focus on meaning in bachillerato, by sue kay - madrid, spain
TRANSCRIPT
1
Focus on your real goals!
1
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?
20
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