Using Video and Radio in Teaching

Using Video and Radio in Class

Using Video and Radio in Teaching

Adapting Published Materials

Adapting Published Materials

In the TEFL arena, adapting published materials is indispensable. Quality and innovative teachers always tend not to follow course- books to the letter. They prefer to adopt a choose-and-pick approach whilst looking for materials that may cater the needs of their learners.A case in point is:

Company to Company

[Andrew Littlejohn, 2005] has been chosen to cater for the needs and wants of a group of admin-staff whose job responsibilities involve handling phone calls[1] and replying to and writing business correspondence.

The needs analysis revealed that the group unanimously need to improve their writing skills of e-mails, letters, faxes and memos with topics that are quite common in almost all business correspondence (making enquiries, placing an order, requesting for information/a quotation, making mild and strong complaint, apologising, giving bad/good news, confirming arrangements, writing /declining an invitation and replying to complaints...).

Against this background, Company to Company has been designated to serve the needs of this particular group. The overall design of the book is attractive and looks very professional. In the same respect, the book appears to be professionally interesting and task-based.

The units of this course-book are specialised and perfectly match the kind of needs expressed by the group in terms of both topics and tasks. The latter sound realistic and of much relevance .They present real-life situations almost like the ones the students routinely handle in their jobs.

In conclusion,it needs to be emphasized that any course-book needs to be supplemented with extra materials.No course-book can comprehensively meet one's needs.As such,the select-reject-adapt and supplement approach has been incorporated very often in parallel with the above mentioned course-book.Sometimes some tasks are omitted and others and others are adapted or re-worded differently to ease understanding.

The overall layout of the book allows ample opportunities for extra manoeuvre and adaptation.Some tasks are reformulated to provide further focus and work on the lexical chunks.In fact,Email English (Paul Emmerson 2004 ) has a battery of exercises that provide perfect practice opportunities.

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[1] Focus here is on Company to Company. ‘English for Business Communication’ (Simon Sweeney 2003) has been chosen to cater for telephoning skills.

The Learner Centered Approach.

An introduction to Learner Centered Approach

How self-directed learning could be related to teaching English in a business context and its similarities to designing lessons and courses based on the needs of a group of learners.

It’s undoubtedly that self-directed learning applies perfectly to both learning and teaching as well. Concerning the latter, I think SDL could be much better related to teaching English in a business context than general English. One of the key skills in self-directed learning is the ability to set learning goals and objectives and so does teaching Business English. Unlike students of GE, BE students have well-defined objectives and goals that they aspire to achieve by the end of a given course. That is to say, BE students are aware of which language skill or area they need to improve and hence focus on during a given course.

The whole process of teaching business English starts with identifying the needs of a target group and so does the process of SDL. It is ‘a process in which the learner....identifies learning needs, defines learning goals, develop and implement a learning plan’. Similarly, in teaching English in a business context, the Setting of a well-defined needs analysis is an indispensable element in planning a successful a course outline. So, once needs are identified, teacher develops a teaching plan to deliver these needs. Besides, it should be noted that at times target learners may be unable to identify their needs and goals. Thus, it’s up to the teacher’s discretion and know-how to find out these needs. In the same vein, self-directed learner ‘with or without the help of other’ can identify his/her learning needs.

This being said, self-directed learning is a conscious process that involves constant evaluation and posing of questions to ensure achievement of optimum leaning output. In the same token, delivering a business course or lesson always starts by posing the right questions to identify course or lesson aims, steps to complete them within a pre-allocated limited time span and finally ends up with a self-reflection over your delivery.

In a nutshell, delivery of a successful business course requires an innovator teacher and so does successful learning needs an innovator learner. Clingers, unfortunately, are doomed to failure in both learning and teaching.

Business English: Communicative Writing Activities

The Reformatting Chains Approach.

It goes without saying that business people write as a reaction to a circumstance or to bring a measurable result to the benefit of their companies. With this in mind, teachers of Business English need to approach writing tasks in way that can bring business-like circumstances onto classrooms.

One way to achieve that goal is through designing some communicative classroom activities that eventually lead to a given writing task. ‘Prove that you can use the language’ approach that many teachers adopt may at times prove unsuccessful. However, if the same tasks are approached differently, motivation will be injected and the writing activity will be more enjoyable. Crudely put, in business English classrooms, writing should have communicative purposes.

