What makes a lesson great? - an #eltchat summary

This is a summary of the first #eltchat of 2013 which took place at 12 noon on 9th January.  It felt good to be back after the Christmas break and exchanging ideas again with colleagues old and new from around the world.  The full title of the chat was:

What makes a lesson great?  Favourite lessons - the ones we do over and over again that always work.

This was my favourite kind of chat - a lively and informative conversation between enthusiastic teachers with few links to external sources.  It was expertly moderated by @Shaunwilden and we were pleased to be joined in the closing stages by @Marisa_C.

The hour kicked off with a tweet from @teflrinha which resonated with many of us - 'I find favourite lessons like jokes ... I can never remember more than a vague impression and have to reinvent the wheel ... should keep a note.'

So what does make a lesson great?

Some ideas:

• When I think of the lessons I like to run year after year, they are the ones that allow the students to surprise me - @kevchanwow
• Any lesson when students have that look that says 'I got it and can use it!' - @PaulIhcordoba
• Lessons that are engaging and involve all four skills - @worldteacher
• It flows effortlessly, completely engaging the students and leading to a satisfying outcome. - @teflrinha
• Lessons which are well-planned, engaging, energetic and fun - @TPMcDonald85
• Interesting tasks that bring out lots of language from the students - @eltknowledge
• Lessons in which students collaborate and learn from each other with some help from me - @BrunoELT
• A great lesson has room for us as teachers to really learn and stretch as well - @kevchanwow
• Lessons with games or any kind of competitive element
• Adaptability is a key issue for a successful lesson, both in terms of the lesson being adaptable for different groups and also being able to adapt a lesson as you go along according to circumstances on the day
• Lessons that take advantage of sudents' dynamics - @kevchanwow
• Lessons which are coherent, stand alone, and where the students come out feeling they have learnt something concrete - @jo_cummins
• Tasks pitched at the right level, just by the sense of challenge and chance of success, generate interest - @kevchanwow
• Lessons which include student-generated materials - @teflrinha
• Any lesson involving drama or role-play
• Being creative and having fun while problem solving sounds like a good combination - @AlexandraKouk
• Lessons where students are doing most of the work - @SueAnnan
• A great lesson is a combination of material/students/teacher/planets aligning... - @jo_cummins
• Lessons which give the students something to chew on, which have the shock factor, even - @ColeenMonroe
• The most successful lessons I have seen or designed always had a powerful context/story and great memorability - @Marisa_C
• I know it's a good lesson when students forget to remind me that it's break time! - @worldteacher
• .....or don't notice the bell! - @GemL1
• .....or ask, 'Has the lesson ended?' - @prese1
• .....or if I myself say, 'Is it over already?' and don't notice the time passing! - @eltknowledge

Do teachers and students agree on what makes a great lesson?

@yitzha_sarwono began this thread of the chat by making the comment that her favourite lessons to teach are sometimes very different to her students' favourite lessons, adding that, whilst she favours pronunciation classes, her young students prefer learning grammar!  There is clearly a danger of teachers teaching lessons they love, but which don't teach much of use, as talked about in this article by @hughdellar.  However, most participants agreed that if students enjoy a lesson, the teacher does, too and vice-versa.

Examples of favourite lessons

Most of the contributors' favourite lessons seemed to involve an element of collaboration and teamwork and many were project or task based.

1. 'How to murder your teacher' - students hotseat the teacher, then plan the perfect murder (via @eltknowledge).
2. 'Teacher Disappears, Students Suspected' - a news story based lesson which uses all four skills (via @worldteacher).  (I'll write this activity up as a separate blogpost now that I've been reminded of it!)
3. 'Create an alien' - great for reviewing/expanding parts of the body vocabulary (I can write this one up, too, if there's sufficient demand!).
4. 'Describe your house' - pairwork activity where student 1 describes where he lives and his partner has to draw it (via @chiasuan).
5. 'Show and tell' (via @yitzha_sarwono).
6. 'Redesign a house' - a group task which can be simplified by providing lexis or shifted to different conversation topics (via @kevchanwow).
7. Student presentations - allow students to present on topics they've chosen - a totally student-centred activity (via @eltknowledge).

Consensus

Great lessons are not necessarily the ones which have been meticulously planned - sometimes they just happen, but they are the ones which are relevant, engaging and varied with a clear learning outcome.  We also acknowledge that a lesson that works incredibly well with one group could just as easily fall flat on its face with another!  The most important thing, therefore, is to know our students and tailor our lessons for them.  We cannot control what our students learn, but, by keeping them engaged, we can provide the potential for learning.

Links

• An article by @thornburyscott on Flow - one of the keys to a great lesson via @SimonGreenall.
• A collection of gripping stories via @Marisa_C.

Why I love the 'Twitterverse'!

The Twitter Logo

I've been using Twitter for several years now.  I remember that one of the earliest proponents of this new social media was Stephen Fry and, being a big fan of his work, I thought that if he could see value in it, then I should check it out, too!!  Since I joined Twitter, there have been periods when I used it too much - times when it was almost taking over, to the detriment of other things I should have been doing.  Conversely, there have been other times when I haven't used it at all - not checking my Twitter account for months on end.  For the last year or two, however, I think I have found a happy medium when it comes to Twitter. 

Currently, I use Tweetdeck to manage my Twitter use.   I keep an eye on things by using hashtags - so much easier than trying to follow everything that's going on!  I'm not a slave to it.  I usually check my account in a morning before I go to work and then again a couple of times in an evening.

So, why use Twitter at all?  What do I get out of it?
 

Well, firstly, Twitter is usually the first place I see the news - via @BBCBreaking, @guardiannews,  or @TelegraphNews.  My news is delivered in bite-sized chunks together with links I can click on if I want to read more about a particular story.

It is also how I satisfy my curiosity about the world of celebrity!  I follow a few famous people who have interesting things to say.  As well as @stephenfry, I particularly enjoy the tweets of @eddieizzard, @prodnose (Danny Baker), @mjhucknall (Mick Hucknall of Simply Red who tweets about good food and great wine), @bobbyllew (Robert Llewellyn of Red Dwarf fame), and @simonmayo.

