Would you like to make a difference in the English language teaching profession and help shape the future of IATEFL?
With the current incumbants reaching the end of their terms, we welcome nominations for two positions on IATEFL’s board of trustees:
Company Secretary and Chair of the Membership Committee
Being an IATEFL trustee gives you opportunity to help shape the association’s future, to drive change, to support English language teachers around the world, and to make a difference. It is also a wonderful way to build your profile and professional network within the English language teaching profession, working as part of a team in collaboration with seven other trustees, and supported by IATEFL’s Head Office team. Being an IATEFL trustee is regarded by many as an internationally recognised and respected position to hold in the world of English language teaching.
Please read the role descriptions below, and complete the relevant nomination form. This call is only for current individual members of IATEFL (including individual, student early career, retired and Associate members). The closing date for applications is Thursday 9 February 2023.
Our IATEFL Ambassadors having been taking part in livestreams, talking about their backgrounds, their connections to IATEFL, how they benefitted, and how the association can help English language teaching professionals develop. You can also find out more about the role of our Ambassadors and discover more about each of their professional journeys by selecting ‘IATEFL Ambassadors’ on our Who’s Who page.
It has been said that we cannot make our students learn but we can make them think. If you agree with this statement, therefore, it is worth shedding light on learning strategies.
Language learning strategies are self-directed specific actions, techniques that the learners intentionally use in order to improve their progress in developing L2 skills and retain the newly acquired knowledge or language. I have implemented some behavior-changing strategies in my classes, which were extremely helpful for my learners. The good news is that the strategies can be taught as they expand the role of educators, they are usually problem-oriented but flexible, and finally, they go beyond the cognitive aspect to stimulate metacognition in teaching and learning.
“Think aloud” strategy is one of the techniques that I have used for my students to answer questions aloud to the class before, during, and after reading. I usually demonstrate the technique by answering the questions myself for example, “What do I know about this topic?”, “This reminds me of …”, “I got confused when …”, etc. Once the questions are introduced and demonstrated by the teacher, students read parts of the text and start answering aloud the questions about the text or their background knowledge of the topic. Needless to say, the teacher should facilitate the discussion based on students’ responses. Additionally, it is always a good idea to let students choose questions randomly from a basket or box.
Moreover, the task could be conducted differently for more fun and for the sake of giving students multiple opportunities to share as they can rotate partners in a circle for activities with multiple questions. This socio-affective strategy, entitled “Think-Pair-Share” enables students to respond to questions aloud to the class before, during, and after reading. In this case, teachers ask students to think about the given topic independently, after that, students are paired out, and share their thoughts and ideas about the topic with their partners. It is worth mentioning that teachers can group students creatively – students could be given the flexibility to choose which partner shares the information. Toward the end of the activity, it might be a good idea to expand the share into a whole class discussion and record students’ responses in a graph or mind map on the board. However, if the topic is sensitive, consider giving your students a chance to answer questions anonymously.
As you can see, the think aloud or self-reflect technique requires readers to just stop for a while and reflect on what they do or do not understand when they listen or read. Therefore, the teacher’s modelling of “think aloud technique” can definitely ease the process by making their own comprehension process visible. It is of high importance that students are taught to respond using some sentence starters or prompts such as “I got stuck on the …”, “I would like to learn more about …”, and “I wonder if …”, etc.
As for some practical ways to enhance metacognitive strategies, it is always crucial to incorporate them into daily lessons. Always make sure to highlight the usefulness of strategies so that your students take the ownership of their own learning process and see the strategies as an added value. Moreover, help students to monitor their own use of strategies by using checklists or exit tickets. Additionally, you can always follow some fundamental steps to ensure you cover all the components of metacognition, which are planning for learning, selecting appropriate learning strategies, monitoring strategy use, and the learning itself.
As long as you are eager to involve learners in taking an active role in their own learning process, you might consider using some of the following reading strategies such as relating the text to themselves and to the world, making inferences or predicting what happens next, creating mental images and visualizing of what was read to make their thinking process visible to themselves and others, summarizing and synthesizing texts, interacting with the text by thinking aloud and finally by making them aware of their mental processes and own learning strategies.
It is important to develop the 21st-century skills such as critical thinking and problem posing/solving skills by repeatedly exposing students to higher order thinking tasks and assessments, providing sufficient wait time for them to think and process both the ideas and the language. It is useful to practise self-reflection and employing metacognitive strategies at the higher levels of Bloom’s taxonomy such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation rather than activating only the lower levels of cognition, understanding and remembering.
Be a successful teacher and enable your students to acquire effective learning strategies which will facilitate their learning, secure their success, understand the world around them, and make good and deep connections between theory and practice thus taking an active role in their own learning.
Reference: Anderson, N.J. (2002). The role of metacognition in second language teaching and learning, Eric Digest, April.
