Filed under: Conversation, Grammar | Tags: activities with resumes, English With Jennifer, Jennifer Lebedev, JenniferESL, using resumes
Free sample résumés are available online. Consider some possibilities these free resources create for intermediate and advanced students:
- Q & A: Copy different sample résumés for the class (1 for every 2 students). Ask students to work in pairs and hand out one résumé to each pair. Students should form 8-10 factual questions based on their fictitious candidate’s experience. They should use both past and present tenses. Pairs exchange sets of questions along with the accompanying resumes. They now answer the questions they received in full sentences. The work is corrected by the authors of the questions and reviewed later by the teacher.
- VERB TENSE REVIEW: Copy different sample résumés for the class (1 for every 2 students). Ask students to work in pairs and hand out one résumé to each pair. Challenge students to find examples of past and present facts. You can have them record their findings in chart form, using complete sentences. Offer them a model:
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PAST FACTS |
PRESENT FACTS |
|
|
- PRACTICE WITH Used To (be) and Used to (being): Copy enough sample résumés for everyone in the class. Try to copy résumés from one job category, e.g., Administrative Assistant or Computer Technician. Students may work as a whole class or in smaller groups if the class is large. If they work as a class, the teacher will play the role of a head hunter and the students will be job candidates. If they work in smaller groups, one person in each group can be assigned the role of a head hunter. Explain who a head hunter is. Prepare a set of job requirements or qualifications that the head hunter can search for: people skills, knowledge of a foreign language, team player, etc. Job candidates must first skim their résumés to gain familiarity with the experience listed. When the head hunter states a requirement or qualification, the candidates can scan for applicable details. Challenge job candidates to offer information using one of the used to constructions. Model: (Head hunter) “I’m looking for someone with good people skills.” (Candidate) “I’m used to talking to people and helping them solve their computer problems.” / (Head hunter) “I’m looking for someone who can speak another language.” (Candidate) “I used to work in a bilingual office. I can speak Spanish.”
- MOCK INTERVIEW – Select a number of general interview questions and list them on the board. Copy enough sample résumés for everyone in the class. Working with a partner, students can take turns playing the role of a job candidate and base their answers on their assigned résumés.
- RÉSUMÉ WRITING – Free templates are also available, making it easier for students to write their own résumés. For older students who already have work experience, bringing their résumés up to date is useful professionally and serves a meaningful writing practice. Younger students might interview an older friend or relative and base the résumé on that other person’s experience.
Filed under: Grammar | Tags: active and passive verbs, CALL, celebrity photos, English With Jennifer, Jennifer Lebedev, JenniferESL, multimedia, passive construction, passive voice
The source:
Celebrity photos will always be plentiful. You can find them at magazine newsstands or for free online. Many sites post photos weekly if not daily, and captions are always provided. Find a site that covers a range of famous people, such as OMG!
The format:
One option is for the teacher to use her computer and project one photo at a time onto a central screen for students to discuss. Another possibility is for students to work in pairs at computer stations. If computers are not available, you might print out a set of photos in advance. (Save them and reuse them for another activity in the future.)
The activity:
Let’s assume students are working in pairs in front of computers. Assign each pair a set of photos to work with. The students must decide if active sentences in the captions can be rewritten using the passive voice. If changes are possible and not awkward, they may do so and identify the change in focus.
Example:
June 18, 2009 (From OMG.Yahoo.com)
“Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt marked World Refugee Day by donating $1 million to a U.N. agency helping displaced Pakistanis and making media appearances to discuss the plight of refugees.”
= FOCUS: On Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.
- $1 million was donated to a U.N. agency by Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt on World Refugee Day. The agency helps displaced Pakistanis. Jolie and Pitt also made media appearance to discuss the plight of refugees.
= FOCUS: On $1 million.
- World Refugee Day was marked by a $1 million donation from Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. The donation was given to a U.N. agency that helps displaced Pakistanis. Jolie and Pitt also made media appearance to discuss the plight of refugees.
= FOCUS: On World Refugee Day. / Donation.
VARIATION: In addition to making active sentences passive, students can try to make passive sentences active.
