Both language and culture are concepts that seem to have posed great difficulties for

scholars to define. Besides, there seems to be an inevitable relationship between these two
concepts
Several different factors may have an impact on the success and failure of culture
teaching in language classrooms. Teachers, curricula, and textbooks are among the most
important factors to take into consideration. Damen (1987, p. 5) postulated that there are reasons
for the limitations of teachers‟ efficiency as cultural guides. 1. Teachers do not know what
“culture” to teach. 2. Until recently only a few textbooks of methodologies have been available
to assist teachers in the direction of culture learning. Assuming that language teachers can
naturally teach culture is a serious mistake, for defining what culture is not easy, and neither is
deciding on what culture to teach. Furthermore, without proper training in instructional methods
to teach culture, it is not likely that teachers can do the job of teaching culture as effectively as
expected. The English speaking culture is different from our very own, so we find it hard to learn
a foreign language. Watching movies is supposed to be fun, after all, and how can you learn
while having so much fun with the film? And more importantly, why should you learn English
with movies instead of textbooks?

Teaching English through games and apps

Some of the most popular games and apps are not specifically designed to be ‘education’ apps.
But innovative teachers are taking advantage and finding ways to use these technologies for
learning.

One example is Minecraft, a massive game, which now has a huge community of educators
using it for real learning. Language learning teachers are getting learners to collaborate and
communicate in English to build their own worlds.

Learning tip
Children, parents and teachers are all learning new digital skills at the same time. Educational
game promotes self-learning of students and allows them creating positive associations related
with the learning process. Simulation games represent stimulating educational tools for teaching
and learning key concepts in a risk-free collaborative environment. However, it is difficult to
assess their effectiveness in terms of game design, learning outcomes and motivation. A suitable
evaluation design is needed which enables the measurement of the knowledge transfer, quality of
game experiences and level of motivation.
While commercial games of all types, genres, and styles exist, which allow players to
select the gameplay style that most engages and suits them, a classroom contains a multitude of
types of learners with various gameplay experiences that must be accommodated. Game scholars

such as Henry Jenkins (2004) have advocated for the importance of accommodating diverse
player experiences in learning games “to foster diversification of genres, aesthetics, and
audiences, to open gamers to the broadest possible range of experiences.” Educational game
developers are then faced with the challenge of designing for a broad array of mechanics and
contexts in order to reach players with these different motivations and skills (Prensky, 2001;
Salen, 2008). Even when examining one of the most popular genres used in learning games,
namely, adventure (e.g., Amory et al., 1999; Dickey, 2006; Torrente et al., 2010), this is only
played by approximately 66% of American gaming youth (Lenhart et al., 2008).
STEM GAMES
There are a lot of games that integrate science, technology, engineering, and
math (STEM) concepts. Research has shown the value of engaging players in science games for
solving complex scientific problems (e.g., Cooper et al., 2010; Kawrykow et al., 2012). There
have been several notable theories and frameworks for connecting game design elements
to instructional content. De Freitas and Oliver (2006) examine how exploratory learning games
and simulations can be integrated into a curriculum in a manner that accounts for learning
context, learner specification, pedagogic considerations, and the mode of representation. Woods
(2004) discusses elements of games that can most appropriately be used for education. Gee
(2003) has similarly made recommendations of game elements that should be integrated into
educational experiences more frequently as part of learning literacy. These works, while
noteworthy in matching learning content to various game elements, do not account for the
incredibly diverse gameplay capabilities and experiences of players. While there has been a
growing interest in designing adaptive game systems that dynamically change according to
player tactics and styles (e.g., Ponsen, 2004; Spronck et al., 2004), further emphasis on adaptive
game elements is needed within the space of educational games already introduced) within the
learning management system platform used in the teaching process for bachelor students in
computer science.
Culture Buff Games are a powerful tool for English language teachers to boost awareness
about different English-speaking cultures. Culture Buff’s American Values and British Values
interactive games leverage visual stories to help English language students understand British
and American culture values. Designed by culture experts, the culture stories illustrate how
American and British values manifest in contemporary culture and are informed by key historical
events.The games are suitable for intermediate to advanced English language learners. There are
4 British Values Games which help foreigners and English language learners understand British
culture values.  The first game in the British Values series is free. The British values game
illustrate 20 British values or value ideals including Tradition, Courtesy, Modesty, Humour,
Emotional Reserve, Privacy and Diversity. They show how generally accepted British cultural
values manifest in everyday contemporary life or how British culture values have been informed
by important historical events. Learning is reinforced through spaced
repetition www.culturebuffgames.com
. 

Fun Speaking Games for Language Learners British Council

When teachers have to explain difficult part of grammar, they can use game playing instead
of traditional teaching. Teachers may help learners comprehend particular forms of grammar by
engaging them in specific games that fulfill the criteria of a conventional teaching that includes
memorizing rules, repetitive drills and so on. In addition, what is crucial is that students can
benefit from games their use in real life communication (Hadfield, 1990, p. 5).
Most of the teachers, trying to complete their ESL lessons often find games as a great solution
not only to fill their lesson plan, but also to keep students motivated and awake during the
class. The utilization of games is justified with the advantages and benefits it brings to the
students. They are a great way to be used in difficult and not pleasant topics so as games can
make students more active and willing to learn even the complicated topics (Kim, 1995, p. 35).
Games are mostly considered as warming-up activities to attract the student’s attention,
especially during free time at the end of a lecture. Games are worthy since they encourage and
promote an easy learning. As Lee says: “A game should not be considered as insignificant or as
an activity to fill in the free time when both the teacher and the students have nothing to do”.

Activities that will get students talking in a language they’re still learning.

 Variations on the game Taboo: For variation 1, create a PowerPoint presentation with a noun
on each slide. Send/share it to the class , except for one student . The rest of the students take
turns describing the words on the slides, and the student at the front has to guess them.

For variation 2, separate the students into groups of four or five. Place a pile of cards with
random nouns in the working space center of each group. Have students take turns describing a
noun for their group members to guess. The group member who guesses correctly keeps the card,
so there’s competition to see who has the most cards at the end of the game.

Variation 3 is for advanced speakers. Separate the class into two teams. Students are given a
word to describe to their teammates, in addition to a list of words that they cannot use in their
description. Each student should have two to three minutes to see how many words their
teammates can guess.

Descriptive drawing activity: Pair up the students and give each student a picture, placing it so
partners cannot see each other’s cards. They must describe the picture for their partner to draw.

Comic strip descriptions: Give each student a portion of a comic strip. Without showing their
pictures to one another, the students should attempt to describe their image, and put the comic
strip into the correct order. After about 10 minutes, the students can guess the order, show one
another their portion, and see if they were correct.

Secret word: Students are given a random topic and a random word that is unrelated to the
topic. The students must hide the word in a speech about the topic—they’re trying to make
sure the other students can’t guess the secret word. The other students listen carefully to the
speech and attempt to guess the secret word.

Impromptu speaking: Prepare a list of topics that students will be able to talk about. Split the
class into two teams, and have each student choose a number—that’s the order they will go in.
Each student will respond to a statement without preparation. They must continue speaking for
45 seconds. As the student is speaking, the other team listens for moments of hesitation,
grammatical mistakes, and vocabulary mistakes. If the other team can correctly identify an error,
they get a point.
Two Truths, One Lie: Each student should write three statements about themselves on a piece
of paper. Two of them should be true, and one should be a lie. Students read their three
statements, and their classmates question them to try to determine which statement is a lie.

Co-operative games for learning English-Cambridge

Co-operative games encourage teamwork, problem-solving and creativity – and everyone wins!
Children can play together in a fun, supportive way and improve their English at the same time.

Learning tips 

Speaking and listening activity

 Player 1chooses a small object from a shared picture (for example, a pen) and Player 2
must find the object. Player 1 must tell Player 2 how close they are to the object. For
example: ‘you’re very close’, ‘you’re going the wrong way’, ‘that’s better’. 
 You can make the above game harder and practise more English by playing without
moving. Player 2 must say where they are going and Player 1 must tell them how close
they are to the object. For example: ‘I’m going down the stairs’, ‘you’re getting closer’;
‘I’m opening the living room door’, ‘very close’; ‘I’m looking under the sofa’, ‘that’s the
wrong way’. 

