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ELTWeekly Issue#53 Contents

By Tarun Patel

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#53, Article: ‘Activities to improve pronunciation in young learners of English’ by David Ockert

By Tarun Patel

Activities to improve pronunciation in young learners of English

By

David Ockert

Key Words: Young learners, games, activities, pronunciation

Learner English Level: Pre-beginner, beginner

Learner Maturity Level: Young learner

Preparation Time: 5 minutes or less

Activity Time: Usually from 10-30 minutes

Materials: The card game Uno!

The activities presented herein are hoped to help young Japanese learners of English (JLE) understand and recognize the differences in pronunciation of /b/ vs. /v/, and /l/ vs. /r/, which are possibly the most distinctively recognizable of any English consonants when mispronounced by Japanese students of English, because so many words in English have different meanings when these sounds are not pronounced correctly (Avery & Ehrlich, pp.134-138). They make the difference between hearing, “Would you like some more lice?” vs. “Would you like some more rice?” And, in my case, the name is Dave, not Debu – fatso in Japanese (Ockert, 2006).

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ELTWeekly Issue#51 Contents

By Tarun Patel

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#51, Video: The London School of English

By Tarun Patel

The London School of English is the world’s oldest accredited English language school providing Business and Professional courses at our Holland Park Gardens Centre and General and Examinations courses at Westcroft Square.

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#51, ELTWeekly Webinar

By Tarun Patel

We received 100+ emails for attending the webinar we are planning in the month of March (probably the 3rd week of March, 2010).

Well, the webinar will be conducted by Dr. Ranganayaki Srinivas, an ESL specialist, who has been working online after VRS. She started with a teaching English site. She has been involved in projects with many online marketers. Webinars and web conferences appeal to her idea of distance learning and continuing education.

Dr. Ranganayaki will share information on latest ICT tools for English Language Teaching. She will demonstrate the use of some of the Web 2.0 tools to make the webinar higly interactive.

Regarding the certificate postage charge: We are going to charge Rs. 100 for printing and posting the certificates. Please mind well, Dr. Ranganayaki is not going to charge a single rupee for this webinar. She normally charges $10 per person for her webinars.

Now, if you wish to be a part of this webinar training, please fill up this online form http://spreadsheets.google.com. Registration for the webinar will close on February 28. So please fill up this form on or before February 28.

Once you fill up this online form, we will write back to intimate your registration and the ways you can pay Rs. 100.

If you have any query, please feel free to ask :)

Tarun

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#51, eBook: Action Plan for Teachers

By Tarun Patel

‘Action Plan for Teachers’ is a 44-page illustrated book on the subject of English Language Teaching. The book covers the topics of planning and preparing lessons, teaching methodology and classroom practice, using technology in the classroom, and also has ideas for and examples of practical activities for different stages of the lesson.

Download ‘Action Plan for Teachers’ eBook by visiting http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/resources

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#51, News: Teaching a Foreign Language? Best Teach in the Accent of the Listener

By Tarun Patel

Teaching a Foreign Language? Best Teach in the Accent of the Listener

ScienceDaily (Feb. 17, 2010) — Perception of second language speech is easier when it is spoken in the accent of the listener and not in the ‘original’ accent of that language, shows a new study from the University of Haifa. The study was published in theJournal of Psycholinguistic Research.

Many adult schools teaching second languages insist on exposing their students to the languages in their ‘original’ accents. However, this new study, carried out by Dr. Raphiq Ibrahim and Dr. Mark Leikin of the University of Haifa’s Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities, Prof. Zohar Eviatar of the Department of Psychology and Prof. Shimon Sapir of the Department of Learning Disabilities, found that this system is not necessarily the best and certainly not the most expeditious.

Read the complete news by visiting http://www.sciencedaily.com

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#51, Free Guide: SAEL Guide: Practical guide to designing , running and improving support websites for language teachers

By Tarun Patel

SAEL Guide: Practical guide to designing , running and improving support websites for language teachers

Proficiency in several foreign languages and the acquisition of ICT skills is a strategic priority in Europe today. These new demands have transformed the way languages are taught across the European Union. It is set against this backdrop of profound change that the SAEL project came into being.

This guide, one of the final outcomes of the project, contains practical suggestions for creating and updating websites designed to support the work of language teachers.

