A-Santa-ism

Christmas is coming. A wonderful time. People running around as if they were mad, pushing and elbowing each other in the shops. The omnipresent Coca-Cola ads with Santa's belly failing to remind us that, after all, it mightn't be such a great idea to drink so much sugar and carbs.


Long live the lovely Christmas spirit!

Ok, I'm being sarcastic. But so is the article I've used for a reading Christmas lesson, since it attempts to scientifically disprove the existence of the bearded, red-clothed fat man and his pack of reindeer.

Primary Lesson Aims:

• students will be better at using topic schema to understand a difficult article
• students will practice reading for detail and become more independent and natural readers through noticing parts of the text that are difficult or interesting for them

Secondary Aims:

• to practise working out meaning of unknown words from context
• to have fun!

1. Lead in. Speaking. 

    In pairs answer these questions:

• Do you believe in Santa Claus (or his equivalent from your culture)? Why (not)?
• If you don’t believe now, was there a time when you did? (e.g. as a child)
• If so, when did you become a Santa atheist?
• Do you think Santa is an important part of Christmas tradition or rather another example of western consumerism and commercialisation?
• What do you think are the arguments for the existence and against the existence of Santa?

2. Text orientation. (you can access the article here)

You are going to read an article entitled: The Physics of Santa and His Reindeer, which tries to prove the impossibility of Santa’s existence from a scientific standpoint. What arguments might have been used in the text? (i.e. speed at which he would have to be travelling, weigh of the sleigh etc). Make a list:

(NOTE: depending on the level, you might need to elicit or feed in some key ideas and phrases; OR provide one argument from the text in a condensed version as an example)

    3. Extensive reading.  

Now quickly read the text and see if your predictions were correct. You have 3mins to do it.

(NOTE: concept check: do you have to read the whole text? NO; are you going to stop on unknown words? NO, Are you going to look for key words in the text? YES)

4. Intensive reading.

Choose minimum one part of the article that you did not understand very clearly and/or that was interesting and you would like to read in more detail. Go back to that part and read it again more closely. Tell your partner what you have learnt.

5. Speaking 1.  

What is your reaction to the text? Do you find it amusing? Why (not)? Do the arguments convince you? Is the writer serious? Why (not)?

6. Vocabulary. 

Choose minimum five words from the text that you are unfamiliar with. Use the context to work out their meaning.

Show and teach the words to your partner. Together retell the article using the words you have just learnt. Don’t worry about quoting the exact numbers.

7. Speaking 2.   

Discuss these questions: 

Is Christmas an important tradition or just a reflection of Western consumerism? Why (not)? 

Should children be told Santa doesn’t really exist? Does this matter at all?

What positive and negative values (if any) does Santa embody? Do you find them important and relevant? 

If you had a chance to meet Santa, what would you tell him and why?

ENJOY! 

Let's bring back the TAPEs

Once upon a time, over the hills and far away, there existed the formidable and ancient race, called by the barbarous foreigners: the TAPEs. In that dim and distant past the TAPEs were so widespread that their voices resounded in all four corners of the Earth - in every house, school and every English classroom. But then a disaster struck. TAPEs' omnipresence sparked envy and hatred. Outnumbered, cornered and overrun, TAPEs fell into oblivion.

It's incredible how quickly things are forgotten. Some of my former students who are only a few younger than me (I'm 26) would look at me totally befuddled when I told them I used to listen to music on a Walkman... The word TAPE sounded Greek to most of them, and so made things no clearer.


This little TAPE nostalgia moment got me thinking. Also, I've recently started teaching a 1-1 student who would like to improve her listening skills. I decided, then, it was a good time to sit down in the Winni-the-Pooh pose for a bit and cogitate.

Too often, the listening activities we do in class are designed to test rather than teach the (sub)skills involved. As a result, bad answers trigger students frustration, anger and resignation.

So, with no further ado, I've decided to read up on listening and do some research, to see how I can TEACH it better.

In this first post on the topic I'd like to share with you a few simple ideas on how to instantly make your listening classes more practical and useful for the students by giving them the tools and skills necessary to better tackle their weaknesses in listening in the future.

But what happened to the TAPEs from our story?

They're coming back stronger than ever!

Before you plan your next listening lesson, think back to this dim and distant, yet glorious past, when CDs and mp3s were inconceivable. Dig out an old TAPE from your drawer, look at it, and think about the significance of the seemingly outdated four letters:

T: TECHNIQUES–ORIENTED

• our goal should be to equip learners with techniques and strategies they’ll be able to use beyond the class to become better listeners
• ask yourself: what techniques can the learners be taught to better attack similar type of texts? (i.e. note taking, predicting content, guessing meaning from context, relying on visual stimuli, etc.)

