Teaching by video.

I was really impressed by this video.



She demonstrates great understanding and control and that grounds her lesson.  It's specific and very fast but because it's directed at a targeted group of students, Koreans who have trouble with /f/, it works.  Also the learner leads because they pause and repeat bits at will, instead of pretending that the teacher is omniscient.

This is another great reason for teachers to run class blogs.  Good learners really do find the good resources and if you can start them started you start a virtuous circle for your school and its future learners.

I've been thinking this a lot recently: books are not the best  pronunciation resources.  Multimedia is the only way to teach this stuff.  Build a set of resources you can share with your learners.

Good luck.

To teach the IPA Phonology or NOT

It's the old debate: Is teaching the IPA chart worthwhile in English Language teaching? I think everyone teaching nowadays should have a good handle on what is in the use of the IPA for a student who wants to really participate in spoken English. So many teachers don't want their students to be their peers. They simply don't believe in their students or their own abilities. In the end a teacher can keep their students "in their place" with incomplete pronunciation work. It's just not fair to tell show them everything but how to use their mouths to communicate. It's not communicative. That's my opinion, of course. Where do you stand?