Summary #3

Communicative competence: A pedagogically motivated
model with content specifications

The main goal of this article is to show the relationship between models of communicative competence and pedagogical specification of content. Also, it defines what competence is in a pedagogical view stating that competence is standard; this means that is focused on what the student needs to master. Finally, according to the information provided in this article, we could mention Mikhail Bakhtin Theory which is based on dialogism. Dialogism is the interaction between the reader and the writer. For Bakhtin, the audience shapes the utterance as it is being made—which I suppose is another way of saying that every utterance is, as Bakhtin puts it, a “two-sided act,” “the product of the reciprocal relationship between the addresser and addressee,” “territory shared.” (Morson, 1981) . “The thought becomes different from what it was, which means expressing may be a form of learning.” (Morson, 1981)

Journal #3

Which technique seems to be more feasible and convincing for you to use in your own teaching?

Teaching and learning English may become challenging in our society. Teachers are experiencing day after day students with a huge lack of motivation, interest and wiliness of learning. Nevertheless, teachers should focus on the student’s necessity and interest to be able to encourage them to learn English as a second language. One way to make this possible is by using a teaching technique that may be more feasible and convincing to be used in our teaching process.

As an English teacher of kindergarten, first and second grade, I consider the Total Physical Response more feasible and convincing in my teaching process. Even so, other techniques may be practical as well but it’s good to know that the effectiveness of each technique or approach is when is used correctly in the correct setting. TPR encourage the students to become listener as well as performers. On the other hand, the teacher’s role is to become more active and direct. In my personal experience the TPR has being effective in my teaching process because it helps my students stay more focused at the learning process specially when the class involves the use of physical items (realia) to create meaning. The level that I’m teaching it requires plenty of commands and actions, therefore, I believe that TPR is more effective to teach my students the basic speaking skills and the best of all is that it doesn’t require the use of materials, since it permits me the use of my voice, actions and gesture as basis for classroom activities.

The best part of teaching is that our students are the center. They learn from us as well as we, teachers, learn from them. As an English teacher, I should always recognize the success in my teaching process, establish goals and objective, establish communication as first and last and finally, create a conditions for learning. What I mean by this is, be more dynamic, involve the students in a varied activities and interaction, make them feel able and confident. Teachers must take the lead in establishing positive atmosphere, planning appropriate activities, and encouraging the students to learn English as a second language.

Summary #2

Content-Based Instruction in Second/Foreign Language Education

by Maria Dueñas

English learners face difficult challenges when asked to perform academic tasks in their less developed language. Content-based ESL instruction, which integrates language instruction with content areas, can meet both the linguistic and academic needs of English learners. Thus content-based ESL instruction offers a more meaningful path to academic language acquisition. Therefore I invite you to learn more about the What’s, Why’s, How’s and the Who’s of Content-Based Instruction in Second/Foreign Language Education.

What is Content-Based Instruction (CBI)?

According to the article, Content-Based Instruction in Second/Foreign Language Education (2004), CBI is defined in a diversity of ways; nevertheless, it said that in a content-based approach, students simultaneously acquire subject matter expertise and greater proficiency in English, the medium of instruction. Additionally, they learn to master skills necessary for academic success.” Raphan & Moser (1994). Also, the term content-based instruction is commonly used to describe approaches to integrating language and content instruction, but it is not always used in the same way. In other words, students are learning content (for example, math, science, social studies, business, etc.) at the same time they are developing their target language skills.

Why is CBI important in a second language education?

The article points out a variety of findings based on CBI, which can be recapitulated as follows:

*Students acquire language while learning about other content areas.
*Content areas are relevant to learners' academic and/or professional needs.
*Language is contextualized through these relevant content areas, and thus, is also relevant to learners' needs.
*Support is provided for learners' linguistic development.
*A focus is placed on developing academic and/or professional language proficiency.
*Authentic materials are used to present content matter.
*The use of authentic materials lends itself to the integration of skills, to increased motivation, and to increased cognitive and linguistic complexity.

How is CBI used or applied in a second language education?

Content-Based Instruction is a teaching method that emphasizes learning about something rather than learning about language. Therefore, some class activities should be to elicit knowledge of content, acquisition of thinking skills, and development of English language abilities. The class activities may be the following:

*Build background knowledge
*Teach new vocabulary
*Awaken learning motivation and interest
*Enhance four modes and critical thinking abilities
*Promote cooperative learning

All of the programs, models, and approaches that integrate language and content share a common phenomenon: students engage in some way with content using a non-native language. The instructional experiences in which students engage may be placed on the continuum below. (Figure 3- www.carla.umn.edu/cobaltt/.../decisions.html)

Who’s: Authors, Experiences and Scopes in the existing literature

The article provides an extensive body of authors and works that reflects the amplitude of the lines of work, trends and interest in CBI. As for example, CBI is also referred to as one of the most representative contributions to contemporary foreign language pedagogy both in the updated editions of seminal books in the field of methodology —Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language (Celce-Murcia, 2000), Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching (Larsen-Freeman, 2000), and Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (Richards & Rodgers, 2001)—, and in newly published volumes in language methodology such as Methodology in Language Teaching. An Anthology of Current Practice (Richards & Renandya, 2002). Interest in CBI is perceived as well in relevant reference works in applied linguistics, as it is the case of the recently published Oxford Handbook of Applied Linguistics (Kaplan, 2002), which titles one of the only three chapters in the part of ‘The study of second language teaching’ as “Communicative, task-based and content-based instruction” (Wesche & Skehan, 2002).