Reading activity

 A scavenger hunt involves creating a list of things for your child to find. Ask them to take
a photograph of each item. This is a great game to play when you’re out on a walk. But
 children could also play it on a rainy day with household objects or during an online
lesson. 

Writing activity

 Put 20 known items on a tray. Let everyone look at the tray for 30 seconds. Then remove
it. Ask everyone to write a list of everything they saw. How many items did you each
remember? Now combine all your lists. When you put together all your ideas, did you
remember all the items? You might also like to give additional bonus points for
remembering the English word for an item and for spelling the English word correctly.

Vocabulary and grammar activity

 Make some cards with different nouns, verbs and adjectives. For example, ‘my dad’, ‘my
brother’, ‘likes eating’, ‘loves running’, ‘slimy’, ‘hairy’, ‘slugs’, ‘children’. The players
take turns to choose cards to make funny sentences. For example: ‘my dog | hates licking
| smelly | bikes’.

Creative activities can help children to learn and remember new language.

Learning tips

Writing activity

 Ask SS to design their own board game about a topic that interests them. Ask them to
draw the board. Create question cards using internet research or encyclopaedias. Then
play the game together.
 Look at funny news headlines. For example: Strange, Stranger, Strangest. Ask your child
to write a made-up headline. For example, ‘The farting fish mystery’ could become ‘The
burping fish mystery’. Now you need to guess which is the true headline and which is the
false headline. If you guess correctly, you get one point. If your child ‘tricks’ you, they
get one point.

Reading activity

 Give SS some ‘facts’ and ask them to decide whether they are true or false. For example,
Fact 1: children have more bones than adults. Fact 2: Jupiter is three times bigger than
 Earth. Fact 3: the blue whale is as loud as a jumbo jet. Then look up the answers together
or read a ‘fun facts’ book to find out more.

Speaking and listening activity

 Ask SS to pretend to be another family member or family friend. Ask questions to guess
who they are, for example: ‘Are you older than me?’ ‘Have you got brown eyes?’ ‘Do
you visit us often?’ Now reverse roles.

Vocabulary activities

 SS could each create a word-search puzzle on a theme, e.g. animals. This could be made
more fun if your child chooses a time limit. At the end of the time, whoever has found the
most words wins a prize.
 Use the words in our free picture books and vocabulary lists to play Charades or
Pictionary.
o Download our free Word List Picture Books:
Pre A1 Starters
A1 Movers
A2 Flyers
o Download our free vocabulary lists for A2 Key for Schools and B1 Preliminary
for Schools.
https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/learning-english/activities-for-
learners/https://www.esleschool.com/a1-classroom/
 1. Find Something…

This ESL game for teaching kids online is great for practicing students’ listening and thinking
skills, and for reviewing vocabulary.

How to play

Ask the online student to look around his or her room and find something of a certain color. For
example, you can ask the student to find something that is pink. Give the student a minute or two
to look around the room for an object that’s pink such as a hair bow or a marker.

Alternatively, you can ask the student to look for something that begins with a specific letter. For
instance, he or she can find an object that begins with the letter P, like a pillow or a pen.
Variation

You can ask the student to find something in your online classroom. This object, of course, will
have to visible on your screen where your student can see it without you having to move the
camera around. It can be an object, a word, or a picture in your background.

2. Hidden Objects

This online ESL game is an effective and fun way to practice vocabulary and listening or reading
comprehension. You can use this free online ESL game for reviewing nouns, adjectives, and
even prepositions of place.

How to play

Before the class, find or prepare a photo with many different objects (e.g. a messy
room, a crowded beach). Share this image with the student along with a list of ten
objects which they have to find.
You can also describe the items with more details, for instance, “look for the big, red
balloon.”

When the student finds an object, you can either enable the remote mouse control so
he or she can circle the object or ask the student to describe the location of the item.
For example, he can say, “The cat is between the bed and the nightstand.”

Variation

You can do a person hunt and ask students to look for specific people instead. For
example, “Look for the tall man in a white t-shirt,” or “Where is the boy riding a blue
bicycle?”

3. Objects Pictionary
This is a great online ESL game to practice vocabulary words.

How to play

Choose an object in the room that is not visible to the student. Then, draw this on the virtual
whiteboard. As you draw, the student must guess what it is, just like the popular game.

To make the game more challenging, you can set a timer for one minute. The teacher and student
can also switch roles to have the student draw the pictures and the teacher guess the object.

Variation
Another way to play this game is to act out the target word instead of drawing it. This variation
offers a fun way to integrate the TPR method (Total Physical Response) into your lesson.

Learn about TPR and other teaching methods in the Specialized Bridge Teaching English
Online TEFL/TESOL Courses. 

4. Odd One Out

This catchy ESL game helps your young students recall vocabulary and practice their listening
skills, and also keeps them concentrated!

How to play

Call out a list of five objects, with all but one of which having something in common. For
example, call out banana, apple, orange, peach, carrot. Ask the student to identify which one
doesn’t belong to the group. Depending on the student’s level, you can also ask him or her to
explain why the object is different from the rest on the list. For example, in the list
above, carrot is the odd one out because it’s a vegetable and the rest are fruits.

Variation

For more advanced students, you can use similar-sounding words or various parts of speech
(i.e. boot, food, room, moon, hot). You can also use pictures instead of reading the list out loud.

5. Tell Me 5

This game is good for practicing speaking skills and vocabulary.

How to play

List categories on the board such as colors, food, transportation, zoo animals, etc. Then, ask the
student to choose a category. If the student chooses the food category, the teacher can ask, “tell
me five vegetables” or “tell me five desserts”. The student must think of five items in less than
one minute.

Variation

You can also write five letters that the items in the category should start with. For example, “tell
me five vegetables that start with T, L, C, E, and K.”

6. Word Chain

This simple but fun online game for teaching English is excellent for building up vocabulary and
checking pronunciation.
How to play

Provide a category. Then, the first student has to say any word in that category. The next player
needs to say another word in the same category, but the word must begin with the last letter of
the previous word. Let’s say, for the food category, if Student A says “tomato”, Student B could
say “orange.”

If a student takes too long in thinking of a word, they must forfeit and take a challenge. For
instance, they must sing a song or talk about a topic for two minutes.

Variation

For higher-level students, you can do sentence chains by using the last word of a previous
sentence as the first word of the next sentence

ESL Games for Teaching English Online to Teenagers (or Adults)

7. The Bragging Game

This activity not only helps your students expand their vocabulary and practice using
comparative and superlative adjective forms but also helps them to be more creative.

How to play

Start by saying a simple sentence. For example, you could say, “I live in a house.” Then, the
student has to “brag,” by saying something greater or more exaggerated than your sentence but
still within the same topic, such as, “Really? I live in a bigger house, with a pool.”

Continue this bragging game by going back and forth trying to top each other’s claim (for
example, you could then counter with, “Well I live in a mansion with a pool and a jacuzzi!”).
The circle ends when a person cannot think of anything to top the last example.

Variation

Instead of using the regular comparative forms, you can make it more challenging by using the
“as … adjective … as” form. For example, if someone says, “My best friend is as clever as a
fox,” the next person could brag, “Really? Well, my best friend is as intelligent as Albert
Einstein.”

8. Classmate Speculation

An interactive activity for reinforcing grammar, speaking, and listening skills, this guessing
game challenges how much you and your students know about each other!

How to play
Provide a verb that students can easily make sentences with. Then, think of information about
your student using the given verb and start the sentence with the phrase “I think that you…”

Let’s say the verb is “like.” You could say, “I think that you like chocolate.”

The student says if the information you said about him or her is true or not. If it’s true, you get a
point. The first person to get five points wins.

Variation

You can also prepare sentence starters for a variety of topics and target grammar or vocabulary.
For example, if you wanted to practice the past tense with your student, the sentence starters
could be, “I think that you traveled…” or, “I think that you ate…”

9. Sentence Maker

This game is best for reviewing vocabulary or grammar concepts that you’ve taught in previous
classes.
How to play

Write a list composed of 15 words with mixed parts of speech (i.e., nouns, verbs, adjectives,
adverbs, and prepositions). Then, ask the student to choose any word from the list and make a
correct and logical sentence with it. You can encourage students to be creative and have fun with
their sentences, to keep the game interesting. Provide a point if the sentence contains the word
and is grammatically correct.

