This issue of the IATEFL Newsletter is about language (IATEFL Newsletter, 140, 1998, 19-20. Reprinted in Arena, 19, 1998, 41-43) ; I have just been to a conference about language; I have even written a book about language. I love language. Nevertheless, I have some misgivings about the way language - or more, specifically, grammar - is being mythologised. The myth that concerns me here is the one in which grammar went away and then came back again. Why is this myth being disseminated? That is the question I wish to address in this article.
You may have noticed that a number of recent books seem to be celebrating, in the words of one of them, "the return of grammar to the centre stage of language teaching and learning" (Tonkyn, 1994, p.12). Yet, for as long as I have been teaching, grammar has never been anywhere but centre stage. As evidence, one has only to look at the contents page of any coursebook that has topped the best-seller lists over the last three decades. (Even the functional-notional courses that flowered in the late 1970s could not wholly disguise their hidden grammatical agenda).
What's more, as a professional teacher-watcher, all I have ever seen in the classes I have observed is grammar. Grammar is the engine that drives classroom practice. It is in grammatical terms that pedagogical aims are articulated; it is for linguistic purposes that texts are chosen and exploited; it is the reproduction of specific forms that motivates classroom interactions; it is their lack of accuracy that prompts teacher feedback; and it is mastery of form that is still largely the standard by which learning is evaluated. This has been the case for as long as I have been privileged to watch other people teach.
Appropriation
If grammar has been around so long, why suddenly is its "return" being trumpeted? And by whom? Or, to put it another way, whose interests are being served by trumpeting the return of grammar? A glance at the list of contributors in the "grammar revival" literature suggests that claims such as the following are not entirely disinterested:
Professional development for language teachers must be strengthened by theories of language (Burns, 1990, p. 57). [Lecturer in Linguistics at Macquarie University]
Language teaching will not make significant advances...until more teachers become convinced of the importance of grammar (Odlin, 1994, p. ix). [Associate Professor of English at Ohio State University]
Much more systematic attention to descriptive linguistics and to applied linguistics will be needed, both in all kinds of language-linked first degrees and in inservice education (Mitchell, 1994, p. 222). [University of Southampton]
Am I imagining things, or do these claims strike you as just a little self-serving? Let's ignore, for the moment, the fact that, by implying a straightforward connection between theories of language and theories of learning, the authors of such claims appear to be ignoring the evidence of SLA research. No, what is at issue here is a question of ownership. By claiming ownership of grammar the applied linguistics departments assert their influence over the industry that trades in that commodity - and their right to muscle in on the profits as well. Teachers, construed here as being grammatically challenged, have no choice but to beat a path, cap in hand, to the grammar bank. (Language-as-commodity has recently become almost tangible - has been "embodied", even - as universities and publishers scramble to set up - and market - corpora.
Note also, in the promotion of corpora, the use of banking metaphors). And speaking of corpora, grand claims, such as Sinclair's (1997), to the effect that "those who teach languages depend on those who describe them" ( p. 29) not only, assert the hieratic role of linguists as guardians of the sacred mysteries, but serve to disenfranchise teachers by undervaluing the pedagogical power of their experience and intuitions. This is a clear case of the kind of dysfunctional discourse described by Clarke (1994), in which "the voices of teachers are subordinated to the voices of others who are less centrally involved in language teaching" (p. 13).
Selling grammar
Publishers, of course, want a share of the pie, too. By swearing allegiance to grammar, they are guaranteed a slice. John Soars, co-author of the phenomenally successful Headway series, admitted recently that their intention had been to "reinstate grammar" (EL Gazette, Issue 209, June 1997, p. 20). Sound familiar? Since the advent of Headway publishers have been falling over themselves to produce copycat courses. Despite paying lip-service to communication (Thornbury, 1996), current ELT materials are resolutely form-driven, to the point that, as Grady (1997) points out, they represent "all types of issues and all types of discourse as not requiring much thought or action beyond the decision as to the appropriate grammatical structure" (p. 9).
Grammar effectively sanitises and trivialises learning. It also makes language "safe", and therefore more easily and more widely marketable.
In an article in the ELT Journal Allwright (1981) challenged the hegemony of coursebooks, at least in their traditional role as "teaching materials". His point was that what we now need are "learning materials" and alluded to a "general change in the conception of teacher and learner responsibilities for the management of language learning" (p. 143). How would this power shift impact on published materials? Allwright suggests that "something much less ambitious, probably locally produced, would seem preferable" (p. 142). Bang goes the global coursebook.
The sense of a devolution of power to the learner echoes Candlin's (1994) claim for task-based learning - that it"empowers learners to make meanings for themselves". While grammar-based materials work on the assumption that there is something learners don't know, task-based materials work on the assumption that there is something learners can do. Unsurprisingly, task-based learning has not been heavily marketed. The notion of localised, learner-driven lessons sits uneasily with the concept of globalisation. Instead, by creating a dependency culture, by construing the learner as grammatically-challenged, grammar-based materials ensure a market. By getting learners hooked on grammar, the publishers are guaranteed not just any old market but a global one, because, after all, what is language if not grammar? Only the marketing of bottled water could be simpler. Just as consumers have been taught to trust bottled water more than tap water (despite blind-tastings that prove there is no difference [Brown, 1997]) so have learners been conned into choosing packaged language over some natural, home-grown, more eco-friendly product.