Filed under: Grammar, Methodology | Tags: JenniferESL, Jennifer Lebedev, Engilsh with Jennifer, prescriptive grammar, descriptive grammar, grammar mistakes, level of formality, language appropriacy
Have you ever caught a phrase in your own speaking or writing that went against what you’ve taught your students? Did you split an infinitive? Did you use good in place of well to describe the manner in which an action was done? Just how serious are these violations of prescriptive grammar?
I think no English language teacher would argue against the necessity of teaching descriptive grammar. For example, students must know proper word order to be understood. I am learning English is clear. English learning I am is not. The need to adhere to prescriptive grammar, in contrast, is subject to debate. Consider these two statements: (a) I don’t understand anything you said. (b) I don’t understand nothing you said. Both are comprehensible. Would you tell your students that (b) is incorrect? What if they tell you they’ve heard the use of double negatives by native speakers? What would your response be?
Some so-called grammar mistakes have already evolved into acceptable language patterns for everyday communication. Everyone must do their share of the work is a good example. You might not even notice that a student used their rather than the prescribed his or her to refer back to everyone. Other mistakes are more serious because they tend to invite judgment about a speaker’s education, intelligence, and/ or social standing. Use of double negatives and ain’t are two examples.
I’d argue that prescriptive grammar is important to teach so that English language learners can make the effort to use standard English when other variations are not suitable. Often what is required to be a good communicator is knowledge of the language that is appropriate for the occasion. Using contractions and starting sentences with conjunctions are acceptable practices in e-mail to our family and friends, but they should be avoided in college term papers and cover letters. That is because communication in academic and professional contexts often demands a higher level of formality; those situations warrant more conscious attention to language. English language learners should understand this. Our job as teachers is not just to teach correct English but also appropriate English.
Can you give examples of questionable mistakes in English grammar? What goes against prescriptive grammar but nevertheless finds its way into your own writing and speaking, especially in informal situations?
Here are eight practices that I admit to doing on occasion:
- Starting sentences with the conjunction but;
- Using was instead of the subjunctive were in present unreal conditional statements and statements expressing a present wish;
- Using slow as an adverb;
- Using good as an adverb;
- Not shifting tenses back in reported statements;
- Using a plural pronoun or possessive adjective to refer back to everyone, somebody, etc.;
- Using each other to refer to a group of three or more people;
- Using there’s before a plural subject.
Sources
http://www.ling.udel.edu/eastwick/ling101_f99/de_vs_pre.html
http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~beatrice/syntax-textbook/ch1.html
http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/linguistics/people/schuh/lx001/Discussion/d10.html
Filed under: Classroom Tips, Methodology | Tags: English With Jennifer, JenniferESL, Jennifer Lebedev, classroom ideas, learner centered teaching, learner centered instruction
I wonder how common it is for a teacher to see a classroom as his or her own rather than a classroom that belongs to the students as much as it belongs to the teacher. Does the cushy seat on wheels, coat hook, coffee mug, and set of whiteboard markers create a warm welcome when you step through the door? What do your students feel when they enter the same room? What a classroom looks like and the kind of learning that takes place in it create either a communal environment or the sense that one has just entered the teacher’s domain. What can teachers do to make students view the room as “our” room? Here are just a few ideas. Feel free to add to the list.
1. Create a wall display of class photos and/ or student work.
Did you go on a field trip together? Post some snapshots. While there are a growing number of options to share photos and students compositions with your students online (e.g. class blog), it’s still nice to have hard copies in the classroom to promote a sense of group.
2. Establish a common library of resources.
You can still have your personal library of reference books on your desk or in a closed bookshelf behind your desk, but in one corner of the room you can make a collection of books available to the students for in-house use only. You can also bring in magazines from home once you are done reading them and allow students to take them home overnight. They should feel that there are both people and materials in the room that can help them learn the language.
3. Post goals.
I’ve talked about setting goals more than once. I can’t stress enough the value of doing this. One additional thought I’d like to share is the idea of identifying common goals among students and posting them somewhere in the room. Two students may have the goal of passing the written driver’s exam. If the students are aware of their common goals, they can support each other. Also, one’s student’s goal may inspire another to achieve the same thing. If such goals are posted, you can more easily bear them in mind as the teacher.
