Teacher development program

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A short self-study course to help teachers improve their skills.

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Introduction Teaching at Pagoda Since its beginnings in 1969 as a language academy, Pagoda has been constantly innovating on the programs it has offered and the quality of its language education. In fact, Pagoda was the first company to actively bring native teachers to Korea to help the students improve their knowledge and pronunciation.

The first programs were very centered on grammar which had been the dominant foreign language focus in Korea for many years, but as the needs of the students grew so did the structure and style of the classes offered.

SLE began in 1985 as a dedicated English conversation class to help improve the students' fluency and confidence especially as more and more Koreans were being exposed to an international array of people and this program has been revised several times to keep it up to date.

In the 1990's a new generation of Korean students started to see study abroad (especially at American universities) as a useful acquisition and demanded a program that would teach them the academic skills needed to flourish at such a level. Therefore the PIP program began to teach those very skills and was the first immersion program of its kind becoming very popular, as the type of students heading abroad has changed (scientists into fashion majors) the books too have undergone major changes. College writing as a dedicated class has developed from PIP. As Pagoda has grown into one of the most prestigious academies in Korea so have the number of courses offered by native teachers. Pagoda Business Academy (PBA) was designed to meet the needs of the local business community in Gangnam and has since evolved into a 3 level program across all the branches. This in turn splintered into other related classes such as Job Interview (J-it) and Presentation.

Critical thinking has been promoted by Pagoda in particular in the 2000's through innovative new classes such as Book Discussion (now one of our most popular) through Debate and Discussion, Sitcom and Watch & Talk classes.

Pagoda teachers now have a large curriculum of ESL-related classes available to them, all of which will help increase their pedagogical knowledge and skill. What we as a company want to be sure of is that every teacher has the appropriate training and support to ensure that the reputation of Pagoda and the program remains high.

This is why all teachers at Pagoda have the opportunity to develop their teaching through TDP.

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How you should use this book All of the units in this book have been designed to help you in three ways: a) Popular Theory and Research – a quick look at differing opinions in the ESL/EFL world and how this applies to our programs. b) Practical discussions & activities – how this applies to you, the students and the classroom.

Discussion Point

c) Application – a short assignment for you to complete to demonstrate your knowledge You should aim to complete one unit per week, it should take around two months then to complete the whole course. The main goal of each unit is reflection on the lessons you currently teacher or how you will teach in the future. By the end of the course you will have a lot of new ideas and practical aims to try out in your classes.

Contents Page 4

Title of Chapter Working in Korea

12

Whose English

20

Lesson Planning

29

Grammar Awareness

41

Teaching Reading

56

Teaching Listening

68

Teaching Writing

84

Teaching Speaking

100

Teaching Resources

Description of Chapter  Korean working environment  Student attitude & ethics  Types of English Taught  World English application  Essential elements in class.  Adaption  Methods of teaching  Improving functional knowledge  Reading for comprehension  Text-based discussion  Listening for comprehension and input for speaking.  Academic vs general  

Activity types  Offline and Online

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Unit One: Working in Korea Whether you are brand new to teaching in Korea or have been here a while it is important to have an understanding of where your students have come from. More importantly, the type of education they have received before they walk into your classroom. Without some understanding of what your students have been used to it is harder for a non-Korean teacher to adapt their training methods to their students' needs.

Discussion Point

What, do you think or in your experience, are the major differences between Korean and Western styles of education. (not just language)

Common Issue. “Korean students are so shy, they don't want to participate in class, I don't understand why they would go to a native teacher class if they're not going to talk to me.�

This and some very similar comments are made by new and senior teachers working in Korea all the time. However valid it may be in a few cases (and only a few) it does not help create an atmosphere of trust and learning if the teacher has already dismissed the class as unteachable citing 'cultural reasons'. Every class is different and each student is different but we can generalize on a few points.

The Korean attitude to education

The end result is the goal. Receiving a good grade takes precedent over learning From ancient history to modern times entry into any decent profession required a high result in standard tests. Although passing the Confucian style civil service entry exam has gone the modern obsession with attending a good university or getting into a good company remains.

This means passing the UEA with a great score or maintaining a high TOEIC average, students who attend language academy to help them pass their test often have little interest in the process itself. To put this simply many teachers in the education system don't mind if their students showed no interest in history, only that they passed the history exam.

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There is always a correct answer to the question. Opinion is irrelevant Since the test is the main assessment of a student's ability this affects the method of teaching and learning that occurs in the classroom. There is a reason Cram schools grew so quickly, they all offer 'strategy teaching' how to get the correct answer as quickly as possible to ensure the best score. Western education by and large took a different route where analysis is often expected as well, giving reason and justification for an answer. This brings us back to the testing element of education and this is applied in lessons with little time given to exploration of a subject. Traditionally students who learned languages studied only grammatical rules (grammar translation) and not speaking or using the language in any meaningful way.

Students listen to the teacher and answer directly, they do not do group work in class.

Teachers have always been afforded the same status in the students' eyes as parents and must be shown great respect. Class sizes are also much larger than seen in western countries meaning teachers would find pair and group work unmanageable by themselves. Therefore the traditional model is that of a lecture with questions asked to the room (or sometimes directly) and students parroting the answer to the teacher. If students work together on projects it would be outside the class (hence the popularity of study groups) they would not volunteer answers in class unless completely sure of being correct. Hence in foreign language classes students often are not used to interacting directly with the teacher.

Your future career will be determined by your exam results (and possibly parents) Students will like many around the world have ideas of what they would like to do with their career once they have graduated. However unlike the Careers Counselor of western high schools whose job is to look at a student's academic record and interests and offer advice on further education or job options Korean students will meet an academic adviser. The adviser will generally look at the results of the senior year's mock testing and consider which university and subject would suit their academic achievement. Due to this Korean students often do not then consider a career until they can see how their degree is doing and it is not unusual to hear students remark that a particular career path has not been thought about. Likewise although many students study English to further their career it is usually for a general advantage rather than anything specific.

English is a requirement in most companies not a useful life tool.

Students' access to education and self-improvement in Korea is a testimony to the post-war generations who worked so hard to modernize the country and become a competitive force.

More students than ever go to university, university becomes a standard form of education rather than 'further' education. Bachelor’s degrees lose their value, everybody wants a masters'

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degree. Now it is not uncommon to meet Koreans in their twenties and early thirties with a degree, a foreign degree and a master's degree but who are struggling to find decent employment. This has resulted in English (whether through ability or a test score) becoming a standard method of streaming for many if not most major companies regardless of English being used as a conduit in the job. Therefore it is not so uncommon to meet students studying a language solely to pass an interview or be considered for promotion with little interest in developing their communicative ability.

These are general comments on the legacy of the normal education system that many of your students will have been through. There have been many serious attempts by legislators and educators to revise this over the years, including the rise of 'western' style education. This being the norm is still far off meaning a company like Pagoda continues to be a source of educational principles in language. Our teachers must all share these principles.

The Principles of learning Discussion Point

Think back to school, university or a time when you were training for something. It should be an experience that you enjoyed and you really felt that you learned something. Why do you think you enjoyed that experience? Was it the teacher or the process or a combination of both?

Most people would agree that a good teacher is crucial to a successful learning environment, almost every student can be motivated if the teacher is using the right tools. There are however a number of factors, or principles that educators agree need to be present in order for the learning process to be a success.

Readiness - A degree of eagerness and concentration. Anyone who has ever been inside a hot, sticky classroom on a beautiful day or been asked to read Neitze at 6.30am when it's dark outside will understand the importance of being physically, emotionally and mentally ready to learn. This is why in ESL the importance of ice breakers, warm ups and spatial awareness has been stressed so thoroughly.

Since learning is an active process students must be focused on the day's lesson and not outside factors (schedules, work, studies) or they will learn little.

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Exercise - This is a fundamental belief that those things that are repeated are best remembered and this often shows itself as repetition or drilling in the language classroom. Students who are given plenty of controlled practices generally retain language better than those who only see or hear something once or twice. This also extends itself to review activities which allow students to recall previously learned material or identify that which they didn't sufficiently practice yet. This is why the idea of learning a language through spontaneous conversation actually results in simply repeating what you already know.

Effect – This is the principle of the emotional reaction of the student which in itself has a direct relationship to motivation. Learning and desire to learn increases when accompanied by a pleasant or satisfying feeling. Conversely if the student feels frustration or isolation from material or the teacher learning suffers. One of the obligations then of the instructor is to create a syllabus and lesson plans where progress and achievement is clearly defined and possible to ensure this feeling happens. This is why telling students that a task is difficult or apologizing for a dull one will have an overall negative effect on their progress, choosing material or topics that are not too far beyond the students' level will also help create a positive effect.

Primacy – The human mind makes a strong impression of how something is taught the first time, this means the instructor must teach correctly the first time. Trying to correct errors later on is much more difficult and can also shake confidence in a teacher who must re-trace his steps and admit he was incorrect about something. This is also why lesson planning is given such emphasis in teacher training, the student must have a positive first impression from the processes and methods of the teacher which must appear logical and coherent.

Regency - While we are not at the level of goldfish who tend to forget what they've learned fairly speedily, it is true that we do recall better that which we've studied recently as opposed to last week, month or year. What did you have for lunch today? What did you have for lunch last Tuesday? This translates into ESL teaching as a strong syllabus that the teacher has actually planned so that topic and subject can be taught in the most coherent order and that regular review and summarization of the key language helps to cement the knowledge in the mind. How often do you hear students say “I've forgotten everything”? How often have you said it about something you once studied?

Intensity - The more intense the material taught and the methods used, the more likely it will make an impression on the learner's mind. Do you think you learn more about 'Romeo and Juliet' by reading the play or by watching the movie? And yet the text is the same, it was the method of instruction that changed. In ESL this means the more realism and personalization the teacher brings to the class the more likely the students will learn and enjoy learning. It also requires a lot of variety in the type and frequency of instruction and activities that the instructor uses to keep the students interested in their learning. This usually means full use of the senses and incorporation of imagination.

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Regency - While we are not at the level of goldfish who tend to forget what they've learned fairly speedily, it is true that we do recall better that which we've studied recently as opposed to last week, month or year. What did you have for lunch today? What did you have for lunch last Tuesday? This translates into ESL teaching as a strong syllabus that the teacher has actually planned so that topic and subject can be taught in the most coherent order and that regular review and summarization of the key language helps to cement the knowledge in the mind. How often do you hear students say “I've forgotten everything”? How often have you said it about something you once studied?

Freedom - Free societies have always developed faster than oppressed ones, a student who feels more free in their expression in the classroom is better set to apply it and feel success than a student who has education forced down their throat. In a language class, oppression means the fear to speak out in case the answer is wrong. In a free class it means being able to say what you think is right and not worrying if you don't get it quite right. Positive praise and active encouragement from the instructor will foster this atmosphere. The students should be given freedom of choice, freedom of action and freedom to bear the results of their actions.

Requirement – This has to do with the pursuit of a goal, whether that goal be to pass a test or get a job or to become more fluent in a language. Without the sense of aim, however distant it might appear, learning is difficult and motivation can soon disappear. This is why the teacher setting aims and learning objectives is crucial as they provide markers along the way that the learner is moving forward towards that goal. Positive reinforcement is crucial in language learning as the road is always long.

Variety and fun – As mentioned in the previous section (Korean Education) students who labour under question and answer style education suffer much and learn little. Teachers who successfully incorporate games and lighter tasks into their lesson plans report a much higher level of participation and motivation from their students than those who simply rely on the textbook. Educators all over the world publish books and material about how to incorporate fun into the classroom and they have a very valid point. I personally learned my french number s from playing 'Lotto' with a chocolate bar for the winner not through drills.

With these universal principles in mind, combined with an understanding of where our students have come from and the education they have received, we can begin to plan our lessons.

But what are the main challenges for the non korean teacher?

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The Process of Adaptation: Western Teachers in Korea (KOTESOL Discussion Point

What were some of the difficulties that you experienced when you first came to Korea? How did you overcome these? Could you have been better prepared?

There is always a period of culture shock. For some it is very short, for others it can be extended due to major differences between their home and adopted culture. Since you are already here it can be assumed that you have done the most important preparation; research. In their surveys of foreign teachers working in Korea between 2008 and 2011, KOTESOL researchers heard the following complaints from 38% of people asked: Housing is so small and I can't believe we have to take a HIV test.

Korean people don't like foreigners.

With the exception of number 3 which is clearly nonsense unless preceded by 'some', the others are either a fact of city life, a well-publicized requirement of immigration or tough luck.

My boss doesn't respect me enough.

I don't like the food.

So let's take a look at genuine adaption issues into Korean society and working.

Work Place Hierarchy - For time first time western worker in Korea they can find the well-defined bands of management and responsibility in the company a little strict or odd. This however simply follows a similar pattern to society in general, generally as a foreigner you have the luxury of being slightly out of this system and can often call and address even high level directors by a more informal name than any of the Korean staff can. There is no reason to rally against what you might consider injustice or that you don't receive enough respect from the CEO as you probably couldn't expect this at home unless you were in a very high position.

Get to know the Korean staff in the company and you'll soon be able to understand better.

Good guest, good host - A major feature of Korean society is the desire that people have a good impression of their country and go away feeling happy. This means Koreans are mostly non-confrontational with foreigners even at moments when westerners might expect a confrontation; the taxi driver almost doesn't stop at the red light, the girl on the mobile phone who pushes a door into you, the business guy who walks into you and spills your coffee on himself. Most of these situations would be met with a beaming smile, this is to show humility not indifference. You may have seen drunk guys having a bit of a punch up at 1am on the street but show me a western country where this does not happen. The most important to realise is that you are in a foreign country, wanting things to be like back home is not going to happen. Your house will be different, the supermarket will be different the manners and customs will be different, get to know them, be a good guest and you will be appreciated.

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Scheduling Conflicts - From the first interview through the contract signing and arriving into Korea you are told what the schedule will probably be like. Very few people get a dream schedule and like every other workplace in the world you need to prove your worth before you get rewards. In a company like this schedules cannot be fixed all year as they only run on a 20 day basis and it is very difficult to make exact schedules days in advance. Managers are taking steps to try and make things easier but this is the reality of working in an adult Hagwon. Generally only young learners' academies and public schools can offer fixed schedules. Just learn to manage your time efficiently so as not to let it impact your life too much. Get to know the Korean staff in the company and you'll soon be able to understand better.

Sense of Self - This is often the most documented complaint heard in pubs and over soju up and down the country, like lamenting in pubs all over the world is the sense that you've been done wrong. Most of the complaints revolve around the feeling that you are not afforded the respect that you deserve, that your boss(es) overlook you or look down on you or that your opinions are not taken seriously or demands honored. This has again a lot more to do with western thinking where 'I' is giving more credence than 'We', in Korea it is the reverse and the harmony of the group is considered of utmost importance. Korean employees are used to working for the good of the company while quietly furthering their careers, you may think the other way around but think carefully before you start strutting around like a diva. You are more likely to do well in Korean Companies if you try to think at least a little like a Korean Cultural Sensitivity - It seems unlikely that somebody would come to Korea with the aim to insult the country and its people but this is what many people end up doing. Koreans in general are actually very accommodating to foreigners who make the effort to at least try to fit in a little and show patience.

Instructors who complain loudly and in public (including the workplace) making wild generalizations about the whole country based on what happened to them on the bus that morning do nothing for good feeling or harmony. Korean and Gyopo teachers have often requested managers to speak to teachers who regularly make negative remarks about their host nation. We all need to get things off our chest sometimes but do it quietly behind closed doors if you must, you wouldn't like it if people openly criticized your country or culture. If something baffles you take the effort to learn about it.

Self – Education – One of the great joys of living and working in a foreign land is the opportunity to expand your mind and learn new things, you have a whole new historical perspective and culture to get to know. Now while money of course is a motivator for many people it is difficult to enjoy life if it is the ONLY motivator. There is always something a little tragic about somebody who has lived in Korea for one year or more and leaves with little more knowledge than they don't like the smell of Kimchi and have never ventured north of the river. No one is ever too old to learn, try the food, learn a little Korean, make friends, travel outside of Seoul. Your life will be indelibly enriched by the effort instead of getting straight on the plane with a healthy bank balance and saying “never again

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Assignment Follow the link for the video: Japanese Acquisition Class: https://www.dropbox.com/home/TDP%20Videos Objectives: 1. To participate as a student in a foreign language class.

2.

To experience the techniques used by the instructor while teaching.

3.

To observe how the students (including yourself) react to the material and the lesson.

4.

To critique the class based on the principles of education and your own concepts of learning a foreign language.

Below is an example observation chart for you to use during and after the class to keep notes.

Instructor :

Hanan Sakuragi

Subject:

Japanese Conversation

Level:

Beginner

Time

Topic Warm Up

Activity / Presentation

Materials

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Unit Two: Whose English is it Anyway?

“If the spread of English continues at the current rate, by the year 2000 its non-native speakers will outnumber its native speakers' - Braj Kachru, 1983, linguist who coined 'World English' Discussion Point

Do you agree that the above has happened?

How has English spread so much around the world? What impact do you think this has had/will have on English and also in its teaching?

A language story Kachru's guess proved to be more prophetic than he realised and the actual number of English speakers is close to 1.5 billion people and native speakers number around 329 million making the ratio close to 1:3 in favour of non native speakers. Of course we have to account for level and proficiency but there is no denying the fact that English is now a world language with all the dialects, creoles and variants that come with any world language and this of course has a bearing on how it is taught.

English has become global in the following ways; Colonial history – Unlike Spanish which concentrated itself in the western part of the globe, the British colonialists got about quite a bit meaning the language dispersed itself over a wide geographic area. Even in places where English did not become a native language (e.g. Australia, North America) it did become a lingua franca for politics and administration (e.g. India, Singapore, Hong Kong). Of course it helped that one of those places it settled became the United States.

Economics – White military expansion might help plant a language economic power is what ensures it survives and grows. The spread of global commerce spearheaded by the US created the need for many countries to speak the language of the major player, the process of 'globalization'. Now it is the language of business, aviation, science and medicine among others.

Information exchange – Firstly academic discourse is often done in English as well as journals and international papers that seek the widest audience for their work. Many subjects are taught almost solely in English in universities around the world. Of course one of the most ubiquitous sources of information exchange is the world wide web which although changing is still primarily in English thanks to its British beginnings and early American patronage.

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Travel – It is almost impossible to enter an airport nowadays or take a plane without hearing announcements or reading signs in English and it is a requirement in the airline industry. Many non native speakers would learn some English as a lingua franca when traveling and most tour companies would offer it as an option and most tourist centres will speak some.

Popular Culture – The rise of the music and entertainment industry chiefly in the US but also in other English speaking territories helped fuel the spread of English around the world as the latest in culture and fashion. This also includes sports stars (think of the Beckham phenomenon) and the massive industry behind of this which now market 'global brands' and you can hear many English names and technical words being borrowed into multiple languages.

So we know that English as an acquired language is being taught all around the world, the question now arises, what is the best way to teach it?

A world of Acronyms English teaching is surrounded by acronyms and initials that describe the type of students and aims of the class, this is supposed to aid the teachers in their preparation by knowing specifically the type of student that they have.

Discussion Point

Write down what you think the following acronyms stand for and what that means in terms of teaching.

Acronym EFL ESL ESOL ELF TESOL TEFL ESP EAP

In Full

Type of Students

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English as a foreign language (EFL) would be the umbrella term that would cover all of the programs taught here at Pagoda as we are not living and working in an English speaking country.

