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Content Type: 1
Title: Writing Activity Based on Sound Effects
Body:
Here is a pre-writing activity based on sound effects, leading to a more extended writing activity: http://evasimkesyan.edublogs.org/2014/04/30/getting-ready-to-write-a-story
Source: A Journey in TEFL
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Title: Idea for Getting Students into Groups
Body:
Here is a blog post describing a new way to get students quickly into groups – especially effective for middle school students: http://creativelanguageclass.com/2014/04/29/quick-get-in-your-groups
Source: Creative Language Class
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Title: Teaching Suggestion: Listening in Layers
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Teacher Amy Lenord writes:
If you think about it, our traditional (and maybe even current) methods for implementing listening in our classroom have been very inauthentic and disconnected from whole language. When in life are we only allowed to listen to something twice? When we listen to something, when do we ever put pictures in order or listen to match the audio to pictures? I would argue that even the listening practices designed for level 1 students are too simple and very inauthentic in comparison to the interpretive proficiency we really want to develop in our students. This doesn't mean that the audio programs from textbooks that many of us have are obsolete, just our methods for using them and our choosing to use only that type of listening with our students.
My suggestion is something I like to call listening in layers and so far it has worked for any language and any level of student.
Read the full blog post to learn how to guide your students through listening in layers: www.amylenord.net/1/post/2014/04/listening-in-layers.html
Source: The Language Coach
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Content Type: 2
Title: Reading Is Our Theme for May
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This month InterCom will be focusing on reading. We start this week with the first of a two-part series by Dr. Robert Davis from the University of Oregon.
Source: CASLS
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Content Type: 3
Title: Teaching L2 Reading (1): Get Your Students Motivated!
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Robert L Davis is a Professor of Spanish and Director of Language Instruction in the Department of Romance Languages at the University of Oregon. He is also the Scholar in Residence in the Global Scholars Hall and a member of the CASLS Advisory Board.
What were the last five things that you read? If you are reading this, you are probably a teacher, and your answer probably includes a mix of genres: news from print or online sources, a journal article about your professional practice, a novel for your book club, a new recipe from a website. Why did you choose to read these pieces? To keep abreast of current events, to improve your teaching, to impress your friends at the church potluck.
Contrary to many teachers' beliefs, young people actually read and write a lot; their world is increasingly mediated through text. But what, how, and why they read and write may be substantially different from their parents' and teachers' reading habits. One of the keys to engaging students with reading is to select texts and create reading activities that allow learners to mirror the real-life ways that we interact with text. What rationale do teachers usually give for their choice of readings in second language classes? "I want my students to know this great work from Spanish culture," or "this poem is good for the verb gustar." I would wager that you have never chosen what you wanted to read because of the prevalence of a grammar point. If you have ever thought these ideas, maybe your students will not be as interested in reading as they could be.
So what should students read? Everything! All genres can be interesting and motivating—songs, poems, short stories, journalistic pieces, blogs, web articles, even novels. Great works from a cultural tradition are important to know, but students won't immediately see this shared cultural knowledge as sufficient motivation—at first. It's better to emphasize the aspects of these texts that make them inherently interesting as expressions of the human experience: self discovery, intrigue, love, generational conflict, etc.
The biggest factor in selecting texts for L2 students is not level; it's the topic. You should do an "interest inventory" to find out what topics and activities your students are passionate about. Then, let them have a say in selecting L2 texts that will engage those passions.
Of course, some texts can be challenging, but your reading lesson plan should emphasize reading for a real-world purpose—which often means that readers don't actually go line by line and read the entire text! Sometimes it's just sufficient to get some basic information from a reading.
Other factors in selecting texts for L2 learners are summarized by Swaffar, Arens, and Byrnes (1991, 137-139):
- avoid language that is opaque or antiquated
- choose texts with a clear rhetorical structure (readerly vs. writerly)
- choose texts with overt development of ideas and greater structural organization
- use texts with unambiguous intents
In sum, research in L2 reading suggests that you consider an alternative view of the role of reading in young people's lives. In a next week's article, I'll provide some examples of reading pedagogy that is informed by this research on reading.
