(new) newsletter

1 Vol. 41, No. 3 (Fall 2011)

CollaborativeConversations*by Andrea Honigsfeld

That effective collaboration benefits stu-dents (and teachers alike) is affirmed by the well-deserved attention it has received most recently in the professional literature (see, for example, DelliCarpini, 2008, 2009; Honigsfeld & Dove, 2010; NACTAF, 2009; NEA, 2009; Pawan & Ortloff, 2011) and in the TESOL educational community (e.g., themes of 2011 New York State and Ken-tucky TESOL conferences). Acknowledging the importance of collaborative exchangesamong teachers is not a completely novel idea, though. Close to three decades ago, Judith Warren Little (1982) examined the differences between more and less effective schools and found that the more effective ones had a greater degree of collegiality. She noted four unique characteristics of collegi-ality (or collaboration) in successful schools, where teachers participate in the following activities:• Teachers engage in frequent, continuous,and increasingly concrete and precise talk about teaching practice.• Teachers are frequently observed and pro-vided with useful critiques of their teaching.• Teachers plan, design, evaluate, and pre-pare teaching materials together.• Teachers teach each other the practice of teaching (pp. 331– 332).

Consider what Warren Little’s (1982) fre-quently quoted four key ideas could mean for ELLs in today’s schools. What if we translated her seminal fi ndings into a con-temporary framework of four Cs, in which“collaborative” serves as a defining adjective, followed by a key activity or desired teacher behavior necessary for improved student learning?• Collaborative Conversations: Through enhanced communication, all teachers have the opportunity to develop ownership and shared responsibility for ELLs’ learning.• Collaborative Coaching: Through an encouraging school climate and supportive framework, teachers offer and receive feed-back on their teaching practices.• Collaborative Curriculum Development:Through curriculum mapping and alignment and collaborative materials development, teachers match both their longterm and day-to-day instructional goals and activities.

NYS TESOLAnnual Conference

Oct. 28-29Marriott Hotel

Melvillewww.nystesol.org/annualconf/

Collaborative Converstios.................1Conversations in Support.................3Actg......................................................4Resources for the CommonCore.....6Talking is learning.............................10Small Talk..........................................14Conversation Table..........................24Regular Features/ Special AnnouncementsPromising Practices...........................8Book Review.....................................12SIGs and Regions............................17Members Only Website .................18Editorialtes........................................22Upcoming Idiom Themes..............22Calendar and Announcements......22NEW Membership Form…….....23

IDIOMNew York State Teachers of English to Speakers of Other LanguagesVol. 41, No. 3 http://www.nystesol.org Fall 2011

NYS TESOL Idiom 2 Vol. 41, No. 3 (Fall 2011) NYS TESOL Idiom 3 Vol. 41, No. 3 (Fall 2011)

Conversations in

Support of High

School ELLsby Victoria Pilotti

Adolescent ELLs are secondlanguage learners who are still developingtheir profi ciency in academicEnglish. Moreover, they are learningEnglish at the same time they arestudying core content areas throughEnglish. Thus, English language learnersmust perform double the work ofnative English speakers in the country’smiddle and high schools. At thesame time, they are being held to thesame accountability standards as theirnative English-speaking peers (Short& Fitzsimmons, 2007, p. 1). Conversations with ELLs andcolleagues are viable ways for ESLteachers to help their students navigateacademic challenges. My short time atJamaica High School has been fi lledwith conversations that have drivenmy instruction to best support theELLs in my charge.

Curriculum Experiments

Based on Conversations

with ELLs At Jamaica High School, an ESLsupport class is offered zero period,7:22 to 8:06 a.m., to provide intermediateELLs with additional targetedinterventions. September 2011 will bethe third year I am teaching zero period,and each year is an ongoing curriculumdevelopment action researchexperiment. I conduct the course as acombined resource room and advisoryclass model. Based on daily conversationswith my students about theirchallenges, I provide homework help;teach problematic topics in mathematics,science, and social studies; andassess and teach diverse skills necessaryfor academic success. The fi rstyear of the experiment, my curriculumincluded mathematics symbols andword problems; the living environmenttopics of scientifi c method, evolution,

and organ systems; social studies topicsof feudalism, estates, and analysisof political cartoons; English language arts topics of idioms, formal versus informal language, and dictionary/glossary skills; and academic readiness in test-taking strategies, study skills, time management, notebook organization, public speaking skills, and computer skills. I also taught graph skills across the disciplines. This class was oneof a select few Jamaica High School English and ESL classes that benefi ted from Teen-Biz3000 (Empower3000), a Web-based indi-vidualized reading program by Achieve3000.Conversations with ELLs form part of the data collection that drives my curriculum changes. Several first-year students (partici-pants in Experiment I) reported the lessons and activities helped them pass content-area finals and New York State Regents examina-tions. When asked how the support class could be improved for the following year, ELLs suggested that I allot more time to science, continue teaching math and social studies, and retain computer instruction onTeenBiz3000. One student, who was par-ticularly resistant to my teaching anything but ESL all year, later admitted he benefit-ted from content-area instruction by his ESL teacher. All students expressed a deep appreciation for the bilingual content area glossaries I provided. In the second year (Experiment II), I spent less time on dictionary/glossaryskills; did not teach idioms; and,upon careful review of recent livingenviron-ment Regents exams, added anecosystem unit, a lesson on pH, andgroup activities on bar and line graphs.I replaced the formal versus informalEnglish lesson with daily academicEnglish and everyday English explanationsand defi nitions. Students assessed their mul-tiple intelligences (Gardner, 1983; Gardner, 1993, 2996; McKenzie, 1999), and learn-ing styles (Dunn & Dunn, 1993; Dunn & Griggs, 2003, 2004, 2007; Missere & Dunn,2005). I added native-language translationsof key content vocabulary tomy student notebook grading rubric.Groups researched continents andexplorers and presented their PowerPointslide shows to ELLs in otherclasses. TeenBiz3000 was replaced byStudy Island, Web-based instructionbuilt on New York State standards,that provided all Jamaica High Schoolstudents practice for English, mathematics,

science, and social studies Regents exams; and for national Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) and Advanced Placement (AP) exams. Based on requests from Experi-ment I participants for Internet resources for speaking practice, I created lists of Web sites and links with podcasts and speaking exercises. As I gear up for Experiment III inthe 2011-2012 school year, I plan todevote more time to dictionary skills,such as alphabetizing, and contentareatextbook structure, with specialattention to textbook glossaries andindices; the participants in ExperimentII were lacking in dictionary/textbookresearch skills and did not make optimumuse of these resources. I provideda list of Web sites and links forRegents practice and bilingual glossaries,and will again provide copies ofbilingual glossaries in Experiment III.I have decided to step up test-takingstrategies and content writing practicein the zero period support class beginningin September.

Conversations with

FamiliesIndividual writing conferencesoften involve reinforcing the student’sstrengths and discussing specifi c areasin need of improvement (Fountas& Pinnell, 2001). I had conversationswith each student about his/hermultiple intelligences and learningstyle profi les generated from the Dunn(continued on page 26)

New York State Teachers of English to Speakers of OtherLanguagesOfficers and Executive Board 2010-2011President, Nanette DoughertyNYC Public SchoolsFirst Vice President, Rebekah Johnson LAGCC, CUNYSecond Vice President, Christy Baralis South Huntington School DistrictSecond Vice President Elect, Olivia Limbu Pace UniversityPast President/TESOL Liaison, Constance Dziombak Mount Vernon City Schools SIG Coordinator, Laura Van Tassell South Huntington School DistrictSIG Assistant Coordinator, Jennifer Scully ConsultantRegions Coordinator, Tina Villalobos Hicks-ville Public SchoolsAssistant Regions Coordinator, Lynn Elling-wood Brighton Central School DistrictMembership & Marketing Chair, Patricia Juza Baruch College, CUNYAssistant Membership Chair, Drew Fagan Teachers College, Columbia University Curriculum and Standards Chair, Maria Dove Molloy CollegeAssistant Curriculum and Standards Chair Position OpenProfessional Concerns ChairPorfirio Rodriguez, East Ramapo CSDProfessional Concerns Assistant Chair Posi-tion OpenPublications/Technology Chair, Fran Olmos Yonkers Public Schools Idiom Editor, Cara Tuzzolino Werben Nas-sau Community CollegeDialogue Editor, Sue Peterson St. John’s UniversityWebmaster, David HirschNew York CityBusiness Manager/TreasurerL. Jeanie Faulkner, Cornell UniversityCertified Public Accountant Jim Stotz

From the President’s Deskby Nanette Dougherty, NYS TESOL President

Dear Colleagues,I hope you have been enjoying a happy, healthy and restorative summer. I would like to update you on some changes and challenges facing educators. On July 13, I attended the Bilingual/ESL COP (Committee of Practitioners) meeting at Teachers College, Columbia University. The most major changes include the New Evaluation Law for K-12 teachers and principals:

1. Annual evaluations for all teachers and principals2. Clear, rigorous expectations for instructional excellence, prioritizingstudent learning3. Multiple measures of performance4. Multiple ratings: Four performance levels to describe differences inteacher effectiveness5. The new system should encourage regular, constructive feedback andongoing development6. Significance: results are a major factor in employment decisions.

