English Teaching Professional 59 Nov 2008

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www.etprofessional.com T EACHING E NGLISH E NGLISH T EACHING professional professional Issue 59 November 2008 • practical methodology • fresh ideas & innovations • classroom resources • new technology • teacher development • tips & techniques • photocopiable materials • competitions & reviews The Leading Practical Magazine For English Language Teachers Worldwide The write stuff Viv Midlane The sudden specialist Robin Walker Managing the very young Joanna Gruchala See you at the coffee stand! Darren Elliott

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Transcript of English Teaching Professional 59 Nov 2008

Page 1: English Teaching Professional 59 Nov 2008

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TEACHINGENGLISHENGLISHTEACHINGprofessionalprofessional

Issue 59 November

2008

• practical methodology

• fresh ideas & innovations

• classroom resources

• new technology

• teacher development

• tips & techniques

• photocopiable materials

• competitions & reviews

The Leading Practical Magazine For English Language Teachers Worldwide

The write stuffViv Midlane

The sudden specialistRobin Walker

Managing the very youngJoanna Gruchala

See you at the coffee stand!Darren Elliott

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MAIN FEATURE

THE WRITE STUFF 4Viv Midlane puts the case for reassessing our attitude to student writing

FEATURES

A TOOLKIT FOR TEACHERS 8Stephanie Hirschman offers some multi-functional lesson plans for teaching the four skills

DOG DAYS 12William Chaves Gomes slots in some spontaneous language practice

RUDE STUDENTS 16Paul Bress gives advice on dealing with the socially challenged

PHONEMIC PLAYING CARDS 18Paul Charles creates a playful resource for teaching pronunciation

I THINK, THEREFORE I LEARN 2 28Tessa Woodward looks at the questions teachers ask

A PROCESS APPROACH TO 29TEACHING CULTUREGuo Yan wants to meet her students’ needs andexpectations

DIFFERENTIATION 2 36Doug Evans lists some practical ways to provide different activities for different learners

TEACHING YOUNG LEARNERS

MANAGING THE VERY YOUNG 23Joanna Gruchala tackles the challenge of very young children

BUSINESS ENGLISH PROFESSIONAL

THE SUDDEN SPECIALIST 34Robin Walker offers comfort for teachers working within other people’s fields of expertise

TEACHER DEVELOPMENT

PLUS ÇA CHANGE 46Peter Wells reflects on a letter he wrote 25 years ago and on how not much has changed since then

SEE YOU AT THE COFFEE STAND! 49Darren Elliott has some sensible suggestions for attending conferences

TECHNOLOGY

WICKED WIKIS 52Margaret Horrigan shows how teachers can unleash the power of the wiki

USING WEBQUESTS 55Carina Grisolía demonstrates the benefits of internet-based projects

WEBWATCHER 57Russell Stannard suggests there are many more ways to use YouTube than you may think

REGULAR FEATURES

ACTIVITY CORNER: 25THREE PROBLEM-SOLVING ACTIVITIESJon Marks

PREPARING TO TEACH ... 38CouldJohn Potts

EYE ON THE CLASSROOM: 50OBSERVATION BY CHECKLISTJohn Hughes

NORMAN’S HAT 59Rose Senior

IT WORKS IN PRACTICE 40

REVIEWS 42

SCRAPBOOK 44

COMPETITIONS 39, 60

INTERNATIONAL SUBSCRIPTION FORM 58

Includes materials designed to photocopy

Contents

• www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 59 November 2008 • 1

Contents

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Editorial

[email protected]

Helena GommEditor

TEACHINGENGLISHENGLISHTEACHINGprofessionalprofessional

Editorial

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© 2008, Keyways Publishing Ltd

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Pages 21–22, 25–27, 38–39, 44–45 and 50–51 include materials which are designed to photocopy. All other rights are reserved and no part ofthis publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted without prior permission in writing from the publishers.

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Several of the articles in this issue reflect the

influence that other people have had on the

writers, once again demonstrating how helpful it

is when we share our ideas with fellow teachers.

Paul Charles was inspired by Adrian Underhill’s

wonderfully logical layout of the phoneme chart to

create a series of playing cards which will help students

understand how to pronounce the various sounds. We

have provided some photocopiable blanks so that you

can create your own. (Incidentally, in the Reviewssection you will find information about some

commercially available cards for children showing the

mouth positions in the form of monsters.)

Darren Elliott finds inspiration every time he attends an

ELT conference, while William Chaves Gomes had his

notion of the teacher’s role in the classroom turned

around by exposure to the idea of Dogme, as

propounded by Scott Thornbury. He now includes a

‘Dogme slot’ in his lessons where all the language input

comes from the students and their needs.

For Guo Yan, too, it is the students themselves who

provide the inspiration. Concerned that culture courses

were not giving the students exactly what they needed

or expected, she conducted a survey to find out how

best their expectations could be fulfilled.

Peter Wells’s muse is himself, or, more accurately, his

younger self. He has discovered a letter he wrote as an

assignment during a teacher training course, which

reflected teaching styles and methodologies of the day.

Curiously, some things don’t seem that different from

what happens in classrooms today, nearly 25 years

later!

Finally, our three contributors to the Technology section

enter the ultimate space for sharing information and

ideas: the web.

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The write

stuff

M A I N F E A T U R E

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The write

stuffViv Midlane champions student writing.

As is often the case, it beganwith accountants. Around6,000 years ago, inMesopotamia, trade and

commerce evolved to a point whereinformation became too complex to beretained in any one individual’smemory, and so it needed recording toput it beyond dispute. The ancientbookkeepers hit on the idea of keepingrecords using a stylus to make marks insoft clay tablets. By doing so, theyaccidentally invented history, consideredto be the tracing of man’s developmentseen through the evidence of writtenrecords.

Writing moved slowly from earlyinventories and manifests into therealms of the imagination and ofcreativity. Around the third century BC,the Epic of Gilgamesh was recorded onclay tablets, the oldest example ofwritten poetry to survive. Gilgamesh isthe written record of an older oraltradition, the epic learnt and relearnt bygenerations of storytellers, to be recitedto new audiences. Maybe those ancientbards saw the writing down ofGilgamesh as heralding a worrying newtechnology, a threat to their traditionalworking practices!

Across the centuries the mechanicsof writing, the process by whichreadable marks are made on a medium,also developed. The Egyptians wereusing papyrus by the third century BC,with modern paper being developed inChina two centuries later. Ink has asimilarly ancient history, traceable tosixth-century China. But for millenniathe only means for a permanent recordto be made of people’s lives andspiritual aspirations, or their businesstransactions, was through the laboriousprocess of hand copying. This changedaround the year 1440, when JohannesGutenberg established his printing pressat Strasbourg. Now, what had beenwritten could be duplicated and passedamongst many readers. Despiteattempts to put this genie back in itsbottle, mankind had set out on the pathto mass literacy.

A change in practiceAnyone over 40 has witnessed massivechanges in the mechanics of writing. Isometimes tell my English for AcademicPurposes (EAP) students about theprocess of writing an assignment as anundergraduate student in the early

1980s. I explain that I would plan theassignment, then write a first draft,check it and edit it. I then started again,rewriting a fair draft on fresh paper,which was then handed in. All this byhand, on lined A4 paper with aballpoint pen. I had a permanent calluswhere the pen rubbed against my finger.At one stage I acquired a manualtypewriter, but gave up using it becauseevery time I made a mistake I had toretype the whole page.

This process contrasts with howword-processing allows us to write. Formodern students, the delineation ofstages in the writing process is not fixedin the way it was for pre-ICTgenerations. Today we still teach EAPstudents the model of generating ideasthrough brainstorming, making a plan,writing a first draft, checking andediting before writing a final draft. Butin practice, with word-processing, these

stages tend to flow into each other;brainstorming with free writing or themaking of lists evolves into an outline;outline points expand into paragraphs;we juggle these about, experimenting tofind a logical and consistent sequence ofideas and information; we keep writinguntil we have nothing more to say andall our points have been made, or, morelikely for most students, we’vecompleted the required number ofwords. After we’ve filled the blankspace, we can start editing: looking forbetter ways of saying what we mean,taking out irrelevancies or repetitions,adding new points, examples or details.I suggest to my students that, becauseof this process, a piece of writing is nownever absolutely finalised in the waythat it was when handwriting meantthat late changes involved creating anentire new draft. Then, one wouldaccept the final draft as complete, its

A piece of writing is now never absolutelyfinalised in the way

that it was whenhandwriting meant that late changes

involved creating anentire new draft

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message carved as in stone. But now,where writing exists in electronic formand tweaking text is so straightforward,it is possible, indeed tempting, tocontinue tinkering indefinitely. Formodern students, as for people whowrite for a living, only the approach ofdeadlines need ever end this process.

I could also tell my students howgiving every employee access to word-processing changed the world of work. Icould explain how in my first job, whenI needed to write a letter to a client, Ihad to pass a hand-written draft to thetyping pool. The typed version wouldreturn for signature three days later, bywhich time, invariably, the client hadphoned, circumstances had changed,and the letter was never sent. I suspectmy students listen to this stuffindulgently, much as I did to mygrandfather’s stories of seeing the firstmotor car in his village. Today’s officeworkers not only do their own typing,but that letter never even gets printed; itgoes out as an email.

A change in paceThe psychology of writing has alsochanged with the mechanics of how wemake marks to record information,thoughts or ideas. I’m writing thisarticle using voice recognition (VR)software, which I’ve used over the lastfive years or so. Voice recognition can’tproduce an exact and accuratetranscription every time, and never willbe able to. It regularly produces howlers– I cherish ‘Soul Food University’, myVR system’s invariable transcription of‘Salford University’. However, myexperience is that VR has become morereliable in recent years; it is nowpossible to dictate long passages withno transcription errors, and it isextraordinary the range of words the

system will recognise (includingGilgamesh!). I use a headset microphonefor dictation, leaving my hands free tomake corrections using the keyboard.

Using VR radically speeds up mywriting, but there is a trade-off.However fast your typing orhandwriting is, these methods of writinginvolve a time gap between formulatingideas into words and these wordsbecoming readable on screen or paper.During this gap, valuable pre-editinggoes on, with redundant ideas filteredout as they hit the bottleneck oftranscription speed. With VR, this gapis reduced to the time it takes toformulate thought into coherentlanguage and speak it, and the effortexpended in getting ideas down isreduced. As a result, I find that voicerecognition makes me overwrite; everyidea possible goes in the first draft andediting takes longer.

A change incommunicationWhether the writer is a clerk countingthe bushels of wheat in Pharaoh’sgranaries, a medieval monk copyingSaint Matthew’s gospel, anadministrator writing an email or anEFL student working with a partner tocreate a guide to the city where they’restudying, writing remains a means ofcommunication. The essential differencebetween oral and writtencommunication has always been thatwriting allowed communication betweenpeople separated in space and time.Commentators on computer-mediatedcommunication – CMC – describe thisability as asynchronous communication.New means of communication fosteredby the internet – such as online chattingor forums – have meant that we now usewriting far more for synchronous

But now, where writing exists in

electronic form andtweaking text is sostraightforward, it is possible, indeed

tempting, to continuetinkering indefinitely

The stuff of successful writing

● Free the imagination.Use visualisation techniques to getstudents writing creatively.

● Write little and often. Even in the EAP classroom, wherethe aim is to achieve competency inwriting longer pieces, studentsbenefit from frequent short writingtasks where they write one or twosentences.

● Bring writing back into theclassroom. We learn on teacher training courses that class time should be for communication. Writing iscommunication. Don’t setassignments in class and leavestudents to work in silence, but do aim to devise collaborativeclassroom writing activities.

● Make it interactive. Have students write to and for each other. For example, in abusiness English or a Skills for Lifeclass, study the language of jobadvertising and get groups to create job adverts together. Thenclass members can apply for eachother’s vacancies. Follow up thisactivity with roleplaying of interviews, then writing letters of appointment or rejection.

● Make it regular. Get students to write diaries or blogs,read them and provide feedback.

● Engage the students’ enthusiasmfor technology. Create class blogs or wikis, set task-based activities where students emaileach other or the teacher, or devise agame where no one is allowed tospeak and responses must be sent by SMS text.

● Vary formality and feedback. Apply the same approach to fluencyand accuracy in writing as you do tospeaking. Encourage communication,and pick up on systematic errors.Analyse student work regularly withthe class, looking at how featuressuch as syntax, grammar and spellingcan be improved, but do not overdothis, and never let it becomeintimidating. Audiovisual equipmentsuch as data projectors and videoOHPs are very useful for this type ofactivity, allowing you to share studentwriting with the rest of the class.

● Mark it. Setting students writing involvesasking them to put extra effort intotheir studies. Make sure that you markwork conscientiously and return itpromptly.

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[email protected]

Viv Midlane is afreelance EFL/EAPconsultant andmaterials writer whohas taught in Greece,Belgium and Italy andfor various universitiesin the UK. He iscurrently developingonline PhD study skillsmaterials for theUniversity of Salford.

communication. This is leading to thegrowth of new literacies.

If writing is such a fundamentalmeans of communication, why is it oftenignored in the communicative classroom?Of the four basic skills, why is writingthe one we are most tempted to neglect?Why do some teachers seem to believethere is something old-fashioned, evenreactionary, about teaching writing andencouraging students to write? ‘Oh, I

want to teach my students to speak,’ I’veheard teachers say. ‘My classes are about

communication. Writing gets in the way.’

Ouch. Without developing writingskills, students are not getting the fullcommunicative picture. And yet weencounter EFL teaching contexts wherestudents barely write at all: on asummer course, young students work onposters and guides, but never write afull sentence; at an executive trainingcentre, students are asked to producebullet-pointed slides for a PowerPointpresentation, but otherwise writenothing.

It may be thought that integratingwriting into the learning processincreases the workload for teachers andstudents. Sometimes we are faced withmassive teaching loads; setting and, allimportantly, conscientiously marking,student writing may seem more than wecan cope with. However, making writingpart of learning helps with workflow,indicating language areas to work on,helping with the lesson planningprocess, and providing the spark foractivities such as peer review, whichbecome part of classroom routine.

An important point we must neverforget is that not all students of Englishcome from affluent, well-educated andliterate backgrounds. ESL teachersworking in community contextsregularly encounter students who arenot literate in their first language. Theaim for these teachers may be to providesuch students with the basic mechanicsof how to write at all, rather than

assuming that these are understood, andthat writing can be part of wideninglanguage learning.

A change in attitudeWriting has another, fundamental rolein language teaching. Aside from itsinherent, communicative value, it revealsto teachers a student’s interlanguage –their emerging version of the languagebeing learnt – in ways that speech nevercan. Everybody feels exposed whenspeaking a foreign language. Have youever been in a country where you don’tspeak the language and have beenapproached in the street by someoneasking a question? They probably justwant directions, are asking the time, ormaybe it’s market research, but yourinstant reaction is to close down the

Teacher: Yosuke, do you understand

what this sentence means?

Yosuke: (Nodding) Oh, yes, I understand!

Teacher: Great! But I’m not sure Carla

understands. Could you explain it to her,

please?

Yosuke: Oh. Sorry, Carla, actually, I’m

not so sure!

Teacher: (Laughing) OK, let’s go through

it again!

Obviously, this little technique shouldbe used only when the result will beeverybody smiling and where learningthe new language point will bereinforced, and avoided if there’s anypossibility the student being put on thespot will feel vulnerable or threatened.

Writing puts students in a positionwhere they can’t use close-downstrategies; they have to participate fullyin communication. Despite our bestintentions, in a teaching and learningsituation where no writing happens, wenever really get to grips with what isgoing on ‘under the hood’ of a student’slanguage. Maybe we slow down thecommunicative flow in class in order toconcentrate on accuracy, but we cannever deal with each and everygrammatical or syntactical slip ourstudents make in speech, or our classeswould grind to a halt. It is only throughinteraction with students through theirwritten work that we can examine indetail the mechanics of theirinterlanguage, revealing their strengthsand weaknesses and showing up whatthey really know and understand aboutthe language. Getting students writing isvital in every classroom, and not just inEAP classes, or those where studentsare preparing for examinations. What isneeded is a change in our attitude towriting, seeing it not just as a support,or a means through which language islearnt, but as a vital component of thecommunicative purpose in itself.

interaction as quickly as possible. Thisgets both parties out of an awkwardsituation and saves face on both sides.

Many students do this all the time.They have well-developed strategies forclosing down interaction, whichunfortunately sometimes come out inclass. These may include:

● Saying they’ve understood and theactivity can move on when theyhaven’t and it can’t;

● Single word answers;

● Echoing words used by the otherparty or parties to the interaction;

● Body language, such as nodding, ornon-verbal sounds.

Of course, the canny classroom teacheris aware of these strategies, and evolvestechniques to get round them. Onewhich works well with a class that’sbeen together a long time and is relaxedwith each other and with their teachergoes like this:

Why do some teachersseem to believe

there is something old-fashioned, evenreactionary, aboutteaching writing and encouragingstudents to write?

The write

stuffThe

write stuff

ETp

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A toolkit for teachersA toolkit for teachers

S K I L L S

Stephanie

Hirschman presents

some simple and effective

lesson plans.

When you’ve just startedteaching, skills lessonscan seem difficult.Problems posed by

coping with the resources, equipmentand classroom management overshadowthe real aims of the lesson, ie givingstudents practice in the skill andteaching them strategies for taking theircomprehension/production abilities to ahigher level of competence. Everyteacher needs a toolkit of simple andeffective lesson plans which they can useagain and again with different groupsand materials. Here are some ideas youcan employ in a skills lesson withvirtually any resources (including yourcoursebook) to ensure that your lessonaims are achieved – and all in ten stagesor fewer!

Many speaking lessons follow thepresent–practise–produce model, andideally you would like to listen to thestudents speaking in the final activity andoffer them some feedback on their useof the target language. Unfortunately, itrarely works this way in reality. It isusually impossible for you to monitorall the students in the short time theywill be speaking and it is oftendisappointing that they haven’t used thetarget language much (or at all) becausethey are so worried about what they aregoing to say. These problems can bereduced by asking the students toperform the speaking task twice, andalso by incorporating a stage where theyreflect on their own performance.

Speaking

Materials neededYou will need a speaking task you wishthe students to do, eg tell a story, give amini-presentation, talk about a picture,roleplay, etc (this can be from acoursebook).

Model the speaking task yourself.If you are going to ask the students tomake notes (see stage 2 below), put someminimal notes for your speaking on theboard so they can see how you turn keywords and phrases into full grammaticalsentences. Make sure you successfullyaccomplish the task yourself in terms ofthe length of time you speak, your use oftarget language and the points you cover,and ask the students some concept-check questions afterwards.

Set the speaking task and allow thestudents a short time to think aboutwhat they’re going to say. If you want,they can make some written notes ofkey words, but not full sentences. Youcan refer to the notes from yourdemonstration to prompt them.

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Every teacher needs a toolkit of simple

and effective lessonplans which they canuse again and againwith different groups

and materials

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Set up the speaking pairs inwhatever way seems convenient to you.While the students speak, you canmonitor and make notes for laterfeedback. (Try to note successes as wellas failures!)

When the students have finishedspeaking, put this list on the board:

How did I do?

● Target language – did I use it?

● Pronunciation – was it clear?

● Organisation – did I include toolittle/enough/too much information?Was the order logical?

● Other grammar – did I make mistakesin any area not covered by the targetlanguage?

● Other vocabulary – did I use a rangeof vocabulary accurately?

Tell the students they are going torepeat the speaking task with a differentpartner. Explain the items on the board.Ask the students to think about theirspeaking, discuss their performance withtheir original partner and choose onearea which they would like to improvethe next time. (They can’t pay attentionto more than one area at a time so theyreally must stick to one choice.)

Then get each student individuallyto tell you which area they have chosen.(You may be able to use yourobservations from monitoring to informyour reactions to these choices – forexample, some students think theirgrammar is terrible, but theirpronunciation is really the worstproblem. If so, tell them!)

Set up some new pairings andrepeat the task. While the studentsspeak again, you can monitor somemore and make notes for later feedback.(You might even be able to checkwhether one or two students have beensuccessful in their chosen areas forimprovement.)

Briefly get some feedback from acouple of students on whether theirspeaking was better the second time.

Elicit more feedback about thecontent of the speaking by asking acouple of students some brief concept-check questions about what theirpartner said.

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3 Give feedback yourself on the board,focusing first on the target language of thelesson, and then on any other importantareas. For example, you can write up amixture of sentences you heard, somecorrect and some incorrect, and ask thestudents to comment on them. Make sureyou end with some praise for students whoused the target language, or wereotherwise successful or were engaging tolisten to.

Listening lessons can make studentsanxious, especially if the experience oflistening seems more like a test than ajourney towards understanding. Studentsreally need to focus on strategies forboosting their comprehension, and thislesson plan helps them to develop theability to piece together clues to arriveat (more or less!) sensible conclusions.

Listening

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It is interesting for students to seethat some class members hear almosteverything but understand very little,while others hear only a little andunderstand a lot. This procedure can beused with virtually any material (itworks very well with songs) and you canthen move on to focus on furthercomprehension questions, vocabularyrelated to the topic, a grammar orpronunciation point, or a discussion.

Materials neededYou will need a recorded text –monologue/dialogue/song, etc – with atapescript, and some accompanyingexercises (eg a gap-fill, multiple-choicequestions, short-answer questions, etc.These can be from a coursebook).

