Are you looking to boost your English language teaching or learning skills to yet ever higher levels? Would you like to stimulate more interest in your language classes or break out of a slump or plateau? Combine the use of a variety of language learning techniques with continually developing technology to spur your successes. Here are some useful ideas and web sites to get you started.
BLOGS
A Web Log or Blog, is not unlike a dairy you keep online. You can write instructions, an essay or post any type of information you want. Graphics and images can be included to illustrate the written material. Sound and audio-visual files can also be placed into a blog for added impact. A teacher can post a reading or assignment where students can comment right online. No papers, no clutter and you can view it almost any time. Blogs are becoming easier to use and access and many sites allow you to set one up for free.
ONLINE VIDEO / AUDIO
Most professionals have an e-mail address or two. Your e-mail can now become a communicative tool between you and the learners. E-mail can now also include the use of images and sound or audio-visual clips, as well as the message text. Learners can send in assignments as attachments or pasted into the body of the e-mail. They can ask questions and receive timely feedback without waiting for the next class session. Teachers can send out instructions, updates or other information to learners individually, or as a group also without having to wait for the next scheduled class session. No computer?
No problem. In many parts of the world e-cafes are so cheap they’re actually a viable alternative that students can easily afford. Whole “communities” of young learners are based on hangouts at e-cafes in some cultures. Talk to your students about it. You might be surprised.
USE OF ONLINE RESOURCES for TEACHING / LEARNING
The use of online games, EFL practice sites student and teacher forums, communities and activities has exploded in recent months in many parts of the world. Virtual communities and online reference libraries now enable learners to problem-solve, research a paper or to more quickly complete assignments that formerly would have taken disproportionately large amounts of time to complete. For example, a few sites worth mentioning include:
www.books.google.com/
A web site which offers free access to books that can be read on-screen
www.universia.net.co
This is a site which has a lengthy listing of virtual libraries in almost any genre and connects more than 900 mostly Spanish language libraries
www.redclara.net
This site interconnects an advanced academic network of Latin American libraries
www.lablaa.org
This site allows you access and read a large number of its collected works online and contains exposition pages
The official Project Gutenburg web site contains an extensive listing of literary works in English which have entered the Public Domain. It’s online at: http://promo.net/pg/
Try some of these useful ideas and web sites to get you started in combining the use of a variety of language learning techniques with continually developing technology to explode your English language teaching and learning successes. If you need to know more about using these or other new technologies to boost student interest and motivation making your English language teaching more effective, feel free to e-mail me at lynchlarrym@gmail.com with questions or comments.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
How to Expand Your Recognition and Become Known as an Expert in Your Field
How well known are you in your field? Locally? Regionally? Nationally? Internationally? With the advent of the internet, broad band multi-media and their impact on global communications, you could become a “household name” and “thought leader” in your field no matter where you live or work. Write and publish articles and press releases. Speak at seminars, workshops and conferences. Participate in online forums and discussion groups. Starting a blog, putting up a website, or writing and publishing an online newsletter or a book will all aid in getting your name “out there”, known and recognized. Answer “yes” or “no” to each of the following points, then get to work on the “NOs”. Forget “New Year’s Resolutions”, just Do it! Print this article out and use it as an action plan outline for jump-starting your career this year.
Do you currently:
Write and publish articles and essays in your field?
Jot down three article or essay ideas here now:
A.
B.
C.
Write and publish press releases?
List three accomplishments which could be used in press releases:
A.
B.
C.
Have a personal website?
Give two quick ideas you use on your own free website:
A.
B.
Have an industry-related blog?
What some ideas, articles, notes, etc. that you could post on your own blog?
A.
B.
C.
Publish or subscribe to a career-related newsletter?
Subscribe to at least two newsletters in your field. Write their names and online addresses here:
A.
B.
Participate in online forums and discussion groups related to your work?
Note three forum / discussion boards of interest below:
A.
B.
C.
Have you written a book in your field of expertise?
Everyone has at least one good book in them. What might yours be about?
Jot down some quick ideas here now:
A.
B.
C.
Do you speak or present at career-related conferences, workshops or seminars?
List the dates, places, and themes of three or four upcoming seminars, workshops or conferences:
A.