Courtesy of the BBC

Twitter is also how I follow my interests and hobbies.  For example, I am keen on genealogy, so I follow a number of groups and individuals who share that interest (@ancestrydotcom, @WDYTYA, @Archivescom, etc.).  My passion for film is kept alive by following @wittertainment, Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo's Twitter account which supports their excellent film review podcast from Radio 5 Live.  My interest in keeping up-to-date with sport, particularly tennis, is satisfied by following certain Twitter accounts, as are my hobbies of cooking, photography and, above all, travel.  There are too many great Twitter travel accounts to mention here, but amongst my favourites are @indietravel, @lonelyplanet, @wanderlustmag, and @TelegraphTravel.

Over the years, I have also become involved in several charities and campaigns to raise public awareness of certain issues through Twitter, not least @comicrelief, @ProjectPangolin and @charitywater.

At times of great global events, such as the recent London Olympics and Paralympics, I keep up with latest developments through their Twitter accounts.

Mark, myself, Tara & JC

Whenever I move to a new country (as I often do in my line of work!), one of the first things I do is look for relevant Twitter accounts to follow - people and organisations that will help me to adapt to my new surroundings with ease.  This has always been a successful ploy, especially here in Vietnam.  When I first arrived here, I started following several Saigon and Hanoi based bloggers, such as Steve Jackson (@ourman), @mekongmadness, @VietTravelGuy, and @MikeInVietnam.  My best follows, though, had to be Tara and JC Vargas (alias @HerDailyDigest and @kingceejay), a couple from the Phillippines who moved to Saigon several years ago and who both blog about and post pictures of Vietnam and give lots of advice to newbies like me.  Reading their accounts of trips to different places has saved us so much wasted time finding things out for ourselves and has led us to visit locations we might not have thought of.  After a few false starts, we were fortunate to meet up with them in person a few weeks ago.  We spent a very pleasant lunchtime with them in a Saigon restaurant and hope that it will be the first of many such meetings.

So, I have already listed several good reasons why I use Twitter and what I get out of it, but I've yet to mention the most important - for my professional development as an EFL teacher and manager.  Through Twitter, I am connected to a huge circle of dedicated professionals living and working in almost every country on earth.  We exchange ideas about all aspects of our jobs.  Whichever time zone we are in, there is invariably someone online to answer a query or to offer links and advice about something which is troubling us.  The PLN (personal learning network) I have developed through Twitter has grown gradually and organically over time and, although I have never met the majority of the teachers in person, I feel like they are friends and colleagues.

All of the articles I read, the webinars I attend, and the ideas I share with my 'real-life' colleagues at EIU, come from tweets and links posted by my PLN.  This invaluable information comes through throughout the week, but there are two hours every Wednesday when it comes thick and fast!  These are the times when a number of us get together to debate an issue in a forum we call #eltchat.  You can read about how it works here.   It is clear how much I value my #eltchat sessions when you see how many summaries I've written! 

I'm not going to list the teachers I follow on Twitter - they know who they are and there are too many of them to name individually.  I will, however, mention a couple, just to illustrate the power of this great tool.  The first is @teacherphili who I 'met' through Twitter and who, just last week, came to work with me at EIU in Vietnam.  The other is Lesley Cioccarelli (@cioccas), a teacher from Australia who I haven't met in person yet, but with whom I am presenting at CamTESOL 2013.  I'm really looking forward to collaborating with her on this project and to welcoming her to Vietnam before the conference so that I can show her EIU and share with her what we are trying to achieve here.

These reasons, and others too numerous to mention, are why I love the 'Twitterverse' and why I will continue to use it - for facts, fun and friendship!!

Digital literacy in English teaching - an #eltchat summary

Image from GregFalken.com

 

This is a summary of the #eltchat which took place at 12 noon on 24th October, 2012.  The full title of the chat was:

How can we increase teacher knowledge and awareness of digital literacy in English teaching?  To what extent is it affecting/will DL affect how we teach English?

The chat was lively and thought-provoking, as usual, and was expertly moderated by @Shaunwilden and @theteacherjames.

http://www.diglit.soton.ac.uk/conference/

What is digital literacy?

We began the chat with a definition of DL supplied by @theteacherjames courtesy of wikipedia!

DL is the ability to effectively and critically navigate, evaluate and create information using a range of digital technology, and recognising your own contribution towards developing the knowledge base both socially and academically.

@esolcourses suggested that knowing how to apply DL is another important aspect, adding that it is as much about knowing when not to use technology as it is knowing how and when to use it.

http://www.library.illinois.edu/diglit/definition.html

What does DL bring to the classroom and why should we teach it?

This was a question raised by @efl101.  @teflgeek added the concern that the problem is often 'information overload' with not enough time to critically evaluate it.  We should, therefore, be teaching 'critical digital literacy' and helping students to determine which tools they should use out of the infinite number they could use.  It was generally agreed that it is better to use a limited range of tools effectively than lots of tools half-heartedly.  With this in mind, 'top ten lists' (e.g. 'The Top 10 Note-Taking Tools') are not very helpful - one tried and tested, highly recommended tool is far better!  As @BobK99 pointed out, 'Look at this great tool, now look at this one' gives us a situation where we have solutions without problems which is a complete waste of time!

@the teacherjames asked if we actually need to teach DL or is it enough to simply be aware of it?  @MrChrisJWilson wondered whether teaching DL can get in the way of the language focus.  @David_Boughton felt that we should equip our students with English and nothing more.  I think most contributors, however, felt, as I do, that teaching DL is necessary and that it can and should be taught alongside and integral to teaching EFL (as a type of CLIL, for example).  @teflgeek commented that if students are going to interact with the language in a primarily digital way, how is it not our responsibility to teach DL?  As teachers, @Shaunwilden also reminded us that we need to be aware of the issues raised by sending students online and telling them to google something.  It is our responsibility to teach them how to discern what is 'good' information and how to stay safe when using technology.  @esolcourses is of the opinion that DL ought to be embedded into EFL courses as we need to be equipping our learners with 21st century skills.  Being competent in DL is a means to an end, both for us as teachers and for our students.

