There is a strong emphasis on developing both video- and audio-editing skills in this chapter, using English procedurally , to complete tasks, and also to produce language to form the content or output of these tasks. In Activity 8.2: New news , for example, learners write scripts to accompany clips from news reports that have had the sound removed, obliging them to infer the content of the stories based only on what they can see. Once they have prepared their scripts, they record them, matching the length and timing of the video. They then use film-editing software to synchronize their audio tracks to the news clips. In a variation to this, the classroom can be turned into a fully fledged news studio by using a green screen to film the learners presenting their news stories, with the video clips playing behind them as a backdrop. Activity 8.3: Shuffle kerfuffle is also about editing, treating sections of video as if they were virtual LEGO® bricks. In the same way that learners might reorder a text by recognizing cohesive devices or lexical clues, in this activity they receive a mixed-up series of short clips and are tasked with assembling them into a coherent narrative.

Several other creation projects break down the boundaries of the classroom, either metaphorically or literally. Activity 8.6: Guest speaker enables the learners to connect remotely with a professional or subject expert. This is useful for ESP classes and also for bringing authentic, situated language and interaction into the classroom when covering a specific theme. I have invited sales and marketing professionals to speak to my learners when working on a coursebook unit on advertising, as well as artists, musicians and other subject experts according to the profile and interests of my learners and the specific components of the curriculum. As well as providing learners who are studying in non-English-speaking countries with an opportunity to communicate in English with someone other than their teacher, the immediacy and authenticity of engaging with an external subject expert can be extremely motivational. Activity 8.7: Tube talk uses the ‘magic curtain’ of the green screen to bring the London Underground into the classroom, using a soundscape that I recorded specifically for this purpose.