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

Teaching with Ellii

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

Grammar & Usage

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>

ELF Pron: What Is It & How Can We Teach It? 

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This time last year, I wrote a post on what 2023 might bring for the ELT world. Making predictions about anything is a bold move, so I enlisted the help of other ELT professionals to ensure I stepped outside my own ELT bubble.&nbsp;

<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/6-english-language-teaching-trends-in-2023" target="_blank">The top trends of 2023</a>, as outlined in my post, were:&nbsp;

<ol>
	<li>Green ELT</li>
	<li>DEIB: Diversity, equity, inclusion &amp; belonging</li>
	<li>Virtual reality</li>
	<li>Mediation</li>
	<li>Life skills</li>
	<li>Task-based teaching, learning &amp; assessment</li>
</ol>

Overall, I feel these trends in ELT were indeed hot topics throughout 2023, especially in terms of climate care and inclusion. I noticed a lot of conferences that I spoke at had themes related to inclusion&nbsp;or the environment.&nbsp;

You may notice that one huge trend was missing!? Any ideas?&nbsp;

<h2>The trend I missed!</h2>

As I mentioned, predicting anything can be an impossible task, and I don&rsquo;t think anyone could have predicted the impact artificial intelligence has already had on our industry.&nbsp;

ChatGPT was released shortly after I submitted my post. I missed it! But in some ways, I like that the biggest trend of 2023 didn&rsquo;t make it to the list. I feel like its omission makes it stand out more and it makes me wonder what 2024 will hold&mdash;and what I&rsquo;ll have missed in this post!&nbsp;

So, here are some potential trends for 2024 that some wonderful participants of the <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/groups/3460329/" target="_blank">ELT Professionals LinkedIn</a> group, which I highly recommend joining, and I are tentatively predicting.

<h2>Trends to watch in 2024</h2>

<h3>1. Artificial intelligence</h3>

There&rsquo;s no denying that AI&nbsp;will continue to thrill, bamboozle, and delight us in 2024. Around the world, ELT professionals are using it to prepare lessons, create activities, and reduce workload wherever possible. Language learners are also using AI to support their learning via intelligent translations, linguistic advice, and checking (and hopefully not doing) their homework!&nbsp;

<img alt="Roz Weitzman on ELT trends" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3542/content_Screen_Shot_2023-12-19_at_2.43.53_PM.png" />

Humanity &amp; Technology in ELT&nbsp;was the ElliiCon theme this year, so if you&rsquo;d like more info and tips on using AI&nbsp;in the classroom, here are some useful links:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1mxLSUQDvw&amp;list=PLP0N5nuiA3aOIoCMzz9RNamAKTpqXQTvQ&amp;ab_channel=ElliiforTeachers%28formerlyESLLibrary%29" target="_blank">ElliiCon2023 YouTube Playlist</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-prevent-students-cheating-with-ai">How to Prevent Students from Cheating with AI</a><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-prevent-students-cheating-with-ai " target="_blank">&nbsp;</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/10-practical-ways-teachers-can-excel-with-ai">10 Practical Ways Teachers Can Excel with AI&nbsp;</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/developing-learner-autonomy-with-ai">Developing Learner Autonomy with AI&nbsp;</a></li>
</ul>

<h3>2. Well-being</h3>

It seems that Ellii has their finger on the pulse when it comes to ELT trends. ElliiCon has covered a lot of both AI- and well-being-related topics.&nbsp;

In many ways, well-being and emotional intelligence are part of the diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging trend, which continues&nbsp;on from 2023. Classrooms that are accessible, celebrate diversity, and allow self-expression make students feel welcomed and promote mental health.

<img alt="Philip Saxon on ELT trends" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3544/content_Screen_Shot_2023-12-19_at_2.57.02_PM.png" />

I couldn&rsquo;t agree more with Philip Saxon&rsquo;s comment that AI&nbsp;is &quot;not more important than Emotional Intelligence or Mental Health.&quot;&nbsp;Students learn better and teachers teach better when they feel good. Language learning is more successful with positive well-being.&nbsp;

Here is a sketchnote from Dr. Katie Welch&rsquo;s ElliiCon2022 session on addressing social-emotional needs.&nbsp;

<img alt="Katie Welch self-care" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3541/content_Dr_Katie_Welch_final.jpg" />

You can watch the <a href="https://youtu.be/wA53ad4GloU?si=SIWtfqvkJ9GD8Sxe" target="_blank">full session</a> here.&nbsp;

Here are some previous blog posts on the topic, which contain links to lesson ideas, activities, and other useful resources:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/the-importance-of-growth-mindset-for-learning-teaching">The Importance of a Growth Mindset for Language Teaching</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/activity-to-boost-confidence-and-well-being">A Quick Activity to Boost Confidence and Well-Being</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-promote-mental-health-in-the-classroom">5 Ways to Promote Mental Health in the English Language Classroom</a></li>
</ul>

<h3>3. Diversity, equity, inclusion &amp; belonging</h3>

DEIB remains a hot topic. As language teachers, it&rsquo;s important that we make our learning spaces as accessible as possible to all our learners.&nbsp;

Here&rsquo;s why:&nbsp;

