Vocabulary Teaching: Effective Methodologies
Naveen Kumar Mehta
naveennmehta(at)yahoo.co.in
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (New Delhi, India)
Introduction
Vocabulary is the first and foremost important step in language acquisition. In a classroom where students are not finding themselves comfortable with L2, language learning can be made interactive and interesting with the introduction of appropriate vocabulary exercises. This paper is an attempt to study and explore the various methodologies that can be incorporated in the teaching of vocabulary items in a language classroom.
Background
Patterns of Difficulty in Vocabulary
Robert Lado ( 1955) talked about patterns of difficulty in vocabulary teaching. He highlighted key issues related to words, the native language factor and about patterns. He even analyzed Spanish, French and Mexican patterns of difficulty in their respective vocabulary items. He stated that while dealing with vocabulary one should take into account three important aspects of words - their form, their meaning and their distribution - and one should consider various kinds of classes of words in the function of the language. He said that the forms, meaning distribution and classification of words are different in different languages. He revealed that these differences might lead to vocabulary problems.
Vocabulary and Anatomy
Visnja Pavicic (2003) dealt with a way to improve students' abilities to explore, store and usage of vocabulary items. He determined the role of vocabulary teaching and how a teacher could help their learners. He laid emphasis on self initiated independent learning with strategies, in which formal practices, functional practices and memorizing could be included. He said that the teacher should create activities and tasks to help students to build their vocabulary and develop strategies to learn the vocabulary on their own.
Teaching Vocabulary in English Language: Effective Methodologies
It is noteworthy to mention here that vocabulary items are imparted mostly by translation: either a list of words with their translation at the beginning of the lesson or the translation of the content having new words or glossaries at the very end. This is an erroneous practice as it leads to a state of confusion for the learners. On the teaching skills of vocabulary items, Frisby (1957) commented that "While the teacher is not, himself, concerned with the actual selection of vocabulary for text book purposes since practically all the books we use are based on limited vocabularies, it is important that he/she (the teacher) should know the principles, which underlie vocabulary selection". Thus it signifies that a language teacher should be innovative and proficient in the application of methodologies pertaining to teaching vocabulary items in a classroom situation. Following are the main methodologies for teaching vocabulary items in an English language classroom.
Listening Carefully
Caeful listening to the words may be a good option in teaching vocabulary items in a heterogenic classroom. "Let the students hear the word in isolation and in a sentence. If the sounds of the word have been mastered, the students will hear it correctly with two or three repetitions." (Robert Lado: 121) Slow pronunciation without distortion will help. Breaking the word into parts and building up to the whole word will also be helpful.
Pronouncing the Word
Pronouncing the word enables the students to remember it longer and identify it more readily when they hear or see it.
Methods of Grasping the Meaning
The teacher should try to get the meaning to the class without using translation. This is not preferable on the ground that translation may or may not provide the meaning of the word accurately and precisely. It is advocated as it enables the class to go without grasping the meaning of a word that they have learned to pronounce rather than to depend upon the translation.
Key Strategies in Teaching Vocabulary
Some of the key strategies to unfold the information and meaning of a new word to a class are as follows:
Definitions
Definitions in the target language may be very handy if they are expressed in terms that are better known or more easily guessed than the word that is defined. In this direction teachers and students can refer to authentic and reliable dictionaries.
Self-defining Context
The context makes the situation clear, and this in turn illuminates the meaning of the new word. This practice saves time and develops an intensive reading habit and better understanding.
Antonyms
When one member of a pair of opposites is understood, the meaning of the other can be easily comprehended. This helps the student to understand the different shades of meanings of a word.
Synonyms
A synonym may be used to help the student to understand the different shades of meaning if the synonym is better known than the word being taught. Synonyms help to enrich a student's vocabulary bank and provide alternative words instantly.
Dramatization
This method can be practiced at ease. It can win the favour of the students as learners like dramatizations and can easily learn through them. Many situations can be dramatized or demonstrated.
Examples
* Sing [Sing a song]
* Open [Open a book]
* Close [Close the book]
Pictures and Drawings
Pictures of many types and colours can be used successfully to show the meaning of words and sentence. Handmade pictures can also be used as there is no need to be very artistic.
Examples
* into [Raj goes into the circle.]
* in [Rahman is in the circle.]
Drawings can be used to explain the meaning of things, actions, qualities, and relations. A line drawing of a head, for example, provides many useful nouns and verbs.
Realia
Real objects or models of real objects are very effective and meaningful in showing meanings but in handling of real objects, a teacher must be practical and should not be superfluous.
Series, Scales, Systems
The meaning of words such as the months of the year, the days of the week, the parts of the day, seasons of the year, ordinal numbers, cardinal numbers, etc. that form part of well-known series can be made clear by placing them in their natural order in the series.
Parts of Words
The parts of complex and compound words may be more common than the words themselves. Separating such words into their component parts generally elaborates the meaning.
Illustrative Sentences
Most words have a variety of restrictions on their use. Systematic descriptions of these restrictions and idiomatic uses would be laborious and not very effective in teaching. It is better to give appropriate examples that elucidate the range and variation of usage.
Practice from Meaning to Expression
This is controlled practice in which the class does not create new uses or new contexts but simply recalls the ones presented. There are many types of practices for this purpose. Pictures, realia, context, and dramatization can be used. Series and systems can also be used.
Reading the Word
Reading words aloud is also very beneficial. It makes a learner familiar with the word and also improves pronunciations of the learners.
Writing the Word
It will enable the class to write the new word while the auditory memory is fresh, even if the objective is only to read. Writing or copying the word from the blackboard will give the student a chance to understand the grammatical aspect of the word such as noun, verb, adverb, adjective etc.
Shift of Attention
Under this practice, the teacher provides a context by description or through reading which elicits the use of the word. The learners should be asked to pay attention to and develop an attitude or a point of view which he defends or attacks.
Strategy for Special Types of Words
Specific techniques or special combinations of the above techniques may be applicable for particular groups of words.
Words That Are Easy to Learn
It has been seen that the words that are similar in form and meaning to the first language are easy to understand and comprehend. They should be taught for listening and reading rather than for speaking and writing.
Words of Normal Difficulty
Words of normal difficulty are best taught in contextual realms, such as food, clothing, sports, work, and so on. There are advantages to using a connected context illustrating the words that are to be taught. Additional words can be taught as alternatives to those chosen in the connected context. Practice can be controlled in varying situations by changing a key word or phrase.
Difficult Words
Some words and sets of words are especially difficult to understand. They have to be taught as special problems with the strategy determined by the particular problem in each case.
Conclusion
An efficient language teacher can use selected vocabulary activities or can use integrated activities. All this depends upon ability and level of understanding and interest of the learners. There is no sure fire remedy or method to enhance vocabulary in a day or two. A student's vocabulary bank can be enriched on a gradual basis and one should always show keen interest and enthusiasm in finding, learning and understanding new words.
Tampilkan postingan dengan label Education. Tampilkan semua postingan
Tampilkan postingan dengan label Education. Tampilkan semua postingan
5 Januari 2010
Storytelling in the EFL Speaking Classroom
Storytelling in the EFL Speaking Classroom
Xu Jianing
Suzhou Industrial Park Institute of Vocational Technology (Jiangsu Province, China)
jianing61 {at} yahoo.com.cn
Introduction
As English becomes increasingly important in various fields such as business, finance, industry and education, most Chinese students hope they can speak English fluently. However, from my observations and many EFL teachers' descriptions of their oral English classrooms, a considerable number of students are not responding actively in speaking exercises. How to motivate the students in EFL speaking classrooms has long been our concern. First of all, it is necessary to find out the main factors affecting their participation.
What Factors Are Discouraging the Students?
The Students Are Nervous and Afraid of Making Mistakes.
In China, to get high scores in the Higher Education Exam is nearly the only goal of the high school students. For some reason, there is no oral English test in the Higher Education Exam; thus speaking skills are often neglected. More over, since there are usually over 50 students in each class, the students have little chance to practice speaking in class. This leads to the result that the speaking skills of most students are comparatively lower than other skills such as listening, reading and grammar.
Secondly, the fear of "losing face" prevents the students from speaking English (Zhu, 2003). Face is still of great importance to most Chinese. On the one hand, it motivates people to work hard to win face; on the other, people tend to conceal their mistakes and weaknesses for fear of losing face. For many English learners, they believe if they make mistakes or fail to find suitable words to express themselves, they will lose face. To protect themselves from being laughed at, they are reluctant to speak English. So there is the vicious circle: the less they speak, the less they improve their speaking skills, and the more they are afraid of speaking.
The Topics Are Not Interesting.
The dominating oral English teaching materials in China focus on situational or/and communicative function (Chen 2004), aiming to enable students to cope, in the target language, with typical situations in school and work environments as well as in ordinary life. When "practical" is the prime principle, what the learners do most in the speaking classroom is to make dialogues according to the given situations or topics. However, students often complain that they have been repeatedly asked to introduce their families or schools; talk about their hobbies or majors; make dialogues on topics such as job interviews, meeting visitors or shopping. These "practical" topics and situations provide little space for the students to imagine and create; therefore, dialogues on these situational topics are hard to develop in depth and width. People tend to lose interest in what they learn if they find they make little progress.
Another problem with this kind of topic-based speaking training is you can't expect all the listeners to be interested in your hobby or major. Moreover, the other students in the classroom are talking about similar things, which could hardly offer anything new to each other. Consequently, the audiences in the speaking classroom are not very attentive and the speakers just make a perfunctory effort instead of getting involved, not even to mention enjoying it. To many of them, the job is just a job.
The Classroom Atmosphere Is Not Encouraging.
The effect of classroom atmosphere on language learning, especially an oral class, is obvious and immediate. A free and light-hearted atmosphere promotes communications, while a nervous and stiff atmosphere builds invisible obstacles in communications. Dialogues about daily life and routine work lack variation, do not sound enchanting, and are unlikely to create an animated classroom atmosphere.
Feedback of the Listeners Is Not Supportive.
According to my observations in speaking classes, apart from the factors mentioned above, the listeners' feedback also has a strong influence on the performance of the speakers. Very often, at the beginning of the performance, the speakers are confident and active when doing some dialogues or role play exercises. However, when the audience loses interest in the speakers, begin to talk to each other or just do whatever else instead of listening attentatively to the speakers, the speakers tend to, consciously or unconsciously, speed up or cut down their words, trying to flee back to their own seats as quickly as they can (students are often asked to present in the front of the classroom and face the class in order to build better communications since there are usually 40 to 50 students in each class). Even the slightest indifference or impatience indicated by the audience can be immediately felt by the speakers, which, in turn, greatly inhibits their passion to communicate. Of course, teachers can force the audiences to listen to the speakers but it is of no use blaming them. The most effective way is to offer the audiences something different and interesting!
Why Stories?
As we all know, stories have always played a significant role in children's growth. Stories not only help in stimulating children's imagination and understanding of the world, but also in developing children's language ability and appreciating literature (Aiex, 1988; Cooper, 1989; Koki, 1998; Zobairi & Gulley, 1989). It is just as Wright wrote, "Stories which rely so much on words, offer a major and constant source of language experience for children" (Wright, 1995).
The primary reason to recommend storytelling in the EFL speaking classroom is that stories are motivating and immensely interesting, can best attract listeners and promote communication. "The excitement and drama of storytelling provide a context that holds students' attention." (Cooter, 1991; Bla, 1998).
Secondly, stories are an enormous language treasure. For hundreds of years, thousands of stories have been created and passed down. Many old stories are regarded as the models of language and treasures of the culture, from which learners at various language levels and age groups can find suitable stories to read and tell. It would be a waste and pity if they are neglected in the course of EFL/ESL. In addition, stories are easily accessible; storybooks can be found in bookstores and borrowed from libraries or friends. Today, the most convenient and quickest way to find stories is from the Internet. “Storytelling …… costs nothing, is enjoyable, and can be used anywhere and at any time” (Zabel, 1991).
Thirdly, the lively atmosphere and real life environment created by stories encourages the students to talk and discuss with each other. When telling and listening to a story, the learners will easily be plunged into the plots and the scene and forget about themselves, which will, to a great degree, relieve their nervousness. Colon-vila (1997) also commented that storytelling helps EFL learners become more self-confident to express themselves spontaneously and creatively. However, teachers have not been zealous to use it in the classroom (Alvey, 1977).
Some students say that they have no time to meet with their partners and practice dialogues when they fail to do it well. Though sometimes it is just an excuse, nevertheless, storytelling helps solve the problem: partners are not indispensable to practice storytelling though it is better to have an audience.
To Whom to Use Stories?
Stories are often connected with children. In fact, they are not only loyal listeners; they also like to tell stories. The language classroom is just the place for children to share stories and show their language abilities. In China, there are various kinds of storytelling competitions in kindergartens and schools, attracting many children to participate. As long as the teacher gives proper instruction, children would be very pleased to learn storytelling in English. Besides, many stories can be adopted into short plays and children enjoy performing.
It should also be pointed out that stories are not only for children. There are many stories for EFL learners of different levels and ages. I have tried using stories in college English classrooms and found that even the poorest storyteller can be the center of attention.
How to Use Stories?
The following are just a few examples of using stories in the EFL speaking classroom arranged in the order of difficulty. At first, if the students are not confident in their speaking skills, it is recommended that the students be given enough time to prepare. As the students build their confidence and the classroom language environment becomes more free and active, the teacher could gradually increase the difficulty and make the game more versatile. To motivate and encourage the students, points and prizes are granted to good tellers and groups each time.
Warming Up
The students listen to some stories downloaded from the Internet and repeat as they listen. This gives them an opportunity to improve their pronunciation, stress and intonation. They are offered three stories each time and required to practice the one they like best. A competition is held every two weeks. When every student has learned to tell three to five stories naturally and expressively, they feel much more confident in telling stories in English than before.
Activity 1
Divide the students into groups and each group prepares a story. Each member of the group tells two to three sentences and the next one continues until the end of the story. The length of the story could gradually increase from two or three minutes to four or five minutes. Before the lesson, the students could divide their tasks in advance and practice their own parts. They could also be given a few minutes to practice in class the whole story if necessary. The teacher moves among the groups and chooses two or three groups to present their stories before the class. Because the students have enough time to prepare and they are working together, this helps them build confidence and create a lively and brisk atmosphere.
Activity 2
Ask each student to prepare a story (about two minutes long) in advance. Divide the students into groups with four to five members in each group and ask them to tell his/her story in the group. The best storytellers in each group win ten points and compete for the best storyteller of the class. The winner wins another ten points for each member of his/her group and the second best wins eight points and so on. Since the performance of each representative is connected to the score of everyone, the students will be greatly involved in the whole process and listen to the stories attentatively, which will in turn promote the performance of the storytellers.
To avoid the few best storytellers dominating the activity, the best storytellers will be arranged in the same group next time. They will have to work harder in order to win again. This will make the winners stronger and at the same time, increase the opportunities of others and promote the whole class participation.
Activity 3
Divide the students into four to five groups and each group is given an opening of a story and asked to finish the story in about 20 minutes. Then select one student from each group to tell their story in the class and the best one wins 10 points for their group.
To get everyone fully involved and avoid the liability that each group just asks their best storyteller to do the job, the storytellers are selected by drawing lots instead of being chosen by themselves. This also helps enliven the atmosphere of the classroom. So each group must work together to make the story as interesting as they can. An alternative way is to ask each member of the group to tell a part of the story and make a whole.
Activity 4
Ask each group to hand in an incomplete story and redistribute them among the groups. Give the students 20 minutes to read their stories and finish them. After each group presents their story, compare it with the original one. The most interesting one and the one closest to the original win.
Activity 5
The teacher gives the first sentence to the class and then each student adds one more sentence to make a whole story impromptu. Because there is no preparation and no body has any idea about what the next person will say and where the story is going, there are often lots of fun and surprises in the game.
This game is suitable to the classes with no more than 20 students. If there are too many students, the students will wait too long to make his/her sentence, which is likely to make the game sluggish; also, the students may not hear each other clearly and this will reduce the success of the game.
In the process of using stories, the teacher could, in different cases, choose to encourage the students to rewrite the stories, using their own language or ask them to keep the original language as much as they can. The former way encourages the students to understand the stories and adds their own characteristics to the stories and the latter prompts them to learn to use new words and expressions. Besides, pictures, movies and other materials would also be great help in storytelling. After a few months, the students’ speaking ability can be improved to considerable degree.
Conclusion
There are many ways to use stories in the oral English classroom. It is also advised to encourage the students to find more interesting stories and create different ways to use them. Besides, in the course of looking for, rewriting and completing stories, their reading, writing and imagination can be further developed; teamwork and friendship will become stronger by working in groups. So let stories be a member of your oral English class!
References
* Aiex, N. K. (1998). Storytelling : Its wide-Ranging Impact in the Classroom. [ED: 299 574]. Alvey, R.G. (1974). The Historical Development of Organized Storytelling to Children in the United States. Phd Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania.
* Chen, Xiaohua. (2004). Sun Yatsen University Forum, Vol.24 No.5
* Colon-vila, L. (1997). Storytelling in the ESL Classroom. Teaching K-8, 58-59.
* Cooter, 1991 in Adventures with Words, Black, 1998.
* Cooper, P. (1989). Using storytelling to teach oral communication competencies K-12. Paper presents in the Annual Meeting of the Speech Communication. Association (75#, San Francisco, CA). [ED: 314 798]
* Koki, Stan. (1998). Storytelling: the heart and soul of education. [ED: 426 398].
* Wright, A. (1995). Storytelling with children. Oxford University Press.
* Zable, M.K. (1991). Storytelling, Myths, and Folk Tales: Strategies for Multicultural Inclusion. Preventing School Failure, v36, nl, 32-34.
* Zobairi, N. & Gulley, B. (1989). The told tale: Oral storytelling and the young children. [ED: 319 517]
* Zhu, Hua. (2003). Journal of Liaoning Educational Administration Institute, Vol.20 No.9
Xu Jianing
Suzhou Industrial Park Institute of Vocational Technology (Jiangsu Province, China)
jianing61 {at} yahoo.com.cn
Introduction
As English becomes increasingly important in various fields such as business, finance, industry and education, most Chinese students hope they can speak English fluently. However, from my observations and many EFL teachers' descriptions of their oral English classrooms, a considerable number of students are not responding actively in speaking exercises. How to motivate the students in EFL speaking classrooms has long been our concern. First of all, it is necessary to find out the main factors affecting their participation.
What Factors Are Discouraging the Students?
The Students Are Nervous and Afraid of Making Mistakes.
In China, to get high scores in the Higher Education Exam is nearly the only goal of the high school students. For some reason, there is no oral English test in the Higher Education Exam; thus speaking skills are often neglected. More over, since there are usually over 50 students in each class, the students have little chance to practice speaking in class. This leads to the result that the speaking skills of most students are comparatively lower than other skills such as listening, reading and grammar.
Secondly, the fear of "losing face" prevents the students from speaking English (Zhu, 2003). Face is still of great importance to most Chinese. On the one hand, it motivates people to work hard to win face; on the other, people tend to conceal their mistakes and weaknesses for fear of losing face. For many English learners, they believe if they make mistakes or fail to find suitable words to express themselves, they will lose face. To protect themselves from being laughed at, they are reluctant to speak English. So there is the vicious circle: the less they speak, the less they improve their speaking skills, and the more they are afraid of speaking.
The Topics Are Not Interesting.
The dominating oral English teaching materials in China focus on situational or/and communicative function (Chen 2004), aiming to enable students to cope, in the target language, with typical situations in school and work environments as well as in ordinary life. When "practical" is the prime principle, what the learners do most in the speaking classroom is to make dialogues according to the given situations or topics. However, students often complain that they have been repeatedly asked to introduce their families or schools; talk about their hobbies or majors; make dialogues on topics such as job interviews, meeting visitors or shopping. These "practical" topics and situations provide little space for the students to imagine and create; therefore, dialogues on these situational topics are hard to develop in depth and width. People tend to lose interest in what they learn if they find they make little progress.
Another problem with this kind of topic-based speaking training is you can't expect all the listeners to be interested in your hobby or major. Moreover, the other students in the classroom are talking about similar things, which could hardly offer anything new to each other. Consequently, the audiences in the speaking classroom are not very attentive and the speakers just make a perfunctory effort instead of getting involved, not even to mention enjoying it. To many of them, the job is just a job.
