Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ofeducationanddevelopment
I S S U E N U M B E R 3
A P R I L 1 9 9 7
C O N T E N T S
Editor ial
MatthewBarnard
SET ResponsesforGivingOralFeedback
DerrinKent
CommunicativeMethodologies:AreTheyAlwaysAppropriate?
CarriePriestley
GenreAnalysis:AWayOutoftheCuldeSac
PaulRoberts
12
ColourfulCorrection:ActionResearchintoErrorCorrection
ViljaWheatcroft
15
TuningIn DealingWithAuthenticListening
MarkLloyd
17
UsingConcordances
PhilipKerr
21
WhatsHotontheWEB
GavinDudeney
23
24
QuestionsandAnswers
ImplementingaTaskBasedApproachWithoutTaskBasedMaterials
PeterMoor
25
29
TheBenWarrenIHTrustPrizeShortList1997
ReadingsinTeacherDevelopment: InterviewWithPaulineTaylor
PhilipKerr
30
ItWasntLikeThatinMyDay:CELTAQuizAnswers
WendyColeby
32
InternationalHouseLondon1997
PublishedbyInternationalHouseLondon
EditedbyMatthewBarnard
DesignbyMatthewBarnard
ISSN13683292
Editor ial
Whatsyourapproachbeenrecently?
IwasaDOSinHungaryforatime,someyearsback,andIrememberinterviewingastudentwho
was considering moving to IH from another school in Budapest. It was one of those occasions
when a student asks you what your approach is, and to justify it to them before they have
experienced it. Always a tricky one because you can never be absolutely sure that you are
speakingforyourcolleagueswhenitcomestosayingexactlywhatwillhappenintheclass.Icame
outwithalltheusual,safestuff,buttheprospectiveclientwasinsistentaboutfindingoutwhata
studentcentred, communicativelybased course might entail. I dont... he said want mumbo
jumboEnglishteachinglikein...(anotherschoolinthecity,Icouldntpossiblymentionhere).
Itsometimestakesanexperiencelikethatforyoutoberemindedofhowimportantitistomakea
point of reevaluating your teaching from the clients point of vieweverynowandthen.Trying
outnewideasinclasscanbeverystimulatingandproductive,butisitequallysoforthestudentas
fortheteacher?
Theresatimeforinnovationandtheresatimeforreflection.Thetroubleisknowingwhenthe
one has finished and the other started. It seems, in our sphere of teaching, that we are always
expected to be pushing forward the frontiers, developing ourselves and coming up with new
theories, approaches and acronyms. There always seems to be another approach on the horizon
for us to tryout,onethatseemstosuggestthatwhatwearedoingatthemomentiscompletely
wrong (how else could they expect any of us to tryBrand X?). I wonderifweallowourselves
enoughtimetoreflectsufficientlyonwhatandhowweareteachingatanygivenmomentwithout
reference to outside trends. Perhaps we could look more to our own classroom experience for
rationaleanddirectionratherthanthelatestpublishedpapersfromacademia.
AsJamesThurberoncesaid:scepticismisausefultooloftheinquisitivemind,butitisscarcelya
method of investigation, so I am not suggesting that we ignore what is going on outside our
schools,merelythatperhapswecouldlearnasmuchfromlookingagainatwhatisgoingoninside
them. This Journal provides us with an opportunity to do just that, and, judging from the
contributionswhichhavebeencomingin,thereseemstobeplentyoffoodforthought.
In thisissuewehavearticleswithpracticalideasfortheclassroom(includingwaysofcorrecting
students, of using authentic listening material and concordances, for example) as well as more
theoretical perspectives, with Carrie Priestleys piece on communicative methodologies and Paul
Roberts discussion of syllabus design. Peter Moor follows up his article in the last issue with
advice on how to adapt materials to ataskbasedapproach,DerrinKentlooksatwaysofgiving
oral feedback (drawing on an article in a womens magazine for his inspiration) and we have an
interviewwithPaulineTaylor,whodiscussesTDwithPK.
I hope you enjoy the read, and that you will soon be contributing to these pages yourself.
Meanwhile,ImsteeringclearofdiscussionsonthelatesttheoriesforfearthatwhenImentiona
teachingapproach,someonewill turnroundandsay:Pah!ThatwentoutwiththeARC.
MatthewBarnard
DirectorofStudies,IHLondon
TheIH Journal
the
o f e d u c a t i o n a n d d e v e l o p m e n t
NeedextracopiesofTheIH Journalforyourschool?
Doyouhavecolleaguesinotherschoolswhowould
likecopies?
TheIH Journalcannowbebought,price2.75,from:
TheBEBCBookshop,106Piccadilly,LONDONW1V9FL
THEREVISED
INDEXOFELT
M A T E R I A L S
Richar dAcklam
INTERNATIONALHOUSE
T E AC H E R T R AI N I N G
V I D E O S E R I E S
TheInternationalHouseVideoCollection
continuestogrow!Newtitlescomingoutthis
yearinclude:
LexicalApproaches
TaskBasedLearning
TeachingBeginners
Pronunciationwork
Allvideofilms(ELT,Executives,ModernLanguages,
TrainerDevelopment)haveaccompanyingmaterialsfor
privatestudyorgroupwork.
From44.00(plusP&P)includingVAT
(PALVHSonly)
Forinformationcontact: J imBlackman,
Thelongawaitedrevised
editionoftheIndexofEFL
Materialshasarrived!
Lovinglyupdatedand
extendedbyitsoriginal
compiler,RichardAcklam,
TheIndexwillprovemore
usefultoteachers,trainers
andtraineesthanever!
Aneasytouseindexofthe
mostpopularELTmaterials,
enablingyoutofindtheright
pieceofmaterialfroma
rangeofcoursebooksand
supplementarybooksto
presentandpractise
language.
SETRESPONSESFORGIVINGORALFEEDBACK
HowSETareyouinyourways? DerrinKent,fromInternationalHouse
Heliopolis,discusseswhatittakestobeatgivingfeedback
ImcalledaTITatwork.Imatrainerintraining.AssomebodynewtothejobIhavefrequently
felttheneedforsomebodytogivemesomedirectionastohowIcangiveeffectiveoralfeedback
toteachersinatrainingordevelopmentsituation.Itisnteasytopinpointexactlywhatittakesto
begoodatgivingoralfeedback,andIfindmyselfmakingallsortsoferrorsofjudgementasto
what works best in specific situations in the same way as I might when I teach, or when Im
learning a new language. What follows is an outline of an approach I have been using to
determinewhattosaytotheteachersIworkwithwhengivingoralfeedback.Imnotsayingthat
itseasytogetitrightImonlyputtingforwardawayofanalysingwhatweneedtodo.
SETresponsesforpoisonouspeople
As a cigarettesmoking, beerswilling, football
fan type of a male, Im a bit embarrassed to
confess that my thoughts here stemmed from
an article in a womens magazine. I havent
been able to find the magazine to quote
directly from it but, suffice to say the article
suggested using SET responses to deal with
what they referred to as poisonous people.
