‘Enjoy the journey’ … it’s where the learning happens
Personal ELT Blog
by Krista Court
2y ago
This is a phrase I often use with students embarking on their 1 or 2-year Master’s programme. I use it when they have been accepted at interview or when they attend induction or when I provide feedback on their first assignment. And it’s a phrase I use again and again throughout their course in the hope that it will be heard, considered, personalised and problematised. Some, the rare few, are invested in this concept straight away. They know that it’s the journey where the learning happens. I had a student say to me just the other day how his writing development will take time and he’s ha ..read more
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Intercultural Communication Competence 2: Strategies for developing competence
Personal ELT Blog
by Krista Court
3y ago
This is the second post looking at the important topic of intercultural communication for teaching and learning. In this post I provide reasons why intercultural communication often breaks down and offer strategies for developing our intercultural communication competence. As we know from the last post, intercultural communication competence refers to the ability to understand our own and other cultures and to use this understanding to communicate with people from other cultures. Although many of us communicate across cultures on a regular basis, we might not always think about what makes our ..read more
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Intercultural Communication Competence 1: What is it?
Personal ELT Blog
by Krista Court
3y ago
This is the first part of a two-part blog post exploring the concept of intercultural communication competence.  Here, I look at what this means and offer two activities to help teachers/learners better understand the cultures to which they belong. I also point teachers in the direction of a comprehensive competency framework to use when trying to judge effective intercultural communication.  In the next post, I look at why intercultural communication breaks down and what we can do to become better intercultural communicators.  What is intercultural communication comp ..read more
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Improving your English at University: top tips for international students
Personal ELT Blog
by Krista Court
3y ago
Are you an international student who has recently started studying abroad? Are you wondering what you can do to improve your English and make friends? Here are my top tips ..read more
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Classroom Management Fundamentals: planning for language teaching
Personal ELT Blog
by Krista Court
3y ago
This is the third instalment in our 3-part series on classroom management designed for newly-qualified teachers and teaching/language assistants. The first one was on how to build a human connection both face-to-face and online. The second one dealt with giving instructions in both these environments and this post is about planning for the language classroom.  I’ve left this one to last as I see it as the most important; it is the bedrock. Without careful planning, classroom management can deteriorate and quickly.    Just as the manager of any business needs to plan in ..read more
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Classroom Management Fundamentals: Giving Instructions
Personal ELT Blog
by Krista Court
4y ago
This is the second post in our classroom management series, the first one being creating a human connection.  These posts are designed not only to support those new to teaching (i.e. NQTs and TAs) but also those perhaps with a great deal of experience but who are new to teaching online (e.g. teachers and lecturers) and who have been forced to do so quickly due to Covid-19.   1.     Keep them Simple The number one rule for giving instructions is not to make them too wordy or overly complicated. Instead, keep them as simple as possible.  Ra ..read more
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Classroom Management Fundamentals: Establishing a Human Connection
Personal ELT Blog
by Krista Court
4y ago
In this upcoming series of blogposts, I offer practical advice to deal with various issues of classroom management. These posts are designed not only to support those new to teaching (i.e. NQTs and TAs) but also those perhaps with a great deal of experience but who are new to teaching online (e.g. teachers and lecturers) and who have been forced to do so quickly due to Covid-19.   I’ve started with this topic because it underpins every other aspect of classroom management. Learning and teaching, after all, is a social experience, involving human beings sharing their understandings, m ..read more
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Helping girls gain communication confidence through power-posing
Personal ELT Blog
by Krista Court
4y ago
As a communication trainer with Talk the Talk, I have the privilege of working with a diverse range of students across a broad spectrum of schools in the north of England and Wales. These schools could be rated by OFSTED as ‘outstanding’ or ‘requires improvement’. I never know unless I Google them, which I used to do when I first started out but don’t anymore, as I’ve come to fully understand my purpose.  My job is to coach confident communication skills, preparing students for the real-world events in which they will invariably find themselves speaking or presenting, e.g. job interviews ..read more
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Dear students, it’s me who should be thanking you
Personal ELT Blog
by Krista Court
4y ago
Today, out of the blue, I had an email from a student I taught six years ago. He was only seventeen at the time and had been sent from Nigeria to do a foundation course followed by a degree at the university where I used to work.  I remember clearly the first day I met him; he had a wide smile and bright eyes, but more than that, he had a desire to make his family proud.  A lot of money was being spent on his UK education and he had high expectations of himself and even bigger dreams - dreams of wild financial success! He was always coming up with money making schemes and running them past me ..read more
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Supporting students with project design: the what, who, when, where and how
Personal ELT Blog
by Krista Court
4y ago
In a previous post, I outlined all the arguments for getting students out of the classroom and investigating aspects of British culture through ethnographic research projects. If you too have discovered the power of projects and are seeking to better support your students through the design stage, then this post is for you! Here I provide a justification to students for a thorough research design, followed by an exemplar and a template for their own projects. I hope you find the following resources useful. Please do write with any feedback you have. Research Design Thinking through every ..read more
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