Play as development: Vygotsky and teaching English to adults

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Willy Cardoso

I was reviewing an old notebook and came across the following quotation taken from L. S. Vygotsky’s Mind in Society.

Could one suppose that a child’s behavior is always guided by meaning, that a preschooler’s behavior is so arid that he never behaves spontaneously simply because he think he should behave otherwise? This strict subordination to rules is quite impossible in life, but in play it does become possible: thus, play creates a zone of proximal development of the child. In play a child always behaves beyond his average age, above his daily behavior; in play it is as though he were a head taller than himself. As in the focus of a magnifying glass, play contains all developmental tendencies in a condensed form and is itself a major source of development.

And my little note:

This is amazing!

Since I’ve been teaching adults mainly, I haven’t really thought about play that much. I’m even embarassed sometimes to ask my adult students to do things that are more playful. But after reading this chapter and pondering over my attitudes when I play, I realized that many times I myself “behave beyond my average age” cognitively speaking. But also quite the opposite too; being an adult I also behave below my average mental age when I play (sometimes).

Being below (and not above as Vygotsky said) makes me less self-critical and less self-demanding perhaps, which in turn enhances my creative thinking greatly, and paves the way for a kind of learning that is many times more memorable. The so-called ZPD (zone of proximal development) has perhaps been wrongly associated with ‘growth’ and in ‘going up’ and its facilitators (teachers, caregivers, etc) as ‘pulling up’ the cognition of others. And in adult learning, the ‘up’ things are often taken as the ‘serious’ things; therefore, few people are able to see learning as it happens in play, which in fact does place learning in the background.

But as we know so much learning happens in the background anyway that it’s just a matter of acknowledging it and raising adult learners’ awareness that play can help them perform above their level and that it can open new spaces for learning.

That’s what I thought — about 3 years ago. Reconsidering the issue today, I still have some questions.

In theory, the question I have is how much these Vygotskyan principles which were primarily brought about from studies of child development can be transferred to adult learning. There are lots of examples in research, that I know. But I lack examples in my own practice, which makes me think that:

In practice, I just have to do it and find the answer myself. The question is: when will I try it, with whom, and how?

Maybe you could help me with the ‘how’ part, i.e. how do I incorporate play (beyond business role-plays) with adult learners of English as a Foreign/Second language? And most importantly, how do I make it NOT look like it’s only fun for the sake of fun?

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Free TEFL lesson plan: Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Bren Brennan

Below is a free lesson plan (written out with instructions to assist newbie TEFL teachers) that uses an article from our sister site. If you’re an experienced TEFL-head, I would be more than happy to hear (in the comments) on how this lesson could be improved/adapted/modified.

To use this lesson plan, you need to use the Valentine’s Day means saying numbers post on the SGI School Blog. The lesson works best if you can use the internet in your classroom and play the mp3 for all students to hear.

If you haven’t got that facility, then you can print out the article and do a live reading for the listening tasks. (Valentine’s Day Print friendly version)

Click here for a copy of the beautiful Student Worksheet for this lesson.
 

Valentine’s Day TEFL Lesson

T: What is special about the day, February 14th?
Ss: Valentine’s Day!
T: When you think of Valentine’s Day, what words do you immediately think of? Let’s have an example: What colour do you think of?
Ss: Red!

BOARD:
Valentine’s Day
Red

T: You’ve got 2 mins to talk together in groups of 3 to come up with at least 6 words about Valentine’s Day? Don’t write anything, just speak. (…then ICQ task!)

> Open Feedback

T: So, what is Valentine’s day? Explain to your group what normally happens on Feb 14th. What do people do on Valentine’s Day? An example: What do men do? (Get one spoken example from a S & set up speaking task, remembering those all-important ICQs)

> Feedback

T: Do you love Valentine’s Day… or do you hate it? Why? (Get a S example & then Set up mingle activity. In activity, Ss should find 2 people who like it & 2 people who hate it and remember their responses. ICQ it!)

> Feedback: Split the board into 2 halves (Why I love Valentine’s Day/Why I hate….) and write down Ss ideas. Or maybe get Ss to come to board en masse and complete it themselves. Have an open class peer-to-peer discussion going into more details behind opinions.

> Further discussion:
Which is the most popular opinion generally in society, love it or hate it?
Do you think the opinion changes according to culture/country ie Do the French like Valentine’s more than the Americans etc?
 

Listening Exercises

Please download the Student Handout here

Depending on the level of the class, you might want to play the recording once or twice for each exercise. It’s up to you, but let the students know through clear instruction and ICQ how many times they will hear the recording/live reading for each exercise.

LISTENING TASK 1

T: (Indicate new groups of 3′s) We’re going to listen to a recording about Valentine’s Day. (Show handout)
I’ve got some questions about the recording. Before we listen, let’s try to guess the answer to these questions. There is only one correct answer for each question. Work in 3′s and guess the answer. You’ve got 4 or 5 mins.
(ICQ task)
(Now, Give out handout)
DO task > Get correct answers feedback
 

LISTENING TASK 2

T: You can hear lots of numbers. What are the numbers? Please read the questions in ‘Second Listening’ so that we know the information we need.
 
