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Webinar presenter: Tamara Jumabayeva

This webinar explores how teachers can design CLIL materials that are both pedagogically sound and culturally relevant, helping learners connect subject content with their own identity and experiences. Drawing on examples from primary-level English and Science lessons in Kazakhstan, we will examine how integrating local culture into worksheets and activities enhances comprehension, engagement, and willingness to communicate in English. The session will highlight practical principles for creating culturally responsive CLIL worksheets, including selecting meaningful contexts, embedding inquiry-based tasks, and balancing global skills with local traditions. Participants will be guided through a step-by-step process of adapting and writing their own materials, ensuring that worksheets do more than practice language—they foster deeper learning, critical thinking, and cultural pride. By the end, attendees will leave with concrete strategies and inspiring examples to enrich their materials writing practice with a strong, local voice.

Much of our work as ELT writers involves developing tasks that prepare learners for specific exam formats, often with strict requirements around level, timing and structure. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the materials we create have to be bland, generic or easily forgettable.

In this session, I’ll explore how we can design listening and speaking exam preparation tasks that not only meet assessment goals but also leave a more lasting impression on the learner. Drawing on recent examples from work on a C1-level high-stakes exam preparation materials, I’ll look at some specific ways to frame prompts, scripts and interactions so that they invite engagement, reflection, or a more personal response, without compromising the demands of the exam. The focus will be on practical and adaptable techniques that help make exam prep materials clearer, more memorable, and more human.

Dr Elena Kapshutar is a writer, editor and assessment specialist with a PhD in linguistics and over 15 years of experience in ELT as a teacher, examiner and teacher trainer. Most of her work focuses on exam preparation materials for a range of UK- and Europe-based publishers. She currently works across several platforms, languages and formats, including digital content. Based in Canada as a permanent resident, she is open to collaboration on projects around the world.