Circle or cross out the first word that the student previously chose so it can’t be used
anymore.  Afterward, choose two new words from the list and let him or her to make a new
sentence using them. Give the student two points for a grammatically correct sentence containing
these two new words then circle or cross them out from the word list.

Then, the student must choose three new words from the list and create another sentence. Follow
the criteria for the previous rounds.

The game ends when the last remaining five words are used in a sentence.

Variation

Alternatively, you can also show a picture and ask the learner to describe something in it using
only three words. Then, raise the word count.

10. Tic-Tac-Toe 2.0

This classic game adds a twist to your regular vocabulary and grammar practice exercises.
How to play

On the virtual whiteboard, write nine verbs arranged in a 3×3 grid. Then, ask the student to
choose a symbol (X or O) and put their mark on any verb on the grid. Then, the student must
make a correct sentence using the word he or she chooses.

The next player has to choose a box to mark and similarly make a sentence. If you’re playing the
game one-on-one with your student, you can use the verb to make questions for him/her.

The first player to mark three boxes in a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal row wins.

Variations

You can personalize this game in many different ways! You can use question words, for
instance, or challenge your students to various speaking tasks.
11. ESL Jeopardy

This ESL game for teaching online, which is inspired by the popular TV game show of the same
name, is effective for reading comprehension, vocabulary, and even math skills.

How to play

Before class, get the game set up on your whiteboard.

 Decide on about 4-6 categories for which you’ll come up with questions for the student.

 Make sure some of the categories are suitable for grammar/vocabulary questions, such as
“verbs” or a flexible category like “name three.”

 Make other categories fun topics you know will interest your student, such as “movie
characters.”

 Write these categories vertically along the left side of the virtual whiteboard.
  Along the top of the whiteboard, make columns for increasing point categories (i.e. 10,
20, 30, 40, 50 points).

 If you have 5 point categories (from 10 to 50), you’ll now need to come up with 5
questions under each of your chosen categories.

 As you write your questions, remember that the higher the number of points, the more
difficult the question becomes.

When you’re ready to play, explain the categories and points to the student. Then, ask the student
to choose a category and a number of points. (You can have the student use the language from
the TV show: “I’ll take ‘name three’ for 50 points.”) Ask the student the corresponding question.
He or she earns the points if the answer is correct.

If you’re playing with more than one student, another player can “steal” the question if the first
student doesn’t answer it correctly, by attempting to answer the same question.

Variation

Advantages and limits of gaming and gamification

Both, games and gamification are rewarding for the educational system and for the learning
experience in general. The main differences between game-based learning and gamification
imply, firstly, that using gamification does not involve adapting the content to fit the game story
and rules as in game-based learning. On the other hand, gamification is used to transform the
learning experience into an educational game by using game elements to motivate and keep the
students active (usually by a system of rewards or by indicating their level of performance),
while in game-based learning activities, games are used to achieve skills or knowledge.
According to (Lee, J. J. &Hammer, J., 2011) “understanding the role of gamification in
education, means understanding under what circumstances game elements can drive learning
behavior”. This understanding can be derived from various gamification projects. Instead of
receiving traditional grades, students earn “experience points” for completing assignments
(Laster, J, 2010). Improving students` activity during lectures can be obtain by gamification
techniques, but further research needs to be done to more accurately match gamification types to
learning styles (Rapeepisarn et al. 2008).
Presenting gamification mechanics during classes by implementing them into grade system
can be easily obtained by using eLearning environments hybridized with immersive interactive
scenarios, like in Lifesaver- a learning by doing model to teach the basic steps in responding to a
situation where a person suffers a heart attack or choking (Gamification in eLearning, 2017). The

proper use of narrative layers can improve engagement of user and points can be gained using
short assignments (missions). The students can choose the assignments as they like to obtain
enough points to pass the classes. Obviously, for harder tasks they will get more points, but none
of the tasks are obligatory.
Other gamification elements include avatars, badges, levels, reputation level, tasks, etc
An effective gamification concept is one that captures and retains learners’ attention,
engages, entertains and challenges them, and finally teaches them. According to Andrew Phelps
gamification is “in its really early days, and we’re still drilling into how and why this stuffworks
and what makes it effective.” (Pros and Cons Gamification in Classroom, 2013).
A better learning experience is obtained by combining “fun” with learning during the game.
A good gamification strategy will make participants more active and high levels of engagement
will increase feedback and retention.
Instant feedback. Since gamification provides metrics it can be easily seen, as trainer, how a
participant is progressing. From the students’ perspective, tests and assignments, as well as all
other activities provide different levels/ways of feedback, so that learners know what they know
or what they should know.
Better learning environment. The learning experience is personalized; the learners could
evolve in their own rhythm, in a safe way. Gratification system provides an effective, informal
learning environment that helps learners practice real life situations and challenges.
Gamification is about a lot more than just surface level benefits granted by points, badges,
reputation level as it can catalyze behavioral change, especially if combined with the scientific
principles of cyclical learning and ensuring retention.

By the other hand some drawbacks of using gamification in an excessively or wrong way
must be considered. The effort should be rewarded, and the students should learn to see failure as
an opportunity, instead of becoming unmotivated or fearful. Activities need to be designed so
that students can repeat them in case of an unsuccessful attempt (Kiryakova, G., Angelova, N. &
Yordanova, L., 2014). Feedback can be used as a correction of students’ actions and should be a
stimulus to their further activities. According to Kathy Sierra, a popular technology blogger,
author and game developer, rewards “should be left at the classroom door” (Gamification in the
Classroom, 2014) “a well-designed game only deploys certain mechanics to support an
intrinsically rewarding experience”. If the experience is removed but the mechanics kept, the
users psychology changes so that, in essence, it “uses mechanics to drive mechanical behaviors”
with little or no gain for the educational process.
 Nevertheless, motivators like points, badges, leaderboards are not effective for students who
aren’t naturally competitive, and if these elements will have a central role, the students will
finally lose their interest.

Teaching English Culture through Movies ,Songs ,Shows

The English spoken in movies is very natural and it’s very close to what you’ll hear if you
speak with native English speakers. This will help you in improving spoken English. Whereas
the English you learn through textbooks or in class is not what you’ll hear people say. Usually,
when we learn words in schools, we study things like vocabulary lists. The vocabulary lists will
only help you to learn what words mean, but it doesn’t help you to where and how they should
be used. But when you learn English with a Movie, the situation is different. 

By observing actors in films, it will not only help you to learn new words but also you will be
able to understand how they are said. One starts noticing the expressions. The characters might
be sad, happy, surprised, angry. And you’ll understand this immediately. You get to hear how
things are said. People often say what is expressed through our words is only 30% English.
While the remaining 70% is all about how you say it. The things like expression (like a smile, a
frown) and your tone of voice (like when you sound angry, or when you sound sad).

Besides trying to learn English with a movie, you can also learn it by listening to songs. This is
another quick and fun way to learn English. What makes English learning so effective through
songs and music? There is a scientific research that demonstrates how much music helps as a
second language learner to acquire grammar and vocabulary and improve spelling.

The “Mozart Effect” concept states that listening to classical music boosts the performance of
mental tasks like learning.

Songs and music also contain many useful vocabularies, phrases, and expressions. Songs and
music include up-to-date language and colloquialisms since the intended listeners are native
speakers.If you pick the right music, it’ll be much easier for you to learn. As we know the
language used in songs is usable and casual.
Listening to music also helps in improving pronunciation and allows you to focus on the
understanding of the English language’s rhythm, tone, and beat. Songs are a key to unlock our
emotional which influences our moods and enhances our mental and physical well-being. Our
relationships with music are deep and powerful and it is hugely rewarding. Music helps you to
understand English-speaking culture and how the English speaking people think and feel. So it
gives you insight into the English-speaking culture.Songs are a great source of ‘real-life’
language and you can use music to practise lots of different language skills. Most of all, songs
are a fun way to learn English!

Choosing good songs for learning

The best learning happens when we have fun. So it’s really important to choose music that
children like. The best songs for learning English are:

 not too long (1–3 verses)

 not too fast (easy to sing along)
 in everyday English (not too many new or difficult words)
 clear (you can easily hear all the words).

Remind children that pop songs sometimes use informal, everyday language. It’s important to
understand that English is used differently in different situations. For example, the English in
pop songs probably wouldn’t be right in formal writing.

English learning activities – practising speaking and pronunciation

Singing is great for learning the rhythm of a language. It helps us learn how words are linked
together in connected speech.

