Teaching English to adults
'Lexico-Grammar'
ELT 1 -- Friday 4 November 2005 10.00-12.00
Vocabulary and grammar, do we teach them separately or are they part and parcel of each other?
In this workshop we will explore practical means of combining grammar and lexis in the classroom.
The Common European Framework (CEF) 1
ELT 2 -- Friday 25 November 2005 10.00-12.00
Many teachers view the CEF as simple descriptors of a student's abilities in using a foreign language. However, the potential impact of the CEF is far broader with implications for how we teach and how our students learn.
In this workshop we will explore classroom-based approaches that promote autonomous learning and self-evaluation in, and outside, the classroom.
The Common European Framework (CEF) 2
ELT 3 -- Friday 13 January 2006 10.00-12.00
The second part of the CEF workshop will continue from where we left off in November.
Listening Skills: Teaching or Testing?
ELT 4 -- Friday 27 January 2006 10.00-12.00
A typical approach to Listening Skills in the classroom is to set comprehension questions which the students answer, which is exactly what they do in a test of listening skills. Where then does the teaching come in and how can we teach students how to listen?
In this workshop we will work through some classroom-based approaches designed to show students how to listen and what to listen for (although we won't be looking at traditional comprehension tasks!).
See also
IH Annual ELT Conference 2006
Friday 10 & Saturday 11 February
Friday 17.00-20.00, Saturday 09.30-17.30
Reading Skills: Teaching or Testing?
ELT 5 -- Friday 10 March 2006 10.00-12.00
Much as with listening skills students are usually given comprehension tasks to answer while reading, just as they do in tests of reading skills.
In this workshop we will work together through a number of tasks types designed to improve a student's reading ability rather than merely test it with the outcome of helping the student with strategies s/he can apply to any written text outside the classroom.
'Penguins in the Classroom'
ELT 6 -- Friday 31 March 2006 10.00-12.00
A: 'What did you do in class today? The present perfect, prepositions...?'
B: 'No, we made a documentary film about penguins'
What do students have at the end of the day that represents what they have learned? Usually perhaps just a few disorganised notes in a file. It is doubtful if these notes give many of our students a sense of achievement or enhance their motivation.
In this workshop we will explore a number of approaches to the classroom in which students are involved in the design and construction of finished 'products' to take home or hang on the classroom wall. This approach focuses on the process of language use and development in the design and construction of the product. It encourages the students to use all the language they have at their command and to go that one step further.
Integrating Pronunciation
ELT 7 -- Friday 28 April 2006 10.00-12.00
Have you noticed how when someone from a country outside Spain chats in English to your students s/he can't understand a thing they say? It's not the words or grammar they use, it's they way they use them: their pronunciation. It's very easy to become accustomed to our students' pronunciation of English and, consequently to neglect helping them with it.
In this session we will define a threshold level for pronunciation for both productive and receptive purposes. We will then explore classroom approaches and activities to help our students' intelligibility with sounds, stress, intonation and features of connected speech.
Integrating Technology
ELT 8 -- Friday 19 May 2006 10.00-12.00
Computer centres and interactive whiteboards may be beyond your personal price range, but integrating e-learning into your classroom is not.
In this session we will explore ways in which a computer and the Internet can be used in the everyday classroom. Part of the session will involve the use of an interactive whiteboard (after which you might try to convince your boss to buy one – they are not that expensive).
Note: to experiment in your own classroom with the practical ideas demonstrated in this workshop you will need an on-line computer.
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