Lessons in

Your Inbox
Preparing content for online teaching
Contents
3 
Five things you always wanted to 20 
Reviewing vocabulary with apps
know about Teaching English live Teaching English: Best Practices
online (but were too afraid to ask) for Blended Learning,
English Teaching professional, (113) Pete Sharma and Barney Barrett
Nicky Hockly
22 
Flipped listening with TED
4 
Setting up a course online Teaching English: Best Practices
Teaching English: Best Practices for Blended Learning,
for Blended Learning, Pete Sharma and Barney Barrett
Pete Sharma and Barney Barrett
24 Squeezing the messaging app
6  0 things to know about teaching
1 Teaching English: Best Practices
via video conferencing for Blended Learning,
ETpedia Technology, Pete Sharma and Barney Barrett
Nicky Hockly
27 10 ways to use YouTube effectively
9  0 ways to develop digital literacies
1 ETpedia Technology,
ETpedia Technology, Nicky Hockly
Nicky Hockly
30 Webwatcher: a video tool to ensure
12 Worth a thousand words engagement
English Teaching professional (117) English Teaching professional (116)
Jason Anderson Russell Stannard
14 
Creating your own resources 31 Troubleshooting
Teaching Grammar: From Rules to reasons, Teaching English One to One (2nd Edition),
Danny Norrington-Davies Priscilla Osborne

This collection contains articles, chapters, and units from Pavilion ELT publications available to
purchase at www.pavpub.com/pavilion-elt

Visit Pavilion ELT at www.pavpub.com/pavilion-elt today.

Five things you always wanted to know about In this series,

Teaching English
Nicky Hockly explains
aspects of technology
which some people may be

live online embarrassed to confess that

they don’t really understand.
In this article, she looks at
(but were too afraid to ask) live online teaching.

1What do you mean by ‘teaching live online’? 4 What’s the downside?

In the last few years, I’ve seen increasing numbers of teachers Becoming confident with using videoconferencing technology, and
interested in learning how to teach English online via knowing how to use it effectively to support your students’
videoconferencing tools like Skype. You teach your student(s) learning, takes time and practice. Designing effective lessons for
online in real time, or in other words, ‘live’. Skype is not the only individual students or small groups online also takes time and
tool you could use. There are other free videoconferencing practice. As any language teacher knows, having students interact
platforms like appear.in or Google Hangouts, and there are also with each other and use the language in meaningful ways is an
pay-for platforms like Zoom, Blackboard Collaborate or Adobe essential part of language learning. Online, this can be done via
Connect. To get an idea of the range of platforms currently videoconferencing technology, and many teachers need to resist
available, take a look at the five-minute guide to the urge to simply lecture their students when they first start
videoconferencing software at https://youtu.be/-1t0Fi2vZ38. teaching languages online. Another major challenge is how to

2 Where can I teach live online?

market yourself as an online teacher, and how to attract paying
customers. Building your own professional-looking website and
knowing where and how to recruit language students are important
Companies have been recruiting teachers to teach English
early steps for the aspiring solo online language teacher.
live online for years. More established companies include
Myngle (www.myngle.com/), founded a decade ago. More
recently-established onl ine language outfits include Perfectly 5 Sliveo where should I start if I want to teach
online?
Spoken (https://perfectlyspoken.com/), Language in Motion
(www.limlessons.com/) and Live Lingua (www.livelingua.com/). Teaching online in real time via a videoconferencing tool is simply
Several of these online companies offer a range of languages not the same as teaching face-to-face. Your lessons need to be
for students. However, in some cases the pay for live online carefully planned, and you need to know how to use the range of
teachers can be low, and some companies’ hiring practices tools that your chosen videoconferencing platform provides in
are unfairly biased towards so-called ‘native speakers’. ways that actually help your students learn. There are several ways
What’s more, online language companies can come and go. you can get started. You can try out teaching via videoconferencing
LiveMocha, for example, established in 2007 and with up with a few dummy students (ie friends or family), and learn via trial
to 12 million registered members from 136 countries at its and error. You can read up on the topic, to develop your
peak, folded in 2016. For these reasons, increasing numbers background knowledge about videoconferencing platforms and
of English teachers are interested in going solo, offering lesson design. You can get some online training which involves
private classes online to individuals or to groups of hands-on practice with real videoconferencing platforms, and
language students. guidance in how to plan effective lessons. (Feel free to email me for

3 Why would I want to teach live online?

reading and/or training recommendations.) Either way, it’s helpful
to get some practice, training and/or support before you set out to
build your own online English language teaching empire! n
The advantages are obvious. You can work from home, you
can set your own working hours and hourly rate of pay, and
you can find your own clients/students to teach English to. Nicky Hockly has been involved in EFL
Videoconferencing software nowadays is affordable – or even teaching and teacher training since 1987.
She is Director of Pedagogy of The
free, in the case of tools like Skype. Broadband internet
Consultants-E, an online teacher training and
access is increasingly ubiquitous, which means that you can development consultancy. She is the
usually use videoconferencing – which requires a robust prize-winning author of several books about
internet connection – with the majority of your potential language teaching and technology, most
recently Focus on Learning Technologies
online students. For those students who may have less
(OUP) and ETpedia Technology (Pavilion).
reliable connections, you can use audio rather than video, Her company, The Consultants-E, offers the
because audio requires less bandwidth. It sounds easy. online training course ‘Teaching Live Online’
But as many language teachers who set out to teach live for English language teachers (see https://goo.gl/HDffQ3).
online discover, there are challenges. nicky.hockly@theconsultants-e.com

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 Te a c h i n g E n g l i s h
Best Practices for
Blended Learning
Pete Sharma and Barney Barrett

Practical idea 2: Setting up a course online

Aim: to get to know your students and for them to meet in the first online lesson of a BL course; to present the
learning platform and finally, to write the programme for the face-to-face training session

Contexts: all/business English

Level: B1–C1

Type of tool: LMS

Type of materials: own

Planning: medium; in this case, an online class precedes a face-to-face sequence; the course is finished with a
face-to-face follow-up

Preparation:
Set up the first class on the platform. This will involve any relevant administration such as enrolling the
students, sending welcome emails informing them of the time of the course and how to log in. In this example,
the online classes take place using video-conferencing service such as Cisco WebEx.

Procedure:
1) In the online classroom:
Intro: start your course by greeting the students and checking they can hear you. You may need to do some
housekeeping, such as asking students to check that they know how to turn their microphones on and off. Ask
participants in turn to say ‘hello’ and tell the group where they are.

1. B
 egin with a typical ‘Getting to know each other activity’. On your own whiteboard, open up a document with a
grid containing topics to speak about. Each topic title is covered by a black highlighter, as follows:

Getting to know each other

1 My first job 6 My current job

2 A country I have visited and 7

A hobby I love and why I like it
why I liked it

3 My family 8 My hometown

4 Which languages I speak 9 A film I like

5 A book I like 10 My favourite kind of food

Figure 2.1.1: Getting to know each other activity (1)

Invite students in turn, by name, to call out a number from 1-10. Uncover the text next to that number, i.e.
highlight the bar and click on ‘No colour’ so the bar disappears. The student then speaks about what is revealed.

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 Te a c h i n g E n g l i s h
Best Practices for
Blended Learning
Pete Sharma and Barney Barrett

Take notes.

Getting to know each other

1 My first job 6 My current job

2 A country I have visited and why I liked it 7 A hobby I love and why I like it
3 My family 8 My hometown
4 Which languages I speak 9 A film I like
5 A book I like 10 My favourite kind of food

Figure 2.1.2: Getting to know each other activity (2)

2. I ntroduce the platform itself. You can do this live with an internet connection, or using screen shots copied
into a PowerPoint. Ensure the students know why they are using the platform. Demonstrate how to fill in
your profile.

3. Set the homework. Use your institution’s or your own needs analysis form.

2) Outside the classroom:

Students: students complete the needs analysis and email you their responses. Use the information to create the
course timetable.

Students complete their online profile.

Teacher: write the course programme and email it to the students.

3) In the face-to-face classroom:

1. D
 iscuss the course programme and check students are happy. Make adjustments if necessary, providing
everyone is in agreement.

2. Issue a feedback sheet on any mistakes made by students in the online class.

3. Divide the students into interest groups for the first task, depending on the results of the needs analysis.

Notes:
The format of this course is such that in can be done with whatever the chosen ratio is in percentage terms.

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 ETpedia ETpedia TM

Technology
Nicky Hockly

10 things to know about teaching via

videoconferencing
Recent years have seen an increase in teachers offering live online English language classes to
students via videoconferencing platforms. Live online lessons are carried out in real time with students
who are in different locations to the teacher. Some live online teaching takes place with individual
students (known as ‘one-to-one’ teaching), and some live online teaching takes place with small groups
of students. This unit looks at what’s involved in teaching live online lessons via videoconferencing,
and helps you understand what different videoconferencing platforms can offer. Other issues explored
include planning live online lessons, keeping your students engaged during these, and how to get
started with live online teaching.

1. What is videoconferencing?
Videoconferencing is communication that takes place in real time online via audio and video.
One of the best-known and most popular videoconferencing platforms is Skype (see Unit 31).
Videoconferencing platforms enable users to see and hear each other, and many platforms have
additional features such as a text chat box and the ability to send and share files. Essentially,
videoconferencing enables users who are in different locations to connect in real time; for example,
it is frequently used in the business world to hold virtual meetings. In the world of education, it is
used to connect teachers with students at a distance, and to connect students with other students.

2. Sharing content in a videoconferencing platform

Videoconferencing platforms have a range of built-in tools that can be useful for live online
teaching. Apart from allowing users to activate their webcams and microphones, many platforms
allow the presenter (or ‘host’) to upload content for everybody to view in the platform. These
can be images, documents or PowerPoint slides. In some platforms, multimedia such as videos
can be uploaded and shared in the platform. This is useful for teachers, who can pause a video
while it is playing in the platform to ask students questions, or to prompt a discussion. Another
videoconferencing tool is a shared whiteboard; participants can usually be given permissions to
draw or type on the board. This can be useful for brainstorming activities. Some videoconferencing
platforms feature a screen-sharing option, which allows the presenter to share the contents of their
computer screen with participants. This can be useful for talking the participants through a process
such as installing a program or using a specific technology tool.

3. Other videoconferencing platform features for teaching

Some platforms have icons with a cross or a tick (check mark) that participants can choose to show
agreement or disagreement. These icons can be useful for a quick comprehension check, and for asking
short yes/no questions. Some platforms also have an icon to indicate a raised hand: participants can
use this icon to indicate that they have something to say. An important videoconferencing platform
feature for teaching groups of students online is a ‘breakout room’ facility. This means that individual
online ‘rooms’ or spaces can be created within the platform. Students can be sent to these virtual rooms
to carry out tasks in pairs or small groups. You can upload documents or slides for your participants in
their breakout rooms; alternatively, they can use a whiteboard to draw or type on in their rooms. The
teacher can move around these breakout rooms and hear what students are saying in each. In this way,
it’s possible to monitor pairwork and groupwork much as one would in a face-to-face classroom. Finally,
some platforms include a built-in recording function. This is useful for students who can’t attend a live
online class as they can view the recording afterwards online in their own time.