About Shoghig Keoshkerian
Shoghig has been teaching English at different institutes for a long time. She holds a master’s degree MA in TEFL. Shoghig is an EFL instructor at the American University of Armenia.
She is also a trainer of trainers, mentorship support specialist and instructional designer. She has been awarded a certificate of Teaching Excellence and Achievement from Claremont Graduate University in California.
Contribute to the blog
If you are a member of IATEFL and would like to contribute to the blog, we’d love to hear from you at [email protected]. We’re looking for stories from our members, news about projects you’ve been involved in, and anything else you think those connected to English language teaching would be interested in reading. We look forward to hearing from you! If you’re not a member, why not join us?
The PRELIM teacher training project, pairing teaching associations throughout the world with UK training insitutions, is moving into a new phase. PRELIM 3 (Partnered Remote Language Improvement Project) opens for applications this week. Up to 20 partnerships will be created between English teacher associations around the world and language centres in the United Kingdom, working together to create resources designed specifically for teachers in the target country to use in their own classrooms with their students. The projects will run from January 2023 to March 2024, each with £15k funding from the British Council.
As the application document explains: “These might range from resources which support teachers to make the most effective use of the existing materials they are required to use by their local education authorities, to additional teaching and learning materials. The aim, therefore, is to enable teachers to make optimal use of their current materials and for those materials to be complemented sustainably – beyond the life of PRELIM 3 itself – with a range of easily disseminated context-appropriate resources and activities owned by association members.”
Hear from the project partners: British Council, IATEFL, English UK and Nile
PRELIM is a partnership between the British Council, IATEFL and English UK, with support from ELT teacher training organisation Norwich Institute of Language Education (NILE).
Michael Connolly, Director of English Programmes at the British Council, said:
“We are delighted to invite English language educators from around the world to take part in this next phase of the PRELIM scheme. The first two phases of the programme have been a huge success among participants. UK-international partnership and innovation is at the heart of the initiative, and we know educators from the UK and overseas have found the exchange invaluable. We look forward to continuing our work with our partners, encouraging co-creation and mutual learning.”
Jon Burton, chief executive of IATEFL said:
“Having PRELIM return for a third time is something I know many English language teaching associations across the globe will appreciate, the first two having produced such positive outcomes. IATEFL is delighted to be part of this initiative once again, and to help bring together English language teaching professionals from such a wide range of locations and circumstances.”
Annie Wright, English UK’s joint acting chief executive, said:
“We are very excited that PRELIM has evolved into longer-term projects with the opportunity to develop deeper relationships between the ELT centres and the overseas teachers’ associations. Centres will relish this new challenge and also see it as fantastic CPD to create bespoke materials for teachers working in very different contexts to their own.”
Thom Kiddle of NILE added:
“At NILE we are very excited to be able to continue as managing consultants for the third phase of PRELIM and support the UK institutes and global English Teacher Associations to develop their skills in new directions, still keeping teachers at the heart of each partnered project.”
Creating bespoke resources for teachers to use in their classrooms
Where PRELIM 1 and 2 were aimed at improving the confidence of teachers working in English, PRELIM 3 will create bespoke packages to support them in their own classrooms considering their curriculum, class sizes, local teaching methods, available technology and so on.
“Where feasible, depending on the curriculum/grades the resources are supporting, an element exploring the cultural features of the local context and the local culture of the UKI home base,” the application document says. Ways in which the partnership may develop include workshops, video presentations, online platforms and webinars, and mentor or buddy schemes.
IATEFL has sent out information about this exciting programme, and how to apply, to its global network of IATEFL Associate teaching associations, so check your inbox for information if you are a representative.
Useful links
If your association isn’t an IATEFL Associate you can get further information on joining our global network of non-profit teaching associations here: https://www.www.iatefl.org/get-involved/iatefl-associates
Read reports on previous years’ PRELIM projects here: https://www.www.iatefl.org/prelim-3
Great teachers often don’t make the best students, at least in my experience. Over the years, I have collected a number of tips and tricks which I relentlessly try to embed into my students’ approach to language learning, but it was not until the lockdown that I actually started taking my own advice. Doing so, Ι took my German from A2 to B2 in a matter of months; 81 days to be exact. Since then I’ve been asking myself, in German, warum did I leave it so lange to start taking my own advice?
At different stages of my teaching career, I think back to my training in the hope of hopes of gaining some deeper insight. At first, I would pick over the remnants of those memories in an attempt to dust off a technique or unearth a solid-gem of an activity that I could integrate into my current teaching context. More now than ever, I find myself reflecting on how I was taught to teach. I think about the activities garnered from an eclectic cocktail of teacher trainers that I enthusiastically guzzled down, garnished with their practices and beliefs, and realise there is a slightly sour taste in my mouth.
