#ELTchat Summary 27th January 2016 Teaching C2 level grammar

#ELTchat is where English language Teachers hang out on twitter each Wednesday, to share ideas and discuss the topic of the week.

Last Wednesday, teachers from a variety of countries around the world met to discuss the teaching of grammar at C2 level. As usual, the discussion allowed teachers to share problems and suggest ideas and ways of dealing with them. 

Although the point was made several times about vocabulary being the main reason that students become advanced, there was an agreement that there is a high value in using correct grammar when it comes to EAP or ESP written work in particular. It was also thought that lots of grammar is related to fixed expressions for writing, so chunks are invaluable.

1. Always share your aims.

The expertise of the teacher is not always respected and students often have expectations of quantity  rather than quality or depth which need to be tempered.

Teaching should be focussed on consolidation at this level. 

 As much of the grammar in advanced coursebooks centres around very low-frequency exponents, it is a more efficient use of the teacher's time to make sure that students can use more high frequency items effectively.

The chat members felt that teaching grammar at this level might be part of the problem. Although there are advanced grammars available, part of the problem is the paucity of speaking practice available to the learners. Students actually need to use the language, in preference to learning about it.

2. What kind of errors do our high-level students produce?

So which errors have we heard, and why?

• the mismatch of tense and time
• the overuse or avoidance of the passive voice
• the use of articles
• modality
• dependent prepositions 
• expressing tentativeness
• fossilised errors of pronunciation and intonation
• discourse analysis in general
• pragmatics 
• subordination 

Some of these will have been overlooked by students who were concentrated on acquiring more structure, rather than a deeper understanding of already taught material.

Some of these may have been omitted owing to the lack of expertise of the teacher. NatiBrandi suggested that, in schools she was familiar with, discourse analysis was not always taught because the teachers found it difficult, or were themselves unaware of it. 

3. Isn't 90% of English used in the present or past simple, anyway?

As Marisa pointed out, Present Simple is not so simple. It is a high complex structure, both morphologically and semantically, with 13 different uses and meanings. The collocations alone make it a complex structure to handle.

4. So, how do we handle the students who request grammar?

Rachel Daw suggested using a dictogloss with a discussion at the end about any errors made. The error correction  phase would need an experienced teacher, though, according to Marisa.

Mike Harrison thought that challenging them to produce work with no errors would help them realise the importance of consolidation. He felt that cognitively-challenging material is very important. (see links below)

NatiBrandi related a problem she had had herself with pragmatics, and felt that it was a must to teach.

Marisa felt that work on comparing and contrasting structures would help develop a deeper understanding of the nuances of the language. She also mentioned the importance of discourse aspects. 

Both Glenys Hanson and I felt that work on adapting register to the situation was important.

Genre analysis, using authentic material was an idea from NatiBrandi.

Mike suggested transformations would help, or asking students to say X in 5 words.

Translation was suggested as a way to highlight sentence structure and help with complex forms.

James Taylor made the point that development is not easy to perceive at such high levels.

Glenys suggested testing at the beginning of the course and review at the end to show improvement.

LINKS

lessonstream.org/2007/12/03/the-english-tenses/

hellocruelworldalantait.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/initial-impressions.html

hellocruelworldalantait.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/I-can-explain-everything.html

www.mikejharrison.com/2012/01/mine-mine-mine/

Glenys Hanson: www.esl-exos.info

Index of grammar at advanced level, courtesy of Marisa,  

assets.cambridge.org/97811076/13782/index.pdf

As always, the teacher will know their students and can negotiate course content with them. Challenging material, and good error analysis will go a long way- but don't forget to offer as many opportunities to speak and use the language as possible.

#ELTchat summary of 4th November 2015

#ELTchat is the twitter home of English Language Teachers, who meet once a week to discuss topics of relevance to teaching. This is the summary of the chat from Wednesday 4th November 2015.

As I came in to the conversation late, it is my pleasure to revisit the comments to find out 

what I missed.

