Tuesday, February 17, 2009

What Do Your Language Learners Go, Do or Play on the Weekends?



English as a Foreign Language Learner Class Profiles

An integral part of my English as a Foreign Language learner class profiles include acknowledgement of their various personal interests. While here in Colombia the variety of available pastimes is somewhat limited in comparison to other countries, a large portion (sometimes TOO large a portion) of the EFL learners’ free time is spent engaged in some type of sports. The question then becomes how to correctly and accurately express participation in different sporting activities. In the (American) English language, for the most part, we use the verbs GO, DO and PLAY for this purpose.

Using the English Verb “GO”

Generally when the name of a sports activity ends with the suffix “-ing”, the verb used to express participation in that sport is “GO”. For example, you can “go”:

• Rock climbing
• Swimming
• Dancing
• Hiking
• Running
• Fishing (author shown with Peacock Bass on Gatun Lake in the Panama Canal)
• Diving (SCUBA, sky or board)
• Skating (ice or roller)
• Bungee jumping
• Skiing (water or snow)
• Hunting

Using the English Verb “DO”

On the other hand, “individual” sports participation is usually expressed using “DO”. For example, you can “do”:

• Judo
• Karate
• Weight lifting (an exception to the rule)
• Gymnastics
• Yoga
• Martial arts
• The pole vault
• The high jump (track and field sports, et al.)

Using the English Verb “PLAY”

Finally, for expressing participation in “team” or cooperative effort sports, the verb most predominantly used is “PLAY”. Form example, we can “play”:

• Baseball
• Basketball
• Soccer
• Hockey (ice and field)
• Lacrosse
• Volleyball
• Golf (an exception to the rule)
• Handball
• American football
• Tennis (another exception to the rule) racquetball
• Jai Lai
• Polo (water and horse)

General Guidelines for English Language Learners

Obviously, this hardly covers all the sports activity possibilities in the English language, but it does provide a very general guideline which can often prove to be useful to English as a foreign language learners wherever they may be. So I certainly hope it helps your language learners as much as it does mine.


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 100 countries. Get your FREE E-book, “If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.


Sunday, February 08, 2009

US ambassador pledges support to English language learning in Angola


US ambassador pledges support to English language learning in Angola

http://www.portalangop.co.ao/motix/en_us/noticias/educacao/ambassador-pledges-support-English-language-learning-Angola,7ea6234c-ed6e-488e-9ae1-a6fd2feb7ff6.html

Luanda - The US ambassador to Angola, Dan Mozena, on Saturday in Luanda said that his diplomatic representation has an active program for supporting the teaching of English language in this country, which includes the donation of learning material and the offer of scholarships.

The US diplomat was speaking at the closing ceremony of the 5th International Conference on the Teaching of English Language, which lasted five days.

According to the diplomat, who chaired the event, this year the US Embassy will send a specialized English teacher to the Education Sciences Higher Institute (ISCED).

The diplomat also said that he has already spoken with the Angolan government about the possibility of implementing a program that would enable American volunteers to come to Angola to teach English in secondary schools countrywide.

On the other hand, he considered Angola a promising country, which will in the future provide better quality of living to its citizens and become a pillar of peace and stability in Africa.

Dan Mozena explained that the spread of the English language in Angola will increase its potential in the world economy, not only in crude-oil and diamonds production, but also in international trade in general, as well as strengthen the relationship with its regional neighbors.

The English language, he said, will also bring some advantage to the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) when they eventually participate in international peace-keeping operations.

The conference was attended by about 300 English teachers from Luanda Province.

Meanwhile on Monday will start another seminar for English teachers from the province of Malanje, afterwards it will be for teachers from Huambo and Cabinda.

The gathering was marked by the handover of certificates and the reading of poems in English.


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 135 countries worldwide. Get your FREE, pdf format report on CD or via e-mail, "If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com



Thursday, February 05, 2009

Infants Learn Earlier Than Thought

Scans of young brains by UW researchers show infants are far more aware of their surroundings than they may appear to be.

By Isolde Raftery The (Vancouver) Columbian

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2008700779_brains03.html



Until recently, humans could safely view their brains as fatty, spongy masses of electrifying wonder. Brains are, in a sense, a secret place no one else can tap into unless we let them; they are our memory banks and central control centers that dictate how we behave and reason and interact with others.

