Selected Articles from the Creative - American English

Selected Articles from the

Creative English TEaching Forum

Classroom

1989-1993

Activities

Thomas Kral Editor

Office of English Language Programs United States Department of State Washington, D.C. 20547 1995

Layout and Design: Caesar Jackson Front Cover: Special Effects: Hands/Pyramid/Ball c. Orion SVC/TRDNG 1994 FPG International

PREFACE

The articles that appear in the English Teaching Forum reflect a creativity and original ity that is integral to successful language teaching. Each issue of the journal witnesses the fact that creativity cuts across all national boundaries. It is the product of the ded ication and innovative spirit of teachers worldwide.

Of the 420 articles that appeared in the Forum during the five year period cov ered by this collection, 24 have been selected for their particular usefulness in making the classroom a focal point for creative language teaching and learning. Teachers are invited to examine the different activities and materials presented in this volume to consider how they may be adapted to their own teaching environment. Through this sharing of ideas and experimentation with new approaches, teachers are renewed and students are well served.

Assisting me at various stages in the production of this anthology are the fol lowing people: William Ancker, Damon Anderson, Marguerite Hess, Caesar Jackson, Shalita Jones, Alexei Kral, Cynthia Malecki, Thomas Miller, Anne Newton, Delores Parker, George Scholz, Charles Seifert, Frank Smolinski, Betty Taska, Laura Walker, James Ward, Lisa Washburn, and George Wilcox. I thank them all for their support.

T h o m a s K r a l

CONTENTS

SECTION ONE: ACTIVATING COMMUNICATION

1. Structuring Student Interaction to Promote Learning ....................................................2

Lise Marie Ilola, Kikuyo Matsumoto Power, and George Jacobs

2. Let Them Do Our Job! Towards Autonomy via Peer-Teaching

and Task-Based Exercises ...................................................................................................9

Claude Sionis

3. The Personal Interview: A Dynamic Teaching Device ..................................................16

Myo Kyaw Myint

4. Why Don't Teachers Learn What Learners Learn?

Taking the Guesswork Out with Action Logging ..........................................................19

Tim Murphey

5. "Active Listening": An Effective Strategy in Language Learning ..................................25

Ruth Wajnryb

6. Dictation: An Old Exercise--A New Methodology ........................................................28

Mario Rinvolucri

7. Why is Dictation So Frightening .....................................................................................32

Kimberlee A. Manzi

SECTION TWO: MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT

8. Linking the Classroom to the World: The Environment and EFL .................................37

Susan Stempleski

9. The Use of Local Contexts in the Design of EST Materials ............................................49

Robert J. Baumgardner and Audrey E. H. Kennedy

10. A Cognitive Approach to Content-Based Instruction ....................................................54

Daniela Sorani and Anna Rita Tamponi

11. Films and Videotapes in the Content-Based ESL/EFL Classroom ................................62

Fredricka L. Stoller

12. Problem-Solving Activities for Science and Technology Students ................................70

Alain Souillard and Anthony Kerr

13. A Gallery of Language Activities: U.S. Art for the EFL Class ........................................77

Shirley Eaton and Karen Jogan

14. Using Board Games in Large Classes ..............................................................................85

Hyacinth Gaudart

15. Putting Up a Reading Board and Cutting Down the Boredom ....................................91

Keith Maurice, Kanittha Vanikiet and Sonthida Keyuravong

16. Gearing Language Teaching to the Requirements of Industry ......................................97

Paola C. Falter

SECTION THREE: ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHING READING

17. Purpose and Strategy: Teaching Extensive Reading Skills .......................................... 104

Ken Hyland

18. Teaching Reading Vocabulary: From Theory to Practice ........................................... 110

Khairi Izwan Abdullah

19. ESP Reading: Some Implications for the Design of Materials ................................... 117

Salwa Abdul Ghani

SECTION FOUR: ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHING WRITING

20. A Balanced Approach to the Teaching of Intermediate-Level

Writing Skills to EFL Students ...................................................................................... 122

Paul Hobelman and Arunee Wiriyachitra

21. Some Prewriting Techniques for Student Writers ....................................................... 127

Adewumi Oluwadiya

22. Using Student Errors for Teaching ................................................................................ 134

Johanna Klassen

SECTIONFIVE: ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHING LITERATURE

23. The Double Role of Fiction in Foreign-Language Learning ....................................... 143

Elisabeth B. Ibsen

24. Developing Materials for the Study of Literature ....................................................... 154

Susanne Bock

SECTION

C1OMMUNICATION A C T I VA T I N G Group learning and performance depends on both individual accountability and group interdependence; for anyone in the group to succeed, everyone in the group must succeed. Lisa Ilola, Kikuyo Power, and George Jacobs

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Structuring Student Interaction

to Promote Learning

L I SA M A R I E I LO L A , K I K U YO M AT S U M OTO P OW E R , A N D G E O R G E JAC O B S

University of Hawaii ? USA

A classroom may not have a computer, teacher aides, or the latest in sophistic ated materials, but every classroom has students. Harnessing this abund ant nat ural resource has been the subject of a surge of research and curricular materials beginning in the early 1970s. These pedagogical approaches are known by a variety of names: "cooperative," "collaborative," "peer-interactive," and "peer-tutoring" approaches. While there are differences in the meanings of these terms, the commonality is that they all refer to ways to maximize student learning through student-student rather than direct teacher-student interaction. In this article "cooperative learning" and "peer-interactive learning" are used as general terms referring to these types of teaching methods.

There are many reasons why it is advantageous for a teacher to use these methods. Compared to the tradi tional lecture approach, peer-interactive approaches have fared well. In addition to higher levels of academ ic achievement, an increase in self-esteem, attendance, and a liking for school have been reported in a number of reviews of research on peer-interactive methods (Aronson and Osherow 1980; Slavin 1980; Sharan 1980; Johnson 1981). An increase in mutual concern among students and the development of positive peer relationships have also been reported. This was also observed in classrooms that contained racially and cul turally different, socially isolated, and handicapped students (Slavin 1985; Lew et al. 1986; Slavin 1987).

Merely putting students in groups isn't enough. Student interaction needs to be structured to match instructional goals. In the ESL/EFL classroom, devel oping proficiency in reading, writing, listening, and speaking the target language, as well as acquiring knowl edge of culture, are core instructional goals. Student

interaction also needs to be structured so that the many benefits of peer-interactive approaches can come about.

Structuring harmonious interaction

The acronym ARIAS stands for five important "notes" that can be used to compose different types of student interaction. Just as the harmony of musical arias is built through the proper relation between dif ferent notes, so, with knowledge of the proper "notes," a teacher can successfully orchestrate classroom inter action. The issues of Accountability, Rewards, Interdependence, Assignments, and Social Skills (ARIAS) will be discussed next.

In order for peer-interactive sessions to be success ful, students must make worthwhile individual contri butions as well as benefit from contributions made by others. Group learning and performance depends on both individual accountability and group interdependence; group members sink or swim together--i.e., for anyone in the group to succeed, everyone in the group must succeed.

Both individual accountability and interdependence among students can be structured through rewards (individual/team/class). Winning a contest based on group competition is one type of reward. A group can also be rewarded without competition. Here, students work in groups to create a group product, and all receive the same reward: a grade or other feedback. One group's "win" is not another group's "loss"; each group can get an A. Or rewards may be a combination of an individual's and the team's score (the sum of the quiz scores for all team members; for details and varia tions, see Kagan 1988). In all of these examples, the team reward is designed to promote interdependence among team members.

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