Education Commons^™

Teaching Communicative Competence To Adult Learners: An Intensive Foreign Language Program In China, Wang Lingjun

MA TESOL Collection

The main purpose of this paper is to explore some feasible ways in which communicative competence can be taught at the Beijing Second Foreign Language Institute in Beijing, China. In the first part of the paper, a portrait of the institute's intensive language program, including its philosophy, a brief history and a description of the students, is provided so that the readers will have some idea why the paper is focused on communicative competence. Language is then described as a communication process involving linguistic, interactional and variational competence. The main part of this paper focuses on some innovative techniques by …

A Manual For Teachers Of Tutorial Courses, Eduardo Reyes Torres

MA TESOL Collection

This project is written for instructors who are teaching tutorial courses. It discusses items such as methodology, techniques, use of outside resources, curriculum, lesson plans, homework and activities in the class.

The project was written based on personal experience while teaching a series of tutorial courses for the School for International Training.

The Drama Approach In E.S.L. Teaching An Exploration Of The Richard Via Approach, George Edward Matthews

MA TESOL Collection

This project is an attempt to explore the English Through Drama Approach developed by Mr. Richard Via of the University of Hawaii. Special attention is given to the approach's techniques, thoughts on the use of a play in the classroom, practical objectives for the use of drama, and the kind of teacher this approach requires.

There are three short case studies illustrating this writer's work with the Via approach.

A Case Study Of A Child’S Acquisition Of Spanish As A Second Language, Jonathan Julian

MA TESOL Collection

This paper is an individual case study of language acquisition. It is my intent to report the facts as they happened. The subject is my six-year-old stepdaughter, Gretchen, an energetic little girl who in the space of a year and a half achieved near-native proficiency in Spanish. She never attended one formal language class.

I have discovered through this study that dual cultural awareness through language allows for greater creativity within the individual and provides additional opportunity for personal growth and cognitive development. Certainly this has been true not only for the observed but for me, the observer, as well. …

Using Student Generated Material In A Student Centered Classroom, Katherine Rawson

MA TESOL Collection

This paper deals with a description and analysis of activities I developed for producing and using student generated material in a student centered classroom. The activities were developed during two months of student teaching in Mexico. The paper begins with a discussion of student centered learning, the role of the teacher and the role of the student in a student centered class, and how student generated material fits into this. The following section is divided according to each of .three· classes I taught in Mexico, and these include both children and adult classes, at beginning and intermediate levels. This section …

Shifting Responsibility For Learning From The Teacher To The Student, John W. Harmsen

MA TESOL Collection

This paper discusses a personal approach to teaching ESL which encourages greater student responsibility in the learning process. The project is designed to assist teachers who are interested in developing a teaching style which increases student initiative with the goal of helping students become increasingly independent, self-directed learners.

The project is organized into two main sections. The first is a discussion of the rationale and implications for teachers and students in this approach to teaching. Included also is a discussion regarding the necessity of meeting the affective needs of the learner. The second section presents a variety of different activities …

Two Paces East An Introspective View Of A Cross-Cultural Experience, Rebecca Ann Reagan

MA TESOL Collection

This is a cultural project, a personal journey through a five and a half year period of my life, a period when I lived in the East, primarily in Nepal and Japan. In this project I discuss the history and cultures of these two countries, particularly that of Nepal, including some of the customs and traditions, values and belief systems. I further discuss the influence that living in these cultures had on my life and my world view. To facilitate the organization of the paper, I have chosen to use a model proposed by Theodore Gochenour and Anne Janeway, "Seven …

An Introductory Course On Computers For Esl Students, Anne Christenson Rice

MA TESOL Collection

This paper details the process of creation and an evaluation of a computer course for non-native English speakers.