ELTchat Summaries by ELTchat Every Wednesday

#ELTChat Summaries Volume 1 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; January to March 2011 This work is based on the summaries first published on eltchat.com

Acknowledgements

#ELTchat would like to thank the following people, whose summaries make up this volume of work. Bruno Adnrade Sue Annan Kate Bell Tara Benwell John Daley Ceri Jones Anastasia Kararoudi Vicky Loras Fiona Mauchline Vladimira Michalkova Sandy Millin Priscilla Santos Leahn Stanhope Shaun Wilden Michelle Worgan

Table of Contents January 2011 Principles when preparing your own teaching materials - 06.01.2011 Convincing colleagues that online professional development (PD) is as effective as face-to-face 06.01.2011 "Can translation (and translation tools) facilitate language learning and how can it be used to best effect" - 12.01.2011 Using songs in the EFL/ESL classroom - 12.01.2011 To Test or not to Test? And if we don't what then? - 19.01.2011 Motivating Teens to Use English (and not L1) in Class -19.01.2011 Ways to develop learner autonomy - tips for learning outside class time - 26.01.2011

February 2011

1 1 3 5 9 19 22 27 30

Effective ways to minimize TTT (Teacher Talking Time) and maximize STT (Student Talking Time) 02.02.2011 30 Effective ways to minimize TTT (Teacher Talk Time) maximize STT (Student Talk Time) 02.02.2011 33 How and when do you teach pronunciation? - 02.02.2011 37 How do you teach writing? And how do you mark it? - 09.02.2011 43 How to activate vocabulary - 16.02.2011 51 How do you approach teaching one-to-one lessons? Share strategies, tips, techniques - 16.02.2011 53 How do you deal with fossilized errors and help students improve their accuracy? - 23.02.2011 59 How do you deal with Mixed Ability Classes - 23.02.2011 64

March 2011 How do you revisit taught material and recycle effectively? - 02.03.2011 How do you approach teaching Exam Classes? - 02.03.2011 How can we best help burnt-out colleagues? How do we help them get their enthusiasm back and encourage sharing and support? - 09.03.2011 How do we motivate teens to extend their speaking activities, so as to go beyond "I agree" "I disagree"? - 09.03.2011 How do we cater for the needs of our learners in this digital age? - 16.03.2011 Is what you are teaching relevant to what your students need? - 23.03.2011 How can we make observations less stressful and more a part of ongoing professional development? - 23.03.2011 How do you use mobile devices in the classroom? Tips, apps, best practices - 30.03.2011

67 67 70 74 77 80 83 88 92

January 2011 Principles when preparing your own teaching materials - 06.01.2011

January 2011 Principles when preparing your own teaching materials - 06.01.2011 For today's chats, we were fortunate to have had one of our fellow #ELTchatters offer to write a summary of the main points from the transcripts. I suggested this as there were quite a few new followers who mentioned that it is sometimes difficult to follow the transcript - there are so many retweets, it's true! Principles when preparing your own teaching materials - Summary The learner should be central. Materials should be professionally presented. Play with layouts, fonts, etc. Materials don't have to mean paper worksheets: they could also be online, videos, presentations, art, mindmaps, realiaâ&#x20AC;Ś Materials can and should generate activities. Never do something yourself when your SS can do it for / with you. They should be fun, meaningful, practical and motivate SS. Try to include visuals, rather than just words. They should suit the skill / language point of the lesson, rather than just looking interesting to the teacher. They should empower SS to use the language and make connections. Materials should be sensitive to the nationalities / cultures you teach. Materials should be as relevant to the SS as possible. You can ask SS which topics motivate them. Space should be available for learners to take notes, perhaps with the back of the sheet completely blank. Avoid the temptation to do all thinking on paper. Open-ended materials can fuel whole lessons. Materials should be applicable to a real-life context. Inspiration can come from anywhere. They should be flexible. You can use your own materials to escape the confines of a coursebook, while still covering the syllabus. Or approach it differently, maybe by teaching a unit backwards. Use your materials to remind SS that they don't have to be doing the same thing at the same time. Don't forget about interaction! Design materials which make SS think, not just repeat. Think about trying the same materials out with different students. How much time do you spend planning v. using materials? Keep your materials: organise them on your computer, blog them, share them with your students / colleaguesâ&#x20AC;Ś Remember the level of your students: important for the tasks and the instructions. Trigger laughter and / or curiosity whenever possible. Consider SS who may have difficulty with your materials e.g. dyslexia, dyspraxia. For example, use coloured paper for those with reading difficulties.

January 2011 Principles when preparing your own teaching materials - 06.01.2011

When using authentic materials, fit the task to the students, rather than worrying too much about fitting the text to them. Reflect, edit, adapt, recycle - don't give up! Play! Take a risk! Disclaimer I would like to reiterate that this is my summary of the discussions which took place today. I have used the words of some of the participants directly, but in no way claim them as my own I wanted to make it a little simpler to find out what was going on, so have avoided crediting everyone. To find out exactly who said what, and to experience the full joy of an #eltchat, read the transcripts here. Sandy Millin

January 2011 Convincing colleagues that online professional development (PD) is as effective as face-to-face 06.01.2011

Convincing colleagues that online professional development (PD) is as effective as face-to-face - 06.01.2011 Chat summary contributed by Sandy Millin Tell them about all the amazing people you meet / blogs you read / ideas you get / fun you have. Highlight how much you can learn in how little time. A big problem is where to start: blogs may be less overwhelming than Twitter. Show them a sample of online PD, so they can see what is going on. Time is a major issue: many teachers feel PD should take place during work hours, and find it hard to see the reasons for continuing it outside. This is also often connected to the fact that online PD is unpaid. Be a stuck record: your colleagues may join in to shut you up! People struggle with information overload: we need to find ways to deal with this. You could deal with links by favouriting, bookmarking and coming back to them at a later date. Not joining in with online PD could mean you don't really enjoy teaching / joining in with online PD could reinvigorate your teaching when you feel close to burnout. It empowers you. You are participating and engaging with ELT. Lead by doing: show your colleagues how much your online PD has helped you. Share with your colleagues. Send them links that they might find useful. Start a wiki. Use google bookmarks. Post to an Edmodo group. Demonstrate, demonstrate, demonstrate! Perception: Twitter is not just for geeks / socialising; You can control your own PD (when, where, howâ&#x20AC;Ś) It changes your practice and your expectations as a teacher. Mentor: show someone round and help them take their first steps in Twitter / the blogosphere. Help them move from being digital visitors to digital residents. Introduce online PD gradually to give others time to adjust. Almost everyone 'lurks' for a while before they dive in to contributing on Twitter. This is a good time for adjustment, but many of us commented that people often give up before taking the plunge. Recommend people / blogs for newbies to follow. The school's webmaster may block sites, making it harder to join in. Access can also be an issue in terms of the availability of PCs, internet etc. You end up doing things you never would have imagined doing before [like summarizing a discussion involving people from all over the world] Technology v. pedagogy: emphasise the latter if people are reluctant. Don't forget that technology is difficult for many people. Feel the fear and do it anyway! If you keep talking, someone will start listening. Disclaimer I would like to reiterate that this is my summary of the discussions which took place today. I have used the words of some of the participants directly, but in no way claim them as my own -

January 2011 Convincing colleagues that online professional development (PD) is as effective as face-to-face 06.01.2011

I wanted to make it a little simpler to find out what was going on, so have avoided crediting everyone. To find out exactly who said what, and to experience the full joy of an #eltc

January 2011 "Can translation (and translation tools) facilitate language learning and how can it be used to best effect" 12.01.2011

"Can translation (and translation tools) facilitate language learning and how can it be used to best effect" - 12.01.2011 This summary has been copied from Shaun Wilden's blog with his permission

Wednesday afternoon's #eltchat was on the use of translation. Over my teaching career this has been a topic that has often come up in development session. As a teacher as I have got more experienced I think I have gone from the draconian 'no use of l1' to a more tolerant approach but nevertheless I was blown away by Guy Cook's revelation (in a talk I saw at the weekend) that there is no research to support the 'banning' of translation. I tend to agree with the point made that translation is a skill (the fifth skill as it was referred to yesterday) but we need to be careful and ensure we draw a line between L1 use in the classroom and the use of translation. As a language learner I have always needed translation as a crutch and as one tweet said: "Show me a beginner learner who is NOT trying to translate at some stage" And our learning experiences seem (for the most part) to hold this view: Teachers reflecting on their learning and translation: Comparing structures is often quite useful - what crosses over between L1 and L2 and what doesn't I learnt through translation as well but must say it was when I ABANDONED translating that my acquisition took off -

I need translation skills all the time (live with an Italian)

Translation is what helped me realise how uniquely different the two systems are, on multiple levels. -

As a learner, I noticed a sequence (in myself) of translating from words to chunksâ&#x20AC;Ś

January 2011 "Can translation (and translation tools) facilitate language learning and how can it be used to best effect" 12.01.2011

In the summary of below I have tried to categorize the main points of chat, the topic headings are my own, I hope they reflect the chat as a whole. Why is translation ignored? -

There is no research to suggest translation is a bad thing yet it is generally ignored

It's the effects of the Direct Method still gripping all other later approaches IMOHO

I think it's a general feeling that translation is 'old-fashioned' but it's not

What I remember most about my CertTESOL course is the icy stare I got from lecturers when I told them I actually enjoy translation Perhaps the problem is that many still look at translation from a grammar translation point of view, which takes us back to those boring lessons. -

Some schools actively ban L1 completely

Plus points of translation: It can be great at empowering learners when they're feeling overwhelmed by English speaker at front! Translation can be useful for highlighting specific differences between L1 and L2, but should we be using it for other things too saying

Translation can be a great tool for students to grasp real meaning of what they're

Students also seem to feel secure with some translation of vocabulary items. Maybe as you know a language more you need it less. Just yesterday a student of mine said he felt much more comfortable doing his homework and using an online translator -

Students find it very difficult to understand come concepts without translation

Just as some students are visual learners, etc, some will benefit more than others from translating other

It can help convey a cultural concept from one language which does not transfer to the

Translation is handy with monolingual groups when we can't get meaning of a lexical item across after attempts: translate! Quick & effective

January 2011 "Can translation (and translation tools) facilitate language learning and how can it be used to best effect" 12.01.2011

Some issues: -

It's a tricky thing for a teacher to manage or use in a multilingual class.

As any other tool in the language classroom, translation has to be used carefully, but it may be useful if used properly Translation perpetuates the myth that the native English teacher is always best or the NEST perpetuating myth It is widely used in mainly state education systems and often in "boring" grammar-translation" lessons. Is there a danger of students becoming dependent on translation, if allowed more freely? The problem of overreliance. It's important that we are encouraging students to speak English rather than banning them from using their L1 how does L1 culture affect attitude to using translation? Issues of identity, politics all play a part. Allowing students to use L1 will prevent them from acquiring important features of pronunciation, for instance Some way to use translation: -

Translation can be used in multilingual classes as personalised exercise

The lexical approach is a big advocate of translation

Mixing translation with pronunciation. Sentences written in phonemic script

Translation and contrastive analysis are important teaching tools

Does the teacher need to be in control or is it a way of handing over learning to the students? -

Have multilingual classes translate poems etc into their own language

It can be extremely useful especially in ESP courses.

Get multilingual classes to translate into their L1s, then give 'literal' translations back into English -

Fixing a bad translation into English is a great activity

January 2011 "Can translation (and translation tools) facilitate language learning and how can it be used to best effect" 12.01.2011

Learners' conversation are much more natural if they think about what they would say in L1 in the context before thinking about L2 -

Translating songs

Writing subtitles in L1 for a TV clip

Scraps of paper: L1 one side, L2 the other. Put in circle. Roll dice, say translation (works for very clear direct equivalents) Getting students to translate L1 newspaper stories into L2 in summary and then present - works in reverse too L1 can also be used for input or conversation trigger. For instance, a newspaper article in L1, but discussion in L2. Drama activity: Students act out scene in L1 then watch it in L2 - great for cultural and paralinguistic features For business lessons replicating real situations useful, e.g., getting students to explain menu, news headlines, signs, etc. -

Translation great for practising reported speech as it should be practiced

Students can build list of troublesome false cognates

Find a badly translated menu and get students to improve it - mostly food vocabulary but a real task Links The full transcript An Interview with Guy Cook Guy Cook's recent talk on translation Links for Translators and Translator trainees

January 2011 Using songs in the EFL/ESL classroom - 12.01.2011

Using songs in the EFL/ESL classroom - 12.01.2011 Here is an additional summary for the songs topic contributed by @fionamau - you may enjoy reading this one as she has included the IDs of those who suggested ideas or commented, so this one is a much more personal account! Many thanks for this!

Using songs in the EFL/ESL classroom, or Rockband as a Foreign Language (subtitle courtesy of @harrisonmike) Songs have long been favourites in the English classroom, whether as a valid teaching complement to 'serious teaching' or, typically, as the 'keep-em-happy' Friday activity, but when songs were proposed as the topic for debate on #eltchat on a chilly Wednesday GMT evening in early January 2011, it prompted the weaving of a long, multicoloured, snaking scarf of a conversation which was much enjoyed by all those knitting it and will probably outlast most other Christmas presents in its usefulness. For the sake of ease, rather than summarise the chat in chronological order, I am taking the questions asked by various participants then other comments (threads and activities) that were then discussed as the basis for this summary. As others have drawn up complete lists of the links to songs etc proposed, they will be added at the end, by way of a ps. Part One: The questions There were in fact only twelve questions asked, but six of them drew a significant number of responses. Here are those six with the ensuing discussions, in chronological order. 1 @TyKendall asked: Can i ask why teachers like or dislike using songs in the classroom? Answers were as follows: @sandymillin said she liked songs because they're a connection to real English, though some of her students don't like singing…something @hoprea echoed and a whole conversation thread on singing ran through the hour and is summarised below. @Marisa_C said she uses songs because she loves them, and her students do too. Others agreed @cioccas said that some Students can hear their pronunciation problems disappear while singing, so it gives them hope they'll get there in the end @JoeMcVeigh said that songs and music get students' attention. They stop and listen and focus better with the music added to the words. Others agreed. @Marisa_C suggested that songs enable bottom-up/top-down processing simultaneously..that's got be something! And many agreed with her.

January 2011 Using songs in the EFL/ESL classroom - 12.01.2011

@hoprea said that songs are useful for working on suprasegmental aspects of language and @harrisonmike added that songs (and poems) a great way to look at words that share the same sounds, giving Shakira's Fool as one good example. @steve_kirk added to this aspect by saying that songs provide multiple routes to language retention: rhythm, melody, metre. It all helps SS hang onto the lang. Several people agreed. On the other hand @billpelowe said he'd found that Japanese students really don't get the idea of rhyme in songs unless it is explicitly taught to them. @TyKendall gave his personal answer saying that he has found that songs are a great way to access slang and to move beyond the sometimes colourless textbook language. The whole area of slang was later discussed entensively. @EleniPat moved away from language reasons, and towards 'soft skills' related ones, saying she likes working on songs because her students feel relaxed and participate more @smaragdav also cited 'human' reasons, saying songs help boost students with learning difficulties' self confidence because you don't need to spell or read once you learn the song @janetbianchini mentioned singing, saying students love singing songs, plus as an activity singing provides great pronunciation practice (echoing opinions above), vocab extension, vocab themes and it's great fun! Marisa added that songs are great for pronunciation practice, especially sound linking and reduction. @steve_kirk and vickysaumell mentioned poetry. Steve said that he liked looking at songs as poetry: Form, metaphor, emotion. He added that working extensively with lyrics post-listening can be very powerful. Vicky said that, whenever teaching teens poetry, she starts with a song to make it more accessible. Finally, @TEFL said that at his/her kids' school, music is used for exercise. D.P.A. Daily Physical Activity. Kids and teachers dance to hip hop every day - which sounds a lot of fun! BUT not all the answers to Ty's initial question were keen 'yeah, songs are brill' answers. Some words of caution were also offered: @derekspalla pointed out that one challenge is finding or creating songsâ&#x20AC;Śthe process is time consuming for both @cioccas agreed that the choice of song can sometimes be very difficult, especially in classes with ages 18-80 and from 15-20 different cultural backgrounds and @Marisa_C added that often the teacher's taste is very different because of the generation gap with some students. She said that she'd spotted glazed eyes at eg Beatles songs in classes. In response to this, @gret said that he/she loves using songs to encourage discussions in literature classes, eg when discussing Animal Farm, Revolution by The Beatles is good. In response to Marisa, @TyKendall pointed out that we can still get learners to generate language even if they don't like the song; they can talk about their dislikes and @marekandrews agreed, saying that it's good to milk a song for all the cultural connections, and you can take it to unusual places. @billpelowe suggested just discussing a song in general, 'natural' terms eg if they've heard it before, do they like it etc, @SueannaN said that the value of songs really depends on what you do with them in the classroom. Just because it's music doesn't mean it'll suit everyone, and this is particularly true

January 2011 Using songs in the EFL/ESL classroom - 12.01.2011

with teens. Others agreed with her. @BethCagnol said that teens do find some songs boring unless they're tied to their favourite shows (e.g. theme from How I Met Your Mother) @monicamalpas77 mentioned that sometimes it's hard to choose a popular song because students like different kinds of music and the lyrics might have taboo words @Shaunwilden asked if that meant teachers should alter the lyrics or censor songs? This thread was also discussed in some depth and is summarised below. @Chaoukiboss said that it doesn't matter whether Ts like songs or not. Songs can achieve the goals only when learners like them, and others agreed. @monicamalpas77 said she reduced the chances of choosing a duff song by asking for suggestions for bands, singers,etc before choosing the song and @iVenus echoed this by suggesting getting students to help choose songs by giving five suggestions and asking them to vote for the top 3. @BethCagnol told everyone that she had actually had a student who was music-phobic and hated it! This had really made classesâ&#x20AC;Śinteresting 2 @sandymillin Do you use songs with videos or just audio? Answers were as follows: @iVenus thought that the fact that we can watch videos as well as listen to songs really enhances student experience, an opinion echoed by @cioccas @hoprea was more cautious, saying that he finds that even though it makes songs more interesting, video can also be very distracting. @JoeMcVeigh agreeds but @esolcourses, while agreeing video can be distracting, said that sometimes you can utilise the visuals to teach a language point. @Shaunwilden was the first to mention using youtube, and @iVenus mentioned the karaoke versions of songs on YouTube. He/She has an occasional sing off w/ students! Karaoke was one of the buzzwords of the chat and was cited as a very popular activity especially for class bonding and end of term. @harrisonmike mentioned that videos are great for mixing up the words and visuals of a song and gave us a link to an activity http://bit.ly/fwOhdn @sandymillin warned of the dangers of not preparing your video class beforehand, mentioning a teacher who had prepared activities for Lady Gaga's Telephone, then watched video last minute and found it wasn't suitable @monicamalpas77 agreed that it's really important to watch the videos before playing them but said you can just use other pictures instead while listening. @JoeMcVeigh Videos as writing prompts. Students watch, then retell or answer questions. e.g. Michael BublĂŠ video Just haven't met you yet 3 link slang and taboo words to here @hoprea What about songs with taboo or swear words? Would you use them in class? For instance, teens asking for hit songs with such words. The answers were: @cioccas suggested using to teach those words and discuss why they are taboo, an idea that seemed to appeal to @hoprea. @cioccas then pointed out that students need to be aware of these words when they live in English-speaking countries and hear swearing around them. @marekandrews agreed with this take, saying that appropriate groups discussing

