Discover what's new or coming soon, including upcoming lessons and resources and product feature updates. 

Announcements

<h1>Introducing Individual Student Assignments</h1>

Great news, teachers!

As of today, you can now select which individual students receive specific assignments within any class.&nbsp;

<h3>Here&#39;s how it works:</h3>

<ul>
	<li>Click on a lesson, video, or flashcard set in your Prepping or Teaching lane within any of your classes</li>
	<li>A modal will open with your assignment preferences for that lesson&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Click the &quot;Students&quot; tab in the top navigation of the modal</li>
	<li>Switch the setting from &quot;All students&quot; to &quot;Some students&quot;</li>
	<li>Select the students you want to assign the lesson to&nbsp;and remember to hit &quot;Save&quot; inside the modal before closing it</li>
</ul>

Only the selected students will see the assignment inside their class dashboard.

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C5BgjG7wtaI?si=I4waw7z14JkLaeer" width="640"></iframe></div>

We know that a lot of you have been asking for this feature for a while now. So thanks for your patience, and we hope it&#39;s a big help!

All the best, 
Ben :)

Founder, CEO at Ellii

Introducing Individual Student Assignments

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These posts are written for learners of English themselves. Find learning tips and ideas for learning English.

For Students

<blockquote>
<h2>When does a joke become a &quot;dad&quot; joke?</h2>

When it becomes apparent.
</blockquote>

<h2>What&rsquo;s a &ldquo;dad joke&rdquo;?</h2>

A &quot;dad joke&quot;&nbsp;is a simple joke that is easy to deliver and understand. It is usually a one-liner/pun or a simple joke with one question and an easy answer that is often a play on words. It is called a &quot;dad joke&quot; because it will&nbsp;make a child groan. (So bad, Dad!)&nbsp;Dad jokes are also&nbsp;usually clean for all ages.

You won&#39;t get any belly laughs with a dad joke,&nbsp;but hopefully someone at least cracks a smile.

<h3>12 &quot;dad jokes&quot; to tell this Father&#39;s Day</h3>

Are you a dad? Choose your favorite joke and share it with your child(ren) this Father&#39;s Day. You can also write one of these jokes inside a Father&#39;s Day card or tell it at a Father&#39;s Day gathering.

1. What do you call a priest that becomes a lawyer?

a father-in-law

<hr />
2. What did the buffalo say to his son when he left for college?

bison

<hr />
3. Why did your&nbsp;old man fall in a well?

Because he couldn&rsquo;t see that well.

<hr />
4. What do you call a fish with no eyes?

a fsh

<hr />
5. What do you call a sad strawberry?

a blueberry

<hr />
6. What did the paper say to the pencil?

Write on!

<hr />
7. Why can&rsquo;t your nose be 12 inches long?

Because then it would be a foot.

<hr />
9. The past, the present, and the future walked into a bar. It was tense.

<hr />
10. Why was six afraid of seven?

Because seven ate nine.

<hr />
11. What do Alexander the Great and Winnie the Pooh have in common?

They have the same middle name.

<hr />
12. Did you hear about the two people who stole a calendar?&nbsp;They each got six months.

<h2>What to say after hearing a joke</h2>

No matter how bad a joke is, the person telling the joke&nbsp;expects a response. Laughing is the best way to respond, but here are some things you can say:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>I like that one.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>That&#39;s hilarious!</li>
	<li>My dad would love that joke.</li>
	<li>I will tell that one to my dad.</li>
	<li>I have to remember that one.</li>
	<li>That was&nbsp;terrible.</li>
	<li>That was so bad.</li>
	<li>I&#39;m going to pretend I didn&#39;t hear that.</li>
</ul>

<h2>What to say if you don&#39;t understand a joke</h2>

We hope you understand the simple dad jokes above, but it&#39;s not always easy to follow or understand longer or narrative jokes, especially in a new language! If you don&#39;t understand a joke, you can say the following:

<ul>
	<li>I don&#39;t get it.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Give me a minute.</li>
	<li>Say that again?&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
	<li>That went above my head.</li>
</ul>

<blockquote>
Do you have a good &quot;dad joke&quot; to share? Make sure it has all the qualities of a dad joke. Then share it in the comments! Practice responding to jokes too!
</blockquote>

12 "Dad Jokes" for Father's Day

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Stay up-to-date with ELT trends and ideas with articles from experts and teachers in the field.

Articles

&quot;Mediation&quot; is one of many words in English with dual meanings. To most people, it describes&nbsp;a method of resolving a conflict between two or more parties using a neutral mediator to assist in discussions and find a mutually agreeable resolution.&nbsp;

In language teaching, it is a bridge between understanding. This blog post explores what mediation is, why it&rsquo;s important, and how to include it in the ELT classroom.&nbsp;

<h2>What is mediation?&nbsp;</h2>

Mediation refers to the ability to understand, summarize, and explain information to others. In terms of teaching, it&rsquo;s a great way to ensure learners have understood a lesson, but it&rsquo;s also an important life skill for students. It&rsquo;s a real-life communication skill that will help them succeed in life and work.&nbsp;

No matter what roles our students play, they&rsquo;ll need to use mediation skills to explain (often complex) things to others. For example:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>a parent explaining to their child why they need to brush their teeth&nbsp;</li>
	<li>a doctor communicating a diagnosis to a patient</li>
	<li>a teacher expressing the difference between present perfect and past simple</li>
	<li>a chef sharing the instructions for a recipe</li>
	<li>a friend showing how to progress to the next level in a video game&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Yet there is more to mediation than expressing complex information in a simple way. The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) includes examples of skills around mediating texts, concepts, and communication. For example:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>relaying and rephrasing information to others</li>
	<li>taking notes, summarizing, and translating information</li>
	<li>comparing and critically evaluating information</li>
	<li>collaborating in a group&nbsp;</li>
	<li>being aware and adapting to cultural differences</li>
	<li>understanding disagreements and finding a resolution</li>
</ul>

You can read the full&nbsp;CEFR list here: <a href="https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/Images/664965-mediation-what-it-is-how-to-teach-it-and-how-to-assess-it.pdf" target="_blank">Mediation: What it is, how to teach it, and how to assess it</a>

<h2>Why is mediation important?&nbsp;</h2>

When I first started teaching over 20 years ago, the focus seemed to be on teaching learners four skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Over time, the language classroom has grown to support learners in developing a multitude of 21st-century skills:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>critical thinking</li>
	<li>intercultural communication</li>
	<li>digital skills</li>
	<li>employability&nbsp;</li>
	<li>social-emotional skills</li>
	<li>mental health awareness</li>
	<li>translanguaging (and cross-linguistic mediation)</li>
	<li>mediation</li>
</ul>

By incorporating mediation into our classrooms, we give students the opportunity to enhance their communication skills for the real world.&nbsp;

<h2>How can I incorporate it into class?&nbsp;</h2>

The good news is that you&rsquo;re probably already doing this. As I write this blog post, I&rsquo;m researching, collating, and rephrasing information from other sources to explain mediation in a simple way. In short, I&rsquo;m mediating information about mediation!&nbsp;

In a similar way, think about many of the activities you do in class most days. Many activities typical of the language classroom involve resolving a gap in communication where students support each other to find and clarify meaning.&nbsp;

For example:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>reading two different texts and explaining them to another student&nbsp;</li>
	<li>checking answers to comprehension questions in pairs</li>
	<li>researching information and presenting it to the class&nbsp;</li>
	<li>discussing ideas for a group project and how to implement them</li>
</ul>

<h2>Examples of mediation activities</h2>

Let&rsquo;s have a look at Ellii&#39;s&nbsp;lesson on <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2527-distracted-driving" target="_blank">Distracted Driving</a>.&nbsp;(Available in print and digital formats.)

The warm-up questions allow students to link to their previous knowledge, express opinions, and collaborate to construct meaning with peers.

<a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2527-distracted-driving" target="_blank"><img alt="Ellii's distracted driving lesson screenshot" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3786/content_Screen_Shot_2024-05-30_at_1.15.30_PM.png" /></a>

Students then work together to construct meaning of vocabulary,&nbsp;read a text,&nbsp;and complete comprehension questions.&nbsp;

These comprehension questions allow learners to relay and check specific information, process the text, take notes, translate to their first language, and break down complex information. Working in pairs provides an opportunity to support each other, communicate, and create a shared understanding of the text.&nbsp;

The lesson ends with a discussion and critical thinking activities. These prompts provide students with the opportunity to relate the text to their own experiences, discuss challenging debate topics, and express their personal responses to the text.&nbsp;

<a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2527-distracted-driving"><img alt="Discussion questions Distracted Driving" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3787/content_Screen_Shot_2024-05-30_at_1.15.42_PM.png" /></a>

For further exploration, teachers can launch an interactive <a href="https://ellii.com/gather/ellii-polls" target="_blank">Ellii Poll</a> on <a href="https://ellii.com/gather/ellii-polls/distracted-driving" target="_blank">this topic</a> that students can participate in by scanning a QR code on their smartphones.

