The art of juggling: developing the language learner’s vocabulary (OUP ELT Blog)

[ELTWeekly Volume 8, Issue 3 | January 18, 2016 | ISSN 0975-3036]

The word ‘thesaurus’ comes from the Greek meaning ‘treasure’ or ‘storehouse’ and the traditional thesaurus is a kind of storehouse of language. Roget’s Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases lists over 70 synonyms for fast, including zippy, fleet and nimble-footed. The editors have made no judgement about how useful each word is. The thesaurus marks words that are particularly formal or informal, but otherwise gives no information about how to use each word. The purpose of a thesaurus such as Roget is to remind native or expert speakers of the language of words they already know, but cannot quite bring to mind. It does not teach.

The needs of language learners are rather different. Even if they use a smaller thesaurus thanRoget, with fewer synonyms, they may still not know which word to choose, without information on the exact meaning and use of each word.
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Cambridge English Webinar: Maintaining Motivation: Engaging learners through the course, January 19

[ELTWeekly Volume 8, Issue 2 | January 11, 2016 | ISSN 0975-3036]

About Webinar

Motivated learners are more likely to engage in the learning process both inside and outside the classroom. However, it is sometimes difficult to determine exactly what it is that motivates learners. Is it their individual desire to learn, or is it the materials we use, or could it be what actually goes on in the classroom? This workshop will look at the recent history of motivation in English language teaching and then outline ways that teachers can think about motivation. We will then explore how teaching materials and real-time classroom interaction can inhibit or promote learner motivation. We will look at what aspects of the learning process teachers can most easily influence in terms of developing motivation and consider practical ways of doing this.

Co-author of Cambridge English Empower, Craig has been involved in ELT for 30 years. He is Cambridge DTEFLA qualified and also has an MA (Hons.) in Applied Linguistics.
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Online Learning Platforms: Helping your students engage (OUP ELT Blog)

[ELTWeekly Volume 8, Issue 2 | January 11, 2016 | ISSN 0975-3036]

Many English coursebooks come with access to an online learning platform full of material to help learners develop their language skills further. These can be particularly beneficial for academic English learners who need to achieve a certain level of English within a limited time period. But I wonder how many students (and teachers) fully exploit these materials.

For me, the greatest benefit of education technology is that it provides learners with the opportunity to extend learning beyond the classroom, work at their own pace and at a level appropriate to them. Online learning platforms allow all of those things as well as provide a tool for students and teachers to keep a record of progress made. Essentially, they allow learners to have more ownership of their learning which helps them learn better. According to Benson (2011), “controlling one’s own learning processes is an essential part of effective learning”.

However, encouraging students to use such a resource is not always easy as some students overlook the value of it. I’d therefore like to suggest four ways to help those students appreciate this value better and encourage them to fully exploit the resource. (more…)

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