Claim OwnershipBritish Council - Teaching English
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A podcast series from British Council exploring some of the big questions in English language teaching.
26 Episodes
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In this episode, we discuss the impact of artificial intelligence on English language teaching. We start by discussing what AI is and its potential to make our lives as teachers easier. We talk to Svetlana Kandybovich, an AI educator and expert from Montenegro, about the pros and cons of AI. Svetlana emphasises the importance of human reasoning and the role of the teacher in the learning process. We then talk to EdTech expert Raquel Ribero, who shares her experience and practical tips to help teachers integrate AI and develop AI literacy in their students.Download the show notes and transcripts in English and Arabic.
1Welcome to episode 3 of series 3 of our podcast. In this episode, we ask the question: do I need to sound like a 'native speaker'? After discussing what we mean by native and non-native speakers of English, we have a conversation with Professor Jenny Jenkins, emeritus professor of Global Englishes. Jenny argues that 'native English' is a loaded and problematic term and she draws on her experience of ELF – English as a Lingua Franca – to provide a more useful understanding of English proficiency. Later in the episode, we hear from some of our TeachingEnglish Facebook community members, who give their opinions on the topic. Thanks to Maria Glazunova, Fajarudin Akbar, and Cristiana Osana for their contributions. Finally, we speak with Ana Jović, English language teacher and consultant, about native speakerism and its impact on language learning and teaching. Ana highlights the need for educating parents, students and teachers about the myths surrounding English speakers in ELT.Download the show notes and transcripts in English and Arabic.
It's episode 2 of our new series, and this week we are discussing how to teach vocabulary and grammar more communicatively. We talk to Jo Cummins, freelance ELT teacher, trainer and materials writer. Jo shares some ideas for communicative activities in the classroom that can help students move from passive grammar and vocabulary knowledge to active use of language for communication. We also look at how classrooms can become a 'safe space' for students to make errors, so that they can become more confident speakers outside the classroom. Later, we are joined by Luis Carabantes from Queen Mary University in London, who talks to us about communicative language teaching (CLT). We also discuss the importance of providing learners with authentic language and tasks, and of questioning the reasons for teaching what we teach. Download the show notes and transcripts in English and Arabic.
The TeachingEnglish podcast is back! In episode 1, we're discussing how we can achieve gender equity in the classroom. We talk to Dr Aisling O'Boyle, Director of the Centre for Language Education Research at Queen's University, Belfast. We look at how discrimination against women in areas like education has deep historical roots, but we now have more useful language to discuss it. We talk about how inequalities persist in many areas today and how language and textbooks can reinforce gender stereotypes. We're later joined by Araceli Salas and Grazzia Mendoza, teacher educators from Latin America and editors of Empowered Women in ELT, a collection of worldwide stories. Together, we look at practical ways English teachers can tackle gender equity, including raising awareness, working together and adapting classroom materials to reflect local contexts. Download the show notes and transcripts in English and Arabic.
