ESL Teacher Networking Meeting

1. ESL Teacher Networking Meeting January 19 & 20, 2011 Facilitator: Raynel Shepard

2. AGENDA • About language • Information Gap • Debrief lesson plans • Speaking • Video • Problem of practice • Next time

3. Warm -up • Kinetic Typography/Language • Information Gap

4. Variables of listening tasks • Listening purpose (gist, specific information, etc.) • Role of the listener (reciprocal, non-reciprocal) • Type of text being listened to (monologues, dialogues)

5. Stages of the Listening Process • Recognition of the target language • Recognition of isolated words • Recognition of phrase boundaries • Listening for the gist • True listening Source: E. Horwitz. (2008). Becoming a Language Teacher. Boston: Pearson

6. Important listening strategies • Listening for the gist • Listening for purpose • Listening for main idea • Listening for inference • Listening for specific information • Listening for phonemic distinctions (first or fourth; can or can’t) • Listening for tone/pitch to identify speaker’s attitude • Listening for stress (what is more important)

7. Communicative activities: Listening • Listening and performing actions and operations • Listening and transferring information (spoken to written, spoken to spoken) • Listening and solving problems • Listening, evaluating, and manipulating information • Interactive listening and speaking: negotiating meaning through questioning and answering routines • Listening for enjoyment pleasure and sociability Adapted from: Morley, J. Aural Comprehension Instruction: Principles and Practices. In M. Celce-Murcia. (Ed.) (2001). Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. Heinle and Heinle: Boston.

8. Debriefing - Listening Lesson • In small groups share out your listening lesson allow 5 minutes per person. • What level of listening comprehension did your lesson focus on? • How was it linked to the BPSESL curriculum? • How might you extend the lesson? • What worked? What didn’t?

9. What should we know about speaking? • How much does grammatical practice contribute to the ability to speak spontaneously in a second language? • What are some of the differences between speaking in a language class and speaking outside of class?

10. Where do you fit in? • Get it right from the beginning. • Just listen… and read. • Let’s talk. • Two for one. • Teach what is teachable. • Get it right in the end.

11. Important concepts in speaking • Communicative competence • Comprehensible input • Comprehensible output • Zone of proximal development • Corrective feedback • Interlanguage • Fossilization

12. Stages of Language Development Preproduction Early Production Speech Emergence Intermediate Fluency Advanced Fluency

13. Five Stages Continuum 5. Advanced 4. Intermediate 3. Speech Emergence 2. Early Production 1. Preproduction 0 7 years

14. Proficiency Levels

15. Preproduction • Non-verbal communication • 0-6 months

16. Early Production • Single word or short phrases • Memorized key phrases • 6 months – 1 year

17. Speech Emergence • Simple sentences • Many grammar and pronunciation mistakes • 1 to 3 years

18. Intermediate Fluency • Speaks using more complex vocabulary and grammatical structures • Makes few grammatical errors • 3-5 years

19. Advanced Fluency • Near native level speech • 5-7 years

20. Differentiated Questioning What questions might you ask students at the different stages of development?

21. Preproduction • Show me the wolf. • Point to the house.

22. Early production • Did the brick house fall down? • Who blew down the straw house?

23. Speech Emergence • Explain why the pig built his house with bricks. • What does the wolf want?

24. Intermediate Fluency • What would happen if the pigs outsmarted the wolf? • Why could the wolf blow down the house made of sticks, but not the house made of bricks?

25. Advanced Fluency • Retell the story.

26. What are some of the reasons you spoke today?

27. Agreeing and disagreeing Apologizing Asking for assistance or directions Asking for permission Classifying Commanding/giving instructions Comparing Criticizing Denying Describing Enquiring/questioning Evaluating Explaining Expressing likes and dislikes Expressing obligations Expressing position Hypothesizing Identifying Inferring Planning and predicting Refusing Reporting Sequencing Suggesting Warning Wishing and hoping Language Functions Source: Gibbons, P. (1991) Learning to learn in a second language

28. Teaching Speaking Word-MES* • Provide vocabulary words • Model correct usage • Expand by using adjectives, adverbs, new vocabulary • Use academic language to help students “sound like a book” Hill, J. & Bjork, C. (2008) Classroom Instruction that Works with English Language Learners

29. The student says: He runned. (grammatical error) I like eschool. (Pronunciation error) The water is so tall. (vocabulary error) The teacher models: Oh, he ran. I’m glad you like school. That’s right; the water is very deep. Modeling

30. The student says: That’s the sun. He’s going outside. The teacher says: Yes, that’s the bright sun. (adjective) Oh, he’s going outside to walk the dog. (phrase) Expansion

31. He tried and tried and wanted to quit but he didn’t and so he made it. Tom and John were the same because they were both brave and honest. Yes, he persevered until he ultimately achieved his goal. Yes, the characters had similar positive attributes; they were both brave and honest. Sound Like a Book

32. Fluency • Communicating with ease in unrehearsed situations.

33. Accuracy • The ability to create sentences with correct grammar and vocabulary usage.

34. The Reluctant Speaker • Students’ perceived low proficiency in English • Students’ fear of mistakes and ridicule • Teachers’ intolerance of silence • Uneven allocation of turns • Incomprehensible input

35. What can you do to help a reluctant speaker?

36. Guidelines for developing speaking activities(E. Horwitz, 2008) • Encourage students to talk about themselves and communicate their own ideas from the beginning. • Get to know your students. • Devise meaningful, authentic tasks. • Be selective in error corrections. • Focus on meaning rather than form. • Teach communication strategies. • Personalize oral activities. • Lower affective filter.

37. Video viewing • What strategies do you observe? • How does the lesson tell you about the teacher’s own theories of second language learning and teaching?