To put this idea into practice, let’s look at the following writing topics. The latter can either be approached conventionally (teacher asks students to write without any pre-designed activities) or through other communicative activities. The latter approach is referred to as the reformatting chains approach.

Below are sample of communicative classroom activities that can lead writing :

A memo informing staff of a management decision.

Many things are not going well and these negatively affect your company’s reputation in the market.

In small groups conduct an urgent meeting to discuss the matter .You need to agree on an action plan or a decision to implement in your company.

After the meeting, write a memo to inform staff of the management decision.

A letter confirming the details of the deal.

[in Small groups: one group represents the company and the other represents a supplier]

Your company want to buy new modern machines and now you are going to negotiate an offer from High-Tech machine supplier. Negotiate the offer and bring the deal to a close.

Now write a letter to the supplier company to confirm details of the deal.

A letter offering someone a job.

Your company want to hire a new employee. In small groups conduct a meeting to discuss, personnel qualifications, the job description and specifications.

Write a small ad for the job and pin it on the classroom board.

In pairs sts role-play a simulated interview, one student as job applicant and the other as an interviewer.

Either in class or as a homework interviewers write letters offering jobs to the person they interviewed. At the meantime the interviewees write back accepting the job offer.

A letter asking a salesman to come to your company to demonstrate his product.

As a role play students carry out a phone call. Sales person make a ‘cold call’ to present their products. Purchasing managers receive the call and show interest in the product.

After this call write a letter to the salesman to ask him to come to your company to demonstrate their product.

Unfortunately, after the demonstration you changed your mind. Now write:

A letter thanking someone for their product demonstration, but informing them that you don’t intend to purchase

Business Writing skills: Transforming Activities

Business Writing Skills : Transforming Activities.

It’s undoubtedly that transforming activity is of much help to learners of business English.
• It’s one way to raise the learner’s awareness to the difference of style, layout and register that each genre of business writing may involve.
• It’s a learner-centred task where the learner decides for himself relying on his autonomy. He becomes active in the learning process. As the Chinese proverb crudely puts it ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day .Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a life time’.
• The task itself involves the improvement of other skills such as discussion, questioning and explaining.
• Learners have different learning styles and transforming as an activity may serve to cater for those learners who favour to implement and understand phrases in context.

Concerning the advantage of activities such the one provided (Doe and John Buck), I think they are useful. Apart from the benefits they offer if approached as transforming tasks, they can be used as input text. And at the productive stage, if learners asked to write a reply they have, then, a reason to write with a clear purpose.

How to sequence the activities in class, I think it’s up to the teachers’ discretion.

We can also give learners two versions of formal and informal genre in broken sentences and then learners try to sort them out.
Also, as a dictation activity game (runner and secretary).Teacher hang broken sentences of letter outside the classroom. Student one acts as a runner goes out and dictates the sentences to the secretary ( students rotate roles).stage two student try to put the letter in the right order (raise sts awareness to the lay outs).

LESSON PLANNING & THE UNEXPECTED SITUATIONS

Lesson Planning

What can we do to prepare for the unexpected?

To start with, saying that all lessons will go exactly to plan, if I am not exaggerating, is almost like a wishful-thinking in the teaching area. This being said, divergence of the plan is inevitable and most of the time unpredictable situations are cause number one of this digression. In this context, absenteeism can be cited as an example of unforeseeable circumstances.

I believe being always flexible and willing to adjust modifications without affecting the overall course objectives is one way to face the unexpected. We need to have extra emergency plans. The latter can be either alternative lesson plans, review lessons, ready-made worksheets and activities that can a teacher pull out off his/her sleeves anytime. Also prioritizing of aims can be another way to cope with the unexpected.

Case Study:Saudi Arabia

Class Profile

Age range between 19 and 28.
Strengths: Keen interest in improving their language skills. Grasp vocabulary quickly. Good at speaking.
Weaknesses: weak at assimilating grammar, listening and writing.
They enjoy most activities that involve too much speaking .Strikingly enough; they prefer working with handouts to working with the course book. Last but not least, their most favourite activity is games.
As far as energy is concerned, the sessions after lunch are the most critical ones. Their motivation seems to diminish .First because of the number of sessions they have (six sessions per day with many coffee and lunch breaks) and second because of the heavy meals they have at lunch.
Having said that, these factors inevitably affect my planning. So, I prioritise aims and activities in my lesson. Aims and skills that require much concentration and energy are done before the lunch break.

