Tai Vo

X costs �1,174, whereas Y costs �W.
X costs �1,174, while Y costs �W.
X costs �1,174, but Y costs �W.
X costs �1,174, in contrast to Y, which costs �W.
X is more expensive than Y.
X is not as expensive as Y.
X costs more than Y.

X is expensive to buy.

On the other hand, it is W.
In contrast, it is W.
Conversely, it is W.
However, it is W.

Although X is expensive to buy,
Despite the high price of X,

it is W.

Controlling the discussion

Let's start by looking at ....
So, I think we have agree that ....
Well, I think that covers everything.

Does anyone disagree with this?
Does anyone have any comments or questions?
So is this the same as your experience?

So, Y, what is your opinion of this?
X, what do you think?
Don't you agree, X?
Do you agree with what X has just said?
Does anyone else have any opinions.

Dealing with difficult questions

. is important but it's too complex for us to deal with here.
I think the aim of this talk is to focus on . rather than ..
It's too early for us to say whether ..
We don't have enough evidence to show that ..
That's not something I've had time to deal with, but ..
I'd prefer to deal with that point later.

Defining

X is ....
X is called ....
X is known as ....
X may be defined as ....
X is a type of Y that/which ....
A type of Y which ... is X.
We call ... ....
We define ... ....

Describing aims and objectives/intentions

What I'd like to do is to discuss ..
What I intend to do is to explain ..
In my talk today, ..
My topic today is ..
Today, I'm going to talk about ..
I'm going to talk to you about ..
My colleagues and I are going to give a short presentation on ..
Today I want to consider ..
In this talk, I would like to concentrate on ..
The subject of this talk is ..
The purpose of this talk is to ..
This talk is designed to ..

Describing function

What is the function of X?
What does X do?
What is X used for?

The thermostat controls the temperature.
The thermostat is used for controlling the temperature.
We use a thermostat to measure the temperature.
The function of the thermostat is to control the temperature.
The thermostat serves to control the temperature.
A thermostat is an instrument for measuring temperature.
A thermostat enables the researcher to measure the temperature accurately.
The function of advertising is to market products and services to potential buyers in an effective and persuasive manner.

Describing graphs and figures

As you can see	from in	the	chart, diagram, table, graph, figures, statistics,	...
We can see				that ...

As you can see	from in	Table 1, Figure 2, Graph 3,	.
We can see

As	the	chart diagram table graph	shows, indicates,	.
		figures statistics	show, indicate,

From	Table 1 Figure 2		we	can may	see conclude show estimate calculate infer	that ...
	the	figures chart diagram

Describing change

X	increased shot up grew rose	by	...
	declined reduced decreased dropped fell

X	increased shot up grew rose	slightly slowly gradually steadily markedly dramatically steeply sharply rapidly suddenly
	declined reduced decreased dropped fell

X	reached a peak. levelled off

Describing objects

Where is it?
What size is it?
What shape is it?
What colour is it?
What is it made of?
What does it look like?
What is it used for?
How does it work?

Position

A is	adjacent to alongside below beyond facing (diagonally) parallel to underneath opposite in the middle of on the right of on the left of near close to touching behind in front of under on top of above below level with diagonally above vertically below	B
A is	between equidistant from	B and C.

Structure

X	is	nailed screwed fixed fastened welded tied connected attached	to	Y	by	Z
	consists		of	Y and Z
	contains

Colour

dark
light
pale
bright
dull

green
blue
red
yellow

Composition

made of

metal.
steel.
alluminium.
an alloy of A and B.
cloth.
silk.
china.
wood.
plastic.
glass.

Size and weight

6 cm

long
high
wide

X	is	6 cm	in	length height width diameter
		6 Kg		weight

The	length height width diameter	of	X	is	6 cm
	weight				6 Kg.

X	has	a	length width height diameter	of	6 cm.
			weight		6 Kg.

weighs

10 Kg

Shape

square
round
rectangular
triangular
semi-circular
conical
spherical

in shape

is shaped like a

square
circle
rectangle
triangle
semi-circle

Describing procedures

I'm going to deal with three aspects of the subject ..
I'm going to divide my presentation into three sections.
I've divided my presentation into three sections.
I thought it would be useful to divide my talk into three sections.
This subject can be looked at under the following headings: ..
I'll take about ... minutes.
The talk should last about ... minutes.
I'll be happy to answer questions at the end
If you have any questions, I'll try to answer them afterwards.
If you have any questions, please feel free to interrupt.

