Jun 9, 2019 Coursebooks, Grammar, Lexis, Opinions A different kind of Beginner-level book 4: a spiralling syllabus A spiralling syllabus is NOT just about grammarHopefully, you’ll have read our previous post on a spiral syllabus. In this short post, I want to add that the spiral syllabus doesn’t only apply to grammar. The same principles also apply to vocabulary and ‘functions’ and indeed to whole exchanges. In the case of vocabulary, this […]
May 13, 2019 Coursebooks, Grammar, Lexis, Opinions A different kind of Beginner-level book 3: choosing which vocabulary to teach Making choices about vocabulary: teaching what’s relevant to most students, responding to individualsIn our last post, we looked at how we’ve tried to ensure that Outcomes Beginner provides students with just enough grammar to have the kinds of basic conversations they’ll want to have. Today we want to explore another way in which we’ve tried […]
Apr 28, 2019 Coursebooks, Grammar, Lexis, Opinions A different kind of Beginner-level book 2 Just enough grammar and a spiral syllabusIn our last post on teaching beginner-level students, we stated this principle:While there is a value in noticing and practising a particular aspect of grammar or vocabulary, it will not be mastered in that lesson. Accurate production of words or grammar in conversation / writing will be acquired for […]
Apr 8, 2019 Beginners & Low levels, Chunks, Coursebooks, Developing materials, Grammar, Lexis What is a good coursebook for beginners? In a pevious post I explained why the typical syllabus at low levels is bad, but this does leave the question what is a good coursebook for beginners? Obviously, the short answer to this question is our own book Outcomes Beginner, but in this post and others I’m going to set out a bit more […]
Jan 17, 2019 Classroom Activities, Grammar, Lexis, Opinions Translation: Tackling the Taboo part 2 In the first post on tackling the taboo that surrounds using any form of translation in the language classroom, I unpacked my own slow conversion, considered the roots of the English-only dogma, and explored why such positions were unsustainable. Today I’d like to move on to more practical matters and simply share seven activities that […]
