Teaching Writing with Global Intermediate: an analysis of the features of its writing activities

Here is another coursebook recommendation report, this time written by Lucas Gontijo Silva, for the course Writing for Teachers. Do you agree with him?

1.   Introduction

Global Intermediate is the coursebook currently used in the second part of the intermediate course at Casa Thomas Jefferson, Brasília, DF. The book is filled with activities that focus on all four skills of language competence: listening, reading, speaking and writing. However, when we carefully analyse and test its use on a regular basis, we are able to confirm that some activities fall short: the ones that focus on writing.

Although the book provides extra writing lessons (pp 16, 28, 40, 52, 64, 76, 88, 100, 112 and 124), it still does not equip students with the necessary material to help them work on their writing skills within the regular lessons carried out in the course. The intermediate course at Casa Thomas Jefferson does not include those pages on its syllabus. As a result, the coursebook in question cannot be sufficient in order to meet the needs of a skills-based course that also has to focus on writing.

Effective and fruitful writing activities can be recognized in a coursebook that is meaningful for the students who make use of it, a coursebook that is genre-based, a coursebook that provides them with scaffolding and planning for writing, a coursebook that contains good models and authentic texts, and a coursebook that is furnished with follow-up activities.

2.   Background

The intermediate Course at Casa Thomas Jefferson is mostly an environment for young students that range from the age of 13 to the age of 17. The students at issue are characterized by having quite an amount of school load and some extracurricular activities. They usually demonstrate more facility with the passive skills, i.e. reading and listening. However, some of them also struggle with those skills, besides speaking and writing. They are also at a stage in which they are still forming social and academic competencies, such as punctuality, responsibility and respect. Because of that, teachers commonly have to deal with homework neglection and deviant behaviour.

Taking this audience into account, writing activities must be able to catch students’ interest and prove their relevance and immediate applicability to the students’ lives. As follows, I will point out specific criteria that should be considered while examining the quality of the writing activities of a coursebook and will also analyse Global Intermediate in view of it.

   

3.   Literature Review

Many things must be considered when we think of what makes a language teaching course good and effective. When it comes to teaching writing, there are mainly five aspects that should be considered in an EFL skills-based course: whether the approach is genre-based, the use of scaffolding, the use of follow-up activities, the presence and usage of good modelling and, finally, whether writing is meaningful and relevant to the students.

A.  An approach to genres in writing

A genre-based approach to teaching writing is essential in order to create language awareness in our students. As Reppen states (2002), after analysing different types of texts and their distinct characteristics, students are able to thrive as writers, assess their own pieces of writing, and engage in peer-feedback more productively. According to her (p. 323), through genre-guided activities, students manage to see different texts from different perspectives, taking the writers’ purposes and the readers’ needs into account.

B.  Scaffolding

Hyland (2007) affirms that scaffolding directly relates to interaction between peers, which enables them to grasp the activities better. As claimed by him (p. 158), as students interact and discuss the topic through scaffolding, they develop an independence from their teacher’s “direct instruction”. Widdowson (1978) also expresses the great value of scaffolding by describing it as a “gradual approximation”. Students, therefore, become better writers when they are “actively encouraged to follow through a series of preparatory steps” (Scrivener, 1994, p. 157) producing then the final piece of writing.

C.  Follow-up

Another important aspect about teaching writing is the implementation of follow-up activities, that is, those that are done after the students have produced their pieces of writing. The writing process is not finished, and the students are encouraged to evaluate each other’s texts. Seow (2002) affirms that that strategy is a means to stimulate a sense of responsibility in them.

D.  Meaningful writing

Hyland (2007) also explains that the genre approach helps teachers plan their classes around themes or like real-life activities. Writing in order to specifically do or achieve something is what raises students’ interest and makes them see a meaningful purpose in writing. As maintained by the professor, this approach helps students learn beyond mere abilities and competencies; it makes them assimilate contextual and social elements that involve one specific genre.

E.  Modelling

Finally, the use of good models and authentic material is another extremely important aspect in teaching writing. Students benefit from being exposed to real texts and from having authentic models that inspire and encourage them to engage in writing. According to Al Azri and Al-Rashdi (2014), authentic texts “expose students to real language”, “meet learners’ needs”, “affect learners’ motivation positively” and “present authentic information about culture”, amongst other reasons.

Conclusion

All the literature mentioned above concurs in regarding writing highly and seeing it as a fundamental part of a language course. The various elements that are necessary to compound high-quality teaching or determine a great coursebook can be easily identified when it comes to writing. Such elements must be avidly pursued in order to encourage and uphold a good practice of the teaching of writing.

4.   Analysis of Data

When we bear in mind a skills-based course, we cannot overlook the skill of writing. Successful writing relies on the fulfillment of certain criteria. Coursebooks must be carefully analysed and questioned according to these criteria so that we make sure that their use concerning writing is effective and productive in a language course.