January 2011 Using songs in the EFL/ESL classroom - 12.01.2011

"inappropriate" lyrics might be very productive. On the other hand, @harrisonmike finds that, even though he teaches adults, he wouldn't use a song with loads of swearwords because some of his learners aren't particularly mature. @JenniWellsted suggested finding the radio edit ie the one with the beeped words or modified lyrics (eg "Forget" you by Cee-Lo) @derekspalla echoed this, saying you can usually find "clean" versions of student songs that have offensive lyrics or themes. However, @hoprea pointed out that students are likely to already know the song and will tend to sing it using the dirty words. "Not after they learn the "new" version you teach them," said @derekspalla. "It will get stuck in their head I promise " @TyKendall suggested that appropriacy is always an issue when dealing with authentic material, songs are no different, and teachers should use their judgement. @esolcourses added to this pointing out that the context you are teaching in, the age group, and whether lyrics may cause offence to some students are all relevant considerations. As @marekandrews said, it always comes down to the sensitivity of the teacher. 4 @nickkiley: Anyone ever encountered strong student resistence to songs in class? Answers here fell under two headings: songs and singing Songs @Shaunwilden and @cioccas had experienced reluctance from students regarding using songs. In Shaun's case, the choice of song was the problem, "When trying to be trendy with teens. A few years ago, I had a class of mainly teen boys, they listened to rap etc so thought it would be a good idea". They didn't buy it. And the topic of rap was cause for some discussion. @TyKendall said he thinks teen pop culture is so hard to keep up with but he usually avoids rap simply because of the speed. @cioccas said she had used some Australian hip hop, to encourage writing about 'issues', but that the listening is sometimes very difficult! @esolcourses felt that rap is really only for higher levels. However, said @cioccas, younger refugees from Africa also like hip hop. @billpelowe mentioned that one of his students' graduation thesis is on rap (rhyme & content analysis, etc). He uses urbandictionary.com to understand lyrics. @TyKendall pointed out that rap can often be misogynistic and homophobic, so the teacher needs to choose carefully, although it is a good way of bringing those topics into the classroom. @cioccas had had negative reactions from some more serious students who don't think it's real learning. @nickkiley asked if she dropped the songs in this case. @cioccas answered "No, I show them how singing leads to learning - how we use it for grammar, etc. It's very hard with lower levels of course!" @marekandrews suggested that it's good to get students to decide on a song together and work with it, then discuss how useful it was for whatever. Singing linking singing in 1 to here @smaragdav has encountered reluctance from shy students, as they are worried about singing. @nickkiley asked if there were any strategies to deal with this reaction. @sandymillin suggested getting the students to choose the song and @smaragdav answered that she tries to encourage the shy ones by smiling to them while she's singing, but never pressures them. @monicamalpas77 said that when students don't want to sing, she replays the beginning of the song as many times as necessary til she sees 'everyone' singing - it doesn't take long for

January 2011 Using songs in the EFL/ESL classroom - 12.01.2011

them all to join in. They start laughing but then start singing. @nickkiley and @cioccas pointed out that some people really just hate singing, including teachers, and @grahamstanley agreed, saying you have to check that your students are ok with singing. Someone pointed out that singing alone is embarrassing but that singing in a group come overcome that, to which @Marisa_C added that singing together is, in fact, great for group bonding; "like at a football match" said @nickkiley. A discussion on the merits of being a good or bad singer was then sparked off, the general consensus being it's probably better not to be too great a singer yourself, as 'good' singing from the teacher can be off-putting for students! @monicamalpas77 said that students always find it funny when she sings with them, "I sing badly!" she said "but as I don't get embarrassed, they follow me". @grahamstanley also claimed to a less than tuneful singer and mentioned that his singing can end in a potentially bemusing or amusing Name that tune game as students try to work out what he's singing. @TyKendall also confessed to being unable to carry a tune, but this is no impediment to our diehards On a slightly different note, if you'll pardon the pun, @vickysaumell said that she uses Black Eyes PeasÂ´Where is the Love and she challenges her classes to sing it through from beginning to end for a good "grade". Slightly more sombrely, @Marisa_C said she had had no resistance but sometimes felt reluctant to make a class of impoverished refugees start singingâ&#x20AC;Śâ&#x20AC;Ś.. 5 @JoeMcVeigh What do you think are the QUALITIES of a good song to use in the classroom? What do you consider when choosing songs?

Answers were as follows: @harrisonmike - speed, and age suitability (eg 1 2 3 4 5 once I caught a fish alive is no good for 10yr-olds) Others agreed with this last point, particularly in the case of teenagers. @sueleather - it should be a song students like @smaragdav - students' age, taste in music and teaching purpose @grahamstanley and many others let students choose a lot of the time, to which @marek added that it is good to then get them to do presentations and projects on the bands they chose. @vickysaumell asks students to choose a song about a global issue, they then sing along, and discuss the issue. She said that students feel empowered when they choose the song.. they can even gap the songs themselves. 6 @grahamstanley Does anyone have any 'story songs' to suggest (i.e. songs with stories in them)? - they are usually great to use in class The answers were as follows: @sandymillin Spanish Train or Patricia the Stripper (Chris de Burgh) might be good. @Marisa_C She's leaving home Beatles @SueannaN the album 'The Boy Bands Have Won' has some great story songs. Also Folk songs @cioccas Paul Kelly may be good, may be too Australian @fionamau Young Hearts Run Free Candi Staton or Kim Mazelle (give students some of the lyrics, ask them to devise video clip THEN play the song; the music is in stark contrast to the

January 2011 Using songs in the EFL/ESL classroom - 12.01.2011

words). Also Delilah - Tom Jones. @harrisonmike Stereophonics I stopped to fill my car up @JoeMcVeigh Peter Paul & Mary 'The Cruel War' 'Spanish is the loving tongue' Michael Martin Murphey @nickkiley always thought there might be a (long) lesson in Dylan's Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts @marekandrews once taught Girlfriend in a coma (The Smiths) to teach "I could have" pronunciation, and a girl started crying because her best friend had been in coma and diedâ&#x20AC;Ś.. So the moral is choose your story with care! The other questions were (feel free to answer them in the comments section): 7 @billpelowe We believe that slow songs can help students learn intonation, elision etc., but does it really? @BethCagnol thought that slower songs can confuse students due to their elongated vowels. 8 @hoprea I guess the very first thing is defining why you're playing a song in class. Is it just for fun or is there a clear learning goal? @derekspalla said teachers should always have a clear learning goal, especially with older students, and @hoprea pointed out that sometimes fun and relaxation can be the goal. @monicamalpas77 answered that she uses songs with teenagers to motivate them too. They know there'll be a song and just can't wait, but it also depends on your students. 9 @BethCagnol Any of your students think they are "bad" in English because they don't understand the lyrics of songs in English? @Shaunwilden - and many others - struggles to understand some songs in English, let alone students. @BethCagnol said that the French seem to use this as a benchmark to their level of English. 10 @JoeMcVeigh Any success with songs from musicals? @cioccas said that she knew a teacher who has done the whole of 'Sound of Music' and 'Mary Poppins' over a semester! 11 @steve_kirk Instrumental music can be a gr8 way to frame a guided visualisation. How else do you use music without words? @Marisa_C said that Suggestopedia type or adaptations thereof necessitate soft background music (at 60 megacycles @sandymillin and @derekspalla ask students to draw while listening then compare pictures. @fionamau Elicit a class story from a song or piece of music (eg Duo de las flores by Delibes), by stopping and asking questions (where? Who? What are they doing?) to build story. Sts then write it, adding own details. 12 @nickkiley Anyone done any football songs in class? @Marisa_C hasn't, but she's done the pub song Show me the way to go home Someone else mentioned a friend who has made a whole short course on football for one of the WCs, inc terrace chants.

January 2011 Using songs in the EFL/ESL classroom - 12.01.2011

Part Two: Other threads 13 @derekspalla said he personally tries to "sing" all of the songs himselfâ&#x20AC;Śmy students get a kick out of it even when I do it badly (see singing above) @gret also does that a lot too. His/Her students used to sing in front of the class last year too. Some even wrote their own songs @derekspalla said that having students write a song is a great idea too and he will be trying that, especially with his older ones @gret said that some students shared the songs on their blogs! Others shared the videos on the blogs and then sang in class. They even had a Skype call with @flourishingkids' class in California. "We sang for them and they sang for us! It was amazing" 14 @sandymillin often has background music to put students at ease when doing song tasks. And if she sings along (which she does) they laugh and relax @Shaunwilden used to use background music, but his students preferred not to have it. @harrisonmike agreed that background music isn't for everyone, and quoted @Harmerj as having told him he'd seen a teacher turn on background music for a speaking activity without asking students, which wasn't good. @sandymillin said it depends on if the class is quiet. She sometimes turns it off once they start speaking, but sometimes finds that background silence stops them talking. However, she also said that if @Harmerj says she shouldn't, then she had better ask more. Some students had given her feedback that they like background music because it's more relaxed. 15 @grahamstanley said that using an IWB means that he can also now prepare a song in 5 minutes to use with his young learners. @harrisonmike then pointed out that this is true if the internet connection and network are all good, with a wink and a smile. Others agreed with this. @grahamstanley also takes Play Station and plays karaoke using Singstar. Many others do this too, and it is generally a popular and successful activity. @grahamstanley then recommended using youtube and spotify for the music, and then copying and pasting the lyrics on the IWB. He said "It's great to be able to use a song that my YLs are into that day, rather than wait until next class". Spotify is also great for displaying songlists based on music genre or even the year a student was born (predict the songs) Part Three: Other Comments and Activities (in brief) @SueannaN Chants are good for pronunciation exercises @shaznosel sorry to say but teenagers find chants boring..too much like poetry..songs are for the teens. @marekandrews good with new group to get ss to write down songs they like and for you as teacher to make sure everyone's song is dealt with in some way @Marisa_C asks sts to write additional verses @hoprea Play song once, ask students to write down as many words as they can, pair them up, and ask them to create a new song w/ the words (sort of dictogloss). @Shaunwilden An Idea I got from @cheimi10 was 2 use screen capture 2 take pics from a song video, they can then be used 4 ordering/ prediction

January 2011 Using songs in the EFL/ESL classroom - 12.01.2011

@iVenus The usual pre- ; while- and post- listening/viewing phases are something I use often. Covers mood, vocabulary and application @harrisonmike If there are different visuals to a music video, or advert using a song, it can be interesting to consider the differences. @harrisonmike Can be interesting to think about using and comparing cover versions w/originals (or same song in different languages) eg Halleluyah (L Cohen, R Wainwright, X Factor personâ&#x20AC;Ś) @janetbianchini get students to write words for the music. @grahamstanley Another idea with music videos is for them to play the song and ask them to design a concept for the video or design own video clip. @SueannaN I use mix of music from the countries of my students. They have 2 explain similarities & differences in the sentiments of the songs @marekandrews national anthems good for this @smaragdav Get YL to mime song , teens to act out a scene of what they think happened. Improvising this is fun @marekandrews playing a song when sts are coming into class but not doing any activities w it can help create pos mood for class @BethCagnol It's also fun to show students websites that list "misheard" lyrics by native speakers. Funny stuff! @SueannaN Do a kind of Jukebox Jury with a handful of songs. Students have to vote for their favourite. Good TBL task @janetbianchini Write key words on bits of coloured paper - hand out to ss - they have to stand up when they hear their word - usually great fun! @sandymillin Inspired by @lclandfield - use www.overstream.net - Ask SS to subtitle song. Then compare each other's versions @vickysaumell Lyrics training great for autonomous work on the songs they like http://bit.ly/9kQwqg @hooperchris issues Getting s to consider songs + singers re equal & diversity very good 4 + citizenship [&] positive role models @SueannaN Give students half the rhyme and get them to make up the other half- Can be hilarious (careful with teens) @JoeMcVeigh Scrambled lyrics: give students lyrics but put lines out of order. Students reorder, then listen

January 2011 Using songs in the EFL/ESL classroom - 12.01.2011

@sandymillin Get SS to make a playlist at listen.grooveshark.com then ask them to walk around class & find out who else's they would listen 2 @harrisonmike I got CAE students to punctuate In The Ghetto and Bang Bang My Baby Shot Me Down - didn't tell them they were songs at first. @hoprea Play bits of songs / soundtracks and ask students to write adjectives they think of on the board - no repetition allowed. @sandymillin Play a soundtrack and ask SS to guess the kind of film - good for slightly out-of-date so not too easy @vickysaumell Grammar revision through song titles @janetbianchini Do a wordle to predict the song theme- ss make up their own song based on wordle then compare with real song to see who is accurate. Also @grahamstanley A great warmer for a song is to stick the lyrics in Wordle or http://worditout.com/ and ask learners to guess song from word cloud PS The Recommendations @harrisonmike Love the juxtaposition of music and words in @Harmerj and Steve Bingham's http://youtu.be/UHeLQPtUjFM @BethCagnol One of my FAVE songs to use is "Anything you can do I can do better" for the comparative @TyKendall i like how Mark Andrews used Katy Perry's firework to tackle a taboo subject http://markandrews.edublogs.org/ (RT + harrisonmike That was cool!) @grahamstanley My favourite modals (for prediction) song is 'The ballad of Billy Jo' - there's a version by Sinead O'Connor @janetbianchini Love doing Eternal Flame by the Bangles with Elems -great pres cont + miming actions +body vocab practice http://tinyurl.com/yrw937 @marekandrews comparing two versions of Candle in the Wind http://tinyurl.com/6g3athf @Marisa_C beginners (and teacher trainees) Don't know much aboutâ&#x20AC;Ś get them to write new verse @gret Hello, Goodbye Beatles, extra verse Take that / Robbie Williams @JoeMcVeigh Useful teacher resource book: Music and Song by Tim Murphey. (OUP) http://bit.ly/fx7iWl or (Amazon-US) http://amzn.to/gf9ALI @Shaunwilden Remembered I had a blog post on using pencil full of lead (the vid is superb for an EFL class) http://bit.ly/eguINC @hoprea I really like using songs to work on pronunciation. Activities as this one: http://bit.ly/fNeeEa @smaragdav YL making video clip of Singing in the rain A nice suggestion is getting Weird Al's versions and comparing with originals. The videos are also a good idea @janetbianchini To practise a grmmar point eg present perf cont this song by Foreigner is great

January 2011 Using songs in the EFL/ESL classroom - 12.01.2011

http://tinyurl.com/ldu5xw Do A/B close gap activity @SueannaN http://bit.ly/ad7OoO Musical lessons prepared for the English teacher @esolcourses Some online song quizzes on my website, (Gap fills, multiple choice,etc) sorted by level: http://bit.ly/aSVLhi @europeaantje Misheard lyrics www.kissthisguy.com @smaragdav http://j.mp/L5DvG is a great site. Make a quiz on lyrics. Ss answer as they watch the video clip @janetbianchini Tune into English.com is a fab free resource to use with ss!! http://www.tuneintoenglish.com/ @fionamau In the ghetto http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrTfYItDDwA 2 demo importance of working on yr pronunciation @SueannaN Billy Bragg, Bob Dylan for 'issues'. ALSO Beatles for Taxman (ESHalvorsen BE sts, comparative and gripes!) Chumbawumba's Add re internet safety And an all-star cast including: Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Barenaked ladies, Glee, Dido, Alannis Morissette, Beatles (Hello, goodbye for extra verse, Taxman for comparative, Penny Lane for articles, She's leaving home, Lucy in the sky for prepositions, Jealous Guy (OK, it's J Lennon, not Beatles) for past cont and relationsips) ………….. @fionamau for eltchat.com, January 2011

January 2011 To Test or not to Test? And if we don't what then? - 19.01.2011

To Test or not to Test? And if we don't what then? - 19.01.2011 This summary was kindly contributed by one of our #ELTchat followers, @SueAnnan Many thanks for organising all the ideas so neatly, Sue! To Test or not to Test? And if we don't what then? This was the subject of the 12GMT #ELTchat of 19th January 2011. 60 educators from around the world took part in the discussion and many others followed the chat. One key issue was to differentiate between Assessment, Evaluation and Testing. Assessment was seen as the more positive application in a classroom. It was noted that genuine assessment comes with real world application of the learned skill. Developing self-assessment was promoted as an important learner tool for students, although the point was made that not all sts see the benefits, and may feel that it is the job of the teacher to make assessments. Some participants were supporters of such things as:

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Informal weekly reviews to focus on points to develop

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Themed tasks to encourage production rather than rules

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Students setting own goals (based on negotiated criteria)

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Using portfolios, particularly with Young Learners, as their parents would also have access to them. However it was pointed out that these needed to be maintained throughout the course and not allowed to lapse.

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End of term presentations

The attention turned to tests and we considered different types of test and their purposes: 1.

Placement Which class is right for this student?

Diagnosis What are the needs of the student?

Grading How does this student measure against the others?

Evaluation How good is the student's language?

Prognosis What does the student now need to study?

January 2011 To Test or not to Test? And if we don't what then? - 19.01.2011

Certification

Many felt that placement tests were limited in their efficacy by not including any testing of the productive skills of Speaking and Writing, although some teachers do adapt them to suit. Other tests were judged, by some, to assess a very narrow range of outcomes. Some teachers write their own tests which could benefit their students, if they are well-written, which is not a skill given to everyone. It was noted that tests produced by the professionals are seen as reliable and practicable, but must be used appropriately. Another point raised was the reason for the test. Was it an expectation on the part of the student, parents, school administration, workplace or even the government? Part of the challenge faced by teachers is to increase awareness that tests are not the only means of evaluating performance and subject development. Although many adult students can appreciate the benefit, the necessity to test should depend on the individual needs. It was felt that tests were often demotivational and could induce feelings of fear, stress and inadequacy in some students. It was questioned whether culture, learning background, study skill ability or family attitude could affect the outcome. We all agreed that students enjoy seeing their own progress, but the question was: How do we make tests stress-free?

