English Language Teaching has become an integral subject for teachers to educate people for the people's holistic development. Nowadays, English is used for showcasing confidence and creating a good impact in a professional environment. But learning English is something more than that.
Here's a small blog post about my preparation for a digital portfolio and my experience of working on my presentations.
"If you are failing to plan, you're planning to fail."
This famous quote by Benjamin Franklin encourages me to schedule and organize everything around me. I used to plan and draft several tasks, and thinking activities assigned by our teacher Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad. This assignment was quickly scheduled in the form of an experience-sharing post to highlight the key aspects of my digital portfolio.
What is a Digital Portfolio?
A Digital Portfolio is an online record of all the activities and works done by a student throughout the academic years. Bachelor's and Master's degree courses are not just for academic progress. They also serve the purpose of multi-faceted development of a student, including personality development, cognitive and critical thinking development, shaping social interactions, making presentations of one's own work, explaining the ideas of studies in simple words for people in general, and so on...
Portfolios are the digital showcases. They are the result and the outcome of the new methods applied in the teaching-learning process, such as Blended learning and Flipped Learning. By preparing the digital portfolio, learners also reflect on the pedagogical changes from their part in the teaching-learning process.
Digital Portfolio is an electronic website in which data can be stored and kept in creative way and also showcased as and when required. Here is my digital portfolio link in which I've uploaded my seminar and webinar presentation and other data also.
Language teaching is an integral part of academia. Students should learn language not only for scoring good marks in exam but also to learn their usages and contexts. Because language can't be separated from any branch of knowledge, discourse and technical programs. The more proficient a student becomes in a language, the more chances are there for him/her to excel in different arena of academia. After all, language is a medium to express the things we learn. Not to mention, the importance of good communication skill is much in demand in all walks of life.
Every literature has possibility to teach language, be it a novel, short story, drama or poetry. It's all about planning a lesson and executing it among students. While planning a lesson, a teacher needs to keep in mind the age group of students, their cultural background and the first language they speak. Let's see how a language teacher can use literature for teaching English language.
For further resources and material click here to navigate to Dr. Dilip Barad's blog.
* What sort of activities or tasks can be designed to teach language using a 'novel' or 'short story'?
* Lesson: Teaching language through the short story from Malgudi Days written by R.K. Narayan
* Age Group: 18-20 Years College Students
* Pre Reading Task:
Teachers can ask students to gather the information about the village. Asking them to write 10 things in English about their village and read them aloud in class. This can help measuring the sentence formation and grammatical abilities of students.
* While Reading Task:
Teachers can ask students to read aloud some of the paragraphs from 'The Axe' from Malgudi Days. An example of the paragraph is given here. Teachers can circulate the handouts of the short story in class.
The
Axe
An astrologer passing through village foretold that Velan would live in a three-storied house surrounded by many acres of garden. At this everybody gathered round young Velan and made fun of him. For Koppal did not have a more ragged and godforsaken family than Velan's. His father had mortgaged every bit of property he had, and worked, with his whole family, on other people's lands in return for a few annas a week. A three storied house for Velan indeed!. . . But the scoffers would have congratulate The astrologer if they had seen Velan about thirty or forty years later. He became the sole occupant of Kumar Bagh - palatial house on the outskirts of Malgudi town.
When he was eighteen Velan left home. His father slapped his face one day for coming late with the mid day meal. Velan put down the basket, glared at his father and left the place. He just walked out of the village, and walked on and on till he came to the town. Is starved for a couple of days, begged wherever he could and arrived in Malgudi, where after much knocking about, an old man took him on to assist him in laying out a garden. The garden existed only in the mind of the gardener. What they could see now was acre upon acre of weed-covered land. Velan's main business consisted in destroying all the vegetation he saw. Day after day he sat in the sun and tore up by hand the unwanted plants. And all the jungle gradually disappeared and the land stood as bare as a football field. Three sides of the land were marked off for an extensive garden, and on the rest was to be built a house. By the time the mangoes had sprouted they were laying the foundation of the house. About the time the margosa sapling had shot up a couple of yards, the walls were also coming up. (Narayan. 136,137)
* Post Reading Task (Language Activity):
Language components such as adjectives, conjunctions and modal auxiliaries can be spotted right from the reading and a small exercise of the topics can be given in the form of fill-in-the-blanks. Exercises based on comprehension can be prepared.