Diversity:&nbsp;Our learners are diverse! We teach students from all over the world. Our learners bring a delightful variety of languages, cultures, beliefs, religions, world views, and interests to class. It&rsquo;s important that we celebrate these differences and value each and every individual.&nbsp;

Equity: While equality is treating everyone the same, equity aims to support those who need it&nbsp;most in order to achieve an equal outcome. In the classroom, this means providing additional support or making small adaptations for learners with specific learning differences&nbsp;or those with developing literacy or digital skills.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Inclusion: The UK Equality Act 2010 has nine protected characteristics: age, gender reassignment, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity, disability, race, religion/belief, sex, and sexual orientation.&nbsp;

The act aims to prevent discrimination against each of these differences. In class, it&rsquo;s important to be aware of these differences and ensure each is included and represented within the learning materials. This promotes understanding, empathy, and respect.&nbsp;

Belonging: Creating a welcoming atmosphere where students feel included, respected, and represented ensures a feeling of belonging. This in turn boosts confidence, well-being, and a desire to get involved in classroom life and learning.&nbsp;

Here are some additional resources that may be of interest:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/inclusive-festivities-valuing-every-learner-s-holidays">How to Value Every Learner&rsquo;s Holidays</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/supporting-students-with-adhd">Supporting Students&nbsp;with ADHD</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/accessibility-supporting-english-learners-with-dyslexia">Supporting English Learners with Dyslexia</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/accessibility-supporting-blind-low-vision-learners">Supporting Blind &amp; Low-Vision Learners</a></li>
</ul>

<h3>4. Green ELT&nbsp;</h3>

This topic continues to trend in ELT. Organizations like ELT Footprint, Renewable English, and Green Action ELT are doing a wonderful job of raising awareness and a platform for teachers to share resources and teaching ideas.&nbsp;

Around the world, we are seeing unprecedented extreme weather, pollution, and rising temperatures. This directly impacts the lives of many of our learners and can induce climate anxiety.&nbsp;

Including environmental matters in the ELT classroom can help educate learners on social responsibility and give them the skills to discuss sensitive, real-world, global topics.&nbsp;

Complementary to green issues, we are also seeing more discussions and resources around the UN Sustainable Development Goals. These 17 goals aim to make the world more sustainable in terms of preservation of natural habitats, climate change, education, health, and wealth distribution.&nbsp;

Here are some posts and resources that may interest you:

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/the-what-why-and-how-of-sustainable-development-goals">The What, Why &amp; How of Sustainable Development Goals</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2214-earth-summit-project">Earth Summit Project</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/health-matters/2090-organic-food" target="_blank">Organic Food Lesson</a></li>
</ul>

<h3>5. ELF pronunciation</h3>

English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) is not a new concept, but it seems to be growing in popularity in recent years. It refers to the usage of English as a common language for communication.&nbsp;

<img alt="Lewis Lansford on ELT trends" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3545/content_Screen_Shot_2023-12-19_at_2.44.07_PM.png" />

<a href="https://www.ijscl.net/article_36105_6713d9d790e7fccd42fd819f22d2abef.pdf" target="_blank">Over 80% of communication in English takes place between so-called &quot;non-native&quot;&nbsp;speakers</a>. For example, someone whose first language is German speaking to someone whose first language is Arabic.&nbsp;

ELFpron refers to using pronunciation that is globally intelligible as opposed to aiming to sound like a &quot;native&quot; speaker. It uses a range of language models to support learners in understanding diverse accents from around the world.&nbsp;

I use the terms &quot;native&quot;&nbsp;and &quot;non-native&quot;&nbsp;in quotations, as there is some discussion around what these terms really mean. Am I a &quot;native&rsquo;&quot; speaker&nbsp;even though&nbsp;I had to modify my language from regional Scots to a more globally intelligible form of English when I first started teaching? Is my Polish best friend a &quot;non-native&quot;&nbsp;speaker although she has lived in the UK for 20+ years, speaks with a Northern Irish accent, and has completed a degree at a UK university?&nbsp;

In many ways, ELFpron is the inclusive way to teach pronunciation. It allows students to embrace their accents and the diverse accents of English language users all over the world.&nbsp;

Here are some resources to use in class:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3170-pronunciation-rules-hard-soft-g " target="_blank">Pronunciation Rules: Hard &amp; Soft G</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3173-pronunciation-rules-hard-soft-c " target="_blank">Pronunciation Rules: Hard &amp; Soft C</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/phonics-stories">Phonics Stories</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/tesol-2023-takeaways-on-teaching-pronunciation">TESOL 2023&nbsp;Takeaways on Teaching Pronunciation</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h3>6. ELT careers</h3>

As remote teaching is growing, there is also a growth in teacherpreneurs. More teachers are going solo and creating their own businesses delivering online classes&nbsp;or providing resources for other teachers.&nbsp;

There&rsquo;s also a lot more discussion online about teacher equity, fair working conditions, and having a clear path for development and progression.&nbsp;

<img alt="Joanna Szoke on ELT trends" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3546/content_Screen_Shot_2023-12-19_at_2.44.15_PM.png" />

