Who Am I? Where Am I? and What Am I? are well-known games with a couple of variations. I've revised previous materials I made to save reinventing the wheel, and have further simplified the language so that (except for names, numbers and fillers, e.g. Ah, Hmm, Oh), 94% is A1 and rest is A2 vocabulary (according to Word Kitchen). The materials are designed for students to use in a self-access (language learning) centre and play out of class.
In-Class Use
After students have had a tour of the self-access centre and start to get settled into the 1st semester, I introduce a selection of games like this in class (which is part of an oral communication course with a focus on fluency development).
Students choose which game they want to play and I am there to help if they wish to ask any questions but are generally able to figure it out amongst themselves. You can find more games here:
http://www.konan-wu.ac.jp/~espace/games.html
Out-of-class Use (Self-Access Centre)
Between classes, they have to complete a self-access centre 'challenge'. For the week in question, they must choose a different game and then answer a short online Reflection & Evaluation questionnaire. (Feedback on the games has generally been very positive - see comments below.)
They usually play during lunchtime or between classes in a free period or at the end of the day. If they need help or want to play with someone, there is always a Learning Advisor in the centre and sometimes a Student Volunteer Staff or International Students speaking English. However, as materials are photocopiable, they can also take a copy and basically play anytime, anywhere.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a0kPu_NUgRmH4xhLqYLSe5IvGZO7_Rs9/view?usp=sharing
Showing posts with label Phil Brown. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Phil Brown. Show all posts
Saturday, August 4, 2018
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
Where would you like to see yourself 12 months from now, in terms of being a materials writer?
Where would you like to see yourself 12 months from now, in terms of being a materials writer?
Over the past 15+ years, I've developed a fair amount of materials and lesson plans although of hugely varying quality.
Whilst I have a tendency to make new materials for each new course, and changing jobs has typically meant this has been a necessity, I'd really like to go through the stuff I have and turn a selection into something publishable.
Finding a focus will help to be selective and make the goal more concrete, then breaking it down into manageable steps will be the way to go.
This was a great question to ask us all at the end of the course, and I've been inspired and energised by reading everyone's answers plus the comments below them.
Wonderful to see so many wheels set in motion!! Thanks again for everything!!
Over the past 15+ years, I've developed a fair amount of materials and lesson plans although of hugely varying quality.
Whilst I have a tendency to make new materials for each new course, and changing jobs has typically meant this has been a necessity, I'd really like to go through the stuff I have and turn a selection into something publishable.
Finding a focus will help to be selective and make the goal more concrete, then breaking it down into manageable steps will be the way to go.
This was a great question to ask us all at the end of the course, and I've been inspired and energised by reading everyone's answers plus the comments below them.
Wonderful to see so many wheels set in motion!! Thanks again for everything!!
Thursday, July 26, 2018
Firstly, my apologies for the delay in getting this finished.
Firstly, my apologies for the delay in getting this finished.
This is primarily aimed at high school, university students, and adults learners in EFL contexts, particularly Asia, where a lack of fluency is prevalent (mostly due to limited exposure or opportunities to use English and education systems that focus on rote memorisation, grammar translation, and written exams).
The lesson aims to (1) explore and understand fluency, and (2) understand and improve our fluency development practices.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NuFPx6oSvdy2G5V5YuJIgV4R4jtvb5a6/view?usp=sharing
(The materials will also be used in part of a teacher development workshop in August 2018 at the MELTA 2018 Conference, Malaysia.)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NuFPx6oSvdy2G5V5YuJIgV4R4jtvb5a6/view?usp=sharing
This is primarily aimed at high school, university students, and adults learners in EFL contexts, particularly Asia, where a lack of fluency is prevalent (mostly due to limited exposure or opportunities to use English and education systems that focus on rote memorisation, grammar translation, and written exams).
The lesson aims to (1) explore and understand fluency, and (2) understand and improve our fluency development practices.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NuFPx6oSvdy2G5V5YuJIgV4R4jtvb5a6/view?usp=sharing
(The materials will also be used in part of a teacher development workshop in August 2018 at the MELTA 2018 Conference, Malaysia.)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NuFPx6oSvdy2G5V5YuJIgV4R4jtvb5a6/view?usp=sharing
Tuesday, July 17, 2018
Q) Which ONE piece of advice would you give a teacher who wanted to create their own classroom material?
Q) Which ONE piece of advice would you give a teacher who wanted to create their own classroom material?
A) *Protect yourself from copyright infringement and protect your work*
- as strongly advised by a lawyer turned writer whose workshop I attended at the weekend.