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4. Free videoconferencing platforms

There are several free videoconferencing platforms available. We have already mentioned Skype;
other popular free videoconferencing options include Google Hangouts (hangouts.google.com) and
appear.in (appear.in). Free platforms tend to vary in the features they offer; for example, the free
version of Skype doesn’t include a whiteboard, nor does it allow live classes to be recorded directly.
To record a class in the free version of Skype, third-party recording software such as Pamela (pamela.
biz) or MP3 Skype Recorder (voipcallrecording.com) can be used. Google Hangouts, on the other
hand, broadcasts your live class directly via YouTube, so it can be viewed by students afterwards on
YouTube too. However, if you are charging students for live online classes, you will probably want
to go for a professional-looking platform and a certain amount of privacy. In such a case, Google
Hangouts may not be the ideal choice. One major drawback of free videoconferencing platforms for
teachers of online groups is that they don’t tend to include breakout rooms.

5. Paid-for videoconferencing platforms

Paid-for videoconferencing platforms offer a more complete solution with a wider range of features
than free platforms. Paid-for platforms will usually allow several people to be on webcams at the
same time without affecting overall functionality too much. Paid-for platforms also include features
such as built-in recording functionality, and a range of tools such as the ability to share videos in
the platform, a whiteboard for you and your students to draw on, breakout rooms, and quiz and
poll features. Popular paid-for videoconferencing platforms include Adobe Connect, Zoom and
Blackboard Collaborate. Many paid-for platforms are available for free in a limited trial version,
so you can first try them out to see whether they fit your needs as well as your students’ needs.

6. The aim of live lessons

Live lessons are an opportunity for you to support your students’ language learning. Your live lessons
may form part of a blended approach (see Unit 40), or part of a fully online language course. On the
other hand, your live lessons may be the only contact your students have with you, especially if you
offer one-to-one live online classes to clients around the world. Live lessons work most effectively when
coupled with students doing self-study online work before meeting you in real time online. This means
that they learn some of the grammar or vocabulary they need before coming to your live online class,
and your class is an opportunity for the students to practise using the language, rather than for them to
listen to you lecturing about grammar. This model is similar to a flipped classroom approach (see Unit
40), the difference being that the face-to-face element takes place online. The topics and language
areas you cover with your students will depend on the overall aims of your course. If you are teaching
one to one, you will need to do a needs analysis with your online student first (see page 186 in the
appendix). This will enable you to tailor your live classes to that student’s needs.

7. Planning live lessons

Live lessons need to be carefully planned in advance to ensure that students feel involved and
engaged even if they are in far-flung locations. A basic structure for a live online lesson might
involve the following stages: 1) introductions/icebreaker activity 2) language review or diagnostic
activity 3) main language activity 4) closing activity 5) summary. Many teachers will structure their
lessons with the help of PowerPoint (or similar) slides, which they will use to guide their students
through the various stages of the live lesson. Ideally your live online lesson will last a maximum of
60 minutes, although for very low levels, it’s best to start with short 30-minute lessons, especially if
you are teaching one-to-one. The length of your live online classes is also something to discuss with
your students.

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8. Engaging your students in live classes

The dynamics of teaching online via videoconferencing can feel very different to teaching face to face,
and it can take a while to get used to this. There are a number of ways you can engage your students
online in live classes. For example, ensure that your lessons include a range of activities, and use a
variety of the features of your videoconferencing platform. If you are teaching more than one student,
try to plan activities in which they need to communicate with each other in English, for example, in
breakout rooms. Include visuals in your slides rather than lots of dense text. Remember to look at your
webcam when you are speaking to students, so they feel that you are looking at and addressing them
directly. Avoid speaking in a monotone, and more than anything else, remember that you are talking
to real people and smile! You can watch a video with tips from experienced online English language
teachers about how to engage your students online here: https://youtu.be/UcqoZRZOlDw

9. Dealing with technical issues

Videoconferencing is a complex technology, and technical challenges can arise during a live class.
There are several things you can do beforehand to ensure that things go as smoothly as possible.
Before your class, familiarise yourself with the features that you plan to use (for example, screen
sharing, breakout rooms, etc.). Check that your webcam and microphone are working properly.
Ideally, your computer should be directly connected to your router via an Ethernet cable since
wi-fi can be unreliable. Your students are likely to be relying on wi-fi, so explain to them that if
audio and video become an issue during class, they should turn off their webcams and use audio
only. It is essential to have proper equipment if you’re going to offer live online classes, and this
includes a robust internet connection and a good quality headset with microphone. Encourage
your students to use headsets, too, rather than the external speakers of their computers; the latter
can cause echo for everybody else in the videoconferencing platform. You can watch a video with
tips from experienced online English language teachers about how to avoid technical issues during
videoconferencing here: https://youtu.be/hebbpe6MVLw.

10. Getting started

Before you start offering live online classes to your students, you will need to choose a
videoconferencing platform that fits your needs, and to ensure that you have reliable equipment.
You then need to become entirely confident with using the various features of your chosen
videoconferencing platform. This requires plenty of practice. Finally, you need to plan well-structured
lessons with clear learning aims and outcomes for your students. Then you are ready to start!

“Prepare light-hearted or fun warmer

activities to get people interacting, writing,
drawing or chatting to break the ice in
your videoconferencing room, and to get
people feeling that they are interacting
with other real people! Ideally this should
be related to your teaching activity in some
way, but it needs to be quick and easy.”
Carol Rainbow, online tutor at The Consultants-E.com

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10 ways to develop digital literacies

‘Digital literacies’ is an umbrella term that refers to our ability to effectively make use of digital
communication technologies. ‘Digital literacies’ does not refer to technical skills, but rather an
understanding of the social practices that surround the appropriate use of new technologies. For
example, if we apply the idea of digital literacies to a class blog, it becomes clear that what is
important is not just knowing how to create a blog entry, but also knowing how to use this to connect
with a wider community of readers and writers, and being aware of what sort of online persona one
projects though one’s post. Similarly, being digitally literate implies not just knowing how to post a
status update to your Facebook page, but also knowing that you should ask friends’ permission to tag
them in an update. Below are 10 activities that focus on a number of key digital literacies.

1. Print literacy: online text types

Print literacy traditionally refers to reading and writing on paper. With the vast amount of text
available online, print literacy remains as important as it ever was, but there are many more types of
text available now. For example, there are differences in the writing conventions used for an online
article, a blogpost, a Facebook update, a tweet and a meme. Find an example of each of these
text types related to one current issue in the news. Show them to your students in class and start a
discussion on the different writing conventions that each of the text types follows. Put your students
in pairs and ask each pair to choose another current news item. They write something on the topic
according to the conventions of one or two of the shorter text types on the topic (for example, a
Facebook update and a tweet). Each pair shares their texts with the class. Discuss the content (that is,
the news item itself) as well as how closely the students’ texts adhere to the conventions for each text
type. For homework, students choose one of the news items discussed in class and produce a longer
text, for example, an online article or a blogpost. Encourage your students to share their work via a
class blog or social network.

2. Mobile literacy: decoding messages

As more of our digital lives take place via our mobile devices, mobile literacy has become one of
the ‘macro’ (most important) literacies of our time. One part of this involves understanding and
using texting conventions, something many of your learners will already be proficient in in their first
language. In class, have your learners decode a series of text messages into standard English. Discuss
in which contexts text messaging is acceptable, and in which contexts it is not (for example, an email
would be better for enquiring about a job). Discuss the linguistic norms and the appropriate use of
texting language in both English and in the learners’ L1. In what ways are they similar or different?
Even if you do not expect your learners to produce texting language, decoding English text messages
into standard English is a useful – and fun – language activity appropriate for all levels.

3. Hypertext literacy: hyperlinks

Hypertext is online text that contains a number of hyperlinks (a ‘hyperlink’ is a word or phrase that links
to another website; when you click on it, another webpage opens in your browser). Reading hypertext
effectively is a skill because you need to know when to concentrate only on the text in front of you
and when to follow links within the text. Unsurprisingly, following hyperlinks within a text can affect
concentration and reduce overall comprehension of the original text. Find two online texts of a similar
length on the same topic (for example, a news item), one with few or no hyperlinks and one with many
hyperlinks. Ask learners to read each text online and to follow any hyperlinks. Give a one- or two-minute

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time limit for learners to read each text. Discuss which text was easier to read and why. Hypertext
literacy includes not just knowing when to ignore hyperlinks in the text so as not to lose the thread, but
also knowing how many hyperlinks to include in one’s own online texts, in the interests of readability.

4. Information literacy: the Pacific Northwest tree octopus

This is one of the most important literacies for any student to acquire. It is the ability to evaluate
the veracity, reliability and source of information they find on websites. Ask students to visit a
fake website, such as that dedicated to the Pacific Northwest tree octopus (http://zapatopi.net/
treeoctopus). Set a comprehension task on the website content without telling students it is not true.
Ask them to choose one of the ways they could show support for this endangered species. Finally,
ask the class if they noticed anything odd about the site. Analyse what makes this site look believable
(layout, links to real websites, links to other research, informational style of language, maps, photos,
etc.). Point out the clues (apart from the content) that show the site is a joke (for example, the URL is
a personal domain rather than an organisation, and the text heading on the site is in a cartoon-like
font). This activity works well as an initial awareness-raising activity, alerting students to the fact that
not everything found online is reliable. You can follow this up with the two activities described below.

5. Information literacy: fake websites for adults

Encourage your students to explore a number of fake websites. There is a comprehensive list of fake
websites on Phil Bradley’s webpage (http://www.philb.com/fakesites.htm) that teenage and adult
learners can be encouraged to explore.

6. Information literacy: fake websites for younger learners

You can also help primary-school-aged students to notice that not all the information they find online is
true. For example, the All About Explorers website (allaboutexplorers.com) contains biographies of real
explorers like Christopher Columbus that contain false information. The site was created by a group of
teachers to help younger learners understand that they need to double-check their sources. It contains a
number of helpful lesson ideas for teachers to exploit the material in the website with students.

7. Multimedia literacy: copyright

If your students create multimedia to share online, they need to understand that they cannot simply
re-use any digital images they find. For example, if you have a class blog (see Unit 24) and you would
like students to contribute blogposts on a certain topic, you can ask them to include images in their
posts. This is a good opportunity to explore the issue of copyright and Creative Commons licences
with the students (see Unit 43). Having a clear idea about what they can and cannot re-use online is a
useful digital literacy that your students can also apply to their personal and professional online lives.

8. Remix literacy
Remix literacy is the ability to repurpose or change already-made digital content in order to create
something new. Internet memes are a good example of remix. A ‘meme’ is a single text, image or video
that is shared via the internet and added to or changed by users. For example, a well-known image
meme is the ‘Keep Calm and Carry on’ image (see http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/keep-calm-and-
carry-on). In class, show students examples of recent or famous memes and get them to discuss and
describe any other memes they have seen. Assign pairs of students one meme each from the Know
Your Meme website (knowyourmeme.com), and ask them to research their meme. Regroup the students
and ask them to share what they found out. Ask students to vote on which meme they think is the
most interesting, unusual, original, pointless, political or funny. You can follow this up with the activity
described below (‘Create a meme’).

