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Title: Life Skills-based Education in the EFL Classroom
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From https://juergenkurtz.wordpress.com/
Jürgen Kurtz writes, “In its landmark report to UNESCO on the role of education in the future, the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century (Delors et al.1996) underlined the growing importance of learning throughout life and the need to focus on four pillars of education, in particular: learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together, and learning to be – ‘learning to be’ including ‘learning to learn’. In accordance with this vision, the United Nations Educational Framework for Action (UNESCO 2000: 36) obliged governments to ensure ‘that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programmes’ within the first decade of the twenty-first century.
“However, even though the main goals of life skills-based education are largely agreed upon world-wide (i.e. enabling young people to lead a fulfilling and healthful life and to take control of their destiny, as well as empowering them to fully, responsibly and creatively participate in their societies, which increasingly entails being familiar with and tolerant of other societies and cultures), a generally accepted definition as to what exactly is meant by ‘life skills’ is still missing.”
Read on for a nuanced definition of life skills and a discussion of its place in language education: https://juergenkurtz.wordpress.com/2016/04/24/life-skills-based-education-in-the-efl-classroom-cornerstone-of-a-challenging-vision/
Source: Foreign Language Education in the 21st Century
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Title: Authentic Text Time in Adult Ed
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Robert Sheppard writes, “Adult learners, especially immigrants who have various competing priorities which may take precedence over English, need to see an immediate application for their new language. In many contexts, English can be a luxury; for adult immigrants, it cannot be. As teachers, we must approach it with an urgency and immediacy that might be unusual in, say, a business EFL program. A student-driven environmental/authentic text time is one way to add relevance, immediacy, and authenticity to your adult English classes.”
Read on for how to implement this idea: http://blog.tesol.org/authentic-text-time-in-adult-ed/
Source: TESOL
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Title: Student Feedback: The F.E.D. Model
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From http://www.path2proficiency.com
Alyssa Villarreal writes, “Feedback is critical to any learning endeavor but I would pose that more important than feedback is to feed forward. It is one thing to tell learners what they did right and what they did wrong. We do that rather naturally because that is what any graded paper tells students. All too often though those papers or rubrics end up on the floor or in the trash as soon as students see a score. When this happens, there is an obviously disconnect between the feedback we have provided and what the students find helpful or useful. We need to ask ourselves how then can we provide feedback that feeds forward improving student performance? First, focus on clear expectations for performance. Next, use evidence to provide feedback on the performance. Finally, devise a plan for continued growth based on the focus and evidence.”
Read on for a more complete description of these steps: http://www.path2proficiency.com/make-sure-your-students-get-f-e-d/
Source: path to proficiency
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Title: Resources for a World Languages and Cultures Exploratory Class
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Spanish teacher Angela Gardner recently asked her colleagues on the Ohio Foreign Language Association listserv for suggested resources for a world languages and cultures exploratory class. She has compiled shared resources and others found through a Google search on this Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_KATAYEG63CbllsQ0RTQnYySnM&usp=sharing. Be sure to click on the different documents (especially the “Special Thanks” document) to see some contributors’ names.
Source: OFLA
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Title: Quick Ideas for Disrupted Classes
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As the end of the school year approaches, many teachers have class days full of disruptions - students leaving for appointments, testing, and special events. An FLTEACH listserv user recently requested ideas for activities that her students can work on independently as they come and go on these disrupted days.
Go to https://listserv.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind1604&L=FLTEACH&P=R17277&I=-3&d=No+Match%3BMatch%3BMatches to see the original query, and then click on “Next” in “By Topic” to see other teachers’ suggestions.