Que: Find the similar word to assist.
Ans: help.
Que: Find the meaning of the phrase knocking about
Ans: Roaming without purpose.
Que: Find the adjective from the sentence given: He became the sole occupant of Kumar Bagh - palatial house on the outskirts of Malgudi town.
Ans: Palatial - Very spacious and large, well decorated.
Que: What did the astrologer tell to Velan about his future?
Ans: A passing by astrologer said that Velan would live in a three-stories house surrounded by many acres of garden.
Que: Find the modal auxiliary from the sentence: What they could see now was acre upon acre of weed-covered land.
Ans: Could.
* What sort of activities or tasks can be designed to teach language using a 'film or videos'?
Videos and films are a best support material while teaching literature. But, here language learning is at the center, so we can use video and films for that too. Watching videos and films has also become the part of learning activity. It has much to do with flipped learning model. According to the infographics mentioned in this flipped learning website, (click here to visit) two chemistry teachers in Colorado, USA, initiated this model in 2008.
To cite some words from Education Next,
Four years ago, in the shadow of Colorado’s Pike’s Peak, veteran Woodland Park High School chemistry teachers Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams stumbled onto an idea. Struggling to find the time to reteach lessons for absent students, they plunked down $50, bought software that allowed them to record and annotate lessons, and posted them online. Absent students appreciated the opportunity to see what they missed. But, surprisingly, so did students who hadn’t missed class. They, too, used the online material, mostly to review and reinforce classroom lessons. And, soon, Bergmann and Sams realized they had the opportunity to radically rethink how they used class time. (Tucker, 2004)
Yes, this was the beginning of "flipped learning". Now, as we live in the cutting-edge latest technology and tools, teachers can have plethora of tools to teach English language, of course through literature as well.! Here are some of the tasks to teach language.
Task 1. Listening and Speaking.
In this task, teacher can share the prerecorded video to students or play the video or film in class and ask students to say few dialogues and lines just the way it is spoken in the video.
Here is an example of a film that can be listened and few dialogues can be articulated to learn English.
Steven Spielberg's Bridge of Spies (2015)
Teacher can also ask students to read the subtitle of the film and to write few simple lines by pausing the video. After gathering the sentences, teacher can explain synonyms, adjectives, direct and indirect speech, active and passive voice or so. Here is the example.
Exact lines from film. (Timestamps given as per subtitles)
1. What's going on here ? (35:45)
Identify the tense and change the tense to past tense, without changing the meaning.
Ans: What was going on here ?
Task 2: Take Up the Lines, Think grammar.
There are many films based on the literary works. "The Importance of Being Ernest" is a good example. The film with the same name is quite faithful to this original play written by Oscar Wilde.
Teachers can give students the bookmarks of the pdf and the film. Students can listen to the dialogues and read the original play at the same time. It will improve their reading skill and listening skill.
Thank You!
Work Cited:
Narayan, R. K. Malgudi Days. Indian Thought Publication, 2006.
Web 2.0 Tools is the advanced version of Web 1.0. First and foremost let's get some idea about the word "Web". Web is a tightly connected word with internet. We know about WWW - World Wide Web, that contains millions of websites as a directory record.
Now let's see what is Web 1.0.
In the early years of 1990s, when computers were new and it was fascinating to see the "Hello World" in the CRT screens, it was difficult to access the internet and also difficult to have the luxury of even computer. During 90s or before 90s, much of HTML coding skills and technical knowledge about computer language was required in order to add content to the web pages. This was the time of Web 1.0 when internet and web browsing was limited to only specific class of people. Back then, internet web was also called as "Read Only Web". The flow of content was in one direction which is top to down. Knowledge and content was made available on web by developers and masses used to read whichever is on the internet.