Help the students tune in to therecording by putting two or three very

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simple questions on the board, eg How

many people are speaking? Are they

American or British? Where are they?

For a song, the questions could be Is it

modern? What kind of music is it? Is the

singer a man or a woman?

Then play just a short piece from thebeginning of the recording and elicit theanswers to the questions.

Put the headings Certain andUncertain in a chart on the board andask the students to copy it onto a pieceof paper.

Explain that they will listen to thefull recording and should take notes ofany words or phrases they hear, but theymust write them on the chart in theplace which corresponds to how certainthey feel about what they actually heard.

Play the full recording while thestudents make notes and then allowthem to compare ideas in pairs or smallgroups.

With the whole class, check andrecord ideas on the board – certain firstand then uncertain, maybe one idea perstudent. Make sure they know that youare only acting as their secretary at thispoint: when you write something on theboard it may or may not be correct.You will need to leave this informationon the board for the rest of the lesson.

Ask the students to discuss in pairsor groups what is happening in thelistening. They can give a generalsummary or a detailed one, dependingon how comfortable they feel.

In a class feedback session, ask thestudents to justify their ideas about thecontent of the listening, using theinformation on the board. Act as afacilitator and encourage discussion andargument between the students. Don’tgive them all the answers.

Tell the students they are nowgoing to complete a written exercisebased on the recording. You can use anyexercise to accompany this – a gap-fill,multiple-choice questions, short-answerquestions, etc. This may be the originalexercise from the coursebook orsomething you have prepared yourself.Give them time to read the exercise andanswer any questions they can frommemory.

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Listening lessons can make studentsanxious, especially if the experience

of listening seems more like a test than

a journey towardsunderstanding

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Play the recording again for thestudents to complete the exercise. Thenask them to compare answers in pairs.Play the recording once more ifnecessary and then check the answerswith the class.

Ask the students to comment ontheir notes from the first time theylistened and their guesses about thecontent of the listening. What didn’tthey hear and why not? Was it aquestion of the pronunciation, thevocabulary or a completemisunderstanding of the context? Ifnecessary, you can always listen again,with the students looking at thetapescript.

This lesson can stand alone, or if youwish to extend it, you can go on to focuson some other aspect of the text: furthercomprehension questions, vocabularyrelated to the topic, a language point(including pronunciation) or discussion.

It is often difficult for students to engagewith a reading lesson because they maylose confidence in their individual abilityto relate to or adequately understandthe text in a reasonable amount of time.This problem can be overcome byallowing the class to predict the contentof the text and write their own,personalised comprehension questions.Once these questions have beenanswered (or not!), you can either endthe lesson or ask them to focus on yourown agenda for the text.

Reading

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Ask the students to compare theiranswers in their pairs or groups andthen check the answers with the class,recording ideas on the board in noteform. Ask the students to put theinformation into their own words asmuch as possible.

Ask the students to rate the text asfollows and get feedback:

● How interesting is the article

(1–5 points)?

● How much do you understand (in %)?

● Did you read any new information?

Was it surprising? Was there anything

you disagree with?

This lesson can stand alone, or if youwish to extend it, you could go on toexploit some other aspect of the text. Youmight want to ask further comprehensionquestions, focus on new vocabularyrelated to the topic, pick out a particularlanguage point or initiate a discussion.

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7Materials neededYou will need copies of a text that youwant the students to read; this could befrom your coursebook or a newspaper. It ishelpful if the text has paragraphs markedA, B, C, etc, or has line numbers indicated.

Put the headline or title of the texton the board and explain any unknownvocabulary. Hand out anyaccompanying pictures but don’t let thestudents see the text yet. Elicit the topicof the text and a very general predictionof what it will be about.

Ask the students to work in pairsor small groups and to write two to fivequestions that they are interested in andthat they think they will be able toanswer after quickly reading the text.You can prompt them with questionwords: who, when, where, etc. Monitorand assist with ideas and grammar.

Ask the students to choose theirfavourite/best question and put one ortwo different questions from each pairor group on the board, subtly correctingany grammar mistakes. (You shouldhave a maximum of six questions.)

Give out copies of the text, set atime limit and ask the students to readthe text quickly so that they can saysimply whether or not the questions onthe board can be answered. Nodictionaries should be used.(Note: They should not try to answerthe questions at this point, but just sayeither Yes, the text contains the answer

to this question or No, it doesn’t.)

Ask the students to compare theiranswers in their pairs or groups andthen check with the class whichquestions can be answered. You canfurther confirm where the answer is, egin paragraph C or in line 22.(If their questions were not verysuccessful, you can reassure the studentsthat predicting the content of a text is asub-skill which is acquired throughpractice.)

Ask the students to re-examine thetext and highlight the information theyneed to answer the questions. Tell themthey can use dictionaries in moderationbut only to answer the questions on theboard. They don’t need to write theanswers, but they should be prepared totalk about them.

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Writing activities can give you a valuableopportunity to pay individual attention toeach and every one of your students andto give really meaningful personalisedfeedback. Students often want to have alltheir mistakes corrected, but this is time-consuming for you and it gives them toomuch feedback (often in an unintelligibleform), which they can’t make use of. Byusing the following technique regularly,you can train students to writeeffectively and to appraise their ownwork critically. It must be used after youhave set the task and students havecompleted their writing.

Materials neededYou will need a writing task wherestudents have already produced a pieceof work belonging to a particular genre

Writing

You can reassure the students that

predicting the contentof a text is a sub-skill

which is acquiredthrough practice

A toolkit for teachersA toolkit for teachers

� � �

Writing activities cangive you a valuableopportunity to payattention to each of your students and togive really meaningfulpersonalised feedback

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[email protected]

Stephanie Hirschman isAmerican and teachesteenagers and adults atSussex Downs Collegein southeast England.She also teaches Latinto primary schoolchildren. She isinterested in helpingteachers and learners todevelop habits and waysof thinking which makelessons more effective.

– eg a story, a formal letter, an e-mail, acomposition, etc. All the students musthave worked on the same task.

Elicit what makes a piece of writingsuccessful. Students will say that a lackof grammar mistakes is important, buttry to extract some other ideas as well.

Write COAST vertically on theboard. Then ask the students to saywhat they think the letters stand for andgive some extra information:

C = content, ie did you write about thecorrect topic? If the task asks you to writeabout a holiday and you write aboutyour grandmother, then the content isinappropriate, regardless of accuracy.This also includes word count. If thetask asks for 120 words, then 80 words isinadequate and 250 words is too much.

O = organisation, ie paragraphs andproper use of linking words.

A = accuracy and range, for bothvocabulary and grammar.

S = style, ie formal, semi-formal,neutral, informal.

T = target reader, ie what effect will ithave on the person the writing isintended for? What will that person feellike doing after reading the text? Willthey understand the writer’s ideas? Willthey be able to take appropriate actionas a result?

Tell the students they are going toread each other’s writing and givefeedback in four of these categories.(Students cannot give feedback inaccuracy and range – that’s the teacher’sjob!)

Decide how you will organise thefeedback. You can either ask the studentsto exchange written work with a partneror you can type up and photocopy onestudent’s work for everyone to read. Ifyou do this, keep it anonymous. This alsoworks well if the students work in pairsso they can discuss their feedback.

Add two or three criteria to eachCOAST heading relating to the specificwriting task which your studentsundertook. The examples here are for atransactional letter of complaint to ahotel where the writer recently stayed.You will have to write appropriatecriteria for every writing task you use inthis way, but it doesn’t take long!

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C = content● Wrote about specific problems

experienced during a visit.

● Gave details of the visit (dates,

room number, staff names, etc).

● Asked for a refund and an apology.

O = organisation● Used appropriate letter layout with

addresses, greetings and closing.

● Used paragraphs.

● Used linking words.

S = style● Formal – no contractions, phrasal

verbs, etc.

● Expressed strong feelings without

being impolite.

T = target reader● The hotel manager can understand

your feelings and the reasons for

these feelings.

● The hotel manager will want to

apologise and offer you a refund or

some other financial compensation.

● A positive comment: ....................

Ask the students to copy this ontoa piece of A4 paper and tell them thatthey will use this paper as a checklist tomark a classmate’s work. Also tell themthat in addition, they should write apositive comment in the final section.

If they are not markinganonymously, tell the students to beginby putting the name of the writer, theirown name and the approximate numberof words in the text at the top of theirsheet of paper. They should then readthe text. If they feel the writer hassuccessfully fulfilled the listed criteria,they can put a tick next to them. If not,they should put nothing. They shouldn’tcorrect any mistakes. Remind them thatthey must add a positive comment atthe end. This can be any supportive andappreciative comment, such as:

● Good spelling

● Excellent vocabulary

● Funny story

Give them a few minutes to completetheir feedback. Monitor and help asnecessary.

If you asked all the students toread the same text, you can check theirideas with the class. Otherwise, you canask students to return the feedback tothe writer so they can see how they did.Monitor and assist with any queries.

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Now collect the written work andthe feedback sheet and staple themtogether. Tell the students that you willread the writing, check that the feedbackwas accurate and maybe add someremarks of your own, and correct someof their mistakes. Outside of class time,when you mark the accuracy and range,focus on a few serious mistakes only.Highlight the errors on the text itself andthen write some general comments, eg:

● Be careful with articles.

● Remember to use past tenses when

describing past events.

● Learn to spell these words ... (and listwords for students to learn).

The next time the class meets, returnthe corrected written work and feedbackto the students, allowing them a fewminutes to see what you have writtenand ask any questions they may have. Ifyou like, they can write a second draftincorporating any necessary changes.

� � �

Using these lesson plans regularly willhave two positive effects. Firstly, once youget to know the procedure of each lessonplan, you will be able to relax a bit sothat you can focus more on the studentsand less on the delivery. Secondly, youwill be training the students to workmore productively by asking them toassess their own work in the productiveskills of speaking and writing, and byallowing them to approach materials attheir own level in the receptive skills ofreading and listening.

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Writing for ETpWould you like to write for ETp? We are

always interested in new writers andfresh ideas. For guidelines and advice,

write to us or email:[email protected]

ETp

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M E T H O D O L O G Y

Dog daysDog daysWilliam Chaves

Gomes invites us to do a

little Dogme in our lessons.A

s a student of English, I wastaught for two hours a weekby very experienced teachersin an excellent language

school, which could afford to provideme with loads of materials and tried toreproduce ‘real-life situations’, some ofwhich, I now realise, bore littleresemblance to real life at all. Myteachers followed the coursebook anddid what they believed was best –something pretty natural, I would say.

When I started my own teachingcareer in a very modest languageschool, a good 12 years ago, thecoursebook was basically all I had withwhich to teach the language. As anovice teacher, I had to rely heavily onmy creativity and my perception of eachstudent by interacting with them inorder to fill classroom time.

Because of the lack of variedmaterial, the interaction between mystudents and me was really intense, andI still remember talking to them aboutthings that came up in the lessons butthat, in fact, had no connection with thetopic of the book or the topic of thelesson. These unexpected conversationswith my students used to leave me witha horrendous sense that I was simplypadding the lesson out.

Little did I know that what I wasdoing was real teaching!

A materials teacher in amaterials world?My ‘nightmare’ ended with thedevelopment of technology and thewonderful range of teaching resources itput at a teacher’s disposal. There arenow downloadable activities, resourcepacks, CD-ROMs, catch-up CDs, toname but a few. From the moment Ihad access to these resources, my

lessons were never the same! However, Iwas no longer a human being genuinelyinteracting with my students: I hadbecome a mere materials operator.

Even though materials play animportant role in language teaching,what has been noticed recently is anover-dependency on them at the expenseof the learning opportunities that canhappen between people in theclassroom. It was not until I started theDELTA course that I was observed by atutor who diagnosed my dependence onmaterials and my tendency towardsover-planning. And that was when I wasintroduced to Dogme ELT.

The term derives from the Dogme-95 Collective headed by Danishfilmmaker Lars von Trier, who believedthat the art of making cinema had beendestroyed by the high-budget and highlytechnological Hollywood-styleproductions.

In a similar fashion, ScottThornbury suggests that the absence ofmaterials fosters interaction in class andallows language to emerge out of thecommunicative needs, interests anddesires of the people in the room: thusDogme ELT.

The role of the Dogme teacher is tobe attentive to the students’ needs and

The role of the Dogme teacher is to be attentive to the

students’ needs andresponses and to

maximise languagelearning opportunities

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responses and to maximise languagelearning opportunities by drawing theirattention to the characteristics of thelanguage which emerges. By interactingwith the students, the teacher workswith the language that comes up,helping students reformulate it orproviding them with the next level ofthe language they need, a process whichrelates to Stephen Krashen’s inputhypothesis (i + 1).

Knowledge is, therefore,constructed, instead of being imposedor transmitted by the teacher. In otherwords, language and grammar are notacquired: they simply appear, given theappropriate conditions. Hence, there isno right order in which grammarstructures should be learnt.

Slots for surprisesI was once teaching a group ofelementary students on a freezing day inLondon when it started sleeting. AnAlgerian student was overjoyed to seefor the first time what he called ‘snow’.Then a Swiss student in the groupexplained to him that it wasn’t snow,but sleet. In a six-minute conversation,lexical items such as snow, sleet, hail,

hailstorm, flurry and grammaticalstructures such as there’ll probably be

more snow later, I think there won’t be

any … tomorrow and it will definitely, it

possibly won’t emerged. These wordsand structures are not normally part ofan elementary syllabus, but wereperfectly pertinent and relevant for thatlesson.

I believe that designing an entire‘Dogme syllabus’ or letting studentsdictate the content of a whole course issomewhat utopian. In fact, materials arepowerful and effective tools in fosteringthe learning process. However, from themoment I got acquainted with Dogme,I made sure that I included unplanned

moments (Dogme slots) in my class tomake room for language emergence andreformulation.

Slots for situationsHaving Dogme slots in class alsoincreases motivation because studentscan use the language they have in a non-threatening atmosphere to talk aboutreal problems and to get real answers.Because they don’t feel threatenedduring this informal talk – as it doesn’tseem to be something the teacher hasplanned – students feel at ease trying toget their message across. Meanwhile, theteacher can silently diagnose thelanguage and lexical gaps to target infollow-up work.

If students are learning the languagein an English-speaking environment, aDogme moment in class is a marvellousopportunity for them to use ‘real-lifelanguage’ learnt outside the classroomand to get feedback from the teacher onwhether that language is appropriate fora particular situation in class. Also, it isan opportunity to share culturaldifferences between countries and learninformally from other students whileinteracting with them.

Dogme slots in class are also highlybeneficial for those who are in a non-English-speaking environment. Much ofwhat teenagers want to know – slangand informal expressions, for example –is not easily found in books. So, Dogmeslots in class not only bridge this gap,but also motivate students to participatein the lesson and, consequently, lead toless disruptive behaviour.

As for adults, who tend to bereluctant to speak and afraid of havingtheir poor English exposed, a Dogmeslot is a boost to their confidencebecause they suddenly realise that theycan actually communicate in situationsbeyond those given in coursebooks. The � � �

I made sure that Iincluded unplannedmoments (Dogme slots) in my class to make room for

language emergenceand reformulation

A Dogme moment in class is a

marvellous opportunityfor students to use ‘real-life language’ learnt outside the

classroom

teacher becomes somebody who is trulyinterested in what they have to say,rather than a mere mistake corrector.

Simple Dogme activitiesI still have a lot to learn and experimenton with my students, but the followingactivities have worked beautifully in myclasses and I believe they will probablyinspire you, too!

My worldThis is a very good Dogme slot forshowing your students that you areinterested in their countries. It is alsouseful for diagnosing problems withquestion formation.

If you teach a multinational group,write the countries the students comefrom on the board and ask them whatthey would like to know about one ortwo of the countries. Have them writeappropriate questions in theirnotebooks.

Then get the students to ask andanswer the questions about theircountries, while you make a note of anylanguage gaps.

If you teach a monolingual group,you can adapt the activity and write onthe board the different cities thestudents come from or the area in thecity where they live.

Free timeAsk your students what they did at theweekend or before coming to class.Involve all the other students by askingif they did the same thing or if theywould consider doing it. I’ve noticedthat this activity tends to generatelanguage for recommendation, such asit’s worthwhile, I strongly recommend, it’s

well worth a visit. But again, it dependson the class.

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Lower levels

Much of what teenagers want to know – slang and

informal expressions, for example – is not

easily found in books

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Whichever activity the teacher choosesor whatever Dogme moment arises in alesson – either planned or genuinelyunplanned – it is the teacher’sresponsibility to orchestrate thatmoment well so that all the students getinvolved in the same topic and give theircontributions.

With the language that emerges puton the board, the teacher can workafterwards on form and pronunciation.The meaning will already be clear: afterall, it came from the students’communication needs. Finally, it is agreat idea for the students to copy thelanguage into their notebooks so thatthey have a written record and so thatthat rich class moment doesn’t fade away.

� � �

My intention when I wrote this articlewas to reinforce Scott Thornbury’s ideasof Dogme ELT but also, and perhapsmainly, to encourage teachers to includeDogme slots in their classes so that realcommunicative needs and languageemerge. By doing so, the focus is directedaway from the teacher and onto thestudents, giving them more to say. Also,I would invite teachers to look criticallyat the activities in their coursebooksand feel free to reject them, if necessary,in favour of more meaningful andquality time in class. And, above all, tolisten to what their students have to say!

I’d like to end this article with aquotation from David French: ‘It is

more rewarding to talk about real lives,

real opinions and real experiences than

invent opinions or take on an invented

role.’

Complete the sentencesWrite on the board a series of prompts,like the following:● I will …

● … is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever

seen.

● I can’t stand … because …

● You wouldn’t see me dead …

● I can’t …

● I wish I could … because …

You can either work with the wholeclass or split it into smaller groups. Askthe students to complete the sentencesany way they like. This sort of activitygenerates a lot of language for theteacher to work on because of the rangeof possibilities provided by theunfinished sentences.

Alternatively, if you want to workon writing skills, ask the students towrite the sentences in their notebooks.

What’s on today?Ask the students to report on somethingthey saw on TV or read in the newspaper.Involve the other students in the class byasking them if they saw or read about itand what their opinion is. You can alsogive students follow-up work by askingthem to write a short summary aboutwhat was on the news that particular day.

Me, not me!Write a number of words, such as dogs,

robots, soaps, rap, marbles, arguments, X-

Factor, etc, at random on the board andask the students if those words relate tothem in any way, and, if so, why. Again,lots of grammar and lexical items canemerge from this activity.

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Higher levels

[email protected]

William Chaves Gomeshas taught and trainedteachers in Brazil and inEngland. He is an oralexaminer for CambridgeESOL and currentlyworks at Cultura InglesaSão João del Rei inBrazil.

French, D ‘The Dogme discussion group’IATEFL 3 2000

Lightbown, P M and Spada, N HowLanguages are Learned OUP 1994

Nield, D ‘Spirit of Dogme’ EnglishTeaching Professional 41 2005

Thornbury, S ‘Teaching unplugged’www.teaching-unplugged.com/descriptions.htm

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� � �

Dog daysDog days

By using Dogme slots in

class, the focus isdirected away from

the teacher and onto the students, givingthem more to say

ETp

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16 • Issue 59 November 2008 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com •

I N T H E C L A S S R O O M

Rude studentsRude studentsPaul Bress tackles the issue of anti-social behaviour.

Human beings are essentiallysocial animals. There are thosewho like to spend their lives

seeking nirvana in caves, but, for most ofus, happiness arises out of the ability tofit in with those around us. Some peopleare lucky enough to have been wellsocialised as infants, but the lessfortunate have not been encouraged tomix with others and have not been madeaware of what is acceptable behaviourand what isn’t. This lack of socialisationmay result in racist or sexist behaviour.

Socialisation in the classroomIf students have not been well socialised,they may exhibit a number of differentundesirable behaviours:

● They constantly seek attention.

● They never contribute anything to aclass discussion.

● They are often negative or aggressive.

● They constantly interrupt otherstudents when they’re speaking.

● They often say things which aren’tconnected with the existingconversation.

● They like to show off.

Just one of these behaviours is likely tohave a very negative effect on the rest ofthe class, but if a student exhibits all ofthese behaviours, the most likelyscenario is that the student will beshunned, and the class will be extremelydifficult to teach.

Students who fit inLet’s look at students who do know howto behave in a group. What do they do –whether as a result of lucky genes orsuccessful socialisation – to fit into agroup? I’ll divide their behaviour into‘non-talking behaviour’ and ‘talkingbehaviour’.

1 Non-talking behaviourStudents who know how to fit in alwayslisten carefully to what other studentssay. They always wait until the otherstudents have finished speaking beforethey join in the conversation.

2 Talking behaviourThose students who know how to fit inmake a point of making relevant

contributions to a conversation, and theydon’t ‘hog the floor’. Their contributionswill be positive ones, and their tone willbe calm. If their contributions involvesome reference to a personal experience,the reference will be a modest one.

In short, socialised students aresensitive to other students in class bothwhen they are listening and when theyare speaking.

Students who don’t fit inTeachers can do two principal things tohelp students to fit in: a) praise‘functional’ behaviour and b) raiseawareness of the effects of‘dysfunctional’ behaviour. In the gridbelow there are some examples ofpossible language a teacher could use.