A.  Meaningful material

The age group that uses the book and the interests that surround students’ lives should be taken into account when taking a close look at the coursebook. Global Intermediate has, therefore, proven to be a book directed towards an older audience. Many teachers at the school have stated that when they go through some lessons, such as Unit 3, part 2 and Unit 5, part 2, the students tend to react in the same way, with lack of enthusiasm and boredom. This is so because young teenagers do not naturally have interest in energy sources or government collocations (the central topics of the lessons mentioned above). When it comes to the writing activities, this reality aggravates the problem, since students do not have a sufficient stimulus to engage in the writing tasks. Assignments such as writing a comment on an online science magazine can be difficult and uninteresting for students at that age.

B.  Genre-based material

Another aspect that should be appraised is whether the coursebook makes use of genre-oriented tasks. Whether the activities within the lessons provide students with contextualized tasks in which they can see the purpose of writing is extremely important. When students are told to write solely to improve their writing skills, the activity has an end in itself and becomes pointless from their perspective. There has to be a purpose in writing that relates directly to students’ lives and interests, and genre-based writing lessons are those which deliver the context and the sense of reality that students need.

The writing tasks in Global Intermediate, however, do not comprehend this strategy. The lesson tasks usually involve forming questions, writing lists or a general comment or paragraph about something. That means that students are not guided on how to write authentic texts that are used in specific contexts.

C.  Scaffolding and Planning

Good writing lessons also include scaffolding and planning. In other words, the lessons have to naturally welcome students into the writing task, rather than surprise them with an assignment that they are not ready to do. The activities must be conducted in a way that the students are gradually prepared for the assignment, and that is why instructions regarding planning must also be part of the lesson.

Unfortunately, the lessons in Global Intermediate do not bring scaffolding and planning strategies before the writing tasks. The instructions just usually tell students to write a piece of writing after they have discussed something that relates to the lesson, which is not the necessary process that students have to go through so as to produce a text with quality. Good scaffolding involves guiding students with regard to the context, the purpose, the content and the form of the text, to put it briefly. Also, the students are not given any orientation concerning outlining, map-minding or other planning strategies.

D.  Modelling with authentic texts

Since the writing tasks mostly orientate students to write a comment or a paragraph, a lack of modelling with authentic texts can be spotted in Global Intermediate as well. Although students are provided with catchy images and appealing layouts in the reading activities that usually precede the ones on writing, they still do not have great models for their own pieces of writing (predominantly comments and paragraphs). After having read texts that somehow relate to the lessons, the students are not encouraged to produce something similar to the only model that has been given in the lesson.

E.  Follow-up Activities

Finally, an effective coursebook that helps students work on their writing skills must contain at least one effectual follow-up activity through which pupils can give and get valuable peer-feedback. That is so because, otherwise, the writing section of coursebooks will always end up becoming homework assignments or assessments and students will never have the chance to actually exchange knowledge and ideas with their peers. The activities that focus on writing need to be made an essential part of the course and must be regarded by teachers and students as highly as the others that emphasize different skills. The writing activities within the lessons in Global Intermediate only instruct students to read their compositions to each other and then say whether they agree with their peers. That is not enough for the aim of developing students’ writing skills and language awareness.

5.   Outcomes

Although Global Intermediate does have a section entirely dedicated to writing after each unit, it does not have writing activities within the lessons. Since the course carried out at Casa Thomas Jefferson does not include such sections, it does not provide students with effective and productive activities concerning the skill of writing. It definitely lacks high-quality scaffolding and planning exercises, as well as follow-up activities. It also does not contain meaningful and appealing writing tasks when we consider the specific audience that makes use of it. Finally, modelling and authentic texts are not always present as well, which makes the students confused and unprepared to produce the pieces of writing that are suggested through the lessons.

Therefore, looking only and closely at its writing activities, I recommend the discontinuation of Global Intermediate as the coursebook for the intermediate course at Casa Thomas Jefferson.

References

Al Azri, R. and Al-Rashdi, M. (2014). The Effect of Using Authentic Materials in Teaching. International Journal of Science and Technology Research, 3(10), pp. 249-254.

Hyland, Ken. (2007) Genre pedagogy: Language, literacy and L2 writing instruction. Journal of Second Language Writing, 16, 148–164

Reppen, R. (2002). A Genre-Based Approach to Content Writing Instruction. In J. Richards & W. Renandya (Eds.). Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology of Current Practice (pp. 321-327). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Scrivener, Jim. (1994). Learning Teaching. The Teacher Development Series Editor: Adrian Underhill. Oxford, UK: Heinemann.

