The IELTS test evaluates your current level of English and how well you can use the language in the four basic skills. Memorizing complex grammatical structures and academic vocabulary and reproducing them without being competent enough is not the best idea to achieve your highest score. This is specifically true for the writing tasks.
Writing Task 1 Writing task 1 is not a platform for you to write down what you think and to show how smart and knowledgeable you are about a topic. It simply tests if you can properly express yourself in a factual manner using information that is given to you. For this task it is absolutely necessary to practice with fixed structures and learn the language of describing graphs, data, charts, etc. This is something you will need to look into, no matter how good your level of English is. Advanced students often make the mistake of going unprepared into the IELTS test and being surprised about their low scores in the writing section. The writing section is not only about your English skills and how competent you are in writing, it is also about how familiar you are with what is expected of you (so make sure you check the writing descriptors before you take the test). For the writing task 1, learn the language of description and apply it to your writing. The best material for the writing task 1 which I also use with my students and can recommend to anyone is the IELTS Buddy ebook for writing task 1. It provides you with 'templates' that can be used with any topic and if you practice these templates, you will end up finding the task quite easy. Writing Task 2 For writing task 2, I always tell my students to go ahead and to try out using academic vocabulary and complex grammatical structures they are unsure of during the lessons. This is how you learn and get better, i.e. by making mistakes and learning from them. However, if you take the actual IELTS test, there is no room for such experiments. If you write at your current level of English without making any mistakes you will receive a higher score than if you use highly complex structures and academic vocabulary but you don’t use them correctly. So keep in mind to stick to what you are capable of for the writing task 2 . Practicing for the writing task 2 is similar to writing task 1 as it is best to have a standardized template that you can use for any essay. The examiners marking your writing task 2 do not judge the quality of your arguments, their scores are purely based on the 4 areas: task achievement, coherence and cohesion, lexical resources, grammatical range and accuracy. This means that it is more important how you write your essay than what you write. Of course having great arguments helps but if you cannot put them into English, it won't get you a high score! So don't waste your time trying to find the perfect arguments in answering a writing task 2 question. Good arguments are good enough! Rather focus on making your answer flow and be careful to proofread so you don't make any mistakes. IELTS Academic Writing Band Descriptors Find the official writing band descriptor for writing task 1 and 2 here: IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 IELTS Academic Writing Task 2
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Chinese and Japanese learners often leave out the definite and indefinite articles when they write in English. Why is this? Well, it’s rather simple, their languages don’t have articles, so it is tricky for them to remember to include them in English. However, this problem, unlike other grammar mistakes, is easy to fix.
Generally speaking, in order for an intermediate and advanced learner of a language to correct a grammar mistake, they need to be aware that they make the mistake and then they need to deliberately practice to correct the error. In the case mentioned above, i.e. learners forgetting to include articles, I advise them to read through every essays after they finish writing and find all the nouns in the text and then to make sure they have included the appropriate article (unless of course it is not necessary, e.g. uncountable nouns). If you make grammar mistakes and want to correct them, it is important not to focus on more than one grammatical error at a time because this will drastically increase your chances to actually correct the mistake. Usually, after several weeks of deliberate practice, you will be able to avoid the mistake you were struggling with. If this problem is familiar to you and you are wondering how you can correct the mistakes you make, let me know and I will give you advice on how you can try to correct it. A sample essay of a student and my corrections for a better score
Writing Task 2: More children in developed countries are becoming overweight. This is a serious problem for wealthy countries. Discuss causes and effects of this problem. Provide examples. ANSWER OF STUDENT: It is argued that young generation of well off and successful countries is suffering from the excess weight gaining issue. In my perception an easy access to junk foods and the busy schedules of working parents are the main causes of this problem which lend the children nothing but long term health problems. First of all, the availability of fast foods is the main reason which contributes to this issue. The food items: pizza, pasta, burgers and hot dogs hold a special allure for the children of all ages. And indubitably it has raised the graph of health problems to a large extent. For instance, in America children are becoming fat and lethargic because they intake a lot of oily and processed food like potato chips and french fries. On the other hand, the fact can not be denied that the hectic work routines of the parents also lead their offsprings to grab whatever unhealthy they want to satisfy their hunger. Unlike the past times when mothers supposed to remain at home to take care of their young ones, women now are equally busy in making money because it has become harder to make both ends meet for a single person of the family. A research carried out by California University throws light on the fact that the children of professional parents become drastically ill and prone to various diseases as compare to the offsprings of a single bread earners where father works and mother stays home to look after their little one as they think the upbringing of their children is paramount. To recapitulate, it is crystal clear that the easily attainable junk food and the bustling routines of guardians compel adolescents to eat unhealthy, that is why the fitness level of successful and rich countries is degrading at an alarming rate. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Score: Task Achievement: 7.5 / Coherence and Cohesion: 6.5 / Lexical Resources: 6.0 / Grammatical Range and Accuracy: 6.0 = Overall: 6.5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Comment: Too many lexical and grammatical errors. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ IMPROVED VERSION: It can be argued that child obesity in developed countries is on the rise and is becoming an issue of concern. I believe that the easy access to junk food and the busy schedules of working parents are the two main causes of this problem which leads to long-term health problems for their children. First of all, the availability of fast food is the main reason contributing to this issue. Food like pizza, pasta, burgers and hot dogs are favourite dishes for children of all ages. And undoubtedly this has led to a big rise in the number of children with health problems. For instance, in developed countries like America or many European countries as well, children are becoming obese and lethargic because they consume a lot of oily and processed food like crisps and chips. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that the hectic work routines of parents also play a part in this which often leads their offspring to grab whatever unhealthy food is in front of them to satisfy their hunger. Unlike in the past, when mothers remained at home to take care of their young ones, women now are equally busy in providing for the family because it has become harder to make ends meet with just one income. A research carried out by California University shines light on the fact that the children of households where both parents work are at a higher risk of becoming seriously ill and prone to various diseases than the children of a one income household where the father works and the mother stays at home to look after their little ones, as they consider the upbringing of their children to be paramount. To summarise, it is fairly obvious that the easy access to junk food and the bustling routines of parents condemn children to eat unhealthily, that is why the number of obese children in wealthier countries is increasing an alarming rate. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SCORE: Task Achievement: 7.5 / Coherence and Cohesion: 6.5 / Lexical Resources: 7.5 / Grammatical Range and Accuracy: 8.0 = Overall: 7.5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ COMMENT: You could go into more detail about the effects of child obesity for countries, for example higher health care costs, less productivity in the workforce, etc. Send an email to [email protected] to register for your place on the free trial sessions.