Business coaches such as <a href="https://earnlearnthriveinelt.com/" target="_blank">Rachael Roberts</a> and <a href="https://olakowalska.com/" target="_blank">Ola Kowalska</a> are leading the way in supporting ELT professionals to succeed in their freelance and entrepreneurial journeys. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicola-prentis-%F0%9F%92%B8-64a46b27/" target="_blank">Nicola Prentis</a> aims to help demystify financial planning and support teachers to make their money work for them.&nbsp;

<a href="https://teflworkersunion.org/" target="_blank">The TEFL Workers&#39; Union</a> is also building its audience and membership&nbsp;as it strives to enhance the working conditions of TEFL professionals around the world.&nbsp;

<blockquote>
What are your thoughts on these ELT trends for 2024? What have I missed this time around? We&rsquo;d love to hear your ideas.
</blockquote>

If you&#39;d like to read or contribute to the LinkedIn thread, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7137453051019235328?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop " target="_blank">you can access it here</a>.

ELT Trends to Watch in 2024

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Planning and reflection are crucial for the English language classroom. For teachers, reflective practice aids development and ensures future classes are planned to meet the needs of learners.&nbsp;

From the students&#39; perspective, the ability to plan and reflect are key life skills. Supporting learners to reflect on their distance traveled and learning preferences develops their self-awareness, confidence, and ability to implement successful language development strategies. It also helps them to identify their goals and consider how to achieve them.&nbsp;

There are many graphic facilitation tools and templates to support planning and reflection. In general, these tend to be hand-drawn templates, but ready-made images and flashcards can be equally effective.&nbsp;

Here are 12 Ellii flashcards that you can use for planning and reflection. You can find each one by searching in the Ellii <a href="https://ellii.com/media/flashcards" target="_blank">Media Gallery</a>.&nbsp;

<a href="https://ellii.com/media/flashcards" target="_blank"><img alt="Ellii Flashcards" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3494/content_Ellii-flashcards-planning-reflection.png" /></a>

You can then:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>edit the title on the flashcard</li>
	<li>print it as a worksheet for each learner to add their thoughts</li>
	<li>display it on the whiteboard for students to add their opinions using Post-its or markers</li>
	<li>display it and ask students to draw it in their notebooks and add their ideas&nbsp;</li>
	<li>ask students to share their ideas and plans in pairs, in small groups, or as a presentation</li>
	<li>use it yourself to reflect on your own practice or plan your next classes</li>
</ul>

Each of these flashcards uses a visual metaphor to help learners and teachers reflect, dream, and plan. They&rsquo;re perfect for use at the beginning or end of a course, calendar year, or academic year. You can use them alone or in combination, depending on your learners&#39; needs.&nbsp;

<a href="https://ellii.com/media/flashcards/in-at-school/skills-competencies?flashcard=5300" target="_blank"><img alt="Learner reflection flashcard" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3496/content_leaner-reflection_Ellii-flashcard.png" /></a>

<h2>1. Learner reflection</h2>

Reflection is very much related to internal thoughts. Use this thought bubble flashcard as a space to:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>add big dreams or ambitions for the future</li>
	<li>list all the positive things that happened in the past course or year</li>
	<li>write feedback or key learning points from the course</li>
	<li>make a list of future wishes or intentions</li>
</ul>

Depending on what you use it for, you could&nbsp;rename it to:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>future dreams</li>
	<li>ambitions</li>
	<li>goals</li>
	<li>things I loved about this course</li>
	<li>things I need to work on</li>
</ul>

<h2>2. Mirror</h2>

This is a visual metaphor for taking a good look at oneself in the mirror. It can be quite personal, so in this instance you may give students the option to keep some of their reflections to themselves.

Ellii has four different mirrors. You could use just one and focus on a certain aspect to reflect on, or you could assign each flashcard a different aspect to reflect on. For example:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Mirror 1: How hard did I work this term/year?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Mirror 2: What results did I get?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Mirror 3: What would I do differently?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Mirror 4: What helped me learn the most?&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<img alt="mirrors" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3495/content_Ellii-mirror-flashcards.png" />

<h2>3. Magic wand</h2>

The &quot;magic wand&quot; flashcard is a fun way to take the seriousness out of a reflective or planning task. You could ask students to use it to:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>add their wishes for the next year/term</li>
	<li>add their wishes for what they&rsquo;d change about the past year/term&nbsp;</li>
	<li>discuss their BIG ambitions or long-term goals</li>
	<li>consider their wishes for the whole world</li>
</ul>

<img alt="magic wand" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3497/content_magic-wand_Ellii-flashcard.png" />

<h2>4. Protagonist &amp; hero</h2>

There&rsquo;s something quite empowering about this &quot;protagonist&quot;&nbsp;flashcard. The image shows someone working towards their goal in an enthusiastic way.&nbsp;

<img alt="protagonist" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3498/content_protagonist_Ellii-flashcard.png" />

My suggestion would be to use it alongside the &quot;hero&quot; flashcard to set goals and ways to achieve them.&nbsp;

<img alt="hero" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3499/content_hero_Ellii-flashcard.png" />

<ol>
	<li>Change the name of the &quot;hero&quot;&nbsp;flashcard to &quot;goal&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;goals&quot;&nbsp;and ask learners to add or list their goals.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Change the name of the &quot;protagonist&quot; flashcard to &quot;plan of action&quot;&nbsp;and ask students to list the steps they need to take in order to reach their goal. The &quot;clipboard&quot;&nbsp;is a good alternative image for this activity. 
	 
