A summary of the Luke Prodromou presentation
by Michelle Dowding
Prodromou has conducted research on language teaching expertise; his ultimate goal being to determine what exactly is a ‘good teacher’ and what qualities good teachers possess. It is suggested that a logical place to start is to think of one’s own educational experiences and to remember your favorite teacher. Just think about this for a minute. What kind of person was this teacher? What qualities did he/she possess? Don’t stop there. Anyone that has been a source of inspiration in your life can be a good resource for the classroom, whether it’s Shakespeare, Mozart, your favorite author, actor, friend or family member. The key is to identify what exactly makes these people inspirational and how this can be transmitted to the students.
Prodromou proceeds to investigate by conducting an on-line survey which includes data from various teachers throughout Europe. Teachers were asked to define what they believed to be a good teacher. This resulted in interesting theories, as teachers themselves opened up to share their opinions, theories and experiences. It was stated that a good teacher should be supportive, especially when students have to take a difficult exam. A good teacher is strict up to a point and at the same time so patient. A good teacher is calm, open, and sympathetic and can discuss anything. It is the job of the teacher to get the students to open up and speak. This may not be an easy task but if you can find out what the ‘shy’ student is passionate about the transformation can be amazing. The data indicated that a good teacher was: kind, patient, friendly, interesting, enthusiastic, able to explain well, have a good sense of humor and talked about other things outside the classroom.
Subsequently the next step was to find out what exactly a good teacher does. Data showed that good teachers: explain things simply at a reasonable rate, going step by step, using examples, pausing to ask students if they have questions and allow students to contribute their personal knowledge. Good teachers don’t move on but patiently go over repeat things that are not understood.
So does this mean that becoming good teacher is a simple formula of good qualities plus criteria of good things to do? Not necessarily, Prodromou suggests other qualities which “expert teachers’ posses often come from experience. These so called experts possess knowledge derived from the classroom, such as learning about typical student behaviors, using this knowledge to make predictions about what might happen and knowing a lot about their students before they even meet them. An expert teacher knows how to manage the class with routines and other techniques which have be learned, this allows freedom to focus on the class content rather than management issues. Interactive decision making is also important.
Prodromou’s final point was RAP, which stands for rapport, attitude and presence. These are qualities which he considers to be invaluable in a teacher. The absence of RAP cannot be replaced with educational knowledge and appropriate conduct. So walk into your classroom and think RAP and you might just inspire your students as you were once inspired by your favorite teacher.
Monday, 22 February 2010
Thursday, 18 February 2010
MOTIVATING and CHALLENGING ADVANCED BUSINESS ENGLISH LEARNERS
by Rachel Appleby
Although the title of this workshop seemed to indicate that the speaker would be addressing techniques to motivate advanced students, in reality she spoke to the audience about a series of activities which may be engaging for learners. Here are two of the most interesting that came up:
1. Sentence starters
e.g. If I wasn’t a teacher, [I’d be a... because....]
Not many people know that I’m particularly interested in...
By this time next year, [I’ll have...]
If I didn’t have to work to earn money, [I’d...]
One of my most memorable experiences is...
Put these on the board (decide if you want to elicit/give the continuing structure in [] brackets), and give students slips of paper, asking them to choose and complete three of them. Then get them to share and discuss their full sentences in small groups. Elicit feedback on the more interesting ideas.
2. Skills: freer-speaking activity. Breaking down a topic.
To give us an example of ‘breaking down a topic’, the speaker took the example of the topic of ‘sport’. She explained that ‘sport’ may not be particularly interesting to some students but by ‘breaking down’ the subject, it may be presented from different angles.
For example, for ‘sport and leisure’, the following questions may be written on pieces of paper for students to discuss in small groups:
a.Is a global event like the Olympic Games more about politics and money than sport itself?
b.Are hobbies only for people who have too much leisure time?
c. Is formula 1 motor racing really a sport?
d. Who is your country’s most famous sportsperson? How are they a reflection of national identity?
e.Which sports are most popular in your country?