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9. Create a meme
Show students the ‘keep calm and carry on’ meme and tell them to find out where
it comes from by looking at the information on the Know Your Meme website
(http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/keep-calm-and-carry-on). Put students in pairs and tell them
they are going to create their own ‘keep calm’ meme. They then use the Keep Calm-o-matic website
(keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk) to create their own versions of the meme. Encourage the students to share
their memes with the rest of the class by showing them on the projector or asking students to upload
them to a class blog or social network. Creating a short, meaningful meme requires language skills
because there is a limit to the number of words that can be used and an imaginative and creative use of
language is required.

10. Develop your own digital literacies

The activities described in this unit assume that you yourself are digitally literate, or at least willing
to become so. You can ask your school to invest in staff development or training for this, or explore
online options for self-development (see Unit 46). The Futurelab/National Foundation for Educational
Research website (https://www.nfer.ac.uk/futurelab/) has some excellent resources in the field of
digital literacies. These could be integrated into a staff development plan or used as part of your
own self-study plan for professional development. Search the site for ‘digital literacies’, and you will
find a range of PDF resources. So, if you are a teacher who feels less confident with technology, don’t
despair: instead, skill up!

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Worth a
thousand
words
Jason Anderson puts us in the picture with
Google Images.

S
ome of the most important changes in our teaching ‘Settings’, also allows for some of the settings to be accessed directly.
over the years can happen without us realising it. I’ve Two things to bear in mind:
never thought of myself as a technophile, nor a
1 Always check that ‘SafeSearch’ is on when using the tool in
technophobe – more of a ‘techno-so-what’– but I was
class, to avoid inappropriate images showing up in your
pleasantly surprised when one day a year ago, another
search.
teacher popped into my classroom during the break, saw the range
of apps open on the interactive whiteboard (IWB), and said: 2 Remember that some of the images are copyright protected,
‘Didn’t know you were so much of a techie!’ ‘I’m not,’ I replied, although you can use the ‘Advanced search’ settings to
‘They just make things a lot easier.’ exclude these.
So it is with Google Images. Ever since Russell Stannard’s
article on using Google Tools in ETp Issue 98, I’ve been
experimenting more and more with this particular tool, and have
1 Clarifying the meaning of vocabulary
found it an essential resource whenever I’m teaching in a tech- The most obvious use of Google Images is also the most
enabled class. common one in my classroom. Most teachers know that you
This article will look at a range of ways in which Google can use the tool to help to clarify the meaning of concrete
Images can be used in the ELT classroom. When teaching in the vocabulary items (eg cupboard, ski or haddock), but perhaps you
UK, I’m lucky enough to have an IWB and internet access, but didn’t know that it’s also useful when you’re trying to explain
even if you just have a data projector or a smaller screen you can more abstract ideas. Try searching for coincidence, confusing or
share, many of these ideas can still be used. influence and then scroll down slowly. What your learners see
will help them to understand the concept, with different
Using Google Images in class students finding different images useful. Then there are
superordinate categories such as vehicle, profession and tool, or
Under each section below, I’ll start with some simple ideas, in case more culturally specific items such as cottage and condo. By
you’re not very tech-savvy, and then scaffold up to more complex searching and scrolling down through the results, your students
ideas for the techies to build on. can see multiple examples that will help them to understand the
But first, some basics. If you can, use the Google Chrome parameters of the concept and usage of the term.
browser, as this offers more options, although you can usually do More advanced users can try opening two Google Image search
similar things with other browsers. Here, I will describe the windows alongside one another to compare two similar concepts,
procedure for using Chrome on a Windows 10 PC. Procedures will such as respect and admire. Get the students to describe any
also vary on different devices. differences they notice or, if you share their first language, to guess
Google Images can be accessed at: www.google.com/imghp. It’s a the translations for the two words, based on the images provided.
search engine that looks for images only, including photographs,
clipart, etc. It’s fast and shows multiple images that meet your search
requirements. So if you search for fruit, you’ll see lots of images 2 Inspiration for speaking
showing many different types of fruit. Click on one, and it’ll appear Both at the start of the lesson and for speaking practice later on,
larger. You should also see a link to visit the website it comes from you can use Google Images to quickly find pictures to get your
(look for a globe icon), related images and other options. Once students speaking. At the start of a lesson on food, for example,
you’ve performed an initial search, just below the search box you’ll you could search for food or fridge contents, select one image and
see an option for ‘Settings’, where a drop-down menu provides enlarge it. This can be done either by using the right-click menu
access to ‘Search settings’ (‘SafeSearch’, which enables you to avoid and selecting ‘Open image in new tab’ (for Chrome – this differs
adult content, is here) and ‘Advanced search’, where, under ‘usage on other browsers) or, if you have a keyboard and mouse with a
rights’, you can select ‘free to use or share’. ‘Tools’, next to scroll wheel, hold down the CTRL key on the keyboard and roll

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the scroll wheel to zoom the webpage in and out quickly (this You can also do this with grammar. After a lesson on
works with most browsers). Tell the students to work in pairs to superlatives, try searching for oldest, most expensive or weakest,
see how many of the foods they can identify. Or perhaps you scroll down and get the students to guess what you searched for.
want to practise structures such as the present continuous or Alternatively, try typing a first conditional sentence into the
there is (somebody) doing (something). A creative search such as search box, eg If it rains, I’ll cancel the barbecue, and see if they
people in a park or busy café can bring up images showing a range can guess the whole sentence. Even if they can’t, they’ll get lots
of different activities that the students can describe. Select the of practice trying!
best images and enlarge them for speaking practice.
Before a reading or listening activity, searching for a place
name, famous person or interview topic can help to build schemata 5 Lesson review
and pre-teach vocabulary. Get your students to describe what they Finally, if you’ve made extensive use of Google Images or other
see and to note down any questions they have. Or display your aspects of the internet during the lesson, your browser history can
planned vocabulary items alongside the images and get the provide a very quick, impromptu review of where you’ve been and
students to predict how the words relate to the pictures. what you’ve covered. The simplest way to review this is to click on
Or how about using it for a ‘Guess who’ activity – useful in the ‘back’ button (a left arrow located in the top left corner of the
lessons where you want your students to describe features of the browser window) and, for each page, get the students to tell their
face or clothing? Try searching with a random name: Sarah or partner why you went there and what they learnt from it. And if
Ahmed will do. Then display as many images on the screen as you’ve closed your browser since the start of the lesson, remember
possible (to get a full-screen view, press F11 with most you can access your search history through the browser settings.
browsers). Student A describes one and Student B has to guess
which one is being described; then they swap. You can even
t t t
select ‘faces’ in ‘Advanced search’ (under ‘type of image’) if
only photos of faces are needed.
One final word of caution: Google searches are created by
computer algorithms, and sometimes can throw up things that
3 Enhancing student feedback are not very useful, are inappropriate or even offensive. Adults
should already know this, but just a quick explanation and
Especially in a large class, it can be difficult to get the students disclaimer before you use Google Images – ‘It’s useful, but far
to listen to each other during feedback. For example, when they from perfect, so apologies if …’ – can help to prepare the
have been talking in pairs about what they did at the weekend students, just in case. And if you’re teaching young learners, it’s
or their favourite film and are reporting back to the class on probably better to search in advance of the lesson and have the
their discussion, very often, a student will mention something pages ready on different tabs. Note, too, that the search engine
that the others may not know about or understand. Doing a Bing has an image search, with a ‘strict safe search’ setting that
quick search in Google Images can provide context and is usually safer than Google’s.
meaning, without interrupting the speaker, and can boost the
Remember also that trial and error is often the best way to
students’ interest, so that they listen to each other more
learn to use something, but it’s best to make the most of these
carefully, and understand more. I’ve even had students stand up
errors before getting to class, so experiment on your own one
and point at things in the image results, which can sometimes
evening, and see what you can do by playing around with the
extend feedback into impromptu presentations!
settings and advanced search features.
Especially for those of us who aren’t very good at explaining
4 Guessing games vocabulary, Google Images is a great tool but, as I’ve hopefully
convinced you in this article, it can be so much more besides! n
If you search for something and then hide the search box by
scrolling down a little, you show a range of images from which
Jason Anderson is a teacher, teacher trainer and
the students can often guess your search term. This can be really
award-winning author of books for language
useful when revising vocabulary. Just get the students to close teachers. His photocopiable resource books
their eyes or look away from the screen while you do the search. include Role Plays for Today, Teamwork and
Then they can look back and shout out, write down or whisper Speaking Games, all published by Delta
to their partner what they think the search word is. Students can Publishing. He has taught and trained teachers in
primary, secondary and tertiary contexts in
also guess phrasal verbs (try run out of or put off), collocations numerous countries worldwide for organisations
(catch a cold, catch fire, etc) and idioms (the last straw) in this including UNICEF, the British Council, VSO and
way. Often, you can choose just one useful image or cartoon from International House.
the search results to elicit your expression. jasonanderson1@gmail.com

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 Te a c h i n g E n g l i s h
Teaching Grammar:
From Rules to Reasons
Danny Norrington-Davies

2. Creating your own resources

Although it is possible to use the materials in the previous section with a number of different classes and types
of learners, it would be unrealistic to claim that they could be appropriate for every cultural and educational
context. However, the techniques and procedures used in the lessons have a broad application and can easily be
adopted by teachers who wish to design their own materials and lessons. This part of Section 2 offers guidance
and suggestions on how this can be done.

It includes:
■■ a suggested criteria for choosing texts and topics
■■ tips on how to design lead-ins
■■ suggestions on how to help learners engage meaningfully with texts
■■ templates for designing tasks
■■ a lesson planning task.

A criteria for choosing texts

Materials that have an impact with a class in Algeria might not necessarily achieve the same impact with a
different group of learners in the UK. For this reason, it is important that teachers think carefully about the
appropriacy of the materials they use with their students. Naturally, many teachers are able to rely on their
experience and intuition when choosing or designing suitable materials. However, it is also useful to work from a
framework or a set of criteria that outline important areas to consider. This is especially helpful for newer teachers
or for those designing materials for the first time. Consider the following when choosing or designing materials.

1. Relevance
Texts and topics should be relevant to the learners’ lives and interests. For example, a lot of the material in this
publication was originally designed for adult learners living and studying in the UK, and this is reflected in the
content of many of the texts. However, where a review of a London restaurant might be interesting and relevant
for learners studying in the UK, the topic does not generally reflect the realities or experiences of many learners
of English. This can potentially make both the topic and the text unengaging and demotivating, which in turn
can make it harder for learners to respond to the material. The choice of text and topic is therefore extremely
important.

