862. Shhhh! They're working



One day teacher of English B said to teacher of English A, “When your students have got to carry out a class activity – say from a simple drill in their course book to a short role-play – they must be active, not mere passive listeners that just hear they’ve got to do an activity: the learners of languages that succeed actually see that activity as something of their own, and they think they must solve that activity.

Those true learners dive into the activity, try to understand it, read it and read it again, and their minds start to ‘process’ all that written information and they become able to produce something original as a response. They feel satisfied. I’d say that, for those students, understanding that exercise or activity means that 50% of the task has already been done, already been solved.

Those learners become their own teachers, the motor or engine of their own process of learning the target language. In this way they are doing an authentically human work, a creative one; they’re creative, they’re conducting as human persons. That work dignifies them, and they dignify that work, and also they dignify others with that work. The class in this case is not something alienating or dehumanizing, but all the contrary: profoundly human and humane.

It’s so too, evidently and even more, when those people carry out that work for love to God and service to the class community. Because the person is a creature of God, and even more, a son or daughter of God.” / Photo from: aufc ca. Le professeur David Staines recoit l’Ordre de l’Ontario. Professeur d'anglais   

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

3658. Language Facts or Communication in Class?

  I teach English to adults. It’s so great … and demanding.  Adults have some characteristic way of learning the language. For example they tend to focus on specific grammar patterns and ways of saying things in the target language. Well, it’s something I also do when learning that language myself. And it is something I cannot change. It is something we can take advantage from, anyway.  Even in that way they can learn quite a lot. You know, it doesn’t matter they would ask me questions in class that show they are focusing on grammar. It’s ok. It’s ok ever if also we as teachers facilitate there is plenty of communication in English in class.  I mean, do not confine as a teacher to teach grammar and language facts, but provide a lot of communication in class.  When some newcomer arrives at one of those groups of mine – and I’m thinking of one specific group – that new student says kind of, Oh I can see my classmates have a lot of fluency while in my case … Why do the other students have
Read more

758. Irregular verbs now and then

Image
One day teacher of English B said to teacher of English A, “English irregular verbs are an interesting grammar point Spanish students have to study year after year, increasing the list of them each academic year. Quite many more verbs of this type existed in Old English, before the 11th century, perhaps most of the English verbs then. In other words, the way each verb took the form of past simple and past participle was more complicate than the simple – ed ending. With centuries passing, fewer and fewer verbs remained as such ‘irregular’ verbs, in fact those verbs native speakers used very often. Because of that those verbs remained being ‘irregular’, while most of the English verbs, roughly speaking, were taking on the regular form of – ed for past simple and past participle. This can be due just to linguistic evolutions that actually occur in every language, with the language common people speak, year after year. Beside the fact that many words, so verbs too, were entering in the E
Read more

2064. Connecting people from different countries

Image
Something we teachers of English or other languages have to bear in mind when teaching adults is that the students should learn and practice communication, and we shouldn’t confine our classes to give them facts of the languages.  Also in kids’ case.  The point isn’t for them to know information about the language, yet to learn how to communicate in that language.  Thus we could plan our classes with that aim.  I state all this because we could dedicate a long time to teach facts, information, something nearly dead, say.  In this way, besides we contribute to connect people from so varied countries. It’s something brilliant, isn’t it? / Photo from: people-happy-cheering bachflowerssingapore wordpress com
Read more

2065. Teaching grammar with meaningful examples

Image
When presenting a new verbal tense I have said once at least that the teacher should proceed according to a logical process.  1. Saying sentences by using the verbal tense – the students listen to the examples.  And here is the main point: those sentences should be meaningful ones for them, not about things which are out of their worlds.  2. The teacher asks questions to be answered by the students, using the verbal tense – be patient at this step; think for example of past simple: you will have to wait for a while until they start to say correct samples.  3. The teacher and one student that understood the grammar of the verbal tense write sentences on the chalkboard or smart board. The students read out the sentences, by turns or as a chorus.  And number 4 is they write sentences with that grammar point, both on their tablets, and on the chalkboard, by turns and in a volunteering way. I’ve learned this process mainly from Mrs. M. J. A. / Photo from: happydoll
Read more