Teaching Language Learners by Rosemary Westwell

Rosemary Westwell, UK

Rosemary Westwell (author)
published by Fern House
copies are available now from the author - e-mail: rjwestwell@hotmail.com
or from Burrows Bookshop, 9 High Street Passage, Ely, Cambridgeshire CB7 4NB
tel.: 01353 669 759
(£10 + £2.50 p&p)

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About the book
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 The process of language acquisition
Sample from Ideas Bank
Chapter 6 Vocabulary

About the book

This is the kind of book I would have liked to have had when I first started teaching EFL (English as a Foreign Language). I have been teaching for over 20 years and have developed a number of resources and ideas but in addition to this, when I observed my own learning practices for my PhD thesis, I realized that my findings had much to offer current teaching approaches. I completed a PhD on language acquisition in 2007 and my thesis stemmed from studying myself learning Spanish as a mature beginner. I kept a diary for over 2 years and analyzed the contents of the diary for the thesis. (My PhD is free and online (http://eprints.ioe.ac.uk/48/)).

During my study I realized that a lot of the ideas I had been developing were also important to the way we teach. If we use our knowledge of how we acquire a language to restructure our approach to our students, we can teach much more quickly and effectively. I have put these ideas into this book in the hope that it will be useful for teachers of EFL and other languages.

It is largely a book of ideas. It casts aside the formulated textbook in favour of an approach that focuses directly on how our students acquire language. In encouraging this process to develop in our students we deal directly with their specific and individual needs while at the same time giving them an immediate sense of achievement and success.

The format of the book provides immediate answers to tasks that engage the reader with the content, while photos, and extra teaching resources between the pages offer ready-made lesson content.

The first section of the book takes the reader through the process of language acquisition. In example 1a, and 1b from the book, the reader is asked to match a list of learning strategies with examples. This task is more than defines strategies; it provides a host of suggestions to apply in the classroom.

The second section of the book consists of pages of ideas that encourage students to learn by engaging with the process of acquisition in a quick, easy and direct way using a minimum of resources. Topics range from the teaching of listening, speaking, reading and writing to pronunciation, vocabulary, tenses and grammar (e.g. the use of conditionals, the passive …).

In example 2 from the book, students are encouraged to ‘notice’, make sense of, and remember and learn from the teacher’s corrections to their written work. The teacher places numbers relating to the Editing Guide close to the students’ errors in their written work. Students are given a copy of the Editing Guide so that they have to ‘notice’ their errors, make sense of the corrections and correct the errors for themselves. Reading the information in the Editing Guide repeatedly will help them remember how to avoid such errors in the future.

Comments from people who have seen the book already include ‘you have covered a vast amount of information, ‘a fresh lively approach to teaching languages’, ‘your book is so good’, I have always been very interested in how we learn our own language as very young children but your book goes further by drawing on your persona; experience of how you learn and the methods you used at different stages of your ability. Your book is very clear about these methods and how to make teaching interesting and enjoyable for both teachers and students. I thought the suggested tasks were excellent, as was the general layout. You gave plenty of scope for teachers to come up with examples of their own and perhaps, most importantly, to recognize what is needed at different stages. I thought it was well set out, with excellent content. I wish I had had it when I was in France!’

Contents

Chapter 1 The process of language acquisition
Chapter 2 Conscious learning
Chapter 3 Subconscious acquisition
Chapter 4 Teaching methods
Chapter 5 Language learners and stages of acquisition
Chapter 6 Vocabulary
Chapter 7 Parts of speech, idioms, phrases, phrasal verbs, modal verbs, synonyms
Chapter 8 Tenses
Chapter 9 Defining and non-defining clauses
Chapter 10 Conditionals 0, 1, 2, 3
Chapter 11The passive
Chapter 12 Pronunciation
Chapter 13 Listening
Chapter 14 Speaking
Chapter 15 Reading
Chapter 16 Writing
Chapter 17 Examinations

Introduction

As a teacher of a language (English) I used to focus on teaching the language itself i.e. I concerned myself with how to present the language so that it appealed to students. However, after studying my own learning behaviour while learning Spanish as a beginner, I have radically changed my approach.

I realised that the focus needs to be on learners, not only on their needs, but on the way in which they actually acquire language. Repeating a phrase over and over again may help some students acquire that phrase, but it is much more effective if learners manipulate the language in ways that are specifically meaningful to them and their individual background experiences. When I was learning Spanish I found that the more I related the target language examples to what I already knew and the more I played with the language, making up connecting stories or pictures, the better I acquired the word, phrase or construction.