Although the title of this workshop seemed to indicate that the speaker would be addressing techniques to motivate advanced students, in reality she spoke to the audience about a series of activities which may be engaging for learners. Here are two of the most interesting that came up:
1. Sentence starters
e.g. If I wasn’t a teacher, [I’d be a... because....]
Not many people know that I’m particularly interested in...
By this time next year, [I’ll have...]
If I didn’t have to work to earn money, [I’d...]
One of my most memorable experiences is...
Put these on the board (decide if you want to elicit/give the continuing structure in [] brackets), and give students slips of paper, asking them to choose and complete three of them. Then get them to share and discuss their full sentences in small groups. Elicit feedback on the more interesting ideas.
2. Skills: freer-speaking activity. Breaking down a topic.
To give us an example of ‘breaking down a topic’, the speaker took the example of the topic of ‘sport’. She explained that ‘sport’ may not be particularly interesting to some students but by ‘breaking down’ the subject, it may be presented from different angles.
For example, for ‘sport and leisure’, the following questions may be written on pieces of paper for students to discuss in small groups:
a.Is a global event like the Olympic Games more about politics and money than sport itself?
b.Are hobbies only for people who have too much leisure time?
c. Is formula 1 motor racing really a sport?
d. Who is your country’s most famous sportsperson? How are they a reflection of national identity?
e.Which sports are most popular in your country?
Pronunciation - 10 Rules I Want My Students To Know
This workshop was presented by Brian Brennan, a senior teacher at International House, and attempted not only to demonstrate the importance of pronunciation in students’ language learning but also to provide teachers with some tools with which to help them.
As is the fashion at the moment the workshop was based around a numerical theme, this time 10 rules...
The following lists the 6 most practical points.
Brian’s Rules ( better perhaps, ‘language points’, as there are no actual rules).
1) What does stressing a syllable really mean?
Stressing a syllable can actually mean a number of different things but students should be made aware of the following aspects.
1) The voice rises towards the stressed syllable
2) The stressed syllable is pronounced for longer
3) The volume of the voice goes up
4) There is a change in the pitch of the voice after the syllable.
Brian suggested that work raising awareness of these points and practicing in class can significantly improve the student’s intelligibility, as imperfect word stress often leads to incomprehension in the listener even if the word elected by the student is the correct one.
2) People out there will often misunderstand unexpected pronunciation.
Following on from the last point, this statement in fact works both ways. ‘People out there’ will indeed misunderstand, but as importantly, students will misunderstand other English speakers who are pronouncing correctly.
3) The past simple regular verb -ed ending has 3 possible sounds.
Which is the one that is really different? When does it occur? Probably the least integrated language point for students. This part of the lecture focused on the /ɪd/ ending and suggested the students recognise the extra syllable and from that use the /ɪd/ sound. There was no mention of the more fundamental aspect of students’ understanding of voiced and unvoiced consonant sounds.
4) Consonant + vowel + consonant + ‘e’.
This was a useful reminder that when we add an -e to a single syllable word the vowel sound in the word lengthens. For example; hat / hate, pal / pale. A good exercise is to get students to write a number of these short words and to experiment with the changes in vowel sound.
5) Doubling the final consonant.
Similar to above, but in this case the doubling of an end consonant shortens the preceding vowel.
6) A group of words often sounds like just one chunk.
In the same way that students can learn common phrases and sentences (lexical chunking) so to for pronunciation. Words are rarely used in isolation and so it can be extremely beneficial for students to hear how groups of words sound together, which is often quite different to what students might expect if they’d only studied the written form.
As is the fashion at the moment the workshop was based around a numerical theme, this time 10 rules...
The following lists the 6 most practical points.
Brian’s Rules ( better perhaps, ‘language points’, as there are no actual rules).
1) What does stressing a syllable really mean?
Stressing a syllable can actually mean a number of different things but students should be made aware of the following aspects.