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An interesting idea is to allow students to make the tests in groups. This could provide a learning opportunity at the same time and peer correction is good.

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It is also important to test what we teach.

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Is it important to give grades? No grades can change the dynamics

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Do lots of preparation

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Base tests on student errors to help them improve

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Show sts the advantages; stretching, remembering, guessing

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Give plenty of feedback

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Remember to test communication skills

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Test to show accomplishments too

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Tell sts that test is to evaluate the skill of the teacher

January 2011 To Test or not to Test? And if we don't what then? - 19.01.2011

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The video-game-like approach, where students are tested to progress to the next level could provide motivation to do well

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Online tests could be done at home

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Desuggestopedic relaxation exercises might work for suggestible students

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Create psychological tests as activity

Brain research suggests that testing helps retention and acquisition of information It is important to remember that testing, however well done, constitutes only a small part of the total course. Some links offered are: Books

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A Practical Guide to Assessing ELLs by Coombe, Folse, Hubley

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The Study Skills Handbook (Palgrave Study Skills) Dr Stella Cotterill

Blog posts

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http://tinyurl.com/39e8m7x

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http://bit.ly/dQspvE

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http://bit.ly/h37j44

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Barefoot Teaching Journal - Testing Times

By @SueAnnan

January 2011 Motivating Teens to Use English (and not L1) in Class -19.01.2011

Motivating Teens to Use English (and not L1) in Class -19.01.2011 Last night's #ELTchat was lively and full of ideas as usual, but, unfortunately, we have no transcript to show for it as the site we use, What the Hashtag seems to have been experiencing difficulties and most of the tweets were missing. If any of you of another similar website which collects hashtagged tweets for you, please let us know in a comment below. Many thanks to Sandy Millin, @sandymillin on Twitter, who took the time to summary from the Twitter timeline and here is her summary for all those who missed the chat itself.

Encouraging English in teen classrooms by Sandy Millin Picture the situation. A hard-working English teacher walks into a teen classroom. They are confronted by 15 (or more, or less!) faces with whom they will spend the next ninety minutes. Ninety minutes later they have heard ten sentences in English, along with torrents of L1, despite spending the whole class trying to encourage their learners to use as much English as possible. What to do? Have no fear, #eltchat have the answers! This is a summary of the 9p.m. GMT discussion which took place on Wednesday 19th January, 2011. The discussion followed various strands which I have tried to group loosely together. There are lots of ideas for you to try, but don't forget that some might have negative effects on certain learners (this was a point raised a few times). Feel free to add further suggestions in the comments. Throughout the year Spend time to give them tools for communicating in English. Teach set phrases "How do you spellâ&#x20AC;Ś?" Also, ways to interrupt, appropriate ways to answer yes / no questionsâ&#x20AC;Ś Have an English-only policy (there was some debate as to whether this is necessary / desirable / possible to maintain) Treat them like adults. Make them aware of why they are learning a language. Create an atmosphere where students are happy to talk together and listen to each other. Teenagers have strong views and ideas. Meet them on an equal footing and they will respond. Listen to what they have to say. Maintain eye contact and encourage them to speak. At the beginning of the year set up a contract / list of rules generated by the students, including about L1 / L2 usage. Make sure you stick to it! It gives the students ownership

January 2011 Motivating Teens to Use English (and not L1) in Class -19.01.2011

and a sense of responsibility. Negotiate the balance of L1 / L2, rather than dictating it. At the beginning of term, hand out ten L1 vouchers with their names on them to each student. Every time they speak L1 to the teacher, they hand over a voucher. When they've used all of their vouchers, no more L1! At the beginning of the year, do a survey of your students to find out why they're there, what their hobbies and interests areâ&#x20AC;Ś Create 'England / the USA / Scotland / Australiaâ&#x20AC;Ś' in your classroom. Tell your students that when they walk through the door, they're in Country X, so they have to speak the language! (Inspired by a teacher who 'created' Italy in her classroom music, objects, etc) Discuss why it's a good idea to speak English in class. Work hard at building a relationship with the class - this will make a big difference. Encourage them to support each other, as well as seeking support from the teacher. Throughout the class Use a timer such as www.onlinestopwatch.com or the one included in the downloadable Triptico suite (www.triptico.co.uk). Set the timer for 5 minutes. For every 5 minutes students speak only English they can leave class 30 seconds earlier. Every time they speak L1, the timer is reset. You can choose a different reward if this wouldn't work at your school. Alternatively, 5 minutes in English, 5 minutes in any language - they use English when they don't have to. Alternatively (part 2!), for every 5 minutes in English they get 19 minute in L1. Divide the class into two groups. Half can only use L1, half can only use L2. Then swap. Each student pretends they are a different nationality and they each have their own interpreter. Set students up in "triads" - 1 spokesperson, the other 2 SS just help them out. Designate certain activities "English-only", giving them time to prepare beforehand and reflection time afterwards. Have a stuffed toy which is passed around the class as L1 is spoken. The person who has it at the end of class has to help tidy up. Tape an adult class using English only (if you have one!) and play it in the teen class as a discussion starter. Have a basket of sweets. Every time L1 is spoken take away a sweet. At the end of the class there are less sweets for everyone. 'Fine' the students when they use L1 (there was a debate about whether this might have a negative effect). Threaten to put teens in with adults if they speak L1! Ask your students to stand up for a minute. Try introducing an element of competition, for example a football-style league table. Give them the option to take on a different identity. Or ask them to choose roles in a speaking task and take part with the appropriate stance / voice etc. See who can go the longest without using L1 or who can have the longest turn in English - like holding your breath for the longest.

January 2011 Motivating Teens to Use English (and not L1) in Class -19.01.2011

Joke with them: "If you can't say it in English, don't say it at all!" At the end of the class ask them to guess what percentage of the lessons was L1 / L2 remind them of the figures the following week and see if they can increase L2. You could also get them to think about what each language was used for. For older teens: Give each student 10 beans. Teachers and other students can take away beans when they hear L1. The person with the most beans at the end of class can go home slightly early (1-2 minutes). All SS with fewer beans have to do one 'forfeit' for each missing bean - I normally get them to define one word from our vocabulary box for each bean. Ask lower level students to imagine they are explaining things to a younger brother / sister - it gives a purpose for the simpler style of their language. For individual tasks Give sufficient preparation time, model the task, do a "test run", then repeat the same topic a second time. 'Thinking time' is very important. You could give them 5 minutes to come up with ideas and ask for any words they need. Set up tasks very clearly, ensuring you provide all of the language they will need. Before a discussion get them to list the kinds of words they think will be useful. Make the students use specific vocab in their discussion. Other SS should guess which words they were. Play bingo. Each student chooses 5 words. They should cross them off when they hear / use them during the class / during a specific task. Walk around during pair / groupwork - although there's an art to not stopping discussion completely. Wait to correct until after the speaking has finished - allow it to be open discussion time. Discussion topics that have worked (a.k.a. Make them forget they're speaking English!) Ask the students! The topics they are interested in tend to work best. "It is only when you use language to say things which are true about you do you start to 'own' the new language" J. Harmer. Allow spontaneous discussion to happen. What methods of cheating do you use? When? Why? Which 'group' do you belong to? Or do you? e.g. chavs, emos, goths Wedding planning (with an all-girls' group!) Travel: plan a trip, 'meet' peopleâ&#x20AC;Ś Read reviews of books / films /music etc and discuss whether they agree with them or not (especially with 14+) Gossip. SS chat to each other, then switch partners to pass the gossip on. Tech tools www.toondoo.com www.xtranormal.com (Anything where they create content)

January 2011 Motivating Teens to Use English (and not L1) in Class -19.01.2011

www.googlefight.com - SS can discuss which of two things would win, then put them into the program to find out who was 'right'! Songsmith: http://bit.ly/cfZOz - they sing and the computer adds the backing music. They can also play with different arrangements. English Attack: http://bit.ly/9zySuR - students use English through games, film clips etc. Digital Play: http://digitalplay.info/blog/ - ideas for using English in a fun way YouTube Dictation: http://bit.ly/gv68cZ - a lesson plan Ideas for specific activities Get students involved in global collaboration projects which give them a reason to speak English (if you need help with this the best person to ask seems to be @shellterrell! Use project tasks to make them feel involved. Blog. Gives them a real-world purpose. They love doing multimedia projects in English, such as making a film /advertisement in English. Teach them how to do 'cool' things through English, such as making mashups. Get the students to record themselves doing a task on their phones. Then they make a transcript and look at where they could have used more English. Don't stop them from gossiping, as long as it's in English. They love exploring English music and the cultures behind it, e.g. hip-hop, rapâ&#x20AC;Ś Ask SS to write their own songs. Do karaoke with them. Ask the SS to think of ideas - their solutions will quite likely be more imaginative than ours! Bring 'real' English into class - travel brochures, job ads, lyrics, magazines - and try to convince them that they WANT to speak English! Record the SS doing tasks (with their agreement) and watch it with them - they'll (hopefully!) be surprised at how much English they can use. Play word definition and miming games, then encourage students to use them for peer teaching. Live listening. Retell the story with pictures. Listen again. Retell again. Works very well as lots of exposure to L2. Start with a picture and elicit what they can see / who the people are etc. Then tell them that is the middle of the story. Half of the group will come up with the beginning, half will come up with the end (in secret). Then they have to work together to make one coherent story without really changing the parts that they came up with. If possible, take them on field trips. Get them moving - physical activities help them forget the pressure of speaking English. Play games in class - they love their PS3?s and wii's! But board / card games work just as well. Timed conversations - give them a place to start and a place to finish and 2 minutes to get from A to B. After 2 minutes, change the people. Play 'Just a Minute' - give them a topic to speak for a minute about. It's based on a British radio show. Wikipedia: http://bit.ly/gkyFNO; an example by Paul Merton: http://youtu.be/UrVlKKTTOiM

January 2011 Motivating Teens to Use English (and not L1) in Class -19.01.2011

Break down a PC into pieces - SS want more information about hardware names etc. Negotiate things in English that they wouldn't normally do in L1 e.g. sell greeting cards by phone (in a language lab), enquire about an English course, take part in an interview for a flatmate. Any kind of "How to…" - download films, use online games… Have a teacher's press conference. They interview you, then use the same questions in pairwork. Have a speed-dating session! 'Onion ring': students stand face-to-face in two concentric circles and get opinions on something.Clap your hands; the outer circle students move two steps right two change partners. The teacher can take part too. Use of L1 Not always a problem, providing clear boundaries are set. Research suggests that discussing writing in L1 first can lead to better results. Write some classroom phrases on the board in L1. Ask them to translate. (e.g. "How do you spell…?" "What do have for…?" SS discuss something they are very interested in in L1, then other SS summarise it in English. Let students chat in L1 at the beginning of class. Then ask them to summarise it in English. Help the students to express what they said in L1 in English. When you hear things in L1, ask them "How do you say…in English?" Decide what percentage of L1 is acceptable for each level - more for lower levels? Possible contributing factors to overuse of L1 Too much emphasis on using English might put students off - they are under too much pressure. Some issues What should do with lower-level classes? Is it possible to 'discuss' things with them in the same way as you would with higher levels. Also, many lower-level students are concerned about sounding childlike due to non-complex grammar / vocabulary. What should you do when you want students to use specific vocabulary? What do you do if students were forced to enrol by their parents and they don't really care? Further reading Classroom Dynamics, Jill Hadfield (especially for start-of-year activities) http://amzn.to/e6F2Cu Cultivating multilingual environments http://wp.me/ptcfd-5v

January 2011 Ways to develop learner autonomy - tips for learning outside class time - 26.01.2011

Ways to develop learner autonomy - tips for learning outside class time 26.01.2011 Summary for this chat contributed by Vladimira Michalkova and first posted on her blog, Vladimira's Blog. Vladimira is @vladkaslniecko on Twitter! Many thanks!!!! 26/01/2011 - Another great #ELTchat - Ways to develop learner autonomy - tips for learning outside class time.

"I never teach my students. I simply provide the situations in which they can learn." Einstein Main goals: • Make your students independent of the teacher • Help the learner to become independent and become his/her own mentor • provide students with the tools to be able to learn on their own • make your students part of the decision making about classroom activities The role of teacher in developing learner autonomy: • model role • moderator • facilitator How autonomy starts in classroom: • Give them choice • Show them ways of learning • Use the learners' interest • Talk about it in classroom

January 2011 Ways to develop learner autonomy - tips for learning outside class time - 26.01.2011

Here are the tips: • show them how to learn (teach them also study skills), what suits them most and how to get most out of it • Show learners ideas from your own learning (writing coloured words on papers, putting them on the walls). You can be a good role model for your students. • suggest websites, radio stations anything that could be interesting and can motivate them to use these things outside classroom • Films - discuss the films in classroom, watch film with/without subtitles, watch film in L1 and then in L2. • Give them mLearning tech and tools • Show them how to do things on the blog which they do at home (toondoo, embedding youtube, • etc. ), create class blogs, yahoogroups • Have your students set the objectives and then have them evaluate their progress • Give them tools like spidergrams, guessing from context, train dictionary use • Use student-generated content, peer pressure/role modeling • Use self-access box in your classroom • Do not let your course book limit you in developing learner autonomy - enrich, adapt, enliven it • Tell your students about multitasking - learn while doing something else • Show them the ways they can use course book at home (transcripts, grammar pages…) • never do anything that you can get students to do • Make your students think about why you do some activities in classroom, help them to become aware of the purpose • Show them how they can use target language outside the classroom (where they can find it) • Students' diaries/journals/audio diaries • Give them feedback (more than correction) • Be careful with homework - think how to present it (rather search/project/task like than exercise or a worksheet to fill in) • Use readers, classroom library • Encourage your students to make friends with other people using English for communication • Record your students…and their progress • Encourage students to use Google Docs as their online vocabulary notebooks • Ask them to teach (what they have learned) someone else, family members, friends… • Persuade your students to use their mobiles in English for a week or so… (switch to English where you can) Useful web applications: • Voicethread • Vocaroo • wikis • Tutorials (http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com, http://technology4kids.pbworks.com/w/page/34922427/tutorials) • Moodle • Audio boo

January 2011 Ways to develop learner autonomy - tips for learning outside class time - 26.01.2011

Further reading/activities developing on Learners' Autonomy: lecture by Leni Dam on learner autonomy - http://tinyurl.com/6kptuek 40 odd websites to learn outside the classroom - http://bit.ly/ij78i2 A lesson by @sabridv where students take over the teaching for a day http://bit.ly/gOuNa7 http://archive.ecml.at/mtp2/Elp_tt/Results/DM_layout/00_10/06/06%20Supplementary% 20text.pdf http://iteslj.org/Articles/Thanasoulas-Autonomy.html I have also blogged about the stuff related to learners' autonomy so if you are interested you can find it here: http://vladimiramichalkova.edublogs.org/2010/12/05/confidence-in-classroom/ http://vladimiramichalkova.edublogs.org/2010/02/26/looking-for-motivation-outside-the-cl assroom/ Learner Autonomy - a guide to developing learner responsibility (Agota Scharle and Anita Szabo), Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers Holec, one of the main sources of inspiration for LA http://tinyurl.com/6kerkl4 some free books with audio recordings on http://bit.ly/7VlZnZ

Thanks for great, inspiring and motivational #ELTchat. You can join the chat on Twitter every Wednesday! by Vladimira Michalkova

February 2011 Effective ways to minimize TTT (Teacher Talking Time) and maximize STT (Student Talking Time) 02.02.2011

February 2011 Effective ways to minimize TTT (Teacher Talking Time) and maximize STT (Student Talking Time) - 02.02.2011 The first #ELTchat on 2/2/2011 was "Effective ways to minimize TTT (Teacher Talking Time) and maximize STT (Student Talking Time)". Here is a summary produced by Vladimira Michalkova (@vladkaslniecko) on her blog and reproduced here with her permission.

"It is a common delusion that you make things better by talking about them." Dame Rose Macaulay "The opposite of talking isn't listening. The opposite of talking is waiting." Fran Lebowitz "There is nothing so annoying as to have two people talking when you're busy interrupting." Mark Twain Last week we talked about the ways to promote learners' autonomy and this week it was about TTT/STT in classroom. In many ways these two topics are related. What is the role of the teacher in the classroom? Who is/should be the centre of attention during the lesson? One of the ELT methods, which restricted the amount of TTT in teaching/learning process, was Silent Way. The teacher should be silent as often as possible and students should be able to use the language for self-expression and become independent by relying on themselves (not teachers). Later on, it was discussed that the optimal TTT/STT ratio is 30%/70%. But, is TTT really that bad in the classroom? Isn't the overall classroom dynamics, sharing information and experience more important? Why are some teachers talking too much? • Fear of silence (music could help in that case) • Some teachers are "talking at the students" not communicating with them • Sometimes we forget to give the thinking time to our students • Too long or complicated instructions/explanations… • Not enough experience with teaching or lack of confidence

February 2011 Effective ways to minimize TTT (Teacher Talking Time) and maximize STT (Student Talking Time) 02.02.2011

When is TTT good/effective? • Language model (in case your students don't have access to English except you) • Listening activity (authentic), story telling • In project/task-based classes - teacher as a model • TTT used with a purpose (meaningful talking) • Let your talk be genuine - you are a person not only teacher • Keep it relevant and to the point • Be spontaneous/flexible How can we improve the quality of STT? • Provide safe speaking situations (and relaxed atmosphere) • Pair/group speaking tasks (group of three is great solution for shier students who can listen to the others in group and participate when they feel they want) • Pyramid discussion • Body language of a teacher (move in the classroom, your position in the class, help and encourage students, lower yourself when listening to students speaking, smile ) • Encourage shy students - a lot of scaffolding, small steps • Encourage your students to speak also outside the classroom - use voice recording for example • Get your students move in the classroom from time to time (more natural for speaking than sitting and talking to a person on the left/right) • Make sure the students understand the language they are supposed to use and know what to do • Try to avoid boredom and confusion over task • Show interest in what your students say • Let them speak from a personal point of view rather than course book • Pretend you have lost your voice, write a topic on board, let them talk about it, write a vocabulary and self-correct themselves • Authentic small talk • Give yourself and your students 5 minutes of repeating what they learned • Ask few students to monitor the speaking activity of others and then give feedback • Have your students make quick personal posters (A4) and then present them in pairs/groups/circles • Use role plays, improvisations • "find someone who" kind of activities • Keep in mind that activities need to be set up so all the students (strong as well as weak) are encouraged to speak • Arrange class party • Students pecha kucha in pairs • Be the same person in/out of the classroom • Information gap activities • Board games • Use provoking news, headlines, quotes to get them express their opinion (sth they want to speak about) • "each student has 6 beans, they give back a bean once they contribute to conversation" • Password game: write vocabulary vertically down index card. 2nd card covers all but 1st word.

