Download - English Teaching Professional

TEACHINGENGLISHENGLISHTEACHINGprofessionalprofessional

Issue 83 November

2012

• 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

Teacher development onlineNik Peachey

One is a lovely numberEmily Edwards

Less is moreRobert Buckmaster

Challenging our own authorityCory McMillen and Kara Boyer

w w w . e t p r o f e s s i o n a l . c o m

vk.com/englishlibrary

BUSINESS ENGLISH PROFESSIONAL

IF YOU DON’T KNOW ME BY NOW ... 34Phil Wade knows that the more you know, the better

THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS? 36Louis Rogers sees how blended learning affects the business sphere

TEACHER DEVELOPMENT

WHAT DOES A CELTA TUTOR DO? 52Chia Suan Chong sheds light on those who teach the teachers

TECHNOLOGY

GET ’APPY 56Francesca McClure Smith delights in downloads

FIVE THINGS YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO 57KNOW ABOUT: TAGGINGNicky Hockly looks at labelling

WEBWATCHER 59Russell Stannard extols Edmodo

REGULAR FEATURES

IT WORKS IN PRACTICE 32

LANGUAGE LOG 39John Potts

SCRAPBOOK 46

REVIEWS 41

COMPETITIONS 40, 60

INTERNATIONAL SUBSCRIPTION FORM 30

MAIN FEATURE

TEACHER DEVELOPMENT ONLINE 4Nik Peachey is convinced that technology is the way forward

FEATURES

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT 8Leo Boylan celebrates the joy of journals

ONE IS A LOVELY NUMBER 12Emily Edwards looks forward to her one-to-one classes

‘HEAVEN DOES NOT TALK’ 16Phillip Brown promotes the personality of the teacher

LESS IS MORE 19Robert Buckmaster believes in brevity

OVER THE WALL 25Alan Maley acknowledges accounts of teachingexperiences

OUTCOMES-BASED LANGUAGE EDUCATION 27Peter Zoeftig reflects on language coaching

CHALLENGING OUR OWN AUTHORITY 43Cory McMillen and Kara Boyer hand over someresponsibilities to their students

RAIDING THE STATIONERY CUPBOARD 46Amy Lightfoot finds inspiration amongst the paper clips

FEEDBACK AND CORRECTION 49Elspeth Pollock varies her techniques to keep her students involved

CHAT SHOW GAME SHOW 51Richard Hillman proposes a winning activity

TEACHING YOUNG LEARNERS

READING NIGHT 22Constanze Schkölziger describes a school initiative

Contents

• www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 83 November 2012 • 1

Contents

Includes materials designed to photocopy

Editorial

[email protected]

Helena GommEditor


Editorial

Rayford House, School Road, Hove BN3 5HX, UK

Tel: +44 (0)1273 434943 Email: [email protected]

Fax: +44 (0)1273 227308 Web: www.etprofessional.com

Editor: Helena Gomm

Editorial Consultant: Mike Burghall

Editorial Director: Peter Collin

Designer: Christine Cox

Advertising Sales Manager:Carole Blanchett, Mainline MediaTel: 01536 747333 Fax: 01536 746565Email: [email protected]

Publisher: Tony Greville

Published by: Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd, Rayford House, School Road, Hove BN3 5HX

© 2012, Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd

ISSN 1362-5276

Subscriptions: Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd, Rayford House, School Road, Hove BN3 5HX

Printed by: Matrix Print Consultants Ltd, Kettering, Northants, NN16 9QJ Tel: 01536 527297

Numéro de Commission Paritaire: 1004 U 82181. Prix à l’unité = EUR14.75; à l’abonnement (6 numéros) = EUR59.Directeur de la Publication: Tony Greville

Pages 38 and 46–47 include materials which are designed to photocopy. All other rights are reserved and no part of this publication may bereproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted without prior permission in writing from the publishers.

2 • Issue 83 November 2012 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com •

In this issue, Alan Maley recommends some

inspirational books in which teachers recount their

experiences, often of educational contexts which

might seem overwhelmingly adverse but where they

managed to overcome the difficulties and make a real

difference to the lives and achievements of their students,

often by sheer force of personality.

And it is the personality of the teacher that occupies

Phillip Brown. He argues that personality is the key to

classroom success and that the teacher’s ability to talk to

the students, get things across and inspire them is far

more important than the formal requirements and

expectations laid down by teaching authorities.

At a purely linguistic level, John Potts asserts that the

teachers’ own idiolects, the language choices they make

which mark them out as individuals, plays an important part

in the development of their students’ language ability. He

makes a conscious effort to vary his own idiolect to give his

students exposure to as large a ‘language bath’ as possible,

and notices which of his favourite expressions his

students adopt and start to use themselves.

Whilst one of the successful head teachers described

by Phillip Brown had little time for qualifications and

references of any kind, most of us would agree that some

form of training is a good idea before teachers are set

loose in the classroom. Nowadays, teacher training and

professional development take many forms. In our main

feature, Nik Peachey describes some of the options

already available for online teacher development and,

continuing our series on what people actually do on a

daily basis in some of the jobs in our profession, Chia

Suan Chong outlines the life of a CELTA tutor. I am

grateful to Phil Wade for suggesting that we continue this

series after the first article by Sasha Wajnryb on the life of

the DOS in Issue 80 and for assembling some volunteer

contributors. Phil’s own article in this issue is on the

importance of getting to know the students and finding

out what they really want and need from their lessons.

Cov

er p

hoto

: ©

iSto

ckp

hoto

.com

/ A

dam

Rad

osav

ljevi

c

Email: [email protected] You will receive a letter of pre-registration and grant application advice the same day

International Projects Centre, 7 Colleton Crescent, Exeter EX2 4DG Tel/Fax: 00 44 1392 660067 • www.ipcexeter.co.uk

Developing Oral Fluency in the English Language Classroom (Primary/Secondary) Comenius Database Code: UK-2013-1662-021/UK-2013-1655-021

Developing Oral Fluency for Teachers of Adult Learners Comenius Database Code: UK-2013-1679-014

Drama Techniques for the English Language Classroom Comenius Database Code: UK-2013-1653-007

Practical Ideas for the Teaching of Literature in the Classroom Comenius Database Code: UK-2013-1657-013

British Institutions, Language and Culture Comenius Database Code: UK-2013-1660-005

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) UK-2011-1217-003 / UK-2013-1661-016 / UK-2013-1659-016

First Certificate for Teachers of Business English UK-2013-1656-005

Enrol now for an EU-funded teacher development course with International

Projects Centre in sunny Exeter!

All courses listed in Comenius/Grundtvig

catalogue. Next deadline for Comenius/Grundtvig funding applications -

January 16th 2013 - for courses taking place

between May andAugust 2013.

Teacher Training Exeter

M A I N F E A T U R E

Teacherdevelopmentonline



Nik Peachey sees the future for teacher training.

Ihave been involved in teachertraining for almost 15 years now,and those 15 years have seen anenormous shift in our profession,

as in most others. The catalyst for thisshift has, of course, been digitaltechnology – and more specifically, thecommunication possibilities offered bythe internet. At its best, the applicationof new technologies has enabled teachersfrom around the globe to connect,communicate and exchange ideas andmaterials at a rate that has never beenpossible before and, in my role as ateacher trainer and course developer, Iam becoming increasingly convincedthat not only has the consideredapplication of new technologies madethe delivery of online training coursescheaper and more accessible for teachers,but I genuinely believe we have nowreached a point where online teacherdevelopment has become a moreeffective means of developing teachersthan face-to-face training.

Overcoming isolationIn our ‘traditional’ context as teachers,we lead a very isolated existence, despitethe fact that we spend most of ourworking lives surrounded by students.Many teachers are rarely, if ever,observed, and the purpose of this

observation is most often qualitycontrol rather than development. Manyteachers work in staffrooms where thereis little support or exchange of ideasand where colleagues either teach othersubjects or prefer to spend as little timeas possible actually in the building. Fornew or aspiring teachers, this malaisecan soon become infectious, withteachers choosing to take the easyground and repeat the same tried andtested lessons over again.

The arrival of the internet – andespecially Web 2.0-type applications whichsupport user-created content and socialnetworking – has enabled enthusiasticteachers to bridge that isolation and reachout to a myriad of individuals with diverseexperiences and opinions, drawing on thecreativity and generosity of their peers to

nourish their teaching experience. Manyteachers have been encouraged to growin ways that would just not have beenpossible ten, or even five, years ago.

ConferencesFor decades now, the prime andpreferred method of professionaldevelopment has been the conference.For many teachers, this is a chance toregenerate, renew old acquaintances andmake new friends. The continuinggrowth and popularity of conferenceslike IATEFL and TESOL can bearwitness to this. As part of the team thatworks on delivering the IATEFL onlineexperience, I know that there were someinitial misgivings that the online offercould potentially undermine the physicalevent. However, on the contrary, it seemsto have had the opposite effect: makingso much of the conference availableonline has only fuelled teachers’ desireto attend the event in person. Recentresearch I carried out into the preferredmethods of professional development ofover 125 teachers supported thisassumption, with conferences stillcoming out at the top of the list. Notsurprisingly, though, the next threeplaces were all taken by web-supportedmethods of development, these beingwebinars, Twitter and online courses.

We have now reached a point where onlineteacher development has become a moreeffective means of

developing teachers thanface-to-face training


� � �

WebinarsWeb-based seminars, or webinars asthey are known, have becomeincreasingly popular over the last fewyears. Improvements in connectionspeeds, coupled with better PC soundquality and the availability of a numberof free or low-cost platforms, havemade these a genuinely viablealternative to attending a face-to-faceconference. In fact, some cash-strappedteachers’ associations have organisedcomplete two- and three-day eventsusing virtual platforms rather thangoing to the huge expense of hiring aphysical venue, arranging hotels andflying in speakers.

Among the advantages of webinars,cited by the subjects of my research, isthe convenience. You can attend awebinar without even leaving home, letalone having to pay the cost of travel andhotels. As most webinar presentationsare recorded and archived, you can evenwatch them when you want to and withwhom you want to. Many teachersarrange to meet and watch webinarrecordings together so that they candiscuss them afterwards.

TwitterTwitter, the online micro-bloggingplatform that has taken the world bystorm, is now almost as ubiquitous inour lives as the omnipresent Facebook.However, can you really learn anythingabout teaching from a message of only140 characters (the maximum permittedin a ‘tweet’)? Well, it seems that manyteachers believe that you can – and theydo. Twitter can, however, do much morethan allow teachers to share experiencesin short messages. It also enables them toexchange links to online materials suchas blog articles, journals, videos andteaching materials from all around the

If you want to try to present yourown webinar, try one of these free orlow-cost platforms:

● www.bigmarker.com/

● www.wiziq.com/

● http://bigbluebutton.com/

You can also find a collection ofrecorded webinars atwww.cambridgeenglishteacher.org/webinar-resources.

Webinars

Some of the people you might like tostart by following are:

● http://twitter.com/ozge

● http://twitter.com/SeanBanville

● http://twitter.com/esolcourses

● http://twitter.com/russell1955

● http://twitter.com/harmerj

● http://twitter.com/NikPeachey

● https://twitter.com/brad5patterson

● https://twitter.com/barbsaka

● https://twitter.com/missnoor28

● https://twitter.com/Larryferlazzo

Twitter

Twitter. I don’t want to hear whatsomeone had for lunch or which airportthey are in – people who share this kindof information rarely use hashtags –what I look for are the links to blogs,new online teaching tools, interestingvideos, video tutorials or journal articles.This is where the real development is,and where I learn the most.

Following the right people can alsohelp. When you follow someone, youreceive into your Twitter page all theinformation they share. If you follow alot of people, this could mean aconstant flow of information. Myadvice is not to try to read everything:just take a little time out of each day tobrowse the information stream whichTwitter provides and find a couple ofinteresting things to read.

Online coursesAccording to my research, online coursesseem to be becoming increasinglypopular and, as I said at the beginningof this article, I believe that these cannow not only be much cheaper, but alsobe more effective, than their face-to-faceclassroom equivalents, especially for in-service and continuing development.

Unlike most of the face-to-facecourses I have worked on (which mostoften had, by necessity, to be deliveredout of context and intensively), onlinecourses can be delivered over a longerperiod of time, and teachers can study alittle each week and try out the ideasthey are learning in their own classroomcontext with their own students.

Real change and development in theway we teach takes time and needs to bea continuous process. Short bursts ofintensive learning usually have bigshort-term effects, but those effects tendto be more superficial and, away fromthe rarified and supportive air of theintensive classroom, many goodintentions become lost; momentum forchange can soon wind down. Well-designed online courses can helpteachers to build on and develop theirmotivation, and can support them whilethey explore new ideas within the realcontext in which they work.

Of course, many online teacherdevelopment courses are not welldesigned. In the past, exaggeratedclaims and undeserved hype have led toa lot of disillusionment over onlinelearning, and drop-out rates on onlinecourses have been notoriously high.

world. At its worst, though, Twitter islike millions of people standing in a hugeroom all shouting at once! The secret ofgetting the best from it is knowing howto listen and who to listen to.

The best way to ‘listen’ or to finduseful information is to search Twitterusing hashtags. A hashtag is a short keyword or acronym preceded by a hashsymbol: #. A number of these arecommonly used by English languageteachers, for example #elt, #esl, #efl or– for those interested in educationaltechnology – #edtech. A search using#edchat or #eltchat will locateinformation being shared during someof the many synchronous live weeklydiscussions organised by ad-hoc groupsof teachers from around the world. Youdon’t have to ‘follow’ anyone to searchTwitter using hashtags, but doing thiswill probably help you to locate theuseful people to follow.

Actually reading a tweet, once youfind one, can be a little confusing forthe uninitiated. Tweets often look alittle like sms text messages, with lots ofabbreviations and strange symbols like @followed by a name, which usually refersto the person who is the source of theinformation. The best thing to look for inthese tweets is a link. Links in Twitter areoften shortened (to save on those valuable140 characters) and start with bit.ly orvsb.li instead of the usual http. Theselinks are where the real information lies,and it is this exchange of informationthat I have found most valuable in


� � �

[email protected]

Nik Peachey is afreelance consultant,trainer, writer, conferencespeaker and coursedesigner, specialising ineducational technologyand ELT. He has beeninvolved in ELT since1992 and has worked allover the world as ateacher and ICTspecialist.

When developing the Bell BlendedLearning in ELT course, I carried outdetailed research into almost 800teachers’ experiences of online learning.What emerged from that research wasthat teachers were looking for a numberof things. Primary among these was thedesire to learn in an online environmentthat was geared towards socialisationand sharing.

Teachers want to interact with eachother, not with a computer. Thelearning environment should exist tosupport communication between theteachers, and the materials and tasksthat courses are based around need tobe practical and applicable to theirteaching context.

Teachers don’t want to be assessed,evaluated and tested by a computer; theywant to be able to make mistakes, shareideas and experiment, with the supportof a real person who understands thatthe learning process is about more thanjust having the correct answers.

Rather than working throughmaterials in isolation, they want to be

able to exchange ideas within groupsand build lasting contacts and networksamong the people they study with.

Time spent online needs to belimited, so learning needs to be conciseand ‘bite-sized’ so that the participantscan fit short bursts of study into thebusy regular schedule of their lives.

I believe that, increasingly, coursedevelopers are waking up to these needsand many providers such as TheConsultants-E, Bell and InternationalHouse, as well as publishers andassessment bodies like CUP andCambridge ESOL, are starting toprovide good-quality courses atreasonable prices. There is clearly agrowing and wider acceptance amongteachers that online courses offer aviable, good-quality and good-valuealternative to face-to-face courses. Infact, the newly-launched CambridgeEnglish Teacher online courses hadattracted more than 12,000 guest usersby July 2012, after starting with onlyjust over 2,000 back in March.

Content curationAny article dealing with online teacherdevelopment would, I believe, beincomplete without mention of a newand growing internet trend amongteachers: ‘content curation’. In 2009,Michael Wesch stated that, each second,

2,000 gigabytes of new information wasbeing created. This staggering figurehas, I’m sure, grown since then, and itleaves us with a problem: how withinthat vast quantity of information beinggenerated do we locate, digest andassimilate that minuscule portion whichis relevant to us?

Twitter goes some way towardsanswering that question, because it putsus in touch with people who can help usto mediate the torrent of information,filter out some of the vast irrelevanciesand reduce it to something that we canattempt to consume. This still leaves uswith the question of how we make senseof the still quite considerable andvaluable amount of information that isbeing generated about our profession.Content curation, in the form of anumber of web-based tools, can helpwith this problem and assist us in theprocess of making sense of thatinformation and converting it intoknowledge.

� � �

I believe the process of organising andarranging web content and developingthrough online resources can help us towork more effectively, learn moreefficiently and, perhaps moreimportantly, take us a little closer to thekinds of practices needed by the digitalgeneration that we teach. I recentlyfound a wonderful video clip athttp://youtube/XwM4ieFOotA (it’s nowsaved in my Pinterest account). This clipdescribes the digitally networkedstudent – just the kind of student weteach and the kind of teacher we needto aspire to be in order to do credit tothe students we teach. If you have amoment, watch it and think about howyou can be more like this.

Wesch, M ‘Knowledgable to knowledge-able: learning in new mediaenvironments’ Academic Commons 2009

These are some of the most useful freecontent curation tools around at present:

● Scoop.it

● Pinterest.com

● Meaki.com

These tools can help us save, organise,use and eventually share the usefulresources we find online, and thisprocess is what curation is all about. It is a process of understanding andorganising web-based content to makeit useable.

My own approach to using theseservices works like this:

● Scoop.it has a very reader-friendlymagazine-like format and, like Twitter,you can also follow other users to findout what they are reading. I use it tosave and share interesting articlesfrom around the web. You can see mycollection at www.scoop.it/t/learning-technology.

Content curation

● I use Pinterest to capture usefulvideos and images from around theweb that I can then use in classroomand online materials development.Pinterest was designed for sharingweb-based images (without violatingcopyright) and has a simple-to-useinterface that works well to make theimages easy to locate. You can seemy video collection athttp://pinterest.com/nikpeachey/video/.

● I use Meaki to collect and organiseweb-based learning tools. Meaki is avisual bookmarking tool, a bit like‘favourites’ on your web browser,except that the links are storedonline. You browse them by lookingthrough images of the website withshort summaries rather than just atitle. You can see my collection ofvideo-related tools athttp://tinyurl.com/d6t4c27.



ETp


W R I T I N G

Practicemakesperfect

PracticemakesperfectLeo Boylan uses

student journals to promote

good writing habits. That old joke still rings true formany pursuits, but none somuch as writing. The actualprocess of gathering one’s

thoughts and getting them down onpaper is by far the best method toimprove writing skills at any level ofeducation.

It is particularly challenging to teachcourses such as Basic Writing, CriticalWriting and Composition and Literatureto new students who enter college withvaried abilities. I believe the best way toimprove their writing from the very firstday of class, and throughout thesemester, is to use journals. Writing dailyentries in a journal offers the studentsthe opportunity to get the practice theyneed in order to develop critical thinkingskills which will lead to self-discovery,improved communication skills, learningand creativity. Journals can also providethe foundation for class discussions,written responses to literature andmaterial for formal essays. They may beshared with partners, groups or thewhole class. They offer students thechance to write for themselves, as wellas for an audience, in a supportive, non-judgemental environment.

readings. By listening to entries readaloud by classmates, they hear how otherwriters use description, examples andcomparisons. Teachers may also decide tomodel aspects of writing by using theirown journal entries as examples. As theteacher explains how to develop an essay,with an introduction, a body and aconclusion, the students experience theprocess in their journals. It is my hopethat my students will enjoy theopportunity for self-expression andcommunication as it becomes integratedinto their daily activities, and will itinspire them to become reflective, critical

I became a journal writer myselfwhen I was a junior in high school, andI have continued the practice on and offfor the last 40 years. When I beganteaching, I decided to experiment withjournal use in my writing classes and,based on my students’ enthusiasm forjournal writing and their success inimproving their writing skills, I expandedthe use of journals into all my courses.Achieving goals through journalsdepends on numerous factors, but Ibelieve we can start with a basic humanpremise: people want to gain a betterunderstanding of themselves, theirexperiences and the world around them.Their curiosity leads them to seekknowledge and, by recording dailyoccurrences in a journal, they reflect ontheir world and communicate theirthoughts and ideas in a safe environment.

A good habitStudents on remedial writing coursescan improve their organisation anddevelopment strategies naturally throughanecdotes and storytelling and byresponding to literature and teacherprompts. Journal entries lead to a betterunderstanding of paragraph and essaydevelopment as students explain incidentsin chronological order or summarise

They offer students the chance to write for

themselves, as well as for an audience,

in a supportive, non-judgemental

environment

‘Excuse me, sir, but how do I get toCarnegie Hall?’ ‘Practise.’


� � �

thinkers who are open to new ideas.Keeping a journal makes writing a wayof life, along with speaking, listening,reading, and thinking – it may even leadto a life-long habit of creative writing.

Other benefits of journal writinginclude improved reading comprehensionand expansion of vocabulary. I usejournals regularly in literature classes,and when the students have to answerquestions about assigned readings in theirjournals, they are forced to read moreclosely for meaning. In-class journalreading increases their self-confidence andlistening skills. As students read theirjournal entries aloud, the others hear themexpressing their ideas, communicatingtheir thoughts, arguing their principles andexpressing their opinions. They are alsoexposed to new words and terminology.As in formal essay writing, I encouragedictionary and thesaurus use for buildingvocabulary and style.

Getting into the habitI introduce the concept of journals at thevery beginning of the semester because itis important that everyone gets into thehabit of composing on a daily basis. Isuggest that my students buy a spiralnotebook for the sole purpose of journalwriting. I find that it is important toarticulate specific expectations – forexample, I stipulate a certain size for theirnotebooks and suggest that all entriesshould be at least one page in length.

Often students are unsure of what isexpected and the task may be unfamiliaror uncomfortable, so I try to offer as manyspecific instructions as possible to alleviatetheir fears. First, I explain that thepurpose is to improve their overall writingskills. I tell them that writing journalentries and sharing them with the classwill provide material for class discussionsand ideas for formal essays and research

assignments. I also point out that theirjournals will be an outlet for self-discoveryand creativity, and that when they areasked to write about an assigned readingtext, the task and prompts will help themfocus on the meaning of the literature. (Imake sure that the assigned prompts forwriting tasks based on literature alwayspromote thought, require critical thinking– perhaps through identification withcharacters or situations – and don’tallow the students merely to summarisethe plot.) Lastly, I tell them that theirjournals should be written in their ownvoice, with an audience of fellowstudents and the teacher in mind.

After answering my students’questions during this introductoryperiod, I ask them to write a practiceentry in class. I use a short poem or essayfor this purpose. For example, I hand outcopies of the poem Stopping by Woodson a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost,together with worksheets with promptsfor responding to the poem. First, I readit aloud and then ask the students toread it. Then I ask them to respond toat least one of the following prompts:

● What are the implications of the poem?

● What would the narrator do if he didnot keep his promises?

● What do you believe is happening inthe poem?

