Becoming a better speaker
Becoming a better speaker What speakers do In some ways speaking is the most difficult language skill. Every time you speak you have to do many different things but you have very little time to do them. Imagine, for example, that the teacher has asked you a question in class. Here is a list of the things you have to do when giving an answer.
You have to:
think what answer you want to give
find the words that you need
make sure the grammar you use is correct
try to get your pronunciation and intonation right.
To make things more difficult, you have to do all this with everyone else in the class looking at you and listening to you! It's no surprise that some ESL students don't talk at all for a while when they first come to school.
Practicing speaking is a skill like learning to swim. The more you practice, the better you will become, until finally you can do it without needing to think much about it. Here are some ways that you can get as much speaking practice as possible:
ask and answer questions in class
try to answer all the teacher's questions silently in your head
if you work in a group with native speakers, don't let them do all the talking
ask to sit next to a student who is not from your country
try to make some friends who don't have the same language
join a lunchtime club or do an after-school activity
talk English with your German neighbors
talk to your parents in English; e.g. to summarize a story or science experiment
talk to your teachers after class and at lunchtime or after school
Practicing pronunciation and intonation If you have problems with your English pronunciation or intonation, you could practice these too. For example, you could listen to stories or watch videos with people talking to each other, and try to repeat the phrases and sentences they say.
More information to help you become a better speaker Here is a list of more things to think about or strategies to try in order to improve your speaking skills:
Do not worry about making mistakes! Everyone who speaks makes mistakes. Even native speakers make mistakes when they talk, because speaking is such a complicated skill (see above). It doesn't matter if your spoken English is not perfect. What is important is that you can communicate what you want to say.
Keep talking! If you don't know a word, use gestures or mime. Or try and explain what you want to say using other words. Or draw a picture. Ask the person you are speaking to help you. If you are not sure whether your grammar is right, it doesn't matter. Keep talking!
Learn some useful phrases that you know you will often need to use; and use them! If you do this, you will have more time to think about the rest of what you want to say.
Knowing some common expressions will also help you to take more part in conversations. Most students will not wait patiently in the middle of an interesting discussion while you plan exactly what you want to say. But, if you are ready with an expressions like: Well, in my opinion .. or Do you know what I think?, they will at least stop and wait for you to continue. (Just don't keep them waiting too long, and remember again: It's ok to make mistakes!)
Prepare answers at home. Often teachers ask students to talk about their homework. For example, you may have to say how you solved a math problem; or you may be asked to give your opinion about a story you read. If you think about the likely questions at home - you could even say the answers to your parents -, you will be ready to raise your hand in class.
If you know you will have to talk to someone about something, then plan what you are going to say. For example, maybe you know you will have to tell your teacher why you were absent from school, or you want to explain to the nurse why you can't do PE. Look up the words you know you will need, and maybe even write out the exact sentences you want to say. Practice saying it at home, or with another student or your ESL teacher.
If you talk to people, they will talk back to you. Usually, they will simplify their speech so that you can understand better. This gives you good listening practice, too.
Think in English! Don't think in your own language and then translate it.
Source:
**True friends are those who care without hesitations, who remember without limitations, who give without expectations and love even without communication. Friendship doesnt need everyday conversation doesn't always need togetherness, as long as the relationship is kept in the heart, true friends never go apart....... ...** Sadat Moshtaghian
Becoming a better listener
Becoming a better listener You spend more time in school listening than doing any other activity. It is important that you understand most of what you hear so that you can learn about your different subjects and at the same time improve your English. In order for you to become a better listener, look first at the following list. It contains many of the things that can make it hard for you to understand what you hear:
the speaker talks too quickly
the speaker talks too softly
two or more people are speaking at the same time
there is background noise
there are other distractions
the speaker is boring (e.g. the topic is boring or his way of speaking is boring)
you are not concentrating on what the speaker is saying
there are no pictures or charts to look at while listening
you have no idea about the topic
the speaker uses many new or difficult words
the speaker?s sentences are long and complicated
Any one of the above problems alone can make it difficult for you to understand. But very often you are faced with two or three of them together. For example, you may be in a lesson where the teacher is talking quickly and in complicated English about a topic you know nothing about. Then your chances of understanding will be small.
However, there are quite a few things you can do to improve your comprehension of what you hear. These are listed below:
ask the speaker to repeat or rephrase what they said
pay attention
block out distractions
look at the speaker (ask to sit near the front of the class)
ask questions (aloud and silently)
try to picture and make connections (e.g. to what you learned in a previous lesson, maybe in your last school)
think about and answer silently all the questions asked by the teacher
listen to the other students
keep listening even if you don?t understand at first
listen for the teacher?s clues
ask someone after the lesson to explain what you didn?t understand
try to find out something about the topic before the lesson
If you do all these things, it will help you to become a better listener in class. But you can practise your listening understanding outside of the classroom, too. For example, you can borrow cassettes with stories to listen to at home, or try to understand the words of the pop songs you like. Watching English language TV or videos is a great way to improve your listening skills because what you see can help you understand what you hear. Working on increasing your vocabulary will also help you to become a better listener.
Finally, remember this: the more you speak to people, the more they will speak back to you. Talking with other students is a great way of getting lots of extra listening practice!