	<a href="https://ellii.com/media/flashcards/at-work-on-the-job/at-the-office?flashcard=2774" target="_blank"><img alt="clipboard flashcard" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3500/content_clipboard_Ellii-flashcard.png" /></a></li>
	<li>Ask students to support each other with feedback, advice, and suggestions.&nbsp;</li>
</ol>

<h2>5. Road maps</h2>

The <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/3-end-of-term-activities-for-students" target="_blank">visual metaphor of a road map</a> is ubiquitous to graphic facilitation. It&rsquo;s popular with strategic business planning to explain processes. It&rsquo;s simple to draw, but these flashcards do the hard work for you!&nbsp;You could rename each flashcard and use them in various ways.

<img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3493/content_Screen_Shot_2023-12-07_at_11.42.19_AM.png" />

To the left of:&nbsp;

This flashcard could be renamed to &quot;past,&quot; &quot;what happened,&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;reflections.&quot; You can then ask students to use it to list completed tasks and reflections on how each one went.&nbsp;

To the right of:&nbsp;

You could rename this flashcard to &quot;future,&quot;&nbsp;&quot;wishes,&quot; or &quot;road map to success.&quot; At the end of the road, add the main goal and add steps for achieving it along the way.&nbsp;

Trail map:&nbsp;

This flashcard could be used to create a study or project plan, or to reflect on distance traveled. Students could draw their own to show difficulties they have as bumps or twists in the pathway.&nbsp;

<blockquote>
These are just a few visual activities to aid planning and reflection. Have you tried any similar activities? Which visual metaphors or flashcards would you use? We&rsquo;d love to hear your suggestions! &nbsp;
</blockquote>

<h2 dir="ltr">Related</h2>

<ul dir="ltr">
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/3-end-of-term-activities-for-students">3 Awesome End-of-Term Activities for English Learners</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/3-tips-for-using-flashcards-no-prep-required">3 Tips for Using Flashcards&mdash;No Prep Required</a></li>
</ul>

&nbsp;

12 Ellii Flashcards Perfect for Planning & Reflection

https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2475/Emily_Ten-Ellii-Flashcards-Perfect-for-Planning-and-Reflection_Banner.png

Posts describing lessons or activities for the ESL classroom.

Activities

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

Conferences

At <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP0N5nuiA3aOIoCMzz9RNamAKTpqXQTvQ" target="_blank">ElliiCon2023</a>, Jamie Keddie, the ELT King of Storytelling, shared some wonderful stories. He had the whole audience captivated. As teachers, this is exactly how we want our students to feel about their English lessons. Stories are therefore perfect for the ELT classroom.&nbsp;

<h2>Why use stories in language classes?</h2>

Not only are stories captivating, but they also offer students a chance to practice all four skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing), develop their vocabulary, and get creative.&nbsp;

Here&rsquo;s a sketchnote I did of Jamie&rsquo;s session, which summarizes some of the benefits of using stories in class:&nbsp;

<img alt="Emily Bryson's sketchnote of Jamie Keddie's ElliiCon 2023 session on storytelling" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3477/content_Jamie_Keddie.jpg" />

If you&rsquo;d like to try using storytelling in class, Ellii&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/story-prompts" target="_blank">Story Prompts</a> are a great way to get started. These fun, minimal preparation, digital lessons are suitable for all ages and can be adapted for any level of learner.&nbsp;

One of the many benefits of Story Prompts is that they can be used in many ways. As Jamie pointed out during his session, one story can be many different stories. It depends on who is telling it, how much detail is included, and what perspective is chosen.&nbsp;

In this post, I&rsquo;ll look more closely at how to use Story Prompts to inspire your learners.&nbsp;

<h2>What topics are found in&nbsp;Story Prompts?&nbsp;</h2>

Ellii&#39;s Story Prompts have topics that kids love. Here are some examples:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Space</li>
	<li>Playgrounds</li>
	<li>Fairy Tales</li>
	<li>Superheroes</li>
	<li>Oceans</li>
	<li>Farms&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Christmas</li>
</ul>

As Jamie pointed out, stories are a great way to introduce a topic. So if you&rsquo;re planning on exploring ocean plastics, outer space, or getting festive, why not start with a Story Prompt activity?

<h2>How can I use&nbsp;Story Prompts?&nbsp;</h2>

Each of Ellii&#39;s Story Prompt lessons are available online and the activities are graded for beginner, low-intermediate, and intermediate learners. The art is made in-house by Ellii&#39;s own talented illustrators!

