Diseminare curs Comenius formare continua Londra 18-29.10.2010

DISEMINARE CURS COMENIUS

Londra – 18-29 octombrie 2010

Prof. Velicu Magdalena Colegiul National “Grigore Moisil”

Onesti, jud. Bacau

Comenius Scholarship(mobilitati individuale

profesori)• A.N.P.C.D.E.F.P ( Agentia Nationala pentru Programe

Comunitare in Domeniul Educatiei si Formarii Profesionale) facilitates the access to European alternatives of continuous and active learning by encouraging teachers to attend courses aimed at improving the quality of education.

• Application deadline: 30th April 2010• 1000 candidates – 300 selected for different types of

courses all over Europe• All you have to do is to look for a course that interests

you in the Comenius catalogue, (http://ec.europe.eu

/education/training), be motivated and fill in a form which you have to register on line.

Teacher Refresher CourseIn the Language of Tuition

English: The English Teacher Experience

Methodology Enhancement for the 21st Century

•for teachers who want to improve their knowledge of the English language, discover new methodology and learn

about the British Culture

Course reference nr. in the Comenius/Grundtvig catalogue:

UK – 2009 – 879 - 008

Excel English Language SchoolLondon

“EXCEL ENGLISH”• Private school accredited by the British

Council situated in a charming Edwardian suburb, on a hill in North London called MUSWELL HILL

• The name Muswell is believed to come from a natural spring or well said to have miraculous properties

• The traditional story tells that a Scottish king was cured of disease after drinking the water of the spring/well.

• Consequently, the area became a place of pilgrimage for healing during Medieval times.

• Today, the area is a residential one with many large family houses and it has the atmosphere of a village even though it is part of a great city. 

• It is one of the safest places to live in London, and it is very popular for its cafes, bars, pubs and restaurants, for its cinemas and interesting places to shop, and for the many sports centres where you can keep fit. It is also a very “green” part of London with a lot of parks and open spaces.

• It is very easy to get from Muswell Hill to the centre of London as the area is in zone 3 of the London transport system and there are many buses and underground stations to choose from.

Muswell Hill Broadway

• “Excel English” has a student-centered approach, all the activities of the school being designed to promote student satisfaction;

• The school aims to provide a very high standard of teaching and student care within a friendly and relaxed atmosphere;

• All teachers are nice, open-minded, helpful and they have a caring attitude towards everyone.

Session nr.7 – October 18-29th, the group consisted of 10 teachers from 5 countries: Romania(3), Poland(2), Germany(2), Turkey(2) and Lithuania(1).

• The course – dynamic and captivating• The two teachers – Kerry and Jules – got us all involved into lots

of interesting activities during the period of 2 weeks spent there.• Every day classes started at 8.30 and ended at about 14.15 (with 2

breaks)• Pair work, group work with a lot of competition between teams in

order to solve different types of tasks• It’s this spirit of competition that gives good motivation to students

to solve tasks successfully – they learn and remember things better when they actually take part in some kind of activity, and are not passive receivers of information and rules that have to be learned by heart.

• “Tell me and I will forget Show me and I will remember Involve me and I will understand” ( Chinese proverb)

Activities Overview

• Learning Styles• EFL Approaches Overview• Revisiting Dictation• Managing Mixed Ability Classes• The A-Z of British Etiquette• 21st Century Britishness• Warmers and Fillers• Pronunciation• Developing Reading and Listening Skills• Role Play and Improvisation in EFL

• ICT and Authentic Video/ DVD in EFL

• Encouraging Speaking Skills

• Error Correction

• Keeping Up with Phrasal Verbs

• Idioms and Slang

• The Lexical Approach and Collocation

• Task-Based Learning

• Collaborative Writing

• Up-to-Date Lingo

• Using Literature and the Arts

• Songs in EFL

Learning Styles• Very important to know what type of learners

our students are so that we might employ different types of activities to cater for all types of learners:

Handouts 4 and 2

(Learning Styles Self-Assessment questionnaire and Learning Styles Explanation)

Handout 16 – “The Parable of a Good Learner”- (humour on ways of learning)

Dictation• Some of you may remember dictation from your

schooldays with pleasure, some may have felt it boring, while some may have found it an encouraging exercise;

• Standard, traditional procedure: the teacher probably read you the text once through, then dictated it, and then read it a third time so you could check through (in this case, the power is completely in the hands of the teacher);

• In modern approaches, dictation can be otherwise since the pace of dictation is no longer controlled by the teacher, but by the students themselves.

