I’ve been writing a bit about disciplinary literacy this week. If you’re not familiar with the term, it’s *basically* how people communicate, share knowledge, etc within a particular discipline. For the purposes of teaching EAL, think about how we teach… Read More ›

teacher development
Embedded formative assessment (New Directions)
I was lucky enough to deliver a video presentation alongside Alan Pulverness (TransformELT) at New Directions East Asia conference. We introduce the concept of formative assessment, explain typical formative assessment strategies, and discuss some challenges in embedding such strategies in… Read More ›
Special Offer! IH Introduction to Teaching CLIL course
My buddy from the Yangsan days, Katja Preston, now coordinates the courses for IH Online Teacher Training Institute. She’s kindly offering readers of this blog a discount for the upcoming CLIL course (authored by Amanda McLoughlin), woohoo! Here’s the info!… Read More ›
Conference: Integrated Learning and Assessment in the new National Curriculum for General Education
I had the pleasure of attending a conference on Integrated Learning and Assessment last week in Hue (Vietnam), hosted by Cambridge Assessment. Here’s a bit about the conference, and some take home points. Why was I there? I’ve been working… Read More ›
From EFL to EAL: Subject teachers and staging tasks
There’s plenty of content from my initial TEFL training (2006 – wow) that is still relevant to my everyday practice as an EAL teacher. Here’s one example. If you have undertaken initial teacher training in EFL (such as a CELTA… Read More ›
Showcase: Video Creation for Educators – Jo Gakonga
It’s Jo Gakonga everybody! *crowd go wild* An ELT ‘legend’ – CELTA Trainer, video creator, someone whose tips and advice I found super helpful early in my teaching career (and still do now!). In this showcase post, Jo talks about… Read More ›
Research in brief: Communicative and task-based language teaching in East Asian classrooms
Author and year William Littlewood (2007) Link to the review here or Google Scholar it. Overview A review of reports into the implementation of Communicative and TBLT approaches in East Asia (Primary and Secondary levels). No primary research, a review… Read More ›
PGCEi Module 2 assignment
I’ve had a few requests for advice on the Module 2 assignment for the PGCEi (Nottingham). You can find an overview of the module here. The assessment is a 4000-word essay in which you critique a pedagogical approach used in… Read More ›
PGCEi Module 1 assignment guidance
My previous post included some tips on how to approach the PGCEi Module 1 (Nottingham) process work. This post moves on to the assignment itself. A reminder that the process work was… A 1000-word piece of process work outlining your own educational beliefs… Read More ›
PGCEi Module 1 process work
Module 1 of PGCEi through Nottingham is on Educational Aims and Values. I’ve shared an overview and some tips for the module here. I mentioned the assessment criteria for the module: A 1000-word piece of process work outlining your own… Read More ›