B.
C.
D.
You should have answered “yes” or “no” to each of the above points and identified some prospects for action in each area. Now you can get to work on the “NOs”. Forget “New Year’s Resolutions”, just Do it! Remember to print this article out and use it as an action plan outline for jump-starting your career this year. Good luck and if you’d like additional suggestions and ideas or have a question, please feel free to e-mail me. I’ll be glad to help. Just do it!
Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an expert author and photographer offering Web Content Writing Services for top-quality articles on: Education, Language learning, Salt and Fresh water fishing, exotic foods, South American travel and culture, Ethnic issues – Blacks, Latinos, Indian native tribes, Health, Internet business resources and more … His work has appeared in Transitions Abroad, South American Explorer, Escape From America, Mexico News, Brazil magazine and hundreds of sites online. For fr*e*e sample articles and available web content e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com
Do you currently:
Write and publish articles and essays in your field?
Jot down three article or essay ideas here now:
A.
B.
C.
Write and publish press releases?
List three accomplishments which could be used in press releases:
A.
B.
C.
Have a personal website?
Give two quick ideas you use on your own free website:
A.
B.
Have an industry-related blog?
What some ideas, articles, notes, etc. that you could post on your own blog?
A.
B.
C.
Publish or subscribe to a career-related newsletter?
Subscribe to at least two newsletters in your field. Write their names and online addresses here:
A.
B.
Participate in online forums and discussion groups related to your work?
Note three forum / discussion boards of interest below:
A.
B.
C.
Have you written a book in your field of expertise?
Everyone has at least one good book in them. What might yours be about?
Jot down some quick ideas here now:
A.
B.
C.
Do you speak or present at career-related conferences, workshops or seminars?
List the dates, places, and themes of three or four upcoming seminars, workshops or conferences:
A.
B.
C.
D.
You should have answered “yes” or “no” to each of the above points and identified some prospects for action in each area. Now you can get to work on the “NOs”. Forget “New Year’s Resolutions”, just Do it! Remember to print this article out and use it as an action plan outline for jump-starting your career this year. Good luck and if you’d like additional suggestions and ideas or have a question, please feel free to e-mail me. I’ll be glad to help. Just do it!
Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an expert author and photographer offering Web Content Writing Services for top-quality articles on: Education, Language learning, Salt and Fresh water fishing, exotic foods, South American travel and culture, Ethnic issues – Blacks, Latinos, Indian native tribes, Health, Internet business resources and more … His work has appeared in Transitions Abroad, South American Explorer, Escape From America, Mexico News, Brazil magazine and hundreds of sites online. For fr*e*e sample articles and available web content e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Learn Technical English Fast: Use ESP Workshops to Promote Reading Comprehension in LEP Learners
With the continuing expansion of English as an integral communications tool for education, science, technology, business and commerce, post-secondary education technical students are increasingly finding themselves in positions requiring them to manage high-technology studies in technical English. If you teach EFL, technical or business English, or teach a technical subject in English, you can use ESP workshops to successfully promote enhanced reading and comprehension in LEP learners.
A group of my Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students studying an Electronic Engineering class on antenna design had an American textbook in English, so it was necessary for me to convert chapters of the text into a series of ESP reading and comprehension workshops designed to allow the students to practice strategies for de-constructing the written text as an aid to understanding it.
A Series of Workshops
When my LEP Spanish-speaking Law faculty students were required to study aspects of Capital Punishment used in the USA, I again produced a series of materials as both written workshops and full multi-media presentations.
For my LEP Economics students to do comparative population studies of Colombia (population 44,222,000) with:
South Korea (population 47,700,000)
Poland (population 38,587,000)
Argentina (population 38,428,000)
South Africa (population 45,026,000)
Ukraine (population 48,523,000)
A series of ESP workshops and multi-media presentations proved to be invaluable in promoting their reading and comprehension of their program’s technical materials in English. The process of creating effective ESP written workshops is not easy, but is well worth the effort required. It both benefits the learners in reading and comprehension of difficult written material and develops the resourcefulness and skills of the EFL teacher.
