As
an English teacher, I often try to tell my students that if they
practice and if they are immersed in the language, they will learn
faster. However, I've been in Germany for nearly 5 months, and my
German is still dreadful. It would be wise, perhaps, to take an
intensive course. However, my flexibility in time is crucial to my
employment, and, at this time, I can't afford to give up 4 hours of
each day to an intensive course.
I
am also a believer in the idea that autonomous language learning is a
possibility. However, my efforts to teach myself have been...underwhelming. I decided that it was time to get a little more
serious about motivated language learning. Despite
my lack of time for an official course, I do have the time to work on
my German each day, and in order increase my learning possibilities,
I have started checking out some language learning sites.
With
a free membership you are allowed to sign up for a few courses that
have the same kind of lessons and units that you would see in your
typical self-study book.
The site is based on "tokens,"
which you can purchase (either by the token, or by the month) or,
alternatively, you can acquire tokens by helping other people who
want to learn your native language. To proceed through the lesson,
you must use the tokens to "purchase" the lesson segments.
One entire unit (with 5 parts) appears to be worth 175 tokens. It
took me about 20-30 minutes to earn 150 points by reviewing audio submissions in English.
The
site has options for vocabulary, grammar, and writing practice, but
the thing I like the most about this site is the option for speaking
practice. There are mini lessons that you can do, and they will be
rated by the community. However, the response doesn't seem to be
overly strong yet. There is also an option to work with a Native
Speaker teacher, but you have to purchase the "Gold Key"
and pay a small fee.
In short, if you have the time to review other people's audio and writing submissions, this could be a valuable site for free learning. If you don't have the time, it seems like it could offer some nice options for a price.
This week, I came across an interesting paper by Martin Sketchley over at ELT Experiences, a blog I often read. The paper was a
dissertation summary that talked about Dogme ELT. I've seen the term
a few times in the last couple months, but I never really looked into
it. Then, I saw the term “teaching unplugged,” which is also the
title of a book on the subject, and I was intrigued.
teaching unplugged
I read the paper, and I think I will look into this methodology a little more. I'm interested in the idea of a
teaching methodology that claims to incorporate the best of Communicative
Language Teaching, Task-Based Language Teaching (which I've been
experimenting with lately), and Learner-Based Teaching.
The three tenants of Dogme ELT that
Sketchley sets out in his paper are scaffolding, “materials light”
(a.k.a. no textbooks or unneccesary teaching materials), and
learner-based teaching—all things that I agree with seperately, and
together, they appear to create a very effective team.
I reccomend this paper for anyone who is interested. As someone with little previous knowledge of the topic, I found it to be a nice summary. At the end of the paper, there is a
also a list of suggested reading. I will be checking up on it as soon
as I get some time!
This is a lesson plan that I created.
Additional, attached materials may or may not be mine, but I have tried to give credit where I can. I have found
many lesson plan ideas created by other education bloggers and
websites to be extremely helpful in my own teaching, and I would like
to contribute to the pool of available resources. Please feel free to
use the lesson plans for personal purposes and teaching, but I retain
all the rights to my own created content.
Lesson Topic: Politeness
Level: B1
Context: Adult learners,
Business English course
Style: Task-Based Language
Teaching
Politeness is more of a cultural issue
than a language issue. Language learners need to know both the
correct forms to use AND the reason that these forms are polite or
impolite. Every culture has a unique set of values, no matter what
language the cultural members are speaking.
The difficulty I had with this topic
was explaining which forms to use with other non-native English
speakers when speaking in English. My students wanted to know whether
they should use the politeness level that would be required in an
American or British context because they were speaking in English, or
whether they should use the politeness level that would be required
in their own context because that was the common culture. That will
be a choice that the learner will need to make on their own, and
perhaps giving them some strategies for making the decision would be
helpful.
Step1:SchemaBuilding
For
the first part of the lesson, I collected some comics found in a
Google image search that dealt with politeness in English. Here are
some of the ones I used, but you can really use anything.
They like this one the most.
We
read the comics, and then we talked about why they were
funny. This is an important step, because a lot of the humor will be
lost if the reader does not understand small details (for example, what is a Cherry Cordial and what does the
adjective cordial mean?) After everyone understood the comics, I
asked them for the phrases found in the comics to elicit some key
vocabulary.
Next, I turned to a discussion of how,
since there are different levels of politeness in every language, we
figure out how polite we need to be when we are speaking. The
students could suggest a few of these on their own, and they could
recognize the other ones when prompted. Some possible factors that
determine politeness are: (1) social distance between of speaker and
listener (including age, gender, etc.); (2) power relations between
speaker and listener; (3) conversation setting; (4) conversation
topic; (5) degree of imposition (for requests); (6) severity of
offense (for an apology); and (7) value of complimented item.
Step 2: Practice
To practice the new material, I created a list of requests that were
very formally polite (such as “When you have a minute, could you be
so kind as to send me an email reminder for the meeting?”),
casually polite (such as “Could I see that newspaper, please?”),
and non-polite (such as “Did you hear what she just said?”). It
is important to point out to the students that non-polite forms are
not always rude. For example, using a non-polite forms with family or
close friends is often the norm, and no one will feel offended.
However, using a non-polite form when a polite form should be used
will probably cause someone to be offended.
After
I created the list, I printed it out, cut up the lines, and mixed all
of the requests up. Then, I gave them to the students and asked them
to put the different requests into categories of non-polite, casual
polite, and formally polite. They all worked together since it was a
small group. At the end, I had them explain why they put each request
in each category. Some of them were not exactly in the category that
I had intended, but their explanations of why they had put it in the
category was acceptable, so I left it.
