ELT author and teacher trainer, Jim Scrivener, writes:

Jim Scrivener

My confession is ... I don't know how to teach grammar. (Which is a bit worrying as I've written more than one book that claims to tell you how to teach grammar!)

Worse still, I'm not really sure that anyone knows - whether they are a new teacher, an experienced teacher, a trainer, a coursebook writer, an academic researcher or a random person in the street.

I'm not saying that I don't know how to teach an interesting lesson that contains something about grammar as part of its content, perhaps using a coursebook or some exciting online material.  But does it all make any substantial difference? Do the students really learn the grammar being taught - or is the learning mostly illusory? Do both learners and teacher leave the room thinking 'we've had a grammar lesson?' whereas the truth is that they have mostly just been passing the time? When they return after one day for their next lesson, will they be able to use any of the features I have worked on with them? Is what I do teaching grammar - or just 'entertainment'?

The real learning of grammar comes slowly and in much more uncertain ways over months and years.  It requires, I think, (1) a lot of exposure to spoken and written language (2) an enquiring mind to notice and pick out things that are going on within this language (3) help - of various kinds - to draw attention, summarise, explain and clarify (4) a good memory (5) lots and lots of practice (6) ... until slowly a new item becomes integrated with all the other language that the learner knows and becomes something that the learner can use fluently and freely at will to express meanings they want to convey. 

All of this takes time - and it doesn't seem possible to speed it up very much. I think that students learn the items they need to learn when they are ready to learn them - and that outside interventions make relatively little difference to this process - if they don't come at appropriate moments.

Yet - somewhere in the middle of my students' long-term learning process, I stroll in and give a 50 minute presentation on 'used to'. What are the chances that this will be the piece of grammar that my students need right then? What are the chances that my students will be able to learn a language item in one meeting? Can I possibly squash that whole exposure - noticing etc process down to 50 minutes? Clearly hopeless! 

So - is it really possible to teach grammar at all?

I’d say 'Yes-ish' - but only in passing! We do it best by providing an environment that exposes students to lots of language and encourages them to engage with it and helps them to use it. And around Pre-Int and Int levels, I suspect, we do that least when we have those very lessons that we think of as 'grammar lessons'.

Jim Scrivener

This week's news item, adapted for MEC from a news article originally published in the Guardian Weekly, is about China and other countries' plans to ban plastic bags in an attempt to reduce littering.

Go to the Headline News section on your Work Area screen to find out more about this story.

On the 23^rd January we held our sixth online MEC Clinic. MEC Training Coordinator, Steph Earnshaw, presented some course building tips and ideas to a group of MEC users from around the world.

Click on the link below to see a downloadable PDF of the clinic presentation:

Course Building Presentation1.ppt (1.95 MB)

MEC Course-building clinic - summary.doc (61 KB)

The course building clinic was written by Silvia Tiberio, a freelance ELT writer from Buenos Aires, Argentina. She builds MEC courses to accompany Macmillan titles and has written material for onestopenglish. This meant she was able to provide lots of ideas and guidance on how to improve your MEC course building technique!

Silvia Tiberio

The clinic participants were:

Paddy Greenleaf - IH VISEU, Portugal
Jo Willis - IH LIVORNO, Italy
Roswitha Kraehenbuehl - IH Hull's School Ltd, Switzerland

Richard Fleming - IH Lisbon, Portugal

Vic Richardson - Study Group - UK

Joanna Taylor - AISLi Language Point - Milan

Eric Baber - UK

Ann Foreman - UK

Thank you very much to Silvia, Steph and everyone who took part. Don't hesitate to contact us with your questions and comments.

If you are interested in attending the next MEC course building clinic please contact us by leaving a comment or emailing s.milligan@macmillan.com

Macmillan English Campus announces the release of new American English TOEIC® material

Macmillan English Campus is delighted to be publishing over 100 new American English resources to support the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC®) exam from ETS. Written by experienced TOEIC® authors, the resources provide practice for all seven parts of the listening and reading exam.

