English teaching professional 95 nov 2014

Issue 95 November 2014 The Leading Practical Magazine For English Language Teachers Worldwide Heads up, heads down, heads together Lindsay Clandfield Swimming, not sinking Tim Thompson Value your voice Ming E Wong Flip, follow and feedback Laura Nanna • practical methodology • fresh ideas & innovations • classroom resources • new technology • teacher development • tips & techniques • photocopiable materials • competitions & reviews w w w e t p r o f e s s i o n a l c o m NEW For students who need to learn the language for writing academic English whatever subject they are studying at university or college With Oxford Academic iWriter detection  bandwidth No more than 10% of the signal strength is lost in the nection to the amplifier input sig·nal2 /ˈsɪɡnəl/ verb (-ll-, US -l-) [T] to be a sign that sth exists or is likely to happen  IND ICAT E (2) : ~ sth The proposal for a new, loo ser union of sovereign states signalled the end of the old USSR  ~ that… The crisis signalled that some importa nt changes were taking place in English political culture [T] to show sth suc h as a feeling or opinion through your actions or attitud e: ~ sth His government signalled a willingness to abando n the UK's national veto  ~ tha t… The company rais ed its prices significantly, signalling that it did not want a prolonged costly price war [I, T] to make a movement or sound to give sb a message, an instruction or a warnin g: The other hip signalled back  ~ to sb He was wa ving his arm, ignalling to his wife  ~ (to) sb to sth The emperor ignalled his chamberla in to show in another dele gation  ~ sth The charge wa s signalled by trumpets  ~ that… As he driver could not see the road behind him, it was the uty of the conductor to signal that the road wa s clear g·na·ture /ˈsɪɡnətʃə(r)/ nou n [C] your name as sually write it, for exa you mple at the end of a letter: Two eeks later, the newspa per delivered a petitio n to the ime Minister containing 1.5 million signatures  sb's ~ he artist's signature 749 signify that will assume increas ing significance as the pop ulation ages sig·nifi·cant /sɪɡˈnɪfɪkənt/ adj large or importa nt enough to WO RD FAM ILY have an effect or to be significant adj noticed: These voters could hav e a significant significantly adv effect on the outcome of the election signify verb  Althoug h population ageing is significance noun a global phenomenon, the signification noun re are significant regional differen ces  ~ for insignificant adj sb/sth The contributio insignificantly adv ns of Islamic civilization proved to be insignificance noun as significant for the West  it is ~ that… It was significant that its nearest rival only had a 5.5 per cent share of the market  INSI GNI FICA NT  thesaurus note at IMP ORT ANT hav ing a particular meani ng: The lighting of a candle may be symbol ically significant if it den otes the bringing of light, that is, enlightenment  it is ~ that… It is particularly significant that Branagh selected Belfast for the play's United Kingdo m debut (statistics) hav ing statistical significance see  also SIGN IFIC ANC E (3) : Afte r years, results for  Find out more at www.oup.com/elt Contents MAIN FEATURE ASK ME ANOTHER! HEADS UP, HEADS DOWN, HEADS TOGETHER 54 Kayvon Havaei-Ahary questions why questions are too often neglected Lindsay Clandfield heads off in a new direction TEACHING YOUNG LEARNERS FEATURES EFFECTIVE CLASS DESIGN IS IT MY TURN YET? Jenny Wilde says turn-taking is an important skill STUDENT STORYTELLERS 10 David Heathfield tells a tall tale for his students to retell C IS FOR CREATIVITY 14 Alan Maley, Hitomi Masuhara and Chaz Pugliese add the final creative contributions to this extended article KEEP MOVING ON! 18 TEACHER DEVELOPMENT VALUE YOUR VOICE TECHNOLOGY FLIP, FOLLOW AND FEEDBACK OVER THE WALL Laura Nanna describes a successful three-stage project Alan Maley celebrates the past in the natural scenery of the present TECHNOLOGY FOR PRONUNCIATION FIVE THINGS YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT: E-SAFETY 29 56 Ming E Wong voices her opinion on vocal health Alex Case offers activities for more advanced language 25 22 Chris Roland applies micromechanics to activities with children 57 61 Nicky Hockly looks at staying safe online Robin Walker examines the options WEBWATCHER 63 DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT WITH YOUR COURSEBOOK 34 Russell Stannard surveys Google Forms Rachael Roberts adapts writing tasks SUGGESTIONS FROM THE STAFFROOM 36 Sasha Wajnryb compiles tested tips on dictogloss PLAY IT AGAIN! IT WORKS IN PRACTICE 40 Magda Tebbutt and Tim Strike recommend some winning language games SAY CHEESE! 38 REVIEWS 44 SCRAPBOOK 46 42 Ken Milgate shows how photos can be exploited SWIMMING, NOT SINKING REGULAR FEATURES COMPETITIONS 31, 37, 64 50 Tim Thompson revitalises his classroom with real-world projects Includes materials designed to photocopy • www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 95 November 2014 • Editorial W hen I returned to the UK from six years in Japan, a friend of my parents looked at my photos of lavishly decorated temples, colourful festivals, steaming volcanoes and lush tropical landscapes and sighed ‘Ah,’ she said, ‘there’s nothing new under the sun!’ I’ve never really understood why she said this – or what exotic parts of the UK were familiar to her but unknown to me However, her comment came to mind when I was editing the articles for this issue of ETp Despite the staggering amount of new technology that is being developed on a daily basis to help language teachers and their students, it is clear that some of the basics still hold true, and much that is new is building on the foundations of what has been around for a very long time Magda Tebbutt and Tim Strike remind us of a number of fun language learning games Some of these will already be known to many readers but, as Madga and Tim point out, it does no harm to be reminded of old favourites from time to time David Heathfield’s article centres on what must be the oldest teaching technique of all – storytelling – and it comes with a charming old folktale for you to tell to your students and then encourage them to retell it Alan Maley looks at books about landscape, many of which link the past to the present by drawing the reader’s attention to those features of the landscape that give us a glimpse of past lives and the historical events that took place there Finally, in our main feature, Lindsay Clandfield offers some new labels for the old practice of labelling lesson plans He gets to the heart of what the students are actually doing at each phase of the lesson – so perhaps plus ỗa change isnt quite la mờme chose, after all Sasha Wajnryb bases his article on the dictogloss technique, popularised by his own mother in the late 1980s And in celebration of this, we have a photocopiable dictogloss activity in the Scrapbook, which combines the technique with an intriguing brainteaser Helena Gomm Editor helena.gomm@pavpub.com Rayford House, School Road, Hove BN3 5HX, UK Tel: +44 (0)1273 434943 Email: admin@pavpub.com Fax: +44 (0)1273 227308 Web: www.etprofessional.com Editor: Helena Gomm Cover photos: Wavebreakmedia Ltd / Thinkstock Editorial Consultant: Mike Burghall Published by: Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd, Rayford House, School Road, Hove BN3 5HX Editorial Director: Andrew Chilvers © 2014, Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd Designer: Christine Cox ISSN 1362-5276 Advertising Sales Manager: Carole Blanchett, Mainline Media Tel: 01536 747333 Fax: 01536 746565 Email: carole.blanchett@mainlinemedia.co.uk Publisher: Fiona Richmond Subscriptions: Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd, Rayford House, School Road, Hove BN3 5HX Email: info@pavpub.com Numéro de Commission Paritaire: 1004 U 82181 Prix l’unité = EUR14.75; l’abonnement (6 numéros) = EUR59 Directeur de la Publication: Fiona Richmond Pages 20–21 and 46–48 include materials which are designed to photocopy All other rights are reserved and no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted without prior permission in writing from the publishers • Issue 95 November 2014 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com • Be sure with NEW SURE TH E B R AN D N E W CO U R S E FO R YO U N G AD U LT LE AR N E R S CEFR A1/B2 CEFR B2 Kedd le s - Julia Starr Marty n Hobb SURE A1/A CE FR SURE is a 4-level course book for today’s digitally native and globally aware students M ar SURE integrates a range of different print and digital media Star - Julia bb s dd r Ke le E SUR ty n Ho k B oo en t’s St ud kbook or &W Elem enta ry cy cura • Ac s focu ency & flu n icatio mmun • Co os vide ok d Bo • Clou Ma rty Stud ent’s Book & Work book Intermediate • Accuracy & focus fluency n Hobb s - Jul ia Sta rr Ke dd le SURE tion • Communica videos • Cloud Book on on British or American English audio tracks Ma CE FR A1 St ud en & Wo rkbt’s Book ook Be gin rt y ne r nH o SU RE bb s• Accur Ju lia& acy fluenc focus S ta rr K y ed • Comm dle un videos ication • Cloud Book on CE S tu & W den o rk t’s B bo oo ok k Pre -in term ed iate •A c foc cura us cy & •C flu en o cy vid mmu eo nic s ati •C on lo on ud B oo k • Accuracy & fluency focus • Communication videos • Cloud Book on to try out a module go to www.helbling-ezone.com/sure/cloudbookdemo 100 Clements Road London SE16 4DG - UK info@helblinglanguages.com communication made easy !       ! www.helblinglanguages.com FR B1 M A I N F E AT U R E Heads up, heads down, heads together Lindsay Clandfield proposes a practical new perspective for planning lessons I n English language teaching, we love labelling lesson plans I remember my first assignment to prepare a lesson plan in my pre-service teacher training The lesson plan document was a table, full of different columns I had to divide my lesson into stages, and outline what I was doing at each of those stages But that alone would have been too straightforward I remember there being several other columns that I had to assign a label to for each stage of the lesson For novice teachers, preparing a lesson plan almost always takes longer than the lesson itself! Labels Here are some of the different ways that language teachers have labelled elements of a lesson plan: Time How long will each stage take? Interaction patterns Who is talking to whom? This is often listed as T–S (teacher to students), S–S (student to student), S–T (student to teacher) Aim What is the objective for each stage? Outcome What you expect the students will have accomplished or learnt at the end • Issue 95 November 2014 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com • of that stage? This is often phrased as: ‘by the end of this stage, the learners will have …’ Material What teaching material will the students be using at each stage (eg what worksheet or what coursebook page)? More labels In addition to the above labels, we can label different stages of the lesson according to pedagogical principles of how a lesson should be organised Here are some of the ways this has been done in language teaching Some may be very familiar to you all, others may be new: PPP (Present, Practise, Produce) Perhaps one of the most famous acronyms in lesson labelling, these labels refer to the main stages of a class Although it has been much maligned, it is still a standard lesson procedure and very easy to explain to novice teachers The problem with PPP is that it is too prescriptive for many teachers (you have to label the stages in that order) TTT (Test, Teach, Test) This is another well-known way of organising a lesson into three stages The first stage involves activities that attempt to find out what the students already know about a language point This is followed by explicit teaching to fill in any gaps in the students’ knowledge, and then a final testing stage determines whether the students can now put this language to use ESA (Engage, Study, Activate) Coined by Jeremy Harmer in The Practice of English Language Teaching as an alternative to PPP, these are also labels for lesson stages These stages can be moved around, as long as the first stage is Engage; individual stages can be repeated as well (so you can have EAS, ESA, ESEA) ARC (Authentic, Restricted, There has, however, been a slight change in the physical layout of many classrooms around the world, and the way that teachers are using it: that is, the presence of a computer, a projector and an internet connection Screens and projectors have actually been around for a long time Televisions and overhead projectors were being used in schools from the 1960s onwards But their use was often limited, either because there were not enough of them to go round (Does anyone else remember ‘signing out’ an overhead projector or TV for a class? I do!) or there was a lack of accessible materials to use with them Clarification) This method of labelling is more about the kind of language being produced in the classroom, be it restricted, unrestricted and authentic, or the teacher clarifying and explaining language Originally coined by Jim Scrivener, the ARC model stages are similar to ESA in that they can also be moved around and repeated (so you can have ARC, CRA, ACRA, etc) OHE (Observe, Hypothesise, We need to remind ourselves that, while the projector and computer are very useful tools, they are only part of what goes on in the language classroom Experiment) This form of labelling a lesson’s stages comes from Michael Lewis’s lexical approach Here, the emphasis is placed on getting the students actively taking part in each stage of the process, and appears to favour a more inductive approach to language (ie the students figure things out on their own to some extent) Many teachers will tell you that, after their initial training, and barring exceptions like an observed lesson, they don’t produce anything like such detailed lesson plans One could, therefore, ask: Is it useful? I believe the answer is yes Going through the process of labelling a lesson plan as we are learning to teach – or doing it every once in a while as we are teaching – makes us reflect on what we are doing and the different elements that we consciously think of which go into a lesson A new label Over the past 20 years, I would venture to say that there has been relatively little change in what elements go into lesson plans from the ones I have outlined above Modern projectors (or beamers) that connect to a computer are now becoming increasingly ubiquitous The fact that these computers can connect to the internet means that teachers have a huge wealth of material to draw on to supplement their classes In addition, interactive whiteboards provide various other ways of sharing and displaying information The result has been an increase in what could be labelled ‘heads up’ work This is seen by many proponents of education technology as a good thing Interactive whiteboards, for example, are hailed for making classrooms what Pete Sharma and Barney Barrett call ‘a “heads up” learning environment instead of each student being bent over their book’ However, I believe that the presence of this technology has made it tempting to teach in a far more ‘heads up’ manner than perhaps we should PowerPoint presentations to explain language points, videos and slideshows to engage students with the lesson content are all great, but they can sometimes take away much needed time for other important things Personally, I have found myself getting too wrapped up in the ‘bells and whistles’ of projecting interesting things, and then running out of time for the rest of my lesson We need to remind ourselves that, while the projector and computer are very useful tools, they are only part of what goes on in the language classroom A new perspective I would like to propose another way of thinking about the stages of a lesson, and labelling them, taking the reality of the projector in the classroom into account I call it Heads up, Heads down, Heads together Heads up is for presentation-type work (often with a projector) Heads down is for quiet individual student work Heads together is for communicative tasks or groupwork, including whole-class discussions Each part of a lesson can be identified with one of these labels, and a good language lesson should have all three elements Let’s look at them in turn Heads up These stages of the lesson are primarily for teacher-led, lockstep work This usually means using a projector or whiteboard The kinds of activities that can be used in a heads up stage are: Lead-in activities using images or video on the topic of the lesson to engage and motivate the students Language explanation work (grammar and vocabulary teaching) or clarification of complicated tasks Live listening activities (for example, a lecture on a topic, accompanied by a slideshow) Feedback on answers to exercises Student presentations, especially if they are at the front of the class and showing/sharing something they have created Heads up, therefore, is any part of the lesson where the students’ attention is focused on the screen or on a particular individual (usually the teacher, but it could also be another student) • www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 95 November 2014 • Heads up, heads down, heads together Heads down These stages of the lesson are the quiet moments They involve focused individual work The students are either using their coursebooks, or are writing something The kinds of activities that can be used in a heads down stage are: Completing written language exercises Individual writing exercises Silent intensive reading in class, for example a coursebook text Silent extensive reading time in class Individual web searching or webrelated work Listening to the class audio and doing exercises individually Doing an individual part of a group project Taking written tests or exams in class Heads down is any part of the lesson where the students are working individually They will usually be focused on something in their coursebook, a personal computer or tablet or a piece of paper Heads together These stages of the lesson are the communicative ones They involve the students working together, with the teacher as a facilitator or moderator The students are speaking together, or are working in pairs or groups on a task of some kind The kinds of activities that can be used in a heads together stage are: Speaking tasks in pairs or small groups Mingle speaking activities Collaborative work on language exercises Jigsaw readings Roleplays Other information-gap type activities Project work Heads together is any part of the lesson where the students are explicitly working together In modern communicative classrooms, this will usually involve some kind of speaking Heads together sections of a lesson are the noisiest parts! A practical perspective Of course, the potential danger of any label is that all labels have a tendency to oversimplify things In reality, there are moments during a lesson where it might be hard to say if it’s heads up, heads down or heads together The three labels may very well overlap: If students are all quietly reading the same text, but on the whiteboard rather than in their books or tablets, is this heads up or heads down? (I would argue it is ‘heads down’ work, even though everyone is looking up at the screen.) If two students are working together on the same exercise, but not speaking to each other, is this heads together or heads down? I’m sure you could find other examples of grey areas, but I believe that, for many parts of a lesson, a teacher can easily visualise which of the three perspectives is going on However, any new approach to lesson planning should be informed by a desire to be effective and practical In the cases where there is an overlap, this therefore should not necessarily be a problem – these labels are not designed to limit, but rather to inform and orient us Take a look at the sample lesson plan on page to see what I mean In short, I would argue that this new perspective is useful for helping us reflect on the way we organise our classes, especially with the presence of a projector and screen: It takes into account the fact that our ‘heads up’ work has become a lot more interesting and visual than before • Issue 95 November 2014 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com • It reminds us that there are moments for quiet, focused work It does not neglect the pairwork/ groupwork feature that is so important in the modern communicative lesson Finally, it