Apoisonouspersonisonethatgetsonyour
nerves and generally hassles you in your
everyday life. They could be subdivided into:
poisonous parents, poisonous friends,
poisonous bosses and so on. The article
intimated that these people generally interfere
as a result of their goodwill, and that the
reasontheydonotcommunicatewellwithyou
isthattheygenerallyfeelinsecureintheirown
position. It suggested using formulaic SET
responses (Support, Empathy, then Truth) in
ordertodiffusetheawkwardfeelingswehave
in our relationships with such people. For
example, to the poisonous parent you might
say: Youre a wonderfully caring father
(support) and I know it must be difficult for
youtoseememakingmistakes(empathy)butI
need to feel I can make my own decisions
(truth) to the poisonous friend: Youre a
reallygoodfriendtome(support)andIknow
youre feeling low at the moment (empathy)
but right now I have to get on with my work
(truth) and to the poisonous boss: Ive
learned so much from you (support) and I
know you love to see people making progress
SETresponsesinateachertrainingcontext
BeingoneofthosetediousTEFLerswhogets
obsessive about their work, I began thinking
about how we could apply this model to a
teacher training situation. After all, observed
teachers in an oral feedback situation, while
rarely being poisonous, are often insecure and
difficulttocommunicatewith.
Manypeopleinteachertraininghavetalkedto
me about non judgemental teacher
observationandsimilarconcepts.Mycurrent
feeling is that lesson observation feedback is
intrinsically judgemental and, in fact, that it is
best when the trainer does make some
informed judgementontheteachersteaching.
Whynotbeopenlyjudgementalwithteachers?
Whynottellteachersthetruthasyouperceive
it?Solongasyouheartilysupporttheworkof
the person you are working with, and
genuinelyempathisewiththeirperspective,my
beliefisthathonestyisthebestpolicy.
Ibelievethatatrainerwhogenuinelyfeelsand
conveys support, empathy and truth for
teachers is a trainer who will find it easy to
give good and effective oral feedback. The
competent trainer will confidently advise a
teacher with truth which is relevant to the
teacher, specific to the situation, timely for
the teacher and, most importantly, true (for
5
thetraineratleast).Letmeexpandalittleon
the way we might apply the concepts of
support, empathy and truth in the context of
giving postlesson observation feedback in
ELTteachertraining.
SUPPORT
You really need to be genuine about the
supportifitistobeofanyvalue.Youneedto
wantthatteachertoimproveinsomewayand
to feel convinced that this teacher isworthall
the diplomacy, tact and effort you can offer.
Should you believe that a teacher will, for
example,neverstopblockingorjusthasntgot
what it takes, you will not be able to support
the teacher effectively. You must actually
believethattheteacherisworthyourtimeand
energy, andthatsomeimpactontheteachers
teaching will result from the work you are
doingtogether.
EMPATHY
Empathy is not about predicting anothers
viewpointtryingtoguesstheideasofanother
person can actually prevent the trainer from
being able to genuinely empathise with the
teacher theyre working with. Real empathy
comes from the ability to elicit, listen to and
understand what the teacher is saying to you.
This involves lowering your predictive shield
far enough to be able to hear the teachers
perspective and being really tuned into the
comments the trainee makes in response to
what is said. Empathy is the ability to listen
intensively to what the teacher says and to
understand why they think that way. Nobody
isbynatureillogical,sotheteachermusthave
reached their conclusion orbeliefbymeansof
a logicalthoughtprocess.Ifitdoesnotseem
so,ifyourtruthappearstocomeasacomplete
revelation, it may just be because they have
never applied (or heard of?) your particular
teachingperspective.Beingempatheticmeans
being able toelicitandtofollowtheteachers
lineoflogicandtoechoitaccurately.Youcan
then allow your empathy to inform the
decisions you make as to how and when to
deliveryourtruth.
TRUTH
6
Situationalfactorsaffectingfeedback
Personalitytypeofteacher:
Currentmoodofteacher:
distracted?disillusioned?hungover?etc.
Timeavailablewithteacher:
urgentneedforimprovement?nextstageinanongoing
developmentalprocess?etc.
Personalrelationshipwithteacher:
friend?someoneyouhardlyknow?etc.
Professionalrelationship:
peer?unequal?mutualrespect?etc.
Formatofresponse:
wouldsome(S,EorT)responseshavemoreimpactin
writtenfeedbackratherthanoral?
Theextentofprofessional
experience/trainingoftheteacher
inrelationtoyouasthetrainer:
Wheredoyoupitchthecomplexityofyourtruth?
Whatlevelofjargon/academicreferencecanyougetaway
with?
Itistrue,also,thattherelativelyinexperiencedarevery
capableofopeningtheeyesofthemoreexperienced.
andfinally...
A concluding observation: dont let SET
responses become set responses. Dont
deliver them with the formulaic patter
proposedbythatwomensmagazinearticleI
wastellingyouabout.Neverletselfanalysis
cause you to lose your empathy with what
you are really doing. I dont speak from a
background of extensive teacher training
experience,andyouwillhaveobservedthatI
takemyinspirationfromjustaboutanywhere
Icangetit(!).Letme,though,besoboldas
to make one final assertion: teacher training
anddevelopmentisntaboutbeingclever,its
aboutenjoyingwhatwedoandlovingtosee
itdonewell.
ALWAYSAPPROPRIATE?
CarriePriestley,teacherandteachertraineratIHLondon,questionsourassumptionsabout
the ways students learn and suggests that teacher training courses may be too
Eurocentric.
Whosaidthefollowing,aboutwhom,andwhy?
b
a
Itsnousetryingtoelicitfrom
thesestudentstheyjustwont
sayanything.
Thestudentsalwayswantto
readaloud,butIthoughtwewerent
supposedtodothat.
Dontexpectthesestudentstolistento
eachother.Theyjustwont.
WheneverItrytousepairor
groupwork,thereschaos.
Answersbelow...
ncreasingly,CELTAtraineesarefinding
jobsinnonEuropeancountrieswherethey
mayencounterclassroomsituationsfor
whichtheyfeelorseemillprepared.The
commentsaboveweremadeeitherbynewly
trainedteachersor,alternatively,theywere
writtenonobservationreportsbyDirectorsof
Studies.Thesecommentscanbeseento
reflectadiscrepancybetweenteachers
expectationsandtheirinitialclassroom
experiencesinteachingsituationsabroad.
Itseemsclearthattheattitudesorbehaviourof
thelearnersbeingdescribedabove,perceived
bytheteachersasproblematic,cantoalarge
partbeattributedtooneoftwocauses:the
individualspreviouslearningexperienceor
culturalfactors.Bothofthesewillinfluence
learnersexpectationsregardingteachersroles
andclassroompractice.Thesecommentsalso
seemtoindicatethatcertainaspectsof
methodologywhichweencouragetraineesto
usecanappearculturallyveryforeignand
disconcertingtothelearners,afactwhich,if
weaccepttheexistenceoftheaffectivefilter,
mayhinderratherthanfosterlearning.
Inhelpingteacherstounderstandwhylearners
mayreactagainstorresistcertaintechniques
oractivities,theresearchdonebyGeert
Hofstedeintoculturalvariablescanproveof
greatuse.Hofstedeidentifiedfouraxes
againstwhichhemeasureddifferentcountries.
Twooftheseseemparticularlyusefulin
unravellingthecommentsabove.Thefirstof
these,powerdistance,relatestothewayin
whichdifferencesinstatusareinterpreted
withinaculture.Intheclassroom,power
distancemanifestsitselfintherelationship
betweentheteacherandthelearner.
AccordingtoHofstede,inculturesorcontexts
wherethereisasmallpowerdistance,teachers
andlearnerswilltendtoregardoneanotheras
equals,andteacherswillexpectandencourage
initiativesfromlearners.Inlargepower
distancecultures,learnerswilltendtotreat
theirteacherswithdistanceandrespect,and
willexpecttheteachertoinitiateallthat
9
happensintheclassroom.Thesecondaxisis
10
uncertaintyavoidance,whichdenotesthe
degreetowhichtheindividualsinacultureare
comfortablewithuncertaintyorindeterminacy.
