TESOL Convention 2013

Another snowstorm is heading to New England, but weather permitting, I will fly to Dallas, Texas on Tuesday in order to attend the annual TESOL convention. Visit the TESOL site for registration info and access to the online program. If you aren’t able to attend, there will be webcasts for some presentations. As in previous years, I hope to share some of the convention highlights here on my blog.

If you are attending, I hope to meet some of you there. Here are some of the places I plan to be.

• On Wednesday I’ll be at the Leadership Luncheon in the afternoon, and in the evening at 5:30 I’ll attend the Materials Writers-IS social event at City Tavern.
• On Thursday I will be presenting with Christina Cavage at 12:00 in Room D174 of the Convention Center. Our presentation is titled Moving Grammar Instruction Online: The Approach of the Next Generation, and we will talk about Pearson’s newest grammar series. Click here to learn more about Next Grammar Grammar and my contributions. In the evening, I plan to attend the MWIS Business Meeting at 5:30.
• On Friday I will join other members of the Book Publications Committee to present I Want to Write a Book! Getting Published with TESOL. at 2:00 in room C145.
  
• On Saturday I will make the most of my final day by taking in sessions in the morning and afternoon.

Let the fun and learning begin!

Fun Lessons with Funny TV Ads

The connection between language and culture is very evident in TV ads, especially funny ones. What’s the humor? Is it funny to everyone? What exactly is the message and who is it intended for? These questions can lead to very thoughtful discussions.

There are a number of sources from which you can select appropriate commercials for your students. Here are just a few to get your search started:

• Very Funny Ads
• Best Ads Ever (click on Funny Ads)
• TV ads View
• YouTube (You can find single ad videos and videos with a collection, for example, Super Bowl Ads.)

What can you do with the ads? Follow-up speaking or writing activities balance the listening practice done when students view the ads.

1. Discuss the intended message. Work in infinitives of purpose or conditional clauses. Example: (Based on an Old Spice ad.) The man says that Old Spice can be used to attract ladies. If you use Old Spice, you’ll smell great and be more attractive.

2. Discuss the intended audience. Work in relative clauses. Example: (Based on an Eggo Waffles ad.) The audience can be anyone who loves breakfast. They want to convince people that their waffles are the kind of food (that) people love and fight over.

3. Discuss symbolism. Teach appropriate vocabulary: represents, stands for, signifies, symbolizes, suggests, reflects, or  makes us think of. Example: (Based on Fed Ex ad.) I think the dominoes represent the idea of delivery. You send something at one point, and Fed Ex takes your package to another. The paths stand for all the possible routes. The music suggests an upbeat attitude, so the company wants us to believe they’re happy to do their work.

4. Write dialog when none exists. Review punctuation for direct speech and offer a short list of appropriate reporting verbs for the ads you select. Example: (Based on a Yorkie candy bar ad.) The man enters the the home, tired but proud. He announces, “I’m home.” His wife looks at him and then back at her magazine. “Can you take them to the kitchen, hon?” she says in a bored voice.

5. Do voiceovers or re-enact ads. Find an ad with a short text, such as this other Eggo Waffles ad. Have students work together to transcribe what the narrator says.  Help them practice reading smoothly and at the right time and pace.  You can have students take turns being the narrator as you play the video on mute.  Another idea is to have them perform the dialog they wrote for a silent ad (see number 4 above).

Suggestions: You can select one video and base your lesson around that, or you can create a playlist of several videos which students should be able to access before and/or after the lesson. For example, if you practice using relatives clauses with one ad in class, you can assign additional videos to be watched outside of class for students to write about using relative clauses. Who is the intended audience for each ad? At the next lesson, ideas can be shared and additional work with those same ads can be done as a whole group.

Alternative ideas:

1. You can work with more serious TV ads, but the good ones are hard to find. Here’s one about safe driving by Sussex Safer Roads. It would really prompt students to explain the action on the screen using the simple present and present progressive. The symbolism is clear and should touch on universal values.