The TOEIC® material also supports the new speaking and writing test from ETS, by providing a series of sample answers, with hints on preparing, timing and responding to typical questions.

With the broad range of coverage it provides, this exam practice material offers essential support to students wishing to take the new TOEIC®.

Key Features

• Exercises written by experienced TOEIC® authors
• Use of ETS-licensed TOEIC® rubrics
• Text and question types provide authentic exam practice
• Hints on how to answer TOEIC® questions in each listening and reading exercise
• Advice on planning, timing and answering the speaking and writing questions
• Exercises include over 400 questions
• Comprehensive coverage of the new TOEIC® exam
• Up-to-date section weightings, text types and question format
• Support of new TOEIC® speaking and writing test

To view more detailed information about the new exercises, please click here.

News items

This week's news item, adapted for MEC from a news article originally published in the Guardian Weekly, is about new hope for the political crisis in Kenya.

Go to the Headline News section on your Work Area screen to find out more about the disputes and the proposed negotiations.

You might want to encourage your students to do some background research on the African Union and what they do. The following website may be useful. African Union

MEC Marketing Assistant, Julian Chant, writes:

For something to watch out for in the future, check out Wikia Search, the new open source search engine from the people behind Wikipedia. While still in its early stages of development, the concepts behind the project - transparency, community, quality and privacy - are noble ones.

According to co-founder Jimmy Wales, ‘It is meant to take on Google by creating a search engine where all the editorial decisions are made by the general public and all the software is open.'

Nikolaj Nyholm at O'Reilly Radar wrote this article about how Wikia Search can change the search engine domain in the foreseeable future. As he writes at the end of the article:

'Go play with Wikia Search. Then come back here and read the article again. Tell me what you see: a bluff or a ripple of change?'

Why not save Wikia Search as a MEC Web Link and send it to your learners. You could even get them to use it to research ideas for MEC Sample Essays such as:

·         Selling the case for sustainability (level 6)

·         Put your money where your heart is (level 6)

Or, you could ask them to use Wikia Search to help research an essay based on one of the food for thought questions on the MEC News Items.

Lindsay Clandfield

I'd like to enter this debate by making a comment and asking a couple of questions. First of all, I feel that in the past having some knowledge of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) meant that you were the person asked to come and fix the director of studies' computer. In the present, knowledge of ICT will get you a better job. In the future, I wonder if it could mean the difference between having a job or not.

Here, then, are my questions. Firstly, what are essential technological skills for teachers to know to survive and thrive in this environment? Is it enough to know how to send emails or use a word processor? These seem pretty easy now, as does installing new software on a computer (Windows does it almost all for you!). What about setting up a wiki page for your class? Or a blog? Or downloading podcasts? What about using a virtual learning environment (like Moodle, or Blackboard)? Interactive whiteboards?

Secondly, are teachers the problem? Are we all as backward technologically as is made out sometimes? Some argue that it is not so much teachers, as lack of resources at the institution which hinder the integration of technology in the classroom. Is this the case for you? Would you like to be more blended, but just aren't able to?

I look forward to reading your comments!

MEC Editor Sarah Cumming writes:

News items

This week's news item, adapted for MEC from a news article originally published in the Guardian Weekly, is about studies in evolutionary biology.

Go to the Headline News section on your Work Area screen to find out why some scientists believe that humans continue to evolve and others believe that natural selection is no longer important.

You might want to encourage your students to find out more about evolutionary theories. The following websites may be useful:

Evolution

Understanding evolution

Mr. Picassohead is a great new game that allows you to create, save and send your very own Picasso-like pictures. Check out this recent post from the International House Technology Blog for ideas on how to use it in the classroom.

For a whole host of other great activities for students, don't forget to go to the Games section in MEC.

