K.E.M..A. 4687 ENTYO KEITO AP. AEIA 2013 K.E.M..A.
:: Developing Examination
Skills................................2 Anne europenne du
interculturel .......................3 How to cope with your
teaching deficiencies .......4 View from the provinces
.........................................6 M
......................................10 Social Psychology and ELT
authority ...................12 Keep the faith
........................................................13
........................................................15
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16
Feed and LearnAsk children at the British Council in Athens
about the connection between colouring, jigsaws and pet food and
you will hear the same answer. That is that they were all part of
the Teaching Centres campaign to collect food to feed the stray
cats and dogs of Athens. The campaign was organized by British
Council teacher Litsa Andreou in cooperation with the Greek Animal
Welfare Fund and Nine Lives a local charity feeding stray cats. The
campaign itself is part of the ongoing effort of the British
Council not only to support local charitable organisations but also
to add a valuebased strand to its language programmes for children.
Despite the preparation involved, both teachers, the children and
their parents received this effort enthusiastically judging from
the amount of food collected during the campaign 87 kilos over 6
weeks. The effort was well-received elsewhere too - on behalf of
Sandy (the oldest cat in the National Gardens), Carole Macbeth of
the Greek Animal Welfare Fund wrote many thanks for caring about us
and thanks again for the yummy food. The campaign itself recognized
childrens contributions of pet food by encouraging them to colour
and sign a piece of a board-displayed jigsaw which when finally
complete made a happy and very full cat and dog. For more
information on the campaign, please contact
[email protected]
E H Y E , - E: 1) N , . 2) N , , , . 3) N -, ,
Juvenes TranslatoresA N M (Juvenes Translatores) 2007-08, E EE.
O 1 20 O 2008. O 27 No 2008. O E . Leonard Orban : O , , , . T . .
O 1991. , 23 EE ( , ). O . T M . O M 2009 B , E. : Juvenes
Translatores: http://ec.europa.eu/translatores EE:
http://europa.eu/languages/ M:
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/translation/
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. 4) N , E. 5) N , , . 6) N , E UNESCO.
KOSMOS BOOK EXHIBITIONSAHNA 30 & 31 A Crowne Plaza Athens
City Center Holiday Inn
YNANTHHEAONIKH T 27 A Makedonia Palace ; [email protected]
210-5232621 30/06
2
Developing Examination Writing SkillsWriting is a challenging
process even at the best of times and one which can be a solitary
even isolating experience when the supportive atmosphere provided
by adequate teacher preparation and guidance is lacking. With
building a solid and valid foundation for teacher support in mind,
we teachers should not miss the opportunity to write the same tasks
we require of our students. Why? Simply to provide ourselves with
the opportunity to reflect on the writing process itself and come
to grips with the difficulties our student writers will face. I
suppose, in essence what Im saying is that we shouldnt preach but
practise as well not only to remind ourselves of the writers task
and reaffirm the validity in the eyes of our students of the
guidance we provide them but also to provide students with a model.
So what's next? Work with the model! Theres little or no point in
presenting students with a model and hoping that the model on its
own will help students improve their own writing or understanding
of those key ingredients which together make writing successful.
Effective writing requires a number of things from a high degree of
organisation and development to a careful choice of lexical and
grammatical items. Model analysis needs to consider both. On a
textual level, students could be encouraged to identify the blocks
of meaning rather than the physical boundaries of text or
paragraphs. In doing so, we can then draw attention to their
relative size; highlighting the importance of balance and
development; and their characteristics; pointing writing, but also
to provide concrete hints and tips for students, the preparation
and analysis of models is thus of some importance but does support
stop there? Is support concerned only with what is done before
students write? No, a good deal of support can be provided through
the provision of meaningful comments. Perhaps the greatest feeling
of satisfaction that a student gets is from a well-constructed
teacher comment showing that his/her work has not been treated as a
potential source of error but read by an interested reader. But
what constitutes a valid and reliable comment? What are its
ingredients? Borrowing illustrious labels, I would like to suggest
that a successful comment addresses 4 basic principles those of
quality, quantity, clarity and relevance. Much time could be
devoted to a discussion of what these encompass but briefly quality
is a matter of appropriacy both in terms of word choice and
message, quantity is not so much the number of words but rather the
number and balance of blocks of meaning. Clarity, on other hand
addresses the question and looks at task achievement whereas
relevance looks at the particular piece of work as part of the
students writing history. Summarising the development of
examination writing skills necessarily involves presenting students
with opportunities to practice the various forms and functions of
writing within the examination context. Practice, however, does not
make perfect if done in isolation and without the support of
adequate guidance from the teacher of which the approaches
suggested here a few.