– What is a language teacher support website?
– How are these websites designed, run and improved?
– Who is involved in this process and what are the main stages?
– Why does a support website represent real added value for the teaching community?

This guide sets out to provide practical answers to all these questions. It includes recommendations, examples of websites and good practices for setting up, improving and running support websites which match the requirements in your country, region or institution.

Download ‘SAEL Guide’ by visiting http://www.eurosael.eu/en/guide/presentation

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#51, Article: ‘Homework’ by TE Editor

By Tarun Patel

Homework
by BBC TeachingEnglish Editor

“Homework seems to be an accepted part of teachers’ and students’ routines, but there is little mention of it in ELT literature. The role of homework is hardly mentioned in the majority of general ELT texts or training courses, suggesting that there is little question as to its value even if the resulting workload is time-consuming. However, there is clearly room for discussion of homework policies and practices particularly now that technology has made so many more resources available to learners outside the classroom.

Reasons for homework

  • Attitudes to homework
  • Effective homework
  • Types of homework
  • Conclusion

Reasons for homework

  • Homework is expected by students, teachers, parents and institutions.
  • Homework reinforces and helps learners to retain information taught in the classroom as well as increasing their general understanding of the language.
  • Homework develops study habits and independent learning. It also encourages learners to acquire resources such as dictionaries and grammar reference books. Research shows that homework also benefits factual knowledge, self-discipline, attitudes to learning and problem-solving skills.
  • Homework offers opportunities for extensive activities in the receptive skills which there may not be time for in the classroom. It may also be an integral part of ongoing learning such as project work and the use of a graded reader.”

Read the rest of ‘Homework’ article by visiting http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/homework

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#51, Research Paper: With What Frequency Are Teachers Employing Evidenced-Based Procedures in Their Writing Classrooms?

By Tarun Patel

With What Frequency Are Teachers Employing Evidenced-Based Procedures in Their Writing Classrooms?

by Soiferman, L. Karen; Boyd, Karen; Straw, Stanley B.

Background: The need for improvement in writing instruction in schools is dependent on teachers being aware of evidence-based procedures in writing and implementing them on a regular basis in their classrooms. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the frequency with which teachers in Western Canada employed evidence-based procedures in writing instruction in the classes. The data were gathered on the eleven elements identified by Graham and Perin (2007) in their meta-analysis of the most effective procedures for teaching writing.

Setting: Writing classrooms in Western Canada. Study Sample: Seventy-five teachers randomly selected participated in the study. Intervention: none. Research Design: Statistical Survey. Control or Comparison Condition: none. Data Collection and Analysis: Data were collected on the frequency with which teachers employed the eleven effective elements identified by Graham & Perin (2007).

They were: Direct Strategy Instruction, Summarization Instruction, Collaborative Writing, Setting Specific Product Goals, Word Processing, Sentence Combining, Engaging in Pre-Writing Activities, Engaging in Inquiry Activities, Process Writing, the Study of Models, and Writing for Content Area Learning. Two other elements, Formal Grammar Instruction, and the Use of Writing Rubrics were also investigated.

Findings: We found that approximately a quarter of the teachers surveyed employed the most powerful elements for teaching writing on a regular basis. The notable exceptions were in collaborative writing, teaching summarizing, and sentence combining which a small number of teachers utilized. Between and third and a half of the responses for the eleven elements were in the “seldom” or “never” categories.

Conclusion: This study makes no claims to why some teachers employ evidence-based techniques in teaching writing and why others do not. It is clear, however, that the percentage of classroom teachers who need to employ, regularly, evidence-based techniques need to be increased, at least in Western Canada. A concerted effort on the part of provincial ministries of education and teacher education institutions may be needed to keep teachers better informed on what strategies are most effective in teaching writing and how to implement those in their classes. Citation: Soiferman, L.K., Boyd, K., & Straw, S. B. (2010, Janaury 7). With What Frequency Are Teachers Employing Evidenced-Based Procedures in their Writing Classrooms? A paper presented at the 8th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Education, Honolulu, Hawaii. (Contains 3 notes.)

Download the ‘With What Frequency Are Teachers Employing Evidenced-Based Procedures in Their Writing Classrooms?’ research paper by visiting http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal

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