ELT365 · Day 157 — The gist task — one question before they read
Idea — A gist task asks for the general idea of a text, not specific detail. Set it before learners read or listen. One question. Whole…
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ELT365 · Day 154 — Top-down processing — using what you already know
Idea — Top-down processing means using prior knowledge, context, and expectations to predict and understand a text. Learners draw on what they know about the world…
ReadELT365 · Day 152 — What ‘receptive skills’ means
Idea — Receptive skills — reading and listening — are how learners take in language. They receive meaning without producing it. Both require active processing, not…
ReadELT365 · Day 208 — Cohesion and Coherence
Idea — Cohesion is the grammatical and lexical links between sentences — pronouns, connectors, reference chains. Coherence is the logical progression of ideas. Both matter. Example…
ReadELT365 · Day 192 — Dealing with Silence
Idea — Silence in a speaking task is not always a problem. It may signal thinking or genuine engagement. Diagnose before intervening. Example — A three-second…
ReadELT365 · Day 191 — Pronunciation in Productive Work
Idea — Pronunciation matters for intelligibility — can the listener understand? Not native-likeness, but enough accuracy to prevent communication breakdown. Example — A mispronounced vowel (‘ship’/’sheep’)…
ReadELT365 · Day 189 — Feedback on Speaking
Idea — Feedback on speaking is either immediate (on-the-spot correction) or delayed (after the task). In freer tasks, delay is usually preferable — it protects fluency.…
ReadELT365 · Day 187 — Role-Play in Speaking
Idea — Role-play gives learners a persona and a situation, separating their language performance from their social identity. It reduces inhibition and produces target register. Example…
ReadELT365 · Day 186 — Designing a Discussion Task
Idea — A good discussion task has a genuine information or opinion gap — learners must talk because they don’t all hold the same answer. Example…
ReadELT365 · Day 185 — Freer Speaking Tasks
Idea — Freer tasks give learners a communicative goal with minimal language constraint. Success means achieving the goal, not producing a specific target form. Example —…
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