Blog - CELT International

Autonomous Professional Development Begins at Home – IATEFL 2013 Talk

April 15, 2013

<![CDATA[Just got back from Liverpool IATEFL 2013 where I went for my annual inspiration shot – connecting with the profession and the latest ideas and concerns was an incredible experience once again This year, and for the first time in a long while, I did a joint presentation with Shaun Wilden, co-moderator on the weekly…
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Defragmenting Foreign Language Learning – my talk at TESOL Greece 2013

March 24, 2013

<![CDATA[Presenting language in small fragments hoping that they will one day automatically transform into fluent near-native talk may not be enough. My talk at TESOL Greece highlighted some ways in which skilled performers achieve excellence and focused on practical activities promoting holistic language learning using a variety of free online tools. Fragments of knowledge The…
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Compelling Readings for Language Acquisition

January 3, 2013

<![CDATA[This post is long overdue but I thought it would make a fitting opening to 2013 as the talk I am reporting is one of the most interesting ones I followed in 2012 and adds to what many colleagues will have read of the work of Dr Stephen Krashen. The Symposium Dr Krashen’s talk, ‘Technology:…
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C is for Coherence

November 1, 2012

Is she coherent? Watch this much discussed video of a young beauty pageant contestant answering a question posed by the judges. Thinking Task 1 Is Miss South Carolina coherent or not? Thinking Task 2 Read this text and say if it is coherent. Try to answer the following questions: Where was published?…
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G is for Genre

October 22, 2012

Definition Genre ( /ˈʒɑːnrə/ or /ˈdʒɑːnrə/; from French, genre French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ʁ], “kind” or “sort”, from Latin: genus (stem gener-), Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are…
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N is for New Information

October 14, 2012

<![CDATA[This is the first of a series of posts intended to introduce some basic concepts of Discourse Analysis and to illustrate them in a fun, if possible, way. N is for New Information Screenshot of front pages Definition New information is information that is assumed by the speaker not to be known to or assumed by the addressee,…
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#ELTchat: the loss of eltchat.com – Plan B

August 10, 2012

<![CDATA[For the last – well, almost two years now, since September 15 2010, #ELTchat has kept us on our toes and forged hundreds of professional and personal relationships amongst its followers who turn up on Twitter every Wednesday to talk about topics they have suggested and voted on – a community of peers which was…
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Thinking about Discipline – Part 3

June 2, 2012

<![CDATA[ Some Classic Mistakes In my first two posts in this series on Discipline, I mentioned some of the causes of undisciplined behaviour and a few proactive steps which I believe will help in creating a classroom atmosphere which promotes disciplined behaviour. In this post, the third post in this series on discipline, I would like to mention a…
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#ELTchat at the ELTons Awards

May 19, 2012

<![CDATA[ ELTons Awards Nomination News May 23, 2012 Innovation in Teacher Resources We are very proud, pleased and honoured to be shortlisted in the nominations for an ELTons award, “the only international awards that recognise and celebrate innovation in the field of English language teaching (ELT).” For a whole week my blogs will be celebrating the ELTons award nomination and shortlisting of the #ELTchat website and #ELTchat, a weekly online discussion…
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