Accommodation Solutions Summer 2011

FANTASTIC ROOMS AVAILABLE !

Available short term rooms to rent in beautiful university residences throughout the summer.

We have rooms available in the following two residences Liberty Fields (zone 2 nearest tube oval) and Liberty Court (zone 1 nearest tube Barbican)

You can choose stays from one week up to 8 weeks depending on availability in the months of July and August.

Prices start at £17.5 per person per night.

Contact evaldo dutra evaldo@englishstudio.com

Accent

I recently corrected a fascinating extended essay from a TEFL Lab online trainee who, in the course of outlining the different sound systems of Hebbrew and English pointed out that certain phonemes exist in different dialects of English and not in others.
It set me thinking about how fascinating the whole area of accent is. For example, while aware of the fact that I'm laying myself wide open to charges of pretentiousness and inauthenticity, I would freely admit that I have modified my accent for the purposes of teaching.
Why? Well, it's certainly not born of any desire to 'Come over all posh, like.' I think there are two reasons: the need to provide a clear model for my students and the fact that the accent of my home city is one of the language's ugliest accents.

'They grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw.'

Milton - Lycidas.

If you want a full flavour of just how vile the Limerick accent is, google The Rubberbandits and you'll see what I mean...

I am, however, a proud son of the Treaty City, just hate the accent..
The funny thing is that this weekend I'll be home for my dad's 70th birthday and boy, will I 'Limerick up' for that one! I will be posting more on this subject in the coming weeks and would welcome your thoughts....
Mike

Spare the Rods?

Though developed initially to aid in the teaching of mathematics, the Cuisenaire Rods are one of the greatest teaching aids available to the EFL teacher.

Sadly, they're also one of the most under-utilised, as they sit forlornly gathering dust on staffroom shelves from Holborn to Honduras. In wondering why this might be, I suppose one of the biggest reasons is our association with them as sort of childish flashback to a time when our education consisted of paint, plasticine and happy animal noises!

Another reason they are eschewed may well be that teachers aren't quite sure how to use them: they perhaps feel there is a, 'Correct,' way to employ them in the classroom and perhaps don't feel like doing the training, also fearing that their students may not be enthused by them.

Well, the good news is that there is NO 'Correct' way to use the rods. The only limit to their use is your imagination.

Of course they can be used to visually parse sentences, but they can also be used to teach lexis in a more interesting way. Take , for example, one of our students' most common social outings: the nightclub.

how much more interesting it would be to actually 'construct' the night club with the rods and elicit the relevant lexis that way?

I've found this to be a far more effective method in the classroom than mere elicitation.

So, dust off those rods, bring them into class one day - and see what happens!!

Mike

The Writing on the Wall

The other night, I was lucky enough to be invited, as a VIP no less(!) to Roger Water's The Wall extravaganza at London's O2. Apart from the free food and drink and the magical door-opening power of a VIP laminate, we also had, quite literally, the best seats in the house.

What struck me very forcefully during the gig - and rather incongruously so, given the pyrotechnics, inflatable monsters and everything else on display, was the power of the written word.

The Wall is multimedia in the truest sense of the word, with projections, models and explosions complementing the music with sometimes stunning poignancy.

Amid all of this, there was a picture of, if memory serves, Messrs Cameron and Osborne, with the message 'Trust us,' emblazoned above them. Then streaking across the Wall in that crazy red Gerald Scarfe font came the message 'No f***ing way.' (No asterisks were actually used.)

Predictably, this drew a few partisan cheers, but what struck me was the visceral power of seeing those words appear, as opposed to simply hearing them.

Indeed, sitting in the VIP reception after the show and finding myself seated at the same table as the very man himself, it occurred to me that had he actually said those words, it would have been a bit crass: sort of trite adolescent posturing. I wondered if he had realised this in the planning of the show and if he knew that saying the words would be a bit lame.

I didn't ask him though. I didn't say anything. Despite the fact that there was a free bar, I left early, got in a taxi and I suppose felt relieved that I hadn't made an ass of myself...

As teachers, maybe, if we've something really important to say, I wonder how effective it might be to suddenly STOP talking and ONLY write it on the board.

I guess I'll find out in class tomorrow..

Mike

ESL conference in Mexico!! Ariba!!!!

