Erasmus plus key action 1 provided me a unique opportunity to participate in an international training course in Oxford. The course title was Creative Teaching in the Secondary and Adult English Language Classroom from 1st to 14th July, it was held in the beautiful, modern premises of Oxford University Business School
Course methodology. In each session the tutor facilitated an awareness raising activity, followed by a discussion in which participants discussed and compared their classroom teaching experiences. The tutor presented practical and creative teaching techniques for Secondary and Adult learners based on a range of teaching methodologies and recent research into English language acquisition. Participants tried out these techniques, discussed adaptations to their own teaching situations. The tutor presented strategies for encouraging communication, motivating students, managing large and/or mixed ability classes effectively, planning and follow-up activities.
In language improvement sessions, the tutor demonstrated, through loop input, how teachers could improve and update their students' grammar, lexis and pronunciation, as they improved their own
In all sessions the tutor indicated recently published subject-specific materials for further reading and/or classroom activities, also online and offline resources for further research and/or cultural background.
Course Content
Developing personal language skills and communicative competence
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Teaching grammar and making it fun
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Songs and music in the English language classroom
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Vocabulary, collocation and word partnerships
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Culture Update – Life in the UK Today
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Teaching phrasal verbs, understanding nuance
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New words, idioms and the importance of language in context
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Classroom challenges; improving motivation, engagement and results
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Writing feedback and error correction
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Working with texts; exploring and creating, engaging tasks
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The British education system and visit to a secondary school or college
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Practical pronunciation; phonemes, stress and connected speech
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Critical thinking; learning transferable skills
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Using film and images as a creative stimulus
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The course included:
- 21 hours of session input per week
- a guided historical tour of Oxford
- a guided tour of an Oxford University college
- a visit to a local Secondary school(Oxford Spires Academy)
My classroom consisted of 13 students , all of them were secondary school teachers of English :
Annia Musik, Anna Sliwka, Antoni Klinowski, Julia Budzowska and Magdalena Wojcik from Poland.
DorisReininger from Austria.
Fiammetta Rossi, Irene Brighenti and Marina Sarici from Italy.
Vaclav Stix from the Czech Republic.
Maria Isabel Palencia Urban , Marta Gómez Collado and I were Spanish.
Next year Julia Budzowska, Fiammetta Rossi, Marina Sarici and I want to do a class project with our students on British culture, festivals and celebrations.
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My course experience was perfect. Our teachers were really wonderful. I got tons of useful, fun materials and an unforgettable cultural experience. Thank you for a memorable time!"
Isabel Soriano Botella. July 2018.