Dear colleagues, We would like to welcome you to our second issue for this year! Once again, a big thank you to all the writers and all of you who read our newsletter and support us in every way. In this issue, we are introducing two new columns. The first one is the Business English column , in which Vicky Loras explains how the potential problems her students may have at work can become the central theme of her Business English lessons. The second one is the Teacher Development column with two contributions this time: Branka Dečković and her experience from the SO(u)L Camp for teachers in Sremski Karlovci and Joanna Malefaki who reflects on the reasons why teachers should attend webinars/ online conferences. In our regular column Borrowed from , we have Marjorie Rosenberg with her , from Delta Publishing. In the Feature article column a Spotlight on learning styles student, Jana Živanović , discusses Social networks as our virtual home. A First Aid Kit can save us, so Milica Prvulović shares with us a useful and fun activity for a difficult grammar area: modal verbs! In the ELT Flash, Anja Prentić presents Bash Tchelik and Other Serbian Fairy Tales page, the Oxford University Press competition winning project. In the Students’ Corner , Jovana Erić reflects back on February 14, Valentine’s day, and The Crazy Little Thing Called Love, the quiz they played in the event organized on that day in Užice Grammar School. Last but not least comes our Upcoming Events section . Since we are already in the middle of March and our annual Convention is approaching (1516 May 2015), we would also like to remind you that the paper submission deadline has been extended one last and final time until March 18 ! The theme this year is “A Taste of 21st Century Teaching”. We hope you will enjoy reading this newsletter and we encourage you to contribute and write for the ELTA Newsletter and share your ideas and experience with other colleagues. Write to us on newsletter.elta@gmail.com ! All the best, ELTA Editorial Team
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Problem Solving in Business English Vicky Loras, The Loras Network, Switzerland Keywords : Business English, Problem-Solving, Teaching Adults
In my teaching context here in Switzerland, I teach students of all ages and levels – from very little kids as young as three, to adults. We will focus on the adults in this article. The ones I teach work in a number of contexts: some work in banks or various companies, such as software or packaging companies. Very often they have meetings to attend, where they are asked by their colleagues and managers to help resolve problems or conflicts, or they have to do it spontaneously when they crop up during the meetings. And they have to do it‌in English! What I do with them (not something ground-breaking, a very simple idea) is that I try to think of potential problems they may have at work, such as: 1. What do you do if a colleague of yours is constantly late? 2. What happens if your boss asks you to work with your team at the weekend to finish off a project (and you are not that keen on working weekends)? Or you have no problem to work then and your team members do? 3. You have been working for months on installing a new software system for the company / bank and they call you from the US in the middle of the night, asking you to resolve a glitch then and there! And other issues like that. Since I am also learning their line of work from them (there are so many terms especially in IT and as I have recently learned, in banking and packaging too!) I ask my students what kind of problem they would expect to face at some point, or any issues they have come up against during their career. I make a list of all these and prepare role-plays for them (some can be used with many kinds of groups!). This idea is also in the amazing book Five-Minute Business English Activities by Paul Emmerson and Nick Hamilton, under the title of Crisis! The purpose of this activity is to present the students with a crisis they need to solve. Most of the time I come into the room, putting on a dramatic face in order to set the crisis atmosphere and announce: People, we have a problem. I was fired! or Our new system is down! or something along those lines. It is unbelievable how they play into the drama and participate! This activity has helped my students a lot, as they are pulled into it by its compelling nature. They do not even realise when they start speaking and we get lots out of it.
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Depending on the culture of your teaching space, though, care must be taken not to scare the students or create unnecessary panic. For example, in some cultural contexts I cannot imagine the teacher going into the classroom dramatically yelling about a crisis. It would make the students uncomfortable. Use your experience to determine when and if such approach is appropriate for you and your students. The benefits of this activity are: ●
They learn new vocabulary and phrases.
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They use vocabulary they have already learned in previous lessons and they implement it into the next lessons.
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Their confidence grows as they see they can handle conflicts and in another language apart from their own!
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They can practise various situations that might come up in their work.
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They love teaching me things too – and once again in the target language!
Sometimes we get lots of laughs too! I hope you can also try it out and that you and your students will like it.
References: Emmerson P. and Hamilton N., 2005 Five-Minute Business English Activities. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. ***** Vicky Loras is an English teacher, born in the beautiful city of Toronto, Canada. She has been teaching English as a foreign language and literature to students of all ages, since 1997. She now lives in Switzerland and is the co-founder and owner of The Loras English Network, a school she has opened with her sister Eugenia. They teach English, train teachers and also hold children’s events. She blogs at: http://www.vickyloras.wordpress.com
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Teacher Development impressions collected by Branka Dečković, English language teacher Medical school „Sestre Ninković”, Kragujevac
The SO(u)L Camps. Summer Schools with a Difference!!
SO(u)L Camp Refresh you Mind, Body and your Soul in Serbia 2015 Venue: EcoCenter “Radulovački”, Sremski Karlovci, Serbia 13th – 20th August 2015 SO(u)L Camp Refresh you Mind, Body and your Soul in Slovakia 2015 Venue: Bilingválne Gymnázium Čadca. August 2nd – 9th 2015
Last summer, I had a great opportunity to take part in SO(u)L Camp in Sremski Karlovci. It was a fantastic experience, and I would like to share my as well as other participants' impressions with you. Before that, let’s hear more about SO(u)L Camp. Aim of the course: To give teachers the opportunity to reflect on and explore their beliefs and attitudes about teaching in an international environmentally friendly residential
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environment with a strong emphasis on quality of life and the overall wellbeing of teachers. Venue: http://www.ekoloskicentar.org/ How it all began…
Grenville Yeo (Director) Ever since SOL (Sharing one Language) started on its mission in 1991 to support the teaching of English in Eastern and Central Europe, it has always had teacher training as one of its main functions, although the
uniquely interactive courses run in Devon for students have attracted the most attention. SOL has been delighted to welcome to Devon more than 200 teachers of English from Serbia in the last six years once we had found a special person, Sanja Čonjagić, to be the Serbian arm of our team in the UK!!
In addition, we have since run workshops within Serbia, led by
Mark Andrews, our inhouse trainer, and we plan to do more of these in conjunction with ELTA in the autumn. Last year, in August, we ran our first ”SO(u)L Camp” – a unique weeklong programme at the wonderful location of Sremski Karlovci. This was a very exciting development and followed our inaugural ”SO(u)L Camp” in Cadca, Slovakia in 2013. These programmes are unique, not only with the innovative, thoughtprovoking and practical ideas for teaching English, but also look at the questions of coping with the pressures of teaching, with yoga a central, if optional, feature! More than that though, the very special atmosphere created by such an international group of teachers sharing time and thoughts together is something also very special!! SOL would welcome Serbian teachers to either camp this summer!! August 29 in Slovakia and Aug 1320 in Karlovci. Of course the welcome will be just as great in Devon too in July! All details on our website: www.sol.org.uk
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SO(u)L Trainers
Mark Andrews
"Being in a residential setting, on the banks of the Danube and in a place of great historical significance were all crucial ingredients in the success of our teacher development camp last August in Karlovci. We used the local environment every day and made sure that doing fieldwork and getting out and about was a big part of the methodology of the course and, by doing this, modelled what we do at SOL in Devon. I'm looking forward to it being even better this year and making more than one trip on the Danube part of our camp, a river which connects and symbolises the multicultural and intercultural nature of the SO(UL camp...and let's not forget the yoga experience either to wake up to in the mornings.”
