At City Language School we pride ourselves on keeping up to date with the latest developments in EFL.
Late last month, Alex Warren from National Geographic Learning came to City Language School Dublin to talk to us about new methods and approaches being used in English Language Learning.
Alex, who came all the way to Dublin from Bournemouth in the UK, is an In-house Teacher Trainer at National Geographic Learning.
Oscars works closely with the publishers of Outcomes, an English course book by H. Dellar and A. Walkley.
The new series of books revolves around vocabulary and how words connect in English rather than grammar as the basis for English teaching and learning.
A New Approach
This new approach in ESL/EFL, whereby the language is seen as grammaticalised lexis and not lexicalised grammar, is the central theme across the series.
\”The focus is on helping students achieve real world communicative outcomes they want and need,\” says Natalie Wiertel, Director of Studies at City Language School Dublin. \”There is a strong emphasis on real and natural English usage so students can develop the English language skills necessary for the real world.\”
\”I invited Alex to unravel some of the mysteries of the new methodology suggested in the course book to our teachers. The aim of the workshop was to provide additional training to our staff on how to utilise the materials in a way that benefits our students in their every day lives as well as at work here in Ireland.\”
Constant Teacher Development
\”City Language School is keen on developing its teachers,\” says Natalie. \”We participate in ELT Ireland conferences, we attend exam preparation training such as IELTS/ TIE workshops, we do evaluative and peer observations in support of improving our teaching methodologies and classroom management techniques. We also focus heavily on Professional Development Plans (PDPs) and we tailor them individually for every teacher\’s needs.\”
\”Sharing materials and supporting Oscars\’ team in their professional development is the school\’s priority as we all have our students\’ best interests at heart. The better informed and trained the teachers are, the faster the students absorb the language.\”