Promoting English Language Learning in American Corner Spaces

1. Promoting English Language Learning in American Corner Spaces Jerrold Frank Regional English Language Officer, Kyiv Ukraine American Corner Workshop February 27, 2013 in Vienna, Austria

2. American Corners Goals • To provide accurate information about U.S. history, government, society, and values; • To maintain an open dialogue with host-country audiences through programs that build bridges of understanding; • To provide access to English-language resources, computers, and the Internet; • To maximize the effectiveness of U.S. assistance and exchange programs in the host country.

3. You and English Language Programming???

4. English Programming Suggestions… • Games • Contests • Book Clubs • Drama Clubs • Public Speaking Clubs • Conversation Cafes • Movie Night • Holiday Programs • Exam Prep Center • Platform for Webcasts and Podcasts • Online English Language Resource Center

5. Games and Game Events

6. Benefits of Incorporating English Language Games in American Corners Programming. • Games develop English-language proficiency. • Interactive games help build social skills such as sharing, teamwork, following directions, and friendly competition. • Games can help build a sense of community at American Corners.

7. Popular Games that Help Develop English-Language Proficiency • Scrabble and Scrabble Me! • Boggle and BanaGrams • Taboo (http://www.playtaboo.com/playpage.php) • Scattergories • Pictionary and Quickword • Catchphrase and Apples to Apples • Hangman • Charades • Twenty Questions • Interactive video games

8. Contests • Poetry Contests • Video Contests • Essay Contests • Spelling Bees www.spellingbeethegame.com • Geography Bees • Scrabble Contests • Speech Contests • Olympiads

9. How to Run a Book ClubBasic Ground Rules • Choose a book that is inviting and easy-to-read. • There is no one way to experience or interpret a book. Differing opinions are great! • Try to limit discussion time to the book under consideration. • Encourage respect. Dominating personalities can ruin a good book discussion. “Let’s hear from others” is one approach. Some clubs pass an object around the room; you can only talk when you have the object. • Members who haven’t read the book can come too. Not everyone can finish every book, but non-readers still have valuable insights. • Allow members to give feedback about the books they would like to read and discuss.

10. Meeting FormatAllow 2-2 ½ hours per meeting • 30-45 minutes-social time (eat, drink, be merry) • 15-20 minutes-administrative matters • 60-90 minutes-book discussion

11. Holding the Discussion With a leader: • Appoint a club member-whoever selected the book or someone else who has been designated. Some clubs have one member who enjoys leading all the discussions • Invite an outside facilitator (local English teacher, PCV, etc.) Without a leader: • Take turns going around the room, allowing each member to talk about his or her experience reading the book. • Handout index cards. Ask everyone to write a question or observation, then select one or more to discuss.

12. Drama Club • Planning. How many people you would like in your club, the day and number of times you'll meet per week/month, and some of the exercises you would like to do. • Assign roles and key responsibilities to each member of the club (costumes, lighting, scripts, publicity, director, actors, and so on). • Choose a play. You can select three or four and let participants vote on their favorite or you can ask members for ideas. Make sure you have permission to use the play you choose. • Prepare! Practice! Present!

13. Public Speaking Club • The goal of such clubs is to provide members with opportunities to practice and gain confidence in public speaking. Try to foster an environment of security where members can learn from their mistakes. • To reduce the anxiety of talking in front of the group, begin with safe topics the members know well. Themes such as "my dream vacation" or "my favorite game" tap a member’s experiences. Permitting them to teach a skill they know or talk about a favorite possession are topics members can present easily. • Letting two members do a presentation together is less anxiety-provoking. • It is helpful to demonstrate models of oral presentation and provide a written outline of its parts. Encourage the members to critique the presentation. It is best if it is not perfect. If you can point out your own errors or deficiencies, they will realize they don't have to be perfect. • In most instances individual oral presentations should be limited to 10 minutes. Few novice speakers possess the skills and enthusiasm to hold their listeners' attention longer. • Once members have some experience in giving oral presentations, provide time at the end of the talk for the rest of the class to ask questions of the presenter. This develops the ability to think on their feet and to speak extemporaneously. • Invite a variety of speakers from the community to your meetings to offer members a chance to hear and see a variety of styles and techniques. • Hold a speech contest!

14. Conversation Cafes • Keep the groups relatively small. • Create rules and routines. • Start with a warm-up. • Only English! • Appoint a leader. • Choose a topic • Include role-plays. • Have back-up ideas on hand. • Use a suggestion box.

15. Movie Night • Movie nights are an easy and effective way to explore American culture and promote mutual understanding. You can present a movie regarding gay rights, global warming, anything you’re passionate about. Let the film do the talking for you. • Just remember: The films you show must be available in home video or DVD release in the country in which the film showing will occur. • Always have a list of questions prepared that relate to the movie. Here are some sample questions: • What are the main characters' struggles? • What aspects of this movie relate to the cause? • What sides of the issue does the movie focus on? • What do you think the director/screenwriter wants the audience to take away from this movie? • After watching this movie, how do you feel about the cause? Has your opinion changed? • What can we do about this issue in our specific community? What resources do we have?

