Education Commons^™

Guided Discovery Grammar Instruction: A Review Of The Literature With Original Teaching Materials, Marcella Caprario

MA TESOL Collection

Although grammar instruction is a hotly debated facet of language teaching, a review of Second Language Acquisition, Foreign Language Instruction, and Educational Psychology literature reveals that inductive explicit grammar instruction is a viable method, which can generate positive learning outcomes. Studies have shown that learners tend to learn grammar more accurately and faster through explicit instruction. By utilizing inductive techniques, teachers can create a student-centered classroom that encourages critical thinking and problem solving, in addition to language study. With these principles in mind, I have created a series of guided discovery grammar worksheets, accompanied by the procedure and teaching notes …

Cultivating Knowledge In The School Garden: New Ways Of Teaching Literacy To Esl Students, Michele Durivage

MA TESOL Collection

My thesis project includes a combination of materials development and classroom-based research. In my paper, I explore existing garden-related curricula, and create original garden-based lesson plans to teach literacy to fourth grade ESL students. This curriculum development project contributes to the field of ESL in its innovative garden-based pedagogy. The field study took place during the spring semester of 2009 at Increase Miller Elementary School in Westchester County, New York. Using nature as inspiration for writing descriptive essays and poetry, the ESL students at Increase Miller produced imaginative writing pieces, using their own voices to express their thoughts. The students’ …

Teaching Value Concepts In South Korea, Marilyn Anne Schick

MA TESOL Collection

This paper presents a course that was developed to teach value concepts in an English as a Foreign Language/English as a Second Language (EFL/ESL) classroom. Six values were used: Love, Peace, Happiness, Freedom, Cooperation and Honesty. Lesson plans were prepared with the students’ focus on speaking; however, listening, reading, writing and grammar were taught as well. Details of why those values were chosen, six specific lesson plans, plus students’ feedback are included.

“O.Henry’S American Scenes” And The Accompanying Language Activities To Use In The Efl And Esl Classes, Tamila Mehtiyeva

MA TESOL Collection

“O.Henry’s American Scenes” is a Ladder Edition book at the 1,000-word level published by the English Language Programs Division in Washington D.C. The Ladder Series of books are specially prepared editions of well-known American books. They have been shortened and simplified to use for ESL and EFL students. Though the stories have been shortened, they remain enjoyable and engaging to read. The author uses these stories in her classes at Baki State University.

This thesis shows how the teachers of ESL and EFL can use these stories as an effective teaching tool in their classes. Included are 7 stories taken …

Teaching Adult Efl Learners In Japan From A Japanese Perspective, Patricia Jean Gage

MA TESOL Collection

This paper presents teaching materials that were developed for adult EFL learners in Japan. The author’s primary purpose for developing these materials was to create lessons that would utilize content from a Japanese perspective and the students’ personal interests. The author asserts that students are able to communicate more effectively when the topic and the content of the lessons are familiar to the students. Developed around topics chosen by the students, these lessons contain anecdotes written by the students along with activities that integrate listening, reading, speaking, and writing. The five lessons and the rationale for designing them are included …

Second Language Acquisition In A Content-Based Web Building Course, Scott Degalis

MA TESOL Collection

Content based courses have been shown to provide an effective environment for second language acquisition (Snow, Met and Genesee 1989). In this content based course students learn how to make a website in 48 hours of class time. In doing so, they improve their English in the skill areas of reading, writing, listening and speaking for an authentic need (Sterns 1990). Learners are motivated and enthusiastic about their projects, leading to more success in language acquisition (Gardner 1985). They are given an opportunity to express themselves creatively and artistically using the target language. Graduates leave with a published portfolio that …