7/23/13

Teaching Unplugged

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TeachingUnplugged
Usingtherawmaterials:Adogmeapproachtoteachinglanguage ScottThornbury&LukeMeddings (ThisarticlefirstappearedinModernEnglishTeacher) AwhilebackScottwroteanarticlecalledADogmaforEFLinwhichhequestionedthevalueof materialsdriventeaching,andinwhichheinvitedlanguageteachers,trainersandwritersto adoptapoorpedagogyapedagogyunburdenedbyasurfeitofmaterialsandtechnology,a pedagogygroundedinsteadinthelocalandrelevantconcernsofthepeopleintheroom. Byanalogy,Scottinvokedtheprinciples(andname)oftheDogme95filmcollective,whose intentionwastoridfilmmakingofanobsessiveconcernfortechniqueandtorehabilitatea cinemawhichforegroundsthestory,andtheinnerlifeofthecharacters.Tothisend,theDogme filmmakersdrewupavowofchastity.Scottarguedthatasimilarleannessandrigourmight usefullyinformcurrentlanguageteachingpractice.Notbecausematerialsandtechnologyare intrinsicallybad,butbecausetheyarelargelyredundantandbecausetheymayhaveblindedus tothestorythatis,thenecessaryconditionsforlanguagelearning.Where,forexample,is thelearnersownershipoftheprocess?Whereisengagement?Whereistalk?Moreoftenas not,learningopportunitiesaresuffocatedbyaweightofphotocopies,visualaids,OHP transparencies,MTVvideoclips,boardgames,CDRoms,nottomentiontheubiquitouscourse bookandallitsaddons.Somewhereintherewemayhavelosttheplot. InasimilarspirittotheDogmefilmakingcollective,andinordertochallengethereigning materialsdrivenorthodoxy,ScottsuggestedthatthefirstvowofDogmeELTshouldbethat Teachingshouldbedoneusingonlytheresourcesthatteachersandstudentsbringtothe classroomi.e.themselvesandwhateverhappenstobeintheclassroom. Teaching,inotherwords,shouldbedrivenby,andbasedin,thecontentthatissuppliedbythe peopleintheroom.Thisrequiresoftheteacherthecapacitytoreactto,andshape,the languagethatemergesfromthesharedneedtocommunicate.Unsurprisingly,therefore,a questionthathasoftenbeenputtodogmeteachersis:Howexactlytoyoureacttoand shapethisemergentrawmaterial? Forexample,inapostingtothedogmediscussiongroup (www.groups.yahoo.com/group/dogme)DanHummasked:"Whatdothepeopleinthisgroupdo withtheinformationwegather?Informationgathering(knownmorehumanelyaslistening)isa centralfeatureofthismethodbutwhatisthenextstage?Howdowemakeexercises,drills, boardthewords,roleplaysetc.?Inshorthowdowemakealessonfromthematerialwe receive?" HereishowweattemptedtoanswerDan'squestion: Firstofall,it'simportanttoemphasisethatdogmeisnotaboutmaterialsfreeactivities(like warmersandfillers)butitisaboutmaterialslightteaching.Thatis,it'saboutdesigningand managingwholelessonsthatareprimarilybasedonthelanguagethatemergesoutofthe communicativeneeds,interests,desiresofthepeopleintheroom.So,theimplicationofDan's

