The commonly used categorical system for conditionals (zero, first, second, and third) has been repeatedly demonstrated to be inadequate because it is unable to account for many conditional types attested in actual usage. ELT coursebooks and pedagogic grammars are criticized for ignoring the evidence and persisting with its use, but the reality…

The English as a lingua franca (ELF) and languaging research areas have challenged the norm that the goal of ELT is to teach a standardized language. This article reports on a course following the principles of ELF and languaging where the goal is to support students to use and grow their existing repertoire of resources to do things in English.…

This article charts the chequered history of the PPP model (Presentation, Practice, Production) in English language teaching, told partly through reference to articles in "ELT Journal." As well as documenting its origins at the dawn of communicative language teaching (and not in audiolingual approaches, as some have suggested), I chart…

Discusses current theme in education, finding methodology for inservice courses through which skills and attitudes of teachers can be appropriately developed. Attempts to help teachers develop awareness of process by which learning takes place on an INSET course, to make process explicit to themselves and, in doing so, make this awareness…

The teaching of modern literature using film versions of the works studied is examined, and a special course that was organized around this concept is described. Results of the course are discussed, and suggestions are made for how to use film in general literature courses and other contexts. (12 references) (JL)

A brief review of current trends in syllabus design is presented with particular focus on one attempt to implement a negotiated process syllabus for English-as-a-Second-Language teaching classes. Anticipated problems; teacher and student reactions; and the success of such aspects as learning rooms, tangible end-products, and teaching pairs are…

Describes the development of an online course that aims to help tertiary students improve their English oral presentation skills. The course aims to allow learners to prepare their presentations out of class and then practice these skills in class with peer and teacher feedback. (Author/VWL)

Topics for conversation courses include conversational rules and structure, conversational strategies, functions and meaning in conversation, and social and cultural contexts. The direct teaching of conversational skills involves adding specific language input, increasing the role of consciousness raising, and sequencing communicative tasks…

Describes the implementation of a "cyclic," practical model-based syllabus in a short pre-service teacher training course. Makes a case for an overt model-based approach to initial teacher training, with reference to recent developments in cognitive psychology. Research carried out on a model-based approach is presented. (Author/VWL)

Describes a practical experiment in which students prepared video materials to present to each other, the aim being to develop student autonomy in learning, class participation, motivation, and accuracy. The student feedback confirmed the success of the experiment; the rationale for this success is presented. (14 references) (GLR)

This paper examines the context, content, and practices of a writing course developed especially for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) graduate students at Purdue University. It also reports faculty and students reactions toward the course and its requirements. (17 references) (MDM)