“A sour taste” might sound a bit harsh, but there was something not quite right with the execution. I’ve never understood why any TEFL or SLA course would stress the importance, let’s say, of learning style preferences, and then have students write essays in response to long strands of text in order to demonstrate their acquisition of the concept. This was exactly what happened on an asynchronous course that I took part in. Surely the best way of teaching students techniques for the classroom is to implement them into how you teach such techniques. Where are the videos? The podcasts? The video message systems? There is clearly a disconnect between theory and practice found at many levels of education.
It is clear that this is something many of us within the profession are aware of. Whilst discussing the idea for this article with various colleagues, one described a workshop on differentiated teaching strategies that she attended. Surprise, surprise, the same tasks were set for all attendees, and the same mode of delivery was used for the content of the workshop.
Evidently, it’s often easier to know how to do something than to actually make it happen. as was the case for the German state-exam exam board (oh, I know this one…Staatsexamensprüfungsausschuss). Another colleague recalled having once taken an exam on how to set German state exams, and was shocked by how little thought had gone into preparing it. They commented that had the roles been reversed, the German state-exam examiners might have failed.
A further example can be found in how courses address the affective filter hypothesis. In fairness, at least many of these courses do mention it. They introduce it to their students, they plant the seed, but what next? After exploring how anxiety can negatively impact the learning process, they then pile it on. Time sensitive tasks, final grade weight-bearing deadlines, the warnings that precede and follow from both trainers and former trainees, it isn’t exactly a bubble bath, more so a baptism of fire.
It is a real shame how many people are scared off from the idea of taking advanced teaching courses. Think just how many more incredible teachers there would be. Even now, I’m speaking with teachers with years of cultivated experience and passion who are choosing not to delve deeper for fears of how they would cope doing such teaching development courses. Their own passion for learning is quashed by the way these courses are designed and implemented.
But does it have to be this way? Obtaining an education can be stressful enough, with the costs incurred and the concerns of what to do with it once you’ve gotten it. Does the process really have to be quite so painstaking?
I’ve fallen guilty of this myself having just delivered a workshop on concept checking questions without including a single one; hindsight is a wonderful thing, although sometimes, it’s also just embarrassing.
At the risk of causing myself even further embarrassment, I should reveal to you, dear supportive reader, that I have done it again; in this article no less! Over the last 2 years, I have been teaching EAP writing courses. I regularly stress the importance of brainstorming and planning. However, with this article, I skipped the planning phase. Fortunately, a good friend pointed out the disconnect and encouraged me to practice what I preach!
Of course, this isn’t just in our professional field. My mother has 40 years of experience raising children; 6 of whom were her own sons, many more were other people’s children. The one thing that has constantly tested her resilience and desire to continue doing what she is so incredibly good at? The constant training that is imposed, the way that it is delivered and the disconnect between theory and practice..
In order for this to change, we need to have a closer look at our own practices. The old saying “If you can’t do, teach,” only applies to those that let it. We shouldn’t let this be a defining quality of our profession, and everytime we forget to ask that CCQ in a workshop or put result levels over anxiety levels, that is exactly what is happening.
In future, I’ll be making a more conscious effort to consider the content of my lessons and to what degree I am modelling what it is I want my learners to do more successfully. It may be a simple case of being more mindful during the planning stages and taking the time to reflect on the success of the class; an approach that I picked up from one of the more successful developmental courses.
About Ian Butcher
Ian Butcher is currently teaching at the University of Munich. He’s half-way through the
Distance Delta and weeks away from getting married to a truly wonderful woman.
Contribute to the blog
If you are a member of IATEFL and would like to contribute to the blog, we’d love to hear from you at [email protected]. We’re looking for stories from our members, news about projects you’ve been involved in, and anything else you think those connected to English language teaching would be interested in reading. We look forward to hearing from you! If you’re not a member, why not join us?
On 3rd September, I had the pleasure of delivering this Webinar for the IATEFL community of teachers and followers. I do hope this follow-up article triggers more questions than answers. THANK YOU!
The end of an era
It’s not difficult to see now that some paradigms are falling. The traditional educational system is undoubtedly one of them.
In the era of technology in which the workforce is being replaced by machines, robots, computers, etc., we can easily see how jobs that were once needed are now disappearing, at the same time and speed that new ones are being created. This era of rapid changes cannot wait. It is here to stay and evolve and the ones who are unable to adapt to it, will eventually “lose”.
The traditional educational system or the industrial education was designed with one purpose in mind: to create automated workforce that could work in factories, performing automatic tasks. There was no creativity, interaction, discussion, evolution or growth in them. Basically, they received orders. The educational system that started in the industrial era and still continues today (yes, today in the technological era), only prepared students to obey, not to create. Students and later workers were not considered as humans but as machines that needed to produce. What about their feelings? What about their wishes and dreams? What about their talents? What about their personal and professional evolution? None of it existed.
