Today’s question for the Q: Skills for Success authors: How would you answer Krashen’s assertion that teaching EAP is a "waste of time"? Cheryl Zimmerman responds. We are no longer taking questions. Thank you to everyone who contacted us! Look out for more responses by the Q authors in the coming weeks, or check out the answers that we’ve posted already in our Questions for Q authors playlist. Related articles #qskills - What can I do to improve my relationship with difficult students who do not like to study English? #qskills - Could you recommend useful tips for teaching writing skills? #qskills - How can I teach a class where there is a huge gap in language proficiency among the students? #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, Cheryl Boyd Zimmerman, Difficult students, EAP, English for Academic Purposes, English Language, Q Skills for Success, Questions for Q authors, Stephen Krashen

Check out this newest guest post! Educational Trends in Online Courses The IT revolution and the computerization of the world have caused major changes in the educational trends, as well. Although going to elementary school is still compulsory, students can find information in dozens of ways. Also, many of them experience serious problems as a result of cumbersome […] The post Educational Trends in Online Courses - Guest Post appeared first on Teaching with Technology.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons 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 the presence of silent letters in English words and the problems they cause for spelling. Learning to speak another language is hard enough, but students of English have to deal with further issues when they come to the written form of the language, and they soon find that English words do not always look exactly how they sound. In a previous post I looked at the presence of double letters in some words as one of the causes of spelling difficulty. In this post I will look at another: the presence of ‘silent’ letters in some words. Why should knot be spelt with a ‘k’ when it is pronounced the same as not? And when we come to words such as knight and yacht we might begin to suspect that some letters are being entered for no other reason than to make it more difficult for non-native speakers to write the language. Just as we found when looked at double letters, the explanation for these silent letters usually lies in the history of a word. In words such as answer and walk, the silent letters were sounded in early forms of English, but as the language developed over many centuries it became easier to pronounce the word without sounding a particular letter. The sound changed but the silent letters remained as a ghostly (note the silent ‘h’) reminder of the original sound. Other words were borrowed from languages that use sound patterns that seem unnatural to English speakers, and so the sound of the word was changed to something they found easier to say. This is why we don’t pronounce the first letter of pneumonia (which was borrowed from Greek) or the last letter of sheikh (which was borrowed from Arabic). Silent letters can certainly be awkward, but I can offer a few tips for dealing with them. Firstly, note that some silent letters are actually not silent in related words. So it will help learners to remember the silent ‘g’ in sign if they can relate it to signature or the silent ‘n’ in condemn if they know condemnation. Secondly, some silent letters reveal themselves when you break down a word into its basic parts. The silent ‘p’ in cupboard (and the entire spelling of the word) can be seen if you think that this piece of furniture was originally a ‘cup board’. Similar cases include extraordinary (extra + ordinary) and shepherd (she(e)p + herd). Thirdly, note that if one word contains a silent letter, related words will have the same silent letter. So the silent ‘c’ that appears in ascend is also found in the related words ascent, descend, and descent. As a last resort, for words that learners find especially difficult, you can make up a memory aid or mnemonic (note the silent opening letter!) to spell out the word. One of my favourites is that you spell rhythm from the initial letters of the sentence ‘rhythm helps you to hear music’. Know any more?Filed under: Dictionaries & Reference, Grammar & Vocabulary Tagged: English Language, English spelling, Etymology, Grammar, Ian Brookes, OALD, Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, Silent letters, Word sounds

Thank you so much to everyone who came to my session at the Southeast EdTech Conference today! The link to the presentation from today is available on the "Professional Development Training Tools" page on this site. Thanks again! The post Southeast EdTech Conference appeared first on Teaching with Technology.

