Education Commons^™

English Exchange: An Authentic Communication Event Connecting Native English Speakers And Japanese High School Students, Heather Ruth Johnson

MA TESOL Collection

Interacting with native speakers can be very powerful because it encourages motivation, positive attitudes, and self confidence. English Exchange is an event that is the culmination of a one semester long travel abroad unit for English language learners in a Japanese high school. The aim is to create a safe English environment where students have the opportunity to directly interact with native English speakers in a low stress atmosphere.

This project follows the development of English Exchange from start to finish. Included in these pages are thorough lesson plans and materials needed for every step of the process, should you …

Exploring Content-Based Language Arts Instruction In The Esol Classroom Through A Holistic Approach, María Angeles Cicatello

MA TESOL Collection

The activities contained in this project derive from personal efforts to implement content-based instruction with a language arts thematic unit in the ESOL classroom through a holistic approach.

Public school ESOL students and teachers alike are more than ever experiencing a tremendous pressure to accelerate English language instruction and learning in order to satisfy local/state curriculum tests, and national standards. This materials-development project correlates with the local Board of Education’s Academic Knowledge and Skills Curriculum guidelines without restricting the teacher’s freedom to prioritize what is most important and relevant to students’ lives, respecting their self as learners, and demonstrating their …

Choosing The Right Path: My Personal Evolution As A Teacher Developing And Maintaining Reflective Practice, Nancy Leland Rivera

MA TESOL Collection

After using self-reflection to learn more about herself as a learner and then as an educator during her first summer of study in the SIT Master of Arts in Teaching program, Nancy Rivera used this knowledge to further look at her teaching. She also used the same reflective process to examine her work during her IYTP (Interim Year Teaching Practicum) experience. In an effort to maintain this reflective practice after finishing her course work, the author examines the meaning of reflective practice, how she came to be a reflective practitioner, and methods she has used to maintain it.

Humanizing My Business English Class And Myself, Ana-Maria Nicolae

MA TESOL Collection

A teacher of English for Business at a Romanian business college reflects on her experiences and beliefs about language learning and teaching before and after attending the Summer Master of Arts (SMAT) Program at the School for International Training (SIT).The project reports on some of the changes that the humanistic tenets of the SIT SMAT program brought about in her teaching and includes three examples of how these humanistic principles could be applied in an EFL business college classroom. The first example showcases her attempt to address affective factors during the first Business English class. The second example focuses on …

Becoming A Reflective Practitioner: A Classroom-Based Research On Mentor Work With A Novice Teacher In Tuzla Canton, Bosnia And Herzegovina, Dijana Markovic

MA TESOL Collection

The small post-war former socialist country of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been under constant reform in each area of its existence for the last ten years now. The reforms concerning the education system have been of the greatest interest for me, an educator who truly believes the future of every country depends on tolerance, open-mindedness and the absence of prejudice. These three basic principles of a successful democratic society are best acquired through competent teaching in the classroom. Sharing my teaching experience and helping novice teachers develop their own knowledge, awareness, skills and attitudes has not only helped the growth …

Experiential Learning And Reflective Practice In Teacher Education, Joshua Kurzweil

MA TESOL Collection

This paper explores ways of incorporating reflective practice and experiential learning in teacher education. Many examples are drawn from the book Understanding Teaching Through Learning (Kurzweil and Scholl 2007), the first in the series of teacher education books called School for International Training Frameworks for Language Teaching. These examples illustrate ways in which teacher educators can support rich meaningful learning experiences. Specifically, I look at the impact of reflective practice as outlined by Dewey (1910) and Rogers (2002), the variety of experiences that can be used in teacher education, and how ideas from experts in the field can be incorporated …

The Use Of Frameworks In Teaching Tense, Marc Haccius

MA TESOL Collection

This paper proposes three frameworks that will assist students in their understanding and use of English tenses. It argues that the English tense system really is a system (and not just a collection of rules) but that this system is only apparent if tenses are taught at the textual level instead of at the sentential level. To this effect, it argues against the traditional approach of teaching tenses individually in that it is restrictive and counter-productive to students expressing themselves independently. Finally, this paper gives practical hands-on guidance as to how the frameworks can be used in class, along with …

Teaching Spanish Slang, Familiar Language, And Electronic Language In The Classroom, Melissa Ann Barra

MA TESOL Collection

No abstract provided.

5th Grade Readers Reading Aloud To Make An Intercultural Connection, Margaret G. Bell

MA TESOL Collection

The purpose of this paper is to show that through reading aloud, elementary ESL students can build relationships with younger students and make an intercultural connection within their school community. The interaction between the readers and their audience can change dramatically if the readers are aware of the reading strategies that they bring into their reading to make it engaging. By reflecting on their own process of making connections and by using reflective portfolios, ESL students can begin to discover what kind of connections they are making and develop an awareness of how it is happening.

As teachers how can …

Teaching More Than Writing: A Writing And Community Building Project For Liceo Internacional Quito, Ecuador, Lucia Jarrin

MA TESOL Collection

This paper presents a proposal for a writing program for the Elementary School at Liceo Internacional a school a k-12 school in Quito- Ecuador.

This proposal is the result of the process that the writer underwent during the second summer at the School for International Training in the Summer Master of Arts in Teaching Program (SMAT) and her assessment of the needs at Liceo Internacional School.

It includes a brief description of the mission that the writer has in teaching, then, an account of the context in which the program will be applied and the rationale behind this proposal. It …

Over There A Preparation Course For Japanese High School Students Embarking On A Student Exchange Year Abroad, Jonathan Bolick

MA TESOL Collection

This paper explores the course design process for a study-abroad preparation course for Japanese high school students. The design process yielded valuable teacher insights: the importance of understanding one’s teaching beliefs, the vital need for student and teacher feedback, the benefits of strong classroom community, and the need for better understanding students’ cultural and learning contexts. Interviews with ten former exchange students revealed students’ lack of cultural knowledge of their own and target culture, especially the invisible culture, which had led to misunderstanding and conflict. Students’ inability to express their personal identity adequately in L2 had also led to an …

Getting Pushy In Brazil: Using P.U.S.H. (“Present Up The Stairway To Heaven”) To Teach Presentation Skills In A Business English Context, Will Beebe

MA TESOL Collection

In a business English (“English As A Second Language” or “ESL”) context, is there a relatively straightforward, effective, and fun way for students to improve their presentation skills? In this paper, I propose a modular system which I call “Present Up The Stairway To Heaven” (or P.U.S.H.), complete with exercises and simulations, designed to take students through successive steps towards better business presentations in English in approximately 24 hours of classroom instruction and practice.