16. Movies with a Cause • Animal Welfare • Free Willy, Behind the Mask: The Story Of The People Who Risk Everything To Save Animals, Earthlings, Gorillas in the Mist • Disaster Response & Relief • Avalanche Alley, Dante’s Peak, Menace of Guatemala, Shock Troops of Disaster, Forces of Nature • Discrimination • A Raisin in the Sun, Crash, American History X, Hotel Rwanda, Philadelphia, Rent, Same Sex America, Boys Don’t Cry, Tying the Knot, Prom Queen: The Marc Hall Story, The Laramie Project, Transamerica, Glory • Education • Stand and Deliver, Dead Poets Society, Dangerous Minds, Good Will Hunting, Freedom Writers, Lean on Me • Environment • The War Tapes • An Inconvenient Truth, Erin Brockovich, The Day after Tomorrow • Health & Fitness • Super Size Me, Sicko, Thank You for Smoking, My Life • HIV & Sexuality • Philadelphia, Longtime Companion, Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story, And the Band Played On, Juno, Children for Sale, The Day My God Died • International Human Rights • Trading Women, Lilja 4-Ever, Promised Land, Union Democracy, Bread and Roses, Sweatshops: The Reel World of Globalization • Poverty • Aparajito, City of God, A Mother’s Courage: The Mary Thomas Story, Surviving Hunger • Violence & Bullying • Bowling for Columbine, Searching for Angela Shelton, American Me, Boys ‘N the Hood, American History X, South Central • War, Peace & Politics • Fahrenheit 9/11, Schindler’s List, Hotel Rwanda, Darfur Now, Glory, Blood Diamond, 18 in '08,

17. Holidays • Holidays, festivals, and celebrations throughout the year make great starting points for fun and effective English lesson plans about language and culture. • Designing a timely lesson plan around a special day or tradition can get people excited about speaking, sharing, and learning English. • It is often helpful to begin with a brief history of the meaning behind the holiday and how the traditions associated with it developed. Ask what the students already know, and then provide additional factual information. A short handout or worksheet serves as a good introduction. • After New Year's, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Black History Month provide a perfect opportunity to discuss Civil Rights, while Groundhog Day, Super Bowl Sunday, Valentine's Day, and St. Patrick's Day allow for more lighthearted conversation. Easter and the Carnival season preceding it are celebrated in widely varying ways across Christian parts of the world, while Mother's Day and Father's Day have different dates in different countries. Earth Day can spark interest in environmental issues. • Although America's Independence Day falls during the summer vacation for most schools, it can be used as an interesting starting point for discussions of American history, as can Veteran's Day, President's Day, and Memorial Day during the school year. Patriotism and national identity are larger issues relevant to students in most of the world's countries. • Aside from official holidays that appear on formal calendars, many other celebrations happen throughout a typical year that can lead to fun and effective lessons. It can be enlightening to discuss how special events, like births, birthdays, graduations, marriages, and deaths, are marked and what special customs are associated with them.

18. Exam Prep Center • TOEFL • TSE/ TOEIC • SAT • GRE • GMAT • LSAT • MCAT

19. americanenglish.state.gov

21. Shaping the Way We Teach English Webinar Course • Participate in our newest online teacher training program • Collaborate with teachers worldwide • Join the Ning- community of practice • Receive e-certificates of participation englishprograms.state.gov americanenglish.state.gov shapingenglish.ning.com

22. Online Resources • There are numerous online resources available for teachers of English and American Studies, including those that provide: • · Links to downloadable activities for learning English, materials and lesson plans for teaching English, and resources for learning more about American culture and history — http://americanenglish.state.gov • · Links to many ELT sites in the U.S. as well as information on the teacher training video program Shaping the Way We Teach English — http://oelp.uoregon.edu • · Ready-to-use lesson plans and support materials on content-based instruction, including environmental and civic education — http://exchanges.state.gov/englishteaching/resforteach/ejournals/language-and-civil-society.html • · Current and past issues of English Language Teaching FORUM—http://forum.state.gov

23. More Resources!!!! http://www.cabrillo.edu/academics/esl/resources.html http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/scmsAdmin/uploads/005/120/Culturally%20Responsive%20Differientiated%20Instruction.pdf http://www.uab.edu/esl/teacher-resources http://writing.mit.edu/wcc/resources/teachers/esl_students http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/teaching/esl/further_resources.cfm http://www.tei.education.txstate.edu/great/resources/ESL.html http://sdce.edu/classes/esl/esl-resources/family-literacy-lessons http://schools.nyc.gov/Teachers/Resources/Classroom/ELL/default.htm http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Office%20of%20Citizenship/Citizenship%20Resource%20Center%20Site/Publications/PDFs/M-677.pdf http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/6034/browse https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/586/1/ http://www.csun.edu/~hcedu013/eslplans.html http://writingcenter.unc.edu/faculty-resources/tips-on-teaching-esl-students/ http://www.ohio.edu/linguistics/esl/ http://www.cws.illinois.edu/workshop/writers/esl/ http://www.lasc.edu/students/bridges-to-success/documents/NewInstructorCALPRO.pdf http://www.literacy.uconn.edu/eslhome.htm http://www.middlebury.edu/academics/resources/ctlr/esl/eslresources http://www.sandiego.edu/esl/teaching/teaching/references.html http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/teaching/esl/ http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeadult/resources.htm http://www.uvu.edu/owl/resource/eslresources/index.html http://www.tn.gov/education/fedprog/fpeslresources.shtml http://web.cortland.edu/flteach/flteach-res.html http://hunt.bsdvt.org/~lwalsleben/quest/resources/resources2.htm http://www.chaffey.edu/esl/esl_students/ http://www.doe.virginia.gov/instruction/esl/standards_resources/index.shtml http://academic.cuesta.edu/ahalderma/esl.htm http://academics.smcvt.edu/cbauer-ramazani/Links/esl_listening.htm http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~cmmr/BEResources.html http://departments.weber.edu/teachall/eslcases/esl.htm http://www.suu.edu/ed/resource/TenneseeESLResourceCenterStrategiesforESLTeachers[1].pdf http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/files/uploads/3/EducatingELLsBuildingTeacherCapacityVol1.pdf http://www.nj.gov/education/bilingual/resources/websites/teachers.htm