2. Culture
It is a good idea for teachers to choose texts that represent their students’ culture. Because many commercially
produced coursebooks have been designed to appeal to as broad a range of learners as possible, it is naturally
difficult for writers to include culturally specific texts or topics. This can mean that where the coursebook
substitutes as a syllabus, learners can go through an entire English learning programme without ever working
with materials that discuss or represent their culture. This might not only be demotivating but can also give
learners a negative view of the language they are learning. It is important that, where possible, teachers try to
include culturally specific material in their lessons and courses. Along with relevant topics, courses could include
materials and texts that contain examples of the students’ L1 or local or cultural references. The teacher can
also try to find texts that were created by members of the students’ culture or speakers of their language. As well
as being motivating for learners, this type of material provides them with a model of what can be achieved. For
multicultural or multilingual classes, using culturally diverse texts has the added benefit of potentially exposing
learners to more varieties of English or to texts that reflect how English is used as a lingua franca by many
speakers whose first language is not English.

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 Te a c h i n g E n g l i s h
Teaching Grammar:
From Rules to Reasons
Danny Norrington-Davies

3. Learner need
Texts should relate to the needs of the learners. For example, where a discursive essay is useful for students
studying for an exam or for those that wish to attend an English-speaking university, it may not be as useful
for students who want to learn English for work purposes or those that need it in order to integrate into an
English-speaking community. The right level of materials is also important. If a text is too simplistic or overly
challenging, learners can quickly become disengaged from the content. Learner need is something that teachers
must be attuned to before they choose or create materials.

4. Interest
Above all else, texts should be interesting and engaging and capable of creating some kind of impact
(Tomlinson, 2011). This ensures that learners are more likely to respond to the content of the materials,
leading to greater engagement in the language work that follows. It is clearly a good idea to look for content
that will arouse curiosity, stimulate debate, evoke feelings or encourage learners to think more deeply about a
topic or situation. It is also good to look for texts about unusual topics or novel ideas, or to encourage students
to bring in texts that they wish to discuss.

Once teachers have chosen their materials, they need to consider how they will engage learners in texts and how
they will encourage them to read or listen to the content. This will be looked at in the next two subsections.

Designing lead-ins
As seen in the teaching resources, in order to prepare the learners for processing texts for meaning and form,
it is common to begin the lesson with a lead-in. This is designed firstly to engage the learners in the content of
the text and the topic of the lesson. However, a good lead-in can also help to activate our learners’ schema, or
their pre-existing knowledge of the topic (Cook, 1989). This can help the students to predict what the text might
be about and enable them to share ideas and experiences relating to the topic or the participants in the text
(Dörnyei, 2009). A prediction task can also be used to sensitise learners to difficult aspects of the text, such as
organisation, accents, features of connected speech or typical genre features. This is thought to make the process
of reading or listening in a second language that little bit easier.

A number of different activities can be used in a lead-in, but whatever one the teacher chooses, the main
criteria is that the students are fully engaged with the topic rather than focusing on a specific language item
or learning outcome. To do this, the teacher can use pictures, headlines, questions or statements for discussion.
Students should then be given as much time as possible to use these prompts to offer ideas and opinions, make
guesses or predictions or share personal stories and experiences. It helps if statements or discussion questions
are open-ended and if pictures or headlines arouse curiosity, rather than merely depict the content of the
lesson. In a sense, a good lead-in should be like a lesson itself in that it should create sufficient opportunities
for communication, creativity and feedback on learner language. Of course, this depends on how much time the
teacher has with the class and what they need to cover as part of the syllabus.

Helping learners process texts for meaning

A standard approach to working with texts in the language classroom is to set learners pre-prepared
comprehension questions (eg. Wh- questions, multiple choice or true/false questions), which they need to answer
while they read or listen to the text. These questions are generally designed to focus the learners’ attention on the
overall gist of the text or to enable them to locate specific pieces of information. However, comprehension questions
found in a lot of teaching materials and coursebooks often merely test learners’ recall of the text (Thornbury, 2006)
or they target word or phrase level recognition (Field, 2008). This means that there is often only one correct answer
to a question, thereby making it easier for the teacher to measure what the learners have understood or achieved.
It is for this reason, perhaps, that comprehension questions, along with text summaries, are the most common
methods for testing and assessing reading and listening skills in coursebooks, tests and examinations.

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 Te a c h i n g E n g l i s h
Teaching Grammar:
From Rules to Reasons
Danny Norrington-Davies

Yet comprehension questions can actually limit how much students are able to really think about and engage
with the content of texts. Rather than focusing on the speaker’s or writer’s message and encouraging them to
react to it, the learners are instead trying to extract specific chunks of information, often at the level of a single
word or phrase. In addition, because the answers to comprehension questions are predetermined, the students
are only focused on the parts of the text that the materials writer wants them to focus on (Roberts, 2014). As
such, there is little room for students to make their own interpretations and discoveries or to focus on the parts
of the text that interest them.

For this reason there is great value in designing questions or tasks that encourage the use of higher order
thinking skills (Mishan & Timmis, 2015), as these will enable learners to interact more with what they read and
listen to. Instead of only using questions that test basic understanding or recall (ie. lower order thinking skills),
it is a good idea to encourage learners to make and defend judgements, understand arguments or link ideas
found in texts to their experiences or personal or cultural values. Learners should also be encouraged to critique
or review ideas, distinguish between facts and inferences, or to differentiate, organise or deconstruct the content
of texts. These question or task types are not only extremely motivating, they can also take the lesson into
unexpected territory. This cannot be done if there is only one right answer and students are only required to have
a general understanding of what they read and listen to.

As well as designing questions or tasks that encourage learners to engage more with the content of texts, it is
extremely beneficial for learners if the teacher also designs authentic tasks. This is especially true if the text itself is
authentic or closely resembles an authentic genre or text type, that is, it appears to be authentic but has been adapted
to suit the needs and interests of the students in the class. An authentic task, also called a real-world task (Tomlinson,
2011), should enable the learners to read or listen to the text for the same purpose as it would be read or listened
to outside the classroom. For example, if learners are reading a review of a film, they should be asked if the review
makes them want to watch it. If they are reading a discursive essay, they are asked if they agree or disagree with the
opinions of the writer. As well as being a more realistic task, using authentic questions enables learners to read or
listen more extensively outside the classroom because the question can be reused every time the learner meets the
same text type. That way, as in the real world, the learners always have a purpose for reading or listening.

Using real-world tasks or questions that encourage learners to think more about the content of the text also prepares
students for the language work that follows. In a typical text-based language lesson, comprehension questions help
students to achieve ‘a minimum level of understanding, without which any discussion of the target language would
be pointless’ (Thornbury, 1999). However, in order to enable the learners to understand and articulate the reason why
a writer or speaker is using a certain form or forms, it is important to go beyond a basic understanding of the text.
Instead, students need to fully understand the purpose of the text and the message the writer or the speaker wishes
to convey. In other words, they need to be able to understand intended or pragmatic meanings as well as locating basic
facts. Only then can learners be expected to understand why and how certain forms are being used.

Designing replication tasks

In the text-based lessons described in the teaching resources, the students are encouraged to work out for
themselves why certain forms are being used by writers and speakers and how this helps them communicate
their message successfully. Once this is done, it is then recommended that learners get the opportunity to use
the language that they have uncovered, and an effective way for doing so is through the use of replication and
transposition tasks. Yet before teachers design their own, it is necessary to consider what distinguishes these tasks
from other types of practice activities.

First, replication and transposition tasks should encourage the students to use the target language for genuine
communicative purposes. This means that rather than writing or completing individual sentences, the students
create their own meanings at text level. It also means that rather than sticking solely to the target language, the
students can integrate other known language into the task. In fact in some cases, it may be possible for students to
complete the task successfully without using the target language.

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 Te a c h i n g E n g l i s h
Teaching Grammar:
From Rules to Reasons
Danny Norrington-Davies

In addition, a replication or transposition task should be a real-world task. This means that the students use the
language in the same way and for the same purpose that it would be used outside the classroom. For example,
the students might write a letter of complaint, attend a job interview or make a presentation. This means that
replication and transposition tasks are open-ended: there is no one way of completing the task, and there will be
different outcomes for different students. However, it is not necessary for teachers to only use tasks and content
that their students are familiar with. Replication and transposition tasks should also enable students to be creative
and to use language in unfamiliar or novel ways. This can then introduce students to new genres, new practices and
different ways of thinking.

Finally, transposition and replication tasks should encourage learners to evaluate the reasons for using (or not
using) a particular language item. Whether this is done in preparation for the task or during feedback, the learners
should have time to ask themselves why they are using a given form and how it affects their message. That way,
they gain a better understanding of reasons and how they help speakers and writers say what they want to say.

The following framework can be used as a guide for designing replication and transposition tasks. Of course,
not all the criteria in this framework need to be achieved in every task that is designed. However, by using this
checklist to ensure that some of the criteria are met, the learners are more likely to get genuine communicative
practice as well as the opportunity to reflect on how they have used language to create their own meanings.

Replication Transposition
Criteria for task design tasks tasks

Does the task enable the learners to use the target language in order to
communicate a genuine message?  
Does the task provide practice of the target language at text as opposed to
sentence level?  
Does the task allow the learners to integrate new language with other known
language?  
Does the task enable the students to use the language in the same way or for the
same purpose as the speaker or writer of the original text?  
Does the task reflect how language is used in the real world?
 
Is the task open-ended, ie. will there be different outcomes with different learners
or groups of learners?  
Does the task enable learners to explore language in unfamiliar areas?
 
Does the task allow for creativity?
 
Does the task enable the students to reflect on reasons either during preparation
for the task or in feedback?  
Note that in a transposition task, the students may not necessarily use an item of language in the same way or
for the same purpose as the writer or speaker of the original text. For example, in a newspaper article, the writer
might use indirect speech to report what people have said (eg. ‘the company claimed that all their clients’ details
were secure’). If students were doing a replication task of this and writing their own article, they would be able
to use indirect speech for the same purpose. However, in a transposition task in which the students were role-
playing interviews between the journalist and someone mentioned in the article, it is possible that they will not
need to use indirect speech at all. In feedback, learners can then discuss why indirect speech is used in one task
type but not in another.

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 Te a c h i n g E n g l i s h
Teaching Grammar:
From Rules to Reasons
Danny Norrington-Davies

A planning template
When planning lessons and courses, it is important to design tasks that sufficiently challenge our students and
enable them to think and act in different ways. The following template (Figure 3) is intended to be used for that
purpose. Based on a design by Mishan and Timmis (2015), this template uses Bloom’s taxonomy of thinking
skills to help teachers categorise tasks according to their degree of challenge. By using this template, teachers
can ensure that their students are provided with a sufficient range of variety and challenge in their classes.

Reading or Replication Transposition

Cognitive skill level and processes listening tasks tasks tasks

1. Creating
Students create new meanings and structures by reformulating content,
building on ideas or hypothesising about causes, endings or outcomes.
2. Evaluating
Students make or defend judgements, link content to their own values, ideas
and cultural background, or critique or review content.
Reading or Replication Transposition
Cognitive skill level and processes listening tasks tasks tasks

3. Analysing
Students separate facts from inference, deconstruct arguments, identify the
relations between facts or organise or categorise.
4. Applying
Students reapply or change the content of the text to other contexts or
situations by selecting or connecting ideas.
5. Understanding
Students interpret the message, paraphrase or describe it.
6. Remembering
Students recall data or information.
(Adapted from Mishan & Timmis, 2015)

How does this template work? Consider the following two sets of questions, designed to accompany the
restaurant review found in the teaching resources (Lesson 1 on page 87).

