Category Archives: Alternative teaching techniques

Scientific language teaching finally arrives!

Posted on 20/01/2010 by alexcase

Hot on the heels of their takeover of Wall Street English Schools in China, launching a speaking test that is mainly marked by computer and winning a huge ESL contract in California, Pearson have launched their real bid for global … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative teaching techniques, Pearson Longman, Wall Street | Tagged | 7 Comments

Interview with a Marxist TEFLer/ TEFLing Marxist

Posted on 16/01/2010 by alexcase

Interview done by email rather than talking to a Zapatista-style balaclavaed bandit in the jungle (which would’ve been nice), but the results are just as interesting as the always thought provoking Marxist TEFL Group blog, I think you’ll find: “Why define yourself as … Continue reading →

Posted in Berlitz, Cactus TEFL, Dogme, EFL exams, EL Gazette, ELT publishing, Experience of Language Teaching, Macmillan, Onestopenglish, Teaching English Abroad, TEFL, TEFL blacklist, TEFL blogs, TESLA Coil | Tagged | 10 Comments

The most TEFLtastic attempts at humour in 2009

Posted on 29/12/2009 by alexcase

Wasn’t a great year for humour on TEFLtastic (must be taking my job seriously in my old age?!), but I did manage my most successful spoof yet, if not quite up to the standard of UN to Ban Unnecessary Languages: Don’t Do the … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative teaching techniques, Dogme, links, notes from the TEFL graveyard, Teaching English in Spain, Teaching methods and methodologies, TEFL, TEFL blogs, TEFL in the UK, TEFL interview questions, TEFL Tradesman, The Silent Way | Tagged | 5 Comments

Using L1 in class (or not)

Posted on 28/12/2009 by alexcase

I basically don’t, but I have observed a few teachers who do so well (amongst the vast majority who do so badly) and look back on some of my own ways of avoiding it as a waste of time and … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching English in Turkey, TEFL blogs, Using L1 in class | 4 Comments

What was the biggest change in TEFL in the Noughties?

Posted on 21/12/2009 by alexcase

If you’d asked me in 1999, I probably would’ve predicted that Task Based Learning was going to take over the TEFL world, for better or worse. What a damp squib that turned out to be, with apparently even Cutting Edge … Continue reading →

Posted in British Council, Dogme, Electronic dictionaries, ELT publishing, Humanistic language teaching, IELTS, Interactive whiteboard, International House, Pilgrims, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching English in Thailand, teaching online, Technology, TEFL blogs, TEFL in the UK, Twitter, Wall Street | 10 Comments

The TEFLbs detective Part One – Brain Gym and ELT

Posted on 26/10/2009 by alexcase

Brain Gym™ and ELT – a personal path of discovery by Philip Kerr “About ten years ago, I was introduced to Brain Gym™ by the director of studies of a language school in Cordoba. She was a good director of … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative teaching techniques | Tagged | 6 Comments

Karenne on teaching- interview Part Two

Posted on 09/10/2009 by alexcase

An Interview with Karenne of Kalinago English, part 2 Where are you teaching and what kind of teaching do you usually do? I mostly teach at software and IT companies and also at one of the biggest banks in Stuttgart, … Continue reading →

Posted in Business English and ESP, Dogme, ELT publishing, Technology | Tagged | 5 Comments

A fireside chat with Sandy McManus

Posted on 22/09/2009 by alexcase

He’s been the most famous/ notorious online TEFL figure for around five years, and the age of Twitter doesn’t seem to have calmed him down at all. In this exclusive TEFLtastic interview, Sandy shows his sensitive side

Posted in Dogme, EL Gazette, first TEFL job, getting out of TEFL, Guardian TEFL, Humanistic language teaching, NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), Teaching English in Spain, TEFL blacklist, TEFL blogs, TEFL career planning, TEFL chains, TEFL heroes- Mario Rinvolucri, TEFL heroes- Sandy McManus, TEFL heroes- Scott Thornbury, TEFL in the UK, TEFL villains- Paul Lowe, TEFLtrade | Tagged , | 13 Comments

The best of Teaching English Guest Writer Articles

Posted on 21/08/2009 by alexcase

Another example of how blogging can be a good thing even if nobody reads, in this case making me read something worthwhile that I just hadn’t quite found time for month after month after month… Surprising myself slightly, my top … Continue reading →

Posted in British Council, Cross cultural training in EFL, Dogme, Linguistics, applied linguistics and SLA, Skills, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching methods and methodologies, TEFL | Comments Off on The best of Teaching English Guest Writer Articles

Rules, Patterns, Words and Doubts

Posted on 12/08/2009 by alexcase

A continuation of Rules, Patterns, Words and Quotes and What I Learnt About Rules, Patterns and Words, obviously all about the quite wrong but quite interesting book of the same name. This will probably only be of interest to those who … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative teaching techniques, Collocations, Functional language, Grammar, Grammar books, Linguistics, applied linguistics and SLA, PPP (Presentation practice production), TBA (Task Based Approach), Teaching methods and methodologies, Test teach test, Vocabulary | Tagged | 4 Comments