Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
EACHING
Tprofessional
Issue 78
January
2012
A second self
Jill Hadfield
w w w . e t p r o f e s s i o n a l . c o m
Contents
MAIN FEATURE
TEACHER DEVELOPMENT
A SECOND SELF
50
REAL REFLECTION 2
52
FEATURES
SHHHHH!
TECHNOLOGY
12
54
WEBWATCHER
THE POWER OF CIRCLES
16
20
57
58
MAKE IT MEANINGFUL
25
REGULAR FEATURES
28
LANGUAGE LOG
40
John Potts
32
59
Rose Senior
38
46
IT WORKS IN PRACTICE
36
SCRAPBOOK
42
REVIEWS
44
COMPETITIONS
41, 64
23
A GRAMMAR GAME
INTERNATIONAL
SUBSCRIPTION
FORM
30
24
Editorial
Y
language learners.
Helena Gomm
Editor
helena.gomm@pavpub.com
ENGLISH
EACHING
Tprofessional
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M A I N
F E AT U R E
A second
self
Jill Hadfield
considers motivation,
imagination and identity.
Motivation
is our students
reason for learning,
the drive that makes
them study
between intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation, or inner motivation versus
external motivation, arising from specific
situational factors, for example good
teaching, interesting topics, etc.
Instrumental, intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation are concepts that can apply to
any branch of learning; integrativeness,
however, is specific to language learning,
and because of this has been the focus
of much research over the years.
Recently, though, integrativeness has
become an increasingly problematic
concept and researchers have been
turning back to mainstream psychology
in search of alternative theories.
The issue of
integrativeness
Robert Gardner, the originator of the
integrativeness theory, defines
integration as a genuine interest in
learning the second language in order to
come closer to the other language
community, along with an openness to
and respect for other cultural groups and
ways of life. In the extreme, he states,
this might involve complete identification
with the community and possibly even
withdrawal from ones own group, but
more commonly it involves integration
within both communities.
Having a
clear vision of
a desired future
self motivates you
to work towards
reducing the distance
between your actual
self and your
future ideal
In recent years, however, the rise of
English as a global language has made
the notion of community problematic,
and researchers have begun to pose the
question: How relevant is integrativeness
in situations where learners have no
direct contact with a community of the
L2 speakers? and, according to Susan
Coetzee-Van Rooy, the notion of
integrativeness is untenable for L2
learners in World English contexts.
Researchers then began to posit the
need for a new focus. Jeffrey Jensen
Arnett suggested the need for a focus on
bicultural identity, and other
researchers have asked whether the
focus should now be on integration, not
with any particular English-speaking
nation, but with an imagined global
community.
Tomoko Yashima, for example,
found that it has become increasingly
difficult for Japanese EFL learners to
identify a clear target group or culture,
and a study she conducted in 2000
revealed that of the many reasons given
for studying English, identification with
Americans/British was among the least
The motivation
connection
The connection between future possible
selves (also called self-guides) and
motivation is outlined in what is called
self-discrepancy theory. Higgins finds
that people are motivated to reach a
condition where their self-concept matches
their self-guide and that motivation can
be defined as the desire to reduce the
discrepancy. In other words, having a
clear vision of a desired future self
motivates you to work towards reducing
the distance between your actual self and
your future ideal. Motivation is thus
defined as a form of desire.
Motivation, imagination
and possible selves
If motivation is a form of desire, then it
is intimately connected to the power of
the imagination. The more clearly you
can imagine your desired future self, the
stronger your motivation will be:
Imaging ones own actions through
construction of elaborated possible selves
achieving desired goals may directly
facilitate the translation of goals into
intentions and instrumental action.
(Markus and Ruvolo)
This has been put more succinctly by
Etienne Wenger:
Imagination is looking at an apple seed
and seeing a tree.
And by Richard Boyatzis and Kleio
Akrivou:
Throughout history humans are driven
by imagination and the ability to see
images of the desired future.
Imagination and imagery are, therefore,
central to Possible Selves theory
possible selves harness what Markus
terms the remarkable power of the
imagination in human life. Markus and
Nurius also emphasise that future ideal
selves are a reality for people, a vivid
and tangible image that they can see
and hear.
A second
self
enthusiasm.
In future articles I will look at the
process of translating this theory into
practice, offer some practical, instantly
useable classroom activities, and give
suggestions for incorporating them into
a language syllabus. ETp
IN
THE
CLASSROOM
Shhhhh!
The more
vociferous students
in the group sometimes
tend to take over in
terms of volume
and output
Paper chats
In preparation for the discussion, make
several A3-sized posters and write a
different discussion question in the
middle of each. Placing the question in
the centre rather than at the top allows
for consideration of, and contribution
to, all responses, rather than assuming a
linear commentary in which only the
last statement is addressed. The
spidergram approach also has the
advantage of mirroring the creative
process of generating and evaluating
ideas for essays and other longer pieces
of writing. I generally allow one poster
for two to three students. At this stage,
it helps to rearrange the seats so that
everyone in one small group can reach
the poster comfortably.
After answering any questions
concerning the discussion topics,
announce that the students will now only
be allowed to communicate their opinions
in writing, all at the same time. Encourage
them to write wherever there is space on
the poster. Why not demonstrate by
adding a quick comment on one of the
posters yourself ? You can, of course, set
a time limit for the first writing phase,
which will depend on the level of the
class and the complexity of the issue.
The students then work individually,
writing their initial response to the topic
next to the question. Remind them that,
just as in an oral discussion, the
purpose of the exercise is not 100percent accuracy, but communicating
and responding to ideas. Once the time
The process of
writing gives everyone
an equal opportunity
to express themselves,
with no one talking
non-stop or politely
waiting their turn
Considerations
Paper chats work in many set-ups, but I
have found that they are extremely
effective in balancing participation in
classes in which there is a large
discrepancy in the students willingness
to speak. The process of writing gives
everyone an equal opportunity to
express themselves, with no one talking
non-stop or politely waiting their turn.
The technique can also be used with
classes which need to improve their
writing yet are reluctant to do so, whether
this is because of a lack of confidence
or a general aversion to writing. Less
laborious than essays set for homework,
paper chats offer a fun change from
traditional writing practice. Mimicking
real interactive communication makes
writing more enjoyable, especially for
Possibilities
Of course, the writing process need not
end here. There are plenty of
opportunities for exploiting the
students output once the actual chat
has concluded. Apart from the obvious
one of peer- or teacher-led error
correction, the posters make a great
starting point for the evaluation of
ideas and contributions, thus training
the students critical faculties.
I can imagine that paper chats could
also make a nice written ice-breaker
at the beginning of a course, whilst
giving the teacher a chance to
surreptitiously assess the groups
writing skills.
Having taught a lot of IELTS
preparation courses, I always pounce
on any technique that can help less
confident students approach IELTS
writing with less dread. (An IELTS
task might present a point of view
and ask the students to justify their
response, eg As higher education is far
more accessible nowadays than it was to
previous generations, university degrees
are losing their value. To what extent do
you agree with this view?) Paper chats
can help in this situation by leading
the candidates towards the completion
of an exam writing task and are
particularly beneficial early on in a
course. In groups, the students can
evaluate the strength of the different
arguments put forward and choose
the most pertinent contributions. Why
not distribute highlighter pens and
encourage the students to underline
the most convincing points? These can
then be organised to suit the structure
for an exam task and written up into
a coherent argument. This way, the
In conclusion, paper chats make a
valuable addition to any teachers
toolkit, as they can easily be adapted
for a wealth of classes and lessons. ETp
Sonja Wirwohl has been
an English teacher and
examiner since 2000 and
is currently involved in
the provision of EAP at
University College,
London, UK. A selfconfessed wordaholic,
she has a passion for
language in all its
creative expressions.
s.wirwohl@ucl.ac.uk
Welcome to
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M E T H O D O L O G Y
ELF in the
classroom
For Simon Andrewes, a shift in teaching purpose signifies a shift in tasks.