4. Set up a comments/suggestion box.
The students themselves may have ideas about how to improve the classroom and your lessons. Provide at least one way for them to voice comments and suggestions. Can they send you e-mail? Do you have office hours? Even a physical comments/ suggestion box can be an option. Some may like the anonymity of using it.
5. Allow students to choose lesson themes.
Without starting a discussion on the principles of learner-centered teaching, allow me to suggest the idea that students can have a say in choosing lesson themes. The curriculum may confine you to a certain list of language topics, but perhaps there is some freedom in choosing the context(s) in which you can present and practice those topics. Sure, the textbook teaches the simple past using the biographies of Jane Austen and other English writers, but if you know that your students are music lovers, you can give further practice using biographies of their favorite artists. Find out some of their interests within the first week of your course and consider how to tailor some of the lessons to suit their interests throughout the school year.
Filed under: Grammar | Tags: English With Jennifer, JenniferESL, Jennifer Lebedev, modal verbs, shall
Every so often I get asked by students about the modal verb shall. It seems like its mention in U.S.-published grammar books is little more than a brief note tacked on to the main presentation. As a result, I feel inclined to remark that in American English the use of shall is very limited, and I avoid spending too much time explaining its use. But then I usually encounter a real-world example of this modal and wonder if always downplaying its use is a wise course of action.
The fact is although the use of shall is not common in everyday situations, the verb still exists in American English. Furthermore, in today’s global world, the communication English language learners will participate in is not restricted to one kind of English. Through literature, songs, online articles, international acquaintances, and more, our learners will encounter a variety of Englishes. Hearing the use of a modal verb they never learned about in class will raise some questions.
So what’s the answer? While I don’t necessarily see the need for an entire class devoted to the use of shall, I do think it’s worth including the verb in a number of lessons, for example, on modal verbs (obligation and invitation), tag questions, and formal/ business writing.
Tip 1: Provide real-world examples and let students identify the meaning and use of the verb.
- Film title: Shall We Dance?
- Folk wisdom: This too shall pass.
- Song title: We Shall Overcome
- TV documentary on the Native American experience: We Shall Remain
- Common opener: Let’s get started, shall we?
Tip 2: Call attention to contexts and help students understand the level of formality in each one.
- From the U.S. Constitution. Article 1, Section 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
- Speech by Martin Luther King, Jr.: We Shall Overcome
- “We shall see about that.” Line from Anne of Green Gables, set in early twentieth-century Canada. (Note the time period.)
Tip 3: Call attention to varieties of Englishes and help students form conclusions about how common shall is among different speakers of English.
- “What time shall we have dinner?” Line from an article “No Kidding: Diary of a Child-free Couple” in the London Times, July 11, 2009.
Tip 4: Provide one or two good dictionary entries on shall so that students can clarify and solidify their understanding.
- YourDictionary.com lists five clear and simple uses along with examples. Here’s just one: (usage #3) “Used in the statements of law or regulations. The fine shall not exceed $200.”
- The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English lists four concise uses. It is careful to note which are common in spoken or formal English and which one is more common in British English.
Tip 5: Have a source that you can refer to so that you can more easily answer students’ questions.
- Wikipedia covers etymology and modern usage.
Filed under: Grammar | Tags: English With Jennifer, expressing possession, Jennifer Lebedev, JenniferESL, lost and found game, possessive adjectives, possessive nouns, possessive pronouns
This activity puts a spin on a game that may already be familiar to you.
Level: High beginner – low intermediate
Language targeted: possessive adjectives, possessive pronouns, AND/OR possessive nouns
Objective: To identify what belongs to whom in the class
(To illustrate, I’ll target possessive adjectives and possessive nouns. You can modify the language to target what you need to.)
STEP 1 – Have students sit in circles of approximately 6 students. Each student in a circle must show a pen or pencil to the others, identify its color, and then place it in the center of the group. Example – “This is my pen. My pen is blue.”
STEP 2 – After all the writing utensils have been placed in the center, students take turns trying to return a pen or pencil to its owner. If they are correct, the owner will confirm. If they are incorrect, the student incorrectly named the owner will state so. Example – “I think this blue pen is Carla’s. Carla, is this your pen?” Carla: “Yes, it’s my pen.” / “No, it’s not my pen.” If incorrect, the item goes back in the center, and the next student takes a turn.
