Educational Methods Commons^™

A Video Curriculum For The Listening Comprehension Classes Of The Center For Intensive English Language Studies In Islamabad, Pakistan, John J. Hagedorn

MA TESOL Collection

Having worked as a video specialist at the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont, I saw the opportunity to augment the listening comprehension curriculum at the Center for Intensive English Language Studies in Islamabad, Pakistan, with a supplementary curriculum based on the use of video materials while working there as an intern teacher in June - October, 1986. The curriculum was designed in answer to a demand for interesting materials that would aid in fulfilling one of CIELS' curricular goals to further prepare their students, all officials of the Pakistan government, both culturally and academically, for study in the …

Choices, Changes And Challenges: A Skills-Building Game For The Esl Classroom, Mark Feder

MA TESOL Collection

This project consists of a game designed to serve review purposes in the ESL classroom and an accompanying paper of explanation. The paper describes the origins and uses of the game as well as a rationale based on the author's learning and teaching assumptions. These assumptions involve the relation­ship of the cognitive, psycho-motor, and affective domains and the usefulness of small group work for addressing the combined requisites of these three areas. The features of the game, Choices, Changes and Challenges, are discussed in detail and their utility in meeting the special needs of the ESL class are analyzed. Suggestions …

“Ritmos” Rhythmic Spanish Poems And Dialogues, Veronica Darer

MA TESOL Collection

This is a materials development project. It consists of "RITMOS", rhythmic poems and dialogues that supplement the teaching of oral Spanish.

The ''RITMOS" help students acquire the correct stress, intonation and pronunciation, while creating an opportunity for practice in a fun and non-threatening activity.

Each ''RITMO" focuses on different vocabulary words, grammatical structures and pronunciation difficulties.

Included is a recorded casette of the ''RITMOS" for demonstration purposes.

Even though the ''RITMOS" are targeted to beginning Spanish students, they can be adapted to more advanced levels.

Using A Community Language Learning Approach In Large Classes In Japanese Universities, Carl Russel Adams

MA TESOL Collection

This paper examines the effectiveness of the Community Language Learning approach in large English as a Foreign Language classes in Japanese universities, specifically, its effectiveness in developing conversational English skills.

The paper describes the experience of teaching freshman and sophomore university students, the majority unaccustomed to having a native speaking English teacher, in a full-year English conversation course (ninety minutes per week) for forty-five hours, using the Community Language Learning (CLL) approach and why and how it was implemented in these large classes. The major conclusions drawn from this study include: students can learn to interact in the target language …

Cavepeople! And Other Roleplays For Students Of English As A Second Language, James Zorn

MA TESOL Collection

This paper presents fifteen intermediate to advanced roleplays along with a general introduction and specific teaching notes for their use. The materials are especially useful as a supplementary resource for classes following a communicative, function-based curriculum. The majority of the roleplays take a conflict-resolution format in which the students must reach a consensus opinion on some problem before the roleplay can be said to be completed. The roleplay descriptions themselves follow a concise model and are oriented towards lighthearted, imaginative situations which nevertheless require students to actively use language to which they have been previously exposed.

Handbook For Prospective Esl Teachers To Japan, Linda Veno-Kan

MA TESOL Collection

This paper is a handbook for ESL teachers which high­lights problem areas in the Japanese ESL classroom that can affect teaching/learning effectiveness.

The introduction presents my specific teaching situation in Japan. The next section summaries the process which I use in analyzing the problem areas. Following are ten chapters each of which focuses on a problem area.

Each chapter points out both Japanese and American values in conflict and suggests teaching strategies for working with each area.

Ten Basic Grammar Hurdles For Mandarin Chinese Speakers: A Contrastive Guide For The Beginning Teacher Of Adult Mandarin Chinese Efl Students, Mark Anthony Steele

MA TESOL Collection

This handbook is written specifically for EFL teachers of Mandarin Chinese speaking students at the high elementary and intermediate levels of study. It is intended, through contrastive analysis, to provide the teacher with:

a) an understanding of why these students have particular difficulty with certain structures and sentence patterns in English;

b) a tool in predicting what ten of these patterns are; and c) strategies and activities for use in the classroom that will help the student overcome these ten hurdles in learning English.