Describing processes, developments and changes

I'd like to show you how to ....
There are three main steps in this process....
The first/second/third step is ...

Firstly,	The first step is
First of all,	The first stage is
To begin with,	... begins with
Initially	... commences with

Beforehand,	Before this,
Previously,	Prior to this,
Earlier,

At the same time,	During
Simultaneously,	When this happens
	While

Secondly, Thirdly etc	After this,
Next,	The next step is
Then,	In the next stage,
Subsequently,	In the following stage,
Later,	Following this,
	As soon as the committee has finished its work, ...

Eventually,	... until ...
Lastly	... finishes with ...
Finally,	concludes with
In the last stage,	The last step is ...

Disagreeing

But don't you think that .?
I see what you mean, but ..
But isn't it really a question of ..
But what about .?
But surely .?
I take your point, but ..
Yes, but on the other hand ....
But all the evidence suggests that ..
I'm afraid I can't agree with . on this matter.
I wouldn't say that.
I don't agree at all.
I can't accept that.

Expressing doubt and reservation

Well . maybe . possibly .
I'm not so sure about that.
You may be right.
I don't think I'd say that.
Yes, but don't you think .?
I can see your point, but .
I think that's debatable.
Perhaps, but don't you think that .
I see what you mean but .
I agree to some extent, but ...
It seems to me ...
I tend to think ...

Encouraging

That's a good idea.
Good.
Why don't you ...?
Go on.

Emphasising a point

I want to stress ....
I want to highlight ....
I'd like to emphasise ....
I'd like to put emphasis on ....
It's important to remember that ....
We should bear in mind that ....
Don't forget that ....
The crucial point is ....
The essential point is ....
The fundamental point is ....
Furthermore, ....
What's more, ....
This supports my argument that, ....
It follows, therefore, that ....
What (in effect) we are saying is ....

Evaluating

That's a good idea.
That's a very good point.
You've got a good point there.
I agree entirely.
That's exactly what we need.
I'm not sure what you mean by ....
That's an interesting point, but ....
You might be right.
That's all very well, but ....
I'm not so sure about that.
Yes, but don't you think ....
I can see your point, but ....
You seem to have forgotten ....
Very interesting. How exactly do you propose to ..?
I don't see how you can argue that ...
I can't accept that at all.

Exemplification - giving examples

For example, ..
For instance, ..
And as proof of that, ..
Remember .
You only have to think of ..
To illustrate my/our point ....

Expressing method and means

To open the door, turn the handle.
Turn the handle so as to open the door.
Turn the handle in order to open the door.
The radio may be turned on by pressing the on/off switch.

Expressing certainty

	Verbs	Degree of certainty
complete certainty	is (not) will (not) must (not)	certain(ly) definite(ly) clear(ly) undoubtedly
strong	can/cannot should (not	probably (is) presumably
partial	could (not)	likely/unlikely
less strong	may (not) might (not)	possibly (not) perhaps (not)
impersonal (i.e. no commitment)	It is said that ... It appears that ... A reports that ... There is evidence to suggest that. (etc.)

Expressing reasons and explanations

This relationship can be expressed in many ways:

Emphasising cause.

The death rate from cancer is increasing

because
owing to the fact that

people are smoking more.

The fact that

the death rate from cancer is increasing

is due to
may be due to

people smoking more.

The
One

reason for
cause of

the death rate from cancer increasing

is that
could be that

people are smoking more.

An increase in the death rate from cancer	is may be	one effect of one result of one consequence of caused by due to because of	people smoking more.
	results from arises from

Emphasising effect.

As
Because
Since

people are smoking more,

the death rate from cancer is increasing.

People are smoking more.	Therefore, So, Thus, Hence, Consequently, Because of this, For this reason, As a consequence, As a result,	the death rate from cancer is increasing.
People are smoking more,	as a result of which as a consequence of which with the result that	the death rate from cancer is increasing.

Owing to

people smoking more,

the death rate from cancer is increasing.

One The	effect of result of consequence of	people smoking more	is that	the death rate from cancer is increasing.
			is to	increase the death rate from cancer.

