Today’s question for the Q: Skills for Success authors: How can I teach a class where there is a huge gap in language proficiency among the students? Colin Ward responds. Do you have a question about teaching English for Academic Purposes that you’d like to ask our Q author team? Comment below or email your question to qskills@oup.com. Related articles #qskills - When should L1 be used in class? #qskills - Why are the four skills normally divided into listening & speaking and reading & writing? #qskills - How can I get my students to use smart devices in the classroom? #qskills - Do you have any advice for teaching technical English? #qskills - How do I motivate my students to speak English instead of their native language in class? Filed under: Adults / Young Adults, Skills Tagged: Adult Learners, Colin Ward, EAP, English for Academic Purposes, English Language, Language proficiency, Mixed-ability, Q Skills for Success, Questions for Q authors

You may be familiar with Facebook ad targeting, but did you know you can also target any of your posts to a certain demographic? Targeting on Facebook posts has actually been around since the middle of 2012, but not everyone has used it. With the decline in Facebook page reach, post targeting may be a feature you need to start using regularly to get your posts in front of the right audience. In addition to general demographics (i.e., gender, age, relationship, educational status, location and language), there are a few more options for targeting your page posts. For example, you can target your posts to users who have specific interests. While the Interests option is more limited than Facebook ads, it’s still quite useful. You can also specify the time and day you want your post to stop showing organically in the news feed (this is the post end date). To use targeting on a post, select the target icon. With targeting, the only thing affected is who sees the post in the news feed. Only users with the target parameters will see the post in their feed. However, the post is still visible to everyone on your page timeline. If you’re sending the same type of post to multiple targets, you can always hide the posts from your timeline to avoid repetition. One thing to know about the Facebook Targeting feature is that you must target more than 20 people. If you have a small fan base, restricting your posts may bring you below the minimum requirement. Set Up Targeting Regardless of how many fans you have, all pages have the Targeting option. If you don’t have the target symbol in your post area, you can enable it by going into your page Settings. From there, it’s just four easy steps: 1. Click Settings. Make sure you’re in the General tab on the left sidebar(available to admins only). 2. Select Targeting and Privacy for Posts. 3. Check Allow targeting and privacy options when I create posts on my page. 4. Save your changes. Enable targeting on your page. Back on your post, when you select a category to target, you either set your targeting choices right within the post area, or in some cases, a popup box appears to make your selection. If you want, you can select multiple targeting categories. For more details, visit http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/facebook-organic-post-targeting/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=FacebookPage&utm_campaign=New

Ian Brookes is a freelance writer and editor based in Scotland. He has edited a number of dictionaries and has written books about spelling, writing, and punctuation. In this post, he looks at homophones: words that sound the same as other words, but have a different meaning. Born or borne? Discreet or discrete? Site or sight? Sink or sync? Homophones are one of the bugbears of learning a language, especially a language such as English, which can represent similar sounds in a number of different ways. A homophone is a word that sounds the same as another word, but has a different meaning. Often two homophones are spelt the same (as in the case of a ring on the telephone and a diamond ring), but homophones can sometimes have different spellings (as in the case of their and there), which makes life even more difficult. Homophones can create a particular problem when one of the spellings is not very commonly used. For example, the word but is so much more common than its homophone butt that when you hear a word with this sound you are likely to think that you are hearing the conjunction. However, it is worth remembering the less common homophone can crop up from time to time in phrases such as the butt of a joke. The verbs pour and pore present a similar issue: pour is much more common, but the phrasal verb pore over involves quite a different meaning. When you pore over a piece of writing you don’t cause it to flow but you study it intently. When the rarer of two homophones is used in an idiom or phrase, such expressions can be impossible to decipher if you are not aware that a homophone is being used. Take the example of the word bated. This is not the past participle of the verb bait. Pretty much the only time you will come across it is in the phrase with bated breath: if you wait for something with bated breath you wait for it eagerly. The phrase has nothing to do with your breath being prepared to catch a fish, but it makes use of an old variation of the verb abate, and so the idiom describes a person who is so excited that they hold their breath until a particular thing happens. The idiom give somebody a wide berth is another where the less common of two homophones is used. When you hear it for the first time it may be tempting to interpret this as having something to do with birth. However, the term in fact comes (like many English idioms) from seafaring. A berth is the space allowed for a ship to move about when it is tied up or swinging on its anchor, and so when a troublesome person or thing is given a wide berth they are avoided and given plenty of room to go about their business. My final example is the phrase learn by rote. When you hear this it may sound as though the last word is wrote. But this phrase has nothing to do with writing; it means to learn things by repeating them over and over rather than by understanding their underlying meaning. What makes this harder to know is that you will never come across the word rote in any other context. So homophones can not only create problems with spelling, but they can also be quite misleading when it comes to grasping the meaning of a phrase. If you find them tricky then you can take some comfort from the fact that native English speakers often get these confused as well!Filed under: Dictionaries & Reference, Grammar & Vocabulary Tagged: English Language, English spelling, Grammar, Homophones, Ian Brookes, Idioms, OALD, Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, Phrasal verbs, Word sounds

