More and more I become aware of how teaching English is changing as we teachers become increasingly aware of how confusing English is for students. Ok, no news but over the past few yearsI have found myself trying to help students gain an awareness of the fact that words in English (or any other language for that matter, i'd dare to say) don't necessarily have a one word equivalent or meaning but rather one or more translations into another language. The way I see it, looking at words as concepts or metaphors should be encouraged when possible.
It is true, however, that not all words lend themselves to this sort of interpretation but many do. Traditionally schools gave a translation of a word, taken as its only meaning, to students and learners only to find themselves confronted to the word in another context and causing confusion. The last decade there's been an emphasis on collocations, great, that was an improvement, and a more real English as opposed to textbook English. Real English is not easy to acquire in places where English is a foreign language with no contribution from the "system" to actually learn it and use it but it's what should be taught.
I have noticed that just like i have been doing, teachers in online videos teach words and collocations and expressions. I think it's the way to go. It doesn't ensure they'll learn and remember all the translations but I hope this will contribute to a more open-minded approach to vocabulary and lexis learning little by little.
The example I often give them is the word meet translated into Spanish: quedar, encontrarse, ir a recojer, conocer (a alguien - primera vez), satisfacer, cumplir, entre otros. And the Catalan/Spanish word "deixar/dejar": leave, let, stop ing, lend, borrow.
There is also the fact that every single adult who studies English in Spain nowadays has studied English in the past, with little success in most cases. This means we don't have to go through teaching English as if they know nothing, our role is to tackle the very well-identified problem areas in their language if necessary and help them retain, activate and create new words. By creating I mean word formation, which luckily for them, just happens to be just like they do in Spanish. Adding prefixes and suffixes to roots. Most are unaware of the potential language they can understand and produce once they develop an understanding and an awareness of this fact.
Again, the example I usually provide in Spanish is acto, actuar, actuación, actor, actriz, activo/a, activamente, acción, accionar, etc. They all have the same root. We should aim at developing their intuition to learn to create adjectives, for examples with lots of input.
So let's all teach the differences but also the similarities...their prejudices, their prior knowledge, often weak but there, force us to have to teach them a different way of looking at language, and teach them based on what they know, which makes teaching English in Spain different from teaching a new language from scratch.
Showing posts with label english teachers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label english teachers. Show all posts
Wednesday, 8 August 2012
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
When is the right moment to teach pronunciation? Is there "a" right moment to do so?
more in www.howadultslearn.wikispaces.com
Earlier today I was telling Ester, my student who has written the "essential grammar" wiki around in my wikis, that I think that generally speaking, I find myself thinking that openly and explicitly teaching pronunciation can not be done until students/learners are ready for and open to it, much as this idea is wrong.This tends to happen when they have gained fluency enough to use English in a real life situation, and they themselves realise that yes! pronunciation matters. A lot. My adults were not open to learning (about) pronunciation when they started English with me, it was and is not until a couple of years have elapsed that now they truly understand and see for themselves the need for improving this often "scary" area of the language learning process. Now that they have gained confidence, have a better command of the language and actively use it in their day to day that they see how important pronunciation is. But then again, it's worth "playing with" it early enough to raise a consciousness of the different sounds, so dominoes and quizzes and words-with-the-same-sound competitions may be the way to go with the unacquainted students! By pronuciation I mean knowing how a word or a phrase or a sentence is pronounced, the sounds. Gaining an awareness of the different sounds of English, the distinction about the number of vowel sounds in particular and how using a different vowel sound or dropping the final consonant can affect the message when speaking to an uncooperative native speaker as some can be (or at least that's the students' perception!). You may add and argue to this, that pronunciation is pitch, intonation and all this hard-to-change aspects. Of course it is, but I am going to delve into this now, as i give it fairly little focus in class myself, much as it can hinder understanding or lead to misinterpretations of the message passed on! On how many occasions have I been told that Spanish sound as though they were angry and shouting at each there when speaking! Often I find that they know every single word of is said to them but still can not understand. They don't understand because in their heads there's "their" pronunciation of the words, which often doesn't match with the correct pronunciation. That's why they don't understand. It's obviously not as simple as that but I can vouch this is a very important part of their lack of understanding skills. In addition, there's some kind of mental blockage that prevents them from understanding, plus the sound simplification, the so-weak forms, of auxiliaries, prepositions, etc. To help them gain an understanding of these issues and to "train their ears to catch these little sounds" the teacher comes into play. It's hard for many to reach this goal overnight. Awareness of how slow this can be can be discouraging for some but it works. I can vouch for that. And, to go one step further, it's not only their understanding oral input skills but also their ability to produce understandable output. Before, they lacked to knowledge, they didn't use English. Now they use it, with native and non-native speakers. So it's now it's the right moment to go more in depth. I use a lot material from the bbc.co.uk learning english, as i said in How Adults Learn, a wiki I have, plus books and plus brainstorming and providing examples for them to discover some kind of rule.