Step 3: Listening
For our class, this part of the lesson was homework, but it could
just as easily have happened in class. I had them watch 2 videos (and
I also provided 2 extra videos, if they had time). These are the
videos.
Yes and No – I find that one of the biggest “rude” problems
with German speakers is their directness in answering yes and no.
With Spanish speakers, however, I often found that the problem was
feeling like they couldn't politely say no (and consequently, they
would communicate a 'yes' when they really meant 'no'). So, either
way, knowing how to say yes or no politely is very important.
Asking Permission – Unfortunately, asking permission can sound
accusing or demanding if not done properly. This video gives some
good pointers.
Want vs. Would Like (Extra) – Important for requests, especially
when you are requesting action from a colleague or associate.
Softening the Message (Extra) – The right amount of indirectness
is important for English speakers. Too direct, and you will be
considered rude and pushy; not direct enough, and you won't be
understood. This video talks about how to soften the directness of a
message.
Step 4: Grammar - Politeness
Strategies
In
this lesson, the majority of the “Grammar” information was
presented in the listening section. We did go over what was mentioned
in the videos, and then we also talked about some other politeness
strategies, including:
Hedging: Er, could you, er,
perhaps, close the, um , window?
Pessimism: I don't suppose you
could close the window, could you?
Indicating deference: Excuse me,
sir, would you mind if I asked you to close the window?
Apologizing: I'm terribly sorry
to put you out, but could you close the window?
Impersonalized: The management
requires all windows to be closed. (source)
Also, we talked about how, in English,
a negative response to a request should usually be followed by an
excuse. The more specific the excuse, the politer and more friendly
the person is perceived to be. For example, when asked to meet
someone for lunch, the response “I'm sorry, I have an appointment
with a client at lunch today.” is more polite than “I'm sorry,
I'm busy.”
Step 5: Practice
For practice, we first started by
editing some formally polite requests (“If it isn't any trouble,
would you be kind enough to email Mr. Jones about the project?) to
more casually polite forms (“Would you please email Mr. Jones about
the project?”) that would be appropriate for use between
colleagues, especially when there is a power dynamic involved. (Idea credit)
Next, we practiced saying no to
requests. One person was on the “hot seat,” and everyone in the
class would make a request. Here's the catch: The person on the “hot
seat” must say no to the requests using a different reason or
strategy every time, and all of the other students are making
requests in order to get the “hot seat” student to say yes. Some
of the rounds went like this:
“Bob, Your reports are always so nice
and organized. Would you be able to send me a copy of the template?”
--“No, I'm sorry. I am not allowed to send them out because they
are confidential”
“Joe, would you like to have some
coffee with me? I have brought an extra piece of cake for you.” –
“No, I am sorry, I must go to a meeting. Can we have coffee later
today?”
“Jan, would you like me to babysit
your three children so you and your husband can go out tonight? I
have no plans and I am happy to watch them for free” – “Thank you, but my mother-in-law is in town, and she is watching them
for me tonight. Are you free next week?”
It was a very fun exercise, and the
students enjoyed it. (Idea credit)
Step6:
Skits, 3 ways
The task at the end of the lesson was a
skit. The students, in groups of two and three, wrote a short,
formally polite skit that had to include 2 requests and at least one
“no” answers. Then, they re-wrote the skit casually polite and
then non-polite. When they were presenting the skits, the other group
had to guess which version they were doing, and then to say why they
thought so. This also brought a lot of laughs. I think that sometimes adults forget that learning can be fun.
(a.k.a. How to make forceful emails and
complaint letters enjoyable)
One of the classes that I've recently
started teaching is a business writing course. It's a night course
that the students take after they have finished working, and, as
anyone who has ever worked a full day before going to a night class
can attest, energy levels are pretty low at that point.
Unlike some of the material that has
been provided for my other courses with this company, the business
writing material is BORING. Moreover, there is a higher amount of
grammar presentation time and a lower amount of discussion and group
work situations created.
Since I'm taking over this course from
another teacher, there are only two units left—but those two units
are at least 4 weeks of class. My challenge is to find a way to And, from TEFLtastic with AlexCase, I found quite a few resourcesmake
the learning of writing a fun process, or the next 4 weeks will be
torture for all of us.
Last week (when we were talking about
exerting pressure and writing complaints), on the spur of the moment,
I changed their homework assignment. Instead of having them read the
text and answer questions, they were supposed to email me a complaint
about my teaching—fake or real. I've already received one very
funny response, and I am looking forward to the rest.
I'm not sure what else to do, though.
Here are some ideas I found that seemed appropriate for the
situation. I am going to try to incorporate them in my lesson plans,
somehow.
ask students to “metawrite,”
or to reflect on (and write about) writing by researching and
examining mistakes (See this article for more info: “On the Use of Metawriting...”);
use yourself as a model for
writing processes – basically, a think aloud where you show the
students your mental process by clearly outlining it in from of
them;
have the students write to an
audience for real purpose instead for a hypothetical purpose, or,
in other words, create more authentic situations for their practice
writing; and
experiment with sentence length
by instructing students to make the longest run-on sentence
possible, and then, conversely, to fill a page with 4 word
sentences.
Teach about Grice's maxims (this idea was found in the comments of this blog article). Modern business writing is about being
concise and accurate. Keeping in mind the maxims (quantity, manner,
relation, and quality) and giving students the language to achieve
these maxims will be helpful. Flouting the maxims, however, is where
the fun comes in.
Break the rules! Speaking of flouting, this suggestion on the TEFL.net forum seemed like it would be fun, as well.
Sharon said “Something I do with my students is get them to write
the opposite of a good letter. By thinking about everything that's
bad, they become more creative. They do this in groups to share
ideas. then they all look at each others letters.”