Do task > Get correct answers feedback
 

LISTENING TASK 3

Now we need to know more information. Look at the questions before we listen. Maybe you already know some of the answers. I’ll give you 2 mins to talk with the people next to you. Try to complete the answers and then we will listen again.
Do task > Get correct answers feedback
 
 

Love List Task

T: In the listening, we heard ‘Love List’. Explain to your partner what a Love-List is.
> Get feedback so that everyone is clear what a love list is.
In groups talk about the best 5 things to write on a love-list. Agree on 5 and write them down.
Let’s have an example. What did he say in the listening was something to write on a love-list?
> Feedback
OK, so we want 5 NEW things to write on a love list.
(ICQ task – including time you will allow)
 
Get students to Compare answers with other individuals in a mingle activity.
> Feedback
 
Get Class agreement on what should be top 5…or just 3 if it’s taking too long.
 
T: How does the Top 3 change if …
it’s a man writing to a woman
it’s a woman writing to a man
 

Discussion Questions

Do as many or as few of these as you want.

  1. Is this love-list a good idea?
  2. Is it more romantic than a cliched gift like flowers or chocolates?
  3. Would you be happy if you got a love-list instead of a night out with a romantic meal?
  4. What’s the best thing that ever happened to you on Valentine’s Day? And the worst?
  5. If you really love someone, should you wait until Valentine’s Day to show them that you love them?
  6. Is it better to go out for a romantic meal on the day before or after valentine’s Day (when the restaurants are not so expensive…and the flowers are cheaper)???
  7. In your opinion, what’s the difference between Valentine’s Day messages in 18th Century England and how people send Valentine’s messages today??

 

Quick writing tasks

T: Imagine you are writing the message in a Valentine’s Day card to someone you are really, really mad about/head over heels in love with.

  1. What’s a cool Valentine’s message?
  2. What’s a sexy Valentine’s message?
  3. What’s a romantic Valentine’s message?
  4. What’s an ‘I really, seriously love you’ Valentine’s message?
  5. What’s a really boring Valentine’s message?
  6. What’s the worst possible thing you could write as a Valentine’s message?

 

Discussion Questions related to SIGNS/ROMANCE lesson

If you have already done the ROMANCE/SIGNS lesson with your class, then you could ask your students about Valentine’s Day for Jason & Stacey.

  1. What messages would they have sent each other?
  2. Do you think Jason would buy something original or cliched for Stacey?
  3. What would they have done on Valentine’s Day?
  4. Will they still be together next year on Feb 14th?

 

Homework: Different Angle on Valentine’s Day

Get student’s to read another blog related to Valentine’s Day, but looking at it from a slightly different angle.
Next lesson, discuss what Ss thought about the article. Or if you’re a high-tech teacher in a 2.0 classroom, why not get students to do a spoken homework using video with eyejot or mailvu. They are free, very user-friendly and students love the feedback from them.

Posted in Lesson Ideas, Newbies | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Thinking in English or Translating it Fast?

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Willy Cardoso

I’ve heard many students say “I want to think in English” – haven’t you?

In my first years of teaching I remember saying something like that to students too. Something like,”stop translating, you have to think in English.” Until some years later someone told me: that doesn’t exist, Willy. You don’t think in a second language when you acquire it at an older age, you just develop a super fast ability to translate it, and that happens so seamlessly that you have a false idea of thinking in a foreign language.

Although I thought my colleague’s theory was let’s say… rather unsubstantiated, I think about the whole argument every now and again, especially when I hear someone say “think in English.”

In May, 2011, I cited the following on Reservoir Dogme (facebook):

“… late acquisition of languages beyond the first are laid down on the psychological foundation organized through the meanings internalized in one’s first language; that is, we may speak more than one language but we have only one inner speech. What this means then is that our thinking processes are fundamentally carried out through the support (i.e. mediation) provided by our first language” (Lantolf & Thorne, 2006: 110)

There were some very interesting comments there, including the puzzle of why making a head-count in L1 (first language) is easier, dreaming in L2 (second language), and keeping the plasticity of our brain to accommodate new languages.

I haven’t gotten back to these ideas until very recently, actually last Friday, when I started to revisit the matter again while attending IH Barcelona ELT Conference. The second plenary speaker, Philip Kerr, whose assertiveness quite amused me, talked to us about the return of translation. Phillip had the great idea of writing a blog-handout for this talk, which is good in its own right, i.e. even if you haven’t seen the talk you will understand everything in the blog (this can also be bad, because maybe if I had already read the blog, the talk would’ve been redundant, anyway…). I enjoyed the talk very much and here are three key ideas I took away from it, as I interpreted them and connected them to my own experience (of course).

Oppression – My first five years as an English learner were carried out almost exclusively in classrooms. Most of my classrooms displayed a sign on the door which said: Only English is spoken beyond this door, and this was strictly followed by teachers. A question that Philip raised is that this way of doing ELT can be quite oppressive when we consider that whereas humanistic approaches are given a lot of credit because of their learner-centeredness and care for learner’s identity; an English-only policy smothers one of the most fundamental elements of identity, namely one’s mother tongue.

