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LongShiKong
Joined: 28 May 2007
Posts: 1082
Location: China
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 Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 4:22 pm Post subject: Anyone browse Cambridge ESOL Teacher Support website? |
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Earlier this year, I went in search of IELTS prep course resources and tips and ended up at Cambridge's ESOL Teacher website where I joined the IELTS forums. (Dave's still doesn't have one despite numerous requests including mine to at least change the name of 'TOEFL' on the Teacher Forums to include 'IELTS, and other tests'. This site freely provided most of what I needed but strangely, nobody ever mentions it here on Dave's?
Do any of you subscribe to publisher websites or their ezines, or watch their webinars? When working for Longman Schools, I subscribed to Pearson-Longman's teacher forum and posed a question about Longman-specific resources but never got a reply.
Anyway, this week, I got the following email/ezine (?) from Cambridge ESOL which I think may have value for some of you (see bolded). I believe this is all free:
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Hello again!
As many of you will have noticed, we made a few changes to our website.
There is a new eMedia page. Currently, this contains back issues of this ezine for you to download and keep as well as links to recent webinar recordings and slides.
We have also reorganised the exam information into more relevant categories. If you have any problems finding what you want, please don't hesitate to contact the Teacher Support team
The official Online Speaking Practice is now available for both Cambridge English: Advanced and Cambridge English: First. These are an excellent way for learners to prepare for the Speaking tests.
Please keep emailing us your ideas and suggestions. Your feedback helps us to keep this ezine and the Teacher Support website useful and relevant to you and your students.
We want to help you to provide your students with the best lessons possible, so let us know your teaching problems and wordlist requirements.
If you wish to join the Teacher Support website, please register here. If you want to change your details please log in here.
Chris Brown
Teacher Support Coordinator, Cambridge ESOL
NEW � Online Speaking Practice for Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE)
This is the only official Online Speaking Practice for Cambridge English: Advanced. It gives learners authentic, interactive preparation for their Speaking test.
Learners can watch and listen to exam questions and tasks from a real Cambridge ESOL examiner, and then record their responses online. These recordings can be shared with teachers and friends.
From a teaching point of view, one of the best features of Online Speaking Practice is that you can listen to your learners' recordings online to:
analyse their strengths and weaknesses
assess how ready they are for the Speaking test.
Find out more about how you can use this with your students.
New resources on the Teacher Support website
Every month we are adding to the 2,000+ teaching resources on the Teacher Support website.
The latest new resources to be added are:
IELTS Academic Writing Task � Task 1(a)
IELTS Academic Writing Task � Task 1(b)
IELTS Academic Writing Task � Task 2(a)
IELTS Academic Writing Task � Task 2(b)
Handbooks for Teachers
This month we have published some updated versions of the new Handbooks for Teachers.
Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE) Handbook 2013 � for examinations from March 2013
Cambridge English: Preliminary (PET) Handbook
Cambridge English: Business Certificates (BEC) Handbook
Exam Reports
Cambridge English: Preliminary (PET) Exam Report 2011
Cambridge English: Key (KET) Exam Report 2011
We have also updated the resources for all exams to take into account the new handbooks, especially any changes concerning the new writing scales.
If you have downloaded any resources, please make sure you are using the new version. You can download all our resources from the Teaching Resources area on the website.
We are always looking to improve our resources, so please add your comments when you have tried them.
Examinations, Support and Preparation Materials Catalogue
This useful catalogue includes information about our exams and all the official Cambridge English exam preparation materials from Cambridge ESOL and Cambridge University Press. The pdf is a clever click version, which means that you can navigate from the contents page and click on any of the URLs.
In order to open the resources on the Teacher Support website, you will need Adobe Reader, which can be downloaded for free.
Solving your problems
New question
Tran Son in Vietnam would like some advice on how to help students to prepare for the listening papers. We have created a new forum topic called Preparing for the listening papers. Please have a look and share your ideas and experiences.
Current forum topics
Many of you have added some great ideas to these topics that we featured recently. Why not take a look and see what you think?
Introducing Young Learners to English
Technology in the classroom � reading & writing
Correcting writing
First lesson ideas
Checking homework
Speaking lessons with private students
Turning passive knowledge into active speaking
Helping teenagers with listening
If you try any of the ideas with your class, please add a comment to let other teachers know:
which parts of the lesson worked well with your class
any ways that the lesson could be improved
Is there an area of teaching that we can help you with? Email us and let's find the answers together.
