Teacher Discussion Forums

Absolutely. And anyway, useful 'inauthentic' language (ie created by an authentic person with authentic words and grammar but not captured from someone's authentic spontaneous experience) is not harmful!!!

Curiosity - What kind of students and what are they learning for? Are they supposed to learn in class and if so how many of them are there?

Hello Nazarene, It’s been interesting to read your thoughts on this and other recent posts. Kennens’s assertion that ‘communicative integrated skills’ courses are the most effective is very vague – they are probably the most ‘desirable’, but evaluating effectiveness becomes virtually impossible when...

Thanks very much for the time and effort put into your reply. It does boil down to notions of 'explanation' and 'cause', which can be the same thing in many examples. T The thing is to be able to distil things clearly enough to be able to give learners an acceptable response to the inevitable questi...

I'm getting in a bit of a tangle trying to work out when we use 'reason to do' and when we use 'reason for doing'. (is 'reason for doing' more frequent simply because of 'reason for' + noun?) "One good reason for choosing ....... is." "One good reason to choose ........ is." Does 'reason for doing' ...

"What do you wear when you go to mosque?" "What do you wear when you go to church?" A brief poll of colleagues showed that "go to mosque" doesn't sound right even though it should be right. I think it doesn't sound right simply because it doesn't really ring enough bells with us, being outside the m...

As I have very limited experience with TOEFL I need to pick some more informed brains if I can. I am about to become involved in a language training programme for (primarily) Asian students enrolling on College courses in the US. In order to be admiited they need a minimum score of 500 on the paper-...

Is 'odd ones who strut to work in a suit and tie' a category? I'm trying to think of teachers I've known over the years who seemed to think that smart attire was evidence of their professional superiority but I can just think of a few and they were generally recognised as being 'clots', for want of ...

How about changing the examples with the verb 'to have' to examples with the verb 'to be'? They're even messier. And just think: if this is hard for you lot, just think what it's like for me who am much less learned.

Is the present perfect continuous on the way out? Its use with 'for' or 'since' is one of those things that teachers seem to love to drill into students heads in the same sort of way that circus acts get dogs to jump through flaming hoops. Tests invariably include present perfect continuous with 'fo...

Interesting and useful - I hope you don't expect written answers. However, I think it would be worth adding a fundamentally important question: In what circumstances do you teach? Teaching an mixed-nationality group of motivated young adults in a full-time course in the UK or US is one thing. Teachi...

I think the whole future thing is too vague and slippery for the 'in-built, weak 'maybe' that 'going to' carries. Like so much else, 'it depends'.
When I tell my younger son 'you're going to finish that soup!' there is no 'maybe' in his mind or in mine.

Yes, you're quite right: a native speaker is unlikely to produce either of the two examples you refer to, but a learner might come up with them, more possibly in written work than in conversation. ("Please notify all the concerned people." "It is important we find the responsible person as soon as p...

Does anyone have useful advice about how to explain the 'problem' these pairs of sentences would raise if encountered in class? Are these two 'cases' that have simply evolved due to the double meaning of the words 'concerned' and 'responsible'? I need to speak to the concerned people. I need to spea...

I was wondering what people's feelings are towards an aspect of classroom teaching that doesn't seem to be given much time on these forums and possibly not much thought elesewhere. I'm talking about teacher awareness of voice and speech; their own. I have recently finished conducting a training cour...