But within a decade, internet started changing drastically. It was a big transformation took place in terms of adding content to the web pages online. As a result, a new generation of web based tools emerged which are now called as Web 2.0 Tools.
There are several examples of Web 2.0 Tools.
Annotation from Coursera MOOC
Blogger (1999), Gmail(2004), Facebook(2004), Twitter(2006), Flickr, LinkedIn, YouTube(2005), Yahoo! (1994), Wikipedia(2001) are the popular Web 2.0 tools.
These Web 2.0 tools allowed anyone with an internet connection to create and upload content to the web at a very low cost, even free.
There are many other tools categorized base on the needs of people. There are eight/8 categories of Web 2.0 Tools.
1. Communication Tools - Yahoo mail, Gmail, Skype, MSN, Hangouts, etc.
2. Collaborative Tools - Google Slides, Google Foms, Docs, Jamboard, Sheets etc.
3. Creativity Tools - Blogger, Wordpress, Penzu etc.
4. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Tools - Wordle, Pedlet
5. Social Networking Tools - Facebook, Twitter, Orkut(2004), WhatsApp(2009)
6. Presentation - SlideShare, Scribd
7. Reflection and Feedback - Kahoot!, Mentimeter etc.
8. Productivity - Google Sites, Blogger, Wikipedia, Quora
Now let's see what are the tools that can help learn English Language.
The table below is full of hyperlinks. You can access some of the tools by clicking on their names.
The following MOOC from Coursera helped me a lot understating and knowing more about Web 2.0 Tools. It is worth auditing and worth learning course. This helped me a lot in writing this blog post. Here is the link of the course.
By Original by Markus AngermeierVectorised and linked version by Luca Cremonini - Based on The huge cloud lens bubble map web2.0 web20map.pngVectorised and linked version from Web 2.0 Map Web_2.0_Map.svg, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1522976
History of CALL - [add also about MALL -Mobile Assisted Language Learning. Refer to article by Agnes Kukulska-Hulme and Lesley Shield + your experience of using Mobile phone for learning/teaching]
CALL is the abbreviation of Computer Assisted Language Learning.
CALL is an umbrella term which moves towards language learning and it includes several other approaches.
MALL is another abbreviation related to language learning which is Mobile AssistedLanguage Learning. According to a scholarly article written by Agnes Kukulska-Hulme & Lesley Shield, there are several devices which can be very useful in language learning. Mobile phones, MP3 Players, PDA means Personal Digital Assistants like Palmtops and similar gadgets.
English language teaching has become easy and more accessible because of the implementation of MALL. There are some models in which learners get pre created content from teachers through their WAP enabled MP3 players or in mobile phones and with the help of the audio file or text file, learners get the material and instruction about the task.
Experience of using mobile phone for learning
Mobile phones are boon to the learners. Nowadays many websites are creating mobile applications also so, rather than going to web surfing and finding websites for language learning, it became easier to access apps in mobile phones. There are hundreds of application for language learning. In the early years of computers and mobiles, much reliance had to be on the specialized language laboratories but in two decades MALL has evolved as whole new model for ELT and ELL.
This includes the use of mobile applications along with internet web pages specially designed for language learning. There are several mobile applications which supports our LSRW skills.
BBC Learning English is one of the famous language learning apps.
Language learning has become easy after the invention of mobile phones, email services, SMS services and internet service. When it comes to English language, technology has helped a lot in terms of language learning. The means of communication have now dramatically changed. Many educators, theorists and linguists have advocated the technology as a good tool for language learning. David Crystal is one of them. He has emphasized on English language learning through technology.
David Crystal
In this blog task, three videos of David Crystal are embedded and a brief writeup about the three videos are written. Lets know what he has said about language learning and teaching. Click here to be redirected on blog of Dr. Dilip Barad from which this task is taken as question.