Learnersincultureswhichdisplaystrong
uncertaintyavoidancetendencieswillfeel
comfortablewithverystructuredlearning
situations,wheretasksareclearlycontrolled
andactivitieshaveaquantifiableoutcome.
Learnerswilltendtobeconcernedwithgetting
therightanswerstotasksandmayfeel
dissatisfiedifthesearenotevidentattheend
ofanactivity. Theymayfeeluncomfortable
withhavingtosaypubliclythattheydonot
knowsomething.Theymayfindguessingor
beingaskedtobeimaginativeorcreative
unfamiliaranddisconcerting.Moreover,the
expectationisthatteachersshouldknowallthe
answerstheywilllosecredibilityiftheydo
notappeartoknow,orifthereisnocorrect
answertoataskbecauseitasksforapersonal
opinion.Bycontrast,inculturesinwhich
uncertaintyavoidanceisweak,learnerswill
tendtobecomfortableinopenendedlearning
situations,oneswherethereisnocorrect
solutionorwherecreativity,guessingand
imaginationareinvolved.Inthesecultures,
teachersmaysayIdontknowwithoutlosing
face.
Notonlydoesthisresearchhelptoexplainthe
reasonsforthelearnersapparentrecalcitrance,
italsoencouragesacknowledgementofthe
specificculturalcontextinwhichtheCELTA
coursedeveloped,whichinturndeterminesthe
classroompracticesweexpectandtherefore
condoneaswellasthosewhichwemay
condemnduetounfamiliarity.Underlying
assumptionsaboutteaching,learningand
classroompracticewhichinformthe
proceduresandtechniquesencouragedon
CELTAcoursesincludethefollowing:
cooperationispreferabletocompetitionin
learning,andlearnerscangainfrompeersas
wellasfromtheteacher
engagementoflearnersimaginationand
creativityisusefulandmotivating
maximisinglearnerspracticewillresultin
theirabilitytouselanguage
thereisnolargepowerdistancewhich
dividesteachersandlearners
mistakescanandshouldbelearntfrom
ratherthanregardedasasourceofshame
Theseassumptionsarereflectedintechniques
relatedtoclassroommanagementsuchas
elicitation,pairworkandgroupwork,whichare
intendedtomaximisestudentsactive
involvementinlessonsandtheirpractice
opportunities.
Asregardstheteachingofthereadingskillon
CELTAcourses,readingaloudisoften
discouragedinfavourofsilentreadingand
attemptingtotrainlearnersintheuseofsub
skills(skimming,scanning,inferring,guessing
orignoringunknownvocabulary)whichthey
supposedlyusewhenreadingtheirfirst
language.Theapparentunpopularityof
readingalouddoeshavevalidpedagogical
reasons:itmaynotbethemostproductiveuse
ofclassroomtimeitdoesnotnecessarily
indicatecomprehensionthereisadangerthat
therestoftheclassmayswitchoff,etc.But
whatissignificantisthattraineesmayemerge
fromaCELTAcourseholdingfasttotheidea
thatthistechniqueisintrinsicallybad,rather
thanfullyappreciatingthecontextorthe
underlyingassumptionswhichmitigateagainst
itsuse.
Itwouldthereforeseemappropriatefor
teachertrainingcoursestoinclude
considerationofvariousactivitytypesand
techniquesfromtheperspectiveofcultural
appropriacyandofhowtoadaptthesetosuit
differentlearnersexpectations.Directorsof
Studiescouldalsobriefnewteacherson
informationspecifictotheirenvironment.
Perhapsweshouldbelessconcernedwith
inculcatingtechniqueswhichmaypromote
inflexibleorintolerantviewsoflearning,and
moreconcernedtosendteachersoutintothe
worldbelievingthat,toparaphrasevon
Humboldt,aprimaryroleofteachersisto
createtheappropriateconditionsunderwhich
learnerscanlearn.
11
Whosaidthefollowing,aboutwhom,andwhy...
TheAnswer s
a)ThiscommentwasmadebyanewlytrainedteacheraboutherclassofJapanese
learners.Japaneseculturetendstowardshighuncertaintyavoidance:peopleare
reluctanttomakemistakesorconcedethattheydonotknowananswerinfrontofother
Japanesepeopleasthiswouldinvolvelossofface.Similarly,guessingorinventing
activities,forinstancewhenateacheraskslearnerstomakeupanameforacharacter,
mayinitiallyappearalienanddisconcerting.
b)ThiswassaidbyanewlytrainedteacherinJordan.InmanyArabiccultures,alotof
learninginvolvesmemorisationandrepetitionoffactsortexts,ratherthan
interpretationofthese.PeoplesattitudestotextsderivefromtheirviewoftheKoran,
whichisseenasthewordofGodandwhichistobememorisedandrecitedratherthan
interpreted.Furthermore,themechanicsofreading,whichincludedecipheringscript,
identificationofwordboundariesandsensegroups,oftenneedpracticeandthese
learnersmayfeelfamiliarandsecurewithreadingaloudactivitytypes.Ontheother
hand,beingaskedtoinferfromorinterprettextsmayappearalienoreven
blasphemous.
c) ThiscommentwasmadebyJordanianteachersofEnglishonatrainingcoursein
Ammanaimedatintroducingthemtocommunicativemethodology.Thiscoursewas
partofawidergovernmentinitiativetointroducenotionsofstudentcentredlearning
andcriticalthinkingintotheeducationsystem.Teacherswere,however,encountering
resistancefromlearners,parentsandschoolheads,partlyduetothefactthatJordanis
aculturewhichtendstowardsalargepowerdistance,whereasstudentcentredlearning
grewoutofcultureswhichdisplayasmallerpowerdistance.Itwasestablishedonthe
coursethatpossiblythebestwaytointroducecommunicativemethodsintoclassrooms
wasverygraduallyandsensitively
d)ThiscommentwasmadebyaDirectorofStudiestoanewlytrainedteacher,againin
Jordan.ItreflectsthedegreeofpowerdistanceofJordanianculture,inwhichteachers
areexpectedtobethesolesourceofknowledge.(Iwouldarguethoughthatlearners
canbeencouragedtolistentoeachotheriftheteacherbelievesitisusefuland
introducesactivitytypessuchasinformationgapsgraduallyandsensitively).
Bibliography:
Hofstede,Geert(1991)CulturesandOrganisations:SoftwareoftheMind,McGrawHill
Hofstede,Geert(1980)CulturesConsequences:InternationalDifferencesinWorkRelated
Values,SAGEPublications
12
tructuralanalysiseventuallyledmetoa
dead end in my teaching: likemanyof
my colleagues, I found that students
could go perfectly through the motions of a
grammar presentation and controlled
practice, could, under considerable duress,
evenproducestructurestoorderduringfreer
production,butcouldnot,orwouldnot,use
what I had taught them in their own
spontaneousspeechorwriting.
Ratherthanprovideathoroughgoingbottom
up or top down view of language, a
structural approach seemed, if any thing, to
beamiddleoutapproach.Thebottomup
view would allow us, for example, to look
carefully at, and understand, the meaning of
would (where a structural view hides the
meaningunderthesmokescreenvaguenessof
Conditional Type II).Itmightalsofreeus
from the tyranny of the present perfect
continuous, allowing our students to engage
in more normal conversations of the type:
Where have you been? Visiting my
friend.