Another issue that often takes them by surprise them is that spelling things out in English is so common between native speakers because pronunciation doesn't always correspond to what it may appear from spelling and the other way round. We teach them the alphabet and to spell when they start learning but again, we never put enough emphasis on how an essential and active part of the use of English in English-speaking countries this is. Eureka, now they understand! All those homophones which can be so confusing if they are different word categories! so and sew rite and right pear and pair The above takes to what i said in an earlier piece of writing of how helpful it can be to learn what other words the word goes with .. the rite of , it is right , our rights, you are right, a pair of.. the pear, I sew sth, etc. or the baffling pronunciation of -ough, our the different spellings for the sound of earn, and the different pronunciatins of the letters ea/ear, etc. No wonder our students get mixed up and mispronounce words! who wouldn't?! (will expand) Their own mis pronunciation of words they own -----------------> they don't understand the word when pronounced correctly (and fast and within connected speech) correct pronunciation= easier to be understood easier to understand Spelling is important in English because pronunciation is sometimes arbitrary and unreliable to pronunciation patterns.
Continue writing about:
Earlier today I was telling Ester, my student who has written the "essential grammar" wiki around in my wikis, that I think that generally speaking, I find myself thinking that openly and explicitly teaching pronunciation can not be done until students/learners are ready for and open to it, much as this idea is wrong.This tends to happen when they have gained fluency enough to use English in a real life situation, and they themselves realise that yes! pronunciation matters. A lot. My adults were not open to learning (about) pronunciation when they started English with me, it was and is not until a couple of years have elapsed that now they truly understand and see for themselves the need for improving this often "scary" area of the language learning process. Now that they have gained confidence, have a better command of the language and actively use it in their day to day that they see how important pronunciation is. But then again, it's worth "playing with" it early enough to raise a consciousness of the different sounds, so dominoes and quizzes and words-with-the-same-sound competitions may be the way to go with the unacquainted students! By pronuciation I mean knowing how a word or a phrase or a sentence is pronounced, the sounds. Gaining an awareness of the different sounds of English, the distinction about the number of vowel sounds in particular and how using a different vowel sound or dropping the final consonant can affect the message when speaking to an uncooperative native speaker as some can be (or at least that's the students' perception!). You may add and argue to this, that pronunciation is pitch, intonation and all this hard-to-change aspects. Of course it is, but I am going to delve into this now, as i give it fairly little focus in class myself, much as it can hinder understanding or lead to misinterpretations of the message passed on! On how many occasions have I been told that Spanish sound as though they were angry and shouting at each there when speaking! Often I find that they know every single word of is said to them but still can not understand. They don't understand because in their heads there's "their" pronunciation of the words, which often doesn't match with the correct pronunciation. That's why they don't understand. It's obviously not as simple as that but I can vouch this is a very important part of their lack of understanding skills. In addition, there's some kind of mental blockage that prevents them from understanding, plus the sound simplification, the so-weak forms, of auxiliaries, prepositions, etc. To help them gain an understanding of these issues and to "train their ears to catch these little sounds" the teacher comes into play. It's hard for many to reach this goal overnight. Awareness of how slow this can be can be discouraging for some but it works. I can vouch for that. And, to go one step further, it's not only their understanding oral input skills but also their ability to produce understandable output. Before, they lacked to knowledge, they didn't use English. Now they use it, with native and non-native speakers. So it's now it's the right moment to go more in depth. I use a lot material from the bbc.co.uk learning english, as i said in How Adults Learn, a wiki I have, plus books and plus brainstorming and providing examples for them to discover some kind of rule.