Singing along can be challenging, even for native speakers so children may need help with these
easy steps:

1. Find the song lyrics online, or find a music video with subtitles. For example, “Sing and
Learn” is great for younger children.
2. Read the song lyrics out loud. Look up any unknown words in a dictionary.
3. Listen to the song and read the lyrics at the same time. Encourage children to sing along.
4. When they’re ready, try singing along without looking at the lyrics.
5. Remember, they don’t have to get it perfect straight away! It’s actually more effective to
repeat regularly.

Some children find it hard to speak English because they are shy or lack confidence. Singing
with other people can help. It creates a safe space for children to practise expressing themselves
aloud. Ask other family members to join in when your child sings at home. They don’t have to
be musical. They simply need to be enthusiastic!

Improving English pronunciation

When you learn a new language, there are lots of unusual sounds your mouth isn’t used to
making. Singing helps our mouths to form the right shapes and make these sounds loudly and
clearly. Singing also helps us learn how stronger and weaker sounds are pronounced differently
in English.

For a more difficult challenge, ask your child to clap along with just the strongly pronounced
syllables.

English learning activities – practising reading, writing and listening skills

Any chance to hear English is helpful. Even if it’s just putting on background music during
mealtimes, playtimes or when you’re travelling. But to really improve their English, children will
need to listen carefully. Make some time to understand the song lyrics and think about what they
mean.

Learning tips 

Writing activity:

 Songs can be a great inspiration for creative writing. Listen to a song. After 10–20
seconds, pause the music. Ask your child to draw whatever comes into their head. Play
another 10–-20 seconds, pause and draw again. Keep doing this until the song finishes.
Your child should have several drawings. Ask children to write a short story to go with
their pictures.

Reading activities:

 Print out some song lyrics. Cut up the lyrics into separate lines or verses. Ask children to
guess the correct order. Now listen to the song to check if it’s right.
 To prepare for Cambridge English Qualifications, children should practise thinking about
the main ideas and messages in a text. You can use song lyrics to practise this type of
reading skill. Encourage children to think about the meaning and emotions of a song.
What would they put in the music video for this song? You could film your child
performing their video. Then watch the official music video. Are the ideas the same or
different?

Listening activities:

 Play some fun games to help children practise listening carefully. Choose 10 words from
a song. Then choose two or three extra words that aren’t in the song. Write the words in a
random order and give the list to your child. Play the song and ask them to tick the words
they hear.
 Print out some song lyrics. Change 5–10 words. Then listen to the song. Ask your child
to ‘spot the differences’. For example, in the Cambridge English song Going into town,
Part 1 you could change some of the nouns (‘town’ to ‘village’, ‘bus’ to ‘train’, ‘friends’
to ‘family’, ‘film’ to ‘movie’, ‘pool’ to ‘sea’).
 Ask children to listen to a song and invent an action for each line or verse. Then ask them
to teach the dance to you. Did you know that actions can help children to understand and
remember new words? Research shows that dancing increases memory, concentration
and understanding at all ages – so get the whole family to join in!
 Younger children can also try doing the actions to the Sing and Learn songs. Download
the free learning activities (PDF) for each song.

Videos/TV can also help children to:

 become familiar with different accents

  watch facial expressions, body language and gestures used in different cultures
 develop their understanding of the world and ‘real’ situations outside the classroom.

Most of all, children love learning through videos/TV. It can be a great source of motivation –
one of the most important factors in language learning. For example:Cambridge English TV

Learning tip
Choose a short video, such as one of our videos about English language idioms. Look at the title
of the video (for example, ‘A Piece of Cake’). Each make a guess – what will you see in the
video? Then watch the clip and see who was right.

Choosing what to watch

Try watching a video/TV series – the episodes are usually much shorter than films.Children will
become familiar with the characters and how they talk. This repetition is really useful for
learning.

The best videos/TV shows for learning English will have:

 lots of visuals that illustrate what is being said

 clear pronunciation, spoken not too fast 
 lots of language repetition
 good picture and sound quality.

If you need some ideas, here are some of the top-rated children’s TV shows..

Remember, film trailers can also be very motivating as they are often short and exciting.
Watch some different film trailers with children. Ask them to:

 talk about what happened in each trailer

 compare the films – what was similar/different
 decide which one they would prefer to watch.

As an extension, they might also like to invent an ending to the film and act it out.This activity
could lead on to the writing of film reviews, which would help them prepare for Cambridge
English Qualifications such as B2 First.

Watching without subtitles

Children may need some support before they’re ready to turn off the subtitles. For example,
when watching a video/TV series, you could try:

 watching an episode in your own language, so you become familiar with the characters. 
 watching an episode in English, with English subtitles for additional help.
 watching an episode in English, without any subtitles. 
Learning tip
Try not to pause all the time. Practise ‘listening for gist’. This means listening to get a general
idea of what’s being said, without needing to understand every word.Encourage your children to
keep a notebook next to them. Ask them to write down any new words and expressions that they
want to look up later.

English learning activities – before watching the show

The aim of these activities is to prepare your child for the English they are going to hear. Then
when they watch the video/TV show they will have a better understanding of what is happening.

Learning tip
Read the title of the video/TV episode. Ask your child: ‘What do you think will happen in this
episode?’ Then watch the show to see if their predictions are correct.

Alternatively, you could also try:

 brainstorming vocabulary related to the topic of the show

 reading some fun facts or a storybook related to the topic of the show
 looking at the video/TV show’s website, as they often have free learning activities.

English learning activities – while watching the show

During the show, the aim is to develop listening skills, in particular ‘listening for general gist’.

Learning tip
Before the show started you might have asked your child: ‘What do you think will happen in this
episode?’ Now pause the episode and ask your child: ‘Were you right?’

Use questions to check understanding. For example:

 ‘What just happened?’

 ‘Why did they do that?’
 ‘How do you think they feel?’
 ‘What do you think will happen next?’

English learning activities – after watching the show

Any chance to hear English is helpful. But if you want your child to improve all four English
skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening), try doing some additional learning activities. A
follow-up activity can make all the difference and ensure that it becomes a learning experience.

This could be as simple as a discussion. Ask your child about their favourite episode. Encourage
them to tell you, in English, about their favourite parts.

Speaking activities:
  If your children have a puppet or toy from the video/TV show, tell your children that this
toy only understands English. Have a conversation with the toy yourself to encourage
your child to do the same in private. 
 Encourage children to act out their own version of the video/TV show.

Listening activities:

 Find an interesting picture from the video/TV show. Let your child look at it for 30
seconds. Remove the picture and ask questions such as: ‘What colour is the flower?’,
‘What is the boy wearing?’
 Print out photos of your children’s favourite characters. Share them on the board/screen.
Choose one photo, without saying who it is, and describe it. Your child must guess which
one it is. Reverse roles.

Writing activities:

 Ask your child to draw their favourite characters and add labels to show things like
colours, body parts, what they can/can’t do, and so on.
 Find some pictures from the video/TV show. Ask your child to use these to write a story.

Reading activities:

 Read a storybook or fun facts related to the topic of the video/TV show.
 As an extension, you could ask children to compare the book to the video/TV show.

Create a voice-over. This activity is a fantastic way to integrate all four skills. Ask your child to:

 choose an exciting part of a programme

 watch the scene to get a general understanding
 watch the scene a few more times and write down key words
 watch the scene without sound – tell them they are going to create their own script
 write a simple script – this doesn’t need to be the same as the original and can simply be
a series of key points
 read/act out their script while the scene is played without sound.

Digital technology provides children with a great number of opportunities to practise their
English.

Children growing up in a supportive digital environment are learning the skills that they will
need for their future studies and careers. Here are some fantastic ways you and your child can
use technology together to practise English.

English learning videos

Videos are a great way to see different cultures and hear real-life English. But the really fantastic
thing about video technology is that learners can make their own. Get creative and have fun!

Learning tip
Ask each family member to shoot a silent video (your children are not allowed to talk!). Keep the
videos short – 1 minute at the most. You might like to have a theme. For example, my favourite
place, my favourite things. Ask each person to write 10–20 English words to describe their
video.

You could ask each person to record a voiceover to their video, using as many of the words as
possible from their list.

Learning English with digital storytelling

Digital tools can be a great way for learners to use their language in fun and creative ways. It
gives them some control over their own learning, by giving them a chance to be in the director’s
chair!

