Teachers know that students bring their emotions to school. There’s no such thing as leaving your emotions at the door. We must try to understand emotions because they have a big impact on behavior, on learning, on memory, and on attention. In this webinar we will explore ways to bring awareness to the emotions that our students are experiencing, listen to the information emotions provide and discuss strategies to enable the students to regulate their emotions so they can thrive.

Inclusion is a hot topic at the moment in many countries. Many teachers feel worried about trying to include students with additional educational needs in their classrooms. This has become even more challenging with the return to school after the COVID pandemic and the pressure to ‘catch up’. In this talk I will look at some of the myths around inclusion and give teachers some ways of identifying students who have additional needs. I will then offer some practical ways the English classroom can provide opportunities to work on inclusion and tips to create a safe, inclusive classroom where all students can achieve to the best of their ability.

In early 2022, LearnJam carried out research for the British Council into how to best support teaching provision of special educational needs (SEN) in remote ELT settings in the Americas. In this session we will share the findings from our research, and how that has led to the 7-module toolkit that we have recently developed for the British Council. We will share content from the toolkit and describe how you can use principles and strategies from the modules to create a more inclusive teaching and learning environment in your classroom.

An educator who understands ADHD can make a meaningful and long-lasting difference to many children’s lives. So, what exactly is ADHD and how does it manifest? There are generally 3 types of ADHD, and while many teachers have been trained to recognise hyperactive and impulsive symptoms, other symptoms are harder to spot. This is why I, like many others, got diagnosed with ADHD as an adult. The ADHD brain regulates attention and emotions differently to its neurotypical counterpart, and this can pose certain challenges in the classroom for both learners and their teachers. However, with the right support and encouragement, students with ADHD can thrive! Remember that ADHD is much more than a disability. People with ADHD are incredibly creative, tenacious, adventurous and empathetic, even if I do say so myself! In this webinar, I’ll be drawing on my own experiences with ADHD as a student and an educator, sharing the most common ADHD symptoms, and exploring some techniques and activities that will support students with ADHD.

Education is undeniably a benefit for all children; nevertheless, for a small group of students, particularly those with learning disabilities, referred to as "neurodivergent students," learning a language might be more difficult and time-consuming than learning something else. Should we disregard them simply because that is the case? This presentation intends to demonstrate English as a foreign language teachers' attitudes about EFL teaching to students with dyslexia, as well as some ideas and suggestions for intervention strategies. Two Turkish EFL specialists discuss their research and suggestions for supporting dyslexic learners in the EFL classroom. The presenters will offer a brief overview of dyslexia and describe the findings of their research. They will next deliver a session in which they will demonstrate how to use Mind Mapping and Assistive Technology to support students with dyslexia in the EFL classroom.

Do medical students, doctors and teachers have the same perceptions of English needs in a medical university in Southern Japan? Where are the pedagogical gaps in the curriculum? This talk will describe a medical English program at a rural Japanese university, then compare it with other medical programs in Japan. The needs analysis study surveyed 131 medical students, 3 EMP teachers and 2 medical doctors, to compare students’ future English needs. Some outcomes included the need to develop students’ communicative ability, medical knowledge, and ability to research and reason. Therefore, communicative, EMP, and medical ethics courses were developed to practice interaction skills, construct questions appropriate for patient symptoms, and justify reasons to reach a stronger conclusion. Thus, empowering students to develop their own beliefs, identities, and behaviors.

Among several innovations introduced by the Council of Europe’s CEFR-Companion Volume these two must definitely be mentioned: Firstly, the ‘native speaker’ construct is gone, so questions of STANDARD SETTING arise. Secondly, the four skills reading-writing-listening-speaking are replaced by four modes of communication: reception-production-interaction-mediation. The concept of MEDIATION, in particular, has sparked discussions among EFL professionals. This new approach takes (cultural a.o.) CONTEXTS seriously. Communication skills appropriate to diverse contexts are described in scales for Facilitating Pluricultural Space, Facilitating Communication in Delicate Situations and Disagreements, Building on Plurilingual Repertoire, Leading Group Work, and others. Since “the vast majority of verbal exchanges in English do not involve any native speakers of the language at all" (Seidlhofer 2005), the CEFR’s change in paradigm will prove helpful for teachers of English, native or non-native, around the globe. The new approach is highly promising in terms of its pedagogical potential and helps to specify the “added value” of foreign language teaching and learning – an urgent question, after all, in the days of digital translation tools like google translate.

OK, so you know you need to be adaptable. But do you really know what to do? Seth Godin lists adaptability as number one in his "Encyclopedia of Real Skills," not Soft Skills, Real Skills - Real because they work. These skills are learnable, and we should invest time in understanding them. It's high time we take a peek outside ELT because the BE scenario is no longer in the books. It's coming towards us at 200 mph, and it has no time to waste. In this webinar, we will delve into adaptability, discuss the pros, the cons, and the yes-pleases of an adaptable class, and challenge you on an 'adaptability quest': How adaptable is too adaptable for you?