In the event of serious ongoingproblems, it is a good idea for a teacherto take a ‘problem’ student aside after

every lesson to discuss specific examplesof that student’s behaviour that theteacher has noted.

� � �It is obvious that most language studentsattend classes in order to learn grammar,vocabulary, phonology and the fourskills. They may, in addition, have aparticular motivation for communicatingin a specific area, eg business English orEnglish for Academic Purposes.However, for whatever reason they’restudying, they will probably need to beable to converse in a group (both duringand after their studies). Some studentswill be excellent at this, some reasonableand some dire. Teachers need to be ableto help the socially ‘dysfunctional’students to converse more effectivelyand behave more appropriately in agroup. If they can do that, the studentsin question will have learnt much morethan just English.

[email protected]

Paul Bress works bothin the fields of personalgrowth and ELT and has published verywidely in both areas.Paul is a life-long, non-stop learner – he learnsmore from everydayexperience than fromformal research. His lifecoaching website iswww.bemycoach.co.uk.

Listening

Waiting

Connecting

Contributing

Being positive/calm

Being modest

I like the way you listenedcarefully to what Maria said.

Well done! I noticed youwaiting patiently for Harumito finish speaking before yousaid something.

You’re keeping theconversation topic goingwell!

It’s good to hear you expressyour opinions!

I thought that that was areally useful contribution.

I liked the way you didn’t givetoo much detail about yourcompetition victory!

I noticed that you were looking at yourwatch while Maria was speaking. Whatdo you think she thought about that?

Did you know that Harumi hadn’tfinished speaking? What do you thinkshe felt when you interrupted her?

Did you think the conversation topicwas finished? What can you do insteadof just changing the direction of theconversation like that?

Do you have any opinions about thistopic? Do you think that we would liketo hear them?

Are you feeling angry? Do you thinkthat the classroom is a good place toshow your anger?

I’m happy for your success, but do youthink you need to go into so muchdetail? Do you think the group willappreciate the fact that you talk somuch about your achievements?

‘FITTING IN’ SKILLS PRAISING ENCOURAGING AWARENESS

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P R O N U N C I A T I O N

Phonemicplaying cardsPhonemicplaying cardsPaul Charles puts his money where his mouth is.

The mark of a greatsportsperson is the ability tomake difficult things lookeasy. To take something I had

knowingly marginalised in my teachingand, within an hour, turn it into apassion bordering on obsession must beone sign of an inspirational trainer.Some time ago, Adrian Underhill didexactly that for me, and I’m sure I’mnot the first person to say this.

A change of heartBefore this revelation at a conference inDevon, UK, I imagine my attitude toteaching pronunciation was sadlycommon. My Director of Studies saidthat the phonemic chart had to bedisplayed, but I had similar feelingstowards the chart as to the patch ofwall it covered. Actually, I was evenmore negative, because people rarelyask awkward questions about blankwall space.

At Adrian Underhill’s workshop,though, the wonderfully logical layoutof his chart finally became clear to me.

A change of chartUnderstanding the significant differencesbetween sounds (phonemes) and stresspatterns is critical to successfulcommunication in English.Monophthongs, diphthongs andconsonants are, of course, separated inthe chart. When we pronounce vowels,the flow of air is shaped but not impededby the mouth. To form a consonant, the

air is somehow blocked. The layout ofthe monophthongs in the chart is basedon the mouth’s shape when each isformed, more closed for the top row,moving to open on the bottom.Pronouncing those on the left, the lipsare pulled back and the tongue pushedforward. This slides into the reversearrangement (lips forward and tongueback) as the four sounds in each row areproduced. Feel the difference in themovement between the two sounds in theword she /i* / compared with shoe /u* /,for example. Try it for yourself! As is so

often the case, learning by doing is theonly approach with real merit. Unlikelyas it may sound, plenty of fun can behad moving from sound to sound,inventing new ones, and vainly trying tomake one vowel sound while the mouthis in the natural position for another.

Next comes the logical step ofcombining these sounds, appreciating thefeel of diphthongs, and suddenly beingable to mimic various accents by playingabout with vowels. Finally, there are theconsonants. Where there are voiced andunvoiced versions of exactly the same

Phoneme chart from Sound Foundations by Adrian Underhill. Chart © Adrian Underhill & Macmillan Education, 1994, 2005

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� � �

mouth movement or shape (the vastmajority), they are always side-by-side inthe chart, like /t / and /d/. There is much,much more as well. For example, trysliding between /l/, /n/ and /r/, feeling thetongue’s subtle but crucial movement.Imagine the difference a similarawareness could make to studentsstruggling with these distinctions.

Learning about thesoundsIn the same way we English teachershave to learn about a language wealready ‘know’, I found myself, for thefirst time, learning about the soundsthat were the most familiar in the worldto me. And while I apologise for awhirlwind couple of paragraphs, as Isaid, it has become a near-obsession.The harmony of exhaled air, lip andtongue movements just reading thissentence out loud is extraordinary.

I also began to appreciate fully thebenefits of this chart in the teachingand learning process. Crucially, thiswasn’t even a grudging acceptance. Itinvolved full participation, childishenthusiasm and a fair amount ofdaftness and laughter. Since then, I havespent countless hours copying andadapting Adrian Underhill’s methods,and trying to develop my own ideas.When I left Europe for an Ethiopianteacher training college, I enjoyed aneven more striking reaction, and sawgenuine, positive effects.

Teaching the soundsThere, with a glaring lack of exposure tonative speaker English, and an educationthat mostly involved lectures to classesof 100 or more students, two inevitableproblems occurred. The first was weakpronunciation. This was compoundedby the more serious second problem – atotal lack of confidence when speakingEnglish. These issues are clearly notlimited to Ethiopia, Africa, or even thedeveloping world.

There isn’t space here to describe indetail the methods that originallyinspired my interest (although theclassic book Sound Foundations goes along way towards doing this and Iwould thoroughly recommend it). Myown contribution has been to develop aset of games with playing cards showingthe phonemes, their type (consonant,monophthong or diphthong) and their

position in the chart. Several cards arereproduced on page 20 and there areblank templates for you to photocopyand produce your own on pages 21 and22. At the bottom of each card is anindication of the position they occupyin Adrian Underhill’s phonemic chart.The inclusion of this information iscrucial, as I have tried to explain above.Without it, they are a random – if stillpotentially useful – set of symbol cards.Where necessary, I have found that thebest way to model sounds is to make thecorrect shape with the mouth, butsilently, and encourage the students todo the same, then voicing the mostcomfortable sound in each position.That way, you can elicit the ideal modelfrom the students. Alternatively, someof the sounds lend themselves to adescription of the face shape (smile

widely for /i* / or open the mouth as faras possible and try to smile for /æ/.)Sound association can also work (youare at a football match and have justseen your team hit the post – /u* /, oryou are a sulky teenager and yourmother has told you to wash up – /Q* / ).It is worth spending some time on thisat the very beginning of the course.

The games work best ifmonophthongs, diphthongs andconsonants are each printed on differentcoloured card. When they work well,they can inspire confidence andovercome the students’ reluctance to tryto change their pronunciation habits.Most of all, like many games involvingthe chart itself, they can inspiredownright silliness. In a country wherelearners are too often forced into therole of passive observer, this isinvaluable. I really hope you and yourstudents enjoy the cards, and developsome new and exciting games of yourown. Here are five of my favouriteactivities.

The games can inspire confidence and overcome the

students’ reluctance to try to change

their pronunciationhabits

MemoryObjectives: To familiarise studentswith the sounds of English, and helpthem think about pronunciation interms of phonemes rather than letters.To highlight where different soundscommonly occur in words.

Players: This game can be playedindividually, in pairs or in groups ofthree.

Procedure● Twenty-seven of the cards are laid out

face down in three groups (consonants,monophthongs/diphthongs,consonants). Use fewer cards forlower-level groups, where only a fewof the sounds have been introduced.

Useful cards for the first group ofnine include /C/ /b/ /h/ /s/ /f / /r / /l //k / /m /

Useful cards for the second groupinclude /æ/ /J / /I / /a* / /Ÿ / /Ê* / /Q* / /e //u* /Useful cards for the third groupinclude /d/ /n / /t / /z / /b/ /Ñ / /dú/ /Ü //p /

● The first player turns over one cardfrom each group, aiming to make aword. After each turn, the cards areturned back over and the next playeror team has a go.

● Players try to memorise the positionof each card, and receive a point foreach word they make.

● In groups of three, players can workin teams, with one set of nine cardseach to memorise.

Obviously, the cards used can bechanged according to the class. Playerscould also be asked to spell the wordthey produce or use it in a sentence forbonus points.

CountdownObjectives: Similar to ‘Memory’.

Players: This is a whole-classalternative to ‘Memory’. Students canwork individually, in pairs or in teams.

ProcedureThis game is similar to a UK televisiongame show of the same name. Thestudents ask the teacher for consonant,monophthong or diphthong (or justconsonant or vowel) and the teacherpicks each one at random and attachesit to the board until nine symbols are

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displayed. The winner is the student orteam that can construct the longestword within a time limit (1–5 minutes).Have several rounds, using differentsymbols. Bonus points can be awardedas above for spelling a word or using itin a sentence.

It is a good idea to duplicate cardsfor the most useful sounds, such as theschwa /P /, and remove some of the leastcommon, such as /ŸP /.

Clap-Clap-Click-ClickObjectives: To encourage instinctiverecognition and production of Englishsounds. To build familiarity with thephonemic symbols.

Players: Ideally, ten students or more.

ProcedureThe players stand in a wide circle. Eachstudent takes one phonemic playingcard and places it face up in front ofthem. This phoneme is ‘their’ sound. Ifthe cards are too small to see, thestudents can copy their allotted soundonto a piece of A4 paper.

Using a slow 3/4 rhythm, everybodyhits their knees twice (one and …), clapstheir hands twice (two and …), clicksthe fingers on their left then their righthand (three and …), and repeats.

Once the regular rhythm isestablished, the student to the teacher’sright says his or her own sound on thefirst finger click, and somebody else’s onthe second finger click. The playerwhose sound this is becomes the newnominee and does the same, using his orher own sound on the first click and adifferent player’s on the second. Ifstudents fail to recognise their soundsor lose the rhythm, they are eliminated.Gradually speed up the beat. The lastplayer remaining is the winner.

Phonemic hangmanObjectives: To help recognition ofsymbols and production of sounds. Toencourage students to think aboutwords or phrases in terms of phonemes.

Players: Three or more.

ProcedureOne player thinks of a word or phrase

4

3

related to a recent topic. If necessary,they look it up in a dictionary to findthe phonemic script. As in standardhangman, the word is marked out withdashes on the board, but in this version,each dash represents a phoneme ratherthan a letter. The student should alsomark the primary and (if applicable)secondary stress. The other studentsnominate phonemes by making thesound and, if necessary, showing thecorresponding card. The game is wonand lost like normal hangman.

Phonemic sardinesObjectives: To tune the students’ earsinto sounds and word stress. To workon forming sounds. To construct wordsusing phonemic symbols.

Players: More than six, split into equalteams of three to seven students. Note:more than one set of cards may beuseful.

ProcedureThe first team thinks of a word with thesame number of phonemes as there areplayers per team (eg, if there are fiveplayers, the word number / ÷nJmbP /could be used). If only one set of cardsis being used, it must also be a word inwhich no sound is repeated. If studentsare new to the phonemic chart, theycould draw words with the correctnumber of phonemes from setsprepared by the teacher. The other teamhas the phonemic cards. (In largeclasses, it works better to scatter all thecards on the floor in front of the team.)

A player from the first team says thechosen word. The players from thesecond team then have 30 seconds tofind the corresponding cards, take oneeach and stand in a line with them inorder. The person with the stressedsound holds their card up higher orstands on one leg. Points are awardedfor the phonemes and stress, and theteams then swap roles.

One example card from each group isshown here. There are another 12 blankcards on the following pages; six forconsonants and six for vowels. Thesecan be photocopied as many times asnecessary. Copy all the symbols fromthe chart onto the photocopied cards,mark each sound’s position in itssection of the chart, and enjoy thephonemic fun!

5

[email protected]

Paul Charles is ateacher and freelancewriter. He has taughtand trained in Spain,England and with VSOin Ethiopia. He hasjust started an MEd inTESOL at ExeterUniversity, UK. Hismain interests arepronunciation,authentic materialsand communicativemethods.

Underhill, A Sound FoundationsMacmillan 1994

Phonemicplaying cardsPhonemicplaying cards

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Vowels: Monophthongs

i*Vowels: Diphthongs

âPConsonants

p

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Phonemic playing cardsVowels: Monophthongs Vowels: Monophthongs Vowels: Monophthongs

Vowels: Diphthongs Vowels: Diphthongs Vowels: Diphthongs

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Phonemic playing cardsConsonants

Consonants

Consonants

Consonants

Consonants

Consonants

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�������������TEACHING YOUNG LEARNERS

Managing thevery youngManaging thevery youngThe aim of this article is to

identify the key issues facingteachers in pre-schoolclassroom management. We

need to be aware of the problems thatmay surface during a lesson, and, at thesame time, we need to support thechildren’s development by organisingthe classroom space and setting upactivities in such a manner that thelesson will contribute to the fosteringof both social skills and social maturity.

SurroundingsFirst of all, as Wendy Scott and LisbethYtreberg point out, the surroundings inwhich very young learners participatein an English lesson need to be pleasantand attractive. This means they need tobe bright and decorated with itemswhich are familiar to the children,thereby helping them to feel secure andself-confident.

There is no doubt that the layout ofa classroom influences the atmosphereof a lesson. When dealing with veryyoung learners, it is important toensure that it provides them withconstant opportunities for interactingnot only with the teacher but also withthe other children.

Another feature of classroom layoutis that there need to be different areasclearly defined within it. There might be,

for instance, some space for working atdesks in one corner of the classroom,and a carpeted area for kinaestheticactivities in another. Moving from onepart of the classroom to another helpsthe children to anticipate what is goingto happen. It also has a positive effecton their motivation, as they experiencewhat Genevieve Roth calls ‘a sense ofchange and of doing something differentand new’.

DisciplineThe next issue to consider relates todiscipline. This is a very difficult aspectof working with very young learners,who tend to be emotionally unstableand incapable of controlling negativeemotions such as anger. Children maybe aggressive towards other learnerswithout any particular motive. They arealso at the initial stage of understandingthe concept of cause and effect, andtherefore are not able to anticipate theresults of their own and other people’sactions. For this reason, teachers needto be very careful when groupingchildren and should pay particularattention to preventing any possibilityof accidents, especially during physicalactivities involving the whole class, suchas performing a boisterous song ormiming actions which require largegestures.

Joanna Gruchala gets her pre-school classes well organised.

There are some forms of behaviourwhich are caused by the developmentalstage which the children are at. Thesecan, therefore, be anticipated by ateacher. For instance, children ofaround three years old often try toassert their independence and affirmthemselves by means of negativebehaviour. Resistance to adult authorityis characteristic of most children at thisage, and therefore very young learnersmay be especially difficult to manage.They may flatly refuse to take part in anactivity or may become aggressive andhave sudden tantrums and whims.

PlayNegative behaviour is not the only issuewhich needs to be dealt with in termsof the social development of younglearners. Of course, the major activity ofyoung children is play, and thus it seemsnatural for a teacher to include aspectsof this in any lesson plan. However,some knowledge of social developmentin relation to how learners play isessential. Teachers need to know thatbefore the age of five, children cannotreally participate in associative orcooperative games. It is also importantto recognise that some of the youngestchildren, especially those who have notexperienced any kind of formal pre-school education, may not have learnt

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�������������TEACHING YOUNG LEARNERS

[email protected]

Joanna Gruchala is aPolish teacher of English.She currently teachesstudents of all ages andlevels in Gdynia, Poland.Her professionalinterests are in teachingyoung and very younglearners.

Reilly,V and Ward, S M Very Young LearnersOUP 2000Roth, G Teaching Very Young Children: Pre-school and Early Primary Richmond Publishing1998Scott,W A and Ytreberg, L H TeachingEnglish to Children Longman 1994

to take turns. This has implications forEnglish language teachers, who cannotexpect four-year-old children toparticipate in pair- or groupwork. Theyalso need to realise that very younglearners have very specific concepts ofpossession and, at the earliest stages,are often unwilling to share and mayreact very aggressively if another childreaches for an item they consider asbelonging to them alone.

ActionsIn addition, teachers need to be awareof how their own actions maycontribute to increasing difficulties withmanaging very young learners. Forexample, engaging children in a new andextremely lively activity just before onewhich requires them to regroup andconcentrate may result in a chaotictransition stage with the children beingnearly impossible to handle. Suchproblems may be prevented at thelesson planning stage and by employingregular lesson routines asrecommended by Genevieve Roth.

Another aspect of the disciplineissue concerns managing individualdiscipline. As mentioned above, onestage of a child’s social and emotionaldevelopment may be characterised bynegative behaviour and a desire forindividual attention. At this stage, it iscommon for a child to disrupt an activityor refuse to participate in it. When ithappens that a single child or just a fewchildren are disruptive, teachers canoften still continue to lead the activity ifthey approach the disruptive child andsimply signal, for instance by sitting nextto them or placing a hand on theirhead or shoulder, that they are causinga problem.

CarersInstead of simply reprimanding a child,it is often beneficial for the teacher tosuggest to the child how they couldchange their behaviour so that it

ActivitiesAs mentioned above, very younglearners are often not at a stage ofsocial development which allows themto work successfully in pairs or smallgroups. As a result, activities aretypically designed for the whole class.However, in order to stimulate thelearners’ social skills, teachers workingwith children aged five and six need tostart introducing activities whichinvolve elements of getting the learnersto interact in small groups or pairs.Roleplays and games of this type mayact as a stimulus to bringing socialinteractions to a higher level. During alesson, there will also be a number ofactivities which require the learners towork individually. Lessons with younglearners tend to be teacher-centredbecause maintaining the learners’

becomes acceptable. However, whilstteachers who care about the safety andwellbeing of the whole class often focustheir attention on the disruptivemembers for the sake of the wholegroup, this can be counterproductive.Children may turn to bad behaviour asa method of gaining the teacher’sattention and interest. For this reason,it is often a good idea to get the carersof more disruptive and aggressivelearners to participate in a lesson withthem. (By ‘carers’ here I mean eitherthe parents, babysitters, etc who bringthe children to English classes – if theyhave stayed to observe the lesson – orother teachers, for example those whohave more regular charge of thechildren in question.)

interest and motivation demandsconstant changes of activity, each onetypically lasting only a few minutes.Vanessa Reilly and Sheila Ward pointout that in the course of a 30-minuteEnglish lesson, there are usually noopportunities for free play as theteacher is required to expose thechildren to as much language aspossible. That is why in many classes,even when children are engaged inindividual work, such as arts and crafts,there is usually a song or a chant audiblein the background. Not only does thisincrease the learners’ exposure toEnglish, but it also reduces the level oftheir noise and relaxes the children.

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In short, then, several factors need tobe taken into account when managingclasses of very young learners. Firstly,the physical surroundings in whichlearning is to take place are importantas they need to create a pleasant andencouraging atmosphere. It is essentialto plan the arrangement of theclassroom: division of a classroom intodifferent areas is beneficial. Secondly,one of the crucial aspects of managingvery young learners involves handlingdiscipline problems, which, due to thechildren’s developmental stage, arelikely to arise in a typical lesson. Thirdly,activities should be designed to movethe children on in their socialdevelopment and to provide a balanceof activity type within the lesson.

Managing thevery youngManaging thevery young

One stage of a child’s social and

emotional developmentmay be characterised by negative behaviour

and a desire forindividual attention

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[email protected]

Jon Marks is an ELT writer andeditor, based in Italy. Recentpublications include the Puzzle Time series and IELTSResource Pack (both DELTAPublishing) and three titles inA & C Black’s Check YourEnglish Vocabulary series. He is currently developingteenager courses for China,and also draws the LangwichScool cartoon in ETp.

Here are three free-speaking practiceactivities based on problems andsolutions. They can be used atintermediate level and above. The oralcomponents of some exams (forexample, part three of the CambridgeESOL First Certificate speaking paper)are partly based on discussing problems,so these activities would be especiallysuitable for classes preparing for suchexams.

What’s best?Time: A minimum of 15 minutesPreparation: Make one copy of thehandout on page 26 for each pair ofstudents or group of three. Cut it up intocards if you wish.

Method1 Put the students into pairs or threes andask them to discuss the questions in thefirst box. (To match the FCE format, theyshould speak for three to four minutes intotal, but of course the conversationscould be longer or shorter.) Monitor andassist anybody who is struggling.

2 Reorganise the class into new pairs orthrees so that everybody gets the chanceto work with as many other students aspossible. The new pairs or threes thendiscuss the questions in box 2, and so on.Continue until all seven boxes have beendiscussed, or stop after fewer than seven,as required.

3 Have a feedback session, focusing onany language problems that you noticedwhile you were monitoring the students.

Follow-up for exam classes1 If your class is preparing for an examsuch as FCE, which features a problem-solving task, put the students into pairs,and ask each pair to choose one of theproblems.

2 Ask the pairs to write some ideas (butnot a script) for a short dialogue featuringtwo students discussing the problem in

1

the exam. The language should be asvaried and adventurous as possible.