This book is concerned with how learners acquire language and how understanding this process can help to improve language learning attainment. It is relevant to prospective teachers of language, newly qualified teachers and those who have been teaching for years. The focus is shifted from a top-down approach in which the teacher imparts knowledge to their students, to an approach that addresses the internal thinking of the learner and considers specific aspects of the process from the learner’s point of view. My personal experiences learning Spanish as a beginner and anecdotes from teachers in the field support the thinking behind the exercises, and guide the learner towards realistic, attainable goals based on what the learner needs at the time and not on any specific level of achievement required by an external authority. Learners’ individual language learning difficulties, personality traits, attitude and preferences form the foundation for the acquisition process. The learner, who has no interest in grammar exercises per se and only wants to learn to speak, will learn little if faced with a page of grammar exercises in a textbook in the lesson. This learner will achieve much more if they practise speaking and make mistakes in their grammar while speaking which are highlighted, noticed and treated as errors to avoid in future. In this way, they will develop an understanding of grammar issues in short, meaningful steps directly related to their personal needs.

The central focus of the book is teaching English as a Foreign Language. However, the approaches and their underlying principles are the same for the teaching of any language, and they can be applied to teaching French, Spanish, German, Mandarin, or any language.

As a learner who is interested in languages, but finds the learning difficult and slow, I have found that the learning methods that worked for me when learning Spanish have helped me in other contexts. For example, at the International Association for Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL) Conference in Harrogate in 2010, I could remember much more than some of my colleagues when we were given a series of English language items to remember. I did not necessarily have a better memory than my colleagues, but I had applied the memorising techniques I had used when learning Spanish, linking the ideas I wished to remember to a series of interacting and amusing images.

I hope this book will enable you, too, to benefit from a variety of new techniques which you can apply to your teaching and the rest of your life.

Chapter 1 The process of language acquisition

“Soap and education are not as sudden as a massacre, but they are more deadly in the long run.” Mark Twain

The process of language acquisition begins when students notice the target language, i.e. when they become aware of its specific memorable qualities. Students observe and try to make sense of language input by relating it to what they already know. Language ‘input’ becomes language ‘intake’ after they have understood and absorbed units of the language that have become meaningful to them.

When learning Spanish I ‘noticed’ very little at first. I was convinced that I knew nothing of the language and that it was going to be very difficult for me to acquire. When I stopped panicking about it, I then realised that I already knew some Spanish words such as ‘mañana’ (meaning ‘tomorrow’). I soon learned that ‘mañana’ can mean ‘tomorrow’ and with the use of a simple preposition, ‘por’, it can also mean ‘in the morning’. Once I understood this, I could use the word confidently and did so, again and again. It became part of my automated language output.

Languages may be learnt both consciously and unconsciously. These two different perspectives are often associated with ‘learning’ and ‘acquiring’ respectively.

Conscious learning involves deliberately using specific learning strategies which relate to students’ preferences and interests. Unconscious acquisition is the slow process of gradually retaining language in the memory – language that learners may not be aware of nor of how or when it was acquired, but language that has been absorbed through contact and that can be recalled in language use or ‘output’.

I acquired Spanish consciously and unconsciously from the start. At first I believed that the only way I could learn was consciously. I felt I had to concentrate hard as I focused on the language. Only after a while did I realise that while I had been learning consciously, I had also acquired much more than I intended. For example, I began to develop a sense of word order before I concerned myself with it as a topic for serious study.

I have applied principles that worked for me as a language learner to this book. I found that the more relaxed I was, the more ready I was to learn, so the style is often chatty and informal even though the topics are serious. Questions or tasks introduce many of the topics. These help to focus on or notice what is important rather than what would be learnt if skimming.

As a learner, not only did I want to be in full control of the learning events, I always wanted to know the answers to any given questions immediately. In order to satisfy this need, the ‘answers’ to the tasks in this book are given shortly after the tasks. Teaching Resources or pictures for conversation practice provide a screen to prevent you seeing the answers while completing the tasks. Instead of then flicking to the end of the book to search for the information that you want, you simply turn the page as you will see. For example:

TASK 1:

You need to teach basic vocabulary to beginners. How can you encourage students to:

1. become aware of specific language units?
2. relate these units and/or words to what they already know?
3. make these units part of their acquired language?

Before you read the answer you should think of several examples. If you cannot trust yourself to think first – jot down your answers here:
_______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

If you can’t be bothered and want to skim, read on. Turn over the page for the suggested answers.

1. How can you encourage students to become aware of specific language units?

1. Separate syllables in the target language, e.g. vegetable = vege + table.
2. ‘Notice’ a selection of memorable units from the target language, e.g. the pronunciation of ‘g’ or the omission of the second ‘e’ and ‘a’ when the word is pronounced.
3. Separate the word into different meaningful units and associate them with different contexts, e.g. for ‘veg.’ think of ’meat and veg.’ and ‘veg. out’ (to relax by doing very little) and for ‘table’ think of a list, a worktop ...

