Dear ELT world, ELTA Newsletter has been in circulation for so many years and it is a result of devoted volunteers who have worked together to help our English teachers’ voices be heard. They are the ones who edit, proofread, go through every tiny little detail and review the written material before it finally gets published. This year we have a new team, and it is my pleasure to introduce to you the ones who will motivate you to write, share and publish your articles. Until next reading, Maja Jerković Editor-in-Chief
Hello! I've been teaching English for 15 years now, I taught all ages and levels and I currently work in a Secondary Medical School in Zrenjanin. I've been an editor since 2009 (with a short break during maternity leave). I am interested in CT, gamification, storytelling, drama and the use of technology in ELT! I look forward to working in this international team.
Maja Jerković
Hello everyone! I feel privileged to be in such a nice company. I have been teaching English to all age groups, starting from nursery school kids to faculty students. My fields of interest are: ELT methodology- especially teacher- student interaction, CT, drama in ELT, online teaching.
Bojana Nikić Vujić
Hey, everyone! I have been teaching English for 7 years but I am currently doing an MA in Lifelong Learning in Denmark and Spain. I specialise in teaching teenagers, critical thinking, project work and developing classroom materials. I look forward to our new issues.
Olivera Ćatić
Hello! It is great to be part of this international team! I have been teaching English for nearly thirty years. For the last decade, I have been working with teenagers at the School of Pharmacy and Physiotherapy in Belgrade. I have always supported the idea of CPD, so the opportunity of attending webinars nowadays makes me feel privileged (and very often short of time).
Zorica Đukić
Hi! I am a language instructor at the Faculty of Philology, Belgrade University. I like short, game-like activities best, and I use them frequently in class. I think I might encourage my methodology students to contribute to our publications.
Milica Prvulović
Hi everyone! I'm so happy to be a member of this team! I've been working in medical school in Kragujevac for eleven years now. I've also been ELTA coordinator for Šumadija region for about 3 years. My main interest, for some time, has been using authentic materials in the classroom, as well as authentic assessment. I teach teenagers, so this is the age group I know most about, but I am also very much interested in teaching young learners, too. I look forward to working on our publications! Branka Dečković
Milena Tanasijević
I am very happy to be a part of this team! I have been teaching English for 15 years, I used to work with very young and young learners, teens, young adults and adults; I tailored in-company courses. Now I teach students of IT, Management and Design related fields at Belgrade Metropolitan University, as blended and distance courses... I have been involved in teacher training, as well. I am also interested in SLA and ESP research. I look forward to reading the contributions and working with you! Hi everyone! It's great to be part of your team! I am Vicky and I am a language instructor at AMC College (Thessaloniki, Greece). I specialise in exam preparation for various exam boards (Cambridge, Michigan, etc.) but, at the College where I work, we mainly prepare students for the IELTS exam. My fields of interest are: Technology enhanced learning, Web 2.0 tools, critical thinking, teaching adults and ART in ESL.
Vicky Papageorgiou
Sociocultural theory and Second Language Acquisition by Ivana Banković, country representative of the Erasmus Mundus Student and Alumni Association for Serbia Key words: Sociocultural theory, SLA, Mediation, Internalization, ZPD
The sociocultural theory explains children’s learning and development and allows one to better understand children’s learning and the influence of both adults and peers on the learning process. From this perspective, children are seen as active participants in the learning process whose capacities are influenced by the culture of the environment in which they develop (Anning, Cullen, & Fleer, 2008). The sociocultural theory, initially proposed by Vygotsky (1978, 1986, 1987) refers to the human learning processes in general, which includes language learning. Later researchers, such as Lantolf, Donato, Thorne, Pavlenko, Swain and Lapkin and others (see Lantolf, 2000b), extended Vygotsky’s theory to second language acquisition, and focused mainly on how second language acquisition can be explained through the sociocultural perspective, that is, how second language learners acquire language when they collaborate and interact with other speakers. The core of sociocultural theory is that learning and cognitive development (which includes language as well) happen as a result of social interactions. It argues that “while human neurobiology is a necessary condition for higher order thinking, the most important forms of human cognitive activity develop through interaction within social and material environments” (Lantolf & Thorne, 2006a, p. 201). Such cultural and linguistic settings include family life, peer groups, schooling and organized sports activities. In other words, interactions with people and artefacts from the environment are essential in the development of thinking. Sociocultural theory considers language as an important mediational tool in the development of higher mental processes of learners (Vygotsky, 1986). It helps the development of these processes since it enables the developing communicative and cognitive functions to move from ‘the interpsychological’ to ‘the intrapsychological plane’ (Vygotsky, 1987) that is, from the social to the personal level. This requires active engagement of children in social interactions with peers and adults (Lantolf, 2000a; Rogoff, 1990). As Pavlenko and Lantolf (2000) argue, children have agency and intentions
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which enable them to learn and construct their understandings through interaction with the environment. Therefore, from the sociocultural perspective language is of interest not only for communication but for thought itself, in its functional sense. As Lightbown and Spada (2006) explain, sociocultural theory views speaking and thinking as “tightly interwoven” (p. 47) people internalize what is being said in the communicative process (by them as well as by others) and through this activity they gain control over their mental processes, or in other words speaking mediates thinking. The opportunity to use language as a means of making sense of experiences with others is a crucial step in learning to use language meaningfully, appropriately and effectively (Park, 2005). It enables the child to internalize the language and carries it into further performance. The value of imitation is also emphasized for children’s language learning, arguing that internalization through imitation is not a matter of just miming and copying but entails an active, and frequently creative, reasoning process (Lantolf & Thorne, 2006a; Speidel & Nelson, 1989; Tomasello, 2005). This explains why roleplay and makebelief/pretend play are so important for young children’s development. Swain and Lapkin (2002) argue that the production of language pushes learners to process language more deeply. The situations in which learners prepare to express themselves, before they start speaking or writing, demand paying much more attention to how thoughts are expressed linguistically than is the case in language comprehension activities. Thus, the authors advocate for more opportunities in which students would be able to engage in verbal expression. Swain (2000) maintains that in collaborative dialogues “language use and language learning can cooccur. It is language use mediating language learning. It is cognitive activity and it is social activity” (p. 97). All this emphasises the importance of active participation for language acquisition. The zone of proximal development (ZPD), together with mediation and internalisation, is another core concept of sociocultural theory. It is defined as “the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers” (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86). In other words, a child may be able to complete more cognitively demanding tasks if s/he has the right support from an adult or a peer. ZPD is seen as a metaphorical site where a learner and an interlocutor coconstruct knowledge and the emphasis in ZPD is placed on development,
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coconstruction of knowledge among learners in interaction with interlocutors or in private speech (Lightbown & Spada, 2006). The assumption is that what a child was once able to achieve with the help of others, s/he will be able to achieve on his/her own in the future. Play is a particularly important activity in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of development. Through play, children create a zone of proximal development in collaboration with others, in which they perform beyond their current abilities since they have the support of others (Vygotsky, 1978, 1997). With regard to SLA, different researchers, such as SavileTroike (1988), Cook (1997; 2000), Lantolf (1997), Broner and Tarone (2001) and others, have repeatedly documented the occurrence of language play and recognized its importance in the process of acquisition for both children and adults. References: Anning, A., Cullen, J., & Fleer, M. (2008). Research contexts across cultures. In A. Anning, J. Cullen, & M. Fleer (Eds.), Early childhood education: Society and culture (pp. 1–15). London: Sage Publications. Broner, M. A., & Tarone, E. E. (2001). Is it fun? Language play in a fifthgrade Spanish , 85 (3), 363–379. immersion classroom. The Modern Language Journal Cook, G. (1997). Language play, language learning. ELT Journal , 51 (3), 224–231. . Oxford: Oxford University Cook, G. W. D. (2000). Language play, language learning Press. Lantolf, J. P. (Ed.). (2000b). Sociocultural theory and second language learning . Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lantolf, J. P., & Thorne, S. L. (2006a). Sociocultural theory and second language learning. In B. VanPatten & J. Williams (Eds.), Theories in second language acquisition: an introduction (pp. 201–224). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Lantolf, J. P., & Thorne, S. L. (2006b). Sociocultural theory and the genesis of second language development . Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lightbown, P., & Spada, N. M. (2006). How languages are learned . Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Park, E. S. (2005). A case study of young Korean children’s English learning experiences in the United States: a sociocultrual perspective . Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg. Retrieved from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd06292005222143/ Pavlenko, A., & Lantolf, J. P. (2000). Second language learning as participation and the (re) construction of selves. In J. P. Lantolf (Ed.), Sociocultural theory and second language learning (pp. 155–177). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Rogoff, B. (1990). Apprenticeship in thinking: Cognitive development in social context. Oxford: Oxford University Press. SavilleTroike, M. (1988). Private speech: Evidence for second language learning , 15 (3), 567–590. strategies during the‘ silent’ period. Journal of Child Language Speidel, G. E., & Nelson, K. E. (1989). A fresh look at imitation in language learning. In G. E. Speidel & K. E. Nelson (Eds.), The many faces of imitation in language learning (pp. 1–21). New York: SpringerVerlag. Swain, M. (2000). The output hypothesis and beyond: Mediating acquisition through collaborative dialogue. In J. P. Lantolf (Ed.), Sociocultural theory and second language learning (pp. 97–114). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Swain, M., & Lapkin, S. (2002). Talking it through: Two French immersion learners’ , 37 (34), response to reformulation. International Journal of Educational Research 285–304. Tomasello, M. (2005). Constructing a language: A usagebased theory of language acquisition . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Vygotsky, L. S. (1986). Thought and Language . Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Vygotsky, L. S. (1987). The collected works of L. S. Vygotsky: Problems of general psychology . (R. Rieber & A. Carton, Eds.). New York: Plenum Press.