You can view all documents discussed at the COP Meeting at the following link: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/biling/bilinged/BilingualESLCOP.html. For more information about the Common Core Standards, please consult the website at: http://www.corestan-dards.org/ and see the article in this issue. Though it was not considered at this meeting, the 14 Bilingual/ESL Technical Assistance Centers (BETACs) across New York State closed permanently on June 30, 2011. This puts both our schools and our LEP/ELL populations at riskof not having the appropriate resources to meet their educational and programmaticneeds over the next five years. Our new Commissioner of Education, Dr. John B. King, Jr., may not be familiar with the importance of the resources offered by the BETACs. You maye-mail him directly at: [email protected]. In addition, you may email the NYS Board of Regents on this issue at: RegentsOffi [email protected]. At the Melville Marriott Oc-tober 28-29th, I will be passing the gavel to our incoming President, Rebekah Johnson. I would like to thank the many wonderful members of my Executive Board and the many SIG and Region Leaders for their service to the organization. Special thanks to Cornelia Randolph, a constant support and inspiration, and Fran Olmos, for her guidance. You will be receiving ballots for the Executive Board slate in the mail shortly. Thanks to our Nominating Committee, led by Cornelia Randolph and Terri Brady-Mendez, for their time and efforts. Members, please do not forget to vote for your new leadership in our organization by returning your ballots. As always, please continue to keep in touch with issues, concerns, and ideas on how our organization can best serve you. Best wishes for a great school year to all. Peace and blessings to you, Nanette Dougherty, President, NYS TESOL

P.S. We’re so very excited to be launching our new Members Only website - please readmore about it in this issue and log in soon to check it out. Please contact us with ideas


to become expert in effectively and effi ciently using and saving your voice. Here is a website to get you thinking about your own parallels between acting and teaching: http://www/jbactors.com/actingphilosophy/ actingquotations.html.

ReferencesGodwin, G. (1974). The Odd Woman.New York: Ballantine Books.http://www/jbactors.com/actingphiloso-phy/actingquotations.html

Elizabeth Fonseca is an avid travelerwho has taught ESL/EFL in such countriesas Italy, Turkey, and the UnitedArab Emirates. Her work has beenpublished in the Arabia Review and theTraveler’s Tales series, among others.Her interest in acting stems from highschool and community theater days, aswell as more recent poetry readings.She currently teaches at Nassau CommunityCollege in New York.<[email protected]>

The field of ESOL has lost one of its most revered members, Jeanette D. Macero, who died May 9, 2011. Jeanette was passion-ate in her dedication to non-native speak-ers of English as exemplifi ed by her teaching, mentoring and participation in professional organi-zations. Jeanette, one of the founders of NYS ESOL BEA (now NYS TESOL—see note below), was a leader in that organi-zation nonstop until her retirement from Syracuse University in 1998, as associate professor of English and TESOL coordina-tor of languages, literatures and linguistics. She moved to Medfi eld, MA to be near her family. Many NYS TESOL members will testify to the mentoring they received from Jea-nette, who held leadership positions in the organization for her entire career. Jeanette graduated with a BA in English from Barnard College, an MA in linguistics from Columbia University, and did doctoral study in linguistics at the University of Michigan. She was president, second vice presidenttwice, and chair of various TESOL commit-tees: publications, paper selection, awards and nominations. Twice, she received the NYS TESOL Distinguished Service Award.

In addition to Jeanette’s full-time teach-ing at Syracuse University, she published skill books for beginners of English through Laubach Literacy (now known as ProLit-

eracy), as well as a number of scholarly papers and address-es, edited books of readings, and acted as consultant to many groups. All those who knew Jeanette are aware of her many accomplishments in professional or-ganizations and her skillful teaching, but those closest to her will remember most

her kind and compassionate manner to all she metand worked with, her hearty laugh, and her engaging personality. Jeanette’s friends and colleagues have lost a treasure.Vel Chesser, retired from Syracuse Univer-sity, can be reached at <[email protected]>Editor’s note: With thanks to NYS TESOL historian George Morris: Thevery fi rst organization was called NY TE-SOL (No “S” for State), then NYS ESOL BEA. The founding date is 1970 (hence our 40th anniversary in 2010). The split into NYS TESOL and NYSABE was in the early 1980s.

Acting is a sport. On stage you must be ready to move like a tennis player on his toes. Your concentration must be keen, your refl exes sharp; your body and mind are in top gear; the chase is on. Acting is energy. In the theatre people pay to see energy.—Clive Swift

Good teaching is one-fourth preparationand three-fourths theater.—Gail Godwin

If “acting is energy,” teaching ismany things: a combination of knowledge, experience, awareness, expertise, and care. It is also the energy we, as language instruc-tors, bring into the classroom that absolutely affects the order of the day. As a theater lover and past occasional performer, I have often thought about the parallels between teaching and acting. Here are a few that come to mind. You’re on stage. All eyes are onyou. You’re the initial focal point ofattention. Your presence shifts theenergy in the room. Sometimes, youliterally have a podium, with desks arrayed in rows before you like patrons at a theater. There is noise, chatter, laughter, shuffl ing in the room until the lights dim. Curtain up! Enter stage left, the professor. Cell phones get put away, or at least discreetly placed to the side. Chitchat dies down. The room is hushed a moment, the pause of anticipa-tion before the first words of dialogue are spoken. All eyes are on you. An actoruses her body to convey information about her character before sheeven speaks. So do you. How are you dressed? Does what you wear convey some message about your position in this play, your role, your persona as teacher, leader, or facilitator of the energy in the room? How do you walk in? Are your eyes downcast, refl ecting your students’ spent energy at the end of a long week, or do they sparkle? Do you walk in the room with pizzazz, trans-mitting vital energy to them, to create the cycle of give-and-take necessary for effective language learning?

Do you use gestures, winks, and nods to convey information, emotion, even com-edy? These are things worth thinking about, because one of the most important ways you are like an actor is in this all-important function. Your energy and presence set the tone. Just as audiences must have faith in actors and suspend their disbelief to fully enter into the world the actors are creating, your students must agree to the unspoken con-tract of trust that bonds them to you in a vulnerable learning situation. Your ability to create that atmosphere of trust is important; your dynamism helps your class generate energy that in turn feeds you and helps the learning environment be dynamic. This is important for learning as well as for the teacher’s ability to sustain energy and passion both within a class and over her entire run. Actors use their voices as tools,relying on not just word choice but infl ection, intonation, varying volume, and the judicious use of pauses to capture the audi-ence’s attention, rivet them, spellbind them, draw them forward in their seats wondering “What’s next?” You too can use your voice itself as a tool that weaves the bewitching spell of energy, dynamism, and trust that makes for a lively and effective learning envi-ronment. The show must go on. There aredays when you can’t imagine generating that energy at all. On those days, you have to “act as if ”: put on your teaching persona as an actor dons a mask or stage makeup, prepar-ing herself to go before the lights. If you don’t show up, or show up without energy, you might flop. This leads us to the all-importantteaching persona. As an actor slips into a role through preparation, curiosity, and the desire to share emotion and information with an audience, you can slip into your teaching persona, comprisedof your sincere and genuine selfwith a soupçon of public-role poise,strategic sass, and teacher’s toolsyou’ve learned throughout your teaching days that help you on the way.

Is your persona the classic scholar? Do you have a little playful clown thrown in? Are you the compassionate guide, lead-ing students to the knowledge they already possess? Can you switch hats to that of the taskmaster, pushing for and demanding the very best? It can be useful to think of the teacher role as composed of these differ-ent personae that serve useful functions in the various processes of learning, including enabling you to reach students of differ-ent backgrounds, needs, and learning styles. Even if you are not like that, your alter ego, “Professor Picky”, can be. Although you are more lenient, “Scholar strict” can be called upon as necessary to whip an underachiev-ing class into shape. Being a teacher is a public role that requires daily public speak-ing; why not train for it and find useful tools and approaches that may aid in maintaining your interest, creating a positive learning en-vironment, and aiding in efficient classroom management? If you think some training mighthelp you focus your body as instrument and help you channel energymore effi ciently and effectively in the class-room, here are some suggestions to get you started:• Take an acting class. Learn howto use body language, breath, andvoice to create energy and atmosphere.

• Take a public speaking class.Learn relaxation techniques, visualization techniques, and tips for effectively conveying a message.

• Join a group such as ToastmastersInternational, where you’ll learntips for public speaking.

• Listen to and read poetry aloud.Learn about cadence, rhythm, andvolume to use your voice more effective-ly—and to save it from too many of those hoarse, raggedy, “I’ve-spoken-too-much” days!

• Similarly, take a vocal or voicetraining class. Learn specific breathing exer-cises to strengthen your voice and

All the World’s a Stage: Ways in Which Teaching Is Like Actingby Elizabeth Fonseca by Vel Chesser

NYS TESOL Remembers Jeanette D. Macero


On May 5, 2011, Dr. Hakuta presented a webinar at www.teachscape.com called “Re-search to Practice: Preparing ELLs for the Common Core.” He offered his thoughts and ideas during the webinar under the topicof planning for the Common Core, includ-ing:• Recognize that language is necessary to teach, learn, and demonstrate understanding in school subjects, and that this is true for all students, but especially for ELLs;• Engage in the idea that excellence in instruction and assessment around content revolves around the idea of rich language use;• Build the professional development around the idea that language instruction is the domain of all teachers, not just English Language Arts and ESL teachers; • Identify your objectives, assessments,and best practices in classrooms and ensure that you’re making progress toward those objectives;• Use the Common Core to recognize and amplify the opportunity for rich language development for ELLs and for all students (Hakuta, 2011). According to Dr. Hakuta, there are some key elements for ELLs re-garding the Common Core, including:• The Common Core provides a strong incentive to examine the role of language in content instruction and in assessment; there is a role for leadership to take advantage of this opportunity;• Even though the Common Core says noth-ing about the English Language profi ciency expectations of ELLs, there is a requirement that English language profi ciency be aligned to the Common Core;• There will be more commonality across states in the identifi cation of students because there will be more common profi ciency tests; • The Common Core has the potentialto move ELL performance/ profi ciency both across schools and across the country (Hakuta, 2011).