Reading 1
1. What kind of restaurant is it?
2. What does the writer say about the atmosphere?
3. What food does the writer recommend?
4. Does the restaurant serve alcohol?
5. Do you need to book a table?
Reading 2
Would you eat in this restaurant? Why/why not?
Who would you go with? Why?

The first reading task uses comprehension questions that check students’ understanding of facts or opinions
that are stated directly in the text. There is a right and a wrong answer to each question and very little room for
discussion or disagreement about the answers. Because students are interpreting the message, these types of
questions would be placed in category 5 of the template.

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 Te a c h i n g E n g l i s h
Teaching Grammar:
From Rules to Reasons
Danny Norrington-Davies

The second reading task is more challenging, as it encourages the students to make their own judgements about
the restaurant and to offer their own opinions. This task is far more open-ended, as the students need to provide
reasons for whether they would eat at the restaurant and who they would choose to go with. Because these
questions encourage students to make their own judgements and link the content to their own thoughts and
experiences, they belong in category 2.

Using this template can help teachers prevent the issue described earlier in this section where it was shown that
the kind of comprehension questions used in coursebooks often encourage students to use lower order thinking
skills when reading or listening to texts. Where a coursebook predominantly uses these types of questions, it
is possible that learners are subsequently under-challenged during comprehension work. If this is the case,
teachers will need to create alternative tasks that would belong in the higher categories. This will then ensure
that the students are provided with a suitable range of challenge in their lessons.

The template can also be used to categorise communicative tasks. In Task 1 below, because the students
are encouraged to paraphrase or describe what they have read to their partner, this task would be placed in
category 5. The second task is more challenging as the students now need to create their own text and express
their own meanings. Because students are being creative, this task belongs in category 1.

Task 1
Student A: Read the review. When you have finished,
tell your partner (student B) about it.
Task 2
Write your own review of a restaurant you have been
to. Remember to describe the food, the atmosphere,
the service and the price.

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 Te a c h i n g E n g l i s h
Best Practices for
Blended Learning
Pete Sharma and Barney Barrett

3. Vocabulary
Practical idea 5: Reviewing vocabulary with apps
Aim: to encourage students to save their new vocabulary on an app for regular review outside the classroom

Contexts: all

Level: Pre-intermediate and above

Type of tool: an online flashcard app, such as Quizlet, or a vocabulary app which accompanies a coursebook

Type of materials: own

Planning: medium

Preparation:
Decide which app you are going to ask students to use. (For some suggestions, see the list of websites linked with
apps, below.)

Procedure:
1) In the classroom:
Intro: ask students to work in pairs and discuss the ways in which they store and review new words. Ask them to
rate the ways on a scale of 5-1, where 5 = excellent and 1 = poor. Give an example: ‘writing down the new words
you meet in class in a notebook with the translation next to them’ would have a low rating of 1 or 2, since it is
difficult to find these words again when it comes to reviewing them, and often impossible for the teacher in a
multi-national group to check if the word has been mistranslated. Alternatively, issue a set of vocabulary storage
cards (see below) to each pair and ask them to rank them.

Feedback: elicit student feedback on how they feel about the various ways to record new vocabulary. Encourage
discussion about the pros and cons of each one.

Presentation: present the vocabulary storage app. Use a data-projector linked to your phone or tablet to
demonstrate how to use it. Tell students that this is the app they will use on the course. There are often games
such as matching exercises to review new words. Tell students to download the app if that is possible on Wi-Fi. If
not, they should do this for homework.

At the end of the lesson, review the key words covered in class, e.g. eliciting some words and writing them on the
whiteboard. Give students time to add the words into their list of flashcards. If you are using a publisher app,
ask students to visit the unit covered and check what kind of review activities there are.

2) Outside the classroom:

Students review the new words using a game.

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 Te a c h i n g E n g l i s h
Best Practices for
Blended Learning
Pete Sharma and Barney Barrett

3) In the classroom:
Take a few moments to insert a short quiz into the lesson. Find out who reviewed the words.

Continue the course in the same way – showing in-class that students are expected to review new words out of
class, and that they will have regular informal tests in class.

Variations:
1. I nstead of promoting the use of one app, ask students to choose their own. Give them a number of websites
which you feel are appropriate such as Quizlet, Memrise or Anki, as well as the app which accompanies their
coursebook, and a dictionary app such as the Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary (note: this app is not free).
Students can store new words by concept group on some dictionary apps.

2. U
 se an adaptive learning app, such as the Oxford English Vocabulary Trainer. In this type of app, feedback is
given on spelling, correct form and appropriacy. This type of app uses ‘spaced repetition’ to prompt users when
it is time to review new words.

Vocabulary storage cards

I write down the new words I meet in class in a I put my new words in an Excel spreadsheet.
notebook with the translation next to them.
I use the flashcard app called Quizlet to review my new I rewrite my new words in an A-Z notebook.
words.
I use a box of index cards. I make concept maps with the new words.
I add my new words to a dictionary app. I use the vocabulary app which comes with my
coursebook.

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 Te a c h i n g E n g l i s h
Best Practices for
Blended Learning
Pete Sharma and Barney Barrett

4. Listening
Practical idea 7: Flipped listening with TED
Aims:
Main aim: to use authentic listening material available on the internet to develop learners’ listening skills
Sub-aims: to expand vocabulary and develop students’ speaking skills

Context: all

Level: B2

Type of tool: website with suitable authentic listening material, in this example, a TED talk; alternatives include
Talks at Google or a YouTube video

Type of materials: authentic

Planning: short-medium

Preparation:
1. S
 elect a video that will generate interest and which can be used as a springboard for discussion. In this
example, we use the following video:

Maurice Conti: The incredible inventions of intuitive AI

https://www.ted.com/talks/maurice_conti_the_incredible_inventions_of_intuitive_ai
15:23
Futurist Conti describes human-robot collaboration in an augmented age.

2. Prepare a worksheet for students to complete before the class. Email the worksheet to students before the face-
to-face lesson. For an example of a worksheet, see below. This worksheet includes:
■■ details of title/presenter of video and how long it lasts

■■ a warm-up question to generate interest in the video

■■ a list of probable new vocabulary students will encounter; students can use their dictionaries

■■ a while-viewing activity, such as note-taking

■■ questions to consider before coming to the face-to-face discussion lesson.

Procedure:
1) Outside the classroom:
Students receive the worksheet by email and a link to the video. They complete the worksheet before coming to class.

2) In the classroom:
1. The teacher first checks that all the students have watched the video.

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2. Set up discussion groups. Monitor discussion groups and make notes of good uses of language and mistakes.

Example worksheet: TED talk

Title: The incredible inventions of intuitive AI
Presenter: Maurice Conti
Time: 15:23
Pre-viewing tasks:
1. What does AI stand for?
2. What does ‘augmented’ mean?
3. Culture: can you explain the following? If not, check online.
Star Trek Scotty Spock Captain Kirk
Siri Barbie Deep Blue Deep Mind
Tic-Tac-Toe Jeopardy Go
4. Vocabulary: Check these words – use a dictionary.
algorithm drone generative intuitive/intuition
leash (of a dog) chess amplify/amplifier logic
cyborg collaboration repetitive precision
prototype bamboo nervous system trillion
fabricate tool constraints to convince
While-viewing task:
Make notes under the following headings:
Four major historical eras
The AIRBUS project
Humans vs computers
Dreamcatcher
Post-viewing task:
Over to you! When you come to class, we will be discussing the following:
■■ Will robots take jobs away from humans? (give examples of ‘yes’ and ‘no’)
■■ Will robots replace English teachers?
■■ Are you looking forward to the future? Why/Why not?

Variations:
1. The video can be viewed in the traditional manner, in-class. The teacher will probably focus on general
understanding. The ‘Outside of class’ follow-up will allow students to listen to certain sections several times,
using the pause feature, and to access the transcript.

2. This lesson can be delivered in a virtual blended lesson, using Skype™, for example.

Acknowledgement: many thanks to Maria Luiza Coelho for her original idea for using this video.  

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 Te a c h i n g E n g l i s h
Best Practices for
Blended Learning
Pete Sharma and Barney Barrett

Practical idea 12: Squeezing the

messaging app
Aim: to develop a habit of ongoing communication through mini-tasks that practise low-stakes speaking and
writing activities beyond the classroom using a messaging app

Contexts: Business English, secondary and EAP

Level: A1–C2

Type of tool: an online messaging application, e.g. WhatsApp

Type of materials: own/authentic

Planning: short or medium

Preparation:
For this example, we have used the well-known messaging service WhatsApp. There are a number of similar
tools (e.g. Telegram, Google Hangouts, Facebook messenger, Snapchat, WeChat), but we found that students were
most familiar with WhatsApp and it was difficult to convince them to download and use another app.

The teacher needs to make sure that all the students have the messaging service app installed on their
smartphones or tablets. Students and teachers have to exchange their telephone numbers so that the teacher
is included in the messaging group. It is recommended that the first activity is done or at least initiated in the
classroom so that the students get used to the dynamics of the activity.

Procedure:
1) In the classroom:
1. Setting up groups before the mini-task.
■■ Make sure that all the students have the messaging service app installed on their smartphones or tablets.

■■ Depending on the size of the class, divide students into groups and have them create a group in the messaging
app and include you as one of the group members.
■■ Have them start greeting each other in the group using the target language in order to start trying out
different possibilities of the app before starting the mini-task.
■■ Make sure that the students are aware of the different formats of messages they can use (text, image, sound
and video) and that they know how to use them.

2. Choosing the mini-task.

Try out some activities and message formats to foster informal interaction amongst your students so that they
become acquainted with the app and convinced of its possibilities to practise the language, e.g.
■■ Using a text or sound as a trigger: write a word or sentence that has a pronunciation difficulty and ask
students to pronounce the word or sentence and then to give feedback on their classmates’ pronunciation.
■■ Using an image as a trigger: post a photograph of your current location and ask your students questions like:
Where am I? What am I doing? What is going to happen next?

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■■ Using a video as a trigger: ask your students to record a two-minute tutorial about a lifehack – a strategy or
technique adopted in order to manage one’s time and daily activities in a more efficient way.

3. Monitoring the activity.

Monitor/view/discuss the process and/or the outcome of the activity with the help of a projector and WhatsApp-
Web if you choose to work with WhatsApp. Alternatively, you can possibly project different messaging threads
using Google Hangouts or explore the possibilities other apps offer (Facebook messenger, Telegram, Snapchat or
other popular ones among your students.)

2) Outside the classroom:

Initiate a mini-task by posting a trigger to which the students have to respond. A mini-task can have the
duration of approximately one week.

Once your students have become acquainted with different formats of tasks you can delegate the responsibility
of posting triggers to the students themselves. To do so, it is recommendable to define the usefulness of the task
beforehand. You can also define guidelines for quality, length, frequency and number of posts.

Following the general outline, students post a trigger in the form of an image, a text, a sound recording or a
video, asking students to respond in a specific way (e.g. text, sound, video).