Video 1. David Crystal - The Effect of New Technologies on English
The introduction of technology at first place is thought as a disaster and also thought as it can harm the human communication. Crystal gives the example of the invention of telephone, television and broadcasting media, commentaries on sports. . . And consistently he argues that all these mediums are much helpful in language learning, especially English language.
Internet, WWW came in 1990s and 1991. All this has increased our learning abilities and knowability. Facebook. Twitter, YouTube, Blogger and many such Web 2.0 tools have developed a new style of English language learning.
Crystal quotes here that : Notice that the technologies influence the language in quite specific ways. The most obvious example are Short Messaging Services (SMS), and tweeting.
Crystal generalizes the point by making an argument about Tweeter that is given 140 characters and we have to write something to the web, in public tweets. He says: Every internet domain you're dealing with influences the way in which you use language, sometimes in quite specific ways. But it isn't yet possible to predict the future.
Video 2. David Crystal - The Biggest Challenges for Teachers
This is the second part of Crystal's interview. In this video Crystal talks about the challenges for teachers. He says,
The biggest challenge is without a doubt to keep a pace with language change.
Language is changing so fast and it has two reasons, 1. The internet.
Teachers are less familiar with the current generation and the new words introduced on web almost daily, so its difficult to keep pace. 2. Globalization of English. Accents and dialects of English language is different from country to country. Indian English, American, British English and so on.
Listening to different English accents tunes the ears and makes us adaptive to that accent. According to Crystal, translation and language teaching are the two most difficult jobs in the world. He also gives good fact that three quarters of the world's population is bilingual.
Teachers' salary scale also should be increased. With the use of technology, this language and accent barrier can be removed.
Video 3. David Crystal on Texting (S1E2 of It's Only a Theory)
The third video is about a show titled "It's Only a Theory". It seems that the show is designed to interact with various theorists so that the difficult theories and complex ideas can be shared with people in simple and humorous ways. Panel of three questions some points of David Crystals and he answers satisfactorily.
Key Points from video : Texting can be helpful in English language learning. Crystal's theory is texting is good for the English language. Four myths about texting are debunked by Crystal that 1. Texting is done by kids only, 2. Kids fill their text messages entirely with abbreviations, 3. The abbreviation used in text messages are invented by kids, and abbreviation is a modern thing 4. Letters are being outdated, kids don't know how to spell. 5. Because they don't know how to spell, kids are putting those abbreviations in their essays at school.
Crystal says in the show that: Everybody would agree that literacy is important, learning to read and write. And everybody I think agrees that the best way of learning to read and write is to get practice in it. The more you read the more you write better. Along comes a phenomenon, a technology which gives you stunning opportunities to practice reading and writing.
On showing the example of abbreviated message on screen, Crystal admits that there are downsides of texting also. He agrees that texting can become an addiction and it has been recognized also.
When Andy, the host of the show raises the question that texting has made people less punctual in terms of following time schedule, Crystal also finds a gap here and he agrees that the question is worth noticing. But it doesn't affect the language learning part.
This assignment is a part of internal evaluation of student's academic activity in the Department of English, MK Bhavnagar University. Here is my assignment.
Name: Rohit Vyas
Class: Semester 3
PG Enrolment Number: 2069108420200041
E-mail: rohitvyas277@gmail.com
Course: M.A. English (2019-21)
Paper 12 - English Language Teaching - 1
Submitted to: Department of English MK Bhavnagar University, Bhavnagar, Gujarat, IN.
Assignment 12 – Second Language
Acquisition
Abstract
English
has been the language of almost every student's wish to learn. How can one
learn the language and become proficient in it? What is learning and what is
acquisition? These are some of the possible questions one might ask. English
language has been the global language and is currently used in almost
every country.
When it
comes to language, India has much diversity about languages. India has Hindi as
its national language and English as its official language. But in terms of
education, English is taught as a second language.
In
terms of language learning and teaching, ELT – English Language Teaching as
branch of academics is having a research based discourse on how language can be
learnt and acquired.
