report for icelt 10-11 November 2009 that was never asked for

International Conference on English Language Teaching

Profiting from Learner and Teacher Investment in ELT

ICELT 2009 invites papers on all aspects of ELT and English Language Studies

Deadline for Proposals: 15 September 2009

10-11 November 2009

Hotel Equatorial

Melaka, UNESCO World Heritage City

How can it help ? readers will comprehend and remember more effectively.

Choosing a text- what are the required schema ?

The readability Index: A complex word has 3 syllables or more, human brains can only learn 7 new words in a day.

Journal writing:

Using journals as an analysis instrument documenting real-time reality.

Interpretation and Understanding;

Method to do Guided practice

·       Walk students through an exercise that enables them to practice in a safe environment.

·       Independent practice:

·       Ss practice the focus of the lesson on their own and allow them to internalize the lesson. Let them gain the confidence and do not interrupt too much.

·       Can they apply what they have learnt in real life situation ? does more work needed ?

·       Wrap: reinforce the most important point.

·       Motivate them

Students will demonstrate that they have grasped the skills, concepts and modeling presented to them.

How to avoid educational theory and pedagogy

·       Show practical strategies

·       Be yourself; create a dynamic persona which the ss will remember.

·       Interact with your ss- show some genuine interests- family, culture, career.

·       Learn to say hello, good morning in their language, try their food.

·       Our concern is that they want to feel wanted in class, and belong here.

·       Let ss stay focused to the design of your classroom. Consider ss seatings, loners, gender and ethnicity, ss grouping, classroom management.

·       Utilize ss groupings.

·       Consider different learning styles of all students.

·       Caring, smart, loving, kind sensitive.

·       Shamala is very … Caring, smart, loving, kind sensitive.

·       Don’t be predictable, it’s going to be boring, vary your presentation, make it interesting.

·       Choose topics or articles which are both relevant and interesting. Use examples which are from real situations.

·       Help them achieve success.

·       Put positive messages into your verbal and oral communication.

·       Focus on improvements, and not just on grades

·       Use the media as an aid to teaching

·       Teaching about slave trade and exotic animals.

·       Be very clear in your instructions

·       Describe these two people. Mother Theresa and Lady Diana

·       Establish clear classroom rules

Ø Speak in English

Ø We all listen when one person speaks

Tuesday 10.11.09 6.35pm -6.50 pm

Using a song to teach preposition.

Burung kakak Tua

Tuesday

8.15 pm-8.30 pm

The issue: The previous and current language policies is influencing the lang. proficiency among English teachers.

The  impacts

Present:

16 %-positive impact

84 % negative impact.

Past:

16% only-negative.

·       The current situation requires students compulsory to pass English, the urban ss are not affected, but the rural ss are affected. In fact, KLSR and KLSM are much better than KBSR and KBSM.

·       Most English teachers learn to teach the language to be language teachers.

·       English as the first language at home greatly influence teacher’s proficiency.

Wednesday 11/11/09

8.20 am-8.50 am

Uncovering us: Activities and Ideas to Help us Find Ways to Challenge and Develop Our Teaching

Geometric interview

		1 What I most fear is …
						2 I hate learning when …
	4. A terrific classroom is when …
					3. My best values are …

 

·       I want them to explore English, not just learning English from one person only. I want them to learn the values, which will make them a whole person. I want them to have emotional quotient and intelligent quotient.

·       Teacher becomes spontaneous to students, or seem to be one, where students do not realize they have learnt something valuable because the class is naturally flowing. Teacher does not only question, does not visually ask students, but rather encourage them to start thinking of ideas. Ss do not expect that to happen.

·       Terrific tcrs are they teach, not that they intend to do it, but they did not realize it.

My values: How do you describe yourself? I am a/an ___________ teacher. This is apparent when I teach because _____________. Others think that I value ____________ because I use activities that _________________.

It comes from Teacher, family, culture and students.

I want to talk about their opportunities. They are most interested with themselves. Second, they are most interested with others.

ACT:

·       An activity that makes ss to write a scary story., it does not have to be a ghost. Nowadays, ghosts can be pretty funny. Some people are not afraid of ghosts. There are phobias that ss hate to meet.

