English Mania

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I haven't had much time to post during the beginning of the semester. I would love to share with you a great (and short) video that one of my colleagues found. It's about English mania and English as the world's second language. It is originally from TED.com, and the speaker is Jay Walker.

 

I love the focus on China, as well as his perspective on English NOT taking over the world. As an English teacher, I am all too aware of the issues of language and power. I don't want to dwell on it now (maybe in a different post); however, I think it's important to add to the conversation that English should be used as a supplement*, rather than a replacement* for one's native language.

Thanks for the link, Natalie!

P.S. I love TED.com

*supplement and replacement were vocabulary words in my ELI 082 class, and this was a "conclusion" we drew as a class while discussing English as the lingua franca.

Vocabulary Quick Tips

Vocabulary teaching quick tips from James Dunn on TESOL Connections.

Because who can't use quick tips?

Self-Directed Learning

I just read a great article about self-directed learning from the TESOL blog. It's Self-Directed Learning: Personal Speaking Plans for Adult ELLs, by Alexandra Dylan Lowe. There are some great ideas about helping students become more self-directed. I think I will start to implement some of these ideas into my grammar classes because oral communication isn't just for speaking and listening classes! 

I especially like the Pemex Parable and Personal Speaking Plan, which could be adapted into a personal reading plan, too! Thoughts? Has anybody ever done anything like this before?

End of Semester Reflection

As the end of the semester draws to an end, I would like to reflect on what I've learned this year:

Planning makes life easier.

(Disclaimer: I am a planner and an organizer. It makes me feel comfortable, and if you aren't a planner, what follows may sound like madness you! )

The classes for which I did most of the planning before the semester started ended up being less and better work in the long run. Moments of genius 5 minutes before class sometimes happen, which result in an amazing lesson; however, those are few and far between. When I know what I need to accomplish for the day, week, month, I find that I am better able to hone my lesson plan to meet my students' needs and the course's objectives. I like having a long-term plan, and even though it always changes after the first week of class, I think it's important to have a goal for the course's timing and schedule. This makes life easier and the lessons better.

It's important to listen to the students.

Sometimes it's just whining, but sometimes it's valuable advice and commentary. They're the audience... it's important to listen and respond to them.

Grading will still be there tomorrow.

After some wonderful conversations with my colleagues, Danielle and Natalie, I have realized that all grading doesn't necessarily need to be finished that night. It's not always (or usually?) necessary to get two hours of sleep when I have to teach the next morning. Because, of course, it will be there tomorrow!

It's important to have a sense of humor.

While I love laughing, I am naturally inclined to seriousness. Sometimes I have to remember to lighten up a bit. There's a running joke in one of my classes that I always keep them late and that they never get out early. I always look at the clock, astonished that we only have 10 more minutes! I've embraced it and have learned to laugh about it, too.

Lower level ESL students often don't understand jokes (due to language and cultural differences), but I've been trying to make more jokes (OK friends, I know how you feel about my jokes...) and laugh. It's also fun to see which students laugh and when they start to "get it."

Speaking of jokes, here' s a good one I saw on Facebook (Thanks, Gracielle!): What are Santa's elves called?

Answer: Subordinate clauses

Here's another, of my own: What do you call Mrs. Claus after she decides to leave Santa?

Answer: Independent Clause

OK, so maybe my sense of humor is why students don't laugh at my jokes...

Reflection is important

I never really had students reflect much after the courses are over. I am usually too worried about getting through everything to provide an opportunity to reflect. However, I highly value reflection, so I decided to incorporate it into the last day of my writing course. They wrote a letter to future students explaining what they learned, what they would have done differently, what they are glad they did, and any advice they had. The results were thoughtful, funny, and well-organized (the importance of this cannot be understated). I was amazed at their self-evaluation and insight into their actions. They actually advised future students to do all of the homework (they didn't always), to trust that what the teacher has them do will make them better writers,  to go to the Writing Center, and to participate in class. I was thrilled with the results and so very proud of their accomplishments. 