************************************************************************************************************ The first two free trial sessions are at the following dates and times: Session #1: Saturday, 16th March 2019, 10:00-11:00 (Greenwich Mean Time / UK) Session #2: Saturday, 16th March 2019, 18.00-19:00 (Greenwich Mean Time / UK) ************************************************************************************************************ My name is David. I have been teaching English/EFL for 13 years and have been preparing students for the IELTS Academic test since 2016 with all of them achieving their target score. I am planning to offer lessons for large groups in the future and want to test this approach beforehand. Therefore I am looking for volunteers for the free sessions. For information about how your data is used, please refer to the privacy and cookie policy on my website. It would be great to welcome you as one of my students in the future. There are many students who are left behind in the educational systems, not because of bad intent, but because they have a ‘problem’ that very few understand: they are INTROVERTED.
Are you one of these students? Well, then (secondary) school generally is not a great experience for you because of how you are perceived by teachers and your classmates. On the surface, you seem to be outsiders, you seem to be uninterested in your lessons, you seem to be uninvolved in the activities of the school community, you seem to avoid opportunities for socialising and you keep yourself to yourself. If you are introverted and you want to have a more fulfilling experience at school, try these 5 top tips that might change things for you. Tip #1: Find out more about what it means to be introverted. There are some great blogs and articles about this topic. Here is a selection of resources that might help you to understand yourself better:
Tip #2: Be proud and don’t worry about what others think! Feel good about the way you are. Just because the majority of people are extroverts and generally will not get you, does not mean that you have to feel bad about yourself. If you are not treated the way you want to, if you feel misunderstood, then always keep in mind that most extroverted people do not know much about introverts and how you feel. Tip #3: Find opportunities to relax and be alone. Find a quiet place during break time or lunch where you can relax. If you have the choice, bring a packed lunch instead of eating lunch in the crowded dining hall with all this noise and people. Go to the library during break or lunch time or any other quiet area that you have at the school. Tip #4: Try to get more involved in the school life Although this might seem very difficult for you, try to get more involved. Clubs and activities are a great idea because this helps you to socialise with others without feeling too much out of your comfort zone. Do you like sports? Then join a sports club. Do you like acting? Join the drama club. Singing? School choir. Drawing or painting? You know what to do. Or try to become a buddy or join the school council. It might seem counterintuitive and you might need time to get used to the feeling but this step will greatly enhance how others view you as a person and often will change their perspective. They will see that there is more to you than meets the eye. No matter if you are introverted or extroverted, you have a special talent or interest. Don’t be afraid to show it, show others what you are capable of. Tip #5: Be open about being an introvert and connect with other introverts. You can do this in any form you like, be creative and confident. Try to get your (introverted) teachers involved. They generally are the teachers who seem to understand and get you. Join their clubs or the activities they offer and engage with them. If you feel very courageous, try to connect with other introverted students. Form a club or society at your school with the goal to increase awareness. Build a community so that you can support each other, be courageous and put yourself out there, educate others and you will feel better about yourself. Myth #5: Quality is more important than quantityNot true: Too often do language learners (and teachers) forget about the importance of quantity in the language learning process, in terms of input as well as output. Being the perfect student during your lessons at school or in any other formal classroom environment is not enough to become proficient in the foreign language.
So many students are left behind in school settings because they are not engaging with the content presented to them by a teacher or the course book. Too much time is spend on explicitly teaching the learners about various aspects of the foreign language and too little time is spend on letting the learners become creative and make the language their own. If students would receive more input and be asked to produce more output without a focus on perfection, they would be much quicker in learning the language, especially in the beginning, and enjoy the process much more without sacrificing accuracy in the long run. If you want to become proficient in the foreign language, try to expose yourself to as much input as necessary. Read and listen to a variety of sources without being too worried that they are not sophisticated enough. If you want to read tabloids, then do it. If you like watching films, watch films that are available in the foreign language. If you want to get better at writing, start writing. You don't need a teacher to constantly tell you what you could do better. Start writing as much as you can and about anything you want to. Have fun, enjoy it. Speak as much as you can without overthinking every sentence. It does not matter if it the outcome of your efforts is not perfect, in the long run you will get much better. If you want to become proficient in a foreign language, you will need to focus as much on quantity as you do on quality. Myth #4: You can 'learn' the grammar of a foreign languageTrue: Of course you can explicitly learn and memorize the rules of a particular grammatical feature and then reproduce it in a grammar test. If that is what you understand by learning the grammar of a foreign language, then it is not a myth.
Not True: However, if you want to be able to use the grammar of a foreign language proficiently, i.e. use it correctly and spontaneously in speaking, listening, reading and writing, then it is a myth. Explicit grammar knowledge or instruction is not going to help you to get better in using the grammatical features of a language. I don’t know of any research study that proves that it actually benefits the language learner. On the contrary, the findings from the research show that the way we think grammar is learned and how it should be taught is based on assumptions, not on actual evidence. If you are more interested in the theory, have a look at the following research articles / studies:
If you are interested what this means in more practical terms for you as a learner, you might find the following resources helpful:
And last but not least my blog entry about this topic: Myth #3: You can learn a foreign language with software or an online programGood luck! Only very few people will accomplish this feat and become proficient in a foreign language without the help and support of a teacher. A software or online program cannot replace the guidance of a teacher.
Learning a language on your own is very difficult. By ‘teacher’, I do not only refer to a classroom instructor because any person can theoretically become your language teacher as long as they are more proficient in the language than you. Just to give you an example: I know two Brazilians who speak English incredibly well. They have a wide range of conversational vocabulary, they make no grammatical mistakes and their language sounds very natural. But they never had a single lesson, instead, they learned English by playing ‘World of Warcraft’ online. In order to enjoy their favourite game, they needed English as a lingua franca so they could connect and communicate with the other players. However, having a well-trained and knowledgeable language teacher who can guide you through the zone of proximal development and provide the right scaffolding for you will greatly increase your chances of becoming proficient in the foreign language. MYTH #2: Native Speakers are the better foreign language teachersNot true: Many think that having a native speaker of the foreign language that they are trying to learn as a teacher is an automatic guarantee for success. Of course this is not true because teaching a language requires so much more knowledge and skill than just being a competent user of the language.