After the trigger, the role of the teacher is to make sure that something ‘happens’ in the messaging group. Get
involved when you see that nobody reacts to the initial trigger. Check if the first message is clear enough to
understand what students are asked to do or how they are asked to reply. Clarify any aspects of the message as
necessary. Reply to the trigger as if you were a student in order to give a concrete example.

3) In the classroom:
Allocate sufficient time to view and discuss the activity in the messaging group, preferably projecting the
activities in order to make them visible for the whole class (for example via WhatsApp-Web). Choose interesting
grammar, vocabulary or pronunciation points that students have brought up or had difficulties with during
the activity. Make sure students see beneficial aspects both in the communication activity itself (increased and
enhanced practice, flexibility regarding time and place, ongoing contact with peers) and in the possibilities of
revision and feedback.

Feedback can include error correction but should primarily highlight the students’ productive effort and the
benefits and possibilities of practising communication with peers beyond the classroom boundaries.

Variations:
Here are other examples of mini tasks which are suitable for working on specific communicative competences,
such as giving an opinion, giving advice, discourse structuring, guessing, etc.

1. Use text or sound as a trigger

■■ Question and answer scheme: post an interesting statement or a quote and ask students to comment on it.
(“Steal a little and they throw you in jail – steal a lot and they make you king.” – Bob Dylan. Does Dylan’s
statement in “Sweetheart like you” reflect reality?)
■■ Problem solving: explain a problem related to the students’ life and ask for proposals on solving it. (Memorising
vocabulary seems to be a common problem. Do you use effective learning techniques? Tell us about them.)
■■ Chain scheme: start a story by posting the first part finishing with because … /but then …/when suddenly ….
Students continue with the next part following your model.

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Pete Sharma and Barney Barrett

2. Use an image as a trigger

■■ Post your location (WhatsApp uses Google maps) and ask your students to give you directions to go to a
specific place that is visible on the map.

3. Use a video recording as a trigger

■■ Visualize a correction process: ask your students to choose a sentence or paragraph of one of their latest
compositions (digital format). The chosen part has to show some interesting mistakes. Ask the students to
correct their text while they record and comment on the correction process. Ask their peers to comment on the
recorded correction process.

Acknowledgement: many thanks to Pedro Fernández and Laia Canals for contributing this practical idea.

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Technology
Nicky Hockly

10 ways to use YouTube effectively

YouTube is the world’s largest video-sharing website. It is owned by Google. It provides a wealth of video
material for teachers, including videos that have been specially created for English language learners (eg
eslbasics.com). Your students can watch YouTube videos both in and out of class; they can also upload their
own videos to YouTube and share them with others. YouTube includes lots of helpful features for English
language teachers and students; we explore many of these below to help you get the most out of it. If you
need help with how to use some of these features, visit the YouTube Help channel (www.youtube.com/
channel/UCMDQxm7cUx3yXkfeHa5zJIQ), which provides step-by-step guides in the form of short video
tutorials. YouTube is prohibited in some countries, so the final item below looks at alternatives to YouTube.

1. Find relevant YouTube videos

With a vast repository of videos, it can sometimes take time to find a video that is exactly right for
your students. Searching YouTube for a general topic (eg endangered animals) will return tens of
thousands of videos in your search results, and many of these videos may be years old, or too long
for you to use with students. You can apply several filters at once to your search results by clicking
on the small ‘filter’ button at the top of your search results. This gives you the option to refine your
search by date (for example, you can choose videos uploaded this week, this month, or this year),
or by length (for example, you can choose to only see short videos under four minutes, or longer
videos of up to 20 minutes or more). Other useful search filters for teachers allow you to search
for videos that have a Creative Commons licence (see Unit 43) and ones that have subtitles. You
can also choose filters like ‘view count’ (the number of people who have viewed the video, which
reflects its popularity), and ‘rating’ (the number of stars that viewers have awarded a video).

2. YouTube videos with younger learners

When you play a YouTube video, a side bar is automatically displayed with related videos. There
are external webpages or tools you can use to ensure that younger learners only see the video you
have chosen on the screen, and are not accidentally exposed to inappropriate related videos or
advertisements. Safe Share (safeshare.tv), View Pure (viewpure.com) and Quietube (quietube.com) all
enable you to display only your chosen video, without any of the surrounding clutter you get when
watching the video on the YouTube site.

3. Create a playlist
A YouTube playlist is a list of videos that appear in a particular order, and that will play one after the
other. You can create a YouTube playlist of short videos on a specific topic for a class, and encourage
them to watch the playlist for homework. You can also create a YouTube playlist of videos on a specific
language area for individual students, to help them improve their English. It’s a good idea to keep
playlists for your students short, and with short videos that are suited to their language level. Students
can also create short playlists for each other on specific topics or themes; they can then share their
playlist URLs with the group. The YouTube Help channel provides tutorials on how to create a playlist.

4. Video segments
You may find the perfect video for a class, but only want to use a short segment from the video during
class rather than the whole thing. TubeChop (tubechop.com) is a useful tool that enables you to clip
a segment from any YouTube video by selecting a start and end time for the section you want your
students to see. You can then share only that video segment with your students via a new URL.

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5. Videos with questions

There are websites and tools that enable you to include questions with a YouTube video. Websites
like PlayPosit (playposit.com) and Edpuzzle (edpuzzle.com) allow you to add the URL of a YouTube
video, and then stop the video at any point. You can then create questions to display while students
watch. Questions can be open (eg What you think happens next?), multiple choice or true/false, for
example. When you have added questions to your chosen video, you can save the video and share
the new URL with your students. When students watch the video, it will stop and display a question,
and students need to answer the question to continue viewing. Students can view the videos on their
computers or mobile devices. Including questions within a video is an excellent way to encourage
prediction or to check comprehension. You can easily create a bank of videos with questions that your
students can watch for regular homework.

6. Add subtitles
Many YouTube videos already come with subtitles (referred to as ‘closed captions’); you can search for
these videos by applying a closed caption filter (see ‘Find relevant YouTube videos’ above). YouTube can
also add ‘automatic captions’ to a video via speech recognition software. Automatically produced captions
are not always completely accurate, though. Students can produce captions for their own YouTube videos
in three ways: by typing in closed captions for their video word by word; by turning on automatic captions
and then typing in corrections when the captions are not correct; and by uploading the transcript that
they used to create the video. (YouTube will automatically match a typed transcript to the timing of the
spoken words in the video.) When you ask your students to produce videos as part of their classwork and
to upload them to YouTube, you can also ask them to turn on automatic captioning. (Note that automatic
captioning can take several hours to appear in a video.) In class, put your students in pairs to review the
automatic captioning in their videos and to correct any inaccuracies. Encourage the students to share their
finished videos with the rest of the class, for example, via a class blog or social network.

7. Annotate videos
YouTube includes an ‘annotation’ tool that enables students to add annotations like text labels,
speech bubbles, or even hyperlinks to their own videos. See the YouTube Help channel for how to use
the annotation tool. Ask your students to create a short silent video of one to two minutes on their
mobile devices, related to a vocabulary area you have recently covered in class. For example, they
could film a street scene with shops, rooms in their house, food in the supermarket, etc. Tell students
to upload their videos to YouTube. Ask students to use the annotation tool in YouTube to add eight
to 10 labels or speech bubbles to their videos, for example, with imaginary things said by people in
the video, or text labels on some of the objects in the video. Encourage the students to share their
finished videos with the rest of the class, for example, via a class blog or social network.

8. Anonymise videos
The YouTube video editor enables you to blur faces in a video that you have created. This can
be useful if you are filming young learners, and do not want them to be recognised, but would
like to share the video with others. Once you have uploaded your video to YouTube, open the
‘enhancements’ option and go to the ‘quick fixes’ tab. Select ‘blur all faces’. Note that all of the faces
in your video will be blurred. It is not possible to blur only some of the faces. Another way to keep a
video private is to save it as ‘unlisted’ when you upload it to YouTube. Only those people with whom
you share the URL of the video will be able to see it. This is also useful for sharing videos of young
learners with their parents, while ensuring that the general public do not have access. However, it’s
advisable to get signed parental consent before video-recording your learners, even if you only share
your videos of students with their parents.

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9. Teacher YouTube channel

You can create your own ‘teaching’ videos for your students. For example, to encourage flipped
learning, some teachers video-record themselves teaching or explaining new language points,
and then upload the videos to their own YouTube channel. Students then watch a video of their
teacher describing a new language area before coming to class, so that class time can be spent on
communicative and speaking activities. When students subscribe to their teacher’s YouTube channel,
they automatically get access to any new videos added by their teacher. This approach can be
particularly effective for blended classes (see Unit 40), or for students taking fully online language
classes. See an example of a lesson created by teacher Roberto Garcia from Peru and uploaded to his
YouTube account for his language students: youtu.be/T-O6fIwrh3c.

10. Alternatives to YouTube

Access to YouTube is blocked or restricted in some countries. However, there are many other websites
that provide a wide range of videos that teachers can use with students in and outside the classroom.
Vimeo (vimeo.com) is a video-sharing site similar to YouTube, but it is not restricted as often. Many of
the videos found on YouTube can also be found on Vimeo, which allows search results to be filtered
in a similar way to YouTube. School Tube (schooltube.com) is a video-sharing site where teachers and
schools can create their own channels to share their students’ work. The site also includes helpful how-to
videos, copyright-free material and ideas and lesson plans for how to use video with students. Teacher
Tube (teachertube.com) contains videos for teachers made by other teachers. Typical videos include
lesson plans being taught, example classes and descriptions of lessons that can be used by others.

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 Russell Stannard
recommends a video

Webwatcher
tool to end passive
viewing and ensure
engagement.

