Time to stop avoiding grammar rules

The evidence is now in: the explicit teaching of grammar rules leads to better learning

The straightforward, pre-planned teaching of grammar in English language teaching has been under attack for years. Various alternatives have been proposed: to expose learners to language that is just a bit more advanced than what they currently produce; to wait until a communicative situation demands a certain structure before introducing it; to let the grammar emerge naturally from vocabulary learning, or from the lived context of the classroom. Each approach has been defended with carefully structured arguments, and some approaches have been embraced enthusiastically by ministries of education around the world.

However, evidence trumps argument, and the evidence is now in. Rigorously conducted meta-analyses of a wide range of studies have shown that, within a generally communicative approach, explicit teaching of grammar rules leads to better learning and to unconscious knowledge, and this knowledge lasts over time.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/sep/18/teach-grammar-rules 

Business needs help with English language test selection

Companies and organisations that want to know more about the English language skills of their workforce or select candidates for jobs can now turn to the British Council's new Aptis language test.

The launch of the test last month has taken many in the English language testing community by surprise, and as the Council's ambitions for Aptis become clear the test is likely to generate more questions.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/oct/06/business-english-testing 

Viewpoint: More women needed in technology

Lost in stereotypes in this image from her book, Belinda Parmar wants a change in attitude towards women in technology

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19884720 

LISTEN: The Five Worst Sounds in the Universe

Prepare to cringe. Nails on a chalkboard has company.

Researchers from Newcastle University endured the most spine-tingling sounds to determine the five worst offenders to the human ear. Based on the way our brains and bodies react, the scientists found that nails on a blackboard is only the fifth-worst sound in existence, according to a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

And while chalkboards are no longer commonplace in our society, the worst transgressors—a knife and a bottle—certainly are.

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/10/11/listen-the-five-worst-sounds-in-the-universe/

Nine tips for young job hunters

In the past few months I have been deluged with recent graduates bemoaning the tough job market.

Although they are poised, and sophisticated in their general understanding of the job search process, they are often naive about the mechanics and etiquette that underlie an effective search.

For example, they know how to network, write a résumé, and prepare for an interview. But they don’t understand subtle details or basics, such as how to behave in a networking situation, follow up with a potential contact, or present themselves in the best possible light.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/career-advice/nine-tips-for-young-job-hunters/article4621499/ 

Romney’s Binders: The Meme Women Love to Hate

Thank you Mitt Romney for your “binders full of women” gaffe. Surely you weren’t intending to be condescending at the second presidential debate, but it turned out to be a perfect metaphor for the obstacles so many women face in the workplace. The image of women in binders is so good, so visually acute, it might just replace the shopworn “glass ceiling.” After all, you can’t dress up for Halloween as a glass ceiling. Something about women in binders is both disturbing and funny. That’s useful because there’s nothing less popular these days than a humorless feminist. It’s no wonder that binders have become a kind of exquisitely evocative shorthand the way that hoodies were after the death of Trayvon Martin.

http://ideas.time.com/2012/10/19/romneys-binders-the-meme-women-love-to-hate/?iid=op-main-lede 

Damn Yankees: Is Texas Losing Its Twang?

Kathleen Phillips hustles around the Donut Chef in Van Alstyne, Texas, on a pair of bad knees, pouring coffee, taking orders, frying eggs and manning the register, much like she’s done for the last 38 years. The hole-in-the-wall joint in this small town north of Dallas has been in the family since it opened in 1974. She greets customers by name with her syrupy Texas drawl and pulls three syllables out of the word “yeah.” When patrons get testy she fires back with her favorite one-liner: “Kiss my grits.”

Phillips hopes the restaurant will stay in the family for another four decades. Even if it survives, however, University of Texas researchers say her Texas accent won’t. Indeed, it may just become something of a social strategy.

http://nation.time.com/2012/10/24/damn-yankees-is-texas-losing-its-twang/