Uploaded December 2017 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
How do we motivate students? According to Dan Heath just offering them ‘good’ and ‘useful’ lessons doesn’t cut it; there will be nothing for them to remember afterwards. What if they were to stage a play though? Or record themselves acting out a funny sketch? And how about this idea: putting William Golding (the author of ‘Lord of the Flies’) on trial for libel against humankind. Brilliant!
Watch the great Dan Heath make a convincing case for why we should worry less about delivering smooth lessons and focus instead on spicing them up with ‘Peak’ moments… [Then go and order that amazing book ‘The Power of Moments’]
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes].
How do we motivate students? According to Dan Heath just offering them ‘good’ and ‘useful’ lessons doesn’t cut it; there will be nothing for them to remember afterwards. What if they were to stage a play though? Or record themselves acting out a funny sketch? And how about this idea: putting William Golding (the author of ‘Lord of the Flies’) on trial for libel against humankind. Brilliant!
Watch the great Dan Heath make a convincing case for why we should worry less about delivering smooth lessons and focus instead on spicing them up with ‘Peak’ moments… [Then go and order that amazing book ‘The Power of Moments’]
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes].
![Comedy for ELT - The Castaway
“There was a chap who was a passenger on a flight to New York, and when they started the film, he had seen it before on the telly, and he was so disgusted he got up and walked out…” It is at this point that things start getting really interesting… :-)
Jokes are excellent language practice material: they are short, they are fun and they can help students improve their fluency and (crucially) their prosodic features as well; you cannot tell a joke well unless you play with stress, pitch, intonation and pausing. But students still need a good model. Here is the great Ronnie Corbett in one of his inimitable monologues. Enjoy!
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this audio clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes]. Comedy for ELT - The Castaway](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/eZng8snC9N4/mqdefault.jpg)
![Ads for ELT - Editing
An ordinary ad for a light dessert is in the process of being recorded. The problem is that the script says Its deliciously indulgent AND it only has 100 calories and the actress cannot bring herself to say this surely this is impossible?! A little gem of an ad a brilliant idea! Topic: Advertising / Food Level: B2 C1
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this audio clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes].
SCRIPT
A: Ever wished you could have it all? Now you can with new ‘Yoplait Delights’. Two layers of rich, creamy yogurt. It’s deliciously indulgent or it only has 100 calories…
P: Hang on – the script says ‘and’…
A: What did I say?
P: You said ‘or’… It should be ‘deliciously indulgent AND 100 calories’… Let’s go again from ‘Yoplait Delights’; rolling on two…
A: …new Yoplait Delights. Two layers of rich, creamy yogurt. It’s deliciously indulgent or it only has 100 calories… Better?
P: No, you still said ‘or’.
A: Yeah, but that can’t be right; delicious AND 100 calories? Seriously – look at these flavours: Chocolate Raspberry, Lemon Torte, Creme Caramel…
P: It’s in the script – take it again from ‘deliciously’ please.
A: …deliciously indulgent, or 100 calories – I’m sorry, I can’t do it.
P: (sighs) Fine, I’ll fix it in edit.
A: Ever wished you could have it all? Now you can with new ‘Yoplait Delights’. Two layers of rich, creamy yogurt. It’s deliciously indulgent (P: AND) it only has 100 calories. Find it first at Kroger. Ads for ELT - Editing](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ei1C_FRqJnY/mqdefault.jpg)
![Ads for ELT - 007
No language at all – but excellent material for a brilliant speaking / writing activity nevertheless! The ad is just 2 min long. You get the class to watch it and then you ask them: ‘How many obstacles did the producers come up with in order to make it harder for people to get to Platform 6? There were 9 of them altogether.’ Working in pairs, students have to try to remember everything. They score one point for every obstacle they remember, and an extra point for each if they remember where it came in the sequence. Do not accept incomplete sentences (e.g. ‘dogs’). Enjoy! :-) Level: B2 – C1 Topic: Advertising / Spying / Secret Agents
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes].
KEY
People had to run past….
