First, Immersion is necessary.
It's difficult to pick up any spoken language or at any rate to acquire it quickly, unless you set about thinking with that language. The solution is to steep yourself within it.
Second, think as though you were a child!
How children acquire language? By imitation, repetition of speech sounds, and most importantly, by not being timid. Just begin speaking, even if it sounds as though you're blathering. Keep an eye on the expressions of native-born speakers when they enunciate their words; examine how they move their lips. Imitate these aspects and speech sounds precisely as if you were a child. Whether you interpret what they imply precisely or not, sooner or later you'll start using these speech sounds in suitable situations. They'll come along, magically. This is the method for how to learn a language fluently.
Third, employ the following question "How do you say it?"
In addition to general greetings, the single question you want to learn and always have ready is "How do you say that?" Native speakers are your foremost instructors: lay out a regular goal for yourself of having so many discussions, daily discussing with people concerning affairs you're curious about, but may not recognize the words for. Even when you can't complete a discussion, you are on the path to learn a language fluently.
Fourth, write it out
After having discussions, write the things you recall hearing but couldn't originally interpret. Then go back and employ a dictionary. Search their words; assemble the discussion back together in your mind. And then, the next time you have a similar conversation, apply what you acquired.
Fifth, Utilize television, films, music
Watch films, pay heed to music, and browse newspapers and magazines. It's entertaining and improves your enunciation and understanding.
Sixth, gestural clues
Beyond words, keep an eye on native speakers while they speak. Intermixing body language with this new spoken language assists you with more adept communicating. This has particular significance within cultures where language is intimately associated with gestures.
Seventh, be emotive!
Emotional experiences frequently etch effects onto our memory. Utilize awkward / laughable / irritating experiences by associating them with your new language.
Eighth, set out with other people and then go it alone.
If you follow these instructions you should soon find yourself able to learn a language fluently.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Foreign Accent:: It Is a Part Of Your Identity
If you have a foreign accent, you probably have a love/hate relationship with it. On one hand, you know that your accent is a part of who you are and points back to your country of origin, a place you likely have fond memories of. On the other hand, your accent can cause you to stand out, and some people have a difficult time understanding you when you speak if your accent is quite heavy.
As you learn English, you are learning not only vocabulary and grammar, but also the sounds of the language. This is why you spend so much time imitating sounds and speaking the language out loud. A lot of practice makes your pronunciation much more clear, but you can struggle with some sounds. This is because your native tongue does not have some of the sounds the English language has. This is no different than the struggles a native English speaker would have when trying to learn Spanish. As an adult, your mouth has been trained to form certain sounds and not others, and the sounds of your native tongue carry over into your English speech. This is why it is so difficult to completely remove an accent, because it is literally a part of the person that you are.
Your accent is part of who you are. Many people across the world find foreign accents quite beautiful. Some actors and actresses are chosen for major film roles just for their accent or ability to portray an accent. Accents sound romantic and exotic to the listener in many situations. If your accent is thick, it may be difficult for other people to understand you when you speak English. This can lead to other problems.
Your accent makes you unique, but if it is causing trouble for you, you may want to do something about it. The good news is that you do not have to get rid of your accent altogether if you wish to improve your speaking ability.
What you can do to improve your ability to communicate is work on the strength of your accent. You can actually practice aloud that will help you form the sounds that you are struggling with when speaking English.
As you learn English, you are learning not only vocabulary and grammar, but also the sounds of the language. This is why you spend so much time imitating sounds and speaking the language out loud. A lot of practice makes your pronunciation much more clear, but you can struggle with some sounds. This is because your native tongue does not have some of the sounds the English language has. This is no different than the struggles a native English speaker would have when trying to learn Spanish. As an adult, your mouth has been trained to form certain sounds and not others, and the sounds of your native tongue carry over into your English speech. This is why it is so difficult to completely remove an accent, because it is literally a part of the person that you are.
Your accent is part of who you are. Many people across the world find foreign accents quite beautiful. Some actors and actresses are chosen for major film roles just for their accent or ability to portray an accent. Accents sound romantic and exotic to the listener in many situations. If your accent is thick, it may be difficult for other people to understand you when you speak English. This can lead to other problems.
Your accent makes you unique, but if it is causing trouble for you, you may want to do something about it. The good news is that you do not have to get rid of your accent altogether if you wish to improve your speaking ability.
What you can do to improve your ability to communicate is work on the strength of your accent. You can actually practice aloud that will help you form the sounds that you are struggling with when speaking English.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE
The main differences between EFL and ESL are the students and the location where English is being taught to speakers of other languages.
Starting with the basics, EFL stands for English as a Foreign Language and ESL stands for English as a Second Language. More inclusive ESL acronyms are ESOL and TESOL. ESOL stands for English for Speakers of Other Languages. TESOL stands for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.
TEFL stands for Teaching English as a Foreign Language. TESL stands for Teaching English as a Second Language. An English teacher who teaches English to speakers of other languages in a non-English speaking country is teaching EFL. For example, an American living and teaching English in France is a TEFL teacher. His or her students are mostly likely French and their first language (L1) is French. The students are studying EFL.
A teacher living and teaching English in an English speaking country, such as the U.S. or Canada, is teaching ESL. The teacher’s (or tutor's) students are mostly likely students who are from non-English speaking countries, but are now living and studying English in an English-speaking country. The English language learner (ELL) may be living permanently in the country or may just be visiting the country.
Thus, bilingualism is a feature not just of individuals, but also of societies.
Societies in which two languages are used regularly, or in which more than one language has official status or a recurrent function, can be called bilingual. For example, Canada is a bilingual country because French and English are both official languages, even though many citizens of Canada are monolingual English speakers. Saudi Arabia is also a bilingual society, as most Saudis speak both Arabic and English, though English has no official status. The nature of individual bilingualism is quite different in different communities. For example, there are those where bilingualism is the norm for all educated citizens as it is, in relatively small language communities like Scandinavia and The Netherlands. In other countries where bilingualism is the norm for the minority language speakers but not those with the greatest political or economic power in the society (e.g., for Quechua speakers in Peru, for Turkish speakers in the Netherlands, for Spanish speakers in the United States); and those where bilingualism is the norm for the upper classes and better educated but not the relatively powerless (e.g., Colombia). It must be noted that the United States and other traditionally English-speaking countries observe a norm of monolingualism (low expectations for second/foreign language proficiency, low value placed on immigrant languages, universal emphasis on the need to speak English) that is possible only for speakers of a 'language of wider communication' living in an economy that is globally highly influential. In Chile, English is spoken as a foreign language and as Spanish-speaking country is observed a norm of monolingualism with a high expectation for a foreign language proficiency on the need to communicate in English .
Starting with the basics, EFL stands for English as a Foreign Language and ESL stands for English as a Second Language. More inclusive ESL acronyms are ESOL and TESOL. ESOL stands for English for Speakers of Other Languages. TESOL stands for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.
TEFL stands for Teaching English as a Foreign Language. TESL stands for Teaching English as a Second Language. An English teacher who teaches English to speakers of other languages in a non-English speaking country is teaching EFL. For example, an American living and teaching English in France is a TEFL teacher. His or her students are mostly likely French and their first language (L1) is French. The students are studying EFL.
A teacher living and teaching English in an English speaking country, such as the U.S. or Canada, is teaching ESL. The teacher’s (or tutor's) students are mostly likely students who are from non-English speaking countries, but are now living and studying English in an English-speaking country. The English language learner (ELL) may be living permanently in the country or may just be visiting the country.
Thus, bilingualism is a feature not just of individuals, but also of societies.
Societies in which two languages are used regularly, or in which more than one language has official status or a recurrent function, can be called bilingual. For example, Canada is a bilingual country because French and English are both official languages, even though many citizens of Canada are monolingual English speakers. Saudi Arabia is also a bilingual society, as most Saudis speak both Arabic and English, though English has no official status. The nature of individual bilingualism is quite different in different communities. For example, there are those where bilingualism is the norm for all educated citizens as it is, in relatively small language communities like Scandinavia and The Netherlands. In other countries where bilingualism is the norm for the minority language speakers but not those with the greatest political or economic power in the society (e.g., for Quechua speakers in Peru, for Turkish speakers in the Netherlands, for Spanish speakers in the United States); and those where bilingualism is the norm for the upper classes and better educated but not the relatively powerless (e.g., Colombia). It must be noted that the United States and other traditionally English-speaking countries observe a norm of monolingualism (low expectations for second/foreign language proficiency, low value placed on immigrant languages, universal emphasis on the need to speak English) that is possible only for speakers of a 'language of wider communication' living in an economy that is globally highly influential. In Chile, English is spoken as a foreign language and as Spanish-speaking country is observed a norm of monolingualism with a high expectation for a foreign language proficiency on the need to communicate in English .
Monday, May 30, 2011
Is Grammar Really Important for a Second Language Learner?
This is a question and the answer is clear and simple: “indeed.” Grammar is the backbone of a language and without it any single thing you know may be flux, in a sort of jelly without much consistency. Grammar provides you with the structure you need in order to organize and put your messages and ideas across. Without it, you won’t be able to convey your ideas to their full extension without a good command of the underlying grammar patterns and structures of the language.
Now a days there are two scenarios. In one extreme we have those language courses that teach grammar almost exclusively, as if preparing the students to be grammarians of the second language rather than users. In the other extreme we have those “communicative” courses in which the only thing that is done is to talk about something or to read an article and comment on it. In many cases, what is seen in one class has no resemblance to what is done in the next.
In my experience, both scenarios may seem good for very specific purposes but I personally feel both are inappropriate for most language learners. For starters, by itself, a good command of the grammar of a language does not imply that the person is able to communicate effectively, as we usually see with students who have only been exposed to an all-grammar-oriented approach sometimes for many years. Many could recite the grammar by heart but if asked to express basic information, they would hesitate too much and browse through all the grammar rules in their heads before making an utterance, or simply dry up.
On the other hand, just talking in class without anything else done in order to learn from the actual conversation is not good enough either. This approach may be more useful for advanced students who just need to brush up their second language, but for those in need of building up the foundations of a new language, it is certainly too vague and without any consistency.
"Is grammar really important for a second language learner?" "yes", but, the real question, or issue here is not whether grammar is important or not but rather how we should present grammar to our students. You may be surprised to hear that most of students, even advanced ones, have very little awareness of grammar jargon and terminology, in spite of the fact that they can make a pretty good use of the second language. "How is that possible?". First and foremost, teachers need to know precisely what they are trying to prepare their students for. I do know that what I want is to "create" users of a new language.
I want to prepare people to actually engage in communicative situations using appropriate language and patterns. I am definitely not interested in their explaining to me or making a mental list of all the grammar uses that a certain pattern has.
Before we start to use the material we have selected, it would be good to introduce the students to the topic you are going to work on. You can have them guess or infer what the material will say about it, they can make predictions and when they fail to use appropriate language, you may provide it. This is good to elicit vocabulary that may be necessary for them to know in order to understand the topic. After you have created curiosity in the topic and provided students with key terms on the topic, make sure you follow a progression such as the one that follows:
1) Provide them with exposure to real language and real situations IN CONTEXT.
2) Initial focus on the essential , not form.
3) Focus on more specific meaning.
4) We can then focus on very specific meaning.
5) Analysis and systematization: after we make sure the students have a good understanding of the whole material, you can have them focus on particular items or patterns that may be important for them to learn at their stage (i.e. grammar) You can systematize it more formally and teach them how it works. After all, they have already seen it in practice and they have also worked around meaning, now it is time for them to learn how to use it.
6) Give them exercises for them to practice the new structure. Do not be afraid of using grammar drills and patterns. They could be useful for them to fix the new structures in their brains.
7) Give them homework to force them to revise this at a later time. The homework does not necessarily need to be communicative in nature. Profit from the time in class to communicate and interact.
8) Provide them with several opportunities to practice what they have learned in real communicative situations. Create situations so that they can make lots of mistakes and encourage them to improve on them by reminding them of what they have studied.
9) Recycle and mention the topic again as many times as necessary, time and again.
This is essential for them to finally acquire the new structures in a natural way.
I am not condemning grammar at all. I complain about teachers working almost exclusively with a grammar-oriented approach. On the contrary, I feel it is essential in order to master a language. However, how grammar is presented to the students is what really matters. I disagree with those teachers who come to class and tell the class: “Open your books. Today we will learn the “Present Perfect Tense ”
Now a days there are two scenarios. In one extreme we have those language courses that teach grammar almost exclusively, as if preparing the students to be grammarians of the second language rather than users. In the other extreme we have those “communicative” courses in which the only thing that is done is to talk about something or to read an article and comment on it. In many cases, what is seen in one class has no resemblance to what is done in the next.