Several #eltchatters felt that we need to start with our students and their aims and only use technology if it is relevant to the lesson, but others suggested that, in today's world, technology is ubiquitous and is, therefore, relevant in all circumstances.

@bcnpaul1 pointed out that if we don't teach DL, we end up with lots of copy-pasted work handed in, which is a waste of time for everyone!  @esolcourses agreed and added that we'd be setting our students up to fail, especially where plagiarism is concerned. 

How do teachers become digitally literate?

• By joining online teacher communities, such as #eltchat.
• By learning from their students!
• By incorporating digital literacy into teacher training courses.
• By appointing 'digital leaders' among students to promote technology use and DL.
• By colleagues modelling technology use during seminars on non-technology subjects so that they can see how it can be used effectively.

How does DL affect the way we teach English?

@teflgeek asked the question, 'Have we got to the point where technology requires a different pedagogy, or can we continue to overlay the technology on top?'  @esolcourses answered that she felt that the core pedagogy is much the same, but that technology affords a lot more scope for learner autonomy.

@teacherphili alluded to the different types of DL that we could/should be teaching, but we ran out of time to discuss them - the subject of another #eltchat, perhaps?!

Links

• British Council's Teaching English page on DL with links to further videos via @bcnpaul1
• The Australian Government's view on digital pedagogy via @teflgeek
• Teaching with technology: a basic checklist via @esolcourses
• Integrating technology on teacher development courses by @Marisa_C (via @esolcourses)
• Nicky Hockley's conference presentation on DL via @teflgeek
• Links from a talk on DL via @Shaunwilden
• Ethics and digital youth by Howard Gardner via @Julian_LEnfant
• Good DL resouces on @TheConsultantsE 's site via @esolcourses
• Copyright, plagiarism and digital literacy by Sue Lyon-Jones
• The Digital Human - a BBC Radio 4 podcast via @the teacherjames

Teaching vocabulary - an #eltchat summary

This is a summary of the #eltchat held at 12noon BST on Wednesday 19th September, 2012. The full title of the chat was:

'How should we approach vocabulary teaching and learning?  Is there a place for rote learning?  What is the current thinking about it?'

I have to say that I didn't vote for this topic, mainly because it was up against my suggestion of 'first lesson ideas'.  As it turned out, my subject won the vote and was discussed at 3am my time here in Vietnam so I missed it!  Instead, I found myself involved in a very interesting chat session on teaching vocabulary and came away with lots of food for thought.  It was expertly moderated as usual, this week by @Shaunwilden and @theteacherjames. 

 

Rote Learning Vocabulary - the Pros and Cons

 

We began by discussing rote learning and it soon became clear that we had a difference of opinion as to the effectiveness of the method. 

@teflerinha told us that she had had success with rote learning when she was learning Polish and Portuguese, particularly when using small 'crib' cards.  These cards can be created by using quizlet or other similar websites.  She also said that level is relevant - beginners need more rote learning because there is less context available.  @ElkySmith added that rote learning is easier at low levels because of the concrete nature of the vocabulary.  @louisealix68 reminded us that some students prefer rote learning ('musical intelligence') and told us that it had really helped her with German.  @rliberni suggested that rote learning can be made more fun by creating chants, songs and raps.

Personally, I have never had much success with rote learning, either as a learner or a teacher.  This opinion was shared by @cioccas.  @michelleworgan also questioned its long-term effectiveness, especially with YLs.

Several contributors, however, gave the link to an article by Paul Nation on why rote learning works, although it was pointed out that Nation himself admits that, once learned by rote, students have to use the new vocabulary in context in order for it to 'enter deep store'.
 

Clearly, there is a place for rote learning with some students, but it is not ideal for all learning styles.

 

Other Ways of Teaching Vocabulary

 

Most #eltchat participants agreed that we need to keep students engaged in vocabulary learning by finding other teaching methods, rather than just asking them to learn word lists.  Some of what follows has a basis in rote learning, but is much more interesting and effective.

• Giving students context is vital to help them remember new vocabulary.
• @rliberni reminded us that translation has a part to play.
• @LizziePinard advised us to use quizzes and games where possible, bingo and pelmanism, for example.  She suggested that, 'if you increase the depth of processing, the lexis becomes more memorable'.  This can be achieved by getting students to use more than one kind of processing - identifying, manipulating, classifying, etc.
• Use pictures and diagrams: for example, put house vocabulary into an outline of a house.  Combining vocabulary with visuals is always a powerful way to present and, later, recall vocabulary.
• Get students to use vocabulary in a personal way to make it more memorable.
• Give regular vocabulary tests or weekly revision sessions.
• Get students to create word search puzzles for other classmates to solve.
• Use mnemonics to make rote learning more fun - all those of us who learned 'the colours of the rainbow' or 'the planets in the Solar System' this way will never forget them! 
• Favourite games for teaching and revising vocabulary include 'Taboo', 'Outburst', 'Say my Word', 'Blockbusters' and 'Call my Bluff'.
• Use all of the senses to help students remember new vocabulary - think about the sounds and smells associated with words.
• Get students to create weekly vocabulary posters which are then displayed on the wall as a permanent visual reminder.  Later in the course, these posters can be used in memory games, sentence building, story telling, etc.
• Encourage students to read as much as possible in order to increase their vocabulary.
• Writing is one of the best ways to revise vocabulary.
• Encourage the use of vocabulary notebooks and urge students to be creative with them - word trees, pictures, use of colour, etc.
• Get students to prepare wiki pages on a specific topic at home - these can then be referred to both in and out of class.
• Don't overload students with masses of new vocabulary at the same time - 'small amounts often' is the way forward for @ElkySmith, both when presenting new words and revising what has already been covered in class.
• Synonym posters in the classroom, which students add to during the course, are a great way to expand vocabulary.  This works just as well with mind maps which can be built on.
• Co-operative or half crosswords are great for teaching vocabulary.
• Remember not to limit vocabulary to words - lexical chunks are particularly useful.
• Make students think about how words behave and not just what they mean.
• Teach vocabulary through reading texts, where students underline the words they don't know and then use them in their own sentences.
• Use drama activities - for example, students make up a mime using narrative verbs learned and their classmates have to call them out.
• Teach students to understand meaning from context when reading and listening.
• Get students to watch films in English with English subtitles so they are getting the vocabulary through both visual and auditory channels.
• Use TPR, particularly with YLs, to help memorise directions, body parts, emotions, requests, imperatives, adjectives, etc.
• Teachers need to remember to reuse new words as much as possible in class - students pick up on this and try to do the same.
• Use songs, as long as you explain what the lyrics mean!
• Relate challenging vocabulary to songs or popular films or TV shows.  The example given by @Teachersilvert was using 'Friends' to illustrate 'freak out'.
• Only teach relevant vocabulary - words and phrases students will need.  Good dictionaries will tell you how frequently a word is used - this online example from the OUP is particularly good: http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/oxford3000/
• Have a 'word of the day' for students to use correctly in class (or even a 'chunk of the day').
• Revise as much as possible.  A good tip is to have a vocabulary bag and use it for constant recycling activities.  This was suggested by @jobethsteel.  I would endorse this - we use them in our department and if a teacher is a few minutes late for class, it's so easy for a colleague to go in and do a quick vocabulary revision exercise using the 'word bag of the week'!!