The Classroom Atmosphere Is Not Encouraging.
The effect of classroom atmosphere on language learning, especially an oral class, is obvious and immediate. A free and light-hearted atmosphere promotes communications, while a nervous and stiff atmosphere builds invisible obstacles in communications. Dialogues about daily life and routine work lack variation, do not sound enchanting, and are unlikely to create an animated classroom atmosphere.
Feedback of the Listeners Is Not Supportive.
According to my observations in speaking classes, apart from the factors mentioned above, the listeners' feedback also has a strong influence on the performance of the speakers. Very often, at the beginning of the performance, the speakers are confident and active when doing some dialogues or role play exercises. However, when the audience loses interest in the speakers, begin to talk to each other or just do whatever else instead of listening attentatively to the speakers, the speakers tend to, consciously or unconsciously, speed up or cut down their words, trying to flee back to their own seats as quickly as they can (students are often asked to present in the front of the classroom and face the class in order to build better communications since there are usually 40 to 50 students in each class). Even the slightest indifference or impatience indicated by the audience can be immediately felt by the speakers, which, in turn, greatly inhibits their passion to communicate. Of course, teachers can force the audiences to listen to the speakers but it is of no use blaming them. The most effective way is to offer the audiences something different and interesting!
Why Stories?
As we all know, stories have always played a significant role in children's growth. Stories not only help in stimulating children's imagination and understanding of the world, but also in developing children's language ability and appreciating literature (Aiex, 1988; Cooper, 1989; Koki, 1998; Zobairi & Gulley, 1989). It is just as Wright wrote, "Stories which rely so much on words, offer a major and constant source of language experience for children" (Wright, 1995).
The primary reason to recommend storytelling in the EFL speaking classroom is that stories are motivating and immensely interesting, can best attract listeners and promote communication. "The excitement and drama of storytelling provide a context that holds students' attention." (Cooter, 1991; Bla, 1998).
Secondly, stories are an enormous language treasure. For hundreds of years, thousands of stories have been created and passed down. Many old stories are regarded as the models of language and treasures of the culture, from which learners at various language levels and age groups can find suitable stories to read and tell. It would be a waste and pity if they are neglected in the course of EFL/ESL. In addition, stories are easily accessible; storybooks can be found in bookstores and borrowed from libraries or friends. Today, the most convenient and quickest way to find stories is from the Internet. “Storytelling …… costs nothing, is enjoyable, and can be used anywhere and at any time” (Zabel, 1991).
Thirdly, the lively atmosphere and real life environment created by stories encourages the students to talk and discuss with each other. When telling and listening to a story, the learners will easily be plunged into the plots and the scene and forget about themselves, which will, to a great degree, relieve their nervousness. Colon-vila (1997) also commented that storytelling helps EFL learners become more self-confident to express themselves spontaneously and creatively. However, teachers have not been zealous to use it in the classroom (Alvey, 1977).
Some students say that they have no time to meet with their partners and practice dialogues when they fail to do it well. Though sometimes it is just an excuse, nevertheless, storytelling helps solve the problem: partners are not indispensable to practice storytelling though it is better to have an audience.
To Whom to Use Stories?
Stories are often connected with children. In fact, they are not only loyal listeners; they also like to tell stories. The language classroom is just the place for children to share stories and show their language abilities. In China, there are various kinds of storytelling competitions in kindergartens and schools, attracting many children to participate. As long as the teacher gives proper instruction, children would be very pleased to learn storytelling in English. Besides, many stories can be adopted into short plays and children enjoy performing.
It should also be pointed out that stories are not only for children. There are many stories for EFL learners of different levels and ages. I have tried using stories in college English classrooms and found that even the poorest storyteller can be the center of attention.
How to Use Stories?
The following are just a few examples of using stories in the EFL speaking classroom arranged in the order of difficulty. At first, if the students are not confident in their speaking skills, it is recommended that the students be given enough time to prepare. As the students build their confidence and the classroom language environment becomes more free and active, the teacher could gradually increase the difficulty and make the game more versatile. To motivate and encourage the students, points and prizes are granted to good tellers and groups each time.
Warming Up
The students listen to some stories downloaded from the Internet and repeat as they listen. This gives them an opportunity to improve their pronunciation, stress and intonation. They are offered three stories each time and required to practice the one they like best. A competition is held every two weeks. When every student has learned to tell three to five stories naturally and expressively, they feel much more confident in telling stories in English than before.
Activity 1
Divide the students into groups and each group prepares a story. Each member of the group tells two to three sentences and the next one continues until the end of the story. The length of the story could gradually increase from two or three minutes to four or five minutes. Before the lesson, the students could divide their tasks in advance and practice their own parts. They could also be given a few minutes to practice in class the whole story if necessary. The teacher moves among the groups and chooses two or three groups to present their stories before the class. Because the students have enough time to prepare and they are working together, this helps them build confidence and create a lively and brisk atmosphere.
Activity 2
Ask each student to prepare a story (about two minutes long) in advance. Divide the students into groups with four to five members in each group and ask them to tell his/her story in the group. The best storytellers in each group win ten points and compete for the best storyteller of the class. The winner wins another ten points for each member of his/her group and the second best wins eight points and so on. Since the performance of each representative is connected to the score of everyone, the students will be greatly involved in the whole process and listen to the stories attentatively, which will in turn promote the performance of the storytellers.
To avoid the few best storytellers dominating the activity, the best storytellers will be arranged in the same group next time. They will have to work harder in order to win again. This will make the winners stronger and at the same time, increase the opportunities of others and promote the whole class participation.
Activity 3
Divide the students into four to five groups and each group is given an opening of a story and asked to finish the story in about 20 minutes. Then select one student from each group to tell their story in the class and the best one wins 10 points for their group.
To get everyone fully involved and avoid the liability that each group just asks their best storyteller to do the job, the storytellers are selected by drawing lots instead of being chosen by themselves. This also helps enliven the atmosphere of the classroom. So each group must work together to make the story as interesting as they can. An alternative way is to ask each member of the group to tell a part of the story and make a whole.
Activity 4
Ask each group to hand in an incomplete story and redistribute them among the groups. Give the students 20 minutes to read their stories and finish them. After each group presents their story, compare it with the original one. The most interesting one and the one closest to the original win.
Activity 5
The teacher gives the first sentence to the class and then each student adds one more sentence to make a whole story impromptu. Because there is no preparation and no body has any idea about what the next person will say and where the story is going, there are often lots of fun and surprises in the game.
This game is suitable to the classes with no more than 20 students. If there are too many students, the students will wait too long to make his/her sentence, which is likely to make the game sluggish; also, the students may not hear each other clearly and this will reduce the success of the game.
In the process of using stories, the teacher could, in different cases, choose to encourage the students to rewrite the stories, using their own language or ask them to keep the original language as much as they can. The former way encourages the students to understand the stories and adds their own characteristics to the stories and the latter prompts them to learn to use new words and expressions. Besides, pictures, movies and other materials would also be great help in storytelling. After a few months, the students’ speaking ability can be improved to considerable degree.
Conclusion
There are many ways to use stories in the oral English classroom. It is also advised to encourage the students to find more interesting stories and create different ways to use them. Besides, in the course of looking for, rewriting and completing stories, their reading, writing and imagination can be further developed; teamwork and friendship will become stronger by working in groups. So let stories be a member of your oral English class!
References
* Aiex, N. K. (1998). Storytelling : Its wide-Ranging Impact in the Classroom. [ED: 299 574]. Alvey, R.G. (1974). The Historical Development of Organized Storytelling to Children in the United States. Phd Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania.
* Chen, Xiaohua. (2004). Sun Yatsen University Forum, Vol.24 No.5
* Colon-vila, L. (1997). Storytelling in the ESL Classroom. Teaching K-8, 58-59.
* Cooter, 1991 in Adventures with Words, Black, 1998.
* Cooper, P. (1989). Using storytelling to teach oral communication competencies K-12. Paper presents in the Annual Meeting of the Speech Communication. Association (75#, San Francisco, CA). [ED: 314 798]
* Koki, Stan. (1998). Storytelling: the heart and soul of education. [ED: 426 398].
* Wright, A. (1995). Storytelling with children. Oxford University Press.
* Zable, M.K. (1991). Storytelling, Myths, and Folk Tales: Strategies for Multicultural Inclusion. Preventing School Failure, v36, nl, 32-34.
* Zobairi, N. & Gulley, B. (1989). The told tale: Oral storytelling and the young children. [ED: 319 517]
* Zhu, Hua. (2003). Journal of Liaoning Educational Administration Institute, Vol.20 No.9
30 Desember 2009
Creative writing for language learners (and teachers)
Creative writing for language learners (and teachers)
Submitted by Alan Maley on 16 December, 2009 - 14:41
Creative writing normally refers to the production of texts which have an aesthetic rather than a purely informative, instrumental or pragmatic purpose. Most often, such texts take the form of poems or stories, though they are not confined to these genres. (Letters, journal entries, blogs, essays, travelogues, etc. can also be more or less creative.) In fact, the line between creative writing (CW) and expository writing (ER) is not carved in stone. In general, however CW texts draw more heavily on intuition, close observation, imagination, and personal memories than ER texts.
One of the chief distinguishing characteristics of CW texts is a playful engagement with language, stretching and testing its rules to the limit in a guilt-free atmosphere, where risk is encouraged. Such writing combines cognitive with affective modes of thinking. As the poet, R.S. Thomas once wrote, ‘Poetry is that which arrives at the intellect by way of the heart.’ The playful element in CW should not, however be confused with a lax and unregulated use of language. On the contrary, CW requires a willing submission on the part of the writer to the ‘rules’ of the sub-genre being undertaken. If you want to write a Limerick, then you have to follow the rules governing limericks. If not, what you produce will be something other than a limerick: obvious, perhaps, but important too. The interesting thing is that the very constraints which the rules impose seem to foster rather than restrict the creativity of the writer. This apparent paradox is explained partly by the deeper processing of thought and language which the rules require.
What are the benefits of CW for learners?
* CW aids language development at all levels: grammar, vocabulary, phonology and discourse. It requires learners to manipulate the language in interesting and demanding ways in attempting to express uniquely personal meanings. In doing so, they necessarily engage with the language at a deeper level of processing than with most expository texts. (Craik and Lockhart 1972) The gains in grammatical accuracy and range, in the appropriacy and originality of lexical choice, in sensitivity to rhyme, rhythm, stress and intonation, and in the way texts hang together are significant.
* As mentioned above, a key characteristic of CW is a willingness to play with the language. In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in the role of play in language acquisition. (Carter 2004, Cook 2000, Crystal 1998) In some ways, the sunami of the Communicative Approach has done a disservice to language teaching by its insistence on the purely communicative functions of language. Proponents of ‘play’ point out, rightly, that in L1 acquisition, much of the language encountered by and used by children is in the form of rhythmical chants and rhymes, word games, jokes and the like. Furthermore, such playfulness survives into adulthood, so that many social encounters are characterized by language play (punning, spontaneous jokes, ‘funny voices’, metathesis, and a discourse which is shaped by quasi-poetic repetition (Tannen 1989)). These are precisely the kinds of things L2 learners are encouraged to do in CW activities. This playful element encourages them to play creatively with the language, and in so doing, to take the risks without which learning cannot take place in any profound sense. As Crystal (1998) states, ‘Reading and writing do not have to be a prison house. Release is possible. And maybe language play can provide the key.’
* Much of the teaching we do tends to focus on the left side of the brain, where our logical faculties are said to reside. CW puts the emphasis on the right side of the brain, with a focus on feelings, physical sensations, intuition and musicality. This is a healthy restoration of the balance between logical and intuitive faculties. It also affords scope for learners whose hemisphere dominance or learning-style preferences may not be intellectual or left brain dominant, and who, in the normal process of teaching are therefore at a disadvantage.
* Perhaps most notable is the dramatic increase in self-confidence and self-esteem which CW tends to develop among learners. Learners also tend to discover things for themselves about the language… and about themselves too, thus promoting personal as well as linguistic growth. Inevitably, these gains are reflected in a corresponding growth in positive motivation. Among the conditions for promoting motivation, Dornyei (2001: 138-144) cites:
* “5. Create a pleasant and supportive atmosphere.
* 6. Promote the development of group cohesiveness.
* 13. Increase the students’ expectation of success in particular tasks and in learning in general.
* 17. Make learning more stimulating and enjoyable by breaking the monotony of classroom events.
* 18. Make learning stimulating and enjoyable by increasing the attractiveness of tasks.
* 19. Make learning stimulating and enjoyable for learners by enlisting them as active task participants.
* 20. Present and administer tasks in a motivating way.
* 23. Provide students with regular experiences of success.
* 24. Build your learners’ confidence by providing regular encouragement.
* 28. Increase student motivation by promoting cooperation among the learners.
* 29. Increase student motivation by actively promoting learner autonomy.
* 33. Increase learner satisfaction.
* 34. Offer rewards in a motivational manner.”
* All these conditions are met in a well-run CW class. The exponential increase in motivation is certainly supported by my own experience in teaching CW. Learners suddenly realize that they can write something in a foreign language that has never been written by anyone else before, and which others find interesting to read. (Hence the importance of ‘publishing’ students’ work in some form.) And they experience not only a pride in their own products but also a joy in the ‘flow’ of the process. (Czsikszentmihaly 1997).
* Finally, CW feeds into more creative reading. It is as if, by getting inside the process of creating the texts, learners come to understand intuitively how such texts function, and this makes similar texts easier to read. Likewise, the development of aesthetic reading skills ( Kramsch 1993, Rosenblatt 1978), provides the learner with a better understanding of textual construction, and this feeds into their writing.
And teachers?
I argued in the first article that teachers, as well as learners, should engage with extensive reading. In the same spirit, I would argue that there are significant benefits to teachers if they participate in CW.
* There is little point in exhorting learners to engage in CW unless we do so too. The power of the teacher as model, and as co-writer is inestimable.
* CW is one way of keeping teachers’ English fresh and vibrant. For much of our professional lives we are in thrall to the controlled language of textbook English and the repeated low level error-laden English of our students. As teachers of language, we surely have a responsibility to keep our primary resource alive and well.
* CW seems to have an effect on the writer’s level of energy in general. This tends to make teachers who use CW more interesting to be around, and this inevitably impacts on their relationships with students.
* The experimental stance with regard to writing in general appears to fee back into the teaching of writing. Teachers of CW tend also to be better teachers of writing in general
My evidence for these assertions is largely anecdotal, backed by a survey of writing teachers I conducted in 2006. One of the interesting facts to emerge was a widespread belief among teachers of writing that CW had a positive effect on students’ writing of Expository texts and helped them develop that much- desired but rarely-delivered ‘authentic voice’.
Space does not allow me to expand on these findings, nor on some of the possible activities teachers might try. I will attempt to make good these omissions in some of my blogs during the month of December. I will also make reference there to ways in which CW intersects with some of our major current concerns. Meantime, anyone interested could sample some of the books from the list below: Fry (2007), Koch (1990), Matthews (1994), Spiro (2004, 2007), Whitworth (2001) and Wright and Hill (2009)
References
* Carter, Ronald. (2004) Language and creativity: the art of common talk. London: Routledge.
* Cszikszentmihalyi. M. ( 1997) Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New York: Harper Perennial
*
* Cook, Guy (2000) Language Play: Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* Craik, F.I.M and R.S Lockhart (1972) ‘Levels of processing: a framework for memory research’ Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behaviour. 11. 671-685
* Crystal, David (1998) Language Play. London: Penguin
* Dornyei, Zoltan (2001) Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Fry, Stephen (2007) The Ode Less Travelled. London: Arrow Books.
* Koch, Kenneth. (1990) Rose, where did you get that red? New York: Vintage Books.
* Kramsch, Claire (1993) Context and Culture in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* Matthews, Paul (1994) Sing Me the Creation. Stroud: Hawthorne Press.
* Rosenblatt, Louise (1978) The Reader, the Text, the Poem. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press.
* Spiro, Jane (2004) Creative Poetry Writing. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* Spiro, Jane (2007) Storybuilding. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* Tannen, Deborah. (1989) Talking Voices: Repetition, dialogue, and imagery in conversational discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Whitworth, John. (2001) Writing Poetry. London: A and C Black.
* Wright, Andrew and David S.Hill. (2009) Writing Stories. Innsbruck: Helbling
Submitted by Alan Maley on 16 December, 2009 - 14:41
Creative writing normally refers to the production of texts which have an aesthetic rather than a purely informative, instrumental or pragmatic purpose. Most often, such texts take the form of poems or stories, though they are not confined to these genres. (Letters, journal entries, blogs, essays, travelogues, etc. can also be more or less creative.) In fact, the line between creative writing (CW) and expository writing (ER) is not carved in stone. In general, however CW texts draw more heavily on intuition, close observation, imagination, and personal memories than ER texts.
One of the chief distinguishing characteristics of CW texts is a playful engagement with language, stretching and testing its rules to the limit in a guilt-free atmosphere, where risk is encouraged. Such writing combines cognitive with affective modes of thinking. As the poet, R.S. Thomas once wrote, ‘Poetry is that which arrives at the intellect by way of the heart.’ The playful element in CW should not, however be confused with a lax and unregulated use of language. On the contrary, CW requires a willing submission on the part of the writer to the ‘rules’ of the sub-genre being undertaken. If you want to write a Limerick, then you have to follow the rules governing limericks. If not, what you produce will be something other than a limerick: obvious, perhaps, but important too. The interesting thing is that the very constraints which the rules impose seem to foster rather than restrict the creativity of the writer. This apparent paradox is explained partly by the deeper processing of thought and language which the rules require.
What are the benefits of CW for learners?
* CW aids language development at all levels: grammar, vocabulary, phonology and discourse. It requires learners to manipulate the language in interesting and demanding ways in attempting to express uniquely personal meanings. In doing so, they necessarily engage with the language at a deeper level of processing than with most expository texts. (Craik and Lockhart 1972) The gains in grammatical accuracy and range, in the appropriacy and originality of lexical choice, in sensitivity to rhyme, rhythm, stress and intonation, and in the way texts hang together are significant.
* As mentioned above, a key characteristic of CW is a willingness to play with the language. In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in the role of play in language acquisition. (Carter 2004, Cook 2000, Crystal 1998) In some ways, the sunami of the Communicative Approach has done a disservice to language teaching by its insistence on the purely communicative functions of language. Proponents of ‘play’ point out, rightly, that in L1 acquisition, much of the language encountered by and used by children is in the form of rhythmical chants and rhymes, word games, jokes and the like. Furthermore, such playfulness survives into adulthood, so that many social encounters are characterized by language play (punning, spontaneous jokes, ‘funny voices’, metathesis, and a discourse which is shaped by quasi-poetic repetition (Tannen 1989)). These are precisely the kinds of things L2 learners are encouraged to do in CW activities. This playful element encourages them to play creatively with the language, and in so doing, to take the risks without which learning cannot take place in any profound sense. As Crystal (1998) states, ‘Reading and writing do not have to be a prison house. Release is possible. And maybe language play can provide the key.’
* Much of the teaching we do tends to focus on the left side of the brain, where our logical faculties are said to reside. CW puts the emphasis on the right side of the brain, with a focus on feelings, physical sensations, intuition and musicality. This is a healthy restoration of the balance between logical and intuitive faculties. It also affords scope for learners whose hemisphere dominance or learning-style preferences may not be intellectual or left brain dominant, and who, in the normal process of teaching are therefore at a disadvantage.
* Perhaps most notable is the dramatic increase in self-confidence and self-esteem which CW tends to develop among learners. Learners also tend to discover things for themselves about the language… and about themselves too, thus promoting personal as well as linguistic growth. Inevitably, these gains are reflected in a corresponding growth in positive motivation. Among the conditions for promoting motivation, Dornyei (2001: 138-144) cites:
* “5. Create a pleasant and supportive atmosphere.
* 6. Promote the development of group cohesiveness.
* 13. Increase the students’ expectation of success in particular tasks and in learning in general.
* 17. Make learning more stimulating and enjoyable by breaking the monotony of classroom events.
* 18. Make learning stimulating and enjoyable by increasing the attractiveness of tasks.
* 19. Make learning stimulating and enjoyable for learners by enlisting them as active task participants.
* 20. Present and administer tasks in a motivating way.
* 23. Provide students with regular experiences of success.
* 24. Build your learners’ confidence by providing regular encouragement.