But we do have to consider how these definitions affect our programs and planning.

Book Discussion

SLE ELF PIP/CW

PBA/J-it

EAP

ESP

Opic/IEL TS/TOEIC

EAP/EFL

ELF/EAP

Answer key to Page 13.

Acronym

In Full

Type of Students

EFL

English as a foreign language

Those who wish to improve conversational skills for work, study or personal hobby. Study in their home country.

ESL

English as a second language

Those who wish to improve conversational or academic English.

Study in an English-speaking country.

ESOL

English as a second or other language

Those who wish to add English to their repertoire.

ELF

English as a lingua franca.

Those who need a level of English to communicate with often second language speakers or native speakers.

TESOL

Teaching English as a second or other language.

Teaching within a native English speaking country

TEFL

Teaching English as a foreign language.

Teaching in a non native country

ESP

English for specific purposes

Eg. Business English, one on one

EAP

English for academic purposes

For study.

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World English

The distinction between ESL and EFL used to be fairly clear. The first was for students who lived for extended periods in an English speaking country and needed the language for everyday survival, they would be in class with mixed nationalities and progress expectations would be higher and faster. EFL students covered everybody studying in their home or other non English speaking country. However thanks to the changing status of English around the world and how it is used (business, internet, entertainment etc) the distinction in students has also changed. Many curriculum writers now refer to their intended audience of teachers as ESOL, teaching English to speakers of other languages or English as a lingua franca (EFL).

We used to consider students wishing to learn the language in order to interact with native speakers but as has been previously discussed, there are less native speakers than second language speakers. This means English being used as a medium of communication between two non-native speakers is an increasing norm. A study by Seidhofer actually dissected the common features of conversations in English without a native speaker and discovered how certain patterns had emerged that would be unusual for native speakers including; the loss of the third person 's' without loss of understanding. (He like korean food) Pluralizing uncountable nouns (informations, staffs etc) Non use of infinitive constructions (I want that we do not I want us to do) etc

This is not to suggest that native English is unimportant just that we have to consider how we approach the teaching of language as a world English (EFL) rather than strictly enforcing the rules of British or American English. As language teachers perhaps it is time for us to start teaching about Englishes to better suit the needs of our students rather than that of native speakers. This is why as spoken about in the introductory chapter (self education) a good teacher always seeks to build upon their own knowledge and not simply teach what they once learnt.

Expanding Diagram of Global English Use Outer Inner = native speakers Outer = second language Inner country 320 -580 Expanding = foreign language learners 150 - 300 150 - 300

(in millions)

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Planning a course in World English Inbox

New message

Hey thanx 4 chat. CU l8r.

Mo. Reply

Delete

Thank you

Calle del doctor Fourquet 26.

Tel: 010 2689 5674 October 4th, 2012

Hi Mike, Thanks so much for the Re: new product launch talk earlier, I'll see you at the launch at 8pm.

Dear Mr Michaels, Mo.

I would like to invite you to the launch of Pagoda's new textbook on Saturday 13th October. Following your interest in the program as discussed...

Alright, I'll see you there !

Aim One: What are the the students hoping to learn in your class?  Look at the above instances of language use, all very valid and all with the aim of communication. Which would you teach as 'correct' English?  Most would agree that the text message probably doesn't require classroom teaching but the other three forms do and all are world English.

Aim Two: What exactly are you going to teach them in your lesson?  Above are four examples of register (levels of understanding and politeness) the topics and subject would need to reflect this. Informal everyday , semi-formal etc.  Have you though about how you will present the language? It's not enough to have a vague understanding of the language involved. You must be able to explain it in a clear and obvious way that will help the students.

Mini Task Below are several language related questions that have come up in classes. In your pair/groups discuss how you would explain the concepts to your students.

1

Teacher what is the difference between “I'll go to Paris soon” and “I'm going to Paris soon”.

2

Teacher which is better “I haven't read the book yet” and “I didn't read the book yet”?

3

I don't understand when to use“You wanna do something...” and “Would you like to..”

4

Teacher this conversation is confusing..

Man: Did you know you're in a non-smoking zone?

Woman: Am I? Man: Yes the sign is over there.

Woman: Right, thanks (puts out cigarette)

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What we say vs What we meant to say.

As all language is about communication, that is the approach we must take, both in how we communicate our teaching to the students and in turn how they communicate their thoughts.

Which form of the language is the most appropriate to use, both in spoken and written English is what governs our feeling about ability. Consider the six factors below:

Setting: Pagoda's books always emphasize the use of topic when teaching language to help students understand how and when to use language. We speak differently at work and out with friends, for students it's important to know when to use more structured formal language and when it's ok to use more spontaneous and informal speech.

Participants: The people with whom we are interacting has a significant influence on the way we speak in English, we might think this is a Korean trait but it is also true in our language (if you've been raised well) The way you speak to a superior or a stranger in the street is different to the way you chat with a friend or a co-worker and also the style of exchange can be different to your students' understanding.

Gender: A lot of research has gone into the way the sexes interact and language use is no exception. In conversation, the work place, job interviews and so on, men and women typically address each other differently than they do their own sex. Women have been found to use more concessive language than men who tend to be more direct in their language.

Channel: There are clear differences between spoken and written English but also in the way we speak and the way in which we receive language. Think of telephone English, trying to make your way through a touch screen system or automated service, listening to announcements at a train station or airport. These are crucial elements in learning a language.

Topic: As mentioned before the topics in the books or chosen by the teacher will dictate the lexical and grammatical choices as well. This is how language developed, we created and evolved words, phrases and structures to express ourselves in any given situation. It is always a eureka moment for a language student when they understand when and what to say.

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Tone: Anyone who has studied Mandarin Chinese will know how important tone can be. Luckily in English this more applies to register – understanding the meaning in the way something is said and not just the words that are said. This covers everything from understanding formality, impatience, rudeness, sarcasm even something as basic as raising intonation to frame a question. (something many native speakers forget to do) Think about how many times you have heard an aggrieved love one say to you; “It's not what you said, it's the way you said it!”

Mini Task

Practice saying the following words to your partner, how would you describe the tone of what they saying?

“Hello”

a) to a friend b) To a six month old baby c)to a neighbor you don’t like. d) to your room mate who came home after not spending the night in his bed.

“Whatever” a) To the choice of red or white wine. b) to your parents who have grounded you.

“See you then” a) To a friend you won’t see for a long time. b) To your co-worker at the end of the day. c) to an ex you just broke up with.

Assessment 2. Below are some excerpts from a textbook designed for an intermediate 2B level.

Read through them and then plan what your language focus for the class would be and the activity you would plan for the students to do.

Entrees WAITER: Good evening Sir, Madam. Welcome to Guiseippes Mange Tout, may I take your order now or would you like more time?

MAN: I think we can order now...darling?

WOMAN: Oh yes, I'm ready.

MAN: Could you tell me what the specials are?

WAITER:(sigh) They are written on the menu, we have fish & chips, cheese & potato quiche and a little lasagna.

MAN: oh...I see, erm....quiche I think.

WOMAN: Oh yes, quiche for me too I think.

WAITER: I am sorry, there is only enough for one.

WOMAN: Oh...erm....lasagna then please.

WAITER: Anything else?

MAN: Would it be possible to see a wine list?

WAITER: Very well. (he leaves) MAN: Nice here, isn't it?

WOMAN: Hmmm.

1. Fish head soup

$2.85

Guiseppe's Mange Tout

2. Lettuce & Tomato 3. Melon & Apple ________________

$2.50 $2.25

Mains 1. Fish & Chips

$7.50

2. Lasagna & Salad

$6.75

3. Cheese Quiche

$7.00

4. Beef Stroganoff

$8.25

__________________ Desserts 1.Pecan Pie 2.Cheese & Fruit 3.Death by Chocolate

$2.00 $1.75 $2.75

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You should base your ideas on the 6 points on the previous page:  

What is the topic of the class?

What is the language focus?

How will you teach the students language related to :     

Setting Participants Gender Channel Tone

Activity: Using the above source material and your ideas for the language focus and presentation, plan a pair activity for the students to do to practice these concepts. Detail your instructions and intent with the activity. (look in the SLE manual for more ideas on this) Activity: Using the above source material and your ideas for the language focus and presentation, plan a pair activity for the students to do to practice these concepts. Detail your instructions and intent with the activity.

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Unit Three: Planning Lessons “The jungle path can lead to wonderful places, it can also lead nowhere” - Stephen Fry

The Planning Paradox: There has been a great debate among foreign language educators and theorists about the purpose and extent of lesson planning, some favoring more others less.

Craig Thaine suggested that teachers should at least create a three day structure for their week whereas Mario Rinvolucri disagreed entirely believing lesson planning should be more organic and evolve during the course.

Discussion Point

As a language instructor what is your opinion on the amount of lesson planning necessary and how structured should each class be?

The Success Plan Continuum

Despite the ever-flowing presence of theory, most teachers would agree that a certain amount of planning must go into every lesson to ensure its success. Even if a lesson does not go as well as we had hoped, it is to the plan we go to see how we can improve it in future. There are two types of teacher who go into a classroom and just see what happens and evolve their plans depending on the momentum in class, they are either; Very experienced teachers who know their students’ reactions very well.

Disinterested teachers who do not have their students’ needs in mind.

During typical initial lesson planning stages of teacher training courses and observed classes teachers tend to produce overly elaborate plans on the understanding they will be assessed and then create far more reduced versions for their subsequent classes. Partly these more detailed plans create a sense of confidence in the teacher that they are prepared for the class and for the students or observer assurance that the teacher is ready to

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teach. The lesson plan that the teacher follows can come in many forms including; A chart that contains a formula; the teacher writes or types into creating a familiar style that the teacher can adapt to each lesson.

Brief notes, bullet points or doodles with basic details in the order of teaching.

Course book – where the teacher considers the structure and contents of the assigned textbook to be sufficiently detailed to follow as a plan and a lesson in itself.

Corridor planning – teachers with some ideas of the lesson put things into a vague order as they head towards the class.

Whichever method you use or consider effective, the actual form that a plan takes it less important than the thoughts and principles that have gone into the aims and goals of the class.

What can't be planned?

There are moments in an ELF classroom that can't be planned, it is important to think about these before we look at what can be planned.

Going with the moment: Most teachers would say one of their favourite moments in a language class is when a conversation or discussion suddenly develops into something longer or more diverting than expected. This means as an instructor we want the students to be allowed to develop their fluency by actually engaging in the topic. We could force the lesson back onto the plan but this can sometimes be detrimental to the students' enjoyment and progress and can come across as disrespectful. Likewise simply abandoning the lesson plan altogether or not coming back to the original objectives can make a class lose all structure and affect the confidence in the teacher. So better to see how that moment can be used to further learning (could you recreate it in future?) than ignoring it.

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Unexpected opportunity: All teachers have had the moment where during a presentation or activity an unplanned use of language occurs that we realise is actually very useful to the lesson or to an aim we had. So it is perfectly normal that we may take a diversion to look at this language and its relevance to what we are doing. This is known as 'opportunistic teaching' and in the hands of an experienced teacher can be a fun and often welcome change of pace for a class, however without some knowledge and methodology to fall back on, a less experienced teacher can create an atmosphere of confusion and deviation which can look like weak planning to the students.

The Unknown and Unforeseen: Sometimes no matter how much planning goes into a particular lesson , the thought and care in the type of activities we are going to use there can still be problems arising that we hadn't anticipated. For example, an activity or topic we thought the students would enjoy has the opposite effect or is too difficult or easy. In these situations our instincts tell us it would be unwise to just push on through causing motivation to plummet or if we had planned group and pair activities and only one student showed up to just carry on regardless. There is always a process of adaptation to lesson plans that can be catered for by simply considering during the planning stage “what will I do if....?” anticipating potential problems will help you with the solutions should they occur and reduce the post lesson gripe so common in teachers' rooms.

It is in the implementation and adaption of a plan – and the interaction between the plan and the ever-changing reality once a lesson has started – the the planning paradox is ultimately resolved.

- Jeremy Harmer, The Practice of English Language Teaching.

Discussion Point

a) Which of the above situations have happened to you in the past as a teacher? What did you do in each case? Do you think more or better planning would have helped you in that situation b) What, in your opinion, is the ultimate purpose or goal of a lesson plan?

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Stages of the Lesson 1. Consult the Syllabus There are a great many types of syllabus, the exact form and type of information required will depend on the course and students' aims for the course. This we will cover in much greater depth in the individual program modules when we look at the examples and differing students needs. However the first stage in planning a lesson is to go to the syllabus and check if you are still following it, have you altered the order or lesson type and have you informed the students of this? A common complaint in ESL classes is about teachers who hand out a syllabus and deviate from it almost immediately without ever informing students of any changes.

2. Assumptions Most of the programs taught at Pagoda have been written and updated based on certain principle and experience with the types of student common to our academies in mind. Students will either have been level tested into that class or graduated from a lower level, this allows us to make assumptions based on generalizations of ability involving vocabulary and grammar.

Those who have studied previous levels and books, we can make assumptions about some topics that have been covered. So when we begin to plan our lessons we should take these into account, going into a 3B SLE class where predictions are part of the topic, we can assume that we don't have to re-teach future tenses but possible only review them.

3. Personal Aims Teaching is an ongoing skill, we never roll of the TEFL course or training program a fully formed teacher. As in Pagoda we often meet new sets of students every month we have to think carefully about our materials and methods that have been successful and those that have not.

So in every class the teacher should have at least one personal goal related to their teaching such as “I will get through my vocabulary presentation in a faster and more coherent way” or related to their physical selves “I will try not to look so bored during pair work!”

4. Skills & Language Focus There is no textbook designed that fits every class and its needs in language development.

Therefore stating in the plan what skills or type of language students should be using is important in terms of evaluating the students and making progress. The textbook will usually highlight vocabulary or grammar but is the responsibility of the teacher to decide what the class needs to study or review and to decide the most appropriate and efficient ways to teach it.

Keeping a list of what has already been taught helps the teacher to realise what needs to be done in future but also the general progress of the class and course. If you are teaching the same structure or vocabulary for the 10th time, it may be time to change methods.

5. Schedule and Timetable As previously mentioned knowing where an individual lesson fits into the monthly plan is just as important as the lesson itself, the sum of the classes must make the course. Being aware of how the class fits in with the students' schedule is also vital, the difference between an early morning academic writing class and a lunch time conversation class can be quite big. Even though you might teach the same type and level of class several times in a row the approach and methods can be quite different and the time of the class must be taken into account

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6. Potential Problems & Real Solutions Although we can't anticipate all potential pitfalls in a lesson, if we predict the possible issues we are more likely to have a successful adaptation in the class itself rather than trying to improvise when it happens. This can be in the way we present something, the type of activity used or just having back up activities to make sure that most potential difficulties will not result in a poor quality lesson.

Example: Anticipated Problems Students might find choosing 4 cultural situations foreigners might have in Korea difficult and introducing the the first conditional will be taxing on them and myself.

Possible Solutions I will give a spoken and written example of a situation using the first conditional to frame the language. If the students are still struggling I write 4 situations on the board for students to discuss what advice they would give in this situation again using an example with the first conditional.

The students in the class have quite mixed levels so Since I have initially only asked for 3 sentences, I some groups may finish the writing activity sooner will ask the finished students to compose two than others and be bored. more. Alternatively I will have them peer edit other students' sentences.

Students often struggle with the third conditional and don't contract it properly. Often this means they lose

I will use the student's own examples on the board with the contraction next to it, we will drill the contracts and structure. I have a question and answer handout practice they can do in groups of three if needed.

7. The Measure of Success This is something many teachers, even those with excellent skills, forget to consider; How will I check whether the students have benefited from the lesson? These are what are known as 'success indicators' and come in many different forms such as:  Students have clearly enjoyed the lesson and exhibit motivation and confidence.  Students can produce unprompted sentences using the target language.  Students begin improvising outside of the confines of an activity.  Students successfully used language from a previous lesson without prompting.  Students didn't want to leave at the end of the class!

Putting these kind of markers in a lesson plan helps with all kinds of assessment of the lesson, the students and your own teaching. It's not always possible to evaluate a class based only on following a plan but by how effective the plan is.

Discussion Point

How many of the above points are used regularly in your lesson planning? Give examples of when and how you could use them in your lessons.

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Making the Plan: Procedure and Materials The main body of a lesson plan is the result of having already considered the stages of the lesson, now it is time to order activities and presentations in what seems the most logical and coherent way. The different interactions that will occur should be listed and the time allowed for each phase. Teachers often develop their own shorthand to list these interactions (such as STT, TTT Ss etc) the key point being that the lesson plan should serve as a guide and reminder to the teacher to ensure the smooth running of the class, the bulk of the planning should already have been researched and learned.

Example 1: Conversation Class Topic + Materials

Interaction

Procedure

Time allowed

1

Warm Up Picture of Halloween Party.

a. T - C b. S - S

Picture of Halloween scene on board, I 3 min will ask the students to identify which holiday it is. The in pairs I will ask them to brainstorm together the activities happening in the picture. I will give the first example “they are making drinks”

2

Vocabulary Presentation Picture & Whiteboard

c. S – T dT-S

I will ask the pairs for a few examples 4 mins and write the correct vocabulary in a list on the board. As these are all action verbs I will act them out and put the nouns collocations next to them on the board. Such as to mix – drinks.

3

Concept checking Picture handout

e. T – S f. S - S

Each student will be given a new 5 minutes. picture of a 'horror party' and they will have to describe what is happening to their partner using the present continuous. I will write an example on the board (this is a review) I will monitor for difficulties and to see how well they use the auxiliary verbs and pronouns.

4

Feedback & discussion White board

g. S – T

As a class we will listen to a few 5 – 7 minutes answers and give feedback on the structures and pronunciation. During the activity I will write some questions on the board about a possible future party using the same vocabulary.

Students will ask and answer the questions …..

h. T – S I. S - S

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Example 2: Academic Reading Skills Topic + Materials

Interaction

Procedure

Time allowed

1

Warm up a. T – S Laptop and 'Elouise' b. S - S advert on Youtube.

Today's topic is gender and fashion. I 3 minutes will tell the students we are going to watch the 'elouise' commercial which uses gender ambiguous models. I want them to watch and discuss their feelings towards unisex images.

2

Pre-reading discussion Photos

I will have 3 still pictures from the 5 minites commercial for the students to look at. I will list a few questions to elicit opinion using the new vocabulary.

Students will discuss with each other but I will give a spoken and written example first.

3

Reading e. T – S Article handout f S Vocabulary handout with definitions for reference

The purpose of the reading is 8 minutes understanding author's opinion (on the board will be a guiding question) as well as vocabulary in context. The task is to skim read for general idea of opinion and then scan for supporting details.

4

Post-reading comprehension

In pairs I will instruct the students to 5 minutes compare notes on author's opinion and check each others' supporting details. They will then present these to the class and we will create a consensus about the author's opinion.

5

Debate preparation I.T – S j. S - S

c. T – S d. S - S

g. S – S h. T - S

Using the vocabulary and idea of 10 minutes summaries students will now work in teams to brainstorm supporting or opposing points about the question “Men should be masculine, women should be feminine”. I will give them two examples on the board and a few expressions to help them when introducing opinions. I will monitor and help them with word choice.