Rakesh Bhanot
“I was impressed by the willingness of the course participants to readily engage with the (sometimes) challenging activities with which they were confronted. A key feature thet made the course so successful was the number of different nationalities (11) among the participants. The phrase “lifechanging” was used by several course members in their evaluation of the camp.” Without these two wonderful ladies, most of this wouldn’t have happened. They’re the heart and soul of Karlovci SO(u)L Camp. Sanja Čonjagić SOL coordinator for Serbia It has been a pure pleasure working with all these wonderful people! All the ingrediants needed for a successful teacher development course were there: we had highly motivated and enthusiastic tutors, experienced teachers from eleven countries as active participants who were contributing
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by sharing their own ideas, lots of constructive discussion led to our final feeling of acomplishment, professional growth and satisfaction! Vladica Rakić English teacher in Karlovacka gimnazija I’ve been interested in teacher training ever since I first met Mark Andrews back in 2002 in Sinaia, Rumania. He was a trainer on a very “unorthodox” twoweek teacher training course which focused on teaching English and human rights. It was there that I realized the true potential of teaching English and content simultaneously and broadening perspectives (both those of students and teachers’) by focusing on what surrounds us in the community and environment beyond the walls of the classroom. The end of my teaching career and the beginning of my teacher trainer’s “adventure” coincided with the fact that, at long last, it was possible to help SOL and Mark organize and design a teacher training camp in Sremski Karlovci. The fantastic “Eco – Centre Radulović”, which is next door to Karlovci Grammar School, proved to be a real home from home to all of us. I was delighted that the excitement of the planning and designing of the camp was matched only by the excitement, explosion of creativity and positive energy generated by the participants of the camp. It was fantastic to work with Mark, Rakesh and Sanja, and I’m really looking forward to our SOL camp in August 2015! *** SO(u)L camp offers morning yoga sessions, which is a fantastic way to start a day.
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Here are some comments from the participants: Hande Özdemir I am taking my students out more to see local people and places and our new school headmaster helps us to do it more. And more pieces of poems and riddles I'm using in ELT classroom. 》 》
Petya Dimova Surprisingly to u guys but I'm taking full advantage of what I've learnt from the course! I've applied some outdoor activities which we called fieldwork projects, of course! ☺ We had the graffiti activity and Branka Deckovic’s PowerPoint activity and the kids are really enthusiastic about this whole thing! And they r really looking forward to it! Thank you Mark Andrews , Rakesh Bhanot , Vladica Rakić , Sanja Čonjagić , Branka !
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Branka Dečković : I had a wonderful time at SO(u)L camp; met so many wonderful teachers, learnt a lot from our trainers, and enjoyed immensely in giving morning yoga sessions.
Natalia Belousova For me the whole SOuL camp experience was a revelation and very different from a usual course for teachers. From the first moment in Serbia I felt a participant not only of the teacher training course, but of everything that was going on around me. I constantly communicated with local people to ask for directions, to buy tickets or souvenirs. Same happened in the classroom and in course of the field work we had in the camp with Mark , Rakesh , Vladica and Sanja . For me that was the core. To be a participant, rather than an onlooker. And... I do yoga on a regular basis now Thanks, my dear Branka Dečković Thank you ALL so much for the wonderful experience xxxxx
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Maria Ruban SOL, meaning Mark Andrews , Rakesh Bhanot , Vladica Rakić , and Sanja Čonjagić , have helped to raise awareness about Field Work Techniques as a teaching method and motivated to do some reading on the subject. Believe SERENDIPIANS will find the summary to my Field Work Techniques reading useful I also have been motivated to analyse my teaching and take feedback from my learners. Think I have bacome a better listener. See you in Sremski Karlovci! * I certify that I have the right to publish these photos.
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Presenting at an Online Conference by Joanna Malefaki, freelance teacher Key words: webinars, online conferences, presentations
In today’s technological era, it was inevitable that online conferences would start appearing. Nowadays, teachers have the opportunity to attend and present at numerous webinars and online conferences. This article focuses on the reasons why teachers should attend webinars/ online conferences, why it is a good idea to present at one and how to go about an online presentation. Why attend an online conference? There are many reasons why someone should attend an online conference. It is a great and inexpensive way to develop professionally. They are convenient. You are at home and learning in the most comfortable of ways. Participants can be from all over the world, so you may hear a talk from someone who would not be able to present at a face to face conference (for presenters who are not key note or invited speakers, face to face conferences can be a bit expensive in terms of travel expenses). The platforms that host online conferences have chat boxes so you also get to interact with the other attendees. They also often offer the option of recordings, so everything is saved. If you miss a session, you can watch it later. Why present at an online conference? If you already present at face to face conferences, you may want to consider presenting at an online one as well, as there are many benefits to doing so. Firstly, you, the presenter, don't have to go anywhere. You are at home, so actually there are no expenses! It is also probably the most comfortable way to present (you are in your slippers, in your own chair etc.). Online presentations can also be a great tool for you the presenter. As presentations get recorded, you can reflect on what went well in your presentation and what needs to be improved. You can also keep your presentation in some sort of e-portfolio. Like any conference presentation, you get to dig deeper into issues you are interested in, share your views and even learn something from the audience's comments. It is a win-win situation. It also looks great on your CV! Finally, in terms of motivation, if you think that presenting is scary, start off with an online presentation. You may be nervous, but not as nervous as when presenting face to face. The PPP of an online presentation: advice to the presenter ● ● ●
Plan Practice Promote
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If you do submit a proposal for a talk at an online conference, this is what I suggest. Plan your talk, make you slides, and then practice what you are going to say. If you know anyone who knows anything about what you are talking about OR has experience presenting, ask for advice regarding your presentation. You may hear something helpful. Remember to time yourself when you practice. Why? At a face to face conference someone will probably warn you when you only have 5 minutes left, but at an online one, that does not really happen, so it is easier to lose track of time. Finally, start promoting your talk. If you want people to attend your talk, inform them by tweeting about it (systematically), share the info on Facebook and LinkedIn groups. If you have a Google+ button, press it. Online conferences are here to stay, so apart from attending one, why not also present at one?
***** Joanna Malefaki lives in Greece and has almost 18 years of teaching experience in various contexts. She teaches mostly exam classes in her hometown and has taught EAP at various universities in the UK (Newcastle, Bristol and Sheffield). She has also been teaching Business English online for a few years now. She holds a BA in English, a M.Ed in Tesol and a Cambridge Delta. She really enjoys blogging and has two blogs (www.myeltrambles.wordpress.com and www.myeltlessonplans.blogspot.gr). You can also find her on twitter:@joannacre
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Borrowed from Delta Publishing
Spotlight on Learning Styles by Marjorie Rosenberg, University of Graz, Graz, Austria Key words: learning styles, myths, misconceptions, VAK learners
How my journey began It is always interesting to discuss the concept of learning styles with educators. Although research has been carried out over the last fifty years or so, it is still considered by some to be controversial. Those who feel that learning styles do not exist or have a place in the classroom can point to a wide variety of websites and scholarly articles, while proponents of learning styles can also find a large number of journal articles and research results attesting to the validity of the theories. My interest in this field began in the early 1990s in a course on ‘superlearning’ techniques where I heard about visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learners for the first time. It was as if a door had opened for me and I finally understood why my years of trying to learn French through the audiolingual method had been so resoundingly unsuccessful. As a visual and kinaesthetic learner, being told ‘not to picture the words in my head’ was the wrong way for me to first be confronted with a language. Just listening to the sounds and finding automatic responses or sitting in a language lab with nothing to look at did not help me at all. Years later, when I learned German, I wrote words down myself, carried a dictionary around to look words up and made use of a number of visual aids. This method was certainly more rewarding for me and suddenly finding out what the difference was in the two experiences began my journey into this fascinating area. As a language teacher I became very interested in finding out how I could help my learners to have positive experiences both inside and outside the classroom and discovering and development different possibilities of doing this became a mission. Definitions As one of the first questions which comes up refers to the definition of styles, it seems best to quote some of the experts in the field. For example, Guild and Garger (Guild and Garger 1998: 23) say ‘The way we perceive the world governs how we think, make judgments and form values about experiences and people. This unique aspect of our humanness is what we call “style”’, while J.W. Keefe (Keefe 1979:4) contends that styles are ‘characteristic cognitive, affective and psychological behaviours that serve as relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact with and respond to the learning environment’. Kinsella
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(Kinsella 1995: 171) comments that learning style refers to ‘ an individual’s natural, habitual and preferred ways of absorbing, processing and retaining new information and skills which persists regardless of teaching methods of content area’ and Dunn and Dunn (Dunn and Dunn 1992, 1993) and Dunn, Dunn, and Perrin (Dunn, Dunn, and Perrin 1994: 11) say that ‘learning style is the way each person begins to concentrate on, process, internalize and retain new and difficult academic information.’ They go on to suggest that ‘More than threefifths of learning style is biological; less than onefifth is developmental.’ Importance in learning Moving on to the importance or use in learning is a subject which inspires debate from all corners of the globe and from people involved in a variety of educational situations. An argument is often made that it is not possible to change instruction to suit every learner and even in cases where this is done, it has no particular effect on the success of the learning outcome. While this may be true, it is only one part of the equation. However, ‘it is possible to strive for uniform outcomes but to intentionally diversify the means for achieving them’ (Guild and Garger 1998:19). Harmer (Harmer 2007: 85) addresses this issue as well when he says that ‘The moment we realise that a class is composed of individuals (rather than being some kind of unified whole) we have to start thinking about how to respond to those students individually so that while we may frequently teach the group as a whole, we will also, in different ways, pay attention to the different identities we are faced with.’ This is not to say that we need to constantly change our instruction to make sure that we reach each and every learner all of the time. But a mix of methods can provide learners with new possibilities and resources for them to explore outside the classroom, including those which are new and different for them. In addition, encouraging learners to try out new methods for themselves can encourage them to become more independent and autonomous learners another goal of helping them to discover their styles. Cohen (ed. Schmitt 2010: 162) sums this up by saying, ‘Indeed we learn in different ways and what suits one learner may be inadequate for another. While learning styles seem to be relatively stable, teachers can modify the learning tasks they use in their classes in a way that may bring the best out of particular leaners with particular learning style preferences. It is also possible that learners over time can be encouraged to engage in ‘stylestretching’ so as to incorporate approaches to learning they were resisting in the past’.
