Mark your calendar for Pearson Webinars for English Teachers

Pearson Webinars for English TeachersAre you teaching a B2 exam course? Find yourself falling into the same old exam practice routine?

Would you like to know how to make cooperative learning work in your Primary classroom?

Do you need fresh ideas on to use video in your English classes?

If your answer is yes, join us in October for two weeks of Professional Development webinars presented by our teacher trainers: Brian Engquist, Elena Merino and Michael Brand, who will share with you new ideas, activities, tips, tools and tasks to spice up your lessons! Continue reading

Why you should encourage people to study business English with Market Leader 3rd Edition

We’re now in the 21st century, living in an age of increasing globalization in which communication across borders is paramount to success. It is estimated that about a third of the world’s population speaks English as a mother tongue and that it is the most widely used and most popular second language. Without doubt, English today is the universal language of business, trade and international law.  Perhaps we have got to the point where it is not enough just to have a general knowledge of English: is more business English needed to make English more immediately relevant in the modern world? Why study business English? Here are a couple of reasons that might be relevant to different people at different stages of their personal and professional development and some insights for you, as teacher or educational institution, as to how Market Leader can help your students achieve their diverse goals.Business English - Market Leader - Pearson Continue reading

Extending the CEFR across English and the globe

GSE-extends-CEFRThe Global Scale of English (GSE) is a new standardised, granular scale from 10 to 90, which measures English language proficiency. We have added over 950 new learning objectives to those already created for the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) including 300 each for general, academic and professional English. Learners can now track their progress from the start of their learning journey with 40 new learning objectives below A1.

How are GSE learning objectives created?

After reviewing existing learning objectives and identifying gaps, new learning objectives are reviewed and refined before being rated by thousands of teachers worldwide on the GSE and CEFR. The learning objectives then go through two rounds of data analysis by our psychometricians in order to calibrate them to the GSE. Any problematic learning objectives are removed, and the final list is checked again by content editors before being published. Continue reading

Using your coursebook creatively: Ideas to liven up your lesson

Using your coursebook creatively Ideas to liven up your lessonLast weekend Pearson was at the British Council ‘Learning to Learn’ Conferences with Michael Brand in Bilbao, Brian Engquist in Madrid and Elena Merino in Barcelona. We would like to thank all the teachers who attended our sessions, where we had the opportunity to share teaching ideas and get the most out of our coursebooks.

As promised, we are sharing our presentation and we hope you find it useful for your lessons. Continue reading

5 tools for incorporating the GSE as an online teacher

GSE Global Scale of EnglishIndependent tutor and digital learning pioneer Lana Friesen explains how she is combining the best programs and apps to help her students meet their learning goals…

Including all components of communication can be tricky in classrooms, especially those online. Using the GSE Learning Objectives and five other useful tools allows teachers to plan a full-spectrum curriculum for their students, regardless of the setting.

5 tools for incorporating the GSE (Global Scale of English) in online classrooms: Continue reading

PTE, TOEFL, IELTS, TOEIC, Cambridge exams… Which English exams should I choose?

Pearson PTE - English examsIn today’s globalised world, it is increasingly important not only to be proficient in English but also to be able to prove your level of proficiency. Companies with international business often require job applicants to present a certificate that shows how fluent they are in English, while for non-natives applying to universities in English-speaking countries, demonstrating you have a high enough level of the language to study your chosen subject is a basic entry requirement. With so many options available, the first question has to be, ‘Which English exams should I choose?’ Here we look at what’s on offer. For some top tips on how to prepare, click here.

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5 different English classes – but which type of class is for you?

These days there are all kinds of classes available for the budding English language student. Here are 5 of the most common English classes. Which type of class do you go with?

1. Grammar-based

Traditional language lessons were heavily reliant on grammar-based instruction, with lots of explanations of rules, lots drilling of structures and lots of translation exercises. But grammar alone doesn’t get you very far. Vocabulary is more useful. If you’re dying of thirst in a boiling hot English-speaking country (although, let’s face it, that’s unlikely to be the case in the UK), it won’t do you any good to know that in English pronouns must usually be expressed, that uncountable nouns don’t take an article or that the object follows the verb if you don’t know the words ‘want’ and ‘water’. Continue reading

The global reach of English

Global English 2There’s a very good chance, if you’re reading this, that English is not your first language. Non-native speakers currently outnumber native speakers by an estimated four to one. At the same time, 1.75 billion people – a quarter of the world’s population – speak English either fluently or to a useful level of competency.* There have been many lingua francas throughout history, and English is far from alone in the 21st century in having an international reach – Arabic is spoken across the Middle East and North Africa, French is an official language in over 30 countries around the world and Portuguese in 11, and Spanish is a powerful lenguaje global in its own right, more so by the day – but none has ever had the dominance that English does. Once the obscure West Germanic language of a damp little island kingdom, it is now an official language in almost 60 countries, the international language of aviation and seafaring, the pre-eminent language of scientific research, the most common language online and the major working language of diplomacy and international relations. What does its phenomenal success mean for the 75% of the world’s population that do not currently speak it, what does it mean for those who only speak it, what does it mean for other languages and what does it mean for English itself? Continue reading

Aviation English

478335883On 27th March 1977, in very foggy conditions at Los Rodeos airport in Tenerife, and after numerous unexpected incidents and delays, KLM Flight 4805, laden with fuel – and before it was safe to do so – began to hurtle down the runway. Miscommunication in English between the crew and the tower had resulted in the captain starting the take-off before the clearance to do so had actually been given. Ahead of Flight 4805 on the very same runway, taxiing directly towards them, was another Boeing 747, Pan Am Flight 1736, lost in the thickening fog and unsure whether the Spanish air traffic controllers had told them to take the ‘first’ or the ‘third’ exit. The poor visibility meant that the impending disaster was completely hidden from view at the tower, and that accurate and unambiguous oral communication was therefore paramount; the ear had to do what the eye could not. Seconds later the two aircraft finally saw one another. The KLM tried to lift off, the Pan Am to turn, but by then it was too late. The resulting collision and ensuing fireball killed all 248 people aboard the KLM plane as well as 335 of the 396 aboard the Pan American, making it the deadliest ever disaster in aviation history. The few Pan Am survivors, lucky alone by the fluke of their seating, crawled out to safety through holes in the disintegrating fuselage and along the one remaining wing. Continue reading