SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2017
ELTANEWSLETTER ISSUE NO. O4 • SEPTEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 11
ISSN
1820-9831
(ONLINE)
English Language Teachers' Association, 28 Nemanjina, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia www.elta.org.rs, office@elta.org.rs, +381 63 210 460
ELTA Newsletter • September - October 2017 • Volume 11, No. 4
ELTA Newsletter ISSN 1820-9831 (Online) ELTA – English Language Teachers’ Association Nemanjina 28, 11000 Belgrade Serbia + 381 (0) 63 210 460 + 381 11 36 11 644 ext. 110 elta.kancelarija@gmail.com Olja Milošević, ELTA President serbia.eltapresident@gmail.com
Editor-in-Chief: Maja Jerković, Vocational Medical School, Zrenjanin, Serbia Co-editors: Milena Tanasijević, English Language Lecturer, Belgrade Metropolitan University, Serbia Branka Dečković, Vocational Medical School, Kragujevac, Serbia Zorica Đukić, The School of Pharmacy and Physiotherapy, Belgrade, Serbia Bojana Nikić Vujić, MA, The School of Pharmacy and Physiotherapy, Belgrade, Serbia Vicky Papageorgiou, ESL Instructor, Metropolitan College, Thessaloniki, Greece Proofreaders: Milena Tanasijević, English Language Lecturer, Belgrade Metropolitan University, Serbia Zorica Đukić, The School of Pharmacy and Physiotherapy, Belgrade, Serbia Vicky Papageorgiou, ESL Instructor, Metropolitan College, Thessaloniki, Greece Editorial: Maja Jerković, Vocational Medical School, Zrenjanin, Serbia Cover designer:
Marija Panić, ELTA - English Language Teachers’ Association, Belgrade, Serbia Website: http://elta.org.rs/elta-newsletter/ Send your submissions electronically to: newsletter.elta@gmail.com
The authors bear full responsibility for the content of their articles. ELTA Newsletter is published bi-monthly.
Send your submissions electronically to: newsletter.elta@gmail.com
Dear readers, The Summer holiday is over, and we hope you are still dwelling on lovely memories and new friendships you made during the summer break. The editorial team is back and ready to present this late summer September-October issue, packed with plenty of articles for you to read. Remember, you can also write for us and not only in our bi-monthly Newsletter. The deadline for papers to be published in our annual online publication, ELTA Journal, is October 31, 2017. Make sure you plan your late Summer and Autumn activities based on the information provided by the editorial team in our Upcoming Events section. Plenty of conferences and webinars are planned at the start of the school year so take your pick. In the Feature Article section, find out more about project-based learning kindly presented by Biljana Pipović. Read about how important the visual support is while working with young learners in our Young Learners’ Playground section, in the article written by Dr. Penny Masoura. Get a laugh with our colleague Marko Šundić and his funny collection of translations which he decided to share with us for the third time. :) We have reviewed two new books published by Alphabet Publishing, so in the Bookworms section, you can read about Classroom Community Builders, written by Walton Burns and reviewed by our editor Zorica Đukić. In the same section, another editor Branka Dečković reviewed a book Successful Group Work, written by Patrice Palmer. The spring and the summer have been busy for most of our colleagues, so in the ELT Flash section read about conferences and professional development. The ELTA president Olja Milošević talks about the Pilgrims course she attended this July at Canterbury, U.K. Our editor, Branka Dečković shared her experiences from the TETA conference, Bosnia and Herzegovina, whereas, Sanja Tasić introduces her views of workshops held at the BETA Bulgaria conference. In our First Aid Kit section, having visited Barnstaple in the U.K. this summer, Nataša Janković shares a poem which you can use in the classroom and experience the soul of SOL. Finally, in the Students’ Corner, we are hosting a composition written for competition by a student Zhang Deyu from China, supported by his teacher Yu Dingjie. The ELTA editorial team hopes you have a good start of the school year and wishes you a bundle of joy and success. Yours, The Editorial team
A Book Review: Classroom Community Builders, by Walton Burns, Alphabet Publishing Reviewed by Zorica Đukić, ELT teacher and pedagogical counsellor, Belgrade, Serbia
Keywords: community, teamwork, effective, bond, feeling safe
“Research and classroom experience show that students do better in classrooms where they feel included and welcome” (Burns, 2017, p. 1). No wonder. Everybody likes to feel safe and supported. But is it possible to combine activities that build a strong classroom community and teach
the
subject
at
the
same
time?
Yes.
Definitely.
At
least
Walton
Burns
(http://www.waltonburns.com/) has succeeded in doing so with his new book Classroom Community Builders. It has been based on his first publication 50 Activities for the First Day of School. Hence the subtitle Activities for the First Day & Beyond. T he Alphabet Publishing
company has once again provided teachers with a useful and practical toolkit. Classroom Community Builders is a collection of cooperative learning activities that simultaneously teach teamwork skills and language content while offering different angles of community building. The book has been organized into four sections: Set Your Expectations, Working Together, Getting to Know You, and Getting to Know Your Teacher. The “Set Your Expectations” section offers eleven activities such as Book Scan, Classroom Rules Negotiation, Syllabus Scavenger Hunt, My Favourite Teacher, Study Tip Share, Good Classroom Habit Role Play and some more activities, together with their variations or extension ideas. Some of them establish good classroom behaviour, discover everybody’s expectations, and improve essential teamwork skills. Others help students explore the coursebook, negotiate the rules, or think about the qualities of a good and bad teacher. Apart from that, students could be asked to compare the qualities of a good teacher to a good student and be surprised at the fact that very often both have similar qualities. By giving students a combination of myths and misconceptions about effective studying or by inviting them to share their advice on the topic, the author teaches students how to study well. On the other hand, by acting out good classroom
4
habits, students get the opportunity to show what they have learned through a set of Role Play tasks. In the next section with the title “Working Together”, there are thirty-four activities that represent the focal part of the book. Different Thoughts, In My Own Words, Sentence Auction, Picture Flashing, Jigsaw Reading, Alibi, Collaborative Stories, Plane Crash Survival, Mission to Mars, Create a New Country, Pyramid Discussion, Cultural Role Play, are just some of the many in this segment. They teach students to play a part in a team and at the same time make them see the benefits of working together. Students become familiar with multiple ways to approach or solve a problem. They learn how to organize themselves according to certain criteria. They have to work together efficiently to find out the missing information. Furthermore, students can practice the language by relying on each other’s memory skills, or by listening to each other and synthesizing information. Some activities are great for building rapport among students while working together, following the clues, and accomplishing meaningful tasks or simple science projects. Students work with language in so many ways while working together as a team. They learn to think critically, to express opinions, qualify statements, rephrase, summarize, or question each other’s logic. The final two sections, “Getting to Know You” and “Getting to Know Your Teacher”, offer twenty-two activities in total, seventeen and five respectively, that are in fact icebreakers suitable for creating a friendly and relaxing atmosphere which is also necessary for building a strong community. It takes time to get to know someone, so teachers are encouraged to use those kinds of fun activities more than just once at the beginning of the school year. Some of them are perfect for learning each other’s names, and others are ideal for helping students show an interesting profile to the class. Name Tents, Going on a Picnic Guessing Game, Class Averages, 4-3-2 Fluency Intro, Snowball Fight, Tell Me about Me, or Correct the Teacher, are just some parts of the repertoire. Not only can the activities in the book be addressed to all levels, from beginners to more advanced, but they can be altered to suit various needs. It is also possible to download and print free
sample
worksheets
and
handouts
at
http://www.alphabetpublishingbooks.com/resources-class¬room-community-builders/. Numerous links lead teachers to a full-size version of the resources. In some cases, links towards useful apps that could be used as valuable tools for recording students’ thoughts or for
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choosing mystery stories have been offered as well. Moreover, to share their experiences, insights or suggestions about the book teachers are invited to join the Classroom Community Builders Facebook Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1861157320576399/. At the very end, based on the pedagogical principles of teaching, the author shares with us his tips for building a team spirit and some considerations for grouping students. He confirms that teaching is a complex business and that teachers need various strategies. They must adapt their teaching to the situation and be flexible but, at the same time, they must always be sincere and consistent with their students, show respect and not tolerate teasing or insults. With this book, Classroom Community Builders, Walton Burns recognizes that the 21st century is the age of collaboration, not just the information. So, his message is that if we want to prepare our students for the world they are graduating into, one of the things we have to teach them is how to live together. Because collaboration is not just a 21st-century skill, it is a 21st-century sine qua non of teaching. ***** Zorica Đukić i s an ELT teacher, pedagogical counsellor, editor, and a Board member of the English Language Teachers’ Association (ELTA). She has been teaching English for more than thirty years. She used to work with both young learners and adults at the Centre for Foreign Languages in Belgrade. Currently, she is working at the School of Pharmacy and Physiotherapy with teenagers, the age group she finds most challenging. Since the very beginning of her career, she has been a supporter of CPD and interested in applied linguistics.