Dear colleagues,

The National Association of University English Teachers (ANUPI, A.C), an
Affiliate of TESOL and an Associate of IATEFL, invites you once again to
participate at our 9th International Conference
“Connecting Research and Performance in the EFL/ESL Classroom”
(October 13-16, 2011) in San José los Cabos, Baja California, México.
Our three-day conference offers an exciting opportunity to learn from one
another in the field of foreign/second language education. ANUPI is
well-known for having created a forum for presenting research, establishing
academic networks, and exchanging best practices in foreign language education.
This forum allows language educators to share and exchange ideas across
diverse language learning and teaching contexts. Our conference will also
have an exhibitors’ area.
We encourage you to submit a proposal before May 31st, 2011.
For more detailed information please visit our conference website at:
_http://www.anupi.org.mx_ (http://www.anupi.org.mx/)
We’re looking forward to welcoming you in San José los Cabos.
Sincerely,
The ANUPI Organizing Committee

Cristina Seguí R.
ANUPI, A.C.
(222) 130 77 50
2223 909 621
_www.anupi.org.mx_ (http://www.anupi.org.mx/)
Good teachers are costly, but bad teachers cost more ~Bob Talbert~

disfluencies in speech and the patterns they form

This is the link I have been looking for. The psychologist Richard Aslin has been studying disfluency and the regular patterns that ums and ers play in language development.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21028095.800-baby-brain-expert-ums-and-ers-help-children-learn.html

I wonder if disfluency plays a role in learning a second language too. Do language teachers give unconscious cues to new vocabulary or information in class? Intonation plays a very important role in this regard but perhaps disfluency may play a role too.

Focus on Intonation (Wikipedia)

Intonation is variation of pitch while speaking which is not used to distinguish words.

All languages use pitch pragmatically, that is, as intonation, for instance for emphasis, to convey surprise or irony, or to pose a question. Tonal languages such as Chinese and Hausa use pitch to distinguish words in addition to intonation.

Generally speaking, we can identify the following intonations:

Rising Intonation means the pitch of the voice increases over time [↗];

Falling Intonation means that the pitch decreases with time [↘];

Dipping Intonation falls and then rises [↘↗];

Peaking Intonation rises and then falls [↗↘]

How to use the IPA Chart

How to use the IPA Chart

Pronunciation: Adrian Underhill Clip No.1

Clip 1- Teaching Pronunciation as a physical activity- not a mental activity

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5RekixAMoM

In this 5 minute clip (of 4) Adrian Underhill (author of Sound Foundations) outlines the approach he takes in teaching pronunciation to second language learners.

His approach tries to give learners visible clues as to the pronunciation of sounds. One of the main problems with the teaching of pronunciation is that it often is a mental activity and not rooted in any physical experience. He highlights the use of the teacher model as one to raise awareness not to reinforce habit formation. Pay attention to his use of gestures throughout these instructional clips and his language in giving students feedback.

Adrian Underhill Clip No.2

Clip 2-The teacher listening to student output

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN6HgF37uwI&feature=related

In this clip Adrian introduces the IPA chart and discusses the production of sounds that can be made from it. This 3½ minute clip focuses on the small differences native speakers make in producing the same sounds and eludes to the idea that there isn’t any one ‘standard’. What are your thoughts about a ‘standard pronunciation’? Do you think there is a standard that we should be modelling with our learners?

Adrian Underhill Clip No.3

Clip 3- The teacher modelling different sounds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y57Dmcmr49I&feature=related

Listen carefully in this 4 minute clip to Adrian’s instructions. In this clip the student directs the teacher and then it is changed around. He outlines a way to help students articulate certain jaw movements and talks about taking snapshots of certain sounds. This approach seems to require the student to visualise certain processes and create a mental model of the place and manner of

articulation. The traditional view is the teacher in control, in this extract he hands over control to the student. What do you think of the idea of student directing the teacher?

Adrian Underhill Clip No.4

Clip 4- Introducing the consonant sounds, tongue position and voicing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eunyc1VdDHQ&feature=related

In this 3 ½ minute clip Adrian introduces consonant sound pro

duction. Watch how he makes use of gestures in this clip and how he differentiates two particular sounds /s/ and /z/. He introduces the idea of voice as a sort of switch that can be turned off and on and look carefully at the gesture that he uses. Look carefully at the way he demonstrates the Interdental fricative (/θ/ & /ð/) with his hands and models these sounds in the mouth. Listen out for the expression ‘somewhere in between’. How does he make use of gesture in this clip? When does he introduce this approach to the learners?

This link will take you to Adrian’s Interactive phonemic chart

http://www.onestopenglish.com/5411.file

This is a good site that transforms your text into phonetics

http://www.photransedit.com/Online/Text2Phonetics.aspx