In short, and as a critical reading of university- and publisher-speak reminds us, when the need for "more grammar" is invoked it is invariably in the cause of maintaining and strengthening existing power structures. As Cameron (1995) writes, in her critique of the moral panic recurrently triggered by liberal educational reformers: "A panic about grammar is ... interpretable as the metaphorical expression of persistent conservative fears that we are losing the values that underpin civilization and sliding into chaos" (p. 95). I am not suggesting that it was moral panic that inspired John and Liz Soars to want to reinstate grammar when they wrote Headway. Nevertheless, grammar, order, and rules are related concepts, and in a profession that is desperately trying to project a measure of respectability, not to say academic credibility, grammar rules.
Class struggle
Grammar rules in the classroom, too. Just as grammar bolsters the hegemony of university departments and publishers, so too do teachers use grammar to prop up a benign classroom autocracy. Why have teachers - traditionally of a liberal persuasion - colluded? The answer is simple: grammar is order. From the point of view of course design, materials choice, and assessment, a discrete-item, grammatical organisation is a lot less messy than, say, a functional or a procedural or a lexical one. At the level of classroom practice, explicit attention to grammar provides structure, literally, to an otherwise potentially anarchic situation, and is one reason why teachers who lack either classroom experience or confidence in their own linguistic competence, or both, embrace grammar so eagerly. A meaning-driven (as opposed to a form-driven) pedagogy presents seemingly intractable management problems to the novice and non-native teacher, whereas explicit instruction of pre-selected de-contextualised discrete-item linguistic forms offers the teacher safe passage through the minefield.
But grammar is not just order. Grammar is power. Grammar invests EFL teachers with transmittable knowledge, thereby propping up a status that is often felt to be dodgy, to say the least. As Wright (1991) warned, "one great danger of acquiring specialist knowledge about language is the possible desire to show learners that you have this knowledge" (p. 68-9). Combined with what Curran (1972) called "the sickness to teach" (p. 114) the grammar revival legitimises lessons of excruciating boredom and irrelevance. Classroom discourse is not so much discourse as metadiscourse (Scollon & Scollon, 1995). It is talk about talk. It is content teaching where the only content is grammar. Real language use, if it occurs at all, occurs in the interstices and marginalia of lessons. The effect of this "overt teacher grammar display behaviour" is not only to deprive learners of valuable practice opportunities but to aintain the unequal power relationship that already exists in many classrooms.
To sum up: grammar represents the imposition of order and the maintenance of power, both at the level of the global culture of ELT, and in the culture of the ELT classroom. One final example of how these cultures are interconnected: in a response to Allwright's (1981) critique of teaching materials, O'Neill (1982) - a coursebook writer - came to the defence of coursebooks. (He would, wouldn't he?) One argument he used was the generalisability of grammar to multiple contexts.
What is interesting is that he situated his arguments in a specific instance when he was teaching English in a German shipyard to "a small group of German technicians who were expecting to train a contingent of Iranians how to maintain and repair six submarines" (p. 148). He adds, without apparent irony, that "this was a few months before the downfall of the Shah" (ibid. p. 149). See how it works? COURSEBOOK WRITER USES GRAMMAR TO PROP UP AILING DICTATORSHIP!
Post-grammar
What is the alternative? What is EFL tap-water like? I'll leave you to imagine (if you don't already know) a pedagogy where grammar is deconsecrated, where learners are empowered to make their own meanings, where teachers are emboldened to subvert the dictates of non-teachers, and where teachers and learners together construct a shared discourse of possibility.
As a taster, I offer this extract from Edmund White's autobiographical novel The Farewell Symphony (1997) in which he describes Lucrezia, his Italian teacher:
Her teaching method was clever. She invited me to gossip away in Italian as best I could, discussing what I would ordinarily discuss in English; when stumped for the next expression, I'd pause. She'd then provide the missing word. I'd write it down in a notebook I kept week after week. ... Day after day I trekked to Lucrezia's and she tore out the seams of my shoddy, ill fitting Italian and found ways to tailor it to my needs and interests.
9.18.2010
9.01.2010
Motivating young learners
Emma Heyderman from International House in San Sebastián, Spain, gives us the following tips to cope with young learners. Have you tried any? If so, let us know how it worked. If not, do you think they may work? Leave your comment/s!
An important difference between teaching EFL to adults and to young learners is motivation. Very young children have an intrinsic love for learning. Their pleasure is obvious when their first words are understood or when they are able to get their favourite toy after taking those first steps. However, as what children are learning becomes less tangible and more abstract, maintaining motivation, especially in the classroom, becomes more of a problem. As teachers, we need to facilitate a learning atmosphere that nurtures motivation. Classroom activities could be intrinsically motivating because students are interested in the subject, or extrinsically motivating because learners want to please significant others (parents, teachers, etc.) by getting good marks, for example, and they don't want to be punished for misbehaving. With this in mind, here are ten of my teaching tips, most of which are simply articulated common sense.