Criteria for Writing

Common Core Curriculum

Materials Last summer, the nonprofi t groupCommon Core issued a set of free curricu-lum maps. The maps are designedto give an understandable sequence ofthematic curriculum units that connectthe skills provided in the ELA

Some Helpful Resources♦ Common Core Curriculum Maps:www.commoncore.org/free/♦ Common Core Standards andEnglish Language Learners:www.colorincolorado.org/educators/common_core♦ Common Core State StandardsInitiative Web site:www.corestandards.org♦ Common Core Standards Work for ELLs: The Importance of Linking English Lan-guage Proficiency Standards to the Common Core Standards www.colorincolorado.org/ powerpoint/ELLELPStandardsPPT%20Slide.pdf♦ K-6 Units in ELA Aligned with Common Core Standards: www.elementarytests.com/blog/ k-6-ela-common-core/♦ P21 Common Core Toolkitwww.p21.org/images/p21_toolkit_final.pdf♦ www.thejournal.com/arti-cles/2011/08/02/ common-core-toolkit-aligns -standards-with-21stcentury-skills-framework.aspx

Websites of the members of the advisory board to the Common Core Initiative:

Achieve, Inc.: www.achieve.org

ACT: www.act.org

The College Board:www.collegeboard.com

National Association of StateBoards of Education:www.nasbe.org

State Higher Education ExecutiveOffi cers: www.sheeo.org

The Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS) have been adopted by dozens of states. The NYS Board of Regents adopted the new P-12 CCLS for ELA, Literacy, and Mathematics in January 2011; it will be phased in over the next year. Beginning in school year 2012-13, NYS assessments for English Language Arts and Mathematics will measure student achievement of the P-12 CCLS. Find New York State’s complete CCLS timeline at www.usny. nysed.gov/rttt/docs/ccsstimeline.pdf. The initiative began in the spring of 2009 and was coordinated by the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSO). The advisory group for the initiative comprises Achieve, Inc., ACT, the College Board, the National Association of State Boards of Education(NASBE), and the State HigherEducation Executive Offi cers (SHEO). The Common Core State Standards Initiative released a draft of the math and language arts content standards for public comment in September 2009, and the indi-vidual K-12 grade-level content standards in these subjects were released for public com-ment in March 2010. Both sets of content standardswere finalized in 2010.

Criteria for Development This process differed from past standards initiatives because it was state led and had the support of educators across the country as well as prominent education, business and state leaders’ organizations. The standards were developed by the following criteria:• Aligned with expectations for college and career success;• Clear, so that educators and parents know what they need to do to help students learn;• Consistent across all states, so that stu-dents are not taught to a lower standard just because of where they live;• Inclusive of both content and the applica-tion of knowledge through high-order skills;• Built upon strengths and lessons of cur-rent state standards and standards of top-performing nations;

• Realistic, for effective use in the classroom;• Informed by other top-performing coun-tries, so that all students are prepared to suc-ceed in our global economy and society;• Evidence and research based(Quay, 2010);• Application of the Standards forEnglish Language Learners. Common standards can potentially pro-vide a greater opportunity for states to share experiences and best practices within and across states that could lead to an improved ability to serve ELLs. The K-12 English-language artsand mathematics standards do include infor-mation on the Application of the Standards for English Language Learners, located at http://www.corestandards. org/assets/application-forenglish- learners.pdf. One segment of the Applicationof ELA Core Standards recommends that to help ELLs meet high academic standards in language arts it is essential that they have access to:• Teachers and personnel at the school and district levels who are well prepared and qualifi ed to support ELLs while taking ad-vantage of the many strengths and skillsthey bring to the classroom;• Literacy-rich school environments where students are immersed in a variety of lan-guage experiences;• Instruction that develops foundational skills in English and enables ELLs to partici-pate fully in gradelevel coursework;• Coursework that prepares ELLs for post secondary education or the workplace, yet is made comprehensible for students learn-ing content in a second language (through specifi c pedagogical techniques and addi-tional resources);• Opportunities for classroom discourse and interaction that are designed to enable ELLs to develop communicative strengthsin language arts;• Ongoing assessment and feedbackto guide learning;

• Speakers of English who know the lan-guage well enough to provide ELLs with models and support; • Need for English Language Proficiency Standards. The Common Core did not spellout how the standards applied to specific levels of English profi ciency. It was left up to states to create English Language Profi ciency Standards that align with the Core Standards or to explain how specifi c stan-dards can best be taught to students depend-ing on their level of English profi ciency.In her July 12 blog at Education Week,“Learning the Language,” Mary AnnZehr recognized this need by reportingthat Stanford University has received a $1 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to create English Language Proficiency Standards for the states’ Com-mon Core Academic Standards. Dr. KenjiHakuta, a professor of education at Stanford University, a member of the Common Core Validation Committee, and a long-time ex-pert on ELLs; and Maria Santos, the former director of programs for ELLs for the New York City school system, are co-chairs ofthis national effort to write standards for ELLs to parallel the Language Arts and Mathematics Standards of the Common Core, as well as the Science Standards that are expected to be developed. This grant award fi lls the gap in the process of imple-menting the Common Core for ELLs (Zehr, 2011). The grant, which lasts for two years,is called “Building on Common-Core Standards to Improve Learning for English-Language Learners.” “The effort is to think about the content areas in the common core that offer strategi-cally fertile areas around which language instruction can take place,” Dr. Hakuta explained. “The standards will elaborate on what ELLs should know and be able to do in the content areas at different Englishpro-ficiency levels,” he added. (Zehr,2011).

Resources for Implementing the Common Core for ELLs

Preparing ELLs for the Common Core A Webinarby Diane Garafalo


consider the roles of the speakers as in the following student dialogue (the professoris putting on her coat as her student enters the office):

A: Excuse me. Professor? Are youbusy?B: I’m running LAte, actually. I’ll behere tomorrow.A: Ok, thank you.B: Alright.

This exchange meets the criteria in that it is a spoken dialogue, the roles are defi ned, at least one idiom is used, and the idiom is marked with the proper intonation. Once their dialogues are done, I collect, correct, and return them. Afterward, I circulate, tak-ing student questions on my corrections.Then, I have each pair practice and perform at least one of their dialogues in front of the class. Eye contact, body language (stu-dents must sit facing each other), and voice management should be emphasized during practice time. Be sure to circulate, as somestudents will simply read the dialogue together. I walk around with a blank sheet of 8½ x 11 paper, which I use to cover up the dialogue they are working on. This forces them to look up and, hopefully, at each other. The students then perform at the front of the class. I act as the director, yell-ing “Action!” and opening/closing my cell phone like a director’s slate. The class listensfor the idiom used in the dialogue. This is always fun, as students enjoy watching their classmates perform. I like to supply props/wigs to spice it up. Be prepared for the cameras to come out! I also quiz them on the idiom and the intonation right after each dialogue.

Conclusion English continues to be a globallanguage. Proper knowledge and usageof idioms are powerful tools for anyone requiring English in daily communication.By focusing on the proper intonation for our students to achieve maximum intelligi-bility, we are better equipping them for the English-speaking world. It is important for us as teachers to go the extra mile.

ReferencesCooper, T. C. (1998). Teaching idioms.Foreign Language Annals, 31(2),255-266.Cruttenden, M. (1986). Intonation.Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UniversityPress.Irujo, S. (1986). Don’t put your legin your mouth: Transfer in theacquisition of idioms in a secondlanguage. TESOL Quarterly, 20,287-304.Nippold, M. A., & Martin, S. T. (1989).Idiom interpretation in isolationversus context: A developmentalstudy with adolescents. JournalSpeech & Hearing Research, 32,59-66.Nunan, D. (2003). Practical Englishteaching. New York: McGraw Hill.Scott, W. A., & Ytreberg, L. H. (2000).Teaching English to children. NewYork: Longman.Andrew Schneider has been teachingESL/EFL for 20 years, having taughtin Japan, Spain, and the United States.He currently teaches medical studentsin Kanazawa, Japan.<[email protected]>

Greetings Idiom readers, I am delighted to combine my back-ground in publishing with my love of TESOL as the new editor of Idiom. Thank you to my predecessor, Julie Dziewisz, for her great work and help with a smooth transition. I also thank the column editors, copy editor, NYS TESOL leadership and members for the warm welcome. My career began with a B.A.in journalism from NYU. After I switched to marketing, and later fundraising, I volun-teered in an ESOL classroom and loved it. I enrolled in Teachers College, Columbia Uni-versity, graduated with an Ed.M. in TESOL, and began working as an adjunct at Pace, CUNY, and Columbia. Presently, I work in an intensive English program at Nassau Community College. We focus on improvingstudents’ skills through an integrated, holis-tic approach, so that they can exit our pro-gram and be prepared for college-level work. I also instruct and mentor aspiring TESOL teachers at the Literacy Assistance Center. I welcome the chance to meet with inter-ested writers during the Annual conference in October. See you there! --Cara<[email protected]>

This is an ongoing column,featuring advice for effectiveteaching. Please send article submissions to the column editor, Ann C. Wintergerst (contact information on page 22 of this

Piece of cake! Idiomactivities and theimportance of properintonationby Andrew Edison Schneider

Idioms pop up everywhere in English media, often met with confused looks by our students. Even more advanced students have diffi culty using them with any degree of competence, especially if the idioms are culturally different from their own (Irujo, 1986). Given their importance, more at-tention should be paid to teaching idioms in ESL settings (Cooper, 1998). It is up to teachers to help students not only learn idi-oms, but also to encourage their usage in an intelligible manner. How can we incorporate idioms into classroom settings in a relaxed, communicative, and student-centered way? More important, how can we teach the intonation of idioms to achieve students’ maximum intelligibility? I have found the following three activities to be helpful for my students.

BYOI—Bring Your Own Idiom Each student chooses one idiom to “teach” the class. They may choose from any source, and learn it well enough to be able to explain it in front of their classmates. This is a great warm-up; it’s student-centered and exciting, since they have chosen these idioms themselves based on their own interests. Don’t be surprised if a number of idioms come from Gossip Girl or Glee, American television programs centering around high-school students, so idioms relating to dating and shopping tend to surface quite often (i.e., It’s on me; She’s into him; Those shoes

are totally you). During the students’ expla-nations, I stay off to the side and will assist only if the situation calls for it; I have even done this activity remotely via Skype when I was home sick in bed. Having the students in charge of this activity made it quite man-ageable. It can also act as a springboard for all kinds of culturerelateddiscussions.

