Learning and Teaching

Children and adults who acquire language successfully outside the classroom seem to share certain similarities in their learning experiences. First of all, they are usually exposed to language that they more or less understand even if they can’t produce the same language spontaneously themselves. Secondly, they are motivated to learn the language in order to be able to communicate. And finally, they have opportunities to use the language they are learning, thus giving themselves chances to flex their linguistic muscles – and check their progress and abilities.

All these features of natural language acquisition can be difficult to replicate in the classroom, but there are elements that we should try to imitate. Like language learners outside schools, they will need to be motivated, be exposed to language, and be given chances to use it. We will call these elements ‘ESA’, three elements that will be present in all – or almost all – classes:

Engage: this is the point in a teaching sequence where teachers try to arouse the students’ interest, thus involving their emotions with lessons where they are amused, moved, stimulated, or challenged. It seems quite clear that those lessons involved not only more ‘fun’, but also better learning.

Study: study activities are those where the students are asked to focus on language (or information) and how it is constructed. They range from the study and practice of a single sound to an investigation of how a writer achieves a particular effect in a long text; from an examination and practice of a verb tense to the study of a transcript of informal speech to discuss spoken style.

Activate: this element describes exercises and activities that are designed to get students to use language as freely and ‘communicatively’ as they can. The objective for the students is not to focus on language construction and/or practice specific bits of language (grammar patterns,particular vocabulary items, or functions) but for them to use all and any language that may be appropriate for a given situation or topic. Thus, activate exercises offer students a chance to try out real language use with little or no restriction – a kind of rehearsal for the real world.

These ESA elements need to be present in most lessons or teaching sequences. Whether the main focus of the lesson is a piece of grammar (study and activation), or whether the focus is on reading (activation and study), students always need to be Engaged.

(Adapted from: HARMER, J. How to teach English. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2017)

Learning and Teaching

Children and adults who acquire language successfully outside the classroom seem to share certain similarities in their learning experiences. First of all, they are usually exposed to language that they more or less understand even if they can’t produce the same language spontaneously themselves. Secondly, they are motivated to learn the language in order to be able to communicate. And finally, they have opportunities to use the language they are learning, thus giving themselves chances to flex their linguistic muscles – and check their progress and abilities.

All these features of natural language acquisition can be difficult to replicate in the classroom, but there are elements that we should try to imitate. Like language learners outside schools, they will need to be motivated, be exposed to language, and be given chances to use it. We will call these elements ‘ESA’, three elements that will be present in all – or almost all – classes:

Engage: this is the point in a teaching sequence where teachers try to arouse the students’ interest, thus involving their emotions with lessons where they are amused, moved, stimulated, or challenged. It seems quite clear that those lessons involved not only more ‘fun’, but also better learning.

Study: study activities are those where the students are asked to focus on language (or information) and how it is constructed. They range from the study and practice of a single sound to an investigation of how a writer achieves a particular effect in a long text; from an examination and practice of a verb tense to the study of a transcript of informal speech to discuss spoken style.

Activate: this element describes exercises and activities that are designed to get students to use language as freely and ‘communicatively’ as they can. The objective for the students is not to focus on language construction and/or practice specific bits of language (grammar patterns,particular vocabulary items, or functions) but for them to use all and any language that may be appropriate for a given situation or topic. Thus, activate exercises offer students a chance to try out real language use with little or no restriction – a kind of rehearsal for the real world.

These ESA elements need to be present in most lessons or teaching sequences. Whether the main focus of the lesson is a piece of grammar (study and activation), or whether the focus is on reading (activation and study), students always need to be Engaged.

(Adapted from: HARMER, J. How to teach English. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2017)

Learning and Teaching

Children and adults who acquire language successfully outside the classroom seem to share certain similarities in their learning experiences. First of all, they are usually exposed to language that they more or less understand even if they can’t produce the same language spontaneously themselves. Secondly, they are motivated to learn the language in order to be able to communicate. And finally, they have opportunities to use the language they are learning, thus giving themselves chances to flex their linguistic muscles – and check their progress and abilities.

All these features of natural language acquisition can be difficult to replicate in the classroom, but there are elements that we should try to imitate. Like language learners outside schools, they will need to be motivated, be exposed to language, and be given chances to use it. We will call these elements ‘ESA’, three elements that will be present in all – or almost all – classes:

Engage: this is the point in a teaching sequence where teachers try to arouse the students’ interest, thus involving their emotions with lessons where they are amused, moved, stimulated, or challenged. It seems quite clear that those lessons involved not only more ‘fun’, but also better learning.

Study: study activities are those where the students are asked to focus on language (or information) and how it is constructed. They range from the study and practice of a single sound to an investigation of how a writer achieves a particular effect in a long text; from an examination and practice of a verb tense to the study of a transcript of informal speech to discuss spoken style.

Activate: this element describes exercises and activities that are designed to get students to use language as freely and ‘communicatively’ as they can. The objective for the students is not to focus on language construction and/or practice specific bits of language (grammar patterns,particular vocabulary items, or functions) but for them to use all and any language that may be appropriate for a given situation or topic. Thus, activate exercises offer students a chance to try out real language use with little or no restriction – a kind of rehearsal for the real world.