1. Show an interest in your learner's lives and tell them about yours.
If you notice that one of your students has a new pair of trainers, ask them where they bought them. This might even spark an impromptu discussion on shopping preferences. Similarly, if you notice a student is quieter than usual, take him or her aside and ask why. Students are also interested in us, so tell them something about yourself!
2. Find out what your learners are interested in.
If your class is interested in music, start a music project. Every week, a different class member has to bring in their favourite song with a worksheet for his or her peers to complete whilst listening. The worksheet could simply be a copy of the lyrics with the first word of each line removed. By asking the learners to bring in the music and lyrics, not only are you encouraging learner autonomy but also removing the onus on you to find music that your students will like.
3. Use appropriate material and personalise wherever possible.
Very good coursebooks have been written for young learners that provide relevant topics, for example, sports, school, music, famous people etc. However, if a topic is not going to interest your class, you may need to adapt it. For example, instead of asking a class if they have ever met a brain surgeon, ask them to imagine they are going to meet a brain surgeon and think about the questions they would like to ask.
4. Treat your learners like adults, don't patronise.
Drop the silly sing–song voice. By treating learners like adults, you set the tone--I expect you to behave like adults, too.
5. Fun doesn't always mean games, videos, and songs (but they can help).
Young learners like "fun" classes but what is fun? Fun doesn't mean songs and games, but classes where the students are fully engaged and take an active part. That doesn't rule out a song to reward hard work, though.
6. Pace in a class can be maintained by varying the…
• Activity. Find the balance between too few and too many activities. Consider the activity type. Sixty minutes of "stirring" activities, such as board races and running dictations, could overexcite the class and have a disastrous effect. "Settling" activities, such as copying from the board or listening to a cassette will calm a class down, but once again too much could deaden the classroom atmosphere completely.
• Student Focus. Make use of the classroom. Ask the students to focus on the board, at a later point use flashcards on the floor, and then the course book, etc.
• Interaction. Too much teacher interacting with the whole class could lead to blank faces. Also use groupwork, pairwork and individual work.
7. Take into account attention spans.
Research suggests that after an initial settling down period of about 3 minutes, student attention is at a peak for the first 15-20 minutes of any class. Take advantage of this moment to present new language. Use short "wake-up" activities to spark attention, such as repeat this sentence after me-- "She sells sea shells on the seashore"--or a quick round of "hangman."
8. Find out about school policy. Establish the class rules with your learners and stick to them.
Go though the class rules on the first day and repeat this at intervals throughout the school year. Let your learners know what will happen if they "break" these rules and make sure you impose the penalty if the rules are broken.
9. Praise and encourage (but where due).
Young learners like to know when they are doing well, so tell them. However, praising a student who has done something ridiculously easy is patronising. Be aware of how much attention you give to those who deserve to be praised and those who misbehave.
10. Avoid confronting and/or humiliating learners in front of their peers.
In front of their peers, many troublemakers become braver. It's much easier to confront your teacher in front of your friends. Ask the "offender" to stay behind after class.
An important difference between teaching EFL to adults and to young learners is motivation. Very young children have an intrinsic love for learning. Their pleasure is obvious when their first words are understood or when they are able to get their favourite toy after taking those first steps. However, as what children are learning becomes less tangible and more abstract, maintaining motivation, especially in the classroom, becomes more of a problem. As teachers, we need to facilitate a learning atmosphere that nurtures motivation. Classroom activities could be intrinsically motivating because students are interested in the subject, or extrinsically motivating because learners want to please significant others (parents, teachers, etc.) by getting good marks, for example, and they don't want to be punished for misbehaving. With this in mind, here are ten of my teaching tips, most of which are simply articulated common sense.
1. Show an interest in your learner's lives and tell them about yours.
If you notice that one of your students has a new pair of trainers, ask them where they bought them. This might even spark an impromptu discussion on shopping preferences. Similarly, if you notice a student is quieter than usual, take him or her aside and ask why. Students are also interested in us, so tell them something about yourself!
2. Find out what your learners are interested in.
If your class is interested in music, start a music project. Every week, a different class member has to bring in their favourite song with a worksheet for his or her peers to complete whilst listening. The worksheet could simply be a copy of the lyrics with the first word of each line removed. By asking the learners to bring in the music and lyrics, not only are you encouraging learner autonomy but also removing the onus on you to find music that your students will like.
3. Use appropriate material and personalise wherever possible.
Very good coursebooks have been written for young learners that provide relevant topics, for example, sports, school, music, famous people etc. However, if a topic is not going to interest your class, you may need to adapt it. For example, instead of asking a class if they have ever met a brain surgeon, ask them to imagine they are going to meet a brain surgeon and think about the questions they would like to ask.
4. Treat your learners like adults, don't patronise.
Drop the silly sing–song voice. By treating learners like adults, you set the tone--I expect you to behave like adults, too.
