Greenville Spanish Teacher Wins Award

By KATHERINE DYER
The Greenville News

GREENVILLE, SC – As a student, Kelly Nalley was an overachiever.

She was valedictorian of her high school graduating class and was voted "most likely to succeed" by her peers.

But on her first day as a first-year middle school Spanish teacher, Nalley stapled her finger to the bulletin board. She was 21 years old, and the class was scheduled to arrive 10 minutes later.

That year, she also spent many afternoons crying in her supply closet, exhausted and frustrated.

"Nothing had ever been negative in my life before," she says. "Everyone had always been nice."

In her professional biography she wrote, "After that first year, I decided that I would commit to teach for five years, and if I was still crying in my supply closet, I would find a new career."

It's been 12 years, and on Aug. 14, Nalley was on stage – a far cry from any storage closet – receiving an award as the 2009-10 Greenville County Teacher of the Year.

"She's just one of those teachers who's so naturally good at what they do," said Reem Alnatour, a fellow Fork Shoals Elementary School teacher.

She said Nalley is soft-spoken but effective in classroom management, is in touch with students' emotions, has a good sense of humor and above all, is engaging.

"Whether you're a teacher or a student, she manages to make you feel like you're No. 1," Alnatour said. "She talks to you as if you're the only person around."

She also praised Nalley's classroom activities.

"She tries to bring in the Spanish culture, not necessarily just the language," Alnatour said.

Nalley visits Alnatour's third-grade class twice weekly for Spanish lessons. Alnatour's personal favorite is the lesson on chocolate.

But unlike traditional foreign language classes, Nalley uses a new program called KITE-LL (Kids Interacting Through Early Language Learning), developed three years ago by ETV and the South Carolina Department of Education.

The program integrates foreign language into what students are learning in other subjects. For example, she covers a unit on weather while the students are learning the water cycle in science.

"They're learning the lessons in context," Nalley said. "I'm not stopping to explain how to conjugate verbs or 'how this grammar fits' or how it's comparable to English. We just speak it."

She says it's been incredible to see the difference in how much children learn through this method. Her fifth-graders are on par with students she taught in high school, she said.

"I think in the great scheme of things, I've learned that everything doesn't have to be perfect, because I'm a perfectionist," Nalley said. "That was a hard lesson to learn."

Offering advice for the new school year, she encourages teachers to work together and share ideas.

"You're not an isolated professional in education; you're a team," she said.

The Twisted Tongue-Twisting Trials of the Tongue English as a Foreign Language Teaching Lesson

Using Tongue Twisters in Teaching English as a Foreign Language Pronunciation

One of my most interesting and fun EFL speaking and pronunciation lesson series is one that makes frequent use of tongue-twisters. These are a tremendous aid in forcing and reinforcing the positions needed by combinations of speech organs in order to correctly pronounce quirky, difficult and low-frequency dipththongs, triphthongs and other sound combinations in the English language.

There are several good books you can easily turn to as references. Also some “children’s” book authors like “Gulliver’s Travels” author Jonathan Swift, “Alice in Wonderland” author Lewis Carroll, Theodore Suess Geisel (Dr. Seuss – pictured above) and Shel Silverstein, among numerous others, heavily make use of jaw-stretching, tongue wrapping sound combinations to provide an extra element of fun o their literary works. More “serious” poets like e e cummings are hardly exempt either, warping words in wild weird winsome ways of wistful wacky wonder. Elements of connected speech and phonics can easily be taught, demonstrated and practiced in this way.


Not only English as a foreign language, but teaching and learning other foreign languages can be made more dynamic in this way. There are tongue-twisters, rhymes, riddles, limericks and short, clean jokes available in most modern languages.

Key Poetic Elements in the English Language

As you may recall from your trappings with poetry and poetic elements in English, there are several distinct linguistic aspect associated with poems and poetry: rhyme, alliteration, and onomatopoeia being some major ones. Let’s take a brief look at these.

• Rhyme – This is most simply words which have the same or very similar ending sounds. It’s one of the best known pronunciation practice use forms. Words like play, day, slay, whey, clay, may, bay, hay or hey, and say are examples.

• Alliteration – repetition of a consonant sound in two or more words in a phrase or line such as: beautiful bubbling brown sugar or shafts of shimmering sunshine

• Assonance – similar sounds, like alliteration, but used in the internal syllables of a string of words (birthday weather, father’s brother, further mathematics, etc. to give you an idea)

• Consonance – repetition of certain stressed syllables in a pair, group or string of words (taker, baker, maker, shaker, Quaker but not quicker)

• Onomatopoeia – words which by their pronunciation imitate sounds
Words like whistle, tweet, boom, bag, pow, crash, crunch, slam, zoom, snap, crackle, pop, zip and zing among many, many others, fit into this category

If you want to delve into more details regarding elements of poetry, you might want to check out two other article posts I’ve done on the topic as a sort of “primer”. One is entitled, “How to Evoke Imagery, Emotions and Ideas in Writing Poetry That Captures Your Readers Imagination”. The other article post is entitled, “How to Write Poems That Capture the Heart and Imagination of Your Readers”.

