Vocabulary is assessed in various different ways in all of the Cambridge Assessment English qualifications so knowing how to effectively integrate vocabulary teaching into your classes is of great importance if you are preparing students for these exams. In the first part of this seminar, Jane will look at some of the key elements of teaching and learning vocabulary and in the second half, the focus will shift to looking more specifically at boosting students’ knowledge and use of vocabulary in C1 level writing tasks.

Jane is a teacher and teacher trainer who lives in the Tarragona area. She has given teaching trainer courses all over the world, including the Czech Republic, Japan and Portugal. She is especially interested in primary education and CLIL, and is doing a PhD in this area. She is a CELTA and DELTA tutor.

Active Listening refers to a range of skills we use to signal interest and attention. Active listening has been shown to improve students’ language output when used by teachers. This seminar shows how active listening can be taught to 12 -18-year olds. The seminar provides some practical ideas to help students improve interactive communication in Cambridge Speaking tests. We will look at why active listening is important and suggest ways to help teenagers become better listeners both inside class and out.

John Lavery has taught English in Spain for over twenty years. He was Senior Teacher at The British Council Young Learners Centre, Barcelona between 2010 and 2018. Before this, he worked as a social worker in Belfast and Edinburgh. He has recently completed an MA in Teaching English to Young Learners.

Teaching writing can be challenging, particularly as students progress to higher levels. The aim of this seminar is for teachers to be able to aid students in identifying and correcting their own ingrained errors. Sarah will help participants learn to assess writing accurately and hopefully make the process a bit more fun!

Sarah Johnston  started her teaching career in Barcelona in 1985. She completed her CAP (Certificat d’Aptitud Pedagògica) and then went on to do her RSA (now DELTA). She is the DOS at Big Ben Idiomes Barcelona where she has been working since 1987.

Sarah is a Speaking Examiner Team Leader for CPE, CAE, FCE, BEC, PET, KET and YLE and has worked with Cambridge Exams for almost 25 years. She has also recently become a WE (writing examiner). She has been teaching exam classes for many, many years to students of all ages and has prepared students for all the Cambridge Exams.

Preparing C1 Advanced students for the receptive skills components can often take second place to the more immediately communicative productive skills.  Nonetheless, doing well in the Reading and Listening components can really help students to make it past the finish line or to improve their final grade.  In this Seminar we will take an in depth look at the Reading and Listening sections of the C1 Advanced exam to examine the task types and how to approach them.   As always, Graham will suggest motivating ideas for the classroom that you can put into practice right away.

Graham Ward  BA, MA, has been working as an ELT teacher in Barcelona since 1997. He is the Head of English at the Fundació Collserola schools as well as director of the extra-curricular English programme. As Cambridge English schools, Graham leads the English Department, responsible for preparing hundreds of candidates yearly for all exams from Young Learners to Proficiency.   Graham was a Speaking Examiner from 1999 to 2017 including being Team Leader for Exams Catalunya from 2008-17, he is now a Cambridge Assessment English Presenter.

For all learners, motivation is a key element which can contribute to success in language learning.  Teachers often find motivating teenage groups can be particularly challenging and in this seminar we will look at effective ways to engage teenagers and motivate them to take responsibility for their own learning both during class and at home.    There will be lots of helpful tips for classroom activities and techniques as well as ideas for varied and interesting homework assignments!

Dan Shepherd  is a teacher, teacher trainer and academic manager based in Barcelona. He hastaught a huge variety of ages and levels but he most enjoys inspiring young people and getting them interested in learning English. Before going freelance he was the director of studies at a large Barcelona language school and is also a Cambridge English Speaking Examiner, Team Leader and conference presenter at Exams Catalunya.

Both teachers and students often find writing a useless activity in class and both prefer it as a homework task; but how can we really help our students develop their writing skills and enjoy it at the same time? This session will look at techniques for motivating B2 and C1 students to write while focusing on using class time effectively to tackle First and Advanced writing exam tasks. We will discover practical ways to help students improve their writing skills and create effective texts, all of which can easily be implemented in class. 

Nicole has been teaching and working in various academic settings for over 10 years. As well as being a Cambridge Assessment English Speaking Examiner, she has been Director of Studies at a UK-based summer school for B1+ teenagers for almost as long as her career.  During the DELTA course she challenged herself to explore the areas that she found more difficult in language teaching and has taken an interest in finding ways to help both students and colleagues boost their confidence and skills.

With a variety of activities, this highly practical and interactive workshop focuses on how we can raise our students’ awareness of different features of pronunciation and thus help them improve their own pronunciation. We will also look at what features of pronunciation are commonly evaluated in English language exams like the Cambridge Assessment English qualifications.  Be prepared to join in!. 

Elinor Ridler  has been living and working in Spain for nearly 30 years. She worked for many years in private language schools as teacher and Director of Studies. Now freelance, as well as teaching English, Elinor is Team Leader and Speaking Examiner for all levels of the Cambridge Exams and Writing Examiner for B1 & B2. .

Intensive and short summer courses leading towards Cambridge Assessment English exam sessions are becoming more and more popular. What are the specific characteristics of such courses and how can teachers best ensure they cover all that is necessary to prepare their students to take the exam at the end of the course? Graham will use the B2 First as the example exam but the principals remain true for any intensive short exam course.

Graham Ward BA MA has been working as a Cambridge Assessment English teacher in Barcelona since 1997. He is the Head of English at the Fundació Collserola school group and as such is responsible for preparing candidates for all Cambridge Assessment English exams from Young Learners to Proficiency. Graham has worked as a Cambridge Speaking Examiner since 2000, has been a Cambridge Team Leader since 2008.