Week 11: Leaning Contract

Day	Time	What I do?
Sunday	10.00	Learning contract
Monday	-	-
Tuesday	-
Wednesday	21.30	Reading skill
Thursday	-
Friday	22.30	Reading skill
Saturday	11.30	Listening skill

Listening skill

Academic Writing: Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay

          Million of students have been taught a formula that has nothing to do with chemistry or mathematic. First, write an introductory paragraph. Then, add three paragraph of evidence. Finally, write a conclusion. Many people said about five-paragraph formula. Some people said the formula is simple to deal with subject and some people are difficult for them. Karen Gocsik said there is no formula for students to write. Students organize their paragraphs to build toward the main idea at the end of the paper.

Vocabulary	Pronunciation	Meaning		Sentence
		Thai	English
formula < n.>	/ ˈfɔːmjələ /	ประโยค	series of letters, numbers or symbols that represent a rule or law	This formula is used to calculate the area of a circle.
guarantee <n.>	/ ˌɡærənˈtiː /	การรับประกัน	a firm promise that you will do sth or that sth will happen	He gave me a guarantee that it would never happen again.

Reading  skill   

                        
                         Using Comic Strips in Language Classes

          Comic are usually funny so applying them to methodological purposes will have the same effect as using games in teaching English. Comic strips not only amuse and interest L2 students. There are plenty of other reasons to use them in education.

          Oller’s episode hypothesis, John Oller and his episode hypothesis “texts which are more episodically organized can be stored and recalled more easily than less episodically organized material”. The students can follow the story line step by step and can recall its structure more easily. Oller’s theory can be applied in the case of comic strips used in the language class. The visual nature of comic strips also helps to increase motivation and more importantly. The learner will memorize and recall it more easily. Comic strips improve communicative competence and are used in spoken, colloquial. Consequently, comic strips help students to deal with spoken and even informal language. Comic strips are authentic and using authentic material is very important in language teaching and learning. There are many sample exercises to practice.

          Comic strips are not only for fun in language class, but there are also methodological reasons for teachers to use them. Comic strips provide the structure and stimulus to which students respond. It helps students to acquire vocabulary, grammatical and communicative competence. When I’m a teacher, I will use comic strips to teach in the language class because it can help students to learn many skills.

Reading  skill   

Ten Helpful Ideas for Teaching English to Young Learners

        Teaching English to Young learners <TEYL> has become its own field of  study as the age of compulsory English education has become lower and lower in countries around the world. This article contains some helpful ideas to incorporate into TEYL classroom.

        The ideas given below can be applied to learners ranging from approximately 5 to 12 years old and can be used for various proficiency levels. There are 10 ideas:

1.    Supplement activities with visuals, realia, and movement. This popular method can be used as technique with storytelling and with songs that teach language related to any kind of movement or physical action. Children have fun with movement, and the move fun for students, the better they will remember the language learned.

2.   Involve students in making visuals and realia. One way to make the learning more fun is to involve students in the creation of the visual or realia.

3.   Move from activities to activity. For young students, from age 5 to 10 especially, it is a good idea to move quickly from activity to activity. Do not spend more time in any activity.

4.   Teach in theme. Teachers should teach students from their planning.

5.   Use stories and contexts familiar to students. The contexts that are use when teaching English, which may be a completely new and foreign language, should be contexts that are familiar to them.

6.   Establish classroom routines in English. Young learners function well within a structured environment and enjoy repetition of certain routines and activities.

7.   Use L1 as a resource when necessary.  Teachers these days are mostly encouraged to teach English through English. Sometimes students can express comprehension of English in their native language.

8.   Bring in helpers from community. Collaborate with others who are studying English, studying to be English teachers, or who speak English well in order to expand the English learning community. Using helpers means taking extra time to communicate your expectation with the guest and working this special event into your lesson plan.

9.   Collaborate with other teachers in your school. Collaborate with other teachers in your school to make the learning experience richer for your students. Connect your lesson to the topics, activities, and stories your students are learning in their native language.

10.        Communicate with other TEYL professionals. TEYL professionals help keep your classroom fresh with new ideas and collaboration can help to construct new ideas and solutions to the common problems that teachers face.

All of the ideas given above stood out as some of the more helpful ideas for teaching EFL to young learners. These activities should prove helpful to all teachers of English to young learners.

Week 10: Leaning Contract

Day	Time	What I do?
Sunday	10.00	Learning contract
Monday	-	-
Tuesday	-
Wednesday	21.30	Reading skill
Thursday	-
Friday	22.30	Reading skill
Saturday	11.30	Listening skill

Listening skill

Can Brain Scans of Young Children Predict Reading problem?

          Dyslexia is a problem that interferes with the ability of recognizes words and connects sounds with letters when people read and they may also have problem when they write. This problem involves areas of the brain that process language. They can predict which young children may struggle with reading, in order to provide early help or not. In the Boston area, fifty of the kindergarteners have been examined in a machine that shows brain activity. The goal is to study 500 children using fMBI, or functional magnetic resonance imaging. The scanner uses a high-energy magnetic field and radio waves to “look” inside the body. Brain scans may offer a more scientific way to identify problems. The brain scans measure the extent to which certain parts of the brain become active while the children do the work.

Vocabulary	Pronunciation	Meaning		Sentence
		Thai	English
magnetic < adj.>	/ mæɡˈnetɪk /	ที่ดึงดูด	behaving like a magnet	The block becomes magnetic when the current is switched on.
resonance <n.>	/ ˈrezənəns /	การสั่นพ้อง	the sound or other vibration produced in an object by sound or vibrations of a similar frequency from another object	It had a certain peaty resonance.

Reading  skill   

Teaching Vocabulary to English Teacher Trainees

        In non-English speaking countries, English teachers are non-native speakers of language. Vocabulary helps them to become proficient readers and writers. The framework of the oral skills and writing courses help them to learn additional vocabulary. The students can remember and use the new vocabulary with ease.

        There are 6 steps: 1.> Assessing the need of a specific class 2.> Checklist the list with native speaker students <optional> 3.> Preparing a transparency 4.> Assigning responsibility for each word 5.> Vocabulary reports and 6.> Review and self-checking. Now I would like to describe for each step. Assessing the need of a specific class. It can be done by the teachers. The first step is to compile a vocabulary list with the same number of words as students given in a class. The words should be given in the context. Checklist the list with native speaker students <optional>. The list may be checked with students who are native speakers of English. Preparing a transparency, the list should be written on a transparency for projection onto a screen. Assigning responsibility for each word, a word profile is suggested. Word profiles are definition, part of speech, pronunciation, synonyms/antonyms and etc. Vocabulary reports, each student are responsible for presenting a vocabulary item and Review and self-checking that the students review the vocabulary items that have been presented in the class.

        All of these steps, each student learn all the new vocabulary items and has an opportunity to give an oral presentation. It’s efficient and successful to learn new vocabulary.