People smoking more

results in
leads to
produces
causes
is the cause of
gives rise to
brings about

an increase in the death rate from cancer.

People smoke more,

(so)
(thus)
(thereby)

resulting in
leading to
producing
causing
giving rise to
bringing about

an increase in the death rate from cancer.

people smoke more

the death rate from cancer will increase.

Following up a question

That's not really what I was asking. My question is about ..
Perhaps I didn't make my question clear. In fact what I asked was .
I think you've answered a slightly different question. What I would like to know is .
I understand that but what I actually had in mind was .
Sorry, I'm still not clear about .

Expressing frequency

Percentage	Frequency	Verbs
100%	always usual(ly) normal(ly) general(ly) as a rule on the whole often frequent(ly) sometimes occasional(ly)	will is/are must have to should ought to can could may might
0%	rare(ly) seldom hardly ever scarcely ever never	could not will not cannot is/are not

Generalising

Percentage	Quantity	Frequency	Certainty	Verbs
100%	all/every/each most a majority (of) many/much some a number (of) several a minority (of) a few/a little	always usual(ly) normal(ly) general(ly) as a rule on the whole often frequent(ly) sometimes occasional(ly)	certain(ly) definite(ly) undoubtedly clearly presumably probably/probable likely conceivably possibly/possible perhaps maybe	will is/are must have to should ought to can could may might
0%	few/little no/none/not any	rare(ly) seldom hardly ever scarcely ever never	uncertain unlikely	could not will not cannot is/are not

Giving instructions

First of all you ....
The first thing you have to do is ....
After you've done that, you ....
The next thing to do is ....
Make sure you remember to ....
Be careful not to ....

Expressing manner - how something is done

... in such a way that...
... slowly, carefully, etc
... with care/precision
... in a careful way/manner

Expressing purpose - why something is done

... so as to .
... so as not to .
... so that .
... in order to .
... in order not to .

Giving further information

Furthermore, ....
An additional point is ....
Another point is ....
A further point is ....
A similar point is ....
In addition, ....
Moreover, ....
Similarly, ....
Apart from ..., ....
Not only ., but ....
We can add ....
I could add that ....
Further, ....
As well as...,....
Besides, ....
..., as well.
..., too.
..., also.

Giving background information

As we know, ....
As we have already seen, ....
As we have all read, ....
It's clear that, ....
It goes without saying, ....
We all understand, ....
It is understood, ....
You'll remember, ....

Giving opinions.

I definitely think that....
I'm sure that....
I'm convinced that....
I really do think that....
I'm of the opinion that ...
As I see it, ....
I think ....
I consider ....
I feel ....
Personally, I believe ...
In my opinion/view, ....
It seems to me ....
I'm inclined to think that ...
I tend to think that ....

Giving, withholding & seeking permission

May I ...?
Could I possibly ...?
Do you mind if I ...?
Would it be possible for me to ...?
I'm sorry to bother you, but ...
Would it be all right if I ...?

OK
Yes, go ahead.
Certainly
Please do,

Yes, I suppose so.
Oh well. All right.

I'd rather you didn't, if you don't mind.
I'm sorry, but ....
That's rather difficult, I'm afraid.
I'm sorry. That's not possible.
No, please don't.

Holding the floor - preventing interruptions

There are two points I'd like to make:
Although ...
And another thing.

Hypothesising

If ...
What if ...
What you have done if ...?
What might have happened if ...?

Interrupting politely

If I could just come in here.
Sorry to interrupt, but .
I'd just like to say that ...
Um ... um ... um ...

Introducing your group/team

I'd like to introduce ....
Can I introduce ...
We are very pleased to have with us today, X.
Our first team member is, X. X is going to talk about ....
Next we have Y. Y is going to present the results of our research.

Inviting

Come in and sit down.
Would you like to give us your suggestions.
May I invite you to represent us at the meeting next Saturday.

That covers the main points. If you have any comments or questions, we'll be happy to hear them.
So that explains our main point. Does anyone have any comments or questions?
We'd be glad to try and answer any questions.

Listing

Firstly Secondly Next Then Thirdly Lastly Finally			.
First of all In the first place For one thing To begin with In the second place For another thing
The	first second next last	point I'd like to make is

Narrating

Time

In 1942, ...
During the 20th century, ...
Yesterday, ...
Twenty five years ago, ...