Over the past 20 years, she's dealt with so many clients who (a) didn't think that anyone would care about their infringement (typically because they thought they were 'too small'); or (b) didn't protect their own work adequately, only to see it stolen and/or commercialised by someone else profiting on what they'd done.
She also pointed out how if you suddenly find yourself being sued for breach of copyright years after the event (perhaps once you've become more successful or even famous), it's incredibly disruptive and will cost you much, much more (time and money) than it would have done to take the appropriate steps in the first place. So always pay first (if necessary) or offer to pay later (after the fact) if you hadn't realised.
A) *Protect yourself from copyright infringement and protect your work*
- as strongly advised by a lawyer turned writer whose workshop I attended at the weekend.
Over the past 20 years, she's dealt with so many clients who (a) didn't think that anyone would care about their infringement (typically because they thought they were 'too small'); or (b) didn't protect their own work adequately, only to see it stolen and/or commercialised by someone else profiting on what they'd done.
She also pointed out how if you suddenly find yourself being sued for breach of copyright years after the event (perhaps once you've become more successful or even famous), it's incredibly disruptive and will cost you much, much more (time and money) than it would have done to take the appropriate steps in the first place. So always pay first (if necessary) or offer to pay later (after the fact) if you hadn't realised.
Friday, July 13, 2018
In my previous job as a learning advisor in an English Department at a private women's university in Japan, I had...
In my previous job as a learning advisor in an English Department at a private women's university in Japan, I had the opportunity to make a number of 'study guides'. At the time, I used lextutor (https://www.lextutor.ca/cgi-bin/vp/eng/output.pl) to help me analyse the vocabulary levels and aimed for 85%+ words from the 2000 most frequent words and 95%+ including academic words.
Here is a link to the study guides and activities main page.
http://www.konan-wu.ac.jp/~espace/studyguides.html
For this assignment, I'd like to revisit one of them on "Which words?"
http://www.konan-wu.ac.jp/~espace/_assets/Which%20Words%20Guide.PSB.22Aug2011.pdf
It's basically a guide to help students to decide which words to focus on rather than trying to learn every new, unknown word which can be overwhelming.
Originally, lextutor showed the following results:
85% 1-1000 most frequent words
7% 1001-2000 most frequent words
6% Academic World List
So, with 92% in the top 2000 words and 98% K1+K2+AWL, I was quite satisfied.
This time, however, I used Vocab Kitchen (which was introduced in the last session), because I wanted to see how it matches up with CEFR: http://vocabkitchen.com/profiler/cefr
1. Words in the text by CEFR Level
Sort A1: 68%
Sort A2: 16%
Sort B1: 4%
Sort B2: 5%
Sort C1: 0%
Sort C2: 0%
So, with 84% A1-A2, and 93% A1-B2, I'm also quite happy, especially since most of the 8% offlist words are numbers.
However, I can still find room for improvement from a vocabulary perspective:
1. I could replace "e.g."(which most students don't know in Japan) with the more familiar 'Ex' or 'For example'.
2. 'modules' can be removed
3. 'multiple' in 'multiple meanings' can be changed to 'more than one meaning'
Please note: All the guides and activities are freely downloadable and photocopiable but I would welcome any feedback from you, other teachers and, most importantly, students. Thank you in advance.
http://www.konan-wu.ac.jp/~espace/studyguides.html
Here is a link to the study guides and activities main page.
http://www.konan-wu.ac.jp/~espace/studyguides.html
For this assignment, I'd like to revisit one of them on "Which words?"
http://www.konan-wu.ac.jp/~espace/_assets/Which%20Words%20Guide.PSB.22Aug2011.pdf
It's basically a guide to help students to decide which words to focus on rather than trying to learn every new, unknown word which can be overwhelming.
Originally, lextutor showed the following results:
85% 1-1000 most frequent words
7% 1001-2000 most frequent words
6% Academic World List
So, with 92% in the top 2000 words and 98% K1+K2+AWL, I was quite satisfied.
This time, however, I used Vocab Kitchen (which was introduced in the last session), because I wanted to see how it matches up with CEFR: http://vocabkitchen.com/profiler/cefr
1. Words in the text by CEFR Level
Sort A1: 68%
Sort A2: 16%
Sort B1: 4%
Sort B2: 5%
Sort C1: 0%
Sort C2: 0%
So, with 84% A1-A2, and 93% A1-B2, I'm also quite happy, especially since most of the 8% offlist words are numbers.
