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Title: Using Advertising in the Business English Classroom
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From http://gallerylanguages.net/
In this blog post, Vicky Loras shares a lesson for Business English using three commercials. There is a focus on analyzing genre and it could easily be adapted to fit a General English class on the topic of advertising too.
To access the lesson go to http://gallerylanguages.net/using-advertising-in-the-business-english-classroom/
Source: Gallery Language’s Blog
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Title: “I Have Never Seen Star Wars”: Radio 4 Listening
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From http://eltexperiences.com/
Martin Sketchley created a lesson around the topic of things you’ve never done, which links very well with the use of the present perfect and can provide students with a lot of practice. He used a clip from a British radio show and included a sequence of activities: vocabulary, listening comprehension and speaking.
You can find the lesson at http://eltexperiences.com/2015/03/09/i-have-never-seen-star-wars-radio-4-listening/
Source: ELT Experiences
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Title: #Langchat Summary: Enrich Your Communication-based Classroom with Supplementary Materials
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In case you missed February 23rd’s #langchat session on Twitter, check out the summary of the chat on the topic of enriching your classroom with supplementary materials. #langchat participants suggested useful ways to make your textbook work for you, rather than against you. Participants also provided some fun suggestions and ideas for getting students chatting in the target language using both technological resources and non-technological resources. #langchat’s Twitter chat happens every Thursday nights at 5pm PST / 8pm EST. You can find the summaries of all chats at http://langchat.pbworks.com/w/page/39343677/FrontPage
Read the February 23rd #langchat summary at http://blog.calicospanish.com/2015/02/23/enrich-communication-based-classroom-supplementary-materials.html
Source: #langchat
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Title: Who Killed Him? An Interactive TL Murder Mystery
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From http://leesensei.edublogs.org/
Lee sensei posts this fun murder mystery lesson activity that can be adapted for all language classrooms. As explained in the post: “The origins of this activity come from the textbook Yookoso (by Yasu-Hiku Tohsaku) – a text we own as a school but which I am not using as a ‘class text’ any more. In a daily routine section there is a listening activity about a dead rich man and suspects who are being interviewed. Students are asked to listen to where the suspects (the wife, daughter, son, lover, chauffeur and brother) were during the evening and then determine who killed the man. But I wanted more… and I wanted it be interactive and wanted the use of the ‘daily routine’ to be realistic (and to me an interview by authorities was). So I added and fleshed it out and it became a class favourite – the ‘murder mystery’.”
Access this lesson idea http://leesensei.edublogs.org/2015/03/09/who-killed-him-an-interactive-tl-murder-mystery/#.VP9ScPnF98E
Source: Language Sensei
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Title: The Educators’ Guide to Infographics
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From http://www.theedublogger.com/
This post by Elliott Bristow reviews 4 tools to create infographics. The use of infographics can boost classroom practices or any visual presentations you may want to do. In this era of information overload, an image may be the best way to present a subject.
To access the article go to http://www.theedublogger.com/2015/03/02/the-educators-guide-to-infographics/
Source: The Edublogger
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Content Type: 5
Title: Congratulations Stephanie Collins, UO Chinese Flagship Student!
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Join us in congratulating UO sophomore and Chinese Flagship student Stephanie Collins for earning the competitive and prestigious Critical Languages Scholarship (CLS) to study Chinese for eight weeks in Beijing this summer 2015. 
The Critical Languages Scholarship Program is offered by the U.S. Department of State to dedicated individuals wishing to study and improve their language skills for languages that are deemed “critical.” Ms. Collins went through a vigorous application and interview process to earn this scholarship which will provide complete funding for her eight week course in Beijing. She is very excited to improve her Chinese skills and to visit China again. Becoming an advanced Chinese speaker is critical for her two career goals of working for the government or a disability nonprofit to help improve limited opportunities for the blind in China.
Ms. Collins studied Chinese in high school and entered the Chinese Flagship program at UO last year, completing an intensive 1st and 2nd year Chinese program in one year. Now, as a UO sophomore, she is performing at the third-year Chinese level. She is very active in the Chinese Flagship program, contributing Spotlights for InterCom and also writing for the Flagship Times, a newsletter in Chinese written by Flagship students to promote, showcase and practice Chinese language skills. One of Ms. Collins’ favorite parts of Flagship is being part of Banzhang, leadership, because she helps plan and execute Flagship events such as visiting the Shanghai tunnels in Portland.
Please join us again in congratulations for her wonderful achievement!
To learn more about the UO Chinese Flagship Program, visit http://chineseflagship.uoregon.edu/
To learn more about the Critical Languages Scholarship Program, visit http://www.clscholarship.org/
Source: CASLS Spotlight
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Title: What Is EAP?
