Language
Online Test 1#B
If the marks for each student's performance are to be recorded in the Student Access markbook, follow this procedure: > Student Access > All assignments > Add assignments > Quiz (then follow the sequence...
DP essentials
TASKS Bilingual brains
Does being bilingual change the way you think ? An interesting interview with the distinguished research psychologist Ellen Bialystok, published in the New York Times, argues that bilingualism does indeed...
Blog
On jargon Free
The IB’s house style in its official documents tends towards… shall we say ‘grandiloquence’. To a large extent, this is understandable: the IB wishes to convey the seriousness of its commitment to the...
eBook
TASKS Democracy debated 1
I imagine that we all think that Democracy is a Good Thing. A large majority of countries around the world are officially 'democracies', even when they are fairly blatantly not and merely use fake democratic...
eBook
TASKS Attitudes to lockdown
It is evident that situations of stress throw a strong clear light on social attitudes and relationships. This is particularly true of the COVID-19 pandemia,with its impact not only on all nations, but...
Building a programme
Course ingredients
On sitting down to design an English B course, it seems wise to survey the field of materials available, and assess what may be useful. This is both to check that we have have everything needed, and also...
DP essentials
TASKS Blind vision 1
In a sense, language is always translation - it interprets to us ideas and experiences, but can never transmit the original directly and fully. That said, language works wonderfully, of course, within...
DP essentials
TASKS Bad language
. This page is based on a fascinating book: Holy Sh*t by Melissa Mohr (2013). It is well worth reading this study not just for its intriguing and well-researched content, but also because Mohr writes...
Activities
Make & do
Here's a page about the famous distinction which confuses so many students - between make and do. These two words are particularly vulnerable, it would appear, to L1 interference, since similar pairs...
Activities
Tenses progressive
For example: "I'm really glad you called, because I am talking to Laura right now - so I can pass on the message." For example: "I have been thinking of calling you all morning, but I haven't had time..."...