In conclusion, CBI employs English at a comprehensible level so as to increase students' understanding of the subject matter and build language skills simultaneously. Therefore, teachers must familiarize with the effectiveness and importance of using literature in the content-based foreign language instruction. By applying the collaborative content-based literature teaching technique, students can acquire English abilities, not only to communicate, but also to use as a tool to comprehend the subject matter in school.CBI attempts to motivate and encourage students to learn more about how to express their ideas through language.

Summary #1

Communicative Competence and Communication

Language Teaching by Atsuko Ohno

English has also become an official language in Puerto Rico, even though, Spanish is the dominant language, as the majority of the Puerto Ricans are not proficient in English. Regardless the fact that Puerto Ricans are taught English as a second language from kindergarten through high school, communicating in English can be a little difficult at times. Nevertheless, teachers should be concern that teaching English now-a-days is a challenge.

The article, Communicative Competence and Communication Language Teaching (2006), provides a significant information on how communication, communicative competency and communicative language teaching can improve the English language teaching in our school. Therefore, Ohno (2006) address some of the confusion by discussing several theoretical communicative concepts and their application to language and methods of teaching language. Ohno presents several points of view regarding to communicative competence and communicative language teaching. In first place, he presents the idea of communicative competence with reference to Hymes' work. In second place, he discussed Widdowson's work regarding communicative language teaching. In third place, he addressed Canale and Swain's theoretical framework of communicative competence. Finally, Ohno explained the application of communicative competence to language teaching with reference to Stern and Rivers' framework.

According to Hymes' (1972), the concept of communicative competence was approach from Chomsky’s distinction between competence and performance. When is about competence, Chomsky defines it as shared knowledge of the ideal speaker - listener set in a completely homogeneous speech community. In the other hand, Hymes states that performance is concerned with the process of applying the knowledge to the actual language use; encoding and encoding. He also points out that linguistic competence co-varies with the speaker, using Labov's work. According to what Labov’s work states, Hymes maintains that social life affects not only performance but inner competence itself. He disputes that social factors interfere with or restrict grammar use because the rules of use are dominant over the rules of grammar. Finally, Hymes defines communicative competence as knowledge of the rules for understanding and producing both the referential and social meaning of language.

According to Widdowson’s (1972), language learning not merely as acquiring the knowledge of the rules of grammar, but also as acquiring the ability to use language to communicate. Widdowson says that knowing a language is more that how to understand, speak, read and write sentences, but how sentences are used to communicate. His ideas seems to be influenced by Hyme’s thought about children acquire not only knowledge of grammar, but also how to use it. Widdowson strongly belief that communicative and linguistic skills should be develop at the same time. Being able to understand how to teach both linguistic and communicative competence, he distinguishes two aspects of performance: "usage" and "use". He defines "usage" as: makes evident the extent to which the language user demonstrates his knowledge of linguistic rules. In the other hand, "use" is to make evident the extent to which the language user shows his ability to use his knowledge of linguistic rule for effective communication. Finally, for a better understanding Widdowson also distinguishes two aspects of meaning, “significance" and "value". "Significance is the meaning that sentences have in isolation from the particular situation in which the sentence is produced; and "value refers to the meaning that the sentence take on when they are used to communicate. He believes that linguistic context and communicative context must be used in class. (Widdowson, 1978)

According to Canale & Swain (1980), they believe that is important to focus on social context, grammar, and meaning. Therefore, they agree with Hymes when he states that there are values of grammar that would be useless without rules of grammar. However, they maintain that there are rules of language that would be useless without rules of grammar.

When the author talks about the application of the concept of communicative competence to language teaching, he makes reference to Stern (1981) and Rivers (1972) works. Both, Stern and Rivers, focused on two levels of language teaching: "skill-getting" and "skill - using". According to them, through "skill-getting" activities, the teacher isolates specific elements of knowledge and provides the learner with opportunities to practice them separately. In the other hand, " skills-using", at this point the learner should be on her own and not supported or directed by teacher.

The goal of language acquisition is communicative competence: the ability to use the language correctly and appropriately to accomplish communication goals. In the early stages of language learning, teachers and students may want to keep in mind the goal of communicative efficiency: That learners should be able to make themselves understood, using their current proficiency to the fullest. They should try to avoid confusion in the message (due to imperfect pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary); to avoid offending communication partners (due to socially inappropriate style); and to use strategies for recognizing and managing communication breakdowns. Emphasizing on this article, its important to point out that teaching a second language is crucial understand and use an approach that will be significantly for the students learning process. Working with communicative language teaching takes time, effort, wiliness, motivation and teamwork between teacher and student.

Creating Class Dynamics

Development of Communications Skills in ESL Students
Journal #2

Nowadays, the population received in the public schools of the country lacks of motivation, self-esteem, interest and positive attitude. Because of this, we see as the students fear to learn English as a second language. Therefore, English teachers should have the premeditation of wanting to innovate and to diversify their teaching strategies so that it motivates the student to learn English and to make aware the youth and their families of the enormous importance of acquiring this language. Learning English is no longer a luxury, but a necessity and its not other to mention that it said that people who don't dominate English is in a clear disadvantage, since, the domain of both languages, Spanish and English, provide better opportunities in the labor world and the survival of all human being. Hence, teachers should be consistently changing the learning environment of their students by creating dynamic classrooms in which encourage the student to learn and feel motivated and self-confident at all time. Therefore, some class dynamics that an English teacher may consider are the following:

Role playing
Debates
Brainstorming
Open discussion
Demonstrations
Case studies
Cut and paste activities
Create maps and/or newspapers
The use of flash cards (visual)
Transition activities

Each activity has its own purpose and objective. Nevertheless, each activity will persuade the student to use the oral approach and foments a significant and cooperative learning. The students will have the opportunity to communicate in a second language in a flexible and actively way being exposed to real-life situations.