Seow, A. (2002). The writing process and process writing. In J. C. Richards & W. A. Renandya (Eds.). Methodology in language teaching: An anthology of current practice (pp. 315-320). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Widdowson, H. (1978). Teaching language as communication. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Recommendation Report

In the course Writing for Teachers, participants had to write a report recommending the continuation or discontinuation of a course book based on its writing curriculum. They had to base their recommendation on theoretical references. Here is what Leandro Camargo wrote about the course book Time Zones, used in our Teens Course.  

Introduction

Like many other EFL schools in Brazil, Casa Thomas Jefferson’s academic staff seeks updated books. In the Teens course, we have Time Zones course books and, to avoid problems with student’s engagement in writing activities, a revision should be done. When asked for feedback, some teachers mentioned that many adaptations were needed in order to make writing assignments more attractive to students. This issue has to be addressed so that students can have a better experience in writing exercises and eventually improve their skills.

Currently, as mentioned by the teachers, a low percentage of the students enjoy the writing activities. This needs to change so teachers can achieve their goals of making writing assignments enjoyable for both. Strategies could be implemented to increase enjoyment of writing activities, since they are just as important as the others.

Writing is an important part of any English course and poor writing can cause academic consequences. Students who don’t have good writing skills or don’t enjoy doing writing usually end the course with lack of writing ability. Consequently, these students will miss out very important opportunities in their academic lives. Changes in the writing program for the Teens course at Casa Thomas Jefferson are needed, and the following report is intended to propose ideas for improvement and continuity of the writing program.

Literature Review

Learning how to write in a second language has always been difficult and challenging for students. Planning, revising, rearranging and deleting, producing multiple drafts are just some of the tools for the writing exercise. “Over the years, different approaches have been introduced in the language classroom, yet it is the process approach that became known in the 1970s that has had the most favorable influence” (Macarthur, Graham and Fitzgerald, in Alves, 2011; 2). This approach considers all writings as a creative act that requires positive feedback with the intervention of the teacher to be well done.

Process writing is a common technique to teach writing that gives emphasis to creativity, and which pays attention to the development of writing practices instead of imitation (Tribble in Alves, 2011; 3). In this process, the teacher moves away from being someone who sets students a writing topic and corrects a finished product without any intervention. Teaching and learning happens during the whole process.

A writer must know how to organize his/her thoughts and messages in an appropriate way. Most students don´t know what they want to write and many ideas are only revealed when they start writing. Revision, changes of words and structure are made until writers are satisfied with the result. Since writing is a process of ‘generating, formulating and revising ideas’ (Zame in Alves, 2008; 6), attention and adequate time have to be provided for revision and re-writing, while teachers help throughout the process.

 Process writing can be divided into three main stages: pre-writing, focusing ideas and evaluating, structuring, and editing. Pre-writing is the stage in which the teacher needs to stimulate student’s creativity through well scaffolded activities, to get them thinking how to approach a writing topic. The flow of ideas is more important than the production of any written work. Among others, a good example of pre-writing activity is the use of brainstorming, considering the complexity of writing and how generating ideas is an essential stage (White and Arndt in Alves, 2008; 7).

After the pre-writing stage, students write the first draft without much attention to the accuracy of their work. White and Arndt, and Hedge (in Alves, 2008; 10) suggest the technique of fast-writing. In this stage, the most important feature is meaning: Is it good? Is there anything missing? Should I add anything else?

Editing is one of the most important stages in the writing process because it´s   where a lot of learning happens. This stage also helps students in future writings, once they have the opportunity to receive feedback. Revising, besides being an important source of learning, is part of the writing process that involves assessing what has already been produced (Hedge in Alves, 2008; 11).

Writing isn't an easy task, and so it is only fair that anybody´s writing is responded to suitability. It is important to give positive feedback to help build student confidence and create good feelings for the next writing.

Since writing is a difficult exercise, students need to write over and over to become good writers. They need the opportunity to practice various types and functions of writing to develop skills, and build competence, confidence and progress toward independence.

All the stages in process writing will encourage students to try. Students will not be judged or exposed because they will have an opportunity to revise and improve before being evaluated. Practice, well planned stages, and well scaffolded pre-writing activities may change students’ lack of enjoyment towards the writing exercise.

 Methodology

For this report, I shared practical knowledge with teachers at Casa to get an idea of what they have been experiencing and doing to increase their student’s enjoyment of writing assignments. I also researched relevant articles on the process writing approach. These articles outline several features to teach better writing lessons in the language classroom.

Causes of low enjoyment of writing lessons

Teachers in general agree that writing is an all too common problem for an English as a Foreign or Second Language school. This can be so due to many causes; from unsupportive schools and teachers to the lack of skill of the students. Also, the absence of interest from the students due to poor pre-writing and not well scaffolded activities are listed as top reasons for the boredom in the writing classes.

Some teachers also agree that if a student is not being successful in his/her writings, then they are less likely to want to hand in the assignments. In short, all of the teachers agree that low quality models of writing and lack of genre awareness are major reasons for students not to do well in writing lessons, especially younger students, once they have special needs.