Another issue that often takes them by surprise them is that spelling things out in English is so common between native speakers because pronunciation doesn't always correspond to what it may appear from spelling and the other way round. We teach them the alphabet and to spell when they start learning but again, we never put enough emphasis on how an essential and active part of the use of English in English-speaking countries this is. Eureka, now they understand! All those homophones which can be so confusing if they are different word categories! so and sew rite and right pear and pair The above takes to what i said in an earlier piece of writing of how helpful it can be to learn what other words the word goes with .. the rite of , it is right , our rights, you are right, a pair of.. the pear, I sew sth, etc. or the baffling pronunciation of -ough, our the different spellings for the sound of earn, and the different pronunciatins of the letters ea/ear, etc. No wonder our students get mixed up and mispronounce words! who wouldn't?! (will expand) Their own mis pronunciation of words they own -----------------> they don't understand the word when pronounced correctly (and fast and within connected speech) correct pronunciation= easier to be understood easier to understand Spelling is important in English because pronunciation is sometimes arbitrary and unreliable to pronunciation patterns.
Continue writing about:
Explain how brain and phonological system work, ages...
If they don't hear it they don't use it, etc.
Add ted videos (see newer entries).
Extension: on 21 April 2012, months after writing this, I went to an Oxford seminar and Robin Walker gave a talk named Pronunciation Matters. Fab. Eye-opening, inspiring and realistic. I was glad to see what I am doing well, and go home with ideas on how to continue tackling this issue with my learners! Thanks Robin.
Thursday, 7 April 2011
I set up a wiki a month about teaching and a half ago as a way of familiarising myself with the tool as I don't use the blog too much. http://howadultslearn.wikispaces.com/ There I have developed a piece of text that i started a while ago here in blogger about how adults learn English according to my experience, then I went on putting info about what i think are good ways to improve the students listening skills as well as speaking and other ideas and experiences from my teaching.
Thursday, 18 November 2010
The Infamous Conditionals
Lots of people seem to have problems with conditionals. I think it's because the basic tenses have never been learned properly, students have never been told how to really really use them so it drags to the conditional use. So it's not your fault if you still have problems using them. The not exhaustive posting here should help you have a clearer idea on how to use the infamous conditionals!
(Below you'll see the word likely, what does it mean? something is likely to happen= es probable que ...)
Something that is very important to bear in mind when choosing what conditional type to use is what you have in mind , what you want to convey/express. Think about:
How likely is it?
a. it’s always like this!
b. it’s very likely (if the condition happens and it probably will)
c. not likely / impossible (that's why we always give the example of the lottery, cos it's almost impossible to win the lottery!)
d. impossible now because you are going to say something about / in the past
and When , the moment in time it happens/ will happen / would happen…
a. I am talking about sth that is always like this
b. Refers to now , It will likely happen in the future
c. It refers to now, a present situation (but hypothetical condition)
d. It refers to the past (recent or far)
Each of these options will , or should, help you choose between a combinations of tenses to for the most suitable conditional type depending your message.
Besides, the tense combination can not be altered.
____________________________________________________________________________
The so-called first conditional:
It’s not a true conditional, because the IF is not exactly a condition. It’d be better to use WHEN instead.
The two events happen. It’s a FACT, A UNIVERSAL TRUTH, SOMETHING GENERAL.
The present simple tense is the one which describes facts and truths and permanent things. So it makes sense that both clauses are present simple.
If present simple > present simple
If you heat water to 100º C , it boils.
when i finish early , i (always) go to the libary for a little while.
It refers to likely events in the (near) FUTURE if the condition is met (if sth happens).