Source: FLTEACH
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Content Type: 3
Title: Digital and Intercultural Communication: A Few Ideas from the Cultures-of-Use Perspective
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by Julie Sykes, CASLS Director
“Internet communication tools cannot be fully apprehended from a positivist vantage point as generically 'there' in the world. Cultural artifacts such as global communication technologies are produced by and productive of socio-historically located subjects. Such artifacts take their functional form and significance from the human activities they mediate and the meanings that communities create through them.” (Thorne, 2008, p. 58)
The use of digital technologies to facilitate human communication is an ever growing phenomenon, with more and more tools available each day to share our lives and explore the lives of others around the world. As we consider ways to integrate these technologies into the language classroom, especially by connecting learners via tellecollaboration projects, the cultures-of-use model invites us to ponder more deeply the human activity attached to those technologies. In his 2008 paper, Thorne presents three case studies as exemplars of possibilities, with both challenging and exciting results, for digitally-mediated intercultural communication activity in language learning. In other words, what happens when you connect learners of French with French students learning English or pair Spanish students with English learners in Mexico to complete a task? Most critical to these findings is the call to explore the complex nature of mediated human connection in all communicative contexts which facilitate intercultural communication.
As language teachers, we are in the unique position to both create the ideal contexts for meaningful interaction via tellecollaboration and, at the same time, are always in danger of oversimplifying the intercultural communicative process. The cultures-of-use model reminds us to continually consider the complex without shying away from it.
- If you build it, they will come…but not always in the ways you expect. Research on tellecollaboration and intercultural communication projects suggests digitally-mediated, intercultural communication can result in both amazing experiences and changed viewpoints, as well as inherent miscommunication or reinforced stereotypes. As language teachers, we can foreground these potential challenges and help learners approach their language partners with resources for varying types of digitally-mediated interactions and deep reflection around both positive and negative experiences.
- Consider the task and the platform. Just as rhetoric and genre vary in face-to-face interaction, digital contexts also form their own behavioral expectations. Before asking learners to engage with a tool in a certain way, it is fundamental to consider the human behaviors associated with that space. For example, with the advent of instant messenging and video conferencing, synchronous collaboration via email is no longer the best option. Likewise, learners way be wary of Facebook as their instructional platform, but happy to collaborate via Facebook messenger. Whatever the choice of task and behaviors, the tool should match and we, as teachers, should be well versed in the communicative norms of the space.
Reference
Thorne, S. L. (2008). Artifacts and cultures-of-use in intercultural communication. Language Learning and Technology (7) 2, 38-67. Available at: http://llt.msu.edu/vol7num2/pdf/thorne.pdf
Source: CASLS Topic of the Week
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Content Type: 4
Title: Political Stances in the Media
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The activity featured below was created as part of a larger unit in which advanced secondary learners enrolled in a hybrid language course exploring contemporary issues associated with gender. The pragmatic and strategic focus of this activity is the use of persuasive language to influence a particular audience.
Learning Objectives:
Learners will be able to:
- Discuss news clips related to current events
- Identify and analyze persuasive language within media texts
Modes: Interpretive Listening, Presentational Writing, Interpersonal Communication
Materials Needed: Two news clips that reflect contemporary gender issues with opposing political stances such as “Becoming Lucy: Portland family embraces child’s gender identity” (http://www.pressherald.com/2016/02/07/becoming-lucy-portland-family-embraces-reality-of-childs-gender-identity/) and “Oregon allowing 15-year-olds to get state-subsidized sex change operations” (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/07/09/oregon-allowing-15-year-olds-to-get-state-subsidized-sex-change-operations.html), Details handout, Group handout
Procedure:
- Introduce learners to the idea that many news outlets deliver information with the goal of having their audiences interpret current events with a particular political slant. This trend is evident when considering the current hot-button topic of gender identity of minors.
- Explain to learners that they will be watching two news clips with opposing political stances regarding transgender minors. “Becoming Lucy: Portland family embraces child’s gender identity” and “Oregon allowing 15-year-olds to get state-subsidized sex change operations” are perfect videos to use.
- Give learners the Details handout. This handout explains that the learners will be watching the two videos multiple times. The first few times, learners will take notes on specific details listed by each video that impact whether or not the audience might agree with/believe the broadcast.
- After listing their notes, have learners answer the reflection questions at the end of the Details handout. These questions require them to consider how the videos impacted their perceptions of issues affecting transgender minors. They should write notes individually.
- Next, learners will work in groups (no more than four students apiece) to analyze persuasive language use within the videos by using the Group handout. Allow learners at least 30 minutes to complete this step. It is important that the learners come to an accord regarding the persuasive language that they find in the videos for every technique listed on the handout rather than dividing the work among themselves. Learners will all be responsible for understanding each technique and how it appeals to the pathos, logos, and ethos of individuals.