In my experience, both scenarios may seem good for very specific purposes but I personally feel both are inappropriate for most language learners. For starters, by itself, a good command of the grammar of a language does not imply that the person is able to communicate effectively, as we usually see with students who have only been exposed to an all-grammar-oriented approach sometimes for many years. Many could recite the grammar by heart but if asked to express basic information, they would hesitate too much and browse through all the grammar rules in their heads before making an utterance, or simply dry up.
On the other hand, just talking in class without anything else done in order to learn from the actual conversation is not good enough either. This approach may be more useful for advanced students who just need to brush up their second language, but for those in need of building up the foundations of a new language, it is certainly too vague and without any consistency.
"Is grammar really important for a second language learner?" "yes", but, the real question, or issue here is not whether grammar is important or not but rather how we should present grammar to our students. You may be surprised to hear that most of students, even advanced ones, have very little awareness of grammar jargon and terminology, in spite of the fact that they can make a pretty good use of the second language. "How is that possible?". First and foremost, teachers need to know precisely what they are trying to prepare their students for. I do know that what I want is to "create" users of a new language.
I want to prepare people to actually engage in communicative situations using appropriate language and patterns. I am definitely not interested in their explaining to me or making a mental list of all the grammar uses that a certain pattern has.
Before we start to use the material we have selected, it would be good to introduce the students to the topic you are going to work on. You can have them guess or infer what the material will say about it, they can make predictions and when they fail to use appropriate language, you may provide it. This is good to elicit vocabulary that may be necessary for them to know in order to understand the topic. After you have created curiosity in the topic and provided students with key terms on the topic, make sure you follow a progression such as the one that follows:
1) Provide them with exposure to real language and real situations IN CONTEXT.
2) Initial focus on the essential , not form.
3) Focus on more specific meaning.
4) We can then focus on very specific meaning.
5) Analysis and systematization: after we make sure the students have a good understanding of the whole material, you can have them focus on particular items or patterns that may be important for them to learn at their stage (i.e. grammar) You can systematize it more formally and teach them how it works. After all, they have already seen it in practice and they have also worked around meaning, now it is time for them to learn how to use it.
6) Give them exercises for them to practice the new structure. Do not be afraid of using grammar drills and patterns. They could be useful for them to fix the new structures in their brains.
7) Give them homework to force them to revise this at a later time. The homework does not necessarily need to be communicative in nature. Profit from the time in class to communicate and interact.
8) Provide them with several opportunities to practice what they have learned in real communicative situations. Create situations so that they can make lots of mistakes and encourage them to improve on them by reminding them of what they have studied.
9) Recycle and mention the topic again as many times as necessary, time and again.
This is essential for them to finally acquire the new structures in a natural way.
I am not condemning grammar at all. I complain about teachers working almost exclusively with a grammar-oriented approach. On the contrary, I feel it is essential in order to master a language. However, how grammar is presented to the students is what really matters. I disagree with those teachers who come to class and tell the class: “Open your books. Today we will learn the “Present Perfect Tense ”
Creating a Brain Compatible environment in your classroom.
Brain Research in the Foreign Language
Merrill Swain (1979), a leader in the field of foreign language learning, believes that early immersion students enter into the process of learning a second language at a time when it does not compete with other interests, as it is an integral part of their normal school activity. Older students, on the other hand, quickly recognize that learning a second language involves considerable time, dedication and effort, consequently preferring to spend their time and energy elsewhere. In other words, older students may excel in their initial rate of second language learning as input is more comprehensible for them because of their background knowledge--they are faster acquirers as well as faster learners and because of this they have a greater ability to consciously learn grammar rules (Krashen & Terrell, 1983), while younger students excel in long-term second language achievement. However, it is a myth to think that children find the process totally painless (Hakuta, 1986). The most difficult learning task for children and adults alike may be the attempt to acquire second language proficiency in school environments (Asher, 1982). It is simply not true that young children learn a new language more easily and quickly than adults because the many variables that are directly involved in the process of learning a language such as specific situations, input, interactions and most importantly, the amount of time invested in language learning in a quality program make language learning hard work for both groups.
Research into the language learning difficulties of high school and college students revealed that phonological decoding deficits account for much of the variance between successful and unsuccessful language learning experiences (Ganschow, Javorsky, Pohlman & Bishop-Marbury, 1991; Gardner & Smythe, 1981; Strozer, 1994). Providing more activities related to social interaction in a brain-compatible setting could possibly eliminate future problems associated with phonological processing difficulties involving phonetics (speech sounds), phonemics (relationships between speech sounds), or the development of syntax and creative language. Tarone & Swain (1995) noted that children participating in immersion programs during the early grade levels tend to use the second language with each other in the classroom and socially to a much greater extent than children in the upper grade levels. They believe that situations where the second language is only used in the classroom generally occur within immersion classrooms where the second language is the superordinate or formal language used in the classroom for academic purposes, while the native language is reserved for use during informal social interactions. Tarone and Swain (1995) refer to this as diglossia and speculate that a major reason for the reluctance of older immersion students to use the second language in social situations at higher grade levels is because of the increase of diglossic situations encountered in their daily activities. Dahl (1997) reiterates this point stating that students are generally not taught the vernacular vocabulary which would allow them to communicate in social situations in the second language, thus forcing the students to speak in their native language.
The problem still remains with the thousands of secondary foreign language programs that attempt to influence second language learning during a two year period after the brain has initiated these early developmental phases described above. Teachers must take a proactive stance and examine a different question—What information can brain research provide us with that will facilitate second language during the secondary school experience? The answer lies with exploring ways to involve the students actively by incorporating many different instructional approaches including methodology utilized in early language learning into the secondary classroom setting, and creating a brain-compatible learning environment that enables students to excel at their own rate.
Language is not taught, rather it is learned through informal classroom structure that encourages social interaction (Morison, 1990)
Merrill Swain (1979), a leader in the field of foreign language learning, believes that early immersion students enter into the process of learning a second language at a time when it does not compete with other interests, as it is an integral part of their normal school activity. Older students, on the other hand, quickly recognize that learning a second language involves considerable time, dedication and effort, consequently preferring to spend their time and energy elsewhere. In other words, older students may excel in their initial rate of second language learning as input is more comprehensible for them because of their background knowledge--they are faster acquirers as well as faster learners and because of this they have a greater ability to consciously learn grammar rules (Krashen & Terrell, 1983), while younger students excel in long-term second language achievement. However, it is a myth to think that children find the process totally painless (Hakuta, 1986). The most difficult learning task for children and adults alike may be the attempt to acquire second language proficiency in school environments (Asher, 1982). It is simply not true that young children learn a new language more easily and quickly than adults because the many variables that are directly involved in the process of learning a language such as specific situations, input, interactions and most importantly, the amount of time invested in language learning in a quality program make language learning hard work for both groups.
Research into the language learning difficulties of high school and college students revealed that phonological decoding deficits account for much of the variance between successful and unsuccessful language learning experiences (Ganschow, Javorsky, Pohlman & Bishop-Marbury, 1991; Gardner & Smythe, 1981; Strozer, 1994). Providing more activities related to social interaction in a brain-compatible setting could possibly eliminate future problems associated with phonological processing difficulties involving phonetics (speech sounds), phonemics (relationships between speech sounds), or the development of syntax and creative language. Tarone & Swain (1995) noted that children participating in immersion programs during the early grade levels tend to use the second language with each other in the classroom and socially to a much greater extent than children in the upper grade levels. They believe that situations where the second language is only used in the classroom generally occur within immersion classrooms where the second language is the superordinate or formal language used in the classroom for academic purposes, while the native language is reserved for use during informal social interactions. Tarone and Swain (1995) refer to this as diglossia and speculate that a major reason for the reluctance of older immersion students to use the second language in social situations at higher grade levels is because of the increase of diglossic situations encountered in their daily activities. Dahl (1997) reiterates this point stating that students are generally not taught the vernacular vocabulary which would allow them to communicate in social situations in the second language, thus forcing the students to speak in their native language.
The problem still remains with the thousands of secondary foreign language programs that attempt to influence second language learning during a two year period after the brain has initiated these early developmental phases described above. Teachers must take a proactive stance and examine a different question—What information can brain research provide us with that will facilitate second language during the secondary school experience? The answer lies with exploring ways to involve the students actively by incorporating many different instructional approaches including methodology utilized in early language learning into the secondary classroom setting, and creating a brain-compatible learning environment that enables students to excel at their own rate.
Language is not taught, rather it is learned through informal classroom structure that encourages social interaction (Morison, 1990)
Friday, May 27, 2011
Being bilingual 'protects brain'
Being bilingual 'protects brain'
The findings are based on tests on 104 people
Being fluent in two languages may help to keep the brain sharper for longer, a study suggests.
Researchers from York University in Canada carried out tests on 104 people between the ages of 30 and 88.
They found that those who were fluent in two languages rather than just one were sharper mentally.
Writing in the journal of Psychology and Ageing, they said being bilingual may protect against mental decline in old age.
Previous studies have shown that keeping the brain active can protect against senile dementia.
Research has shown that people who play musical instruments, dance or read regularly may be less likely to develop the condition.
Other activities like doing crosswords or playing board games may also help.
Language skills
This latest study appears to back up the theory that language skills also have a protective effect.
Dr Ellen Bialystok and colleagues at York University assessed the cognitive skills of all those involved in the study using a variety of widely recognised tests.
They tested their vocabulary skills, their non-verbal reasoning ability and their reaction time.
Half of the volunteers came from Canada and spoke only English. The other half came from India and were fluent in both English and Tamil.
The volunteers had similar backgrounds in the sense that they were all educated to degree level and were all middle class.
The researchers found that the people who were fluent in English and Tamil responded faster than those who were fluent in just English. This applied to all age groups.
The researchers also found that the bilingual volunteers were much less likely to suffer from the mental decline associated with old age.
"The bilinguals were more efficient at all ages tested and showed a slower rate of decline for some processes with aging," they said.
"It appears...that bilingualism helps to offset age-related losses."
The UK's Alzheimer's Society welcomed the study.
"These findings, that early development of second language may improve a specific aspect of cognitive function in later life, are very interesting," said Professor Clive Ballard, its director of research.
"It is a possibility that the acquisition of a second language in early childhood may influence the process of the development of neuronal circuits.
"However, the results of this particular study need to be interpreted cautiously as they were comparing groups of individual of different nationalities, educated in different systems.
"It is also well recognised that education in general can bestow benefits on cognitive function in later life."
The findings are based on tests on 104 people
Being fluent in two languages may help to keep the brain sharper for longer, a study suggests.
Researchers from York University in Canada carried out tests on 104 people between the ages of 30 and 88.
They found that those who were fluent in two languages rather than just one were sharper mentally.
Writing in the journal of Psychology and Ageing, they said being bilingual may protect against mental decline in old age.
Previous studies have shown that keeping the brain active can protect against senile dementia.
Research has shown that people who play musical instruments, dance or read regularly may be less likely to develop the condition.
Other activities like doing crosswords or playing board games may also help.
Language skills
This latest study appears to back up the theory that language skills also have a protective effect.
Dr Ellen Bialystok and colleagues at York University assessed the cognitive skills of all those involved in the study using a variety of widely recognised tests.
They tested their vocabulary skills, their non-verbal reasoning ability and their reaction time.
Half of the volunteers came from Canada and spoke only English. The other half came from India and were fluent in both English and Tamil.
The volunteers had similar backgrounds in the sense that they were all educated to degree level and were all middle class.
The researchers found that the people who were fluent in English and Tamil responded faster than those who were fluent in just English. This applied to all age groups.
The researchers also found that the bilingual volunteers were much less likely to suffer from the mental decline associated with old age.
"The bilinguals were more efficient at all ages tested and showed a slower rate of decline for some processes with aging," they said.
"It appears...that bilingualism helps to offset age-related losses."
The UK's Alzheimer's Society welcomed the study.
"These findings, that early development of second language may improve a specific aspect of cognitive function in later life, are very interesting," said Professor Clive Ballard, its director of research.
"It is a possibility that the acquisition of a second language in early childhood may influence the process of the development of neuronal circuits.
"However, the results of this particular study need to be interpreted cautiously as they were comparing groups of individual of different nationalities, educated in different systems.
"It is also well recognised that education in general can bestow benefits on cognitive function in later life."
Monday, May 16, 2011
Easy Ways For Teachers Who Are Non-Native Speakers Can Use More English in Class
Students who have studied English six years still can't speak it. The best textbooks, teaching materials, syllabi, and even regular visits from a native speaker will ultimately fail, however, if the ordinary classroom English teachers do not model and use English communicatively in their classrooms. As the primary exposure students have to living English, the regular English teachers are the most important people in the English education of their students.