Learning tip
Help children bring their stories to life. There are loads of great storytelling tools where children
can create their own fairy tales, comic strips, puppet shows, 3D popup books or cartoons.

Here are some apps you could try:

 Make your own e-book: Create your own drawings, record your voice, add photos,
music, video and text (Book Creator for iOS, Android and Windows).
 Make your own cartoon: Choose your characters and your setting, then move the
characters around and voice your own cartoon (Toontastic for iOS and Android).

Learning English with social media

Social media provides lots of opportunities to interact in English. Learning tip for 13–18 year
olds
The Cambridge Assessment English Facebook page has daily tips, quizzes, activities and advice
for learning English. It supports students from all over the world to discuss things in English.

Learning English with blogs and vlogs

Blogs are a bit like an online journal. Your child can write about their interests, ideas, wishes,
humour and anything else they think about.

Research suggests that blogging helps schoolchildren practise writing. Students tend to write
more in blogs – they are writing for a real audience and a real purpose.

Check out these blogging sites for children, which can be monitored by parents. 1. Instagram: A
great site for a child or young teen to delve into amateur photography and write about it. Many
young kids use Instagram for chronicling trips with family and friends, or connecting through
others by searching through tags that interest them such as #starbucks or #cats.

2. Blogger: A great blogging site utilized through Google. Like many other blogging sites it can
be restricted by the children’s guardian.

3. WordPress: Similar to Blogger, but not used by Google.

4. Fanlala: It is a social network blogging site specifically geared towards teens and preteens.

Edmodo: This website is ideal for encouraging children to move forward in a classroom setting.
It enables the Teachers to bring the classroom to the internet.

6. ClubPenguin: A site that gives kids the option to interact with other young kids from around
the world. It restricts unfriendly and unsafe behavior (such as the sharing of addresses or
swearing.)

7. Fantage: Very similar to club pengiun. Fantage gives the young user the option of customizing
their own personal avatar and more.

Weebly: Perfect site for blogging for kids. Any young individual can make their own site.

9. Kiddieskingdom: Children can set up their own blog on this website. Ideal for the young
blogger.

10. Everloop: A wonderful website where kids can assert their individuality, yet also create a
blog and interact with other people their age.

NationalGeographicKids: Blogging for kids could never be easier and safer this way. The best
part if that they learn about the world around them at the same time!

12. Kidblog: Ideal for young students and children. Child friendly and carefully monitored,
kidblog is a website suited for the kid blogger.

Alternatively, if your children would prefer to practise their speaking skills, they could tell you
about their ideas and record it in a video (vlog).

Your child might enjoy telling you their ‘news’. With your help, they could turn this into their
own English ‘diary’ blog.

 Ask your children to tell you something about their day. This can be in English or in your
own language.
 Together, write down the key words/sentences in English.
 Now, ask your child to upload a picture to show what they did.
 Then, ask your child to read the key words/sentences back to you in English. 
Your children might also enjoy collecting these pictures on a wall in their bedroom, or making
them into a mini-book to read later on. 

Your children might enjoy making their own diary in English. They could write a blog, and
either make it public or make it available to people they choose.

In the afternoon or evening, ask your child to tell you about something that’s happened during
their day. Note down some key words, phrases and sentences. Leave them to write their diary
entry, but be available if they need help.

Learning English with Facebook

The Cambridge Assessment English Facebook page is updated every day, giving your child
regular opportunities to practise English. 

Your children can talk to other English language learners and take part in fun language activities
to practise English. Like our page and join millions of learners around the world!

Learning tip
Encourage your child to check out our interesting facts, videos, discussions and quizzes. Quiz
answers are made available the next day.

Interact through Literature in ELT

The use of literature in the ELT classroom is enjoying a revival for a number of reasons. Having
formed part of traditional language teaching approaches, literature became less popular when
language teaching and learning started to focus on the functional use of language. However, the
role of literature in the ELT classroom has been re-assessed and many now view literary texts as
providing rich linguistic input, effective stimuli for students to express themselves in other
languages and a potential source of learner motivation. John McRae (1994) distinguishes
between literature with a capital L - the classical texts e.g. Shakespeare, Dickens - and literature
with a small l, which refers to popular fiction, fables and song lyrics. The literature used in ELT
classrooms today is no longer restricted to canonical texts from certain countries e.g. UK, USA,
but includes the work of writers from a diverse range of countries and cultures using different
forms of English.

Literary texts can be studied in their original forms or in simplified or abridged versions. An
increasing number of stories in English are written specifically for learners of other languages.
The types of literary texts that can be studied inside and outside the ELT classroom include:

1 Short stories
2 Poems
3 Novels
4 Plays
5 Song Lyrics
Why use literature in the ELT classroom?
Literary texts provide opportunities for multi-sensorial classroom experiences and can appeal to
learners with different learning styles. Texts can be supplemented by audio-texts, music CDs,
film clips, podcasts, all of which enhance even further the richness of the sensory input that
students receive.

Literary texts offer a rich source of linguistic input and can help learners to practise the four
skills - speaking, listening, reading and writing - in addition to exemplifying grammatical
structures and presenting new vocabulary.

Literature can help learners to develop their understanding of other cultures, awareness of
‘difference' and to develop tolerance and understanding. At the same time literary texts can deal
with universal themes such as love, war and loss that are not always covered in the sanitised
world of course books.

Literary texts are representational rather than referential (McRae, 1994). Referential language
communicates at only one level and tends to be informational. The representational language of
literary texts involves the learners and engages their emotions, as well as their cognitive
faculties. Literary works help learners to use their imagination, enhance their empathy for others
and lead them to develop their own creativity. They also give students the chance to learn about
literary devices that occur in other genres e.g. advertising.

Literature lessons can lead to public displays of student output through posters of student
creations e.g. poems, stories or through performances of plays. So for a variety of linguistic,
cultural and personal growth reasons, literary texts can be more motivating than the referential
ones often used in classrooms.

What are some of the challenges to be faced when using literature in the classroom?
Literary texts can present teachers and learners with a number of difficulties including:

 text selection - texts need to be chosen that have relevance and interest to learners.
linguistic difficulty - texts need to be appropriate to the level of the students'
comprehension.
 length - shorter texts may be easier to use within the class time available, but longer texts
provide more contextual details, and development of character and plot.
 cultural difficulty - texts should not be so culturally dense that outsiders feel excluded
from understanding essential meaning.
 cultural appropriacy - learners should not be offended by textual content.

Why use literature?

There are many good reasons for using literature in teacging culture in the classroom. Here are a
few:
  Literature is authentic material. It is good to expose learners to this source of unmodified
language in the classroom because they skills they acquire in dealing with difficult or
unknown language can be used outside the class.
 Literature encourages interaction. Literary texts are often rich is multiple layers of
meaning, and can be effectively mined for discussions and sharing feelings or opinions.
 Literature expands language awareness. Asking learners to examine sophisticated or non
standard examples of language (which can occur in literary texts) makes them more
aware of the norms of language use (Widdowson, 1975 quoted by Lazar 1993).
 Literature educates the whole person. By examining values in literary texts, teachers
encourage learners to develop attitudes towards them. These values and attitudes relate to
the world outside the classroom.
 Literature is motivating. Literature holds high status in many cultures and countries. For
this reason, students can feel a real sense of achievement at understanding a piece of
highly respected literature. Also, literature is often more interesting than the texts found
in coursebooks.

Different models of teaching literature in class

There have been different models suggested on the teaching of literature to ESL/EFL students
(Carter & Long, Lazar). The cultural model views a literary text as a product. This means that it
is treated as a source of information about the target culture. It is the most traditional approach,
often used in university courses on literature. The cultural model will examine the social,
political and historical background to a text, literary movements and genres. There is no specific
language work done on a text. This approach tends to be quite teacher-centred.

The language model aims to be more learner-centred. As learners proceed through a text, they
pay attention to the way language is used. They come to grips with the meaning and increase
their general awareness of English. Within this model of studying literature, the teacher can
choose to focus on general grammar and vocabulary (in the same way that these are presented in
coursebooks for example) or use stylistic analysis. Stylistic analysis involves the close study of
the linguistic features of the text to enable students to make meaningful interpretations of the text
– it aims to help learners read and study literature more competently.