* 28. Increase student motivation by promoting cooperation among the learners.
* 29. Increase student motivation by actively promoting learner autonomy.
* 33. Increase learner satisfaction.
* 34. Offer rewards in a motivational manner.”
* All these conditions are met in a well-run CW class. The exponential increase in motivation is certainly supported by my own experience in teaching CW. Learners suddenly realize that they can write something in a foreign language that has never been written by anyone else before, and which others find interesting to read. (Hence the importance of ‘publishing’ students’ work in some form.) And they experience not only a pride in their own products but also a joy in the ‘flow’ of the process. (Czsikszentmihaly 1997).
* Finally, CW feeds into more creative reading. It is as if, by getting inside the process of creating the texts, learners come to understand intuitively how such texts function, and this makes similar texts easier to read. Likewise, the development of aesthetic reading skills ( Kramsch 1993, Rosenblatt 1978), provides the learner with a better understanding of textual construction, and this feeds into their writing.
And teachers?
I argued in the first article that teachers, as well as learners, should engage with extensive reading. In the same spirit, I would argue that there are significant benefits to teachers if they participate in CW.
* There is little point in exhorting learners to engage in CW unless we do so too. The power of the teacher as model, and as co-writer is inestimable.
* CW is one way of keeping teachers’ English fresh and vibrant. For much of our professional lives we are in thrall to the controlled language of textbook English and the repeated low level error-laden English of our students. As teachers of language, we surely have a responsibility to keep our primary resource alive and well.
* CW seems to have an effect on the writer’s level of energy in general. This tends to make teachers who use CW more interesting to be around, and this inevitably impacts on their relationships with students.
* The experimental stance with regard to writing in general appears to fee back into the teaching of writing. Teachers of CW tend also to be better teachers of writing in general
My evidence for these assertions is largely anecdotal, backed by a survey of writing teachers I conducted in 2006. One of the interesting facts to emerge was a widespread belief among teachers of writing that CW had a positive effect on students’ writing of Expository texts and helped them develop that much- desired but rarely-delivered ‘authentic voice’.
Space does not allow me to expand on these findings, nor on some of the possible activities teachers might try. I will attempt to make good these omissions in some of my blogs during the month of December. I will also make reference there to ways in which CW intersects with some of our major current concerns. Meantime, anyone interested could sample some of the books from the list below: Fry (2007), Koch (1990), Matthews (1994), Spiro (2004, 2007), Whitworth (2001) and Wright and Hill (2009)
References
* Carter, Ronald. (2004) Language and creativity: the art of common talk. London: Routledge.
* Cszikszentmihalyi. M. ( 1997) Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New York: Harper Perennial
*
* Cook, Guy (2000) Language Play: Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* Craik, F.I.M and R.S Lockhart (1972) ‘Levels of processing: a framework for memory research’ Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behaviour. 11. 671-685
* Crystal, David (1998) Language Play. London: Penguin
* Dornyei, Zoltan (2001) Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Fry, Stephen (2007) The Ode Less Travelled. London: Arrow Books.
* Koch, Kenneth. (1990) Rose, where did you get that red? New York: Vintage Books.
* Kramsch, Claire (1993) Context and Culture in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* Matthews, Paul (1994) Sing Me the Creation. Stroud: Hawthorne Press.
* Rosenblatt, Louise (1978) The Reader, the Text, the Poem. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press.
* Spiro, Jane (2004) Creative Poetry Writing. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* Spiro, Jane (2007) Storybuilding. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* Tannen, Deborah. (1989) Talking Voices: Repetition, dialogue, and imagery in conversational discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Whitworth, John. (2001) Writing Poetry. London: A and C Black.
* Wright, Andrew and David S.Hill. (2009) Writing Stories. Innsbruck: Helbling
Lesson Plans Focusing on Tenses and Verb Conjugation
Lesson Plans Focusing on Tenses and Verb Conjugation
By Kenneth Beare, About.com Guide
See More About:
* teaching grammar
* grammar banging
* grammar guide
* grammar review
These lesson plans help students learn to use English tenses and conjugate with confidence. Many of the lessons focus on using related verb tenses during conversation, rather than focusing simply on correct verb conjugation. Each lesson includes lesson objectives, step by step instructions and copyable handout materials for in-class use.
1. Tense Review
These pages provide a lesson aimed at reviewing names and structures of basic tenses. On the second page you will find a printable version of the lesson, as well as the answers to the exercises.
2. Integrating Target Grammar Structures
The example lesson plan focuses on the use of recycling language, namely the passive voice, to help students learn inductively while at the same time improve their oral production skills. By often repeating the passive voice in various guises the students become comfortable with the use of the passive and can then go on to actually employ the passive voice in speaking. It is important to remember that the subject area that the should speak about needs to be limited as to not male the task too difficult by giving students too much choice.
3. A VIP - Present Perfect Simple and Continuous
Students often confuse the present perfect and present perfect continuous. This lesson employs an imaginary biography to get students asking questions and speaking about completed accomplishments (present perfect) and duration of activity (present perfect continuous).
4. Conditional Statements
Making conditional statements are an important part of fluency. This lesson focuses on helping students improve their recognition of the structure and use it in conversation
5. Question Tags
If we want to ask for information we usually use the standard question form. However, sometimes we just want to keep a conversation going, or confirm information. In this case, question tags are often used to solicit input or confirmation to what we are saying. Using question tags well also promotes a keen understanding of the use of various auxiliary verbs.
6. Use of Time Expressions
Time expressions are often the key to understanding and planning written work. Students can improve their written and spoken accuracy by having a good grasp of the relationship between time expressions and tenses. This lesson includes an identification and matching exercise and is followed by a longer sentence construction exercise to give students practice in correct sentence structure.
7. Time Expressions - Past or Present Perfect?
The following lesson takes an inductive approach to helping students refine their usage of past simple or present perfect. Focusing on time signifiers instead of conjugation can help students improve their overall understanding of the importance time and context plays in speaking English.
Related Articles
* Lesson: Use of Time Expressions
* Lesson Plan: Integrating Target Structure
* intermediate Level Free English Lesson Plans - Lesson Plans for TESOL Teach...
* Future with Going to and Will - ESL Lesson Plan
* Lesson Plan for ESL EFL English Classes Focusing on Dictinary Use
By Kenneth Beare, About.com Guide
See More About:
* teaching grammar
* grammar banging
* grammar guide
* grammar review
These lesson plans help students learn to use English tenses and conjugate with confidence. Many of the lessons focus on using related verb tenses during conversation, rather than focusing simply on correct verb conjugation. Each lesson includes lesson objectives, step by step instructions and copyable handout materials for in-class use.
1. Tense Review
These pages provide a lesson aimed at reviewing names and structures of basic tenses. On the second page you will find a printable version of the lesson, as well as the answers to the exercises.
2. Integrating Target Grammar Structures
The example lesson plan focuses on the use of recycling language, namely the passive voice, to help students learn inductively while at the same time improve their oral production skills. By often repeating the passive voice in various guises the students become comfortable with the use of the passive and can then go on to actually employ the passive voice in speaking. It is important to remember that the subject area that the should speak about needs to be limited as to not male the task too difficult by giving students too much choice.
3. A VIP - Present Perfect Simple and Continuous
Students often confuse the present perfect and present perfect continuous. This lesson employs an imaginary biography to get students asking questions and speaking about completed accomplishments (present perfect) and duration of activity (present perfect continuous).
4. Conditional Statements
Making conditional statements are an important part of fluency. This lesson focuses on helping students improve their recognition of the structure and use it in conversation
5. Question Tags
If we want to ask for information we usually use the standard question form. However, sometimes we just want to keep a conversation going, or confirm information. In this case, question tags are often used to solicit input or confirmation to what we are saying. Using question tags well also promotes a keen understanding of the use of various auxiliary verbs.
6. Use of Time Expressions
Time expressions are often the key to understanding and planning written work. Students can improve their written and spoken accuracy by having a good grasp of the relationship between time expressions and tenses. This lesson includes an identification and matching exercise and is followed by a longer sentence construction exercise to give students practice in correct sentence structure.
7. Time Expressions - Past or Present Perfect?
The following lesson takes an inductive approach to helping students refine their usage of past simple or present perfect. Focusing on time signifiers instead of conjugation can help students improve their overall understanding of the importance time and context plays in speaking English.
Related Articles
* Lesson: Use of Time Expressions
* Lesson Plan: Integrating Target Structure
* intermediate Level Free English Lesson Plans - Lesson Plans for TESOL Teach...
* Future with Going to and Will - ESL Lesson Plan
* Lesson Plan for ESL EFL English Classes Focusing on Dictinary Use
Extensive reading: why it is good for our students… and for us.
Extensive reading: why it is good for our students… and for us.
Submitted by Alan Maley
In this, the first of two articles for TeachingEnglish, Alan Maley considers the benefits extensive reading can bring to English language learners and teachers.
What is Extensive Reading (ER)?
Extensive Reading is often referred to but it is worth checking on what it actually involves. Richard Day has provided a list of key characteristics of ER (Day 2002). This is complemented by Philip Prowse (2002). Maley (2008) deals with ER comprehensively. The following is a digest of the two lists of factors or principles for successful ER:
1. Students read a lot and read often.
2. There is a wide variety of text types and topics to choose from.
3. The texts are not just interesting: they are engaging/ compelling.
4. Students choose what to read.
5. Reading purposes focus on: pleasure, information and general understanding.
6. Reading is its own reward.
7. There are no tests, no exercises, no questions and no dictionaries.
8. Materials are within the language competence of the students.
9. Reading is individual, and silent.
10. Speed is faster, not deliberate and slow.
11. The teacher explains the goals and procedures clearly, then monitors and guides the students.
12. The teacher is a role model…a reader, who participates along with the students.
The model is very much like that for L1 reading proposed by Atwell (2006). It has been variously described as Free Voluntary Reading (FEVER), Uninterrupted Silent Reading (USR), Sustained Silent Reading (SSR), Drop Everything and Read (DEAR), or Positive Outcomes While Enjoying Reading (POWER).
So what are the benefits of ER?
Both common sense observation and copious research evidence bear out the many benefits which come from ER (Waring 2000, 2006). There are useful summaries of the evidence in Day and Bamford (1998: 32-39) and The Special Issue of The Language Teacher (1997) including articles by Paul Nation and others, and passionate advocacy in Krashen’s The Power of Reading. (2004). The journals Reading in a Foreign Language and the International Journal of Foreign Language Learning are also good sources of research studies supporting ER. (see references for websites) And there is the indispensable annotated bibliography, http://www.extensivereading.net/er/biblio2.html
So what does it all add up to?
ER develops learner autonomy.
There is no cheaper or more effective way to develop learner autonomy. Reading is, by its very nature, a private, individual activity. It can be done anywhere, at any time of day. Readers can start and stop at will, and read at the speed they are comfortable with. They can visualise and interpret what they read in their own way. They can ask themselves questions (explicit or implicit), notice things about the language, or simply let the story carry them along.
ER offers Comprehensible Input.
Reading is the most readily available form of comprehensible input, especially in places where there is hardly any contact with the target language. If carefully chosen to suit learners’ level, it offers them repeated encounters with language items they have already met. This helps them to consolidate what they already know and to extend it. There is no way any learner will meet new language enough times to learn it in the limited number of hours in class. The only reliable way to learn a language is through massive and repeated exposure to it in context: precisely what ER provides.
ER enhances general language competence.
In ways we so far do not fully understand, the benefits of ER extend beyond reading. There is ‘a spread of effect from reading competence to other language skills ~ writing, speaking and control over syntax.’ (Elley 1991) The same phenomenon is noted by Day and Bamford (1998: 32-39) but they even note evidence of improvements in the spoken language. So reading copiously seems to benefit all language skills, not just reading.
ER helps develop general, world knowledge.
Many, if not most, students have a rather limited experience and knowledge of the world they inhabit both cognitively and affectively. ER opens windows on the world seen through different eyes. This educational function of ER cannot be emphasised enough.
ER extends, consolidates and sustains vocabulary growth.
Vocabulary is not learned by a single exposure. ER allows for multiple encounters with words and phrases in context thus making possible the progressive accretion of meanings to them. By presenting items in context, it also makes the deduction of meaning of unknown items easier. There have been many studies of vocabulary acquisition from ER (Day et al 1991, Nation and Wang 1999, Pigada and Schmitt, 2006). Michael Hoey’s theory of ‘lexical priming’ (Hoey 1991, 2005) also gives powerful support to the effect of multiple exposure to language items in context.
ER helps improve writing.
There is a well-established link between reading and writing. Basically, the more we read, the better we write. Exactly how this happens is still not understood (Kroll 2003) but the fact that it happens is well-documented (Hafiz and Tudor 1989) Commonsense would indicate that as we meet more language, more often, through reading, our language acquisition mechanism is primed to produce it in writing or speech when it is needed. (Hoey 2005).
ER creates and sustains motivation to read more.
The virtuous circle - success leading to success - ensures that, as we read successfully in the foreign language, so we are encouraged to read more. The effect on self-esteem and motivation of reading one’s first book in the foreign language is undeniable. It is what Krashen calls a ‘home run’ book : ‘my first’! This relates back to the point at the beginning of the need to find ‘compelling’, not merely interesting, reading material. It is this that fuels the compulsion to read the next Harry Potter. It also explains the relatively new trend in graded readers toward original and more compelling subject matter. (Moses)
So why don’t teachers use ER more often?
A good question. When I conducted an inquiry among teachers worldwide, the answers came down to these:
a) Insufficient time.
b) Too costly.
c) Reading materials not available.
d) ER not linked to the syllabus and the examination.
e) Lack of understanding of ER and its benefits.
f) Downward pressure on teachers to conform to syllabi and textbooks.
g) Resistance from teachers, who find it impossible to stop teaching and to allow learning to take place.
Oddly, the elephant in the room: the Internet culture of young people, was not mentioned. There is work on the non-linear reading required by Internet users in Murray and Macpherson (2005), and articles on hypermedia by Richards (2000), and Ferradas Moi (2008) and some interesting reflections in Johnson (2006). The ‘non-reader’ issue will not go away but it is too important to deal with here and needs a separate article.
Extensive Reading for Teachers
My contention is that reading extensively, promiscuously and associatively is good for teacher, and for personal development. ‘The idea of the teacher having to be someone who is constantly developing and growing as a whole human being as a prerequisite for being able to truly help his or her pupils to be able to do the same, is such a core truth of teaching, yet it is typically ignored in FLT. (Peter Lutzker)
ER helps teachers to be better informed, both about their profession and about the world. This makes them more interesting to be around – and students generally like their teachers to be interesting people. For our own sanity we need to read outside the language teaching ghetto. For the sake of our students too.
It also helps teachers to keep their own use of English fresh. As we saw, the research on language learner reading shows how extensive reading feeds into improvements in all areas of language competence. (Krashen 2004) If this is true for learners, how much more true for teachers, who risk infection by exposure to so much restricted and error - laden English or who only read professional literature? Regular wide reading can add zest and pleasure to our own use of the language.
Teachers who show that they read widely are models for their students. We often tell students to ‘read more’ but why should they read if we do not? Teachers who are readers are more likely to have students who read too.
Furthermore, the books we read outside our narrow professional field can have an unpredictable effect on our practice within it. So much of what we learn is learned sub-consciously. Its effects spread more by infection than by direct injection. And it is highly individual. Individuals form associative networks among the books they read. This results in a kind of personal intertextuality, where the patterns form and re-form as we read more different books. This gives us a rich mental yeast which we can use to interact with others, while still retaining our individual take on the texts and the world.
So Extensive Reading has a lot to offer - both for our students and ourselves Read on!.
References.
* Atwell, Nancie. (2006) The Reading Zone: how to help kids become skilled, passionate, habitual, critical readers. New York: Scholastic
* Bamford, Julian and Richard Day. (2004) Extensive Reading Activities for Teaching Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Day, Richard, R. (2002) ‘Top Ten Principles for teaching extensive reading.’ Reading in a Foreign Language. 14 (2)
* Day, Richard, R , Omura, Carole, Hiramatsu, Motoo. (1991) ‘Incidental EFL vocabulary learning and reading.’ Reading in a Foreign Language. 7 (2)
* Day, Richard, R and Bamford, Julian.(1998) Extensive Reading in the Second Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Elley, W.B (1991) ‘Acquiring literacy in a second language: the effect of book-based programmes.’ Language Learning. 41. 375-411
* Ferradas Moi, Claudia. (2003) ‘Hyperfiction: Explorations in Texture’ in B.Tomlinson (ed) (2003) Developing Materials for Language Teaching. London/New York: Continuum, pp 221-233
* Hafiz, F.M and Tudor, I. (1989) ‘Extensive reading and the development of language skills.’ ELT Journal 43 (1) 4-13
* Hoey, Michael (1991) Patterns of Lexis in Texts. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* Hoey, Michael (2005) Lexical Priming. London: Routledge
* Johnson, Steven (2006) Everything Bad is Good for You. New York: Riverhead.
* Krashen, Stephen (2nd edition. 2004 ) The Power of Reading: insights from the research. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
* Kroll, Barbara (ed) (2003) Exploring the Dynamics of Second Language Writing.: Chapter 10 Reading and Writing Relations. New York: Cambridge University Press.
* Maley, Alan (2008) ‘Extensive Reading: Maid in Waiting’ in B. Tomlinson (ed) English Language Learning Materials: a critical review. London/New York: Continuum pp133-156.
* Moses, Antoinette, (2004) Jojo’s Story. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Murray, Denise and Pamela McPherson (eds) (2005) Navigating to Read – Reading to Navigate. Teaching in Action (series) Sydney: NCELTR, McQuarie University
* Nation, Paul (1997) ‘The language teaching benefits of extensive reading.’ The Language Teacher. 21 (5)
* Nation, Paul and Wang Ming-Tzu, Karen (1999) ‘Graded readers and vocabulary.’ Reading in a Foreign Language. 12 (2)
* Pigada, Maria and Norbert Schmitt (2006) ‘Vocabulary acquisition for extensive reading.’ Reading in a Foreign Language. 18 (1)
* Prowse, Philip. ‘What is the secret of extensive reading?’ http://www.cambridge.org/elt/readers/prowse 1.htm (accessed 4 April 2007)
* Prowse, P. (2002) ‘Top ten principles for teaching extensive reading: a response.’ Reading in a Foreign Language. 14 (2)
* Richards, Cameron (2000) ‘Hypermedia, Internet communication and the challenge of re-defining literacy in the electronic age.’ Language Teaching and Technology. 4 (2,) 59-77.
* Scmidtt, Ken Lower level Extensive reading Opportunities for Lower-level Learners of EFL/ESL. on http://tesl-ej.org/ej13/int.html
* Waring, Rob (2000) The ‘Why’ and ‘How’ of Using Graded Readers. Oxford University Press, Japan. (free publication accessible on www.oupjapan.co.jp/teachers/tebiki/tebiki.shtml)
* Waring, Rob (2006) ‘Why Extensive Reading should be an indispensable part of all language programmes’. The Language Teacher 30 (7): 44-47
Submitted by Alan Maley
In this, the first of two articles for TeachingEnglish, Alan Maley considers the benefits extensive reading can bring to English language learners and teachers.
What is Extensive Reading (ER)?
Extensive Reading is often referred to but it is worth checking on what it actually involves. Richard Day has provided a list of key characteristics of ER (Day 2002). This is complemented by Philip Prowse (2002). Maley (2008) deals with ER comprehensively. The following is a digest of the two lists of factors or principles for successful ER:
1. Students read a lot and read often.
2. There is a wide variety of text types and topics to choose from.
3. The texts are not just interesting: they are engaging/ compelling.
4. Students choose what to read.
5. Reading purposes focus on: pleasure, information and general understanding.
6. Reading is its own reward.
7. There are no tests, no exercises, no questions and no dictionaries.
8. Materials are within the language competence of the students.
9. Reading is individual, and silent.
10. Speed is faster, not deliberate and slow.
11. The teacher explains the goals and procedures clearly, then monitors and guides the students.
12. The teacher is a role model…a reader, who participates along with the students.
The model is very much like that for L1 reading proposed by Atwell (2006). It has been variously described as Free Voluntary Reading (FEVER), Uninterrupted Silent Reading (USR), Sustained Silent Reading (SSR), Drop Everything and Read (DEAR), or Positive Outcomes While Enjoying Reading (POWER).
So what are the benefits of ER?