<a href="https://ellii.com/gather/ellii-polls/distracted-driving" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3788/content_Screen_Shot_2024-05-30_at_1.16.03_PM.png" /></a>

<h2>Further reading&nbsp;</h2>

You&rsquo;ll find more about mediation in these blog posts:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/6-english-language-teaching-trends-in-2023" target="_blank">6 English Language Teaching Trends in 2023</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-simplify-complex-tasks-with-visual-prompts" target="_blank">How to Simplify Complex Tasks with Visual Prompts</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/translanguaging-embracing-the-power-of-multilingualism-in-your-classroom" target="_blank">Translanguaging: Embracing the Power of Multilingualism in Your Classroom</a></li>
</ul>

I also highly recommend Riccardo Chiappini and Ethan Mansur&rsquo;s book entitled <a href="https://www.deltapublishing.co.uk/book/activities-for-mediation-9783125017443" target="_blank">Activities for Mediation</a>. And this comprehensive resource from the <a href="https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages/mediation" target="_blank">CEFR</a>.&nbsp;

<blockquote>
What experience do you have with mediation? How do you incorporate it into the classroom? We&rsquo;d love to hear from you.
</blockquote>

&nbsp;

Mediation: The What, Why & How Explained 

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Over the past two years, I&#39;ve written 50 blog posts for Ellii!&nbsp;

Fifty blog posts sounds like an overwhelming number, yet when you break it into a post every couple of weeks, it was all very manageable. Plus, I had a lot of fun researching and writing each one.&nbsp;

Here are some of my top posts:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/speaking-at-an-elt-conference-top-tips-for-successful-presentations" target="_blank">Speaking at an ELT Conference: Top Tips for Successful Presentations</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-use-videos-in-class" target="_blank">4 Ways to Use Videos Effectively in Class</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/3-end-of-term-activities-for-students" target="_blank">3 Awesome End-of-Term Activities for English Learners</a></li>
</ul>

In this post, I&rsquo;ll explore the benefits of blogging, some of my favorite ELT blogs, and some tips for starting your own.&nbsp;

<h2>Benefits</h2>

<h3>1. Personal development</h3>

One of the things I have enjoyed most about blogging for Ellii is having an excuse to swot up on*&nbsp;a certain topic. In ELT, there are always new techniques, activities, or methodologies to explore. Writing a blog is an added motivation boost to do this.&nbsp;

<h3>2. Sharing expertise</h3>

Blogging is a great way to set yourself up as an industry expert. You can share your research, classroom ideas, and best practices with the world. Plus, when others comment on your posts, you can make new connections and find out more about that topic.&nbsp;

<h3>3. Profile raising&nbsp;</h3>

Blogging is a non-intimidating way to raise your profile. When I first started out with my own blog, I didn&rsquo;t have the confidence to vlog or deliver a webinar. Blogging allowed me to gently try engaging with the ELT world online. I was able to edit my work and get my messaging right before posting. When people started complimenting and sharing my posts, this gave me more motivation to try other ways to share my skills. And of course, this led to more writing, training, and blogging work.&nbsp;

<h3>4. Enjoyment</h3>

Blogging is fun, therapeutic, and reflective. There have been weeks when I&rsquo;ve been stressed by other projects. However, I often find that sitting down for a couple of hours to focus on writing can help relieve that stress. It&rsquo;s two hours of deep focus on one subject and an opportunity to process&nbsp;information in a new way.&nbsp;

<h2>My favorite ELT blogs</h2>

There are a lot of fabulous blogs out there for English language teachers. I can&rsquo;t name them all so I&rsquo;ll give you my top four bloggers, and I hope that you add the ones I&rsquo;ve missed in the comments!

<h3>Sandy Millin</h3>

Sandy Millin is an ELT author, trainer, and blogging legend. If you ever have FOMO** about a conference, chances are Sandy attended and wrote extensive notes! Her blog covers almost every imaginable topic and has guest posts from many ELT experts.&nbsp;

<a href="https://sandymillin.wordpress.com/">sandymillin.wordpress.com</a>&nbsp;

<h3>Peter J. Fullagar</h3>

Peter is one of my ELT heroes. He has recently published a fantastic book entitled Existence. It does what every ELT coursebook should be doing&mdash;representing rather than omitting LGBTQIA+ identities. His blog posts date back to 2008 and range from inclusion, to well-being, to Virginia Woolf.&nbsp;

<a href="https://peterjfullagar.co.uk/">peterjfullagar.co.uk</a>

<h3>Peter Clements&nbsp;</h3>

Peter is an EAL teacher, author, and consultant. His impressive back catalogue of blog posts and ELT publications will leave you wondering whether he invented an infinite time-making machine! He&rsquo;s also created some fantastic lessons for Ellii, such as this Discussion Starters lesson on <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4101-influencers" target="_blank">Influencers</a> and this Academic Vocabulary lesson on <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4185-the-digestive-system" target="_blank">The Digestive System</a>.

<a href="https://eltplanning.com/">eltplanning.com</a>

<h3>Rachael Roberts</h3>

I&rsquo;m a big fan of Rachael Roberts. I wouldn&rsquo;t be the confident, business-minded ELT professional that I am today if it weren&#39;t for her! Her blog is full of essential entrepreneurial advice such as negotiating contracts, marketing yourself, and managing work&ndash;life balance.&nbsp;

<a href="https://earnlearnthriveinelt.com/free-stuff/">earnlearnthriveinelt.com/free-stuff</a>

<h2>Tips for&nbsp;starting your own blog</h2>

The hardest thing about starting your own blog is getting started! My top tip would be to just put your fingers on a keyboard and see where they take you!&nbsp;

Here are some other tips for blogging:

<h3>1. Start for free</h3>

There are a lot of options when it comes to choosing your blogging platform. Wordpress, Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace are all common hosting providers. Free sites tend to have advertisements, but when you&rsquo;re just starting out, this is perfectly reasonable. Once you&rsquo;ve built up a following you can consider other options. You could also get started by sharing longer posts on Instagram, Linkedin, or Facebook.&nbsp;

<h3>2. Feel the fear and blog anyway</h3>

I was terrified the first time I wrote a blog post. I think I proofread it at least ten times! I&rsquo;m pretty sure I also asked a couple of friends to read it too. Now I&rsquo;m not so worried about a misplaced comma or one tiny little typo. No one really cares about that! And if they do, they&rsquo;ll most likely send a friendly private message so you can quietly update it.&nbsp;

The ELT world is blessed to have so many supportive people working together to improve student experiences. You&rsquo;ll be pleasantly surprised by the encouraging feedback you get.&nbsp;

<h3>3. Collaborate</h3>

You might need a bit of extra motivation to get started. I often find that collaborating with someone can be the extra nudge I need. Ask your contacts if they&rsquo;d like to write something with you, or if they&rsquo;d like you to write an article or blog post for them.&nbsp;

You can find ideas for blogs and magazines that are always looking for articles here:&nbsp;

<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/beyond-teaching-elt-careers-to-keep-you-motivated">Beyond Teaching: ELT Careers to Keep You Motivated&nbsp;</a>

<h3>4. Write about what you know</h3>

Everyone has a valuable experience to share with the world. It&rsquo;s much easier to write about something you know well&nbsp;than to research something completely new. If you have been trialing new techniques to teach literacy, write about that. There are always other teachers interested in sharing best practices and learning new approaches.&nbsp;

Blogging can also be a fantastic way for students to use their language skills. Here&rsquo;s a lesson plan you might want to check out: <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/1828-how-to-write-a-blog-post " target="_blank">How to Write a Blog Post</a>. You can also share these <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/categories/for-students" target="_blank">blog posts that are made for EL students</a> and encourage them to practice leaving comments.

<h3>Glossary</h3>

*swot up on: to study intensely (British English)

**FOMO: fear of missing out

<blockquote>
What benefits, bloggers, and top tips would you add to this post? We&rsquo;d love to know your thoughts and recommendations.&nbsp;
</blockquote>

The Benefits of Blogging: A Guide for Teachers

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Learn how to make the most of your Ellii subscription with tips from our publishing team.

Teaching with Ellii

A more organized teacher is a better teacher, don&#39;t you think? 
We do! So we built a clean and simple organizational feature we&#39;re calling &quot;Lesson&nbsp;Planner.&quot;

The Lesson Planner is designed as a Kanban board with three lanes: Prepping, Teaching, and Taught. Drag Ellii content across any lane to effortlessly prepare for your classes ahead, instantly assign lessons to your students, and see what you were working on recently. It&#39;s a super simple way to stay organized and teach better.

To get content into the Lesson Planner, simply click on the Add to Class button from any Lesson or Resource page, choose the class and lane you&#39;d like to save it to, and you&#39;re done! You will immediately be able to see your selected lesson content in the Lesson Planner inside your class.

By clicking on any lesson or resource inside the Lesson Planner, you can set a due date, leave a note for your students, and edit the lesson tasks. You can also pre-schedule the release date of any lesson, making planning and assigning content to your students a breeze!

See how the Lesson Planner works in the video below:

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Lorc2EN3MEs?si=2RuZ__1RrPLB-tX2" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>

Our goal is to help make class prepping easier and more enjoyable. Give Ellii&#39;s Lesson Planner a try today.

Happy Teaching!

Try Class Prepping with Ellii's Lesson Planner

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Learn tips on how to teach grammar and usage from our editors and grammar experts. 

Grammar & Usage

My intermediate ESL&nbsp;students enjoy beginning each class with a <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/structuring-your-class-with-dictation">dictation</a> as a way to review previously learned vocabulary items. Recently, the dictation included the expression &ldquo;be supposed to.&rdquo; A couple of students raised their hands and asked me to spell and explain it. I was rather surprised that they were unfamiliar with such a common phrase.