I
n Issue 115 of ETp, I talked about the research done by One thing I really like about Vizia is that it has a ‘Gate’ feature.
people such as Richard Mayer, who looked at the impact of In other words, you can choose to require the students to provide
video on memory. I also mentioned the work of Birgit Loch you with their names and email addresses. This makes tracking
and Catherine McLoughlin. One of our biggest challenges, as their answers much easier. However, there is the option of not
teachers, is to get our students to engage with video: asking for this information.
although there is a lot of useful video content available on the Once you have finished adding your questions and setting
internet, getting our students to work with it in a meaningful way the ‘Gate’ feature, you can quickly preview your video. If you
is another matter. Loch and McLoughlin focused on how a video are happy, copy the URL from the preview and share it with
should be designed, and what stages should be included to your students.
make it more engaging for the students. One of their
All the answers the students input are stored in a CSV file.
suggestions was an introduction, explaining the content, and/or
Click on ‘My Videos’ and then click on the video you want to look
a summary at the end. Another thing we can do is to make use
at. On the right, you will see a button to access the CSV file. Click
of some of the new tools that are emerging that allow us to do
on that, and it will download a spreadsheet with all the answers
things like adding questions onto a video. This makes the
that the students have given. Remember, if you decided to add a
process of watching the video more engaging, as the students
‘Gate’ to your videos, you will also have each student’s name and
suddenly find questions appearing as they watch. A good
email address.
example of a tool that can do this is Vizia.
I was introduced to this tool very recently, so I have only
Vizia experimented with it on a couple of occasions. To start with, it
can be a bit tricky to add the questions, and the video doesn’t
Vizia allows you to choose a video on a video repository like always load the first time. However, I had no problems with the
YouTube and add questions to it. When the students view the students watching the video and inputting their answers, and
video, the questions appear on the screen, and the video will the resulting data was really useful. The students don’t need an
pause and wait for them to input their answers. What is account to access your videos.
perhaps most interesting, though, is that the students’ answers
are then stored and Vizia creates a simple database of them. Remember, as with any of the tools I recommend in
This gives teachers a real insight into what their students Webwatcher, the real game changer comes when you get the
understood and thought about the video. Vizia promotes itself students to use the tool themselves. They could easily work in
as the ‘end of passive viewing’. As with all tools, success groups and create their own questions for a video of their choice.
depends on the questions asked and how the information from If the students are going to make their own questions, however,
the answers is used, but it can certainly help to make the they will need to have a Vizia account. n
viewing process more engaging.
I have made a video that will take you through the basics of using
Once you have a Vizia account (creating one is free), you
Vizia. Watch it at www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrVQxTH8aio.
simply paste in the URL of a video you want to use. It does
take a few seconds to load, and occasionally I have had to
refresh the page, so be patient. When you can see the video Loch, B and McLoughlin, C ‘An instructional design model for
on the screen, it is time to start adding your questions. My screencasting: engaging students in self-regulated learning’ In
suggestion is to play the video through first and think about Williams, G, Statham, P, Brown, N and Cleland, B (Eds) Changing
the questions you want to ask. The number of questions will Demands, Changing Directions Proceedings Ascilite Hobart 2011
depend to some degree on the length of the video, but my Mayer, R E and Moreno, R ‘Nine ways to reduce cognitive load in
multimedia learning’ Educational Psychologist 38 (1) 2003
advice with any video is to keep it short – and that probably
means under ten minutes. In a ten-minute video I would not
pose more than five questions. Russell Stannard is the founder of
You can stop the video at any point simply by clicking on it, www.teachertrainingvideos.com, which won
and you can clearly see on the player controls below where it has a British Council ELTons award for
technology. He is a freelance teacher and
got to. Stop the video, bring your cursor onto the timeline and writer and also a NILE Associate Trainer.
then, at the point where you stopped it, you can add a question.
Keep sending your favourite sites to Russell:
It is a bit tricky at first, but after a few tries, you will see how easy
russellstannard@btinternet.com
it is to do. A range of question formats is available (Quiz, Poll,
Response and Call To Action), but, so far, I have really only used
the Quiz and Response formats.

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 Te a c h i n g E n g l i s h
One to One
Priscilla Osborne

Chapter 12: Troubleshooting

In this chapter we will discuss potential problems that may arise in your one-to-one classes, and how to address them.

Potential problems in class

The student The teacher
The student may be: You may not have established a good relationship with
■■ unmotivated; the student.
■■ not talkative; You may find the student:
■■ stressed;
■■ tiring;
■■ anxious;
■■ boring;
■■ lacking in confidence;
■■ intimidating.
■■ suffering from culture shock;
■■ suffering from homesickness;
You feel sleepy in class.
■■ very tired by the lessons;
■■ demanding;
■■ rude;
■■ obsessive;
■■ arrogant.
The student feels a loss of control (e.g. executives who
are used to being in the ‘driving seat’).
The student expects to be ‘spoon-fed’.
You are not the kind of teacher he or she wants or
expected.

You need to avoid or minimise problems as far as possible, and there are several ways you can do this.

Explain clearly what the course will entail

Explain clearly to the students on the first day what the course will entail, what kind of teaching methods you
will use and how much progress they can expect to make. The beginning of the course is also a good moment
to ask the student directly about his or her motivation levels and what he or she expects to achieve. It is also
important to know what the student expects from the teacher. If the student comes from a culture where the
teacher is always in full control of the class, he or she might feel that you are abdicating responsibility if you
allow a lot of autonomy or ask his or her opinion about what activities to do in class, so it may be a good idea to
explain why you are doing this.

Gain the respect of the student

■■ Be well prepared.

■■ State the objectives of the class at the beginning of each lesson.

■■ Regularly check with your student that he or she is happy with the content and style of the lessons.

■■ Be interested in your student. (This sounds like elementary advice, but it may be something you need to work
at quite hard if your student is not very inspiring.)

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■■ Don’t talk too much; your role is that of listener.

■■ Recognise your limitations. If your student clearly wants someone to entertain them and that is not your forte,
be ready to accept that you are not the ideal teacher for that student and try to compensate in other areas.
■■ If the student gives you negative feedback (e.g. This exercise is not useful; or I don’t like that activity), react
positively and work out with the student what exercises and activities would be more suitable.
■■ Be flexible, e.g. change or adapt your lesson plan if you don’t think it suits the student’s mood or energy levels.

■■ Dress appropriately, e.g. dress smartly for the first few lessons in order to create a professional image in the
student’s mind.

Once your student respects you professionally, they will accept more easily any experimenting you do in class.

Adapt to the learning style of your student

It is critically important to understand how your student likes to learn. There are various ways of classifying
learners according to their learning style, such as the four types identified by Honey and Mumford in their book
Manual of Learning Styles, 1992 (the activist, the theorist, the pragmatist and the reflector), or categorising
students according to whether they are visual, auditory or tactile/kinaesthetic learners. In fact, we do not need to
decide which of these categories our students fit into; they will be a mixture of these different types anyway. The
point is not to know the theory about learning styles, but simply to be aware of how our student likes to learn
and then to take steps to respond to that style.

For example, you can ask yourself these questions:

■■ How much imagination does the student have?

■■ What’s the student’s attention span?

■■ How systematic is the student? (e.g. Do they take notes? Do they review their notes?)

■■ Does the student state explicitly when he or she does not like something, or is it up to you to read between
the lines?
■■ What activities does the student clearly enjoy in the classroom?

■■ What activities does the student clearly not enjoy doing?

■■ How much of a risk-taker is the student?

■■ How much autonomy can the student assume?

■■ How does the student view the teacher?

■■ How much theory can the student take?

■■ How quickly does the student get tired?

■■ How long can the student tolerate an activity before they need some kind of light conversational interchange?

At the simplest level, you need to be aware of how the student reacts to the
various activities you do with him or her. If they do not like an activity, then you should a) avoid it, b) minimise
it, or c) explain very clearly the rationale for the activity and win over the student’s co-operation.

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 Te a c h i n g E n g l i s h
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Priscilla Osborne

Fabrizio
Fabrizio was a Public Relations Director for a large Italian multinational, and had a particularly idiosyncratic learning
style. Fabrizio’s attention span lasted about ten minutes before he would waylay the teacher with a digression of
some kind. However, without apparently doing any work in class (more time was spent in impromptu coffee breaks,
on the phone or in diversions from the objectives of the class), Fabrizio managed to learn an impressive amount
and he performed well in the output activities. He subsequently did several other courses, creating great frustration
for teachers who did not adapt to his learning style. However, with the couple of teachers who understood how he
liked to learn, he was a charming and enjoyable student.

Obviously you need to adapt to the student’s learning style, but this does not mean you have to change your
teaching style. It is worth remembering that students appreciate having teachers with different teaching styles.
If they prefer one teacher to another, sometimes it is due to the content of the lesson rather than the personality
or teaching abilities of the individual.

Your image
It is also worth asking yourself about the image that you are projecting in the classroom. You may see yourself
as an easy-going, motivating individual; your student may see you as an over-serious slave driver. Such glaring
mismatches in perception are rare, but variations in how the student perceives the teacher and how teachers
perceive themselves are common.

One of the best ways to find out how your student sees you is to look at his or her course feedback comments.

Learning from the student’s feedback at the end of the course

Students normally complete a course evaluation questionnaire at the end of their lessons. Depending on where
the course took place, the student may be asked to evaluate the pre-course information, teaching, materials and
equipment used in class, social programme, accommodation and administration of the course. These feedback
sheets are a valuable learning tool for the teacher, and some language learning institutions give their teachers
access to them. If you are not able to look at the student’s evaluation after the course, ask your Director of Studies
to let you know if the student made any specific comments on your teaching style or manner in the classroom.

Many teachers find this very hard to do, and are sensitive to any negative comments the student may make.
However, if you can, bite the bullet and read what your student has to say about you. If the student makes
constructive comments (or if you can interpret negative comments constructively) and you then implement
changes into your teaching style or manner in the classroom, you will improve as a teacher.

Dealing with difficult situations

Tired students
Learning English one-to-one can be immensely tiring. This is particularly true if the student is taking an
intensive course, and it is not just low-level students who can get exhausted: very advanced students who are
learning something new (e.g. accounting vocabulary) can get worn out too. And students who are studying abroad
not only have to cope with the language, but also have to acclimatise to the new culture.

If you realise that your student is becoming tired, you can:

■■ take a break;

■■ go out of the building with the student – for a walk, to a coffee shop or whatever is appropriate;

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■■ introduce physical movement in the classroom;

■■ think about re-arranging the programme.

If you want to prevent your student getting tired:

✘ Don’t Do This:
■■ cram in as much as you can;

■■ be afraid of silence;

■■ be afraid of silent reading in class.

✔ Do This:
■■ understand clearly what constitutes a tiring activity, and which activities are less demanding;

■■ give your student time to think (which entails silence);

■■ give your student time in class to prepare any activity that needs preparation;

■■ take frequent breaks if your student tires quickly;

■■ change the activity if you see your student getting tired;

■■ over-estimate the time it will take for you to complete a task; you can always have a few five-minute fillers up
your sleeve in case you finish early;
■■ aim to finish a few minutes before the end of the class.

Tiring activities include:

■■ dense input sessions (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, meetings language – whatever the topic);

■■ controlled practice activities;

■■ challenging listening activities.

Less tiring activities include:

■■ speaking (although it depends how challenging the topic is);

■■ fun activities (e.g. games);

■■ easy listening activities.

Anxious students
There are many reasons why a student might be anxious: for example, he or she may not think enough progress
is being made, have difficulties with the learning process, be about to start a new job, or be worried about exams.

Ideally, your student will talk to you openly about his or her concerns. In addition to encouraging this, you can
make the classroom a relaxed, pressure-free environment by:
■■ giving the student achievable tasks;

■■ being positive, cheerful and encouraging;

■■ explaining how progress works, e.g. that it is not linear, and that sometimes it’s difficult to notice progress
until the end of the course – or even some time after that;
■■ giving very positive feedback;

■■ not putting pressure on the student;

■■ being relaxed yourself.

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The student lacks confidence

You can handle this situation using the same techniques as for dealing with anxious students.

The student is rude

Students can sound rude when it is not their intention. This could be due to
linguistic and cultural misunderstandings. For example:
■■ interference from mother-tongue intonation patterns;

■■ poor level of English;

■■ cultural differences over what is appropriate social and socio-linguistic behaviour in certain settings (e.g.
requests in their language sound too direct compared with English).

During the feedback sessions, you can draw their attention to these points – it opens up the potential for
interesting discussions on cultural differences between your student’s culture and British culture.