If good content is the foundation of your online presence, keywords are kind of like the bricks or, more aptly, the cornerstones. Your site content obviously can’t consist entirely of keywords because it wouldn’t make much sense to those reading it, but the relevant placement of keywords on your page can help search engines understand and analyze your site content and include said content in results pages. Keywords aren’t something you define once and then forget about. Your keyword strategy is something you define, hone, and redefine over time, so how do you build a strategy around keywords? Start with the following: ● What do you need to know about your site to build a keyword strategy? ● What keywords and search phrases will people use to fi nd what you offer? ● What combination of long tail (more specific) and broad head (more general) keywords and phrases will provide the results you want? ● What keywords differentiate you from your competitors? ● Will you use pay-per-click tools like Google AdWords to drivetraffic? ● If so, what kind of budget can you afford?

Karen Capel, an Academic Coordinator and teacher trainer, returns with another guest post for Coordinators and Directors of Study, sharing her thoughts on leadership in schools. Do you think a good coordinator should motivate and inspire? Then we would agree that an effective coordinator should also be a successful leader. These two roles are deeply interwoven, complementing and enhancing one another to result in a complete professional who is able to carry out managerial duties outstandingly. Whether you are a natural leader or you have learned to be one, it is your responsibility as a coordinator to innovate and develop, to focus on people (both staff and students), to inspire trust, and to focus on both short-term and the long-term goals. You must also challenge the status quo in view of achieving your institution’s objectives and providing a better service to students. Therefore, a leader not only does things right but also does the right things. According to the leadership guru Warren Bennis, all of these are characteristics of a leader. So what type of leader should you be? Hopefully a transformational one, achieving objectives by inspiring your staff and fostering the sense of belonging that will result in the formation of a real team. It is proactivity and the drive for continuous improvement that characterise both transformational leaders and successful coordinators. The leadership style one follows is, needless to say, highly dependent on personality, though an effort must be made to ensure our staff is given the opportunity to express their ideas and put forward their suggestions, for this is the only way a team can work to its maximum potential and enhance each individual’s unique skills and capabilities. Nevertheless, it is worth pointing out that even when listening to every member’s opinions and allowing discussion of the different issues on the table, it is the coordinator who should make the final decision in all matters and who will always maintain responsibility for the courses of action decided upon. Only then would you embody a democratic leader who enables teachers to feel trusted and heard while supported and guided toward common goals and objectives. It is our teachers who are in direct contact with students and may therefore be in possession of invaluable information upon which all-important decisions may be taken. It is key to trust our own judgement when taking on employees and pay attention to the professionals in our staff and what they have to contribute, as it is they who should follow the procedures enforced and may come up with alternative and improved ways of dealing with certain issues. On becoming a coordinator, it is highly plausible that you will encounter members of staff who are supportive and always willing to lend a helping hand, work as a team and back your decisions with a goal of improving the services provided to students, as well as internal procedures and practices; but it is just as plausible that you will encounter teachers who are resistant to change and who will antagonise every decision. It is you as a leader who must find the way to put them on your side by tactfully showing them that you are part of the same team and that each and every decision made has been thoroughly examined, all alternatives considered and every opinion carefully listened to. Once again, democracy is the key. Give these members of the team even more chances to participate and express their opinions and make them feel valued and trusted as professionals. Truly listen to what they have to say, for their ideas and suggestions may be altogether valuable and useful for decision-making, and then make your own decision based on the big picture and all relevant elements, which they might not be aware of. Just make sure you carefully choose your battles and let them win sometimes, as this is the only way they will actually feel you are paying attention to what they have to say. It is also worth noting that a leader is not someone who is always telling people what they have to do, but someone who subtly makes it clear to everyone what his/her role is and what is expected from him/her. Leaders provide guidelines on how to proceed and accomplish the goals set while fostering teamwork and making employees feel trusted, and are therefore a paramount element for the organisation to achieve efficiency and growth.Filed under: Professional Development Tagged: Advice, Coordinators, Directors of Study, Educators, Karen Capel, Leader, Leadership, Roles, School administration, Teaching staff, Tips

