LinguaQuest School, a long-standing institution in the heart of its city, has been a cornerstone of English language education for over fifty years. Known for its engaging, face-to-face teaching methods and strong sense of community, it attracted students from all backgrounds, becoming synonymous with quality language instruction. Through the years, the school adapted to shifts in language education, yet stayed rooted in its personalized, immersive approach that emphasized both academic rigor and supportive interaction.

In recent years, however, LinguaQuest has struggled to compete with the convenience and flexibility offered by edtech and online learning platforms. As students increasingly turn to digital tools that promise personalized, on-demand learning, LinguaQuest faces declining enrollment and budget constraints that hinder its ability to modernize. The school’s leadership now faces a critical choice: either hold onto its traditional methods or transform to meet the demands of a digital era, balancing its legacy with the urgent need for innovation.

The school struggled to define its mission and was caught in a swirl of diverse teaching methods and philosophies. The leadership team was uncertain about which path to take to establish a clear, unified approach to ELT.

LinguaQuest’s leadership turned to its own academic staff divided into specialized departments, each representing a unique approach to ELT. No longer were these teams external experts; they were the school’s own dedicated educators, tasked with guiding LinguaQuest into its future.

The challenge? To pitch their department’s teaching philosophy as the best foundation for the school’s mission and future direction.

The departments representing different ELT methods (CLIL, TBLT, lexical approach, cooperative language learning, etc.) would compete to convince the school board of the power and promise of their method. The head of LinguaQuest explained the stakes: the school would adopt only one method as its core approach to mission-driven education.

Each department is tasked with developing a framework that demonstrates the advantages of their method and its alignment with LinguaQuest’s goals. Here’s how the journey unfolds:

Each department is tasked with developing a framework that demonstrates the advantages of their method and its alignment with LinguaQuest’s goals. Here’s how the journey unfolds:

1. Choose your path:
🛣️ Embrace the teaching method your department represents, as outlined by the school leadership (use this table).

2. Research the foundations:
📚 Dive deeply into your chosen approach, exploring its history, principles, and applicability (use this folder with literature). Identify its strengths and limitations, discovering the nuances that make it uniquely suited (or challenging) for LinguaQuest.

3. Design the framework:
📋 Build a structured framework with these elements:
- Introduction: A compelling narrative that highlights your department’s method and its potential impact on LinguaQuest.
- Advantages: Showcase the strengths of the approach and how it aligns with the school’s mission.
- Downsides: Acknowledge the method’s limitations and any challenges it may bring.
- Guidelines for course designers: Offer actionable steps for designing courses within your chosen method.
- Techniques and strategies: Detail specific, impactful techniques to enhance language learning.
- Sample activities: Design three engaging activities, each with clear objectives, materials, instructions, and assessment criteria.

4. Develop supporting artifacts:
📒 Create materials for your sample activities, ensuring they are versatile and adaptable for students at various levels.

5. Prepare your presentation:
🖥️ Craft a compelling pitch, as if preparing for a major council meeting. You must convincingly demonstrate why your department’s method should guide LinguaQuest’s future.

6. Share your expertise (21.12):
👩🏻‍🏫 As a team of invested educators and advisors, present your framework to the school board in a 25–30 minute pitch. Aiming to persuade the school board of the effectiveness and promise of your method. Your presentation should be polished and prepared as if it’s a decisive performance.
Following the presentation, engage in a Q&A session where you will address questions and counterpoints from other departments and the board.

9. Reflect on the journey:
🧐 After the presentations, write a reflection on what this experience taught you about mission-driven course design and how it may shape your future approach to ELT.

LinguaQuest’s teaching philosophy has long been anchored in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), once a groundbreaking approach that transformed language learning from rote memorization into interactive, authentic communication. Today, though CLT remains vital, its widespread adoption has made it feel less distinctive.

LinguaQuest now seeks a bold evolution, drawing from CLT’s communicative spirit to explore more specialized approaches that respond to modern needs.

• “Hard CLIL” and “soft CLIL” (ESP) extend communication into subject-specific language and professional contexts
• Task-based instruction (TBLT) builds on CLT’s authentic use of language in practical tasks.
• The lexical approach digs into language chunks to reflect everyday usage.
• Cooperative language learning (CLL) amplifies the collaborative elements of CLT with peer-driven activities.
• Competency-based teaching (CBLT) supports real-world skill development, test and exam preparation.
• Text-based instruction (TBI) immerses learners in genre-specific language through authentic texts.
• Dogme ELT keeps lessons spontaneous, responsive, and student-led.

LinguaQuest's new vision builds upon CLT’s legacy, crafting a richer, more nuanced approach to language that aligns with evolving educational demands.