The only true advantage that a native speaker has over a proficient non-native speaker when teaching a foreign language is ‘authentic competence’ in the language. A proficient non-native speaker can be as good or even better than a native speaker especially when it comes to supporting a language learner on their learning journey. The non-native speaker teacher has gone through a very similar experience with the foreign language and is more aware of the difficulties their students might encounter. However, the #1 factor that will guarantee your success in learning a foreign language is to have a teacher with a high level of theoretical knowledge about language learning and teaching and extensive teaching experience. Both is necessary, an expert in the theory cannot perform to the best of their ability if they are lacking teaching experience and a teacher who has decades of teaching experience but lacks the theoretical knowledge will not be able to get the best out of their learners. Myth #1: You can learn a foreign language in 3 monthsHalf-True: A child who is younger than 8-10 and moves to a country where a different language is spoken can become proficient in the foreign language within 6 months to a year if they are exposed to the language on an every day basis, for example at nursery or school. But even 3 months is a bit too optimistic.
Not true: For anyone older than 12-14, it is much more difficult to learn a foreign language, and in will take longer than for a 8-10 year old, even if they move to another country and are exposed to the foreign language on a daily basis. (Critical Period Hypothesis) Absolutely impossible: For anyone studying a foreign language as a teenager, for example, at secondary school or as an adult at a language school, with several hours of instruction per week, will (almost) never become proficient in the foreign language and definitely not in 3 months. The process of becoming proficient will take several years and this is the scenario that is probably the most common way how foreign languages are learned nowadays. There is a variety of other factors which also influence the progress in the language learning process, e.g. motivation, confidence, perseverance, resilience, interest. This method that I am going to share with you has proven very effective in increasing my students’ speaking scores on the IELTS Academic Test in 50 days by 1.5 points, on average. It is not very complicated and easy to do, if you commit to it. I hope it can help you, too.
Why do students not do better in their speaking tasks? In my years of preparing students for the IELTS test, I always found that the main reason why students do not achieve higher in their speaking task was their lack of speaking practice, academic vocabulary and lexical structures. Not forming correct sentences or making grammar mistakes was generally not the reason for not getting a higher score. With the following method, you do not even need a teacher or speaking partner, although of course that would help, but you can improve on your own. It will take time but within 50 days you will see a big improvement that will increase your IELTS speaking scores. This book will help What students need is the practice and the ability to speak about IELTS topics by using academic vocabulary in a natural way. It was not until I found the following book that my students really excelled in their speaking section on the IELTS test. The book is called ‘IELTS Examiner’s Tips’ by Karolina Achirri. You can find a link to this book in the section of my website on recommended resources for the IELTS test, to go there click here. The subtitle of the book is ‘An Academic Guide to IELTS Speaking and Writing’. Although I cannot recommend it if you want to improve your writing scores because it is too confusing for me and lacks structure, the author definitely makes up for this in the section of the book that prepares you for the IELTS Academic speaking tasks. In this section, you will literally find thousands of possible exam questions and high-level academic vocabulary on 265 pages. This alone, of course, will not help you if you don’t know how to utilise it. So, let me show you, how you make it work. Over 3000 content-specific academic vocabulary items – Less work for you The real benefit of the book can be found in chapter 5 ‘Common Speaking Topics & Possible Questions / Vocabulary needed for band 6 & higher’. In this chapter, the author provides you with possible questions and useful academic vocabulary for all speaking parts of the IELTS test. 50 = 25 + 25 In preparation for the speaking part 1, the author of the book lists 114 topics with questions. Use this section to prepare yourself for the IELTS test by going through 2 topics and its questions every single day for 50 days. In the first 25 days, make sure that you properly brainstorm what you want to say as an answer to each question. Check vocabulary and grammar if you need to. For the last 25 days, make sure that you do not give yourself more time until you start answering the questions that you would have on the exam, i.e. 2-3 seconds. Practicing under exam conditions will also help you to get mentally ready and will enable you to perform at your best during the actual exam. In preparation for the speaking part 2 and 3, the author lists a topic and then provides you with academic vocabulary and lexical structures that you could use in part 2 of the speaking exam and follow up questions to each suggested topic in preparation for the speaking part 3 of the IELTS Academic test. Follow a similar principle in preparing for part 3 by properly brainstorming ideas and vocabulary to answer the questions in the first 25 days and by answering spontaneously in the last 25 days of your 50 days preparation. IELTS academic speaking task 2 - Vocabulary that will lead to a higher score The aspect that will really make you improve your speaking score is to make use of the preparation for part 2 that the book provides. For each topic, the author has provided between 10 and 50 academic vocabulary items or collocations that can be used in your answers. To make use of these words, do the following: go through the vocabulary list that is provided to you for each topic and make sure you select at least 10 words from this list that you plan to use in your presentation in part 2. Check the exact meaning of the vocabulary and possible collocations if you are unsure. Use www.freecollocation.com Make use of this website, where you can type in a word and see the words it collocates with. If you are looking for an adjective that goes well with book, go to the website, type it in the search engine and you will be shown a variety of words that can be used with it. So if you want to express that the book is very good and you do not know which adjective works best, you will find an answer on this website, e.g. you will see that ‘delightful, excellent, fascinating, remarkable’ are all great options, so just make your pick. With these 10 words you have selected and the collocations you have found, you can now create an answer that is filled with academic vocabulary and would give you a much higher score. I would suggest to practice that for 35 of your 50 day preparation so that you learn as many new academic vocabulary items as possible. On the last 15 days, I would then go over and try to answer the part 2 tasks more spontaneously by responding to the question without integrating the words that the books suggests and rather focusing on what you want to say so that you also practice the part 2 speaking tasks under exam conditions. Words of warning if you practice for speaking part 2 #1: Do not use too many of the words and collocations provided by the book because otherwise your answers will sound unnatural. Make sure that you integrate the ones you have chosen nicely in your speaking. #2: Make sure that your part 2 answer, as well as your part 1 and 3 answer, has a clear structure and communicate this to your examiner. So for example, if you part 2 task is to talk about ‘A song that means a lot top you from your childhood’, the beginning of your answer could be something like this: “A song that really means a lot to me is ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon because of the message it conveys and the event that occurred when I first heard it when I was 8 years old.” And then you go into the details. #3: Take the practice under exam conditions very seriously and put yourself under pressure, so that you are prepared when you take the real exam. Do not give yourself more time even if you could not complete the task. Move on to the next topic because this will make your brain adjust to the pressure so that you can be relaxed and comfortable during the actual exam. The benefits of this method The advantage of this method is that apart from having to buy the book for around £12 or $18, there is nothing more you need. You do not even need a teacher who corrects you or someone to practice with (although this of course would help) but you can do it on your own. The frequency of practice will already make you better and the integration of the suggested vocabulary for the task 2 answers. Stick to this method every single day in the 50 days leading up to your exam. In the first 25 days this will be more time consuming than in the last 25 days, so be aware of that. Practicing for the speaking part like this will probably take around 30 minutes, which is not too much considering you only want to take this exam once in your life and the effect it will have on your speaking score. Stay committed to it every single day and you will succeed. Here is a summary of my method: In 50 days to a higher IELTS speaking score Days 1 - 25
Days 26-50
FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK: DNK TUITION or sign-up for my newsletter to receive more expert tips on how to improve your IELTS score or your language skills in general. Language Teachers will never be replaced by AI Since the development of computers and more recently the advances in AI, many members of the teaching profession are worried about the day when they will become redundant. It is highly doubtful that human beings will ever be replaced by machines when it comes to the teaching of foreign languages. No doubt, computers have made teaching and learning easier but the teacher, the human being, can always serve as the most vital component in the process of learning a foreign language. Surely, teachers should adapt and change the way they do things but they are irreplaceable. Why? The Linguistic Genius of Babies - The Power of Human Connection The TED talk ‘The Linguistic Genius of Babies’ gives both language teachers and learners an explanation. The interesting part, starts at around the 7-minute mark of the video. The researchers did a study to investigate the ability of babies in acquiring the sound system of a foreign language before the age of 1. They had found out that babies where capable of acquiring any sound system of any language at this age but only under one condition: if they were ‘taught’ by another human being. When the babies were exposed to the foreign language through TV or audio alone, no learning whatsoever took place. Learning only happened when they were ‘taught’ by a ‘teacher’. Although every research has its limitations, they highlighted an important aspect that is also true for foreign language learning as a child, teenager or adult. The fact that the underlying reason for language learning is of a social nature: the urge to communicate and connect with the people around us. That is why ‘teacher’ in this blog post refers to anyone with whom a learner forms or establishes a (social) connection or bond. 'New' Approaches to Language Learning This is the same reason why the ‘new’ approaches to learning a foreign language by people like Matthew Youlden and Benny Lewis, whose TED talks I recently shared on my blog, work well and why both were able to learn and use multiple languages in a rather short amount of time. Fulfilling and enriching - Yes, please! Make use of this and find a ‘teacher’ with whom you can connect (and who teaches languages in a more 'natural' way). Together with a great ‘teacher’, learning a new language might become one of the most fulfilling and enriching experiences of your life. Who knows? FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK: DNK TUITION Checking A Dictionary Is Not Always Enough
Most upper-intermediate and advanced students of a foreign language find it difficult to choose the right vocabulary in their speaking, but especially in their writing, when they want to use to use more ‘difficult’, abstract or academic language or when they want to be more creative with the language. They end up checking a dictionary and using words that do not work together or which make the language sound unnatural. But there is an easy way for language learners to solve this problem and it does not cost anything. Make Use Of Corpora What is a corpus? A corpus is a collection of samples of spoken and written language from a variety of sources that have been feed into a computer to create a database of words. There are different corpora that you as a learner of English as a foreign language can access. Find a summary here. There are corpora for other languages, too. What Is A Collocation? Without wanting to go into too much detail about vocabulary learning, I am sure you are all aware that words cannot be put together completely randomly in a language. Just to give you an example, you cannot say a ‘handsome’ woman in English as the adjective ‘handsome’ goes together with the characteristic ‘male’. So ‘handsome’ man is correct to say and if you want to express the same idea for a woman, you need to use the adjective ‘beautiful’. This is an example of a collocation. A collocation refers to how words are put together or form fixed relationships and any language is full of these including your native language. The Benefits Of A Corpus And How to Use It A corpus can help you to find the right collocations. Here is how. Once you have accessed a corpus, you can type in any word or a number of connected words. For example, if you want to find out if you can say a ‘big’ burden or if ‘heavy’ or ‘great’ are better alternatives, you would check how many entries each adjective produces in the corpus. In the BYU Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), there are 53 entries for ‘big’ burden, ‘great’ burden has 65 entries and ‘heavy’ burden has 292 entries. So what do you think? Which adjective is the best match for burden? Exactly, the adjective ‘heavy’ because of its much higher frequency. You can say that heavy and burden form a strong collocation. Or you can just see if the collocation you are thinking of actually is a collocation. Type it in and if there are less than 30 entries, chances are that it is not a collocation or not a strong one anyway and you should not use it. But there is more, you can go to the individual entries in the corpus and read the contexts in which the collocation is used to make absolutely sure that this is exactly the context for which you wanted to use the word. Job done! Practice Makes Perfect! This method might not work for beginners or intermediate students as they are lacking the necessary proficiency in the language to use it effectively. But you can still give it a try. After doing this a couple of times you will get the hang of it and you will always choose the right words for what you want to say. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you are looking to increase your vocabulary, have a look at the new section of my website with helpful resources for learning vocabulary here. FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK: DNK TUITION Mental health and well-being - Make it a focus at schools! There is one area in all educational systems that has received little attention until very recently, but which should probably be developed further and become a priority at schools and at universities. It is the area of mental health and well-being. Immunising our students against mental health issues If we look at the data, we can observe that the number of children, teenagers and young adults with mental health issues around the world is on the rise. Primary and secondary schools, as well as universities, could play a vital role. They could even be a key to preventing this trend from getting worse. And help is already available, i.e. in the form of the science of positive psychology. This science presents us with evidence-based answers and solutions to this problem. It originates from the research on how to treat human suffering but has taken on a different approach. Instead of focusing on what is wrong, positive psychology focuses on the development of human strengths and informs us how we can live our lives well. As it turns out, it can protect us from mental health problems now and in the future. What really makes us happy? The longest study on happiness, the Harvard Study of Adult Development, summarised in a must-see TED talk by its current director, Dr. Robert Waldinger, has shown that there is only one factor that matters most if we want to have a long, happy, mentally and physically healthy and fulfilled life. It is not money or fame, contrary to what we are led to believe, what matters most is the quality of the human relationships we have. The case for character education at schools If that is so, why is character education, the development of human strengths and the knowledge on how to live life well not as important as maths, English or sciences? Why can this not be a focus in our educational systems? Where else do we want children, teenagers and young adults to learn and acquire these skills? Especially since there is strong evidence that positive psychology can help to reduce mental health issues by preventing them from occurring in the first place. But, there is more, the research in positive psychology has led to the birth of another scientific field, i.e. Positive Education. Thanks to the efforts of Geelong Grammar School in Australia and their cooperation with the father of positive psychology, Dr. Martin Seligman, and the University of Pennsylvania, Positive Education became a reality. Positive Education is positive psychology applied to the context of education, at schools and universities, and this approach has already been implemented at numerous educational institutions around the world. The most courageous and visionary schools have adopted Positive Education as a whole-school approach and undertaken major changes in the school’s organisational structures and its approach towards teaching and learning. The most recent example is the University of Buckingham, which became the first positive university in Europe in 2017. Positive Education and its effect on standardized test scores If you are a parent, would you not agree that besides academic achievement, you would also want your children to learn how to live their lives well? How to be happy? How to have strong and healthy relationships? And, wouldn’t you agree that school might be a great place for your children to learn just that? A place where they spend countless hours of their daily lives. And implementing Positive Education has another great advantage: focusing on life skills and character education, as the studies by Dr. Alejandro Adler have found, also leads to a significant increase in standardized test scores amongst students. Positive Education - Enabling students to achieve their full potential If we want to prepare our students for their future, it is important to understand and accept that their mental health and well-being is as important as their academic achievement. In fact, it is necessary in order for them to achieve their full potential. Positive Education has already proved that it is a visionary approach that can change the educational landscape for the better. FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK: DNK TUITION Quizlet.com is a free mobile and web-based study application that can support you with vocabulary learning and teaching.