The personal growth model is also a process-based approach and tries to be more learner-
centred. This model encourages learners to draw on their own opinions, feelings and personal
experiences. It aims for interaction between the text and the reader in English, helping make the
language more memorable. Learners are encouraged to “make the text their own”. This model
recognises the immense power that literature can have to move people and attempts to use that in
the classroom.

Learning tips:

Stage one: warmer

There are two different possible routes you can take for this stage:
  Devise a warmer that gets students thinking about the topic of the extract or poem. This
could take several forms: a short discussion that students do in pairs, a whole class
discussion, a guessing game between you and the class or a brainstorming of vocabulary
around that topic.
 Devise a warmer that looks at the source of the literature that will be studied. Find out
what the students already know about the author or the times he/she was writing in. Give
the students some background information to read (be careful not to make this too long or
it will detract from the rest of the lesson; avoid text overload!). Explain in what way this
piece of literature is well-known (maybe it is often quoted in modern films or by singers).

Stage two: before reading

This stage could be optional, or it may be a part of the warmer. Preparing to read activities
include:

 Pre-teaching very difficult words (note: pre-teaching vocabulary should be approached

with caution. Often a text can be “killed” by spending too much time on the pre-teaching
stage. Limit the amount of words you cover in this stage. If you have to teach more than
seven or eight there is a good chance the text will be too difficult.)
 Predicting. Give students some words from the extract and ask them to predict what
happens next. If it is a play, give them a couple of lines of dialogue and ask them to make
predictions about the play.
 Giving students a “taste”. Read the first bit of the extract (without them seeing the text) at
normal speed, even quickly. Ask students to compare what they have understood in pairs.
Then ask them to report back to you. Repeat the first bit again. Then ask them to
download/open the material and “open the book” (or turn over the page) and read it for
themselves.

Stage three: understanding the text, general comprehension

Often with extracts or poems, I like to read the whole thing to my students so that they can get
more of a “feel” for the text. With very evocative pieces of literature or poetry this can be quite
powerful. Then I let students read it to themselves. It is important to let students approach a piece
of literature the first time without giving them any specific task other than to simply read it. One
of the aims of teaching literature is to evoke interest and pleasure from the language. If students
have to do a task at every stage of a literature lesson, the pleasure can be lost.

Once students have read it once, you can set comprehension questions or ask them to explain the
significance of certain key words of the text. Another way of checking comprehension is to ask
students to explain to each other (in pairs) what they have understood. This could be followed up
by more subjective questions (e.g.. Why do you think X said this? How do you think the woman
feels? What made him do this?)

Stage four: understanding the language

At this stage get to grips with the more difficult words in the text. See how many of the
unfamiliar words students can get from context. Give them clues.

You could also look at certain elements of style that the author has used. Remember that there is
some use in looking at non-standard forms of language to understand the standard.

If appropriate to the text, look at the connotation of words which the author has chosen. For
example, if the text says “She had long skinny arms,” what does that say about the author’s
impression of the woman? Would it be different if the author had written “She had long slender
arms”?

Stage five: follow up activities

Once you have read and worked with your piece of literature it might naturally lead on to one or
more follow up activities. Here are some ideas:

Using poems

 have students read each other the poem aloud at the same time, checking for each other’s
pronunciation and rhythm. Do a whole class choral reading at the end.(a bit difficult
online ,but challenging)
 Ask students to rewrite the poem, changing the meaning but not the structure.
 Ask students to write or discuss the possible story behind the poem. Who was it for?
What led to the writing of this poem?
 Have a discussion on issues the poem raised and how they relate to the students’ lives.

Using extracts from stories or short stories

 Ask students to write what they think will happen next, or what they think happened just
before.
 Ask students to write a background character description of one of the characters which
explains why they are the way they are.
 Ask students to imagine they are working for a big Hollywood studio who wants to make
a movie from the book. They must decide the location and casting of the movie.
 Ask students to personalise the text by talking about if anything similar has happened to
them.
 Ask students to improvise a role play between two characters in the book.

Using extracts from plays

Drama provides cultural and language enrichment by revealing insights into the target culture
and presenting language contexts that make items memorable by placing them in a realistic
social and physical context.

By allowing reading and the adding of some characterisation to a drama / theatre text, learners
became personally and fully involved in the learning process, in a context in which it is possible
for learners to feel less self-conscious and more empowered to express themselves through the
multiple voices (Vygotsky, 1987; Bakhtin, 1981, 1986) of the differing characters. One of the
drawbacks in the use of literary texts such as novels and poems is that many of them contain
language forms that learners of a language find difficult to understand. This could be overcome
by simplifying them, often leading to a loss of 'literariness' - leading to criticism that the texts
became pale imitations of the original writing. The lack of suitable texts in the traditional body
of literature, in my view opens the door for the inclusion of drama in language learning curricula
as it tends to use much more naturalistic language than in poems and novels. Drama texts help to
address the need for sufficient texts for worthwhile reading in which suitable materials can be
accessed.

Learning activities using drama / theatre texts

From a task point of view the learner is faced with several levels of achievement / ability that the
teacher can use as a basis for designing multi-level activities for students:

 Identifying the story, characters, plot (achievable at beginner level)

 Identifying the author's / characters' viewpoint, attitude or opinion

 Understanding the work in relation to its socio-cultural and historical-political context

 Giving a personal / creative response (e.g. enacting the text)

 Answering the question: "does it work as literature?" (Extended critical analysis of text)

 Classroom method
Below, I outline the stages of an approach to introducing a drama/theatre text to a class of EFL
learners. The process involves linking standard approaches in drama/theatre to approaches
suitable for the classroom.
Classroom practice, then, may follow a (1) (physical) warm up - (2) text reading/listening - (3)
extension activities format.

Stage 1
Standard methods in the approach involve warmer activities to get the learner to anticipate what
they're going to meet in the language in the text using guessing, pre-discussion, pictures.

It involves little or no stylistic analysis.Its aims are to stimulate oral communication, reading for
pleasure and to enrich thinking and expression for this reason, drama techniques focussing on
waking the imagination, and the body including the vocal chords in preparation for reading or
even enacting the text could easily precede this stage.Use of text can be one of the more in-depth
and sophisticated drama activities.Warmers, drama games, role-plays, individual and group
improvisation can all be used to support higher-level drama activities such as performing the text
in the classroom.The idea is that the pre-reading/listening stage will sensitise the learner to the
language and concepts to be encountered and engage prior knowledge and experience. Pictures,
the book cover, prompt questions, learners' own memorabilia etc are used. 
Stage 2
The second stage may involve two task types:

1. The while listening/reading task involves the learner having a task to fulfil based on his/her
reading, such as finding out a piece of information from the text.

2. Tasks inserted into the text such as one where learners complete the task using their own
ideas. 

Stage 3
The third stage could incorporate...

1. Comprehension questions such as: Who? When? What? Etc.

2. Multiple-choice questions are useful for evoking possible alternative answers.

3. Text attack questions require the learner to realise certain meanings in the text and the way
they are achieved in the language use.

4. Interpretation and response tasks /questions: What's the message from the author? What
general meanings can we infer from the antagonists' statements / actions? What conclusions can
we draw about the character and motivations of the antagonists? How is that expressed through
the language? How do you feel about the character? How did you feel as the character? Response
calls for the learner to express an opinion or feeling and to often say why they feel this or have
this opinion.

Most of the ideas from stories (above) could be applied here, but obviously, this medium gives
plenty of opportunity for students to do some drama in the classroom. Here are some
possibilities:

 Ask students to act out a part of the scene in groups.

 Ask students to make a radio play recording of the scene. They must record this onto
cassette. Listen to the different recordings in the last five minutes of future classes.
Who’s was the best?
 Ask students to read out the dialogue but to give the characters special accents (very
“foreign” or very “American” or “British”). This works on different aspects of
pronunciation (individual sounds and sentence rhythm).
 Ask students to write stage directions, including how to deliver lines (e.g. angrily,
breathlessly etc) next to each character’s line of dialogue. Then they read it out loud.

Ask students to re-write the scene. They could either modernise it (this has been often done with
Shakespeare), or imagine that it is set in a completely different location (in space for example).
Then they read out the new version. Drama activities allow teachers to put language in a
meaningful context. For example, if you are teaching narrative tenses, you can set a scene where
the learner is a character who must tell a story to another character. 
Learning tips:

Activity 1: Start the lesson with the ABCs

ABCs is a warm-up game that beginners, fluent speakers and everyone in between can enjoy.

