Group of secondary-aged learners working together to complete a task. The group has learners of different genders and ethnic backgrounds.

TeachingEnglish: Communicative tasks

How will the course help you?

By the end of Communicative tasks, you’ll be able to:

  • define genre
  • create communicative speaking and listening activities
  • design meaningful, real-world tasks.

How can you enrol on the course?

Register for a free TeachingEnglish account or log in to your account.

Enrol on this free course

What resources can you access at any time?

  • A free workbook with extra learning content and resources connected to the course contents
  • A dedicated Facebook community of course participants with up-to-date insight, resources and innovative teaching ideas for you to try out (Facebook account required)
  • Learning content related to our courses on Facebook and YouTube
  • Live events and recordings with course tutors and language teaching experts on Facebook and YouTube
  • Resources on the TeachingEnglish website
  • Sign up for our newsletter to keep up to date on when our courses open

What are the self-study modules in Communicative tasks?

Module 1 – Engaging with genre

The aim of this module is to give you an understanding of what genre is and how a knowledge of genre can be useful. You will define what genre is, identify the purposes and stages of different genres as well as plan the stages of a writing lesson using a model text.

Module 2 – Engaging with speaking and listening genres

This module will help you create genuinely communicative activities that target specific speaking and listening genres. You’ll define genre in the context of speaking and listening, identify communicative activities for speaking and listening, and select and design appropriate assessment tasks that focus on communicative competence and appropriacy, not only language form. 

Module 3 – Putting task-based learning (TBL) into practice  

This module will help you design meaningful, real-world tasks that promote communication, support learner autonomy and lead to purposeful language use.

Do you have more questions?

Please see our FAQs or access further support through our Help button.

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How to get certificate???

Hi!
You will need to successfully complete all self-study modules in order to receive a certificate of completion. You also need to download or view all resource documents. Every unit needs to show as 100% complete in order to successfully complete the course.
When you have successfully completed your course, your certificate will be available to download or view in the 'My awards’ section in the training platform. Click on MY PORTFOLIO – My courses and you will see 'My awards’ at the top of the screen.
Can you check that you've completed everything please, and if you're still having problems, let us know.
Best wishes,
Jo (TeachingEnglish team)

Thank you for this opportunity... Amazing course

Thank you so much for this opportunity

Special thanks for providing these kind of classes

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What is the procedure for enrolling in this course?

Hi!
You can enrol on this course until 30 Sep 2026.
Click/tap the button that says 'Enrol on this free course'.
Scroll down until you find the course, then click/tap 'Enrol in activity'.
Then go to 'My courses' and 'Start course'.
I hope that helps!
Best wishes,
Jo (TeachingEnglish team)

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Open minded towards learning.

Profile picture for user Luckson Tembo

Thank you for this opportinity to learn, to be inspired and to inspire my students.

Amazing course

Profile picture for user mibrar2199@.

Everything well organized, it's gonna so amazing to learn speak and teaching the students such type of content help the primary sections to contribute in English language

Profile picture for user muskan_Aly

Hi Ma'am,
Hope this message finds you well.
I wanna ask you a question. At the end of the course we will get the certificate. So what is the process for certificate?

Hi Muskan, thank you for your comment. Once you have completed all the course modules and downloaded the resource documents your course certificate will appear in the My awards section of the course platform. Your progress needs to be 100% in order to receive a certificate.

Good luck with the course!

Philippa - TeachingEnglish team

I would like to study IELTS

Nice to meet you. I'm Olena, how can I start this course?

Hi Olena - welcome to the TeachingEnglish community!
To join this free course, you just need to click/tap on the purple button above ('Enrol on this free course'). This will take you to our courses platform, where you will be able to access the course modules.
If you are having any problems, please write to us at TeachingEnglish@britishcouncil.org
Thanks and enjoy the course!
Cath - The TeachingEnglish team

Thank you for this opportinity to learn, to be inspired and to inspire my students.

