This section contains articles about CALL – Computer Assisted Language Learning. From specific CALL activities, to information on CALL in general, to useful software available for the classroom. Finally there are articles slightly more general in nature about teachers and technology – using social media sites like Facebook, for example and the pitfalls for teachers.
If you are interested in CALL remember that we also run a unique CALL Certificate Course – the first of its kind – where you can learn the essentials of using CALL in your classroom.
WordWeb is an extremely useful piece of freeware dictionary and thesaurus software. It installs on your Windows PC or as an Android App (however, it’s not available for Macs) and runs in the background. Then, each time you want the definition or the spelling of a word, a simple hotkey […]
A recent article in the New York Times has highlighted a number of disturbing statistics that shake the current craze for those free online educational courses known as MOOCs. Basically put, an appalling number of students are dropping out. MOOCs are being abandoned in droves. But why is this happening […]
Teachers mess up as well. Many of us have spent time teaching in a foreign country and grappling with the problems of the local language. Here are a few problems which arise: A class were playing a word game where they had to explain a word to the […]
The following gems were picked up over the years by English teachers around the world. The interesting thing is that if you look at them, often they make profound sense in a strange way. Comments like When I grow up I’d like to be a kindergartener do somehow ring true. […]
During the war in the Balkans (1992-1995), much was made of the spelling and pronunciation of place names in Serbia and so on. This satirical news item was popular at the time. Before an emergency joint session of Congress yesterday, President Clinton announced US plans to deploy over 75,000 vowels […]