You need to create a list of words in your native language and the equivalent in the target language and then you can use a wide variety of functions that will help you to expose yourself or your students frequently to the vocabulary. You can also do this with grammatical structures if you memorize them as a lexical item. The great thing about this program is that its free, you just have to register, and then you can take advantage of its functions. Another big plus of the program is that it will pronounce the words in both languages for you. Increase your or your students' vocabulary today by using quizlet.com. FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK: DNK TUITION An interesting TED Talk by Benny Lewis that could give some inspiration to teachers and learners of foreign languages. The most important point that he raises, which is supported by the research in language acquisition, is the fact that learning a language has a strong social component. Our need as human beings to communicate, and the experiences we make when we try and eventually succeed, is the most powerful driving force in language learning. Make use of it and connect with others ... by speaking the foreign language! No matter if you are language learner or language teacher, this will help you to understand why some learners are better than others. As I always say: Anyone can learn a language! Maybe you want to rethink your approach to learning and teaching a language after that. All of Matthew’s statements are backed up by the research in Second Language Acquisition and Applied Linguistics. Watch and learn! FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK: DNK TUITION Although learning a foreign language does not make you any smarter, it does give you a number of advantages that are worth knowing about. It has been shown that it keeps your brain healthy, complex and more engaged and can even delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease by up to 5 years. Watch the video below to find out more ... and then start to learn a foreign language today. FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK: DNK TUITION Learning vocabulary is unlike most aspects of a foreign language as it is one of the features that needs to be learned by memorization. Knowing words, especially in the beginning of your language learning journey, is a matter of effort and repetition. You need to look at vocabulary learning as a skill that needs to be developed, the more you practice, the better you will get at it.
The traditional way of vocabulary learning, that is most commonly used, is a vocabulary book where you write down a word in your native language on one half of a page and the equivalent in the target language on the other half of the page. This is one way of learning new words but there is a more effective one. Several companies already offer a compartment system for vocabulary learning but do not provide the learner with the essential information they would need so that they can use this system most effectively. The scientific foundation of this method originates from research findings in second language acquisition and applied linguistics, most notably by Dr. Paul Nation and Dr. Norbert Schmitt. It is also important to point out that beginning learners will profit most from this system because it best fits their goal, i.e. learning as many words as quickly as possible so that they can start using the foreign language. Intermediate and advanced learners would profit from this method as well but there are better ways for those students to increase their vocabulary than to memorize individual words on index cards. Shortcomings of using a vocabulary book Before I go into details about how to use the 5-compartment-system, I wanted to point out the disadvantages that using a vocabulary book has to highlight the advantages of the 5-Compartment-System. Using a vocabulary book to memorize words has two main shortcomings. The first shortcoming is that in your vocabulary book you cannot separate the words that you already know from the ones you do not know yet. If you are revising the words, you need to go over the whole page which is extra work that does not need to be done. The second and much more important shortcoming is the effect of the order of how the words appear in your vocabulary book. Your brain is always keen on saving resources for processing and that is why it will remember the order in which the words appear in your vocabulary book. Your brain also saves the visual information that it is exposed to during the learning process, i.e. it memorizes the word in your native and in the target language next to each other (the way they appear in your vocabulary book) because this makes it easier for the brain to process the information when you study the words. The latter process leads to a phenomenon that many language learners experience: you are taking an exam and a word that you have studied comes up in a task, you know that you know the word and you might even know which page in your book it is on or which words come before or after the word, but no matter how hard you try, you cannot recall the meaning of the word you are looking for. The reason why you might find it difficult to recall its meaning is the fact that the word appears out of its ‘original’ context in which your brain has remembered it, i.e. the order it had in your vocabulary book and how it was visually organised (target language next to native language). The 5-Compartment-System The 5-Compartment-System only works to its full effect if you do it thoroughly, following all the suggestions and advice that I have summarized in the following. And, as with any skill, you need to do it consistently for it to be most effective, i.e. every SINGLE day. Any alteration to the instructions provided below can and generally will result in reducing the effectiveness of this system. What you need to do to practice using the 5-Compartment-System is a vocabulary box or a box and something to divide the box into 5 compartments if you want to make it yourself and index cards. On the index cards you write down the word in your native language on one side and the word in the target language on the other side. In the first compartment you place all the newly learned vocabulary and they should be revised every day, but you need to be aware that you need to repeat a word at least 5-7 times (some are easier to remember than others) before it can be stored in your memory. If you have memorized a word in compartment 1, move it into compartment 2. All the words in compartment 2 should be studied every 2-3 days and if you know them then, move them into compartment 3. All the words in compartment 3 should be studied every week (7 days) and if you know them then, move them into compartment 4. All the words in compartment 4 should be studied every two weeks (14 days) and if you know them then, move them into compartment 5. All the words in compartment 5 should be studied every 4 weeks (28 days) and if you know them then, they can leave the box and be stored in a separate box. You might want to go through this box every 3-4 months. If you do not know a word in a compartment, you need to move it back into the previous compartment. Let’s say you are studying the words in compartment 3 and you encounter a word you do not know, then you need to move this index card back into compartment 2. This works for all compartments between 2 and 5. This way you can guarantee that the index cards that leave the vocabulary box have found their way into your long-term memory. Make sure that you really know the word on the index card. To know a word means that you should be able to tick off the following three things before you move a word forward into the next compartment: 1. you know the exact translation of the word, 2. you can pronounce the word correctly and 3. you can write the word out correctly. If one of these three conditions is not met, then your index cards has to be moved down one compartment. Why is this system for vocabulary learning effective? There are several reasons why the 5-Comparment-System is very effective:
