Chapter 26 Question

Examine the "Hot Topics in the Language Classroom" section beginning on page 515 in your textbook.  Discuss the use of controversial topics in the ESL/EFL classroom.

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Chapter 25: Question 2

Assess your teaching using the self-observation checklist on pages 496-498 in your textbook.  Discuss anything you feel comfortable sharing that you learned from this self-observation.

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Chapter 25: Question 1

Look through the list on page 491 and choose 2-3 characteristics that you think are either very important or less important.  Discuss your opinion on them.

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Chapter 24: Question 2

Think back to your response to question #2 of chapter 23 – if that assessment was problematic, what could be done to make that test into a more effective procedure? If it was already effective, explore a way to modify it to make it a different type of assessment (in other words, in what different ways could you use it?)

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Chpater 24: Question 1

Read through the practical steps to test construction on pages 468-472 in your textbook. Are any of these new to you? If so, which one(s) and what do you think of them? Can you think of additional items you would add to that list?

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Chapter 23: Question 2

Discuss one of your own memorable “assessment” opportunities (that you had to do as a student). What made it memorable? Was it that it was valid and reliable, or invalid and unreliable? As a teacher, would you give a similar assessment? Why or why not?

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Chapter 23: Question 1

Find out the type of assessment that your students (conversation partners, etc) took to get placed in the class they are in. Consider their goals and the goals of the program, and discuss whether you think the assessment is valid and reliable.

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Chapter 22: Question 3

What is your best vocabulary learning strategy? Describe it in detail, and then discuss the population for whom you think it is most appropriate.

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Chapter 22: Question 2

Examine Figures 22.1 to 22.7 in your textbook (pages 427-434). What do you think of them? Choose at least one of those shown and discuss how you can envision using it in your own classroom. What else would you do during class on a day that you did that activity?

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Chapter 22:Question 1

Brown lists several techniques for teaching grammar, including charts, objects, maps and drawings, dialogues, and other written texts. Think of these (or other effective) techniques that you have used or seen used for teaching grammar. Discuss one particular technique that you think is highly effective, and especially highlight in what ways it can be considered a communicative technique.

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Chapters 20 & 21: Question 3

Discuss the criteria offered by Nutall (1996) for choosing reading texts.  Which of the three criteria is the most important/makes the most sense to you?  Are there other criteria that you would argue are more or just as important?

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Chapters 20 & 21: Question 2

Think about your own language learning experience.  Do you find speaking or writing more difficult in your L2?  Think about why and discuss in detail.

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Chapters 20 & 21: Question 1

What does it mean to teach reading and writing communicatively?  How would a reading/writing class with a communicative focus be different from other reading/writing classes?

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Verification of Community Service Hours Form

Link to Verification Form

Link to Revised Syllabus

Revised Syllabus

Week 11 Powerpoint Slides PDF

You can access the slides by clicking on the link below-


Week 11 Slides

Chapters 18 and 19: Question 3

Have you tried any listening or speaking techniques with your conversation partner or class this semester?  If so, discuss how successful they were, and what you could have done to improve upon them.  If no, think about what you could do with your class/partner, and try it out this week.  Ideally, report back on how it went.

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Chapters 18 and 19: Question 2

One type of listening technique not really considered in this chapter is dictation. How useful is dictation? What are the pros and cons of using dictation in a classroom?

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Chapters 18 and 19: Question 1

In your language learning classes, was there any focus on listening and/or speaking?  If so, explain and critique the methods used for listening and speaking.  If no, discuss why you think the teacher chose not to focus on those aspects of language.

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Experimental Participation for 2 blog points.

You can participate in an experiment and earn up to 2 blog points. Email Cindy your language experience (L1, L2, any other language with proficiency levels). Cindy will forward your information to the concerned person.

Earn upto 3 points for attending Dr. Mandy Maguire Colloquium on April 6, 2012.

