Thomas Entwistle

What makes teaching Young Learners rewarding and challenging at the same time? Are you new to teaching youngsters? By following Miyu, a Japanese English student, from her first English classes in primary school through to her adolescent years, this article outlines how children learn, what their motivations are and how their teachers can best support them. Drawing on key second language accusation theories and classroom practices, this article offers modern English teachers practical insights to help make their lessons more engaging, effective and meaningful for their Young Learners. Why Young Learners matter Children are not simply miniature adults. Their wants and...

Introduction: why testing matters Classroom tests carry importance, not just for students but for educators, institutions and even whole education systems. However, assessment is more than just timed tasks and final grades. For modern English teachers around the world, understanding assessment – its purposes, methods and outcomes – can help us use it not as a blunt instrument but as a tool that guides learning. Tests can be a friend or an enemy. Done badly, they can frustrate students and demotivate teachers. Done well, though, they can shed light on progress and even build confidence, something especially valuable for, for example,...

The article is based on research into learners’ abilities to write about a topic with or without background knowledge and concludes that written fluency practice improves overall performance.

A qualitative systematic review (QSR) of the educational resources used in various countries suggests that not all countries are teaching English in a global context.

IH states that language proficiency is best developed through meaningful communication and interaction, and learners need to be provided with comprehensible input, maximum opportunities for conversation and communicative and collaborative tasks.