Summary task woesUnfound ideas from the textsLacking clarity What is a Haiku?Distillation of ideasConcisely worded This could go quite wrongHaiku for summary tasks?Might be worth a try Learners at CPE (Proficiency) level frequently have issues with the comprehension and summary task on the... Continue Reading →
On the fifth day of Geekmas, some blogger gave to me: FIVE FAVOURITE THINGS Welcome to the teflgeek Christmas celebration! Themed around the classic Christmas carol – but going backwards, mostly because it’s more like a countdown that way: 12 blogs worth... Continue Reading →
Trying to come up with new and interesting ways of saying the same old thing is a skill that taxes most of us on a daily basis: "I like your hair." "Your hair looks nice." "Wow! Have you had your... Continue Reading →
I just came across, during a further exploration of the Pearson ELT Community site, their idioms discussions space. There doesn't seem to be much in the way of discussion, but they have posted a set of mini-videos which purport to... Continue Reading →
The Vortex Game. This is a game I've created that can be used with any age or level - for pretty much any purpose. It came out of a conversation with a colleague (thanks Sarah!) who was looking for an... Continue Reading →
Another really simple idea for all those use of english papers.... just remove the gaps. For exam classes this works with the following areas: FCE & CAE: Use of English Part One - multiple choice cloze Use of English Part... Continue Reading →
A relatively simple way of dealing with multiple choice cloze tasks in the classroom: Take one multiple choice cloze task, possibly one like this FCE style task found via a google image search, or just one from your coursebook. Before... Continue Reading →
The visual thesaurus was pointed out to me some time ago as a great alternative to the standard online dictionary search, and also as a great way to help learners broaden their vocabulary, particularly with higher level students who have... Continue Reading →
An alternative to the work through it together option... Basically, you need two different open cloze tasks from a test book (or you can use the examples given in the exam handbooks available from Cambridge ESOL's teacher support site). You... Continue Reading →