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The Tyranny of TEFL-speak

The Tyranny of TEFL-speak. What (not) to teach. Acknowledgement. (a) Do you understand it? (b) Is it correct? (c) Would you say it? (i) When have you arrived? (ii) If you’ll jump, I’ll jump too. (iii) Teacher : How long are you here for? Student: Since Sunday

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The Tyranny of TEFL-speak

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  1. The Tyranny of TEFL-speak What (not) to teach

  2. Acknowledgement

  3. (a) Do you understand it? • (b) Is it correct? • (c) Would you say it? • (i) When have you arrived? • (ii) If you’ll jump, I’ll jump too. • (iii)Teacher: How long are you here for? Student: Since Sunday • (iv) I asked her to borrow the car.

  4. Sky News: 08.30 April 31st 2011 • If they’re not wanting to work, then cut their benefits.

  5. Three issues • Sometimes grammatical inaccuracy doesn’t affect communicative effectiveness: e.g when have you arrived? • Sometimes grammatical inaccuracy leads to communication breakdown e.g. How long are you here for ? ≠ since when have you been here? I asked her to borrow the car • Sometimes the coursebook teaches ‘TEFL Grammar’ which is at odds with what native speakers may often say e.g If you’ll jump, I’ll jump too.

  6. Is it correct? The grey area • Are they correct? • Incorrect? • Something in-between? • How many conflict with pedagogic grammars (the grammar we teach in ELT classes)? • Write a comment and then discuss and compare with (a) partner(s).

  7. 1. I have seen him yesterday • 2. If I’d have been there, I’d have helped • 3.Thank you but you really didn’t need to. • 4. Please tell me what should I do. • 5.She has been ill for a long time before she died. • 6. Can I go to the toilet, please? • 7.You left your wallet, innit? • 8. She was like, ‘what’s your problem?’ • 9. I am visiting there every week. • 10. I was sat there for hours. • 11. I done it already. • 12. Where does he living?

  8. 13. She drunk it all. • 14. There were less people than last time. • 15. I so don’t agree with you. • 16. They was on the table. • 17. There’s no tomatoes in the fridge. • 18. Give me them pens. • 19. There’s lots of names on the list. • 20. It was wrote by Shakespeare. • 21. That’s an interesting phenomena. • 22. If I was you, I’d tell her. • 23. How’s things? • 24. Me and my friend often go to the pub on Friday nights.

  9. A scale of correctness? • AInstances that have always been, or which have become, general use. Arguably now ‘standard’. Frowned upon by some. Warning about conservative examinations? • BUsed by native speakers to make subtle distinctions. Conflict with useful ‘rules of thumb’. • C Commonly used but considered ‘uneducated’. • DIn common use among young people. ‘Standard English’ of the future? • X Everybody agrees that this is incorrect at all times

  10. 1. I have seen him yesterday B • 2. If I’d have been there, I’d have helped A • 3. Thank you but you really didn’t need to. A • 4. Please tell me what should I do. B • 5. She has been ill for a long time before she • died. X • 6. Can I go to the toilet, please? A • 7. You left your wallet, innit? D • 8. She was like, ‘what’s your problem?’ D • 9. I am visiting there every week. B • 10. I was sat there for hours. A • 11. I done it already C • 12. Where does he living? X

  11. 13. She drunk it all. A/C • 14. There were less people than last time. A • 15. I so don’t agree with you D • 16. They was on the table. C • 17. There’s no tomatoes in the fridge. A/C • 18. Give me them pens. C • 19. There’s lots of names on the list A • 20. It was wrote by Shakespeare C • 21. That’s an interesting phenomena A • 22. If I was you, I’d tell her. A • 23. How’s things? A • 24. Me and my friend often go to the pub. A (C?)

  12. Teenage very informal speech • “He was like you coming? I got this wicked bike. I was like, I’m so not coming. He goes that’s well out of order. I was like, “Hello, Dad’s here!” He was like, “Whatever.” I was well gutted.”

  13. In informal spoken reported speech, especially among young people, “He/She’s like…..” and “He/She goes…….” replaces the more formal “He/She said/told me.”

  14. On a Cambridge ESOL DELTA course an experienced teacher presented and drilled • If I’d have known … • She was a native speaker and had a degree in English. • The tyranny of TEFL?

  15. Finally: to consider …. • Pedagogic grammars are ‘rules of thumb’. • Are the models we teach always appropriate? • How far do we need to consider how the language is constantly evolving?

  16. A shamefaced plug! • Upgrade your Grammar Teaching • 9th-13th May: 15.30-19.30 • IH Malta-Gozo, Swieqi • Richard Twigg: richard@ihmalta-gozo.com • amarmski@go.net.mt • amarmski@maltanet.net • (+356) 9942 8447

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