VERY LIKELY TO HAPPEN.
If / unless / providing … present simple /, future
If I finish early , I will pick you up.
The second:
It refers to unlikely / impossible or almost impossible situations NOW. It’s an unreal current situation.
This is where the I wish could come into play… (Remember: I wish SVO … means “Ojalá”)
If past simple , conditional (would , could…+infinitive)
If I finished early , I would come and pick you up
If I could ski, I would go skiing often.
The third conditional:
It refers to a completely hypothetical situation because you are saying it now but it refers to PAST condition and past outcome. There is nothing you can do about it now. You can not change the past. So it’s unreal too.
If past perfect , would have participle
If I had known this (but i didnt know it), I would have asked to lead the project (now it's too late).
And there's still the mixed conditionals, to be posted later!
Present perfect and Past Simple for Spaniards
Learning a foreing language as an adult is like learning to drive a car. There's lots of different little but important actions to take into account: sit on the seat, fasten your seatbelt, check the rear-view mirrors, the ignition key, wait till the light goes off, turn the key, push the clutch and the gas pedal, you release the handbrake, and long etc of little actions that first are a list of things that little by little become mechanical. By repetition, we stop thinking what and how to do them. Learning English is very similar, from my way of understanding the process. When we build a sentence we have to "think" what we are going to say: present or past, finished or unfinished, is it a he or she or an it or a there or is it plural? is there a time reference, was this for a finished or unfinished action, the object goes immidiately after the verb, not after the time reference, etc. But it all should become more unconscious step by step.
Again, like in many other verb structures in English, we not only have to look at whether the action is finished or unfinished but also if there is any kind of time reference. A finished action does not necessarily refer to a recent past, as many of you often think.
So let’s look at what should be considered:
- finished or unfinished?
- is there or am I using a time reference (adverb or adverbial phrase)?
- is there an impact on the now, the present?
- Is when important? Are we saying when something happened?( = if the action, what happened is the relevant thing to get across, not when it took place)
These are clues to help us choose what verb tense to use, present perfect or past simple.
Let’s look at them in more detail:
a. Finished/over or unfinished/not over action or event or situation:
Time references like for , since, how long, so far, until now, over the last few weeks, recently, these last few days if the action started in the past and it is still valid now, you are still doing it.
The tense here, Has worked, have known, indicates that she stills works for XXX . And that she still know Sara (Sara nor I have died and there’s some kind of relationship) That, if now is 2010, she started to work for XXX 9 years ago. *
Starting is one specific moment in the past, from the moment you start, you are/ you work.
The idea of working in a certain place can be expressed in a number of ways DEPENDING ON THE TIME REFERENCE and the TENSE you use.
Do we know when she started to work there?
Do we know if she still works there?
Finished action, she doesn’t work there anymore because we use the verb in past tense, which means the working there is finished. Then, what’s the “for 9 years” if we’ve seen that for is commonly used in the present simple? For expresses duration of an action or situation or state. Many Spaniards would say “during”.
The most appropriate answer is .. I have been…. For a few hours/a few days/ a week/ two months/ a long time/ ages…or since Monday last week/ 2001, I was a university, etc the specific moment in the past the action/situation started
So we can see that for to express duration can be used for a finished action and for an unfinished action! That is a lot of information here!! So watch out.
b. Past (=finished) action is there an impact or results on the now, the present?
I have washed my hands (so now I can cook, now they are clean and ready to touch food), I have sent the email (so this is done, we can now forget about this)
It’s usually a recent past, but not necessarily. Here we can also use time references like just and already or yet or today, this morning (if still in the morning), this afternoon (if still afternoon),etc
c.
d. Is when important? Are we saying when something happened?( = if the action, what happened is the relevant thing to get across, not when it took place)
I have studied at university and I have done many different jobs so I have acquired many skills. I have also travelled a bit and I have studied photography to make the most of my trips. I have lived in a few countries…. IN MY LIFE and my life is not finished so present perfect, when I did all this is not important, if when was important, I would use the past simple. You can also use before here to justify your experience in sth.