12
interviews
press conferences
service encounters
seminar discussions
working group discussions
workshop discussions
meetings
panels
question and answer sessions
conversations.
Rationale
ELF is used predominantly for oral
communication, where few assumptions
can be made about the familiarity of the
participants with, or their expectations
of, standards of pronunciation. Pausing
and nuclear stress, I emphasised in my
previous article, can be essential for
making meaning clear in these situations.
Pausing is the spoken grammar which
indicates units of meaning and works
very much like punctuation works for the
reader. The more fluent the reader, the
less the need for punctuation is a maxim
that also applies to pausing and nuclear
stress in spoken language.
Task
Break up the following, admittedly notvery-academic, text into nuclei, with
pausing for easily comprehensible
delivery and indicate the nuclearstressed words. The solution can be
discussed in class afterwards.
Text 1
melt the butter in a large saucepan
and add the finely sliced whites of the
leeks saut for a few minutes and add
the sliced potatoes and chicken stock
bring to the boil add plenty of salt and
pepper and a little ground nutmeg
simmer until the vegetables are soft
and sieve chill stir a little cream into
each bowl and sprinkle with chopped
chives before serving
Possible solution
Melt the butter / in a large saucepan //
and add the finely sliced whites / of
the leeks // saut for a few minutes //
and add the sliced potatoes / and
chicken stock // bring to the boil //
add plenty of salt / and pepper / and a
little ground nutmeg // simmer / until
the vegetables are soft // and sieve //
chill // stir a little cream into each bowl
/ and sprinkle with chopped chives
before serving
Reading aloud/peer
dictation
Rationale
Reading aloud has long been anathema
to the communicative approach to EFL
teaching as being an artificial classroom
task rather than an authentic real-world
form of communication. Yet writing a
report and delivering its content, findings
or conclusions orally seem perfectly
natural features of communicative
English in ELF settings. In this respect,
it cannot be coincidental that tasks such
as reading aloud and sentence repetition
and dictation have been included in the
new online Pearson test of academic
English (PTE Academic).
The following activity encourages
clear enunciation and sensitivity to
interlocutor response, and demonstrates
the need for linguistic accommodation
(adjusting language to guarantee
mutual understanding).
Task
This particular activity was trialled after
a coursebook unit on international
cooperation. With large classes it could
Dictogloss
Rationale
This activity involves representing heard
texts in writing, a task that may well
reflect a commonly required skill in
ELF contexts, involving listening, note
taking and text writing. Indeed, it is a
communicative, task-based activity that
develops writing skills in a meaningful
context for ELF. Dictogloss has gone out
of fashion in EFL teaching. Originally,
the purpose was the discrete teaching or
consolidation of some grammar point. It
was promoted as an alternative form of
language input, an alternative to print
text-based lessons. It is a classroom
dictation activity where learners are
required to reconstruct a short text by
listening and noting down key words,
which are then used as a basis for
reconstruction in pairs or groups.
My use of dictogloss deviates from
the traditional form, its aim not being an
accurate reconstruction of the dictated
text, but an own words reconstruction,
in which all the points of content of the
original have to be included in the
reconstruction, but not the precise
wording. Indeed, the text is not read as
a dictation, but told as a story, with
some paraphrasing and, at times,
repetition of certain sections word-forword. Although any re-telling may vary
in the words used, key words do need to
be maintained. Essential information
should be repeated and given more or
less the same emphasis in each re-telling.
Task
The text I used for this activity was
based on a story very widely reported in
the early weeks of 2011 in popular
newspapers and on news websites. Here
again, the text itself is not academic,
but the technique is relevant for ELF
contexts. The procedure is more or less
as follows:
Tell (dont read) the story (see Text
3A) at a reasonable pace, but too fast
for the listeners to write detailed
notes. Notes should preferably not be
taken at this stage.
Give the students a list of key words
for focus, for contextualisation and
also for pre-teaching or ensuring
understanding of the key vocabulary
needed to reconstruct the story. Here,
they are restricted to proper nouns
and place names, as well as dates and
time expressions (Text 3B).
13
ELF in the
classroom
14
Converting written
texts into spoken texts
Rationale
The assumption of this activity is that
noun phrases are characteristic of
written texts, whereas spoken delivery is
more likely to use verb phrases and
skill at switching between the two
enhances communicative competence,
especially in the formal or semi-formal
situations in which ELF is commonly
Task
This is a basic exercise in converting
noun phrases into verb phrases. The
students first offer their solutions. The
validity of these is then discussed in
class, as in real-life communication such
automatic conversion re-formulations
are often likely to be inappropriate. In
this example text, noun phrases related
to climate change are converted into
verb phrases.
Text 4
Noun phrases
These are some of the natural
phenomena relating to climate
change which have been observed:
an increase in heavy downpours
unpredictable river flow variations
earlier snowmelt
a lengthening of ice-free seasons in
oceans and on lakes and rivers
rapidly retreating glaciers
a thawing of the permafrost
longer growing seasons
rising sea temperatures and levels
Solution
Verb phrases
The following natural phenomena
have been observed:
Heavy downpours have increased.
River flows have varied/tended to
vary in unpredictable ways.
Snow has melted/been melting
earlier.
Ice-free seasons in oceans and on
lakes and rivers have lengthened.
Glaciers have retreated
rapidly/noticeably.
The permafrost has thawed/been
thawing.
Growing seasons have got longer.
Sea temperatures and levels have
risen.
Paraphrasing
Rationale
Paraphrasing, or reformulation, is a
vital skill when it comes to ensuring
effective communication between
interlocutors of whom we cannot make
sure assumptions about shared language
norms, common previous knowledge or
Text 5
Complete the second sentence so
that it has a similar meaning to the
first, using the word given. Do not
change the word given. Use between
2 and 5 words, including the given
word.
First sentence: You must do exactly
what the manager tells you.
Word given: CARRY
Second sentence (solution): You must
CARRY OUT THE MANAGERS
instructions exactly.
Defining or explaining
vocabulary game
Rationale
If you think a more entertaining way of
developing the ability to paraphrase,
define and/or explain vocabulary is
appropriate, this well-known and much
loved classroom game, popular among
children and adults alike, would be
suitable.
Task
Write six words or expressions on the
board. The game works better if they
are thematically linked. One student
sits with their back to the board and
tries to guess the words while their
teammates give prompts and clues;
they cannot, of course, utter any
word or any part of the expression to
be guessed. Give a time limit: longer
at first, then shortened.
Text 7
an increase in heavy downpours
Text 6
Words/expressions to be guessed
1 particle accelerator
2 contemporary physics
4 quarks
5 CERN
Task
Text 5 gives the wording of the
instructions and example sentence of
Part 4 of the Cambridge FCE Use of
English paper. The CAE exam Use of
English paper, Part 5, has the same kind
of sentence re-write task, only in this
case between three and six words are to
be used, while in the CPE exam Use of
English paper, Part 4, the range of
words to be used in the paraphrase is
between three and eight words. This
kind of task can be adapted to
classroom needs.
