Tag: English language teaching reference books

“Essential Phonetics is a great book. It is very comprehensive and concise at the same time. It deals with pronunciation problems we always face in multicultural classes, and gives us teachers easy, straightforward phonetic input, enabling us to help our students.”

We talk about the principle of differentiation in the TEFL Preparation Course and again in the Teaching English to Young Learners Course.  In both courses we consider how to apply it both in the adult classroom and with younger english language learners. Here are some books for further reading.

This was the first book I ever bought as a fledgling English teacher. It saved me on many an occasion when I was busy lesson planning and trying to anticipate questions about meaning , form and register. It’s a book for dipping into as needs arise.

Part of being a teacher is also like being a camp leader. How a group bonds, how they manage cultural difference, and solve problems at a social level really affects your class. Language clarification aside, you need to have techniques, approaches and activities that help develop rapport.

This is a publication I’ve participated in, contributing one of the chapters. The book features articles and practical ideas for using still and moving images in language education.

500 Activities for the Primary Classroom” is the answer to that perennial question of “What on earth am I going to do with my class tomorrow?” Aimed at teachers of young learners between the ages of 3-12, this is a lively, varied compendium of ideas and classroom activities.

We don’t just consume stories these days, we add to them, we participate in the writing of them through our collaboration on social media. Storytelling is memorable because of it’s use of image and imagery, rhythm and repetition of theme words or sound. But what do we mean when we refer to transmedia?

This new edition, Tell it Again! The New Storytelling Handbook, brings together this accumulated experience as well as recent developments in language teaching, and provides a completely revised and updated methodology section including new guidelines on how to assess pupils’ story-based work, learning to learn, learning about culture and learning technologies. Part 2 offers detailed story notes written by experienced materials writers and practising teachers on ten stories selected from Puffin’s rich list of children’s literature as well as two photocopiable stories.

A book offering Primary School language teachers a new and practical methodology based on the importance, now universally recognised in curricula around the world, of teaching children how to learn. Much like the books we make reference to about teaching higher order thinking skills and “Fat Questions”, we need to support and build awareness of what learning actually is. In many ways, these skills need to be addressed with adults too.