Neuroscience in the area of education, Educational Neuroscience or Neuroeducation, is a relatively new field. It emerged in the 90s to offer an alternative view to approach education; in a holistic way. What does it mean approaching education holistically? It means considering the human being as a whole by a deep understanding of how our brain and our mind work. Backed up by the latest research of neuroscience, cognitive psychology, biology, human evolution, emotions, among others, we can now access tons of information just a click away. When you start seeing yourself as a holistic individual and learner, you’ll be able to understand others and be able to help them. It’s a transformative path that we, as educators in this era, should be willing to walk on. You could find suggested bibliography and renowned authors in this document I’ve carefully created (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nfXvaJAj6dM53bHb82rlOSQilhakA-sh/view?usp=sharing)
The theory of the three brains (The Triune Brain) by Paul McLean
Paul MacLean, an American psychologist from the 60s developed the theory of the Triune Brain which proposed a division of the brain in the order it evolved through history. Of course, it’s an oversimplified model and explanation of how it works since it has been proved and demonstrated that such a division doesn’t exist, all the parts of the brain are connected. Anyway, it’s still a useful way to understand the relationship between structures and functions of the human brain.
Image 1: The Triune Brain
According to this theory, the first brain, the reptilian brain, is worried about survival. In relation to learning, we understand that the basic needs have to be covered in order to be able to learn properly: feeding, sleeping, body temperature, clothing, etc.
In this automatic and repetitive mode, the reptilian brain will always be on the alert, trying to spot dangers – threats – (in the case of education it could be the classroom, classmates, teachers, contents, grammar). Thus, one of the tasks of the teacher should be to reduce threats.
The limbic system is considered the emotional system, which in education can also be related to motivation, and it’s also connected to our memories (partly short term, but mostly long-term memories). And of course, it also has to do with the social part, the interaction and bonds we create with peers and teachers.
The third brain is the Neocortex, the rational brain (the most evolved area and the one that involves cognitive functions such as planning, organizing, creating, thinking, reflecting, etc.) Of course, this is essential to have in mind when designing and proposing tasks, but not the only one.
ALL of them are important when learning, we should know and integrate the “3 parts” and not only focus on the cognitive area.
Our brain is made up of networks of interconnecting nerve cells called neurons. A neuron is made up of three (main) parts: A Dendrite, an Axon and a Cell Body. The dendrites receive (they are receptors) the chemical signals from the axon (they are transmitters).
The information travels along the axon body and when it reaches the end, it releases chemical signals (neurotransmitters) into the synaptic cleft (they don’t touch each other)
Image 2: Neural Networks
The creation of a neural network is like blazing a new trail in a thick forest. Every step requires effort and you’ll have to walk many times through it in order to make it visible. Therefore, in order to learn or unlearn something, we have to make an effort to do it repetitively and constantly, until it becomes automatic, a habit (and do it with our subconscious brain). (https://youtu.be/_nWMP68DqHE)
Releasing Neurotransmitters
What are the neurotransmitters we want our students to release?
There are two groups of neurotransmitters, called the “positive” and the “negative” ones depending on what they produce on our brain and body. The negative ones, or the enemies in learning are for example, cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline; they block the brain since it feels threatened, which activates the fight or flight response.
The positive ones, the “Happy Neurotransmitters” are the ones we want our students to release: dopamine, endorphin, oxytocin and serotonin. The powerful mix of these will create an ideal learning state in which the brain will be willing and excited to learn. What should I, as a holistic teacher or coach, do to trigger their release? What should I consider adding or changing in my lessons? What should my role be? Will my practices change after knowing about neuroscience? Food for thought!
In this era, not only of technological changes but also of consciousness in many different areas, we, teachers, should be the main actors and promoters of this evolution in education. What we actually DO will make a difference, not what we KNOW.
If you want to know more about Neuroscience, Coaching and NLP in Teaching, please feel free download this short E-book with some useful tips to start putting into practice right away.
Roxana Areán is a graduate English Teacher and Translator with a Master’s degree in Audiovisual translation from the University of Cadiz, Spain.
She is also a certified Neurolanguage Coach® (Efficient Language Coaching, UK), a Neuropsycho educator (Asociación Educar, Argentina), a certified Biodecoder, and is currently studying NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming).
In the last years, she’s been fully devoted to studying the human brain and the mind and applying scientifically proven techniques that have had great results and which keep thousands of students satisfied.
With over 15 years of teaching experience and the knowledge of all these complementary disciplines, she is eager to share and expand this new and revolutionary way of education, which not only improves but also empowers our students’ learning.
She is the founder of Dream On ELC (Argentina); an online academy which offers courses and Webinars – both for students and teachers – integrating neuroscience, coaching and emotional intelligence.
Contribute to the blog
If you are a member of IATEFL and would like to contribute to the blog, we’d love to hear from you at [email protected]. We’re looking for stories from our members, news about projects you’ve been involved in, and anything else you think those connected to English language teaching would be interested in reading. We look forward to hearing from you! If you’re not a member, why not join us?