Sequence

Before he was offered a job as a lecturer,

he had finished his research.

Before this, .
For the previous X years, .
Prior to this, .
Previously, .
X years previously, .
Before.
. before which .
. prior to which .

When
As soon as
After

he had finished his research, he was offered a job as a lecturer.

On finishing his research,
After finishing his research,
Having finished his research,
On finishing his research,

he was offered a job as a lecturer.

For the following X years, .
X years later, .
After .
Following this, .
When .
Subsequently, .
Soon/Shortly/Immediately afterwards, .
. following which .
. after which .

While he was doing his research,		he made an important discovery.
When	doing his research,
While
During his research,

During this period, .
Throughout this period, .
. during which.
. throughout which.

Obliging

You should ....
You must ....
You have to ....
You'll have to ....
The university requires all students to ....
It is necessary to ....
Shut the door.
Follow me.
Listen!

Offering

Would you like a ...?
Would you care for some ...?
How about a ...?
Can I get you a ...?
Can I ...?
I'll ....
Why don't I ...?
Is there anything I can do?
Shall I ...?
Would you like me to ...?

Predicting

Percentage

Certainty

Verbs

100%

certain(ly)
definite(ly)
undoubtedly
clearly

presumably
probably/probable
likely

conceivably
possibly/possible
perhaps
maybe

Of course, it'll ....
It's sure to ....
There's no doubt that it'll ...
It's bound to ....

I expect it'll ....
I wouldn't be surprised if it ...ed.
I bet it'll ....

There's a chance it'll ....
It's possible that it'll ....
It might possibly ....
I suppose it might ....

will
is/are
must
have to

should
ought to

can
could
may
might

uncertain
unlikely

certain(ly) not
definite(ly) not

I doubt if it'll ...
I don't think it'll ...
There's not much chance of it ...ing.

Of course, it won't ...
There's no chance of it ...ing.
I'm absolutely sure it won't ...

could not
will not
cannot
is/are not

Presenting and discussing results

The results show ....
The data suggest that ....
As we can see, ....
As the graph shows, ....
We have seen that ....

Referring to research

If you agree with what the writer says.

The work of X indicates that ...
The work of X reveals that ...
The work of X shows that ...
Turning to X, one finds that ...
Reference to X reveals that ...
In a study of Y, X found that ...
As X points out, ...
As X has indicated ...
A study by X shows that ...
X has drawn attention to the fact that ...
X argues that ...
X points out that ...
X makes clear that ...

If you disagree with what the writer says.

X claims that ...
The work of X asserts that ...
X feels that ...

If you do not want to give your opinion about what the writer says.

According to X...
It is the view of X that ...
The opinion of X is that ...
In an article by X, ...
Research by X suggests that ...
X has expressed a similar view.
X reports that ...
X notes that ...
X states that ...
X observes that ...
X concludes that ...
X argues that ...
X found that ...
X discovered that ...

Quoting

As X said/says, "... ..."
As X wrote/writes, "... ..."
As X commented/comments, "... ..."
As X observed/observes, "... ..."
As X pointed/points out, "... ..."
To quote from X, "... ..."
It was X who said that "... ..."
This example is given by X: "... ..."
According to X, "... ..."
X claims that, "... ..."
X found that, "... ..."
The opinion of X is that, "... ..."
As X stated/states, "... ..."

Requesting

May I ...?
Could I ...?
Would you ...?
Can I ...?
Can you ...?
Will you ...?
I'd like to ..., please.
I'm interested in ....
Would you mind ...ing.
I wonder if you'd mind ...ing.

Rephrasing

In other words, Or rather, That is to say, Basically To put it another way, If we put that another way, I mean By which I mean Or you could say The point I'm making is That is to say, That is, Namely, i.e. That means			.
What I	'm suggesting 'm trying to say meant to say should have said	is
Let me put it another way

Sequencing

Firstly,	The first step is
First of all,	The first stage is
To begin with,	. begins with
Initially	. commences with

Beforehand,	Before this,
Previously,	Prior to this,
Earlier,

At the same time,	During
Simultaneously,	When this happens
	While

Secondly, Thirdly etc	After this,
Next,	The next step is
Then,	In the next stage,
Subsequently,	In the following stage,
Later,	Following this,
	As soon as the committee has finished its work, .