I don’t think I was oppressed in this sense, at least I was not aware of it and now I don’t see I would be better off if I could have spoken my L1 beyond those doors. However, some of my colleagues must have been, I reckon. Also, in my experience as a learner, little did it matter whether I was developing a L2 identity, but now there’s more awareness of these things I imagine, so it is interesting to make a parallel between both things (identity and use of L1).

Translation will happen anyway – If you ever taught a monolingual group of the same L1 as yours, you’ll know how infuriating it is when you spend 5 minutes eliciting, giving examples, drawing, mimicking, and all that to try and convey meaning, and the student says ahhh… bagunça (translating the word ‘mess’ into Portuguese). Wouldn’t it  be easier if the teacher translated the word in half a second and dedicated the time available for students to practice?

Imagine a CELTA/TrinityCert teaching practice in which the vocabulary to be pre-taught was translated in advance to students’ L1′s so that the trainee wouldn’t spend 15 minutes building up some unrealistic situational presentation and orderly elicitation of target language; and instead spent this time offering more opportunities for students to practice the new bits of language. Isn’t there somehow an overrated value of language presentation (situational, discovery, flashcard-ish, CCQ, etc), when it seems students learn more by using the language in a meaningful and purposeful way regardless of how they were taught it? So, according to the argument, if translation will happen anyway, why not translate and then get down to what matters? Practice.

Translation was banned because native-speakers couldn’t be bothered to learn the language of their students (in a monolingual context). Not exactly because of research in the field said it was better not to translate. In fact, in his presentation Philip said there’s more evidence for than against translation in the language classroom. In the handout-blog he writes “researchers are now suggesting that, when used appropriately, translation can actually ‘counteract learners’ tendencies to transfer structures from their mother tongue’ (H. Zojer in Witte et al, p.38).”

What I know from my own practice is that I’m a more efficient teacher when I speak or have a clue about my students languages, even in cases when I only know a handful of words but I can relate to many aspects of the culture in which the language is spoken. For example, I’m a better teacher of Portuguese, Spanish, French and Italian speakers, than of Japanese speakers.

All in all, the arguments against the use of L1 in English as Second Language courses are rooted in native-speaker discourses. Nowadays, as we know, these discourses are becoming weaker and weaker; so it seems like a matter of time until the role of L1 in English courses are rehabilitated.

Plaza Catalunya, Barcelona.

The challenge in my view is also how to make it work in practice. How to make translating a conscious choice from the part of the teacher which will then lead to better student learning; and not, as it has happened in my homeland for example, to use translation just because it’s too burdensome to teach in any other way.

I now realize I sort of lost track of my initial train of thought and it is therefore hard to write a conclusion. Is it because, as a non-native speaker, I was not thinking in English? ;-)

Comments are welcome.

Cheers,

Willy

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Improving DELTA/DipTESOL teaching practice

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Bren Brennan

The assessed teaching practice block for the DELTA/DipTESOL is a nerve-wracking and stressful time for all candidates. Why is that, when the majority of teachers who undergo it are vastly experienced, full-of-ideas, effective teachers? Is it because for the requirements of this assessment you have to be a kind of DELTA robot jumping through particular standardised hoops to score good grades? Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps the stress is caused by the incredibly time-consuming lesson plans that most candidates are trying to complete until some ungodly hour every night.

As a follow up to my last blog where I questioned the results of dogme vs DELTA, I thought it might be worthwhile to gather some  opinions on how to improve the DELTA/DipTESOL teaching practice. What I mean by ‘improve’ is to make the whole thing more representative of the teaching that goes on in the 2012 classroom. It seems to me that the broad range of a teacher’s palette is not fully tested by the current standards.

I hope that you will add to my suggestions (and also gathered from some friends). I also hope that someone from Cambridge and/or Trinity will have the courage (and professionalism) to answer the suggestions…or at the very least publicly acknowledge that they are taking on board the proposed recommendations from teachers on ‘the front line’ as it were!
 

Suggestions to make DELTA/DipTESOL assessed teaching practice more relevant to current classroom approaches

  • One of the assessed lessons should be taught without being planned whatsoever. The examiner speaks to the candidate 10mins before the lesson and gives them a Theme or Grammar Point that must be covered. The candidate then has to give an improvised/ ‘unplugged’/dogme (whatever you want to call it) lesson on the given subject.

    •  

  • The candidate must teach a lesson in front of a group of unknown (to them) students. This will mean that the candidate has to be able to deal with a class of strangers and therefore quickly establish a rapport, whilst still clearly showing that some Learner Outcome is achieved…and not just ‘general chatting’

    •  

  • @JoshSRound suggested: In the first week, being observed/assessed on the Thur & Fri for the full 90 minute lessons. Candidate gives a much briefer plan pre-lesson on Thursday, but aims for 2 coherent sessions which flow logically from one to the next (much closer to realistic teaching scenario, more room to showcase skills); then candidate does post-lesson plans to give detail & rationale for what happened.

    •  

  • A ‘spot check’ where the examiner walks into a ‘normal’ class during the two weeks and judges it for effectiveness. (Perhaps not fair on the candidate though, but then different criteria will need to be used) but this has its own set of issues. Planning problems and the candidate will probably be more on edge not knowing when to expect assessment and feeling unprepared. Is that worthwhile?.