At every level, students explore key vocabulary and are supported to create a story using a picture scene.&nbsp;

For example:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Beginner: Use the flashcards to pre-teach vocabulary.</li>
	<li>Low Intermediate: Match the vocabulary to the images.</li>
	<li>Intermediate: Look at the picture story and list what you can see.</li>
</ul>

Students then use the picture story to create their own stories. Here&rsquo;s the picture scene for the <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3649-ocean-story" target="_blank">Ocean Story</a>.&nbsp;

<img alt="Ellii's Ocean Story Story Prompt picture" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3478/content_Ocean-Prompts_watermark-1.png" />

Depending on the level, there are a variety of tasks students can do to prepare them for telling their stories:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Describe the picture</li>
	<li>Describe the characters</li>
	<li>Describe the background and the setting</li>
	<li>Write captions for each person in the picture</li>
	<li>Write a dialogue between the characters</li>
	<li>Think of a problem one of the characters has (and solve it)</li>
	<li>Think of a beginning, middle, and end to the story</li>
	<li>Think what happened before or after the picture</li>
</ul>

Once students are ready, give them time to write their stories and practice telling them in pairs or small groups. They may then wish to tell their stories to the whole class.&nbsp;

It&rsquo;s always interesting to see how different every story is!&nbsp;

You can access Ellii&#39;s <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/story-prompts" target="_blank">Story Prompts</a> lessons here. There are also helpful <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4294-teachers-notes " target="_blank">Teachers&#39; Notes</a>, where you can find more teaching ideas and example stories.

<h2>Related</h2>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-one-image-can-develop-visual-literacy-and-critical-thinking" target="_blank">How to Use One Image to Tell a Story</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/4-ways-to-use-silent-video-clips" target="_blank">How to Use Silent Video Clips</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/create-your-own-adventure-teaching-english-the-wordless-way" target="_blank">How to Use Wordless Stories</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-use-pictures-as-grammar-prompts" target="_blank">How to Use Pictures as Grammar Prompts</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/the-stories-we-tell" target="_blank">The Stories We Tell</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/wordless-lessons-project" target="_blank">Ellii&#39;s Genius Hour Projects</a></li>
</ul>

Watch Jamie&rsquo;s full webinar from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP0N5nuiA3aOIoCMzz9RNamAKTpqXQTvQ" target="_blank">ElliiCon2023</a> and be sure to join us next year!

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Clp3PioRXHQ?si=HuKknt0HjtSY4Wwi" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div>

Simply Storytelling: Inspiring English Learners with Story Prompts 

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Find useful resources and tips for teaching English with interactive apps and sites.

EdTech

In the age of artificial intelligence, this is the million-dollar question:

<blockquote>
How can we prevent our students from cheating with AI tools?
</blockquote>

AI tools such as Google Bard and ChatGPT are freely available for everyone to use (and abuse).&nbsp;Within seconds, these tools can write emails, create stories, and give lists of useful vocabulary, so it&rsquo;s no wonder that students may be tempted to use AI&nbsp;to cheat on their language learning assignments.&nbsp;

In this blog post, I&rsquo;ll explore some ways to ensure learners use AI&nbsp;responsibly.&nbsp;

<h2>1. Teach them to use it to help them learn</h2>

I have been using ChatGPT recently to help me learn Spanish. I have found it invaluable as I can ask it to give me translations, corrections, linguistic tips, example texts, explanations, and even regional differences or recipes.&nbsp;

I have never used AI&nbsp;to write an email, text, or homework assignment for me because I am aware that doing so would not help me learn. This is much like if a teacher gives students the answer without allowing them the opportunity to find it for themselves.&nbsp;

Teaching students to develop their AI&nbsp;skills will help them to use it to aid learning and will reduce the risk of misuse.&nbsp;

I&rsquo;ve outlined some ways to develop learner autonomy and support language development using AI&nbsp;in this blog post: <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/developing-learner-autonomy-with-ai">Developing Learner Autonomy with AI</a>.&nbsp;

<h2>2. Make them aware of the consequences</h2>

I often found that when my students submitted work that was not their own, I could immediately tell.&nbsp;

Here&rsquo;s why:

<ul>
	<li>Two (or more) students made exactly the same mistake&nbsp;(e.g., incorrect spelling).</li>
	<li>The work had no errors at all or minimal errors.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>They had used above-level language&nbsp;(e.g., a beginner using the word &quot;submit&quot;&nbsp;or the past perfect progressive).</li>
</ul>

If the suspicious work was word-processed, I&rsquo;d often find myself copying and pasting it into a search engine to see what appeared. On occasion, I discovered that students had copied and pasted from websites.&nbsp;

Tools such as <a href="https://www.turnitin.com/" target="_blank">Turnitin</a> and <a href="https://www.grammarly.com/" target="_blank">Grammarly</a> can also detect plagiarism, but sadly can&rsquo;t yet tell if a text has been generated by AI.&nbsp;

I always found that making students aware of the consequences of cheating&nbsp;and how teachers can identify it had a strong impact. Not only might they fail or be removed from the course if they get caught, but also their language learning will remain at the same level, which is a big motivator for many learners.&nbsp;

At the end of the day, learners who cheat are only cheating themselves.&nbsp;

<h2>3. Focus on the process</h2>

One of the best ways to prevent learners from cheating is by designing assignments that make it impossible!&nbsp;

Some ways to do this are:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Incorporating unique contexts or case studies that are not readily available online</li>
	<li>Personalizing tasks so that students must write about themselves</li>
	<li>Providing real and local examples where students need to add their own thoughts and ideas</li>
	<li>Using a combination of assessment tasks (e.g., presentations, blogs, interviews)</li>
</ul>

At ElliiCon2023, Dr. Amin Davoodi advised teachers to use process writing strategies to ensure learners submit their own work. This involved:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Writing a first draft of their work and submitting it to an AI&nbsp;tool for feedback</li>
	<li>Responding to the feedback and creating a second draft&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Submitting the final piece, drafts, and a copy of the AI&nbsp;prompts and responses&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

The students are then learning to use AI&nbsp;to support their learning&nbsp;and the teacher is also reassured that the work is original.&nbsp;

Here is a sketchnote summarizing the key points of Dr.&nbsp;Davoodi&rsquo;s webinar:

<img alt="Dr. Davoodi ElliiCon2023 session sketchnote by Emily Bryson" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3466/content_Dr_Amin_Davoodi.jpg" />

It was absolutely fabulous, and I highly recommend you watch the full session to find out more (and why fridges can be scary)!