5. Fun doesn't always mean games, videos, and songs (but they can help).
Young learners like "fun" classes but what is fun? Fun doesn't mean songs and games, but classes where the students are fully engaged and take an active part. That doesn't rule out a song to reward hard work, though.
6. Pace in a class can be maintained by varying the…
• Activity. Find the balance between too few and too many activities. Consider the activity type. Sixty minutes of "stirring" activities, such as board races and running dictations, could overexcite the class and have a disastrous effect. "Settling" activities, such as copying from the board or listening to a cassette will calm a class down, but once again too much could deaden the classroom atmosphere completely.
• Student Focus. Make use of the classroom. Ask the students to focus on the board, at a later point use flashcards on the floor, and then the course book, etc.
• Interaction. Too much teacher interacting with the whole class could lead to blank faces. Also use groupwork, pairwork and individual work.
7. Take into account attention spans.
Research suggests that after an initial settling down period of about 3 minutes, student attention is at a peak for the first 15-20 minutes of any class. Take advantage of this moment to present new language. Use short "wake-up" activities to spark attention, such as repeat this sentence after me-- "She sells sea shells on the seashore"--or a quick round of "hangman."
8. Find out about school policy. Establish the class rules with your learners and stick to them.
Go though the class rules on the first day and repeat this at intervals throughout the school year. Let your learners know what will happen if they "break" these rules and make sure you impose the penalty if the rules are broken.
9. Praise and encourage (but where due).
Young learners like to know when they are doing well, so tell them. However, praising a student who has done something ridiculously easy is patronising. Be aware of how much attention you give to those who deserve to be praised and those who misbehave.
10. Avoid confronting and/or humiliating learners in front of their peers.
In front of their peers, many troublemakers become braver. It's much easier to confront your teacher in front of your friends. Ask the "offender" to stay behind after class.
7.08.2010
Is that so?
Course books and the curse of celebrity
The steady increase in the use of celebrities in international coursebooks is denying learners and teachers the opportunity to use English to explore a more relevant world, argues Lindsay Clandfield
When we teach English as an international language, what are we also teaching? As language teachers we are in a curious and unique position. We do not have a fixed subject in the same way that the history teacher teaches history or the geography teacher teaches geography. The language teacher teachers grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, speaking and listening skills, but these are all “how”. They are not “what”. Language teachers are cursed with no content, but also blessed because everything can be our content.
Is the “what” we teach culture? Language and cultural studies used to be seen as inseparable. If you learnt English you learned about British people, their way of life, their literature and cultural history. If you were studying American English then you would learn about the US. However, with the rise and recognition of English as an international language, we are faced with the reality that English is no longer the property of the British or the Americans. Some have even gone as far as to suggest that international English has no culture. So, what content do we use to present new language in context?
I believe that two kinds of content have risen to fill the gap that was once provided by cultural content from Britain or the US, and despite claims that international English could be devoid of culture, I think both are cultural. The first is a sort of international culture populated by invented people all travelling around, going to conferences, having fun at weekends, checking in and out of hotels, going to restaurants with international menus and having middle-class worries. This content is safe, it’s not confrontational and it’s almost unbearably bland.
The second kind of content is that of the world of celebrity. Smiling faces of actors such as Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise leap off the page. We teach the vocabulary of nationalities via their most photogenic stars (for example, “Maria Sharapova is Russian. She is from Russia”). We present the grammar of the present perfect by reading about the life and works of a contemporary musician or film director. This kind of content has been on the rise over the last 20 years.
Or at least it seems to be, judging by what is in our materials. I took a look at major international coursebooks published in the early 1990s. The average number of celebrities was two. I counted the number of celebrities in three or four international coursebooks from the latter part of this decade. The number had risen to an average of 28.
In a way this is not surprising. Modern materials will try to reflect modern life. Teachers want to feel up to date. Authors and publishers want material that will sell books. And boy, does celebrity sell in other fields. Celebrity sells perfumes, clothing labels, popular magazines, newspapers and television shows. Today’s celebrities are international, they are everywhere and they lead eye-catching lives. Some of them also do good acts, such as supporting charities and raising awareness about important issues. Don’t they make recognisable and motivating material for lessons?
Despite what we may think in the UK or North America, many “international” celebrities are not actually that well known. I’ve met many teachers from different countries who complain that they, or their students, do not know who some of these people were. For them it was just another pretty face smiling up from the page.
Celebrity can date quickly. One used to be able to depend on famous people looking more or less the same for a couple of years, but now they change their look every fortnight. If they aren’t changing their physical appearance they are most likely getting into some kind of trouble. As a coursebook writer, this point was brought home to me in 2005, the year that Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston got divorced. I wasn’t personally distressed at the break-up of such a nice-looking Hollywood couple, nor was I caught up in the whole Angelina Jolie angle. No, this event was of significance to me as a writer because that very same year a coursebook of mine was coming out that used Brad and Jennifer as an example of “a married couple”. Everything had to be changed and it was very stressful.
