In the first instalment of his brand-new series, Nik Peachey looks at
podcasting and how it can be used to help students develop their
listening and speaking skills both inside and outside the classroom. Nik
provides a comprehensive overview article on podcasting, a downloadable
lesson plan, a video screencast tutorial and a printable how-to guide.
Montag, 27. Februar 2012
Is English or Mandarin the language of the future?
English has been the dominant global language for a century, but is it
the language of the future? If Mandarin Chinese is to challenge English
globally, then it first has to conquer its own backyard, South East
Asia.
Mittwoch, 15. Februar 2012
Agatha Christie cut down for language students
New versions of 20 detective novels
produced for 'upper intermediate' English language learners
Agatha Christie: tall order to cut down. Photograph:
Popperfoto/Getty
From Queen of Crime to Queen of the Classroom: a new
series of simplified, abridged Agatha Christie novels
are set to introduce non-native English speakers to the
glory of the British murder mystery.
Publisher Collins has cut down 20 of Christie's detective novels – including Poirot's first case, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, and Miss Marple's debut outing The Murder at the Vicarage – by 60%, simplifying the language and adding character notes and glossaries. The books are aimed at "upper intermediate" English language learners, and are intended to ensure that "studying English is as captivating as it is educational".
Read the rest of this article...
Publisher Collins has cut down 20 of Christie's detective novels – including Poirot's first case, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, and Miss Marple's debut outing The Murder at the Vicarage – by 60%, simplifying the language and adding character notes and glossaries. The books are aimed at "upper intermediate" English language learners, and are intended to ensure that "studying English is as captivating as it is educational".
Read the rest of this article...
Is there an app for getting language learners reading?
Ebooks have the potential to be
powerful tools but publishers are cautious
Shelf life ... Apple’s iBooks platform could change the way
graded readers are published. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images
Extensive reading is widely acknowledged to be an important language skill
and a valuable gateway to vocabulary development and other skills. But for many
students, authentic texts are just too difficult, and simplified or "graded"
readers are used by teachers to help encourage their students to read for
pleasure in English.
Such books have become a staple of the publishing industry, and publishers offer readers graded for each language level. They can include illustrations, glossaries and audio files on CD or online and come with ideas for teachers on how to promote reading in class, such as reading circles.
Read the rest of this article...
Such books have become a staple of the publishing industry, and publishers offer readers graded for each language level. They can include illustrations, glossaries and audio files on CD or online and come with ideas for teachers on how to promote reading in class, such as reading circles.
Read the rest of this article...
Montag, 13. Februar 2012
Removing Barriers to Learning for Long-Term English Learners: Free Webinar
As the number of long-term English learners in U.S. public schools continues to rise, educators are seeking innovative solutions to help these students reach proficiency in literacy and writing. On Tuesday, February 14, 2012, educational software company Imagine Learning is sponsoring a free webinar by Lily Wong Fillmore, a renowned linguist and scholar who will share the latest research on helping long-term English learners overcome obstacles and achieve proficiency.
Recent data indicates that long-term English learners are now one of the fastest-growing student populations in U.S. schools. This student group, which is comprised of English learners who have been enrolled in school for at least seven years but are no longer progressing toward English proficiency, now makes up a significant segment of students in grades 6–12.
Read the rest of this article...
Recent data indicates that long-term English learners are now one of the fastest-growing student populations in U.S. schools. This student group, which is comprised of English learners who have been enrolled in school for at least seven years but are no longer progressing toward English proficiency, now makes up a significant segment of students in grades 6–12.
Read the rest of this article...
Some tips for learning English, as demand for speakers is set to rise
With the Asean Economic Community only three years away (2015), it is imperative that Thailand prepare itself linguistically for this highly interconnected regional environment with so many opportunities and challenges.
There has been discussion suggesting that Thai could become the language of Asean. While Thai is an elegant and beautiful language, it is totally wishful thinking to think that it would be adopted as the Asean lingua franca. Clearly English will be the common language of Asean.Thus, it is imperative for Thailand to enhance the quality of its English language teaching and learning.
The approach presented here is not from linguistics but derived from the Kalama Sutra of the Lord Buddha and its call for learning from direct experience.
