Making your toenails twinkle: creativity in the language

classroom A personal view of creativity in the English

language classroom

Alan Marsh IH Barcelona ELT Conference 2016

Acknowledgements:

Jill and Charles Hadfield’s Creative Practice MET January 2012

What are the missing words?

•When I .. old, I …. …. purple.

What are the missing words?

When I am old, I will wear purple.

What’s the rule?

•When I’m old, I will wear purple

•When we’re talking about the future, after adverbs like when, we use a ………….. tense

What’s the rule?

•When I’m old, I will wear purple

•When we’re talking about the future, after adverbs like when, we use a present tense

• satin sandals

• pavement

• gobble up

• railings

• the sobriety of my youth

• slippers

• spit

• swear

What’s the title? When I am an old woman I will wear purple …………………………………………..

What’s the title? When I am an old woman I will wear purple With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me. And I will spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.

I will sit down on the pavement when I'm tired And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells And run my stick along the public railings And make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I will go out in my slippers in the rain And pick flowers in other people's gardens And learn to spit.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry And pay our rent and not swear in the street And set a good example for the children. We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now? So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised

When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

Jenny Joseph

Warning

I’ll definitely

I’ll probably I might

I’ll

I’ll definitely I definitely won’t

I’ll probably I probably won’t

I might I might not

I’ll I won’t

What’s the rule (2)?

• I’ll definitely go

• I definitely won’t go

• I’ll probably stay

• I probably won’t stay

• Where do definitely, possibly (adverbs) go with verbs like will (modal auxiliaries)?

Learner poems: When I’m old …

When I’m old I won’t be quiet and I’ll bother my neighbours. I might have a toy boy.

A word my learners wanted to know…!

• Sugar Daddy

When I’m old …

When we are old we shall definitely do many crazy and dangerous things.

We will wear full make-up from morning and we will spend our money for a face lift

When I’m old …

When I’m old I’ll be an honarable person.

I’ll live in America and I’ll speak the good English.

I’ll teach my children to honar their old country and their new country.

Going to the bank …

I’m forever blowing bubbles…

My first bank account …

… in Burnley. Lancashire, England

West Ham United

I’m forever blowing bubbles…

Going to the bank …

Don’t worry…

It’s his synapses firing

Er …..not sinuses…….synapses!

Neurons

Synapses

Teaching the syllabus: Learning in lockstep

Learners’ interlanguages

Making space for personal syllabi

Switching on the light(s)

Some conditions for creativity in the language classroom: S L P

Scaffolding: e.g. breaking up a task to make it achievable

Linking explicitly to language items

Link the creativity to explicit learning points

• You and your learners will explicitly focus on a specific language point or skill

• Implicitly, lots of other connections will be made

• Probably different connections for different learners

Involving the whole person

Thinking: cognitive skills

• Paying attention

• Remembering

• Processing

• Analysing

• Judging and evaluating

• Reasoning

• Problem-solving

• Decision-making

Other ways of being

Involving the whole person

• I think, therefore I am

• I feel, therefore I am

• I experience, therefore I am

• I create, therefore I am

Some conditions for creativity in the classroom: Scaffold – Link to language - Personalise

The present perfect!

PROCESSING GRAMMAR AND MEANING: PRESENT PERFECT V SIMPLE PAST

Amy Winehouse Adele

Amy Winehouse was born in London in 1983 and

died in 2011. Adele was born in London in 1988.

Who does each of the following sentences refer

to? Write Amy or Adele next to each.

• 1 She has lived most of her life in London.

• 2 She lived most of her life in London.

• 3 She wrote many songs.

• 4 She has written many songs.

• 5 She has won several Grammy awards.

• 6 She won several Grammy awards.

• 7 She wrote most of her own songs.

• 8 She has written most of her own songs.

Fill in the missing verbs

• Sir Bobby Charlton __________many times for Manchester United.

• Lionel Messi ________ many times for Barcelona.

• Shakespeare _______ many famous plays.

• Dan Brown ________ some best-selling novels.

Now your turn: write two sentences about famous people. They can be from your country. Present perfect or simple past?

Some examples:

Yuri Gagarin / Vladimir Putin / Lenin

Dante / Roberto Benigni / Silvio Berlusconi

Goethe / Angela Merkel / Franz Beckenbauer

Rafael Nadal / Pedro Almodovar / Picasso

Tom Cruise / Usain Bolt / Pele / Abba / The Beatles / One Direction

Acknowledgements:

Jo Gakonga and www.elt-training.com

Present perfect for experience

I haven’t been to India

I haven’t been to France

I haven’t eaten frog’s legs

And I haven’t learnt to dance.