ENGLISH-4-ALL Source:
**True friends are those who care without hesitations, who remember without limitations, who give without expectations and love even without communication. Friendship doesnt need everyday conversation doesnt always need togetherness, as long as the relationship is kept in the heart,true friends never go apart....... ...** Sadat Moshtaghian
Improving Teacher-Student Interaction in the EFL Classroom: An Action Research Report
Jonathan Snellj_snell [at] yahoo.com
Toyo Women's College (Tokyo, Japan)
A common problem for EFL teachers is dealing with a passive class, where students are unresponsive and avoid interaction with the teacher. This is especially true when a teacher seeks interaction in a teacher-class dialog, such as asking questions to the class as a whole, expecting at least one student to respond. This can be a frustrating experience for both parties. Obviously, there will be times when no student can answer a teacher's question, but often students do not answer even if they understand the question, know the answer, and are able to produce the answer. Furthermore, students can often be very reluctant to give feedback or ask the teacher a question in front of the class. This action research project attempted to explore this problem and sought to create a more interactive teacher-class interchange in one class of Japanese adult English learners.
Action Research Defined
Action research is concerned with trying to improving one specific point in a teacher's technique in a particular classroom using empirical measurement. Richards, Platt & Platt (1992) have defined it as:
Teacher-initiated classroom research which seeks to increase the teacher's understanding of classroom teaching and learning and to bring about improvements in classroom practices. Action research typically involves small-scale investigate projects in the teacher's own classroomŠ
This usually includes having an observer collect data, and together with the teacher develop a plan to bring about the desired change, act on the plan, and then observe the effects of the plan in the classroom.
Class Description
The class observed was a group of twenty-three sophomores majoring in Japanese at a small private Tokyo women's college. The teacher was an American male with several years teaching experience at Japanese universities. The goal of this required class is to teach the students basic English conversation, reading, listening and writing skills. Their English ability level ranged from upper beginner to intermediate. During the observation period, the students appeared motivated and attentive, and they seemed to be enjoying the class.
Problem Identification
The students, as a class, didn't respond voluntarily to the instructor's questions and did not participate in class discussions. Students also never asked the teacher questions outside one-on-one situations. Thus the teacher received little oral feedback. According to the teacher:
Most of the class members sit looking straight ahead using minimal facial expressions, gestures and verbal utterances. What I want is for the students to be more demonstrative and more overtly communicative in their feedback. I want these behaviors: I want the students to ask questions, make comments and to respond with nods and shakes of the head, with sounds of agreement or sounds of understanding. Also, I want them to be both reactive and proactive.
Preliminary Investigation
I observed the teacher's class in the fourth week of the semester. In the first 45 minutes, the class went through an intermediate level taped dialogue. The students first listened to the tape with their books closed, then again with the books opened. Next, they did a dictation exercise consisting of 25 short sentences based on the dialogue. The teacher then talked about the sociolinguistic and grammar points of the exercise and went on to probe for comprehension:
The teacher asked a few other questions which also drew no response or reaction from the students. The students then had to answer some questions about the conversation in their book. Most of the students seemed to have little trouble doing this, and if there were any questions, they readily asked the student sitting next to them.
The second half of the class was devoted to pair work using the phrases and vocabulary from the taped dialogue in role play. The students seemed to enjoy this, and most tried to create their own dialogues. The teacher circulated the room checking on the progress of each pair. The class atmosphere was markedly different from the first half of the class, with chatter and occasional laughter filling the air. The students answered most of the teacher's questions with alacrity, and some even asked their own questions.
Hypothesis
Because the students seemed to generally understand the teacher's questions, it was felt that there was something else that kept the students from responding voluntarily in the class-teacher dialogues. Since most Japanese students are taught to listen and not to question a teacher in class, Japanese students have little or no experience in in-class interaction with the teacher, such as questioning or commenting or giving feedback. Students are usually taught to be quiet and respectfully listen to the teacher.
By teaching the students that class interaction with the English teacher is not only acceptable, but normal, useful and beneficial, it was believed that the students would become more interactive with the teacher in teacher-class interaction.
Plan Intervention
Following the hypothesis, two steps were taken to implement a plan:
Each culture has different "rules" about how students should act in the classroom. In some countries, students are expected to listen and only the teacher should lecture or talk in class. But in English-speaking countries (and in English class), it is good-and important-to answer the teacher's questions and interrupt with questions of your own. It means that you are interested and paying attention. In English, it is your job to ask questions if you don't understand. (p. 3)
The teacher went on to say that if they still felt uncomfortable asking and answering questions, they had to at least nod or shake their head as a response to the teacher's questions.
Outcome
In the eighth week of the semester, the class was observed again. A lesson similar to the one in the fourth week was presented. At the beginning, the instructor reminded the class of the "rules." After playing the taped dialogue twice, the teacher began talking about the dialogue, making grammar, usage and sociolinguistic points, interspersed with questions about the passage and the instructor's explanations. This went on for about twenty minutes and included general comprehension check questions such as 'do you understand?' and 'are you okay?' as well as specific questions about the dialogue.
Regarding general comprehension questions, most of the students did nod in response and a few answered 'yes' to these questions. And it was believed that they did, in fact, understand.
With the specific questions, however, something unexpected happened. When the teacher asked a question, he was usually greeted with poker-faced stares, as before. But when he moved closer, looked specifically at a student, or pair of students, and repeated the question, the students usually tried to answer. In general, I noted, the instructor was paying much more attention to the students, moving closer to them, and looking at specific students and trying to make a better connection with them. Instead of asking questions with the feeling that they really weren't going to be answered anyway, as before, the teacher made a greater effort to communicate the questions, and acted as if he expected to get responses.