Preparing the Workshop
In preparing an ESP written workshop, the reading text is broken down into manageable segments which can be more readily understood by LEP learners. Students are taught to identify in context such elements as:
Cognates - words which look the same in different languages; True Cognates have the same or similar meanings, usage and connotation in different languages while False Cognates have different meanings, usage and connotation in different languages
Connectors - words that join simple and complex sentences with others. Examples of connectors are: and, but, or, so. They can be of different types, depending on their function. There are connectors which express addition, contrast, time sequence, choice, cause or result
Referents - words that refer to others that have been used before. They are used to avoid word repetition. Commonly used ones include such parts of speech (words) as: pronouns, determiners, quantifiers and proper nouns
Affixes – consist of prefixes and suffixes. A prefix is a syllable added to the front of a root word to make another word with a different grammatical function. A suffix is a syllable added to the end root of a word to make another word with a different grammatical function
In addition, a list of key, high-frequency vocabulary is prepared along with a glossary of technical terms which may prove to be difficult for the learners. Pre-reading activities, while-reading and post-reading activities are incorporated into the written workshop to complement and round out the total package. A variety of exercise types are used to provide in-context practice with the lexis and grammatical elements of the reading. Comprehensive support in the form of graphics, photos, diagrams and pictures are included, as are video, animation and sound files when reading and comprehension workshops are produced online in websites, blogs or class pages.
ESP written reading and comprehension workshops can be an invaluable aid for LEP learners who need to understand and apply technical material related to their field or study or employment. A good workshop may take from three to five hours to prepare, but is timeless and can be used and re-used for years. With regular and frequent practice in ESP workshop preparation, teachers can often reduce preparation time significantly. The benefits to the learners are countless. If you’d like some examples of complete, prepared ESP written workshops, feel free to e-mail me at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com for an immediate reply with samples.
Prof Larry M. Lynch is a certified English language teacher / trainer, bi-lingual copywriter, expert author and photographer specializing in business, travel, food and education-related writing in South America. His work has appeared in Transitions Abroad, South American Explorer, Escape From America, Mexico News and Brazil magazines. He teaches at a university in Cali, Colombia. To read more or get additional original, exclusive language education based articles and content for your class room, news letter, blog or website contact him at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com.
A group of my Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students studying an Electronic Engineering class on antenna design had an American textbook in English, so it was necessary for me to convert chapters of the text into a series of ESP reading and comprehension workshops designed to allow the students to practice strategies for de-constructing the written text as an aid to understanding it.
A Series of Workshops
When my LEP Spanish-speaking Law faculty students were required to study aspects of Capital Punishment used in the USA, I again produced a series of materials as both written workshops and full multi-media presentations.
For my LEP Economics students to do comparative population studies of Colombia (population 44,222,000) with:
South Korea (population 47,700,000)
Poland (population 38,587,000)
Argentina (population 38,428,000)
South Africa (population 45,026,000)
Ukraine (population 48,523,000)
A series of ESP workshops and multi-media presentations proved to be invaluable in promoting their reading and comprehension of their program’s technical materials in English. The process of creating effective ESP written workshops is not easy, but is well worth the effort required. It both benefits the learners in reading and comprehension of difficult written material and develops the resourcefulness and skills of the EFL teacher.
Preparing the Workshop
In preparing an ESP written workshop, the reading text is broken down into manageable segments which can be more readily understood by LEP learners. Students are taught to identify in context such elements as:
Cognates - words which look the same in different languages; True Cognates have the same or similar meanings, usage and connotation in different languages while False Cognates have different meanings, usage and connotation in different languages
Connectors - words that join simple and complex sentences with others. Examples of connectors are: and, but, or, so. They can be of different types, depending on their function. There are connectors which express addition, contrast, time sequence, choice, cause or result
Referents - words that refer to others that have been used before. They are used to avoid word repetition. Commonly used ones include such parts of speech (words) as: pronouns, determiners, quantifiers and proper nouns
Affixes – consist of prefixes and suffixes. A prefix is a syllable added to the front of a root word to make another word with a different grammatical function. A suffix is a syllable added to the end root of a word to make another word with a different grammatical function
In addition, a list of key, high-frequency vocabulary is prepared along with a glossary of technical terms which may prove to be difficult for the learners. Pre-reading activities, while-reading and post-reading activities are incorporated into the written workshop to complement and round out the total package. A variety of exercise types are used to provide in-context practice with the lexis and grammatical elements of the reading. Comprehensive support in the form of graphics, photos, diagrams and pictures are included, as are video, animation and sound files when reading and comprehension workshops are produced online in websites, blogs or class pages.