Eventually,	. until .
Lastly	. finishes with .
Finally,	concludes with
In the last stage,	The last step is .

Speeding up things

Can we move on to the next point, please.
We need to move on quickly, now.
The next point is .
Sorry, that's all we have time for.
I think we'd better end now.

Suggesting

I suggest we move on to the next point.
You can read these two chapters before tomorrow.
You could be rewriting the report while we're away
You might have to look at this book
Why don't you call me tomorrow.
Shall we move on to the next point.
Let's enjoy ourselves.
Why don't we have a break.
What about having a break.

Summarising

It was generally felt that .
Generally speaking, we felt .
On the whole .
We couldn't agree on .
Opinion was divided on .
We had some difficulty in deciding .
We decided that the best way was to .
After some discussion we reached a compromise on .

Using visuals

On this graph, ..
Take a look at this.
Let's have a look at this.
I'd like you to look at this.
I'd like to draw your attention to ..
Here we can see ..
The . represents ..
The graph illustrates ..
As you can see, ..
If you look closely, you'll see ..

Warning

Look out.
Be careful.
I warn you it's going to be difficult.
If you're not careful, there might be an accident.

Source: http://www.uefap.com/speaking/spkfram.htm

SomeTips For Telling/Reading stories

2008-09-14T20:08:00.000-07:00

Some tips for telling/reading stories

1. Be prepared so that you can tell stories smoothly
* practice telling it out-loud to yourself
* know what happens in the right order
2. Be prepared with materials and facilities
3. Make sure that everyone is comfortable, and that they can see you
4. Begin the story by welcoming the listeners, using a carefully controlled voice, neither too high
nor too low
5. Engage the children as you tell the story
* Use facial expressions and gestures as well as your voice
* Meet your audience in the eyes: don’t be shy
6. Be playful with your language
* repeat words or phrases, use rhythm and rhyme or alliteration
* be clean and clear
*tease kids a bit when only you know what is going to happen next.
7. Try telling the same story -but swap over to make sure you don’t retell the same bits
8. Ask children if they do not understand the story- raise your hands
9. Assign comprehension jobs such as author, illustrator, predictor, main ideas, nouns,
verbs, word detective (Amber, 2008)
10. Use puppets, stuffed animals, paper cutouts, and flannel board to illustrate stories that
you tell without reading
11. Combine songs, body movement, and fingerplays in story telling time

Credits for
*Amber Swedenborg
* Vickie Dworkin

References
Some tips for telling stories adapted from

http ://library.thinkquest.org/J001779/telling.htm
http://www.storyquest.org.uk/families/tips-for-telling-stories /

Critical Thinking

2008-09-14T19:44:00.000-07:00

For most people, the importance of vocabulary seems very clear. We can communicate together by using incorrect grammatical patterns or imperfect pronunciation, but people will encounter difficulty in understanding what the interlocutors are saying and the communication may break down because they do not use the correct words. My students in Vietnam were also in the same situation. They did not use correct words in writing and speaking to express their ideas. The problem is that in English, there are many words whose meanings are related closely each other. The students at that time did not how to choose the words suitably in particular situation. To avoid this, in my teaching, I usually teach new words in contexts and recycle new vocabularies very often in different types of exercises. In production stage, I let the students talk to their peers freely but I finally corrected the use of word choice that the students made mistakes in front of the class and noticed them the meanings of the words when they occurred in a new context. This method has brought positive effect in my teaching. It helps my students improve the situation better.

2008-07-10T02:05:00.001-07:00

Storytelling

In AL 6760 Teaching EFL/ESL to children, there was a variety of choices of personal projects such as attending storytelling sessions, writing a book review, writing a term-paper, or attending the children’s literature HI conference. I chose the first one storytelling because I am interested in telling stories to children. I participated in five storytelling sessions in the State library which offered me many useful lessons for my future teaching when I go back home.