Why Use Dictation?• The students are active both during and

after the activity;• Dictation leads to oral communicative

activities;• Dictation fosters unconscious thinking;• Dictation copes with mixed-ability groups and

deals with large groups, often calming them;• For English, it is a technically useful exercise

which may give access to interesting text.

Types of dictation• Speed dictation (play/rewind/stop)• Running dictation ( in groups- pieces of

paper pinned on the wall- one person from the group is writing and the others have to run to the paper in turns and dictate sentence by sentence, until the text is complete)

• Banana dictation (handout 14)• Dictagloss (handout 42)

Variations on the above and much more:

“Dictation – New Methods, new possibilities” by Paul Davis and Mario Rinvolucri C.U.P.

Connections

Ex: -Wings/birds/eagles/police/queen/doors/ Wham/shadows = Pop Groups -Tear/lick/line/love/open/class/box/yours stamp = Post Office - Cup/tray/makeup/crammed/VIP/bar/tax/free/ inflate/handle = Air Hostess - Preparation/health/bottle/times/prescribe/tea/ spoonful/day = Chemist’s (the words are dictated to the students)

Associations• Ex: HOUR (clock, late, speed, time, small)

TURKEY (seaside, souvenir, baclava, Thanksgiving, roast, bargain, etc)

LAY (bed, tired, sick, table, bricks, foundation, eggs, etc)

DEAR ( wife, beloved, child, expensive, etc)

(teacher dictates the words among which can be homophones- ex. sea/see; dear/deer)

Mixed Ability Classes

A mixed ability group is:• one in which students have different levels;• one in which students have different

learning styles and experiences;• one in which students have different

knowledge of the world;• one in which students have different levels

of motivation. These differences may result into

different problems:

• “ Half have finished, half have just begun”• “If I pitch the lesson in the middle ground, I please no

one”• “The strong students always dominate, while the

weaker ones say nothing”• “I don’t know whether to put weak with weak, weak

with strong or what. If I make too many changes, it gets obvious”

• “The stronger students get bored with the explanations”

• “The weaker ones try really hard but they’ll never catch up”

So, what can teachers do to alleviate these problems?

• Classroom management – suggested procedures to cater for all types of learners – Handout 19

• Different types of activities and methods to please everyone – Handout 20

• Example of a specific activity – tiered task activity (different tasks, same text, similar results) – Handout 22

• “Mixed Ability – an ‘inclusive’ classroom” – article in which Jim Rose looks positively at mixed ability classes and suggests some appropriate teaching approaches –

Handout 23

Get around in EnglishHow to be polite

• Humorous emphasis on POLITENESS – Handouts 25 and 26

Unacceptable things in England:• Blow your nose in public• Not tipping your waiter• Not holding the door open for people• Talking with your mouth full• Staring at people• Not offering seats for the elderly on public transport• Arriving late for dates or appointments• Dropping litter in the streets• Not controlling your bodily functions• Answering mobiles when in others’ company• Jumping the queue• Invade others’ personal space (stand too close to them)• Spit in public• Interrupt people when they are talking• Attempt to discuss politics, religion or sex in public• Use foul language/gestures

Time Out’s Guide to London Etiquette

London is the best city in the world for fine dining and pleasant artistic pursuits – but it’s also a faux pas minefield. Never fear, though: Time Out’s experts are on hand with the dos and don’ts of cultural courtesy

Handout 33

Euphemisms• To avoid referring too directly to unpleasant,

embarrassing or personal matters, the English prefer to use more indirect words or phrases called euphemisms – Handout 27

• Ex: FAT- horizontally challenged SHORT- vertically challenged

• We have to be very careful with political correctness, otherwise we might give offence to people we come into contact with.