Always Use English When Opening and Closing The Class
It's not very important that elementary students learn exactly what Let's begin means in the their native language. They will understand the basic idea if you use it at the beginning of every class.
Teach Your Students "Classroom English"
Teach the students classroom expressions appropriate for their level; for example, I don't know, I don't understand, Once again please, Just a minute, What's ~ in L1 (English)?, etc.
Try To Use Only One Or Two Expressions For The Same Activity
By limiting the number of classroom expressions the teacher uses, the students will learn the expressions faster. For example, in an elementary class you could use Open your books to page ~, even if the students' books are already open. Later, you can introduce the expression Turn to page ~. Some students will only understand ...page ~ anyway, so both expressions will have the same meaning to them. Other students, however, will figure out the two meanings without being explicitly taught.
Use Handouts For Written English Communication
Use English for very simple instructions such as Please write ~, Answer the following questions, English only, please, etc. Read the instructions to the students and explain the instructions by modeling what you what them to do (e.g., pretend to write answers as you read the questions aloud, or interview a student and pretend to write down what she or he says).
Teach Grammar In English Too
For teachers who have never taught grammar in English, nor seen it done, it may seem like an impossible task. But it can be done easily. Start with what the students know. For example, if you are teaching present progressive (be doing), you can start by reviewing the present tense. Show the students a few sentences like
She plays soccer every week.
He cooks spaghetti every Tuesday.
Make sure the students understand these sentences. Then change every week or every Tuesday to now, plays to is playing, and cooks to is cooking.
She is playing soccer now.
He is cooking spaghetti now.
Give the students a few more sentences in present tense. After changing every week into now, ask a couple of students what to put in place of the verb in present tense.
At the elementary level, pictures will make it a little easier for the students to understand and help you avoid the temptation to translate vocabulary.
Have Confidence In Your Own Ability
This is essential. The students need a model of a confident ESL speaker to inspire confidence in themselves. Though communicating in English for an hour at a time is difficult for many teachers, the practice you get in class will make it increasingly easy and more habitual.
Correct But Don't Criticize Your Students
If you want your students to experiment, guess, and practice, you should encourage these behaviors. Let the students know you are pleased that they are trying even if what they say is incorrect. When they make a mistake, praise them for answering and then ask them to try again, tell them the correct
Conclusion
A thousand meetings, the best textbooks, creative teaching materials, even native speakers visiting the classroom aren't going to "give" ESL students English communicative ability. Only by using English communicatively with their teacher and classmates will students develop the ability to speak English.
Conversely, your students won't attempt to communicate in English if you are unwilling to do so yourself. You aren't just teaching spelling, vocabulary, and grammar in class, you are indirectly teaching your students the value of communicating in English. If you don't show your students by using English that you think it's important, they won't think it is. If students are taught primarily in their native language, they may learn how to read English, they may learn how to write English, they may learn how to translate English, but they aren't very likely to learn how to speak English.
Appendix I: Classroom English for Teachers
For non-native speaker English teachers who are worried about using non-grammatical or non-idiomatic expressions while teaching, here's a list of classroom expressions based on American English..
These expressions are not for the students to study per se. But, in context and with appropriate gestures from the teacher, the students should roughly understand the meaning and be able to respond. If you must translate any of these expressions because gestures didn't clarify the meaning, only translate them the first few times you use them. Words in parentheses ( ) are optional. When words are separated by a slash /, choose only one.
Greetings:
• Hello.
• Good morning (class/everyone).
• Good afternoon (class/everyone).
• That's all for today.
• Goodbye.
• See you tomorrow/next week/Friday.
Directions:
• Stand up.
• Sit down. /Be seated.
• Open your (text)books/notebooks (to page ~/chapter ~/section ~).
• Turn to page ~.
• Look at page/part/number ~.
• Close your books/notebooks.
• Take out your pen/pencil/notebook/textbook/homework/~.
• Put your pen/papers/books/everything/~ away/in your desks/in your bags.
• Pass your notebooks/tests/papers/homework to the front/to me.
• Here is/are your tests/your homework/your notebooks/~.
• Take one (handout/test/copy/~).
• Come to the blackboard/front.
• Translate this into English/L1.
• Write the answer on the chalkboard/in your notebooks.
• Listen carefully.
• Read page ~ (aloud).
• Repeat after me. /Repeat ~./Again.
• Practice (~).
• Check your/your partner's answers.
(Please can be used with the above expressions.)
Transitions:
• First (of all)...?
• Next...
• For example...
• Now let's ~.
• After that...
Questions:
• Who knows (the answer)?
• Who knows (~)?
• Who understands?
• Who can tell me (~) ?
• Who will volunteer (to ~)?/Who will do it?
• Who has a question (about ~)?
• What's ~ in English?/What does it/~ mean in English?
• What's ~ in L1?/What does it/~ mean in L1.
• What's the answer?
• Do you understand?
• Do you know (~)?
• Do you have any questions?
• Can you tell me (~)?
• Will you volunteer (to ~)?/Will you do it?
• Who's absent today?
Disciplinary Expressions:
• Be quiet./Stop talking./No talking.
• Calm down.
• Stop that./Stop it.
• Don't do that.
• Put that/~ away.
• Listen (to me)..
• Look (at me).
(Please can be used with the above expressions--but if the teacher is very angry or frustrated she or he probably wouldn't use it.)
• What are you doing?
• Are you listening?
• Are you paying attention?
Appendix ll: Classroom English For Students
Lists of expressions like these seem to be circulating everywhere for good reason. Students need to learn these kinds of expressions if they are to communicate in English in class. Naturally teachers should help them with pronunciation, meaning, and usage. Especially at the elementary level it may be useful to provide the meanings in L1 or ask the students to write them in. Teachers may want to suggest that the students paste the list inside the front cover of their notebooks so they can refer to it easily during class. As with Appendix I, there are many other good expressions which aren't listed here.
• Excuse me?
• (Are you speaking to) me?
• I didn't hear you.
• Again, please.
• More slowly, please.
• Just a minute, please.
• Ms. ~/Mr. ~.
• I'm thinking.
• I don't understand. (Huh?)
• I don't know.
• How do you say this word?
• What does ~ mean?
• What's ~ in English?
• What's ~ in L1?
• I think ~.
• One more please.
• That's easy/difficult/strange.
• Please help me.
Always Use English When Opening and Closing The Class
It's not very important that elementary students learn exactly what Let's begin means in the their native language. They will understand the basic idea if you use it at the beginning of every class.
Teach Your Students "Classroom English"
Teach the students classroom expressions appropriate for their level; for example, I don't know, I don't understand, Once again please, Just a minute, What's ~ in L1 (English)?, etc.
Try To Use Only One Or Two Expressions For The Same Activity
By limiting the number of classroom expressions the teacher uses, the students will learn the expressions faster. For example, in an elementary class you could use Open your books to page ~, even if the students' books are already open. Later, you can introduce the expression Turn to page ~. Some students will only understand ...page ~ anyway, so both expressions will have the same meaning to them. Other students, however, will figure out the two meanings without being explicitly taught.
Use Handouts For Written English Communication
Use English for very simple instructions such as Please write ~, Answer the following questions, English only, please, etc. Read the instructions to the students and explain the instructions by modeling what you what them to do (e.g., pretend to write answers as you read the questions aloud, or interview a student and pretend to write down what she or he says).
Teach Grammar In English Too
For teachers who have never taught grammar in English, nor seen it done, it may seem like an impossible task. But it can be done easily. Start with what the students know. For example, if you are teaching present progressive (be doing), you can start by reviewing the present tense. Show the students a few sentences like
She plays soccer every week.
He cooks spaghetti every Tuesday.
Make sure the students understand these sentences. Then change every week or every Tuesday to now, plays to is playing, and cooks to is cooking.
She is playing soccer now.
He is cooking spaghetti now.
Give the students a few more sentences in present tense. After changing every week into now, ask a couple of students what to put in place of the verb in present tense.
At the elementary level, pictures will make it a little easier for the students to understand and help you avoid the temptation to translate vocabulary.
Have Confidence In Your Own Ability
This is essential. The students need a model of a confident ESL speaker to inspire confidence in themselves. Though communicating in English for an hour at a time is difficult for many teachers, the practice you get in class will make it increasingly easy and more habitual.
Correct But Don't Criticize Your Students
If you want your students to experiment, guess, and practice, you should encourage these behaviors. Let the students know you are pleased that they are trying even if what they say is incorrect. When they make a mistake, praise them for answering and then ask them to try again, tell them the correct
Conclusion
A thousand meetings, the best textbooks, creative teaching materials, even native speakers visiting the classroom aren't going to "give" ESL students English communicative ability. Only by using English communicatively with their teacher and classmates will students develop the ability to speak English.
Conversely, your students won't attempt to communicate in English if you are unwilling to do so yourself. You aren't just teaching spelling, vocabulary, and grammar in class, you are indirectly teaching your students the value of communicating in English. If you don't show your students by using English that you think it's important, they won't think it is. If students are taught primarily in their native language, they may learn how to read English, they may learn how to write English, they may learn how to translate English, but they aren't very likely to learn how to speak English.
Appendix I: Classroom English for Teachers
For non-native speaker English teachers who are worried about using non-grammatical or non-idiomatic expressions while teaching, here's a list of classroom expressions based on American English..
These expressions are not for the students to study per se. But, in context and with appropriate gestures from the teacher, the students should roughly understand the meaning and be able to respond. If you must translate any of these expressions because gestures didn't clarify the meaning, only translate them the first few times you use them. Words in parentheses ( ) are optional. When words are separated by a slash /, choose only one.
Greetings:
• Hello.
• Good morning (class/everyone).
• Good afternoon (class/everyone).
• That's all for today.
• Goodbye.
• See you tomorrow/next week/Friday.
Directions:
• Stand up.
• Sit down. /Be seated.
• Open your (text)books/notebooks (to page ~/chapter ~/section ~).
• Turn to page ~.
• Look at page/part/number ~.
• Close your books/notebooks.
• Take out your pen/pencil/notebook/textbook/homework/~.
• Put your pen/papers/books/everything/~ away/in your desks/in your bags.
• Pass your notebooks/tests/papers/homework to the front/to me.
• Here is/are your tests/your homework/your notebooks/~.
• Take one (handout/test/copy/~).
• Come to the blackboard/front.
• Translate this into English/L1.
• Write the answer on the chalkboard/in your notebooks.
• Listen carefully.
• Read page ~ (aloud).
• Repeat after me. /Repeat ~./Again.
• Practice (~).
• Check your/your partner's answers.
(Please can be used with the above expressions.)
Transitions:
• First (of all)...?
• Next...
• For example...
• Now let's ~.
• After that...
Questions:
• Who knows (the answer)?
• Who knows (~)?
• Who understands?
• Who can tell me (~) ?
• Who will volunteer (to ~)?/Who will do it?
• Who has a question (about ~)?
• What's ~ in English?/What does it/~ mean in English?
• What's ~ in L1?/What does it/~ mean in L1.
• What's the answer?
• Do you understand?
• Do you know (~)?
• Do you have any questions?
• Can you tell me (~)?
• Will you volunteer (to ~)?/Will you do it?
• Who's absent today?
Disciplinary Expressions:
• Be quiet./Stop talking./No talking.
• Calm down.
• Stop that./Stop it.
• Don't do that.
• Put that/~ away.
• Listen (to me)..
• Look (at me).
(Please can be used with the above expressions--but if the teacher is very angry or frustrated she or he probably wouldn't use it.)
• What are you doing?
• Are you listening?
• Are you paying attention?
Appendix ll: Classroom English For Students
Lists of expressions like these seem to be circulating everywhere for good reason. Students need to learn these kinds of expressions if they are to communicate in English in class. Naturally teachers should help them with pronunciation, meaning, and usage. Especially at the elementary level it may be useful to provide the meanings in L1 or ask the students to write them in. Teachers may want to suggest that the students paste the list inside the front cover of their notebooks so they can refer to it easily during class. As with Appendix I, there are many other good expressions which aren't listed here.
• Excuse me?
• (Are you speaking to) me?
• I didn't hear you.
• Again, please.
• More slowly, please.
• Just a minute, please.
• Ms. ~/Mr. ~.
• I'm thinking.
• I don't understand. (Huh?)
• I don't know.
• How do you say this word?
• What does ~ mean?
• What's ~ in English?
• What's ~ in L1?
• I think ~.
• One more please.
• That's easy/difficult/strange.
• Please help me.
