12
FEB
2015

CLIL in Castilla-La Mancha

I’m looking forward to meeting elementary and secondary teachers in Castilla-La Mancha, Spain for a series of workshops on CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) between March 2nd and 13th.  I’ll be speaking in Albacete, Cuenca, Guadalajara, Cuidad Real, and...
10
JAN
2015

Intercultural Communication in Spain

Thanks to everyone who came to my talk at the American Space at the U.S. Embassy in Madrid on February 26th. I spoke about intercultural communication and language teaching and shared some ideas for how to help students deal with other cultures in the classroom.  Remember, if you...
06
NOV
2014

Using movies to raise cultural awareness

Using movies or films in class is a great way to help student both learn more about language and also about culture and cultural differences.  These days there are tons of films available that deal with interesting intercultural issues. Here are some thoughts on how to use film...
10
SEP
2014

Building intercultural competence in young learners

At TESOL in Portland in March 2014, I was part of a panel that discussed issues of raising intercultural awareness for young learners. A synthesis of my talk is now available as an article from the newsletter of TESOL’s Applied Linguistics Interest Section. Here’s the...
02
JUL
2014

The World Cup: Is it Football or Soccer?

The eyes of many around the world are focused on Brazil for the World Cup. Interest is high, even in the United States, where the sport is not one of the popular big four professional sports (American football, basketball, baseball, ice hockey.) But whenever people from the U.S....
22
OCT
2013

Motivating students to speak English in class

The authors of OUP’s Q: Skills for Success series have been answering questions from teachers. I was given a question about how to encourage students to speak more English in class.  You can watch the video directly using the link below, or visit the Oxford University Press...
09
OCT
2013

Questions for Q: Skills for Success authors ?

Oxford University Press has started asking users of Q:Skills for success what they would like to know about the books and how to use them better.  Watch this video to get instructions on how to submit your questions.  
07
OCT
2013
Student reading

Three principles for teaching reading

In preparing our textbooks in the Q: Skills for Success series, my co-author Jenny Bixby and I have done a lot of research into effective methods of teaching reading. We’ve developed a few conference presentations on the subject. (You can download some slides here, or some...
26
SEP
2011

Class chemistry

Have you ever taught a class that just never seemed to come together? Or one in which the students all worked together really well? Do you think that classes have their own personalities? I first learned about the concept of class chemistry as a student teacher. My master...
09
SEP
2011

Q Reading and Writing Intro now available

I’m delighted to announce that my latest ESL textbook, coauthored with Jenny Bixby is now available. It is the introductory level of Q: Skills for Success, the Reading/Writing strand.  Like our other book in the Q series, this level has entertaining readings, solid...