Speaking your mind?
“I don’t mind talking to you or my classmates in English; in fact, I quite enjoy it. But it’s different when I have to have a conversation with a stranger whose job is to look for mistakes in wha...
Cambridge Assessment bans watches from January 2022
New regulations for watches. Cambridge Assessment regulations state that from January 2022 smart watches will be banned in exams rooms and treated as electronic items. It is no longer acceptable for...
A psychological perspective of B2 level exams
“The B2 level class room can be a board game with rules but also free-will during turn taking; choices bring about outcomes of winning or losing, but most importantly, of discovering that choice ...
Latest Issue
News
The 2nd Online Anti-Bullying Festival by QLS
The 2nd Online Anti-Bullying Festival in Greece, organised by the QLS Network of Language Centres, was another huge success! The award-winning initiative returned on 20th and 21st November - two day...
Cambridge Assessment bans watches from January 2022
New regulations for watches. Cambridge Assessment regulations state that from January 2022 smart watches will be banned in exams rooms and treated as electronic items. It is no longer acceptable for...
Fulbright Greece: Building Bridges, Promoting Excellence
Fulbright Greece successfully administered the 2020–2021 and 2021–2022 Greek and U.S. Fulbright Scholarship Programs, despite the difficulties stemming from the pandemic. We are grateful for the su...
English through Drama: A Holistic Second Language Learning Method
I always perceived teaching as a happy journey; as an adventure both for the teacher and the students. Having this as my driving force I decided to make each lesson an adventure, a fantasy and a ...
A Short Paper Proposing That We Need to Write Shorter Papers
Our current journals in language education are full of long papers. A typical journal might have, at most, five major papers. Sometimes we have to write long papers, but much of the time, it's unnec...
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Teacher Collaboration: a science fiction film or a reality?
How many times have we given the instruction ‘please work together’ or ‘in groups’ to our students? How many times have we expected from our students to work together, cooperate and collaborate with...
The 2nd Online Anti-Bullying Festival by QLS
The 2nd Online Anti-Bullying Festival in Greece, organised by the QLS Network of Language Centres, was another huge success! The award-winning initiative returned on 20th and 21st November - two day...
The First Lesson: What to Do and What Not to Do
It’s that time of year again, when teachers meet new students, students meet new teachers and students meet new students. In this article, I wish to focus on the very beginning of this new beginning...
Μαθαίνω πώς να μαθαίνω...
Τι σημαίνει αυτό;
Δεν γνωρίζουμε πώς να μαθαίνουμε; Κι όμως πολλοί δεν εφαρμόζουν αποτελεσματικές στρατηγικές μάθησης με αποτέλεσμα να σπαταλούν πολύ χρόνο, να απογοητεύονται από τις αποτυχίες και ...
The strategies begin with lesson one at the start of the course
Like most teachers, I use the first lesson for a ‘getting to know you’ period to establish a harmonious classroom community. There are three activities that we do at this time:
By Helen Papadopoulo...
Forget the Screen! Become a King or a Queen!
With crowns I will welcome my students in September! I will explain to them that ''every cloud has a silver lining'' and now it's time we all adjusted to the new norm. Wearing our crowns, doing acti...
ET4U The appointment with inspiration
Nothing compares to giving birth to your own educational material; drawing, improving, adapting and editing it step by step, based not only on your academic knowledge but also on the precious knowle...
Using L2 Errors as a Guide to Progress
An inescapable, inasmuch as an eye-opening part of teaching and learning is error-making. Understanding errors upgrades teaching, timely input and appropriate redress. Errors occur, signifying on ap...
OK HOW DO I TEACH THE VERY LITTLE ONES?
The teaching of English in the pre-primary classroom is often characterised by a blended whole-child/academic approach to learning. What is the difference between the whole-child and more traditiona...
Knowedge-Based Leadership in Language Education
I have a new morning routine: cycling around the hill in my neighborhood, listening to podcasts. It makes me forget about the struggle of cycling and it gives me fantastic ideas! Only problem? I can...
News
The 2nd Online Anti-Bullying Festival by QLS
The 2nd Online Anti-Bullying Festival in Greece, organised by the QLS Network of Language Centres, was another huge success! The award-winning initiative returned on 20th and 21st November - two day...