February 2011 Effective ways to minimize TTT (Teacher Talking Time) and maximize STT (Student Talking Time) 02.02.2011

Teacher shows a student word, student gives clues so other students can guess AND A GREAT SUM BY CHUCK SANDY: "In sum: Be balanced. Use TTT judiciously. Make it effective. Be real. Engage SS w/meaningful work.Step back.Let learning happen." Further reading

• - My favourite "go-to" lesson application by Jason Renshaw • - some great gesture training in Teach Like a Champion • - Silent Way video with Donald Cherry

February 2011 Effective ways to minimize TTT (Teacher Talk Time) maximize STT (Student Talk Time) - 02.02.2011

Effective ways to minimize TTT (Teacher Talk Time) maximize STT (Student Talk Time) - 02.02.2011 Effective ways to minimize TTT (Teacher Talk Time) maximize STT (Student Talk Time) A second summary This is an alternative summary produced by Kate Bell What percentage of class time should be teacher talk? student talk? % should vary according to lesson focus, goals, activity type, level, teacher experience. "common wisdom" says 70/30 or sometimes 80/20 STT to TTT I dislike the idea of using percentages to decide STT / TTT % can be useful in self-evaluation, like when watching a recorded lesson of oneself. Also useful for new teachers as a guideline. ratio evolves as teachers and students get to know each other, when confidence grows, Sts talk more, Ts less don't think large group instruction for more than 10% of classroom time Once had a great 100% STT experience â&#x20AC;&#x201D; I had lost my voice! Ss took over the class for 2 hours. TTT as listening practice for students If you are the primary language model and students don't have much access to English (except you) maybe more TTT is warranted I try to make my instructions etc.. useful as 'meta-language' by being aware of the words & structures I use In project / task based classes T modeling is essential. make everything you do/say have value for the learner nothing wrong with TTT, models good pronounciation, grammar and usage. Just don't talk about yourself too much!! TTT for correcting students' mistakes Some students have said - it's not useful for us to talk to each other, we make mistakes, want to talk to YOU and be corrected I've heard complaints "We paid to have access to an expert speaker not to hear our own mistakes" Classroom setup & teaching style to encourage dialog classrooms should be conceived without any front or teaching wall read about a school where students didn't have chairs but curriculum designed to encourage movement

February 2011 Effective ways to minimize TTT (Teacher Talk Time) maximize STT (Student Talk Time) - 02.02.2011

I like learning stations where each student can go at their own pace and teacher walks around to help facilitate 1 of best professional development sessions I attended the speaker said leave your dress shoes at home, you should be moving if you're not dressed to crawl on the floor you may not be dressed to "teach" Strategies to limit TTT I just shut up & reply to students in writing on the board! I find it's often a fear of silence which drives TTT - silence can indeed be golden! Especially for lower levels, who can benefit from a bit more of a silent period. Or if fear of silence is a problem, ask SS if they would like some music - then T doesn't talk to fill it! I now often start my lessons with a silence and question mark on the board Give thinking time. After the thinking time, a good old-fashioned pyramid discussion is gr8 for increasing STT, w/TTT in there as collaboration Building instructions into tasks (webquests, powerpoints etc) I always try to wait for silence when giving instructions - not 2 repeat too much Types of TTT Think that there is good TTT & bad TTT, myself. Much depends on whether you are talking "at" the learners, or conversing with them I agree with quality vs. quantity. Two people address this issue. Marie Clay and Peter Johnston. to explain, provide input, direct discussions I've always wanted to try being a silent an entire class & communicating thru nonverbal. I find the best 'normal conversations happen before, after class & in hallways/office. Keep your office door open to maximize talk. T explains & models. Ss work in groups to do project. T circulates & talks to encourage/provide needed L2. TT = teaching moments. set some time apart when you _never_ ask, only answer questions How do you encourage shy students? Let students speak in small groups or as whole class so they don't stand out lots of scaffolding, baby steps and time to formulate what they want to say IMO Don't underestimate value of regular time for pair work. Many students affected by 'audience size' In class discussion assign someone as 'discussion leader' - role to keep conversation going and make sure all speak I used to not really believe in writing in class but now find sharing it gr8 springboard for STT and gets shyer students to speak. Only if you are holding THE WOODEN SPOON/microphone/board/pen/tennis ball can you talk. This evens out loud and quiet students.

February 2011 Effective ways to minimize TTT (Teacher Talk Time) maximize STT (Student Talk Time) - 02.02.2011

Is TTT also influenced by teacher experience? So new teachers talk a lot, then they try to talk as little as possible, and finally become comfortable with flux That's a good point. Inexperience appears to result in a lot more TTT (and TTTT Tense TTT). How to improve? Sometimes the lack of experience means lack of confidence - work on the confidence and you lower the TTT Confidence to let the lesson flow more, let go of all the control. Learning how 2 deal w silence takes time Be the same person in and out of the classroom. SS can 'access' my TTT whenever they like Can we suggest some good and specific activities for maximizing STT? To increase STT, we should also create a classroom atmosphere where SS feel comfortable using the target language w/ teens can be v. difficult to get them talking. try 2 always give them thinking time first 2 formulate ideas b4 going into chat I have noticed if Ss regularly record speaking online outside of class, improves STT in class. I usually put my students in pairs or groups to maximize STT - I walk around them giving help as necessary Increasing STT always leads to more unplugged lessons, as you never know what will surface upâ&#x20AC;Ś Telling you about their culture / local area / history, especially when they can see you're interested! telling stories from their own culture have had some good experience with letting 2 Ss kick off the lessons in some free or prepared fashion â&#x20AC;&#x201D; I sit with the Ss. current events conversations-did you guys see the game? Hear about the fire yesterday? authentic small talk Feigning ignorance of L2 or culture if you do speak it. A taco? What's a taco? Tell me about it. Summarizing is useful - describing what we've covered in own words http://bit.ly/e2SIBX I work a lot on simply getting them to speak TO each other and LOOK AT each other (in full group mode) I hide in the back. Only with enough time in pair-work SS can develop confidence to speak to a larger audience Have Ss make quick personal posters on A4, then present in pairs/groups/circles Role plays work really well, in different groups - gets them usually speaking full stop! Regularly assign 'teachers' to deal w feedback, plenary discussions etc SS draw maps of their neighborhood. Give tours in pairs/groups/to class In kids classes, we take turns being the teacher. I'm first, then the kids take charge if they want. Gr8 in mixed age classes.

February 2011 Effective ways to minimize TTT (Teacher Talk Time) maximize STT (Student Talk Time) - 02.02.2011

What helped me managing TTT & STT were clearly marked out "segments" 4 students 2 talk in pairs, groups, etc. Time limit did wonders 5 minutes of repeating what they learned really works. Always thought it was too cheesy but now do it every class. For adults, I always have a plan, but sometimes our "what's new?" openers take us in a new (and better) direction. You can ask them to parody the T Also nipping teasing and nasty correcting by other SS in the bud for safe classroom. I used to use string as well to highlight who was speaking most use Pecha Kucha in pairs I find information gap activities maximize STT also be early & chat up SS in meaningful ways. Then later say "let's begin class" though it really began long before Think if SS talk enough, should be difficult for T to get a word in edgeways I find board games work well for maximizing STT - SS can even create their own I try to come to class with a provoking news, headlines, quotes etc. and they want to speak about it.. good atmosphere is ESSENTIAL Vocabulary recycling I know we're not talking IWBs but the countdown clock on the IWB - 5 minutes w/only students talking (and only in English) - works well It's also important not to shut down yr activities too early. There's often much left 2 say when a t is rushing ahead I keep a pile of cards based on questions asked in Sunday newspaper, magazines, so if students are stuck for something to talk about we get those out board games

February 2011 How and when do you teach pronunciation? - 02.02.2011

How and when do you teach pronunciation? - 02.02.2011 The second eltchat on the 02.02.2011 was on pronunciation, here is a summary by @sandymillin, reproduced from her blog with her permission.

The Wednesday 2nd February 9pm GMT #eltchat was fast and furious. Here is a summary of the main points: Why teach pronunciation? 'If you're not teaching pronunciation, you're not teaching English'

It can help with punctuation. Learners are keen to work on pronunciation so that they can be understood. It helps with listening skills, particularly features of connected speech. Pronunciation, rather than grammar / vocab, is the main barrier to understanding. If learners have bad pronunciation, listeners think their English is incomprehensible even if it's not. Can undermine SS confidence. Raises awareness of sounds - learners better able to distinguish between them. It's fun! What to teach Individual sounds (perhaps using the IPA - see below) Sound linking Connected speech (perhaps through songs) Weak forms (schwa) Voice - get them to imitate English speakers mispronouncing their L1 - gives them a feel for sounds / rhythm

February 2011 How and when do you teach pronunciation? - 02.02.2011

Syllable stress - highlight length, pitch, loudness, & vowel clarity Intonation Minimal pairs Chunking Pausing Rhythm Awareness of varieties of English. Awareness and recognition - production will come later How to teach pronunciation Integrate it into your lessons as much as possible OR Have courses which are entirely pronunciation focussed. Start with little steps, and build from there. Keep a corner of the board for pronunciation issues which emerge during the lesson. Model the shape of the mouth, and ask them to think about their tongues and lips! Even works with elementary SS. Combine it with listening. Use coursebook tapescripts to integrate pronunciation: mark schwas, intonationâ&#x20AC;Ś Work on pronunciation with all new lexis. Record vocab covered in class and upload it for SS to listen to between classes (example here: ) Record your students and use it to focus on pronunciation issues. Get SS to record themselves on their mobile phones. (they can do this for homework too) Transcribe. Use chants, clapping and songs. SS often have better pronunciation when singing, so it gives them hope when speaking. (Could reflect a question of attitude - do they resist sounding English when speaking?) Use games. Intonation: using only the word 'banana', role play this situation: husband arrives home, small talk with wife, wife confronts husband about recently-discovered affair, husband denies it, husband admits it, argue, make up. How many different ways can you say 'no' / 'thank you'? Use graded readers with small groups to focus on pronunciation and see where SS need to develop. Use shadow reading with graded readers or with recorded versions of short texts e.g. (also jokes, ads, movie trailers) Exaggerate sounds - it's fun, and SS can feel the difference between them. Encourage SS to mouth words silently when reading / listening (works well with YLs) SS put a wrapped chocolate bar (Tatranky if you're in the Czech Republic) in their mouth. Drill vowel sounds. The chocolate should fall out of their mouth if they're doing it properly (open mouth) Take chunks of text and look at the connected speech, including lots of drilling Listen to the radio and imitate the accent Cuisenaire rods fabulous for teaching word/sentence stress, intonation etc

February 2011 How and when do you teach pronunciation? - 02.02.2011

Mouth exercises - SS think it's fun to laugh at the teacher Get SS to stand up and sit down to mirror the intonation as you drill. Exaggerate pronunciation by putting on a 'posh' accent - "Hello. How are you? Haven't seen you in aaaages." Use drama: mini scripted sketches good for practising exagerrated voice range and intonation Make it fun: stress can inhibit production. Use tongue twisters http://bit.ly/f3NYP6 and limericks Work on sound and spelling associations Use different coloured pens, dots, connections, arrowsâ&#x20AC;Ś Experiment with the Silent Way http://bit.ly/ecSNmR Decode text messages Give SS a passage to mumble on their way home The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) Opinions: Scares a lot of teachers - puts them off teaching pronunciation; can confuse things, but OK if students are comfortable with it; can make a dictionary more useful; introduce it ASAP and it becomes integral; learners may be resistant if they don't see the point; levels the playing field in a mixed group if no-one knows it Students often use their own notation, so don't feel the need to learn IPA. Can be hard to use if SS are from very different educational / language backgrounds Make flashcards for the sounds from the IPA (you could use the English Filesound pictures or Adrian Underhill's chart ) Use it to highlight differences that SS may not hear e.g. cat v. cut Also to highlight differences between the variety of English you speak and other varieties SS need to be aware of Highlight sounds which don't appear in L1. Use the schwa symbol - very useful - the one bit of IPA that every teacher should know. Have fun with it! SS more likely to accept it this way. Use games to teach the script www.cambridgeenglishonline.com/Phonetics_focus Issues with teaching pronunciation It is very overlooked by teachers, often as coursebook syllabi are so dense, and teachers don't think grammar / vocabulary include pronunciation. It is overlooked in a lot of coursebooks - included in very small chunks, so teachers don't see it as important. Can be difficult to teach in multilingual classes unless suprasegmental. If it's not tested, it's not important. Some teachers think it will come by osmosis, but it actually needs a lot of work. It's often left until later, meaning a lot of SS have very little exposure to pronunciation work. Realism is required: perfection is unnecessary and largely unobtainable. Students may believe there's no system to English pronunciation. Which English? (see below)

February 2011 How and when do you teach pronunciation? - 02.02.2011

Do we do our students a disservice by speaking slowly and clearly in class? Teachers often aren't trained to teach pronunciation, or training only happens later (Dip, MA) [solution: refer them to #eltchat ] Fossilised errors take a long time correct. Teens may fear being mocked by peers. Intonation can be difficult to teach as the rules are hard to pin down. SS attitudes to and perception of pronunciation might block them, although talking about this helps. Is it important for teachers to have a working knowledge of phonology? (The answers generally were that this is something you develop as you go along) HOWEVER, if you think pronunciation is important, your students will too. Which English should we teach? Accent doesn't matter, but clear pronunciation does. Accent ? pronunciation. And changing your accent can mean changing your identity. The English we know The English our learners need! If they're going to be exposed to non-natives more than natives, then they need to hear them more! Expose SS to as many different accents as possible e.g. UK / US English is stress-timed, but Indian English is syllable-timed (Global coursebooks were recommended as providing a lot of exposure) A study showed that L2 is easier to understand when spoken in the accent of the listener, not the target language. The days of RP are long past. Be yourself (not like this http://youtu.be/iGTPWbLvrz8!) Online tools English File Sound Pictures Interactive phonemic chart at OneStopEnglish (by Adrian Underhill) www.forvo.com Talking pronunciation chart at teachingenglish.org.uk IPA typewriter for all languages http://bit.ly/d5ZJIh Phonemic online typewriter http://bit.ly/bqV2tb Type IPA at Text to phonetics at http://www.photransedit.com/Online/Text2Phonetics.aspx(RP and GA) Words their way Ship or sheep http://www.shiporsheep.com/ BBC pronunciation page http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/(including videos) Cybraryman's list of pronunciation resources and phonetics resources British and American pronunciation www.antimoon.com British Council Pronunciation app for

February 2011 How and when do you teach pronunciation? - 02.02.2011

iPad http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/mobile-learning/sounds-right English Central's pronunciation area, including chance to record themselves http://bit.ly/hib9Gw Close-ups of mouth showing articulation (American English) http://bit.ly/i3O8Db Audacity (to record students): download at http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Pronunciation problems of specific nationalities, along with specific books to use http://bit.ly/ewg90I Talk a Lot series by http://EnglishBanana.com - great ideas 4 working with connected speech & pronunciation. http://scr.bi/eoT4o8 Text to speech tools www.voki.com / www.xtranormal.com Clicker 5 (good for elementary students) http://www.cricksoft.com/us/products/tools/clicker/home.aspx Voicethread, vocaroo, voxopop, audioboo for recording Self-study pronunciation lessons on YouTube http://bit.ly/i0v8du Online group for students to join to practise pronunciation http://englishclub.com/s/?JC Resource books English Pronunciation in Use by CUP (especially for spelling/pronunciation connectionsm, stress, emphasis) Ship or Sheep and Tree or Three by Ann Baker Jazz Chants by Carolyn Graham English Pronunciation Illustrated by John Trim (complete with funny cartoons) Global coursebooks (range of accents in listening activities) Team Up coursebooks (great pronunciation activities and funny tongue twisters)

Methodology and Further Reading Webinar by Adrian Underhill Teaching Pronunciation using the Prosody Pyramid, a free booklet from CUP Teaching Pronunciation to Adults (Australian English) Adrian Underhill on an embodied approach to pronunciation teaching An introduction to using the pronunciation chart by Adrian Underhill Teaching Pronunciation by Keith Kelly Teaching Pronunciation: A Course Book and Ref Guide by Celce-Murcia, Brinton, Goodwin (CUP 2010 2nd ed) Learner English by Swan and Smith This video, shared by @harrisonmike during the chat, epitomises why we should work on pronunciation Scottish voice recognition (shared by @esolcourses) The Two Ronnies (shared by @ShaunWilden)

February 2011 How and when do you teach pronunciation? - 02.02.2011

February 2011 How do you teach writing? And how do you mark it? - 09.02.2011

How do you teach writing? And how do you mark it? - 09.02.2011

The second #ELTchat on 2/2/2011 was "How do you teach writing and how

do you mark it?". Here is a summary written for us by Leahn Stanhope -

@Fuertesun on Twitter - copied from her blog, Early EFL, and reproduced

here with her permission

How do you teach writing? And how do you mark it? by Leahn Stanhope This was the topic of the #ELTchat on Wednesday 9th February at 9pm GMT on twitter. As always the pace was fast and furious. I'm pleased to say that I won the golden accolade of writing up the summary! I've tried to summarize people's tweets as accurately and concisely

February 2011 How do you teach writing? And how do you mark it? - 09.02.2011

as possible. Please forgive me if I've missed anything out. You can find the transcript for the chat here. Here is the summary:

Thoughts on Writing

• Writing used to be the Cinderella skill but the tide is changing. • People need writing more today than they did in the past because talking is now writing. • Even though Ss look for conversation they are more likely to need writing than speaking. • The net has changed the role of writing. It's no longer just about teaching Ss how to write informal and formal letters.

• There are more genres of writing today which is partly due to technology. • Many jobs require Ss to communicate by the written word. • Ss expect to write in class. They may complain but they like it. • A teachers' attitude to writing is very important. Too often the teacher introduces writing with an apology ¨Ok - writing today".

