20120922 Teaching English as a Foreign Language.
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Module 3.
1. Take a look at the list of items below. Decide which system these relate to: lexis, phonology, grammar or function.
I went to London; I´ve been to London.
Grammar
Lend me $5. Could you possibly lend me $5?
Function
library; bookstore
Lexis
foot; foots
Grammar
I'd rather not; No way!
Function
hit; heat
Phonology
photograph; photographer
Lexis
should; must
Lexis
2. Imagine that you work in a language school. You have just received a new student from Korea who wants to study English prior to entering a university in the U.S. The student takes the placement test, which is all grammar and vocabulary and mostly multiple choice. She scores quite high; however, she does not speak very well and has difficulty understanding even the
simplest spoken language. What balance of the four skills and the four systems would you recommend for her study program? For example, would you focus on reading and writing or utilize her strengths in grammar to introduce topics, but make the exercises mostly listening and speaking? Would you focus on function, pronunciation, productive skills because the test was multiple choice and not a fair assessment of her success in a university with writing papers and listening to lectures?Explain what an appropriate balance would be. How did you reach that recommendation?
I would a create a study program where the student listens
to recordings and then answers comprehension questions. All instructions would be given in writing to
take advantage of her reading skills.
There would be no transcript of the recording – the student must
listen to the recording. I would choose
a skill level that accounts for student’s difficulty in understanding the spoken
language. (Can we assume that there are
no other factors such as a hearing impairment?) The test answers would start as
multiple choice answers and other open answer questions that require a short
written response progressing into spoken presentation answers as the student
develops.
I would focus on function because the skills will be needed
to participate in the course and also when she starts university. The recordings would be examples of asking
questions in a classroom and how to elicit a response from a teacher. Within the teaching of function there would
be built-in components of grammar, phonics and lexis that would develop her
productive skills.
As her receptive skills improve, the focus would be shifted
from developing her listening skills to a fuller, more rounded course where all
the receptive and productive skills are further developed in harmony with each
other – so that the student is equal in her abilities in each component of the
language .
I believe an appropriate balance of receptive versus
productive skills would be 80% receptive in the form of listening and 20%
productive in the form of written and spoken answers.
My recommendation is based on
information in the text – it states that the student has passed a multiple
choice question test on vocabulary and grammar.
It seems that the student has developed the reading and writing
components of the language well but has not developed the listen and speaking
components equally. The text also states
that the student ”does not speak very
well and has difficulty understanding even the simplest spoken language” and as a result the recommended course of
action would be to develop her listening and speaking skills.
Teachers comments
Your choice to utilize reading
as a segue to promote an intensive listening and speaking focus shows an astute
grasp of integrating and balancing the skills based on individual student
needs. Also, your ability to match the
items listed in the question with the appropriate language system shows an
excellent grasp of the systems concept.
The History and Spelling of English
Describe how your
knowledge of the history of the English language will help you explain things
to your students in an EFL class. Give specific examples.
As a Native English Teacher working in China I have had
times when I have had to explain that the English language is made up from
other languages. The explanation is
usually centered around the terrifying number of wars that Europeans were so
good at starting but really needed some help in learning how to stop. Knowing that a good portion of English is
from Latin helps to explain the strange names the English give to appliances as
compared to the stark descriptions given to mechanical devices in China. As an example, in English we have the word television
derived from the Latin words “far” and “see” which basically describes the
machine as the thing that lets you see what is far away. The Chinese word for television is Din Shi –
or “electrical job” or the thing that uses electricity and to make one is a big
job.
The Chinese students have an English text where a character
in the book goes to France. While there,
the character meets a French man named Monsieur Bas – I had to explain to the Chinese students that this is not
an English title or name and that most of the letters in French are not
pronounced. The correct pronunciation is
“Monsieur Bah”. I think that it is
unfair to introduce a difficult French name to young children that are already
trying to learn English.
What differences in
student approach to English do you anticipate when working with students who
speak a Latin or Germanic language versus students who speak Japanese, Chinese
or Arabic?
As a Native English Teacher working in China I have had the
experience of teaching the words “athletic” to Chinese children only to have
the lesson taken up with explaining how to make the “th” sound. The problem is compounded when teaching this
to a young child who may not have the fine motor skills to form the correct sounds.
Describe strategies
you will use in class to help you with your own spelling, if it´s a problem,
like bringing a dictionary to class or writing down troublesome vocabulary in
your lesson plan.
I overcome spelling problems by having a dictionary and
noting troublesome words in the lesson plan – also as discussed – eliciting a response from the students can
be helpful.
Teachers comments
Your answer shows that you
understand the importance of having a working knowledge of the history of
English, an awareness of your students´ linguistic backgrounds, and a strategy
for dealing with your own spelling weaknesses.
However, more specific examples of how these issues might play out in
the classroom would strengthen your response.
Also, when discussing the differences between students of differing
linguistic backgrounds, don´t forget that Arabic and Asian students also have a
completely different alphabet.
Overall mark
60/70
References:
http://www.accet.org/accreditation
http://www.bridgetefl.com/accet-accrediting.php
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