Taboo words
LHC, Large Hadron Collider
twenty-seven kilometres in
circumference
research
a commitment to collaborative
scientific research
collaborate, collaboration
Fluency/pronunciation
drills
Rationale
Drills no longer have the central role in
EFL that they once had, but many
methodologists and teachers still find a
place for them in the classroom. Before
Michael Lewiss lexical approach 2
taught us to think in terms of language
chunks, drills were essentially grammar
drills. The purpose of this activity is to
focus on chunks of language, but not in
order to learn formulaic expressions or
fixed collocations by heart. Its aim is,
rather, to accustom the learners to stress
and pronunciation patterns, in this case
of noun phrases. This activity might not
only improve fluency but also raise
awareness of the grammatical function
of pronunciation (such as indicating
units of meaning and the relationship of
words to each other within that unit).
Note that some linguists claim that
chunks tend to get unmanageable if
they exceed seven words or so.
Task
The students listen and repeat (choral
and individual repetition). Use the
technique of back-chaining to build up
the sentences, eg downpours ... heavy
downpours ... an increase in heavy
downpours. Note: This text is not
Teachers will find that many of the triedand-tested communicative activities of
the EFL classroom will be transferable
to the needs of ELF learners. As they
gain more insight into these needs via
classroom interaction, teachers will
gradually adjust their repertoires and
learn to disregard preconceived ideas of
what communicative tasks and activities
should look like. It is my contention
that a shift is taking place in English
language classrooms from a classic EFL
classroom repertoire to one more
oriented on ELF settings and needs, a
belief reflected in the choice of activities
I have suggested above. ETp
1 www.univie.ac.at/voice/page/corpus_
description
2 Lewis, M The Lexical Approach LTP
1993
Simon Andrewes has
been involved in TEFL
since the mid-1970s. At
present, he is DoS at the
English department of a
higher educational
college in Greenwich,
London. One of his
greatest defects as a
teacher, he regrets to say,
is that his attention is
more easily attracted to
the grand overview than
the nitty-gritty detail.
simon@granadalabella.eu
15
IN
THE
CLASSROOM
The power
of circles
Brendan Ries
16
The oppressive
classroom
The Ministry of Education decides
what is good to think, while denigrating
individual opinion. Individuality is
punished, and no one is encouraged to
think on ones own.
Katsuichi Honda, quoted in Suzuki
and Oiwa
iStockphoto.com / AlexMax
Everything the
Power of the World
does is done in a circle.
The life of a person is a
circle from childhood to
childhood, and so it is
in everything where
power moves.
The peaceable
classroom
Peace education contributes to the
social growth of all children if it helps
them develop characteristics essential
for the attainment of peace a sense of
dignity and self-worth, a confidence to
question their values, communication
skills, an ethical awareness, and an
empathy for others.
Harris and Morrison
17
The power
of circles
Circle activities
To find voice and to mediate voice in a
circle of others is one of the central
dialectics of the peaceable classroom.
OReilley (1993)
To find voice
and to mediate voice
in a circle of others
is one of the central
dialectics of
the peaceable
classroom.
Rotating circles
The students stand in two concentric
circles with the inner circle facing out
and the outer circle facing in. Each
student is, therefore, facing a partner
with whom they converse. The outer
and inner circles at times rotate so that
the pairs are changed. Questions for
discussion might be provided by the
teacher, at other times they can be
provided by the students.
I often use this for active listening
and speaking, where the participants in
the outer circle speak and those in the
inner circle listen. Afterwards, those
listening repeat what their partner has
just told them. Students say that they
like this activity because they feel
listened to and respected, and want to
respect and listen to others in return.
Circles in action
Human beings have a host of emotional
needs for love and recognition, for
belonging and identity, for purpose and
meaning to their lives. If all these needs
had to be subsumed in one word, it
might be respect.
William Ury
18
Human
beings have a host
of emotional needs
for love and recognition,
for belonging and
identity, for purpose
and meaning to
their lives.
19
G R A M M A R
Holistic
grammar
teaching 6
Rod Bolitho considers
our teaching of if clauses
is nothing if not iffy.
20
you!
A working hypothesis
The element of hypothesis which is part
and parcel of so-called Types 2 and 3
conditionals can be activated and
practised in a number of ways, but here
are two examples to work with in the
intermediate or upper-intermediate
classroom.
On condition
Split the class into groups of three or
four. Give each group a hypothetical
situation in the form of a question on a
slip of paper. Here are some examples:
On what conditions would you try
bungee-jumping?
On what conditions would you go
white-water rafting?
On what conditions would you let a
stranger into your home?
On what conditions would you report
a fellow-citizen to the police?
Give each group ten minutes to work
out a number of conditions and then let
them report to the class, expressing
their conditions in at least three
different ways. The listeners are allowed
to ask questions beginning with Would
... or Wouldnt ... (eg Wouldnt you feel
scared? Would you take your mobile
phone with you?).
21
Holistic
grammar
teaching 6
ENGLISH
EACHING
Tprofessional
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IT WORKS IN PRACTICE
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with colleagues around the world?
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something that has worked well for you?
All published contributions receive
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editor@etprofessional.com
22
Taking a meaning-based and holistic
view of areas of language like this helps
learners to think about how they can
find ways of expressing what they want
to express, rather than worrying them
constantly about rule-based accuracy.
English, especially in its spoken form,
remains a very badly-behaved language,
and raising learners awareness of ways
in which people communicate is a very
important element in the process of
guided acquisition that will eventually
lead to fluency. ETp
TALKBACK!
Do you have something to say about
an article in the current issue of ETp?
This is your magazine and we would
really like to hear from you.
Write to us or email:
editor@etprofessional.com
helena.gomm@pavpub.com
for advice and a copy of our guidelines
for reviewers. You will need to give your
postal address and say what areas of
teaching you are most interested in.
VYLs
The limitations
However, when it comes to teaching
English to VYLs, many teachers ask the
same question: How can I teach young
learners English when they still have
problems with their L1? In fact, research
does suggest that it can be difficult to
teach students L2 when L1 is still being
learnt and, clearly, there are limitations.
VYLs have very young brains so teachers
do need to treat this age group very
differently, recognising the limits of what
can be achieved and what is needed to
facilitate as much learning as possible. A
simple example is that, even though VYLs
pick up target language very quickly, they
may also forget it with the same speed!
Teachers, therefore, not only need to
introduce new language, they need to
incorporate a very large amount of recycling and repetition into their lessons.
This doesnt just mean drilling, it means
combining the same language in a variety
of activities so that the children can
encounter it again and again.
Another problem is that VYLs cannot
comprehend abstract ideas. They need
practical examples of language in use to
be able to understand and reproduce it.
However, despite the limitations,
The point is that we should use English
to teach other things: rhymes, art, simple
tasks, or even the motor skills needed to
cut out shapes and glue them onto card,
etc. Done largely in English, this will
increase the VYLs exposure to the
language. They will find classes fun and,
very importantly, they will not be
inhibited or frightened by L2. There is
little probability that younger learners can
be taught to read and write in L2 when
this hasnt yet been achieved in L1, but
exposure to L2 in other ways is critical.
You, the teacher, are very often the
only opportunity for VYLs to hear and
feel the language and this is why it is
paramount that the English class is
maintained in English, without L1
intervention.