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Vygotsky, L. S. (1997). The collected works of L.S. Vygotsky: volume 3: Problems of the theory and history of psychology . (R. W. Rieber & J. Wollock, Eds.) (1st ed.). New York: Plenum Press. **** Ivana Bankovi ć is an English language teacher and an Early Childhood professional. After earning her degree in the English language and literature from the Faculty of Philology and Arts, University of Kragujevac in 2006, she worked as an English language teacher for four years. Following that, she enrolled the International Master in Early Childhood Education and Care organized jointly by Oslo and Akershus University College, Norway, Dublin Institute of Technology. Ireland and University of Malta and graduated in 2012. Her professional interests include EFL/ESL teaching, TEYL, early childhood studies and children’s rights. She is comited to enhancing the quality of experience of educational settings for all children. She is a country representative of the Erasmus Mundus Student . and Alumni Association for Serbia. Contact Ivana at ivanabankovickg@gmail.com
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Global Lessons from Teacher Development in Japan
Dominic Edsall, Ritsumeikan Primary School, Kyoto, Japan Abstract This paper explores teacher development in Japan against the background of global trends through the case study of two Japanese teachers of English. Examining local practices in Japan, this paper attempts to draw global lessons and identify barriers to teacher development. Keywords: teacher development, teacher education, Japan, EFL, TESOL
Introduction Teacher development has differed greatly depending on the target students, with modern foreign language teachers following different preparatory courses from both EFL and ESL teachers (Freeman, 2009). Developments in EFL and ESL combined to form one discipline, the Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)(Freeman, 2009). In the case of second language teacher development in Japan, there is an overlapping interface between the fields of TESOL and English as a Modern Foreign language and the influences of both can be seen in the policy and reality of second language teacher development in Japan. This paper will attempt to outline current policy in Japan and how it matches current thinking and trends in teacher development globally. To examine this further, case studies of two Japanese teachers are presented and their experiences examined against such policies and trends. The Scope & Direction of Teacher Development From the 1990s, the scope of Second Language Teacher Development moved from not just meaning what teachers need to learn, but also to meaning how teachers actually learn to teach (Freeman, 2009). The learning processes that teaching courses focused on and their conceptual frames were broadened from just the processes found in teachertraining situations to those found during the wider socialization of individuals as they developed as professionals (Freeman, 2009). The dimensions of scope have thus been recast as a model with three axes of substance, engagement and influence (Freeman, 2009). Substance combines the content, processes and learning with settings and environments both physical and social, while engagement runs from
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imitation to social participation and conveys whether learning processes are implicit or explicit, and influence covers the area between replicable knowledge or behaviours and shaping student learning (Freeman, 2009). While this model allows us to separate traditional practices, such as “sitting with Nellie” and student study groups, from more processorientated approaches, it seems somewhat confusing as it attempts to force six different factors into a 3dimensional model, with the acquisition of content as part of a professional identity in direct opposition with the simple learning of knowledge and skills, for example; whereas, a dynamic systems model approach, such as that used in models of cognition and motivation, where each factor interacts dynamically may be more accurate. However, as a simplification it allows teacher development to be more readily defined and different approaches to be more easily compared. One of the key elements that has defined the scope of teacher development has been the realization that teacher cognition plays an important part in the learning process (Borg, 2009: 163), which would appear to support the engagement axis of Freeman’s model. Borg (2009) argues that ignoring the thinking and beliefs of teachers, whether at the preservice, practicum or inservice stages will negatively hinder the ability of teachers to internalize new material. Thus, it could be argued, how well teacher development addresses teacher cognition affects how effective that development will be. Teacher cognition is also important in developing expertise as expertise can be seen as being very much related to the cognitive processes of the mind (Tsui, 2003: 14). Such cognitive processes can be seen in that expertise is developed when teachers attempt to address challenges and do so by going beyond their current level of knowledge and working at the edge of their competence; thus, nonexperts only attempt to solve problems that are within their current abilities and that do not stretch themselves (citing Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1993; Tsui, 2003: 272). Therefore, the scope of teacher development should not only include what is learnt and how it is learnt, but also how teachers are to think about teaching and learning itself, even if many current teacher education courses do not include such a focus. Current Global Trends in Teaching Practice In order to understand teacher development in Japan, it is worth putting practices in Japan into the context of how teaching practices are developing globally and what current trends are. With continued globalization, we might expect to see a significant amount of interaction between practices in Japan and the inner circle countries (See for example Seargeant, 2009; Yano,
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2009). Two of the most important practices in English language teacher development are Communicative Language Teaching, which remains the target teaching method for so much of teacher development around the world (KamhiStein, 2009), and Reflection. Communicative Language Teaching Communicative Language Teaching or CLT has been developed concurrently in Europe and North America with the same central theoretical concept of “communicative competence” and the idea that learners should develop skills that allow them to do certain things with the language. CLT is relevant to any discussion of language teacher development because of its influence upon the theories of language learning, language teaching and the rejection of older formfocused styles of teaching, such as grammartranslation, from the 1970s onwards (G. Cook, 2010: 26). The influence of CLT can be still be seen today in teaching activities and teaching materials with the sociolinguistic and linguistic goals of CLT firmly embedded in more modern methods, the postmethod approach and approaches to materials development (Coyle, Hood, & Marsh, 2010: 5; 2011: x; Widdowson, 2003: 2223). The influence of CLT can also be seen in internationally recognized teaching qualifications, such as Cambridge University’s Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA), where student teachers are assessed against several standards including “ensuring … a communicative focus in materials, tasks and activities” and “providing … a communicative focus for language” (“Syllabus and Assessment Guidelines,” 2012: 15) More specifically, CLT is an obvious influence on the policy of the Japanese Government’s curriculum for English language teaching in Junior and Senior High schools with priority given to effective communication over linguistic accuracy (Sakui, 2004). Thus, CLT seems to have had a larger impact upon recent English teaching in Japan, as there seems not to be such an obvious influence on official policy from other important movements, such as the reflective turn. Reflection The term, “reflective practice” and the axiom that being reflective assists teacher development throughout a teaching career has come to be accepted widely amongst language teachers (Burton, 2009:298). The definition of reflective practice is actually somewhat unclear; however, it is “characterized by the notion and meaning of thoughtful action” (Burton, 2009: 300).
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While the strategies for implementing reflective practice vary immensely and it is difficult to show what teachers do when being reflective, it has become key to teacher learner processes while taking into account contextual and interpersonal factors (Burton, 2009: 302304). Although there is evidence that reflection has yet to be completely accepted by all teacher educators in Japan (Kojima, 2008), there is also evidence that reflective practice has been applied to teacher development in Japan with studies identifying various barriers to implementing or inducing reflective practice amongst student teachers (Endo, 2011; Kojima, 2008; Kumazawa, 2011; Nagamine, 2011; Naoe, 2008; Saito, 2010). Saito (2010) identifies several instances of how personal and cultural barriers hinder reflective practice through their impact on teacher cognition and identity, while Nagamine (2011) suggests that the length of teaching practicum in Japan, as dictated by the Japanese government, is too short to overcome these problems and that new teachers should continue to receive both pre and inservice support in developing their own reflective practice. The impact of Japanese government policy can also be seen in arguments within the Japanese academic community for increased reflective practice, with Kojima (2008) arguing that reflection amongst teachers and student teachers is critical to implementing policies aimed at encouraging student autonomy. In other words, the role of reflection in teacher development is mediated by government policy and its interpretation by teacher educators in Japan. Teacher Development & Educational Policy in Japan National Policy and Local Policy The teaching of English as a foreign language has been mandated in Japan since the Meiji restoration of 1868 when Japan’s modernization required the rapid decoding of Western ideas and technology (Seargeant, 2009: 4849). Currently, implementation of EFL policy is determined by the Education Department of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology (MEXT), known by its Japanese name, the Monbusho (MEXT, 2006). EFL policy development falls under the auspices of the International Education Bureau of the Monbusho who state that “enhancing education to deepen international understanding and teach foreign languages” is one of their goals (MEXT, n.d.). The Monbusho also states that the objective of foreign language activities is not only to foster an understanding of those languages, but also to improve the communication abilities of children and that children should learn the importance of verbal communication (Japanese Government Improvement of Academic Abilities, 2010). Thus,
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at the policy level, English is seen more as a pedagogical tool for developing communicative abilities than as a tool for everyday use within Japan. The Monbusho also implements policies relating to teacher development within Japan and states that enhancing the quality, ability and enthusiasm of teachers is key to successful education and has set itself the goal of increasing teacher numbers nationwide (Japanese Government Improvement of Academic Abilities, 2010). However, the Monbusho presents a somewhat downbeat picture of education in Japan with teacher to student ratios that are much higher than OECD averages and surveys of teachers suggesting that they are overworked and increasingly likely to take sick leave due to mental illness (MEXT, 2009). Against this background, they note that teacher training in Japan needs to be improved at all stages, including prolonging the period of teaching practice from the current average of 4 weeks to levels seen in the US, UK, Finland and Germany of up to 32 weeks, as well as improving professional development (MEXT, 2009). Under a new system introduced in 2008/2009, teachers can be certificated for a period of 10 years jointly by both universities and local boards of education according to the type of school (elementary, junior high, senior high etc.) in which they intend to teach (MEXT, 2011). For universities, this means a specific number of credits in educational topic areas, but there is no specification beyond the fact that the course credits are within specified educational topic areas; university independence and autonomy are enshrined in the Basic Act on Education (2006), meaning that it is within the discretion of each university to decide if an individual course follows the Monbusho guidelines. Having been certificated either by a university or a local board of education, teachers are then required to pass a local hiring examination set by the board of education for the area where the teacher wishes to work, with successful teachers being ranked according to their scores in order to determine who is actually employed as a teacher in that area (MEXT, 2011). This means that success in the exams does not necessarily lead to employment and any teacher who is employed is assigned to a school by the board of education based on their scores. Thus, the context of teacher development in Japan is further complicated by the role of the 65 local Boards of Education formed under the Local Autonomy Law 1947 (Matsufuji, 2011), who directly hire teachers and place them in schools. Although members are appointed rather than elected and central government retains overall control and responsibility, these boards have a
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filtering effect upon central government policy in being able to determine, amongst other things, the specific minimum requirements for teachers in a particular municipality or prefecture through these hiring examinations (Iwata, 2004; MEXT, 2011). Curricula in Japan The Monbusho holds responsibility for disseminating the English language curriculum through an official course of study and approving textbooks designed to convey that curriculum (MEXT, 2006; Sakui, 2004; Wada, 2002). However, Sakui (2004) notes that there is a “parallel curriculum” dictated by the content of university entrance exams and delivered in a style much more influenced by the personal experiences of the individual teacher than by government policy. This leaves teachers attempting to juggle government requirements with the requirements of their students or “wearing two pairs of shoes” (Sakui, 2004). Consequentially, a number of teachers simply use the governmentapproved textbook to teach their students how to pass examinations, with one teacher in Sakui’s (2004) study switching completely to teacherfronted lessons in order to finish the exam syllabus in time. Given the inadequate amount of supervision possible during the mandatory twoweek teaching practicum (Nagamine, 2011), the influence of student teachers’ prior experience of teaching (Saito, 2010), and the statutorily protected independence of universities (MEXT, 2006); the ability of the government to also influence teacher development curricula is greatly reduced. Thus, although the Monbusho has responsibility for implementing policy as regards teacher development and the curricula followed, the reality varies enormously across Japan and is open to other influences, including local pressures for students to achieve academic success. Washback and Other Influences on Teacher Development Washback Sato (2002: 56) suggests that there is a “hidden goal” of examination success in English language education in Japan that takes precedence over communicative competence and that there is little discussion of governmental goals for English teachers. As previously discussed, Sakui (2004) is in agreement and suggests that there is a “parallel curriculum” for examinations. Such a focus on examination success is one dimension of washback, which continues to be a much discussed topic in teaching as well as in TESOL (Alderson & HampLyons, 1996; Alderson & Wall, 1993; Bailey, 1996; Cheng, Watanabe, & Curtis, 2004; Watanabe, 2003). Marchessau
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(2006: 172) even goes as far as to suggest that the washback effects of teachers focusing purely on student testtaking abilities and pass rates in high stakes university entrance exams may be the most serious barrier to improving English education in Japan; that educating teachers and other staff about current theories and practices in SLA and TEFL may actually aggravate the situation if washback is not addressed more in the future. Marchessau’s argument is that teachers will actively resist or even reject attempts at further development of their skills if the pressure on teachers to prepare students for exams is not reduced. His suggestion being that it is impossible to expect teachers to teach their students how to use English when the only recognized goal is for students to pass exams that are biased towards reading comprehension and grammartranslation. School Culture and Teacher Socialization Watanabe (2003) interviewed teachers and other staff at several schools in Tokyo and Osaka and reported that the explicit focus of at least one school was not only increasing the students’ English ability, but also increasing the number of students accepted into prestigious universities. Although many of the teachers in his study paid attention to skills that they perceived to be important for university entrance examinations, only 25% of those perceived skills were actually evident in such examination papers. Also, many of the teachers in the study preferentially used techniques they thought would maintain student attention and classroom management both in regular lessons and exampreparation lessons, with 72% of regular lessons being teachercentered as opposed to 65% of exampreparation lessons (Watanabe, 2003: 136137). Thus, the priority in teaching was maintaining control of the classroom and not specifically student learning, since teachers were only able to relinquish more control when lessons were specifically focused on exam preparation where students would be under social pressure to perform. This supports Sato (2002) who has reported that teachers who have good classroom management and control of the class are more highly valued. School culture would, therefore, seem to have important mediating effects upon the goals of and attitudes towards teacher development with teachers more motivated to teach testtaking skills than English language skills. Sato (2002) goes on to highlight a lack of collaboration between staff members who felt that they had little time to discuss pedagogical issues or develop curricula, which would have a negative impact upon teacher development. New teachers in his study also felt uncertain about asking questions of their more experienced peers and felt that maintaining pace with the rest of
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the group was the main priority (Sato, 2002). Thus, it would seem that school culture and processes of teacher socialization within that culture can be a major barrier to both change within and even induction into the community of practice of the school, affecting both the substance and level of engagement in teacher development (see Freeman, 2009). EFL Teacher Development in Japan: Two Case Studies In an attempt to further understand teacher development in Japan, two teachers were surveyed via email exchanges in a narrative case study approach (Duff, 2008; 2012). The teachers were asked a series of questions relating to their own experience of teacher development in Japan and encouraged to give narrative answers to the questions. Followup questions attempted to draw further on specific areas, including reflective practice and a comparison between their experiences in Japan and modern approaches to TESOL and teacher development as exemplified by CELTA (“Syllabus and Assessment Guidelines,” 2012) for which each teacher was supplied with a copy of the CELTA syllabus and asked to comment. As noted previously, teacher development courses in Japan can vary a lot between universities as they respond to the local requirements of each board of education (Iwata, 2004; MEXT, 2009), whereas the CELTA course is typical of courses that have been centrally standardized across different teacherdevelopment providers (Brandt, 2007), and thus provides a starting point from which to compare practices in Japan. “Yuka” Yuka is a Japanese woman in her early thirties. She majored in Italian studies at university, with a minor in English. Yuka also took some education subjects in addition to her main course requirements. After completing her undergraduate degree in 2005, Yuka received teaching license certification from the board of education of a large municipality. However, she had to sit an employment exam for a different board of education before she was offered a teaching position. She taught for nearly 5 years at a staterun Senior High school in the second municipality. At this point in her career, she decided to study further at a university in the UK, where she is currently studying at the postgraduate level. “Taro” Taro is a Japanese man in his early thirties. He majored in Education at university, specializing in English language teaching and graduating in 2001. Taro initially started working at a private school before taking a board of education hiring exam in 2008. After this, he went back to
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university to study education at the postgraduate level, during which he had the chance to study in Australia on an exchange program. After completing his graduate course of study, he entered a staterun Senior High school in 2011 as an English teacher. Experiences of PreService Teacher Development At university, Yuka took an additional course of subjects focused on English language education alongside her major subject area. This course included a range of topics related to education, such as testing, child language acquisition, phonology and language skills, as well as a number of topics that are not as directly related to education, such as Shakespeare’s The Tempest and the History of American Literature. Taro had a slightly different experience as the major focus of his degree was English Education, and more of his courses were directly related to teaching and predominantly covered areas related to education, linguistics and language acquisition. Yuka stated that she thought the contents varied a lot between universities because “Japanese university lecturers usually teach their own research interests”. When asked to compare his experiences of Japanese practices with those covered by the CELTA syllabus, Taro reported that he had covered the CELTA syllabus during his postgraduate exchange trip to Australia and that his undergraduate course at university in Japan was more concerned with different teaching methodologies, suggesting that he covered a wider variety of teaching methods than the communicative methods he had seen in the CELTA course. Meanwhile Yuka noted some other striking differences in the approach of the CELTA course compared to her university course, stating “I was not concerned very much with the purpose of listening, as the purpose was always to get right answers in the exam” (Yuka). Yuka also noted that there was a big difference in the assumed role of the teacher between that expressed in the CELTA syllabus and the role expected of student teachers on her course and during the practicum: “In the Japanese classroom, teachers’ role is the authority to give knowledge to students, so I was told to maintain a quiet class, except when students practiced reading aloud the textbooks. I also learned how to make myself heard to the students in the end of the classroom, when I was explaining something … I did not consider much about the learners’ differences.” (Yuka) Thus, it would seem that, at least in Yuka’s case, teacher development in Japan focuses on how teachers can convey information to the students as efficiently as possible.