I have got many useful tips for a good preparation for story-telling. Careful preparation helps me tell stories smoothly. There are several ways for me to prepare for telling stories such as telling it out loud to myself, going for a walk and talk to a tree, or telling it to a friend or someone in my family. Also, in order to prepare for stories, I should learn the basic plot of the story I am telling or reading. This happens first before I add more details about the story. Additionally, preparation for materials and facilities such as books, puppets, paper-cut outs, chairs, etc is necessary for storytelling. Besides, materials and facilities, in order to begin telling stories, I also notice that whether children are comfortable and that they can see me. When children are too young, I should ask their parents to help them participate in activities after the storyteller and show the connection between pictures and words to illustrate the stories because young children cannot read yet. I also learned that in order to create interests for children, I should give them choices of what should be read and done and ask them questions to let them focus on the stories.

I have also learned useful techniques during storytelling. The first one is that I should engage the children when telling stories. Using facial expressions and gestures as well as voice is very necessary to catch the children’s attention on the page. Moreover, when telling or reading stories, I should be playful with my language. It means that the language used for telling/reading stories should be clean and clear enough for the children. I can repeat words or phrases, use rhyme and rhythm or alliteration. I also tease the children a little when I know what is going to happen next. Besides that in order to check children’s understanding, I should ask questions by asking them raise their hands if they do not understand the stories. Additionally, using puppets, stuffed animals, paper cutouts, and flannel board to illustrate stories that I tell without reading is very interesting way to raise children’s excitement on stories. Lastly, I should combine songs, body movement, and fingerplays in story telling time because the children cannot pay attention to the page long like adults. However, five times of observing storytelling sessions are not enough for me. If I had time, I would participate in more variety of storytelling sessions such as storytelling aged from 6 to 10 because I would like to learn more about different techniques for telling stories to children including more post reading tips.

In conclusion, I realize that although young children cannot read yet, what they see and hear will be helpful for their studying language in the next stage of development. This personal project has brought me valuable knowledge of how to become a confident storyteller, techniques of telling stories, and experiences of how children and their parents respond to stories.

Teaching Philosophy

2008-07-10T02:00:00.000-07:00

Teaching Philosophy

In Vietnam, I taught English in an environment where traditional teaching methods mostly focused on grammar and vocabulary. After many years of studying English, my students were good at doing grammar and vocabulary exercises, but they could not communicate in English well. They have trouble understanding native English speakers. As a teacher of English, I would like to help my students realize that the ultimate goal of learning a language is to use the language in communicating with others. Although the classroom customs do not focus on communication, I assert that I can teach them to communicate well if my focus is on providing students with motivation, comprehensible input, and error treatment.

Learners with good motivation tend to do better than those without it. Groccia (1992) defined motivation as “what stimulates students to acquire, transform and use knowledge” (p. 62). Since motivation arouses students’ interest in learning, it plays an important part in second language acquisition. Lightbrown and Spada (2006) argued that “the best predictor of success in second language acquisition is motivation” (p. 185). Richard-Amato (2003) also concluded that “motivation is an extremely important affective factor. Without it, learning any language, first or second, would be difficult, and perhaps impossible” (p. 115). If learners have good attitudes toward native speakers of the language, they will desire contact with them. This type of motivation is often termed integrative motivation (Lightbown &Spada, 2006). Others have instrumental motivation as “a desire to use language to obtain practical goals such as studying in a technical field or getting a job” (as cited in Richard-Amato, 2003, pp. 114-115). In addition to instrumental and integrative motivation, students are also motivated by other factors. They may come to a classroom from different backgrounds and life experiences, all of which contribute to their degree of motivation for learning a target language.

One of the other forms of motivation for language learning is called pedagogical motivation (Watson & Smelter, 1984). Pedagogical motivation is a way that teachers use can make their classroom activities inherently motivating through task design such as warm-ups, task variety and cooperative learning. Research has shown that the best way for teachers to motivate students is to create a supportive environment where the students are stimulated and engaged in activities appropriate to their age, interest, and culture (Lightbown & Spada, 2006, p. 65).

Crooks and Schmidt (1991) suggested three ways to motivate students in the classroom: (1) motivating students into the lesson, (2) varying the activities, tasks, and materials, and (3) using cooperative rather than competitive goals. One example of getting students involved in the lesson is to have interesting warm-up activities, which are very important in teaching. They can “lead to higher levels of interest on the part of the students” (as cited in Lightbown & Spada, 2006, p. 65). A variety of tasks, activities, and materials will help avoid boredom. Cooperative learning also helps the students increase self-confidence, and active participation within a small group not only increases interest among the students but also promotes critical thinking. Thus consideration of pedagogical motivation as well as integrative and instrumental motivation will play a significant role in my teaching; if students are not sufficiently motivated during class activities, they will not take the tasks seriously and will learn little.

