I was asked for my key takeaways from this read earlier in the summer. There is plenty more in the book which I throughly recommend to anyone interested in exploring ideas around explicit or direct instruction, but a very brief summary: Learning is very difficult to define, and even with established definitions from the literature,Continue reading “Key Takeaways: ‘Explicit English Teaching’ (Needham, 2023)”
Author Archives: Chris Richards
Diploma in Academic Management
When I took my first course with IH OTTI, I didn’t imagine that I would end up pursuing the full diploma in Academic Management. I took the Observation and Feedback course because, despite having ten years experience in the classroom and a reasonable number of hours observing teaching and giving feedback as a DoS/Academic Manager,Continue reading “Diploma in Academic Management”
Stori’r Iaith
Inspired by the recent S4C Series, I decided that I wanted to write my (Welsh) language story and explain my relationship with the language. It’s the first time I’ve written something for public consumption in Welsh, so it’ll be with some trepidation (and awareness that my written Welsh is far from perfect) that I clickContinue reading “Stori’r Iaith”
Empowering our Students Through Lexical Choice
This is an adapted version of the talk I gave at TEOSL Spain 2023. Be aware that I make reference to and give examples of vulgar language. I’ve been thinking a lot, lately, about one particular group that I teach. It’s a Cambridge Advanced exam prep group of eight teenagers varying in age from thirdContinue reading “Empowering our Students Through Lexical Choice”
Conference Review: TESOL Spain 2023
It had been three years since we last all met in Salamanca. We were hosted then by the beautiful university and spent the weekend learning from one another, socialising and discussing the big ideas of the moment. We were in a state of something like pre-lapsarian bliss: blissfully innocent of what was about to happenContinue reading “Conference Review: TESOL Spain 2023”
Conference Review: FECEI 2023
After a beautiful journey along winding roads, with snow on the ground and the late afternoon sunlight filtering through the fir trees, we arrived in Segovia around 6pm on Friday evening. Just enough time to relax before getting ready to attend the FECEI Premios Top IX Edición. The Premios, and Gala that follows, are aContinue reading “Conference Review: FECEI 2023”
Opportunity (n.)
‘Opportunity’ comes into English from Latin via Old French, meaning a fit, convenient or seasonable time; the Latin opportunus itself derives from the phrase ob portum veniens or ‘coming towards a port’ (etymonline). To have an opportunity, therefore, was to be travelling with a favourable wind towards a place where you could make landfall. InContinue reading “Opportunity (n.)”
Business Management
Last autumn, I embarked on my third course with International House OTTI. I’ve written previously about my experiences with their Observation and Giving Feedback and Performance Management courses. Here I’m going to reflect on my learning while taking their Business Management course. With this module, I was really stepping out of my comfort zone. AlthoughContinue reading “Business Management”
Who Talks When?
Wise men* talk because they have something to say; fools talk because they have to say something. usually accredited to Plato (* or women) As Hugh Dellar writes, the abbreviation in ELT that has attracted ‘the most hatred and vitriol is undoubtedly the dreaded TTT’. As you will no doubt be aware if you areContinue reading “Who Talks When?”
ACEIA in Sevilla
The first ELT conference I ever attended was ACEIA 2016. A group of us from the academy in Cáceres where I had just started working travelled down to make a weekend of it. I remember being amazed to be surrounded by so many people so passionate about teaching English that they would give up aContinue reading “ACEIA in Sevilla”
Chris Richards ELT 