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Arabic-speaking students learning English at local grade schools
Zeyad Aljumaili, 10, read the text of "How Glooskap Found Summer" with a smile on his face, correcting himself and occasionally glancing up at his teacher when he pronounced a hard word correctly.
"All around him, the
forest, no, frosty land was barren of everyone," read the fourth-grader
during an English as Second Language class at Pine Valley Elementary
School a few weeks ago.
Zeyad's
native tongue is Arabic, but he has picked up English quickly since his
family came to Wilmington last year after immigrating to the United
States from Iraq.
Read the rest of this article...
Do Elected Officials Have to Speak English?
A Spanish-speaking woman was recently barred from running for city
council in Arizona, sparking a national debate about the role of
language skills for office holders
Donnerstag, 2. Februar 2012
How English-Language Learners Have an Edge
During my first year of teaching, Samantha sat in the back of my
first-period American government class. Having moved from Mexico, she
had only been in the United States for two years. Her oral English
comprehension was moderate, but she spoke rarely and was embarrassed to
speak in front of native English speakers.
Overwhelmed with the task of teaching anyone anything as a first-year teacher, I felt that reaching Samantha was a Herculean task. Describing the challenge in one of my graduate courses, I mentioned that Samantha hardly ever spoke. When she did, it was always in "broken English." I lamented that she seemed to understand next to none of the material, and I received commiserative nods from other new teachers in the room.
But the professor burst into tears.
Face flushed, our professor related her journey to the U.S. from Hong Kong as a child. She told us about the trauma of entering a new school and a new culture with no support from parents or teachers in learning English, and she recalled a time a stranger had ridiculed her for her "broken English."
Read the rest of this article...
Overwhelmed with the task of teaching anyone anything as a first-year teacher, I felt that reaching Samantha was a Herculean task. Describing the challenge in one of my graduate courses, I mentioned that Samantha hardly ever spoke. When she did, it was always in "broken English." I lamented that she seemed to understand next to none of the material, and I received commiserative nods from other new teachers in the room.
But the professor burst into tears.
Face flushed, our professor related her journey to the U.S. from Hong Kong as a child. She told us about the trauma of entering a new school and a new culture with no support from parents or teachers in learning English, and she recalled a time a stranger had ridiculed her for her "broken English."
Read the rest of this article...
Advice for Native English Speakers
Whether or not you think learning a language other than English is
valuable, it's true that English has become the language of
international communication. But that doesn't let native English
speakers off the hook. In order for them to really benefit from the
status of English as a global lingua franca, they still have linguistic
investments to make.
Namely, they could learn from instruction in linguistics and the
history of English, which would expose them to the varieties of English
that are spoken by people with another mother tongue. At any given time,
the vast majority of English used on the planet is spoken and written
by people who aren't native speakers and who may have learned it as
adults. It may be their second or third language. Their interactions
will tend to be with other non-native speakers. They'll say things in
ways that you don't say them in your version of English.
Read the rest of this article...
It helps to learn how to hear around accents, word choices and grammatical patterns.
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Visual aids and repetition are keys to building vocabulary
Students in Darota Haber-Lehigh's English as a Second
Language (ELS) class at Seaside High School take turns repeating in
Spanish, then English, a list of animal terms, each with its own
picture for example. Lehigh crisscrosses the same group of terms
with her students, in nearly every sentence construction
imaginable.
The visual aids and repetition are key to students building a vocabulary before they go more in-depth into a subject, said Lehigh.
She and almost all other teachers in Clatsop County use the visual aids and repetition as part of the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) teaching strategy, one piece of a continuing effort to seamlessly integrate English instruction into the more common curriculum.
Read the rest of this article...
The visual aids and repetition are key to students building a vocabulary before they go more in-depth into a subject, said Lehigh.
She and almost all other teachers in Clatsop County use the visual aids and repetition as part of the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) teaching strategy, one piece of a continuing effort to seamlessly integrate English instruction into the more common curriculum.
Read the rest of this article...
Digital Learning Day opens up opportunities
Skyping with the Packers, using Twitter in English class, they were all reality Wednesday at one local high school
Governor Walker declared Wednesday Digital Learning Day across the state.
In business teacher Mary Byrns classroom, students used Skype for the first time to connect with Packer's public relations pro Aaron Popke.
