What do we listen to in an ELT classroom?

Using authentic material in an ELT classroom is always a controversial issue. It's easy to find as many teachers in favor as against this policy. Some of the items suggested by Hedge in which they may disagree are: the level of students, the grading of language, the unfamiliarity of accents, and the amount of repetition and the speed of delivery.

Personally, I believe that introducing authentic material can be carried out at all levels. The important thing is not to grade the audio recording or video segment, but grading the task according to our student's schematic knowledge. Making use of an appropriate pre-listening task, we are able to activate formal and content schemata and give our students a good purpose for listening. Most of our students are already familiar with different accents heard in movies and TV series, so, to me, it's just a matter of adapting the level of activities to the level of our students; the activities may vary from a simple checkpoint of words mentioned to more complex activities in which inference strategies are required. Finally, amount of repetition and speed of delivery are items that could be indirectly graded by selecting appropriate material, which does not mean risking authenticity.

I invite you all to go over the following article I've found on the BBC website*. It is related to the use of all kinds of authentic material in ELT classroom and it gives great ideas!!!

Based on Tricia Hedge, Teaching and Learning in Language Classroom, Oxford, 2000
(Chapter 7)

*http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/using-authentic-materials

Why don't we have a look at Grammar in action???

"Grammar is an important element of my teaching, however, it cannot be considered predominant over other language systems in my teaching. I strongly believe in balancing all aspects of language in order to achieve my ultimate goal of teaching English for COMMUNICATION. As I always say to my students “you may get to put your message across even with grammar mistakes, but isn’t it rewarding if besides conveying meaning you do it properly?”"

Observation 5 - 1st year - Colegio P - Methods2 - 2009

What do our students feel when they first encounter new words in a Reading Comprehension?

Tricia Hedge suggests several examples of what our students may feel when meeting new words or phrases in Reading Comprehension (RC) activities…
· “I read on to see if the word is repeated”
· “I go to my dictionary for a translation”
· “I think if there is a Spanish word like it”
· “I ask my teacher to explain”
· “I look to see if the word has some part I know”
· “I say the word out loud”
· “I start again from the beginning of the sentence”
· “I ask the other students in my group”
· “I write it in my notebook”
· “I study the words around”
These feelings made me reflect upon what is Reading Comprehension for us, teachers. To me, reading in a foreign language is a skill that needs to be developed; since it is not enough to handle a foreign language and to know how to read to be a successful reader in the target language. But, do we all agree on that?
In order to decide whether we would like to foster these feelings/reactions in our students, we need to define what purpose is in including those activities in the class. Personally, I agree with Michel West’s description of Reading as “to confer greater facility in the use of the vocabulary already gained, to give the child a sense of achievement and a taste of the pleasure to be derived from his accomplishment” (1995:45). Following this definition, it won’t be wrong to say that there is no right or wrong reactions to the encountering of new words in a RC activity. I encourage you to go on reading the positive aspects of each of the above mentioned reactions of our students:
· “I read on to see if the word is repeated” >>> This helps them determine whether the word should already be known (generally, if the word is repeated several times it is because it is considered known for the level)
· “I go to my dictionary for a translation” >>> This proactive motivation can be canalized in a specific activity to train the use of different dictionaries
· “I think if there is a Spanish word like it”>>>This way of thinking can be canalized into cultural awareness of languages’ similarities and differences
· “I ask my teacher to explain” >>> There are some students that even after having been trough different techniques for understanding new vocabulary in RC activities will need the T’s explanation. Now, what we really want to foster is autonomous learning, so T’s explanation of new vocabulary items needs to used as a pre reading activity, to allow a smoother development of the activity
· “I look to see if the word has some part I know” >>> Great attitude to be fostered; family words as well as categories recognition are excellent tools
· “I say the word out loud” >>> May be of help for auditory learners!
· “I start again from the beginning of the sentence” >>> Even though starting from the beginning will make the activity longer, this can help understand the context better
· “I ask the other students in my group” >>> Great for encouraging interaction, as long as we keep the English environment!!!!
· “I write it in my notebook” >>> This reaction will help students create their own bank of new words, however, we need to ensure that this activity does not disrupt the comprehension of the text as a whole
· “I study the words around” >>> This is the best technique for deducing from context!!!
I hope you can share some of your ideas with me…
Based on Tricia Hedge, Teaching and Learning in Language Classroom, Oxford, 2000 (Chapter 6)

Teachers need to be ready to deal with the unexpected!!!!

"My question is whether this teacher had planned her classes in advance or she is talented on dealing with the unexpected..."

You are welcome to share with me the experience of visiting a planned class...

Observation 4 - 2nd year - Colegio C - 2009

Where should I get with these instructions?

Tricia Hedge states in Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom that "a Communicative Class involves learnes in face-to-face encounters in the classroom with a teacher in a wider range of roles beyond that of providing and presenting new language".
What happen if under unexpected circumstances the face-to-face class needs to be carried out from home? This winter break was unusual, since due to the Pandemia lots of homework needed to be assigned. Learning would have to take place on autonomous basis more than ever had and teacher's role would include setting up activities and organizing resources for a month!
If I were to isolate what I've learnt from this observation, I will go for the idea of keeping a Communicative Classroom at all times!!! Would you like to share with me some of the instructions this teacher needed to give to her students for this unusual winter break?
Observation 3 - 3rd year - Colegio C. - Methods2 - 2009

Grammar Ways & Whys

John and Liz Soars, authors of Headway Upper Intermediate TB, give a list of reasons to teachers to explain their prominence of grammar in their materials:

• It is the mechanism that generates the infinite number of sentences that we produce and receive.
  
• It is a tangible system, and can provide one element of a systematic approach to teaching a language.
  
• It develops students' cognitive awareness of the language. Language is rule-based, and conscious or sub-conscious knowledge of the rules is the key to "generalizability" and creativity.
  
• It conforms to students' expectations of language learning, and meets an often-heard request for "more grammar".
  
• It will be of assistance to teachers in the planning of their lessons.
  

Now, if I were to express my viewpoints without referring to the discussion whether language is lexicalized grammar or grammaticalized language, I consider grammar a tangible system that develops cognitive awareness. It helps us, teachers, to give an order to the teaching of a foreign language and allows students to raise their awareness in learning strategies and conscious knowledge. However, I don´t believe that students associate "more grammar" with "more English". Language is broad enough to cater all appetites. One the one hand vocabulary is what makes the difference between an intermediate learner and an advanced one; on the other hand, learning the grammar rules is handling the ABC of the language. It is up to us to decide in which way to design varied syllabi with the proper combination between vocabulary and grammar. Either one or the other needs to serve our purpose of contextualizing the other; there is no language if one of the areas is missing. What's your idea about it?

Based on Tricia Hedge, Teaching and Learning in Language Classroom, Oxford, 2000
(Chapter 5)

Presentation on The Lexical Approach by Michael Lewis

Presentation on The Lexical Approach