Also, toward the end of the instructor's talk on the dialogue, two students, without prompting from the teacher, asked questions before the class. Although the questions were not related directly to the dialogue, the fact that the questions were asked before the entire class was considered a breakthrough.
Conclusion
There were some areas where the results of this action research were not as successful as hoped. For instance, the students needed to be prompted with eye contact and a repeated question from the teacher to answer a question, and when they did not understand something, they still did not interrupt the teacher with a question.
And yet some progress was definitely made, especially when the brief span between observations is considered. The students did interact with the teacher by nodding, some did answer the instructor's questions, and two, on their own initiation, even asked questions before the class. The unanticipated side effect of the teacher becoming more concerned with the interaction was a welcome surprise and contributed to the improvement. There seems to have been some success in instructing and reminding and then expecting the students to become more interactive with the teacher.
Reflection
This action research project forced both the teacher and the observer to remember that ESL teachers in Japan are not just teaching a language, but also a culture, and this includes instructing the sociolinguistics appropriate for the native English speaking classroom. Perhaps more importantly, they had to think about why the cultures are different, in this respect, and how to try and bridge that difference. This lead to questioning the conventional notion that Japanese students simply do not like the native English speaking classroom culture.
An additional reason for interest in the problem addressed here was the belief that this was a common problem in Japan. Teachers, especially native English speaking ones, often become frustrated with a lack of initial success in obtaining an interactive dialogue with the class. This often leads them to mistake a lack of familiarity with a lack of interest, and to teach within the students' culturally conditioned classroom expectations, instead of introducing the expectations commonly found in classrooms in English speaking counties. While intending to be more accommodating to students, they are failing to give students a useful sociolinguistic skill, which students would likely want and derive benefit. Some may think encouraging the use of this student-teacher interaction common in native English speaking counties is culturally arrogant. But if it is introduced in a sensitive and reasonable manner, it actually contributes to a more fulfilling English class. After all, most students don't study English just for linguistic competence. They will also want to develop sociolinguistic competence for communicating in different situations in English speaking countries, and this includes the classroom.
Reference
The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. V, No. 4, April 1999http://iteslj.org/
http://iteslj.org/Articles/Snell-Interaction.html
Teaching Second Language Reading Strategies
Takako Kawabata
takakok [at] psis {dot} aichi-gakuin {dot} ac {dot} jp
Aichi Gakuin University (Nisshin, Japan)
Introduction
This article describes a program that can be used for EFL classes to teach reading strategies. The objectives of the program are that the students should be able to understand the text structure of a particular genre, find the main idea in the text, learn new vocabulary and learn effective reading strategies to develop their reading comprehension.
In classroom interaction, a shift between teacher and learner focus is made to provide the teacher's support and guidance at earlier stages and gradually withdraw the teacher's focus to assist students in becoming more independent learners. As some students may be shy when speaking and afraid of making mistakes in front of the class or peers, whole class, groups, and pair discussion are implemented at the earlier stages to minimize their anxiety.
Materials
Teaching materials used in the program are articles from newspapers graded-down for non-native speakers. Texts printed on large sheets are used for whole class activities, and handouts are provided to the students for group, pair and independent activities.
Pre-reading Activities
1. Setting the Purpose of Reading (As a Whole Class)
Firstly, the teacher clarifies the purpose of reading to the students. The purpose of reading is to get an overall idea of the text, to learn new information, to learn some vocabulary and to become familiar with the style of a news article.
After that, the teacher introduces what kind of reading strategies are necessary for reading newspaper articles and achieving the above purpose; such as skimming, scanning, and close reading. This activity assists the students in selecting appropriate reading styles for a particular genre. These strategies also help the students to acquire skills to deal with unfamiliar vocabulary without depending on dictionaries.
2. Signpost Questions (As a Whole Class)
The teacher asks questions to motivate the readers and activate their background knowledge.
3. Prediction Activities (As a Whole Class)
The teacher shows only the title of the text (and photographs if available) at this stage, and asks the students to predict the topic based on the previous questions, prior knowledge, and the title of the text.
Based on the learners' prediction, some questions will be asked by the teacher to focus on the main point when reading the text.
Questions such as these might be asked:
Then, the teacher asks the students to predict the style/tenor of language and the schematic structure of the text.
Questions such as these might be asked to identify and clarify textual information:
Active participation of the students is encouraged to draw on their background knowledge to assist reading comprehension. Therefore, to raise as many ideas as possible, the above three activities are conducted as a whole class. Oral interaction with the teacher and peers could assist reading as giving and sharing background knowledge.
4. Skimming in Groups
At this stage, the teacher shows the whole text printed on a large sheet put on a board to the students. Firstly, the teacher models skimming strategies to assist the readers.
After the modelling, the teacher asks the students some questions such as:
Next, the teacher asks the students to skim through the text and discuss the above questions in groups.
The skimming strategies are introduced to get an overall picture and to ascertain the genre and field of the text. Discussion with peers and the teacher at this stage might provide general information about the topic and structure of the text, and the students might be able to predict further what the text is about.
5. Scanning (In Groups)
Scanning activities are introduced to teach strategies of finding appropriate information in the text that would be necessary for successful reading comprehension. With this exercise, the students might be able to locate specific information about the topic of the text.
To assist the scanning, the teacher asks the students to answer the questions designed at stage three of prediction activities, then, write down the responses on the board. Answering the previously designed questions confirm or disconfirm the readers' prediction.