Where Is the Change? A major obstacle facing our students is intelligibility, especially when using idioms. While pronunciation may be a factor, an equally important factor is proper intona-tion. As the pitch in our voices rises and falls, these changes in intonation are pro-cessed by the listener (Cruttenden, 1986). If you have ever studied Chinese, Thai, or Vietnamese, you may be familiar with the in-extricable link between the proper tone and communication. In English as well, when language is given the correct intonation, communication can be greatly enhanced. To emphasize this point with my students, I imitate the “wa wa” teacher from Charlie Brown. I walk around the class, lock eyes with a student, raise my hand, and slowly say “Wa, wa wa Wa?” What I am actually saying is “Hi, how are You?” Students inevitably guess correctly and are quite surprised that they can understand what I am saying. Once they have caught on, we can then create contextual situations and apply the proper intonation. A mini-dialogue I might have with a student in front of the class, in which my role would be B, is as follows:A: What are you doing this week-end?B: This weekend? Nothing special.I’ll probably just hang OUt.A: OK. Give me a call.B: Alright. After the classmates have heardthe dialogue, I will ask them, “Whereis the change?” Hopefully, they willhear “OUt” on the fi rst try. I will thenmark it on the board. The rise in pitchat the beginning of “OUt” rather thanon the word “hang” is essential to the

intelligibility of the idiom as well as to the rest of the dialogue. Teachers play a vital role here. Once an idiom is presented, either the students or the teacher should provide/elicit the proper intonation and then mark it. This marking system is especially importantfor non-native-English-speaking teachers who may be unfamiliar with the proper intonation of idioms. The good news regarding idiomatic phrases is that there are general intonation patterns. In an emphasized two-syllable word, such as “brainer” in the expression “no-brainer,” the word tends to receive a higher tone or pitch on the fi rst syllable. It’s a no- BRAIner. In the case of a one-syllableword, such as “cake” in the expression“piece of cake,” there is a higher tone on the fi rst half of the word: It’s a piece of CAke. In either case, the rising intonation at the beginning is then followed by a falling intonation. Saying the idiom in front of your students in slow motion can really help to clarify this, and it is also good for a laugh. When students know the proper intonation, communication can be achieved even with less-than-perfect pronunciation. This is good news for our students, as it is generally mucheasier to change the pitch of a word than to pronounce the word properly.

Mini Dialogues The mini dialogues written by the students, followed by an in-class role play, are not only a lot of fun but practical and effective exercises for ESL students (Nunan, 2003; Scott & Ytreberg, 2000). They could be done as homework or in class individu-ally, in pairs, or in groups. These dialogues supply the context necessary to achieve natural usage and effective communication (Nippold & Martin, 1989). The task is to write mini dialogues, where each dialogue contains at least one idiom from class, either from our text or from one of the students’ BYOI. There should be just enough context (4-6 lines) for the exchange to be meaningful (Nippold & Martin, 1989). Make sure the students understand that even though these dialogues are being writ-ten down, they should be striving for spoken and not written English. I also ask them to

Introduction from the new Idiom Editor, Cara Tuzzolino Werben

Promising Practices


Students developed a sense of com-munity because of the shared conversation exercises. Many good friendships began in class and continued after graduation. These friendships made it more enjoyable for many to attend class on a regular basis and didlead to fewer absences. By the end, students learned how to express their ideas more clearly in English and how to formulate questions for future educational use. Their critical thinking skills were used to evaluate the new information and to compare it to what they already knew.

Elaine Caputo Ferrara received aMaster’s degree from N.Y.U. in educationalpsychology, with a specialtyin reading and special education.At the College of Staten Island, sheteaches reading and writing to collegestudents in ESL classes. Recently,she developed a citizenship class forstudents.

<[email protected]>

ESL teachers employ a variety of instruc-tional tools in the classroom. Conversa-tion can be used to help students practice pronunciation, to prepare and develop a well-thought-out paragraph, and to enhance listening skills. Most important, conversa-tional activities tap into students’ schemato help them fully develop critical thinking skills in English. Below are several activities I have used with my students. To introduce the concept of students’ origins, I show students how to use the Reporter’s Questions (Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How) to gather informa-tion. Students partner with one another to ask these questions and record the answers. When the class comes together again, I ask the group, “Who has a partner coming from a country whose name begins with the letter A?” Students might answer Argentina. The class then identifi es which continent Ar-gentina is on. Students check the map in the classroom to know more about their part-ner’s home country. This is repeated until the end of the alphabet. Students work with their partners to see what they already know about these countries. This prior knowledgehelps students realize that they know more than they think about geography and other topics. Next, the class discusses the variety of languages spoken by the students. After obtaining this information, students put the names of these languages on the board. This fi rst conversation in class provides informa-tion needed for the fi rst writing assignment, which is the biography of a class member.The fi rst draft begins in class and is peer re-viewed for content by the student’s conver-sation partners. Their homework is to review the draft and to rewrite it at home on the computer. The next day, I review the home-work with students and focus my comments on a grammatical topic, such as verb tense usage. I choose to focus my feedback on one or two aspects of the writing assignment so that a completely marked-up paper does not increase students’ writing anxiety. The next assignment involves reading a biography about a famous American. It might be a commonly known American like George Washington or someone from a particular fi eld. After forming groups and

prior to reading, students discuss what they already know about the person and what they expect to see in the article. I introducethe concepts of topic and main idea as well as vocabulary specifi c to the story. After reading the biography, students individually answer the Reporter’s Questions from the article, and then share their answers with their conversation group. In groups, students generate their own questions using the Reporter’s Questions. When the class comes together, one student from each conversation group writes one question on the board—the questions should not be duplicates of other groups’ questions. Students read each question aloud. I ask the whole class for grammaticalcorrections to the questions. After complet-ing the exercise, students write a summary of the biography—they can use these ques-tions or the ones from the conversation group—and show this to their conversation partner for feedback. Their homework is to create a revised version of the in-class written summary that incorporates their partners’ feedback. They staple the draft to the top of the rewrite. Using conversation sheets, such as those available at www.bogglesworldesl. com, also provides opportunities for interaction. Each conversation sheet centers on a theme such as seasons, media, habits, and customs. These can be used to talk about the topic in conversation groups, to learn vocabulary specifi c to a topic, and to practice pronun-ciation. I ask students to look up defi nitions of highlighted words on the sheets. As an instructor, using these sheets is a way to de-termine students’ familiarity with Americanculture and to plan class trips. Students can also conduct research to enhance their knowledge about media. I used these conversation activities with levels 3 to 7 students (as measured by the Best Plus) enrolled in non-credit ESL CUNY courses for a semester or more. Stu-dents ranged from 18 to 60 years, were from all over the world, and spoke a wide varietyof languages. Some were recently arrived professionals who had university degrees; others had a basic education in their native country.

For ELLs, Talking Is Learningby Elaine Caputo Ferrara

Come to the

Annual ConferenceOctober 28-29, 2011

New York State Teachers ofEnglish to Speakers of

Other Languages41st Annual Conference

“Enhancing EnglishLearning: ConnectingCommunities Through

Collaboration”Marriott HotelMelville, NY

For further information,go to

www.nystesol.organd check your e-mail

on theNYS TESOL ListservIf you are interested in

volunteeringor have questions,

contactConference ChairChristy Baralis [email protected]

CALL FOR AWARDSExceptional Professionals

To honor contributions made within our fi eld, NYS TESOL presents several awards annu-ally, including:

James A. Lydon Distinguished Service AwardOutstanding Teacher Award

Recognition AwardLifetime Achievement Award

James E. Weaver Memorial AwardSpecial Award

Year Award Honoree2010 Recognition Award Dr. Anita Batisti Outstanding Teacher Dr. Maria Dove

2009 Lifetime Achievement Award Estee Lopez Recognition Award Dr. Walter Sullivan & Saul Cohen Outstanding Teacher Barbara Suter

2008 James E. Weaver Memorial Award Alison O’Neil Recognition Award Sam Hoyt Outstanding Teacher Donna Bove2007 James A. Lydon Distinguished Servicee Recognition Award Maria Neira Outstanding Teacher Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld & Caryn Bachar2006 James A. Lydon Distinguished Service Dr. Frank Tang Outstanding Teacher Patricia C. La Rose

2005 James A. Lydon Distinguished Service Diana Segovia Praus

2011 Award Winners will be presented at the41st Annual Conference

October 28th & 29th, 2011Please review our available awards and criteria for submission at

www.nystesol.org.Submit all nominations and supporting documentation as attachments

via e-mail to:Meredith Van Schuyler, [email protected]

All submissions due September 23, 2011.


grammar topics without the use of overt grammatical language. Although the discus-sion of teaching grammatical form vs. focusing on communicative interactions is still very predominant in the ESL teaching fi eld, research has shown that the integration of grammar with contextualized language creates the most effi cient mode of learning(Larsen-Freeman 2001). To offer some criticism, the organiza-tionalstructure of the text can be challenging. For those who normally organize lessons in a progression of scaffolded topics, the divi-sion by underlying pedagogical approachesmay be less intuitive. In addition, the orga-nization within the sections is unclear and fi nding a game for a specific grammar topic or level requires some hunting within the map of the text. Further, many of the games, especially in sections one and two, require a fair amount of setup. While an instructormay hope to use a book of games as a quick reference for lesson ideas, the time required for fi nding an appropriate lesson and setup prevent the book from being used in that manner. Finally, while one would assume that all of the games are related explicitly togrammar, some have a more semantic focus. This does not deter the student from gaining knowledge but should be noted.ReferencesBaker, C. (2006). Foundations of bilingual

education and bilingualism (4th ed.). Toronto: Multilingual Matters.