However, I can still find room for improvement from a vocabulary perspective:
1. I could replace "e.g."(which most students don't know in Japan) with the more familiar 'Ex' or 'For example'.
2. 'modules' can be removed
3. 'multiple' in 'multiple meanings' can be changed to 'more than one meaning'
Please note: All the guides and activities are freely downloadable and photocopiable but I would welcome any feedback from you, other teachers and, most importantly, students. Thank you in advance.
http://www.konan-wu.ac.jp/~espace/studyguides.html
Sunday, July 8, 2018
When using an authentic audio or video it is important to use only ‘native speakers’.
When using an authentic audio or video it is important to use only ‘native speakers’.
Do you agree or disagree? Give reasons.
Whilst I think it is important to include 'native speakers', I disagree that we should only use native speakers, unless that is what our institution/customers explicitly request.
Firstly, learners have many different goals and needs that we should be aware of (e.g. the advertising manager I taught who needed to understand Thai English as that's where they were making their next commercial; the Japanese concert manager who needed to understand East European Englishes as that's where a lot of his business/musicians came from; the fashion business owner who made regular trips to Vietnam and Thailand to talk to suppliers; and the international student who studied abroad at an UK campus in Malaysia).
Secondly, in this globalised world, even though learners may think they're going to need a certain type of English, for example, because they're going to study in the UK, that fact is that they will encounter a variety of world Englishes as well as local variations. And if they need to call any company and speak to customer service, they may be located in India, the Philippines, or elsewhere, and there may be a variety within that location, too.
Thirdly, learners may need to be reminded that there are many varieties of 'native-speaker' with different local accents, pronciation, slang, etc (e.g. South African English, Kiwi English, Indian English; Geordie, Scouse, and so on). Whilst it isn't necessary to learn them all or be exposed to everything, it's good to find out what type of English students will most likely encounter and need to understand. For example, I had a Japanese student going to Newcastle for one year study abroad. Even as a Londoner myself, it can be challenge to understand some Geordies so I introduced some movies for her to watch and we looked for radio stations as well as interviews/talks by famous Geordies. These days, however, it's increasingly easy to find helpful stuff on YouTube, e.g. How to Speak Geordie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZZ_AqyAZYw
There are also a few lists and resources that have been shared by English language teachers already, such as this one 20 years ago:
https://linguistlist.org/issues/9/9-1612.html
For young learners, too, consider different age-appropriate cartoons, e.g. Sesame Street (US), Bob The Builder (UK & US), Thomas (UK & US) Chuggington (UK), and Peppa Pig (UK), or dramas.
Music, TED and TED Ed Talks are also good resources of course but may be challenging so it can be helpful to find other sources adapted for learners:
Voice of America News
https://learningenglish.voanews.com/
English Language Listening Lab Online:
http://www.elllo.org/
and more!
On the other hand, I do tend to emphasise the benefits of developing clear pronunciation and enunciation in order for students to be more easily understod regardless of where they go.
Do you agree or disagree? Give reasons.
Whilst I think it is important to include 'native speakers', I disagree that we should only use native speakers, unless that is what our institution/customers explicitly request.
Firstly, learners have many different goals and needs that we should be aware of (e.g. the advertising manager I taught who needed to understand Thai English as that's where they were making their next commercial; the Japanese concert manager who needed to understand East European Englishes as that's where a lot of his business/musicians came from; the fashion business owner who made regular trips to Vietnam and Thailand to talk to suppliers; and the international student who studied abroad at an UK campus in Malaysia).
Secondly, in this globalised world, even though learners may think they're going to need a certain type of English, for example, because they're going to study in the UK, that fact is that they will encounter a variety of world Englishes as well as local variations. And if they need to call any company and speak to customer service, they may be located in India, the Philippines, or elsewhere, and there may be a variety within that location, too.
Thirdly, learners may need to be reminded that there are many varieties of 'native-speaker' with different local accents, pronciation, slang, etc (e.g. South African English, Kiwi English, Indian English; Geordie, Scouse, and so on). Whilst it isn't necessary to learn them all or be exposed to everything, it's good to find out what type of English students will most likely encounter and need to understand. For example, I had a Japanese student going to Newcastle for one year study abroad. Even as a Londoner myself, it can be challenge to understand some Geordies so I introduced some movies for her to watch and we looked for radio stations as well as interviews/talks by famous Geordies. These days, however, it's increasingly easy to find helpful stuff on YouTube, e.g. How to Speak Geordie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZZ_AqyAZYw
There are also a few lists and resources that have been shared by English language teachers already, such as this one 20 years ago:
https://linguistlist.org/issues/9/9-1612.html
For young learners, too, consider different age-appropriate cartoons, e.g. Sesame Street (US), Bob The Builder (UK & US), Thomas (UK & US) Chuggington (UK), and Peppa Pig (UK), or dramas.