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Both Yuka and Taro took the mandatory teaching practicum, and both suggest that it did not improve their teaching that significantly. Yuka commenting on her practicum supervisor stated that “I do not remember his advice well, but I guess that his advice was mainly on classroom control”, while Taro noted that his supervisor for the practicum rarely observed his teaching. While both Yuka and Taro felt that the required practicum was mainly focused on classroom management skills, Taro noted that during his postgraduate course there was an increased level of supervision during additional teaching practice and that the focus had shifted to a focus on student learning. Thus, it seems that the minimum teaching practicum serves more as a sinkorswim test of a student teacher’s classroom management and that student learning only becomes a focus when there is additional time available. Experiences of Teaching and InService Teacher Development “I started working at my new school, and the flood of paper and books are furiously attacking me…” (Taro) Taro identified the huge amount of preparation required as one of the most challenging aspects of being a new teacher, whereas Yuka identified a lack of guidance from her more senior peers stating that “they just show their classes, and do not give clear instructions to novice teachers”. She also notes that the teacher she served her “apprenticeship” with was due to retire shortly and knew nothing of more modern teaching methods: “The advice I got from him was mainly on the position to stand in the classroom, or voice volume or effective explanation of grammar … he taught English by ‘yakudoku’ (GrammarTranslation Method). He did not force me to imitate him, but I tried to imitate him in the end, because he was my model.” (Yuka) Yuka reports that she felt pressure to copy her supervisor in the first year of teaching, even though his methods were at odds with those methods suggested by her university lecturers and other teachers in the school: “ I felt obliged to save my supervisor’s face” (Yuka). In contradiction, Taro reports that his teaching at both a private and a state high school has been focused on student participation and communicative competence, although he admits that he has had to write a lot of supplementary teaching material to balance the linguistic competence demanded by exams with the communicative focus of the governmentapproved textbook.
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Another contrast between the teaching experience of Yuka and Taro is the way in which they were hired as teachers and the hiring process that they went through. In Yuka’s case, she was hired by the Board of Education (BoE) in a large city in Central Japan, while Taro was hired first by a private school, and then by the BoE in a large city in Western Japan. Comparing the hiring processes of the boards of education, significant differences can be seen in that the selection process for Taro was much more stringent with group discussions in English and numerous written exams and tests as well as a demonstration lesson and interview. In comparison, Yuka completed similar written exams and tests, but was only required to read a passage in English aloud, complete a minimum number of situps and was not required to give a demonstration lesson. Yuka was not able to explain why the BoE dictated that a minimum number of situps was relevant to teaching English. One similarity between the cases of Yuka and Taro was the regular, weekly inservice seminars that they received as novice teachers, but this contrasted with the very limited opportunities to collaborate with other staff, which were limited to an annual study group meeting and lesson demonstration. Although Taro noted that there was a lot of “learning on the job”, that reflective practice was encouraged, and that this has helped him develop as a teacher; Yuka reported that she felt lost and somewhat adrift with no room for growth or development after 5 years of teaching, which led her to decide to study fulltime at the postgraduate level in the UK. This suggests that through the support that Taro received, he has been able to internalize the substance of his teacher development and engage with it, while Yuka has not been able to engage with it in the same way. Discussion The cases of Yuka and Taro present different views on teacher development in Japan. Taking Freeman’s (2009: 16) model of the scope of teacher development, we can see that the experiences of Yuka and Taro would fit on very different points within the model. Yuka’s initial university course focused on replicable knowledge and behaviors, as evidenced in the teaching of classroom management skills, and the simple transference of knowledge in the linguistic knowledge needed to pass exams, for example. This matches Freeman’s mapping of conventional teacher development; however, her later experiences of the teaching practicum and inservice training better match Freeman’s mapping of apprenticeship models of teacher development. Taro’s experience of teacher development would also move around within the space of Freeman’s model with his later experiences, particularly during his postgraduate
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course, showing how social and intellectual scaffolds have allowed him to fully participate as a professional (see Freeman, 2009: 17). Contrast this with the case of Yuka, who was not encouraged to develop expertise through working at the limit of her abilities (citing Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1993; see Tsui, 2003: 272) and was encouraged to simply transmit information efficiently following the same learned routines. Given the possible frustration caused by such a lack of support for student learning and the demand for academic success, it might be unsurprising that Yuka chose to quit her teaching job and become a postgraduate student. One question remains regarding when Yuka and Taro underwent their teacher development and whether Yuka’s experience represents an example of older practices in Japan. Yuka’s experiences relate to the period between 2004 and 2009, while Taro’s experiences relate to the overlapping period between 2001 and 2011; however, Taro took a local BoE’s hiring exams in 2008 coinciding with changes to the teacher licensing system (MEXT, 2011), while Yuka took a BoE’s hiring exams in 2005. Therefore, it might be possible that the differences in these exams and their experiences overall signal that a positive change has taken place within teacher development in Japan. However, the independence of university courses and the lack of oversight give rise to the possibility of large inconsistencies and a lack of coherence. Taro stated that he was still under pressure to balance the demands of university exams and government policy and there seems to be debate about how to change the impact of washback effects. Conclusion Teacher development in Japan is a complex subject with national government policy competing with the influence of universities, university exams and local boards of education. There is some evidence that, following global trends, teacher development may be moving towards a more processorientated system where teachers develop their professional identities through social participation. However, barriers remain, such as social and academic pressures on teachers as well as the variable quality of pre and inservice development. Given the lack of coherence that has been discussed and continued washback effects, both pre and inservice teacher development are possibly some of the biggest barriers to student learning in Japan. References Alderson, C. J., & HampLyons, L. (1996). TOEFL preparation courses: a study of washback. , 13(3), 280–297. doi:10.1177/026553229601300304 Language Testing
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Alderson, C. J., & Wall, D. (1993). Does Washback Exist? Applied Linguistics , 14(2), 115–129. doi:10.1093/applin/14.2.115 Bailey, K. M. (1996). Working for washback: a review of the washback concept in language testing. Language Testing , 13(3), 257–279. doi:10.1177/026553229601300303 Bereiter, C., & Scardamalia, M. (1993). Surpassing ourselves: an inquiry into the nature and implications of expertise. Chicago: Open Court. Borg, S. (2009). Language Teacher Cognition. In A. Burns & J. C. Richards (Eds.), The (pp. 163–171). New York: Cambridge Guide to Second Language Teacher Education Cambridge University Press. Brandt, C. (2007). Allowing for Learning: A Critical Issue for Certificate Course Tutors. English Language
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http://elted.net/issues/volume10/Brandt.pdf Burton, J. (2009). Reflective Practice. In A. Burns & J. C. Richards (Eds.), The Cambridge Guide to Second Language Teacher Education (pp. 298–301). New York: Cambridge University Press. Cheng, L., Watanabe, Y. J., & Curtis, A. (2004). Washback in language testing. research contexts and methods (p. 237). Routledge. Cook, G. (2010). Translation in Language Teaching (1st ed. p. 177). Oxford University Press. Coyle, D., Hood, P., & Marsh, D. (2010). CLIL: Content and Language Integrated Learning (1st ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University. Duff, P. (2008). Case study research in applied linguistics (p. 233). New York: Lawrence Erlbaum. Duff, P. A. (2012). How to Carry Out Case Study Research. In A. Mackey & S. M. Gass (Eds.), Research Methods in Second Language Acquistion: A Practical Guide. Chichester: WileyBlackwell. Endo, Y. (2011). Teacher Trainees' Autonomous Development Through Reflection. In D. Gardner (Ed.), Fostering Autonomy in Language Learning. Gaziantep: Zirve University. Freeman, D. (2009). The Scope of Second Language Teacher Education. In A. Burns & J. C. Richards (Eds.), The Cambridge Guide to Second Language Teacher Education (pp. 11–19). New York: Cambridge University Press. Iwata, Y. (2004). Recent Trends on Teacher Education Reform in Japan (pp. 1–11). Presented at
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KamhiStein, L. D. (2009). Teacher preparation and Nonative Engishspekaing Educators. In A. Burns & J. C. Richards (Eds.), The Cambridge Guide to Second Language Teacher Education. New York: Cambridge University Press. Kojima, H. (2008). Integration of Autonomy, Reflection, and Collaboration in Pre and InService EFL Teacher Education. OnCUE Journal, 2(3), 188–205. Kumazawa, M. (2011). Vulnerability and resilience: Working lives and motivation of four novice EFL secondary school teachers in Japan. (C. Pearson Casanave, Ed.) (p. 383). Temple University. Retrieved from http://gradworks.umi.com/34/77/3477771.html Marchessau, G. (2006). The State of the JET Programme, Team Teaching and English Education in Japan. 鳴門教育大学研究紀要. Matsufuji, Y. (2011). The Revision of the Postwar System of Local Autonomy (19521960). In Y. Kimura & T. Hatta (Eds.), Historical Development of Japanese Local Governance (Vol. 6, pp. 1–39). Council of Local Authorities for International Relations. Retrieved from http://www3.grips.ac.jp/~coslog/activity/01/05/file/Seiritsu6_en.pdf MEXT
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http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/hakusho/html/hpab200901/1305844.htm MEXT. (2011). Teacher Training and Certificate System, 1–9. MEXT (Ed.). (n.d.). International Education. MEXT. Retrieved April 8, 2012, from http://www.mext.go.jp/english/elsec/1303533.htm Nagamine, T. (2011). Facilitating Reflective Learning in an EFL Teacher Education Course: A Hybrid/BlendedLearning Approach. Bulletin of Kumamoto Prefectural University Humanities Department, 17, 15–37. Naoe, T. (2008). The role of cooperative learning in the introductory stages of art teacher training programmes in Japan. International Journal of Education Through Art, 4(2). Saito, M. (2010). Reflection and Development of Professional Belief: A Case Study of Five Preservice Teachers (pp. 1–49). Presented at the The Second East Asian International Conference on Teacher Education Research, Hong Kong. Retrieved from http://eprints.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2115/44666/1/saito.pdf Sakui, K. (2004). Wearing two pairs of shoes: language teaching in Japan. ELT Journal, 58(2), 155–163. Sato, K. (2002). Practical Understandings of CLT. In S. J. Savignon (Ed.), Interpreting communicative language teaching. New Haven: Yale Univ Press.