I'd love to hear suggestions if anyone reading this has fun or creative ideas for teaching business writing. I'll try to keep you updated on these suggestions when I use them.
I don't want to
say that Germany is behind the times when it comes to wireless
internet access, but, Germany is behind the times when it comes to
wireless internet access.
Most of the
places that I work have extra outlets (which is good,
because I need to plug my old laptop in after 10 minutes). If I'm
lucky, the place will have a projector display hook up, which is
good, because I like to display notes, etc. if I can. However,
nowhere is there a wireless internet connection.
In short, this
lack of wireless internet connection means that I cannot show YouTube
videos in class. Or, that I COULDN'T. However, I
recently discovered MiniTube, a Desktop App that lets you download YouTube
videos on to your computer as .mp4 files and then play them later.
It
is a free program for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems, and you can get it here.
Another benefit of downloading the
videos (for me) is that I like to keep all of my unit and lesson
materials in files for future use. Downloading the videos lets me
save the video if it is a major component of my lesson plan, and that
way, if for some reason it is unavailable in the future, I will still
have it.
In
my last post, I talked about using Task Based Language Teaching
in Business English. Today, I want to share with you an example of a
lesson I did with my German students of Business English (level B1). The lesson was about emailing.
(Yes, Emoticons did come up in the lesson)
Step1:SchemaBuilding:
I started
by
talking
(in
English)
about
German
emails. We discussed issues like
How
are
they
written?
What is
the
format?
What
common
phrases
do you
use?
What
are the
greetings?
etc.
What
is good
etiquette?
What is
polite?
What is
rude?
The idea here
is to elicit
key
vocabulary
about
emails,
including
(but
not
limited
to):
Greeting,
Introduction,
Body,
Conclusion,
Salutation,
Sender,
Recipient,
Reply,
etc.,
as well
as the
translation
of
their
common
forms
for
these
items.
During the discussion, I wrote the
information and the terms
on one
side of
a
digital note
sheet that was projected onto the
wall.
Step2:ControlledPractice
Next, I brought
out a series of emails printed
on
paper. These were
emails
that
were
written
to me
and
emails
that
were
written
by me,
from a
variety
of
settings
(both
business
and
casual)
and
from a
variety
of
people,
including friends,
acquaintances,
coworkers,
and
people
I
didn't
know.
[Side note: It
would
probably
work
better
to
print
the emails it
so that
you can
still
see the
subject
line
and the
email
addresses,
but
that is
not as
important. I
also
shortened
the
emails
to the
relevant
parts
only so
that
the
activity
would
be
quicker, as some of the emails were
quite lengthy.]
I gave each
group
several
(at
least
3) of
the emails.
Their task was to identify
phrases,
formats,
or
things
that
are
different
in the
English
emails
than in
the
German
Emails.
It's a good idea to make
sure that
they
used
English
in the
group
work, because it seems natural to
revert to the NL when tasks are information based rather than
linguistic based. The students wrote on the emails, underlining and
circling items that they found. As we discussed the emails, and I
wrote the
information
on the
other
side of
the note sheet
(for
comparison
with
the
German).
I
also
had
them
arrange
the
emails
from the ones that they thought were the most formal to the ones they
thought were the least formal, and then to explain their choices.
Step3:Authenticlisteningpractice
After
the
discussion,
we watched 2 YouTube videos that I had chosen. Both were intended for
native English speakers (i.e., they weren't English teaching videos).
This is important to me because I want the students to get a feel for
what real English sounds like, not just what teacher language sounds
like.
The first video
was a email guide, probably for people who didn't know how to use
email at all.
My students are proficient in email, but the task here was for them
to
write
down
new
words,
interesting
ideas,
or
things
that
they
learned.
It would be better to have some more focused questions for the
discussion, but I didn't.
During the video, I
paused
to let
them
discuss and write down notes.
I also
skipped
a big
chunk
in the
middle
about
revising
emails because it was really boring
and not relevant. We discussed their
responses at the end of this video.
The second
video was about email etiquette. It was shorter and funnier, and the
person in the video also spoke a lot faster.
After,
we
talked
about
the
questions they had (i.e., “What is
Snail Mail?”), and
then
about
the
interesting
content.
They
didn't
remember
some of
the content,
but when I
mentioned
how I
learned
something
from
the
video,
too, it
reminded
them and sparked a little more
conversation.
Step4:Focusonlinguisticelements
The linguistic
focus for the lesson was a review of the uses of the various present
tenses (simple present, present progressive, present perfect) but we
also ended up reviewing the simple past. The rationale behind this
choice is that, not only do the tenses need to be reviewed, but that
emails generally feature a lot of these tenses. This section didn't
connect as well as another grammar point could have, but you have to
work with your students' specific needs.
I wrote the
three present tense forms (I work, I am working, I have worked) on
the board and at the beginning, I mentioned their technical grammar
tense names once in the beginning, but after that, I focused on their
use. We discussed by comparing two forms at a time (i.e., what is the
difference between “I work” and “I am working”). After that,
we did a go-around-the-room exercise conjugating different verbs for
different circumstances.
Step5:Providefreerpractice
I
split
the
class
into
two
groups,
and
each
group
got a
prompt.
Prompt1:You
work at
company
that
makes
advertisements.
You
want to
make an
advertisement
for a
big toy
company.
Email
the
marketing
director
(you
don't
know
his
name)
and see
if he
is
interested
in
working
with
your
company.
Prompt
2: Yesterday,
there was a meeting in your company. You went to the meeting, but you
are a little confused. You have some questions about what happened in
the meeting. Email your co-worker (the meeting leader) to ask for
more information.
