Need expert support in designing and delivering a customised teacher training session or course for your institution? Let’s create something impactful together!
Pre–While–Post Cycle
Students first prepare for the text through activities that activate prior knowledge and set a clear purpose. They then focus on target sub-skills to approach the text more effectively. While engaging with the text, they complete tasks that guide comprehension and provide practice in those sub-skills. Finally, they take part in follow-up activities that extend understanding, personalize the topic, and encourage reflection on the sub-skills used.
What methodology should I use?
Task-Based Learning (TBL)
Students review a model of a written task, focusing on genre-specific features and target writing sub-skills. They then produce a first draft, after which feedback is given on those sub-skills. Students use the feedback to edit and improve their work before producing a final draft.
Task–Teach–Task (TTT)
Students first produce a draft based on their existing knowledge. The teacher then addresses gaps by focusing on key language and writing sub-skills. Students use this input to revise their draft and improve it before producing a final version.
What methodology should I use?
Task-Based Learning (TBL)
Students review a model of a speaking task, focusing on communication and target speaking sub-skills. They then perform the task, after which feedback is given on key language and those sub-skills. Students use the feedback to improve their performance by repeating the same or a similar task.
Task–Teach–Task (TTT)
Students first attempt a speaking task. The teacher then addresses gaps by focusing on key language and target speaking sub-skills. Students use this input to improve their performance when repeating the same or a similar task.
What methodology should I use?
Presentation–Practice–Production (PPP)
The teacher presents and clarifies the target language. Students then practice it through controlled exercises before applying it more freely in communicative activities.
Test–Teach–Test (TTT)
Students first attempt to use the target language. The teacher then addresses gaps through focused instruction, and students try again to consolidate learning through controlled or communicative activities.
Task-Based Learning (TBL)
Students review a model of a speaking or writing task, focusing on communication and the target language. They then perform the task, after which feedback is given on key language. Students use this feedback to improve their performance by repeating the same or a similar task.
Ideas for listening genres (text types)
Conversational / Interactive
Face-to-face conversation
Telephone and video calls
Interviews
Discussions and debates
Meetings and conference calls
Monologic / Extended Speech
Lectures and talks
Presentations
Speeches and public addresses
Media / Broadcast
News and documentaries
Podcasts
Radio shows and interviews
TV programs and films
Instructional / Procedural
Announcements
Instructions and directions
Training or tutorial audio
Informational / Expository
Reports and briefings
Explanations
Podium speeches and panel discussions
Narrative / Storytelling
Stories, fairy tales, and fables
Personal anecdotes
Dramatic readings and plays
Multi-Speaker / Group Interaction
Panel discussions
Focus groups
Workshops and collaborative tasks
Cross-Cultural / Global English
Variety and accent-focused listening
Intercultural communication
Ideas for listening learning points
Phonological Processing
Sounds
Discriminating between phonemes
Identifying individual sounds in connected speech
Recognizing phoneme variations in different contexts
Syllables and Words
Segmenting speech stream into syllables
Identifying word boundaries in connected speech
Recognizing stressed and unstressed syllables
Connected Speech
Understanding linking between words
Recognizing contractions and elisions
Processing assimilation and reduction patterns
Identifying weak forms vs. strong forms
Prosodic Processing – Rhythm
Identifying sentence stress patterns
Recognizing rhythm in connected speech
Understanding timing patterns
Prosodic Processing – Intonation
Recognizing rising and falling intonation
Understanding intonation’s role in meaning
Identifying emotional content through prosody
Prosodic Processing – Stress Patterns
Identifying word-level stress
Identifying sentence-level stress
Recognizing contrastive stress
Lexical Processing
Word Recognition
Recognizing high-frequency words
Processing content vs. function words
Recognizing word families and variations
Formulaic Sequence Recognition
Identifying collocations and phrases
Recognizing idioms and expressions
