April 2020 issue out now

In his 25th issue of Modern English Teacher, Robert McLarty reflects on the changes in life and in the teaching world over that period of six years. Eight of the articles are written by teachers writing for us for the very first time. They are all worth a read.

Read the editorial

In the current issue of Modern English Teacher...

Young learner language assessment
Nick Manthei describes four different approaches to testing and assessment which should satisfy all stakeholders.

Towards English as a lingua franca
Kendal Rolley argues that our assessment should reflect what we know about how learners are actually likely to use English and with whom.

Feedback. Who’s it for and what’s it for?
Toni Lee looks at different elements of assessment and how feedback fits in. Is the teacher the only one to give it? How is the feedback different depending on the kind of assessment?

Assessing critical thinking: a work in progress
In the second article Anthea Fester continues to investigate how to develop your learners’ thinking skills and how they can be assessed.

The OET exam – the writing component for doctors
Practitioners describe activities they use to improve their learners’ writing skills as they prepare to take the OET exam. What areas need to be looked at? Grammar, vocabulary, case-notes.

The language teaching and exam preparation balancing act
John Hughes describes how activities can be shaped to suit the needs of students preparing for an exam and others wanting more general English.

Focus on the content and the language will look after itself …
Do your learners have enough ideas to write an essay? How can they learn to generate more ideas? Rachel Connabeer offers some advice. 

Feedback on our feedback
Clare Maas offers some insights into her learners and how she helps them improve their writing skills.

Not error correction: good reasons for using correct examples
Rebecca Vane considers the importance of using good, accurate sentences to help students focus on accuracy and recognise patterns.

Data-driven learning
Andrew McBride recommends taking a more digital approach to acquiring vocabulary.

Making class debates meaningful
Jason Anderson sets out clear guidelines for planning and organising debates in class. Good preparation increases the likelihood of lively and interesting debate generating more language to work from.

The power of gratitude in the language classroom
How do you come across to your students? How encouraging are you? Read this study and find out how important it is to be positive in your role of a teacher.

On becoming an effective teacher of English
This article describes some of the key aspects of efficient and engaging teaching. An interesting checklist to refer to at any stage of your career.

Why are we being observed?
This article lists and describes ten different approaches to classroom observation. Which of them does your institution use? How effective are they?

Identifying key information and making effective notes
Do your students really understand how to take effective notes? How can you help them? Roy Edwards continues a three-part series.

I ‘CLILED’ it!!
How interested are your students in English? Would they be more engaged if they could choose the content and topics? This article considers the benefits of adopting some aspects of CLIL into your teaching.

Independent listening
Robin Walker describes the differences between interactive listening and independent listening and suggests ways of approaching these two skills.

Talking about the future in a business context
With so many meetings, documents and discussions referring to the future, this article argues that we include more time to these topics in our classes.

How can understanding discourse improve my teaching?
George Horvath introduces the topic of discourse analysis and offers some suggestions for using it to improve your teaching and learning.

Being the new Director of Studies – Part one
Am I ready to be Director of Studies? How will the teachers react? How much help will I need? Matthew Hallett describes the opening weeks of term in a new position.

Why use readers?
Michael Lacey Freeman suggests ways of using readers to engage young learners by using their curiosity, imagination and reflection.

Service-learning projects for language classrooms
This article describes how a teacher uses service-learning projects to give learners a chance to develop as people and give them authentic and meaningful opportunities to communicate.

Target vocabulary training and practice
Students in Japan are being encouraged to use the target language more actively. Andrew McInuity suggests a series of activities with this aim in mind.

The stories they tell
Yi Wang describes how she uses her present and former students’ stories and conversations as scaffolding for her teaching in her beginners’ classes.

Writing and chatting – a fine line?
Text is so common these days. Is it speaking or writing? Can we use it for both? Where can the technology help us? Dan Costa describes his current teaching situation and the usefulness of text to teach oral skills.

Nudging – seven ideas and one exercise
Nick Micheloudiakis looks at the impact of nudging and provides an exercise to help you and your students understand more about it.