Cliff ParryBritish Council
out where a richer range of grammar or words is used. It is
equally important to consider the words that make the sentences
which then build the text. We could thus encourage students to
identify those word sets that give rise to theme, the importance of
repetition or replacement, collocation or ellipsis and the use and
number of conjunctions. Aiming not only to refresh our insight into
the mechanisms of
3
Anne europenne du interculturel 2008La Commission europenne se
penche, depuis longtemps, sur le thme du dialogue interculturel, la
fois au sein des tats membres de l'UE, et galement dans les tats
tiers, et insiste sur la diversit qui enrichit les socits
europennes. L'anne 2008 a t proclame, par la dcision n1983/2006/CE
du Parlement europen et du Conseil, anne europenne du dialogue
interculturel. Cette dcision fait suite l'adoption par l'Unesco en
octobre 2005 de la convention pour la protection et la promotion de
la diversit des expressions culturelles, dans laquelle la France a
jou un rle de premier plan. Cerner le concept de culture s'avre un
exercice difficile et prilleux. Car, l'ide qu'elle se dessine, de
nos jours, souligne que nous sommes le produit non pas d'une
culture mais de plusieurs cultures, multiples facettes d'un mme
diamant. Nous mettons en avant l'une ou l'autre facette, la faisons
scintiller en fonction de la situation. Ceci rend son contour
encore plus complexe dlimiter car on ne peut pas la figer sur le
papier une fois pour toutes. Dans ce nouveau contexte,
l'interculturel suppose, en effet, une interaction et dans cette
interaction, distinguer ce qui relve de la culture ou des cultures
ou mme des enjeux de pouvoir ou des conditions sociales. Avec la
mondialisation l'interculturel est devenu un concept trs mdiatique
au point que l'on peut se demander si l'on ne fait pas face un
phnomne de mode plutt qu'une ncessit. Mais, l'interculturel a
toujours exist sans que l'on s'attache le nommer. En effet, la
rencontre des cultures a toujours eu lieu et elle a permis
l'humanit d'voluer. Il n'est pas de culture qui soit reste
l'identique au cours des sicles. Certes, les changements se sont
souvent effectus selon des contraintes, des ruptures, des mises en
jeu de pouvoir. Mais les repres culturels se sont galement modifis
de l'intrieur. Toutefois, tout changement intervenu ne devient
culturel En d'autres termes, la dmarche interculturelle ncessite
non seulement un apprentissage des autres mais aussi une plonge en
soi-mme pour voir de quelle faon son propre conditionnement
culturel faonne le regard sur les autres. _ cet gard, saluons
l'introduction de l'essai argument, preuve crite des niveaux DELF
B1, B2 et DALF C1, C2, dont le contenu renforce la prsence de
l'approche interculturelle en pdagogie (1). La question centrale de
la dmarche interculturelle pourrait se rsumer la question suivante:
L'apprentissage interculturel peut-il amoindrir les conflits? On
pointe ainsi souvent les diffrences culturelles mais on aborde plus
rarement la complmentarit culturelle. Car apprhender l'autre, ce
n'est pas seulement l'apprhender comme porteur d'une culture mais
aussi comme une personne humaine. Si l'interculturel se place
autant au centre des proccupations de ce dbut de sicle et voque
souvent les difficults et les freins qui l'accompagnent, le dbat se
pose en des termes diffrents, savoir comment mettre profit la
diversit culturelle croissante de nos socits, la dynamique inhrente
chaque culture, et crer des synergies pour inventer de nouvelles
faons de vivre ensemble. Plus qu'un contenu fig, c'est une attitude
qu'il faut acqurir et ce n'est pas la moindre des difficults car
toute personne demande du temps pour tre modele et inflchir sa
pense. En somme, l'approche interculturelle en pdagogie dfend l'ide
qu'il convient de faire grandir une nouvelle gnration qui promeuve
le respect et l'acceptation de l'Autre.(1) Russir la production
crite mthodologie de l'Essai: B1-B2. EDITIONS TEGOS. 2007 Russir la
production crite mthodologie de la Synthse et de l'Essai: C1-C2.