The fact that celebrities may not be known and can date quickly are two practical reasons against their inclusion in international materials. There is also a more ideological reason, and it’s simply that this kind of material does not conform to many educators’ ideas of what education is about. It’s what gets English coursebooks criticised for being vapid and, as one fellow teacher remarked to me once, “so light that if I don’t hold on tightly it will just float away”. One could argue that the mere presence of celebrities and happy, comfortable people in our materials makes them part of a dissemination of global celebrity culture, a culture that offers us, in the words of Ellis Cashmore, professor of culture and media at Staffordshire University, England, “a distinctive vision, a beguiling one too: one in which there are few limits, an expanding range of opportunities and inexhaustible hope”.
I’m not saying that this kind of content can’t make for interesting lessons. It can. I’m not saying it can’t be motivational. Again, it can. But if we believe that education is about learning, discovering and becoming interested in new things that we didn’t know about before, then this subject matter short-changes us. If we believe that education is about thinking critically about the world we live in and making more sense of it then this, it’s time to get a bit more serious and move on. Let’s wise up, not dumb down.
Lindsay Clandfield is the main author of Global, Macmillan’s new course for adults
The Guardian Weekly – TEFL Update
© Guardian News and Media Limited 2010
What do you think? Leave your comment below-
The steady increase in the use of celebrities in international coursebooks is denying learners and teachers the opportunity to use English to explore a more relevant world, argues Lindsay Clandfield
When we teach English as an international language, what are we also teaching? As language teachers we are in a curious and unique position. We do not have a fixed subject in the same way that the history teacher teaches history or the geography teacher teaches geography. The language teacher teachers grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, speaking and listening skills, but these are all “how”. They are not “what”. Language teachers are cursed with no content, but also blessed because everything can be our content.
Is the “what” we teach culture? Language and cultural studies used to be seen as inseparable. If you learnt English you learned about British people, their way of life, their literature and cultural history. If you were studying American English then you would learn about the US. However, with the rise and recognition of English as an international language, we are faced with the reality that English is no longer the property of the British or the Americans. Some have even gone as far as to suggest that international English has no culture. So, what content do we use to present new language in context?
I believe that two kinds of content have risen to fill the gap that was once provided by cultural content from Britain or the US, and despite claims that international English could be devoid of culture, I think both are cultural. The first is a sort of international culture populated by invented people all travelling around, going to conferences, having fun at weekends, checking in and out of hotels, going to restaurants with international menus and having middle-class worries. This content is safe, it’s not confrontational and it’s almost unbearably bland.
The second kind of content is that of the world of celebrity. Smiling faces of actors such as Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise leap off the page. We teach the vocabulary of nationalities via their most photogenic stars (for example, “Maria Sharapova is Russian. She is from Russia”). We present the grammar of the present perfect by reading about the life and works of a contemporary musician or film director. This kind of content has been on the rise over the last 20 years.
Or at least it seems to be, judging by what is in our materials. I took a look at major international coursebooks published in the early 1990s. The average number of celebrities was two. I counted the number of celebrities in three or four international coursebooks from the latter part of this decade. The number had risen to an average of 28.
In a way this is not surprising. Modern materials will try to reflect modern life. Teachers want to feel up to date. Authors and publishers want material that will sell books. And boy, does celebrity sell in other fields. Celebrity sells perfumes, clothing labels, popular magazines, newspapers and television shows. Today’s celebrities are international, they are everywhere and they lead eye-catching lives. Some of them also do good acts, such as supporting charities and raising awareness about important issues. Don’t they make recognisable and motivating material for lessons?
Despite what we may think in the UK or North America, many “international” celebrities are not actually that well known. I’ve met many teachers from different countries who complain that they, or their students, do not know who some of these people were. For them it was just another pretty face smiling up from the page.
Celebrity can date quickly. One used to be able to depend on famous people looking more or less the same for a couple of years, but now they change their look every fortnight. If they aren’t changing their physical appearance they are most likely getting into some kind of trouble. As a coursebook writer, this point was brought home to me in 2005, the year that Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston got divorced. I wasn’t personally distressed at the break-up of such a nice-looking Hollywood couple, nor was I caught up in the whole Angelina Jolie angle. No, this event was of significance to me as a writer because that very same year a coursebook of mine was coming out that used Brad and Jennifer as an example of “a married couple”. Everything had to be changed and it was very stressful.
The fact that celebrities may not be known and can date quickly are two practical reasons against their inclusion in international materials. There is also a more ideological reason, and it’s simply that this kind of material does not conform to many educators’ ideas of what education is about. It’s what gets English coursebooks criticised for being vapid and, as one fellow teacher remarked to me once, “so light that if I don’t hold on tightly it will just float away”. One could argue that the mere presence of celebrities and happy, comfortable people in our materials makes them part of a dissemination of global celebrity culture, a culture that offers us, in the words of Ellis Cashmore, professor of culture and media at Staffordshire University, England, “a distinctive vision, a beguiling one too: one in which there are few limits, an expanding range of opportunities and inexhaustible hope”.