Jumping between one language and
another will undoubtedly confuse the
children, so I recommend that you
concentrate on fun activities which
involve other skills, using English
throughout the lesson. If the students
dont have a particular skill in their L1,
then look for teaching strategies to
circumvent this, remain focused on plenty
of repetition, lots of engaging activities to
develop chunking, and boost their general
confidence in using English. Additional
pronunciation activities will significantly
build the VYLs confidence for future
learning, which, after all, is the main
objective of teaching this age group. ETp
Donaldson, M Childrens Minds Routledge
1987
Harmer, J The Practice of English Language
Teaching Pearson 2007
Greg Davies currently
works for Pearson
Education as an
academic consultant
based in Mexico City,
having previously taught
students of all levels in
his own language centre
in Tlaquepaque, Mexico.
His interests include
mixed-ability classrooms
and reflection.
gregdavies75@hotmail.com
23
A grammar game
Yuvaraj Arokiyadas makes grammar teaching fun.
rammar, though an important
aspect of any language, is often
treated with contempt by
learners at all levels and, at times, by
teachers, too. Teaching the rules of a
language in the traditional way often fails
to yield a positive outcome in young
learner classes in particular, as children
easily get distracted and bored. I should
like here to explore the answers to the
following questions by sharing my
experiences of using a language game to
teach and practise grammar rules:
Are there interesting ways to teach
grammar?
Do grammar games provide authentic
contexts for young learners to
learn/revise the rules?
Do games sustain learner interest?
Why a game?
Here are some convincing arguments for
using language-learning games:
24
Guidelines
It soon became apparent that the children
were more interested in identifying the
celebrities than framing questions with the
appropriate sentence construction. They
became so excited that they simply asked
one-word questions to their team-mates,
such as Male? Indian prime minister? Politics?
Sports? etc. Moreover, one of the challenges
in a mixed-ability classroom is that, in
group activities, some learners prefer to
remain passive spectators. To combat these
problems, therefore, the learners were
given the following guidelines:
Every member of the team had to
ask at least one question.
Teaching young learners can be challenging
as their attention span is much shorter
than that of adults. Using games that
sustain their interest can ensure learner
participation and motivation. Of course,
language games can also be used to cater
to the needs of all learners, irrespective of
their age, learning styles and strategies. ETp
Yuvaraj Arokiyadas is
an Assistant Professor
at SSN College of
Engineering in Tamil Nadu,
India. He has done
research on some
of the core pedagogical
issues pertaining to the
teaching of English to
young learners in mothertongue-medium schools.
yuvaraja@ssn.edu.in
V O C A B U L A R Y
Make it
meaningful
Maxine Mangat
integrates vocabulary
into her lessons and her
curriculum.
vocabulary;
spelling;
grammar;
pronunciation;
study skills.
25
Make it
meaningful
Get online
Trying to stay current?
26
Often it is the new vocabulary which
students acquire that makes them
conscious of the progress they are
making in their language development.
Taking our vocabulary activities further
in our lessons will foster the students
intrinsic motivation that feeling of
self-motivation that encourages them to
keep on going with their learning.
One recommendation would be to
start a small vocabulary group among
interested teachers at your institution.
Meeting monthly or quarterly over a
coffee and sharing new activities that
work is a great way not only to remind an
instructor that vocabulary is one of the
nine skills, but also to ensure that your
creative and useful vocabulary-building
activities are taking it further. ETp
Maxine would like to thank all of the members
of Seneca Colleges English Language
Institute for involving her in the Vocabulary
Interested Faculty Group and helping her
vocabulary pedagogy to emerge.
Maxine Mangat has been
a passionate educator for
seven years and enjoys
sharing her love of
Volkswagens with her
students. Having taught
ESL, EAP and TESL
domestically and abroad,
she is currently the
Associate Chair of
English and Liberal
Studies at Seneca
College, Toronto, Canada.
maxinemangat@gmail.com
editor@etprofessional.com
TALKBACK!
Do you have something to say about
an article in the current issue of ETp?
This is your magazine and we would
really like to hear from you.
Write to us or email:
editor@etprofessional.com
helena.gomm@pavpub.com
for advice and a copy of our guidelines
for reviewers. You will need to give your
postal address and say what areas of
teaching you are most interested in.
Email: enrol@ipcexeter.co.uk
You will receive a letter of pre-registration and grant application advice the same day
IN
THE
CLASSROOM
The wonder
of warmers
Alicia Artusi and Gregory Manin get their lessons off to a successful start.
28
Speculation
Brainteasers
Tongue twisters
Sticky ball
Other simple, impromptu activities you
could use for warmers include
hangman, noughts and crosses, miming
and 20 questions. These are good for
practising vocabulary, and for any of
them you can use the wordlists included
in most coursebooks. A quick quiz or
simple, real-life conversation can also
serve as a warm-up or cool-down
activity. We suggest keeping a list of
proverbs, tongue twisters, riddles, puns,
aphorisms and brainteasers so that the
material is ready whenever you need it.
Some websites where you can find ideas
for many of these activities are listed
below.
In conclusion, it seems that
enjoyment is underrated by some
29
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LEARNER
TRAINING
Helping
learners
to learn
Claire Gibbs trains
her students to be more
independent.
32
The following activities are ones that I
have used with students of various
levels and which have given them ideas
that they can adapt to suit their own
personal needs and preferences. The
activities can all be adapted to meet
your own classroom situation and the
language can be graded to suit the level
of your students. Hopefully both you
and your learners will get some benefits!
Activity 3 Webquest
Aim
To expose the students to the wide
variety of learning resources on the net.
Procedure
Explain to the students that the
internet can be a great place to find
resources for studying English.
Hand out the webquest (see page 35)
and give them one week to complete
all the tasks.
Williams, M and Burden, R Psychology
for Language Teachers CUP 1997
Claire Gibbs has been
involved with ELT for
over ten years and has
lived and taught in
several countries,
including Estonia, Japan
and Australia. She is
currently teaching in
London, UK.
gibbsyc@gmail.com
TALKBACK!
Do you have something to say about
an article in the current issue of ETp?
This is your magazine and we would
really like to hear from you.
Write to us or email:
editor@etprofessional.com
33
Ways to study
Think of ways that you can study or improve in the areas shown in the table. An example of each has been done for you.
Listening
Listen to English radio (eg BBC World Service).
Speaking
Use Skype to make group calls.
Writing
Start an online blog.
Reading
Read magazines in your interest area.
Pronunciation
Use podcasts and repeat sentences.
Grammar
Do online grammar exercises.
Vocabulary
Keep a vocabulary notebook.
General
Keep a learning journal.
Record of study
Plan of study for the week beginning ...................................
Day
Area of study
Work done
Notes
34
Webquest
Grammar
Speaking
................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................
Vocabulary
Pronunciation
Go to www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/index.htm.
www.englishclub.com/websites
http://a4esl.org/q/h/vocabulary.html
www.manythings.org/vocabulary
Write down five new words that you learnt from one of
the sites.
Writing
Write an email in English to a friend.
Reading
Find an online magazine on a subject you are interested in.
What is its name and what is the website address?
What is the topic of the website/magazine?
General
Look at the following websites:
www.eslcafe.com
http://a4esl.org/
www.learnenglish.org.uk
www.manythings.org
www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/
http://iteslj.org/links/ESL/Reading/
Choose a link and read a story or article.
Which one did you choose? Why? Did you like it?
Listening
Look at the following websites:
www.eltpodcasts.com
www.podcastsinenglish.com
www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/multimedia/
35
IT WORKS IN PRACTICE
Do you have an idea which you would like to contribute
to our It Works in Practice section? It might be
anything from an activity which you use in class to a
teaching technique that has worked for you. Send us
your contribution, by post using this form or by email
to helena.gomm@pavpub.com.