● Discuss Frost’s use of imagery.

I then ask that every student write anentry in response to the poem.

The students share their responses inpairs first; this allows them to practisereading their work and to becomeacquainted with another person in theclass. Then they are asked individuallyto stand at the lectern at the front of theclassroom to read their entries. Thepublic reading stage emphasises theimportance of their ideas and their roleas part of a community of writers. Itdemonstrates the value of an audienceand also serves as an icebreaker in a

class where the students may not knoweach other. A class discussion of thepoem follows, and the students see howtheir writing is integrated into the classand how it is used as a tool for theirunderstanding of literature.

Sharing the journalsSharing journal entries in class is aneffective catalyst for class discussion, asthe students agree or disagree with theopinions of their peers, and it helps themto focus on literature and meaning. Somestudents look forward to reading theirstories and essays aloud. Others dread it.To alleviate this dilemma, I usually puttheir names in a hat and pick the day’sreaders by lottery. I believe that it isimportant that every student shouldhave the opportunity to share theirwork, not just those who volunteer. Byusing the lottery system, I ensure thatevery student has the chance to havetheir work critiqued by me and theclass. It is imperative that constructivecriticism is a class effort, not just thedomain of the teacher. This will, ineffect, promote full class participationand enhance critical thinking.

I schedule journal presentation atregular intervals and encourage thestudents to share their best work duringthese readings. The class soon becomesengaged with the readers as they sharetheir deepest secrets, hopes, dreams andrealities. It is helpful to make this afestive time for the class. Each student isencouraged to stand behind the lecternand read in a clear, distinct voice, usingappropriate inflections. This builds self-confidence and fosters composure.Those in the audience are encouraged togive their undivided attention and toshow respect for the individual who isreading – I make sure that any criticismis constructive. Applause is welcomed atthe end of each reading: a testimony tothe students’ emerging voices andgrowth as writers.

TopicsTopics for journal entries may beassigned or the students may be given afree choice. Freedom of expression canbe encouraged by stressing that no topicis off-limits and that privacy will berespected when the students deem theirentries to be too personal to share withthe class. In this case, writers may fold,tape or staple the pages before thejournals are collected.

As students read their journals aloud,

the others hear them communicatingtheir ideas, arguing their principles and

expressing their opinions

I believe that it isimportant that every

student should have theopportunity to share their work, not just

those who volunteer

� � �


[email protected]

Leo Boylan is anAdjunct AssociateProfessor of Englishat Pace University,Pleasantville, NY, USA,and an AdjunctInstructor of Englishat WestchesterCommunity College,Valhalla, NY. He isfaculty advisor for thePace Drama Alliance.

Journal entries may range fromdescriptive paragraphs about people andplaces to subjects of a very personalnature. Some students use their journalsas confessionals or places for healing.One student of mine wrote about histwelve-year-old sister, his ‘angel’, whohad died of a blood disease. Anotherdescribed the experience of being rapedas a girl by one of her relatives, and therage she still feels. One young womanwrote about her numerous suicideattempts. One young man discussed hisfather’s incarceration for murder and hisown resolve to become a police officer.

So expect to read about familyconflicts, relationships, friendships andsexual encounters as well as personaltragedies, including different kinds ofabuse, illness and death. On the otherhand, some students will write aboutsituations with friends and families thatmake the whole class laugh out loud.

It is important to encourage thestudents to use detail, description,imagery and other tools as they developtheir topics. Although I don’trecommend grading journals forpunctuation and usage, I do ask that thestudents try to use correct grammar.

AssessmentThe question of assessment will arise,and I believe that grading on a holisticbasis is crucial. I explain that journalgrades depend on the quality ofthoughts, ideas and writing, as well asdevelopment, creativity and willingnessto share. I stress that everyone whoworks at their journal will succeed. Ioffer my students the option of usingtheir journals to write short stories,poetry, plays or essays. The importantthing is that they are writing. I tell themthat the journals will account for 10 to20 percent of a semester grade. Thestudents need to understand that theirjournals will be read and assessed, sotheir writing should be meaningful.

work is appreciated. They also exhibitmore confidence in their writing andpresentation skills through regular in-class reading of their journal entries.

Journals cannot replace formalessays, which require more thought,planning and organisation, and greateraccuracy with punctuation andgrammar. However, they can support theprocess of learning the art of essaywriting. Students often find it difficultto decide what to write about in formalessays, and journal entries andsubsequent class discussion may act asspringboards for topics. Teachers shouldencourage their students to develop theirown topics, based on their personalpreferences and interests. Many topicsdevelop from literature read in class. Forinstance, the Greek tragedy Antigone bySophocles, offers a variety of subjects to

Reading their journals at prearrangedintervals allows me to monitor theirprogress and identify any students whoare having difficulty with their writing,as well as those who have problems withreading comprehension. It is importantto praise those who are doing well andto encourage and guide those who arehaving difficulties. Sometimes it isnecessary to meet with studentsindividually to explain what is lackingand help them to overcome the problem.

Progress anddevelopmentAs my students become accustomed towriting on a daily basis, I witnessindividual progress in critical thinking,organisation, paragraph developmentand vocabulary. As they wrestle withproblems and face conflicts, describe thejoys and tribulations of daily life andreflect on what they are reading, manybegin to develop creative abilities aspoets, playwrights, fiction writers andessayists, especially when they feel their

write about, including women’s roles insociety, civil disobedience and the powerof the individual to change societythrough action.

When we read Martin Luther King’s‘I Have a Dream’ speech for aComposition and Literature class, thestudents were asked to consider whetheror not King’s dream had come true.While many felt that it had beenrealised, one student strongly disagreed,and his response became the basis for aresearch paper in which he argued thatthe dream had not come to fruition formany people in both urban and ruralareas of the United States.

Journals may be tailored to allEnglish courses, as well as to classes inmost other disciplines because theyserve as a place to respond to ideas,readings and discussions.

� � �

Journals are as individual as our thumbprints. They provide a window into ourthoughts, ideas, feelings and emotions, ata particular time and place in our lives.They are our own history. I encouragemy students to continue writing in theirjournals after the semester is over. Someday, when they look back at their entries,they may recall special moments. Theymay see how much they have changedand grown. When I look at a photographfrom 20 years ago and see myself, asmiling husband and father with my wifeand two young daughters, I see how myfamily appeared all those years ago. ThenI can pick up a journal from the sametime period, open to a certain date andread about what we did as a family thatday, what was important at that timeand what observations I made in thatmoment. I experience again what I wasfeeling at that time and in that place.Memories of hopes and dreams longforgotten come to life again. It is a gift torelive these memories in such vivid detail,and it is a gift you can give to yourstudents and to all young writers.

Journals provide a window into ourthoughts, ideas,

feelings and emotions, at a particular time

and place in our lives



ETp


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

One is a lovely number

One is a lovely numberEmily Edwards

begins a three-part series

on one-to-one teaching

with a look at planning.

One-to-one lessons are apopular option for manystudents of English aroundthe world today. Such lessons

have a range of focuses, such as generalEnglish, business, IELTS exams, EAP(English for Academic Purposes) or ESP(English for Specific Purposes). Teachersmay be working in a company that offersone-to-one classes, or students mayapproach a teacher for private lessons,especially in preparation for IELTS orfurther study. The benefits of this kindof learning situation can be:

● The students are often highlymotivated and working towards a goal.

● The teacher can focus entirely on onestudent’s needs.

● The syllabus can often be tailored tofit these needs.

However, despite being aware of theseadvantages, I have often found it reallydifficult to design a well-structured andactually useful syllabus for the one-to-one students I have taught. This is whatled me to choose one-to-one teaching asthe specialism for my DELTA extendedassignment, which involved planning acourse for an upper-intermediate ESPstudent in preparation for a vocationalcollege course. I will expand on myfindings in this article, and explain howthis approach can be useful for any typeof one-to-one course.

Syllabus planSome teachers may argue that a syllabusis not required – the student and teachercan negotiate the content of the nextlesson briefly at the end of each class,and this can sometimes work well,especially when the course of lessons isquite short. However, I feel that aflexible syllabus plan can support theteacher (assisting with preparation) andthe learner (it gives them a visible recordof progress and also shows them whatthey have paid for!). This is especiallytrue when a coursebook is not beingused. It is, of course, possible (andadvisable) to continually re-negotiatethe plan according to the student’sdeveloping needs, but having an outlineto start with can be extremely helpful.

Needs analysisSo the next question is: how does theteacher find out what the student needsin order to make a syllabus plan? Atlanguage schools, students are normallytested when they start a course in orderto determine their correct level – this isknown as a diagnostic test and mayinclude an assessment of grammar,vocabulary, reading, writing, listeningand speaking. It is possible to test aone-to-one student in the same way, butI’ve found that the best method issimply to concentrate on determiningthe learner’s strengths and weaknesses –and what they want or need to focus onin the short term. This can involve oneor more of the following methods:

● A brief interview or questionnaireabout the student’s learningbackground and why they want totake one-to-one English lessons.

● Discussion of the importance ofdifferent skills and topic areas usingcards (for example, using the blocksof Kathleen Graves’ syllabus grid –see page 13): the student can putthese in order of difficulty, ease ordesire to learn more about.

● Negotiation of a list of key objectives(see page 13 for an example).

● The student can prepare (beforehand)and give a short presentation in thefirst lesson about themselves and theirgoals – particularly useful for businessor EAP students who would also needfeedback anyway on how to give goodpresentations.


� � �

● The teacher can also collect brochures,prospectuses or general informationabout the student’s company orplanned university course or exam(such as IELTS), in order to helpprepare the syllabus plan.

A general frameworkOne of the most important steps in needsanalysis, and which is of most help indesigning the syllabus, is drafting a listof key objectives. With these to hand, asyllabus can then be sketched out whichis based on these goals. In designing thecourse for my DELTA project, I usedKathleen Graves’ suggestion of the keysyllabus components, or ‘syllabus grid’, tohelp me know what should be included:

The elements contained in the gridabove show what can be included in anall-encompassing course, and the variouscomponents can be selected according tothe needs of the learner.

The easiest way I have found to plana one-to-one course is by using a matrix,with a box for each lesson, for whichspecific options can then be chosen. Thefollowing plan shows one week of acourse, where the student wants twohours of tuition per day, so the letters Ato F each represent one hour:

A detailed planThe following plan shows one of theweeks of an eight-week course. Thestudent wanted to prepare for starting aDiploma in Aromatherapy, so shewanted a course which developed thisspecific vocabulary, as well as preparingher for life at a vocational college inAustralia. Her objectives, which wedrafted together, were as follows:

I will develop my range of specificvocabulary related to the study ofaromatherapy.

I will improve my reading skills,especially reading long articles onthe topic of aromatherapy.

I will build on my academic writingskills so that I can write assignmentsand reports.

I will develop my ability to listen to4

3

2

1

Depending on the type of course,student and/or context, either a detailedor a simpler plan of what A to Factually involve would work well, and Iwill now give an example of each.

lectures and presentations, takenotes and answer comprehensionquestions based on the listening.

I will continuously practise andimprove my speaking skills andfluency, especially when participatingin discussions about aromatherapy.

I will build on my ability to usegrammar accurately when speakingand writing.

I will develop study habits that willhelp me to continue the learningprocess in the future.

All of these objectives could be slightlyadapted to make them relevant to anyother learner and their needs.

I then used the specific objectivesabove to design a detailed weekly plan,ensuring that most of the student’sobjectives were at least partially coveredeach week:

7

6

5

Participatory Learning Contentprocesses strategies

Culture Tasks and Competenciesactivities

Listening Speaking Reading Writingskills skills skills skills

Functions Notions and Communicativetopics situations

Grammar Pronunciation Vocabulary

Monday

Wednesday

Friday

● Use learner’smaterial to generatediscussion.

● Option(s) chosenfrom matrix: eg A and C. **

● Homework Make vocabularycards (after option C).

● Option(s) chosenfrom matrix: eg B and F.

● HomeworkWrite shortresponses to a set of questions(after option F).

● Option(s) chosenfrom matrix: eg D and E.

● Remedial work andformative test/quizwith feedback.

● HomeworkCase studies to readand analyse.

AInput: Reading Reading anaromatherapy text todevelop skimming andscanning skills, using a time limit to improvespeed.Identifying vocabularyin context: phrases,chunks andcollocations.

CLearning Strategies:Dictionaries andVocabularyDiscussing use ofdictionary and ways ofrecording vocabularyto match learning style.Record and recyclevocabulary learnt sofar.

EFocus on VocabularyHigh-meaning contentwords.Related to this week’stopic, especiallyanatomy, and/or theinput used in options A and B.

BInput: Listening Listening to a lectureabout health issues(YouTube video) toimprove listening forgist and detail, and todevelop note-takingstrategies.

DOutput: Speaking Discussing a variety of topics (linked tomaterial used inoptions A and B, ormaterial brought in by learner).Feedback on linguisticmistakes (errorcorrection) andpronunciation.

FOutput: WritingIdentifying the keywords and task set intypical academicwriting questions inorder to provide a fullanswer.

** Suggestions of which options to choose are provided here, but selection would depend on boththe learner and the context.

Lesson outline Matrix: divided into six ‘options’Day

Monday10 am–12 pm

Wednesday10 am–12 pm

Friday10 am–12 pm

A

C

E

B

D

F

Matrix – option(s) to be chosen daily

Day andtime


� � �

[email protected]

Emily Edwards works asa senior teacher atEnglish LanguageCompany, a languageschool in Australia. Shehas recently completedthe Cambridge Delta aswell as an MA in AppliedLinguistics, and herparticular interests aresyllabus design,motivation, EAP andteacher training.

A simpler planIn many cases, it may not be appropriateor practical to make a plan as detailedas the one shown above; a simpler oneis quick to write and easy to use. Thefollowing grid of six squares could beused for a six-week or six ‘block’ course,in which each block represents one hour.In lessons, the student can negotiate withthe teacher which block to focus on forthe following class.

● Balance input (reading and listening)with output (speaking and writing).

● Focus on developing vocabulary, aswell as reviewing and recycling newwords in subsequent lessons.

● Give specialised feedback and errorcorrection (on pronunciation,vocabulary or grammar) each lesson.This should be relatively easy becauseof the focus on just one student, andthis will be really useful to them.

● Keep the syllabus varied to challengeand motivate the student.

● Use a variety of assessment tasks (egvocabulary tests, roleplays, recordingand grading a presentation), whichcan be very informal, to give thestudent a sense of progress.

● Include space in the syllabus for thestudent to bring in their own materialto work on (eg an assignment theyhave to complete, an email they needto write).

Continuous negotiationwith the learnerA key feature of one-to-one programmesis that, according to Priscilla Osborne,they cannot be ‘fixed in stone’ becausewhat happens in each lesson willdetermine what happens next, and Ithink this is certainly one of the benefitsof this type of teaching. So, as bothOsborne and Peter Wilberg note, it isimportant to keep in mind that one-to-one courses demand continuous re-evaluation to ensure that the coursecontent continues to meet with what thestudent actually wants and needs. Justask your student at the end of each setof lessons (eg every five or ten hours)how they are finding the course, andwhat they might want to change.Another option is to conduct a newneeds analysis every so often, using oneof the methods suggested in the ‘needsanalysis’ section above.

Key things to includeIn designing any syllabus for one-to-onelearners, it is important to keep thefollowing points in mind:

● Include a range of skills (reading,listening, writing, speaking), variedaccording to the student’s strengthsand weaknesses.

Five steps to planning aone-to-one courseIn conclusion, these five steps can befollowed to plan, design and implementa specialised one-to-one syllabus for anyEnglish language learner:

Start with a needs analysis (eitherpre-course or during the first lesson).

Draft a syllabus plan and check itwith your student.

Each lesson, choose a topic or ‘block’for the next lesson (so you knowwhat to plan for).

Plan carefully for each lesson, butalso be prepared to adapt to whatthe student has brought along thatday in terms of materials or ideas.

Continuously re-negotiate with thestudent as their needs (and priorities)change.

2

1

3

5

4

Graves, K ‘A framework of coursedevelopment processes’ In Hall, D R andHewings, A (Eds) Innovation in EnglishLanguage Teaching Routledge 2001

Osborne, P Teaching English One-to-oneModern English Publishing 2005

Wilberg, P One to One: A Teacher’sHandbook Language TeachingPublications 1987



AFocus onreading(aromatherapytext)

DFocus onspeaking(about healthissues) andpronunciation

BFocus onlistening(lecture abouthealth)

EFocus onvocabularydevelopment

CFocus onlearningstrategies(dictionariesandvocabulary)

FFocus onwriting(addressingthe task)

Plan – Week 2


Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd,Rayford House, School Road,

Hove BN3 5HX, UK

Fax: +44 (0)1273 227308

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

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

write to us or email:[email protected]

Do you have ideas you’d like to share with colleagues around the world?

Tips, techniques and activities; simple orsophisticated; well-tried or innovative;

something that has worked well for you? All published contributions receive a prize!

Write to us or email:[email protected]

IT WORKS IN PRACTICE



‘Heaven does not talk’


Phillip Brown has some

down-to-earth observations

about teachers and silence.S

ome very valid observations aremade about Student TalkingTime (STT) in MarianneRaynaud’s article in Issue 75 of

ETp. Strategies should be adopted andopportunities should be created to givemaximum scope for STT in thelanguage classroom, based on a properappreciation of the fact that studentsneed to know how to take advantage ofsuch strategies and opportunities in L2.Unless the difficulties facing thestudents themselves are properlyunderstood, it is easy to understandhow teachers, themselves faced with asea of silence, can be afflicted with the‘disease to please’ and still make no realprogress towards the goal of gettingtheir students to speak.

However, in the effort, quite rightand proper, to give maximum scope tothe students, teachers may findthemselves troubled by an alternativedisease, namely a phobia about talkingtoo much. It looks as though some kindof balance should be struck betweenSTT and TTT (Teacher Talking Time),one which gives sufficient opportunityfor the students to do what they shouldbe doing and at the same time allowsteachers to teach, and to teach in such away that they don’t end up sacrificingtheir personalities to the extent thatthey become no more than facilitatingautomata. Facilitating automata may bethe stuff of the future, when humanbeings are totally replaced by machinesand holograms, but it is not a future Iwould ever want to be part of. It isteachers as people that would, in such afuture, be eliminated. And it is thisquestion of personality that I would liketo pursue in this article.

SilenceThere are many anecdotes about theChinese philosopher Confucius, andone concerning his pedagogical methodsis worth considering here. It is based onwhat he considered to be an essentialprerequisite of teaching, namely thesilent, pervasive personality and characterof the teacher. On one occasion he issupposed to have said ‘I would muchrather not have to talk’, to which hisdisciple Tzu-kung responded, ‘If ourmaster did not talk, what should wedisciples have to pass on?’ Confucius thenreplied, ‘Heaven does not speak; yet thefour seasons run their course thereby.Heaven does not talk.’ (Perhaps it was oneof the great man’s bad days; he hadprobably exhausted himself and, findinghimself in front of a sea of bewilderment,wondered whether he was really in theright job. Does that sound familiar?)

iSto

ckp

hoto

.com

/ ©

Gau

tier

Will

aum

e


� � �

It might appear that what worriedConfucius should worry us also, andthat he would be quick to advocatewhat has been called the Silent Way.One way of pruning TTT is to cut itright back to the roots and dispensewith it altogether. This might seemabsurd, yet it is astonishing to whatabsurdities we may sometimes bereduced. But the so-called Silent Waycannot be what Confucius would haveendorsed, since central to his idea ofwhat teaching is, or should be, is thepower and educating influence of thepersonality and character of the teacher– and it is hard to see how primacycould be given to this by shuttingteachers up altogether. Tzu-kung wasright to protest that what is unexpressedcannot be passed on! And, surely,teaching is all about passing things on.

As a crucial means of verbalcommunication, a language must beexpressible; its rules must be explicableand explicated, both by example and byanalysis; and explication and analysiscannot be rendered by an appeal to‘Heaven’. That a language teachershould talk is, therefore, a platitude soobvious that calling it a platitude isitself platitudinous.

PersonalityThere can be little doubt that Confucius’spupils loved to hear him speak. He wasa model of wisdom and, no doubt, hislanguage was a model of how it should bespoken. They must have learnt a lot fromthat. What, of course, enthralled themwas the personality of their teacher, and itwas certainly not the personality of theteacher that was central to the philosophyof the Silent Way. Why don’t we speakof having the ‘right personality’ to be ateacher? Isn’t this the most importantrequirement of all? Of course, personalityis a complex concept, a kind of catch-all,and we may disagree over this or that

element or over questions of degree, butpatience, at least a smattering of humour,consideration and respect for others, andcommitment to the task of teaching, allthese would no doubt be accepted bythe majority of us as fundamentalrequirements of good teaching. Youmight find personality which isuninspiring, but you can’t have inspirationwithout personality. Perhaps Confuciuswas right to give personality primacy.

ExcellenceSo, how should we rate silence? I shouldlike to say that silence is ‘thin’. Think,for example, of fashion models on thecatwalk. They are dangerously andlamentably thin, and would not, I think,have suited Confucius, Yet they arerevered as models of excellence. Oh dear!We really must take care, lest what isdangerous and lamentable should becomea model of excellence in the teaching ofEnglish, or for that matter of anylanguage – or indeed of anything at all.

I remember a model of excellence. Shewas a teacher of Italian. If, during oneof her lessons, you asked her a questionwhich even remotely impinged uponItalian politics, culture or history, shewould fly off on a tangent and talk andtalk and talk. No matter, we loved to hearher speak. It was an exercise in listeningcomprehension, without the necessity ofbeing tested and graded and stressedout. In any case, it was a different kindof listening comprehension: we werelistening to how Italian should be spoken,to how the natives do it when they do itwell. We weren’t slow to comment or askquestions. We were content with any kindof response, simple or complex, becausethe subject was difficult and we felt thatwe, too, were making a contribution toa serious matter. Without having plannedit, without having engineered it, she gother students engaged – and all at theirown pace and competence. We all feltprivileged to hear someone speaking inthe language we were learning. She gaveus a model of excellence that was due to

her inspirational personality, and it wasbecause of this, not despite it, that herstudents learnt Italian. She was aninspiration: no doubt because she wasinspired herself!

Good teachingWhat may be listed as the requirementsof good teaching are there to guide andto help, not to hinder; they should,indeed, be abstractions from what isalready done, rather as the rules ofgrammar are abstractions from languagein use. But they must not be allowed toget in the way of good teaching.

The idea that TTT imposeslimitations is now almost canonical, andthose mindful of the requirements ofgood teaching laid down by such augustbodies as the British Council Inspectoratemay be fearful of opening their mouthslest they trespass on hallowed ground. Ofcourse, it will not do to argue, in defenceof this notion, that Confucius himselfwould have endorsed it. On the contrary,the anecdote must be taken together withthe reply of his disciple: that unless theteacher speaks, nothing will be said at all!Confucius may appeal to Heaven, but welook to Heaven in vain for an analysis ofverb tenses and the intricacies of lexis,for the explication of pronunciationrules and discourse markers.