Friday, May 6, 2011
English Teachers' Barriers to the Use of Computer-assisted Language Learning
In the last few years the number of teachers using Computer-assisted Language Learning (CALL) has increased markedly and numerous articles have been written about the role of technology in education in the 21st century. Although the potential of the Internet for educational use has not been fully explored yet and the average school still makes limited use of computers, it is obvious that we have entered a new information age in which the links between technology and TEFL have already been established. In Cormudesi , we have installed a friendly platform for schools, Rosetta Stones, the world's number 1 language-learning software.
In the early 90's education started being affected by the introduction of word processors in schools, colleges and universities. This mainly had to do with written assignments. The development of the Internet brought about a revolution in the teachers' perspective, as the teaching tools offered through the Internet were gradually becoming more reliable. Nowadays, the Internet is gaining immense popularity in foreign language teaching and more and more educators and learners are embracing it.
In the 1960's and 1970's the first form of computer-assisted Language Learning featured repetitive language drills, the so-called drill-and-practice method. It was based on the behaviorist learning model and as such the computer was viewed as little more than a mechanical tutor that never grew tired. Behaviorist CALL was first designed and implemented in the era of the mainframe and the best-known tutorial system, PLATO, ran on its own special hardware. It was mainly used for extensive drills, explicit grammar instruction, and translation tests (Ahmad, et al., 1985). Behaviorist CALL
Communicative CALL emerged in the 1970's and 1980's as a reaction to the behaviorist approach to language learning. Proponents of communicative CALL rejected behaviorist approaches at both the theoretical and pedagogical level. They stressed that CALL should focus more on using forms rather than on the forms themselves. Grammar should be taught implicitly and students should be encouraged to generate original utterances instead of manipulating prefabricated forms (Jones & Fortescue, 1987; Philips, 1987). This form of computer-based instruction corresponded to cognitive theories which recognized that learning was a creative process of discovery, expression, and development. The mainframe was replaced by personal computers that allowed greater possibilities for individual work. Popular CALL software in this era included text reconstruction programmers and simulations.
The last stage of computer-assisted Language Learning is integrative CALL. Communicative CALL was criticized for using the computer in an ad hoc and disconnected fashion and using the computer made 'a greater contribution to marginal rather than central elements' of language learning (Kenning & Kenning, 1990: 90). Teachers have moved away from a cognitive view of communicative language teaching to a socio-cognitive view that emphasizes real language use in a meaningful, authentic context. Integrative CALL seeks both to integrate the various skills of language learning (listening, speaking, writing, and reading) and to integrate technology more fully into language teaching (Warschauer & Healey, 1998). To this end the multimedia-networked computer provides a range of informational, communicative, and publishing tools that are potentially available to every student.
Why Use CALL?
Research and practice suggest that, appropriately implemented, network-based technology can contribute significantly to:
• The World Wide Web makes it possible for students to tackle a huge amount of human experience. In such a way, they can learn by doing things themselves. They become the creators not just the receivers of knowledge. As the way information is presented is not linear, users develop thinking skills and choose what to explore.
• Computers are most popular among students either because they are associated with fun and games or because they are considered to be fashionable. Student motivation is therefore increased, especially whenever a variety of activities are offered, which make them feel more independent.
• Network-based instruction can help pupils strengthen their linguistic skills by positively affecting their learning attitude and by helping them build self-instruction strategies and promote their self-confidence.
• All students can use various resources of authentic reading materials either at school or from their home. Those materials can be accessed 24 hours a day at a relatively low cost.
• Random access to Web pages breaks the linear flow of instruction. By sending E-mail and joining newsgroups, EFL students can communicate with people they have never met. They can also interact with their own classmates. Furthermore, some Internet activities give students positive and negative feedback by automatically correcting their on-line exercises.
• Shy or inhibited students can be greatly benefited by individualized, student-centered collaborative learning. High fliers can also realize their full potential without preventing their peers from working at their own pace.
• Although students can still use their books, they are given the chance to escape from canned knowledge and discover thousands of information sources. As a result, their education fulfills the need for interdisciplinary learning in a multicultural world.
• A foreign language is studied in a cultural context. In a world where the use of the Internet becomes more and more widespread, an English Language teacher's duty is to facilitate students' access to the web and make them feel citizens of a global classroom, practicing communication on a global level.
What Can We Do With CALL?
There is a wide range of on-line applications which are already available for use in the foreign language class. These include dictionaries and encyclopedias, links for teachers, chat-rooms, pronunciation tutors, grammar and vocabulary quizzes, games and puzzles, literary extracts. The World Wide Web (WWW) is a virtual library of information that can be accessed by any user around the clock. If someone wants to read or listen to the news, for example, there are a number of sources offering the latest news either printed or recorded. The most important newspapers and magazines in the world are available on-line and the same is the case with radio and TV channels.
Another example is communicating with electronic pen friends, something that most students would enjoy. Teachers should explain how it all works and help students find their keypals. Two EFL classes from different countries can arrange to send E-mail regularly to one another. This can be done quite easily thanks to the web sites providing lists of students looking for communication. It is also possible for two or more students to join a chat-room and talk on-line through E-mail. .
Another network-based EFL activity could be project writing. By working for a project a pupil can construct knowledge rather that only receive it. Students can work on their own, in groups of two or in larger teams, in order to write an assignment, the size of which may vary according to the objectives set by the instructor. A variety of sources can be used besides the Internet such as school libraries, encyclopedias, reference books etc. The Internet itself can provide a lot of food for thought. The final outcome of their research can be typed using a word processor. A word processor can be used in writing compositions, in preparing a class newsletter or in producing a school home page. In such a Web page students can publish their project work so that it can reach a wider audience. That makes them feel more responsible for the final product and consequently makes them work more laboriously.
The Internet and the rise of computer-mediated communication in particular have reshaped the uses of computers for language learning. The recent shift to global information-based economies means that students will need to learn how to deal with large amounts of information and have to be able to communicate across languages and cultures. At the same time, the role of the teacher has changed as well. Teachers are not the only source of information any more, but act as facilitators so that students can actively interpret and organize the information they are given, fitting it into prior knowledge (Dole, et al., 1991). Students have become active participants in learning and are encouraged to be explorers and creators of language rather than passive recipients of it (Brown, 1991). Integrative CALL stresses these issues and additionally lets learners of a language communicate inexpensively with other learners or native speakers. As such, it combines information processing, communication, use of authentic language, and learner autonomy, all of which are of major importance in current language learning theories.
Teachers' Barriers to the Use of Computer-assisted Language Learning
• The barriers inhibiting the practice of Computer-assisted Language Learning can be classified in the following common categories (a) financial barriers, (b) availability of computer hardware and software, (c) technical and theoretical knowledge, and (d) acceptance of the technology. This is not our case .
• Financial barriers are mentioned most frequently in the literature by language education practitioners. They include the cost of hardware, software, maintenance (particular of the most advanced equipment), and extend to some staff development.
Acceptance of Technologies
We live in a time change. Change has become so rapid, so turbulent, and so unpredictable that is now called "white water" change (p.10). Murphy & Terry (1998a) indicated the current of change move so quickly that they destroy what was considered the norm in the past, and by doing so, create new opportunities. But, there is a natural tendency for organizations to resist change. Wrong conceptions about the use of technology limit innovation and threaten teachers' job and security (Zuber-Skerritt, 1994). Instructors are tend not to use technologies that require substantially more preparation time, and it is tough to provide instructors and learners access to technologies that are easy to use (Herschbach, 1994).
Reference
* Benson, G. M., Jr. (1996). Combining Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) and a live TV teacher to extend learning opportunities into the home. A learning productivity research and developmental project of the research foundation of the State University of New York and Instructional Systems Inc. Albany, NY: Instructional Systems Inc., State University of New York. (ERIC Doc. ED359936).
* Belisle, Ron, E-mail Activities in the ESL Writing Class, The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. II, No. 12, December 1996
http://iteslj.org/Articles/Belisle-Email.html
* Boswood, Tim(editor), New Ways of Using Computers in Language Teaching, TESOL, 1997.
* Bush,M.D., R.M.Terry(editors.), Technology-Enhanced Language Learning, 1996.
* Dean, J. (1993). Alternative instructional delivery system: Implications for vocational education, The Visitor, 4, 2-4.
* Froke, M. (1994). A vision and promise: Distance education at Penn State, Part1-Toward an experience-based definition. The Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 42 (2), 16-22.
* Gelatt, H. B. (1995). Future sense: Creating the future. The Futurist, 3 (2), 35-43.
* Hahn, H. A. (1995). Distributed training for the reserve component: Course conversion and implementation guidelines for computer conferencing. (ERIC Doc. ED359916).
* Herschbach, D. (1994). Addressing vocational training and retaining through educational technology: Policy alternatives. (Information Series No. 276). Columbus, OH: The National Center for Research in Vocational Education.
* Hill, M. (1995). What is new in telecommunication? Electronic Learning, (6), 16.
* Kasper, L.F., ESL and the Internet: Content, rhetoric and research. Proceedings of Rhetoric and Technology in the New Millennium, 1998.
http://members.aol.com/Drlfk/rhetoric.html
* Kincaid, H., McEachron, N. B., & McKinney, D. (1994). Technology in public elementary and secondary education: a policy analysis perspective. Menlo Park, CA: Stanford Research Institute.
* Miller, J. V. (1997). Questions about communications technologies for educators: An introduction. In N. M. Singer (Ed.), Communications technologies: their effect on adult, career, and vocational education (Information Series No. 244,1-4). Columbus, OH: The National Center for Research in Vocational Education.
* Mor, Nili, Computers in the ESL Classroom Ð The Switch from "Why" to "How". 1995
http://ietn.snunit.k12.il/nili1.htm
* Murphy, T. H., & Terry, R., Jr. (1998a). Adoption of CALL technologies in education: A national delphi. Proceedings of the Forty-Fourth Annual Southern Agricultural Education Research Meeting, 112-123.
* Office of Technology Assessment. (1995). Information technology and its impact on American education. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
* Ortega, Lourdes, Processes and outcomes in networked classroom interaction, Language Learning & Technology, Vol. 1, No. 1, July 1997, pp 82-93,
http://polyglot.cal.msu.edu/llt/vol1num1/ortega/
* Power, M. A. (1996). Interactive ESL in-service teacher training via distance education. Paper Presented at the Annual Conference of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages.
* Purdy, L. N. (Ed). (1996). Reaching new students through new technologies: A Reader. Dubuque: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.
* Pickering, John, Teaching on the Internet is learning, Active Learning,
http://www.cti.ac.uk/publ/actlea/issue2/pickering/
* Renner, Christopher E, Learning to surf the net in the EFL classroom: Background information on the Internet, TESOL Greece Newsletter, 60, Dec. 1998, 9-11 & 61, Jan. 1999, 11-14
* Spotts, T. H., & Bowman, M. A. (1995). Faculty use of instructional technologies in higher education. Educational Technologies, 35 (2), 56-64.
* Singhal, Meena, The Internet and Foreign Language Education: Benefits and Challenges, The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. III, No. 6, June 1997
http://iteslj.org/Articles/Singhal-Internet.html
* Sperling, Dave, The Internet Guide for English Language Teachers, Prentice-Hall Regents, 1998
* Tanguay, Edward, English Teachers, Prepare Yourselves for the Digital Age.
http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~tanguay/english-teachers.htm
* Wilkenson, T. W., & Sherman, T. M. (1996). Telecommunications-based distance education: Who's doing what? Educational Technology, 21 (11), 54-59.
* Zuboff, S. (1998). In the age of the smart machine. New York: Basic Books, Inc.
In the early 90's education started being affected by the introduction of word processors in schools, colleges and universities. This mainly had to do with written assignments. The development of the Internet brought about a revolution in the teachers' perspective, as the teaching tools offered through the Internet were gradually becoming more reliable. Nowadays, the Internet is gaining immense popularity in foreign language teaching and more and more educators and learners are embracing it.
In the 1960's and 1970's the first form of computer-assisted Language Learning featured repetitive language drills, the so-called drill-and-practice method. It was based on the behaviorist learning model and as such the computer was viewed as little more than a mechanical tutor that never grew tired. Behaviorist CALL was first designed and implemented in the era of the mainframe and the best-known tutorial system, PLATO, ran on its own special hardware. It was mainly used for extensive drills, explicit grammar instruction, and translation tests (Ahmad, et al., 1985). Behaviorist CALL
Communicative CALL emerged in the 1970's and 1980's as a reaction to the behaviorist approach to language learning. Proponents of communicative CALL rejected behaviorist approaches at both the theoretical and pedagogical level. They stressed that CALL should focus more on using forms rather than on the forms themselves. Grammar should be taught implicitly and students should be encouraged to generate original utterances instead of manipulating prefabricated forms (Jones & Fortescue, 1987; Philips, 1987). This form of computer-based instruction corresponded to cognitive theories which recognized that learning was a creative process of discovery, expression, and development. The mainframe was replaced by personal computers that allowed greater possibilities for individual work. Popular CALL software in this era included text reconstruction programmers and simulations.