6. Breaking Up the Text (In Groups)
The teacher provides handouts, which is the text broken up into each section, to each group and asks the students to summarize the texts in the groups. After finishing the summarizing of the texts, the students are encouraged to present their summaries to the other groups of students. This activity allows the students to analyse more detail in each section, obtain specific information more closely, combine information of the sections, and understand the main idea of the text. Moreover, reporting the summaries to the class provides the students opportunity to speak English.
Skimming, scanning, and breaking up the text are introduced as groups activities to develop and confirm the readers’ understanding further. Reading strategies and language use by the teacher and students who have higher proficiency in English might work as a model and suggest ways of using vocabulary, explaining, classifying, comparing, exemplifying, questioning, and pronouncing words.
7. Brain Storming (As a Whole Class)
By conducting this process, the teacher is able to confirm the students' understanding by checking responses answered at the fifth stage and summaries reported at the sixth stage. If more ideas arise after summarizing each section, write these responses on the board.
8. Pre-teaching Important Words (As a Whole Class)
Before moving into actual reading activities, teaching new and important words for reading comprehension is necessary. The readers are able to prepare and acquire the new vocabulary or terminology which would be necessary to understand the text before tackling reading practice. Vocabulary items are categorized as those which could be or could not be guessed from the context, and essential or less important to understand the text.
By introducing and explaining the above language features of the text, the students are able to expand and relate their current knowledge and gain new knowledge of the genre.
During Reading Activities
9. The Text (As a Whole Class)
This activity shows the students how the text is structured to achieve its genre. At this stage, the teacher guides the class in discussing the feature of the text; the genre of the text (recount of an event in the newspaper article), the social purpose (to inform readers about events which are considered newsworthy and interesting), schematic structure and language features of the genre.
Finally, the teacher informs the students that language features typical of the genre are as follows:
By introducing and explaining the above language features of the text, the students are able to expand and relate their current knowledge and gain new knowledge of the genre.
10. Stop and Think (In Pairs)
After the modelling, the teacher asks the students to read the text in pairs. In each paragraph, the students are encouraged to talk and discuss what they have just read, paraphrase it, identify the main ideas, and generate questions in pairs. This activity offers the students more opportunities to practice listening, speaking, and helps them to activate background knowledge and relate it to the new information, and confirm their understanding of the text.
11. Reciprocal Teaching (As a Whole Class)
At this stage, the whole class has a discussion to generate questions, make summaries, predict and clarify the text. This is to clarify the purpose of reading, direct attention, activate background knowledge again, and also to evaluate content, monitor predictions, and draw conclusions. The teacher is able to monitor the students’ performance and confirm whether the students are able to use new vocabulary, express ideas and concepts and link ideas.
12. Finding the Main Idea (As a Whole Class)
The teacher asks the students to find the main idea in a paragraph or whole text. This activity is to identify and distinguish the important information from the less important information in the text, summarize the concepts, confirm the understanding of the content, and as a review of the previous activities. The students are able to avoid misunderstandings about the topic by sharing the idea with peers.
13. Signal Words (As a Whole Class)
Signal words used to indicate a particular text pattern are taught to show how these words function in the text. For instance, 'so' indicates a cause and effect, and 'after' indicates sequence of events in the text. Teaching these words and the function might give the readers new or different ideas to approach the text.
14. Key Words (As a Whole Class)
The teacher asks the students to identify key words to distinguish the important words from the less important words in the text.
The students are asked to identify the words by asking:
15. Developing Data Banks (As a Whole Class)
Words and discourse markers which are useful, important and frequently appear should be added to individual or class data banks to assist the students’ vocabulary development. Writing these words on a sheet on the wall or students’ notebooks assists the students’ reading practices in future classroom activities.
Post-reading Activities
16. Cloze Passages (As a Whole Class)
This activity is designed to assist the readers in developing vocabulary, understanding cohesion in the text, and investigating the text further. Reading abilities might be improved by identifying chains in the text and recognizing how the chains are used to make the text coherent. Showing how the teacher or the readers who have higher proficiency complete the passage works as a model of good reading strategies and assists the learners who have difficulties in reading comprehension to deepen and expand knowledge of the context.
17. Comprehension Questions (Individual)
Comprehension questions are asked to the students to confirm their understanding of the content of the whole text and to monitor the understanding of each student. Question sheets containing various questions are provided for each student to work on individually.
True or False Questions
Alternative Questions
WH-questions
After the students complete the activity, the teacher checks their answers with the class to confirm their understanding of the context before moving onto the next activity.
Information collected at the stage is used not only to find the learners’ language proficiency but also to present evidence of their advancement to various stakeholders. The teacher is able to improve the curriculum by using the information collected at the stage in the future course.
18. Compare Ideas (In Pairs)
Charts are provided to the students to ask questions to his/her partner and fill in their answers. By questioning, conferencing and sharing their ideas with peers, the students are able to practice listening, speaking and writing, relate personal experiences with the topic, and focus on their ideas before the final discussion stage.
Questions | You | Your partner |
What kind of transportation do you usually use? | <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> |
What time do you usually travel on trains/subways/buses? | <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> |
What do you usually do on trains/subways/buses? | <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> |
Do you want to study language on trains? Why? | <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> |
Do you think language training on trains is a good idea? Why? | <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> |
What kind of lessons can we offer other than language? Why? | <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> |
What else can we do on trains? Why? | <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> |
Do you want to take lessons on trains? Why? | <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> |
19. Discussion (As a Whole Class)
Discussing about the topic helps the readers to relate the theme of the text to their experience, and develop their understanding. Questions such as the following are designed to lead the discussion in the class.