3 When the dialogues have beencompleted, ask several pairs to volunteerto perform their dialogues for the rest ofthe class. The class then comment onwhether they think the dialogue wouldimpress an examiner or not, and why.

What’s theproblem?

Time: 20–30 minutesPreparation: Copy and cut out the cardson page 27. If any of the cards areunsuitable for the class for culturalreasons, omit them.

Method1 Divide the class into 12 groups of two or more students. If you have fewer than20 students, omit cards as necessary. Give one card to each pair or group andask them to discuss the problem. Theirtask is to come up with a good solution.Monitor, and if necessary remind thestudents that the purpose of the activity isto practise speaking rather than to finishas quickly as possible.

2 When everybody has finished, get eachpair or group in turn to describe theirsolution without mentioning the problem.The rest of the class listen, and try toguess what the problem was.

Alternative methodUse the cards for a speaking activity witha more traditional format. Each smallgroup receives a pile of face-down cards.One member of the group takes a cardand reads it out. The other members of thegroup must each propose a differentsolution. The reader of the card thenchooses the solution they think best, andthe person who suggested it ‘wins’ thecard. Then another student takes a cardfrom the pile, and so on.

2

What’s wrong?Time: 20–30 minutesPreparation: None

MethodBrainstorm local problems with the class.For example, there might be too muchtraffic in the town centre, nowhere for kidsto play, not enough affordable housing, etc.Write the most suitable ideas on the board.Avoid any politically sensitive issues.

1 Get the class to vote on which one ofthe problems on the board they would liketo discuss.

2 Put the students into pairs or smallgroups. Each pair or group must come upwith a proposal to solve the problem. Visitthe pairs/groups, and prompt properdiscussion of the topic rather than instantconsensus (reminding them, if necessary,that the purpose of the activity is languagepractice rather than actually solving theproblem). If you get the impression that twopairs/groups are going to come up with thesame idea, see if you can steer one towardsa slightly different version of that idea.

3 When the discussion stage has run itscourse, ask a member of each pair/groupto explain their proposal to the rest of theclass. Write very short summaries of theseideas on the board.

4 Have a class vote on the proposals(students can’t vote for their own proposals).Find out which idea has the most votes.

5 With smaller classes, you may like tohave a whole-class discussion on thesubject and any related issues.

3

Jon Marks offers three photocopiable,

thematically-linked communication

activities with an element of

innovation.

ActivitycornerThree problem-solving activities

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What’s best?

nurse waiter bus driver chefflight attendant police officer nanny

How difficult would it be to do these jobs without training?

Which would be the most difficult?

1

a city apartment a sea-front flat an old house in the countrya modern suburban house a really big camper van

What are the advantages of each of these places to live?

Which would be best for a family with young children?

2

email fax letter personal meeting telephone

What are the advantages of each of these forms of communication?

Which is best for business communication?

3

cat dog chimpanzee rabbit fish mouse bird

A family with two teenage children want a pet.

They live in a ground-floor flat with a small garden.

What would be the advantages and disadvantages of each of these?

Which would be the most suitable?

4

cookery computing first aid judo car mechanics art creative writing

These evening classes are offered by a local adult education centre. Unfortunately, for financial reasons, they have to cut three courses. Which four should stay?

5

luxury hotel simple hotel youth hostel caravan tent staying with a local family

What are the advantages of each of these places to stay while on holiday?

Which would be best for a family with young children?

Which would be best for a young couple?

6

kindergarten primary school secondary schooluniversity language school driving school

Bob is 22, and has just finished university. He would like to teach.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of careers in these institutions?

Which would be the easiest? Which would be the most satisfying?

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What’s the problem?

The door of this room is locked andyou can’t get out. There are no otherpeople in the building.

Ten minutes before a really importantjob interview, somebody spills coffeeall over you.

You are walking in the country. In thedistance, a car stops. A man gets outand hides something in the vegetation.The car leaves. You go to the place,and pull out a suitcase. It’s full ofmoney.

For a joke, your friends take all yourclothes and leave you standing nakedin the town centre at 11 o’clock in themorning.

You arrive at an airport, and realisethat you’ve left your ticket andpassport at home.

You are in a country where you don’tspeak a word of the language. Yourmoney, credit cards and passporthave just been stolen.

You have just pulled the front door ofyour house shut, and realise that youhave left your keys inside.

You really have to pass an Englishexam. You did a practice testyesterday, and got 30%. The examis in two weeks’ time, and the passmark is 60%.

You need to make a journey of 1,000kilometres very urgently. You have nomoney. It’s not safe to hitchhike.

You are in a city far from home withno money, cheques or credit cards.You don’t know anyone. It’s gettinglate. You need somewhere to spendthe night.

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[email protected]

Tessa Woodward is ateacher and teachertrainer. She also editsthe Teacher Trainerjournal for Pilgrims, UK.Her latest book isHeadstrong, availablefrom HilderstoneColllege, St Peter’s,Broadstairs, Kent CT10 2AQ, UK.

I N T H E C L A S S R O O M

I think, therefore I learnI think, therefore I learnTessa Woodward looks at the questions teachers ask.

2

We probably ask hundreds ofquestions in the process of amonth’s teaching! One way of

classifying the questions we ask is bythe answers they require. So, forexample, we could frame a question torequire a brief, specific answer:‘What class of word is “yummy”?’

Or to require a wide-ranging answer:‘What did you do last weekend?’

Some people call the narrow-answerquestions ‘closed’ or ‘convergent’ and thebroad ones ‘open’ or ‘divergent’. You’llsee that both the questions above startwith the word What. So we can say forsure that it is too simple to imagine thatquestions starting with what, when, where,who, etc always get dull, unthinkingresponses or that those starting withwhat if, why or how necessarily lead tointeresting answers. It’s the content ofthe question, rather than its form, thatis the key to stimulating thinking.

However, it is pretty clear that lotsof narrow questions (whatever wordthey start with) will elicit lots of shortanswers and so may require less thoughton the students’ part.

Answering our own questionsTeachers who are inexperienced and shyof silences, or those who are really keento get through lots of material, will ask aquestion or two (or more), one after theother, and, after waiting just a couple ofseconds, will answer the question(s)themselves! Once students get used tothis and realise that they are not reallyexpected to attempt an answer, they willswitch off. No thinking necessary there!

Wait-timeWait-time is when the teacher pauses inclass and … er … waits!

There are two different situationswhen wait-time is invaluable. Firstly,just after you have asked a question.Secondly, after you have received ananswer. Thus …Teacher: What do you notice about the

sentences in this story?

PauseStudent 1: They’re all short.

Pause

Student 2: There are no commas or

anything.

If we wait after our own questionsand also after student contributions, wegive the students time to think.Research tells us that good wait-timewill get us more and longer answersfrom more students, who will also startto build on each other’s contributions.

If you find pausing hard, try thefollowing:● Notice your breathing and gestures

and keep them relaxed.● Count ‘One Mississippi, two

Mississippi …’ up to five, slowly.● Look calmly round the classroom.● Mentally check that your own question

was a well-worded, clear and relevantone.

EchoingEchoing is when a teacher repeats what astudent has just said. Here is an example:Teacher: What do people do to prepare

for a job interview?

Student: Wear a suit.

Teacher: Wear a suit.

Echoing is a really hard habit tobreak. If we are even aware that we doit, we imagine that we are dong it for allsorts of good reasons, such as to confirmto a student that their answer is a goodone, to repeat it loudly enough for othersto hear or to model pronunciation. But,in fact, echoing increases teacher talkingtime, hands control of the conversationback to the teacher, discourages studentsfrom bothering to speak up andsupplants praise or encouragement. It isvery unnatural in ordinary conversationand, in the context of this article, ithardly encourages thinking!

If we realise we have got into a realhabit of echoing, what can we do? Well,we can ask a quiet student to speak up orask a nearby student to repeat it moreloudly. Or we can acknowledge thestudent’s contribution or, yes, you guessedit, we can practise using wait-time!

Follow-up questionsUnlike teacher echoing, follow-upquestions can really move thinking on.They are encouraging prompts that help

a class to fill out answers that are notquite right or not full enough. They caninvolve rephrasing the original question,making it simpler, or can involve brieflyreviewing previous information forstudents to help them recall it.

Brown and Wragg, amongst others,have suggested that follow-up questionsbe asked in a gentle way or so that atask is seen as a fun or interestingchallenge. Here are some examples:Can anyone give me an example of that?

Can you tell me the difference between

those two?

Is there another possible reason?

Now, remember what we said yesterday

about ...? How does that fit with ...?

Linking back to previouscontributions is a good way to followup as well:What did Sari just say?

Good … so Maria said it means starting a

new topic. Juan said it’s informal. So now

what does it have in common with …?

This encourages students to listen toeach other and validates previouscontributions.

Finally …What I am suggesting, then, is that wenotice the kinds of question we ask,make sure we ask a variety with plentyof open-ended ones, lengthen our wait-time, use it in two different places anduse skilful follow-up questions and links.

Checking these everyday classroomroutines is pivotal in helping students tounderstand, think and contribute.

Brown, G and Wragg, E C QuestioningRoutledge 1993Fisher, R Teaching Thinking Continuum2008Lindstromberg, S ‘Teacher echoing’Teacher Trainer 2(1) 1988

ETp

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C U L T U R E

A process approachto teaching cultureA process approachto teaching cultureGuo Yan consults her students to find out what they want.

Although some researchersand teachers remainsceptical about the role ofculture in language teaching,

the majority assume that some form ofcross-cultural training is inevitable in anyEnglish course. However, the literatureon the subject seldom mentions thestudents’ attitudes to the teaching ofculture. This article looks at whatstudents in tertiary education in Chinahave to say, and examines whethercurrent teaching practices meet theirexpectations and needs.

Questions and answersA questionnaire (adapted from theresearch of Zhang Bei and Ma Lan) wasused to survey students’ perceptions ofcross-cultural communication and cultureteaching in college English. Altogetherthere were five questions on cross-culturalcommunication (see Table 1) and six onculture teaching (see Table 2). For eachitem, three to five choices were listedand students were required to tick theone that they felt most accuratelyreflected their views. The questionnaireswere administered in regular class timeto 258 students from five universities inHubei province of central China. Theresults are shown on pages 30 and 31.

Although a small number ofrespondents had no thought of evermaking foreign friends, the vastmajority (81.8%) were pretty optimisticthat they might make friends with eithernative speakers of English or peoplewho use English as a second or foreignlanguage. Conversational topics weremost likely to be personal interests andcultural matters. The problems they feltthey would face were overcomingdiverse cultural backgrounds, choosingthe right words, understanding other

Most of the respondents expect touse English for work and in cross-cultural communication within China.As a result, they expressed the view thatlearning English and information aboutBritish and American culture wasdefinitely not enough. They deemedcompetence in using English to talkabout their own Chinese culture asequally important. They would liketeaching materials to focus on a varietyof cultures, including their own. As forthe cultural course British and American

Cultures, 37.6% (mainly those whoindicated that there was no such courseon offer in their school) had verypositive attitudes toward its potentialrole in improving their cross-culturalcommunicative competence. However,more than half (53.5%), mainly thosewho indicated that they had actuallytaken the course, stated that it was onlymoderately helpful.

people’s attitudes, and learning totolerate different value systems in orderto achieve mutual understanding.Moreover, they considered lack ofunderstanding of other cultures,unfamiliarity with the pragmatic rulesof English use and inability to make useof communicative strategies as potentialhindrances to establishing deepfriendships with foreigners.

The students deemed competence

in using English to talk about their ownChinese culture asequally important

Provision and practiceIn the teaching of English to non-English majors at universities andcolleges in China, culture is generallyimplicitly embedded in two courses, an‘integrated skills’ course and a ‘listeningand speaking’ course. The content ofboth courses is topic-led. When coveringa topic, teachers often supply somerelated cultural information about thepeople, the country, the background,etc. Thanks to a series of reformpolicies, recent years have witnessed theincorporation of more cultural contentinto the curriculum of college English.In many universities, non-English majorstake additional courses like British and

American Cultures, Appreciation of

British and American Movies, British

and American Literature, etc. Theunderlying rationale is that culture isthe background and context of alanguage and by plunging students intothe sea of the target culture(s), they willbe better motivated and their languageskills will be enhanced.

However, in the courses mentionedabove, students are simply exposed tosuperficial second-hand knowledge ofgeography, education systems, customs,festivals, etc. Moreover, the end-of-course assessment concentrates mainlyon checking the students’ ability inmemorising and understanding culturalknowledge. The students’ own Chineseculture is used only for providingreference to the target cultures. As aresult, when it comes to talking aboutChinese culture in English, studentsoften feel at a loss. Overgeneralisationor oversimplification of informationabout culture also occurs, which in turnleads learners to form stereotypicalperspectives about the target culturesand their people.

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Expectations and realityBy comparing students’ perceptions andcurrent teaching practice, we found thatstudents expect to acquire the skills thatwill enable them to identify otherpeople’s attitudes, to choose the propervocabulary for expressing their ownmeaning, to use appropriatecommunicative strategies, and tounderstand the pragmatic meaning ofwhat people say to them in English. Inreality, current teaching practice ignoressuch expectations and needs and appearsmerely to impart impractical culturalknowledge to students in a passive way.This is, in essence, a ‘product’ approachto the teaching of language and culture.In this approach, the target culture isregarded as a product, waiting to be putinto the students’ minds. This fails tofacilitate the students’ individualinitiatives, to instill creative learning orto provoke critical thinking.

The teaching of culture needs toconsist of more than merefamiliarisation with different social,political and religious circumstances inthe target culture. Cultural knowledgeby itself cannot guarantee students’smooth communication with speakersof English in real-life situations. Rather,it is intercultural communicativecompetence that plays this crucial role.

The students also expressed the hopethat they could improve their competencein English in order to talk about theirown Chinese culture. This, too, is largelyignored in current teaching practice.Although the students’ native culture isintroduced in comparison and contrastwith the target culture, it does not appearsufficiently part of the course materials asto guarantee its inclusion when any topicis presented. In other words, it serves onlyas a near-invisible backdrop for thepresentation of British and Americancultures and seldom comes to the front ofthe stage, leaving students no opportunityto learn systematically how to talk aboutChinese culture in English. As cross-cultural communication is by nature

two-sided, the students’ lack in thisability is a big obstacle to developingtheir intercultural communicativecompetence. The students themselveshave clearly realised their shortcomingsin this respect and would like cultureteaching materials and textbooks toincorporate their native Chinese culture.

Bridging the gapWhat can we do to bridge the gapbetween students’ expectations and ourteaching practice?

Firstly, we need to realise thatculture teaching is not a product, but aprocess. More emphasis should beplaced on having students discovercultural data as a learning process ratherthan having it ‘fed’ to them as staticinformation. In other words, as bothClaire Kramsch and Linda Quinn Allenpoint out, culture teaching and learningshould be a process of discovery inwhich students explore aspects of thetarget culture, reflect on the fruits oftheir explorations and create relationalmeanings of their own based on

1 In my opinion, any foreignpeople I will have contactwith or make friends withnow or in the future willbe ...

2 Topics of conversationwith my foreign friendsare usually ...

3 Any misunderstandingsbetween me and foreignfriends are usually causedby ...

4 My biggest problem whencommunicating withforeign friends is that ...

5 The difficulty of setting updeep friendships withforeigners lies in the factthat ...

Cross-culturalcommunication

Choices PercentageNumber ofstudents (Total)

A process approachto teaching cultureA process approachto teaching culture

A British or American people who use English as their mother tongue. 124 48.1%

B people who use English as their second language. 55 21.3%

C people who use English as a foreign language. 32 12.4%

D There is only a remote possibility that I will have contact with foreigners. 47 18.2%

A daily greetings. 30 11.6%

B hobbies and interests. 132 51.2%

C learning a new language. 19 7.4%

D cultural exchange. 71 27.5%

E current affairs. 6 2.3%

A different habits of conversing. 33 12.8%

B different personal experiences. 9 3.5%

C different communicative competence. 17 6.6%

D different language speaking habits. 48 18.6%

E diverse cultural backgrounds. 151 58.5%

A I am not able to use appropriate words to express ideas. 116 45%

B there is no interesting topic to talk about. 25 9.7%

C I don’t know how to use appropriate body language. 29 11.2%

D I am not sure about the foreign friend’s attitudes. 41 15.9%

E we have diverse value systems. 47 18.2%

A I lack adequate understanding of the other person’s culture. 82 31.8%

B I lack adequate understanding of the pragmatic rules of their language use. 56 21.7%

C I lack communicative strategies. 59 22.9%

D I am not tolerant of other cultures. 25 9.7%

E Other reasons. 36 13.9%

Table 1

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[email protected]

Guo Yan is a lecturer inthe School of ForeignLanguages of HuazhongUniversity of Science andTechnology in China. Hercurrent research interestsare applied linguistics andtranslation studies. Hermost recent publication isAutonomous EnglishLearning amongPostgraduate EFLLearners in China: AStudy of Attitudes andBehaviors, published byAsia TEFL.

Allen, L Q ‘Implementing a culture portfolioproject within a constructivist paradigm’Foreign Language Annals 37(2) 2004

Cortazzi, M and Jin, L ‘Cultural mirrors:material and methods in the EFLclassroom’ In Hinkel, E (Ed) Culture inSecond Language Teaching CUP 1999

Kramsch, C Context and Culture inLanguage Teaching OUP 1993

Zhang, B and Ma, L ‘An investigation ofthe cultural content in college Englishcoursebooks’ Foreign Language World 42004

reflections on both the target cultureand their native culture. Conductingportfolio projects is a good approach asit can involve students in more activelearning experiences and morestudent–student and student–teacherinteractions. In addition, the process ofeach student’s learning can be evaluated.

Secondly, we should integrate thetarget culture(s) and the students’ ownculture. We must help our studentsattain sufficient knowledge and expertisein English to talk about their nativeculture. If possible, the concept of thetarget culture should be broadened, sothat it is not simply confined to Britishand American culture. Nowadays,English is an international language andis essentially the first choice incommunication between people fromdifferent speech communities andcultural backgrounds. If these diversecultures can also be touched upon, itwill be easier for both parties toestablish mutual comprehensibility incommunication. Martin Cortazzi and

1 I think if I learn a foreignlanguage and about itsculture, ...

2 I like English cultureteaching textbooks that ...

3 I think that English cultureteaching materials shouldfocus on ...

4 I think the cultural courseBritish and AmericanCultures ...

5 I hope my Englishproficiency will match ...

6 I think I will use English inthe future for ...

Culture teaching and language use

Choices PercentageNumber ofstudents (Total)

A this will be enough for cross-cultural communication. 25 9.7%

B it will not be enough. I still need to master competence in using English to talk about my own native Chinese culture. 229 88.8%

C native Chinese culture is irrelevant. 4 1.5%

A embody the culture of the USA. 65 15.2%

B embody British culture. 22 8.5%

C embody Chinese culture. 15 15.8%

D embody a variety of cultures. 156 60.5%

A the target culture(s). 38 14.7%

B Chinese culture. 27 10.5%

C a combination of the target culture(s) and Chinese culture. 97 37.6%

D multicultural integration. 96 37.2%

A helps learners get knowledge of British and American cultures so as to enhance cross-cultural communication. 97 37.6%

B gives learners little help in English language learning and cross-cultural communication by imparting knowledge of British and American cultures. 23 8.9%

C to a certain extent motivates learners and helps them in English language learning and cross-cultural communication. 138 53.5%

A my need for cross-cultural communication. 73 28.3%

B my needs for my future job. 111 43%

C my need for my personal development and dreams. 63 24.4%

D my need to pass examinations. 11 4.3%

A professional translation or interpretation. 5 1.9%

B cross-cultural communication in China. 60 23.3%

C making a living in an English-speaking country. 8 3.1%

D further study or an academic exchange or visit abroad. 48 18.6%

E needs within the work field. 137 53.1%

Lixian Jin recommend developingmulticultural content teaching materialsby making use of both internationaltarget culture language materials andsource culture language materials whichdraw on the students’ own culture.

� � �By investigating students’ perceptionsand examining current practice for theteaching of culture, we found that tosome extent the students’ expectationsand needs are not being met. A productapproach to culture teaching cannotsatisfy students’ needs in regard to theirfuture use of English because it merelytransmits a limited range of culturalinformation. The students’ native culture,which is an indispensable component ofcross-cultural communication, is largelyignored. In response to these problems, aprocess approach is suggested and it isproposed that multicultural materials,particularly involving content on thenative culture, need to be developed andincluded in courses on culture.

Table 2

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The sudden specialistThe sudden specialistRobin Walker has suggestions for the non-specialist teacher faced with specialised needs.

One of the most unnervingmoments in the career ofmany teachers of English isthe arrival of their Director

of Studies or Head of Department totell them that they are going to have toteach a group of agricultural engineers,architects, chemists or business studiesundergraduates. Mostly trained inhumanities, teachers new to English forAcademic Purposes (EAP), English forSpecial Purposes (ESP), or BusinessEnglish, quite naturally feel intimidatedby the prospect of teaching with textsthat can be characterised by densetechnical vocabulary and often obscurefield-specific concepts. Though we nowknow what FAQs are through using theinternet ourselves, we may be less atease on encountering FABs, GDSs,SWOT or yield analyses.

