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NEWSLE
ARGENTINA
SPRING 1996
T E S O L
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by Patricia K. Werner
Vol.9
No. 18
Personería Jurídica IGJ464
carnealong before writing, andmistakes
students. They wanted feedback and
were simply not permitted. In fact, errors
needed guidelines. At that point, Iwent
were treated as "heresies" to be stamped
totheoppositeextreme.
out immediately. Our teachers jumped
been taughtFrench,
to correct any and a1lmistakes we made
everything.
as quick1y as possible. "Exploration" of
correcting, my students were rarely able
a language or a culture was definitely
to fmish a thought before 1 dutifully
not a part of the curriculum.
interrupted with a string of corrections.
1taughtas 1had
correcting virtually
From the time 1 began
Likemany of my classmates, 1developed
1 soon realized that this tactic also
As a young child, 1was so fascinated by
a love/hate relationship with the classes
frustrated the students, just as it had so
other languages and cultures that 1tried
and a definite fear of making mistakes.
heavily frustrated me. Fortunately, my
to teach myself French from an old
1 talked (and much later wrote) about only the things 1knew 1 could without
students were notonly very patient with
making a mistake, and 1 religiously
to search for solutions, and together we
textbook of my mother' s that 1found in our attic. 1couldn't wait for the language
o
me -a new teacher - but also very willing
classes that would begin later in our
avoided
primary school .and then continue in
structures 1 couldn't
secondary. Looking forward to "real"
wasn't until 1was fortunate enough to
classes,I woulddreamaboutbeingfluent
live with a farnily in France and to study
in another language and traveling around
at a Swiss university that 1 began to
To correct or not to
the world and learning
experiment with my second language
correct?
cultures.
and to try real communication -not just
President's Message
p. 3
Unfortunately, my dreams of exploring
memorized little speeches.
Putting the T in TESOL
p. 5
a new language and culture and the
Later, my first months of teaching
TESOL '96
p. 6
reality of the classroom soon clashed.
English were heavily influenced by my
A Newcomer in Chicago
p. 7
Our classes consisted of reproducing
early experiences with French classes. 1
From ESL Learner
tried to do the exact opposite of how I'd
Teacher
about other
words, phrases, and dialogues
100%
correctly. We spent hours mimicking
any topics, vocabulary,
or
continued on page 4
handle well. It INSIDE
p: 1
to ESL p.9
been taught French. 1 wanted every
Planning and Supporting
our teacher or a voice from a tape, and
student to have unlimited freedom of
Online Learning
p.11
we were never allowed to write. Most of
expression -no correction, but lots of
Suggestopedia ...
my early language classes utilized the
encouragement
Helping students ...
p. 12 p. 13
In Memoriarn
p.19
to "explore".
As the
audiolingual method, and in those days,
classes progressed, though, 1saw more
listening carne before speaking, reading
and more frustration
1
amongst
the