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/P_cwm_Hyc-8?si=ExY6g8JzN7oA84vx" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div>

You can watch other <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1mxLSUQDvw&amp;list=PLP0N5nuiA3aOIoCMzz9RNamAKTpqXQTvQ&amp;ab_channel=ElliiforTeachers%28formerlyESLLibrary%29 " target="_blank">AI-themed ElliiCon2023</a> sessions on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@elliiteachers" target="_blank">Ellii for Teachers</a> YouTube channel. Subscribe so you don&#39;t miss a helpful video!

<h3>Related</h3>

<h4>Lessons</h4>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/1679-artificial-intelligence">Artificial Intelligence</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/that-s-news-to-me/4579-when-chatbots-get-it-wrong" target="_blank">When Chatbots Get It Wrong</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/that-s-news-to-me/4500-tutoring-with-chatgpt" target="_blank">Tutoring with ChatGPT</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4468-ai-generated-content">AI-Generated Content</a></li>
</ul>

<h4>Blog Posts</h4>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/10-practical-ways-teachers-can-excel-with-ai" target="_blank">Ten Practical Ways Teachers Can Excel with AI&nbsp;</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/developing-learner-autonomy-with-ai" target="_blank">Developing Learner Autonomy with AI&nbsp;</a></li>
</ul>

<blockquote>
What experience do you have of cheating and AI? What are your top tips for preventing it? We&rsquo;d love to hear your ideas.
</blockquote>

How To Prevent Students from Cheating with AI

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The main goal of language teaching is getting students to communicate. This is why it might sound counterintuitive to use wordless stories and videos as a teaching tool.

However, using wordless visuals as a resource is fantastic for developing students&rsquo; creativity and critical thinking skills&nbsp;as well as encouraging&nbsp;ownership of the language. It also lets the teacher choose the target language based on the learners&#39; needs or allows language to emerge organically.

As with most visual resources, the possibilities are endless. One picture story or video can lead to multiple learning opportunities. It is essentially a classroom pick-your-own-adventure!

In this post, I&#39;ll give some activity ideas for <a href="https://ellii.com/resources/visual-learning">using wordless videos and stories, such as Ellii&#39;s</a>.

<h2>Activate schemata</h2>

As with most language teaching lessons, this is a good place to start. Schema activation sounds much more technical than it is. Put simply, it&rsquo;s about helping students to get in the zone and get them thinking about the topic they&rsquo;ll be discussing.&nbsp;

Showing them a static image from the video, a scene from the wordless story, or the whole story is a good place to start. Then you can ask questions to get them thinking about what they already know about a topic. Here are some warm-up&nbsp;questions from Ellii&rsquo;s <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4282-birthday-celebrations">Birthday Celebrations</a> wordless video:

<blockquote>
<ol>
	<li>How are birthdays celebrated in your country of origin?</li>
	<li>What do people often do at birthday parties?</li>
	<li>How would you feel if someone threw you a surprise birthday party?</li>
	<li>Do you like going to school or work on your birthday?</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>

Another great way to activate schemata is by bringing in realia. For example, you could bring in cake, candles, or a present to show the class and generate discussions. If you bring a cake, you&nbsp;get the added benefit of eating it too!

<h2>Explore vocabulary</h2>

Wordless stories allow students the freedom to share words they know with other students and learn new ones in context&nbsp;as they emerge. Show students the video or pictures and ask them to describe what they see. Support them with any new words and make suggestions for useful language.&nbsp;

Beginner students may use basic nouns while more advanced learners may wish to use more complex adjectives or give more detail. Encourage learners to write down any new words, share ideas, and create example sentences.&nbsp;

You can use Ellii&rsquo;s online task suggestions to help. Here&rsquo;s an example from the <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4331-first-day" target="_blank">First Day</a> Picture Story:

<img alt="Task from Ellii's First Day Picture Story Lesson" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3438/content_Screen_Shot_2023-10-04_at_3.35.33_PM.png" />

<h2>Ordering or re-ordering</h2>

As students watch a wordless video, you could ask them to take note of all the things that happen. Ask them to share their answers with a partner. To check as a whole class, play the video again, pausing it at key points and inviting students to describe what&rsquo;s happening. For an additional discussion point, you could ask students to consider what happens before and after the video.

For the wordless stories, set students the challenge of re-ordering the story. Cut each individual image out and give one picture to each student (or two to stronger students, depending on numbers). Tell them not to show their image to anyone else. Then ask them to describe it to the other learners. Their goal is to put the story in order by describing the image they have. Students stand in the order of the story at the end of the activity and retell the story together.