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Myths and misconceptions As there are a number of misconceptions about learning styles, this is an important area to cover in any discussion of the topic. For one thing, learning styles are not an excuse. Finding out about one’s strengths and weaknesses does not mean that one is allowed to simply give up because he or she is not particularly good at something. The goal instead is to create a mindset in which the person is made cognizant of their particular situation and to expand on it and grow. In any discussion with learners about their styles, the option of falling back on a weakness as a reason not to do something is simply not on the table. It would also be a misconception to assume that learners cannot stretch out of their styles. Although the style can be seen as a foundation, most learners have incorporated methods ascribed to other styles to learn and acquire knowledge. Being aware of the wide range of possibilities in learning does not mean that a learner will not make use of them, if necessary, to achieve a particular goal or when learning a particular subject. And if the learner is successful with this, motivation may improve resulting in a positive selffulfilling prophesy. Another misconception is that teachers tend to label or pigeonhole learners once they know their styles. This is most certainly not the aim of those of us working in this field. It is interesting to observe students and to be aware of their styles as it makes giving advice to particular questions easier, but it does not mean that a teacher should assume a learner cannot grow or change. Teachers can reassure learners that ANY strength or strategy which will help them achieve a goal is fine; there is no need to only use ones most commonly employed by the style. However, learners also need to have the selfconfidence to use the strategies comfortable for them, even if they have been told in the past that these strategies will not help them to learn. In addition, styles are not ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ they are valueless. No style is ‘better’ than another style; one may be more suited to learning a particular skill than another, but each of the styles has their strong and weak points. Style and competence should not be confused. In a language class it is certainly possible that two people with very similar learning style profiles are at completely different levels of language. So many other factors must be considered that simply basing all conclusions about learners on style would be a mistake. It could also be that a learner is enrolled in a programme which is not the right one for him or her. Discoveries about style could lead to making a change, but it may also simply lead to finding new ways to learn the material.
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Implementation There are a variety of ways in which learning styles can be implemented into the foreign language classroom. In Spotlight on Learning Styles teachers are provided with checklists which they can go through with their students and discuss. Particular characteristics of styles are given as well as tips and strategies. The styles of both the teacher and the students are looked at and suggestions are made as to how to expand a teacher’s repertoire in the classroom. As many of us teach in the way we prefer to learn, we may overlook learners’ needs whose styles are very different from our own. Spotlight on Learning Styles has been written to remind teachers about the types of students in our classrooms and provide tips, hints and ideas to ensure that teachers can reach as many of their students as possible and find both satisfaction and joy in doing so. Style types As there are a large number of learning styles and surveys to determine them used by researchers and practitioners, it was necessary to decide which ones to focus on in Spotlight on Learning Styles . For this reason, the choice was made to choose three particular areas. This logical sequence of gathering information led to the choice of three distinct areas to cover, beginning with visual, auditory and kinaesthetic modalities (sensory channels of perception), global / analytic thought processes (cognitive processing) and Mind Organisation (behaviour based on perception and organization of information). By adding on to the knowledge provided by one style, a more composite picture of a learner can be made. After doing all three surveys the individuality of each of the learners becomes more apparent, the uniqueness of each learner can be appreciated, and suggestions for strategies can be tailored to the particular learner and situation. As Cohen says, ‘Although numerous distinctions are emerging from the literature, three categories of style preferences are considered particularly relevant and useful to understanding the process of language learning: sensory/perceptual, cognitive and personalityrelated preferences’ (Schmitt ed. 2010:163). VAK Learners The standard model of VAK generally includes visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learners. These were researched early on by Barbe and Swassing (Barbe and Swassing 1979:1) who defined what they called modalities as ‘any of the sensory channels through which an individual receives and retains information’. However, after working in adult education and teacher training for some thirty years, it seems that adults tend to be either kinaesthetic
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motoric (tactile) learners or kinaesthetic emotional ones. The exact age as to when this split takes place has not been determined, but it seems to show up in the later years of high school and is certainly apparent by the time learners reach tertiary level education or take on a job. For this reason Spotlight on Styles looks at these two areas separately and provides ideas for working with both types. Visual learners generally remember best when they can see something or write it down. Examples of activities for them include noticing things about them, using colours, drawing or creating pictures in their minds, recognizing shapes, and describing items or people in writing. Auditory learners remember what they hear or say. Therefore, the activities for them include passing on sentences to each other orally, telling stories or putting them in the correct order through listening, describing people aloud, asking questions, and matching beginnings and endings of the jokes they hear. Kinaesthetic emotional learners need to feel comfortable with others and want to have the feeling of belonging. Therefore, they are given the chance to work together in groups to plan joint events, tell each other’s horoscopes or fortunes, come up with positive adjectives to describe classmates, or tell others how they feel about a particular topic within a safe setting. The kinaesthetic motoric leaners need to move about and learn best when they can try things out for themselves. They are given the opportunity to walk around and mingle to gather information, create the moving parts of a machine in a group, pass on a word by writing on someone’s back, or act words for others to guess. The last section has mixed activities which are designed to appeal to all learner types such as describing, drawing or ‘becoming’ pictures, playing memory in groups, remembering and repeating unusual definitions, as well as kinaesthetic bingo and gap texts. Students are also encouraged to contribute to the activities and if some are more successful than others, they can be asked to help fellow students or give personalised tips on how to remember things better.