A few months ago we blogged about the value of YouTube for finding video clips of just about anything you can think of. Taking advantage of the vastness of this type of open resource can prove extremely useful, but also time-consuming. The BBC web pages provide a convenient alternative.

For higher-level students, teachers can avail themselves of the BBC's large databases of audio and video clips. News reports expose them to brief, authentic recordings that can easily be combined with MEC's News Items to enrich classroom discussions on current affairs. Having images to accompany native-speaker audio materials also makes them accessible to lower-level students.

Try exploring the various topics on the BBC website, such as History, Lifestyle, Science & Nature, or Society & Culture, to find engaging materials you can send to your students as a package of Web Links, with ideas for written exercises. They can also serve as the basis for classroom discussions.

Published Web Links

Advanced students can listen to full-length recordings of Radio 4 programmes, such as the Archers, In Our Time and a wide range of documentaries. Many of these are available as downloads and podcasts: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/. For lower-level podcasts, check out www.onestopenglish.com.

MEC Senior Editor, Jeremy Smith, writes:

News items

This week's news item, adapted for MEC from a news article originally published in the Guardian Weekly, is about the overpopulation of elephants in South Africa.

Go to the Headline News section on your Work Area screen to find out why there are too many elephants and the possible solutions to the problem.

You could also direct your students to the following websites of organizations mentioned in the news item:

Kruger National Park 

Welgevonden Game Reserve 

Please also check out the news item for 1 January on the crisis in Darfur.

January word games

This month's Witch's Pot topics are 'words relating to the classroom' (Easy), 'types of scenery' (Average) and 'adjectives describing scenery '(Difficult).

The Swamp Disaster topics are 'describing children'(Easy), 'clothing' (Average) and 'words that follow "make"' (Difficult).

The Wordsearch topics are 'things in the kitchen' (Easy), 'animals' (Average) and 'adjectives describing furniture' (Difficult).

As usual, there are new Crosswords and Bridge Builders at all levels too.

Visit the Word Games area to find them all.

Are you baffled by your students' lack of enthusiasm?

Do you think grammar in the classroom is a waste of time?

Why don't you take a look at what three English language experts think about it all?

In the coming weeks we will be posting blog entries written by these experts to help inspire you and also give you the opportunity to share some of your teaching experiences with other MEC teachers. Maybe you have used MEC to help solve some of the above issues? Perhaps other MEC teachers will know other ways in which Campus can help you and your students?

Our first blog is by Lindsay Clandfield, who asks how much we should know about using ICT in the classroom.

Following that we have Adrian Tennant's class management wisdom.

Finally Jim Scrivener wonders if anyone out there knows how to teach grammar.

We're delighted to announce that the Moscow Institute of Linguistics has recently started using Macmillan English Campus. Their MEC training took place on the 19^th and 20^th of December in Moscow, Russia.

 
Some of the participants from the Moscow Institute of Linguistics MEC training

There were 12 participants at the training and it was great to see how enthusiastic they are about using MEC with their students.  

The Moscow Institute of Linguistics initially plan to use MEC to provide learners with extra practice outside their lessons. The classrooms and computer room have Wifi internet access and the institute will soon be installing an interactive whiteboard in every classroom, which will make it even easier for teachers and students to use MEC in class.

Participants at the training sessions gave lots of positive feedback on MEC along with some useful suggestions for future developments. We're looking forward to finding out how they decide to implement MEC in the coming months.

MEC clinics are short sessions (maximum 90 minutes) involving small groups of no more than 10. They are on a first-come, first-served basis to any teachers who use MEC.

There is no cost involved: we will set up and host the sessions. Those attending simply need their web-linked computer and a separate phone line to dial a freephone number. 

Our next clinic will be held on Wednesday 23^rd January 2008, 11am GMT

Presenter: Steph Earnshaw, MEC Training Coordinator

Subject: Course-building on MEC - tips and ideas

If you are interested in attending this event or you require any further information, please let us know through the 'contact us' section of this site or by emailing s.earnshaw@macmillan.com.