- Make sure to provide feedback to your learners regarding the correctness of their work in Step 5. In a hybrid course, this feedback can come from an email or web conferencing. Additionally, learner groups may compare answers using message board functions.
Notes:
- If you are teaching in a face-to-face context rather than in a hybrid or online format, you may wish to include direct instruction regarding persuasive language techniques as part of this activity.
- A possible extension activity is to have learners conduct addition research regarding issues related to transgender minors and write a persuasive essay for submission to a local publication.
- This activity can be adapted to lower proficiency levels through selection of text. It would be more appropriate, for example, for Novice and Intermediate learners to analyze the persuasive language used in print ads. This analysis would be more superficial than that which advanced learners were expected to engage in.
- When discussing controversial issues in class, it is always a good idea to notify parents and administrators beforehand in order to minimize any potential issues that might develop. Additionally, educators should consider the maturity level of their learners when evaluating the appropriateness of the issues being discussed.
Source: CASLS Activity of the Week
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Title: May 2016 Issue of Language Magazine
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The May 2016 Issue of Language Magazine is available online at http://languagemagazine.com/?p=125431
In this issue:
Touring With Class (In Mind): Kristal Bivona sets her mind on turning tourism into professional development.
Reading as Exploration for All: Deborah L. Wolter offers ways to identify and address educational gaps in reading among linguistically diverse students.
English on the Mark: Dr. Pamela Sharpe, a recognized authority on preparation for the TOEFL iBT, was interviewed by Language Magazine in Baltimore at the International TESOL conference.
Boosting American Exchange Rates: 100k Strong in America encourages students to pursue studies in Latin America.
English in the U.K.: Students involved in study abroad programs in the U.K. recount their experiences.
Source: Language Magazine
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Title: Book: Input-based Tasks in Foreign Language Instruction for Young Learners
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From https://benjamins.com/#catalog/books/tblt.9/main
Input-based Tasks in Foreign Language Instruction for Young Learners
By Natsuko Shintani
Published by John Benjamins Publishing Company
The book examines how task-based language teaching (TBLT) can be carried out with young beginner learners in a foreign language context. It addresses how TBLT can be introduced and implemented in a difficult instructional context where traditional teaching approaches are entrenched. The book reports a study that examined how TBLT can be made to work in such a context. The study compares the effectiveness of TBLT and the traditional “present-practice-produce” (PPP) approach for teaching English to young beginner learners in Japan. The TBLT researched in this study is unique as it employed input-based tasks rather than oral production tasks. The study shows that such tasks constitute an ideal means of inducting beginner learners into listening and processing English. It also shows that such tasks lead naturally to the learners trying to use the L2 in communication. It provides evidence to support the claim that TBLT promotes the kind of naturalistic interaction which is beneficial for the development of both interactional and linguistic competence. The book concludes with suggestions for how to implement TBLT in Japanese school contexts.
Visit the publisher’s website at https://benjamins.com/#catalog/books/tblt.9/main
Source: John Benjamins Publishing Company
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Title: Book: Language, Immigration and Naturalization
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From http://www.multilingual-matters.com/display.asp?isb=9781783095148
Language, Immigration and Naturalization: Legal and Linguistic Issues
Edited by Ariel Loring and Vaidehi Ramanathan
Published by Multilingual Matters
This volume focuses on the everyday legalities and practicalities of naturalization, including governmental processes, the language of citizenship tests and classes, the labelling and lived experiences of immigrants/outsiders and the media’s interpretation of this process. The book brings together scholars from a wide range of specialities who accentuate language and raise issues that often remain unarticulated or masked in the media. The contributors highlight how governmental policies and practices affect native-born citizens and residents differently on the basis of legal status. Furthermore, the authors observe that many issues that are typically seen as affecting immigrants (such as language policies, nationalist identities and feelings of belonging) also impact first-generation native-born citizens who are seen as, or see themselves as, outsiders.
Visit the publisher’s website at http://www.multilingual-matters.com/display.asp?isb=9781783095148
Source: Multilingual Matters
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