I talked to the instructors in my program who teach the lower levels and found that they did not cover &ldquo;be supposed to&rdquo; in their classes. I also had a hard time finding it in grammar textbooks. Since this expression is used so frequently in conversational English, I felt that it was time for a post explaining&nbsp;its usage and providing practical tips on how to use it correctly.

<h2>Understanding the basics</h2>

&quot;Be supposed to&quot; is an idiomatic expression used for&nbsp;obligation, expectation, or intention. Found mainly in the simple present and simple past tenses,&nbsp;it is&nbsp;typically used to express what is considered normal, customary, or required in a given situation. While its primary function is to indicate duty or responsibility, &quot;be supposed to&quot; can also convey assumptions or beliefs about what is likely or intended to happen.

<h2>Structure</h2>

The structure of this phrase is straightforward:

subject + Be verb + supposed to + base form of the main verb

<h2>Usage in the simple present</h2>

1. Expressing obligation

<ul>
	<li>Example: I am supposed to submit&nbsp;my report&nbsp;tomorrow morning.</li>
	<li>Explanation: In this context, &quot;am supposed to&quot; indicates a sense of obligation or responsibility. The speaker is following their boss&#39;s request.</li>
	<li>Note: &quot;Must&quot; could also be used in this example, but it would suggest more serious consequences if the speaker fails to meet the dealine. In other words, if &quot;must&quot; is used, the speaker could be fired if they don&#39;t submit their report on time. With &quot;am supposed to,&quot; the speaker may face lesser consequences such as being reprimanded.</li>
</ul>

2. Indicating expectation

<ul>
	<li>Example: It&nbsp;is supposed to rain&nbsp;tomorrow.</li>
	<li>Explanation: Here, &quot;is supposed to&quot; conveys an expected occurrence. Perhaps the speaker has read a weather report or watched the news to get this information and believes that it is true or probable.</li>
</ul>

3. Describing intention

<ul>
	<li>Example: My aunt and uncle&nbsp;are supposed to visit&nbsp;us this summer.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Explanation: In this case, &quot;are supposed to&quot; suggests an intended action. The speaker&#39;s&nbsp;aunt and uncle&nbsp;have plans to visit.</li>
</ul>

4. Repeating hearsay

<ul>
	<li>Example: The Yellow Umbrella Cafe is supposed to have the best pizza in town.</li>
	<li>Explantion: The speaker has heard other people talk about&nbsp;the Yellow Umbrella Cafe, or they may have read about it online, in a newspaper, or in a magazine.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h2>Usage in the simple past</h2>

When discussing the past, the phrase &quot;was/were supposed to&quot; is used to express unfulfilled expectations or unmet obligations.

<ul>
	<li>Example: She was supposed to call&nbsp;me when she reached her destination, but she forgot.</li>
	<li>Explanation: In this instance, &quot;was supposed to&quot; indicates an obligation that was not met in the past. The result could lead to disappointment, anger, or surprise.</li>
</ul>



<h2>Common pitfalls to avoid</h2>

<ol>
	<li>Don&#39;t confuse &quot;be supposed to&quot; with the verb &quot;suppose&quot; or the adverb &quot;supposedly.&quot;&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Pay attention to the correct conjugation of the verb &quot;to be&quot; based on the subject of the sentence.</li>
</ol>

<blockquote>
Do your learners incorporate &quot;be supposed to&quot; in their speech and writing? How do you present&nbsp;&quot;be supposed to&quot; in your classes? We&#39;d love to hear your thoughts and ideas.
</blockquote>



&nbsp;

From Obligation to Expectation: Exploring “Be Supposed To”

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As the world gets smaller with technology, teacherpreneurism is becoming more common. Merging the terms &quot;teacher&quot; and &quot;entrepreneur,&quot; teacherpreneurs are teachers who set themselves up in business.&nbsp;

In this post, I&rsquo;ll explore how to become a teacherpreneur and give examples that&nbsp;will inspire you on your journey.&nbsp;

<h2>1. Have an idea that solves a problem</h2>

The key to success is to find something that your ideal customer NEEDS. If you offer something that improves their lives, saves them time, or helps them achieve their goals, you&rsquo;re on to a winner.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Think about your skills, experiences, and passions. Then consider how you might use these to give your customers something that they couldn&rsquo;t live without.&nbsp;

It&rsquo;s also important to know exactly who your ideal customer is and tailor your offering to them.&nbsp;

<h2>2. Make yourself visible</h2>

You&rsquo;re not going to sell anything if no one knows you (or your company) exist! Successful teacherpreneurs know how to market themselves and their products.&nbsp;

You can raise your profile by:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>speaking at conferences and online events</li>
	<li>blogging or vlogging</li>
	<li>posting on social media</li>
	<li>building an email list</li>
	<li>starting a podcast</li>
</ul>

<h2>3. Find your niche</h2>

There&rsquo;s a lot of competition out there, so you need to find a way to stand out. And if you&rsquo;re going to devote a lot of time to your teacherpreneurial ventures, you&rsquo;ll want it to be something you love. Find something you&rsquo;re good at&nbsp;and raise your profile doing it until you&rsquo;re recognized as one of the top experts in your field.&nbsp;

<h2>4. Get a coach or accountability buddy</h2>

As a freelancer or teacherpreneur, you may feel like you don&rsquo;t really know where to begin or what to focus on. A business coach can be the supportive line manager that helps you do this (but that you pay for)! They don&rsquo;t come cheap, but they will help you hone your idea, market yourself, and stay on track.&nbsp;

If you can&rsquo;t afford a business coach or aren&rsquo;t ready to pay for one, many offer group programs or free taster challenges.&nbsp;

For example, Rachael Roberts at <a href="https://earnlearnthriveinelt.com/">Earn Live Thrive</a> frequently runs a &quot;Festival of Freelancing,&quot; which is packed with tools to set up your business, plan your marketing, write engaging emails, and overcome negative mindset gremlins. She also has lots of free business-related guides on her site.&nbsp;

<a href="https://olakowalska.com/">Ola Kowalska</a> is another business coach who is bursting with enthusiasm. Her podcast, Get Richer Teacher,&nbsp;is definitely worth downloading if you&rsquo;re in need of guidance and inspiration. Her website is also full of free guides, blogs, and info to get you started.&nbsp;

Alternatively, find a friend with a similar ambition and team up with them to be accountability buddies. You can offer each other constructive criticism and insights to business plans, social media strategies, and&nbsp;a gentle nudge to stay motivated.&nbsp;

<h2>5. Look for inspiration&nbsp;</h2>

Look at what others are doing and think about what it is that makes them successful. Perhaps they&rsquo;ve found the perfect problem to solve or maybe they&rsquo;re absolutely brilliant at marketing themselves and attracting customers.&nbsp;

Here are some ELTpreneurs that inspire me:&nbsp;

<h3>Ben Buckwold, CEO of Ellii:&nbsp;</h3>

I couldn&rsquo;t write a blog post for Ellii about teacherpreneurism without mentioning our very own CEO, Ben Buckwold! Ben was a teacherpreneur before it was cool! In December 2002, he returned to Canada after years of teaching in Japan. His dream was to set up a subscription-based site offering teachers ready-to-use lessons on every imaginable topic. And so ESL Library, which is now Ellii, was created. And we all know how much it improves teachers&rsquo; lives around the world!

Here&rsquo;s the full story: <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/looking-back-on-20-years-of-ellii" target="_blank">Looking Back on 20 Years of Ellii</a>. You might also appreciate his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vhmgjB8UM0" target="_blank">2024 TESOL speech</a>, which talks about Ellii&#39;s journey as a long-term sponsor of the international convention.

<h3>Marek Kiczkowiak, Academic English Now</h3>

Marek has found the perfect problem to solve&mdash;and he solves it to a consistently high standard.&nbsp;

His company, <a href="https://academicenglishnow.com/" target="_blank">Academic English Now</a>, helps academics&nbsp;get published in high-impact research publications. This helps them achieve their goals, gain recognition in their field, and secure tenured positions.&nbsp;

<h3>Ann Margaret Smith, ELTWell</h3>

<a href="https://eltwell.com/" target="_blank">Ann Margaret Smith</a> is one of the leading voices on inclusive language teaching. She has created numerous support packs for learners with specific learning differences and neurodiversities. Her course on supporting learners with neurodiversity is one of the most informative and important professional development courses I have ever done.&nbsp;

<h3>Nicola Prentis, The Chilled Investor</h3>

It is often said that you don&rsquo;t go into English language teaching for the money. But if you&rsquo;re reading this post, perhaps you&rsquo;re looking for other routes to financial security. <a href="https://chilledinvestor.com/" target="_blank">Nicola Prentis</a> is an ELT professional who coaches people to make their money work for them &quot;instead of the other way round.&quot; Her courses support other ELTers to make educated financial choices about pensions and investments, to retire earlier, and to work less.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<h3>Laura Wilkes, TESOL Pop &amp; Communicating for Impact</h3>

<a href="https://communicating-for-impact.com/" target="_blank">Laura</a> has been creating some of the most popular ELT-related podcasts for years. She now wants to share her expertise with other ELT professionals. Creating a podcast can help you share your knowledge with the world and build strong relationships with your audience. And Laura is the perfect person to show you how.&nbsp;

<blockquote>
What tips would you add to this list? Would you like to be a teacherpreneur? Are there any other teacherpreneurs that inspire you? We&rsquo;d love to know your thoughts and ideas. 
</blockquote>