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Jennifer Rice is an instructor at the American English Institute at the University of Oregon. She teaches a U.S. Department of State E-Teacher online course called ESP: Effective Practices in Course and Materials Design, and she recently developed and taught a pilot EAP course linked with Physics 101 at the University of Oregon.
If we think of English for Specific Purposes in terms of a tree, then the trunk splits into two main branches: English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) and English for Academic Purposes (EAP). On the EOP branch, we find courses that focus on the English needs of learners in a specific workplace, such as English for Chemical Engineers or English for Airline Pilots. On the other branch, we have EAP courses that focus on the English needs of learners in a specific academic course. English for Economics and English for Biology are two examples of EAP courses. In these content area courses (i.e. economics or biology), the medium of instruction is English, so learners need to be communicatively competent in the language in order to be successful in the content area course. That’s where EAP courses come in. EAP courses focus on the language of the content area, not the content area knowledge. In other words, EAP instructors need not be experts in the content area, but instead, need to work closely with the content area experts to create a specific course that meets the learners’ needs.
These needs are based on a multi-perspective, data-driven needs assessment (NA) and are not simply based on the intuition of the EAP instructor. Some examples of what might be done during a NA are as follows: surveying former learners, interviewing the content area expert, observing the content area course, and conducting a genre analysis of authentic texts used within the content area course. Data gathered from these sources would indicate the language needs of the learners in this particular content course. The needs would become the basis for the EAP course goals. Goals should involve much more than being familiar with a list of technical vocabulary and should instead extend to cover the grammar, pragmatics, register and tone, discourse patterns of organization, and ways to compensate for communication breakdowns used within the specific content area.
In order to maximize the relevancy for the learners, each EAP course should be specific for one content area. For example, English for Science and Technology is a commonly offered course, but Science and Technology can mean many different things. It could refer to people studying computer programming, medicine, environmental science, etc. All of these learners would very likely need different language skills to be successful in their specific content area courses, so lumping them all into one category of Science and Technology would be taking the “Specific” out of English for Specific Purposes. EAP courses should be very relevant for the learners enrolled because the material covered should specifically reflect and enrich what is happening in the content area course.
Source: CASLS Topic of the Week
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Content Type: 2
Title: New Job Board on Oregon Association of Bilingual Education Website
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From http://www.oabe.org/index.html
The Oregon Association of Bilingual Education (OABE) has a new feature - a job board. Search for jobs or post them at http://www.oabe.org/jobs.html
Source: OABE
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Title: Book: Contemporary Task-Based Language Teaching in Asia
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From http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/contemporary-task-based-language-teaching-in-asia-9781472572219/
Contemporary Task-Based Language Teaching in Asia
By Michael Thomas
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing
Over the last decade task-based approaches to language learning and teaching (TBLT) have become a global focus of increased levels of research. Governments around the world have turned to TBLT as a potential solution for curricula that lack authentic and meaningful engagement with language learning and are failing to motivate students as a result. This book focuses on Asia, where this shift has been particularly in evidence. TBLT has often been implemented in top-down approaches to curriculum development, which presents a huge range of challenges at the cultural as well as the pedagogic level.
Contemporary Task Based Language Teaching in Asia looks at the drivers, stakeholders and obstacles across the region. Some countries have adapted TBLT to deal with the local constraints, others have found it hard to apply and many are still in the process of investigating its implementation in their specific contexts. This collection is important to all involved in language development, from curriculum reform to materials development. It assists from program evaluation to the setting of assessment standards. The chapters cover all aspects of language education across Asia, from primary to tertiary, private and public education, as well as innovations at local, regional and national levels.
Visit the publisher’s website at http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/contemporary-task-based-language-teaching-in-asia-9781472572219/
Source: Bloomsbury Publishing
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Title: Book: TESOL: A Guide
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From http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/tesol-a-guide-9781474228664/
TESOL: A Guide
By Jun Liu and Cynthia Berger
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing
This book serves as a comprehensive reference resource for current and prospective English language teachers, students of TESOL, academics, and other professionals working within the field of Teaching English as a Second or Other Language (TESOL).
As a single-volume resource, TESOL: A Guide explores TESOL in three dimensions: as a profession, as a field of study, and as an international association. In doing so, it offers a thorough summary of themes and issue relevant to TESOL's multiple dimensions, including a practical overview of the TESOL profession and a compendium of current TESOL research topics and methodologies. In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of TESOL International Association, a key section of the book highlights the development of this association and features the reflections of several previous TESOL International Association presidents. Readers will also appreciate the extensive glossary and appendix of TESOL resources, both of which are designed to comprise a valuable and manageable guide for newcomers to the field, as well as for developing practitioners and researchers.
To see the table of contents and purchase the book go to http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/tesol-a-guide-9781474228664/
Source: Bloomsbury Publishing
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