DEMO: Teaching the 21st Century Student

it draws on a wide-range of topics ranging from social sciences, natural sciences, and with a certain degree of adjustment and creativity, it can be used by teaching professionals in technical fields. It promotes working with real life materials, and increases relevance by addressing current issues. The approach is oriented to communication skills and critical thinking which is particularly suitable for classes focused on language learning and communication. It especially serves those who are teaching other school subjects in English as a foreign language or who work with material which is published in English or other languages of international academic or professional debate in their classes. It also targets teachers of English for specific purposes, including academic English, business English or Eng- lish used in other professions. It can, however, be easily used in general English classes at all proficiency levels or courses adopting the CLIL or CBI approach or in any type of training which accentuates communication skill development. The book provides a wide-range of techniques for working with resources of various origins, such as text, audio, or video. It develops skill in research- ing credible resources, how to create perspective about the topic, how to organize, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize, as well as reflect, and present the material. It allows for a critical view and helps to formulate opinions. It also offers qualified advice for study strategies, i.e. writing composition techniques and formats, as well as speaking and presentation skills. The publication is also a valuable source for developing the essential com- munication competencies in a foreign language. It focuses on cultivating productive skills such as oral expression (speaking, presenting, arguing, or defending one’s own points), or writing composition (writing techniques, composition formats). At the same time, it helps promote receptive skills, such as reading or listening comprehension. While focusing on work with real life material from natural resources, not textbooks, it advances un- derstanding. It also addresses cooperative learning techniques, to hone skills in expressing opinions, or negotiating meaning among peers. How to use the book This book is designed to meet the criteria of 21st century educational ob- jectives and develop strong critical thinking in students, and is organized to reflect the structure of the three-phase learning process including ac- tivation, analysis and application. Chapters 1 through 5 make a complete set of techniques to design a lesson from the beginning to the end, includ- ing each activity set-up and organization.

12