And if you&rsquo;d like to introduce entrepreneurism into your classes, here are some lessons:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/1681-internet-entrepreneurs" target="_blank">Internet Entrepreneurs</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4061-entrepreneurs-simple-past" target="_blank">Entrepreneurs -&nbsp;Simple Past</a></li>
</ul>

How to Be a Teacherpreneur

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English language teaching is a rewarding career. You get to meet interesting students from around the world, learn about their cultures, and maybe even live in new places.&nbsp;

In order to find your first job, teach effectively, stay motivated, and progress in your career, you&rsquo;ll need to dedicate yourself to continuous professional development. CPD is an essential part of any career, and there are many options for English language teachers.&nbsp;

In this blog post, I&rsquo;ll explore the essential professional development courses for ELT professionals.&nbsp;

Before I start, I should clear up some of the acronyms:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>ELT - English Language Teaching</li>
	<li>TEFL - Teaching English as a Foreign Language</li>
	<li>TESOL - Teaching English as a Second Language&nbsp;</li>
	<li>ESOL - English for Speakers of Other Languages</li>
	<li>ESL - English as a Second Language</li>
</ul>

In general, ELT is the umbrella term of TEFL, TESOL, ESL, and ESOL. TEFL tends to focus on teaching English in a country where the first language is not English (e.g., South Korea).&nbsp;

TESOL, ESL, or ESOL refers to teaching English in a country where the first language is English. In the UK, you&rsquo;d be teaching ESOL, whereas in the US, Canada, and Australia, you&rsquo;d be teaching ESL.&nbsp;

<h2>1. Initial teacher training&nbsp;</h2>

If you&rsquo;re starting out in English language teaching, you might want to see if you actually like it first! There are tons of introductory TEFL/TESOL courses available both online and in person.&nbsp;

These courses are often 120 hours and include essentials such as basic teaching&nbsp;theories, classroom activities, and grammar. However, it&rsquo;s unlikely that they will qualify you for a paid teaching role.&nbsp;

Most employers will require you to have:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>a bachelor&rsquo;s degree from university (any subject)</li>
	<li>a certificate in ELT (which includes observed classroom practice)</li>
	<li>a proficient level of English&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

These introductory modules are a great starting point, though, or even as a review for practicing teachers.&nbsp;

<h2>2. Certificate in ELT</h2>

Alongside a university-level degree, this is the minimum certification level you will need to secure a job as a language teacher. Although there are many providers, it&rsquo;s essential to check that classroom practice is included in the certification.&nbsp;

The most common certificates in ELT (which include observed classroom practice) are:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/teaching-english/teaching-qualifications/celta/" target="_blank">The Cambridge CELTA</a>:&nbsp;Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults</li>
	<li><a href="https://www.trinitycollege.com/qualifications/teaching-english/CertTESOL" target="_blank">The Trinity CertTESOL</a>:&nbsp;Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages</li>
</ul>

Both of these certificates are available online and face-to-face. They include:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>language awareness</li>
	<li>learner profiling</li>
	<li>classroom management</li>
	<li>lesson planning&nbsp;</li>
	<li>learning methodologies</li>
</ul>

Each course takes 200 hours and can be pretty intense, whether you opt for the one-month intensive or part-time options.&nbsp;

<h2>3. Diploma in ELT</h2>

Once you have a few years of post-certificate teaching practice, you&rsquo;ll be ready to develop your skills with a diploma. Again, the most well-respected providers are Trinity College London and Cambridge University.&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.trinitycollege.com/qualifications/teaching-english/diptesol" target="_blank">Trinity College DipTESOL</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/teaching-english/teaching-qualifications/delta/" target="_blank">Cambridge DELTA</a></li>
</ul>

Much like the Trinity and Cambridge certificates, both are available as:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>online or face-to-face</li>
	<li>intensive or part-time</li>
</ul>

Each has a research, written, exam, and observed teaching practice component. They are both designed to deepen your skills and knowledge as an ELT professional.&nbsp;

<h2>4. Master&rsquo;s degrees</h2>

In general, most ELT professionals do master&rsquo;s level degrees after completing certificates or diplomas. However, it is possible to skip straight to this level with the right entry qualifications.&nbsp;

There are countless master&rsquo;s level options. The program&nbsp;you choose will depend on your location, the cost, your interests&nbsp;and career goals, and whether you prefer to study online or in person.&nbsp;

Some master&rsquo;s programs are research-focused, allowing you to investigate a particular area of interest. Others follow a specific curriculum.&nbsp;

Common master&rsquo;s degrees for language teaching professionals include:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>MA - master of arts&nbsp;</li>
	<li>MEd - master of education</li>
</ul>

These can follow more distinct subjects such as applied linguistics, TESOL, or learning technologies.&nbsp;

To find out more about master&rsquo;s programs, search online for universities or subjects that interest you. You could also seek recommendations from peers or colleagues.&nbsp;

<h2>5. PhDs</h2>

This is the highest qualification for ELT professionals. Gaining a doctorate can take many years of dedicated study, but can be worth the effort.&nbsp;

It can be a good option if:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>you have a specific area of interest you&rsquo;d like to research</li>
	<li>you&rsquo;d like to advance a certain aspect of language teaching</li>
	<li>you want to explore your master&rsquo;s research topic more</li>
	<li>your goal is to secure a university-level role</li>
</ul>

Finding the right PhD program will take time. The application process is rigorous, and you&rsquo;ll need to submit initial research to be accepted. You&rsquo;ll also have to show strong academic and research skills.&nbsp;

To find out more about PhDs:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>search online for universities that interest you</li>
	<li>search for funding opportunities and scholarships</li>
	<li>speak to other academics for advice</li>
</ul>

<h2>6. Other courses</h2>

I&rsquo;ve covered most of the common routes for English language teachers. However, there are many other options.&nbsp;

Here are some examples:&nbsp;

<h4>Teaching Young Learners</h4>

Trinity College London offers the TYLEC, or Teaching Young Learners Extension Certificate. This certificate supports teachers to deepen their practice with specifically teaching learners aged 7&ndash;16. You can find out more <a href="https://www.trinitycollege.com/qualifications/teaching-english/TYLEC" target="_blank">here</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;

NILE

<a href="https://www.nile-elt.com/" target="_blank">Norwich Institute of Language Education</a> offers MA programs, CELTAs, and DELTAs as well as a range of other courses, including:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Learning Differences &amp; Inclusion&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Management</li>
	<li>Materials Development</li>
	<li>Testing &amp; Evaluation</li>
	<li>Teaching English for Academic Purposes</li>
	<li>Content &amp; Language Integrated Learning</li>
</ul>

<h3>7. Independent courses</h3>

With the rise in online learning, many ELT experts have created group programs and online courses in very niche areas. For example:&nbsp;

Clare Hayward offers training on <a href="https://hayward-elt-training.com/about/">how to use Canva</a> to create classroom materials.&nbsp;

Michelle Worgan provides teacher development on <a href="http://www.michelleworgan.com/ " target="_blank">inquiry-based learning</a>.

Katherine Bilsborough and John Hughes have a course on <a href="http://www.writingeltmaterials.com/  " target="_blank">materials development</a>.&nbsp;

Emily Bryson (that&rsquo;s me) has courses on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.emilybrysonelt.com/">graphic facilitation and sketchnoting for ELT</a>.&nbsp;

I list more of these opportunities in my <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teacherpreneur" target="_blank">Teacherpreneurs</a> post, such as coaching, financial management, podcasting, neurodiversity, and publishing academic research.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<h2>8. Ellii.com resources</h2>

If taking on a whole new training course leaves you feeling overwhelmed, Ellii has plenty of other professional development options for you:&nbsp;

Blogs: Ellii has countless&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog">blog posts to help you deepen your knowledge of language teaching</a>.&nbsp;

Webinars: The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@elliiteachers">Ellii for Teachers YouTube channel</a> has a comprehensive selection of webinars, training videos, and demos.&nbsp;

ElliiCon: Ellii has hosted a few&nbsp;free online conferences with ELT experts from all over the world. You can catch up on previous years at Ellii&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@elliiteachers" target="_blank">YouTube channel</a>&nbsp;for teachers.

<blockquote>
What professional development courses have you taken? What are your CPD goals? We&rsquo;d love to know here in the comments.
</blockquote>

Getting Started & Moving Forward: Professional Development for ELT 

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Looking for guidance on how to teach grammar targets? We&#39;ve turned our popular grammar materials into practical and easy-to-follow courses! 
 
Each of our nine&nbsp;grammar <a href="https://ellii.com/packs?page=1" target="_blank">courses</a> is packed full of comprehensive lessons and engaging supplementary materials, all designed to help your students master tricky grammar targets. 
 
Ranging from pre-beginner to advanced, we&#39;ve designed our courses to cover the important grammar structures and uses for every learning level!