When you are practicing with this method you might experience that it feels more difficult to memorize words, especially in the beginning, and you are right. The reason for this is that your brain cannot take any shortcuts in memorizing the words but it has the advantage that the words you study that way will be retained to a much higher percentage. Things to consider while using this system:
FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK: DNK TUITION Do you want to become more knowledgeable about language teaching methods? Then maybe you should have a look at this:
https://coerll.utexas.edu/methods/ This is one of the best free courses about Foreign Language Teaching Methods that I have found online. It gives you expert knowledge about how to teach different aspects of a foreign language to learners and is based on current research in Second Language Acquisition and Applied Linguistics. No matter if you are a language teacher or training to become one, this knowledge can set you apart and make you an even better teacher. FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK: DNK TUITION The main reason why Stephen Curry is one of the best basketball players and athletes in the world is his ability to get himself into a state called flow where optimal performance happens. By flow I mean the scientific term coined by Prof. Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, a renowned psychology professor who has done extensive research on this phenomenon. Flow is a state of mind where optimal performance can happen, where an athlete with (very) high skills faces high challenges and as a result goes beyond what they seemed capable of, a state where they are not (really) in control of what they are doing and what is happening. If you want to find out more about flow, have a look at the TED talk 'Flow, the secret to happiness' by Prof. Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi and read the following article about Prof. Csikszentmihalyi and his research. Both sources will give you a good overview of what flow is. Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Challenge_vs_skill_Commons.jpg The diagram above can explain why Stephen Curry is generally performing at such a high level and why he was so phenomenal during his MVP season. The diagram consists of two axes, the x-axis indicates the skill level and the y-axis indicates the challenge level.
The reason why Stephen Curry is so good at what he is doing is that the emotions he feels while playing basketball are generally in the upper right quadrant of the diagram. He possesses high skills (not talent, but skills that he acquired through hours and hours of hard work) and is challenged to a high or very high level on the court. And this is the basis of getting into flow. Technically, any person can get into flow but it happens very frequently to athletes because the environment they perform in is conducive to flow. Talent can make it easier to reach flow but only if an athlete puts enough effort into developing their skills. With this diagram you can also explain why at certain points in a game or a season, Stephen Curry might not perform to a level that he is capable of. If the skills are high but the challenge level is low an athlete will feel boredom and thus not feel very involved in the task. If an athlete’s skill level is medium or low for a specific task, the athlete will also not be able to get into flow. The most important aspect to consider in order to really read this diagram correctly is that the skill level on the x-axis is actually a combination of the real and factual skill level and the skill level an athlete perceives to have. That means, that if an athlete has high skills but does not believe in their skills, they are less likely to get into the zone of optimal performance because the emotions they feel will not allow that to happen. Confidence in his skills plays a tremendous part why Stephen Curry can achieve what he does. He truly believes in his high skills to play at such a high level. And he also seems to be aware of the difference between confidence and arrogance. An athlete who wants to consistently perform at their highest level cannot afford such feelings because they are not conducive to optimal performance. Believing in yourself and your skills, however, is a must to achieve that. And Stephen Curry does this to perfection and that is also why he is developing and improving at such a fast pace and why he always seems to reach new heights and do things that surprise everyone. Something that might also happen to Stephen Curry, because he is only human, is that at times an athlete’s skill level might not be enough to handle a very difficult task at hand and that is why they might slip out of flow. In order to get back into flow, they would have to find a way to adjust their skill level and/or their perception of the same, many times it is actually only the latter. This can happen during a performance by adjusting their skills or by approaching tasks with more confidence in their skills or by working on their weaknesses after the competition has ended. If the challenge level is low, an athlete with high skills (real and perceived) might experience feelings of boredom which will prevent them from achieving their best. This is also true if the challenge level is only medium which creates a feeling of control. They will be able to do well in this state but cannot achieve their best. In order to do that, their high skill level has to coincide with a high challenge level. Results of a low or medium challenge level might be easy and avoidable mistakes or when an athlete is not completely ‘focused’ and loses concentration. The same might also happen when an athlete faces challenges that are beyond their skill level, when their real and perceived skill level is low or medium for a task they need to accomplish. Then it is impossible to get into flow and achieve their best because even adjusting the challenge level is not going to create the psychological state of flow where optimal performance can happen. This diagram also shows why having or showing (extreme) emotions is not really helpful for optimal performance in a competition. Having a clear head and balanced mind will help an athlete reach flow more easily and more often and thus make it possible to reach the state where optimal performance happens. Of course, reaching flow is not as simple as knowing how to read a diagram or knowing about its technicalities. That is why many professional athletes also have coaches with an expertise in sports psychology / positive psychology and if they do not have one yet, they should definitely hire one. What is encouraging to know for us mortals is that you do not have to be a professional athlete to reach flow. And the best thing about it is that it does not cost anything, it is for free. I use the knowledge about flow and positive psychology to help my students achieve their best at school and in learning a foreign language and have written a different blog post about how this knowledge can be used in the field of education 'The Right Frame of Mind to Achieve Your Best - At School'. Stephen Curry definitely does not need any help with getting into flow. He is a master of flow and is aware that his own mental strength is more important than his physical strength or limitation thereof. You will be amazed of how Stephen Curry will be able to develop and improve in the future and so will I. FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK: DNK TUITION This worksheet includes an exercise to match German and English expressions related to the days of the week, followed by the song ‘Es war eine Mutter’ for the students to be made aware of the German words for the seasons of the year and then connecting it to the months of the year. The words for the German seasons are practiced later again when students have to write down the months that belong to each season. This worksheet should mainly serve as input for the students, I would not recommend any explanations of any linguistic features at this point. FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK: DNK TUITION
Source: www.amazon.com This blog post is a summary of chapter 6 Issues in Learning and Teaching Grammar of James Lee and Bill VanPatten’s book Making Communicative Language Teaching Happen from 2003 where they explore several misconceptions about the teaching of foreign language grammar and give language teachers some food for thought.
