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A more expressive vocabulary Students who have already been learning English for several years have a good grasp of grammar and cope fairly well with the reading that is part of the course. If they are serious students, learning English for a purpose, they will want to get on and pass their exams. What holds them back is the lack of an accurate and appropriate vocabulary in which to discuss topics from climate change to the Olympics, from the history of their town to their hopes for the future. These students need to distinguish better between words they already know, but where their understanding of the full range of meaning and use is incomplete. They need to activate words in their passive vocabulary to enrich their writing and speaking, and they need to master words that are completely new. There is a word, autonym, that means ‘a word that describes itself’: examples include short and polysyllabic. Long and monosyllabic are the opposite. So too, sometimes, is the word interesting, used (as it very frequently is) in learners’ writing: rather than passionate engagement with a topic, what it conveys instead is ineffable dullness: The documentary makes interesting viewing. We had an interesting discussion over lunch. A far greater level of interest is conveyed simply by substituting another word for interesting: The documentary makes compelling viewing. We had a stimulating discussion over lunch.

Failure is when a student doesn't leave the class knowing more than when he entered

Don't give a student a passing grade for trying hard. It only takes her to a harder, more impossible level.