Welcome to the IATEFL YLTSIG Blog
Each month, we feature a different guest blogger to share their ideas, experiences and reflections of teaching children and teenagers English in diverse contexts around the world.
Carving out space for mother tongues* in the YL classroom
*In this post the terms 'mother tongue' and 'first language' (L1) are used interchangeable as defined by Pokharel (2001). This year sees the 24th edition of the International Mother Language Day and the focus is 'multilingual education - a necessity to transform...
Inexperienced YL teacher? Observe and learn.
I'm going to tell you a little story about how I became a young learner (YL) teacher in 2014. The CELTA confidence After completing the Celta, a four-week intensive course for teachers who have little or no teaching experience, I was feeling confident and well...
English in Action: Teaching SEN students through Process Drama
English in Action, an educational programme offered by the Ministry of Education's Area of Special Education in Buenos Aires, was developed by Susan Hillyard B.Ed. (Hons) in 2010 as part of the city's inclusive education approach. She trained and coordinated the...
Simple steps to implement Assessment for Learning in upper primary classes
According to William (2018) Assessment for Learning (AfL) is a classroom approach which creates opportunities for continuous feedback with the ultimate goal of optimising teaching and learning. This term has been a buzzword in ELT for some time now because educators...
Crafty ways to teach BIG language to little learners
Are our young learners really learning useful phrases and language chunks, or are they just learning isolated words from vocabulary groups? This is a question I asked myself a lot. I must admit, I thought I could do a much better job of helping my preschool learners...
Using authentic materials in the secondary ELT classroom
Have you ever asked yourself how come - more often than not - students are reluctant to use textbooks? Well, it might have something to do with the clash between the prescriptive nature of the curriculum and the fluidity of learning. It is possible to construct and...

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