Although motivation puts students in good position to learn, language learning is best effected through comprehensible input. “Comprehensible input” refers to students understanding the message that is presented or said to them. Many studies into comprehensible input in ESL/ EFL have been undertaken. Researchers typically agree comprehensible input is an important factor in second language acquisition (Ellis, 1990; Gass, 1997; Krashen, 1985). Krashen (1985) argued that learners acquire language by understanding messages in linguistic elements at a slightly higher level of difficulty (p. 2). He called this i+1. The i stands for learner’s interlanguage or current level of competence. Therefore, we say i+1 is the optimal level that will move students from their current level to the next level along the natural order, by understanding input containing i+1 (Krashen, 1985, p. 2). Krashen believes that if students read or hear language at this optimal level of competence, they will automatically acquire the new +1 forms. Contrary to Krahen (1985), Ellis (1990) stated students need to pay attention to the language (word or structure) in the input that they receive. Another issue is how we measure the level ‘i’ of our students’ language competence precisely, and how we give them ‘i+1’ input so that their language output is affected desirably. Taking both Krashen (1985) and Ellis’ (1990) concerns into account when teaching a grammar point like conditional sentences, for example, I would design some listening and reading activities containing conditional structures. Students who need to learn the conditionals should be required to do a lot of meaningful listening and reading that contains a lot of conditionals. When students have a chance to see and hear conditionals being used at a greater frequency than in normal text or speech, they have a better chance to acquire this grammar point. Martha Trahey and Lydia White (1993) (as cited in Lightbown & Spada, 2006, p. 147) called this method input flood. In their study, there was no teaching of conditionals, nor was any error correction provided. Students improved in their understanding of the grammar point they were exposed to (p. 147).

Because Krashen (1985) only focused on input, teachers have to look elsewhere for ideas on output. Swain provides this in her Output Hypothesis in which she claims “that among other functions, output is a significant way [for learners] to test out hypotheses about the target language” (Richard-Amato, 2003, p. 65). It is important for teachers to let students know if the hypothesis is correct by identifying and analyzing, and when necessary, correcting students’ errors. It is important for teachers to do error analysis, which means identifying sources of errors, analyze why errors are made, and suggest that language learners are doing something wrong or they are in process of acquiring a language (p. 37). Error analysis is a very necessary step in the teaching and learning process because it helps “understand how learners process second language data” (Lightbown & Spada, 2006, p. 80) and “determine in what ways the students are progressing in the developmental process” (Richard-Amato, 2003, p. 37). Additionally, through error analysis, teachers will know how well they are performing and whether they should either change or keep the same materials or teaching methods. Teachers then must give appropriate feedback towards the students’ errors.

After teachers do error analysis and decide which error needs to be corrected, they need to be careful about how they correct students. Many studies on teachers’ attitudes toward students’ errors have been carried out (Budden, 2002; Carroll & Swain, 1993; Havrenek & Cesnick, 2001; Lightbown, 1998; Ur, 1996; Winitz, 1996, etc). These researchers have indicated some possible advantages in providing correction in context. They typically agree that the attitude of teachers toward students’ errors plays a significant role in language acquisition, but they do not always agree on how much or when teachers should correct students’ mistakes. Havrenek & Cesnick (2001) claimed that corrective feedback could benefit both a person, teacher or student who gives feedback to a peer (p. 104). The important point is when teachers should correct students’ performance. Ur (1996) and Budden (2002) agree not to correct mistakes in oral production. Ur argued that it is tricky to know exactly “where the emphasis is on getting the language corrected” (Ur, 1996, p. 247). Budden (2002) stated that students may lose their motivation if we give them too much correction. Therefore, depending on the situation, students’ levels, and stages, teachers need to give different types of error correction. Many other factors should be considered in giving error correction such as motivation, attitude, anxiety levels, willingness to take risks, age, and cultural expectations related to the language situation (Richard-Amato, 2003). In my teaching situation, error analysis will be tricky and time-consuming because teachers are not trained well in analysis techniques, and more importantly, the curriculum does not encourage teachers to do error analysis in their teaching. Though error correction is generally difficult, I do not plan to correct my students’ mistakes at the production stage, if the mistakes are minor.