• Writing should be taken seriously. • An audience is crucial - using technology in the form of blogs and wikis gives Ss an audience. How to teach writing? - a process or product approach?

• In order to learn to write Ss need to write. Little and often in class is a good way to start. • Use classroom time to prepare with a process writing approach and get Ss to finish writing as homework.

• Some teachers feel uncomfortable teaching writing in class but the teacher has an important role to play in writing as a facilitator and monitor.

• Play background music in class when Ss write. • Provide models of writing styles.

February 2011 How do you teach writing? And how do you mark it? - 09.02.2011

• Use a lot of process writing when familiarizing Ss with genre and then gradually move to product.

• Collaborative writing activities help ideas flow more easily and put less pressure on the Ss. • Ss don't need to write long compositions it can sometimes be micro-writing activities. • Get Ss to write short pieces it helps them focus on the language. • Low word limits often stimulate creativity. • Teaching writing often goes hand in hand with teaching vocabulary and genre. • Graphic organizers can be a helpful tool to organize Ss writing. • Sometimes process writing in class can last too long and Ss can lose their motivation. • Speed writing activities are a good way to introduce a new topic and focus on written fluency rather than accuracy.

• Creative writing activities just for fun are a good way of getting Ss into the habit of writing. • Ideally in a process writing lesson there should be no marking or coding as the focus is on the process rather than the product.

• It's important that teachers teach Ss to be clear and concise when writing. • Text messaging in class could be an unintimidating way to teach writing in class. Good with teenagers as it's important to communicate at their level.

• Give lots of guidance. • Get Ss writing on OHPs or long rolls of paper. • There are differences between speaking and writing that must be attended to. • Audience, purpose and communicative element are must haves in teaching writing. • Product writing is mainly for assessment. • The process approach to writing is yet another opportunity for teaching and learning. • Models are good for teaching writing to exam classes. • Provide sample texts for children. They may copy but they are often lost without them.

February 2011 How do you teach writing? And how do you mark it? - 09.02.2011

• Reading is the input for writing - speaking and listening may be the springboard. • The more Ss read the more they'll be able to write. • Encouraging Ss to write diaries is a good way to get them writing but they may run out of steam.

• Give Ss regular topics to write about and do peer reading and feedback. • Use online tools such as Google Docs to produce collaborative writing. • Create and use a class blog or wiki. Thoughts on Correction

• Whatever correction technique we use we must try and get Ss to reflect on their work • It's important that we make it very clear what we're looking for in Ss written work. • It's equally important that we focus on what they've done well. • Comments work well as a correction technique. • Feedback from the teacher is paramount. • Grades can demoralize or make Ss overconfident. • It's important to have some free writing activities that are not corrected. • It's important to be aware that some Ss might be traumatized by the use of a red pen or a lot of ink.

• Remember to praise Ss when they're doing writing tasks because they may be very vulnerable but be careful of too much praise as it weakens the power of praise.

• Marking is one of the most time consuming (and rewarding) activities for NNES. • Don't me a meanie always pouncing on mistakes! How do you mark writing?

• Using a public marking scheme, although research says that Ss find them confusing. Counteract this with close teacher support and monitoring.

February 2011 How do you teach writing? And how do you mark it? - 09.02.2011

• If you use codes consistency is vital but difficult to maintain across different classes/teachers. • Through Peer correction. • Using selective correction - focusing on 1-3 things at a time. • By picking out three good things and by rephrasing three things the S was trying to say. • By seeing marking as feedback not just error correction. • Using Jing an online tool which allows you to give Ss video feedback on their written work. Chatters thought that this was a great way to give feedback and liked the fact that it integrated listening skills and provided the Ss with a video that they could review before further writing activities.

• Through 1st draft using peer review, 2nd with a correction technique and t 3rd with a Jing screencast.

• By collecting written work and producing a sample paragraph with the most common mistakes and asking Ss to correct them in groups.

• Through wikis in moodle. • By giving Ss the error correction code and allowing them to correct each other's writing. • By using a system that focuses on SIT strengths, improvements and targets. • Using Typewith.me as a collaborative error correction with multiple computers. • Using reformulation as a technique • Correcting with numbered notes. Tasks and assignments our Students Enjoy

• Dictogloss • Collaborative story writing. • Running, shouting and whispering dictations. • Creative writing - Shape poems • Writing messages on Post-its using 140 characters or less. • Writing descriptions of other Ss in the class and then guessing who.

February 2011 How do you teach writing? And how do you mark it? - 09.02.2011

• Using songs to generate writing - She´s leaving home • Using minutes from a meeting and getting Ss to correct them for BE classes. • Writing a letter to the head teacher about something like recycling. • Word cloud speed writing. • Post-it compliments - get Ss to write compliments about their classmates. • Treasure hunts with fab clues. • Writing about images. • Writing stories based on different pieces of music. • Writing as role plays with Ss playing the different roles. Online Tools and Resources An example of a marking scheme http://www.scribd.com/doc/48520620/An-English-Teacher-s-Marking-Scheme A great source for genres http://www.writingfun.com/ Writing for an authentic audience http://rliberni.wordpress.com/2010/09/28/getting-your-voice-heard-authentic-writing-for-english-l anguage-students/ Writing Resources page http://www.cybraryman.com/writing.html Writing to learn http://cerij.wordpress.com/2010/11/23/writing-to-learn/ Times Education article about feedback with Jing http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=207117

February 2011 How do you teach writing? And how do you mark it? - 09.02.2011

Examples of video feedback with Jing http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/luFeedback/index.html Writing Diaries http://rliberni.wordpress.com/2010/10/01/sharing-diaries-writing-from-the-heart/ Scrap the marking code http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/tefl/scrap-the-marking-code/ Write Ways http://jasonrenshaw.typepad.com/jason_renshaws_web_log/writing-activities/ Writing prompts http://www.cybraryman.com/writingprompts.html Shape poems http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/shape/ Specific writing aims http://www.education.gov.uk/publications//eOrderingDownload/5865-DfES-AimingHigh%201469 .pdf Correcting with numbered notes http://cerij.wordpress.com/2010/10/20/youve-got-mail/ Correcting with reformulation http://cerij.wordpress.com/2010/09/26/the-story-continues/ Graphic organizers http://technology4kids.pbworks.com/w/page/33346396/graphicorganizers Writing lessons based on music http://evasimkesyan.edublogs.org/2010/12/03/warmers-fillers -and-improvisations-in-efl-classrooms/ A post about a writing lesson

February 2011 How do you teach writing? And how do you mark it? - 09.02.2011

http://david-dodgson.blogspot.com/2010/10/writing-lesson-cont-tailor-made-error.html That's all folks! Lean Stanhope

February 2011 How to activate vocabulary - 16.02.2011

How to activate vocabulary - 16.02.2011 Here is the summary of #ELTChat of the activating vocabulary chat 16.02.11. It was written by Vicky Loras (@vickyloras on Twitter) and also appears on her blog; it is reproduced here with her permission. Thanks Vicky.

Today's ELTChat session at noon was all about vocabulary and how to activate it with students, in order for them to assimilate it and make use of it. Several interesting ideas circulated the Twitterstream, as always! So how do we activate vocabulary and get our students to use it? The ideas move among Young Learners and Older or Adult Learners, but you will find that sometimes an idea can very well cross over a category! The idea of using songs is a plus in assimilating vocabulary. For Young Learners they can be songs with repetition in them, such as Old MacDonald,The Colours Song and so on. TPR with songs such as finger chants is so effective with children, as is attaching new vocabulary with gestures. With older students you can use songs with fill-in-the-gaps, or sing a song with a particular word and stop at that word for them to recognise it. Repetition and recycling of the vocabulary is necessary. The vocabulary found in coursebooks once, needs to be interacted with - more than once. Connecting the words or collocations to something meaningful, something that can help them retain, is the key. Establishing a meaningful and relevant context is paramount. Try to connect the vocabulary students learn to their immediate needs, if possible. When they do use a word or collocation spontaneously, give them praise and write it on the board. The visual effect helps as well. Passing a box with words can help - each student picks a word, describes it to the rest of the class and has them guess which word it is. This is a very effective activity, in particular when you are covering previously taught vocabulary. Guessing can be a very crucial first ingredient in vocabulary acquisition. Games such as Boggle can help students form words and remember them. In addition teachers can use Taboo, Pictionary or miming. Activities such as wordsearches, gap-fills, wordsnakes and crosswords are great ideas in class. The use of post-it notes helps, putting the words on them and placing them all over the classroom. Incidental vocabulary can also be written on notes. Visual representation of vocabulary is helpful, especially with low-level learners. Teachers can use picture vocabulary quizzes, rebus exercises and so on. For younger students, creating their own picture dictionary of new words assists in their learning. Flashcards are essential to helping them learn vocabulary and use it. A very nice game with young learners is to place flashcards in a pile, for the teacher to blow a whistle, yell out the word and the children have to find the card that represents the word. In the same context of visuals, students can bring to class pictures of things they would like to learn and that way attach the word to the image. All these visual representations can prove effective with dyslexic students as well. Have a vocabulary bank for your students. From this bank, you can assign them a determined number of words which they have to use in any activity. The use of spider diagrams helps students in learning lexical sets and then translation can follow.

February 2011 How to activate vocabulary - 16.02.2011

Extending vocabulary is also useful. Collocations, antonyms, concordances give them more time to study the word. Some students may find keeping a vocabulary journal effective. They write there all the new words as they learn and repeat them frequently. The use of a dictionary, picture or word kind, can help at specific moments. Do learners choose the words to learn, or do teachers choose them for them? Perhaps a combination of both is useful. Students, especially if they are older can see where they need more help and teachers can orientate them to the vocabulary the students need. Online Resources: A vocabulary game - you can even make your own version! Wordwise - an activity for vocabulary building and application. An online list / dictionary from Oxford University Press of the top 3,000 important and useful words to

teach. Gapfillers provide a word of the day (by e-mail or sms) Flo-jo wordbank Madlibs - it works wth all levels. Visuals to help understand expressions, concepts, idioms. More vocabulary examples and even more Information on concept mapping. Wordle - words, words, words! Advice from Carol Read about vocabulary with Young Learners. Shelly Terrell's wiki for Young Learners with a lot of resources. A video of Sandy Millin and her class, playing vocabulary box games. Activities on Phrasal Verbs by Janet Bianchini. There is a multitude of ideas on helping activate vocabulary in class - have a great time with words!

February 2011 How do you approach teaching one-to-one lessons? Share strategies, tips, techniques - 16.02.2011

How do you approach teaching one-to-one lessons? Share strategies, tips, techniques - 16.02.2011 Here is the summary for the second #ELTchat on 16.02.11 written by Ceri Jones (@cerirhiannon on Twitter) on her blog and reproduced here with her permission - Many thanks Ceri!

#eltchat summary - teaching one-to-one This week's eltchat session at 9pm was about strategies, tips and techniques for approaching one-to-one classes. As always it was a great conversation and it really amazed me, looking back over the transcript, how much ground we managed to cover in a very short hour of fast speed tweeting. The conversation covered a wide range of different teaching contexts and class types from executives to exam preparation classes, from younger learners to students with learning difficulties and special needs, both face-to-face and online. The conversation kicked off with chatters listing their general attitudes to 1-2-1 classes and this grew into a sizeable list of advantages:

Advantages I love 1-2-1 lots of chances for personalization Much easier than a bigger group Some new teachers find it easier to start with 1-2-1 Some started out as 1-2-1 teachers and found it a great way to learn Some commented that new Ts elt less pressure teaching 121 Fewer class management issues More room to meet the students' needs Ss can control the direction of the class Ss get to direct and choose content more than in a group The student has all your attention and you can tailor the lesson to their individual needs The teacher can focus on things that are particularly relevant to the student The ultimate in student-centred learning You can establish a great relationship with your student

And disadvantages: It can be very tiring Sometimes more demanding than a class full of students sometimes it is more work because you want to tailor it to their interests

February 2011 How do you approach teaching one-to-one lessons? Share strategies, tips, techniques - 16.02.2011

New teachers sometimes find it daunting Some 1-2-1 students can very teacher-dependent Classes can lack the energy and variety of interaction in a group Students aren't exposed to other's mistakes - can't learn from peers The lack of discussion opportunity with a peer rather than the teacher The classes - and the relationship with the students - can get very intense Classes can sometimes become more like a therapy session The success or failure of the course can often depend on rapport With a difficult student there's the danger of teacher burnout These were the main issues we discussed, more or less in the order they were first raised:

Needs analysis The approach to needs analysis often depends on the client (and not necessarily the student) and some chatters talked about conducting needs analysis interviews or distributing questionnaires before the course started, although this also has it drawbacks. Students don't always respond and it was noted that they don't always know how to identify their needs. There was agreement that needs analysis has to be ongoing and that needs and wants change during the course, sometimes in response to new approaches and materials introduced by the teacher, sometimes through a growing student awareness of possibilities. It was also felt that some students need guidance and training in setting personal goals. Needs analysis was also felt to be a good starting point for the first lesson with a new student, and it was suggested that with lower level learners needs analysis could be conducted in the student's L1. One chatter talked about the enjoyment involved in trying to figure out what exactly his students need, especially when they don't know themselves!

Planning and materials It was suggested that in a lot of cases a coursebook might not be appropriate and it was often better to start with materials that the students brought from their own work place such as emails, reports and other documents. This was seen as different when working with younger students preparing for an exam. It was felt that there may be need for more variety of materials and topics in a 1-2-1 class, and that it may be necessary to plan more activities and switch more quickly from activity to activity, being ready to ditch activities if they aren't successful, especially with younger learners. It was considered important to find out what the student is interested in (sports, music, cinema) and what learning styles and approaches they prefer. And it was suggested that asking students to teach the teacher about something in their culture or specialist field was particularly empowering. It was also stressed that plans should be open and flexible, responding to the students' specific needs.

Teacher Talking Time

February 2011 How do you approach teaching one-to-one lessons? Share strategies, tips, techniques - 16.02.2011

The nature of TTT was thought to be different in a 1-2-1 class. It was considered to be a valuable resource, with teachers involved in role plays and offering live listening input, as well as opportunities for real communication. It was thought to be particularly valuable as input for lower level students. There was still a feeling that we need to be careful in controlling the quantity of TTT. It was felt that there is sometimes a danger that 1-2-1 classes can be dominated by talk and that there is a need to find a balance between talking and quiet time, speaking and writing or reading. It was felt that silence, thinking time and processing time were all important and some teachers felt more comfortable with silences in a 1-2-1 context. The lack of variety in the interaction, with the teacher needing to participate and monitor at the same time, was seen as a potential problem, but a lot of chatters agreed that recording speaking tasks (e.g. on a laptop or mobile phone) helped ease the pressure on the teacher, and the recording could then be used for feedback and to focus on language. Some chatters said that they invited guests into their classrooms by using skype, moodle or voxopop chat (see link at the end). Another suggested swapping students occasionally with other teachers to provide variety.

Using technology A lot of chatters integrate technology in their classes, many using smartphones and laptops for a variety of activities: recording students, inside and outside the class going online to research or find something watching videos on youtube etc making and recording powerpoint presentations, pecha kuchas or short prezis chatting texting bringing students together through e.g. skype or eluminate Web tools were thought to be a great for letting the students work while the teacher prepared the next task or feedback. Recordings and chat transcript were felt to be very useful for reviewing, reformulating and pushing students to perform at a higher level. We also discussed lo-tech or no-tech solutions. Chatters talked about the use - or rather non-use - of whiteboards, preferring to use paper which could be taken home as an instant record of the lesson and also makes it easier for the student to join in. One recommended using carbon paper in order to be able to make an instant copy for both teacher and student.

Setting homework and encouraging contact with English beyond the classroom One chatter reported the biggest challenge as being getting students, and especially busy

February 2011 How do you approach teaching one-to-one lessons? Share strategies, tips, techniques - 16.02.2011

executives, to study in their own time. Various solutions were suggested: use email, use text messages, done on their laptops, phones etc so they have less of an excuse start from very small bits: ask them to voice record something small every day, then bring to class give them a list of links e,g, for Self Access reading or listening -they do the tasks and then report back get them to sign a contract which they create - what how often and how much they can deliver let the SS choose how much HW to do, then really praise them for doing it. slowly & gently lead them to manage their own learning & take responsibility for it

Building rapport Rapport was seen as another key area. It can be really uncomfortable if there is no rapport, but it was felt that the responsibility for building rapport lies with the teacher. It was suggested that when there is poor rapport or resistance from the student, then the best thing to do is to keep the relationship as professional as possible and base the classes on hard work while trying through trial and error to find materials and topics that stimulate and interest the student.

Tracking progress Again approaches varied depending on context. show old work - highlight the difference. most have a goal to achieve, build back from that use a wiki to keep track of activities and collect materials track progress on productive tasks get the student involved in the tracking too decide on the goals for the month, make a table and revise it at the end of period timed readings, keeping drafts and re-writes of writing tasks, vocab tests, plan the course in chunks of let's say 5-6 lessons, re-evaluate / re-negotiate the course lightly and often with a young adult, use blogging/tweeting etc. Non-teacher feedback is so useful for 121

Correction We touched briefly on the question of correction, and more specifically on the problem teachers face when students want to be corrected all the time. It was agreed that this can depend on the culture and the individual student. Chatters suggested correcting lightly and often, negotiating what and when to correct with the students, and using recordings to help the students self-correct.

February 2011 How do you approach teaching one-to-one lessons? Share strategies, tips, techniques - 16.02.2011

Discipline Another area we touched on briefly was that of discipline, although it wasn't generally felt to be a big problem, there can be issues such as time-keeping, overuse of L1 and a tendency to ask too many personal questions. Chatters felt that this could be countered by setting boundaries, establishing clear rules about use of L1 and time-keeping and not asking students for any information that we would not be willing to give about ourselves. . We finished off with a brainstorm of favourite activity types

Favourite Activity Types Vocabulary games Games in general - either against the teacher, or against themselves (ie past performance) or against the clock craft projects poster-making science-based projects read and re-tell activities make cartoons to get the main idea out of a reading text tell me, ask me game take the students out of the classroom always soend first 5-10 minutes chatting generic board games, sets of questions for different square dictogloss film presentations elevator/lift pitches (sell yourself in ten floors) discussing news headlines BBC one minute world news as a good starting point bringing in local free paper and student translates headlines/stories cook together eat together make a video together using eg quicktime player And last, but definitely not least, an enormous thank you to the moderators, Marisa Constantides, Shaun Wilden and Shell Terrell, for your great work, and to all the eltchatters who took part in yet another great conversation. Hope to see you all again next week.

