I’ve been building this ‘Academic English Syllabus’ for EAL learners. You can catch up on the process here if interested. Anyhow, in this post, I’m sharing the first draft of a full (AI-assisted) lesson sequence. Here it is. And here… Read More ›
materials writing
Beyond the coursebook for tiered EAL provision (Part 5: genres, tasks, language functions)
More reflections on building this academic English syllabus. I’m going to accelerate through them a bit in case you’re getting bored. So far we’ve had: Part 1: mapping the skills coverage Part 2: core vocab coverage Part 3: subskills coverage… Read More ›
Interlude: Beyond the coursebook for tiered EAL provision
(This is a text-heavy post, so every now and then I’m going to drop in an album cover of a band I’ve been listening to recently – just so you don’t get bored) I’m building an ‘academic English syllabus’ for… Read More ›
Beyond the coursebook for tiered EAL provision (Part 4: unit overviews)
For context, I’m creating an ‘academic English’ syllabus for Year 7 EAL learners. So, I currently have: The above is our core coverage. While the Tier 3 vocab has a ‘select, not cover’ approach to make sure it is addressed… Read More ›
Beyond the coursebook for tiered EAL provision (Part 3: sub-skills)
For context, I’m attempting to build an ‘academic English syllabus’ for an international school. I initially set out to create suitable alternatives to coursebook-driven provision, or to at least suggest enhancements to that model. Am I getting anywhere, or am… Read More ›
Beyond the coursebook for tiered EAL provision (Part 2: vocab!)
If you missed Part 1, basically I’m attempting to build an ‘academic English syllabus’ for EAL contexts. The overall purpose is so that we don’t have to fall back on using ELT coursebooks for tiered provision. Famous last words –… Read More ›
Beyond the coursebook for tiered EAL provision (Part 1)
Many international schools in Thailand are choosing to shape their tiered EAL support around a coursebook. That’s one way to do things, and I can’t say whether it meets the needs of learners in every context. Personally, I think there… Read More ›
Materials writing conversations #20: The title
Project manager (PM): So, this new product is the big one! General English resources have never been so pointless, which is why TITLES MATTER. (Everyone unmutes their mics to shout ‘hear, hear’ and bang stuff down loudly and repeatedly) PM:… Read More ›
Materials writing conversations #19: vague briefs
Host (Des): Welcome back to ELT Publishing Family Fortunes. Before the break, we asked each publishing team to name ‘Something that publishers are deliberately vague about in project briefs’. Donald gained control of the board for Big Four ELT with… Read More ›
Materials writing conversations #18: The Test Specification
This is completely imaginary blah blah blah. Hi Pete, Thanks for agreeing to write the official practice exams for the Test Of English Within Academic, Research, and Technical Settings (TOEWARTS), 2025 specification. As you know, endorsed exam practice resources like… Read More ›
ELT Planning 