Why do parents send their children to school? Why are you reading this now? Why does the government spend tax payers money in funding public education? Why does the teacher teach principles, concepts, facts, etc? Is school learning relevant to real life situations?
These questions are focusing on the usefulness of education and learning to the learner and to the society. This is the subject of transfer of learning.
Parents send their children to school because they believe the school can transmit desirable attitudes, skills, knowledge, behaviors and attitudes to the children. The government funds public schools because it hopes that by so doing the society will have citizens that are productive and self reliant; that have a positive attitude to fellow citizens, public and private property, that will shun crime and live peacefully with others, and that can bring social progress.
Thus, parents, governments, teachers and citizens all believe that learning gained in school should be ...

Seeing IELTS from an angle other than a university or visa requirement, I find that it's something that needs you to take the language learning fairly dynamically and put into effect some robust steps to incorporate English as a language of your day-to-day communication. A first timer in IELTS, specially if he is weak in English and still aims a 7 or more, has an extra mile to go where he needs to build an environment around him that supports his English language learning equally favorably as his core IELTS preparation. Over an analysis of why many IELTS students fail to get up to the higher side of the performance, I have realized that the shortcomings lie in the misorientation probably to see IELTS as a test and not as a course. Here is a 20-step performance booster to lead you towards a rocking 7-band score and achieve your dream IELTS result:
1. Consider IELTS a priority
2. Identify your level and the maximum duration you can afford to have for the preparation and practice
3. ...

So here's another example of a short paragraph story which I've used to teach pronunciation of the past tense in English using regular verbs. Admittedly, it takes some thought to write one of these but the effort is worth it since the learners seem to enjoy this form of grammar in context. Normally, a passage would contain a mix of both regular and irregular verbs in English. However, when practicing the -ed, -d, -ded, and -ted endings pronunciation, these types of exercises can prove to be invaluable. A short paragraph story of this type is much more difficult to pronounce and causes the speaker to intently focus on the past tense verb endings. Try them, you'll see.
A Pacific Coast Trip
I talked to my family in the United States last week. They wanted to hear about when I traveled to the rain forest. My wife and I excursioned from Buenaventura and departed by boat. First we slipped and stumbled down a gangplank that tipped as we boarded the cargo ship. The vessel bobbed, rocked and ...

I hear that question very often. What I would like to ask you though is, what are you are prepared to do about it? How far are you willing to go? I mean how badly do you want it? How badly do you need it? The truth is most English learners don't.
But first, what is native-like English? Is it just good pronunciation? Is it mastering a certain English accent? Is it fluency? What is it exactly? Well, let us keep it simple and agree that native-like English is the level of proficiency at which you can communicate in the language at least as well as you do in your own mother-tongue. Assuming that you do not suffer from any speech impediments or brain damage, you are able to speak and understand English effortlessly in any situation that does not require expert knowledge in the subject matter.
Defining native-like proficiency in a foreign language seems to be quite complex, hence controversial. For me, however, it is rather straightforward. How do I know when someone speaks English like a ...

Okay, so you have read about Task Based Learning and you have been swayed at least enough to give it a go? Next step is planning your first TBL lesson and funnily enough, that's what's on the menu today!
Planning your lesson:
Okay, so before we get into the nitty gritty, it's important to understand that we are still after the same outcomes as with traditional teaching (PPP), so there is no need to throw the baby out with the bath water. We're not starting from scratch here.
What we are trying to do is move away from the traditional style of repetitive learning, which is not as useful for language learning, and move towards a style of learning where the students have to interact with each other, using the English that they have, in order to complete the task.
In running a class this way, you may have to deal with a couple of new things that you aren't used to.
That said, let's get in there and plan the lesson!
Step 1: Start mashing.
Traditionally, using PPP you'll operate in a linear ...