We’re helping to solve your EFL teaching problems by answering your questions every two weeks. This week, Stacey Hughes responds to Susanna’s blog comment about monitoring pair work. Susanna wrote: I wonder what the best way is to monitor pair work effectively. I use pair work because it helps students get used to speaking; however, I am aware that they may be making a lot of mistakes which I don’t have the opportunity to correct. Not all students are willing or able to correct their partner’s errors. Have you any advice on how to ‘listen in’ to six pairs of speakers?" Susanna’s question is a common one: we put our students in pairs to discuss a topic, but we can’t monitor what they are saying, so we don’t know if they are making mistakes that we need to correct. To answer the question, we first need to establish why we ask students to discuss something in pairs to begin with. At the heart of the matter is whether the purpose of the pair work activity is for speaking practice. The majority of the time, the purpose of discussion in pairs is for students to get more practice speaking in English, to build their fluency. In this case we need to ask ourselves: Do I need to correct every problem? Since pair work discussion is primarily for fluency, not accuracy, the best thing to do is to let the students communicate with each other without the interference of the teacher. This can make some teachers (and students) uncomfortable. They may feel like they aren’t doing their ‘job’ properly if they aren’t correcting or seen to be correcting. Here are some tips for pair work: 1.Outline the benefits of pair work Make it clear to the students when they are meant to be practicing their accuracy and when they are meant to be working on fluency. Better yet, make the communication task so engaging that students will want to try to contribute something meaningful to the conversation. 2.Encourage clarification-seeking Teach students some communication strategies such as asking for clarification (Sorry, did you mean….?; Can you explain….please?) and checking understanding (Do you see what I mean?). These phrases can be posted on the wall for students to refer to during communication activities. 3. Let them talk Students need to learn to solve communication problems on their own - this is part of the learning speaking process. They also need to learn to do it on their own - to build their confidence in their speaking abilities. 4. Monitor but don’t interfere One strategy many teachers use is eavesdropping - listen to the conversations and make a note of any important errors or vocabulary issues. Make a note of good use of language, too. At the end of the activity, write the mistakes on the board (without saying who said the sentence!) and get the students to correct. This will be much more memorable to the students than stopping them in mid thought will be, when their focus is on trying to get their message out. By doing it at the end, students can be more focused on correcting the mistake.  Be sure to point out any good language use so that students can also see what they did right! 5. Develop your eavesdropping technique If you are standing near one pair, listen to another. Do this so that the pair you are nearest doesn’t get nervous and stop talking. 6. Answer student questions quickly, then move away If a student has a question about how to say something, help him or her out, then move on so that the pair can continue their conversation. 7.Let them know that mistakes are OK Teach students the importance of trying to say something even if it’s not completely accurate. Some students don’t want to say anything unless it is correct. This may mean they are accurate, but not able to say much at all. Help them understand the importance of getting their message across. Make sure the classroom is a ‘safe’ place to try out language and make mistakes. 8. Ask students to reflect on their own performance After the activity, ask students to make a note of anything they wanted to say but couldn’t. At this point you can help them create the phrase they needed. Ask students if they noticed when they made a mistake and if they were able to self-correct at any time. This kind of reflection on performance can help students be more self-aware and independent. Invitation to share your ideas Do you have anything to add on the subject of monitoring pair work? We’d love to hear from you! You can respond directly to this blog by leaving a comment below.  You can also take part in our live Facebook chat on Thursday 6th March from 12:00 - 13:00 GMT. 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 will be 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: Adults / Young Adults, Professional Development Tagged: #EFLproblems, EFL, Error correction, Fluency, Pair work, Peer correction, Professional Development, Speaking skills, Stacey Hughes, Teaching problems, Working in pairs

A while ago I wrote about using Evernote. Here is a link to a great video on the blog of Mister Norris. It talks about using Evernote for researching the IB extended essay. While you are there, check out some of the other posts on his blog. In particular I like his post on Open Online Portfolios. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Schools www.freetechforschools.com

