Group member: Deman, Noora, Aziz, Janet, Evelyn, Kate

1.What do we mean by term aptitude?

According to our group’s view aptitude is a concept of desire, natural abilities and it is combined with talent that push learners to learn and absorb the target language. Also we thought that aptitude is something between talent and desire that motivate learner to learn new language.

2. Is every one able to learn a foreign language? Why? Why not?

There are some factors that have influence on learners to create the aptitude. Firstly this can be done by the speed of time with certain circumstances, for instance if the learner is interested in learning certain language, his/her aptitude will be much higher for acquiring that language, second factor is related to age of the learners whether the learner have long span attention or short one i.e. if learner have a long span attention, they are likely to learn new language quickly and their aptitude probably will be much higher than those who has short attention. Hence, the only differences is that some learners acquire language very well than the others, and this related to the third factor which is environment i.e. some learners are surrounded by the learning environment since their childhood that permit them to have a huge aptitude about learning language .

3. What do you think of your own aptitude for learning a foreign language?

According to this question our group have different views in terms of aptitude such as having passion, desire, and curiosity that pushed them to develop their aptitude and being exposure in learning new language.

4. Relating to the quiz, all of us were surprised bout question number (12) and (17), and we thought that these kinds of question have a certain rules for guessing and it is interested for imagination.

Learning circle 3 (learner centered approaches)

Group members: Pei-Ru, Hiroki, James, Asis,
Mata

1.
Regarding learner-centered
approaches, teachers have to concern themselves with their learners’ needs and
individual differences. That is, before courses begin, teachers can carry out a
needs analysis, to identify who their learners are (e.g. age and current
learning level), what their learning goals are, and the like. If the students
are an older/ more mature group, teachers can negotiate learning content, materials,
and even teaching methods with them so that they can sense they are involving
students in their learning process.

2.
Some elements of TPR can be
used to facilitate learners to realize imperative sentence structure and
prepositions of place. However, the skill is more appropriate for younger learners.

3.
The music element of the
suggestopedia method can be adopted in a classroom setting to relax students. For
example, during conversation activities, music can break the ice and build up a
warmer atmosphere for learners to speak out.

4.
L1 can be used in certain
teaching contexts, especially for novice learners. One advantage is that they may
feel more confident and comfortable while being instructed; another thing is
that teachers can save time explaining grammar rules and the like.

5.
Based on the principles of
communicative language teaching, it is necessary to encourage learners to
participate in their learning process. With peer and self-learning, they maybe
develop their capacity of learner autonomy.

6.
Sometimes, a silent period is
allowed for students. Namely, teachers can wait for students when they prepare to
speak readily. In this way, learners can feel safe and are perhaps more willing
to learn.

7.
From the silent way, it may be
difficult for learners to memorize the meaning of rods and learning content at
the same time, but visual aids, such as posters, are useful in order to build an
indirect English learning environment. In this way, learners may acquire
English spontaneously.

8.
As teachers, we have to provide
opportunities for learners to give feedback on learning, including individual feedback
and group discussion as well as in the setting of the classroom and home. Through
the interaction and negotiation, learners’ feelings and needs are taken care
of, which should decrease their affective filters and increase their learning
efficiency.

9.
At the beginning of class,
teachers can list classroom rules which they can discuss and negotiate with
learners so that classroom management will be easier for teachers and more
welcoming to the learners.

10. Based on the core values of humanistic approaches, assessment can be
more process oriented - teachers can collect students’ tasks, homework sheets,
projects, or learning notes so that they can evaluate the students’ learning
process and learning outcomes. Moreover, peer evaluation as well as self
assessment can be applied so that they can have a sense of participation in
their learning process.

Learning Circle 3: Learner Centered Approaches

Learning Circle 3: Learner Centered Approaches

Members of the group: Deman, Evelyn, Hara, Janet, Kate, Noora, Uzma, Yiota

In our group discussion, we talked about how certain learner-center/ humanistic approaches seemed strange or inappropriate for certain age groups. We have also discussed that they lack assessment.Apart from that, certain methods lack research. Still, we managed to trace certain features from the four methods(silent way, community language learning, suggestopedia , total physical response) that can be integrated in our teaching lessons.