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Seargeant, P. (2009). The Idea of English in Japan. Ideology and the Evolution of a Global Language. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Tsui, A. (2003). Understanding Expertise in Teaching. Case Studies of Second Language Teachers (p. 308). Cambridge Univ Pr. Wada, M. (2002). Teacher Education for Cirricular Development in Japan. In S. J. Savignon (Ed.), Interpreting communicative language teaching. New Haven: Yale Univ Press. Watanabe, Y. (2003). Teacher factors mediating washback. In L. Cheng, Y. J. Watanabe, & A. Curtis (Eds.), Washback in language testing: research contexts and methods (1st ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Widdowson, H. G. (2003). Defining Issues in English Language Teaching. Oxford Applied Linguistics (1st ed. p. 193). Oxford University Press. Yano, Y. (2009). The Future of English: Beyond the Kachruvian Three Circle Model? In K. Murata & J. Jenkins (Eds.), Global Englishes in Asian Contexts. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. CELTA. (2011). CELTA. cambridgeesol.org, Syllabus and Assessment Guidelines. Cambridge. Retrieved
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https://celta.wikispaces.com/file/view/celtasyllabusassessmentguidelines2011.pdf/366 610644/celtasyllabusassessmentguidelines2011.pdf ***** Biography Dominic Edsall has taught English in Japan for more than 10 years to students of all ages from young learners to university students and adults. In addition to being a qualified science teacher in the UK, he completed an MA in TESOL with distinction at the Institute of Education, University of London in 2012. He currently teaches at Ritsumeikan University’s affiliated elementary school in Kyoto, Japan. His research interests include teacher education and development, student and teacher autonomy, selfaccess learning, motivation, CLIL and contentbased approaches to SLA, EFL writing, academic writing, and extensive reading.
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The Necessity for Explicit Teaching in the Area of Adverbial Word Order: A Case Study By Gordana Vladisavljević, Educons University, Sremska Kamenica Contrastive Approach to Adverbial Word Order Errors of Adult Serbian EFL Learners Abstract This paper represents the author’s attempt to investigate the phenomenon of word order acquisition by analysing the adverbial word order errors in writing of adult Serbian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). The aim of the paper is to highlight the L1 interference as well as to examine the necessity for explicit teaching in the area of adverbial order. In addition to this, the paper is intended to provide the teachers of the English language with possible ideas for the development and improvement of teaching materials and techniques within the particular area of difficulty. Key words : adverbial word order, English language, Serbian language, error, interference
Introduction “A man’s errors are his portals of discovery.” James Joyce Teachers, even the ones with the experience of a single class, unanimously state that mistakes and errors represent an inevitable part of every foreign language acquisition. Error Analysis researchers refer to mistakes as failures at performance, which are unsystematic, whereas errors are referred to as errors of competence, which are systematic (Corder 1981: 10). Therefore learners’ errors provide a deeper insight into the process of foreign language acquisition (Bartlett 2002: 68). Errors are significant in more than one way. Besides being indispensable to learners as a learning device, they are of extreme importance to teachers as well. Studying learners’ errors teachers gain insight into areas of difficulty that need reinforcement in teaching as well as ideas for the development and improvement of teaching materials and techniques (Corder 1981: 1011). Teachers’ attitude to errors, as well as factors potentially affecting their error judgement are various (Salem 2004: 48). The author here wishes to apply the Contrastive Analysis approach to errors, which focuses on predicting the errors in L2 which learners of various L1 backgrounds will make (LarsenFreeman and Long 1991: 5255), and thus highlight the
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L1 interference in the area of adverbial word order in the writing of adult Serbian EFL learners. Topic and Aims The topic of this paper is a case study the focus of which is the analysis of word order errors in the writing of adult Serbian EFL learners at the Institute for Foreign Languages in Belgrade. The focus is on the usage of adverbials of frequency, time, place and manner in simple sentences. All the learners included in the research are at B1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEF). The paper focuses on interlingual errors in the usage of adverbials, i.e. the errors which represent direct transfer from Serbian as L1 to English as L2. These errors occur in cases when learners try to apply the patterns of their mother tongue, in this case Serbian, to a foreign language, in this case English. The following example illustrates the type of mistake 1
that is the focus of the research : 1. On loše govori francuski. speaks French.* 2. He badly The aim of the paper is to examine the necessity for explicit teaching in the area of adverbial order. In addition to this, the paper is intended to provide the teachers of the English language with possible ideas for the development and improvement of teaching materials and techniques within the particular area of difficulty. Insight into Relevant Literature Published on the Subject The phenomenon of word order, as well as error analysis, has become topic of great interest for researchers since 1970’s. A large number of works has been done on the subject so far. The works of interest for this research are the ones that deal with contrastive analysis of English and Serbian as well as with error analysis within these two languages. Relevant works published on the subject of word order error analysis of Serbian students are the ones of Grba (1973), KukićFurundžić (1977), Piščević (1982), Đolić (1982) and Kitić (1995). Most of the mentioned researchers deal with language acquisition of either children or primary and secondary school students. The researchers focus mainly on syntactic errors in making questions or forming tenses.
1
The asterisk (*) is used to mark ungrammatical examples, in this case the wrong position of the adverbial.
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On the one hand KukićFurundžić concludes in her thesis that children acquire the syntax of the English language up to the age of 15 and that there is no significant interference of Serbian syntax (1977). On the other hand Grba (1973) and Đolić (1982) state in their theses that negative transfer, i.e. the interference of Serbian as mother tongue, is the first factor in EFL learners’ making syntactic errors. The work of Kitić (1995, 2000) bears the most significant relevance to the topic of this paper. In her doctoral dissertation the author investigates the phenomenon of word order acquisition with Serbian speakers learning English as a foreign language. In her experimental research, carried out in 1992 on Serbian primary and secondary school students, the author pays special attention to the usage and order of adverbials. The experiment tested the main hypothesis that most of the word order errors would be due to mother tongue interference. Upon completing the experiment, the author discovered that the main hypothesis was confirmed. In the conclusion the author states that findings like these provide insight into the process of foreign language learning. Adverbial Word Order in Serbian and English Languages For the purpose of providing sufficient context for an international readership, a short theoretical overview on the adverbial word order is given in this section. One of the central problems in speaking, as well as writing, is transformation of thoughts into language. Whereas thoughts seem to have the capacity to capture many features and relations at once, spoken languages convey these features and relations in segments that must be uttered one at a time (McDonald, Bock and Kelly 1993: 189). Thinking about language, one will have realised that, whether it is spoken or written, language has structure; it is not just a mixture of randomly distributed elements (Aarts 2001: 3). This makes word order an important device for conveying information in language. Discussing word order one must refer to the prominent authors such as Greenberg (1966), Hockett (1966) and Rutherford (1984). The mentioned authors consider word order to be a linguistic universal, a pattern that systematically occurs through all natural languages and is potentially true for all of them. Following the terminology used by Rutherford, basic word order, i.e. the existence of constituents such as Subject, Verb and Object, is stated to be an absolute universal. The ordering of the mentioned constituents is stated to be a linguistic specific quality of a language (Kitić 2000: 2932).
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For the purpose of marking various functional relationships all languages make use of word order to a greater or lesser extent. Ordering restrictions are different in different languages. Even within one and the same language some ordering restrictions are strict whereas some admit greater or lesser degree of latitude (Brown and Miller 1991: 263): 1. John loves basketball. (S+V+O) 2. Basketball loves John. (O+V+S)* 3. Secretly, Mary hates basketball. (Adv+S+V+O) 4. Mary secretly hates basketball. (S+Adv+V+O) When it comes to discussing the category of word order in the Serbian language most authors agree that word order in Serbian simple sentences is free (cf. Popović 1997, Piper 2005 and Stevanović 1974). Free word order implies that the constituents of syntactic constructions could be ordered and reordered with certain freedom without influencing the grammatical correctness of the sentence. One of the main reasons for the above mentioned grammatical quality of Serbian language is that Serbian is considered to be a synthetic or inflected language. The highly developed inflection in Serbian language provides the necessary circumstances for the free word order. This implies that inflection, rather than word order, defines syntactic relationships among syntactic constituents. The main independent syntactic constituents in the Serbian simple sentence are Subject (S) and Predicate (V). In addition to these, a number of dependent syntactic constituents amongst which are Direct and Indirect Objects (O , O ) and Adverbials (Adv) may appear in d i a sentence. All the mentioned constituents may take almost any position in a sentence; Initial, Medial or Final (End). When it comes to Adverbials, their syntactic function is to give additional information and define more precisely a verb functioning as Predicate (Stevanović 1974: 48). Adverbials provide information on the place, time, manner, frequency, quantity, aim, reason, means and consequence of the action expressed by the verb (Piper et al. 2005: 512). Grammarians make difference between the compulsory (obligatory, binding) adverbials which are named verbal complements, and the ones considered to be optional which are named verbal determiners. Adverbials functioning as verbal determiners are optional syntactic elements. Consequently, their position within a sentence is highly optional, too. For these reasons adverbials are considered to be mobile elements within a Serbian simple sentence (Popović 1997: 139). Their position could be one of the three possible i.e. Initial, Medial or Final. This means that an adverbial in a Serbian simple sentence can be ordered either in the first place in the sentence before any other syntactic element, in the
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last place in the sentence after all the other syntactic elements or in a place within the sentence, namely before or after the verb. No position is conditioned by the type of adverbials i.e. any adverbial, be it adverbial of time, place, manner or frequency, can take any of the above mentioned positions as illustrated in the examples below: Svetlana je posetila rođake. (Adv +S+V+O ) 1. Prošle srede time d Last Wednesday Svetlana visited her cousins. 2. Svetlana je(,) prošle srede (,) posetila rođake. (S+Adv +V+ O ) time d Svetlana last Wednesday visited her cousins.* . (S+V+ O +Adv ) 3. Svetlana je posetila rođake prošle srede d time Svetlana visited her cousins last Wednesday . čita knjige. (S+Adv +V+ O ) 4. Marko rado manner d Marko gladly reads books. Marko čita knjige. (Adv r+S+V+ O ) 5. Rado manner d Gladly Marko reads books.* 6. Marko čita knige rado . (S+V+ O +Adv ) d manner Marko reads books gladly .* 7. Ljudi su sedeli u trpezariji . (S+V+Adv ) place . The people were sitting in the dining room 8. U trpezariji su sedeli ljudi. (Adv +V+S) place were sitting the people.* In the dining room 9. Ljudi su u trpezariji sedeli. (S+Adv +V) place were sitting. The people in the dining room 10. To se dešava često . (S+V+Adv ) frequency That happens often . 11. To se često dešava. (S+Adv +V) frequency That often happens. 2
12. Često se to dešava. (Adv +S+V) frequency Often that happens.* It is a common place in linguistic typology that the more relations within a sentence are realized by inflections, the more the order of the elements of this sentence is, or can be, syntactically free (Mathews 1981: 255). For this reason English, having scantily developed inflectional system, is mainly described as a language with fixed word order. The main elements of syntactic structure of an English simple sentence are Subject (S) and Predicate (V). Additionally, Direct and Indirect Objects (O , O ), Subject and Object d i 2
It is obvious from these examples that reordering of Adverbials causes some other changes in the order of Subject and Verb (and Direct Object) but discussion of these changes exceeds the scope of this paper.