Reference
Swaffar, J., K. Arens, and H. Byrnes (1991) Reading for meaning: An integrated approach to language learning. Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Source: CASLS Topic of the Week
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Content Type: 4
Title: Writing and Reading Facebook Status Updates
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by Lindsay Marean, CASLS
Do you and your students spend time checking people's Facebook status updates, and liking and commenting on some of them? This activity mimics real-world reading and writing on social networks and asks students to reflect on what content is appealing to them.
Outcomes:
- Learners will write Facebook status updates in the target language that are appealing to other learners.
- Learners will skim status updates to find content that appeals to them.
- Learners will reflect on what makes a Facebook status update appealing to themselves and to their classmates.
Resources:
- Internet access to Status Clone
- Ability to print or otherwise display students' fake status updates
- Stickers (or stamps on post-it notes) with the thumbs-up "like" symbol, several for each student
- Reflection sheet
Procedure:
Preparation
- Before class, create a model Facebook status update using Status Clone. Include at least one comment. You can get some ideas for characters and status updates here: http://www.classtools.net/_FAKEBOOK/gallery/index.php. You may wish to narrow the range of posts. For example, talk about a great meal you just ate, or post as if the best thing imaginable has just happened to your character.
- Have students go to the Status Clone site and create their own character name and status update. If time allows, students can add a profile photo and comments from other characters.
- Students print out their status updates and post them up around the room. Include blank space below each post so that more comments can be added.
- Distribute several "thumbs up" stickers to each student.
Pre-reading
- Discuss Facebook status updates with your students. How many students post regularly to Facebook? How often do they check Facebook? What sorts of status updates do they "like" and comment on the most? Do they often write status updates that generate a lot of comments and "likes"?
Guided reading
- Students circulate around the room and browse the status updates. Each student must add at least one comment to a post. Students also place "thumbs up" stickers on updates or comments of their choice to "like" them.
Assimilation/personalization
- Once students return to their seats, distribute the reflection sheets. Have students complete them individually. Then, ask for volunteers to share their answers. As a class, discuss what people find appealing in Facebook status updates, what they are most likely to comment on, and the sorts of comments they tend to make.
Source: CASLS Activity of the Week
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Content Type: 5
Title: CASLS at STARTALK 2014 by Mandy Gettler, CASLS Associate Director
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On May 2 and 3, four of CASLS staff members and one of its Advisory Board members travelled to the fall STARTALK conference held in Austin, Texas. STARTALK Camp Director Li-Hsien Yang and Lead Instructor Dr. Mokaya Bosire represented CASLS' student Swahili program. Director Dr. Julie Sykes and Associate Director Mandy Gettler, along with Advisory Board member Adriana Brandt from Indiana University, supported student programs in understanding and implementing LinguaFolio Online.
The first day of the conference held energy and promise as teachers from 125 STARTALK programs across the country gathered to reunite with colleagues and meet new ones. Keynote speaker Dr. Michael Everson from the University of Iowa recognized the importance of attendees' expertise: "STARTALK teachers are magicians of sorts. They transform the classroom into a setting that engages students to acquire language."
There is little doubt that STARTALK is transforming the way many teach and learn another language. National Foreign Language Resource Center Director of National Outreach Betsy Hart shared that STARTALK has led to the creation of 185 academic-year programs in critical languages and 94 after-school heritage programs. The National Science Foundation will be adopting elements of the STARTALK model for its CyberGeneration program. Ms. Hart also announced that next year's STARTALK competition will fund Korean student and teacher programs.
At the conference, STARTALK introduced the new STELLA modules, a collaboration with the Teacher Effectiveness for Language Learning Project. STELLA offers guidance through practical activities identified as components of highly effective teaching. This framework serves as the basis for the STARTALK teacher programs.