Cambridge Assessment bans watches from January 2022
New regulations for watches. Cambridge Assessment regulations state that from January 2022 smart watches will be banned in exams rooms and treated as electronic items. It is no longer acceptable for...
Fulbright Greece: Building Bridges, Promoting Excellence
Fulbright Greece successfully administered the 2020–2021 and 2021–2022 Greek and U.S. Fulbright Scholarship Programs, despite the difficulties stemming from the pandemic. We are grateful for the su...
English through Drama: A Holistic Second Language Learning Method
I always perceived teaching as a happy journey; as an adventure both for the teacher and the students. Having this as my driving force I decided to make each lesson an adventure, a fantasy and a ...
A Short Paper Proposing That We Need to Write Shorter Papers
Our current journals in language education are full of long papers. A typical journal might have, at most, five major papers. Sometimes we have to write long papers, but much of the time, it's unnec...
Μαθαίνω πώς να μαθαίνω...
Τι σημαίνει αυτό;
Δεν γνωρίζουμε πώς να μαθαίνουμε; Κι όμως πολλοί δεν εφαρμόζουν αποτελεσματικές στρατηγικές μάθησης με αποτέλεσμα να σπαταλούν πολύ χρόνο, να απογοητεύονται από τις αποτυχίες και ...
ELT Magazine Selections
Exams & Exam Preparation
The 100% culture
In the English Language Teaching business our most-quoted number is 100. It’s all about 100%. Of what? Of language exams success of course! Everybody has to pass. 90% is not good enough. 70% is a to...
To take or not to take a language exam?
To take or not to take a language exam? The upcoming language exam session are just around the corner. The most common questions brought to our attention before choosing an examination body may vary...
A psychological perspective of B2 level exams
“The B2 level class room can be a board game with rules but also free-will during turn taking; choices bring about outcomes of winning or losing, but most importantly, of discovering that choice ...
Are they truly independent users of the language?
The goal of most foreign language learners is to reach the level of independent users of the language, i.e. to be able to do things like the following:
understand at least the main ideas of aut...
Adaptive testing and the LanguageCert Test of English
A test – through most teachers’ and students’ eyes – is usually a linear operation consisting of a set number of items that a student grinds through from the first item to the last. The current arti...
How can I prepare for the exams?
I have to say I am not particularly fond of exam preparation. I find that too much time is wasted trying to see whether students have reached a particular level and that not enough time is devote...
Red Balloons, London T-Shirts and Open Doors: The Experiences of an Oral Examiner
“Look at the following pictures. I would like you to describe them for me please,” I asked as I handed the candidate the photos. As he spoke, I couldn’t help but wonder what I would have said if ou...
A language certificate at the age of 12, 15 or 16? What’s the point?
To answer this question, it is important to remember that FL learning is not meant to be merely a school subject for learners with no specific use later on in their lives. In Greece learners aspire ...
TOEFL® Essentials™ Assessment: Design and development of a new test
Every new test at ETS is created through a careful design and development process. The newest addition to the TOEFL® Family of Assessments, the TOEFL® Essentials™ test, is no exception. As detailed ...
PeopleCert signs multi-year contract with Transport for London, providing English Language Tests for Licensed Private Hire Drivers across London
Starting in 2021, PeopleCert will provide English language exams to individuals wanting to obtain a Private Hire Driver’s License with Transport for London.
London, United Kingdom: PeopleCert,...
Education
Teacher Collaboration: a science fiction film or a reality?
How many times have we given the instruction ‘please work together’ or ‘in groups’ to our students? How many times have we expected from our students to work together, cooperate and collaborate with...
The strategies begin with lesson one at the start of the course
Like most teachers, I use the first lesson for a ‘getting to know you’ period to establish a harmonious classroom community. There are three activities that we do at this time:
By Helen Papadopoulo...
OK HOW DO I TEACH THE VERY LITTLE ONES?
The teaching of English in the pre-primary classroom is often characterised by a blended whole-child/academic approach to learning. What is the difference between the whole-child and more traditiona...
Knowedge-Based Leadership in Language Education
I have a new morning routine: cycling around the hill in my neighborhood, listening to podcasts. It makes me forget about the struggle of cycling and it gives me fantastic ideas! Only problem? I can...
