Lesson 7 - Trends in English Language Education

Trends in English Language
Education
Pre Advanced. Lesson 7

Lesson 7. Trends in English Language Education
޴To have another language is to possess a

second soul.޵
− Charlemagne
1. Warm Up
1. When did you begin studying English? Was it the right time?
2. As an English student, what teaching and study methods help
you learn most effectively?
3. Brainstorm: How has the way English is studied and taught
changed in the past 20 years? Think of some ideas with your
teacher.
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5. “Native speaker”: is the goal of studying English to speak

like one?
6. How do you feel about having class through software such
as Skype?
7. English Opinions: Do you agree with these opinions on
language? Discuss.
a. If the whole world learned English, there’d be fewer communication
problems.
b. To be successful in the world, it’s now better to learn English.
c. English should become the official world language.
d. The English language is changing many other languages and cultures.
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 2. Pre-Listening Activity
Match the words and phrases in the table to their synonyms.
Vocabulary Meaning
baffling opposed to doing
on the way out hard to understand
interrogative having a duty to do something
win out avoiding
obligation succeed after a fight
authoritarian question
shying away from declining in popularity and use
progressive continuing
stative demanding obedience from people
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3. Listening (2.1)
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/features/6min/160804_6
min_english_future_of_english_download.mp3
After listening Exercise

What does the text speak “plos” mean? Elaborate.
Site other text speak that have been mentioned in the passage. Discuss.
Why is the use of the word “shall” and “must” declining?
Discuss progressive tenses and stative verbs.
What kinds of words are slow to change?
a) nouns?
b) pronouns?
c) adjectives?
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4. Reading
English language education continues to gain importance worldwide. In
countries such as Saudi Arabia and Vietnam, students are beginning to study English in
primary school. English testing has also become an even bigger business. Many universities
in English-speaking countries require international students take IELTS, which passed
TOEFL as the most popular test for higher education in 2007. In Japan, companies still
seek workers with high TOEIC scores. In Europe, exams such as FCE, CAE, and CPE from
Cambridge are popular.
Technology has changed the way people are studying. Although the textbook still
plays an important role in classrooms, students nowadays are also learning through
online videos, websites, mobile apps and games. Best of all, much of this content is
available for free. Students who are willing to pay are using Skype to take lessons from
online tutors.
People with more money continue to study abroad, which is not a new trend.
They believe that immersion is the most effective way to improve their English.
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Teaching philosophies are also changing. More teachers see language

now as something that is constantly evolving. New words are being created, old
words are receiving new meanings, and spelling and even grammatical patterns are
becoming outdated. These teachers are focusing on how language is actually used
in the real world, not how it appeared in a textbook twenty years ago. In
connection with this, the goal of English class has shifted towards to fluency in
communication and competency in completing tasks. This focus on
communication has begun to overshadow the idea of trying to imitate a native
speaker or reproduce set grammatical forms.
Lastly, more students are improving their English through the study of
another subject. Followers of this trend, called Content and Language Integrated
Learning (CLIL), believe the English can be a means to learn other content, such
as business or science.
[Sources: http://blog.tesol.org/8-current-trends-in-teaching-and-learning-eflesl/,
https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2010/02/16/descriptivism-vs-prescriptivism-war-is-over-if-you-want-it/]
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Comprehension
1. When do children start studying English in Vietnam?
2. What are IELTS, TOEFL and TOEIC?
3. In which country are exams such as FCE, CAE, and CPE popular?
4. True or False: IELTS is the most popular test in higher education.
5. How has technology changed the study of English? What technology has not
changed?
6. How is the way English is taught changing?
7. Your opinion: What do you think of the trends mentioned in the article?
8. Vocabulary Bonus:
These new words were added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2015)
Can you guess their meanings?
 Meme (n)
 Bestie (n)
 Photobomb (v/n)
 Emoji (n)
8. What English learning resources, such as websites, can you recommend?
9. Your opinion: Is the goal of studying English to speak like a native English speaker?
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5. Grammar Focus
Conditionals
"Condition" means "situation or circumstance". If a particular condition is true, then a
particular result happens:
In this lesson we look at four of the most common ways to talk about the future
if y = 3 then 2y = 6
The structure of most conditionals is very simple. There are two basic possibilities.
Of course, we add many words and can use various tenses, but the basic structure is usually
like this:
if condition result result if condition
If y=10 2y=20
or 2y=20 if y=10
This structure can produce, for example, the following sentences:

• If I see her, I will tell her.
• I will tell her if I see her.
Notice the comma in the first sentence. (A comma is always correct in this case, but not
always essential if the sentence is short.) In the second sentence we do not normally use a
comma.
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Conditional Function Form Example

Zero General truths and If + present simple, present If you add 2 and 2, you get
Conditional general habits simple four.
First Possible or likely things in If + present simple, will + If it rains later, we’ll stay at
Conditional the future infinitive home.
Second Impossible things in the If + past simple, would + If I won the lottery, I would
Conditional present/ unlikely things in infinitive sail around the world.
the future
Third Things that didn’t happen If + past perfect, would + If I had studied harder, I
conditional in the past and their have + past participle would have passed the exam
imaginary results
probability, example time

conditional
100% zero If you heat ice, it melts. any
50% 1 If I win the lottery, I will buy a car. Future
10% 2 If I won the lottery, I would buy a car. future