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Review: Key points of Lesson Planning

Modification and Reaction A golden rule to remember is planning helps us to be completely prepared but it is what happens in the classroom that determines success. Don't be afraid to experiment and change plans to suit the students and how they react. This helps you improve as a teacher.

Short and Long-term goals We all know the boredom that comes from trying to study without direction. As teachers we can measure a fall in motivation in our students when we ourselves are not as focused as we should be on our students. Goals and the potential for success (indicators) must be in the class and syllabus for students to begin to exhibit acquisition.

Content and Coherency The topics must reflect both student interest and have a logical progression over the month. In the lesson it is hard to enjoy something that focuses only on language.

Language Planning Being aware of not only new lexical, grammatical or functional language that may arise in a lesson but language that needs to be recycled or reviewed in the topic puts a frame to the lesson.

Balance of Activities To encourage participation and general involvement in the lesson always consider the type and number of activities in a class, too much of the same or too little affects learning negatively.

Skills and Needs The Romans said 'know thyself', we say 'know thy students' why are they here? What do they need?

Don't simply enforce your idea of what the class should be, listen to them.

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Assignment 3 :Create a full lesson plan

Based on the principles we have discussed in this module, you are going to choose one of the programs you are currently teaching and create a full lesson plan. You should also include a copy of the syllabus for us to see where this lesson comes in the overall sequence. The lesson must be one you are going to teach in the coming weeks as the second part of this assessment will be an observation of this class.

Lesson plan templates can be found at: https://canvas.instructure.com/courses/335519/assignments/1023936 or you are free to use your own format.

The lesson plan should be for a 50 minute class, if you choose to submit your lesson plan on a 100 or 150 minute class please specify which hour of the class the lesson plan is for.

When you have completed the lesson plan upload it or send to pagodatrainer@gmail.com

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UNIT FOUR: Grammar Awareness “I have completed the book to the best of my English, I'll leave you to tidy up the woulds and shoulds, wills and shalls, thats and whiches & etc” Oscar Wilde in a note to his publishers.

Discussion Point

The world and his wife seem to have an opinion on grammar, but what is grammar to you? What in actual fact is grammar?

What is grammar?

This question inevitably invites answers revolving around structure and rules. We have been taught for a long time that language is made up of bricks and to miss a brick or put it in the wrong place causes the whole thing to come crashing down. However the rules that we know of actually only date back a few hundred years and some of them were created based on the concept of a 'higher language' and not always what is reflected in modern speech. (more later) Grammar as a study or concept was not applied to English until almost 1000 years after people began speaking it and had reached a point where they wanted to lay down new foundations on an old language. Grammarians (from the planet Gram) who research and publish grammar books fall into two broad camps: Prescriptive – those who seek to preserve structure and style in a language according to a strict set of rules. This is where the term 'correct language' comes from and is more often linked to standard written English rather than spoken.

Descriptive – those who research and describe language as it is currently being used, often this is done by major branch (British, American etc) and concentrates on common usage usually highlighting major differences between spoken and written language.

The question then that arises is what type of grammar do we teach EFL students? Well that of course depends on their aims when learning English. A student who is trying to enter an Ivy League university will need an excellent knowledge of standard written English and structures to compete with other well-educated native speakers. Other students who want to be able to communicative effectively need to learn grammar in context and by topic to enable them to perform in multiple situations successfully. Many teachers will comment on language being formal and informal when often what they mean is standard and spoken and Pagoda's main programs are divided in this way.

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SLE & Smart Talk – communicative approach to English, will often include examples of common expressions, contractions, common slang etc PIP, PBA, College writing – high degree of academic English in the reading and writing and use standard written English at the core, meaning the grammar is more prescriptive.

How much grammar should we teach?

Light the blue touch paper and stand well back! This has and probably always will cause linguists, teachers and text book writers to ask you to step outside, here are just a few of the opinions: 'No man can run speedily to the mark of a language that is shackled with grammar precepts' (Schoolmaster and Writer, Joseph Webb writing in 1622.)

'A sound knowledge of grammar is essential if pupils are going to use English creatively' (Tom Hutchinson, course book writer 1999) 'The effects of grammar teaching ...appear to be peripheral and fragile' (Stephen Krashen, famous linguist and educator.)

'There is no doubt that a knowledge ...of grammatical rules is essential for mastery of a language' (Penny Ur, teacher training and grammar textbook writer)

Discussion Point

Which of the above do you most agree with and why?

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The application of Grammar The main argument against overt teaching of grammar is that of acquisition, the fact that we learn our first language without being taught rules or structure is championed by theorists and hard to argue against. The main problem for us in a company such as Pagoda is that acquisition is a process that requires time, a 20 day program is not the most realistic of time periods for this to occur.

On the other hand some linguists argue that without knowing at least the basic structures of English it is very difficult for students to effectively communicate and therefore impossible to be creative and improve upon their ability. This then forces us into a study vs learning argument but that is where we leave the theorists and attempt to be more practical and specific about some facts we do know about our students and courses.

Grammar exists in every sentence that we utter but what is more important is 'why' we use certain structures in expressing ourselves. We can frame grammar without teaching it if we connect its relevance to a topic and students can learn functional language. You can see this a lot in the SLE books where teaching that 'I would like' is more polite than 'Can I have' in a nice restaurant is more useful than a half hour class on modal verbs.

Students expect their teachers to have a good understanding of grammar (or why are you a language teacher?) but they don't want it shoved down their throats. A good teacher considers the methods of teaching that make understanding it as simple and pain free as possible.

The teacher must understand the difference between standard written and spoken English. Students who need academic English for reading and writing need expert help with this but students taking a conversation class don't need a pedant trying to teach them to speak like the queen of England.

Like so many things in life most students would like a balanced approach to learning, sometimes the need to see a tangible result (a completed assignment or grammar quiz) has the benefit of successful completion as long as it's not used too much which can alienate students. Students also want to feel that their spoken ability is progressing and the more chance they get to do this the better, as long as there is an aim, and not just chatter.

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How to Teach Grammar from Rules Active and Passive Voice I came home from the shop. I unpacked my bags. I looked for my wallet.

S V O S V O S V O (it is clear who is doing the action 'I') My wallet had been stolen. My credit card was taken. Who took my wallet?

O V O V ??? (the object takes the place of the subject as original subject unknown)

There are two main approaches here; Deductive - the teacher begins normally with the presentation of a rule followed by some examples where the rule is explicitly shown.

Inductive – We start with some some examples and the rule is inferred from that. The focus of both of these approaches is the teaching of the rule

Often these approaches would be followed by a practice activity where students practice the rules based on what has been taught such as changing sentences from active to passive checking that the structure is correct and understood. The possible danger with this method is falling into grammar translation without proper context, although as part of a wider lesson with a strong topic (e.g. crime) this can be accounted for and can be more straight to the point about appropriate language.

How to teach grammar from examples Inductive approach - This follows very much the way a child learns their first language, the students are exposed to the language completely in context and with varying methods to encourage the students to begin using the new language straight away. We can consider this as learning through experience although many teachers will choose to highlight the rule later on.

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Examples Framing a question – A favourite of many text books is to have students discuss a question framed in the target grammar (e.g. What would you do if...?) and then using and correcting the students answers frame the language.

Demonstration – Using physical actions to make clear how a verb tense (e.g. I am walking by walking across the classroom) subject pronouns/object pronouns (using the students we are walking to them etc) or playing 'Simon says' to test understanding of imperative commands.

Deductive reasoning – Students are given two or more sentences to compare and try to decide what is the difference in meaning between them or how they would be used. (e.g. Ian has lived in Seoul since 2002 / Stephen has lived in Seoul for 6 years.) This approach has shown a greater level of cognitive learning and can easily incorporate visuals Ian has lived in Seoul since 2002 2002

2012

Realia/Illustration – A step up from demonstration where a picture, photo, video is used to stimulate a response which will automatically include a certain amount of grammar. For example the following picture is given to students about future technology.

The teacher will give the first example, in the future cars will have disappeared and will be replaced by hover cars.

The students then have to come up with 5 more predictions about the future based on the picture and trying to repeat the structure the teacher used. Once these have been heard the teacher can choose and focus on the form he or she wants to use.

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Teaching grammar through texts Language is context-sensitive we all know that the meaning of a word, a sentence or the situation in which it is said has a big bearing in how it is understood. This is the origin of the situation between foreign and native friends and lovers where we are asked to give examples of its use or we find ourselves explaining to someone that they are correct in a definition but not in this context.

Discussion Point

Consider these two sentences how many situations could they be describing?

ďƒą Yes, but It'll cost you. ______________________________________________________ ďƒą I'd never considered it. ______________________________________________________ In fact, they were taken from the following dialogues: BOB: Sue, would you mind covering my 3 o'clock class on Friday? I have to see the doctor.

SUE: (sigh) Ok yes, but it'll cost you, I was supposed to be getting my hair done.

BOB: I'll make it up I promise.

JACK: Your nose is quite wonky, have you ever thought about getting it fixed?

ANN: No, I'd never considered it! (looks in mirror) There is no lack of support for the theory of learning appropriate language through reading, many forms of grammar and vocabulary can be easily put into their natural context and also contrasting language can be shown with one obvious challenge for the teacher. To make sure the text is understood by the students and the examples made accessible. Free reading outside of the class is of a major benefit to students in terms of language but in the classroom we must make full use of well-chosen texts to help develop reading and speaking skills.

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Grammar through text examples Low intermediate: Teaching the use of 'used to' and 'would' in a lesson on childhood habits.

Pre-reading: Students will in pairs look at pictures of the character from the text and discuss what the activities (driving, going to school, smoking, fighting with his brother etc) are called and secondly which they think he currently does or which he no longer does.

Reading: Students read through the text and must identify if their predictions were correct.

It can be strange remembering who you used to be, I feel a little sad when I look at pictures of myself. I used to wear the strangest fashions, I would mix bright colours that used to drive mom crazy.

When I was a teenager I would sneak out of the house to smoke with my friends and we would go to the park so no one would see. Sadly I still smoke I suppose I should quit soon. At least nowadays I exercise I never used to do anything, even at school I would always pretend to be sick during PE. I try to use the car less as well, when I first passed my test I would drive everywhere, even to the shop at the end of the street.

Post Reading Students, in pairs, will create questions to ask each other about their earlier predictions.

For example: Student A: Does he still wear crazy clothes?

Student B: No, he used to wear bright colours but not anymore.

Student A: What would he do when he wanted to smoke?

Student B: He would sneak out with friends.

The teacher then uses their answers to highlight the grammar being used and affirm the rule.

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Upper Intermediate: The Use of phrasal verbs Pre-Reading: The students have been discussing what they would do if they received a big promotion at work. Would they celebrate quietly or go out with their friends?

Man oh man! What a night! My boss finally bumped me up the corporate ladder and made me Head of Sales. I have been freaking out recently about my prospects and they leapt out at me! So after my boss dropped it on me I grabbed my friends and headed out. We shot straight for the 'Pink Meaow' a cocktail bar in the west part of town. We knocked back a lot of Margaritas there and I chatted up some nice looking girls. My friends skipped out on me at midnight but I just partied on until...I don't remember much after that. I think I blacked out at some point and then must have passed out as well. I woke up this morning in my garden and someone had made off with my wallet!

Post Reading: With their partners students will have to do some deductive reasoning.

Based on the context of the piece and their understanding of the story, they must find verb synonyms of: a) to bump someone up b) to freak out c) to drop on d) to chat up e) to skip out f) to party on etc And re-tell their stories using them.

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Grammar practice and concept checking It should go without saying that there is little use in introducing language structures that the students then do not practice to show that they are aware of what has been taught. Secondly concept checking is the responsibility of the teacher in ensuring that the students can demonstrate that they have learned or whether further teaching/review is needed.

Practice falls into these main areas: Accuracy – Here the learner needs to devote some attention to form, that is getting it right. Usually during these practices the student will concentrate less on meaning as their attention will be more in the question/answer phase where only correct structure is at the front of their minds. Therefore the teacher should limit the amount of exercises that only test structure, they should be fairly short and controlled with the emphasis being on students becoming familiar quickly with the form. These activities naturally invite feedback and error correction as we are in 'the study zone' of learning.

Fluency – This of course is the real skill, allowing a student to process new language in a faster fashion and easily. Students build fluency and automise their knowledge usually through learning 'chunks' of language which includes vocabulary, expressions and grammatical structures through relevant topics.

Activities used with fluency as the goal should have the following characteristics:

 Attention to meaning, students worry less about structure or form and more to meaning.  Authenticity – the language and activity should reflect real life usage and in real time.  Communicative – the activity itself must contain a built in need to interact with other people (students) to properly reflect a real life situation.  Chunking – Teachers should refrain from introducing large amounts of language in lessons but short easy to memorize chunks.  Repetition – It is essential that the language is recycled and reviewed for maximum retention.  Restructuring - Often it is necessary and desirable to integrate new information into old, in other words building on what students already know or adapting the activity as it progresses.  Problem solving – Students attempting an activity slightly above their normal level or comfort zone forces them to do some readjustment of their mental grammar as they attempt to be understood. This in turn creates ideal opportunities for the teacher to focus on some language.  Push – There is no real benefit to only practicing what we already know, up the stakes students do better at feeling they are advancing even with mistakes.

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 Structure/scaffolding – The practice activities should find a balance between what is new and what is already known, this means there must be sufficient support in place.

The teacher sets up a well-defined activity suited to the level and personalities of the students. This can also be in the way the teacher interacts with the students during the activity itself.

Type

Explanation of method

1

Information Gap

Students exchange opinions on a stimulus such as a question or a picture. This is a more free activity that uses the language structure(s) in conjunction with the opinion of the students. http://bogglesworldesl.com/information_gap.htm

2

Written Exercises

From fill in the blank to complete a structure, finishing a structure (such as the second half of a conditional) unscrambling structures to using target language in a more extended written piece in a letter, paragraph, essay etc. http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/

3

Personalization

This often takes the form of interviews and factfinding activities about other members of the class.

So in a lesson on present perfect the teacher may form a question such as “who has ever/never...” and students create and answer in the target language.

Giving students the task where they provide information about themselves is often easier. http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/d etailmini.jsp?_

4

Grammar interpretation

Instead of having to produce the language straight away in order to practice the grammar, students engage with the the new structure by speaking or listening. An example of this would be matching active and passive sentences to pictures to build a story by 'working out' the differences in meaning. http://www.cambridge.org/servlet/file/store7/item 65

5

Grammar games

A well set up game to practice grammar with the added incentive of fun. Playing grammar hot seat, bingo, passive voice jeopardy, cut up kabuzi where students rebuild sentences can increase motivation and consequently learning. http://www.eslgamesworld.com/members/games/ grammar/

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Assignment: Grammar presentation and practice You are going to choose one of the following topics that would be taught in an SLE or PIP class. You will then plan the following: What type of language you are going to model or present with this topic.

How will you introduce it into the class. (you should use a method from this unit) How will the students practice the language, prepare a suitable activity.

How will this concept check the language?

Topic One: The World of Work

Language Points Dealing with stress Having to work long hours An unreasonable boss Needing to commute

Topic Two: Sports (text given)

Having to take work home

I'm not really very keen on sport in general, but I really hate team sports. I'm not a very Not getting on with people competitive person, and I don't like the way some people get aggressive when they're playing Overworked football or watching baseball or whatever – you know screaming and swearing at and eachunderpaid other. I also get fed up with people always going on about sport all the time. It's just so boring! I do like to keep fit though, so I watch what I eat – I avoid red meat and and fatty foods and I drink lots of water and eat lots of fruit and vegetables. I also go to my local gym quite a lot and do a lot of yoga, which is great, because it keeps me supple. I also use things like the treadmill, eliptical and the step machines quite a lot to build up my stamina. I would say I am fairly fit now. The one sport I would like to try is rowing. I think it would be totally amazing to be out on the water and so close to nature. I might start that in the spring, it's a bit too cold now.

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Topic Three: Immigration (listening file text given) Interviewer: Immigration to the United Kingdom has been a feature of the country and its people for thousands of years yet still continues to incite public opinion. People have been phoning in with their views presented here.

Doreen (68) “People have always come to London, it's what makes it such a special place to live, the ones who've been moaning about people taking their jobs are just making trouble!”

Mike (19) “My dad says people have been coming to Britain because the government is soft on illegal immigrants getting free health care and welfare, I think they've just seized an opportunity” Cecil (79) As a lad I fought for freedom in this country from foreign oppression and now that same problem has come over here, I've read with horror how my country is changing and I'm disgusted that the government has done nothing to stem the flow!

Shalaya (25) My family are immigrants to this country and we've worked hard ever since, our town was poor and we've been trying hard to build up the local economy through business, we've made a positive impact” Interviewer: It's clear that this is a debate that may never be resolved.

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Unit 5: Teaching Reading 'Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book'. ~Author Unknown Discussion Point

How important was reading in the development of a foreign language you speak? How important was it to your general level of education?

Reading is one of the receptive skills, in language learning environments this means students must learn to take meaning and skill from the discourse as opposed to producing the language such as in speaking. However most practitioners agree that reading demands a considerable amount of mental production in that students must be fully engaged in a text to both understand content and develop any language skill from it (take away meaning) There is of course a big difference between the way we read in our own language and the way we read in a foreign language. A native speaker reads and gleams information which hopefully is easily processed if important and quickly forgotten if not. A foreign language learner has two challenges when reading new material, first of all to be able to understand the text and secondly how to learn and store new language from it.

Students read a text

Students don’t understand text

Text Understood

Confidence & learning

Interest and Motivation Students being engaged in what they are reading is essential. If you are bored by something you've picked up to read you will either put it down or slog your way through it acquiring little if any knowledge from it. This is the same for the students, but in a foreign language and several theories have been researched to try and counteract the idea that students learn only through speaking and grammar study and that reading is in fact essential.

A lot of foreign language acquisition theory now includes a focus on extensive and intensive reading. The former has a lot more to do with what happens outside of the classroom

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and involves the students engaging in free reading for pleasure while the second is more teacher-controlled in the classroom.

It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it. ~Oscar Wilde Extensive reading (outside the class) Education specialists such as Dr. Stephen Krashen and Jeremy Harmer have written extensively on the importance of extensive reading for 'the development of our students' word recognition – and for their improvement as readers overall'. However most teachers would agree that it is not enough to simply tell our students “to read a lot� we also have to think about how we motivate the students to want to read and how to harness that motivation to improve their ability to read in English. So let's begin with the idea of a reading 'program' (not necessarily just in one month courses) The Basics Extensive access to extensive materials: a basic requirement to make any reading program successful is wide and varied library of materials. Although the coursebooks will contain useful and relevant texts they cannot be the only source and are unlikely to appeal to the interests of all students. This means we need to provide all kinds of interesting reading material including such as books, novels, comics, magazines, newspapers, brochures, programmes and so so on. Keeping in mind that students should be able to choose something that they have an interest in, motivation is the key to learning.

A well set up library: as well as pleasurable materials a series of good books or book lists should be available that reflects the different levels and goals of the students on the courses we teach. In Pagoda terms that means looking at the programs we are teaching and selecting books that can accompany those levels and aims as well as the texts we would normally teach as part of the course. Of course this requires a measure of organization; to make sure they are properly coded so as to be easily accessible and as part of a sign out system so that they are easily traceable. (there is a reason so many librarians are fearsome harridans)

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Extensive access to extensive materials: a basic requirement to make any reading program successful is wide and varied library of materials. Although the coursebooks will contain useful and relevant texts they cannot be the only source and are unlikely to appeal to the interests of all students. This means we need to provide all kinds of interesting reading material including such as books, novels, comics, magazines, newspapers, brochures, programmes and so so on. Keeping in mind that students should be able to choose something that they have an interest in, motivation is the key to learning.

