Teaching in
Challenging
Circumstances
Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers
This series, now with over 50 titles, offers practical ideas, techniques and activities for the teaching of English and other languages, providing inspiration for both teachers and trainers.
Recent titles in this series:
Teach Business English
SYLVIE DONNA
Teaching English Spelling
A practical guide
RUTH SHEMESH and SHEILA WALLER
Using Folktales
ERIC K. TAYLOR
Learner English (Second edition)
A teachers guide to interference and other problems
EDITED BY MICHAEL SWAN and BERNARD SMITH
Planning Lessons and Courses
Designing sequences of work for the language classroom
TESSA WOODWARD
Teaching Large Multilevel Classes
NATALIE HESS
Using the Board in the Language Classroom
JEANNINE DOBBS
Writing Simple Poems
Pattern poetry for language acquisition
VICKI L. HOLMES and MARGARET R. MOULTON
Laughing Matters
Humour in the language classroom
PTER MEDGYES
Stories
Narrative activities in the language classroom
RUTH WAJNRYB
Using Authentic Video in the Language Classroom
JANE SHERMAN
Extensive Reading Activities for Teaching Language
EDITED BY JULIAN BAMFORD and RICHARD R. DAY
Language Activities for Teenagers
EDITED BY SETH LINDSTROMBERG
Pronunciation Practice Activities
A resource book for teaching English pronunciation
MARTIN HEWINGS
Drama Techniques (Third edition)
A resource book of communication activities for language teachers
ALAN MALEY and ALAN DUFF
Five-Minute Activities for Business English
PAUL EMMERSON and NICK HAMILTON
Games for Language Learning (Third edition)
ANDREW WRIGHT, DAVID BETTERIDGE and MICHAEL BUCKBY
Dictionary Activities
CINDY LEANEY
Dialogue Activities
Exploring spoken interaction in the language class
NICK BILBROUGH
Five-Minute Activities for Young Learners
PENNY MCKAY and JENNI GUSE
The Internet and the Language Classroom (Second edition)
A practical guide for teachers
GAVIN DUDENEY
Working with Images
A resource book for the language classroom
BEN GOLDSTEIN
Grammar Practice Activities (Second edition)
A practical guide for teachers
PENNY UR
Intercultural Language Activities
JOHN CORBETT
Learning One-to-One
INGRID WISNIEWSKA
Communicative Activities for EAP
JENNI GUSE
Memory Activities for Language Learning
NICK BILBROUGH
Vocabulary Activities
PENNY UR
Classroom Management Techniques
JIM SCRIVENER
CLIL Activities
A resource for subject and language teachers
LIZ DALE and ROSIE TANNER
Language Learning with Technology
Ideas for integrating technology in the classroom
GRAHAM STANLEY
Translation and Own-language Activities
PHILIP KERR
Language Learning with Digital Video
BEN GOLDSTEIN and PAUL DRIVER
Discussions and More
Oral fluency practice in the classroom
PENNY UR
Interaction Online
Creative activities for blended learning
LINDSAY CLANDFIELD and JILL HADFIELD
Activities for Very Young Learners
HERBERT PUCHTA and KAREN ELLIOTT
Teaching and Developing Reading Skills
PETER WATKINS
Lexical Grammar
Activities for teaching chunks and exploring patterns
LEO SELIVAN
Off the Page
Activities to bring lessons alive and enhance learning
CRAIG THAINE
Teaching in
Challenging
Circumstances
Chris Sowton
Consultant and editor: Scott Thornbury
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Cambridge University Press 2021
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First published 2021
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ISBN 978-1-108-81612-0 Paperback
ISBN 978-1-108-81616-8 ebook
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Contents
Thanks
I would like to express my sincere thanks to Scott Thornbury for his editorial support and guidance in creating Teaching in Challenging Circumstances . This is a much better book, and I feel I am a much better writer, as a result of his patient, focused feedback. Scott understood the vision of Teaching in Challenging Circumstances from the very beginning of the project, and supported it throughout. Salut!
Karen Momber championed the book at an early stage, and was instrumental in bringing it to fruition. Jo Timerick has been a constant source of support, information and direction throughout the process, and Zoltn Rzmves brought a kindly but forensic eye to the text as editor. To all three, many thanks. I would also like to thank CUP more widely for being willing to publish such a book as Teaching in Challenging Circumstances , the commercial benefits of which may not be as immediately obvious as other titles.
This book has been an emerging project in my mind over the past 20 or so years. I am deeply indebted to the many teachers I have had the pleasure to work with in the Global South, from whom I have learned so much. I hope this book has been able to articulate the challenges which you face, and the incredible ways in which you try to overcome them for the benefits of your students. This book is therefore dedicated to Ahmed and Chen, to Hala and Mim Kaji, to Agnes and Binta, and to all those teachers around the world who are doing phenomenal work in sometimes unbelievably challenging circumstances, whose value is regularly not recognized or rewarded as it should be.