• Talk on a better way of teaching languages

• Use of "Teacher’s Kaleidoscope" (teacher’s manual) to help teachers plan lessons where the necessary variety in the activities is mutually enforcing of sharp focus. The problem of the dispersiveness of a lot of modern material. However, to be of real use they need to be made to buy the book! (subsidised price?) Workshop - demonstration  or introductory talk about the principles behind the book.

• The general problem of grammar* and how it relates to modern methods of teaching and its place in text books. What is the "Communicative approach"? Does it survive school?
• My use of grammar plays, illustrated with video, to focus on larger islands of grammar.

• Ways to make grammar areas utilisable in creative work. Use of "Life charts" (see below)

* Grammar in a clear reference book gives freedom to do varied tasks

• A system of categorising and cross referencing newspaper articles and demonstration of how a series of "life charts" can be used to stimulate students to use extracts from newspapers to do original work on modern topics.( use of plays / discussions / talks / extemporising /) The "Life chart" system explained.

• Video extracts of lessons which demonstrate the effectiveness of various techniques and methods
• Video extracts from lessons using fun activities which still increase focus on language structures while reinforcing use of language "chunks"

• Examples of plays written by foreign students and explanation of the procedures used to stimulate such production

• Video extracts of the work done with 14-17 year olds on original but edited plays of Shakespeare

• Talk describing how Italian student knowledge or ignorance of English compares to other non native speakers. My view after 24 years of the main defects of their learning. The ways I have tried to overcome these gaps in a brief 3 week course in Middlesmoor. Consideration of the pedantry of the Italian teaching of languages at University and its possible negative effects on teaching in schools

• Description through use of slides of the hundred self access boxes of teaching aids used at Middlesmoor

• Problem of how to teach a lot of vocabulary. Memorising activities. Use of our grammar book

• Something I believe in, is the idea of doing teaching training with a 1/3 of the time in group discussion and the rest of the time in the schools doing lessons with teachers from the group, possibly filming the lesson for future illustrated discussion

return to teachers' home page