These ESA elements need to be present in most lessons or teaching sequences. Whether the main focus of the lesson is a piece of grammar (study and activation), or whether the focus is on reading (activation and study), students always need to be Engaged.

(Adapted from: HARMER, J. How to teach English. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2017)

Interculturality in FL Teaching

Foreign Language teachers recognize the importance of sociocultural aspects in interactions between individuals from diverse linguistic backgrounds, understanding that language acquisition extends beyond vocabulary and grammar. Learning a language involves engaging with a unique worldview and societal norms, as languages are not abstract systems but integral to social communication.

Contemporary FL education aims for interdisciplinary approaches in content selection, prioritizing respect for differences and acknowledging identity traits as agents of solidarity.

Teaching materials play a crucial role in shaping lessons, balancing skill development, and guiding language use.

Educators encourage learners to seek authenticity in understanding FL, bridging local productions with unfamiliar cultural contexts. Learners, by engaging in co-authorship of interculturally developed texts, connect learning with personal experiences, fostering critical reflections and reshaping self-perception and global understanding.

While the communicative approach facilitates explicit cultural teaching, it poses challenges, potentially overshadowing local identities. In a globalized world, learners aspire to grasp FL without cultural erasure, seeking to embrace diverse identities without silencing their own.

(Adapted from: SCHEYERL, D.; BARROS, K.; ESPÍRITO SANTO, D. A perspectiva intercultural para o ensino de línguas, 2014)

Interculturality in FL Teaching

Foreign Language teachers recognize the importance of sociocultural aspects in interactions between individuals from diverse linguistic backgrounds, understanding that language acquisition extends beyond vocabulary and grammar. Learning a language involves engaging with a unique worldview and societal norms, as languages are not abstract systems but integral to social communication.

Contemporary FL education aims for interdisciplinary approaches in content selection, prioritizing respect for differences and acknowledging identity traits as agents of solidarity.

Teaching materials play a crucial role in shaping lessons, balancing skill development, and guiding language use.

Educators encourage learners to seek authenticity in understanding FL, bridging local productions with unfamiliar cultural contexts. Learners, by engaging in co-authorship of interculturally developed texts, connect learning with personal experiences, fostering critical reflections and reshaping self-perception and global understanding.

While the communicative approach facilitates explicit cultural teaching, it poses challenges, potentially overshadowing local identities. In a globalized world, learners aspire to grasp FL without cultural erasure, seeking to embrace diverse identities without silencing their own.

(Adapted from: SCHEYERL, D.; BARROS, K.; ESPÍRITO SANTO, D. A perspectiva intercultural para o ensino de línguas, 2014)

Interculturality in FL Teaching

Foreign Language teachers recognize the importance of sociocultural aspects in interactions between individuals from diverse linguistic backgrounds, understanding that language acquisition extends beyond vocabulary and grammar. Learning a language involves engaging with a unique worldview and societal norms, as languages are not abstract systems but integral to social communication.

Contemporary FL education aims for interdisciplinary approaches in content selection, prioritizing respect for differences and acknowledging identity traits as agents of solidarity.

Teaching materials play a crucial role in shaping lessons, balancing skill development, and guiding language use.

Educators encourage learners to seek authenticity in understanding FL, bridging local productions with unfamiliar cultural contexts. Learners, by engaging in co-authorship of interculturally developed texts, connect learning with personal experiences, fostering critical reflections and reshaping self-perception and global understanding.

While the communicative approach facilitates explicit cultural teaching, it poses challenges, potentially overshadowing local identities. In a globalized world, learners aspire to grasp FL without cultural erasure, seeking to embrace diverse identities without silencing their own.

(Adapted from: SCHEYERL, D.; BARROS, K.; ESPÍRITO SANTO, D. A perspectiva intercultural para o ensino de línguas, 2014)

Literature in the Language Classroom Literature in language teaching has a long pedigree. It was a fundamental part of foreign language teaching in the 'classical humanist' paradigm, where an understanding of the high culture and thought expressed through literature took precedence over mere competence in using the language. However, as the teaching English profession developed a more sophisticated understanding of how languages are learned, and as the demand for English shifted its focus from the small-scale production of scholarly elites to the mass production of large numbers of functionally competent users of the language, literature came to be regarded as, at best, an irrelevance and, at worst, positively harmful.

In general, the literature teaching approach has shown a preference for practical exploration in the classroom rather than for empirical research. For the most part, activities fall into one of two categories: those that focus on the linguistic analysis of the text, and those in which the text acts as a springboard for a variety of language activities, including discussion and writing. Not surprisingly, the kinds of activities in the second category in particular draw heavily on techniques developed as part of the communicative approach in general. They tend to utilize generalizable categories such as comparison, completion, re-ordering, matching, extension, and reformulation. Techniques such as opinion and information gap, problem-solving, and role-play/ simulation are also in widespread use, as well as a variety of activities to promote students' creative writing.

