Etienne and ESL

Blended Speaking and Listening Lesson Plan Topic: -         Giving and following directions. Context: -         This lesson caters to adult immigrants who have recently moved to Winnipeg with an upper beginner level of English. Focus: -         Students will learn to give and interpret directions. This lesson will focus on task-based, transactional communication, making use of both fluency and accuracy speech. Strategies: -         Speaking: o    Use recordings of the students role playing to help students reflect on their performance and improve on their pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary usage. -         Listening: o    Students will learn to use both the Bottom-Up and Top-Down methods to listen to directions and follow them. Students will also employ cognit...

TESL 0120 Unit 4 Reflection: Multi-Level ESL Classes (Source:  https://ak3.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/2302613/thumb/1.jpg?i10c=img.resize(height:72) As I went over this unit’s readings, what really stood out for me was the section on multi-level classes. In a multi-level classroom, students of varying abilities are brought together to learn. This has been noted to sometimes cause challenges, especially for the teacher because it requires them to adapt the content of their lessons to meet the needs of all their learners. Otherwise, there is a risk that higher level students may become bored or that lower level students may become frustrated and overwhelmed with the materials. However, as the saying goes, there is always a silver lining to every cloud. In this case, this provides a unique opportunity for the students.  It gives higher level students a chance to help teach the lower level students as they work together to complete activities. This situati...

TESL 0120 Unit 3 Listening Activity: Level: Intermediate (CLB 7 and higher)     Topic: Bucket List Objective: Students will listen to a non-scripted conversation of two people discussing their bucket list and write down the missing words they hear in the script. The goal of the activity is to help students become more comfortable with listening to authentic speech that includes elements such as false starts, backchannelling, and incomplete sentences. Before beginning the listening activity, students will be asked to use previous knowledge to predict some of the vocabulary that they will be hearing. During the activity, students will listen for exact words and phrases and write them down. Strategies /Skills: Gap-Fill (Top-Down and Bottom-Up Strategies) Time: 15 minutes Materials: Script sheets for students (See end of document for Print Out) Resources: Audio resource, along with script and vocabulary can be found here: http://www.elllo.o...

Unit 3 Reflection: Passive Listening vs. Active Listening (Image Source:  https://ak4.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/25717394/thumb/1.jpg)  While completing the assigned readings, one point that stood out to me was from “How to Teach Listening” by J.J. Wilson (2008). On page 21, Wilson writes about the myth that “Listening is a ‘passive’ skill.” For me, I have never considered listening to be a passive skill, but rather one that takes effort and concentration. Even in one’s native language I feel that a good listener is someone who pays close attention to what is being said, whether it be when listening to a discouraged friend share their struggles, or to a lecturer in a university class. Sure we have times when we passively listen, but I feel that this is can become a bad habit. How often do we catch ourselves ‘passively’ listening to someone or something, and then realize after how little we were able to pick out. While it can be useful in some situations to be abl...

Unit 2: Corrective Feedback Script on Segmental /th/: Teacher: After our activity, I noticed that we struggled with the sound /th/ in words such as /the/, /this/ and /their/. So I think this is a good time to practice making this sound! To start, I’d like everyone to place their tongue in between their teeth, just slightly. Now, I’d like everyone to try blowing air out of their mouth like this. ***After demonstrating this, students copy and blow air out of their mouth while sticking their tongue out. Teacher: Looks like you’ve got the hang of it! That’s how you make the /th/ sound by itself. Now let’s try saying some simple words that begin /th/. Repeat after me. /the/. Student: /za/. Did I say it correctly? Teacher: Almost! When you make the /z/ sound you are putting your tongue behind your teeth. When you say the /th/ sound you need to have your tongue in between your teeth. Let’s try it again! Say /they/. Student: /they/. Teacher: Perfect! 

  (Image Source: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/36/6e/2d/366e2d5173d9186e392c1caafa687767--the-letter-l-laura-name.jpg)  Objective: This activity will focus on getting students to produce the /l/ sound in word final position. (vowel) + /l/. This activity is based on the pronunciation needs of Speaking Sample A: http://www.language.ca/documents/helen_6.mp3 Materials: Whiteboard and marker Activity: 1.)     Begin activity by getting the class to make the /l/ sound by itself. Mention that the tongue should behind the teeth, close to the gum ridge. Also mention that air comes out from both sides of the tongue when making this sound. Then get the students to make the /l/ sound again, but try to stretch it out of as long as possible. 2.)     Next, pair the /l/ sound with vowels and get the class to repeat after you, and continue to get the students to exaggerate the /l/ sound.        ...

Unit 2 Reflection: Self-Monitoring and Correcting Pronunciation   (Image Source: https://eflrecipes.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/cheeky-phonemes-21.jpg)  After completing the readings and assignments for this unit, I’ve come to realize just how complex teaching/learning English pronunciation can be. Aspects which I seldom think twice about as a native English speaker, such as stress, intonation and connected speech, are all things ESL students must tackle if they want to speak effectively in English.  Looking at it now, it’s nothing short of a daunting number of rules and concepts to learn and put into use. This is why I strongly feel that enabling students to self-monitor and correct themselves is essential. Teaching pronunciation is tricky because every student has different needs. Since a teacher can only do so much to help each student individually I think that the best way for an ESL student to improve their pronunciation is to be aware of the mist...

TESL 0120: VERBAL CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK SCRIPT: Echoing Teacher: So tell me Justin, what is one of your favourite pastimes? Student: I like to go swimming. Teacher: And how often do you go swimming? Student: Three times a week. I go at Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Teacher: You go AT Monday, Wednesday and Friday? Student: Oh, I mean I go ON Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Teacher: Very good! Statement and Question Teacher: So tell me Justin, what is one of your favourite pastimes? Student:  I like to go swimming. Teacher: And how often do you go swimming? Student: Three times a week. I go at Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Teacher:   Justin, are you sure that sounds correct? Remember, which preposition is used for weekdays.   Student: Hmmm…. Oh yes, I mean I go swimming ON Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Teacher: That’s better! Very good. Reformulation Teacher: So tell me Justin, what is one...

Unit 1 Reflection: Approaches to Speaking Instruction   (Image Source: https://image.freepik.com/free-photo/students-chatting-in-the-classroom_1098-2844.jpg) While reading the assigned pages from “How to Teach Speaking” by Scott Thornbury, there was one point that really stood out to me. On page 22, Thornbury (2005) writes that “…the 50 most frequent words in spoken English make up nearly 50% of all talk.” This statistic made me think about my personal experiences in learning a foreign language and about the habits of those learning an additional language. I’ve been studying Japanese for about 10 years now, and I’ve noticed a particularly bad habit that I have when speaking in Japanese; that is, I tend to stick to phrases and words that I know well and feel comfortable with, while unintentionally avoiding newer and less familiar vocabulary. I feel that I’ve reached a level where I can communicate comfortably and effectively and as a result, have been failing to ...

Speaking Activity: Asking for and telling the time (Image Source:   http://millennialmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/asking-for-time.jpg)  ESL Level: Beginner Language Focus: Asking a stranger for the time Class Time: 20 minutes Number of Students: Minimum 4 or more   Materials: Create a paper for each student, each with a different time written on them Activity Description: Before starting this activity, teach the students the expression, “Excuse me, could you tell me the time?” After this, give each student a piece of paper with a time written on it. The students will then tape these to their chests. After, they will go around the room asking different students for the time. The other student will respond by stating whatever time is written on the other person’s paper. You should act out an example with the class before starting so that the students understand how to complete the activity. You can invite a student up to ...