You can earn up to 3 blog points for attending Dr. Mandy Maguire's Colloquium in full (the talk + Q&A session).  Please find the details below -

Link to Basler Activities Slides pdf

Basler Activities

Week 10: Question 6

You might have heard a mention here or there that we should “know our students” - discuss how the use of a variety of activities helps us out with this.

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Week 10: Question 5

Consider the following 2 aspects of Debra’s presentation:  directions and purpose.  Discuss the importance of both when doing activities in class with students.  

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Week 10: Question 4

Discuss the use of terminology – are these games or activities?  Does it really matter in class? 

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Week 10: Question 3

Look through the pdf and think about class.  What was your favorite activity?  Why? 

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Week 10: Question 2

Discuss Debra’s demeanor and what kinds of things she did to help lower students’ affective filters. 

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Week 10: Question 1

Discuss how the activities illustrated by Debra show us how to “see the world through ESL eyes”.

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Earn upto 3 points for attending Keren Rice Colloquium.

You can earn up to 3 blog points for attending Keren Rice's Colloquium in full (the talk + Q&A session). Check in and check out with either Namrata or Cindy. Please find the details below -

Chapter 17: Question 4

Based on your paired discussion in class, state the topic/theme of your lesson, then list the 4 skills with at least a brief description of how you would integrate each of them into that lesson.  Try not to just repeat what your partner said if they’ve already answered – instead try to expound on what they’ve already said or offer another way to integrate each skill into the lesson you discussed. 

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Chapter 17: Question 3

Think back to your first lesson plan.  How much did you integrate skills?  If a lot, discuss the way you integrated skills.  If you did not integrate skills very much, discuss ways that you could integrate other skills into your lesson.

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Chapter 17: Question 2

“Text (i.e. discourse in any form) will be easier to reproduce, understand and recall, to the extent that it is structured episodically”. Explain in layman’s terms and discuss whether you think this is really accurate.  Give examples from personal experience if possible. 

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Chapter 17: Question 1

“In an age of globalization, pragmatic objectives of language learning place an increased value on integrated and dynamic multiskill instructional models with a focus on meaningful communication and the development of learners’ communicative competence”.  What do you think of this?  What is your understanding of it? 

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Week 8 Powerpoint Slides PDF

You can access the ppt by clicking the linking below-

wk 8 slides

Chapter 16: Question 2

What do you think about using personality tests in language classrooms?  Discuss why think it would/would not be beneficial.  Are there particular contexts in which you'd be more/less likely to use them? 

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Chapter 16: Question 1

Think of the most successful language learner you know.  What does/did that person do that you think made him/her a good language learner?  How can you encourage your own students to try those same strategies?

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Chapter 15: Question 2

Have you ever experienced ‘unplanned teaching’ in a classroom? Discuss an instance where you grabbed a teachable moment and ran with it, ultimately providing for more learning success for the students. 

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Chapter 15: Question 1

What do you think of the following statement: “Energy drives students towards higher attainment”?  Discuss why you agree or disagree. 

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Week 7 Powerpoint Slides pdf

Here is the link to the pdf -

Week 7 Slides

Extra blog points available for doing any of the following:

- participating in linguistics experiments (that you are not getting credit for in another class or being paid for; more information on specific opportunities coming soon) (~1 point per experiment)

- attending parts of UTASCILT (1 point per session attended, must check-in with Cindy, if getting credit for another class, talk to Cindy)

UTASCILT Schedule is here -


http://ling.uta.edu/~lingua/conference/19-utascilt-2012/

Chapter 14:

Think of one real-life example of group work that was overwhelmingly successful.  Discuss at least 3 reasons why it worked.  Then imagine and discuss a situation in which the same type of group work would probably not work.  Discuss why.

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Chapter 13: Question 2

Brown states that "certain types of questions may actually discourage interactive learning."  Think of several real-life examples from your own language classes (as either teacher or student) where certain types of questions just didn't work.  Discuss why.

