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English as 2nd Language

BRAIN Friendly English Learning - NLP
Recently, I had the great privilege of taking part in a workshop held by Mark Fletcher,
Academic Director of English Experience in England. I wold like to share some of what I
learned at this workshop and introdce some of the basic ideas and an e!ample e!ercise
that Mark presented to s. "his approach stresses the se of both the left and right
hemispheres of the brain and employs information from theories of mltiple intelligence,
sggestopedia, and nero#lingistic programming.
"he nderlying fondation $greatly simplified% of this learning&teaching theory is that
there are many factors which need to be integrated into the learning process
"he right brain and the left brain
"he left hemisphere is concerned with logical and analytical skills
"he right hemisphere is the center of visal, rhythm, 'artistic' abilities
"he reflex brain
(timlated by activity, the 'refle! brain' makes sre the brain has the o!ygen it
needs to fnction well.
"he limbic system
)inks memory with emotion and is stimlated by 'self investment' i.e. personal
involvement
"he new brain
"he new brain is the area of the brain that creates new material
Different learning styles
"he idea that langage is best learned when presented and worked on throgh a
combination of the ear $aditory%, the eye $visal%, and by movement $kinetic%
In this style of learning&teaching, any given e!ercise stimlates many of the above areas
in order to involve as mch of the brain as possible in the learning e!perience, thereby
prodcing more effective reslts.
*ow, let+s take a look at an e!ample of an e!ercise which illstrates some of the above.
Mind Map
First draw a map on the board with a pictre representing the sb,ect of the
reading in the center and key words srronding the pictre. -ave stdents copy
the map on to a piece of paper. $"he right brain is artistically stimlated%
.lace an article yo want to read on the floor. -ave stdents get p and walk
across the room to get the article $in this way the reflex brain is pt to work
pmping o!ygen into the brain thereby making the stdents more alert%.
-ave stdents /ickly read throgh the article. Make sre that they do not stop to
look p new words # a /ick scan is all that+s needed. $"he left brain works
friosly to nderstand and pt things into place%.
0et stdents to then fill ot the map by writing in all they can remember nder the
key words. $the limbic system is already investing itself by making a commitment
to go back to the article to find ot any missing information%
-ave stdents pair#p and share and discss their maps $new brain activity as
stdents try to come p with e!planations to their maps%
-ave the pairs go back to the article to compare their maps with the information in
the article $the limbic system has made an investment and the left brain can not
wait to get back and fill in all the holes%
)et+s practice the above e!ercise with a mind map here on the *et.
1here2
1hat time of year2
1hat activity2
1hat e/ipment is sed2 1hy2
Any problems2 1hich2
1ho2
Make a copy of this map on a piece of paper and go to the reading at Mountainzone.com.
3ickly read the article and then retrn to this page and fill ot the map yo have made.
0o throgh the steps above and I+m sre yo+ll find that yor interest has been arosed.
4f corse, the clicking of a mose btton doesn+t do mch to stimlate o!ygen intake
$yo might get p and walk arond the room, thogh5%. -owever, seeing the beatifl
pictres, drawing yor own map, and investing yor imagination to help yo remember
help to make this learning e!perience sefl.
"his featre is, of corse, ,st a sperficial introdction to the ideas at English Experience
as presented by Mark Fletcher, bt I hope it served to interest yo in this type of
e!ercise&teaching&learning e!perience. As a teacher, I find them very stimlating and look
forward to getting into the classroom to try these techni/es ot. Many thanks to Mark for
a great learning weekend5
Email and let me know what yo think abot this e!citing approach to learning and
teaching. For more information contact English Experience where yo can find sample
e!ercises and lesson plans from a wealth of teaching and training materials.
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