    •  

  • A purely technology based lesson is mandatory. Obviously not every assessment centre has IWBs, but the candidate should have a paperless lesson showcasing their knowledge of available teaching tech resources. Using video in class, video email for spoken homework (mailvu, eyejot, voicethread), students making a film (maybe animated with various software), facebook chats, twitter, googledocs for collaboration, wallwisher (that links to @seanbanville list of ideas) etc etc – all the 1000s of possibilities….ie the candidate proves that they they have an awareness of freetech4teachers , teachertrainingvideos, nikpeachey, jamiekeddie et al

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  • Teaching from a course book, but imaginatively using outside material etc so that there is the least amount of disruption for students. ie How a coursebook can form the basis of fun and innovative teaching rather than necessarily re-inventing the wheel all the time.

    •  

  • Teaching a lesson according to a particular method or style e.g. Task Based Learning (i.e. one of the methods that you should have read about on your course) and it being judged on those parameters ie different criteria for different lesson types. (This of course leads to the knotty question of standardization and how that can be achieved.)

    •  

  • Dictate broad language aims for a lesson and then the focus would purely be on the quality and choice of techniques.

    •  

  • Teach a different type of English other than ‘general’. Why aren’t teachers asked to show off their business, IELTS, YL, one-to-one, English teaching? Maybe candidates could choose one of the options according to the practicalities of the assessment centre.

    •  

  • My colleague, Willy ‘never-conform-to-anyone’s-checkboxes’ Cardoso (@willycard) suggested: Candidate should be able to host a meeting (60 minutes) in which nothing is “taught” but a lot is learned. — A taoist view of TEFL perhaps. (see great TEFL Taoist taoteaching.wordpress.com)

    •  

  • @willycard  again: Candidate should be able to make a lesson of Cutting Edge Pre-Intermediate free of white-anglosaxon values, such as commercialism, gossip, celebrity, science and literature “Gods”, etc. And instead, focus on the values and role-models of the people having the lesson.
     

    Any more ideas?
     
     
     

    • Posted in Professional Development, Reflecting on Teaching | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

    Sorry to interrupt, but…

    Posted on January 29, 2012 by Willy Cardoso

    Last week, I found myself being stared at by students because one student was really talking too much. This happened twice with two different groups.

    In one of these groups, when the one talking too much started to beat about the bush on some opinion he had already made clear, another student would jump in with a polite “Sorry, to interrupt, but…”, and luckily the con- element of conversation was re-established. But that was not all of the time; sometimes they expected me to mute one and pass the “microphone” to another. The talk-show-host role of an English teacher, I suppose.

    In the other group, when the more talkative student took over, nothing happened; one student simply turned off and started scribbling on his notebook, another raised her eyebrows in discontent and few others looked at me as though I was the only one in charge of managing the conversation.

    It is this last thought that I would like your comments on. I don’t feel like it is my duty only to balance how much each student talks. I do that of course, and lately I’ve even paid more attention to it; trying to offer everyone equal ‘time’ to say something (esp. because this second group has a lot of debates and open panel discussions). Moreover, a week before the last, I offered this group some activities which overtly focused on interrupting (and being interrupted), turn-taking, taking the floor, etc.

    I’ve spoken to some teachers about it in the past, and some said it is my job, and only mine,  to manage classroom conversation. Okay, as I said I’m not denying this responsibility, but at the same time it is the students’ responsibility to have the best lesson they can have in any given circumstance, so I think if a student is bothered because another one talks too much, s/he should interrupt.

    They should definitely do it; and I can’t help but expect them to. Especially because in my view, I’m not working with oppressed children who are never given a voice. They’re all adults, they’re all paying for the course, and they all participate in a negotiated syllabus.

    It’s difficult for me to get my mind around the idea of them depending on me to stop someone’s words, when I have nothing to say, just to give them theirs. This kind of thing never happens outside of lessons, so why does a conversation lesson have a total different code of conduct? And in the end, isn’t being able to manage a conversation toward one’s interest a communicative competence they should aim at?

    Any ideas?

    Posted in Reflecting on Teaching, Speaking Skills | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

    Reflection and Narratives – Teacher Professional Development

    Posted on January 22, 2012 by Willy Cardoso

    I would like to talk a bit about reflective practice. To be honest, many times I raise my eyebrows in a wary look when I hear the word. Mainly, I guess, because I don’t think we can really tell someone to reflect and expect them to do so (because we told them to). Neither, to show them an experiential learning cycle (you know that diagram?) and expect them to follow it. What bothers me slightly is this ‘having something to show’ the other when it comes to teacher development. But I do like when someone tells me a story about a lesson they taught, about how a learner progressed (or regressed), and about an insight they had while teaching (or afterwards).

    Another idea I associate with reflective practice is that of carrying Action Research. But this can be daunting to the teacher who already has a number of lesson to teach, papers to mark, reports to fill, lesson planning, and hey, a social life!

    Although I support the principles of Action Research, I know that for me the ‘research’ part of it would be impossible to execute at the moment amidst all I’m doing. Impossible because of the rigor, methodology, and extension of what a research involves. So, what can I do in a smaller scale but with similar developmental significance?

    A journal, a blog, a diary, a videolog (?). In essence, something that involves a narrative.