The role of the teacher: Like students all over the world we are more likely to do something outside of our comfort zone (like reading in a foreign language) if we are encouraged to do it by a motivating teacher. We need to promote reading by our own attitude to reading as well which means bringing the hobby into the classroom as well. Many teachers will recommend a good book they are reading and encourage the students to do the same, this doesn't have to be in the form of a book report (which can have the opposite effect) but a semi-regular chat about interesting literature or even an internet article. It is crucial that students feel that all genres and forms of reading are valid and that one type of text is not given more credence over another as this only serves to alienate students.

The role of the students: Students should see their outside reading as an extension of their overall language education rather than a classroom chore but they still need to take a certain amount of responsibility for it. While the teacher/academy can provide many different materials there is no reason why students shouldn't look for and also promote outside materials and resources they find and enjoy. Having students regularly bring in reading for exchanges, informal reports or making a rating system has the benefit of opening up a whole world of reading to the other students. In some places this has led to the foundation of informal reading clubs based on mutual interests

Discussion Point

What are the benefits and potential pitfalls of the above ideas in your opinion?

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Intensive Reading: Classroom based.

Mini-Task

Read through the following text, and answer the questions.

The Cruiciatum and the Burblap.

In the misty vacanums of Luzon island in the Philippines can be found the mysterious and ancient Cruiciatum. Prized by the local Burblaps who quizzle and crack its thick bungun and use in traditional ceremonies. When European explorer Michael Song first discovered the Burblaps he was amazed by their use of the Cruiciatum especially as in Europe it is used only for Huffiningum but here it was a central part of the Kakkaro. Bringing back a specimen to the British museum, it was closely grynlled by the committee who added it to the Burlap museum of Drastopple. Cruiciatum are now considered to be in danger of Zagalinglong

1.

Where in the Philippines is Cruiciatum found? ______________________________

2.

What do Burlaps do to the Cruiciatum?

3.

How is Cruiciatum used differently in Europe?______________________________

4.

Where in Europe can you see Burlap Cruiciatum?____________________________

5.

What is it in danger of? _________________________________________________

______________________________

The problems with this approach to reading in the classroom should be fairly evident, students can recognize letters, probably have a good go at pronouncing and possibly forming meaning from the words but would take no real learning from the exercise. All of these questions could be easily answered by a low level reader who would only have to find the words from the questions in the text and copy down an answer. No real comprehension would have occurred.

So it is clear that organization is the key to successful reading.

Intensive Reading Classroom reading is different to reading for pleasure in the following ways:   

It will be topic based, not free genre and will be part of a greater language lesson.

The key language and structures will already be known by the teacher and will form part of the teaching and lesson plan.

The teacher will need to create group and individual interest in the topic and text.

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Concept checking (comprehension) must be included.

The text itself in many cases will be from an established text book being used by the class and so students may view it differently, unlike free reading where the students already know what they want to read they are now required to read something.

Students must know that their opinion on the text as well as their comprehension is being taken into account by the teacher.

Students should not be expected to read at the speed and level of native speeds, therefore the mode of comprehension and expectation is very important.

Structured reading in class To ensure a successful, intensive reading element the teacher needs to do a certain amount of structuring. Consider the following roles: Organizer: Students need to know the purpose of the reading and also need clear instructions on how to achieve it and how much time they have to do it. Once a time limit has been set it should be stuck to to keep the coherency high.

Observer: Students need a certain amount of space to read meaning the teacher should refrain from interrupting. If the activity has been organized well there should be no reason to. Also while the reading is happening we can observe how well both the individual and class are doing with the reading. We can see speed, body language and general involvement with the text that can give us valuable information about the appropriateness and success of the task and whether adaptation is needed.

Feedback Coordinator: When a task has been completed there should be some time given to feedback on how the activity went and also to complete the comprehension part of the reading. It is usually wise to have them report answers based on pair work as many students are more comfortable doing this than being called on as an individual. However, as in the case of The Cruiciatum, students should never be 'parroting' answers, reason and detail from the text should be encouraged as part of their comprehension. It is vital that we are supportive at this stage to counter any negativity and sustain motivation.

Facilitator: Intensive reading has an aim and that must be highlighted by the teacher by prompting them to remember the skill, focus on particular language or structure within the text and often clarify confusing or new items.

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The Vocabulary Paradox Students and teachers can have different views of the importance of vocabulary in a text.

Teachers often want students to begin with the gist or main idea of a text without concerning themselves with the meaning of new or difficult words they come across, whereas many students are desperate to know the exact definition of each word in their own language and a smart phone dictionary in their hand!

Rather than suppress this natural urge in the students it is usually better to strike a compromise with them instead:  

  

During the first reading they agree to summarize, find the main idea on the understanding that a vocabulary task will also follow.

On a subsequent read through when the main comprehension activity has been done students can do some vocabulary focus such as teacher explanation, working in context, assigning certain words to different pairs and so on.

Vocabulary activities should be time limited and not allowed to become a main activity.

As in all lessons a definitive or limited list is needed to avoid overwhelming everyone.

Contextual Meaning – students must be directed to explain or use the word in context of the class topic to keep vocabulary work simple and concise.

The Three steps to a successful reading activity Step One: Pre – reading So, before we even approach the text itself we have to get the students ready for it, this is true at all levels BT – Advanced. We need to MOTIVATE them, get them interested to read it and also to plan what they need to know BEFORE they read it.

Engaging the Students in a text:





It is always difficult to understand or enjoy something if you have no idea what it is about, it makes the reading too much of a challenge and so it's important to prepare the students, remove the difficulty.

Vocabulary – while we can use reading to introduce vocabulary in context, sometimes we need to teach essential vocabulary otherwise the students will understand nothing and it may interrupt the purpose of the exercise.

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Topic - What is the text about? Without this crucial piece of information a reading can again be obscure, confusing and difficult, go back to the text on page 4, can you tell me what it is about? ( answer on last page) Type of Text – As we expect students to eventually be able to comfortably process different types of text in English we need to teach them how language is used differently and how to approach these texts. Reading a scientific journal for example is quite different to reading a narrative story. Prepare them.

Predictive Questions - Can be used very effectively to more or less give the structure of the text to the students, answer the following questions with a partner.

Question Examples (pre –reading)       

Where was Gemma walking to in such a hurry?

Why did she keep looking behind her?

Why did she turn into the little street instead of staying on the main road?

What did she hear behind her?

Why did she scream?

What did the thief steal?

What did he do next?

By answering these questions the students are already aware of the characters, guessed the setting, pretty much what happens minus a few details and established that it is a story. It also allows us the opportunity to frame vocabulary or language in the type of questions that are asked.

Examples of pre-reading activities 1. Opinion & Interest – Introduce a topic and have the students exchange an opinion on it . This could easily include the main idea of the text or they could discuss the title itself. For example a text that talks about cosmetic surgery with the title: “ Is beauty in the eye of the beholder anymore?”

Students could then discuss or list what they find most attractive in people, do they agree with the question or what is their definition of modern ideas of beauty? Now they will read the author's opinion.

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2. Personalization –Introduce a concept from the text and have students discuss their own experience with this. For example a text that deals with a supposed haunted house in Edinburgh: “ Great scot! Bumps in the night!”

Ask the students to tell a ghost story, a personal experience or how they would feel staying somewhere believed to be haunted, which could match the experience described in the text.

Was their experience similar to the text?

3. Illustration - Students examine a picture / media clip / object mentioned or central to the text itself.

For example an article from a science journal that details river pollution in China.

“Poisoning the Mekong” (300F 73/74) Students look at two pictures one of a healthy river scene from 100 years ago and one of the Mekong today full of garbage and pollution and they discuss what has happened and the causes for it. Were they correct about the causes and consequences?

4. List making / Ordering Information – Students work together to put ideas, facts ,dates, events in order of importance or occurrence, these should come from the text itself.

For example A text about body language / gesture and international communication. “ Non-verbal faux pas costing businesses millions” Students discuss whether certain gestures are considered rude in their culture or whether they have encountered them in other countries and put them in order of how rude they think they are. Or the students guess in which country each particular gesture is considered a faux pas. During the reading they check if they were correct.

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Step Two: Reading activities Once students have engaged in the topic behind a text and are now motivated to read, we have to consider what are they reading for? Without this the reading can easily slip into a long, silent activity without much focus. Like all language practices we have to organize the activity to ensure students have a specific task to accomplish rather than being confronted with a difficult text that they have been told to read.

A Complex Mess The History of the troubles in Northern Ireland is bugakaku, some people tried to find a single cause but this is impossible as there are many root causes. Some historians jagagaji that the original occupation by English forces in the 12th century was the beginning but that does not take into account the complicity and rutagurgi of the Western Irish Princes who aided the English forces for money. Moreover the fallitawalli for independence has been an ongoing feature of the history between the two nations and cannot be centred solely on the troubles in the north. It is clear to most that this is a didgerideridgi issue.

  

You can understand the main idea behind the text quite easily and the title of the piece suggests the overall opinion of the author.

There were words you came across that you didn't understand, but this should not have stopped you from generally understanding their meaning from the context.

If you stopped at each of those words and spent some minutes trying to discover their meaning from the dictionary it would extend the reading and would not particularly help your overall understanding which may have been the point of the reading activity.

Reading Skills Skimming – An essential skill to learn when dealing with new ideas and volume of reading.

Students need to be taught to summarize a text, decide the gist or the main topic , this is a timed activity and requires the students to read TOP to BOTTOM.

Scanning - Another essential skill, there the main idea is already known but now the students must find specific or supporting details quickly, again usually timed but now requires students to read BOTTOM to TOP.

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Context Clues / Vocabulary in Context - Using the text to illustrate language or specific vocabulary leads to a better understanding for students, they need to be taught how to find meaning from the structure and not the individual word.

Making Inferences / Point of View – To help develop critical thinking students must learn to look for, recognise and summarise what the writer is trying to say, especially when dealing with different types of text. This often opens debate on a text which is a common academic skill.

Recognizing Organizational Patterns - As in the PIP program we expect the students to produce written work of varying types, we have the students also read examples of this. Whether it is cause and effect, comparison and contrast, narrative etc, students must be taught and practice to recognise the differing styles and apply it to their own work.

Grammatical Structures - As part of their ongoing practice / progress with grammar and language, it is useful to have students recognise and decipher why certain structures are used and not others. This requires that the teacher knows the text thoroughly before asking students to look for specific parts of language.

Examples of reading activities The Narrative text (predictive questions from Pre-reading) The Hand in the Dark Read the text and see if your answers were correct. Gemma was on her way home from Seoul Fashion Week's last night party at Dolce & Gabbana, Apgujong. Normally she would have taken a deluxe taxi home but she had eaten 17 French Fancies, a sugary cream filled cake and was buzzing away like a hummingbird so had decided to walk. She was feeling quite ill and kept looking behind her to see if any of her friends had come looking for. It was a dark night and quite cold so Gemma wanted to take a short cut and turned into a long alley way that ran between two buildings. It was very quiet in the alley and Gemma suddenly felt quite nervous as the end seemed very far away and there were no people about. She gasped when she realised she could hear footsteps behind her, they were getting faster and closer and she started to run, she felt a hand around her neck, she screamed as loud as she possibly could but a hand closed over her mouth and forced her to the ground. In two swift movements he ripped off her pearl necklace, snatched her gold LamĂŠ crocodile effect clutch bag and ran off into the night leaving Gemma sitting shocked on the ground.

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The Main Idea / Authors Point of View Reality Bites.

Two minutes to read the text and summarize the author’s opinion on Reality TV in one sentence.

Once upon a time TV was used as a tool to educate, inform and entertain. TV companies employed writers, actors, wardrobe, camera crew; experts, people who really knew how to produce something worthwhile and well-crafted. For the most part nowadays that's gone, replaced instead by an endless stream of cheap, sensationalist reality shows that reflect the dumbing down of Television and the rise of the 3 minute star. TV Networks have seized upon the concept realizing that high ratings can often be guaranteed with minimal costs as long as they keep the scandal factor high by offering ever more degrading behaviour on our nightly screens. As a child I remember sitting down to watch the most popular programs of the day with my parents after dinner, now I won't even have the TV on when my mother comes to visit to spare her and myself the embarrassment of trying to explain the ridiculous premise. Reality TV seems to have replaced the net curtain, where housewives used to spy on the goings on of their neighbours and gossip, now they watch a bunch of idiots sit around naked in a glorified prison and talk about everything and nothing. Thank god for DVD's.

Cause and Effect The Long and Inevitable Road Read the text about the economic protests in Madrid and underline all the causes of the protests that the author mentions. 3 minutes.

The placard waving masses who met in front of the Palacio de Moncloa, the seat of Spain's government, were not simply a student protest as has been common in Spain, here were teachers, housewives, shopkeepers, professors, celebrities and grandmothers all united in their condemnation of the government's proposed plan of austerity.

Since 2006 the PSOE (Socialist party) has been pushing a series of economic reforms on every sector of Spanish life. It began with a cut in the public assistance and welfare benefit system for both students and retirees which caused an immediate outcry. However as much as this affected the students, their own professors have now come out in force as the amount of money invested in colleges and universities has fallen thanks to the system introduced by PSOE where higher institutes receive only a percentage of the tuition paid by students. The last two years have also seen a rise in consumer tax, shop rent fee and top bracket salary earners which has led us to the baying crowd in the main plaza demanding the PSOE's resignation.

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Context Clues A Terrifying Trip Read through the text and try to understand the meaning of the words in bold from the context.

Discuss with a partner when you have finished reading. 5 minutes.

I was chilled at the sight of Bradshaw Manor, its dark towers and gloomy windows were quite frightening. As I walked through the front door the desolate reception shocked me, there was no furniture just a chair with a strange man sitting there. I was suddenly overcome with a feeling of foreboding, I felt scared of the man even though he was just sitting there but something was wrong. I turned at the noise of a clock striking 8pm and when I looked back the chair was empty. Suddenly a woman came bustling through a door to the left, walking so quickly she nearly bumped into me. “Oh I'm sorry dear, I didn't hear you come in” she said “Who is the other guest” I asked tentatively not wanting to hear the answer. “Oh!” she said with a surprised look “I'm afraid there is no other guest, only the ghost!”

Step Three: Post Reading After each reading it is essential that students can demonstrate an understanding of the text, in this way we move the focus away from understanding each and every word (which is unlikely at all levels) but a general comprehension of the main themes and purpose of the text. If the prereading and reading activities have been successful then the post – reading should simply allow the students to show how much they have gleamed from the text and have furthered their understanding of the topic while improving their reading skills. If not, it can end with a general feeling of frustration at the difficulty of reading a text in English.

Students would have discussed a favourite trip they had been on and any strange experiences they had had or heard of.

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Putting your foot in it.

When I was 23, I hiked across Ecuador. I was embarking on a gap year and Ecuador was my first stop, the nature, the fresh air, the history all had me at my first guide book. Looking back I wish I had paid more attention in Spanish class as the first few weeks were a little incommunicado but it's amazing what you can say with your arms. I had a great time exploring the nooks and crannies of the country, markets in the towns, hot spas in the mountains, salsa dancing in the cities and made some good traveling buddies along the way. One girl I met, Diana, accompanied me to a beautiful mountain region called San Antonio which is a bit of a lonely outpost so it was nice to have someone with me. We spent days circumnavigating the huge San Antonio lake which was indescribably beautiful and dotted with little villages everywhere. One afternoon we stopped for lunch in a small pueblo named La Concha, really just 4 or 5 houses and a small cafe that a charming old lady had set up in her front room. Ecuadorian food is really nice if a little stodgy, they use a lot of potatoes, but very tasty and very filling and I had been happily gorging myself for weeks. My initial cautiousness had disappeared and I was happy to eat whatever was put in front of me, so when Diana and I went into this little cafe and the little old lady immediately brought a murky brown soup I had no worries. Diana was a little unsure as she had had a bad stomach from brown soup she'd had a few days before. I told her not to worry and carried on eating what looked like chicken soup but didn't really taste like it, in fact I couldn't really see any vegetables other than the big onion that was peeling away. However it didn't taste of onion either, I fished it out with my spoon and Diana gasped, it was a whole chicken's foot

Discussion Questions 1.

Did the writer have an overall positive or negative experience in Ecuador?

2.

Does the writer prefer traveling alone or with people?

3.

How does the writer feel about Ecuadoran cuisine?

4.

Why was Diana not as adventurous with the food as the writer?

5.

How would you feel about chicken foot soup?

6.

From the text what do the words in bold mean?

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These questions allow the students to find supporting details from the text in the greater context of giving an opinion based on what the writer stated. It would be important as part of the comprehension that students give their thoughts rather than only searching for a correct answer. The teacher can then do some vocabulary focus based on the meaning in the text.

Example Reading Activities Summarizing - The students create a short summary of the main ideas or the writers point of view and present to the class, they are not allowed to quote the text directly.

Suggest a Title - A piece such as an article or narrative has no title and students must create what they think is the most appropriate.

Make a Brochure - Students read small ads for holidays, partners, things for sale etc. They amplify the ads into descriptions. (intermediate/advanced) Follow Instructions- Students read jumbled instructions for a simple operation (e.g. using a public phone) and have to put the instructions in the correct order. (elementary/ intermediate) Follow a recipe - Students read a recipe and after matching instructions with pictures, they have to cook the food. (elementary/intermediate) Dramatization - Students read an extract from a play or film and, after ensuring that they understand it, they have to work on acting it out. (any level) Topic Sentences - Students have to match topic sentences with the paragraphs they come from. (intermediate/upper intermediate) Type of Writer - Students read a text and have to guess which of a group of people they think wrote the text (using the pictures provided). (lower intermediate/advanced) Ordering Information - Students read a “fact file” about a country, machine or process etc.

They have to convert the information into bar graphs or pie charts. (intermediate/advanced) Grammar Study – Structures used during the text, why are they used here?

Finish the Story - Students read a narrative with the end missing. In groups, they have to supply their own ending using the vocabulary and language. (intermediate/advanced) More resources for reading activity ideas can be found at: http://www.englishraven.com/activities_for_reading.html http://www.eslflow.com/readinglessonplans.html http://englishenglish.com/reading_skills.html

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Assignment: Plan a full reading activity.

You are going to choose one of the reading skills from this chapter and then plan a full reading activity based on it. You will need to find your own text which can be original, taken from one of the Pagoda course books or another EFL source. It should be in the context of a broader topic you would teach in one of your classes and must be broken down into at least the three following parts:  Pre reading: how you will prepare the students for the text.  Reading: the aim of the reading and skills involved  Post-reading: how you will test the students' comprehension.

You can choose the level most appropriate to the chosen text, the whole activity (with the different parts) would last at least 15 minutes in a class. When you have completed it please upload to canvas and include the text that it is based on.

Example Focus: Skills:

Reading to confirm expectations, general reading, cloze text...etc Reading for gist, detailed comprehension, skimming, scanning, writers point of view, predicting information etc

Level:

Prism 3: Intermediate

Topic/Subject

The Future of Technology

Gadgets, future perfect (speculation)

Pre Reading

Students look at a picture of music players past and present and predict how they will be different in the future. Then they will predict future technology based on categories on board.