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Teaching Unplugged

questionis:havinggotsomeemergentlanguage,howdoyoufashionalesson(ie.coherent sequenceofactivities)outofit? Let'sstartatsentencelevel(orutterancelevel)withaconcretee.g..Astudent,inanswertothe question,"Whatareyourplansfornextmonth"says"Nextmonth,IplangotoSanFranciscofor sightseeing". Immediatelytheteacherhastheoptionoffocusingonthecontent("Ohyeah,haveyouever beenbefore?etc)orontheformbycorrecting,byelicitingaselfcorrectionorapeer correctionoronbothmeaningandformtogether,byaskingforclarification("Youwhat?)or througharecast("Ohyou'replanningtogotoSanFranciscotodosomesightseeing?).Orthe teacherstoresthisawayby,forexample,makingabackoftheenvelopenoteofit,ors/he couldevenberecordingthestudent.Atsomepoint,eithersoonerorlater,theteacherhasthe optionofretrievingthissentence.Itcouldgoupontheboarditmaycomeupinatranscription oftherecording. Atthispoint(ofretrieval)therearelotsofwaystogo.Herearesomeoptions: Savetheboardingofituntilmoreerrorsofasimilartype(eitherrelatingtofuturityorto nonuseoftoinfinitive("forsightseeing")haveemerged.Putthemuptogetherandask learnersinpairs/groupstocorrectthem,andtojustifytheircorrectionsbyreferenceto rules.Elicitsubstitutions(I'mplanningtogoto___to___).Asklearnerstowriteasmany astheycaninXminutes.Drillsomeoftheseforfluidpronunciationifnecessary. Ifnomoreerrorsofthesametypecomeup,putitup,anyway,aspartofaselectionof variederrors,andfollowmoreorlessthesameprocedure. Asklearners(individuallyorinpairs)totranslatethecorrectedsentencesintotheirL1, cleantheboard,andthengetthemtotranslatethesentencesbackintoEnglish. Askthemtoreconstructfrommemorythepartoftheconversationthatelictedthe targetedsentence,andtowriteit,incorporatingtheircorrections.(Iftheconversationhas beenrecorded,youcanplaybackthesectiontorefreshtheirmemories). Reenacttheconversationwiththestudentwhoproducedthemistake.Organisepairsof learnersdothis(i.e.roleplayit). Askthemtowriteanewconversation,butincorporatingsomeofthecorrectedsentences. Practiseandperform. Asklearnerstotesteachotheronthesentencecorrections:ifamonolingualclass:How doyousay[L1version]?Ifmultilingual:"Andreassaid...Canyouimprovethat?" Sofarwehavebeentalkingaboutisolated(andnonstandard)sentences.Suppose,however, theteacherhadrespondedto"Nextmonth,IplangotoSanFranciscoforsightseeing"withthe "Ohyeah,andhaveyoubeentherebefore?"option,andhadgoneontoelicitachunkoftalk aboutthisstudent'splannedtriptothecity.Theteacherthenwantsto"capture"thisemergent languageanduseitasafocusforlanguagework.Somewaysofdoingthismightbe: Asklearnersinpairs/groupstoreconstructthechunkofconversation,writingdownwhat theycanremember.Monitor,correct,collecterrorsandproblems,forboardingand plenarydiscussion. Or,askAndreastocomeuptothefrontandsay,"OKlet'shavethatchatagain.Youlot listen,andseeifyoucanimproveit".Reruntheconversation,butsignalpause,rewind, whenyouwanttoinvolvetheothers.Keeparunningtranscriptionoftheconversationon theboard,ifyoucan.Usethisforfurther,openclass,studylateron. Extractsomeusefulfunctional,chunktypelanguagefromthereconstructed conversation:"Ohyeah.Everbeenbefore?Howlongfor?"etc.Boardthisasktherest

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oftheclassinpairstohave(real)conversationsstarting"Whatareyourplansfornext month?"andaskthemtoincorporatethesechunksifandwhereappropriate.Rerun someoftheseconversations,e.g.performancestyleupthefrontoftheclass,orrecord oneortwo.Askthemtowritethemupforhomework. Extractrelevantgrammarpointsandencouragelearnerstowritetheirown"grammar reference"forthelessonwithexamples.Theycandothesamewithvocabulary.This thengoesintotheirnotebooks. Asktheminpairs/groupstodesignatestbasedontheabove(e.g.gapfills,jumbled sentencesetc).Theythenexchnagetests,dothem,andthensendthembackfor marking. Askstudentstowriteasummaryofthelesson(innarrativeform)fortheAbsentStudent. TakeAndreas'sconversationalchunkandreformulateitasaletter,say,ontotheboard, withtherestoftheclasshelping."NextmonthIplantogotoSanFrancisco.etc"Orleave theroomandletthemdothis,leavinghalftheboardfreeforyourreformulationofthe classtextwhenyoureturn. RoleplaytheconversationasifyouwereaTVintervieweryoucouldrecorditatsame time.Gobackandlookatthestrengths,weaknesses. Askthemtodothesametoyouthentheyattempttoreconstructtheinterviewfrom memory(writing). AskstudentstopreparequestionstoaskAndreasabouthistrip.(Meanwhilehe anticipatestheseandwritespossibleanswers).Collectthesequestionsforlaterstudy andanalysis.Theythenpractisetheminsimilarconversationswitheachotherinpairs. RoleplayvariousstagesofAndrea'strip(travelagent,customs,hotel,policestationetc). RoleplaytheconversationtheywillhavewhenAndreasgetsback("Howwasyour trip...?" Theimportantthing,Ithink,istocapturetext,whethersentences,bitsoftalkorwhole conversations,andthenputthiscapturedtexttowork,improvingit,rehearsingit,performingit, reformulatingitinanothermode(speechtowriting,writingtospeech)orregister(formal,public orinformal,private).Andtheremustbesomefocusedattentiononthelanguagebutnotjust ontheweaknesses,alsoonthestrengths.Andtheremustbesomekindofsummarisingactivity, fortherecord. Thisiswhatismeantbyareactivefocusonlearnerlanguageoneinwhichthelearners languageisasmuchtheprocessastheproductofinstruction.Inthenextissuewewilllookat waysthatsuchalearnerdrivenapproachcanbereconciledwiththeuseofcoursebooks.

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