    For now, I’m more comfortable engaging with the written possibilities, even though the videolog thing has crossed my mind quite frequently (I actually made two videos once).

    The rationale is that the process of writing down one’s thoughts serves as a ‘thinking device’, helping the teacher find his way in retelling a story and in examining his perceptions and, if done very well, its multiple perspectives. Writing as a ‘thinking device’  is generated from oneself to oneself. A bit like a film director who also acts in the same film.

    The act of externalizing reflections through writing makes a teacher’s ideas more ready for re-conceptualization. Writing is, perhaps in the loneliest form, engaging in dialogue. This is attuned to Vygotskyan perspectives of development which proposes that verbalization is a vehicle to changes in behavior, process of which language (and languaging) is the main mediation tool.

    One of the many advantages of this process it that the personal practical knowledge derived from narratives takes into account and prioritizes the context from which the teacher generates her knowledge; which is ultimately where she will then re-apply her knowledge and expand its scope, sort of creating a feedback loop.

    “It is a kind of knowledge carved out of, and shaped by, situations; knowledge that is constructed and reconstructed as we live out our stories and retell and relive them through process of reflection” (Clandinin, 1992: 125).

    Among the many ways in which teachers can develop (conferences, workshops, twitter chats, reading, etc), I think narratives in form of writing are very empowering and change-conducive activities.

    I’ll leave you with a short video I made of Dale Coulter speaking about his experience using journals. Dale has developed an admirable way of advancing his understanding of teaching and learning, and if you don’t yet read his blog, you’re missing the opportunity of being inspired.

    Posted in Action Research, Professional Development, Reflecting on Teaching | Tagged , | 12 Comments

    Dogme Lesson vs DELTA level requirements

    Posted on January 16, 2012 by Bren Brennan

    It was extremely interesting to watch Luke Meddings carrying out a Dogme lesson in front of his peers. The edited video of the lesson is below and there is another video here where Luke holds an immediate post-lesson feedback session with some penetrating questions from the audience.

    I am relatively new to the whole Dogme argument/debate (that seems to get so much discussion time from the TEFL Twitterati and blogosphere – as an example see the numerous comments on Jemma Gardner’s latest blog,) so I am not informed enough yet to have a pro or anti-Dogme stance. From my own lessons though, I would say that I readily include ‘unplugged’ elements and sometimes my entire lesson is off-the-cuff.

    I passed the Trinity Diploma (equivalent to DELTA) in 2011, so I have first-hand experience of the scutiny one’s teaching comes under for the assessment in the 2-week practical teaching block. I thought it would be interesting as a discussion catalyst to compare Luke’s lesson with the demands/expectations of DipTESOL/DELTA assessed classes.

    As Luke himself requested at the beginning of the video, I would like to TALK about some elements of his lesson. This is not meant to be an out-and-out criticism. It is merely a comparison of a required standard in the industry (DipTESOL/DELTA) versus the elements of the Dogme ‘movement’. What I hope to ask with this blog is ultimately what is more beneficial for the learners – DELTA level teaching requirements or a Dogme lesson?

    I have to mention of course that:

    • Luke was extremely brave to hold a lesson under such unnatural conditions. This must have been nerve-wracking and the technical inteference from the recording (i.e. the mic feedback) can’t have helped. He was also not in a normal classrrom with the protection that traditionally offers students.
    • We only get to see edited highlights of the lesson, so I am only commenting on those.
    • Luke had only met these students moments before the class, so had not established any rapport, as with a normal teacher/group dynamic.
    • I am nowhere near an assessor of DELTA/Trinity Diploma. I am merely a candidate that passed. My analysis is based on the kind of questions that were routinely put to me in post-lesson feedback.
    • These are only excerpts of one dogme lesson and obviously do not represent the entire concept

    Comments/Questions that a DipTESOL/DELTA assessor would have

    Start/First task

    PRE-TASK:

    1. How did you (the teacher) know that all the students understood the question (“How do you feel right now?) and what they had to do?
    2. Should you have drilled/got a student model of that question to clarify?
    3. Could you have given a quick example before handing out post-it notes and still continuing with instructions?
    4. There was no indication of time for task and no ICQ’s

    TASK:

    1. How could you have made this task more communicative?

    POST-TASK:

    1. Why slow up feedback with slow boarding?
    2. Would verbal feedback in open pairs by getting students to ask each other the initial question have taken the focus off you as the teacher and increased S-S interaction?
    3. You pointed out nicely that ‘nervous’ was perhaps the most natural/appropriate response for this situation and it can be produced with several collocations. But as it was clear that ‘nervous’ was the key word, could you have increased the usefuleness of feedback by developing the emergent collocations? Maybe boarding “__________________ nervous” and asking the class in groups to try to quickly come up with all of the 3 collocations.There wasn’t any opportunity given to the students to check that they could say these useful chunks accurately.
    4. Could you have re-elicited the emergent language at the end of the feedback session and focused on a phonological element here?
    5. Perhaps not all learners knew embarrassed/interested/excited. What CCQ’s could you have asked to check understanding?
    6. Overall, feedback was very T-centred with high TTT and kind of flat.