Materials: Picture handout, categories of TV, Transport, labor-saving devices etc on board.

An example: In less than 20 years, all public transport will have become electric

Reading

Students will first read for I will put a summary sentence writers point of view, whether 'Technology will control our lives, he is positive or negative about not make them easier ….” the future of technology.

Secondly....etc

Post Reading

Students will have to find supporting points in the text for their opinion and then add to these to prepare for the debate.....etc

I will monitor the discussions adding useful vocabulary when necessary ….etc

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Unit Six: Teaching Listening “Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk.”

Discussion Point

From your own experience, what were the challenges of listening when learning a language? In what ways do you think students can improve their listening comprehension?

Learning or Studying

For a long time, possibly half a century, many language learners followed a system called audio-lingualism. The teaching equivalent of a phrase book, learners would sit with a headset learning “essential expressions” and repeating them back into the microphone where a teacher would listen in and correct pronunciation. These language learners would venture out into the world armed with such useful tidbits as “Je voudrais un tarte aux pommes s'il vous plait” (I would like an apple pie please). They would go into a cafe in Normandy full of confidence, ask for their pie with a hearty smile and a self-satisfaction at their language skills to be greeted by “je suis desole, nous n'avez tarte aux pommes monsieur” at which point the foreigner's smile would freeze and he would repeat himself several times. The French waiter would realise quickly that the stupid man did not understand and would resort to demonstrations, the foreigner becomes flustered and sits quietly fuming with a small mineral water and a pastry before making a speedy exit.

The lesson here is that learning only expressions does not arm students with the necessary skills to survive in an English only environment. They need to be exposed to language that will be helpful in multiple situations and learn to anticipate what they will hear and what will be expected of them. The course books introduce many different types of listening situation to go along with the topic of the class and shouldn't be skipped over, if you don't like the activity supplement it with another. Many of your students may have no real exposure to listening in English in any constructive fashion outside of the class so it's vital that we give them as many opportunities IN the class.

Listening is a very difficult skill to develop outside of a country that speaks that language, as soon as they leave the class students often revert naturally to their own language. This means they may only spend a very limited number of hours a week listening in English. ESL students living in countries such as the U.S. Or the U.K. develop much faster due to the immersion environment and survival need for English. Here in Korea it must be taught and nurtured.

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What is the listening about?

What are the students listening for?

Will it help improve their listening skill?

Is there preliminary teaching required?

How will I ensure comprehension

Extensive and Intensive Listening Like reading listening is a receptive skill and is about receiving and processing information from spoken sources, in EFL terms there are two main tracts of listening;  Situations where students listen only for information but do not need to respond to anyone.  Situations where students listen for information and must respond to someone.

Talking on the phone – always difficult as L.R you lose any visual cues and must rely on language alone.

Watching TV, listening to the radio, seeing L.O. a movie – until technology catches up, normally a one sided activity.

Transport Announcements – Bus, train, subway, planes. Important to listen for numbers, platforms, changes etc

L.O

Job Interview – requiring understanding of L.R often very formal language and knowing how to respond.

Going into a shop / Restaurant- While a certain amount of gesture and pointing might get you something it might not be what you want.

L.R

Giving / receiving directions – works both L.R ways you or someone else needs quite specific help. If you don't understand the first person you need to ask someone else.

Conversation / gossip – may feel one sided sometimes but you will have to contribute at some point

L.R

Lecture / Seminar – A lot of information to L.O digest and most lecturers don't appreciate being interrupted.

Students can gain very valuable language input while improving their language skills but need the guidance of a teacher and a structured approach to listening that involves both intensive classroom based activities and extensive listening which ultimately enriches their understanding and pronunciation of English.

Extensive listening has the identical aim to extensive reading, to allow students to choose something they enjoy and to encourage them to listen to as many different sources of English as possible in order to improve their overall comprehension and use of the language. Perhaps the most wonderful thing about living in this decade is the sheer abundance of opportunity to listen to language sources on TV, on the internet and of course while mobile with smart phones

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and MP3 players. Motivation to listen to foreign language sources increases when students have the freedom to choose what they listen to which can include: Radio broadcasts – available on DAB or online, although lower level learners will find it a little difficult they can search by theme (e.g. sports) to find an interest. (The BBC is good for this) and students will more likely absorb language if they are interested in the topic.

Podcasts/downloads – Can be found and downloaded for free in most cases on just about every topic/subject imaginable and often run in series meaning students can have a common thread of listening files. The other advantages being that many providers including broadcasters and EFL websites will provide level-oriented downloads for learners

CD's/DVD's/YouTube et al – all provide opportunities for students to listen and absorb different accents and language at all registers, teachers should always be prepared to recommend and could easily put together an MP3 library on a computer (such as in Dropbox) for students to share and recommend.

Intensive listening in the classroom The vast majority of course books available to you will come with audio content designed to be used in the classroom with a corresponding book activity which should be ideal for the level that you're teaching. They have a number of advantages and disadvantages: • Advantages: Pagoda's policy with recorded audio material is that only native speakers are used (no Korean voice actors) and that a mix of accents is much more preferable to one or just only ever listening to the teacher. It also allows a number of 'real life' situations to be shown to the students and exposes them to natural uses of language in its correct context.

The academy is also well set up with audio equipment, speakers and the source CDs and files which make them very portable, for this reason many teachers rely on this provided audio material as their sole source of listening material.

• Disadvantages: The quality of the recording can be an issue depending on the natural acoustics of the class and the quality of the sound system being used. Students have no choice but to listen along at the speed of the CD/tape and depending on their interest may find sitting around all listening to the CD player quite an unnatural thing to do. The biggest problem though is the assumption by the teacher that students can just listen once to a full recording and understand it without any other direction.

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Despite the disadvantages intensive listening in the classroom is vital, especially where students have limited access to native speaking material and where the course subject (for example academic English classes) need students to develop more specific listening skills, such as note taking as in the PIP series. To minimize potential difficulties we should consider the following: • Where is the sound coming from? Is it in the optimum place for all students to hear, can it be moved if necessary? Can the students be placed better?

• Is the audio at an appropriate level for the students? Too easy and the students will find it dull and patronising, too difficult and it is simply frustrating and drains motivation.

• Has it been well introduced to the students? Normally in a real life situation we are aware of the situation in which we are listening, if we just press play students have the double challenge of first trying to figure out what is going on while also listening for specific information.

• How many times should the audio be played? Although there are many theories ranging from Penny Ur who believes students should only hear a recording once to simulate real life encounters to the more forgiving 'skill development' end of the spectrum that encourages at least twice.

The structure of a listening activity

Pre-Listening Before starting it's important that the students are given as much information as possible to remove the most difficult challenges of the listening. Usually this would include:  The type of listening; dialogue, lecture, announcement etc  Where does it take place; public place, on the phone, train station, the radio etc  How many people are speaking; monologue, dialogue, multiple voices  Is there any key vocabulary they need to know in order to understand what is happening.  Get them interested in what they about to hear, rather than frustrated over something that appears to be difficult or confusing.

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Listening  What you want the students to focus on during the activity, there needs to be a definite task for them to complete otherwise it becomes too difficult. These could include;  Summarizing the main idea of the piece, topic, overall message etc  Listening out for specific details, names, numbers etc  Answering questions using information in the listening (these should be given beforehand)  From an opinion piece do they agree with the speaker's opinion. (for further discussion)

Post-Listening First and foremost to check comprehension of the piece, check for any specific difficulties and develop the topic and themes further, many listening activities will lead into discussion pieces.

These could include;  Checking the answers to the predictive questions and going back to the listening if they missed any.  Study of any new vocabulary, phrasal verbs, expressions etc that may have come up.  Checking pronunciation of certain words (especially if stronger accents were involved)  Giving opinions / thoughts on what happened during the text.

The Role of the Teacher Motivator: The teacher must assure the students of both the purpose of the task and how to accomplish this, students assume it will be difficult, the teacher must refute this by building their confidence through achievable tasks.

Technician: The teacher must have all audio material ready, even if being read out, has the speed been considered, is the CD player in good working order, has it been cued? If using an internet clip make sure it is loaded in case the Wifi has a bad moment.

Feedback: Don't rush on from a listening as this makes the activity seem like a mere bridge onto something more important, have they understood the text, should more time be spent on examining specific points, help the students feel happy and positive towards their progress.

The Prompt – Some audio files are longer and more difficult than anticipated. Students might be missing the wood for the trees and need exaggerated prompting to find the language points, some teachers like to set a third listening for homework with another small task. Many teachers also include the listening script for extra comprehension.

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Example Listening

Activities

One more for the road Pre Listening– They will discuss with their partners, what they see, what sort of party it is and how much they think each group will drink. The teacher will then lead a short discussion about drinking culture in the US and Korea, asking the students for examples, key vocabulary will be put on the board.

Listening: The students will listen to 3 friends talking about the parties above and the different drinking customs, students must listen out for a) Where is the party? b) How much did they drink? c) What unusual drinking custom is mentioned? The audio will be played 3 times.

Post Listening: The class will check their answers together. Then for comprehension the students will discuss in pairs if they would like to go to each party, why or not? What do they like/dislike about their own drinking culture? What do they suggest to change drinking culture.

Musicology

Pre – Listening: The students will first discuss in pairs which Western music artists they like and why them like them. They will also discuss the differences between Korean Pop music and western pop music. They will quickly do a matching exercise of key vocabulary that is used to describe music. Then they look at this picture, do they know who they are? Why are they so famous? Students brainstorm everything they know about the Beatles.

Listening: The students will listen to a radio show discussing the popularity of the Beatles around the world and in Korea. Students will first answer fact finding questions about the Beatles. On the second listening they will listen for the presenter’s opinion on the Beatle's influence on Korean Music. On the final listening they will check all their answers.

Post-Listening: Students will discuss whether they agree with the presenter's opinion about the influence of the Beatles. Then in groups of three they will prepare and present their own short piece about the rise of Korean music compared to other artists using the vocabulary and present to the class

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Geology Pre-listening - Students are given a diagram of a Tsunami model with many labels missing and the vocabulary needed. In pairs they try to complete the model. Then as a class discuss how they think the tsunami occurs in reference to the events in Northern Japan last year.

Listening: They listen to the short science lecture and check if their answers were correct. Twice.

Post-Listening: The students are going to prepare a Tsunami warning emergency survival guide if there is a major earthquake off the coast of Korea and present to the class. The teacher will give a few examples to get them started Using Film and Video in the classroom While of course most course books will come with audio, there is a wide variety of possible listening activities using movie, TV and internet clips. This can in fact be a wonderful tool for developing students’ self-esteem and confidence in listening as they have the ability to watch as well as listen. This means that language is heard and seen in its actual context and thus easier to understand. The following benefits have been noted: •

Students are more motivated by visuals as it seems easier to understand (visual cues)

• Students are more likely to adopt more natural intonation and expression based on how the person in the video uses them.

• Non-verbal expression such as body language is adopted and helps in remembrance (for example shrugging shoulders for “I don't know” or a hand gesture for “don't worry”) • Levels of formality – we can see how people react in different situations (waiter in a coffee shop, workers and boss etc) • Extensive Listening Extension – with the popularity of video sharing websites (such as Youtube) students can find and view English language material easily and on topics they find interesting or amusing. One study in the US found students who listening to isolated jokes from The Simpsons (3 minute clips) were able to understand American humour and pass the humour onto others.

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Tips for using video clips in the classroom

Keep it short – a few minutes is long enough for students to watch before their attention will start to wander or they request subtitles. Long clips/full movies are best left to extensive listening at home.

Predictions – plan ahead when the video can be paused (situational) and students predict what they think will happen or what will be said.

Vocabulary in context – certain expressions, words and phrases can be given to the students before the video and they have the task to see how they are used in the video and then after students discuss a consensus in meaning.

Picture/speech – Studies at Trinity College, Dublin favour this method. Half the class watch a silent video, while the other half listen to the audio without the picture. The class then come together in pairs to explain what happened to each other. They class then watch the full sound and video together.

Very successful in developing visual and non-visual cues.

Subtitles - While not ideal for intensive classroom viewing initially as students will often focus on these for meaning and not the audio, however as part of later comprehension and home study (for pronunciation, intonation etc) they can be a useful tool. However it is crucial that the provider of subtitles can be trusted as some translations can be decidedly unreliable. (a classic being a Die Hard movie where at the climax the line uttered is “see you in hell!” rendered in Korean as 'goodbye')

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Other Listening Activities No Overt response required, students listen to understand, watch facial expressions • • • •

Teacher tells story, joke, anecdote.

A text is read from another source (e.g. a book)

Useful as students should show enjoyment if the teacher tells it well.

Songs: stimulating as many famous English language singers known already, although the content of the song should be taken into consideration and lyric sheet at hand.

• •

Videos, youtube, movie clips, your DVD collection can all be useful.

Following Instructions, directions around the classroom, blind man's bluff etc

•

Find the mistake, fill in the blanks, cloze, listen and circle the word.

Longer Response Required, tests a higher skill level and involves more creativity.

•

Students must listen and answer questions in full.

•

Note taking based on a short lecture or advice slot.

• •

Summarizing the listening in one or more sentences.

Extended fill in the blank with expressions not just words.

Extended Response Required, a much higher level required, often leading onto other activities.

• •

Problem solving, students listen to a dilemma or moral issue and offer advice, solutions Opinion, students must understand a stated point of view and discuss their thoughts, do they agree or disagree, can be used to lead onto debate.

•

•

Very useful for testing student's understanding of stress, tone, intonation etc.

At this level, the listening would often be a bridge onto a longer comprehension and language activity.

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Assignment: Plan a full Listening activity.

You are going to create a full listening activity either based on one of the listening texts on the next two pages OR you can choose another text source such as:  A short video clip from the internet  A short audio file from a reliable source such as textbook or major website.  You may suggest another source.

In the task you must state what topic and level the listening will be aimed at, if it helps suggest an SLE or PIP level you know well. You should also specify any language being highlighted.

You should prepare three parts to the activity a) Pre-Listening b) Listening c) Post listening Example Focus: Skills:

Live Listening, understanding sequence, main idea, notetaking etc prediction, specific details, gist, re-telling information, analyzing information, language in context, listening for intonation.

Level:

SLE 3C: Immigration

Topic/Subject

The pros and cons of emigrating/immigration (opinion)

Trickle, refugee, asylum, without papers etc, subjunctive modals (would, could, should, might)

Pre Listening

Students will be given a series of headlines about the same story of immigration from different radio shows and newspapers and discuss what they think the overall opinion is. We will then discuss as a class.

Materials: handout with the headlines on and from different TV news sites.

Listening

Students will listen to a radio show about the headlined story and must first listen for the call in listeners opinion on immigration. On the second listening they must listen for the presenter's opinion.

Instructions will be written on the board and I will re-phrase the questions on each listening.

Post Listening

Students will have to find supporting points in the handout text for their opinion

I will monitor the discussions adding guidance when necessary ….etc

Previously discussed vocabulary on the board.

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Have a go hero

_________________

_________________

____________________ ______________

PRESENTER: Good afternoon and welcome to 'Why'd they do that?' a show which looks at the amazing, the unusual and sometimes just the completely weird! Today, I'm joined by a very brave lady called Diedre Rachid, who you might have seen on the news this week. She's the bank clerk who wasn't impressed when some wannabe robbers came into her bank. Diedre, good afternoon, how are you?

MRS RACHID: I'm well thanks love, it's all been a bit of a whirlwind to be honest.

PRESENTER: I'm sure it has, everybody wants to hear your story but would you please tell us one more time?

MRS RACHID: Of course love. Well on Monday, I was working at the bank as usual, the lines were very long which is normal after the weekend, when all of a sudden the doors burst open and in run these three men waving their dirty, great guns everywhere!

PRESENTER: You must have been scared, I know I would be.

MRS RACHID: Well no, I was more annoyed, everybody's busy, places to be and here were these great idiots pushing everyone out of the way. So one of them comes to my counter and starts screaming at me. Well, I thought I'm not having this my lad so I told him straight “ You're a disgrace to your mother and you'll not get a penny out of me you big bully�. I'm not sure what I was thinking, but suddenly he drops his gun, sighed and walked out of the bank with the other two running after him. Next thing, the whole bank is cheering me and the TV crews turn up.

PRESENTER: Amazing! Well turning to my other guest, Dr. Foster, a specialist in human behaviour, how do you explain why Mrs Rachid simply didn't panic like most people would?

DOCTOR FOSTER: Well, it's some sort of genetic trait, built in, Mrs Rachid is an example of why our species didn't go extinct, her fight reflex is more powerful than her flight reflex. Put simply, when confronted with a challenge she faces it, she doesn't run away. The robber had the opposite instinct, when faced with a stronger personality, he ran away!

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Who or what are you? Gender and Fashion

The Merging Face of Fashion

Emily Dickinson once declared “ The only future is a sexless future”. Many misunderstood her at the time, thinking she meant a future when the physical act of sex would no longer be a part of human life. Instead she was referring to the idea that men and women will only be equal when gender is no longer considered important. Looking at today's billboards and the latest fashion crazes, her predictions may be coming true.

While it's true that the fashion world's idea of creative style may not always match what we see on the street, the lines are starting to get blurred. Male and Female fashion has been slowly getting more and more similar as famous brands have become common all around the world. Traditional colours are now worn by both genders without embarrassment and the cuts and finishes once exclusively by men or women are now seen everywhere and on everyone. Even accessories such as earrings, bangles and diamante studs are seen as much on heterosexual men as they are on the most girly of girls. However not everyone welcomes this, many fashion editors including the celebrated Anna Winter of American Vogue believe we have gone too far.“ I hate seeing men in clothes and cuts that were designed for women's bodies, I don't care how feminine the boys might be, they are boys!” Other designers disagree Jean Paul Gaultier himself a devotee of the androgynous look has said “Oh but this is what total freedom is all about! Skirts on boys! Jock straps on girls! We should have a clothing revolution and break our minds!”

So, if I open your wardrobe, who will I find inside?

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Unit Seven: Teaching Writing Be great in text as you have been in thought – Shakespeare Discussion Point

What are the main differences between spoken and written English? What do you think are some of the common problems encountered by students when studying written English?

There has been a major shift in the last few decades in the attitude towards the expectations of language learners and writing. As in many native speaking countries, the focus of writing was often on building academic skills to be considered 'literate' rather than writing being used as a tool of expression in itself. The traditional focus was on handwriting, spelling, layout and punctuation but this is a rather narrow approach that does not look at language so much as style and convention.

Many of your students will not be aiming to write international medical journals or be the new Nohm Chomsky and want to learn writing in its social contexts and usefulness rather than in a particularly academic way. (although of course this still needs to be taught) We need to look at situational writing that as well as helping a student out with their studies will aid them in their working and everyday lives as well.

•Study related: Note taking, essay writing (all kinds), book reports etc •Work related: cover letters, writing an application, emails to coworkers etc •Life related: Emails to companies (services), writing complaints etc •Enjoyment: Writing stories, keeping a diary, composing songs etc

There are many approaches to teaching and practicing writing both inside and outside the classroom.

It is impossible to simply 'teach writing' although it is in many aspects a taught skill and is often one of the slowest to develop as students are trying to communicate in standard written English.

It is important then as teachers to break down in the classroom what we want the students to actually be doing, studying or acquiring. Many language educators now focus on two main goals in teaching writing:

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The process of writing: The structures, the style, the best and appropriate language etc The product: Students being creative in what they write without worrying about style.