Each
group
wrote
an
email
based
on the
prompt.
I gave
them
about
5-10
minutes,
and
then
they
“emailed” their paper to the other team. The other team then
responded to the “email”.
I saw
that
they
were a
little
confused
in the
response,
so I
also
had
them
switch
prompts
so that
they
knew
why the
original
email
was
written.
This
activity
probably needs
more
time and it also
needs
very
simple
prompts.
Step6:Introducethepedagogicaltask(Homework)
The last step
was homework for the week. I split the group into partners, and I
handed each person an A or B task, and then briefly
explained
what
was
going
to
happen. Basically, there
must be
at
least 4
emails
total (2 from each person).
Person
A must
initiate
a
meeting,
person
B must
reply
and ask
for a
copy of
the
meeting
agenda.
The students are supposed to print
out the entire email chain and then we
will
review
them in
class
next
week.
Here are the
task assignments: (2 people, 1
group AB; 3 people, 1 group ABC; 4 people, 2 groups AB AB; 5 people,
2 groups AB ABC; 6 people 2 groups ABC ABC OR 3 groups AB AB AB,
etc.)
PersonA:
-
Initiate
a
Meeting.
Try to
find a
a
time,
date,
and
place.
Provide
any
information
that
the
other
person
needs.
PersonB:
Wait
for the
email
from
Person
A.
Agree
on a
good
meeting
time
and
place.
Also,
ask for
the
meeting
agenda.
PersonC: Wait for person A and Person B to email you. You can't
meet on the day that they suggest, but you are free almost every
other day.
I hope you like the lesson. My students told me that they enjoyed it because it was so "interactive." Feel free to use or modify it, and let me know if you have any questions!
Recently, my teaching schedule has
picked up a bit, and I have started 3 new courses. One of the courses
is with an English school that provides a curriculum and materials,
and one is a private tutoring gig, but the other course is, for the
most part, completely open as far as content goes. Currently, I am facing the challenge of
creating a course plan that will satisfy everyone: the participants
(adult, business people), their company (that is sponsoring the
course), and my company (that claims to have a creative, unique
approach to English instruction).
As I was looking through my textbooks for ideas, I came across David Nunan's Task Based Language Teaching (Click here for the Amazon page).
At the time we studied this book in my degree program, I remember thinking that the system Nunan sets out in
the book was great, but still less appealing than the standard
Effective Instructional Sequence that we typically used for lesson
planning in the program (even though, in reality, they can both go together).
However, in my current situation, faced
with the simultaneous needs to teach concrete skills in English, to
teach English grammar (without taking a traditional grammar teaching
approach) AND to foster a discussion-like environment in the course,
Nunan's task based language teaching model seems to be a perfect
solution.
In the model, each unit is based around
a pedagogical task – a real world activity performed in the safety
of the classroom. Building up to that task, the teacher scaffolds
activities and lessons that will develop the skills needed for the
students to successfully complete the task.
Here is the outline of the unit model:
Step 1: Schema Building
Step 2: Controlled Practice
Step 3: Authentic listening practice
Step 4: Focus on linguistic elements
Step 5: Provide freer practice
Step 6: Introduce the pedagogical task
Obviously, there is a lot more to this
book that just the model outline, but I can't do it justice in a blog
post. I recommend looking into the book if you are teaching business
English without a pre-set curriculum, because it allows you to focus
on the specific language tasks (sending email, having a meeting,
interviewing, etc.) that they will encounter.
If you want to see the Table of
Contents and a little of this first chapter, here is a link. Also, I found this blog that focuses on Task Based Language Teaching. It has
not been updated recently, but the posts that are there already have some good ideas.
Recently, I wrote about emotions in
language learning and affective language learning strategies.
I also talked about a learner that I was working with who had an
emotional block with speaking English. This entry is a follow up on the strategies I discussed in action.
Moving Along the Emotional Scale
Lowering Anxiety
In order to help her lower her anxiety,
I wanted to give have her try some of the language learning
strategies in the “Lowering Anxiety” section. I had planned on
just assigning some of the activities suggested by Oxford, but Tim
suggested finding out what she already does to relax, and to
incorporate that into her learning routine. I thought that this was
an excellent (and more authentic) idea, so, in one of our sessions,
we spent some time talking about how she normally relaxes. She told
me that she likes to read or listen to music, and based on that
information, I suggested that she spend about 10 minutes doing one of
these activities everyday before she worked on her English project.
Encourage Yourself
For this strategy, I asked my learner
to write down a positive statement about her progress in English
learning every day for the week, until we met again. We wrote the
first one down together, and talked about it. I was surprised the
next week, however, when she told me that she didn't write them down
during the week because she thought the strategy didn't work for her.
She explained that, because of her culture, she feels more secure
with hard work and with other people telling her positive things
about her learning (But, she said, maybe this will work for other
people). When she tells herself positive things, she feels like she
is pretending. She also mentioned an American movie she had seen
where one of the main characters was told “You have to believe in
yourself to achieve what you want” or something like that. She said
she thought it was so strange, because no one in her culture would
ever say that. They would say. “You have to work hard to achieve
what you want.” Based on this exchange, I didn't press this
strategy anymore, but I did focus on giving her encouraging
statements and pointing out improvement.
Taking Your Emotional Temperature
I didn't directly incorporate this
strategy with my learner, but I did indirectly make it a part of all
of our sessions. Each time we met, I would ask her how she felt about
her English (and about her upcoming project) this week, and we would
discuss the times she had felt stressed, and the times that she had
felt successful. This was a nice way to begin our sessions, because
it allowed her to discuss what she was feeling and it allowed me to
see where she still felt insecure so that we could work a little more
in that area.