On 6 August 2022 I was privileged to be able to present an IATEFL webinar on my views on the application of Extensive Reading as a means of providing students with one essential that is often lacking from their English learning – the opportunity to practice what they have studied. Unfortunately, there wasn’t sufficient time to address the 30+ questions that had accumulated during my talk, so I’d like to cover as many as possible in this blog, within the strict word limit.
The rationale for Extensive Reading can be explained like this. In many classroom contexts around the world, there is an overemphasis on covering the material in the textbook and various forms of assessment which leaves little or no time in class for students to simply read for information rather than focusing on the grammar and vocabulary of what they are studying.
Dr. Paul Nation’s “Four Strands” concept advocates providing more opportunities for students to practice meaning-focused activities for all four skills, as well as time for fluency activities where they can use the language that they already know. Meaning-focused receptive activities (reading and listening), meaning-focused production (speaking and writing), and fluency activities on all skills should each comprise 25% of the students’ overall language learning time. This leaves only 25% for language-focused studythat in many classes comprises 90% or more of class time.
Definition of “Extensive Reading”
The basic concept is for students to read a LOT of material, focusing on the meaning rather than the language. This generally precludes reading material used in the standard texts since it is designed to expose the students to new language – vocabulary and grammar – with little time available for other 3 strands of language practice. Self-selection of reading material, reading at one’s own pace with material that it sufficiently easy to be read fluently with little dictionary look-up is the norm. These criteria are usually met by having students read from graded readers that they select themselves from a library with a wide range of topics and ability levels.
Below are the main categories of questions, with my responses.
Materials
Where can I find the extensive reading material?
“Graded Readers” are the best source since they have been written in graduated steps to make it easy for students to read fluently with little recourse to a dictionary. “Leveled Readers” designed for native learners are usable, although they often contain vocabulary and idioms that native children might know but our learners do not.
Online material is also available, but care must be used that it is suitably graded. Two sites that I recommend are:https://er-central.com and https://readtheory.org. Both are free and permit you to register and track your students’ progress, but of course this assumes that the students have sufficient online access.
Another site which has PDFs of some graded readers and lists of online material at various reading levels is https://freegradedreaders.com, much of which can be printed out and distributed to your students.
As a last resort, you might try taking some digital texts that are too difficult for your students and running them through software such as “Vocabprofile” on https://lextutor.ca which would flag the words that your student might not understand by comparing them to a prepared list of words commonlystudied or known by learners, such as the New General Service List. You can then simplify the text down to a level they might understand or perhaps provide a list of definitions for the difficult items.
Getting the students to read
When dealing with intact classes, not everyone will be excited to read – even if the books are at their own reading level and of potential interest. If you have a small number of students, you can talk to them regularly about their reading, but in the case of large classes or have multiple classes, this is not feasible. Often some kind of tracking, be it a reading log, feedback sheets requiring simple, brief responses or a wall chart will encourage many to continue to read. Setting a target, often based on each books’ word count will give them a tangible goal and a grade on their ER, pegged to the number of words read can be a great incentive.
Where to read
While some activity in class is needed in order acquaint them with the basic principles of selecting easy books, how to read quickly without worrying about perfect comprehension, etc., but having the students read outside of class is ideal since it does not interfere with the already overloaded curriculum. This, of course, implies that the students can take their reading home. ER can also be conducted in class where a specific period of time, perhaps 15 minutes is scheduled for it daily.
Following up
While students who become excited about their reading might continue to read without further pushing, most students would prefer to use their free time on other activities, such as other preferred subjects, sports or social endeavours.Follow-up activities will vary depending on whether they have read different books (the usual case) or the same one, such as when using a “class reader”. Either way, structured small group discussions will provide a handy way to increase their understanding of what they have read and sharing their thoughts might stimulate the others to read the same book. If their speaking proficiency allows, they can present the book in English (perhaps with a few days warning to make it an English fluency activity), but even a discussion in their own L1 can be beneficial. Bamford & Day (2004) contains a wealth of crowd-sourced ideas for follow-up activities.
How old do students have to be?
The earlier the better! Of course, the students must have recognition ability for the first 100-200 commonly taught words, but this is sufficient since many books for children are available that use limited vocabulary. Books in NGL/Cengage’s Foundations graded series start with a headword count of just 75 words.
Links to books and software mentioned in this blog are available here.
The original webinar: IATEFL members can watch the recordind of the original webinar by logging onto the IATEFL website, selecting ‘My Resources’ and searching for ‘Extensive Reading’.