This guide will help your team plan, design, and deliver a pitch that stands out. Impressing the board involves presenting a well-researched, clearly organized, and engaging pitch that effectively showcases your chosen ELT method as the future foundation for LinguaQuest.

1. Project management essentials:

Set clear roles, for example:

• Project manager: Oversees deadlines, manages team meetings, and ensures smooth collaboration.
• Research leads: Two or three members who dive deep into the chosen ELT method, gathering research and resources.
• Content developers: Two or three members who transform research into practical components, including advantages, downsides, sample activities, and course design guidelines.
• Presentation designers: One or two members who craft the visual presentation and lead in storytelling and engagement techniques.

Break the project into stages with deadlines to avoid last-minute rushes:

• Week 1: Complete research and define content outline.
• Week 2: Develop framework components (advantages, downsides, guidelines).
• Week 3: Design sample activities and gather supporting materials.
• Week 4: Finalize presentation and practice as a team.

2. Thorough research:

• Dive deep into the method’s foundations: Begin with a broad review of your method’s theoretical background, strengths, and challenges. Identify what aspects make your method stand out.
• Balance advantages with downsides: Demonstrating both strengths and weaknesses of your method adds credibility. Rather than ignoring potential drawbacks, address them thoughtfully, showing how your team plans to manage these issues if chosen.
• Seek practical examples: Review existing textbooks and case studies or find real-world applications of your method. This helps you provide tangible examples and adds weight to your argument.

3. Designing the theoretical part of your framework (14.12):

Introduction to your approach should include

• Brief overview of the chosen approach, its main principles that distinguish it from other communicative approaches
• Fit for LinguaQuest: Why is this approach suitable for modern language schools or teachers? ("As LinguaQuest looks to modernize, this approach offers...")

Crafting advantages and downsides:

• Be specific: Avoid vague statements like “improves learning.” Instead, explain how specific elements of the method can enhance student engagement, mastery of language skills, or adapt to diverse learning styles.
• Prepare for critiques: Be ready to justify why the advantages outweigh the downsides and address any significant limitations (like resource needs or time requirements).

4. Designing the practical part of your framework (21.12)

Guidelines for course design:
Turn theoretical principles into practical guidelines by outlining specific, realistic steps.
For instance, guidelines for CLT might include the following:

• Incorporate authentic materials: Use resources such as news articles, podcasts, advertisements, and conversational videos to create real-world language experiences.
• Focus on functional language: Design modules around everyday communication themes, like ordering food, making travel arrangements, or discussing opinions on social issues.

Highlight how your method supports LinguaQuest’s goals by discussing long-term benefits (e.g., improved retention, learner motivation).

Techniques and strategies
List the most suitable and applicable types of tasks / activities / assignments within the chosen approach.
For instance, techniques within CLT might include the following:

• Role-playing: Engage students in scenarios that mirror real-life situations, like job interviews, restaurant settings, or travel arrangements.
• Information gap activities: Tasks where students have to communicate with partners to exchange missing information, fostering spontaneous language use.

Activities that illustrate this techniques and strategies (use "CLT in action" as a template):

• Be innovative yet practical: Your activities should be original but feasible for LinguaQuest. Clearly outline goals, instructions, and materials so each activity is ready for immediate use.
• Adapt for multiple levels: Create activities that could serve students at different proficiency levels.

5. Presentation quality: engage, persuade, and impress

Visual Design:
- Use clear, visually consistent slides: Keep slides simple and professional. Limit text, use bullet points, and include relevant images or diagrams that reinforce key concepts.
- Highlight key information: Use contrasting colors or font styles to emphasize essential points, making it easy for the board to follow the structure and stay engaged.

Timing and Flow:

• Practice to stay within time: The first part of your pitch should be 15 minutes max. The second — 20minutes max. Assign each member a specific segment to keep the flow smooth. Practice timing each part to stay on track.
• Connect the audience emotionally to your method’s potential impact: use storytelling techniques (e.g., describe a real or hypothetical success story of a student who thrived under your method) or direct interaction with the audience, who will play the role of the school board.

Final Checklist
Before the presentation days (December 14 and 21):
📚 Research completed: Each team member is familiar with your method’s history, principles, and practical applications.
📋 Framework designed: The introduction, advantages, downsides (before 14.12), guidelines, techniques, and activities (before 21.12) are clear and logically presented.
🖥️ Presentation polished: Slides are visually appealing and free of errors. Timing and transitions between speakers are smooth.
🙋‍♀️ Q&A ready: Each member knows their assigned area of expertise for the Q&A and is prepared to address challenging questions confidently.