The last stage of computer-assisted Language Learning is integrative CALL. Communicative CALL was criticized for using the computer in an ad hoc and disconnected fashion and using the computer made 'a greater contribution to marginal rather than central elements' of language learning (Kenning & Kenning, 1990: 90). Teachers have moved away from a cognitive view of communicative language teaching to a socio-cognitive view that emphasizes real language use in a meaningful, authentic context. Integrative CALL seeks both to integrate the various skills of language learning (listening, speaking, writing, and reading) and to integrate technology more fully into language teaching (Warschauer & Healey, 1998). To this end the multimedia-networked computer provides a range of informational, communicative, and publishing tools that are potentially available to every student.
Why Use CALL?
Research and practice suggest that, appropriately implemented, network-based technology can contribute significantly to:
• The World Wide Web makes it possible for students to tackle a huge amount of human experience. In such a way, they can learn by doing things themselves. They become the creators not just the receivers of knowledge. As the way information is presented is not linear, users develop thinking skills and choose what to explore.
• Computers are most popular among students either because they are associated with fun and games or because they are considered to be fashionable. Student motivation is therefore increased, especially whenever a variety of activities are offered, which make them feel more independent.
• Network-based instruction can help pupils strengthen their linguistic skills by positively affecting their learning attitude and by helping them build self-instruction strategies and promote their self-confidence.
• All students can use various resources of authentic reading materials either at school or from their home. Those materials can be accessed 24 hours a day at a relatively low cost.
• Random access to Web pages breaks the linear flow of instruction. By sending E-mail and joining newsgroups, EFL students can communicate with people they have never met. They can also interact with their own classmates. Furthermore, some Internet activities give students positive and negative feedback by automatically correcting their on-line exercises.
• Shy or inhibited students can be greatly benefited by individualized, student-centered collaborative learning. High fliers can also realize their full potential without preventing their peers from working at their own pace.
• Although students can still use their books, they are given the chance to escape from canned knowledge and discover thousands of information sources. As a result, their education fulfills the need for interdisciplinary learning in a multicultural world.
• A foreign language is studied in a cultural context. In a world where the use of the Internet becomes more and more widespread, an English Language teacher's duty is to facilitate students' access to the web and make them feel citizens of a global classroom, practicing communication on a global level.
What Can We Do With CALL?
There is a wide range of on-line applications which are already available for use in the foreign language class. These include dictionaries and encyclopedias, links for teachers, chat-rooms, pronunciation tutors, grammar and vocabulary quizzes, games and puzzles, literary extracts. The World Wide Web (WWW) is a virtual library of information that can be accessed by any user around the clock. If someone wants to read or listen to the news, for example, there are a number of sources offering the latest news either printed or recorded. The most important newspapers and magazines in the world are available on-line and the same is the case with radio and TV channels.
Another example is communicating with electronic pen friends, something that most students would enjoy. Teachers should explain how it all works and help students find their keypals. Two EFL classes from different countries can arrange to send E-mail regularly to one another. This can be done quite easily thanks to the web sites providing lists of students looking for communication. It is also possible for two or more students to join a chat-room and talk on-line through E-mail. .
Another network-based EFL activity could be project writing. By working for a project a pupil can construct knowledge rather that only receive it. Students can work on their own, in groups of two or in larger teams, in order to write an assignment, the size of which may vary according to the objectives set by the instructor. A variety of sources can be used besides the Internet such as school libraries, encyclopedias, reference books etc. The Internet itself can provide a lot of food for thought. The final outcome of their research can be typed using a word processor. A word processor can be used in writing compositions, in preparing a class newsletter or in producing a school home page. In such a Web page students can publish their project work so that it can reach a wider audience. That makes them feel more responsible for the final product and consequently makes them work more laboriously.
The Internet and the rise of computer-mediated communication in particular have reshaped the uses of computers for language learning. The recent shift to global information-based economies means that students will need to learn how to deal with large amounts of information and have to be able to communicate across languages and cultures. At the same time, the role of the teacher has changed as well. Teachers are not the only source of information any more, but act as facilitators so that students can actively interpret and organize the information they are given, fitting it into prior knowledge (Dole, et al., 1991). Students have become active participants in learning and are encouraged to be explorers and creators of language rather than passive recipients of it (Brown, 1991). Integrative CALL stresses these issues and additionally lets learners of a language communicate inexpensively with other learners or native speakers. As such, it combines information processing, communication, use of authentic language, and learner autonomy, all of which are of major importance in current language learning theories.
Teachers' Barriers to the Use of Computer-assisted Language Learning
• The barriers inhibiting the practice of Computer-assisted Language Learning can be classified in the following common categories (a) financial barriers, (b) availability of computer hardware and software, (c) technical and theoretical knowledge, and (d) acceptance of the technology. This is not our case .
• Financial barriers are mentioned most frequently in the literature by language education practitioners. They include the cost of hardware, software, maintenance (particular of the most advanced equipment), and extend to some staff development.
Acceptance of Technologies
We live in a time change. Change has become so rapid, so turbulent, and so unpredictable that is now called "white water" change (p.10). Murphy & Terry (1998a) indicated the current of change move so quickly that they destroy what was considered the norm in the past, and by doing so, create new opportunities. But, there is a natural tendency for organizations to resist change. Wrong conceptions about the use of technology limit innovation and threaten teachers' job and security (Zuber-Skerritt, 1994). Instructors are tend not to use technologies that require substantially more preparation time, and it is tough to provide instructors and learners access to technologies that are easy to use (Herschbach, 1994).
Reference
* Benson, G. M., Jr. (1996). Combining Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) and a live TV teacher to extend learning opportunities into the home. A learning productivity research and developmental project of the research foundation of the State University of New York and Instructional Systems Inc. Albany, NY: Instructional Systems Inc., State University of New York. (ERIC Doc. ED359936).
* Belisle, Ron, E-mail Activities in the ESL Writing Class, The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. II, No. 12, December 1996
http://iteslj.org/Articles/Belisle-Email.html
* Boswood, Tim(editor), New Ways of Using Computers in Language Teaching, TESOL, 1997.
* Bush,M.D., R.M.Terry(editors.), Technology-Enhanced Language Learning, 1996.
* Dean, J. (1993). Alternative instructional delivery system: Implications for vocational education, The Visitor, 4, 2-4.
* Froke, M. (1994). A vision and promise: Distance education at Penn State, Part1-Toward an experience-based definition. The Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 42 (2), 16-22.
* Gelatt, H. B. (1995). Future sense: Creating the future. The Futurist, 3 (2), 35-43.
* Hahn, H. A. (1995). Distributed training for the reserve component: Course conversion and implementation guidelines for computer conferencing. (ERIC Doc. ED359916).
* Herschbach, D. (1994). Addressing vocational training and retaining through educational technology: Policy alternatives. (Information Series No. 276). Columbus, OH: The National Center for Research in Vocational Education.
* Hill, M. (1995). What is new in telecommunication? Electronic Learning, (6), 16.
* Kasper, L.F., ESL and the Internet: Content, rhetoric and research. Proceedings of Rhetoric and Technology in the New Millennium, 1998.
http://members.aol.com/Drlfk/rhetoric.html
* Kincaid, H., McEachron, N. B., & McKinney, D. (1994). Technology in public elementary and secondary education: a policy analysis perspective. Menlo Park, CA: Stanford Research Institute.
* Miller, J. V. (1997). Questions about communications technologies for educators: An introduction. In N. M. Singer (Ed.), Communications technologies: their effect on adult, career, and vocational education (Information Series No. 244,1-4). Columbus, OH: The National Center for Research in Vocational Education.
* Mor, Nili, Computers in the ESL Classroom Ð The Switch from "Why" to "How". 1995
http://ietn.snunit.k12.il/nili1.htm
* Murphy, T. H., & Terry, R., Jr. (1998a). Adoption of CALL technologies in education: A national delphi. Proceedings of the Forty-Fourth Annual Southern Agricultural Education Research Meeting, 112-123.
* Office of Technology Assessment. (1995). Information technology and its impact on American education. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
* Ortega, Lourdes, Processes and outcomes in networked classroom interaction, Language Learning & Technology, Vol. 1, No. 1, July 1997, pp 82-93,
http://polyglot.cal.msu.edu/llt/vol1num1/ortega/
* Power, M. A. (1996). Interactive ESL in-service teacher training via distance education. Paper Presented at the Annual Conference of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages.
* Purdy, L. N. (Ed). (1996). Reaching new students through new technologies: A Reader. Dubuque: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.
* Pickering, John, Teaching on the Internet is learning, Active Learning,
http://www.cti.ac.uk/publ/actlea/issue2/pickering/
* Renner, Christopher E, Learning to surf the net in the EFL classroom: Background information on the Internet, TESOL Greece Newsletter, 60, Dec. 1998, 9-11 & 61, Jan. 1999, 11-14
* Spotts, T. H., & Bowman, M. A. (1995). Faculty use of instructional technologies in higher education. Educational Technologies, 35 (2), 56-64.
* Singhal, Meena, The Internet and Foreign Language Education: Benefits and Challenges, The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. III, No. 6, June 1997
http://iteslj.org/Articles/Singhal-Internet.html
* Sperling, Dave, The Internet Guide for English Language Teachers, Prentice-Hall Regents, 1998
* Tanguay, Edward, English Teachers, Prepare Yourselves for the Digital Age.
http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~tanguay/english-teachers.htm
* Wilkenson, T. W., & Sherman, T. M. (1996). Telecommunications-based distance education: Who's doing what? Educational Technology, 21 (11), 54-59.
* Zuboff, S. (1998). In the age of the smart machine. New York: Basic Books, Inc.
Using Volunteers in your ESL Classroom: Suggestions for Newer Teachers
Volunteers can be a tremendous asset in the ESL/EFL classrooms. They can help you give extra attention to all of the students while the class is engaged in practice activities, or they can give extra help to small groups or individuals in the class.
However, as you begin to use volunteers in your classroom, you will need to put a little extra time into planning how you'd like to put them to use, and you will need to designate time either before or during class (sometimes volunteers have to arrive late because of their work schedules) for clarifying your plans with the volunteer. The time it takes to do the extra planning is well worth it, though; it also decreases as you get used to it and build up your supply of strategies for using volunteers. And as your volunteer becomes more acquainted with your students' needs and your teaching style, he or she usually requires less explanation of activities. In general, the gains to your students and yourself far outweigh the bit of extra effort initially needed in using volunteers.
Here are some tried and true ideas for using volunteers in your class. They have been collected from teachers who have used volunteers successfully for many years. They are listed in order from basic to more elaborate. Classroom Monitor
As you circulate through your class to monitor student progress during activities, the volunteer does the same. S/he can be checking for:
• accurate pronunciation
• reading comprehension
• accurate grammar
• general comprehension of the activity
• or whatever else you choose to focus the activity on.
S/he can also provide extra conversation for shyer or quieter students, and opportunities to interact with another native speaker (if the volunteer is in fact a native speaker). As you present new activities, the volunteer can sit with students who are a little lower than the others and help them understand your instructions.
Co-presenter
The volunteer can assist you in the presentation of new activities. For example, a volunteer can:
• take a role in a dialogue with you. If you are presenting a conversation to your class, the volunteer can take the other part so that it will sound and appear more authentic for the students.
• model the activity with you. If you want the students to do pair work, you and the volunteer can demonstrate how it should be done. For instance, you ask a question, and the volunteer answers with an appropriate response. It's best if you let the volunteer know exactly what you are looking for in advance.
• read half of a dictation. After you have set the pace of the dictation, the volunteer can read part of it, to challenge the students with a different speaker.
Nurturer
Especially in lower level classes, often the big thing holding many students back is low self-confidence. Volunteers can play a very important role simply by sitting among them and encouraging the under-confident and inexperienced students. The importance of this role cannot be overstated.
Half-group Teacher
For part of a class session, you can divide the class in two and have the volunteer teach one group while you teach the other. Both groups can cover the same material. This set-up gives the advantage of smaller groups and therefore more attention and opportunities for participation for the students. It is best to have had your volunteer do a lot of monitoring prior to teaching a group. The volunteer needs to know what you expect to accomplish in the group. Monitoring experience will expose the volunteer to your teaching style and goals for the class, and s/he will have become familiar with individual students.
Pull-out Group Leader
A pull-out group is a group of like-ability students who work separately from the whole class for part of the class session. The groups can:
• address special needs that the students have in common, like reading, writing or pronunciation problems.
• provide more challenging work for higher students.