About Thomas N. Robb
Thomas Robb, Ph.D., University of Hawaii, is Professor Emeritus, Kyoto Sangyo University. He is a long-time user of CALL and the Internet, and has created a number of websites and applications for Extensive Reading, student projects, interactive learning and professional exchange. He has held numerous leadership positions in International TESOL, JALT (Japan) and PacCALL. He is now on the steering committee of the IATEFL LitSIG and is Chair of the Extensive Reading Foundation. He is also the Editor of TESL-EJ, the first online journal for ELT.
Contribute to the blog
If you are a member of IATEFL and would like to contribute to the blog, we’d love to hear from you at [email protected]. We’re looking for stories from our members, news about projects you’ve been involved in, and anything else you think those connected to English language teaching would be interested in reading. We look forward to hearing from you! If you’re not a member, why not join us?
Pop culture in the form of movies, songs and other forms of mass media can infuse a whole lot of fun in the teen classroom while also supporting learning.
In one of my early creative writing classes many years ago, I happened to ask my students if they knew what “MTV” was. The mention of the erstwhile epitome of pop music was received by a collective blank stare from my class of ten 13-year-olds.
After what seemed like an endless period of silence, one student said quietly , “I think I may have heard of it,” almost as if to console and assure me that I was not the ‘uncool’ one for asking if they knew about the now obsolete music channel. I almost wanted to ask incredulously “ How could you not have heard of MTV?!” Instead, I took a deep breath and explained, “ It was like YouTube on TV with mostly music videos.” Fortunately, I saw a few slow nods.
Teaching teens is always dicey. Add the online component and you have string of new challenges– cameras switched off, silent break out rooms and frequently flagging interest levels. The last thing you need, therefore, is unrelatable content be it an online or offline class.
Pop culture references, when used right, can be a great way to engage your teen students and connect with them. In fact, if you use songs and movie clips in your classroom, you are already using pop culture!
Here are some of my top tips of using pop culture effectively in the teen classroom :
Get to know your students’ interests
The ice-breakers and getting- to- know- you activities typically done on the first day of the semester are a great opportunity to make a note of your students’ interests, likes and dislikes which will then help you tailor the content to their needs.
The classic ‘Would you rather’ ice breaker can be easily adapted to include pop culture references which could raise the fun level a few notches. Here are a few examples :
Would you rather read the Harry Potter books or watch the movies?
Would you rather watch Harry Styles in concert or BTS?
Here’s another fun activity — let students introduce themselves by writing a tweet of 280 characters. Encourage them to use fun and relevant hashtags. Always remember to do a demo first before you ask the students to do the task.
It was in one such ice breaker activity I realised my students’ love for Percy Jackson. Knowing this then helped me use some lessons based on the Percy Jackson books, which turned out to be a hit.
One of my favourite activities is around the last few minutes of this incredible video of Akala freestyling a track which has 16 of Shakespeare’s quotes interwoven in them. Watching this has inspired many a brilliant slam poetry performances in my class.
Let students become the teachers
Teens, especially older ones, are on the precipice of becoming adults and often prefer to be treated as grown-ups rather than as children. Allowing them to take the lead at times gives them the sense of responsibility they crave. I have learned to relinquish some control while teaching teens and allow them to lead the class. For instance, while teaching blogging, I used to often show them the usual platforms like Blogger and WordPress. However, it was my students who introduced me to more exciting platforms like Wix and Weebly for which they created accounts under the supervision of their parents.
Once you become familiar with their interests, use these topics to generate discussions and focus on language points. This blog post on Kanye West could evoke quite a few heated discussions!
Stay cool to be cool
While sharing fun videos and memes in class is a great way to build rapport with students, it is important to ensure that the content is culturally and age appropriate. Additionally, since pop culture elements are largely pieces of creativity, it is also important to check the copyright guidelines related to them.
So, the next time you want to strengthen the rapport with your new batch of teen students or just zhuzh up the class a bit, don’t be afraid to bring in a little bit of song, dance and even drama!
About Ananya Banerjee
Ananya is a trainer and teacher-trainer at British Council, India, with over seven years of experience and specializes in teaching young learners and creative writing. She has the CELTA and DELTA qualifications from the University of Cambridge. When not working, she can be found reading a fast-paced thriller, practising yoga, or watching reruns of her favourite shows. She can be reached on LinkedIn here.
Contribute to the blog
If you are a member of IATEFL and would like to contribute to the blog, we’d love to hear from you at [email protected]. We’re looking for stories from our members, news about projects you’ve been involved in, and anything else you think those connected to English language teaching would be interested in reading. We look forward to hearing from you! If you’re not a member, why not join us?