Common featuresBut before we hand in our notice andlook for work elsewhere, it is worthremembering that at the heart of allspecialist Englishes there lies a core ofcommon features that, as professionallanguage teachers, we are experts in.The most important generic features arefamiliar terrain for us:

GrammarAlthough genre analysis and other relatedstudies have revealed certain differencesbetween different specialist Englishes,especially at discourse level, the actualgrammar that students of any field willneed is remarkably constant. None of thegrammar taught up to upper-intermediatelevel in general English classes would beout of place in an ESP or related

environment, and we are trained expertsin teaching this grammar.

SkillsWe are also experts in guiding studentsto high levels of competence in each ofthe four language skills, and althoughsome situations would need us to focusmore on writing than on speaking, say,we are experts in determining the exactbalance of skills work that each studentor group requires.

FunctionsOnce again, our expertise from teachingexam or general English leaves usperfectly equipped to help our specialistlearners to achieve the fluency they alldesire when putting forward a tentativeidea, agreeing a price or rejecting anargument from a peer.

We should also not lose sight of thefact that many people in academic,professional or business contexts willneed to make presentations, to negotiate,to travel and to socialise. All of thisimplies having strong communicationskills in English, and once again, there isnobody better than the trained language

teacher to assist the learner in gainingthese skills, or in optimising in Englishthe communication skills they alreadypossess in their mother tongue.

Despite all of the above, teachingEnglish for any specialist purpose canstill generate difficulties, and it is to threeof these problems, and to potentialsolutions, that we now turn our attention.

Problem 1: It’s a completelynew specialism for you.

With English now a lingua franca inmany academic, professional andbusiness environments, our ownprofession will be called on more andmore to give classes to groups studyingone or other of a constantly expandingrange of specialisms. Here there are tworelatively simple courses of action we cantake in order to gain at least a minimalunderstanding of the specialism’s basicconcepts and terminology:

Use the internet to check themeaning of new concepts/terminology.In particular, for simple but adequateexplanations try wikipedia.com andanswers.com.

It is also usually possible to find theEnglish translation of a wide range ofterms on the internet.

Use Amazon, or a similar onlinebook supplier, and buy an undergraduateintroductory coursebook on thespecialism in question, in Englishand/or the students’ mother tongue, ifyou can speak this. Such introductorycoursebooks, though not exactly ‘lightreading’, are usually conceptually wellwithin the intellectual limits of any ELTprofessional. As a bonus, these

2

1

At the heart of allspecialist Englishesthere lies a core ofcommon features

that, as professionallanguage teachers, we are experts in

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BUSINESS ENGLISH professional � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

[email protected]

Robin Walker is afreelance teacher trainerand materials writer. He taught ESP at theEscuela Universitaria de Turismo de Asturias(Spain) for over 20years, and is co-authorof the Tourism title inOUP’s Oxford Englishfor Careers series.

textbooks will also provide:

● additional reading material;

● (probably) additional activities andmini-research projects at the end ofeach unit or chapter;

● (possibly) addresses of websites withauthentic related material – websitesof professional bodies, companies, etc.

Problem 2: Your class hasstudents from a variety of differentprofessional backgrounds.

Openly discuss the impossibility ofteaching to the needs (especially thelexical needs) of one specialism only,and so justify a ‘broad’ approach.Explain that you will base your lessonson the generic features of all specialistEnglishes, namely:

● grammar;

● functions;

● competence in the four skills.

Having justified a broad approach, getyour students to prepare PLDs (PersonalLearning Dictionaries) of the vocabularyspecific to their individual professionalor vocational fields. Of course, they willprobably not have taken full responsibilityfor their vocabulary work before, so youwill need to use general Englishvocabulary at first in order to trainthem. Eventually the PLDs will becomeso personalised that even when twostudents share the same specialism, theirdictionaries will frequently be quitedifferent. However, as a general rule,each entry into a PLD should include:

● the headword (the English term thestudent hopes to learn);

● a translation into the student’s L1;

● pronunciation – this can be theofficial IPA transcription, and/or apersonal notation based on listeningto the word on a CD-ROM, an onlinedictionary, to you, etc;

● grammar (especially where this isdifferent to the L1 grammar of thesame word);

● an example of use from an authentictext (and perhaps an exampleinvented by the student);

● an explanation of meaning written bythe student, plus, if the student chooses,an explanation from a technicaldictionary, or from Wikipedia.

2

1

It is useful to collect the PLDs fromtime to time to check that the studentsare maintaining them properly. If astudent’s explanation of the meaning ofa term is not clear to you, get them tore-write it, or to explain it to you inEnglish until you do understand. This isquite a demanding exercise, but hasobvious benefits both for you, as you getto understand technical vocabulary, andfor the student, who practises using it.

Teach your students sufficientpresentation skills for them to be able toprepare and give mini-presentationsabout terms or concepts from theirspecialism. These should last about fiveminutes, and, initially, the use ofPowerPoint should be discouraged;learners need to concentrate on thelanguage they need rather than on the‘fireworks’ of modern digitalpresentations.

Problem 3: You don’t have adedicated coursebook for aspecialism you have to teach.

There are various ways we can respondto this situation, which is not at alluncommon. Three simple but effectiveresponses are:

Shared reading comprehension.Get your students to bring in authentictexts and/or to search for texts on theinternet. Ask them to read their textsand to prepare questions (and answers!)on the content of the texts. Supportthem as they prepare the questions,primarily with language, but also byreminding them of the types of readingcomprehension question that they mightlike to use. Prepare copies of the textsand the answer sheets, or put them onthe institution’s website. Students thenchoose texts and questions written bytheir peers and work on them. Where anauthor and user disagree about theanswers, you can join them and ask eachone to justify their opinion in English.

Jigsaw reading. Get your studentsto look for texts on the internet thatthey can download as Word files. Askthem to reformat their texts so thatthere are clear spaces of approximately5–6 blank lines between the paragraphs.Make copies of these reformatted texts,keeping a copy of the original text asthe answer sheet. Cut the copies up sothat your students then receive a ‘jigsaw’

2

1

3

version of the text, with each paragraphon a separate slip of paper.

Invite your students to read theparagraphs and put them back in theright order. This can be doneindividually, in pairs or threes. Onconfirming the answer to the order ofthe paragraphs from the answer sheet,take the opportunity to point out howcohesion is maintained in the textthrough the use of reference, ellipsis,conjunction, etc.

Cloze. Get your students to lookfor texts on the internet that they candownload as Word files, and then deleteevery ninth or tenth word (less often, ifyou have weaker students). Print outand copy the texts and give them to thestudents to complete.

A variation on deleting every nthword, is to delete certain grammaticalelements (articles, prepositions,pronouns, etc) or to delete vocabularycentral to the specialism the textbelongs to. You can also vary thedifficulty of this ‘cloze’ activity by:

● giving all the missing words inalphabetical order in a box below thetext;

● giving all the missing words and oneor two ‘distractors’ (ideally, the rightword but the wrong part of speech, egpatient, patiently and patience, whereonly patience is correct).

� � �

In short, whilst in no way underestimatingthe magnitude of the task of preparinga course in a specialist English, weshould not forget the skills andprofessional expertise that we possess aslanguage teachers, and which we tooeasily take for granted in a world thatstill has not understood just how vitalthe English teaching professional is tomodern life.

3

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2I N T H E C L A S S R O O M

DifferentiationDifferentiationDoug Evans continues his look at catering for mixed-ability classes.

2I

n Part 1 of this article, we discussedthe principles of effectivedifferentiation and looked at someexamples of differentiation-

friendly assessment. Here, I would liketo make clear the distinction betweendifferentiation and accommodation andprovide examples of how a teacher mightpresent various differentiated lessons.

Differentiation versusaccommodationConfusing differentiation withaccommodation is a common mistake.Accommodation describes certainactions and strategies which, when doneconsistently and effectively over a periodof time, can in a major way effect verypositive change in how students canaccess and synthesise information.Differentiation is an ongoing processthat isn’t achieved simply by allowing astudent extra time on a quiz, forexample. In its essence, differentiation isthe practice of meeting a wide variety ofstudent needs within a class of differingabilities, motivations and backgroundknowledge. Effective differentiation usesongoing assessment throughout a unitof work, ensures that classroom tasksare at an appropriate level, and requiresfrequent teacher interaction.Accommodation strategies certainly arean important part of differentiation, butif used in isolation they are simplyaccommodations, nothing more.

The following are all validaccommodations, which can haveconsiderable positive effect in allclassrooms, but many are particularlysuited to the ELT classroom:

Classroom management● Use direct, small-group instruction.● Provide additional time for previewing

materials or completing tasks.● Encourage and plan for cooperative

learning within heterogeneous groups.● Provide task choices according to the

students’ learning preferences.

Environment● Consider the environment – a student

may benefit from taking a test inanother room.

● Allow students to move around, siton the floor, work in the hallway, etc,as appropriate.

Materials● Vary materials by reading level.● Vary materials by student interest.● Provide recordings of some materials.● Use a variety of levels of materials.● Use worksheets and tasks that have

problems which go from easier tomore difficult with different startingpoints for different learners.

● Provide non-testable, supplementary,‘keep going’ tasks for those whofinish more quickly.

● Provide copies of notes.● Use texts and handouts with key

concepts already highlighted.● Provide or pre-teach key vocabulary

for the next day, week, or unit.● Provide multi-language resources and

materials. Have some materials availablein the students’ native language.

● Before a lesson, provide a structuredoutline or graphic organiser for thestudents on which they can fill inblanks and jot notes while listening.

● Provide paper options – lined, unlined,graph with different square sizes,raised lines, or different coloured ink.

● Use enlarged print.● Use different coloured paper for

handouts for organisation andreading contrast.

● Give the students a colour-codedtimeline for large projects.

● Provide something concrete uponwhich students can anchor theirlearning. Items that they can grasp,manoeuvre and manipulate canprovide a welcome, and at timesnecessary, sensory alternative tolearning by lecture or coursebook.

Instructions● Simplify instructions. Minimise unclear

language and directions and use

pictures to illustrate whenever possible.● Demonstrate, model and act out

instructions.● Record instructions on tape.● Repeat your instructions and ask the

students to repeat them, either to thewhole class or to a classmate.

● Write instructions and homework tasksin clear handwriting, either on theboard or on post-it notes to give to thestudents. If you display instructions inthe classroom, put them in the sameplace and write in a consistent manner.

● Use graduated rubrics. At times,students with different skill levels andstarting points may be given rubricsand tasks with somewhat differentoutcomes in order to challenge themat their appropriate levels.

● Break down long tasks into smallersteps. Instead of giving certainstudents all of the information atonce, give them the first part only.When they finish, they can ask for thesecond part. Another option is toprovide a checklist for the student tocross off completed steps.

● Delete some options. If a particularstudent is consistently unable to keepup with certain tasks, it may bebecause they are being overwhelmedby too many choices. By removingsome steps or options, a student maybe more able to focus better on thetargeted outcomes.

● Post assignments on weblogs.

Teacher behaviour● Modify your tone of voice.● Modify the pace of instruction to

allow the students to speed up or slowdown as needed.

● Adapt and vary your level ofquestioning as per Bloom’s Taxonomy.The six levels of Bloom’s cognitivedomain (knowledge, comprehension,application, analysis, synthesis,evaluation) are of particular interest toteachers who differentiate. However,the often-overlooked affective domain(receiving, responding, valuing,

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[email protected]

Doug Evans is anEnglish as anAdditional Languageteacher anddepartment head ofStudent SupportServices at ACSHillingdon InternationalSchool in London. Hehas been a teacher inthe USA, Japan,Poland, Russia andSouth Korea.

Bloom, B ‘Taxonomy of educationalobjectives: the classification ofeducational goals’ Handbook 1: CognitiveDomain Longman 1956

Costa, A Activating & Engaging Habits ofMind ACSD 2000

Cummings, C Managing to TeachTeaching Inc 1996

Tomlinson, C ‘Differentiating instruction –why bother?’ Middle Ground 9(1) 2005

Tomlinson, C How to DifferentiateInstruction in Mixed-Ability ClassroomsACSD 2001

organising, characterising) has a veryhigh potential for personalising andenriching the educational experienceindividually or within a group.

Feedback● Videotape lessons for later review.● Provide consistent feedback. Effective

differentiation relies on there beingassessment tasks and frequent teacherinteraction throughout a unit ofwork. Because a teacher may have anumber of varied outcomes targetedwithin a class, in a differentiatedsetting it is of particular importanceto communicate with the students ontheir progress throughout a lesson orunit. This feedback ensures that theinformation and targets are at themost appropriate levels.

Testing and assessment● Present different parts of a test

separately.● Record test directions and questions

on tape.● Give students testing options, such as

oral testing, tape recorders, take-home tests, different orders ofquestions, open-book tests.

● Provide additional time for takingtests.

● Provide options for expressingmastery. Some students might want topresent their information usingPowerPoint. Some might prefer towrite an essay. Others may choose towrite something from the perspectiveof a character in a story.

Differentiation in actionThe following are examples of how ateacher can use a variety of differentiationtechniques in the ELT classroom. Theyare designed to meet targets, while atthe same time providing student choice.

Tic-Tac-Toe Ask the students to choose three tasksto complete which make a line in anyone direction, as in the grid below.

1

ELT menuPresent your tasks as if you are in arestaurant. Let the students choosewhatever ‘dishes’ they like.

2

A grammar-focused lessonThese tasks all provide for studentchoice while still keeping the studentsfocused on the desired outcomes.1 Read pages 30–31 of your textbook.Answer the questions on page 32,choosing either the odd- or even-numbered questions.2 Pick any three red cards from thereading card catalogue and work onthem with a partner.3 Find any five objects in your housethat represent five of the newvocabulary words on page 39. Take a

3

picture of each on a digital camera. Usethem to write a short story of 8–12lines. Alternatively, draw the objects.4 Using the computer in the library, goto http://a4esl.org/phrasalverbs/html,read through steps 1–4 and completethe task.

Reading prompts An important aspect of differentiation(and good teaching practice in general) isself-reflection. After a selected reading,questions such as those listed below mayhelp the students understand the story inmore depth, link targets to the students’own experiences, and provide the kindsof tasks that can help them gain a betterunderstanding of their own learningstyles and preferences. The teachercould provide a selection of these kindsof questions and the student wouldchoose one to write about. The nexttime, the student would pick a differentquestion so that they would be able toreflect on their own learning from avariety of different perspectives.

� If I could interview someone in thestory, I’d interview ...

� Something in the story that is similarto my life is ...

� Something that is very different frommy life is ...

� I became curious when ...� I liked this story more/less than (a

previous story) because ...� I was reminded of ... when ...� I understood (a character) when ...� I didn’t like it when ...

4

Write and submit a letter to theeditor of a local newspaper.

Write two legitimate suggestionsfor improving the school and saywhy they are needed.

Describe how a fish is like atree.

Using at least five newvocabulary words, write agreetings card.

Write directions on how toget from Trafalgar Squareto Piccadilly Circus.

Write about a time whenyou felt sad.

Write out the rules of yourfavourite card game.

Imagine you are the maincharacter in your favourite book.Describe a typical day in your life.

Write an imaginary conversationin which you give advice tosomeone who is being bullied.

Main dishes (pick two)1 Read the story and then complete

the grammar questions on pages 44and 45 of your textbook.

2 Create a Venn diagram showing thesimilarities and differences betweenthe two main characters.

3 Create a timeline of ten majorevents in the story.

Side dishes (pick one)1 Interview someone who was alive

during the 1960s.2 Write an acrostic poem using the

word juxtaposition to give the firstletter of each line.

3 Make a recording of an imaginaryradio broadcast from a reporterembedded in a combat situation.

Desserts (pick one)These can be done for extra credit ifthe main and side dishes are done tothe chef’s (your teacher) satisfaction.1 Listen to Bob Dylan’s The Times They

Are-A-Changin’ and write a one-pageessay on how it relates to the story.

2 Visit the Vietnam War Museum.Write or tell about your experience.

3 Your choice (with your teacher’sapproval).

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Ai The pool was crowded and I couldn’t swim properly.

Aii I could swim when I was four.

Bi My mum said we could go for a swim in theafternoon, but we couldn’t go straight after lunch.

Bii Could I go to the pool this afternoon, please?

Ci Swimming could be dangerous immediately aftereating.

Cii We went swimming whenever we could.

Ciii The pool was tiny and could hold only a fewswimmers.

Di That could be the lifeguard, standing overthere.

Dii It couldn’t have been a good party if everyoneleft early.

Ei You could be more careful with my iPod!

Eii You could have told me that the pool is closedfor the summer!

Fi The pool could be open all year, I suppose.

Fii He could have told me that the pool is closedfor the summer.

John Potts’s explanations of a multi-functional modal go swimmingly.

PREPARING TO TEACH ...Could

D E S I G N E D T O P H O T O C O P Y

� FUNCTION

Modals are frequentlyassociated with functions, andany modal may express anumber of different functions.Could has many functions:

Ai and Aii express ability(whether physical or an acquiredskill).

Bi and Bii express, refuse orrequest permission.

Ci, Cii and Ciii expressinherent capacity or potential.

Di and Dii express likelihood,speculation, assumption anddeduction.

Ei and Eii expresscounterfactual situations – thereality is the opposite.

Fi and Fii express uncertainty.

� FORM

All the sentences contain could,which is a modal auxiliary verb.Like most modals, could isfollowed by the infinitive withoutto. See Issue 58 for moreinformation on the form ofmodals.

� MEANING

Ai refers to physical(in)ability to do somethingin the past. Note that inaffirmative sentences,physical ability istraditionally expressed bywas/were able to (eg I wasable to load the programquite easily). However, some native speakersnevertheless use could insuch sentences.

Aii refers to an acquired orlearnt ability in the past.

In Bi, the subjectallowed/forbade someoneto do something in the past.

In Bii, the subject asks tobe allowed to dosomething in the present.

Ci says that swimming isinherently dangerous – it ispotentially dangerous –under certain conditions.

Cii refers to potentialability in the past.

Ciii refers to the inherentcapacity of the pool in thepast.

Di refers to the likelihoodthat it is the lifeguard.

In Dii, the speakerassumes that it wasn’t agood party, based on theevidence.

In Ei, the speakercriticises someone for not being careful (in thepresent).

In Eii, the speakercriticises someone for notinforming her/him (in thepast).

In Fi, the speaker isn’tsure whether the pool isopen all year or not.

In Fii, the speaker isn’tsure whether someoneinformed her/him or not

Note that sometimes couldrefers to the past in a realsense (eg Aii ), andsometimes could has ahypothetical sense andmay refer to the past,present or future,depending on the context(eg Bii, Ci, Di and Ei ).

� PRONUNCIATION

In rapid fluent speech, couldis often pronounced quiteweakly.

In Ei, the main stress is oncareful to emphasise that theother person is not beingcareful.

In Eii, the main stress is ontold to emphasise that he orshe wasn’t, in fact, told.

In Fi and Fii, the main stressis on could to emphasise thespeaker’s uncertainty.

� USE

Bii is usually considered morepolite than Can I …? Note thatthe reply usually uses may orcan: Yes, of course youmay/can. No, you can’t.

Ei and Eii are more informaland spoken.

Fi and Fii also tend to bemore informal (more formalcontexts prefer may orexpressions such as it ispossible that, there is thepossibility that, etc).

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D E S I G N E D T O P H O T O C O P Y

John Potts is a teacher and teacher trainer basedin Zürich, Switzerland. He has written and co-written several adultcoursebooks, and is a Joint Chief Assessor for the Cambridge/RSA CELTA scheme.

[email protected]

PREPARING TO TEACH ... Could

� SITUATIONS

Talent competition Make aquestionnaire that asks aboutthe age when students learntto do things (eg swim, ride abike, speak another language,use a computer, etc). Thestudents ask and answer in awalk-round activity. Then poolthe results with the wholeclass to find who could dowhat at the earliest age (egMaria could swim when shewas three).

Speculations For this, you’llneed a largish photo – ifpossible make an overheadtransparency (OHT) of it. Thephoto should be ‘busy’ –people doing things, manydetails, etc (not just an emptybeach!). Cover the photo/OHTcompletely, using either post-its or smallish pieces of paper.Remove one and ask the classto speculate about the picture,using could be, could bedoing, etc. Progressively

COMPETITION RESULTS

remove more post-its andelicit further speculation ateach stage until the class is(almost) sure – then theyshould use either it must be… or it is ... . (This activity canalso use the modals may andmight.)

Polite requests Make some‘situation cards’ (eg in a post-office, in a hotel, in class, on atrain, in the street, atsomeone’s home, etc). Give aset, face down, to pairs ofstudents, who take turns toturn over a card and make arequest appropriate to thesituation (eg Could I borrowyour dictionary, please?). Theother student should respondpolitely (eg Yes, of course youcan. No, I’m afraid not.).Variation: This can also beplayed as a board game(rather like a Monopoly board,with counters and dice) withstudents in groups of four.

Rodia Athanasiou, Thessaloniki,GreeceMichele Ben, Yavueh, IsraelHalima Brewer, Oxford, UKCathy Gannon, Courtmacsherry,Ireland

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Q S D Z H V G K I A P R C

L U T M O J X W N F E Y B

Congratulations to all those readers who successfully completed ourPrize Crossword 29. The winners, who will each receive a copy of theMacmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners, are:

� CONCEPT QUESTIONS

Ci Swimming could be dangerousimmediately after eating.Is swimming always dangerous?(No.)Is eating and then swimmingdangerous? (Yes, perhaps you’llget cramp.)Is it certain that there’ll be aproblem? (No, perhaps nothingwill happen.)But doing this does contain arisk? (Yes.)

