Julie Moore, a lexicographer for the new Oxford Learner’s Dictionary of Academic English, shares her top 5 ways to use a dictionary to teach academic writing skills. With my background in lexicography, I’m a big fan of encouraging dictionary skills in the classroom. And as a teacher of English for Academic Purposes (EAP), I’m really looking forward to using the new Oxford Learner’s Dictionary of Academic English with my students. Rather than teach planned dictionary skills lessons, I tend to slip in dictionary usage at every possible opportunity. In particular, I’ll often send students to the dictionary in a writing skills lesson. Here are my top five areas of academic vocabulary to focus on: Collocation One thing that can make student writing sound awkward is an odd choice of collocation. Sometimes a choice that would be fine in everyday English or spoken academic contexts, such as do research stands out as too informal in academic writing, where conduct or undertake research might fit better. Checking a key word in the dictionary will provide students with a number of appropriate academic collocations, not just for the most common meanings of a word, but also sometimes more specialist uses too, e.g. a power = an influential country: a colonial/imperial/sovereign/global etc. power. Dependent prepositions A wrong choice of preposition may seem like a trivial error, and in speech it will usually be overlooked. But in academic discourse, where precision is highly valued, frequent minor errors can give the impression of intellectual sloppiness and inaccuracy. Next time your students are handing in a piece of writing, try this quick self-editing activity. Before they give you their texts, get them to go through and underline all the prepositions they’ve used, then identify those that depend on a content word (a noun, verb, or adjective) either just before (on impact, under the influence of) or just after (reliant on, consistent with). Next, they choose a handful (3 to 5) that they’re least confident about and look up the content words in the dictionary. Point out that typical prepositions are shown in bold before examples. They can then correct any errors they find before handing in their work. Following constructions You can do a similar thing with the constructions that typically follow particular words (focus on doing, demonstrate how/what …). I tend to highlight examples like this when they come up in class, just taking a couple of minutes to raise students’ awareness of how this type of information is shown in the dictionary, again in bold before examples. Students can then use it as a reference source themselves when they’re hesitating over a construction in their writing. Parts of speech EAP students need to develop a particular dexterity in swapping between parts of speech, whether they’re trying to find an appropriate paraphrase or construct a complex noun phrase. As different parts of speech typically start with the same combination of letters, they’re generally together in the dictionary, making for a quick and easy look-up. And to help further, the different parts of speech of many key words are even grouped together in word family boxes, allowing learners to see the options at a glance, including non-adjacent words such as antonyms too, e.g. conclude, conclusion, conclusive, conclusively, inconclusive. Synonyms For students writing longer academic texts, repetition of key words can become an issue. Finding a few appropriate synonyms can help to improve the flow and style of their writing enormously. With a class of students preparing for a writing task on a particular topic, you might pick out a few key topic words and get students to look them up in the dictionary to search for possible synonyms. These are shown after each definition, e.g. at practicable you’ll find SYN feasible, workable. Of course, synonyms rarely have identical meanings and usage, so get students to look up the synonyms too and decide which might be substitutable and what adjustments they might need to make grammatically (e.g. vary from x to y, but range between x and y). By incorporating regular dictionary usage into classroom practice, you raise students’ awareness of the type of information they can find in the dictionary, how they can use it to improve their academic writing and become more autonomous learners. What’s more, by proactively doing something with a word (looking it up, thinking about it, then using it), they’ll also broaden and deepen their vocabulary knowledge.Filed under: Dictionaries & Reference, Grammar & Vocabulary Tagged: Academic English, Academic writing, Collocations, Dictionaries, EAP, English for Academic Purposes, Julie Moore, Learner autonomy, OLDAE, Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English, Prepositions, Synonyms, Vocabulary, Writing skills