1. ….a cleaner who was sweeping the floor,
2. ….a woman who pretended to be a former acquaintance,
3. ….two runners who were jogging on the escalator,
4. ….a woman walking 5-6 dogs simultaneously,
5. ….two workers carrying a large pane of glass,
6. ….an orange juice seller who emptied his oranges on the floor to trip them up,
7. ….a guy carrying some boxes who dropped them to block their path,
8. ….a guy trying to offer them a rose…
9. …and finally they had to sing the Bond tune… :-) Ads for ELT - 007](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fl9oMu2vVm0/mqdefault.jpg)
![Comedy for ELT - British vs American English
[To download a free worksheet (+ KEY + Script) just click here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByC3QwWZuGXdYWlEWmlMc3lXdE0/view?usp=sharing ]
It has been said that the Brits and Americans are two nations divided by a common language. Normally, the Brits dont mind their American friends tampering with the language a little, but it seems that things have gone just a little bit too far, so the Queen has decided to take a firm stand. There are two expressions in particular that the Americans have to learn to say properly... A funny little clip, which is also perfect for classroom use as David Mitchells articulation is perfectly clear. Level: B2 C1 Topic: Language.
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes].
SCRIPT:
Dear Americans,
As you know everyone in Britain knows The Queen and shes asked me to have a quick word with you on her behalf about her English. Dont worry this isnt the standard tedious British sneering about lieutenants and aluminum, essentially her message is use it how you like. She doesnt mind. She doesnt mind about the sensible ones like spelling plow the way quite obviously should be spelled, but nor does she mind about the silly ones like saying tidbit because you think the syllable tit is intrinsically rude. By all means leave the u out of color if it bothers you. I can quite see the bit of a car you put stuff in, looks more like a trunk than a boot. And that sidewalks are the bit at the side that you walk on.
Fine says The Queen Help yourself!. She couldnt care less. She couldnt care less though, not She could care less. Thats the one thing shed really like you to stop saying because that, as an expression for not or hardly caring just makes no sense. If you could care less about something then all your telling us is that you do care at least a little bit because you could care less. But if you couldnt care less look observe this graph.
Here is me on the scale of caring. Im at zero, therefore since negative caring is impossible or rather is simply caring of another sort (love and hate being different sides of the same coin et cetera et cetera) I couldnt care less. I could care more but I couldnt care less. If I could care less, I would have to care at least the smallest possible unit of caring in order to get myself room to care less. I cant care nothing if I could care less. But I might care much more than nothing. I could care anything from here; (30) to here (higher). And I could still truthfully claims to be able to care less. I could care less is absolutely useless as an indicator of how much you care because the only thing it rules out is that you dont care at all; which is exactly what youre trying to convey. So thats the one thing I really want...The Queen really wants you to stop saying.
Although, while Ive got you; The expression is: Can you hold the fort? Not hold down the fort. If I ask you to hold the fort; the metaphor Im employing is perfectly clear. You and I are in the fort together; holding out against the enemies of the fort who were besieging the fort. I now have to pop out of the fort a bit, to get some printer toner or take the cat to the vet. While I do this dont worry about how Ill get past the besieging enemy. I have a secret tunnel and a false beard while I do this I want you to hold the fort, so that when I come back, well both still have the fort. A perfectly reasonable metaphor embodying a sound military strategy. If I ask you to hold down the fort what the hell my talking about? Hold down the fort while I go out, because as you know its an inflatable hover fort and once relieved of my weight it might float off into the sky. Hold down the fort and when I get back the two of us can tickle the fort. No. Meaningless. Stop it but those are the only two things.
Stop doing those and you can say Research and Bernard to your hearts content. Although, herbs, really youre French now, are you? With your herbal tea and your herbal remedies. Well, fine whatever makes you appy. I could care less. Comedy for ELT - British vs American English](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/g4hiLGz_JKQ/mqdefault.jpg)
![Ads for ELT - The 3rd Conditional
“A series of unfortunate events…”: What is the Number 1 hazard in our lives today? Many people would list our sedentary lifestyle, junk food or stress. Yet they would all be wrong. The real danger is having cable TV. If you do, there is no saying what might happen to you… :-)
In this fantastic series of commercials, one improbable event leads to another and each sequence is more bizarre than the last one. One way of utilising these ads are as a way of drilling the notoriously difficult 3rd Conditional: ‘If he had upgraded to Direct TV….’ etc. etc.
Another option is to give students the events in random order and get them to predict how they are connected. Alternatively, you could have different groups watch different ads and try to convince the others that ‘their idea’ is the best for the campaign. Then the class can vote on which they think is the best one. The possibilities are endless….
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes]. Ads for ELT - The 3rd Conditional](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ggxvWOEU59c/mqdefault.jpg)

![Ads for ELT - Hands Only CPR 1 [Vinnie]
[To get a free worksheet (+KEY, +Script) just click here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByC3QwWZuGXdY2pkQzNCaWQtazQ/view?usp=sharing ]
Tough guy Vinnie shows that there are times in life when it pays to be tough. Like when someone is having a cardiac arrest for instance. A fantastic concept – the incongruity of having someone who looks like a psychopathic thug delivering a pro-social message makes it extremely memorable. Entertaining, excellent listening practice, PLUS students get to learn something which might prove to be a life-saving skill for real life. What more could one ask for?