· When a teacher uses suggestopedia it is possible that students might become too relaxed, too comfortable and at the end of the lesson to fall asleep. However, this technique might be useful whenever the students become really excited about something and they can’t concentrate. At that moment the use of soft music might help in calming them down and help them to start concentrating.

· Suggestopedia might be useful for the students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder.

These students have problem paying attention and staying still in the class and sometimes this might disrupt the lesson. Therefore this method might lower their “energy” levels and help them concentrate.

· Another aspect of suggestopedia that might be useful is the usage of flash cards and acting. By acting out the dialogues they learn vocabulary. The flash cards might be used in order to help the learners distinguish certain sounds opened-/d/,placed-/t/.

· Students with learning difficulties might be able to benefit from suggestopedia since soft music will lower the inhibitions and stress and gives them confidence to participate in the class activities.

· Young learners get bored quite easily therefore one method that we considered quite useful especially for younger learners was Total Physical Response. Still, we need to be careful because if this method is used frequently the children might feel that they are “playing” instead of having a lesson and stop taking the lesson seriously. Apart from that, parents won’t be very excited with this method because it will go against the conceptions of what is a proper lesson. Therefore, we propose to use this technique as part of the lesson instead of using it as your main methodology. This technique can be used in a form of a game: Saimon says do this…/if you are learning the objects of the classroom you can stick sticker notes on different objects .After a while you can put the wrong sticker note in each item and ask them to correct it.

· Another method that seemed quite useful especially for adult learners and smaller groups(6-10) was Community Language Learning. You can use this method in order to give the opportunity to you r learners to become more autonomous(by deciding the topic of the conversation) and at the same time develop their oral skills and practice speaking.

· Silent way is a method that can be used to make students aware of the different sounds and how can we combine them. However, we thought that it is hard to remember what each colored rod represents.

Further Suggestions

The conclusions of our discussion was that learner centered approaches can be helpful because they take into account our learner needs and they give us the opportunity to adjust our syllabus based on these needs.

After discussing about learner centered techniques that will enhance our lessons we came up with further suggestions of different techniques that will help us improve our lessons and will take into consideration our learner needs.

One interesting idea was using technology such as computer games, playstation games that will adapt to individual needs and will promote learning. Another technique is to try to adapt our material to the social context/culture of the learners. Thus, the learners will feel that they can relate what they are reading to their personal experiences and thus feel that they want to learn more.

Suggestions for how to make teaching more learner-centred/humanistic

Gemma, Irene, Laia, Monica, Sean, Sunny.

1. Begin a course of study with a needs-analysis; find out what students want to learn either by a questionnaire or by talking to them or by giving them a list of options and asking them to vote.
2. Try to get as much feedback from your students as possible so that they can continue to influence and negotiate the syllabus. A small questionnaire at the end of each class can help to discover what students found interesting/helpful and what they would like to do more or less of in future classes.
3. Consider alternatives to formal assessment; consider self-assessment or peer-assessment as ways of making students feel involved in the evaluative process.
4. Use one session a week or a month where you let students provide the material for a class, for example they could bring a newspaper article that they would like to discuss or teenage students may want to look at the lyrics of a particular song that they like. The most important thing is that students get the chance to choose their own material for a class.
5. Set aside time for one-to-one tutorials so that each student has the chance to speak to you individually.
6. Create a relaxing atmosphere in the classroom; this might be by playing relaxing music during reading or writing activities or you could set up a conversation class by having students in a circle on the floor and providing some snacks, so as to give a relaxed informal feel to the activity.
7. Always include a range of different activities to take into account different learning styles, for example - role-plays and creative activities, Cuisenaire rods, matching activities etc.

Learning Circle Follow-up task 24/10/11
Group members: David, Ebi, Trang, Anna, Zoe, Cindy, Peach

10 suggestions for making teaching more learner-centred

1. Create comfortable atmosphere for learners to make them feel free and relax, such as warm-up activity to motivate them to learn. The activity depends on each individual.
2. Involving students for team work activity like our learning circle activity that leads everyone to participate using the discussion.
3. Teachers should ask students what they want to learn using new materials. They shouldn’t teach what learners already known.
4. Use authentic materials for learners to learn, such as songs and newspapers. Learners can face words or dialogues which people used in daily life. Teacher should use material related to learners’ culture then forward to target language.
5. Make sure students engage in the activity. Teacher monitors learners what they do and what is the outcome.
6. Students have self-direction and self-assessment for themselves.
7. Choose the appropriate level of activity for students. Providing a wide range of activities for different groups of people and different needs.
8. Ask the learners to decide the topic of teaching and content they would like to learn.
9. Encourage learners’ self-consciousness, self-responsibility, and autonomy which they can retrieve knowledge for longer period of time.
10. Don’t use activities unless they are suitable for teaching context.
11. Use peer-correction and delay correction. Don’t give correction immediately after the mistake. Get the whole mistake and correct it once at the end.