Effective writing lessons

As the main goal is a better writing program and ideas for increasing student enjoyment, one of the two most frequently mentioned things by teachers are teaching students basic writing patterns and having effective and meaningful pre-writing lessons.

An effective pre-writing class consists of generating ideas and planning. Great tools for that are, for instance, the use of well scaffolded activities including videos, writing samples and mind maps. The writing activities in the Teens course books used at The Casa Thomas Jefferson have just a few of the features suggested. When students are asked to write something, they have no idea how to do it. Activities like these are not only feasible, but also essential for students to become familiar with in order to select the appropriate kind of writing, using them in specific situations, along with the appropriate vocabulary, research, process and purpose.

In addition to improving pre-writing lessons, it is the responsibility of the teachers to motivate students to write and make them aware of the importance of producing good compositions. Creating effective activities that are reviewed and renewed regularly and establishing a writing routine with students are very important stepping stones for improving the Teens course writing program. All in all, as Time Zones is a good book, I recommend its continuation provided that changes are made in the writing activities.  

Conclusion

In conclusion, the findings based on teachers’ experience come to an agreement that the book should still be used for the Teens course due to its other features. Effective writing activities and lessons are very important to help students develop their abilities. Once the book being used at the moment doesn’t present well planned pre-writing exercises, it now becomes the teacher's responsibility to plan and share activities with other teachers.  The following topics are important factors in increasing students’ enjoyment of writing lessons: effective and meaningful writing lessons and the role of teachers as facilitators and motivators, so students can learn and enjoy this activity.

References

Kroll, B. (1990) Second Language Writing: Research insights for the classroom Cambridge University Press.

H. Douglas Brown. (1994) Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. Paramount Communications Company.

Alves, Reis Ana. Process writing. University of Birmingham: 2008. (Masters degree assignment) Available at: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-artslaw/cels/essays/languageteaching/AReisAlvesProcessWritingLTM.pdf. Accessed on July 3, 2017.

Games in ESL classrooms

Hugo Mendonça Lima (Final project for the course Writing for Teachers)

          Having been a P.E teacher for almost five years, I have come to realize something. If you want to make people practice physical activities, without suffering, make it interesting. And what better way to do that than by playing games? Is the attention span of the children in your kids’ swimming class short? Turn the pool into the sea and the kids into mermaids and play make believe. Are your teenagers getting bored too fast in their volleyball practice? Tell them the faster they finish it the more time they will have to play the actual game. Are some of the adults in the gym starting to miss classes? Tell them they will have a bench press competition at the end of the month and the winner gets a month free of tuition.

          For this reason, when I started teaching English as a Second Language, it was no surprise to see that the students from these classes also responded well to games. However, what I was surprised with were the reasons why teachers would use games in an ESL classroom. Most of my peers used this tool as a way to kill time or break the ice. They would hardly ever use it as a means to learn new content. So I challenged them. I proposed we increase the number of times we use games in our classes, but only if we had a specific learning purpose in mind. That way, not only would we have to think outside the box, but also the students would be more engaged during the lessons. The teachers accepted the challenge, and we agreed to bring to class at least one new game every week. Needless to say, we had remarkable results. The students loved the change, and were learning much more every week. And because of that, the teachers started feeling compelled to bring more and more interesting things for classes.

          Thus, I now challenge you, reader. How about changing things up in your classroom? Instead of a PPT explaining how to say sentences in the future, why not play a game with that goal in mind? Maybe have your students work in pairs and play a game of predicting each other’s future (bring a deck of cards or snow globes for fun). One student will be the clairvoyant and will “read” the cards or globes for their classmate, using sentences in the future. It might seem silly, but they will be engaged and will use their creativity trying to impress their peers. Or you can come up with a new game for this topic yourself.

          For that, you will have to understand the definition of game, and its purpose in an ESL classroom. Talak-Kiryk (2010) says that games are fun activities which promote interaction, thinking, learning and problem solving, whereas Deesri (2002) says they are also activities that must have rules, goals, and an element of fun. And according to Chen (2005) and Talak-Kirkyk (2010), games in an ESL classroom provide students with the opportunity for real communication and give them purpose to use the target language.

          If this reason is not enough for you, Chen (2005) mentions in her article that games allow students to explore the language without the fear of failure. She also says that learning should be interesting, fun, and even challenging. After all, we are used to having any kind of information at hand, at any time we want. All we have to do is pick up our phones and look it up. So, having students work hard for something and engage in an activity might be difficult. And games will be helpful when facing this resistance.

          Now, if I was able to convince you to increase the number of games you use in your classes, when planning your lessons remember this: your game should always have a clear learning objective and purpose (Deesri. 2002). A game of Charades might be fun, but it is also pointless if it does not add to the learning process. Furthermore, you should always keep in mind your students’ language level, their age, and personality traits.