The topic was: how to use everyone's favourite building brick in the classroom for adult learning- and the ideas came pouring in! We discussed whether there was any cultural difficulty, and decided that even if people were unfamiliar with the bricks from their own childhood, they are culturally neutral and don't appear to upset anyone's sensibilities. In fact, it might even be easier to communicate some things via Lego, than by using language. They are also reusable, not very expensive, and FUN!!!

@ambartosik started the ball rolling by explaining that she uses Lego on the first day as an icebreaker.
She asks her students to build something which represents their interests, then use the creation to introduce themselves. She told us about a student of hers who talked about the barriers between him and fluent speakers of English https://twitter.com/ambartosik/status/661879084096561152/photo/1 , then he described how he would learn English, by removing the barriers so that he could cross over to the other side https://t.co/GGN5aakbBL


At this point the conversation veered in the direction of Cuisenaire Rods, helped by comments from @GlenysHanson, who uses them for story telling, initiating conversations and making 'grammar' visible  and @HadaLitim who found them useful for pronunciation and sentence work.
@Glenys gave us a link to a selection of articles on using the rods in class https://t.co/vOMuPPqlHG
 and https://t.co/xgCgBaZzoA, and a great selection of videos glenys-hanson.info/silent-way-videos/ 

So what can we do with Lego bricks and/or people, in the classroom?

When teaching YLs you could get them to build lexical items to test understanding

 Leave them on the table with no comment to see what happens

Could use to teach prepositions of place

Make stories with pieces representing parts of speech

Build a 3D text

They work well for teaching sequencers: ask a pair of students to build something and write a set of instructions. Demolish the creation and give the bricks and instructions to another group to test whether the directions are good enough to recreate the  model. ( My BE students love this)

A student could describe how to build a structure without allowing their partner to see the instructions



If everyone is asked to build same structure the language of compare/contrast could be oral or written or ability to follow instructions could be tested

Could be used to practise asking for clarification

Describing colours, shapes, size

Can be used to show how the schwa works

EAP reading/writing classwork

Students build a vehicle then crash it.
Taking the role of site technicians they can: write a letter to the manager explaining what happened,  Or write a police report.
Or describe the damage, costs, parts needed  to the insurance company (these last ideas thanks to @kamilaofprague )

And for training sessions? 

Personally, I love using them in my teacher training. They are a great way to show difference parts of speech in context. But above all they are an excellent visual representation of stress patterning, and my trainees love finding the words which might fit a particular pattern, or establishing the patterns for themselves.

@HadaLitim thought that they could be beneficial for assessment.

@Ven_VVE used Lego to make e-artifacts in a project. example:https://flickr.com/photos/amoresproject/22568153901/in/album

French= CHOC   O    LAT

 

German= SCHO   ko    LA   de

English= CHOC (o) late

Links:

Some links for more ideas:

Emma Herrod's blog https://t.co/0fDsdXEiDF

Not made for ESL but: https://t.co/BhpcqNRRAp

For YLs if you don't have any Lego: buildwithchrome.com

And the quote of the week?

This week my favourite quote comes from Anna, who said 

"The only limit is your imagination."

Thanks to my students for allowing me to use the pictures.

Reasons to count my blessings Number 34

Reason 34

John the Gardener

I really enjoy sitting out in my garden. I love the flowers, the scents, the colours and the bees. I am happy to grow a large, and healthy variety of culinary herbs and tomatoes etc. However I am a terrible gardener- I plant everything in the wrong place, and then forget to water or feed them.

The gardener at the college came round at the end of last year and shook his head in dismay. He told me my garden was a mess!

I challenged him to come and sort it out, so he did. He removed all of the plants, revitalised the soil and added topsoil. With plans he had drawn up, he replaced some of the plants, added new ones, built in a watering system - and wow!!

This year the garden has looked fantastic- and John has been keeping an eye on it too. He just pops in from time to time to add bits, or prune, or whatever. I am really lucky.

