ instead of ‘Are
autobiography, Lost in Translation, Eva gesticulated too much when I spoke – I you done?’ (Americanisms such as this
Hoffman echoes this when she describes realised this when people kept staring at seem to be standard now in British
her struggles to express herself in an my hands during conversations. I often English) and ‘No problem’ instead of
alien tongue as being ‘close to the started my sentences with ‘Listen, …’, ‘No worries’ (a phrase which seems to
dispossession of one’s self’. I started to which is how Greeks announce that they have been picked up from Australian
feel as if I had indeed lost – or maybe are about to explain their point of view, soaps), but, after so many years of
forgotten – a part of myself, and I but which sounds slightly bossy to the teaching, it’s hard to get those ELT
needed to go home to find it. native British English speaker. I had coursebooks out of my head. And I
Applied linguistics research seems to come from a culture in which the norm think I’m gradually getting a sense of
endorse the idea that when one converges is for people to overstate things, loudly, my ‘primary identity’, but that too has
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towards a new speech community by to one where this is viewed as being been a learning process and one that has
adopting the language of that seriously uncool. To use the correct shattered some of my illusions. It has
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community (in my case, native speakers linguistics terminology, my pragmatics come as a shock to discover that, even
of Greek), one shows disloyalty to one’s were all over the place. when language is no longer a barrier to
primary social identity. Mohammad communication, I’m neither as eloquent
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Momenian cites the research of Elizabeth A new identity nor as witty as I had hoped.
Gatbonton and her colleagues in support
ed
of this point. Was it this – my primary Much has been written about the
Hoffman, E Lost in Translation Vintage
identity – that I was in search of ? experience of going to live in a foreign 1998
dM
All I knew was that I was tired of country and learning a second language,
Momenian, M ‘The identity and L2 accent
being a foreigner. I imagined the joy of and the process of ‘self-translation’ that from an EIL angle’ Journal of Language
being able to speak English again, not this involves. However, very little research and Culture 2 (1) 2011
just to explain the finer points of the seems to have been done about the Pavlenko, A ‘“To speak a foreign language
present perfect continuous, but as my experience of returning to one’s native is to depart from yourself”: Late
an
country after a prolonged absence, and bilingualism as (re)construction of identity’
default method of communication. It http://webs.uvigo.es/ssl/actas1997/01/
would be like relaxing in a warm bath the process of reacquainting oneself with
Pavlenko.pdf 1997
after thrashing about in the sea, out of one’s original language and culture
ing
my depth, for so long, not drowning (translating oneself back again, as it

Michele Crawford is a
exactly, but desperately waving my were). The shock is not as intense as that teacher and materials
Greek–English dictionary. experienced by someone who goes to live writer. Her most recent
publication is part of
abroad for the first time, but it is a shock
h
Macmillan’s Pulse series

nonetheless. As a ‘returnee’, I share the for Spain. She has spent
Rediscovering English
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feelings of many bilingual people, namely most of her teaching

career in Greece, but
Yet something strange had happened in a desire to be part of mainstream society, recently relocated to the
my absence. English, just to be awkward, but also a need to assert my uniqueness. UK, where she teaches
b
EAP at Lancaster
had changed. I didn’t realise this at first; The ‘Greekness’ that I have somehow University.
Pu
it sort of crept up on me. After about a acquired, and that colours so many of my
week of being back on my native shores, values and attitudes, gives me a different
I noticed my first mistake. On taking my perspective on life, which I enjoy. mcmichelecrawford@gmail.com
leave of people, I was saying ‘Bye’ or

ion
‘See you’, while everyone else was saying

‘See you later!’ even to people they
might never see again in their lives. This
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usage is, I later discovered, limited to the

north of England, which is where I’m
from, but my lack of familiarity with it
Pa
took me by surprise. It was the first of This is your magazine. We want to hear from you!
many discoveries I made about ‘real’
English over the months that followed. I
had to think before I spoke, to ensure It really worked For guidelines and advice,
that I didn’t come out with something
inappropriate. I sounded, not exactly
for me! write to us or email:
foreign, but, at best, slightly old- Did you get inspired by something you
fashioned and, at worst, a bit odd. I was read in ETp? Did you do something English Teaching professional
a stranger in my own land – maybe similiar with your students? Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd,
slightly less strange than I had been in Did it really work in practice? Rayford House, School Road,
Greece, but a stranger nonetheless. Do share it with us ... Hove BN3 5HX, UK
Linguistically, I was in no-man’s-land.

Reviews
language in real life. For this
Meet the British reason, I intend to use it at my
(Learn English A–Z Elementary Level) local refugee centre next time I
by Katie Barron help there.
Liberal Publications Overall, this book is
978-0-99314-683-1 practical, easy to use and
insightful. The way that rules
This small self-study guide for beginner are explained and problems are
learners of English who wish to live or pointed out shows that the
td
study in the UK seems not only easy to author understands the needs
use, but really intuitive as well. So of, and the pitfalls of being, a
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often, books for beginners are laid out beginner student.
using a grammatical syllabus, with Nicola Clarke-Siegel
vocabulary and context added to
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Exeter, UK
complement the grammar. This
organisation might be fine for a
ed
coursebook, as it is often the way that Literature
teachers think, but (speaking from by Amos Paran and Pauline
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experience as a beginner learner of Robinson
German) it can be quite frustrating for OUP 2016
a beginner student, as it doesn’t 978-0-19-442752-4
always give you that practical
language you want to be able to use
an This latest book in OUP’s ‘Into the
straight away! classroom’ series centres on using
Katie Barron manages to provide texts and other genres from the
basic English in a way that will allow arts to develop students’ language
ing
students to find the language they awareness, cultural curiosity and

are looking for quickly and easily, literary knowledge. It complements
thanks to the A–Z format and fantastic earlier ELT resource books which
h
pictures, and will give them the advocated combining authentic literary
resources they need to use it, and non-literary readings as catalysts
lis
thanks to the user-friendly for teaching English language and

pronunciation guides (spelling integrated skills communicatively.
b
out how words are said, rather Furthermore, it suggests ways in which
than using phonetics) and
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the tasks and texts can be brought to

easy-to-understand rules. life in digital and graphic forms.
This book also gives the user The book is organised around
a handy insight into the culture of three main parts. In Part 1, the authors
ion
the British. Not only does it cover provide the rationale for the book’s
the more obvious British cultural pedagogical approach, and illustrate
topics, such as the royal family how intermediate to advanced
and ordering in a pub, but it also English language lessons can be
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addresses topics that are often holistically enhanced by

forgotten about, such as British incorporating literature.
views on love, or how to use polite
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Part 2 covers language activities

language correctly. As this is a on poetry, short stories and excerpts
book aimed at beginner students from plays and novels. The last two
studying alone, this is no mean feat! chapters (Part 3) provide ideas and
What I think is really helpful activities for linking some of the
about the book is that after reading poetry and novels to corresponding
one of the chapters, whether it be film, musical and other visual
‘Oo: Ordering’ – with subsections on representations of them. The book
ordering food and drink in a café and is cross-referenced to the OUP
in a pub – or ‘Ii: Ill’ – covering what website (www.oup.com/elt/
to say at the chemist’s and in the teacher/itc), where there are
doctor’s surgery – a learner will have extension activities and more
enough basic knowledge to use that teacher support.

Reviews
This is a practical resource book for response theories to create classroom and presented as easily transferable to
teachers, not a textbook directly related tasks. For example, some chapters alternative sources. The authors encourage
to any particular type of English syllabus, include analysing the metalanguage of deeper thinking about the principles of
exam board or secondary school films, and creative writing. Chapter 5 task design, and encourage users to
curriculum. Nonetheless, the authors explains how certain literary forms, such engage critically with the literary content.
suggest how some of the literary as limericks, ballads and song lyrics, are The book has no accompanying
inclusions, paintings or films could be constructed. It then demonstrates how CD-ROM, but provides a list of useful
used for comparative analysis or such structural and stylistic features can websites, including short recordings.
cross-curricular study. The book includes be integrated into the design of Unfortunately, there is no list of all the
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texts by contemporary writers, with a interlinked pronunciation, reading and primary literary sources that have been
reasonable balance of male and female writing activities. used in the book, either within the
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authors; it contains literature from table of contents or within the
England, Scotland, India, America and bibliography. It would also be
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South Africa, covering different helpful to have a list of the key
historical periods. Teachers will find topics matching the texts in Parts
ed
works by Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, 2 and 3 in the index. Conversely,
Rudyard Kipling, Mark Robinson and there is a useful glossary of all the
Athol Fugard, alongside less famous linguistic and literary terms
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gems, such as work by the 17th- mentioned, at the back of the
century female playwright Aphra Behn, book. I would also have
and that of modern dramatists with very welcomed some more
different styles and intertextual an photocopiable versions of the
allusions, such as Timberlake literary extracts in Chapters 6
Wertenbaker’s subversive treatment of and 7. However, it is easy to
the Cinderella story in her play Ash Girl. compensate for these
The first three chapters offer sound shortcomings by going to the
ing
advice on choosing or adapting activities book’s main website or checking