Licence should be tempered by therequirements of good teaching to avoidchaos and confusion; likewise, therequirements of good teaching shouldbe tempered by wisdom to avoidmisunderstandings about what ‘goodteaching’ is. For it is fallacy to supposethat strict adherence to a set ofdepersonalised criteria can constitutegood teaching. Good teaching will payattention to such criteria, but only ifand when such criteria can be temperedby the personality of both the teacherand of the class. Granted the need forrequirements, teaching can be

Central to Confucius’s idea of

what teaching should be, is the power and

educating influence of the personality and

character of the teacher

The requirements of good teaching

should be tempered by wisdom to avoidmisunderstandings about what ‘good

teaching’ is

What may be listed as the requirements of good teaching arethere to guide and to

help, not to hinder


[email protected]

Dr Phillip Brown teachesEnglish at StudioSchool, Cambridge, UK.He has a PhD inPhilosophy from StJohn’s College,Cambridge, and has acontinuing interest in hisarea of specialisation.He plays classical guitaras a hobby.

� � � mechanical, lifeless and forgettable, andsuch epithets remind me of the kind of‘lesson plans’ that win applause frommany of those who seriously believe thatthey can teach teachers a thing or two!Goodness knows how the progressiveeducationalist A S Neill would havecoped with that – no doubt hopelessly.

CriteriaI recall an elderly woman whoestablished her own school, whichspecialised in mathematics. She wouldemploy people to teach with her. Whatabout trained teachers and teachertraining? ‘Teacher training?’ she wouldexclaim. ‘Well, first I see whether aperson can teach! If I see that they canteach, then and only then do I start tothink about training them. And moreoften than not, it isn’t necessary, and itmight even get in the way.’ She wasunimpressed with dossiers, referencesand qualifications or any kind ofinstitutionalised gimmickry. She wouldsee for herself, and what she looked forwas personality and with it the ability toinspire, to get things across, to pass stuffon. And if that meant on occasiontalking their heads off, well so be it. Didher teachers really succeed in teachingthe subject, though? Of course they did.

life, in much the same way as the rules ofgrammar may wrongly be divorced fromthat which gives birth to them. Modelsof teaching should never be permittedto underestimate, let alone ignore, thepersonality of the teacher nor yet thepersonality of the class. To bend thewords of St Augustine, one might betempted to say ‘Love teaching and dowhat you will’: a dictum that contains itsown corrective to the chaos of wildlicence. If it is, indeed, teaching youlove, you will be mindful of such thingsas TTT; you will be mindful of therequirements of good teaching, as amatter of course. Quite simply, love ofteaching imposes its own requirements.

And she considered them superior totraditionally trained teachers. Youwouldn’t dare talk to her about thelimitations imposed by TTT!

Are we wrong to talk about therequirements of good teaching, then?Not at all. But the danger is that suchrequirements may be seen as a totalabstraction from that which gives them

It is not that the requirements will beimposed upon you from outside, for thatmakes it sound as though there is nomore to teaching than following therequirements. It is like saying that all youneed to be a good actor is to learn yourlines. In fact, some of the best lines arenever learnt at all. In real life, the abilityto ad-lib, to make it up as you go along,seems indispensable and quite the norm.

EssentialsTemper requirement with wisdom.Mencius tells us that Confuciusabstained from extremes. To go too faris as bad as not going far enough. Allthe so-called requirements of goodteaching should be approached with agenerous degree of circumspection, forwhen they are strict and strictly applied,they are dangerous, and when they arenot dangerous, they are ludicrous. Whatcan be said about TTT can also beapplied to, for example, the pace of alesson. Just how long should the variousstages of a lesson be? Well, how long isa piece of string? How long do you wantit to be? And can you really say inadvance how long it ought to be. Whatright do you have to introduce ‘ought’into the discussion at all? And this withno consideration of personality, asthough we are applying a rule quitemechanically, like an actor saying the

James, W Talks to Teachers HarvardUniversity Press 1984

Smith, D H Confucius Paladin 1974

Waley, A The Analects of ConfuciusVintage 1989

Models of teaching should never

be permitted tounderestimate, let aloneignore, the personality

of the teacher nor yet the personality

of the class

In real life, the ability to ad-lib, to make it up as you go along, seems

indispensable and quite the norm



lines of a play without appropriatefeeling – reciting Shakespeare like arailway timetable!

William James, the nineteenth-century American psychologist, advisedteachers to prepare their lessonsmeticulously – and then to dump alltheir notes into the trash-can on theway to the classroom. Heaven forbid!But then, Heaven is not charged withthe task of teaching and really hasnothing to say on the matter.

James recognised the importance oflesson preparation, lesson planning,timing, pace, TTT and all the rest. Buthe also saw that all this was uselessunless teachers feel comfortable withthemselves; and they can’t feelcomfortable with themselves unless theyare themselves; just as actors feelcomfortable with the parts they play.(The actor Thora Hird said that for her,this depended on her shoes: she had tohave the right shoes, and then everythingelse fell into place. She worried aboutthe lines after that, not before.)

James knew what a mess we make ofthings. Even when we attempt to bringorder out of chaos, we deviserequirements, or essentials and criteria,which we then seek to impose with aniron fist, forgetting that hands of ironare not the hands we need whenhandling fine porcelain.

� � �

I hear a protest from those who believethey can teach teachers a thing or two:‘Oh, but we don’t seek to imposeanything with a fist of iron.’ Well,perhaps not, but they should take carethat they are not perceived to be doingso, lest they spoil many a good teacherand many a good lesson. ETp


� � �


Less is moreLess is moreRobert Buckmaster

exploits minimal texts for

maximum benefit.M

any writers, includingScott Thornbury, MartinParrott and Alan Maley,have argued for the use of

short texts in language teaching. Thisarticle shows a way of exploiting such atext in a lesson.

But first, why should texts be short?● They should be short so learners

don’t get bored with them.● They should be short so that the

whole text and all its parts can bedealt with completely.

● They should be short so that not a lotof time is spent on reading, but a lotof time is spent on learning.

Texts should be many and various, ofdifferent genres, woven in connectedstrands throughout the course and ofintrinsic interest to learners. Theyshould be dealt with intensively so thatat the end of the lesson, as ScottThornbury has suggested, the learnersare in a ‘state of grace’ vis à vis the text:that is, they understand it completely –all the grammar, all the lexis and all thecollocations and colligations.

PURPoseful textsNot all texts need to be dealt with in thesame way, with the same sequence ofactivities: different texts will lendthemselves to different types ofactivities. The key is to deal with all thesalient aspects of a particular text in thebest and most appropriate way.

There is, however, a basic four-stageprocess that can be used with all them:PURP.

Prepare for the text. Understand the text. Respond to the text. Process the text.

A text with a PURPoseWhat follows is an example of a shorttext lesson with a commentary. Notethat the text is a specially writtenversion of a news item about an armedrobber who made his getaway byfloating downriver on an inner tube.The information was drawn fromseveral sources on the internet and waswritten to challenge students ofintermediate level and above. The text isin the box below.

Analysing the textIt is good to know your text intimatelybefore you use it. The vocabularyprofiler at The Compleat Lexical Tutor(www.lextutor.ca/vp/eng) can help youanalyse your chosen text. You paste thetext into the profiler and submit it. Itcompares the words in the text with listsof the most common words of English(1–1,000; 1,001–2,000) and anAcademic Word List (AWL). You canthen see the text with the words colour-coded according to the list they occur

Escape by tubeSeattle police are looking for anarmed bank robber who used an innertube to get away from the scene ofthe crime.

The man stole a money bag from asecurity guard outside a bank andthen raced across the car park to anearby creek and floated away on theinner tube.

The robbery happened near abranch of the Bank of America on USRoute 2 in Monroe, Seattle.

According to police spokeswomanDebbie Willis, the robber, wearing asurgical mask, walked up to theguard, who was carrying two canvasmoney bags, at about 11 am onTuesday as he walked from the bankto an armoured car parked outside.

He sprayed the guard with pepperspray then grabbed a bag of themoney and ran to the creek. Somewitnesses say that he got into aninner tube or an inflatable boat andfloated downstream towards theSkykomish River.

Investigators have no leads so far,but believe that accomplices couldhave been waiting for him near theriver. An inner tube was later found200 yards downstream of the carpark.


� � � in. This gives you a really good visualidea of which words are in which listand their distribution in the text. Youcan then judge the level of difficulty ofthe text and decide which words, if any,you will need to pre-teach, and alsowhich words you might sensibly ask thelearners to guess from the context.When I entered my text, I found thatalmost 73% of the words occur in thelist of the most common 1,000 words,about 13% of the words are in thesecond most common list (1,001–2,000)and under 2% are in the AWL. Thisleaves just under 13% which do notappear in any of these lists.

Exploiting the textTask 1: PredictionWrite the text title (Escape by tube) onthe board and ask the learners whatthey think the text will be about. Elicitideas from the learners and write themon the board.

CommentaryThis task prepares the learners for theirfirst encounter with the text. By makingpredictions, their schemata are activatedand they have an investment in readingthe text to find out if their predictionswere correct. They have taken the firststep towards bridging the informationgap which exists between their currentstate of knowledge prior to reading thetext and their knowledge after reading it.

You might want to pre-teach somevocabulary at this stage, though pre-teaching vocabulary is an implicitadmission that your learners don’t haveenough vocabulary for the text.Alternatively, you might want toactivate the learners’ schemata further

grammar and vocabulary, the structureof the text, the choices the writer made,the subjects of the sentences, etc indetail. You will have to be completelyfamiliar with the text itself and knowwhat you want to focus on in this stage.

CommentaryThis task focuses on the structure andthe language of the text. During thechecking of the task, problems withgrammar and vocabulary can be clearedup. Grammatical choices are analysed,eg Why is ‘the’ used here? Vocabularymeaning and collocation and colligationare focused on. The learners will noticepoints of the language with which theyare already familiar, and may beexposed to structures they are notfamiliar with.

Task 5: Reconstruction 2Collect the slips of paper with the cut-uptext so that the learners no longer havea record of it. Then give them a copy ofthe text with gaps (see below) and askthem to complete it. This gap-fillfocuses on single items, eg verb forms orprepositions, etc. Monitor and help thelearners to complete the task. Checkanswers with the class.

Escape by tubeSeattle police are looking for an (1) ____________ bank robber who usedan inner tube to (2) ____________ fromthe scene of the crime.

The man stole a (3) ____________ bagfrom a security guard outside a bank and then raced across the car (4) ____________ to a nearby creek and (5) ____________ away on the inner tube.

The robbery (6) ____________ near a (7) ____________ of the Bank of Americaon US Route 2 in Monroe, Seattle.

According to police spokeswomanDebbie Willis, the robber, (8) ___________a surgical mask, walked up to the guard,who was (9) ____________ two canvas

through some text vocabulary. One wayto do this is to use a word cloud. Aboveis a word cloud for this text (created atwww.wordle.net).

This word cloud could also be usedin a later lesson as a prompt for a textreconstruction task: give the learners thecloud and ask them to rewrite the text.

Task 2: ListeningRead the text aloud to the class (this isanalogous to someone reading aninteresting newspaper article aloud to afriend). The learners listen to see if theirpredictions were correct and to answerthe questions which a newspaper articleshould answer: who, what, where, when,why and how.

Check whose predictions wereclosest and the answers to the what,why, etc questions.

CommentaryThis first encounter with the text isbased on meaning. The learners usetheir current knowledge of English tocomplete the task as best they can,guided by their predictions and thetasks of seeing if their predictions werecorrect and answering questions.

Task 3: ReactionAsk the learners for their reaction to thetext: Was it interesting? Were yousurprised? What do you think about thethief and his plan? Do you think he willbe caught?

CommentaryThese questions allow the learners torespond to the text and express theirfeelings and ideas about it.

Task 4: Reconstruction 1Give pairs or small groups of learners thetext cut up into sentences or paragraphsand ask them to reconstruct it.

Monitor, prompt as necessary andcheck as a class. Ask the learners tojustify their choices, and check

Less is moreLess is more

[email protected]

Robert Buckmaster isthe Director of Studiesat International House,Riga, Latvia. He hasbeen teaching andtraining in easternEurope and centralAsia for over 20 yearsand is working on anew pedagogicalgrammar of English.


money bags, at about 11 am on Tuesdayas he walked from the bank to an (10) ____________ car parked outside.

He (11) ____________ the guard withpepper spray then grabbed a bag of themoney and ran to the creek. Some (12) ____________ say that he got (13) ____________ an inner tube or aninflatable boat and (14) ____________downstream towards the SkykomishRiver.

Investigators have no (15) ____________ so far but believe that (16) ____________ could have beenwaiting for him near the river. An innertube was later found 200 yards (17) ____________ of the car park.

CommentaryThis task focuses on the language of thetext while giving most of it as support.The learners have to complete the textusing their knowledge of English, whatthey noticed in the previous textreconstruction task, any notes theymade and their memory. (If yourlearners are anything like my teenagelearners, then they will not want tomake notes, but if you do this tasksequence several times, they will comeround to the idea and realise thatreading and understanding are notenough for learning: they have toprocess the text.)

Task 6: Reconstruction 3Collect the completed gapped text andgive the learners another version of itwhich has some phrases highlighted inbold, but with the words in thosephrases mixed up (see below). Tell themto reorder the words so that they makesense in the sentences and that thesereconstituted sentences make sense inthe wider text.

Escape by tubeSeattle police are looking for an armedbank robber who used an inner tube sceneget away from to the crime of the.

The man bag a bank stole guard a asecurity money from outside and thenraced across the car park to a nearbycreek and floated away on the inner tube.

The robbery happened a of MonroeAmerica near the Bank in of on USRoute 2, Seattle branch.

According to police spokeswomanDebbie Willis, the robber, wearing asurgical mask, who up to the, wascarrying Tuesday walked about two

bank bags, at walked money 11 am onguard as he from canvas the to anarmoured car parked outside.

He sprayed spray money with bagthe then grabbed guard a pepper ofthe and ran to the creek. Somewitnesses say that he got into an innertube or towards River floated and boatdownstream the an Skykomishinflatable.

Investigators have no leads so far butbelieve that waiting near could for riverhim been the have accomplices. Aninner tube was later found 200 yardsdownstream of the car park.

CommentaryThis task focuses on longer stretches oflanguage than are normal. This meansthat word order, collocation, nounmodification and colligation can all bedealt with. Such exercises have anextremely valuable part to play inlanguage learning. Learners again haveto activate their knowledge of thelanguage and their memory of the textto complete the task. This is in-depthprocessing of the language in the text.

Task 7: SummaryAsk the learners to summarise the keyinformation in the text in one sentence.For example:

A man robbed a bank guard in a carpark in Monroe and escaped by floatingdown a creek in an inner tube.

CommentaryThis task focuses the learners’ attentionon the essential information of the textand how this is presented. They have todeal with the text on a word-by-wordbasis and make decisions on what toinclude in their summary and howpresent this in coherent English. This isa very powerful exercise.

Task 8: SpeakingAsk the learners to discuss some of thequestions and do some of the activitiesdescribed below.

Is this a serious crime? Why? Why not?

Why do criminals commit crimes?

Was it a good plan? Why? Whatwere the risks?

What do you think the guard felt ashe was approached by a man in thecar park?

Do you think the police will catchthe thief ?

5

4

3

2

1

What punishment should the thiefget if he is caught and convicted?Why?

Do you know any similar crimestories? Tell the class.

Imagine you are the thief – tellyour friend how you committed therobbery. Include as many details asyou can: How did you prepare?What exactly did you do? How didyou feel?

What do you think the guard saidto the police? Roleplay theconversation.

Imagine you are a police investigator:write a report about the robbery.

Prepare a Wanted poster.

Search the internet for moreinformation about this crime andreport to the class on your findings.

CommentaryThese activities extend beyond the textinto speaking activities. The text is nowbeing used as a springboard for otherlanguage work.

� � �

This very intensive way of dealing witha short text focuses the learners’attention on all aspects of the text – itsmeaning and grammar and vocabulary.The learners have to use their memoriesand focus on connected text to completethe tasks. All classroom texts should bedealt with in a similar way: if you readtexts in a superficial manner with yourstudents, then they are missing out on agreat deal of language learning andpractice. It is not enough just to asksome comprehension questions andfocus on a language point or two. Toomuch reading in class is undertaken witha minimal-success approach. We need a‘complete text’ approach to languagelearning, and the PURP sequence andthe kind of activities outlined here areone way of providing it.

11

10

9

8

7

6

12

ETp


��TEACHING YOUNG LEARNERS

Reading nightReading nightConstanze Schkölziger

tells of exciting times after

hours.Reading is a key skill for primary

school pupils, so it makes senseto look for ways of making it awonderful, relaxing and even

exciting part of their school lives.The Kant Primary School in Berlin

does this by putting on special eventscalled ‘Reading nights’. In the past,individual class teachers have organisedthese events by themselves for theirown classes, but our ‘Reading night’ inMay this year was a huge event, duringwhich all 358 of our students wereread to by the entire teaching staff, withthe help of guest readers: schoolalumni, pupils’ parents and grandparents– and even actors and film producers.Everyone was involved – from theheadmaster to the caretaker and eventhe kitchen ladies. For one day and onenight, the school turned into a big

reading circus. Even the youngestchildren (in year one) had a lot of funreading and listening to stories.

Planning the eventBefore this big event, we madepreparations to cater for all the differentlevels of reading and all the differentinterest groups in order to make it anunforgettable festival of reading.

Although much of the reading wasgoing to be done in German – the firstlanguage of the vast majority of our pupils– as an English teacher, I thought it wouldbe a great idea to include the readingof English literature as well, giving theolder students with some English abilityand those native speakers of Englishwho attend the school the opportunityto listen to books read in English. This



was the first time that we had includedan English reading element in the event.

Choosing booksFirst of all, we conducted a survey in allour classes to find out what sort ofbooks the children like to read, and wethen took the results back to teacherplanning groups and looked forappropriate books. We researcheddifferent types of literature in order toidentify a range of books which thechildren would find enjoyable. We alsolined up a number of guest readers andsome of them made their ownsuggestions for books.

Just the thought of conducting part ofthe event in English got me excited, and Isoon had many ideas for possible booksto be read. As the main English teacher inthe school, I made the final choice of thebook which was to be read in English. Idecided on a crime thriller as thechildren like to read exciting literature.

Finding readersThe guest readers were found by askingevery pupil’s family several months inadvance whether any of them wouldlike to come and read. They were alsoasked if they knew anyone else outsidethe family who would be interested intaking part as a guest reader.

We were amazed by how manypeople were happy to read for thechildren in our school, and by asking forreaders from outside we got manyinteresting people from different partsof society to participate in our event.These included several well-knownactors, film producers and evenpoliticians who were former studentsor friends of the school. The Englishbook was read by a native speaker. Allthe guest readers were each given asmall present at the end, sponsored bythe Kant Primary Support Association.

We were delighted with theoverwhelming response to our call for

readers and, in the end, we had tomake a shortlist because there weremore people available to read than wecould take. However, we promised any‘rejected’ readers that they would beincluded in the team the next timeround. � � �



[email protected]

Constanze Schkölzigerhas worked as a primaryschool teacher inGermany for 25 years.She specialises inGerman, maths, PE andEnglish. As an Englishteacher, she won aforeign languagecompetition in SaxonyAnhalt in 2006 for herwork with children whopresented a play calledThe Three Little Pigs.

Running the eventThe reading festival started at twoo’clock on the first day and went onuntil eleven the following morning. Itwas organised in a rotation system.Groups of between five and ten pupilswere read to for around 40 to 45minutes and, at the end of this period,they could move to another group andlisten to a different book.

It was important to find out inadvance how many children would bein each group, so the pupils had to signup to lists. By doing this, we could seehow many were expected in eachgroup and each pupil had their ownschedule to follow. Between thereadings, there was always a ten-minutebreak to give everyone the chance tochange groups in time for the nextreading session.

Several pupils chose to attend theEnglish reading. We didn’t do any pre-teaching of vocabulary, but the childrenwere given the title of the book inadvance and had the opportunity to askquestions. The reader was careful tomake sure that the children were allfollowing the story during the reading.

Between six and eight in theevening we all had dinner in the diningroom, where our caretaker and thekitchen ladies had prepared a barbecue.Later in the evening, a special guestread to the older children in theassembly room.

Reading at nightFrom nine to eleven, the children couldfinally read by themselves with booksthey had brought from home or thoseprovided by us from our reading circles.Some of the pupils chose to readEnglish magazines and short stories inEnglish, which were provided by theschool. All the children had their ownlittle ‘nest’, equipped with a mattressand a sleeping bag where they couldread. They could bring small lamps oreven torches. They were surprisinglycalm and focused. We teachers stayedwith the children from our classes andalso read books by ourselves.

The morning after the night beforeIt had been a long night! The morningstarted with a good breakfast in thedining room and then we started totalk in our classes about ourexperiences of the ‘Reading night’. The pupils went home tired but happy at

11 am. Everyone thought it was a greatsuccess and it gave us the inspiration tohold more similar events. The wholeethos of reading got a boost – evenwith the parents; it is particularlyimportant to get them on board asthey have such a strong influence ontheir children. Most importantly, thechildren loved it so much, that we havenow decided to make it a fixed date inour yearly school calendar.

Reading nightReading night TipsHere are some tips in case

you would like to hold a‘Reading night’ in your school:

� Make sure you have permissionto stay overnight in the schoolwith the children (you will needthe agreement of the parents andthe school authority).

� Check out the rules andregulations that govern stayingovernight with children in aschool.

� Get as many people involved aspossible (neighbours, formerpupils, parents, grandparents, etc).

� Build a team of teachers who willtake responsibility for organisingdifferent areas of the event –issuing invitations to differentpeople, organising the catering,searching for books, etc.

� Plan your event several monthsin advance.

� Make sure you have thenecessary finances to run theevent.

� � �

ETp


� � �

Over the wall ...Alan Maley

ponders what it means

to be a teacher.