Gardner, H. (2006). Multiple intelligences:New Horizons. New York: Basic Books.

Gibbons, P. (2009). English Learners Aca-demic Literacy and Thinking: Learning in the Challenge Zone. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Larsen-Freeman, D. (2000). Teaching and Principles in Language Teaching (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.

Larsen-Freeman, D. (2001). Teaching gram-mar. In M. Celce-Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language (3rd ed.) (pp. 251-266). Boston: Heinkle & Heinkle Thomson Learning.

Rinvolucri, M., & Davis, P. (1995). More Grammar Games: Cognitive, Affective and Movement Activities for EFL Stu-dents. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Kathryn N. North is a recent graduate of New York University’s Master’s Program in TESOL. An ESOL instructor with the New York Public Library, Kathryn also tutors riting and developmental reading at the Bor-ough of Manhattan Community College.<[email protected]>

In coordination with the 2011 NYS TE-SOL annual conference, “Enhancing english Learning: Connecting Communities through Collaboration,” the topic for this year’s student essay contest, “How has your com-munity helped you learn English?,” revolved around communities and the role that living, working, and interacting in them plays in the English language learners’ (ELLs) acquisi-tion of English. The essay contest was held for students who are current or former ELLs within three categories: students in grades four through eight; students in grades nine through twelve; and students enrolled in a university or an adult education program, including students enrolled in Intensive Eng-lish programs, community colleges, degree-based programs, and ESOL programs.

The student essay contest was very successful, with 113 essays received from throughout New York State. A winner and an honorary mention were chosen from each of the three categories. The names of the winners and honorary mentions will be announced during the Friday luncheon at the annual conference and their essays will be printed in the conference booklet. The winning essays will also be included in the winter edition of Idiom as well as be posted on the NYS TESOL Special Interest Group (SIG) Student Essay Contest page. Please join me in thanking all of the students who submitted essays to the sixth annual student essay contest! Watch for news about the 2012 contest in an upcoming issue of Idiom, as well as on our website

This is an ongoing column,featuring reviews of booksand other materials forESOL teachers and students. Please send article submissions to the column editor, Nanette Dougherty (contact information is on page 22).

More Grammar Games: Cognitive,Affective and Movement Activities forEFL Students. By Mario Rinvolucriand Paul Davis. Cambridge UniversityPress. Cambridge. UK. (2010).176 pp. ISBN: 978-0-521-46630-1

Reviewed by Kathryn North

Mario Rinvolucri and Paul Davis’ More Grammar Games: Cognitive, Affective and Movement Activities for EFL Students provides a revamping of their earlier work Grammar Games, which was originally pub-lished in 1984. The authors designed the textto provide EFL/ESL teachers with a frame-work for games that can be modified to be appropriate for different age groups and varied English profi ciency levels. Therefore, while the usefulness of the book as a supple-mental text in the adult ESL classroomis the main purpose of this review, itsutility can be applied to various teachingscenarios. The text is divided into nine sections including “Competitive Games,” “Cognitive Games,” “Feelings and Grammar,” “Listen-ing to People,” “Movement and Grammar,” “Meaning and Translation,” “Problem Solv-ing,” “Correction” and “Presentation,” for a total of 81 games, or mini-lessons. As the titles suggest, many lessons are rooted in the principles of well-known English language learning methodologies including the Silent Way, as well as Counseling-Learning/Com-munity Language Learning (CLL). The book begins with a table of contents noting the games and page numbers. This is followed by a detailed map of the book with the game titles, grammar topics covered, and levels and time needed. The introduction also includes commentary from the authors on how the book can be used and their ratio-nale for the methodologies utilized bysection.

Each game begins with the title of the game and a box restating the details from the map of the book. If the game can be adapted for other structures and levels, a sub-box states this. To start the main por-tion of the mini-lesson, the authors note any preparation required before class. This is followed by a breakdown of the in-class procedures of the game. The authors also include examples, variations, a rationale overview, and notes or acknowledgements when necessary. Lastly, any required hand-outs are provided. On a minor note, the examples and handouts are written using British English vocabulary. In the case ofclasses in the United States, instructors will need to rewrite these in Standard American English. The first section includes competitive games, which are designed to increase otiva-tion by fostering collaboration within groups while creating a safe, spirited environment. Many of the games in this section focus on the correction of material provided by the teacher. This, of course, means that the instructor must devote time to the prepara-tion of the game. For some this could be less than ideal. The cognitive games in section two are unique in their structure as, according to the authors, the exercises are mostly open-ended ones: this differs from many grammar exer-cises that require one correct response. The fl exibility of the activities allows studentsto discover various aspects of the language without the direct infl uence of the instruc-tor. While these types of activities can be very creative and have their place in certain contexts, giving students unlimited control over the types of sentences produced cancause the direction of the lesson to be di-verted. For this reason, although this section follows the Silent Way method in its purest form (Larsen-Freeman, 2000), the lack of fi nal language destination does not follow the integrated and pragmatic way that the Silent Way is often practiced in the classroom. Sections three and four, which deal with feelings and listening to others, respectively, are arguably the strongest chapters. Here, games are designed to promote healthy interpersonal discussions, which require speakers to make use of a specifi c grammar

structure. Many teachers can attest to the positive infl uence that mutual understand-ing, respect and personal investment in the classroom can have on productivity (e.g., Counseling Learning and Community Language Learning—see Larsen-Freeman, 2000). Section fi ve is made up of games that incorporate grammar and movement. While there is a modicum of Desuggestopedia inherent in games throughout the text, this section explicitly focuses on the usage of movement to instill language concepts. The rationale seems to be that students are moreopen to language learning when the pre-conceived mental and emotional barriers to learning are “desuggested” through light-hearted activity (Larsen- Freeman, 2000). In the meaning and translation games found in section six, the minilessons focus on having students develop a deeper grasp of the nuances and root meaning of lan-guage by linking English with their mother tongue. While the debate over the use of translation in the ESL classroom continues,using native languages as a resource in the foreign/second language classroom can help to build linguistic abilities in both languages, bridge existing knowledge to the acquisition of the new language, and give validity to thefi rst language (Baker, 2006; Gibbons, 2009). Therefore, if instructors use these mini-lessons, they may find that when properly administered, deep learning can take place during games that use translation. The last three sections are less substantial. Section seven deals with problem solving. Section eight offers techniques for self, peer and teacher corrections. Finally, section nine recommends alternatives for the presenta-tion of new grammar topics to a class. Both students and teacher have much to gain from More Grammar Games. The authors offer ideas for games that appeal to many different learning styles. With the ex-ception of musical and natural intelligences, this book contains games that promote all the multiple intelligences (Gardner, 2006). The book also lists games specifi cally designed to strengthen receptive skills to help students become more active listeners and readers. Furthermore, utilizing grammar games, an instructor can adeptly introduce

2011 NYS TESOL Student Essay Contestby Laura Van TassellNYS TESOL SIG Coordinator

Book Review


Engaging English Language Learners(ELLs) in a few minutes of smalltalk prior to the start of ESL class can be a very useful strategy. The purpose of small talk is not about gauging how grammatically correct my students can speak in English -- although I do make mental notes of students’ grammatical diffi culties for sub-sequent lessons. It provides the opportunity for my students to be heard in a very relaxedsetting, while allowing their English to emerge. It certainly can be a challenge to insert those few minutes during the fast-paced schedule of a typical school day, but I have found it to be a source of valuable information. I often begin the small talk sessionwith an informational “wh” question such as “How was your appointment at the dentist?” or “What did you do after school yester-day?” The responses are quite revealing. Some students, especially those in middle school, are initially guarded, while others seem surprised that I want to know moreabout them. Gradually as they learn to trust me as well as their classmates, the students slowly open up. It is gratifying to see a once painfully shy kindergarten student now com-ing to class with daily announcements suchas, “You know what? Yesterday, I lose (sic) a tooth.” There are other times when students express more sensitive issues, which we discuss further in private. One example of this occurred when an ELL in third grade told me during our small talk session that one of the other students in the mainstream class made fun of his speech and called him “stupid.” Neither his classroom teacher nor I had noticed any tension between these two students. The fact that the ELL who mentioned this incident had always felt self-conscious about his ability to speak English prompted my immediate arrangement of a meeting with his teacher and the other student. Fortunately, we were able to resolvethe situation, but it taught me to become more vigilant when working with ELLs in the mainstream classroom.

It is impressive to listen to a student retell a story or incident, but the most gratifying part is when he or she is able to connect it to a new concept. When studying the concept of cause and effect during a reading lesson, I sensed that only a few students understood this concept, while many did not. Suddenly, one student announced, “Do you remem-ber when I told you the story about how I accidentally spilled water on the kitchen fl oor?” He proudly continued, “That was an example of cause and effect. The cause was when I spilled water on the floor. The effect was when my mom became angry.” His classmates nodded their heads in agreement. It was as if a light bulb had been turned on! I could not have provided a better example of cause and effect! As ELLs become more confi dentin speaking English, more of their personali-ties emerge. During one of our small talk sessions, I asked a beginning ELL in the fi rst grade, “Where does your brother go to school?” Without hesitation, she stated, “Mybrother go (sic) to Sleepy Hollow School. Zzzzzzzz. Sleepy School. I am soooo sleepy!” as she put her head on the desk and pretended to sleep. Prior to that comment, I had not seen that humorous side of her. I noticed how thrilled she was that she had made me laugh. I then decided to follow herquip with another “wh” question. I tapped her on the shoulder as her eyes snapped open and her head bobbed up from the table. “What does your brother like to do at school?” I asked. She smiled and impishly replied, “He like (sic) to sleep.” How clever this little girl was! I realized several thingsduring our small talk exchange. This student demonstrated that she understood the word “sleepy”, she connected that understand-ing to a different context, and she found a way to make it humorous. None of these is easy to do, especially at the beginning of the language acquisition process. Later in the day, I had this student retell the joke to her teacher and some of her classmates. This small talk session was a pivotal moment for this student because she was clearly pleased to see that she could be funny in English.