Reasons to count my blessings Number 33

Reason 33

My fit bit

What fun I had this last couple of weeks. My student from Ukraine, Alla, brought her fit bit (a bracelet which counts steps, distances, sleep patterns, exercise and heart rate) with her. I was wearing the one that M bought for my birthday a few weeks ago. We decided to synchronise them and go into competition with each other. This meant that I did more walking than usual, as I didn't want to be woefully trounced every day. It was good for me, and fun to check each day who was the most active.

Alla brought me a beautiful box for my collection too. It was hand crafted in a village next to where she lives.

Im sorry that she was only here for a short visit, but we have decided to stay in touch online. We have been facebook friends since her last visit a couple of years ago. Next time we will use Skype too.

Reasons to count my blessings Numbers 31 and 32

Reasons 31 and 32

People who give free time to help others

I spent this morning- and last week, with my musician friends. 

Today we were playing music for the end of a walk. Marc was a young islander who was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 17 and who died 2 years later. His father set up a charity walk in his name, which helps the teenage cancer trust and others like them to raise awareness, and much needed money.

The walk has been running for 5 years and we got involved in the second year when we met Willy ( his father) in a bar we were playing. This is our fourth time of turning out to play for the walkers as they come in from their route.

The walk has 4 possibilities: 3, 7, 12 and 15 miles. This means that people wander in to the gardens on the St Helier seafront from around 11 a.m. to about 2 p.m. They then relax on the grass with their water or coffee and cupcakes which are provided by other helpers. 

After last night's ceilidh my blisters were growing blisters by the time we finished, but it is satisfying to feel useful, and to give up our time to play music, when others are walking, is humbling. Many of the people who walked were cancer suffers, or had family members who had had problems. The orange t-shirts are a nod towards the fact that Willy is a Dutchman

This little cutie has a tumour behind her eye. Wishing her all the best

.

Reasons to count my blessings Number 30

Reason 30

Other people's special events

It is summer time, which means lots of weddings for the Ceilidh Band. At the moment we seem to have one every week, and always in quite diverse places. Yesterday we were in a Marquee on the edge of the west coast of the island, and last week was in the Castle on the East coast. Next week we will be in St Helier, the capital of the island.
It is a pleasure and a privilege to be able to help make people's day special. A ceilidh is ideal, because everyone can dance; old and young are not disadvantaged. Even drunk(!) people can manage when they have a caller explaining what to do throughout the dance. 
Last night was fun- the wedding guests were well up for dancing the night away. They started while we were doing our sound check!!
Some of them had already started on the silly juice though, and the band was almost reduced to tears of laughter on occasion as they tried to understand what to do- or muddled their rights and their lefts.
The evening was exactly what the Bride had asked for- and we left, quite late,  leaving them to disco with the hardcore while taxis arrived to pick them off in small groups.

I wonder what next week's will bring..... 

Reasons to count my blessings Number 29

Reason 29

My 1-2-1 students

I love my students. I enjoy all of my classes, but I have a sneaky preference for some of my 1-2-1 students.
They are so interesting.

At the moment I am working with an Italian Miller, a Swiss Neurological Musician and a Luxemburg Civil Engineer. They all bring soo much to the table- and I learn about their roles, just as much as they learn to use their English. 

It's a pity that some of their visits are really short, but in the main 2-3 weeks is a great time to get to know new people and share ideas.

Roll on Monday !

 

Reasons to count my blessings Number 28

Reason 28

The garden

I really love the days when you wake up knowing that the weather will be good; and not just for an odd day here and there, but for a long spell of warm sunny days. 
I don't mind if it rains during the night- it saves me from watering the garden too much. 
 



The garden is really welcoming at the moment. Everything is very colourful and the herb garden is growing like the weeds.

I enjoy eating breakfast outside before going to work.


  My garden is such a sun trap, it can even be too hot to sit in, until the day cools down a bit.