This application of language learning
strategies has taught me a few things.
The idea that all strategies
must work for all learners is not correct. The “Encourage
Yourself” was a big miss with my learner; however, by listening to
her reaction, I was able to help her reach the desired effect of
encouragement through other means, i.e., giving her extra “practice”
work and telling her about her improvement.
Cultural ideas of
encouragement are sometimes strikingly different. Her
response that people in her culture would never say “You have to
believe it to achieve it” shocked me at first, because it is such
an ingrained part of my own culture. That is the American motto! How
can you not agree with that?? It is going to be important to find
out what your learners' cultural views of positive statements are.
If their culture doesn't agree with this idea of making positive
statements to yourself, you may want to either explain the purpose
of the strategy more clearly or skip it in favor of a different
approach to encouragement.
Adapt strategies to the
learner's current practices. Strategies that are easy to
incorporate into the learners routine may be more effective in the
long run. Tim's suggestion of inquiring about the learner's
pre-exisiting habits was very helpful in making the “lowering
anxiety” strategy activities seem more natural and less
new-age-yoga-hollistic-medicine-y.
Strategy knowledge is
important for teachers, not just learners. Even if you are
not teaching every strategy directly, it is still helpful to know
them so that you can indirectly incorporate them into your teaching.
While it is helpful to teach learners these strategies, trying to
teach all of them can be overwhelming. Modeling the use of
strategies in your teaching may also be helpful.
Autonomous language learning is the
idea that learners are capable of learning a language on their own,
outside the language classroom. Language programs that focus on
incorporating autonomous language learning usually have some sort of
self-access center with resources and guides, where the learner can
go during his or her free time to study. In this model, the classroom
is often seen as a place for learners to interact with an expert (the
teacher) and with other learners. Instead of focusing entirely on
grammar and vocabulary, classroom time is spent creating
language learning goals and sharing positive and negative experiences
of learning. As our teaching methodology moves towards a more
student-centered model, and as internet technology becomes
increasingly more available throughout the word, we are seeing that
this model of language learning is a growing reality for students
(and teachers) everywhere.
There are several reasons that I like
this model of language learning.
Motivation – Autonomous
language learning utilizes the learner's motivation. For the
communicative classroom to function properly, it is essential that
the learners are all motivated to study, learn, and interact. When
learners lack intrinsic motivation, the teacher is stuck trying to
think of colorful circus tricks and rewards in order to get learners
to talk to each other and to study outside of class. Autonomous
language learning forces learners to take greater responsibility for motivation.
Power – This model places
the power in the hands of the learner. The learners make their own goals and
plans to achieve these goals. The learners choose what they are
going to learn. The teacher is available to guide the learner in the
event that they don't know where to go or what to do, but the
ultimate choice is in the hands of the learner. This will lead not
only to more relevant language learning, but also to a greater sense
of personal responsibility for the material. Moreover, giving
learners the power over their own learning equips them for life-long
learning.
Authenticity – I have
written before about authenticity in language learning, and about how I think it
is one of the most important parts of language teaching. Autonomous
language learning allows learners to take advantage of authentic
materials that teachers cannot feasibly use in the classroom, due to
time constraints, discrepancies in learner levels, and access, etc.
In this model, learners have more exposure to native-speaker
materials and less exposure to pedagogical texts and “classroom
talk”.
In my own life, I am trying to learn
German. As a supporter of this autonomous language learning, I feel
that my own learning experience should reflect my teaching
methodology. I am hesitant to sign up for a language course because I
feel that, with a little guidance, I should be able to take advantage
of the materials available to me while I am living in a
German-speaking environment.
However, I have had some trouble
identifying good materials for myself as a learner, which proves (to
me, at least) that autonomous language learning does NOT reduce the
need for a teacher. I will continue to develop my plan and see if I
can create path for myself, and I will share my reflections along the
way.
Along that line, several blog articles
and websites stuck out to me as particularly helpful for and/or
related to autonomous language learning this week.
The Telenovela Method of LanguageLearning. Very
interesting article about the use of Mexican soap operas to learn
Spanish, good tips for learning on your own with this method, and
some resources.
The NEW Issue of the SiSAL (Studies in Self-Access Learning) Journal.
I'll just say that I like this journal. I also like that it is
completely open-access, so you can read it without a subscription.
There are some good articles in this issue, and in past issues, for
those of you who would like to know more about autonomous language
learning (or self-access learning).
I found this website in an article from
the new issue of the SiSAL. I haven't had a chance to test it yet,
but wow! It looks like an amazing resouce. I wish they had it for
other languages. Basically, it is a collection of video clips with
transcripts, and learners can watch the videos, read the text, and
record themselves saying the lines. Supposedly, they also compare the
recording with the original to tell students how they are doing. I
know that Google has something to do with the site, and I'm pretty
sure it is free.
I regularly read this blog, and I saw
this article about talking to native speakers of the target language.
It struck a chord with me, and I think that following the advice that
the author gives about “just talking” is instrumental in
autonomous language learning.
Does anyone have experience in
autonomous language learning (or teaching) that they can share? What
about some more good resources for independent learning?
“The affective side of the learner is
probably on of the very biggest influences on language learning
success or failure” Rebecca Oxford, Language
Learning Strategies, p. 140
This month, I was working with a very
intelligent, very educated, and very perceptive English learner who
identified her main problem with English as an emotional issue. She
explained to me that, although she had learned English in school as a
young girl (over 20 years ago), she never really learned to use it. A
year ago, she started practicing her English again. She started
writing emails to colleagues, she started listening to the BBC radio,
and she started trying to speak.
