Masters of TESOL

THIS IS THE LAST PODCAST (for the foreseeable future).

I’m hardly prolific with podcast releases but this will be the last one for the foreseeable future. I’ve decided to concentrate more on the YouTube side of things.

YouTube Channel – www.youtube.com/channel/UCKbariMdEytYHdmkpXiILnQ

The channel will have materials, concept videos and general useful teaching stuff! Please do all the usual YouTube stuff so I can be more visible on the site and you know when new videos are released (plus, it’s a digital pat on the head for me).

With Sam Hellmuth of York University, England, we think about these questions:

• With language acquisition, which comes first – production or perception?

• Why do your students sound angry when they aren’t?

• How much does accent affect comprehension?

• Can we learn to ‘de-accent’?

• Should we bother teaching English stress patterns?

Sam smoothly mixes theory and practical tips with some excellent real-world examples. Something for everyone.

We make a few references to the Lingua Franca Core, which is a topic that was covered way back in episode 4. If you need a refresher, you can find it here – https://mastersoftesol.wordpress.com/2015/02/13/04-questioning-the-native-english-norm-jennifer-jenkins/

Sam Hellmuth York University Bio – www.york.ac.uk/language/people/academic-research/sam-hellmuth/

Sam Hellmuth Twitter – twitter.com/samhellmuth?lang=en

Sam Hellmuth Site – samhellmuth.com

Masters of TESOL website – https://mastersoftesol.wordpress.com/

Masters of TESOL – @MOTcast

http://traffic.libsyn.com/mastersoftesol/22_-_Stafford_Lumsden_-_Online_Learning.mp3

{bleep bloop bleep} I booted up cyborg teacher Stafford Lumsden to talk about online learning and the changing perception of what exactly a classroom is. We are more connected than ever and this shift in technology is changing the options that students have and how we teach. We discuss….

Useful resources:

Google – heard of it? add dot com. It’s quite good.

Google Sites – make your own web pages

classroom.google.com – education specific ‘classrooms’. Students can submit and track assignments. Teachers can receive and give feedback on assignments all within the Google eco-system.

wix.com – make your own web pages

moodle.org – open source LMS. Requires some computer savvy to use

Blackboard.com – pricy. Would require financial support from your department

http://traffic.libsyn.com/mastersoftesol/21.5_Thinking_Skills_-_VIDEO.mp3

I am branching out into video.

First Video

Channel

Please watch, subscribe, like and all those things that everyone on YouTube is begging you to do! This is the first step of an expansion of MOT with the aim of eventually making materials for you to use in your own classes.

Please smash “subscribe”, pummel “like” and all that other YouTube stuff.

First Video – https://youtu.be/FWE2JPBf-PI

Channel – http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKbariMdEytYHdmkpXiILnQ/

Keywords: Bloom, Thinking Skills, Bloom’s Taxonomy, ESL, EFL, TESOL, TEFL, CELTA, DELTA, linguistics, language, second language, teaching, learning, English, bilingual, multilingual, cognition,

http://traffic.libsyn.com/mastersoftesol/21_-_Can_Dictation_Be_Fun__-_Oksana_Kharley.mp3

“Oh googie…dictation….”

Possibly one of the most misused input/output techniques. The dreaded dictation. How can we move beyond playing a CD or reading and having students just write down what they hear? Oksana Kharley takes us through some useful approaches and techniques for practicing listening and writing that don’t include playing audio a couple of times and then handing out a script. Her ideas can help open up some new avenues for activities that the word and a new way of thinking about “dictation” (eg, does it NEED to include writing?)

Some of these activities come from:

Paul Davis & Mario Rinvolucri. (2006). Dictation. New methods, new possibilities. CUP.

http://traffic.libsyn.com/mastersoftesol/20_-_Roger_Fussellman_-_TED_Talks_in_ESL_ELF_class.mp3

I caught up with Roger Fusselman after his KOTESOL conference presentation on using TED talks and videos in general for language teaching. This is a MUST listen for anyone using visual media in the classroom.

We cover the DOs and DON’Ts of choosing videos as well as his principles of using media:

Challenge / Meaningful / Support / Choice / Integration (connecting ideas) / Variety / Application

Video Sites referenced:

http://www.ted.com/talks

http://bigthink.com/

http://www.ideacity.ca/watch-talks/

Specific videos referenced:

How to start a movement

Power poses for confidence

http://traffic.libsyn.com/mastersoftesol/19_-_Reflective_Practice_-_Thomas_Farrell.mp3

The self-styled ‘bad boy’ of language teaching, Thomas Farrell, dropped by my office to take about self reflection. What do we do in the classroom and, importantly, WHY do we do it? Who are YOU as a teacher and what do YOU bring into the classroom?

Start adding this reflective practice regularly to your professional life and you’ll be surprised at the difference it can make to your personal and professional development.

Also a good lesson about having a safety net. I recorded this with my fancy MICs but the recordings failed for some reason, so this is based on my phone back-up recording. Phew….

http://traffic.libsyn.com/mastersoftesol/18_-_Discourse_Markers_-_Jon_Campbell-Larsen.mp3

Well, discourse markers are kinda a feature of, like, natural speech in, you know, basically every language. Jon Campbell-Larsen takes us through the how and why of teaching Discourse Markers. Here is a link to an example of how to scaffold students practicing these markers (based on Jon’s KOTESOL hand out). Feel free to adapt it for your own classes.

Discourse Markers HO2

Keywords: ESL, EFL, TESOL, TEFL, CELTA, DELTA, discourse markers, discourse, markers, linguistics, language, second language, teaching, learning, English, bilingual, multilingual, cognition, students, education,