I first went to England as a young teenager, when I completed my secondary school, in 1994 I went to university and after that I moved to Scandinavia to learn Swedish. In 2005 I studied photography. AS soon as I finished, I started to work for an art gallery.
You are talking about your life experiences, and your life is not finished! There’s plenty more to do and experience, isn’t there?
Sample sentences:
Llevo días haciendo...
Hace mucho que…Hice (past) / Hago...(present perfect) Watch out, do not "trust your spanish present simple of hago)
Hace muchos días que no vengo a clase.
Hace mucho tiempo que no hablo en inglés
I haven’t spoken in English for a long time /for many days.
Anna has been to Rome. She went there a few months ago (different from Anna has gone to Rome!)
She has worked with msf for over a year
She has just started her English class
Carla and Eric have known each other for years/since they worked together in the field.
etc
As you can see Spanish often uses the time reference at the begining of the sentence, whereas in English we tend to put it at the end (depending on how we word the sentence).
This is not an exhaustive explanation but sorts some of the problems you might have.
hope it's useful!
Again, like in many other verb structures in English, we not only have to look at whether the action is finished or unfinished but also if there is any kind of time reference. A finished action does not necessarily refer to a recent past, as many of you often think.
So let’s look at what should be considered:
- finished or unfinished?
- is there or am I using a time reference (adverb or adverbial phrase)?
- is there an impact on the now, the present?
- Is when important? Are we saying when something happened?( = if the action, what happened is the relevant thing to get across, not when it took place)
These are clues to help us choose what verb tense to use, present perfect or past simple.
Let’s look at them in more detail:
a. Finished/over or unfinished/not over action or event or situation:
Time references like for , since, how long, so far, until now, over the last few weeks, recently, these last few days if the action started in the past and it is still valid now, you are still doing it.
Mary has worked in XXX since 2001
She has worked in XXX for 9 years
I have known Sara since we were at university
since I started to work here
for many years.
She has worked in XXX for 9 years
I have known Sara since we were at university
since I started to work here
for many years.
The tense here, Has worked, have known, indicates that she stills works for XXX . And that she still know Sara (Sara nor I have died and there’s some kind of relationship) That, if now is 2010, she started to work for XXX 9 years ago. *
Starting is one specific moment in the past, from the moment you start, you are/ you work.
The idea of working in a certain place can be expressed in a number of ways DEPENDING ON THE TIME REFERENCE and the TENSE you use.
Now compare it with:
Mary worked in XXX for 9 years
Mary worked in XXX for 9 years
Do we know when she started to work there?
Do we know if she still works there?
Finished action, she doesn’t work there anymore because we use the verb in past tense, which means the working there is finished. Then, what’s the “for 9 years” if we’ve seen that for is commonly used in the present simple? For expresses duration of an action or situation or state. Many Spaniards would say “during”.
So when you want to know the duration of a certain thing you use:
How long have you worked…?
How long did you work…?
(how long are you going to…?)
How long have you worked…?
How long did you work…?
(how long are you going to…?)
The most appropriate answer is .. I have been…. For a few hours/a few days/ a week/ two months/ a long time/ ages…or since Monday last week/ 2001, I was a university, etc the specific moment in the past the action/situation started
So we can see that for to express duration can be used for a finished action and for an unfinished action! That is a lot of information here!! So watch out.
b. Past (=finished) action is there an impact or results on the now, the present?
I have washed my hands (so now I can cook, now they are clean and ready to touch food), I have sent the email (so this is done, we can now forget about this)
It’s usually a recent past, but not necessarily. Here we can also use time references like just and already or yet or today, this morning (if still in the morning), this afternoon (if still afternoon),etc
c.
d. Is when important? Are we saying when something happened?( = if the action, what happened is the relevant thing to get across, not when it took place)
I have studied at university and I have done many different jobs so I have acquired many skills. I have also travelled a bit and I have studied photography to make the most of my trips. I have lived in a few countries…. IN MY LIFE and my life is not finished so present perfect, when I did all this is not important, if when was important, I would use the past simple. You can also use before here to justify your experience in sth.