Stephan
Krashen is the theorist who has given five major hypothesis on how language is
acquired. This assignments focuses on how English as a second language can be
acquired in an Indian environment.
Introduction
English.
A word which fills the mind with full of thoughts. A language which is the
desire of everyone. In India, English is looked at as if it was a challenge to
overcome or an obstacle to resolve. Youth of India thinks that if they would
learn this language they will become more confident.
But
India is a multilingual country, languages differ from state to state and
region to region. Even many communities have their own language. In such
multilingual country, it becomes necessary to designate the actual meaning of
learning the language and acquiring the language. For example, if an individual
is born in Gujarat, his or her first language or mother language will be
Gujarati. Because right from the childhood an individual has been listening
Gujarati language at first place.
The difference between language
learning and language acquisition
One
does not require a proper structural and grammatical rules to speak in a mother
language.In day today life whichever
language is spoken effortlessly, it is the acquired language. When one learns
the structures and syntaxes of any language at first place, before using it in
a day to day conversation, that language is the learnt language.
English
is taught as a second language in India. If we consider Gujarat for instance, English
is not given much priority in daily conversation. It will be hardly seen that a
Gujarat born boy or girl is speaking English language as his or her first
mother language.
The Process of Acquisition
Now the
question arises, that how one can acquire the second language? As a matter of
fact, second language cannot take place of first language or mother tongue. So
the second language acquisition would not be as perfect and precise as per the
first language is acquired.
Much of
the research and experiments has been done in the arena of English language
teaching. Stephen Krashen has made an attempt to give the considerable and
practical hypothesis of language acquisition. Here are those 5 hypothesis given
by Krashen.
1.
Acquisition-learning hypothesis
Language
acquisition is the subconscious process which continuously goes on in mind.
Language can be acquired in three stages. First is comprehension. One
can read and respond the given inputs through comprehension. The second
one is speech production. By responding the inputs one can produce speech in a
systematic method. Third is speech activities. By engaging more in
speech activities, one can acquire language.
2.
Monitor hypothesis – Learner focuses on mistakes and puts check on errors and
glitches. Krashen maintains that,
"I have hypothesized that
two conditions need to be met in order to use the Monitor: the performer must
be consciously concerned about correctness; and he or she must know the rule.
Both these conditions are difficult to meet." (Krashen, 80)
3.
Natural order hypothesis – Language is acquired naturally. When a learner is in
the state of speaking language with fluency, then this natural order is
fulfilled. There can be some discrepancy in learner’s physical and geographical
environment. By referring to Corder, Krashen mentions as follows:
"It states that we acquire
the rules of language in a predictable order some rules tending to come early
and others late. The order does not appear to be determined solely by formal
simplicity and there is evidence that it is independent of the order in which
rules are taught in language classes." (Krashen, 79)
4.
Input hypothesis – Krashen referes to Noam Chomsky’s LAD – Language Acquisition
Device and maintains that “input is the essential environmental ingredient.”
(Krashen) He also says that speaking is the result of acquisition not the
cause. Speaking happens when the inputs become comprehensible to the acquirer.
"We are able to understand
language containing an acquirer grammar with the help of context which includes
extra-linguistic competence. The caretaker provides extra linguistic context by
limiting speech to the child to the here and now." (Krashen, 80)
5.
Affective filter hypothesis –
Krahsen
explains that while acquiring the second language, one has this affective
filter which helps in comprehending the inputs of second language. Krashen
says,
"The 'affective filter' is
a mental block that prevents acquirer from fully utilizing the comprehensible
input they receive for language acquisition." (Krashen, 81)
Conclusion
In order to bring out the core part of 5 hypothesis given by
Stephen Krashen, one can safely conclude that language acquisition is also
capturing the particular structure similar to language learning. One has to
utilize all the inputs in a comprehensible way. There are many ways to acquire
the language but acquiring second language demands much effort. Looking at
Krashen's hypothesis, it is evident to see that, acquirers differ in their
respective cognitive abilities and comprehensive range.