1) The voice rises towards the stressed syllable
2) The stressed syllable is pronounced for longer
3) The volume of the voice goes up
4) There is a change in the pitch of the voice after the syllable.
Brian suggested that work raising awareness of these points and practicing in class can significantly improve the student’s intelligibility, as imperfect word stress often leads to incomprehension in the listener even if the word elected by the student is the correct one.
2) People out there will often misunderstand unexpected pronunciation.
Following on from the last point, this statement in fact works both ways. ‘People out there’ will indeed misunderstand, but as importantly, students will misunderstand other English speakers who are pronouncing correctly.
3) The past simple regular verb -ed ending has 3 possible sounds.
Which is the one that is really different? When does it occur? Probably the least integrated language point for students. This part of the lecture focused on the /ɪd/ ending and suggested the students recognise the extra syllable and from that use the /ɪd/ sound. There was no mention of the more fundamental aspect of students’ understanding of voiced and unvoiced consonant sounds.
4) Consonant + vowel + consonant + ‘e’.
This was a useful reminder that when we add an -e to a single syllable word the vowel sound in the word lengthens. For example; hat / hate, pal / pale. A good exercise is to get students to write a number of these short words and to experiment with the changes in vowel sound.
5) Doubling the final consonant.
Similar to above, but in this case the doubling of an end consonant shortens the preceding vowel.
6) A group of words often sounds like just one chunk.
In the same way that students can learn common phrases and sentences (lexical chunking) so to for pronunciation. Words are rarely used in isolation and so it can be extremely beneficial for students to hear how groups of words sound together, which is often quite different to what students might expect if they’d only studied the written form.
Make pronunciation physical, visible, audible! A multi-experience approach
1. A physical side of teaching pronunciation has developed that includes putting students in touch with their muscles so that pronunciation is not just a mental activity, but a visible and physical one that students can feel.
2. The sounds have been organized into a phonemic chart (based on symbols used by dictionaries) that includes a geographic design to show how to get the sound.
3. Pronunciation has been demystified so that it is no longer part of a ´black box´ that both teachers and students are afraid to enter.
Following these breakthroughs, Adrian also proposed three breakaway ideas for the future of pronunciation teaching:
1. Mistakes to be seen as a gift where they provide the journey for teaching.
2. Work with the whole system all at once. As opposed to isolating a single sounds or focusing on minimal pairs during one lesson, Adrian argued that students need to learn the sounds all at once, as all vowels affect each other. He highlighted three levels of student progress when using the entire phonemic chart:
a. sounds in isolation
b. bonding the sounds together to make words
c. words together to make connected speech (including such things as rhythm, intonation, etc.)
3. A reduction in repetition without purpose in pronunciation teaching (no more time consuming habit formation)
By using gestures and facial expressions, teachers can begin to get their learners to make the sounds on the chart. This also includes placement of the tongue and jaw to change the different sounds produced. Students can then feel and see their muscles working.
Adrian suggested not only using the chart with entire class, but also with individual students in front of the class. He says students need to get up to the board and get over their fears or embarrassment, and once they do, the real learning can begin. There are four different ways he mentioned to work with individual learners using the chart and a pointer:
1. Teacher has pointer and points to a sound. Student says sound.
2. Teacher has pointer and Student says sound. Teacher points to sound.
3. Student has pointer and points to a sound. Teacher says sound.
4. Student has pointer and Teacher says sound. Student points to sound .
While the teacher is working with this individual learner, the other learners in the class will be engaged with what is happening, and can also make contributions to keep their attention as well.
Adrian also mentioned the interactive phonemic chart on onestopenglish.com as a useful resource that I have included the link for here.
I found the session to be informative, interactive and completely worthwhile. If you ever get the chance to attend a seminar given by Adrian Underhill, I would highly recommend you go to it!
Wednesday, 4 March 2009
Preparing Students for Trinity Exams
Preparing Students for Trinity Oral Exams
As many of your of your students will be taking the Trinity exam this year, we are invited Lisa Inskipp-Hawkins, from Trinity College, to the school to give us a training session on exactly what the exam involves and how to prepare your students. Here is a summary of what we learned.