If you’ve ever had an idea for a product or service that you think could net you a fortune, you may well have considered setting up an online business start-up. Your business plan The starting point for any new venture is to create a business plan. You must know your target market, know your competition, attract funding, secure good resources, build consumer loyalty, especially blogger coverage - and forge alliances with strategic partners. Preparation and research are keys to an online business start-up. The objective of the business plan is to tell a simple yet compelling story that leaves the viewer wanting to meet the management team and find out more about the plan. It should be as concise and manageable as possible. Finding a market One of the most important elements of setting up an online business is finding out if there is a market for your idea. It’s all about finding a niche. There are already market leaders in subject areas, so you either need to aim for a niche which doesn’t already have a market leader, or attempt to become even more niche - by offering something new and different. Financing There are many different financing options available to aspiring entrepreneurs. For many online business start-ups, raising funds may not be as difficult as starting an off-line business. Once you know what is necessary, you can start from anywhere, anytime. Your website Websites will set you back varying amounts. The cost is relative. While a basic one could cost little, a really good one that dominates the market could cost much more. If building your own website is not an option, try searching for web designers online. Keep the site clean and simple: people will buy from you if they trust the site and can find what they want. Make sure you update your website’s content constantly, as innovation, imagination and invention are essential if you are going to succeed in the longer term. Also make it easy for people to get in touch: your business needs to present a human face. Marketing Sites such as Google AdWords can be a cost-effective way of advertising. These operate on a "pay per click" basis, so you only pay when someone clicks through to your website. One can also start by emailing friends and family with details of the site. Look out for chat-rooms and discussion forums, and let people know you’re there. Network with others and get referrals. You may want to get a company to do search engine optimization (SEO) for you to ensure that you catch any potential customers searching for your type of product on the likes of Yahoo! and Google. Customer transactions Make it fast and easy for customers to order, as a site with a difficult sales process is likely to lose customers. Websites should be easy to navigate so users don’t get frustrated and leave without making a purchase. Security should also be a priority, and potential customers should be assured their details will be kept safe.

Happy Friday! I am so excited for you to read the second guest post presented by Teaching with Technology. Online tutor, Robert Morris, has created a list of great tools to help teachers teach the writing process. Without further adieu… Online Tools that Help Teachers Teach Essay Writing as a Process When you expect your […] The post Online Tools to Help Teachers Teach the Writing Process-Guest Post appeared first on Teaching with Technology.

Stacey Hughes introduces her upcoming webinar on 25th and 27th February entitled ‘Which English?‘. Why is English spelling so crazy? Why are there so many ways to say the same thing in English? Why is there not one ‘standard’ English? Which English should I teach? Stacey Hughes from OUP’s Professional Development Services will try to respond to some of these questions in her upcoming webinar, Which English? English history and the English language can hardly be separated. If we look to our past, we can see how English has been shaped by invaders, writers and even its own colonial surges. These influences have led to the way English looks and sounds today. Many English words are notoriously difficult to spell. Irregularities in the spelling conventions for common words can flummox students trying to learn the basics. And then there’s the fact that words don’t sound like they look. What were they thinking when they came up with the spelling system? English also has a lot of words - and a lot of words for the same thing. Yet, even if they are similar, they aren’t necessarily interchangeable. Context and collocation play their part in making vocabulary difficult to use. English continues to evolve as new words are added and old grammar rules fall out of fashion. It is also a growing language with speakers using it as a common language even when it is a foreign language for both speakers. English also evolves as speakers adapt it to fit local language needs. With so many ‘Englishes’ around, which English should we teach?  How can we best prepare our students for the English they will encounter outside of the classroom? Join the webinar, Which English? on 25th and 27th February to find out more.Filed under: Grammar & Vocabulary, Professional Development Tagged: English spelling, Grammar, Stacey Hughes, Standard English, Vocabulary, Webinar

If you’ve read my previous posts about Google Classroom, you might find today’s post extremely surprising. It’s no secret, especially around my building, that I have not been 100% happy with Google Classroom this year. Yes, I know Classroom is in it’s infancy, and yes I know bugs and kinks are still being worked out. […] The post Google Classroom Saved the Day! appeared first on Teaching with Technology.