• give students an opportunity to focus on skills like conversation with a lot of feedback that you can't always provide in a large group.
You provide your volunteer with materials and detailed instructions for working with the group, and a place to work (e.g. an empty classroom or office that is available to you, desks in the hallway, or the other half of your classroom). Leveled materials, such as the Personal Stories (Palatine, IL: Linmore Publishing, 1985) or True Stories (White Plains, NY: Addison Wesley Longman Publishing, 1996 ) series are helpful to use for reading pull-out groups, because while you work with one level of the text, the volunteer can work with another. Less planning is required, and students feel like they are all doing the same thing, not missing out on something another group is doing.
One-on-one Tutor
You can provide your volunteer with materials, instructions and a place to help one student with special needs at their own pace for part of the class. This can be helpful for a student with literacy problems that are more extreme than the others in the class. It can also be helpful if a student tells you that there is a certain challenging situation coming up in their life that they need to prepare for, like a test for a driving permit or citizenship, or a job interview, and it is not appropriate for the whole group to work on the topic at that time.
Teacher Conferencing
Many teachers like to conference with students individually about their progress and/or study needs. Your volunteer, given detailed instructions and materials, can serve as teacher to the class while you take students out one at a time.
Special Project Assistant
When you want to conduct special projects with the class, volunteers can be extremely helpful. Here are some examples that teachers have used in the past:
Job Interviews
After you have practiced interviews in class for a while, a volunteer can role play a potential employer and conduct final interviews with students. In a location separate from the classroom, your volunteer can make the situation as real-life as possible, greeting the student formally and asking a variety of questions specific to the job the student is interested in. If you have access to video equipment, the volunteer can operate the camera by remote to record the interviews and play them back for the class later.
Class Newspapers or News Shows
You and your volunteer can divide up the parts of the paper or show that students choose to work on, and you can each guide the students' work on your respective parts.
Giving Instructions/Describing an Interest
One teacher wanted her high beginners to make a presentation for the class describing how to do an activity of their choosing. To introduce the project, the class's volunteer, a cycling enthusiast, demonstrated how to pump up a bike tire. Students had to answer questions about the steps and repeat back the instructions.
Special Talents
It is good to keep sight of the fact that every volunteer brings special talents and interests to your class, not to mention a different outlook on American life to share with your students. As you learn more about your volunteers, you may discover that some of their particular talents can contribute something extra to your students. Recently one volunteer who is a professional cameraman brought in video equipment and gave beginning level students instructions as if they were on a tv set while they recorded dialogues they had been practicing. The students enjoyed the "tv production" atmosphere and got a real kick out of seeing themselves on video speaking English. Another volunteer specializes in theatrical vocal training, which keeps her weekly phonics/beginning literacy pull-out groups very lively and creative for students. One volunteer who worked for America OnLine was particularly helpful at locating internet sites that would be useful and interesting for a pre-academic class. Hopefully these suggestions will help you feel more comfortable about using volunteers. In closing, here are a some important considerations for using volunteers.
Golden Rules of Using Volunteers
1. Clear communication is key!
Give clear instructions and adequate materials to your volunteer. From the onset, ask your volunteer what they want to get out of volunteering with your class, and explain what you and your students need from a volunteer.
2. Feedback, feedback, feedback!
Your volunteer needs feedback on how s/he is doing. Many feel just as nervous about teaching as your students do about studying. Also, you need feedback on how volunteer-led activities go, to find out about student progress and to make sure the volunteer feels comfortable doing what you've asked.
3. If it's just not a good match.
If you find yourself having difficulty working with a particular volunteer, try to clear things up as soon as possible. It may be that you and the volunteer just have different expectations of the volunteer's role. If you continue to have difficulties after you discuss the situation with the volunteer yourself, contact the volunteer coordinator for your program. The volunteer coordinator can speak with the volunteer and find the best solution. That might mean clarifying the class's and teacher's needs to the volunteer and the volunteer's concerns to the teacher, or it could mean reassigning the volunteer to another part of the program where they will be more comfortable.
However, as you begin to use volunteers in your classroom, you will need to put a little extra time into planning how you'd like to put them to use, and you will need to designate time either before or during class (sometimes volunteers have to arrive late because of their work schedules) for clarifying your plans with the volunteer. The time it takes to do the extra planning is well worth it, though; it also decreases as you get used to it and build up your supply of strategies for using volunteers. And as your volunteer becomes more acquainted with your students' needs and your teaching style, he or she usually requires less explanation of activities. In general, the gains to your students and yourself far outweigh the bit of extra effort initially needed in using volunteers.
Here are some tried and true ideas for using volunteers in your class. They have been collected from teachers who have used volunteers successfully for many years. They are listed in order from basic to more elaborate. Classroom Monitor
As you circulate through your class to monitor student progress during activities, the volunteer does the same. S/he can be checking for:
• accurate pronunciation
• reading comprehension
• accurate grammar
• general comprehension of the activity
• or whatever else you choose to focus the activity on.
S/he can also provide extra conversation for shyer or quieter students, and opportunities to interact with another native speaker (if the volunteer is in fact a native speaker). As you present new activities, the volunteer can sit with students who are a little lower than the others and help them understand your instructions.
Co-presenter
The volunteer can assist you in the presentation of new activities. For example, a volunteer can:
• take a role in a dialogue with you. If you are presenting a conversation to your class, the volunteer can take the other part so that it will sound and appear more authentic for the students.
• model the activity with you. If you want the students to do pair work, you and the volunteer can demonstrate how it should be done. For instance, you ask a question, and the volunteer answers with an appropriate response. It's best if you let the volunteer know exactly what you are looking for in advance.
• read half of a dictation. After you have set the pace of the dictation, the volunteer can read part of it, to challenge the students with a different speaker.
Nurturer
Especially in lower level classes, often the big thing holding many students back is low self-confidence. Volunteers can play a very important role simply by sitting among them and encouraging the under-confident and inexperienced students. The importance of this role cannot be overstated.
Half-group Teacher
For part of a class session, you can divide the class in two and have the volunteer teach one group while you teach the other. Both groups can cover the same material. This set-up gives the advantage of smaller groups and therefore more attention and opportunities for participation for the students. It is best to have had your volunteer do a lot of monitoring prior to teaching a group. The volunteer needs to know what you expect to accomplish in the group. Monitoring experience will expose the volunteer to your teaching style and goals for the class, and s/he will have become familiar with individual students.
Pull-out Group Leader
A pull-out group is a group of like-ability students who work separately from the whole class for part of the class session. The groups can:
• address special needs that the students have in common, like reading, writing or pronunciation problems.
• provide more challenging work for higher students.
• give students an opportunity to focus on skills like conversation with a lot of feedback that you can't always provide in a large group.
You provide your volunteer with materials and detailed instructions for working with the group, and a place to work (e.g. an empty classroom or office that is available to you, desks in the hallway, or the other half of your classroom). Leveled materials, such as the Personal Stories (Palatine, IL: Linmore Publishing, 1985) or True Stories (White Plains, NY: Addison Wesley Longman Publishing, 1996 ) series are helpful to use for reading pull-out groups, because while you work with one level of the text, the volunteer can work with another. Less planning is required, and students feel like they are all doing the same thing, not missing out on something another group is doing.
One-on-one Tutor
You can provide your volunteer with materials, instructions and a place to help one student with special needs at their own pace for part of the class. This can be helpful for a student with literacy problems that are more extreme than the others in the class. It can also be helpful if a student tells you that there is a certain challenging situation coming up in their life that they need to prepare for, like a test for a driving permit or citizenship, or a job interview, and it is not appropriate for the whole group to work on the topic at that time.
Teacher Conferencing
Many teachers like to conference with students individually about their progress and/or study needs. Your volunteer, given detailed instructions and materials, can serve as teacher to the class while you take students out one at a time.
Special Project Assistant
When you want to conduct special projects with the class, volunteers can be extremely helpful. Here are some examples that teachers have used in the past:
Job Interviews
After you have practiced interviews in class for a while, a volunteer can role play a potential employer and conduct final interviews with students. In a location separate from the classroom, your volunteer can make the situation as real-life as possible, greeting the student formally and asking a variety of questions specific to the job the student is interested in. If you have access to video equipment, the volunteer can operate the camera by remote to record the interviews and play them back for the class later.
Class Newspapers or News Shows
You and your volunteer can divide up the parts of the paper or show that students choose to work on, and you can each guide the students' work on your respective parts.
Giving Instructions/Describing an Interest
One teacher wanted her high beginners to make a presentation for the class describing how to do an activity of their choosing. To introduce the project, the class's volunteer, a cycling enthusiast, demonstrated how to pump up a bike tire. Students had to answer questions about the steps and repeat back the instructions.
Special Talents
It is good to keep sight of the fact that every volunteer brings special talents and interests to your class, not to mention a different outlook on American life to share with your students. As you learn more about your volunteers, you may discover that some of their particular talents can contribute something extra to your students. Recently one volunteer who is a professional cameraman brought in video equipment and gave beginning level students instructions as if they were on a tv set while they recorded dialogues they had been practicing. The students enjoyed the "tv production" atmosphere and got a real kick out of seeing themselves on video speaking English. Another volunteer specializes in theatrical vocal training, which keeps her weekly phonics/beginning literacy pull-out groups very lively and creative for students. One volunteer who worked for America OnLine was particularly helpful at locating internet sites that would be useful and interesting for a pre-academic class. Hopefully these suggestions will help you feel more comfortable about using volunteers. In closing, here are a some important considerations for using volunteers.
Golden Rules of Using Volunteers
1. Clear communication is key!
Give clear instructions and adequate materials to your volunteer. From the onset, ask your volunteer what they want to get out of volunteering with your class, and explain what you and your students need from a volunteer.
2. Feedback, feedback, feedback!
Your volunteer needs feedback on how s/he is doing. Many feel just as nervous about teaching as your students do about studying. Also, you need feedback on how volunteer-led activities go, to find out about student progress and to make sure the volunteer feels comfortable doing what you've asked.
3. If it's just not a good match.
If you find yourself having difficulty working with a particular volunteer, try to clear things up as soon as possible. It may be that you and the volunteer just have different expectations of the volunteer's role. If you continue to have difficulties after you discuss the situation with the volunteer yourself, contact the volunteer coordinator for your program. The volunteer coordinator can speak with the volunteer and find the best solution. That might mean clarifying the class's and teacher's needs to the volunteer and the volunteer's concerns to the teacher, or it could mean reassigning the volunteer to another part of the program where they will be more comfortable.
How I learned English in the pre-Internet age and why you can do it faster
by Tomasz P. Szynalski
When reading the story of how I learned English, you have to remember a few things. In 1993, when I was starting to learn English on my own, no one had heard about the Internet. I couldn't read blogs, forums and other websites on topics that I found interesting. Frankly, I have no idea how I knew which movies to see without Roger Ebert's movie reviews. And how did I learn about the latest computer technologies, such as the Intel Pentium processor and Windows 95? I really don't remember.
My written input was practically limited to books, and I could not even order them from Amazon. Who would order books from the Brazilian rainforest, anyway? All I had were a few shelves in two or three bookstores, the British Council library at the local university, plus whatever I could get from my cousin Chris, who lives in America. You may think it wasn't so bad, but when I was preparing for an English competition in high school, I remember I had major problems finding good resources on the history of England and the United States. You have no idea how poor Wikipedia was back in 1996... oh, wait, actually it did not exist at all.
For spoken input, I was basically limited to watching the war in Yugoslavia (CNN International & BBC News) and Bugs Bunny (Cartoon Network) on my cable TV. "What about movies?", you ask. For one thing, nobody used DVDs, and it wasn't because they downloaded DivX's from P2P networks. People bought and rented VHS tapes. In Poland, every movie on VHS had Polish dialogues and there was no English soundtrack to switch to. The only way I could watch a movie with English dialogue was if I went to the cinema (movies in Polish cinemas are shown in English with Polish subtitles; don't ask me why). I was a big fan of The X-Files, but I could only dream of watching it in English.
Dictionaries were just books. Software dictionaries were a novelty. When I finally got a PC dictionary from a classmate (I think in 1994 or 1995), it was a Random House dictionary for native speakers that came on six floppy disks. (Yeah, there were CD-ROM's, but there were no CD burners.) It had unfriendly definitions and few example sentences. I loved it because I could look up English words much more quickly and I could open it from inside SuperMemo with a special hotkey to copy & paste definitions and examples. Today, you can get learner's dictionaries from Oxford, Cambridge or Collins that have simple definitions and lots of example sentences. They also take up 100 times more space and run more slowly, but that's life.
If I were learning English today...