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A Book Review: Successful Group Work, by Patrice Palmer, Alphabet Publishing Reviewed by Branka Dečković, ELT teacher, Kragujevac,Serbia Keywords: group work, projects, teams, management, benefits, strategies, conflicts
This is how it looks like in most of the schools.
In order to overcome this problem and help teachers teach students how to do group projects, Patrice Palmer wrote this book in which she provides 13 practical activities to teach teamwork skills.These activities are for teachers in all subject areas, but I will write this review having English classes in mind. In the introduction, Palmer says, “Groupwork increases student talk time. It gives students a chance to interact with each other and negotiate meaning, providing opportunities for authentic conversation between students.” (Palmer, 2017, p. 7). I would say that this is the ideal, something that every teacher wishes for. In reality, it is not usually like that. I mean, it is, but, instead in English, students talk in L1 This does not have to be a problem, depending on how teacher manages it, what the project is, etc, and it is actually a subject that should be written about separately, not in this review. Then, “When students are proficient at group work, you can assign them more complicated and interesting tasks and projects.” (Palmer, 2017, p. 7). “The activities in this book emphasize the benefits of teamwork, so that students want to work together.” (Palmer, 2017, p. 7).
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Palmer points out that that teambuilding activities are fun, as well as important not only for learning, but for employment and life, as well. As mentioned above, there are 13 teambuilding activities described in this book. Some of the activities are done before a group project. Others can be done during the group project, and some of the activities are best to be used after it. What is important for each and every one of these activities is that the instructions are explained clearly, and that understanding is checked before starting the activity. Each activity is followed by a set of debriefing questions, and it is very important not to skip these questions, because by answering these questions, students will have the opportunity to discuss how the activity enhanced their understanding of teamwork and their role as a team member. There are objective statements to help teacher set the goals. “After this lesson, students will…”
***
The 13 activities in this book are divided into 5 groups. I Getting to know each other activities ●
Activity 1: Stand up if…
This activity helps recognize and respect people’s diversity, individual differences and perspective. The activity is also excellent to begin with, because the students do not have to talk at all actually – some of them might be shy or not willing to talk if they are new in the class they just stand up or sit down as an answer to a question that teacher asks. Nevertheless, if they listen and watch carefully, they can find out a lot about other students. ●
Activity 2: Getting to know your group members
In this activity students interview each other, the questions might be prepared by the eacher or by students. After the interview, they report to the class – students like this activity because it is much easier to talk about someone else than about yourself.
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●
Activity 3: Establishing ground rules
When the groups are formed, they establish some ground rules that every member of the group should respect.
II The benefits of teamwork ●
Activity 4: Word list is meant to enhance The benefits of teamwork.
In this activity, students attempt to do the task alone, and then in a group. The thing is that, as a group, they will have better results, which will show them what the benefits of a groupwork are.
III Team building activities ●
Activity 5: Team challenge
This activity resembles Scavenger hunt. The teams get a list of items that they should collect within a certain amount of time. Here, the strategy is very important, and the group that establishes some strategy and roles has more chance of finishing the task first. It is also important to ask students how they can apply what they have learnt to their future group projects. ●
Activity 6: The tower building activity
Another activity that reminds me of a very popular one – Marshmallow Challenge. It is interesting that, after students are given clear instructions, they have 12 minutes to plan how to build this 3-dimensional, free standing structure, and then 8 minutes to build it. So, the focus here is on planning, sharing ideas, information, expertise and communicating effectively. Again, debriefing questions after the activity is finished are very important. Students reflect on how they worked together, who did what, if everyone participated equally, etc. ●
Activity 7: Working in a group, Strengths and weaknesses
9
In this activity, the questions are structured in the way that people do not feel as if they are actually talking about their strengths and weaknesses, which many people are not comfortable talking about. Nevertheless, by the end of the activity, the members of the group discover what each person’s strength is, and how they can best use it for the benefit of the team.
IV Teamwork skills and strategies ●
Activity 8: Assigning roles in a group
Roles can be assigned by a teacher, or the students can volunteer for a particular role. Ideal number of students in a group is four or five. Students can keep their assigned roles till the end of a project, or they change the roles. In shorter projects, it is usually better for students to keep their roles. There are examples of the roles like – a chairperson, a note-taker, manager, timekeeper. ●
Activity 9: Consensus building
I love this activity, in which students’ task is to brainstorm and come up with as many solutions as they can for a certain problem. It can be as simple as finding many different uses for a paper clip, for example. What is important is to tell students that, while brainstorming, they have to keep an open mind, not to judge and say that some ideas are bad and some are good. Only after they finish brainstorming, they will get an opportunity to evaluate all the ideas. The questions that are asked after this activity are very important – the students think about how they came to a consensus, what strategies they used to agree on an idea, etc. ●
Activity 10: Resolving conflict
This activity, as I see it, does not give any suggestions for resolving possible conflicts. It is on the participants, that is, students, to come up with their own solutions. It is definitely something that they would have to do in a given situation, but if I were a participant, I would expect an example of a possible solution to a problem.