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Complements (C s C o) as well as Adverbials (Adv) may appear (Quirk et al. 1985). All these elements take specific, firmly arranged positions within a sentence. The “normal”, “unmarked” word order is considered to be SV(O)(Adv). Reordering of syntactic elements usually produces stylistically “marked” word order patterns which require appropriate 3
intonation and context . Not only does the changing of the fixed word order influence the meaning of the sentence but it can also, and very often, produce ungrammatical constructions. In English, as well as in Serbian, the term Adverbial is defined mainly functionally and refers to those syntactic constituents that give additional information on, or more precisely define a verb functioning as Predicate (Brown and Miller 1991: 9395). The mentioned additional information is mainly on time, place, manner, frequency, intensity, measure, instrument, purpose, result, condition etc. (Quirk et al 1985: 479). In the English language, there is a distinction between compulsory and optional adverbials, which leads to certain discrepancies in terminology of different linguists (cf. Quirk et al 1985, Huddleston and Pallum 2002, Mathews 1981). For the purpose of clarity, the term Adverbials will be used and only optional adverbials of time, place, manner and frequency will be considered in this paper. Even though adverbials are considered to be the most mobile syntactic elements, their position in the English simple sentence, contrary to the Serbian simple sentence, is not optional at all. Every adverbial, even the one named optional, takes one or more possible but strictly defined positions in a sentence. Generally speaking, and following the terminology and taxonomy of Michael Swan, there are three possible positions in a simple sentence: Initial, Mid and End. Initial position refers to the position at the beginning of a clause; Midposition refers to the position with a , and before other verbs (Swan 2001: 25); End verb – after auxiliary verbs, after verb to be position refers to the position at the end of a clause (Swan 2001: 2021): something very strange happened. (Initial position) 1. Yesterday morning 2. I have never understood her. (Midposition) 3. I am going to Egypt tomorrow . (End position) Comparing English to Serbian simple sentences, the three mentioned positions in English actually correspond to the Initial, Medial and Final positions in Serbian. Even though the possible positions are the same in the two languages, not all English adverbials can take all these positions. To clarify, this means that, contrary to Serbian, the position of an adverbial in the English simple sentence is conditioned by the type of the adverbial. 3
Since the “marked” Word Order patterns are not included into the syllabus of B1 level according to CEF, for the purpose of this paper only the “unmarked” Word Order patterns will be considered.
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Adverbials of manner most often and most naturally take the End position, following the verb phrase of the sentence (Brown and Miller 1991: 95). These adverbials, namely those ending in –ly, can also take the Midposition providing they are not the main focus of the message. To illustrate this, the following examples are given: 1. You speak English well . (S+V+O + Adv ) d manner . (S+V+O +Adv ) 2. She slammed the door angrily d manner 3. She angrily slammed the door. (S+Adv +V+O ) manner d English. (S+V+Adv +O )* 4. You speak well manner d 5. She slammed angrily the door. (S+V+Adv +O )* manner d Adverbials of place cover two main spatial concepts: location (position) and direction. , and Location adverbials of place most often follow position verbs such as be, live, stay answer the question “where”. On the other hand direction adverbials of place most often follow movement verbs such as go, run, travel , and answer the question “where to/where from” (Alexander 2001:127). These adverbials most naturally take the End position, after adverbials of manner, following the verb phrase of a sentence. The Initial position is also possible, but most usually in literary descriptive writing. They never take the Midposition. Providing that more than one adverbials of place appear in the same sentence, those that denote ‘smaller places’ precede ‘bigger places’ in ascending order. If both adverbials of location and direction appear in the same sentence, those of direction precede the ones of location: 1. She lives in a small house . (S+V+Adv ) loc . (S+V+Adv ) 2. Marry travelled to Scotland dir 3. Indoors it was nice and warm. (Adv +S+V) loc 4. Susan used to live in a big house in a village outside London . (S+V+Adv + loc1 Adv + Adv ) loc2 loc3 5. The children are running around upstairs . (S+V+Adv +Adv ) dir loc 6. Sarah in the garden works. (S+Adv +V)* loc 7. John from Belgrade comes. (S+Adv +V)* dir The most common position for adverbials of time is the End position, after adverbials of manner and place, following the verb phrase of a sentence. If more than one adverbials of time appear in the same sentence, the usual progress is from particular to general time. Initial position is also possible if the adverbial is not the main focus of the message (Swan 2001: 25). Some special adverbials of time such as ever, never, just, lately, recently, already, finally, eventually and soon can also take the Midposition: 1. We checked in on Monday . (S+V+Adv ) time
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t h 2. Gilbert was born at 6.05 on Saturday November 29 1983 . (S+V+ Adv time1 +
Adv + Adv + Adv ) time2 time3 time4 she has a new hair style. (Adv +S+V+O ) 3. Every week time d seen anything similar. (S+V + Adv +V +O ) 4. I have never aux time main d 5. Sarah in June will join us. (S+ Adv +V+O )* time d Most commonly adverbials of frequency take the Midposition. Some adverbials of frequency such as usually, normally, occasionally, frequently, generally, ordinarily, and often can also take the End and Initial positions where special emphasis or sometimes contrast is required. The following examples illustrate the possible positions of adverbials of frequency: 1. My boss is often badtempered. (S+V +Adv +C) be freq seen a whale. (S+V + Adv +V +O ) 2. She has never aux freq main d 3. She must sometimes have wanted a change. (S+ V aux +Adv freq + V aux + V main +O ) d 4. We often visit our grandparents. (S+ Adv +V +O ) freq main d 5. Normally we get a lot of snow in December. (Adv +S+V+O +Adv ) freq d time . (S+V+O + Adv ) 6. Sarah plays that song very often d freq 7. John gets up at 7 o’clock always . (S+V+Adv + Adv )* time freq 8. Always I get up at 6 o’clock. (Adv +S+V+Adv )* freq time Empirical Research on Adverbial Word Order Errors: Experiment Focus, Hypothesis and Setup The experiment focuses on the analysis of interlingual adverbial order errors in writing of adult Serbian EFL learners. The experiment was conducted at the Institute for Foreign Languages in Belgrade during the 2009 spring term courses. All the learners included in the experiment were at the same level of knowledge, namely B1 level according to CEF. The learners were between 18 and 40 years of age and typically had learnt English during their regular compulsory education in primary and secondary schools. Only a minority of them had completed the preceding A1 and A2 level courses at the Institute . The learners in the experiment were divided into two groups of ten – the control group and the test group. Both groups were taking the same B1 level course at the Institute for . Foreign Languages at the same time According to CEF, learners at B1 level are
considered independent learners who can understand the main points of input connected
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to everyday topics of work, school, leisure etc. They can deal with most situations that can arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken. In addition to this, they can describe experiences, events, dreams, hopes, ambitions and give reasons for opinions and plans. As far as writing is concerned, they can produce simple connected text on topics which are familiar or of personal interest (Council of Europe 2001: 24). Adverbial word order is not included in the syllabus of B1 level course at the Institute for Foreign Languages . This syntactic unit is addressed briefly and only as byways of grammar at A2 level. The problem was that not all the students had completed the previous . And even if they had, the problem of A2 level at the Institute for Foreign Languages extensive errormaking in adverbial word order still appeared. The test group was additionally explicitly prethought the basic rules of adverbial order in English simple sentences with respect to adverbials of frequency, time, place and manner. Furthermore, the group was supplied with additional exercises on the same topic. It is important to state that the exercise type was varied. Drills, gapped exercises, word insertion, word reordering, correcting the mistakes and question answering were all included. The time used for explicit preteaching and additional exercises was approximately fifteen minutes per class. In this way the experiment provides English language teachers with the possible ideas for the improvement of teaching materials. The linguistic performance of the learners was examined using the data collected from the total of six guided writing tasks (see Appendix A) in the form of essays with a limited word count, as well as one final test (see Appendix B) specifically designed by the author of the paper to test adverbial order. The results of the control group and the test group were compared expecting them to validate the initial hypothesis of the experiment that, due to the additional preteaching and exercises, the test group will perform better, i.e. make fewer errors with respect to adverbial word order. Relying on the relevant literature published on the subject as well as on the teaching experience of the author, the experiment in this paper is based on the conclusion that the older the learners are the more significant the negative transfer is. The hypothesis of the experiment is that the negative transfer, i.e. the occurrence of interlingual errors, will be obvious with adult EFL learners and that explicit preteaching will cause the learners to perform better, i.e. make fewer errors.
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Analysis of guided writing samples – control group and test group compared The analysis of the first guided writing sample in the control group has shown that the students used 30 adverbials altogether. Ten of these adverbials were erroneously used. The percentage of erroneous sentences is 33.33%. The following examples, all of which are taken from the essays of EFL learners included in the experiment, illustrate different types of errors that occurred: 1. I have been working as an account manager since I graduated for Clio .* advertising agency 2. I am looking forward to soon hearing from You.* 3. I now don’t have enough experience.* 4. I speak well English.* Before the first guided writing task was carried out in the test group, the learners were explicitly pretaught the basic rules of adverbial word order of frequency and time adverbials. The preteaching was done in two separate classes neither of which was the guided writing class. The learners were also given two groups of additional exercises. The data of this analysis shows that there were 7 erroneous sentences with misused adverbials out of the total of 37 sentences in which adverbials were used. The percentage of adverbial word order error making in this sample was 18.9%. The following examples illustrate different types of errors in the first writing sample of the test group: in the Findomestic Bank AD .* 1. I have been working since 2003 2. I successfully have finished The Faculty of Agriculture.* 3. As You will from my CV see.* From the data of the second guided writing sample analysis it is concluded that the percentage of erroneous sentences in the control group is 37.5%. Namely, 3 out of 8 sentences containing adverbials were erroneous. The following examples illustrate the types of errors that appeared in this session: 1. I have in Your brochure seen.* 2. I am employed in Belgrade in a construction company .* Prior to the second guided writing task, explicit teaching of place and time adverbial word order was carried out in the test group. The learners were also given a group of additional exercises. The preteaching class was not the one in which the guided writing task was conducted.
