expressions, idioms and slang

A great website with nice little pieces on everyday language is 'ConvoEnglish':
convoenglish.co/category/expressions-idioms-and-slang

For example:

You can say that again. – Expressions, Idioms, and Slang

"You can say that again."
Meaning: I completely agree
When do we use it?
Simply, we can use this sentence any time that we completely agree with something a person or group says.
Some similar sentences would be:

• I completely agree.
• I couldn't agree more.
• I agree with you 100%.

How do we use it?
This sentence is almost always used on its own. We can use it to agree with good things or bad things. Take a look at these example English conversations.

A) This is the best show on TV.
B) You can say that again.

A) Taxes are too high.
B) You can say that again.

A) English grammar is annoying.
B) You can say that again!

A) We need a better education system for our children.
B) You can say that again.

A) Climate change is the most important issue facing humanity today.
B) You can say that again!

It is important that you know English expressions and idioms if you want to have fluent English conversations with native English speakers or other advanced English speakers. Do not try to learn many expressions and idioms at one time. Instead, study a few of these free English lessons each week and learn English expressions and words well. This will help your English vocabulary improve steadily, and you will start speaking English like a native speaker.

convoenglish.co/expressions-idioms-and-slang-you-can-say-that-again
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'learning by objectives' vs 'process-based learning' vs 'open-ended learning'

'Learning by objectives' is largely how we go about teaching today:
Jay Doubleyou: behaviourism >>> and learning objectives >>> and the common european framework

Which has rather dark roots:
Jay Doubleyou: taylorism >>> and education

And so not everyone is happy with this approach:
Jay Doubleyou: a critique of learning objectives

It's all about setting targets:
Outcome-based education | wikipedia

There are alternatives:

Process based learning (Collis and Lacey, 1996; Hewett and Nind, 1998; Nind and Hewett, 2001; Hewett, 2006; Imray et al, 2010) is a holistic approach where the process of teaching becomes the objective.
The entire process of learning is taken as a whole, as opposed to teaching to specific individualised targets. Intensive Interaction (Nind and Hewett, 1994) is perhaps the best example of process based learning (and teaching). In this example, it is not the outcome of the task that is important, but the interactive process that drives the task that is the focus – this is termed 'tasklessness'.

Process based teaching and learning

Process-based learning: Teachers as Facilitators

It's very much connected to 'problem-solving':
Teaching students to use process-based learning and problem solving strategies in mainstream classesProblem-based learning | wikipedia

See also:
Jay Doubleyou: scenarios for problem solving
Jay Doubleyou: we are much more than problem-solvers
Jay Doubleyou: appreciative inquiry is not problem-solving
Jay Doubleyou: questioning and problem-solving

This is not quite the same as 'project-based learning':
Project-Based Learning or Process-Based Learning?

Project-based learning | wikipedia

Finally, there is 'open-ended learning':
What is an Open Ended Question? How to help children think through problems on their own | YouTube

OPEN-ENDED VS. CLOSED LEARNING SYSTEMS
When a child is engaged in open-ended learning, he or she is not bound by rules or instructions. There is no right or wrong way. There is no set end to a project. On the other hand, a closed learning system has parameters and rules. There are set right and wrong answers.
A set of wood blocks is a good example of open ended learning. Blocks can be played with in a multitude of ways. They might be used for building any type of structure or for symbolizing another object in imaginative play situations. There is no wrong way to play with the blocks.
Puzzles are an example of closed system learning. There is just one way to put together a puzzle. There is a definite right and wrong way. Memorizing multiplication tables is, also, a closed system of learning.
Both open-ended and closed learning are necessary in the education process. However, we need to be able to move beyond memorizing and being able to follow rules and directions – closed learning. We need the benefits of open-ended learning to understand how the world works, make the rules, and find the answers.

OPEN ENDED LEARNING: WHAT, WHY, AND HOW | homeschoolscientist.com

Here are some practical activities:

Open-Endedness | possibilitiesforlearning.com

Open-Ended and Parallel Learning Tasks for Instruction | vimeo

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a little christmas fun

This is one of the most popular Christmas stories:
A Christmas Carol - Fairy tales and stories for children

Here is the opening to an animated version:



A Christmas Carol, 2009 : Opening Scene (Rescored by SUN) HD 720p

There's more here:
Jay Doubleyou: charles dickens at christmas

What's your favourite carol?
Jingle Bells original with lyrics

There are more here:

Jay Doubleyou: favourite christmas carols

What's your favourite Harry Potter Christmas scene?



Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - christmas at Hogwarts (HD)



Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - christmas scene (HD)

Godric's Hollow | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1



Harry Potter: The Ultimate Christmas Scenes | Christmas in the Wizarding World
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teaching and learning without a coursebook

Teaching unplugged also means teaching without formal, printed 'resources':
Jay Doubleyou: the 'dogme' approach or 'teaching unplugged':

Here's a little more from Thornbury and Meddings:
Dogme the roaring in the chimney by Valentin - issuu

And more from Adrian Underhill:
Teaching Without a Coursebook | Textbook | Learning
Teaching Without a Coursebook | Textbook | Classroom

And many others think the same:
Teaching English with minimal resources | Onestopenglish
C is for Coursebook (by Lindsay Clandfield) | An A-Z of ELT
Teaching without a coursebook | TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC

With lots more informal, unprinted resources here:
Creativity Autonomy Technology in ELT | Scoop.it
EnglishBanana.com - Teach English without a Course Book - Free Resources