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AEpRuqwmmaY?si=95ozdGL_PHAs4W1W" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div>

We hope you love this ready-made, grammar-focused curriculum!&nbsp;Let us know what you think. Happy teaching! 💛

<ol>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/grammar-groundwork-1/materials" target="_blank">Grammar Groundwork 1</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/grammar-groundwork-2/materials" target="_blank">Grammar Groundwork 2</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/grammar-groundwork-3/materials" target="_blank">Grammar Groundwork 3</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/grammar-growth-1/materials" target="_blank">Grammar Growth 1</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/grammar-growth-2/materials" target="_blank">Grammar Growth 2</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/grammar-growth-3/materials" target="_blank">Grammar Growth 3</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/grammar-genius-1/materials" target="_blank">Grammar Genius 1</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/grammar-genius-2/materials" target="_blank">Grammar Genius 2</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/grammar-genius-3/materials" target="_blank">Grammar Genius 3</a></li>
</ol>

A Ready-Made Grammar Curriculum for Every ELL Level

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Anyone who does the same job for a long time will have their highs and lows in motivation. This is no different, if perhaps even more common, for teachers.&nbsp;

If there&rsquo;s one thing I&rsquo;ve learned from over 20 years in English language teaching, it&rsquo;s that variety is the key to staying motivated. Taking on a new project, signing up for professional development, or changing roles at work are all great ways to keep the passion for teaching alive.&nbsp;

In this post, I&rsquo;ll take a look at&nbsp;different pathways you could explore to move upwards or sideways, or to just reignite your love of educating.&nbsp;

<h2>Teacher training</h2>

Every teacher has diverse and valuable experiences, skills, and knowledge to share with the world. If you&rsquo;ve carried out some research, trialed something new, or are just absolutely fabulous at a certain aspect of teaching, you can bet others will want to know.&nbsp;

Getting into teacher training can sometimes be daunting, but it is also very rewarding. It can be nerve-racking sharing your skills to&nbsp;rooms full of experienced professionals. However, it&rsquo;s always wonderful to see those techniques being interpreted in different ways&nbsp;and adapted for different contexts.&nbsp;&nbsp;

To get started, you may want to gain confidence by delivering sessions for your team. You could also look for online or face-to-face conferences.&nbsp;

Here are some blog posts you might find useful:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/speaking-at-an-elt-conference-top-tips-for-successful-presentations">Top Tips for Successful Conference Presentations</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/speaking-at-an-elt-conference-demystifying-the-application-process" target="_blank">Speaking at an ELT Conference: Demystifying the Application Process</a></li>
</ul>

<h2>Leadership &amp; management</h2>

This is often the obvious pathway for many careers. Leading a team or managing a school has many benefits.&nbsp;Perhaps the most attractive advantage is increased salary. However, it can also allow you to use and develop your skills to their full potential.&nbsp;

For example, directors of studies and senior lecturers can be responsible for:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>recruitment &amp; induction</li>
	<li>marketing</li>
	<li>team building</li>
	<li>curriculum development</li>
	<li>client liaison</li>
	<li>sales &amp; promotion</li>
	<li>human resources</li>
</ul>

These are just a few of the skills you could gain in a role as an academic manager. Of course, with these responsibilities can come additional stress. Plus, you&rsquo;d also need to consider whether you&rsquo;d miss being in the classroom.&nbsp;

<h2>Research in academia</h2>

Academic research leads the way for advances in teaching methodology. Getting a job as a university lecturer isn&rsquo;t easy, though. First, you&rsquo;ll need to get a PhD. You&rsquo;ll also need to get your research published in peer-reviewed industry journals.&nbsp;

However, there are other ways to get involved in research. You could sign up for a diploma or a master&rsquo;s degree in TESOL. It&rsquo;s likely that these will have at least one research module.

An alternative is to do some action research. This is when you identify a problem or area of teaching practice you&rsquo;d like to explore and then trial different approaches to it in your classroom.

You can find more information&nbsp;in this <a href="https://www.emilybrysonelt.com/action-research-a-sketchnote/ ">active research sketchnote</a>.&nbsp;

<img alt="action-research" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3687/content_Ellii_Doing-action-research-sketchnote-Emily-Bryson.png" />

<h2>Blogging &amp; writing</h2>

Writing articles for ELT magazines and blogging can be a fun <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4928-side-hustles" target="_blank">side hustle</a>. If you enjoy writing, it&rsquo;s a great way to share your expertise with the world and build your online presence.&nbsp;

To get started, you&rsquo;ll probably need to contribute on a voluntary basis first. Publications such as <a href="https://www.iatefl.org/get-involved">IATEFL Voices</a>, <a href="https://www.hltmag.co.uk/">Pilgrims Humanising Language Teaching</a>,&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.natecla.org.uk/content/566/Language-Issues-The-ESOL-journal">Language Issues</a>&nbsp;(NATECLA) are always looking for articles.&nbsp;

If you&rsquo;d prefer to get paid, do some online networking with the marketing teams in larger ELT organizations. You could also contact <a href="https://www.modernenglishteacher.com/write-for-us" target="_blank">Modern English Teacher</a>, which offers a small payment&nbsp;for articles.&nbsp;

Having your own blog is a clever way to be invited to write articles for other organizations. I wouldn&rsquo;t be here writing this post for Ellii if Tara hadn&rsquo;t seen one of my own posts.

<h2>Materials development</h2>

If you love creating your own resources and aren&rsquo;t overly motivated by money, this could be a good route for you. In general, ELT content writers and editors tend to earn about the same as teachers. Contrary to myth, this pathway isn&rsquo;t paved with gold!

However, developing content that engages learners can be really enjoyable. You get to work with international teams, meet new people, and add a little piece of you to language classes. I personally also find it quite therapeutic.&nbsp;

If you&rsquo;d like to explore this route, I&rsquo;d recommend developing your own bank of resources. You can then share these online to build your profile or use them as samples to apply for work. You could also sell them on educational marketplace sites.&nbsp;

To get started, follow experts in the field like <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhugheselt/" target="_blank">John Hughes</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherinebilsborough-eltwriter-eltteachertrainer/" target="_blank">Katherine Bilsborough</a>, who run their own materials development training course. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/atenajuszko/" target="_blank">Atena Juzsko</a> often shares jobs posts too. And <a href="https://www.publishingprofessionals.co.uk/" target="_blank">Freelance Publishing Professionals</a> is a membership organization that post regular materials development opportunities and advice. They also host frequent training and networking events.&nbsp;

Here&rsquo;s a sketchnote I did for their ELT Freelancers AwayDay.&nbsp;

<img alt="networking sketchnote" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3688/content_Ellii_networking-tips-sketchnote-Emily-Bryson.png" />

<h2>Publishing, sales &amp; marketing</h2>

I often feel that this route can be overlooked by teachers looking for a new career path. However, every ELT publisher has a variety of roles that require industry knowledge.&nbsp;

Working in sales and marketing can mean trips to conferences in other countries. It can also bring opportunities to visit schools in various locations. You&rsquo;ll need enthusiasm, presentation skills, and a love of socializing.&nbsp;

If this interests you, check out the vacancies pages of ELT organisations.&nbsp;

<h2>Teacherpreneur</h2>

It&rsquo;s becoming ever more possible to create your own job. Choose your niche, promote yourself, and build a variety of products and income streams.&nbsp;

Being a teacherpreneur means you could get paid for what you&rsquo;re most passionate about. This could be:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>creating materials&nbsp;</li>
	<li>teacher development (e.g., podcasting, graphic facilitation, financial or digital literacy skills)</li>
	<li>teaching a particular niche of student (e.g., artists, soccer players, activists)</li>
</ul>

So that&rsquo;s just a few ideas of different roles you can have in ELT. It&rsquo;s not just about teaching! Look around for inspiration and opportunities!

<blockquote>
What roles are you most interested in? What other opportunities are there? Any advice to share on how to get started in these pathways? We&rsquo;d love to hear your ideas.&nbsp;
</blockquote>

If you&rsquo;d like to support your students to consider their own careers, here are some Ellii lessons and collections:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/everyday-topics/jobs-employment" target="_blank">Jobs &amp; Employment</a> (Collection)</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/gather/ellii-polls/career-pathways">Career Pathways</a>&nbsp;(Ellii Poll)</li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2099-how-to-write-a-resume " target="_blank">How to Write a Resume</a>&nbsp;(Lesson)</li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/1815-jobs " target="_blank">Jobs</a>&nbsp;(Lesson)</li>
</ul>

Beyond Teaching: ELT Careers to Keep You Motivated

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Tour around the ELT conference circuit as our team shares conference highlights and session reviews.

Conferences

<h2>Music City Vs. The Big Guava</h2>

Every year, spring conferences bring&nbsp;us to new cities for professional development, team building, and a chance to showcase everything we&#39;ve been creating and releasing, including <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/new-content" target="_blank">new content</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/feature-releases-platform-updates-2023" target="_blank">courseware</a>.

This spring, Ellii hit two cities in one week, with COABE in Nashville taking place right before&nbsp;TESOL in Tampa! It was a whirlwind of a week, and I thought it would be fun to compare&nbsp;the two conventions in one reflective post. (Scroll to the bottom for the video highlight!)

<blockquote>
&quot;The period following a conference is essential for translating the enthusiasm and ideas from the event into actionable steps.&quot; 
 
~ Ixchell Reyes,&nbsp;<a href="http://Beyond the Buzz: 5 Ways to Cultivate Convention Connections" target="_blank">Beyond the Buzz: 5 Ways to Cultivate Convention Connections</a>
</blockquote>

<img alt="Ellii TESOL booth 2024" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3654/content_tesol-booth-2024.png" />

<h2>COABE &ndash; the Coalition on Adult Basic Education</h2>

Together in Harmony

It was Ellii&#39;s first time attending the COABE National Conference (and my first time in Nashville). While the venue was intimidating, I knew it was going to be a successful conference when the first visitor to the Ellii booth, an ESOL instructor&nbsp;from Owens Community College, arrived with a sunny smile and some live <a href="https://ellii.com/tour/testimonials" target="_blank">#Love4Ellii</a>.&nbsp;

<blockquote>
&quot;I love Ellii! I don&#39;t even bother looking anywhere else!&quot; 
~&nbsp;Duaa Mustafa Ali
</blockquote>

<img alt="Ellii subscribers with T-shirts at COABE" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3668/content_COABE-Ellii-Tshirt-subscriber-dua.jpg" />

We loved handing out I love Ellii T-shirts to all of the subscribers who visited our booth, and we often spotted people wearing them throughout the week.