10
V Reflection and evaluation ●
Activity 11: Journal writing
Fantastic way for students to reflect on their experience as team members. It is a great way for a student to communicate with a teacher, especially if they are shy and not willing to talk about their feelings. The teacher can assign the topic or allow students to write on the topic of their choice. ●
Activity 12: Self reflection activity
In this activity. the teacher gives students a kind of evaluation form, a questionnaire in which there are statements about their work on a project - they have to read the statements and answer with yes or no. ●
Activity 13: Final evaluation
“Students should prepare a final evaluation based on the group project. This evaluation form gets students thinking critically about their contribution and the contribution of their team members.” (Palmer, 2017, p.54)
Conclusion Group projects involve a lot of work for students and teachers. Nevertheless, the benefits are numerous. The students will learn a lot about themselves and their peers, and be better prepared for some future projects in school, and later, in life. It is also important that teachers reflect after every group project, write down everything that went well as well as some drawbacks, so that they can improve their teaching instruction in the future. ***
Branka Dečković is an English teacher. She has been teaching for 13 years. She teaches all age groups, from kindergarten to adults, but her favorite age group is teenagers. Branka is a
11
board member of the ELTA (English Language Teachers’ Association). She is interested in using authentic materials in the classroom, unplugged teaching and also in various methods of assessment.
12
BETA Conference Report Sanja Tasić Primary School “Jovan Aranđelović,” Crvena Reka, Serbia Keywords: conference, report, professional development, representative
International conferences are my favorite way of professional development. You get to meet many colleagues from different countries, exchange teaching experiences, and attend plenary sessions and practical workshops. It was my honour to be an official ELTA representative at the Bulgarian English Teachers' Association conference in Varna, Bulgaria this year. Under the title “Learning and teaching languages: Creating bridges to the future,” it was held between 22 and 25 June 2017, together with the 1st FIPLV East European Regional Congress. FIPLV is an initialism for Fédération Internationale des Professeurs de Langues Vivantes - The International Federation of Language Teachers, so this was a multilingual event in five languages: English, German, French, Russian and Bulgarian. The Federation is the only international multilingual association of teachers of languages, and its main aim is to promote the teaching and learning of languages in order to facilitate and improve communication, understanding, cooperation and friendly relations among all peoples of the world. BETA conference hosted the following plenary speakers: Penny Ur, Diane Larsen-Freeman, Elka Todeva, Terry Lamb, Birsen Tütünis and Zuzana Tomaš. On the first day of the conference, the participants had the opportunity to attend three plenary sessions in which the theme of the conference was developed in different ways by the speakers: drawing on the dynamism of language, calling for the urgent need for the reinforcing of international bridges and looking at how we both build new types of bridges to the future and enhance old frameworks which have withstood the test of time.
The next two days offered the participants more plenary sessions and a choice of different workshops. I have made a selection of classroom activities learnt at these workshops, with the hope the readers of this article will find at least some of them useful.
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Elisabeth Jackson’s “Fostering learner autonomy in the YL classroom” introduced different ways of achieving the young learners’ autonomy, one of which is measuring progress and reflecting. She suggested using charts students themselves fill in, such as this one:
1. Today I learnt 2. I'm
____
confident
about
today’s
language:
new
1
2
3
4
☹
5
6
7
8
☺
3. What I did well today 4. One mistake I made today 5. New words I learnt today 6. Questions I have about today’s lesson?
Grzegorz Spiewak held two workshops: “Teaching English to teenagers - with their brain in mind” and “A gateway to speaking success.” Both were full of practical classroom activities, my favourite ones follow: 1. The teacher makes a list of words the students should memorize. The students should think of ONE word or phrase that they associate with each word. The teacher erases the original words and gets the class to reproduce them from memory. 2. Oral sentence expansion: Students need to work without taking any notes. Their task is to take turns and expand the original sentence (for example, Do you like tea?) orally. Each expansion can be with one or two words, no more! Student A attempts to expand, student B accepts the attempt and tries to expand the new version again. (for example, Do you like English tea?, Do you like strong English tea? etc)
14
3. Odd one out-odd two out: After you do the classic Odd-one-out, get your learners to work with the remaining words (now they are all from the same semantic category) - their task is to find an odd one out again and, crucially, justify their choice in English. With longer selections of words, you could even repeat the procedure once more (odd three out) 4. Show your learners a visual alternative to traditional recording of new vocabulary in their notebooks. Once they know the technique, remind them to produce a selection of such items after each unit of your course. Get them to share ideas, exchange best examples, vote for the idea of the month, photocopy some of these and display on your classroom walls
5. Describe – miss out – spot it! Get your students to work in pairs. Student A chooses a photo from his/her smartphone collection, and then describes it to student B, crucially omitting one important detail or aspect. Student B needs to say what or who has not been described. Olja Milošević, the ELTA Serbia president, also held a very useful workshop. She shared with the participants some of the activities that her students always enjoy. In one activity, students are shown simple drawings, not at first glance obviously representing concrete notions. The students match the drawings to sentences describing them, but have to justify their choice. In
15
another activity, the teacher dictates one sentence to the students who sit in a circle, the students add one more sentence to continue the story, and hand their pieces of paper to the peer on their right. Then, the students read the two sentences, continue the second story and so on. The participants enjoyed this activity very much, and produced some amazing stories! The conference ended with a very well organized party for all the participants, which was a way for us to spend some more time together in a relaxed atmosphere, while listening to the excellent choice of music and dancing. On the final day, we went on a trip to Balchik and Kaliakra Cape, to enjoy the beautiful sights of Bulgaria, which made the experience of this country even more memorable. ***** Sanja Tasić has been an EFL teacher for fourteen years and a teacher trainer for four. She graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Niš, Serbia. She works at the Primary School ‘Jovan Aranđelović’, Crvena Reka and Primary School ‘Ljupče Spanać’, Bela Palanka. She is particularly interested in teaching young learners and applying ICT in class.
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Pilgrims: British Life, Language & Culture Olja Milošević, President of ELTA Serbia
Keywords : report, professional development, cross-cultural experiences, Pilgrims
This July I spent two weeks in Canterbury attending a professional development course at Pilgrims. Choosing a course is one of the hardest tasks you will have to do once you decide on to spend time with Pilgrims. There are so many interesting ones and I wanted to take all of them. After a long deliberation, I selected “British Life, Language & Culture”. It was an excellent choice and I was happy to learn so many new things. At the very beginning of the course we used the iceberg as a metaphor for culture. The part of the iceberg that is above the ocean surface is what people can see. The part of the iceberg that is below consists of powerful forces that are not seen, but are even more important to notice if one wants to understand a new culture. Having the iceberg metaphor in mind, we started our “British Life, Language & Culture” experience. The special feature of the course was a great number of guest speakers who talked to us about different aspects of British life. The following speakers shared their stories with us: an elementary school principal, two Morris dancers, a micro-pub owner, two social workers, a police officer and two teenage girls. After each informative and lively session with our guest speakers we had a feedback session. Since all of us participants were from different parts of Europe, we all noticed different things, and these discussions also proved to be unique cross-cultural experiences. Of course, cultural experience is not complete without learning about food and eating habits. I have selected two photographs to share with you. You will see pork cracklings on the first one and cream tea on the second.