 I love watching the cats sleeping in the pots of catmint when I return in the afternoon. Look at these two drugged up kitties :-)

Reasons to count my blessings 26 and 27

Reasons 26 and 27

The Island Games

 This was a two-weeker because the Island Games have been on. The Island version of the Olympics takes place every two years on one of the islands, and this year it was the turn of Jersey to shine.
Both my husband and daughter were officials for the Sailing and Sailboarding categories, and it was lucky that they were working down the road from the college as I got a chauffeur to work in the mornings.
The opening ceremony was last Saturday, and each of the 24 Islands taking part showed up, together with our version of the 'games-makers', who were assigned to either a sport or an island.
By the end of the week Jersey topped the medals table, with an amazing display of sport from all involved. 
 Many records were beaten, including that of the weather! 
 I felt sorry for the people from the Northern islands of Gotland, Aland, Hitra and Froya, as well as those from the Western Isles, Shetland and Orkney, who had to put up with temperatures of over 33 degrees C. Even our athletes found it hard going at times.

The teams left yesterday or today, having had the time of their lives.
The games are known as the 'friendly' games, and that was clearly borne out by the friendships, both rekindled and newly started. 

Everyone is now looking forward to the 2017 games in Gotland, but I'm sure that the competitors will look back with pleasure on their time in Jersey, as will the islanders,who showed overwhelming generosity of spirit and patience while roads were closed and alternative routes sought.

IATEFL Besig Summer Symposium

Thoughts on an excellent symposium.

I’m putting my thoughts down while the joint IATEFL Hungary and IATEFL BESIG symposium in Budapest is still fresh in my head.

We actually got together as a group BEFORE the conference itself. Mary Sousa and Rachel Appleby did sterling work organising a meal at Hemingway’s, a Hungarian restaurant, situated in a park- with excellent food and company being the order of the evening. This helped break the ice and introduced us to new colleagues who will, I’m sure, become valued members of our PLNs in years to come.

Vegetables-at last:-)

The symposium started with a plenary session given by Jeremy Day. In some ways it stated the bleeding obvious: there are good teachers, bad teachers and those in between- and they belong to both the Native and Non-Native groups. He also discussed and dismissed popular stereotypical arguments which were in favour of native speakers, and looked at the fact that everyone is qualified to teach standard International English. He left us feeling that we could, and should, do something about combatting these misconceptions which disadvantage many excellent professionals.

In the first session I attended, I was interested in Rachel Appleby’s take on the value of the ‘S’ in ESP. She talked us through the needs of three of her students and induced us to talk about whether they were specifically ‘Business’ needs or not- and at what point a teacher might need some specialist knowledge. I particularly enjoyed her recurring theme of the Chain bridge, showing that 1-2-1 teaching has to be a two-way traffic.  This was a very logical and helpful session which would have put many minds at ease, particularly any teachers who are new to the teaching of ESP.

MY favourite session of the day was that of Rob Szabo, entitled: Spoken business English, systemic functional linguistics and power games. We looked at transcripts of genuine conversations and analysed them according to the three metafunctions of Field (ideational), Tenor (interpersonal) and Mode (textual) contexts. This brought up some of the reasons for communication imbalance in companies and was illuminating to most of the people present. The room was divided into two groups, each with one side of the conversation to consider.

I later enjoyed Andrew Wright’s somewhat rambling look at storytelling. He is the epitome of a storyteller, putting stories and anecdotes inside other stories. He went for the voice and a flip chart as his tools, proving that it isn’t always necessary to look for high-tech solutions. I could listen to him for hours, but he did well to keep to the timetable, and has also offered us his handouts as a PDF by email, thus cutting down on paper.

An extremely useful day of workshops, certainly for me, finished with Jasmina Sazdovska’s session on Process versus Product driven presentations. My goodness, she really knows her stuff, and her handouts will help me deliver some enlightened lessons for my own students. Her explanations were clear, as befits the head of a language department who is usually to be found working with young adults.

