Learning to Teach Better

READING In the Reading section the ‘don’t do guessing from context’ is the most interesting point for me. I believe once upon a time I came across some research which claimed that it was not the most effective technique, so this idea has not come as a surprise for me. However, I think it might work at least partly, which can be enough when reading for gist. What I do not quite understand though is why asking which part of speech the word is doesn’t add to the comprehension. From my point of view, if a student doesn’t / can’t pinpoint the part of speech, they are not able to use even a bilingual dictionary correctly as the meaning quite often depends on the part of speech. Moreover, when it is time for them to use the word, they won’t be able to use it correctly in a sentence of their own. WRITING I really like the idea of brief writing tasks to do in class. Most of my students seem to find writing one of the most challenging types of activities (even more challenging than speaking), so...

Using L1 Just this week I went to a seminar for English teachers. And what was I told about using L1? Never ever use it! Fortunately, I can disagree with it now without feeling like I am doing something revolutionary. I have always believed that L1 is a great tool for clarifying the meaning. Explanations, visuals, etc. are great and I love and use them, but then just a second to translate and check that everybody knows what this new word is. Recently, I have tried using a bit of “comparative linguistics” in my classroom. I am trying to draw my students’ attention to the differences and similarities in L1 and English grammar. And it is not only form, but also function that we are talking about. And just yesterday while dealing with the Passive Voice, I could at last see the student get what all the fuss is about and how her L1 deals with this function. I always say that as it is an English class, everybody speaks English, but it doesn’t matter there is no place for L1. Though I would be...

As usual Penny’s presentation is great food for thought, so it takes some time to process. I have always felt that correcting is better than not correcting. Something about the lack of feedback doesn’t sit well with me both as a teacher and as a learner. I believe that production without feedback is like shouting into the void – a bit upsetting and not really useful. As for types of correction, recast has seemed to me a bit too superficial, so I generally ask for clarification (and I also think it is quite a natural way of correcting) and use metalinguistic feedback. Truth be told, it was nice to be proven right :) But these are the ways I use when I decide to interrupt the student during fluent speech. If I opt out, then I take notes both of errors and good language (so when my students see me writing down something, they don’t think they are doing something wrong). At the end of the activity I start (and finish) with some positive feedback and then I invite the student to correct the...

SPEAKING IN ONE-TO-ONE SETTING Each tip presented by Penny is great food for thought, but I would like to focus on just a few which resonate the most with me. As I believe there are a few differences in approaching speaking in one-to-one classes, here I am sharing my experience and thoughts with you. 1. Don’t do Speaking with new students Actually, I do the complete opposite. At the very beginning of the first class I intentionally put my new student on the spot and ask them to tell me about themselves in English. I’m not trying to be cruel here. It is just a truly effective way for me to evaluate their speaking proficiency. If the student can speak, they will – that’s an opportunity for them to shine. If they can’t or are reluctant, then I scaffold by, for instance, speaking about myself (modelling) or asking simple questions requiring one-word answers. This usually gives them a sense of success and also shows them my teaching philosophy: if you want to learn to speak English, you hav...

STORYTELLING I have been a huge fan of storytelling for a long time (it sounds weird but I tells stories in English better than in any other language). I used to be reluctant to talk about my own experiences or tell anecdotes and jokes because of the pressure the idea of limited TTT put on me, but one of my colleagues said – and I completely agree with her – that when you are telling a story, you are providing students with valuable input besides other things. So, this week I told stories as usual, but I would like to share two cases with you. First was with a reluctant-to-ask-questions student. We read a story about a satnav failure and did some work with linkers. Then I decided to share my experience with satnav (a true and ridiculously funny story), but I tricked the student into asking questions by stopping and pretending to try to remember how things went. She was full of questions and enthusiasm, which later transformed into her telling me a great story about herself. (I sneaked ...

Hello everybody We talked a bit about 'perfectionists' who want to understand each and every word when listening. How do you make them 'focus on listening and not on judging themselves', as one of the participants wrote (I am so sorry I don't remember the name, but the words really resonated with me)?

Hello everybody I am a private tutor from Moscow, Russia. I mostly work with teenagers and adults, teaching general, business and exam courses. My classroom can be either online or brick-and-mortar, so to speak, but I teach only one-to-one these days. I love teaching Business English and helping my students prepare for exams, as these are the most motivated groups in my experience. I have been at it for about 9 years, so now I am looking for some insights to keep me moving forward and developing as a teacher. It might be too bold of me, but I hope to be inspired both by the course and by my fellow teachers’ experience. As for the particulars, I am interested in digital tools for teaching, motivating students to do more self-studying and independent work, peculiarities of teaching high-level students and ways of giving better feedback. P.S. When I am not trying to teach English (better), I am a curious globetrotter instagramming my experiences and an avid language learner trying to rele...