How To Succeed In An Online Learning Course
In 2020, we saw a growing number of MOOCs offering online learning opportunities. While this trend existed before the pandemic, there is an even stronger appetite to ‘come out stronger’ post-Covid ...
Professional Development
Doctors specialize, shouldn’t you as an English teacher?
In my experience of 32 years in the ELT trade I have seen and worked in most sectors and I have one thing to say: it’s about time that the majority of EFL teachers who teach general English move on ...
Life-long learning -those were the days…
It’s been a school year like no other. Τhere was a moment, last spring, when every parent suddenly realized how deeply their lives and livelihoods depended on an institution too often in the backgr...
Earn your Trinity TESOL certificate at QUALIFY
There are several reasons to earn your Trinity TESOL certificate at QUALIFY
With a Trinity CertTESOL, you can teach anywhere
It’s easy to apply for a Trinity CertTESOL course at QUALIFY
Trin...
Improve your Teaching and Get Qualified at ACE TEFL
ACE TEFL is a centre for teachers of English as a foreign language: a place where teachers can learn, develop and get qualified. ACE TEFL was founded in January 2021 by George Vassilakis and Alexan...
Teacher development, teacher learning
The Indian poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore (1996) believed that just like a lamp can never light another lamp unless it continues to burn its own flame, teachers can never truly teach un...
CPD for teachers: why do we need to unlearn, re-learn, keep learning?
Try this thought experiment: you are in your class with your students, writing on your board (or typing on your screen projected on your board), the rules for ‘less’ and ‘fewer’. You give nice, soli...
News
Adapting reading activities for the online classroom
The new classroom environment, the online classroom, involves adapting the printed coursebook we have been using so far, to fit the needs and demands of online teaching and learning. When adapting ...
Online Courses Due to COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cloud with a Silver Lining
The coronavirus pandemic has spurred the adoption of distance learning at all education levels all around the world. According to the World Economic Forum “the COVID-19 has resulted in schools shut ...
What helped me teach online
This year, as the pandemic hit and schools shut down, I had to re-invent myself as an online EFL teacher. Here’s a list of things I did to make my (and my students’) life easier.
1. Slow down
Onli...
Interviews
Consultancy Corner by Maria Araxi Sachpazian
In search of digital professionalism
The impact of social media on our field cannot be denied. The internet, even before social media, opened new paths for teachers to create their PLNs, to see samples of teaching and ideas applied in ...
Dealing with uncooperative exam candidates
By M.A.Sachpazian
The last article of 2020, a year as unexpected as no other before, is going to be a rather unusual one which touches on issues related with both teaching and management. In the ...
“Was I just bullied by this client, or did I imagine it?” Part A: What drives clients to behave like bullies?
By M.A.Sachpazian
In an era when bullying (at schools and in the workplace) is largely and openly discussed and no tollerance is shown for bullying of any kind, it is rather odd that professional ...
Supporting those who teach learners with special educational needs: the role of the Academic Manager
In the last few years, emphasis on honing our teaching skills so that we can be effective teachers of all learners, regardless of their special abilities or weakenesses, has become the mainstream...
Directing your school
The dictionary (www.oxforddictionaries.com) defines director as a person who is in charge of an activity, department or organisation. A second definition adds the aspect of the manager of busines...
Special Education Needs
The 3 Principles to Supporting Special Educational Needs Students
Research in the field of special educational needs and inclusion has equipped the educational community with evidence-based practices and ideas to support classroom diversity. How come that stude...
Teaching Dyslexic Learners Online
Technology is a gift for students with dyslexia, provided that it is used properly. This is because most dyslexic learners are visual learners and computer materials are designed to be accessed t...
Teaching Reading to students with dyslexia
Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. The person diagnosed with dyslexia face difficulties with accurate and fluent word recognition. What is more, poor spelli...
Teaching English to Dysgraphic Learners
Dysgraphia [dis-gra-fee-uh] is a learning disability that makes it difficult for a person to handwrite and organize written expression. Dysgraphia is not related to one's ability to read, nor is it ...
Mind mapping and dyslexia: The current trend of graphic organizers for effective English language teaching
The common saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” gives prominence to the idea that an image is more powerful when engraved on our mind than a multitude of words. Visual representations...