The blog post discusses using Chat GPT in English language teaching. It outlines pros such as time-saving and material generation, but highlights concerns around accuracy and ethical use. Guidance on refining prompts is also provided.
Having given a few teacher training workshops on the topic of AI in ELT, I thought it was about time I shared my thoughts on it here. Is it really the way forward? In the first of a series of blog posts on AI in teaching, let’s take a look at one of the basics – Chat GPT.
The author traditionally uses Christmas adverts as a basis for themed lessons, but was not inspired by John Lewis’ ad this year. Instead, the content for the current year’s lesson is centered on Aldi’s 2023 Christmas advertisement. The lesson, prepared on Google Slides, can be freely used and adapted by the readers.
As in previous years, I would like to share a Christmas lesson with you all. Anyone who has been a subscriber for a while will know how much I love to use the Christmas adverts to create a lesson which I can use with all my different classes in the lead up to Christmas. Unfortunately, unlike in previous years, I wasn’t inspired by the John Lewis Advertisement this year so have looked elsewhere to find something to get us into the holiday spirit.
The post discusses the importance of appropriate questioning techniques in CELTA courses to meet Cambridge’s criteria. Key distinctions between eliciting questions and Instruction Checking Questions (ICQs) are highlighted, emphasizing that eliciting questions uncover students’ prior knowledge, while ICQs verify students’ understanding of newly presented content. The common mistake of attempting to elicit unfamiliar subject matter is also addressed.
If you are currently doing a CELTA course or have already completed one, you may already be familiar with criteria reference number 5g:
5g using a range of questions effectively for the purpose of elicitation and checking of understanding
use questions for:
Source: Cambridge Assessment English, CELTA 5
Continue reading “CCQs vs Eliciting questions- what’s the difference?”On a recent course, getting a balance in monitoring caused our trainees some problems. Let’s look at what it is exactly, why and when we need to do it and how it should be done …
Continue reading “Monitoring – What? Why? When? How?”An idea and some tips for planning a listening skills lesson using authentic materials.
Planning a listening skills lesson using authentic materials can be quite daunting. However, such a lesson will be so much more rewarding than one which relies on coursebook materials which, let’s face it, tend to offer nothing more than some dodgy acting in unrealistic situations.
Read more: A Listening Skills Lesson PlanTo choose your audio, you need to ask yourself similar questions to those you ask when planning a reading skills lesson.
I have chosen this TedTalk to use with my B2 level business English students.
Will my students enjoy listening to/watching it?
Yes, it is relevant to their current work situation and a topic which often comes up in our classes.
Is the length suitable?
This recording is around 4 minutes long, which is manageable. Any longer, I would have to consider either breaking it down into smaller chunks or just using an excerpt.
Is the level of English suitable?
Yes, my B2 students will find it challenging enough but I don’t expect any major problems.
Does it have a particular language focus I could exploit before or after the listening skills practice?
There are some useful words which students may regularly hear/read in their international work environment.
My Lesson Plan
Give the students the following words and ask them, in small groups, to predict what they think the recording will be about.
2. Feedback on pre-listening task
Gather students ideas of what the recording will be about and put their ideas on the board (giving them something to focus on while watching/listening)
3. Provide the students with practice in listening for gist.
Simply ask the students to watch/listen and see if their predictions were right.
4. Provide the students with practice in listening for detail.
Ask the students to watch/listen again and make notes on the “four things which work well” in hybrid working. You can provide the students with some clues if you like as I have below but this might not be necessary (think about what your students can handle).
| Key Point | What she says – add to the notes below |
| Anchor Days | – overlap with …….. – watercooler….. |
| Plan spontaneity | – structuring unstructured time – 6-7 minutes – one word |
| Use the right tools to communicate | – video ….. – email …. – take a break – one-to-one ….. |
| Commit to the new culture | – who? – mixed messages… |
5. Post-listening fluency task
As a round-up to the lesson I would suggest having the students discuss the pros and cons of hybrid working.
6. Alternative post-listening task or something for the next lesson
It could be a good idea to get students to write a summary to give to their manager based on what they have learned from the video.