I’m not saying that this kind of content can’t make for interesting lessons. It can. I’m not saying it can’t be motivational. Again, it can. But if we believe that education is about learning, discovering and becoming interested in new things that we didn’t know about before, then this subject matter short-changes us. If we believe that education is about thinking critically about the world we live in and making more sense of it then this, it’s time to get a bit more serious and move on. Let’s wise up, not dumb down.
Lindsay Clandfield is the main author of Global, Macmillan’s new course for adults
The Guardian Weekly – TEFL Update
© Guardian News and Media Limited 2010
What do you think? Leave your comment below-
7.04.2010
Cursos CEPA intensivos
CURSOS INTENSIVOS DE INVIERNO CEPA
Fecha: del 19 al 23 de julio de 2010
Inscripción hasta el 16 de julio
Los cursos intensivos son una instancia de formación de una semana de
duración (de lunes a viernes, en encuentros diarios de cuatro horas y
media). Están destinados a docentes de todo el pais y de todas las
áreas de educación.
CURSOS SUBNÚCLEO LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS
Número de curso: 541
Título: Developing language skills
Disertante: Patricia Insirillo y Patricia del Valle Ortiz
Hora: 8.30 a 13.30hs
Número de curso: 542
Título: Triggering exploration, discovery and language production
through poems
Disertante: Adriana Fuentes
Hora: 8.30 a 13.30hs
Número de curso: 544
Título: Vocabulary as a stepping stone to grammaring
Disertante: Mónica Gandolfo y Equipo de Léxico (UBA)
Hora: 18.00 a 22.30hs
Más información
CePA
Escuela de Capacitación Docente - Centro de Pedagogías de Anticipación
Av. Santa Fe 4360 5º piso. Teléfonos: 4772-4028 / 4039 / 3768
cepa@buenosaires.edu.ar
www.buenosaires.gov.ar/areas/educacion/cepa
Fecha: del 19 al 23 de julio de 2010
Inscripción hasta el 16 de julio
Los cursos intensivos son una instancia de formación de una semana de
duración (de lunes a viernes, en encuentros diarios de cuatro horas y
media). Están destinados a docentes de todo el pais y de todas las
áreas de educación.
CURSOS SUBNÚCLEO LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS
Número de curso: 541
Título: Developing language skills
Disertante: Patricia Insirillo y Patricia del Valle Ortiz
Hora: 8.30 a 13.30hs
Número de curso: 542
Título: Triggering exploration, discovery and language production
through poems
Disertante: Adriana Fuentes
Hora: 8.30 a 13.30hs
Número de curso: 544
Título: Vocabulary as a stepping stone to grammaring
Disertante: Mónica Gandolfo y Equipo de Léxico (UBA)
Hora: 18.00 a 22.30hs
Más información
CePA
Escuela de Capacitación Docente - Centro de Pedagogías de Anticipación
Av. Santa Fe 4360 5º piso. Teléfonos: 4772-4028 / 4039 / 3768
cepa@buenosaires.edu.ar
www.buenosaires.gov.ar/areas/educacion/cepa
6.16.2010
PRUEBAS DE IDONEIDAD
CONVOCATORIA PRUEBAS DE IDONEIDAD LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS
La Dirección Operativa de Formación Docente convoca a aspirantes a
rendir pruebas de idoneidad en lenguas extranjeras: Inglés, Francés,
Italiano y Alemán, para la cobertura de cargos interinos y suplentes
2010 en los niveles primario y medio de los Escuelas Normales
Superiores e Institutos de Enseñanza Superior.
Los postulantes deberán inscribirse en Esmeralda 55, Planta Baja, a
partir del 8 de junio y hasta el 18 de junio de 2010 (inclusive), de
11 a 15 horas.
Concluida la inscripción, el martes 22 de junio de 2010 se realizará
una reunión en la Escuela Normal Superior en Lenguas Vivas “Sofía
Broquen de Spangenberg”, de 12 a 14 horas, donde se informará a los
aspirantes sobre las características de las evaluaciones.
Para ver el Edicto consultar el archivo “Conv+pruebas+de+idoneidad
+idiomas+normales” disponible en sección “Archivos” del sitio web del
Boletín de noticias “Política Lingüística GCBA”
http://groups.google.com.ar/group/politicalinguisticagcba/files
La Dirección Operativa de Formación Docente convoca a aspirantes a
rendir pruebas de idoneidad en lenguas extranjeras: Inglés, Francés,
Italiano y Alemán, para la cobertura de cargos interinos y suplentes
2010 en los niveles primario y medio de los Escuelas Normales
Superiores e Institutos de Enseñanza Superior.
Los postulantes deberán inscribirse en Esmeralda 55, Planta Baja, a
partir del 8 de junio y hasta el 18 de junio de 2010 (inclusive), de
11 a 15 horas.
Concluida la inscripción, el martes 22 de junio de 2010 se realizará
una reunión en la Escuela Normal Superior en Lenguas Vivas “Sofía
Broquen de Spangenberg”, de 12 a 14 horas, donde se informará a los
aspirantes sobre las características de las evaluaciones.