Learning Circle Task Session 1

Group members: Peggy, Sunny, Mata, Hiroki, Aziz and James

Within the group, Peggy, Mata, Hiroki and Aziz had considered their experiences learning English at school in Taiwan, Greece, Japan and Kuwait respectively. Sunny was reflecting on her time learning English at a private language school in New Zealand and I had thought about my experience learning German as a foreign language at university in Germany.

As you would expect from the above information, we brought vastly different experiences to our discussion. In fact, there were many more differences than similarities between how we were taught so it was quite difficult to pinpoint the three most noticeable areas of difference. We tried to do this as a group, though, and felt that the following areas were most significant:

·         The role of the teacher and students, and interaction patterns

We had three different situations with regard to teacher and student roles. The first was that of Peggy and Hiroki, who said that  the teacher was a figure of authority, and the students simply the teacher’s (passive) audience. Mata and Aziz, on the other hand, felt that, while lessons and activities were mostly teacher-centred, the teacher was an approachable source of knowledge. Sunny and I had experienced a more communicative approach where the teacher established situations that were likely to promote communication and he/she acted as an adviser and communicator. The students were communicators and negotiators of meaning.

Peggy, Hiro and Aziz experienced classrooms in which there was individual student-teacher interaction, but no or almost no peer interaction, while the other half of the group were in classrooms in which the student-teacher interaction varied according to the role that the teacher was playing and where there was lots of pair and group interaction amongst students.

·         The characteristics of the teaching/learning process

There were three different sets of characteristics. Sunny and I had been in lessons where the goal was to enable students to better communicate in the target language, and this was achieved through activities, such as role plays and student presentations, that had a real communicative purpose. Student talking time, or output, was maximised and authentic materials were often used by the teacher to helps students understand how language is really used.

Hiro, Peggy and, to a certain extent Aziz, had experienced lessons that were delivered in their L1. Lexis was usually presented at the start of lessons, out of context, with the aim of aiding comprehension for later classroom activities. There was a deductive approach to grammar teaching in their classes and the rules that they had been presented were then applied to written gap-fill exercises.

Mata felt that her teacher had taken an eclectic approach to language teaching. Dictation and tests played a large role in recycling language that students had recently studied. Grammar was taught inductively, and equally students were encouraged to think about the meaning of lexis by deducing its meaning from context.

·         The language skills that were emphasized

There was a clear divide here with half of the group having had no, or virtually no, focus on the skills of speaking and listening. Instead more emphasis was given to reading and writing in the target language. The other half of the group felt that emphasis was given to all four skills. Within this framework it was felt that the function of language was given prominence over the form. Students were also exposed to nonverbal behaviour as a tool for communication.

As I have already stated, it was quite hard to find key similarities in our experiences. However, the majority of the group felt that their teacher’s main goal was to ensure that students passed end of year exams. There was also a similarity in the way that culture was viewed in the different classrooms. For most of the group there was a cultural focus on American and/or British society, though in one case culture did not feature at all and in another the local culture was studied in English.

 Learning Circle week 2

Aziz, James, Hiroki, Mata, Peggy

   In our LC session, we analysed the following two course / textbook contents and compared them. One is the course contents for 3^rd year junior high school students in Japan;

 the other is the contents of the textbook called ‘cutting edge’.

(The latter is available from the following web link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Cutting-Edge-Intermediate-Students/dp/0582825172#reader_0582825172)

   Concerning the type of syllabus, the former course contents adopt traditional structural syllabus with grammatical structures ordered throughout the course.  In White’s term (1988) this is obviously classified into Type A syllabus. On the other hand, the latter textbook contents appear to be task based content syllabus.  One of our group members, who has used this textbook before, pointed out that this textbook contents can be process based depending on teachers’ ability; therefore, this textbook contents are considered as the mixture of Type A and Type B.