ESP written reading and comprehension workshops can be an invaluable aid for LEP learners who need to understand and apply technical material related to their field or study or employment. A good workshop may take from three to five hours to prepare, but is timeless and can be used and re-used for years. With regular and frequent practice in ESP workshop preparation, teachers can often reduce preparation time significantly. The benefits to the learners are countless. If you’d like some examples of complete, prepared ESP written workshops, feel free to e-mail me at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com for an immediate reply with samples.
Prof Larry M. Lynch is a certified English language teacher / trainer, bi-lingual copywriter, expert author and photographer specializing in business, travel, food and education-related writing in South America. His work has appeared in Transitions Abroad, South American Explorer, Escape From America, Mexico News and Brazil magazines. He teaches at a university in Cali, Colombia. To read more or get additional original, exclusive language education based articles and content for your class room, news letter, blog or website contact him at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com.
Sunday, February 05, 2006
How to Dramatize Your Foreign Language Teaching and Learning
In my previous article “How to Add Drama to an EFL Class or Start a Drama Group” some interesting ways in which you could initiate Drama into an EFL class or new drama group we suggested. If you’re a foreign language student, sooner or later you’ll start becoming “tired” or “bored” with the more conventionally used teaching approaches. This is especially true if you attend (or teach) a class that must follow a standard curriculum or course book series.
To crank out more speaking and develop more vocabulary and language use in context, try some of these additional drama-based activities to spice things up a bit.
Do Improvised Dialogues
Another popular technique is to “improvise” scenes based on specific character sets in different situations like a Mother - Daughter, Father - Son, Teacher - Student, Boss – Worker, Robber – Bank Teller, Waiter – Customer, or a multitude of other possible combinations of two, three or even more characters. Give each character set a scenario in which to work like a son with bad grades who wants to borrow Dad's car. A Mother who needs help around the house with a daughter giving excuses so she can talk on the phone with her friends. Have a student answer the phone and have a chat with the “wrong number” who wants to talk anyway.
Interview a famous person
Simulate an interview with a famous person or historic figure or even create a fictitious scene involving a famous person or historic figure. You can get an extensive list of famous people / historic figures the students are familiar with and use these as a basis for constructing scenes and dialogues. You can even have famous people "Talk" to each other who couldn't literally have done so. What would Jesus or Mohammed say to Adolph Hitler? What would George Washington say to Marilyn Monroe, Pamela Anderson or JFK? What might Chairman Moa and Idi Amin or Augustus Pinochet have talked about? How about a chat between Princess Diana and Cleopatra or Marie Antoinette? The possibilities are endless. Some wonderful ideas, dialogues, scenes and scripts could come out of a little swapping and brainstorming in this manner.
Schizophrenic Dialogues
These fun dialogues will erase any timidness the learners may have in speaking in front of others. Start with your most uninhibited learners at first until others from the group “get up their nerve” to do this activity. In this dramatic speaking practice activity the person “talks” to themselves taking on multiple roles in a dialogue, asking themselves a question and then answering themselves too. The schizophrenic person could also argue pros and cons of a decision or situation aloud. They are often hilarious and loads of fun once the students get the hang of it. A man can discus / argue the pros and cons of going out with woman A or woman B. Betty or Nicole? A woman learner can do the reverse. Tom or Jerry? Other sample themes are; Which friend to tell a secret? Which car to buy? Which vacation to take? The fun almost never ends.
To continue to get even more mileage from these activities and materials, record and use them for listening comprehension, error-correction exercises, pronunciation, language use or grammar practice activities in another class. Teachers and students, I hope some of these ideas help with starting material. I'll send you some more specific suggestions if you'll tell me specific areas you'd like more information on. Please let me know about your progress and experiences. Good luck.