          It might seem difficult, at first, to make games a fixed part of your syllabus. However, once your students start participating more and learning more, you will see you are doing something right. The most challenging part will be having to create games for each situation. That is why I will put some links bellow with some websites that might help you. After a while, you will have a database of games you can use, and your classes will be easier to plan, but still effective.

Links for games:

http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Chen-Games.html

https://www.eslkidstuff.com/Gamescontents.htm

References:

CHEN, I. Using Games to Promote Communicative Skills in Language Learning. 2005. Accessed in: http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Chen-Games.html

TALAK-KIRYK, A. Using Games In A Foreign Language Classroom. 2010. Accessed in: http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1488&context=ipp_collection

DEESRI, A. Games in the ESL and EFL Class. 2002. Accessed in: http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Deesri-Games.html

Teaching one-to-one classes

Benjamin Correa  (Final project for the course Writing for Teachers)

Teaching English in a one-to-one situation differs significantly from the traditional classroom modus operandi. There is only one student with the teacher’s undivided attention and no opportunities to have students experiment with peers with a similar English knowledge level. Therefore, a different approach must be sought to better mould the class to this kind of situation. In fact, this is a particularly challenging teaching practice that frequently gets overlooked in TEFL courses (WILBERG, 2014, I).

          Commonly, the one-to one arrangements deal with a student’s needs instead of a pre-arranged, set-hours course. The need for individualization and to meet the students’ needs is important when teaching groups, but when teaching one to one, it becomes more evident. With these parameters in mind, it is important to adapt the class structure so to both favour the end user’s purposes and offer a good foundation to use the language in any given situation. However, to mould the class to these situations, some aspects must be taken into consideration.

          First, the student-teacher dynamic is changed in a way that, although it is not shaped as a peer-to-peer relationship, there is more of a partnership between them than would be felt in a group class. Also, the decision-making process regarding the class is shared differently from a standard class. In a multiple-student situation, the relationship among the students is that of camaraderie that, necessarily, shifts the class from a teacher to a student-centred dynamic. In a one to one class, this is shifted toward a sort of equilibrium between the teacher and the student.

          Moving along the lines of the teacher-student relationship is the classroom management dynamics, or rather, the pressure both teacher and student have upon themselves (British Council). The student might feel pressured, since there are no peers to share the teacher’s attention, nor is there a time for the “spotlight to be off him”. The teacher, on the other hand, might feel pressured to keep the class interesting and realistic regarding the student’s expectations (WILBERG, 2014, p. 7).

          However, those aspects are not necessarily bad. If the teacher can manage to deal with them, they can be turned in their favour. If the student has the teacher’s undivided attention, that also means he or she has larger opportunities for practice and receive feedback. And if there is a development in the relationship into trustworthiness and lightness, the student might be compelled to engage more using the language he or she’s learning. This means more real-life situations and flourishing development.

          Jeremy Harmer (2014, p. 123) states that confidence building is one of the key aspects of language learning. Therefore, one could assume that without the pressure from peers and with the easiness of an acquainted teacher, the student benefits from this kind of class. Developing at the student’s pace and pushing faster or slower is something that helps confidence building and the language-learning process.

          All things considered, a one to one class brings different challenges and distinct rewards for those involved. The teacher being able to manage the pace and the demands of the student helps him or her to develop confidence and fulfill expectations and personal objectives with the new language. Therefore, the one to one class might be a unique opportunity for personal growth for both teacher and student.

References:

British Council Teaching One to One. Available in: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/teaching-one-one

Harmer, Jeremy (2014) How to Teach English. Essex: Pearson.

Wilberg, Peter (1994) One to One: A Teacher’s Handbook. London: Language Teaching Publications

Kids and Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom

Anna Flávia Pessoa

(Final project for the course Writing for Teachers)

Introduction

Teachers face many challenges in the classroom. Educators are always working on new ways to keep students engaged and motivated. Creativity, playful learning, and kinesthetic activities are constantly on their minds. Alongside that, it is well-known that people learn in different ways. Many teachers also try to incorporate these concepts in their planning. As a consequence, a lot of theories about multiple intelligences and the acquisition of a second language are surfacing. Having that in mind, let's first understand what the multiple intelligences are. Gardner (2010) has identified seven distinct intelligences:

Visual-Spatial - think in terms of physical space, as do architects and sailors. Very aware of their environments. They like to draw, do jigsaw puzzles, read maps, daydream. They can be taught through drawings, verbal and physical imagery. Tools include models, graphics, charts, photographs, drawings, 3-D modeling, video, videoconferencing, television, multimedia, and texts with pictures/charts/graphs.

Bodily-kinesthetic - use the body effectively, like a dancer or a surgeon. Keen sense of body awareness. They like movement, making things, touching. They communicate well through body language and they should be taught through physical activity, hands-on learning, acting out, role playing. Tools include equipment and real objects.

