One of the most challenging parts of being a teenager is the process of discovering who you are. When they are teens, our English language learners first engage with the world around them with purpose, lay claim to it as their own, and decide what kind of person they want to
Tag: Critical Thinking
Multiple Literacies in the English Language Classroom
Download our position paper to learn about the value of multiple literacies in the English language classsroom.
Teaching Sustainability in ELT: What, Why, and How
Sustainability isn’t just a trending topic — which is why it’s more important than ever that we start considering how we can weave it into our educational practices. In a recent webinar, ‘Sustainable Life: Combining Project-Based Learning and Problem Solving in English Language Teaching’, we looked at why sustainability really
Creating Pathways Between Academic and Employability Skills
If you already have experience teaching English to college and university-aged students, you’ll understand that we can develop their academic skills alongside their language skills. Note-taking, listening to lectures, research skills, and giving presentations are all skills needed to operate in a demanding educational environment. But is it enough to
Inspiring Wonder and Curiosity in Young Learner English Language Instruction
A few years ago I came across an extraordinary photo entitled Moonwalk by filmmaker and photographer Renan Ozturk. The image is of tightrope walker Andy Lewis, poised, midair, between two towering granite rocks in the state of Utah. The crisp, white, larger-than-life moon rises from the horizon in the background
Inquiry-Based Learning in the Young Learner English Language Classroom
Creating space for inquiry-based learning in the English language classroom can be difficult for teachers to navigate. We often feel caught between the spontaneity of the group before us as we explore an ongoing unit, and our need to meet curricular demands and make the best use of pedagogical materials.
Six Tips for Teaching Academic Writing
For many English language instructors, teaching academic writing can be a struggle. Perhaps that’s because we usually approach writing internally, and often without any kind of structure or process. Students might start with the first sentence and see where that takes them. But think of it this way: Unless you’re
3 Tips to Improve Visual Literacy in the ELT Classroom
We deal with an increasing amount of information daily, whether we are scrolling social media or catching up on the news. How can we avoid information overload and retain what we read? We need to be active consumers of information, constantly improving our ability to understand and present information visually.
Reflecting and building background knowledge
This blog post is a follow-up to a webinar I gave a few weeks ago. The webinar addressed this question: How do we avoid overwhelming our learners when we present them with new topics and information-rich texts and then ask them to discuss and analyze them in a meaningful way?
Promoting Critical thinking, Questioning and Discovery in Young Learners
The main aim of these blog posts is to promote critical thinking, questioning and discovery learning in primary learners. Each blog post starts with a question that teachers will use as a springboard with their learners. Activities will cover a range of types, interactions and outcomes. The ideas will be