Both common sense observation and copious research evidence bear out the many benefits which come from ER (Waring 2000, 2006). There are useful summaries of the evidence in Day and Bamford (1998: 32-39) and The Special Issue of The Language Teacher (1997) including articles by Paul Nation and others, and passionate advocacy in Krashen’s The Power of Reading. (2004). The journals Reading in a Foreign Language and the International Journal of Foreign Language Learning are also good sources of research studies supporting ER. (see references for websites) And there is the indispensable annotated bibliography, http://www.extensivereading.net/er/biblio2.html
So what does it all add up to?
ER develops learner autonomy.
There is no cheaper or more effective way to develop learner autonomy. Reading is, by its very nature, a private, individual activity. It can be done anywhere, at any time of day. Readers can start and stop at will, and read at the speed they are comfortable with. They can visualise and interpret what they read in their own way. They can ask themselves questions (explicit or implicit), notice things about the language, or simply let the story carry them along.
ER offers Comprehensible Input.
Reading is the most readily available form of comprehensible input, especially in places where there is hardly any contact with the target language. If carefully chosen to suit learners’ level, it offers them repeated encounters with language items they have already met. This helps them to consolidate what they already know and to extend it. There is no way any learner will meet new language enough times to learn it in the limited number of hours in class. The only reliable way to learn a language is through massive and repeated exposure to it in context: precisely what ER provides.
ER enhances general language competence.
In ways we so far do not fully understand, the benefits of ER extend beyond reading. There is ‘a spread of effect from reading competence to other language skills ~ writing, speaking and control over syntax.’ (Elley 1991) The same phenomenon is noted by Day and Bamford (1998: 32-39) but they even note evidence of improvements in the spoken language. So reading copiously seems to benefit all language skills, not just reading.
ER helps develop general, world knowledge.
Many, if not most, students have a rather limited experience and knowledge of the world they inhabit both cognitively and affectively. ER opens windows on the world seen through different eyes. This educational function of ER cannot be emphasised enough.
ER extends, consolidates and sustains vocabulary growth.
Vocabulary is not learned by a single exposure. ER allows for multiple encounters with words and phrases in context thus making possible the progressive accretion of meanings to them. By presenting items in context, it also makes the deduction of meaning of unknown items easier. There have been many studies of vocabulary acquisition from ER (Day et al 1991, Nation and Wang 1999, Pigada and Schmitt, 2006). Michael Hoey’s theory of ‘lexical priming’ (Hoey 1991, 2005) also gives powerful support to the effect of multiple exposure to language items in context.
ER helps improve writing.
There is a well-established link between reading and writing. Basically, the more we read, the better we write. Exactly how this happens is still not understood (Kroll 2003) but the fact that it happens is well-documented (Hafiz and Tudor 1989) Commonsense would indicate that as we meet more language, more often, through reading, our language acquisition mechanism is primed to produce it in writing or speech when it is needed. (Hoey 2005).
ER creates and sustains motivation to read more.
The virtuous circle - success leading to success - ensures that, as we read successfully in the foreign language, so we are encouraged to read more. The effect on self-esteem and motivation of reading one’s first book in the foreign language is undeniable. It is what Krashen calls a ‘home run’ book : ‘my first’! This relates back to the point at the beginning of the need to find ‘compelling’, not merely interesting, reading material. It is this that fuels the compulsion to read the next Harry Potter. It also explains the relatively new trend in graded readers toward original and more compelling subject matter. (Moses)
So why don’t teachers use ER more often?
A good question. When I conducted an inquiry among teachers worldwide, the answers came down to these:
a) Insufficient time.
b) Too costly.
c) Reading materials not available.
d) ER not linked to the syllabus and the examination.
e) Lack of understanding of ER and its benefits.
f) Downward pressure on teachers to conform to syllabi and textbooks.
g) Resistance from teachers, who find it impossible to stop teaching and to allow learning to take place.
Oddly, the elephant in the room: the Internet culture of young people, was not mentioned. There is work on the non-linear reading required by Internet users in Murray and Macpherson (2005), and articles on hypermedia by Richards (2000), and Ferradas Moi (2008) and some interesting reflections in Johnson (2006). The ‘non-reader’ issue will not go away but it is too important to deal with here and needs a separate article.
Extensive Reading for Teachers
My contention is that reading extensively, promiscuously and associatively is good for teacher, and for personal development. ‘The idea of the teacher having to be someone who is constantly developing and growing as a whole human being as a prerequisite for being able to truly help his or her pupils to be able to do the same, is such a core truth of teaching, yet it is typically ignored in FLT. (Peter Lutzker)
ER helps teachers to be better informed, both about their profession and about the world. This makes them more interesting to be around – and students generally like their teachers to be interesting people. For our own sanity we need to read outside the language teaching ghetto. For the sake of our students too.
It also helps teachers to keep their own use of English fresh. As we saw, the research on language learner reading shows how extensive reading feeds into improvements in all areas of language competence. (Krashen 2004) If this is true for learners, how much more true for teachers, who risk infection by exposure to so much restricted and error - laden English or who only read professional literature? Regular wide reading can add zest and pleasure to our own use of the language.
Teachers who show that they read widely are models for their students. We often tell students to ‘read more’ but why should they read if we do not? Teachers who are readers are more likely to have students who read too.
Furthermore, the books we read outside our narrow professional field can have an unpredictable effect on our practice within it. So much of what we learn is learned sub-consciously. Its effects spread more by infection than by direct injection. And it is highly individual. Individuals form associative networks among the books they read. This results in a kind of personal intertextuality, where the patterns form and re-form as we read more different books. This gives us a rich mental yeast which we can use to interact with others, while still retaining our individual take on the texts and the world.
So Extensive Reading has a lot to offer - both for our students and ourselves Read on!.
References.
* Atwell, Nancie. (2006) The Reading Zone: how to help kids become skilled, passionate, habitual, critical readers. New York: Scholastic
* Bamford, Julian and Richard Day. (2004) Extensive Reading Activities for Teaching Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Day, Richard, R. (2002) ‘Top Ten Principles for teaching extensive reading.’ Reading in a Foreign Language. 14 (2)
* Day, Richard, R , Omura, Carole, Hiramatsu, Motoo. (1991) ‘Incidental EFL vocabulary learning and reading.’ Reading in a Foreign Language. 7 (2)
* Day, Richard, R and Bamford, Julian.(1998) Extensive Reading in the Second Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Elley, W.B (1991) ‘Acquiring literacy in a second language: the effect of book-based programmes.’ Language Learning. 41. 375-411
* Ferradas Moi, Claudia. (2003) ‘Hyperfiction: Explorations in Texture’ in B.Tomlinson (ed) (2003) Developing Materials for Language Teaching. London/New York: Continuum, pp 221-233
* Hafiz, F.M and Tudor, I. (1989) ‘Extensive reading and the development of language skills.’ ELT Journal 43 (1) 4-13
* Hoey, Michael (1991) Patterns of Lexis in Texts. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* Hoey, Michael (2005) Lexical Priming. London: Routledge
* Johnson, Steven (2006) Everything Bad is Good for You. New York: Riverhead.
* Krashen, Stephen (2nd edition. 2004 ) The Power of Reading: insights from the research. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
* Kroll, Barbara (ed) (2003) Exploring the Dynamics of Second Language Writing.: Chapter 10 Reading and Writing Relations. New York: Cambridge University Press.
* Maley, Alan (2008) ‘Extensive Reading: Maid in Waiting’ in B. Tomlinson (ed) English Language Learning Materials: a critical review. London/New York: Continuum pp133-156.
* Moses, Antoinette, (2004) Jojo’s Story. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Murray, Denise and Pamela McPherson (eds) (2005) Navigating to Read – Reading to Navigate. Teaching in Action (series) Sydney: NCELTR, McQuarie University
* Nation, Paul (1997) ‘The language teaching benefits of extensive reading.’ The Language Teacher. 21 (5)
* Nation, Paul and Wang Ming-Tzu, Karen (1999) ‘Graded readers and vocabulary.’ Reading in a Foreign Language. 12 (2)
* Pigada, Maria and Norbert Schmitt (2006) ‘Vocabulary acquisition for extensive reading.’ Reading in a Foreign Language. 18 (1)
* Prowse, Philip. ‘What is the secret of extensive reading?’ http://www.cambridge.org/elt/readers/prowse 1.htm (accessed 4 April 2007)
* Prowse, P. (2002) ‘Top ten principles for teaching extensive reading: a response.’ Reading in a Foreign Language. 14 (2)
* Richards, Cameron (2000) ‘Hypermedia, Internet communication and the challenge of re-defining literacy in the electronic age.’ Language Teaching and Technology. 4 (2,) 59-77.
* Scmidtt, Ken Lower level Extensive reading Opportunities for Lower-level Learners of EFL/ESL. on http://tesl-ej.org/ej13/int.html
* Waring, Rob (2000) The ‘Why’ and ‘How’ of Using Graded Readers. Oxford University Press, Japan. (free publication accessible on www.oupjapan.co.jp/teachers/tebiki/tebiki.shtml)
* Waring, Rob (2006) ‘Why Extensive Reading should be an indispensable part of all language programmes’. The Language Teacher 30 (7): 44-47
Guide to Teaching English - Standard Curriculum Planning, Language Recycling
Guide to Teaching English - Standard Curriculum Planning, Language Recycling
By Kenneth Beare, About.com Guide
See More About:
* teaching reading skills
* teaching speaking skills
* esl teaching techniques
* teaching beginning english
* english teaching techniques
This continuation of advice for non-trained teachers of ESL / EFL focuses on building a program for your class or private students. The first part focuses on the basics of ESL.
There are a few important aspects to always keep in mind while developing any curriculum, be it only a few lessons or a full course:
* Language skills need to be recycled many times before they are actively acquired.
* All language skills - reading, writing, speaking and listening - should be involved in the learning process.
* Understanding grammar rules does not mean that a student can use that grammar - students need to actively practice skills they are learning.
Language Recycling
Language being acquired needs to be repeated in a various number of guises before it can be actively used by the student. Studies have shown that new linguistic functions need to be repeated at least six times before most learners can consider the new piece of language theirs. After six repetitions, the newly acquired language skills are usually still only passively activated. The learner will require many more repetitions before he/she will be able to use the skills actively in everyday conversation!
Here is an example of language recycling using the present simple:
* Work on the present simple rules.
* Read an article about the daily routines of someone.
* Listen to someone who describes his/her daily tasks.
* Have a discussion asking him to describe what he does on a daily basis, his wife, ask you questions etc.
Use All Four Skills
Employing all four linguistic skills - reading, writing, listening and speaking - when working through a lesson will help you recycle language during the lesson. Learning rules is important, but, in my opinion, practicing the language is even more important. Bringing all these aspects into a lesson will add variety to the lesson - and help the learner pragmatically practice the language. I've met many learners who can knock off a grammar sheet without a mistake and then, when asked, "Could you describe your sister?", have problems. This is generally due to the emphasis given in many school systems to learning grammar.
Putting It All Together
So, now you understand the basic tenets of teaching English effectively. You might be asking yourself the question: "What do I teach?"! When planning a course most coursebooks build their curriculum around certain themes which help glue everything together. While this can be rather complicated, I would like to provide a simple example developing the present simple and past simple. Use this type of outline to build your lesson and remember to provide a number of elements including listening, reading, writing and speaking and you should find that your lessons will have purpose and specific objectives which are clearly definable - helping you and your learners recognize the progress you are making!
1. Who are you? What do you do? - Daily Routines
* Present simple Example: What do you do? I work at Smith's. I get up at seven. etc.
* "to be" present Example: I'm married. She's thirty-four.
* Descriptive adjectives Example: I am tall. He is short.
2. Tell me about your past - Where did you go on your last holiday
* Past simple Example: What did you go on holiday when you were a child? I work
* "to be" past Example: The weather was fantastic.
* Irregular verbs Example: go - went, shine - shone
Finally, the lesson generally will be divided into three principle sections
* Introduction - introducing or reviewing the grammar or function.
* Development - taking that grammar and working on it in a reading, listening, or other form. This section should make up the bulk of your lesson and include a number of different activities if possible.
* Review - review the principle concepts covered during the lesson. This can be very straight forward and either student or teacher led depending on the level of your learners. Take a look at some of the lesson plans here at esl.about.com (feel free to use them!) and notice how the various methods mentioned above are employed while focusing on one specific linguistic function.
Related Articles
* English Lesson Plans - Free ESL EFL Lessons in Grammar, Reading, Writing, S...
* Teach ESL - Teaching English as a Second Language
* Writing Lessons - English as a Second Language
* Guide to Teaching English ESL EFL TEFL TESL for Non- Professionals
* Lesson Plan for Young Learners Focusing on National Sterotypes for ESL Engl...
By Kenneth Beare, About.com Guide
See More About:
* teaching reading skills
* teaching speaking skills
* esl teaching techniques
* teaching beginning english
* english teaching techniques
This continuation of advice for non-trained teachers of ESL / EFL focuses on building a program for your class or private students. The first part focuses on the basics of ESL.
There are a few important aspects to always keep in mind while developing any curriculum, be it only a few lessons or a full course:
* Language skills need to be recycled many times before they are actively acquired.
* All language skills - reading, writing, speaking and listening - should be involved in the learning process.
* Understanding grammar rules does not mean that a student can use that grammar - students need to actively practice skills they are learning.
Language Recycling
Language being acquired needs to be repeated in a various number of guises before it can be actively used by the student. Studies have shown that new linguistic functions need to be repeated at least six times before most learners can consider the new piece of language theirs. After six repetitions, the newly acquired language skills are usually still only passively activated. The learner will require many more repetitions before he/she will be able to use the skills actively in everyday conversation!
Here is an example of language recycling using the present simple:
* Work on the present simple rules.
* Read an article about the daily routines of someone.
* Listen to someone who describes his/her daily tasks.
* Have a discussion asking him to describe what he does on a daily basis, his wife, ask you questions etc.
Use All Four Skills
Employing all four linguistic skills - reading, writing, listening and speaking - when working through a lesson will help you recycle language during the lesson. Learning rules is important, but, in my opinion, practicing the language is even more important. Bringing all these aspects into a lesson will add variety to the lesson - and help the learner pragmatically practice the language. I've met many learners who can knock off a grammar sheet without a mistake and then, when asked, "Could you describe your sister?", have problems. This is generally due to the emphasis given in many school systems to learning grammar.
Putting It All Together
So, now you understand the basic tenets of teaching English effectively. You might be asking yourself the question: "What do I teach?"! When planning a course most coursebooks build their curriculum around certain themes which help glue everything together. While this can be rather complicated, I would like to provide a simple example developing the present simple and past simple. Use this type of outline to build your lesson and remember to provide a number of elements including listening, reading, writing and speaking and you should find that your lessons will have purpose and specific objectives which are clearly definable - helping you and your learners recognize the progress you are making!
1. Who are you? What do you do? - Daily Routines
* Present simple Example: What do you do? I work at Smith's. I get up at seven. etc.
* "to be" present Example: I'm married. She's thirty-four.
* Descriptive adjectives Example: I am tall. He is short.
2. Tell me about your past - Where did you go on your last holiday
* Past simple Example: What did you go on holiday when you were a child? I work
* "to be" past Example: The weather was fantastic.
* Irregular verbs Example: go - went, shine - shone
Finally, the lesson generally will be divided into three principle sections
* Introduction - introducing or reviewing the grammar or function.
* Development - taking that grammar and working on it in a reading, listening, or other form. This section should make up the bulk of your lesson and include a number of different activities if possible.
* Review - review the principle concepts covered during the lesson. This can be very straight forward and either student or teacher led depending on the level of your learners. Take a look at some of the lesson plans here at esl.about.com (feel free to use them!) and notice how the various methods mentioned above are employed while focusing on one specific linguistic function.
Related Articles
* English Lesson Plans - Free ESL EFL Lessons in Grammar, Reading, Writing, S...
* Teach ESL - Teaching English as a Second Language
* Writing Lessons - English as a Second Language
* Guide to Teaching English ESL EFL TEFL TESL for Non- Professionals
* Lesson Plan for Young Learners Focusing on National Sterotypes for ESL Engl...
ESL Children's Games
ESL Children's Games
By Kenneth Beare, About.com Guide
See More About:
* conversation lesson plans
* english conversation skills
* english teaching techniques
* teaching speaking skills
* children's english
These classic children's games have been adapted for use in ESL classrooms. Each lesson includes instructions on how to use the game to achieve effective ESL instruction.
1. ESL Tic-Tac-Toe
Tic-Tac-Toe games are a fun way for students to practise their English while enjoying some competition.
2. Newspaper Crazies
Newspaper Crazies takes newspaper or magazine articles as the starting point for regular and irregular verb recognition. You'll need some newspapers or magazines
3. The Bell Game
The Bell Game challenges students to pronounce target lesson words correctly in a competitive game. You'll need a deck of cards that contains each target word for the lesson(s), and two small bells. The goal of the activity is given a written regular word, the student can say the word with automaticity.
4. Slap That Word!
Slap that Word is a fun game you can play with children that will help them associate and reinforce written and spoken words that have been introduced during your lessons. You'll need these materials: fly swatter, word wall (words written on a chalkboard or white board). The goal of the activity is that given a spoken word, the student will quickly be able to recognize the word's written form.
5. Simon Says
A fun, classic young learner's game is "Simon Says". In this classic game, one student tells the other students what to do by beginning: "Simon says ... touch your nose / count to five , etc.". If the student says "touch your nose" and the students perform the command they are out. Of course, this game takes a lot of attention on the part of the teacher.
6. Cops and Robbers Tag
This game helps young learners work on various objects vocabulary and practice the use of the present perfect while having some fun and blowing some steam off. The basic concept is that of "cops and robbers" with each student being either a cop or a robber. Young learners try either to steal objects or catch the thief.
Related Articles
* Young Learner's Board Games for ESL Classes - Simon Says
* Young Learner's Board Games for ESL Classes - Simon Says
* Young Learner's ESL English Lessons
* Elementary Educators - Teaching Tips from You - The Mining Co.
* Fun Games To Play With Your Kids
By Kenneth Beare, About.com Guide
See More About:
* conversation lesson plans
* english conversation skills
* english teaching techniques
* teaching speaking skills
* children's english
These classic children's games have been adapted for use in ESL classrooms. Each lesson includes instructions on how to use the game to achieve effective ESL instruction.
1. ESL Tic-Tac-Toe
Tic-Tac-Toe games are a fun way for students to practise their English while enjoying some competition.
2. Newspaper Crazies
Newspaper Crazies takes newspaper or magazine articles as the starting point for regular and irregular verb recognition. You'll need some newspapers or magazines
3. The Bell Game
The Bell Game challenges students to pronounce target lesson words correctly in a competitive game. You'll need a deck of cards that contains each target word for the lesson(s), and two small bells. The goal of the activity is given a written regular word, the student can say the word with automaticity.
4. Slap That Word!
Slap that Word is a fun game you can play with children that will help them associate and reinforce written and spoken words that have been introduced during your lessons. You'll need these materials: fly swatter, word wall (words written on a chalkboard or white board). The goal of the activity is that given a spoken word, the student will quickly be able to recognize the word's written form.
5. Simon Says
A fun, classic young learner's game is "Simon Says". In this classic game, one student tells the other students what to do by beginning: "Simon says ... touch your nose / count to five , etc.". If the student says "touch your nose" and the students perform the command they are out. Of course, this game takes a lot of attention on the part of the teacher.
6. Cops and Robbers Tag
This game helps young learners work on various objects vocabulary and practice the use of the present perfect while having some fun and blowing some steam off. The basic concept is that of "cops and robbers" with each student being either a cop or a robber. Young learners try either to steal objects or catch the thief.
Related Articles
* Young Learner's Board Games for ESL Classes - Simon Says
* Young Learner's Board Games for ESL Classes - Simon Says
* Young Learner's ESL English Lessons
* Elementary Educators - Teaching Tips from You - The Mining Co.
* Fun Games To Play With Your Kids
Developing pronunciation through songs
Developing pronunciation through songs
Submitted by admin on 21 June, 2006 - 12:00
Like us, you might already use songs in class, and find that your students enjoy them. But have you considered choosing songs specifically to work on pronunciation? Songs provide examples of authentic, memorable and rhythmic language. They can be motivating for students keen to repeatedly listen to and imitate their musical heroes. Here, we look at some aspects of pronunciation that can be focused on through songs.