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******
Olja Milošević has been involved in second and foreign language teaching at all levels in
primary, secondary and tertiary education. She holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics and is primarily interested in second language acquisition and maintaining mother tongue. Olja is also interested in teacher training.
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th I nternational T ETA C onference The 4 Teach the Change you Want to See rupa, B osnia a nd H erzegovina, J une 1 6-17, 2 017 Bosanska K y B ranka D ečković, M edical S chool “ Sestre N inković” Conference r eport b erbia Kragujevac, S
Keywords: change, teaching, storytelling, materials writing, motivation
- Change There’s a new whiteboard in our classroom. I don’t like it. I like the old blackboard – the green one – you know.
19
No, I don’t like iPads and tablets. I like notebooks and pens, and the smell of a new book.
My son calls me a noob. He says – chillax – it’s just a glitch, don’t worry - dab it out, flip a bottle, follow me. Opusti se, ba.
* This is the poem I wrote for the poetry competition at this conference. The theme was “change”, the poem had to have between 10 and 14 lines, and it had to have at least one word in Bosnian. I actually got in the top three a nd got a p rize ( can’t r emember w hether i t w as t he 2 nd o r 3 rd p lace).
***
I am going to tell you about my experience at “the first emerald ELT conference in Europe”, as Mark Andrews called it. The conference was organized almost solely by Elma Velić Bešić – a woman with incredible energy – she believed that she could do it. And, she did it. She brought together around 100 English teachers to this unique place and this amazing conference.
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My trip to Bosanska Krupa was quite adventurous – I took a bus from Kragujevac to Belgrade, another one from Belgrade to Banja Luka. After arriving at Banja Luka, I realized no buses were going to Bosanska Krupa in the afternoon – so I had a couple of options to choose from – spend the night in Banja Luka, hitchhike to Bosanska Krupa, call Elma and ask for help. I didn’t feel like looking for hostels in Banja Luka, I haven’t hitchhiked in a long time – so, wasn’t comfortable with that either, so I called Elma. Although that was her busiest day, waiting for everyone to arrive, she found a solution. She told me to catch a bus to Novi Grad, and then, she would come and pick me up from there. I have never heard of Novi Grad before, until I realized, later, that it was actually Bosanski Novi – the town had two names – one name if you are in Republika Srpska – the other name if you are in Federacija. Elma picked me up and took me to the restaurant where some dear people had already gathered, so we had dinner together. Then she took us to our hotels.
Friday The conference started the following day with Cindy Rauth giving a plenary speech. She talked about The Power of Storytelling in Language Learning. She had plenty of amazing ideas how to become a creative story teller. The book I will definitely remember and look for is “The Day the Crayons Left”. In order to make your stories memorable, you should make them unexpected, credible, concrete and emotional – says Cindy. Since I teach all age groups, I was interested in hearing what Alma Žerić had to say about Modifying Games for adult ELT Learners. Again, a handful of creative ideas for adapting children’s games for teaching adults. Next workshop that I attended was mine ☺ I decided to talk about Ideas that are Obvious to you - a nd might be Amazing to Others. There are so many wonderful and creative teachers who don’t go to conferences and don’t share their ideas. What I wanted to say in this presentation is that it is important to gather the courage and speak about great things that you do in your classrooms with your students. Many teachers would benefit. And the teachers who came to my
21
presentation were – most of them – my dear friends – so, it was quite interactive, we exchanged our experiences and stories – it was one of the coolest presentations I have ever had. Saturday Another fabulous woman, who began the second day of the conference with her plenary was Fiona Mauchline. She is an amazing speaker and knows how to engage her audience. In her plenary, she spoke about Engaging a nd M otivating O ur M ultiple S timuli Generation. It is interesting to the ELT world that this was probably the first conference where all plenary speakers were women! Kristy Kors talked about Building Effective Presentation Skills in the Classroom. I was surprised how her presentation was quite similar to mine. Lynda Steyne, the president of SKA (Slovak Chamber of English Teachers), shared with us some Practical A ctivities for Intercultural Communicative C ompetence. English in Town was the title of the next workshop I went to. The presenter was Ana Galac from HUPE (Teachers’ Association from Croatia). Again, it was quite interesting to hear that Ana did almost the same project that I did with my students – she took them into town, they pretended to be tourists who spoke English, and they asked people in the streets for every kind of information, they went to buy things, etc. I had quite a similar project with my students a couple of years ago. Aleksandra Popovski, the president of ELTAM (English language Teachers’ Association of Macedonia) talked about Materials Writing in her plenary talk. It was the last plenary at this conference, but Aleksandra’s first plenary ever, and she was top-notch. The conference closed in one of the most spectacular ways – we all danced to The time of my life, said goodbye and promised to one another that we would meet up again here the following year for another TETA conference.
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* I have rights to publish these photos
*** Branka Dečković is an English teacher. She has been teaching for 13 years. She teaches all age groups, from kindergarten to adults, but her favorite age group is teenagers. Branka is a board member of the ELTA (English Language Teachers’ Association). She is interested in using authentic materials in the classroom, unplugged teaching and also in various methods of assessment.
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Project-based Learning in a Nutshell Biljana Pipović, EFL teacher, Grammar School “Stevan Jakovljević”, Vlasotince, Serbia
Keywords : project based learning, critical thinking, research
Teaching is definitely a noble profession. We either make or break a child. Since I cannot do anything to change the existing National Curriculum nor choose the textbooks I like more, the only thing I can do is rely on my creativity, my imagination, my knowledge first of all, and do my best to help my students thrive and develop in the best way possible. I believe that the use of variety of ideas and procedures from different existing approaches and methods will i ncrease t he c hances o f l earning t aking p lace. I find that informed teaching is bound to be eclectic because, as it is pointed in the article Individualized Learning Through Self-Directed Projects, i t “ can provide a means to meet the differing needs, expectations, and proficiency levels of individual learners that may not be met in a group-oriented classroom setting.” My eclectic approach is a combination of following approaches and methods: direct method (Teach the language, not about the language), communicative approach (Language is communication), CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), heuristic approach (free conversation and discussion which enable students to ask questions), problem based learning (working together to solve problems) and above all, project based learning as I find its four Cs the most appealing: collaboration, critical thinking, creativity and communication. The world has changed! Children need both knowledge and skills to succeed. Workforce demands high-performance employees who can plan, collaborate and communicate with civic responsibility and be good global citizens. All of these are made possible by using PBL in ELT classrooms. Another reason is that “learning is more effective when learners are active in the learning process, assuming responsibility for their learning and participating in the decisions which affect it.” (Sheerin 1997:56).