To quote from an article of British Council, McCaul states
as follows:
“Krashen sums up the idea in a
famous documentary on the subject called ‘A child's guide to learning
languages’, produced by BBC Horizon in 1983. In the documentary, he says
that acquisition is 'where the action is'. In other words, in every successful
example of language-learning – an infant mastering a first language, an adult
learner of English scoring a band 9 on the IELTS test – the reason for their
success is that they have 'acquired' rather than 'learned' the language.”
(McCaul)
References:
KRASHEN,
S. D. (1985). The input hypothesis: issues and implications. London, Longman.
McCaul,
Robert W. "Can We Learn a Second Language Like We Learned Our First?"
British Council | The UK’s International Culture and Education Organisation,
British Council,
www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/can-we-learn-second-language-we-learned-our-first.
English Language Teaching helps a teacher to know about the linguistic barriers, limitations of teaching English as a second language and gives research outcome from various theorists and essayists. In this blog we shall see some roles of teachers and learners. Both, qualities and roles are mentioned. Because in order to play certain role one has to have some basic qualities.
Role of Teacher
1. Convincing - One has to be convincing while teaching. With fair logics, arguments and facts a teacher should be well equipped to convince the students.
2. Peacemaker - Peace in terms of remaining neutral while maintaining a teacher-student relation. A teacher also should solve the disputes and difficulties of students. It is necessary to maintain the decorum of the classroom. Problem solving skill is also helpful in peacemaking.
3. Listener and Counsellor - One of the major roles of teachers. Completing syllabus is not the only duty for a teacher but also listening to students external problems related to social and personal life also. One can find a danger of diversion of mind in this role but it's a duty for a teacher to observe the youth temper and cover the minor yet important issues during the explanation of a topic, so that students can get the clear idea of life.
4. Communicative - Communication helps in building a rapport /ræˈpɔː(r)/ with students. One should keep on talking to students to bring the best out of them.
5. Lively and Dynamic Personality - A must have quality in a teacher. Because before a teacher start speaking, personality speaks. Handling a perfect body posture and putting certain gestures while teaching a necessary part of teaching process. It is also helpful in carrying out the non-verbal communication.
6. Open to Change - A teacher should welcome new and innovative changes in teaching. One should also broaden the vision and look for the helpful tools in teaching. ICT - Information and Communication Technology is the best example to mention. Using technology in education is itself a welcome change. Being a teacher, one should not leave the role of learner also. Being a lifelong learner ignites the passion towards teaching.
Role of Learner
1. Observer - A learner's first role is to observe several incidents, current affairs. Reading is the sub-quality of observation. Learner should be well aware about various circulars, schemes and aids, conveyed and offered by educational institutions. The habit of observation also help a learner in bifurcating unnecessary elements which are barrier in learning.
2. Listener and Questioner - Actively listening to teacher and asking apt questions during the discussion helps develop the better and clear idea about the topic. It builds a curiosity also.
3. Dedication - Works to be done in given time. Learner's hundred percent involvement in doing all the tasks and activity is one of the most expected quality.
4. Responsible to Studies - Learner should prioritize the works and assignment given by teachers. Paying attention to every point made by the teacher and reflecting upon them is a part of active participation in classroom interaction. This responsible behavior carries out a good exposure and confidence about that particular topic.
5. Collaborator - A learner is not a lone walker in a path of learning. One should interact with peers and classmates to collaborate and engage in activities carried out as part of any topic. Working in groups, forming a team and accomplishing a task together is also a part of teamwork skills.
6. Decision Maker - Making a right choice at a right time is also important for a learner. At times a learner has to select either of the methods of learning. Especially when a learner is from another state or a country.
7. Integrity - Learner should be honest about their work, ideas and thoughts. In academics, integrity is a synonym to best quality work. This quality should be practiced among the learners right from the school education. Whichever ideas and thoughts are taken from the sources should be well cited. For example, several ideas written in posts of this blog might be taken and used somewhere else. In this case maintaining integrity is necessary.