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36
Or email:
helena.gomm@pavpub.com
IT WORKS IN PRACTICE
More tested lessons, suggestions, tips and techniques which have all worked
for ETp readers. Try them out for yourself and then send us your own
contribution. Dont forget to include your postal address.
Both the contributors to It Works in Practice in this issue of ETp will receive
copies of the Macmillan Collocations Dictionary for Learners of English and
Macmillan Phrasal Verbs Plus. Macmillan have kindly agreed to be sponsors
of It Works in Practice for this year.
Use my word
Poll position
37
Over
the
wall ...
Alan Maley invests
some time reading
about the mystery of
global finance.
38
The Storm
A similar criticism must be levelled at Vince
Cables The Storm. He makes a detailed
and intellectually-challenging analysis of
the current situation, covering issues such
as the Northern Rock crash, the collapse
of credit, peak oil, food and water
shortage, the rise of new economies such
as China and India, and the reactions to all
of this. His final chapter, The Future a
Road Map, offers his solutions for the UK:
cutting interest rates, government loans to
big firms, the government spending its way
out of recession, quantitative easing (ie
Eaarth
In Eaarth, Bill McKibben reminds us that
it may well already be too late. Its
apocalyptic vision is not, sadly, a work of
the creative imagination. It is all too real.
While the economists and politicians
continue to focus on the chimera of global
growth, this book spells out in stark terms
where we are heading. It focuses on
building the kind of communities and
economies that can withstand whats
coming. The first two chapters lay out
the problems: climate change, global
warming, depleting fossil fuels and the
effects on glaciers, disappearing rain
forests, loss of marine life, extreme
destructive weather, lakes drying out,
drought, etc. McKibben claims that were
running Genesis backward, de-creating.
The earth we thought we knew is gone: all
we can do is prepare for life on what is
left, and it will be tough. He argues that
another burst of expansion will simply
accelerate ecological and economic
collapse. The best we can do is to slow
down and manage our descent. And we
have to do this in the face of powerful
Prosperity Without
Growth
Tim Jacksons book takes these ideas
forward, combining economic, ecological
and social perspectives. The book focuses
on the questions: What can prosperity
possibly look like in a finite world, with
limited resources and a population
expected to exceed nine billion people
within decades? Do we have a decent
vision for such a world? Is this vision
credible in the face of the available
evidence about ecological limits? How do
we go about turning vision into reality?
The book then closely analyses the factors
involved, many of which overlap with those
in the books above. Jacksons suggested
solutions come under three headings:
Fixing the limits reducing emissions,
fostering green solutions; Fixing the
economic model structural transition to
low-carbon, labour-intensive activities,
financial and fiscal prudence; Changing
the social logic reducing working hours,
tackling structural inequality, measuring
capabilities for flourishing (life expectancy,
participation in education and the
community, etc), strengthening social
capital and diminishing the culture of
consumerism (eg by media regulation). It
is the authors focus on the social factors
which gives this book its unique quality.
Like Fritz Schumacher, his attention is
focused on re-defining what we mean by
prosperity in terms other than GDP.
These are worrying books, but the global
reality warrants worry! As teachers, we
39
LANGUAGE LOG
Slang and idiom are obvious examples, and ones that are
perhaps relatively easy to deal with as they are, to a great
extent, date-stamped. Consequently, because we are
aware that our slang and idiom may give away our age, we
adopt newer, more contemporary expressions, often taken
from TV and the internet. And we also know that these new
expressions are themselves usually ephemeral theyll fade
away with time, like yellowing newspapers. We may be
thinking outside the box and pushing the envelope today,
but we wont be in a few years time. Not unless we want to
sound square, daddy-o.
40
johnpotts@swissonline.ch
COMPETITION RESULTS
12
13
26
13
26
18
22
22
19
18
22
19
23
16
13
19
19
22
15
13
20
13
19
21
22
12
10
10
11
19
18
26
24
22
15
10
18
17
24
17
18
13
10
14
10
19
22
12
19
25
25
10
24
12
19
26
10
14
13
16
24
19
12
19
18
23
26
22
W
O
20
13
21
24
12
10
26
23
24
13
26
24
22
22
23
20
13
13
19
24
10
11
12
13
M A Anscombe, Lymington, UK
Thomas Checkfield, Atlanta, USA
Luigina Contarelli, Urbania, Italy
Donna Hutchins, Milan, Italy
Lydia Manners, Manchester, UK
Maria Messano, Laveno Mombello, Italy
Sue Mitchell, Paris, France
Ian Paine, Guildford, UK
Eva Beverly Wong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Catherine Young, Baden-Dttwil, Switzerland
13
U
18
R
6
22
12
26
13
23
19
13
23
13
26
24
13
23
22
18
24
23
S
17
10
20
13
15
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
20
13
19
18
23
16
13
23
E
S
19
18
22
26
Pablo Picasso
41
SCRAPBOOK
Gems, titbits, puzzles, foibles, quirks, bits & pieces,
quotations, snippets, odds & ends,
what you will
Vicious and
virtuous circles
e, it would
In this digital ag
e
ar
ey
Th
ls.
whee
liance on the
Circles, rounds,
seem that our re
en
se
:
n
te
of
is
circle
e is diminishing
everywhere. The
humble disc shap
ols
mb
sy
so
,
r
ge
ion
ct
lon
rfe
are no
as a symbol of pe
cogs and gears
e tangents, are
lik
it,
m
the time, and
ll
fro
te
rt
to
pa
y
that de
necessar
off
ing
go
us
Th
.
ction
us spinning hard
a sign of imperfe
even the ubiquito
(or
t
plo
e
th
ing
los
ans
s, be replaced
at a tangent me
drive will, it seem
of
w
vie
r
Ou
.
...)
one
ent solid state
finding another
by a sinisterly sil
at
wh
me
so
be
be able
r,
ve
You wont even
circles can, howe
vent device.
-in
re
nt
Do
as
here
mputer is
contradictory. W
to hear if your co
s
ha
l
ee
e
wh
e
th
at
es th
course, even if th
the wheel! impli
breathing ... Of
d
an
,
ion
ing
ct
inn
rfe
sp
d pe
tually
already achieve
wheels arent ac
on, going round
ed
ov
still be relying on
pr
ll
im
wi
be
ine
ot
ch
cann
the ma
se,
ca
is
th
in
,
at
th
ts
cuit is a word
in circles sugges
circuitry and cir
al!
ide
m
fro
r
fa
e is
m the circle!
the circular rout
which derives fro
Wheels
within wheels
Grain geometry
Crop circles are circles
(and sometimes comple
x
arrangements of circles
and other geometric
shapes) found in ripe
cornfields before harves
t.
They are made by flat
tening the corn in patte
rns,
and usually appear ove
rnight. There are many
who
believe that they are ma
de mysteriously by alie
ns,
but others suspect the
culprits are not small
or
green and that they live
very much on this pla
net
42
Q: What did
the farmer use
to make crop
circles?
A: A protractor.
Circular
argument
Did you know that in the United States
the standard railway gauge (the distance
between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches?
Thats an exceedingly odd number. Why
was it chosen?