0% 3 If I had won the lottery, I would have bought a car. past
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Grammar Exercise
Make the first, second or third conditional.
1. (First) If we ________ (not / work) harder, we ________ (not pass) the exam.
2. (Third) If the students ________ (not be) late for the exam, they ________ (pass).
3. (Third) If the weather ________(not be) so cold, we ________ (go) to the beach.
4. (Second) If she ________ (have) her laptop with her, she ________ (email) me.
5. (First) If she ________ (not go) to the meeting, I ________ (not go) either.
6. (Third) If the baby ________ (sleep) better last night, I ________ (not be) so tired.
7. (First) If the teacher ________ (give) us lots of homework this weekend, I ________ (not be) happy.
8. (Second) If Lucy ________ (have) enough time, she ________ (travel) more.
9. (First) If the children ________(not eat) soon, they ________(be) grumpy.
10. (First) If I ________ (not go) to bed soon, I ________ (be) tired in the morning.
11. (Second) If I ________ (want) a new car, I ________ (buy) one.
12. (Second) If José ________(not speak) good French, he ________ (not move) to Paris.
13. (First) If John ________ (drink) too much coffee, he ________ (get) ill.
14. (Third) If we ________ (tidy) our flat, we ________ (not lose) our keys.
15. (Third) If Luke ________ (not sent) flowers to his mother, she ________ (not be) happy.
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Grammar Exercise
Finish the sentences with a clause in the correct conditional.
1. If it is sunny tomorrow ________ 16. If I go out tonight ________

2. If you sit in the sun too long ________ 17. If I were on holiday today ________
3. If I were you ________ 18. If I had listened to my mother ________
4. If I were the Prime Minister ________ 19. If I hadn’t eaten so much ________
5. If she had studied harder ________ 20. If it rains later ________
6. If I won the lottery ________ 21. If I were the opposite sex ________
7. If I hadn’t gone to bed so late ________ 22. If I have enough money ________
8. If I hadn’t come to London ________ 23. If you don’t wear a coat in the winter ________
9. If you mix water and electricity ________ 24. If I weren’t studying English ________
10. If she hadn’t stayed at home ________ 25. If I were British ________
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6. Vocabulary Practice
a. the ability to do something successfully or
1. seek (v) efficiently
2. play a role (idiom) b. a tool or way to achieve a goal
3. immersion (n) c. a theory or attitude that guides your
4. philosophy (n) behavior
5. evolve (v) d. be a significant part of something
6. competency (n) e. develop gradually, especially from simple to
7. overshadow (v) more complex forms
8. imitate (v) f. appear more important or prominent than
9. means (n) something else
g. act like something/somebody else; to copy
someone’s behaviour
h. learning a foreign language in an
environment where it is used everywhere
i. look for
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Discuss the world in bold.

Is English the world’s Lingua Franca? A report from the British Council
announced yesterday estimated that by 2015 two billion people will start learning
English around the world, and three billion people – half the planet – will be speaking
it. However, report editor, David Graddoll, said that English will not become the
Esperanto and dominate global language learning as Arabic, Chinese and Spanish are
set to rise in importance. He said the trend is towards “linguistic globalization” and
multi-lingualism, not bilingualism, and definitely not monolingualism. French, on the
other hand, once considered a lingua franca, will see its status as a world language
continue to slide.
Although English will escalate in popularity, English language teachers will likely
be out of a job by 2050, when so many people will be able to speak English, that teaching
it will become almost redundant. Demand for English teaching will drop by a
whopping 75%, from two billion to 500 million. Instead English will be taught worldwide
at elementary level, and many universities across the world will choose to teach in
English. This suggests a wake-up call for traditionally lazy and monolingual Britons, who
tend to shun language learning because of their “everyone speaks English”
mentality. Brits will be left behind in a future poly-lingual world.
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7. 2-minute Debates
(a) English is the lingua franca. vs. It depends on where you are in the
world.
(b) English will be the most important language in the world. vs Chinese
will be.
(c) Half of elementary school education should be in English. vs. The
child’s native language is more important.
(d) English should be recognized as a national language in many countries.
vs. A national language needs strong and long cultural roots.
(e) English should be recognized as the official world language. vs. But in
the future other languages will overtake English.
(f) The world should learn either British or American English. vs. The
world should learn international English.
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8. Building Sentences
Connect the below ideas to make a sentence.
government / crush / uprising e.g. The government plans to crush the uprising.
estimate/people
around the world/use
dominate/world
rise/trend
wake up/ call
demand/job
status/country
elementary/level
escalate/job
tradition/suggest
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Express Yourself
1. Must an English teacher’s native tongue be English?

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of learning English online?
3. Are you happy with your level of English? Why or why not?
4. Should English be made the official world language by the United
Nations?
5. If you were to become poly-lingual, which other languages would you
like to learn?
6. Is the spread of English a positive or a dangerous thing?
7. Should subjects be taught in English in elementary schools (in addition
to the native language)
8. All in all, at the end of the day, when all is said and done, in a nutshell,
what does English mean to you?
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Discuss the video below.
http://www.elllo.org/video/1401v/1400-Shon-Learn-English.html
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Lesson 7 - Trends in English Language Education

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Trends in English Language

Pre Advanced. Lesson 7

޴To have another language is to possess a

5. “Native speaker”: is the goal of studying English to speak

After listening Exercise

Teaching philosophies are also changing. More teachers see language

This structure can produce, for example, the following sentences:

Conditional Function Form Example

probability, example time

10% 2 If I won the lottery, I would buy a car. future

Finish the sentences with a clause in the correct conditional.

1. If it is sunny tomorrow 16. If I go out tonight

Discuss the world in bold.

Connect the below ideas to make a sentence.

1. Must an English teacher’s native tongue be English?

Discuss the video below.

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