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I work in a public school and teach seven groups of students. In each class there are at least 25 students. I see my third graders five times a week, second graders three times, and first graders only twice a week. Each class lasts for 45 minutes. The coursebooks we use have 12 units. Taking these facts into consideration, one must conclude that I definitely lack time to do many activities I would like to do with my students in the way that would be the most beneficial for them. Even if you have more classes every day, five days a week, it is still not enough to achieve a high level, if you do nothing in between. So, I assign homework. I believe that homework should be something that moves students to investigate, research, discover; something that makes them curious and motivated enough to spend their free time doing something meaningful, relevant, interesting and different. So, what type of homework works best? Based on my experience, it is project work. I usually have class projects (when class is divided into smaller groups of four or five students), but sometimes individual projects over a period of time. They are mostly based on topics from a coursebook, but sometimes I let students choose their topic related to their interests. I believe that a good project should engage with student’s prior knowledge, but also interests and experience. It should draw on the world outside the classroom and thus make the world more relevant. In addition to that, it should allow students to use their imagination to create something completely new. When I plan a project I always start with the question Will this project engage my students? T hen comes the question Will my students learn something meaningful from this project? When I have a list of goals I want to achieve by a specific project, I design a project – write directions, instructions and all the relevant details the students need to know in order to complete the task successfully. Sometimes, I need to contact experts and organizations outside the school and ask them to help the students make the project more authentic. Finally, I work out the project’s timeline and plan assessment. I carefully monitor every step my students make towards reaching the final goal. My students know that they can contact me and ask for help or clarification whenever they need to. On the other hand, students have to work harder than in regular classes and usually in their free time. However, I have come to the conclusion, if the task is interesting and connected to real life,
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no matter how challenging it is, the students manage to finish it. Sometimes, the final product is not exactly the same as I have hoped for, but I do not give up. As already mentioned, project work needs to be carefully planned - preparation is the key to make project a success. However, it needs to be guided in terms of preparing written directions, discussing the task with students (teaching them how to do the project) and deciding on the criteria for its evaluation. The whole process needs to be monitored regularly. Finally, “Find a wider audience.” (Introduction: Project-based Learning; Janine Sepulveda). Having read the article, I realized how providing students with an audience is important and beneficial for their further progress. In the future, I will definitely pay more attention to that aspect of project work. In PBL the emphasis is placed on a task (guided or driving question) to guide an investigation. In teams (or groups), students collect data to answer the driving question; they determine how the data is analyzed, what it means and how the results will be presented. This process (or investigation) results in the creation of one or more artifacts. While doing so, students are expected to be active participants in their own learning. Some projects include interviews; some reading and browsing; some of them even modeling (or doing experiments). In order to complete the project, students might need to visit different institutions outside school, spend some time in a factory or a TV station. By doing so, they will learn a lot of things that are not only a text on a piece of paper. For example, in order to create a Cookbook of traditional cuisine, they might spend some time with their grandmothers or visit a restaurant and talk to their chef who may allow them to spend some time in his/her kitchen observing the process of preparing food in a traditional way. Isn’t that learning by doing? Projects can be done individually, in pairs or small groups and they should reflect the students’ interest and aim at general English improvement (projects mostly involve several language skills). What I particularly find interesting is the idea of self-directed projects - students are encouraged to choose a project that is interesting to them and that they feel will best meet their needs as learners of English. If we just give our students the opportunity to choose the topic, we will be surprised by the variety of their choices – the range of possible projects can be quite broad and different students can develop many and above all unique topics.
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When talking about self-directed projects, it is important to mention the role of the teacher – as Voller (1992) and others have stressed, the teacher becomes a guide, organizer, facilitator, and resource person; he/she is not longer only a dispenser of knowledge. A creative teacher can always find a way to integrate self-directed projects into any teaching situation. No matter how rich the classroom input or how stimulating the activities the teacher prepares are, he/she has to provide more opportunities for using and interacting in English and must respect his/her students’ rights and interests as individuals to exercise choice in their foreign language study, if he/she wants his/her students to reach their maximum potential. In PBL, the roles of the teacher and the students are definitely different, but in no way can we say that the students do all the work and the teachers just sit back. The role of the student in project learning is closely linked to the role of the teacher. The teacher is not only an expert and a formal authority, but also a personal model, facilitator and a coach. He / she inspires, models, guides, trains, monitors and helps the students by increasing motivation and providing support. The students need their teacher to give them instructions and advice on the project. They turn to him / her if or when they need help. The teacher and the students can share ideas, but also learn from each other. Classrooms are supposed to be fun learning centers, where the most important quality required is freedom of expression. By encouraging creativity, the teaching is making sure that the student has the ability to think for him / herself. If a child is encouraged to be creative from a young age, he / she will carry this quality with him / her all his / her life, and this quality will enable him / her to succeed in this (sometimes) ruthless world. While technology can be very useful in PBL, it is not a requirement! The only requirement is imagination. Project based learning can develop in the first place critical thinking. But, only if we choose the task very carefully. In other words, if we ask a simple question such as: ´What are the greatest polluters of the environment?’ our students can easily find the information on the internet. However, if we ask the question: ‘What are the greatest polluters in the Jablanica District (one of the regions in Serbia where my students live)?’ the students will have to go out and do a research. To answer this question, the students will have to do more than merely look the information up.
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Simply putting students together to research something, or build something will not help students develop critical thinking. Students often only retell the information that they have read or come across online. It is up to the teacher to choose the right driving question that will encourage students to gather information from multiple sources, evaluate their findings and demonstrate their thinking. Projects assigned should be connected to real-life scenarios or topics relevant to students. Students then need to analyze that question / topic / problem, synthesize, comprehend and evaluate it. In order to meet the requirements of the task, students need to explore issues, solve problems, and collaborate with their peers. Therefore, some of the skills students can develop through PBL are collaboration, leadership and problem solving. These are exactly the skills that today’s employers want! Project based learning can definitely lead to developing different skills: problem-solving, critical thinking, visualizing, decision-making, cross-cultural understanding, reasoning, written and oral communication, better interpersonal and communication skills. In my opinion, projects teach skills which are more than important as they are 21st century skills. Using projects brings real life into the teaching process. ‘It brings skills that will enable students to be work ready as well as effective members of their community.’ (the video PBL explained) . These skills are without any doubt responsibility, collaboration, critical thinking and communication. PBL is different from a traditional approach to teaching in many ways. The classroom is no longer teacher centered full of drills with the teacher ‘sticking to the book’ , as teacher Laura pointed out in the PBL: teacher interviews v ideo. What is more, PBL makes ‘students feel in a
different way’ as one of the students in the PBL: student interviews p ointed out. In addition to that, ‘students are more active and responsible for the work done, more engaged and more focused on using the language in a way that is meaningful’, a s teacher Amy explained. Speaking of students ‘Projects can allow (them) to address community issues, explore careers, interact with adult mentors, use technology, and present their work to audiences beyond the classroom. PBL can motivate students who might otherwise find school boring or meaningless’ ( the article What is P BL?) So, no more bored students in the classroom.