STEP 3 – After all the students get their writing utensils back, hand out blank slips of paper. Have students write two sentences: one sentence about their own utensil and one sentence about the one they gave back. Example – My pen is black. Carla’s pen is blue.
STEP 4 – Collect all the writings and post them on the wall. Explain the word handwriting. Have students work in pairs near the wall and try to identify their partner’s handwriting. They can ask a limited number of questions (that you can list on the board):
- Do you have a pen or a pencil?
- What color is your pen/ pencil?
- Is your handwriting big or small?
- Is your handwriting easy or difficult to read?
- Is this your handwriting?
(You can add other questions.)
STEP 5 – As soon as students correctly identify each other’s handwriting, ask them to write their names on the slips of paper. They can remain near the wall and in pairs comment on others’ handwriting. Example – “This is Carla’s handwriting. Her handwriting is big. Her handwriting is easy to read.” / “Ben and Maria have small handwriting. Their handwriting is difficult to read.”*
Suggestion: Instead of trying to explain the whole activity at once, model it yourself one step at a time. Sit with one group and let everyone observe you do Step 1. Then everyone completes Step 1. Now model Step 2. Everyone then completes Step 2, etc.
*You may choose to teach the difference between Ben and Maria’s and Ben’s and Maria’s.
Filed under: Grammar, Student Stumpers | Tags: English With Jennifer, indirect speech, Jennifer Lebedev, JenniferESL, modal verbs, reported speech, student stumper, tricky grammar, wh- clause, wh- infinitive
QUESTION: If the reported statement is he asked me when to come, what was the original statement? “When to come?” Can I ask that?
ANSWER:
No. When to come? is not a grammatically correct question. The original statement was probably when should I come? It could also have been what time do you want me to come?
It’s not always easy to figure out the exact words the speaker used when you hear his or her words secondhand. At some point when teaching reported speech, we need to explain that there’s a degree of interpretation. The person reporting must accurately convey the meaning, but doesn’t necessarily have to use the same structures.
Modals in questions can often be reported using wh- infinitives. One source explains that the wh- infinitive (also called the infinitive wh- clause) is used with an obligational sense, but after some thought, I decided to expand on that:
- [obligation] “Where should I go?” = He asked where to go. – OR – He asked where he should go.
- [possibility] “How can I call without a cell phone?” = He asked how to call without a cell phone. – OR – He asked how he could call without a cell phone.
In doing research, I found confirmation that among the wh- words why isn’t used in wh- infinitives, but how is. For example, we can say how to do it, but we cannot say why to do it. This can be confusing to students if we teach use the term wh- infinitive since why has the wh- spelling but how doesn’t.
…This last point could actually be the topic of another posting. Why is it that we can say how to do it, but we cannot say why to do it? We can only ask why do it? So if we can ask why do it? to mean why should I do it? why can’t we say when do it? to mean when should I do it? Ah, the beauty of the English language.
Sources:
Greenbaum, Sidney and Randolph Quirk. A Student’s Grammar of the English Language. Longman: 1990.
http://www.iei.uiuc.edu/structure/structure1/complements.html
Filed under: Grammar | Tags: common mistakes in ESL, English With Jennifer, fixing common mistakes, Jennifer Lebedev, JenniferESL, peer editing, self-editing
Common mistakes among language learners are numerous. (As are linguistic mistakes among native speakers, for that matter!) For example, I’m finding that subject-verb agreement is one mistake all my students make, regardless of their level. What kinds of exercises can be helpful to these students? The goal, I believe, is to heighten their awareness of the grammar in question and help them monitor their own speech. They will learn to correct themselves, and then ideally the need to correct will become less frequent.
- Exercise 1 – Self and peer editing.
In addition to helping students correct their language on the spot, I like to note mistakes and keep a collection of them. When enough have accumulated to form a 5-10 minute written exercise, I present it in a lesson as a review. I also add some new sentences with the same kinds of mistakes. For a private student, the exercise is a collection of his or her past mistakes. For a class, it is a collection of past mistakes made by various students within their group.
