Express Publishing ELT

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 >>

A few thoughts on grammar

Is the sentence at the top of the page grammatically correct? Well, it follows the rules about combining words (adjectives + noun + verb + adverb) in the right way, but does it mean anything? Only by a tortuous stretch of the imagination. Something cannot be both colourless and green. It’s hard to imagine sleeping furiously (unless you are violently tossing and turning in the bed). Can an idea sleep? I suppose you could have green ideas if you are thinking of green meaning ecological. The only possible meaningful paraphrase I can think of is something along the lines of: dull ecological ideas don’t result in action, despite all the angry talk. But taken literally, Chomsky’s famous sentence is lacking in the second part of a definition of grammar, which is that the correctly combined words should form acceptable units of meaning within a language. The form must have a function. So, you can be perfectly grammatical but say nothing meaningful.     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 >>

A teacher shares her thoughts on using photographs to spark discussion and prod students into producing language.

Photographs have layers of meaning and can be classified in a number of ways depending on the context and the intent.

On a personal note, photography serves as a channel that bridges my inner thought processes with a creative artistic outlet. It is a form of self-expression. Photography allows me to express in a non-verbal way my emotions, thoughts, ideas, and feelings as well as focusing on taking aesthetically appealing photographs. I’ve found that photography is an intensely personal experience. It’s me and the camera     read more >>