The answers are not in the text, therefore, the students have to think of their own idea about the topic.
Summary
On completion of the program, the students are expected to be able to read and understand newspaper articles, on topics familiar to them, without depending on dictionaries. These activities help the students to reflect on written texts critically and to progress from an intermediate to an advanced level of proficiency.
The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. XIII, No. 2, February 2007http://iteslj.org/
http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Kawabata-ReadingStrategies.html
Utopia (saeed-zr.blogfa.com)
Using English Newspapers in the ESL/EFL Classroom
Premakumari Dheram
Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages (Hyderabad, India)
premakumaridheram{at}gmail.comNitya Rani Osmania University (Hyderabad, India)
nityarani{at}yahoo.com
This paper documents how the newspaper may be used for promoting learner autonomy in an international classroom with varying levels of English proficiency. It highlights how the authentic use of the language use helps the ESL/EFL teacher turn the newspaper into a powerful tool for encouraging reflections on its relevance to language learning. Similarly, the activities demonstrate how the students’ imaginative and creative potential could be exploited for enthusiastic interaction in the class. The focus on meaning and the familiarity with the genre seem to help every learner, irrespective of his/her proficiency in English, participate actively and contribute significantly to the discussions. It may not be out of place to mention here that there are English classrooms in remote areas where the teacher has to be extremely resourceful. And, at such places, we may use old newspapers if the day’s newspaper is not available.
Introduction
The newspaper may be the most commonly read print medium anywhere in the world. More and more parents, in India, are subscribing to at least two newspapers, one in English and the other in their mother tongue. They want their children to learn the languages and improve their awareness of the world. This may be the situation in many countries. Also, many language teachers advise their students to read newspapers online to learn about cultural and political situations.
We used the English newspaper in a multi-national, multi-cultural, and multi-lingual classroom. There were 42 participants from 25 developing countries. While some of them were comfortable with English, the others knew very little English. Most of them were from the diplomatic corps, some civil servants, and some English teachers. The youngest was 26 years old, while the oldest was 59.
Classroom Activity
Although the students had been given a 'placement' test to determine their proficiency level, they were yet to be divided into groups.
We had three objectives.
The Pre-reading Activity : First 20 Minutes
After welcoming the class to the programme, the teacher asked the participants if they read newspapers. Most answered in the affirmative. While some said that they read them in their native language, others said that they read them in English. This was followed by a general discussion of the reasons for reading newspapers in English. There was a tremendous response as everyone had something to say. If students with elementary proficiency could answer in words, the upper-intermediates gave sentences. They were all busy negotiating English in different ways which included using pocket dictionaries, writing down words, talking to their neighbours and seeking clarification from the teachers. Some of the responses were as follows:
The teacher, then, elicited from the class what topics/news are generally found in the newspapers. There was an enthusiastic response from the class. The teacher listed the responses on the blackboard:
Then, we divided the class into seven groups of six each. Wherever there were two or more people from the same country, we requested them to sit in different groups. They appreciated the need for it and separated with a smile.
The Reading-Writing Activity : 30 Minutes
Particpants in groups will write an international newspage with each member contributing a news item about his/her country.
We distributed the newspapers along with some paper and gave the following instructions. We also wrote some of them on the board.
During the activity, we urged the more proficient members of the group to encourage the less proficient ones to speak and help them in writing their contribution. We went around and answered various questions students had.
Reading Aloud : 30 Minutes
Each group read aloud its newspage. In most cases, the participants chose to read their own contribution saying that only they could understand their rough drafts. Some tried to exchange and read each other’s features. Only four groups could complete the task. The other three groups read what they had written and promised to complete the page later.
Learning Outcomes
The members of one group developed news items which focused on ‘studies’ in their country, much influenced by the education supplement they had read.
Another group, the most organized among the entire class included news on different topics including politics, weather, culture, nutrition, presidential elections and sports giving equal representation to the countries they were from.
Group three and four had predominantly focused on their respective countries, not so much to present news from their countries, but mostly the aspects that they were familiar with. Some of them wrote a brief description of their countries while the others wrote about the place they came from. We realized that they needed more help with exploiting the newspaper as a source of ideas and language. However, some of them gave creative and catchy captions too.
A few of the interesting features that emerged were as follows:
A Few More Reflections
Why is it that some participants preferred to describe their countries?
This being the very first session of the programme, it appeared that the ice had not been broken among the participants yet. Not many knew the names or the nationalities of their classmates. They were eager as ‘cultural ambassadors’ to share information on their country. So, they might have considered describing their places a good introduction to themselves.
Was the Task Difficult?
They did not think so. In fact, they were so engrossed in reading and trying to make sense that they were left with very little time to think and write about any news about their country. While some were interested in the celebrities page, others were looking over the sports page. Some participants looked for news about their countries and were very happy when they found them.
The activity involved reading, writing, and presenting the report orally. They enjoyed every stage and particularly the last one. They read enthusiastically and uninhibitedly.
Spin Offs
The activity raised the participants’s meta awareness of various reading strategies. For instance, making use of background knowledge, inferencing, and monitoring comprehension (both local and global).
Beyond This Classroom
Quite a few participants wanted to borrow the newspapers so they could read them later. This filled us with a sense of fulfillment.