In this article I shall be looking at somebooks which attempt to convey theessence of what it is to be a teacher.Not a language teacher, but a teacher

focused on the bond between teacher andtaught – that magical relationship that thebest teachers manage somehow, in theface of every kind of obstacle, to create.These are all highly personal accounts ofhow an individual found a key to openingup his or her learners. I will not be dealingwith the highly influential contributions ofpeople like Maria Montessori, RudolfSteiner, John Dewey, etc. What I want tofocus on is not educational theory with abig T. Rather, I wish to revisit accounts oflived experience in sometimes difficultcircumstances.

exuberance of the kids and the passionof the teacher who took the trouble to letthem learn. Part 1, Creative Teaching,recounts how she discovered what shecalls ‘organic learning’ – starting from whatis real and important to the child. ‘… thesefirst books ... must be made out of thestuff of the child itself. I reach a hand intothe mind of the child, bring out a handfulof the stuff I find there, and use that asour first working material. Whether it’sgood or bad stuff, violent or placid stuff,coloured or dun … within the security ofit, the Maori finds that words have intensemeaning for him, from which cannot helpbut arise a love of reading.’ The keyvocabulary she works with comes fromthe words the children find significant:cried, hit, fight, kiss, ghost and the like.The readers they use are a far cry fromthe anodyne offerings in the ‘Janet andJohn’ series with which many UK readersof a certain age will be familiar. Sheengages the children in writing, stories,movement (dance and sport), naturewalks and art. It looks chaotic but, as shesays: ‘I like unpredictability and I likegaiety; I like peace in the world and I likeinteresting people, and all this means thatI like life in its organic shape, and that’sjust what you get in an infant room wherethe creative vent widens.’ In Part 2, Life

TeacherOne of the best examples is Sylvia Ashton-Warner’s Teacher. This book documentsthe author’s experiences working withunderprivileged, mainly Maori, children in asmall primary school in rural New Zealandin the 1950s. It is an unruly, loosely-organised book, yet it overflows with the

in a Maori School, she draws on her diaryto give an even more personal account ofthe life of the school, including somewonderful extracts of verbal exchangesand written work. There are some strikingblack and white photographs throughoutthe book, too, which help convey theflavour of her teaching. A final quote: ‘Butthere are two kinds of order, and which isthe one we wish for? Is it the consciousorder that ends up as respectability? Oris it the unconscious order that looks likechaos …?’

An Experiment inEducationSybil Marshall’s An Experiment inEducation describes her 17 years in arural primary school in deepest Essex,UK, in the 1940s and 1950s. There aremany resonances with Teacher – themixed ages, backgrounds and levels ofthe children, the small but close ruralcommunity, and the teacher’s search for away of opening the children to the worldand the world to the children. Marshallstarts off with art, and gradually comes to

ourselves and make us forget all theothers.’ His saviour teachers never gaveup on him, and they had ‘style’. Along theway, he treats us to some of the ways hemanaged to interest demotivated students– ranging from memorisation of texts (yes,memorisation!) and questioning taken-for-granted bits of language to introducegrammar. He is scathing in his criticismof ‘Granny Marketing’, which reducesstudents ‘to the same childish state ofperpetual craving’. The essence of hismessage is: ‘You spend your time hidingbehind methods when deep down youknow perfectly well that no method issufficient. No, what’s missing is somethingelse.’ And that something else is love:caring enough about what you are doing.After reading this fabulous book, I wishedthat I had had Pennac as my teacher!

� � �All these books offer reflection andrevelation, and provide both inspirationand consolation. They are anindispensable complement to the moretechnical aspects of teaching.


� � �

Do you have something to say about an article in the current issue of ETp?This is your magazine and we would

really like to hear from you. Write to us or email:

ENGLISH TEACHING professionalPavilion Publishing and Media Ltd,

Rayford House, School Road,Hove BN3 5HX, UK

Fax: +44 (0)1273 227308Email: [email protected]

TALKBACK!TALKBACK!

[email protected]

Alan Maley has worked inthe area of ELT for over40 years in Yugoslavia,Ghana, Italy, France,China, India, the UK,Singapore and Thailand.Since 2003 he has been a freelance writer andconsultant. He haspublished over 30 booksand numerous articles,and was, until recently,Series Editor of theOxford Resource Booksfor Teachers.

Over the wall ...

Ashton-Warner, S Teacher Penguin 1966

McCourt, F Teacher Man Scribners 2005

Marshall, S An Experiment in EducationCUP 1970

Pennac, D School Blues MaclehosePress 2010

ETp

incorporate poetry, music, dance,puppetry and all the expressive arts intowhat she terms ‘a symphonic’ approach.She roots the whole of her curriculum inthe reality of the village community,weaving the subjects – history, geography,maths, biology, English, and so on – into aseamless cloth. She, like Ashton-Warner,has to find her own way, ‘not having hadone single minute’s training to uphold mein facing a class of thirty-odd children …’.She rails against those ‘who worship atthe shrine of the fixed and dependable, ofthe scheme, the record, the timetable’.The book is full of radical insights, and isgenerously illustrated with samples of thechildren’s writing and artwork. Moststriking is her own openness to learning: ‘I was being educated all over again bythe children I was supposed to beteaching.’ Would that we were all so open!

fanatic who sees sin everywhere, thebrooding one who sits in the back staringat the desk, the happy one, the saint whofinds good in all creatures …’ His ownrole is no less varied: ‘I was more than ateacher. And less. In the high schoolclassroom you are a drill sergeant, a rabbi,a shoulder to cry on, a disciplinarian, asinger, a low-level scholar, a clerk, areferee, a clown, a counsellor, a dress-code enforcer, a conductor, an apologist, aphilosopher …’ He concludes: ‘You haveto find yourself. You have to develop yourown style, your own techniques. You haveto tell the truth or you’ll be found out … itisn’t a matter of virtue or high morality.’ Hesurvives by sheer tenacity and native wit,and by finding ways of turning happeningsto his advantage. There is the hilariousopening scene where he takes the windout of the sails of a boy who has throwna baloney sandwich – by the simpleexpedient of eating it himself! ‘I ate thesandwich. It was my first act of classroommanagement.’ He turns the plethora offorged excuse notes into a new genre ofcreative writing. While his studentsresisted any kind of writing in class, theywere geniuses when it came to writingexcuse notes. ‘Here was American highschool writing at its best – raw, real,urgent, lucid, brief, lying.’ He opens uppoetry by having his students performrecipes as raps and songs. He takes risks.He knows that what he is doing isimportant – yet will soon be forgotten.

Teacher ManAnyone who has read Frank McCourt’sAngela’s Ashes will be prepared for theiconoclastic, unconventional andhumorous way he tells of his life as ateacher in New York in Teacher Man. Thebook is a mixture of autobiographicalincidents relating to both his life as ateacher and his marriage, and some highlyinsightful and hard-headed observationsabout what it is to be a teacher. In Part 1,It’s a Long Road to Pedagogy, hedescribes his fight to survive in the roughenvironment of a series of deadbeat NewYork schools, where ‘All the ingredientsof difficulty were wrapped up in this onegroup: gender clash, generation clash,racial clash’. He is faced by a variety ofdifferent characters in every class: ‘thecomplainer, the clown, the goody-goody,the beauty queen, the volunteer foreverything, the jock, the intellectual, themomma’s boy, the mystic, the sissy, thelover, the critic, the jerk, the religious

School BluesSchool Blues, brilliantly translated fromFrench by Sarah Ardizzone, is abouteducational failure and how to transformfailures into success stories. DanielPennac, whose book The Rights of theReader has also been reviewed here, washimself a ‘cancre’ – a dunce, aneducational failure – so he comes at theproblem of failure from the inside. Hetakes us through his own experience ofhopelessness to becoming a teacherhimself, dedicated to rescuing otherpotential dropouts. The story is full ofanecdotes with the sometimes bitter ringof truth. He shows how vital the actionsof a teacher can be. ‘All it takes is oneteacher – just one – to save us from



Outcomes-basedlanguage educationOutcomes-basedlanguage educationPeter Zoeftig concludes his series, makes recommendations

and raises points for reflection.

Outcomes-based education(OBE) is known formeasuring outcomes againstdefinite standards and a

concept of mastery, and places moreemphasis on learning by doing things,rather than on attendance in a classroomsetting with input provided by a teacheror trainer. In other words, coaching helpsthe coachees to do what they need to dowhereas, in teaching, the teacher tells thestudents what to do. I take this further tosay that instead of being instructed by ateacher on how to climb a ‘mountain ofknowledge’, coachees need to developtheir own map, which they can use tomake progress and clarify withconfidence their own needs and aims.

The coachingenvironmentSeveral ingredients are needed to ensureachieved successful outcomes.

● First, there should be minimum stressin the environment. Stress can becaused by externally-imposedexpectations of student performance,and it introduces affective filters whichhinder successful language acquisition.

● It is reasonable and proper to have clearpersonal targets and to involve thestudents in task-oriented preparationof information within their experience,such as a story, a presentation orparticipation in a discussion.

● Acquisition will be restricted unlessthere is a conscious focus on languageprocessing and production so thatsome of the unconscious native-language reserve of resources issystematically re-programmed – not

exactly ‘unlearnt’, but repositioned inorder to be more resourceful.

Emphasis must be placed on these areasand not merely on ‘performing’.

Re-programmingFollowing the fundamental insights ofNLP – that it is impossible not tocommunicate and that our unconsciouscontains limitless possibilities – agradual ‘re-programming’ of theunconscious reservoir needs to beundertaken. This can be achievedthrough better understanding andlistening, painstaking re-focusing andre-iterating, switching fromunconscious, natural delivery toproduction of language that is done in amore dissociated state of mind and witha deliberate focus on what is goingwrong in the coachees’ processing of thelanguage. This is done by allowing thelearners’ minds to wander away from thespecific goals which have been set andagreed, only to bring them back to theareas to be practised with an increasedawareness of problems that hithertohave been filtered from their consciousawareness. Thus, in gradual shiftingpatterns and improved reflexes, addingto the detail and refinement of theirinner map of the language, the learnerswill edge nearer to the desired outcomesin clear steps and with an awareness oftheir improved performance.

Outcomes can be defined andpresented through any sort of‘modelling’ exercise, using all kinds ofmodel texts, listening and sentence- orutterance-based models. The learner hasto read and repeat them, adapt anddevelop them, systematically and

incrementally. A limited amount of pre-prepared resource material is required,provided by and negotiated with thelearners (who can select from notices,articles, dialogues, emails, reports,meetings expressions, as the case maybe, to bring out suitable goals andoutcomes). This conscious modellingphase is followed by a more unconscious,practice, experimental or ‘gathering’phase, during which the learners visualisethe task that they are about to perform.This finally leads to a more consciousmechanical delivery phase with essential

performance aspects. Thus we haveinverted the usual model that starts withmechanical practice and is meant tolead to a rapid ‘jump’ into performance.In this approach, we adopt a whollydifferent stance, allowing the coacheesto listen to themselves more carefully.

PerceptionMetaphorically speaking, I invite mystudents to join me at the top of themountain. Their terrain is their own;other peaks are distinct only in giving apersonal or cultural difference. Byhaving a clear eagle-eye view of theterrain below, the various problems that � � �

Instead of being instructed by a teacher

on how to climb a‘mountain of knowledge’,

coachees need to develop their own map


[email protected]

Peter Zoeftig has over 25 years’ experience ofteaching, and is involvedin both personal andbusiness executivecoaching. He hasqualifications in NLP and coaching and hasworked in Italy, France,Saudi Arabia, the UnitedKingdom (in York,Bromsgrove, London,Birmingham and Warwick)and Belgium (Spa).

they perceive can be navigated to thechosen point on the terrain withsupport from the coach.

The essential thing is that thiscreates a cycle of success, clear viewing,positive rapport and student-ledoutcomes. The coach does not chooseor determine the goals or outcomes, butcarefully and purposefully matches andpaces the learner during the navigationby providing challenges. It must beemphasised that such an approach isnot merely in the domain of theclassroom, though much of themetaphorical reframing can be donethere – much can also be achieved bycontinuing the authentic immersionexperience in all other aspects of thestudy and coaching programme. Theschool or training centre will benefit theclients by extending communicativepractice outside the classroom or formalteaching environment to authenticsocial interchange, insisting perhaps onadherence to the target language.

Implementation These other aspects must be non-stressful, supportive, guiding, listeningand challenging. An atmosphere ofheavy stress and rigorously imposed orinflexible timetabling is not reallyappropriate for such an approach.Planning, yes, but above all,involvement and support, greatflexibility and total commitment.

I feel that it is usually veryimportant that every single timetabledclass should culminate in a clear andmeasurable outcome that is consciouslyunderstood, or has involved a shift ofpersonal awareness, finishing the sessionwith a summary of what has beenachieved. These outcomes can of coursebe recorded for further consolidationand can also be used to lead into newand further outcomes on a related topicor higher goal. Resourcefulness is key.

RecyclingRecycled language is valuable also ingenerating more language that can beconstantly re-framed and redevelopedduring the course of study. It is theproud possession of the learner andcontributes to their map of their

‘terrain’. Language items should notsimply be supplied by the teacher in arandom way but should be matched togoals; these language items can beconstantly upgraded and added to,reformulated and redesigned. Theyshould be plentiful, or at least be asmany as the learner can handle.

While students can read, do exercisesand watch TV with subtitles, etc in theirown time, the time spent with the coachshould be of a different order. However,reflective study, reading and watching ofgood models, helping recycling, is verybeneficial when guided and matchedcarefully to the coachee’s developinginsights; naturally, only deep listeningby the coach can make this possible.Grammar exercises, texts and a varietyof other materials can occasionally servethe purpose of training a discrete point,if they are geared to an outcome, andare not simply an easily-found input tofill time.

Generative learningIn NLP, the term transderivational searchrefers to the means by which a personaccesses layers of memory and opens upparts of the mind to the technique ofmodelling. In this case, the coachee isdeveloping the inner insight to begin tocompose language. The coach is acatalyst here, empowering the coacheeand engendering the right approach.

In larger groups, students are co-optedinto shared tasks, such as meetings, byvirtue of their emerging skills. Thisencourages mutual support, yet allows acertain objective distance and clearerawareness.

In each session we build on thecoaching points from a previoussession. This leads to the coachees usingdifferent perspectives to enable them tostart to think in the new language.

CalibrationThe coach should use a wide range ofinteresting conversational, textual,performance-based or listening-basedresources that fit with the coachees’needs, and should give clear feedback,including references to the subjectiveshifts experienced by the coachees. Atthe same time, the coach should takecare not to overload the coachees withmore and more input but, instead, allowthe natural development of clearinsights into their own growth in thetarget language. The coach needs to

keep referring the coachees back to howthey are developing inwardly, as well asto observable and more objectivechanges in behaviour.

AcquisitionAn important realisation is that coachingmeans making positive associations,termed ‘anchors’, for the deep insights thatcome from the re-working of languagefrom different notional and perceptualpositions, and that these anchors are theacquisitions that remain – long aftershort-term memorisation has faded.

ReflectionFinally, here are some questions forreflection:

● Generally, would you say that yourexpectations of what your students canachieve are higher or lower than theirown?

● In general, how achievable do you feelthat the weekly goals set for thestudents are?

● How often do you ‘take over’ theconversation with your students in classand in breaks?

● In a conversation with a student, whosefocus of interest are you concentratingon?

● How does it feel when you onlyconcentrate on listening to what thestudent is saying, without reacting?

● How do you feel when simply echoingthe student’s words, in your own heador aloud?

● How much noise is there in yourclassroom and how conducive is this toachieving alpha-levels of experienceand concentration?

● How can you judge your student’sinner dialogue?

● How can you encourage moredissociative learning?

● What key presuppositions would it helpto have about the student?

� � �

Outcomes-basedlanguage educationOutcomes-basedlanguage education

Language Learner LiteratureAwards 2012

Arman’s Journeyby Philip Prowse, illustrated by Paul DickinsonPublished by Cambridge University PressISBN: 978-0-521-18496-0

Judges’ comment: This original story is filled withadventure that compels the reader through to theend. The content is especially relevant for adultlearners – touching on conflict, economics,prejudice and romance.

FinalistsA Little Trouble in California by Richard MacAndrew(CUP); Roommates by Sue Leather and JulianThomlinson (National Geographic Learning)

Harry’s Holidayby Antoinette Moses, illustrated by Mikela PrevostPublished by Cambridge University PressISBN: 978-84-8323-858-5

Judges’ comments: This is an intriguing book,with an excellent plot. The reader is kept on edge,wondering what will happen to Harry. Will he get togo on a holiday?

FinalistsAsk Alice by Margaret Johnson (CUP); RunningFree by Sue Leather and Julian Thomlinson(National Geographic Learning)

A Christmas Carolby Charles Dickens, retold by Sean MichaelWilson, illustrated by Mike CollinsPublished by National Geographic LearningISBN: 978-1-4240-4287-6

Judges’ comments: This version of A Christmas Carol is a graphic novel whichhas the rare combination of excellent artworkand skillful retelling that can engage readersfrom start to finish.

FinalistsCall of the Wild retold by Rachel Bladon(Macmillan); Noughts and Crosses retold byKaren Holmes (Pearson)


Congratulations from

to all the winners and finalists.

Joe Faustby Frank Brennan, illustrated by RedbeanDesignPublished by National Geographic LearningISBN: 978-1-4240-1796-6

Judges’ comments: This is a gripping story,and a moral tale for our times that speaksacross different cultures and societies.

FinalistsThe Great Gatsby retold by Richard Larkham(ELI Publishing); Solo Saxophone by JeremyHarmer (CUP)

Adolescent and Adult: Upper-intermediate and Advanced

Young learners

Adolescent and Adult: Elementary

Adolescent and Adult: Intermediate

Adolescent and Adult: Beginner

� Winner �

� Winner �

� Winner �

� Winner �

� Winner �

Have you enjoyed a reader that waspublished in 2012? The nomination andvoting procedures for the 2013 LanguageLearner Literature Award will be posted onthe ERF website (www.erfoundation.org).

2013 Awards

Congratulations to the winners of the 2012 Language Learner Literature Awards.The LLL Awards are given by the Extensive Reading Foundation(ERF), a not-for-profit organisation that supports and promotesextensive reading in language education. The winning book in eachof five categories is chosen by an international jury, taking intoaccount the internet votes and comments of students and teachersaround the world.

Uncle Jack and the Meeerkatsby Jane Cadwallader, illustrated by Gustavo MazaliPublished by ELI PublishingISBN: 978-88-536-0627-3

Judges’ comment: A nice mixture of adventure,fantasy and reality, with an animal conservationangle. It also has a cool family theme andintelligent child characters. Well-written, nicedesign and fun to read.

FinalistsHooray for the Holidays! by Dominique Guillemant(ELI Publishing); Mansour and the Donkey by Sue Arengo (OUP)

Subscribe Now!

Digital Subscription (online access only)□ Yes, I would like to subscribe to: ENGLISH TEACHING professional (digital edition only, including full archives, available online)

Personal subscription □ £28 / 41 / $55

Print and Digital Subscription□ Yes, I would like to subscribe to: ENGLISH TEACHING professional (six issues per year – prices include postage)

I would like to subscribe for (please tick □�): 1 year 2 years 3 yearsPersonal subscription: □ £33 / 49 / $65 □ £55 / 81 / $109 □ £81 / 122 / $163

1 year (renewal for current subscribers) 2 years (renewal for current subscribers)Institution/Library subscription: □ £60 / 89 / $120 □ £115 / 182 / $222

1 year (new suscribers) 2 years (new subscribers)Institution/Library subscription: □ £140 / 200 / $270 □ £260 / 372 / $502

1 year (renewal for current subscribers) 1 year (new subscribers)Multi-copy (3 x each issue): □ £119 / 178 / $238 □ £290 / 414 / $560

Start with □ Current issue □ Next issue

Title Mr / Ms / Mrs / Prof / Dr

Initial Surname

Institute

Address

Address

Postcode Country

Telephone Email

Binders□ £12.50 (inc. VAT) + £4.95 postage and packing

Payment□ I enclose a cheque made payable to Pavilion Publishing (Brighton) Ltd□ I would like to pay by credit card: □ Visa □ Mastercard □ Amex □ Switch

Card No. ____ ____ ____ ____ / ____ ____ ____ ____ / ____ ____ ____ ____ / ____ ____ ____ ____

Exp.Date ____ ____ / ____ ____ Security code ___ ___ ___ Issue No. (Switch) __________

Name _________________________________________________ Signature __________________________________________________

□ Please invoice the company / educational institution – I enclose an official Purchase Order

2

1

3

4

Subscribe Now!

Please return this form to:

Pavilion Publishing and Media LtdRayford House, School Road, Hove BN3 5HX, UK

Tel: +44 (0)1273 434943 Fax: +44 (0)1273 227308 www.etprofessional.com Email: [email protected]

You can order online from our secure website www.etprofessional.com

The leading practical magazine for English language teachersaround the world

Each issue is packed with fresh ideas and teaching tips.

Subscribe now to be sure you don’t miss a single issue.

� Six issues per year� Includes airmail postage

11/12


IT WORKS IN PRACTICEIT WORKS IN PRACTICE

Interview timeStudents often have difficulty forming questions correctly. Here are three activities for the one-to-one classroom which practisequestion-forming in ways which students find interesting and engaging. Although the activities probably work best with one-to-one students, they could be adapted for groups.

�

��More tested lessons, suggestions, tips andtechniques which have all worked for ETpreaders. Try them out for yourself – andthen send us your own contribution. Don’tforget to include your postal address.

All the contributions to It Works inPractice in this issue of ETp come fromAlison Elflett, and they are activities that

Formal interview (over two lessons)1 Tell your student to imagine they are leaving their presentjob and moving to a new department in the company. The bosshas asked them to help interview candidates for the positionthey are leaving. For homework, ask the student to reflect onwhat qualities and abilities (apart from academic qualifications)a person would need to do their present job successfully, andto write ten questions that they would ask interviewees.

2 In the next class, go through your student’s questions,correcting errors in grammar and vocabulary or helping themto self-correct.

3 Go through the questions again, this time asking thestudent to explain a) exactly why they chose each question(what would the answer tell them about the candidate’ssuitability?) and b) what would be a good/poor answer.

Informal interview (over three to four lessons)1 Tell your student that you are going to interview them aboutone of their hobbies or interests, but that they are going towrite the questions for the interview. For homework, ask themto write ten questions on the topic chosen.

2 Make sure you have the necessary equipment to record theinterview, preferably as an MP3 file.

3 In the next class, go through the student’s questions,correcting errors in grammar and vocabulary or assisting withself-correction. When the questions are correct, proceed withthe interview, asking your student the ten questions. You mayalso want to ask unscripted follow-up questions in addition tothe planned ones.

4 Don’t correct the student while they are speaking, butrecord the interview for later analysis and correction.

5 Before the next lesson, listen to the recording and notedown both good points and errors (in aspects of pronunciation,

2

1 grammar and vocabulary). Select some of these to go overwith your student, encouraging self-correction in the case ofbasic errors. For very advanced students who make few errors,focus on any language used which, although it would beunderstood by native speakers, could be expressed moreprecisely or in a more natural way. Help the student toreformulate it.

6 Give your student a copy of the recording so that they canlisten to the whole interview if they wish, and ask them to goover the corrections discussed in that class. In the followinglesson, interview the student a second time (using the samequestions), asking them to focus on correcting the errors youpointed out previously.

Interview the teacher1 Tell your student that they are going to interview you aboutyour career to date, or a hobby, an interest, a holiday, etc.For homework, ask them to write ten questions about thetopic you have chosen.

2 Make sure you have the necessary equipment to record theinterview, preferably as an MP3 file.

3 In the next class, go through the student’s questions,correcting errors in grammar and vocabulary or assisting withself-correction. When the questions are correct, proceed withthe interview, answering your student’s ten questions and anyfollow-up questions they may ask you. Keep your answersreasonably short! Record the complete interview.

4 Before the next lesson, listen to the recording and analysethe student’s performance with respect to pronunciation,especially intonation in question forms. Also pay attention tohow your student reacts to your answers – is backchannellingused to show that they are following what you are saying andto encourage you to continue? Go over these points with yourstudent in class and choose suitable follow-up activities toprovide further practice or consolidation.