I have noticed that ELLs have thecapacity to dissect words in interesting ways, especially when these words are spoken. When native English speakers think about words, we tend to focus on the sum and not the parts. When a student was beginning ELL in second grade, I recall his reading apassage out loud. After encountering the two-syllable word, “awesome”, he pro-nounced it as if were a threesyllable words, “a – we—some”. Prior to that day, I had never realized that the word “awesome” is comprised of three smaller words: “a”, “we” and “some”. That was a revelation for me.How awesome! I am sure that many ESL teachersutilize small talk or some variant of it in their classrooms. It is not a novel concept, but I fi nd that it is valuable during a limited amount of time. Conversations, which on the surface may appear superfl uous, are in actuality a gold mine of enriching and relevant information.

Joy Scantlebury is a graduate of Smith College. She received her M.A. in TESOL from Teachers College,Columbia University. Joy currently teaches ESL at Pocantico Hills Central School in Sleepy Hollow, NY.

<[email protected]>

Small Talk:A Meaningful Conversation Tool

by Joy Scantlebury


(continued from page 7)standards with recommended studentobjectives, texts, and activities.

Examples of these thematic curriculumunits include: Grade 1: The Amazing Animal World; Grade 3: The People, the Preamble, and the Presidents; Grade 6: Folklore: A Blast from the Past; Grade 9: Literary Elements of a Short Story; and Grade 12: European Literature: Renaissance and Ref-ormation. Common Core is working withschools and districts in different states to implement the maps. Arizona and North Carolina are using them statewide to help districts put the standards in place (Gewitz & Robelen, 2011). Two writers have recently crafted docu-ments outlining Common Core curriculum criteria. Working under a contract with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a strong supporter of the standards, David Cole-man and Susan Pimentel, co-authors of the Common Core Standards for ELA/Literacy, wrote two documents highlighting the key ideas of the standards and describ-ing the qualities of instructional materials they consider an accurate refl ection of them (Gewertz, 2011).

SIG LeadersSIG CoordinatorLaura Van Tassell <[email protected]>Assistant SIG CoordinatorJennifer Scully <[email protected]>Applied LinguisticsAndrew MillerLindsay Wells<[email protected]>ESL in Adult EducationTamara Kirson <[email protected]>ESL in Bilingual Education Co-ChairLydia Gutierrez<[email protected]>ESL in Elementary Education Co-ChairsSusan GoldsteinDiane Howitt<[email protected]>ESL in Higher Education Co-ChairsDafna Ben AnathLisa Kraft <[email protected]>

Common Core Assessments and PARCC According to the National Governor’sAssociation/CCSSO, the Common Core State Standards will also ultimately be the ba-sis for a system of high-quality assessments. New York State is a governing member of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), which was awarded Race to the Top Assessment funds in 2010. The PARCC Web site can be viewed at http://parcconline.org/. Over thenext few years, New York and 25 other states will develop a set of English Language Arts and Mathematics assessments, which will be fi nalized in 2014-15 (NYSED, 2011). Common Core Standards Assessment Re-sources are located at http://educationnorthwest.org/resource/1331. Idiom will work to keep readersaware of all the upcoming changes.

ESL in Secondary EducationLan Ngo <[email protected]>ESL in Special Education Co-ChairPatty Barry<[email protected]>Teacher Education Co-ChairsSoonhyang Kim Joanna Labov<[email protected]>Teaching English InternationallyCo-Chairs Claudette OliverasMelissa Duquette<[email protected]>

References

August, D., Cortese, A., La Fonde, S.,Leos, K. (2010). Making Common Core Standards work for ELLs: The importance of linking English Language Profi ciency Standards to the Common Core Standards.October 21, 2010. AFT Educational Policy Forum. http://www.colorincolorado.org/powerpoint/ELL-ELPStandardsPPT%20Slide.pdf.

Regions Leaders Regions CoordinatorTina Villalobos <[email protected]>Assistant Regions CoordinatorLynn Ellingwood <[email protected]>BuffaloElena Dokshansky-Zelfond<[email protected]>Capital Region Co-ChairsLiz AllenRoma Kumar <[email protected]>Hudson Valley Co-ChairsKatie Werner Rebecca Horwitz<[email protected] IslandVicky Giouroukakis <[email protected]>New York City Co-ChairsJoe Tillman Elaine Roberts <[email protected]>Rochester/Syracuse Co-ChairsGloria Dancause Elaine Ferlicca <[email protected]>

Above: Everyone listens as Ufualè Afola Amey talks about learning English from her teacher Dave, a Peace Corps volunteer.

Left: Ahmed El-Habashi, Egypt; Tomoko Kihira, Japan; Ufualè Afola Amey, Togo; Osiris Romero, Dominican Republic and Elena Lyumanova, Russia, come together in anticipation of their panel presentation.

Right: Sonia Portugal, Peru, performs Floating Words, a dance she choreo-graphed to portray the spirit of English language learning.

NYS TESOLSpecial Interest Groups (SIGs) and Regions Leadership Directory 2010-2011

Resources for Implementing...


We’re very excited to announce the launch of the new Members Only website for NYS TESOL. We are just gearing up, but hope this will become a major resource and networking site for our members. Current members were sent an email alert in early September containing their user-name and password. Of course, your email system may have filtered our message into a spam folder if you are a current member and did not receive a notice with your login information, please contact us at [email protected]. With annual conference registration aready under way, please act quickly to login and verify your profi le data and networking preferences.

What’s ThereYour profile pageMembership renewalDiscounted event registrationMembers Only online publication, DialogueDiscussion boards

Coming SoonNetworking optionsSIG/Region E-listsJob Coach/Career MentoringService opportunities and awards

Your Privacy This site is viewable only by active members. And, because this is new, we have also blocked your contact information from members. So, unlike Facebook, where you decide what to set as ‘private,’ we’ve already done this. The only information visible to other members is: your Name, Member Type, Region and SIG preferences. You can privatize these, too, if you wish, by updating your profile. However, for those of you who want to network with other members, there are 2 optional fields – an “email to share” and a “website/blog address” both set up as view-able by all members. And you can upload a photo. You control the privacy settings for these fields and can edit them at any time.

What’s Next?We’d like you to tell us! Please look around the site, update your profi le, join a discus-sion board, and send us ideas for additions and improvements.

Colorin Colorado (2011). CommonCore Standards and English LanguageLearners. Reading Rockets.WETA Learning Media. http://www.colorincolorado.org/educators/common_core/ Gewertz, C. (2011). Common CoreWriters Craft curriculum criteria,July 22, 2011. Education Weekly.http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/07/21/37curriculum.h30.html?tkn=UPSFLpcFv4ebJmsg2qZx2C7B8rKm7AL%2FiacG&cmp=clp-sb-ascd Gewertz, C., & Robelen, E. (2011).Curriculum maps aim to bringELA Standards to life. July 25,2011. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2011/07/the_nonprofi t_group_common _cor.html Hakuta, K. (2011). Webinar: Researchto practice: Preparing ELLs for theCommon Core, Teachscape, May5, 2011. http://marketing.teachscape.com/K12KenjiELLMay2011WebinarAccess.html Lopez, E. (2010). ELA Standards:Shifting the focus to the CommonCore comments, standards andcurriculum, NYS TESOL, October2010. http://www.nystesol.org/curriculum-standards/standards.html Nagel, D. (2010). Feds award $330million to fund alternatives tohigh-stake bubble tests. The Journal,September 2, 2010. http://thejournal.com/articles/2010/09/02/feds-award-330-million-to-fi nd-alternatives-tohigh-stakes-bubble-tests.aspx?sc_lang-en NYSED (2011). FAQs—CommonCore learning standards. http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/common_core_standards/faq.html NYSUT (2011). Educational Resourcesfor English Language Learners.http://www.nysut.org/cps/rde/xchg/nysut/hs.xsl/k12_13765.htm

Quay, L. (2010). Higher standards forall: Implications of the CommonCore for equity in education. CivilRights Research Roundtable onEducation, Berkeley Law, April2010. http://www.law.berkeley.edu/fi les/Education_Roundable_Standards_Brief_ 4_10.pdf Washington State School Board(2010). Common Core Standards—Process FAQs. http://www.sbe.wa.gov/documents/FAQ%20Common%20Core%Standards%20Process.pdf Zehr, M. A. (2011). Conference:Implementing Common CoreStandards for ELLs, Learning theLanguage Blog, August 11, 2010.Education Weekly. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/learning-thelanguage/2010/08/conference_implementing_common.html Zehr, M. A. (2011). Stanford to leadcreation of ELL standards for“Common Core” Learning theLanguage Blog, July 12, 2011,Education Weekly. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/learning-thelanguage/2011/07/stanford_to_lead_creation_of_e.html Diane Garafalo is a former ESL teacherat Oswego City School District. Shewas also a secondary English teacher,with a total of fi fteen years of publicschool teaching experience. Diane’sprevious positions include working asan adjunct professor of written communica-tionsfor ITT Technical Instituteand a human resources and trainingmanager for a variety of Fortune 500companies. Currently, Diane is an HRand workforce literacy consultant forDRG Associates.<[email protected]>

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Collaborative Conversations*(continued from page 1)

Collaborative ConversationsTalk about

Students’ needsStudents’ livesStudents in and out of school workCurriculum and instructionTeachers’ own strugglesTeachers’ own successesWhat matters to you, the teacher

Collaborative Curriculum

DevelopmentAlign

Lesson objectives(language objectives and content objec-tives)Unit goalsCurriculum mapsPrimary and supplementary instructional materialsAdapted texts and materialsResources

Collaborative CoachingUse peer coaching to improveLesson planningLesson deliveryUnit designUse of supplementary materialsAdapted contentModified instructionAssessment practices

Collaborative Craftsmanship: Through conscious efforts for continuous improvement of the craft of teaching, teachers explore ways to enhance instructional time, language development, and content area resources, and offer support for each other.