Eii You could have told me that thepool is closed for the summer!Did you know that the pool isclosed? (Yes.)Did you tell me? (No.)Was that right or wrong of you?(Wrong.)How do I feel about that?(Annoyed, angry perhaps.)

Fii He could have told me that thepool is closed for the summer.Did he know that the pool isclosed? (Yes, probably.)Did he tell me? (I’m not sure, I can’t remember.)

Samuel Johnson

3 18 22 16 2 9 12 10 13

13 15 2 16 18 17 25 18 15 12 2 24 14

23 16 18 15 2 24 26 9 7 21

18 12 3 2 23 18 12 14 9 16 16 14

24 17 10 16 16 24 12 2

, ,,

.

D O N T S I R A C

C U S T O M Y O U R S E L

F T O U S E B I G W

O R D S F O R L I T T L

E M A T T E R S

19 18 8 24 12 24 14 10 16 9 6 24

24 22 2 20 13 2 10

10 2 9 10 16 9 13 13 24 14 14 2

14 23 24 24 18 10 25

18 6 24 12 21 5 24 14 17 9 22 7

15 10 3 11 3 26

2 1 15 10 12 24 13 14 18 2 24 12

25 22 3 7 9 9

13 10 12 24 14 24 2 2 22 24 2 2

4 21 2 9 5 14 16

24 20 10 17 2 2 11 24 13 9 10 14

12 12 24 5 3 16 24

18 6 24 12 2 24 10 2 11 24 16 2

J O K E R E L A T I V E

E N S X C S A

A S I A T I C C E L L S

L F E E O A Y

O V E R W H E L M I N G

U A D P D B

S Q U A R E C L O S E R

Y N D G I I

C A R E L E S S N E S S

Z W S I H L T

E X A M S S P E C I A L

R R E H D T E

O V E R S E A S P E T S

Natasha Mauger, Bristol, UKAugoustinos Neophytou, Larnaca, CyprusSophie Pietrucci, Paris, FranceEric Roch, Bergerac, FranceFrancisco Rodríguez, Utrera, SpainDorothy Sommer, Zeuthen, Germany

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40 • Issue 59 November 2008 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com •

More tested lessons, suggestions, tips and techniqueswhich have all worked for ETp readers. Try them out foryourself – and then send us your own contribution.

All the contributors to It Works in Practice in this issueof ETp will receive a year’s subscription to Onestop CLIL,Macmillan’s new CLIL resource site. Macmillan havekindly agreed to be sponsors of It Works in Practice forthis year.

��

Two fun gamesHere are two ideas for games which you can play in class.

Headline Call My BluffCall My Bluff is a television game once popular in the UK in which twoteams take turns to present three definitions of unusual words, two ofwhich are false. The opposing team has to try to identify the correctdefinition. I play a version of this game with my students, usingmagazine and newspaper headlines.

Many UK tabloid headlines are extraordinary, perhaps the most famousbeing Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster – the story, later discredited, in theUK newspaper The Sun, alleged that comedian Freddie Starr had eaten alive hamster in a sandwich! However, there are others that are moreeasily accessible, such as:

● I’ve Tried Every Diet There Is ● I Live on the QE2● I Want to Dance Like Gene Kelly

I ask teams of students to take turns to find and present threeheadlines and their corresponding article summaries, one of which theyhave made up. The headlines can come from English newspapers ormagazines which I bring in. Alternatively, they can find them on theinternet. The opposing team has to try to spot which story is false.

SuperheroSet up a dramatic disaster scenario, get your students to devise one, orproduce one as a class with the students suggesting ideas and youhelping to formulate it into a workable example. Write this up on theboard. Then put the students into groups and ask them to worktogether to invent their own superhero who can deal with this disaster.Get them to write a description of their powers and how they wouldsolve the problem. The students could draw a picture if they wish. Theclass can then vote for the best one.

Annette MargolisLatina, Italy

IT WORKS IN PRACTICEIT WORKS IN PRACTICE

Hungry crocodilesThis activity makes use of the cardboardcircles that you often get underneath pizzasand is an alternative to putting them in therecycling bin. It is a great activity forreviewing newly-learnt vocabulary withyoung learners and is always popular withmy students.

Draw pictures of vocabulary items groupedin categories on the pizza circles. Forexample:

Food – cake, apple, breadDrink – water, juice, milkThe body – hand, knee, leg

The circles are then laid down randomly onthe floor and become stepping stones acrossan imaginary river. Two to four ‘crocodiles’are appointed and they lurk in the river,while a volunteer attempts to cross, sayingthe words on the stones as they step on eachone. If this student hesitates or makes amistake, the crocodiles move forward slowly(at a signal from the teacher) while otherclassmates help from the sidelines to promptthe student to say the words correctly. If toomany mistakes are made or there is toomuch hesitation, the crocodiles get theirprey. However, with the help of their friends,I find that most students manage to crossthe river successfully!

Bernadette CrossLa Forêt, France

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• www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 59 November 2008 • 41

�� IT WORKS IN PRACTICEIT WORKS IN PRACTICE

Orderly boards�Most teachers use the board routinely in their classrooms;many will even say they find it hard to teach without one!However, most don’t think in advance about what preciselythey will put on the board, much less what their board willlook like at the end of a specific lesson. It is important torealise that whatever you write on the board, students willcopy it down. Therefore:

● Think what, think when and think where.● Know why everything that’s on the board is there.● Don’t let errors stay on the board.

Here are three common problems with the way teachers usethe board and one solution:

Some teachers write everything on the board, from

directions for activities to homework assignments to

sentences from the previous homework which students

are going over in class. This wastes the time it takes to

write these things on the board, without necessarily

adding any value to the lesson. It also risks making

students overly reliant on the board for information that

teachers of other subjects tend to deliver orally.

Sometimes teachers ask students to put up on the board

their sentences or paragraphs from a specific activity for

everyone to look at together. Again, this takes up a great

deal of classroom time for arguably little payoff.

Moreover, it often consists of a few students finding

chalk, finding space and writing on the board while the

majority stare at their backs. In addition, student

sentences almost always contain errors, and teachers are

faced with the dilemma of leaving the errors on the

board (for other students to copy down) or else

correcting every single error, even those that are beyond

the focus of the lesson at hand.

Other teachers put things up on the board at random

throughout the lesson, resulting in an incoherent jumble.

Not having a clear plan for your board risks obscuring the

3

2

1

underlying logic and organisation of the lesson. As a

result, students may mistakenly focus on tangential

points, or may conflate two different aspects of the

lesson into one.

The solution? In every case, the solution is to plan yourboard ahead of time – when you plan your lessons. Just asyou think about what directions you’re going to givestudents for different activities, or how long activities willtake, you should think about what your board will looklike, when you’ll be writing on it, and why.

Try asking yourself these questions when planning yourlesson:

What will my board look like at every step of the lesson?

Why am I writing these things on the board – what does

actually seeing them add to the lesson?

When will I write things on the board?

What will students be doing while I write on the board?

What will the board look like at the end of the lesson?

Where are the different components of the lesson in

relation to each other – in columns, sections, etc?

One practical tip is to make a note on your copy of yourlesson plan, handout or coursebook about what you willput on the board and when. Some teachers use a differentcoloured pen to remind themselves that they’re going toput this information up on the board; others use anabbreviation (such as ‘B’) for what goes on the board nextto the relevant part of their notes.

Ultimately, you have to make clear to yourself what you arewriting on the board: where, when, and why. If it’s notclear to you, it certainly won’t be clear to your students.

Marnie Reed, Christina MichaudBoston, USA

6

5

4

3

2

1

Do you have ideas you’d like to share with colleagues around the world? Tips, techniques and activities;simple or sophisticated; well-tried or innovative; something that has worked well for you? All publishedcontributions receive a prize! Write to us or email: [email protected].

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and /Ü/. The Level 2 pack includesmore complex sounds made up ofmore than one letter, such as the / f/ inphoto and the /ÜPn/ of action.

Games that can be played withthese cards are not limited to the onesuggested on the accompanyingleaflet. Creative teachers will findmany ways to use them,perhaps getting students tomake up stories containing thewords on the cards in theirhands.

A colleague tried these cardswith a nine-year-old Russian boyand they were a great success.Although the monsters, with theirexaggerated mouths, may appear

a little grotesque to adult eyes,they were a hit with thisparticular child, who was soonclamouring to ‘play monsters’ inevery lesson. His teacher remarkedthat monsters are always a favouritewith children and that card gamesinvolving monsters are sure to godown well. The only drawback shecould see was that the words wereprinted at the bottom of the cards andso were concealed when held in the

child’s hand. However,the layout probably

reflects the developers’concern to teach thecorrect mouth positions forthe words via the monsterpictures, and the positionof the words on the cardswas not considered aninsurmountable obstacleto playing the gamesuccessfully.

Word Families is avocabulary-teaching game

also involving a pack of cards. As withMonster Phonic Fun, the cards each havean illustration and four words, one ofwhich is printed in bold. The difference isthat here the words are groupedaccording to categories rather thansounds, eg sports, animals, transport,colours. Again there are two packs ofcards, one at a higher level than theother. In the higher-level pack, moreabstract concepts are introduced. Asimilar game is recommended on theaccompanying leaflet, ie collecting fourcards in a set by asking other players ifthey have a particular word. Once again,teachers are not limited to this and thecards would lend themselves to manyother possibilities. The Word Familiesillustrations are attractive and, as withMonster Phonic Fun, the cards arelaminated and durable.

Ian MainwaringHarrogate, UK

ReviewsMonster Phonic FunWord Familieswww.creative-english.com 2008

Monster Phonic Fun consists oftwo packs of laminated playingcards, which can be used toteach children to produce soundscorrectly. Each pack has 56 cards,giving practice in 14 sounds, and aleaflet with instructions for a gamethat can be played with them. Areference list of the target soundsalso appears on this leaflet.

Each card has four words whichcontain the target sound, printedunderneath a picture of a monster withthe mouth and tongue in the positionneeded to create that sound. (Themonster pictures also often includeillustrations of at least some of the wordsin the lists.) One word on each card isprinted in bold, with the target soundhighlighted in red. The game consists oftrying to collect an entire set of fourwords (ie four cards) containing the sametarget sound by asking another player ifthey have a particular word.

The Level 1 pack introduces basicsounds, including the short vowels, / tÜ/

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Doing Task-based Teachingby Dave Willis and Jane WillisOUP 2007978-0-19-442210-9

This is a practical guide to designing andusing activities and sequences ofactivities in the context of task-basedteaching. The early chapters provideaccessible explanations of the basicprinciples which lie behind a task-basedapproach, and a very comprehensivecontents section enables you to headstraight to a topic or area that interestsyou. The introduction gives a concise buthelpful overview of exactly what is to befound in each chapter, and I found thisinvaluable for navigating my way aroundthe book, which is a very rich resource ofideas and example activities for use inalmost any situation. One of the mostinteresting sections is Chapter 10, inwhich the authors answer a series offrequently-asked questions about task-based teaching, questions which theyhave collected from teachers all over theworld in the last ten years.

Many task types and ideas foractivities are described, and it isrefreshing that in addition to eachdescription there is an account of howreal teachers in a variety of contextsactually tried the activity in their

classrooms. This lifts each activity out ofthe realm of ‘another idea that soundsgood in a methodology book’ into the‘here is an activity that will really work forme’ category.

There are also ‘reader activities’throughout the book, which encouragereaders to reflect on what they have readand to relate it to their own situations,thinking about ways in which they couldmake the suggestions work for them.

One thing in particular that caughtmy eye was the way the authorsdemonstrated how any topic can giverise to a series of tasks that may bedivided into categories correspondingto different cognitive processes:listing, ordering/sorting, matching,comparing, solving problems, sharingpersonal experiences and projects andcreative tasks. This gave me a wealth ofideas for planning activities for the topicschosen for one of my advanced classes.

Tim FranksZagreb, Croatia

Oxford Word Skills (Basic level)by Ruth Gairns and Stuart RedmanOUP 2008978-0-19-462003-1

This is the first in a three-level vocabularyseries, equally useful for work in class orfor self-study. It equates to the Council ofEurope’s A1 to A2 levels and includes theubiquitous I can ... as part of its chapterheadings in a further link to the CommonEuropean Framework – one that isperhaps becoming rather déjà vu forteachers and materials writers alike(though not necessarily for students) andfits more easily with material for youngerlearners than for those of more advancedyears and skills. Nevertheless, this is athoroughly likeable book, which offerscomprehensive vocabulary presentationand practice in 80 themed units, whichare themselves grouped into themedmodules, such as places, study andwork, holidays, social English, etc.Presentation of new words is done byillustration (clear drawings andphotos), definition, example, or acombination of all three. The wordsthemselves are chosen from a list of3,000 developed by OUP using a

Reviews

• www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 59 November 2008 • 43

corpus and information supplied by apanel of experts on teaching andlanguage study. This list is based onfrequency and usefulness to learners andthe evidence suggests that these arewords which should be a priority forteachers and learners. Special ‘spotlight’sections focus on particularly importantwords and common usages and help todistinguish between words which seemsimilar but are used in different ways, egtin and can.

Also included with the book are aCD-ROM, containing oral pronunciationmodels of all the vocabulary togetherwith further practice exercises, and ahandy piece of laminated card, attachedto the inside front cover, which can beremoved and used to mask parts of apage so that students can testthemselves on the words they havelearnt. At the front are notes for theteacher on how the book can be used inclass and a ‘starter’ unit provides clearillustrated instructions for students onhow to use the book and how best tolearn new words. Equal weight is given topresentation and practice and there arefrequent opportunities for revision.Inevitably, many of the exercises are gap-fills, but the authors have clearly madeconsiderable efforts to vary the exercisetypes as much as possible and to includethose in which a personal response canbe made.

Melinda MathiesonWorthing, UK

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SCRAPBOOKSCRAPBOOKGems, titbits, puzzles, foibles, quirks, bits & pieces,

quotations, snippets, odds & ends, what you will

Gems, titbits, puzzles, foibles, quirks, bits & pieces,quotations, snippets, odds & ends,

what you will

44 • Issue 59 November 2008 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com •

Coincidence?� Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846. � John F Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.

� Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.� John F Kennedy was elected President in 1960.

� Both were particularly concerned with civil rights. � Both their wives lost children while living in the White House.

� Both Presidents were shot on a Friday. � Both Presidents were shot in the head.

Now it gets really weird ...

� Lincoln’s secretary was called Kennedy.� Kennedy’s secretary was called Lincoln.

� Both were assassinated by Southerners. � Both were succeeded by Southerners named Johnson.

� Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.� Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.

� John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in1839.

� Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in1939.

� Both assassins were known by their three names. � Both names are composed of fifteen letters.

� Lincoln was shot at a theatre called ‘Ford’.� Kennedy was shot in a car called a ‘Lincoln’ made by ‘Ford’.

� Lincoln was shot in a theatre and his assassin ran and hid in awarehouse.

� Kennedy was shot from a warehouse and his assassin ran andhid in a theatre.

� Both Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trialscould take place.

And finally ...

� A week before Lincoln was shot, he was in Monroe, Maryland.� A week before Kennedy was shot, he was with Marilyn Monroe.

A dangerousdiet?

A man who owned two labradors went to the

supermarket to buy a large bag of Winalot dog

food for them. As he was standing in the queue at

the checkout, the woman behind him asked if he

had a dog.

On impulse, he told her that no, he didn’t have a

dog, he was starting the ‘Winalot Diet’ again,

adding that he probably shouldn’t because the last

time he had tried it, he’d ended up in hospital.

However, he pointed out that he had managed to

lose 50 pounds before he woke up in an intensive

care ward, hooked up to several machines and

with intravenous drips in both arms.

He went on to tell her that it is essentially a perfect

diet and the way that it works is to load your

trouser pockets with Winalot nuggets and simply

eat one or two every time you feel hungry. He

maintained that the food was nutritionally

complete and so he was going to try it again.

By now, practically everyone in the queue was

enthralled by the man’s story.

Horrified, the woman asked if he had ended up in

the hospital because he had been poisoned.

He told her no, it was because he’d been sitting in

the road scratching his fleas when a car hit him.

Syllable surpriseFind a word that has onesyllable, until you add oneletter to the end, when itsuddenly has three syllables.

Answerare – area

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Missing money

Three people check into a hotel.

They pay £30 to the manager and go

to their room. The manager suddenly

remembers that the room rate is £25

and gives £5 to the bellboy to return

to the guests. On the way to the

room, the bellboy reasons that £5

would be difficult to share among

three people so he pockets £2 and

gives £1 to each person. Now each

person paid £10 and got back £1.

So they paid £9 each,

totalling £27. The

bellboy has £2,

totalling £29.

Where is the

missing £1?

Answer Be careful what you are adding together.

Originally, they paid £30, they each received

back £1, so they now have only paid £27. Of this

£27, £25 went to the manager for the room and

£2 went to the bellboy.

InventionName an ancient invention, which is stillused in most parts of the world today,that allows people to see through walls.

AnswerA window

Fizzy or still, sir?A man in a restaurant asked a waiter for a glass, a dinner plate, somewater, a match, and a wedge of lemon. He then poured enough wateronto the plate to cover it.

‘If you can get the water on the plate into this glass without touching ormoving the plate, I will give you £200,’ the man said. ‘You can only usethe match and the lemon to do this.’

A few minutes later, the waiter walked away with £200 in his pocket.How did he do it?

Answer First, he pushed the match into the lemon wedge, so that it would stand straight.Then he put it in the middle of the plate and lit the match. Next, he placed the glass upside-down over the match. As the flame used up the oxygen in the glass, it created a smallvacuum, which sucked in the water through the space between the glass and the plate.

Answers1 tendency 2 tender 3 tendon 4 tennis 5 tensile 6 tenor 7 tense 8 tenuous 9 tenement or tent 10 tenet

Ten by tenEach of the following clues refersto a word that begins with ten.Can you find them all?

Inclination

Delicate, gentle or sore

A sinew

A racket game

Capable of being stretched

Between baritone and alto

Stretched tight

Insubstantial

A place to live

An opinion held to be true10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

The troll tollYou are on your way to visit yourgrandmother, who lives at the endof a long valley. It is her birthday,and you want to give her somecakes that you’ve baked.

Between your house and herhouse, you have to cross sevenbridges, but under each bridgelives a troll! Each troll, quite rightly,insists that you pay a troll toll.Before you can cross their bridge,you have to give them half of thecakes you are carrying, but as theyare kind trolls, they each give youback a single cake.

How many cakes do you have toleave home with to make sure thatyou arrive at your grandmother’shouse with exactly two cakes?

AnswerTwo. (At each bridge you arerequired to hand over half of your cakes,and you receive one back. This leaves youwith two cakes after every bridge.)

Amazing paragraphStudy this paragraph and all

words in it. What is vitally wrong

with it? Actually, nothing in it is

wrong, but you must admit that

it is most unusual. Don’t just zip

through it quickly, but study it

scrupulously. With luck, you

should spot what is so

particular about it and all words

found in it. Can you say what it

is? Tax your brains and try

again. Don’t miss a word or a

symbol. It isn’t all that difficult!

AnswerThe paragraph does not

contain the letter E, though it does

contain all of the other letters.

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Plus çachangePlus çachange

T E A C H E R D E V E L O P M E N T

Peter Wells reveals

that there is nothing new

under the sun.

Perhaps I should explain thatforeign language learning haschanged a bit since you and I were atschool. You can’t just go in and say,‘Turn to page 81 and do Exercise C.’They don’t actually have a textbookat all. (Teachers are now forbidden touse textbooks; they’re supposed toproduce their own materials. Whatthey actually do is to nick bits ofother people’s textbooks, and passthem off as their own, which is whatI’ve done here.)

So all the students need is paperand pen. They will have everythingfrom the Oxford English Dictionary(on microfilm, in Arabic) toautographed copies of the completeworks of Edmund Spenser, but try toignore this. You will have the attachedscript and a tape-recorder with thetape in it, ready for use. Don’t worry

if the tape recorder doesn’t work. Thestudents all have at least two each,one in their sandwich box and one intheir briefcase. Sometimes, when theyhave a business appointment, theyjust send their tape-recorders to class.I try to discourage this, as it makespairwork difficult. (The large video-camera staring at you from the backleft-hand corner is Mr Sinaga, whowill be in New York, or Jakarta, orsomewhere in between. He will hearmost of what you say, but his answersmay be a bit slow if the satellite is inthe wrong place.)

The object of this lesson is to helpthese chaps to learn to listen to and

The large video-camera staring at you from the back

left-hand corner is Mr Sinaga, who will be in New York, or

Jakarta, or somewhere in between

The following letter was writtenas an assignment on myMaster’s course in AppliedLinguistics, amazingly, some

25 years ago. We were asked to writeclear instructions for an ESL lesson foran imaginary colleague, using materialsfrom a current textbook. To my eye,ESL teaching in the UK and many othercountries is spookily similar to what itwas then, with the possible exception ofthe departure of chalkboards!