When she started, she said she felt
great about her success, but now, a year later, she feels terrible
about her English. It gives her anxiety and she “feels bad” when
she speaks it. I believe that this anxiety is common to language
learners, and that it could be related to the language learner's
progression through the Conscious Competence model.
Image from Creativeaffirmations.com
In the first step, the language
learners are not conscious of the lack of competence in the language.
As they move through the model, they become aware of their
incompetency. Although this eventually leads to language learning
(because they realize that there are deficiencies in their language),
I believe that it also increases anxiety (because, again, they
realize that there are deficiencies in their language).
Another interesting point I observed
during our session was her description of her own language and
language use:
“I feel bad about my English.”
“I think that my English is not very
good.”
“My speaking is bad. I think that
people will not understand me.”
This negative language reflects a low
language self-esteem, which can be very damaging tto possible
success, as well as to future reduction of anxiety. Negative
statements about language learning keep the learner in a constant
mindset of pending failure.
I feel that learners' emotions are
often overlooked in language learning. Stress, anxiety, or general
bad feelings about language learning prevents learners from accessing
the language that they already have, and additionally, from acquiring
the language that are exposed to. Here is an interesting article that
discusses this topic and a different article on the same information
where you can read the abstract or buy the research that these two
news articles talk about. Krashen's Affective Filter hypothesis
proposes that affective factors create a mental block that prevents
language input from reaching the language acquisition part of the
brain.
Affective Strategies in language
learning can help students identify these negative emotional
features, increase their language self-esteem, and decrease their
anxiety. Oxford's Affective Strategies for language learning are :
Lower Your Anxiety:
The best way to lower anxiety is to relax. Listen to music, laugh,
play a game, or meditate! A while ago, Ann Evans from Linguistics in the Classroom wrote about how
she uses meditation in the language classroom. This is a great
example of lowering anxiety.
Encourage Yourself:
Help students overcome negative language self-esteem by making them
act positively. Have them write down positive strides that they've
made in language learning, or help them set achievable short-term
goals that they can reward themselves for.
Take Your Emotional
Temperature: Increasing learners' awareness of emotions is
very important, as well. Often, they don't know what they are
feeling, or even that stress and anxiety are normal. Help them
identify how their anxiety and stress may be playing out in their
lives, and then show them how to counteract it (with the other two
affective strategies)! A good tool for taking your emotional
temperature is using some sort of checklist (with the different
emotions) and having students identify what they are feeling daily.
This week, I “taught” a discussion
group for one of my colleagues who is on vacation.
Cross-cultural discussion, graphically depicted
This discussion
group was a free, round-table setting for employees of a
pharmaceutical development company. The participants were German
chemists, IT specialists, and engineers. When I say “taught,”
what I really mean is that I was the native English speaker “expert”
in charge of the group, but that my actual role was really not much
like traditional teaching at all.
I prepared several discussion games and
activities because I wasn't sure what to expect. However, it turns
out that the participants wanted to talk about current events (occupy
wall street, outsourcing business, total freedom, communism vs.
socialism, etc.) amongst themselves. They were eager to use their
English, they didn't rely on me “calling on” them before they
answered. They simply negotiated a conversation the way they would
have if they were conversing in German. They questioned each other,
asked for clarification from each other, changed the topic together,
and agreed/disagreed with each other. If the conversation ever died
down, I would simply ask an open-ended question to direct the topic.
The thing that surprised me the most was, at the end, when they told
me that I needed to correct them more often!
My previous experience with group
discussions is very different. I am used to having to pry words out
of students' mouths, used to having to encourage and build them up in
order to get them to talk, and used to having to decide on the one,
singularly most important issue to correct so that I don't discourage
learners.
Germans are direct people, and this is
a fact. My very limited experience teaching Germans has led me to
theorize that they, because of their culture, take a very different (and more active) approach to the role of the learner than some other cultural students do. (It could also be that the
German learners that I have worked with have been very similar in
their age, education, and socioeconomic levels, but since I am in
Germany and the culture is new to me, it first occurred to me that it
was a culture issue.)
This leads me to a more general
question: How does culture shape language
learners' expectations of their role in learning?
McCarger's (1993)
survey of American ESL teachers and international ESL students in the
U.S. showed that typically, “...students expected a more
teacher-oriented environment than did the teachers” (p. 200).
**Interesting
side note on correction of students errors. As I previously noted,
the participants in my discussion session expected more correction
than I provided. This survey confirmed that my experience seems to be
typical: “The teachers clearly disagreed that they should correct
every student error. Except for the Japanese, who agreed mildly, each
student group clearly agreed with this item” (p. 198). Also,
“...the diversity of expectations on the error and error correction
items...shows that errors and correction are a sensitive factor in
second-language classes. Students wanted more correction than
teachers wanted to give, and much disagreement existed on whether
students should make mistakes, how students should feel about making
errors, and whether teachers should criticize errors” (p. 200)
I did some quick
internet research about cultural teacher/students' expectation of
learner roles, and here is what I found.