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The data of the second guided writing sample analysis in the test group shows that there are 10% of erroneous sentences. Namely, 1 out of 10 sentences containing adverbials was erroneous. The following example illustrates the type of error that appeared in this session: 1. It is possible to sometimes have onetoone classes.* The data of the third control group guided writing sample analysis shows that, out of 23 sentences with adverbials, 7 were erroneous. The percentage of erroneous sentences is 30.43%. The following examples illustrate different types of errors that appeared in the third control group session: at the beautiful locations .* 2. The film was set in London 3. He to London moved.* 4. He met few days later Tom Hewitt.* th century in London .* 5. The film is set in the 20
Before the third guided writing task was carried out, there were two classes of explicit preteaching of adverbial word order conducted in the test group. In the first class time and frequency adverbials that are most commonly used with Present Perfect Simple and Present Perfect Continuous Tenses were addressed. The second class was dedicated to time adverbials most commonly used with Past Simple Tense. Additionally, a set of exercises was given to the learners. The data of the test group guided writing sample analysis shows that there were no errors in adverbial word order in the third guided writing sample of the test group learners. Therefore, the percentage of erroneous sentences is 0%. The data of the fourth control group guided writing sample analysis shows that there are 7 sentences with erroneous adverbial orders out of the total number of 35 sentences containing adverbials. The percentage of erroneously ordered adverbials is 20%. The following examples illustrate different types of errors that appeared in the fourth guided writing sample of the control group learners: 1. We went in the evening to the club .* 2. I was in Maribor a t my aunt’s .* Prior to the fourth guided writing task in the test group, there was a class of brief revision of formerly explicitly taught adverbial word order. Additionally, the group was given an extensive exercise on adverbial word order. The data from the test group guided writing sample analysis shows that there are 5 sentences containing erroneously ordered adverbials out of the total of 48 sentences with
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adverbials used in the sample. Thus, the erroneous sentences percentage is 10.42%. The following examples illustrate different types of these errors: 1. It is there hot and humid.* 2. There usually are parties on the beach.* in the centre in an old house .* 3. I found a room on the island 4. It was all day sunny.* The data from the fifth control group guided writing sample analysis shows that there are 4 erroneous sentences, out of the total of 12 sentences containing adverbials in the sample. Thus, the percentage of erroneously ordered adverbials is 33.33%. The following examples illustrate these errors: opportunity to play some sports.* 1. I can have in free time 2. I will work in the course hard .* Prior to the fifth guided writing task in the test group, there were two classes of revision of formerly explicitly taught adverbial word order. Firstly, frequency adverbials were revised. Secondly, all the other relevant adverbial types were revised. On both occasions the group was given extensive exercises on adverbial word order. The data from the fifth test group guided writing sample analysis shows that there are only 2 erroneously ordered adverbials out of the total of 49 adverbials used in the sample. Thus, the error percentage is 4.08%. The following examples illustrate different types of errors that appeared in the fifth guided writing sample of the test group: 1. We were dancing at night in discotheques .* 2. It was last two days rainy.* The data from the sixth control group guided writing sample analysis shows that there are 10 errors in adverbial order out of the total of 30 adverbials used in the sample. Thus, the percentage of errors is 33.33%. The following examples illustrate the mentioned errors: 1. The most unusual thing happened last week in my home .* my road.* 2. Some woman crossed in one moment 3. It was in Budva great.* 4. My daughter went from me away .* 5. I got up early last week every morning .* Before the sixth guided writing task was carried out, there was a brief revision of adverbial word order conducted in the test group. In the revision, frequency adverbials word order was addressed. In addition, an exercise was given to the learners. The data from the sixth test group guided writing sample analysis shows that there was only 1 erroneously ordered adverbial out of the total of 62 adverbials used in the sample.
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Thus, the percentage of errors is 1.61%. The following example illustrates the error that appeared in this session: was.* 1. My boss in the car Summary of guided writing samples analysis For the purpose of clear perception of the guided writing analysis, the overall summary of the results is necessary. In this summary the author will try to represent the trend in the total number of adverbials used in writing samples as well as the trend in the number of adverbial word order errors in both control and test groups. Hopefully, such summary will provide an insight into the correctness of the experiment hypothesis as well as a possibility for further conclusions. Figure 1 represents the number of adverbial word order errors in both control and test groups in every of the six guided writing samples. Next to it, Figure 2 represents the same analysis result expressed in percentages.
Figure 1: Adverbial word order errors
Figure 2: Adverbial word order error percentage
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As is obvious from the two charts above, the number of adverbial word order errors was constantly higher in the control group in comparison to the test group. Expressed in percentages, that number was almost unchangeably around 30%. On the other hand, the number of adverbial word order errors in the test group was gradually decreasing from the highest point of 18.9% to the lowest point of 1.61%. In addition to the analysis of adverbial word order errors, the total number of sentences containing adverbials was also analysed. Figure 3 shows the relation of the total number of adverbials used by the control and the test groups.
Figure 3: Total number of adverbials From the results of the analysis presented in Figure 3, it is obvious that the total number of adverbials used by the test group learners was increasing whereas that of the control group was almost constant, showing no increasing tendency. Final test analysis – control group and test group compared In the final phase of the experiment the author provided both groups of learners with a specially designed test (see Appendix B). The main reason for using a final uniformed test was that the guided writing tasks always left a possibility for the learners not to use adverbials in order to evade errors. In addition to that, the writing tasks were guided which means that the learners were provided with typical phrases to use in the essays. The data from the final test analysis shows that the percentage of erroneous sentences in the control group was 33.33%. The following examples illustrate the errors that appeared in the control group final test: 1. The ballet group performed last night in the theatre beautifully .* 2. I get up every morning at 7 o’clock .* 3. The company is building now a hotel in my neighbourhood .*
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4. I speak well English.* 5. Jessica speaks to John politely rarely .* The data from the final test analysis shows that the percentage of erroneous sentences in the test group was 5.83%. The following examples illustrate the errors that appeared in the test group final test: 1. They were jogging yesterday all afternoon around the block .* 2. I think I will work late next week every evening .* speak English.* 3. I well 4. Jessica speaks rarely to John politely.* 5. The school organizes excursions every year s uccessfully .* The analysis of the final test data in both groups shows that the number of adverbial word order errors was much higher with the control group. The test group performed much better at the final test. Furthermore, as it is obvious from the examples of erroneous sentences presented in this section as well as in the section dealing with the guided writing tasks analysis, all the adverbial word order errors were caused by L1 interference. To elaborate, the adverbial word order that attested erroneous in English sentences is perfectly correct in Serbian counterparts. Conclusion Taking into consideration the analysis of the guided writing samples as well as the analysis of the final test, it is possible to argue that the test group performed better than the control group both during the course, as shown in the guided writing samples, and at the end in the final test, as shown in the test results. Not only did the test group make fewer errors in adverbial word order, but the test group learners also used adverbials more frequently than the control group learners. The results of the experiment lead to the conclusion that the explicit preteaching of adverbial word order, together with the additional exercises that the test group learners were provided with, influenced the learners’ performance positively. Thus the initial hypothesis of the experiment is confirmed. Implications for further research
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Negative transfer between a mother and a foreign language obviously cannot be ignored. It is an important factor both in foreign language learning and foreign language teaching. For these reasons pedagogical implications of this and similar papers are crucial. Questions on teaching materials and techniques could be raised and studied. In the experiment carried out within this paper the technique of explicit teaching was used. The teaching material was varied. For this reason there could be no specific conclusion about the efficiency of any specific teaching material or any other teaching technique. Research in methodology of English language teaching could be done on the influence of different types of exercises and different teaching methodology on the learners’ performance. Apstrakt Ovaj rad predstavlja pokušaj autora da istraži fenomen usvajanja gramatičke kategorije reda reči. Autor analizira greške u redu reči adverbijala koje u pisanju prave odrasli učenici engleskog kao stranog jezika kojima je maternji jezik srpski. Cilj rada je da istakne interferenciju maternjeg jezika (L1) na učenje stranog jezika (L2), kao i da ispita neophodnost metodologije eksplicitnog podučavanja u oblasti adverbijala. Pored gore navedenog, rad ima za cilj da da ideje nastavnicima engleskog jezika kako da unaprede material koji predaju kao i svoju predavačku metodologiju u pomenutoj problematičnoj oblasti. Ključne reči : red reči adverbijala, engleski jezik, srpski jezik, greška, interferencija
References: Aarts, B. (2001). English Syntax and Argumentation . Basingstoke: Palgrave. . London: Longman. Alexander, L. G. (2001). Longman English Grammar Bartlett, C. C. (2002). ‘Error Identification by Korean Teachers of English’. ELTED 6: 6881. Brown, E. K., & Miller, J. E. (1991). Syntax: A Linguistic Introduction to Sentence Structure . London: Routledge. . Oxford: Oxford University Press. Corder, S. P. (1981). Error Analysis and Interlanguage Council of Europe (2001). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Council of Europe. URL: < http://www.coe.int/T/DG4/Linguistic/CADRE_EN.asp > [Retrieved: 9 September 2009] Đolić, S. (1982). Analiza grešaka u engleskom jeziku kao stranom kod studenata Anglistike. (Magistarski rad). Filološki fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu, Beograd.
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Grba, G. (1973). Analiza grešaka učenika engleskog jezika u beogradskim gimnazijama . (Magistarski rad). Filološki fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu, Beograd. . Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press. Greenberg, J. H. (ed.) (1966). Universals of Language Hockett, C. (1966). The Problem of Universals in Language. In: Universals of Language (Greenberg, J.H., ed.). Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 129. Huddleston, R., & Pullum, G. K. (2002). The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kitić, S. (1995). Usvojenost reda reči u učenju engleskog jezika u srpskoj govornoj sredini . (PhD dissertation). Filološki fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu, Beograd. Kitić, S. (2000). Komparativna studija usvojenosti reda reči u engleskom jeziku kod srpskih i mađarskih učenika. Research Support Scheme Electronic Library . URL: > [Retrieved: 19 April 2009] < http://www.elib.rss.cz KukićFurundžić, M. (1977). Usvajanje sintakse engleskog jezika kao stranog jezika (eksperiment u vanškolskoj nastavi) . (Magistar thesis). Filološki fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu, Beograd. LarsenFreeman, D. & Long, M. H. (1991). An Introduction to Second Language London: Longman. Acquisition Research. Mathews, P. H. (1981). Syntax . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. McDonald, J. L., Bock, K., & Kelly, M. H. (1993). Word and World Order: Semantic, , Phonological and Metrical Determinants of Serial Position. Cognitive Psychology . URL: 25, 188230. Psychology. University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign < http://www.psych.uiuc.edu/~kbock/bockpubs/McDonald_Bock_Kelly_1993.pdf > [Retrieved 20 April 2009] Piper, P. et al. (2005). Sintaksa savremenog srpskog jezika . Beograd i Novi Sad: Institut za srpski jezik SANU; Beogradska knjiga; Matica srpska. Piščević, M. (1982). Analiza grešaka u građenju upitnih rečenica u engleskom jeziku u (Magistarski rad). Filološki fakultet Univerziteta u pismenom izražavanju učenika. Beogradu, Beograd. Popović, Lj. (1997). Red reči u rečenici . Beograd: Društvo za jezik i književnost Srbije. Quirk, R. et al. (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language . London: Longman. Rutherford, W. (ed.) (1984). Language Universals and Second Language Acquisition . Amsterdam: John Benjamines. Salem, I. (2004). ‘Teacher Differences in Perception of Student Error’. ELTED 8: 4865. Stevanović, M. (1974). Savremeni srpskohrvatski jezik II . Beograd: Naučna knjiga.
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Swan, M. (2001). Practical English Usage . Oxford: Oxford University Press. APPENDIX A: Guided Writing Tasks 1. Guided Writing Task1: Cover Letter (3 March 2009) 2. Guided Writing Task2: An Email to a Summer School (17 March 2009) 3. Guided Writing Task3: Film Review (9 April 2009) 4. Guided Writing Task4: A Personal Email/Letter (19 May 2009) 5. Guided Writing Task5: A Story about Summer Holiday (2 June 2009) 6. Guided Writing Task6: A Story about Personal Experience (11 June 2009) APPENDIX B: Final Test I Put in the adverbs from brackets into the right position in the sentences: 1. They read newspapers. (around 6 o’clock, in the living room, usually) 2. I get up. (every morning, at 7 o’clock) 3. Peter writes to his brother. (from abroad, often) 4. I have gone. (in summer, to England, never) 5. I think I will work. (every evening, late, next week) 6. They were jogging. (yesterday, around the block, all afternoon) 7. The company is building a hotel. (now, in my neighbourhood) 8. The ballet group performed. (last night, in the theatre, beautifully) 9. Jessica speaks to John. (politely, rarely) 10. Tom arrived. (late, home, last night)
II Translate into English using the words from the brackets: 1. Ja dobro govorim engleski. (I, well, speak, English)
2. Tom me uvek zove kasno uveče na mobilni. (Tom, me, always, call, late, at night, on my mobile phone)
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3. Škola svake godine uspešno organizuje ekskurziju. (school, every year, organize, successfully, excursion)
4. Ona mu svaki put žustro odgovori. (she, him, every time, briskly, reply)
5. Meri često leti ustaje rano svako jutro. (Mary, often, in summer, get up, every morning, early)
*****
Gordana Vladisavljević was born in Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia, in 1983. She completed her primary and secondary education in Sremska Mitrovica. In 2002 she enrolled at the Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade. She earned her BA in English Language and Literature in 2006 and MA in linguistics in 2009, both from the Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade. She is currently a student of the PhD programme of linguistics at the Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade. She lives in Novi Sad and works as an ELT professional at the Educons University in Sremska Kamenica. Her interests include: methodology of ELT, IT in teaching, PBL, learner styles and interdisciplinary approach to language teaching.