...I would spend a lot of time on the Web. Hours and hours every day. I would read websites on my favorite topics: computers, science, philosophy, photography, politics, web design, marketing, etc. I would download movies, series, cartoons, documentaries, and video lectures. I would watch funny clips from American talk shows on YouTube. I would listen to podcasts on my iPod. I would learn how stuff works.
Yes, at first it would be hard to understand real-life English. But I would have at least two advanced learner's dictionaries on my PC. I would spend a lot of time looking things up and I would probably add lots of example sentences and phonetic transcriptions to SuperMemo, at least at the beginning.
I wish I had had access to all this content when I was learning English...
So, if I were learning English today, I believe I would get much more input more quickly. It would probably be more authentic input — less literary English from novels, more everyday English from blogs and discussion forums.
In English classes, perhaps I would use a laptop with a few dictionaries and SuperMemo on it. Maybe I would be able to add new words on the spot instead of writing them down and adding them at home. Perhaps classes would not be such a waste of time then.
I'm sure I would also have more opportunities to produce output. My friend Michal and I would be able to e-mail each other in English much earlier. I would be able to post questions and comments on discussion forums and blogs. When writing, I would use Google to check the correctness of my sentences. That would help me to eliminate mistakes and pick up new phrases. I would be able to see which phrases are actually used by native speakers, and which are purely literary. Sometimes I think that if I had had the Internet, I would have become a fluent speaker in one year instead of three!
What about you?
So if you are learning English today, you are in luck. You live in the future! Getting interesting, funny, smart content has never been easier. You just need to:
1. Be interested in something.1
2. Find it on the Internet in English.
3. Try to get as much English as possible out of it: Every time you read a sentence, treat it as a lesson in how to say things in English. Pause and think about it. Imagine yourself saying it. Make up a similar sentence in your mind. Look up pronunciations and examples in dictionaries.
4. Repeat the above every day or almost every day for at least 30 minutes.
When reading the story of how I learned English, you have to remember a few things. In 1993, when I was starting to learn English on my own, no one had heard about the Internet. I couldn't read blogs, forums and other websites on topics that I found interesting. Frankly, I have no idea how I knew which movies to see without Roger Ebert's movie reviews. And how did I learn about the latest computer technologies, such as the Intel Pentium processor and Windows 95? I really don't remember.
My written input was practically limited to books, and I could not even order them from Amazon. Who would order books from the Brazilian rainforest, anyway? All I had were a few shelves in two or three bookstores, the British Council library at the local university, plus whatever I could get from my cousin Chris, who lives in America. You may think it wasn't so bad, but when I was preparing for an English competition in high school, I remember I had major problems finding good resources on the history of England and the United States. You have no idea how poor Wikipedia was back in 1996... oh, wait, actually it did not exist at all.
For spoken input, I was basically limited to watching the war in Yugoslavia (CNN International & BBC News) and Bugs Bunny (Cartoon Network) on my cable TV. "What about movies?", you ask. For one thing, nobody used DVDs, and it wasn't because they downloaded DivX's from P2P networks. People bought and rented VHS tapes. In Poland, every movie on VHS had Polish dialogues and there was no English soundtrack to switch to. The only way I could watch a movie with English dialogue was if I went to the cinema (movies in Polish cinemas are shown in English with Polish subtitles; don't ask me why). I was a big fan of The X-Files, but I could only dream of watching it in English.
Dictionaries were just books. Software dictionaries were a novelty. When I finally got a PC dictionary from a classmate (I think in 1994 or 1995), it was a Random House dictionary for native speakers that came on six floppy disks. (Yeah, there were CD-ROM's, but there were no CD burners.) It had unfriendly definitions and few example sentences. I loved it because I could look up English words much more quickly and I could open it from inside SuperMemo with a special hotkey to copy & paste definitions and examples. Today, you can get learner's dictionaries from Oxford, Cambridge or Collins that have simple definitions and lots of example sentences. They also take up 100 times more space and run more slowly, but that's life.
If I were learning English today...
...I would spend a lot of time on the Web. Hours and hours every day. I would read websites on my favorite topics: computers, science, philosophy, photography, politics, web design, marketing, etc. I would download movies, series, cartoons, documentaries, and video lectures. I would watch funny clips from American talk shows on YouTube. I would listen to podcasts on my iPod. I would learn how stuff works.
Yes, at first it would be hard to understand real-life English. But I would have at least two advanced learner's dictionaries on my PC. I would spend a lot of time looking things up and I would probably add lots of example sentences and phonetic transcriptions to SuperMemo, at least at the beginning.
I wish I had had access to all this content when I was learning English...
So, if I were learning English today, I believe I would get much more input more quickly. It would probably be more authentic input — less literary English from novels, more everyday English from blogs and discussion forums.
In English classes, perhaps I would use a laptop with a few dictionaries and SuperMemo on it. Maybe I would be able to add new words on the spot instead of writing them down and adding them at home. Perhaps classes would not be such a waste of time then.
I'm sure I would also have more opportunities to produce output. My friend Michal and I would be able to e-mail each other in English much earlier. I would be able to post questions and comments on discussion forums and blogs. When writing, I would use Google to check the correctness of my sentences. That would help me to eliminate mistakes and pick up new phrases. I would be able to see which phrases are actually used by native speakers, and which are purely literary. Sometimes I think that if I had had the Internet, I would have become a fluent speaker in one year instead of three!
What about you?
So if you are learning English today, you are in luck. You live in the future! Getting interesting, funny, smart content has never been easier. You just need to:
1. Be interested in something.1
2. Find it on the Internet in English.
3. Try to get as much English as possible out of it: Every time you read a sentence, treat it as a lesson in how to say things in English. Pause and think about it. Imagine yourself saying it. Make up a similar sentence in your mind. Look up pronunciations and examples in dictionaries.
4. Repeat the above every day or almost every day for at least 30 minutes.
Teaching Conversational Skills - Tips and Strategies
When employing role-plays, debates, topic discussions, etc., some students are often timid in expressing their viewpoints. This seems due to a number of reasons:
* Students don't have an opinion on the subject
* Students have an opinion, but are worried about what the other students might say or think
* Students have an opinion, but don't feel they can say exactly what they mean
* Students begin giving their opinion, but want to state it in the same eloquent manner that they are capable of in their native language
* Other, more actively participating students feel confident in their opinions and express them eloquently making the less confident students more timid
Pragmatically, conversation lessons and exercises are intended to improve conversational skills. For this reason, it will be helpful to first focus on building skills by eliminating some of the barriers that might be in the way of production. Having been assigned roles, opinions and points of view that they do not necessarily share, students are freed from having to express their own opinions.
Therefore, they can focus on expressing themselves well in English. In this way, students tend to concentrate more on production skills, and less on factual content. They also are less likely to insist on literal translations from their mother tongue.
It can begin slowly by providing students with short role plays using cue cards.
Once students become comfortable with target structures and representing differing points of view, classes can move onto more elaborated exercises such as debates and group decision making activities. This approach bears fruit especially when debating opposing points of view. By representing opposing points of view, students' imagination is activated by trying to focus on all the various points that an opposing stand on any given issue may take. As students inherently do not agree with the view they represent, they are freed from having to invest emotionally in the statements they make. More importantly, from a pragmatic point of view, students tend to focus more on correct function and structure when they do not become too emotionally involved in what they are saying.
Of course, this is not to say that students should not express their own opinions. After all, when students go out into the "real" world they will want to say what they mean. However, taking out the personal investment factor can help students first become more confident in using English. Once this confidence is gained, students - especially timid students - will be more self-assured when expressing their own points of view.
* Students don't have an opinion on the subject
* Students have an opinion, but are worried about what the other students might say or think
* Students have an opinion, but don't feel they can say exactly what they mean
* Students begin giving their opinion, but want to state it in the same eloquent manner that they are capable of in their native language
* Other, more actively participating students feel confident in their opinions and express them eloquently making the less confident students more timid
Pragmatically, conversation lessons and exercises are intended to improve conversational skills. For this reason, it will be helpful to first focus on building skills by eliminating some of the barriers that might be in the way of production. Having been assigned roles, opinions and points of view that they do not necessarily share, students are freed from having to express their own opinions.
Therefore, they can focus on expressing themselves well in English. In this way, students tend to concentrate more on production skills, and less on factual content. They also are less likely to insist on literal translations from their mother tongue.
It can begin slowly by providing students with short role plays using cue cards.
Once students become comfortable with target structures and representing differing points of view, classes can move onto more elaborated exercises such as debates and group decision making activities. This approach bears fruit especially when debating opposing points of view. By representing opposing points of view, students' imagination is activated by trying to focus on all the various points that an opposing stand on any given issue may take. As students inherently do not agree with the view they represent, they are freed from having to invest emotionally in the statements they make. More importantly, from a pragmatic point of view, students tend to focus more on correct function and structure when they do not become too emotionally involved in what they are saying.
Of course, this is not to say that students should not express their own opinions. After all, when students go out into the "real" world they will want to say what they mean. However, taking out the personal investment factor can help students first become more confident in using English. Once this confidence is gained, students - especially timid students - will be more self-assured when expressing their own points of view.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
TOEIC Bridge Test/ SIMCE Ingles
What is the TOEIC Bridge™ test?
The TOEIC Bridge test measures competence in listening to and reading in English, at beginner to intermediate levels (levels A1 to B1 of the CEFRL). It is a reliable and valid assessment that is internationally recognised, and has proved to be a good motivational tool to encourage beginners to proceed to the next level. Test-takers can also use the scores to focus on areas of improvement.
What is the format of the Bridge test?
* The Bridge test is a paper-and-pencil based assessment, comprising 100 multiple-choice questions in 2 sections – oral and written comprehension
* It lasts less than an hour and features questions that are easier to answer than those on the TOEIC® test
* Candidates are given a total score ranging from 20 to 180 points (10 to 90 on each section)
* They are also given sub-scores that help pinpoint areas of weakness and strength; on grammar, vocabulary, listening and reading strategies and functions
Once test-takers achieve the maximum score possible on the Bridge test, they are ready to take the TOEIC test.
Who uses the Bridge test?
* Students who are in the first stage of a language course
* Professionals who require a rudimentary knowledge of English at the workplace
* Teachers and students to assess, practice, and improve listening and reading comprehension of English
* In organizational training programs, to both assess the level of learners at the beginning of a course, as well as to encourage them to set and attain further learning goals
* In language learning programs, as a developmental tool that can be administered a number of times to assess progress in language learning
* In language training, as a tool to measure instructional effectiveness – the scores of all students pursuing a language course can be examined to analyze the quality of the course itself
Prueba Bridge TOEIC , SIMCE INGLES
El examen TOEIC mide competencia en escuchar y leer en inglés, en principiante a niveles intermedios (niveles A1 a B1 de la CEFRL). Es una evaluación válida y confiable que es reconocida internacionalmente y ha demostrado para ser una buena herramienta de motivación para alentar a principiantes para pasar al siguiente nivel. Prueba toman también puede utilizar los resultados para concentrarse en áreas de mejora.
Formato
* La prueba es una evaluación basado en papel y lápiz, que comprende 100 preguntas de opción múltiple en 2 secciones: comprensión oral y escrita
* Tiene una duración de menos de una hora y características preguntas que son más fáciles de responder que el test TOEIC ®
* Los alumnos/as reciben una puntuación total que van desde 20 a 180 puntos (10 a 90 en cada sección)
* También reciben sub-scores que ayudan a identificar áreas de debilidad y fuerza; en gramática, vocabulario, escuchar y leer estrategias y funciones
Prueba Bridege TOEIC y Simce
La rindes estudiantes que están en la primera etapa de un curso de idiomas , o en cursos de nivel básico.
Profesionales que requieren un conocimiento rudimentario de inglés en el lugar de trabajo
Profesores y estudiantes para evaluar, practicar y mejorar la escucha y comprensión del inglés
En los programas de formación organizativa, a ambos evaluar el nivel de los alumnos en el inicio de un curso, así como para alentarlos a establecer y alcanzar nuevos objetivos de aprendizaje
En el aprendizaje de programas, como una herramienta de desarrollo que puede ser administrado a un número de veces para evaluar los progresos en el aprendizaje de idiomas
En enseñanza de idiomas, como una herramienta para medir la efectividad de la instrucción, las puntuaciones de todos los alumnos siguiendo un curso de idiomas pueden examinarse para analizar la calidad del curso propio
The TOEIC Bridge test measures competence in listening to and reading in English, at beginner to intermediate levels (levels A1 to B1 of the CEFRL). It is a reliable and valid assessment that is internationally recognised, and has proved to be a good motivational tool to encourage beginners to proceed to the next level. Test-takers can also use the scores to focus on areas of improvement.
What is the format of the Bridge test?
