Experiences of a teacher of English

One day teacher of English A said to teacher of English B, “The teacher has to teach contents, like history, so as to give an example. The teacher has to present specific points to his or her students. The teacher is like a (or should be), like a source of contents – and source of activitites. What I wanted to tell you today is that also, and this is important, the teacher has to teach their students to learn. As a result the students have to learn to learn: the student has to be active before a biology text, for instance, and so this student has to learn how to learn from that given text. It’s him that has to learn skills and techniques to focus on that text. But, look, this is so important as well: here the teacher has to teach how to learn, how and what learning strategies the student could apply, leaving an ample field for the student to do whatever he thinks it’s good to learn, this is, an ample area for freedom and initiative. In the case of English: the st...

One day teacher A said to teacher B (both girls are colleagues but at different schools), "A few weeks ago a new student registered in my school, where I work. She is some thirteen. Her dad had told me his daughter was hyperactive, and was not quite good at English. Ok, I took her into a parlor room of our center, and we had a small conversation. A necessary conversation for me to learn about her and her progress at the English subject from her former school. I tried to carefully listen to what she was telling me. I asked her some questions to make up my mind about her flaws and strong points. I tactfully tried to learn some about the context of her family as well. She says she understands English when spoken, less when reading, though. Etc. Also I told her that at our school it's the students themselves who treat their teachers nice, respectfully: so we get confidence from the students and advice from the teachers. I got out of the parlor somehow satisfied with this conversat...

The teacher trainer-coach told me, "Many teachers ask me up to what extent drill is good to learn English, or should we teachers put drill aside and using all the time alloted for the class-period to, say, creative writing, talking, etc? Drill is good practice. The students learn a grammar pattern, ok, and then it's convenient for them to practice that pattern in the form of the common regular drill-exercise, in which your kids have got to repeat a molded kind of sentence, or using the appropriate verbal tense." The Chosen 7 guys for the Mercury Project, at the beginning of the 60's. Oh, what were their names? Schirra, Sheperd, Gordon, Glenn, Carpenter..., Sorry. There is a novel about this thing. Tom Wolfe wrote it, The Right Stuff . Picture from www spacearium com.

The teacher trainer/coach told me, "Listen, I copied something that shows a learning strategy so clear. It's from the book by Rebecca Oxford I told you some weeks ago, and other times. It says, 'Placing a word or phrase in a meaningful sentence, conversation, or story in order to remember it . This strategy involves a form of associating/elaborating, in which the new information is linked with a context. This strategy is not the same as guessing intelligently, a set of compensation strategies (described later) which involve using all possible clues, including the context, to guess the meaning.' It's on page 41. Ultimately these learning strategies enable to build up communication, which is the goal of the school-subject of English." familias_numerosas 3bp blogspot com, thank you for the pic: awesome!

The teacher trainer/coach told me, 'My students make guesses about the meaning of a new word they see on the whiteboard. This is a good strategy, though unsconscious usually. As well they make theories about how to say a word they haven't learnt so far, but they need to express it. This is agood strategy also. They try and invent words , from the Spanish real words. This is good. This is effort. This is interest. This is the pathway to success. These kids are 10, 11, 12, 13 years old. They are starting to feel the texture of English. I'm satisfied, in bulk terms.' Thank you, www instablogsimages com, for the photograph.

I have just tried to change the label 'strategies' into 'learning strategies', but i've given up. Hence, when you click on the label of strategies, consider that I mean 'learning strategies'. On the photo you can see the new Airbus A400M, the biggest transportation aircraft, for military utilities. Yesterday, in the news on tv the speaker said that Spain is going to use it for humanitarian missions, wherever necessary. Two days ago it showed several hours of flying and the plane turned out to be satisfactory. The place was a military base near Seville, south of Spain. It can contain a 'copter, a tank, troops, supplies of useful material to aid people of zones of any kind of conflict. It's a plane designed and manufactured by European countries. Thanks to laatalayainformativa files wordpress com.

The teacher trainer/coach told me, ' Rebecca Oxford is an ace at learning strategies , as I told you some posts ago. I told you the reference of her book: simply great. She states that your students have to learn, have to practise intelligent listening or reading, and that way understanding the message. Perhaps they are not aware, but they try a clever guess to understand you - because you only speak in English in the classroom. By the way, if possible, I'm going to publish more frequent posts, so as to publish my book on TEFL/TESL. Your students may get stuck when listening to you, plus your gestures, face expressions, use of the digital or blackboard, occurring of similar homophones in their L1, the experience they are getting with the passing time, plus your examples, your asking one student about something and his classmates receiving extra information about the stuff you are speaking about, plus repetition, plus helping one another, plus the grammar pattern and voc...