Development of Communications Skills in ESL Students
Journal #1

When we talk about communications skills for ESL students, teachers acknowledge many concepts related to communication. Some of these concepts are mention on the following paragraphs.
The first two concepts are usage and use. Usage is the way in which words and phrases are actually used (as in a particular form or sense) in a language community and use the act or practice of employing something. In other words, the difference between usage and use is that usage is how to communicate and use is to put communication in practice.

The next two concepts are fluency and accuracy. Fluency is the quality or state of being fluent; able to speak or write smoothly, easily, or readily and accuracy is the condition, quality, precision or/and exactness in communication. Namely, fluency is when a person domains a foreign language being able to express oneself easily and accuracy is when your total-self is participating when speaking, that is, your mind, body, spirit or soul.

Fluency is often associated with speed, but speed in itself has no value. What is important is the ability to work with the rhythm, pace, and accuracy that is appropriate to the purpose for reading or writing. Being measured and deliberate may be right for one purpose, and reading or writing quickly, or expressively, may be best for another. Whatever the purpose, fluency should not be thought of as separate from comprehension.
(Ministry of Education, 2006, page 24.)

In additional to the concepts, teachers must also understand the importance of a syllabus and the difference between a functional syllabus and a structural one. A syllabus is an outline or other brief statement of the main points of a discourse, the subjects of a course of lectures, the contents of a curriculum. Two types of syllabus are the functional syllabus and the structural syllabus. The functional syllabus is based on communicative and social functions; it emphasizes language approach not grammatical and the structural syllabus is a syllabus in which grammatical structures form the central organizing feature. A structural syllabus proceeds from simple grammatical structure to more complex grammatical structure.

Can a Classroom Be Too Communicative?

Can a Classroom Be Too Communicative?

TESOL Matters Vol. 9 No. 6 (December 1999/January 2000)
From the column of the TESOL English as a Foreign Language Interest Sectionby Irene E. Schoenberg

An indirect communicative approach, one in which learning takes place indirectly and the focus is on communication, has been regarded for years as an effective way of getting students to develop fluency in English. Indeed, a communicative approach has become the mission of many ESL programs, and many material writers, teacher trainers, and program directors have successfully incorporated this approach into their materials and classrooms. But a communicative approach has not always worked as well in the EFL setting.

A communicative approach is more difficult in an EFL environment because the students' use of English is unnatural, their motivation is weaker, and their expectations of how a class should be conducted often conflict with the notions underlying a communicative classroom. A good communicative activity asks students to do a task, gather information from a partner, or express an opinion about an engaging topic. ESL students have no alternative but to use English to communicate because their classmates and teacher do not know their language. In the EFL situation, on the other hand, we as teachers expect students to communicate with equal enthusiasm in the target language, even though everyone speaks the same language. We aim for authenticity of materials and situations, but we ask students to willingly ignore their highly developed communication skills in their own language and communicate in the target language at what for them is often the level of a 4-year-old child.

It is unnatural, some may think absurd, to communicate important information in a second language when both speakers are articulate in the same first language. And the need to use the target language is always more distant for the EFL student than for the ESL student. ESL students have the real, immediate need to speak English as soon as they leave the classroom. If they learn in class how to ask for pizza with mushrooms, they will get immediate gratification upon leaving the classroom and asking for such a pizza in the pizza place next door. By the time EFL students get to a pizza place that requires the use of English, their appetites and enthusiasm will surely have dampened.

Another difference between the ESL and the EFL setting is the students' cultural expectations with regard to teachers' roles and classroom management. ESL students are uncertain what to expect because they are the outsiders. They are therefore more willing to accept or go along with untraditional or unusual methods. EFL students, on the other hand, may lose confidence in a teacher who abdicates some authority and waits for students to take more responsibility, as is necessary in a communicative approach. For instance, EFL students may even think their teacher is betraying cultural norms by the loss of authority that accompanies methods in which the teacher is not the focus but is rather a coach or facilitator. Finally, EFL classrooms are often large and have unmovable seats, which inhibits the pair and group work that typifies communicative activities.

Even ESL programs have begun to realize that an indirect communicative approach has some drawbacks. Although communicative activities can add fun and excitement to classes, problems occur in programs or classes that overuse an indirect communicative approach. First, it is extremely difficult to assess what students have learned, and it is difficult to recycle material taught. It is also hard to improve accuracy without focusing on form and teaching it explicitly. Finally, there is the issue of planful learning. Applied linguists and cognitive psychologists have found that most people learn best and most efficiently when they know what they are trying to learn, focus on it, and practice it in a progression from a more controlled to a more natural process.

An awareness of the differences between EFL and ESL students may help EFL teachers come to a comfortable balance between a language and a communicative focus. In fact, most ESOL programs today are using an eclectic approach that features a lot of communicative activities but at the same time focuses on language form and accuracy.

The popularity of an eclectic approach today stems from the awareness that the art of teaching lies in being sensitive to the particular needs and expectations of students, not by being tied down to a particular methodology or approach. So, although a communicative approach is a wonderful technique, there are instances in which a classroom can be too communicative.

Teaching a Child ESL

Teaching a Child ESL - 6 Methods to Get Through to Students Learning ESL
By:Kelvin Nikkel

Teaching a child ESL can be a HUGE task, whether teaching ESL one on one or in the classroom setting. Especially when taking the language barrier into consideration. Sometimes it is easy but other times it can become down right impossible. But there is always a way around it. How?

