What do the input sessions and workshops involve?
Input session topics include: the language itself (grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation); the language learner; teaching methodology (for example, classroom management, ways of clarifying and checking meaning, ways of providing practice for students, ways of responding to student errors, etc.); how to structure different lessons so that they meet different aims (i.e. “lesson types”); the selection and exploitation of resources and materials; teaching for specific purposes (for example, teaching young learners or teaching one-to-one) . Sessions usually last 75 – 90 minutes each and are led by a trainer but typically require a lot of active involvement by trainees, discussing answers, solving problems and analysing what you have been shown. Though there are one or two sessions that do take the format of a ‘lecture’ to which you are invited to contribute, these tend to be the exceptions rather than the rule.