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Global / Analytic Learners Moving onto cognitive processing, we take a look at the global / analytic learning style. One of the first researchers to look into these styles was Witkin (Witkin 1981) who worked with fighter pilots to discover what influenced their decisions while piloting planes. He came up with his theory of fielddependent (global) learners and fieldindependent (analytic) learners based on this research and went on to develop the ‘Group Embedded Figures Test’, still used today to determine cognitive learner styles. Global learners tend to process information holistically and by remembering the entire experience rather than just details. They are also relationshiporiented and may be more emotional than analytic learners. The activities designed to appeal to them include a group drawing exercise to create a person, writing stories about others in the class, coming up with an idea for a class excursion and playing games like ‘YouRobot’. Analytic learners, on the other hand, like details and structure. They may prefer to work alone as they prefer not to be distracted. They are generally selfmotivated and may be quite goaloriented. The activities created for them include finding mistakes, solving logical puzzles, figuring out a detective story, and creating rules for specific activities. Mind Organisation The last of the styles looks at behaviour and is created by putting together the idea of perception as concrete (using the senses) or abstract (using ideas and feelings) and the element of organisation (either systematically or nonsystematically). This gives us four distinct styles which created by Bowie (Bowie 1997) who began her research working with adolescents. She devised a learning style survey called ‘Mind Organisation’ and used it as a basis for counselling high school students and helping them to learn. Her four styles include: ● Flexible Friends, who perceive abstractly through ideas or feelings and organise nonsystematically. ● Expert Investigators, who perceive abstractly through ideas or feelings and organise systematically. ● Power planners, who perceive concretely using their senses and organise systematically ● Radical Reformers, who perceive concretely through their senses but organise nonsystematically
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Flexible Friends like to work in groups, especially those in which they like the other people. They are creative and intuitive and value personalised learning experiences. They are also enthusiastic and express their empathy for others. Language activities which appeal to them include setting personal goals, writing down sentences which are true for them in a dictation exercise, learning to use vocabulary of emotions and feelings, completing sentences about their partner, and finding things in common with others. Expert Investigators are logical and systematic learners. They tend to be perfectionists so prefer to work at their own speed. In dealing with others they are generally logical and rational. They especially like to do research and to know where they can get information from. The language activities designed for them include working with facts and informative materials, finding errors and doing research for a class excursion followed by a report on how it went. Power Planners like to be organised and are generally detail and taskoriented. In groups they may take on a natural role of a leader and enjoy handson activities. The language tasks designed for them include putting processes in order and explaining them to others, finding explanations and rules for difficult grammar points, using linking words correctly to create plans and setting priorities. Radical Reformers are risktakers and are often curious about a number of different fields of study. They generally rely on their intuition to solve problems, but pride themselves on finding unique ones. They tend to ‘think outside the box’ and value creativity and ingenuity. In groups, they may inspire others and value reallife experiences. The activities for them include realistic role plays, creating and acting out a scenario based on a true story, buying and selling everyday items to each other by finding unusual uses for them, creating statements about themselves which the others guess are true or false. Moving on The information presented here is the start; the end of the journey is up to the readers and users of the book. As learning styles and the discoveries which occur when people become aware of them is a neverending story, the goal of this article and the book itself is to open up a perspective on learning which perhaps had not been considered before. Moving on to personal research or professional development, stretching outside your own comfort zone, or helping students to realise their true potential are only some of the places these ideas can take you. The excitement of discovery remains to those who use the
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information to delve into themselves and their teaching as well as their students and their learning in whichever way they choose. The impetus is here, the joy of further discovery is up to you. References Bowie, A. 1998. Adolescent Self Perceptions of Learning Styles: A Qualitative Study , Master’s Thesis, Antioch University. Seattle, WA Dunn, R. and K. Dunn. 1999. The Complete Guide to the Learning Styles Inservice System. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Alexandria, VA: Guild, P. B. and S. Garger. 1998 Marching to Different Drummers. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD). Keefe, J. W. 1979. ‘Learning styles: an overview’ in Keefe, J S (Ed): Student learning styles: diagnosing and prescribing problems. Reston, VA: National Association of Secondary School Principals. Schmitt, N (Ed). 2010. An Introduction to Applied Linguistics Second Edition . New York, NY: Routledge. ***** Marjorie Rosenberg teaches English at the Language Institute of the University of Graz, works with corporate clients and trains teachers. Her publications include In Business and two Personal Study Books in the Business Advantage series (CUP), English for Banking and Finance 2 (Pearson) and Spotlight on Learning Styles (Delta). She wrote activities for the Cambridge University Press website Professional English Online for a number of years and is now working on a book to help teachers write activities for different learner preferences. Marjorie was the IATEFL BESIG coordinator from 20092015 and also served on the IATEFL Membership Committee. She is now Acting Vice President of IATEFL and will be taking over as President at the Annual Conference
in
Manchester
in
April
2015.
You
may
contact
her
at
. Marjorie.Rosenberg@tele2.at
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***** Article borrowed from Delta Publishing website. First published on Delta Publishing website in 2013. Borrowed from Delta Publishing, courtesy of Delta Publishing. For ELTA Newsletter prepared by Maja Jerković. http://www.deltapublishing.co.uk/titles/methodology/spotlightonlearningstyles
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Social networks – our virtual home by Jana Živanović, student at Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade Abstract: The advent of technology has given rise to new means of communication and socialization. The result of its huge impact is that we live parallel lives – one in the real world and the other in the virtual. The goal of my research paper is to explore to what extent and what for social networks have become an indispensable part of our existence. In order to achieve this, I focused on four most popular sites for connecting people – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. The respondents, 200 in total, belong to different target groups, varying in terms of age, sex and education. This project offers the insight into frequenting social networks, their advantages and disadvantages, but also raises awareness of potential hazards one may encounter in case of misuse. Hopefully, it will motivate its readers to reconsider the real purpose of using the abovementioned websites the next time they sit to log in just to check if there is anything new. Key words : Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, selfpromotion, abuse, communication, marketing
Introduction In 2004 when Facebook appeared, what followed was the mushrooming of other sites for socialization such as Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, etc. If there was not for YouTube and its option for uploading video clips, we would not hear of Justin Bieber or Ekrem Jevric. Justin Bieber is a young singer who has become popular overnight after his mother recorded his singing and published it on this network for sharing music. Ekrem, however, is a tonedeaf, uneducated working class man, famous rather as a laughing stock for his clip “Home – work, work – home” he posted himself; nevertheless, with more than 12 million views, he is known in Serbia, as well as abroad. How would we be up to date with the latest news and events about celebrities if we did not have an account on Twitter? If I had not created an account there, I would not have the faintest idea that Vlado Georgiev started learning Spanish half a year ago. As a passionate Facebook user, and a notsoenthusiastic fan of Twitter, I have decided to explore to what extent the respondents use certain social networks and what for. But, to understand better the results of the research, let us take a brief look at the term “social networks” and their features.
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Social networks Social networks are part of the online community that gathers people of the same or similar interests and enables them to connect with each other. Not many people know that the first page for social networking was sixdegrees.com, established in 1997, which helped users to 1
create profiles. Several years later, MySpace was built, one of the most famous sites today. Then, in 2004, Mark Zuckenberg, a student from Harvard, made a revolution in the era of communication. Little did he know then that his project would become worldwide popular and used. It was the moment Facebook was born. Hardly anywhere, except on Facebook, can someone “write on your wall”, or “poke” you all 2
day long. This network, with over 2 million users in Serbia alone, has become a kind of our virtual home. It enables us to send messages, have a group conversation or update our profile with new information. We can also join open or closed groups and exchange news with other members. Recently, a new option has been added : to share with friends how we feel currently, “the feelings” varying from “happy” or “sad” to more complex ones like “depressive”, “exhausted”, etc. Another innovative feature is marking the activity we are preoccupied with at the moment, whether it is reading a book, watching TV or jogging in the park. This poses a question whether we are actually performing the activity or just informing others. Twitter, whose definition would be “birds’ chatter”, is similar to Facebook with some obvious impediments. While in a Facebook status, we may write a whole chapter or story; Twitter’s short format limits users to only 140 characters. That is why it is usually described as “internet 3
SMS”. We have no “friends” on Twitter, but we do have “followers” and, unlike Facebook, we are not allowed to control who we are followed by. Instagram, however, has the narrowest usage. Being used exclusively for posting, commenting and liking photos, it is a network which contains the largest number of photo albums. With its option to connect with other social networks, users can share the photos from Instagram simultaneously via Facebook and Twitter. And just as Instagram is a photo gallery, YouTube keeps the richest collection of http://www.scribd.com/doc/236904800/29/NASTANAKDRU%C5%A0TVENIHMRE%C5%BD A , page 56 2 http://idesh.net/techiweb/facebook/ 3 http://www.slideshare.net/Zebeljan/ss5759112 1
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music albums, video clips and other audiovisual material. Thus, access is allowed both to registered and unregistered users, while only the registered ones can open their “channel” and upload their clips but also comment on those of other people.