EDITIONS TEGOS. 2008
par Constantin TEGOSqu'aprs plusieurs gnrations car les
transformations d'habitudes culturelles ne se ralisent pas du jour
au lendemain. Mais si, aujourd'hui, l'interculturel devient si
prgnant c'est parce que nous sommes dans un monde de changement qui
va s'acclrant. C'est donc autant les mutations d'avec nos repres
culturels d'hier au sein de nos socits que les volutions lies la
rencontre de cultures diffrentes, la tendance pluriethnique de nos
socits que les mutations des autres socits face au dferlement de
valeurs trangres qui sont en jeu.
4
How to cope with your teaching deficienciesWho said you were
perfect? Who died and made you god? Who did you last talk to and
said you had a wonderful accent? And what on earth did they mean by
that? Most teachers of EFL in Greece work either as holders of the
national university degree on English Literature or as holders of a
certification degree issued by british or american university
institutions. Neither is taught how to teach English as a Foreign
Language no matter what they would like or are made to believe...
So teaching is a self taught skill that is based on talent one
might say or an unusual inclination meant to develop only in few or
even a tool kit based on built-up experience that comes with
beginners and ends years later if ever with proficient students.
One falls admittedly in one or more of the categories above and
needs to always rethink of their professional skills if they want
to remain in the teaching profession. But how does one cope in this
misty landscape where greek gods can help no more than by making
you doubt... Here are some useful and well tested tips on how to
keep up with your abilities as a teacher if and when at the end of
a serious self-evaluation you are able to detect your deficiencies:
Dont despair! Talk to your fellow colleagues who seem more
experienced. Share your ideas with them colleagues and ask them to
share theirs with you. Most would only be too glad to help. Look
into the available bibliography, no matter how old it might seem.
You never know what might work for you and your students Be
prepared to test yourself along with your students. Never ask your
students to write something, like an essay if you are not sure you
could informative text or for entertainment. The language is still
alive and kicking and everchanging. Do what you ask of your
students. Correspond with someone, read lyrics, subscribe to
magazines or newsletters of your interest Learn other foreign
languages. Multiculturalism in the world will certainly come to
your door as students of a nationality other than greek are
probably already your students. How do you expect them to deal with
a language other than their own, other than greek, which they are
told they have to learn and which is being taught to them by a non
native speaker of that language? Confusing, ha! Train yourself and
push other colleagues to do the same. There are a number of
seminars that cost nothing and cater for all needs. But even if you
cannot afford a paid seminar or your boss does not care to help you
do so, set up your own study/training group. Work on the provision
of teaching aids (new methodolgy handbooks etc.) to your school.
Most foreign language school owners those who respect what they do-
have access to a number of possibilites to fill the bookcase in the
school with advanced working/studying material. Keep informed,
interested and passionate about teaching EFL Find out as much as
you can about your actual students needs as to EFL and focus on
teaching good english rather than sitting successfully for the X
exam. Good Luck!* Mado Baboula ([email protected]) has studied
english, law, public relations/media as well as counseling, and has
been an EFL Teacher for many years. She is also active in Youth
Training and Press Office work for projects concerning the
underprivileged. She is currently working in the private EFL
education sector.
Mado Baboula* write it yourself Practice your oral communication
skills. Try out different accents Show real interest in your
students learning difficulties and refer then to an expert if you
are not sure you can help them out Use the target language most of
the time. But for your classroom the students dont have the
opportunity to practise the L2. Remember that tv english cannot
count as speaking material! Keep studying the language yourself.
Read english as literature text, newspaper
6
View from the provincesTeachers are well aware of the benefits
of using songs in the classroom. Many course books employ songs as
a way of consolidating target language and they can certainly be
successful at providing a feelgood factor at the end of the lesson.
However, songs can do a lot more than that. When chosen well they
can inspire students with their subject matter and create the focus
for a whole range of activities. The song can be the main focus of
the lesson and not just an added extra. the box, dont press the red
button!
Writing
Depending on the level the teacher can choose an appropriate
writing task. For lower levels, students can send a postcard from
space, describing the spaceship, the view from the window and what
the astronauts are doing or did yesterday. For higher levels
students can write a daily blog from space, describing their
emotions, hopes and fears, as well as daily routines and schedules.
by John Batrick Another reason Space Oddity is a As an example of
this approach lets look John is a teacher and language useful
choice for the classroom is that the at some activities that could
be used with school owner and lives in Ioannina lyrics form a
complete but brief the song Space Oddity by David narrative. There
are three clear divisions in the song Bowie. Oh no! you cry, thats
far too old for my which make it possible to analyse as discourse.
