The following teacher products are an integrated, coherent set of products for global ELT sector reform and teacher development:
- TeachingEnglish - Classroom Language is a programme of in-service training to help teachers of English use English with more confidence in the classroom.
- TeachingEnglish - Training Videos consists of training materials (a book and a DVD) on teaching speaking skills for teachers of English.
- TeachingEnglish - TKT essentials provides teachers of English with a course in the classroom knowledge they need
- TeachingEnglish - Learning Technologies in the classroom trains teachers of English to use the latest technologies with their learners
If you are interested in any of these products, please contact your local British Council office (Drop-down menu of centres), for more information and to discuss opportunities for partnership in delivering these products.
TeachingEnglish - Classroom Language is a programme of in-service training to help teachers of English use English with more confidence in the classroom.
In many countries in the world the demand for English language education has outstripped the capacity to provide fully trained English teachers. A significant number of teachers of English round the world are teaching with low levels of English language competence and professional training, and this can impact on their confidence and ability to teach effectively.
TeachingEnglish Classroom Language provides a core resource of materials for programmes developing the English classroom language skills of EL teachers. The focus is on English for the classroom. Training aims to develop participants' confidence and skills in using more English in their lessons, and gives them opportunities to reflect on and develop their ELT methodology. The principle behind the materials is that development begins with what the teachers actually do in the classroom.
The teacher training materials are intended to be delivered by local trainers, who will be trained to deliver the workshops and to adapt and add to the materials in response to the specific local circumstances of teachers. Some discussion activities may also be run in the local language to encourage a better level of debate.
The training materials have been developed by British Council materials developers and quality-assured by external experts.
The training programme has three elements:
- A programme of 5 3-hour trainer-training workshop plans to prepare local trainers to deliver Classroom Language training
- A programme of 10 3-hour teacher-training workshop plans for teachers of English with less than CEF B1 level of English who wish to improve their classroom English language skills
- A programme of 5 3-hour mentor-preparation workshop plans to prepare mentors to support teachers of English involved in the Classroom Language programme
Each workshop has notes for the workshop leader and worksheets for the participants.
The training workshops for teachers deal with the following topics:
- Starting and Finishing a Lesson
- Presenting New Language
- Giving Instructions
- Asking Questions and Eliciting
- General Classroom Management
- Correcting Learners
- Developing Confidence in using English in the Classroom
- Pronunciation
- Giving an Accurate, Clear Spoken Model for Learners
- Using L1 in the English Classroom
The materials are designed to be used flexibly according to the local context. They can be:
- Delivered as an intensive course, or as a semi-intensive course; and as regular sessions over a longer period, or as individual stand-alone workshops
- Delivered in any order, according to the needs and wants of participants
- Adapted and/or added to by local trainers to suit the specific contexts they are working in
(sample - Starting & Finishing worksheets page 4)
TeachingEnglish - Training Videos consists of training materials (a book and a DVD) on teaching speaking skills for teachers of English. The videos can be seen on this site here.
"The best way to promote efficient language learning is to establish the target language as the language of instruction. To do this we need to build up learners' ability to work with speech."
"One of the most important things is the way teachers communicate with learners. Video shows teachers doing this in English. It shows the importance of gesture and facial expression in helping comprehension and building motivation." (Dave Willis)
The provision of high-quality, entertaining and instructive video materials is an invaluable aid to help EL teachers reflect on their teaching and learn from the practice of other teachers.
The target audience is teachers of English in general, but the video and supporting training materials may be particularly appropriate to state school teachers of English with less experience or with lower levels of training, or with trainee English teachers.
The DVD features a series of short programmes in TV documentary style on the topic of ‘Teaching Speaking' with footage of and interviews with Thai teachers of English from state primary and secondary schools, interspersed with commentary from a UK teacher trainer. There are 9 programmes (about 6 minutes each) on different aspects of teaching speaking in the English language classroom. The programme titles are:
- Introduction
- Rapport
- Pronunciation: individual sounds
- Pronunciation: stress and innovation
- Techniques
- Activities
- Monitoring
- Feedback
- Fluency
The DVDs can also be seen with subtitles in English, Arabic, Mandarin and Spanish.
The training materials can be used by teachers on their own or, with a trainer's guide, in trainer-led workshops. Activities enable teachers of English to reflect on and develop their skills in teaching speaking, using the video as a resource for stimulating reflection. To provide further support to teachers, the materials include a glossary of terms and a transcript of the programmes, as well as further references.
TeachingEnglish - TKT essentials provides teachers of English with a course in the classroom knowledge they need.
This product consists of face-to-face and online courses to support teachers looking to take the Cambridge Teaching Knowledge Test. The material is organised in three modules.
TeachingEnglish - Learning Technologies in the classroom trains teachers of English to use the latest technologies with their learners.
