ELT365 · Day 176 — The jigsaw reading task
In a jigsaw task, different learners read different texts then share information. Everyone has something the others need. It creates a genuine communication purpose for speaking after reading.
Category: English Teaching
ELT365 · Day 172 — Connected speech — helping learners hear the joins
Connected speech features — linking, elision, assimilation, weak forms — make natural English hard to decode. Explicit teaching of these features improves listening measurably.
ELT365 · Day 158 — Scanning — finding specific information fast
Scanning means searching a text for a specific piece of information — a name, a number, a date — without reading everything. It is a real-world skill, not a test trick.
ELT365 · Day 180 — Selecting a Listening or Reading Text
Text selection criteria: appropriate length and complexity for the level, genuine interest value, enough richness for a task. The best text sparks disagreement.
ELT365 · Day 167 — Reading: Skimming
Skimming means reading quickly for a general impression — what the text is about, its tone, its structure. Readers skip freely and skip often.
ELT365 · Day 160 — Listening for Specific Information
Scanning in listening means ignoring most of the audio and catching only the target item — a number, a name, a date. It is a real-world skill.
ELT365 · Day 212 — Month 7 review — productive skills
This month covered the productive skills toolkit: fluency vs accuracy, information gaps, controlled and free practice, error correction strategies, speaking tasks, writing stages, and the four-stage lesson frame.
ELT365 · Day 211 — Staging a productive skills lesson end-to-end
A complete productive skills lesson has four stages: lead-in, model and analyse, prepare, produce, feedback. Rushing the prepare stage collapses the quality of production.
ELT365 · Day 210 — Integrating skills: the natural approach
Real communication always integrates skills. Reading sparks speaking; listening generates writing; speaking leads to reading. Design tasks that mirror this rather than isolating skills artificially.
ELT365 · Day 209 — The dictogloss: where listening meets writing
Text (read twice at natural speed): 'Migration has always shaped cities. London, Paris, and Sydney grew because people moved there looking for work.' Learners compare their reconstructions in pairs.