- Why should we recommend the Trinity exams to our students?
- How to choose a level for your student
- What the teacher and student need to know about the exam
- How to integrate exam preparation into your lesson
Why a Trinity Exam?
- Because they are useful and realistic. Nobody will ever ask if you can do a gap-fill in a real life situation, you will be asked if you can carry out a conversation, respond to a request, give information etc. This is what the Trinity Oral Exams help students learn.
- An objective like this will get them taking their course seriously and working towards a goal
- They will continue on with you until the end of the year – good for the students and good for the school
- It will give them an internationally recognized title, improving their job opportunities
- As you will see from the information here, preparing a student for a Trinity exam isn’t about teaching them exam skills, it’s about teaching them communication skills. Exactly what we should be doing in class anyway! Even students who aren’t going to take the exam will benefit from doing the activities suggested here.
- You will get 5% for each student who you get to sign up!
So, you’ve convinced your students to take the exam.
Now what?!
How to decide which level your student should do:
There is a Trinity exam for every level so every student can do one. Here is a rough guide to the levels…
Beginner: Grade 1 & 2
Elementary: Grade 3
Pre-Intermediate: Grade 4
Intermediate: Grade 5 & 6
Upper-Intermediate: Grade 7, 8 & 9
Advanced: Grade 10 & 11
Proficiency: Grade 12
The Trinity Syllabus has very detailed information about each level, including the grammar, lexis, and type of discourse the student needs to be able to use. The information they provide will help you make the right choice for your student.
Become familiar with each stage and what the student is required to do.
Initial level – grades 1-3: Only conversation
Elementary level – grades 4-6: conversation and topic
Intermediate level – grades 7-9: conversation, topic and interactive
Advanced level – grades 10-12: conversation, topic, interactive and listening
Detailed information is available in the Trinity Syllabus.
Make sure the students know what is required from the level they will be doing.
Create a handout* for your students with the information about the level they are doing. You can take this straight from the Trinity Syllabus. It could include:
- Format of the exam (total time, the parts of the exam)
- Communicative skills
- Functions
- Grammar
- Lexis
Description of the different parts of the exam relevant to their level (i.e. a description of what happens in the conversation task, the topic, the interactive task, etc.)
* A handout like this would also be a great way of convincing your students that the exam is obtainable and worth doing.
Preparing THE TOPIC:
Brainstorm topics with students, have them come up with the idea. It can be ANY topic which interests the student. They should all choose their own topic.
Remember: Students are NOT graded on their knowledge of the topic, they are graded on knowledge of language. Make sure they have enough vocabulary to talk about their topic.
Suggestion: Use Wikipedia in Spanish and English to look at vocabulary and find “false friends” that students might not be aware of, or be tempted to use.
Teachers often spend too much time on preparing the topic section and not enough on the other sections. Careful not to “over-prepare” so students lose interest in topic.
Make sure the students don’t memorize or recite at the exam, they should only have notes and speak freely.
Suggestion: Prepare topic 3 months before exam, take topic away from students, give back 1 month before the exam, work on it again.
Create exam situation in class where students practice their topic with each other. Remind students not to correct every basic mistake but focus on the language necessary for the particular level.
Remember: It is allowed, even recommended, that the students bring pictures, graphs, objects etc. to the exam. Animals and dangerous objects are not permitted.
Preparing THE INTERACTIVE & CONVERSATION part:
Think of grammar, function and lexis for the level.
Brainstorm – what could the examiner possible ask? Have the students come up with the questions.
Practice initiating, maintaining and ending a conversation.