Exampletexttypes
Compiledfrom: Halliday,1989, SpokenandWrittenLanguage,Oxford Mumby,1978, CommunicativeSyllabusDesign,Cambridge
recipe
article
advert
chat
manual
discussion
poem
argument
review
essay
pamphlet
speech
message
manual
joke
quarrel
dictionary
ticket
novel
prescription
letter
cheque
anecdote
quiz
conversation graffito
note
telegram
manifesto
subtitle
sign
phonebook
notice
instructions
biography
newspaper
bill
magazine
brochure
agreement
label
report
song
sermon
debate
story
lecture
interview
13
Genre,needsanalysisandlessonaims
Most of my teachinghasbeenandcontinues
to be in General English. Like many other
teachersandinstitutions,Ihavebeendirected
PlanforNeedsAnalysis
1.Whatwouldyouliketobeabletoreadmoreefficiently?
recipe
report
notice
article
manual
graffito
magazine
play
poem
message
biography
speech
cheque
instructions
textbook
review
letter
note
sign
story
menu
bill
pamphlet
dictionary
advert
novel
essay
interview
newspaper
brochure
2.Whatwouldyouliketobeableto 3.Whatwouldyouliketobeabletolistentomore
writemoreefficiently?
efficiently?
recipe
note
instructions
letter
cheque
notice
bill
report
essay
brochure
joke
chat
story
interview
anecdote
lecture
advert
song
debate
argument
review
message
discussion
play
conversation
speech
seminar
presentation
radio
programme
quiz
4.Whatwouldyouliketobeabletodoinspeakingmoreefficiently?
joke
discussion
interview
speech
conversation
story
chat
lecture
argument
presentation
Havingidentifiedneeds,itisaneasytasktosetaims:
Examplelessonaims:
toimprovestudentsabilitytoreadmanuals
toimprovestudentsabilitytowritereports
14
toimprovestudentsabilitytolistentothenews
toimprovestudentsabilitytotellstories
Genreanalysisandlessonpreparation
HowIusegenreanalysisinmyteaching
Atypicalseriesoflessonson,say,storytelling
mightfollowprocedures:
senderreceiverrelationship
exampletask:discusswhois
writing/speakingandtowhom
situation
exampletask:discusswhereyouwould
read/hearthis
overtintroductions
1. Presentation(ObservationandHypothesis
forming)studentslistentoastoryandare
guided towards picking out the stages (a:
involving the listener b: preparing the
background c: leading up to the main
events d: the main events e: storytellers
comments.
2. Presentation (Clarification) students
identify set phrases (Have I ever told you
PPPphrases:Imwritingthisletter....
presequence
PPPstructuringe.g.forastory:
Presequence,background,events,climax,
postsequence,comments
grammar
PPPheadlinegrammar,postcardgrammar,
newsgrammar,etc.
vocabulary
PPPgenrespecificitems/vocabularyuses
e.g.punsforadverts
phonology
PPPgenrespecificitemse.g.story:rising
toneforbackground,slowspeed/widerange
forimportanteventsinnarrative,rapid
speechandnarrowbandforunimportantfill
in.
17
communicationlinesbetweenallofusinthe
informationnetwork.Theinternetisonetool
whichwealreadyuseinourcommunication
flows,throughemailandtheWorldWide
Websites.AWorldWideWebintranet
facilityiscurrentlyinitsdevelopmentphase.
Onceoperational,allwhohaveaccesstothe
WorldWideWebwillbeabletoentera
passwordprotectedsiteforthelatestnews
andeventsinInternationalHouse.
ANEWKIDONTHEBLOCK
InternationalHousevisitorswillalsobeable
topostmessagesandreadrepliesonthe
InternationalHouseintranetsite.
18
Ifyouhaveanyideasorsuggestionson
informationwhichcouldbeofvalueworld
wide,pleasedocontactmeeitherthrough
yourschoolsinformationcontact,ordirectly
atCentralDepartment.Ilookforwardto
hearingfromyouwhetherrequestingor
givinginformation!
IngridStanden
TUNINGINDEALINGWITHAUTHENTICLISTENING
Mark Lloyd of IH Serrano describes a delightfully simple action
researchprojectintolearnersdifficultiesdealingwithauthenticspoken
English,andsuggestsasimpleexercisetohelpthemout.
Having taught monolingual classes in
Portugal, I couldnt help noticing when I
moved to Spain a considerable gap between
the level of comprehension of authentic
spoken English among upper intermediate
learners in the two countries. Portuguese
students, it seemed to me, generally found
tasks based on authentic listening material
(drawn from coursebook cassettes, feature
films, TV programmes recorded in the UK,
songsorextractsfromradioprogrammes,for
example) much easier to handle than their
Spanishpeers.Beingawarethatcinemafilms
andimportedTVprogrammesinPortugalare
invariably shown in their original language
with subtitles, and knowing Portuguese
people in general to be avid cinemagoers, I
concluded that listening skills are greatly
improved by regular exposure to authentic
English outside the classroom. In order to
test my hypothesis, I came up with a simple
experimentwithtwospecificaimsinmind:
1. In the class: to collect data which would
reveal both the extent to which
comprehensionincreasedasaresultofregular
exposure tospokenEnglish,andwhetherany
such increase in comprehension was derived
from:
a) theacquisitionofnewvocabulary
b) unconscious development of listening
strategies (listening for gist, specific
informationetc.)
c) increased confidence stemming from
familiarity with the sound of English
spoken by native speakers for native
speakers.
2.Outsidetheclass:tomotivatethestudents
tolookoutforopportunitiestohearauthentic
English outside the classroom, having seen
how the failure to understand every word
19
Results
InitialQuestionnaire
a) Almost all the students said they were
relatively happy with their progress,
whilst admitting that they could still
understandverylittlenaturalEnglish.
b) Eleven out of twelve regarded listening as
the most important skill for them
personally (althoughinfourcaseslistening
and speaking were rated equally). This
wasgenerallybecauseitwasdeemedtobe
most useful skill in their present or future
lineofwork.
c) Ten students said they did not receive
much exposure to spoken English (from
native speakers or other nationalities)
outside the classroom. Sources of
authentic English which were mentioned
were BBC World Service, VO films on
Canal Plus (the Spanish subscription
terrestrialTVchannel),SkyNewsandCNN
(through a satellite dish), and VO films in
the cinema, although only four mentioned
this, confirming my suspicion that despite
theincreasingeaseofaccesstoVOfilmsin
Spanish cinemas, the habit even amongst
advanced level students was still to watch
dubbed versions instead, at least when
payingtoseeitinthecinema.
Data
Withoutexceptiontherewasabigincreasein
the number of words written down (the two
biggest increases being from 29 to 85 words
and from 37 to 97 words). In general, each
studentwrotemorewordsoneachsuccessive
day, suggesting a gradual increase in
comprehension. It is very unlikely that the
students absolute listening comprehension
improved so dramaticallyinonlyfivedays.I
attributedtheincreasestostudents:
a) developing their own strategies for
approaching the task. They began by
including noncontent words pronouns
and auxiliaries which meant they missed
many contentwordswhichcarriedmeaning
and provided context. After only two
20
QUESTIONNAIRE1
1 HowmanyyearshaveyoubeenlearningEnglish?
2 Howdoyoufeelaboutitatthemoment?
Imveryhappywithmyprogress
OK,butImnotimprovingasquicklyasIwouldlike
OKintheclassroom,butIstillunderstandverylittlenaturalEnglishoutsidetheclassroom
Imnotmakinganyprogressatall
3 Whichofthesedoyoufeelhappiestabout?
writing
reading
listening
speaking
4 Whichdoyouthinkisyourweakestskill?
writing
reading
listening
speaking
5 Whichofthefourskillsismostimportantforyou,andwhy?
6 HowmuchofyourEnglishislearnedoutsidetheclassroom?
none25%50%morethan50%
7 HowoftendoyouhearEnglishoutsidetheclassroom?
neveroccasionallyveryoften(fromwhatsources?)
