ELT365 · Day 178 — Pre-teaching vocabulary — the gating problem

Idea — Pre-teaching every unknown word defeats the purpose of reading. Only pre-teach words that would block all understanding — “gate” vocabulary that unlocks the whole text.

Example — Pre-teach embargo before a trade-war text. Leave tariff and export — context and cognates carry those.

Try — From your next reading text, identify two truly gating words. Pre-teach only those.

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