Table 1 shows how the concept of collegiality and collaboration may offer a system of support in a linguistically andculturally diverse school context by including the four Cs with ample examples.

Collaborative CraftsmanshipExploreELLs’ background knowledgeELLs’ prior learningPeer coachingPlanning instruction collaboratively or in thecontext of co-teachingEffective methods for aligning curriculum andobjectivesUsing time more effectivelyMaking the most of collaborative efforts

Table 1: The Four Cs of Collaboration

Collaboration may start out as a small, grassroots effort, involving only two or three teachers who share the responsibility for some of the same ELLs and are concerned about their students’ progress. It may involve an entire grade level. Some examples include grade clusters working together to develop or enhance curricula in elementary schools; an interdisciplinary team of math, science, social studies, English, and ESL teachers (sharing responsibility for a cluster of classes in middle schools); or a discipline-specifi c department (focusing on preparing all students to meet graduation requirements of high schools). Regardless of the local context, all these collab-orative efforts start with professional conversations, through which teachers collaboratively explore their students’ needs and responsive practices.

ReferencesDelliCarpini, M. (2008). Teacher collaboration for ESL/EFL academic success. The Internet TESL Journal, 14(8). Retrievedfrom http://iteslj.org/Techniques/DelliCarpini-TeacherCollaboration.html


Editorial Notes

Idiom is a quarterly publication for mem-bers of NYS TESOL. The editors welcome articles as well as reactions to articles. All copy (maximum 1000 words, typed, double-spaced, with word count provided ) should follow APA guidelines and be submitted via e-mail (MS Word). Please include your nameand address (including telephone numberand e-mail address), as well as a brief (3-4 sentences) biographical statement. Please visit idiom.nystesol.org for links regarding APA guidelines and to view a sample article.Idiom’s editorial goals are to be accurate,to maintain the writer’s message, content, and style, and to fi t the work in the space allotted. Idiom reserves the right to edit allmanuscripts for clarity, brevity, and style; the editors will consult with contributors on substantive revisions. Articles from Idiom may be reprinted with proper acknowledg-ment of the source.

Editor:Cara Tuzzolino WerbenLINCC-Nassau Community CollegeOne Education Dr.Garden City, NY 11530(516) 573-0165E-mail: [email protected]

Editorial Consultant:Ceil Goldman

Printing and Mailing:The Coughlin Printing Group, Watertown

Column Editors:Book ReviewNanette DoughertyEmail: [email protected]

Culture NotesElisabeth Gareis257 Crest DriveTarrytown, NY 10591Tel.: (914) 524-7915E-mail: [email protected]

Promising PracticesAnn C. WintergerstDept. of Languages and LiteraturesSt. John’s UniversityQueens, NY 11439E-mail: [email protected]

Upcoming IdiomThemesAnnual

ConferencePlease submit articles based on

presentations at the NYS TESOL conference

(Oct. 28-29, 2011)“Enhancing English Learning:

Connecting Communities ThroughCollaboration”

at Melville MarriottSubmission Deadline: December 1

TBDDeadlines and themes for 2012

will be published inthe Winter 2011 issue of Idiom.

Calendar and Announcements

October 28-29, 2011 NYS TESOL 41st Annual Conference “Enhancing English Learning: Connecting Communities Through Collaboration” Melville Marriott in Melville, Long Island. See http://www.nystesol.org

February 11, 2012 33rd Annual Applied Linguistics Winter Conference “Connections: TESOL and Applied Linguistics in a Global Context” We’ll continue to keep you posted! Questions? Contact us at: [email protected]

March 28-31, 2012 TESOL International Convention and English Language Expo “A Declaration of Excellance” Philadelphia For more information: www.tesol.org/s_tesol/convention2012/index.html

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have learners switch topic cards.With static pairs, learners get to‘bond’ with one conversational partner over various topics while focusing on sharing their ideas and personalizing the topic.b. Topic cards static and have learnersswitch partners. With dynamic pairs, learners get to interact with diverse speak-ers while refi ning their ideas about one topic and polishing their delivery.c. Both topic cards and conversationpairs static while reducing the duration of the conversations in set increments. This version lends itself to learners who are preparing for timed oral presentationsand assessments, by allowing learners to refi ne their ideas about one topic and polish their timed delivery.d. Decide how you will pair off your learners and if pairs are going to sit in two rows or stand in two concentric circles facing their partners.

3. Decide what an odd-numbered learnerwould be responsible for- time keeper or ‘English only’ enforcer. If you choose to have all learners participate (and have them change partners instead of topic cards), an extra chair can allow the odd-numbered learner to ‘rest’ for one turn. Of course, youcan always choose to participate in the activ-ity with your learners.

4. Plan to model activity and deliverclear instructions specifi c to the versionof Timed Conversations you aregoing to do.5. Plan what you will observe whilemonitoring learners during the activity.This will consequently direct thefeedback you will give learners.6. Plan the questions you will use toelicit feedback from learners after theactivity about their performance duringactivity.

Procedure Use teacher talk appropriate to the profi ciency level of your learners to deliver clear instructions and to confirm your learners’ comprehension of your instructions.

1. Deliver global instructions to yourlearners which include: the activitytitle, sequencing/format, purpose andduration, and, if necessary, responsibilityof odd-numbered learner or useof ‘rest’ chair.2. Pair off learners and arrange pairs sothat they are either seated in two rowsor standing in two concentric circlesfacing their partners.3. Model activity for class and demonstratehow:

a. you will start the activity by saying“begin”b. pairs will take turns to converseabout the topic indicated on thetopic card for X minutesc. pairs will converse only inEnglishd. every X minutes, a time keeperwill say “switch” indicating thatpairs need to switch topic cardsby passing them to the pair to theright (or to the left)e. you will end activity by saying“the end.”

4. Model that learners can remind theirpartner to stay on-task by simplypointing to the topic card5. Model some of the conversationallanguage you expect learners to usethelanguage of urging and praise; ofagreeing and disagreeing and so on.6. Begin activity and cycle through thenumber of topics you have planned.Circulate and monitor learnersthroughout activity.

Follow-up Elicit feedback from learners about their performance. Give learners feedback based on how successfully they completed the activity. Remember, this is a fl uency-based activity. However, if you modify it to include specifi c verbal strategies or a focus on form, you could document the inaccuracies of your learners’ English as you circulate, and do a whole-class correction on the white-board following the activity

1. Elicit specifi c feedback from learnersabout how they felt about having to:a. sustain a conversation in Englishfor X minutes at a timeb. switch topics every X minutesc. include conversational languaged. have a classmate time them or sitin the ‘rest’ chaire. Stand or sit during activity;pass along topic cards; changepartners2. Give learners specifi c feedback about:a. how well they sustained theirconversations in English for Xminutes at a timeb. how well they stayed on taskc. their use of conversationallanguaged. how effi ciently they followedinstructions

3. Promise to do variations of activity throughout the semester.

These fluency-based activities may gener-ate future conversations in your classroom, providing rich opportunities for students to interact and practice English-speaking skills.

Phillipa Arthur has taught ESL/EFLin the United States, China and Korea.She is currently a Language Lecturerat Yeungnam University in SouthKorea. <[email protected]>

A single conversationacross the table with a wiseperson is worth a month’sstudy of books.—Chinese proverb

Once a month, the Haggerty English Language Program at SUNY New Paltz hosts an informal learning luncheon known as Conversation Table to encourage casual conversation on a range of topics in an inviting environment. The program was established to help promote interaction and dialogue between international students (particularly ESL), faculty, and staff and American students interested in international studies. Occasionally, community volunteers attend as well. Conversation Table is held at the Center for International Programs on a different weekday each month to ensure that students have the opportunity to attend at least once a semester. At the catered lunch, 20-25 guests meet for 45 minutes. Attendees are seated ata large rectangular table conducive to interaction. Faculty, staff, and volunteers may lead discussions with students on topics such as food, cultural similarities and differ-ences, religion and government. If a student seems lonely, the faculty is there to make introductions and initiate dialogue. The program promotes Conversation Table in a variety of ways.At the beginning of each semester,all new students receive an eventhandout. ESL teachers review it inclass, answer questions, and promote at-tendance. One week prior to the luncheon, fl iers are posted and e-mails sent out. Students can RSVP and comment on the event’s Facebook page. The day before the event, we remind students to attend. On the day of the luncheon, the event coordinator arrives early at the venue to set up and greet guests. At the end of the meal, students are asked to help with cleanup. After the gathering, photographs of the event are uploaded onto the ESL depart-ment Facebook page. Students post photos and comments. A student survey on Face

book following the luncheonhelps with preparation for futureevents. A student journalist writes an article about Conversation Table for the ESL department newsletter, which is distributed to all ESL students as well as other depart-ments on campus. Conversation Table has become increas-ingly popular because of the opportunity it offers for socialization and discussion. At-tendees leave having shared dialogue, laugh-ter, smiles, and good food. ESL students also have a valuable language experience and new connections with native speakers.

Sarah Elia is a lecturer in ESL at the Haggerty English Language Program at SUNY New Paltz. As the program’s event coordinator, she works to actively promote positive interactions between international students and American students. Elia has a B.A. from Bard College and an M.A. in TESOL from SUNY New Paltz.<[email protected]>

Timed ConversationsBy Phillipa Arthur

Introduction

During Timed Conversations, learners primarily practice listening/ speaking skills and a host of other conversational skills, including but not limited to: turn taking; the language of encouragement and praise; the language of expressing unfamiliarity with topics; comprehension checking; and agreeing and disagreeing. Although gener-ally referred to as Timed Conversations, some specify the time limit in the title, for example: Four Minute Conversations. Timed Conversations are typically fluency-based and opportunities for learners to personalize and converse about a topic, for a specified period of time.