* Using songs to focus on sounds
* Using songs to focus on words
* Using songs to focus on connected speech
* Conclusion
Using songs to focus on sounds
Sounds are the smallest unit from which words are formed and can be categorised as vowels and consonants.
Why are they difficult?
* As languages differ in their range of sounds, students have to learn to 'physically' produce certain sounds previously unknown to them.
* Learners can find sounds difficult to pick out, and may not see the point in focusing on them.
However, incorrectly pronounced sounds strain communication, sometimes even changing a phrase's meaning.
How songs can help
* Songs are authentic and easily accessible examples of spoken English. The rhymes in songs provide listeners with repetition of similar sounds.
* Students often choose to listen to songs time and again, indirectly exposing them to these sounds.
What we do
To focus learners on particular sounds, we create activities based on songs' rhymes.
* Activity 1
We replace some of the rhymes in the song, with a gap. Students listen and fill the gaps, using the song to guide them. More analytically minded students can then categorise the words according to sounds. (From 'An Englishman in New York,' by Sting)
phoneme
Phoneme Phoneme
talk
New York
walk
day
say one
sun
run
Alternatively, we highlight differences between sounds, using the lyrics to show how changing one sound can alter meaning (minimal pairs).
* Activity 2
We choose six words from a song from which minimal pairs can be created
o heaven - even
o hunger - anger
o man - mad
(From 'Imagine' by John Lennon)
* We write the pairs separately on cards and give out one set per group of four or five students. The students then match the pairs. They then listen to the song and 'grab' the correct one. Choices are then checked against the lyrics.
Using songs to focus on words
Words are combinations of sounds which form together to give meaning. A word is uttered in syllables, usually one emphasised syllable (the stress) and the rest weak (unstressed).
Why are they difficult?
* Even when the same words exist in both languages, the number of syllables is not always identical.
* Each English word has its own stress pattern, with very complex 'rules' to guide learners.
* Weak syllables are central to English, though students often find this hard to believe. Moreover, focusing on these can result in over-emphasis (not weakening) of these syllables.
How songs can help
* Words in songs fit the music, helping learners associate the number of syllables / stress in these words, with memorable rhythms.
* The relaxed atmosphere songs create can expose students to this difficult pronunciation area, without their realizing.
* Songs contain endless examples of weak syllables, helping to convince learners of the way English is pronounced.
What we do
To raise learners' awareness of the number of syllables / word stress, our activities target specific words, especially those where the music makes the stress patterns clearer.
* Activity 3
We give out the lyrics, with certain words for students to guess the number of syllables, leaving a space by each word to write the number in. Students then listen, checking their predictions.
* At higher levels, we repeat the activity, with students underlining the stressed syllable whilst listening. We then drill these words and sing or chant the whole song through.
Using songs to focus on connected speech
Connected speech is the natural way we speak, linking together and emphasising certain words, rather than each word standing alone. Contractions (two words forming one) are an extreme example of the way we connect speech, to the extent that the written form too is affected.
Why is it difficult?
* Students normally learn words individually and, especially at lower levels, tend to pronounce each word separately.
* Students frequently misconceive contractions as being 'incorrect', only used in 'slang'.
* Not all words within a phrase carry the same weight.
How songs can help
* Songs, and especially the chorus, provide real and 'catchy' examples of how whole phrases are pronounced often to the extent that students find it difficult to pick out individual words. The music further emphasises the 'flow' of the words.
* Songs, like other spoken texts, are full of contractions.
* Students can be keen to reproduce this, in order to sing the song as they hear it.
What we do
We use songs that have numerous contracted words to convince learners that contractions are natural in English.
* Activity 4
We rewrite the lyrics with the contractions in full form
o 'I am wondering why'
o 'I cannot see'
* Students listen, identifying the contracted words. On a second listening, they rewrite the words with the contractions
o 'I'm wondering why'
o 'I can't see'
* This works even with the lowest level classes.
To help learners hear how words flow in phrases, we choose catchy tunes for learners to fit words to.
* Activity 5
We play each line of the chorus, for learners to hum back until they get the rhythm.
* In groups, students then order the lines of the song on strips of paper by remembering the tune.
* Other activities can focus on highlighting the strong words in phrases, and singing only these, replacing the rest with 'mmm'. Finally, students can practise and present their singing, for example for a 'song contest'.
* Alternatively, more creative groups could write their own words to fit the tune.
Conclusion
There are no 'standard' songs for teaching pronunciation. Any song can be an example of different pronunciation aspects. However, we try to choose songs that are clear (use quality recordings where possible), not too fast, memorable, likely to appeal to our learners (possibly songs they already know) and easy to create activities for, depending on the area of pronunciation we are focusing on.
Finally, a word of warning: songs are creative works, so be ready to justify the occasional 'mis-pronunciation' to your students!
Further reading
Sound Foundations by Adrian Underhill
Pronunciation by Dalton and Seidlholfer
How to Teach Pronunciation by Gerald Kelly
Teaching English Pronunciation by Joanne Kenworthy
Balbina Ebong & Marta J. Sabbadini, British Council, Cameroon
Submitted by admin on 21 June, 2006 - 12:00
Like us, you might already use songs in class, and find that your students enjoy them. But have you considered choosing songs specifically to work on pronunciation? Songs provide examples of authentic, memorable and rhythmic language. They can be motivating for students keen to repeatedly listen to and imitate their musical heroes. Here, we look at some aspects of pronunciation that can be focused on through songs.
* Using songs to focus on sounds
* Using songs to focus on words
* Using songs to focus on connected speech
* Conclusion
Using songs to focus on sounds
Sounds are the smallest unit from which words are formed and can be categorised as vowels and consonants.
Why are they difficult?
* As languages differ in their range of sounds, students have to learn to 'physically' produce certain sounds previously unknown to them.
* Learners can find sounds difficult to pick out, and may not see the point in focusing on them.
However, incorrectly pronounced sounds strain communication, sometimes even changing a phrase's meaning.
How songs can help
* Songs are authentic and easily accessible examples of spoken English. The rhymes in songs provide listeners with repetition of similar sounds.
* Students often choose to listen to songs time and again, indirectly exposing them to these sounds.
What we do
To focus learners on particular sounds, we create activities based on songs' rhymes.
* Activity 1
We replace some of the rhymes in the song, with a gap. Students listen and fill the gaps, using the song to guide them. More analytically minded students can then categorise the words according to sounds. (From 'An Englishman in New York,' by Sting)
phoneme
Phoneme Phoneme
talk
New York
walk
day
say one
sun
run
Alternatively, we highlight differences between sounds, using the lyrics to show how changing one sound can alter meaning (minimal pairs).
* Activity 2
We choose six words from a song from which minimal pairs can be created
o heaven - even
o hunger - anger
o man - mad
(From 'Imagine' by John Lennon)
* We write the pairs separately on cards and give out one set per group of four or five students. The students then match the pairs. They then listen to the song and 'grab' the correct one. Choices are then checked against the lyrics.
Using songs to focus on words
Words are combinations of sounds which form together to give meaning. A word is uttered in syllables, usually one emphasised syllable (the stress) and the rest weak (unstressed).
Why are they difficult?
* Even when the same words exist in both languages, the number of syllables is not always identical.
* Each English word has its own stress pattern, with very complex 'rules' to guide learners.
* Weak syllables are central to English, though students often find this hard to believe. Moreover, focusing on these can result in over-emphasis (not weakening) of these syllables.
How songs can help
* Words in songs fit the music, helping learners associate the number of syllables / stress in these words, with memorable rhythms.
* The relaxed atmosphere songs create can expose students to this difficult pronunciation area, without their realizing.
* Songs contain endless examples of weak syllables, helping to convince learners of the way English is pronounced.
What we do
To raise learners' awareness of the number of syllables / word stress, our activities target specific words, especially those where the music makes the stress patterns clearer.
* Activity 3
We give out the lyrics, with certain words for students to guess the number of syllables, leaving a space by each word to write the number in. Students then listen, checking their predictions.
* At higher levels, we repeat the activity, with students underlining the stressed syllable whilst listening. We then drill these words and sing or chant the whole song through.
Using songs to focus on connected speech
Connected speech is the natural way we speak, linking together and emphasising certain words, rather than each word standing alone. Contractions (two words forming one) are an extreme example of the way we connect speech, to the extent that the written form too is affected.
Why is it difficult?
* Students normally learn words individually and, especially at lower levels, tend to pronounce each word separately.
* Students frequently misconceive contractions as being 'incorrect', only used in 'slang'.
* Not all words within a phrase carry the same weight.
How songs can help
* Songs, and especially the chorus, provide real and 'catchy' examples of how whole phrases are pronounced often to the extent that students find it difficult to pick out individual words. The music further emphasises the 'flow' of the words.
* Songs, like other spoken texts, are full of contractions.
* Students can be keen to reproduce this, in order to sing the song as they hear it.
What we do
We use songs that have numerous contracted words to convince learners that contractions are natural in English.
* Activity 4
We rewrite the lyrics with the contractions in full form
o 'I am wondering why'
o 'I cannot see'
* Students listen, identifying the contracted words. On a second listening, they rewrite the words with the contractions
o 'I'm wondering why'
o 'I can't see'
* This works even with the lowest level classes.
To help learners hear how words flow in phrases, we choose catchy tunes for learners to fit words to.
* Activity 5
We play each line of the chorus, for learners to hum back until they get the rhythm.
* In groups, students then order the lines of the song on strips of paper by remembering the tune.
* Other activities can focus on highlighting the strong words in phrases, and singing only these, replacing the rest with 'mmm'. Finally, students can practise and present their singing, for example for a 'song contest'.
* Alternatively, more creative groups could write their own words to fit the tune.
Conclusion
There are no 'standard' songs for teaching pronunciation. Any song can be an example of different pronunciation aspects. However, we try to choose songs that are clear (use quality recordings where possible), not too fast, memorable, likely to appeal to our learners (possibly songs they already know) and easy to create activities for, depending on the area of pronunciation we are focusing on.
Finally, a word of warning: songs are creative works, so be ready to justify the occasional 'mis-pronunciation' to your students!
Further reading
Sound Foundations by Adrian Underhill
Pronunciation by Dalton and Seidlholfer
How to Teach Pronunciation by Gerald Kelly
Teaching English Pronunciation by Joanne Kenworthy
Balbina Ebong & Marta J. Sabbadini, British Council, Cameroon
A Possible Future Model for Diagnostics and Remediation
ESSAY ON SPECIAL EDUCATION
A Possible Future Model for Diagnostics and Remediation
By Robert DePaolo
Abstract
This article offers a critique of the current special education system, and offers a modest but hopefully plausible alternative for future consideration. Rather than vaguely defined categories such as “learning disability” and “attention deficit” this model discusses a triadic learning style as a diagnostic frame of reference and pivot point for curriculum modifications.
________________________________
The current special education system has been described as flawed (Kirst 1993), (Gallagher 1998) and for reasons having little if anything to do with teacher performance or declining ducational standards. Indeed since public education is heavily influenced by society proper – for example via curricula geared toward computer proficiency and other vocational/societal priorities - it is also reflective of what is occurring in our society at any given time. (Boyles 1998), (Dimitriadis, 2003) The parallel relationship between cultural mores and public education trickles down into the domain of special education.
One of the influences of society on the education system can be seen in how educators deal with a phenomenon known as the bell-shaped, or “normal” curve. In earlier times it was readily accepted that students’ abilities were distributed along the curve in a predictable manner. In that context, some students were considered “college material” while others were encouraged to go into trades or mechanical fields. Interestingly enough, educators back then (trapped within the confines of personal bias) often assumed the college-bound students were more “able.” In fact, if one were to interpret the normal curve correctly, it would reflect a distribution of all abilities - academic and otherwise - in terms of percentiles and standard deviations. That would imply that some students lower on the normal curve with respect to language, reading and math abilities might be on the upper end with regard to mechanical and spatial reasoning abilities. By the same token, some of their more academically-skilled brethren might be lower with respect to mechanical-spatial abilities. (As a side note; since, in the course of human cultural advancement, tool making has often superseded in time and importance the advent of letters and numbers (including Gutenberg’s printing press) putting college-bound students at the top of the totem pole might be somewhat dubious).
Since the human brain consists of roughly twenty five million neurons with billions of interconnections, there are bound to be variations, slight errors and atypical trends in child development. In other words, to expect a brain with such volume and complexity to develop exactly the same for each child – even aside from disparate genetic contributions from each parent - would be absurd. In some instances those variations (all normal within a broad neuro-developmental framework) might comprise what modern educators refer to as a learning disability.
As American society has become more egalitarian, and we as a people have essentially decided that the differences between individuals and groups are less important than previously assumed, the trend toward hyper-academization in the schools has occurred. Pressures to demonstrate student competence as measured by achievement tests, as well as advanced curricula with a conceptual approach (where third graders are expected to grasp geometry and algebra concepts as well as vocabulary words they might never use even as adults) have created what could be referred to as a “disability fail-safe” requiring that all students either fit into the college-bound category or be identified with a handicap.
Parents have been influenced by this trend as well. Many want their children to be identified so they can receive support services, under the assumption that this will lead to dramatic gains in various academic skills, and more specifically, so they will catch up to their peers. Unfortunately, some research indicates that even after years of special education such gains do not often occur, at least in terms of the catch-up criterion (Stager 2006).
Obviously students can receive vocational training at the high school level, and in some districts earlier than that. However, it raises the question of how effective special education training is and whether in the final analysis, trying to swim against a tide known as the normal curve is a feasible endeavor.
Some aspects of modern curricula seem particularly problematic. The increasingly conceptual and sophisticated curriculum programs in the public schools do not suit the needs of many students. As a result, one could reasonably ask whether both the normal curve and developmentally inconsonant curricula are responsible for the increasing number of students identified with learning disabilities. It presents a dilemma for educators who genuinely want all their students to learn necessary skills but who must, each and every day of their professional lives, act in defiance of the normal curve and the constraints of child development.
Some have discussed these problems, for example Allen (1998) and Dimitriadis (2003) and in response to this issue, new trends have emerged in the area of special education. One is Response to Intervention, which advocates for direct service without need of multiple evaluations, uses a pre and post academic performance criteria to determine whether a particular teaching method or curriculum is appropriate and enables educators to determine whether, in light of a student’s response to these approaches, he is indeed disabled.
RTI is an interesting phenomenon, albeit a bit paradoxical. It is new, yet in some ways a recapitulation of methods used by teachers prior to the advent of special education, when spending more time with needy students and making or finding curriculum materials compatible with their abilities was fairly common. RTI represents a kind of rebellion against the classical special education philosophy yet operates according to the same premises; specifically that some students have disabilities and that the normal curve has relatively little bearing on what proficiencies and deficits any child might have. It also presumes that across-the-board grade-level academic performances can be achieved by most students if the right methods and curriculum materials are used.
There is nothing wrong with those assumptions as far as they go. Educators should be optimistic as well as realistic in their professional outlook. Also, many students with learning disabilities seem to have average or higher intellectual abilities. That raises the traditional question of why there are discrepancies between their native ability and their classroom performance. To the extent that we view intellectual ability as an index of potential, some explanation is called for. Both the traditional special education instructor and the RTI instructor must, and do address that problem. Yet, despite the research-based approaches inherent in both RTI and traditional methods, the results of special education remediation have in some instances been lacking (Colvin & Helfand 1999). Perhaps that is because methods, scores and curricula have eclipsed theories of child development, so that we are now teaching in terms of the method rather than in terms of the child.
There is no pretense here of completely revising the special education system. Current special educators work long, hard hours with their students and often have their hands tied by questionable curricula, burdensome regulations and student apathy. Yet they stay the course and for that reason, merit respect and admiration. On the other hand it seems the tide is shifting, not just in the area of RTI but in other ways as well. In that spirit, the following is a futuristic projection of what a more child-centered, maximally inclusive education system might look like..
Two Faces of Intelligence
If one could look inside a child’s mind during the learning process, a neuro-psychological reciprocity would become clear. Actually it would look almost like a (neuronal) drag race in one of those California towns circa 1955. In one lane would be an “intelligence car” comprised of brain cells designed to select ideas, behaviors, associations and memories from within a large, unfathomably noisy, complex brain. In the other lane would an “arousal car” consisting of cellular activity that powers the brain - in effect activating and highlighting circuits so the search can take place. The race has a central rule: in order to learn the arousal car cannot overtake the intelligence car. Otherwise learning and motivation are compromised.
The relationship between the vehicles is reciprocal. In order to select requires arousal. In order to become aroused requires a task. But the relationship is also antagonistic. If the search continues for too long, arousal becomes prolonged and the brain suffers overload. It is an aversive feeling. In fact, neurologist Kurt Goldstein has referred to it as the catastrophic reaction and it typically leads to an abandonment of the task.
Theoretically, any given student has the potential to answer a question in social studies or solve a math problem as long as they have been exposed to the relevant information, and as long as competing stimuli did not detract from processing the information when it was first presented. Since as Dudai (2004) and Sara (2000) have demonstrated, memories are more easily consolidated than retrieved, the child might have the answer, and the skill, yet be unable to provide an answer to the point of automaticity. Some chldren have a diminished capacity to tolerate brain arousal levels.In effect the arousal car tends to outpace the intelligence car, as per the above metaphor. A child with low arousal tolerance (LAT) would typically have to come up with an answer immediately, lest he be forced to abandon the task. In one sense his problem is not a learning disability per se, or at least goes beyond that definition. He also has a "noise" problem, created by poor arousal modulation. While he might have the memory, he lacks the arousal tolerance necessary for lengthy search and retrieval functions.
Thus intelligence is a bimodal process. Thinking entails a pain potential. That means the time required to retrieve an answer is a crucial factor in learning and motivation. In completing a reading, writing or math exercise, these two factors are always in play.
It was discussed above that IQ seems to adhere to the statistical dispersion typified by the normal curve. It has also been demonstrated that arousal tolerance is similarly distributed among children. Consequently there is a strong correlation between temperament and classroom performance. That has implications for the way children learn, and perhaps for the ways in which educators will teach special education students in the future.
There is another important aspect of arousal tolerance to consider. LAT students are sensitive to the fact that high arousal is aversive, and will seek to maintain low arousal levels. The need to modulate arousal levels can lead to withdrawal, day dreaming and other stimulus-control behaviors. Those activities compete with learning.
Yet learning requires an optimal level of arousal. To learn a new task, or any task, the student must summon an a priori level of vigilance and a task-consonant arousal level (Yerkes, Dodson 1908). The very act of dampening brain activity can be detrimental to learning in the classroom and preclude that neuro-priming process. That invites some discussion of the learning process itself.
A Triadic Learning Paradigm
Students have varied learning styles. Some are visual, some auditory, some whole to part, some rote. Here, three basic modes of learning are discussed in termso of their occurence in a typical classroom setting. One is habitual-associative. This refers to recitation-learning and rote learning and it is in many ways a simple associative process. It was once a prime method in education. Singing and/or reciting letters of the alphabet and the times tables, rote spelling exercises, verb conjugation drills in foreign language classes and chanting historical facts, such as…In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue… were all used as means of imparting basic factual learning.
Habitual-associative learning involves a narrow-track brain process with brief arousal periods and fast resolution. It is not very taxing and seldom does a child abandon such a task. Since children are particularly susceptible to hyper-arousal (Carrion, Garrett et. al (2007) that is significant.
Some students mature slower than others and a low arousal threshold continues past the typical time frames. Diagnosing this problem is not that difficult, and while it can be done physiologically with some precision through a harmless, non intrusive evoked potentials response assessment it can also be conducted through observation. Students with LAT will also tend to have a rapid arousal response. Sudden stimuli will lead to exaggerated reactions, irritation, complaints and difficulty “coming down” after the input. They will also be less tolerant of changes in routine because a change in stimuli provokes arousal in the brain (Kiehl, Stevens et.al 2005). They might also display a fairly explosive temperament and/or emotional lability. Finally they will show a tendency toward being “stimulus-bound” that is, unusually influenced by external inputs, with diminished capacity for self regulation amnd metacognition.
For such students, intelligence levels might be less a determinant of academic performance than curricula and teaching methods. In neurological terms LAT students would tend to do best with the habitual-associative method, particularly in the first few years of school. This would involve simple associations, use of rhymes, anagrams, lexigrams and other “rhythmic-language formulas.” This format can also be adapted to students in middle and high school. The traditional method of abbreviating tasks can also be beneficial, but that depends on the nature of the task. If the student cannot grasp immediately the essence of the task and arousal levels race past his threshold due to confusion, there will be a tendency to abandon the task in any event.