Level: C1 – C2. Topic: Health / First Aid / Emergencies
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes].
SCRIPT
My name is Vinnie Jones and I’m going to teach you a lesson you’ll never forget. There are times in life when being tough comes in handy. Say some geezer collapses in front of you. What do you do? We need a volunteer that ain’t breathing.
Here’s one I made earlier. First thing you do is you check him over. If he ain’t responsive or he ain’t breathing or he’s making noises like this. (SOUND: serious weezing) then his heart has stopped working and he’s having a cardiac arrest. Look lively. First, call 999. Then you do Hands-only CPR. And no kissing. You only kiss your missus on the lips. Watch. Lock your fingers together, knuckles up. Then push down. Right on the sovereign.
Push down five or six centimetres. That’s about two inches in old money.
Push hard and fast about two times a second, like to the beat of ‘Stayin’ Alive’. Worried you’ll hurt him? Better a cracked rib than him kicking the bucket. Keep this up until the ambulance arrives.
So, don’t forget. Check him over. Call 999. Push hard and fast to ‘Stayin’ Alive. It work’s. Hands-only CPR. It ain’t as hard as it looks.
If you want to come in handy in an emergency, why not sign up for one of our HeartStart courses. Ads for ELT - Hands Only CPR 1 [Vinnie]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/imcFo7bxSU0/mqdefault.jpg)
![Psycholgy and ELT - Shrink the Change
It’s not that we don’t want to do things, it’s just that we keep procrastinating! When we find ourselves putting things off, that may be because what we have to do looms ahead as something big, difficult and time consuming. But what if we knew that, painful as it might be, it would only last for 5 min? That’s the big idea: just do it for 5 min – or even 1 min! But once you’ve started, the reward chemicals start flowing into your brain and you just don’t want to stop. Even if you do, your perception of yourself has changed; ‘Yes, I did it! I did get started’. It’s so much easier to continue now… Just watch the great Dan Heath.
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes]. Psycholgy and ELT - Shrink the Change](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/j4GxTG_2_0o/mqdefault.jpg)
![Psychology and ELT - The Pratfall Effect
We all like competent people, right? And we all like to be liked. Ergo, the more competent, the more ‘perfect’ we are, the more others will like us, right? Wrong.
It turns out that we do not like people when they are ‘too perfect’. This phenomenon, called ‘The Pratfall Effect’ was first discovered by the great Eliott Aronson, in a study described here by Adam Ferrier.
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have only uploaded it here for educational purposes]. Psychology and ELT - The Pratfall Effect](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jsE6flh7dMk/mqdefault.jpg)
![Psychology and ELT - Incongruity
This has to be one of the most stunning examples of the effectiveness of using incongruity to re-focus people’s attention to something.
Imagine you are an advertiser and you have been asked to re-launch a product (Shreddies – a square-shaped breakfast cereal) for a particular market. Please bear in mind that a) the product has been around for donkey’s years and everyone knows it b) you have not changed the product in any way! Quite a tall order, right? In fact, Hunter Sommerville, the guy who was charged with designing the box, was at his wit’s end – if ever there was a ‘mission impossible’ this was it! And then an idea struck him – perhaps if he rotated the picture by 45 degrees?!? Here is Rory Sutherland to tell us the story in his own inimitable style...
The question for us teachers of course is this: if advertisers can revive people’s attention in something by means of a little trick, can we not perhaps ‘tweak’ some activities so that they are more exciting for our students?
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes]. Psychology and ELT - Incongruity](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jsXSQxDDVKE/mqdefault.jpg)
![Psychology and ELT - Expectations 1
How would you like a glass of beer? It’s tasty, well-chilled, refreshing and, perhaps more importantly – free! Not only that, you are also going to be given a choice! You can choose between beer A or beer B (beer B, the ‘MIT brew’ contains a secret ingredient!) You can taste them both and make your choice. Now think: would it make any difference if you knew in advance that this secret ingredient was in fact a drop of balsamic vinegar? Over to Professor Ariely now – just watch the video…
So what is the moral? Here it is: ‘Expectations Colour Experience’. How we perceive something depends on what we expect it to be like. And this doesn’t just have to do with food and drink…
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes]. Psychology and ELT - Expectations 1](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jx2nfsdfgNo/mqdefault.jpg)