eslwriter

Rob Whyte is a university teacher, teacher trainer and writer.

Learn About The Brain

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Do you know how the brain works?

Do you know what a brain looks like? Here is an English video lesson which provides a fascinating look at the brain and how it works.

This video lesson answers these questions … with a twist.

Jill Bolte Taylor is a brain scientist who had a stroke. In this 20-minute presentation, we get the insider’s perspective on how the brain works and what happens when the brain shuts down.  Her description of right brain-left brain functions is useful for teachers, as is her presentation of a real human brain.  I didn’t know it looked like that.

Sit back and enjoy because her presentation is remarkable.

Informative. Wonderful.  Inspirational.

 

Both Sides Now – A Painting with Words

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This writing exercise looks at the use of words in creating style, descriptions, and voice.

The objective of this lesson is to develop your awareness of how words can communicate complex ideas, moving stories and  persuasive arguments and through that awareness find some inspiration and perhaps courage to extend your writing skills.

Sometimes there is much to learn about writing from the

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ESL Writing and Listening Exercises

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This exercise involves some study of a written passage. Here we are most interested in looking at a writing style that develops progression. The text for this exercise is a story which was written by someone who saw a beautiful woman on the subway but did not have an opportunity to approach her.

Part 1: Jigsaw

The story is divided into eight sections. Each person reads their small numbered section. Take time to understand unknown words. Appreciate what might be happening.

Part 2: Combine

In order, each person reads their section. We put the

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Language and Logic

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This is a short course that helps ESL students learn the way the English language can be manipulated to persuade people.  In this class you will learn just a few sentence patterns. But, they are important because they contain power.

The power is this: they create the illusion that an argument is correct and therefore you should believe the speaker.

Seeing and understanding these sentence patterns is part of critical thinking. These sentences are a kind of tool to help you think for yourself.

I hope you enjoy this class.

Critical Thinking Lessons

  • 1: Arguments
  • 2: Fallacies of Relevance
  • 3: Fallacies of Insufficient Evidence
  • 4: Analogies and Review
  • 5: Case Study
  • 6: Critical Thinking Test

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