November 2023: Advancing intermediate learners in ELT: helping intermediate learners to feel stretched and motivated

This webinar guides teachers through tasks which help learners to effectively revise and extend ‘learnt’ language, so that learners at this level (and beyond) feel challenged, engaged and motivated. The webinar will suggest easy-to-implement ideas that can be adapted to suit a range of learners and learner groups.    

Intermediate learners are able to communicate on everyday topics and have covered most of the ‘chunky’ pieces of English grammar. However, a sense of tangible progress can sometimes feel elusive, often leading to frustration and demotivation.

After looking briefly at word and sentence-level focal activities, the webinar will shift to a more holistic approach, where learners work at discoursal level. This is an area often overlooked in coursebooks. By adopting this strategy in tasks, learners have the freedom to process language at a deeper level, and to explore multiple aspects of language simultaneously and also co-operatively.

Sensations_English_webinar_Advancing_intermediate_learners_by_Fran_Watkins

Fran has many years’ experience as an ELT author, test-writer, teacher and trainer. She holds a PGCE and MSc TEFL from Aston University and has worked in Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia as a teacher and trainer for the British Council and International House. As well as providing in-house teacher training and tutoring on Celta and Delta courses, prior to Covid, Fran taught at Reading University, developing language and methodology skills of Chinese primary and secondary school teachers of English.

Fran Watkins


Sensations English lesson resources are great for today’s learners.

Sensations English was a finalist in the 2021 British Council ELTons award for Innovation in Learner Resources and won two British Council ELTons commendations! The first, for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, recognised the global and social range of our English learning content, covering contemporary issues and giving learners access to a wide range of issues and global English voices.

Secondly, we were the only winners of the British Council’s inaugural commendation for Environmental Sustainability and Climate Action! Our content covers such a diverse range of climate and sustainability content, opening learners’ minds to global issues and efforts to resolve them, giving learners the language to engage and raise their voices in this vital area of life.

How Sensations English works

Our lesson resources make equality, diversity and inclusion and sustainability a central element of language learning. We recognise learners as multi-competent speakers and multicultural citizens who are eager to share their ideas and engage with others on important topics in their lives.

The high-quality, global, news-based study resources take a person-centred approach, representing diverse cultures and identities across our seven learning themes. The wide range of video and article news reports includes interactive games and study tools that connect the issues with students’ language learning.

As all resources are graded at five levels (A2-C1), they make sometimes complex topics accessible to all learners. With Sensations English, it’s easy to explore language features and improve sub-skills using inclusive resources which also help to connect lessons to learners’ own situations and experiences. This helps learners to think about their own contexts and develop their own voices.

Click here to find out more about Sensations English Teacher’s Edition