Warmers and Fillers

Warmers:

• represent an essential part of a lesson if we want to achieve success in teaching

• They work as “keys” for opening and mobilizing the brain of students

• They create a positive atmosphere for learning and arouse students’ interest in the content of the lesson, making them relax and want to learn by having fun

• They activate schemata- alerting the student to any prior info, knowledge or experience of the topic under discussion, so that they can access the lesson most effectively

• Role of revision and recycle-many teachers use them to recap on the previous lesson, thus seeing how much has been retained and deciding where to go next

• The warm-up stage, where students have the chance to be playful with language and create their own communication, is an important step to effective language ownership – errors are tolerated in this stage, as the main purpose is conversational interaction. We know that many students have studied ‘ the theory’ for years and years, but when they have to use it communicatively, they find it very difficult to do it.

Fillers• They are a lot simpler – they are used to

refresh and energise the students between finishing one part of the lesson and starting another, usually with a different language focus

• They do not need any specific language involved – even a simple number game would be perfectly acceptable.

• Examples of activities for warmers and fillers – Handout 35

Pronunciation• One of the most difficult parts to learn in English• Some words can be pronounced differently, depending on the context they

are used Ex: the word “really” in different contexts: - questioning - astonishment/surprise - disappointment - agreeing - amazement - sarcastic • The BANANA game: in groups of 4, students are given different situations on

pieces of paper. Each group has to act the situation given in front of the classroom, but using ONLY the word BANANA. The other groups have to guess and then describe what the situation is.

Ex of situation: 4 people get stuck in an elevator; one person begins to panic, the other 2 persons try to calm themselves down, while the last person tries to calm everyone down. Eventually, the elevator moves again and everyone is relieved.

• Other examples of activities to teach pronunciation:

Handout 38 (the telephone game)

Handout 39 (homophones)

Listening

• “ Listening is not merely not talking….it means taking a vigorous human interest in what is being told us. You can listen like a blank wall or like a splendid auditorium where every sound comes back fuller and richer.”

(Alice Deur Miller- poet and novelist)

• A typical listening model and 6 problems that come with it – Handout 41

• Trying to teach active listening – Handout 43

Role Play and Improvisation

Activities Handouts 45, 44, 46

Lesson Activities with DVDs

Why use DVD in the classroom?

• It’s accessible, authentic and it’s THE modern medium;

• For comprehension of spoken language and as a language model;

• As a moving picture book, as a stimulus or input;

• For culture and because it’s fun;• It brings the English language world to the

learner.

Why do we need to be careful when using video/DVD?

• High verbal density

• High degree of naturalism in speech

• Dialect and regional accents

• Period language

• Danger of overloading learners

• Length

Lesson Activities with DVDs Different types of activities based on: • matching (jumbled dialogue) • answering questions given by the teacher about a

movie scene they have just watched• prediction (what is going to happen next)• taking notes of any significant details they notice while

watching a scene, then answering questions given by the teacher based on the notes taken

• dubbed movie ( play a scene from a film with the sound off, then students write a dialogue in pairs/groups of what they think is being said- the most interesting dialogues can be acted out)

Handout 49

Learning Technologies Advantages and Disadvantages

• Advantages and disadvantages:

Handout 51

• Different sites and books useful for English lessons:

Handouts 52, 53

Developing Speaking SkillsFor a speaking activity to be successful, students... • should have something to say (they have to be interested

in the topic)• need to know how to structure what they want to say

(how to tell a story, give a presentation, participate in conversation)

• need the English language to express what they want to say and they need to feel comfortable with expressing themselves in front of others

• should perceive the purpose of an activity which should be fun, interesting and motivating to participate in.

How might all these be achieved?

Handouts 55, 56 (suggested procedures and activities)

Error Correction

• How teachers can correct

Handout 58 (Grammar reviewing using

“The Auction” game)

• Suggested marking scheme

Handout 59

Reading• Essentially, a reader has a purpose to

read at all times. However, in the classroom, students’ only purpose is ‘because the teacher told us so’, which can lead to demotivated learners.

• Therefore, before any reading activity, we need to give the learners a reason to read.

Moreover, in order to read effectively, students have to call upon the following skills:

• the ability to predict content at the sentence/paragraph level;

• Share similar schemata to the writer;• The ability to skim for gist or to scan for specific

details• The ability to work out unknown vocabulary from

context and the confidence to leave any unknown words which cannot be worked out from context

• The ability to infer meaning and recognise the writer’s assumptions.

