Category: Uncategorized

by Katherine High

One of the most enjoyable courses I have taught so far at CELFS is Advanced English Language (ADV): a 10-week EFL course of 2 hours per week for C1 or C2 international students. Assessment includes a short piece of reflective writing entitled Roots & Routes, exploring the themes of cultural identity and future-plans, and a group presentation of a thematically-linked text. Each week texts are explored from different perspectives in small groups of 3 or 4 – forming the reading and listening circle (RLC). (more…)

Hannah Jones

[Hannah Jones is now Director of English Language Education at the University of Edinburgh]

As a newly appointed EAP Coordinator here at CELFS, I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself on the CELFS Blog. (more…)

by Donna Mac Lean

Recently I experimented with playing background music during an EAP reading class in an attempt to make the process of reading and analysing a quite dry, difficult text more palatable for the students.  Their subject tutor had noted that students were not completing preparation reading, which was negatively impacting their seminar performance.  I was surprised by how popular the move was and how the benefits of playing music that I’d read about were evidenced during the class. (more…)

On Sunday, February 26th, Julia Gardos and Kaz Yamamoto gave a webinar on the subject of Exploring the roles of ‘non-native speaker’ teachers in English for Academic Purposes in the UK.

To watch it, please click here.

More information on TEFL Equity Advocates webinars, click here.

by Stuart Marshall

Many a language teacher will be well-acquainted with the affective potential of a well-chosen image in the classroom, while from the earliest stages of learning students will have become accustomed to the use of such learning aids as photos, drawings, timelines and other diagrams. Pre-university students will of course be familiar with the much-loved graphs and charts of the IELTS exam, and may even have enjoyed a map-navigating or diagram-labelling task in one of the reading and/or listening sections. Yet strangely enough, such cherished memories have about them the aspect of a chore when later recalled, and for many students in the EAP classroom visual literacy has an indeterminate and often subsidiary value in comparison to grammar development. (more…)

by Viktoria Tafferner

Yawning, passive, phone-obsessed students … any of these can constitute a challenging class: what can you do to involve them? (more…)

My name is Hannah Gurr, I’m an EAP tutor and my sexual orientation is none of your business.

‘Hang on a sec,’ you might protest, ‘I didn’t even speculate, let alone ask!’

And of course, you are absolutely right. (more…)

by Maxine Gillway

What better way to start a new year than to go back to the principles that guide our practice?

(more…)

by Kaz Yamamoto

The number of English Medium Instruction (EMI) universities and universities providing EMI courses has been growing dramatically. (more…)

by Steve Peters

One aspect in particular has taken me by surprise at Professional Issues Meetings (PIMs) and academic conferences. This is how others’ work can be joined up by a whole other set of dots to the ones I might use to map my own understanding of the field of EAP and Applied Linguistics. Attending presentations, responding to questions, striking up conversations have all provided the chance to reveal other horizon(s). (more…)