Para ver el Edicto consultar el archivo “Conv+pruebas+de+idoneidad
+idiomas+normales” disponible en sección “Archivos” del sitio web del
Boletín de noticias “Política Lingüística GCBA”
http://groups.google.com.ar/group/politicalinguisticagcba/files
6.03.2010
Fechas Finales Julio / Agosto
Lengua I, Informática Educativa, Dicción 12/7
Teología I, Didáctica General, Seminario B 13/7
Psicología I, Fonética I, Cultura Anglosajona 14/7
Filosofía, Psicología II, Fonética II, Literatura II 15/7
Pedagogía, Seminario A, Didáctica A, Lingüística 16/7
Gramática I, Lengua II, Didáctica B 2/8
Reflexión, Didáctica C, Literatura I 3/8
Organización I, Cultura, Gramática II 4/8
Ética, Psicología III, Historia II 5/8
Teología II, C.Estructuras, Organización II, Lengua III 6/8
FECHA INSCRIPCIÓN A FINALES: 5/7 Y 6/7 DE 18 A 21 HS
END OF FIRST TERM: July 8th
BEGINNING OF SECOND TERM: August 9th
Teología I, Didáctica General, Seminario B 13/7
Psicología I, Fonética I, Cultura Anglosajona 14/7
Filosofía, Psicología II, Fonética II, Literatura II 15/7
Pedagogía, Seminario A, Didáctica A, Lingüística 16/7
Gramática I, Lengua II, Didáctica B 2/8
Reflexión, Didáctica C, Literatura I 3/8
Organización I, Cultura, Gramática II 4/8
Ética, Psicología III, Historia II 5/8
Teología II, C.Estructuras, Organización II, Lengua III 6/8
FECHA INSCRIPCIÓN A FINALES: 5/7 Y 6/7 DE 18 A 21 HS
END OF FIRST TERM: July 8th
BEGINNING OF SECOND TERM: August 9th
4.29.2010
What is ESSARP?
The English Speaking Scholastic Association of the River Plate (ESSARP) was originally founded in 1926 as "The British Scholastic Association" to provide a forum for interchange between the heads of the British-type schools in Argentina and Uruguay.
In 1975, the ESSARP Committee found it appropriate to incorporate a much wider range of student activities, such as Art and Drama Festivals, and General Knowledge Competitions, which expanded in time to include Student's Forums, Music & Choir Festivals, Maths competitions, Chess tournaments, etc.
In 1982 ESSARP was invited by UCLES (University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate) to take over the local administration of Cambridge "O" and "A" level examinations, as well as English Language examinations at school level. It then became responsible for the administration of IGCSE examinations, and played a most important part in promoting them. Now, jointly with the Argentina Representative of CIE it is promoting the A and AS Level examinations, the Cambridge International Primary Programme, the Lower Secondary Programme, Vocational Qualifications, and even Computer Based Tests!
In 1984 after a six-week visit, Kenneth Ridley, the Dean of the University College of Ripon St. John's, and Dave Williamson recommended setting up a Teacher's Centre in Buenos Aires.
The Association offers in-service training courses for teachers and heads catering for their needs and requirements at all levels: Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary in both languages: English and Spanish. The courses cover issues related to international exam syllabuses and implementation, literature programmes, methodology, class management skills, content areas and more.
In an attempt to enrich the Course Programme, ESSARP has organized events with other institutions: Words on Words and Reading Groups with the British Council to explore literature genres; an international conference and cutting edge seminars with Universidad de San Andrés (UdeSA), talks on educational matters with Universidad Torcuato Di Tella (UTDT) and Fondo de Cultura Económica, among others.
The Centre has a well-stocked specialist library on education, a video/DVD library, a computer laboratory with Internet access and a permanent exhibition of subjects of cultural interest. For the running of the varied courses, the Centre has state-of-the-art equipment for presentations and workshops: OHP's, digital projectors, an interactive whiteboard, VCR and DVD players, Internet access in all classrooms and a photocopier/network printer.
For further information about the ESSARP courses and its academic events visit the following webpage: http://www.essarp.org.ar/categorias/eng/academic_activities/
In 1975, the ESSARP Committee found it appropriate to incorporate a much wider range of student activities, such as Art and Drama Festivals, and General Knowledge Competitions, which expanded in time to include Student's Forums, Music & Choir Festivals, Maths competitions, Chess tournaments, etc.
In 1982 ESSARP was invited by UCLES (University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate) to take over the local administration of Cambridge "O" and "A" level examinations, as well as English Language examinations at school level. It then became responsible for the administration of IGCSE examinations, and played a most important part in promoting them. Now, jointly with the Argentina Representative of CIE it is promoting the A and AS Level examinations, the Cambridge International Primary Programme, the Lower Secondary Programme, Vocational Qualifications, and even Computer Based Tests!
In 1984 after a six-week visit, Kenneth Ridley, the Dean of the University College of Ripon St. John's, and Dave Williamson recommended setting up a Teacher's Centre in Buenos Aires.