2. Students can create their own ads. Infomercials promote collaboration. Click for more details.

Professional Development through Video

With the annual TESOL convention around the corner, many of my thoughts lately have centered around professional development. I’ve already mentioned webinars that can benefit us teachers. This week I’d like to highlight another type of resource. I’ve received a few requests for teacher training videos recently. I’ve only dabbled in that area in the past, so before I consider how exactly I could meet this current demand, I thought I should list some quality video resources already available.

• [FREE] Pearson ELT Videocasts. This is a small but growing collection of videos that cover both broad and specific topics, from the use of technology to successful lesson plans. Featured teachers include Jeremy Harmer and Jamie Keddie.

• [FREE] Lessonstream.org. Jamie Keddie has produced a whole lot more on his own site (formerly TEFL Clips). Here you’ll find a generous offering of classroom activities, modeled by Jamie himself.  His style is clear, simple, natural, and fun. The numerous ideas are nicely organized by level, learner type, topic, time frame, language aim, and materials.

• [FREE] TeacherTube. This resource is not limited to ESL/EFL, but you can filter your search and find videos on topics such as the stages of language acquisition (defined and illustrated) and videos modeling warm-up activities.

• [FREE] Shaping the Way We Teach English by UOregon. This is a well-made teacher training series produced in cooperation with the University of Oregon. The creators describe it as a 14-module series that builds a pedagogical foundation and improves classroom practices. David Deubelbeiss (M.Ed, B.Ed) offers a free Basic TEFL Certificate Course based on this video series.

• [Subscription] TEFLVideos. This site also makes professional development on-demand. You can watch a few free clips demonstrating dos and don’ts in the classroom as well as strategies for teaching specific skills, like vocabulary and reading. Through a subscription, members can watch a mock interview to prepare for a job search. If you already have a job, but want to know what other job choices are like, there’s a video showing the life of an EFL teacher in Shanghai, China.

Scratching Our Heads over Idioms and Common Sayings

I find that students love to ask about idioms and common sayings they come across. Idioms especially lend themselves to fun lessons, but where exactly should they fit in? How should we teach them?

Idioms are common in conversation and they appear quite often in the news, so encounters with them outside class are inevitable online and offline. However, students need to be cautioned about idiomatic expressions. Some believe that using a lot of idioms will help their speech sound more natural. The danger, however, in overloading one’s speech with idiomatic expressions is that it can backfire and make one sound unnatural. Who colors each and every sentence with an idiom? And do you really use a proverb in every conversation? No. Otherwise you might come off sounding like the narrator reading the moral to the story.

Furthermore, students need to understand the importance of appropriacy when learning this kind of vocabulary. Many idioms are informal. Stating a proverb can be interpreted as advice or judgment, neither of which may be welcomed in certain relationships.  Our students need multiple encounters with idioms and proverbs to understand when to use them and with whom to use them.

“Multiple encounters” does not mean overloading our lessons with common expressions. I recall having to teach from a textbook on idioms in the past, and it presented long lists of expressions. What I found was that none of the fabricated contexts could recreate an authentic encounter. Students struggled to retain the language because of the sheer amount, and they also failed to grasp all the nuances without further instruction or supplemental materials. Idioms and proverbs are likely best learned through natural encounters, for instance, as part of song or film you are using for listening practice or within the headline of an article you are using for reading and discussion.

In  my YouTube videos, I’ve experimented with different approaches to teaching common idioms and sayings. My practice is generally to limit one tutorial to three key expressions. Any more could lead to information overload. Also, when possible, I include conversation with a guest speaker. In an upcoming lesson on idioms, I have no guest speaker, but I fully exploit my context by filming on location and connecting each expression to an activity.

Want a hint where I filmed my upcoming vocabulary lesson? Read this old posting.

Click here for ideas for providing communicative and controlled practice with idioms.

Getting a Handle on English as a Foreign Language

Every teacher brings something of value to the classroom, yet all of us teachers have at least one area in which we can improve. I have my own set of goals that I’m working toward. Along the path of professional development, I like to look around and see if there’s some way I can assist other teachers. I’ve benefited from others’ experience over the years, so I feel it’s important to give back to our ELT community.