Conclusion

As with all EFL teaching, there is no 'one size fits all'.  Rote learning has its place, but it doesn't work for all learners (or teachers!).  The key is to use a variety of approaches, tasks and activities in order to provide multiple experiences of, and exposures to, new vocabulary.  Whether you use rote learning or not, students need opportunities to notice new words and lexical chunks as well as situations where they need to use them.

Links

• Kim's Game to help students memorise new vocabulary via @AlexandraKouk
• Using thematic grouping to teach vocabulary via @teflerinha
• Apps to help learn vocabulary via @jobethsteel
• 'Beyond Backs to the Board' - a prezi on teaching vocabulary by @ElkySmith
• @leoselivan's blog about teaching vocabulary as recommended by @elawassell, @cioccas and @teflerinha
• Vocabulary revision with post-it notes via @theteacherjames
• 1000 free vocabulary games via @AlexandraKouk
• A seminar by Paul Nation on vocabulary teaching via @ElkySmith
• Triptico - a free app for teaching vocabulary via @Teachersilvert
• Concordancers via @teflerinha
• Lexical priming via @AlexandraKouk
• Scaffolding via @AlexandraKouk
• Textivate - great for getting students to think about how sentences fit together and to focus their minds on form and meaning of words
• 'The English we Speak' BBC podcast - good for teaching new vocabulary/chunks because students love to be able to reproduce what they've heard (via @worldteacher)
• Short booklet on teaching vocabulary from CUP via @AlexandraKouk
• Games for learning vocabulary via @HOSNA_ELT

 

 

#ELTchat - We'll Be Back!!

This is an article written by Marisa Constantinides (@Marisa_C) and published first on her blog.  It explains the loss of our #eltchat domain name and her plans for the future of the website.  I am proud to re-publish it here and am looking forward to #eltchat's 'new term' in September!!

#ELTchat: the loss of eltchat.com – Plan B

For the last - well, almost two years now, since September 15 2010, #ELTchat has kept us on our toes and forged hundreds of professional and personal relationships amongst its followers who turn up on Twitter every Wednesday to talk about topics they have suggested and voted on - a community of peers which was created by a small group of colleagues - which grew and grew some more and became something that counts as an important part of our continuous professional development.

Like many great ideas, it didn’t hit just one person but several.

And that is how #ELTchat was created.

The website to keep up the communication of its members, a base and repository of our ideas was one of the first things we all thought of creating – the wiki came later.
Andy Chaplin was keen to join the moderation team and help with podcasts and technical stuff; he was quick to buy eltchat.com and announced the good news to us after the fact.

A few months later, right after TESOL France 2011, he suddenly disappeared – some say for reasons of health.

We never found out for sure.
We never received a single word of response to our emails.

eltchat.com was and still is registered in his name.

And yesterday we lost it

On August 8 the domain expired and we have no way of taking over unless it goes up for sale again; it was very sad that Andy Chaplin did not find it appropriate to renew.

The news is really upsetting.

The work we have put in on this website cannot be told in a few simple words – but it has been a labour of love and we have got so much out of it that we have never regretted one single moment

We are pretty upset at the behaviour of this individual – disappointment is one big understatement.

But we trust that our community of #ELTchatters, our PLN for short, will again gather round the new domain which we have purchased – eltchat.org

It will take us a few days to put the website back on its feet

And all will be as it was before – all the posts in place all your thoughts and comments, all the polls and great summaries which got us on the shortlist of the ELTon Awards nominations

We will be back with a vengeance

We are not just a website – we did not get on the ELTon awards shortlist as just another website!!!

We are a great community of teachers and we have a Plan B!

See you all in September!!!

Marisa Constantinides – Shaun Wilden

Andrea Wade

P.S. We would greatly appreciate it if any of you belonging to this great community of teachers, teacher educators, bloggers, #ELTchat followers, reposted this on your blog

If you decide to do this, please add your name to the post under ours.

Helping Students Improve their Speaking Abilities for Proficiency Tests - an #eltchat summary

Smith & Jones Talking Heads

This is a summary of the #eltchat which took place at 12noon BST on Wednesday, 11th July, 2012.  It was an informative discussion with most of the ideas coming from the participants themselves, rather than through links to external websites and articles.  The chat was expertly moderated as always, this time by @Shaunwilden, @rliberni and @BrunoELT.

We began by establishing that we were including all types of speaking tests in our chat, not just CPE.  We also agreed that the main worry for students taking a proficiency test (apart from the speaking itself!) is the thought of the exam room and wondering what the examiner expects.

