Humor4u

Occasionally I am asked why 2011 is different than other historic periods of upheaval and why should we consider it to be unique? After all, I am told, humanity has bobbled along regardless of prevailing periods of catastrophic impacts. For me 2011 represents a unique period in human history because there are far more of us and we almost all have access to instant information apprising us of what is happening anywhere in the world. This fact alone adds a dimension never before experienced by humanity as a whole and it most certainly introduces a “wild-factor” element generating an effect I would call our mass global conscience, a palpable driver of human reaction and activity. Since this has never been experienced before no one knows what outcomes a mass coordinated global conscious may invoke, a definite unique factor when assessing probabilities for 2011.  It is likely that human perspectives have entered a new realm of cognizance and probably an era of some form of mental shifti...

Simple but effective activities for recycling lexis Photo by Ian Britton  via FreeFoto.com [ CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 ] While researchers do not agree whether encountering words in context or engaging in decontextualized practice is more conducive to learning new vocabulary , most assert that multiple encounters with the word are necessary. Also , there is no agreement in the literature on how many encounters with a lexical item are necessary in order for the learner to retain it, with numbers varying between 6 and 16. Despite this , most would agree that frequent recycling is essential to the effective vocabulary learning. Unfortunately, coursebooks do not provide enough repeated encounters with lexical items. While learners may be exposed to the same lexis within a particular unit , few coursebooks ensure that the same lexis is recycled across the textbook , i.e. over a series of units. It is therefore our responsibility as teachers to ensure lexical items our students encounter are ...