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Have you ever been sitting in class or a lecture or just listening to someone speaking using the same word or phrase over and over again, (e.g. 'ah'; 'OK') so that it becomes distracting? Yes, you have!
All of us have words or phrases that we are prone to use often. One such phrase might be, 'That's OK'. It is fine to use these phrases often if they are used in the right context. However, it is not 'okay' to use them as 'space fillers' as you think of what you want to say next. A pause in your speaking is better, as it can create a sense of anticipation in your students about what comes next and gives you a chance to get your thoughts together for what you want to say. Let your eyes roam around the class to make sure the class is ready for what comes next. This is a better 'space filler'.
As a teacher, one of your prime responsibilities is to be as perfect an example as possible of the correct use of language.
Using words like 'okay' often, can show a lack of vocabulary. On the other ...

You have strived hard to master the basics of English language and can't wait to advance to the next level.Science can be pretty tough for students who have taken English as their second language. However, the transition to advanced levels can be made smooth by following effective strategies which are easy to implement. It is all the more important while undertaking functional streams like science, history, etc.
Four effective science strategies:
1. Slow approach
If you are having trouble understanding the science terms and terminology, it would be wise to take a slow movement approach. A good case in point is when a language learner visits a native country. He/ she will observe that the native people speak very fast and it may be difficult to comprehend. Hence, a slow speaking or reciting approach will help you with proper pronunciation of science sentences and terminology. You can even note down the important ones for quick reference.
2. Watch videos
If you do not understand a ...

1. What is the American accent, actually?
In fact, there is not one kind of American accent.
The US is huge, and people from different regions speak with different accents.
A guy from Texas can sound quite different from one in New York. There isn't even one type of New Yorker accent.
Similarly, there are different types of Californian accents.
Want some proof for the diversity of the accents? One movie can show you right away.
If you have watched Cars, by Pixar, you'll notice that Lightning McQueen (The red car) speaks English very differently from Mater (the truck). This is because Mater has a strong Southern American accent.
2. What type of accent should you learn?
Most people focus on the "General American" or the so-called Standard one because it doesn't seem to have the regional tastes from various parts of the US.
It is the accent you often hear while watching Hollywood movies or listening to CNN or VOA news.
Furthermore, the General American is also perceived more positively ...

In 1996, the Ontario government enacted legislation requiring all students in grades 3, 6, and 9 in the province of Ontario to take mandatory standardized tests in reading, writing and math. The Ministry of Education uses these yearly tests to increase the quality of education in Ontario and to plan for future improvements. Each year the government spends $32 million to administer the tests and an additional $77 million to improve future test scores. While there is no merit pay connected to improved test scores in Ontario, schools feel a heavy pressure to continually improve their results.
Since the introduction of the tests, Ontario has had a great deal to celebrate. High school graduation rates have improved and the gap between students receiving special education supports and other students has been reduced. The results of immigrants who don't speak English when they arrive in Ontario have also risen rapidly. The number of low-performing schools in the province has been reduced ...

In recent years the field of neuroscience has been applied to almost everything from the legal profession to sales and marketing.
Why? Because every human activity is a result of our thinking and the workings of our brain - and neuroscience expands our understanding of just that.
As well as determining how we think, make decisions and generally behave, our brains are obviously key to how we learn, so the more neuroscience uncovers about this, the more the growing field of "neuroeducation" emerges.
A New and Growing Field
Increasingly there are people around the world who recognise the limits of the present educational systems and are committed to transforming it, in the hope of better preparing a new generation for making valuable contributions to global progress.
Re-creating education is no easy task. Everywhere, old methods and practices are deeply set in. However, a recent study by the Wellcome Trust in the UK found that over ninety percent of teachers there claim to use ...

If you are someone who has the honor of sharing your knowledge with large groups of professionals, then you want your audience to get the very most value from what you have to share. Can this be accomplished by just speaking clearly and wearing a red tie? Possibly not.
In order for adults to have an optimal learning experience, these four elements must be present:
Motivation
Reinforcement
Retention
Transference
You can motivate adult learners in:
Social relationships: the learner knows you and looks up to you and wants to learn from you.
External expectations: the learner believes you will be able to fulfill his/her expectations because someone with formal authority has given the recommendation.
Social welfare: they are getting information from you that will enable them to improve their ability to serve mankind.
Personal advancement: you can help them or give them information of how to achieve higher status in a job, securing professional advancement.
Escape/Stimulation: to relieve ...

A common reading disorder goes undiagnosed until it becomes problematic, according to the results of a five-year study published online in the journal "Brain Connectivity".
Dyslexia, a reading disorder in which a child confuses letters and struggles with sounding out words, has been the focus of much research into reading. That is not the case, however, with the lesser known disorder Specific Reading Comprehension Deficits or S-RCD, in which a child reads successfully but does not sufficiently comprehend the meaning of the words.
According to lead investigator Laurie Cutting at Vanderbilt's Peabody College of Education and Human development, a person with S-RCD will explain it like this: "I can read Spanish, because I know what sounds the letters make and how the words are pronounced, but I couldn't tell you what the words actually mean."
"When a child is a good reader, it's assumed their comprehension is on track. But three to ten percent of those children don't understand most of ...

I would have to say that something that is sometimes missed when teaching ESL students English pronunciation is intonation. For ESL students English intonation is an important part of learning English because it not only gives English its rhythm, it also helps you in understanding what a person is saying.
English Intonation comes from the extra emphasis (stress) that native speakers and good non-native speakers place on certain words. The rhythm in English comes from the emphasis that is placed on some words and not on others. Native speakers place extra emphasis on the key words when they speak to make them stand out. The key words are the nouns, main verbs, adjectives, and some other words when needed. If you are able to only hear the emphasized words, you will still be able to understand most of what the person said. You will also notice that native speakers from different countries may place different emphasis on some words.
Native speakers listen for the stressed words because ...

Planning a grammar lesson for a TESOL / TEFL class is something that many new teachers find very difficult and this article is designed to offer some advice. Here we are focusing our attention on lessons where the focus is grammar as teachers often find this most difficult of all.
1. The first thing to say is that lesson planning is very important whether a teacher is newly trained or experienced. It is true that an experienced teacher may not need to do as much preparation on a day-to-day basis as a newly trained teacher but, nevertheless, it is important that every lesson is prepared with care.
2. When planning a grammar lesson try to embed the grammar in a typical situation so that the new language is easier for the students to understand. For example, if you have a class of adults you could build your lesson around having a car serviced in a garage to introduce or practise the Present Perfect tense. In the course of your lesson, sentences like this could naturally arise. They've ...

There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are at least 46 ways to check learner comprehension. These fall into one of five general categories of highly experiential learning activities: (1) Paper-Based, (2) Spoken Word-Based, (3) Materials-Based, (4) Games-Based, or (5) Movement-Based. Some of the activities skim the surface of learner comprehension, while others require much deeper thought.
All of these activities can also be used at the close of any training module to check learner comprehension. However, the purpose of these activities is to make sure that the learners leave a training session with a good understanding of the content that was taught. Hopefully, the learners have been given the opportunity to test their new knowledge or skills in application exercises during the training session. The activities identified here are intended to close a module or a training session on a high, content-centered note.
With only a few exceptions, these learning activities are ...