Personality clashes
Sometimes it can be difficult to create a rapport with your student; one step on from this is having a student with
whom there is the potential for a personality clash. In this situation you need to subsume your personal feelings about
your student and just get on with your job. Every teacher gets bad feedback from a student at one time or another
because the personal chemistry between them was not right; Directors of Studies are usually able to distinguish
between negative feedback due to poor teaching and that which occurs as a result of a bad personality match.

Culture shock
If the student goes to an English-speaking country to do his or her course, they not only have to contend with
speaking a foreign language, but also get used to the climate, dress, food and social behaviour of that country.
This can lead to culture shock for some students. Students taking an intensive one-to-one course are at
particular risk because there are no other classmates to distract them.

Homesickness is an aspect of culture shock, and can be experienced by adults as well as children and younger people.
Not only do students miss their families, but they may also find their new circumstances intimidating, especially if
they study in a big city like London. All this will detract from their ability to learn efficiently and effectively.

Get the student to talk about it

Get your student to describe what he or she finds surprising about Britain, and to talk about how British life
differs from life in his or her country.

Distract the student

If you are in a school, you need to make sure that your student gets to know the other students and is included
on any social programme that may exist. In a homestay context, you can make sure your student is fully occupied
with activities outside the classroom by taking them on trips and visits, and giving them the opportunity to meet
other people outside the homestay family. (This is covered more fully in Chapter 8 Homestay Teaching.)

Make the classes fun

Provide activities that you are sure your student will enjoy.

Obsessiveness
Students can be obsessive about various aspects of the language learning process – for example, they may look
up every word in the dictionary to the detriment of the flow of the lesson, or be obsessed with learning grammar,
or want you to correct every single mistake they make. You can try to persuade them that it is not in their best

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interests to study in this way, but often the best strategy is to give them a diluted version of what they want
rather than fighting them.

Lack of motivation
Sometimes students are unmotivated because they have been sent on the course by their parents or company. If
this is the case, get them to talk about it and then discuss how best to motivate them. Students can be stimulated
by your enthusiasm and by your careful choice of classroom activities.

You find your student tiring

This can happen for several reasons, e.g. they start and restart sentences very frequently, or speak very fast and
make many mistakes. You can try the following strategies:
■■ Admit you’re tired! Suggest taking a brief break.

■■ Introduce movement to the classroom.

■■ Do some work on the offending linguistic fault.

Students are often afraid that they are tiring the teacher. If you find them less tiring in subsequent lessons,
praise them for that.

You find your student boring

First of all, are you sure your student is not equally bored with you? If you are sure this is not the case, then
tell your student that in a group class he or she would need techniques for holding the attention of the other
students, and that this is exactly the same in the one-to-one classroom. If you do it humorously (and your student
has a sense of humour), he or she will generally respond positively to this approach.

The student is very demanding

During the needs analysis is the right moment to explain clearly to the student what the course can and cannot
provide, thereby making sure he or she has realistic expectations. If your student is too demanding, firmly
explain why you cannot meet all his or her requirements.

You feel sleepy in class

One of the problems of the static classroom is the ‘afternoon dip’. Teaching after lunch can literally be painful if
your body is timed to expect a sleep after lunch. With group teaching you need to be more active, so this is less
likely to be a problem.
■■ If you are sleepy, be upfront and tell the student. (He or she will probably be sympathetic, and may very well
be suffering from the same problem.) If you can, take a brief coffee break together with your student, or go
and get a cup of coffee and bring it back to the classroom.
■■ Stand up and move around the classroom. Of course, this is difficult if the classroom is as small as the
classrooms allocated for one-to-one teaching tend to be – but physical movement is one of the reasons why it is
much easier to stay awake in a group classroom.

Dealing with problem students

Look at the following examples and think of ways of dealing with the students in question. You will find
suggested answers on the following pages.

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Beatrice
Beatrice is a French teenager doing a homestay course while her parents are on holiday. She is unmotivated and
grumpy in class. She is preparing for her baccalaureate.

Anastasia
Anastasia is a fifteen-year-old. She has arrived for her morning class clearly worried about something.

Michael
You are teaching Michael in-company. He is taking lessons in preparation for an advanced English exam. He
is prone to asking you awkward linguistic questions and you suspect he does not fully trust you to be the best
teacher to help him.

Günther
Günther is on a one-week course. He is very keen to study the present perfect, but you have told him that on
such a short course and with his particular needs it should not be a priority. He has subsequently been difficult
with you in class.

Bruno
Bruno, an Italian businessman, constantly questions your pedagogical and linguistic judgement. He is
considerably older than you and obviously thinks you are too young to be teaching him.

Joao Alberto
Joao Alberto is an eighteen-year-old Brazilian from a wealthy family. He is taking six weeks of very expensive
classes. However, he arrives late for all lessons and sometimes does not show up at all. He does not take the
classes seriously and you find him very difficult to teach.

Miroslaw
You have two hours of one-to-one tuition with Miroslaw in the afternoon. You find his way of speaking
exhausting; this is partly due to his accent, partly to his stress, rhythm and intonation and partly to the fact that
he makes so many mistakes when he speaks.

Vaclav
Vaclav, a former university professor, now runs a German subsidiary in the Czech Republic. Vaclav uses overlong,
over-complex sentences, and when you comment on this he seems reluctant to accept it. He often makes subtle
remarks about being more intelligent than other people and you suspect he may talk in this way because he
wants to be seen as an intellectual. The atmosphere in the classroom is slightly tense.

Jin Sung
For some reason Jin Sung, a Korean twenty-one-year-old, has taken a dislike to you. You do not know what you
have done and you are trying your best to please him.

Yayat
Yayat takes lessons once a week in his lunch hour. He always keeps you at the end of the class by asking last-
minute questions, and seems reluctant to let you go. The class usually over-runs by fifteen minutes. You let him
do this because you worry that he is not getting value for his money in his sixty-minute lesson.

Paola
Paola is an Italian housewife. She has been taking classes with you for several months now and is intending to
continue studying. She only wants to practise speaking, but has no ideas and nothing to say. You do your best to
encourage her to speak, but with no success.

Teng
Not only is Teng a complete beginner in English, but he has never been introduced to the Roman alphabet and so
cannot read or write. He was not able to survive in the group elementary class, so he has been given one-to-one
lessons to get him to a level at which he can go back to the group.

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Andreas
Andreas is a pre-intermediate student in his late fifties. His company has recently been restructured and it was
decided that all staff should take English classes. Andreas is in a senior position in the company, does not understand
why he has to take the lessons and is very unmotivated. When asked to talk about his job, he says It’s too complicated.

Jean-Paul
Jean-Paul is a nineteen-year-old doing a three-week homestay course in your house. He gets up very late in the
morning and seems completely ‘out of it’ in class. You later realise that he smokes dope every evening.

Jeanette
Jeanette is a wildly attractive, long-legged, unattached, thirty-year-old business English teacher. Male students
ask her out constantly. She finds it very difficult to say no although she never wants to go out with them.
(See the next page for suggested ways to deal with these problems.)

Suggested answers
Beatrice
Put the ball back in Beatrice’s court. Say to her: ‘You’re obviously concerned about doing the exams. What do you
think is the best way to handle this?’ Beatrice may be thrown by this approach, but will appreciate being treated
like an adult. In fact, when you ask teenage students directly what the problem is, it may be the first occasion
that an adult has really listened to them and you may discover more than you anticipated (that they hate their
parents, are serial shop-lifters, etc.)!

Anastasia
If a teenager is worried about something, it is usually a good idea to find out what the problem is. Perhaps
Anastasia has had a quarrel with her boyfriend and is dying to contact him. If this is the case, tell her to take a
break and call him – otherwise nothing will get done in the classroom.

Michael
If you are an experienced teacher and have no problems handling Michael’s questions, he will come to trust
your pedagogical judgement in time. If he intimidates you, the Director of Studies might be able to give him
a more experienced teacher. If there is no possibility of changing teachers, make a note of all the questions he
asks you and tell him that you will have the answers the next time you see him, or that you will email him the
information before the next lesson.

Günther
It is not worth fighting Günther. Teach him the present perfect in its simplest form possible and cross your
fingers that this will keep him happy.

Bruno
Before you dismiss Bruno as being arrogant, is he right in any way? Perhaps the activities you are doing with
him are not the best suited to his needs, but he is unable to tell you this graciously. If he does not believe your
linguistic judgement, you can show him the evidence in a reference book. Be goodhumoured when he questions
your judgement, but make it clear to him that, while he may be expert in many different areas, in the classroom
you are the linguistic expert.

Joao Alberto
It is important to ‘cover your back’ in this type of situation, in case Joao Alberto’s parents come back to your
organisation complaining that you have not taught him very much. Ask your Director of Studies to remind Joao
Alberto that he is wasting his parents’ money by not taking the classes seriously. If he continues to behave in the
same way, tell him that you will not be responsible for any complaints his parents may have. Explain to him that
you are having a hard time teaching him, and discuss with him different activities you could do in class which he
would find more motivating.

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Miroslaw
Tell Miroslaw that you find him tiring, but that you are working to reduce this problem by a) focusing on his
phonological difficulties and b) getting him to slow down his delivery so that he has time to think about what
he is going to say. Tell him that, as you find it tiring to listen to him, you will talk a little more than you would
normally do in order to give your brain some ‘breathing space’.

Vaclav
Record or write down Vaclav’s overlong, complicated sentences as before, but don’t make any comments about
them. Just ask him to look at the sentences and see if there are any changes he would like to make. Don’t say
‘simpler sentences are better’; he will not be pleased to hear that as it conflicts with his views.

Jin Sung
Tell your Director of Studies about the problem. He or she should then talk to Jin Sung to find out what is
troubling him. If it is a simple personality clash, perhaps the Director of Studies can move you to another
student.

Yayat
You need to be very ruthless with your timekeeping. Start getting ready to finish the lesson a good five minutes
in advance. Tell him that you have to finish exactly on time because you have a meeting/are expecting a
phonecall/ need to go to your next class, etc. Make sure you have a different excuse for each lesson. DON’T let
yourself be waylaid.

Paola
Suggest to the Director of Studies that Paola would benefit from a change of teacher. If that is not possible,
explain to Paola that you find it hard work teaching her because she does not talk enough. If that does not
lead to any improvement, make sure you give her very structured speaking activities (e.g. describing a picture;
answering a long list of questions on a discussion topic) which don’t require her to be creative.

Teng
Use techniques for teaching young children.

Andreas
Break down Andreas’s job into all its different parts and get him to explain it to you step by step. Very gradually,
start filling in the details of his job. Recycle the new words and phrases so he gets a chance to explain the same
things again, but in a slightly different way. Once he realises that he can talk about his job successfully, he will
be pleased by the progress he has made.

Jean-Paul
You could:
a) pretend you have not noticed and wait until his supply runs out;
b) explain to him that you were not informed in advance that he would be smoking dope and that you are not
willing to tolerate it;
c) tell him he can continue with the same behaviour, but you must inform his parents in case they complain later
than he has not made enough progress.

Jeanette
She could:
a) wear trousers and minimal make-up to work;
b) invent a live-in boyfriend and make sure she mentions him in class;
c) go on an assertiveness training course to learn to say ‘no’;
d) ask the Director of Studies to give her female students only.

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