One problem for digital English language courses is they do not save learner work. This is most true for those courses that cover productive skills of speaking and writing.

A digital lesson will take a learner on a journey not too different to a teacher led lesson plan. The introduction makes the learner comfortable with the topic. This helps them remember the language they already have. They then enter a study stage, where they study key language in context. Once completed, they move to a practice section and then they complete a test.

This method works well with receptive skills development. It also gives the added benefit of showing the teacher quantifiable results. The challenge comes when learners need to complete spoken and written tasks.

When studying speaking and writing, learners complete speaking and writing tasks. They compare what they have said or written with a model answer. But, once they finish the lesson, they lose the information forever. They can’t go back and review it, nor can they share it with a teacher. The value of the exercise is in practicing language in the moment and reflecting on that. This is useful, but not as beneficial as getting feedback from a teacher.

This has now changed. As Reallyenglish introduces learner work sharing for written and spoken lessons. For the first time learners can share their spoken and written content with teachers. Teachers can check learner work and give feedback on what their students have done.

This is powerful. With spoken recordings, teachers can find common patterns of language use - good, bad and not done. Teachers can listen to recordings more than once and get a clear picture of what how a learner can improve. With writing tasks, the teacher can use their knowledge and skill to help the learner improve.

Reallyenglish's approach combines structured self-study with teacher feedback. The learner completes a guided learning process before the teacher checks their work. The teacher also knows every learner goes through the same process to finish a lesson. So they can recycle points from the self-study activities in their feedback.