Maria Heron from NILE asked me to record a video about my NILE dissertation. They are promoting the course and are keen to get reflections from alumni. She sent me a bunch of questions and asked for a 5 minute… Read More ›
MA
MA, PGCEi or Diploma?
Question from a reader: I’m after some advice. I can’t decide which professional development course to do. I have a CELTA plus five years’ teaching experience and I’ve been thinking for a while about doing a DELTA or Dip. Then… Read More ›
My dissertation
Sharing my recent MA dissertation for general interest. I say ‘general interest’, but I imagine the interest will be extremely specific! Here’s the title: Pronunciation materials in an A2/B1 level British Council Adult General English course in Thailand – do… Read More ›
Review: NILE Technology-assisted Language Learning course
I took the MA module in Technology-assisted Language Learning through NILE back in 2017. Here are some thoughts on the course (views my own). Overview The course “covers the uses of technology in language education and includes theoretical perspectives, practical… Read More ›
Review: NILE Materials Development course
I completed the MA module on Materials Development through NILE back in 2016. Here’s a quick review of the course (all views my own). Overview The online course runs for 8 weeks, with a mid-course break. It explores ‘many aspects… Read More ›
Tip: A planning matrix for research (Cohen et al, 2005)
I’ve been doing some research as part of my dissertation through NILE. I came across an awesome book by Cohen et al called ‘Research Methods in Education’. It wasn’t on our key reading list but I’d thoroughly recommend it.
Problems with images in ELT materials
Images in ELT coursebooks are often ambiguous. What might seem a fairly obvious depiction of an act or concept to us may be perceived as something completely different to our learners. In an interesting, small-scale study, Hewings (1991) asked a… Read More ›
Lesson idea: Tomlinson’s text-driven approach
In Developing Materials for Language Teaching (2013) Tomlinson introduces a text-driven approach to materials development. He goes into quite a bit of detail regarding text selection, offers a suggested framework for the approach and provides a practical example (pages 99-114)…. Read More ›
Metaphors for teaching materials
What are coursebooks to you? This question prompted plenty of discussion on our materials development course. We were given various metaphors to choose from – a springboard, a straitjacket, a recipe, a compass, etc. I opted for a crutch, as… Read More ›
The role of teaching materials – deficiency vs difference
I took a course on materials development recently. It was really good – plenty of input and ideas I could apply in my current context. Here’s a link to the course if you’re interested. The role of teaching materials (as… Read More ›
ELT Planning 