A second learning process is meta-cognitive. The definition of this process is altered here a bit for purposes of brevity. Meta-cognition typically refers to a learner’s simultaneous or sequential sense of self during learning. It connotes something beyond attention to task. Here it is narrowed down to mean a process in which the learner is both adhering to a task and prompting, motivating, guiding and reinforcing himself during the task. In simple terms meta-cognition is seen here as an internal language function in which the learner talks himself through the task, breaks down the task, and self- reinforces as he proceeds successfully through the task. It is self-imposed feedback juxatposed on the task itself.
Meta-cognition is often described as the highest type of learning. Here it is viewed as a mid-level process, simply because for internal guidance and acknowledgment of success to occur requires some familiarity with the task. For example in a written composition, the learner must know how to spell many of the words and have some understanding of the topic or endpoint of the composition. He simply has to retrieve and assemble those memories. Thus meta-cognition is really the application of previously learned material with self guidance included as a focusing and motivating mechanism.
Meta-cognition requires higher arousal tolerance levels than does the habitual-associative method due to the lengthy nature of the task and the fact that the student must activate two systems in the brain – attention to both self and task. Consequently, that method would be less user-friendly for the LAT student – notwithstanding an average intellect. Some students will not reach a meta-cognitive level of performance and will appear to be disengaged, inconsistent and virtually disdainful of academic work. For them the habitual-associative method might be more appropriate, at least until maturation or outright mastery of subject matter is attained and automaticity in recall makes meta-cognition possible and less aversive.
The third process is re-integration. Here the student begins with a dearth of foundational knowledge with which to reassemble new material. Learning a foreign language without drill – ie, through a conversational approach, hoping the student will grasp the essence of the language without knowledge of its grammatical nuts and bolts - would be an example of this. A math lesson requiring a third grader to understand the conceptual relationships among a parallelogram, rhombus and equilateral triangle would be another.
Creativity always involves using old material in new ways. The key lies in knowing whether the student has learned the old material first. Some curriculum methods discount the importance of the child’s prior schemes (as per Piagetian theory) and teach to the curriculum. LAT students will have a particularly difficult time with this type of approach and can be expected to under-perform regardless of how much time is spent in small groups or one-to-one remedial sessions.
A Future Model
In light of the above discussion it is conceivable that in the future, special education referrals will involve a philosophical shift from the discrepancy model (ie among test scores in ther context classroom performance) to a model that includes task-tolerance. This would be based on on the assumption that intelligence, memory, attention and retrieval are framed to some extent by of arousal tolerance thresholds. In that context, curricula could be devised to accommodate both general abilities and arousal tolerance levels. Imaginative programs could be created within the habitual-associative, meta-cognitive and re-integrative frameworks. All of this could be incorporated into the regular classroom structure, including the length and nature of homework assignments, the teaching of math, reading, science and foreign languages.
The diagnostic process need not be as clinical as it is now. With the exception of students Except with cognitive impairment and/or other severe developmental disorders, students could be classified according to arousal tolerance levels which would be presumed to set limits on their focusing. memorizing and retrieval capacities.
Remedial Concepts
In that system, diagnoses, curricula and teaching methods would be simplified. So too would be remedial strategies. A habitual-associative learner will tend to have difficulty with the search aspect of a meta-cognitive exercise and with the cognitive bifurcation required to see both self and task simultaneously or sequentially. Consequently he might need to have search functions provided for him – say in the form of reference lists and other portable personal/journal encyclopedic information). By the same token his reinforcement and task-guidance might have to come from external sources, such as an unusually high rate of positive comments from staff, external task organizers, or tape recorded directives for task sequences.
Some students will simply not have the arousal tolerance for re-intregrative learning. Associative aids such as mentioned above could prove helpful, but the re-integrative, novel requirements of the task might have to be avoided in favor of a more basic associative approach.
There are undoubtedly more and better solutions to the current problems in special education. It would not be surprising if, like RTI and this model, new methods were devised to simplify and ameliorate the pathology-oriented diagnostic and remedial methods in the current system so that child development, rather than curriculum philosophy would dictate the future course of special education.
REFERENCES
Allen, J (1998) A Nation Still at Risk. The Center for Education Reform. The Education Manifesto.
Boyles, D. (1999) American Education and Corporations: The Free Market Goes to School.: Pedagogy and Popular Culure, Falmer Press.
Carrion, V.G. A Garrett, V. Menon, C.F. Weems & A.L.Reiss (2007) Post traumatic stress symptoms and brain function during a response inhibition task: an Fmri study in youth. Depression and Anxiety doi. 1002/ da 20346.
Dimitriadis, G (2003) Promises to keep; Cultural Studies, Democratic Education and Public Life (Social Theory, Education and Cultural Change. Amazon.com.
Dudai, Y (2004) The neurobiology of consolidation: how stable is the engram? Annual Review of Psychology 55: 51-86
Gallagher, D (1998) The Scientific Knowledge Base of Special Education: Do We Know What We Think We Know? Exceptional Children, 64: 493-502.
Kiehl, K. M.C Stevens, K. Laurens, G. Pearlson, V. Calhoun & P. Liddle (2005) An adaptive reflexive processing model of neurocognitive functions: supporting evidence from a large scale fMRI study of an auditory oddball task. Neuroimage: 25: 899-915
Kirst, M (1993) Strengths and Weaknesses in American Public Education, In; The State of New York schools. A Conference Report. Ed Stanley Elam, Bloomington, Indiana
Sara, S.J. (2000) Retrieval and re-consolidation: toward a neurology of remembering. Learning and Memory 7: 73-84
Stager, G “The Pulse” District Administration Magazine - article retrieved by R. Colvin and P Helfand, LA Times - Dec. 1999.
Yerkes, K.M. & J.D. Dodson (1908) The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit formation. Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology 18, 459-482.
A Possible Future Model for Diagnostics and Remediation
By Robert DePaolo
Abstract
This article offers a critique of the current special education system, and offers a modest but hopefully plausible alternative for future consideration. Rather than vaguely defined categories such as “learning disability” and “attention deficit” this model discusses a triadic learning style as a diagnostic frame of reference and pivot point for curriculum modifications.
________________________________
The current special education system has been described as flawed (Kirst 1993), (Gallagher 1998) and for reasons having little if anything to do with teacher performance or declining ducational standards. Indeed since public education is heavily influenced by society proper – for example via curricula geared toward computer proficiency and other vocational/societal priorities - it is also reflective of what is occurring in our society at any given time. (Boyles 1998), (Dimitriadis, 2003) The parallel relationship between cultural mores and public education trickles down into the domain of special education.
One of the influences of society on the education system can be seen in how educators deal with a phenomenon known as the bell-shaped, or “normal” curve. In earlier times it was readily accepted that students’ abilities were distributed along the curve in a predictable manner. In that context, some students were considered “college material” while others were encouraged to go into trades or mechanical fields. Interestingly enough, educators back then (trapped within the confines of personal bias) often assumed the college-bound students were more “able.” In fact, if one were to interpret the normal curve correctly, it would reflect a distribution of all abilities - academic and otherwise - in terms of percentiles and standard deviations. That would imply that some students lower on the normal curve with respect to language, reading and math abilities might be on the upper end with regard to mechanical and spatial reasoning abilities. By the same token, some of their more academically-skilled brethren might be lower with respect to mechanical-spatial abilities. (As a side note; since, in the course of human cultural advancement, tool making has often superseded in time and importance the advent of letters and numbers (including Gutenberg’s printing press) putting college-bound students at the top of the totem pole might be somewhat dubious).
Since the human brain consists of roughly twenty five million neurons with billions of interconnections, there are bound to be variations, slight errors and atypical trends in child development. In other words, to expect a brain with such volume and complexity to develop exactly the same for each child – even aside from disparate genetic contributions from each parent - would be absurd. In some instances those variations (all normal within a broad neuro-developmental framework) might comprise what modern educators refer to as a learning disability.
As American society has become more egalitarian, and we as a people have essentially decided that the differences between individuals and groups are less important than previously assumed, the trend toward hyper-academization in the schools has occurred. Pressures to demonstrate student competence as measured by achievement tests, as well as advanced curricula with a conceptual approach (where third graders are expected to grasp geometry and algebra concepts as well as vocabulary words they might never use even as adults) have created what could be referred to as a “disability fail-safe” requiring that all students either fit into the college-bound category or be identified with a handicap.
Parents have been influenced by this trend as well. Many want their children to be identified so they can receive support services, under the assumption that this will lead to dramatic gains in various academic skills, and more specifically, so they will catch up to their peers. Unfortunately, some research indicates that even after years of special education such gains do not often occur, at least in terms of the catch-up criterion (Stager 2006).
Obviously students can receive vocational training at the high school level, and in some districts earlier than that. However, it raises the question of how effective special education training is and whether in the final analysis, trying to swim against a tide known as the normal curve is a feasible endeavor.
Some aspects of modern curricula seem particularly problematic. The increasingly conceptual and sophisticated curriculum programs in the public schools do not suit the needs of many students. As a result, one could reasonably ask whether both the normal curve and developmentally inconsonant curricula are responsible for the increasing number of students identified with learning disabilities. It presents a dilemma for educators who genuinely want all their students to learn necessary skills but who must, each and every day of their professional lives, act in defiance of the normal curve and the constraints of child development.
Some have discussed these problems, for example Allen (1998) and Dimitriadis (2003) and in response to this issue, new trends have emerged in the area of special education. One is Response to Intervention, which advocates for direct service without need of multiple evaluations, uses a pre and post academic performance criteria to determine whether a particular teaching method or curriculum is appropriate and enables educators to determine whether, in light of a student’s response to these approaches, he is indeed disabled.
RTI is an interesting phenomenon, albeit a bit paradoxical. It is new, yet in some ways a recapitulation of methods used by teachers prior to the advent of special education, when spending more time with needy students and making or finding curriculum materials compatible with their abilities was fairly common. RTI represents a kind of rebellion against the classical special education philosophy yet operates according to the same premises; specifically that some students have disabilities and that the normal curve has relatively little bearing on what proficiencies and deficits any child might have. It also presumes that across-the-board grade-level academic performances can be achieved by most students if the right methods and curriculum materials are used.
There is nothing wrong with those assumptions as far as they go. Educators should be optimistic as well as realistic in their professional outlook. Also, many students with learning disabilities seem to have average or higher intellectual abilities. That raises the traditional question of why there are discrepancies between their native ability and their classroom performance. To the extent that we view intellectual ability as an index of potential, some explanation is called for. Both the traditional special education instructor and the RTI instructor must, and do address that problem. Yet, despite the research-based approaches inherent in both RTI and traditional methods, the results of special education remediation have in some instances been lacking (Colvin & Helfand 1999). Perhaps that is because methods, scores and curricula have eclipsed theories of child development, so that we are now teaching in terms of the method rather than in terms of the child.
There is no pretense here of completely revising the special education system. Current special educators work long, hard hours with their students and often have their hands tied by questionable curricula, burdensome regulations and student apathy. Yet they stay the course and for that reason, merit respect and admiration. On the other hand it seems the tide is shifting, not just in the area of RTI but in other ways as well. In that spirit, the following is a futuristic projection of what a more child-centered, maximally inclusive education system might look like..
Two Faces of Intelligence
If one could look inside a child’s mind during the learning process, a neuro-psychological reciprocity would become clear. Actually it would look almost like a (neuronal) drag race in one of those California towns circa 1955. In one lane would be an “intelligence car” comprised of brain cells designed to select ideas, behaviors, associations and memories from within a large, unfathomably noisy, complex brain. In the other lane would an “arousal car” consisting of cellular activity that powers the brain - in effect activating and highlighting circuits so the search can take place. The race has a central rule: in order to learn the arousal car cannot overtake the intelligence car. Otherwise learning and motivation are compromised.
The relationship between the vehicles is reciprocal. In order to select requires arousal. In order to become aroused requires a task. But the relationship is also antagonistic. If the search continues for too long, arousal becomes prolonged and the brain suffers overload. It is an aversive feeling. In fact, neurologist Kurt Goldstein has referred to it as the catastrophic reaction and it typically leads to an abandonment of the task.
Theoretically, any given student has the potential to answer a question in social studies or solve a math problem as long as they have been exposed to the relevant information, and as long as competing stimuli did not detract from processing the information when it was first presented. Since as Dudai (2004) and Sara (2000) have demonstrated, memories are more easily consolidated than retrieved, the child might have the answer, and the skill, yet be unable to provide an answer to the point of automaticity. Some chldren have a diminished capacity to tolerate brain arousal levels.In effect the arousal car tends to outpace the intelligence car, as per the above metaphor. A child with low arousal tolerance (LAT) would typically have to come up with an answer immediately, lest he be forced to abandon the task. In one sense his problem is not a learning disability per se, or at least goes beyond that definition. He also has a "noise" problem, created by poor arousal modulation. While he might have the memory, he lacks the arousal tolerance necessary for lengthy search and retrieval functions.
Thus intelligence is a bimodal process. Thinking entails a pain potential. That means the time required to retrieve an answer is a crucial factor in learning and motivation. In completing a reading, writing or math exercise, these two factors are always in play.
It was discussed above that IQ seems to adhere to the statistical dispersion typified by the normal curve. It has also been demonstrated that arousal tolerance is similarly distributed among children. Consequently there is a strong correlation between temperament and classroom performance. That has implications for the way children learn, and perhaps for the ways in which educators will teach special education students in the future.
There is another important aspect of arousal tolerance to consider. LAT students are sensitive to the fact that high arousal is aversive, and will seek to maintain low arousal levels. The need to modulate arousal levels can lead to withdrawal, day dreaming and other stimulus-control behaviors. Those activities compete with learning.
Yet learning requires an optimal level of arousal. To learn a new task, or any task, the student must summon an a priori level of vigilance and a task-consonant arousal level (Yerkes, Dodson 1908). The very act of dampening brain activity can be detrimental to learning in the classroom and preclude that neuro-priming process. That invites some discussion of the learning process itself.
A Triadic Learning Paradigm
Students have varied learning styles. Some are visual, some auditory, some whole to part, some rote. Here, three basic modes of learning are discussed in termso of their occurence in a typical classroom setting. One is habitual-associative. This refers to recitation-learning and rote learning and it is in many ways a simple associative process. It was once a prime method in education. Singing and/or reciting letters of the alphabet and the times tables, rote spelling exercises, verb conjugation drills in foreign language classes and chanting historical facts, such as…In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue… were all used as means of imparting basic factual learning.
Habitual-associative learning involves a narrow-track brain process with brief arousal periods and fast resolution. It is not very taxing and seldom does a child abandon such a task. Since children are particularly susceptible to hyper-arousal (Carrion, Garrett et. al (2007) that is significant.
Some students mature slower than others and a low arousal threshold continues past the typical time frames. Diagnosing this problem is not that difficult, and while it can be done physiologically with some precision through a harmless, non intrusive evoked potentials response assessment it can also be conducted through observation. Students with LAT will also tend to have a rapid arousal response. Sudden stimuli will lead to exaggerated reactions, irritation, complaints and difficulty “coming down” after the input. They will also be less tolerant of changes in routine because a change in stimuli provokes arousal in the brain (Kiehl, Stevens et.al 2005). They might also display a fairly explosive temperament and/or emotional lability. Finally they will show a tendency toward being “stimulus-bound” that is, unusually influenced by external inputs, with diminished capacity for self regulation amnd metacognition.
For such students, intelligence levels might be less a determinant of academic performance than curricula and teaching methods. In neurological terms LAT students would tend to do best with the habitual-associative method, particularly in the first few years of school. This would involve simple associations, use of rhymes, anagrams, lexigrams and other “rhythmic-language formulas.” This format can also be adapted to students in middle and high school. The traditional method of abbreviating tasks can also be beneficial, but that depends on the nature of the task. If the student cannot grasp immediately the essence of the task and arousal levels race past his threshold due to confusion, there will be a tendency to abandon the task in any event.
A second learning process is meta-cognitive. The definition of this process is altered here a bit for purposes of brevity. Meta-cognition typically refers to a learner’s simultaneous or sequential sense of self during learning. It connotes something beyond attention to task. Here it is narrowed down to mean a process in which the learner is both adhering to a task and prompting, motivating, guiding and reinforcing himself during the task. In simple terms meta-cognition is seen here as an internal language function in which the learner talks himself through the task, breaks down the task, and self- reinforces as he proceeds successfully through the task. It is self-imposed feedback juxatposed on the task itself.
Meta-cognition is often described as the highest type of learning. Here it is viewed as a mid-level process, simply because for internal guidance and acknowledgment of success to occur requires some familiarity with the task. For example in a written composition, the learner must know how to spell many of the words and have some understanding of the topic or endpoint of the composition. He simply has to retrieve and assemble those memories. Thus meta-cognition is really the application of previously learned material with self guidance included as a focusing and motivating mechanism.
Meta-cognition requires higher arousal tolerance levels than does the habitual-associative method due to the lengthy nature of the task and the fact that the student must activate two systems in the brain – attention to both self and task. Consequently, that method would be less user-friendly for the LAT student – notwithstanding an average intellect. Some students will not reach a meta-cognitive level of performance and will appear to be disengaged, inconsistent and virtually disdainful of academic work. For them the habitual-associative method might be more appropriate, at least until maturation or outright mastery of subject matter is attained and automaticity in recall makes meta-cognition possible and less aversive.
The third process is re-integration. Here the student begins with a dearth of foundational knowledge with which to reassemble new material. Learning a foreign language without drill – ie, through a conversational approach, hoping the student will grasp the essence of the language without knowledge of its grammatical nuts and bolts - would be an example of this. A math lesson requiring a third grader to understand the conceptual relationships among a parallelogram, rhombus and equilateral triangle would be another.
Creativity always involves using old material in new ways. The key lies in knowing whether the student has learned the old material first. Some curriculum methods discount the importance of the child’s prior schemes (as per Piagetian theory) and teach to the curriculum. LAT students will have a particularly difficult time with this type of approach and can be expected to under-perform regardless of how much time is spent in small groups or one-to-one remedial sessions.
A Future Model
In light of the above discussion it is conceivable that in the future, special education referrals will involve a philosophical shift from the discrepancy model (ie among test scores in ther context classroom performance) to a model that includes task-tolerance. This would be based on on the assumption that intelligence, memory, attention and retrieval are framed to some extent by of arousal tolerance thresholds. In that context, curricula could be devised to accommodate both general abilities and arousal tolerance levels. Imaginative programs could be created within the habitual-associative, meta-cognitive and re-integrative frameworks. All of this could be incorporated into the regular classroom structure, including the length and nature of homework assignments, the teaching of math, reading, science and foreign languages.
The diagnostic process need not be as clinical as it is now. With the exception of students Except with cognitive impairment and/or other severe developmental disorders, students could be classified according to arousal tolerance levels which would be presumed to set limits on their focusing. memorizing and retrieval capacities.
Remedial Concepts
In that system, diagnoses, curricula and teaching methods would be simplified. So too would be remedial strategies. A habitual-associative learner will tend to have difficulty with the search aspect of a meta-cognitive exercise and with the cognitive bifurcation required to see both self and task simultaneously or sequentially. Consequently he might need to have search functions provided for him – say in the form of reference lists and other portable personal/journal encyclopedic information). By the same token his reinforcement and task-guidance might have to come from external sources, such as an unusually high rate of positive comments from staff, external task organizers, or tape recorded directives for task sequences.
Some students will simply not have the arousal tolerance for re-intregrative learning. Associative aids such as mentioned above could prove helpful, but the re-integrative, novel requirements of the task might have to be avoided in favor of a more basic associative approach.
There are undoubtedly more and better solutions to the current problems in special education. It would not be surprising if, like RTI and this model, new methods were devised to simplify and ameliorate the pathology-oriented diagnostic and remedial methods in the current system so that child development, rather than curriculum philosophy would dictate the future course of special education.
REFERENCES
Allen, J (1998) A Nation Still at Risk. The Center for Education Reform. The Education Manifesto.
Boyles, D. (1999) American Education and Corporations: The Free Market Goes to School.: Pedagogy and Popular Culure, Falmer Press.
