focus on meaning in bachillerato, by sue kay - madrid, spain

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Focus on your real goals!

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NEW

2016

Oxford

ELTpics  

The three Ms…

Motivation – Engaging content

Memory – Repeated exposure

Meaning – Meaningful practice

The three Ms…

Motivation – Engaging content

“The truth of the matter is that about 99% of teaching is making the students feel interested in the material. Then the other 1% has to do with your methods.”

Noam Chomsky

The three Ms…

Memory – Repeated exposure

“Various studies create a range of 5-16 encounters with a word for a student to truly acquire it.”

Paul Nation

This talk

Meaning: 1.  Meaningful topics 2.  Meaningful contexts 3.  Meaningful practice

Meaningful topics

ELTpics  

Meaningful topics: places

Meaningful topics: family

Meaningful topics: culture

Meaningful topics: environment

Meaningful topics: technology

Meaningful topics: clothes

Meaningful topics: work and study

Meaningful topics: work and study

Meaningful topics: work and study

Meaningful topics

“If the interest of students is not engaged, the learning process is unlikely to get off the ground at all.”

Henry Widdowson

Meaningful contexts

Meaningful contexts

Choosing a text: o Is it interesting? o Is there anything in this text that my students can relate to their own lives? o Can they learn something about the language?

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Meaningful contexts

Meaningful contexts

Meaningful contexts

The Exam Question Imagine you were taking an important exam on Monday, what would you do the weekend before? You almost certainly wouldn’t do what two Chemistry students did in Kansas, Missouri. They went to a different city and partied all weekend. They had a great time, but they knew that unless they got back in time for the exam, they wouldn’t be able to take it. So they drove through the night and got back to college in the early hours of Monday morning. Sadly for them, they overslept and missed the exam. When they found their professor afterwards, they decided to invent a story. They told him that they would have got back for the exam had they not had a flat tyre. The professor thought about this for a moment, and then agreed that, provided they arrived before 9am, they could take the exam the next day. He placed them in separate rooms and gave them the exam paper. The first question was simple and worth five points. But they were unprepared for the question on the next page: Question 2 (95 points): Which tyre?

Meaningful contexts

Meaningful contexts

Meaningful contexts

Meaningful contexts ORIGINAL In such close quarters personal hygiene is a must, but the weightless conditions make washing a delicate chore. Many astronauts use the music-festival favourite: moist wipes. Hair washing is trickier. Even Sunita Williams, who spent 195 consecutive days on the space station – a female record – had her long dark hair chopped to shoulder length but still had problems. “Washing took time. I’d squirt a little water under my hair, pat it down with my hand so it wasn’t splashing everywhere, then put some shampoo in my hand and moosh it around. Then I’d wet a towel and try and soak it up.

ADAPTED As they live so close together personal hygiene is essential, but the weightless conditions make washing difficult. Many astronauts use moist wipes. Hair washing is trickier. Sunita Williams, who spent 195 days on the space station, explains how she managed: “Washing hair took time. I’d put a little water under my hair, pat it down with my hand so it wasn’t splashing everywhere, then put some shampoo in my hand and move it around. Then I’d wet a towel and try to soak it up.

Meaningful practice

Exercise 1 – make & do Complete the questions with the correct form of make or do. 1) How much money does a waitress ______? 2) Could you ______ the washing today? 3) Did Tom’s new business ______ a profit last year? 4) Has Dick ______ the washing up? 5) Were you ______ your homework when I called? 6) Why did Harry ______ a complaint?

Meaningless

Exercise 2 – make & do Complete the questions with the correct form of make or do. 1) Did you _____ your bed this morning? 2) Do your neighbours ever ______ a noise? 3) Do you like ______ the washing up? 4) Who ______ the cooking in your house? 5) Have you ever ______ dinner for somebody? 6) Where does your family usually ______ the shopping? Ask your partner the questions.

Meaningful

Meaningful practice – Ask and answer

Meaningful practice – Replace names

11    Replace  the  underlined  adjec1ve  with  a  synonym  from    WORD  STORE  1C.    1        Hannah  is  very  hard-­‐working.  She’s  always  in  the  library.  2         Dan  has  a  logical  way  of  thinking.  He  likes  problem-­‐solving.  3         Jim  is  a  sociable  person.  He  loves  a  good  party.  4         Eva  is  very  determined.  She  never  gives  up.  5         Tom  likes  to  discover  new  things.  He’s  always  interested.  6         Rosa  is  really  intelligent.  She  gets  everything  right.    

12     Replace  the  names  in  Exercise  11  to  describe  students                in  your  school.  Does  your  partner  agree  with  you?  

Meaningful practice – True for you

Meaningful practice – Agree or disagree

Meaningful language practice

I believe that meaning should be central to all practice activities however

controlled or free, and at whatever level.

Students learn more effectively when engaged in activities on a personal

level.

Meaningful practice “It is the need to get meanings across and the pleasure experienced when this is achieved that motivates second language acquisition.”

Rod Ellis

Questions, please!

Let’s meet in 2016

RUSSIA 21st– 25th March TESOL (Baltimore) 5th – 8th April IATEFL UK (Birmingham) 13th – 16th April

SPAIN 23rd April BRAZTESOL (Brazil) July UKRAINE September ARGENTINA September MEXICO October