·       What do you say? “Oooh, Wow, What was that again ?”

Teacher are :

·       Motivator

·       Facilitator

·       Mentor

·       Parents

·       Warden

·       Role model

·       Counselor

·       Scientist

·       Engineer

·       Lawyer

This shows ss the patterns. It talks about own values and stories as well as learning about themselves.

In a perfect class: I ________________________________________ I no longer _______________ My students ___________________ My ss no longer ________________________ A perfect textbook has ______________________________ My classroom has __________________________ I know my students are successful because ______________________________

Tuesday 12/11/09

Machang 2.00-2.35 pm.

Why is Error Treatment necessary for L2 writers ?

·       L2 learners learn the language differently. They will never retain native-like control. In a different way that native speakers.

·       We think we should correct grammar. In 70 s and 80s, the way is different in error correction. Some critics say the error analysis is very harmful, because it destroys the motivation.

·       Tcrs need to study the aspect of grammar that are particularly problematic for non-native speakers of English.

·       Tcts practice in recognizing and identifying errors in English. Tcrs need practice in developing lessons and teaching grammar points to ss

·       They need to understand the principles of 2^nd language acquisition.

Effects of tcr correction.

·       Some feedbacks are inaccurate and inadequate.

·       Do ss attend to teach feedback and attempt to utilize it in revision of their texts.

·       Do ss who receive error feedbacks improve in accuracy over time?

·       Does it matter what type of feedback ss receive , whether it’s direct or indifect)

·       Error location vs error identification) coded, uncoded, written or verbal0

·       The error codes are to be tailored according to the ss needs.

·       What are the effects of other types of classroom intervention on the accuracy of ss writing ?

·       Does in class grammar instruction help ss to improve their writing?

·       Does maintenance of errors or charts help ss to become more accurate over time?

Error logs

·       Research shows it works.

·       Find the 2 major errors, count them and list them down.

·       Do 2^nd language appreciate error feedbacks, research shows ss sgree it’s extremely important.

·       Do they like selective/comprehensive analysis ?

·       It is not suggested for elementary ss.

·       Ss want tcrs to give direct correction.

Beyond error correction.

·       Helping ss understand the importance of self editing.

·       Use page 11 for peer and self-editing exercise, and this can be done to any levels.

·       Encourage ss to tract their progress in self-editing.

Tuesday

Melaka

8, 3.30 pm-3.45 pm

Hunt for literature.

·       More engaging and interesting. It combined cooperative and and active learning. Groupwork will motivate ss more. It is a concept of treasure hunt, for f4 and f5 ss.

·       Form 5+1 groups

·       Each group deal with one short story. The other group listens to the gist. They have to complete the task where after that they will go to the next session.

Wednesday

4.30 -5.15 pm Melaka 1

Carolyn Graham (with a silent h)

My nine summers of teaching at Harvard were among the most memorable of my 25 years in the language classroom. It was an extraordinary program made possible by the amazing talent of the late Anne who not only selected her summer staff personally but allowed us total freedom to use our creativity to its fullest extent.

For me, that meant a class full of jazz chants, poetry, music and drama. In our music program I asked neighboring retirement homes to send the elders to Harvard on Saturdays and join my students in a sing-along. The students loved the opportunity to practice their spoken English with people of their own grandparents age and the elders taught the songs to the students. To put it mildly we all had a wonderful time.

How we can make chants and songs with names, appropriate language.

Stone and tree I threw a fish and a cow Tall trees I threw the stones at the tree But my stone didn’t fall down The tree ate my stone I want my stone

I like it I like it a lot. I like it, I like it a lot Do you like it ? neither do I. Do you speak English ? Yes, I do No, I don’t. I’m sorry, that’s okay, alright. I’m sorry never mind, don’t worry about it. It’s all my fault, his fault It is all her fault. I’m sorry I did it, I shouldn’t have done it.

H A S B I 3 X spell it. How old are you.

Making a lesson plan

Melaka 3

Tuesday 3.00 am-3.30 pm

Assessing writing,an analytical approach (Weigle (2002, p 114)

A piece of writing is assessed on content, organization, cohesion, coherent, mechanics and arrangement of ideas.