Music, TED and TED Ed Talks are also good resources of course but may be challenging so it can be helpful to find other sources adapted for learners:
Voice of America News
https://learningenglish.voanews.com/
English Language Listening Lab Online:
http://www.elllo.org/
and more!
On the other hand, I do tend to emphasise the benefits of developing clear pronunciation and enunciation in order for students to be more easily understod regardless of where they go.
Which Principles of Material Design are most important for you? Why?
My materials this week are for my kids and their friends (aged 5-7), so the following are most important:
1. They must be appealing (visually pleasing + sustain curiosity and attention)
2. They must be an appropriately challenging level but also be flexible due to the age range.
3. They must provide opportunities for authentic language use to communicate.
4. They must provide opportunities for feedback on language use.
5. They should have authentic language use.
6. They should help learners pay attention to authentic features of language.
7. PARSNIPS
Since I am the teacher, I can modify and adapt easily, but I would like to develop materials for commercial purposes in the future. These are the first steps in a journey of 1000 miles ;-)
1000 apologies for sharing at the 11th hour!
1000 apologies for sharing at the 11th hour!
I've developed some materials for teaching my own kids (aged 5-7) and their friends. Although English is their first language, having grown up in two countries with 2-3 languages and now in a mixed ESL/EFL context (Malaysia), they are not as proficient as their peers in the UK.
I've adapted some authentic materials from a BBC CBeeBies Magazine on Chuggington that they like. It's far from polished as I whipped it up today but hope it's of interest.
Here's the link which should allow comments:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nnftGvWR2FMLsfp5MtbJZXe1nJb_kWXs/view?usp=sharing
(Please note that this cannot be distributed as I would be in breach of copyright.)
Many thanks in advance!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nnftGvWR2FMLsfp5MtbJZXe1nJb_kWXs/view?usp=sharing
I've developed some materials for teaching my own kids (aged 5-7) and their friends. Although English is their first language, having grown up in two countries with 2-3 languages and now in a mixed ESL/EFL context (Malaysia), they are not as proficient as their peers in the UK.
I've adapted some authentic materials from a BBC CBeeBies Magazine on Chuggington that they like. It's far from polished as I whipped it up today but hope it's of interest.
Here's the link which should allow comments:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nnftGvWR2FMLsfp5MtbJZXe1nJb_kWXs/view?usp=sharing
(Please note that this cannot be distributed as I would be in breach of copyright.)
Many thanks in advance!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nnftGvWR2FMLsfp5MtbJZXe1nJb_kWXs/view?usp=sharing
Tuesday, June 26, 2018
Hi everyone!
Hi everyone!
I'm excited and eager to take this course with you all and have enjoyed reading your introductions.
I taught in Japan from 2001-2014 in a range of contexts from kindy, JHS/HS and uni to private corporations, government ministries and an NGO/NPO, as well as doing some private classes and tuition. Having spent the last 4 years primarily as a stay-at-home dad with 3 littl'uns, I've just been doing some tuition for primarily-aged kids, plus tutoring MA TESOL and MA Applied Linguistics candidates. Now, I'm gradually re-launching my career and have enjoyed developing the new iTDi TESOL Certificate Course and hosting The Teachers' Room with Steven Herder since February.
From lesson planning to materials development, I've always had a passion for the creative-side as we try to craft, support, and stimulate the learning process. And as I moved away from textbooks to developing course-specific materials, I became increasingly interested in materials development and would like to learn to do this more professionally.
https://itdi.pro/itdihome/the-teachers-room/
I'm excited and eager to take this course with you all and have enjoyed reading your introductions.
I taught in Japan from 2001-2014 in a range of contexts from kindy, JHS/HS and uni to private corporations, government ministries and an NGO/NPO, as well as doing some private classes and tuition. Having spent the last 4 years primarily as a stay-at-home dad with 3 littl'uns, I've just been doing some tuition for primarily-aged kids, plus tutoring MA TESOL and MA Applied Linguistics candidates. Now, I'm gradually re-launching my career and have enjoyed developing the new iTDi TESOL Certificate Course and hosting The Teachers' Room with Steven Herder since February.
From lesson planning to materials development, I've always had a passion for the creative-side as we try to craft, support, and stimulate the learning process. And as I moved away from textbooks to developing course-specific materials, I became increasingly interested in materials development and would like to learn to do this more professionally.
https://itdi.pro/itdihome/the-teachers-room/
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