Links A short article on Teaching one-to-one in the BBC/British Council Think serieshttp://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/teaching-one-one English Attack - recommended for encouraging teens to use English outside the classroomhttp://www.english-attack.com/user/login

February 2011 How do you approach teaching one-to-one lessons? Share strategies, tips, techniques - 16.02.2011

Jason Renshaw's voxopop talk group http://www.voxopop.com/group/eb78fcbf-5a8d-4937-ac20-7d58c31fe561

Books Learning One-To-One by Ingrid Wisniewska, Cambridge Handbooks for Teachers http://www.amazon.co.uk/Learning-Paperback-Cambridge-Handbooks-Language/dp/05211345 87/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1297985760&sr=1-1 Teaching One to One by Tim Murphey Longman http://www.amazon.co.uk/Teaching-One-Teacher-teacher/dp/0582032725 one chatter recommended the OUP series Business one:onehttp://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/businessoneone/ by Ceri Jones

February 2011 How do you deal with fossilized errors and help students improve their accuracy? - 23.02.2011

How do you deal with fossilized errors and help students improve their accuracy? - 23.02.2011

Image Source: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_eIARuH0-x4Y/SfnHeTdnxcI/AAAAAAAAAug/xIMpbCf RcIo/s400/rosaquith09-greengrocer's-a.jpg

Many thanks for tidying up and organising the comments made in the tweets as it was an especially difficult day for Twitter, for Tweetdeck as well as for our transcript aggregator! #ELTchat 23rd February 12pm by Michelle Worgan This afternoon's #ELTchat was on a topic that I thought would be a difficult one to discuss. Before the chat began I tweeted that I wasn't sure that I had much to say on the topic and would maybe just lurk in the background. Fortunately, everybody else's comments inspired me and I managed to join in! You can now find the transcript here. The question was: How do you deal with fossilized errors and help students improve their accuracy? We started off by discussing what is meant by "fossilized errors". Some made the distinction between an error, a mistake and a slip and it was mentioned that fossilized errors could actually

February 2011 How do you deal with fossilized errors and help students improve their accuracy? - 23.02.2011

be either of the first two. Errors were not limited to grammar and pronunciation, although these seem to be the most common types. What are fossilized errors?

• A mistake that students know is wrong but keep making. • An error from force of habit which students no longer know they are making. • Something that students learnt wrong and now need to change. • An error that students can correct when focused but still make on their own. • A mistake that recurrs despite constant correction. • An error based in L1 interference that is made by many speakers. • Mistakes that teachers may not "hear" after a number of years teaching in a particular context (and therefore do not correct). • A mistake that has been repeated so that it sounds right to the learner. Some specific errors common to students from different countries were mentioned, such as the use of "I have 20 years" to talk about age. We also came to the conclusion that young learners did not have fossilized errors - yet! We tried to come up with ideas about why errors become fossilized. What actually causes fossilization?

• Fossilization is due to L1 interference and is a natural feature of interlanguage development. • Lack of correction. • The connection between interlanguage and errors. • Lack of motion (the reason for other types of fossilization). • Method of instruction. • Errors that come from previous stages of learning (especially with older students). • Linear modes of instruction increase the chance of fossilization. • When students realise they can make a mistake and be understood, it can become fossilized. • Biological, social-affective, cultural, pedagogical, cognitive and environmental perspectives of a language can lead to fossilized errors. • Lack of motivation to correct oneself. • Lack of noticing and discovery and too much presentation, meaning students don't own the language. • Lack of learner autonomy - reliance on correction by teacher. The conversation then turned to how important it is to do something about fossilized errors. Here are some of the more popular ideas, many of them questions to think more about and we didn't have time to go into too much detail during the chat.

• Do fossilized errors lead to international English? If so, is there anything wrong with making these errors? • If students communicate meaning, are fossilized errors important?

February 2011 How do you deal with fossilized errors and help students improve their accuracy? - 23.02.2011

• • • • • •

Students love being corrected and prefer teachers that do so. It is impossible to correct everything - deal with what affects meaning most. Self-correction should be fostered. Students should reflect on and play with their mistakes. Correcting every error can be demotivating. Focus on common and impeding errors.

There seemed to be a mixed opinion of how important it is to get rid of fossilized errors. Some chatters thought that communication was the main goal, especially when speaking, therefore as long as the listener could understand what the speaker wanted to communicate, there wasn't too much of a problem. Others thought that accuracy was very important and that all errors should be corrected, not just those that impede communication. Everybody agreed that the teaching context was important in this question, and that different situations require different levels of accuracy. So how can we deal with fossilized errors in an effective way? Some great ideas were shared in this part of the discussion, and I'm looking forward to trying some of them out! Practical Ideas: • Recording students - you could play the recording, ask for general impression, give them the tapescript, have them correct their own or peer's errors - lots of possibilities here! • Have students self correct and peer correct, which is more effective than teacher correction. • Say: "Whaaaaat? That's not English. No one in the UK is going to understand what that means." • Playing games with individual mistakes or common errors. • Focus on one error at a time, stopping students and having them correct it before moving on. • Writing slows down and takes a snapshot of how learners really feel the language works. Better noticing opportunities. • Give students a funny look when they make a fossilized error - they will realise something is wrong and correct themselves (not to be tried with new or very shy students!) • Prevention is more significant than defossilization (an apple a day…) • Discover and clarify why and how errors occur. • Personalized "fossil" diaries where students record their particular errors. • Focus on fossilized errors at the end of an activity. • Keep a "fossil" dictionary. • Say "I don't understand what you're saying". • Dictations using common errors. • Ask students to vary their fluency/accuracy during speaking tasks. • Write answers/problems on the board to discuss as a class. • Error diaries - students observe themselves out of class and report back on their usage. • Have a wiki - each student has their own page for errors. • Don't correct individual students on the spot, but save errors for class correction at the end. • Students must be invested in correcting the error.

February 2011 How do you deal with fossilized errors and help students improve their accuracy? - 23.02.2011

•

Soundcloud, Voicethread, Voxopop etc to record students. They could listen to themselves and choose good things they have said or errors they have made. • Motivate students to experiment with language. • Ask some students to be monitors and write down what they hear during speaking activities. • Use fossil journals in pairs - each student tries to get their partner to make the errors in their journal. • Use humour to point out errors e.g. "I talk to the phone", act out talking to your phone! • Recording students can make students more careful - karaoke effect. • Take a fun/playful approach to error correction. • Ask students to actually make mistakes for short periods to help master the accuracy/fluency control. • Drills • Explain the consequences of mistakes, especially embarrassing ones. • Students as teachers - note down errors for constructive feedback in groups. • Laughing at our own mistakes can work wonders. • Grammar auctions. • Bring in a guest (who ideally doesn't speak L1) for students to interview. They may not understand the "fossils". • Have students mimic different accents (this cuts down on inhibitions that cause mistakes). • Snakes and ladders or other games. • Mixing correct and incorrect sentences on the board and asking students to spot those with errors. Lots of thing to think about and some interesting techniques to try out. I hope this summary is useful and gives you some new ideas about how to deal with fossilized errors. I'll end with a couple of tweets that I particularly liked about the topic of fossilization in general: "We all must agree that life is too short to aim for perfection! Teach your students how to be critical and they themselves will realize their errors." "I'm optimistic about it too! I don't see fossilization as a sort of massive failing. It is something to approach head on." Links: Methodology http://www.onestopenglish.com/support/ask-the-experts/methodology-questions/method ology-fossilized-errors/146396.article http://kalinago.blogspot.com/2009/03/fossilized-errors-in-foreign-language.html http://eltnotebook.blogspot.com/2007/04/deciding-what-and-when-to-correct.html Materials

February 2011 How do you deal with fossilized errors and help students improve their accuracy? - 23.02.2011

http://jasonrenshaw.typepad.com/jason_renshaws_web_log/2011/02/writew ays-spelling-and-language-development.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8gqhTlUnCg&feature=youtu.be http://jasonrenshaw.typepad.com/jason_renshaws_web_log/2010/05/gifts-from-the-rave ns-nest-phonics-and-sentence-navigator-kits.html

February 2011 How do you deal with Mixed Ability Classes - 23.02.2011

How do you deal with Mixed Ability Classes - 23.02.2011 How do you deal with Mixed Ability Classes

Photo fromfreedigitalphoto This is the summary of the #eltchat on Wednesday 24th February. The topic was teaching Mixed ability classes

The early part of the discussion was centred on the definition of the mixed ability, with chatters suggesting things such as -

It's all sorts - different levels/ different needs / different mixtures

Different levels of achievement or different levels is a different issues

Also classes where some are very strong in writing while others are much stronger in speaking -

So same level just different abilities?

more/less able students who are fantastic at one particular aspect of the language not so good at others Mixed ability is different levels of active / passive vocab/grammar/cultural knowledge(L1 and L2)/skills â&#x20AC;Śbut also maturity levels/concentration span/energy levels/short and long-term memory/social skills/attitudes to Engâ&#x20AC;Ś! -

teaching mixed ability in the first sense is just teaching none of us are the same

Always important to not always think of strong and weak in terms of language - there are other things to consider The consensus seemed to be that 'all classes' are mixed ability in some ways. Worksheets

February 2011 How do you deal with Mixed Ability Classes - 23.02.2011

A large part of the chat then moved onto the topic of worksheets and whether the preparation of different workshops for different abilities was a solution. Different worksheets for everyone is the standard advice in mixed level teaching orthodoxy but is it really viable? Different worksheets for all just not practical in mainstream with 30 kids and so much difference Also same worksheet can be used in different ways to exploit it e.g. for YLs - write minimum 3 sentences (allows stronger to write more) Can teachers really find time to make different worksheets would it be better for students to make their own? -

Task differentiation is OK, it's not always necessary to have different worksheets

Tasks should be flexible in terms of level and aims.

Why do we need w/sheets? Use the whiteboard for examples then ask class to work in groups, they will show you their knowledge So what other advice was given? It can summarised into key areas. 1. Make the stronger students the team leader of other students or helpers. With a clear reason for helping There was quite a discussion on the use of strong students and wherever it was motivating for them or not. Which was the best pairing a strong and weak student or pairing similar abilities? 2. Try not to work in lockstep all the time. It was felt that lots of group work and mingles work very well for mixed abilities. This needs a variety and balance activities in a lesson as this gives all a chance to shine at something. The content can come students so the use of a student-centred approach is key. They can be given responsibility for creating their own tasks, choosing their own reading and so on. Peer teaching allows a lot of support. 3. Encourage co-operation rather than competition 4. Do open ended activities 5. Project work lends itself to mixed abilities

February 2011 How do you deal with Mixed Ability Classes - 23.02.2011

6. Classroom management For example pacing is important. Don't always wait until the very last one has finished their task. Also it helps to know your class and use monitoring effectively -find out which answers which students know then call on them 7. Work on develop language learning skills to foster autonomy 8. Dictogloss, quizzes, different stories/retelling are useful activities to use with mixed ability classes Some links and ideas: Esl first aid wiki Advice on adapting materials for mixed ability classes Onestopenglish This is a good graded song listening site, lyrics training teachingexpertise.com Jigsaw reading activities in mixed ability classes Esolcourses Guardian Newspaper article ELTBase blog - solutions to mixed ability Hope you find it an accurate summary Shaun

March 2011 How do you revisit taught material and recycle effectively? - 02.03.2011

March 2011 How do you revisit taught material and recycle effectively? - 02.03.2011 This summary was contributed by Tara Benwell By Tara Benwell tweeting for @ESLLibrary and was first posted here on the ESL Library Blog - Many thanks to Tara for her great summary and constant support.

How do you revisit taught material and recycle effectively? It's been a while since I wrote an #edchat review and I was happy to volunteer to summarize this week's #ELTChat. I blogged about the topic of recycling vocabulary a few weeks ago in ESLLibrary's #FF tribute post, and I was eager to join the chat to discover other tricks from teachers like Leahn. The art of "recycling" seems a bit sneaky, doesn't it? We don't want to come out and tell students that an upcoming activity or game is designed to drill structures, vocabulary, or rules into their heads. Or do we? You can find the transcript for this week's ELT Chat here. Questions we pondered… How does "recycling" differ from "reviewing"? @vladkaslniecko

the

…recycling can imitate a real life learning (outside the classroom)…practice

same things in various contexts?@rliberni …recycling always deals with putting the old material into new contexts 4 the sake of 1. memoriz., 2 activation?@DinaDobrou …revision like "reminding" them; recycling "getting them to use it"? Revision is sth they do on their own too When is the best time to recycle material? #ELTChatters said… beginning of class end is best throughout in quick bursts whenever, wherever whenever it's logical @cgoodey "According recent Pearson seminar from Norbert & Diane Schmitt -

recycle very

soon after introducing new vocab." Some more research is clearly needed. Anyone care to blog about this or share links to further research about retention? As I mentioned in the chat, I recently watched a video about memory that talked about the importance of "endings" in the human memory. As I was working on this

March 2011 How do you revisit taught material and recycle effectively? - 02.03.2011

summary, I saw my tweet and suddenly remembered the video. It was a TEDTalk by Daniel Kahneman about "the remembering self" vs. "the experiencing self" and it discusses the importance of time. I hope you'll find 20 minutes to watch it (perhaps at the end of your day). What are some ways we can recycle grammar, structure, pronunciation, and items other than vocabulary? reading/ listening: re-visit same listening or reading passage in a subsequent lesson with a different purpose, such as a class discussion grammar: use flashcards created by stds â&#x20AC;Śand keep them for later sentence structure: dominoesâ&#x20AC;Śgood for things like conjunctions, conditionals. for review of "stems" shout out beginning stem of a structure, ss have to write 2nd part down pronunciation - jazz chants. Ss write new one or add on more verses, then chant Suggested Techniques do a little bit every day put students in charge (creating activities, puzzles, warmers, projects) keep it fun (This is not a test! A competition maybe) change the context from the original lesson Suggested Activities miming pictionary shouting game/a.k.a hot seat Friday language auction (ask @sueannan for more details) have students create their own picture dictionaries (address books/ Google Docs) project work write stories based on vocab diaries (or blogs) to review in a personal way (what did we learn) words in a hat (pull out and make a sentence or tell short story together) tic-tac-toe sticky note on head or back/ they mingle and guess their word ("who am I" style) action charades for revising verbs and objects word search and crossword competitions create cartoons design their own memory game question box based on previously taught content Wise Tweets "teaching/learning without recycling is useless" @vladkaslniecko "little and often is the key" @KarenInGreece "Use the walls to scaffold previously taught lang and vocab" @Fuertesun

March 2011 How do you revisit taught material and recycle effectively? - 02.03.2011

"Learning new vocab should be with production in mind, so the opportunity to recycle should come naturally. Easy to forget though!"@theteacherjames "Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.I think we have to engage our students" @du_siemens Although #ELTChat always raises important questions, provides useful suggestions, and allows English teachers to connect with teachers from various backgrounds and specialties, it often leaves us with a bunch of outstanding questions to ponder. Such asâ&#x20AC;Ś How can we organize our time to fit recycling in? How can we convince learners (with the finish-the-book mentality) that recycling/review is a crucial component to learning? How do we choose which vocab. to recycle each day? Is there an ideal #? What do we know about long and short term memory? How can class blogs help with recycling? by By Tara Benwell

March 2011 How do you approach teaching Exam Classes? - 02.03.2011

How do you approach teaching Exam Classes? - 02.03.2011 The noontime #ELTchat on 02-03-2011 focused on teaching exam classes, a topic which @sandymillin had been putting up for a vote for weeks!!!!! Well, its time came eventually, or we all succumbed to Sandy's obvious keen desire to talk about exam classes After the chat @BrunoELT offered to write up the summary and here it is, copied from his blog! Thanks, Bruno!

ELTchat - How to approach exam classes This morning's ELTchat discussion was on the experiences on how to approach exams classes. International EFL exams is an endlessly growing market in which teachers' need to be prepared for. Chatters started sharing their experiences in teaching exams. The range of exams was very comprehensive and included: Cambridge exams (YL - Starters, Movers, Flyers, KET and PET and Main Suite - FCE, CAE and CPE.) ; TOEFL, IELTS, OTE, Michigan, Trinity, TIE and TOEIC. Needless to say, someone pointed out that not everyone is familiar with all this acronyms. And the agreed definition of an exam class was one where the endgame is to take a pass a specific test but not leaving behind the acquisition of language as well. In the very beginning of the discussion chatters agreed that concerning exams practice is key and should never be taken for granted. The insights were: - * Some students can develop their own techniques to deal with tests - * Some other students may completely turn a blind eye on the techniques you've taught when they actually do the exam - * Sometimes students get bored of all the practice and just want to talk - * Students need to be guided on how to do the test. - * The knowledge students need to have for an exam does not come up naturally. It is about the combination of what they can learn generally and the techniques for the exam. - * There seems to be little transfer from what students learn for the exams to real life and perhaps teaching techniques may help - * A good way to prove that taking exams without practice can be pointless is telling them that regardless their level of the language, if they don't have the techniques; they're likely to face big problems.