The most widely spoken languages in the world, as you know, are English, Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, etc. I wrote my book for Spanish teachers of English, but also for teachers of any language. Spanish is more and more widely spoken, due to Hispanics who go to the USA, due to Instituto Cervantes , etc. Moreover, the children of, say, Mexicans, are integrated into the community of English speakers in the US, so into the second generation. And, quite often, these children, these young people, are bilingual: I'd so much love I would be bilingual myself. Ok, here you have a quotation from my book, chapter 44, 'in exclusive'. With regard to this phenomenon of children acquiring English as a second language in the US, I'd just add that some months ago I met a girl who came to Spain to brush up her Spanish, or castellano . She, like me, is a student of Centro de Lenguas Modernas, Universidad de Granada , in Spain. Her parents came from Mexico. I'm a student of English at that...

The teacher trainer/coach told me, ‘One key to success in learning, acquiring, retrieving, and using L2 is, as you well know, utilising learning strategies. Adults are usually more self-conscious of these strategies or procedures, and they may progress even faster than children. Regarding kids up to 16 years, you, their teacher, ought to ask one by one, among your students, what they do to learn English. And it is at this moment when they are capable of becoming aware of precisely their learning strategies. One chief point, look: praise the student, praise him, when he manages himself to tell you something, like for example, one basic but helpful strategy, also helpful for his classmates. He, be sure of this, is going to walk faster and better on this path to success. Now it is more likely he will adopt a reflexive learning/acquiring mode, and this fact multiplies the progression.’ Photo from www gurianinstitute com

I copy something I hope it might help you with your TEFL/TESL. It is a part of my research for the doctorate. Of my doctorate at an advanced step yet, though I did not achieve the doctorate as such. Yes, for I swifted into something, say, more practical, more for the-day-day labour with your learners. I did not achieve the AD but fortunately and thanks to God I reached the right stuff, I guess. So: thanks to ABG, an ace professor of Universidad de Jaén, also south of Spain. I'm so grateful alike to H D Brown, Mrs MJA, some many other scholars, and my kids. And a longest etc. Key factors of success In learning New version (iv) 2007-07-24 1. Attitude 2. To wish to learn 3. To use the means for that goal 4. Study + learning strategies 5. To plunge into the pond. Take risks! 6. Communication 7. Effort 8. Motivation 9. Reflexive learning. To be creative. A diary? 10. Massive input 11. Massive output 12. A good method 13. Rapport. Personalisation (this is mainly for the teachers) 14. To ...

H D Brown, an expert at TEFL/TESL, who has been quoted on previous posts, also states 'A foreign language is so complex a skill that self-confidence is one of the most important keystones for your success. Don't kid yourself. You're not going through this class just to add a few nonsense sounds and rules to your existing knowledge. This journey has ups dand downs, rapids to run, rivers to ford, narrow trails to negotiate, and mountains to climb.' P. 9

H D Brown puts, 'People who decide to become more of a winner than a loser [...] discover that they can rely, more and more, on their own capacities [...] They continue to discover and renew themselves. For them, life consists not in getting more but in being more. Winners are glad to be alive! (cited in the book by James, Muriel and Dorothy Jongeward (1976), Born to Win . Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, p.13).' Page 13 from the book by H D Brown (1989), whose title I have copied on some posts so far. airbus corporate freewebs com

Photo from diferenciada org In the article I wrote on the method proposed by genius H D Brown you can read on page 108 of journal Guadalbullón , of Universidad de Jaén , south Spain: El estudiante también debe aprender a confiar en su propia capacidad. Ha nacido para vencer (cfr. título del capítulo 3). No es ni demasiado viejo ni demasiado torpe para ello, como dice el autor. Él puede, como otras personas han podido de igual manera. Tiene que pensar desde una mentalidad de vencedor. In the next post you will read what this scholar states, with his own words.

I have outfitted this text for a presentation by me, at the centre where I am preparing level C-2 of English. Every term we pupils have to make a presentation on whatever we wish. I have composed this series of 10 points, which is like a summary of the points that a teacher of languages should consider, for his daily labour in the classroom. I hope it would be any help to you. Centro de Lenguas Modernas : next presentation How to Success on Teaching English? Outline begun on 23 November 2009 I have been researching on this theme since 1992. This is my contribution. 1. You, teacher: Have fun. Make your pupils have fun. Fun builds success. 2. Communitation: this is the goal of my subject. 3. The learner who wishes to learn. To help to create autonomous learners. Learning strategies. 4. Affection. Love of benevolence. Real concern about him/her. You are educating persons. 5. All in English. 6. Words. Sentences. Coversations and presentations. This is the sequence that a learner should pro...