<img alt="Wordless video" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3437/content_Screen_Shot_2023-10-04_at_3.35.51_PM.png" />

<h2>Voiceover, dialogue &amp; role-play</h2>

Wordless stories are a perfect blank canvas for adding words! These could be in the form of writing the story, describing it, or writing a voiceover&nbsp;or even the dialogue between each character.

You could have a bit of fun by giving each student one image and asking them to add dialogue. Then&nbsp;put the story together and ask students to read out the captions they wrote for each scene. This can end in hilarity, as the dialogues may be strange or make little sense!&nbsp; As an alternative, boost students&rsquo; collaboration skills by asking them to create the dialogue as a class or small group project. Once they have created the dialogue, students can role-play it, record it, or even perform it for&nbsp;other classes.

<img alt="First Day Picture Story on Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3436/content_Screen_Shot_2023-10-04_at_3.36.07_PM.png" />

<h2>Targeted or emergent language</h2>

Wordless stories are flexible and allow you to cover a range of language structures:

<ul>
	<li>Present progressive to describe current actions</li>
	<li>Narrative tenses (simple past, past progressive, and past perfect) to describe a past event</li>
</ul>

Time markers and sequencers such as then, next, after that, once, following, meanwhile, and at the beginning or end also occur naturally in this kind of task. Ask students to share which ones they already know and use them throughout the activities.

Other language that may naturally emerge could be describing places, appearance, or emotions. It&rsquo;s up to you whether to approach these with a linguistic plan or to go with the flow.

<h2>Personalization</h2>

As a final task, encourage learners to consider how the theme relates to their own lives. For example, ask learners to share what their first day&nbsp;of school was like,&nbsp;how they celebrate their birthday, or what their favorite wedding traditions are. The Ellii online tasks offer some ideas here.

You can access our Wordless Videos and Stories in our&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/resources/visual-learning" target="_blank">Visual Learning</a>&nbsp;section.&nbsp;

You may also like these visual-learning-themed blog posts:

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/wordless-lessons-project">Wordless Lessons Project&nbsp;</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-simplify-complex-tasks-with-visual-prompts">How to Simplify Complex Tasks with Visual Prompts</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-one-image-can-develop-visual-literacy-and-critical-thinking">How One Image Can Develop Visual Literacy &amp; Critical Thinking Skills</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/3-tips-for-using-flashcards-no-prep-required">3 No-Prep Tips for Using Flashcards</a></li>
</ul>

Create Your Own Adventure: Teaching English the Wordless Way! 

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When ChatGPT was released at the end of 2022, people around the world trialed it (and other AI tools) with awe and trepidation. There was surprise and admiration at the ease it could generate texts and find solutions to complex problems. There was also concern that students may misuse it for written tasks. And, of course, there was the little voice at the back of our heads saying, &quot;How long will my job exist?!&quot;&nbsp;

Personally, I like to believe that teaching roles are safe. AI is fabulous in many ways, but us teachers have empathy and creativity on our side! We&rsquo;re pretty awesome. And now we have AI to make us even more so!

In this post, I&rsquo;ll explore 10 ways that teachers can use AI to their advantage&nbsp;to make their teaching even more fabulous&nbsp;and&nbsp;save time!&nbsp;

<h2>1.&nbsp;Example texts</h2>

AI can generate texts for a specific topic, level, and language focus. These texts are not always super engaging or creative, but they&rsquo;re definitely functional. This can be really useful when you&rsquo;re rushing to cover a lesson&nbsp;or when your lesson goes off on a tangent and you want something tailored to the students&rsquo; needs immediately.&nbsp;

You can, of course, generate the text in class with the students&rsquo; input and have them rewrite it,&nbsp;or you can add your own unique style to it. And if you need comprehension tasks too, AI will also generate these&nbsp;with answers.&nbsp;

<h2><img alt="AI prompt" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3363/content_AI-1.png" /> 
2.&nbsp;Lesson planning&nbsp;</h2>

Planning what to teach is probably one of the most time-consuming tasks for teachers. Using Ellii materials is one of the simplest ways to reduce this time. A quick search of Ellii resources usually returns a number of options, but occasionally you&rsquo;ll be searching for something a bit more obscure.&nbsp;

This is when you can ask AI to plan your lesson for you! I was surprised just how comprehensive a lesson plan it provided.&nbsp;

<h2><img alt="AI prompt" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3364/content_Screen_Shot_2023-09-12_at_10.15.07_AM.png" /></h2>

It gave the following information:&nbsp;

&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Objective 
&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Level 
&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Duration 
&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Materials 
&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Warm-up 
&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Introduction activities 
&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Vocabulary activities 
&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Grammar activities 
&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Discussion 
&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&bull;&nbsp; &nbsp; Final reflection 
&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Homework tasks 
&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Assessment ideas 
&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Extension activity suggestion

<h2>3.&nbsp; Extension activity ideas</h2>

Finding the perfect activity to match the lesson topic can sometimes be tricky. AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT or Bard, can give suggestions.&nbsp;