March 2011 How do you approach teaching Exam Classes? - 02.03.2011

However, it was skillfully pointed out that a lot of teachers focus on practice exercises and forget about teaching the language ad skills. And what chatters had to say about it was: - * Sometimes students just want to talk for the sake of talking - * It is good from time to time to tell your students to throw away the book and watch telly. - * Teaching students the necessary skills/strategies involved is vital as well as practice - * Concerning band exams such as IELTS, teach beyond the exam students are working and then they will be comfortable for a lower band * The points in which teachers felt that were issues in exams were: - * The maturity of students when taking the test. Some reported that 14 year-old-students wanted to take CPE and failed miserably for lack of experience. - * Too much obsession in taking exams - * The stress and pressure put on students and expectations both teachers and students have towards a great result - * Too often students don't have the subject knowledge depth for the exam (even in L1) - * Some students who passed the exams can hardly speak - * Students who don't have a good enough level but are in exam preparation classes and intent on doing the exam anyways. - * When asked to write an essay students can't even think of ideas in their L1 - * Some colleagues find exams classes too serious to make fun and play - * Lack of familiarization with the exams - * Lack of learner autonomy - work outside classroom is necessary to do well in exams. - * The mindset of result seekers - * Some students only see the certificate at the end important rather than the process - * Students can hardly find time to come to class let alone studying outside the class - * Most of students don't have enough linguistic resources strategies - * Parents who only care about the certificate regardless their child's abilities

March 2011 How do you approach teaching Exam Classes? - 02.03.2011

- * Many teachers see little point to the YL exams - * Most of the exam preparation books are not good and interesting enough Great ideas to lessen the pressure on students, how to improve their achievements on exams were and to create a less boring environment were: - * Have students examine the tests, then make their own projects and items for them, then 'test' each other - * Have students write their own questions in the style of the exam and promote a quiz with classmates - * Use a Task-based approach and let the exam items and formats create some parameters - * Create pop-quizzes - * Teaching unplugged is a great way to approach exams. Teach naturally what needs to be taught going for teaching moments. - * Give students advice on what exams they might want to take in the future - * It's good for students to start up from the very first tests so that when they get to the advanced ones they are confident enough - * Compare several descriptions of the exam, see if you can spot any contradictions, and then decide which one is the easiest to understand, most comprehensive and/or concentrates on the most important points. - * Get exam preparation students to be responsible for themselves - * Photocopy each text and blow them up. Put each one on a different wall and give students the questions can be very dynamic. - * The potential vagueness/looseness of Dogme and the constrained/contrived nature of exams make for a positive mix - * Exams have to be looked at differently depending on whether formative or summative; different psychological effects and practical purposes - * Talk about your own experiences in taking exams with students - * Do the "getting to know the exam" exercises for students in textbooks and self-study book Useful links:

March 2011 How do you approach teaching Exam Classes? - 02.03.2011

www.flo-joe.co.uk www.fotobabble.com www.cambridgeesol.org www.ielts.org www.ets.org/toefl/ www.splendid-speaking.com Resources for FCE, CAE, CPE: http://esl.about.com/od/cambridgeexams/ On-line CPE grammar: www.examenglish.com/cpe/CPE_grammar.htm On-line CPE vocabulary: www.examenglish.com/cpe/CPE_vocab.htm FLO - JOE place for teachers and students www.flo-joe.co.uk/cpe/students/tests/index.htm Wy?sza Szko?a Informatyki in Bia?ystok provides the following CPE tests:www.wsi.edu.pl/dydaktyka/english/testy/przy_testy_cpe.htm Project Gutenberg gives opportunity of reading classics:http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page Collection of FCE and CAE tests:www.jezykniemieckinet.webpark.pl/angielski.htm They have hundreds of classic books you can read now:www.pagebypagebooks.com/ Cambridge exam (FCE/ CAE) style exercises: www.parapal-online.co.uk/cambridge.html Churchill House test for Cambridge exams: www.churchillhouse.com/tests/ Better writing: www.askoxford.com/betterwriting/?view=uk Free on-line tests: www.it.uom.gr/elu/online.htm On-line exam (KET/ PET/ FCE/ CAE/ CPE/ IELTS/ TOEFL/ tests) www.english-online.org.uk/exam.htm Longman exam centre: www.longman.com/exams/teachers/index.html

March 2011 How can we best help burnt-out colleagues? How do we help them get their enthusiasm back and encourage sharing and support? - 09.03.2011

How can we best help burnt-out colleagues? How do we help them get their enthusiasm back and encourage sharing and support? - 09.03.2011 Last week's #ELTchat focused on teacher burn-out and here is the summary contributed by Priscilla Santos @teacher_prix on Twitter! Many thanks, Priscilla:-)

#ELTchat Summary March 9, 2011.

Image not found The chat was kicked off by @rliberni dropping the chat topic question:

How can we avoid teacher burnout? A number of suggestions were listed by chatters; the most recurrent were: Being aware of it and keeping and eye open; Having a PLN to vent with; Doing capoeira; Taking sometime for yourself; Eating right; Exercising; Making a fool of yourself; Getting a good night's sleep; Tweeting; Attending conferences; Sharing (ideas, feelingsâ&#x20AC;Ś); Seeing a therapist; Changing teaching topics (e.g.: from teaching General English to teaching Exams); PD. Although the symptoms of burnout were extensively brainstormed most of them seemed to end up affecting two distinct, though co-dependent, areas: Emotional: Boredom; Irritability; Mood swings; Lack of enthusiasm; Lack of motivation.

March 2011 How can we best help burnt-out colleagues? How do we help them get their enthusiasm back and encourage sharing and support? - 09.03.2011

Professional: Teaching the same content too many times; Lack of creativity; Unplanned lessons; Having to do too much paperwork; Unhealthy competition; PD. Another issue raised was concerning the actions to be taken by Institutes, schools, DOS and coordinators towards the problem. Chatters raised ideas and gave suggestions, such as: Non-teaching related opportunities for socializing; Organize weekend trips 2 or 3 times a year; Praise and support teachers; Acknowledge accomplishments; Provide proper training and guidance; Encourage action research groups; Blended learning (3 days of F2F lessons and 2 distance) Motivate! The good side of it is that some actions have already been put into practice: @CeciELT: "My school got us quick massage therapists in the staff room for 2 days in our craziest week last semester." It was also discussed that schools should be run by educators who have management skills, so as to understand and see eye to eye with teachers' opinions and needs. Some chatters also shared their experiences and feelings: @waykatewit: "I myself suffered from burnout a few years ago. One year ago -back to life." @annapires: "One thing that worries me abt burnout is when it leads to loss of enthusiasm. We see that a lot in state school teaching here". @naomishema: "Seriously, participating in #30goals , caused me to look at my work from a different angle, find re-energizing, despite being work." @Fuertesun: "I see a lot of tchrs off work in the state system here". I believe some tweets need to be read and re-read a number of times as they mean much more than 140 characters - I chose a few; the list is long, though: @DinaDobrou: "So far it all comes down to 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy'". @dejongdd: "@Marisa_C Back from burnout? Had to change attitude toward circumstances. Can't change 'em, can only change the way I look at 'em." @evmaiden: "Might boil down to some basic more basic elements: feeling supported,

March 2011 How can we best help burnt-out colleagues? How do we help them get their enthusiasm back and encourage sharing and support? - 09.03.2011

valued, having a voice in decisions". @ShellTerrell: "A little late but the support from educators online really has helped me with burn-out! I think PLNs a must for educators". @davymmck: "I wish I had more time for twitter. 38 contact hours weekly doesn't leave much time for anything. Burnout is a way of life". @ShellTerrell: "Also believe we need to get out of mentality of being constant miracle workers & being superheroes like media tries to urge us 2 do". During the chat some links were shared: @harrisonmike: Capoeira: http://youtu.be/Z8xxgFpK-NM; @cybraryman1: Coping Strategies: http://tinyurl.com/4td3gnk; @KarenInGreece: Article on burnout by @lclandfield http://bit.ly/eVG9E4; @ShellTerrell: #30goals: http://bit.ly/i9be3d. In the end all chatters agreed and retweeted @rliberni's conclusion:

"So, it's official! Twitter prevents burnout! Cheap and very effective. #eltchat" by Priscilla Santos. @teacher_prix

March 2011 How do we motivate teens to extend their speaking activities, so as to go beyond "I agree" "I disagree"? 09.03.2011

How do we motivate teens to extend their speaking activities, so as to go beyond "I agree" "I disagree"? - 09.03.2011 The noontime #ELTchat on 09/03/2011 focused on how to motivate teens to extend their speaking activities, so as to go beyond "I agree" "I disagree". A numbers of issues was raised such as motivation, being relaxed, students' silence etc. This summary was contributed by Anastasia Kararoudi - @tasoulazac on Twitter and although she is new to Twitter I think she did a great job! Thank you Anastasia!!!!!! #ELTchat Summary Image not found Image used with the kind permission of F Michael Kloran - more at http://www.myenglishimages.com/

Do you think that students can speak in front of the class and the teacher just because you tell them: "You're in class and I'm telling you to speak in L2 now"? #ELTchatters started sharing their experience and mentioned that speaking activities should be motivating and teachers should make students want to speak and participate in class not because someone told them to or they just "have to" but because they find the topic familiar or relevant to their lives and they have personal opinions to share. As a result speaking activities should be related to their "real lives", or to something they can connect to and find something to say, whether it is accurate or not. They also need to feel secure in order to speak out which means that we, as teachers, must create a warm and welcoming environment to foster participation. And why don't they feel secure? Because one 'fear' for teens is sounding 'babyish' as they don't have enough vocabulary to express themselves. #ELTchatters agreed that the hardest thing about working with teens is that teachers forget what it feels like to be a teen so try not to ask them do speaking tasks that they wouldn't naturally do in L1 or you wouldn't enjoy doing.

Some really great activities shared: -

Give students role-plays ( they could even create their own cards). Organize speaking competitions, debates, news show. Play the "devil's advocate". Make projects using cameras. Choose a topic and appoint students to be the 'teacher' or the 'expert'.

March 2011 How do we motivate teens to extend their speaking activities, so as to go beyond "I agree" "I disagree"? 09.03.2011

- Organize a 'joke day'(students tell jokes in L2 and then they vote for the best). - Ask them to interview other teachers or friends and then they have to be the reporters and the rest of the class the audience. - Students could make up their own cartoons. - Play the "gossip" game (two-minute conversation, they change partners and talk about what they just talked about with the first partner". - "Radio DJ" (students introduce a song/singer they love as if they were a DJ, they explain how it makes them feel and the others comment). - "Treasures" (students bring in something important to them and they have to tell the story behind it) an activity which is like the old "Show and Tell" at school. - Cut up cards with controversial statements for students to agree or disagree and justify it. - Ban phrases "agree"- "disagree" and get students to find synonyms/other ways to say same. - Have an L1 policeman in each group, i.e. one student who makes sure everyone participates in English; this could be one of the quiet students.

How to keep teens motivated during speaking activities: - Get students to choose topics of interest to them so as to feel motivated. - Every speaking activity needs a build up otherwise students are not prepared contextually or cognitively. - Reward students who keep talking in L2 with stickers, stars, prizes etc. - Cut up lots of speaking prompts and force them to use as many as possible in their discussion as a competition. - Prepare students well by giving them thinking/preparation time, be patient and monitor to ensure they're on task. - Allow rehearsal time. - Teens usually find discussion points rather boring so give them an angle eg. Discuss as if you were a lawyer/priest/â&#x20AC;Ś - Students love it when they get into the "I am showing the teacher something new" mode, so try to exploit that.

Some useful links: http://www.yearinthelifeofanenglishteacher.com/2011/01/10-contemporary-motivation-th eories-and-how-they-explain-why-your-students-just-arent-into-it/ http://www.cybraryman.com/debate.html http://www.teachingvillage.org/2010/06/29/tips-for-teaching-teens-by-michelle-worgan/ http://www.slideshare.net/paulmaglione/efl-unlocking-learner-motivation-in-the-age-of-th e-digital-native http://www.cybraryman.com/humor.html http://www.cybraryman.com/news.html http://vladimiramichalkova.edublogs.org/2011/03/09/%E2%80%9Cseeing-is-believing-or -seeing-is-knowing-%E2%80%9D-guest-post-by-brad-patterson/ http://echucaelearning.wikispaces.com/Voicethread

March 2011 How do we motivate teens to extend their speaking activities, so as to go beyond "I agree" "I disagree"? 09.03.2011

http://sandymillin.wordpress.com/2011/01/20/encouraging-english-in-teen-classroom/ As Tara Benwell said "although ELTChat always raises important questions, provides useful suggestions, and allows English teachers to connect with teachers from various backgrounds and specialties, it often leaves us with a bunch of outstanding questions to ponder such as": - Topics that work well are teen-centered or teen-selected? Thank you very much and don't forget that â&#x20AC;Ś

"to teach teens, think like a teen!!!" (@chucksandy) by Anastasia Kararoudi @tasoulazac

March 2011 How do we cater for the needs of our learners in this digital age? - 16.03.2011

How do we cater for the needs of our learners in this digital age? 16.03.2011

This is a summary of the early #ELTchat on March 16 2011 kindly contributed by Bruno Adnrade - @BrunoELT on Twitter Hello ELTchatters, Once again I've voluntered to write the summary and I'd like to thank Marisa Constantines for this opportunity and apologize for the delay. Sorry! The topic of this discussion is something that I consider very interesting and thought-provoking: "How do we cater for the needs of our learners in this digital age?". Participants started the discussion by defining Mobile Learning. The definitions were: it's about using your mobile phone as a learning resource learning using mobile devices (such as phones, iPads, netbooks, games consoles, etc) mlearning is the kind of learning that enhances and promotes autonomous learning. Learning beyond the classroom On a more technical note: Mobile learning refers to any sort of learning that happens when the learner is not at a fixed, predetermined location, or learning that happens when the learner takes advantage of the learning opportunities offered by mobile technologies. In other words mobile learning decreases limitation of learning location with the mobility of general portable devices. The use of technology in education has gained a lot of attention on the part of teachers, students and community as well. The benefits of it are undeniable; however most of the teachers do not know how to effectively make use of this powerful and transforming tool. Some chatters tried to tie up the concept of technology with language teaching. It was stated that digital integration promotes communication, collaboration and creation skills. We are all well too aware of the fact that technology always changes a language. Printing, telephone, broadcasting, and lastly the internet all are somehow responsible for changes in the language. Mainly due to the great number of technological apparatus that have been/will be invented, no one can precisely predict how much language has been affected by the technological processes we are exposed in today's world. Nevertheless, it is a fact that each one of these technologies which can be referred as new opportunities for communication produce a kind of language. In the case of English a new style of English. This is easily recognized when we pay attention to the fact that the language we use when blogging is not the same as when twitting, or updating a Facebook status, or sending IMs or SMSs. To my mind, although the actual language has not changed much, the language has become expressively richer due to the advancements in technology.

March 2011 How do we cater for the needs of our learners in this digital age? - 16.03.2011

Many participants exposed their experiences with technology in class and therefore commented on the benefits of it: for adult learners who haven't got much time for lessons, technology can be a great way of bridging between face-to-face meetings. When integrating technology students are more motivated to self-explore the topic and apply it after class. Digital integration may potentially promote communication outside the boundaries of a classroom Effective digital integration depends a lot on teachers' and students' choice of activities and tools. Our role should be showing students how to explore technology and thus make topics more meaningful. Chatting with students through IMs has proved to enhance students' sense of self-confidence about their learning. Social media has narrowed down the gap between speaking and writing. We must draw students' attention to different types of discourse styles and rules. Teachers need to be competent at languages to use abbreviations and texting speak correctly. Some students feel that updating a status on Facebook or Tweeting is less intimidating than speaking in class or in real contexts. Going from the classroom outwards, the power of breaking down the walls is beyond question. In the past, radio and TV allowed us to connect with the outside world to a certain extent. However, this was done very much indirectly through their media. Nowadays through the internet and all the technological devices we have at hands, students can access more authentic language and also through computer mediated communication teachers can connect with other classes over the globe asynchronously. But if teachers manage to connect with educators in similar time zones, we can actually have synchronous interaction. Another point worth mentioning is that teacher can also break the walls coming inwards. Basically it means that learning management systems allow students who cannot go and communicative with the outside to have access to material, resources and activities that teachers have prepared from their home. After some time, a question made by one of the chatters got them discussing about the impact of effective technology integration has on learners. And their comments were: It's important to survey our students to see which technologies, social media sites and tools they already use so that they feel more eager to take part in a project or activities. Tech integration promotes involvement and willingness to use the language outside the classroom. It can back fire when teachers are not familiar with it Students are more motivated when they are learning the language and the skills needed for the kinds of technology they already use. An easily recognizable sense of language confidence. It can improve students' lexical repertoire from the former class by avoiding net

March 2011 How do we cater for the needs of our learners in this digital age? - 16.03.2011

vocabulary or slangs when using IMs for example. Teachers must aware of the fact that although students' Online communication is a new genre and needs to be illustrated among others. Students thrive when teachers connect the learning content into an existing technological behavior. Social media offer students the authentic meaningful interactions we strain to achieve in class. I'm of the opinion that it is extremely important that technology plays the role of support to the learning and not just a gimmick or something temporary. It has to serve as aid to teaching and learning. Another important thing we need to ponder is the balance of the use of technology and make sure there is not only all one thing and this includes the use of non-tech resources as well. Sometimes I wonder what the risks, if any at all, of NOT using technology in class since I cannot picture myself without integrating tech into my teaching practices. It is not that our students will not make progress, will not learn. But why not taking advantage of the new tools that are out there? Especially if they make the teaching-learning process more efficient or perhaps if they save you from long hours of preparation and planning. We should use technology not only because our pupils use it or will be expected to in their careers. We need to use technology to tear down our classroom walls. We should use technology to show students that their voices can travel the world just like ours do when we tweet, blog or update a status on Facebook. We need to use technology to motivate students to continuously research and to show them that their work transcends beyond the class syllabus.

by Bruno Adnrade

March 2011 Is what you are teaching relevant to what your students need? - 23.03.2011

Is what you are teaching relevant to what your students need? - 23.03.2011 This summary was contributed by John Daley - @lysurgis23 on Twitter- an ESL instructor in Adelaide North Institute, TAFE South Australia. Thank you John for a great summary!!!!!! The discussion was conducted on Twitter from 1200 GMT Wednesday 23rd March 2011. You can find the transcript of the Twitter chat here

Introduction

Photo of class of refugees - with permission of CELT Athens

Most of the people I have met in learning groups - in my current (directly ESL) work in the Australian city of Adelaide, as well as in my previous work (in an "unofficial" ESL environment) in Sydney - are absolutely driven in their quest to develop their English language skills. They see this as a passport to many benefits - education, better work opportunities, better lifestyles. They usually signal clearly when they do not perceive what they are learning as relevant. This might not be through direct feedback - indeed, in many cultures there is a reluctance to give such feedback due to unwillingness to criticise the teacher authority figure - but we as teachers usually know when we do and when we do not have the attention even the most overtly respectful learners. So how do we deal with "relevance". Certainly, to help them function effectively in the

March 2011 Is what you are teaching relevant to what your students need? - 23.03.2011

community. But what of other aspects? Is it giving the learner a grounding in taboo words (October 2010)? Is it introducing them to topics that might to them seem a wee bit abstract?