Should we be aiming for accuracy or fluency?

Whilst in an ideal world we want our learners to be both fluent and accurate, the consensus seemed to be that fluency is the key for proficiency tests.  'Drying up' is the worst case scenario for most students and, if it happens, it knocks their confidence and it's very difficult for them to get going again.  Accuracy is more difficult to achieve in the heat of the moment and the effective communication of ideas is usually the most important thing.  If we focus on accuracy or grammar over fluency, the danger is that students think about words and structures and don't actually speak!

What role does personalisation play in a speaking test?

@teacherphili told us that, in his experience, some institutions 'help' students by making the test easier with familiar pictures.  This is probably not a problem if the tests are internal, but could mean that students are ill-equipped for external tests.

Of course, we all like to talk about ourselves, so it's helpful to have personal anecdotes to tell.  Students are given the opportunity to do this in all internationally recognised proficiency tests.  When students talk about something that matters to them, they sound naturally enthusiastic.


Practical ideas to help learners improve their speaking for tests:

• Start with lots of general fluency practice to build confidence and overcome the fear factor, before moving on to more exam-type activities.
• Encourage students to read about varied topics so that they have ideas.  If they do not have ideas, there test is over!
• Use speaking board games to encourage fluency.
• Play 'Just a Minute', based on the long-running Radio 4 programme - great fun and really engaging for the students, especially if you can supply them with bells, buzzers or whistles!
• Play the old favourite 'Chinese whispers' - good for listening practice and also for highlighting pronunciation issues.
• Play 'Impromptu Speeches' - someone plays the MC who invites students to speak for a minute on a topic drawn at random from a hat.
• Use storytelling where each student gives one line and the next must follow on in his or her own way.
• Try 'shadowing' - a technique where you begin by repeating what your partner says and then move on to paraphrasing, like a translator, but in the same language.  I attended a workshop on this recently and am currently 'road-testing' it in class.  Early results are good and I plan to blog about it soon.
• Record students as they practise for their speaking tests and encourage them to critique each other.  When I started doing this here in Vietnam, my students were initially reluctant to peer correct, but, over the weeks, I think I've unleashed a monster and I now have to remind students to give some positive feedback, too!!
• Use Web 2.0 tools to facilitate the recording process.  Start with mobile phones, which students find less intimidating, and then progress to sites like Audioboo, Voxopop or Vocaroo which can be used for students to build up portfolios.  These can then be used to show students their improvement over time.
• Use correction sheets to give feedback after speaking practice and review/revise at the start of the next lesson.  (Leave room on the sheet for some positive comments.)
• Use pictures and photos to spark conversation, especially from eltpics.
• Practise the long turn with silly topics - this reduces the stress and students can concentrate on sequencing their talk (via @andyscott55). This activity is a great precursor to the 'real' tasks.
• Get students to perform a live news programme as if they were on air.  They have to speak about exam-type topics and have performance pressure (via @Sharonzspace).
• Practice speaking via Skype (student to student, rather than student to teacher!).
• Don't forget to give advice on appropriate body language - a good speaking test score is not all about utterances.
• You should also remind students about the role of listening in dialogic speaking, linking this to appropriate (physical) responses.
• Get students to listen to/watch real candidates doing real tests to show them what is good or bad.  I use IELTS 5.0 from Garnet Publishing as a core text for some of my students.  This is a great book with lots of listening to real answers from candidates, which invites critique and reflective practice.
• Make sure that students know the format of the test inside out - there should be no surprises on the day.

Practical ideas to help students overcome their nerves:

• Encourage students to think silently for a minute about the picture or question before starting to speak. @timjulian60 believes that this can help them to gain confidence, though @Shaunwilden worries that examiners might misunderstand the silence and think that the candidate doesn't know what to say!
• We need to remember that even native speakers stumble when faced with high-level proficiency tests (CAE, CPE, IELTS, TOEFL, etc.) so lots of practice is needed in gathering and organising your thoughts.
• Nerves are a huge problem for my students, so I like to use roleplays with someone being their 'worst nightmare' examiner!
• If you are teaching YLs, funny accents and voices can help.
• Remind students that examiners are not monsters - that, in fact, they want the candidates to do well, but that they must demonstrate their ability.

(A few) Links:

• Some speaking activities from British Council Esol Nexus which provide learners with models to analyse and copy - via @pysproblem81.
• How we can use minimal pairs to help L2 listeners decode what they hear via @teflerinha.
• A review of @mybrainshark including the importance of practising for speaking tests - via @teacherphili.
• Spoken performances illustrating the 6 levels of the CEF via @louisealix68.
• Personalisation example from T>S for speaking practice via @teacherphili.
• Constructive alignment via @louisealix68.

Fads, trends and robots taking over the world! - an #eltchat summary

This is a summary of the #eltchat held at 12noon BST on Wednesday 20th June, 2012.  The full title of the chat was:

'The Next Big Thing - what is it?  Is ELT becoming a fad-driven profession?'

I have to admit that I wasn't particularly inspired by this topic and I certainly didn't vote for it, but, as often happens with #eltchat, as we got going, it turned out to be a fascinating discussion with lots of interesting and thought-provoking ideas being put forward.  It was expertly moderated, as usual, by @Marisa_C and @Shaunwilden.  This was particularly important on Wednesday as it was quite a confusing chat with several threads running simultaneously.  I'll do my best to make some sense of it!!

Defining Terms

The discussion began with several of us opting to 'lurk', unsure as to what we were actually going to be talking about.  What exactly did we mean by 'fad-driven'?  Indeed, what is a 'fad'?

• @cerirhiannon suggested that a fad is a new idea that quickly gathers a lot of followers, but questioned whether the word 'fad' implies a degree of mindless fashion-victim like behaviour, taking things on but not really thinking them through.
• @GenkiSarah said that, for her, 'fads' are the things she leaves conferences excited about trying.
• @theteacherjames said that, to him, the word 'fad' suggests 'here today, gone tomorrow', but wondered whether one person's fad is another person's innovation.  I agreed that it has a negative connotation.
• @trylingual asked whether fads are all style and no substance.
• @JoHart suggested that often an established pedagogic approach in another field is picked up by ELT, given a new name and becomes a fad.