"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart." - Nelson Mandela
Human beings are linguistically adaptive to receive and to convey the message, and the process of communication takes place; thanks to the system of language. Language doesn't only help in transmitting the information but also enables people to share their emotions. In the context of India, multiple languages are spoken. In such arena, teaching English language is also a challenging task. In this country, people know more than one languages. If an individual is from Kerala, it might be knowing a regional language of Kerala and English language also. If one is from Maharashtra, it might be knowing Marathi, Hindi and English also.
So, This above quote directly connects to the bilingualism and multilingualism. If you are visiting a place where your native language is not spoken and still you find a speaker who knows multiple languages, and talks in your language, how would you feel ? Of course it's a feeling of getting water in the desert.! (not oasis obviously !!!) It's a feeling of meeting someone of your homeland.
Ganesh N Devy, a renowned literary critic has studied languages and also talked about how languages generate, sustain, submerge into another language and die. It is necessary to know languages first, then we can come to a particular one. Here is the video, in which G N Devy explains the language as a system of communication. Watch time 19 minutes.
In this blog, some questions are answered as a part of a reflection of learning experience during the sessions of ELT lectures.
1. What is the role of English Language in India according to you with reference to any one essay discussed in the class?
* English language, in light of India, plays a very significant role. Because it doesn't only makes an individual globally connected but also enables it to elaborate and explore more in almost all the fields.
According to the essay by
2. What are the challenges you faced while learning English Language as?
* During the primary years of my schooling, I didn't face any challenges while learning English language. Though I have studied in a regional medium language school, but I got the hold on this language very early. Specifically in terms of grammar-composition and reading comprehension. I was also good at remembering spelling because I used to practice the vocabulary by speaking it aloud. I could relate my vocals directly to the spelling. Such mental exercises made me a good learner of English language. But, I started speaking English language naturally, much later, when I was in 12th standard. This much gap between learning the language and speaking, is only because of lack of environment. Being a multilingual individual, I lacked the oneness in the linguistic environment. But I would state that my LSRW skills are still developing.
3. Write your reflection regarding the classroom activities. What challenges you faced in doing the activities as teachers.
* As all the ELT sessions were conducted in an online mode due to the COVID19 pandemic, classroom activities were less interactive. But still there was a lot of learning while participating in the activities such as planning a lesson for learners, introducing them a new vocabulary etc. Here, a detailed blog post about these activities is mentioned. Have a quick view on it. Click the link below.
In order to study this ELT paper one has to think like a language teacher. So as a teacher, when I prepared any lesson plan, I was quite confused about the methods, that which methods would be better to introduce a topic to the learners? How can the age group of learners I had selected be well versed with the flow of teaching I have?
While doing the activity of selecting a profession and finding registers and sub-registers for that field, it was quite difficult to think outside the preset box of vocabulary. Because EST - English for Science and Technology is quite unexplored part for me in terms of terminology.
4. How do you see your future with the English Language?
* I see many opportunities and better prospects with the English language. It may help me understand any culture I am in. It will open many doors to some of the fields such as teaching and content creation, where language plays a very vital role. Nowadays, much emphasis is laid on the linguistic perfection, as it is the time of post-truth, misinformation and fake narratives. In such environment we require a dedicated, enthusiastic human resources which can curb any such linguistic plague in short period of time. Hermeneutically also, we require better interpretation of various things. Even in the 21st century many blurred pictures are yet to be cleared through firm and authentic arguments. All this can happen if the language is filtered from higher strata to lower strata of classes. In order to meet the demands of the upcoming time, one will have to work with English language. I also see better opportunities where the gaps of languages are yet to be filled. English language has the ability to carry almost every discourses and thoughts of other languages. I also see a beautiful blend of multilingualism in India. It would definitely lead me to the areas which I want to explore.