But in the past decade, neuroscientists across the world have started to peer into the young brain to determine exactly how we learn. Examining their findings, researchers say that learning starts at birth, and perhaps even earlier.
"It's too late to wait until the age of 5 and expect that teachers in schools are going to be able to catch them," University of Washington professor Patricia Kuhl said. Kuhl is co-director of the Institute for Learning and Brain Science in Seattle (ILABS).

"Children who are behind stay behind."

Currently, researchers at ILABS secure babies with nylon caps with suction-cuplike electrodes that can read their neuronal activity. Next year, ILABS researchers will be the first in the world to use a $2.5 million machine to test the faint magnetic fields that emanate from a child's brain.

The money for the magnetoencephalography machine came from the state's Life Sciences Discovery Fund, which includes the tobacco-settlement bonus. The nylon cap brain scans show that infants are far more aware of their surroundings than they may appear. Within days, little ones can recognize familiar faces and sounds. Soon after, they start mimicking vowels. And at 6 months of age, babies can distinguish between the sounds of all languages (the adult brain cannot).

The MEG machine will be able to identify precisely what part of the brain is stimulated when an infant interacts with her mother, for example, as opposed to a stranger.

Danielle Kassow, researcher at Thrive By Five Washington, a public-private venture that aims to increase early education across the state, says that improved brain research has confirmed older empirical research and pushed lawmakers to fund early-education programs.

In Washington, where kindergarten teachers say fewer than half of their students are ready on Day 1, that work began in 2006 with the launch of Thrive and the state's Department of Early Learning. In Clark County school districts, curriculum directors have started using brain studies to pick textbooks and help teachers hone instruction.

The role of parents

That children soak up their surroundings isn't groundbreaking. An oft-cited study from 1995 showed that there's a gap of 32 million words between children on welfare and children from affluent homes. Children from impoverished families are more likely to hear directives, Kuhl said, in the form of "do this" and "do that."

In educated families, she said, "Conversations are more varied — what you dream about, what you can imagine, what other people think — more complex thoughts that provide the kinds of stimulation that kids' brains need."
Acquiring a rich vocabulary isn't like cramming for the Graduate Record Examination, however. Professor Maryanne Wolf of Tufts University writes in her 2007 book, "Proust and the Squid," that words inform concepts that enrich a child's understanding of the world. If those concepts are learned, she argues there is "less ability to infer and to predict." Genetics lay out our neurological blueprint, but parents wire our brains, Kassow says.

Babies develop signals to get an adult's attention — they might cry, look at the adult, coo or reach out their arms. When the adult responds, the baby is soothed by the attention, as evidenced by the reduction in cortisol levels, known as the stress hormone. Researchers who study child attachment have argued this for years, and brain-scan research confirms their work.

Studying language

In 2008, ILABS studied how 9-month-olds process language spoken to them. One group was placed in front of a television where another language was being spoken. Another group spent time with an adult who spoke that language, and a third stayed in the native English-speaking environment.
The UW group found that children who learned from adults were on track to becoming native speakers. Brain scans of children who were supposed to be learning from the television showed no advancement. Those infants appeared transfixed by the television but hadn't learned a thing.

"Babies need people to learn a language," Kuhl said, which may help explain why autistic children are linguistically delayed. Autistic children are less interested in interacting with their parents, and therefore aren't getting the same language inputs as non-autistic children.

Read to your child

The bottom line, scientists say, is that no amount of teacher training, brain scans or curriculum research can trump the parent-child connection. They say that parents should start reading to their child in utero. And when the child is born, keep reading aloud, as it introduces the baby to the cadence of written language.

"You can read an 8-month-old racing results, stock prices or Dostoyevsky (pictured)," Wolf writes in "Proust and the Squid," "although an illustrated version would be even better."

Wolf says that connection between being read to and feeling loved is the best prescription for developing a vocabulary, learning concepts and, ultimately, learning how to read.

Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company

Sunday, February 01, 2009

Teaching Kindergarten — Who Me?


Teaching Kindergarten—Who Me?