Research conduction I began the research on this topic in March. The first approach was in the form of an interview with a student of the Faculty of Political Sciences, Mina Smiljanic, who simultaneously studies and works as a PR at “Blogomanija” and “Tvitomanija”. The latter is one of the largest conferences on social networks – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other new platforms which are used for cooperation, business improvement and meeting people. Having talked to Mina one Sunday afternoon during our coffee time, I decided to create a questionnaire in Serbian which would be consequently spread to persons of different ages (1525, 2535 and over 35), sex and education level. Originally, I classified questions into four areas so that they encompassed the frequency of usage in order to define the extent to which social networks are used and the content shared on the networks – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. This was done in order to determine the purpose of using them. Analysing their purpose, I also examined the factor of abuse. It somehow imposed the matter of online security which I put in the fifth area. Since I myself spend a great deal of time on the internet, all these points inspired me to observe what my friends use the sites for. Research results After I made the questionnaire, I published it online. To spread it quickly, I used Facebook. I posted the link on several groups hoping that around 50 people would fill it in. After the first day, I already had more than 30 answers which kept multiplying throughout the following day. Albeit my knowledge of the Serbian proverb “The wonder lasts but nine days”, I was determined to wait until the end of the week. To my utter amazement, I received 200 answers which also implies a widely active use of social networks.
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Frequency of usage If we take into account that we live in a technological era and that WiFi connection is a necessary condition for a comfortable life, we should not be taken aback by the fact that 73 percent of respondents use social networks both via computer and mobile phone. It is hard to say which network is dominant among teenagers and students as every second person has an account on all of them, regardless of their sex or education. Yet, one thing is certain – the favourite network of both the younger and older population is Facebook, while the least frequently used networks among the persons in the over35 group are Instagram and Twitter. As Mina has said: “Facebook is more accessible and easier to use, which is why it has so many users”. It seems that a majority of users considers social networks to be a cyber space where they are expected to be interactive. Accordingly, 80% of the persons questioned see themselves equally in the role of consumers and the active ones, who always have something to “share” with their “friends”, while only one fifth are passive observers. Speaking of the frequency of usage, the research results are not as alarming as one would expect. Only 5 out of 200 users post large amounts of content on Facebook within a single hour, while there are four times as many of those who do the same at different times during a day. This implies that 12% of mainly younger population log on their account more than once a day. Perhaps, in Mina’s words, since Facebook implemented all these options, it has turned into the best way for users to express themselves. Still more than half of Twitter users are inactive, while the same can by no means apply to Facebook. Only 23 people in the sample (mostly of the older generation, except two students) can help but not shout at this public megaphone. Another proof that having an account on a network does not obligatorily imply active use is the data on visiting Instagram. There are 73% of “followers”, while 11 respondents post photos, out of which 8 are girls. Most of those who upload files on YouTube do it on a monthly basis; however, an exception to this is a young man who posts clips a couple of times a day. Our need of social networks inevitably brings the question of what provokes our insatiable desire to “check” our profiles so frequently. What do we actually “check”?
Your profile is you It was only several decades ago that we started using the maxim “Show me what you read and I’ll tell you what you’re like”. It comes from the sociocultural basis that the learned people
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read the classics. Today, according to the rules of new trends, the first question we pose when meeting someone is whether s/he has a profile on Facebook. It is amazing how much one can find out about a person only by following their activities, from personal data to their taste regarding books, music, films, even the party they voted for. What three quarters of respondents agree on is the fact that they use social networks primarily for entertainment. Therefore, both for the elderly and the young, this is the most efficient way of sharing photos with their friends or the hit that “has stuck in their head”. Although all generations use the internet more or less for these purposes, particular attention should be paid to a disturbing number of minors who are also the most zealous consumers, mostly in the sense of posting occasionally inappropriate photos. On the other hand, parents who thoughtlessly put photographs of their offspring do not fall much behind teens a phenomena which will be analyzed in the chapter Don’t Forget to Lock the Door! Speaking of profiles as virtual mirrors, I would take a look at the use of these sites for expressing one’s attitudes. To quote Miss Smiljanic, “Twitter gives us a chance to be not just observers, but also to be involved in the formation of public opinion.” Many more people are able to “meet” us, more than it would be feasible in real life. With such an opportunity, and having in mind that the criteria for “how interesting one is” hold the second place of importance in choosing friends and followers, the users will sometimes represent themselves differently from what they are really like, just in order to be looked for or accepted by others. Despite this fact, more than half of the subjects (56%) believe in the validity of posts and tweets. In fight for attention, since some use them for selfpromotion, social networks may become the field of creative atmosphere, because tweets and statuses should be as original as possible. On the other hand, they can depict users in a negative way. This refers to the users of Twitter in particular, who occasionally lose control, so that passionless account visitors see them as complexridden.
What is the point? As the majority of respondents are my colleagues, it has contributed to the fact that, for most of them, the main reason for logging in is to be informed about the faculty. After being “updated”, we want to amuse ourselves, which is why another important reason for checking in is the entertaining content we find in every corner of the Home Page. Twitomania’s PR also suggests that people have realized they can earn via social networks. Therefore, they are
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used by freelance artists, but also corporations like CocaCola as a marketing strategy to approach customers. She adds that, if a determined individual has a good idea and is experienced in mobilizing people, that idea will spread quickly with the help of networks. It is true – the results show that 63% of respondents assume that the citizens’ activity which started online does not end there. This is supported by the fact that, after destructive floods which happened in many towns in Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia, these sites played a crucial role in organizing actions. That was the period when the whole internet looked like a huge family from some other dimension, whose members helped each other.
Do not forget to lock the door! Just as we care about the security of our space in real life, we should be careful about our behavior in the internet society. According to the PR’s words, the media can be manipulated but so can misinformation. It all depends upon how much personal information we are ready to share with others. She herself is very optimistic, but her peers are not as much, since three quarters of her fellows keep their profiles locked. Of course, the older population is more cautious in so far as they have only up to 60 friends. Unlike them, the youngest tend to be the target of abuse and the extreme cases are those with between one and three thousand friends. But, how to behave on Twitter where we cannot control who we want to be followed by? Teenagers are more skillful at tweeting and, due to thousands of followers, they do not reveal their true names, as they said. The more unusual the nick4 , the more followers – that is the key to creativity. Mina considers that computer literacy at schools should be improved. Also, the under aged would have to be particularly controlled. Without parental supervision and full of creativity accumulated in the wrong direction, teenagers and young adults (especially those with lower levels of education) usually idolize starlets and pop singers. Inspired by them, they take provocative photos, the socalled “selfies”, which they post publicly and are prone to being victims of psychopaths. I have recently been shocked when I accidentally discovered a clip where two 12yearold girls tried to impersonate the famous singer Severina. How can we expect parents to check the content children post if they themselves put on photos of their offspring and toddlers? I required my subjects to elaborate on this question and they all find this phenomenon rather irritating. Young mothers filled with pride and joy do not 4
nickname
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always consider the matter of safety. On the other hand, for the milder critics the key is in moderateness. If they “build” a good “fortress” out of their profile, there is nothing wrong with “sharing” a photo of their baby from time to time.
Teacher – my new friend This was another question which provoked a flood of comments. There was a collision of opinions with an equal number of respondents who were in favour of and against it. Every educational institution plays such an important role in students’ lives that, with the advent of technology, it has spread outside the classroom. But, how does the fact that they are friends in the virtual world reflect on the relationship between teachers and students in the real one? From a student’s point of view, Mina is of the opinion that the lines get crossed and if students need to ask teacher assistants a question, the easiest way is via a Facebook message. A significant number of respondents considers Facebook as the only space where they are free to express themselves without thinking about who might see it. The problem, according to them, lies in the potential deprivation of freedom they have. While students have a slight advantage over teachers, and they do not feel embarrassed to publish photos from their summer holidays, the teachers represent models to their students. Therefore, rare are those who will share a photo from the beach. On the other hand, social networks are the most efficient way for teachers to find out more about students and, thus, create a complete picture of them as individuals. That is why the debate stays open. A teacher at the Faculty of Philology was often quoted by students in the questionnaire. When asked to be their friend during the academic year, she responded: “When you pass the first year and I no longer teach you, we can be friends on Facebook, but not until then.” This kind of condition is possible at the faculty level. But in high schools, it would not go amiss to establish such a relationship, especially if teachers are younger people. They may have access to their students’ life outside the classroom and consequently act to prevent them from potentially unwanted situations.
