This July, we are thrilled to spotlight Akua Amaniampong, a dynamic English Language educator, mentor, and teacher leader based in Ghana as our member of the month.
Akua Amaniampong was born in Kumasi in the Ashanti region of Ghana and has 14 years of experience teaching at the senior high school level and currently teaches at KNUST Senior High School, a respected public secondary school in Ghana.
Akua holds an M.A. in TESL from University of Ghana (2023) and a B.A. in Linguistics from the same institution (2010). She also holds several professional certifications from the British Council further enhancing her expertise in English language education. She currently serves as the General Secretary of IELTA-GHANA and an active member of several professional organisations, including TESOL International, Africa ELTA, and the American Association of Applied Linguistics.
Akua has actively contributed to the global ELT community through international webinars and speaking engagements. Notably, she has delivered international presentations on vocabulary instruction and task-based grammar teaching in Bangladesh and the Philippines. Her professional interests focus on Applied Linguistics with a particular passion for exploring and applying diverse teaching methodologies, evaluating their impact, and sharing best practices with colleagues and teacher association members to improve language instruction across contexts.
Passionate about youth mentorship and teacher development, Akua mentors young people in her school, helping them set academic and career goals and has also initiated a Community of Practice (CoP) for English teachers in her school to support ongoing professional learning. As an Examiner and an active contributor to regional and international dialogues on ELT and educational equity advocate, Akua continues to inspire meaningful change both in the classroom and communities alike.
Tips for teachers on task-based language teaching for grammar instruction.
Akua truly brought her expertise to life in a discussion session she led in July at the regional English Connects community of practice group for teachers titled Task-Based Language Teaching for Grammar Instruction. She shared the following practical and actionable advice for fellow teachers:
- Plan with purpose: prepare grammar-focused tasks thoroughly, ensuring they align with specific learning outcomes.
- Clarify the task: communicate task objectives, expected outcomes, and how success will be measured clearly to your learners.
- Use real-world contexts: design tasks that mirror real-life situations to make grammar lessons more meaningful and relevant. (And remember the SPELL checklist when designing tasks!)
- Manage time wisely: allocate time effectively for task execution, peer interaction, feedback, and reflection.
- Foster a supportive environment: create a safe, inclusive classroom space where learners feel encouraged to participate and take language risks.
- Encourage collaboration: use pair and group tasks to promote interaction, which reinforces grammar through meaningful use.
- Be adaptive and reflect: adjust instruction as necessary during tasks and reflect on what worked and why.
'Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) places high demands on teacher preparation. Without adequate planning, lessons can quickly become overwhelming, and learners may struggle to understand the purpose or focus of the tasks assigned'. - Akua Amaniampong