Archive for the ‘Teaching functional language’ Category

Hopefully it’s just Mayday bank holiday rather than my lack of effort TEFLtasticwise recently that has seen a sudden drop in my number of views, but if only to make myself feel better I thought I’d give a list of where I’ve been making much more effort elsewhere, with links:

TEFL.net Idea Thinktank

15 fun ways to switch students onto graded readers

15 fun gapfill tasks

15 fun job application practice tasks- CV writing, cover letter, interview practice, HR vocabulary etc.

TEFL.net articles

15 common misconceptions about Business English and ESP

15 cultural differences in the Japanese classroom

15 more cultural differences in the Japanese classroom

15 criteria for a good cultural training lesson

15 more criteria for good cultural training lesson

15 important cultural differences in the classroom

15 more important cultural differences in the classroom

Onestopenglish (Macmillan) articles

Motivating teachers whose Business English students miss class

UsingEnglish articles for teachers

Why your students overuse their dictionaries- with solutions

70 characteristics of a good grammar presentation- possibly the longest article on this subject ever!

Why your students don’t want to do pairwork- with solutions and some pondering about whether they might not sometimes be right

Why your students still make mistakes with grammar they know well- with solutions and a call to relax when there are no solutions

The advantages and disadvantages of peer observations- with how to exploit the advantages and avoid the disadvantages

Things to put in a Self-Access Centre or Student Library- with tips on how to do it on the cheap

Why do my students question me?- with solutions

Why your students have problems with listening comprehension- with solutions

UsingEnglish.com articles for students (teachers might also want to have a look at what I am writing about them)

Why does my teacher make me read silently?

Why doesn’t my teacher correct all my mistakes when I’m speaking?

Why does my teacher make me learn the phonemic script?

UsingEnglish photocopiable PDF worksheets

Travel English pairwork B and V

Business and technical English easily confused words

CAE Reading Part Two match the quotes

TEFLtastic worksheets (pain in the arse to print out but worth the effort)

English for job applications/ HR worksheets

Cultural training worksheets for EFL classes

Requests and offers functional language review

The Roots of Medical English LP and 4 worksheets

And that’s it for TEFL stuff. The other thing I’ve been busy with is my wedding speech for the day after tomorrow, which could well mean that May will be an even less busy month in TEFLtasticland. Anyone fancy writing a guest piece or feeding me a story to keep the 1700 viewers I get on a good day entertained until I get back into the flow? If so, try the “Contact me” link on the right…

Language for entertaining a foreign visitor

Problem hotels fun roleplay (some and any/ Travel English/ complaining and dealing with complaints)

More Xmas links, should you be a glutton for merriment (including one that says “Focus: Fluency speaking, advanced vocab, conversation, destroying students’ enjoyment of Christmas”, which is nice)

(more…)

Sorry there hasn’t been a lot going on the blog page of my blog. It’s all going on elsewhere though: (more…)

By the kind of happy coincidence that only happens once in a blog lifetime a reader has mentioned they are looking for some flashcard games (see Ana’s question below), a friend has asked me for some kids’ games for a workshop, and I happen to have all the ideas already written up for a book proposal I wrote a few years ago. The ideas are below, and I’ve also included the book proposal as a page on the right (Book proposal- Kids’ activities for everything) in case anyone wants to write one too- bear in mind that this one was unsuccessful though!

Flashcard and Drilling Games
Introduction
One of the main reasons why parents and education authorities want children to start learning foreign languages early is so they can pick up correct pronunciation while their brains are still young. Especially at the younger ages, correction has little effect and children pick up correct pronunciation as they hear and use the language many times. The problem then is that (more…)

Couple of other nice little game based worksheets (though I say so myself) to liven up your accountants:

http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/worksheet-common-business-english-verbs-present-simple-present-continuous/

http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/worksheet-politeness-competition-game-requests-indirect-language/

And if you can see an accountant smile once a week you know you have made the world a better place….

Here’s another nice one for Business English classes, study abroad classes and others. You can also turn it into a board game. I could too, of course, but quite frankly I think I’ve done enough for one week… 

Politeness competition- Negotiations/ Requests/ Complaints/ Problems
With your partner(s), take turns trying to say the following things as politely as possible. You can repeat what your partner says as long as you add something to make it more polite. You can try as many times as you like. The person with the most polite final version gets 1 point. (Hint: Longer sentences are often politer)

Give me that pen

I want a cup of tea

Sit down

etc…

Full version here:

http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/worksheet-politeness-competition-game-requests-indirect-language/

This is the one simple recipe that teachers all over Japan are using to raise the level of their students’ English:

• Take one copy of the Japan Times that you were going to read anyway
• Cut out one topical and/ or cultural article that might interest your students
• Photocopy
• Make up some comprehension and discussion questions, either before or on the spot
• Explain the 20 or 30 pieces of vocabulary you think they don’t understand while they tap away at their electronic dictionaries at the same time
• Send them home happy that they have ’learnt’ said vocab and read a real newspaper article
• Repeat next week

And really, the punters do love it- because they get the impression of having done something authentic and difficult. However, due to the fact that there are no real comprehension or vocabulary questions and that they can talk about the article using as easy language as they like, they haven’t actually been pushed at all. Just like watching an educational programme on NHK television, the illusion of learning is complete and the actual learning is almost zero. Evidence for the prosecution:

• Students who study this way get no practice of day to day functional questions and linked speech, and so whatever their level they will need to ask a native speaker to repeat social chit chat questions several times before they can reply
• Students almost never use the vocabulary in the texts in that or subsequent lessons, and even less in the rest of their lives
• Such as lesson covers almost none of the language and skills needed to move up to the next level as described in the Common European Framework
• Any approach that is being used a lot in Japan obviously isn’t working, or the Japanese wouldn’t have such a low level of English

Maybe these joker teachers don’t care. Maybe they are just looking for a justification to read the newspaper (I’ve found mine- start a blog!). I do care, and for a perfectly selfish reason. I am sick and tired of getting a student or class of students in Japan that I have to teach pairwork, phonemic script, linked speech pronunciation, basic chit chat and functional language questions, basics of telephoning and emailing, classroom language questions etc. etc. from absolute scratch. And there is only one solution. I hereby ban the use of authentic newspaper articles in class in Japan- no exceptions! And that includes Breaking News English!

Rant over

Why are the Japanese so into ”kawaii” (cute)?

As long as it is socially acceptable, there is no reason why having a picture of a kitten should not make you feel warm inside. Being around cute stuff makes you feel good. And anything that makes you feel good can be addictive. It should also be noted that “kawaii” is also used by some people with such a wide range of meanings it could even be translated just as ‘good’ rather than ‘cute’.

Why do the Japanese sometimes answer yes/no questions in English with the answer ‘maybe’? One reason could be being asked a question that is not standard in Japanese. For example, “genki desu ka” is often given as the translation of “how are you” but is in fact very rarely asked, perhaps because it could be seen as intrusive. Another is that there are many ways of being vague in Japanese but they are not taught ways to be vague in English. For example, “so desu ne” (That’s so) and “so desu ka” (Is that so) can be given many fine shades of meaning including doubt by changes in intonation etc. These are probably the phrases in their head when they say ‘maybe’. 

Why do Japanese streets have no names?

All Japanese communities, including parts of cities, have always been like little villages where everyone knows everyone else and so there is no need to have street names or even house numbers in order. This was even more so in Tokugawa times, when blocks of Tokyo streets would be surrounded by walls and watch towers dividing them from other parts of the city.

Thanks to Laurent for the top two questions. Keep them comng, everyone.

This series of posts also sprouted their own blog- Japan Explained. Give it a click and give it a go!