The novice ESL teacher will just have to FIND ways around it or they can ask a more experienced teacher. The latter is preferable. Whereas the experienced teacher has his own bag of tricks up his/her sleeve to get through to the student(s). There are 3 categories of students.

They are as follows:
1. The student that doesn't want to learn. The student that doesn't want anyone else to learn so they are disruptive. The student who wants to learn but has a hard time understanding because of the language barrier.

2. Some methods of getting through to them will work for all three types of students. Others are more specialized and will work for only one or two types of student. Listed below are various tried and true methods that some experienced teachers have used.

3. In the classroom, making teams helps in the way of peer pressure. If the one team is trying and one student is not because of Student type 1 or 2 above, the rest of the team gets on their back to participate better. Works great in that you don't have to do any disciplinary actions. The students do it for you. When a student is disruptive in class, make them the captain of their team! That gives them an important role to perform in the team so he/she is more likely to pay attention and keep the team focused. Assign a disruptive student to be the teachers' helper or score keeper. When someone is disruptive or doesn't want to co-operate, give points to the other team. Never take points away unless it is part of a game. For the student who wants to learn but is having difficulty, try spending a few moments with him/her to slowly go over the material until they understand it all. For a type 3 student, you could assign a student who is quick to learn the lessons as that student's helper. But the helper must agree to try to only speak English. Not just translating. Try to dummy down your lesson a bit so he/she understands it.

4. Try to remember one thing from your own education through out the years. Chances are that if YOU don't understand something, that others may not understand as well. So the chances of more than one student not understanding the lesson you are trying to teach are pretty good. The rest of the students are probably just too proud or embarrassed to say anything.
One thing you should NEVER do in an ESL classroom is show anger or openly discipline a student in front of the others. Especially with Asian students. If a teacher embarrasses a student in front of others, they lose face and then that student will be all the harder to get back into the groove of things.

There are other methods available. The only limit is your imagination.
If you are REALLY interested in teaching ESL overseas then you owe it to yourself to check out ESL Resource World. There is VERY IMPORTANT information there to help make your decision one you won't regret. Check out ESL Resource World http://eslresourceworld.com/ today!

TaKinG TiMe To MeDiTaTe

There is a moment in life where we need to make a pause and reflect on the things we do and look forward to do... But, no matter what plans you may have, make sure you always have the LORD in your heart!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz3HodXOSiY

BIBLE VERSE

Look to the LORD and his strength;

seek his face always. Remember the

wonders he has done, his miracles,

and the judgments he pronounced.
1 Chronicles 16:11-12

The Importance of Professional Organizations

Professional Organizations helps teachers to learn a variety of things and make many professional contacts, as well as, friends. It’s a way to become a better person, professional and be able to identify your teaching strengths and find the support for any difficulty that you may be experiencing as a teacher. Every teacher should join some sort of professional organization for the following reason: find the support from other teachers, (you will interact with other colleagues that can offer you the help you need); be part of several annual conference, (in which they offer you workshops that provides you with new ideas and fun projects to try in the classroom; finally, attend to meetings and receive valuable information, (at these meetings teachers have a place to discuss their concerns as well as get new ideas and stay alert and be aware of changes in the profession). Also, being part of a professional organization may give you the opportunity to promote the appropriate way of integrating technology to support and improve your teaching process. Therefore, teachers can intend to motivate and inspire the students to focus and understand the importance of learning, in our case, ESL. So, why wait for other colleagues to share their experiences, have your own experience, JOIN NOW!!!

MY TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

by: Betzaida Ortiz

Learning English as a Second Language has become a challenging tasks for the students now-a-days. They hardly understand the need and the importance of learning a second language. Therefore, teachers must encourage the students to understand the importance of learning a second language and have them look at it as a need for many opportunities in our society.
My teaching philosophy is to foster learning. Learning takes place in many different circumstances. Although everyone is capable of learning, a student's desire to learn is a vital necessity to effectively mastering new concepts and skills. Humans have multiple learning styles: some learn best in lecture atmospheres, some are motivated by discussion, and others absorb best when the lesson is more practical and leads the students to use their creativity. The classroom setting can encourage or reduce learning depending on the dominant learning style of each student. Accommodating different learning styles creates an atmosphere that is beneficial to learning. Students take many of their learning habits from the teacher. If the teacher doesn't show interest in the subject and a passion for learning, students are less likely to put forth the effort to learn in that class. A teacher must convince students of his or her knowledge and capability before they will show a willingness to learn.
My job, as a teacher, is to create an atmosphere that fosters learning. I am a teacher because I have a passion for guiding students through the learning process of ESL and I enjoy going through different experiences day after day. One of the best ways to foster ESL learning is to demonstrate those feelings to my students. I encourage learning by creating a relaxed environment for students, stimulating conversation about concepts being presented and organizing material in a way that makes it easiest to understand. I believe that becoming a facilitator makes learning fun and entertaining and will help the students interact with each other and feel more confidence towards the ESL learning process. Therefore, I make sure should emphasize that everything students are learning fits together to their understanding of the real world. Finally, I believe that respect for my students is one of the most important things I can show, not only to encourage their openness to the material I am presenting, but also to inspire them to respect each other and all other humans.
One of the most important concepts I hope to impart to students is that learning is a process that never ends. For me, the learning process includes improving myself professionally. I want to learn more about formal learning theories to expand my understanding of how learning takes place. As I continue to give classes and always having on mind the different population of students received at schools every year, I intend to improve my difficulty and confidence in front of classrooms and be able to experiment with different methods and means of presenting information to my students in order to improve their learning atmosphere and be able to make the difference in a particular way in the life of each and one of my students.