Every website has a ‘Terms of use’ section that is only applies to that specific website. This ‘Terms of use’ section is mandatory as to prevent legal issues and to explain the websites limited liabilities and disclaimers. This ‘Terms of Use’ are important as they help keep you and your business protected online. Having these Terms of Use or Terms and Conditions pages on your web site is not just significant and vital from a legal point of view, but also having and adding your own terms for your site can help you to improve your SEO. The ‘Terms of Use’ agreement’s importance has two sides: It makes legalities and other such issues easier for the Web site and it matters to the visitor. Web site owners use a ‘Terms of Use’ for legal reasons, to cover themselves in case a site visitor makes a claim against them, or prohibit acts like posting, sending to or through the site any illegal, damaging, distressing, insulting, threatening, crude, sexually explicit, hateful or other such objectionable material of any kind, and much more. The material made available at that website is protected by copyright. One cannot make use of that content or matter in any possible way. It gives them a measure of insurance against lawsuits. For visitor, the ‘Terms of Use’ is simply an agreement you make with a Web site to stand by whatsoever its site rules might be while you’re visiting the site. A lot of people don’t habitually take the time to read a Web site’s entire ‘Terms of Use’. It might be a good idea to be alert of its major terms before you click "I agree." While generating your Terms of Use page, study your website’s main purpose as to what does it provide; information, entertainment, or online services? What issues could visitors encounter while using the site and take note of what they include. The ‘Terms of use’ generator is free and easy to make / install for your site. There are many such laws and clauses which keep the activities in and around your site legal after generating the ‘Terms of use’ section. You can create your own terms and conditions which will only be applicable for your own website. There are various ‘Terms of use’ templates as well; with which, once downloaded you can modify it and create your own website. These ‘Terms of use’ templates are usually free and help you to make money by making website implementation, hosting, template modifications, and maintenance. One such template for your WordPress site is the Wp Legal Pages. It is a simple 1 click legal page management plugin where, one can quickly add in legal pages to their wordpress sites. It is easy to use and edit. It ensures that any person that visits your page agrees to your given set or terms and conditions before further viewing.

What is a Forum Posting?The Forum is a great way to interact with other members on your Network. An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived. Also, depending on the access level of a user and or the forum set-up, a posted message might need to approve by a moderator before it becomes visible. Depending on the forum set-up, users can anonymous or have to register with the forum and then log to post messages. Usually you do not have to log in to read existing messages. Categories of Forums:1. SEO Forum Posting2. Forum Sites for SEO.3. Free forum posting tips4. Forum auto post5. Writing posting SEO Forum PostingBy posting some good short articles in the forums or by guiding your website to the users helps in driving the traffic. In SEO Forums posting in next to Social Networking Websites. Social networking brings more traffic considering to others and the next follows the Forum Postings.You can post on new topic or reply to asked question. Try to post good reply to the asked questions and Post Good content in the new topic. Many forums are strictly moderated by the owners to avoid spam. First register with the forums and post some of the good new topic and good replies in the forums without adding any of the back links to your website.Sites for SEOFree forum posting tipsFree forum poster and posting tips: One way is forum posting and using a forum poster. You can build relevant links back to your site pretty fast if you keep involved in a few popular forums have related to your niche. This is also a good way to build up sort of following and be looked upon as an expert in your field. Forum auto postAuto-poster is a "black hat SEO" technique which search engines are starting to crack down. It is a careless way to generate back links and sacrifices quality for measure; forum moderators immediately recognize these automated posts and remove them like a wart.Writing postingThe term "High Quality" is very subjective when applied to forum posts. Many forum administrators would however agree that there are some requirements that a forum post must meet before it can considered a high quality post.The top 5 quality forum post:1. A forum post grammatically corrects, 2.spell checked, 3. Relevant to the niche subject, 4.well-written and 5.very interesting post.

