Teacher Discussion Forums

Yes, I do have to agree that Will makes a lot of sense here. I certainly hope I haven't been misunderstood above to advocate a "rigid" adherence to a single teaching method or classroom practice. Nor is it my intention to put Stephen on the hot seat. I'm just not sure that what I understand about th...

Which Lexical Approach do you use "...in some contexts for some purposes."? I am admittedly puzzled by suggestions, which have come from many posters here, of using the Lexical Approach for certain parts of their lessons and not using it for other parts. The Lexical Approach I have come to understan...

Yes! :) I think Jeff's (skeptic's) post here is extremely valuable to this conversation. He clears up considerably the concept of idomatic language. In light of his information here (which, I admit, I have verified), I find that I, myself, in my earlier post on this subject, was confusing, to some d...

I don't think I really want to talk about the axiological [ emphasis mine ]implications of the Iraq war in a Business English class Wow, thanks for the vocabulary lesson, Ann. I've never encountered this word before, but I can certainly see that, in today's world at least, it could be quite useful....

Ah, I think you may be quite right, sg . In reading Joon's original posting after so many weeks, I realize that I assumed he had capitalized the IT himself for emphasis to point out what he was looking at. Now it also looks to me like it may have been in the original text that way, in which case it ...

Norm,

I hope others appreciate your clarity and your sensible uncomplicatedness as much as I do. It's always such a pleasure to read your posts on this forum.

As usual, you've skewered the issue right on the money here.

Larry Latham

I must admit I was impressed by Lindstromberg's arguements for their clarity and logic and for their thoroughness. I do not, however, reach the same conclusion as he does. Nor do I buy the strong/weak distinction he makes. That is merely a matter of degree, not of difference. I remain an enthusiasti...

Indeed. The use of "will" does not always indicate referral to future time. Consider this sentence: I expect they will be there by now. It is abundantly clear the speaker here is referring to now rather than the future. In fact, will is, I believe, always modal, and always refers to a presumption ma...

I quite agree that it's certainly not negative. As you point out, it's simply descriptive of how people naturally use English in conversation. In the poem, the second (could I use the term elided sentence ?) is the easier to grasp in terms of its stylistic effect. When the reader says "Here.", the e...

Ahh, I see. Yes, you have a point there. You are quite right that these kinds of constructions are extremely common in English (and very likely in other languages as well). It's true that they are not full sentences, but I must admit I'm not fond of the term " minor sentences ." That leaves the impr...

Hi, I call these kinds of utterances "institutionalized expressions," a term I first encountered in one of Michael Lewis' books, but I'm not sure if he coined it. The essence is that the expressions are fossilized and each comprises a single lexical item. For students, they are simply to be memorize...

Agree with you Norm , And with this discussion, it seems to me you've all shown that English is a far more "fluid" language than is often assumed both by students and teachers. ( Or should it be: by both students and teachers .) Vero's original post shows that he expected there to be one 'correct' p...

However, I would like to add that this should be differentiated from doing an activity/ playing a game simply for the sake of entertainment alone (or for filling up time). Therein lies the essential difference that divides the good from the rest, Stephen . Perhaps I have just been working in the wr...

Toyboatt wrote As an "arrogant and ignorant" American I must point out that writing that comment in an international forum on teaching is, well, arrogant and ignorant. It seems to me, Toyboatt , you're being a bit unfair to Noonlite by taking his quote out of context. His point is that Americans typ...

Hello there, Plato , "She is good in Swimming"sounds perfectly alright to me... I wouldn't argue with you there. As you mention, it all depends on what you, as a native English speaker, are used to hearing. And, again as you mention, that is quite often a function of where you're from, or where you ...