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Chapter 13: Question 1

Think about your own language learning experience.  What role do you feel the instructor played most of the time?  How successful was that?  Would it have made a difference if a different role were more prominent?  Why?

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Slides for 02.20.2012

02.20.2012 Slides 


Please click on 'Download' tab; you don't need to download any software to access this file.

Chapter 11: Question 2

Using the criteria given on page 192 in your textbook, evaluate an ESL text for a speaking/listening course.  Make sure you provide the following information:
(a) a full bibliographic reference for the textbook
(b) the positive aspects of the book - what would make you want to use it in a class, and for what level/age would it be appropriate?
(c) the possible drawbacks of this book - what aspects of this book would make you hesitant to choose it for a class?  why?


Note from Cindy: For some reason some of the comments for this post are going to spam and not showing up. If you attempt to post and nothing shows up, please email me and I'll check the spam folder for it.

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Chapter 11: Question 1

Examine the taxonomy of techniques provided on pages 185-186 in your textbook.  Choose one that you did *not* use in your mini-lesson, and discuss how you could have incorporated that into your lesson in an effective way.  Discuss details and why you think it would work well in your lesson.

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Chapter 10: Question 2

Examine the terminal and enabling objectives given on pages 171-172 in the sample lesson in the textbook.  How measurable or observable do you think they are?  Are there any that you would modify?  Which ones and why?

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Chapter 10: Question 1

The textbook talks about assessment as an important component.  Describe the assessment component in your foreign language class.  What were the advantages and disadvantages to evaluation done in that way?  In what ways (if any) did the teacher incorporate both formal and informal assessments?

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Chapter 8: Option 3

Can you think of any language policy issues which created headlines in world news?  What were they?  Why would they be important enough to be international news?

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Chapter 8: Option 2

Would you prefer teaching English as a Foreign Language or a Second Language? Why?

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Chapter 8: Option 1

When we think about the difference in ESL/EFL contexts, we want to sieze the ESL advantage and compensate for the EFL disadvantage.  What are some practical ways we can do these two things?

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Chapter 7:

"In a foreign language situation where your students speak the same native language, some negotiations might be possible in the native language, allowing for a small amount of student control". What kind of negotiations might be appropriate in the L1?  What do you think of the use of the L1 in a language classroom?  Explain, with good support/examples for your opinions.

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Chapter 6:

If you were asked to list the most important things to remember when teaching adults, what would they be?  Why?

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Chapter 5 questions are still open for answers for the coming week. Please consider answering them if you haven't yet.

Reflection 1 concerns

Update as of Friday, Feb 3: I just heard from Debra that she took a serious fall and has been out of work all week, which is why you have not received partner assignments yet for the ELI. She assures me that all will have partners and that you should have them assigned by early next week. However, I understand that this may not give you enough time to set up a meeting with your partner and write your reflection by Friday. Therefore, if you signed up for a conversation partner with the ELI, just send me a quick email to let me know that, and I'll respond with a new due date for reflection #1. If you are not working with the ELI but are stressing about the first reflection, please email me that as well so that we can set up a workable date for your first reflection.

A couple of you have expressed your concern that you have not heard back from the ELI yet regarding your conversation partner. In case more of you are concerned, let me encourage you NOT to worry yet! Debra (the one who coordinates the partners) was out of the office on Monday and Tuesday, but you should hear something sometime this week.

Also, your reflections will be due by next Friday at 5pm, and should be sent to my by email, as a pdf. So you still have over a week to meet with your partner. In cases where it may be impossible for you to meet with your partner in time to have your reflection finished, I am happy to discuss, on an individual basis, moving the due date of your first reflection without penalty. However, I'd prefer to wait until next Wednesday to start that discussion.