8 HowmuchnaturalEnglishdoyouthinkyouunderstand?
10%25%50%75%90%100%
9 WhatsourcesofnaturalEnglishdoyouhaveaccessto?(films,radioetc.)
AppendixOne
FOLLOWUPQUESTIONNAIRE
1 Whichnewsstoriescanyouremember?(Pleasewritedownafewwordsforeachone
sothatIcanidentifythestories).
3 Howdidyourlevelofcomprehensionchangefromdaytoday?
improvedalotimprovedslightlynochangedecreased
4 Whatexplanationscanyouthinkofforyouranswertoquestion3?
AppendixTwo
21
withthesekindsofthingswecantrainour
ears...
if you listen... youll learn to
distinguish/separatethewords...
you cannot pay much attention to all the
wordsbutonlythereallyimportantones.
Ive got used to the accent little by little
andIknowhow[theprogramme]works.
Conclusions
1. There is some evidence (the ease with
which the themes of many items were
recalled)thatmeaningisprocessedahead
of form, with students perhaps predicting
what would come next once they have
identifiedacontext.
2. Students appear to be capable of applying
subskills and strategies for listening
(guessing words from contextual or
phonological clues hazarding a guess at
unknown words predictingandactivating
personal schematic knowledge), without
directpromptingtodoso.
Fromthestudentspointofview,theprincipal
effect of the project was the raising of
awareness of the benefits to be gained from
searching for opportunities to hear authentic
English, namely, an almost immediately
noticeable improvement intheirlisteningsub
skills. It is my opinion that teachers have a
responsibilitytopromotelearnerautonomyby
encouraging their students to take advantage
of any such opportunities, however scarce
they may be, and this type of experiment
might be one way to do this whilsttakingup
no more than 2 3 minutes of any one class,
and 10 15 minutes of the teachers time
afterwards. I am convinced that a project
along these lines, even if adapted for an
extensive,threehoursaweekclass,wouldbe
both interesting for teachers (as this one was
for me) and motivating for students,
particularly those at an upperintermediate
level who feel that they have stopped
progressing or that their learning is focused
too much around exams rather than the real
worldoutsidetheiracademy.
US ING CONCORDANCES
PhilipKerr,DirectorofStudiesatIHLondon,looksatpracticalclassroom
applicationsoftheconcordancedlanguagedatathatisnowwidelyavailablein
printandontheNet.
The history of technological innovation in
languageteachinghasnotbeenaspectacular
success story. For most language teachers
around the world, the language laboratory
hasgonethewayoftherecordplayerandthe
boxofslides.Thecomputerhasdramatically
affected the quality of presentation of
teaching material, but advances in software
have yet to be fully exploited in most
classrooms.
The biggest technological impact on our
classroomsinrecentyearshasarguablycome
fromanunexpectedsource:thedevelopment
ofcomputertechnologytorecordandanalyse
largeamountsofreallanguageuse.Thishas
profoundly altered our understanding of
language, and a new generation of
dictionaries has emerged as a result. These
databases, or corpora, consist of millions of
words of written and spoken language and
canbeanalysedinavarietyofways.Oneof
the most widely known analytical tools is a
concordancer a device which lines up
instances of particular words or patterns so
that the language items which cooccur can
beidentified.
Concordanced data can be accessed in a
varietyofways.HarperCollinshavepublished
Concordance Samplers under the Cobuild
imprintthefirstintheserieswasdevotedto
prepositions(AnnetteCapel,1993).Schools
GUESSTHECONCORDANCEDWORD
Plansforaseasonofsuccess,buta
?
decisionbythereferee,adodgy
thingsgowrong?Apinnacleinthe
?
carstakesin1973whichhelped
when he said hed got Julie up the
?
.Buthewasreallyangryaboutit
thepresentformymotherseemsa
?
idea:sinceshecantevenbearto
momentsjustaboutoutweighthe
?
onesanditsharmlessenoughfor
Ifafootballmanagerhasa
?
player,hedropshim.Ifan
23
DATAsingularorplural?AsamplefromtheCOBUILDWebsite.
mountedonvehicledashboards.The
birthparents.Atthesametime,the
therapeutics,littlesystematic
theBritishJournalofCancer:Our
hadmonitoredhatecrimes.In1994,
analysing
differentiating
SEMANTICor
SYNTACTIC
LEXICAL
PATTERNS
connecting
data
data
data
data
data
alsoindicatesthespeedand
alsoshowageneticeffect,because
hasbeencollectedonsexualaspects
suggeststhatthereisaprotection
wasreleasedfromlawenforcement
Classroomideas
The examples which follow can be used with
theverysmallconcordancesamplesprintedon
the next page, but once you get going with
this kind of work you will want to give
students / trainees more data to look at.
Intermediate and lower level students will
benefit from exploring collocations and other
real patterns. Get students to identify the
Tippexedout concordanced word, the words
that come before or after this word, or to
completethewordatthebeginningorendof
the entry. Advanced level students will enjoy
looking at and analysing concordanced taboo
words, neologisms and words whose
meaningsshiftovershortperiodsoftime.For
teacher trainees, concordanced data provides
invaluable support in lesson planning,
anticipating problems, analysing target
language. For language analysis work, no
more dubious examples from Discover
English illuminate your seminars with the
24
3. Exploringtherelationshipbetweensyntax
andmeaning(RESOLVE)
Askstudentstodividetheconcordanced
examplesintotwogroupsofmeaning.Ask
studentstoidentifythegrammatical
patternsassociatedwitheachgroup.
4. Exploringgrammaticalrules
(PERFUME,CHEESE,BEER)
Askstudentstodifferentiatetheinstances
ofcountableanduncountableusage.
Askstudentstoaccountforthese
differences.
Formoreideasonusingconcordancesinthe
classroom,seeConcordancesInThe
Classroomby ChrisTribbleandGlynJ ones,
Longman1990.
CONCORDANCE SAMPLES
htbecomealesbian.Ittook her afullyeartodigesttheinfor
ddenandshrillthatittook her amomenttorealisewhatitwas
ingdown.Eventhen,ittook her while torealisethenaviga
edfeelingaboutit.Ittook himforevertogetthecolourout:
ingonsomeoneelse.Ittook mesometime togetusedtothat,b
fellill.Butitdidnttakemetwosecondstosayyes,Murray
aces.Evenso,ther eissomethingdisconcerting aboutitshumour
coldasice.Ther ewassomethingeerieandforeboding aboutthe
thedayswhen ther ewassomethingfishy aboutallofus.Itmust
Ialwaysthink ther essomethingmacabre aboutbrightsunlight
CarminaBurana.Ther essomethingnasty aboutit.Attentiontran
apparatusand ther ewassomethingodd abouttheuncomplaining
dtoherthatther ewassomethingominousaboutit,almostsinis
havestoppedtryingto r esolvedomesticissues.Andyet,hes
whilesuchmattersare r esolved,effortsbytheUnitedNations
however,Ihaverecently r esolved toputmyfinancialaffairsin
Suchproblemsmightbe r esolved ifthereweresomeoneclearlyi
theyareworthless.We r esolvetoforgeacommonfrontinorder
rClintonsaid.Letusr esolvetoreformourpoliticssothatp
maywearonlyrosewaterper fumeandnonailvarnish.yetthesh
lusive.GennyShineisaper fumethatcapturesthebrillianceof
mightevenbuyexpensive per fumesatdutyfreeshopsoutsidethe
twodropletsofaFrench per fumebehindeachofherearandbet
insandwiches.Optforacheesewithlessfatthancheddar(35g
yofmeats,seafood,and cheesesoffered,plusafruitdessert.
lshopdispensessome50cheeses,mostofthemFrench.Overthe
pleasureofcyclingand beer ,butwedohopeyoulltoastthes
raumeistersLtd.testsabeer brewedwithoatbran,ratherthan
enetically,todeliverabeer withmoretastebutlesslikelyto
whichFranklinenjoyedabeer ortwo.WhenheandClarkreturned
teatnight.Afterafew beer stoworkupthecourage,heputth
WHATSHOT
ONTHEWEB?