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Furthermore, ‘Using a project-based approach (has helped) helps motivate students to learn language for a purpose.’(the article Less Teaching. More Learning.) Namely, PBL approach implies asking questions, research, collaboration, giving feedback to other team members (the video PBL explained). While doing a project students can see that each problem can have more than one solution. They can use different approaches to find the information about their topic, write down their ideas, collect (or draw) relevant pictures, and finally, put all the parts together to form a coherent presentation. It demands a lot of hard work from the students (and the teacher as well), nevertheless the final outcome is worth the effort. Students can see the connection between the project and the real world and that can motivate them to find out even more about the world around them. We can all agree that students enjoy learning when learning makes sense. Last, but not least, PBL involves a lot of creativity regarding both language and content. In conclusion, I would like to quote Janine Sepulveda’s words “Not only can PBL be a motivating factor in the classroom, it can lead to more student engagement and better learning. When we find ways to use student curiosity and creativity, the class is well managed and students learn more.”
References ●
Gabrielatos, C. (2016) Shopping at the ELT Supermarket, Principled Decisions and Practices.
Retrieved
from
http://www.developingteachers.com/articles_tchtraining/eltshop3_costas.htm ●
Malcolm, D. Rindfleisch, W. (2003) Individualized Learning Through Self-Directed Projects
●
Sepulveda, J. (2016) Introduction: Project-based Learning; Janine Sepulveda
******* Biljana Pipović is an enthusiastic English teacher, employed at Gimnazija ’Stevan Jakoljević’ in Vlasotince, Serbia with a working experience of 20 years. She has also been working as a language instructor in private schools for 13 years teaching teenagers and adults of all language
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levels, both general and Business English. Since 2006, she has been a mentor to talented students, the members of the Regional Talents’ Center in Vranje and five times award winner at the Republic Competition for Talented Youth. She is the author and a teacher trainer of three seminars recognized as a form of professional development by the Ministry of Education in Serbia. Her present interests include teaching FCE, CAE and CPE exam classes, using project based learning to develop students’ key competences, international school projects, eTwinning projects, and working with gifted students in a mixed-ability classroom; also interested in voluntary work and organizing charity events. When not teaching, Biljana enjoys reading books and researching where next to travel.
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Complete the poem with the words from the box: Clovelly
sand
Sailors
Earth
otter
waterfall
Appledore
farms
Point
Yey
coast
true
Devon
story
spire
Lynmouth
holly
Verity
Taw blue
more
hidden Burrows Barnstaple
THE SOUL OF SOL by Natasa Janković Barnstaple, 26/07/2017
As a blazing flame of fire rises a cathedral ________________ from Salisbury to heaven on our way to ________________.
Then to Cornwall, straight to Eden, where green world in biomes ________________ bursts with the power of rebirth and the beauty of Mother _________________.
And in no time we are all joint, climbing the paths of Baggy ________________, past lichen walls, ‘cross grazing land all the way up the dunes of _________________.
In another Devon’s valley we discover sweet _________________, village so small, yet standing tall with its own charming __________________.
Croyde is tempting with mighty wave, But there is Tom’s “Oh Yey, oh ___________!” to take us back to history, and tell us yet another ________________.
Having the right to also boast, is another gem on Devon’s __________________ in all of its serenity, Ilfracombe with its _________________.
Flora, fauna, windmill towers, Fullabrook and Brauntown __________________, welcome every eager trotter down the trail of Tarka ___________________.
Last, not least, but really jolly, past lovers, ivy and ________________, fair Fiona with poets south leads us from Lynton to _________________.
Then there we are at Bideford, ‘fording’ rivers Torridge and ________________, Mark will tell us a story or two and read about friendship honest and _________.
Go mighty waves, just splash ashore, chirp little birds, sing more and ________________, flourish nature so fresh, so true in glorious colours of green and ________________.
But those are not the only charms, so off we go t’ organic __________________, to learn of fennel, peas and more, in the village of ______________________.
So, come on learners and course tailors, Green Peppers, Nettles and Smooth ______________, Join Grenville’s school adorable and start your own quest from _________________.
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THE SOUL OF SOL ‘English can be green, too’ (Barstaple, UK, 16-27 July 2017)
As a blazing flame of fire rises a cathedral spire from Salisbury to heaven on our way to Devon.
Then to Cornwall, straight to Eden, where green world in biomes hidden bursts with the power of rebirth and the beauty of Mother Earth.
And in no time we are all joint, climbing the paths of Baggy Point, past lichen walls, ‘cross grazing land all the way up the dunes of sand.
In another Devon’s valley we discover sweet Clovelly, village so small, yet standing tall with its own charming waterfall.
Croyde is tempting with mighty wave, But there is Tom’s “Oh Yey, Oh Yey!” to take us back to history, and tell us yet another story.
Having the right to also boast, is another gem on Devon’s coast in all of its serenity, Ilfracombe with its Verity.
Flora, fauna, windmill towers, Fullabrook and Brauntown Burrows, welcome every eager trotter down the trail of Tarka otter.
Last, not least, but really jolly, past lovers, ivy and holly, fair Fiona with poets south leads us from Lynton to Lynmouth.
Then there we are at Bideford, ‘fording’ rivers Torridge and Taw, Mark will tell us a story or two and read about friendship honest and true.
Go mighty waves, just splash ashore, chirp little birds, sing more and more, flourish nature so fresh, so true in glorious colours of green and blue.
But those are not the only charms, so off we go t’ organic farms, to learn of fennel, peas and more, in the village of Appledore.
So, come on learners and course tailors, Green Peppers, Nettles and Smooth Sailors, Join Grenville’s school adorable and start your own quest from Barnstaple.
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ompetition Composition C pril 2 017 From a rookie to a master : t he path to greatness, A hang D eyu Student: Z u D ingjie English t eacher: Y o. 1 M iddle S chool a ffilicated t o C entral C hina School: N niversity Normal U Everyone admires those who are outstanding and yearns for their success. However, we need to know that every giant succeeds by practicing more. Each master used to be a rookie. From a rookie to a master, there is no path which is smooth and favourable. After the Rio Olympics, we all knew Phelps, who was the most successful swimmer. It seemed that no one could beat him because he was the unique legend in the swimming history, but incredibly an unknown swimmer named Joseph Schooling beat the legend this summer, awarded with a gold medal. Schooling was so fabulous that he beat Phelps in the butterfly stroke final. It dates from the time when Schooling was only a 13-year-old boy. Eight years ago, Schooling met his idol Phelps when Phelps was training in Singapore. It was the first time that he met his icon. Undoubtedly he felt pleased for he was lucky to see his icon, but he was also thwarted because Phelps was so successful that he had been presented with eight gold medals and refreshed the record just how in Beijing Olympics but in the meantime Schooling was just in obscurity. The distance between Schooling and his icon was so reachless. From then on, he set a goal--to transcend Phelps. Although it seemed impossible, but why not have a try since he was young? His father was in favour of him. Therefore, he got up at 4:00 in the morning to practice every day. Meanwhile, his father accompanied him to support him. One year later, when he was 14, his father asked him whether he was enthusiastic about swimming sincerely. If so, they will devote themselves to it. After considering it, Schooling said “yes”. Thus, he was sent to America to accept more effective training
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in order to pursue his dream. Driven by the dream and the responsibility to bring back a report to his father, he set foot on his new journey. He mustn’t have predicted that it would be his turning paint. Efficient and daily training made him stronger, faster and more powerful. His efforts brought about his progress. Gradually he was more famous and got more prizes. However, he cared nothing about it as he had only one goal--to transcend Phelps. The achievements he had reached were not enough. Eventually, he achieved it. In Rio, he beat Phelps successfully. When referring to his experience, he felt grateful to his father for his support. Likewise, he was thankful to Phelps for his greatness inspired him. With the aim he could go forward further and further. Edison once said, “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration”. There is no genius absolutely. As far as I am concerned, the reason why those people succeed is that they dig out their talent through diligence. Without trying you can't even find your talent. Diligence consists of three parts--aim, responsibility and faith. Without a god, we are only cadaver living aimlessly. The responsibility can supervise us and correct our mistakes. And faith, which is vital, can support us to move forward when meeting difficulties. To reach success, these qualities are needed. Then it depends on current situation and your methods. But don't worry about it at all. Please have a try, now, or you won't have any opportunity to realize your dream. So we beat on, boats against the difficulties, borne back ceaselessly into our original dream.