provides a simple and memorable way of looking at our class and lesson organisation Why not give it a try? Sharma P and Barrett, B ‘Blended Learning: using technology in and beyond the language classroom’ www.macmillanenglish.com/methodology/ blended-learning/updates/Update%20 10%20Blended%20Learning.pdf Lindsay Clandfield is an award-winning writer, teacher, teacher trainer and international speaker in the field of English language teaching He has written coursebooks and methodology books You can find out more about him at his website www lindsayclandfield.com lclandfield@yahoo.ca Suggested answer key for the lesson plan on page Heads up Heads up Heads together Heads down Heads down, then heads up (for the teacher checking back) Heads up (although if this grammar point started off with the students having to figure out a rule together in groups, it could be heads together then heads up) Heads down, then heads up (although if the students did the exercises in pairs, it might be heads together then heads up) Heads together Heads together (although if the instructions for this were complicated, it might be heads up, then heads together) 10 Heads up Lesson plan Here is a sample lesson plan, with various labels Can you complete the final column? Remember that there may be more than one possibility, and for some stages you could have two labels (eg Heads up, heads down) See the key on page for suggested answers Stage Description Aim Material Time Teacher shows clips from various trailers for last summer’s blockbuster films To engage students’ interest in the topic Compilation of clips from movie trailers website Teacher uses pictures and model sentences to elicit meaning of key words about films To pre-teach potentially difficult vocabulary from text Sample sentences, images Students ask and answer questions that include key words from Stage To activate new vocabulary and involve students in the topic Questions for discussion Students read a text about the key marketing decisions made behind movie releases Reading for general understanding Reading text, gist questions Students answer questions about various details in the text; teacher checks back Reading for specific details and comprehension of key points Reading text, comprehension questions 10 Teacher gives a short presentation of a grammar point, using examples from the text To understand and/or review key language point PowerPoint presentation, example sentences Students a series of short written exercises to practise the grammar point; teacher checks back To consolidate understanding of language point Written exercises Students a semirestricted speaking activity To consolidate understanding of language point Speaking exercise Students a longer speaking task: a questionnaire about movie-watching habits To provide fluency practice relating to the topic Speaking exercise 10 10 Teacher gives feedback on activity, reviews lesson aims, assigns homework To wrap up the lesson Homework Heads … • www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 95 November 2014 • Is it my turn yet? SPEAKING Jenny Wilde insists on the importance of turn-taking for developing spoken fluency W hat is ‘fluency’? I have heard this question discussed in teachers’ rooms in London, Shanghai, Amsterdam and Prague In all these locations, ‘fluency’, ‘communication’ and ‘conversation’ classes are consistently popular with students, so there is evidently a demand for them and a perceived need to develop spoken fluency It is important, therefore, to pin down what it means and how we can help our students achieve it Speaking is often used as a means to practise grammar or lexis and is rarely taught in coursebooks as a skill for its own sake Discussing an alternative model for teaching speaking with my colleagues elicited a range of comments on what a fluency class should include, such as ‘providing students with the opportunity to speak’, ‘giving correction and feedback’ and ‘pronunciation’ When I suggested that there was also a need to focus on speaking sub-skills such as turn-taking, a few of my colleagues brushed this aside, saying that the art of turn-taking is the same in all languages, so it isn’t really necessary to teach it However, an Italian student prompted me to look into the matter further when he complained that he had plenty to say – and in Italian he had no problems – but in English the conversation always moved on before he had a chance to contribute In short, he failed to take up his turn Evidently, then, a confident and outgoing person perfectly capable of taking up their turns in L1 can’t necessarily so in English Problems What does turn-taking involve? I tend to reject the assertion that turn-taking is a skill which is the same in all languages and cultures I believe that many of the problems students have with turn-taking can be traced to cultural differences which create a lack of confidence or a lack of awareness of the social norms connected with the cooperative principle described above Japanese students, for example, often have difficulty interrupting other speakers or showing disagreement, as this is frowned upon in their L1 It is also culturally acceptable for Japanese speakers to leave a period of silence before taking up a turn When participating in discussions with people from Western cultures, this may result in them losing their turn Similarly, students may lack awareness of what constitutes an inappropriately long turn and may overly dominate the conversation This can be due to stress, anxiety and the feeling that they must speak in order to be successful It can also result from a lack of cultural awareness – they may be dominating the conversation in a way that is perfectly acceptable in their L1 In English, we use non-verbal signals to help show our turn-taking intentions Thornbury identifies ‘a sharp intake of breath and the raising of the shoulders’ as a signal of the wish to take a turn, while head nods from listeners encourage the speaker to continue Body The process of participating fully in discussions is very complex, involving juggling the skills of listening to others, judging how others feel, contributing opinions and agreeing/disagreeing in real time According to Scott Thornbury, a series of linguistic and cultural norms govern spoken interaction, including the fact that speakers should take turns to hold the floor, long silences should be avoided (this is culturally specific) and speakers must listen when others are speaking Rob Nolasco and Lois Arthur describe the ‘cooperative principle’, which enables native speakers to engage in a discussion appropriately, saying neither too much nor too little According to this principle, turn-taking involves certain skills: recognising the appropriate moment to get a turn; signalling the fact that you want to speak; holding the floor while you have your turn; recognising when other speakers are signalling their wish to speak; yielding the turn Students need to be able to these things in order to join an ongoing discussion, and they need to them without undue hesitation • Issue 95 November 2014 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com • Culture Swimming, not sinking Group presentations were graded out of 20 points, allocated in the same way as the solo presentations, but with five additional points for teamwork After the midterm period, I showed the students their attendance/ participation scores as well as their solo and group presentation scores They could see if they were meeting the course’s expectations up to this point or if they needed to step things up This made a big difference when I asked them what grade they thought they had earned at the end of the semester A podcast project After the midterm break, we started on two major group projects: making podcasts and making videos Both projects lasted three weeks and were worth 15 points each I wanted the students to look at these projects as something they could show a company or graduate school as an example of a skill they possessed, not merely as an assignment that would receive a grade and then be thrown away The results could be shared on the internet and could be used to represent the students’ abilities and experiences The podcast (basically a recorded radio show) project required the students to work with a partner or in a group of three Pairs were expected to design and create two four- or five-minute podcast episodes, and groups of three had to create two seven- or eight-minute episodes The podcasts were to be designed with a target audience in mind and with a main theme that could be carried out over a hypothetical ten-episode season Groups were required to submit a marketing plan outline with their second episode, which described their target audience and suggested three ways to reach them The audio-only aspect of podcasts required the students to focus on their spoken delivery They were allowed to read their scripts, but needed to try to sound natural while doing so They were encouraged to manage their time so that they could come to me during preparation classes to check the grammar in their scripts and run ideas by me before and after recording Groups who were able to this almost always received the maximum score In previous years, I did not use a lot of class time for preparation: it was always set for homework However, by letting the students brainstorm and work on their scripts in class (observing an ‘English only in the classroom’ rule) I watched them gain confidence by using their English for practical purposes over the entire 50 minutes of a lesson The students learnt that grammar can affect understanding and needs attention, but that some grammar mistakes can be ignored, as they are by native speakers Giving them time to work in class and ensuring that they did so in English was a win–win situation The students gained confidence and motivation by discovering they could complete tasks and accomplish their goals in English They worked harder when they needed to know how to communicate their feelings about a given topic in order to complete their current project Students in this class were not studying English for a hypothetical situation in the future: they needed to know how to say something now, and that increased their motivation to find it out