For the instructor, Timed Conversations can function as: a warm-up activity to acti-vate learners’ schemata, to focus learners on the lesson topic or to connect the previous and current lessons; a follow-up activity to allow learners to expand on and personalize lesson content; a filler activity to

purposefully utilize ‘extra time’ at the endof a lesson; a stress-reliever activity to infuse a sense of fun into a lesson; a review activity for content courses; and a speech-sampling activity to gauge learners’ conversational skills.

Materials In order to conduct Timed Conversations you essentially need two things- a timer and topic cards. Conveniently, wrist watches, cell phones, iPads, computers, stop-watches, kitchen timers and classroom clocks can all function as timers. Ideally, the topics refl ected on thecards should complement your lesson topic. For example, if you were planning a lesson on ‘classic baked goods,’ each topic card could refl ect the name of a classic baked good. Format topic cards on a computer, print in color and laminate them (if these are resources available to you and if you will addthis activity to your repertoire). Of course, you can also prepare a slide show of ‘topic cards’ to display on a computer or iPad. Topic cards can be word-based (pie, quiche, tart); question- based (“How would you prepare icing?”); statement-based (“Tell me about your favorite baked childhood dessert.”); and picture-based (image of a six-tiered wedding cake).

Preparation Consider your learners’ profile, lesson topic and objectives when decidingif this is an appropriate activity to do with your learners.

1. Consider how much time you wantto allot to the activity. Multiply thenumber of topic cards by the durationof each conversation- 10 topic cardsX 2 minutes per conversation = 20minutes total.

2. Decide which version of the activityyou are going to do. You can chooseto keep:

a. Conversation pairs static and

Conversation Tableby Sarah Elia


Timed Conversations

PreparationConsider your learners’ profi le, lesson topic and objectives when deciding if this is an ap-propriate activity todo with your learners.

1. Consider how much time you want to allot to the activity. Multiply the number of topic cards by the duration of each conversation- 10 topic cards X 2 minutes per conver-sation = 20 minutes total.2. Decide which version of the activity you are going to do. You can choose to keep:

a. Conversation pairs static and

have learners switch topic cards.With static pairs, learners get to‘bond’ with one conversationalpartner over various topics whilefocusing on sharing their ideasand personalizing the topic.b. Topic cards static and have learners switch partners. With dynamicpairs, learners get to interact withdiverse speakers while refi ningtheir ideas about one topic andpolishing their delivery.c. Both topic cards and conversationpairs static while reducing theduration of the conversations inset increments. This version lendsitself to learners who are preparingfor timed oral presentationsand assessments, by allowinglearners to refi ne their ideas aboutone topic and polish their timeddelivery.d. Decide how you will pair offyour learners and if pairs are goingto sit in two rows or stand intwo concentric circles facing theirpartners.

3. Decide what an odd-numbered learner would be responsible for- time keeper or ‘English only’ enforcer. If you choose to have all learners participate (and have them change partners instead of topic cards), an extra chair can allow the odd-numbered learner to ‘rest’ for one turn. Of course, you can always choose to participate in the activ-ity with your learners.

4. Plan to model activity and deliverclear instructions specifi c to the versionof Timed Conversations you aregoing to do.5. Plan what you will observe whilemonitoring learners during the activity.This will consequently direct thefeedback you will give learners.6. Plan the questions you will use toelicit feedback from learners after theactivity about their performance duringactivity.

ProcedureUse teacher talk appropriate to theprofi ciency level of your learners todeliver clear instructions and to confirm your learners’ comprehension ofyour instructions.1. Deliver global instructions to yourlearners which include: the activitytitle, sequencing/format, purpose andduration, and, if necessary, responsibilityof odd-numbered learner or useof ‘rest’ chair.2. Pair off learners and arrange pairs sothat they are either seated in two rowsor standing in two concentric circlesfacing their partners.3. Model activity for class and demonstratehow:

a. you will start the activity by saying“begin”b. pairs will take turns to converseabout the topic indicated on thetopic card for X minutesc. pairs will converse only inEnglishd. every X minutes, a time keeperwill say “switch” indicating thatpairs need to switch topic cardsby passing them to the pair to theright (or to the left)e. you will end activity by saying“the end.”

4. Model that learners can remind theirpartner to stay on-task by simplypointing to the topic card5. Model some of the conversationallanguage you expect learners to usethelanguage of urging and praise; ofagreeing and disagreeing and so on.6. Begin activity and cycle through thenumber of topics you have planned.Circulate and monitor learnersthroughout activity.

Follow-upElicit feedback from learners abouttheir performance. Give learners feedbackbased on how successfully theycompleted the activity. Remember, thisis a fluency-based activity. However, ifyou modify it to include specifi c verbalstrategies or a focus on form, youcould document the inaccuracies ofyour learners’ English as you circulate,and do a whole-class correction on thewhiteboard following the activity.1. Elicit specifi c feedback from learnersabout how they felt about having to:

a. sustain a conversation in Englishfor X minutes at a timeb. switch topics every X minutesc. include conversational languaged. have a classmate time them or sitin the ‘rest’ chaire. Stand or sit during activity;pass along topic cards; changepartners2. Give learners specifi c feedback about:a. how well they sustained theirconversations in English for Xminutes at a timeb. how well they stayed on taskc. their use of conversationallanguaged. how effi ciently they followedinstructions

3. Promise to do variations of activitythroughout the semester.These fl uency-based activities maygenerate future conversations in yourclassroom, providing rich opportunitiesfor students to interact and practiceEnglish-speaking skills.Phillipa Arthur has taught ESL/EFLin the United States, China and Korea.She is currently a Language Lecturerat Yeungnam University in SouthKorea. <[email protected]>

ELLs respond well to lessons in the form of conversations as another wayto incorporate some of the same strategiesand scaffolds used for writing. As an ex-ample, I often give students a prompt of 5-10 words. For all grades I have used “My greatest surprise.” Fourth graders write about justice. The students use the prompt as astarter and begin writing, eventually produc-ing a well-developed paragraph. These same prompts can be used to maintain intelligent discourse among students. The difference with making conversations the major goal in a lesson is that the discussion will not be based on previous reading and/or writing, but strictly on the present conversation.Self-expression, thoughts, ideas, and opin-ions will begin and end with clarifi cation through conversation only. Making this an integral part of lessons will address the challenges faced by our ELL population in verbal communication, and can enhance thestudent’s listening and speaking skills. Another value with conversationsas a major focus is that the vocabulary chal-lenges faced by many of our ELLs will be considered. Our students may have divided language skills. They are comfortable with a specifi c lexicon from the home language, but use a different second language lexicon. A stronger emphasis on classroom conversa-tions will allow for a balance and exchange of word comprehension of similar vocabu-lary in both languages. Conversations will be a major theme in my ESL classrooms this school year in support of enhancing my students’ oral language skills.

Further ReadingBeck, I., McKeown, M., & Kucan, L.

(2002). Bringing words to life: Robustvocabulary instruction. NewYork: Guilford.

Gordon, T. (2007). Teaching youngchildren a second language. Westport,CT: Praeger.

Yanick Chery-Frederic is an elementaryschool ESL teacher for grades2-4 in Central Islip, as well as anadjunct professor of ESL at SuffolkCounty Community College. She hasalso taught a Methods undergraduatecourse in TESOL at St. Joseph’sCollege in Patchogue.<[email protected]>

Explicit

Communicationby Ellen Terry Vandrew-Wald

The manner in which language andwriting are understood and misunderstoodpromotes success or failure. Understand-ing what is said is the key to communicative competence. Explicit communication is dialoguethat is clear, sure, and restated when neces-sary. Crawford (1993) states that the process-es of literacy and language learning require learners to be immersed in meaningful, rel-evant, and functional situations. In this way, students can learn to handle themselvesin various situations. Let’s begin with a kindergartenermeeting an instructor for the fi rst time. If the child is asked to describe something, perhaps drawing it is a much better way of communicating what happened. Description may not simply be done by talking. The ex-plicit communication would require that theteacher talk and demonstrate so thatthis student knows what to do. Middle school students who do notspeak English can benefi t from explicit communication as well. Classmates might offer to translate for this student, but that means that every utterance requires as-sistance. When I write the aim and other particulars on the board (I verbally explain to the rest of the class), I open a newcomer’s notebook and write a few of the words from the board in his or her notebook, giving the student explicit communication for instruc-tion by demonstration. The student copies what is on the board. Then I say “Copy.” From that time on, this student knows what the word “copy” means and can copy.

Explicit communication with parents is one of the most important types of communication. After all, the parent(s) or caretaker is the firstteacher and the one who can do the most to facilitate a student’s academic success. In parent meetings, I combine simple words with academic language and have the requi-site bilingual dictionaries. By explaining and demonstrating slowly and carefully, explicitcommunication and a good dialoguecan be created. When one speaks with humility and caring, the communication is explicit.Explicit communication is the key to all forms of dialogue; if one method does not work, just keep on trying.

ReferencesCrawford, L. W. (1993). Language

and literacy learning in multiculturalclassrooms. NeedhamHeights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Ellen Terry Vandrew-Wald was born inthe Bronx into a multicultural, religiousbackground. Barry Wald, herhusband, encouraged her to become ateacher. She got her B.A. fromMarymount Manhattan College in1999 and M.A. in TESOL from HunterCollege in 2004. She is a NYC publicschool K-12 teacher, and also anadjunct. <[email protected]>

Let’s Talk about It! Let’s Talk about It!by Yanick Chery-Frederic

NYS TESOL Idiom 28 Vol. 41, No. 3 (Fall 2011)

NYS TESOLBox 185Teachers CollegeColumbia University525 W. 120th StreetNew York, NY 10027

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