Musical - show sensitivity to rhythm and sound. They love music, but they are also sensitive to sounds in their environments. They may study better with music in the background. They can be taught by turning lessons into lyrics, speaking rhythmically, tapping out time. Tools include musical instruments, music, radio, stereo, CD-ROM, and multimedia.

Interpersonal - understanding, interacting with others. These students learn through interaction. They have many friends, empathy for others, street smarts. They can be taught through group activities, seminars, dialogues. Tools include the telephone, audio conferencing, time and attention from the instructor, video conferencing, writing, computer conferencing, and e-mail.

Intrapersonal - understanding one's own interests, goals. These learners tend to shy away from others. They're in tune with their inner feelings; they have wisdom, intuition and motivation, as well as a strong will, confidence and opinions. They can be taught through independent study and introspection. Tools include books, creative materials, diaries, privacy and time. They are the most independent of the learners.

Linguistic - using words effectively. These learners have highly developed auditory skills and often think in words. They like reading, playing word games, and making up poetry or stories. They can be taught by encouraging them to say and see words, read books together. Tools include computers, games, multimedia, books, tape recorders, and lecture.

Logical -Mathematical - reasoning, calculating. They think conceptually, abstractly and are able to see and explore patterns and relationships. They like to experiment, solve puzzles, and ask cosmic questions. They can be taught through logic games, investigations, and mysteries. They need to learn and form concepts before they can deal with details.

The importance of Multiple Intelligences for the acquisition of a second language

Teachers are generally concerned about their teaching styles. In a classroom filled with young learners, there´s a great deal of things to take into consideration, especially the motivation and engagement of the students.

According to Budden (2005), we can´t please all the students all the time, and it's just good to bear in mind that there are many different ways of learning. She also asks some pertinent questions. Why do some students really enjoy working in groups whilst others are much more productive working alone? Why do some learners draw pictures in their vocabulary books while others seem to need to just hear a word to be able to use it themselves? People are different and they learn differently.

Beare (2017), in his blog thoughtCo, explains that the most important aspect of using multiple intelligence activities in class is that you will be giving support to learners who may find more traditional activities difficult. The basic idea behind multiple intelligence activities is that people learn using different types of intelligences.

The use of multiple intelligences is extremely influential for beginner levels, considering that motivation is key. When we cater for the specific learning needs of a child, we establish better rapport with him/her and, as a consequence, learning becomes enjoyable from the beginning.

How to incorporate multiple intelligences in the classroom. Practical ideas for teaching kids

First, keep in mind that the teacher will probably not be able to incorporate all intelligences in every class. Having said that, the best way to start is by setting the goal for the lesson. Having done that, the teacher is capable of planning and identifying the types of activities to be used in that setting.

To illustrate this scenario, think of a classroom with kids, mainly 6 and 7 years old, and a lesson about clothes. The goal of this lesson is to introduce clothes vocabulary (t-shirt, pants, dress, shoes, socks). By learning about multiple intelligences, the teacher will provide various activities and provide meaningful learning for the students. Activities with flashcards, colors and images are beneficial for visual learners. Using the same material to create games in which kids move around can help students with interpersonal and bodily-kinesthetic intelligences. Creating songs and asking the students to follow/repeat can help musical, linguistic and intrapersonal learners. Using the games and songs to count the material or revise the vocabulary is helpful for logical learners.

These were some very simple ideas on how to engage the different intelligences. Pesce(2017) provides a lot of ideas in her blog BusyTeacher,  and she  uses the multiple intelligences theory as one way to motivate her students.

Conclusion

Working with multiple Intelligences can help students become more engaged and stay motivated. There are a lot of resources about it available for teachers. It is obvious that working with all intelligences all the time is hard. However, if there´s a plan, it is possible to work with some of them at the same time and, with that, build good rapport with the students.

References

Arnold, J & Fonseca, MC (2004). Multiple Intelligence Theory and Foreign Language Learning: A Brain-based Perspective. Servicio de Publicaciones. Universidad de Murcia. IJES, vol.4(1), 2004, pp. 119-136.

Budden,J.(2005). Multiple intelligences. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/multiple-intelligences

Beare,K(2017). Multiple Intelligence Activities https://www.thoughtco.com/multiple-intelligence-activities-1211779

 Pesce,C(2017). Teaching Kids English. http://busyteacher.org/2831-teaching-kids-english-10-things-to-consider.html

-Gardner,H.(2010). Multiple intelligences. http://www.howardgardner.com/MI/mi.html

Teens 6 Magazine Project

Making writing exciting

Whenever I get to a writing lesson, I picture my students complaining and moaning about having to write anything. It’s almost as if they had a radar that indicated “boring activity ahead”. These are, thus, the lessons that intrigue me the most just for the challenge of changing that regular pattern.

