Articles
Read articles written by expert teachers and English language professionals about a wide range of current English language teaching topics and issues. All of our articles feature ideas and suggestions about how you can develop your teaching and bring new ideas into your English language classroom.
Assimilation
Assimilation is a process where sounds in separate words change when they are put together in speech.
Asynchronous learning
Asynchronous learning occurs when learner and teacher are not in the same place at the same time.
Audience
Written or spoken communication has an audience - the people the message is for. In order for the message to be effective it must be written or said with the audience in mind.
Audio-lingualism
Audio-lingualism is a method of foreign language teaching where the emphasis is on learning grammatical and phonological structure, especially for speaking and listening.
Authentic
Authentic materials are written or spoken texts used with learners without changing the level of language.
Authentic task
An authentic task is a task that native speakers of a language would do in everyday life.
Autonomy
Autonomy means the ability to take control of one’s own learning, independently or in collaboration with others.
Auxiliary verb
Auxiliary verbs are added to main verbs to make them work in other forms, such as questions, negatives, and other times.
Awareness-raising
Awareness-raising activities aim to make learners more aware of language and so improve their understanding, but do not involve learners in using the language themselves.
Backchaining
Backchaining is a drilling technique intended to help learners pronounce difficult sound groups, words or phrases.