• 6 very quick skimming activities: Handout 80• A type of ‘fill-in’ exercise for students to

get a better understanding of the text Handout 81• Different activities in order to predict for

purpose, to activate schemata or to predict within the text

Handouts 71,72,73,74,75,76,77

Idioms and Slang ‘Idiom is yesterday’s slang and slang is

tomorrow’s idiom’ Suggested activities:• Give idiomatic expressions for some

words in italics: Ex: ‘In England it is very bad to go in

front of someone else in the queue’ (Jump the queue)

‘I know a little hotel. It’s an unusual place and not many people go there, but it’s very nice’

( off the beaten track/ hidden gem)

• Correct the mistakes in the following idioms: Ex: ‘I fell head over feet in love with him’ (heels) “I had to pay through my nose for that coat, the

guy really saw me coming’ (the)• Idiom competition: 2/3 groups The teacher has some strips of paper with some

idioms -one member of each group is shown the idiom and he goes to the blackboard and has to draw the literal meaning of the idiom. The groups have to guess which is the idiom. The final winner is the group who has guessed the most idioms.

Task-Based Learning• It developed out of the Communicative Approach in the 1970s, as

communicative activities devised to practise language began to be termed ‘tasks’

• In language teaching, it is not enough to focus only on language structure, but this has to be accompanied by a concern to develop the capacity to express meaning.

• Tasks – cognitive activities that learners engage in: planning a journey, solving a problem, where the focus is on the communicative aim rather than on the language used.

• They are performed collaboratively (in groups)• The teacher tends to take the role of a ‘facilitator’ rather than chief

provider of input.

Suggested procedure to follow and example of activity Handouts 92, 94

Up-to-Date Lingo(new words for the new milleniun)

• As our way of life changes, so our language changes to keep up with it

• Handout 95 – article which includes a selection of the new words that have come into the English language in the last few years; the words are taken from the new 6th edition of “The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary”.

• Definitions and other examples of new words: Handouts 96, 97, 98

Learning English with Literature and the Arts

• Poems• Paintings/pictures• Short stories/novels• Advertising• Music (including the classical one)• Theatre (plays/role plays)

Activities: Handouts 100, 101

(paintings, poems, short stories)

Writing can be fun• Picture dialogue: in pairs, students are given some

pictures and they have to make up a dialogue (and then act it) based on that picture;

• Freeze writing (“Dear John letter” or a letter of complaint, for example): in groups of 5, students start writing and when the teacher says: “Freeze!” they stop and pass their piece of paper to the student next to him. The letter will be finished when it arrives back to the person who started it. Then, in their groups, students decide which is the most interesting letter which they finally read out.

Other examples of activities: Handout 103

Songs in EFL Activities:• Jumbled lyrics: lyrics written on colored pieces of paper- each

student is given a piece of paper and they have to line up when they hear their lyrics sung.

• Fill in the Gaps: teacher removes words and the students have to remember them (or gives a list of words to fill in the song- then, they listen again and check)

• Correct the mistakes: some words are replaced on purpose by other words – the students have to correct the mistakes while listening to the song- then they listen again, check and finally sing the song together.

• Put the verbs in brackets in the correct tense: some verbs are changed into the infinitive form and the students have to put them in the correct tense:

Handout 109 Other activities that might be done before, during or after the

listening activity: Handout 112

Booklist of essential reading

Handout 116

Why is it worth applying?

Because, by attending such a course, you will benefit from many points of view:

Professionally: • you will learn a lot of new and useful

things so that you might become a better teacher every day and always keep up with modern trends and cater for all types of learners;

• you will improve both your fluency in English and your vocabulary by coming into contact with native teachers of English

Culturally and personally: • You will find out a lot of things, not only about the British

culture and civilization, but also about other cultures and civilizations in the world, by getting into contact with various British customs and traditions or customs belonging to other peoples in the world (your colleague teachers’)

• You will improve your communication abilities and will have the chance to establish new contacts and make new friends

• You will have the long-awaited chance to visit the most important sights in London

(and, believe me, pictures and stories about London do not do justice to this magnificent city (you MUST visit it by all means!!!)

How can you apply?

• A.N.P.C.D.E.F.P – www.anpcdefp.ro• Programul de invatare pe tot parcursul

vietii – Comenius – Formare continua pentru personalul implicat in educatia scolara

• Fill in a form, validate it, register it on line and send it, together with other documents, to the National Agency- you will have an unforgettable experience!

AND….