IfyoudecidetosurftheNetto
findideasandmaterialsthat
mightbeofhelptoyouinthe
classroom,theeasiestapproachis
throughaBrowsersuchas
Yahoo.GointoEducationand
thenESL,andyoullfindwhat
lookslikeafairlyimpressive
menuofsites.Youbegintosurf
andrealityloomsmostare
strictlyfornerds!Theresplenty
ofstuffthatmightbeusefulfor
languagelearners,butlittlethat
couldbeofvaluetoateacher.To
saveyoutime,GavinDudeney,
WebmasterforInternational
HouseBarcelona,giveshishot
tips.
DavesESLCafeOnTheWeb
http://www.specialeffects.com/~sperling/
eslcafe.html
Oneofthefirsttrulyinteractivesites
withapersonal,friendlytouchtoit.
Greatresourcesforbothstudentsand
teachers,andagoodstartingpoint
forfindingotherrelatedsitesonthe
Web.
ItsOnLine
http://itsonline.com
Davesmaincompetitor.Ithasa
differentflavoursinceitsoneofthe
fewEFL/ESLsitesbasedinEurope.
Plentyoffreshnewideasonaweekly
basis,andagoodplaceforstudents
tofindpenpals.
Cr ayon
http://www.crayon.net/
Download
http://www.download.com
Probablythebestelectronic
editionofanewspaper,theET
hasasearchabledatabaseofall
theNeteditionssinceitstarted
(nearlytwoyearsago),andisa
richsourceofmaterialforhigher
levels.Teacherscanalsoenjoy
thecrosswordeveryday.
Crayonallowsuserstocreate
theirowndailynewspaperby
selectingvariousNetsourcesof
news,currentaffairs,cartoons
etc.itsanidealtoolforteachers
tocollecttogetheruseful
informationforuseinclass.
Theplaceforfindinguptothe
minutesoftware.Apartfromthe
mixedbagfromthehomepage,
itsalsopossibletosearch
throughvariouscategories
including:games,education,
internet,etc.
25
Q uestions
&Answers
Thecolumnforpeoplewith
somethingontheirminds
Achancetoairthequestionsthathave
vexedyou,andhelpoutothersinastateof
vexation.Pleaseaddressall
correspondenceto:Q&A,TheEditor,IH
Journaletc.etc..TheEditoracceptsno
responsibilityforthecontentoraccuracyof
whatfollows.
Beforegoingtothenewbatch,therewasan
outstandingenquiryfromthelastissue:
DearAnxieous,
There is a very simple solution to
your problem concerning the
inclusionorotherwiseofthelettere
in courageous and famous. The letter g,
when followed by e or i, is pronounced
/d/ . The same letter, on the other hand,
when followed by a, o, or u is normally
pronounced /g/ . (Admittedly this does not
accountforthosewhoemploythe//sound
in garage, but there may simply be no
accountingfortheminanyevent).Therefore
if you weretodroptheefromcourageous,
you would get /krgs/ which wouldnt
sound right at all. Asfordroppingtheein
famous, it may be that dropping es, very
much the thingtodoinBritain,isnotsucha
recentphenomenonafterall.
Beforeyouaskaboutthatgetinthere,letme
just say that that little one is all to do with
positioning initial, medialorterminal.Here
is an instance where giving and getting are
remarkably similar, initially. Even that does
notexplainthepronunciationof,say,gesture,
however. For now, though, perhaps we
should leave you to ponder cat, cup and
cottageasopposedtocitycentre.
Regards,
Arfer,
Georgia
26
TheotherdayIwastryingtoteacha
class of intermediate students the
futureperfect,asinIllhavedoneit
by Friday. One of the
students kept insisting that thiswas the past,
howevermanytimelinesIdrew.Itturnsout
that she had offered to clean the bathroom
for her landlady and she, the landlady, had
said: Dont worry now. Sarah will have
done it yesterday . Where do you go from
there?
Lookingforwardtohavingheardfromyou,
A.Spect.
A
Q
IMPLEMENTINGATASKBASEDAPPROACH
WITHOUTTASKBASEDMATERIALS
PeterMoor,ofIHLondon,followsuphisarticleonataskbasedapproachtooral
work, published in the last issue of this journal, with a look at ways of adapting
readilyavailablematerialstothisapproach.
Inmylastarticle(IHJEDNo.2November1996),Idefinedanoraltaskasaspokenactivitywhichleadstosome
kind of recognisable outcome or product. As well as having intrinsic interest, the activity should provide
opportunities for language input, and opportunities for planned and spontaneous speech. The definition can be
extendedtowrittentasks,anddifferentiatedfromprojectworkinthattheentiretaskcycleshouldtakeplacewithin
6090minutelesson(withpossibilitiesforextensionintofurtherlessons)withoutrecoursetoresourcesnotreadily
availableintheclassroom.IoutlinedthebasicMODELPLANNING/INPUT/REHEARSALTASKcycleasameans
ofstructuringataskbaskedlessonandsuggestedanumberofwaysinwhichoraltaskscanbeimplementedmore
effectively.Inthissecondarticle,afterexaminingsomemoreimplicationsofataskbasedapproach,andpointing
out some of the difficulties in finding appropriate taskbased materials, I will suggest ways in which nontask
basedELTmaterialscanbeadaptedtosuittheapproach.
Implementingataskbasedapproach:
who,ME ??
1. Ithinkitsjustasvalidtodecidewhatthe
students want or need to do and provide
themwiththelanguagetodoit,asitisto
select a particular language point for
presentation and then look for ways to
practiseit.
2. Atcertainpointsinthelesson,Ipreferto
go with the flow and respond to
language students produce or ask for,
rather than have a preordained set of
languagewhichtheyregoingtolearn.
3. I/mystudentslikea handson approach
in lessons, giving short talks, conducting
surveys and questionnaires, designing
posters or texts to be stuck on the wall,
writing or recording class magazines,
videosetc.
Ifyoufindyourselfagreeingatleastinpart
with any of the statements above, you may
have a taskbased approach to teaching, at
least some of the time! Point 1 above
highlightswhatis,tome,afundamentaltenet
of taskbased learning, one which sharply
differentiates it from the Presentation and
Practice approach: that the language flows
fromthetaskandnotviceversa.Notevenin
my wilder moments would I suggest that we
abandon grammatical/ lexical syllabuses
altogether its my belief that a taskbased
27
Thebasictaskcycle
MODEL
PLANNING/REHEARSAL
INPUT
TASK
Thestudentsaregiventimetoplan
their version of the task, either
singly or in groups. During this
time, students are encouraged to
ask about how to say things or
check if their language is correct.
If time, the students may have a
chance to rehearse their task (or
supplyaroughdraftinthecaseofa
written task) and seek peer or
teachercorrection.
