Notes From An ELT Consultant

A collection of Teacher-Training sessions
A 95-page e-book

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Available only to Supporters of www.tuneintoenglish.com

In 1996 I became an ELT Consultant for Heinemann ELT, later to become Macmillan ELT, covering the south of Italy and the islands. One of an ELT Consultant’s principal activities is to present the company’s books through Teacher Training sessions, and for over six years I travelled extensively throughout the country (as well as one-off trips to Bulgaria and Slovakia), holding talks and workshops for teachers – sometimes to packed rooms, sometimes to just one or two enthusiastic participants (thanks for coming!).

While tidying my shelves recently I wondered what to do with the piles of paper and overhead transparencies (the computer with projector was not yet ubiquitous) I had amassed in that period over a decade ago. It did not seem right to just dump them in the recycling bin (are transparencies plastic?), so I decided to gather them together as a collection of notes – this is the result.

Not all of this work is mine, of course. As colleagues we helped each other out, so thank you to Nick Broom, Peter McCabe and Emma Byrne for your wonderful ideas and notes. It was a pleasure working with you.
Thank you also to my anonymous proof reader, who is far more qualified than me in these matters!

I do not pretend that this volume should join the greats of methodology literature, it is simply a collection of my notes for those presentations, including scans of the transparencies. Some presentations are better than others. Although it is not quite a labour of love, it is very satisfying to see the unruly pile in one PDF document.

I hope you find something useful here, please do let me know.

Best wishes,
Fergal Kavanagh, November 2013
ELT Consultant
Heinemann Macmillan ELT, 1996 – 2001 and 2003
ELI, 2002 and 2004

Fergal Kavanagh has taught in Italian State schools, the British Council and the University ‘L’Orientale’, Napoli. He is co-author of Team Up in English, a text book for the lower secondary school, published by ELI (2008, new edition 2011). His website www.tuneintoenglish.com (nominated for a 2012 ELTons Award) and travelling Roadshow promote the use of songs as his preferred method of teaching.

Also available in print edition


4 thoughts on “Notes From An ELT Consultant”

  1. Thank you Fergal for this invaluable book!!
    It’s a great one and useful support for an English language teacher, expecially for those who are just getting into the job now. As a teacher trainer I would higly recommend it to my trainees as a useful resource for teaching, a precious companion of work.
    The book suggests a good number of activities and approaches to teaching you can effectively put into practice with your students, giving them the opportunity to learn well in a positive and memorable environment, in a way that they will always remember.
    Besides that, and above all, the theories and the literature behind the book are punctual and well conveyed to the reader.
    The book “Notes from an ELT Teacher” provides a good opportunity for those who are looking for a less formal refreshers’ course and takes into account the fact that nowadays many teachers perefer to “learn” the job in a non-formal but still effective and accurate way.
    Marzia Mastalli

  2. Fergal

    What a great site. It was referred to me by Shelley Terrel on the ELTT MOOC being run by Jason Levine on WIZIQ.
    I shall be back to look when I start planning my courses in New Year.

    BTW the link for your “NOTES” doen’t seem to be working.

    All good wishes

    Adrian C Eakins

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