Simply put, a lemma is the base form of a word, typically found in a dictionary where it's known as a headword. From the lemma we can form many related words. So, for example, here are a few lemmas and their forms: do: do, does, did, doing run: running, ran fruit:...
What is a Morpheme?
As they say, a Morpheme is the smallest linguistic unit of language which has meaning. Putting it simply, if you take a word like unquestionable you can break it down into 3 morphemes: un = notquestion = askable = able to be Each of the 3 morphemes has a meaning and...
Homographs
Homographs are words which have the same spelling but different meanings. They may or may not have the same pronunciation. Here the word has the same spelling and pronunciation, but different meanings: bear - beə (a big animal living in Yellowstone park) bear -...
Mnemonics in TEFL
Mnemonics (pronounced /nəˈmɒniks/ with a silent 'm' at the beginning) are short devices (sayings, poems, etc) used to remember longer, more complex ideas or lists (also known as aides memoires or memory aides). Think of them as poetic versions of string tied around...
Michael Swan
Michael Swan - who describes himself as a "freelance writer" - is most well known as an established TEFL writer specializing in reference and teaching materials. His Practical English Usage is regarded as something of a grammar bible and many ESL teachers swear by it....
Marianne Celce-Murcia
Presently Professor Emerita in Applied Linguistics and TESOL at the University of California in Los Angeles and Dean of English Programs at the American University of Armenia in Yerevan. Over the years Dr. Celce-Murcia has been an active member of the American...
Teaching English in North Korea
Located in the northern half of the Korean peninsula with the South Korea to the south and the China to north and west, along with a small of border with Russia to the east, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) (or North Korea as it's more commonly...
Word Ladder
Word Ladder is a simple game invented by Lewis Carroll (author of the Alice books). It's perfect as a quick 5-minute activity at the end of the lesson and is ideal for practicing and playing with vocabulary. A slight variation has it great for dictionary practice as...
Common Phrasal Verbs in English
This is simply a list of common phrasal verbs which your students should know. There is no easy way to learn phrasal verbs as their meaning cannot be guessed by their make-up. Likewise many phrasal verbs have several completely unrelated meanings. This means that...
Which Degree to Teach English Abroad?
The basic usual teaching qualifications for the majority of TEFL jobs are a degree and a 120hr TEFL Certificate. Although sometimes you can find work without a degree in some countries, this article looks at the type of degree which is best to have to teach English...