.
c) on either hand on
any
finger, including the thu
mb.
d) on the left hand on
any
finger except the thumb
.
c) pledge rings
d) gemmel rings
d
Its your roun
voices sing
two or more
ch
hi
w
in
n
positio
definitely),
musical com
repeating it in
ue
in
nt
A round is a
co
nd may
rent parts
me melody (a
e so that diffe
tim
nt
re
ffe
exactly the sa
ing at a di
vertheless fit
voice beginn
voices, but ne
but with each
nt
re
ffe
di
e
th
part singing,
y coincide in
siest forms of
ea
e
of the melod
th
of
s
e
on
and it belong
together. It is
by all parts,
nt
ar
harmoniously
le
be
y need
ured in
line of melod
rticularly favo
as only one
nds were pa
ou
R
.
on
ng!
iti
regular drinki
musical trad
singing with
to a popular
r
eu
at
am
d
hich combine
glee clubs, w
Scrapbook compiled by Ian Waring Green
43
Out of circulation
Answers 1
a)
non
e
the
last one closed in
1999 2 c)
3
d)
sold
iers
in World War II
wanted them as remind
ers of home 4 b) from
poesy, an old word for
poetry
Reviews
Being Creative: The challenge
of change in the classroom
by Chaz Pugliese
Delta Publishing 2009
978-1-905085-33-0
The book follows the Delta Teacher
Development Series format, with Section
A as a general introduction, Section B
offering classroom activities and Section
C suggesting activities for the teacher to
develop further.
In Section A there is a useful and
concise overview of the concept of
creativity and how it has evolved
historically, together with possible
applications to the classroom. The aim is
to achieve flow in classrooms: When
everything flows, when the interaction is
smooth we can talk about teaching in
aesthetic terms that is, an experience
that results in a sensorial perception that
not only satisfies the teacher/artist, but
also their audience/groups. When this
happens, teaching ceases to be an action
and becomes an art. There follow
suggestions for strategies to implement
creativity as change: simplicity,
combinatorial creativity making new
associations between previously
unconnected items play and risk taking.
Section B is divided into three
chapters. Chapter One, Classrooms, offers
a wide variety of activities for making the
classroom a creative space. The aim is to
establish a positive atmosphere where
creative responses are actively encouraged
through personalisation and sharing.
Chapter Two, Resources, offers a
large number of activities drawing on
music, song, art and expressive texts. I
found this the richest of the three
chapters. There is at least one innovative
idea on every page, often giving an
established idea a new and creative twist.
An example of this is the activity Story
backwards, where one student in a group
re-tells a story starting from the end, while
another re-tells it conventionally. Half way
through, they change roles.
Chapter Three focuses on Students
their feelings, ideas, thinking skills, physical
activity and reflections on the learning
process. Again, there are some highly
original activities, as well as familiar ones
given an unfamiliar twist: Who Am I?
invites the students to choose which of a
44
Reviews
Embankment to the Battle of Britain
Memorial, where he gave a vivid
description of his life and death as a
bomber pilot in World War II. He was
followed by Winston Churchill, who led us
past the Ministry of Defence and a series
of statues and monuments to Whitehall,
the Cenotaph and Number 10 Downing
Street, the official residence of the British
Prime Minister. Another colourful character
from British history, Guy Fawkes,
celebrated for his attempt to blow up the
Houses of Parliament and kill King James
I, took over the narration here and swiftly
found himself in a lively argument with
Queen Elizabeth I over religious
persecution and the rights and wrongs of
their age. Queen Elizabeth then took us
back down Whitehall to Parliament
Square, where the tour ended. All the
ghosts spoke very clearly (the impression
of Winston Churchill was particularly
good) and their stories were enhanced by
helpful and exciting sound effects.
Wil then handed out small maps of the
area with the outline of a further tour: one
which the students had to prepare and
record themselves. Each pair of students
was made responsible for one section of
the route and they were sent off to take
photos on their mobile phones of anything
interesting that they came across on their
section of the route. Back at the school,
they would research these things online
and use the information to put together
the commentary for their part of the tour.
Before they left, I asked them how much
of the recorded tour they had understood.
45
R E A D I N G
No gain
without
pain
Peter Wells believes
that the case for extensive
reading needs extensive
re-examination..
46
Most students,
when asked what
they need or want
from their English
classes, say speaking
or conversation,
not reading
behind SSR is that the students will find
that they enjoy reading so much that
they voluntarily read even more books
outside school.
Like the practitioners of SSR,
modern proponents of ER have realised
that most students will not read
anything without compulsion, so they
have developed a battery of devices to
ensure that the students do read. In
addition to, or instead of, compulsory
silent reading in class, they stipulate a
mandatory number of books to be read
in a given period for homework, chosen
from a restricted range of books
specially written for the purpose
graded readers. They give rewards for
reading books, or sanctions for failing
to read them, sometimes based on
quizzes (eg from www.xreading.com).
They also use oral or written book
reports or worksheets, or exploit a
range of fun activities such as writing
letters to one of the characters, writing
Questions and
considerations
If your students are prepared to do this
amount of homework, or voluntary
work (and its a big if), should you use
this time for ER? Youve probably got
some graded readers in your institution
and feel theyre a resource that should
not be wasted. However, before you
embark on an ER programme with your
students, I advise you to ask yourself
the following questions:
1
47
No gain
without
pain
48
In conclusion, if youre an enthusiastic
reader, have read all the graded readers
in your library and have made sure that
theyre all of good quality, then, for
highly-motivated students at a fairly
advanced level ER might be one of a
range of activities you could offer them
to increase their exposure to
comprehensible input. This is a far cry,
however, from the increasingly strident
claims of publishers that by purchasing
ER libraries we can create a situation in
ENGLISH
EACHING
Tprofessional
IT WORKS IN PRACTICE
Do you have ideas youd like to share
with colleagues around the world?
Tips, techniques and activities; simple or
sophisticated; well-tried or innovative;
something that has worked well for you?
All published contributions receive
a prize! Write to us or email:
editor@etprofessional.com
TALKBACK!
Do you have something to say about
an article in the current issue of ETp?
This is your magazine and we would
really like to hear from you.
Write to us or email:
editor@etprofessional.com
49
TEACHER DEVELOPMENT
All by myself
The next morning, I take my plate, bowl,
mug and glass off my tray and spread
them out. May I join you? asks a voice,
but its a statement more than a question
or, if a question, a rhetorical one. This
happens again and again. The table,
reputedly for four, was already full with
my breakfast. My elbow now rests in
someone elses yoghurt, and somebody
drinks my water. Ah, community. Isnt this
what life and education have come to be
about? And whats a poor, pitiful introvert
to do in a world of extroverts? What has
become the role of thoughtful reflection in
a world of shared feeling and blablablah?
After breakfast, the conference is ripe
with feeling. Apparently, we learn through
the cognitive, affective and psychomotor
domains, but rarely do we get off our
chairs in the healing circle except to waddle
off for more food. I sit and steam, and its
not the good steem of self-esteem, about
which I hear entirely too much. Versions of
How do you feel? are asked repeatedly. My
current seven dwarves are Sleep-deprived,
Disenchanted, Sluggish, Dopey, Resistant,
Bitchy and Disbelieving. Others say
Replete, Energised, Happy, Joyful and
just to mix parts of speech, thereby irking
the cognitive part of my brain that is still
functioning Community, Creativity and
Sharing. Its as if their Disney movie has
been spliced with mine by David Lynch.
We talk (or rather, they talk and
talk and I listen) about self-actualising,
authenticity, visualising. One man does
so in a soporific monotone that has me
nodding and not in agreement. I will him
50
Wanda
My sister, Wanda, is involved, miles away,
at an educational retreat, too, specifically
a World Caf: a creative process for
facilitating collaborative dialogue and the
sharing of knowledge and ideas to create a
living network of conversation and action.
