Express Publishing ELT

A recent survey of employers found that when it comes to recruiting young people, they value creativity and adaptability above paper qualifications. The Common European Framework for education outlines competences, rather than the knowledge as the aim of education. It’s not so important what you know, but rather what you can do, so we have a duty to ensure our students practice the sorts of skills they’ll be needing in the future as well as teaching them a language     read more >>

Why do pre-listening tasks?
In real life it is unusual for people to listen to something without having some idea of what they are going to hear. When listening to a radio phone-in show, they will probably know which topic is being discussed. When listening to an interview with a famous person, they probably know something about that person already. A waiter knows the menu from which the diner is choosing their food.     read more >>

Learning by heart – a plea for poetry.
A strange expression that. What it usually means is memorization – sticking things in your head and keeping them there, ready to reproduce when required. Download, save, open.
Amo, amas, amat, amatis, amantis, amant.
Two twos are four, three twos are six, four twos are eight.

We might be asked to learn a passage from a textbook for a dictation or a list of words to spell. And how else do you remember irregular verbs other than by committing them to memory?     read more >>

Here’s something you might try with higher level / age groups. Give them some of the phrases in groups (don’t do them all in one session) and ask them to come up with ways in which these sayings might or might not be true and whether they agree with them. This can lead to a whole class discussion. The activity helps develop the six elements of critical thinking that will help improve reading comprehension     read more >>