Tech Tools for Teachers: Podcasting

In the first instalment of his brand-new series, Nik Peachey looks at podcasting and how it can be used to help students develop their listening and speaking skills both inside and outside the classroom. Nik provides a comprehensive overview article on podcasting, a downloadable lesson plan, a video screencast tutorial and a printable how-to guide.

http://www.onestopenglish.com/support/tech-tools-for-teachers/tech-tools-for-teachers-podcasting/551803.article?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Macmillan%20English%20Update%20-%201st%20February%202012%20%281%29&utm_content 

Is English or Mandarin the language of the future?

English has been the dominant global language for a century, but is it the language of the future? If Mandarin Chinese is to challenge English globally, then it first has to conquer its own backyard, South East Asia. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17105569

Agatha Christie cut down for language students

New versions of 20 detective novels produced for 'upper intermediate' English language learners

 

Agatha Christie: tall order to cut down. Photograph: Popperfoto/Getty

 

From Queen of Crime to Queen of the Classroom: a new series of simplified, abridged Agatha Christie novels are set to introduce non-native English speakers to the glory of the British murder mystery.

Publisher Collins has cut down 20 of Christie's detective novels – including Poirot's first case, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, and Miss Marple's debut outing The Murder at the Vicarage – by 60%, simplifying the language and adding character notes and glossaries. The books are aimed at "upper intermediate" English language learners, and are intended to ensure that "studying English is as captivating as it is educational".

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Is there an app for getting language learners reading?

Ebooks have the potential to be powerful tools but publishers are cautious

 

Shelf life ... Apple’s iBooks platform could change the way graded readers are published. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Extensive reading is widely acknowledged to be an important language skill and a valuable gateway to vocabulary development and other skills. But for many students, authentic texts are just too difficult, and simplified or "graded" readers are used by teachers to help encourage their students to read for pleasure in English.

Such books have become a staple of the publishing industry, and publishers offer readers graded for each language level. They can include illustrations, glossaries and audio files on CD or online and come with ideas for teachers on how to promote reading in class, such as reading circles.

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Removing Barriers to Learning for Long-Term English Learners: Free Webinar

As the number of long-term English learners in U.S. public schools continues to rise, educators are seeking innovative solutions to help these students reach proficiency in literacy and writing. On Tuesday, February 14, 2012, educational software company Imagine Learning is sponsoring a free webinar by Lily Wong Fillmore, a renowned linguist and scholar who will share the latest research on helping long-term English learners overcome obstacles and achieve proficiency.

Recent data indicates that long-term English learners are now one of the fastest-growing student populations in U.S. schools. This student group, which is comprised of English learners who have been enrolled in school for at least seven years but are no longer progressing toward English proficiency, now makes up a significant segment of students in grades 6–12. 

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Some tips for learning English, as demand for speakers is set to rise

With the Asean Economic Community only three years away (2015), it is imperative that Thailand prepare itself linguistically for this highly interconnected regional environment with so many opportunities and challenges.

There has been discussion suggesting that Thai could become the language of Asean. While Thai is an elegant and beautiful language, it is totally wishful thinking to think that it would be adopted as the Asean lingua franca. Clearly English will be the common language of Asean.

Thus, it is imperative for Thailand to enhance the quality of its English language teaching and learning.

The approach presented here is not from linguistics but derived from the Kalama Sutra of the Lord Buddha and its call for learning from direct experience.

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Arabic-speaking students learning English at local grade schools

 
Zeyad Aljumaili, 10, read the text of "How Glooskap Found Summer" with a smile on his face, correcting himself and occasionally glancing up at his teacher when he pronounced a hard word correctly.

"All around him, the forest, no, frosty land was barren of everyone," read the fourth-grader during an English as Second Language class at Pine Valley Elementary School a few weeks ago.

Zeyad's native tongue is Arabic, but he has picked up English quickly since his family came to Wilmington last year after immigrating to the United States from Iraq.

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