Clearly, the appropriacy of the texts selected for a particular class remains a crucial factor in the success of the approach. Texts that tend to be chosen are those that are not too long, not too complex linguistically, and not too far removed from the world knowledge of the students. Above everything else, however, the text has to have the capacity to engage the interest of the student.

(Adapted from MALEY, A. Literature in the language classroom in The Cambridge Guide Teaching ESOL, Cambridge Un. Press.)

Literature in the Language Classroom Literature in language teaching has a long pedigree. It was a fundamental part of foreign language teaching in the 'classical humanist' paradigm, where an understanding of the high culture and thought expressed through literature took precedence over mere competence in using the language. However, as the teaching English profession developed a more sophisticated understanding of how languages are learned, and as the demand for English shifted its focus from the small-scale production of scholarly elites to the mass production of large numbers of functionally competent users of the language, literature came to be regarded as, at best, an irrelevance and, at worst, positively harmful.

In general, the literature teaching approach has shown a preference for practical exploration in the classroom rather than for empirical research. For the most part, activities fall into one of two categories: those that focus on the linguistic analysis of the text, and those in which the text acts as a springboard for a variety of language activities, including discussion and writing. Not surprisingly, the kinds of activities in the second category in particular draw heavily on techniques developed as part of the communicative approach in general. They tend to utilize generalizable categories such as comparison, completion, re-ordering, matching, extension, and reformulation. Techniques such as opinion and information gap, problem-solving, and role-play/ simulation are also in widespread use, as well as a variety of activities to promote students' creative writing.

Clearly, the appropriacy of the texts selected for a particular class remains a crucial factor in the success of the approach. Texts that tend to be chosen are those that are not too long, not too complex linguistically, and not too far removed from the world knowledge of the students. Above everything else, however, the text has to have the capacity to engage the interest of the student.

(Adapted from MALEY, A. Literature in the language classroom in The Cambridge Guide Teaching ESOL, Cambridge Un. Press.)

Literature in the Language Classroom Literature in language teaching has a long pedigree. It was a fundamental part of foreign language teaching in the 'classical humanist' paradigm, where an understanding of the high culture and thought expressed through literature took precedence over mere competence in using the language. However, as the teaching English profession developed a more sophisticated understanding of how languages are learned, and as the demand for English shifted its focus from the small-scale production of scholarly elites to the mass production of large numbers of functionally competent users of the language, literature came to be regarded as, at best, an irrelevance and, at worst, positively harmful.

In general, the literature teaching approach has shown a preference for practical exploration in the classroom rather than for empirical research. For the most part, activities fall into one of two categories: those that focus on the linguistic analysis of the text, and those in which the text acts as a springboard for a variety of language activities, including discussion and writing. Not surprisingly, the kinds of activities in the second category in particular draw heavily on techniques developed as part of the communicative approach in general. They tend to utilize generalizable categories such as comparison, completion, re-ordering, matching, extension, and reformulation. Techniques such as opinion and information gap, problem-solving, and role-play/ simulation are also in widespread use, as well as a variety of activities to promote students' creative writing.

Clearly, the appropriacy of the texts selected for a particular class remains a crucial factor in the success of the approach. Texts that tend to be chosen are those that are not too long, not too complex linguistically, and not too far removed from the world knowledge of the students. Above everything else, however, the text has to have the capacity to engage the interest of the student.

(Adapted from MALEY, A. Literature in the language classroom in The Cambridge Guide Teaching ESOL, Cambridge Un. Press.)

Using my BrainShark

I have been making use of myBrainShark over the last three years and it has been a really successful tool to work with. Students can produce their own PowerPoint slides, load them up onto myBrainShark, and then add their voices to their slides. myBrainShark then packs the PowerPoint presentation with the audio and creates a link to a file that can easily be shared with the teacher. So, students can create PowerPoints on a given topic, record and re-record their voice until they are happy with their recording, and then share their work at the click of a button. Students and teachers can listen to the recordings and add notes/comments as feedback. I have used this tool with great success. I recently got students to create PowerPoint presentations of six to eight slides where they provided personal information about their families, friends, interests, and hobbies. They then added their voice to the PowerPoint presentations and shared them over the internet. I played back their recordings, took notes, and provided them with feedback on the work. In class, I played back some of the best examples and asked the students why they thought I had selected them. myBrainShark is particularly useful because there is no need to share big files and it is an online tool. Once the students have uploaded their presentations and added their voices, they simply share the link. The teacher can click on the link and listen to the recordings directly from the myBrainShark server. This tool can also make an excellent contribution to eportfolios. This tool is especially good for English for Academic Purposes students and those doing Business English. Many of these students will be expected to give PowerPoint presentations during their course and this is a great way of getting them to practice. Students are not limited to PowerPoint. They can load up PDF documents, Word files, pictures, and even videos, and then add their own voice narration. Students can also share their recordings with other students and in this way get peer feedback.

(Adapted from SHRESTHA, P. Book review: Innovations in Learning Technologies for English Language Teaching, 2014)