Meanwhile, if you've already started your service learning, you might be wondering what to do for your reflection. In terms of writing, because everyone is volunteering in different places, I like to allow you the freedom to discuss the aspects of your teaching, your knowledge, and your students that you want to. However, I know that it's sometimes hard to come up with what to write, especially the first time. Therefore, I am going to give you a prompt that you can focus on for your writing, if you choose to. Please do not simply answer the questions! The point is for you to use the prompt to guide possible things to write about, and the important thing is that you are discussing what YOU are learning from your volunteer teaching experience.

A possible first prompt: Think about your expectations before your first meeting. How did you feel? Were you nervous or confident? Prepared or worried about what to do? Then think about how the class/session felt to you. Were your expectations met? In what ways? What did you learn about yourself in terms of interacting with students in similar situations or on the first day of class? Were you comfortable with it once you were there? Why or why not? What would you do differently if you could go back and teach that class/session again?

Service Learning

In case you are feeling at a loss as to what to do with your conversation partner or in your first class, here are a few links to some possible conversation topics to get you started. If you have additional links to share, please add them in the comments!

ESL gold
ITESLJ
ESL Junction
ESL Genius
ESL Partyland

And if anyone is interested in the listening activities that I mentioned in class, here's the link to that page as well:
Randall's Cyber Listening Lab

Week 2 Powerpoint Slides pdf

wk 2 powerpoint

(Please click on the download tab to access the file).

Week 3 Powerpoint Slides pdf

wk3 powerpoint

(Please click on the download tab to access the file).

Chapter 5: Option 2

Share some personal learning experiences related to interlanguage, intrinsic motivation, and extrinsic motivation.

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Chapter 5: Option 1

Explain Maslow's (1970) hierarchy of needs theory and comment on whether you feel it is valid, as well as why or why not.  Do we as teachers really need to consider all of these needs?  In what ways are they relevant or irrelevant to us in a classroom? 

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Chapter 4:

Many instructional contexts around the world do not encourage risk-taking, instead they encourage correctness, right answers, and withholding "guesses" until one is sure to be correct. How might this affect a language learning classroom where communicative language teaching is being used.  Try to relate your answer to the principles discussed.

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Chapter 3 (for undergrads):

Think about your own language learning experience.  In your classes, was grammatical accuracy more important or communicative proficiency? Try to think about this from the teacher’s perspective – why might s/he focus more on one than on the other? 

If you have continued your efforts to learn the language beyond the classroom, which if more important to you now?  Explain your reasoning.

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Chapter 3 (for grad students):

According to the textbook, cooperative learning "promotes intrinsic motivation, heightens self-esteem, creates caring and altruistic relationship and lowers anxiety and prejudice." Do you agree or disagree with this statement? 

If you agree, provide examples from your own experience that illustrate the effectiveness of cooperative learning.  Make sure to include logical reasons as to why the cooperative learning was successful. 

If you do not agree with the above quote, provide examples from your own experience that illustrate the ineffectiveness of cooperative learning.  Find at least 3 specific factors that made the experience unsuccessful.

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Chapter 2:

Krashen and Terrell's Natural Approach emphasizes that "the essence of language is meaning. Vocabulary, not grammar, is the heart of language.” What is your take on this?  Can you think of evidence to either support or refute this statement?  Give specific examples related to language learning that illustrate this truth or that provide counterevidence to it.

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Chapter 1:

Have you ever learned a language in a classroom setting?

If yes, think of one thing the instructor did that you thought was very helpful for your language learning experience.  Describe it in detail and discuss why it led to success in language learning.

If no, think about the advantages and disadvantages that you bring to language teaching, having never learned a language in a classroom.  Discuss at least 3 advantages/disadvantages in detail.

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5301/4353 Spring 2012

Welcome to the 5301/4353 blog for Spring 2012! Throughout this semester, questions for discussion will be posted here for you to answer. You are welcome to post your own questions as well, and to comment on the questions of other students in the class. Let's make this fun, useful, and interesting!