A TEACHER'S PRAYER
James J. Metcalf

I want to teach my students how--

To live this life on earth,

To face its struggles and its strife

And to improve their worth.

Not just the lesson in a book,

Or how the rivers flow,

But to choose the proper path,

Wherever they may go.

To understand eternal truth,

And know right from wrong,

And gather all the beauty of

A flower and a song,

For if I help the world to grow

In wisdom and grace,

Then I feel that I have won

And I have filled my place.

And so I ask your guidance,

God That I may do my part,

For character and confidence

And happiness of heart.

ESL useful articles

To all ESL teacher's, the following links are very useful to look up for a diversity of activities to be used with your students when presenting a new lesson.

http://www.eslflow.com/
http://www.btinternet.com/~ted.power/teflindex.htm
http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/

Total Physical Response

TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE
By: Betzaida Ortiz
EDUC 566
Prof. Leroy Alicea

Objective
The general objectives of Total Physical Response are to teach oral proficiency at a beginning level. Comprehension is a means to an end, and the ultimate aim is to teach basic speaking skills. A TPR course aims to produce learners who are capable of an uninhibited communication that is intelligible to a native speaker. Specific instructional objectives are not elaborated, for these will depend on the particular needs of the learners. Whatever goals are set, however, must be attainable through the use of action-based drills in the imperative form.

Types of learning and teaching Activities
-Imperative drills are the major classroom activity in Total Physical Response.
-They are typically used to elicit physical actions and activity on the part of the learners.
-Conversational dialogues are delayed until after about 120 hours of instruction.

The learner’s Role
Learners in Total Physical Response have the primary roles of listener and performer. They listen attentively and respond physically to commands given by the teacher. Learners are required to respond both individually and collectively. Learners have little influence over the content of learning, since content is determined by the teacher, who must follow the imperative-based format for lessons.

Teacher’s Role
-The teacher plays an active and direct role in Total Physical Response. "The instructor is the director of a stage play in which the students are the actors". It is the teacher who decides what to teach, who models and presents the new materials, and who selects supporting materials for classroom use. The teacher is encouraged to be well prepared and well organized so that the lesson flows smoothly and predictably.

The role of instructional materials
-There is generally no basic text in a Total Physical Response course. Materials and realia play an increasing role, however, in later learning stages. For absolute beginners, lessons may not require the use of materials, since the teacher's voice, actions, and gestures may be a sufficient basis for classroom activities. Later the teacher may use common classroom objects, such as books, pens, cups, furniture. As the course develops, the teacher will need to make or collect supporting materials to support teaching points. These may include pictures, realia, slides, and word charts.

How to Teach using TPR
-TPR and the syllabus- every TPR lesson needs to include three steps: 1) teaching/learning; 2) practice or rehearsal and 3) testing or evaluation
-Class size: TPR works best with about 8 students.
-How many new vocabulary items in one lesson? Nine new vocabulary items in one lesson is an average achievable goal.
-Ask for/expect no oral participation
-Using consistent imperatives: the teacher uses the imperative form of the verb throughout (Point to … Walk to …Touch the etc.).
-Lesson steps/1, 2 and 3:
Step 1: Teaching/learning
Step 2: Practice or rehearse

Step 3: Evaluate
-Getting ready:
Set learning goals for teacher and students.
Memorize your script.
Use your normal intonation, rhythm and stress pattern.
-Practice your first lesson in front of a mirror!

-Lesson procedures for each new language unit
Model
Say: the three imperatives
Randomize the imperatives
Individual response at random/evaluation
-Predictability as a teaching tool.
-Consistent modeling: each day is important
-One-step additions to the syllabus: one unit at a time
-Maintain all steps in the teaching sequence
-Vocabulary choice: useful
-Evaluate!

Techniques - TPR
Step I The teacher says the commands as he himself performs the action.
Step 2 The teacher says the command as both the teacher and the students then perform the action.
Step 3 The teacher says the command but only students perform the action
Step 4 The teacher tells one student at a time to do commands
Step 5 The roles of teacher and student are reversed. Students give commands to teacher and to other students.
Step 6 The teacher and student allow for command expansion or produces new sentences.

Commands - TPR
“Oops! I forgot to put back the chalk!”
1. Stand up.
2. Walk to the board.
3. Pick up the chalk.
4. Write your name.
5. Put the chalk in your pocket.
6. Pick up the eraser.
7. Erase your name.
8. Put the eraser down.
9. Go back to your desk.
10. Sit down.
11. Stand up again.
12. Go back to the board.
13. Take the chalk out of your pocket.
14. Put the chalk down.
15. Go back to your desk.

Activity 1 - TPR
Stand up

Sit down

Stand up

Sit down

Raise your hand

Put your hand down

Stand up

Raise your hand

Put your hand down

Sit down

Raise two hands

Put one hand down

Put the other hand down

Open your book

Close your book

Open your hands

Close your hands

Close your eyes

Open your eyes

Stand up
Raise your hand
Put your hand down
Raise your book
Put your book down
Open your book
Open your mouth
Close your mouth
Close your book
Sit down
Open your mouth
Close your mouthS
HHH (whisper) Be quiet (hold students quiet for 30 seconds)
That's very, very goodWonderful!Material required: a book for each student

Activity 2 – (Advanced level)
Materials Required: chalkboard or writing paper
Read the following instructions to the students.