Take this Ellii sample lesson on <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2719-online-privacy" target="_blank">Online Privacy</a>, for example. It&rsquo;s already pretty comprehensive with a reading text, comprehension questions, vocabulary review, discussion and debate topics, and a written task.&nbsp;Perhaps you want to review the topic in your next session with the class, but you&rsquo;re not sure how.&nbsp;

<h2><img alt="AI Prompt" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3365/content_Screen_Shot_2023-09-12_at_10.15.14_AM.png" /></h2>

These prompts returned the following activity suggestions:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>A debate (which students would already have done)</li>
	<li>A role-play for a data breach response team (sounds fun)</li>
	<li>A news report about an online privacy scandal (intriguing)</li>
</ul>

<h2>4.&nbsp; Homework ideas</h2>

Much like extension activities for inside the classroom, AI tools can help you create and select tasks for outside the classroom. Asking for a specific number of tasks will provide you with a selection of options to choose from.&nbsp;

<img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3369/content_Screen_Shot_2023-09-12_at_10.25.05_AM.png" />This prompt gave the following ideas on the topic of &quot;accidents&quot;:&nbsp; 
&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Accident story rewrite: Rewrite a story about an accident they or someone else had. 
&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Accident timeline: Draw a timeline with key moments. Write sentences to describe each one.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Accident interview: Interview someone about an accident they or someone else had.

<h2>5.&nbsp; &nbsp;Vocabulary lists</h2>

One of the things I love most about Ellii is that you can create your own flashcard deck. With <a href="https://ellii.com/media/flashcards" target="_blank">4,500+ flashcards</a> to choose from, deciding which words to focus on can sometimes be a challenge.&nbsp;

You could use one of Ellii&rsquo;s lessons for inspiration, or you could ask an AI tool for ideas.&nbsp;

<img alt="AI Prompt" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3366/content_Screen_Shot_2023-09-12_at_10.15.26_AM.png" />

<h2>6.&nbsp;Mnemonic ideas</h2>

Spelling in English is notoriously difficult, so we need to give students strategies to help them remember. Mnemonics are a great way to do this, but they can be tricky to create, especially at lower levels when vocabulary is limited.&nbsp;

I used this prompt with ChatGPT:&nbsp;

<img alt="AI Prompt" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3367/content_Screen_Shot_2023-09-12_at_10.15.32_AM.png" />

It suggested &quot;Funny Rabbits In Every Neighborhood Dance,&quot;&nbsp;which is pretty good. Though I feel that &quot;neighborhood&quot;&nbsp;might be a bit difficult for some learners. I&rsquo;d perhaps change it to &quot;Funny Rabbit Is Eating New Dinner&quot;&nbsp;or work together with the students to create their own, using AI to help them.&nbsp;

<h2>7.&nbsp; Apply for a job</h2>

AI can provide helpful support with creating CVs, cover&nbsp;letters, or personal statements. You can enter your specification, plus your skills, qualities, and experience, and ask it to generate text suited to you.&nbsp;

It&rsquo;s obviously wise to use the generated text as a guide and to add your own personality!

<img alt="AI Prompt" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3368/content_Screen_Shot_2023-09-12_at_10.15.37_AM.png" />

<h2>8.&nbsp; Answer tricky questions</h2>

We&rsquo;ve all been there. That moment when a student asks you something really hard and you think, &quot;I have no idea!&quot;

We can always throw these questions back at the class and see if another student can provide the answer&nbsp;or swot up (British English slang&nbsp;meaning study intensively)&nbsp;on the topic before the next class.&nbsp;

Now teachers can sneakily ask AI during a quiet moment in class&nbsp;or get students involved in creating their own AI prompt to find the answer.&nbsp;

<h2>9.&nbsp; Give feedback</h2>

Teachers can copy and paste students&rsquo; written work into AI chatbots and ask them to grade it or give feedback. The tools can give advice on grammar, vocabulary, style, punctuation, and structuring. Teachers can then decide which suggestions they&rsquo;d like to share with the learner.&nbsp;

Alternatively, teachers can do this with the student present to show learners how to use AI to improve their own work.&nbsp;

<h2>10. Support learner autonomy</h2>

Training students to use AI effectively can help them be more self-directed and ensure that they&rsquo;re not tempted to submit AI-generated work instead of their own. This reduces the time that teachers spend checking homework so they can&nbsp;support learners in other ways. Here is a related post on <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/developing-learner-autonomy-with-ai" target="_blank">Developing Learner Autonomy with AI</a>.

Did you know #Elliicon2023 is AI-themed this year? We have some incredible speakers who will be exploring humanity and technology in ELT. <a href="https://ellii.com/conference/2023" target="_blank">Join us for free on&nbsp;September 14 and 15!</a>

<blockquote>
How do you use AI to help you as a teacher? We&rsquo;d love to know how you&rsquo;re using it! Share your ideas in the comments.&nbsp;
</blockquote>

<h2>Related Lessons</h2>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/that-s-news-to-me/4579-when-chatbots-get-it-wrong" target="_blank">When Chatbots Get It Wrong</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/that-s-news-to-me/4500-tutoring-with-chatgpt" target="_blank">Tutoring with ChatGPT</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4468-ai-generated-content" target="_blank">AI-Generated Content</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/1679-artificial-intelligence">Artificial Intelligence</a></li>
</ul>

VIEWING POSTS BY

Emily Bryson