So, if 'fad' is not the right word, what should we be using?  The concensus was that 'trend', 'innovation' or 'fashion' were preferable terms. 

What are recent and current fads (trends) in ELT?

• It was agreed that technology per se can no longer be considered to be a fad, but that tools within it can be.  @bcnpaul1 suggested that some stick and some don't and that the ones that do tend to be those that encourage student-generated content.
• @MellynEducation asked whether tweetchats, including #eltchat, could be a fad.  #Eltchat devotees quickly quashed this idea and insisted that we are here to stay!
•  Apps were put forward by @cerirhiannon.
• Could @Shaunwilden's dreaded d-word (aka dogme) be a fad?  Perhaps not, as it's been around for some time!
• Corpora, task-based learning, return to translation, extensive reading - all proposed by @michaelgriffin.  (The latter was disputed by @theteacherjames who felt there was too much evidence to consider it to be a fad.)
• @Marisa_C suggested edtech, but as a trend, definitely not a 'fad'!
• Audiolingualism was suggested by @GenkiSarah, but others thought it had been around too long to be considered a fad.  As @trilingual pointed out, it is still being used in some teaching contexts with new technology being used as a vehicle for it.
• @teacherphili said that he would put flipping under the 'fad' heading, leading to a discussion as to whether the flipped classroom was indeed a fad, an innovation or the 'next big thing'.
• mlearning put forward by @trylingual - an excuse for students to use their phones or genuine engagement?
• @kevchanwow suggested grammar flooding where the teacher picks a grammar point and then gives loads of authentic input, something which many of us probably already do without giving the technique a name.
• The Silent Way was put forward because, even though it has been around for over fifty years, it has recently attracted new proponents and has been given fresh credence in the classroom, although, as @JoHart pointed out, being silent is very difficult in today's virtual classroom because students just think there's a problem with the audio!!
• Pecha Kucha suggested by @JoHart and seconded by @michaelgriffin as meeting all the criteria for 'faddishness'.

And what might the 'next big thing' be?

• @RoyaCaviglia suggested that it might be the introduction of interactive course tablets to replace coursebooks.  Indeed, several contributors thought that we might be heading towards a coursebook free classroom.  This idea is supported by the amount of work publishers are doing on online resources, including digital coursebooks which are editable by the user.
• @ElkySmith asked whether it might be English Profile, a corpus-based description of what learners should and shouldn't be able to do at different levels.  He suggested that it could have a big impact on what we teach, and when and how we teach it.
• Self-directed learning via technology was put forward by @trylingual though @cioccas pointed out that she's already been doing this for years!
• @Marisa_C suggested that the study of how the brain functions and acquires language might change the way we teach, as put forward in Zull's talk at IATEFL Glasgow 2012.
• 'Pick 'n' Mix' blended courses were put forward by @fionamau.
• Webinars were suggested by @BrunoELT as the 'next big thing' in PD, something I wholeheartedly agree with - in fact, I was taking part in a webinar shortly after #eltchat finished.  @bcnpaul1 went on to explain the use of webinars in the flipped classroom where they are viewed pre-class and then followed-up face-to-face in the lesson, offering input and freedom - the best of both worlds.
• @harrisonmike suggested game-based language research and teaching.
• @kevchanwow hoped that the 'NBT' might be valuing teachers, but realised that this was probably too radical an idea!
• @michaelgriffin wondered if robot teachers might be the 'next big thing'!  We hear that they might already be a reality in Korea!

Nominated for the 'best tweet of the day award', from @ij64:

NBT will be the iFad!

So is ELT 'fad-driven'?

@esolcourses suggested that teaching has always been driven by 'the next big thing' to some extent. @bcnpaul1 agreed, but felt that this was no bad thing as it moves things on, to which @esolcourses responded by saying that sometimes we just go round in circles! @bcnpaul1 agreed, but argued that the circle gets it a bit more experienced each time it goes round!

Several of us pointed out that, because things move so quickly in our profession, we are still trying to catch up and learn about ten year old 'fads'!

'Fad-driven' or not, I pointed out that it's human nature to be curious about developments in your professional field and that we pick and choose the best of them to use in our teaching context. As @trilingual reminded us, we are an outward and forward looking profession, always seeking new and effective ways to teach. The key is to find and use a combination of all the best things out there, which, as @bcnpaul1 said, is what good teachers do!

 

Potential problems arising from being 'fad-driven'

As pointed out by @bcnpaul1, one of the main problems is that the 'next big thing' often mocks what came before, even though what came before is still valid in the present.  There's a danger that we throw the baby out with the bath water (@cerirhiannon).  In the constant quest for the 'next big thing' we sometimes dismiss tried and tested techniques as being 'old hat' which I think is a shame. 

Finally

I'll give the last words to @kevchanwow who said, 'I think we need to keep ourselves fresh.  The teacher must be the number one learner in the room and that means trying out new things', and to @JoHart who said, 'we should always embrace the possibility of the new, but we need to be discriminating and use what our professional judgement says works for a specific group'.

Links:

An explanation of English Profile via @ElkySmith

A session on English Profile at IATEFL Brighton via @ElkySmith

A British Council paper on Computers and Learner Autonomy via @TESOLacademic

A webinar which includes ideas on grammar flooding via @kevchanwow

An explanation of The Silent Way via @GenkiSarah

A link to James Zull's plenary talk at IATEFL Glasgow 2012 via @Marisa_C

The article on which the Zull talk was based and the powerpoint via @stiiiv

Steven Thorne's plenary talk at IATEFL on game-based language teaching via @harrisonmike

Introducing CPD to Dinosaurs - an #eltchat summary

This is a summary of the #eltchat which took place at 12 noon BST on Wednesday 2nd May, 2012. The full title of the chat was:

Practical ideas to introduce workshops on CPD to dinosaurs :-) - what is important and how to go about setting up a programme.

