Apr 28, 2019 Coursebooks, Grammar, Lexis, Opinions A different kind of Beginner-level book 2 Just enough grammar and a spiral syllabus In 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 […]
Apr 8, 2019 Coursebooks, Grammar, Lexis, Opinions A different kind of Beginner-level book 1 If that’s what it’s not, what is it? A recent talk I did about the Beginner syllabus and why we really shouldn’t be bothering with short auxiliary answers at this level produced quite a few responses o social media – both positive and negative. On the whole, I’m happy to receive both, though some made […]
Mar 28, 2019 Coursebooks, Grammar, Opinions Why don’t we teach more grammatical chunks at low levels? One of the curiosities of the dominant grammar syllabus at low levels is that certain ‘higher-level’ grammar does occasionally creep through as words or chunks, while other patterns are apparently still not allowed to. Would you like some more chunks? The best example of this is that Would you like …? is frequently taught as […]
Oct 28, 2017 Classroom Activities, Coursebooks, Opinions Complicating the coursebook debate: part 4 In this post, I’m going to look at how I would use the material from Outcomes Intermediate that I mentioned in my previous post. As I would generally tend to do, I am going to look at the material in the order it is laid out in the book, but let me reiterate that this […]
Oct 13, 2017 Classroom Activities, Coursebooks, Lexis, Opinions On the over-use of concept-checking questions: part 2 I recently wrote a post outlining why I’m not a fan of using concept-checking questions – CCQs – when dealing with vocabulary and if you’ve not read it, it may make sense to go there first before continuing. I ran through several reasons I find the continuing use of CCQs problematic when applied to vocabulary, […]