The teacher trainer/coach told me, 'One day the learner realizes of his or her process of learning English; this learner realizes he is learning something indispensable for communication. Later on, this learner will realize, will get aware that he is learning a language, a language for communication. Help your students, your pupils to realize of this cognitive and practical process... and progress. Help him, as much as he is capable, according to his age, to get aware of his progress. Tell him what he does well.' almalura blogspot com. Ratatouille.

One pinponting activity you can implement with your class-group is Speaking for somewhat a long time. It is not the same for our kids to say a full sentence than giving a speech , with its coherence and cohesion. I learned this activity when teaching in Jaen, south of Spain. Mrs. M J A taught me how to implement this project. I'm going to try to recall all the steps, briefly. 1. You elicit possible topics or subject-matters from your pupils, and you write them on the BB. Every student will make a presentation about whatever they wish. However, by following this procedure here explained, you can teach them how to outfit a presentation. You all select one topic, by putting aside other topics, by votes from the students, discarding the rest of the topics. 2. In two columns you write what they can say about the selected topic, one column for the things they can express in L2 and the second one for the things they know how to say but in L1. 3. Next, you with your students choose three ...

On #195 I told you about a program for an adult, who wanted to learn English, in order to settle and base in, say, Hong Kong, for example (this latter place has been changed). The adult: 0 beginner. This person had learned French at the school, quite long ago. Here you have some further guidelines for this program. It's the first time I have such a case: adult and 0. Document #2 (Document #1 was the stuff of post #195) Finished 11/6/09 (Nov 6, 09) 1. This process of learning English can take… how long? 1, 6 years? It is a total new task for me (the teacher). Taking into account we will meet twice a week, for the class of English + his personal study and practice: he can need 6 years: the English language needs to be kind of interiorized, acquainted, familiarized, settled deep and naturalistic, and easy using and retrieving. 2. Goal: to arrive in Hong Kong and stay there: meeting and communicating with people, conducting everyday life, finding an academy, a house for his family, a j...

The teacher trainer/coach told me, "The learner must be convinced, must interiorize, that he can reach fluency at speaking and writing in English; fluency or at least some capacity of mastering the language. If he is not convinced, he won't struggle with all his possible commitment to reach that goal. Ok, he can be studying now; think of an adult learner for example; he should bear in mind that he has a goal, a target, he should study with a goal in mind. He shouldn't think he can't get this target, that he is too old, or he does not have the potential to hit the target. These ideas were somehow expressed by genius H. D. Brown, in the book reference I told you some days ago, A Practical Guideline to Language Learning. A Fifteen-Week Program of Strategies for Success , published in 1989 ." Picture from www moveyourmind es

pic from www revistaturismo es Here you have a full chapter from my book on TEFL: would it be any aid for you. Ciao! 30. Alegría y buen humor... en la tutoría personal Muéstrate cercano y sonriente al empezar la tutoría o preceptuación con un alumno. Pregúntale qué tal, aunque de ordinario esta pregunta no sirve de mucho. Pero ven que intentas ayudarle. Cuando le preguntes por aspectos concretos de sus estudios, escúchale con atención y sinceridad. Nunca muestres escándalo por lo que te cuente, sea lo que sea. Eso sí, ayúdale. Te voy a contar varios aspectos que facilitan la tutoría. Al menos a mí me van bien, y algunos de ellos te pueden ayudar o hacer pensar. Primero trátale con suma delicadeza . Que no es untuosidad. Escucha lo que te cuente, aunque a ti te parezca una tontería o algo sin importancia. Para él eso es muy importante. Retendrás mejor los datos y lo que te cuente no tanto por buena memoria, sino porque le escuchas con cariño . No tengas miedo a esta palabra. Cariño c...

"For this week [one] , there's just one basic exercise that will help you gain some valuable insights into your own learning process. It's one that has worked remarkably well for many language learners: keeping a journal (a diary of your personal feelings, thoughts, ideas, fears, successes, problems, frustrations, breakthroughs) of your ongoing experience in learning this language." I just let this master of teaching speak, no more coments. He's an ace at learning languages. This quotation was taken fom page 2 , from the book aforementioned, by H. D. Brown. This scholar had been to my university, the one where I studied three academic years of Philology of English, in Jaen, south of Spain (the previous two years, in Seville; and these three in Universidad de Jaen, when it still was within the University of Granada). Picture from www easse org.