In the next related article posts, we’ll continue looking at this little-used, fun and dynamic way to allow your English as a foreign language learners to enjoy their foreign language learning even more.

See you then.


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.

The Tomato: An Important Tool for ELT and Foreign Language Teachers

A Tomato: An Important English as a Foreign Language Teaching Tool? Really?

What has a tomato got to do with English or foreign language teaching? Try this. Take a tomato, display it prominently in front of your English or foreign language students. Now ask them to tell you about it. “Ask, “What things can relate?” If one of your learners asks, “Teacher, can I touch it or pick it up or handle it?” you should say “Yes”.

Just don’t let them eat it. No prop, no class you see.

Using a Prop For English language Teaching

The idea is to generate the use of the four basic language skills using a known prop or piece of realia. With the exception of Antarctica and possibly the Himalayas, I don’t know of any other continent or geographic region where the tomato might not be known. The learners then, must come up with as much tomato-based input as they can. From some individual learners there may not be much, but collectively, the input generated could be considerable.

Brainstormed Tomato Themes

Here are some allowable input themes my learners have brainstormed using this exercise.

• Tomato dishes
• Allergies, especially food allergies
• Cooking methods used with tomatoes
• Tomatoes in songs and movies (Remember “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes”?)
• Collocations with “tomato”
• Countries where tomatoes are grown or heavily used
• Chemicals and nutrients in tomatoes
• History of tomatoes
• Tomato-colored objects
• Idioms and expressions using “tomato”
• Tomato statistics and records (world’s largest, smallest, etc.)
• Famous people who liked tomatoes (like Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis who reportedly put catsup on everything she ate)
• Companies that feature tomato products
• Tomato stories and anecdotes
• Words that can be made using the letters in the word “tomato”
By now I’m sure you get the idea.

Use The Power of Your mind

Try this visualization exercise right now. Close your eyes. Picture a tomato. Can you see it? In your mind, touch it. Pick it up and move it around in your hands. What does it feel like? Is it warm or cold? Can you smell it now? Describe the fragrance of your tomato. Okay, now you can take a bite. How does it taste? Do you want another bite? Would you like to sprinkle some salt or sugar on your tomato? Go ahead. Help yourself. If you’re getting hungry or otherwise reacting during this exercise, great, your learners will too. Even more so with a real tomato on hand.

English as a Foreign Language Stimulation

So try this English as a foreign language-stimulation exercise to get your learners talking and using English or another target language to actively communicate. It’s been a great help to me with my learners in generating speech and related topics during language class or Conversation Clubs. Other colorful fruits or vegetables will work too, especially if they are local or highly seasonal in variety. I’ve tried zapote, guanabana, granadilla, uchuvas, pitaya and several other exotic Colombian fruits, but so far the tomato has really worked out the best.

How about you and your English as a foreign language learners?


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 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.

Part 2 More Critical Points in English Language and Foreign Language Testing and Evaluation

Testing, Evaluation and Assessment in EFL and Foreign Language Classes
We’ll continue to look at some critical points which need to be considered along with the English as a foreign or second language testing, evaluation and assessment processes. Generally, similar conditions and aspects apply to the teaching and learning of other foreign languages as well. So, we’ll discuss some additional points here in the second part of this two-part article post.

4. Allow a Sufficient Amount of Time

As an English as a foreign language or other foreign language teacher, have you ever taken the time to sit down and actually DO one of your own exams? If not, how do you determine the length of time required to complete an exam? Of course, your EFL learners likely will take much longer than you will to complete an exam, but you do need at least some benchmark to establish time parameters. Say double or triple your time of completion for your foreign language learners and you’ll be somewhere in the ball park.

5. Explain Exam and Test-taking Parameters Clearly

“Oh, my English language learners know what to do”, you say? Tell them the rules anyway. Watch their faces. When you see the “lights go on” in some of their faces you’ll realize the need for this. This also aids you in “putting your foot down” when something goes awry. You can then say with authority, “I told you about that before the exam”. If the language class must turn off cellular phones, MP3, MP4, iPod or other electronic devices, refrain from going into purses, bags, or abide by other specific regulations, be sure they know in advance of the test-taking period and again immediately before the exam begins. This has saved my bacon moiré than once over the years, and it will yours too, when done regularly.

6. ENFORCE Your Parameters and Test-taking Regulations or Parameters

You’d think that your English as a foreign language learners would then blithely adhere to your correct parameters when taking tests, evaluations or assessments of their foreign language knowledge and communicative skills. Oh, but if that only were true. Unfortunately, you know and I know that there will always be the “jokers”, the “Clowns”, the inept and the ever-present “unmotivated”, “disinterested” or “unprepared” who will seemingly do their absolute utmost to deride even your best efforts. Fore-warned is almost always fore-armed.