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Poems by Ranko Radojević, a student from Zrenjanin At Memory's Helm The bright, hopefilled dome never fell, For dreams it held came to fruition, Guarding the glass of the luminous shell, The symbols of time to envision. Never too far, nor close will be drawn, Two spirits that shared depths sorely profound, His soul will pray, to light, to dawn, Her peace in this world to be found. Sharing the essence they sacred heights cherished, Brightest emotions inner cosmos depicted, Hoping that shallowness will fade and perish, Their cores intertwined, to love’s heights addicted. Tested by tides of cold mists of surface, Fabric of time their hands bravely traced, Harmonious feelings, embracing their purpose, Wondrous sensations through spirit’s lanes raced. Murmured through rings of the dream realm, Enchanting song knew no bounds, The notes overwhelm, at memory's helm, And he wrote, inspired by her sounds: Lips of wind against eyelids grazed, Beaconing conscience from high dreamer’s clouds, Seedling of hope carried and raised, To hopeful breaths take, and deeply astounds.
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Minding no sorrow, I left you behind, Yet never gone further from that supreme depth, Believing that higher sense will sprout in your mind, Seeing past the fleeting, timebound, shallow concept. Closing the eyes heavy with burdens, Of glancing at vistas of coldness unveiled, Seeing oceans of feelings, behind curtains, Ghost of a rose through your thoughts sailed. As seeds of dreams, sprouted and grown, From our depth I rose deliberately. Far over surface poetically flown, Feeling evolved, magnificently. Under sun’s wings I resided, My debt to fate was due, To winds my deepest thoughts confided, They all depicted you. Forever in love you are cradled, As past times healing scenes drew, May thirst for peace by new year be sated, I pray that you’ll flourish, in joy true. The Gardener My fingers sink into the the earth, Warming shine nourished the ground, By winter's grip softened it's fertile dirt, Placing a seed where it's safe and sound.
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By water and sand I soften the surface, Over a layer of long wilted plants, Favourable environment fulfilling its purpose, To the young seedling a safe voyage grants. Once it has risen to world of luminescence, it's bright leaves will sway like knowledge filled pages, Under sun blooming, embracing it's essence, Like a poem progressing through wondrous stages. By Essence Kissed Not seeking glory or riches grand, I will not kneel, I'll always stand, I am the branch left unbroken, unbent, I am the prophecy from dreamer's heights sent, I am the glimmer in awoken one's eyes, I am the soul that in your sheets lies. When you raise hands and embrace the bright dome, I am the rush which through your veins roam, Of deepest feelings, eluding sight, I am the voice that always is right. Do not seek me in cold surface mist, I am in depths, by essence kissed. Inspired by "Do not stand at my grave and weep" by Mary Elizabeth Frye. Above an Abyss Once atop a highlands cliffs, among grasses tall, cherished by skies of grey, Embracing the ageless depths, above an abyss, Once haunting memories, all of their harm, within it's vastness lay.
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Like siren's song sweet melody rang, beckoning one's clouded mind, Wings of shadow glided hastily towards heightened glow, Fooled by cravings, sorely sang, weakest of their kind, Fear of falling before mists and carried by their flow, Once atop a highland's cliffs, mesmerized by abysmal heights, Weary of the dreamless thieves, there I pondered, lost in lights. And mind, behind eyes blinded by versatile shine, Remembered the pages plain, teared and soaked by autumn rain, But still it fears, and still in vain, fearing of the searing pain. Once atop the murky tree lines, silhouettes of wings one sought, Summoned forth from tempestfree times, mosaic of thoughts they wroth, Under branches veiled by rose vines, reason with temptation fought, Horizon was filled with storm’s sings, as hope seemed to shine for naught. And torments, flocking as tragedy’s omens, With ease did willpower drain, prolonging stagnation’s reign, Yet still hope’s bright, and still one’s sane, searching for a higher plain. Radojević Ranko, 2014 ***** Ranko Radojević was born in Zrenjanin, Serbia, and always felt and shown interest in learning and understanding English. Love for the written word and the significance of sincere expression have only been strengthened by a speech disorder that follows him from birth. Because of the disorder, or the will to overcome it, he found more patience for, and faith in, words. He loves poetry, and finds most interest in symbolism and impressionism, which are the most visible styles in his work. His most complete collection yet is titled “Tempting Cycles”, and is split into four main sections of different themes. He likes reading, novels and poetry collections in English, enjoying Shakespeare, Poe,
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Alexander Blok and Carlos Ruiz Zafon the most. He enjoys playing violoncello, training yoga and kung fu, meditating and connecting to nature, ever learning and being an activist for the Zeitgeist Movement and other enlightening, free energy promoting movements. Languages and computer science are his enduring passions.
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My favorite extreme sport by Nemanja Palić, student of Japanese language and literature, Belgrade; former student of Medical school, Kragujevac
Among my favorite sports is definitely dragonhunting. It is an old and revered sport, and many legendary persons have practiced it during the centuries. I hope to have my name added to the list of those people. Dragonhunting is, well, dangerous to a certain degree. Dragons aren't exactly unicorns, gryphons or phoenixes. I once spoke to a unicornhunter, and he told me he would never switch to dragons: too big and too ugly. And of course, phoenixhunters usually spend their whole life hunting the same phoenix. I know of some true humanphoenix friendships that arose from the whole affair. But let's get back to dragons. There are two basic types, sea dragons and air dragons. I specialize in air dragons, as I'm not really a good swimmer, or a diver. Naturally, one needs to be a good marksman to deal with air dragons. You also have to have a special kind of arrows that would pierce the dragon's crusty skin. Also, beginners are advised to begin with garden dragons, also known as common dragons. Nanodrakes are also good for beginners. Then, when you get some experience you can move to larger and more dangerous dragons. An expert is someone who successfully hunts fire dragons. You get the title legendary (e.g. Nemanja the Legendary) once you kill an Exterminator dragon. If you happen to hunt down the Murderous Dragon then you get the title Dragon Nemanja the Dragon as these dragons can only be killed by dragons. No one has ever slain a murderous dragon. But we must never say never... In any case, dragonhunting is an exciting sport, even though it is often dangerous, and shouldn't be played by children under the age of 13. It is definitely far more interesting than cricket or soccer. I hope I got you interested in this old tradition that should definitely get its place in the Olympics. *****
Nemanja Palić , IV1, Medical School, Kragujevac (now a student of Japanese language and literature at Faculty of Philology, Belgrade) T eacher : Branka Dečković
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Get a Laugh by Marko Šundić, English teacher at primary school “Jovan Popović”, Kragujevac
Key words: young learners, humor in class, funny translations
Hello. My name is Marko Šundić and I have been teaching English at “Jovan Popović” primary school in Kragujevac since 2004. At the beginning of my career, the sole objective of my lessons was to stay alive and get the hell out of there. But, little by little, I started to like teaching. I began to relax and be myself, and being myself involves a lot of joking. I soon realized that humor could be a valuable tool in the classroom. It helps you get the students’ attention, reduces stress, keeps the atmosphere light and relieves the embarrassment. Plus, if you crack a joke here and there, your students will like you better, which is important if you want them to listen to you. There are many different ways in which you can use humor in class. Funny cartoons, videos or comics, humorous sentences and pictures as examples of grammar rules, anecdotes as starters or icebreakers are all “tricks” that could make the teaching material easier to recall. I’m trying to use a bit of humor in every lesson, but there are two lessons a year which are entirely dedicated to learning through humor. A couple of years ago, I started writing down students’ lapses and funny translation errors. At the end of each term, as a reward for hard work during the year, I choose the funniest ones and read them out to my students. These jokes are not meant to mock anybody and I never say the name of the student who made the error so they wouldn’t feel uncomfortable. However, usually the opposite happens. When they recognize their lapse, they proudly exclaim: “This one is mine!” or “I said that!” In these “special” lessons, students are also allowed to tell their own jokes and anecdotes, and some of them are really good at it. In the following text, I will share some of the funniest translation errors with you. All of them are from “Project” textbooks. I hope you will have a good laugh! We are making a film in the local area during July and August.
„Mi pravimo film. Ja ću biti Džuli a ti glumi Avgusta“.
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People in Britain move house a lot.
„Ljudi u Britaniji često premeštaju kuće“. Dominic was on holiday with his parents.
„ Dominik je bio na moru sa svojim papagajima “.
We’ve got a computer, but it’s for me and my brother. „Mi imamo kompjuter, on je za mene kao brat“ .
My family hardly ever eats soup.
„ Moja porodica teškom mukom jede supu “. We went to Spain by plane. „ Otišli smo u Španiju po planu “.
I’m going to keep the remote control.
„ Ja idem da se kontrolišem “. ...Mrs Green... „... Gospođa Zelena ...“ A novel
„Novelova nagrada“
I’m afraid Pete’s dead!
„ Plašim se Pitovog tate“; „Ja se plašim Pita mrtvog .“ Bullying is usually physical. “ Siledžije su obično psihopate ”.
What would I look like with no hair?
„ Na šta bih ličila bez glave?“
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You’ve gone too far this time!
„ Ti ćeš ubrzo umreti!“
Was Rash doing his homework?
„ Da li je on u Rusiji radio domaći?“
He says we can borrow his equipment. „ On mora da izvodi neke eksperimente “.
Some birds, like ostriches...
„ Neke ptice, kao što su ćurani ...“ You’re kidding! „ Ti si bolestan !“
DJ at a party: „I’ll put on a slow number.”
„ Pustiću polako brojeve .“ On Sunday...
„ U Sidneju ...“
You can play football and cricket in the yard.
“ Možeš igrati fudbal ili kriket u groblju .” *****
Marko Šundić graduated from the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade in 2004. He has been working as an English teacher in "Jovan Popović" primary school since 2004.
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Touch the Sky Lesson Plan
by Božica Šarić Cvjetković
This lesson plan was created as a workshop for The British Council Serbia and demonstrated at the Belgrade Book Fair. It is designed around a short film “Touch the sky” directed by Tim Hahne, which is an intimate portrait of Alex Zanardi, the former Formula 1 driver who lost both his legs in an accident, but came back and did the impossible he won two gold medals at the Paralympics in London 2012! Key words : sports, accident, life attitude, success, feelings
Description of the lesson : Students try to guess the facts about a sports person using pictures as clues. After that they watch a short film “Touch the sky”. After watching the film, students answer the questions. The next activity is to fill in the information in the text using the given words and the information from the film. They watch the film again and discuss the message of the film. Objectives: The aim of the lesson is to raise awareness among students about people with disabilities, to practice creative thinking skills through exposing them to authentic materials and to build a positive life attitude. Learner type : teenagers and young adults Time : 45 minutes Activity : guessing from the pictures, watching a short film, completing the text, discussion Topic : life attitude Language : vocabulary related to sports and feelings Skills : looking for information, talking about the message of the film Equipment : laptop, overhead projector, loudspeakers Materials/ preparation : PowerPoint presentation, printed text for each pair/group, printed transcript of the film, pieces of paper for messages Introduction/ warmer : Show the first slide and ask the students what they think this lesson might be about. Show the first part of the sentence on the second slide (A picture is worth...) and elicit “a thousand words”. Show the next slide with the picture of Alex Zanardi and ask the questions:
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If a picture is worth a thousand words, what can you tell from this picture? Reveal the questions: Who is this person? How old is he? What is his profession? What nationality is he? Students try to guess the information. Then reveal the next slide and elicit answer like “He’s a Formula 1 driver. / He’s a race car driver. / He’s a cart driver.” Show the next slide, first picture and elicit “He’s a gold medal winner.” and the second picture “He’s Italian. / He won the gold medal for Italy”. Step 1 . Tell the students that they are going to watch a short film about this gold medal ). winner. Show the film (slide 6, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZR0a2GzGEA Transcript: I’m Alex Zanardi, the big optimist, a man who learned that in life as long as you have something to fight, even the greatest defeat can be turned into your greatest victory. If I didn’t believe it was possible I wouldn’t have tried, but four years after my accident, to step on the podium as a race winner, it was so very special. That champagne tasted very nice. London 2012 was my horizon and it was great to have such important goal in front of you and that was the real value, you know. Having something for which I was so passionate, not just the training part but also technically speaking, making the vehicle perfect for me was so exciting. There’s nothing that magical hidden in what I did. I didn’t jump on my bicycle because I wanted to go to London and win. I won because I wanted to ride my bicycle. That is the simple secret behind what I did. When you’re competing, of course the focus is always one hundred per cent on what you’re doing, but when the race is over and you end up with a gold medal in your hands, well then, at that point you really end up understanding how important your achievement is. Coming from almost the bottom to enjoy and to touch the sky with your finger, it was fantastic. Whenever I get asked “Why Alex, at your age, did you decide to go back to motor sports?” I would just tell to the same people who pose that question “Listen to the sound of the engine!” Isn’t that an answer? If you don’t understand it, it’s not my problem.
