Author Archives: alexcase

Changes to FCE exam from January 2015

Posted on 10/01/2015 by alexcase

Been updating my extensive but now slightly out of date FCE materials pages. Changes to the exam from this month that I’ve least started to update my stuff to match: – Use of English and Reading papers combined and so … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching English as a Foreign Language | 2 Comments

New present tenses activities

Posted on 08/01/2015 by alexcase

My last three articles have been on this topic, including a brand new one on combining and contrasting the two present tenses, and there are also new worksheets on the relevant index pages: Articles with present tense activities 36 fun … Continue reading →

Posted in present continuous, Present simple for routines etc., Present simple/ continuous, Present tenses | Leave a comment

New English teaching photocopiable activities Nov/ Dec 2014

Posted on 01/01/2015 by alexcase

Happy New Year! Out with this (very slightly) old, then back to Starbucks to continue working on the new… Just in reverse chronological order, so the most useful is probably halfway down the page somewhere. Rephrasing in IELTS Academic Writing Task … Continue reading →

Posted in Photocopiable worksheets | Leave a comment

The most popular TEFLtastic photocopiables in 2014

Posted on 27/12/2014 by alexcase

2014 was a record breaking year for TEFLtastic, finally recovering from the chaos after the split from TEFL.net and then reaching over 1,500,000 annual page views. I’d love to think that was because my attempts at humour have been wonderfully … Continue reading →

Posted in Photocopiable worksheets | Leave a comment

TEFLtastic attempts at humour in 2014

Posted on 25/12/2014 by alexcase

I was too busy following my own recommendations on Kaizen TEFL and endlessly polishing up worksheets to see the funny side very much in 2014, but I did come up with these when I was really trying to take a … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching English as a Foreign Language | Tagged | Leave a comment

Freelance teachers’ survival kit

Posted on 23/12/2014 by alexcase

Perhaps the saddest of the many things I like about being freelance is that packing up for a day out and about teaching reminds me somewhat of setting out on a camping or backpacking trip. Here’s a list of things … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching English as a Foreign Language | Tagged | Leave a comment

More realistic lesson aims

Posted on 18/12/2014 by alexcase

One of the strongest criticism of PPP is that it never achieves typical lesson aims like “Students will be able to produce Future Continuous and use it in communication”. Or at least it seems like a strong criticism until you … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching English as a Foreign Language | Tagged | Leave a comment

Collins Academic Skills: Presenting and Group Work review

Posted on 17/12/2014 by alexcase

Another MET one. This time the reviews editor added words that suggested I’d still recommend the Group Work title, which is a rather “generous” reading of what I wrote… Group Work by Graham Burton: ISBN 978 000 750714 6 Presenting by … Continue reading →

Posted in English for Academic Purposes | Leave a comment

New possessives activities page

Posted on 15/12/2014 by alexcase

Hoping to write an article or two on teaching this soon, but in the meantime have come up with 11 links for possessive S and possessive adjectives: Possessive forms games/ worksheets

Posted in Grammar games | Leave a comment

50 Steps to Improving your Academic Writing (Garnet) review

Posted on 14/12/2014 by alexcase

As usual, as published in Modern English Teacher magazine. And as usual, the published version probably seems at least more positive than I was in this original version… There is no lack of well-respected ESL academic writing books on the … Continue reading →

Posted in ELT publishing, English for Academic Purposes | 4 Comments