<http://www.4d.edu.uy/upfiles/BESIG.jpg> Two major free BUSINESS ELT events online Weekend Workshops We are very pleased to announce the introduction of a...
15943
literacyacrosscultures
literacyacro...
Feb 4, 2011 3:34 am
Hi just getting caught up on some 'back reading' at Dogme. This was an interesting discussion, but I would like to add a few comments: 1. In Japan, EFL in...
15944
M C Johnstone
mcjsa
Feb 4, 2011 2:20 pm
Hi, Charles. Thanks for your interesting comments on L1 in Japanese EFL clasrooms. You said that 1. Japanese EFL teachers often resist using English in class; ...
15945
Robert Haines
romiha1
Feb 4, 2011 2:50 pm
Mark, I enjoyed reading your post. When I read this: "As a teacher, my obligation is to make myself unnecessary. Perhaps this goes a little beyond what most of...
15946
literacyacrosscultures
literacyacro...
Feb 5, 2011 7:17 am
... The catch though is I was only referring to the very small number who have learned some English and how to communicate with it, not the vast majority. I'm...
15947
M C Johnstone
mcjsa
Feb 5, 2011 2:21 pm
Hello Charles, Thanks for this clarification. Bad teaching is ineffective teaching and this is something we all do. That's why teaching is often referred to as...
15948
M C Johnstone
mcjsa
Feb 5, 2011 4:07 pm
Hi, Rob. Thanks for your response and for the link to [1]Luke Medding and Scott Thornbury's article in The Guardian. Medding and Thornbury are visionary...
15949
Dennis Newson
dnewson2001
Feb 5, 2011 7:36 pm
Hi, dogmies. Can I touch wood? "Mihai" - see earlier postings about the charming but very determined learner of English who believed that reading aloud was...
15950
Natasha Janzen Ulbricht
natashajanzen
Feb 6, 2011 5:22 am
Hi Dennis! I have no idea if the "target language only" act is pre-historic, but if it were, would that be bad? I have had the "target language only"...
15951
Dennis Newson
dnewson2001
Feb 6, 2011 5:56 am
Thanks for sharing that Natasha. It is interesting. I have just been writing to another colleague who has been asked to give a similar lesson for the same...
15952
literacyacrosscultures
literacyacro...
Feb 6, 2011 8:12 am
How do we evaluate, when evaluation and EVIDENCE of learning are demanded by our institutions? I know 'colleagues' who go to great length to fake evidence and...
15953
M C Johnstone
mcjsa
Feb 6, 2011 10:54 am
Charles, You raise some very important questions about evaluation, administrative accountability, and teaching cultures. These are issues that anyone working...
15954
literacyacrosscultures
literacyacro...
Feb 7, 2011 2:41 am
Good observations Mark, but a few counters: 1. What if Buckminster Fuller had to go work a job as a security guard instead of being someone's in-residence...
15955
literacyacrosscultures
literacyacro...
Feb 7, 2011 2:57 am
... appear to imply that assessment must be criterion based.<< I thought I was saying that at some institutions you will have to show evidence of evaluation....
15956
M C Johnstone
mcjsa
Feb 7, 2011 9:03 am
Hi Charles, Assessment is a little like voodoo. It does something but just what that is, no one knows. The rituals surrounding it often remind me of distant...
15957
M C Johnstone
mcjsa
Feb 7, 2011 9:41 am
Charles, Thanks for your clarification of institutional demands for "evidence." I had not suspected that you meant all of this: evaluation of students,...
15958
literacyacrosscultures
literacyacro...
Feb 8, 2011 1:33 am
... Do we really know what they want? What if what they want is NOT to learn EFL? That is how most university students in Japan actually act. What did 'the...
15959
mbi
alison_miyake
Feb 8, 2011 3:27 pm
Hi, Charles and Mark: I was going to ask the same thing: how do we know that we know what the students want? I am really enjoying this discussion on...
15960
M C Johnstone
mcjsa
Feb 8, 2011 4:55 pm
Hi, Alison. I think it's great that you're able to engage your elementary school students with Skype and to get them to so their mini-self evaluations. What...
15961
fsfff ssffss
fabianaliberati
Feb 9, 2011 12:18 am
Thanks Mark for your interesting comments and links! You really make me think a lot. While reading your mails, I come across professionals who are new to me....
15962
M C Johnstone
mcjsa
Feb 9, 2011 3:54 am
Hi, Fabiana. Thanks for your message. I understand what you mean about a university degree being rather like technical training. But just imagine what it would...
15963
Bruno Leys
leysbruno
Feb 9, 2011 7:18 am
This issue also touches the value of teacher training. I believe that in many countries the major road to becoming a teacher is either a "postgrad"; or some...
15964
literacyacrosscultures
literacyacro...
Feb 9, 2011 10:29 am
Alison, Sounds like they use more English at your elementary school than most of my students will for four years at university. Do they really write...
15965
literacyacrosscultures
literacyacro...
Feb 9, 2011 10:37 am
Bruno You are really on to an area I also feel is key. That is, teacher training and, more importantly, induction (the first 1-2 years of teaching). As it is...
15966
literacyacrosscultures
literacyacro...
Feb 9, 2011 10:46 am
... because it assesses what happens in the class. It's immediately useful for teachers since it helps us understand what works, what needs to be revised, and...
15967
M C Johnstone
mcjsa
Feb 9, 2011 4:08 pm
The purpose is primarily to give the instructor usable information about what students understand and what they don't. Of course, it is instructional as well...
15968
Robert Haines
romiha1
Feb 9, 2011 5:13 pm
Excellent post, Mark. Everyone should see at least one Ken Robinson video. The one you shared a link to is a good place to start (or end). Here's a suggested...
15969
M C Johnstone
mcjsa
Feb 9, 2011 7:25 pm
Rob, What article do you mean? Mark On Wed, 09 Feb 2011 09:13 -0800, "Robert Haines" <hainesrm@...> wrote: Excellent post, Mark. Everyone should see at...
15970
literacyacrosscultures
literacyacro...
Feb 10, 2011 3:46 am
... You see what it leads to if done in Japanese: if you really have something important to communicate, you don't use English. The immediate problem with...
15971
Jeffrey Dillon
jeffreytaos
Feb 10, 2011 5:07 am
I don't think that the mess is the result of unqualified teachers with limited training dominating the field. The field is dominated by scholars as yourself, ...
