Dealing with vocabulary in the classroom

Dealing with Vocabulary in the classroom

Alastair Grant

“What does xxxx mean?”  “I don’t understand what it says here”  As any teacher can tell you, not a class goes by without someone asking you for the definition of a word.  It could be a word from the text they’re reading in class, or it could be something they saw on TV last night, or that they heard in a song they were listening to on their way to class.

The teacher knowing what the word means isn’t a problem (unless it’s some new fandangled expression which is fashionable amongst teens that particular week), the problem comes in trying to get students to spread their wings a bit more.  How can we make our students autonomous learners, who feel confident enough to understand without running to their dictionary (or teacher) every two minutes?  How do we, as teachers, know what vocabulary to introduce to our students? And when?

This session will answer all those questions, and more!

 

Nonsense IHWO  Plan  Though the way coursebooks deal with vocabulary varies types of vocab

Using Authentic Material

Using Authentic Material

Maggie Healy

Based on a session by Silvana Giménez Amadeo in 2009

There’s lots of talk around these days about using authentic material in the classroom and while it’s a wonderful resource for language teaching there are also some drawbacks and pitfalls to watch out for. Sourcing suitable material is very important and so is designing a suitable task and gauging it well to the level of your students. Setting achievable gist and detailed tasks or creating a guided discovery lesson can be challenging. This session aims at brainstorming some ways that we can extract a quality lesson from sample authentic material.

2011-05-18 – Authentic Material – Sample worksheets  2011-09-19 – Authentic Material – Handout  Authentic Material – Theory

Literature in the EFL Classroom 2011

Literature in the EFL Classroom 2011

Emma Cresswell

Following on from last year’s session Literature in the EFL Classroom, this session looks at other ways to introduce literature into the classroom and ways to exploit its use.

 

Literature in the EFL Classroom 2011  Literature in the EFL Classroom 2011 – wordles  Literature in the EFL Classroom 2011 – titles and front covers  Literature in the EFL Classroom 2011 – Book Descriptions  Literature in the EFL Classroom 2011 – bloom’s taxonomy  Literature in the EFL Classroom 2011 – bloom’s taxonomy – example questions

Literature in the EFL Classroom

Can literature help our students to become more effective communicators?  Literature in the EFL Classroom.

Emma Cresswell

The word literature can often strike fear into the souls of both teachers and students alike.  Many of us carry the scars of bad literature experiences in the classroom.

During this session we will look at the changing role literature has played in the EFL classroom as well as some of the benefits of using literature on a regular basis in the classroom.  We shall look at how any fan of reading can embrace literature in their lessons without needing to be an expert.  Finally in answering the question whether literature will help our students become more effective commnicators, we will also look at ways to nurture and encourage our students as they embark on a journey into the world of English literature.

Literature in the EFL Classroom – Handout

Can we help our students to become more effective communicators