That is to students. Well, yes it was first released in the 1970s
but say learners can identify features of each section that with
the correct handling a song like this can still really make it
distinct from the others. Learners can be strike a chord. For a
start, space travel is still making the encouraged to give titles
to each section, drawing on news and in fact the whole process of
countdown, lift-off vocabulary particular to each part. Each
section could be and orbiting has hardly changed since the first
astronauts. revealed in turn, with students predicting what will
Whats more, the lyrics of the song are open to happen. Students can
the write their own Part 4, or interpretation in such a way that
space travel is only one sequel, to the song. of the possible
levels of meaning.
Role-play and improviseFluency practice with higher levels can
be encouraged with role play. Students use their imaginations to
explore related situations before, during or after Major Toms space
flight. The teacher supplies cards to each group with the scenario
and basic instructions. Situation 1 You are Major Toms wife: talk
to your family about your anxieties. You are the daughter.
Situation 2 You are Major Tina: explain to your family why you
think its important for a woman to carry out this mission. You are
the husband. Situation 3 You are a politician: explain to the
president why you think the mission must go ahead despite warnings
from the engineers.
Pre-listeningIn order to create a strong opening to the lesson
and engage the students (Harmer:2004) the perfect prelistening task
is watch a video of astronauts in action. Theres plenty of material
available, but for this song its good if the ground control staff
are shown as well as astronauts.
Class debateHigher levels can debate the pros and cons of
spending money on space travel. Is the expense justifiable and what
other priorities does mankind have?
In conclusionSo there you have a few ideas on how to bring the
song to the front of the lesson. Using the song as your starting
point, theres no limit to where you end up, much like Major Tom
really! And remember Songs are a great way to engage students
Act it outAgain the level of the class will determine the type
of task. Fun exercises for younger students could include miming
actions in zero gravity. The comic element is supplied by the
student astronaut moving in slow motion while the class/ground
control view Major Tom on camera and report his actions, hes
brushing his teeth, hes reading a book The context is also suitable
for practicing giving instructions, Open
How to play the songDont just fall into the trap of playing the
song on the CD player. Students soon become familiar with stale
routines and now listen to the song may be the cue for some
students to switch off. Surprise the class, make use of technology,
create a happening! Play the song using Youtube. There is an
incredible variety of songs with video to create extra interest.
For the internet savvy you can even upload a class version of the
song! Try a class karaoke. Sing along with the CD but have students
hold a microphone for a bit of fun.
7 Dont use songs just for listening practice, use your
imagination too Song lyrics are discourse, explore the
possibilities The song is not the place to finish; it can be the
starting point. Ground control to Major Tom Ground control to Major
Tom Take your protein pills and put your helmet on Ground control
to Major Tom (10, 9, 8, 7) Commencing countdown, engines on (6, 5,
4, 3) Check ignition, and may God's love be with you (2, 1,
liftoff) This is ground control to Major Tom, You've really made
the grade And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear Now
it's time to leave the capsule if you dare This is Major Tom to
ground control I'm stepping through the door And I'm floating in
the most peculiar way And the stars look very different today For
here am I sitting in a tin can Far above the world Planet Earth is
blue, and there's nothing I can do References Harmer J. 2004 How to
Teach English Longman John Bartrick can be contacted at
[email protected] Reprinted by kind permission of TESOL GREECE Here
are the lyrics to Space oddity by David Bowie. You can find
countless other song lyrics at letssingit.com or, for the more
adventurous, lyrics and music at ultimate-guitar.com
AEIEZHTOYNTAI - A, , , I, I E PAA. A , TPA ! T.: 210-7564573,
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ZHTEITAI
, OYI. T.: 210-7718600 6973-982768. EITAI K : , , , , .., . T.:
() 6974-825263. Teacher of English Language Literature (native
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contact at: tel.: 210-8044254, fax: 210-8044282 ANAZHTOYNTAI A, , K
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Though I'm past 100,000 miles I'm feeling very still And I think
my spaceship knows which way to go Tell my wife I love her very
much, she knows Ground control to Major Tom, Your circuit's dead,
there's something wrong Can you hear me Major Tom? Can you hear me
Major Tom? Can you hear me Major Tom? Can you... Here am I floating
round my tin can Far above the moon Planet Earth is blue, and
there's nothing I can do... Ground control to Major Tom, Your
circuit's dead, there's something wrong Can you hear me Major Tom?
