I very much enjoyed Neil McMillan’s witty and creative plenary on the last day of the IATEFL Edinburgh Conference (McMillan, 2025), in which he lamented the lack of interest in methodology in recent IATEFL plenaries and made a convincing case for task-based language teaching (hereafter TBLT). I shared his shock that a key icon in…… Continue reading Methodological monocultures or ecosystems? A few reflections and cautions on an IATEFL plenary
Category: ELT
On the Origins, History and Understanding of Test-Teach-Test in English Language Teaching
Test-teach-test is one of a number of lesson planning frameworks that are taught widely on short certification courses for English language teaching (ELT), such as the Cambridge CELTA and the Trinity CertTESOL. There are numerous overviews of it on internet blogs (e.g., British Council, n.d.), YouTube videos (e.g., Bolen, 2022) and in guides for such…… Continue reading On the Origins, History and Understanding of Test-Teach-Test in English Language Teaching
The myth of a theory-practice gap in education
…what is actually being invoked is a difference between what we might call ‘academic theory’ and ‘practitioner theory’, and that is a very different type of gap…
“Reading aloud”: What it’s really called and why it’s essential to formal language learning
It’s an often unchallenged mantra of many ELT writers, methodologists and commentators that ‘reading aloud’ is an ineffective or misguided practice in English language classrooms (e.g., Wilson, 2019; also see this recent Twitter discussion). This mantra is frequently propagated by trainers on generic initial certification courses designed for teachers of adults, such as the Cambridge…… Continue reading “Reading aloud”: What it’s really called and why it’s essential to formal language learning
The beliefs they had
“Wait. Let me just get this straight,” Barsha looked incredulous. “You’re saying that they believed that the materials that had been created specifically for the students weren’t authentic, but any text that wasn’t created with the students’ needs in mind was considered ‘authentic’, and better, as a result?” “Yes. At least some of the writers…… Continue reading The beliefs they had
The TATE framework for curriculum design in language teaching
Rod Ellis recently proposed (2019) a modular framework for curriculum design in language teaching combining task-based language teaching (TBLT) and task-supported language teaching (TSLT). When I first read his proposal, I was somewhat surprised, because these two approaches are often perceived as incompatible (e.g., Long, 2015), based as they are on very different theories of…… Continue reading The TATE framework for curriculum design in language teaching
Activities for Cooperative Learning
Activities for Cooperative Learning is one of two new titles inaugurating a new series from Delta Publishing called ‘Ideas in Action’. The idea behind the series is to link the theory behind a specific aspect of teaching or language learning with activities that teachers can use in their own classroom. This blog post provides a…… Continue reading Activities for Cooperative Learning
On the origins of ‘jigsaw’ and ‘information gap’
This blog reports on research I conducted into two widely used terms in communicative language teaching; ‘information gap’ and ‘jigsaw’, as part of a wider research project for my book Activities for Cooperative Learning in the Delta Publishing Ideas in Action Series, and my work on a taxonomy for jigsaw activities, presented in this article…… Continue reading On the origins of ‘jigsaw’ and ‘information gap’
Translingual practices in English language classrooms in India
My latest research paper, co-authored with Amy Lightfoot of British Council S. Asia, explores the complexity of language use practices in English language classrooms across India. It reports on a survey (quantitative and qualitative) that we conducted with 169 Indian teachers last year, and sought to find out about what have traditionally been called ‘L1-use…… Continue reading Translingual practices in English language classrooms in India
‘The future of training’ or The elephant that swallowed the room
This is a copy of the guest blog I wrote for the International House Teacher Training Blog here. The IH ‘Future of Training’ Conference (23-24 November 2018) will mark 65 years of teacher training at IH London, the ancestral home of the initial ELT certification course that later became the Cambridge CELTA. It promises both…… Continue reading ‘The future of training’ or The elephant that swallowed the room
Jason Anderson 