COABE attendees loved Ellii for several reasons, including our:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/casas-competencies" target="_blank">alignment to CASAS competencies</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/pronunciation" target="_blank">pronunciation videos</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/grammar" target="_blank">foundational content</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/214-how-to-sign-up-as-a-student-using-a-class-code" target="_blank">ease of student onboarding</a></li>
</ul>

Unlike at TESOL, not all of the attendees at COABE were focused on English language teaching. However&nbsp;there was no shortage of attendees looking for a solution like Ellii. These&nbsp;topics were of outmost interest to ELT attendees:

<ol>
	<li>CASAS STEPS assessments that have replaced the Life and Work series</li>
	<li>English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Integrated English Training Courses (IET)</li>
</ol>

Ellii has new initiatives coming soon related to all of the above thanks in part to&nbsp;the feedback and requests we received at&nbsp;COABE! It&nbsp;is going to be an exciting year of new releases for Ellii.

<h3>COABE sessions</h3>

The sessions I found most useful at COABE were about the updated CASAS tests. We&#39;ve been following the updates closely and are excited to be in close connection with CASAS as we continue to develop content that is useful for skill-building and skill-using in preparation for these assessments.&nbsp;

<h3>Nashville &amp; the Opryland Resort&nbsp;&nbsp;</h3>

<a href="https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/bnago-gaylord-opryland-resort-and-convention-center/photos/" target="_blank">The Gaylord Opryland Resort</a> was enormous and not easy to navigate! Even after three days at the resort, finding our way around was difficult and we missed a few sessions due to getting lost in the labyrinth. We were grateful for&nbsp;the complimentary snacks that were often placed right in front of the Ellii booth. 
 
As for Nashville itself, the Ellii team spent some time with locals rather than venturing into the tourist areas. We loved <a href="https://www.urbancowboy.com/nashville/" target="_blank">Urban Cowboy</a> for its cozy atmosphere, live music, and delicious hot cider, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lockelandtable.com/" target="_blank">Lockeland Table</a> for it&#39;s great pizza and cool vibe. The highlight was&nbsp;American Legion <a href="https://www.post82.org/" target="_blank">Post 82</a>, where we got a real flavor of Nashville for&nbsp;Honky Tonk Tuesday. The hospitality&nbsp;(including friendly Uber drivers) in Nashville was possibly the best&nbsp;I&#39;ve experienced in all of my years of attending conferences in the US. I look forward to returning for a holiday in the summer!

<img alt="Ellii enjoying Nashville Urban Cowboy" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3669/content_Ellii-COABE-2024-Cider-Urban-cowboy-Nashville.jpg" /> 
&nbsp;

<h2>TESOL Convention 2024</h2>

Tampa Bay, Florida&nbsp;

As a TESOL sponsor it was fun to arrive at the Marriot to&nbsp;find&nbsp;Ellii represented on the hotel key cards!&nbsp;

<img alt="Ellii key card at TESOL 2024" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3662/content_key-card-2024.png" /> 
&nbsp;

<blockquote>
&quot;Go meet someone who will change your life.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
~ Shelley Taylor, TESOL President
</blockquote>

The TESOL setup was a long day for Lise and Ashley with the rest of our team&nbsp;finishing up at&nbsp;COABE,&nbsp;but like every convention season, it&#39;s <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/all-hands-on-deck-all-the-time" target="_blank">all hands on deck</a> at Ellii! (And smiles all around.)

<img alt="Lise and Ashley from Ellii set up the booth for TESOL 2024" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3658/content_lise-ash-set-up-2024.jpg" />

TESOL always offers sessions on a wide range of topics, and we were curious if Emily&#39;s <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/elt-trends-to-watch-in-2024" target="_blank">ELT Trends</a> post was on target for 2024. Here are some topics that seemed to be getting a lot of interest at TESOL this year:&nbsp;&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Integrating AI&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Building community</li>
	<li>Storytelling</li>
	<li>Academic vocabulary</li>
	<li>Visual literacy</li>
</ul>

We attended sessions on all of the above and more! Here are some&nbsp;useful sources that were shared that we want to learn more about:

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/" target="_blank">The Manchester Academic Phrase Bank</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://press.umich.edu/Books/G/Grammar-Choices-for-Graduate-and-Professional-Writers-Second-Edition2" target="_blank">Grammar Choices for Graduate and Professional Writers</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/engage-your-audience-microsoft-teams-speaker-coach-/">Microsoft Speaker Coach&nbsp;</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0VkDf9LyEk" target="_blank">Jungle Chase</a> (Brain Break)</li>
	<li><a href="https://textinspector.com/help/corpus-of-contemporary-american-english-coca/" target="_blank">Text Inspector from COCA</a></li>
</ul>

Ellii&#39;s CEO Ben Buckwold gave several presentations that were well-attended, including a session on&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/ellii-polls" target="_blank">Ellii Polls</a>, our new FREE interactive feature. 
 
Some requests we received in our own sessions and at the booth included:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>a need for high-intermediate <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/real-world-reading" target="_blank">Real-World Reading</a> lessons</li>
	<li>a higher-level lesson on <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3867-reading-for-detail" target="_blank">Supporting Details</a></li>
	<li>an additional <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2230-how-to-cite-a-source" target="_blank">How to Cite a Source</a>&nbsp;in English&nbsp;lesson that focuses on&nbsp;APA instead of MLA</li>
	<li>higher-level <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/grammar" target="_blank">grammar</a> lessons</li>
	<li>more<a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/mini-debates" target="_blank"> Mini-Debates</a></li>
	<li>more lower-level <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/that-s-news-to-me" target="_blank">That&#39;s News to Me</a> lessons&nbsp;</li>
	<li>the ability for teachers&nbsp;to edit Ellii Polls</li>
	<li>sentence frames in the Stop &amp; Discuss area of&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/gather/ellii-polls" target="_blank">Ellii Polls&nbsp;</a></li>
	<li>the ability for administrators to create their own <a href="https://ellii.com/packs?page=1" target="_blank">Study Packs</a></li>
	<li>more accented voices in our audio and video</li>
	<li>standardized test prep content</li>
</ul>

<h3>Tampa &amp; the Convention Center</h3>

TCC was a great venue for TESOL! It was located right on the gorgeous <a href="https://thetampariverwalk.com/">Tampa Riverwalk</a> (ideal for someone like me who is training for a marathon).&nbsp;I even saw a dolphin during a boardwalk coffee break!

<img alt="Tampa Riverwalk" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3667/content_tampa-riverwalk.jpg" /> 
 
The lovely&nbsp;Marriot hotel, where some of the sessions were located, was just a few minutes-walk to the convention center, with&nbsp;good&nbsp;restaurants within steps of our room, including the&nbsp;delicious Mexican restaurant,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lonatampa.com/" target="_blank">Lona</a>. We also enjoyed the Cuban bread at <a href="https://tampabayhistorycenter.org/columbia-cafe/#menu" target="_blank">Columbia Cafe</a> and a windy dinner on&nbsp;the hotel patio with our new Canadian friend Johnny, founder of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.roshi.ai/" target="_blank">Roshi</a>!&nbsp; 
 
The TESOL Expo Hall felt&nbsp;a little too big for the number of exhbitors this year, but we were happy to meet so many teachers and administrators like we do every year!&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

<img alt="Ellii CEO Ben Buckwold with TESOL 2024 attendees" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3656/content_ben-attendees-tesol-2024.jpg" />

In addition to meeting subscribers and those who want to learn about Ellii, it is&nbsp;always lovely to chat with friends&nbsp;who&nbsp;we network with throughout the year! This year we got to meet Shey and Anna from our favorite ELT podcast,&nbsp;the <a href="https://www.teacherthinkaloud.com/" target="_blank">Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast.</a>&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<img alt="Anna and Shey of Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast with Ellii's VP of Publishing Tara Benwell at TESOL 2024" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3670/content_Ellii_Anna-Shey-Tara-TESOL-2024.jpg" />

To celebrate a successful&nbsp;week, we attended&nbsp;a stand-up comedy show at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thegimmickcomedy/?hl=en" target="_blank">The Gimmick Comedy Club</a> and walked through the lively downtown streets&nbsp;following&nbsp;a vibrant&nbsp;<a href="https://tampapride.org/parade-2/" target="_blank">PRIDE parade</a>. The ride back on the free <a href="http://www.tecolinestreetcar.org/" target="_blank">TECO streetcar</a>&nbsp;with new friends from a UK publishing team was a fun way to end a great week!

<img alt="Ellii team (Lise, Ashley, Tara, Ann) at TESOL 2024" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3671/content_Booth-Team-TESOL2024.jpg" />

<h3>Ending with a Full Circle Moment&nbsp;</h3>

While COABE was a great new experience&nbsp;and felt like the right place for Ellii to be, the highlight of the week for me was in the last few moments of TESOL,&nbsp;listening to our CEO, Ben, deliver the speech before the closing plenary. Ben had us in stitches and then almost in tears as he&nbsp;described the&nbsp;full circle moment of being in Tampa for TESOL as a top sponsor, the same city where our TESOL story began back in 2006. Here&#39;s the video recording. Thank you to everyone who reached out to say they loved this moment too!

