May 10th, 2010 by judymiller
We’re wrapping up the term’s work and we ended with the NorthStar unit on education.
We started with Reading Two, the great story from Isaac Asimov called “The Fun They Had.” In the story, children from the future looked back on “the good old days” and how great it was to go to school (instead of relying on computer-learning at home). The children of the future were starved for the companionship and relationships that school can bring.
Then we asked the students to write for 5 minutes in free writing (not paying attention to errors but just brainstorming) on what they learned from other children in school: good and bad. Then they read their paragraphs to other students and commented on the results.
I’ll post the results of this activity next. How do you work with this particular unit?
Tags: computers, education, efl, esl, esol, free writing, Isaac Asimov, nortshstar, Pearson Longman, reading, teaching, tefl, tesl, tesol
Posted in R/W 4, Unit 7, Reading and Writing, Reading/Writing 4 | No Comments »
May 5th, 2010 by MaryWard
After we discussed how certain technologies drive people crazy, we practiced expressing frustration in pronunciation. Students often have problems hearing and producing emotion conveyed via pronunciation options, either by drawing out certain vowels, or increasing one’s volume. We supplemented Chapter 10 by looking at technology and socializing, or how social media have given rise to new ways to communicate face to face, and ways to avoid it.
I gave them this worksheet to accompany a video clip from the movie “He’s Just Not That Into You”. The clip shows two friends shopping at the drug store and discussing one’s misadventures in trying to get in touch with a potential date. The main character, Mary, is very frustrated about having to check seven electronic portals just to see if anyone has tried to get in touch with her.
- What tone do you think Mary uses when she says, “I can’t text. I’m just not charming via text.”?
Does she feel down about not being good at texting? Or, does she feel frustrated? I modeled the two ways of expressing those emotions and then we watched the clip.
The worksheet analyzes how her pronunciation manifests frustration, and offers students practice in this. It also preps them for the clip by reviewing vocabulary, main ideas, and offers two conversation activities: tell a frustrating story, explain when you like to and don’t like to use technology for socializing.
The students appreciated the topic. I saw that it generated a lot of good discussion and opportunities to use their English skills.
Tags: efl, emotion, esl, esol, frustration, northstar, Pearson Longman, pronunciation, socializing, technology, tefl, tesl, tesol
Posted in L/S 4, Unit 10, Listening and Speaking, Listening/Speaking 4 | No Comments »
April 26th, 2010 by judymiller
After our discussion about Passive Voice, we looked at common contexts in English that take Passive:
- In science experiments the agent (the grad student or the professor) is not as important as what was discovered.
- The lab assistant obtained DNA from the remains. The lab assistant is not important.
- DNA cells were obtained from the remains. (by the lab assistant = can be left out)
- We don’t really know who or what the agent is.
- All questions will be answered within 24 hours. We don’t know who will answer them – maybe a group of employees of the corporation.
- We want to avoid responsibility.
- Mr Dupont and I will lay off 100 workers. ->
- One hundred workers will be laid off. This is more impersonal and makes it seem that no one is responsible.
As an example from the news, I gave the students this news article from many (many) years ago. I also gave them these exercises to help them see that the passive voice is often used to shift the focus from the agent to an impersonal source.
It’s easy to see from the article that not much information was available and no one wanted to say anything. Nothing was sure. However, the papers needed news so the reporters wrote this article.
The press was a really interesting topic for my students and I think the lessons with this chapter were very successful.
Tags: esl, esol, media, news, northstar, passive voice, teaching, tefl, tesl, tesol
Posted in L/S 4, Unit 1, Listening and Speaking, Listening/Speaking 4, R/W 4, Unit 1, Reading and Writing, Reading/Writing 4 | No Comments »
April 23rd, 2010 by judymiller
Hi again!
To review the passive voice (in the unit on media), my colleague asked the students to bring in news articles of their choice and in summarizing them, use the passive voice when needed. That brought us to the question: when is it needed?
I planned a class to explain the use of the passive voice and to make sure students don’t OVERUSE it. In other languages it may be used much more than in English and in different ways.
Although in general, English prefers the active voice, there are some contexts when we prefer the passive.
Example:
Active: The doctor operated on the President yesterday.
Passive: The President was operated on yesterday.
The active sentence is awkward because the subject of the sentence is “the doctor” and the subject is supposed to be the most important focus of the sentence. But the really important person in the sentence is “the President.” Thus shifting the focus from the doctor to the President is logical and the passive voice helps to take the focus away from the agent and onto the important person.
Posted in L/S 4, Unit 1, Listening and Speaking, Listening/Speaking 4, R/W 4, Unit 1, Reading and Writing, Reading/Writing 4 | No Comments »
April 21st, 2010 by judymiller
The next day after the discussion about the advantages of a free and open press, we considered the problems and abuses of the press by reading the NorthStar selections carefully.
All of these discussions gave the students a little taste of university courses on Media Studies. We made a list of the kinds of things people criticize in the press:
- news companies want to make profits and they like sensational stories (like the NorthStar story about coverage of the bombing suspect)
- sometimes they print things without being sure of the evidence
- they are too intrusive in people’s private lives, particularly politicians (Gennifer Flowers in the NorthStar story)
- they give too much time to stars and athletes
- they only talk about what’s good for their own country
What do yours students think of the press? Do these issues come up in class? How do you usually structure the discussions and activities?
We also discussed libel laws in different countries. In the U.S., if you are considered a “public figure” a libel verdict is very hard to prove since it is assumed that you put yourself forward and have to take the consequences of the “free market of ideas.” In other countries, the question of libel is more narrowly defined.