I’ve always lived in Barcelona

I haven’t been abroad

I’ve always lived at home

And I’m getting rather bored.

Rhyming countries 1

• France trance / dance

• The States weights / mates

• Wales gales / whales / males

• Spain/Ukraine rain / fame / game

• Greece geese / fleece

• Bahamas bananas

• Italy bitterly / jittery / wittily /

Rhyming countries 2

• Chad bad / sad / mad

• Congo bongo

• Hong Kong gong / ding dong / song / long /

• Peru you hoo / boo hoo / blue / you

• Thailand island / my land

• Greece geese / fleece / niece

• Malta …. Walter / falter / alter / altar

What’s the rule?

• She’s going

• She isn’t going.

• I’ve finished.

• I haven’t finished.

• I’ll do it.

• I won’t do it.

• Hint ………

• It’s pronunciation and grammar!

What’s the rule?

• She’s going

• She isn’t going.

• I’ve finished.

• I haven’t finished.

• I’ll do it.

• I won’t do it.

• Hint ………

• It’s pronunciation and grammar!

Learner’s poem

• I haven’t been to India

• I haven’t been to the States

• I haven’t seen Los Angeles

• And I really don’t want to wait!

• I’ve always lived in Germany

• I haven’t been abroad

• I’ve always lived with my parents

• And I’m getting very bored!!!! • Harald, Germany

A pre-intermediate (A2) learner’s ‘I’ve been to’ poem

I’ve never been to Ireland. But I’ve been in love with Irish man. He had a huge talent to gain women’s favour, but he was so mean. He inculcated in me a taste for art and love for adventure. Our love story was bright and unforgettable, but it finished with a phrase “I’m sorry”. At parting he gave me …

…a kiss with an fragrant of Irish legend.

I’ve never been to Italy. But I’ve been in love with Italian. He’s been very clever, he’s known many languages, but he’s been so nervous and so fault-finding person. Well, we let as part friends. He gave me in memory (or gave me as keepsake?) the 33 recipes for Italian pasta and

…one recipe for happiness.

I’ve never been to Spain. But I’ve been head-over-heels in love with Spaniard. He’s been extremely generous and kind. I thought that fortuna smiled on me, but he’d been in my city just for few weeks. He left for me a lot of presents and … phone number which never answer. I’ve never been to Portugal … I’ve never been to Norway … I’ve never been to France … But once I met him and he taught me to love a life and be grateful. He gave me self-confidence and opened at me a woman. Now I think: “There is a really journey – to be in love. Not important where you are, most important … …with who you are.”

Samira, Iraq: Jo Gakonga’s Pre-intermediate learner (slightly adapted)

What feedback would you give?

Acknowledgements:

Scott Thornbury:

Think of something / someone/ somewhere … • interesting / surprising you’ve ….

• Done …

• Seen …

• Eaten…

• Been

• Met…

• Experienced…

• ???

Perfect poetry

Listen ….

• What senses do you hear?

• What images can you remember?

Tere’s I have …poem

I have seen love in his eyes

I have heard his comforting voice

I have touched his soul gently

I have smelled fear when we are apart

I have tasted the sweetness of his kiss

I have done everything I can for this love

I have remembered the reasons why I married him

• Tere, Brazil

Tommaso’s I have poem

I’ve seen people telling the truth.

I’ve heard other people telling lies.

I’ve touched the truth itself.

I’ve smelled the stink of a lie.

I’ve tasted the flavour of honesty.

I’ve done what was best for all.

I’ve remembered how it made me feel.

• Tommaso, Italy.

Conclusions

• Creativity in the language classroom is facilitated by SLP: scaffolding, linking with the official syllabus, personalisation

• Creativity in the language classroom is not just an add-on

• It is not just a ‘Friday afternoon’ activity

• Because it helps learners to make and strengthen connections in their brains …

• Because it creates spaces in which learners’ personal syllabi can develop …

• Because it makes learning memorable by involving the mind, the emotions and the personal worlds of our learners ….

• CREATIVITY IS AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT IN CONSOLIDATING AND EXTENDING LEARNING

In case you were wondering about …

• Making your toenails twinkle ….

Dylan Thomas

“Poetry is what in a poem makes you laugh, cry, prickle, be silent, makes your toenails twinkle, makes you want to do this or that or nothing, makes you know that you are alone and not alone in the unknown world, that your bliss and suffering is forever shared and forever all your own…” – Dylan Thomas

Dylan Thomas A Few Words Of A Kind

Allow your learners to be creative … you never know what might happen ….

And to you ……

• Thank you!

• Email: alanmarshinmalta@gmail.com

• Website:

• www.alanmarshelt.com