Teaching & Learning English
This page introduces my work on the development of the Discussion Skills Assessment (DSA) instrument and its current status at the time of writing. Historical Development and Rationale The student-led seminar approach I have been pioneering in different educational contexts was first inspired by a student-led seminar activity that formed part of the University of … Read more
This post introduces a pedagogical approach I have been pioneering that might usefully contribute to discussions of transforming learning spaces to increase student ownership within the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) classroom.
This article is the original version that I submitted for publication by the school. I edited the school publication significantly before it was published. Introduction Over the past five years, I have worked mostly with undergraduates and postgraduates in UK universities and high school students undertaking foundation year or IELTS preparation programmes in China. On … Read more
As mentioned in my previous post, every so often during examining work, one comes across an odd phrase or expression that occurs too regularly for it to be dismissed as random or individual error. One such occurrence I have noticed today is the word revert being used where reply or respond would be the more orthodox (correct?) choice of … Read more
It is exam marking season again and I’ve been quite busy. Some seasons I notice a trend to comment on (for example the increasing use of relatable) and this is no exception – what is it with students adding the word what to a sentence where it is not needed? The two sentences below are … Read more
Marking student assignments can be a very interesting job. I often get to read about subjects that, left to my own initiative, it would never have occurred to me to think about. Sometimes the odd idea stands out as worthy of a quick Google search. This was one such idea… I was reading a report … Read more
I have been working on a series of bilingual English-Chinese educational books based on characters created by my daughter when she was between 18 months and 3 years of age . These Magic People books are a little rough around the edges because they began life as drawing sessions for my daughter and child’s scribble … Read more
Late in 2015, I started tutoring an undergraduate student who was studying education and creative writing. She had employed me to help her better organise her academic writing with the aim of raising her grade for her final dissertation. The first piece of work I helped her with was her proposal and this contained the … Read more
Upon returning to England I took on a tutoring assignment to support an undergraduate student in her writing with the aim of moving her from a 2:2 to a 2:1. We got off to a slightly shaky start when the first assignment with my input returned a 2:2. However, the strategy of using it as … Read more
Having worked in English language education, teaching and assessment in China for over twelve years, I have noticed certain trends in the language difficulties Chinese learners of English experience. I share them here as a resource for other English teachers. I will no doubt update this post a few times as this is by no … Read more