3

she and her colleagues at Lanser LanguageServices in Bilbao, Spain, have tried andtested. Alison will receive copies of SkillfulReading and Writing and Skillful Listeningand Speaking, published by Macmillan intheir Academic Skills series. Macmillanhave kindly agreed to be sponsors of ItWorks in Practice for this year.


IT WORKS IN PRACTICEIT WORKS IN PRACTICE��Do you have an idea which you would like to contribute toour It Works in Practice section? It might be anything froman activity which you use in class to a teaching techniquethat has worked for you. Send us your contribution, bypost or by email to [email protected].

All the contributors to It Works in Practice get a prize! Weespecially welcome joint entries from teachers working atthe same institution. Why not get together with yourcolleagues to provide a whole It Works in Practice sectionof your ideas? We will publish a photo of you all.

Dialogues from news stories�board, on your laptop or on a pieceof paper). Insist on a less formalregister (your student may try touse vocabulary from the articlewhich is too formal), correcting andre-formulating as you go along.

If this is the first time you havefocused on discourse markers,introduce them once you have thecompleted dialogue on the board. If your student is familiar withthem, elicit as you go along.

When the dialogue is complete, join your student in reading italoud, helping with pronunciationand intonation where necessary.Read it a few times, then graduallystart to rub parts of it out, so thateventually both you and yourstudent memorise the dialogue(approximately – it doesn’t have tobe word for word). This can helpyour student to memorise usefulchunks of language, eg (from thedialogue below) What was …about? They get more and more …It sounds a bit … .

If you get into the habit of doingthis regularly with reading andlistening texts, your student maystart to feel more confident aboutsocialising in English.

Note: This activity could be adaptedfor a class by asking the students tocreate the dialogue in pairs or groups.Monitor the students, correcting,helping and encouraging. Obviously,

4

6

5

the one-to-one classroom allows theteacher to work very closely with thestudent to produce a natural dialogue.In the case of a large group, it may bebetter for the teacher to collect thedialogues after Stage 3 and correctthem. Stage 5 could then be done in asecond lesson, with the teacher puttingjust one of the dialogues produced onthe board for the whole class to workwith.

Here’s an example of a dialogue fromone class:

A: Have you read the paper today?

B: No, not yet. Any interesting news?

A: Well, I read an article this morningabout people and their pets. You’vegot a dog, haven’t you?

B: Yes, a German Shepherd. So whatwas the article about?

A: Well, it was about the similaritiesbetween pets and their owners.Apparently, they get more and morealike over time.

B: Oh, I’ve heard that before, but itsounds a bit far-fetched if you askme. Or are you saying I’m like mydog?

A: Not exactly! But it did sound like aserious study. It was done by aBritish university.

B: Really? Don’t they have anythingmore important to study?

A: I suppose not. Anyway, themeeting’s starting in a minute. Haveyou got the agenda with you? Ihaven’t printed it off ...

Adult students who use English in theirjobs can find it challenging when theyhave to socialise in English withcolleagues or clients. This activitystarted out as a way of ‘activating’ anews article (which has a grammar andvocabulary focus) with a one-to-onestudent, but it actually allows you tohelp your student create an informaldialogue of the type they may havewhen socialising with foreigncolleagues. This is a good way tointroduce or encourage backchannellingand discourse markers (eg well, so,anyway, etc) which ‘oil’ a conversationand help it to flow, as well as exitstrategies (eg Anyway, I need to makea call before we start, so I’ll see you ina minute).

You will need a short news article(text or audio) from a coursebook,the internet or a magazine. TheWeek magazine is an excellentsource.

After working on vocabulary,grammar, etc and discussing thestudent’s reactions to the article,ask them to imagine they arehaving a coffee with some foreigncolleagues while waiting for ameeting to start. Elicit how theycould start a conversation aboutthe article, eg Have you seen thenews today? or Have you readtoday’s paper?

Now proceed to prompt and elicitlanguage from your student tocreate a short dialogue (on the

3

2

1


If you don’t know me by now...

If you don’t know me by now...

BUSINESS ENGLISH professional

Phil Wade analyses the

information he really needs

about his students.A

t the beginning of my ELTcareer, I had limitedexperience of needs analysies(NAs) and diagnostic tests

(DTs). Then, while studying for myDELTA, I produced highly detailedones, which enabled me to create a fulluniversity business English course. Thiswas the first time I’d really got my handsso dirty – if you work for a school orother teaching organisation, as I oftendo, they generally take care of this andcreate a syllabus for you to deliver. Ifyou are lucky (or unlucky, depending onyour perspective), you are also givencomplete lesson materials to follow.

On the other hand, if you arefreelance and teach students in a varietyof companies, then this task is certainlydown to you. We are probably all familiarwith a run-of-the-mill DT, consisting ofquestions, writing, listening and maybesome speaking of incremental difficulty,which uncovers weaknesses in thestudent’s language and enables levelling.An NA, however, unmasks why a studentneeds English, what they hope to dowith it and, by cross referencing both,we can build a course which blendswhat they need and what they want. Ofcourse, we’re all probably familiar withthe great difficulty presented bystudents who really require something,such as pronunciation work, but whoeither don’t want it or who believe theyare far better than they actually are.

Changing the standardsThe more I teach business English andcorporate students, the more I find thatthe amount of information I require todevelop personalised courses which willmaximise learning becomes greater andgreater. Don’t get me wrong: my bossesor I do conduct standard DTs and NAs,but I find these are not enough. Mycourses never seem to start off feelingright and constantly have to be adapted

through trial and error. Only by midwayor three quarters of the way through thecourse do I have the optimum formula.To remedy this, I’ve begun to realisethat the greater the time spent getting toknow the students at the very beginning,the easier it is to hit the ground runningin the first or second lesson – asopposed to racking my brains constantlyfor ideas, or learning somethingimportant about the students later onand then having to change everything.For this reason, I am convinced that the

The greater the timespent getting to know

the students at the very beginning, the easier it is to hit the

ground running



[email protected]

Phil Wade has a Businessdegree, a PGCE, theCELTA, MA TESOL andDELTA Module 3. He is a qualified Cambridgeexaminer and onlineteacher. He has 14 years’teaching and coursemanagement experiencein schools, universitiesand companies. Hecurrently teachesbusiness English, trainsteachers and writesmaterials.

first lesson should be devoted, partiallyor entirely, to an in-depth needs analysisin one shape or another.

A major problem I see withstandard NAs is that they are oftenlimited to pre-set questions, whetherthese are from a book or ones that youhave created, keeping in mind what youbelieve the answers will be. A relatedissue is that teachers in a school,university or any other teachingorganisation will also have less leewayto adapt courses to reflect NAfeedback. For instance, there may be aset coursebook or handouts that can’tbe changed, even if the students requestit. Thus, certain elements of how thecourse works are non-negotiable. Thiscreates a difficult situation: we ask thestudents what they want, they make arequest, but we then have to say it’s notpossible. Because of this, I havesometimes been discouraged from doingany NA in lesson one when working informal organisations where I haveessentially been hired just to deliver apre-planned pre-organised course withdaily and weekly objectives.

Changing the teachingmethodAnother factor we generally choose notto alter is the teaching method. Wealmost automatically use the same onewith every level, course, age, etc. Youknow the one: it has various objectives, awarmer, a language point, lots of practiceand it ends with speaking – all quite funand fast tempo. Yet, a class of teens anda business executive are rather differentchallenges and demand differentapproaches. I believe we overuse thisparticular method as we have been raisedto believe in its superiority. We may throwin a bit of task-based work, perhaps, butwe still tend to lean too much on thattraditional approach – and why not? Itworks so well most of the time. But if weare supposed to be giving tailored lessons,shouldn’t we also be moulding a methodto suit the client? It’s not uncommon tohear businesspeople ask for a wholecourse on just one skill or requirement,some even ask for it in their L1 or, evenworse still, a grammar translation stylelesson. Numerous ELT courses aresupposed to be communicative-based butis it real communication or just added-onextended speaking practice? Strange, isn’t

it, that our cherished communicative-based methodology frequently involveslittle authentic communication,particularly if judged by a lesson plan.

Taking all these factors intoconsideration, there are certain questionsI consider necessary for the initial NA:

What do the students actually wantto learn?

How would they like to learn it?

How much out-of-class work arethey willing to put in?

How much do they want to learn inone class?

How will their progress be assessed?

What materials do they want to use?

What technology do they haveaccess to, and what could they usein and out of class?

What blend of skills/activitieswould they like in each lesson?

Do they want recycling and revision?

How would they like to be taught?

How fast do they want to progressand how much pressure would theylike?

These questions will provide you within-depth knowledge of your student(s)and help you craft a real course to meettheir actual needs and wants.

Changing the formatTo get to the truth about the requirementsof the students, perhaps a more openspeaking format is necessary for the NA,as opposed to just a written questionnaireor a spoken ‘question and answer’ session.We might consider a discussion or even astudent presentation, or both. Carryingthis out in the first lesson establishes thecourse from the very beginning as beingstudent- and needs/desires-centred, andyou can keep this momentum going insubsequent lessons, making it an integralpart of the course. For example, at theend of each class you can review what youdid, how it went, if the students are happywith the tempo, the amount of work,activities, etc. You can then adapt theformula for the next class. The kind oftrainer who does this really wants to makethe class all about their students, and itis what I have always believed ‘tailored’refers to. Yes, it’s not easy and doesn’tallow for rehashing of set syllabi and

11

10

9

8

7

6

4

3

2

1

5

courses and it involves lesson-by-lessontinkering, but it will increase studentparticipation, motivation and dedication.In the corporate world, this sets yourcourses apart from the average ‘teach withthis book’ courses. Then, if you can addyour own purpose-written materials –possibly via an online virtual learningplatform, then your courses are certainlyworth more money than the average.

If we take this idea to the logicalnext step, how about a combined NAand DT? One of my previous bossesused to bring new enrolees to my office,ostensibly to ask me to talk to themabout the course and to see if they weresuitable but, unofficially, to check theirlevel. This sort of encounter can resultin a real meaningful conversation aboutneeds which incorporates listening,reading of course literature or samplematerials, a discussion about levels anddegree of challenge and, frequently, somefollow-up email correspondence. Afterfive minutes you can quite successfullyassess the level of the student and youhave enough factual information tobuild a suitable course foundation.

� � �

In this article, I have outlined some ofthe reasons why I think we need torethink the typical needs analysis and Ihave also given some possibleadaptations. In no way do I mean thisto be followed to the letter, but I hope itwill give you an idea of what I feel Ineed to know about my own students,and how I believe that information couldbenefit my own courses. Each of us isunique, as is our teaching situation, sothere is no perfect formula. However, asour students are the reason why we teachand usually the ones giving feedback onus, shouldn’t we be finding out andgiving them what they really want? ETp


The best of both worlds?The best of both worlds?


Without frequent and active coercing,many students don’tmake full use of the

technology and materials available

to them

Louis Rogers puts business English in the blender.

Back in the 1960s, there was aBBC television programmecalled Tomorrow’s World. Theconcept of the show, for those

that have never seen it, was to forecastthe future of technology and how itwould change our lives. Looking back,some of the predictions were shockinglyinaccurate – I’m still waiting for thedomestic robot to come along and takeover all the cooking, cleaning andtidying! However, for every one that waswide of the mark, there were many othersthat were incredibly accurate. Fromlaser eye surgery in 1965 to touch-screencomputers in 1982, the programmeaccurately forecast many things widelyavailable today, a whole host of whichhave changed the very way we live.

How is this relevant to blendedlearning and business English? Well, forme it relates to how I first encounteredthe concepts of Computer AssistedLanguage Learning (CALL) back in themid-90s as a module of my first degree.Had some of the predictions made inthose classes been true, I probablywouldn’t be writing this article and youwouldn’t be reading it. The best wecould hope for would be working asclassroom assistants to a robot who wasa much more capable teacher than wecould ever be. By the time I returned tostudy my Masters a decade later, theterm CALL was less in use, and muchmore prominent was the concept ofblended learning. Technology was nolonger going to control the languageclassroom; it would, rather, enhancelearning and the classroom environment.

Blended learning has actually beenaround much longer than the commonly

understood description in use today.However, early definitions were muchdifferent. In fact, early references toblended learning often did not mentiontechnology at all; they simply describedcourses with a variety of pedagogicalapproaches, for example a coursemixing face-to-face teaching withdistance learning, but with no mentionof technology. By 2003, CharlesGraham of the American Society forTraining and Development wasdescribing blended learning as a top-tentrend in the educational sector. It is nowarguably the dominant term used forthe combination of a content subjectand technology both inside and outsidethe classroom.

Engaging with blendedlearningIn the different contexts I have worked in,I have found that blended learning canvary in its usefulness. In particular, I havefound that the more face-to-face contactyou have with students on, say, shortintensive courses of 20+ hours per week,the less keen the students seem to be toengage with technology such as a virtuallearning platform (VLP) outside theclassroom. Without frequent and activecoercing, many students don’t make fulluse of the technology and materialsavailable to them, and perhaps because ofthe number of contact hours with theteacher, they don’t see the need to engagewith a VLP or other learning platformoutside lesons. Of course, they couldstill benefit from a blended approach ifthe necessary facilities were availablewithin their institution.

Technology, though, is still somethingthat divides teachers – there are those whoactively and excitedly embrace it, butthere are many who find it disorientingor frightening. Obviously, this could allchange as the Net Generation (orGeneration Y) – people born between1982 and 1996 who have grown up withtechnology – start to enter the classroomas teachers rather than students.

Depending on the country they are from,nearly half this generation are already ofan age to be teachers – not that age meansyou cannot engage with technology, but inall likelihood it would be unusual not toengage with it when you come from thatparticular generation.

Business English andblended learningWhilst all language instruction in allcontexts can arguably be blended, it isperhaps business English which couldbenefit the most from this approach. Inthis context, I am referring to in-worklearners rather than pre-work learners.Pre-work learners studying in a university,

� � �



We need to provide bite-sized amounts

of input which studentswith busy lives canaccess anywhere

at any time

for example, have the same time andtechnology available to them as dostudents in many other ELT contexts,such as primary, secondary and eveningclasses. I differentiate in-work learnersfrom pre-work learners because of thenumber of pressures placed on theformer. Business English trainers will befamiliar with the fact that their studentsregularly cancel classes, a small group ofeight never has the same members fromone week to the next and students rarelyhave time for homework or any form ofindependent study. Many are trying tobalance their workload and family lifealready and can just about squeeze inan English class during the week. Whendealing with students with busy lives, weneed to provide bite-sized amounts ofinput which they can access anywhere atany time. In other words, business Englishneeds to be conducted on the move.

If homework is set from acoursebook, the students will most likelyhave to carry the book everywhere withthem in order to try to grab a momentwhen they can do it. In most cases, Iwould say, this is quite unlikely to be done.However, many business English studentswill carry around with them one or moreof the following: a mobile phone, a tablet,a laptop and an e-reader. As these gadgetsare part of their everyday lives, if we sethomework involving one or other ofthem, we are not asking the students tocarry anything extra around with them,but simply to use what they already havein a different way – for catching up,reviewing or improving their knowledge.

So how can we use technology tocreate a blended learning approach thatcan be used on the move? What are thebenefits of using technology as opposedto other traditional media of learning?And what resources are available?

VocabularyThe majority of studies into vocabularylearning are concerned with approachesthat don’t involve the use of technology.However, a number of studies, includingthose by Wenli Tsoua, Weichung Wangand Hung-yi Li, by Nadire Cavus andDogan Ibrahim and by Linda Jones,have shown that the use of computers invocabulary learning can have extremelypositive results. The resources used inthese studies included SMS, websitesand listening tasks and involved the use

of pictures, animation and sounds.Results showed positive reactions fromthe students and better results invocabulary learning.

So if technology is valuable inenhancing vocabulary development, whynot exploit this?

Vocabulary learning can be dividedlargely into incidental and intentionallearning. The range of opportunities forincidental learning online is high asstudents can select any text that intereststhem. In terms of intentional learning,the range of apps and websites availablefor studying English is also high –perhaps highest of all the language areas.

GrammarThere are many websites which offercontrolled grammar practice for businessEnglish students. In addition, there area number of apps, including the freeGrammar Up, produced by EknathKadam (downloadable from the Applestore). Also available is Grammar &Practice for Business: Intermediate,published by HarperCollins. This is amuch more comprehensive businessgrammar app for students to use, withover 2,600 exercises. Whilst there is noresearch suggesting that this method isany better than the traditional grammarbook approach, it is clearly much moreconvenient just to turn on your phone,rather than to open a chunky book onthe train to work.

SkillsWhen it comes to the four skills of reading,writing, speaking and listening, the digitalenvironment opens up many moreresources than the traditional approach.

The BBC, at www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish, has someexcellent activities for both general andbusiness English, including six-minutevideo clips which are ideal for the

commute to work or for use in a shortbreak.

Starting wikis or blogs with yourstudents can be a great way to engagethem in writing practice – to a certainextent, writing is perhaps best doneoutside of class time. Shenggao Wangand Camilla Vasquez reported on thepositive response students have to an e-learning environment, so learners maybe more likely to engage in writing if itis presented as an online activity.

Whilst there is clearly a vast array ofmaterials online for students to read forpersonal interest, most of it is not gradedfor level. A number of publishers havestarted to produce graded readers onbusiness-oriented subjects, for examplelooking at famous people in business,leading companies and business theories.So far, these haven’t made their way intothe e-book market. However, once theydo, this will be a valuable addition tothe online skills development resources.

In terms of business skills –telephoning, meetings, negotiations,presentations and emails, there are nowe-books available for students. Thesecould be particularly useful when itcomes to emailing, giving the studentsmodels and phrases that can be cut andpasted into their own emails and usedwhilst on the move.

Exploiting the internetThere are many ways in which theinternet can be exploited for learning aforeign language, many of which havealready been discussed. A wealth of ideascan be found in books such as 50 Waysto Improve Your Business English Usingthe Internet by Eric Baber and DigitalPlay: Computer Games and LanguageAims by Kyle Mawer and GrahamStanley. The latter was a recent ELTonsprizewinner and contains many ways toincorporate digital games into languageteaching, although it is not aimedspecifically at business English teachers.

One activity which is easy for teachersto devise, and which requires littletechnological knowledge other than howto use a word processor and the internet,is a webquest. Essentially, webquests aretask-based-learning activities. There isan example of one on page 38 whichyou might like to photocopy and use.Bernie Dodge and Tom March inventedwebquests back in 1995 and their


� � �

[email protected]

Louis Rogers is a CourseTutor at the University ofReading, UK. He is theauthor of Reading Skillsand Writing Skills, in theDELTA AcademicObjectives series, andthe Intermediate andUpper-intermediatelevels of the BusinessResult Skills for BusinessStudies workbooks,published by OUP.

Baber, E 50 Ways to Improve YourBusiness English Using the InternetCengage Learning 2007

Cavus, C and Ibrahim, D ‘M-learning: anexperiment in using SMS to supportlearning new English language words’British Journal of Educational Technology40 (1) 2009

Jones, L C ‘Effects of collaboration andmultimedia annotations on vocabularylearning and listening comprehension’British Journal of Educational Technology40 (1) 2006

Mawer, K and Stanley, G Digital Play:Computer Games And Language AimsDELTA Publishing 2011

Tsoua, W, Wang, W and Li, H ‘Howcomputers facilitate English foreignlanguage learners acquire English abstractwords’ Computers & Education 39 (4) 2002

Wang, S and Vasquez, C ‘Web 2.0 andsecond language learning: what does theresearch tell us?’ Calico Journal 29 (3)2012

Notes on the worksheetThe worksheet opposite is awebquest which can be given tostudents as a follow-up to work onwriting emails, making requests ordirect and indirect language. It issuitable for pre-intermediate students.

Webquest: polite emailsIn this activity you are going to learn more about

polite emails and making requests.

An order you placed with Aggo Ltd is late and you would like to confirm when it will arrive.

Ideally, you want it to be delivered in the next two weeks.

Task 1Revising how to write an email

Enter this url into your browser:

http://learningenglish.voanews.com/

Click on ‘The Classroom’ and then ‘Activities’. Scroll down to Business Englishand click on ‘Using Email in Business’.

Watch the video and do the activities as you watch.

Task 2Making requests and structuring your email


www.businessenglishpod.com

Search for ‘Email Tune-up’ and scroll down to ‘ET03 Business Writing: An External Request’. These videos are also available on YouTube, but thewebsite has a number of other resources you might like to use in future.

Play the video:

What are the four parts to a request email?

Pause the video at Step 2 and try to correct the mistakes. Continue playing the video and check your corrections.

Pause the video at Step 3 and check the structure of the email. Use your notes from Question 1 to help you.

In ‘Step 4: Tone’, make a note of any polite phrases that are used.

Task 3The language of polite requests

Add any phrases you know for polite requests to your list from Task 2.


www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv239.shtml

Add any further phrases to your list.

Task 4Writing your email

Write your email to Aggo Ltd. Try to use what you have learnt from Tasks 1–3 to help you write and structure your email.

Take your email to your next class or email it to your teacher for feedback.

2

1

4

3

2

1

The best of both worlds?The best of both worlds?


website (www.webquest.org) enables youto search for webquests that have alreadybeen created – there are many available forfree on the web. This website also has anumber of scholarly articles investigatingthe impact of the use of such activities.You can quite easily create your own as anextension of work you have been doingin class. Webquests typically have fivemain stages: Task, Process, Resource,Evaluation and Conclusion. ETp


LANGUAGE LOG

John Potts charts the intricacies and idiosyncrasies,

the contradictions and complications that make the English language

so fascinating for teachers and teaching. In this issue, he looks at

the language that marks us out as individuals.

In my article on indirectness in ETp Issue 82, I mentioned

the term idiolect in the context of a commuter on a train

who said to another: ‘Excuse me, but my foot seems to

have become accidentally trapped beneath yours.’ Here,

in part, is what I wrote there: ‘Other people would have

reacted very differently, using far more direct language, so

this raises the issue of the speaker’s personal language

choices and consequently of his idiolect. I feel fairly

confident that he would also say (or have said) things like

the following: “Did you need anything else?” / “I had been

hoping that I could leave at ...” In contrast, other speakers

would say none of the above things – these utterances

would not be part of their repertoire. They might perhaps

say: “Do you need anything else?” / “Can I leave at ...” ...

As society changes, then influences will change, too, and

there will be corresponding shifts in people’s repertoires

and idiolects.’

So, what is idiolect, and can we make use of it in our

teaching? Wikipedia defines it as ‘a variety of language that

is unique to a person, as manifested by the patterns of

vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation that he or she

uses’. (Its etymology is from Greek idios, meaning own,

personal, private, distinct. Other words from the same root

are idiom and idiosyncratic. Lect is formed after dialect.)

We all have our own idiolect, a sort of linguistic profile that

will identify us like a fingerprint. Indeed, a branch of

linguistics called forensic linguistics is concerned with the

analysis of language, based on idiolect, in a wide range of

legal contexts, such as wills, criminal confessions, hoax

calls, ransom demands, plagiarism, and so on. (See the

Wikipedia article at forensic linguistics for much greater

detail and references.)

