Our Teaching Methods

Our vision 

We help students succeed in a global community.    

English is the most spoken language in the world—and the global language of business. So we believe that learning the language is an investment in your future. Whether you want to learn English for school, work or travel,  you’ll need to be able to communicate with people from different cultures, with different accents, and at different levels of proficiency. At EC, we’ve built our courses to help students like you improve your communicative ability, ensuring you have the language, the confidence and the skills to interact with other English speakers from all backgrounds and succeed in a global community. 

Our course development  

Our courses are research-based, data-driven and developed by experts. 

At EC, we’re committed to continuous innovation and have made research a cornerstone of our process of review and development. This informs all aspects of academic management from our curriculum to students’ support to teacher training. Everyone on our curriculum development team is dedicated to providing cutting-edge teaching methods and course content. To do this, we: 

• Collect data and analyse feedback to measure course impact and inform development   

• Monitor, evaluate and improve our classroom experience and learning support 

• Research learning and assessment to ensure the most up-to-date, evidence-based methodology 

• Collaborate with National Geographic Learning (NGL,) to inform our teaching materials 

• Attend and speak at conferences all over the world 

Our methodology

Learning English the EC Way means embracing our Communicative Approach—an approach that emphasises practical language application through lively, interactive and supportive classes, immersive learning opportunities and personalised feedback. By putting you at the centre of your learning experience and engaging you in a visible process to build your learning, cultural awareness and language skills, we ensure that you’ll see progress every day, and rapidly achieve your goals. Here’s what a lesson looks like, the EC Way: 

• Classes begin with a real-life objective and clear lesson aims 

• Throughout the lesson, you’ll work with your partners to learn grammar, vocabulary and skills 

• Towards the end of the lesson, you will practise using this language in context 

At the end of the lesson, you’ll receive feedback in the form of error correction or insights that emerged in the conversation. 

Our assessment 

Our assessments are formative, personalised and relevant. 

We believe assessments should primarily be a formative process, a true reflection of a student’s capabilities which informs students on their learning needs and successes. So our assessments are designed to meet your individual needs. These assessment take place throughout your language learning journey with EC, so you’re always aware of your progress. 

• Pre-arrival: You’ll take your Placement Test, followed with a speaking test on arrival.  

• Daily: You will self-assess and peer assess in class, and receive targeted feedback. 

• Weekly: On Feedback Fridays, you’ll reflect on your week, get feedback and assess progress. 

• Monthly: Following your 4-week assessment, you’ll receive feedback on your performance and discuss areas that need work. This is reviewed and can be changed based on your needs. 

End of course: You’ll take an Exit Test which will show the progress you’ve made in English, Reading, Writing and Speaking. 

Our consistency 

We employ company-wide standards and training. 

No matter which EC school(s) you choose on your English language-learning journey, you can count on  

an exemplary learning experience. Although we adapt our activity programmes at each school to help you get the most out of your specific host city, we ensure academic consistency across all our centres with best-practice processes and rigorous standards. 

1. All Directors of Studies are trained in EC policies and procedures. 

2. All teachers receive the same training on the Communicative Approach: the EC Way.  

3. All teachers are observed regularly. 

4. All our schools are committed to continuous professional development of the academic team. 

5. All schools are audited once a year by a member of the senior management team. 

All schools are accredited by an external accreditation body. 

Our Promise 

Your progress is visible and guaranteed. 

At EC, we believe in continuous innovation, so we’ve made research a cornerstone of our review and development process. The data we collect informs all aspects of our academics—from curriculum to student support to teacher training—and helps us continuously improve how we deliver on our promise to you. As a result, we guarantee your English will improve, as long as you follow your personalised learning plan and meet the following course requirements: 

• Attend 96% of your classes. We’ll help you take it from there. 

• Actively participate in lessons with an average score of 9/10 for participation.  

Complete at least three homework assignments weekly, with an average score of 9/10.