The Common Room,24/3/83

Dear Bill,

I wonder if you remember thatnight when, on the way back fromthe rugby club end-of-season ball,you said you’d always wanted to havea go at teaching English, and, if ever Ineeded a stand-in, you’d be willing tohelp me out? Well, here’s yourchance. A very important bridgeappointment has suddenly croppedup, and, for reasons well known to usboth, I can’t ask the Principal for yetanother night off. I’ve got this classcalled Intermediate English forBusiness and Administrative Purposesat 7.30. According to the timetable,all you’ve got for that evening –tomorrow, that’s Tuesday 25th – isAdvanced Applied Micro-Metallurgy IIat 8.30. So, here’s the info.

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� � �

• www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 59 November 2008 • 47

T E A C H E R D E V E L O P M E N T

understand English as she is spoke. Thisis the rationale behind the inclusion of,among other things, the word ‘erm’,which I hope didn’t have you rushingfor your Pocket Oxford. (Come tothink of it, it’s probably a unit ofmeasurement in micro-metallurgy!) No,the ‘erm’, together with otheratrocities such as ‘Uh-huh’ and ‘Mm-mm’ and grammatical cockups like ‘is due at … to come’ have beencarefully inserted by the actors tomake the tape sound spontaneous.Don’t for goodness sake run awaywith the idea that we actually try toteach the students to talk like this.You have to draw a fine line here,and you can easily be misunderstood.Ever since a lesson when I pretendedto give my name on the phone, MrChang (not one of our brighteststudents) has persisted in addressingme as ‘Mr Erwells’. In fact, whenplaying the final version of the tape,you should try, as far as possible, topersuade them to turn off all theother tape-recorders, otherwise theytend to go home and learn the wholething off by heart. (Mr Daud, secondfrom left, second row, has anadditional micro-recorder hidden inthe earpiece of his glasses, which heactivates by rubbing his left nostril.)

The thing is, natives (and we’re allnatives, you know) don’t talk likegrammar books – ‘la plume de matante’, etc – a fact which has goneunnoticed for the past two thousandyears and which WE ARE HERE TOPUT RIGHT. Everybody erms – as Popesaid, ‘To erm is human’ – but othernatives (don’t actually use this word,by the way; last time someone used itthe African Nationalists hijacked thelanguage laboratory) erm in differentways from us. So our aim is, gentlyand without too much explanation,to introduce our students to theGreat British ‘Erm’, by helping themto concentrate their attention on thebits that mean something – generallyseparating the wheat from the chaff,so to speak. It may seem incredible toyou that anyone could think that

‘Mm’ was a real word, like ‘examiner’or ‘toilet’, but you just try learningArabic or Japanese and you’ll seewhat I mean.

Anyway, you get in there at 7.30(don’t be late; they’re very busy men,they’re paying 30 pounds an houreach for this course – not that I seemuch of it – and you’ll have 20 digitalstopwatches on you from the momentyou step in) and GET THEM INVOLVEDright from the start (our tutors werevery keen on this) by asking them todraw a big box with 13 horizontallines in it. Just for a little bit ofspontaneous practice you can ask themwhat they think it is. Most of them willguess it’s an office block, factory, etc,and you have to be a little bit carefulas nasty fights can develop overdiscussions as to whose block/factory isthe biggest. What you have drawn is,in fact, a page from a secretary’sdiary, and you can make this clear bybeginning to write in the times. I can

foresee a spot of bother when you getto the afternoon, as the tape clearlyuses the British GMT, non-decimalisedor ‘Fahrenheit’ times, as opposed towhat these guys are used to, but you’lljust have to take this in your stride. Tryto avoid them getting their computersout at this point, as many of them areplugged into the mains and tend tofuse the power points throughout theentire college if they’re all turned onat once. Mark this page ‘Monday’.Then get them to do another one –this won’t take long, as most of themhave the new photocopierattachment to their fountain pens(Mr Kim’s plays the South Koreannational anthem). The second pageshould be headed ‘Tuesday’.

Now you’re ready for Phase One.In this, your aim is to get them topick out all the things the Principal’sgot on in those two days. They’llprobably find it a bit difficult,especially the names, but after all

Phi

llip

Bur

row

s

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� � �

[email protected]

Peter Wells has taughtEnglish for over 40 yearsin Africa, Asia, Englandand the Middle East. He and his wife arecurrently AssistantProfessors at KansaiGaidai University, Japan.Peter’s interests includeassessment, extensivereading, discourseanalysis and EAP.

T E A C H E R D E V E L O P M E N T

they’re going to meet a lot of namesin their careers, mumbled, spat orsqueaked, so they’d better get somepractice now. They can work in pairs,and try to work out what they’veheard. On the whole they’ll useEnglish for this, as, on their arrival,during the fleeting couple of minuteswhen in obedience to childhoodhabits they treated me as a master,rather than a servant, I got themseated so that no two people whoshare a language sit together. Nowthey have got their places so wellorganised (leather chairs, big desks,flush toilets, etc) they don’t want toleave them. For this phase you willnot use the tape. You will read thetapescript, in correct English, NO‘ERMS’, fairly slowly, hammering theimportant bits. I have jotted down foryou the sort of thing they shouldcome up with.

Two additional points about thisreading:

1 You may decide to indicate therespective parts by writing‘Secretary’ on one side of the boardand ‘Principal’ on the other, andrunning between them. This is fine,provided you do not have them toofar apart, but DO NOT READ THESECRETARY’S PART IN FALSETTO.There are three reasons for thisthat I can think of straight off.

a) You have one smouldering butextremely militant feminist,hitherto included under the generalheading of ‘chaps’, who will fightto the hilt any suggestion thatsecretaries are ever female.

b) You have at least onefundamentalist from a countrywhere the penalty for any form ofeffeminacy is immediate andextremely nasty.

c) In Chinese, pitch has semanticmeaning, and Mr Chang, as I havealready indicated, is not one of ourbrightest students. It would be anunfortunate reflection on ourcollege if he were to make apractice, in his future career, ofrolling his eyes, and raising hisvoice an octave every time he wascalled upon to utter adverbialclauses of time.

2 I have not heard this tape, actually,so I don’t know how ‘Japaneseagent’ is pronounced. It may be‘Japanıese agent’, meaning anagent who deals with thingsJapanese, or ‘Japanese ıagent’,meaning an agent who happens tocome from Japan. What it means,either way, I’ve no idea. Anyway,the point I wanted to make was, BEVERY CAREFUL HOW YOU SAY‘JAPANESE’. Mr Sato, who sits inthe front row, owns most of Surrey,is a judo black belt and has a shorttemper. Nothing serious, just a littleword of warning.

the trick is to turn the thing on andoff at the mains. The power point isbehind the radiator on your right, soall you have to do is to lie downunder the sink, and reach behind theradiator with your right hand. On thewhole, it’s better to stay there for thewhole of the phase, rather thanstanding up and getting down again,and it’s not usually very wet. I know Icould use one of the students’machines, but it’s humiliating toadmit we can’t do any better,especially as they’re paying so much,so I pretend that my posture is partof a New Method.

Finally, Phase Three (by the way,some of them start having theirsaunas around this time – it will benothing personal. I usually have asheet of blotting paper to protect mylesson notes, and keep my chalk inmy pocket, as NOTHING IS WORSETHAN SOGGY CHALK). Phase Three isthe full unexpurgated tape, and thefull unexpurgated timetable.

Well, I hope you enjoy yourself.They’re really a great bunch, but ifyou do have any trouble from any ofthem, Mr Ne Win (left back corner) isalways happy to lend me theenormous sabre-toting eunuch hekeeps under his desk. Mr Win speaksno English whatsoever, but he willpass the course with flying colours aslong as this arrangement continues.

Let me know how you get on. I’lldo the same for you any time,provided you don’t leave anythingnuclear bubbling on the Bunsen!

Cheers,

Pete

For Phase Two we use the tape-recorder, and the object is to get thestudents to assign days to the itemsof business already mentioned. Inorder to break them in gently (by theway, the correct name for artificiallytape-recorded dialogues like these is‘authentic materials’), you will haveto use the pause button on themachine, and stop the conversationafter each speech.

As a matter of fact, there is nopause button on the machine, andeven if there was, it probablywouldn’t work. The best way to do

By the way, the correct name

for artificially tape-recorded dialogues

like these is ‘authenticmaterials’

Plus çachangePlus çachange

Page 51: English Teaching Professional 59 Nov 2008

[email protected]

Darren Elliott has beenteaching English since1999 and has taught andtrained teachers in theUK and Japan. He iscurrently working atNanzan University inNagoya, Japan. His maininterests are teacherdevelopment andlearner autonomy.

T E A C H E R D E V E L O P M E N T

See you at thecoffee stand!See you at thecoffee stand!

• www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 59 November 2008 • 49

Darren Elliott considers how to get the most out of conferences.

Conferences are a fantastic way toget out of a rut, to blow awaythe cobwebs, to come into

contact with new ideas and new people,and to find new approaches to oldproblems. For those of you in the UK,and possibly beyond, the IATEFL Aprilconference is likely to be one of themajor events in your professionalcalendar. However, this isn’t the onlyconference; there are many othersignificant opportunities to get involvedwith people in our fields throughout theyear and across the world.

The larger conferences, in particular,can be quite daunting for the first timer– and also exhausting. Here are a fewways in which you can maximise thebenefits.

Wear good shoesBeing comfortable will help youconcentrate. A good bag is also veryimportant. You will want access to penand paper, the conference programmeand, possibly, a bottle of water and somenibbles. You will also need somewhere toput the various handouts, flyers and othermaterials you accumulate throughoutthe day. Many conferences give out bagsat registration, which can be useful aslong as you decant some of theadvertising material to a locker or hotelroom for later, more leisurely, perusal.

Plan aheadMost medium-to-large conferences willhave several plenary sessions, and willthen split into smaller seminars orworkshops held in different rooms.There can be some tough choices to bemade in deciding which to attend, so itis better to think about it in advance.Going through the programme, makinga note of the times and room numbersof the presentations you really want to

see and slipping this note into yourpocket can save time later.

Be flexibleJust because you went through theprogramme with a highlighter on thefirst morning and noted down yourpersonal schedule, it doesn’t mean youhave to stick to your original plan. Youmight have your interest piqued in onepresentation, which then leads yourthoughts in a different direction. Youmay hear especially good things aboutone presenter. You could fall in with agroup of interesting colleagues whosuggest a change of tack. Remember,you didn’t carve your timetable on atablet of stone; you just jotted it downon a piece of paper.

Take a breakSeeing seven presentations in a row forthree days straight is not especiallyconducive to reflection and development.Have a coffee with the nice person youmet in the last session, and have a chatabout what you heard. After all, meetingpeople with different perspectives andexperiences is one of the benefits ofattending conferences. Having a lookaround the publishers’ exhibition areacan be advantageous, too – you canpick up free samples of textbooks andpromotional gifts, such as pens. Thebooks which are on sale are sometimesdiscounted at the end of the conferenceso the sales staff don’t have to box themup and take them all home again, so itis worth paying a visit to the exhibitiontowards the end of the final day.

Be sociableGet out and about – see a new place andmeet new people. Many old hands enjoyconferences mainly for the prospect ofmeeting up with colleagues they only seeonce or twice a year. Don’t be afraid to

strike up a conversation with the personnext to you. Also, I always think it isconsiderate to go up and say a quick‘thank you’ to the presenter after a session.

Try something differentRather than seeing a series ofpresentations in only one or two fieldsof interest, a conference is anopportunity to open your horizons tosomething that you don’t usuallyapproach with enthusiasm. Not usuallythrilled by corpus linguistics? Maybethis might be the time to re-evaluate.

Something I’ve discovered is this: ifyou hear someone is a good presenteryou should go and see them – no matterwhat they are presenting on. Ask yourcolleagues if they have seen anyoneparticularly interesting; most veteranconference goers will have a list ofnames not to miss (and maybe one ortwo to avoid – but let’s not go there!).

After the conferenceYou will probably return from theconference laden with papers, ideas andenergy. The general reinvigorating natureof a conference visit is in itself awonderful reason to go, but if you don’twant the feeling to peter out, you need tomanage what you have learnt carefullyand realistically. Look at your owncontext and consider what will actually fit.Make a detailed plan of how you wouldlike to implement change, either in yourown classroom or institutionally. Like thesarong you bought on holiday in Bali,what seems marvellous at a conferencemay simply not work when you get backhome. But if you are pragmatic, youshould be able to implement the goodideas and develop as a teacher.

� � �I hope these suggestions help you to getthe most out of the next conference youattend. And if you see me at the freecoffee stand, please say hello! ETp

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Fulfilling criteriaAnyone who has taken a formal teachingqualification with assessed teachingpractice will recall the stress of having anassessor at the back of the class, tickingand scoring a set of criteria. Alternatively,you might have had visits from yourdirector of studies to check up on howyour lessons are going. They will probablyhave had a form with a set of criteria thatmight have looked something like this:

The danger with such forms is that thiskind of ‘observation by checklist’ presentsteachers with a set of hoops through whichto jump; you’re teaching to suit the scoresheet rather than teaching the students. It’seven possible to be able to leave a trainingcourse or a classroom with the feeling thatyou can ‘do’ all these things on thechecklist and yet you still have a long wayto go – teaching is so much more complexthan our assessment forms might suggest.

Observation for assessment and developmentHaving said all that, observation forassessment can be beneficial when usedalongside other criteria for measuring thesuccess of a whole school. (For example,British Council validation includes manyother forms of assessment when itassesses schools – not just teacherassessment.) Similarly, the teacher traineror director of studies using a score sheettype form can also make the processdevelopmental as well as an assessment.

Less is moreFirst of all, it’s important to consider howthe form is designed and used. One tip isto keep this kind of observation form to apage, if possible, and certainly not morethan two pages at most. One reason isthat an observer will find it hard to observewhilst at the same time trying to find therelevant criteria on pages 3, 4 or 5! Then,when you come to give feedback, theprocess will become bogged down inpaperwork and a system of scoring whichcan often fail to reach the heart of whatreally mattered in the lesson.

TransparencyThere’s also the issue of whether teacherssee the criteria by which they aremeasured. Even if they are allowed to seethe form before teaching (which you wouldhope they would do), it might not betransparent. It is worth having a meetingwith a teacher or group of teachers to studythe form and discuss exactly what eachcriterion really means. This allows time foreveryone to agree on what is meant by, for

example, effective classroom management.This process of pre-observation discussionalso helps to demystify observation forassessment and gives a sense of teacherand observer working together.

An observation checklistHowever, checklist observations don’thave to be purely evaluative. They canalso be highly developmental. For evengreater joint-ownership in the process, youcan use them for peer observation. Thereis an example form on page 51 which youcan copy and use with another teacher. Itbases the observation on five criteria.

Agreeing the criteriaThe observer and teacher meet before thelesson, discuss what the five criteria will beand write them on the form. If the observeris experienced or has observed the teacherbefore, then some criteria should be at theprompting of the observer. However, theteacher should also think about areas theywish to work on or focus on with aparticular class or type of lesson. Here isan example of five criteria developed by ateacher and observer before a lesson. Theteacher wants to focus on presenting anew grammar item:

Eye on the classroom

A regular series by John Hughes,

with practical ideas for observing teachers

in the classroom and an observation sheet to

photocopy and use straight away.

3 Observation by checklist

This example shows how this kind ofobservation can work at a very detailedstep-by-step level, as well as taking abroader, global view of the lesson.

(1 = excellent, 2 = good, 3 = satisfactory, 4 = not satisfactory)

The lesson ... Score

had clear aims and objectives. ___...................................................................

had clear sub-aims. ___...................................................................

had a variety of relevant activities. ___...................................................................

had logical staging and progression. ___...................................................................

fitted into the context of others lessons (before/after). ___...................................................................

The teacher ...

achieved their stated aims. ___...................................................................

was well prepared for the lesson. ___...................................................................

used clear boardwork. ___...................................................................

had a good rapport with the students. ___...................................................................

dealt with errors appropriately. ___...................................................................

managed the class effectively. ___...................................................................

responded to individual needs. ___...................................................................

used a variety of interaction patterns. ___...................................................................

Agreed criteria

1 The teacher engages the studentswith an interesting lead-in.

2 The teacher elicits the targetlanguage point from the lead-in task.

3 The teacher uses concept questionseffectively to check understanding.

4 The teacher provides a variety ofrelevant practice activities after theclarification stage.

5 The teacher uses clear instructions,which include demonstrating a taskas well as explaining it.

Page 53: English Teaching Professional 59 Nov 2008

John Hughes is a freelanceteacher, trainer and author.He has worked in Austria,Poland, Italy, Malta and theUK. He currently lives andworks in the USA.

[email protected]

Observation checklist

• www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 59 November 2008 • 51

Criteria can also be very personal to theindividual lesson. Imagine, for example,that a teacher wonders if they areresponding fully to all the students.Perhaps there are two students who arealways sidelined by more demandingmembers of the class. In this case one ofthe criteria could read, The teacherresponds to individual needs withparticular attention paid to Raul and Sonia.

Defining your scoresOnce the criteria have been defined on theform, the system of scoring can also bedefined. In the section entitled Definition ofscores, the observer and teacher decideon what 1 to 4 mean and write this in.They might decide that a standard systemsuch as 1 = excellent, 2 = good, 3 =satisfactory, 4 = not satisfactory is fine.However, you can also define scores witha description like this:

With the criteria and scoring systemagreed and written on the form, theteacher and observer are ready for theclass. The observer scores the criteria andalso makes comments at the bottom ofthe page, which should give further detailson the reasons for the scores.

After the observationAfter the lesson, teacher and observermeet to discuss the criteria. (Teachers

Teacher: _________________________________________________ Date/time of lesson: ____________________________________________

Observer: ________________________________________________ Details of class: ________________________________________________

Agreed criteria: Score

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________

Definition of scores:

1 = _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2 = _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3 = _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 = _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Comments and explanation of scores for criteria 1–5:

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5

4

3

2

1

could also score themselves before such ameeting, based on what they thought ofthe lesson.) At the end of the feedbacksession, they draw up another set ofcriteria for the next observation using asimilar form. If the teacher has scored 1(high) then they can probably leave outthis criterion and put in a new one. Anycriteria that scored 3 or 4 (low) probablyneed to remain on the next form. In thisway, the teacher sees a clear progressionfrom one observation to the next and thechecklist approach becomes a motivatingdevelopmental tool, instead of an ordealby assessment.

1 = You did this really well and there’snothing to worry about.

2 = This was fairly good, but let’s keepworking on it.

3 = This was OK, but let’s keep thiscriterion for the next observation.

4 = Let’s do some work on this outsideof the lesson.

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T E C H N O L O G Y

Wicked wikis

Wicked wikis

Margaret Horrigan

wends her way through a

wonderful world.T

here is just something aboutthe internet that attracts. Let’sface it, there is surely not anindividual among us who can

claim never to have surfed the net atleast once in their life. The internetopens doors, it both educates andbelittles. The cocktail is intoxicating! So,just imagine for one moment that youhave the ability to create your own site –a site that you can have up and workingin a couple of hours at the most; a sitewhere your students can accesshandouts, videos, PowerPointpresentations, mp3 recordings, etc, allfrom their home. Imagine the potential!

First things first, however. How doyou get this site up and running?

Getting startedA wikispace is a type of site that enablesthe creator and designated ‘members’ toupload files in most formats. This isgreat news for teachers because it givesyou the opportunity to have all yourteaching materials online. In order tocreate a wikispace, you must first createa space. All you need to do this is go towww.wikispaces.com and follow theinstructions. (I have created a wikispacefor this article, which is available at:http://eflwikiworld.wikispaces.com. Ittook me only ten seconds to do this.)

Editing your wikispaceIn the top left-hand corner, you will seea link labelled Manage Space. Once youhave clicked on this link, you will beprovided with a list of options. I wouldadvise going to the Look and Feel

option first. This is where you can set

the colours of the text, background andlinks. You can also upload a logo orpicture to be shown on all the pages.You may have to modify the logo orpicture you want to upload as it mustbe 150 x 150 pixels or smaller. The logoor picture is automatically embeddedwith a link to return to the homepage ofyour wiki. Now you are ready topersonalise the space.

Creating your pagesClick on the picture or logo you haveuploaded and you are ready to go. At thetop, you should find a button labelledEdit This Page. This is your homepage,so think about what you want to say,who you are saying it to, and how youare going to say it. You can add as manynew pages as you need by clicking onthe New Page link below your logo orpicture. The Edit This Page option worksin exactly the same way for every pageyou create. Remember that the morepages you create, the more links youmay need to create to access thesepages. I say may, as you might want to

consider rotating pages – this simplymeans that as a course develops, youmay activate or deactivate links to pagesin order to keep the space fresh andkeep the visitors coming back for more.

Creating linksUnder the Home link, you will seeanother link called edit navigation. Thisis basically where you go to create yourperennial menu. This is what visitorswill see and will use to move within thesite. If you click on the edit navigation

link, you will be presented with a pagewhere you can type in the titles to thepages that you want to be visible andaccessible all the time. Once you havecreated these pages, decide which ofthem you want your visitors to haveaccess to. Highlight the title you want tolink to a specific page, go to the toolbar

A wikispace is a type of site that

enables the creator and designated

‘members’ to uploadfiles in most formats

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What now?A wikispace has an enormous number ofpractical applications. The old studentlanguage lab, study centre or self-accesscentre is really no longer needed. Ifstudents can access tasks set by theirinstitution online, this means that theonly use of such physical spaces within aschool is for exam practice which involveslistening. Most other material for examsis available online. Wikis are especiallyuseful if you are teaching private lessons– you can create your own onlinelanguage laboratory or study centre.

