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Teresa Carvalho

What Students Can(n’t) Do with Tests

Much has been written and said about tests. A lot of teachers, students, and parents don’t see the point of tests, especially when all tests do is test discrete items of grammar and vocabulary , especially when it comes to summative tests, which assess what students have learned over a period of time. I myself don’t believe in...Read More

Understanding Classroom Life: My first steps into Exploratory Practice

Why do my students participate in my classes? This is the question I asked myself when I first met this group of twenty s teenagers age 15-16 years old. From day one, they took part in the activities and spoke English most of the time. I was puzzled. How come? We meet at the end...Read More

Being a NNEST in Brazil Today Part 2

  “Language doesn’t only represent or refer to social reality (…) it constructs social reality” Claire Kramsch, in “From Practice to Theory and Back Again.”                                                            ...Read More

Being a NNEST in Brazil back in the 80s Part 1

The past is never where you think you left it.” —- Katherine Anne Porter Having lived a year in the US, I was convinced that I had become an American. I spoke American English, my clothes were mostly American, and I did not like black beans anymore. I could not help pronouncing the word Coke...Read More

Teaching with Translation: A Journey from L2 to L1 in the Classroom

Translation a skill that constitutes a real world demand, and yet, it is rather underrated in Brazil while it is broadly used in countries like Japan and China, for example.  Despite its disadvantages — such as giving students the false impression that there is always a one-to-one correspondence between L1 and L2, for example, it offers...Read More

The Big Picture of Language Learning

“Novices become acquainted with activities not only from their own and others’ attempts to define what transpires in an activity, but also from how those participating in the activity respond to them.” Elinor Ochs, in “Becoming a Speaker of A Culture.” (2002) I have just read Elinor Ochs’ article entitled ‘Becoming a Speaker of a Culture,’...Read More

Embracing inclusive education in the ESL classroom: What students and parents have taught me.

“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” ― Chinese Proverb This post is dedicated to all the caring and patient teachers out there who  help their students have meaningful experiences learning a second language regardless of any limitations they may have. This post is also dedicated to all the parents who...Read More

We (still) need to talk about English

As I’m writing this post I’m thinking about my English skills as a non-native speaker. I’m aware of the fact that my English is far from being perfect and I can’t expect it to be flawless. Nonetheless, I consider myself a successful English learner-teacher as far as language is concerned for one simple reason: I see...Read More
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