Its hype, written in the passive voice, with
words such as ambience and, especially,
cross-fertilised, which seems another,
kinder word for bullshit, intrigues her as
much as it does me. She emails: World
Cafs as group activities are the new rage,
and Id rather be shot in the head.
After shes moved from table to table,
each with its own issue or question, with
the table host summarising the previous
conversations, she writes: I dont give a
tiny rats ass about the mom who is
breastfeeding and cant make her babys
immunisation appointment on time because
she has to take a bus and missed it because
she discovered puke and poop on her sleeve.
Now, theres a convert! Now, thats
compassion! And why is she able to move
physically from beyond the circle?
Whats with all the sharing? And
why is every idea, even a stupid one,
given credence? Is it because of
blogging? Reality TV? The cult of
celebrity? Everybodys 15 minutes of
fame has stretched to hours?
Sally
Friend Sally has been taking a workshop
about finding your bliss. One suggestion
is to ask your parents what you were like as
a baby or a toddler. Maybe I never learnt
properly about sharing. Maybe I was an
only child for too long before my sister
came along. (Then whats her excuse?) Or
maybe World Cafs and their ilk are just
cheap and cheesy ways for employers to
get out of sending their employees on
much deserved vacations to Gay Paree,
crowding them instead around faux French
bistro tables to discuss increasingly lame
ideas as if they were manna from heaven?
I dont want to rain on anyones parade,
dowsing a lit candle in the process, but
its ironic that so little time is spent on
solitary reflection. Is this payback for the
cognitive domain having been privileged
for too long? Now were mired in the
affective domain? Can you spare a share?
If a World Caf is implemented at my
university, Ill be the one at the bistro table
for six, with all of my stuff (including
preventative Ativan) spread out, marking
my territory. The issue/question sheet
will be left blank. If you want to see
something through a new lens, be
empowered by your verbal diarrhoea or
be self-actualised by sharing, sharing and
sharing, ask to join me at your peril! ETp
Author of After Ted &
Sylvia: Poems (published
by Rondsdale Press),
Crystal Hurdle teaches
creative writing and
English at Capilano
University in North
Vancouver, Canada,
where she lives without
arranging her chairs in
a circle.
churdle@capilanou.ca
TEACHER DEVELOPMENT
Real
reection 2
Simon Brown proposes that trainers make good use of trainee feedback.
52
When do we trainers
give ourselves the
time to consider what
worked, what wed
change and what wed
like to discuss?
daunting set of criteria, culminating in
a balanced, reflective, overall grading of
themselves. Again, this is a necessary
and important process, which helps us
to assess their own self-awareness. We
also give them an assignment Lessons
from the classroom and ask them to
reflect upon the whole experience of
teaching and observing. As much as the
CELTA award is about assimilation and
implementation, it is about reflection.
TEACHER DEVELOPMENT
administration, the facilities, the
delivery and the content. Essentially, we
are asking them to reflect on our school
and on us.
And what do we do with these final
reflections after weve bathed in the glory
of how supportive and professional we
are and after weve laughed at some of
the surreal suggestions they have made
(one trainee on a recent course suggested
that we should do input sessions in the
style of famous people ranging from
Graham Norton to Lady Ga Ga)? We
file them and forget them.
And what about the negative
comments they make about us from
time to time? Do we petulantly dismiss
them? Do we internalise them and feel
deflated for a few hours? Do they
prevent us from going for that end-ofcourse drink? Are all the comments
forgotten when Monday morning comes
and we find ourselves back in the
classroom or starting another CELTA
course? All of the above certainly ring
bells with me and I have been guilty of
all of them from time to time.
in my last lesson?
Reflecting on the
reflections
I am not suggesting that any of the
above comments have prescriptive
solutions, but I am suggesting that they
are all pertinent and worthy of debate.
Numbers 1 and 12 clearly point the
finger at the language the trainer uses
53
T E C H N O L O G Y
The battle of
the boards
Sarn Rich defends the
interactive nature of the
non-interactive board.
54
In defence of democracy
According to advocates for the new
technology, you can bring democracy to
the classroom by allowing all the
students at once to pick options on
electronic voting devices, and have their
responses displayed in colourful,
computer-generated graphs. The
democratic ideal is thus reduced to
occasional permission to choose from a
restricted range of options. Admittedly,
it might be argued that political
democracy amounts to little more than
this in practice (a point made by the
graffiti which sometimes appears during
national elections, consisting of a short
row of crosses and the tag: Here is your
lifetimes supply of democracy), but
surely in our lessons we can aspire to a
deeper notion of democracy than this?
Far from being deeply democratic or
participatory, the pedagogic model for
the computerised board is of a (no
doubt benevolent) dictatorship, or a
priesthood, with its miracles flashes,
spotlights and zooms to entrance the
flock, perhaps with a selected student to
hold the sacramental pen and assist at
the ceremony, all slickly and seamlessly
presented. There is a serious point here
for teachers who want their learners to
engage critically with how ideas are
delivered and to take ownership of the
learning process. The slicker and more
seamless we make these things, the less
accessible their inner workings become
to scrutiny, the less confident our
students may feel about subjecting them
to critique, and the more we
circumscribe their questions and
engagement.
In defence of the
students
And what about the traditional board?
At its best it is everyones, not just the
teachers. It is a communal noticeboard,
a graffiti wall, a canvas for collaborative
artwork, a background for a collage, a
part of the classroom carnival, an
invitation to take the limelight or to
share an insight, a huge slab of scrap
paper for drafting thoughts and work in
progress (not an intimidating piece of
perfection that it seems blasphemous to
Admittedly I am not keen on either
chalk dust or board marker fumes (but
then the rumble of a computerised
board digesting its electricity supply can
be pretty irritating, too), and it is true
that SUBs have some handy features if
you want a big stopwatch, for example,
or to find your place quickly in a
coursebook listening exercise. But if we
want to maximise our students
individual engagement and interaction
with each other, they are very little help
at all. Meanwhile, they can pose a
menace: the pressure, once they have
been installed, to make use of them,
more to justify the financial investment
(or perhaps to impress an observer
sitting at the back of the room with a
tickbox for use of technology) than for
the actual good of the learners.
No doubt there are teachers who
make excellent, impressive use of the
SUB, just as there are teachers whose
use of the MUB is limited or inefficient.
But, however impressive the benefits
appear to be of having our boards
digitally enhanced, we must always
beware of being digitally bedazzled.
On page 56 you will find a list of 12
activities which I believe the old board
does better. ETp
Sarn Rich taught in a
dozen countries in Asia
and Europe before
settling in the UK, where
he now teaches and
learns about language
and learning from
colleagues and students
at Canterbury Christ
Church University, and
from his family at home.
sarn.rich@canterbury.ac.uk
55
Collecting names
Studentstudent dictation
Listening race
Writing race
56
Reporting on classmates
Discussion write-up
Post-mingle write-up
and spelling
Divide the class into two teams, each
with one writer, who stands by the
board, and one artist, who stands next
to you. Whisper a word to the artists,
who run to the board and elicit the
word from their team mates only by
drawing pictures (they may not speak
or write). Their team mates shout their
suggestions to the writers, who each
try to be first to write the word,
correctly spelt, on the board.
11 Collaborative labelling
Webwatcher
Web
thought it might be interesting to look at an actual lesson
which formed part of a series of experiments we have been
recently doing at the University of Warwick, UK. The focus of
these experiments is on using technology to get the students
speaking more outside class and several of the techniques we
have tried out have been very successful.