Prof Larry M. Lynch is a certified English language teacher / trainer, bi-lingual copywriter, expert author and photographer specializing in business, travel, food and education-related writing in South America. His work has appeared in Transitions Abroad, South American Explorer, Escape From America, Mexico News and Brazil magazines. He teaches at a university in Cali, Colombia. To read more or get additional original, exclusive language education based articles and content for your newsletter, blog or website contact him at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com.
To crank out more speaking and develop more vocabulary and language use in context, try some of these additional drama-based activities to spice things up a bit.
Do Improvised Dialogues
Another popular technique is to “improvise” scenes based on specific character sets in different situations like a Mother - Daughter, Father - Son, Teacher - Student, Boss – Worker, Robber – Bank Teller, Waiter – Customer, or a multitude of other possible combinations of two, three or even more characters. Give each character set a scenario in which to work like a son with bad grades who wants to borrow Dad's car. A Mother who needs help around the house with a daughter giving excuses so she can talk on the phone with her friends. Have a student answer the phone and have a chat with the “wrong number” who wants to talk anyway.
Interview a famous person
Simulate an interview with a famous person or historic figure or even create a fictitious scene involving a famous person or historic figure. You can get an extensive list of famous people / historic figures the students are familiar with and use these as a basis for constructing scenes and dialogues. You can even have famous people "Talk" to each other who couldn't literally have done so. What would Jesus or Mohammed say to Adolph Hitler? What would George Washington say to Marilyn Monroe, Pamela Anderson or JFK? What might Chairman Moa and Idi Amin or Augustus Pinochet have talked about? How about a chat between Princess Diana and Cleopatra or Marie Antoinette? The possibilities are endless. Some wonderful ideas, dialogues, scenes and scripts could come out of a little swapping and brainstorming in this manner.
Schizophrenic Dialogues
These fun dialogues will erase any timidness the learners may have in speaking in front of others. Start with your most uninhibited learners at first until others from the group “get up their nerve” to do this activity. In this dramatic speaking practice activity the person “talks” to themselves taking on multiple roles in a dialogue, asking themselves a question and then answering themselves too. The schizophrenic person could also argue pros and cons of a decision or situation aloud. They are often hilarious and loads of fun once the students get the hang of it. A man can discus / argue the pros and cons of going out with woman A or woman B. Betty or Nicole? A woman learner can do the reverse. Tom or Jerry? Other sample themes are; Which friend to tell a secret? Which car to buy? Which vacation to take? The fun almost never ends.
To continue to get even more mileage from these activities and materials, record and use them for listening comprehension, error-correction exercises, pronunciation, language use or grammar practice activities in another class. Teachers and students, I hope some of these ideas help with starting material. I'll send you some more specific suggestions if you'll tell me specific areas you'd like more information on. Please let me know about your progress and experiences. Good luck.
Prof Larry M. Lynch is a certified English language teacher / trainer, bi-lingual copywriter, expert author and photographer specializing in business, travel, food and education-related writing in South America. His work has appeared in Transitions Abroad, South American Explorer, Escape From America, Mexico News and Brazil magazines. He teaches at a university in Cali, Colombia. To read more or get additional original, exclusive language education based articles and content for your newsletter, blog or website contact him at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
How to Add Drama to an EFL Class or Start a Drama Group
As English language teaching professionals we’re always on the lookout for new ideas and activities to expand the repertoire of dynamics in our EFL class rooms. One area which could always use more attention is the use of drama. It’s all around us and our learners in the media of television, radio, cinema, stories in the printed media and the internet. Everyone loves a good story. So why not then incorporate more drama into our class rooms? Here are some interesting ways you could initiate Drama into an EFL class or new drama group.
Role Play activities from the learner text books
If you’re using a course book such as Interchange, American Channel, Headway, Cutting Edge, First Class, etc. you can have the learners start out by "acting out" dialogues from their text books. Additional scenes to cover what happened before and after the dialogue can be created and added for even more dimension.
Act Out video scenes
If there is a video from the same course book series learners can act these out too. In this case also, additional before and after scenes can be created and added to expand and deepen the role play context. Be sure to use realia and props in the scene dramatizations to help the learners get "into character". And by all means, be creative. If the dramas are recorded (video and/or audio you can easily demonstrate improvement in technique, speech, language use, fluency, etc. to the students later on.