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Marie Delaney is a teacher, trainer, educational psychotherapist, and author of ‘Teaching the Unteachable’ (Worth). She will be hosting a webinar entitled "Teaching Students with attention, concentration and hyperactivity difficulties" on 11th and 14th March. Here, she explores some of the themes of the upcoming webinar. Imagine being in a crowded shopping centre, music blaring, people shouting, laughing, talking excitedly all around you, traffic whizzing by, flashing neon signs, … and sitting in the middle of this chaos, trying to learn a foreign language. This is what it is like for some learners in our classrooms. Information and ideas bombard their brains and they find it impossible to focus on one thing. Joachim, a learner says. It’s as if every room in my brain has the lights on, I don’t know which room to go into first, in case I miss something important in another room." Teaching these learners can make us feel quite agitated and stressed. Agata, a teacher says Teaching Maja gives me a headache, she is like a spinning top, never stopping. I lose my own focus when talking to her." The behaviour of these learners usually falls into one or more of the following categories: Inattention They are easily distracted They cannot pay attention to detail They do not seem to listen or follow instructions They forget things all the time Hyperactivity They fidget and squirm They constantly leave their seat They seem constantly ‘on the go’ as if driven by a motor Impulsivity They shout out They cannot wait their turn They often express emotions inappropriately Some of these learners might have been diagnosed with ADHD. However, there are many possible reasons for this type of behaviour. If we can try to understand the underlying reasons and identify the needs of the learner, we can find teaching strategies to support them. Possible reasons for the behaviour They might be tired or hungry They might be preoccupied about outside worries or feel unsafe in class They might lack confidence and be anxious about their ability to do the work They might not understand the classroom rules They might have difficulties with executive functioning - the part of the brain which we use to think and solve problems. This also includes the internal voice, the voice we use to self-regulate They might have difficulties with working memory - holding information in our minds long enough to act on it Identification of needs and teaching strategies This leads us to the following learner needs and possible teaching strategies: The need to feel safe and secure Have a few clear classroom rules and remind learners of them Have a clear reward system; involve the learners in the design Set clear time limits for work; give warnings when time is nearly over Have a worry box for learners to post their concerns to the teacher Sit the learner near the teacher, away from distractions such as windows, heaters Allow the learner to go to a designated quiet area if the classroom gets too stressful Use visual prompts and timetables The need to build self-esteem Notice and praise when the learner is on-task and behaving appropriately Focus on the learner’s strengths Send home good reports Encourage study buddies The need for help with self-regulation Use individual laminated whiteboards for learners to show their answers rather than shouting out Allow the learner to work with headphones on or to imagine wearing headphones to cut out distractions Above all, do not give up with these learners, they will benefit from your perseverance! For other ideas on meeting the needs of these learners, particularly with regard to executive functioning and working memory, join my forthcoming webinar on 11th and 14th March entitled "Teaching Students with attention, concentration and hyperactivity difficulties".Filed under: Professional Development, Teenagers, Young Learners Tagged: ADHD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Discorder, Executive functioning, Inclusive learning, Marie Delaney, Primary and Secondary methodology, SEN, Special education, Special Educational Needs, Webinar, Working memory

Teachers often complain about not having enough time to learn new skills with all the planning and marking that goes with the job. Under Ten Minutes is a fantastic website which aims to tackle this. It's aims are similar to this site. Just like Free Technology for Schools, it lets people submit content, however it is focused on short instruction videos on how to use technology, both free and paid for. The only stipulation is that if the video is about a paid-for prodoct, it cannot be a sales pitch. Do you have 10 minutes to spare during your teaching day? If so, why not check it out and learn how to use some technology you've never used before, or if you are an expert, why not submit a video and help your fellow teachers. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Schools www.freetechforschools.com

Today’s question for the Q: Skills for Success authors: How can I help students that have a hard time learning the language (despite their effort)? Charl Norloff responds. We are no longer taking questions. Thank you to everyone who contacted us! Look out for more responses by the Q authors in the coming weeks, or check out the answers that we’ve posted already in our Questions for Q authors playlist. Related articles #qskills - How would you answer Krashen’s assertion that teaching EAP is a "waste of time"? #qskills - What can I do to improve my relationship with difficult students who do not like to study English? #qskills - Could you recommend useful tips for teaching writing skills? #qskills - How can I teach a class where there is a huge gap in language proficiency among the students? #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, Charl Norloff, EAP, English for Academic Purposes, English Language, Language learning, Q Skills for Success, Questions for Q authors, Struggling students

When I first started blogging I new very little about html and code in general. I still don't which is why I am hoping to start code academy in my school so that I can learn myself. What little code I have learned has come from experimenting on Free Tech for Schools, making changes and then previewing to see the effect, occasionally completely messing the whole thing up before having to restore from back-up! The new html editor has several improvements, including each line of code being numbered and being able to jump to the code for widgets and identify which code relates to each widget. If you are just starting with blogging and don't know anything about html, this is a good way to practice and learn a bit. Download a free blogger template that you like and then start playing with the code. You'll be surprised at what you can do. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Schools www.freetechforschools.com