An ELT Glossary : Proficiency Tests
Proficiency tests aim to certify that a learner is at a specific level, regardless of what previous course(s) s/he has or has not done.Many proficiency tests are run by external examining boards such...
View ArticleAm ELT Notebook : Intensifiers / Intensification
Quirk et al (1972) describe intensifiers are words which have a heightening or lowering effect on the item they modify. They may be :Intensifying adjectivesThese are generally attributive only - ie...
View ArticleAn ELT Glossary : Register
Register is a term used to indicate that different varieties of language will be used in different contexts - with context being understood to mean the situation, the purpose of the communication, the...
View ArticleAn ELT Notebook : Assertive and Non-Assertive Meaning
Assertivebnes regards the speaker/writer's view of the validiity of the proposition being expressed. if the speaker regards what they are saying as true, factual, existing etc, they will express it...
View ArticleAn ELT Glossary : Product and Process Approaches in Language Teaching
What do we mean by product and process approaches in language teaching.? To start with a (gross) over-simplification :Product approaches are those which emphasise what is to be learnt. Any course which...
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An ELT Glossary : Dictogloss
Dictogloss is an activity which basically consists of the teacher reading a short text to learners who then, in pairs, attempt to reconstruct it. Generally, the text will contain a language item that...
View ArticleAn ELT Glossary : Contrastive Analysis
Contrastive Analysis involves comparing features of one language against another. For example a contrastive analysis of the structures of English and Italian might note that both languages possess the...
View ArticleAn ELT Glossary : Test - Teach - Test
Test - Teach - Test (TTT) is a lesson format which is useful when you know or suspect that learners have some knowledge of an area but are unsure how much. It allows you to find out, and then base your...
View ArticleAn ELT Glossary : Affordances
Affordances are learning opportunities that arise during the lesson. They may have been predicted by the teacher when planning the lesson, but very often have not - they arise from the communication...
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IATEFL Conference - Birmingham 2016 : The Online Programme
The 2016 IATEFL Conference starts tomorrow and though, like me, you may not be able to be there, a lot of the talks will either streamed live online or (more conveniently if you're in a very different...
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IATEFL Conference - Birmingham 2016 : A Blast from the Past
In the academic year of 1979-80 (yes, that long ago), I had the privilege of following a series of lectures on the structure of English given by Professor David Crystal (then a mere Doctor, if my...
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IATEFL Conference Birmingham 2016 : Scott Thornbury - 1966 and all that
I called my post on David Crystal's plenary session A Blast from the Past - had I known what Scott Thornbury would be saying this morning, I might have saved the title for this one. Thornbury started...
View ArticleAn ELT Glossary : Approximants / Semi vowels
Approximants are speech sounds which are made by bringing the articulators further towards each other than is done in the case of vowels (where the airflow from the lungs is unimpeded), but not as...
View ArticleAn ELT Glossary : Text Types
NB: Texts should here be understood as referring to both listening and reading texts.1. Simplified TextsSimplified texts are texts which have been written, or adapted, to be within the language...
View ArticleAn ELT Glossary : Target Language / Emergent language
A traditional lesson plan aiming at developing learners' language (rather than skills) competence, was/is based around the idea of target language - ie the language point(s) (which may be structural,...
View ArticleQuestions I Would Ask if I Was Choosing a Delta Module Two Centre
When people apply for our Delta Module Two Course, I'm always surprised at how few questions they ask about how the course is run. Yes, every centre has to cover the same syllabus content (click on...
View ArticleAn ELT Glossary : Adverb particle
An adverb particle is an adverb used as part of a phrasal verb, which may be intransitive (eg The plane took off) or transitive - eg :He put the plates away. (phrasal verb : put away)She took off her...
View ArticleAn ELT Glossary : Code switching
Code switching is a common feature in the speech of bilinguals. When talking to each other they may change from one language to another even withing the same sentence. For example, the other day I said...
View ArticleAn ELT Glossary : Phrase / Head
PhrasesLook at the following sentence :a) Dogs should be kept on leads.The highlighted word dogs is a noun, acting as subject of the sentence. It can be expanded...b) All dogs should be kept on...
View ArticleAn ELT Glossary : Elements of the Tone Group
A tone group (or tone unit) is a group of words centred around a tonic syllable (also called the nucleus) which carries a change in pitch. The five pitch changes in English are fall, rise, fall-rise,...
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