In this final episode of series 2, we ask 19 experienced ELT professionals to give us their top tips for teaching English effectively. These tips cover five key areas, namely: the importance of personalisation and context; criticality; humanistic approaches to teaching language; using social media; and general pedagogy. These concise, focused suggestions will hopefully maximise the learning experiences and learning outcomes in your classes and make your own ELT journey more pleasurable.Download the show notes, transcript and activity booklet Are you enjoying the podcast?Please give us your feedback and tell us what you think.Link to the feedback survey: https://forms.office.com/e/3wDh6FRMaU
Looking at the world of ELT from the perspective of fairness, justice, and equity, there is much to admire. However, it is far from perfect, and in this episode we look at some of those areas in which significant improvement could be made. In our field report, we hear from three individuals whose organisations are trying to make ELT a better place in terms of fairness in working conditions, inclusion in the workplace, and gender balance. In our interview, we speak to Rachel Tsateri, who is a prominent advocate for the rights of ‘non-native speaking English teachers’, drawing on her own experience of being discriminated against.Download the show notes, transcript and activity booklet from the websiteAre you enjoying the podcast? Please give us your feedback and tell us what you think.Link to the feedback survey: https://forms.office.com/e/3wDh6FRMaU
Building on what we discussed in episode 4 about ‘Academic English’, we take a step back and look at the wider context within which it sits – English for Specific Purposes (ESP). At first, who better than Viviana Cortes – the editor-in-chief of the Journal of English for Specific Purposes – to share with us an overview of ESP, discussing its history, present and its future. In our field report, we investigate some of the particular areas in more detail, with practitioners of Medical English, Aviation English, and English for Islamic Studies telling us about their specialities. We learn about some of the specific lexical, grammatical and stylistic features of each of these specialisms.Are you enjoying the podcast? Please give us your feedback and tell us what you think Link to the feedback survey: https://forms.office.com/e/3wDh6FRMaUDownload the show notes, transcript and activity booklet
Teacher professional development is a crucial part of being a good teacher. However, we often think that ‘good training’ can only be obtained from ‘expert trainers’ at large conferences or through online workshops. And whilst these can definitely be hugely beneficial, many teachers forget that there is so much that they can learn from their own colleagues in their own contexts. In our interview, we hear from the EVE programme, a ground-breaking initiative which promotes gender equity in ELT conferences. After this, we journey to Romania, to hear from a very active group based in the town of Sibiu who promote peer-led teacher development workshops.
Many parts of the world are currently experiencing significant levels of violence and conflict. The role of education and language learning in these areas is very important, and can provide short and long term benefits for people in these situations. This episode is released on the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and in recognition of this our field report focuses on a British Council programme entitled “Teaching and Learning in Difficult Times”. This programme has, to date, provided training in trauma-sensitive pedagogy to more than 1,000 Ukrainian English language teachers. In our interview, we talk to Diana Abu Zayed, a teacher in Gaza in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, who shares with us some of her practical experiences of teaching in a conflict area.Download the show notes, transcript in Arabic and English, and activity booklet
Wherever you are in the world, and whatever your context, story will almost certainly be an important part of the teaching and learning context. However, what is meant by the word’ story’ may differ from place to place, ranging from the type of traditional tale found in coursebooks, to oral narratives created by students themselves, to digital creations found online. To develop our understanding of these different contexts we first speak to Jamie Keddie, an expert in the way we can use different forms of ‘story’ to teach English. His passion and knowledge of the subject will be sure to stimulate your own classroom practice. After this, we visit the Oasis Centre in Cardiff to learn more about their novel approach to using storytelling to develop their students’ English language skills.Download the show notes, activity booklet and transcript in Arabic or English.
Just the phrase ‘academic English’ can sometimes make students – and teachers - feel nervous and afraid. In this episode, in the company of Tracey Costley from the University of Essex, we show that academic English doesn’t have to be quite as scary as it sounds, and that academic English can actually be accessible for everyone.In the field report, we find out about a fantastic initiative between the University of Leicester and the University of Leeds for refugee-background students, who receive online support to develop their academic English skills so that they can access degree programmes at UK universities.Download the show notes, activity booklet and transcript in English and Arabic
Teachers often ask to what extent they should be responsible for teaching challenging material in the classroom, for example topics such as sex, sexuality, racism, politics, religion and economic inequality. Given that in most teaching situations, teachers will have to teach difficult issues at some point, it is important to think about the best way to do this, in order to minimise any problems or embarrassment, and to maximise learning for the students. In our interview, we talk to Rose Aylett, who tells us all about PARSNIPs, and suggests many innovative ways in which these issues can be managed in the classroom. And in the field report, we go to Cardiff, in Wales, to hear about how the not-for-profit Oasis Centre discuss these issues with their refugee and asylum seeker clients.Download the practical activity booklet, show notes and transcript in English or Arabic
In recent times, the influence of virtual reality, artificial intelligence and the metaverse in our daily lives has increased. This influence has also been very noticeable in English language teaching in many parts of the world. In this episode, we talk to Nergiz Kern, a leading expert in this field, who talks to us about the past, present and future of these educational technologies. She shares with us advice about how we can get the most out of VR in the classroom with whatever resources we have, wherever in the world we may be. In our field report, we are invited into a VR lesson to see for ourselves how they work, and how they can make our teaching even more effective. Download the show notes, activity booklet and transcript from: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/british-council-teachingenglish-podcast-how-can-we-use-virtual-reality-teach-english
It’s the first episode of Series 2 of Teaching English with the British Council, and we’ve got world cup fever. We’re looking at how teachers can use football to teach English – as well as other languages – effectively. We interview the founders of Languagecaster and Multilingua FC, who provide a range of resources and materials to help students interested in football improve their English language skills. We also hear from the British Council’s own Premier Skills programme, which has used football as a way to promote social, language and skills development for over 15 years.You can download the show notes, the English transcript, Arabic transcript, and Activity Booklet from the TeachingEnglish website.
