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Collins ELT

CEFR Labels: Do Words Have Levels?

by Harper Collins

CEFR Labels: Do Words Have Levels?

Since the CEFR was first published in 2001, a number of projects have sought to attach CEFR level labels to words to help teachers and syllabus designers align their vocabulary syllabus with the CEFR criteria. The new edition of the COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, and its online version, shows CEFR labels at entries for key vocabulary. But can we really say that words have levels? What are the benefits of labelling vocabulary in this way and what caveats do we need to bear in mind?
Posted in CEFR, COBUILD, Comprehension, Confidence in English, ELT, English Grammar, English Language Teaching, Grammar

Grammar or vocabulary? A blurry line

by Harper Collins

Grammar or vocabulary? A blurry line

This article has been written by Julie Moore, who is an ELT materials developer and lexicographer. Most language learning coursebooks include gramm...
Posted in COBUILD Grammar, English Grammar, English Language Teaching, General English, Grammar

A New Turn of Phrase

by Harper Collins

A New Turn of Phrase

When we think of language change, it tends to be new coinages that spring to mind (rewilding, deepfake, zoombombing), but in fact, a lot of new language is created by putting existing words together in new combinations, that’s especially true of phrasal verbs and idioms.
Posted in COBUILD, Confidence in English, ELT, English Language Teaching, Grammar, Idioms, Language Learning

Exploring language change

by Harper Collins

Exploring language change

When a new edition of a grammar is launched, teachers and students may well wonder what can be new about a grammar. We all know about new words, which grab the headlines at every new edition of a big dictionary, but what does an editor do when she is asked to update a pedagogical grammar, taking account of developments that have occurred in the language over the past 20-or-so years?
Posted in COBUILD, Confidence in English, ELT, English Grammar, English Language Teaching, General English, Grammar, Language Learning

Futurity

by Harper Collins

Futurity

Very early on in my teaching career, I remember addressing a class of Russian teenagers with the statement, ‘Will is the future tense in English.’ It was only later as I started developing as a teacher and gaining greater insight into the grammatical system of English that I started to see that there’s much more to will than meets the eye. Click here to read more.
Posted in Confidence in English, ELT, English Grammar, English Language Teaching, Grammar, Language Learning

Modality and conditionals

by Harper Collins

Modality and conditionals

Can you imagine what I would do if I could do all I can?

Sun Tzu

The quote above, attributed to an ancient Chinese military strategist, is often used in leadership training to encourage people to act on their ideas and see them through to completion. But we’re interested in it for another reason: the language it contains, namely modals and a conditional sentence. In this blogpost we’re going to discuss each of these areas of language in turn.

Posted in COBUILD, Confidence in English, ELT, English Grammar, English Language Teaching, Grammar, Language Learning

Understanding academic grammar

by Harper Collins

Understanding academic grammar

For students new to dealing with academic texts in English, they can seem daunting; full of long words and long complex sentences. Are academics just trying to show off how clever they are and confuse their poor readers? Well, maybe just a little bit sometimes, but most of the time, there are good reasons for the grammatical choices made by academic writers. Understanding the reasons for those choices can help students of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) make more informed choices in their own writing.
Posted in CEFR, COBUILD, Confidence in English, ELT, English Grammar, English Language Teaching, General English, Grammar, Language Learning, Skills, Vocabulary

Tense vs aspect

by Harper Collins

Tense vs aspect

Tense and aspect are often labelled as the same thing. It’s not uncommon to see the present progressive referred to as ‘the present progressive tense’ or will have + past participle referred to as ‘the future perfect tense’, for example. However, tense and aspect are not the same thing.
Posted in CEFR, COBUILD, Confidence in English, ELT, English Grammar, English Language Teaching, General English, Grammar, Language Learning, Skills, Vocabulary

Grammar and register

by Harper Collins

Grammar and register

This article has been written by Julie Moore, who is an ELT materials developer and lexicographer. Our last post focused on the difference between ...
Posted in CEFR, COBUILD, COBUILD Grammar, Confidence in English, ELT, English Grammar, English Language Teaching, General English, Grammar, Language Learning, Skills, Vocabulary

Prescriptive vs descriptive approaches to grammar

by Harper Collins

Prescriptive vs descriptive approaches to grammar

What's the difference between prescriptive and descriptive approaches to English grammar, especially in the context of the Collins COBUILD English Grammar? Penny Hands, one of our series editors, answers in this blog post.
Posted in COBUILD, Confidence in English, ELT, English Grammar, English Language Teaching, General English, Grammar, Language Learning, Skills, Vocabulary

Get your students off to a flying start with Amelia Earhart

by Harper Collins

Get your students off to a flying start with Amelia Earhart

We've compiled some classroom ideas showing how you can use Amelia’s story in Amazing Aviators with your students. You can adapt the ideas to use them for many of the other Amazing People ELT Readers to help support your students on their English Language learning journey.
Posted in Confidence in English, ELT, English Language Teaching, Grammar, Language Learning, Reading, Skills

Phrasal verbs – our top tips and favourite classroom activities

by Harper Collins

Phrasal verbs – our top tips and favourite classroom activities

Phrasal Verbs are really tricky for our students. It’s just hard to get them right, and they are everywhere in the English language. It’s high time for some new teaching tips, activities and games to help you make phrasal verbs fun – and to help your students remember them. We hope you’ll enjoy using them in your classroom!
Posted in Confidence in English, ELT, English Language Teaching, Grammar, Language Learning, Phrasal Verbs, Work on Your