In both cases, teachers need to be encouraging their students to develop a writing habit in much the same way as we encourage a reading habit. Native speakers learn to write well last in their main cognitive skills and we do not begin with difficult academic writing but we try to make writing a normal and hopefully enjoyable part of language education.

Discussion Point

When you were at school, what types of writing did you enjoy and why? What did you not enjoy?

Spoken versus Written English Discussion Point

What do you think are the main differences between spoken and written English?

Luckily most modern language educators have recognized that standard English with its rules and restrictions really only refers to its written form. This is true for native speakers as well, despite our accents and regional colloquialisms which can differ a lot and cause a few communication problems, when we write and read English we use the same language.

The differences between spoken and written English Permanence Spoken Language

Written Language

 Fleeting and Real time

 Fixed and stable

 Listener must follow along

 Reader can take their time

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Explicitness Spoken Language  Pre-existing knowledge is assumed or listener expected to understand.

Written Language  Must make all references and topics clear that most readers could understand.

Standard Language Spoken Language  Often non-standard, colloquial involving slang and lack of grammar.

Written Language  Generally follows standard presentation, organization, grammatical structures.

Colloquial language must be planned and presented as such E.g. “I aint gonna git it”

Slowness of production, speed of reception Spoken Language

Written Language

 Fast creation and delivery

 Slow creation and delivery

 Slower intake and understanding

 Faster intake and understanding

Detachment Spoken Language

Written Language

 Speaking normally happens around intended listeners and interaction possible.

 Detached in time and space

 Specific to the listeners

 Often does not consider specific readers.

 Immediate feedback is available

 Feedback is impossible

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Organization Spoken Language

Written Language

 Speaker adjusts as the conversation unfolds

 Clearly organised and formatted.

 Opportunity for correction and change of direction

 Cannot be changed

 Can contain redundant language.

 Redundancy would have to be planned into the text.

A Learned Skill Spoken Language  Can be learned by osmosis, exposure to other speakers or studied.

Written Language

 Must be taught.

It is important for instructors to understand that many students may not feel very comfortable or creative writing in their own language and therefore writing in a foreign language is not going to be any easier. We must consider the following points:

• •

Motivation – students need to want to write and see the aims clearly.

Creative – It is not really possible to become accomplished without being creative in your writing, many students are used to just 'parroting' information in writing.

• Cooperative writing – Students shouldn't really be writing silently and individually for extended periods in class, if they work together on writing skills tasks they are more likely to learn and participate well as the pressure is less on a group effort than individuals.

• Building the habit – Motivation will increase as students become more confident with writing in English, they should be exposed to as many genres of writing as possible. Students on a PIP course will eventually be writing more academically but their writing skill can be improved through writing for pleasure. Students should not feel that writing is only for academic purposes but for fun as well.

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Writing for learning This is the most common type of writing activity seen in the older style of English text books and still has an important place in Pagoda's books. This is where we promote writing as a skill and require students write as a language or structural practice.

• Language Practice: Often to practice certain verb tenses or different grammar concepts we ask students to write for structure, “write 3 sentences using the third conditional etc”. In this way we are not teaching students to write but using writing as a vehicle.

•

Style & Genre: When we instruct students to write a story, a cause and effect essay, a paragraph on their Christmas wishes and so on, we are teaching writing because as well as using appropriate language students must learn style and genre in order to complete the activity well.

• Formula Writing: A controversial but still used teaching method, where students learn a basic template of academic writing such as the 5 paragraph essay and apply this to all writing.

Writing for Writing Many practitioners (Stephen Krashen, Jeremy Harmer included) advocate the teaching of writing as first and foremost a creative process the most efficient way of improving a student's ability. These types of activity will work in much the same way as extensive reading where students are channeling enjoyment when they are writing therefore removing the challenge of difficulty. Writing games can be used, group activities and even encouraging students outside of the class work to write in their spare time about whatever they like. Some teachers like to have students keep a journal during the course although if we make this arbitrary students can often become bored with it quite quickly and only write in it when they 'have to'.

The teacher’s responsibilities • The Motivator: Although we can level test the students into the correct level based on speaking and have a similar ability in this skill, writing is usually much more mixed depending on the individual students. During tests it has been noted that amongst the students some were better at language use in writing but lacked creativity and analysis whereas others were strong

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on expression but weak on correct language use. Students must be motivated well to even begin writing for a native teacher and must be given constant and personal encouragement.

• Resources: Students may struggle during writing tasks (especially creative) with exact language and vocabulary the teacher must closely monitor and give input where necessary. This is why working in pairs/groups can be beneficial to the success of the task.

• Feedback: This is critical in writing and time should be taken to not only mark the students work but give each student face to face feedback as well. Students who receive their work returned covered in red pen usually just put it away and lose their motivation. Set a clear aim for the task, judge how well the students accomplished this and focus on how they can improve their writing rather than just auto-correcting mistakes.

Questions you should ask with all writing activities •

Would students find the activity motivating, stimulating and interesting to do?

•

Is it at an appropriate level for them or is it too easy or too difficult?

•

Is it relevant to their needs?

•

Is preliminary teaching required in order to do the activity

•

Would I want to do the activity if I were a student?

Example Writing Activities (writing for writing) Book Report - A summary activity about a book, part of a book, short story etc that the class has read.  Good for many levels but can be quite routine and boring without direction.  Preliminary teaching and guidance required on appropriate language.

Book Review - A more personal critique of a book you have read, opinion task.  The writing will be more personable, students can be both positive and negative, therefore it can be more interesting to do.  Opens up the possibility of discussion in middle and higher level classes.

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Instruction Sheet – The students create a step by step set of instructions for the class to follow. (such as a recipe, driving a car, directions somewhere)  Easier than the previous two as it can and should be written in clear, simple sentences.  Can easily become a fun guessing game for the class and quite interesting as it allows the students to write about something they know how to do and therefore engaging.  Excellent practice of imperatives, conjunctions and time clauses.

Narrative – Write a short story based on topic, pictures etc.  Fairly interesting and engaging and can be adapted to most levels as it requires the students to tell a story.  Needs careful organization and preliminary teaching to ensure correct use of language and often stricter boundaries. (word count, number of sentences etc)

Personal Story - Similar to above except based on a true personal experience.  Can be many topics, a trip, a time when you felt a certain emotion, childhood memory etc  Students can write at their own level of proficiency and there will probably be different lengths and complexity.  A personal story about yourself would be a good motivator.

Describe a View – A personal favorite, city vs country, look out the window.  A good chance to practice adjectives of appearance based on visuals.  Can be fairly simple all the way to very advanced depending on the language to practice.  All levels of proficiency can do this.

Describe Someone / people – Describe someone you know well, a friend, family member, famous person etc.  An exercise that practices both visual adjectives and personality descriptions.  Personalized topic that is usually enjoyable and motivating.  Can be made more complex by adding tasks such as describing job, history, gossip etc Film Music - Students listen to a piece of music and describe the plot and atmosphere of the movie it would be background music for.  A stimulating and imaginative task for creative students.  Can be adapted for different levels and complexities.  Select and prepare a suitable piece of music.

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Answer a letter – Answer a complaint letter, an inquiry, an advice letter etc  Usually a highly motivating task that practices many parts of speech.  Requires a certain level of English skill to do well.  Students must have studied an example and appropriate language first.  Very good opportunity for peer correction.

Job Application – Write a cover letter or job application including a CV / Resume  Considered a very useful and appropriate activity for PIP students.  Sometimes requires imagination to keep it from becoming too serious (e.g. applying for a fantasy job instead of a real one)  Needs a fairly high level of English to do well.  Excellent opportunity for peer correction and discussion when they are finished.

Propose Change – Write a proposal designed to request a change you would like to be made in an organization, company, your town, country etc.  Requires the students to organize and successfully show argument and demand.  High level of proficiency needed to do this with any success.  Depending on the student's level you may need to provide a model proposal first.

News Report – Create a newspaper article, a broadcast report on a given topic.  Allows for creativity depending on the style of writing (tabloid / broadsheet etc)  Also allows for many topics to interest students (disaster, economic, gossip, national etc)  Can be adapted for several different levels and requires different language focus.

Ideal School or Job – What is the perfect environment / Career for you.  Allows the students to be creative which makes it interesting.  Does not need a lot of preparation, preliminary brainstorming will help with vocabulary.

Describe a process - Describe the process represented in a graph, flow chart, series of pictures etc.  A sophisticated task that requires precise and orderly presentation of facts.  Suitable for academically focussed students.  Advanced or pre-advanced level

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Example academic writing activities (PIP writing for learning) Topic

Writing Skills and Activities

1) Humour

Language: Indirect Speech Skill: Proofreading Task: Edit a paragraph

2) Is it Worth it?

Language: Non-count nouns Skill: Writing a letter to the editor Task: Write a letter to the editor

3) Seniority Rules

Language: Sentences: Compound & Complex Skill: Understanding the components of an essay.

Task: Write an opinion essay.

4) Mobile Social Networks

Language: Using effective transitions & connectors Skill: Developing the thesis statement.

Task: Write an introductory paragraph.

5) Inspiring Change

Language: Sentence Fragments Skill: Supporting the thesis statement Task: Write an essay

6) The Written Word

Language: Writing direct quotations Skill: Paraphrasing Task: Write a report

7) Meaningful Songs

Language: Commonly confused words Skill: Brainstorming while writing Task: Write a song

8) Borrowing Money

Language: Hyphens Skill: Choosing supporting details Task: Write an essay

9) Tourism in the Natural World Language: Using prepositional phrases Skill: Writing conclusions Task: Write a recommendation for a travel destination.

10) Research Regrets

Language: Past Possibilities Skill: Reflecting on written work Task: write an essay and a reflection.

Note: The majority of the tasks would be completed at home not in the class, timed essay writing is mainly used in testing.

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In Practice: example writing from PIP LEVEL: 300F TOPIC: The Mysterious and the Unknown This is a sample lesson from the PIP300F book all about the mysterious and the unknown, the book looks at a lot of vocabulary and varied types of text but all have a more or less scientific angle. One listening exercise is about a ghost story which is followed by a visual exercise to stimulate writing. There is a series of pictures which include images of what could be in a ghost story. However the teacher in this case feels the students may be lacking in appropriate language to write a good ghost story, especially descriptive skills. Therefore has decided to introduce a different text, a haunted house story, to study this language first.

The focus of the writing part of the class is to write a narrative essay, students have already studied previous narrative paragraphs and articles in the book. This one however is a little different as the unit is about telling stories from an emotional perspective and so this part of language is crucial to the success of the final essay.

Warm Up: Students discuss a famous ghost story, it can a personal experience or one that they have heard or if this is difficult one from a movie or book.

Language Introduction: There will be a list of nouns and adjectives on the board that would all be used in a ghost story, the students in pairs will brainstorm the words, what do they know, can they give an example, what synonyms do they know of the words. The teacher will then conclude together as a class asking for examples.

Pre-reading: I will tell the students that they are going to read a story about a haunted house that scares people who stay there. Using the descriptive words on the board, the students will, in pairs create a short two sentence description of a haunted house.

The aim is to try and make it sound as scary as possible. After this task I will give the students the title of the story “ The Whispering Darkness� and we will discuss what the story might be about and what does the title suggest.

Reading: Students are to skim through the text first to make a summary of the story.

They have 4 minutes to do this.

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The Whispering Darkness Lisa and Tom were driving home from their old teacher, Professor McScratchy's house. He had recently retired to the countryside following a glittering career at Felchingham University. A professor of English, it had been in his class that Lisa and Tom had first met, now newly engaged they had driven out to see him and thank him. If it hadn't been for his fascinating accounts of Gothic London their eyes might not have met across the room.

They had been surprised by the desolate landscape the professor had chosen to live in, sparse and wild, but he had assured them he wanted a quiet and isolated life, besides there was another house not 5 miles away should he feel the need for company. They had a long and pleasant afternoon together and the sun was low in the sky as they waved him goodbye and set off on the 3 hour drive home. As the sky darkened and the light dimmed Lisa began regretting having stayed so long, she looked over at Tom who was happily retelling another fond memory of McScratchy and sighed, how could she be angry with him. She didn't finish the thought as suddenly she was thrown violently into the window, she screamed and she heard Tom shouting “God! What was that?!” she felt the car come to a sudden lurching stop and sat panting hard. As it occurred to her that she was still alive. “Are you ok?” came Tom's worried voice, she looked at him and saw the panic in his face and answered that she was. Tom suddenly got out of the car shouting about animals and country roads and in a daze she followed him, They really were in the middle of nowhere and it was almost pitch black, they could see nothing on the road behind them, what had they hit? Lisa looked at her mobile, no signal, she looked around and saw in the distance the house that they had passed earlier. “Tom” she said “Look!”

45 minutes later, armed only with the small flashlight from the car they arrived at the dilapidated old house, it was worn and unloved and was not an inviting place. Lisa wanted to go back to leave this eerie domain but what could they do? Tom took a deep breath, squeezed Lisa's hand and knocked 3 times on the door. The sound boomed around them causing Lisa to jump, Tom told her to calm down, they needed a phone and this might be the only place there would be one unless they wanted to hike 18 miles to the Professors in the dark. They waited a few minutes and Tom went to knock the door again when suddenly there was a shrieking gust of wind and the door blew inward causing them both to scream. There was no light coming from inside only gaping darkness, Lisa felt her imagination running away from her but all she knew was that she did not want to step into that inky abyss. Tom was already moving forward, “what are you doing?!” she hissed, he pulled away and told her to calm down, “Wait here” he whispered, “I'll be right back” and he disappeared into the murk.

15 minutes passed, Lisa was semi-hysterical with fear, she tried to call into the house but her throat was constricted and no sound would come out. Gulping down her terror she stepped into the black.

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Post Reading The students must first create a summary of the story in one or two sentences which they will share with a partner and then we will discuss as a class. Secondly the students will go back to the story and in pairs discuss how the vocabulary words created atmosphere, what did they do to the mood of the story and again we will discuss some of these as a class. The conjunctions from the story (previously studied) will be written on the board as they appear in the examples from the text to review for the students how important they are in a narrative structure.

Writing Preparation Task The students will now have to create the ending to the story as it lacked one. To help with creativity, several possible endings will be summarized on the board such as;  She find's Tom has fallen over and is hurt, she sees the telephone and phones for help.  Tom is nowhere to be found and she runs out of the house.  Something sinister is waiting for her inside.

In the classroom, the students will be given 10 minutes with their partner to brainstorm the ending and plot their summary. They will create the outline of the ending with the instruction that it must be:  Two paragraphs long totaling 300-400 words.  They must use a mix of past simple, past continuous and past perfect.  They must use as much of the vocabulary as they can WITH particular attention paid to the mood of their writing, so they must use the adjectives carefully.

They will only prepare the outline in class and then they will write their endings as homework to be submitted by email 2 days later The power of the internet

The fastest growing source of original writing in the world is definitely on the web. Scores of people who would never normally write anything beyond their shopping lists now happily type every waking thought on their personal blog or in a naver cafe. This type of writing is now one of the most popular and something to be encouraged for the following reasons: • It is accessible everywhere, students are not restricted to a location and can up date easily. This also means if they want the teacher or other students to read something they have written it can be easily linked to.

• Students are writing about the subjects that interest them whether it's about k-pop, food, travel, toilets of the world, there is no problem with motivation.

• Students naturally will need to use language that expresses what they are trying to say and this can easily be reviewed in class using other blogs.

• Teachers can link this type of writing into a web based arc of topics that would include email writing and advertising etc

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As an ongoing piece of writing real development can be measured.

• Students who may not blog should be encouraged to keep a portfolio of all their written work to also help with the idea of forming a writing habit.

Correcting Written Work Of equal importance to good organization of writing assignments is how we as teachers approach the feedback and correction of work that is presented to us by the students.

Below is an examples of work handed in to by a student. Correct it and upload your corrections before moving onto the next part..

Number One: PIP Placement Test (100 words) Men should work and provide money for their family while women should stay at home and take care of the children.

Do you agree or disagree with this statement about gender.

I disgree that men should work and earn momoney and women should be a housekeeper. Actually in our country most men used to work for company and most woman used to take care of the children as a housekeeper because 30 years ago, most woman couldn't go to school.

At that time many families don't enough money for education but nowaday All of woman can take education because it is duty! So, woman don't have to be housekeeper.

Second reason is that most woman are sensitive and very careful So they can be a good kind of resource that has a lot of abilities. There is no reason that woman should stay at home.

In conclusion, I think a man and a woman both can be a worker and both can be a housekeeper.

To correct or not to correct It is assumed that like most native speakers when faced with a piece of writing that contains mistakes that you would immediately correct them all. This is of course what happens in other subjects, if you get a sum wrong, if you say Paris is the capital of Germany , if you hypothesize that blue and yellow make red. But before you do, consider the following points:       

Did you use red? Why? Did you offer any feedback?

Did you concentrate only on the mistakes?

Did you offer any guidance to the student on how to improve?

Did you look at successes before failures?

Did you assess the overall level of the student?

If you were the student looking at this returned piece of work, how would you feel?

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Native speaker versus Foreign language learner The students are not native speakers who have been reading and writing in English all their lives, very few students who attend foreign language academies will have a writing ability to match a well-educated native speaker. These are foreign students who are trying to improve their writing skills or else they wouldn't be in your class. Arbitrary corrections that focus on what the students did badly without starting with the positive result in a disenchanted class.

Students have been seen to avoid or copy written work if they feel the only expected outcome is a perfect use of standard English.

We should begin correction and feedback with the following questions.

Did the Student understand the assignment?

The answer here should always be yes, the student was clearly able to complete the assignment and follow the instructions of the teacher. If not the instructions were at fault Did the Student complete the assignment to a satisfactory language level?

We must always carefully consider the level of the students when we set writing assignments. If they were not making any mistakes then they would not need to be taking the class. Are they making errors and mistakes we would expect at this level and have we studied the appropriate language.

Did the teacher prepare the student for the assignment and how will we take the opportunity to help the student develop?

If students do a bad job in a writing assignment then the teacher must consider if he/she taught the relevant skills /language first. He/She must also look at the outcome of the assignment and decide what must be taught or reviewed next.

Tips on feedback and correction  Red pen is considered quite deflating by students in many parts of the world, depending on the culture it can represent danger, passion, death or failure.  Try to remember how it felt to receive an assignment you worked hard on covered in red pen, scribbles, dots, angry underlining, whole sentences scratched out. Did you sit down and study each problem or did you shove it into your bag and never look at it again?  Choose another colour, use green if you like, expensive research has proven it to be the friendliest colour for correction.

What do you think? - Discuss the following statements and your opinions on them.  The fact that the teacher gives feedback on student performance implies a power hierarchy: the teacher above, the student below  Assessment is potentially humiliating to the assessed person.  Teachers should give their students only positive feedback, in order to encourage, raise confidence and promote feelings of success; negative feedback demoralises.  Giving plenty of praise and encouragement is important for the fostering of good teacher-student relationships.  Very frequent approval and praise lose their encouraging effect; and lack of praise may then be interpreted as negative feedback.  Teachers shouldn't let students correct each others' work, as this is harmful to their

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relationships.