Go to the chalkboard (or take out a piece of paper)

Write 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Write A B C D E F G H I J

Draw a line under the number 4

Draw a line under 6, 7, 8

Draw a line under 9, 10

Draw a line under E F G

Draw a line under I J
Draw a circle around A B

Draw a circle around F

Cross out number 1

Cross out numbers 3 and 4

Cross out A B C

Erase 1, 2, 3, 4

Erase E F G

Lesson Plan

COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
ENGLISH PROGRAM

Theme/Topic: Parts of a room Level: Second Grade
Mrs. Betzaida Ortiz

Standard #1: Listening/ Speaking
Grade Expectations
_X_L/S.2.1 Listens and responds to simple commands, instructions, and statements, and is able to answer the 5-W Questions (who, what, when, where, and why) during story time using expressions to demonstrate engagement.

Assessment Strategies

___ Reading Logs (checklist)
___ Individual recitations (rubric) ___ Comic Strips (checklist, rubric)
___ Graphic Organizers
___Self assessment (checklist)
_X_Teacher’s observation (checklist)
___ K-W-L Chart

Multiple Intelligences:
___ Verbal _X__Bodily
___ Spatial _X__Natural
___ Musical ___Intrapersonal
___ Emotional ___Mathematics
___ Interpersonal

Integration with______

_X_Spanish ___Science
___ Math ___Fine arts
___ History
___ Physical Education
___ Others

Attitudes and Values

Self-confidence

Educational Material

_X_ Use materials available in the room.

Objective:
At the end of the class, the students will be able to:
identify six parts of the room: point to the – (door, wall, ceiling, floor, table, chair)
correctly respond to: Stand up, sit down

Skills:
New vocabulary: (as above)
Identifying the parts of a room

A. Initial Activities:
_X__Greetings _X__Day /Date

_X__Recall the numbers from 1 to 10 by jumping and clapping.

B. Developmental Activities:
1. The students will listen and respond to the commands given by the teacher: Stand up, sit down.
2. Afterwards, the teacher will mention several commands modeling each action as she mentions them. The students will listen and point to the door, wall, ceiling, floor, table, chair, as well.

C. Closing Activities:
_X__ Check outcomes: Teacher will evaluate students’ proficiency by having them:
Individually demonstrate competence by correctly responding to a minimum of 4 of the eight new phrases; and correctly identifying a minimum of 4 of the six body part words.

SECOND-LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODSPrinciples & Procedures

SECOND-LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODSPrinciples & Procedures

Jill Kerper Mora, Ed.D.San Diego State University
Alert! Dr. Mora's CLAD Website will have a new address as of August 31, 2008.
Stay connected after that date at http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/jmora

Below is a description of the basic principles and procedures of the most recognized methods for teaching a second or foreign language.
For a survey of the history of second or foreign language teaching click here.
Click here for L2 teaching methods described below:
Grammar-Translation ApproachDirect ApproachReading ApproachAudiolingual MethodCommunity Language LearningThe Silent WayCommunicative Approach--Functional-Notional Total Physical Response

The Grammar-Translation Approach
This approach was historically used in teaching Greek and Latin. The approach was generalized to teaching modern languages.
Classes are taught in the students' mother tongue, with little active use of the target language. Vocabulary is taught in the form of isolated word lists. Elaborate explanations of grammar are always provided. Grammar instruction provides the rules for putting words together; instruction often focuses on the form and inflection of words. Reading of difficult texts is begun early in the course of study. Little attention is paid to the content of texts, which are treated as exercises in grammatical analysis. Often the only drills are exercises in translating disconnected sentences from the target language into the mother tongue, and vice versa. Little or no attention is given to pronunciation.
For a review of elements of grammar teaching click here.

The Direct Approach
This approach was developed initially as a reaction to the grammar-translation approach in an attempt to integrate more use of the target language in instruction.
Lessons begin with a dialogue using a modern conversational style in the target language. Material is first presented orally with actions or pictures. The mother tongue is NEVER, NEVER used. There is no translation. The preferred type of exercise is a series of questions in the target language based on the dialogue or an anecdotal narrative. Questions are answered in the target language. Grammar is taught inductively--rules are generalized from the practice and experience with the target language. Verbs are used first and systematically conjugated only much later after some oral mastery of the target language. Advanced students read literature for comprehension and pleasure. Literary texts are not analyzed grammatically. The culture associated with the target language is also taught inductively. Culture is considered an important aspect of learning the language.

The Reading Approach
This approach is selected for practical and academic reasons. For specific uses of the language in graduate or scientific studies. The approach is for people who do not travel abroad for whom reading is the one usable skill in a foreign language.
The priority in studying the target language is first, reading ability and second, current and/or historical knowledge of the country where the target language is spoken. Only the grammar necessary for reading comprehension and fluency is taught. Minimal attention is paid to pronunciation or gaining conversational skills in the target language. From the beginning, a great amount of reading is done in L2, both in and out of class. The vocabulary of the early reading passages and texts is strictly controlled for difficulty. Vocabulary is expanded as quickly as possible, since the acquisition of vocabulary is considered more important that grammatical skill. Translation reappears in this approach as a respectable classroom procedure related to comprehension of the written text.

