Australian-born Dr Rosemary Westwell has been a teacher since 1969. Now British citizen she is determined to add her voice to the call for more common sense in our approach to teaching and learning. In this book the author casts aside formulated textbooks in favour of an approach that focuses on the learning process and how teaching and materials are best adapted accordingly. If teachers understand the mechanism of how students acquire certain knowledge and skills, and they alter their methods of teaching accordingly, the learning is swift and effective. Other publications by the author include: The Spelling Game Twenty Tips for Teaching IGCSE ESL Spontaneous Survival Lessons in English (ZigZag Education) The Grammar Game (ZigZag Education) John, Dementia and Me (North Staffordshire Press)
About the Author: Dr Rosemary Westwell has been teaching for over 40 years. She has taught all ages from 5 to 70, in primary, junior and secondary schools and teaches on a one-to-one basis at home. Dr Westwell really enjoys the variety of students she teaches and considers each one on an individual basis. After studying her own language learning for her PhD on 'The Development of Language Acquisition in a Mature Learner', (http: eprints.ioe.ac.uk/48/) she discovered that four main factors were extremely important to a learner: the language source material, the methods used, the attitude of the language source material, the student and the teacher and, as expected, memory. This information changed her approach to teaching and has inspired her to take particular notice of how she adapts her lessons to suit each student: e.g., - not just any book will do. She has written a number of books and three of these are on learning languages: 'Out of a Learner's Mouth' (which is an informal diary of her acquisition of Spanish as a mature learner) and 'Teaching Language Learners' which is a DIY book of ideas for new and experienced teachers of English as a Foreign Language and 'The Spelling Game'. (For further information about the books please contact her on rjwestwell@hotmail.com.) She is married with two daughters and a number of grandchildren. She writes reviews for events in the Ely area on her blog (www.reviewsrjw.wordpress.com). She conducts a local ladies' choir: 'The Isle Singers' which gives concerts locally on a regular basis and she is a member of the Ely Rotary Club. Short comments, articles and book reviews appear in her 'language' blog (www.elyforlanguage.wordpress.com). She gives regular talks about her writing, her childhood in Tasmania ('An Aus in England'), and her flat in Spain and she is a volunteer speaker for Water Aid. Dr Westwell usually presents a workshop at the IATEFL conferences and in 2012 in Glasgow the subject was 'Tips for Teaching IGCSE English as a Second language'. The subject at the IATEFL Conference for 2013 in Liverpool is 'Mental Imagery and Language Learning'. She has also written a more personal account of her experience married to a man who gradually succumbed to early onset dementia. This novel ('John, Dementia and Me') is available from North Staffordshire Press Ltd. (www.northstaffordshirepress.com).