Carrion, V.G. A Garrett, V. Menon, C.F. Weems & A.L.Reiss (2007) Post traumatic stress symptoms and brain function during a response inhibition task: an Fmri study in youth. Depression and Anxiety doi. 1002/ da 20346.
Dimitriadis, G (2003) Promises to keep; Cultural Studies, Democratic Education and Public Life (Social Theory, Education and Cultural Change. Amazon.com.
Dudai, Y (2004) The neurobiology of consolidation: how stable is the engram? Annual Review of Psychology 55: 51-86
Gallagher, D (1998) The Scientific Knowledge Base of Special Education: Do We Know What We Think We Know? Exceptional Children, 64: 493-502.
Kiehl, K. M.C Stevens, K. Laurens, G. Pearlson, V. Calhoun & P. Liddle (2005) An adaptive reflexive processing model of neurocognitive functions: supporting evidence from a large scale fMRI study of an auditory oddball task. Neuroimage: 25: 899-915
Kirst, M (1993) Strengths and Weaknesses in American Public Education, In; The State of New York schools. A Conference Report. Ed Stanley Elam, Bloomington, Indiana
Sara, S.J. (2000) Retrieval and re-consolidation: toward a neurology of remembering. Learning and Memory 7: 73-84
Stager, G “The Pulse” District Administration Magazine - article retrieved by R. Colvin and P Helfand, LA Times - Dec. 1999.
Yerkes, K.M. & J.D. Dodson (1908) The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit formation. Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology 18, 459-482.
What's Education????
Education
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Education in its broadest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual. In its technical sense education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one generation to another.
Teachers in educational institutions direct the education of students and might draw on many subjects, including reading, writing, mathematics, science and history. This process is sometimes called schooling when referring to the education of teaching only a certain subject, usually as professors at institutions of higher learning. There is also education in fields for those who want specific vocational skills, such as those required to be a pilot. In addition there is an array of education possible at the informal level, such as, in museums and libraries, with the Internet and in life experience.
The right to education has been described as a basic human right: since 1952, Article 2 of the first Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights obliges all signatory parties to guarantee the right to education. At world level, the United Nations' International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966 guarantees this right under its Article 13.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Systems of formal education
o 1.1 Primary education
o 1.2 Secondary education
o 1.3 Higher education
o 1.4 Adult education
o 1.5 Alternative education
o 1.6 Indigenous education
* 2 Process
o 2.1 Curriculum
o 2.2 Learning modalities
o 2.3 Teaching
o 2.4 Technology
* 3 Educational theory
* 4 Economics
* 5 History
* 6 Philosophy
* 7 Psychology
* 8 Sociology
* 9 Educational Development
o 9.1 Internationalisation
* 10 See also
* 11 References
[edit] Systems of formal education
Education is a concept, referring to the process in which students can learn something:
* Instruction refers to the facilitating of learning toward identified objectives, delivered either by an instructor or other forms.
* Teaching refers to the actions of a real live instructor designed to impart learning to the student.
* Learning refers to learning with a view toward preparing learners with specific knowledge, skills, or abilities that can be applied immediately upon completion.
[edit] Primary education
Main article: Primary education
Primary school in open air. Teacher (priest) with class from the outskirts of Bucharest, around 1842.
Primary (or elementary) education consists of the first 5-7 years of formal, structured education. In general, main education consists of six or eight years of schooling starting at the age of five or six, although this varies between, and sometimes within, countries. Globally, around 70% of primary-age children are enrolled in primary education, and this proportion is rising.[1] Under the Education for All programs driven by UNESCO, most countries have committed to achieving universal enrollment in primary education by 2015, and in many countries, it is compulsory for children to receive primary education. The division between primary and secondary education is somewhat arbitrary, but it generally occurs at about eleven or twelve years of age. Some education systems have separate middle schools, with the transition to the final stage of secondary education taking place at around the age of fourteen. Schools that provide primary education, are mostly referred to as primary schools. Primary schools in these countries are often subdivided into infant schools and junior schools.
[edit] Secondary education
Main article: Secondary education
In most contemporary educational systems of the world, secondary education consists of the second years of formal education that occur during adolescence.[citation needed] It is characterized by transition from the typically compulsory, comprehensive primary education for minors, to the optional, selective tertiary, "post-secondary", or "higher" education (e.g., university, vocational school) for adults.[citation needed] Depending on the system, schools for this period, or a part of it, may be called secondary or high schools, gymnasiums, lyceums, middle schools, colleges, or vocational schools. The exact meaning of any of these terms varies from one system to another. The exact boundary between primary and secondary education also varies from country to country and even within them, but is generally around the seventh to the tenth year of schooling. Secondary education occurs mainly during the teenage years. In the United States and Canada primary and secondary education together are sometimes referred to as K-12 education, and in New Zealand Year 1-13 is used. The purpose of secondary education can be to give common knowledge, to prepare for higher education or to train directly in a profession.
The emergence of secondary education in the United States did not happen until 1910, caused by the rise in big businesses and technological advances in factories (i.e. emergence of electrification), that required skilled workers. In order to meet this new job demand, high schools were created and the curriculum focused on practical job skills that would better prepare students for white collar or skilled blue collar work. This proved to be beneficial for both the employer and the employee, because this improvement in human capital caused employees to become more efficient, which lowered costs for the employer, and skilled employees received a higher wage than employees with just primary educational attainment.
In Europe the grammar school or academy existed from as early as the 1500s, public schools or fee paying schools, or charitable educational foundations have an even longer history.
[edit] Higher education
Main article: Higher education
The University of Cambridge is an institute of higher learning.
Higher education, also called tertiary, third stage, or post secondary education, is the non-compulsory educational level that follows the completion of a school providing a secondary education, such as a high school, secondary school. Tertiary education is normally taken to include undergraduate and postgraduate education, as well as vocational education and training. Colleges and universities are the main institutions that provide tertiary education. Collectively, these are sometimes known as tertiary institutions. Tertiary education generally results in the receipt of certificates, diplomas, or academic degrees.
Higher education includes teaching, research and social services activities of universities, and within the realm of teaching, it includes both the undergraduate level (sometimes referred to as tertiary education) and the graduate (or postgraduate) level (sometimes referred to as graduate school). Higher education in that country generally involves work towards a degree-level or foundation degree qualification. In most developed countries a high proportion of the population (up to 50%) now enter higher education at some time in their lives. Higher education is therefore very important to national economies, both as a significant industry in its own right, and as a source of trained and educated personnel for the rest of the economy.[citation needed]
[edit] Adult education
Main article: Adult education
Adult education has become common in many countries. It takes on many forms, ranging from formal class-based learning to self-directed learning and e-learning. A number of career specific courses such as veterinary, medical billing and coding, real estate license, bookkeeping and many more are now available to students through the Internet.
[edit] Alternative education
Main article: Alternative education
Alternative education, also known as non-traditional education or educational alternative, is a broad term that may be used to refer to all forms of education outside of traditional education (for all age groups and levels of education). This may include not only forms of education designed for students with special needs (ranging from teenage pregnancy to intellectual disability), but also forms of education designed for a general audience and employing alternative educational philosophies and methods.
Alternatives of the latter type are often the result of education reform and are rooted in various philosophies that are commonly fundamentally different from those of traditional compulsory education. While some have strong political, scholarly, or philosophical orientations, others are more informal associations of teachers and students dissatisfied with certain aspects of traditional education[citation needed]. These alternatives, which include charter schools, alternative schools, independent schools, and home-based learning vary widely, but often emphasize the value of small class size, close relationships between students and teachers, and a sense of community[citation needed].
[edit] Indigenous education
Increasingly, the inclusion of indigenous models of education (methods and content) as an alternative within the scope of formal and non-formal education systems, has come to represent a significant factor contributing to the success of those members of indigenous communities who choose to access these systems, both as students/learners and as teachers/instructors.
As an educational method, the inclusion of indigenous ways of knowing, learning, instructing, teaching and training, has been viewed by many critical and postmodern scholars as important for ensuring that students/learners and teachers/instructors (whether indigenous or non-indigenous) are able to benefit from education in a culturally sensitive manner that draws upon, utilizes, promotes and enhances awareness of indigenous traditions.[2]
For indigenous students or learners, and teachers or instructors, the inclusion of these methods often enhances educational effectiveness, success and learning outcomes by providing education that adheres to their own inherent perspectives, experiences and worldview. For non-indigenous students and teachers, education using such methods often has the effect of raising awareness of the individual traditions and collective experience of surrounding indigenous communities and peoples, thereby promoting greater respect for and appreciation of the cultural realities of these communities and peoples.
In terms of educational content, the inclusion of indigenous knowledge, traditions, perspectives, worldviews and conceptions within curricula, instructional materials and textbooks and coursebooks have largely the same effects as the inclusion of indigenous methods in education. Indigenous students and teachers benefit from enhanced academic effectiveness, success and learning outcomes, while non-indigenous students/learners and teachers often have greater awareness, respect, and appreciation for indigenous communities and peoples in consequence of the content that is shared during the course of educational pursuits.[3]
A prime example of how indigenous methods and content can be used to promote the above outcomes is demonstrated within higher education in Canada. Due to certain jurisdictions' focus on enhancing academic success for Aboriginal learners and promoting the values of multiculturalism in society, the inclusion of indigenous methods and content in education is often seen as an important obligation and duty of both governmental and educational authorities.[4]
[edit] Process
[edit] Curriculum
Main articles: Curriculum and List of academic disciplines
An academic discipline is a branch of knowledge which is formally taught, either at the university, or via some other such method. Each discipline usually has several sub-disciplines or branches, and distinguishing lines are often both arbitrary and ambiguous. Examples of broad areas of academic disciplines include the natural sciences, mathematics, computer science, social sciences, humanities and applied sciences.[5]
[edit] Learning modalities
There has been work on learning styles over the last two decades. Dunn and Dunn[6] focused on identifying relevant stimuli that may influence learning and manipulating the school environment, at about the same time as Joseph Renzulli[7] recommended varying teaching strategies. Howard Gardner[8] identified individual talents or aptitudes in his Multiple Intelligences theories. Based on the works of Jung, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Keirsey Temperament Sorter[9] focused on understanding how people's personality affects the way they interact personally, and how this affects the way individuals respond to each other within the learning environment. The work of David Kolb and Anthony Gregorc's Type Delineator[10] follows a similar but more simplified approach.
It is currently fashionable to divide education into different learning "modes". The learning modalities[11] are probably the most common:[12]
* Visual: learning based on observation and seeing what is being learned.
* Auditory: learning based on listening to instructions/information.
* Kinesthetic: learning based on hands-on work and engaging in activities.
It is claimed that, depending on their preferred learning modality, different teaching techniques have different levels of effectiveness.[13] A consequence of this theory is that effective teaching should present a variety of teaching methods which cover all three learning modalities so that different students have equal opportunities to learn in a way that is effective for them.[14] Guy Claxton has questioned the extent that learning styles such as VAK are helpful, particularly as they can have a tendency to label children and therefore restrict learning.[15]
[edit] Teaching
Teachers need to understand a subject enough to convey its essence to students. While traditionally this has involved lecturing on the part of the teacher, new instructional strategies such as team-based learning put the teacher more into the role of course designer, discussion facilitator, and coach and the student more into the role of active learner, discovering the subject of the course. In any case, the goal is to establish a sound knowledge base and skill set on which students will be able to build as they are exposed to different life experiences. Good teachers can translate information, good judgment, experience and wisdom into relevant knowledge that a student can understand, retain and pass to others. Studies from the US suggest that the quality of teachers is the single most important factor affecting student performance, and that countries which score highly on international tests have multiple policies in place to ensure that the teachers they employ are as effective as possible. [16]
[edit] Technology
Main article: Educational technology
Technology is an increasingly influential factor in education. Computers and mobile phones are used in developed countries both to complement established education practices and develop new ways of learning such as online education (a type of distance education). This gives students the opportunity to choose what they are interested in learning. The proliferation of computers also means the increase of programming and blogging. Technology offers powerful learning tools that demand new skills and understandings of students, including Multimedia, and provides new ways to engage students, such as Virtual learning environments. Technology is being used more not only in administrative duties in education but also in the instruction of students. The use of technologies such as PowerPoint and interactive whiteboard is capturing the attention of students in the classroom. Technology is also being used in the assessment of students. One example is the Audience Response System (ARS), which allows immediate feedback tests and classroom discussions.
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are a “diverse set of tools and resources used to communicate, create, disseminate, store, and manage information.”[17] These technologies include computers, the Internet, broadcasting technologies (radio and television), and telephony. There is increasing interest in how computers and the Internet can improve education at all levels, in both formal and non-formal settings.[18] Older ICT technologies, such as radio and television, have for over forty years been used for open and distance learning, although print remains the cheapest, most accessible and therefore most dominant delivery mechanism in both developed and developing countries.[19]
The use of computers and the Internet is in its infancy in developing countries, if these are used at all, due to limited infrastructure and the attendant high costs of access. Usually, various technologies are used in combination rather than as the sole delivery mechanism. For example, the Kothmale Community Radio Internet uses both radio broadcasts and computer and Internet technologies to facilitate the sharing of information and provide educational opportunities in a rural community in Sri Lanka.[20] The Open University of the United Kingdom (UKOU), established in 1969 as the first educational institution in the world wholly dedicated to open and distance learning, still relies heavily on print-based materials supplemented by radio, television and, in recent years, online programming.[21] Similarly, the Indira Gandhi National Open University in India combines the use of print, recorded audio and video, broadcast radio and television, and audio conferencing technologies.[22]
The term "computer-assisted learning" (CAL) has been increasingly used to describe the use of technology in teaching.
[edit] Educational theory
Main article: Education theory
Education theory is the theory of the purpose, application and interpretation of education and learning. Its history begins with classical Greek educationalists and sophists and includes, since the 18th century, pedagogy and andragogy. In the 20th century, "theory" has become an umbrella term for a variety of scholarly approaches to teaching, assessment and education law, most of which are informed by various academic fields, which can be seen in the below sections.
[edit] Economics
Main article: Economics of education
It has been argued that high rates of education are essential for countries to be able to achieve high levels of economic growth.[23] Empirical analyses tend to support the theoretical prediction that poor countries should grow faster than rich countries because they can adopt cutting edge technologies already tried and tested by rich countries. However, technology transfer requires knowledgeable managers and engineers who are able to operate new machines or production practices borrowed from the leader in order to close the gap through imitation. Therefore, a country's ability to learn from the leader is a function of its stock of "human capital."[24] Recent study of the determinants of aggregate economic growth have stressed the importance of fundamental economic institutions[25] and the role of cognitive skills.[26]
At the individual level, there is a large literature, generally related back to the work of Jacob Mincer,[27] on how earnings are related to the schooling and other human capital of the individual. This work has motivated a large number of studies, but is also controversial. The chief controversies revolve around how to interpret the impact of schooling.[28]
Economists Samuel Bowles and Herbert Ginits famously argued in 1976 that there was a fundamental conflict in American schooling between the egalitarian goal of democratic participation and the inequalities implied by the continued profitability of capitalist production on the other.[29]
[edit] History
Main article: History of education
A depiction of the University of Bologna, Italy
The history of education according to Dieter Lenzen, president of the Freie Universität Berlin 1994 "began either millions of years ago or at the end of 1770". Education as a science cannot be separated from the educational traditions that existed before. Adults trained the young of their society in the knowledge and skills they would need to master and eventually pass on.[citation needed] The evolution of culture, and human beings as a species depended on this practice of transmitting knowledge.[citation needed] In pre-literate societies this was achieved orally and through imitation. Story-telling continued from one generation to the next. Oral language developed into written symbols and letters. The depth and breadth of knowledge that could be preserved and passed soon increased exponentially.[citation needed] When cultures began to extend their knowledge beyond the basic skills of communicating, trading, gathering food, religious practices, etc, formal education, and schooling, eventually followed.[citation needed] Schooling in this sense was already in place in Egypt between 3000 and 500BC.[citation needed]
Nowadays some kind of education is compulsory to all people in most countries. Due to population growth and the proliferation of compulsory education, UNESCO has calculated that in the next 30 years more people will receive formal education than in all of human history thus far.[30]
[edit] Philosophy
Main article: Philosophy of education
John Locke's work Some Thoughts Concerning Education was written in 1693 and still reflects traditional education priorities in the Western world
Philosophy of education is the philosophical study of the purpose, process, nature and ideals of education. Philosophy of education can naturally be considered a branch of both philosophy and education. Philosophy of education is commonly housed in colleges and departments of education, yet it is applied philosophy, drawing from the traditional fields of philosophy (ontology, ethics, epistemology, etc.) and approaches (speculative, prescriptive, and/or analytic) to address questions regarding education policy, human development, education research methodology, and curriculum theory, to name a few.
[edit] Psychology
Main article: Educational psychology
A class size experiment in the United States found that attending small classes for 3 or more years in the early grades increased high school graduation rates of students from low income families.[31]
Educational psychology is the study of how humans learn in educational settings, the effectiveness of educational interventions, the psychology of teaching, and the social psychology of schools as organizations. Although the terms "educational psychology" and "school psychology" are often used interchangeably, researchers and theorists are likely to be identified as educational psychologists, whereas practitioners in schools or school-related settings are identified as school psychologists.[citation needed] Educational psychology is concerned with the processes of educational attainment in the general population and in sub-populations such as gifted children and those with specific disabilities.[citation needed]
Educational psychology can in part be understood through its relationship with other disciplines. It is informed primarily by psychology, bearing a relationship to that discipline analogous to the relationship between medicine and biology.[citation needed] Educational psychology in turn informs a wide range of specialities within educational studies, including instructional design, educational technology, curriculum development, organizational learning, special education and classroom management.[citation needed] Educational psychology both draws from and contributes to cognitive science and the learning sciences.[citation needed] In universities, departments of educational psychology are usually housed within faculties of education, possibly accounting for the lack of representation of educational psychology content in introductory psychology textbooks (Lucas, Blazek, & Raley, 2006).
[edit] Sociology
Main article: Sociology of education
The sociology of education is the study of how social institutions and forces affect educational processes and outcomes, and vice versa. By many, education is understood to be a means of overcoming handicaps, achieving greater equality and acquiring wealth and status for all (Sargent 1994). Learners may be motivated by aspirations for progress and betterment. Education is perceived as a place where children can develop according to their unique needs and potentialities.[32] The purpose of education can be to develop every individual to their full potential.[citation needed] The understanding of the goals and means of educational socialization processes differs according to the sociological paradigm used.
[edit] Educational Development
World map indicating Education Index (according to 2007/2008 Human Development Report)
In developing countries, the number and seriousness of the problems faced are naturally greater.[citation needed] People in more remote or agrarian areas are sometimes unaware of the importance of education. However, many countries have an active Ministry of Education, and in many subjects, such as foreign language learning, the degree of education is actually much higher than in industrialized countries; for example, it is not at all uncommon for students in many developing countries to be reasonably fluent in multiple foreign languages, whereas this is much more of a rarity in the supposedly "more educated" countries where much of the population is in fact monolingual.
There is also economic pressure from those parents who prefer their children making money in the short term over any long-term benefits of education.[citation needed] Recent studies on child labor and poverty have suggested that when poor families reach a certain economic threshold where families are able to provide for their basic needs, parents return their children to school.[citation needed] This has been found to be true, once the threshold has been breached, even if the potential economic value of the children's work has increased since their return to school.[citation needed]
Russia has more academic graduates than any other country in Europe.
A lack of good universities, and a low acceptance rate for good universities, is evident in countries with a high population density.[citation needed] In some countries, there are uniform, over structured, inflexible centralized programs from a central agency that regulates all aspects of education.
* Due to globalization, increased pressure on students in curricular activities
* Removal of a certain percentage of students for improvisation of academics (usually practised in schools, after 10th grade)
India is now developing technologies that will skip land based phone and internet lines. Instead, India launched EDUSAT, an education satellite that can reach more of the country at a greatly reduced cost. There is also an initiative started by the OLPC foundation, a group out of MIT Media Lab and supported by several major corporations to develop a $100 laptop to deliver educational software. The laptops are widely available as of 2009. The laptops are sold at cost or given away based on donations. These will enable developing countries to give their children a digital education, and help close the digital divide across the world.