for different classes. Indeed, there is a out its list of complementary
strong element of teacher development web resources.
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within these opening chapters and I As a wide-ranging menu of

would strongly recommend reading them activities oriented mainly for
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before dipping into Chapters 4 to 9, classes of students, this book

which are aimed at interactive classroom would be enjoyable to dip into
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engagement with a wide range of genres on shorter language

and tasks. In Chapters 4 to 9, the authors programmes and in-service
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use pointers, such as ‘try this’ and ‘why and pre-service teacher training sessions.
this works’. These clarify the objectives of Although this book is not concerned It will probably make all the users hungry
all the tasks and encourage creative with providing lesson plans, Chapter 4 for more literature!
ion
teaching. I would, however, have gives two ‘lesson sequences’, based on Stella Smyth
welcomed some approximate timings for two unabridged short stories: The Kiss by London, UK
all the tasks. 19th-century American writer Kate Chopin
Chapters 4 to 9 outline the key and How Soon Can I Leave? by
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Subscribers can get a 12.5% discount

features of the literary genres represented contemporary British novelist Susan Hill. on this book. Go to the ETp website
in the book, and include concise Chapter 4 includes a variety of ways in and quote ETPQR0314 at the checkout.
which these stories could be presented to
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information on the socio-historical context

in which the readings were first produced. students – for example, as reading
chunks interspersed with higher-order
Reviewing
The themes of these contemporary and
more traditional sources should appeal to questions within lessons, or integrated
older teenagers and adults globally; they
include areas that are often side-stepped
into a more blended learning approach,
combining classwork and homework.
for ETp
by English language coursebooks. For Other chapters include roleplays, mind Would you like to review books
example, Chapter 7 contains four different mapping, scaffolded discussions, reading or other teaching materials for ETp?
dramatic extracts covering topics such as for inference and writing personal and We are always looking for people who
gender confusion, racism, feminism and imaginative responses to literary, visual are interested in writing reviews for us.
identity crisis. and musical stimuli. For guidelines and advice, write to us
Literature draws on some of the The learning objectives and techniques or email: helena.gomm@pavpub.com
insights of discourse analysis and reader of all the tasks are refreshingly eclectic,

T
here is an increasing amount of evidence that the 10 If you take mobile phones away from teenagers, they become
teenage brain goes through a period of reconstruction, sleepy. A researcher locked 150 teenagers in an empty classroom
just as the brains of very young children do. Amongst for 45 minutes. Half of them were allowed to keep their mobiles
the areas that are not yet fully developed at the and half weren’t. She expected those without phones to exhibit
beginning of the teenage years are those that control social signs of anxiety, rather like addicts deprived of their drugs.
judgements (the ability to ‘read’ other people) and those that However, the phone-less teens simply drifted off to sleep.
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govern self-control. This is at least partially responsible for
Troubled teens
some of the kinds of behaviour that we characterise as
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‘teenage’: rash judgement, poor decision-making and
dangerous risk-taking. However, when you think about it, the
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adolescent years do make evolutionary sense – the period Many parents complain that their teenage children spend most of
between childhood and adulthood gives teenagers four or five their time in their bedrooms and no longer take part willingly in
ed
years in which to experiment and to practise being adults, family life. However, they do expect them to grow out of this and
without being seen as competitors by the older generation. return eventually to normal social interaction.
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Those tasked with teaching teenagers often describe the The situation is more extreme in some societies. It has been
experience as either a delight or a nightmare – frequently a estimated that as many as ten percent of young people in Japan
combination of the two! may be living as ‘modern-day hermits’ (hikikomori), avoiding all
forms of social contact and relying on video games and films to
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while away the hours, sometimes for years on end. They
Ten teenage truths commonly live in their parents’ homes and never leave their
bedrooms except briefly to gather food. For many, this behaviour
1 A teenage boy becomes an adult three years before his parents
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started in their teenage years, and academic pressure and bullying

think he does, and about two years after he thinks he does. at school are often cited as primary causes. The problem was first
2 Shouting to make your teenagers obey you is like using the identified in the 1980s, and for some sufferers the isolation has
continued into their middle age.
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horn to steer your car – and you get about the same results.
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3 Being different is one of the driving forces of the teenager.

They achieve this uniqueness by dressing, speaking and acting Charity begins at home
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exactly the same as everyone else.

When 17-year-old Laura brought Jack, her new boyfriend, home to
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4 The guitar of the noisy teenager at the next campsite makes

meet her parents, they were rather disturbed by his appearance:
excellent kindling. tattoos all over his arms, piercings through his ears, nose and lips,
5 Adolescence is when your children stop asking you questions a filthy leather motorcycle jacket and ripped jeans. He didn’t smile,
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and start questioning your answers. didn’t say thank you when they offered him food and drink, and he
didn’t seem to behave very pleasantly towards their daughter.
6 By the time you realise that your parents were right, you have
After Jack had left, Laura’s parents gently expressed their concern.
children who think you’re wrong.
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‘Laura, dear,’ said her mother diplomatically, ‘Jack doesn’t

7 The young always have the same problem: how to rebel and seem to be a very nice person.’
conform at the same time. They solve the problem by defying their ‘Oh please, Mum!’ replied Laura, ‘If he wasn’t nice, why would
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parents and copying their peers. he be doing 500 hours of community service?’
8 Nearly half of all teenagers can text with their eyes closed.
With more than one billion texts being sent every day, it is perhaps
not surprising that 42 percent of teenagers can text accurately
Teachers and teens
when blindfolded. Teacher: Did your father help you with your homework?
9 Teenagers are clumsy because their brains can’t keep up. It’s
Student: No, he did it all by himself.
not a teenager’s fault if they seem particularly uncoordinated. The Teenager: I’m so confused.
bodies of most teenagers grow so quickly that their brains can’t Teacher: Why?
calculate the new rules needed for balancing fast enough to cope. Teenager: Half the adults I know tell me to find myself; and the
Clumsiness is, therefore, often unavoidable. other half tell me to get lost!

What is a teenager? Cats that are free to roam outside have sometimes been known
to return in the middle of the night to deposit a dead animal in
your bedroom. Teenagers are not above that sort of behaviour.
A teenager is someone who ...
If you must raise teenagers, the best sources of advice are not other
can’t remember to put out the rubbish, but never forgets a
parents, but vets. It is also a good idea to keep a guidebook on cats
phone number.
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at hand at all times. And remember, above all else, put out food and
goes on a diet by giving up chocolate bars before breakfast.
do not make any sudden moves in their direction. When they make
receives their allowance on Monday, spends it on Tuesday and
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up their minds, they will finally come to you for some affection and
borrows from their best friend on Wednesday. comfort, and it will be a triumphant moment for all concerned.
can hear a song by the their favourite pop group played three
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Risky business
streets away, but not their mother calling from the next room.
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can operate the latest computer software without a lesson, but
can’t make a bed.
The photocopiable worksheet on page 44 looks at comparisons
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will spend 12 minutes studying for a history exam, and 12 hours between human teenage behaviour and that of animals.
for a driving licence.
Make one copy of the worksheet for each pair of students in the
is an expert on anything they don’t have to study. class. Cut it into two sections and give one to Student A and the
has the energy to ride a bike for miles, but is usually too tired to other to Student B in each pair.
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dry the dishes. Ask the students to follow the instructions. Make sure they don’t
is a connoisseur of two kinds of fine music: Loud and Very Loud. show each other their texts. You may need to give some help
is always late for dinner, but always on time for a rock concert. with vocabulary, eg sea otter, parasite, gazelle, predator, stalk
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never falls in love more than once a week. (or allow the students to use dictionaries).
can sleep until noon on any Saturday when they suspect the Check the answers to Exercise 2 with the class. Some
possibilities are given below, but the students may come up with
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lawn needs mowing.

other, equally valid, answers.
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is positive that their parents were never teenagers.

Suggested answers
Cat got your tongue?

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Similarities
Both texts are about risk-taking behaviour in adolescent animals.
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Teenagers have a lot in common with cats: Both texts suggest a connection between animals and humans in
Neither teenagers nor cats turn their heads when you call them terms of the sort of behaviour we regard as typically ‘teenage’.
by name.
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Both texts suggest there is an evolutionary explanation for the

No matter what you do for them, it is not enough. Indeed, all animals’ behaviour.
human efforts are barely adequate to compensate for the Both texts talk about a balance that has to be struck between
privilege of waiting on them hand and foot.
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taking no risks and taking too many risks.

