Articles

The communicative approach to language learning stresses the need for meaningful communication, emphasising that if learners have a genuine reason or motivation to talk then they will use the language more effectively.

How can we encourage parents to create opportunities for their children to learn English at home? In this second part of a two-part article, Theresa Zanatta shares some practical strategies.

How can we help parents support their children’s English learning at home? In the first part of this two-part article, Theresa Zanatta shares some practical strategies.

This second article concentrates on classroom activities. The way the video is used and the materials prepared for use with the video will depend on the role the video is to take. 

This first article will give an introduction to some of the issues surrounding video with young learners. It will discuss the benefits but also the potential drawbacks of using video, the different roles video can take and then present criteria for selecting videos. 

In recent years content-based instruction has become increasingly popular as a means of developing linguistic ability. 

As mentioned in Error Correction 1, students can differ greatly in their attitude to producing spoken English. Some are only interested in developing their fluency at the expense of accuracy while others are so focused on accuracy that they have no fluency.

What makes an effective piece of writing? Good writers plan and revise, rearrange and delete text, re-reading and producing multiple drafts before they produce their finished document. This is what a process writing approach is about.

When it comes to error correction we are dealing with one individual’s reaction to a student’s piece of writing or utterance. This inevitably means that there will be some disagreement among teachers about what, when, and how to correct.

This is the first part of an article looking at the theories of language which form the foundations of the lexical approach to teaching English.