September 4, 2014
The end of last week was quite empty in the CELE corridor, since over half the team had gone to the MELTA conference in Kuching. This is a large academic conference, focused on the wider world of English language teaching in Malaysia and beyond, this year featuring Asia TEFL- thus making it two conferences in …
Is “adorkable” a word?
June 19, 2014
There is a recent TED video, in which Anne Curzan, a Professor of English from Michigan University discusses how words move from being neologisms to established words. It’s witty, informed and well worth a watch. One of the most interesting points she makes is that people often say that it is a legitimate word if …
EAP in the MOOC age?
May 19, 2014
It sometimes seems that you can’t move without tripping over a MOOC, or another form of online learning. Rightly or wrongly, online learning is taking more and more space in the HE curriculum. An EAP (English for Academic Purposes) syllabus will typically have features that reflect a traditional university experience- reading, listening, writing essays and …
Can studying in a second language be an advantage?
March 10, 2014
The most recent episode of the Freakonomics podcast was about language learning, and featured an interview with Chicago psychology Professor, Boaz Keysar. He recently published a paper with some surprising results. Keysar and his team tested students for decision making bias, in the students’ first and second language, and found that when students are using …
The Essentiality of Reading
February 3, 2014
CELE Tutor Yan Lai Peen reflects on the value, importance and enjoyment of extensive reading The mention of books and reading evokes one of these emotions – excitement, dread, or nonchalance – depending on who we are and how we grew up. As I grew up in a house where the television set was dominated …
A new self study resource
September 25, 2013
The British Council has a resource at http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/writing-purpose/introduction to help academic writers Based on extensive analysis of large collections of Academic Writing from British Universities, it helps students at all levels meet the expectations of academic writing.