You rarely see a cat walking outside the house with an adult
human being, and it can be safely said that no teenager in their Differences
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right mind wants to be seen in public with their parents. Text A is about the behaviour of sea otters; Text B is about that
of gazelles.
No matter how well you tell a joke, neither your cat nor your
teenager will ever crack a smile. The risky behaviour in A is only seen in adolescent males. In B,
it is seen in adults as well, and there is no gender difference.
No cat or teenager shares your taste in music.
The otters go into a dangerous area of sea but don’t follow the
Cats and teenagers can lie on the sofa for hours on end without
sharks; the gazelles actually follow their predators.
moving and barely breathing.
Text A suggests the otters may be playing some kind of game.
Cats have nine lives; teenagers behave as if they did.
Text B suggests the behaviour of the gazelles may be a survival
Cats and teenagers yawn in exactly the same manner,
strategy to reduce the risk of being attacked.
communicating a sense of complete and utter boredom with
you and everything you suggest.
Scrapbook compiled by Ian Waring Green

Risky business
Student A
1 Read the text, and get ready to tell Student B about it otters, both males and females, will not go near this part of
by taking some notes of the most important points. the ocean, and young females avoid it too. The only otters
foolish enough to go there are adolescent males, for whom
People often ask whether the characteristics we attribute to
this dangerous area of ocean seems to act like a magnet.
teenagers are also seen in the animal kingdom. The surprising
Scientists have likened their risk-taking behaviour to that of
truth is that they sometimes are.
teenage boys who play ‘chicken’ by engaging in dangerous
One of the characteristics we associate with teenagers is
activities, often involving cars, in order to find out who is the
their willingness to take risks. After years of protecting their
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bravest.
children from all possible dangers, human parents are often
So does this behaviour have an evolutionary explanation?
appalled at the risks their teenagers will take – particularly
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Throughout the animal kingdom, adolescence is a tightrope
the boys.
act. As they gradually lose the care and protection they
Pity, then, the poor sea otter parents who do their best to
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receive from their parents, young animals of any species must
keep their offspring out of a section of the ocean south of San
strike a delicate balance between risk and safety. If they play
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Francisco Bay which is known to scientists as the ‘triangle of
it too safe, they’ll suffer from a lack of understanding of the
death’. This area is full of great white sharks, which like to eat
dangers of the world in which they live. Too risky, and they
otters, and there is a complete absence of the seaweed which
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might end up as a tasty snack for a hungry shark.
the otters usually use to hide in. There are dangerous currents
and sharp rocks there, which make it easier for the sharks to 2 Now tell Student B about your text, and listen to what
catch the otters and, in addition, the area is a breeding ground Student B says about theirs. You must not show each
for a dangerous parasite. So, all in all, it isn’t the sort of place other your texts. Try to find four similarities and four
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that a sensible otter wants to hang around in. As a result, adult differences between the two texts.
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Risky business
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Student B
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1 Read the text, and get ready to tell Student A about it While it isn’t only the juvenile gazelles who follow their
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by taking some notes of the most important points. predators – adults do it too – the younger gazelles face a
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much higher risk. The probability of being killed while

People often ask whether the characteristics we attribute to
following a cheetah is one in 5,000 approaches for mature
teenagers are also seen in the animal kingdom. The surprising
gazelles, but only one in 417 approaches for adolescents.
truth is that they sometimes are.
So does this behaviour have an evolutionary explanation?
ion
One of the characteristics we associate with teenagers is

Although it clearly carries incredibly high risks, researchers
their willingness to take risks. After years of protecting their
suggest that it may provide the adolescent gazelles with an
children from all possible dangers, human parents are often
opportunity to learn more about their predators, allowing
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appalled at the risks their teenagers will take.

them to predict future encounters with cheetahs and lions
The young of the Thomson’s gazelle (a kind of antelope)
better. Throughout the animal kingdom, adolescence is a
make their own kinds of risky decisions. Scientists have
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tightrope act. As they gradually lose the care and protection

observed that when groups of gazelles detect the presence of
they receive from their parents, young animals of any species
the kind of predators which stalk their prey, such as cheetahs or
must strike a delicate balance between risk and safety. If they
lions, instead of running away, they often approach and follow
play it too safe, they’ll suffer from a lack of understanding of
the predator, sometimes for more than an hour. It is believed that
the dangers of the world in which they live. Too risky, and they
this sort of ‘reverse stalking’ behaviour, which is also observed in
might end up as a tasty snack for a hungry cheetah.
birds and fish, reduces the risk of being attacked. Lions and
cheetahs always stalk before they ambush their prey, and if the 2 Now tell Student A about your text, and listen to what
gazelles make it clear that they are aware of a predator’s Student A says about theirs. You must not show each
presence, this may delay its next hunting attempt. other your texts. Try to find four similarities and four
differences between the two texts.

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an
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The English UK Teachers’

The English UK Name
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Conference: open to everyone

Conference
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Saturday 12 November 2016

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Saturday 12 November 2016

Prospero House, London
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Prospero House, London

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Teachers and their managers are at the heart of the student experience.
The annualand
English UK Teachers’ Conference
are at the brings together 200+ ELT
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Teachers academic directors heart of the student

professionals for thought-provoking
experience. The annual English UKsessions,
Teachers’networking
Conferenceandbrings
practical
new ideas200+
together to take
ELTback to the classroom.
professionals for thought-provoking sessions,
networking and practical new ideas to take back to the classroom.
Supported by
Supported by
englishuk.com/training
englishuk.com/training
Teaching
TEACHER DEVELOPMENT
teens
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Martin Sketchley, eaching teens can be highly freshly educated through a demanding
rewarding, but it’s not without curriculum, whereby they are trained to
Pete Clements and its challenges. Here, we learn. Therefore, discussing topics such
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interview three teachers of as new scientific innovations, enigmatic
Emma Paul discuss teens in different contexts – Martin theories and complex problem solving
Sketchley (MS), Pete Clements (PC) and can throw up some amazing ideas and
their experiences. Emma Paul (EP). They offer some perspectives that not even the teacher
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reflections and tips for other teachers could anticipate (or sometimes
dealing with students aged 12–17. understand!). The challenge, however, is
finding the right medium and conditions
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How much experience do for the learners to feel relaxed and

confident enough to really engage.
you have of teaching teens?
MS: The majority of my teaching is PC: Getting them onside. When teens
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with teenage learners, and I have taught are learning with you, they can be great
fun to teach. They’re often very switched
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a variety of them. My first experience

was with Koreans, but since then I have on, critical and creative. It’s not always
taught teens from France, Spain, Italy, easy to motivate them, though.
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Romania, China, Thailand, Germany, Personalisation is key.

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Austria, Colombia – in fact, too many MS: I enjoy the challenge set in front
other countries to remember! of me. Many of my colleagues have
PC: Quite a bit! The bulk of my voiced their displeasure about teaching
adolescent young learners, because of
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teaching has been with teens. I used to

teach short-stay groups in the UK. They issues with rapport or engagement.
were from various countries, including However, if you deliver a successful
Spain, Italy, Colombia and the Czech lesson which fully engages and enhances
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Republic. I’ve taught teens in Vietnam the students’ ability in English, you feel
and Thailand, too. I also worked in a a great sense of achievement. This is
Korean high school for two years. what I enjoy about it.
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EP: I have to admit, given the choice

What has been your best
between a primary or secondary class, I
have always opted for the former when
experience with a teen
negotiating my termly timetable. Having class?
said that, I have still racked up a lot of EP: Writing and creating a superhero
experience teaching teens, namely in Costa comic with a multilingual class of 12 to
Rica, Spain, Thailand and in the UK. 14 year olds at a summer school in the
UK. Once they had written the story,
What do you enjoy about it? each learner volunteered for a specific
EP: Teaching teens is often a two-way role in the project, eg costume designer,
learning experience. Teenage minds are director, editor, photographer, writer, etc.