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f v isual l earning f or Y oung L earners i n E LT The i mportance o D r. P enny M asoura, M etropolitan C ollege ( Piraeus c ampus), G reece
Keywords: Visual learning, young learners
Introduction Involving learners and especially young learners in classroom activities has always been an issue that has troubled many educators in the field of ELT. It is undeniable that we live in a media world, in which most of the information is provided by visual input and as such teachers are constantly looking for ways to bring the real world in the classroom and to keep their young learners interested and motivated. However, over-reliance on technology and the media has also been the source of vivid debate in recent years. Perhaps, the key is for educators to turn to interactive visual forms of communication to instigate real discussion and facilitate self-discovery in their young students. Visual materials in this respect work as a powerful tool, as far as they give teachers the opportunity not only to show the culture of the target language, the habits and the body language that lie behind the language transactions but also to help young learners discover things about themselves and each other. In this way, students understand the real essence of language acquisition: the ability to express thoughts and feelings and to engage in real communication.
tart l earning E nglish Y oung? Why s According to Schacter, Gilbert & Wegner (2012), in most of the world, learning two languages is the rule, not the exception. Surveys have proven that those who learn two languages at an early age, although may process the language at a slower pace and need more time to form connections, when they do the skills are acquired in the same way in both languages. According to Anastasopoulou (2015), through the linguistic process of L2 acquisition, a person can communicate, express thoughts, experiences, concerns, feelings, desires, claim his/her rights and acquire a sense of identity. In addition, learning a foreign language promotes the acceptance of different cultures and achieves familiarity with other people. This is particularly true in Greece as today’s classrooms consist of students from different linguistic, ethnic and cultural 1 35
backgrounds. Therefore, the aids used should be universal and not identified with one particular culture or ethnicity. According to Galanakis (2017), learning a foreign language is especially important for connecting the individual with the rest of the world. She emphasizes that a person's success in today’s world depends on one’s ability to become a world citizen and to be able to speak a variety of languages. Learning languages is not a preference in the modern world but a necessity for young people (Galanakis, 2017). According to Patsiaraka (2014), learning a second language or even a third and fourth language at pre-school age is one of the most basic and central areas of modern education. She continues to say that education today can no longer be based only on the mother tongue, which is of course important to learn, but from that point on, it is equally important that a person develops linguistically to meet growing demands. She emphasizes that learning one or more foreign languages is a primary role for families in Greece, but also in the rest of the modern world, where multilingualism is widespread. As such, the visual aids should be part of a contextualized learning environment in which images and devices used are familiar and user-friendly. The idea of visual learning is certainly not new. From the Direct Approach in the 1920s and 1930s, to the latest theories that insist on the communicative value of language, educators have researched ways to enhance cognitive processes involved in language acquisition and to facilitate knowledge, memory and the production of language.
All recent research suggests that visual aids can facilitate learning
especially when followed by the performance of tasks that engage the learner. Some researchers differentiate between Media with “M”, and media with “m”, when relating the term to the language classroom. The first one, Media, refers to all of the technological advances such as new software, harguarantewares and the use of computers and projectors. And media for the non-mechanical aids, such as charts or even props for the daily life adapted for teaching. Regardless however of the medium, researchers agree that the use of visuals, especially from a young age, can improve not only their language skills but also help them connect with each other and prepare them for tomorrow’s world.
2 36
n v isual l earning f or Y oung L earners? Why i nsist o Visual material can help young learners master the language faster and more effectively. The visual materials support them in that matter, as they serve as mental scaffolds for the students (Carney and Levin, 2002) and help teachers to correlate and coordinate accurate concepts making learning more concrete (Mannan, 2005). Pictures and videos can serve as a connection between the mother tongue and English, so direct translations are not needed and, as a result, minimum input is required by the teacher. Visual communication, by combining audio and virtual messages can give a sense of immediacy and realism and stimulate feelings especially in children. According to Papasimakopoulou (2007), visual communication, especially in young learners, is extremely beneficial as the student needs to deepen, criticize and compare on the basis of what he/she sees and what he/she wants to say. Within such environments which are based on the visualization of information, and with emphasis on visual communication, which in turn is based on the challenge of attention, the enhancement of knowledge and the increased responsiveness of the child in a classroom is guaranteed (Papasimakopoulou, 2007). According to Smith & Cowie & Blades (2011), in research conducted among children aged 6-10 at a school in England, it was noted that for a child up to the age of seven - because of the rapid use of technology - visual contact with words, either by object depictions or by displaying the word itself through virtual cards, is required. They add that only this way they will see learning as a pleasant process. An equally interesting survey by Tare, Chiong & Deloache, (2010) was designed to demonstrate the positive effects of the use of virtual media in education. In this study, the children were divided into two groups of 30-36 months of age and 5-8 years of age. The results showed that virtual cards and visual aids in general played a major role in helping children gain useful information while the retention of information was significantly improved compared to more conventional modes of learning. Clark and Lyons (2004) explain that visual aids have been found to help both working memory and long-term memory. The new information is stored in the working memory (associated with learning) and then it is organized to form a cohesive notion and finally it is linked to previously-acquired knowledge. Therefore, the two memories work together to form what is called an updated mental model that is stored in 3 37
long-term memory (Clark and Lyons, 2004). The virtual capacity of the working memory is directly affected by its relation to the knowledge of the long-term memory and it is stimulated by material studied and integrated. The more it is related, the more virtual capacity there is. Therefore, the use of various visual aids using a variety of different media will not only engage learners but will also facilitate vocabulary retention since, as studies have shown, the use of visual aids can be particularly useful in speaking and understanding since students understand 30% more than without the visual support (Mukherjee and Roy, 2003).
ctivities w ith V isual a ids f or Y oung L earners Practical a The following activities have been designed with the intention of providing teachers with interactive, visually-stimulating activities that will entice students to engage in speaking and writing activities using a variety of different media.