Reading a book about swimming probably won’t save you if you fall in the ocean; you have to get in the water and learn A video project The final projects involved making videos Part one consisted of three 30-second commercials The first was to advertise something worth visiting in the city we live in The second was a public service announcement about making something in the city better The third featured something at our university that the public might not know about Bonus points were available if the teams got actual feedback from someone connected to the topics they chose For example, if the topic for the advertising video was a restaurant, feedback from the restaurant’s owner or manager would garner points The second project was a two-minutelong video, and it was meant for the next year’s freshmen The goal was to re-teach one of the projects from the course Tips were to be given on how to complete the project efficiently and successfully The students were not explicitly taught which technology to use or how to use it for the final two projects I told them that they could come to me if they needed help and suggested a few software programs (Audacity and Windows Movie Maker), but they were expected to learn on their own During the final interview, many students commented that learning how to use the software themselves was very motivating and they were more confident about learning things independently now While it is far from perfect, and constantly in a state of flux, I am happy that my English Communication course gives the students the opportunity to acquire skills and experiences Critics could, rightly, point out that the students are missing an opportunity to improve their grammar, since mistakes are rarely pointed out However, Korea’s emphasis on grammar in the public school system has provided these students with every opportunity to learn the basics, and I feel it is now time to sink or swim Reading a book about swimming probably won’t save you if you fall in the ocean; you have to get in the water and learn By focusing on practical, timely communication and the skills associated with it, my students learn how to improve their chances of success, both in their first and second language, once the course is complete They learn organisational skills that can be used for their writing course in the next semester They learn a lot of new content from their classmates’ discussion topics, presentations and media projects They also learn by getting their hands dirty and making mistakes When the students were able to reflect on this before their 15-point final exam, most saw what all the hard work was for and how a coursebook wasn’t going to get the job done They had to things for themselves, just as they will have to in the real world 52 • Issue 95 November 2014 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com • Tim Thompson has been teaching in South Korea for 14 years and is currently a visiting professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology He specialises in teaching presentation and interview skills thompson@kaist.ac.kr modernenglishteacher n Ways to teach in an ever-changing modern world n Advice on managing an evolving English language n Somewhere to share research and reflections with other teachers Subscribe from £34 today for your own printed copy, four times a year, plus exclusive access to the digital edition of Modern English Teacher WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE PHONE Call our subscription hotline on +44 (0)1273 434 943 ONLINE Order online at www.modernenglishteacher.com BY EMAIL Email our subscription team on info@modernenglishteacher.com Subscribe today! www.modernenglishteacher.com IN THE CLASSROOM Ask me another! Kayvon Havaei-Ahary shows that for every answer, there’s a question A student’s ability to answer a question (oral or written) correctly shows a teacher that it is safe to assume that: a) the student understands the meaning of the question; b) the student understands the form of the question Of course, the extent of this understanding will vary However, I believe a correct answer to a question inadvertently triggers another assumption from the teacher: that the student is also capable of producing the same type of question themselves My experience as both a language teacher and learner suggests that students’ ability to understand and answer questions is often more advanced than their ability to produce them The reason for this may not be that the one skill is more difficult than the other, but because in many language classes the practice of producing questions is neglected in favour of the practice of answering questions This neglect can potentially stunt a student’s development, as it deprives them of the confidence and ability to participate in class discussions and activities There are a number of theories that account for the general difficulties students have in forming questions Manfred Pienemann and Malcolm Johnston claim that question-building follows a set of natural developmental stages, and that only over time can students overcome their errors Others claim that L1 transference (when students transfer grammatical syntax from their own native language to the L2) and cultural factors (eg in some countries a teacher-centred format is preferred, and students are not encouraged to participate or question) also affect the process Although there is evidence to suggest that these are contributing factors to the problem, it is also evident that if question forms and meanings are not practised more frequently in the classroom, students will continue to make errors and lack the confidence to develop their English skills The purpose of this article is to provide teachers with four question-practising activities that have benefited me and my students in the past, and will hopefully benefit others These activities can be used in conjunction with new grammar points, as a review or as warmers They are predominantly aimed at preintermediate to advanced students, but could be tailored for lower levels The question is …? For this activity (based on the popular US TV show Jeopardy) you need a collection of pictures of different nouns (or the objects themselves), which can either be random or connected to a particular topic The activity can be done with the whole class, in groups, in pairs or one-to-one The aim is for the students to formulate questions, to which the noun shown in the picture is the answer For example, if the noun is France, one possible question would be Where can you see the Eiffel Tower? The benefit of this activity is that there is no one correct question, but a number of possible questions The only rule is that the question cannot contain the noun itself Twenty questions In this activity, the teacher, or a student, chooses a noun (not something very obscure) If it is a student who selects the noun, they could be given a list prepared by the teacher from which to choose They don’t tell the class what it is The other students try to guess the noun by asking up to 20 yes/no questions The game is over once a student guesses the noun The game can be repeated as many times as the teacher wants The activity can be done with the whole class, in groups, in pairs or one-to-one questions can be about specific topics (eg hobbies), based on different question types (eg yes/no questions, tag questions) or could involve a variety of topics and question types The students record their partner’s or group members’ answers on a survey form Depending on the level of the students, they can be encouraged to devise some original questions, in addition to those given to them Interview In this activity, the students read the script of an interview dialogue involving two people However, they only get the interviewee’s answers, so they have to construct questions that correspond to these answers For example: Q: _? A: My hobbies are watching TV, listening to music; and jogging (A correct question would be What are your hobbies?) Q: _? A: I go jogging three times a week (A correct question would be How often you go jogging?) The interview can be set in any context and can contain as many answers as the teacher wants I usually use this activity for individual practice, but it has also been effective in pairwork Although this is a writing activity, once the dialogue has been completed it can be used for a roleplay For lower-level students, the activity could be adapted into a word-ordering exercise with the questions provided, but in jumbled order The students’ task is to put the words into the correct order Pienemann, M and Johnston, M ‘An acquisition-based procedure for second language assessment (ESL)’ Australian Review of Applied Linguistics (1) 1986 Pienemann, M and Johnston, M ‘Factors influencing the development of language proficiency’ In Nunan, D (Ed) Applying Second Language Acquisition Research Adelaide National Curriculum Resource Centre 1987 Survey The students work in pairs or groups and ask each other questions Each student should be given a list of questions (the number depends on the time available) to ask their partner or their group The 54 • Issue 95 November 2014 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com • Kayvon Havaei-Ahary has been teaching English for three years in a Japanese senior high school He is also currently studying for a Master’s in TESOL at Nottingham University, UK, via distance learning He is particularly interested in developing creative ways in which language can be taught in the EFL classroom kayvonhavaeiahary@gmail.com www.etprofessional.com Visit our website to: ■ Find the articles you need for your next lesson plan with our simple search ■ Understand more about a special interest area using our category pages ■ Catch up with what’s new through our regular blogs ■ Give us your views by commenting on articles you’ve read in the magazine ■ Share content with colleagues and friends ■ Find the latest books – with special membership discounts ■ And much more Go to www.etprofessional.com today You should have received your login details for www.etprofessional.com If not, please contact us on info@pavpub.com or call us on +44 (0)1273 434 943 TEACHER DEVELOPMENT Value your voice Ming E Wong believes we should care for our most