Though e-mail remains a major strategy for engaging consumers, the challenge is building consumer confidence in your communications to ensure your messages are read. Here is how email marketing can help to increase the return on investment 1. Realise the importance of good data Suggestions of sending to old or non-opted-in data should always be in every marketers mind. Make your sign up process accessible, encouraging email sign up via social and creating re-engagement campaigns. 2. Compliment email strategies with SMS SMS is a fantastic way to get a quick, instant message or reminder to customers. A massive 90% of SMS are read in the first 15 minutes of being received, so you can be sure that your message will be timely. 3. Use triggered emails effectively. Abandoned shopping cart email programs and thank-you pages are two examples of triggered emails that can have a big impact on your email ROI. 4. Optimise for mobile marketing Since many of your prospects and customers probably are using mobile devices to read your emails, ensuring that your emails are optimized for mobile is an essential step for driving up your ROI. 5. Segment your list. Email list segmentation is a proven way to intensely improve email-campaign performance and increase ROI. 6. Merging online and offline channels Online and offline channels should go hand in hand. Consider using them to complement one another as opposed to treating them entirely separately. 7. Integrate email and social media Integrating email and social media is becoming increasingly vital for marketing campaigns, and is also surprisingly achievable. Embrace social media and take the opportunity to get creative, don’t just add social share buttons to your email, after all it is unlikely recipients will want to share your entire email. Instead opt for adding social share links on individual articles and pieces of content, this way recipients can pick and choose what they share to their network. 8. Focus on deliverability. Are you consistently getting your emails into your recipients’ inboxes? The junk or spam filters of web-based email services (like Gmail or Yahoo) may be catching them. So, give the deliverability of your Emails importance as well. 9. Track and test email performance results which continually boost ROI. Testing subject lines, calls to action, headlines, offers, design, and so on is the only way to know for sure what works and what doesn’t work for your target audience. 10. Develop and send tailored emails promoting your content Email marketing to your existing contact databases is an ideal way to drive action. While your primary goal may be to generate new leads, you can use the same contact assets to capture additional information about your established leads and customers that will help you customize your content. To maximize your e-mail marketing ROI, consider how you can use every mailing most effectively to deliver real value to your readers.

We’re helping to solve your EFL teaching problems by answering your questions every two weeks. We’ve received some queries about phonetics and pronunciation, specifically how to make pronunciation apps part of the class. Talk to your students There are many apps and the first thing a teacher should do is ask their students if they’ve got a pronunciation app and how they use it. Being aware of students who have a pronunciation app will help the teacher integrate it into the class. Then, it is also important to talk to the students about how they use their app. This discussion will also generate some ideas. The discussion may also make some students curious about a pronunciation app and how they could use it. So, let’s now explore how to integrate the use of the app into the classroom. Let’s consider first the sounds chart. Be a resource for students As the teacher, you can help your students understand certain concepts. For example, voiced and unvoiced sounds. Having a brief discussion on this in class will help students use their app better. They will see that /p/ in "parrot" is unvoiced and that /b/ in "be" is voiced. Activity: Ask students to find 3 sounds on their app that they find difficult. Tell them to write the sample words and the sample sentences from the app. Then, tell them to find 5 other words they know for each sound.  Ask them to write a short sentence with each sound, as in the app.  Finally, ask them to record the words and sentences, and to play it back. How do they sound? As the teacher you may want to confirm that the words a student has chosen do represent the sound they have difficulty with. You can also ask students to compare their pronunciation of the voiced/unvoiced pair. Chart your Progress If you can, provide students with a small sounds chart. They can probably find one on the internet. Ask them to indicate with a small arrow the 3 sounds they find difficult. Then, as they progress and feel comfortable with the sound, they should put a tick next to it, and add another sound to their list. Work with others Encourage students to share their experience with other students in the class. When students find they have difficulty with the same sound, they can help each other, comparing their list of words and sentences. Then, they could also record each others’ words and sentences, comparing their pronunciation with each other as well as the example in the app. If pronunciation is important for your students, have a sounds chart in the classroom. This will reinforce their work with the app. It is important that they notice not only the sounds they have difficulty with, but also to be aware of the sounds they find easy. Help them improve Students may sometimes need you to check on their progress. Be available to help. Maybe once a week, at the end of a lesson, ask about their progress with the pronunciation apps. Ask if they need any help. They may ask you to record a sample sentence. You could offer sample words that may be more helpful than those they have chosen. And, of course, they may have made some mistakes you can correct. Remember, you can help your students get the most from the pronunciation app. So, you as their teacher can be a resource as well as a helper. In the first case, you can add to their knowledge. In the second case, you can facilitate their progress. Play the game Students will usually play the games that come with pronunciation apps. Encourage them to chart their progress. 1. Encourage them to keep a list of the sounds they got wrong The app will give them immediate feedback on this, so students can simply write the word/sound before moving on to the next one. They can do this in a notebook or simply indicating the difficult sounds on a sounds chart. 2. Encourage them to play a game regularly Suggest they play a game at least twice a week; once after the English class, and another time on a day when they don’t have English. Ask them to chart their scores for each time. Is there any difference? Students may discover that their scores after English class are generally higher than the others. This may indicate that a student does better when English is fresh in their minds. They may want to listen to English outside of class on a more regular basis. They could listen to music, or watch a movie or TV show without subtitles. Playing the games will give them information about their learning which they can use to improve their learning of English. These activities will link their English lessons with their use of their pronunciation app. This alone will help students focus. It will organise their use of the app and make it a useful tool in improving their pronunciation. Making the app part of the lessons will also bring another dimension into their learning, their experience outside the classroom. Finally, helping your students to use the app adds to your role as their teacher, the role of facilitator and resource. Invitation to share your ideas We are interested in hearing your ideas about using pronunciation apps, so please comment on this post. Please keep your challenges coming. The best way to let us know is by leaving a comment below or on the EFLproblems blog post. We will respond to your challenges in a blog every two weeks. Each blog is usually followed by a live Facebook chat to discuss the challenge answered in the blog. Be sure to Like our Facebook page to be reminded about the upcoming live chats.Filed under: Professional Development, Pronunciation Tagged: #EFLproblems, Educational apps, EFL, Language learning, Mobile apps, Phonetics, Professional Development, Pronunciation, Pronunciation apps, Verissimo Toste