Can you hear me Major Tom? Can you hear me Major Tom? Can
you...
IMHNIAIA EHMEPIA IA TON KAO TH ENOH EKAIEYH
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M ; ; T . O o . . T . O . H . , . H (, ). H 19 Ebbinghaus 20
Barlett, Hebb, Peterson, Neisser . H : ) ) H , . . H . O (Ellis,
1963). . Dockrell by Dr. Theodora , & McShane 2003
Papadopoulou* Ph. D in English Literature. . O M. Sc in Psychology
. T . A - : ) - . T ) - . H . O - - . . H , - . O (Borkowski &
Kurtz, 1987, K, . E - 2005). H . T . M . O . / ... . O . - .
posters, videos, flashcards, . 16
11 Y.E... / A 37 15180 MH Y E , K I , N 2008, Y , : ) -A, ) A )
B , ) . Y.E.. www ypepth.gr/kpg. H , Y Y 15 I 2008 . K ( , , ...) Y
. T / . T. : 210 3442103, 210 3443145, 3443259,3442314. Fax : 210
3443127 E-mail : [email protected]
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, I B2 I . ( 1599/86, 8) : ) , ) : 1) M 2) . 40 A (A1 A2 test) . 50
B1 . 60 B2 . 70 1 T O Y (.O.Y.) , K.A.E. 3741. 3) ( , , , , ) . 4)
E A , E. O A : www.ypepth.gr/kpg
12
Social Psychology and ELT-authorityNick Michelioudakis (B.
Econ., Dip. RSA, MSc [TEFL]) has been working in the field of ELT
for more years than he cares to remember. He is currently a teacher
at the Deree College. He likes to think of himself as a front-line
teacher and is particularly interested in one-to-one teaching. When
he is not struggling with students, he likes to spend his time in a
swimming pool or playing chess. If you would like to ask any
questions, make any comments read some of his published articles or
find out about forthcoming events, please visit his site at
www.michelioudakis.org.
Picture a nurse working in a hospital. The phone rings, she
answers it. The caller identifies himself as a hospital physician
and directs the nurse to administer 20 mg of a certain drug to a
particular patient. Note the following: a) the doctor gives his
instructions by phone which is against the rules, b) the medication
is unauthorized, c) the medicine bottle clearly states Max daily
dose 10 mg and d) the nurse has never seen this person or heard his
name before. What does the nurse do? What would you have done? Now
forget this example for a moment and read on. What follows is in my
opinion one of the most horrifying experiments ever. Milgrams
famous experiment: (Described in Brehm, Kassin & Fein 2002) You
agree to take part in an experiment on the study of memory. You go
to the laboratory where a researcher clad in a white robe is
waiting for you along with another volunteer. The researcher
explains the basic idea, which is to see how punishment affects
learning and memory. One of the two volunteers is to be the teacher
and the other the learner. Lots are cast. You are the teacher. The
role of the learner is to study a list of pairs of words until he
can remember them perfectly. Afterwards, the learner is taken to a
cubicle where he is strapped into something suspiciously
reminiscent of an electric chair. The researcher then takes you to
a small room with a board full of switches. You can clearly see the
learner from there. The researcher explains the procedure. The
teacher (you that is) calls out a word. If the learner can remember
the second word of the pair, then you continue. If not, you throw a
switch which administers an electric
shock to the learner. However and at this point you may start
feeling a bit queasy with every new mistake the shocks increase in
strength by 15 volts. All is fine in the beginning. The learner
makes some mistakes and you duly administer the shocks but you can
see that the latter, although causing discomfort to the learner,
are not really that serious. Yet, the intensity keeps going up. In
the 75-105 V range you can hear the learner groaning. At the 150 V
level he shouts that he wants to stop. The researcher calmly
prompts you to continue. It is obvious now that the shock level is
such that the learner cannot concentrate, so he keeps making
mistakes and the punishment continues. You can see the learner
writhing in agony and screaming at the 190-240 V level. After that
he stops, though you can see his body jerk with each shock. The
shocks go up to the 450 V level. Do you carry on? Fortunately, this
was just an experiment. Subjects (the teachers) later found out
that no shock had actually been administered and the learner was in
fact an actor. Yet what matters is what they thought was happening.