To do so, I am always reflecting on how relevant and interesting the writing can be for my young teenage students. The formula is not so hard: just take the genre of the piece of writing into account and think about how it could be applied to their realities. That is basically what I did for my Teens 6 group. Writing news reports was the goal, so I decided to take my students from the role of students to the role of reporters.

The students were obviously excited with the idea of becoming reporters and writing a story. The idea was that they would gather in pairs or trios and would each be assigned a certain page of our class magazine. Once I had a Google slide template of the magazine prepared and ready to be accessed through a shortened link (bit.ly/teens6magazine), I instructed my students and took them to the Resource Centre to make it happen.

I had to do it in two classes. The first attempt wasn’t so good because some of my students messed around and interfered in other students’ slides. In the following class, I told them off and told them that they would be given a last chance to finish their reports. I also said that those who didn’t finish would have their pages taken out of the magazine. That gave them some encouragement. On the second day, then, they worked a lot better and behaved as expected.

After joining forces with the Resource Centre at the Main Branch, the magazine was printed out and the students were able to have their own copies. The gleam in my students’ eyes when they saw the magazines I had brought paid off all the effort and struggle I described in the previous paragraph.

Maybe a magazine project cannot be carried out every semester, but something we can definitely do is plan our lessons every day wondering whether they will bore our students or excite them. Bearing that in mind and having some deal of willingness, we will be able to come up with many other ideas that can surprise our students and make a difference in their lives.

Lucas G. Silva

Online English Teaching: Tips and Advice

Andréa Guterres Câmara (Final Project for the course Writing for Teachers)

When we think about English teaching in the 21st century, we can’t ignore the impact of the Internet on our practice as teachers. Students of all ages can now access information 24/7. There’s YouTube, with an impressive library of millions of videos growing steadily, with about 300 hours of new content uploaded every minute. Students can watch videos, listen to different accents, and learn authentic language anytime and as many times they want, something unimaginable and unattainable not long ago. 

As our society advanced technologically, the demand for virtual classrooms was a natural consequence. To answer that, our first MOOCs, or massive open online courses, came to be in the 2000s. Since then, more and more people across the globe have been able to learn countless subjects without the need to commute to a brick-and-mortar school. This phenomenon hasn’t been different in regard to language learning.

We live in a fast-paced world; traffic can be daunting in big cities, and in some remote locations traveling to attend face-to-face classes can be quite impossible. Commuting to class used to be a chore for many, but now with a computer and a reliable Internet connection, anyone can have access to online courses and private tutors alike. As online teachers, we have the potential to reach students practically anywhere on the planet. More and more people are discovering this learning option and embracing it. “Due to a combination of factors (for example cost, convenience, learner expectations, developments in technology, and changing paradigms within education), it is clear that online learning is here to stay” (Hockly, 2015).

The challenge we online teachers face is to offer the same quality lessons to students who are miles away, as we’ve done in traditional in-person settings. Below I’ve included a few tips to address common problems and to circumvent issues we may have with technology and distance learning. They are intended for one-to-one lessons for adults, which is my niche, and with which I’m most experienced.

Start with a needs analysis and a placement test

Like with a regular course, you must know exactly what your student needs and wants to learn. It will be a partnership between your student and you. Both need to be aware of what is necessary to achieve their goal.

Choose your favorite communication platform and have a backup option

You can use Skype, which is probably the most popular platform, but there is also Zoom, a favorite of many teachers: “Zoom is excellent. It offers a wide range of annotation tools, recording facilities and great audio and video quality” (Nobre, 2017).

It is a good idea to have a backup plan. If Skype is not working, use Zoom or Google Hangout. As a last resort, you may also try FaceTime for Mac/iPhone users or WhatsApp Video Calling. The important tip is to be ready in case things don’t go as expected.

Make sure your student knows the basics about technology before you start your course

It may be straightforward to you, but many people are not familiar with all the technology available out there, let alone learn a language in a new environment. You can send them tutorials, links and schedule a call if they need extra help getting set up. Remember their success and commitment depend on a good start.

Choose your materials wisely

If you decide to use a textbook, look for one with a presentation tool. Most publishing companies nowadays offer that feature. You can install a program or download it, and have access to the student’s book on your computer screen. This way you can share your screen, make annotations during the lesson, play audio files, videos, and make your class more fun and interactive.

Create your own online lessons

You can create your own lessons using articles from blogs, news websites, or stories you saw on TV; the options are countless. There are many reasons to do this. Here I list a few: you will bring more contemporaneous issues to your lessons; you’ll be using authentic materials that can help students learn collocations, pronunciation and connected speech in a natural way; they can improve their listening and writing skills with examples taken from authentic texts; and you can also stimulate their critical thinking in the process.

