Contemporary English Teacher development course – Bell School at Homerton College, Cambridge, UK Mgr. Lenka Kučerová
Contemporary English The course for experienced teachers with a high standard of English (Level C1). Is taught through a series of informal lectures, seminars and workshops. Updated on current trends, designed for extending knowledge of idiomatic and colloquial language, provides language development and practice and presents practical ideas and techniques for teaching the topics covered.
150 teachers from 52 European countries
Topics of the course How social and cultural changes have affected modern English Exploiting authentic materials in the classroom Trends in lexical change and new words Political correctness Language change Teenage language Slang and idioms Varieties of English
Resources for keeping your English contemporary! (websites) Useful for keeping up with the news, with video and audio features, and archived items An excellent source of authentic audio material of all kinds, including short stories and programmes on language change
The English Blog has a Nick Newman cartoon of the day, plus an explanation and many other resources for teachers Another good source of up-to-date reading material, and no subscription!
TV programmes/DVDs/Youtube clips Horrible Histories (useful for teaching English history in an amusing, memorable way) Tracey Beaker (entertaining drama series based on the books by Jacqueline Wilson, could be used with young teenagers) Armstrong and Miller (A funny comedy sketch show, with a good range of language and topics. Some would be suitable for use with teenagers, but not all).
Watching the English: Kate Fox (interesting, very readable, great for dipping into) Notes from a Small Island : Bill Bryson (subjective, but amusing) Real England: Paul Kingsnorth (revealing, challenging) Welcome to Everytown: Julian Baggini (entertaining, effectionate) Books about Britishness
New Lexis, old lexis “The English language leads other languages up dark alleyways and then mugs them for all their good words.” Guoted by Kate Fox in ‘Watching the English’, Hodder 2004 Would you like to know how contemporary your English is? Try the following quiz, update your phrasal verbs and refresh vocabulary.
1. A thumbo describes… A mistake you make when texting A handsome but unintelligent man A bandage on a broken finger 2. What is the aim of a BOGOF? To deter shoplifters To inform shoppers about new toilet paper To persuade people to buy things 3. A helicopter parent Travels everywhere in luxury Only sees their kids at weekends Is over-protective
Phrasal verbs Can you think of any occasions when you have been ripped off in the UK? What noun does veg out come from? How does that affect its pronunciation? What is the difference between to chat someone up and to butter someone up? Popular expressions (Do you know the meaning ?) It is not in my bag. It is hunky-dory.
If you do not have an idea, do not worry and enjoy stories of all kinds