Processing multi-word units
Comprehension
Literal Comprehension
Understanding explicitly stated information
Following sequential information
Identifying specific details and facts
Gist Comprehension
Extracting main ideas
Understanding overall meaning
Getting general sense without every detail
Inferential Comprehension
Reading between the lines
Understanding implied meanings
Drawing logical conclusions from heard information
Interpretation
Contextual Understanding
Using context clues for meaning
Understanding situation and setting
Interpreting cultural references
Speaker Intention
Identifying speaker’s purpose
Understanding attitudes and opinions
Recognizing persuasive language
Pragmatic Interpretation
Understanding indirect speech acts
Recognizing sarcasm and humor
Interpreting politeness strategies
Critical Listening
Evaluation and Analysis
Assessing information credibility
Identifying fact vs. opinion
Analyzing argument structure
Comparative Listening
Comparing different viewpoints
Contrasting information sources
Synthesizing multiple perspectives
Top-Down Processing
Prediction Skills
Using prior knowledge
Anticipating content from context
Generating expectations about content
Schema Activation
Accessing background knowledge
Using cultural and situational knowledge
Connecting new information to existing knowledge
Bottom-Up Processing
Detail Processing
Focusing on specific linguistic elements
Building meaning from individual words
Processing grammatical structures
Sequential Processing
Following chronological information
Tracking cause-and-effect relationships
Understanding procedural sequences
Metacognitive Strategies
Monitoring Comprehension
Self-assessing understanding
Identifying comprehension breakdowns
Recognizing when meaning is lost
Repair Strategies
Using confirmation checks
Asking for clarification
Employing compensatory techniques
Interactive Strategies
Turn-Taking Management
Recognizing speaker changes
Understanding conversation signals
Processing overlapping speech
Feedback Processing
Understanding backchanneling
Processing confirmation signals
Interpreting non-verbal cues (in multimedia contexts)
Academic Listening
Lectures
Following lecture organization
Identifying main points and supporting details
Understanding academic discourse markers
Note-Taking
Identifying key information for recording
Following verbal emphasis signals
Processing definition and explanation patterns
Conversational Listening
Social Interactions
Understanding small talk patterns
Processing interruptions and repairs
Following topic shifts
Multi-Party Conversations
Tracking multiple speakers
Understanding group dynamics
Processing simultaneous speech segments
Media Listening
News and Documentaries
Following news story structure
Processing factual information rapidly
Understanding journalistic language
Entertainment Media
Understanding narrative structures
Processing dialogue in various accents
Following plot development
Accent and Variety Recognition
Dialects
Understanding different English varieties
Processing regional accents
Adapting to non-native speaker varieties
Register
Recognizing formal vs. informal speech
Understanding register shifts
Processing domain-specific language
Cultural Listening
Cultural References
Processing culturally specific content
Understanding humor and cultural jokes
Interpreting culturally bound expressions
Cross-Cultural Communication
Understanding intercultural interactions
Processing language transfer effects
Interpreting cultural communication styles
Ideas for reading genres (text types)
Everyday / Functional Texts
Email
Letter
Blog
Online post
Instructions / Manual
Recipe
Advertisement / Flyer
Brochure
Notice / Announcement
Review
Informational / Academic Texts
Newspaper article
Magazine article
Essays / Opinion piece
Report
Textbook excerpt
Study guide
Profile
Biography
Literary / Narrative Texts
Short story
Novel extract
Anecdote
Personal narrative
Poem
Fable
Folk tale
Play script
Persuasive / Argumentative Texts
Opinion column / Editorial
Speech
Debate transcript
Campaign material
Practical / Workplace Texts
Job ad
CV / Résumé
Cover letter
Business email
Memo
Meeting minutes
Business report
Company website
Product description
Digital / Multimodal Texts
Social media post
Online forum
FAQs
Web page
Online review
Newsfeeds
Ideas for reading learning points
Foundational Processing
Orthographic and Graphophonic Awareness
Recognising letters, graphemes, and spelling patterns
Matching letters to sounds (phonics)
Understanding word boundaries, spacing, punctuation
Word Recognition and Lexical Access
Recognising high-frequency words automatically
Using phonics, morphology, and syllabication to decode unfamiliar words