Hispanic Students:
When
we watch our Hispanic students during the time we lecture and lead
the discussions, we will see that they are all quiet and look at us
somewhat scared at the thought that we might call on them
individually. When they are called upon, they will often freeze, get
confused and embarrassed as they try to answer. They feel much more
comfortable responding in groups, doing exercises together, and
helping each other. … [G]roup exercises can cut down the frequent
interruptions, when a student explains something to his/her neighbor,
namely what the teacher has said and what it means. (Source)
Middle Eastern
Students:
Compared to Middle
East, most US classrooms employ less power differences (egalitarian
ideal), expect more self initiative (empowered students) and focus on
critical thinking over memorization. (Source)
Asian Students:
While
Western teacher expect students to use other sources of information,
like libraries, media experts, the internet (i.e., they do not
provide all information required), Asian teachers provide
the information through notes and one main text. While Western
students usually view the teacher as an expert (but more as a
resource), Asian students see the teacher as one who has acquired a
level of mastery worthy of significant respect. (Source)
These are very general (and very
basic) stereotypes of expectations, but I think they illustrate a
good point: expectations differ from culture to culture. When you are
dealing with cross-cultural education, you will most likely encounter
differences in teacher and student expectations.
This power point does a really
good job illustrating some different aspects of culture and
explaining how they affect student and teacher expectations in
education.
The different
cultural aspects discussed are:
Power
Distance
Uncertainty
avoidance
Masculinity
(distinctly separate emotional gender roles) vs. Femininity
(emotional gender roles overlap)
Individualism
vs. collectivism
Long
term orientation (working towards the future) vs. Short-term
orientation (learning from the past)
Additionally,
this site
also discusses these cultural factors:
Monochronic
vs. polychronic cultures
High
context and low context cultures
(While
it doesn't talk about how these factors affect teaching or learning roles, I
think that it is obvious that students from these different
backgrounds will have different expectations, as far as learning goes.)
Once
you have determined what your learners' expectations are (whether
by reading about their cultures or by just asking them), another question presents itself: Whose cultural expectations should you teach to? The learners' expectations or your own expectations?
The
answer to this question will likely change depending on each group of
learners you work with, the composition of the group, and the degree
of difference between your cultural expectations and theirs. However,
I think the most important thing is to be aware yourself and to discuss with your learners your shared and distinct expectations and motivations behind them. Otherwise, you will end up
with learners who are dissatisfied, frustrated, and not sure that you
are an effective teacher, despite your years of training in current
teaching methodology.
Works
Cited:
McCarger,
D.F. (1993). Teacher and Student Role Expectations: Cross-Cultural
Differences and Implications. Modern Language Journal, 77(2),
p.192-207. Accessed through EBSCO Host.
Guessing has bad connotations for many
language learners because, let's face it, if you're guessing, it
means that you don't know. In a setting where knowing and
understanding is so vital to a feeling of success, being unsure can
be less than ideal.
GUESS WHO: One of my favorite board games!
Picture Credit*
However, this compensatory strategy
(i.e., one that compensates for missing knowledge) can be a great
tool for language learning. Studies have shown that that “guessing
meaning from action or context” is positively-related with language
learning achievement (1). Moreover, a study of language learners of
French found that students who were made to guess words from context
rather than being handed a word list not only learned more words in a
shorter amount of time, but also retained the knowledge of the words
longer (2).
A language learner's ability to guess
accurately is affected by several factors, including knowledge of
vocabulary, as language learners rely mainly on vocabulary, and
rarely on syntax clues, in their guessing. The higher the proportion
of comprehensible words in the dialog or text surrounding an unknown
word, the more accurate the language learner's guesses will be (3). One
study also showed that the guessing ability is improved in areas
where the students are cognitively similar to people from the target
language (by which the author seems to mean that they have culturally
similar ways of thinking) (4)
Despite the seemingly positive
applications of properly applied guessing strategies, it is not
always beneficial to promote guessing in language learning. Some
studies have shown that despite initial gains in vocabulary learning,
guessing often impairs some students' abilities to learn the right
definition quickly. Moreover, inaccurate guessing can quickly become
frustrating, as has been discussed in this blog post by The Linguist.
Instead of promoting a global guessing
strategy campaign, it may be better to teach learners to identify
situations where it is good to guess and situations where it is
better to ask or look up a word (3).
Promoting Guessing in Language
Learning
As guessing is a strategy for
understanding received data, it can be applied to both reading and
listening activities. When teaching students to guess while
developing these two macro-skills, it is important to focus on
teaching them when and how to make better
guesses, rather than just teaching them to make guesses. Increasing
language learners' awareness of context and guessing strategies, as
well as other, “mutually supportive” strategies (i.e. a strategy
chain) will allow learners to develop this strategy in a useful way
(5).
Other ways to promote good guessing
skills include teaching learners to activate their past knowledge on
a subject. Brainstorming words, topics, verbs, and ideas on the
subject at hand could enhance their guessing. Also, since learners
naturally look to known vocabulary words to support guessing, it may
also be beneficial to teach them how to better consider syntax and
any other non-linguistic clues.
This article offers an activity using a
guessing chart, based on Clarke and Nation's 1980 inductive 5-step
approach to guessing (the chart is on page 7). These five steps are, simply, one, to determine the part of speech of the word; two, to consider the
surrounding context; three, to consider the wider (syntactic) context; four, to guess; and five, to check the guess by making sure the part of speech
matches, by seeing if the parts of the unknown word relate to the
guessed word, by filling in the guess for the unknown word, and by
checking the dictionary (6).
What do you think? Any experience as a learner or as a teacher? Do you promote
guessing in language learning? Why or why not? Any suggestions for
activities that help?
McGroarty, Mary E. (1989). The "Good
Learner" of English in Two Settings. California Univ., Los
Angeles. Center for Language Education and Research. Accessed:
www.eric.ed.gov.
Redouane, R. (2010). Assessing
Instructional Methods in L2 French Vocabulary Acquisition:
Guessing-From-Context Method versus a Word List Method. Annals of
Spiru Haret University, Journalism Studies, 11. p. 73-87.
Qi, R. & Li, F. (2008) The
influence of cognitive factors on guesses about the meaning of
English word groups and phrases. U.S. - China Education Review, 5(9).