I first went to England as a young teenager, when I completed my secondary school, in 1994 I went to university and after that I moved to Scandinavia to learn Swedish. In 2005 I studied photography. AS soon as I finished, I started to work for an art gallery.
So when you ask about
Have you ever been…? (in your life)
No I have never been
The most fascinating person I have ever met…
Have you ever been…? (in your life)
No I have never been
The most fascinating person I have ever met…
You are talking about your life experiences, and your life is not finished! There’s plenty more to do and experience, isn’t there?
Sample sentences:
Llevo días haciendo...
Hace mucho que…Hice (past) / Hago...(present perfect) Watch out, do not "trust your spanish present simple of hago)
Hace muchos días que no vengo a clase.
Hace mucho tiempo que no hablo en inglés
I haven’t spoken in English for a long time /for many days.
Anna has been to Rome. She went there a few months ago (different from Anna has gone to Rome!)
She has worked with msf for over a year
She has just started her English class
Carla and Eric have known each other for years/since they worked together in the field.
etc
As you can see Spanish often uses the time reference at the begining of the sentence, whereas in English we tend to put it at the end (depending on how we word the sentence).
This is not an exhaustive explanation but sorts some of the problems you might have.
hope it's useful!
Tuesday, 6 April 2010
self-development in teaching
13.08.09
I think I enjoy working with adults in an in-house context, doing bits and pieces of business English because it keeps me connected to the office world, prevalent in most of conventional people's lives. It's like being a bit of an insider from the outside. Or is it the other way round? It pushes me to keep up with my business English language, it's like learning different jobs by doing mine. Plus the fact that this office is not a conventional office of a big company, not even a small family-run one but an international charity. I get to know people from different backgrounds, countries and cultures and conflicts, gives a different prespective to governments, plus I am not contributing to the top boss getting rich with my bit.
Take the example of giving presentations. Never the thought of teaching this formal way of communicating , when I never had given one myself, did cross my mind and now, simply and just by attending a number of them in congresses and conferences and workshops for teachers of English has provided me with training or ability to teach this myself. Obviously, not only listening to what the trainer explained but also by keeping a very active and open attitude to more than just the contents of the session I was attending. A strong focus on what keesp me engaged and motivated, on how the speaker presents him-or herself.
And the need for training, the need to be after challenges, and be open to learn all the time, be willing to improve your performance. Not that i always have this mood (more than attitude) cos sometimes at work, i don't bother enough to do my best.
It's improtant to keep up with changes in the teaching world by reading, taking courses or speaking to other teachers. the latter is good to see different prespectives, different areas of teaching. I'm quite hapy with myself because despite working "alone" i keep up with it, i find relevant training courses...
I think I enjoy working with adults in an in-house context, doing bits and pieces of business English because it keeps me connected to the office world, prevalent in most of conventional people's lives. It's like being a bit of an insider from the outside. Or is it the other way round? It pushes me to keep up with my business English language, it's like learning different jobs by doing mine. Plus the fact that this office is not a conventional office of a big company, not even a small family-run one but an international charity. I get to know people from different backgrounds, countries and cultures and conflicts, gives a different prespective to governments, plus I am not contributing to the top boss getting rich with my bit.
Take the example of giving presentations. Never the thought of teaching this formal way of communicating , when I never had given one myself, did cross my mind and now, simply and just by attending a number of them in congresses and conferences and workshops for teachers of English has provided me with training or ability to teach this myself. Obviously, not only listening to what the trainer explained but also by keeping a very active and open attitude to more than just the contents of the session I was attending. A strong focus on what keesp me engaged and motivated, on how the speaker presents him-or herself.
And the need for training, the need to be after challenges, and be open to learn all the time, be willing to improve your performance. Not that i always have this mood (more than attitude) cos sometimes at work, i don't bother enough to do my best.
It's improtant to keep up with changes in the teaching world by reading, taking courses or speaking to other teachers. the latter is good to see different prespectives, different areas of teaching. I'm quite hapy with myself because despite working "alone" i keep up with it, i find relevant training courses...
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