* The Bridge test is a paper-and-pencil based assessment, comprising 100 multiple-choice questions in 2 sections – oral and written comprehension
* It lasts less than an hour and features questions that are easier to answer than those on the TOEIC® test
* Candidates are given a total score ranging from 20 to 180 points (10 to 90 on each section)
* They are also given sub-scores that help pinpoint areas of weakness and strength; on grammar, vocabulary, listening and reading strategies and functions
Once test-takers achieve the maximum score possible on the Bridge test, they are ready to take the TOEIC test.
Who uses the Bridge test?
* Students who are in the first stage of a language course
* Professionals who require a rudimentary knowledge of English at the workplace
* Teachers and students to assess, practice, and improve listening and reading comprehension of English
* In organizational training programs, to both assess the level of learners at the beginning of a course, as well as to encourage them to set and attain further learning goals
* In language learning programs, as a developmental tool that can be administered a number of times to assess progress in language learning
* In language training, as a tool to measure instructional effectiveness – the scores of all students pursuing a language course can be examined to analyze the quality of the course itself
Prueba Bridge TOEIC , SIMCE INGLES
El examen TOEIC mide competencia en escuchar y leer en inglés, en principiante a niveles intermedios (niveles A1 a B1 de la CEFRL). Es una evaluación válida y confiable que es reconocida internacionalmente y ha demostrado para ser una buena herramienta de motivación para alentar a principiantes para pasar al siguiente nivel. Prueba toman también puede utilizar los resultados para concentrarse en áreas de mejora.
Formato
* La prueba es una evaluación basado en papel y lápiz, que comprende 100 preguntas de opción múltiple en 2 secciones: comprensión oral y escrita
* Tiene una duración de menos de una hora y características preguntas que son más fáciles de responder que el test TOEIC ®
* Los alumnos/as reciben una puntuación total que van desde 20 a 180 puntos (10 a 90 en cada sección)
* También reciben sub-scores que ayudan a identificar áreas de debilidad y fuerza; en gramática, vocabulario, escuchar y leer estrategias y funciones
Prueba Bridege TOEIC y Simce
La rindes estudiantes que están en la primera etapa de un curso de idiomas , o en cursos de nivel básico.
Profesionales que requieren un conocimiento rudimentario de inglés en el lugar de trabajo
Profesores y estudiantes para evaluar, practicar y mejorar la escucha y comprensión del inglés
En los programas de formación organizativa, a ambos evaluar el nivel de los alumnos en el inicio de un curso, así como para alentarlos a establecer y alcanzar nuevos objetivos de aprendizaje
En el aprendizaje de programas, como una herramienta de desarrollo que puede ser administrado a un número de veces para evaluar los progresos en el aprendizaje de idiomas
En enseñanza de idiomas, como una herramienta para medir la efectividad de la instrucción, las puntuaciones de todos los alumnos siguiendo un curso de idiomas pueden examinarse para analizar la calidad del curso propio
Devaluating Teaching
Devaluating teaching
From TESL
Is our evaluation of teachers any better than our evaluation of learners? Of course, the first thing to say is that no teacher would ever agree to be evaluated in the same way as they evaluate their learners. Every school has in place some form of teacher assessment, but few, if any, are based on a true/false or multiple-choice test the Head produced last night before they went to bed.
No, teachers expect more respect in valuing their skills. The problem is that teachers don't really like to be evaluated. There are a number of reasons why:
1) They don't trust the testing system
However the evaluation is done, or whoever does the evaluation, teachers will doubt the system. They will be suspicious of the motive (Promotion? Down-sizing? Getting those horrible Year 7s next year?). They will be suspicious of the method (favoritism; observing an unrepresentative class; missing the lesson start, which was good, and seeing the end, which was bad; drawing loads of arrows on a piece of paper! - what does that prove?). They will be suspicious of the evaluator (She's never liked me. Hasn't been in a classroom for years. What does she know about teaching? Just out of school herself!).
2) No one agrees what a good teacher is
One person's class of free spirits is another person's noisy rabble. Some teachers believe in helping students to achieve known outcomes like exams. Others think that they should develop people as learners and see exam-passing as simply a waystage on a journey. Some teachers are technicians and have lesson plans that work like stage directions and lead to a magical dénouement. Others are people-people and watch as their learners develop like flowers. Others… well, there are as many definitions of "good teacher" as there are teachers. Because most teachers think they are pretty good. It's the others who need development.
3) The difference between development and experience
People teach for many years. Some people get better at teaching the longer they do it. Others get lazy or get worse as they get bored or cynical. Some treat their pre-service training as a model, and see deviation from this model as being bad or lazy, and thus see not changing their teaching as a success. Changes in teaching behaviors can therefore be seen as progressive, regressive or simply backsliding.
In other words, all the problems with reliability and validity that often tend to get overlooked when we evaluate our learners.
"Development"
So, to avoid the word "assessment", we have traditionally labelled our evaluation systems as "Development". Now, teachers can't object to being developed, can they? And so people give workshops and observe each other not to assess, no. But to "help them to become better teachers".
Firstly, we'd better clarify "help" and "better teacher". The word "help" implies that some form of cooperative development is being undertaken. And this may be true. And we have already seen that the concept of "better teacher" is open to interpretation.
Devaluation
The problem is that this melding of "development" and "evaluation" has gone on for so long that it has become "devaluation". In many places, neither the development nor the assessment is being done with much success. Development has become a list of issues that the developer/knower thinks they know more about than the developer/knower. The problem here is that in many cases they don't. Not only is there the possible confusion of talent and experience that we described above, but also the developer may need a different approach to some Officially Recognized Superior informing them how their teaching behavior deviates from the school's official norm. There are many ways to help people other than telling.
For example, less experienced teachers may benefit from a voyage of joint discovery: the superiors might set them a teaching target, ask them to set a form of evaluation which would "prove" their learning, and then ask them to do it. However, one of the problems with "development" is that it means you have to let go of control, as development can only be development if it may lead to an unspecified or unanticipated outcome. Asking people to develop along preordained paths isn't really development. It's called "training". But that's another article.
And suppose these two teachers come up with a brilliant and original idea, but one that falls outside the current fields of experience or political desirability – what then? Can a person responsible for helping someone to develop then turn round and tell them "I'm sorry, but we don't develop that way here"? Not really.
Separate out the roles of development and accountability
This is why we have to end the rule of devaluation and separate out once again the roles of development and accountability. We have to stop pretending that they are the same thing. We need to (re-)introduce the role of a Head Teacher who can say things like "I'm sorry, but school policy is …". And we need to have a Head of Development who can set tasks, isn't professionally threatened by novel ideas, who can argue with School Policy, argue with "not invented here", argue with school tradition. Someone who is interested in developing ideas and seeing where they lead.
And the teacher? How does this affect them? Well, they work with a colleague to produce their portfolio of the year's work. It might contain observations they have done, samples of students' work, handouts they have made, handouts they have found online, sites they like to visit, books they have read, notes on how their outside interests have influenced their teaching. In other words, a picture of their teaching that year and what has changed and what has caused it to change.
(Of course, if there is no change, we have found the difference between development and experience.)
They might then present this portfolio to the Head Developer, who would read it and later discuss what seems important to them and ask what seemed most important to the teacher. And after speaking to as many of the teachers as possible, surely this developer would have an excellent idea of the collective staff, and would not only be able to inform the Head and other educational officials of what the staff is like, but would also be able to draft more suitable training programs, developmental tasks, discussion forums, school aims, appropriate sources of material to read or view.
The Head would also have a meeting with the individual teacher, in which they could discuss whatever seems salient to the Head after reading the portfolio and having discussed the case with the Developer. This might include discussing grants for study, warning about deviations from policies in force, asking what resources the school might require, answering questions about mixed ability systems in the school, the awarding or withholding of increments, and so on.
In other words, separating out the admin function - which every school has, from the developmental function - which every school should aspire to.
From TESL
Is our evaluation of teachers any better than our evaluation of learners? Of course, the first thing to say is that no teacher would ever agree to be evaluated in the same way as they evaluate their learners. Every school has in place some form of teacher assessment, but few, if any, are based on a true/false or multiple-choice test the Head produced last night before they went to bed.
No, teachers expect more respect in valuing their skills. The problem is that teachers don't really like to be evaluated. There are a number of reasons why:
1) They don't trust the testing system
However the evaluation is done, or whoever does the evaluation, teachers will doubt the system. They will be suspicious of the motive (Promotion? Down-sizing? Getting those horrible Year 7s next year?). They will be suspicious of the method (favoritism; observing an unrepresentative class; missing the lesson start, which was good, and seeing the end, which was bad; drawing loads of arrows on a piece of paper! - what does that prove?). They will be suspicious of the evaluator (She's never liked me. Hasn't been in a classroom for years. What does she know about teaching? Just out of school herself!).
2) No one agrees what a good teacher is
One person's class of free spirits is another person's noisy rabble. Some teachers believe in helping students to achieve known outcomes like exams. Others think that they should develop people as learners and see exam-passing as simply a waystage on a journey. Some teachers are technicians and have lesson plans that work like stage directions and lead to a magical dénouement. Others are people-people and watch as their learners develop like flowers. Others… well, there are as many definitions of "good teacher" as there are teachers. Because most teachers think they are pretty good. It's the others who need development.
3) The difference between development and experience
People teach for many years. Some people get better at teaching the longer they do it. Others get lazy or get worse as they get bored or cynical. Some treat their pre-service training as a model, and see deviation from this model as being bad or lazy, and thus see not changing their teaching as a success. Changes in teaching behaviors can therefore be seen as progressive, regressive or simply backsliding.
In other words, all the problems with reliability and validity that often tend to get overlooked when we evaluate our learners.
"Development"
So, to avoid the word "assessment", we have traditionally labelled our evaluation systems as "Development". Now, teachers can't object to being developed, can they? And so people give workshops and observe each other not to assess, no. But to "help them to become better teachers".
Firstly, we'd better clarify "help" and "better teacher". The word "help" implies that some form of cooperative development is being undertaken. And this may be true. And we have already seen that the concept of "better teacher" is open to interpretation.
Devaluation
The problem is that this melding of "development" and "evaluation" has gone on for so long that it has become "devaluation". In many places, neither the development nor the assessment is being done with much success. Development has become a list of issues that the developer/knower thinks they know more about than the developer/knower. The problem here is that in many cases they don't. Not only is there the possible confusion of talent and experience that we described above, but also the developer may need a different approach to some Officially Recognized Superior informing them how their teaching behavior deviates from the school's official norm. There are many ways to help people other than telling.
For example, less experienced teachers may benefit from a voyage of joint discovery: the superiors might set them a teaching target, ask them to set a form of evaluation which would "prove" their learning, and then ask them to do it. However, one of the problems with "development" is that it means you have to let go of control, as development can only be development if it may lead to an unspecified or unanticipated outcome. Asking people to develop along preordained paths isn't really development. It's called "training". But that's another article.
And suppose these two teachers come up with a brilliant and original idea, but one that falls outside the current fields of experience or political desirability – what then? Can a person responsible for helping someone to develop then turn round and tell them "I'm sorry, but we don't develop that way here"? Not really.
Separate out the roles of development and accountability
This is why we have to end the rule of devaluation and separate out once again the roles of development and accountability. We have to stop pretending that they are the same thing. We need to (re-)introduce the role of a Head Teacher who can say things like "I'm sorry, but school policy is …". And we need to have a Head of Development who can set tasks, isn't professionally threatened by novel ideas, who can argue with School Policy, argue with "not invented here", argue with school tradition. Someone who is interested in developing ideas and seeing where they lead.
And the teacher? How does this affect them? Well, they work with a colleague to produce their portfolio of the year's work. It might contain observations they have done, samples of students' work, handouts they have made, handouts they have found online, sites they like to visit, books they have read, notes on how their outside interests have influenced their teaching. In other words, a picture of their teaching that year and what has changed and what has caused it to change.
(Of course, if there is no change, we have found the difference between development and experience.)
They might then present this portfolio to the Head Developer, who would read it and later discuss what seems important to them and ask what seemed most important to the teacher. And after speaking to as many of the teachers as possible, surely this developer would have an excellent idea of the collective staff, and would not only be able to inform the Head and other educational officials of what the staff is like, but would also be able to draft more suitable training programs, developmental tasks, discussion forums, school aims, appropriate sources of material to read or view.
The Head would also have a meeting with the individual teacher, in which they could discuss whatever seems salient to the Head after reading the portfolio and having discussed the case with the Developer. This might include discussing grants for study, warning about deviations from policies in force, asking what resources the school might require, answering questions about mixed ability systems in the school, the awarding or withholding of increments, and so on.
In other words, separating out the admin function - which every school has, from the developmental function - which every school should aspire to.
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