Have you got any good listening skills lesson ideas that you can share?
CELTA Online or CELTA face-to-face, which one should you do?
Before the pandemic I was very much against the idea of the online environment for language learning. I felt that an online classroom would not provide the active participation opportunities the physical classroom offers. I freely admit that I was wrong as you can also read in one of my earlier blog posts. Even now that my school has gone back to classroom teaching, I continue to deliver some of my lessons online but what about delivering a CELTA course fully online?
Lesson planning is such a major part of teaching, if you have a thorough lesson plan, you should be able to sit back and enjoy the lesson, while the learners do all the work! Read on for some tips on how to perfect your plans!
I’m sorry to say that EFL teaching is not going to make you a millionaire! Having said that, most of us do not do it (just) for the money but get huge satisfaction from helping our learners. It seems obvious, therefore, that these learners should be at the forefront of our minds when planning and delivering lessons. Indeed, on the CELTA course, one of the criteria for a Pass A is that the candidate has a very good awareness of their learners but what exactly do we need to know about them and why?
On LinkedIn last week I spotted a series of webinars by Delta Publishing called “Speaking Globally”. The webinars included speakers such as David Crystal, Nicky Hockly and Scott Thornbury so I decided to sign up for what I could fit into my teaching schedule and Tuesday early evening found me sitting comfortably on my sofa with my laptop.
I have seen Scott Thornbury speak several times on the topic of Dogme teaching but if it’s new to you, here are the basic principles:
Continue reading “Teaching unplugged revisited: A Scott Thornbury webinar”Got a complaint about your CELTA Course? This post may help you to save unnecessary heartache….
I recently read a complaint from a CELTA trainee who had just finished their course. I feel a couple of things that came up need to be addressed here, to ensure future trainees don’t make the same mistakes as this individual did.
Don’t shoot the messenger!
Remember that anything your tutor is telling you to do is taken from the CELTA syllabus, we tutors find ourselves repeating some things more than we would like because some trainees find it difficult to believe that particular criteria are important to incorporate in their teaching.
When you embark on a CELTA course, you should understand the criteria by which you are being assessed. You must accept that you have to show that you are capable in ALL criteria to be able to pass the course. You may not like some of the criteria but you still have to show you can do it. Resisting is not going to help you pass.
NB The CELTA criteria will be available for you to read and understand at any time, if you are unsure what the criteria are, ask your tutor.
Jump through the hoops!
Sometimes we have to jump through hoops to reach our ultimate goal. Presumably you have decided to do a CELTA course because you want to learn how to be a good teacher of English as a foreign language? If this is the case, you must be willing to learn methods which experts before you have developed. That is not to say that you can’t adapt these methods to suit you and your style of teaching once you have passed the course but if you want the CELTA certificate you’ve got to do what Cambridge English Language Assessment requires you to do. Resist at your peril!
Don’t let it fester!
All good CELTA tutors are approachable and their aim is to help you to pass the course. There is no point in waiting until the course is over and then feeling so disheartened that you feel the need to complain. If there is something you disagree with, approach your tutor to discuss it. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, your tutor will be able to explain why you are being asked to do something and will almost certainly be able to point out the specific criteria it relates to. If you don’t feel like you can approach one of the tutors, start by asking other trainees, perhaps they can help you. Maybe you will feel more comfortable talking to the other tutor or the Course Director, whatever you do, don’t keep it to yourself. Letting your grievances fester will lead only to your own suffering, talking to someone will almost certainly lighten your load.
Don’t bring everyone down with you!
Whilst it is important to air your grievances, please don’t try to rally the troops and get everyone on your side. By forcing other trainees to accept that you are right and the Tutors/Course Director/Cambridge English Assessment are wrong you are likely to alienate yourself. More often than not, other trainees will listen and agree with you just to shut you up. If you follow the advice above, you are sure to finish the course a lot happier than if you don’t.
Have you had any complaints about a course? When did you complain? What was the outcome?
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The Ultimate Guide to CELTA 