Lately I’ve been receiving requests from non-native speakers of English teaching EFL in schools and universities in different countries. Their communication with me increases my understanding of the challenges they face and the resources they seek. Here are some ideas I’d like to share with those in this group who have yet to feel sure-footed in their teaching:

• Learn the expressions you need most and learn them well. Some newer EFL teachers struggle to decrease the use of L1 in their classrooms and increase the use of L2. Some elementary school teachers in non-English speaking countries face the challenge of a broad curriculum, and English is just one of several subjects they must teach. To help bring more English into EFL lessons, I answered the request of a few teachers and created a set of basic Classroom Instructions. I use a simple listen-repeat pattern, but I hope the collection of videos will help those in need of common classroom language.
• Rehearse key points of a presentation. Any presenter knows that the key to delivering something smoothly is practice. When faced with a new topic to teach, try giving your explanation out loud at home. You might also be able to find other teachers’ presentations online and compare their wording to yours.
• Let online resources support your teaching, not encroach upon it. There are rich resources available today. You can bring in audio and video materials to aid your instruction and expose students to other models.  However, be careful not to overuse a resource. You are the teacher, and you must remain the main source of instruction in your own classroom. (Click to read a related post on the pronunciation of the teacher.)
• Be confident that you are a competent facilitator in EFL instruction. As a learner of English yourself, you have heightened awareness of the process of learning English. You are in tune with the challenges your students face. Your own proficiency in English can inspire students, and your continued study of the language can serve as a model. You may feel you lack fluency in some respect, but you have certainly mastered enough and care enough to guide your learners’ progress. In truth, your knowledge of English grammar and vocabulary can surpass that of many native speakers.
• Find support among your colleagues. Hopefully, we can all find support and give support when needed. It’s very upsetting to hear stories of language learners being criticized or teased by spouses, coworkers, or classmates. It breaks my heart even more to learn how one English language instructor has caused hurt and embarrassment by criticizing another instructor’s proficiency in English. If we cannot support one another, how can we create a positive learning experience for our students? Let’s all remember the value of positive feedback and constructive criticism done with sensitivity and respect.

Professional Development through Webinars

Where do you turn for professional development and support? For me, the annual TESOL convention represents an opportunity to grow professionally and connect with others. Of course, the time and expense of attending does not make the event possible for everyone. Fortunately, we can also find professional development opportunities online.  First, there are the larger organizations. TESOL has online courses and virtual seminars  for educators. Second, there are generous individuals, like David Deubelbeiss, who organize teacher discussions. You may consider joining one of the weekly Teacher Talks that David hosts on EFL Classroom 2.0.

What about a publisher? Yes, there are free online professional development opportunities from this source, too. Recently I was invited to contribute to the Pearson ELT community as a presenter. Stay tuned for the new date on which I’ll present 5 Tried and True Tips for Teaching Grammar.

Finally, if any of you also find yourself in the role of a presenter, be happy — for this, too, is a professional development opportunity. Getting ready for my own webinar has helped me reflect  more on my teaching approach, and I’m thankful for the chance to become familiar with a new online platform. You can prepare for your online presentation by listening to Joe McVeigh’s tips for Improving Your Virtual Presentation Skills, which was part of the a Virtual Round Table conference in the spring of 2012. Thank you to Joe and Heike Philp for making this resource available. Click here for a direct link to Joe’s webinar on Adobe Connect.

I Love Grammar Day Webinar Rescheduled

The gremlins on the Internet made a sudden appearance on the Pearson webinar platform.  I am very sorry to announce that my webinar on 5 Tried and True Tips for Teaching Grammar has been canceled due to tech problems. The good news is that the event will be rescheduled, so please stay tuned! We will announce the new date soon.

Regardless of where you are teaching today, I hope you get to experience your love of English grammar and, of course, your love of our profession.  Happy Valentine’s Day!