Category Archives: Approaches

IN PURSUIT OF LEARNERS’ EMPOWERMENT: CAN WE TEACH GOOD WRITING HABITS?

August 22, 2016
Written by - Cecilia Aponte-de-Hanna

As I’ve shared with you in previous blogs, one of my ongoing interests is finding ways to empower my students to become better writers of English. What is the formula?

Vocabulary skills are important (Checked √)
Grammar is important (Checked √)
Controlled practice is important (Checked √)

…Wait a minute… Modeling is super important…

Modeling Writing

According to Cumming (1995), language teachers need to not only provide text models of a good writer’s final product (what an assignment is supposed to look like at the end), but also model the cognitive process of writing. In other words, we as teachers should model writing-as-a-process that mimics the actions performed by effective writers (hint: we need to write a lot to be one too). Continue reading →

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Looking at ESL from an International Perspective

July 22, 2016
Written by - Guest Contributor

I had the privilege of attending and presenting at the ACPI-TESOL National Conference in Costa Rica earlier this month. Although it was a relatively small conference (under 60 participants), the organizers were able to attract presenters from the U.S., Panama, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and UAE (and me from Canada).

I believe as teachers, we can always learn something new no matter how many years we have been teaching. This conference was no exception in that there were many take-aways from the presentations. However, before I provide some of the conference highlights, I wanted to talk about my experience trying to navigate in a Spanish-speaking country as a non-speaker of Spanish. (I did take some lessons a few years ago, but I didn’t even have enough language skills to function.) I forgot how it feels to be unable to communicate – even a simple request! The last time I experienced this kind of powerlessness and vulnerability (not to mention feeling dumb) was when I got lost in Hong Kong; I actually got lost 3 times in 3 different taxis in Costa Rica! There is certainly nothing more meaningful for a language teacher than experiential learning and appreciating the daily challenges for many of our students!

Here are some of the conference highlights: Continue reading →

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First-Second-Third…In Conclusion

June 20, 2016
Written by - Cecilia Aponte-de-Hanna

Delicious healthy sandwich on the white background — image source: www.bigstockphoto.com

What is academic writing? Are we all on the same page? Is it a five paragraph essay? I don’t think so. Let me explain.

I always read with great enthusiasm my students’ essay writing diagnostics. This helps me to understand their way of thinking and their prior working understanding of academic writing. For some, the question posted is somewhat forgotten as they go about making their essay fit into a five paragraph structure. I perceive trains of thoughts interrupted as these students try to inject the three point parallel structure at the end of the so called introduction paragraph, while moving on to adding transitions throughout the remaining paragraphs as they seek to achieve the perfect five paragraph layout. The structure looks good…Hmm…Let me go inside and look.

Continue reading →

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The Whole Package

May 23, 2016
Written by - Gwen Zeldenrust @gwenzeldenrust

The way we deliver our message has a big effect on how it is received. Not only do we receive the message, but we receive the way it is presented or “wrapped”. It’s the whole package. How we say things adds another layer of meaning to the message. Teaching about the delivery of a message in ESL classes adds a lot of value for students. Continue reading →

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Lesson Planning Gagné Style

April 18, 2016
Written by - Cecilia Aponte-de-Hanna

As teachers we prepare lesson plans for many reasons. We do it because it helps us keep track of our lesson delivery and also because it is required of us. The latter one, however, can make us lose sight of its true purpose, which is to help our students achieve the learning outcomes of the lesson. Through my many years of teaching, I have learned that lesson planning is most useful when I put myself in my students’ shoes.

Effective Lesson Planning

Let’s face it. For a lesson plan to be effective, it needs to focus on what students need to demonstrate at the end on the lesson. Lesson planning is about meeting learning outcomes for our students; the objective of the lesson is not for us to deliver content or for administration to see that we spent hours on prep-time (Yes, we do!), but for us to think of ways for our students to demonstrate learning. Continue reading →

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Presentations that feel like home

April 4, 2016
Written by - Gwen Zeldenrust @gwenzeldenrust

Presentations are ubiquitous in modern life, so it makes sense to include them as a component in ESL classes. In North American culture we have certain expectations about how presentations will be given. The format is low-context, meaning the presenters are making sure that they can be understood by the audience. The students in our classes not only require the appropriate language skills, they also need to understand how to format a presentation so that the audience can understand its structure. The following house analogy is one way to teach about how the format of a presentation gives it structure. This structure makes the content more coherent to the audience.

Welcome

The introduction welcomes the audience to your presentation. It tells them who you are, why you are giving the presentation and, maybe most importantly, it shows them what to expect. It’s the first impression that the audience has of what will be delivered. Much like the front lawn or the walk way to your house, the first impression of the introduction adds value. Continue reading →

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The Multilevel Merger – Can It Work For You?

March 7, 2016
Written by - Laila Al-Sbeinati @lailasbeinati

Hello again, dear colleagues!

I was at a friend’s house the other day discussing the usual things moms talk about, when my friend expressed her frustration about her daughter’s multilevel classroom. I asked how her daughter is handling the setup, to which she replied: “She doesn’t think much of it because she’s in the upper grade of the split class. I don’t feel like she’s being challenged enough.” I wondered then how our ESL adult learners — especially the advanced students, might feel about their multilevel classes, should they happen to be in one.

Every class you teach as an adult ESL instructor can be considered multilevel to a certain extent. However, a true multilevel class takes place when there’s a substantial difference in learning levels in the same classroom, (e.g. levels 2-7). I’m sure some welcome the challenge; maybe even thrive on it like: “Who are you because we need to talk?!” While many others dread the thought of being in this situation, dealing with a multitude of learning levels.

So here are a few tips that I hope you’ll find beneficial: Continue reading →

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How do I write faster?

February 29, 2016
Written by - Tamsin Cobb

A typical conversation that I have with students near the beginning of a semester goes like this:

Me: How are things going? What would you like to do today?

Student: Ugh I have so many assignments you know, and I have to study a lot and write so many papers. It took me a long time to write this essay… like 6, 7 days. That’s too much. Please teach me how to write faster.

Me: Writing essays takes me a long time, too.

Student: No. It can’t take you this long… you are a professional and English is your first language. I want to write essays in maybe 4 hours total.

For many students, this request is a very logical one. How do they juggle the multitude of assignments in a 14 or 15 week semester? Writing faster is more efficient and beneficial to them than not writing at all. After all these years, I still don’t have a clear answer because I can’t even write a 10 page paper in 4 hours. Once we get through the initial conversation, here are some strategies I do provide: Continue reading →

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3 Teaching Hacks That Are Going to Blow Your Mind!

February 22, 2016
Written by - Manpal Sahota

*Warning: This post contains snarky and in-your-face concepts to shake up the teaching world as we know it!

Hey friend, grab your favourite beverage, find a comfortable spot to relax in, and prepare yourself for 3 teaching hacks that are going to change the way you give activity instructions.

Have you ever put loads of work into planning an activity and made wicked materials, only to see the activity fall flat on its face in the classroom? Continue reading →

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