Under these circumstances how far up the scale would you have gone?
Well, 65% of the subjects went on to administer the maximum shock
possible! Why? 1 Applications in the field of ELT: According to
Milgram, the most important finding of this study was peoples
extreme willingness to obey authority (Cialdini 2001). While his
purpose was to alert people to how dangerous this can be, let us
for a moment suspend all moral objections and look at the principle
itself. Can we use it?
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I believe that what this experiment shows has huge implications
for classroom management. If ss can see us as authority figures,
the chances are that we will have very few problems with discipline
and our work will be that much easier. How can we come across as
more authoritative? Cialdini (2001) mentions three factors, to
which I would add a fourth one. Titles: If you have them, flaunt
them! Especially among adults, a Ph.D. , DOS, Teacher Trainer or
ESOL Oral Examiner may well carry a lot of weight. 2 Clothes:
Various experiments have shown that a uniform greatly increases
compliance. Teachers normally do not wear uniforms, but in my
experience being welldressed never fails to produce a positive
effect. 3 Trappings: Little things like accessories, gadgets, a
professional-looking mobile phone or a good briefcase also add to
the overall effect (Bernstein & Nash 2005). The place is also
important; when the experiment was conducted in a less prestigious
office, compliance dropped to 48% (Wren 1999). Professionalism:
This is less tangible. However, being generally organized, giving
an outline of the course or lesson at the beginning and most
importantly explaining the rationale of what you do by sharing with
ss some of the findings of research in the ELT field certainly help
in making you come across as a competent professional. Going back
to Milgram, there are some further points worth mentioning:
Proximity: The closer the researcher was to the teacher, the higher
the compliance rate (Aronson 1999). So it is not enough to just
issue instructions to our ss; we have to circulate, be among them,
helping, redirecting and monitoring. This is vital especially in
pair/group work activities (Dornyei 2001). Defiance: The presence
of a coparticipant who defied the experimenter reduced compliance
rates to 10%! (Bernstein & Nash 2005). The implication is
clear; the presence of one disruptive s can play havoc with
classroom discipline. In such cases the T and the institution need
to take quick and decisive action. 4 Graduated involvement: One
factor which certainly contributed to the high level of compliance
was the fact that the teachers delivered the shocks bit by bit. If
they had stopped halfway, it would have been very difficult for
them to
justify to themselves why they had gone up to that stage in the
first place (Wren 1999). Once again, we see that in order to get
our ss to do something hard it is best to do it step-by-step.
Having started work on, say, a project, their initial commitment
may well see the whole thing through. Voluntary commitment: Please
note that all the teachers were volunteers. Time and again we come
across this element: people are far more willing to
co-operate/comply if they feel that they have done so without
external pressure or even rewards. The moral here is: a) wherever
possible, give ss a choice; even an onerous task seems far less so
if you have chosen it yourself! (Cialdini 2001) b) beware of
offering rewards; you may increase initial excitement but you may
also be depriving learners of the inner motive. I am sure that if
Milgram read this article he would be horrified. He had meant his
research as a warning against compliance as an illustration of what
blind obedience to authority can make people do. Yet here I have
been advocating all along that we make use of this factor in order
to induce discipline. The point is that there are cases when it can
be positive. In a variation of the original experiment, the learner
demanded that the experiment continues despite the intense pain he
appeared to feel. The experimenter on the other hand ordered the
teacher to stop. In every case, the shocks ceased immediately! It
seems that we obey authority for good or evil (Wren 1999). The
principle is there the point is how we choose to use it. PS: What
about the nurses mentioned in the introduction?? Well, 95% of them
(!!) dutifully prepared to administer the drug, before being
stopped and told that the . 14
13
Jon Naunton: Keep the faithAfter writing Think First
Certificate, which is one of the all time best sellers with an
unsually long life span at least compared to coursebooks nowadays,
did you move on to write other books? Yes, thats right, I wrote two
more books for Longman and since then I have written several books
for Oxford University Press. Whats the difference, from the authors
point of view, when writing a business coursebook or a general