REMEMBER:
It is OK for student to check the question is understood correctly:
So what you’re saying is…
What (exactly) do you mean by…
NOT: Can you repeat, please, Sorry, I don’t understand
It is OK to use phrases to gain time:
Well, umm…
Let me think…
I’m thinking…
Give me a moment…
It is OK to steer away from the question if the student doesn’t feel comfortable talking about the specific question, as long as they stay within the topic chosen by the examiner:
I don’t know much about this, but did you know that…
Hmm, this I’m not sure about, but I’ve read/heard that…
Students will NOT lose points for using grammar, function or lexis from higher levels incorrectly. This is the chance for the students to show off what they know.
Students are NOT judged or graded on their opinion. They do not have to agree with the examiner.
Students and examiner should be at the same level during the interactive part. The students should be able to carry out a proper conversation, ask relevant questions, comment on what is said, give explanations etc.
Practice asking questions with the students so they know how the interactive part should be.
Remember: The student should NOT be doing all the talking in these parts, it should be a flowing conversation where the student asks questions as well.
Students should be aware of language required for their particular level, and should be able to read from the examiners questions which language production is asked for, eg. 3rd conditional, passive voice, etc
Sunday, 15 February 2009
Teaching spoken English means more grammar not less. Workshop
Teaching spoken English means more grammar – not less!
(The importance of boardwork)
This session was presented by Hugh Dellar, who takes a very practical approach to teaching and who draws extensively on his personal teaching experience.
His objective was to reinforce his views that all language used in the classroom must be authentic if students are to be given the chance of speaking English naturally.
This belief is tested most palpably when discussing grammar, where traditional grammar explanations and exercises can be anything but authentic.
A practical test for teachers to use when thinking about using or explaining a language point in the classroom is;
Who would use this language? (in a real life situation)
When would they use this language? (in a real life situation)
Why would they use this language? (in a real life situation)
Hugh also believes that any language should be presented in both context and co-text and suggests that the humble whiteboard (along with our own brain) is a powerful teaching devise.
Practically, our boardwork should make clear the CONTEXT in which the language is used - the situations, the purpose and the reasons.
The CO-TEXT is the other language that is often used with or around the language point that you’re teaching.
We should therefore never present items of language in isolation, but integrate them into meaningful and authentic settings / situations / sentences, for example, mini dialogues. So;
Decide on the CONTEXT of the words (how they are used in the conversation.)
Decide what the CO-TEXT is. (other associated words or phrases)
Decide what explanation you’ll give Ss.
Decide what extra examples you’d write on the board to clarify and consolidate usage.
Putting the above points into practice;
The extra language makes it easier for students - it provides more scaffolding and clarifies meaning
Longer examples covertly recycle grammar
They aid understanding
They take into account different speeds of learners
They’re easier to test and recycle
They provide a bridge between the book and the real world.
Hugh Dellar can be reached at hughdellar@mac.com
(The importance of boardwork)
This session was presented by Hugh Dellar, who takes a very practical approach to teaching and who draws extensively on his personal teaching experience.
His objective was to reinforce his views that all language used in the classroom must be authentic if students are to be given the chance of speaking English naturally.
This belief is tested most palpably when discussing grammar, where traditional grammar explanations and exercises can be anything but authentic.
A practical test for teachers to use when thinking about using or explaining a language point in the classroom is;
Who would use this language? (in a real life situation)
When would they use this language? (in a real life situation)
Why would they use this language? (in a real life situation)
Hugh also believes that any language should be presented in both context and co-text and suggests that the humble whiteboard (along with our own brain) is a powerful teaching devise.
Practically, our boardwork should make clear the CONTEXT in which the language is used - the situations, the purpose and the reasons.
The CO-TEXT is the other language that is often used with or around the language point that you’re teaching.
We should therefore never present items of language in isolation, but integrate them into meaningful and authentic settings / situations / sentences, for example, mini dialogues. So;
Decide on the CONTEXT of the words (how they are used in the conversation.)
Decide what the CO-TEXT is. (other associated words or phrases)
Decide what explanation you’ll give Ss.
Decide what extra examples you’d write on the board to clarify and consolidate usage.
