Teaching & Learning English
MAT 马特 The exercises below are intended to help students learn the first 30 words of the first sublist of the AWL Select the correct word from the highlighted options Pay attention to the advice in the pop up box if you answer incorrectly The scientists consistently / analysed / benefit the data carefully. The UK is … Read more
Here are the first 30 words of the AWL sublist 1. You should try to learn these words in preparation for a test in class next week. In addition to learning the meaning of each word, pay attention to the different forms it takes according to the grammar. There are a few sample test questions … Read more
This is an additional Reading Text for the Animation degree programme at QUST/Bradford It is uncontroversial to say that reading is probably the best way to extend your vocabulary and the more you read, the greater your vocabulary will be The words from the Academic Word List (AWL) are in bold Language and culture are … Read more
Probably the biggest challenge for international students preparing for university education in English is the enormous amount of vocabulary that is necessary to learn. This challenge can be divided into two distinct problems: What vocabulary to prioritise in students’ learning? How to use the vocabulary correctly in speaking and writing? To answer the first question, … Read more
The phrase ‘with the development of the society’ is often used in the essays of Chinese writers. The problem is that this really doesn’t intuitively mean very much in English. What does it mean? Does it mean that society is getting bigger or more complicated? If so, in what ways? Does it simply mean that … Read more
This page simply lists links to the material we have covered in class since October. Your Spring Festival mission is to review the material and engage in online discussion with your classmates according to the following rules: If nobody has yet left a comment expressing your opinion, then write your opinion. Reply to another student’s … Read more
This is my criticism of what I call the “formulaic template approach”. This is the approach typically used in IELTS training centres across China where the student is taught to memorise a template consisting of numerous generic sentences or partial sentences so that all they need to do is paraphrase the prompt a few times … Read more
This is essentially a follow-up lesson to my zombie painting tutorial. Both zombies and elves are based on the human figure but in both cases it doesn’t matter if the proportions aren’t precise because they are, after all, fictional entities. This relieves students of the pressure to be precise and (hopefully) free up their creativity. … Read more
This is the second painting lesson as part of a Halloween themed project that I taught at Yinhai Academy, Qingdao. The first lesson in the series was Pumpkin Painting. The artistic aim of this lesson is to paint a zombie and the educational aims are: to think about the human form, to learn about mixing … Read more
This is the first of three painting lessons that formed a Halloween themed project in Qingdao, China. The artistic aim was to paint a Jack O’Lantern and the educational aims are: to think about shape/form, to learn about mixing colours and to think about highlights and shadows. This lesson is a video walk through of … Read more
One very common problem that students (below band 6) encounter is a limited range of vocabulary. Even if the vocabulary is used relatively effectively and accurately, the limitations become obvious due to repetition. Here are some examples from student writing: Sample 1 In this first sample, the word country is used repetitively. There are two … Read more