We can also see examples of idiolect in novels. For

example, in Mrs Dalloway, Virginia Woolf creates complex

and subtle idiolects for her main characters which enable

us to identify who is speaking (or, more often, thinking)

without our being told. At a rather less complex level,

Charles Dickens gives many of his characters distinctive

speech patterns and catchphrases that serve to identify

and define them.

However, it isn’t only in legal and literary contexts that

idiolect is important. Since everyone has one, it follows that

idiolect is present and plays a role in our (classroom)

language as teachers, and in our learners’ language as it

develops. I try to be very aware of my idiolect in that I seek

consciously to vary it. Most people, perhaps, don’t do this,

but then again, most people aren’t language teachers.

This is part of an enriched ‘language bath’ for my learners,

appropriate to their level: I encourage them to pick out

those items that appeal to them and that they would like to

add to their own repertoire. Sometimes, these are fixed

expressions that I may use (apparently) casually during the

course of a lesson – having said that, on balance, so to

speak, with hindsight, and so on and so forth.

Sometimes I introduce binomials and other fixed pairs (and

triplets) into my language – trial and error, ups and downs,

dos and don’ts, by and large, body and soul, to and fro,

back and forth, left, right and centre. It’s interesting to see

which ones are appealing and subsequently start to appear

in a particular learner’s repertoire. Doom and gloom seems

a favourite with one exam class at the moment, while game,

set and match was topical during Wimbledon fortnight.

It’s also the case that I sometimes set out to teach

binomials as part of a vocabulary focus in a lesson, but I’ve

found that it’s the items that I used ‘casually’ that often

provoke the greater interest and that tend to be adopted by

Idiolect

� � �

COMPETITION RESULTS

20 13 11 22 3 8 2 12 3 23 13 26 10

23 3 18 16 18 26 17 15 11 11

12 3 10 5 22 15 23 13 26 15 2

18 5 23 21 4 23 11 15 6

3 22 23 11 15 21 15 12 22 12 3 4

18 9 3 6 10 11 15 15

10 23 23 19 13 23 22 15 24 2 12 1

12 18 13 11 4 6 12

14 2 1 15 3 8 11 2 22 5 15

6 3 1 15 2 11 2 3 2

6 11 15 2 18 6 13 18 22 23 11 1

5 15 1 1 15 2 22 5 2 18 8

3 4 3 15 12 23 3 18 13

11 3 25 22 12 3 6 7 2 11 11

1 15 15 1 16 2 24 15 23 8 23

M U L T I F A R I O U S G

O I N B N S W E L L

R I G H T E O U S E A

N H O V P O L E C

I T O L E V E R T R I P

N Z I C G L E E

G O O Q U O T E Y A R D

R N U L P C R

J A D E I F L A T H E

C I D E A L A I A

C L E A N C U N T O L D

H E D E A T H A N F

I P I E R O I N U

L I X T R I C K A L L

D E E D B A Y E O F O

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

D A I P H C K F Z G L R U

J E B W N Q M V T O Y X S

2 11 23 21 3 18 10 5 15 2 12 22 3 26

22 5 15 22 12 12 15 26 22 17 3 26 1 23 20

A L O V I N G H E A R T I S

T H E T R U E S T W I S D O M

Congratulations to allthose readers whosuccessfully completedour Prize Crossword 53.The winners, who willeach receive a copy ofthe Macmillan EnglishDictionary for AdvancedLearners, are:

LANGUAGE LOG Idiolect

John Potts is a teacher and teacher trainerbased in Zürich, Switzerland. He has writtenand co-written several adult coursebooks, andis a CELTA assessor. He is also a presenter forCambridge ESOL Examinations.

[email protected]

Dialect and regional variety add to the mix, as does the use

of non-standard forms. And then there’s the deliberate

incorporation of other people’s catchphrases – Monty Python

must be responsible for a significant chunk of the idiolects

of many of my generation, just as The Goon Show was for

my parents’. These days, other comedies rule – but am I

bovvered? (You may need to google this catchphrase.)

To conclude, here is another personal example: my father

was very fond of qualifying statements with the expression

as it were. It was a trademark component of his idiolect – if I

had ever received a note saying ‘John, I’ve been kidnapped

and am being held to ransom, as it were’, I’d have paid up

immediately in the safe knowledge that the demand was

genuine.

my learners. It’s perhaps an example of that well-known

paradox that learners seem to learn the very things that

we’re not trying (overtly) to teach them.

As we saw in the Wikipedia definition above, idiolect is also

revealed through grammar and pronunciation. Some of the

grammatical patterns expressing indirectness were the

focus of my article in Issue 82, and there are many other

examples of grammatical choices and preferences within a

speaker’s repertoire that contribute to their idiolect. For

instance, some speakers may use more passives, or may

tend towards second conditionals for the future rather than

first conditionals: If we hurried, we’d make the train rather

than If we hurry, we’ll make it! In my own case, I often use

subjunctive forms: in restaurants I frequently come out with

I should have had what you’re having, or I wish I’d chosen

that instead.

Pronunciation is perhaps more difficult to analyse, though

some features are easy to recognise – a tendency towards

employing rising intonation at the end of statements, for

example, or the use of glottal stops.

Gemma Alcaraz i Teixidó, Martorell, Spain

Mike Futcher, Edinburgh, UK

Lorenzo Gallego Pindado, Ullastrell, Spain

Sabine Liberto, Seuzach, Switzerland

Hazel McAllister, Wembley, UK

Pietro Pacini, Lucca, Italy

Teresa Puig, Dunstable, UK

Azo Salim, Buckfastleigh, UK

Chai Whatt Tan, Melaka, Malaysia

Paulina Zak-Grzybowska, Luton, UK

Charles Dickens


� � �


� � �

Second Language AcquisitionMythsby Steven Brown and Jenifer Larson-HallMichigan University Press 2012978-0-47203-498-7

Second language acquisition (SLA) is abroad field, with research that investigateslanguage learning in many contextsincluding instructed learning as well asnaturalistic learning (learning outside theclassroom). With numerous books,journals and academic papers on thesubject appearing every year, teacherscan feel overwhelmed by the task ofkeeping up with current research. Thisbook is a bold attempt to create areadable introduction to SLA thatsummarises a few major issues.However, as the authors point out, ‘it isnot the goal of this book to address everySLA theory’. Even so, they do anadmirable job of tackling eight myths.

Following the structure of other titlesin the Myths series by MichiganUniversity Press, each chapter containsthree parts: In the Real World (anintroductory anecdote), What theResearch Says (a description of relevantresearch) and What We Can Do(classroom applications).

Myth 1, Children learn languagesquickly and easily while adults areineffective in comparison, takes a closerlook at commonly-held beliefs aboutchildren and adult language learning. Itpoints out some of the major differencesbetween the two, and gives a positivespin on the notion that adults are notgood at learning foreign languages.

Myth 2, A true bilingual is someonewho speaks two languages perfectly,zeroes in on this flawed definition of abilingual. It summarises research aboutbilingualism, listing some of the benefitsthat bilingualism provides.

Myth 3, You can acquire a languagesimply through listening or reading,debunks the notion that input alone canresult in language learning. This sectionof the book contains a robust discussionof input, output and interaction inlanguage learning.

Myth 4, Practice makes perfect, is anoverview of research about the role ofpractice in language learning. Theauthors emphasise that students need todo more than practise a language,indicating the need for noticing newlanguage.

Myth 5, Language students learn (andretain) what they are taught, points outthe perceptible gap between whatteachers present in class and whatstudents actually retain. This chapter hasseveral practical suggestions for effectivegrammar teaching, such as repeatinginformation on problematic grammarpoints and teaching chunks instead ofsingle words.

Myth 6, Language learners alwaysbenefit from correction, is my favouritesection of the book. It summarisesseveral intriguing studies on errorcorrection, and offers a helpfuldiscussion about several types of oralcorrection, such as recasts and prompts.

Myth 7, Individual differences are amajor, perhaps the major, factor in SLA,

addresses a number of topics,including learning styles andstrategies, personality differencesand motivation.

The final myth, Languageacquisition is the individualacquisition of grammar, coversthe thorny issue of what rolegrammar should play in languagelearning.

Overall, I enjoyed this booka great deal. Some of thematerial was familiar, but a fewtopics, such as bilingualism andsocial approaches, were new tome, and I greatly appreciatedlearning about them.

The authors do a mostcommendable job ofsummarising the studies theycite, describing them withouttoo much detail. They alsoinclude tables which providequick reference for thestudies they review.

Another winning featureof the book is the boxes that

explain aspects of research that teachersmay not fully understand, such as‘correlation’ and ‘effect sizes’. Theseprovide assistance to teachers who wantto read second language acquisitionpapers, or even do their own research.

I should emphasise here that this is abook on second language acquisition,not language teaching, so parts of thebook go beyond language learning in theclassroom setting. With that said, theauthors make a concerted effort to makesuggestions for teachers (throughactivities or policy) based on theresearch, quite often including practicalactivities for the classroom.

Second language acquisitionresearchers will find plenty to explorehere (and even more in the references).Teachers at the beginning of their careerswill find this an accessible introduction.More experienced teachers will enjoy theopportunity to review some main ideas ofsecond language acquisition, andpossibly learn something new.

Hall HoustonLuzhu, Taiwan

Reviews


� � �

Reviewing for ETpWould you like to review books

or other teaching materials for ETp? We are always looking for people

who are interested in writing reviews for us. Please email

[email protected] advice and a copy of our guidelines for reviewers. You will need to give yourpostal address and say what areas ofteaching you are most interested in.

International Negotiationsby Mark PowellCUP 2012978-05211-4992-1

Mark Powell continues to expand theworld of quality business Englishmaterials with his latest publication,International Negotiations. This, likehis previous book Presenting InEnglish, is part of the CambridgeProfessional English series, whichcombines real business content,speaking skills and functionallanguage.

International Negotiations is,perhaps surprisingly, aimed atstudents from B1 right up to the C2level on the Common EuropeanFramework scale. Intermediatestudents will find the materialscomfortably challenging, butadvanced and even proficiency-level students will get a lot out ofthe business side of the book: thenegotiation skills training and thefunctional language. Having tried thebook with all these levels, I would saythat those of my students who werestudying for the Cambridge Proficiency inEnglish exam, in particular, reallybenefited from the negotiation skillsdevelopment side and the varied natureof the speaking activities, which onemanager amongst my students called‘extremely realistic’.

Mark Powell has certainly been busysince his last book came out. He hassourced a myriad of top business expertsand leaders whose ideas appear in texts,quotes and listenings. This turnsInternational Negotiations into as much abook for learning successful negotiationskills as a vehicle for learning businessEnglish. You can tell a good book wheneven the teacher learns something inevery lesson, and that has been myexperience with this book on countlessoccasions.

International Negotiations isorganised into ten units and spans all theessentials of business negotiations, fromthe preparation (the topic of Unit 1) toclosing the final deal. The book itself is

quite light and easy to carry round and,like the others in the series, only devotesabout a third of its length to typicaltextbook pages. Why? Because the restoffers enough materials for any teacherto create an optimal course for their ownindividual teaching situation. Theseinclude an initial needs analysis, whichpinpoints which parts of the book needworking through, exercise keys and acommentary for every unit, veryprofessional additional speakingmaterials, audio scripts for the twoaccompanying CDs and a preview of theonline feedback forms (one for each unit)which can be used for studentassessment. You will also find a finaldownloadable in-depth negotiation andan impressive teacher’s pack with manymore teaching ideas.

Mark Powell has shown yet againthat business can and should beinteresting for both students andteachers. He has successfully integratedteaching authentic knowledge of themethods and techniques of negotiationwith the study of the English language.

This is the reason why thisbook will be of use withboth students atintermediate level or thosewho are more advanced.Whether it is used for a shortcourse, a couple of sessionsof a more general businessEnglish programme or as afull-blown classroom course,International Negotiations hassomething up its sleeve foreveryone. I have even enjoyedseveral one-to-one negotiationsessions with my corporatelearners using the roleplays inthe book. As these are quiteeasy to set up and run, theyprovide an ideal opportunity tofocus on your one-to-onestudents and how they handlenegotiating with a nativespeaker. But be careful – theyare often better negotiators thanwe teachers are.

Phil WadeLa Réunion, France

Reviews


Tips, techniques and activities; simple or sophisticated; well-tried or innovative; something that has worked well for you? All published

contributions receive a prize! Write to us or email:

[email protected]

IT WORKS IN PRACTICE�



Challenging our own authority

Challenging our own authorityCory McMillen and

Kara Boyer recommend

student-run help desks.P

eer tutoring, for all its untappedpossibilities, remains one of themost variable and difficult toimplement classroom practices.

It has great potential for producinglearning on the part of all participants,as Rod Roscoe and Michelene Chi pointout, but often seems to produce verylittle aside from increased noise level.And it asks a lot of the students: itdepends on their ability as a group toprocess, comprehend and ultimatelypresent with a minimum of guidance; itseeks the pinnacle of both curricularknowledge and positive social skills.And in a regular classroom setting, peertutoring can be very difficult to overseeeffectively.

As a result, it can be tempting toavoid or minimise use of this technique.Or, even if you do soldier on, you mayfind yourself lamenting the results yousee produced. Instinctively, teacherswant to make peer tutoring work

because we have a sense of unansweredquestions: Shouldn’t a classroom packedfull of individuals with varying strengthsand ideas be a resource unto itself ? Andshouldn’t the growing student numbersin our biggest classes be as much theanswer as they are the problem?

A student-run help deskWe think the answer may lie in thecreation of a student-run help desk.Over the course of the last seven years,we have used just such a system toincorporate peer tutoring into oureveryday reading and writing routines.By isolating a space in the classroomand staffing it with brave volunteers, andby giving that space a title (the Experts’Corner), prestige and a few essentialmaterials, we have created a functioningstudent help desk programme thatallows us to challenge our own authorityby giving some of it away.

Here in Omaha, we are working inan ESL context, but we hope that thisaccount of our experiences will be ofbenefit to language teachers in a varietyof other situations.

Benefits Initially a simple set-up with limitedgoals and duties, the Experts’ Cornerhas grown to become a centralcomponent of our classroom, andsomething that we maintain all year, � � �

We have created afunctioning student help

desk programme thatallows us to challenge our own authority by

giving some of it away


every year. Through a combination ofprocedure, structure and evidencedvalue, it now accomplishes the following:

● It provides a platform with whichpositive student leaders can becreated and promoted, and by whichstudent ownership of the classroomcan be strengthened.

● It creates unique challenges forreaders and writers at every level byplacing members of a peer group in aposition of teaching the skills theypossess to others, and encouragingthe rest of the class to identify theirown strengths and weaknesses.

● It encourages the pre-teaching, re-teaching and reinforcement ofpositive social skills.

● It creates an invaluable resource forESL students by allowing them towork with bilingual peers.

● It provides the students withestablished, permanent routines forseeking assistance or guidance.

● It maximises the availability of helpwhile simultaneously freeing up timethat can be used for other things.

● It maintains and oversees classroomsupplies, allowing limited materials tohave maximum use. For example, withjust two classroom computers available,we count on the Experts to recognisewhen someone might benefit from theuse of one of them. This might bebecause they need to do some research,are falling behind, are working outsome spelling issues in a paper – orfor any number of other reasons.

As we’ve developed our help desk, we’vemade a lot of discoveries regarding thosefactors that have allowed it to be assuccessful as it is – and also the mistakeswhich render it completely useless.

The selection processIdentifying students who would makesuccessful Experts can be trickier thanyou’d think. Over the years, we’ve triedmany approaches to choosing who willstaff the help desk, with varying

success. We’ve chosen studentsourselves, created application forms forinterested individuals to fill out, andhad the current Experts recommendtheir own replacements. And althoughall of these systems had their benefits(the application process remains themethod of choice), none of them taughtus as much about what makes the helpdesk work as a student named Tristan.

TristanTristan, in his way, proved to us that wecannot disqualify students simplybecause we consider them to be ‘difficult’or because they don’t always make theright choices in class. A stereotypicalclassroom disruptor, Tristan happened tohave great verbal skills. Unfortunately,he was insistent in his desire to showthem off. He simply would not stoptalking. Or do his homework. Or stopblurting out comments. Did we mentionthe constant talking?

work area, suggesting several innovationsthat we still incorporate today.

Two at a timeBut even Tristan couldn’t do it alone.We typically make a point of havingtwo Experts at any given time. One isgenerally a student whom we see as astrong reader and writer, someone whois a little above their peers in terms ofboth ability and effort. The other we letbe a wild card. It might be someonewho is bilingual, or a Special Educationstudent who is highly verbal, or it mightjust be another Tristan. Using ‘commonsense’ methods such as putting the twobest writers in together often undercutsthe Corner’s ability to function, for anumber of reasons. Great writers don’talways have a lot of patience with thosewho are struggling and, of course, beinggood at writing isn’t the same as beinggood at teaching writing. Teaching is averbal communication task as much asanything, although you may find thatthere are other qualities that you preferto look for in a help desk student.Regardless, by differentiating the skillsets and encouraging the help deskstudents to collaborate when answeringquestions, you will always find that agreat deal more is accomplished.

The importance ofproceduresA help desk’s ability to run requiresconsistency and design. Today, we investtwo full class periods in teaching theprocedures to our students, includingseveral practice runs that emphasise thedesired behaviour. We re-teach and reviewthese procedures halfway through the year.

Absolutely every aspect of the helpdesk has, by necessity, a procedure: howto ask a question, how to answer it, howto turn in work or hand it back. Evenhow to wait your turn. When the Expertsare first chosen, they are given anadditional day away from the classroomto review these procedures and showtheir understanding of the expectations.They are also given codes that they canuse to let us know if somebody is beingimpolite or rude, or just not followingthe established procedures.

Some of our procedures come in theform of carefully-phrased instructions.A help desk requires a large amount ofpreparation work, most of it done byus. For every assignment or project that

He also begged (for six of thelongest months on record) to be anExpert. In truth, although we did finallyrelent, it was only because there wereonly six weeks of school left. We didn’tthink he could do too much damage inthat short amount of time!

In fact, he didn’t do any damage atall. Tristan remains, to this day, the mosteffective and remarkable Expert we’veever had. Being on the help desk fed hisneed for attention, giving him an avenuefor his need to talk. It eliminated hisneed to interrupt. His use of humourand his ‘gift of the gab’ made it easy forthe students he helped to listen, and tounderstand his suggestions. And likemany rule-breaking students, he lovedto help enforce those same rules that hestruggled to follow himself. For sixweeks, this child who never turned inany homework showed insights into thewriting process that we would neverotherwise have known that he had. Healso initiated a redesign of the Expert

� � �



A student help desk maximises the

availability of help whilesimultaneously freeing

up time that can be used for other things


the Experts help with, we create a seriesof flowcharts. They can use these tohelp identify problems, look for hints orinstructions, or even find the rightphrasing for a suggestion they want tomake. The charts don’t do their job forthem, but they do give them a guide.The charts also help them see what ourexact expectations are both for themand for the given assignment. Usually,by the third project they’ve assistedwith, the Experts typically understandthe job well enough not to need thesecharts anymore.

Creating clearly-defined proceduresmakes it much easier for us to delegatesome of our authority to the help desk,as well, and this can be one of the mostenlightening steps of the help deskdesign. Few individuals are truly happyhaving authority exercised over them, butpeople are especially sensitive to havingsomeone in charge of them who is notlike them. This is why a multinationalcorporation based in Europe, forexample, is still careful to create localmanagement opportunities in each ofits branches throughout the world.

When student leaders are a visiblepresence, with a share of the classroomauthority, the number of incidents ofmisbehaviour is reduced because the needfor misbehaviour is diminished. Thedifference between having the teachercheck planners, hand back work, assiststudents, keep track of the restroom pass,present the lesson, pick up completedwork and correct behaviour, and havinga help desk that handles just two ofthose things, is substantial. Turningthree or more of those tasks over toyour Experts changes the game entirely.

Giving it valueThe last, and possibly most important,step towards making the help deskeffective is to sell it well. We quicklylearnt that putting a table in the corner

and giving it a name wasn’t enough. Ithad to stand out, to look special. It hadto be important. And we had to provethat we trusted the Experts by givingthem privileges and authority belyingtheir actual status.

Placing visible value in the help deskand the people who earn the chance towork there also acts as a motivator formany students. Call it the ‘career effect’.Few people are motivated to do theirbest in a job without any hope ofadvancement, and one of the road bumpsin education is that academic learning isa long-term-goal scenario. Arguably, itis the first true long-term goal thatpeople face in their lives. Encouragingthe development of authentic intrinsicmotivators in those circumstances can beincredibly difficult. Maybe it’s our socialgenetics at work, but the mere existenceof advancement potential seems to actas a motivator for further effort.

After a few years, we even put theExperts in charge of the restroom pass.They have a clear idea as to who is ontask and who isn’t, and putting the passat their desk creates a constant flow oftraffic. Other students take that as anindication that it’s OK to visit the helpdesk, and they are more likely to seekout assistance. This, in turn, creates aspike in the number of students utilisingthe desk.

Making the Experts ‘important’ hashad other benefits, too. They perceivethemselves, and are perceived by others,as student leaders and people ofauthority. They react to that. They takethe initiative in assisting one of us whenthe other is away; they are involved inmanagement during fire and severeweather drills; and they actively pursueways to help maintain the classroom.They have also been known (this isparticularly helpful) to tell us why theythink a particular lesson failed and whatwe ought to do differently.

One final note: it probably isn’tnecessary to point out that, in a [email protected]

Kara Boyer is a SpecialEducation teacher forthe Omaha publicschools. She has an MA in Curriculum andInstruction, and has co-published severalarticles with CoryMcMillen.

[email protected]

Cory McMillen teachesLanguage Arts at BryanMiddle School, inOmaha, Nebraska, USA.He has an MA inSecondary Education,and is a member of theeditorial review board of the Journal of theAmerican Association of Special EducationProfessionals.

Roscoe, R and Chi, M ‘Understandingtutor learning: knowledge-building andknowledge-telling in peer tutors’explanations and questions’ Review ofEducational Research 77 (4) 2007

When student leaders are a visible presence,

with a share of theclassroom authority,

the number of incidentsof misbehaviour

is reduced

Placing visible value inthe help desk and thepeople who earn thechance to work there acts as a motivator for

many students

classroom, there are always exceptions.Inevitably, there are going to be studentswho (for a variety of legitimate reasons)feel uncomfortable about asking theirpeers for assistance. It has been ourexperience that such cases are rare. Butit is still worth noting that no teachershould create a help desk with the goalof producing a classroom that does notrequire them to participate in somesubstantial way. The presence of theExperts can be seen as maintaining theoverall structure of the class, whilefreeing the teacher (or teachers) to focustheir attention on one or two individuals.Modified curriculum, alternateassignments, individual tutoring andassessment of IEP (IndividualizedEducation Program) goals and objectivesare just some of the many uses we’vefound for our time when the Experts arerunning the show.