    Second Task

    1. Task settting up wasn’t clear enough. No ICQs re the number of situations the students should talk about/the length of time/should they note down the results or key vocabulary?
    2. Again would a quick demo with a student model or drilling an appropriate question (and/or response) have clarified the task requirements?
    3. Would this have task been better served as a mingle? Would that have been more fun for the students and instilled some energy/movement into proceedings?

     

    I’m sure that many people reading this will think that I am being super critical, but I am actually only applying the kind of rigorous critique that one experiences when undergoing the DipTESOL/DELTA teaching practice. If I had taught these two tasks in my Diploma block, I believe that they would not have scored high marks when I compare it to the scrutiny that I was put under by my observers. (I would be very interested to read any comments from assessors to either confirm/deny whether my comments above replicate the conditions of assessment at this level – It’s certainly how I remember it!)

    But is that level of analysis worthwhile? Does it make for robotic teaching? Do the DipTESOL/DELTA essentials of clear ICQ’s, task demos, CCQ’s, insistence on taking the focus off the teacher, attentiveness to increasing the S-S interaction above all else lead to better learning?

    As I said, I am NOT anti-dogme. I suppose what I’m really pondering is within an improvised lesson, should we still implement the minutiae teaching standards required at DELTA level.

    What was the language that emerged and ‘learnt’ here that the students could ‘take-away’ from this lesson? This was asked by one of the observers in the students in the post-lesson evaluation, but perhaps not satisfactorily answered. As progressive teachers, we are aware of the benefits, but could the same be said of all the students here?

    As I understand it, in their marking schemes, in 2012 Trinity is definitely implementing the ideology that a failed lesson aim constitutes a failed lesson: End of story. The lesson aims have to be absolutely, clearly defined at the outset, so is it possible that a Dogme lesson could pass DipTESOL/DELTA assessment?
    Included in the overall assessment is a mark given to a detailed lesson plan. But does a dogme approach allow for this? (As I say, I haven’t drilled down into the details of unplugged teaching, so please do correct me if I’m wrong here)

    Scott Thornbury has commented on this exact point (see below). He said that examiners “enjoy and appreciate it” when candidates take risks, albeit it being “high risk”, but experienced teachers can show off their best skills and that their predictions of how the lesson will go can stand them in good stead. But that still perhaps doesn’t help with the requirement of submitting a detailed lesson plan.

    Incidentally, during teaching at St George International in London (a Trinity assessment centre), I have seen dozens (perhaps hundreds) of teachers in the staffroom go through the same stressful experience of the practical block assesment and the same complaint repeats with every candidate – “I was up all night making the lesson plan”. So why is such a thorough lesson plan mandatory?

    Finally, I would like to see more Dogme lessons like this (as I’m sure would many others)  to be able to form an opinion as to the learner-goal effectiveness of Dogme. I think I saw a few comments on Twitter pertaining to this…so I look forward to seeing them in the near future.

    Posted in Reflecting on Teaching, Workshops & Conferences | Tagged , , , | 15 Comments

    EFL Lesson Plan: Signs – Romance

    Posted on January 3, 2012 by Bren Brennan

    Newbie teachers – Here’s a great video to use in class if you want to touch on the themes of city-living and/or romance/relationships. This is actually an idea that could be stretched out into 3 or 4 lessons – check out the final section below if you want to turn yourself into the next big Hollywood film producer.

    I’ve given lots of questions as starters for discussion work. These are just suggestions and you don’t have to use all of them, of course. To keep everything interesting, remember to mix up the groups (pairs, 3′s, bigger groups, mingle tasks…and with different classroom layout/organisation) with different timings (e.g. 30s/1 min/2 mins/3 mins/whatever) and try things like “rating people’s answers’ or ‘voting for the best/worst advice’ etc.

    Don’t forget to monitor all these communicative tasks for good and non-standard usage of vocab/grammar. Conduct feedback with different forms of error correction

    Easy to forget: At the end of this lesson, make sure you give yourself enough time to review/recycle/re-elicit the useful language that emerged from the lesson.

    Before the video

    What are the dating habits in your country?
    Where do people meet
    How do people meet?
    What do you do on the first date?
    Is it easier to find a partner in the city or in the country/out of the city?
    There are so many people living in cities, so why are there so many lonely people?
    Have you ever been in a situation where you were in a new city and you didn’t have any/many friends?

     

    Stop the film at 3:08

    What do you think is the guy’s name? What is his favourite food/drink/band/clothes shop?

    What do you think will happen next?
    Will he get more depressed and leave the city/go back to his parents?
    Will he lash out at his colleagues?
    Will he get some friends?
    Will he find a new, fulfilling job?

    What would you do if you were him?
    Where should he go to meet new friends?
    How could he stay in his job but make it more enjoyable for himself?
    Should he quit his job?

    Will this short film have a happy ending?

     

    Start the film at 3:08 and stop again at 3:20

    What will happen with that girl?
    Who is that girl? What is her job? What is her name? What does she like to do in her free time? What kind of films does she like?

     

    After the film

    What should be his first words?
    What will they do first?
    What will they do after one week/one month/one year?
    Do you think they will be together in one year?