ELT, which stands for English Language Teaching, is a course, specially designed for teachers who are going to teach English Language in future. In this course, teachers are assigned some specific task and activities through which they can sharpen their teaching skills. These activities are a practical outcome of what they have learned in ELT being a teacher. It not only helps understand the essays accurately but also enhances teacher's confidence and make them future ready for teaching English language.
Bloom's Taxonomy Pyramid
English Language Teaching
Recently, while studying this course, following four activities were given
1. Translating the sentences [9th Sept 2020]
2. Choosing an occupation [10th Sept 2020]
3. Introducing vocabulary [16th Sept 2020]
4. Preparing a lesson plan [5th Oct 2020]
All the four activities were assigned with reference of the ELT essays discussed in the online classes.
Activity 1: Translating the sentences
* [Key Instructions: Translate the given sentences into English]
4. माथे पे कुमकुम और हाथ में चूड़ा, लगता है भारत से हैं वो।
Translation:
1. Ahmed reads newspaper in the morning.
2. Come, oh rain, millet bread offerings, warm warm chapati and vegetable of bitter melon.
3. Mother, your vermilion dropped and Sun rose.
4. Vermilion on forehead and bangles in hands, it seems like they are from India.
The key objective of this particular activity was to identify difficulties of literal translation of specific words from one language to another. The translated sentences may seem ridiculous at first place but it was a part of a trial based activity.
Activity 2: Choosing an occupation
* [Key Instructions: Choose your desired occupation and make a list of 10 things/items you need to be a part of that occupation]
Occupation: Hotel Owner
Things Required:
1. Dedicated staff who can take care of rooms.
2. A portable container office for remote management
3. An accountant who keeps record of transactions and bills
4. Computer with good internet bandwidth
5. Taxi vehicles for logistics and sight seeing
6. A contractor who repairs odds and errands of the hotel
7. A tie up with few restaurants for on-demand food services
8. A website for online marketing
9. Tourism certifications
10. License to run business
The objective for doing this activity was to be well versed with the registers and sub-registers of English language. Every discourse and field has it's own technical words and terms. They are called registers and sub-registers.
Activity 3: Introducing Vocabulary
* [Key Instructions: Select the desired word which you want to introduce to the learners. The word should be introduced in English. Discuss the method how you will introduce that word to the learners. A condition here is, learners are not well acquainted with English language, and they only know regional languages.]
I will introduce the word handkerchief. Their regional language is Gujarati and Hindi. I will use question method. I will ask them few question in order to get the exact word from them. It is રૂમાલ in Gujarati.
First Question: What do you use to wipe your mouth and hands after washing your hands after eating?
Second Que: In case you are working in a dusty area or travelling on a rough, dusty road then what will you do to cover your face?
Third Que: What do you use to cover your nose when you sneeze ?
In either of the questions asked above I will get answer 'રૂમાલ'. Then I'll introduce handkerchief in English.
Activity 4: Preparing a lesson plan
* [Key Instructions: Select the desired age group of learners. Select any topic of your choice. Prepare a lesson plan for that topic and discuss how you will teach that topic to learners. Mention objectives/outcomes of the lesson plan.]
Plan: I'll introduce the topic "Communication through ICT tools" to the students from standard 10 to 12.
I will prepare a presentation in laptop and display it through the projector. I will include various images and GIFs (Graphical Interchange Formats, or moving pictures) of people talking and chatting. I will ask them a question that how they normally communicate in an informal environment. From their answers I will know their medium of language and areas where they can improve. I will introduce them a way to increase their vocabulary through some mobile applications and websites. I will also assign them a task to find out 10 new words which will be very unfamiliar to them and use all the 10 words to construct a paragraph. I will ask few of the students to interact with each other and use those words appropriately in the conversation. At the end I will share video resources and examples of group discussion and other conversations.
Objectives:
1. Enable learners to use meaningful words in given context.
2. Enhance their English language proficiency.
3. Engage them in formal and informal interactions such as group discussion.
4. Make them well versed with ICT and WEB 2.0 tools and use the same in effective language learning.
This was a glimpse of all four activities. This blog may also be useful in honing your language teaching skills.