They go into detail about five common misconceptions held by language teachers around the world which are not true as research findings have already proved. These five misconceptions are the belief that:
The first belief that many language teachers hold is the belief that something needs to be taught in the same way that they learned it themselves (Lee & VanPatten, 117-120). It is difficult to believe something else than the knowledge you have been taught for years and ‘know’ to be true, but it is worth it to give new thoughts and ideas a chance especially when they are based on research and the findings of experts. The second belief that cannot be supported by evidence is that drills are effective tools for learning grammar. (Lee & VanPatten, 120-123). Isn’t this something that the classroom practice already shows? If you are a learner or teacher, how often have grammar drills not lead to the comprehension and correct application of the grammatical feature? Lee & VanPatten (120-123) differentiate between mechanical drills, meaningful drills and communicative drills. Mechanical drills are those during which the student need not to attend meaning and for which there is only one correct response. (Lee & VanPatten, 121) The difference between mechanical and meaningful drills is that the learner must attend to the meaning of both the stimulus and her own answer in order to complete the meaningful drill successfully. Yet there is still only one right answer, and the answer is already known top the participants. (Lee & VanPatten, 121) Unlike the previous two drill types, communicative drills require attention to meaning, and the information contained in the learner’s answer is new and unknown to the person asking the question. Thus, the answer cannot be deemed right or wrong in terms of meaning conveyed. (Lee & VanPatten, 122) For mechanical drills Lee & VanPatten cite different sources of research that have already proved that “not only was intensive drilling ineffective, it actually delayed the acquisition of the structures and forms that were drilled.” (Lee & VanPatten, 123). The third belief is reflected in the teaching practice when a grammatical feature is taught. Generally, the lesson includes an explanation of the rules and then the students need to apply what they have been taught. Lee & VanPatten (123) mention that the quality of a lessons is often even judged by how well a teacher is able to explain grammatical points. And they point out what I mentioned in my recent blog post about teaching grammar that learning and acquisition are two different processes and that explicit information about a grammatical feature is not necessary for the successful acquisition of the same (Lee & VanPatten, 123). VanPatten has done extensive research and studies about exactly this point. The fourth belief that the first language is the source of all errors is also a common misconception which has been disproved by several studies (Lee & VanPatten, 126). The fifth belief is that the acquisition of grammatical features involves the learning of paradigms. (Lee & VanPatten, 126). A paradigm is an overview of all the elements of a grammatical structure in form of a table or chart. For the German language this could be a table with the verb or adjective endings. Lee & Van Patten (127) point out that paradigms are abstractions and generalisations and are used to organize information and structure data, they do not correspond to how the knowledge is structured in the brain. Lee and VanPatten (2003) give a more detailed explanation of all points and it is worth reading the book as a whole but definitely chapter 6 and chapter 7. Chapter 7 Processing Instruction and Structured Input is of great importance because both researchers actually show how the teaching of grammatical features could be adapted to how learners structure the input they receive. They also explain how you can make use of this information in your teaching practice. The approach by Lee & VanPatten is very interesting and could give some insights into why grammar teaching in its traditional form has its limitations and why language teachers around the world should explore alternative ways in teaching grammar. In a future post I will share some practical ideas and exercises that are based on their theories. Source: Lee, J. F., & VanPatten, B. (2003). Making communicative language teaching happen. Boston: McGraw-Hill. FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK: DNK TUITION The right frame of mind to achieve your best – at schools (in sports, in business and in life)10/23/2017 This diagram is based on the research by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a renowned psychology professor, known for his work on the psychological concept ‘flow’. It can be adapted to the teaching environment and has important implications because it explains how you can help your students to achieve their best and create a situation where optimal learning can happen.
On the diagram you can see two axes, one for the skill level (from low to high) and the other for the challenge level (from low to high). Depending on the combination of a learner’s skill and challenge level, different emotions are caused which facilitate or impede optimal learning and development. Let me give you a concrete example so you have a better understanding of what that means. Let’s say you have three students in your class who factually have the same high skill level but their perception of their skill level is different. In our example, student A believes they have a high skill level, student B believes their skill level is medium and student C believes they have a very low skill level, when in fact, to make this clear again, all of them have the same high skill level. If student A is presented with exercises that are not challenging and too easy for them, they will feel relaxation, meaning that they know they are capable of completing the tasks without much effort. The result is that student A does not feel involved in the task. This is not what we want as a teacher because that means that this student does not make the progress they are theoretically capable of. If we now raise the challenge level for student A (who believes that they have a high skill level), they will feel in control. At this stage student A does not push beyond what they are capable of, you could say that this is their comfort zone. They will still be able to complete the task but with a bit more effort. However, at this stage their learning potential is not optimal yet, this is the level where you want them to be when they revise for a test or take an exam. For optimal learning to take place, a student should be in the zone of flow, a state where their (perceived & real) high skill level is matched by a high challenge level. This means that they feel that the task is very difficult and a bit beyond what they are capable of. Student A, however, because of their belief in their high skill level do not give up and will eventually manage to complete the task. Let’s look at student B now who believes that their skill level is medium. If they are presented with tasks that are very easy, they will feel boredom which is different to student A who feels control. But in this state student B will also not feel very involved in the task. If the challenge level is now raised and student B (who believes they only have a medium skill level) feels that the task becomes too difficult for them, they will feel arousal, a state when they believe that the challenge level is too high for them to complete the task. In this state student B will be able to make progress but they will not be able to achieve their best because the emotions they feel will not allow them to make use of all of their abilities. Let’s now look at student C who believes that they have a low skill level. If they are presented with a task that is not challenging they will feel apathy, if the task becomes more challenging, they will feel worry, if the task becomes too challenging, they will feel anxiety. Neither of these feelings are positive and student C will most likely not feel positive about their learning and thus not make the progress that their skills would enable them to make. Student C will always perform worse than they could and struggle with their self-judgement because the beliefs they hold about themselves and their skills are not representative of the reality (which in our example is that student A, B and C have the same high skill level). A learner like student C will generally underperform, possibly be shy or frustrated and not engaged in learning. The perception of their skill level might also contribute to students overperforming or underperforming at secondary schools. Student A who has a high skills level and actually believes they do will react differently to a difficult task than student B