Students who are absent from lessonscan easily catch up with lessons theyhave missed if the teacher has created awikispace. It may not be ideal thatstudents are absent, but as educators wewant them to learn regardless. Andsurely, facilitating busy people in thereal world by making lessons accessibleonline can’t be bad for business either.

The students who do come to classare provided with study options whichbroaden their contact with English.Videos allow them to hear other accents,expose them to different cultures andoften provide some humour.

What next?Here are just a few ideas for thingswhich can be done with a wiki.

QuizzesIn order to get the students familiarwith the wikispace, you could post aninitial quiz which students complete andbring to class. The quiz content shouldbe based solely on where to go and whatto do, in the context of your wikispace.Once you have created your basic quiz,it can be used with all your classes.

ListeningSome of the tasks I set my students are towatch a video and post a comment,which they then print out and keep. Thehigher the level, the more interactionbetween students occurs, as they posttheir comments and read other people’s.This is what many young people arespending their free time doing, so why notharness it for the language classroom?

A short video or audio segment can

be used as a dictation. The teacherdoesn’t need to insist on an exacttranscription of what was heard, thoughperhaps there should be an insistence oncorrect grammar and spelling. This typeof task is excellent for universitystudents or business classes, whereattending meetings or lectures andtaking copious notes is the norm.

ReadingUpload any text you have found whichcan be used legally and for free, and seta task on the page where the file isuploaded. You could even set up ajigsaw reading task. Just remember tomake the instructions clear.

PresentationsUpload a PowerPoint presentation and,as a homework task, get the students towrite a summary of it. Getting studentsto expand on notes is the basic task here.

ConsiderationsI find it best to upload text documentsin pdf format, but this may simply be apersonal preference. You can make anyWord document into a pdf by going towww.pdfonline.com/convert_pdf.asp.

However, do remember to check thatwhat you are uploading from anothersource is not protected by copyright. Igenerally use the rule of thumb that if thematerial is from a reputable site you canuse it. A disclaimer can often help here.This basically states that any materialwhich you have uploaded will be removedif you have broken any copyright lawsand are duly notified of this.

� � �Wikispaces are certainly teacher- andstudent-friendly. The feedback I have hadon the spaces I have created has alwaysbeen positive. Now let’s hear your ideas!Simply go to the wiki which was createdfor this article and post whatever ideasand comments you can. Remember, thelink is http://eflwikiworld.wikispaces.com.

On this wiki, you will find a few taskswhich I have already set for you to do.

[email protected]

Margaret Horrigan is a DELTA, CELTA andCELTYL trainer and ateacher of EAP coursesat the LUISS Universityin Rome, Italy. Sheholds an MA in appliedlinguistics and iscurrently the head ofteacher training atInternational HouseRome.

Wicked wikis

Wicked wikis

� � �

TALKBACK!TALKBACK!

ENGLISH TEACHING professionalKeyways Publishing Ltd, PO Box 100,

Chichester, West Sussex, PO18 8HD, UK

Fax: +44 (0)1243 576456Email: [email protected]

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• www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 59 November 2008 • 55

T E C H N O L O G Y

Using WebQuests

Using WebQuests

Carina Grisolía spins

some internet activities for

her students.A

WebQuest, as defined by theoriginator of the activity,Bernie Dodge, is ‘an inquiry-

oriented activity in which

some or all of the information that

learners interact with comes from

resources on the Internet’. Essentially,students are given a task or series oftasks to do, which requires them tocollect information from differentinternet websites and process andorganise this information in order tocreate a final product. This could beanything from the answers to a list of

questions to an essay. Dodge developedthe activity in 1995 and it has sincebecome popular with teachers in manydifferent disciplines. So what is thestructure of a good WebQuest, howuseful is this type of activity in thelanguage classroom, and is it feasible tocreate your own?

� � �

The instructions need to identify clearly thesteps the students

should go through inorder to accomplish

the final task

The structureIntroductionA good WebQuest will begin with anintroduction, which motivates thestudents, introduces the topic, sets thestage for the whole activity and providesany necessary background information.

InstructionsThe students have to be told what theend result of the WebQuest will be,what task they must perform and whattheir end product should be. Theinstructions, therefore, need to identifyclearly the steps the students should gothrough in order to accomplish the finaltask and should provide scaffolding fororganising the information gatheredduring the activity.P

hilli

p B

urro

ws

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ResourcesA clear list of the online resources thestudents will need to access in order toperform the task needs to be provided.Given that websites often disappear, theteacher needs to check before theWebQuest begins that all the sitesrequired are still current.

EvaluationStudents should be told in advance howtheir performance on the WebQuest willbe evaluated.

ConclusionA final summary should set out whatthe students have accomplished bycompleting the WebQuest. This mayalso provide information on additionalopportunities for extending the activityor doing further reading or research.

The benefitsHere are some of the advantages ofusing WebQuests with language students.

● WebQuests are extremely motivationalas students are always keen to use theinternet.

● They are beneficial from a pedagogicalpoint of view because they arechallenging and they require studentsto be autonomous and to take anactive role in the learning process.

● WebQuests involve exposure to avariety of forms of input, the use of awide range of strategies to processlanguage and content, and therequirement to produce an endproduct.

● They promote interdisciplinary workas the content may come from otherareas of the curriculum.

● They are practical activities, whichprovide students with situations inwhich real-life skills can be exploited:something may need to be created, aproblem may have to be solved, anissue may have to be debated,collaboration and negotiation withother members of a group may berequired, etc.

● WebQuests are a good use of timeand resources and encourage good [email protected]

Carina Grisolía has wideexperience of teachingEnglish at primary,secondary and tertiarylevels in Argentina. Shealso runs workshops forteachers and teacher-training courses and has published severalarticles related toEnglish languageteaching and learning.

Dodge, B ‘Some thoughts aboutWebQuests’http://webquest.sdsu.edu/about_webquests.html

Pérez Torres, M I Diseño de WebQuestspara la Enseñanza-Aprendizaje del Ingléscomo Lengua Extranjera: Aplicaciones enla Adquisición del Vocabulario y laDestreza Lectora Editorial de laUniversidad de Granada 2006

Using WebQuests

Using WebQuests

� � �

organisation and presentation ofwork.

● They generally involve groupwork,which promotes teamwork andcooperation with others. This helps togenerate a good atmosphere in theclassroom.

● They are good for the development ofcognitive processes; students have toanalyse, organise, compare, deduceand transform information in orderto create something new.

● They can be used to teach readingstrategies and to promote thedevelopment of reading comprehension.A WebQuest model developed by MaríaIsabel Pérez Torres finds a correlationbetween current approaches to teachingreading strategies and comprehensionand WebQuests, as WebQuests providefor the different stages of the readingprocess, with pre-reading, while-readingand post-reading activities. We mightequate the introduction and the task-planning stage of the WebQuest to thepre-reading stage; the consulting of theweb resources to the reading stage,and the completion of the WebQuesttask and the evaluation andconclusion to the post-reading stage.

● They provide opportunities forvocabulary acquisition, both as thestudents look for the relevantinformation to perform the task andthrough any explicit lexical tasks whichmay be set by the teacher. (Isabel PérezTorres suggests the inclusion ofreading and vocabulary workshopswithin the structure of the WebQuestto ensure that reading and vocabularyskill acquisition is maximised.)

● They enable students to engage withauthentic material and meaningfulcontent in the target language.

Designing your ownWebQuestThere are plenty of ready-madeWebQuests available, which teachers canuse. Simply type WebQuest into anysearch engine and you will find a list ofthem. However, many teachers prefer todesign their own in order to make themrelevant to their students’ interests andabilities. There are several factors whichyou need to bear in mind if you decideto produce your own WebQuest:

● the age, level, and linguistic ability ofthe students

● the vocabulary which will be neededto complete the task

● the teaching context into which theWebQuest is to fit

● the strategies to be practised

● the genre of the texts to be used

● the content

● the linguistic and non-linguisticobjectives

● the available web resources.

It isn’t necessary to be a webpagedesigner in order to create a WebQuestas there are several sites that will helpyou do this by following a series of easysteps. Try http://webquest.org/index.php

or www.a-virtual.net/wq. Before youbegin, however, it is important to decideon the following:

● the WebQuest topic

● the task you want your students toperform

● the process you want them to gothrough to accomplish the task

● the resources you want them to use

● the method of evaluation that youwish to employ.

� � �

In my experience, WebQuests are goodfor stimulating the students’ motivationand they enjoy them because they arefun to do. They provide a high level ofinteraction and foster learner autonomy.They also boost reading comprehensionand vocabulary acquisitiondevelopment. ETp

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• www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 59 November 2008 • 57

WebWebwatcher Russell Stannard goes down the

tube and gets inundated with good material.

Russell Stannard is a principal lecturer at the University of Westminster, UK, where he teaches using technology on multimedia and TESOL courses.He also runs www.teachertrainingvideos.com, awebsite that trains English teachers to use technology.

Keep sending your favourite sites to Russell:[email protected]

YouTube is overlooked by many teachers, who think it is just asite for younger people to upload their weird and wacky videos.In part this is true, but it is also the repository of an enormouscollection of varied and fascinating videos, many of which canbe incredibly useful to teachers.

Teaching presentationsThere are some superb example presentations on YouTube,which you can show to your students as both good and badmodels.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXILI9Q1jIwIn a recent lesson, I got the students to watch this video acouple of times and then to work in groups and discuss all thethings the presenter did wrong. It created some laughs and auseful list of what not do to when presenting.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFJg1T2hMk8&feature=relatedI put the students in groups to watch this one. (It is broken upinto two parts, showing first a bad and then a good presentation.)I asked them to make a list of the ways in which the woman hadimproved her presentation the second time she gave it. I then putthe students into larger groups so that they could compare theirideas. Again, it gave them a useful insight into what to do andwhat not to do in a presentation.

Interviewing starsIt is nice for students to listen to interviews with people theyknow and are interested in, especially when you are workingwith younger students. YouTube has an incredible number ofinterviews with pop stars, actors and people from the world ofentertainment. If you want something more serious, try searchingfor interviews with politicians or writers.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilWLk9T9e-kThis is a typical chat show interview with pop star Rihanna. I gotthe students to listen to the interview and then make their owncomprehension questions. YouTube allows me to access right-up-to-date artists and interviews. Try searching for a few artistsand you will be very surprised what you can find. I have usedinterviews with Madonna, Tom Cruise (talking aboutScientology), Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Jennifer Lopez.

Helping your students with their examsIf you want to give your students some tips for their exams, thenYouTube can definitely help. Try keying in IELTS or TOEFL. It issurprising just how much material there is available.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=56WFNiQBOb8What about this for starters? It is just one of many exampleinterviews from the IELTS interview section. It provides a superbresource for helping the students really understand the oralexam and what questions they might be asked.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJg138YlwvA&feature=relatedThe help offered by YouTube goes further than an oral exam.There are also lots of videos giving tips on all parts of theexams. Try this video to watch and listen to a woman giving tipson the TOEFL exam.

Experiencing live lecturesWhen I teach on EAP courses, I like to give the students thechance to experience what a live lecture is going to be like whenthey study at university. There are many examples of livelectures on YouTube. You can use the videos to get the studentsto listen and take notes.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc8Asv7EK9cI used this lecture/discussion just this week, as it is very topical.It deals with the credit crunch and was excellent for myeconomics students who are on an EAP course.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2VxreFE-GcIn this lecture a teacher talks about how to approach a Mastersor PhD dissertation. It is great because students get a taster ofwhat a university lecture might be like in English, and, at thesame time, learn about writing a dissertation.

Teaching methodologies and ideasRecently a reader contacted me and asked me for good materialfor learning about teaching methodologies. I did a few searcheson YouTube and couldn’t believe what I found! There are talksgiven by many writers, like Scott Thornbury, Adrian Underhill andJeremy Harmer, and loads of material on communicativelanguage teaching, pronunciation, grammar, Suggestopedia,language games, etc. In fact, I was completely inundated withmaterial and it is going to take me years to get through it!

Teaching grammarwww.youtube.com/watch?v=EtwDhKso2No&feature=relatedSuggestopediawww.youtube.com/watch?v=qXaRZQmtwSYScott Thornbury on repetitionwww.youtube.com/watch?v=pzGhw8NOcrIDay in the life of an ELT teacher in Chinawww.youtube.com/watch?v=oxdGYlK9leY

YouTube tip Key Presentations into the YouTube searchengine, and you will be amazed just how much there is.

Training tip For more ideas about YouTube and more in-depth information about loading your own content, try outmy training video: http://trainingvideos.hscs.wmin.ac.uk/youTube/index.html

YouTube tip Key Lectures in [subject] into the searchengine. You will find a large number of different topics andan incredible range of lectures.

YouTube tip Key the name of any fairly well-known personinto the YouTube search engine, followed by the wordinterview. Then click on search.

Page 60: English Teaching Professional 59 Nov 2008

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Page 61: English Teaching Professional 59 Nov 2008

In this issue of ETp I’d like to dosomething slightly different: tell youabout a particular student I taught a fewyears ago. As teachers, we all have vivid

memories of the classroom behaviour ofcertain individuals – particularly when thosestudents have played on our emotions byirritating, challenging, frustrating oramusing us. Norman (not his real name)was different: a model student who kepthimself to himself and did not cause anytrouble at all. Why do I remember him?Because of his change of hat – and heart.

The class was composedof 19 students enrolled in a15-week pre-universityintensive academic Englishprogramme. My job was toteach academic study skills.The class contained studentsfrom ten different countries,spread across four continents: the People’sRepublic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia,Thailand, Korea, Italy, El Salvador, SierraLeone, Liberia and Ethiopia. Norman wasfrom Africa.

On the first day of term I noticed himsitting at the back of the class. A tall,handsome young man with gleaming blackskin, he sat, head bent and shouldershunched. He wore a faded sunhat with afloppy brim that hid his eyes from view. Heappeared chronically shy and, if ever Irequired the class to swap seats forspeaking tasks, he would scuttle back tohis familiar seat as soon as he could. Everyday he came to class wearing the samebattered old hat, which appeared to offerhim protection, not only from other classmembers but also from me (since I wasunable to establish eye-contact with him).

Adhering to one of the principles ofclass-centred teaching, that of balance, Idid my best to make the class into ametaphorical ‘level playing field’ in whicheveryone was equal. I made a point ofpraising low-key students. I let it be knownwhen self-effacing students did better inmini-tests than higher-profile students. Iread out examples of good work from arange of class members. I tried to be

inclusive in everything that I did so that noone would feel left out. But despite mybest efforts, Norman remained isolatedfrom the rest of the class.

One day, approximately two thirds ofthe way through the course, Norman didsomething that ended his self-imposedisolation. The class had just listened to anaudio-taped recording about Australia beinga multicultural country that welcomednewcomers. By this point in the course, Ihad got to know the class and judged thatwe trusted each other enough for me to

take a slight risk. I asked ifanyone would like to share anypersonal experience of not beingmade welcome in Australia. Iwaited for a few moments.Eventually one student slowlyraised his hand. It was Norman.Would he like to share his story

with the class? Yes, he would.One day, Norman had boarded a

crowded bus and had sat down next to anelderly Australian, who had turned to himand said, ‘You blacks should go back toAfrica where you belong!’ ‘Really?’ saidNorman, who was a scholarship studentintent on returning home aftercompleting his studies. ‘Australiabelongs to Australians, notforeigners!’ continued the man.‘You were born in Australia,then?’ inquired Norman. ‘No,’admitted the man, ‘I was born inNorthern Ireland.’ ‘Oh, so you area migrant,’ said Norman quietly. ‘Allcountries in Africa are at war,’ continuedthe man, ‘and they have civil wars too –using knives as weapons!’ ‘That isinteresting,’ said Norman, who had a goodknowledge of European history. ‘Iunderstand that your own country is onlynow at peace after many years of civil war.And I did not know that knives were anyworse than bombs at killing innocentpeople.’ The man replied lamely to thisstatement and the conversation ended.Norman had made his point.

The rest of the class listened intently asNorman recounted how he had replied to

the racist comments of the man on thebus, and I sensed that they were behindme as I praised Norman for his polite,controlled and appropriate responses.Perhaps other students in the class hadhad experiences similar to Norman’s, buthad not known whether or how to respond.This being the case, Norman had shownthem one way of dealing with the situation.

When we teachers enter ourclassrooms, we tend to let our eyes sweepacross the room – subconsciously on thelook-out either for the usual troublemakers,or for students about whom we are worriedor curious. When I entered the classroomon the following day, my eyes wentimmediately to the back of the room insearch of Norman. He wasn’t there. Thenmy eyes drifted towards the front of theroom, where I noticed two students deeplyengrossed in conversation. One of themwas a Chinese boy and the other one was– or was it? – Norman. I had to look twicebecause Norman had replaced his batteredsunhat with a brightly-coloured baseballcap, which he wore fashionably reversed,with the peak at the back.

For the remainder of the course,Norman entered morefully into the collective lifeof the class. Hevolunteered answers tothe general questions thatI asked the class andbehaved in moreextroverted ways. He sat

in different seats on different days andsoon had a small circle of friends. Mostsignificantly of all, Norman continued towear his baseball cap – an object thatappeared to be symbolic of his new-foundconfidence. And he would look me in theeye whenever I addressed him.

• www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 59 November 2008 • 59

In this column Rose Senior explains why certain teaching techniques and

class management strategies are effective, and identifies specific issues that can assist

all language teachers in improving the quality of their teaching.

Norman’s hat

www.rosesenior.com

As teachers, we all have vivid memories

of the classroombehaviour of certain

individuals

I sensed that they were behind me as I

praised Norman for hispolite, controlled and

appropriate responses

Rose Senior is a conference presenter and teacher educator. She is the author of The Experience of Language Teaching,published by Cambridge University Press.

ETp

Page 62: English Teaching Professional 59 Nov 2008

60 • Issue 59 November 2008 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com •

Prize crossword 32ETp presents the thirty-second in our series of prizecrosswords, and this one, again, has a very differentformat. Try it … and maybe win a prize! Once youhave done it successfully, let your students have a go.

Send your entry (not forgetting to include your full name, postal address and telephone number) toPrize crossword 32, ENGLISH TEACHING professional,

To solve the puzzle, find which letter each numberrepresents. You can keep a record in the boxes above.Three letters are done for you. Start by writing theseletters in the other boxes in the crossword where theirnumbers appear. The definitions of the words in the puzzleare given, but not in the right order. When you havefinished, you will be able to read the quotation.

VERY FREQUENT WORDS*** A large number of soldiers*** An official document that givessomeone permission to do or usesomething*** A number of different things that areof the same general type*** A prize that is given to someone whohas achieved something*** Chosen from a group*** Does not agree to an offer, proposalor request*** In addition to the usual or expectedamount*** Inside or further towards the centreof something*** Particular subjects or types of activity*** The structure that supports a road,railway, or path that goes over a river,over another road, etc*** To find the exact size, amount,speed, etc of something, using a special tool or special equipment

FREQUENT WORDS** A situation in which someone doesnot have enough money to pay for theirbasic needs** Completely typical** Solid food made from milk

William Wordsworth, Resolution and Independence

13 8 23 22 22 16 13 20 23 15 8 20

23 4 5 10 3 26 3

19 20 23 22 2 26 20 17 26 11 11 18

20 26 20 20 26 2 8

8 11 1 15 20 22 10 23 19 18 11 11

25 20 20 1

18 16 13 7 20 1 6 26 16 1 15 20

11 11 12 20

14 11 8 13 23 9 11 24 2 16 13 21

20 11 26 11 20 9 16

26 23 9 15 20 8 16 13 20 9 13 20

17 20 23 20 17 20 8

21 11 8 7 22 1 20 22 16 26 20 1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

M P O

P M

O

13 10 11 16 13 20 4 11 26 1 23 9 1

19 20 23 22 2 26 20 1 18 10 26 23 22 20

23 6 11 14 20 17 10 20 26 20 23 13 10 11

12 11 26 1 16 9 23 26 21 19 20 9

.

Keyways Publishing, PO Box 100, Chichester, West Sussex,PO18 8HD, UK. Ten correct entries will be drawn from a haton 10 January 2009 and the senders will each receive acopy of the second edition of the Macmillan EnglishDictionary for Advanced Learners, applauded for its uniquered star system showing the frequency of the 7,500 mostcommon words in English.

** To burst with a lot of force and witha loud noise** To press something firmly with yourhands** To produce something useful, suchas information or evidence

FAIRLY FREQUENT WORDS* A large bird that kills other birds andanimals for food* A mountain that forces hot gas, rocks,ash and lava into the air through a holeat the top* An officer of high rank in the army* Arranged so that things or people thatare similar are together in one place* To formally make something, such asa complaint or a claim* Tricked into believing something thatis not true

LESS FREQUENT WORDS– A large animal with a long neck andone or two humps– A liquid that you use for washing yourhair– Good to eat because it contains a lotof liquid– The middle, yellow parts of eggs– Wanted (like an effect you want toachieve)

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