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8vhmgjB8UM0?si=hq8Bz-NS1buZArQA" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>

 
We hope to see you next year in Dallas, Texas, for COABE 2025 and Long Beach, California,&nbsp;for TESOL 2025!&nbsp; 
 
~ Tara &amp;&nbsp;Team Ellii 
&nbsp;

PS. A special thank you to the&nbsp;TESOL attendee who delivered my purse&nbsp;safely to the information booth when I got a little too excited at an active storytelling session and left it behind. Though I may never get to thank you properly, this simple act of kindness left me full of gratitude&nbsp;(and gave me a story of hope to share with my Uber driver on the way home to Canada).

Reflecting on Spring Conferences 2024: COABE & TESOL

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There are many reasons to bring environmental matters into the ELT classroom:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>2023 was the warmest year on record.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Greenhouse gas levels are rising.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Ice caps and glaciers are melting.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Sea levels are rising.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>The number or extreme weather events has increased.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

This may sound like a scary list, but that is exactly why climate change is&nbsp;an important topic to discuss in class. These things are&nbsp;happening to the planet we live on right now and, consequently, the environment is&nbsp;a subject of global importance.&nbsp;

Including green-themed lessons in the ELT classroom can raise awareness of the climate crisis and inspire learners to make tiny changes to Earth.&nbsp;

In this post, I&rsquo;ll explore some ways to do this:&nbsp;

<h2>1. Follow green ELT accounts</h2>

One of the best ways to get ideas for greening your classroom is by following the experts. I always feel inspired by the content on <a href="https://eltfootprint.org/" target="_blank">ELT Footprint</a>, <a href="https://green-action-elt.uk/" target="_blank">Green Action ELT</a>, and <a href="https://renewableenglish.com/" target="_blank">Renewable English</a> socials. I also love being part of the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/eltfootprint/" target="_blank">ELT Footprint </a>Facebook group, where I can share my own ideas, ask questions, and find out about events.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<h2>2. Take action</h2>

Some of the best opportunities for students to learn English happen outside of the classroom. This can provide a chance for learners to use their language skills to work together towards a shared goal. For example:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>visiting a site of environmental importance (e.g., a recycling plant)</li>
	<li>attending a&nbsp;green event (e.g., a conference, rally, or concert)</li>
	<li>organizing a fundraiser (e.g., creating a recipe book to reduce food waste)</li>
	<li>creating something with upcycled materials (e.g., a greenhouse from plastic bottles)</li>
	<li>taking part in a community cleanup (e.g., a gardening event or litter pickup)</li>
	<li>starting a green-themed petition (e.g., to have more bicycle lanes)</li>
	<li>Plant something (e.g., trees, vegetables, fruit)</li>
</ul>

<h2>3. Get inspired</h2>

At Ellii, we absolutely love Ali Waters, daughter of ELT green guru Harry Waters. This unstoppable human has a mission, and she is on track to succeed. On her 11th birthday, Ali launched the #1millionlitterpick challenge. The goal is to collect and recycle one million pieces of plastic litter.

To get involved, get your students to collect as much litter as possible. Then count it and log it on &quot;Ali&rsquo;s Map&quot;&nbsp;app. You could also take photos&nbsp;and share your own successes with the world. This will spread the word, help Ali to achieve her goals, and make the world&nbsp;a cleaner, shinier place.&nbsp;

Learn all about <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/one-in-a-million-plastic-litter-challenge">Ali&#39;s one-in-a-million mission</a> in this post.

Here are some Ellii lessons you could use to introduce the theme of litter:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3308-ocean-garbage " target="_blank">Ocean Garbage</a>: Discussion Starters</li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/1212-garbage-solutions" target="_blank">Garbage Solutions</a>: Discussion Starters</li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/1246-composting" target="_blank">Composting</a>: Discussion Starters</li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/1281-food-waste" target="_blank">Food Waste</a>: Discussion Starters</li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4219-throw-it-out " target="_blank">Throw It Out!</a>: Photo Prompts</li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/1462-plastic " target="_blank">Plastic</a>: Famous Things</li>
</ul>

<h2>4. Encourage debate &amp; discussion</h2>

As with any topic of global importance, students will bring their own experiences and opinions to class. It&rsquo;s important to give them the opportunity to share their ideas in an open and respectful way.&nbsp;

<a href="https://ellii.com/gather/ellii-polls" target="_blank">Ellii Polls</a> are a great way to do this. They allow learners to anonymously share their views and&nbsp;they provide supported discussion questions.&nbsp;

Take this poll on <a href="https://ellii.com/gather/ellii-polls/water-conservation" target="_blank">Water Conservation</a>, for example:&nbsp;

Students scan the QR code to get started and then enter their name. Once everyone has joined the poll, the teacher can start the sequence of questions, discussion starters, and vocabulary.&nbsp;

<img alt="Ellii Poll QR Code Example" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3610/content_Screen_Shot_2024-02-23_at_11.00.49_AM.png" />

Students answer a question and then&nbsp;stop to discuss the responses, which they can see on the teacher&#39;s screen.&nbsp;After the responses come in, you could take the opportunity to encourage discussion around:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>whether students are surprised by the results</li>
	<li>students&rsquo; feelings about the results</li>
	<li>possible reasons for the results</li>
	<li>how to change the results</li>
</ul>

<img alt="Ellii Poll Question example" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3611/content_Screen_Shot_2024-02-23_at_11.02.07_AM.png" />

After the initiating yes/no question, you can&nbsp;continue the poll sequence to cover vocabulary input, agreeing and disagreeing, and more in-depth discussions.

<img alt="Ellii Poll Vocabulary" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3612/content_Screen_Shot_2024-02-23_at_11.03.15_AM.png" />

Next, students get a chance to agree or disagree about a set of statements related to the topic.

<img alt="agree or disagree example in an Ellii Poll" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3615/content_Screen_Shot_2024-02-23_at_12.16.23_PM.png" /> 
 
After that, students see&nbsp;further poll questions that allow them to elaborate.

&nbsp;<img alt="Ellii Poll questions" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3613/content_Screen_Shot_2024-02-23_at_11.04.36_AM.png" />

Finally, if your students seem interestsed in the topic, you can find related lessons at the end of the poll. Note that the polls are free for anyone to use; however, the lessons&nbsp;require a paid subscription.&nbsp;

 
<img alt="Related lessons in Ellii Polls" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3614/content_Screen_Shot_2024-02-23_at_11.14.03_AM.png" /> 
 
If you like the sound of this, you can check out Elli&rsquo;s ever-growing bank of<a href="https://ellii.com/gather/ellii-polls " target="_blank"> poll topics</a>.

Here&rsquo;s a few green ones to get you started:&nbsp;

<a href="https://ellii.com/gather/ellii-polls/food-waste" target="_blank">Food Waste</a> 
<a href="https://ellii.com/gather/ellii-polls/water-conservation" target="_blank">Water Conservation</a> 
<a href="https://ellii.com/gather/ellii-polls/climate-change">Climate Change</a>&nbsp;

<h2>5. Browse the collections</h2>

Finding ways to incorporate green issues into the classroom is simple when you have Ellii. All of the awesome environmentally themed lessons you can use in class are in&nbsp;this <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/global-issues/the-environment">Environment</a> collection. There is also a collection that curates Ellii&#39;s content with&nbsp;the UN&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/collections/global-issues/sustainable-development-goals" target="_blank">Sustainable Development Goals</a>&nbsp;in mind.

<blockquote>
How do you include green topics in your classes? What tips and teaching ideas would you add?&nbsp;
</blockquote>

Greening the ELT Classroom: Tips & Teaching Ideas

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ELF Pron, or Pronunciation of English as a Lingua Franca, is a global perspective on teaching pronunciation. It steps away from prestige &quot;native&quot; speaker language models and offers a more international approach. I personally like to think of it as the inclusive way to teach pronunciation&nbsp;where all accents are valued and intelligibility is the key.&nbsp;

All over the world, English is used as a lingua franca. It is the most common language for communication in business, travel, and educational settings. Interestingly, it is estimated that 80% of interactions in English take place between speakers whose first language is not English.&nbsp;

This challenges the need to sound like a so-called &quot;native&quot; speaker. Instead, the ability to modify speech in order to be understood is more important. It also empowers all language learners around the world to embrace their own accents and unique style of English usage.&nbsp;

As language teachers, we need to equip our learners with the pronunciation skills to be understood in a variety of settings. In this post, I&rsquo;ll explore exactly how ELF Pron does that.&nbsp;

<h2>&quot;Native&quot;&nbsp;and &quot;non-native&quot;&nbsp;speakers</h2>

I&rsquo;ve used the terms &quot;native&quot; and &quot;non-native&quot;&nbsp;speakers in quotation marks above and throughout this post. The reason for this is to show an awareness that the terms can be divisive and have been used to incorrectly label&nbsp;and discriminate against &quot;non-native&quot;&nbsp;language users.&nbsp;

There is an inaccurate perception that so-called &quot;native&quot;&nbsp;speakers are better at communicating in English. In reality, interactions between English users whose first language isn&rsquo;t English can be more successful.&nbsp;

This is because &quot;native&quot;&nbsp;speakers tend to use complex language structures such as idioms and slang. They are also more likely to use fast, connected speech and speak less clearly.&nbsp;

In many ways, taking an ELF approach to teaching pronunciation is one way to fight against native speakerism and ensure English belongs to everyone!

