Building a programme
Audience
. . That language is used to communicate to an audience is obvious - but given that basic idea, tricky questions arise. Which audience? How do texts relate to an audience? And how do we identify an 'audience'?...
Activities
Sentence Structure
Students use sentences. Perhaps they are correct. They are short. They are not very interesting. They do not sound clever. The student may be more clever. The ideas are not linked. Alternatively... We...
Language
Genes & Culture
LINK - 'Human Culture, an Evolutionary Force' Nicholas Wade, in The New York Times, 1 March 2010 HANDOUT - CultureEvolution extract Science journalism provides highly indicative material for studying...
Building a programme
First Term Free
Beginning a course is always a tricky moment ... whether you know your students or not, a new course means a new aethos, new ground rules, new aims. It is a truism among experienced English B teachers...
Blog
Word of the Year Free
Both the Oxford and Cambridge dictionaries have recently published their Word of the Year choices. Oxford Dictionaries has gone for youthquake – which it defines as “a significant cultural, political,...
Blog
Politics in Neverland Free
Catalonia has been prominent in the news recently – certainly in Europe, but probably also in various other parts of the world as well. All because the Catalan Parlament decided to pass a formal unilateral...
Language
Vocabulary of methodical thought 2
The two diagrams on this page include important Transferable Academic Language, dealing with, firstly, the ingredients of a good argument, and secondly, the sequence of development of ideas. Vocabulary...
Literature
Digressions & meditations
Christopher's digressions and meditations are anything but mere distractions from the 'proper story'. They are fundamental to the effect of the book because they - They are, in a sense, what gives the...
Literature
On Chatting
Chatting is a normal human habit ... but Christopher finds it very strange. Why? On chatting Christopher has Asperger's Syndrome, which, among other things, means that he finds it hard to interpret...
Language
Essential functions, reviewed
The functional approach to language involves sorting elements of language into groups which serve purposes - such as asking for something, thanking, interrupting, and so on. Text books or reference works...