Very good

Hello. Could you help me with enrolling?
The course is open but I can't gain access to the course.

Hi Helena

Thanks for your comment and sorry you are having issues accessing the course.
I've just checked and you are already enrolled on this course. To access the modules
- log in to your TeachingEnglish account
- click on the 'My portfolio - My courses' tab at the top of the page. If you don't see this, go to 'My account - My courses'.
- This will take you to the course platform. Here you should see the course and be able to click on the modules to start working on them.

If you are still having problems, please write to us at TeachingEnglish@britishcouncil.org and if you can send a screenshot of what you are seeing, that's helpful.
Hope you can access the course now and enjoy it!
Cath - TeachingEnglish team

It is an interesting course.

Profile picture for user GRaisa@-808

Hi everyone.I'm new in this platform and I want to know complete the course Thank you beforehand.

Hi GRaisa@-808
Welcome to TeachingEnglish! If you are interested in taking this course, you can click on the 'Enrol on this free course' button above. This will take you to our courses platform where you can access the modules.
All of our courses are free and self-access, meaning that you can complete them in your own time.
You can find out more about our courses on our FAQs page here: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/training/courses/training-courses-fa…

We hope you enjoy the course :)
Cath - TeachingEnglish team

There is an issue in the course enrollment. Please, check.

Thanks Houria, we have just switched on our new site, and there are some things we need to configure. I think that you should be able to enrol now.
Thanks
Jack - The TeachingEnglish Team

I want to study this course because I want to become a better English teacher. I teach primary school students, and I am always looking for new teaching methods and ideas to make my lessons more interesting and effective. I hope to improve my teaching skills, learn from experienced educators, and use technology to support my students' learning. I also want to continue my professional development and provide the best learning experience for my students.

Hi TaThanhTam

Thanks for your comment. The course is now open so if you haven’t already signed up, you can do so now. Hope you find it useful!

Cath

TeachingEnglish team

Try to practice English well.

Loved this course on communicative tasks for teaching English.So practical and inspiring!

Hi Theresah_

We’re really glad you enjoyed the course and felt inspired by it :)

Cath

TeachingEnglish team

Hi ManaPrinceKoroma

Thanks for your comment.

If you are interested in signing up for this free course, you just need to click on the purple button above (Enrol on this free course). This will take you to our courses platform, where you should be able to click to enrol. 

The next time you log on, you can access your course by clicking on the 'My Portfolio - my courses’ tab at the top of the page. 

Please let us know if you need further help or if you have problems.  You can also check the FAQs page for our courses here: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/training/courses/training-courses-faqs

I hope that helps and that you enjoy the course!

Cath

TeachingEnglish team

Timings?

Hi!
If you are referring to the duration of the course, it should take around 9-12 hours.
Just for future reference, you can usually find timings for TeachingEnglish resources at the top of the page (left-hand side if on a larger device).
Hope you enjoy the course,
Kim
TeachingEnglish team

Hi ma'am!
Do you provide a certificate after completing this free course?

Hi haseena banu

Yes - once you complete all the modules on our courses, you will receive a certificate of completion - you can find it under 'My awards - my certificates' when you are logged into the course.
Hope that helps - enjoy the course!
Cath - TeachingEnglish team

I will need help in navigating such amazing things. I am so poor in Technology. Thanks

I can collect plenty of practical task designs from these articles and videos. I can integrate digital tasks and real-life projects into my lessons. I will follow the three stages of TBL to make my speaking classes more communicative and student-centred.

Sir when Start course please tell about course when Start?

Hello - this course has already started. It is a self-access course, so you can complete the modules in your own time. Once you have enrolled, you should see the 'My portfolio' tab at the top of the page when you log in. Click on that, then 'My courses'. This will take you to our courses page where you can start working on the modules. Please let us know if you need help, and enjoy the course!
Cath – TeachingEnglish team