Accessed: www.eric.ed.gov.
Recently, I posed a question about the
best language learning strategies on Facebook. I also posted it on
Twitter, but I guess I haven't figured the twitter system out yet, because no one
responded!
As you can guess, the responses
generally centered around interaction with native speakers or target
language native speaker materials (like television or music).
Naturally so—people who have learned a foreign language agree that
native speaker interaction is practically irreplaceable. In fact,
studies have shown that learning a native language in a context-rich
environment (i.e., English as a Second Language) instead of a
context-poor environment (i.e., English as a Foreign Language) can
shorten the time it takes to become proficient by years.
I will be one of the first ones to jump
on the “practice-with-a-native-speaker suggestion” bandwagon;
however, I think that we focus on native speaker interaction at the
expense of developing other language learning strategies that can
make those interactions more salient and that can help even when
native speakers or materials are not available.
A prime example is time spent in the
classroom. When people suggest interaction with a native speaker as a
language learning strategy, they are primarily referring to some sort
of effort at independent learning. Few EFL teachers have the ability
to pair their students with native speakers during classroom
instruction time. Even if they did, it would be difficult to
incorporate that activity with the other language instruction needed
to keep all students at a semi-uniform level of learning.
This is where the value of
incorporating language learning strategy training in teaching comes
in. By arranging lesson plans and learning environments that
introduce strategies and help students practice them, a teacher can
prepare students for more successful independent learning.
In order to help myself (and anyone
else) understand these strategies better, I will be doing a series of
blog entries covering the main language learning strategies,
discussing the research, and providing tips for incorporating them in
the classroom.
Warning—this
blog entry is a rant, and as such, it's presented in such a way that
facts and objectivity are less important than observations or reason.
It is my rant against what I perceive to be linguistic injustice in
the world...or at least in the U.S: People don't care about
Spanish-speaking countries. I suspect it is a linguistic prejudice.
I grew up in an
area with a lot of Spanish speakers. I studied Spanish in high
school, and I majored in it when I went to college. In all my time
studying, however, I have felt a negativity in the attitude of many
people towards the Spanish language, the people who speak it, and the
countries that they are from.
In my experience,
learning Spanish has a “low” coolness factor. People don't learn
Spanish because it's cool—they learn it because they think they can
get a better job. A study of student's perceptions of foreign
languages showed that
“Spanish and
Portuguese were believed by fewer of the students studying them to
have cultural or literary value. In the case of Spanish, a large
number of students believed it to be easier and somewhat more
logical than other languages, but they found it low in
socio- economic, socio-political, and practical value. Again, it
appears that the view that Spanish is an easy language was a very
significant factor in the students'
choice.”
Yes, in the
higher levels of education, you will find students that genuinely
love the language. And these same students will tell you about the
beautiful literary and cultural history of Spain and Latin America.
And they will also have to keep in the disappointment when their
neighbors and friends ignorantly refer to all Hispanic-looking,
Spanish-speaking people as “Mexicans,” or “illegal aliens,”
regardless of their nationality or immigration status. Non-citizen
and illegal alien are two different things.
Spanish is the
2nd most widely spoken language in the world. There is
nearly a continent of countries that have Spanish as their official
language (and it's not like French in many African countries, where
it is the “official language,” but most people speak their
dialect as well). For the most part, people in Latin America speak
Spanish.
Why, then, are
Spanish-speaking countries mostly off our radar? Why does it seem
that things that happen in Europe, Asia, or the Middle East are a big
deal, while similar events in Latin America barely draw attention?
Example 1:
Earthquakes
In March, there
was a magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Japan. It was in the news for
weeks. There were relief efforts all over the place. In 2010, there
was a huge 8.8 quake in Chile. I remember seeing an article in the
paper the day after it happened, but really nothing else. Granted,
the death toll in Japan was way higher than in Chile, and there was
the threat of nuclear explosion from that overheating power plant. I
definitely don't mean to downplay the severity of the Japanese
tragedy.
Example 2:
Internal Violence
In Libya, under
Gaddafi, between 10,000 and 30,000 people died because of internal
violence
(Source).
It is terrible, but the UN stepped in and supported the people in
their uprising. As of June 2011, the death toll in Mexico was
somewhere between 35,000 and 40,000 from cartel violence.
(Source)
People are being terrorized, and the government hasn't been able to
do anything about it. This has been going on for at least 5 years.
Where is the UN? Where is the support? Do you think we would tell any
escaping Libyan immigrants that they needed to go back to Libya while
Gaddafi was still in power?
Not completely related to the Language aspect, but a interesting commentary (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/44647976#44647976)
Between 2003 and
2009, the US gave over $171,194 million in foreign aid to specific
countries. Of that amount, $14,802 million went to Spanish-speaking
countries in Latin America. That is about 8.6%. The U.S. gave nearly
that much the the Middle East/North Africa in 2008 alone! (Source)
There are
actually really poor examples. They can all be explained away with
other side issues, but I think they illustrate the emotional point I
am trying to make. People would rather listen to movies that they
don't understand in French, German, Japanese, Chinese, or Arabic than
in Spanish. We would rather sympathize with the problems of
malnutrition in African villages than the same problems in South
American villages. Speakers of German and French share our heritage.
Japanese and Chinese have interesting “eastern” cultures attached
to them. Arabic has the rebellious appeal of it's connection to
Islam. Africa has babies.
No one cares what
Spanish has. It is not a favored language, and as such, its speakers
and countries are marginalized in the U.S. attention span.
–
Aside from notes about the
exaggeration and the clear lack of objectivity in this rant, does anyone else have thoughts on this topic?