IATEFL Associates are an integral and valued part of the IATEFL community. They are all established teaching associations based in a particular country or region. IATEFL provides resources and support for new and developing teaching associations, and then a range of benefits for IATEFL Associate teaching associations. This includes facilitating networking, collaboration and discussion between the teaching associations, discounted membership of IATEFL for members of Associates, recognition for the teaching association as an IATEFL Associate, highlighting of Associate events on the IATEFL website and in a regular Associate eBulletin which also contains Associate and IATEFL news, opportunities to benefit from funding, projects and support, free registration for the IATEFL International Conference for a representative of each Associate and an additional, specific, Associates Day exclusively for them on the day before the conference as an opportunity for collaboration, networking and information sharing. This is all offered at no cost to these teaching associations, and is funded through IATEFL’s charitable initiatives and kind donations. It helps to create a wider, global family to the benefit of all.
IATEFL wishes to enhance and further develop this network, and the opportunities and benefits it can offer to teaching associations. In doing so it wishes to treat all teaching associations equally and fairly, giving them all the same opportunities, and support them all in the amazing role they play supporting English language teaching professionals in their area of the world. As part of this we announced at our conference in Belfast, at the Associates Day and then as part of the Annual General Meeting, a review of how we can support Associates, and also add clarity, in terms of use of logos and branding.
Update
Following the Annual General Meeting, where the Trustees introduced as one part of the Strategic Development Plan, this review of the use of the IATEFL name and logo, concerns have been raised by some as to the implications of this. We wanted to provide you with the wider context for this proposal and how we plan to work with Associates to create a clear and inclusive guide for Associates’ use of the IATEFL name and logo.
The main remit of the Board of Trustees is to safeguard the Association and secure the fulfillment of its mission in the context of solid governance and management. This implies detecting potential risks and taking the necessary measures to avoid them.
In our publication ‘A History of IATEFL’ and minutes of the Board of Trustees meetings show that in the mid-1990s, IATEFL branches in various countries, established to promote membership of IATEFL, became national teaching associations, and the relationship changed to them being affiliates, and then IATEFL associates.
Since 2007, the IATEFL Associates Handbook has clearly stated that no Associate would be able to use the IATEFL name followed by the name of the country where the associate is located. In addition, for the last seven years, the IATEFL logo cannot be used by Associates and a specific ‘IATEFL Associate’ logo is provided. Currently, there are six national teaching associations who use the acronym IATEFL in their name.
The word IATEFL in a name could be seen as preferential and an advantage given to an association which may not be the only association in the country and would, therefore, be discriminatory to other associates. The presence of an IATEFL-named association might also dissuade other associations from the country from joining IATEFL. This goes against the strict IATEFL policy which ensures anti-discriminatory and pro-inclusive decision-making including treating all IATEFL Associates equally.
IATEFL Head Office receives enquiries on a regular basis from people confused that, in joining one of these six IATEFL Associates, they believe they have joined IATEFL itself. Some want to book for an event at the member price, some wish to submit a proposal to present at conference, some wish to join an IATEFL Special Interest Group, some wish to volunteer.
If an English teacher sees an association in their country with the name IATEFL in its title, perhaps sees a similar logo and the same association colours, may not see reference to any other IATEFL on that website or sees reference to IATEFL as a national association such as “IATEFL UK” or “IATEFL WORLD”, then this does cause real and understandable confusion. This confusion often extends to social media.
An added complication arises when an association bearing the IATEFL name and logo does not renew their agreement yet continues to use IATEFL branding.
IATEFL does not have any involvement in associations’ membership, decision-making, policies and financial management, or even in their decision to maintain IATEFL associate status.
IATEFL will be consulting with concerned parties over the next three months. Following this, IATEFL will be working closely to facilitate the mutually agreed adjustments which can resolve these issues. IATEFL aims to have completed this process by May 2024.
IATEFL counts on the respectful and active participation of all interested parties involved as we all move forward towards the next chapter in the relationship between IATEFL and its valued Associates.
How can you get involved?
If you are a member of an IATEFL Associate, we encourage you to contact them with your thoughts which will then be fed into the consultation process.
If you are a current member of IATEFL and would like to share your thoughts, please click here. This member consultation will run until Friday, 30 September 2022.
The age structure of IATEFL shows that at the moment most members are in their forties or fifties, while the percentage of the youngest, those in their twenties, is more than three times lower than either of the strongest two age groups. Here’s an interview with a young IATEFL member and a young teacher, who has been with us for just over a year. Mojca Belak has interviewed her for Views.
Mojca: Kristina, you have now been a member of IATEFL for a bit more than a year. Why did you join?
Kristina: I don’t think I have told you this before, but it was you who made me enthusiastic about IATEFL. In 2015, you invited your students to prepare short presentations for the international conference organized by IATEFL Slovenia. I was a BA student then, and I plucked up the courage to give it a go. I still remember the welcoming atmosphere at the conference; I was also surprised to see even the more experienced participants showing great interest in discovering new things. I believe a good teacher never stops searching for fresh ideas: new times bring new generations of students with different worldviews, expectations, and needs, which is what every teacher has to consider.
Mojca: You’re quite right, and IATEFL provides both professional growth and sharing ideas. How in particular has being part of IATEFL helped you as a young teacher? Is there anything you learned here that you later used in class?