“I thought it was a great opportunity to use Skype as a tool to connect the students with a business that we normally wouldn't get to speak to. And I just thought the Packers would be something they’d be very interested in,” Byrns tells us.
The Skyping session was all part of a national initiative to showcase technology projects in the classroom
“I think it shows them the power of technology, it just opens up new doors for them, versus when I was in school we just didn't have those opportunities,” Byrns explains.
Read the rest of this article...
Governor Walker declared Wednesday Digital Learning Day across the state.
In business teacher Mary Byrns classroom, students used Skype for the first time to connect with Packer's public relations pro Aaron Popke.
“I thought it was a great opportunity to use Skype as a tool to connect the students with a business that we normally wouldn't get to speak to. And I just thought the Packers would be something they’d be very interested in,” Byrns tells us.
The Skyping session was all part of a national initiative to showcase technology projects in the classroom
“I think it shows them the power of technology, it just opens up new doors for them, versus when I was in school we just didn't have those opportunities,” Byrns explains.
Read the rest of this article...
Mariela Dabbah: If You Don't Speak English, Don't Run for Office
When I read that Yuma County (Arizona) Judge John Nelson ruled that Alejandrina Cabrera couldn’t run for councilwoman of San Luis given her insufficient English proficiency, I had all sorts of mixed feelings.
On the one hand, the woman was running for a City Council seat in a border town where 90% of the population speaks Spanish. The New York Times reported that initially Cabrera’s opponents spearheaded the effort to block her name from the ballot. This move soon became a divisive issue given the lack of clarity in the law regarding how much English politicians must speak.
Cabrera has maintained that she communicates with the community in Spanish and that she speaks enough English for her work with the council. She was, however, unable to answer some questions the judge asked her in court in mid-January. Whether it was because she was nervous, as she said, or because she didn’t understand, is anyone’s guess.
On the one hand, the woman was running for a City Council seat in a border town where 90% of the population speaks Spanish. The New York Times reported that initially Cabrera’s opponents spearheaded the effort to block her name from the ballot. This move soon became a divisive issue given the lack of clarity in the law regarding how much English politicians must speak.
Cabrera has maintained that she communicates with the community in Spanish and that she speaks enough English for her work with the council. She was, however, unable to answer some questions the judge asked her in court in mid-January. Whether it was because she was nervous, as she said, or because she didn’t understand, is anyone’s guess.
When a Textbook Is Online, Not on Paper
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
Electronic books have changed the way many people read for pleasure. Now online textbooks are changing the way some students learn and some teachers teach.
More than one hundred seventy-five thousand students attend the public schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, outside Washington. Last year, the school system used digital books in fifteen schools. This school year, middle schools and high schools changed from printed to electronic textbooks in their social studies classes.
Read the rest of this article...
Electronic books have changed the way many people read for pleasure. Now online textbooks are changing the way some students learn and some teachers teach.
More than one hundred seventy-five thousand students attend the public schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, outside Washington. Last year, the school system used digital books in fifteen schools. This school year, middle schools and high schools changed from printed to electronic textbooks in their social studies classes.
Read the rest of this article...
Self-analysis key to learning English
“When it comes to learning English these days, it’s a
jungle out there,” quipped Kim Tae-ho, a 26 year old architect, studying
English to meet the demands of his job.
“There are so many options now; I think I have wasted lots of time doing the wrong thing.”
Kim’s frustration is common. Today’s tech-fueled industry includes mobile devices, e-learning, interactive tables, and, as is the case at Hagjeong Primary School in Daegu, talking robots. These are in addition to traditional mediums like human beings, English TV, and good old fashioned books.
With the recent decision to phase out native speakers in public schools, Koreans are asking what is the most efficient and cost-effective way to learn English.
Read the rest of this article...
“There are so many options now; I think I have wasted lots of time doing the wrong thing.”
Kim’s frustration is common. Today’s tech-fueled industry includes mobile devices, e-learning, interactive tables, and, as is the case at Hagjeong Primary School in Daegu, talking robots. These are in addition to traditional mediums like human beings, English TV, and good old fashioned books.
With the recent decision to phase out native speakers in public schools, Koreans are asking what is the most efficient and cost-effective way to learn English.
Read the rest of this article...
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