The chat was lively and thought-provoking as usual and was expertly moderated by @Marisa_C and @rliberni.


What is CPD?

Continuous or continuing professional development.

What is a 'dinosaur'?

For the purposes of this chat, we were using the term 'dinosaur' to mean those 'difficult' colleagues who resist any kind of CPD; the kind of person who asks these questions:

1. Am I getting paid for it?
2. What do I get out of it?
3. Are you telling me I have to do this?
4. I've been doing this for years - what is there to learn?

The dinosaur is recognisable by his or her:

• reluctance to embrace new ideas, especially if they are proposed by colleagues who are younger and less experienced than they are.
• smugness.
• pity for colleagues who care about their CPD ('Why bother?'  'Why are you papering your walls with certificates?').
• lack of passion for teaching.
• fear of anything beyond their comfort zone.
• stubborness.
• 'know-it-all' attitude or, alternatively, 'couldn't care less' attitude.
• conviction that technology (or anything new!) has nothing to add and is just a load of hype.
• blinkers and earplugs! (This was my somewhat flippant remark, but it seemed to resonate with several of the #eltchatters and prompted @Marisa_C to ask if anyone could draw this 'dinosaur' we were all describing! Unfortunately, at the time of writing, I have seen no such artwork!)

Perhaps we shouldn't be so hard on such people, though.  As @teflerinha said, 'dinosaurs' are often quite insecure and fearful of being found out, of being exposed as not being good enough.  Their prejudice against CPD is probably based on their fear of stepping into the unknown.  Alternatively, as @reasons4 suggested, their attitude may stem from years of being chronically underpaid, stupidly overworked and neglected.

Other colleagues who are reluctant to embrace CPD may not be 'dinosaurs' at all.  They may, as @JoshSRound said, simply see teaching as the day job and have no interest whatsoever in developing their skills.

Why should we care if colleagues embrace CPD?

What's the point in teachers being forced to attend CPD sessions if they're not engaged?  There are interested teachers and those who are there because they have to be.  Why don't we just concentrate on those teachers who want to develop and leave the 'dinosaurs' to their own devices? 

The consensus in answer to these questions seemed to be that we want to work for professional institutions that implement good, effective CPD programmes.  We don't want to work in organisations that tolerate lazy practitioners persisting with fossilized teaching methods.  CPD prevents burnout and motivates teachers.  You can't teach if you don't learn!!

How do we encourage 'dinosaurs' to take part in CPD?

• @teflerinha tells us to use the carrot rather than the stick.  She believes that the key is in understanding their fear and then helping them to see CPD as a perk, not a pain - something that they can get out of the job that will improve the quality of their working life.  All teachers need to feel valued.
• @timjulian60 thinks schools need to have a written internal agreement that states explicitly that teachers are expected to take PD seriously.
• Make it part of the contract.  @harrisonmike gave us the example of UK FE contracts which oblige full-time teachers to do 30 hours of CPD in each academic year.  @cioccas told us of a similar scheme operating in Australia (36 hours a year).
• Where CPD is NOT a requirement, it should be promoted by management.
• Make CPD sessions relevant and interesting.  @teflgeek told us that he resents having to go to sessions where he knows the topic well.  I and @NikkiFortova were surprised that anyone could feel that there was nothing left to learn, but, if that's the case, then why not share your knowledge with less experienced colleagues?  Surely, part of effective CPD is passing on your expertise to others?
• Have a wide range of CPD options available and allow teachers to select what they want to do (but don't give them the possibility to choose nothing!!).
• Make CPD hours self-directed and give teachers some autonomy in how they develop.
• CPD is best when it comes from within, such as teachers forming their own co-operative development groups (suggested by @teacherphili).
• Allow CPD to happen organically - for example, teachers meeting informally in groups to talk about classes and share tips (suggested by @harrisonmike).
• CPD needs to be challenging according to @teflgeek in order to keep teachers motivated, a sentiment shared by many #eltchatters.
• Encourage peer observations so that everyone can learn from each other.  After doing an observation, teachers can be encouraged to fill in a reflective practice questionnaire.
• Ask teachers why they are against CPD - perhaps bad experiences in the past have put them off.
• Introduce some kind of reward system for teachers who take part in CPD.  @timjulian60, for example, told us that in his institution, teachers are paid double the hourly teaching rate if they lead a PD session.
• Link CPD opportunities to the conditions of pay rises or contract renewals. 
• Get teachers who have benefitted from CPD to share their experiences with their colleagues.
• Not every teacher needs to do the same PD - they can do different things and then share their learning back at school so that everyone benefits.
• Have teachers make up a community of practice (see link below) to pool resources and brainstorm ideas (via @jankenb2).
• Use guile - ask the 'dinosaurs' for help with your class! (via @AlexandraKouk).
• Don't overwhelm them.  Introduce CPD little by little - in manageable chunks.
• Be there for your colleagues in the same way as you are for your students!
• Don't call them 'dinosaurs'!!

Can 'dinosaurs' be converted?

The consensus seemed to be that they can, but that the metamorphosis from dinosaur to passionate educator is a very slow process with lots of resistance to overcome along the way.  @NikkiFortova said that she had met a few converts, but the key was that they had wanted to change and saw that the process wasn't hard or painful.  I myself have a 'work in progress', but don't want to go into detail just in case my encouragement so far means that he is now reading my blog!! :-)

At the end of the day, if the culture of an organisation encourages CPD, then teachers will embrace that culture or leave of their own accord!

Links

Differentiating Professional Development: The Principal's Role - a book highly recommended by @cioccas.
A cross-curricular activity on dinosaurs!
A sharing blitz for CPD via @cybraryman1
A questionnaire for teachers to suggest workshops via @Marisa_C
Plenty of ideas on different forms of CPD via @AlexandraKouk
My CPD page by @cybraryman1
Communities of Practice via @jankenb2
Co-operative development via @teacherphili
The Peter Principle via @esolcourses

Extensive Reading – An #ELTchat

via linguisticconsultancy.blogspot.com

This is a summary of the #eltchat which took place at 12 noon BST on Wednesday 11^th April, 2012.  The full title of the chat was:

How can we introduce, implement and evaluate an extensive reading programme and convince administrators of its value?