<h2>The lingua franca core</h2>

It is not possible to write a blog post about ELF Pron without mentioning the Lingua Franca Core (LFC). As the name suggests, it is at the center of global communication skills.&nbsp;

Let&rsquo;s go back to the early 21st century, when Jennifer Jenkins published a book with her research into intelligible communication. Her research found that certain aspects of pronunciation and language usage were more important for being understood than others.&nbsp;

Since then, the LFC has developed with more research. Here is a sketchnote summarizing pronunciation features we can focus on to support our learners to communicate intelligibly. It was created by Gemma Archer, an ELF Pron expert:

<img alt="a sketchnote summarising pronunciation features we can focus on to support our learners to communicate intelligibly. It was created by Gemma Archer, an ELFPron expert" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3558/content_LF-Pron.png" />

<h2>Most important features of the LFC</h2>

You&rsquo;ll notice that consonants, consonant clusters, vowel length, and nuclear stress are described as &quot;most important.&quot; Here&rsquo;s why:&nbsp;

Most consonants

Consonants are the backbone of many words. If we remove the vowels but&nbsp;say the consonants, we may still be able to guess the word:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>frnd (friend)</li>
	<li>lngg (language)</li>
</ul>

However, if we were to keep the vowels&nbsp;but remove the consonants, we&rsquo;d have no clues:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>ie (friend)</li>
	<li>auae (language)</li>
</ul>

As a Scottish English speaker, I am guilty of omitting consonants while around my other Scots speaking peers. One common example is that many Scottish speakers don&rsquo;t pronounce their t&#39;s!&nbsp;

So, there&rsquo;s no &quot;t&quot;&nbsp;in &quot;Sco&rsquo;land&quot; (Scotland), &quot;Sco&rsquo;ish&quot;&nbsp;(Scottish), or &quot;bu&rsquo;er&quot; (butter). This makes it particularly hard for people unfamiliar with this particular variant of English to understand.&nbsp;

Of course, in class&nbsp;and around international language users, I have learned to modify my own accent to be intelligible. By ensuring that I pronounce all the consonants, I can be understood more easily. Other speakers of Scottish English are not so aware and, therefore, can be harder for language learners to understand.&nbsp;

By teaching students (and everyone, in fact) to pay particular attention to their consonants, we can make them more intelligible.&nbsp;

Consonant clusters

Consonant clusters are groups of consonants close to each other. For example:&nbsp;

&quot;st&quot;&nbsp;in &quot;cluster,&quot; &quot;gr&quot;&nbsp;in &quot;groups,&quot; and the often dreaded &quot;sps&quot;&nbsp;in &quot;crisps.&quot;&nbsp;

It&rsquo;s particularly important that these are pronounced clearly, especially at the beginning of words. Students must learn to produce each consonant within the cluster.&nbsp;

If they have difficulty with this, it&rsquo;s usually okay to add a schwa. For example, in &quot;crisps&quot; (meaning potato&nbsp;chips in American English), many users add a schwa between the &quot;p&quot; and &quot;s&quot;&nbsp;(i.e., /krɪspəs/) and we can still understand them.&nbsp;

Vowel length&nbsp;

The length of the vowel is more important than the quality of the vowel in an ELF Pron context. So when a learner finds a particular vowel sound difficult, it&rsquo;s okay for them to replace it with a similar vowel from their first language.

The important thing is that they get the vowel length correct. For example, if a student says &quot;ship&quot;&nbsp;in place of &quot;sheep,&quot;&nbsp;for example, they&rsquo;ll likely be misunderstood. However, if they say &quot;shep&quot;&nbsp;for &quot;ship&quot;&nbsp;in the right context, they&rsquo;ll likely be understood.&nbsp;

Nuclear stress

Another important aspect of pronunciation, as identified in the LFC, is nuclear stress. This is when a speaker places certain importance on different words.&nbsp;

For example:

<ul>
	<li>The CAT ate my homework. (The focus is on &quot;cat.&quot;)</li>
	<li>The cat ATE my homework. (The focus is on &quot;ate.&quot;)</li>
	<li>The cat ate MY homework. (The focus is on &quot;my.&quot;)</li>
	<li>The cat ate my HOMEWORK. (The focus is on &quot;homework.&quot;)</li>
</ul>

<h2>Important features of the LFC&nbsp;</h2>

In the middle of the LFC,&nbsp;with some importance for intelligibility, are word stress and dental fricatives. Here&rsquo;s a summary:

Word stress

Whenever I think of word stress, my mind always goes to the difference between desert and dessert. In a hot, dry place, the stress is on the first syllable. For a delicious after-dinner treat, the stress is on the second syllable.&nbsp;

In the LFC, word stress is less important than other features, but still important. If a language learner orders a &quot;desert&quot;&nbsp;in a restaurant, it&rsquo;s unlikely that the waiter or waitress will bring them a bag of sand. Thankfully, when it comes to intelligibility, we have contextual clues to rely on!

Dental fricatives /&eth;/ &amp; /&theta;/&nbsp;

I still have nightmares about trying to grasp the difference between <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2747-th-voiced" target="_blank">voiced /&eth;/</a> and <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2731-th-voiceless" target="_blank">voiceless /&theta;/</a>&nbsp;as a newbie teacher. For words such as mother, weather, that, this, and there your throat will make a vibration on the &quot;th&quot; sound.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, voiceless &quot;th&quot;&nbsp;words do not make your throat vibrate. Some examples are throat, think, mouth, and truth. Put your hand on your throat and try saying them. Hopefully, you&rsquo;ll notice the difference more easily than I did 20&nbsp;years ago!&nbsp;&nbsp;

For those of you (and your students) who don&rsquo;t instantly feel a difference in the sound, the good news is that mixing voiced and unvoiced &quot;th&quot;&nbsp;doesn&rsquo;t impact intelligibility too much. Moreover, the sounds can even be switched for consonants <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2813-f" target="_blank">/f/ </a>and <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2814-v" target="_blank">/v/</a>. For example, many users say &quot;fʌrd&quot;&nbsp;instead of &quot;third&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;/mʌvə/&quot; for &quot;mother.&quot;&nbsp;

<h2>Less important features of the LFC&nbsp;</h2>

In Gemma&rsquo;s sketchnote of the LFC, schwa, reduced vowels, weak forms, and connected speech production are the least important in terms of intelligibility. Here&rsquo;s a quick explanation:

Schwa, reduced vowels, and weak forms

The <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3755-" target="_blank">schwa</a> is an unstressed vowel sound. It is also the most common vowel sound in English. Some examples are the &quot;i&quot; in &quot;family&quot; or &quot;o&quot;&nbsp;in &quot;carrot.&quot; It makes communication less intelligible exactly because it is unstressed.&nbsp;

Likewise with reduced vowels and weak forms. If English users reduce the strength of a sound in English, their pronunciation becomes less enunciated and therefore less clear.&nbsp;

(Producing) connected speech&nbsp;

Connected speech is when language users speak so quickly that their words run together. For example:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Howzitgoin&rsquo; for How is it going?&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Or&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Whatime isit? for&nbsp; What time is it?&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

This can lead to misunderstandings. So in order to communicate clearly, it&rsquo;s important to leave space between our words.

I&rsquo;ve put &quot;producing&quot; in parentheses here&nbsp;as we can provide activities for our learners that support them to speak clearly. However, in the real world, every language learner will be challenged by fast speech. Consequently, it&#39;s important that we give them opportunities to hear and understand connected speech but not necessarily to produce it.&nbsp;

<h2>How to teach ELF Pron</h2>

In many ways, teaching ELF Pron is a state of mind. It&rsquo;s switching the pronunciation focus from sounding like a &quot;native&quot;&nbsp;as a goal&nbsp;to being understood in a global context. It&rsquo;s also about giving students the confidence to feel proud of their own language identity and accents.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Along with focusing on the key features of the LFC, we can also help students to explore their own accents and help them to become aware of which aspects of their accents they love or may need to adapt.&nbsp;

You may also want to discuss where they intend to use their English skills&nbsp;and familiarize them with accents that they might need to understand.&nbsp;

Of course, students will always encounter individuals who they find difficult to understand&nbsp;or who find them difficult to understand. It can be helpful to provide training in repeating, rephrasing, or finding ways to communicate.&nbsp;

If you&rsquo;d like to learn more about ELF Pron, I&rsquo;d highly recommend following experts like Gemma Archer and Robin Walker on social media and reading more on the LFC. Keep an eye out for Gemma and Robin&rsquo;s book,&nbsp;Teaching English Pronunciation for a Global World, too. It looks like a game changer.&nbsp;

<blockquote>
How do you teach pronunciation for the global classroom? What features of pronunciation do you prioritize? We&rsquo;d love to know your thoughts and tips.
</blockquote>

<h2>Related</h2>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/tesol-2023-takeaways-on-teaching-pronunciation" target="_blank">TESOL 2023 Takeaways on Teaching Pronunciation</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/5-awesome-apps-to-help-your-students-improve-their-english-pronunciation" target="_blank">5 Awesome Apps to Help Your Students Improve Their English Pronunciation</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/pronunciation" target="_blank">Pronunciation Lessons&nbsp;</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/pronunciation" target="_blank">Pronunciation Videos</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/phonics-stories" target="_blank">Phonics Stories</a></li>
</ul>

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