: E -Portraits Activity 1 ▪
Level: A2-B1
▪
Pair work
▪
Goal: Language of description & comparison – Writing and/or Speaking practice
▪
Equipment needed: smartphones (input by teacher may be needed in introducing new vocabulary)
Stage 1: Ask your students to take a photo or draw a sketch of their best friend. Alternatively, they can also take selfies or draw a self-portrait. Ask them to write adjectives to describe the person or themselves. Stage 2: They turn to a partner. They ask their partner to do the same. Now compare your portraits. Stage 3: Ask your students to take a series of pictures of themselves or their classmate/friend when they have different moods. Then they should describe (orally and/or in writing) how their facial expressions change.
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: T he h uman p ortrait ( ins a nd o uts) Activity 2 ▪
Level: A2 – B1
▪
Pair work
▪
Goal: Speaking practice and vocabulary enhancement
▪
Equipment needed: paper, pen, (input by teacher may be needed in introducing new vocabulary)
Stage 1: You start the activity by drawing the figure of a human body (male – female). Then you ask your students to write adjectives/nouns and phrases about themselves as a self-portrait inside that portrait and once they finish to cover that part of the sketch). Stage 2: You ask your students to exchange sketches and to write on the outside part of the figure adjectives/nouns and phrases to describe their classmates WITHOUT being able to see the words on the inside of the figure. IMPORTANT NOTE: For this activity to work, once stage 1 is complete, the inside part of the figure must be completely covered so the element of surprise can be sustained once you reveal the differences. Stage 3: You encourage students to discuss the differences they observe and to present their findings in class. This activity can also be repeated at the end of the year to compare findings but also show progress of students’ vocabulary. Conclusion The use of various visual aids will not only engage learners but will also facilitate vocabulary retention and encourage participation and constant involvement of students in the learning process. After all, we should not forget that as research has clearly shown the l anguage acquisition by a child and all aspects of learning, greatly depends on the learning method and the encouragement which Is provided by teachers.
As Winston Churchill has famously said: “I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught”.
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Bibliography ibliography Greek B Αναστασοπούλου,Γ. (2015). ‘Ταυτότητα και Γλώσσα. Μια ερευνητική προσέγγιση σε πολιτισμικά
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[Online[.Available
here:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2952631/ (Accessed: 1 January 2011)
****** Dr. Penny Masoura holds a MA and PhD in English and Comparative Literature from Warwick University. She is currently the Programme Leader of the Education department at Metropolitan College (Piraeus campus). She has also been involved in English language teaching since 2001 and has served as a marker and examiner for various exam syndicates in Greece. She has extensive experience in various administrative positions in Higher Education and she has served on the Board of various organizations including the Hellenic Warwick Alumni Association (Founding member and president) and Tesol Greece (Chair: 2013-2014).
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Get a laugh Marko Šundić, Primary School “Jovan Popović”, Kragujevac, Serbia
Keywords: young learners, humor in class, funny translations
My dear colleague Marko Šundić likes to collect his students’ translation errors, and he likes to share them with his students at the end of a school year. They all have a good laugh, the errors are anonymous, and nobody gets hurt, the point is to have fun, and not to laugh at someone. We have already posted his funny collections in our Newsletter twice, and as I said to Marko, this might become our regular column.
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In 1968 Martin Luther King himself was shot - 1968. Martin Luter King je sam sebe upucao.
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The trainers here are made by children - Patike su ovde napravljene od dece.
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Can I give you a hand? - Da li želiš moju ruku
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I want to leave school so I can go on a tour with the band - Želim da napustim školu da bih išao na turu sa bendom
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He and his band of outlaws helped ordinary people - On i njegov bend ordiniraju pomoć ljudima.
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He fired an arrow into the forest - Zapalio je strelu u šumi.
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Waiters wear wigs - Konobari nose krila.
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You must wear a life jacket - Moraš nositi životnu jaknu.
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There was a loud noise - Tamo je bio lud nos.
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Write in reported speech:
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Mother: "Bring me some butter!" Mother says buttering me some is bring.
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Put these sentences into passive voice:
My students made a lot of mistakes. A lot of my students were made by mistakes. ***** 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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ELTA Newsletter 2017
UPCOMING EVENTS ● ● ●
CALL for Papers ELTA Journal Conferences Webinars
CALL for Papers ELTA Journal We invite all ELT professionals to participate in our online publication – ELTA Journal. http://elta.org.rs/2017/09/04/elta-journal-call-for-papers-3/
CONFERENCES
* Call f or p apers s till o pen f or s ome o f t he c onferences, c heck i t o ut
✓ The 12th National and 16th International ATECR Conference - ELT Signposts Date: 8-9 September 2017
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ELTA Newsletter 2017
Place: Brno, Czeck Republic For m ore, f ollow the l ink: ELT Signposts
✓ 26th I ATEFL P oland C onference Date: 15-17 September 2017 Place: Bielsko – Biała For more, follow the link: IATEFL Poland Conference
✓ New Teaching Grammar Communicatively 5-Week Massive Open Online Course
Date: Monday, September 25th, 2017. – Monday, October 30th, 2017. For m ore, f ollow the l ink: a eeteacher
✓ 27th I ATEFL H ungary A nnual C onference – T he P ower o f N ow – T eaching and L earning i n T he P resent Date: 6-7 October 2017 Place: Budapest For m ore, f ollow t he l ink: T he P ower o f N ow - T eaching a nd L earning i n t he P resent
✓ 6th ELT Malta Conference - English for 21st Century Skills Date: 12-14 October 2017 Place: Grand Hotel Excelsior, Floriana For m ore, follow the link: 6th-ELT-Malta-Conference
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ELTA Newsletter 2017
✓ The 18th INGED International ELT Conference, The Winds of Change
Date: 20 - 22 October 2017 Place: Istanbul Aydın University, Preparatory School For m ore, f ollow t he l ink:T he 1 8th I NGED
✓ Colloquium 2 017- 3 6th A nnual I nternational C olloquium, L anguage eople Connects P Date: 17-19 November 2017 Place: Télécom ParisTech, 46 rue Barrault, 75013 Paris For more, follow the link: Language Connects People
✓ IATEFL ESPSIG One-day Conference in Belgrade Date : 9 December 2017 Place: Teacher Education Faculty, Belgrade
For m ore, f ollow t he l ink: i atefl-espsig-belgrade
✓ 25th I nternational I ATEFL S lovenia C onference 2 018 – Imagine… Place: Terme Topolsica, Slovenia Date: 8-11 March 2018. For m ore, follow t he link: Imagine...
✓ 52nd A nnual I nternational I ATEFL C onference a nd E xhibition Place: Brighton
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ELTA Newsletter 2017
Date: 10-13 April 2018 For more, f ollow the l ink: IATEFL Brighton, 2018
✓ 26th Annual HUPE Conference
Place: Valamar, Poreč Date: 20-22 April 2018 For m ore, f ollow t he l ink: 2 6th H UPE C onference
✓ 16th E LTA S erbia C onference – N ew T rends: T he T eacher’s G uide T hrough alaxy ELT G 1-12 May 2018. Place: 1 Date: Teacher Education Faculty, Belgrade For more, follow the link: 16th-elta-serbia-conference
WEBINARS ✓ Macmillan webinars Macmillan webinars
✓ OUP webinars OUP w ebinars ✓ NILE Webinars nile-elt
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