Guest post by Linda Rister Price January 2009

As a dedicated high school and university EFL/EAP teacher of over 35 years experience few teaching situations throw me anymore, so when I was asked if I would come and talk to my granddaughter’s kindergarten class, I said,

“Of course. No problem.”

The teacher went on to explain that every year the school liked to have guests come in and talk about their areas of expertise, and since I had lived overseas for so many years, perhaps I would like to talk about my country. “Excuse me, the United States?” No, naturally not. “Columbia” she said looking puzzled. I gently explained that though I lived in Colombia (please, the country is spelled with two o’s) for over 37 years, I was very much American, but I would be very happy to tell the children about this tropical paradise.

Given my normal tendency to ignore anything that isn’t imminent, I dismissed this project from my mind and went on with my life. About two months later, the teacher once again made contact about the “Teach-in Day” and was I still up for it?

“Sure, let me have the details,” I said.

A lengthy letter followed outlining all the details. She asked if I could give the lesson in Spanish —yikes— for their Salsa and Chips ESOL class period. It was scheduled for Thursday right after the kids finished talking about fire safety and climbing all over the fire truck. (Again, I’m not kidding.) And furthermore, she wanted to invite another class to join hers. What have I gotten myself into I thought.

A flurry of letters followed since I had previous commitments and dreaded exposing my deficient Spanish to the scrutiny of ESOL peers that I didn’t know. And preparation—never did I spend so much time preparing for my university classes. I spent for at least 20 to 30 hours preparing for a tiny 20 minute class. I had no materials for this age group—what do they do anyway in kindergarten?

I thought a map as a reference might be nice, but where to get one? I finally downloaded one from the Internet and had it blown up at my neighborhood photocopier. I mounted it on dark blue sponge board. I searched and searched in U.S. magazines for tropical fruits, minerals, and pop stars of Colombia (like Juanes, pictured above). I wasted hours and hours before my son said why didn’t you go to Google and click on images. If looks could kill, he would never have reached his 36th birthday. Still, this excellent idea put me back on track, and I was able to make up for lost time.

I decided to teach the kids a folksong. I know two in Spanish: The Mexican “La Cucaracha” from my early school days and “Los Pollitos” from Colombia. The first thing I discovered when I downloaded the words and music is that Los Pollitos is from Costa Rica not Colombia. Too bad—there was no going back now. I simply tossed out that all the kids in Colombia learn this song. Two web sites (www.mamalisa.com) and (www.juegosycanciones.com/songs.html) were very helpful. I made another trip to the photocopier to enlarge those cute yellow chicks and the words. Wow, black and white enlargements are inexpensive, but color—no way was I spending $35 bucks for this! I went home and got out my granddaughter’s markers and started filling in the colors. Did I mention I hate teaching young children because of all the manual arts you have to use?

The big day finally arrived. I gave my spiel and asked if anyone understood everything I said. Only two or three small brown hands of the most excited brown-eyed and brown-haired youngsters went up. All the blue-eyed, yellow-haired kiddies just looked at me. When I asked if they would like for me to repeat everything in English so they could understand, they solemnly nodded yes. The teachers all shouted out “Please.” Next we sang Los Pollitos, rubbing our stomachs for hunger, shivering from the cold, and huddling under the wings of mother hen.

Finally, I showed real bananas as a fruit grown in Colombia and gave them to the teacher to be passed out after lunch. But the biggest hit of the program was when I handed out a Colombian coffee bean to each child. They enjoyed the smell and were proud to receive a token from me. One even commented to his teacher that he was going to make his father coffee from his bean.

Despite feeling inadequate and totally unprepared for this age group, I did enjoy myself. Will I do it again? No way, you couldn’t pay me enough! Adios, and my most sincere respects to Kindergarten teachers everywhere.


Linda Rister Price studied Information Science as an Undergraduate and earned a Masters in Education (Curriculum and Evaluation) as well as a Masters in English as a Foreign Language. She is an English as a Foreign Language teacher of more than 35 years experience. She lived and worked in Cali, Colombia for over 37 years where she taught all levels of English there to students ranging from second grade to university students.


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, prolific writer, author and public speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 135 countries. Get your FREE E-book, "If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.