Here's what we think  Power hierarchy in the classroom is inevitable, but it goes both ways.  Teachers have the right to request work to be done, then correct and assess it. Students have the right to expect the teacher to facilitate their learning experience.  Assessment can cause stress and anxiety based on the fear of failure and humiliation.  Don’t forget this when testing as the stress factor can lower results.  Positive feedback tends to encourage.  Negative feedback can be equally constructive if it is given supportively and warmly.  It can do if it isn’t overused.  Overuse of approval causes its devaluation and can become irritating.  Peer correction can be positive UNLESS their relationship was not particularly warm or trusting to start with.  Use peer correction with caution.

Watch out for recurring corrections of the same mistake. If this happens, invest time in creating opportunities for students to get it right.

Useful Resource sites for Writing Activities         

http://www.englishonline.org.cn/en/teachers/workshops/teachingwriting/teaching-tips englishonthe.net/2009/.../efl-writing-lessons-that-work/ http://community.eflclassroom.com/forum2/topics/writing-ideas-and-activities http://www.esl-galaxy.com/writing.html http://stickyball.net/writing.html http://www.teachenglishinasia.net/efl-esl-games/efl-esl-writing-games http://esl.about.com/od/advancedwriting/Advanced_Level_Writing_in_English.htm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaCxigjUJ7Q (sample writing class) http://www.youtube.com/user/EducatorVids3?v=juzAjQUzPhM (sample class)

Remember that as a productive skill that relies heavily on both language and style, writing takes time to develop and needs care and originality. Use the class time to teach writing skills and encourage your students to read as much as possible to help them understand style. As Oscar Wilde wrote to his publisher with his latest manuscipt.

'Here is my genius, I leave the punctuation, woulds and shoulds to your clerks' Assignment a)– Plan a full writing activity.

You are going to choose one of the below topics.

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1.

Honeymoon from Hell – a letter of complaint to a hotel

2.

Things aint what they used to be – a diary/blog entry

3.

The youth of today – a magazine article

For the topic you choose you must decide on and detail the following points.

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What is the aim of the activity? What should students be able to do?

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What vocabulary and language structures will students need to use?

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What will be done in class and what will be completed at home?

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Include any texts or presentation materials you use.

Example Topic: Regrets

Aim: Students write a short narrative paragraph about a regret using the third conditional (250 words)

Language focus:

Third Conditional, second (review) Vocabulary: regret, remorse, potential etc

Presentation:

Students will read through the sample text “What my mother told me” the comprehension questions will introduce the structure and the vocabulary. This will be highlighted on the board...etc

Activities:

1. Students in pairs will complete the 3 rd cond practice activity, on the board will be If I hadn't studied English.....

2. Students will brainstorm in pairs how their lives would have been different if..... etc 3. Students will work on sequencing the ideas using the text as guide..etc 4. For home work …..

b) Error Correction. - Correct and give feedback for the following text from a 2C/200F student Task: Write a narrative paragraph (using past tenses) about a regret you've had in your life.

I regretted when I cheated on my university testing in my third year. I worked for 2 month at a department store and was so busy to study much. Also I was making money for the trip to Europe. If I can change this I will. The day of the test was so soon but I did not try hard to study as I thought I know well the history of Korea. I was walking with my friends to the classroom and thinking they are so calming and not worry like me. When I saw the test I wanted cry because it was all history I did not studied. I was trying to make good answer but my head was dead and my writing very was bad. After my friends went to have chimek because exam was over but I went to home and to bed. I do not need to tell that I failed. This is my regret.

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Unit Eight: Teaching Speaking ‘6 years I studied that damn language, I bought every book imaginable but when I arrived in Madrid and ordered a drink the waiter turned to me and simply said 'que?'

American Blogger

Discussion

When you were learning a foreign language what was your principal aim? What frustrated you or was most challenging about the language?

I speak therefore I am It is generally understood that most people learn a language for the principal purpose of being able to speak it. In fact when you think about it, what do we call people with a high proficiency in the language? Speakers, we rarely boast about our abilities as great Spanish readers or French listeners.

This then is the goal and also the frustration for the majority of students who come to the classes at Pagoda, they want to be able to communicate in English and this is a long and difficult road. First of all they are learning it in a country where English is not widely spoken and are limited to the classroom and secondly they will be instructed by a native speaker whom they are desperate to impress as he or she will hear every one of their mistakes.

Since along with listening speaking is a major form of communication it naturally becomes a large focus for the students and the one that they often tell us they are determined to improve in as quickly as possible. However all speaking activities in the classroom need to follow a particular structure to be sure that we make the most of them. Too often teachers allow the speaking elements of the class to become too much free talking without a clear emphasis on skill. This is a problem for the students who hope to raise their level so that they can study or spend time in a native speaking country, they need to be taught appropriate and natural language in a structured environment.

People can study many parts of the language at home but when they come to the native teacher classroom this is where they must now rely solely on the language and practice it with a definite aim. Practice is the key element to all oral activity and without it new concepts and language are quickly forgotten or mistakes become fossilized. A good teacher provides each class with a lot of time spent trying out and perfecting comments with regular, constructive feedback. In this unit we will be looking at how best to approach the art of speaking in the classroom.

Common Complaints about speaking in a foreign language.  I'm ok one on one but I'm lost in a group – impossible to only ever speak to one person at a time.  I'm pronouncing it the same as him, why can't he understand? - Clearly you are not.  I prefer to email rather than phone – Perfectly understandable but more time consuming.

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I never know the perfect way to say something so I don't – so what is the point of studying a foreign language? Do you speak perfectly in your native language?  I'm worried the teacher will hear my mistakes – I should hope so or how will you improve?

Strategies for speaking There are so many elements and parts to learning to speak well in a foreign language that students need some competency in in order to communicate well:  Understandable pronunciation – needs to be heard from a teacher, audio, video etc.

Despite the whims of fashion there is no perfect pronunciation or accent just to be understood. This is why students who study exclusively from books usually have poor pronunciation or cannot understand native speakers.  Vocabulary in context – native speakers will typically use between 12,000 and 20,000 words depending on level of education the vast majority of these learned before the age of 20. Words on learned in the situational context of use not from memorizing vocabulary lists.  Functional Language – grammar translation has been proven to stunt a student's ability to be able to communicate quickly and well, students need to learn useful everyday language that is again linked to topic and situation. This includes planned and unplanned language.  Transactional Language vs Interpersonal language - Students need to learn different levels of formality and politeness and the difference between ordering food in a restaurant (transactional – using language for a service or information) and getting to know fellow students on day one. (interpersonal – building and maintaining relationships)  Survival and Repair: Unlike writing which can be edited and drafted until it's as good as we can make it, students need to learn how to ask for repetition in speaking, how to clarify, query etc instead of feeling that they are supposed to understand everything straight away.  Real Talk – despite the level or type of class being named after a text or course book, we cannot allow the class to become text book led as often the language presented can be a little limiting. Students need exposure and practice to differing levels and types of speaking to improve confidence and fluency. This includes non-verbal replies and body language.

Speaking in the classroom When we start an activity in our classrooms that requires speaking we have to be sure what it is we want our students to do. Simply telling them to speak is rather like telling a baby to grow takes time and teaching to make the most out of it.

Many teachers like to use “free-talking” in their classrooms and this can be a valid, occasional practice activity for students who have already learned the necessary language. However the majority of students need a little more than just free talking which in their eyes is not something they necessarily want to be paying for. After all, if speaking in the classroom is simply to talk about anything in English, they could just as easily head to Itaewon and do it for free.

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Korean students by and large were raised in an education system that demanded a passive nature. For most young students they are still in or have only recently come out of that environment where there is an answer to every question and you just have to find it, copy it down verbatim and hand it in for a pass.

Western culture has generally followed a different tradition, one of critical thinking and reason.

We were encouraged to express our views, debate even argue for the sake of developing a strong mind. This is then often the attitude that we take into the classroom and many new teachers to Korea find themselves frustrated by the lack of natural participation from the students.

Creating the right atmosphere Students are not TVs, we cannot point and remote at them and expect them to perform. All students (including yourself) are reluctant to participate if they feel unsure, nervous or intimidated. On the other hand students at any level will perform well if the class is wellprepared and they are comfortable with the teacher and fellow students. Distribute the scatter cushions of education. Űž Mini Task: Read through and briefly try out the two activities below. Then upload your thoughts on which one you think would be more successful as a speaking activity and why.

Activity One: Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Give you reasons.

Smartphones have had a very negative effect on society in that is has further isolated people from normal human interaction and resulted in a generation incapable of proper communication and manners.

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Activity Two: The Seoul Mayor has decided smart phones are a menace! With your partner choose which fourof the following rules you will introduce as new laws. You must agree!

People who walk and use their smart Y/N phones at the same time will be arrested by police for 3 hours and will watch a safety video.

Wifi and 3G will automatically be Y/N charged 1000 won per minute when it is used from a smart phone.

Wifi and 3G will not be available between the hours of 9am and 3pm in offices, schools and universities (except on computers)

Y/N

You will not be allowed to upgrade or Y/N change your smart phone until your old one is completely broken.

The number of Apps on the phones should be reduced so that people spend less time using them.

Y/N

When buying a smart phone you have to prove that you don't have a laptop or the shop will not sell it to you.

Y/N

There will only be one brand of smart Y/N phone available, Samsung and iphone will not be allowed to sell smart phones in Korea.

Smart Phones should become illegal and we all have to use flip phones again.

Y/N

Topic and Task The first activity on the previous page is a topic-based discussion which relies on the following factors to make it a success:  The students are interested in the topic and motivated to speak about it.  The students possess the necessary language skill and vocabulary to speak at length.  The students are able to provide reason and opinion.  That in each pair or small group there are differing opinions and comfort to express them.

The second activity is often more successful in an English learning environment for the following reasons:  The students have a task to complete that is fairly simple, choosing yes or no.  There are multiple, easy to understand points to talk about.  Everybody in the group must give an answer and participation is more equal.  It is generally more fun and humourous than the topic based discussion.  It uses speaking as a vehicle to complete the task but would use the same language.

The four key elements to a successful speaking activity

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Organization – there are many types of speaking activity (we will cover shortly) but they will have different aims, some are for language practice, others will be for fluency, others will be to produce conversation or debate. The aim must be in the teacher's mind and not simply telling the students to have a chat.

Target Language - When we are speaking in the classroom we are focusing on a part of speech or an aspect of the language, sometimes this is clearly stated (as in vocabulary or a grammatical aspect) and other times it is simply modelled or framed by the teacher (asking a certain type of question) all of this is linked to topic and aim.

Participation – We can never guarantee completely equal participation in any classroom activity but as teachers we should be providing the opportunity for all students to participate. Knowing the students, varying the type of task and prompting participation will help to embolden the students.

Feedback – The first things students need is a positive reaction from the teacher on their 'performance'. Their opinions and contributions must be valued, knowing the teacher and fellow students understood them leads to a feeling of success which then also results in future participation. Key errors and areas for development must be handled fully and professionally at the appropriate time in the lesson and course. A common complaint from students is that the teacher doesn't correct enough or sometimes not at all. If students are not corrected at all then all they are doing is practising what they already know leading to the language learning plateau.

Examples of speaking activities Pagoda's books are full of different types of speaking tasks. The SLE series (currently being revised) has this as its central aim a conversation class that highlights and reviews language to help the students be more proficient and confident when speaking.

Here is one from 2A (intermediate) -expressing opinions Activity C: Celebration Time Take on the role of one of the people a wedding reception and discuss your opinion of how the party is going. Give reasons for your opinions and ask follow-up questions. On the scale, A is the best and D is the worst.

Example: Walter and Sera Walter: So, this is a great reception. What do you think of the music?

Sera: It’s terrible! You can’t dance to it. I wish they had faster music. What do you think?

Walter: I think the music is pretty good, actually. It’s not the best, but it is good for the occasion.

Sera: What about the bride? Isn’t she beautiful?

Walter: She’s okay…

Sera: Just okay? Are you serious?

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Other types of speaking activities The following is a list of useful activities that can be used in the classroom, they can easily be adapted to the most classroom topics. Go through and discuss the pros and cons of each.   

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Visual Cues & Statements – Students are given a picture or series of pictures and must describe what they see, this can be vocabulary, grammatical structures or to give an opinion.

Spot the differences – A variation on an old classic, two different pictures showing contrasting images, students practice comparisons and vocabulary.

Things in Common - Useful as an icebreaker, students begin in pairs with some examples questions (Have you ever....when, why? Etc) and the move about the room ending by reporting some interesting stories about the people they met and who likes things that they do.

Solving a Problem – Students are given a particular problem (it can range from simple advice, moral dilemmas, environmental problems, the state of the nation etc; depending on level) and they must provide or discuss possible solutions. Can easily become roleplay.

Role-play - Students take on a role in a realistic setting and act out as if they were really

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in a restaurant, making a complaint, checking-in to a hotel etc. Gives them the opportunity to practice a skill in the safety of the classroom before doing it in real-life.

Students often need some time to prepare depending on level.

Dialogue - Similar to role-plays although here it would follow a writing/study activity and require much more correct language on the part of the students. Acting skills would also be useful here.

Story Mapping – A list of nouns, adjectives, verbs etc are put on the board and students work in pairs or small groups and join them together to tell a story. Can be as simple or as complex as the level of the class allows. Students then tell to act out their stories.

Surveys – Based on an previously studied example, students devise and create questions of their own to ask partners or the class, they should make note of the answers and report back. Could be about almost any topic or to test many different types of language.

Play scripts – Many language practitioners use drama and play scripts as material in the classroom, often students are more comfortable with the idea that they are acting and a script allows them to be more comfortable with speaking and is a great way to practice pronunciation Reaching a consensus – similar to the task based activity, where students are not so confident or of sufficient level to debate or give a long, well-rounded opinion they complete a short task with short views but must all agree. For example this could be deciding on the punishments for various crimes based on a given list.

Speaking Games – There are too many of these to mention here (for a comprehensive list of ideas check out http://iteslj.org/games/) Students can enjoy the fun of a game without feeling under pressure to 'perform'. These can be simple word association, more complex quizzes and competitions or timed vocabulary games like 'hot seat' or 'taboo'

Discussions – Worthy of their own section  The goal that many teachers are aim for in their classes .  Discussions can turn out well or badly.  They must be prepared thoroughly and students given time to assemble their thoughts, very few can have an in depth discussion about something complex or difficult.  Approach the discussion in manageable chunks: Violence in Movies (200S)  Start by asking students about the last movie they saw (individually) and whether there was violence in it.  Then in pairs, students discuss how violence in movies makes them feel.  In the same pairs they discuss whether there is too much violence in movies, do they think this has a harmful effect on society. They then briefly present their ideas to the

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 

 

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class.

The teacher introduces the idea of censorship and a brief history.

Students are split into 3 groups; the first will create justification for MORE censorship of violence in movies. The second will create justification for LESS censorship of movies.

The third will give reasons why the age limit on movies should be increased and that violent movies should not be shown on TV. After a number of minutes each group will present a few ideas and the teacher will guide the discussion.

If the teacher feels the students are lacking any necessary language this is where it could be highlighted such as vocabulary or how to back up an opinion.

This could then easily lead onto...

 Debate  The ultimate goal of critical thinking but a skill that does not come easily, many native speakers avoid a debate if they feel under prepared with the subject matter. In EFL classes debates often fail because students feel lacking in the tools to debate well.  Essential language is often related to expressions of agreeing, disagreeing and persuading others which would have to be taught and practiced first; I see what you're saying but....

In my opinion....

I agree with you somewhat...

You can't honestly believe....  

I see your point ….

Look at it this way....

Many students find debating difficult when told to pick a side, especially if they don't hold a strong opinion. Remember this is a language practice so ASSIGN sides, give them time to prepare in groups and play devils advocate.

You might need to give input to the debate to keep it going. If it is well-organized the students should begin to enjoy the debate and may actually want to do more.

The Pyramid Question Game A great transition from listening to speaking.

The students have just listened to this story in the activity: “I used to walk to the bus stop with the elderly gentleman living near us. He became ill and I did not see him for some time. The one bright sunny morning a few months later, I left the house as usual for work. As I walked down the path, I glanced to the left and I saw the elderly gentleman walking slowly up past the hedge round the front garden.

He turned and looked straight at me and I was struck by how pale he appeared to be. Not until later did I realise I could not hear the sound of his footsteps, although he appeared to be walking in his usual manner, apart from being slower.

I happened to glance away, and when I looked back there was no one there. There was nowhere he could have disappeared to, and he had not collapsed on the pavement.

In the evening I discovered that he had died about half an hour before I had seen him that morning.

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Put this chart on the board WHO

WHEN

HOW

WHAT

WHERE

WHY WHICH

WHOSE WHOM

In pairs students have to create a question for each question word about the story, the question must be directly answered in the story, it cannot be inferred. For example; a) Where did he used to walk to with the old man? = Bus Stop b) How did he feel when he saw the old man? = cannot answer The students must get three in a row (Tic Tac Toe / Noughts and Crosses) to win.

You should ask trivia questions for students to win the chance to give their question.

Pronunciation Discussion

How important is pronunciation when learning a foreign language?

What typical problems do you think students have with English?

Teaching Pronunciation There have been so many theories and fashions for teaching pronunciation that sadly nowadays it's something that many teachers give very little thought to it at all. In many observed classes teachers have covered every base very well in the productive skills; vocabulary focus, grammar practice, speaking practice and production but pronunciation study or correction is often only cursory. This means that students are missing a vital part of their language education. Students here in Korea come from a very different linguistic background to English speakers and will not naturally pronounce well the sounds, stresses and intonation of English. Think of the l/r problem or p/f.

Perfection & Intelligibility Many students have an idea of how they would like to sound, some have a particular proclivity for a regional accent but how close to an original accent should they attain to be? Nobody picks up a genuine accent very quickly and stand the best chance by living in the small region of that particular country where the accent is common. Likewise it is not really wise to try and impose your own accent on the students (In Belfast we pronounce 'hour' as 'arh') perhaps then being clearly understood by all kinds of native speakers is what we and the students should be aiming

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for.

As teachers we must anticipate and listen for those common problems that our students have and incorporate these into our lesson plans as well as deciding when and how we will teach essential phonemes in the lesson.

When to teach  Whole lesson: Depending on level and need there are occasions when pronunciation becomes the topic of the class or a major part of a review lesson. This requires a lot of planning in the focus and types of activity used to practice, students have reported a high level of irritation at 50 minutes of repetition. Also pronunciation can be a part of another activity such as play acting from scripts or story telling.  Short phases: Some teachers like to have work with phonemes etc as a regular part of lessons and activities meaning they can alternate the particular part of speech. So for example after a story writing activity the class looks at a natural or exciting way to tell a story. In a class about advertising students have to prepare and perform a jingle, in a class on humour the students have to try and stress the punchline correctly.



Opportunistic/Individual: This would be linked into evaluation/assessment of students during the planned activities where problems or mistakes occur that hadn't been planned but suddenly do need attention. This has the benefit of having the phoneme highlighted in a context that will make it easier for the student(s) to remember.

Parts of pronunciation to consider.

D'ya Ken Me? Learning good pronunciation is essential in any language. The majority of students want to become fluent in a language and perfect grammar and an encyclopedic knowledge of vocabulary will not help them when faced with a native speaker who cannot understand anything they are saying.

English pronunciation is ridiculous, it follows very few standard rules and is not in anyway phonetic “ai wud kwait laik a cop ov warta” every word must be taught.