It is a great first-lesson activity to practise introductions and learn names through movement.
You can also introduce the activity at any point in your lesson. 

Aim: build rapport and community while developing speaking skills for introductions

Time: three-to-ten minutes

Interaction: whole class

Preparation: none

Script and procedure:  

Ask the learners to stand in a circle. Then explain the rules.

The teacher will choose one person to begin by saying the letter A. Then anyone can say B,
another person C, until someone arrives at Z. 

Explain that the goal is to go from A to Z without speaking over each other. If two or more
people say the letter B at the same time, the class must start again at A.

Each time the class re-starts the game, each person will silently make eye-contact with someone
in the room, approach them, introduce ourselves, and take their place in the circle. Model this
with one learner while you're explaining the activity. 

Instruction-checking questions:

 Who starts the game? (The teacher starts the game.)

 What is our goal? (To go from A to Z without speaking over each other.)
 What happens if we speak over each other? (Start again at A.)
 Do we keep our same place in the circle at the start of each game? (No.)
 How do we change places? (Make eye-contact and introduce ourselves.)

Extension ideas:

Change the ABCs to a language category that you want to practise. For example, countries;
Angola, Brazil, Czechia. Or, jobs; accountant, barber, chef. 

If it's the first day of term and you want to learn names, ask each learner to say their name before
or after they’ve said a letter. For example, Jameela, A; Stephen, B; Brahim, C. 
Activity 2: Yes, And…

Drama is all about saying YES! Yes, to the environment, yes, to the given circumstances, yes, to
the conflict, yes, yes, yes.

It sounds easy, but drama teachers spend most of their time teaching actors how to accept offers
from each other, which makes their performance more believable.

Think about an actor who played an unlikable character – Charlize Theron as Elle in Monster, or
Lena Hedley as Cersei in Game of Thrones. It is vital for the actor to say yes to the ugly and
beautiful truth about their character, so that we can believe that the character is real.

This activity helps actors to do that and it was adapted for the English Language classroom, to
help CEF (Common European Framework) A2 to C2 learners to brainstorm in English, use
target grammar systems and vocabulary, and communicate authentically.

Aim: use modal verbs to make a plan

Time: five minutes

Interactions: pairs

Preparation: write and share 'Yes, and…' on the board

Script and procedure:

Ask learners to work in pairs or groups of three. A begins with their intent for the day, e.g.

Today we will bake a cake!

B must respond by saying: 

Yes, and... plus an add on, e.g. Yes, and we will need eggs!

A must respond by saying;

Yes, and… plus an add on, e.g. Yes, and we might want gluten-free flour!

The learners continue until the teacher says that the round is over. Two minutes is a good length
for round one. Then, the learners switch roles. B states their intent for the day, and A must accept
the situation.

Extension ideas:

Take this opportunity to have learners practise their note-taking skills by making a list of what
they need or what they need to do.
Change the language focus to going to when they report future plans or intentions to other
groups: 

Today we are going to bake a cake! Yes, and we’re going to buy gluten free flour!

Change the language focus to narrative tenses to practise story telling:

Last year we went to Istanbul! Yes, and we ate baklava! 

Make it a whole-class activity. Each person adds on to the list or story.

'Drama can help the teacher to achieve 'reality' in several ways. It can overcome the students'
resistance to learning the new language:

 by making the learning of the new language an enjoyable experience

 by setting realistic targets for the students to aim for

 by creative 'slowing down' of real experience

 by linking the language-learning experience with the student's own experience of life

And drama can create in students a need to learn the language:

 by the use of 'creative tension' (situations requiring urgent solutions);

 by putting more responsibility on the learner, as opposed to the teacher.' (Wessel: 53-54)

Teaching English through Emoji

There are over 2,000 emojis – ration them in your lesson

These activities work best when the class has a limited selection of emojis – perhaps 20 to 30. To
avoid confusion, this selection should include a name for each emoji (e.g., Face With Tears Of
Joy).

Here are a few ways to provide learners with an emoji selection:

 Show the emojis on a whiteboard.

 Create a handout by copying and pasting (or even drawing) 20 to 30 emojis and including
their official names.
 Print and cut up cards featuring 20 to 30 emojis and their names.
  Buy a deck of emoji-themed versions of card games like Uno and Top Trumps. These are
widely available from major online retailers.

Decide on one area of language 

You can use emojis to practise many different areas of language, but some focus is required to
pre-teach or elicit the target language for the activity. Here are some examples:

 Adjectives of feelings or personality: The Blush emoji means that the sender is feeling
embarrassed.
 Idiomatic expressions to describe feelings: The Face With Tears Of Joy emoji means that
the sender is laughing their head off. 
 Descriptions of physicality and expression: The Blush emoji has red cheeks and is
grinning in a shy way. 
 Narrative tenses for imagining stories related to emojis: Farah sent David the Eye Roll
emoji because she had been waiting for him for over twenty minutes and was becoming
impatient.
 Present tenses and expressions for describing routine when learners describe their own
emoji-use habits: I’m always sending the Thumbs Up emoji. I probably use it a few times
a day!

Write an emoji conversation

For an engaging writing activity, look no further than the emoji dialogue. Learners work in pairs
and first select five emojis each. The task is then to invent a conversation, incorporating one
emoji into each message.

 Learner A (picks Weary emoji): Sabine, I think I forgot my keys again (inserts Weary
emoji).
 Learner B (picks Eye Roll emoji): Theo, this is the third time this week. You’re so
forgetful (inserts Eye Roll emoji).

The low-tech option is to give learners paper with speech bubbles, where they will write their
dialogue and draw the emojis. If your class have access to smartphones, they could create their
dialogues in Whatsapp, take screenshots and email those to the teacher. If learners have tablets or
laptops, they could complete the dialogue using a template on Word or Google Docs.

Write an emoji translation

Are your learners straining their imaginations to invent a story to practise narrative tenses? One
great idea is to show them a story that is 'written' in emojis. Then, ask them to translate it into
'real' English.

Here are some great emoji synopses of famous movies, perfect for translation into English. Once
the learners are familiar with this type of activity, you can take it further. Ask them to 'write'
their own stories in emojis (on their phones, laptops or just by drawing). Then, give their story to
a classmate who will interpret it in written or spoken English.

Take your lesson online with Bitmoji 

Bitmoji allows learners to personalise their own avatar, usually to resemble themselves.

The added benefit of Bitmoji over regular emojis is that most Bitmoji images contain slang and
catch phrases in English. For example, a typical Bitmoji greeting could be a smiling avatar
standing next to the expression 'How’s it hangin’?'. If your learners have access to smartphones,
tablets, or laptops, Bitmoji is an excellent resource for expanding vocabulary and idiomatic
expressions by creating dialogues or stories as in the activities above.

Write an interpretation of emoji videos

Younger learners (and not-so-young learners) can translate a story from emoji videos into words.
Disney have a YouTube series called As Told By Emoji, in which emojis re-tell the plots of
movies like Frozen or Aladdin.

Another option is simply to pre-teach essential vocabulary and the names of the movie’s most
important characters. Then, ask learners to work in pairs or groups, watch the emoji video on
their smartphones, then write the corresponding story.

Tell a chain story

If you’re looking for a simple speaking activity, the chain story is a reliable option. One learner
says a sentence to begin a story, then another continues the story with a new sentence, and so on.

With an emoji chain story, an emoji image should be the inspiration for each new sentence. This
is easiest if you have 20 to 30 emoji cards. The cards are spread face-down in the middle of a
group of learners, then each learner randomly selects a card and must create their related
sentence. For example:

 Learner A (picks 'Joy' emoji): Alberto was feeling extremely happy yesterday because it
was his wedding day …
 Learner B (picks 'Rage' emoji):  … But suddenly he felt really furious when he realised
that his friend had forgotten to bring the rings to the ceremony… 

If you don’t have emoji cards, you can show 20 to 30 emojis on the board and cross off each
emoji as the learners use it in the chain story.

Play Taboo for more speaking practice

This is another quick, simple speaking activity.

Learners work with a selection of 20 to 30 emojis, which again could be from cards, a handout or
images on the board. Each learner has a limited time to describe one emoji to their team mates,
but without using 'taboo' words. The team mates have to guess the correct emoji.

