The following are links to PowerPoint presentations prepared by Michael Hughes. They cover a variety of topics from instructional videos on methodology, information about language teaching and methodology along with quizzes, puzzles and games that can be used in the classroom.
Instructional PowerPoints
All these presentations are on a loop format so once they are opened they will continue moving from one slide to the next and restart once the presentation is over. To go back on a slide press the back arrow and to stop the slideshow press esc. These can be downloaded and edited as you wish to use and improve them.
Group work
This shows how to arrange a small group of students for group work where each student contributes something to the activity. This particular one is about suggestions but cards can easily be made for advice, preferences and many other role play activities. Check out the role plays in the book Dare 4 where at the end of each scenario each group has to form a group of five and resolve the situation. This format is ideal for such activities. Other group activities are included in the folder link below.
Revolving Pair Work
This presentation shows how pair work activities can be carried out using multiple cards to practice the same activity. The advantage of this method is that students are constantly changing partners and repeating roles without it being boring and repetitious. There are numerous activities in the book Dare 4 that lend themselves to this type of activity. Also included here is a link to approximately 40 different pair work activities that can utilise this approach.
Interview type activities
This presentation is particularly useful for practicing job / scholarship interviews where the interviewee meets several different interviewers and the interviewers meet several different candidates. This allows for repetition that is not boring and for each activity they could be given the task to choose who is the most suitable for the job etc. The interviewees could also get together and judge which interviewers are the best to work for.
The following are a series of PowerPoints I made which give the background to successful language acquisition. I use the word acquisition deliberately as I feel the best approach to language teaching is to approach it the same way as children acquire their first language. Language is innate and the process of developing language skills has evolved numerous theories from Skinner's behaviourism to Chomsky's Language Acquisition Device and also Krashen's Acquisition v Learning ideas. These presentations show some of the factors surrounding successful language acquisition.
Language and the Brain
This is the first in a series of presentations that shows how language is a totally separate part of the brain that is not directly related to our normal cognitive thinking. It exemplifies that because it is separate that we need to use a new approach to acquire it as rote learning and memorisation uses the wrong part of the brain. There are detailed notes under each slide which explain the contents.
Language Myths
This presentation exposes some of the myths of language learning specifically that pupils have to memorise lots of new words; they always have to speak without an accent; their language needs to be grammatically accurate and they need to memorise meaning of words.
Intonation and Stress
This presentation demonstrates the importance of intonation and stress in effective communication. Most language learning courses concentrate on left hemisphere skills such as grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and meaning, but over half our language processing functions in the brain are concerned with intonation and stress. This presentation demonstrates why intonation and stress needs to be an essential element in language teaching.
Language Learning in Malaysia
This presentation gives a comparison of the progress of language learning in Malaysia as compared with children acquiring their first language. It proposes that language learning can be so much more efficient if we follow the way that nature helps children acquire language, instead of the formal rote learning system that is currently used.
Motivation
This presentation emphasises that the single most important factor in successful language acquisition is motivation. If the learner has a real reason to learn the language they will pick it up much more easily. Passing exams may seem to be a big motivation for some, but for most the real motivation is that they are genuinely interested in the language because the teaching approaches are interesting and pleasurable. The biggest sin in language teaching today is that teachers' are boring their pupils to death.
This section has a number of presentations that are related to classroom management and helps teachers to understand the processes involved in teaching vocabulary. In addition there is a comprehensive guide as to how flashcards can be used to enhance classroom practice.
Classroom Layout
One great obstacle to communicative language teaching is the layout of the classroom. Traditionally students sit in rows facing the front. This presentation shows how you can make more space and provide an environment for effective pair work and group work.
Language Games
This presentation gives details on a number of short games that can be used as fillers in a classroom. Sometimes when a lesson is not working well it is best to stop the lesson and have some diversionary game to stimulate the pupils with something different. They can also be used when the lesson you planned finished early and so can be said to be 'the miracle of the expanding lesson plan'.
Flash Cards
This presentation demonstrates how the humble flash card can be used in a variety of ways to learn new vocabulary, be used as prompts in pair work and group work and be valuable as role play cards.
This site has a large number of PowerPoint vocabulary games and included in the download for each game are two files, Word and PDF that contain printable flash cards for each activity.
Making Language Visual
This is a presentation that emphasises the importance of allowing the students to see what is being taught, rather than just listening to the voice of the teacher or a tape recorder. It proposes a number of techniques ranging from Total Physical Response, to using flash cards and story telling.
Learning Vocabulary
This presentation looks at the different ways that students can learn new words, not just to remember for a short time, but to consolidate and use the words for real communication. It is not really known how words are stored in the brain, but one thing is certain that our brains do not store words in alphabetical order. This presentation suggests different ways that words can be efficiently retained.