Should we teach Indigenous cultures and other matters concerning Indigenous peoples in our EAP classes? I’ve been reading about this lately. Here are some things I’ve learned.
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~A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. But would it, really?
My name, Jennifer, comes from the Welsh Gwenhwyfar. It means “white wave” or “fair lady.” Although I don’t see myself as a “lady,” I do like the rhythmic majesty of “wave.” The tumbling, repetitive motion of it. But if it weren’t for the research I did, I wouldn’t have a clue what my name means. My parents certainly didn’t put much thought into it; they just liked it. Indeed, according to Ye Chongguang, “Chinese names are often chosen for their meaning, but English names are chosen for their sounds” (Lee, 2001).
Continue readingIf you’re on Twitter, join the next #CdnELTchat on Tuesday, January 28 – on the topic of Authentic Listening Materials. You can access the #CdnELTChat padlet here. Below is a recap of the January 14 chat.
By Bonnie Nicholas
While I was starting to work on this summary, this quote by Maya Angelou popped up in my Twitter feed:
Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.
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The standard protocol for presenting at TESL conferences in Canada is that the presenter receives an honorarium and a card expressing thanks from the organizing committee. It’s a nice gesture and I always appreciate it.
Recently I received a unique gift for presenting at the TEAM conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was a beautiful bag, handmade by Angela of the One Nation Exchange (O.N.E.). I was moved to learn more about O.N.E. and how this bag came to be.
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by Bonnie Nicholas
On November 5, 2019, the #CdnELTchat team was happy to welcome Sandhya Ghai (@GhaiSandhya) of Mosaic BC (@mosaicbc) as our guest moderator for a discussion of Intercultural Fluency in the LINC Classroom. This chat was a follow-up to Sandhya’s Tutela webinar on the same topic. (Tutela members can log in to view the recorded webinar.) Thanks to Diane Ramanathan (@ramdiane), Tutela Community Coordinator, for facilitating this partnership between Tutela and #CdnELTchat.
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Do you remember having to write about your summer vacation on your first day back to school? It doesn’t seem like a very original topic, but I want to share my experience as a volunteer in Honduras, Ethiopia, and Guyana with Canadian Executive Services Organization (CESO). You are probably wondering how this happened since I’m an ESL teacher, not an executive. Let me explain.
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I came to Canada as an immigrant from Bosnia – a war-torn country – which, to this day, is difficult to return to when I want to visit family. Not only do I remember things no child should, but physical remnants remain at every corner of the country itself. My family was one of those that escaped with a random truck driver in hopes of getting out and not being denied entry into Croatia, which was safe.
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Bringing the L1 into the EFL classroom does not need to be an overhaul of current practice in the classroom, nor does it need to be applied to each and every classroom activity. It is something that can be applied strategically and with intent at the teacher’s discretion. The point is not to create a new method, but to understand that cross-linguistic awareness is one of many useful teaching/learning techniques that are available to us as language teachers.
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Can you name all of the Kardashians? What is Fortnite? Are fidget spinners still a thing? What’s a meme?
Do you use pop culture references in your ESL lessons? I do! Let’s explore some of the disadvantages and advantages of doing so.
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A few years ago, I asked my students to do oral presentations about the geography of their native countries as a speaking test for LINC level 6-7. It seemed like a good idea, one that was more focused on English rather than research. The students prepared their PowerPoint presentations and when the presentation day finally arrived, the first up was Aisha from Pakistan.
She showed us several slides of Pakistan, pausing on the last one that clearly outlined the territory of the country. As Aisha explained the boundaries and its position relative to other countries, another student, Aryo, who was in the back row, jumped to his feet and pointed at the bottom border and said, “That’s wrong, that’s in Afghanistan!” I was still looking at the slide when he rushed up to the slide and traced the boundary he was referring to with his finger. “This is in Afghanistan, not Pakistan!” He kept repeating ever more loudly and stabbing his finger on the slide. I didn’t know it then, but there was a disputed border between the two countries where both were claiming the same land.
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