Use Scenes From Movies
Use dramatic scenes from movies and films as a basis for drama / dialogue practice. Famous, popular or memorable movie scenes work best. Have learners take the roles of characters in the movie scene and do the same lines as the original actors imitating accent, gestures, discourse, etc. Students can also put their own personal “spin” or “interpretation” on the scene and dialogue for added interest. Encourage the use of the local variety of English for added impact. Here are some famous line starting scene suggestions:
Dirty Harry - "Go ahead, make my day."
The Terminator: "I'll be back."
The Godfather, Don Corleone: "We’re going to make him an offer he can't refuse."
You get the idea. Just expand to use the full scenes surrounding these famous lines. For maximum punch, have the learners get into “costume” as well as character. When learners at the university where I teach did a play in which the Devil bargained with characters for their soul, the “Devil” made his pitch dressed and painted in red. He even sported “horns” and a “tail” complete with a barb at the end. It sure worked for me.
You could get even more mileage from these activities and materials, if you videotape or audio-tape record and use them for listening comprehension, error-correction exercises, pronunciation, language use or grammar practice activities. Other drama activities are discussed in the article “How to Dramatize Your Foreign Language Teaching and Learning”. Try some of these ideas out for yourself. Please do feel free to let me know about your progress and experiences. Good luck.
Prof Larry M. Lynch is a certified English language teacher / trainer, bi-lingual copywriter, expert author and photographer specializing in business, travel, food and education-related writing in South America. His work has appeared in Transitions Abroad, South American Explorer, Escape From America, Mexico News and Brazil magazines. He teaches at a university in Cali, Colombia. To read more or get additional original, exclusive language education based articles and content for your newsletter, blog or website contact him at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com.
Role Play activities from the learner text books
If you’re using a course book such as Interchange, American Channel, Headway, Cutting Edge, First Class, etc. you can have the learners start out by "acting out" dialogues from their text books. Additional scenes to cover what happened before and after the dialogue can be created and added for even more dimension.
Act Out video scenes
If there is a video from the same course book series learners can act these out too. In this case also, additional before and after scenes can be created and added to expand and deepen the role play context. Be sure to use realia and props in the scene dramatizations to help the learners get "into character". And by all means, be creative. If the dramas are recorded (video and/or audio you can easily demonstrate improvement in technique, speech, language use, fluency, etc. to the students later on.
Use Scenes From Movies
Use dramatic scenes from movies and films as a basis for drama / dialogue practice. Famous, popular or memorable movie scenes work best. Have learners take the roles of characters in the movie scene and do the same lines as the original actors imitating accent, gestures, discourse, etc. Students can also put their own personal “spin” or “interpretation” on the scene and dialogue for added interest. Encourage the use of the local variety of English for added impact. Here are some famous line starting scene suggestions:
Dirty Harry - "Go ahead, make my day."
The Terminator: "I'll be back."
The Godfather, Don Corleone: "We’re going to make him an offer he can't refuse."
You get the idea. Just expand to use the full scenes surrounding these famous lines. For maximum punch, have the learners get into “costume” as well as character. When learners at the university where I teach did a play in which the Devil bargained with characters for their soul, the “Devil” made his pitch dressed and painted in red. He even sported “horns” and a “tail” complete with a barb at the end. It sure worked for me.
You could get even more mileage from these activities and materials, if you videotape or audio-tape record and use them for listening comprehension, error-correction exercises, pronunciation, language use or grammar practice activities. Other drama activities are discussed in the article “How to Dramatize Your Foreign Language Teaching and Learning”. Try some of these ideas out for yourself. Please do feel free to let me know about your progress and experiences. Good luck.
Prof Larry M. Lynch is a certified English language teacher / trainer, bi-lingual copywriter, expert author and photographer specializing in business, travel, food and education-related writing in South America. His work has appeared in Transitions Abroad, South American Explorer, Escape From America, Mexico News and Brazil magazines. He teaches at a university in Cali, Colombia. To read more or get additional original, exclusive language education based articles and content for your newsletter, blog or website contact him at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com.
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