The school year is coming to a close! We have just shy of three weeks remaining…how about you? Summer is rapidly approaching, and as we all know, teachers DO NOT take the summer off! We are constantly updating curriculum, researching new teaching methods, and finding cool tools to increase engagement in our classrooms. A few […] The post Find Great Educational Technology Tools with Ednak appeared first on Teaching with Technology.

Lie 1 - "We have a deal with Google." Untrue. No SEO provider is in bed with Google. That would totally undermine the relevance of Google’s results. The truth is, we’re all on the outside, looking in. Doing our best to unravel the complex mathematical mystery that is Google’s ranking algorithm. Lie 2 - Timeframe guarantees. Google’s rankings are automatically determined using incredibly complex mathematical algorithms. They’re Google’s single most valuable asset, and they’re devised by the world’s biggest math brains. SEO providers that offer timeframe guarantees are suggesting that they’re: a) privy to Google’s most valuable business secret; and/or b) smarter than all of the world’s biggest math brains combined. The truth is that although good SEO providers have a very good understanding of what tactics result in a high ranking, they derive this understanding through trial-and-error only, and they don’t know 100% how long things will take. Lie 3 - Unlimited keywords. This one defies logic. To optimize your site for a keyword or keyword phrase, you just use it more often than any other word or phrase. But because your site has only a finite number of words, there’s a limit to the number of keywords you can target. Lie 4 - Displaying logos for big-name clients. An SEO company that claimed a major bank as a client, when all they had ever done for that bank was Pay-Per-Click advertising - not SEO - for a single keyword, once, long ago. So always be sure to ask exactly what your SEO provider has done for each client it claims. And if you’re still in doubt, ask for references. Lie 5 - Submitting your site to thousands of search engines, over and over. This won’t get you a high ranking. In fact, its amazing that this one’s still going around. The truth is, you usually don’t have to submit your site at all. Lie 6 - Spend a lot on Google AdWords, and you’ll automatically get a high ranking. Absolute rubbish! Although Google (and most of the other search engines) offer PPC ads, those ads are absolutely independent of your site’s natural ranking. Google’s success relies on its ability to deliver relevant results. The moment it took money in return for natural search ranking, its reputation for relevance would be justifiably ruined. It’ll never happen.