A while back, I mentioned a tool called MailVU. It allows you
to make video emails, so instead of simply writing an email, you
can record yourself speaking using a webcam and then send the
message. MailVU lets you make recordings of up to ten minutes
and it is very easy to use; in fact, it only takes three clicks to
make a recording and send it. What is even more impressive is
that the service is free!
Events in my life
The lesson was with a group of 25 Japanese students.
Part one
I started the lesson by drawing the following timeline on the board
and explaining that it showed some important dates in my life:
1979 1983 1986 1988 1993 1997 1999 2000 2008 2009 2010
I began to talk about some of the dates, explaining what
happened and telling the story behind each event. This lasted
for about ten minutes. (When you put up a timeline, you can add
a few notes under each date if you want to give the students a
few clues as to what happened on that particular date. This is
especially good if you are going to get the students to ask
questions about the dates, rather than simply talk about them.)
Part two
I then put the students into groups and asked them to talk about
the dates and what they had understood from my talk. As they
did this, I moved around the class, listening and taking notes.
Part three
I then gave some feedback to the students about mistakes with
grammar and vocabulary that I had heard, and we talked a little
about describing events in our lives and any verbs and adverbs
that might be useful.
Part four
I then asked the students to draw their own timelines. I
encouraged them to add lots of events, such as starting a
certain course or school, meeting friends, holidays, travelling,
important social events, etc. I told them to add one or two notes
to each date to help them explain them.
Russell Stannard
celebrates the connected classroom.
Part seven
All 25 students made recordings. I listened to them and made
notes in Word for each student, explaining any mistakes they
had made with grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. I sent
the feedback directly back to the students.
Part eight
In the next lesson, I played two of the best recordings and talked
about why they were so good, focusing on the elements I liked best.
This was a very successful activity. Follow-up questionnaires
indicated that the students liked it a lot and realised they could
make further recordings in their own time to improve their speaking.
Some of the students explained that they had made the recording
several times before sending it in other words, they had spent 30
or 40 minutes speaking and practising to get their recordings right
and this is exactly what I was hoping for. The great thing about this
idea is that it can be used for so many different scenarios and the
technology is incredibly easy to use. Students pick it up in minutes
and they will probably find uses for it outside the ELT classroom.
Some might even see that they can use this tool as a way of
developing and keeping a record of their fluency development.
Other scenarios you could use it with might include the following:
The key point here is that, for activities like this to be successful,
we need to connect what we do in the classroom with the
speaking activity we want the students to do at home.
The more you prepare your students for the speaking activity,
the better they will do the recordings at home. Some teachers
have likened the idea to a task-based approach to teaching: the
goal is to get the students to record something at home and send
it to the teacher, so there is a task for the students to achieve. I
particularly like these types of activities as they get the students
speaking and using technology outside the class. This may not
be a lesson that you can do at the moment if you are limited by
internet access or the level of computer penetration in your
country, but keep it in mind as in the future an opportunity to try
something like this will probably be available to you. ETp
For help on using MailVU, go to:
www.teachertrainingvideos.com/mailVu/index.html
Part five
I then put the students in pairs and asked them to explain their
timelines. Again, I moved around the class, listening and taking
notes.
Part six
I then told the students that for homework they had to go onto
MailVU (MailVU.com) and record themselves talking about their
timelines. I showed them how to do this and explained that they
should send their finished recordings to me.
57
T E C H N O L O G Y
crowdsourcing
(but were afraid to ask)
58
ENGLISH
EACHING
Tprofessional
This is your magazine.
We want to hear from you!
www.etprofessional.com
In this column
class management strategies are effective, and identifies specific issues that can assist
all language teachers in improving the quality of their teaching.
59
Prize crossword 51
ETp presents the fifty-first in our series
of prize crosswords. Send your entry
(completed crossword grid and
quotation), not forgetting to include your
full name, postal address and telephone number, to Prize
crossword 51, English Teaching professional, Pavilion
Publishing (Brighton) Ltd, PO Box 100, Chichester,
West Sussex, PO18 8HD, UK. Ten correct entries will be
drawn from a hat on 10 March 2012 and the senders
will each receive a copy of the second edition of the
Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners,
applauded for its unique red star system showing the
frequency of the 7,500 most common words in English
(www.macmillandictionary.com).
8
12
22
17
15
25
22
16
26
19
25
23
25
19
23
12
25
12
17
12
24
3
10
9
To solve the puzzle, find which letter each number represents. You can keep a record
in the boxes below. The definitions of the words in the puzzle are given, but not in the
right order. When you have finished, you will be able to read the quotation.
VERY FREQUENT WORDS
*** Like most people or things of the same
kind
*** Indefinite article used before nouns that
begin with a vowel (in two places)
*** A place where people sell goods on stalls
*** ___ Bertrams Hotel (novel by Agatha
Christie)
*** A small amount
*** To give money in order to buy something
*** A single unit of written or spoken
language
*** __ You Love Me? (hit song by The
Contours)
*** A level of quality or achievement,
especially one that people consider normal
or acceptable
*** ___ Crooked Vultures (rock group)
*** Who you are, or what your name is
*** The science of the management of
money
*** To move or travel to somewhere else
*** ___ the Beach is an apocalyptic novel
by Nevil Shute. (in two places)
*** The part of something that is furthest
from its centre
*** Information kept about something that
has happened
*** ___ Country for Old Men (film by the
Coen brothers)
*** The final part of a period of time
*** Rather cold, often in a pleasant way
*** The part of something that is furthest
from the sides or ends
*** To make a choice about something
*** Paintings, drawings or sculptures
*** ___ Kill a Mockingbird (novel by
Harper Lee)
*** A long time ___ in a galaxy far, far
away (Star Wars)
*** Near the beginning of a period of time
22
17
16
D
16
25
26
23
17
16
16
13
25
25
12
9
12
6
6
1
25
24
12
24
13
22
13
10
26
25
22
25
17
22
10
12
17
15
22
18
17
5
12
14
10
6
25
25
25
2
22
23
17
26
24
22
13
11
12
22
14
9
22
26
26
17
12
16
10
5
2
10
2
9
16
12
25
26
12
5
9
23
24
10
11
12
13
23
24
25
26
22
24
6
17
25
26
13
13
20
22
O
25
16
14
25
19
21
25
12
13
12
17
26
25
20
O
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
22
26
24
D
25
26
24
25
23
13
12
24
10
25
60
12
17
17
25
22
24
25
13
10
25
11
24
23
13
John
Kenneth
Galbraith
FREQUENT WORDS
** An amount of something
** To make the body well again,
particularly after an injury
** To risk money by saying what you
think will happen
** An object for a child to play with
FAIRLY FREQUENT WORDS
* Poisonous or harmful
* An extremely unpleasant and often
long-lasting experience
LESS FREQUENT WORDS
A soft fruit with purple or green skin
and many small seeds
All the people in your family
Not changed or influenced by
something
To check someones character or
reputation to see if they are suitable for
a job
The yellow part of an egg
Something said or done to make
people laugh
A small bed for a child
An old word used to tell someone to
look at something
An expression used to show surprise
or incomprehension
Full of energy and enthusiasm,
particularly in matters of politics or religion
A police officer involved in drug-related
crime
The organs of animals that are eaten
You feel this when you think you are
going to vomit
Something that doesnt happen very
often
Severe and rigid economy
To move suddenly in a jerky and
uncontrolled way
Southwest (abbreviation)
An informal greeting used for attracting
attention
Well known and representative of a
particular idea
To move around and talk to different
people at a social event