Activities and ready-made handouts are often used in the last two sessions. Both activities and read-made handouts are not used as gap fillers but rather to consolidate target languages. Vocabs miming, broken sentences, simulation speaking games, matching half of sentences and use of the computer lab (interactive educational programs) are but some of the activities I like to plan for the last two periods.

TEFL Methodologies and Business English Classes

TEFL and Business English Classes

To start with, teaching Business English undoubtedly belongs to the ESP area and so does teaching in-company classes.
And in the belief that there is ‘no one best methodology’ , I think teaching Business classes or in-company classes do not necessarily require us to forge a newly made methodology that can only fit business classes. All what we need a flexible methodology that takes into account how does the learner want to learn. In this context, Tom Hutchinson and Alan Waters argue that:
‘There is nothing specific about ESP methodology. The principles which underlie good ESP methodology are the same as those that underlie sound ELT methodology in general...the classroom skills and techniques acquired in General English teaching can be carefully employed in the ESP classrooms.’
On this background, I very often approach my in-company classes using my EFL methodology experience and, at the same time, leaving room to implement traditional methodology if the trainees appear to be antipathetic to the communicative -based methodology. However, in some cases at the very beginning of the course, they seem to reject the communicative methodology. Their resentment is justified and mostly it is due to their past learning experiences. So, at times I find myself devoting a session just to discuss and negotiate methodologies and the pros and cons of each. In most cases the trainees welcome the communicative methodology where they are required to work and talk more than I have to do.
In my training sessions, I always favour the communicative methodology which focuses on involving the trainee into the learning sessions. Why? Simply because:
It takes into account the learner .It makes the learner active and not only in class to be spoon-fed by the teacher. It focuses on the use of pair work, group works which spare more time for thinking and hence free the students from undue pressure. Briefly put, it renders the idea of whoever doing most of the work is doing the learning a reality.
In a nutshell, teaching is an interaction between a teacher and a learner and it’s better if the two then decide on matters that the whole learning experience enjoyable and useful.

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1. Mark Ellis and Christine Johnson, Teacher Business English, Oxford University press,( 1994) P.219
2. Tom Hutchinson and Alan Waters, English for Specific Purposes: a Learning-Centred Approach, Cambridge University Press ( 1989) P. 142

A Listening- Based Lesson

RECEPTIVE Skills:Listening

Below are of some the tasks a teacher can conduct in a listening -based lesson:

Skills targeted: Gist/Global /Extensive listening

•How many People are speaking?
•Where is the conversation taking place?
•Did you hear any of the words/ideas brainstormed before listening?
•Match pictures with extracts from tape, e.g.various speakers
•Order a set of key words or sentences from type
•Order a set of pictures depicting events
•Answer a couple of global comprehension questions
•Do some prediction/discussion questions about the topic of listening (e.g. agree/disagree, true/ false), listen and check.
•Brainstorm ideas/vocabs connected to topic of listening and listen for these
•Fill in heading in a table/grid
•Listen to snippets of conversation and match to topics

Skills targeted:
Detailed /Specific Information/Intensive Listening:

•Gap filling
•How many words in the sentence/phrase?
•Correct a summary of events
•Order sentences
•Correct mistakes in sentences
•Dictation
•Following instructions e.g. describe and draw a picture
•Filling in tables & grids with detailed information
•Listening for sounds
•Note taking under headings
•True/False & multiple choice questions
•Complete a text or Summary
•Mark stress & intonation
•Spot the differences between a picture and the description on the tape.

Teaching English a Myth or a Reality?

How to Render a Teacher's Input in Class Meaningful and a Learner's Educational Learning Output Purposeful?

In the realm of teaching English as a foreign language, an overwhelming score of teachers, mistakenly, view their teaching experiences as a migraine and the anecdote to which is along way off. Very often teacher seem to be very pre-occupied with the question whether their students will successfully assimilate the target language (TL) presented during every class session.
In fact, their anxiety may slightly sound reasonable if the teaching environment, where they work doesn't meet their aspirations. That is to say, the workplace lacks many of the pre-requisite tools for teaching. Having said that; it is incumbent upon pro-active teachers to, sensibly, make use of whatever ways and means available to carry out their teaching tasks. Putting the blame on the absence of adequate tools and succumbing to such demotivating views will serve nothing but rather qualitatively undermine our desired teaching results.
Against this background, forthcoming are some tips if properly incorporated in the teaching process, they may help overcome the aforesaid pitfalls and eventually render the teaching experience more fruitful and enjoyable.
1.