Kristina: I have worked at the university since November 2019, when I started teaching grammar-related courses (Syntax, Verb, Morphology), which are challenging because many students find them abstract, and therefore intimidating. I think it is important for students to see that grammar does not have to be painfully tedious; it is within everyone’s intellectual reach, and it can be fun, even if you are not a grammar nerd. 😉 I also teach Language in Use, which brings different challenges, as it is aimed at improving students’ reading, listening, writing and speaking skills. Since I had never taught such a multifaceted course before, I felt I needed guidance from the more knowledgeable colleagues to be able to create a pleasant and productive working atmosphere, in which students are motivated to participate and share their opinions.
IATEFL has helped me tremendously: its webinars provided me with ideas on how to “spice up” my classes and defuse tense situations that may arise when students’ opinions diverge. Most recently, I attended the webinar How to Teach Vocabulary, where I got excellent advice for diverse and effective vocabulary practice. Earlier this year, I participated in the webinar Short and sweet: motivating through powerful mini texts, where I learned interesting short activities to boost students’ creativity. My classes are an hour and a half long, so keeping things snappy is key.
Mojca: Of course, you need varied activities to hold students’ attention for 90 minutes. My next question is connected to your other love, music. You are a musician, so did your experience in playing the recorder on stage help you face learners at the beginning of your teaching career or are these two contexts completely different?
Kristina: There are many overlaps. Having experience in performing is definitely an advantage, giving you confidence and resourcefulness you need when you find yourself in an unknown environment. I am an introverted person; without the many performances, which used to put me well out of my comfort zone, I would not be as keen on teaching as I am.
Another important aspect of playing any instrument is the awareness that continuity is crucial. If you do not practice regularly, you will never make any significant progress. The same goes for language learning: if you do not want your language knowledge to become stale and rusty, you need to be in touch with the language on a regular basis.
Mojca: I wish our students were more aware of this. During the pandemic, teachers had to find alternative means to keep students in touch with the language and the learning process. Ever since you joined the Department of English at the University of Ljubljana, you’ve been a Moodle wizard. Even before the pandemic you helped colleagues with various features in e-classroom, and during lockdown your help in creating online quizzes and tests became invaluable. Do you think you are better with these things because you belong to a generation that takes all things digital for granted, or are you just interested in Moodle, Zoom and Exam.net and all they offer?
Kristina: I would say both. I have spotted an important difference in attitudes between younger and older generations. People who have not grown up surrounded by electronic devices tend to be more cautious when getting to know a new app. Before diving in, they ask themselves, ‘What if I break something?’ In my generation, this question never arises. My peers delve into something new thinking, ‘If anything goes wrong, I’ll fix it in some way.’ A positive attitude makes the start easier, that’s all. Some of my peers still don’t know how to use learning platforms properly, because they are simply not interested in them. During the lockdowns, I thought I needed tools to keep my students involved, so I purposely invested my time and energy in learning the ropes. I participated in webinars before being able to use the platforms confidently and was, in this respect, no different from the colleagues who are much older than me.
Mojca: Is there anything about distance teaching that you miss now you’ve been back in class for two terms?
Kristina: No! Because of the pandemic, I discovered many useful online tools and probably learned more about teaching and my students than I would have if I had taught face-to-face all the time. But this experience has made me realize that no amount of electronic media can make up for direct personal contact. I have transferred some of the online activities to my “post-pandemic” classes, so I think I have managed to keep the best of that world. However, the interaction with and among students is now much more vivid, which is why I hope we will never have to replace the physical classroom with the virtual one again.
About Kristina Gregorčič
Kristina Gregorčič studied English and French at the University of Ljubljana, where she holds a teaching assistant post at the Department of English. She is currently working on her PhD thesis, focusing on negative polarity items, quirky expressions such as lift a finger, which systematically seek semantically negative contexts. She is particularly interested in different aspects of linguistics, translation, music, nature, and (of course) teaching. She joined IATEFL at the beginning of 2021.
Contribute to the blog
If you are a member of IATEFL and would like to contribute to the blog, we’d love to hear from you at [email protected]. We’re looking for stories from our members, news about projects you’ve been involved in, and anything else you think those connected to English language teaching would be interested in reading. We look forward to hearing from you! If you’re not a member, why not join us?
Shoghig has been teaching English at different institutes for a long time. She holds a master’s degree MA in TEFL. Shoghig is an EFL instructor at the American University of Armenia.
Kristina Gregorčič studied English and French at the University of Ljubljana, where she holds a teaching assistant post at the Department of English. She is currently working on her PhD thesis, focusing on negative polarity items, quirky expressions such as lift a finger, which systematically seek semantically negative contexts. She is particularly interested in different aspects of linguistics, translation, music, nature, and (of course) teaching. She joined IATEFL at the beginning of 2021.