TEACHER DEVELOPMENT
I was astonished at the way everyone their teenage learners are relaxed and UK, the majority of our learners have
engaged and worked together on this enjoying their lessons. You don’t need to their own smartphones or tablets. I feel
project, despite having different roles. be too serious, and humour goes a long that sometimes they can be a hindrance
What I learnt here was that letting a way when relaxing a class. when it comes to the traditional
project build organically from the ‘chalk-and-board’ lesson, but when I
PC: Teens in Europe and Asia are so
students’ own ideas and creative really want to get the learners more
different. Behaviour and motivation
direction promoted their buy-in and, involved in a reading task, I embed some
have been more common issues for me
ultimately, was the key to its success. text within a QR code, get the learners
in Europe, but shyness and lack of
to install a QR reader on their
PC: I once got a class of 15-year-old risk-taking are major issues in my
smartphone/tablet and then have them
Italian students to perform Romeo and current context (Thailand). Speaking
running around to scan the code and
Juliet in two minutes and one take. That tasks here require a lot more scaffolding.
dictate the text to a partner. This is
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was such a fun lesson! There was also a ‘Disappearing dialogues’ are a great
definitely a hit with adolescent learners,
time when a student wrote to thank me tool, as they’re a useful model for some
but you have to strike a balance between
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personally for inspiring them. That was speaking activities. I provide a lot of
using technology to develop language
really rewarding and very unexpected. ‘process language’ for certain speaking
skills and using technology to motivate
tasks, which helps things along. I always
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MS: I remember going into a class with the learners. You still have to ask
make sure that each task has a clear
Colombian adolescent learners with my yourself: Why are we doing this, and
purpose. Also, teens here (more so than
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hands full of worksheets, handouts and what will be the benefit for the learners?
in Europe) respond to an element of
various other materials, but this was put
competition. EP: Best friend! I don’t think anything
aside and the class and I ended up
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engages teens more (in Thailand, at
chatting in English – my first attempt at EP: I agree with Pete that lack of
least) than learning through technology.
a Dogme-esque teaching format. The confidence and insecurity can prevent
I agree with Martin: QR codes are great!
learners were pleased that they didn’t teens from really engaging in an activity
It is strange how reading from a piece of
have any ‘work’ to do, but the or project. I have found that roleplays
paper pinned to the wall is considered
whiteboard was filled with scaffolded
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where the students assume a fictitious
dull, but reading the same text from a
language from the conversation. At the character work well, as they are freed
mobile phone is brilliant. Integrating
end of it, I left the class feeling that I no from attachment to their own opinions.
technology is often just repackaging
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longer needed so much material with Teamwork can be motivating, especially

activities that you would normally do,
adolescent learners. if there is an element of competition.
but in a novel way. The teens I have
For larger projects, allowing the students
recently taught really buy into it.
What are some of the main to take ownership of the key decisions in
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their work can be very effective – for

issues you’ve faced with What’s your opinion on
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example, they decide on the medium

teen classes, and how through which to express their ideas project work?
have you overcome them? (PowerPoint presentation, poster, video,
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EP: I am a huge fan of project work

MS: Some of the main classroom issues etc). with teens. The benefits can be
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that I have encountered in the UK are enormous: projects promote

all related to intrinsic motivation. The Digital technology in the collaboration; they allow creative
majority of our young learners attending classroom – friend or foe? expression; they consolidate language
short courses here in Eastbourne have
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and skills learnt; they can be authentic;

been packed up and sent away by their PC: Friend, absolutely. I recently
and they are goal-focused with tangible
parents to attend a short, sharp course in attended a webinar by James Styring on
outcomes.
English, much against their own wishes. the topic of digital tech in the
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True, there are some learners who are classroom. He highlighted just how PC: Ah, mixed opinions, to be honest.
already interested in English and are much technology is part of life for Sustaining interest over a longer period
willing to develop their language skills, teenagers, and how we would be mad can be tough. L1 use is often too high for
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but most of our language learners in not to include it in lessons. The best tip my liking during projects, but that could
Eastbourne still treat English as another he gave, by far, was to have ‘digital be down to my behaviour management,
course which they must learn as part of breaks’. He said that teenagers usually or perhaps my unrealistic expectations.
their national curriculum. To overcome check social media on their phones Timings are very important during
this, I have developed a curriculum every seven minutes. He recommended projects, and I always find that things
which is suited to teenage learners. If allowing the students breaks to do this take longer than I expect. As a
you want to do this yourself, look at any every so often. I tried this out, and it preference, I wouldn’t do project work
photocopiable resource book and you meant far less sneaky phone checking in frequently, but it is commonplace when
will see a variety of topics which are class, hence more focus when needed. I work at summer schools.
suitable for adolescent learners. Cheers, James!
MS: Like Emma, I am a huge fan of
Furthermore, I try to encourage other MS: Great idea, Pete! I might borrow project work – not just for teenage
teachers at our school to ensure that all this for my future lessons. Here in the learners, but for any young learner class.

TEACHER DEVELOPMENT
Teaching
example. They came up with some MS: When it comes down to classroom
extraordinary ideas, which fuelled a lot management, just don’t take things too
of excitement and humour when they seriously. If you want to get the learners’
teens
explained their choices! This was a attention, silently look at all of them in
surprising success. the classroom, maintaining eye contact
for a short while. If there is too much L1
PC: I recently bought some Rory’s
(Spanish in my case) being used in the
True, there is a lot of L1 used Story Cubes. These are basically sets of
class, draw a sad face next to your name
throughout project activities, but the picture cubes (like dice with pictures on
on the board or write ‘Great Spanish!’
majority of this L1 is for the learners to them) on a variety of themes, which can
on a blank piece of A4 paper and hold it
negotiate things, such as what English be used for storytelling. They’ve
up. The learners will stop each other
they will write on a poster – they are still featured quite a bit in my classes this
speaking or encourage each other to pay
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using L2 for the productive stage. term and have proved a fun way to
attention. Sometimes, less is more in the
Timing is also an issue, as Pete has generate ideas for speaking or writing
teenage language classroom.
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highlighted, but if your learners have tasks. You can download the cubes as an
app, too. EP: Understand them as individuals.
one lesson a day, and you get them to
I’ve also been experimenting with Try to learn one thing that each of them
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work on their projects in the last ten
minutes of each lesson throughout the more task-based approaches this term, is into, and exploit this through
which has worked really well in my materials and general classroom
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week, they will have spent 50 minutes on
the project work in total. Projects can current context. interactions. Once you have built up
work, and sometimes getting the some good rapport where all the
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learners to take their time and plan their Routines are often students feel relaxed and included, it is
work can benefit the project. I would important in younger surprising what they can achieve!
also always encourage teachers and learner classes. What
learners to share the work that they have about with teens? an
produced, by displaying it in the Pete Clements has
classroom or in the school hall. MS: Rules can be important in the taught in South Korea,
adolescent classroom, especially for the Spain, Vietnam, Thailand
and the UK. His interests
first few lessons, but you can soon
When was the last time include data-based
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loosen up and go with the flow, once you teacher development,

you tried something new have developed rapport with all the
supporting new
teachers and using
with a teen class, and how learners. authentic listening
materials in class. He
did it go?
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currently works for the

PC: I’m with Martin here. I normally British Council in
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MS: Good question! I have recently devise a ‘class contract’ with teenagers, Bangkok, Thailand. You
tried grammar activities in various teen but after a while I tend to loosen up. I can visit his blog at
https://eltplanning.
classes with minimal resources. like to repeat certain task types with wordpress.com.
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Surprisingly, it was not an area of teens, as I feel that familiarity leads to pgclements27@gmail.com
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teaching that I have tried with greater confidence. That’s not a routine,
adolescent learners before, and I as such, but a kind of thread through Martin Sketchley has
taught English for over
thought I would have a go. The response my planning. ten years in South Korea,
to this focus on grammar teaching was Romania and the UK.
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EP: I’m certainly not as strict with my He is also a certified

genuinely positive, and I have now Cambridge Examiner. His
routines in teenage classes as I am with interests include natural
developed work on various areas of
my primary classes. However, some interaction, pronunciation
grammar more suitable for adolescent and online teaching. He
routines, such as reading a story or
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learners. I usually get the students to holds an MA in ELT from

watching a film that the students have the University of Sussex,
produce something, with the practice of UK, and blogs at
picked, can be a nice reward for hard
the target grammar being the aim, but www.eltexperiences.com
work at the end of a lesson.
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and http://dailytefl.
also making the activity personalised. blogspot.com.
EP: I’ve been trying to exploit If you could give one tip to martinsketchley@gmail.com
technology in the classroom. I wrote teachers of teens in your Emma Paul has taught
some abstract concepts on the board (eg
imagination, creativity, etc) and gave the
current context, what in Costa Rica, Spain,
Thailand and the UK.
learners a strict time-limit, in pairs, to would it be? She enjoys teacher
training and materials
take a photo of something in the school PC: Personalise, personalise, development for young
learner courses. She
that best represented one of these words. personalise. Oh, and use music in the works for the British
They would then present their photos to classroom. Check out this link from Council in Thailand as
Academic Manager
the class, justifying their choice. The talktefl.com for ideas: https://talktefl. Young Learners.
learners loved the discovery element of com/2016/07/09/six-ways-to-use-music-
exploring the school for a fitting in-the-young-learner-classroom/.