Use other online teachers’ free lessons

If you are pressed for time and can’t produce your own lessons, you can also download free lessons from other teachers. My favorite ones are:

Rachel Robert’s at https://elt-resourceful.com

Luiz Otavio de Barros at http://www.luizotaviobarros.com

Cecilia Nobre at  https://cecilianobreelt.wordpress.com/

Ricardo Barros at https://ricardobarroselt.wordpress.com/

Cristina Cabal at http://www.cristinacabal.com/

Websites like the British Council and VOA (Voice of America), for instance, offer free lessons with authentic resources to make yours interesting and up-to-date on current world issues.

Use videos for storytelling

Videos can be a great resource, but don’t just show your students a video and use it as a listening skills lesson. You can use videos to tell a story.

“The traditional way to use video in the classroom is to watch the video first and talk about it later. In a Videotelling activity, the teacher communicates a video narrative through traditional interactive storytelling. In this way, the technology takes a back seat, and human communication comes to the front of the class” (Keddie, 2017, p.15).

Have your students participate actively

A challenge to teachers and more so to online tutors is to control their TTT, or Teacher Talking Time. You must prepare your lessons to be student-centered. Use Skype’s chat boxes to have your students write. Share your screen, and show them PowerPoint presentations to scaffold vocabulary and language. Engage their attention with nice visuals and videos. Ask them to record an audio at home about a topic you’ve agreed upon, and then give them feedback. These are simple and easy to do. The important thing is to create opportunities for the students to produce and not just sit and listen to you lecture them for 1 hour.

Final Considerations

Online teaching is not for everyone. Not all students will want to study online, and not all teachers will adapt to this new environment or enjoy it. “It might sound obvious, but some people simply don’t enjoy studying online, preferring face-to-face lessons” (Nobre, 2017).

As with anything relatively new and changing fast, it’s a matter of trying for yourself and seeing if you like it or not.

If you do decide to take the plunge, I recommend you create a databank of resources. The more lessons and content you have saved, the easier it will be for you to adapt your lessons and save time in the long run.

References:

Hockly, N. (2015). Developments in online language learning. ELT Journal Advance Access. Retrieved from https://theconsultants-e.academia.edu/NickyHockly

Keddie, J. (2017). Videotelling | YouTube Stories for the Classroom. (Introduction, page 15). Retrieved from Kindle, Amazon.com

Nobre, C. (2017). Challenges in ELT: Teaching online.

Retrieved from http://www.onestopenglish.com/community/teacher-talk/challenges-in-elt/challenges-in-elt-teaching-online/555807.article

 The British Council, https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/

VOA (Voice of America), https://learningenglish.voanews.com/

      

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Thomas Innovation Mentors: Aligning views and probing into our teenage students' perceptions

In our second innovation project session today we worked on investigating and aligning our views of our students’ classroom experiences. To that effect, we created our CSD Matrix (Matriz CSD in Portuguese), in which ‘C’ stands for certainties, ‘S’ for suppositions, and ‘D’ for doubts. We probed into our views and beliefs regarding the quality of the experience our students have in our classrooms. Individually, each team member wrote down their perceptions onto post-its (one perception per post-it) within a few minutes for each of the three categories. Once everyone was finished recording their views, it was time for us to process what we came up with. Going over everyone’s contributions generated some interesting conversations on our beliefs, and we concluded that we are pretty much aligned in our views of the kind of experience we think our students have in our classroom.

Team members were now ready to process a set of students’ responses to a brief questionnaire, a google form containing the following questions: 1. Tell us about a memorable English class you had at Thomas. Why was it a memorable experience?; 2. Considering all your trajectory at Thomas, in different levels with different teachers, what is it that you like the most about our classes?; 3. What is it that you like the least about our classes?; and 4. Write a word that represents your experience in your classes at Thomas. We managed to get responses from a mix of teenage students from different levels. We worked in two trios, and each trio looked at the responses to questions 1 and 2. What we did was go over students’ responses, which had been compiled into post-its, and try to identify patterns, tendencies or even categories that would emerge from their responses. The idea was to reach a more synthetic understanding of students’ perceptions and see if any insights would spring up in the process. As we shared our findings, we were able to make connections and identify some ideas which we felt were in the core of students’ responses. We took notes of those core findings so that they can inform actions ahead.

We wrapped up the session with some analysis and discussion around how our findings regarding students’ responses aligned with or somehow validated our own perceptions in our CSD Matrix, and we concluded that perceptions were quite aligned and coherent. As a result of this session, we were able to see a teenage student persona taking shape. A persona who has very specific perceptions of the classroom experience, who has particular needs and desires. The next step is to deepen the insights and prototype solutions to be tested in the classroom. This was quite a productive and inspiring session, and it feels like each one of us is gradually gaining a new sense that we go beyond being teachers, we are learning experience designers.

Would you like to know more about this project? Check out our site: bit.ly/thomasinnovationmentors