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Conclusion The research I have carried out shows that Facebook is the prevailing social network which is intensively used by the respondents of both sexes and all ages. However, the purpose of usage differs depending on age and sex, as well as on education level. For younger subjects, aged 15 to 20, it is for selfexposure, thus creating the picture which others want to see. Somewhat older persons find networks useful for communication within the group they belong to, while entrepreneurs exploit them for marketing. Still, as we have seen it, they occasionally comprise the content of humanitarian character.
Apstrakt Pojava tehnologije dovela je do novih sredstava komunikacije i socijalizacije. Rezultat njenog ogromnog uticaja ogleda se u tome da vodimo paralelne živote – jedan u stvarnom, a drugi u virtuelnom svetu. Cilj mog istraživačkog rada jeste da ispitam u kom obimu i iz kog razloga su društvene mreže postale nezamenljivi deo našeg postojanja. Da bih ovo postigla, koncentrisala sam se na četiri najpopularnija sajta za povezivanje – Fejsbuk, Tviter, Instagram i Jutjub. Ispitanici, kojih je ukupno 200, pripadaju različitim ciljnim grupama i razlikuju se po godinama, polu i obrazovanju. Ovaj projekat nudi uvid u posećivanje društvenih mreža, njihove prednosti i mane, ali takođe ukazuje na moguće opasnosti u slučaju njihove zloupotrebe. Nadam se da će rad motivisati čitaoce da razmotre pravu svrhu upotrebe gorenavedenih sajtova sledeći put kada sednu da se uloguju samo da bi proverili da li ima nešto novo. Ključne reči: Fejsbuk, Tviter, Jutjub, Instagram, samopromocija, zloupotreba, komunikacija, marketing
References:
1. http://www.slideshare.net/Zebeljan/ss5759112 2. http://www.scribd.com/doc/236904800/29/NASTANAKDRU%C5%A0TVENIHMRE% C5%BDA 3. http://idesh.net/techiweb/facebook/
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***** Jana Živanović is a fourthyear student of the English language at the Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade. As her passion is teaching, she volunteered at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in April 2014 and is planning to voluntarily teach high school students in Language Cocktail – Free language courses at the Sixth Belgrade Grammar School. Apart from this, she revels in translating, writing short stories and dancing salsa. Appendix 1: Research methods Questionnaire I am working on a project which deals with the frequency and purpose of using social networks. For this reason, I am kindly asking you to fill in the questionnaire by circling the answer which fits best with your opinion about social networks, your attitude towards them and your behaviour while using cyber space. Thank you! 1. How old are you? 15 25 2535 more than 35 2. Sex Male Female 3. Do you use social networks via computer or also via phone? Via computer Via phone Both 4. Which social network do you spend most time on? Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube 5. What is your role on social networks? Reproduction Consummation Both 6. How often do you post on Facebook? More than once within an hour more than once a day More than once a week more than once a month I don’t post, just observe the others 7. How often do you tweet?
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More than once within an hour more than once a day More than once a week more than once a month I don’t tweet, just observe the others 8. How often do you post photos on the Instagram? More than once within an hour more than once a day More than once a week more than once a month I don’t post, just observe the others 9. What do you do on YouTube? I just listen to music I just post videos I listen to music and post videos 10. How often do you post on YouTube? More than once within an hour more than once a day More than once a week more than once a month I don’t post, just observe the others 11. What content do you post on social networks? Entertaining My opinion Informative I don’t post any content 12. What is your goal when you log in a social network? To get informed about the faculty To see something interesting To see my friends’ activity To get the world news 13. Do you think that citizens’ activity that begins on social networks ends up there? Yes No 14. How much do you trust the tweets and posts you read? 1 2 3 4 5 15. Why do you follow people on Twitter – add them as friends of Facebook? They are interesting They post important news I follow/add only famous people They are my close friends / members of family 16. What is your attitude towards users who post photos of their under aged children? 17. Do you consider that people use social networks for selfpromotion, for connecting with others or both? For selfpromotion for connecting with others Both 18. Do you think that teachers and students should be friends on social networks? Elaborate
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Interview questions 1. What are social networks used for? 2. In your opinion, which of these four networks is spread the most? 3. What are the effects they provoke? 4. How can social networks be abused? 5. Which population uses social networks the most?
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You SHOULDN’T give up on modals by Milica Prvulović, language instructor, Faculty of Philology, Belgrade University Key words: game, grammar, modals, props
On the whole, I like my job. I like the people I work with and I like the language that I get to teach. But once a year everything falls apart. It’s when I have to teach modal verbs to my students. Having always relied on intuition when using them, I find it very hard to teach about all the different uses that modal verbs have. I also concluded that I was not the only one frustrated by modal verbs. My students shared the same sentiment. This game is the way I can make the whole thing a bit more bearable for everyone. This activity can be used at the beginning of a lesson, to help the teacher find out how much her students know already. Or it can be used at the end, to wrap up the whole story on modals. It requires a lot of imagination and some props. First, find some interesting objects at home. They shouldn’t be too big because you’ll have to take them to class. Put them in a box. Here are some of the objects on my list: ●
a weird-looking doll
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a scrunchie
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a purse
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an old passport
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a postcard
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a lipstick
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an old coin
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a rattle
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a tube of toothpaste…
Some of the things I use for this game
The number of objects depends on your class size. When I play this game with a group of 10 people I bring 10 different objects. If you have around 20 students, you can ask them to work in pairs, or in groups for a bigger class.
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Your next step is to ask your students if they like crime shows/books and if they think they’d be good detectives. Tell them that you have objects in this box that belong to a mystery person. Go around and let them choose one object. Their task is to make assumptions about the mystery person using MODAL VERBS (which you can pre-write on the board). Depending on how much time you have, how engaged the students are, and how good their English is, you can ask them to think about their assumptions and write some notes first, or say what they think right away; they might be encouraged to make assumptions about the past and use modals in combination with perfect infinitives. What I always make sure is to tell them that they HAVE TO use a modal verb in each sentence. This helps avoid using words like ‘maybe, perhaps’… Here are some of the sentences my students came up with: ●
The mystery person CAN’T be male.
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She SHOULD wear less makeup.
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This person MUST HAVE TRAVELLED a lot.
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This person MIGHT have really bad breath and he/she MUST wash his/her teeth every two hours.
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This person CAN’T be very fashionable.
If the students show interest, maybe you could ask them to write about this person for homework.
***** Milica Prvulović has graduated from the Faculty of Philology, Belgrade University. She works as a language instructor at the Faculty of Philology, Belgrade University. She is currently working on her PhD thesis, and is doing research in the field of teaching writing, cognitive linguistics, error analysis and language learning through play.
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The Bash Tchelik Project By Anja Prentić, Ph.D. student, Belgrade University Abstract This article presents Bash Tchelik and Other Serbian Fairy Tales page, the Oxford University Press competition winning project. This school project was done by secondary school students, guided and supervised by their English teacher. The fact that it has won the first prize of the competition certainly shows both the appreciation of the wider community for it and its high potential as learning and teaching material. The article describes the preparation of the page. It also presents any interested teachers and practitioners with ideas for using it as teaching material. A few suggestions for variations of activities in non-Serbian environment are provided as well. Finally, the author comments on the benefits the project has on learning English from the language teaching methodology aspect.