Tags: bias, discussion, efl, esl, esol, libel, media studies, northstar, press, teaching, tefl, tesl, tesol, tips
Posted in L/S 4, Unit 1, Listening and Speaking, Listening/Speaking 4, R/W 4, Unit 1, Reading and Writing, Reading/Writing 4 | No Comments »
April 19th, 2010 by judymiller
In a subsequent class we listened to Bill Moyers Journal on subject of the Alternative Press. He interviewed the journalists from “Democracy Now” and salon.com.
This was a very challenging listening for the students BUT I played only the first 7 minutes of the interview. Then I allowed them to read the interactive transcript provided by the program. We listened again and discussed the answers to my comprehension questions in groups.
Here are the exercises I used.
The students really got into the discussion.
One student said he thought journalists were killed in some countries (including his own) because they told lies. Another student asked him why anyone would kill reporters because they told lies. It seemed more likely that they were telling a truth that powerful people didn’t want to hear.
Lots of silence after that exchange.
Some students defended censorship on the internet “because young people can be influenced to do bad things.” The idea of being able to “make up your own mind” and having access to information was discussed –“the right to know.” In a dictatorship, it doesn’t matter whether the average citizen is well-informed. In fact, it’s better for government control if they are not.
These discussions have been great for getting students to really engage with the language and use new words and expressions. What lessons have you created that got students’ interest?
Tags: authentic listening, Bill Moyers, censorship, debate, discussion, efl, esl, esol, freedom, ideas, press, teaching, tefl, tesl, tesol, tips, video
Posted in L/S 4, Unit 1, Listening and Speaking, Listening/Speaking 4, R/W 4, Unit 1, Reading and Writing, Reading/Writing 4 | No Comments »
April 16th, 2010 by judymiller
After our initial discussion about freedom of the press, we broke up into small groups and discussed where we get our information about the wider world:
__ TV
__ radio
__ newspapers
__ the internet
The class had some lively contributions about all of this. Most of the young people from countries with a free press said they preferred the internet because they thought it was easier to find what interests them.
However, students from some countries said less than 5% of households in their country had internet access. For them, the “information overload” was non-existent. We discussed how the internet allows for more varied sources of information but also some dangers, such as unfiltered information from biased sources.
What about your students? Do you have a similar breakdown among your students? How have you handled this?
Some students asked about Fox News and how biased that network was against the President in the recent health care debate. We discussed whether a “free press” means that every news broadcast has to be objective.
Is total objectivity possible? Many said yes. We discussed the fact that if some channels are pro-conservative, others are pro-liberal and if we know that, we can get some balance. Some students were shocked that the country allowed people to make fun of the President.
Have you ever looked at bias in US news media? How have you structured those lessons?
Tags: bias, efl, esl, esol, freedom, media, news, northstar, press, teaching, tefl, tesl, tesol
Posted in L/S 4, Unit 1, Listening and Speaking, Listening/Speaking 4, R/W 4, Unit 1, Reading and Writing, Reading/Writing 4 | No Comments »
April 14th, 2010 by judymiller
Hi Everyone!
Last week we worked on Unit 1 on the Press. One of the reading selections in the NorthStar Reading/Writing book deals with the intrusive nature of the press and the other discusses a miscarriage of justice that occurred when press coverage vilified someone who was merely a “suspect” in a crime.
These are definitely important issues to consider but to address the needs of my students, many of whom come from countries where there is no free press; we decided to start back at the beginning: why is a free press essential in a democratic system?
We began with a series of exercises on the First amendment.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Journalism is the only profession specifically protected by the Constitution. There must be a reason. First we worked on the meaning of the first amendment (in a general way).
The idea of an “established” religion was hard for them to understand but I cited the example of Great Britain, where the official religion is the Church of England and the king or queen is the titular head of the Church and the State. At a certain point in history, even if you were not a member of the Church of England, your taxes still went to support this Church. This is what the founding fathers wanted to avoid.
We then discussed why freedom of speech naturally leads to freedom to PUBLISH and CIRCULATE ideas. Why is this right necessary? My students came up with:
- everyone’s ideas have to be heard in a democracy
- the press can tell about government corruption or mistakes
Tags: constituion, efl, esl, esol, freedom, media, northstar, press, teaching, tefl, tesl, tesol
Posted in R/W 4, Unit 1, Reading and Writing, Reading/Writing 4 | 1 Comment »
April 9th, 2010 by judymiller
I continued with the homeless picking up on the reasons for homelessness. Their research got them to addictions, mental illness, and unemployment. But very few students discussed the dearth of affordable housing for low-income families. I wonder why that is.
We did the NorthStar 4 Unit 6 Video on Habitat for Humanity in class. The students really liked the idea of Habitat and all the volunteers working together with the family who will receive the house.
The founder of Habitat speaks in a Southern accent – students had trouble realizing that there are regional accents (not just “foreign” accents) in the U.S.
How have you handled different regional accents? Have you had any interesting lessons/discussions?
We also discussed volunteering possibilities at our university: mostly tutoring in disadvantaged neighborhood schools. We discussed what each side (children and university students) got out of this experience. For homework, students have to search YouTube for other videos about Habitat for Humanity (there are many).
Tags: efl, esl, esol, habitat for humanity, homelessness, northstar, regional accent, research, southern accent, teaching, tefl, tesl, tesol, video
Posted in L/S 4, Unit 6, Listening and Speaking, Listening/Speaking 4, R/W 4, Unit 6, Reading and Writing, Reading/Writing 4 | 3 Comments »