The plan of this handbook rests on the belief that the more we as teachers understand …

Dyslexia And Language Acquisition, Bridget Ann Siedler

MA TESOL Collection

The purpose of this paper is to provide language teachers with a broader understanding of dyslexia. I will draw from my own experience as well as provide various viewpoints on dyslexia given by neurologists, therapists, special education teachers, and adults with problems that stem from dyslexia. This paper will not provide instant remedies for various learning disorders. Instead, I will discuss the problems a dyslexic faces in language acquisition. I will also offer some approaches and suggestions on ways to recognize specific problem areas. And finally, I will give teachers some suggestions on working effectively with dyslexic students.

Teaching In The Silent Way With A Focus On Idioms, Cynthia S. Wiseman

MA TESOL Collection

This paper is one which in essence summarizes how one teacher is trying to rethink teaching in light of the common sense principles presented in the Silent Way. The focus is teaching idioms because that was our focus in the class which served as a point of departure. However, the paper is not limited to teaching idioms in the classroom. It is more an attempt to outline and thereby understand teaching as it is presented in the Silent Way, as is evidenced by the emphasis on philosophy and techniques used in the Silent Way.

Planning Task-Oriented Field Trips For Beginning Esl Students, Nikki Sarita Ellman

MA TESOL Collection

Field trips into the surrounding community can be valuable learning tools for ESL students living in the target country. These trips expose students to different facets of American culture and give them the opportunity to communicate with native speakers. Preliminary activities, tasks to be done during the trips, and follow-up activities all help students get the most out of these excursions. Beginners in particular need these activities to orient them to what they are going to see, to focus their attention, and allow them to process their feelings about the experiences. This paper addresses the many factors that must be …

A Ten-Week Internship Teaching Literacy To Adult Refugees: Pre-Literate, Semi-Literate And Non-Literate., Rebecca Ann Boon

MA TESOL Collection

This paper is the culmination of a ten week internship teaching literacy to adult refugees who had attended little or no school prior to living in the U.S. Included in this paper are definitions of literacy terms, and a description of the host institution and students involved in this internship Also included is a list of my assumptions about teaching and learning literacy, an explanation of my teaching approach based on these assumptions, and several methods, materials and ideas for teaching literacy also consistent with my approach.

A Communicative Approach To Teaching Phrasal Verbs, Kathleen Ann Ivins

MA TESOL Collection

The intention of this independent professional project is to present a way in which phrasal verbs can be taught communicatively. Included in it are five lesson plans which clearly illustrate ways in which this can be done. A grammatical analysis is also included as it is felt that students need to know some of the rules governing phrasal verbs to be able to use them correctly and effectively. A second part of the grammar analysis deals with aspects of phrasal verbs which can be an aid to the teacher in choosing and organizing phrasal verb lesson plans.

The lesson plans …

Syllabus Guideline For The Congress Bundestag Language Training Program With Sample Lesson Plans For Structural, Sociolinguistic, And Cultural Specifics Plus Comments On The Academic Preparation Component Of The Program, Ursula Verena Holzer

MA TESOL Collection

This project is based on the Congress Bundestag Program of 1986, in particular the language training aspect. It first introduces the program with its goals and objectives and the syllabus that was worked with in August 1986. Based on this experience, a revised syllabus guideline is designed here which contains

A. Phonetics

B. Theme/Range of Vocabulary

Grammatical Features and

Cultural/Sociolinguistic Aspects

C. Feedback and Assessment

D. Competencies

E. Academic Skills Development.

Additionally, some structural, sociolinguistic and cultural specifics from the syllabus are examplified through lesson and activity plans. Finally, the paper gives a description of what was done in Academic …

Combining Process And Product In A Business Writing Course, Stephen Ellis Turner

MA TESOL Collection

This thesis documents a business writing course taught in an in­company progamme in Japan from September to December 1985. Each student's writing is based upon his own individual working situation and experience. The course emphasizes the importance of having students experience writing as a process and attempts to show how process and product are inter­ related.

