Posts

Providing quality feedback

Image
ABOUT FEEDBACK Hi everybody! Take a look at this article! How to Provide Positive, Meaningful Feedback to Your Foreign Language Students fluentu.com/blog/educator/language-feedback/ To correct or not to correct? That is the question… Whether ‘It is better to provide the correct answer, or to give enough information so that students have the tools to correct their own mistakes themselves, and there in–we hope–to end them. Ah, to dream… Teaching is an art, and nowhere more so than in giving feedback in language classes. The feedback you give—and how you deliver it—can be the difference between motivating a student who has an “a-ha” moment thanks to your correction and unintentionally discouraging a student who then becomes disengaged or afraid. It’s a really powerful teaching tool when used correctly. So how, when and what type of language feedback should you give to be a more effective language instructor? We’re going to look at six types of corrective feedback, four t...

Malvinas, the never-ending war

Image
It is not strange to see an Argentinean wearing a t-shirt with the British flag on it as if there was nothing wrong with this attitude. Suppose we talk about a girl who likes Pink Floyd, listens to the Rolling Stones all the time and who is fan of the Manchester United team. We can understand this fact, but there is a very painful real story she must not ignore or pretend to. If we consider Malvinas war as a deep wound that will stay in the hearts of those who, in a way or other, took part of it, it doesn´t seem fair to wear this t-shirt with the mere excuse of fashion. I am not going to refer to numbers, statistics or History books, but to human beings. Many soldiers, about 12000 were sent to die. And they were not experienced soldiers,   they were teenagers, eighteen year-old teenagers.   Imagine what an adolescent can feel with an old rifle in his hand, knowing that he had to shoot his weapon and kill another human being to survive, suffering hunger, dealing with the ...

The Lore of the People

Image
Did you know that the word “folklore” was invented by a British writer? William John Thoms, who devoted his life to investigate folklore and myth, used “folklore” (" A good Saxon compound") in 1846  letter to the Athenaeum . He coined this compound word to replace the various other terms used at the time, including "popular antiquities" or "popular literature".  . Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales, stories, tall tales, and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called folkloristics, and people who study folklore are sometimes referred to as "folklorists " . Thanks Mr Thoms!

Integrating areas

Image
When I had to teach “Animals and their homes” I thought of “The Jungle book” as a great setting.   I would teach lexical contents, such as   modal verb “can” , common verbs and new vocabulary to give information, adapting the story to their level, using realia, flashcards, posters, audios, and  projecting the movie. I could take advantage of it working on E.S.I, bringing some situations to the classroom    and asking questions such as: How do you think   the children reacted when they met   Mowgli?   Can you imagine their relationship? Did they accept him? Do we accept and respect our differences? ,   etc. Nice experience.

Assignment 1

TASK MACROFUNCT.   MICROFUNCT.  GRAMMAR The club of your neighbourhood is organizing a competition. You and your Likes and dislikes friends have been invited. Statements (PS) You have to choose the most suitable Socializing Exchanging Wh-Questions sport/activity for each. How often…? Look at   sports magazines with personal Frequency Adv. your partner. Ask your partner information Expressions of time about his/her favourite free time Prepositions of activity/sport/hobby. time Step 1 Create a number of schema- Look for clubs or places in which you building tasks that introduce initial can play/do your favourite sport/ vocabulary, language and context activity (use your cell phone) for the ta...

Syllabus Design.

Image
TASK MACROFUNCTION MICROFUNCTION GRAMMAR Role play. You are in a restaurant. Ask for the most suitable menu for you. Exchanging goods and services Asking for food and desserts. Wh- questions, Yes/No questions. Imperatives. Greetings. How much…? STEPS 1)Look at a magazine   and find items of food. Write them down. Then, look at real food ( food boxes, packaging, etc) and try to identify the vocabulary.       2)   Listen to a model conversation between two people discussing the menu in a restaurant. Afterwards, read it and practice the conversation. 3    3)Listen to other conversations in different restaurants all over the world. Match the conversation with the correct country/place. 4    4) Listen again to conversations and note intonation. Pay attention to greetings. Write complete quest...