Putting the above points into practice;
The extra language makes it easier for students - it provides more scaffolding and clarifies meaning
Longer examples covertly recycle grammar
They aid understanding
They take into account different speeds of learners
They’re easier to test and recycle
They provide a bridge between the book and the real world.
Hugh Dellar can be reached at hughdellar@mac.com
Listening: a learner-centred approach
Listening - A learner centred approach
‘Receptive skills are key in the acquisition of a second language. The better learners are at listening in particular, the more they are able to notice language and learn from input.’
The two important areas discussed in this session given by Vaila Goodrige were; Task authenticity and difficulty.
According to Vaila ‘Task authenticity determines the success of the listening’. Basically when setting a listening task, ask yourself ‘Why would I listen to this?’
Pre-listening discussions can dramatically improve comprehension as well as providing a reason to listen.
Predicting answers to comprehension questions confirms or revises students’ ideas.
Different learning styles can be catered for by asking students to carry out practical tasks whilst listening. For example, labelling a diagram.
Most students love to hear about their teacher’s experiences, and this can provide a rich source of listening input. Students remember far more effectively stories or input when it is personal and authentic.
Setting the appropriate level of difficulty for students is important both for language development and student motivation.
It is the effort (or work) required that takes the student from their present cognitive level to the internalization of the new target language.
However, it has been shown that success in a task improves motivation and hence learning. So teacher mediation in the listening is vital to ensure student success.
Some practical activities from the session;
Awareness raising – Students underline all the instances of a particular language feature that has been predetermined by the teacher.
Gap fill or cloze – You can choose to give the students the words or not depending on your aims, the students’ level and the difficulty of the listening material.
Dictogloss – This is a progressive exercise where students listen to a short extract several times without writing anything down. As individuals they then write down what they believe they heard, they then compare in pairs and finally in larger groups before checking the group text against the original.
Dictation – Play a sentence several times while students write the sentences. Students compare their sentences with their partners and then read them back to the teacher, who boards their answers. Leave spaces for words that have not been understood and play the recording until the students can fill in all the gaps.
Reading aloud – After a pronunciation focus it can be very useful to have students read the text aloud to their partner in order to practise the relevant features of pronunciation.
‘Receptive skills are key in the acquisition of a second language. The better learners are at listening in particular, the more they are able to notice language and learn from input.’
The two important areas discussed in this session given by Vaila Goodrige were; Task authenticity and difficulty.
According to Vaila ‘Task authenticity determines the success of the listening’. Basically when setting a listening task, ask yourself ‘Why would I listen to this?’
Pre-listening discussions can dramatically improve comprehension as well as providing a reason to listen.
Predicting answers to comprehension questions confirms or revises students’ ideas.
Different learning styles can be catered for by asking students to carry out practical tasks whilst listening. For example, labelling a diagram.
Most students love to hear about their teacher’s experiences, and this can provide a rich source of listening input. Students remember far more effectively stories or input when it is personal and authentic.
Setting the appropriate level of difficulty for students is important both for language development and student motivation.
It is the effort (or work) required that takes the student from their present cognitive level to the internalization of the new target language.
However, it has been shown that success in a task improves motivation and hence learning. So teacher mediation in the listening is vital to ensure student success.
Some practical activities from the session;
Awareness raising – Students underline all the instances of a particular language feature that has been predetermined by the teacher.
Gap fill or cloze – You can choose to give the students the words or not depending on your aims, the students’ level and the difficulty of the listening material.
Dictogloss – This is a progressive exercise where students listen to a short extract several times without writing anything down. As individuals they then write down what they believe they heard, they then compare in pairs and finally in larger groups before checking the group text against the original.
Dictation – Play a sentence several times while students write the sentences. Students compare their sentences with their partners and then read them back to the teacher, who boards their answers. Leave spaces for words that have not been understood and play the recording until the students can fill in all the gaps.
Reading aloud – After a pronunciation focus it can be very useful to have students read the text aloud to their partner in order to practise the relevant features of pronunciation.
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