Informational Interviews Help ESOL Students Succeed and Connect to Jobs
March 1, 2013
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“If you don’t know where you’re going, you will probably end up somewhere else.” – Dr. Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990), Canadian-American educator How do you…
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Do Our Students Need to Swim in English or Pass Grammar Tests?
October 26, 2012
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Here is a short list of important questions for our English language learners. Can they order food in a nice restaurant? Can students fill in…
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Don’t Let Perfectionism Silence You!
August 27, 2012
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Some English students make learning English even more difficult by expecting themselves to speak “perfect”, with “no accent” just like ” a real native English…
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Why We Wrote Compelling American Conversations for Intermediate American English Language Learners
July 18, 2012
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“America needs new immigrants to love and cherish it.” – Eric Hoffer (1902-1983), American writer and longshoreman Compelling American Conversations: Questions and Quotations for intermediate…
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Videotaping Helps ESL Students Recognize Their Good Mistakes – and Learn from Them!
February 17, 2012
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How do you help your ESL students recognize their errors in speaking English? What techniques do you use to make their mistakes “psychologically real” to…
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Do Informational Interviews Have a Place in Business English Programs?
December 15, 2011
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Speaking skills – especially in stressful situations – matter. Most quality Business English and VESL (Vocational English as a Second Language) programs provide extensive training…
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Why Are So Many EFL Textbooks So Bland, Boring, and Culturally Tone Deaf?
September 28, 2011
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Why are so many EFL Textbooks so bland, boring, and culturally tone-deaf? Allow me to ask a more polite question. How can English teachers working…
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Becoming an Autotelic English Teacher
July 7, 2011
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“The wise are instructed by reason, average minds by experience, the stupid by necessity, and the brute by instinct.” Marcus Cicero, Roman statesman and orator…
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Speaking Together to Write Academic Definitions
March 4, 2011
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“The beginning of wisdom is in the definition of terms.” Socrates (469 BCE–399 BCE) , Greek philosopher Getting students to speak can be a challenge,…
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An ESL Author Looks at an ESL website with New Eyes
January 8, 2011
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Sometimes we don’t see what is in front of our eyes. Today I learned a bit more about my own website from a fellow English…
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