Key words: Bash Tchelik Project, Bash Tchelik Page, lesson plan, teaching activities, cooperation, culture, motivation
Introduction Bash Tchelik Project is a textbook unit prepared for the Oxford University Press competition for English teachers in creating Serbian Culture Page together with their students. Bash Tchelik and Other Serbian Fairy Tales was prepared by a group of three first grade students of a Secondary school in Barajevo with my help as their teacher. Having won the first prize, the page was published on the Oxford University Press Serbia web page1. The unit includes a warm-up activity, the main text, two exercises for checking understanding, a writing and a speaking pair or group activities. The very idea of the project seemed rather engaging and motivating for the students who completed it. A multimedia project such as this, encourages student to apply a variety of their skills and ideas. They managed to show their computer skills, creativity, knowledge of Serbian culture and understanding of learning and teaching methods and materials. The cooperative 1
https://elt.oup.com/feature/yu/kutak_za_vase_uspehe/solutions_comp/?cc=rs&selLanguage=en&mode=hub
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aspect was also immensely valuable. Students worked together, exploring the assets of the school library with the librarian's assistance and instructions. The first part of the article outlines the process of creating the page. The procedures and aims of each stage are described in a systematic way. Being a potential teaching material, the page offers a variety of lesson planning possibilities, which is shown in the second part of the article. And as a conclusion, my goal is to point out at least some of the positive aspects regarding the teaching methodology I have identified during the project.
Creating the page As mentioned above, the page was prepared by a group of secondary school students. The largest portion of work was done in the school library with the assistance of the school librarian and as individual work of the students, the materials were gathered in the library and via the Internet as well. The table below describes the stages, aims and procedures of the preparation process. Stage Brainstorming
Aim Choosing the theme of the page
Activities
Deciding on the activities and the organization of the page Choosing, modifying, translating or creating texts Organising activities and creating the first draft Creating the final look of the page
Texts
Page organization
Fine-tuning
Procedure Students brainstorm ideas considering the following questions: What topics would you find interesting in your textbook? What would you talk about to a foreigner concerning the culture of Serbia? What would EFL students from other countries find interesting to read about the culture of Serbia? With the teacher's guidance, students choose warm-up activities, text length, activities for checking understanding, communicative activities and any additional exercises and activities. Students research the Internet and the school library for appropriate texts. They present the teacher with their modifications and creations of texts and the teacher suggests any necessary corrections and changes. Students create the first draft of the page organising the activities and texts.
Students choose and arrange pictures, fonts, colours, background, and create the final look of the page.
After researching a variety of topics in Serbian history, literature and art, the students chose the Serbian folk tale of Bash Tchelik as the central idea. The inspiration came from The English Book edition of the tale's translation by Timothy John Byford. One of the illustrations from the publication was chosen as the base for the design. However, the main text was found elsewhere. The main text is the students' adaption of an online text, simply because it summed
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up the story in a more appropriate way. The rest of the texts, as well as the exercises, were created by the students with the teacher's support, consulting the appropriate resources. The final product The Bash Tchelik page and the activities will be described as lesson plan stages, commenting on the aims and the variations of the procedures. Stage 1 The warm-up activity is a communicative activity aimed at helping students activate schemata. Students are given the beginning lines of three popular Serbian folk tales: The Nine Peahens and the Golden Apples, The castle between Heaven and Earth and The Goat's Ears of the Emperor Trojan. After reading the given passages students are invited to talk about them, retell the tales in short and revise the familiar vocabulary and their knowledge of folk tales. This activity could be further expanded and made part of a separate lesson plan. The stories can also be compared with the originals, used as a translation practice, writing or speaking tasks, etc. To non-Serbian students this task could be a challenge, since they may not be familiar with the stories. If so, the students can be given a research task, or provided with translations of the stories as a jigsaw reading project, or simply encouraged to show their creativity by completing the stories as a writing or speaking exercise. Furthermore, students can be asked to find similar stories or motifs in their culture. In this way, their intercultural competences will be activated and further developed. Stage 2 The central part of the Bash Tchelik Page includes a part of the tale and two reading exercises for checking understanding. These exercises can be done individually, to make sure that each student has understood the text, or in pairs as a cooperative activity. Before the reading, the teacher may ask the students to describe the picture above the text and predict what they will read about in order to get them interested and make them personally involved in the reading. After the silent reading, students do the first exercise (correcting the mistakes in the sentences taken from the text with some meanings changed), they check their answers with their pair student and report the answers to the rest of the class and to the teacher. The same procedure can be applied to the second exercise (putting the events from the story in the right order) or some changes can be made in the choice of interactions for example. The text can be exploited in any way the teacher and the students choose. It can be used for teaching vocabulary, finding examples of grammar units, sentence constructions and so forth. Most importantly, students should be encouraged to explore and express their feeling and thoughts concerning the text. The teacher should invite them to comment on the actions of the characters as well as on their moral and emotional aspects. This type of analysis will involve students' personality, make the text more memorable, and hopefully, encourage them to find and read the complete story, thus motivating further reading and research. Stage 3
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Finally, teachers and students are presented with two activities for practicing writing and speaking skills. As the first writing activity, the students are given nine words based on which they should make their own ending of the story. It is left to the teachers to decide both on the word limit and whether it will be a homework task, part of the lesson or a separate lesson. The second activity is related to the first and includes drama. Namely, the students' task is to act out their stories. Both activities are initially planned to be done in pairs, however, group work can also be applied, and it is even more appropriate if the project is presented on a larger scale. Conclusion Apart from being an extremely engaging teaching and learning adventure, both for the students and me as a teacher, the Bash Tchelik Project has incorporated an array of positive aspects of learning a language as well as a variety of skills: ● While creating the page, students developed their cooperation, reading, writing, organization and communication skills, and most of all, their creativity and critical approach to teaching/learning activities. ● Since the project was part of a competition, the students were emotionally involved in its completion and winning the first place has made it one of the most memorable experiences in learning English so far. ● Cooperation with the school library, except for the obvious benefits in providing the students with working materials, is certainly invaluable due to its significance in motivating life-long readers, independent researchers and learners (Брборић, 2010). ● One of the things I found most inspiring about the project was the fact that it incorporated students’ mother culture in foreign language (FL) learning. In FL learning and teaching, the FL culture and learners' mother culture interact. If the interaction is positive and expressing mother culture is encouraged, learners will be motivated for learning and interacting with FL speakers (Đorđević, 2009). The significance of folk tales especially lies in the fact that they unite tradition, values and spirit of a culture, they represent our first contact with literature and bring back a child in us. Their magic and playfulness has brought fun to this project and engaged students personally in its completion. The most rewarding thing about this project for me as a teacher is the fulfilment the students found in it. I certainly hope that our work might motivate other teachers to use the Page in their work or engage their students in a similar project. Finally, I think that the best way to present the Bash Tchelik and Other Serbian Fairy Tales page is to include feedback from its creators. This project was GREAT. I didn't learn only English, I learned what teamwork means. Maybe that is one of the most important things. Marija P. If we had more projects like this our English would be much better. While we worked on this project, we learnt how important it is to understand the text or other things that we do, because every detail is important. Darinka P.