I enjoyed the speed networking session. This allowed me to meet new people- some of whom have already contacted me online since the weekend.  We lined up on two sides: Besig members and non-members, and did a type of speed -dating session. I made some great contacts and found out more about people I'd seen around during the weekend.

Marjorie, IATEFL President, ended the day with a summing up of the process and the collaboration between the two organisations. This was her first official gig since becoming President.

The Spa hotel where the conference was being held, laid on a BBQ in the evening, allowing us the opportunity to chill and chat together while winding down from the day. I was happy to see my husband, completely at ease, as he joined in a wide-ranging discussion on everything and anything. He also enjoyed his visit to Budapest.

This was well worth the time taken to participate in the day. I have come home full of ideas to test out, handouts to reread, and new contacts to befriend. What’s not to like?

Reasons to count my blessings No 25

Reason 25

Birthdays

I woke up yesterday in Budapest. The holiday was excellent, the symposium had lots of interesting points for me to mull over. But When I switched on my FB, using the spotty hotel wifi, I was delighted, and humbled to find so many birthday wishes from all over the world. It is such a lovely thing to be remembered by friends and colleagues, isn't it.

While I was away, I managed to drop my activity tracker bracelet into the Danube :-(. My lovely husband replaced it, from a shop in Gatwick airport, with a better one.  It really pays to have birthdays- the number isn't important, but I enjoy being made a fuss of.

Reasons to count my blessings number 24

Reason 24

Holidays

I am on holiday this week. The BEsig symposium is at the end of the week in Budapest, so M and I decided to have a holiday in Hungary.
I have been teaching a few Hungarians this year, and practising my Please, Thank you and Good Mornings.
The websites show amazing architecture, and the weather looks warm and sunny, which will be a nice change from the windy conditions here.

I need a break to recharge my batteries and relax after my bout of lurgy.
Today I'm doing laundry and packing. Tomorrow we are off on our travels.

ELTChat summary for 20th May

Better late than never.

Error correction can it be made fun? from Sue Annan

Reasons to count my blessings 21-23

Reason 23

Health

Oh my goodness, have I been poorly!
 I started a couple of weeks ago with, what I thought, was just a nasty summer cold. It quickly became clear that it was a bit more, and necessitated a trip to see Doctor Wilson, who diagnosed a throat infection AND an ear infection which needed antibiotics.I trotted off back to bed and looked forward to the end of the week, when I hoped to be feeling better. Unfortunately, I was a bit premature, and the weekend was spent suffering vertigo which made me sick. Back to the doctor- this time diagnosed with Labyrinthitis. I had never heard of it, but having had a chance to google it, I found that it is an infection of the inner ear, messing with one's balance, and slow to recover from.
Fortunately the medicine seems to be effective, and I decided to go back to work on Friday. My students were very pleased to see me- which is reassuring :-).

a bit behind Reason 20

Reason 20 

Life itself

Life has been quite stressful of late. A very dear friend was taken ill and has now sadly passed away. It brought home to me how precious each day is. That we have the ability to wake up in the morning and interact with others is nothing short of a miracle. The weather seems to make some people depressed, but it is wonderful to see the sunshine, or feel the rain on your cheeks. I am enjoying life, with all its trials and tribulations, its ups and downs, and good and bad moments.
I will remember how easily it can be snatched away with no warning.
Onwards and upwards...

Reasons to count my blessings

REASON 14

Easter

As I have said previously, I love traditions. Easter is a particularly lovely time of the year. Although my family are not overly religious, they don't me celebrating, and decorating the house to within an inch of its life.
I always start with an Easter tree. This came about when Cairis was a baby. We were hosting some German students and they brought some painted wooden eggs as a gift. I didn't know what to do with them, so they explained that they were hung on trees in their country.
The next year I accumulated a few more and the idea was born.

I hang it in the window, and it is always a talking point for passers-by and neighbours. I collect eggs and other Easter paraphernalia whenever I can.