coursebook? An exams book is much more focused because you have the
final exam and that has a backwash effect on the teaching that
preceeds it, so to a certain extent you have to teach to the
examination. Theres the market for students who are in work, which
is very much based on communication skills, helps students
participate in meetings, socialising, telephoning etc. There are
about nine or ten key communications skills areas they cover. Thats
for people who are in-work. People who are still studying, for
example a general business course for university students, people
who follow a vocational program that deal with marketing, i.e. what
marketing is, the product life cycle, market segmentation, brand
extension, you need to include that in that set of vocabulary. For
people who are in work, theyve already chosen their specialism, and
its much more based on their day-to-day communicative needs. So
both categories you focused on (business English and exams) need to
produce immediate results with the students. You need immediate
payoff and, in a way, the objectives are much more clearly defined
than with general English. How much would you say a candidates
success or a business persons ability to communicate well in a
foreign language is up to the material used or to the teacher using
this material? I think the responsibility is shared equally but the
most important variable in all this is the student. I remember when
I learnt how to swim I was quite scared of the water. Our teacher,
I even remember her name, Miss Townsend she was, she gave us a
cotton reel to hold. And she held the cotton reel by the side of
the pool and there was a piece of string, and the kids swam around
the pool. Now there actually is no way that the cotton reel kept us
above water, but it gave us the self-confidence to do it, so I
think very often with business people youll have someone who is the
managing director or the marketing manager of a company who has a
huge responsibility and is probably a tyrant to his or her staff,
but when they come into your class they are like a little child
again. And part of the thing that you have to instil them is
confidence. Is it the same as for a exam candidate? Yes and no,
because I think you need far more content for the examination. With
business English you can very often activate what theyve got and
set up scenarios, information gap activities which help translate
what they know in what they can do, so that they maximize their
communicative competence not focusing too much on accuracy but
making sure they can punch like a boxer above their weight. So the
teacher is a bit like Miss Townsend holding the cotton reel,
proving to a student Yes, you really can do it, you really can
through a presentation. And the style of teaching too is quite very
different because very often with in-work classes books dont always
work. Then what you need to do is use a test and teach test
approach. You get the student to do a short presentation on a
topic, you record them or you know what they said and say You did
this, how can we make it better and then you give them another go
for the same or an analogous topic for a second attempt so that
they can actually measure. I think being able to measure progress
and achievement too with in-work students is basic, particularly as
tuition time is much shorter. You might see people for an intensive
course for 20 hours. The Cambridge First Certificate, which you
specialise in, has undergone changes, the most recent ones being
introduced this coming December. Do you feel these changes will
have an impact in the way people look at the Cambridge exams? Thats
an interesting question. I think that they will still see, because
whats happened with the Cambridge exam is that theyve been given a
bit of a liposuction. So what theyve done is they have reduced the
exam from about five hours to four, a question has disappeared from
paper 1, paper 2 is pretty much the same, paper three has
beenDuring his recent visit to Athens for the Kosmos Book
Exhibitions in April, Jon Naunton, better known in Greece for his
best seller coursebook Think First Certificate, spoke to Lingua
Franca about his views on the Cambridge examinations with
particular focus on the First Certificate.
shortened down to 45 minute. The beast is still the same, so I
dont think people will say the beast is different. The beast is
definitely Cambridge First Certificate. And I think that it remains
a gold standard. I think it is a shame that people are trying to
find an exam which is perceived to be easier. Because I think that
if people have First Certificate it really does prove they have a
good, balanced knowledge across the skills, they have good grammar,
they have good vocabulary, and that it can either be a terminus or
a springboard to go to higher levels.
You mentioned an easier examination, would that be in terms of
language level or more student friendly, as some of the tasks in
Cambridge First Certificate are considered to be too complicated.
