Teaching with purpose: Why the GSE still works in 2025

Leonor Corradi
Reading time: 5 minutes

We live in a world in which change is a constant. While change has always existed, lately it has definitely accelerated. There is an idea in society that we should embrace change and adopt whatever is new, with an underlying assumption – wrong to many – that what is new is always better.one that is often wrong

In the world of ELT, new materials are developed every year. It is unthinkable for most teachers to be using teaching materials that were published 10 years ago. Some would even claim that anything published before 2020 is already out-dated.

How does all this impact on the Global Scale of English (GSE) – published over 10 years ago? When it was launched in 2014, it constituted a significant innovation in ELT. The following quotes were provided by ELT experts at the time of launch.

Teaching with purpose: why the GSE endures
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From the Global Scale of English, Adults, May 2016:

"The Global Scale of English represents the most significant advance in performance-based approaches to language learning, teaching and assessment since the development of the Common European Framework of Reference."

David Nunan, Ph.D, Professor Emeritus of Applied Linguistics, University of Hong Kong

"Students often complain about their lack of perceived progress and will welcome the opportunity to work towards certain, defined objectives."

Barbara Gardner, Learning Technologies Training Coordinator, Study Group

Ms Gardner’s quote alludes to how the GSE can help learners become aware of the real progress they are making. Ten years later, the need to provide students with concrete proof of their progress is as relevant as ever. With the GSE, it is easy to do this and students can also check their own progress to resolve the issue. Teachers can share a list with their learners of the learning objectives they are to cover over a certain period. Every time students do an activity, they can go back to their list and tick the learning objectives they are mastering or are confident with, and make a dot for those in progress. Over time, say a month, they can clearly see what progress there has been.?

And this is not only true for Adult learners. The following quotes come from ELT experts in the area of young learners:

"The GSE Learning Objectives for Young Learners are truly groundbreaking. They closely reflect the world of young language learners, allowing them and those who work with them to set aims and track progress in a motivating and instructive way."

Angela Hasselgreen, Professor of Language Diadicts, University of Bergen, Norway.

"色猫AV's CEFR-based descriptors of what young learners can do are a unique contribution to assessing young learners. The professional community now has the opportunity to apply them to see how they can help advance in the field."

Professor Marianne Nikolov, Director of the Doctoral School of Linguistics, University of Pécs, Hungary.?

"Young Learners descriptors will not only be an indispensable assessment tool for young learners but also a powerful instructional tool for them as well."

Yuko Goto Butler, Associate Professor of Educational Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania, and the Director of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Program.

"The GSE for Young Learners is a major breakthrough in the world of ELT, both for teaching and assessing students, since it clearly shows how Young Learners make progress in their different learning paths."

Leonor Corradi, Lecturer in English Language Education at the IES en Lenguas Vivas Juan Ramon Fernandez and ISP Joaquin V. Gonzalez, Buenos Aires, Argentina.?

These four quotes attest to the fact that the GSE is also a valuable resource to help teachers of Young Learners in their teaching practices. This was true when the GSE Learning Objectives for Young Learners were first published and I do not think anybody would deny their absolute relevance today.?

In conclusion, why does the GSE still work today? Students and teachers need to know exactly where they are going and how to get there, how achieving different learning objectives helps them advance.

  • The learning objectives for each learner audience (adults, young learners, English for Academic or Professional Purposes) not only show a clear learning pathway but constitute the basis for assessment. Teachers assess exactly what they are teaching.
  • With assessment – and planning – based on learning objectives, teachers can truly evaluate activities in courseware and materials, and decide if they need modifying, so that they are in line with their students’ individual goals.

Teaching with a purpose has always been our goal. It inspired the creation of the GSE ten years ago, and remains as relevant as ever today. Innovation should be embraced – but let’s not throw old resources out just because they were created a few years ago. Useful is useful no matter what the date on the resource.? ?

Read our blog posts 'Tailoring language learning for diverse needs with the GSE' and 'How teachers can use the GSE for professional development'.

Learn more about the GSE

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