    Why are so many films/books always about ‘getting together’ and not about what really happens after people start going out together?
    Would relationships be more successful (less break-ups and divorces) if there were more stories about reality of normal live and not about romantic ideals?
    Does love at first sight exist? Can it lead to true lasting relationships?
     

    Follow up Lesson

    Why not make a short film with your class about what happens to this couple.
    Maybe you could set a written homework as a lead-in to this follow-up where each student gives a synopsis of their ideas of how the story progresses. In fact, why not get each learner to give their ideas in spoken form using this excellent, simple, free video tool?
    In the lesson, get the class to negotiate an agreed story from all the homework ideas. Draft a collaborative script, rework it, maybe rework it again (writing shouldn’t be eliminated from the classroom)
     
    Film the students’ movie (making sure everyone takes part somehow), put it on youtube and watch it together in class and watch the incredible pride and sheer enjoyment appear on your students’ faces and then take a deep breath and realise that you are a great teacher. All you have to do then is make even better lessons for the next week! :)

    Posted in Lesson Ideas | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

    Lesson Plan for new TEFL teachers – 4 Presents for the English relatives

    Posted on December 21, 2011 by Bren Brennan

    Here’s a lesson idea in response to the ELT Bites Xmas challenge. (It also conforms to the previous ELTBites challenge of ‘no technology usage’ in classroom…and it was actually unplugged in the first instance, as I improvised it, due to no planning time in mad, time-pressure, crazy last week)

    I used this idea in three different, monolingual, low A2 level classes in Berlin last week and it worked well every time. This is quite a controlled lesson with little baby steps, but these Ss are very low level, mostly old and the majority of them like (and respond well to) this learning style.

    In the previous week, I had introduced ‘extended family vocab’, so this followed on nicely from that. Even though this was done as a Xmas lesson, it could work well at any time of year…but the Christmassy vibe with the thought of presents on everyone’s mind added somewhat to the feel….it could be used for a wedding/birthday/anniversary/family get together etc

     

    Quick Summary: Ss decide on 4 suitable presents for their visiting English relatives that will act as souveniers from their country/town. Then they discuss which are the best/worst presents from the class suggestions, leading into a general discussion about presents.

    NB: I have written this out in a detailed way to help Newbie teachers…so don’t get offended you experienced dinosaurs, thinking I’m patronising you – I’m doing it for the kids! J  Please feel free to comment on how this could have been made better though aforementioned killer, experienced teachers!

     

    INSTRUCTIONS

    Elicit ‘family gatherings’/’meeting the relatives/inlaws’ or similar from Ss
    T to Ss: What’s Xmas all about? What happens at Xmas after all the presents and food?
    BOARD: Relatives from England coming to visit

    T to Ss: What happens normally when relatives visit? Do you go to the airport?
    (1 min chat in groups – quick feedback)

    T to Ss: Just remind me…Why are the relatives coming? Answer: For Xmas
    BOARD: Relatives from England coming to visit for Xmas

    Elicit: Xmas present
    T to Ss: If they are coming for Xmas, should we buy something?
    T: We have 4 English relatives (I recycled most of the ‘extended family’ vocab here from the previous class)

    BOARD:

    Adult woman

    Adult man

    Teenage girl

    Teenage boy
     

    T: We must buy a present so that our relatives can remember Berlin or Germany, like a souvenir. If I go to NY what souvenir could I buy?
    Answers: T-shirt with I love NY / Small Empire State Building statue etc
    T: If I go to Mexico what souvenir could I buy?
    Ânswers:  A sombrero / Bottle of tequila etc

    T: So, I have bought a present for the girl
    BOARD: Teenage Girl – Lady Ga Ga CD

    T: Is that a good souvenir present for the girl? Answer: No
    T: Why not?   Answer: It’s international / You can buy it anywhere / It’s not German

    (Cross out Lady Ga Ga CD )

    T: OK, well I’ve got another present for the woman
    BOARD:  Adult woman – Jurgen Drews T-shirt
    (Jurgen Drews is a joke singer from the 70s in Germany…think David Hasslehof!)

    T: Is that a good present? Answer: No!
    T: Why not? It’s German   Answer: It’s not a GOOD present / I don’t like him etc

    (Cross out Jurgen Drews CD )

    T: OK. So, what kind of presents have you got to buy?
    Answer: Good presents from Germany or Berlin

    (Set the groups up – Set the time – ICQ the time limit…I did 5 mins – Monitor and assist with vocab if needed)
    (Warn Ss of remaing time e.g. You’ve got 2 mins left / 1 min left  – Stop task)

    T: OK, so we’ve got some really good ideas. Now we need to find out what ALL the ideas are in the class. SO you will have to ask a question to other people. If I want to know what someone has bought, what question can I ask?
    Elicit: What have you got for the (man/woman/boy/girl)?
    Drill it with some Ss, then elicit again to…
    BOARD: What have you got for the (man/woman/boy/girl)?

    T: And what can you say after if it’s a great or fantastic idea?
    Elicit (or give): Really? That’s a great present.

    T: And what can you say if it’s not such a great present?
    Elicit (or give): Really? Oh, that’s nice.