And one more thing, judging by average the Greek candidate, we can
safely say that they are below the average age level of candidates
in other countries. So, naturally, they do not possess the social
skills required to tackle these tasks. Thats right! I think it is
important to supply them with models during the course that leads
up to the examination and plenty pf practice. Students need clear
models, particularly younger ones. I actually think that it helps
the candidates a lot to have the writing task contextualised. I
remember in the old days, it would be write a story ending with the
words and
I never saw her again and that was it. Now students are given
much more of a context e.g. and I think that this helps the
students with the exam. I generally feel, hand on my heart, that
the First Certificate examination is a good thing. There is this
English author called G.K. Chesterton and in his Father Brown
series he says: The trouble is when people stop believing in God,
theyll start believing in anything and I think that what perhaps
happened a little bit in the Greek market is that people have lost
the faith with the First Certificate examination and they have
started believing in anything, any other exam that comes along. And
I think that is a pity, because if you look at the research that
goes into producing the UCLES exams, the item analysis, the
pre-testing it still remains the most reliable and the examination
with the most validity. I get the impression that other examination
boards are . 14
14 . 13
trying to jump onto the bandwagon. Greek students look at the
Cambridge exams as being very difficult. What do you think about
that? That, in the past two revisions, the level of the examination
has stayed the same. Thats my instinct, obviously people in Greece
who have a far better idea of how their students relate to the
exam, is perhaps due to the fact that candidates are getting
younger? Not really, but there are also discussions that the
general level of the students is dropping and that seeps into
language learning as well. Teachers complain that students are
getting more and more indifferent as time goes by. I am probably
taking a hard line here but I believe it is not up to the
examination board to bend itself to the changes or the interests or
the maturity of students. The whole of an examination, it is a
beacon, a benchmark, something the candidate has to overcome and to
dumb the exam down, if I can put it that way, for each generation,
seems to me like a
Keep the faithvery poor idea as we will end up with something
thats incredibly devalued. What are your immediate plans? You are
working with a popular publisher in Greece, New Editions, who are
well known for their exams books. I have written Spotlight, which
it is a coursebook but not a First Certificate light one. It is a
solid, full 60 unit, ten page per unit coursebook and the reason
that we chose the title Spotlight is because we wanted to focus, we
wanted to shine light on every aspect of the examination and help
students with examination technique skills. This is probably the
big development for me since my Think First Certificate days. What
I would like to tell teachers in Greece is keep the faith, hang on
in there!
Jon Naunton BioAfter graduating with a degree in English Jon
trained at International House London. He then went on to work with
the IH organization for twenty years. On returning to Britain after
five years in Italy and Libya, he was director of ILC executive
centre in London. He has also had short stints teachingin Germany
and Sweden and teacher training in the Sudan and Oman. Rejoining
International House London he taught at all levels and trained
teachers on numerous Cambridge CELTA and Diploma courses. While at
International House he was director of Studies with responsibility
for examination classes in charge of a team of more than thirty
teachers. His teaching and writing career have also taken him to
many different countries notably to Greece, Spain and Poland. In
addition, he spoken to teachers in Germany, France, Hungary, the
Czech Republic, Slovakia and Russia. He now lives in France where
he has worked with university and business school students, and in
further education. He enjoys meeting and speaking to other
teachers, and has written a number of course-books in the areas of
exam preparation, business English and adult general English. His
guiding aim is to produce engaging, thorough and reliable material
for his teaching colleagues and their students. As well as a degree
in English, he has an MA in second language learning and teaching
from the University of London, and an MBA from City/Cass business
school.
Social Psychology and ELT-authority . 12
Doctor did not actually exist and that it was all in fact an
experiment(Cialdini 2001).1 Interestingly, when Milgram asked
people this question hypothetically (i.e. not in the context of the
experiment) everyone denied that they would do such a thing. Even
psychologists failed to guess the results: they predicted that only
1 person in a thousand would go up to that level! (Eysenck 1996) 2
This depends on the context of course. We have to strike the right
balance between being respected and creating an
artificial gap between ourselves and the learner which might
make it hard for us to work with them, especially on an 1-to-1
basis. 3 Once again, being too formally dressed might detract from
our ability to get close to our ss. The point is to look
professional without appearing to be distant. 4 I know I sound like
a strict disciplinarian but I have known cases when a reluctance to
be firm jeopardized the progress of the whole group. We do want to
be sympathetic towards disruptive ss but we also have to think of
the class as a whole.
References1. Aronson, E. The Social Animal
Worth Freeman, 1999 2. Bernstein, D. & Nash P. Essentials of
Psychology Houghton Mifflin, 2005 3. Brehm, S., Kassin, S. &
Fein S. Social Psychology Houghton Mifflin, 2002 4. Cialdini, R.
Influence Science and Practice, Allyn & Bacon 2001 5. Dornyei,
Z. Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom Cambridge
University Press, 2001 6. Eysenck, M. Simply Psychology Psychology
Press 1996 7. Wren, K. Social Influences Routledge 1999
15
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