The Edmodo
TECHNOLOGY
experience
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Laura Nanna links he use of Edmodo, the social I decided to use Edmodo mainly to
learning platform, with my break the routine. My class consists of
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language learning to teenage students showcased 13 intermediate-level students aged 18,
the potential it offers for studying at a technical high school
social networking. tackling language skills development whose curriculum comprises English for
and topic work. Furthermore, using
an Specific Purposes and CLIL. They often
Edmodo to teach interactive writing as have to deal with cross-curricular topics
part of a project about energy resources (mechanics, energy, etc) in English, topics
offered opportunities for reflection on which require subject-specific language.
the impact of this type of learning on I thought that using a different setting
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motivation, language improvement and for their learning, such as Edmodo,

student autonomy. might trigger increased motivation and
involvement and give me the
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What is Edmodo? opportunity to try a new strategy for

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language skills development. I soon

Edmodo is an online networking realised that by using Edmodo, the
application for teachers and students. It students were not only learning
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is similar to Facebook, but offers a safe language, but also practising other
and controlled environment, appropriate
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higher-order skills and employing

for schools. Edmodo is primarily a tool socio-affective strategies. In other words,
for class communication, but it also the new environment ‘deconstructed’
provides several ways for teachers to our safe and traditional routines, to
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connect with other teachers and also provide new learning pathways.
with their students’ parents. There are
many guides and tutorials available
which will show you how to use Edmodo Our Edmodo project
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as a secure environment where you can The project we carried out took about
create a classroom group for your two months, and the main aim was to
students, and where you can place produce an interactive paragraph on the
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digital resources for them to access or topic of energy resources, especially

download, create polls for the students renewable resources. Writing a
to vote online, post assignments and paragraph is at the heart of the creation
give deadlines, give feedback (with nice of a text of any kind, as paragraphs are
badges for achievement) and write short the building blocks with which the entire
summaries of lessons for any students text is constructed. Starting from an
who were absent from a lesson. Thanks analysis of the constituent components
to an access code, the Edmodo class of a paragraph and through reading a
group is managed and controlled by the number of texts, the students
teacher, who can post a ‘netiquette’ list independently and inductively
of rules for tackling tasks and behaving ‘discovered’ the elements that make a
correctly in a virtual environment. good paragraph. The project

The Edmodo
The next task was to create an online text which has interactive links to other
glossary about energy, using online texts and sources. The actual assignment
dictionaries and trying to formulate a is shown in the box below.
experience personal definition, to be commented on

or expanded by the other students. This
collaborative activity demanded the
TASK
activation of several skills together:
Write a paragraph (a hypertext)
consolidated and supported the grammar recognition, classification,
which offers a solution or ideas for
development of good language and synthesis and information presentation.
the following situation:
communication skills, but also addressed At the end of the task, the students had
cognitive strategies and approaches to a shared glossary, full of information to The year is 2080 and the world’s fossil
researching, investigating and making a be referred to and to be corrected and fuel supply has been nearly exhausted.
synthesis. modified from time to time as their Most people don’t have cars anymore
The project itself was divided into a knowledge about the topic increased. because of high petrol prices. Since
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number of steps: Another activity which challenged the cost of heating and cooling homes
them in a different way was watching a is so expensive, most people live for
Step 1
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video about energy, which I posted, and long periods of time in extreme
The first thing was to introduce the then doing a true/false quiz which was to temperatures. Many businesses have
students to Edmodo. As it was their first be answered within a set time. The video shut down because of the high cost of
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experience with this, they needed some was quite hard to understand, but the transporting goods and electricity.
guidance, so I posted a tutorial and a fact that the students could watch it as
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What needs to be done now to
‘netiquette’ file to help them get many times as they wanted really helped prevent this from happening?
acquainted with the basic settings. I also them, and meant that everyone could
You can refer to alternative energy
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asked them to introduce themselves and work at their own pace. As soon as they
to learn how to interact with me and and its various forms, adding four
finished, they could see their quiz scores
their classmates on the platform, and or five links.
posted on the site.
especially to become familiar with the The students were then divided into
new asynchronous system of class groups and given the task of finding a In order to help the students, I
an
management. In this phase, I was video on a particular energy resource, provided a model paragraph on a
inspired by Gilly Salmon’s model for commenting on it and showing it to the different topic, highlighting the
e-learning, and I took up the role of rest of the class. This productive activity constituents with different colours: blue
ing
‘e-moderator’. involved the acquisition of subject- for the topic sentence, black for the
specific language, research and selection supporting sentences and green for the
Step 2
of information, and the practice of concluding sentence. I also underlined
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The first true activity, intended to organisational and presentation skills. the linkers that I had used to join the
introduce the topic of our project, was This blended approach, combining different elements together.
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for each student to post an image the use of videos, images, sounds,
representing their own concept of definitions, books and the internet, gave Observations and
b
‘energy’, together with a short a holistic character to the project. The

explanation. The results were students were all involved, both as considerations
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interesting: the students started individuals and as members of a Throughout the project, I observed and
commenting on their classmates’ images community of learners. monitored my students’ learning
and gave feedback to each other. I The ultimate goal, of course, was for processes and, in particular, my focus
ion
intervened only when necessary to the students to learn and practise was on investigating how working with
clarify or to stimulate discussions, but writing skills. This preparatory work, Edmodo affected the learners’
not to correct language mistakes. I although it involved very little writing, motivation, skills and language
didn’t wish to interfere with the online was a vital element in working towards competence.
vil
activity, which aimed at fluency rather that aim. It stimulated the students in When it came to motivation, the use
than accuracy, so error correction was different ways, engaging them in of Edmodo was very successful. It
only done later in class, where I drew gathering ideas and building their created an exciting new environment and
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attention to the most common mistakes. knowledge of the topic. It sparked off a new ‘time’ for learning, radically
The students were then asked to find discussions and elicited opinions from changing the students’ usual routines.
and read materials about energy the students – all good preparation for The students increasingly welcomed my
resources (renewable and non- when they would be asked to write own posts, giving them the different
renewable). They found material in their about the topic in a personalised way. assignments, and they progressively got
textbook and on the internet, doing the the hang of this new way of working. In
work both in class and at home. I helped Step 3 addition, the activities involving Edmodo
them with some of the vocabulary, but After investigating and discussing the required the students to respond
also directed their attention towards the topic of energy, the students were ready appropriately to new stimuli, thereby
structure of the paragraphs they came to put themselves to the test. forcing them to activate new sensory
across (these were mainly informative- Their final task was to write a and communicative channels. Their
argumentative). paragraph in the form of a hypertext, a auditory and visual senses were

Questionnaire on the use of Edmodo and the project on renewable energy
Please fill in the questionnaire below, answering the questions truthfully for yourself.
1 How often did you use Edmodo? 7 What activity was the easiest for you?
a Never 0 Image of energy 5 (We shared points of view
b Once a week 3 in an immediate way.)
c Twice a week 2 Questionnaire 3
d Almost every day 5 All 3
e Other (Only when I had to do the assignments.) 1 8 What activity did you like best?
2 What activities did you use Edmodo for? Image of energy 6 (It stimulated my creativity.)
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(You can choose more than one option.) Glossary 3 (It was fun.)
a To carry out the teacher’s assignments 10 Questionnaire 2
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b To post comments 3
9 What activity didn’t you like? Why?
c To comment on a post 4
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Glossary 1 (I didn’t understand the
d To ask for help/explanations 1
instructions.)
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3 What did you find useful on Edmodo? Paragraph writing 4 (It was complicated.)
(You can choose more than one option.) Questionnaire 2 (I had problems with
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a Being able to post whenever I wanted 0 the internet.)
b Being in contact with my teacher/classmates 7 I liked all the activities 4
c Being able to see and comment on my 10 Was it difficult to do the activities on Edmodo?
classmates’ work 12
Yes 4
d Being able to share comments, materials
an
and resources with the class 5 No 5
Sometimes 2
4 What did you find difficult on Edmodo?
ing
11 Do you think that working on Edmodo could be

a Communicating in a foreign language 2
useful for your learning?
b Not being able to change what I posted 1
Yes 8
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c Uploading/downloading materials because

of technical problems 2 No 3
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d Understanding the instructions and Why? (Comments)

following all the posts 3 You can share doubts and comments.
b
e Nothing 4 I learn English more easily and in a less stressful

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environment.
5 Has Edmodo changed your relationship
It’s different.
with your class?
You can do things or activities you don’t usually
Yes 0
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do in class.
No 11 It’s more modern and you can use new technology.
Why? (Comments)
12 Describe your experience on Edmodo with one
Edmodo didn’t change the relationship.
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adjective.
We are close friends and we have contacts on other
social networks. Interesting 2
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In front of a PC we don’t change. Useful 5

Fun 2
6 Has Edmodo changed your relationship with
Dynamic 1
your teacher?
Unpleasant 1
Yes 3
No 8
Thank you for your cooperation!
Why? (Comments)
It was easier to talk to her. She’s like a peer.
I can contact the teacher whenever I want.
It’s easier and more direct.