While documenting this experience, we thought of a follow up activity which did not occur to us at the time of the class. The participants are in constant touch with people through the phone and the email. They could write a brief note on any news from their countries that they would like to share with others and put it on the notice board. This will certainly highlight their concerns, create a discussion forum, and help perspectives emerge.
Variations of this activity such as preparing a regional page or national page might work equally well in any classroom. Especially in the developing countries where there are many rural and first generation learners in the urban English classroom. These activities create opportunities for the class to understand each other as humans with values and concerns and not just ESL learners.
The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. XIII, No. 3, March 2007http://iteslj.org/
http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Dheram-Newspapers.html
بهترین زمان یادگیری زبان دوم و سوم
موضوع: مقالاتArticles شنبه یکم دی 1386
خانواده ها باید تا ۱۸ ماهگی تنها زبان مادری را آموزش دهند، ۳۶ ماهگی بهترین زمان یادگیری زبان دوم و سوم است. به گزارش ایسنا، گفتار درمانی وظیفه ارزیابی، تشخیص، درمان و مشاوره بیماران با اختلالات ارتباطی، کلامی، گفتاری و زبانی را برعهده دارد، بر اساس تعریف سازمان بهداشت جهانی، کم توانی شامل آسیب دیدگی فرد است که به دنبال آن مجموعه ای از محدودیت ها و کاهش مشارکت فعال فرد به وجود می آید. همچنین توان بخشی یعنی رساندن به حداکثر توان مندی فکری، فیزیکی، روانی و کارکردهای اجتماعی فرد جهت رسیدن به استقلال نسبی است. تأخیر رشد گفتار و زبان از شایع ترین اختلالات گفتار و زبان به شمار می رود، این اختلال شایع ناشی از عقب ماندگی، بیش فعالی، درخود ماندگی، فلج مغزی و محیطی است. کودک در ۱۲ ماهگی باید توانایی گفتن دو یا سه کلمه را داشته باشد، همچنین کودک باید در ۱۸ ماهگی ۳۰ تا ۵۰ کلمه و در ۲۴ ماهگی ۲۰۰ تا ۳۰۰ کلمه را قادر به بازگو کردن باشد. کودکانی که توانایی چنین فعالیت هایی در زمان های معین را ندارند، باید توسط یک گفتار درمانگر معاینه شوند. چند زبانی در کشور یکی از ریز فاکتورها در تأخیر رشد گفتار و زبان است، طی تحقیقات انجام گرفته، ۹ ماه دوران جنینی در وضعیت رشد فرد در آینده تأثیر زیادی دارد. بنابراین توصیه می شود تا ۱۸ ماهگی با کودک تنها با زبان مادری صحبت شود؛ زیرا پس از این زمان، با ایجاد مسیرهایی در مغز و اعصاب، امکان آموزش زبان دوم فراهم می شود. ۳۶ ماهگی بهترین زمان برای آموزش زبان دوم و سوم است، لکنت زبان هم یکی از اختلالات بسیار شایع جامعه محسوب می شود که در کودکان دو تا پنج ساله به صورت لکنت زبان طبیعی بروز می کند.
در صورتی که خانواده ها این اختلال را با مدیریت صحیح بگذرانند، لکنت زبان پس از طی مدتی از بین خواهد رفت. به طوری که یک درصد کودکان در سنین مدرسه دچار این اختلال هستند. همچنین برای درمان اختلال در تلفظ کلمات پس از سه سالگی در کودکان باید به یک گفتار درمانگر مراجعه کرد. اختلال اوتیسم یکی از اختلالات گفتار و زبان در حال افزایش است، متأسفانه این اختلال پیش رونده در بیشتر اوقات با دارو مورد درمان قرار می گیرد. به طوری که براساس آمار ۵ سال گذشته، از هر ده هزار نفر، ۱۵ نفر دچار این اختلال شده اند. ۵ تا ۱۰ درصد کودکان دچار اختلال بیش فعالی در سنین مدرسه می شوند، بر اساس آمار سازمان بهزیستی در سال ،۷۳ شیوع اختلالات گفتار و زبان در زنان ۱/۷ درصد و در مردان ۶/۹ درصد بوده است. همچنین در سال ۷۳ باید ۴۶ هزار گفتار درمانگر در کشور فعالیت می کردند اما این در حالی است که تنها تاکنون ۱۳۳۱ گفتار درمانگر در کشور فارغ التحصیل و فعالیت می کنند. بهترین دوران آموزش زبان تا سن مدرسه است، چنانچه تا سن ۱۳ سالگی فرد در معرض زبان قرار نگیرد، فراگیری زبان به سختی و در برخی اوقات غیر ممکن است. استفاده از درمان های سنتی و خود درمانی در رفع اختلال گفتاری در بین مردم بسیارشایع است که استفاده از «تخم کفتر» در درمان تأخیر رشد گفتار و زبان به هیچ عنوان پایه علمی ندارد.
منبع:روزنامه ابرار
How to improve your vocabulary?
Following are a few methods for expanding your vocabulary with words you will fell comfortable using. Try one or more of these at your convenience. The ones that seem most appealing will probably work best for you.
1. Make a list of subjects that fascinate you the most. The more you enjoy a topic, the easier to learn about it. Now go to your local library and search for a dictionary of words specific to one of these topics. For example If you like baseball you may find a dictionary of baseball words. Not every topic will have its own dictionary of relevant words, but you? Once you have found a dictionary for one of your favorite topics, thumb through it looking for words that you have never heard or having found the words you have heard that you don’t know the meanings of. The sheer joy of having found the words and their meanings will help the sink into your memory. Since they relate to a favorite topic, you will likely practice and use them regularly with all the commitment needed to make them a part of regular conversation.
