L1? L2!

Patřím k těm, kdo věří, že studenti a hlavně učitelé od nejnižších úrovní zvládnou hodiny v cílovém jazyce. Věřím také, že tím a možná hlavně tím, že studenty odnaučíme rozumět každému slovu, překládat si doslova komplikované vazby a vyhledávat si z knihy každé nové slovíčko nebo prostě spoléhat na okamžitou pomoc a kontrolu lektora, zvládnou pokračovat ve studiu jazyka až do úrovně pokročilý, nezávislý  a aktivní uživatel cizího jazyka.

Jak jste na tom Vy s češtinou? Co vás nutí používat češtinu? Proč ji potřebují studenti? Proč a kdy preferujete vyučovaný jazyk? Přidejte se a pojďte se zúčastnit malého průzkumu. Vyplňte krátký dotazník a zamyslete se nad tím, proč a v jakých situacích používáte a/nebo nepoužíváte mateřský jazyk (L1) a vyučovaný jazyk (L2).

Jak jste na tom Vy s češtinou? Co vás nutí používat češtinu? Proč ji potřebují studenti? Proč a kdy preferujete vyučovaný jazyk? Přidejte se a pojďte se zúčastnit malého průzkumu. Vyplňte krátký dotazník a zamyslete se nad tím, proč a v jakých situacích používáte a/nebo nepoužíváte mateřský jazyk (L1) a vyučovaný jazyk (L2). 

Jako Senior Teacher učím lektory začátečníky, aby se snažili používat cílový jazyk „za každého počasí“ a minimalizovali použití češtiny u sebe i studentů. Společně hledáme možnosti, jak na to a jak dovést také studenty k maximálnímu využívání angličtiny.

Každý lektor musí tuhle zapeklitou dovednost zvládnout, přesvědčit se, že to jde i bez L1 a jaké výhody takový přístup přináší studentům.

Tak třeba, namátkou ...

• Musíme se naučit, jak dávat jasné a stručné instrukce, podpořit je gesty a ověřit si efektivně porozumění úkolu jinak než žádostí o překlad nebo překladem z naší strany. 
• Musíme se naučit před-učit typické instrukce pro práci ve třídě a s učebnicí už v kurzu začátečníků, aby se studenti mohli soustředit na plnění aktivit, nepřecházeli z jednoho jazyka do druhého,  a hlavně, aby si poradili s učebnicí (zcela/převážně) v cílovém jazyce i během domácí přípravy nebo pokud vynechají lekci s učitelem.
• Musíme se naučit nespoléhat se jen na verbální prostředky, používat gesta, mimiku, intonaci.
• Musíme se naučit prezentovat a vysvětlovat novou látku nejrůznějšími způsoby, aniž by dával nutně přednášky na téma „předpřítomný čas prostý kontra předpřítomný čas průběhový.“
• Musíme se naučit před-učit cíleně jazykové prostředky (včetně funkčního jazyka) tak a včas, aby studenti mohli zvládnout komunikační úkol bez použití L1.
• Každý z nás musí umět naučit studenty strategie, jak si poradit za situace kdy neznají slovíčko, hledají slova, neví, jak zareagovat. 
• Musíme se naučit říct studentům, „nevím“, tohle slovíčko neznám, pojďme ho najít ve slovníku/opsat, atd.

Až tyto dovednosti zvládneme, řekneme si na rovinu, že nic není černobílé. Jsou situace v hodině, kdy je o.k. použít L1. Musíte ale vědět, proč to děláte a jak by to šlo jinak …

A je samozřejmě v pořádku využít při výuce občas aktivity, které využívají hravě a smysluplně češtinu nebo materiál (text, menu) v L1.

Jaké aktivity využívající L1 (a překlad) používáte ve svých kurzech? Tady jsou aktivity, které bezostyšně používám v hodině já

 Svíčková, co je to?

Při rolové hře v restauraci použijte jídelní lístek v L1. Student A musí vysvětlit české pokrmy v cizím jazyce hostovi mluvícímu anglicky (německy, francouzsky).

Už jsi slyšel, co se stalo?

Využijte noviny, např. Metro, v češtině. Studenti si přečtou krátký článek v češtině, pak mluví o tom co se stalo s „rodilým mluvčím“ v angličtině/němčině, atd. Pomozte jim otázkami

 Source: modthink.com

Nejdřív česky, potom hezky

Velmi často zadáváme rolové hry. Nechte studenty nejprve udělat aktivitu v L1, pak teprve v cílovém jazyce. Tuto techniku doporučuji pro pokročilejší skupiny, je to vlastně varianta na „test-teach-test“ přístup.

Tlumočit prosím
Práce ve skupinách 3 studentů. Zadáním je interview se známou osobností. Novinář se ptá v cílovém jazyce, známá osobnost odpovídá v mateřském jazyce a student C je tlumočník. 

Našeptávač
Dialog mezi dvěma osobami v cílovém jazyce. Za každým z nich ale stojí 1 „našeptávač“, který jim říká, co mají říkat, ale v L1. Oni tedy musí přeložit a říct nahlas.
Nejlépe funguje při převyprávění scének z pohádek, např. Červená Karkulka a vlk.

Pošli mi ten překlad

Skupina A dostane krátký článek nebo jen větu v češtině/nebo sloku písničky (méně známé). Přeloží ji co nejlépe do angličtiny. Pak ji pošle skupině B. Ta ji přeloží zpátky do češtiny. Pošle skupině C, ta českou verzi přeloží do angličtiny, atd.  …. Pak si porovnají texty.

Tichá pošta cikcakcik

Pošeptám jednu větu/část písničky/titulek zprávy, atd. studentovi A. Ten si ji musí zapamatovat a pošeptat ji studentovi B, tentokrát ale v angličtině. Student B si musí zapamatovat anglickou větu a pošeptat ji C, tentokrát ale v češtině. Vyzkoušejte, jak to bude vypadat na konci řetězce…

A co když studenti „zlobí“ a např. při párové práci okamžitě sklouzávají k češtině?

Kromě toho, že je potřeba jít studentům příkladem (tedy třeba reagovat na dotaz v češtině anglicky, reagovat na email v češtině anglicky), zkuste třeba vyhlásit tři minuty během hodiny, kdy je dovoleno pouze a jenom používat angličtinu.

Vyvěste vlajku, napište smluvené „heslo“ na tabuli, nakreslete obrázek na znamení toho, že je čas mluvit i v párech/ve skupinách anglicky. Co byste na takovou značku dali vy ve svých skupinách? Hamburger? Anglickou vlajku? Královnu Alžbětu?

Source: flickr.com

Vypěstujte u studentů „pavlovův reflex“. Kdykoli studenti mají komunikovat ve dvojicích v cílovém jazyce, naučte je, ať židle otočí k sobě, tak aby komunikovali z očí do očí, a pak vyžadujte pouze L2.

A pro příznivce metody cukru a biče technika vyzkoušené v pomaturitních kurzech. Pokud někdo opakovaně používá češtinu, vybere si jeden trest z domluveného seznamu, resp. hodí kostkou a číslo na kostce určí, jaký trest si vyslouží.

Tady je ukázka posteru z jednoho mého kurzu. Jaké možnosti 1 – 6  byste zařadili vy ve vašich kurzech?

Těším se na vaše komentáře a aktivity. 

Dear Deer

Recently I introduced the idea of homophones to my upper-intermediate and advanced students.

It was part of my endeavour to make my students love English even more and enjoy playing with the language :), see the progress they have made and to motivate them to study hard(er) even though they can now somehow get by in most situations they encounter.

We have read and (re)told jokes and collected them on a Padlet wall; we were filling in cartoon speech bubbles or solving riddles in English; we read blurbs of novels to spot interesting adjectives and some even managed to finish their first novels in English; we practised spelling frequently misspellt words such as accommodation, tomorrow or colleague and dilemma … and I think focusing on homophones was an invitable step to take :)

To warm them up and show them what homophones are we used a homophone fairy tale. 

They were surprised how many words they already know are pronounced in the same way but spellt differently. Many fossilized mistakes in pronunciation were uncovered … Does flour really rhyme with flower? Are knight and night pronounced the same way? Cereal and serial have the some pronunciation? Won and one homophones, are you pulling our leg? 

Then I asked them to write their own sentences substituting homophone pairs. Each chose a fairy tale character (Czech characters invited ! ) or a famous personality.

Here are our examples:

Cinderella prepared a tomato source for her too stepsisters. 

Fifinka sent Bobík to buy sum flower and baked him a cake. Bobík eight ate peaces of cake at won go.

Miloš Zeman eight too pairs and was week for a weak.  

After that, I divided students into pairs. I dictated a homophone, they took turns each adding one word/one spelling to their poster. First, As started. Then in the middle of the activity, I swapped the order and Bs started.

E.g. I said /sam/, A wrote some, B had to add sum. I dictated /nait/, B wrote night, A had to come up with the word knight.

For sample list of homophones to choose from, see the link here. 

This was a challenging activity for them and they enjoyed the collaborative part. Alternatively, you can divide students into two groups. They stand in two lines, facing the board. Say one homophone, two people, one from each team, rush to the board and write down the two words.

I knew it is vital to make the homophones memorable. We tried to come up with sentences where pairs of homophones are used together in a funny way. Then they read the sentences to the class saying “banana“ or “beep“ instead of the words. The rest of the class were guessing which pair of homophones it is. Challenging, indeed, and real fun.

Would you like to solve our homophone puzzle sentences?

My banana students stared at the banana.

There is a banana sitting on your banana.

There is banana banana among us.

I banana banana cookies yesterday.

On this tropical banana banana walk down the banana with my bride.

I don´t know banana the banana will be nice or not. Let´s stay at home.

The wind banana my banana shirt into the river.  

We also drew some posters to illustrate some of our homophone sentences.

To steel steal

None nun

Knight at night

weak for a week

bare bear

hare on your hair 

Some time ago I have found the following riddles that combine the two expressions on the Internet. Can you guess the homophones using the clues here? The first was done for you.

1. Two of a fruit  => pair and pear
2. A room in prison to exchange for money
3. not strong for seven days
4. to look at the ocean
5. a type of animal that grows on your head
6. Not there to listen
7. A baking ingredient in the garden
8. After dark in shining armour
9. To encounter the beef
10. A painful tool
11. A beloved forest creature
12.  To cry for a sea creature
13. A boy the planets revolve around
14. Swallowed the number
15. To find how heavy the path is

Well, how good are you at answering the questions?

In the class, I passed posters around with two riddles on each. Each riddle was numbered. Students worked in pairs noting down answers to the riddles. Then we checked the answers in pairs. 

Here are more “advanced” riddles. My students would not manage to answer most of these. 

For lovely homophone poems, see this link. 

To introduce the idea of homophones in one of my classes, I dictated “homophone” prompts to them. 

Their task was to write down three associations that came to their minds once they heard the word. They were not supposed to write down the original word. Then they compared the lists in pairs/small groups and discussed their lists. Of course, often their chains of associations were based on different original words (i.e. Homophone pairs, such as eye – I, read – red, break – brake, peace x piece, knight – night, pair – pear, bare – bear, flower  - flour).

If I dictated /flaur/ - Student A noted down rose, garden, smell x student B wrote down white, bake, cake.

This helped us to brainstorm the list of homophone pairs and to focus on the meaning of both words. As a follow-up activity, they prepared their own prompts for another group.

To recycle the words in a learner-centred way, I gave each pair a blank sheet of paper divided into 16 squares. Their task was to prepare a homophone memory game/Pelmanism for another pair. In one class, they were asked to prepare pictures which illustrate the homophone pairs. In another class, they just provided couples of words. Their task was to choose homophones they find difficult themselves. When playing the memory game, the task was to use the word in a sentence any time they turn the card. Sentences cannot be repeated.

What are your suggestions for practising homophones? Which activity would you like to try out in your class? Have you spotted another useful resource material? Do you find teaching homophones interesting or useless in your classes?

Take Your Pen and Get Ready

I used to hate the technique as a student. I found it sooo boring and useless and tiring. “Why the hell are we doing it?“ I kept asking myself. “Is it just to kill time?“

I never told my teacher trainees to try it out and make it part of their lessons. I found it too old-fashioned, traditional and totally uncommunicative. “There is nothing students can get out of it. It is just about drilling spelling and copying blindly what the teacher says.“ I kept telling myself.

I have not used it as a teacher for ages.        Or have I? 

Actually, I do use IT in my classes. I use DICTATION surprisingly often. Even though it is traditional, uncommunicative and old-fashioned  …  I just do it DIFFERENTLY from what I experienced as a student of English back in late 80ies and beginning of 90ies when the grammar translation method was still flourishing in the classrooms.

Inspired by Paul Davis and Mario Rinvolucri (Dictation)  believe that it is important to decide and vary

• Who dictates
• Who chooses or prepares the text to dictate
• What is dictated
• How long it is
• How it is dictated
• What is to be written down

And here is one important question I would like to add:  What do you do with the text that was dictated then? How does it link to the rest of your lesson? 

Ask these questions, too, switch off your autopilots, surprise and challenge your students and test some dictation techniques in your classes.

Whistle/Banana Dictation

Choose a short text, e.g. the first paragraph of a story you are going to read in a course book (5 sentences maximum). Dictate it to the class. Gap some words and whistle instead of them or say “banana”. Students should complete the missing words and write the complete text down.

Would you like to give it a try? Check this Voki. 

Drawing dictation

Ask one student to come to the board. Give the rest of the class the same picture to describe. They take turns to “dictate” the picture to the student who draws the picture on the board. Use a picture which leads into new topic or which recycles vocabulary you have just studied. Check google clipart, fotosearch.com or cartoon strips.

Alternate Dictation

Prepare a short text consisting of about 10 sentences. Divide students into pairs. Each student gets half of the story, but their sentences or lines alternate, i.e. student A has sentences or lines 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and student B has sentences/lines 2, 4, 6, 8, 10. Students take turns dictating their parts of the story to each other. Students then work with the story, e.g. continuing it, coming with a surprising twist …

Student A

1 It is 10 p.m. on a cold Friday and I am standing

2 _____________________________________

3 to persuade him to find my friends. “Can you shout

4 _____________________________________

5 The friends I´m supposed to meet later are

Student B

1 _____________________________________

2 in a smelly phone box speaking to a barman, trying

3 _____________________________________

4 out?” I ask, “or maybe look for them?”

5 _____________________________________

6 in a bar somewhere in Central London, and we haven´t yet …

Upside down

Prepare a suitable text, 3 or 5 sentences max. Dictate it to students, but students should write down the opposites when they can think of any. Of course, each student gets a different version of the story. Then they compare it in pairs/groups. Finally, they can try to reconstruct the original story.

I usually use fairy tales such as Cinderella.

Once upon a time there lived an unhappy young girl. Her mother was dead and her father had married a widow with two daughters. Her stepmother didn't like her one little bit. All her kind thoughts and loving touches were for her own daughters. 

Partial Dictation

Dictate a sentence (a prompt, a question), students write only a response.

I usually revisit tapescripts to focus on functional language and to get students ready for ESOL listening Part 1.

E.g. Could you lend me some coffee, please?

What about going to the cinema tonight?

Riddle me 

Challenge students with  “what” you dictate. Use riddles or jokes as a warmer or a lead—in to a topic.

• Three eyes have I, all in a row; when the red one opens, all freeze. What am I?
• I have a tail, and I have a head, but i have no body. I am NOT a snake. What am I?

 Check the answers here.

Variation: Dictate about five questions from here. Then students work in groups trying to answer the riddles. 

Variation 2: Dictate questions to group A. Dictate answers to group B. First, they try to complete the missing part. Then they work together to complete the jokes. 

Collocations

Dictate a set of first parts of collocations, students only write down the missing part of the collocation.

E.g. You dicate take/pass/fail, students write down “an exam”. Or you read: “sunny/foggy/rainy”, students write down “weather”.

Then later on, they can reconstruct the prompts again.

Groaning Dictation (from Dictation)

Prepare a list of about 10 to 15 words. Dictate them to students very quickly, without pausing while students are groaning trying to write them down. Then they work in pairs or groups trying to reconstruct the complete list. Then they can predict what kind of text the words come from or what they are going to read about, or write a story using all the words.

Word by Word (from Dictation)

Students work in groups. Each group has a sheet of paper. Group A writes down the first word of a sentence and dictates their word to the other groups. Group B comes up with the second word and dictates it to the other groups. Group C adds a third word and dictates it to the other groups …

Strings of a story

Give each student a strip of paper with one sentence from the text. Give it out in a random order. Students take turns to dictate their sentence to the class. Everyone takes down what is dictated. Then they work in pairs/groups, check the answers and then reconstruct the text, putting sentences into correct order.

Variation: Challenge your students. They have to learn their strip of paper by heart.

Lost in translation

Dictate a sentence in English to student A. Student A writes it down then dictates its Czech version to B who writes it down. B then dictates its English version to student C, etc. Put some “party music” on to make the task more challenging.

It´s (not) me

Dictate sentences to students, e.g. sentences containing a grammar structure which you need to practise with them. Students write down only sentences which are true for them.

E.g. I have never been to London. I have drunk three cups of coffee today. I have never eaten sushi. I have just got married.

Variation: They write down all sentences you dictate but must alter them to make them all true about themselves.

Personally, I believe

Dictate statements related to a topic, e.g. statements on animal rights from NEF advanced.Students only write down statements which they agree with or only write down the response/reaction to it, e.g. using language such as Yes, but …

And here´s a well-know activity you have definitely done, but which is worth reusing from time to time J

Running dictation

Students work in pairs. One student is the writer and the other is the “runner”. The short passage is put on the wall. The runners have to go to the text and return to their partners having memorized the first line of the text, which they dictate. They keep returning to the text until they have dictated the full text to their partner. The role can be swapped in the middle of the activity.

If interested in Dictogloss, Human tape recorder and other challenging activities, check Dictation in our Glossa library.