The Edmodo
for some students, having to complete
tasks according to set deadlines and use
the internet in an asynchronous way
experience undermined the certainties of daily

educational routines. One student said:
‘Sorry, but I’m slow with new things; I
need to get in slowly.’ This statement
empowered and, above all, personalised, coincides with what I wrote down on my This is your magazine.
because they were having to manage field notes about the progressive work We want to hear from you!
their learning autonomously, working at done on the platform: most of the
their own pace and repeating things as students participated through posting
many times as they needed to. The new spontaneously, carrying out the tasks
medium and the blended learning and requesting support in the case of
combination certainly sparked some technical difficulties, and others IT WORKS IN PRACTICE
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students’ motivation and willingness to ‘lurked’, waiting to see what everyone Do you have ideas you’d like to share
be challenged, though a few students felt else did before getting involved with colleagues around the world?
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scared and disoriented at the beginning themselves. The pre-planned blended Tips, techniques and activities;
of the project. learning allowed us to overcome this simple or sophisticated; well-tried
The wide range of mini-tasks offered difficulty by ensuring that the students
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or innovative; something that has
on Edmodo required a variety of maintained contact with me in the worked well for you? All published
linguistic and cognitive skills. This classroom lessons and that the work
ed
contributions receive a prize!
meant that the differing learning styles done on the platform was perfectly
of the students were catered for. There aligned with the classroom activities.
TALKBACK!
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was further support provided for this by At the end of the project, I gave the
the offline, face-to-face activities. students a questionnaire to answer. The
As a teacher, I also had to adapt to purpose of this was to make them reflect Do you have something to say about
the new requirements brought about by and evaluate their reactions, feelings and an article in the current issue of ETp?
the use of Edmodo, becoming a sort of opinions regarding the new learning
an This is your magazine and we would
online tutor, dealing with issues of environment. The results of the
really like to hear from you.
access and motivation, online questionnaire are shown on page 51.
socialisation, information exchange,
It really worked
ing
knowledge construction, development

and reflection.
The experience with Edmodo was
for me!
Reflections and
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challenging for both my students and Did you get inspired by something
me. We tried together to do our best you read in ETp? Did you do
evaluations
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with teaching/learning in a new something similiar with your students?

During the course of the project, I felt environment with new tools, new Did it really work in practice?
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the need, both for me and for my class, processes and new roles. I think that it Do share it with us ...
to monitor what was taking place and to was worthwhile because learning occurs
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put everything into an action research

cycle, in order to reflect on and evaluate
at the very moment when you go ‘off the
beaten track’ and you see it from a Reviewing
what was happening in the classroom. different perspective. for ETp
ion
As action research tools, I mainly used

field notes, interviews with my students Would you like to review books
and a final questionnaire. The data or other teaching materials for ETp?
collected provided interesting insights We are always looking for
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and sometimes contradicted my initial people who are interested in

hypotheses. Salmon, G E-moderating Kogan Page writing reviews for us.
During the planning stage, I had 2000
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assumed that the introduction of

For guidelines and advice,
Edmodo and the use of technology Laura Nanna teaches
would be no problem for teenage
English to teenagers write to us or email:
and adults in Italy. She
students, as they are already experts in has published articles helena.gomm@pavpub.com
on English language
social networking and familiar with methodology and CLIL.
many new technologies. However, Her interests focus on
new approaches to English Teaching professional
during their interviews, some students teaching English Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd,
expressed their initial dismay at the new creatively. In 2014, she Rayford House, School Road,
approach, not so much from a technical was nominated for the
Macmillan Education Hove BN3 5HX, UK
point of view as from an educational Award for New Talent in Fax: +44 (0)1273 227308
one. Although the general view was Writing at the ELTons.
Email: info@etprofessional.com
‘Edmodo is great, this is really cool!’, yet nannalaura@virgilio.it

Make a film competition
Left on the shelf
We were completely overwhelmed by
the number and quality of the entries
we received for our ‘Left on the shelf’
competition. What a lot of
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enthusiastic, creative students and
teachers you are!
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As well as people, the protagonists in
your stories of lost love and missed
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opportunities included plasticine
palm trees, discarded socks, autumn
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leaves, pot plants, memory sticks,
chestnuts, novelty cruets – even a
pancake and a bottle of maple syrup!
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Is it forbidden love at the hacienda for Who wouldn’t fall for the
Renata and José? After much deliberation, the judges charming tomato man?
decided to award the prize to the
students of the Universidad
Autónoma de Sinaloa, Mexico, and
an
their teacher, Heidy Paredes Urías,
for their touching tale of young lovers
José and Renata, happily courting at
ing
the hacienda until parted by the

shocking revelation that they might
actually be brother and sister. You
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can view their video at www.youtube.

com/watch?v=vR79n_Oorsc. The
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winners will receive £100 of Amazon

Some very inventive animation from vouchers and a signed copy of Jamie Lovely expressions on Karolina Marzec
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Julia Wiaczek and Patrycja Sieczka Keddie’s new book, Videotelling. and Angelika Lecka’s chestnut couple
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Highly commended was the entry

from the students of Slowacki High
School in Radom, Poland, and their
teachers, Magdalena Dygala and
ion
Adriana Kamienik, for their inventive

story of a girl falling for a man
dressed as a tomato, but seduced
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away by a man with a pizza –

presumably offering a greater choice
of vegetables. How sad it was to see
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the tomato squashed underfoot as

the new lovers walked away
A clever chessboard metaphor in Anna Trifonova’s students clearly had
together! You can see this video at
this entry from Aruzhan Ilespek, fun making their video about the love
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz8gsnd
Aday Zharassov and Adel Keutayeva between a book and a magazine
liX8&feature=youtu.be.
Congratulations to the winners,

and to everyone who entered the
competition, for some truly
amazing videos.
Click on the links to see the winning video and the runner-up at www.etprofessional.com.

TECHNOLOGY
Featuring film 3
In the third article of his
T Activity ideas
here are two main reasons why
films are useful for teaching
First, here are six generic activities
series on how short films vocabulary.
which require minimal preparation.
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Firstly, film is a good way of
can be used critically and teaching theme-related vocabulary They can be used again and again with
virtually any short film which has
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because it puts it into a clear visual
creatively in language context. Students often understand dialogue.
much more because the events, settings, 1 Note down ten words and
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education, Kieran actions, expressions and gestures in a expressions which are used in a short
short film give a dense, immediate
ed
film. Give the students a list of these
Donaghy looks at context which highlights meaning. words and expressions. The students
Furthermore, the language is directly watch the film and notice which
using short films to teach
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linked to the feelings, situations and character says them.
speakers that inspire it, and, as a result,
vocabulary. this complete social context gives access 2 Note down ten expressions which are
to the full meaning. Film may be the used in a short film, and mix in amongst
nearest thing most students have to them ten other expressions which are
an
real-life experience of spoken language. not used. Give the students a list of
Secondly, and perhaps more these 20 expressions. Tell them they are
importantly, film gives exposure to going to watch a short film in which
ing
natural expressions, interactive they will hear only ten of them. The
language, the language of daily students watch the film and tick off the
conversational exchange and the natural expressions they hear.
flow of speech, thus providing a source
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3 Write down definitions of ten words

of authentic and varied vocabulary.
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and expressions used in a short film.

‘Interaction’ is now recognised in the
Give the students the definitions, but not
Common European Framework as one
the actual words and expressions. The
of the major areas of language
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students watch the film and have to

competence, along with Production,
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listen for the words and expressions that

Reception and Mediation.
match the definitions.
In this article, I will suggest some
activities to help students understand 4 Note down five collocations used in a
ion
and learn vocabulary through short short film. Give the first half of each
films. collocation to the students – for
example, lose. The students watch the
film and complete the collocations – for
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example, lose my job.