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Where would I be if my accident didn’t happen? Who knows, I mean, I could be a guy maybe with legs but not as happy as I am. I’m Alex Zanardi, I’m lucky person because at the age of fortyseven things are not over yet. After watching the film, ask questions from the next slide: What can you tell now, after watching the film? What’s his name? (Alex Zanardi) How old is he? (47) What happened to him? (He had a terrible accident and lost both his legs.) What did he do? (He didn’t give up on sports; he changed his discipline and continued to practice...) What are Paralympics? (Olympic Games where people with disabilities compete) What’s this discipline called? (Hand bike) Step 2. Tell the students that they will have about ten minutes to find more information about Alex Zanardi using the given information. Put them into pairs or small groups and give them the text with missing words to complete. The missing words are given in the random order on slide 9. While they are doing their task, distribute the papers for messages (one piece for each student). Step 3. After they complete the task, go through the text and check the information together. Step 4 . Tell the students that they are going to watch the film again, this time with transcript. Distribute the transcript to each student and play the film again (slide 10). Step 5. Discuss the message of the film.
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Follow up: Tell the students to write the messages they came up with on the piece of paper and stick them on the wall. Here are some messages from my students ☺
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Text activity for students: Alex Zanardi is Italian racing driver and paracyclist. He was born on 23 October ____________ in ____________, Italy. He began racing karts at the age of ____________. The peak of Zanardi's racing career covers Formula One and CART for parts of nine years between 1991 and 2001. In his most competitive race of 2001, he suffered a violent accident at the Euro Speedway Lausitz on ____________. The crash occurred while Zanardi was leading the race in the closing laps. Zanardi's car was hit from the side, behind the front wheel. The impact tore off the nose of his car. His legs were gone near the knees. He lost so much ____________ at the scene, he nearly ____________. He was in a ____________ for several days. At one point, his heart stopped beating. This was the end of his openwheel racing career. Zanardi was fitted with ambitious rehabilitation program.
two ____________
limbs
and
began
an
He returned to racing less than ____________ years after the accident. He then began to excel at hand cycling. In ____________, Zanardi won his first senior international hand cycling medal. The following year he won two gold and one silver medal in the ____________ Paralympics Games in ____________. (2004) and Alex He has cowritten two books based on his life, Alex Zanardi: ____________ Zanardi: My Sweetest Victory (____________). Key: Alex Zanardi is Italian racing driver and paracyclist. He was born on 23 October 1966 in Bologna , Italy. He began racing karts at the age of 13 . The peak of Zanardi's racing career covers Formula One and CART for parts of nine years between 1991 and 2001. In his most competitive race of 2001, he suffered a violent accident at the Euro Speedway Lausitz on 15 September . The crash occurred while Zanardi was leading the race in the closing laps. Zanardi's car was hit from the side, behind the front wheel. The impact tore off the nose of his car. His legs were gone near the knees. He lost so much blood at the scene, he nearly died . He was in a coma for several days. At one point, his heart stopped beating. This was the end of his openwheel racing career. Zanardi was fitted with two prosthetic limbs and began an ambitious rehabilitation program.
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He returned to racing less than two years after the accident. He then began to excel at hand cycling. In September 2011 , Zanardi won his first senior international hand cycling medal. The following year he won two gold and one silver medal in the 2012 Paralympics Games in London . He has cowritten two books based on his life, Alex Zanardi: My Story (2004) and Alex Zanardi: My Sweetest Victory ( 2004 ).
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*** Božica ŠarićCvjetković has a BA degree in English language and literature. She has been teaching young learners and teenagers for almost nine years. Last year she was awarded the U.S. Government scholarship and successfully completed the online course Special Education and Differentiated Instruction with the University of Oregon. She is very passionate about developing as a teacher and her next project is about teaching children with special needs. She has presented at three international conferences and did creative workshops for The British Council Serbia. She is also ELTA coordinator for Srem region. When she is not teaching she is enjoying reading or gardening.
* I certify that I have the right to publish these photos.
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Christmas Eve Story By Anja Prentić, Ph.D. student, Belgrade University, Elementary school ''Knez Sima Marković'' Reflections on SEETA Storytelling for Young Learners Closed Course
Key words: storytelling, online course, SEETA, young learners
Introduction This article is inspired by an engaging experience I had as a participant in one of SEETA's closed courses. This opportunity provided by ELTA has given me a chance to enrol in a colourful intercultural exchange of teaching ideas and experiences, as well as my personal advancement in the area of storytelling. This SEETA online course titled Storytelling for Young Learners was hosted by Zhivka Ilieva, a teacher trainer, an expert on teaching Young Learners and the President of BETA Bulgaria. In the period of a couple of weeks, the participants were able to learn and share their thoughts on the given activities, taking part in forums. The aim of this article is to inspire other teachers to enrol in any similar projects by presenting the course and my reflections on it. I have also included my final project, the Christmas Eve story, as my personal contribution to storytelling practice. The paper discusses the activities and stages of course, accompanied by my personal thoughts and ideas. Storytelling for Young Learners Stage 1 Introduction to the course The host presented the participants with the course outline and the required tasks as the first stage of the course. Introducing storytelling in language teaching, she underlined some of the elements which are significant for teaching young learners, such as a relation to caretaker talk, motivation, child's attitude, nonverbal communication, adaptability, aiding language acquisition, etc. She also listed a number of relevant resources, enabling further research.
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Stage 2 Adapting stories for young learners In this stage, the participants were asked to answer four questions related to the topic. They were also presented with some useful tips for adapting stories including choice of grammar, vocabulary, sentence structures and indirect/direct speech as well as tips for avoiding oversimplification. A fruitful conversation in the forum resulted in getting the participants to share the challenges they encounter in their professional practice. Stage 3 More techniques for adapting texts The host once again shared some most useful resources on the topic and started another enjoyable conversation. Stage 4 My favourite stories This is the stage that I personally found extremely useful and motivating. The host shared her two favourite stories, explaining how she adapted and used them in class. One of the stories, The Cat and the Mouse, inspired me to start writing my own story immediately, based on it. Stage 5 Your favourite stories By choosing their favourite stories, explaining the reasons of their choice and the ways of adapting them, the participants not only shared their opinions, but they managed to create a rich collection of resources and teaching ideas. This stage was particularly significant as a step toward completing the final task of creating stories. Stage 6 Choosing and creating stories Sharing her expertise, the host addressed the main principles of choosing and creating stories concerning topics and language choices. Stage 7 Creating your own story The aim of this stage was presenting and discussing the participants' stories as the final task and the crown of their efforts during the course. The presented stories were adapted to the needs of the students they were aimed for and they displayed the undoubted creativity and engagement of their authors.
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Stage 8 What will I take from this course to my classroom The final forum discussion included the participants' reflections on the course and its contribution to their personal teaching development. They praised the efforts of the host, expressing hope for more projects such as this one. My story Instead of a conclusion, I would like to present the Christmas Eve story, as a product of my personal engagement inspired by this course. The text is accompanied by a few pictures that are included in a PowerPoint presentation I've created as a means of visualization. I hope that the experiences shared in this article will motivate other teachers to enhance their storytelling practice and encourage them to create their own stories.
Christmas Eve
On Christmas Eve, a boy did not have any cookies for Santa. So he sat in his sleigh and went to his grandma's house. On his way he sang: Jingle bells, jingle bells Jingle all the way Oh, what fun it is to ride In a one horse open sleigh.... He came to his grandma's house and said "Please, grandma, give me some cookies for Santa." “No," says grandma, “I’ll not give you cookies for Santa, till you go to the Christmas tree, and bring me a Christmas ball.” So he sat in his sleigh and went to the Christmas tree. On his way he sang: Jingle bells, jingle bells Jingle all the way Oh, what fun it is to ride In a one horse open sleigh....
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He came to the Christmas tree and said "Please, Christmas tree, give me a Christmas ball, so I may give grandma the Christmas ball, so grandma may give me some cookies for Santa." “No," says the Christmas tree, “I’ll not give you the Christmas ball, till you go to the Snowman and bring me a Christmas star.” So he sat in his sleigh and went to the Snowman. On his way he sang: Jingle bells, jingle bells Jingle all the way Oh, what fun it is to ride In a one horse open sleigh....
He came to the Snowman and said "Please, Snowman, give me a Christmas star, so I may give the Christmas tree the Christmas star, so the Christmas tree may give me a Christmas ball, so I may give grandma the Christmas ball, so grandma may give me some cookies for Santa." “No," says the Snowman, “I’ll not give you the Christmas star, till you go to the Reindeer and bring me a candy cane.” So he sat in his sleigh and went to the Reindeer. On his way he sang: Jingle bells, jingle bells Jingle all the way Oh, what fun it is to ride In a one horse open sleigh.... He came to the Reindeer and said "Please, Reindeer, give me a candy cane, so I may give the Snowman the candy cane, so the Snowman may give me a Christmas star, so I may give the Christmas tree the Christmas star, so the Christmas tree may give me a Christmas ball, so I may give grandma the Christmas ball, so grandma may give me some cookies for Santa." “No," says the Reindeer, “I’ll not give you the candy cane, till you go to the Snow Queen and bring me a snowflake.” So he sat in his sleigh and went to the Snow Queen. On his way he sang:
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Jingle bells, jingle bells Jingle all the way Oh, what fun it is to ride In a one horse open sleigh.... He came to the Snow Queen and said "Please, Snow Queen, give me a snowflake, so I may give the Reindeer the snowflake, so the Reindeer may give me a candy cane, so I may give the Snowman the candy cane so the Snowman may give me a Christmas star, so I may give the Christmas tree the Christmas star, so the Christmas tree may give me a Christmas ball, so I may give grandma the Christmas ball, so grandma may give me some cookies for Santa." "Yes" said the Snow Queen "I will give you a snowflake, and I wish you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year"
Then the Snow Queen gave the boy a snowflake for the Reindeer, the Reindeer gave the boy the candy cane for the Snowman, the Snowman gave the boy the Christmas star for the Christmas tree, the Christmas tree gave the boy the Christmas ball for grandma, grandma gave the boy the cookies for Santa and Santa gave the boy many, many presents.
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by Anja Prentić
**** 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 thesis. Having worked in a Secondary School in Barajevo for two years has widened her experience as a language teacher and a researcher and has shaped her teaching philosophy. Currently, she is working in the Elementary school ''Knez Sima Markovic'' in Barajevo and is broadening her perspectives on teaching young learners. Fields of her interest include inclusive education, drama in language teaching, young learners, and humanistic approach in education. Contact information: Anja Prentić, anja89@krstarica.com
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