Being able to speak effortlessly is a great luxury. As a native speaker, I can more or less assume my messages and intentions are clear. I know my objective in a conversation, and I use my voice to support that objective. In addition to strategic […]
I recently started using an app to learn German. I liked it more than I wanted to. As a language teacher, I would like to side with my colleague who says, “There’s no substitute for a teacher in the classroom.” But I don’t feel like taking on […]
As instructors, we’ve been told that beginning students cannot handle multiple paragraphs and more advanced grammatical concepts, such as infinitives or subordinating conjunctions. The aim of this post is to challenge that belief.
There’s a saying in English, “Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater.” We mean that in discarding one thing we risk losing something valuable. The five-paragraph essay is one of these things. It has been with us for a while now, and it persists, but under fire. […]
Cambridge University Press is hosting a panel for grammar week in March 2021, and we’ve been asked to come up with questions to explore with colleagues. I know exactly which question I want to ask. How do I move grammar practice into students’ meaningful use? After decades of […]
Here is a drawing-and-guessing activity from our new book, 60 Kinesthetic Grammar Activities (Alphabet Publishing) that gives students an opportunity to practice the imperative in a fun and meaningful way. The activity can easily be adapted to a socially-distanced classroom with partners sitting face-to-face and six-feet apart.
For the first post of the year, let’s talk about pragmatics, prosody and pronunciation. Our voice tells the other person whether we are serious, joking, offended or something else. Stress emphasis communicates what information is new or important. And our way of expressing thought groups enhances comprehensibility. When […]
This morning I learned that Japanese parents invoke a demon named Oni to scare their children into eating their vegetables. I also heard about coconut man who became the husband of the most beautiful girl in the village. My students also talked about the role of angels in […]
Getting ready for CaTESOL on Friday where I’ll be talking about pronunciation through theater. I believe drama still supports communication skills, even on zoom!
Many students have photos like this one on their phones, and they provide an example of the material we can draw on to create community in an online classroom. The following five icebreakers are fairly simple and do not require specialized technology or skills. They work best when […]
English Endeavors 