5 Give the students a list of the key
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vocabulary used in a short film. Show

the film with no sound. The students
have to reconstruct the dialogue.
6 Draw a blank Venn diagram (see
Figure 1 on page 55) on the board. In
the circle on the left, write the name of
one character. In the circle on the right,
write the name of another character. In
the space where the circles overlap, write
Both. Ask the students to copy the
diagram in their notebooks. Tell them
they are going to use this Venn diagram

negative adjectives. Their task is now 2 Words
to compare their adjectives, and to try (http://bit.ly/1RzYEUV)
to match each positive adjective with
Show the students the word cloud in
a negative adjective and vice versa. If
Figure 2, which has eight verbs.
they haven’t got the opposite of an
adjective, they should try to supply it. Ask if they can think of any
collocations of these verbs, or nouns
Get feedback from the whole class,
or phrasal verbs using them.
and write the most common positive
and negative adjectives on the board. Put the students into pairs, and give
Figure 1 A blank Venn diagram
each pair one of the verbs. Their task
Ask the students, working in their
to compare two of the main characters is to come up with collocations, nouns
pairs, to discuss the following
they are going to see in a short film. and phrasal verbs using their verb.
question: What adjectives are normally
Their task is to write: used to describe teenagers? Encourage Tell the students they are going to
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them to use both positive and negative watch a short film called Words, in
words to describe the first character,
adjectives. which they will see a visual
in the circle on the left;
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representation of collocations and
Hold a whole-class discussion on the
words to describe the second phrasal verbs using these eight verbs.
question.
character, in the circle on the right;
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As they watch the short film, they
Tell the students that they are going to should try to spot the collocations
anything they have in common, in the
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watch a short film in which they see a and phrasal verbs.
space where the circles overlap.
teenage boy. As they watch, they
Show the short film.
should think of adjectives to describe
Lesson ideas
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the boy and his behaviour. Show the film again, pausing and
We will now look at four detailed eliciting the collocations and phrasal
Show the film up to 02:41 on the timer.
practical lesson ideas, inspired by verbs as they occur.
specific short films (links to these are Get feedback from the whole class on
Ask the students to write short
the boy’s character and behaviour.
given). These lessons are aimed at a
an dialogues using some of the
range of levels and backgrounds, and
Show the film up to the same point collocations or phrasal verbs.
the goal is to help the students
again. Ask the students to summarise
understand and learn vocabulary. For homework, get the students to
ing
the story the film tells and then to

write a story using a lot of the phrasal
predict the rest of the story.
1 The Present verbs and collocations.
(http://bit.ly/2bdYQNS) Tell the students they are going to
h
Divide the class into an even number of

watch the rest of the film. As they 3 Symmetry
watch, they should compare their
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groups. Tell half of the groups that they (http://bit.ly/1WZZ2Q7)

ending with what they see in the film.
have to make a list of positive adjectives Show the students the word cloud in
to describe a person’s character; the Ask the students to discuss the Figure 3, which has 23 words.
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other groups have to make a list of following questions in small groups:

Ask them if they can think of any
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negative adjectives to describe Was the ending surprising?

words which complement these words,
character. Give them ten minutes to How does the film make you feel?
or their opposites. Give some
come up with as many as they can. Has your opinion of the boy’s character
examples, such as old and young, big
changed?
ion
Put the students into pairs, consisting and small, cops and robbers, milk and
Does the film have a message?
of one member of a group who came cookies. Put the students into pairs
up with positive adjectives and one Have a whole-class discussion based and ask them to come up with similar
member of a group who came up with on these questions. binomials.
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Figure 2 Word cloud for Words Figure 3 Word cloud for Symmetry

Featuring film 3
Tell the students they are going to
watch a short film called Symmetry, in
which they will see the words in the
cloud represented in images, together
with a similar word or an opposite. As
they watch, they should try to identify
the binomials, and compare them with
their own answers.
Show the short film.
Show the word cloud again and see if
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the students can come up with the
binomials from the film. Figure 4 Word cloud for quotation from Aristotle
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Show the film again and pause each
time there is a new image, and elicit or Show the class the word cloud in For homework, give the students a
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explain the binomial. Figure 5. Elicit or explain the meaning transcript of the film and get them to
of each word. Ask the students to put record themselves trying to copy the
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4 Educate the Heart these words into different categories, intonation of the narrator.
(http://bit.ly/1Y27nDg) such as short words, long words,
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positive, negative, nouns, adjectives,
Show the students the word cloud in
verbs, etc.
Figure 4, and ask them to create a
In the next issue of ETp, I will look at
quotation using the words from it. Tell the students that all these words
ways to use silent films.
Point out that the words the and are taken from a short film called
an
educating are larger than the other Educate the Heart. Ask them how
Kieran Donaghy is a
words, because they are repeated in they think the words will be used and teacher, trainer and
the quotation. if they can predict any sentences they award-winning writer.
He is the author of the
ing
will hear. methodology book

Elicit or give them the quotation Film in Action (Delta
‘Educating the mind without educating Tell the students that, as they watch Publishing). His website
the heart is no education at all’. Ask (Film English http://
the film, they should try to notice how film-english.com) won a
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the students to discuss the quotation, the words are used and how images British Council ELTons
saying who they think said it are used to illustrate the words and Award for Innovation in
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Teacher Resources in
(Aristotle), what they think it means concepts. 2013.
and whether they agree with it. kieranthomasdonaghy@gmail.com
Show the word cloud again, and ask
b
Ask the students for examples of how the students to try to retell the
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we can educate the mind and how we narrative of the film.

can educate the heart.
ion
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© iStockphoto.com/MarsBars
Figure 5 Word cloud for Educate the Heart

TECHNOLOGY
In this series, Nicky Hockly explains
Five things you always wanted to aspects of technology which some
know about people may be embarrassed to confess
virtual reality
that they don’t really understand. In this
article, she explains virtual reality, and
considers how it relates to language
(but were too afraid to ask) learning and teaching.
1 3
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What is virtual reality? Is virtual reality expensive? suggesting ten ways to use Google
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You’re sitting on a beach on a tropical When VR first appeared in the late 1980s, Cardboard in the classroom at http://goo.gl
island. You watch the waves rolling onto it was very expensive indeed, because of /80VI1u.
However, as with any new technology,
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the shore in front of you, and you listen to the massive amounts of computing power
the hiss of the surf. Behind you is a cool needed to render the graphics of a virtual we should be wary of the hype, and
question whether VR really does support
ed
green jungle. As you turn your head to the world. However, with advances in
left, you look down miles of palm-fringed computing, and lots of investment in VR our students’ language learning. It would
beach receding into the distance. You over the last decade or so, costs for VR appear that VR can create interesting and
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look to your right, and you see an inviting headsets are decreasing. Although an immersive experiences for students, and
beachfront shack, offering ice-cold Oculus Rift VR headset (www.oculus.com/) if this increases their motivation, it is
drinks. You get up and walk towards the will still set you back about $600, you can clearly no bad thing. On the other hand,
shack, already imagining the sound of ice buy a Google Cardboard VR headset for
an as it is so new, research into the effects of
tinkling in a glass … You stop. You take around $15. (Or download the plans from VR on language learning is thin on the
off your helmet, and find yourself back in the internet, and make your own ground. As classroom teachers, we are
your own living room. You have just cardboard headset out of an old shoe box perhaps well-placed to contribute to this
research if we decide to use VR with our
ing
experienced virtual reality. – really!) Google Cardboard allows you to

Virtual reality is an environment insert your mobile phone into the headset, own students ...
created by hardware (the helmet) and and you can then view VR worlds via free
1
See http://goo.gl/Pi4Lsx for an account
software-generated images (the beach), apps on your smartphone.
h
of this project.
giving you the feeling that you are actually
lis
4
2
See https://youtu.be/3MQ9yG_QfDA
physically present in an artificial world. What has virtual reality got to for a video showing school children
Virtual reality (VR) combines sight and do with education? using Google Expeditions with Google
sound – if your headset includes speakers Cardboard headsets.
b
VR has been used for training in fields

– and, in some cases, it allows you to such as law enforcement, psychology and
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interact with virtual objects. For example, Nicky Hockly has been
medicine for a number of years. It has involved in EFL teaching and
if you are wearing special haptic sensors, also been used in schools. For example, teacher training since 1987.
you could actually pick up that virtual She is Director of Pedagogy
primary school students in Ireland visited of The Consultants-E, an
ion
cold drink, although you wouldn’t be able a local historical site and built their own online teacher training and
development consultancy.
to drink it! In other words, VR creates an replica of it in a virtual world, which they She is the prize-winning
immersive 3-D space which you can then explored with Oculus Rift headsets1. author of several books
about language teaching
physically ‘inhabit’.
vil
Google Expeditions enables primary- and technology, most

school-aged students to take VR trips to recently Focus on Learning
2
Technologies, to be
Are augmented reality and over 200 places by using Google published by OUP later this
virtual reality the same thing?
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Cardboard with a smartphone, and it has year. She maintains a blog at

www.emoderationskills.com.
Not really. Augmented reality (see ETp had over a million users to date2. nicky.hockly@theconsultants-e.com
Issue 91) allows computer-generated
information or images to be overlaid on
reality. The game Pokemon Go (see
http://goo.gl/1Yz1rT) is a good example
5 What has virtual reality got to
do with language teaching and
learning? TALKBACK!
of augmented reality because you are Some teachers are starting to experiment Do you have something to say about
clearly still very much present in the real with VR in their ELT classes. For example, an article in the current issue of ETp?
world. Virtual reality creates a completely see an account by Raquel Gonzaga about This is your magazine and we would
separate virtual space and, when it is how she used Google Cardboard with two really like to hear from you.
done well, it can make you feel that you different classes at http://goo.gl/8QuL4b. helena.gomm@pavpub.com
are really there. See also Neil Jarrett’s blog post,

ER
D
ETpedia
R
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Young learners
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Make teaching English
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as easy as child’s play
ed
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ETpedia Young Learners brings together
an
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teaching and managing young learners.
ing
ETpedia Young Learners is clearly organised into 50 units

h
each containing 10 points. The 10 points can be used as

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a quick checklist and the clear layout makes it easy to

find what you need.
b
Vanessa Reis Esteves has been working in EFL teaching

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since 1996. The 500 tips, ideas, ways and resources are
based on the secrets Vanessa has learnt in her twenty
ion
years as a teacher, teacher trainer and author.

