Unit 3: Which comes first: Reading or vocabulary?

I think that when  you are starting a new unit of study or a new book, it is important to review the vocabulary first. Recent research supports the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and later reading ability (Brown & Lee, 2015) Teaching vocabulary can be done in many creative and fun ways and should be integrated into all of the skills (listening, reading, speaking and writing), in short you can make any lesson a vocabulary lesson. I've included a few links to articles with great ideas for teaching vocabulary.
During this unit we looked at some new technology to use with students. I particularly liked using padlet. For my Unit 3 vocabulary exercise (found under the TESL 0130 tab) I  created an activity that would have the students use padlet to demonstrate their comprehension of the words on a nutrition label. This is an awesome tool to incorporate many modalities for the learners.

 

 

Vocabulary games

5 ESL vocabulary teaching methods

Brown, D. & Lee, H. (2015). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy (Rev. 4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Unit 2: Adaptations-Foreign exchange emails

I think that the reading level of the text example would work well for students who are CLB 4. (readability) As one of the recommended tasks for Level 4 is to read an email from a friend this type of lesson would be a good one to use. These activities would cover some of the outcomes from Level 4.

Most of the vocabulary is quite simple, however they use a lot of idioms, so that would be my focus for one activity (how are you getting on?, we're a real mix, I'm learning loads, there are loads, hanging out, are very sweet). I would provide them with some synonyms and have them do a match (idiom in one column, similar expression in another). This could be done with a partner.

I would have some basic comprehension questions to determine purpose, main ideas and specific details. Why did Simon send the email? List 3 things that Fran has been doing. How does Fran feel about the children? What word does Fran use to describe the children, that shows that she likes them? Which word tells how Fran feels about watching Frozen? (register/style) 
For a more mature group I would do an email from a friend talking about a place they had visited. (suitability)

A written activity (exploitability) I would include would be to have them write their own email. I would give them the criteria for the writing based on the questions a partner would need to answer once they had read the email. (This would be used for assessment of writing and reading.)

Here is a great article on the teaching of idioms to ESL students.

How to teach English idioms

British Council. (2015). Foreign exchange emails-exercises. British Council. Retrieved from http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/reading-skills-practice/foreign-exchange-emails

Unit 1 Contextualizing Content

One of the areas that I am always stressing with students is the importance of using context clues while they are reading. Even in first language instruction people tend to rely on phonics or sounding out as a primary way to make sense of text. With young students we begin with picture cues to help them and then we move to semantics and syntax, when they are reading. Using context clues teaches the reader to use a variety of strategies: deduction, parts of speech, chunking and vocabulary activation to make sense of what they are reading. (Beare, 2020) these are all necessary strategies to improving reading skills. By encouraging the use of context clues students will become more fluent readers who enjoy reading texts better than if they are using a stop and start approach searching for text meaning through a translator or dictionary. I have included a link to the article which has some excellent suggestions for lessons.



Using context clues

Beare, Kenneth. (2020, February 11). Using Context for Reading Literacy in an ESL Class. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/reading-lesson-using-context-reading-literacy-1212011

Final thoughts....

When I started this course I thought it would be pretty simple to think about the needs of ELLs in terms of speaking and listening. Quite clearly I felt that practice was the key to acquiring a new language. I still believe that to be true but there is so much more to take into consideration. How we present the information initially is key, ensuring that our students have opportunities to practice with other learners from various levels and providing feedback in a respectful and productive manner are all essential components of listening and speaking. At times during this course I felt overwhelmed by all the components. When I looked at a big lesson plan and put my ideas all together it seemed easier than isolating just speaking and listening. I will have to see as I continue my learning journey how all the pieces fit together. I have learned a lot in this four weeks and I am excited to continue the next piece of this learning puzzle.

Unit 4: Keeping it real!

One of the best strategies I heard about in this unit was the teacher recording daily conversations to use in class. She explained that she would record exchanges (with permission) of her and others conducting daily business, such as a return or ordering a meal at a restaurant. She tailored what she recorded, to the needs of her students. As she mentioned, I think that students would appreciate the time and effort the teacher put in and that they would enjoy hearing the conversations that involved her and those she interacted with throughout the day.  I might even expand on the idea and engage students in creating recordings as well, especially if I had a multi-level classroom. The recordings could be used for self or peer assessment or as a teaching tool. This is definitely a strategy that I would use in my class

Unit 3: Top down, bottom up listening

I found the article Listening matters:top-down and bottom up listening (Tennant, 2017) very interesting. The top down listener looks at the big picture to get the general meaning or 'gist' of what is being said. They require previous knowledge to help them make sense of the content. Whereas the bottom up listener focuses on the details and looks to understand the content on a word level, looking at both grammar and syntax. I think when one begins to learn a language we rely on the bottom up strategy. Listening for those familiar words, grasping for the understanding of the syntax and grammar of what is being told to us. As one becomes more confident in the language we can listen to the big picture and determine what someone is trying to say to us. Usually this isn't too difficult as when we are having a conversation with someone there is context whether by relationship, location or situation, to help us to understand. A listener might relay on one method more than the other at times, for example, when following directions there would be more of a reliance on the bottom up method to ensure the listener gets all the pertinent information. I think our task as educators is to help our learners balance the two methods, providing them with opportunities to practice both to assist them in becoming competent and fluent listeners and speakers.

Tennant, A. (2017). Listening matters: top-down and bottom up listening. Retrieved from http://www.onestopenglish.com/skills/listening/teaching-tips/listening-matters/listening-matters-top-down-and-bottom-up-listening/154567.article