� � �

The number of potential benefitscreated by incorporating a student-runhelp desk into a reading or writingcourse is virtually unlimited. It’s nothard to imagine that ten differentteachers, each running their own versionof the Experts’ Corner, might come upwith ten new innovations. They justhave to take the leap, challenge theirown authority a little bit, and then waitto see what happens. ETp


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

© iS

tock

pho

to.c

om /

Bria

n Ja

ckso

n

Where do you think you’re going, you idiom?A mark of achievement in any languageis fluency, the ability to express oneselfreadily and effortlessly. There is,however, a step further that can beachieved: being in command ofidiomatic English, French, Italian orwhatever is the mark of a true grasp ofcommunication in that language.

But beginner idiomists tread a trickypath: when idioms are used well, there

is a feeling of being at home in asociety; used inappropriately, theyfrequently expose the hapless user asan outsider and source of hilarity.

Many students love idioms becausethey are colourful and fun – they likethe idea that British weather consistslargely of cats and dogs falling from thesky. However, disappointment sets inwhen they discover that British people

very rarely use this particular idiom,and that it is one that can quickly labelyou as an outsider rather than aninsider.

So be careful if you decide to teachany of the idioms on these pages toyour students: just because nativespeakers know these expressionsdoesn’t necessarily mean they ever usethem – or certainly not in their entirety!

Idiom anatomyThere are many anatomical idioms in English.

How many of these do you know?

Pulling someone’s leg (or having yours pulled)

Having a frog in your throat

Having something shoved down your throat

Keep your hair on!

Picking someone’s brains

Having butterflies in your stomach

Paying through the nose

Making your blood boil

Doing something in cold blood

Give someone the cold shoulder

Have a chip on your shoulder

Having your head in the clouds

Bury your head in the sand

1

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

Answers:1 Misleading someone, usually as a joke

2 Having trouble speaking because of a temporary

throat blockage

3 Having an idea or an opinion forced on you

4 Keep calm; don’t lose your temper

5 Getting someone else’s opinion on something

6 Feeling nervous

7 Paying too much for something

8 Making you very angry

9 Doing something (usually bad) deliberately and

calculatingly10 Snub or ignore someone

11 Have a feeling of resentment about something

12 Being unaware of what is going on around you

13 Avoid acknowledging a situation, when you know

very well what is going on around you

Building idioms

When seeking to improverelationships betweendifferent people or groups,building bridges is a goodthing to do. And if it allgoes horribly wrong, youmay find that mendingfences can effect areconciliation. However,refusing to acknowledgethe problems and simplypapering over the cracksdefinitely isn’t the answer.If nothing works, you mayfind yourself beating yourhead against a brick wallin frustration.


Scrapbook compiled by Ian Waring Green

Idiom safariAnother splendid source of idiomsis the animal world – see if you canfill in the blanks:

make a .............. of yourself (eat too much)

a ..............’s dinner (a mess)

a dark .............. (someone whohides their true abilities)

the .............. of the family (a disreputable family member)

a .............. in a china shop (a really clumsy person)

a .............. at a gate (a reallyimpatient person)

a .............. in sheep’s clothing (a dangerous person who seemssuperficially harmless)

the .............. in the room (a subject that everyone isavoiding talking about)

smell a .............. (suspect thatsomething is wrong)

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Finding the meaningOccasionally the meaning of an idiom

will be fairly obvious: having eyes

bigger than your stomach clearly

suggests over-ambition when helping

yourself to food or ordering a large

meal. (For me, this expression always

brings to mind the sage advice: never

eat more than you can lift – one of

my favourite expressions which, I

hasten to add, is not a genuine idiom

but more of a leg-pull.)

Some phrases, however, are just

too obscure to work out. Although

you can easily understand that

looking like the cat that got the

cream suggests a degree of

smugness, being asked Has the cat

got your tongue? when unable to

answer someone borders on the

bizarre. Similarly, being so

disappointed that you are as sick as

a parrot conjures up a strange and

unlikely medical emergency. Having

your ear to the ground makes sense

when you are tracking in the wild, but

having your nose to the grindstone

when busy surely risks another

strange and illogical medical crisis!

Obscurity can also arise from a

misunderstanding of the origins of a

particular phrase. I have often seen

the expression with baited breath

used in writing; this makes me think

of a large tom cat, its mouth wedged

open with a large slice of cheddar,

waiting hopefully outside a mouse

hole. In fact, the phrase should be

with bated breath – bated being

short for abated, or held. When you

know this, the true meaning – that of

waiting in suspense – becomes clear.

Another expression, rather dated

now, is travelling by shanks’ pony.

This means travelling on foot, as

shank is another word for leg. These

days the word shank mainly survives

in the butcher’s shop, usually with

reference to lamb!

Idiom nationalitiesSome historical expressions sound somewhat disdainful (even though thereasons for them seem, well, reasonable). Dutch courage calls to mind thekind of bravery to be found in a measure or two of alcohol, and comes fromthe early use of Dutch gin by soldiers in battle. Sometimes the disdain is real.A Dutch uncle is someone who gives unwelcome advice. And Scotch mist issomething that doesn’t exist. French leave, meaning being absent withoutpermission, also sounds derogatory; however, the French have their revenge,as their equivalent is English leave.

� � �So hold your horses1 and don’t get my goat 2 just because it’s a completelydifferent kettle of fish 3. And whatever you do, don’t put the cart before thehorse 4, because up until now, we’ve got on like a house on fire 5. Actually, Ithink you’re beyond the pale6 and it will be a piece of cake7 to give you apiece of my mind 8 – so pull your socks up9!

1 restrain yourself 2 upset me 3 different thing altogether 4 get things round the wrong way 5 very well indeed 6 unacceptable 7 very easy 8 a telling off 9 sort yourself out

Answers:1 pig, 2 dog, 3 horse, 4 black sheep, 5 bull, 6 bull, 7 wolf, 8 elephant, 9 rat

We also turn to the animalkingdom to express attributes. Youmight like to ask your studentswhether these particular attributeswould be ascribed to the sameanimals in their own culture:

As strong as an ox

As weak as a kitten (whichpresumably couldn’t pull the skin offa rice pudding)

As blind as a bat

As crazy as a coot

As poor as a church mouse

As stubborn as a mule

As busy as a beaver

As sick as a dog

As hungry as a horse

As sly as a fox

As quiet as a mouse

As dead as a dodo

Idon’t know why, but every time Ifind myself professing my ownlove of all things stationery, Ialways get an enthusiastic

response: ‘Oh me too … I LOVE it.’I haven’t yet managed to figure outexactly why so many people have suchan affection for pens, staplers,highlighters and their many relatives,but for the English language teacherthere is certainly a lot more to thoseeveryday bits and pieces than meets theeye. There are tons of possibilities foractivities based around the variousitems we can find lying around theteacher’s room … or at the bottom ofour bags. From the lowly paper clip tothe sophisticated neon Post-it® note, asa collection of low-cost aids to languagelearning they are unrivalled. In thisarticle, we will look at ten of myfavourite classroom activities usingPost-it® notes, paper clips, string andother items.

Post-it® notesBoard games

Mini Post-it® notes make excellentsquares for board games. Thebeauty of it is that you can askeach student in a group to takeseveral Post-it® notes, write aquestion or word on each oneand then stick them onto ashared table in a grid format –

1


Raiding the stationery

cupboard


cupboard

R E S O U R C E S

Amy Lightfoot offers

ten classroom activities for

stationery-philes.

and they don’t move. The students thennumber them and take turns to throwdice, move their counters and thenanswer the questions that they land on,or define a word or make a sentencewith it, or whatever task you choosethat will practise the particular languageyou are working on. This idea wassuggested to me by Françoise Votocekat Bell’s Homerton Teacher Campuslast summer, and I love the fact that youcan adapt the basic principle in so manyways: making a board game suddenlybecomes considerably less labourintensive. A similar activity also appearsin Mario Rinvolucri’s excellentGrammar Games book.

Review and reading gamesThese activities need large Post-it®notes to work best. Take nine notes andwrite the numbers 1–9 in large figureson the front of each (one number pernote). On the sticky side of the notes,write a question to review somethingthat the students have been learning inclass. This could be a sentence with agap to fill, a definition of or questionabout a word they have been learning, ajumbled sentence for them to order –whatever. Stick the notes on the board.The students get into groups and eachgroup nominates a runner and asecretary. The runners come up to theboard, take a Post-it® note, return totheir group and they all work together

2

to find the answer, which the secretarywrites down. When they have finishedwriting, the runner returns the note tothe board and takes another. You canmake the game faster and morecompetitive by telling them that thegroup to finish first gets an extra point,and then assign points to each group forcorrect answers as you go through themat the end. You can also use the sameformat to set up a reading race, wherethe students are given a text and thecomprehension (or other) questions aregiven only on the notes on the board.Making it a race encourages thestudents to develop their skimming andscanning skills.

Class gap-fill As much as some people might yawn atthe idea of another gap-fill activity, thisone does work very well. Choose up toten sentences that contain somevocabulary or grammatical items thatthe students have been studying.Rewrite the sentences with gaps forthese words on separate large pieces ofpaper. Stick these up around theclassroom. Put the students into groupsof four or five. Dictate (in randomorder) the missing words to the groupsso that they each have one full set ofwords. They write these on a set ofPost-it® notes. Ask the groups to sticktheir words in the correct gaps on thesentences around the room. If you havedifferent coloured notes for each group,you will be able to see easily whichgroups have got the correct answers andwhich have not.

StringGrouping

I learnt this ideaon a trainingcourse whileworking for the British Council.Basically, you count the number ofpeople in the class and cut onelongish piece of string for each one. Youthen decide how many groups you want,take one piece of string for eachmember of the group and tie one end ofthe pieces of string together. For eachgroup, you have one knot at the top andall the ends dangling down below. In theclassroom, hold the knots of all thegroups in your fist. Each student thencomes up and takes the end of a pieceof string – it’s very important toemphasise at this stage that they must

1

3


not let go of it. When everyone has one,you let go and they will find the othermembers of their group: those studentswho are holding pieces of stringattached to theirs. This is a great way ofputting students into groups and theyalways seem to love it, even if they havedone it many times before.

Group discussion patterns I discovered this activity many yearsago while browsing a new, but now verywell-loved, copy of Friederike Klippel’sKeep Talking, and I have used itregularly ever since with great results.It’s particularly good with groups ofstudents who seem to have problemslistening to other people and constantlytalk over one another. Basically it workslike this: you put the students intogroups of about four or five and giveeach group a ball of string. Tell themthat they can only speak when they areholding the ball. Give the students atopic or question to discuss. Explainthat when they want to speak, they needto gesture for the ball of string to bepassed. When they pass it on, they holdon to the string, so that eventually aweb of string forms between themembers of the group. (You will needto demonstrate this the first time you doit.) Once they get the hang of it, it’s anexcellent way to show clearly who in agroup is dominating, or notcontributing to, the discussion. Theresulting web shows whether there hasbeen a lot of discussion between twopeople in a group or whether there havebeen equal amounts of input from allthe members. As a training activity toraise awareness of the need toencourage everyone to share and discusstheir ideas, it is fantastic.

Showing intonation patternsI don’t know where this idea came from,but it’s a good way of helping moreadvanced learners to develop theirunderstanding of different intonationpatterns. You need large pieces of paperfor this – A3 or bigger – which thestudents can write sentences on in largeletters. The students work in pairs orsmall groups and you dictate severalsentences to them which you can use todemonstrate the intonation patternsthat you are practising. (You could alsodictate just one sentence if you wantedto practise contrastive stress, and thensay it in several different ways.) Thestudents put a piece of string just above

3

2

the sentence on the piece of paper. It’simportant that the piece of string isquite a bit longer than the piece ofpaper they are using. You say thedictated sentence again, modelling theintonation pattern that you want thestudents to work on. They listen andmove the string to represent the wayyour intonation (or the sentence stress)changes as you say it. They can thencheck this physical representation of theintonation with another group beforepractising producing the sameintonation pattern themselves, using thestring as a guide. Students seem to likethis kinaesthetic and visual approach tolearning about intonation patterns.

Paper clipsContributing to discussions

In most classes there are students wholove to speak and take part indiscussions and those who are veryreluctant. One way to encourage moreequal participation is to give thestudents ten paper clips each beforethey begin a discussion in groups. Tellthem that they need to try to get rid ofas many paper clips as possible. Everytime they make a point or verballyacknowledge something that someoneelse has said, they can place one of theirpaper clips in the middle of the table.When the discussion time is over, theycan compare the number of paper clipsthey have left. This can also be a usefultool for students who tend to dominatediscussions: if they see that they haveused up all their paper clips but no oneelse in their group has, it should sendthe message that they might need tofocus on allowing and encouragingothers to speak. (Thanks to my colleagueChetna Bhatt at the British Council inNew Delhi for sharing this idea.)

Prediction and probability This is a good activity for practising thelanguage of prediction and probability– will, might, may, probably won’t, could,I doubt they will, it’s pretty unlikely, etc.The students work in groups and aregiven a pile of paper clips and a cup orother small receptacle. They place thecup at an agreed distance away fromthem. They then write some sentencesusing the language they have been

2

1

� � �


� � �

[email protected]

Amy Lightfoot has aDELTA and an MA (ELT).She has worked as awriter, teacher andtrainer for InternationalHouse, the BBC and theBritish Council in the UK,Portugal and acrossSouth Asia. She is nowworking as a freelanceELT writer and trainer inSomerset, UK.

Klippel, F Keep Talking CUP 1985

Rinvolucri, M Grammar Games CUP 1985

A quick note about the sources ofthese ideas: I’ve tried hard to attributeall of the above activities to thepeople or books I learnt them from,but I apologise if I haven’t mentionedthe first person to think of or publishany of these ideas.


cupboard


cupboard

TALKBACK!TALKBACK!

ENGLISH TEACHING professionalPavilion Publishing and Media Ltd,

Rayford House, School Road,Hove BN3 5HX, UK

Fax: +44 (0)1273 227308Email: [email protected]

This is your magazine.We want to hear from you!


Tips, techniques and activities; simple or sophisticated; well-tried or innovative; something that has worked well for you? All published

contributions receive a prize! Write to us or email:

[email protected]

IT WORKS IN PRACTICE�


Do you have something to say about an article in the current issue of ETp? This is your magazine and we would

really like to hear from you. Write to us or email:

[email protected]

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

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

write to us or email:

[email protected]

It really worked for me!

Did you get inspired by something you read in ETp? Did you do

something similiar with your students? Did it really work in practice?

Do share it with us ...

[email protected]

ETp

studying about how many paper clipsthey think they can successfully throwinto the cup (eg I probably won’t be ableto get more than three in the cup. I doubtanyone in the group will get them all in).They take turns to throw a set numberof paper clips into the cup and checktheir predictions. Be warned: studentscan get incredibly competitive whiledoing this activity!

Word stressThis activity requires different colouredpaper clips or paper clips of differentsizes. The students can do it in pairs.They each have several paper clips ofeither two different sizes or twodifferent colours. They use them torepresent the syllable and stress patternsof different vocabulary items that youhave been learning. Each paper cliprepresents one syllable, with a differentcoloured or larger paper clip standingfor the stressed syllable. The studentscan either listen to you modelling thewords and then put the paper clips intothe correct pattern on their desk or, forhigher-level students, work from awritten list, figuring out the stress/paperclip pattern for each one beforechecking it with either an answer key oranother student. If the students have asupply of these paper clips available tothem all the time, you can ask them toget them out and use them to show thestress pattern every time you comeacross a problematic word. Seeing thestress pattern represented visually likethis can be a big help for some studentswho have difficulty hearing it.

And finally …A longer projectThere’s an age-old, popular activity thathas done the rounds using various itemsfrom the stationery cupboard. Basically,it goes like this: the students are givenan item such as a rubber band, a paperclip or a drawing pin and asked to thinkof as many different alternative uses forit as they can. They are encouraged tobe creative and sometimes get extrapoints if their ideas are particularly

3

wacky. I’ve taken this one step furtherto make it into a bigger project. Asdescribed above, small groups ofstudents get one item from thestationery cupboard and think ofseveral different and unusual uses for it.They choose their most interesting newuse, and then design an advertisingcampaign to bring it to the attention ofthe public (or the rest of the class).They can do this either by making aposter with a slogan or, if you havetime, scripting a short TV or radioadvertisement. They can also beencouraged to re-name the item. Youcan ask the groups either to act out ordescribe their advertisement to the restof the class, or record it outside class ona smartphone or camera to show therest of the class in a final presentation.

These are just a handful of activitiesusing ordinary stationery items – thereare countless more possibilities. In fact,there’s an entire website devoted to usesfor Post-it® notes in the classroom. Ihope that while some of the activitiesabove may be familiar, there are othersthat are new for you to try. Moreimportantly, I hope that I’ve inspired youto look a bit harder in the cupboard andgiven you a genuine reason to browse inyour favourite stationery shop.


[email protected]

Elspeth Pollock is basedin Seville, Spain, and has been teaching andtraining for over 20years. She has the Delta,an MA in Linguistics andmost recently the TrinityICT Certificate, whichkick-started her currentinterest in studying howto integrate technologyinto EFL lessons.

C L A S S R O O M P R A C T I C E

Feedback and correctionFeedback and correctionElspeth Pollock has some techniques for keeping her students wide awake.

How often do we just walk intoclass, get the students to opentheir workbooks, and correct

the homework – to a sea of inattentive,unmotivated faces?

We would probably all agree thatwritten and oral correction, whether ofhomework or during class, is anecessary and expected part of ourlessons; it helps both teachers andstudents to notice the gaps in learning.But maybe we should question theusefulness of correcting in the same oldway, time after time.

Try some of these practical ideas formaking spoken and written correctionboth motivating and memorable, usingsome of the many tools at our disposal– from mini-whiteboards to video, MP3and the interactive whiteboard (IWB).

Teacher-producedtechniques● Make a poster of common class

mistakes for the classroom wall toprovide a constant reminder.

● Use a free recording program such asAudacity or your mobile phone tomake an MP3 mini-listening(podcast) of correction of writtenwork to email to each student or, ifyou have too many, for use as a classlistening and correction activity.

● Go one step further and use Camstudioor Jing to make a video recording ofyour correction of student writing(especially useful for students who haveto produce portfolios of written work).Note: an ‘avi’ file uses more memorythan an ‘swf’, but is of better quality.

● Make a word cloud (www.wordle.net)so the students can put /t / or /d / pasttense verbs into groups to help with

pronunciation feedback, to correctword order or to distinguish betweenfirst and third person verbs.

● To help the students make correctionsto word order or to find extra wordsor missing words in their writing, trywww.triptico.net. This gives easy visualcorrection which can now be saved onyour computer for future use.

● Use booing and cheering soundeffects on your computer forcompetition feedback (not so usefulfor sensitive students or individualfeedback).

● Get your students to redraft theirwork by writing the same task for adifferent target reader – concentrateon correcting register and style.

● Hide the answers under the chairs forthe students to find.

Student-producedtechniques● Give out the Teacher’s Book and allow

early finishers to be the teacher andknow all the answers! Alternatively,photocopy the answers to be passedround the class. Or divide thephotocopy into A and B, and let thestudents correct each other in pairs.

● Get the students to build up a list oftheir own common mistakes andcorrections to refer to before writingeach new composition.

● Use mini-whiteboards for the studentsto write their answers and hold them upfor comparison, correcting word orderand identifying extra or missing words.

● Use coloured rods to represent A, B,C, D multiple-choice options for thestudents to hold up – that way, youcan see if they’ve got the correctanswers!

● Get the students to confess theirmistakes to each other (Paul Seligsonsuggested this).

● Go back to compositions to revisitmistakes and encourage the studentsto do the same after exams.

● Ask the students to record themselves,then use a list of questions to analysetheir spoken performance – concentrateon intonation and soundingcomfortable, rather than grammarmistakes which may be difficult to spot.

● Put mistakes on the IWB after speakingpractice and pass round the keyboardfor the students to make corrections.Do the same with grammar exercises.

● Allow the students to give each otherfeedback on their written or spokenperformance by means of an opinionsheet – use boxes they can tick forlower levels. Or ask the students towrite pertinent questions on eachother’s work (Why are there only twoparagraphs? or Who are you writingto?). With younger learners, ask themto draw (even in graffiti style) positivefeedback for each other.

� � �I hope that these ideas will help youprovide your students with effectivecorrection which they will assimilate,remember and learn from. ETp


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

What does a CELTA tutor do?

What does a CELTA tutor do?

Chia Suan Chong

reviews the responsibilities

of a teacher trainer.

So you’ve done the DELTA, attendedall sorts of teacher developmentsessions, and maybe conducted afew yourself. The next step in yourcareer progression seems to be‘CELTA tutor’. Here are some thingsyou need to know …

CELTA tutors areexternally assessed

on every course theydeliver to ensure

that the standards of the qualification are

maintained

The very first ELT teachertraining course, which becamethe basis for what is nowknown as the CELTA

(Certificate in English LanguageTeaching to Adults) course, was startedat International House in London 50years ago, with the intention of keepingup the standards of English languageteaching throughout the world. Today,the CELTA is one of the most recognisedELT qualifications and the passport togetting a job in teaching Englishpractically anywhere around the globe.

There are some basic criteria thatevery CELTA centre has to fulfill, andCELTA tutors are externally assessedon every CELTA course they deliver toensure that the standards of thequalification are maintained, and thatthe core tenets of the communicativeapproach are practised. However, thereis sufficient scope to accommodate thedifferent beliefs and approaches toteacher training and teaching, andsufficient flexibility to enable each tutorto run the course that they believe will

best equip new teachers to face theworld of ELT.

This article will explore the role ofthe CELTA tutor from the perspectiveof an International House Londontutor. However, that role will, of course,differ depending on the institution, theindividual tutor and the traineesinvolved. The table on page 54 illustrateswhat a typical day may look like.

Roles and requirementsThe CELTA course is divided into twoparts: Input sessions and TeachingPractice (TP).

In the first part, the trainees aregiven input concerning various teachingmethodologies and approaches, ways ofexploring, clarifying and offeringpractice of language (the four systemsof Lexis, Grammar, Discourse andPhonology), developing the language


[email protected]

Chia Suan Chongcurrently runs generalEnglish classes, businessEnglish classes andteacher training coursesat International HouseLondon, London, UK. She is also an activeparticipant atconferences. She loves agood debate and blogsregularly for ETp’s websiteeltKnowledge, and also at chiasuanchong.com.


A good dose of daily liaison with fellow

tutors is needed to track the progress of

all the trainees

� � �

ETp

skills of speaking, listening, reading andwriting, lesson planning, providinglanguage feedback, etc. At InternationalHouse in London, we have a maincourse tutor and a second tutor givinginput on each course, and input maytake the form of demonstration lessons,workshops or discussions.