Ah, snobs and pedants flee the room. Despite the preference for certain accents the only actual definition of 'correct' pronunciation is that which can be understood by another native speaker whether he be from the frozen wilds of Sasquatchvilleburg or the elegant tea rooms of Galway.

Let's start at the very beginning....

Like all languages the first thing you learn are your ABC's:

A

as in

day

clay

O

as in

go

hope gone

man

car hot

about

dare

now

cow

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I

as in

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high

sigh

sir

bird

hit

sit

What an uncooperative alphabet.

Well let's try our old friends the consonants

G

as in

giant gym

gentle

gadget

giggle

C

as in

cease cent

circus

cat

car

X

as in

Axe

Texas Rex

Xylophone

So, it should be clear that simply knowing how to pronounce the alphabet is not always going to help you pronounce the words.

Sounds in Combination It is important to remember that most of your students are Korean and have enjoyed the pleasures of a largely phonetic language. Vocabulary can be studied and built upon fairly easily.

English is a vast language of vocabulary and even words that look similar will be pronounced quite differently.  Through Though Thought Threw  Daughter Laughter Draught Naughty (draft in US English)  Here Heard Heart Short vs Long Vowel Sounds The cause of some embarrassing or at best confusing moments for many students, when vowels should be stressed or kept short.  Sit /Seat Chip/Cheap Ship/Sheep Bit/Beat  Cart Cat Cut  walk work would Minimal Pairs Often in English there can be a very subtle difference between two sounds that although clear to native speakers can cause difficulties for foreign students.

For example: ai (May) ei (My)  She thinks she's going today to die  I don't want a pie to pay  My house is at the end of the line the lane

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I didn't like It covers a big

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the white lake Washington

the wait like Washington

Accents Thanks to movies and TV very few native speakers are unaware of how different our accents can be and although we have occasional difficulties for the largest part we can understand one another. For your students this multitude of accents can be challenging, especially if they have only ever been exposed to one type of accent, it can be useful to bring to the classroom examples of different accents. You can never be expected to know all the variations but a little understanding of the two major schools (British & American) can be helpful, for example:  The rhotic R sound Car vs Car  The plosive/semi plosive D/T water vs water  Irregular vowels saw vs saw can vs can't Plosives and Semi-Plosives These are the consonant sounds that require air to sound them correctly, put your hand in front of your mouth as you say them, then try not to use air, notice how different the sounds are.  Top Blunt Dreamt Put But Can

General Problems Rhythm Every language has it's own style and pace when spoken, in English this affects the “linking” words such as in the following sentence;  Anne of Green Gables grates the cheese. Prepositions and conjunctions are weaker.

This also follows with stressed and unstressed syllables ;  Teacher Station Football Pagoda Elision  A sound is missed out word the word for ease of pronunciation e.g correct comfortable vegetable temperature Assimilation  A sound changes due to the sound that follows e.g. sandwich light blue Homophones Words that sound the same but can be spelled differently and have different meanings.  Saw / saw/ sore / soar (the first different in US English)  (item) (past tense)(pain) (to fly)  * Wore / war court / caught blew / blue Intonation

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Like all Germanic languages, English relies a lot on stress and intonation to convey certain meanings, all of which can be confusing to English learners, Try out the following examples;  “Hello” To a friend.

To a friend you haven't seen for 3 years.

To a neighbour that you don't like.

To a 6 month old baby.

To someone you have just found doing something they shouldn't.

To someone on the phone when you're not sure if they're still there. 

“How are you?”

To someone you haven't seen for 20 years.

To someone who has recently lost a member of their family.

To someone who didn't sleep in their own bed last night To a friend you had a big fight and falling out with.

Examples of activities Poetry and Pronunciation When the English tongue we speak, why is break not rhymed with weak?

Won't you tell me why it's true, we say sew but also few?

And the maker of a verse cannot rhyme his horse with worse?

Beard is not the same as heard, cord is different from word.

Cow is cow ,but low is low, Shoe is never rhymed with foe.

Think of hose and dose and lose, And think of goose and yet of choose.

Think of comb and tomb and bomb, doll and roll and home and some.

And since pay is rhymed with say, why not paid with said I pray?

Think of blood and food and good, mould is not pronounced like could.

Why is it done, but gone and lone, is there any reason known?

To sum up it seems to me, that English is a travesty!

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) While it doesn't need to be used in the classroom, it can be a useful tool for teachers when dealing with pronunciation issues and some students find it a valuable reference.

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Learning to use homophones All languages have this problem and the secret is learning to recognise what part of speech is being targeted with that particular word.

Sentence in which they appear Word and part of speech The King was _________ off the ____________.

Throne (n)

Thrown (pp)

We ________ our horses along the narrow ________.

Road (n)

Rode (ps)

We _______ that Sue and Ian had a _______ car.

New (adj)

knew (ps)

I must ________ you that black ties must be _______.

Worn (pp)

warn (inf)

The _______ book is the one I __________.

Read (ps)

red (adj)

I _____Ian at the doctor's, he has a _______ throat.

Sore (adj)

saw (ps)

The soldiers ______ their khaki uniforms in ______

War (n)

wore (ps)

The police ________ the burglar and took him to ____

Court (n)

caught (ps)

The drummer ________ the drums to make the _____

Beat (n)

beat (ps)

Tongue Twisters A classic and quite fun, begin slowly and then build up speed, the usual goal is to distinguish between sounds rather than memorizing the rhyme.  She sells seas shells by the sea shore.  Spot a penny pick it up and all day you'll have good luck  Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers peter piper picked. If Peter Pecker picked a peck of pickled peppers. Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.

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 How many boards could the Mongols hoard if the Mongol hordes got bored?  How can a clam cram in a clean cream can.

Chants and Songs Rhythm, beat and music all help students with practicing pronunciation and exercise a different part of the brain than simply speaking. Often teachers find a gesture for each syllable helps.

Buy now. Pay later.

Get it now. Don't delay.

Just a minute. Let me think I need time. More time.

Jokes and Riddles Much like chants and songs, a fun and creative activity.  A. Knock knock.

Little Jack Horner  B. Who's there?

Sat in a corner  A. Jamaica.

Eating a Christmas pie.  B. Jamaica who?

He stuck in his thumb  A. Jamaica mistake?

And pulled out a plum And said, 'What a good boy am I?” Useful links for Pronunciation Teaching Ideas http://iteslj.org/links/ESL/Pronunciation/ - Very useful for audio files for different accents http://www.manythings.org/pp/ - Focuses mainly on US standard English http://www.rong-chang.com/pronunciation.htm – Good practice exercises and games http://teflbootcamp.com/teaching-skills/teaching-efl-pronunciation/ - parts of speech http://www.rong-chang.com/mjc/pronunciation/ - Good short activities and review http://www.betterenglish.org.ph/Pronunciation/Pronunciation.htm – focuses on international use.

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Assignment 8: Plan a sequence of speaking activities & pronunciation focus You should choose one of the courses you are teaching this month (SLE, Prism/PIP, PBA, book discussion etc) and you are going to choose 5 topics from it. Then you will plan the sequence of speaking activities you will do over the five lessons. The plan must include:  The aim of the speaking activity: fluency, vocabulary, grammar etc  The target language being used.  How it will be organized: Pairs, groups etc  How it related to previous & future activities  How you will include pronunciation issues / monitoring & feedback Example: SLE 2B Topic

Activities

Aims

Lesson 2: What do you mean

1. Finish the sentences that begin “I was....ing when...' with a partner. Useful verbs will be on the board. They have 5 minutes.

2. Students look at the sequence of event pictures and create short stories using the language, I will monitor and correct.

3. Students will interview each other using the famous events and life events as prompts. I will already have written two of the questions and my answer on the board.

Students will switch partners after 3 minutes.

To practice using the past continuous and time clauses to tell a story.

In the feedback when students read their answers I will check the pronunciation of past tense regular verbs.

3. In activity 3: Fluency activity, apart from the two examples students will have to speak for at least 3 minutes on the topics. We will review question intonation in the feedback.

Lesson 4: Have you ever....

1. Following from the previous lesson, the students will review the past tense in the warm up questions in pairs.

2. Students will perform a questionnaire on classmates that ask about experiences, the should make the question with the present perfect and follow up with the past simple....etc

Students are to learn the difference between: past tense for completed specific events + present perfect for talking about an experience.

Students should become comfortable with the contractions of the present perfect + pronunciation I've / you've etc

Lesson 8: Past habits

1. Students will talk in pairs about how they've changed since they were children etc

To use the 'used to' structure when talking about former habits/habits that were unusual in the past.

Pronunciation: /s/ /z/ etc

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Unit 9: Materials, Resources and Development 'Some teachers have 20 years’ experience, others have one year's experience repeated 20 times' Penny Ur (1996) The above quote is quite clear in that a good teacher never stops learning and reflecting on their teaching methods and resources and this applies to all areas of education including EFL. We cannot simply make one set of lesson plans and use these our entire teaching careers however long or short, it should be a constant process of change and growth.

Teacher development means different things to different people and can include the following:  Continued Training: Many schools and organizations (including Pagoda) offer their teachers workshops, seminars and online training to help increase both their theoretical and practical knowledge. This are usually related directly to the courses you will be teaching. Other organizations (such as the British Council) will offer certificate courses.  Conference Attendance: Many international TESOL organization organize annual or more frequent conferences where prominent theorists, practitioners and academies are represented and new ideas are disseminated. KOTESOL ( koreatesol.org/ )is based in Korea and their activities are well-posted and registration easy to do.  Further Education: Many teachers may enter EFL teaching with basic or minimal qualifications as a teacher before deciding that this is the career that they wish to develop in. Some teachers may not yet have a TEFL/CELTA certificate and do this first.

Others go on to study for their DELTA diploma and others will go back to University to study Linguistics or TESOL at master level. There are many options.  Job Change: Many teachers decide to challenge themselves to teach in as many different environments and situations as possible to broaden their horizons on language education. This can be a change of school/academy where other types of classes may be offered or a change in the type of students (adults to middle school or elementary for example) or moving from an EFL to an ESL situation. Often teachers will move into another area that is still related to language education such as training, research and development, text book writing or test preparation and invigilating or management.  Self study/peer observation: Other teachers find their niche and simply desire to be the best that they can be in that role, however without some kind of external input it is hard to improve in any measurable way. There are a lot of useful books and papers published all the time that teachers can use to increase their knowledge. Self -evaluation of materials and methods as well as from peers, students and managers can be helpful in adapting supplements. Also, in the vast majority of schools/academies there will be a varied faculty of teachers with varying levels of experience and classroom methods. You should take the opportunity to observe other teachers as it will often enrich your own approaches. Also don't be afraid of having (or requesting) your own classes videoed for you to watch as this can be the most useful insight into not only how the class went but student reactions you may have missed but also your own presence in the classroom.

Both that which is good and things that may need development.

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Example career development plan Setting yourself a yearly list of aims in your teaching lets you see what you would like to do and whether you are able to complete it in that time.

Career Development Aim

Achieved/Date

Details

Getting a TEFL certificate (Merit)

March, 2012

160 online course with Bridge

Attending KOTESOL Conference

April 17th

Teaching reading/listening

Observations of Book Discussion Class

Feb/March

David & Ian (The shining)

Reading teaching Journals/Books

May/June/Sept

Jeremy Harmer, Dr. Krashen

Doing online training (Prism)

September

Writing & Reading (B+)

Redesigning Syllabi for SLE

Every 2 months

Feedback from Head Trainer

Updating your syllabi The last point in the chart is extremely important for all teachers. As previously discussed in an earlier chapter the worst feeling that a teacher can have is that the material is not connecting with the students and is perceived as boring. Likewise if during a lesson material had to be adapted to make it more interesting or relevant was this marked or noted upon the original lesson plan and syllabus? Over time teachers will discover new material or ideas that will enhance that class, were these again written into an updated syllabus?

The worst thing that can happen is that although the material is updated the syllabus is not, completely devaluing the syllabus in the eyes of teacher and students. Consider the following diagram of evaluating your materials: Students dislike listening Issue/Problem identified in class Observe senior teachers and read other listening books.

Consider sources of useful information

Re-write listening activities to include more discussion

Collect information/data

Adjust topics to students' inteersts Evaluate class level of interest

Analyse usefulness to own material Apply and analyse effectiveness

Students in the loop: Using Questionnaires Many teachers have discovered that one of the best ways of assessing the performance of themselves and their material is from assessment of how the students feel. We can notice

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reactions but it is a good test of the relationship between teacher and students to ask them.



Written Questionnaires – short be short and easy to complete and have the advantage that they can be kept for future reference and comparisons of level/group etc Activity Y was: very easy difficult



easy very difficult

quite easy impossible

Ranking activities in order of preference – as each class and each student is different it can be very rewarding to both teacher and student to find out which type of activity and preferences the students have for the class. This can be done semi-regularly or even as a first day ice breaker to help you both plan and update the syllabus Please write 1 – 10 next to the activities, 1 the one you prefer most: Vocabulary games Grammar games Debates Role Play



Feedback and evaluation from teacher – Some students have strong feelings towards the way in which they receive feedback, corrections and evaluations, so it can be very productive and student focused to find this out early on.

Speaking: Which of the following do you prefer:  I like to be corrected when speaking.  I like the teacher to do correction after the activity as a group  I don't like to be corrected at all.

Writing: Which of the following do you prefer:  Underlining mistakes but not correcting  The teacher corrects all mistakes with an explanation  Teacher only corrects certain mistakes (target language etc)

Teacher Development Journal We often encourage the students to keep a record, a track a journal of their progress in learning the language or just to keep practicing writing so that they have as much practice as possible and can chart issues or difficulties. Likewise for the teacher to keep a journal of what happens in the classroom, even if it just contains highlights or problems and solutions can be extremely useful and cathartic, it also means you are more likely to be ready with good advice for other teachers when they need it.

The Problem

Classroom Procedure

Future Procedure

Students working alone on the grammar practice handout even though I said to work in pairs, room was very quiet. Hard to monitor and assess.

I told two students in each group to turn over their handout and work together on one, then they could fill in after. They spoke more to each other.

I will only hand out one handout per 2/3 students and do a spoken example with a stronger student first as to procedure.

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Collaborative Development Even though as a teacher you ultimately go into the classroom by yourself you are not the only teacher, staff member, developer in your branch. Reflection can also be done in pairs, groups etc and sometimes the greatest resource you have is other teachers, to quote the old adage 'two heads (or more) are better than one.

Discussing both successes and problems experienced in our classrooms with others in a similar position (but of different experience) allows us to benefit from the compiled knowledge and advice of others where our own may be lacking. Other teachers for example can help you with:  Lesson Planning: Have other teachers take a look at what you've planned, do they have any suggestions that could streamline or improve it.  Problem solving: An issue involving a student or students that has left you stumped could easily have been experienced by another teacher who solved it or received good advice themselves.  Supplemental Material: CambridgeEnglishTeacher.com ran a survey of how teachers supplemented their material for the classroom with scouring the internet being the preferred method but in the comments section, material gleamed from web sites was often critiqued as being the most unreliable. Other teachers (and managers) will keep supplements taken from multiple sources including other books that have been successful. You should also be prepared to share yours as well.  Syllabus – Many schools and academies spend time developing coherent course plans for teachers to follow, others like Pagoda give their teachers the freedom to develop their own. When dealing with a new course or book it can be difficult to create a solid syllabus before teaching it and asking to consult with another teacher who has successfully taught the course and access to their course plan can be very useful.

However you should avoid simply copying what they have done as this will still mean you lack the experience of planning and adapting.  Group Planning – similar to above, teachers come together to plan the course, syllabus, lessons etc and pool all resources, saves a lot of time and tends to be very creative and helpful in building good working relationships.  Virtual Communities - To transcend normal boundaries (or for teachers who may be more isolated) instructors can come together to share stories, ideas, materials and general support that can build into important communities as long as you put as much in as you get out of it. Popular sites include; www.tefl.net/forums/index.php, www.onlinetefl.com/tefl-chalkboard/, www.englishclub.com  Healthy Mind and Body - Teaching can consume a lot of energy and Language professionals (such as Alan Maley in his paper 'Finding the centre') purport how teachers can keep happy and healthy with extra-curricular activities and interests. In other words the classroom should not become your world but a place to which you bring your world and your interests if you expect the students to do the same.  Being Observed: As well as watching other teachers in their classes consider having them watch some of your classes whether in person or on video. First hand feedback given by someone you respect can be one of the most useful ways to get an insight into

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both the strengths and weaknesses in your teaching style.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” ― Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

Building your resources Organization is the key to a useful and coherent set of resources.  Paper Activities/Lesson plans/Syllabus – Attach them to the book or plan they are good for and keep a separate copy (either electronically) or paper in a well organized folder according to level, topic and language focus.  Audio Files: CD's/DVD's should be catalogued and maintained as scratched discs cause annoyance to everyone in the classroom. If you have to share discs with other teachers consider copying it to a laptop to avoid it being unavailable when needed. All audio files (MP3 etc) and online links (to YouTube etc) should be listed and kept in a folder, back up on your email in case of technological disasters.  Brainstorm of Supplemental resources: Further Training

ESL Websites:

Www.everythingesl.net

Peer Observations

Www.Eslcafe.com etc Teachers' Journals/papers

Newspapers/Magazines from UK/USA etc

MATERIALS AND RESOURCES

Seminars/works hops

Other Teachers/Managers/St udents

Text Books/Course books Further Reading: Teacher's Journals: (school library)  English Language Teaching Journal (ELTJ) By the O.U.P (www.oup.co.uk/eltj) (practical and research based articles on every aspect of classroom life)  TESOL Quarterly by TESOL (www.tesol.org/s_tesol/seccss) (mainly research based articles on language, culture and methodology)  English Teaching Professional (ETP) (www.etprofessional.com) (short articles on teacher development, classroom activities etc)  Essential Teacher by TESOL (www.tesol.org/s_tesol/secret.asp) (very useful short articles with guidance on working in different environments)  Humanizing Language Teaching by Pilgrims (www.hltmag.co.uk) (A free online journal full of teacher stories, strategies, jokes and guidance)  The Internet TESL Journal (http://iteslj.org) (Since 1995 this site from Japan offers a full range of articles and activities for teachers by teachers at all levels)

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Further Pagoda Training Courses available to teachers.

You have now come to the end of the core modules of the teacher development program.

However there are a number of other training modules available, your managers may require you to complete some of them before beginning a new program. You can also elect to take the modules yourself. These include:  Business English: Specifically tailored to Pagoda's Business Academy (PBA) with a thorough grounding in the topics and language functions needed by the students based on the Market Leader book series and the needs analysis of the students.  Academic English: High level PIP (300F+) and College Writing classes need teachers with a strong knowledge of and resources for teaching writing strategies and native level college structures of English. This module will look at knowledge, methodology and resources.  Book Discussion: Teachers may choose the books in agreement with managers for both intermediate and advanced classes. Critical thinking, theme analysis and use of language are the central features of this module.  J-it (Job Interview): This class looks specifically at helping students to prepare cover letters, resumes and appropriate language for job interviews in English. An important element is also an understanding of Korean working and business culture.  Debate & Discussion/TED: This course enables students to increase their fluency whilst building confidence and appropriate language structures discussing relevant and current affair topics. Useful for teaching Advanced SLE also, the module focuses mainly on organization and use of resources.  Test Prep: Separate modules will look at TOEIC speaking, Opic and IELTS to ensure a thorough understanding of each test and how to help prepare students.

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TEACHER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

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