Speaking

Classroom Strategies

The Alibi Game

I didn’t invent this game but found it in a text book I used many years ago. I believe it was Oxford Press material. It would take up an entire hour of class without anyone getting bored and gave students lots of practice listening for details, while giving me an easy day. I think I

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Classroom Strategies

My Favorite Ice-Breaker

It’s an ideal CI activity because everything is 100% comprehensible and compelling and repetitive. The original structures are repeated countless times.

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Classroom Strategies

Why I no longer teach Phonics

Teaching phonics means concentrating on form and it only goes into short term memory , which basically means a lot of time and energy spent on very little gain. As Stephen Krashen says, “There’s an easy way and there’s a hard way. And the hard way doesn’t work.”

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Classroom Strategies

L’oral d’anglais au bac

“all they need to do is to memorize four questions. The day of the interview they answer the four questions. This gives their presentation structure and a safety net for those moments of panic when their mind goes blank.”

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Classroom Strategies

How Can I Teach Pronunciation?

This question was asked recently by a French person who came to the Agen Workshop in July, 2014. She is perfectly bilingual and a creative, hard-working and conscientious teacher of English. She admitted that she didn’t feel comfortable teaching pronunciation.

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