Lifelong learning

On Wednesday, May 4, we will be discussing Lifelong Learning. In preparation for that event, I would like each of you to begin to think about ways to continue learning about current methods in TESOL even after you have left a structured TESOL program. To do that, search out one or two journals that publish articles on TESOL and language learning (you could do this online, through Googlescholar, through the library databases, or in the print journals in the library). Browse through the table of contents for several issues and find one article that interests you. Print out or photocopy that article and bring it to class with you. Before class on May 4, post the bibliographic citation to that article in the comments of this post.

Assessments!

Tonight, we'll be discussing assessment in ESL/EFL classes. For this blog assignment, think carefully about a test or assessment that you have taken at some point that you were unhappy with for reasons other than your own lack of preparation. What was the issue with this test/assessment? Was it an issue of reliability or validity? What kind, and in what way? Thinking back, what would have been needed in order for the test to give a higher level of reliability or validity?

Please answer with 2 paragraphs, one which describes the problems with the test, and another that suggests ways to fix those problems.

Responses should be submitted by classtime on May 4.

Demo Lessons

One thing that the mini lessons brought to the forefront for me was the importance of assisting students us use language skillfully, which means teaching real-life language as opposed to teaching grammar rules and scripted textbook language. I saw this demonstrated very effectively in the demo teaching of my classmates. Their lessons gave me insights into my own teaching because they were focused on what appropriate language is and how to develop the skills in students that would enable them to have meaningful interactions with native speakers and other L2 speakers outside of the classroom.

Another thing I saw the demo lesson exhibit was careful selection of materials conforming to their learners' English level. This made me more aware that input beyond the L2's level will result in no comprehension, and therefore, no persistence.

One last thing I gained out of the demo lessons was the realization that the optimal ESL learning environment is best structured in ways that increase learner participation and accountability in the process - i.e., teach them to perform both independently and interdependently.

Lessons from Teaching Demos

We've now had the opportunity to observe other students in the class teaching two times. Think about the teaching demos you have seen. Did you learn something new, like a new technique or a new activity? Did you learn something not to do, like a behavior or a task? Did you learn anything about yourself as a teacher, about teaching in general, or about what makes a good teacher?

Your blog assignment this time is to reflect upon what you learned from the teaching demos. This should be a personal reflection, and it is not your chance to criticize the teaching demos of your classmates, so please keep your comments polite and respectful and focused on your own personal lessons.

Not that this blog assignment should appear as a comment to this post, be a minimum of 1 paragraph in length, and should be completed by classtime on Monday, 4/25.

Assessing Speaking

Assessing speaking skills in any size class is a real challenge. The act of speaking is a complex process, and not very organized in that it does not go logically from one point to the next. Assessing the learner's communicative competence would be the overall objectve, but to accomplish that task, I would might have to consider that competence in selected areas most relevant to the task at hand. For example, if I chose an imitative speaking task such as sentence repetition, I would be listening for linguistic competence such as pronunciation. If I chose an intensive speaking task such as directed response, I could be checking logical order to assess discourse competence, linguistic competence (grammar and pronunciation), and maybe functional competence - did the learner complete the task. A responsive speaking task such as a picture-cued elicited description might put the communicative competence focus on the learner's ability to choose language appropriate for the situation, even as it considers pronunciation, grammar, fluency, etc. The point I am trying to make is that speaking assessment to be useful to both teacher and learner needs to be multi-dimensional in its approach, so as to better determine the learner's progress and growth in his communicative competence, and avoid evaluating one-dimensional, single-event testing, which might give the student the feeling that there are only certain dimensions of communication to be considered, when it is really about knowing how, when, and why to say what to whom in what manner.

Listening Assessment

Testing ESL listening fluency is difficult because you are not only testing the ability of the student to listen, but you are also testing ability in the other basic skills as well. He may hear what you ask him to do, but may respond incorrectly because he does not understand what to do. Still there are a variety of ways one can assess listening ability within the context of a small or larger class. For example, one could test through commands, starting out as a group exercise then moving in on asking individuals to perform a task. Reading a passage aloud and asking a series of questions about what they heard would be another. The difficulty of the task could be increased by varying the length of the passage from 2 or 3 sentences to a long paragraph. One-on-one conversational interactions to test listening would also be useful, but would be a bit more problematic in large classes. One thing I do at the outset of my classes is establish signals for when to listen, when to speak, and when to keep quiet. The finger on the ear is a good way to put them on point for listening to what is about to be said. I gravitated to the selective listening tasks because I see them as basic activities that can enhance a student's listening skills and can be easily woven into any classroom situation. As to when they are appropriate? Always and forever. Testing a learner's ability to listen and respond correctly is an ongoing teaching task, but it is especially critical in the ESL environment where understanding what the learner hears is essential for appropriate language production.

Assessing Speaking and Listening

In class, we talked a lot about teaching speaking and listening, and especially about incorporating these skills meaningfully into different lessons. Later in the course, we'll talk about assessment, but this blog assignment deals specifically with assessing speaking and listening. Take a look at pages 318-319 and pages 350-353 in the Brown book, which discuss assessment of speaking and listening. Choose one listening assessment and discuss it more in depth, especially in terms of how you might manage the assessment in a large (10+ students) class, when an appropriate time for assessment would be, and why you might choose that particular assessment type. Then do the same for speaking.

Note that you should have 2-3 paragraphs about the listening assessment, and another 2-3 paragraphs about the speaking assessment.

Also, note that this should be completed by Wednesday, April 20.

new lesson plan sheets

As noted in class on Wednesday, I've revised the lesson plan sheet for the second mini-lesson.  If you choose to just use my sheet, you'll find the word doc here, and the pdf here.