Lesson Planning

Knowing beforehand what are you going to teach in class, the procedures to follow as well s the aim behind every lesson are highly indispensable elements quality teachers should adhere to. As such, a well-planned always helps the teacher to consistently transfer any target language. Also, a good lesson plan remains a reliable remainder to teachers in cases the get distracted. Accordingly; the points that follow should be constantly integrated in any lesson plan:
•An analysis of the language intended to be taught regarding Meaning, form, Pronunciation and Appropriacy (formal or informal register).
•Indicating how you will convey and check meaning of your TL.
•Identifying problems that you anticipate students may have with Meaning, Form and Pronunciation and, hence, suggesting solutions accordingly.
•Identifying who is interacting during every step of your lesson (Teacher to students, Students to Students, Student to Student or Open Class).

2.

Classroom management

Unquestionably the classroom is the teacher's conventional terrain where he performs his educational tasks. Thus, the better he manipulates that terrain, the easier and more successful his mission becomes. Yet, it is of much regret to say that many teachers are hostage to the view that the classroom is the place where the teacher knows all and his role to feed the learner. The teacher is the information presenter and the learner is the passive consumer. So, it high time teacher knew that we're living in an era where information is the easiest and most reachable due to the high-tech means of communication. Teachers need to professionalize their performance in class .They need to integrate the communicative based-approach in their teaching. The teacher is a facilitator and the learner is the main doer and performer in class. If we keep teaching our students the way we have been thought in the past, we'll rob them of their future and deny them their righteous access to what technology and science present them today.

Rachid Elalaoui

BARCELONA:CELTA Course Reflection

Tips from a CELTA Course

Barcelona,Spain

It is universally acknowledged that human activities evolve and are constantly in change and language teaching is no exception. In teaching languages, teachers can either influence or get influenced by other teachers’ methodologies and techniques in handing lessons to students.
In this context, my personal experience can be cited as a vivid example. Before I came to the course, I had considered the knowledge I had of teaching as perfect and need no amend. Interestingly enough, I discovered that lot of things need to be learnt in this field of teaching languages. Accordingly, I thought that my limited knowledge is indispensably in need of an urgent reappraisal and reassessment.
In fact, the Theoretical input in class, the observation sessions of my tutors, colleagues and teachers all have provided me with a wealth of information and practical guidelines. Therefore; incorporating these guidelines in any teaching class will undoubtedly enhance one's professional knowledge. Eliciting, drilling pronunciation, ways of correcting students’ errors and monitoring are four aspects that I unhesitatingly would like to highlight and recommend teacher to incorporate in their teaching. Yet, focusing on these four aspects doesn’t mean that other aspects as the use of whiteboard, task setting, time management, teacher’s position and class interaction, pair work and groupwork, are of no importance. Yet, For the purpose of this paper, focus will be on the following aspects.
Eliciting answers from students rather then spoon-feeding them is a technique adopted by all tutors and teachers I have observed. It proved to be so effective throughout the lesson. Teachers give prompts to students to come with the answers for the language needed. For example, during a class observation, teacher elicited the words needed to complete a chart for pronunciation through prompts. For example: he elicited the verb ‘to wear’ through saying ‘a verb goes with clothes?’ To elicit the noun ‘tears’, teacher said ‘when we cry we have…on our face’.
In doing so, the teacher involved the students in the lesson and made them active learners rather than being consumers of the teacher‘s output. They are made the center of the learning process to which they are the main contributors. In this respect, Harmer argues that ‘one way of helping students sustain their motivation is to give them as far as is feasible, some agency…be the ‘doers’ in class’ .Therefore; eliciting renders the idea of whoever is doing the work, is doing the learning a fact .
Drilling and choral repetition of new words is another aspect that I think need to be integrated in teaching .Students enjoy it and hence are, at the outset of their learning, taught the right pronunciation where stress and intonation are important. In addition, this aspect of teaching ‘gives a chance to all the students to speak together rather than being (possibly) shown up individually’ .
Error correction and how to carry it out while students are learning is another aspect of an outstanding importance that inescapably need to be incorporated in class. Personally, for example, I was used to the habit of correcting students openly in class irrespective of the students’ sensitivity .Unfortunately; I have come to realize that it is a habit that I need to get rid of. During my TP sessions, I tried to correct students in private and I found out that they really enjoyed it without denting their courage.
Last but not least, monitoring, a yard stick for a successful class management, is an outstanding aspect that needs to be included in teaching English. Again during all the observation sessions, I have noticed, my tutors, teachers and some of my colleagues focus on monitoring students while working .To check whether students are on task, to provide appropriate feedback, To correct and check accuracy, to provide students with the language needed are reasons behind monitoring .While monitoring, teachers render themselves available which indeed students enjoy a lot and, accordingly, good rapport is established between teachers and students.
In one of my TP lessons, I practically tried to incorporate choral repetition of new words related to weather and I found out that students enjoyed it very much. It helped students better assimilate the meaning and pronunciation as well. Hopefully, this choral repetition experience will not be an exception but rather a norm in teaching. Also, all the above aspects have been included during all my subsequent TP sessions and proved to render lessons a success and aims achievable.
In a nutshell, Teaching involves a constant process of learning. The present learning experience is but one way ahead in this process. Thus, to better foster this TEFL knowledge gained so far one has to keep abreast with all the novelties in this field .Reading methodology books, keep observing experienced teachers, and sharing and discussing this knowledge with colleagues are ways to achieve this goal.