In our second series of this ten-part podcast series from the British Council, we try and provide solutions to some of the key questions being asked by English teachers around the world. Each episode explores a specific topic through interviews, a focus on recent developments and reports on British Council initiatives in English language teaching. Practical show notes and transcripts are available to download at the bottom of the page.
When working in a busy and stressful educational environment, it’s important that teachers support and help each other as much as possible. In this episode, we hear from several teacher networks around the world about how they support their members, the projects they are doing, and the impact which they are having. Following this, we speak to Pauline Blake-Johnston, who has a wide range of experience in participating in and managing teacher networks. Her experience ranges from being the chair of NATECLA Scotland (the National Association for Teaching English and other Community Languages to Adults), to vice-chair of the Glasgow ESOL forum, to being a board member for IATEFL’S ESOL special interest group.
COVID-19 has affected so much of how we deliver education and language teaching. As schools (in some parts of the world) return to something approaching normality, it’s important to consider the mental health impact of the pandemic. Confronted with other challenging issues as well, such as climate anxiety, students are looking to teachers for mental health support more than ever before. In this episode, we’ll look at British Council set of activities created as part of its Connecting Classrooms programme. These materials help teachers promote wellbeing activities for both you and your students. In the second half of the episode, we speak to the teacher trainer, author and researcher Sarah Mercer and discuss how teachers can make their classrooms places where mental wellbeing is maintained, and even improved.For show notes and transcript, visit the page on teachingEnglish
Students’ home languages should be seen assets in the English language classroom – but all too often they are viewed as problematic and detrimental. In this episode, the writers of the British Council publication Using multilingual approaches:moving from theory to practice share activities you can use in your classroom that celebrate the languages your students speak. Following these practical suggestions, academic and researcher Tony Capstick shares his insights into the value and importance of a multilingual approach to learning.Download the shownotes and transcript
We are now into the last decade of the United Nations’ Sustainable Goals, and their emphasis on promoting education, improving health outcomes and eradicating poverty have never been more crucial. Despite their importance, many students around the world know little about them. In this podcast, we hear from three ELT writers who contributed articles to the British Council publication Integrating global issues in the creative English language classroom. We then speak to Margarita Kosior about how these ideas can be effectively contextualised in the classroom, showing that it is possible to meet language goals – and prepare students for examinations – by teaching about the Sustainable Development Goals.Download the show notes and transcript from TeachingEnglish
For decades, the educational dial in northern Nigeria, had barely moved. Low levels of literacy and numeracy prevailed across the state of Kano. Since 2019, the British Council have worked with governmental and non-governmental partners to implement its Kano Literacy and Maths Accelerator (KaLMA) project, the aim of which is to build foundational Maths, Hausa and English literacy skills, using a TaRL (Teaching at the Right Level) approach. In our interview, Mohammed Wais, a coordinator of the NGO “Wave of Hope” at the Nea Kavala refugee camp in northern Greece, shares his experience of teaching English in this challenging context, providing ideas, initiatives and insights into how teachers can be as effective as possible.Download the shownotes and transcript from www.teachingenglish.org.uk/podcast
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