Your Feedback is Encouraged

As always, your feedback, questions, comments, insights and suggestions are encouraged. What works – or doesn’t, for you and your English as a foreign language learners, along with any interesting experiences you might have can be posted.



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 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.

Three Critical Points in English Language and Foreign Language Testing and Evaluation

Testing Evaluation and Assessment in EFL

“No teacher, why do we have to take exams?” Do you get this question as I often do? While there are a multitude of possible answers, nevertheless we must, in regular intervals, evaluate or test our groups of English as a foreign language learners, in addition to learners of other foreign languages as well. But before running off half-baked to twist and squeeze the wearied brains of our charges, let’s take just a moment to look at some critical points which need to be considered along with the testing, evaluation and assessment processes. We’ll discuss the first three points here in part one of this two-part article post.

1. Test ONLY Material Which Has Been Actually Taught

It quite common that exams are regularly pre-scheduled into the English or other foreign language curriculum, but hold on there Hoss, `cause there can be a few monkey wrenches thrown into the works that need to be accounted for at times. You know, those pesky little things like holidays, strikes, administrative outages, lost days due to environmental and other factors. For example, we have earthquakes in Colombia. There are also periods of heavy rains and accompanying floods. Then there are those “annoying” power and water outages that wreak havoc on virtually any society no matter how “developed” or “under-developed” they might be. “So what”, you say? Well these and numerous other factors can "skew" your teaching days and schedule so that when test time rolls around, you haven’t actually taught everything covered on a pre-scheduled exam. If that happens, then you shouldn’t test what you haven’t taught.

2. Use Multi-Modal Testing Approaches

Global reference testing (IELTS, TOEFL, etc.) aside, your EFL learners shouldn’t be subjected to a battery of only “answer the question” or “multiple choice” questions for the entire exam. Many highly successful people like Albert Einstein, did poorly in school and on exams for this and similar reasons. You don’t always use the same method in your teaching now (gasp!), do you? Well then don’t do it when you test either.

3. Use Known and Practiced Exercise Types

As a Department Head, Language Programs Coordinator and Teacher Trainer, I’ve constantly “preached” the necessity of using only exercise types on exams with which the learners have been made familiar. This serves several constructive purposes such as eliminating the need for an ongoing string of “Teacher, I don’t understand how to do section C" questions and the resulting repeated, lengthy, exam time-consuming responses. Use an extensive variety of exercise types during your English or foreign language classes and you can use more of these same types of exercises on exams without generating questions or problems.

In Part Two – More Critical Points English and Foreign Language Testing Will Be Discussed

We’ll continue to look at some critical points which need to be considered along with the testing, evaluation and assessment processes in part two of this two-part article post. See you then.


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 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.

Teaching English as a Foreign Language: 21st Century Skills EFL Teachers MUST Have

The Little Red One-Room School House

Like the little red one-room school house, the days of computer illiterate and digitally-challenged English as a foreign language teachers are gone. Nowadays English and foreign language teachers must routinely conduct any number of digitally-based or online tasks.

Digital and Online Tasks

• Conduct online class sessions
• Communicate with learners between class sessions using e-mails
• Create and manage online groups
• Develop and post digital EFL materials
• Create, write and post to blogs and websites like ESL Base
• Participate in online ELT discussion forums
• Conduct online reading and research
• Both upload and download EFL materials to and from ELT websites

The list could go on and on. The world of teaching English as a foreign or second language is now, by far, a digital - and global one.

Passing to the Forefront

If EFL teachers are to continue in their respective positions, have any thought to higher salaries beyond the traditional “standard of living” pay raises, or want any increased responsibility and recognition to be able to pass to the forefront of their fields, the time has long since come for their incrementing their digital and online skills.

Modern, Digitally Competent EFL Teachers

The modern, digitally competent English language teacher should be abreast of 21st century teaching and learning tools.

Ask yourself for example:

• Do you have a personal or English Language teaching website or blog?
• Do you give and receive assignments via e-mail or online class room site?
• How frequent or intensive is your participation in English language teaching forums online?
• Are you familiar with and make use of English language teaching materials available at online websites for teachers?
• Are you keeping up (or trying to) with what’s happening in the field of English and foreign language teaching theory by researching, reading journals, reports, and blog posts (like this one) on the internet?

It’s Almost Never Too Late

If you find yourself needing a boost in any of these skills, getting the upgrade assistance you need may be as simple as completing a free online course or two. You might also see what help is available at your school, company or institution. A quick Google search (you DO know how to do THAT, don’t you?) will turn up hundreds if not thousands of other options.


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 80 countries. Get your FREE E-books,"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.