or C. When student A gets to a point where it becomes very challenging for them, they do not give up but try their best to solve the problem because they believe that they have the skills to accomplish that and they eventually manage to do so. Student B might give up more easily because they will feel that their skill level is not enough to complete the difficult task. Student C who believes that their skill level is low will always experience negative feelings no matter how low or high the challenge level is. The reason why student B and C perform worse than they could is their lack of confidence in their skills. Of course, applying this knowledge successfully in practice and actually using it to the benefit of students is neither an easy nor a straightforward process because it requires skills and in-depth knowledge about psychology, flow and motivation and it also requires the ability of a teacher to raise the ‘real’ skill level of a student, not only their belief in the same. Judging by the performance of my students, their increased level of confidence and their personal development as an individual and also taking their feedback about me and my teaching into consideration, I would say that it is possible. I truly believe in my students’ ability to achieve anything they put their minds to and I also believe in my ability as a teacher to help any student achieve their best. No matter which school subject or what task, under the guidance of a well-trained teacher, mentor or coach, there is nothing a student/learner cannot (eventually) understand or achieve if they have the right frame of mind, put enough effort into their work and persevere. In order to make this point clear again, this diagram shows that it is not enough for a teacher to just help their students acquire high skills, it is equally important to make sure that they have the necessary confidence in their skills and themselves to make use of that. This knowledge could also have far reaching implications for yourself, no matter in which job you are working or if you are an athlete or artist, professional or amateur. Just imagine if the reason for you not performing at your optimal level and making the most of your abilities is more a matter of your own perception of your skills than your actual skills. If you are interested in this topic in more detail, I would recommend watching Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's TED talk 'Flow, the secret to happiness'. It might help if you inform yourself about the concept of 'flow' before you watch this video. This article about Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's research explains everything very well. FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK: DNK TUITION A Common Misconception
There is a common misconception about the teaching and learning of the grammatical system of a foreign language, which seems to come from a lack of understanding the difference between acquiring and learning grammar. The acquisition of the grammatical system of a language is probably the most complex aspect in the foreign language learning process. The problem is that it cannot be taught, a teacher can only support a learner in this process. Learning about the grammatical system on the other hand is different and the teacher can help a learner with that. However, it is important to know that learning grammar does not necessarily lead to acquisition. So what is the difference between acquisition and learning? Acquisition means that a learner is able to use a grammatical aspect proficiently in speaking, reading, writing and listening without much effort of thinking about the grammatical feature and its rules. Easy: Plural of nouns in English An intermediate learner of English is generally not going to struggle anymore with the plural formation of nouns because they will have managed to acquire this feature of the language already. Very difficult: German adjective endings An intermediate learner of German, however, will probably not have mastered the case system and the corresponding adjective endings even though they will have been taught about it many times or given various grammar table to practice it. This is a good example of how learning does not necessarily lead to acquisition, just because the students are aware of the rules governing the case system and have been provided with tables and given plenty of opportunities to memorise and apply it, does not mean that they are proficient in using it. Some learners might be good at using these tables or applying the rules, but it will still be a conscious effort to get it right. This is good for the students who can do this, but the overwhelming majority of the students will find this difficult. What does the research say? I think the biggest problem in foreign language teaching is exactly this misconception, which leads to a heavy focus on explicit grammar teaching and grammatical accuracy and is hurting the students in their language learning process more than it is helping them. The research in the past 20 years supports that mastering the grammatical system of a foreign language is indeed a highly complex process but indicates that grammar teaching in its traditional sense, and how it is still practiced in most language classrooms around the world, is not the most effective way for a student to become proficient and use the grammar structure of a foreign language, it can actually hinder the students in their learning process. A heavy focus on grammar can make language learning less enjoyable for the students, as well as the teachers. Language learning is not driven by grammar, it is driven by meaning. Therefore focusing on a content-driven approach, contextualisation and making sure the learners have enough opportunities for personalisation prove to be more successful in helping students to learn a foreign language. Language exams nowadays generally have four components: reading, listening, speaking and writing (the four basic skills). What do you think? Is it easier to prepare a student who is proficient in the language for a language exam or a student who has a lot of knowledge about the rules governing a language but who cannot use or apply it? Do you need explicit grammar knowledge in a language exam? It depends on the exam, if you are taking the CAE or CPE, then yes, definitely. For many other exams it is not really necessary, however. Think about it. Which skill do you need during a listening comprehension task? Do you need explicit grammar knowledge or the ability to understand the content? What about a reading task? Do you need explicit grammar knowledge or the ability to decode messages addressed at the reader? What about a speaking task? Do you need explicit grammar knowledge or the ability to use the language for communicating content? What about a writing task? Do you need explicit grammar knowledge or the ability to use the language for expressing what you want to say in writing? I think you get an idea of what I mean. Grammar is important I am not saying that you do not need to be aware of any grammar rules, but I am saying that you do not need to have detailed knowledge about all the rules of one grammatical feature and its exceptions. The only instance where you would really need explicit knowledge about the grammatical system of a language would be a situation where you are specifically asked to explain the rules of a grammatical feature or in exercises where you have to mechanically apply it in a gap-fill in activity. Of course, grammar teaching has its place in the language classroom and it is important. Studies have shown that not teaching students who are learning a foreign language about the grammatical system of the language will prevent them from being fully proficient in the language. But grammar teaching needs to serve as a means to an end, it should be used to equip a learner with the skills to properly express themselves in the language. Explicit grammar instruction in the way it is still done in language classrooms around the world, is not the most effective way. What does that mean for teachers? Teach grammar in a more communicative way, there are two approaches that you could try to incorporate in your teaching, the PACE model (Donato and Adair-Hauk, 1992) and Processing Instruction (VanPatten, 2002). But, however you end up teaching grammar, be patient with your students and give them enough time to learn and understand, let them make mistakes and encourage them. If you want more practical advice, check out my published article 'MFL Minus Grammar Equals More Proficiency (And Better Exam Results?)' where I write about grammar teaching in the secondary school setting. FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK: DNK TUITION |
AuthorDavid Koch- Language Teaching Expert Follow Me
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