English Language Teaching
Theory, methodology and practical resources for teachers, trainee teachers and students of TEFL.
Explore pronunciation, grammar, language acquisition, teaching methods, syllabus design, testing and assessment, reading, listening, speaking, writing and learner independence.
Explore the topicsA Collection of TEFL Theory and Practice
This collection brings together articles and teaching materials developed over many years of experience in English language teaching and teacher education.
The resources explore both the theory and practice of teaching English as a second or foreign language. They include historical perspectives on language teaching, practical classroom issues and questions that continue to influence English language education today.
Explore by Topic
Ten areas of English language teaching theory and practice.
Pronunciation & Listening
Phonology, phonetics and approaches to listening and pronunciation teaching.
Explore → 02Syntax & Semantics
Grammar, vocabulary, dictionaries and varieties of English.
Explore → 03TESL / TEFL Methods
Major approaches and developments in language teaching.
Explore → 04Language Acquisition
Questions and debates about second-language acquisition.
Explore → 05Syllabus & Course Design
Approaches to organising and planning language courses.
Explore → 06Testing & Assessment
Principles and practical issues in language testing.
Explore → 07Developing a Placement Test
A step-by-step exploration of test development.
Explore → 08Reading
Approaches to reading and the development of reading skills.
Explore → 09Writing
Writing activities, contexts, cohesion and correction.
Explore → 10Learner Independence
Helping learners develop autonomy and self-access skills.
Explore →English Pronunciation and Listening to Spoken English
Phonology, phonetics and approaches to listening and pronunciation teaching.
- Why learn or teach phonology?
- Priorities and materials for phonology and phonetics
- British English consonant sounds – final blends & assimilation
- British English vowel sounds – monophthongs
- British English vowel sounds – diphthongs
- Specifying the priorities for pronunciation teaching
- Teaching English intonation and stress
- The distinctive features of spoken English
- Difficulties in listening to spoken English
- Should spoken English be the principal objective in language learning?
- Idiom, cliché, jargon, slang, phoneme, allophone and redundancy
Syntax & Semantics
Grammar, vocabulary, dictionaries and varieties of English.
- Ways of presenting grammar
- Short texts for production and grammar presentation
- Dialogues for grammar presentation or conversation facilitation
- Uses of the Present Perfect Tense
- Grammar content of FCE course books (1979–1987)
- Key developments in teaching English vocabulary
- Books for learning and teaching vocabulary
- Concordancers and corpora in vocabulary learning
- Choosing a dictionary for language learning
- Occupational varieties of English
- Specialist dictionaries and companion workbooks
Grammar Crossword
History and Practice of TESL / TEFL Methods
Major approaches and developments in language teaching.
- Audiolingualism and Structuralism
- Cognitive theory and Mentalism
- The Notional / Functional approach
- Notional vs Structural syllabus design
- The Communicative Approach
- Definitions of learning and teaching methods
Methodology Crossword
Language Acquisition Forum
Questions and debates about second-language acquisition.
Principles of Syllabus and Course Design
Approaches to organising and planning language courses.
Methods of Testing and Assessment
Principles, objectives and practical issues in language testing.
- Language testing objectives
- Objectives of test types
- Discrete-point vs integrative tests
- Subjective and objective testing
- Standardized tests
- Efficient test design
- Item analysis
- Assessing communication in L2
- Norm-referenced vs criterion-referenced tests
- Test reliability and validity
Testing Crossword
Developing a Placement Test
A step-by-step exploration of test development.
Reading in the Second Language Class
Approaches to reading and the development of reading skills.
Writing in the Second Language Class
Writing activities, contexts, cohesion and correction.
Learner Independence and Autonomy
Helping learners develop independence and self-access skills.
Robert O'Neill
I am indebted to Robert O'Neill for giving me permission to use his excellent articles on Language Acquisition.
It is with great sadness that I learnt of Robert's death. He died on 29th July 2014 at the age of 81. Both Robert and Julian Dakin, for whom Robert also had great regard, were hugely influential in their approaches and ideas, which continue to live on in their writing.
I had the great fortune to work at The English Language Centre Hove over a period of 18 years, where Robert had his office and contributed generously to teacher training and development. He will be greatly missed in many quarters.