Kate Read, co-author of the new Kindergarten series, Show and Tell, offers some practical tips for making the most of your mixed-ability Kindergarten classroom. Kindergarten classrooms can be busy and confusing places at the best of times, but when you (like most of us) have to cope with a wide range of abilities, it throws an extra challenge into the mix. We love the fact that each child is an individual, with his or her own quirky little personalities, but it sure makes teaching effectively a challenge! Don’t despair! Here are a few simple steps to unmix you! 1. Be prepared As with so many things in life, the secret is in the preparation. Think about what you want to achieve and what it is reasonable to achieve on both a class and individual level. Set a range of achievable goals: begin from the same starting point then vary the level of difficulty. Remember that mixed abilities do range upwards - you want to keep the most able children challenged and interested too. When creating or adapting activities, chose ones which can be approached in a number of ways, especially in regards to oral or written abilities. Think of ways to exploit a variety of skill sets. For example, if you were going to introduce a new song, you might look at doing the following with it: acting out the words with no production, but focusing on creating interesting movements to illustrate understanding a singing/production element a drawing element a simple reading/writing element (e.g. a gap fill or a create a new verse) for those most able to cope with written text. Make sure that your instructions are very clear, structured and achievable when you present the tasks. Be very clear about what you hope they will achieve by the end of the class or activity - include the range of outcomes in this. When you give instructions, demonstrate the whole process from beginning to end. Also, don’t underestimate the value of review. Creative reviews give the lower-ability children a chance to take stock and gain confidence while providing a springboard for other children to attempt higher-level activities. 2. Use the children’s strengths It’s very important for each child to know that he or she is a valued member of your classroom community. Each contribution is important. For example, someone with good motor skills but poor linguistic skills could make a different but equally important contribution to a project or activity and you need to make this clear. Most tasks will be enhanced by mixing abilities within a group and encouraging peer co-operation. Many children enjoy taking the teacher role and this can be usefully exploited! Using the children’s different strengths also benefits their social development. Be sensitive to how far you can push the children, but at the same time do mix things up by changing groups, dynamics and procedures when you think they can handle this. Teaching a mixed-ability class is a great opportunity to develop cooperative learning and peer teaching appeal to different strengths and learning styles support the less able and challenge the more able train children to work both independently and in groups. 3. Be flexible As you will know, teaching mixed abilities draws on all your multi-tasking skills - but it is worth it when it works well. At times there might be a bit more confusion than with a single approach, but keep calm, aware, and in control, and you will often hear that sweet hum of concentrated activity. Just in case things don’t go perfectly to plan, try to keep a good ‘Plan B’ activity in the sidelines, even if it is just a quick break in the form of an action song or a chant before settling them back into the task. If you see their interest flagging, don’t be afraid to change your approach. 4. Appreciate the achievements of all learners All children need praise, particularly when navigating the unknown waters of a new language. Find things to praise in all the children’s efforts. If you can’t find something, then deliberately help them do something that is praiseworthy. Remember to think of the individual’s learning path and compare what they’ve done to their own past achievements as opposed to the achievements of others. Demonstrate and reward success - post their efforts on the wall, or in folders, and hand out congratulations stickers, etc. In a very simple way, go back to the objectives you discussed at the beginning of the class. Show the children how they achieved them and how well they did. Challenge question for fast finishers: how many times did I manage to insert ‘mix’ into this blog? Would you like more practical tips on working with mixed-ability classes and developing 21st Century skills in your Kindergarten children? Visit our site on Teaching 21st Century skills with confidence for free video tips, activity ideas and teaching tools.Filed under: Pre-school Children, Skills Tagged: 21st Century skills, Children, Classroom management, Critical thinking, Critical thinking skills, EFL, ELT, How to teach critical thinking, Kindergarten, Mixed abilities, Pre-school children, Show and Tell