Writing good comprehension activities is hard, but Sue is ready to help us take on the challenge in this online workshop. She’ll take us through different stages of writing a skills lesson, including lead-in activities, comprehension and language focus; present some rules and guidelines that can help; and also go into some detail on how […]

In this highly interactive workshop, I would like to share insights into the world of leadership development (the challenges leaders face and the training and coaching solutions I typically provide). We'll explore the opportunities and challenges for ELT professionals to increase further the scope of their activity beyond language. More details here, and to register, […]

In our first session, we look at what a lexical way of looking at language involves - and how it differs from a more traditional grammar + words approach. We’ll explore why a grammar plus words approach can be hard to sustain, and consider some of the problems it presents in terms of classroom content. […]

Global school closures mean that even teachers who have avoided online teaching are being forced to deliver lessons and/or content to their students digitally. In the absence of face-to-face contact, good assessment is more important than ever in providing feedback to students and keeping them engaged and motivated. In this session, we’ll talk about some […]

Why do we call it “hardware”? Because it’s hard to choose and hard to use, or so it seems sometimes. If you want to make a better impression in your virtual live sessions, but haven’t yet found the right equipment, this Tech Talk is for you. We’ll be talking about picture and sound quality, and […]

In 1981, Spotlight magazine was founded with the aim of helping German-speaking learners to improve their English via journalistic content that was more up-to-date and entertaining than course books and also more accessible than regular English-language media. Forty years later, Spotlight Verlag is part of the ZEIT Publishing Group in Hamburg and publishes six magazines […]

Being efficient and effective - this is the goal of many teachers. Technology can help, but good organisation is key. When planning or creating lessons, we should ensure we get the most out of everything we do. Take inspiration from the environmental mantra ‘Reduce, reuse, recycle’ - reduce the amount of time we spend looking […]

The role of grammar in overall language proficiency (central or peripheral?), the best way to teach it (e.g. explicitly or implicitly?), and even its very nature (e.g. patterns, structures or constructions?) are issues that continue to engage teachers, course designers and materials writers. In this interactive webinar I invite you to pose your own questions […]

At lower levels, it makes sense to teach a core vocabulary based around the most frequent 2000- 3000 words, but beyond that where do we go? Many students develop a core productive vocabulary that allows them to operate within their comfort zone and although their receptive vocabulary continues to grow, the range of words and […]