    (Drill these two reactions and then BOARD them)

    T: Just practise that question and reaction in your group now. You’ve got 1 min

    T: OK, so now we are going to find out all the presents we bought
    (Group students so that each new group has a member from the previous groups)

    T: Now, you do not need paper. You do not need pens. Ask the people in your group what they bought. You’ve got 5 mins. (ICQ – start task – monitor – warn about end time)

    T: So, now we’ve got all the information. Let’s just check (Get a Ss to ask someone across the class in open pairs). Jutta can you ask Anna what she bought for one of the relatives? Ask about the boy, please. (Repeat same Question with different Ss).

    Now, we’ve just heard about 2 presents. What do you think is the best present for the boy…from those 2?
    (Get Ss opinions)

    T: OK, good. Can you remember my question? (prompt) “What do you…”
    Elicit:  What do you think is the best present for the boy?
    Drill (with different relatives substitutions) – then…
    BOARD: What do you think is the best           present for the boy?

    T: What’s the opposite of ‘best’?      Ss Answer: ‘worst’

    BOARD: What do you think is the best / worst present for the boy/girl/man/woman?
    T sets up 5 min whole class Mingle activity – monitor with notepad for good usage and errors – warn about end time. Finish Mingle and put Ss back in original groups – Board feedback + congratulate good use/peer led error correction.
    T: Now, I’ve bought some presents too! Ask me what I bought.
    S: What have you got for the man/woman/boy/girl?

    After correct questions, T tells Ss prezzies and then boards them. (I had two very good prezzies, one OK prezzy & one purposefully awful prezzy)
     
    Adult woman             Bag with Berlin logo

    Adult man                  Empty Bottle of Berliner Beer

    Teenage girl              Ampelmännchen bag
    (FYI: this is the bag that a lot of tourists buy)

    Teenage boy               Adidas Berlin trainers (limited edition)
     
    T: So, now what do you think are the best and worst presents for the relatives? I will give you 2 minutes in your groups to agree on the best / worst presents.
    (ICQ – monitor)

    After task, hand out pens and get Ss to quickly board their ideas for the different categories
     
    RELATIVE                PRESENT                          BEST                        WORST

    Adult woman             Berlin Bag

    Adult man                  Berliner Beer

    Teenage girl              Ampelmännchen bag

    Teenage boy             Adidas Berlin trainer (limited edition)

     
    Lead into open discussion re cultural differences between Xmas traditions – food, time of giving prezzies, putting up tree etc…and several hundred possible Xmas discussion Qs…Here are just a few to get you started.

    Xmas Discussion Questions

    1. What’s the thing you like/hate the most about Xmas?
    2. What are the top 5 words that you think of when you think of Xmas?
    3. Do the shops put Xmas things on the shelves too early and ruin the Xmas feeling?
    4. Is Xmas way too commercial/stressful now?
    5. Do you like receiving/giving presents?
    6. Would you be happy if you got a charity gift, like a card saying someone had bought a goat for a 3rd World family?

      7. (This might need abit of background explanation!)

    7. What day do you think that Xmas is over for another year?
    Posted in Lesson Ideas, Newbies | Tagged | 1 Comment

    Feeback sessions in teacher training:

    Posted on December 19, 2011 by Willy Cardoso

    Talk between trainees and their trainer in feedback sessions is based on the view that the trainee teachers can be helped to teach more effectively through the input and perceptions of the teacher trainer; and sometimes more than this, through the trainer’s facilitation, or mediation, of the trainee’s reflection.

    There is a basic assumption that teachers develop, among other ways, through reflection. It is the role of the trainer then to lead trainees to consider what happened in the lesson, why it happened, how it could have been different, etc; hence the importance of lesson observations followed by feedback (practice of which is compulsory in the two largest pre-service certificates worldwide, the Cambridge CELTA and the Trinity College CertTESOL).

    This form of ‘leading trainees’ is sometimes called intervention. In intervention “the goal is for trainee teachers to develop the independent capacity to make informed teaching decisions and to assess the impact of those decisions on both their own and their students’ learning“ (Freeman, 1990, p. 103).

    When I took my TEFL Certificate, the "post-feedback get-together" (without tutors) was a great moment of reflection, peer support and sincere talk.

    Whereas it is believed reflection enhances teacher learning, trainers and trainees may have different perceptions of its affordances. As can be seen in TESOL Certificates specifications, the notion of ‘reflection’ serves both as a means for teacher learning and as an assessment tool that culminates in a pass or fail. Therefore, whereas trainers may wish to develop trainee’s independent reasoning, trainees themselves may be more concerned about passing the course and base their responses on what they judge to be the trainer’s favorite way of thinking. It is worth saying that the opposite also happens, that is, with the trainer focusing primarily on assessment; and trainees being genuinely interested in learning teaching regardless of their marks.

    These simplified examples show us there are many perceptions of the ‘why’ of feedback sessions, and undoubtedly each one of us who experienced a post-teaching conference with peers and tutors have our likes and dislikes about it.

    I’m interested in knowing yours. And also:

    How do you think your talk with peers and trainers helped shape your initial understanding of teaching a language?

    Where would you put feedback and talking time in a rank of things that most contribute to learning how to teach? I mean, what’s a good ratio between input, practicum, formal feedback and informal talk about teaching?

     

    Posted in Professional Development | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments