Facilitating Discussion - ENG 345 October 11

The TAT in Dolores' is an absolutely genius idea. Not only does this creating the newspaper encourage conversation skills and build vocabulary, but it encompasses extensive reading to somewhat of an extent. The kids are reading about what they want to be reading about because they, after all, created the topic, but at the same time have to read it for class in order to understand the activities in discussion hence the reason why it's somewhat of an extent.

Through the different stations the teacher is encompassing all types of learning - visual, kinesthetic, and as well as a comprehensive type of learning. I feel as though English Language Learning is often limited to reading and writing activities and watching movies. Here the teacher opens up the classroom to discussion about what the students want to learn and then gives them hands on activities (as with the pipes) to better understand the vocabulary and the concepts. This actually sparked an idea in my head. It would be neat to take my students out to a restaurant after doing a unit on manners and proper restaurant etiquette so that they could actually apply what they had learned! I feel as though real world application is one of the most beneficial ways to learn and REMEMBER a long.

I have recently been given another TESOL practicum placement because I was placed late in mine. Yesterday, for the first time, I had the opportunity to observe an advanced adult ESL class. Chapter 18 was very interesting to read because I actually got to see some of these concepts take place in the classroom. I'm gonig to focus on the 'Interaction as the Key to Improving EFL Learners' Speaking Abilities.' The focused on mainly oral activities to stimulate conversation last night. They played a lot of word games where they had to describe words or emotions and get their team to guess them. They were excited about it and really engaged. They also had a food day, which incorporated their appropriate cultures into the classroom. They each had to bring a dish and then, before they all ate, each student was required to describe how they made their dish, the ingredients, and the popularity of the dish in their classroom. Overall it was a good first experience despite the informality of the classroom situation (this class was an exception, the next week should be more normal).

Finally, I would just like to touch upon how cultural awareness and oral activities go hand in hand. To be communicatvely competent in a culture, you have to understand. This includes factors such as manners, greetings, conversation fillers (like, um, well) and understanding when it is appropriate to speak. It's good to have lessons about this in class so that students do not go out into the world culturally unaware, so to speak. It's important to keep their culture, but at the same time it's good to have the practice so they understand the rules and culture of our English speaking world. I surely want to see my students succeed :)