Advanced Use of English Practice & Feedback - Grammar : gerunds and infinitives

 

Infinitives in related languages such as Spanish can be expressed in three different ways in English, each with a different sense. This one-hour single-topic session reviews infinitives with and without "to" and infinitives v gerunds, corrects mis-learned or mis-applied "rules" and reviews the patterns behind most gerund uses. 

To date, no-one has acheived 100% in this challenge; how well do you know gerund-use and will you be the first to get them all right?

Plug-and-play mini-unit : The History of English

 "The History of English", a four-lesson plug-and-play mini-unit for reading comprehension, vocabulary development and speaking practice. This mini-unit is suitable for use with B2-level students in an EFL / Chilean national programme, or with G6/7 students in an E2L / international programme. The mini-unit can be used as is, and as a model for planning and designing other lessons.

The Five Features of "voice"; improving oral production for teachers and advanced learners

Manipulating and controlling one's voice is a technique frequently-used by professional speakers and entertainers to create effects and to influence the audience. This session reviews the five features of using one's voice, what they are and what effects they have, for teachers, advanced learners and anyone who wants to speak in public including social media. 

Teaching and Assessing Individual Oral Presentations

Individual Oral Presentations include speeches, seminars and exposés, and may be prepared or unprepared. The secret to success for presenters, thus for students and teachers, is to focus on both the what and the how, and that is the focus of this session.

Quick and Easy Oral Assessment

 

Oral production spans individual presentations to large audiences to one-on-one discussions, with pair and groupwork in between, and students and teachers often find assessing oral activities daunting and demanding. It need not be, and this seminar shows how.

Leadership Philosophy & Practice : Evaluating Teachers (v Staff Appraisal)

Heads of Department, Co-ordinators and Academic Directors have two conflicting supervision functions. They are required to evaluate their colleagues, or to play a part in the evaluation process, and at the same time to support and develop them. This is something of a knife-edge, and frequently harms a mid-level leader's position. This session considers these two conflicting roles, how to separate them and a possible strategy to manage both.

Events April 2021

Click on the event title(s) below for more information. Leave your questions or comments below, or contact us for registration information. These are open sessions from our Seminars, Advanced Use of English and Professional Conversation programmes; contact us to ask about scheduling on demand or closed programmes. This page is updated twice a week so please check back, or contact us to be placed on the emailing list for event announcements.

Literary Circles - "The Stoat" by John McGahern

A Literary Circle is a guided discussion about a literary work, reviewing its surface meanings and exploring what lies beyond, why a work is significant, why it lasts and what it can show us about ourselves and each other.

Literary Circles - "The Open Boat" by Stephen Crane

 

A Literary Circle is a guided discussion about a literary work, reviewing its surface meanings and exploring what lies beyond, why a work is significant, why it lasts and what it can show us about ourselves and each other.

Widening your Departmental Footprint

 

Heads of Department are usually also responsible for promoting their Subject Area in the school and in the wider community, and of course for displaying and celebrating their students' and colleagues' efforts and successes. This session reviews some common and less obvious ways of doing so.