Commercially published ELT textbooks are the mainstay of many language classrooms around the world, and especially in Asia. Growing awareness of, and policy mandates for some version of TBLT raise the question of what affordances for teaching with tasks are available in these textbooks. In this talk, I present findings from an analysis and coding of textbooks activities from a selection of widely used secondary school textbook series in China and Vietnam. The analysis drew on the four features of tasks proposed by Ellis (2018): a primary focus on meaning, a gap, learners relying on their own resources, and a communitive outcome. The analysis revealed complexities and fuzziness around these constructs which need to be addressed if they are to be of practical use to teachers. The talk focuses on how the problems encountered in coding textbook activities were resolved and on steps to develop a heuristic that teachers could use to identify and maximize affordances for TBLT in the textbooks they use.

This participative session describes work in progress to develop a short English course for adult Learners who are taking their first steps in English

When it comes to creating materials for use in a variety of international contexts, teachers’ books have been discussed far less than the related coursebooks for students. This webinar will be aimed at explaining why the teacher’s book is as important as the other components of a coursebook pack, what is involved in writing a teacher’s book for use in various international contexts, the challenges we face when writing for such diverse contexts and how to overcome context- / cultural- specific issues.

In recent years, the 'multilingual turn' has risen to challenge preconceived ideas that L2 learning can only happen through the exclusive use of English. This webinar will provide a background to the predominance of second language acquisition theories in EMI classrooms and question monolingual practices based on a hierarchical perspective of languages. It will look at the concept of 'translanguaging' as the hallmark of bilingual speakers and explore pedagogical and spontaneous uses in the EMI/CLIL classroom. Participants will consider their beliefs and attitudes with regard to using the L1 in teaching and learning content and language and go away with some ideas and activities to try out in their teaching contexts.

This webinar will show you activities for your young learners using flashcards, and other free resources from our website. The activities are aimed at Pre A1 Starters, A1 Movers and A2 Flyers and the webinar is suitable for new or experienced teachers, who are perhaps new to the Cambridge English young learner exams, or for teachers who may just want to discover our free resources and learn some new games and activities for teaching young learners.

A day in the life of a teacher consists of many different tasks: planning and teaching lessons, assigning out-of-class practice, tests and quizzes, and monitoring learner and class progress. Teachers have been doing these tasks for years, in one form or another, and each task comes with its own unique challenges. Recently, National Geographic Learning undertook a research project to understand these challenges, and to identify the specific tasks that could be better supported through integrated digital tools. In this session, we interview Matt Nespoli, VP, Technical Product Management, to learn more about this research, and how the findings are being used to shape a new all-in-one platform that helps National Geographic Learning bring the world to the classroom and our programs to life. We want to make it easier for teachers to focus on what they do best – teaching their classes and inspiring their students.

Phonology is one of the more neglected areas of language teaching although it is fundamental to spoken communication. Childhood is a key period for assimilating a whole host of phonological features, since young learners are especially receptive to unfamiliar sounds. The ability to form sounds is also linked to skills such as listening – if you can say it, you can hear it. This webinar will look at techniques, strategies and resources for developing phonological awareness in children. These will include games, communicative activities, chants, rhymes and songs.

Artistic expression is the gateway to the healing kindness of compassion, and the learnt trait of empathy: the building blocks of community, and global citizenship. This talk will explore how kindness, in all its expressions, can be nurtured and nourished through the radical innovation and the wide-open, blue-sky imaginative invitation of creativity.

The aim of this session is to demonstrate how - through English language teaching, materials writing and storytelling - teachers can awaken their students’ creativity and motivate them to use their artistic expression to fight for an important cause.

This dynamic session will teach teachers how to tap into their natural creativity. Using songs for routines, improvisation games, transition activities and some art projects, participants will learn how to awaken their students' and their own imaginations.

This webinar will show you activities for your young learners using flashcards, and other free resources from our website. The activities are aimed at Pre A1 Starters, A1 Movers and A2 Flyers and the webinar is suitable for new or experienced teachers, who are perhaps new to the Cambridge English young learner exams, or for teachers who may just want to discover our free resources and learn some new games and activities for teaching young learners.

Extensive reading has been gaining popularity as an effective way to get students excited about reading in English and not only improve their literacy skills, but their vocabulary and grammar knowledge as well. A lot has been written on how to effectively implement an extensive reading program for older students, however, children need a slightly different approach. Drawing on her 20 years of experience with extensive reading and young learners, the presenter will show how it can be done with students still learning to read and how to gain the support of their parents. Recommendations of online resources for extensive reading for children will also be provided.