Some of the main points: The concept of relevance has several meanings to #ELTchat participants: As things that help the learner in his/her immediate environment as things that will be of use in the future. as being linked to the formal learning outcomes / curriculum objectives of the learning group. whether there is an examination at the end of the learning period; although this concept provoked some varying and dissenting discussion amongst participants. So in some earning environments there are elements of negotiation between learning group and teacher; with the teacher asking the group what the group would like to do to achieve the stated objectives of the course, and the teacher then providing the wherewithal to reach this goal / these goals via those steps chosen by the learning group. The idea of coursebooks took up much discussion. Some #ELTchat participants loathe them; some grudgingly accept them, albeit in heavily modified activity form. Some involve learners in coursebook selection as part of the negotiation mentioned in the previous point. There is a recognition that coursebooks do assist in the "time-poor" work lives of many colleagues. However, some feel at the least unhappy about using coursebooks (rather than having to develop independent resources from the ground up). One participant likened coursebooks to fast food (see tweets below). Needs analysis was also discussed - as an exercise undertaken at the start of a learning period (and indeed before, as prospective students are interviewed), and as an ongoing process affecting where the learning group goes in its time together. There is also the question of "unpopular" topics that might nonetheless be useful knowledge / information for a learner - especially with young learners / high school students who might perceive a particular lesson as irrelevant when it is dealing in something useful. (We have this debate from time to time in Australia, not in the ESL field, but in the area of "civics" - how government works, the republic v constitutional monarchy debate, and so on.)

A selection of comments: With such a vibrant discussion, it's almost impossible to do it justice in a summary, but I've picked out some of the comments that caught my eye. englishraven:

styles, etcâ&#x20AC;Ś #ELTChat

@barbsaka Yes, relevance in terms of content, skills, goals, learning

March 2011 Is what you are teaching relevant to what your students need? - 23.03.2011

yearinthelifeof: @barbsaka When suggesting this topic I was thinking in terms of 'relevant to future needs #ELTchat JoshSRound: @barbsaka: I guess my first question is what do you mean by

"relevant"? >

what will help ss to use Eng effectively in own lives #eltchat edumazing: We need

future needs

to ensure relevance to current needs before applying it to

#eltchat barbsaka: That's another one-revelant to the assigned course goals (like not getting off track). Slippery word, relevant #eltchat edumazing: I use the 3Rs in

content,

my work - Relevant-connected 2 student, Rich-deep in

Real - related to their world #eltchat esolcourses:

element of

@yearinthelifeof @barbsaka agreedâ&#x20AC;Ś think there has to be an

negotiated learning (their wishes + prof. guidance) #ELTChat bcnpaul1: often

shd be a part

YLs need to be trained (very slowly) to identify their needs, which

of the course content (learner training) #eltchat esolcourses: Think

teachers

delivering what learners need is ultimately down to teachers, but

rarely get full say in deciding what to teach #ELTChat ddeubel: How many teachers get the support / time to do a proper needs analysis? #eltchat waykatewit: #ELTchat @ddeubel needs analysis is a continuous process

lesson,

- at every

maybe worldteacher: @englishraven

adults, my

Agreed - YLs have to be handled differently, but, with

most useful lesson is the 1st one - needs analysis. #eltchat esolcourses: @ddeubel IME, the expectation is that teachers will do a needs analysis,

but it's

a very time-consuming process to do properly #ELTChat Marisa_C: RT

@JoshSRound: What abt the part tutorials can play in identifying learner needs? - Indiv Learning Plans anyone? #eltchat> A v good idea Marisa_C: @JoshSRound Tutorials need to be structured in some way - that's what we

have

found - otherwise turn into aimless chats #eltchat englishraven: @BrunoELT

always take

Maybe we should also back ourselves as Ts and not

Ss' perceived needs as the best/only indicator. #ELTChat worldteacher: @sandymillin RT How often do you reassess syllabus? #eltchat

It's a

continuous process except for exam courses, but even those are 'tweaked'

March 2011 Is what you are teaching relevant to what your students need? - 23.03.2011

grahamstanley: RT @azangolszekely: #eltchat coursebooks… are hardly ever relevant… >agreed, but few teachers have time to prepare lessons without one Marisa_C: Have you

it and it

ever asked your Ss to choose their coursebook? I have done

works really well #ELTchat yearinthelifeof: @Marisa_C Some weeks it's a bit of a drag but worth it. A class of 18

ss is full

of 18 people with diff needs #ELTchat englishraven: @Shaunwilden Funny how often I've let classes choose the

coursebook, and

then want to ditch it three weeks later! #ELTChat esolcourses: @Marisa_C Don't use coursebooks, but often give learners a

choice in

topics/activities we do in class… find that works well, too #ELTChat Shaunwilden: RT

coursebook and

@englishraven: Another option is having Ss go through the

rank units in order of interest/relevance. #ELTChat gd idea englishraven: RT

attractively

@grahamstanley: #eltchat coursebooks are the fast food of ELT :

packaged, quick and easy to consume, and leaves you feeling full but guilty sandymillin: @chucksandy

teens whn

@waykatewit Think unpopular topics are an issue w/

you should teach thm about world too e.g. 'serious' topics #eltchat englishraven: RT @yearinthelifeof: @Marisa_C We all need safety blankets

sometimes -

perhaps coursebook publishers rely on this fact #ELTchat CeciELT: RT

continue

@EclipsingX: Needs Analysis are not only at the beginning but

throughout the course. You change based on your learners needs. #ELTCHAT

As ever, some great links were shared: englishraven: RT @ddeubel: I think Richard's ideas on adapting the textbook are relevant to meeting student's needs. http://bit.ly/f6FeXc #eltchat BlackCatCideb: RT @teachingenglish: ideas for setting homework for young learners. http://bit.ly/h6vDor #teachingenglish #britishcouncil #TESOL #eltchat #efl #esl

stopspanglish: @JoshSRound : There's a good prelim questionnaire in CUP's "Learner Autonomy"; & ask

March 2011 Is what you are teaching relevant to what your students need? - 23.03.2011

abt short-, med- & long-term goals. #eltchat teacher_prix: RT @ddeubel: Sue Swift has an awesome presentation on needs analysis http://bit.ly/gYmQC5 #ELTChat - Thx! =) yearinthelifeof: How I developed an academic vocabulary syllabus based on ss long-term needs http://bit.ly/eh9fpZ #ELTchat yearinthelifeof: Why teaching formulaic writing doesn't meet long-term needs - good article http://www.jstor.org/stable/3588074 Baaddd 5 parag essay #ELTchat cybraryman1: My Writing Curriculum page: http://bit.ly/f0WjHf #eltchat barbsaka: @edumazing I have link to mine handy (for YLs) http://bit.ly/gNyOCD (lots of samples to check out) #eltchat [NB: Link is to the Let's Go! Course] by John Daley @lysurgis23

New to ELTchat? If you have never participated in an #ELTchat discussion, then please note that these take place twice a day every Wednesday on Twitter at 12pm GMT and 9pm GMT. Over 400 educators participate in this discussion by just adding #edchat to their tweets. For tips on participating in the discussion, please check out this video, Using Tweetdeck for Hashtag Discussions

What do you think? Please leave a comment!

March 2011 How can we make observations less stressful and more a part of ongoing professional development? 23.03.2011

How can we make observations less stressful and more a part of ongoing professional development? - 23.03.2011

This summary was contributed by Priscilla Santos - @teacher_prix on Twitter! What a great job! Thank you!!!!!!

To be or not to beâ&#x20AC;Ś Observed!

Microsoft Clip Art Image

I have been observed a number of times since I started teaching. Those observations have happened for a number of reasons, ranging from DOS checking if I was following the school's method accordingly to my asking a colleague's help with a very unusual teenage group.

I believe in lesson observations if they have a clear purpose, and allow for some reflection - I don't mind being observed at all. In fact, I really enjoy and respect feedback sessions. However, being on the other side, playing the observer's role is something yet to be figured out in my head. How much more should I know in order to be the person in charge of observing other teachers? How much reading should I have done? How should I tackle feedback? What puts me in a position of 'criticizing' someone else's work? How picky, straight to the point or sensitive should I be? Will I ever be ready? How many more questionsâ&#x20AC;Ś? Writing this #ELTchat summary has widened my views on the matter. Moreover, it has helped

March 2011 How can we make observations less stressful and more a part of ongoing professional development? 23.03.2011

organize my ideas and - yes - it has given me not THE answers to all the questioning above, but the directions so I can find myself around. Thanks #ELTchatters! Here are some of the main themes from the discussion: Reasons for observations:

Professional development; Qualitative; Encouragement and support; Diagnostic.

Factors that interfere with observations in general: School budget; All teachers teach same time slots; Admin support.

Factors that affect the observation process: Criteria; The reason; The observer; The observee; The students; Pre meeting; Feedback.

Types of observation: Peer; Videoed; Informal; Live streamed; Formative; Evaluative; Compulsory; Scheduled; (announced) Unscheduled. (unannounced) The chat closed with teachers brainstorming ideas to answer the main question: @waykatewit: So, to make observation less stress @DaveDodgson - tell teachers we love

March 2011 How can we make observations less stressful and more a part of ongoing professional development? 23.03.2011

them! #ELTchat @JoeMcVeigh: RT @DaveDodgson: So, to make observation less stress & more for PD we need to…. #ELTchat make it feel safe for teachers. @cerirhiannon: RT @DaveDodgson: So, to make observation less stress & more for PD we need to…. #ELTchat observe not evaluate, b open about hows n whys @Marisa_C: RT @DaveDodgson: So, to make observation less stress & more for PD we need to…. #ELTchat? Take them for granted as part of our PD @bcnpaul1: RT @cioccas: @DaveDodgson: To make observation less stress & more for PD we need to make it part of the culture & a shared thing btwn Ts #ELTchat @DinaDobrou: @DaveDodgson…to create a non-threatening environment in our schools where observations are sought after. Am I a dreamer here? #ELTchat As ever, there were some great links shared: @cybraryman1 Observations Page: http://tinyurl.com/4j7824o Walk throughs: http://tinyurl.com/4phs2pf @cerirhiannon Light approach: http://bit.ly/g3XJVw An experiment in lesson observations http://bit.ly/g3XJVw @epicenterone Does relevance matter? http://bit.ly/fSmlGW @Becky_Ellis_ The IRIS camera: http://tinyurl.com/45bn9zm Student privacy rules http://tinyurl.com/y8stkbw @ELTmethods Instruments for classroom observation: http://bit.ly/gvDkuz @shamblesguru

March 2011 How can we make observations less stressful and more a part of ongoing professional development? 23.03.2011

Teachers observation page with links: http://bit.ly/eG4gzp @Marisa_C: Different ways of recording info during an observation http://bit.ly/hRslzg Lighthearted feedback http://bit.ly/gc7vgg @marekandrews Peer Observation: http://www.ten.edu.uy/IMG/pdf/Research_on_Peer_Observation.pdf

New to ELTchat? If you have never participated in an #ELTchat discussion, these take place twice a day every Wednesday on Twitter at 12pm GMT and 9pm GMT. Over 400 educators participate in this discussion by just adding #edchat to their tweets. For tips on participating in the discussion, please check out this video, Using Tweetdeck for Hashtag Discussions! by Priscilla Santos @teacher_prix on Twitter!

What do you think? Leave a comment!

March 2011 How do you use mobile devices in the classroom? Tips, apps, best practices - 30.03.2011

How do you use mobile devices in the classroom? Tips, apps, best practices - 30.03.2011 ELT Chat Summary - 30th March How do you use mobile devices in the classroom? Tips, apps & best practices Introduction This was the initial question for the evening's discussion, although there was some debate about the definition of mobile devices. Some people suggested digital cameras, laptops, tablets - there are also dictophones and digital video cameras. This definition question was never really concluded but the focus eventually headed towards mobile phones and smartphones. I think there was some overlap with the recent topic 'How do we cater for the needs of our learners in a digital age?'

Uses of mobile phones for the classroom eventually became the main focus, although I felt that the chat roamed around a number of areas, including the possibilities for use, teachers' feelings, issues and potential problems and useful apps. As a result, I'm going to attack the summary from four different angles and then I'll present a list of useful links that were shared during the chat.

I would like to point out that I was asked, ever so politely, to do this summary because of my summarising tweetâ&#x20AC;Ś

â&#x20AC;ŚandIthinkit'srealyimportanthathesethingsarekeptinmindwheneverchoosingtechnologiestouse.TobehonestIwassurprisedtobeaskedduetomyobviousskepticismandcritcalstanceduringthechat.But,hey,Ithinkthetechnovangesil tsneedtokeepate l astsometoescn il gn i gtoterrafrima!;)Havn i gdonethsi summaryand had some chance to reflect, I really can see some great potential for some of the apps and tools mentioned, but I do have some of the issues being a problem when I consider the contexts in which I have experience.

[Critical Ed. btw I think it's worth pointing out that a few pro-technology participants do not actually seem to have any connection to ELT, but have some investment in technology. ]

Summary

1) Why bother?

2) What can be done?

3) What could possibly go wrong?

4) What can be done to overcome issues?

1) Why bother?

Shaunwilden

: How do we feel about using them? I'd say why not we use them in life, well I do all the time

March 2011 How do you use mobile devices in the classroom? Tips, apps, best practices - 30.03.2011

ShellTerrell

: Mobile phones allow students to carry the learning in their pocket & study when convenient, 5 min on bus, while in line, etc

ShellTerrell

: I believe it's portable, involves learning anywhere anytime, & involves the learning taking charge of the content

•In some places most people have a smartphone and use it regularly

•In some places more people have smartphones than computers

•In some places it seems that every adult and every child has a smartphone

•

There is a lot of potential for extra practice with a one to one student

•Using this technology could be motivating

•Many students try to use them in class anyway, why not allow it?

•Students could be more

autonomous if guided to use mobile technology

•Smartphones can do loads of clever multi-media things

2) What can we do?

ShellTerrell

: Best ways to use mobile phones for language learning involves audio/image/video recording, & sms features common to most phones now

•

Use dictionary apps, such as SnaPanda for Android

•

Phones can be used to take photos or video for a scavenger hunt activity

March 2011 How do you use mobile devices in the classroom? Tips, apps, best practices - 30.03.2011

•

Take photos of the whiteboard

•

Text students information (or receive it from them) about class or news about practical stuff like lesson cancellations or room changes

•

Get ss to take photos of stuff for hwk, bring to class, show them to a partner and chat about them

•

Create QR codes of things you want students to find on scavenging using mobile devices

•

Use mobile phone to record/ video the ss speaking and they can listen to themselves

•

Use of the audio or video recording devices could overcome a school's lack of resources

March 2011 How do you use mobile devices in the classroom? Tips, apps, best practices - 30.03.2011

•

Adult learners could use language podcasts, record themselves, create videos, use search functions & dictionaries

•

Students can watch videos, perhaps from youtube

•

Use these apps with young learners - StoryRobe, StoryKit, Talking Tom, Mouthoff, Pubppet Pals, Sticki booth, Fotobabble, Animoto, Audioboo, Woices, 43 Things - see links below

•

Use fotobabble to take a picture and record audio talking about it

•

Students can share music with the teacher to be played in class

•

The technology can be used anywhere, so leave the classroom and go somewhere else!

March 2011 How do you use mobile devices in the classroom? Tips, apps, best practices - 30.03.2011

• Use Newsy

app &

Video

Vocab

apps for Business English

3) So what's the catch?

efl101

: problem is not all sts have smart phones so fairness/equal access issues arise

•Some schools have banned them in some countries phones in school are a big NO!

•

In some countries smartphones are not used by most students

•If some students have them and

others don't there could be issues causing negative feelings or behaviour

•Smartphones can sometimes be a

distraction as much as a learning aid

•

Students could use them to cheat in tests

•There could be problems with ss

feeling inadequate for not having the 'right' phone

•Ss could start thinking they can use the phone all the time, not just when you want them to

•

Not so good for exam classes - ss can't use them in exams and shouldn't rely on them

•Kids could start begging their parents for a phone when the parents can't afford one or don't feel that it's appropriate

•It might take time for some students to learn how to use their phone in different ways

•The teacher may have to teach how to use an app

•

Sometimes it's a problem getting students off the phone, no need to encourage them!

•Do the phones have roaming

internet access or would access to school wifi be needed?

•What about the financial cost to the students of internet access and SMS?

•Teachers don't know what to do with mobile phones

•Many teachers don't even use much technology

•Is it ok for teachers to expect

student to be connected to learning all the time?

•

Training opportunities for teachers may never arrive

•Can teachers actually afford to own good quality mobile phones?

•Many teachers don't even use computers very much, let alone smartphones

4) Responses to issues

March 2011 How do you use mobile devices in the classroom? Tips, apps, best practices - 30.03.2011

•If parents have issues, invite them

into school and do a show and tell to explain the benefits

•

If not all students have one, get them to share or work in groups

•Students sharing devices could help

YLs develop better collaborative skills

•Using a contract phone should mean there is no cost to the learners and apparently 'mini top-ups [are] now given away with soda cans'

•Teacher training courses - there's one online soon, see links

•Don't wait for training, just dive on in and try it out

•Huddle round phones in groups if necessary

Some different viewpoints

ShellTerrell

: Also mobile learning allows the learner to apply the language & vocabulary in a contextual setting & with others. Authentic!

@familysimpson : @

efl101

how do your students learn? Individually or by discussing in a group? Mobile opens up discussion to all - confidence booster

japglish

rliberni

I'm afraid I think m-learning is being overhyped

rliberni

: key to efficacy or not of mlearning is whether or not they are learning - having fun is good but learning must also take place

AnthonyGaughan

…reu l ctancetouseprvi ateresourceforwork.whci hschoosl provd i emobe li devci esforstaf?

March 2011 How do you use mobile devices in the classroom? Tips, apps, best practices - 30.03.2011

rliberni

mine prefer time away from their laptop - 'an oasis of calm' one std called his English lesson

Links

SnaPanda - wonderfully innovative dictionary app

QR Codes - barcode thing

@ ianchia : McGraw-Hill's mConnect will offer vocabulary lessons via SMS, plans for Africa and Asia. http://j.mp/ePCSOT

@ ianchia : English in Action: Mobile Learning in Bangladesh ? National Geographic News Watch http://j.mp/hjhBPT

Free ' about mlearning ' course taking place in april?

@ShellTerrell: This created with free StoryRobe app for @ CeciELT 's 6 year old son in Brazil http://youtu.be/Kl5p8owr2M0 for 1 of my upcoming pres.

Great video of using speak & repeat apps with kids learning Chinese here: http://www.technolote.com/?p=946

Good ideas here: Audio Apps for the iPod Touch - Handy for the Languages Classroom. http://www.technolote.com/?p=976/ ?

StoryRobe

StoryKit

March 2011 How do you use mobile devices in the classroom? Tips, apps, best practices - 30.03.2011

Talking Tom

Mouthoff

Puppet Pals

Sticki booth

Fotobabble

Animoto

Ok, there you go. I hope I've managed to cover everything satisfactorily and give a balanced review of the chat transcript. Thanks to all participants for another really interesting #eltchat!

A little comedy to finish off

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