The Association offers in-service training courses for teachers and heads catering for their needs and requirements at all levels: Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary in both languages: English and Spanish. The courses cover issues related to international exam syllabuses and implementation, literature programmes, methodology, class management skills, content areas and more.
In an attempt to enrich the Course Programme, ESSARP has organized events with other institutions: Words on Words and Reading Groups with the British Council to explore literature genres; an international conference and cutting edge seminars with Universidad de San Andrés (UdeSA), talks on educational matters with Universidad Torcuato Di Tella (UTDT) and Fondo de Cultura Económica, among others.
The Centre has a well-stocked specialist library on education, a video/DVD library, a computer laboratory with Internet access and a permanent exhibition of subjects of cultural interest. For the running of the varied courses, the Centre has state-of-the-art equipment for presentations and workshops: OHP's, digital projectors, an interactive whiteboard, VCR and DVD players, Internet access in all classrooms and a photocopier/network printer.
For further information about the ESSARP courses and its academic events visit the following webpage: http://www.essarp.org.ar/categorias/eng/academic_activities/
4.22.2010
What is APIBA?
• APIBA is a professional association of graduate English teachers.
• APIBA fosters professional development by working for the continuous improvement and growth of its members.
• APIBA keeps English teachers in touch with issues and events relevant to the profession through newsletters, seminars, SIGs (Special Interest Groups) and other events.
• APIBA provides teachers with a professional forum where we can develop interactions, exchange ideas and debate everything concerning our field of work.
• APIBA represents the interests of graduate teachers before the education authorities where legislation and regulations concerning the practice of the profession is concerned.
• APIBA encourages the development of links among teachers in the City and Province of Buenos Aires and, through FAAPI, with teachers from the rest of Argentina.
• APIBA is our place.
APIBA organizes seminars, workshops, and talks throughout the year. The main event is the Apiba Annual Seminar that takes place in October together with the association AGM (Annual General Meeting).
What are the Apiba's SIGs?
They are Special Interest Groups that get together to discuss topics of common interest. Meetings are held once a month with the purpose of enabling teachers with similar interests to share ideas and make contacts through regular meetings, newsletters and conference events.
A SIG is neither a course nor a seminar nor a lecture - a SIGs is a study group in which all members participate and exchange ideas and opinions; a SIGs is a discussion forum in which teachers of English can develop as professionals.
SIGs activities are open and democratic, and small projects are also welcome. Some possibilities include: presentation of sample classes; discussion of syllabi, of recently published material and research; development of research projects; debate on controversial issues, etc.
How many APIBA SIGs are there?
At present, there are four SIGs:
1)Language & phonology
2)Literature
3)Applied Linguistics
4)e-TL SIG– e-Teaching and Learning SIG (Information and Communication Technologies)
Who can participate in APIBA SIGs?
To participate in a SIG you don't have to be an expert in a particular area - you need to be keen to learn new things, share ideas, debate issues, meet colleagues and develop as a professional.
Students will be asked to present their current student card (last exam taken in current or previous academic year; otherwise bring ´certificado de alumno regular´).
For further information on APIBA's activities and SIGs, consult its web site at: www.apiba.org.ar
• APIBA fosters professional development by working for the continuous improvement and growth of its members.
• APIBA keeps English teachers in touch with issues and events relevant to the profession through newsletters, seminars, SIGs (Special Interest Groups) and other events.
• APIBA provides teachers with a professional forum where we can develop interactions, exchange ideas and debate everything concerning our field of work.
• APIBA represents the interests of graduate teachers before the education authorities where legislation and regulations concerning the practice of the profession is concerned.
• APIBA encourages the development of links among teachers in the City and Province of Buenos Aires and, through FAAPI, with teachers from the rest of Argentina.
• APIBA is our place.
APIBA organizes seminars, workshops, and talks throughout the year. The main event is the Apiba Annual Seminar that takes place in October together with the association AGM (Annual General Meeting).
What are the Apiba's SIGs?
They are Special Interest Groups that get together to discuss topics of common interest. Meetings are held once a month with the purpose of enabling teachers with similar interests to share ideas and make contacts through regular meetings, newsletters and conference events.
A SIG is neither a course nor a seminar nor a lecture - a SIGs is a study group in which all members participate and exchange ideas and opinions; a SIGs is a discussion forum in which teachers of English can develop as professionals.
SIGs activities are open and democratic, and small projects are also welcome. Some possibilities include: presentation of sample classes; discussion of syllabi, of recently published material and research; development of research projects; debate on controversial issues, etc.
How many APIBA SIGs are there?
At present, there are four SIGs:
1)Language & phonology
2)Literature
3)Applied Linguistics
4)e-TL SIG– e-Teaching and Learning SIG (Information and Communication Technologies)
Who can participate in APIBA SIGs?
To participate in a SIG you don't have to be an expert in a particular area - you need to be keen to learn new things, share ideas, debate issues, meet colleagues and develop as a professional.
Students will be asked to present their current student card (last exam taken in current or previous academic year; otherwise bring ´certificado de alumno regular´).
For further information on APIBA's activities and SIGs, consult its web site at: www.apiba.org.ar
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