- Exercise 2 – Editing articles.
It’s also possible to use a passage from an authentic source. Select a passage of an appropriate length. Type it out on a word processor, deliberately changing the text to contain the common mistake you want the students to fix. Try to insert the same kind of mistake a number of times. Have them edit the articles first individually. Then have them compare their work with a partner. Finally, correct the exercise as a class.
Filed under: professional development | Tags: English With Jennifer, Jennifer Lebedev, JenniferESL, reasons to teach, teacher support, why do you love to teach?, why I'm a teacher
Americans tend to plaster the bumpers on their cars with stickers that make various statements. They range from political to humorous. A doctor might choose I’d Rather Be Golfing. A suburban mother may use a bumper sticker to boast about her children: Proud Parent of an Honor Roll Student. If teachers had their choice of slogans, what would some favorites be?
Love to Teach, Love to Learn.
I’d Rather Be in a Classroom.
Got questions? I got answers.
To teach is to learn twice. (This one I found online at CafePress.com.)
Well, not all of us own cars, and there must be alternatives to the not-so-classy use of bumper stickers. How else can we take pride and delight in what we do? One way is to simply state what we love about teaching and make sure others hear. The list below is just a start. Feel free to add on, and let’s celebrate our profession together. This entry isn’t really about professional development. It’s about professional support. Enjoy.
Why do you love to teach?
- I love to explain things to others.
- I love to know that I’m helping others reach their goals.
- I love the fresh perspective I get by teaching people from other cultures.
- I love the challenge of trying to understand how English is used. It’s a never-ending challenge.
- I love the creativity allowed and required in language instruction.
- I love the artistry and pedagogy involved in the formation of a teaching approach.
- I love the balance between collaboration and leadership.
- I love to use my organization skills in lesson planning and materials writing.
- I love to feel a part of something larger than myself, whether it’s a school I teach in, a textbook I’m collaborating on, or the development of global communication.
- I love to know that there is something I possess that is useful to others.
Filed under: Grammar, Vocabulary | Tags: CALL, clothing vocabulary, communicative activity, describing physical appearance, English With Jennifer, Jennifer Lebedev, JenniferESL, Makeover Games, past progressive, present progressive, Verb Tenses
Oh, the things you can find online these days! For teens, tweens, and ESL learners, much fun can be had doing Cool Makeover Games. This site has a number of games, each with the potential of being the basis of a communicative activity. Take Colors of the Rain, for example. You can change the clothes of a couple. The man can wear a casual plaid shirt or a variety of trendy shirts and coats. The woman can wear a floral skirt or sleek black pants. There’s a lot to choose from. If you give them an umbrella to share, it starts raining. This is wonderful for reviewing clothing vocabulary and practicing the present progressive.
- Option 1: Students work in pairs at computer stations during the lesson. Student A makes choices for the male model, and Student B describes the finished picture. “The man is wearing jeans and a sweater. He’s holding an umbrella. It’s raining.” Then they switch. Student B makes choices for the female model, and Student A describes the finished picture. “The woman is wearing a black dress and pink boots. She’s carrying a white purse.” The activity can repeat if new clothing choices are made.
- Option 2: You can “dress” the models yourself on one main computer if there is a screen large enough for the class to see. As you make selections, have students describe what they see.
- Option 3: Students can do the activity at home. Have them print out their finished pictures and write 3-4 sentences about each person using the present progressive.
Other games include changing the facial appearance of an animated character: hair color, hairstyle, eye color, etc. This could be used to contrast past and present tenses. Example: “She had blonde hair. Now she has red hair.” / “She was wearing a white and blue shirt, but now she’s wearing a pink shirt with stars.”
Need something more appealing to the guys? Try the Simpson Dress-Up game. Mr. Simpson (a.k.a. Homer) needs clothes, accessories, and a setting. This activity can help students practice describing physical appearance using the present progressive.
Don’t want to talk about fashion and physical appearance? Try designing the exterior of a house. This activity makes for a meaningful exchange between two students using prepositions of place. You can also highlight the order of modifiers: “There is a large door in the middle of the house. Above the door there is a small round window.”