For lower-level learners, the taboo words could be the official name of the emoji itself. For
example, for the 'Two Hearts' emoji, they can’t mention the words 'two' or 'heart'.

For higher levels, taboo words could be any mention of colours, body parts, or even adjectives of
feelings if the class is looking for a challenge. In this way, higher-level students have to be
imaginative with their descriptions.

Warning: be prepared for an abundance of smiling Poop emojis.!!!!!!!!!!

Teaching English through Project Work

Project work is work which focuses on completing a task. Project work normally involves a lot
of resources - time, people and materials - and learners practise a range of skills and language
systems.

Example
A group of teenage learners work on a project to develop a series of posters on how to protect the
environment.

Online project working

Project work may provide many opportunities to meet a variety of learning aims but it requires
strong classroom management skills. Learners need independence in planning and realizing the
work but they also need the teacher to act as a driver in ensuring it is carried out in a way that
meets learning aims.

Further links:
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/project-work-teenagers
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/tbl-pbl-two-learner-centred-approaches
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/short-projects-get-them-talking
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/video-exchange-project
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/making-a-class-magazine

A project involves students in deciding together what they want to do to complete a project
whilst the teacher plays a more supporting role.

 Some advantages

 Planning the project

 Some possible drawbacks

  Example projects

 References

Some advantages of project work are:

 Increased motivation - learners become personally involved in the project.

 All four skills, reading, writing, listening and speaking are integrated.

 Autonomous learning is promoted as learners become more responsible for their own
learning.

 There are learning outcomes -learners have an end product.

 Authentic tasks and therefore the language input are more authentic.

 Interpersonal relations are developed through working as a group.

 Content and methodology can be decided between the learners and the teacher and
within the group themselves so it is more learner centred.

 Learners often get help from parents for project work thus involving the parent more
in the child's learning. If the project is also displayed parents can see it at open days or
when they pick the child up from the school.

 A break from routine and the chance to do something different.

 A context is established which balances the need for fluency and accuracy. Haines
(1989)

Planning the project

 Opening
To give learners an idea of what projects are and what they should be aiming to produce,
it is good to have examples of past projects: a photocopy of a previous group newspaper
or a photograph of a wall display.

 Proposing
After explaining the idea behind the project I ask learners to propose a scheme of work:
o What they want to include in the project
o What form it will take
o Who will be responsible for what
 o An idea of the time it will take to produce each part of the project
o Any material or resources they might need

Time
Allocate an agreed amount of time for the project. For a summer 60 hour course of 3
hours a day I would dedicate 5 hours to project work so approx. 6 sessions of 45 minutes
each with a round up session at the end. I would also have the sessions on the same day
each week - Wednesday, and Friday, for example, so learners know to bring materials to
class on that day.

 Space
Show the learners the space they will have for the project, it could be wall space or a
corner of the classroom, so they have some idea how much material they should produce
and can plan the layout.

 Materials and resources

Provide the learners with materials they might need. It is fairly common now for learners
to want to use the Internet to find information for their projects ,make sure the students
have informed you of exactly what they're looking for - photos- or that they have
prepared a list of information they want to find. Simply giving the learners time on the
computers can lead to them aimlessly surfing the net. If the facility is available learners
often like to write finished drafts of their work on the computer.

 Presentation
Projects need to be seen, read and admired so schedule the last project session as a
presentation. Ask the group to prepare a task for the others in the class to do connected to
the project: it could be a quiz with questions for a wall display, a crossword using
vocabulary for the project or comprehension questions for a video that learners have
made.

 Evaluation
As with any piece of work a project needs to be acknowledged and evaluated. It's not
enough to just say 'that's great' after all the work learners have put in. I use a simple
project evaluation report, which comments on aspects of the project such as content,
design, language work and also evaluates the oral presentation stage of the project.

Some possible drawbacks to project work

 Learners using their own language

If the class are monolingual they may use their L1 a lot (it often happens anyway in YL
classes) so you should decide whether the benefits of doing project work outweigh this
factor.
  Some learners doing nothing
By giving more freedom to the learners you may also be giving them the freedom to do
nothing! If the project is planned carefully and roles decided at the proposal stage this is
less likely to happen.

 Groups working at different speeds

One group may have 'finished' the project after a couple of hours and say they have
nothing to do. Remind them it is their responsibility to fill the time allocated to project
work and discuss ways they could extend the work they have already completed.

Examples of project work

 A project based on readers.

o First I chose 4 different readers that had also been made into films – for example
The Full Monty, The Client, Dracula, Mosquito Coast. Each group were given
copies of their reader.
o The learners were then given free rein to do whatever they liked as long as it was
somehow connected to the reader.
o Examples of the work produced were:
 Summaries of the story.
 Crosswords / word searches of vocabulary from the story.
 Reviews of the book.
 Information found about the history of Dracula.
 Filmed scene from the book.
 Presentation of a clip from the film of the book compared to a scene in the
book.
 Biographies and photos of actors from the film.

 Music Project
If your class loves songs this could be a motivating project.
o Make a CD Cover.
o Invent the band and the names and biographies of the band members.
o Video an interview with the band.
o Record a song. (Students often borrowed the music and wrote their own lyrics)
o Write gig reviews.
o Photo shoot of the band.
o Design a poster advertising gigs.

Connecting to the World Wide Web helps an ELL connect with world of English as it is used
across the globe. In other words, an ELL through active engagement with the internet can access
ways to use English that are real, authentic and appealing.

The eTwinning project focuses on taking advantage of information and communication

technology (ICT) to enhance cooperation between schools, through internet-based twinning
links. The aim is to develop joint projects using the tools and the secure internet spaces made
available for them through the European eTwinning portal. eTwinning provides the opportunity
of intercultural exchange and language learners a great opportunity of learning a foreign culture
in its context.

Virtual cooperation between schools through eTwinning allows young people to improve

language learning, to work with peers from another country and to prepare for mobility to study,
train or volunteer abroad.

The eTwinning Project kit ‘e-journal bridges for foreign language learning’ aims at encouraging
language learning and intercultural dialogue. Pupils, aged 10 - 19, learn how to write
collaboratively, with both their classmates and partners abroad, and publish articles on-line. It
supports writing and reading skills in a foreign language, the ability to communicate efficiently
with both classmates and partners abroad and to develop intercultural skills.
In 2018, the European Year of Cultural Heritage, many teachers have been encouraged to start
working on eTwinning projects covering all aspects of cultural heritage across a variety of
curricula subjects.. eTwinning is a vibrant community that has involved, in its 12 years of
existence, almost 500,000 teachers working in 182.000* schools. More than 61,000* projects
have been run, involving more than 2,000,000 pupils across the continent over the years.
eTwinning – the Community for schools in Europe – is an action for schools funded by the
European Commission, via the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency, within
the framework of the Erasmus+ programme. eTwinning incorporates a sophisticated digital
platform that has both public and private areas and is available in 28 languages. The public area
www.eTwinning.net offers browsing visitors a range of information about how to become
involved in eTwinning; explaining the benefits the action offers and provides inspiration for
collaborative project work. The restricted area for registered teachers, called eTwinning Live, is
the individual teacher’s interface with the community: it enables users to find each other, nteract,
collaborate in projects and participate in professional development activities organised at
national and European Level. When teachers work together in a project they have access to a
restricted and dedicated area unique to that project called the TwinSpace.

Students participating in these projects express their opinions, ask questions, recall what
they already know and form associations with other current knowledge. They collaborate
with their peers, understand that they can preserve their own culture but also honour and
respect the culture of their partners. This is actually a creative way to use the past, aiming
to change the future.In eTwinning, students have the privilege to come in contact with different
cultures and become open to the heritage of others through their participation in projects. Even if
the project is not directly related to the topic of cultural heritage, students can understand
some of the cultural characteristics of their peers, through the interactions and collabora-
tive activities in which they participate.

A school with a high degree of language awareness considers all languages important for
learning and building knowledge. As a consequence, the prior learning and knowledge of
languages, which are not part of the curricula, can be formally recognised and can be added to
school-leaving certificates. Currently, not all languages in Europe provide access to recognised
qualifications. Dina Mehmedbegovic has shown that 'hierarchies of languages', i.e. the ranking
of languages in which a small number of selected languages are considered high status, desirable
to learn and ‘to have’, while a larger number of languages are not seen as an asset and have a
very low value status, are detrimental to language learning.