2nd Edition

Becoming an Outstanding Languages Teacher

By Steve Smith Copyright 2023
    222 Pages 3 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    222 Pages 3 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Becoming an Outstanding Languages Teacher explores the skills that it takes to deliver exceptional language teaching and produce outstanding results. Written by a highly experienced teacher and teacher educator, this book provides a wide range of approaches to teaching, along with an abundance of practical classroom ideas.

    This new edition keeps the focus on the nuts and bolts of planning lessons – which will keep students engaged and stimulated when learning a language – and features a new chapter on intercultural understanding, as well as updated information on the latest digital technology tools. Reference is made to tried and tested methodologies and classroom procedures, along with exciting new approaches which teachers have found productive. The book covers:

    • how to run a room;
    • dissecting lessons: written texts, aural texts and visuals;
    • teacher-student interactions, communicative tasks and sentence-building;
    • developing phonological and phonics skill;
    • purposeful games;
    • teaching with words and chunks;
    • teaching students with varying aptitude for language learning;
    • using digital technology to support learning;
    • what it means to "teach grammar";
    • intercultural understanding;
    • building a repertoire to lighten your workload.

    Packed full of strategies which are easy to implement, this book is essential reading for both pre-service teachers and experienced practitioners.

    Introduction, 1. Running a languages classroom, 2. Dissecting lessons: visuals, 3. Dissecting lessons: using written texts, 4. Dissecting lessons: task-based lessons, 5. Enjoying sounds, 6. Purposeful games, 7. Getting grammatical, 8. Words and chunks, 9. Dissecting lessons: speaking, 10. Dissecting lessons: writing, 11. Teaching all abilities, 12. Teaching in the target language, 13. Moving them forwards, 14. Intercultural understanding, 15. Building your outstanding repertoire, Conclusion

    Biography

    Steve Smith taught languages for over 30 years and is former Head of Modern Languages at Ripon Grammar School, UK. He is now an author, consultant, blogger and occasional YouTuber. He works with trainee and qualified teachers in schools and online and has presented at conferences in England, Ireland and Scotland. His resources site frenchteacher.net is used around the world. He has written for the AQA examination board in England and been a visiting lecturer at the University of Buckingham for several years.