important tool T he voice is the tool a teacher uses most It is always there, there is no need to pack it and, like everything that we use on a daily basis, we tend not to value it until something goes wrong But the voice is more fragile than we think In extreme cases, we can lose it, and this will affect our livelihood Not every teacher can expect to be a Joyce Walters: the London teacher who was awarded £150,000 from the local council in compensation for ignoring her pleas over her voice problems While we can control how, and how often, we use our voice, it is also highly subject to external conditions, such as those at our workplace But let us start with the voice itself The voice The breath is the foundation of your voice You need to take in enough breath to enable you to speak loudly and for long enough This does not mean huffing and puffing Instead, before you start speaking, you should take in enough air so that you can feel your diaphragm pulling down, then bring that air up into the chest while centring and aligning your back This sounds like a lot of effort, but bad posture can be seriously debilitating in the long term It might be worthwhile seeking the help of a voice coach to get it right You need to stick at it, as bad habits are often stronger than the desire for change Yoga and pilates are also useful for promoting good posture Your voice needs amplification or resonance to be heard It resonates through your chest, the nasal and pharyngeal passages in the back of your throat and your mouth Think of the whole body – not just the mouth – as a resonating chamber As you hum or make vowel sounds, you can check where your voice is resonating and hear the changes you can make It is possible to produce both a low and rich timbre and a more nasal tone, though one will feel more natural than the other Using your voice Don’t forget to have a warm-up The voice actually comes from a pair of vocal folds which vibrate only when we speak So warm up these folds before you speak by humming The /m/ and /n/ sounds will give them a gentle workout You can also simulate a siren – the low and high sounds will stretch your vocal folds gently and help your voice to become more expressive This is vital when you are reading to children or giving a lecture Nothing kills an audience quicker than a boring, monotonous voice Avoid assaults on the voice Sometimes we need to remove phlegm from our throats, but many people clear their throat or cough out of nervous habit Throat-clearing is an irritant on the vocal folds and coughing is tantamount to punching them In most cases, it only serves to exacerbate the situation It is much better to avoid foods that induce phlegm, such as oranges, sweets and dairy products Drink water or suck sugar-free pastilles to remove itchiness or a ticklish feeling Both shouting and whispering impose unnecessary pressure on the voice – prolonged shouting can even lead to nodules on the vocal cords And, of course, smoking is a terrible assault on the vocal folds Vocal health is part of physical well-being, so the usual pre-requisites for health apply – get enough sleep, eat sensibly, drink plenty of water, exercise and relax at regular intervals Menopause and age can also affect the voice, but they not necessarily impair it The teaching environment and dust-free? You should always drink enough water to hydrate your voice, but you can also help it (and add ambience to your surroundings) by putting plants or a small aquarium in your classroom so that it is not a parched, dried-out space Obviously, this works best if you teach in the same classroom all the time But even if you are an external trainer, talking to your supervisor or client about your workspace should show that you are a professional, interested in doing your job well If you require a microphone, request a wireless one Fixed microphones restrict your movement They also make it easy for your voice to trail off when you move or for you to shock your audience when you suddenly raise your voice Fixed microphones also produce clumsy feedback noises A wireless microphone allows you to move naturally and speak less self-consciously Protecting your voice Don’t forget to incorporate ‘voice naps’ – yes, stop talking! Appoint class assistants to read texts aloud, and encourage your students to peer-evaluate Use handsignals, bells or whistles to indicate the start and end of activities Watch a movie or documentary in class At the end of the workday, rest your voice Avoid unnecessary speaking by preparing your materials carefully Handouts should have tasks that are self-evident Make your instructions clear and succinct so that you don’t have to repeat them Plan your lessons While this doesn’t mean that you have to follow a lesson plan slavishly, you should be clear what you want to at each stage Students like their teachers to be clear and confident While rambling or thinking out loud is natural and unavoidable, such ‘unplanned’ talk can be unclear and distracting – and it’s yet more work for your voice! Just as actors and singers are spurred on by their surroundings, so teachers need a good teaching environment in order to their best Check your classroom – are there competing sounds from lights, radiators, air-conditioners and overhead projectors? Can the windows and doors be closed properly? Is the room clean 56 • Issue 95 November 2014 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com • Ming Wong is originally from Singapore, but is currently based in Frankfurt, Germany, where she teaches at universities, community colleges and companies She is also a freelance writer and intercultural trainer, specialising in Southeast Asian culture mingee@t-online.de TECHNOLOGY Flip, follow and feedback Laura Nanna’s flip is anything but a flop W hen I came across the idea of the flipped classroom (giving the students language and content input to study at home and using the lesson time for the sort of practice exercises usually done for homework), I immediately became interested in it because I liked the concept of handing over the learning process to the learners themselves Moreover, I thought that this new approach for delivering content in English could spark up my students’ motivation and provide them with a challenge When I started devising the project described here, I realised that flipping the classroom was just one step, maybe a disorienting one, towards my learning outcomes I felt the need, therefore, to develop the concept further in order to tailor it to my students’ needs This is how I came up with the idea of a three-phase approach involving three Fs: flip, follow and feedback What does the project involve? My ‘Flip, follow and feedback’ project was designed for my pre-intermediate Italian EFL learners, and centred on using a model video, which I produced myself, about Lucca, their hometown The students were then set the task of creating their own videos The project could be done in different learning contexts and for different purposes, ranging from a CLIL history lesson to studying the vocabulary of architecture on an ESP course It would also be useful for developing integrated skills Both the project itself, and the video employed as its central resource, are examples which could be adapted to suit the needs of any type of learner The project draws inspiration from the flipped classroom model, but it goes forward and adds further developments I initially decided just to try to flip my class by giving the students a video about the history of Lucca to watch at home, but then I realised that this could be the springboard for activating a deeper learning circle The project is, therefore, carefully structured in different steps in which the flipped moment is just a part These are described below, and there is more information in the lesson plan on page 59 Flip First, the learners are given the video to watch outside the classroom, whenever and wherever they want They are also given worksheets (see page 60) to complete and to reflect upon before the lesson They then come to class to share information, check their comprehension and ask questions During this phase, they build up their knowledge cooperatively and inductively, using English as the medium to interact both with the content (the history of Lucca) and with the teacher and their classmates Above all, they have to pool their resources to cope with a different approach to learning, and they have to use a wide range of learning strategies – not just those specific to language learning, but also strategies for learning in general For example, after viewing the video and filling in the worksheet designed to check comprehension, they have to reflect on how they tackled the • www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 95 November 2014 • 57 Flip, follow and feedback activity, which makes them aware of the processes at play In other words, inverting the order of the teacher’s explanation in class and the homework by providing the video for self-study before the lesson, helps encourage learner autonomy, not only linguistically, but also holistically Follow In the ‘follow’ phase, the learners have to follow the model video provided by the teacher and produce their own videos on the sights of Lucca They research on the internet, study, work together and prepare to be filmed in the town The teacher provides them with an outline for their video narration, and they can watch and re-watch the original video to familiarise themselves with both the verbal and non-verbal communication necessary to structure their performance The video in this phase becomes an invaluable resource, providing prompts, ideas and models of behaviour and attitudes Providing models to help the students structure their work is a traditional technique The novelty here is that the learners can use the model video at their own pace, having it at their disposal whenever and as many times as they want During the preparation of the video commentary and during the filming, the teacher takes notes of the learners’ feelings, impressions and comments about the task Feedback The last phase of the project is ‘feedback’ In actual fact, feedback accompanies every single stage of the project and isn’t left until the end However, a specific moment has to be identified