Category Archives: Mains

Effective Eliciting

Posted on July 19, 2016 by jonnyingham

This is my fourth post in a series of posts going ‘Back to Basics‘, re-examining techniques and ideas introduced on teacher training courses. What is eliciting? The British Council Teaching English website defines elicitation as ‘a technique by which the … Continue reading →

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Developing Reading Skills – A guest post by Suzanne Goodwin

Posted on March 14, 2015 by jonnyingham

I am delighted that Suzanne agreed to write this guest post based on a super INSETT session she recently delivered at IH Palermo. Without further ado, I’ll hand over to Suzanne. There has been considerable discussion in contemporary ELT about … Continue reading →

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Top Tips for Teaching Teenagers

Posted on January 23, 2015 by jonnyingham

Teenagers… The very word can fill a teacher with dread… Teens get a bad rap.  Ask anyone to come up with an adjective to describe a teenager and they are likely to come up something fairly negative like ‘moody’, ‘uncooperative’, … Continue reading →

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A Story out of Context

Posted on August 31, 2014 by jonnyingham

Today I cleared out a cupboard full of old teaching material (I know how to have fun!)  I had accumulated files full of worksheets and little cut up cards I had made or photocopied years ago and inexplicably saved. I … Continue reading →

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Timelines in EFL

Posted on June 21, 2014 by jonnyingham

This is my second post in a series of posts going ‘Back to Basics‘, re-examining techniques and ideas introduced on teacher training courses. What is a timeline? A timeline is a visual representation of the relationships that exist between tense and … Continue reading →

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Concept Checking Revisited

Posted on June 11, 2014 by jonnyingham

This is the first (hopefully) in a series of posts going Back to Basics, re-examining techniques and ideas introduced on teacher training courses. Many teachers are introduced to the idea of concept checking in their initial teacher training courses, try it … Continue reading →

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Headway in Harrogate

Posted on April 6, 2014 by jonnyingham

This is my first post as a registered IATEFL online blogger. I’ve never actually attended IATEFL but have always found the online sessions a valuable resource and hope to share some over the next week or so. First up, a … Continue reading →

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Liven up a Listening

Posted on March 30, 2014 by jonnyingham

Not sure what to do with a listening text coming up soon in the unit? Don’t like the comprehension questions in the book? Want some ideas to liven it up? Pre-listening Prediction work can be a really useful pre-listening activity, preparing … Continue reading →

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Subject and Object Questions – Explained

Posted on March 23, 2014 by jonnyingham

Do your students ever have trouble using questions with and without auxiliaries? For example: Who won the race? (Why is there no auxiliary verb?) What did he win? (Why is there an auxiliary verb?) Here’s a short video I made … Continue reading →

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Clines in Language Teaching

Posted on March 18, 2014 by jonnyingham

What is a cline? The British Council Teaching English website defines a cline as ‘a scale of language items that goes from one extreme to another, for example, from positive to negative, or from weak to strong’. Why are clines … Continue reading →

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Riverbank

Posted on February 10, 2014 by jonnyingham

Also known as a board jump, this versatile activity can liven up grammar and get students up out of their seats in a controlled TPR practice activity. This is good for language points which have two (or three) options to … Continue reading →

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Getting to Know You with an Acrostics Poem

Posted on February 5, 2014 by jonnyingham

We have new courses starting this week at school so I thought I’d share my favourite getting to know you activity to use with a new class. The original idea of using an acrostics poem came from a session by … Continue reading →

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M/F/P – Meaning, Form and ?

Posted on January 24, 2014 by jonnyingham

When analysing language and presenting it to students, we are often told on teacher training courses that we need to look at three areas: meaning, form and pronunciation (m,f,p). In many language lessons I have observed, the ‘p’ is the … Continue reading →

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