A: AUTHENTIC

• as much as possible use materials which are natural and authentic, and which resemble real language use 
•  HOWEVER, even more importantly, design the tasks so that they are authentic – i.e. what is a natural response to this particular type of text?, e.g.  a lecture – note taking; a dialogue – asking for clarification

P: PURPOSEFUL

• tasks you give should be clear and achievable
• they should have an obvious sense of purpose to the learners and fit into your overall lesson aims

E: ENGAGING

• select texts which your learners need to listen to outside the class
• ask the student which topics they're interested in
• when designing the tasks build engagement with every activity, and always allow for a personalised response to the text
  

Dictations are fun!

No, I haven't gone insane. I really think they are. On top, dictations are also powerful EFL teaching tools if used judiciously.
Yes, I know. The very sound of the word DICTATION can immediately make some go red with embarrassment. Others may shudder with trepidation.

Nervous sweat rolling down your brow. Clasping and unclasping your hands. The monotonous voice of the teacher lulling you to sleep. And all those incomprehensible French and Latin looking words you can't and never will be able to spell: opprobrium, abstinence, acquiesce and trousseau. What are they even supposed to mean?!
You would very much like to formally plead the teacher to be mag-na-ni-mous and to spare you the suffering if only you knew how to spell the damn word...
Sounds familiar?
Now a teacher yourself, you've probably been trying to save your students from going through the same  trauma, long ago banning any form of dictation from your classroom. If you indeed have, then open the barred classroom door just a little, please.
Dictations are great teaching tools, especially in a one-to-one setting. Some of their often unnoticed advantages are:

• extra listening practice
• zoom in on a language point
• vary the pace of the class
• on the spot language reformulation
• pronunciation (minimal pairs, sentence stress, sounds vs spelling, etc.)

And last but not least: practise correct spelling.
You're still not convinced? Don't worry - I wasn't either when the idea was first introduced to me during a course on 1-1 teaching in IH  Budapest. But I've changed my mind as soon as I've tried the first activity in the class. I hope you will too.
And if I'm preaching to the choir, please share your dictation ideas below.
As a disclaimer, I don't pretend to have invented any of the below. Far from that. Those activities have been around for years, and I've picked them up as I went (taught) along. But the greatest credit is due to the teacher training team on my 1-1 course in IH Budapest (you know who you are), who showed me the value of using dictations in class. 
So, ready, steady, dictate!

1. Banana Dictation:

•   T removes a language item (e.g. preposition)
•   instead of the word T says: banana 
• dictate the sentences. I  got banana the airport a bit late.
• Idea: use for on the spot error correction
• Idea 2:with the student come up with your own "code" word instead of BANANA (i.e. I like choosing something the student finds funny, e.g. a blend of an L1 and English word)

     2. Transformation Dictation:

• T dictates sentences
• student transforms (e.g. tense, aspect, register, style, passive vs active etc.)
• e.g. T: Police interrogated the criminal. S: The criminal was interrogated.
• Idea: for extra challenge, do it orally (i.e. the student is not allowed to write anything down)
• Idea 2: encourage varying responses (i.e. often there are numerous possible options)

     3. Error Correction Dictation:

• T dictates sentences with errors
• student writes the correct version
• Idea: use it for immediate correction to upgrade students output
• Idea 2: don't only focus on grammar - think about the lexis, language chunks, appropriacy, etc. and how it could be upgraded

     4. Intensive Dictation:

• T selects and reads a text
• student writes down all examples of the language item T plans to zoom in on (e.g. verbs of movement)
• feedback against the original
• Idea: add a gist listening question if you think it will help the student 
• Idea 2: choose a motivating text your student can relate to

     5. Dictogloss:

• T reads a short text
• student notes down the key words
• 2nd listening to expand the words into phrases
• student reconstructs the text 
• check against the original to notice the gap
•  Idea: use especially if your student is vehemently opposed to being taught any grammar - dictogloss is designed in such a way that the language queries comes directly from the student noticing their own language gap, therefore any language teaching afterwards should be more motivating
•  Idea 2: Carissa Peck suggests a few interesting variations on the classical Dictogloss, which offer extra challenge for students
  

     6. Running dictation:

•  as suggested by English Eso and described on Teaching English BC here 

     7. Drawing Dictation

• get your students drawing :) by Jo Budden

     8. Mutual Dictation:

• students work in pairs and dictate to each other by Ellen Darling

     9. Homophones Dictation:

• raises students awareness of homophones by Shaun Dawling

     10. Other - over a dozen dictation  ideas from the British Council

PS: Rachael Roberts came up with 10 ideas for using dictations, so for more than here! :) You can read her post here.