2. In different parts of the country people favor different words. Try picking up or subscribing to a newspaper from another part of the country. Or enlist a friend or relative from another area to join in on vocabulary improvement and offer to send them a copy of your heaviest big city newspaper in exchange for yours. Or go online and read such a newspaper on line for free.
3. To make learning easier and more productive, use flash cards in a new and more effective way to master several words at once. Instead of putting separate words on separate cards with separate meanings. Pick four words on separate cards with separate meanings. Pick four words that all have the same or similar meanings and write them on one side with their meanings clearly identified on the other. Since you will be learning the same or very closely related word meanings for four words, you will be learning four words and one definition with slightly subtle changes. This brings it all together as one task in which you learn four times as much in about times,
4. Objective words are easier because you are learning the definition of a word which is also a tangible item that you can picture in your mind. Go to a unique curio shop, specially the store or science or other obscure type of museum you have never been to before. Keep any brochures or other documentation that describes what you are seeing. Let the mental pictures drive the names of these items and their descriptions deep into your mind for recall later.
5. You learn much more by being humble than being proud. Just as when driving you should be willing to stop and ask for directions, you shouldn’t be afraid to do some digging when there is a word you should understand. Look it up or even have the courage to ask. Go on a word hunt. Write down what you didn’t understand and quickly hound that word and its meaning with your own research until you find it. The satisfaction of that one word will bolster your confidence that you can learn many other words if you want to.
Reading and Listening Are The Keys To Unconscious Communications
Many English learners believe that they must memorize all or most of the rules of English grammar in order to be able to speak it correctly. Some students and teachers even think that studying grammar is a “shortcut” or faster way to improve someone’s English. Unfortunately, this is usually not true, especially for speaking and listening. When you are speaking or listening, you usually don’t have time to stop and think about specific grammar rules consciously. If you did, you would have to speak…very…slowly…like…this! Most of what we use when we communicate is “unconscious”; that is, we use knowledge that we don’t have to think about or even know the rules for.
Here’s a very important point to understand: The best way to be able to use good grammar is to listen and to read English you can understand. Most native speakers of English can’t explain to you the rules of grammar, but they can speak and write English without any problems. How is this possible? Because they have listened and read a lot of English, and they “know” the rules unconsciously, without having to think about them. For you to get this same ability, you only need to listen and read as much as you can in English.
http://esl-advices.blogspot.com
To speak or not to speak, that is the question
A friend is making a decision that you fear will hurt him. Should you say something? You may have done so in a similar situation in the past, only to have received an "it's none of your business" look in response. What should you do? Speak up or keep quiet? Do loyalty and the desire to help require you to speak your mind, or does respect for the person's privacy require you to say nothing? Tough question.
All you'll get from strangers is surface pleasantry or indifference.
Only someone who loves you will criticize you.
- Judith Christ
Be who you are and say what you feel because those
who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
- Santiz
Ask yourself how sure you are of your opinion. Do you have facts and personal experience or are you operating on a hunch? Criticizing someone is no small matter and many people don't take it lightly. But it you are sure of your judgment and can help prevent a friend from making a mistake then it is not an option but an obligation to speak up.
Do you have your facts together? Be courageous and speak up! **True friends are those who care without hesitations, who remember without limitations, who give without expectations and love even without communication. Friendship doesnt need everyday conversation doesnt always need togetherness, as long as the
relationship is kept in the heart,true friends never go apart....... ...** Sadat Moshtaghian
روش اعجاب انگیز آموزش زبان انگلیسی!
"واقعیت این است که روشهایی برای یادگیری بهتر وجود دارند، روانشناسان با پژوهش های چندین ساله به این واقعیت رسیده اند که چگونگی فرآیند یادگیری از خود فرآیند یادگیری مهم تر است و از این رو باید به روش آموزشی که انتخاب می کنیم توجه ویژه ای داشته باشیم."
احتمالا شما هم این روزها با تبلیغات مختلفی در مجلات و اینترنت برخورد کرده اید که ادعا می کنند زبان انگلیسی را به طور معجزه آسا و در مدتی کوتاه به شما آموزش می دهند. انگلیسی در خواب، آموزش با امواج آلفا، روش X، روش MGM-PLN و دهها اسم نا آشنا و جدید دیگر. ما در مورد این شیوهها ابراز نظر نمی کنیم چون هرگز آنها را تجربه نکرده ایم اما اگر نگاهی به این نوع تبلیغات بیندازید می بینید که اساس همه آنها استفاده تبلیغاتی از تمایل افراد برای یادگیری سریع و بی دردسر زبان است. مسلما همه مشغلههای درسی و کاری زیادی دارند و یا خود را برای آزمونی آماده می کنند که وقت چندانی تا آن باقی نمانده است. در این هنگام همه می خواهند به بهترین و سریعترین روش به یادگیری زبان بپردازند، اما برخی متاسفانه به این واقعیت توجه نمی کنند که اگر این روشهای معجزه آسا واقعیت داشت، الان می بایست در بسیاری از کالجها و مدارس دنیا که هر روز به دنبال شیوههای مدرن تر هستند به طور گسترده از این روشها استفاده می شد و حال آنکه شیوههای سنتی آموزش همچنان به قوت خود باقی هستند و شما هیچ خبری از موفقیت این شیوهها در اخبار و تحقیقات پژوهشی نمی بینید.