Sometimes I feel as though I learn more than my students in a given day or semester, which is making me into a better teacher (I think). I hope to be able to post more during winter break, as I won't have lesson planning, teaching, and grading to fill my time! 

Scene from "The Miracle Worker"

The "water" scene from The Miracle Worker is a great way to introduce the power of language.

 

My writing students are going to be writing literary autobiographies (autobiographies of their literary, written, reading, and spoken, experience), and I am going to show this video as an introduction to the theme of literacy and the power of language. There is also a nice quotation in our textbook from Helen Keller's biography The Day Language Came into My Life, which shows how powerful this moment was in her life:

"I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of [Annie's] fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness of something forgotten--a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of languaeg was revealed to me. I knoew then that "w-a-t-e-r" meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. The living world awakened my soul, gave light, hope, job, set it free... I left the well-house eager to learn. Everything had a name, and each name gave a birth to new thought. As we returned to the house, every object which I touched seemed to quiver with life. That was because I saw everything with the strange, new sight that had come to me" (p. 122-3).

I wonder if my students ever had this "realization" in English. Does anybody remember a feeling like this with learning another language? Did it ever just "hit" you and you "got" it?

Awesome Grammar Video!

Check out this awesome video about grammar made by my students for a class project. They're amazingly creative!

Using Dictionary Entries Creatively

When I was a kid, I always asked my mom how to spell a word I didn't know. If I ever asked my dad, he'd say, "Look it up [in the dictionary]!" And my mom always just told me how to spell it. It seemed silly to me (as an elementary and middle school student) to search through a dictionary to find a word that I didn't know how to spell. I think my exact response was, "But if I don't know how to spell it, how can I look it up?!?!" Even at a young age, I was fighting with the illogical spelling of English words. That said, now I'm not a bad speller, despite my whining and utter refusal to learn spelling "rules." (i after e except after c? double the letter when adding -ing with some words but not others?? I wasn't buying it...)

I recognize now, as a teacher, how wise my father was with his encouraging my sister and I to use a dictionary for our questions. I am so comfortable using a dictionary, I used to take it for granted, but as an ESL teacher, I realize how difficult they are to use, especially for students with different alphabets (or no alphabet!) in their native languages. That is why I believe it's important to incorporate as much dictionary work as possible into class work.

Today I'd like to share an easy way to get students used to looking and reading dictionary entries. It is also a good way to teach/enforce word parts (suffix, root, prefix). Before I use this with students, I will do a few dictionary lessons and practice activities, so that they know what they're looking at. For more advanced students who already have a working knowledge of dictionaries, you may be able to skip this step. However, I never assume a student can decipher an entry...

 

First, I take dictionary entries and cut them into slips for each word. This includes the word, pronunciation, part of speech, whether or not it is an academic word, and the definitions (I like to include all definitions, unless they're really long). I use ESL dictionary entries, as they are made specifically for our students.

 

When choosing which words to use, I like to focus on prefixes, suffixes, and roots. I try to get a variety, which means I may have 2-4 entries with the parts that we've been exposed to from any readings or listenings we're encountered. For example: pre- (see above), -tion (see below), -cre-, ex-, phon-, or whatever you'd like to use, really. How how many word parts you want the students exposed to or how many students you have will determine how many entries to make. My higher level students usually have 15-20 students, so I have made a lot. This allows me to vary the entries I'm using.

After you have your entries, you can be really creative in how you use them in the classroom. The first thing I did with a group was to give each student a slip and have them find somebody who had the same prefix or suffix or root as he/she did. Then they would have to identify how they matched, i.e. they have the same suffix (for prediction and creation, -tion) or same root (for incredible and credit, -cred-). After they have told me how they match, they move onto the next activity or whatever I want them to do. After getting students exposed to this method, I then use it as a way to partner them up. This takes out the decision making from the students or myself--it's random. AND they're getting accustomed to reading dictionary entries!

Now I am the one saying, "Look it up in the dictionary!"

I will post more later about different dictionary activities, but this one is fun and creative. Does anybody else utilize this method? Something similar? I'd love to hear new ideas!