In the second part, the trainees aregiven the opportunity to put what theyhave learnt in the input sessions intopractice. They are required to teacheight observed lessons (six 40-minutelessons and two 60-minute lessons). AsTP begins very soon after the start ofthe course, it is important, whendrawing up the course timetable, toconsider what basics will be needed toenable the trainees to plan and teach alesson. For their first six lessons, thetrainees are given ‘Supervised LessonPlanning’ time, during which the tutorsare available to give support and answer

RecommendationsHere are some suggestions for anyone whowould like to become a CELTA tutor:

Shadow a teacher trainer youadmire or about whom you haveheard good things. Observe thisperson every chance you get.Engage in discussions with thetrainer about what you saw. Don’tbe afraid to ask if you can ‘steal’an idea or activity.

Think back to when you did yourfirst teaching qualification. Whatwere some of the emotions youfelt? What were the issues youfaced? How did you overcomethem? Remember that intensestress can make people react instrange ways.

Don’t expect the trainees to copywhat you do or to believe in thesame things you do. You are thereto guide them into honing theirown style of teaching, not to churnout clones of yourself. Instead, tryemploying a coaching style in TPfeedback and utilising questionsthat will guide the trainees towardsbeing better able to help theirlearners. Teach your trainees toreflect on what they do, and theywill be able to continue developingbeyond the CELTA.

Don’t just watch the traineesteaching when doing your TPobservations. Observe the students,too, and notice how they arereacting to what is happening inclass. Also take note of how thetrainees are responding to thestudents. How sensitive are they tothe students’ needs and wants? Didthey notice a student who wasfeeling left out? Did they realisethat they have just misunderstood astudent who didn’t have thevocabulary to express himself ? Arethey able to think on their feet andreact accordingly? How can youhelp them to do these things?

You are going to have to deliverbad news at some point. Whether itis a ‘Below Standard’ mark for aTP lesson, a ‘Resubmit’ on anassignment, or an overall ‘Fail’ onthe course, the trainee concerned isnot going to be overjoyed and might

5

4

3

2

1

questions. This is particularly importantfor any trainees who find themselves ina panic about their impending lesson.At the end of TP, the trainees arerequired to provide a self-evaluation ofthe lesson they have taught before thegroup is gathered for TP feedback withtheir tutor. A good dose of daily liaisonwith fellow tutors is needed to track theprogress of all the trainees in theirindividual TP groups, to ensure thatthey are given the necessary guidanceand help during the input sessions andthe Supervised Lesson Planning.

Over the period of the course, thetrainees also have to submit four writtenassignments of about 1,000 words each,which the tutors have to mark. Inaddition, the tutors have otheradministrative tasks, such as writingprogress reports, timetables andcandidate profiles, as well as pastoralcare duties, such as providing tutorialsfor individual trainees. These are allthings the tutors need to find time forwithin their busy schedules.

react emotionally. Being critical ofsomeone’s teaching style cansometimes be seen as a judgementof their personality, so try toprovide feedback in a way that is asobjective and as supportive andhelpful as possible – and allow timeand space for the trainees to beemotional, if necessary.

Anticipate what the assessor mightask to see. If you are not sure,speak to more experiencedcolleagues about the assessor.Over-prepare and make sure allyour admin is in order when theassessor comes.

Attend teacher developmentsessions or conference presentationsabout teacher training.

Read blogs likeTeacherTrainingUnplugged.wordpress.com.

Use discussion platforms like#ELTchat on Twitter to help reflecton what you believe and what you do.

Remember that the CELTA is onlya month long. It is not a course toteach trainees everything they needto know about ELT. It is a courseto show them how to find out whatthey need to know about ELT.

� � �

Being a CELTA tutor is a responsibilitythat is not to be taken lightly. However,the privilege of being able to play a partin the journey of another teacher is notonly intensely rewarding, it also forcesyou as a tutor to re-examine your ownbeliefs and attitudes towards languagelearning and how this is reflected inyour teaching practice. In the end, itmight be your own teaching thatbenefits the most from the course!

10

9

8

7

6


� � �

A day in the life of a CELTA tutor

8.30 am

9–10 am

10–11 am

11 am–12 pm

12 pm–12.30 pm

1.30–3.30 pm

3.30–4 pm

4–4.30 pm

4.30–5.30 pm

5.30–6.30 pm

6.30 pm

Preparation check

Input session

Admin and languageawareness

Break

Lunch meeting

Teaching Practice (TP)

TP feedback

Tutors’ meeting

Tying up loose ends

Report writing

Go home

I ensure I have everything I need for the input session that day. I also checkthat I know what my fellow tutors will be covering in their 11 am input session.

I might do a workshop or a demonstration lesson, but I try to leave plenty oftime for discussion. What might seem obvious to an experienced teachermight not be obvious to a new teacher.

This is the time for me to set assignments, arrange for observations ofexperienced teachers and get the trainees to keep their portfolios up-to-date.

My trainees also use this hour to discuss the language they have heard theirlearners produce and to practise ways of dealing with emergent language, egunderstanding how language works, clarifying meaning, form andpronunciation, and correcting and reformulating.

Not really a break. While the other tutor does her input session, I use the timeto prepare the following day’s input session.

The lunch hour is often used to exchange notes with fellow TP tutorsregarding the progress of the trainees and the best ways to go aboutdeveloping them.

While the trainees teach, I sit at the back and observe both the trainees andthe students. I make notes on their lesson plans and on feedback sheets, inthe hope that written feedback will help them reflect. After two hours of non-stop frantic scribbling, my hand starts to hurt.

The TP group gathers together for feedback. Although some trainees see thisas a moment of ‘judgement’, it is a good time to build rapport amongst thegroup. I encourage group members to bring up any positive points on thelessons taught. I find ways to encourage reflection. Mistakes are good, aslong as you realise what went wrong and work on ways to improve on it.Don’t focus too much on the grade. It is the development that counts.

The tutors exchange notes on what happened at TP that day.

Certain individuals may need counselling or extra help with their lessonplanning.

I might need to check that the relevant pages of their CELTA folders areorganised and kept up-to-date.

Folders might need to be brought down to tutors if reports have to be written.

I might need to revise the following week’s timetable in light of the progressof the group this week.

Three reports need to be written for each candidate through the period of theCELTA course.

I head home, but the day often does not end here. I tend to prefer to markassignments in the comfort of my own home.

Time Activity Notes



T E C H N O L O G Y

[email protected]

Francesca Smith hasbeen teaching Englishfor 22 years. She hasworked in Portugal,England and Brazil,where she trainedteachers. She has aMasters in TESOL and isinterested in computerassisted and mobilelanguage learning.

Get ’appyGet ’appyFrancesca McClure Smith explores the teaching applications

you can download onto your phone or tablet computer.

Having finally acquired yourconsumer dream mobile device,your next question is: Which

apps are out there for English teachers?Faced with a sea of options, where tobegin in this digital Disneyland? In thisarticle, I will list a number of appswhich have proved to be really effectivein my classes, and explain how to findthem and how to use them. These appscan be downloaded for free or at verylow cost from the App Store, if youhave an Apple device, or from GooglePlay, if your tablet or mobile phone usesAndroid technology.

Reference booksInvaluable to all language teachers are agood dictionary and, in a monolingualEFL context, a translating app. Digitalreference books are lighter to carry thantheir paper counterparts and far quickerto use, enabling you to check things youare unsure about in seconds. They arealso updated regularly, which meansthat there is no need to buy neweditions. Word Web and Dictionary areboth apps that work offline and also actas a thesaurus; they include audio and‘favourite word’ features.

From the numerous translator appsavailable, I recommend iTranslate, whichis free and available in 50 differentlanguages. The downside is that it onlyworks when you have an internetconnection. However, as wirelessenvironments become increasinglycommon, this may not be a problem.

Reference apps such as these arewell worth recommending to studentsfor their own mobile devices.

FlashcardsTablet computers are ideal fordisplaying flashcards to revise andpractise vocabulary. Learners workingin small groups can share a tablet – andyou can share one with your student if

you are teaching one-to-one. It is alsopossible to show app material from amobile device on a computer screen byattaching the mobile device to thecomputer using an adaptor cable.

Quizlet is an online tool designed tomake personalised flashcards veryeasily. Images can be found and addedquickly, using the ‘Search images’button, and there is also an audiofeature. Alternatively, you can downloadready-made shared card sets. Quizlethas an iPhone app, facilitating quickrevision on the move for busy students.

Lower levelsWhen searching for apps in the AppStore or Google Play, take a look atrelated categories, such as Games andEducation as well as English LanguageLearning, to expand your options.

Speaking skillsStorywheel is another app originallydesigned for a non-ELT setting. Its aimis to develop children’s cognitiveabilities through storytelling, but it alsoworks really well to improve Englishstudents’ speaking skills and to practisenarrative tenses.

Players take turns to make acollective story, spinning a wheel whichstops on a picture and then recordingthemselves telling that part of the storyfor up to 30 seconds. Each contributionshould incorporate the picture which hasappeared on the wheel into the storyline.The whole class can be involved indeciding the plot, and individual learnerscan rehearse their part before recordingit, thus focusing on accuracy as well asfluency. Once the story is finished, it isplayed back for the students to hear asthe screen shows the correspondinganimated images. This type of activity isa great follow-up for work on narrativetenses. It works best with one mobiledevice per group of four to six students.

Teaching aidsRemember the days when teachers hadto haul around aids like realia, dice andrecording devices from class to class?Now one small mobile device can holdit all.

Learners love rolling the dice byliterally shaking the tablet when usingthe Diceshaker 3d app, which comes invery handy for classroom board games.The One Stop English app has anactivity timer, giving students a visiblecountdown that adds excitement toroutine activities. There is also a voicerecorder, which comes in handy torecord students’ dialogues for lateranalysis and correction, as well as foractivities simulating exams like TOEFL,which include recorded samples ofspeech. Finally, this free app has funsound effects such as applause forcorrect answers and a police siren forwhen students make mistakes.

The mother of inventionThere are thousands of apps already onthe market. Nevertheless, I admit tobeing a little disappointed the first timeI searched for apps to use in theclassroom. It is still early days and, atthe moment, there are relatively fewgames or activities made specifically forEnglish language teachers to use withstudents in class. Necessity is themother of invention and, in response, Imade a partnership with a couple ofstudents of mine in the softwarebusiness and we had our own app made.It is called GetAcross and is a game topractise prepositions and phrasal verbs.It is available for free, so why not give ita try?

� � �

It is teachers, working hand-in-handwith developers and designers, who willmake the ELT apps of the future. So ifyou have a good idea, why not go for it?After all, it’s one more excuse to buyyour consumer dream. ETp


1 Tag? Isn’t that a game?

Although tag is a children’s game, whenwe talk about technology we use it in thesense of ‘label’. So just as a clothes tagwill give you information about the priceand size of a piece of clothing, a tag is avirtual label that gives information aboutan ‘object’ on the internet. Adding tags isknown as tagging.

2 Can you give me specificexamples?

Imagine you are an amateur naturephotographer who wants to share yourwork with the world – by doing so youmight sell your photos or get somecommissions. You upload a selection ofyour best photos to the photo-sharingsite Flickr (www.flickr.com) to make themwidely available. But amongst all themillions of Flickr photos, how will peopleactually find yours? Tagging can help. Foreach of your photos you add tags –labels or keywords – which reflect thecontent, such as nature, bird, flight, lake,etc. A picture researcher looking throughFlickr for a specific type of nature photo,and using some of these keywords, isthen more likely to find your work.

Let’s take this idea into theclassroom. Imagine your students haveproduced slideshows related to aclassroom research project, and haveuploaded these to the internet. How canyou share their work with the world?Tagging each slideshow with relevantkeywords will help other teachers orstudents find it. And imagine that youhave a blog and have written a postabout this specific slideshow project andhow you carried it out with your students.How can other teachers find your blogpost and try out your lesson idea withtheir own students? Again, adding tagsto your post will make it much more likelyto appear in internet searches.

So, tags provide ‘metadata’ aboutonline information. This helps categoriseor organise the information, and somakes it easier to classify or find. Anypiece of virtual information can be

tagged. You can tag blog posts, videos,images, software programs, onlineevents, articles ...

3 I’ve heard of ‘tag clouds’. What are they?

Let’s look again at the blog exampleabove. You wrote a blog post about yourstudents’ project and tagged it with wordslike slideshow, project, ELT, etc so thatother teachers could find it. In fact, you’vealready carried out several slideshowprojects with different classes on varioustopics and have several blog posts abouthow to carry each of these out. On yourblog you’ve added a tag cloud ‘widget’(or program) that collects the tags thatyou’ve used in the posts in your blog,and displays them as hyperlinks in theform of a cloud. Teachers visiting yourblog will see the tag cloud and can clickon any of the items in it to see a list ofthe posts tagged with that specific word.If they’d like to read more about yourvarious slideshow projects, they can clickon the word slideshow in your blog’s tagcloud and they will see all your otherposts about slideshows.

Here’s an exampleof a tag cloud from myown blog (in this casethe posts are mainlyconcerned with ICT,m-learning, etc). Thelarger the word in thecloud, the more frequently that tag is used –this means there are more posts on thatparticular topic in the blog. By looking at atag cloud, you can quickly and easily seewhat topics are covered in a blog. Byclicking on the tag, you can go straight tothe posts carrying that tag. A blog tag cloudwill keep evolving, reflecting the tags youadd to (or remove from) your blog posts.

4 How do I know what tags touse?

The beauty of tagging is that you choosethe tags you think are most relevant. Youmay even want to add tags in more thanone language. For your nature photos on

Nicky Hockly has been involved in EFLteaching and teacher training since1987. She is Director of Pedagogy ofThe Consultants-E, an online teachertraining and development consultancy.She is co-author of How to TeachEnglish with Technology, LearningEnglish as a Foreign Language forDummies, Teaching Online and Digital Literacies. She has publishedan e-book, Webinars: A Cookbook for Educators (the-round.com), andshe maintains a blog atwww.emoderationskills.com.

Flickr (see above), if your photos of birdsare from a lake in Spain, you may want toadd a few tags in Spanish. Then anyonesearching in Spanish (for a Spanishnature magazine, perhaps) will be morelikely to find your photos.

You will often find the wordfolksonomies used in conjunction withtagging. Whereas a taxonomy is a fairly rigidhierarchy of terms applied to something,a folksonomy is created and modified byusers. Knowing how to tag and contribute tofolksonomies is part of a set of increasinglyessential digital literacies, skills needed tonavigate our digital world. Tagging literacyincludes not just knowing what words to tagwith, and what language(s) to tag in, butwhen not to tag. Tagging photos of friendson Facebook, for example, may beinappropriate at times, and it may be ethicalto get their permission before doing so.

5 How do I get started withtagging?

You and your students could start addingdigital photos with tags to Flickr. You couldset up a class blog and tag each postdepending on the topic. You and yourstudents could start saving and taggingwebpages in a social bookmarking toolsuch as Delicious (www.delicious.com) orDiigo (www.diigo.com). If you tag all ofthese online resources with a specially-chosen class tag, such as ‘eng101’ or‘fce2012’, then you can easily retrieve themfor a specific group of students. Thestudents themselves can add and tagtheir own resources out of class, andthese, too, will be easy to retrieve.

T E C H N O L O G Y

Five things you always wanted to know about

tagging (but were afraid to ask)

In this series, Nicky Hocklyexplains aspects of technology whichsome people may be embarrassed toconfess that they don’t reallyunderstand. In this article, sheexplains tags and tagging.

Contact Nicky at [email protected] and let herknow of any ICT areas you’d like her to explore in this series.

ETp


WebWebwatcher Russell Stannard shares

a tool that promotes sharing.

Edmodo is a sharing and collaboration site which offersso many interesting features that it could almost becalled a virtual learning environment. I find it hard tobelieve that it is free. If you want to create a quick space

where your students can share content and upload files, links,videos, etc, then this is the site for you. It has a similar look andfeel to Facebook, so your students will be familiar with theformat and, in most cases, will immediately take to it withoutyou having to provide any guidance. So what can you do withEdmodo and what are the special features it offers?

Multiple features● You can create an account and separate groups for each

class you teach in seconds. Your students can sign up tothese groups very easily and don’t even have to provide anemail address.

● Each class group can share interesting links, files, videos,articles, etc on a central wall – you can upload content and socan your students.

● You can use it for discussions.

● You can upload any files that you want your students toaccess, putting them in a special folder.

● You have a calendar where you can input important dates onyour course.

● You can create quick polls and quizzes.

● You can send alerts.

● You can give students special award badges.

● You can set up assignments.

Don’t be put off by the range of things you can do with Edmodo.It is quite simple to use and, once you become familiar with it,you will be able to create groups and get content up for eachgroup at the touch of button. Each time you create a group, youwill be given a ‘group code’ which you share with the class. Thestudents then join by simply typing in the group code.

Here are a few simple ideas to start you off:

● Set an essay for the students to write and get them to uploadcomments, links, videos and pictures onto the wall as a wayof brainstorming ideas on the topic. They can then use all thematerial to write their individual essays.

● Set a weekly discussion topic: the students post theircomments on the wall.

● Share a video on the wall. Tell the students to watch it andshare their comments on it.

● Upload an interesting article that you want your students toread onto the wall. Tell them to post comments when theyhave read it.

● Use the wall to create a quick poll. For example, you mightoffer the students several options for the topic of their nextessay and get them to vote on which one they would prefer.

Russell Stannard is a Principal Lecturer in ICT at theUniversity of Warwick, UK, where he teaches on theMA in ELT. He won the Times Higher EducationAward for Outstanding Initiatives in Information andCommunications Technology in 2008, TEFLnet Site ofthe Year in 2009 and a 2010 British Council ELTonaward, all for his popular websitewww.teachertrainingvideos.com.

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

● In class, tell the students to go onto the internet and find aninteresting news story in English. Tell them to read it, takenotes and then post a quick summary of, say, 100 words onthe wall. This way you will create a news feed.

What I like about Edmodo is that nearly all the main benefitscome from the central wall and once the students are clearabout loading files and videos, leaving comments, etc (all theseare done in a similar way), they will be up and running.

Multiple usesEdmodo is a tool that you can make use of both in class andalso for homework. If my students are working in groups anddiscussing something, I can get one person in each group toshare the group’s ideas on the wall. I can then see the keypoints that each group is discussing.

I have also found it very useful for teacher training sessionswhen I wanted a central location where the participants couldhave easy access to all the content I wanted to share with them,but where they could share useful content that they found, too.

It is great for project work as well. Let’s say you want yourstudents to discuss the world’s energy problems. Tell them towork in groups, go online, find interesting material related to thesubject and put it onto the wall. You might provide them with alist of topics (eg carbon emissions, solar power, pollution, etc) toget them started and tell each group to choose one. Thestudents can even tag everything they upload so that you canquickly find content linked to each topic. Just tell them to clickon ‘tag’ each time they load something and then choose ‘newtag’. You can then use the wall in all sorts of ways. The studentscould use the content to create a five-minute PowerPointpresentation on their chosen topic or they could write a shortarticle around the main issues, etc. Again, you could get them toupload their articles onto the wall.

There is much more to Edmodo. For example, you cancreate special folders in the library where you can upload largerfiles for the students to access. You can also create quizzes,perhaps asking the students to watch a video and then do aquiz based on it afterwards. The tool is extremely flexible and, asyour confidence grows, you will be able to use more and moreof its features.

I have created some help videos to get you started andalso to explain the more detailed features:

www.teachertrainingvideos.com/edmodo1/index.html

www.teachertrainingvideos.com/edmodo2/index.html

ETp


Prize crossword 56

To solve the puzzle, find which letter each number represents.You can keep a record in the boxes above. The definitions of thewords in the puzzle are given, but not in the right order. Whenyou have finished, you will be able to read the quotation.

VERY FREQUENT WORDS*** The thing measured by a clock *** A neutral pronoun *** A way that buses or trains travel regularly *** A conjunction used to indicate thatsomething happened during the same timethat something else happened *** Something that is necessary *** The planet we live on *** An alcoholic drink made from grapes *** __ the Road (book by Jack Kerouac)*** To touch something forcefully*** An informal word for a party *** __, Myself, I (song by Joan Armatrading)*** Giving out or reflecting a lot of light *** An informal greeting*** A word that offers a choice between twoor more things*** A round object with a shell produced by a female bird *** A pronoun used to refer to a man, boy or male animal *** To employ something for a specificpurpose *** To make a knot with two ends of a pieceof string*** Used to describe a number divisible bytwo*** A group of people who play a sport orgame against another group*** The star at the centre of our solar system*** An extra room or rooms added to abuildingFREQUENT WORDS** Used to describe a slope that rises quickly ** An exclamation of pleasure or discovery ** A fruit that grows inside a hard shell onsome types of tree ** The ability to move smoothly andbeautifully** An action that transgresses religious laws

9 2 11 23 23 15 5 25 11 7 12 14 25 1

2 25 14 14 17 9 2 12

13 4 12 26 15 26 9 12 2 2 16 9 19

4 2 2 3 14 15 20 11 15 11

9 3 21 18 8 4 17 11

17 21 15 17 26 11 11 8 11

9 26 9 22 11 16 11 6 15 17

26 9 11 11 24 26 11 2 17 9 12 2 11

9 17 9 2 4 26 10 3

16 9 17 20 12 17 11 14 26 11 14

11 12 26 17 26 14 15 3 3 25 11

2 11 7 26 4 9 3 3

18 11 25 11 9 17 4 14 11 25 10 18 15

9 11 1 15 4 11 12 9 26

1 12 14 22 15 2 26 14 12 4 26 11

N

25 9 23 11 9 17 7 18 15 26 18 15 8 8 11 2 17

7 18 9 25 11 10 12 4 15 14 11 5 4 17 10

22 15 21 9 2 3 12 26 18 11 14 8 25 15 2 17

ETp presents the fifty-sixth in ourseries of prize crosswords. Send yourentry (completed crossword grid andquotation), not forgetting to include

your full name, postal address and telephone number,to Prize crossword 56, ENGLISH TEACHING professional,Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd, Rayford House,School Road, Hove, BN3 5JR, UK. Ten correct entrieswill be drawn from a hat on 10 February 2013 and thesenders will each receive a copy of the second editionof the Macmillan English Dictionary for AdvancedLearners, applauded for its unique red star systemshowing the frequency of the 7,500 most commonwords in English (www.macmillandictionary.com).

John Lennon

** A feeling of great happinessFAIRLY FREQUENT WORDS* Words from a book or play used byanother writer * An insect or animal that damages plantsor food supplies* A container for cut flowers* Open and honest even if it causes offence LESS FREQUENT WORDS– To sleep for a short time, especially during the day– So beautiful that it cannot be described – To twist your face into an angryexpression– A simple home-made bomb– Used to describe something that is notactive now but may become so in future – Used in writing to indicate you are givingmore information about somethingpreviously mentioned– An attitude indicative of the belief thatmen and women should be treateddifferently – A thin smooth cloth made from artificialfibres– To grow or spread in an untidy way – To care for and attend to a young child,animal or plant – To make something increase in length – Asking a lot of questions about things,especially things people don’t want to talkabout – Someone who makes clothes to fitindividual customers– A type of music that developed in Jamaica in the 1950s– A small aquatic animal similar to a lizard– Slow and relaxed – The back of the neck – To separate groups of people by race, sex or religion

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

N