This may seem trivial and unnecessary, but when I first started learning Spanish I could not bring myself to learn entire words. I could only remember their beginnings or endings. It took me some time to absorb the whole word. Relating the word to words I already knew, even in my native language, prepared me to focus on the entire word. Learning the Spanish word for ‘left’, for example, was almost impossible at first. The word for ‘left’ in Spanish is ‘izquierdo’ pronounced ‘ithkeeairthough’. As this bore no relation to the word ‘left’, my imagination had to be stretched. I said each syllable slowly and carefully while internally ‘saying’ an English phrase that sounded similar. I imagined a scene: ‘If I lifted the key in the air, though, I would be able to reach the lock high up on the left side of the door’. I pictured myself doing this. Only with this kind of manipulation, could I manage to absorb the entire word.

However, every learner is unique and because this worked for me it does not necessarily mean it will work for others or that they will need such manipulation, but the idea may appeal. This is, after all, a book of ideas.

Sample from Ideas Bank

Armed with this understanding, I adapted the usual methods I used when learning Spanish to teach English as a Foreign Language. I tried to view the learning situation from students’ points of view while assessing their current level. I asked them what their preferred topics were and what they wanted to focus on, e.g. speaking, listening, reading, writing or grammar. I then tried to devise situations where they would notice the particular language aspect, engage with it and be able to understand and use it, and then I introduced a method to revise what they had learnt. While this was not always completely successful, there were many times when I could tell that students were learning and felt as if they were doing so. Their confidence grew and the more they practised, the more successful they became. To teach in this way can involve a lot of preparation time. I have included blocks of Teaching Resources and pictures in this book: examples you may wish to include when teaching a particular subject. They should save you preparation time and can be used to complement students’ use of the Internet to find examples of their own or to support their speaking practice.

The topics and suggested methods I have included are by no means definitive. They are for you to choose from and to use in a way that suits your teaching style and your students’ language acquisition idiosyncrasies. These ideas and methods put the onus on the learners to acquire the language for themselves. You can sit back, relax and watch your students learn.

Chapter 6 Vocabulary

“Some of his words were not Sunday School words.” Mark Twain

TASK 7: How can you encourage your students to ‘notice’ the vocabulary they need to learn?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

SUGGESTED ANSWERS TO TASK 7

1. Ask students to select the words they need to learn and remember.
2. Ask students to select a number of words or phrases from a given text for further explanation.
3. Select errors from their written work to notice and revise.
4. Quiz students on the phrasal verbs in the Teaching Resource. Give them the verb: What is the preposition? Give them the preposition and the meaning: What is the verb?
5. Ask students to provide alternative phrases for the phrasal verbs in the Teaching Resource.
6. Prepare a gap fill exercise including the phrasal verbs in the Teaching Resource.

TASK 8: How can you make it easy for your students to understand the meaning of vocabulary?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

SUGGESTED ANSWERS TO TASK 8

1. Ask students to translate into their own language.
2. Ask students to select the correct meaning from a choice of two or more given meanings.
3. Give students other vocabulary that is similar in meaning.
4. Produce a sentence containing the word(s) and ask students to explain the meaning.
5. Quiz students on the collocations relating to time in the Teaching Resource, give them the noun and ask for suitable collocations.
6. Ask students to provide sentences that mean the same as the collocations relating to time in the Teaching Resource and get other students to name the collocation.
7. Prepare a gap fill exercise including some part of the collocations relating to time in the Teaching Resource.

TASK 9: How can you encourage your students to remember the vocabulary?
_______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

SUGGESTED ANSWERS TO TASK 9

1. Ask students to write the vocabulary down and commit it to memory using a method they prefer. (Offer different methods, e.g. look, cover, write and check or imagine interacting pictures that remind students of the sounds of the syllables of the word(s).)
2. Write the vocabulary on the board and ask students to say it out loud. Then erase one or two letters of the word and ask students to say it out loud again. Repeat until all the letters have gone. The board will be blank but students will remember the words.
3. Ask students to try to explain the meanings of the collocations in the Teaching Resource (s).
4. Quiz students on the collocations in the Teaching Resource (s). Give them the noun and ask for suitable collocations.
5. Ask students to provide sentences that mean the same as the collocations in the Teaching Resource (s). Other students should name the collocation.
6. Prepare a gap fill exercise including some part of the collocations in the Teaching Resource (s).

TASK 10: How can you encourage your students to use the vocabulary?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

SUGGESTED ANSWERS TO TASK 10

1. Ask student to use the vocabulary in conversation.
2. Ask students to make up stories using the vocabulary.
3. Group students into teams and give them a quiz asking for the vocabulary to match the meanings.
4. Quiz students on the idioms in the Teaching Resource. Give them the meaning and the first word or two and ask what the idiom is.
5. Ask some students to provide sentences that mean the same as the idioms in the Teaching Resource, and other students name the idiom.
6. Prepare a gap fill exercise including one part of the idiom in the Teaching Resource.
7. Read out the list of idioms but change some of the meanings so that they are incorrect and ask students to identify whether your meanings are true or false.

Please check the Creative Methodology for the Classroom course at Pilgrims website.