Author: Vanessa Reis Esteves This one-stop resource will enable you to:
Series editor: John Hughes
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n Keep young learners engaged using music, stories
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£23.00 and save 20% n Uncover useful behaviour management tools
www.etprofessional.com/ Contents 4. Stories and drama

etpedia-young-learners/ 1. Preparation and 5. Arts and crafts and
planning games (TPR activities)
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Tel: +44 (0)1273 434943 3. Songs, chants 7. Evaluation
and rhymes 8. Further development
RRP £28.95
ISBN: 978-1-911028-21-5
Webwatcher
Russell Stannard describes
how you can use Tripline for anything
from writing about a school excursion
to projects about great explorers.
I
have been lucky enough to watch a few classes recently, and An alternative could be to put the students into groups and ask
so the technology I am going to write about in this issue is not them to imagine a fantasy journey. They could decide on the
something I have used yet myself, but, rather, something I saw places, find images to represent each place and then write out an
being used in a lesson. It is called Tripline, and it is very simple imaginary diary of what they did. You could help by providing
to use: it allows you to create an interactive map where you or some questions to scaffold the activity. For example:
your students can mark out a journey, add pictures and text What did you visit?
related to the different places and then ‘play back’ the journey as Where did you stay?
a presentation. It offers opportunities for research, writing and What did you eat?
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giving oral presentations. What was the weather like?
What did you think of the place?
How Tripline works
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Would you recommend it?
Unfortunately, you do need to sign up (at www.tripline.net) to use You could increase or decrease the degree of scaffolding,
ia
this tool, though it is free to do so. Once you have signed up, to depending on the level of the students. Afterwards, they could
create a record of a real or imaginary journey, click on ‘New map’ present their fantasy visits to the rest of the class.
ed
and give your map a title and a short description. Then click on
‘Create my map’. Now you can begin to add the places you want
to include in your journey. Don’t worry if you’re not sure about the
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final order that you want; you can move them around and What I like about this tool is that it could be used in so many
re-order them at any time. As you begin to write the name of a ways. It would be equally useful for presenting personal
place to add to your map, a list of possibilities will appear, information and for incorporation in a CLIL curriculum, as the
making it easy to find the right place; just click on the right students could use it to trace the journeys of historical figures
an
address and that place will be marked on the map. You can they were learning about.
repeat this process as many times as you like.
The key to making it work is a good set of instructions that say
Once you have added all your places, click on ‘Save and exit’. clearly what the students are expected to do. This should help
ing
Now your basic map is ready and, if you scroll below it, you will avoid the problem of them simply cutting and pasting information
see that there are icons where you can add information related to from the internet. It is also a good idea to get the students to
the different places you have chosen to include. You can add all present their complete maps to the class, as this will require
h
sorts of details: for example, the dates you were at the places, them to describe their work orally. It would also help to make
pictures, a description of what you did and even links to websites. sure they understand and ‘learn’ the information they find during
lis
It is very well-formatted, and there is room to write up to 3,000 the research stage. Giving the students time to practise giving
words for each place you visited. Once you have finished, scroll up their presentations to a small group before they do it in front of
b
to the map and click on the arrows to move through the journey. the whole class really helps to build their confidence.
You will see that the map draws a little red line as it marks out the
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places you visited, and also displays the information.

Help video
I have created a set of videos to show you how to use
How you could use it in class Tripline:
ion
I can see massive potential for using this in class. The fact that http://goo.gl/Ym4utJ
you can ‘play back’ your journey means it is very good for both
writing and speaking. Students could easily use it to create an Russell Stannard is the founder of
vil
account of a journey they made on a school trip, a trip with their www.teachertrainingvideos.com,
which won a British Council
family or even a recent holiday. They could also use it to ELTons award for technology. He
re-create the journey of someone else – for example, Christopher is a freelance teacher and writer
Pa
and also a NILE Associate Trainer.

Columbus or perhaps Amerigo Vespucci. It doesn’t even have to
be an explorer. Many historical figures have moved around and
lived in different places. Why not plot out the life of Van Gogh, Keep sending your favourite sites to Russell:
Benjamin Franklin or John Lennon? russellstannard@btinternet.com
I think this would work really well as a project, with the students
working in groups. They could first find out about a famous
explorer, by using websites like http://famous-explorers.org, and It really worked for me!
then they could mark on their map the places the explorer visited, Did you get inspired by something you read in ETp?
providing further information about their journey. After they have Did you do something similiar with your students? Did it really
made their maps, the groups could play back their presentations work in practice? Do share it with us ...
to other groups and provide an oral commentary as they go helena.gomm@pavpub.com
through the explorer’s journey.

PICTURE PUZZLE
Find the words hidden in
the photos and identify
the common theme.
Hint: photos that are joined
together are part of the same
word; complete words are
separated by a space.
Can you puzzle it out?
The answers are on page 00.
td
(This idea is taken from The Independent
newspaper’s ‘Get the picture’ column.)
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an
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© Catherine Yeulet / Getty Images
b lis
Pu
ion
vil
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Save the date
L td
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ed
“ A real boost at
the end of a long
dM
”
teaching year! an
ETp Live! returns Saturday 24th June 2017
ing
Old Ship Hotel, Brighton, England

h
lis
ETp Live! brings winner of

b
the Fair List

Pu
the practical approach

award for
of English Teaching ETp Live!
ion
professional magazine to in 2015

this one-day event, with
vil
“It was really useful, stimulating

seminars, workshops and and practical, with lots of ideas
discussions, focusing
Pa
I could put straight into use in

on enabling professional the classroom”
English language teachers
“I particularly like the mix
to improve their practice. of intelligent content with
practical classroom ideas.”
For early bird rates and to find out

who will be speaking on the day, visit
www.etprofessional.com/etp-live-2017
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Issue 107

Taming the teenager

Younger and younger

• fresh ideas & innovations

• tips & techniques

• competitions & reviews

British & American

STUDY SKILLS FOR TEENS 4 TEACHING NEGOTIATION 2 32

TEACHING TEENS TEACHING TEENS 8 TEACHING TEENS 46

Nasy Pfanner goes green FEATURING FILM 3 54

Ken Milgate finds inspiration in football

PRIVATE TUITION 18 Nicky Hockly discusses the place of VR in language

DEAR DIARY ... 20 Russell Stannard takes a trip on Tripline

BROKEN ENGLISH 38 REGULAR FEATURES

language IT WORKS IN PRACTICE 36

TEACHING YOUNG LEARNERS SCRAPBOOK 42

CREATING THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT 22 COMPETITION RESULTS 53

YOUNGER AND YOUNGER 26

• www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 107 November 2016 • 1

Michelle Hughes offers some activities that teachers can use

considerable experience of teen teaching. They share their Editor

Rayford House, School Road, Hove BN3 5HX, UK

Tel: +44 (0)1273 434943 Email: info@etprofessional.com

Fax: +44 (0)1273 227308 Web: www.etprofessional.com

2 • Issue 107 November 2016 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com •

For experienced TESOL professionals (2 years’

you to specialise in a certain area: EdTech Training & Consultancy

n MA TESOL (Young Learners)

n MA TESOL (Teacher Education)

New for 2017 entry we are also offering MA English

Quality Online Training

FIND OUT MORE:

the CD-ROM that comes with their how to proofread.

coursebook (no) or if they have How to organise their time.

perplexed, wondering if I am trying to how to organise those notes.

to a question in the text.

use them? If a student doesn’t have the

4 • Issue 107 November 2016 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com •

for verb, etc) and phonemic script. Draw

minutes to do this. questions they have to answer within

Have a discussion about which

successfully use the same systematic Classroom idea 2 Cambridge-exam-style collaborative

students not do homework because they

• www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 107 November 2016 • 5

have studied. Academia Británica

well or effectively. We can help them to teaching English for over

based on reading and reviewing their Spain, and is learning to

and has been published

This is your magazine. We want to hear from you!

It really worked TALKBACK! For guidelines and advice,

for me! Do you have something to say about

6 • Issue 107 November 2016 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com •

MA IN TESOL & TRANSLATION STUDIES

Would you like to make informed decisions

English to Speakers of Other Languages)?

Preparation which exercises from their assigned

pages they will do. This hinges upon

Three student teachers prepare to start their lesson.

8 • Issue 107 November 2016 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com •