    With regard to grading and sequencing, it seems that the grammatical structures are ordered from ‘easy (simple)’ one to ‘difficult (complex)’ one in the former course contents.  However, some of our members are sceptical whether or not the order is appropriate in terms of learnability or teachability, most notably about the timing of instruction about pronouns and interrogatives.  The latter textbook contents, on the other hand, place each task according to its complexity.  This is understandable although some of the tasks are not easy to deal with for teachers.

  Regarding the elements of negotiation and each skill, it is obvious that there is nothing about negotiation in the former course contents, even in ‘communication’ chapter.  The course is intended for students to master only grammatical structure, therefore there are no practice for improving other skills like listening, speaking and reading.  On the contrary, there are many cues for negotiation in every chapter.  Thus, the textbook is intended to encourage students to interact each other.

Learning Circles - Methodology

Group Members: Gemma, Irene, Laia, Monica, Sean, Sunny

Syllabus as reference: Will Forsyth, Clockwise

The prescriptive syllabus from this course book is a typical modern type A with notion and function.

Also, it manifest clearly from the syllabus that the course book contains time limits and guides. In addition, the tasks in each unit are another obvious type A characteristic of doing things to the learner.

Moreover, the detailed syllabus appeals as an evident structure control of the course book.

One point that is worthy mention about is that despite it is a type A syllabus but have some of type B features such as in the end of every unit include a improvise of free speak. And, students use the guidance as appropriate resources.

Syllabus as reference:http://www2.honolulu.hawaii.edu/facdev/teachtip/syllab-4.htm

This syllabus includes a gradually introduced topic of each course and the course objective is already set and defined in advance by the authority.

Then, the quizzes and final exam are appeared in the syllabus that apparently is the assessment by the achievement of mastery.

Furthermore, the organized syllabus, the class rule, grading plan and suggestions show that teacher as decision maker to control the quality and quantity of the class.

The features mentioned above are all type A’s characteristics.

Learning Circle task wk2

· Consider the type of syllabus
We all agree syllabus1 is a Type A syllabus. It’s a classic Type A. The contents of it are all content-based and teacher oriented way to teach students. i.e. The instruction “Listen and say after your teacher” is described in this syllabus. No discussion or activities for students in Type A. As for syllabus 2, our group members argued that this syllabus is not a pure Type B syllabus. Both characteristics of Type A and B are combined in the syllabus 2. Some of the elements in the syllabus are Type A, yet, there are also some characteristics for Type B. According to the elements in syllabus 2, there are discussions and activities for students. It is a learner-led syllabus and the teaching materials can be adapted afterwards. Therefore, though syllabus 2 contains some characteristic of Type A, it is more like a Type B syllabus.

· Explore elements of grading/sequencing
For Type A and B syllabus, we all agree that the grading and sequencing are almost the same for both syllabuses. Teach students from the easier part to the more complex part. Teach nouns to adjectives. Teach them from concrete and basic materials to abstract and complicated elements. Both syllabuses consider the learnability of the students. In our group, we also further discuss the age of the students is the important factor to affect the design of the syllabus as
well as the textbook and examination.

· Look for elements of negotiation
There is no negotiation in Type A syllabus. However, we can see that there is a negotiation in the Type B syllabus from the discussion and activity part.

· Consider whether or nnot there are multiple strands or sparate skills
Type A: separate skillsàlistening, speaking, reading, and writing skills are all separate.
Type B: combined skillsà i.e. reading + listening + speaking in the activities.

Group member: Deman, Evelyn, Hara, Janet, Kate, Noora, Uzma, Yiota
Secretary: Evelyn

Learning Circle 2 for Developments In TESOL Methodology,Date 17/10/11 Circle Members: DAVID,EBI,ANNA,CINDY,ZOE,TRANG,and PITCH