Herethestudentsgopublic,either
in speech or inwriting,andpresent
their task either in groups or to the
rest of the class. The element of
public performance of the task
seems to give students a greater
concernforaccuracyattheplanning
stage.
28
isaquestionofprovidingamodel,givingthe
students time to plan, and making the final
task into more of an event. Look out for
language practice activities which can be
expanded in this way: Language in Use
Intermediate (1) featuresanengagingideafor
freer practice of superlative adjectives
studentsareaskedtothinkwhoorwhatthey
would nominate for a series of awards (such
asMusicianoftheYear,BestNightSpot
etc.)andchooseawinner:althoughintended
asfreerpracticeoflanguage,itisobviousthat
the potential of the activity would be more
fully realised and the activity would take
longer!ifthestudentsweregivenamodelof
anominationspeech(whichtheteachercould
dolive,orrecordpriortothelesson),andthe
students were given time to plan what they
weregoingtosayandcheckforlinguisticand
factualcorrectness.
Otherideas
Otherideas
2.Fluencyactivitiesintotasks
Some of the questions designed to create
interestinlessonswithareceptiveskillsfocus,
particularly those which begin What do you
know about..., can lead to unanimated
discussionsofuptofifteensecondswithsome
classes: on other occasions, however, it has
often struck me that this leadin/interest
creationchatatthebeginningwasactuallythe
bestpartofthelesson,makingtheactualtext
come as a distinct letdown, leading me, in
some cases, to abandon it altogether. Look
3.Textsasmodelsforwrittentasks
The use of reading texts as models for a
subsequent writing activity is a familiar one.
Clearly not all texts can easily be imitated by
students (the extract from Shakespeares As
YouLikeItinHeadwayUpperIntermediate
(4) as a model for the students to write
twentyeightlinesoftheirownblankverseon
Seven Ages of Man, for example). But
there are many which are suitable. One
exampleistheTourofyourcountryidea.A
29
suitablemodeltextisavailablein ThinkAhead
to First Certificate (5) the text on Australia
in 14 days is only used for comprehension
work, but it is an excellent springboard for
students (particularly in a multilingual class
with students working in nationality groups
foronce)toproducea5daytouroftheirown
countryforothermembersoftheclass.Each
group produces a map of their country (an
atlas can prove useful here for the less
geographicallygifted students) with a
suggested itinerary andashorttextaboutthe
places to visit this usually produces lively
discussion and awakens intense regional
rivalrieswhichshould(ifpossible)beresolved
inEnglish.Thetourscanthenbepresentedto
the rest of the class as a whole, or insmaller
groups. With monolingual groups, the task
worksbetterifthestudentsaregiveneithera
region of their country other than the place
where they are studying, or they are given a
specified group to design the tour for (the
teachersfamilyforinstance).
ThereareseveralbooksIhaveusedtimeand
time again as sources for readymade tasks
which seen to require little or nothing in the
way of adaptation to produce a taskbased
lesson.Hereisashortselection:
ManyoftheEnglishintoActionsections
attheendofeachunitofPreIntermediate
Choice (7) provideexcellentideasfortask
based lessons: particularlyinlinewiththe
approachoutlinedaboveareConductinga
Survey about Relationships (p16) and
Talkingaboutahobby(p38).
The Non Stop Discussion Workbook (8)
provides some good oral tasks for
Intermediate and Advanced students, but
supplementation is needed in terms of
models.
TheQBook (9), althoughostensiblyabook
for practising questions, contains a great
variety of questionnaire/survey activities
whichcanbeextendedintotasks.
Otherideas
Lessambitiousreadingtexttypeswhichmight
lend themselves to students producing a
parallel text are questionnaires and quizzes.
There is a very simple example in Headway
Elementary (6) which could be used as a
model at almost any level just bring in a
coupleofencyclopaedias,dothequizquickly,
thentellthestudentstoproduceasimilarquiz
for another class of the same level in the
school and get ready to feed in language as
requested. There is often scope for
incorporating other elements from reading
texts in order to produce a more effective
written task. Use can also be made of the
visual elements of a text, such as use of
colour, layout, organisation and pictures all
these can be exploited to give the final
productamoresatisfyingappearance.
Once you have built up a collection of
previous written tasks from students (suchas
the5daytoursofacountrymentionedabove,
which have a strong intrinsic interest and are
often visually attractive) these canbeusedas
modelsforfuturestudentstoworkfrom.
4.Readymadetasks
30
Bibliography:
(1)Doff&Jones(1994) LanguageInUse:Intermediate (Cambridge)
p62
(2)Mohamed&Acklam(1993) ThePreIntermediateChoice
(Longman)p87
(3)Farthing&Pulverness(1993) Reflections:TheMacmillanShort
CourseProgramme,Level3(Macmillan)p63
(4)Soars&Soars(1987) Headway:UpperIntermediate (OUP)p11
(5)Naunton(1997) ThinkAheadtoFirstCertificate (Longman)p98
(6)Soars&Soars(1993) HeadwayElementary (OUP)p92
(7)Mohamed&Acklam(1993) ThePreIntermediateChoice
(Longman)pp16,38
(8)Rooks(1981) TheNonStopDiscussionWorkbook (Newbury
House)
(9)Morgan&Rinvolucri(1988) TheQBook (Longman)
BENWARRENINTERNATIONALHOUSE
TRUSTPRIZE
SHORTLIST1997
BenWarren
TheBenWarrenInternationalHouseTrustPrizehasbeenestablishedinmemoryofBenWarren,founderof
theInternationalHousegroupofschoolsinCatalunya,whodiedintragiccircumstancesin1991.Thisprize
of2,000,whichwillbeawardedforthefirsttimeatthisyearsDirectorsConferenceinLondononMay
6th.,willbeawardedforoutstandingworkinthefieldoflanguageteachereducation.
Thepanelofjudgesismadeupof:
JeremyHarmer,bestsellingELTauthor
JonathanDykes,Barcelona
TonyDuff,CentralDepartment
ElaineSmith,CentralDepartment
Therearefivepublicationsontheshortlist:
READINGSINTEACHERDEVELOPMENT
KatieHead&PaulineTaylor ,Heinemann1997
Selectionsfromwritersinthefieldofteacherdevelopmentandrelateddisciplineswithaccompanyingactivitiesand
commentaries,designedtohelpyoureflectonhowyourattitudeandawarenessaffectyourteachingandhowchangeis
possible.
WRITING
Anintroductiontobothtraditionalandmorerecentapproachestotheteachingofwriting.Thisbookencouragesreadersto
thinkaboutthereasonsforteachingthisskill,andprovidesideasonteachingdifferenttypesofwriting.
PSYCHOLOGYFORLANGUAGETEACHERS
Thisbookbringstogethersomeofthemostrecentdevelopmentsandthinkinginthefieldofeducationalpsychology.Aswell
aspresentinganoverviewofeducationalpsychologyanditsinfluenceonlanguageteachingmethodology,thebookidentifies
fourthemes:thelearner,theteacher,thetaskandthelearningcontext,discussingrecentpsychologicaldevelopmentsineach
andtheirimplicationsforlanguageteaching.
AFRAMEWORKFORTASKBASEDLEARNING
J aneWillis,AddisonWesleyLongman1996
Acompleteguidetothemethodologyandpracticeoftaskbasedlanguageteaching,thisbookoffersanalternativeframework
tothepresentation,practice,productionmodel.Itcombinesthebestinsightsfromcommunicativelanguageteachingwitha
systematicfocusonlanguageform,explainingandexemplifyingeachcomponentinatypicaltaskbasedlesson.