In conclusion, motivation, comprehensible input, and error treatment are three important factors in second language acquisition. They play a crucial part in encouraging students to use language actively in and out of the classroom. Therefore, I need to be selective with the input. Moreover, my attitude toward students’ mistakes will lead to their feeling safe in a learning environment where they will be more comfortable taking risks. Without the fear of being interrupted, my students will not feel embarrassed, even if they are criticized when they make mistakes. Finally, my students’ motivation will improve if I relate the points they are learning to real life. I hope my students will benefit from my much more learner-centered philosophy.

References

Budden, J. (2002). Error correction. Retrieved November 15, 2007, from http://www.British council.org/languageassistant-tips-error-correction.htm

Carroll, S., & Swain, M. (1993). Explicit and implicit negative feedback: An empirical study of the learning of linguistic generalizations. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 15(3), 357-386.

Ellis, R. (1990). Instructed second language acquisition. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.

Gass, S. (1997). Input, interaction and the second language learner. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Groccia, J. E. (1992). The college success book: A whole-student approach to academic excellence. Lakewood, CO: Glenbridge Publishing Ltd.

Havrenek, G., & Cesnick, H. (2001). Factors affecting the success of corrective feedback. In S. Foster-Cohen & A. Nizegorodcew (Eds.) EUROSLA Yearbook (pp. 99-122). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Krashen, S. (1985). The input hypothesis: Issues and implication. London: Longman.

Lightbown, P. (1998). The importance of timing in focus on form. In C. Doughty and J. Williams, (Eds). Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition. NY: Cambridge University Press.

Lightbown, P., & Spada, N. (2006). How languages are learned (3rd ed.). Oxford, N.Y: Oxford University Press.

Richard-Amato, A. P. (2003). Making it happen: From interactive to participatory language learning: Theory to practice (3rd ed.). White Plains. NY: Pearson Education.

Ur, P. (1996). A course in language teaching: Practice and theory. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Watson, K., & Smelter, L. (1984). Barriers to listening: Comparison between students and practitioners. Communication research reports, 1, 82-87.

Winitz, H, (1996). Grammaticality judgment as a function of explicit and implicit instruction in Spanish. The Modern Language Journal, 80(1), 32-46.

Critical Thinking

2007-10-01T11:06:00.001-07:00

Critical Thinking

Methodologies have changed over the years from Grammar Translation method to the latest one, communicative approach. In Vietnam so far, we have talked and learned a lot about learned-centered approach. However, this approach seems not to work well in my country situation in almost secondary and high school. The reason for this is that the teachers follow traditional approach, meaning lecturing to the students. They have to follow the textbooks strictly steps by steps. The reference and information about the learners, and where feasible, from learners are limited. Sometimes, the learners' needs are far away from teachers' goals. Most of them just focus on teaching what the students are going to be tested in the exam. Therefore, few teachers try to find out what the students want to learn and how they go about the task of learning. This results in limitation of equipping the students with necessary skills for them to make informed choices. Moreover, crowded classes make the teachers difficult to manage the activities in class. This situation brings some teachers the feeling of being afraid of using modern techniques in teaching; it takes time and does not meet the need of the final exam. The ability of the teacher is also a reason for this limitation. The role of the teacher is enhanced in learner-centered system, and the skills of the teacher are more demanded in applying this approach. The other aspect that I consider this is a problem in my situation. The interaction in classroom is not concentrated on. Students mostly study Grammar and Reading. Listening and Speaking are rarely paid attention to. Consequently, the students cannot be equipped with interactive skills. Therefore, communicative skills of the students are still restricted.

How can we improve the situation is a serious question I'm looking for. Especially, how can we satisfy the students' needs but still keep the goals of Ministry of Education who doesn't purposely test communication skills in the exam most of the teachers just deal with the ones that are going to be tested in the exam. This turns out to be different between the purpose of teaching and learning.

Aloha

2007-08-26T02:42:00.000-07:00

Aloha,

Welcome to Tai Vo's Blog. I am happy to make friends with all of you from different corners of the world and share interesting teaching experience with you. I appreciate any feedback and/or additional submissions.

Feel free to drop an email.

Tai Vo,