And some discussion here:
Advice on teaching with no books - EnglishClub TEFL Forums
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the 'dogme' approach or 'teaching unplugged':

This blog has already looked at the ideas and practice behind the 'dogme' approach or 'teaching unplugged':
Jay Doubleyou: theories of language learning and teaching: dogme
Jay Doubleyou: dogme and emergent language pt 1
Jay Doubleyou: dogme and emergent language pt 2

Here are a couple more places to go:
Getting Down to Basics- Dogme in Action
(PDF) Teaching unplugged: Is Dogme an innovation or a remake? | Darío Luis Banegas - Academia.edu
Teaching Unplugged | TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC

20 steps to teaching unplugged
D is for Dogme | An A-Z of ELT
Dogme language teaching - Wikipedia
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teaching as a subversive activity

A provocative read from the 1960s which is perhaps even more relevant:



Teaching As a Subversive Activity: Neil Postman, Charles Weingartner: 9780385290098: Amazon.com: Books

People - and not just teachers - are still talking about it:
Subversive Teaching
Three Bold and Fresh Ideas for Education in ‘Teaching as a Subversive Activity’ | Online Learning Insights

Driven by the test-crazed juggernaut unleashed by No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top federal mandates, and emboldened by the poor showing the US has on international test scores, policy makers everywhere are demanding a numbers-driven accountability for teachers and their schools. It is worth noting that in its publication, Human Capital, the OECD (the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), which oversees PISA testing - the most well-known international testing benchmark - suggests that “individual capabilities” are a kind of capital, - an asset just like “a spinning wheel or a flour mill” which can “yield returns.” 1

If you were educated to be a teacher in the 60’s - as I was - you were groomed to see “teaching as a subversive activity” after the leading education prep book of the time by the same name, authored by Charles Weingartner and Neil Postman.2 Their approach to schooling, known as inquiry education, emphasized student questions more than teacher answers. Teaching was characterized as a tool for questioning the status quo, as a means to talk truth to power and as a salvo against the all too often stultifying effects of the establishment. This unique pedagogy was encouraged as an antidote to dull, lifeless and unimaginative teaching. In addition, my cohort of aspiring educators read other works from the pantheon of revolutionary thinkers, including Jonathan Kozol’s Death at an Early Age, Herb Kohl’s 36 Children, and A.S. Neill’s Summerhill. Each offered a manifesto for teachers to change the world, first by questioning the prevailing paradigm. Today, I am afraid the clarion call encouraged of educators is not so much “change the world,” as “preserve the corporation.”

Teaching as a Subversive Activity | HuffPost

See this for a list:
Jay Doubleyou: student-centred learning

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the lexical approach

We [tend to] [put words into] [little groups of words]:
chunking

This is called the Lexical Approach:

The lexical approach is a method of teaching foreign languages described by Michael Lewis in the early 1990s. The basic concept on which this approach rests is the idea that an important part of learning a language consists of being able to understand and produce lexical phrases as chunks. Students are taught to be able to perceive patterns of language (grammar) as well as have meaningful set uses of words at their disposal when they are taught in this way.
In the lexical approach, instruction focuses on fixed expressions that occur frequently in dialogues, which Lewis claims make up a larger part of discourse than unique phrases and sentences. Vocabulary is prized over grammar... in this approach. The teaching of chunks and set phrases has become common in English as a foreign or second language...
Lexical approach - Wikipedia

The lexical approach is a way of analysing and teaching language based on the idea that it is made up of lexical units rather than grammatical structures. The units are words, chunks formed by collocations, and fixed phrases.
Example
The phrase 'Rescue attempts are being hampered by bad weather' is a chunk of language, and almost a fixed phrase. It is formed by the collocations 'Rescue' + 'attempt', 'rescue attempt' + 'hampered', 'hampered' + 'by', 'hampered by' + 'bad weather'.
In the classroom
A simple activity to incorporate the lexical approach is to encourage learners to identify and record lexical chunks and fixed phrases in texts they read.
Further links:

Lexical Approach 1 - What does the lexical approach look like? | TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC

Lexical Approach 2 - What does the lexical approach look like? | TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC
Lexical approach | TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC

It's getting better to do this kind of thing in the classroom and at home - but traditions die hard:

Taking a lexical approach to teaching: principles and problems - Harwood - 2002 - International Journal of Applied Linguistics - Wiley Online Library

But it's very useful - even when it comes to professional English, where we shouldn't be learning lists of single words:

Kavaliauskiene - Using the Lexical Approach for the Acquisition of ESP Vocabulary (TESL/TEFL)

From 2013:

Why has the lexical approach been so long in coming?
Twenty years after Michael Lewis used computer research to show that the phrases and word groups used in English hold the key to learning the language, not grammar rules and vocabulary, ELT remains resistant to change... 

The central role of lexis in ELT has been recognised. Textbooks routinely include collocation boxes, pages with functional language and generally pay more attention to spoken language. But, clearly, Lewis was aiming at much more.

If anything, the lexical approach for me is about grammar. Not the kind of carefully sequenced and fundamentally flawed presentation of discrete items but grammar as a search for patterns and regularities in language we use. Lewis's goal was to effect a radical upheaval in the way we teach language and not merely bring vocabulary to the fore. But 20 years on, it is evident that this is precisely what his lexical approach has achieved and – to finish off with a chunk – we should be grateful for small mercies.
Why has the lexical approach been so long in coming? | Education | The Guardian

From 2019:
The Lexical Approach - Teflpedia
The Lexical Approach in Language Teaching
Lexical Approach e sviluppo del parlato in lingua inglese
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