when data from the learners is collected, shared and compared Here, the learners’ reflection and metacognitive strategies play a pivotal role in enhancing the learning process and promoting learner autonomy The use of action-research tools, such as the learner reflection questionnaire and the teacher’s step-by-step field notes, helps bridge the gaps throughout the project: they support the building of knowledge and skills development, and offer a useful guide for any learners who are disoriented by this new approach Why flip, follow and feedback? The idea of giving the video for homework, instead of having the students watch it in class or giving a traditional presentation myself, underpinned a constructivist approach to learning which enabled the students to work actively and independently from the beginning What really made the difference was the fact that I was presenting Lucca in the video myself – it was not a clip downloaded from YouTube Having the teacher as the presenter in the video acted as a filter, enabling the content to be delivered appropriately in terms of information load and linguistic complexity In other words, it was a presentation tailor-made for the target audience The learners were able to watch the video at home or on their mobile phones and had it with them all the time as a benchmark to support their work on the task In addition, each learner’s needs were catered for, and students with special needs could profit from ‘pausing and rewinding the teacher’ After the students had watched the video for homework, I could devote the following lesson to discussion, interaction and cooperative learning, using that precious time efficiently to listen to my students and to assist them in their personal discovery of knowledge instead of simply presenting content Afterwards, I realised that the video was a real ‘treasure trove’ of possibilities, and I saw ways in which it could be exploited in many different learning situations By using this video, I tried to activate the learners’ observation skills and make them aware that speaking a foreign language is more than just uttering words: it also involves their behaviour, feelings and actions This was the most enjoyable and student-centred phase of the project as it involved guiding the students to create their own narratives, according to their own individual personalities and styles Last but not least, the ongoing feedback was crucial for the effectiveness of the project The awareness-raising tools I employed were fundamental to reducing the learners’ anxiety and encouraging them to reflect on their learning The on-the-spot field notes I took and the sharing of opinions significantly glued the different phases together and signposted the flow of the project The real novelty of this project is not in the use of a common video or technology as a resource for teaching and learning, with all the benefits it brings, but how it can be used to integrate, to reverse, to personalise and to create learning and teaching products Here, there is no ‘teacher versus video’ collision at play, but both the teacher and the learners blend with the technology in creating new learning spaces This is made possible, first and foremost, by teachers who are not overpowered by technology but, instead, are able to act as guides, facilitators and models in directing the students towards the learning path In addition, continuous feedback helps train the learners to make use of technology in order to reach their goals, rather than being driven by it As regards the practical aspects of making the original video, I found this great fun and it took about two hours using a video camera and the assistance of two kind colleagues, who then downloaded it onto the computer and edited it It was worth making, especially in terms of reproducibility of the lesson and as a permanent recording of it which can be used for many different purposes The latter aspect is particularly interesting for me: the video can pave the way to new learning projects and can suggest further activities This project was a positive and rewarding experience for both me and my learners The novelty factor of flipping the classroom was motivating, and the task encouraged the learners to be creative as language learners and performers The project can be adapted to any learning situation or content – so why not try it yourself ? 58 • Issue 95 November 2014 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com • Laura Nanna teaches English to teenagers and adults in Italy She has published articles on English language methodology and CLIL Her interests focus on new approaches to teaching English, especially using creativity She was nominated for The Macmillan Education Award for New Talent in Writing at the ELTONs in 2014 nannalaura@virgilio.it Lesson plan: Flip, follow and feedback Learner level: B1 (CEF) Time: It is difficult to be precise about the time needed for this project as some activities were carried out in an asynchronous way, typical of the flipped classroom It took about ten hours, inside and outside the classroom, to create the teacher’s and the 25 students’ videos and to work on the topic in class However, the learning time, which is the key factor in this project, is personal for each student Materials/resources: Video camera, computer with internet access, worksheets STEPS DESCRIPTION Video-making on the history of Lucca The teacher goes to the town centre to create a video about it She gives a presentation, which includes information about the most important monuments and historical highlights Setting the task/warming up The teacher gives the video to the learners, to be watched outside the classroom (on a DVD or usb pendrive or uploaded on the school website) The teacher conducts a brainstorming activity about the learners’ town to activate prior knowledge (Worksheet 1) The teacher gives out Worksheet to be completed during the viewing so as to develop viewing strategies and to direct the students’ attention towards specific elements The teacher explains that the video can be watched and stopped as many times as they need The students are given one week to watch the video and complete the worksheet They are also given a questionnaire on how they tackled the viewing task (Worksheet 3) After viewing the video The teacher acts as a facilitator and interacts with the students who have completed their worksheets in a discussion The students, in small groups, compare their worksheets, ask each other questions and share their impressions and ideas about the video After that, the teacher leads a whole-class session in which all the contributions are structured and assembled together on the board In other words, the teacher helps the students combine and build up their knowledge Research (monuments) The students are asked to research a monument or a place in Lucca in order to prepare a presentation on it to be delivered and filmed during an outing to the town (Worksheet 4) The teacher provides the students with an outline (Worksheet 5) to help them prepare their presentations, including useful language Trip to create students’ videos The students visit the town and they deliver their presentations in front of a video camera at the relevant locations The teacher accompanies them, jotting down observations and impressions in her field notes Feedback session After the trip, the students reflect on the activity, share their opinions and give feedback The teacher collates the gathered data (questionnaire, observations, etc) to facilitate reflection (Worksheets and 6) Extra activities/variations Learners could subtitle or dub the teacher’s video or their classmates’ videos Learners may conduct video interviews with each other, and talk about their experience of being filmed A Moodle e-learning platform may be created, where teacher and learners interact and produce activities based on the videos Learners can create trailers for their videos Learners can create video presentations on any topic and in any place, to be given to the teacher to watch at home (Can we call this ‘double flipping’?) • www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 95 November 2014 • 59 Worksheet Worksheet Draw the perimeter of the walls of Lucca Write down (inside the walls) any place, word or historical event that comes to your mind related to your town Watch the video as many times as you need Pause and rewind whenever you want to Then complete the following table about the history of Lucca: Period Worksheet (Learner reflection questionnaire) Characteristics Keywords Places Answer this questionnaire Where did you watch the video? at home at school on my mobile How many times did you watch it? more Did you use the pause and rewind buttons? no yes – What for? _ Was the video easy or difficult to understand? Why? _ What did you find helpful/easy to understand? the images of places Choose a moment in the video that you liked or you didn’t like or that you didn’t understand properly Describe it (images and words) and give reasons for your choice Use the prompts below: There is … The teacher is presenting … I can see … I didn’t understand … the teacher’s explanation Watch the video again and find the English equivalent for the following words: the repetitions of words Porta: _ Case-Torri: _ Mura: _ Mercanti: _ Pianta: _ the fact that I know Lucca watching the video when I wanted watching the video many times Comments _ Did you like watching the video with your teacher presenting Lucca? yes no Medioevo: _ Circondare: _ Tessile: _ Regno: _ Pellegrinaggio: _ Piazza: _ Fosso: Seta: _ _ Worksheet Worksheet Research your chosen subject Prepare your commentary on the part of the video you will present Follow the plan below, and write your commentary in three paragraphs My monument/building/place is Find information about the following points: Location (Where is it?) History (What period does it belong to? owners, architects, materials, etc) Characteristics Worksheet (Teacher’s field notes) Phase Examples of teacher’s notes Examples of learners’ comments Setting the task and giving out the video Students are a bit disoriented by the task of watching the video at home ‘Did you really create the video?’ Learners presenting in front of a video camera Students are engaged and very uptight ‘Can I interrupt myself during my presentation?’ ‘I’m curious to see you.’ ‘It’s fun.’ ‘Today we can’t be tongue-tied!’ Introduction (1 minute) Useful language Good morning, ladies and gentlemen … welcome to … Let me introduce myself I’m going to present … And I’m here to give you some information about … Body (3–4 minutes) Prepare a summary of the information you found; decide on the most important things (Draw an outline or a mind map to help you.) Useful language It is in … It was built in … by … The owners were … Its shape is … It is made of bricks It was used for protecting the town … As you can see, … Conclusion (1 minute) Finish off your speech Useful language This is all about … Let’s move on to … 60 • Issue 95 November 2014 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com • TECHNOLOGY In this series, Nicky Hockly Five things you always wanted to know about e-safety (but were too afraid to ask) We all know that the internet, like real life, contains both good and bad Although we don’t want to overplay the dangers posed by cyber-criminals, viruses and malware, internet scams and worse, we can’t deny they exist E-safety – essentially, knowing how to be safe online – is something that concerns us all It especially concerns those of us who are in charge of children, whether parents or teachers of young learners (we’ll define ‘young learners’ as those under the age of 18) If you are a teacher of young learners, then understanding e-safety should be a key part of your professional know-how Start by focusing on the concrete things that children can to avoid bad situations arising in the first place This involves them understanding that they need to limit the information about themselves they share online, for example in social networking profiles They also need to be careful about who they befriend online And in order to challenge the culture of internet bullying, we need to teach our young learners to be respectful and polite themselves when they are dealing with others online – the rule of thumb here is to ask ‘Would I shout this comment out loud in a crowded room?’ Because on a social networking site, this is effectively what they are doing And we need to teach them that if any bad situations arise, they should go to an adult for help What exactly does ‘e-safety’ mean, and why should I care? So how can I help my young learners stay safe online? What sort of e-safety issues can affect my young learners? The key question Arguably, one of the most common threats affecting children online is cyber-bullying – that is, bullying via electronic means such as text messages or social media Other often-cited threats include online ‘stranger danger’ (befriending people you don’t know online, who may not be who they seem to be), ‘sexting’ (sending messages, images or videos with sexual content – something that affects teenagers rather than younger children), and ‘grooming’ (adults who prey on youngsters, and pressure or blackmail them for sexual favours) This is a very scary-sounding list Although these dangers all exist, we need to be careful about over-reacting We should keep in mind that only a very small percentage of online users ever suffer these abuses So, rather than simply terrifying everyone, we need to take a proactive stance and help children a) to understand and identify aberrant online behaviour and b) to develop strategies to deal with issues if they should ever arise We also need to show our students specific things they can to keep safe online from the outset Prevention is better than cure Should I spend time in class talking about this with my young learners? Definitely The issue of e-safety – and how to stay safe online – is an excellent topic for a language class (or two) Here are some activities you can do: Activity 1: Posters (suitable for all ages) Have the students brainstorm safe practices online and create posters in small groups You could use the poster at http://goo.gl/1GRRdr as an example and to help them with ideas Activity 2: Cyber-bullying (suitable for teenagers) Have a short discussion about cyber-bullying – what it is, and whether your learners have heard of (or experienced) any examples of it Show them the short award-winning film about cyber-bullying at http://goo.gl/fCkNn1, and discuss it afterwards Activity 3: Social networks (suitable for teenagers) Ask your learners what social networks they belong to, what the pros and cons are, and what positive or negative experiences they have had with social networks Hand out the ‘social explains aspects of technology which some people may be embarrassed to confess that they don’t really understand In this article, she explores how to keep young learners safe online – often referred to as ‘e-safety’ network discussion cards’ available at http://goo.gl/xHMnDD (scroll down for them) Ask the learners to work in small groups to discuss each situation and to come up with a solution Of course, the discussion of issues surrounding internet use and e-safety does not need to be restricted to the classroom or to young learners It’s also worth thinking about organising a parents’ evening at your school, so as to ensure the parents are also equipped to help their children stay safe online Where can I find more resources about e-safety? Because e-safety is such an important area, there are plenty of online resources for children, teachers and parents Here are two websites I especially recommend: NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children): http://www.nspcc.org.uk/ CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, part of the UK National Crime Agency): http://ceop.police.uk/ Both these sites have advice, tips, checklists and video resources about how to keep children safe Even if your young learners don’t go online during your classes, they may have access to technology at home – if not now, then probably at some point in the future Teaching them to understand the importance of e-safety is something that will help them both now and in the future Nicky Hockly is Director of Pedagogy of The Consultants-E, an online teacher training and development consultancy Her most recent books are Digital Literacies (Routledge), an e-book: Webinars: A Cookbook for Educators (the-round.com), and Going Mobile (Delta Publishing), a book on mobile learning She maintains a blog at www.emoderationskills.com nicky.hockly@theconsultants-e.com • www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 95 November 2014 • 61 Coming soon… Fully searchable archive via the website Bringing you the best of Modern English Teacher from the past years Make sure you hear about it first – subscribe to Modern English Teacher www.modernenglishteacher.com Webwatcher T he Google suite of tools is pretty useful and I have been introducing it more and more into my training One reason I particularly like it is that teachers and students only need one log-in, and then have a whole range of tools at their disposal In previous issues, I have covered Blogger, Google Docs and Google Sites Of course, by signing up to Google, you also get Google + and a Gmail account One additional tool, and one that is very useful for teachers, students and researchers, is Google Forms This allows you to create questionnaires and surveys very easily It then collates and organises all the information into charts and graphs for quick analysis It is very user-friendly and, what’s more, it is free How the tool works You first need a Google account and then you go to your Google Drive There, just click on ‘Create’ and choose ‘Form’ The first thing you will be expected to is to give your form a name and choose the layout you want to use Now you are ready to go The tool is very intuitive You simply choose from a drop-down menu You are offered a whole range of question types to choose from, including multiple-choice, radio buttons, text, a complete paragraph, scales, etc Select the type you want and then write in your questions With some question types, you will need to provide the answers as well Once you have experimented with the basics, you can begin to quite sophisticated things For example, you can provide ‘branch questions’, depending on the answers the students give Let’s imagine your first question is whether a student has ever lived in England If they say ‘Yes’, then they go to question 2, which might ask which city they lived in; but if they say ‘No’, they automatically jump to question You could develop a whole series of branch questions and create a type of maze game that the students could work through in groups The advanced features, which allow the data to be checked, are also very useful, especially if you are trying to gather email addresses or numerical information So, for example, you can make sure an @ has been used when the users are filling in their email addresses More than just a questionnaire It is also possible to add video and images, so you could embed a video that the students have to watch and then answer questions on This is really useful, as teachers are often worried that they suggest learning content for the students to watch at home, but they never know if they have actually watched it You could include a form where the students insert their names and then complete the answers to your questions after watching the video All the information is automatically collated for you, so this can be a very useful time-saving device, too To add video, you need to click on the ‘Add item’ button Choose ‘Video’ and then either paste in the URL of the video you want to use, or search for a video within the system and select it Adding images is done in more or less the same way, and you can upload images from your own computer Another useful feature for teachers is the ‘Section header’, Russell Stannard has a goggle at Google Forms one of the items that you can include in the form It allows you to paste in text for the students to read and answer questions on You need to play around with all the options, but you will see that it is a pretty flexible tool and can lots of useful things Sharing the information Once you have created your questionnaire or survey, simply click on the ‘Send form’ button You are then given various options for sharing the questionnaire You can embed it in a blog or