The chat was, as usual, expertly moderated by @Marisa_C and @Shaunwilden.

I voted for this topic and was particularly interested in taking part in the chat because I am currently trying to set up an ER programme for a course I am coordinating at my university.  As always, I picked up lots of useful ideas and links to articles for further reading.

What is ER?

Extensive reading involves students reading long texts or large quantities of texts for general understanding, with the intention of enjoying the texts.

Using graded readers

I am going to try using graded readers, one chapter at a time, in our Edmodo online classroom and was keen to get ideas and feedback from my PLN.  The consensus was that graded readers are a good choice when launching a reading programme, but there was a difference of opinion as to whether you should have a class reader or whether students should be allowed to choose their own titles.  I intend to start with a class reader in the hope that students will then be inspired to read more, an idea supported by @Marisa_C.  As was pointed out, though, the trick is to find something that suits the whole class. 

@Books4English suggested that the best low level reader is Penguin K's first case by L.G. Alexander, a whodunnit with suspect interviews.

Graded readers are good because it is easy to the organise materials by level. This is particularly important at the beginning of an ER programme when getting the right level is crucial to its success.

It was pointed out by @daveclearycz that, whilst there are excellent alternatives to graded readers, these can be hard to source, although @cioccas told us that she often prefers using children's books, such as titles by Roald Dahl.  Obviously, it is easier to use original adult texts with higher level students.  Alternatively, you could write your own level-appropriate material!

via livesofteachers.com

Ways to implement an ER programme

• Use class libraries - whether with graded readers or other texts, the disadvantage here is the start-up cost, though if considered a long-term investment, the cost is negligible.
• If no library is available, a class box can be equally worthwhile.
• Have a dedicated reading class or book club - students read their text and then meet to discuss and do language and skills work.
• Have reading stations, as a follow-up to reading a novel, with short texts (for example, comics) related to the main theme.
• Have a class blog or wiki with links to articles about the reading material.  Use it as a platform for written book reviews which generate interest in the texts, give writing practice and build a reading community.  These reviews could also be recorded as interviews as a pairwork speaking activity or collected in a binder for use with future classes.
• @cioccas suggested that, instead of having a formal ER programme, it might be just as effective to talk to individual students about favourite books that you think they might be interested in and able to manage.
• Have a swap programme where students exchange books after reading them.
• Have a silent reading programme in class time - for example, 15 minutes where students just read - either the class text or something of their own choice.  By doing this, students really get the message that reading is important.  On the other hand, though, 'forcing' students to read like this might actually demotivate them.  Also, @Shaunwilden suggested that class time should be used to encourage reading, but not necessarily to do the actual reading.  Reading can be done at home - class time should be for talking.  @reasons4 told us that if his Czech teacher did this, he'd complain!
• You could have the students listening to the text whilst reading.  Although not strictly an ER programme, it might encourage reluctant readers, especially if it is a text which lends itself to evocative sound effects or if the story is read by a famous name (Stephen Fry reading Harry Potter or Tony Robinson reading Terry Pratchett books, for example) .  It might help dyslexic students in particular.  It could, though, turn students into slow, voice-dependent readers.
• Use the set texts with Cambridge ESOL exam students.
• Have a lot of short articles available for students to read - they read as many as they can and fill in a form about them.
• Use blogs or RSS readers as an alternative, non-fiction ER programme.
• A suggestion from @llea_dias - set up a Facebook group where students post as characters from a book they are all reading.

via sendaiben.org

Why should we use ER in our teaching?

• It's the best way for students to consolidate their grammar.
• It's the best way to acquire vocabulary.
• It's a great way to access the wider world of English.
• It accelerates students' progress in second language acquisition.

Overcoming problems

The main problem when trying to introduce an ER programme was felt to be the reluctance by some students to get involved.  If students don't enjoy reading in their L1, they are unlikely to be engaged in reading in English.  Whilst teachers generally agreed on the benefits of ER, we had to accept that it cannot be forced on our students.  We can lead the horses to water, but we cannot make them drink!  @hartle suggested giving students a choice between listening and reading projects.  In her experience, most students choose listening, but some opt for the reading.  @Marisa_C proposed giving some incentive, especially for YLs or teens - a chart with prizes, for example.  Engaging pre- and post-reading tasks, such as giving presentations on what they have read, also help to motivate students to read, as does allowing them to change texts if they are not enjoying what they're reading.  Dramatising scenes from a story or book can be engaging and might also help with pronunciation and intonation.

A success story to finish

Gentle persuasion might work on even the most reluctant readers, though!  @kevchanwow told us about a student who read her first book in any language only two months ago and is now an avid reader.  She started at level 1 (400 headwords) and is already reading level 3 (1000 headwords).  For her, it was all about confidence!

Links

Suggested by @Marisa_C:

• An introduction to ER
• A collection of articles for further reading
• Extensive Reading in the Second Language Classroom - a book preview
• Extensive Reading Activites for Language - a book preview

Other links:

• A readable newspaper for topical ER suggested by @harrisonmike.
• @jezuden's reading blog suggested by @Shaunwilden.
• Jez Uden's BC seminar on the importance of reading for pleasure via @harrisonmike.
• @cybraryman1's Classroom Libraries page
• Read your way to better English from the OUP via @Shaunwilden.
• A newspaper for EFL students (2-month free trial available) suggested by @Books4English.
• BritLit suggested by @cioccas.
• @hartle's ER wiki page.
• Guided independent reading via @yya2.
• @hartle's results from an ER project
• Extensive reading via @yya2.
• OUP's extensive/graded reading help videos via @OUPELTGlobal.
• A repository of information on ER via @yya2.