CHALLENGEANDCHANGEINLANGUAGE
TEACHING
editedby J aneWillis&DaveWillis,Heinemann
1996
Acollectionofpapersforforeignandsecondlanguageteachersandtrainerswhowanttoexploreanddevelopalternativesto
teacherandtrainerledpresentationmethods.Itcombinestheoreticalgroundingandpracticalclassroomapproaches.
Alltheabovearestrongcontendersfortheprizeandthepanelofjudgeswillbecontinuingitsdifficult
deliberationsduringthenextfewweekstofindthewinner,althoughnoBookerstyledisagreementsare
anticipated!
31
READINGSINTEACHERDEVELOPMENT
PaulineTaylor ,formereventscoordinatoroftheIATEFLTeacherDevelopmentSpecialInterest
Group, has just published (with her coauthor, Katie Head) Readings in Teacher Development.
This book, partoftheHeinemannTeacherDevelopmentseries,hasbeenshortlistedfortheBen
WarrenInternationalHouseTrustPrize. PhilipKerr ,ofIHLondon,hadafew,characteristically
frankquestionstoaskaboutthebookandTeacherDevelopmentingeneral.
PK The Teacher Development Special
cautionthatyourselectionoftextswillreflect
a bias towards your own particular
understanding of what Teacher Development
is. It is a view which is centred on the
teachersownawarenessofhimselforherself
asapersonaswellasateacher.Doesntthis
imply an understanding of individuality
separate from social context, and that
individuality is given rather than
constructed?
PT Certainly this is not my understanding of
Teacher Development. In our book we have
included a reading called The Ghost
Instrument which is an account of a teacher
talking about a teacher of hers she dreaded,
and the sudden realisation that she too
employed some of these dreaded methods to
motivate her students. While many teachers
are conscious of this and strive to teach
differently,ortocopythosetheyloved,others
do not, perhaps precisely because they are
individuals enmeshed in their own social
context,andotherwaysofbeingateacherjust
donotseempossible,orevendesirable.
33
ITWASNTLIKETHATINMYDAY...
WendyColeby,DirectorofStudiesforTeacherTraininginIHLondon,heraldedthe
comingofthenewCELTAcourseinthelastissueofthisjournalwithaquiz.Here,
aspromised,aretheanswers. (Wevereprintedthequestionsjustincaseyoucant
putyourhandsonacopyofthelastjournalforsomereason).
April1997sees IHLondoninitsfifthmonthofrunningCELTAcourses and,as eachmonthpasses,itis
getting easier to remember and implement the changes which make CELTA different. Many oftheseare
highlywelcome,particularlythestrongeremphasisgivenbythesyllabusonthelearnerandonprofessional
development.AlthoughthesefeaturedpreviouslyonourCTEFLAcourses,theyarenowapproachedmuch
moresystematicallyandfullyonourCELTAcourseprogrammesinaninterestingseriesofinputsessions.
A positive result is that the course participants are focussing more closely on the studentstheyteachand
attempting to address their needs more closely rather than being quite so coursebook/TP points driven
which can only be a good thing in my opinion. There has been a number of innovations in how tutors
approachtheircourse,includingasuccessfultaskbasedapproachrunhereinLondonthisFebruary.These
pages might be a very good place to exchange ideas on what teacher trainers are doing inthevarious IH
schoolsaroundtheworld anytakers?
Meanwhile,herearethe answerstotheCELTAQuizfromthelastissueoftheJournal:
1. Whattwonewpiecesofinformationmustyougive
to candidates at the start of the course? Where
canyoufindthesepiecesofinformation?
Candidatesmustbeinfor medabouttheCELTA
J obPlacementSer viceandabouttheCandidate
Enquir ies on Results and Complaints
Pr ocedur e. These both for m par t of the
CELTA Candidate Pr ofile document issued by
UCLEStoallcandidatesviatheCentr e.
2. WhatistheCELTACandidateprofile?
A questionnair e which pr ovides a backgr ound
pr ofileonallCELTAcandidatesfor UCLES.
4. Whoisresponsibleforkeepingalltheevidence
supporting the final assessment? What does this
evidence consist of and how long should it be
kept?
34
5. WhataretheFwordandtheBword?Whoshould
usethem?
Fail and Bor der line tutor s should use
thesewor dsexplicitlyattutor ialsandmakesur e
thattheyappear ,ifr elevant,onCELTA/5.
6. Whatkindofrecordshouldbekeptoftutorials?
A summar y of tutor ials is included on
CELTA/5. Any additional official comments
canbeinser tedinthisonasepar atepage.
18. WhatdoesSLPstandfor?
Super visedLessonPr epar ation/Planning
19. WhatdoesLAstandfor?
12. ForwhatreasonmustyoucontactyourAssessorat
the end of your course? When do you arrange
this?
Assessor s must now always be contacted at the
end of your cour se to confir m all the gr ades
with them (not onlygr adesthatdiffer fr omthe
pr ovisionalones,asusedtobethecase).
20. Whatisfinalgradingbasedon?
Thr eecomponents:
Teachingpr actice
Wr ittenassignments
Pr ofessionaldevelopment
15. HowdothesedifferfromtheformerCTEFLA?
Topics 2 (The lear ner , the teacher and the
teaching/lear ning context) and 6 (Pr ofessional
development for teacher s of English to adults)
give explicit weight to ar eas that wer e, usually,
onlytoucheduponintheCTEFLA.
TheIHC
W H E R E N O W ?
35
Funnyyoushouldsaythat...
readersrespondtothingstheyvereadinthejournal
youmeetpeople?whatdoesitmeanwhena
Spaniard taps his cheek with his hand? is
there central heating? how much is a Mars
barinSpain? andathousandotherquestions
that teachers with the idea of living and
workinginSpainmanywanttoask.Thefirst
section is all about working in Spain, section
twocoversSpainandtheSpanish,andthelast
section is all about teaching English to
Spaniards.Itisaverycompletebook.
During this last year I have made visits to
Sevilla (there was aTESOLconferencethere
in May, so I gave a talk there and took
advantage of the trip to include research), to
Madrid (I love Madrid and
another visit was long
overdue), as wellasbeingin
contactfrequentlywithMark
Wilson of IH San Sebastian,
Richard Johnson of ELI
Sevilla and Peter Bakisa and
Steve Haysham of IH
Madrid. The deadline has
come, gone and been
extended, the book is
reaching its final stage, its written, the
information,addresses,phonenumbersareall
there,allitneedsisacoupleoffinalreadings
andsomerevising.Sowithanyluckitwillhit
thebookshopsaroundthesummerorautumn
of1997.
whatdoesit
meanwhena
Spaniardtaps
hischeekwith
hishand?
WouldIadvisewritingabook?Itisvery
timeconsuming,butatthesametimevery
satisfyingtoseeitgrowandstarttotake
shape,andImsure,evenmorerewardingto
seeitcomplete,withcovers,onabookshelf
somewhere.AllIcansayis,Imlooking
forwardtothedaywhenIcangethomeand
watchtheTVorreadabookwithouthaving
tofeelguiltythatIhaventswitchedonthe
computer!
WANTED!
Contributionsforthe
nextissue......
.....
articles
informationaboutnew
courses
uptodate information
about authors in all of
our schools
newsonwhatsgood
ontheWEB
questions...
and answers
personalinterestarticles,
talkingaboutlivingand
workingwhereyoudo
bir ths,mar r iagesand...gossip
interestingstatistics
peopleonthemove
neweducationalprojects
newcourses
etc.
37