Wordlist of the month
This month we have selected a new set of words based on the English Vocabulary Profile. Here is a list of verbs related to movement. Thanks to Anna in China for suggesting this.
A1 dance B1 limp B2 crawl
A1 run B1 jog B2 dash
A2 sit B1 pass B2 freeze
A2 stand B1 slip B2 trip
A2 jump B1 stop B2 lean
B1 avoid B1 turn C1 creep
Next to each word you will see a letter and number (A1, A2, B1, B2 or C1). This means that this word should be familiar to a learner at that CEFR level. For example, in the list above a learner at C1 level should know all these words; a learner at A2 level would probably only know the first five words on the list.
Having problems with the definition or pronunciation? Need some example sentences? You can look the words up at:
Cambridge Dictionaries Online
the English Vocabulary Profile (for free subscription to the A1�C2 English Vocabulary Profile complete this form)
Is there a wordlist that you need? Tell us and we'll include it.
Quick vocabulary activities
To save you time, we have prepared some activities that you can use with these verbs relating to movement. You can find them at Vocabulary activities � movement words
For more activities and hints and tips on how to create your own, take a look at Quick vocabulary activities.
Do you have any games or activities that work well for your group of learners? Let us know; we'll include them in this section.
Free webinars from ESOL experts
Cambridge ESOL held a webinar in April 'Introducing the revised Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE)', and another in May about 'Cambridge English: First for Schools'.
Don't worry, if you missed them. You can watch a recording, download the slides and find a list of FAQs on the subject and raise any questions or issues in the forum afterwards.
The next webinars will be:
11 and 13 June Cambridge English: Key (KET) for Schools
16 and 18 July Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) (tbc)
Sign up for our free webinars, or find out more at www.CambridgeESOL.org/webinars
Free online self study course on grammar for English language teachers
Cambridge English Teacher is offering English language teachers a free online language awareness course as part of a new initiative to raise English teaching standards worldwide.
Grammar for Teachers: Language Awareness is an online self study course developed by experts to give teachers more confidence in using English grammar.
The course is available to Guests who register with Cambridge English Teacher � a new online community for English teachers developed by the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations (Cambridge ESOL) and Cambridge University Press.
Events in your area
We would love to see you at some of our events. They are a great place to meet other teachers and share ideas.
You can find more information about events in your area on the Cambridge ESOL website for your country. You can find links to your country's site in the Events section of the website.
Follow us on Twitter
Cambridge ESOL now has its own Twitter feed to keep our friends and colleagues around the world up to date with what we are doing.
You can find us at www.twitter.com/CambridgeESOL � follow us for the latest news from our network around the world.
If you need any back issues of the Ezine, please email us. |
https://www.teachers.cambridgeesol.org/ts/ |
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LongShiKong
Joined: 28 May 2007
Posts: 1082
Location: China
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 5:21 am Post subject: |
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| Wow, 70 views and no responses! Don't know what to make of this: indifference to all things Cambridge? |
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fluffyhamster
Joined: 13 Mar 2005
Posts: 3292
Location: UK > China > Japan > UK again
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 9:27 am Post subject: |
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| I took a look at the 'Grammar for Teachers: Language Awareness' course (in the eMedia > Cambridge English Teacher section of the site). Talk about slooow. What is it with learning nowadays, that one has to write journal entries and get all opinionated and then hug trees to cool down after the slightest bit of "effort" (in this case, matching the basic parts of speech with notional definitions). Seeing as the course wouldn't allow me to the proceed to the next page without submitting that journal entry (though it would've been easy enough to just copy and paste something - swearwords, perhaps?), I "gave up" pretty soon. I'd suggest a good book or two instead, for all the time this course will take and potentially waste, but for those who want or need a bit more "virtual company" than the internet can already provide, it could be just the thing! And to be fair to Cambridge, it is certainly "well-produced", and better than nothing, a noble step (stumble?) in the right direction, etc etc. |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 12:39 pm Post subject: |
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I was one of your 70 and no earlier comment because
yes - I have used these resources
(in fact, I get the emails regularly as well) but - I'm basically not a fan of assessment tools structured in this manner, though I recognize the necessity.
so - it all seemed kinda dull to me personally, I'm afraid.....though I know there is some stuff here that is extremely relevant and useful in some contexts. |
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johnslat
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 12:40 pm Post subject: |
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Dear spiral78,
Ditto 
Regards,
John |
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