CASLS Director Dr. Julie Sykes and CASLS Advisory Board member Adriana Brandt presented on LinguaFolio Online. Improvements this year include a simplified registration process, a simplified student interface that displays only CanDo statements that program directors select as relevant to their program, and the ability to more easily review students' work.
Source: CASLS Spotlight
Inputdate: 2014-05-03 06:57:08
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Content Type: 2
Title: COFLT Election Nominations
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Here is a special announcement for COFLT members from Natalie Stamper, COFLT Post-Secondary Representative:
Elections are coming up and we are seeking nominations for the following positions on the Board:
Executive Secretary
Treasurer
Webmaster
K-8 Representatives (2)
9-12 Representatives (1)
Post-Secondary Representative (2)
The COFLT Board is comprised of 5 elected and 1 appointed officer, 8 elected at-large members (representing K-16), as well as representatives from our affiliate language organizations such as the ATJO, PNCFL, OATG, ODE, etc. We also have representatives from the retired language teacher community. All in all, our board represents all major languages taught in Oregon: including Spanish, French, German, Chinese, and Japanese, and all levels from K-16.
My first year on the board has been a fascinating experience; from helping put on conferences to supporting world language programs and colleagues. COFLT depends on volunteers to make professional development opportunities available in Oregon.
Please consider helping out for two years. The Board meets about 5 times a year and attends 2 conferences.
You will find a list of present and continuing Board members here.
Please reply soon. May 17th is the deadline, if you would like to nominate yourself or someone else.
Submit contact information and a brief bio for the election ballot to: natstamper@gmail.com
Source: COFLT
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Title: Book: Sociolinguistics and Second Language Acquisition
Body:
From http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415529488
Sociolinguistics and Second Language Acquisition: Learning to Use Language in Context
By Kimberly L. Geeslin and Avizia Yim Long
Published by Routledge Taylor & Francis Group
Sociolinguistics and Second Language Acquisition is a comprehensive textbook that bridges the gap between the fields of sociolinguistics and second language acquisition, exploring the variety of ways in which social context influences the acquisition of a second language. It reviews basic principles of sociolinguistics, provides a unified account of the multiple theoretical approaches to social factors in second languages, summarizes the growing body of empirical research, including examples of findings from a wide range of second languages, and discusses the application of sociolinguistics to the second language classroom. Written for an audience that extends beyond specialists in the field, complete with summary tables, additional readings, discussion questions, and application activities throughout, this volume will serve as the ideal textbook for advanced undergraduate or graduate students of second language acquisition and instruction, and will also be of interest to researchers in the fields of second language acquisition, second language instruction and sociolinguistics.
Visit the publisher’s website at http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415529488
Source: Routledge
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Title: Book: Applied Linguistics and Primary School Teaching
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Applied Linguistics and Primary School Teaching
Edited by Sue Ellis and Elspeth McCartney
Published by Cambridge University Press
Modern primary teachers must adapt literacy programs and ensure efficient learning for all. They must also support children with language and literacy difficulties, children learning English as an additional language and possibly teach a modern foreign language. To do this effectively, they need to understand the applied linguistics research that underpins so many different areas of the language and literacy curriculum. This book illustrates the impact of applied linguistics on curriculum frameworks and pedagogy. It captures the range of applied linguistics knowledge that teachers need, and illustrates how this is framed and is used by policy makers, researchers, teacher educators and the other professions who work with teachers in schools. It considers how to effect professional development that works. It is essential reading for primary teachers but also for speech and language therapists, educational psychologists, learning support teachers and all those doing language or literacy research in the primary classroom.
Visit the publisher’s website at http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/languages-linguistics/applied-linguistics-and-second-language-acquisition/applied-linguistics-and-primary-school-teaching?format=PB
Source: Cambridge University Press
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