Rachid Elalaoui
International House-Jeddah Branch

Dictionary

Cross Word :Classroom management

http://www.armoredpenguin.com/crossword/Data/2009.03/2804/28041305.554.html

TESOL STANDARDS FOR INSTRUCTION

The Fundamental principles of language instruction
TESOL Standards for Instruction
Source: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (2003). Standards for adult Education ESL programs. Alexandria, VA. Pages 20-21, “Standards for Instruction”
A. Instructional activities adhere to principles of adult learning and language acquisition.
These principles include the following:
•Adult learners bring a variety of experiences, skills, and knowledge to the classroom that need to be acknowledged and included in lessons.
•Language acquisition is facilitated through providing a non-threatening environment in which learners feel comfortable and self-confident and are encouraged to take risks to use the target language.
•Adult learners progress more rapidly when the content is relevant to their lives.
•Language learning is cyclical, not linear, so learning objectives need to be recycled in a variety of contexts.

B. Instructional approaches are varied to meet the needs of adult learners with diverse educational and cultural backgrounds. Examples of these approaches include, but are not limited to, the following:
• grammar-based (focus on the basic structure of language, e.g., grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation)
•competency-based or functional context (focus on application of specific basic language skills in areas needed to function in everyday life or at work)
•whole language (integrated approach using listening, speaking, reading, and writing in thematic contexts often introduced through learner-generated content)
•participatory (focus on developing language and literacy skills to facilitate personal empowerment, community involvement, and social change)
•content-based (focus on developing language to support learner success in specific content areas, such as citizenship or vocational training)
•project-based (focus on developing language through collaborative work with the goal of completing a task or developing a product)

C. Instructional activities engage learners so that they take an active role in the learning process.

D. Instructional activities focus on the acquisition of communication skills necessary for learners to function within the classroom, outside the classroom, or in other educational programs (e.g. ABE, GED preparation, postsecondary education, vocational training programs).

E. Instructional activities integrate the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), focusing on receptive and productive skills appropriate to learner’s needs.

F. Instructional activities are varied to address the different learning styles (e.g. aural,
oral, visual, kinesthetic) and special learning needs of the learners.

G. Instructional activities incorporate grouping strategies and interactive tasks that facilitate the development of authentic communication skills. These include cooperative learning, information gap activities, role plays, simulations, problem solving, and problem posing.

H. Instructional activities take into account the needs of multilevel groups of learners, particularly those with minimal literacy skills in their native language and English.

I. Instructional activities focus on the development of language and culturally appropriate behaviors needed for critical thinking, problem solving, team participation, and study skills.

J. Instructional activities give learners opportunities to use authentic resources both inside and outside the classroom (e.g. newspapers, telephone books, school notices, library resources, community agencies, work sites, television, and the Internet).

K. Instructional activities give learners opportunities to develop awareness of and competency in the use of appropriate technologies to meet lesson objectives.

L. Instructional activities are culturally sensitive to the learners and integrate language and culture.

M. Instructional activities prepare learners for formal and informal assessment situations such as test taking, job interviews, and keeping personal learning records.