Sep 2, 2021 Classroom Activities, Grammar, Lexis, Opinions Back to school Part Five: challenges and homework As if to prove the point about procrastination and failing to do stuff outside class that I made in my last post reflecting on my own language learning experiences, I’m almost ashamed to begin by admitting it has been over a year since I wrote these words: ‘I”ll talk a bit more about my approach […]
Jan 22, 2021 Classroom Activities, Grammar, Lexis, Opinions Twenty Things in Twenty Years Part Nine: the vast majority of mistakes really aren’t to do with grammar! The world used to be so tidy. Back in the misty morning of my youth, I seriously did naively believe that the root cause of student error was essentially grammatical. If only students could somehow have the ‘rules’ for the use of specific grammatical structures drilled into their heads through repeated mini-lectures, homeworks, pages of […]
Nov 26, 2020 Grammar, Opinions, The state of our profession Five more things I’ve learned from running the ENGLISH QUESTIONS ANSWERED group Two years ago now, I set up a Facebook group called ENGLISH QUESTIONS ANSWERED. In a sense, it was a purely selfish move as I wanted to be able to shepherd into one place all the questions about language that I regularly got asked across a wide range of platforms. Looking around at the many […]
Apr 24, 2020 Grammar, Opinions, Twenty things in twenty years Twenty Things in Twenty Years Part Four: the way I was taught to teach grammar crippled my understanding of grammar! I feel it best to warn you in advance that this is a post that could potentially spiral wildly out of control! It may also, I fear, contain themes I’ve entered into from slightly angles during other posts in this series. This is down to the fact that this is a topic that’s exercised me […]
Apr 22, 2020 Grammar, Opinions, Twenty things in twenty years Twenty Things in Twenty Years Part Three: kicking the grammar habit As I’m sure I’ve mentioned elsewhere, my induction into English Language Teaching via a four-week CELTA at Westminster College (and, indeed, my subsequent year-long part-time DELTA) left me with that very same affliction that so many of our students still find themselves stuck with a bad case of: Grammar Anxiety. The whole main thrust of […]