During our discussion ,we first looked over the issue of Syllabus Design from a historical point of view and after taking a glance at a couple of syllabus maps provided by the group members we decided to base our evaluation on 2 samples whose details are as follows:
SYLLABUS TYPE: We all came to a conclusion that these two syllabi are of Type A. One of them is a kind of Notional syllabus and the other is Situational(Functional).
1-Notional syllabus
-starts with some topics (notions) and goes toward some functions
-speaking and fluency in language use are emphasized from the beginning
2-Situational (Functional):
-starts with grammar/functions and moves toward a topic/notion
-grammar and accuracy in language use are emphasized from the beginning ,though the focus is put on enhancing speaking and listening
GRADING/SEQUENCING:
1-Notional syllabus
-sequencing is based on the Complexity of Tasks to Do and Language use
-students’ level of knowledge is a determining factor for sequencing the tasks and activities
2-Situational (Functional):
-complexity of grammatical and lexical items determines the sequence of instruction i.e from simple structures and vocabulary items towards more complex ones
-a fixed order is to be followed and the items should be taught step by step
Elements of Negotiation:
Although the two examples were Type A , they were somewhat in the way that in
1-Notional:
-the syllabus is more flexible and the teacher has some more freedom to decide on and follow the sequence of the materials(tasks to do) in an active way
-students needs and interests besides their linguistic knowledge can be taken into account while in
2-Situational (Functional):
-the teacher has to follow a fixed pre-determined order of presenting materials.No deviation from the norm is allowed.
-Students’ needs are less regarded.They should follow a fixed route
Multiple Strands or Separate Skills:
-In both of them speaking is to be given priority,but we may see multiple strands in the A/M syllabuses

Learning Circle 1 Group members: Ebi, Anna, Zoe, Peach, Trang, Cindy

Part 1: Details of our discussion can be found at the links
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thutrang210986/6254336807/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thutrang210986/6256795978/
Part 2: Summary

1. The three most noticeable areas of difference
+ Method: there are 2 typical types of classes: teacher-centered and student-centered
+ Interaction: in teacher-centered class (Zoe, Anna), there is not much communication between Ss while in student-centered class (Ebi, Trang, Peach, Cindy), S-S communication is dominant
+ Error correction: T focuses on grammar – correct Ss’ errors immediately, T is interested in Ss’ communication – be tolerant with Ss’ errors and correct later

2. Key similarities
+ All the classes develop the four language skills

3. One important point you want to make
+ The method one T uses can greatly be decided by the examination.
+ Teacher education is very important because it helps form their view of language, culture and the methods they employ

Learning Circle Week 1 by Deman, Evelyn, Hara, Janet, Kate, Noora, Uzma, Yiota

Our discussion revealed that between us we have experienced different types of methodology as language learners, and we have identified some differences along with many similarities.

The three most noticeable areas of difference…

One of the key areas that differed between us was the role of L2 in teaching and learning materials. For instance, in Pakistan many textbooks are in English, in Taiwan this is partially the case and in other countries the textbooks are only in L1. We also noticed that the use of error correction had differing effects on students in terms of motivation. Strict error correction sometimes makes the student work hard to achieve a high grade, and sometimes it has the opposite effect of disengaging the student. The reason for student motivation is another difference that emerged from our discussions. In some of our experience, during our education we were motivated by achieving highly at the end of course test; this was our goal. For others, it was important that the teacher provided interesting stimulus.

Key similarities…

We found many similarities between our experiences. Most of us felt that there was a reliance on the textbooks, and that there was more t-s interaction than s-s interaction. As students, we rarely got the opportunity to try to speak L2 freely to improve fluency. We all agreed that our learning experience activities had been teacher led. Another common feature was that we all had experienced some aspects of different methodologies during our education.

And another thing…

A conclusion which we all concurred on was the impact of the teacher on our learning experience. The teacher can select the methods and content that will motivate and interest the students. Their attitude is important too, in terms of balancing a strict and sensitive approach.

Learning Circle for 6/Oct.

Group Members: Irene, Laia, Monica, Sean

Summary:
Although, our group members are from very different countries, we were taught in similar ways when acquiring L2. So, we do not have many differences to point out. Our teachers put a lot of emphasis on grammar rather than on the rest of areas of the language, writing and reading also received more attention than listening or speaking. And as most of the L2 learners, we were passive learners, absorbing teacher’s input.

No matter learning in Spain or in Taiwan,initially, teacher always is the center of a class and during courses L1 play as a assitant tool when we learning L2. Therefore, the teacher would use the same way to teach.

Regarding the teacher’s respond to student errors, we would like to mention that when one learns an L1 parents will not correct each error that the child utters, but unfortunately this is the case in most of the L2 classrooms, the teacher would immediately correct every mistake that the learner makes and this would lead the student to a loss of motivation and confidence.

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