Letter 1

Hi Hania,

juicy, bubbly issue[ May 2007], thank you so much for so much good stuff.

I find Mario's poem tells us a hell of a lot more about humanistic teaching and what it's all about than Philip Kerr's long article on the same topic.

I also remember a short letter sent by Paul [Davis] a while back (I think Mario was still editing the mag) which was also a telling manifesto.

Keep up the good work and thanks again.

Chaz

Letter 2 a

Dear Everyone,

It would be great if Robb Scott were to explain in more detail just how he has got his students to make more personal investments in language learning activities. Is this thanks to techniques or to his special way of being with his students?

What have you guys learnt from China?

Mario

Letter 2 b

I love this question and I will take a moment to answer. I went to Japan in 1988 only armed with the idea that I was more interested in finding similarities between them and me than in dwelling on differences. The first thing I did was to start building a story with my beginning level reading class, in which I made sure to incorporate local objects (which I was just beginning to become aware of), titled "The Magic Bonsai Tree." Each day, I would bring them the next installment and they would hear it once, draw pictures of anything that came to mind, hear it again, write three questions each, and then hear it again and write down their predictions for what would happen next. The next day, as many of their predictions were incorporated in the next installment of the story as I could possibly include. This seemed fun, and another teacher began working off the same story in his class, and we gave guest readings in each other's classes, and each wrote a different ending. I think most of this is explained at www.eslminiconf.net/may/story6.html, along with an explanation of why I think it worked. I do like your question and wish I had lots of time today (really) to pursue this, but I have to make sure I keep up with the activities related to my current classes with international students here in Manhattan, Kansas. This afternoon and evening are important work periods for me. I have more information online different places, and I would really love to do an interview with you to post on my ESL MiniConference Online if you are able any time soon. Thanks for your question and I'm sorry my answer is incomplete. I've given you basically the way I started in Japan. I think stories are very good vehicles for teaching and learning language. I have a few other ideas, too, but always go back to Prabhu's book on language teaching in which he suggests that the key determinant of whether a lesson is successful is the degree to which the teacher "believes" in what he or she is doing that day (created the curriculum himself/herself or buys into the set curriculum). Honored by your question,

Robb Scott

Letter 3

Dear Friend,

I hope that you are having a good day and you are achieving a lot of progress in all the fields of your life. Today, after a long exhausted, working day which was full of teaching, testing, correcting and… Suddenly, you jumped into my mind while I was reviewing my day.

I felt that I need a sincere friend to talk to, so without any thinking, I wrote this letter to you. I want to discuss, with you, the issues of my English language and my teaching development (of course, both issues are inseparable for such a nonnative English language teacher).

While living in this regional, national and international tight siege (the area here around us). I am teaching a foreign language which there isn't any mean of contact with it or its native speakers; this affects my writing and my pronunciation abilities a lot and reflects mainly on my teaching in some fields of the language. So I tried to contact many people and organizations in order to get advice, suggestion and help in this field but all of my attempts were in vain.

Despite of the excellent annual results of my students in the general secondary certificate exam, I feel that I can afford much more to my students. I don't really know if it is an issue of conscience but I always believe that schools are the factories of the future generations. If we want to graduate productive members in the society, we should offer them the best quality and quantity of education in all fields.

So always I wonder how the English teachers are trained and educated in other parts of the world. What skills and sciences should the English teacher has to succeed well in his job? How can he develop and update himself continuously?

I know that I am disturbing you with my worries and concerns but sometimes, we need to talk and discuss to relieve them.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,

Jebril