on a website; you can copy the link to the questionnaire and then email it to your students; or you can use a whole range of social media buttons to help you distribute it Google Forms will be connected to the address book in your Gmail account, too, so you can quickly find email addresses by simply writing in the names of people from your Gmail address book Saving the information Your questionnaire will be automatically saved in your Google Drive You can access it at any time and make changes You can also view the results from the questionnaire very easily by selecting ‘Responses’ and then choosing ‘Summary of responses’ from the drop-down menu You will notice that everything is organised into graphs and summaries I really find this useful How the tool can be used I have used this tool for questionnaires at the start of a course and at the end I have also got the students to create their own questionnaires and share them I especially like doing this because the students practise and process English and learn about using Google Forms at the same time It is a good idea to get them to work in pairs to create their questionnaire, gather information and then write a report based on the data They need to think about the layout, the appropriate types of questions for the information they are trying to gather and then, of course, once they have got the data, they need to interpret it and use it to write their reports Google Forms is a simple tool that takes very little time to learn to use And once you have got the hang of it, it can open up a huge range of options To give you a taster, I have created a very short questionnaire in Google Forms If you have just two minutes, you can try it out at http://tinyurl.com/nswyq4o Help videos on using Google Forms can be found at: www.teachertrainingvideos.com/googleforms/index.html (for the basics) www.teachertrainingvideos.com/googleforms2/index.html (for more advanced features) Russell Stannard is the founder of www.teachertrainingvideos.com, which won a British Council ELTons award for technology He is a freelance teacher and writer and also a NILE Associate Trainer Keep sending your favourite sites to Russell: russellstannard@btinternet.com • www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 95 November 2014 • 63 Prize crossword 68 ETp presents the sixty-eighth in our series of prize crosswords Once you have done it successfully, let your students have a go Send your entry (completed crossword grid and quotation), not forgetting to include your full name, postal address, email address and telephone number, to Prize crossword 68, English Teaching professional, Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd, Rayford House, School Road, Hove, BN3 5HX, UK Ten correct entries will be drawn from a hat on 10 February 2015 and the winners can choose one of these titles: Macmillan Collocations Dictionary or Macmillan Phrasal Verbs Plus Please indicate your choice on your entry 9 24 6 11 22 23 25 9 22 5 8 22 24 2 24 19 18 21 12 8 23 25 17 2 9 20 20 19 25 7 8 10 5 11 20 20 7 25 22 9 24 15 8 13 24 9 25 18 8 18 8 25 18 1 1 25 13 25 26 14 22 24 25 13 19 25 24 T 9 12 14 2 13 8 17 11 7 D 13 2 2 26 9 13 19 2 14 2 2 22 10 19 2 24 18 9 1 14 2 21 7 2 22 9 7 23 2 25 9 14 25 12 13 2 25 17 2 22 25 22 11 19 2 25 11 18 16 16 25 24 17 24 17 2 21 25 13 18 24 22 25 4 8 22 7 16 25 22 17 9 18 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 T 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 D To solve the puzzle, find which letter each number represents You can keep a record in the boxes above The definitions of the words in the puzzle are given, but not in the right order When you have finished, you will be able to read the quotation VERY FREQUENT WORDS *** Physical damage done to a person or a part of their body *** Used for emphasising that something is not imaginary *** The food that a person or animal usually eats *** Used as part of an infinitive *** A word used for showing that something belongs to a particular person or thing *** To put your hand on someone or something *** The conditions in the atmosphere relating to temperature, precipitation, etc *** A word used for referring to yourself *** A word used for referring to all the people in a group *** A word used for introducing a situation that may happen, especially when talking about its results *** A written statement showing how much money you owe someone for goods or services *** The past tense of eat FREQUENT WORDS ** An urgent or emotional request for something ** Very keen to something ** A feeling of great happiness ** A computer that is designed to be used by one person at home or in an office ** A long thin object, usually made of wood, used for writing or drawing ** An important test of your knowledge ** Causing or involving great sadness, because someone suffers or dies ** The sound people make when they are thinking about what to say next FAIRLY FREQUENT WORDS * A competition in which you answer questions * A group of soldiers whose leader is called a colonel * To touch someone gently several times with a flat hand * A long journey, especially by boat or into space * A small tool used for shaving * A brown powder used for making chocolate-flavoured foods and drinks LESS FREQUENT WORDS – A plant with small white flowers, used for making tea – Carried in the air – To make it more difficult for someone to something (formal) – To copy someone’s voice or behaviour, especially to make people laugh – A short series of notes in jazz or popular music that is repeated often – Thank you (informal) – A female spirit in ancient Greek stories who lives in rivers, mountains or forests – The tube that carries food away from your stomach – A set of kettledrums – A large piece of cloth you hang on a wall for decoration – A piece of land covered with grass – Someone who knows a lot about a particular subject – To change the way that something is presented or sold in order to make it seem more attractive or interesting – To send someone back to the country where a crime was committed for a trial – A minor argument – Quiet, gentle and easily persuaded by other people to what they want – Someone who tries to end a disagreement – Great skill in using your hands or your mind – The process of becoming old – Extremely important and affecting how something develops – Continuing forever or for a very long time – Not wearing clothes – Put directly into a vein (abbr) – A document giving details of goods or services that someone has bought and must pay for – The part of your mind that is unconscious and has hidden wants and needs – Arranged in rows, with each row slightly higher than the row in front – A group of performers, especially one that travels to different places to perform – Lacking energy and not wanting to anything – A word used for expressing a feeling of sudden pain – A medical condition in which you have difficulty sleeping – A large South American animal with a long neck and a thick coat – A piece of recorded music that a new singer or group sends to a recording company (informal) – Something you pour a liquid or mixture through to remove the solid or largest pieces 8 24 1 23 7 16 2 17 11 23 10 16 8 9 15 24 ’ 22 8 10 9 24 17 16 25 15 9 13 2 22 8 18 26 7 16 2 8 25 7 64 • Issue 95 November 2014 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com • Jean-Paul Sartre From the publisher of • • • • Teaching English One to One Teaching English with Drama By Priscilla Osborne By Mark Almond This practical book provides an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of teaching students on a one-to-one basis and will enable you to: This book shows you how to understand the benefits of acting skills and improve learning by using drama, plays and theatre techniques in your lessons and covers a wide range of subjects for teachers including how to: Develop a learner needs analysis Produce learner profiles Plan effective courses Use the learner as a resource 208 pages ISBN: 1-904549-03-9 £14.95 • • • • • Plan drama-related class work Choose appropriate texts and modify dialogue for different levels of students Work with theatrical techniques Make the best of stage management Put on a play, with a step-by-step guide 140 pages Teaching English with IT Lessons in Your Rucksack By David Gordon Smith and Eric Baber By John Hughes This book shows how to use information technology when teaching English and is packed full of practical ideas, so you can: • Use IT in your teaching in the most effective way • Find IT-related activities that work with your lesson plans • Understand learning management systems • Manage IT issues Topics covered include: email; websites; web-based activities; professional training online; text chat and much more 180 pages ISBN: 1-904549-12-8 ISBN: 1-904549-01-2 £14.95 £14.95 An exciting practical guide for newly-qualified teachers and teachers embarking on a gap year This book is packed with ideas, tips and advice on how to construct and manage lessons with nothing more than the basics in your rucksack A pack of cards, pens, maps, string, all play a part Includes real-life advice and stories from teachers and student teachers about their experiences teaching around the world This is the perfect book for anyone working towards their first teacher’s qualification, such as a Cert.TESOL or CELTA 188 pages ISBN: 1-898789-14-7 £12.95 simple simple ways ways to to order: order: • EMAIL: info@pavpub.com • CALL: the orders hotline on +44 (0) 1273 434 943 • GO ONLINE: www.etprofessional.com Pavilion Publishing and Media, Rayford House, School Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 5HX Love by Design Whether your students need Persuasion to get some extended independant reading, or you’re a teacher looking for methodology books to download, make The Escape (and other stories) and discover our new eBook store! Get your Claws into our range of bestselling photocopiables, ELT resource books and methodology titles, including Jim Scrivener’s classic, Learning Teaching: The Essential Guide to English Language Teaching, one of the most successful guides to ELT of all time! All of our 200+ eBooks are available in EPUB and Adobe PDF formats, making them easy to add to your library Reading at your fingertips www.macmillaneducationebooks.com