 Flowers are important for setting the scene. There is nothing to beat vases of flowers everywhere you look. At this time of the year it has to be Daffodils, Tulips and Irises. They cost so little from the farm honesty box, and give so much pleasure.

 Food is important!First you have to have Hot Cross Buns. I usually take some into work for my colleagues, as we don't get the day off.
The cute little animals are a new addition. I'm planning to use them as place markers at the dinner table this evening.

I love inviting friends to dinner- and cooking a leg of lamb (even though I don't eat it) with lots of fresh vegetables, especially Jersey Royal Potatoes.

As I'm trying hard to lose weight, I shall be prudent when it comes to chocolate eggs, but I won't stop everyone else from indulging. Happy Easter :-)

Reasons to count my blessings

REASON 13

CPD with iTDi

Although my college is very good at offering visiting speakers, and helps to pay for online courses or Diplomas etc, the amount of CPD I do is much much more.

I have just finished a four-week course on Blended Learning with Pete Sharma. It was offered by iTDi, the International Teachers Development Institute.  They run courses by Teachers, for Teachers. They are reasonably priced, but excellent value for money. People can opt for a certificate of attendance, or pay a wee bit more and do a certificate to show advanced learning. Teachers in a better position financially can help disadvantaged teachers by becoming patrons, and even a little spare cash goes a long way.
They are offering more and more options as the months go on. This course was the 4th I have done with them, and each time I have enjoyed the taking part- and the amazing networking with like-minded people all over the world.
I can't tell you how great it is to work online once a week, while at the same time being guided to read, analyse and develop skills to advance my teaching. I hope that it shows in class and that my students reap the benefits- I know that my trainees do:-)

Reasons to Count my blessings

REASONs 11and 12

Work

My apologies for not managing last week's post. I have been extremely busy- and I forgot. At the moment I am running a training Cert. and a Diploma for my colleagues. In between I am training a couple of colleagues who are shadowing the Cert. With all that and work for the band at the weekend, and a course with iTDi, it's a wonder I get anything done at all.

What I love about my job is the variety. Variety of students, Nationalities, needs and abilities!
My colleagues are great, and we have a very nurturing staffroom, which hosts some fantastic discussions.
I would never be happy doing something humdrum and 9-5. I enjoy the challenge of doing different and new things on a regular basis.
Soon our CPD sessions will start. Each of us will take a turn to answer the questions of our peers and set up workshops. It will be fun.
When I hear about the conditions some of my PLN work in, or the restrictions they have, I thank my lucky stars for my situation.
When I look at all the talented people who can't find work, I am happy that I not only have a job, but I get up every day to do something I love.

2015 Reasons to count my blessings

REASON 10

Spring Flowers

My wedding bouquet held daffodils, as we got married in February. I just love spring flowers, although they seem to arrive earlier and earlier in the year.
Christmas has the tree and lots of colour. It is a bit depressing when twelfth night comes along and it all goes away for another year.
It is at this time that I go down to the farm shop and buy armfuls of daffs. By this time of the year I can buy a mixture of daffodils; yellow, white, orange middles...... and also tulips.
I will have to wait a little longer to see any irises, but I really love to have them too.

In a couple of weeks the island will be golden, with flowers everywhere. They are already starting to appear in a couple of areas.

2015 Reasons to count my blessings

REASON 9

Log Fires

We have an open fire at home.
It is the focal point of our sitting room and the place most visitors make a beeline for when they enter the house.

I love the smell of the wood, and the crackling noises the logs make as they catch fire, and I enjoy watching the two cats curled up on the rug in front of the fire, or in their baskets at the edges of the hearth.

Last night we went out with our musician friends. They had visitors over from Ireland, so we borrowed some extra instruments and headed out West.
When we arrived, the pub was aglow with warmth and light from the fire in the middle of the room. It was such a cosy place to settle down to drink, chat and play.

At the moment, it is great to know that M is home before me, and has the fire going by the time I finish work. It is such a welcoming sight on a cold evening.

I will be glad when winter has finally loosened its grip, but I do enjoy my fire.