In Africa, NEPAD has launched an "e-school programme" to provide all 600,000 primary and high schools with computer equipment, learning materials and internet access within 10 years. Private groups, like The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are working to give more individuals opportunities to receive education in developing countries through such programs as the Perpetual Education Fund. An International Development Agency project called nabuur.com, started with the support of American President Bill Clinton, uses the Internet to allow co-operation by individuals on issues of social development.
[edit] Internationalisation
Education is becoming increasingly international. Not only are the materials becoming more influenced by the rich international environment, but exchanges among students at all levels are also playing an increasingly important role. In Europe, for example, the Socrates-Erasmus Programme stimulates exchanges across European universities. Also, the Soros Foundation provides many opportunities for students from central Asia and eastern Europe. Some scholars argue that, regardless of whether one system is considered better or worse than another, experiencing a different way of education can often be considered to be the most important, enriching element of an international learning experience.[33]
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Education in its broadest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual. In its technical sense education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one generation to another.
Teachers in educational institutions direct the education of students and might draw on many subjects, including reading, writing, mathematics, science and history. This process is sometimes called schooling when referring to the education of teaching only a certain subject, usually as professors at institutions of higher learning. There is also education in fields for those who want specific vocational skills, such as those required to be a pilot. In addition there is an array of education possible at the informal level, such as, in museums and libraries, with the Internet and in life experience.
The right to education has been described as a basic human right: since 1952, Article 2 of the first Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights obliges all signatory parties to guarantee the right to education. At world level, the United Nations' International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966 guarantees this right under its Article 13.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Systems of formal education
o 1.1 Primary education
o 1.2 Secondary education
o 1.3 Higher education
o 1.4 Adult education
o 1.5 Alternative education
o 1.6 Indigenous education
* 2 Process
o 2.1 Curriculum
o 2.2 Learning modalities
o 2.3 Teaching
o 2.4 Technology
* 3 Educational theory
* 4 Economics
* 5 History
* 6 Philosophy
* 7 Psychology
* 8 Sociology
* 9 Educational Development
o 9.1 Internationalisation
* 10 See also
* 11 References
[edit] Systems of formal education
Education is a concept, referring to the process in which students can learn something:
* Instruction refers to the facilitating of learning toward identified objectives, delivered either by an instructor or other forms.
* Teaching refers to the actions of a real live instructor designed to impart learning to the student.
* Learning refers to learning with a view toward preparing learners with specific knowledge, skills, or abilities that can be applied immediately upon completion.
[edit] Primary education
Main article: Primary education
Primary school in open air. Teacher (priest) with class from the outskirts of Bucharest, around 1842.
Primary (or elementary) education consists of the first 5-7 years of formal, structured education. In general, main education consists of six or eight years of schooling starting at the age of five or six, although this varies between, and sometimes within, countries. Globally, around 70% of primary-age children are enrolled in primary education, and this proportion is rising.[1] Under the Education for All programs driven by UNESCO, most countries have committed to achieving universal enrollment in primary education by 2015, and in many countries, it is compulsory for children to receive primary education. The division between primary and secondary education is somewhat arbitrary, but it generally occurs at about eleven or twelve years of age. Some education systems have separate middle schools, with the transition to the final stage of secondary education taking place at around the age of fourteen. Schools that provide primary education, are mostly referred to as primary schools. Primary schools in these countries are often subdivided into infant schools and junior schools.
[edit] Secondary education
Main article: Secondary education
In most contemporary educational systems of the world, secondary education consists of the second years of formal education that occur during adolescence.[citation needed] It is characterized by transition from the typically compulsory, comprehensive primary education for minors, to the optional, selective tertiary, "post-secondary", or "higher" education (e.g., university, vocational school) for adults.[citation needed] Depending on the system, schools for this period, or a part of it, may be called secondary or high schools, gymnasiums, lyceums, middle schools, colleges, or vocational schools. The exact meaning of any of these terms varies from one system to another. The exact boundary between primary and secondary education also varies from country to country and even within them, but is generally around the seventh to the tenth year of schooling. Secondary education occurs mainly during the teenage years. In the United States and Canada primary and secondary education together are sometimes referred to as K-12 education, and in New Zealand Year 1-13 is used. The purpose of secondary education can be to give common knowledge, to prepare for higher education or to train directly in a profession.
The emergence of secondary education in the United States did not happen until 1910, caused by the rise in big businesses and technological advances in factories (i.e. emergence of electrification), that required skilled workers. In order to meet this new job demand, high schools were created and the curriculum focused on practical job skills that would better prepare students for white collar or skilled blue collar work. This proved to be beneficial for both the employer and the employee, because this improvement in human capital caused employees to become more efficient, which lowered costs for the employer, and skilled employees received a higher wage than employees with just primary educational attainment.
In Europe the grammar school or academy existed from as early as the 1500s, public schools or fee paying schools, or charitable educational foundations have an even longer history.
[edit] Higher education
Main article: Higher education
The University of Cambridge is an institute of higher learning.
Higher education, also called tertiary, third stage, or post secondary education, is the non-compulsory educational level that follows the completion of a school providing a secondary education, such as a high school, secondary school. Tertiary education is normally taken to include undergraduate and postgraduate education, as well as vocational education and training. Colleges and universities are the main institutions that provide tertiary education. Collectively, these are sometimes known as tertiary institutions. Tertiary education generally results in the receipt of certificates, diplomas, or academic degrees.
Higher education includes teaching, research and social services activities of universities, and within the realm of teaching, it includes both the undergraduate level (sometimes referred to as tertiary education) and the graduate (or postgraduate) level (sometimes referred to as graduate school). Higher education in that country generally involves work towards a degree-level or foundation degree qualification. In most developed countries a high proportion of the population (up to 50%) now enter higher education at some time in their lives. Higher education is therefore very important to national economies, both as a significant industry in its own right, and as a source of trained and educated personnel for the rest of the economy.[citation needed]
[edit] Adult education
Main article: Adult education
Adult education has become common in many countries. It takes on many forms, ranging from formal class-based learning to self-directed learning and e-learning. A number of career specific courses such as veterinary, medical billing and coding, real estate license, bookkeeping and many more are now available to students through the Internet.
[edit] Alternative education
Main article: Alternative education
Alternative education, also known as non-traditional education or educational alternative, is a broad term that may be used to refer to all forms of education outside of traditional education (for all age groups and levels of education). This may include not only forms of education designed for students with special needs (ranging from teenage pregnancy to intellectual disability), but also forms of education designed for a general audience and employing alternative educational philosophies and methods.
Alternatives of the latter type are often the result of education reform and are rooted in various philosophies that are commonly fundamentally different from those of traditional compulsory education. While some have strong political, scholarly, or philosophical orientations, others are more informal associations of teachers and students dissatisfied with certain aspects of traditional education[citation needed]. These alternatives, which include charter schools, alternative schools, independent schools, and home-based learning vary widely, but often emphasize the value of small class size, close relationships between students and teachers, and a sense of community[citation needed].
[edit] Indigenous education
Increasingly, the inclusion of indigenous models of education (methods and content) as an alternative within the scope of formal and non-formal education systems, has come to represent a significant factor contributing to the success of those members of indigenous communities who choose to access these systems, both as students/learners and as teachers/instructors.
As an educational method, the inclusion of indigenous ways of knowing, learning, instructing, teaching and training, has been viewed by many critical and postmodern scholars as important for ensuring that students/learners and teachers/instructors (whether indigenous or non-indigenous) are able to benefit from education in a culturally sensitive manner that draws upon, utilizes, promotes and enhances awareness of indigenous traditions.[2]
For indigenous students or learners, and teachers or instructors, the inclusion of these methods often enhances educational effectiveness, success and learning outcomes by providing education that adheres to their own inherent perspectives, experiences and worldview. For non-indigenous students and teachers, education using such methods often has the effect of raising awareness of the individual traditions and collective experience of surrounding indigenous communities and peoples, thereby promoting greater respect for and appreciation of the cultural realities of these communities and peoples.
In terms of educational content, the inclusion of indigenous knowledge, traditions, perspectives, worldviews and conceptions within curricula, instructional materials and textbooks and coursebooks have largely the same effects as the inclusion of indigenous methods in education. Indigenous students and teachers benefit from enhanced academic effectiveness, success and learning outcomes, while non-indigenous students/learners and teachers often have greater awareness, respect, and appreciation for indigenous communities and peoples in consequence of the content that is shared during the course of educational pursuits.[3]
A prime example of how indigenous methods and content can be used to promote the above outcomes is demonstrated within higher education in Canada. Due to certain jurisdictions' focus on enhancing academic success for Aboriginal learners and promoting the values of multiculturalism in society, the inclusion of indigenous methods and content in education is often seen as an important obligation and duty of both governmental and educational authorities.[4]
[edit] Process
[edit] Curriculum
Main articles: Curriculum and List of academic disciplines
An academic discipline is a branch of knowledge which is formally taught, either at the university, or via some other such method. Each discipline usually has several sub-disciplines or branches, and distinguishing lines are often both arbitrary and ambiguous. Examples of broad areas of academic disciplines include the natural sciences, mathematics, computer science, social sciences, humanities and applied sciences.[5]
[edit] Learning modalities
There has been work on learning styles over the last two decades. Dunn and Dunn[6] focused on identifying relevant stimuli that may influence learning and manipulating the school environment, at about the same time as Joseph Renzulli[7] recommended varying teaching strategies. Howard Gardner[8] identified individual talents or aptitudes in his Multiple Intelligences theories. Based on the works of Jung, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Keirsey Temperament Sorter[9] focused on understanding how people's personality affects the way they interact personally, and how this affects the way individuals respond to each other within the learning environment. The work of David Kolb and Anthony Gregorc's Type Delineator[10] follows a similar but more simplified approach.
It is currently fashionable to divide education into different learning "modes". The learning modalities[11] are probably the most common:[12]
* Visual: learning based on observation and seeing what is being learned.
* Auditory: learning based on listening to instructions/information.
* Kinesthetic: learning based on hands-on work and engaging in activities.
It is claimed that, depending on their preferred learning modality, different teaching techniques have different levels of effectiveness.[13] A consequence of this theory is that effective teaching should present a variety of teaching methods which cover all three learning modalities so that different students have equal opportunities to learn in a way that is effective for them.[14] Guy Claxton has questioned the extent that learning styles such as VAK are helpful, particularly as they can have a tendency to label children and therefore restrict learning.[15]
[edit] Teaching
Teachers need to understand a subject enough to convey its essence to students. While traditionally this has involved lecturing on the part of the teacher, new instructional strategies such as team-based learning put the teacher more into the role of course designer, discussion facilitator, and coach and the student more into the role of active learner, discovering the subject of the course. In any case, the goal is to establish a sound knowledge base and skill set on which students will be able to build as they are exposed to different life experiences. Good teachers can translate information, good judgment, experience and wisdom into relevant knowledge that a student can understand, retain and pass to others. Studies from the US suggest that the quality of teachers is the single most important factor affecting student performance, and that countries which score highly on international tests have multiple policies in place to ensure that the teachers they employ are as effective as possible. [16]
[edit] Technology
Main article: Educational technology
Technology is an increasingly influential factor in education. Computers and mobile phones are used in developed countries both to complement established education practices and develop new ways of learning such as online education (a type of distance education). This gives students the opportunity to choose what they are interested in learning. The proliferation of computers also means the increase of programming and blogging. Technology offers powerful learning tools that demand new skills and understandings of students, including Multimedia, and provides new ways to engage students, such as Virtual learning environments. Technology is being used more not only in administrative duties in education but also in the instruction of students. The use of technologies such as PowerPoint and interactive whiteboard is capturing the attention of students in the classroom. Technology is also being used in the assessment of students. One example is the Audience Response System (ARS), which allows immediate feedback tests and classroom discussions.
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are a “diverse set of tools and resources used to communicate, create, disseminate, store, and manage information.”[17] These technologies include computers, the Internet, broadcasting technologies (radio and television), and telephony. There is increasing interest in how computers and the Internet can improve education at all levels, in both formal and non-formal settings.[18] Older ICT technologies, such as radio and television, have for over forty years been used for open and distance learning, although print remains the cheapest, most accessible and therefore most dominant delivery mechanism in both developed and developing countries.[19]
The use of computers and the Internet is in its infancy in developing countries, if these are used at all, due to limited infrastructure and the attendant high costs of access. Usually, various technologies are used in combination rather than as the sole delivery mechanism. For example, the Kothmale Community Radio Internet uses both radio broadcasts and computer and Internet technologies to facilitate the sharing of information and provide educational opportunities in a rural community in Sri Lanka.[20] The Open University of the United Kingdom (UKOU), established in 1969 as the first educational institution in the world wholly dedicated to open and distance learning, still relies heavily on print-based materials supplemented by radio, television and, in recent years, online programming.[21] Similarly, the Indira Gandhi National Open University in India combines the use of print, recorded audio and video, broadcast radio and television, and audio conferencing technologies.[22]
The term "computer-assisted learning" (CAL) has been increasingly used to describe the use of technology in teaching.
[edit] Educational theory
Main article: Education theory
Education theory is the theory of the purpose, application and interpretation of education and learning. Its history begins with classical Greek educationalists and sophists and includes, since the 18th century, pedagogy and andragogy. In the 20th century, "theory" has become an umbrella term for a variety of scholarly approaches to teaching, assessment and education law, most of which are informed by various academic fields, which can be seen in the below sections.
[edit] Economics
Main article: Economics of education
It has been argued that high rates of education are essential for countries to be able to achieve high levels of economic growth.[23] Empirical analyses tend to support the theoretical prediction that poor countries should grow faster than rich countries because they can adopt cutting edge technologies already tried and tested by rich countries. However, technology transfer requires knowledgeable managers and engineers who are able to operate new machines or production practices borrowed from the leader in order to close the gap through imitation. Therefore, a country's ability to learn from the leader is a function of its stock of "human capital."[24] Recent study of the determinants of aggregate economic growth have stressed the importance of fundamental economic institutions[25] and the role of cognitive skills.[26]
At the individual level, there is a large literature, generally related back to the work of Jacob Mincer,[27] on how earnings are related to the schooling and other human capital of the individual. This work has motivated a large number of studies, but is also controversial. The chief controversies revolve around how to interpret the impact of schooling.[28]
Economists Samuel Bowles and Herbert Ginits famously argued in 1976 that there was a fundamental conflict in American schooling between the egalitarian goal of democratic participation and the inequalities implied by the continued profitability of capitalist production on the other.[29]
[edit] History
Main article: History of education
A depiction of the University of Bologna, Italy
The history of education according to Dieter Lenzen, president of the Freie Universität Berlin 1994 "began either millions of years ago or at the end of 1770". Education as a science cannot be separated from the educational traditions that existed before. Adults trained the young of their society in the knowledge and skills they would need to master and eventually pass on.[citation needed] The evolution of culture, and human beings as a species depended on this practice of transmitting knowledge.[citation needed] In pre-literate societies this was achieved orally and through imitation. Story-telling continued from one generation to the next. Oral language developed into written symbols and letters. The depth and breadth of knowledge that could be preserved and passed soon increased exponentially.[citation needed] When cultures began to extend their knowledge beyond the basic skills of communicating, trading, gathering food, religious practices, etc, formal education, and schooling, eventually followed.[citation needed] Schooling in this sense was already in place in Egypt between 3000 and 500BC.[citation needed]
Nowadays some kind of education is compulsory to all people in most countries. Due to population growth and the proliferation of compulsory education, UNESCO has calculated that in the next 30 years more people will receive formal education than in all of human history thus far.[30]
[edit] Philosophy
Main article: Philosophy of education
John Locke's work Some Thoughts Concerning Education was written in 1693 and still reflects traditional education priorities in the Western world
Philosophy of education is the philosophical study of the purpose, process, nature and ideals of education. Philosophy of education can naturally be considered a branch of both philosophy and education. Philosophy of education is commonly housed in colleges and departments of education, yet it is applied philosophy, drawing from the traditional fields of philosophy (ontology, ethics, epistemology, etc.) and approaches (speculative, prescriptive, and/or analytic) to address questions regarding education policy, human development, education research methodology, and curriculum theory, to name a few.
[edit] Psychology
Main article: Educational psychology
A class size experiment in the United States found that attending small classes for 3 or more years in the early grades increased high school graduation rates of students from low income families.[31]
Educational psychology is the study of how humans learn in educational settings, the effectiveness of educational interventions, the psychology of teaching, and the social psychology of schools as organizations. Although the terms "educational psychology" and "school psychology" are often used interchangeably, researchers and theorists are likely to be identified as educational psychologists, whereas practitioners in schools or school-related settings are identified as school psychologists.[citation needed] Educational psychology is concerned with the processes of educational attainment in the general population and in sub-populations such as gifted children and those with specific disabilities.[citation needed]
Educational psychology can in part be understood through its relationship with other disciplines. It is informed primarily by psychology, bearing a relationship to that discipline analogous to the relationship between medicine and biology.[citation needed] Educational psychology in turn informs a wide range of specialities within educational studies, including instructional design, educational technology, curriculum development, organizational learning, special education and classroom management.[citation needed] Educational psychology both draws from and contributes to cognitive science and the learning sciences.[citation needed] In universities, departments of educational psychology are usually housed within faculties of education, possibly accounting for the lack of representation of educational psychology content in introductory psychology textbooks (Lucas, Blazek, & Raley, 2006).
[edit] Sociology
Main article: Sociology of education
The sociology of education is the study of how social institutions and forces affect educational processes and outcomes, and vice versa. By many, education is understood to be a means of overcoming handicaps, achieving greater equality and acquiring wealth and status for all (Sargent 1994). Learners may be motivated by aspirations for progress and betterment. Education is perceived as a place where children can develop according to their unique needs and potentialities.[32] The purpose of education can be to develop every individual to their full potential.[citation needed] The understanding of the goals and means of educational socialization processes differs according to the sociological paradigm used.
[edit] Educational Development
World map indicating Education Index (according to 2007/2008 Human Development Report)
In developing countries, the number and seriousness of the problems faced are naturally greater.[citation needed] People in more remote or agrarian areas are sometimes unaware of the importance of education. However, many countries have an active Ministry of Education, and in many subjects, such as foreign language learning, the degree of education is actually much higher than in industrialized countries; for example, it is not at all uncommon for students in many developing countries to be reasonably fluent in multiple foreign languages, whereas this is much more of a rarity in the supposedly "more educated" countries where much of the population is in fact monolingual.
There is also economic pressure from those parents who prefer their children making money in the short term over any long-term benefits of education.[citation needed] Recent studies on child labor and poverty have suggested that when poor families reach a certain economic threshold where families are able to provide for their basic needs, parents return their children to school.[citation needed] This has been found to be true, once the threshold has been breached, even if the potential economic value of the children's work has increased since their return to school.[citation needed]
Russia has more academic graduates than any other country in Europe.
A lack of good universities, and a low acceptance rate for good universities, is evident in countries with a high population density.[citation needed] In some countries, there are uniform, over structured, inflexible centralized programs from a central agency that regulates all aspects of education.
* Due to globalization, increased pressure on students in curricular activities
* Removal of a certain percentage of students for improvisation of academics (usually practised in schools, after 10th grade)
India is now developing technologies that will skip land based phone and internet lines. Instead, India launched EDUSAT, an education satellite that can reach more of the country at a greatly reduced cost. There is also an initiative started by the OLPC foundation, a group out of MIT Media Lab and supported by several major corporations to develop a $100 laptop to deliver educational software. The laptops are widely available as of 2009. The laptops are sold at cost or given away based on donations. These will enable developing countries to give their children a digital education, and help close the digital divide across the world.
In Africa, NEPAD has launched an "e-school programme" to provide all 600,000 primary and high schools with computer equipment, learning materials and internet access within 10 years. Private groups, like The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are working to give more individuals opportunities to receive education in developing countries through such programs as the Perpetual Education Fund. An International Development Agency project called nabuur.com, started with the support of American President Bill Clinton, uses the Internet to allow co-operation by individuals on issues of social development.
[edit] Internationalisation
Education is becoming increasingly international. Not only are the materials becoming more influenced by the rich international environment, but exchanges among students at all levels are also playing an increasingly important role. In Europe, for example, the Socrates-Erasmus Programme stimulates exchanges across European universities. Also, the Soros Foundation provides many opportunities for students from central Asia and eastern Europe. Some scholars argue that, regardless of whether one system is considered better or worse than another, experiencing a different way of education can often be considered to be the most important, enriching element of an international learning experience.[33]
Langganan:
Postingan (Atom)