The Audiolingual Method
This method is based on the principles of behavior psychology. It adapted many of the principles and procedures of the Direct Method, in part as a reaction to the lack of speaking skills of the Reading Approach.
New material is presented in the form of a dialogue. Based on the principle that language learning is habit formation, the method fosters dependence on mimicry, memorization of set phrases and over-learning. Structures are sequenced and taught one at a time. Structural patterns are taught using repetitive drills. Little or no grammatical explanations are provided; grammar is taught inductively. Skills are sequenced: Listening, speaking, reading and writing are developed in order. Vocabulary is strictly limited and learned in context. Teaching points are determined by contrastive analysis between L1 and L2. There is abundant use of language laboratories, tapes and visual aids. There is an extended pre-reading period at the beginning of the course. Great importance is given to precise native-like pronunciation. Use of the mother tongue by the teacher is permitted, but discouraged among and by the students. Successful responses are reinforced; great care is taken to prevent learner errors. There is a tendency to focus on manipulation of the target language and to disregard content and meaning.
Hints for Using Audio-lingual Drills in L2 Teaching
1. The teacher must be careful to insure that all of the utterances which students will make are actually within the practiced pattern. For example, the use of the AUX verb have should not suddenly switch to have as a main verb.
2. Drills should be conducted as rapidly as possibly so as to insure automaticity and to establish a system.
3. Ignore all but gross errors of pronunciation when drilling for grammar practice.
4. Use of shortcuts to keep the pace o drills at a maximum. Use hand motions, signal cards, notes, etc. to cue response. You are a choir director.
5. Use normal English stress, intonation, and juncture patterns conscientiously.
6. Drill material should always be meaningful. If the content words are not known, teach their meanings.
7. Intersperse short periods of drill (about 10 minutes) with very brief alternative activities to avoid fatigue and boredom.
8. Introduce the drill in this way:
a. Focus (by writing on the board, for example)
b. Exemplify (by speaking model sentences)
c. Explain (if a simple grammatical explanation is needed)
d. Drill
9. Don’t stand in one place; move about the room standing next to as many different students as possible to spot check their production. Thus you will know who to give more practice to during individual drilling.
10. Use the "backward buildup" technique for long and/or difficult patterns.
--tomorrow
--in the cafeteria tomorrow
--will be eating in the cafeteria tomorrow
--Those boys will be eating in the cafeteria tomorrow.
11. Arrange to present drills in the order of increasing complexity of student response. The question is: How much internal organization or decision making must the student do in order to make a response in this drill. Thus: imitation first, single-slot substitution next, then free response last.



Community Language Learning
Curran, Charles A. Counseling-Learning in Second Languages. Apple River, Illinois: Apple River Press, 1976.
This methodology is not based on the usual methods by which languages are taught. Rather the approach is patterned upon counseling techniques and adapted to the peculiar anxiety and threat as well as the personal and language problems a person encounters in the learning of foreign languages. Consequently, the learner is not thought of as a student but as a client. The native instructors of the language are not considered teachers but, rather are trained in counseling skills adapted to their roles as language counselors.
The language-counseling relationship begins with the client's linguistic confusion and conflict. The aim of the language counselor's skill is first to communicate an empathy for the client's threatened inadequate state and to aid him linguistically. Then slowly the teacher-counselor strives to enable him to arrive at his own increasingly independent language adequacy. This process is furthered by the language counselor's ability to establish a warm, understanding, and accepting relationship, thus becoming an "other-language self" for the client. The process involves five stages of adaptation:
STAGE 1
The client is completely dependent on the language counselor.
1. First, he expresses only to the counselor and in English what he wishes to say to the group. Each group member overhears this English exchange but no other members of the group are involved in the interaction.
2. The counselor then reflects these ideas back to the client in the foreign language in a warm, accepting tone, in simple language in phrases of five or six words.
3. The client turns to the group and presents his ideas in the foreign language. He has the counselor's aid if he mispronounces or hesitates on a word or phrase. This is the client's maximum security stage.
STAGE 2
1. Same as above.
2. The client turns and begins to speak the foreign language directly to the group.
3. The counselor aids only as the client hesitates or turns for help. These small independent steps are signs of positive confidence and hope.
STAGE 3
1. The client speaks directly to the group in the foreign language. This presumes that the group has now acquired the ability to understand his simple phrases.
2. Same as 3 above. This presumes the client's greater confidence, independence, and proportionate insight into the relationship of phrases, grammar, and ideas. Translation is given only when a group member desires it.
STAGE 4
1. The client is now speaking freely and complexly in the foreign language. Presumes group's understanding.
2. The counselor directly intervenes in grammatical error, mispronunciation, or where aid in complex expression is needed. The client is sufficiently secure to take correction.
STAGE 5
1. Same as stage 4.
2. The counselor intervenes not only to offer correction but to add idioms and more elegant constructions.
3. At this stage the client can become counselor to the group in stages 1, 2, and 3.



The Silent Way
Caleb Gattegno, Teaching Foreign Languages in Schools: The Silent Way. New York City: Educational Solutions, 1972.
Procedures
This method begins by using a set of colored rods and verbal commands in order to achieve the following:
To avoid the use of the vernacular. To create simple linguistic situations that remain under the complete control of the teacher To pass on to the learners the responsibility for the utterances of the descriptions of the objects shown or the actions performed. To let the teacher concentrate on what the students say and how they are saying it, drawing their attention to the differences in pronunciation and the flow of words. To generate a serious game-like situation in which the rules are implicitly agreed upon by giving meaning to the gestures of the teacher and his mime. To permit almost from the start a switch from the lone voice of the teacher using the foreign language to a number of voices using it. This introduces components of pitch, timbre and intensity that will constantly reduce the impact of one voice and hence reduce imitation and encourage personal production of one's own brand of the sounds.
To provide the support of perception and action to the intellectual guess of what the noises mean, thus bring in the arsenal of the usual criteria of experience already developed and automatic in one's use of the mother tongue. To provide a duration of spontaneous speech upon which the teacher and the students can work to obtain a similarity of melody to the one heard, thus providing melodic integrative schemata from the start.
Materials
The complete set of materials utilized as the language learning progresses include:
A set of colored wooden rods A set of wall charts containing words of a "functional" vocabulary and some additional ones; a pointer for use with the charts in Visual Dictation A color coded phonic chart(s) Tapes or discs, as required; films Drawings and pictures, and a set of accompanying worksheets Transparencies, three texts, a Book of Stories, worksheets