The core materials used in the course are mostly based upon actual company correspondence. These and the students' own writing assignments provide the input for the class. The course stresses the necessity for materials to which the students can relate and which reflect their …

The Psychological Issues Involved With Teaching Esl To Incarcerated Hispanic Males In An American Prison System, Sharon Morrison

MA TESOL Collection

On September 4, 1983, I began an ESL teaching position at Southeastern Correctional Center and at Bridgewater State Hospital, both in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. The former is a medium security correctional facility which houses approximately 700 men, whose crimes range from murder to auto theft. The latter is a maximum security hospital for the criminally insane which houses approximately 500 men, whose crimes as well range from murder to auto theft. Those men housed at Bridgewater State Hospital are there for one of the following reasons:

1. They are undergoing pre-trial psychiatric evaluation.

2. They have been convicted of a crime …

Teaching Reading With Worlds In Color In A Home Schooling Environment, Grace Indoccio Matty

MA TESOL Collection

This paper purports that a home learning environment is a workable alternative to a formal school education. It examines the reading acquisition process of one child through the approach, Words in Color, in a home schooling environment. It's intent is to heighten awareness of the traditional system of education and to describe materials and techniques that can be used in helping a child to learn to read the English language.

A Teacher Training Plan For Refugees As Esl Teachers, Estela Libas-Novell

MA TESOL Collection

This paper is addressed to the need of revising a teacher-training plan used in the refugee camp of Vietnamese and Cambodian victims of war. My personal experience in teaching the refugees served as an impetus in making the revised training plan that will seek to answer the following questions:

1. What type of a teacher-training plan can best suit a group of Vietnamese English teachers whose spoken and written English is limited due to lack of contact to the western cultures?

2. What language elements can be infused in the training plan that will help uplift the low sagging morale …

Learning Patterns: Inborn Or Acquired Stubbborness? Or To Hell And Back, June Levinsohn

MA TESOL Collection

This paper examines the origins of and effects on my teaching of several personal and professional conflicts with the teacher-training process, and with subsequent classroom teaching. I describe their development in relation to my previous education, work experience, and mental "habits," and compare my prior medical training with that of a language teacher. Particular attention is paid to how the different epistemologies have affected my outlook as a teacher.

I use a recent teaching experience with Cambodian refugees in North Carolina to illustrate these conflicts--e.g., the problems that developed by attempting to create an ESL syllabus in the same spiral …

Teaching Writing Through The Principles Of Dialogue: Key Issues And An Approach To Composition, Dennis Huffman

MA TESOL Collection

This paper presents my personal approach to teaching writing--an approach which is based on the principles of dialogue. The first section discusses some of the difficulties inherent in writing· and some of the needs which all writing students have. Suggestions are made for easing those difficulties and meeting those needs. The first section concludes by drawing on the work of Paulo Freire to summarize my approach.

The second section consists of discussions of a syllabus, error cor­rection, models, and student journals. An appendix at the end of the paper contains materials which resulted from my use of the ideas presented …

Dialects In Discourse: Regional Speech Of United States English, Laura Wilson Bergan

MA TESOL Collection

This project provides materials that are to be used to improve the listening comprehension and communicating skills of intermediate and advanced students of ESL by exposing them to the sounds and rhythms of different dialects of United States English. The project consists of samples of genuine speech that are unrehearsed and unedited, as is the 'real English' that ESL students encounter in the United States. By listening to the tapes, students can grow accustomed to the natural flow of casual spoken English.

The Letter Writing Technique, Linda Mae Axelrod

MA TESOL Collection

The thesis is designed to enable the teacher/practitioner to use the Letter Writing Technique as an adjunct to intensive ESL courses that equally stress the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. The areas discussed include an overview of correction techniques, integration of the letters with other skills and integration of the letters with a variety of recent language teaching approaches. The issues of fluency versus accuracy and deductive versus inductive learning are also discussed. The paper stresses the "intrigue'' and naturalness of letters by the incorporation of letters to the Readers within the content of the paper. The …

Developing Awareness Of Individuals In A Group Learning Context: A Self-Lesson Plan, Leslie Maria Turpin