اما واقعیت چیست؟
آیا همه این شیوهها کذب محض است؟
واقعیت این است که روشهایی برای یادگیری بهتر وجود دارند، روانشناسان با پژوهش های چندین ساله به این واقعیت رسیده اند که چگونگی فرآیند یادگیری از خود فرآیند یادگیری مهم تر است و از این رو باید به روش آموزشی که انتخاب می کنیم توجه ویژه ای داشته باشیم. آنها همچنین به این اصل رسیده اند که مغز انسان تنها با تصاویر کار می کند، به عبارت دیگر هر چیزی که شما می شنوید، می بیند و یا می خوانید یا احساس می کنید برای پردازش در مغز ابتدا به صورت تصاویر ذهنی در می آیند و بعد مغز آن را درک می کند. برای درک بهتر این موضوع به واژه "درخت" توجه کنید. مغز شما بلافاصله بعد از برخورد با این واژه تصویر یک درخت را در ذهن شما بازسازی می کند، حالا سعی کنید در حالی که به واژه درخت توجه می کنید این تصویر را از ذهن خود خارج کنید، غیر ممکن است که بتوانید چنین کاری کنید و بفهمید درخت چیست و تصویر آن را در ذهن تجسم نکنید. حال به واژه "فلخکولوبیس" توجه کنید، این واژه حتما برای شما بی معنی است، تنها به این دلیل که مغز شما نمی تواند تصویر آن را تجسم کند و حال چنانچه پیوندی در مغز شما بین این واژه و یک تصویر وجود داشته باشد، به راحتی آنرا درک می کنید.
یادگیری یک زبان خارجی هم دقیقا فرآیندی مشابه است. بگذارید یک مثال واقعی بزنیم. شما مشغول مطالعه زبان انگلیسی هستید که ناگهان با لغت جدید “peacock” مواجه می شوید. در ابتدا این لغت کاملا برای شما نامفهوم و بی معنی است تا اینکه با مراجعه به فرهنگ لغت متوجه شوید معنی این لغت "طاووس" است. در این لحظه اتصال ذهنی بین لغت peacock و تصویر طاووس در ذهن شما شکل می گیرد، و البته با تکرار می توانید این پیوند را قوی تر و ماندگارتر کنید. حال اگر بخواهید در همان لحظه یک پیوند قوی بین این دو ایجاد کنید چه می کنید؟ در اینجاست که باید علاوه بر تکرار از تکنیک های کمکی استفاده کنید که به ایجاد هر چه بهتر این تصویر ذهنی کمک می کنند. گفتیم که مغز انسان با تصاویر کار می کند، پس هر چه تصویر ورودی به مغز واضح تر و شفاف تر باشد، به شکل بهتری در مغز ذخیره می شود. حال اگر لغت peacock را بشکافیم می بینیم که این لغت خود از دو لغت pea به معنی نخود سبز و cock به معنی خروش تشکیل شده است. حال می توانیم تصویری در ذهن خود مجسم کنیم که یک طاووس بسیار بزرگ مشغول خوردن نخود سبز است، البته این طاووس به جای دم زیبای خود یک دم خروس دارد. فقط کافی است تا یک لحظه این تصویر را به طور واضح در ذهن خود مجسم کنید تا دیگر به سختی بتوانید آن را فراموش کنید. حال هر وقت کسی از شما بپرسد که طاووس به انگلیسی چه می شود بلافاصله آن تصویر عجیب طاووس با دم خروس در حال خوردن نخودسبز در ذهن شما مجسم می شود و بعد از چند لحظه واژه peacock را به خاطر می آورید.
روشهایی وجود دارند که به وسیله آنها می توانید همه لغات، اعداد و حتی مفاهیم غیر شهودی(مانند دیدن، گرفتن، دوست داشتن و ...) را به صورت تصویر واضح در ذهن خود در بیاورید، به این روشها در اصطلاح "نمونیک" گفته می شود. طبق تعاریف "نمونیک (Mnemonics) عبارتست از تکنیک هایی برای به خاطر سپاری که تنها به تکرار مطالب اکتفا نمی کند. بلکه با ایجاد رابطه بین مفاهیم تازه و اطلاعات قبلی موجود در مغز که به راحتی یادآوری می شوند(تصاویر، ریتم، آهنگ و ...)، در به خاطرسپاری و یادآوری مطالب کمک می کند."
یکی از بهترین جاهایی که می توان از نمونیک استفاده کرد در فرآیند یادگیری یک زبان خارجی است. با این روش به سرعت و با حداقل تکرار می توان دایره لغات خود را تا حد چشمگیری افزایش داد، فراموش نکنید که همه کسانی که دارای حافظه خارق العاده هستند و یا توانایی صحبت کردن به چندین زبان مختلف را دارند به نوعی(شاید هم ندانسته) از این تکنیک ها بهره می برند و بدون استفاده از این تکنیک ها شاید حافظه آنها از افراد عادی هم ضعیف تر باشد. در مورد این تکنیکها در آینده به طور مفصل توضیح خواهیم داد. اما در پایان این نوشته خاطر نشان می کنیم که مبحث نمونیک بسیار گسترده بوده و همچنین اصلی ترین ابزار کمکی حافظه است. پس بهتر است از این به بعد روش اعجاب انگیز یادگیری زبان انگلیسی را به نام نمونیک بشناسیم.
منبع: http://learnenglish.webgah.net/