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We couldn't even dream about winning the reward for this project. This project was really good for learning English. It helped us improve our writing skills and our vocabulary. We did this for fun, but at the same time we felt enthusiastic. But we couldn't even imagine that we would win. Tijana L. Apstrakt Rad predstavlja Bash Tchelik and Other Serbian Fairy Tales stranicu, pobednički rad takmičenja u organizaciji Oxford University Press. Ovaj školski projekat ostvarile su učenice srednje škole uz podršku i nadzor svoje nastavnice engleskog jezika. Činjenica da je rad zaslužio prvu nagradu na takmičenju svakako pokazuje njegovo priznanje od strane šire zajednice, a takođe i njegov potencijal kao nastavni materijal. Rad opisuje pripremu stranice i nudi svim zainteresovanim nastavnicima ideje o tome na koji način bi date aktivnosti mogli uključiti u svoju nastavnu praksu. Dati su i predlozi varijacija aktivnosti za nastavu van srpskog govornog područja. U zaključku, autor analizira pozitivne efekte projekta na nastavu engleskog jezika sa stanovišta metodologije nastave. Ključne reči: Baš-Čelik projekat, Baš-Čelik stranica, nastavni plan, nastavne aktivnosti, kooperacija, kultura, motivacija
References: Arabski, J., & Wojtaszek, A. (2011). Aspects of Culture in Second Language Acquisition and Foreign Language Learning. Springer. Retrieved from http://gen.lib.rus.ec/book/index.php?md5=DE32E451A4D6FAE5B778D9A964BC229B& open=0 Harmer, J. (2007). How to Teach English. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. Betlehajm, B. (1979). Značenje bajki. Beograd: Prosveta. Đorđević, J. (2009). Uticaj višekulturne srpske govorne sredine na učenje engleskog jezika. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/29313594/Jasmina-Djordjevic-UticajVisekulturne-Srpske-Govorne-Sredine-Na-Ucenje-Engleskog-Jezika Брборић, В. (2010). Језичка култура и школска библиотека, Свеска 1. In Школска библиотека и настава језика и књижевности (pp. 9-22). Београд: Филолошки факултет. Retrieved from http://digifil.fil.bg.ac.rs/Home/Read/62678
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Маринковић, С. (2014, 07 12). Српске народне бајке. Београд: Креативни центар. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/127058130/Srpske-narodne-bajke
***** Anja Prentić has graduated from the University of Belgrade as a teacher of English, and after completing her master's degree, she has started her journey towards her doctoral theses. Working in the Secondary School in Barajevo for two years has widened her experience as a language teacher and a researcher and has shaped her teaching philosophy. Fields of her interest include inclusive education, drama in language teaching, young learners, humanistic approach in education. Contact information: Anja Prentić, anja89@krstarica.com
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1.Here are some famous Serbian fairy tales. Which one would you like to read? Why? The Nine Peahens and the Golden Apples
The Castle between Heaven and Earth
The Goat's Ears of the Emperor Trojan
2. Read a part of the story of Bash Tchelik
3. Correct the mistakes in these sentences:
….One day a tsar went hunting. Before he left, he gave nine keys to the prince telling him that he could open the first eight doors in the castle but not the ninth one. But the prince opened all the doors out of curiosity. Then he came to the ninth door and opened it. Inside there was a man who was completely shackled with heavy chains. There was a golden fountain in front of him but he couldn’t reach the water. When the prince stepped into the room the man started begging him for a little water in exchange for his life. The prince gave him some water. The prince asked him what his name was and the man said that his name was Bash Tchelik. Just as the prince was getting ready to leave, the man asked him again for some water in exchange for one more life. When the prince again turned to leave, the man offered him the third life if the prince spilt the water over him. As soon as the prince did it, all the chains broke. Bash Tchelik got free, grabbed the prince’s wife and flew away. When the tsar came back to the castle, the prince told him everything that had happened. He promised to find his wife and set her free…
- The prince gave the tsar nine keys and told him that he couldn't open the first eight doors in the castle, except for the ninth one. - The prince opened the eight doors and in that room there was a good man, his name was Bash Tchelik. - Bash Tchelik took water and spilt the water over the prince. -When Bash Tchelik came back, the prince told him everything that had happened. The tsar promised that he would find his wife and set her free.
4. Put these sentences in the correct order. Number them 1-8. a) Bash Tchelik flew away. b) The tsar gave nine keys to the prince. c) The tsar came back. d) Bash Tchelik asked prince for little water in exchange for two more lives. e) Prince spilt the water over Bash Tchelik. f) The chains broke. g) Tsar went hunting. h) The prince came into the ninth room.
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The Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Jovana Erić, IV1, Užice Grammar School
Key words: love, Valentine’s Day, quiz, stories, fun
Love was in the air on February 14 in Užice Grammar School. A special event was organised that day, the occasion being, of course, Valentine’s Day.
’’The Crazy Little Thing Called Love“ was the name of the quiz held on February 14 in Užice Grammar School, where contestants, divided into groups of three, had the chance to test their reading comprehension skills. Before the quiz, they were given short stories written by various authors, from Ernest Hemingway to Graham Greene.
The games were all connected to the plots and characters in these stories. The contestants had to solve crossword puzzles, associations, answer questions, pick the odd word out etc. A jury made up of our English teachers would check the contestants’ answers and, depending on their score, a group would be eliminated after each game. That was why everyone was very competitive and did their best to answer the tricky questions. The groups that won the first, second and third place received books as prizes, but the others were not too broken-hearted as they got chocolates and notebooks for participating in the quiz. In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, our students and teachers brought refreshments such as heart-shaped cookies and chocolate muffins. During the quiz, everyone enjoyed these delicious treats. Organising this quiz was a great and fun way to celebrate Valentine’s Day here in Užice Grammar School. ٭٭٭٭٭ Jovana Erić is a fourth-grader of Užice Grammar School who loves languages and enjoys reading Murakami’s books. ٭I certify that I have the right to publish these photos.
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ELTA Newsletter March – April 2015
UPCOMING EVENTS ● ● ● ●
Conferences Competitions Students’ camps Teachers’ camps
CONFERENCES
* Call for papers still open for some of the conferences
✓ 49th Annual International IATEFL Conference and Exhibition
Pre-Conference Events and Associates' Day, 10th April 2015 Date: 11th-14th April 2015 Venue: Manchester Central, Manchester, UK For details, follow the link: 49th Annual International IATEFL Conference and Exhibition
✓ 23rd annual HUPE Conference Date: 24 - 26 April 2015 Venue: Solaris Beach Resort near Šibenik For details, follow the link: 23rd Annual HUPE Conference
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ELTA Newsletter March – April 2015
✓ 13th ELTA Conference – A Taste of 21st century Teaching
Venue: Singidunum University Belgrade Date: May 15-16, 2015 For details, follow the link: 13th ELTA Conference
✓ 4th International Conference Teaching English to Young Learners. Assessment and learning
Date: June 5-6 June, 2015 Venue: Faculty of Education, Jagodina, Serbia For details, follow the link : Teaching English to young learners. Assessment and learning
✓ English Language Teaching Forum
Date: June 5-6, 2015.
Venue: Ekonomicka Univerzita v Bratislave
Call for speakers still open
For details, follow the link: English Language Teaching Forum
✓ 24th BETA IATEFL Conference Date: June 5-7 2015
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ELTA Newsletter March – April 2015
Venue: Sofia, Bulgaria For details, follow the link : 24th BETA IATEFL Conference
✓ 3rd TETA Conference Date: June 12-13, 2015 Venue: Tuzla, Bosnia and herzegovina
* Call for speakers still open
For details, follow the link: 3rd TETA Conference
COMPETITIONS For teachers ✓ The English Book - My Creative Classroom Activity 2015 Deadline: April 30th
For details, follow the link: My Creative Classroom Activity 2015
For students ✓ Konkurs za najbolji literarni rad ili strip na engleskom jeziku "My English Book 2015" Deadline: April 30th For details, follow the link: My English Book
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ELTA Newsletter March – April 2015
STUDENTS’ CAMPS
✓ SOL – Programmes for students For details, follow the link: SOL Programmes for students
✓ International Village Project Time: May-June; September 2015. Venue: Lubovnanske Kupele in the Tatra mountains in the north of Slovakia For details, follow the link: International Village
TEACHERS’ CAMPS
✓ SOL – Programs for teachers
For details, follow the link: Programmes for teachers SO(u)L Camp Refresh you Mind, Body and your Soul in Slovakia 2015 Date: August 2nd – 9th 2015 Venue: Bilingválne Gymnázium Čadca.
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ELTA Newsletter March – April 2015
SO(u)L Camp Refresh you Mind, Body and your Soul in Serbia 2015 Date: 13th – 20th August 2015 Venue: Eco-Center “Radulovački”, Sremski Karlovci, Serbia
WEBINARS
✓ Macmillan webinars Macmillan webinars
✓ OUP webinars OUP webinars
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