MA TESOL Collection

This paper addresses the question of how teachers teach themselves to be better teachers. Central to the paper are my assumptions that long­ range learning is self-directed and that the development of self-awareness is essential to growth in both learning and teaching. The paper is a case study tracing my own learning of one of my teaching objectives and is divided into three interrelated sections. The first section is a description of a model for teacher self-teaching: "the self-lesson plan." The model is a structure that teachers can use to guide themselves in the study of their own teaching objectives. …

Beginning With Pictures, Edward J. Ruggiero

MA TESOL Collection

This paper shows how simple drawings were used to teach English to a beginning-level language class. It contains a syllabus outlining the material covered in a ten-week course and reproductions of the pictures with commentary on how they were drawn and used. The main objective in using this type of drawing was to help students find the meaning of language within themselves, as they created it. The effectiveness of these pictures in teaching basic English led to the included in-depth analysis of how humans perceive, the elementary state of mind and viewpoint (as seen in the works of three groups …

Esl Training Guide For Prospective Refugee Teachers, Gail Virginia Reynolds

MA TESOL Collection

The primary purpose of this guide is to aid ESL teachers and non-professional relief workers who work in the capacity of teacher trainers.

Ten Crossword Puzzles For The Esl Classroom, Sheri Kramer Georgiadis

MA TESOL Collection

This is a group of crossword puzzles ranging in level from advanced beginning to advanced. The titles of the puzzles are: In a Restaurant, Irregular Verbs, Two-Word Verbs, Body, Food, Clothes, Animals, Weather, Proverbs, Emotions. Also, included in the introduction are some suggested ways to use the puzzles.

50 Functions For The E.S.L. Classroom, Paul Dennis Moss

MA TESOL Collection

This is a materials development project designed for ESL students who need to know what to say and how to say it in everyday situations of American life. Using a variety of- native and non-native speakers, a videotape was used to record 50 short scenes of functions performed in English. All the functions on the videotape are titled, with a brief pause in between each one for easy reference. The dialogues are also typed to clarify what was said and can be used to make copies for the students. The written section also includes suggested activities for the benefit of …

An Individualized Approach To Translator Training, Susan G. Kaufmann

MA TESOL Collection

ESOL teachers are often asked by their colleagues or school administrators to do translations. Yet few of them know very much about the profession of translator. This paper is designed to give them insights into the field of translation and what skills are necessary to be a professional translator. It describes three translator training programs in the United States and contains a proposal for a translator training program based on individualization through learning contracts. It discusses how candidates could be chosen for the program, how the program could be individualized, possible courses to be offered, and suggestions for implementation.

Different ≠ Better (Or Worse) – An American English Reader, Shirley Hayes

MA TESOL Collection

This reader consists of a series of reading units dealing with unique aspects of American culture seen in a historical perspective. The units are entitled "Different ≠ Better (or Worse) ", "The Pioneer Spirit", "Melting Pot", “Mobility", "Youth and the Elderly", and "Interdependence".

It is intended for use by post-secondary or upper secondary advanced students, in courses given either in the United States or abroad. There are six units, each with the same general format. Each unit has one article, a list of key definitions, questions for comprehension, exercises for the understanding and use of vocabulary and grammar, famous quotes, …

Using Personal Photos In The Esl Classroom, Patricia C. Farkas

MA TESOL Collection

The purpose of this project is to demonstrate how relatively common- place materials such as personal photos can be meaningfully utilized in the ESL classroom. The project contains a collection of simulated personal photographs which are divided into four topic areas. One authentic photo has been selected to represent each topic area. Immediately following the photographs in each topic area is a summary of lexical, structural and cross-cultural items which can be determined from the photos. The main body of each topic area is made up of teaching activities divided into two categories: focused activities and discussion/ cross-cultural activities.

English In Movies: Using Scenes From Movies To Teach English, Timothy M. Cook

MA TESOL Collection

This project consists of a videotape and an accompanying manual. Various scenes from American movies are put on videotape to offer students of English as a foreign language material for studying spoken English. The manual consists of transcriptions of the dialog in each scene, vocabulary lists of words and expressions common only to spoken English, plus aids and suggestions for classroom use of the material. Scenes are categorized by situations.