Functional-notional Approach
Finocchiaro, M. & Brumfit, C. (1983). The Functional-Notional Approach. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
This method of language teaching is categorized along with others under the rubric of a communicative approach. The method stresses a means of organizing a language syllabus. The emphasis is on breaking down the global concept of language into units of analysis in terms of communicative situations in which they are used.
Notions are meaning elements that may be expressed through nouns, pronouns, verbs, prepositions, conjunctions, adjectives or adverbs. The use of particular notions depends on three major factors: a. the functions b. the elements in the situation, and c. the topic being discussed.
A situation may affect variations of language such as the use of dialects, the formality or informality of the language and the mode of expression. Situation includes the following elements:
A. The persons taking part in the speech act
B. The place where the conversation occurs
C. The time the speech act is taking place
D. The topic or activity that is being discussed
Exponents are the language utterances or statements that stem from the function, the situation and the topic.
Code is the shared language of a community of speakers.
Code-switching is a change or switch in code during the speech act, which many theorists believe is purposeful behavior to convey bonding, language prestige or other elements of interpersonal relations between the speakers.
Functional Categories of Language
Mary Finocchiaro (1983, p. 65-66) has placed the functional categories under five headings as noted below: personal, interpersonal, directive, referential, and imaginative.
Personal = Clarifying or arranging one’s ideas; expressing one’s thoughts or feelings: love, joy, pleasure, happiness, surprise, likes, satisfaction, dislikes, disappointment, distress, pain, anger, anguish, fear, anxiety, sorrow, frustration, annoyance at missed opportunities, moral, intellectual and social concerns; and the everyday feelings of hunger, thirst, fatigue, sleepiness, cold, or warmth
Interpersonal = Enabling us to establish and maintain desirable social and working relationships: Enabling us to establish and maintain desirable social and working relationships:
greetings and leave takings
introducing people to others
identifying oneself to others
expressing joy at another’s success
expressing concern for other people’s welfare
extending and accepting invitations
refusing invitations politely or making alternative arrangements
making appointments for meetings
breaking appointments politely and arranging another mutually convenient time
apologizing
excusing oneself and accepting excuses for not meeting commitments
indicating agreement or disagreement
interrupting another speaker politely
changing an embarrassing subject
receiving visitors and paying visits to others
offering food or drinks and accepting or declining politely
sharing wishes, hopes, desires, problems
making promises and committing oneself to some action
complimenting someone
making excuses
expressing and acknowledging gratitude
Directive = Attempting to influence the actions of others; accepting or refusing direction:
making suggestions in which the speaker is included
making requests; making suggestions
refusing to accept a suggestion or a request but offering an alternative
persuading someone to change his point of view
requesting and granting permission
asking for help and responding to a plea for help
forbidding someone to do something; issuing a command
giving and responding to instructions
warning someone
discouraging someone from pursuing a course of action
establishing guidelines and deadlines for the completion of actions
asking for directions or instructions
Referential = talking or reporting about things, actions, events, or people in the environment in the past or in the future; talking about language (what is termed the metalinguistic function: = talking or reporting about things, actions, events, or people in the environment in the past or in the future; talking about language (what is termed the metalinguistic function:
identifying items or people in the classroom, the school the home, the community
asking for a description of someone or something
defining something or a language item or asking for a definition
paraphrasing, summarizing, or translating (L1 to L2 or vice versa)
explaining or asking for explanations of how something works
comparing or contrasting things
discussing possibilities, probabilities, or capabilities of doing something
requesting or reporting facts about events or actions
evaluating the results of an action or event
Imaginative = Discussions involving elements of creativity and artistic expression
discussing a poem, a story, a piece of music, a play, a painting, a film, a TV program, etc.
expanding ideas suggested by other or by a piece of literature or reading material
creating rhymes, poetry, stories or plays
recombining familiar dialogs or passages creatively
suggesting original beginnings or endings to dialogs or stories
solving problems or mysteries


Total Physical Response
James J. Asher, Learning Another Language Through Actions. San Jose, California: AccuPrint, 1979.
James J. Asher defines the Total Physical Response (TPR) method as one that combines information and skills through the use of the kinesthetic sensory system. This combination of skills allows the student to assimilate information and skills at a rapid rate. As a result, this success leads to a high degree of motivation. The basic tenets are:
Understanding the spoken language before developing the skills of speaking. Imperatives are the main structures to transfer or communicate information. The student is not forced to speak, but is allowed an individual readiness period and allowed to spontaneously begin to speak when the student feels comfortable and confident in understanding and producing the utterances.
TECHNIQUE
Step I The teacher says the commands as he himself performs the action.
Step 2 The teacher says the command as both the teacher and the students then perform the action.
Step 3 The teacher says the command but only students perform the action
Step 4 The teacher tells one student at a time to do commands
Step 5 The roles of teacher and student are reversed. Students give commands to teacher and to other students.
Step 6 The teacher and student allow for command expansion or produces new sentences.
Click here to navigate Dr. Mora's CLAD Website

Return to Dr. Mora's Home Page
MoraModules Index
PLC 915 Syllabus
ED 516 Syllabus
TE 639 Syllabus
L2 Teaching Methods
History of L2 Education
Theoretical Basis of the Natural Approach
A Communicative Approach Lesson Plan
Road Map to English Language Development Instruction
Approaches to Instructionof English Language Learners
Grammatical & Syntactic Checklist
This page was last updated on 07/05/08
document.write("document.write("stats.asp?site=lanena\" target=_top>");
document.write("");