Marc Roberts's Blog
Posted by Marc Roberts
I have been teaching advanced ESL writing classes for nearly a decade, and the one "trick" I share with my students which always (and I mean "always") guarantees them better grades on writing assignments is this: When you have finished writing your paper and taken it through all of the useful peer review and dialectical revision processes that make your ideas appear clear and organized to a reader, print out a copy of your paper and circle all of your verbs.
Invariable, more than 80% of the verbs used will be of an inactive nature: be, have, feel, appear, seem, etc; and while these verbs are useful and seve their own very practical purposes, by recommending to my students that they replace the majority of these verbs with "active" verbs that express more closely the meaning they intended, I have seen the marks they receive on written academic assignments increase considerably.
Of course, some professors will point out all flaws in ESL students' grammatical structure, including errors in article and preposition usage, but the change brought about by the replacement of forms of the verb "be" with other verbs that seem to bring a sentence alive can make a big difference in the perception of a student's overall writing ability.
As ESL instructors, I believe that we have a responsibility to make it clear to our students that the continuous strengthening of their word "power" will prove to be a significant part of their success in learning the English language.
Posted by Marc Roberts
Several years ago I designed an advanced ESL reading course for an ELI program that aimed to introduce the students in my class to the spectacular moment in American culture called "the 60s." For most of the international students in my class, this period in American history was extremely interesting and they were curious to learn about it.
Incorporating some rather challenging native-speaking reading materials at the start of the course, I found that the students began to "turn off" (not Leary's intention) in relation to the prominent ideas of that time, so I immediately made a drastic change to the style and structure of the course.
Turning to "reading" materials that included stories, poetry, and song lyrics, I began to recognize not only a change in their attitude toward the subject at hand, but also an improvement in their ability to articulate their understanding and critical interpretation of the topics we discussed. We also spent time searching the internet for images of the period, which went a long way to providing them with visual meaning and insight. In fact, some of the students pointed to some fashion styles that were popular in their countries at the time our class took place - thirty years later!
However, the key element that made the course a success was the music. Choosing some songs from popular collections of 60s music, I discovered that many of the songs were actually pretty well known by the students, at least the "tunes" anyway, and they loved learning the lyrics and coming to understand some of the references important events of the time embedded in the lyrics.
Do you like music? You might consider sharing your interest with your students.
Posted by Marc Roberts
ESL teaching is hard work. Daily interaction with students at any level keeps a teacher's mind engaged 24/7. Teachers try to grasp the reasons behind a successful class so that they might make the magic happen again, and they reflect on classes that did not goes as planned in order to avoid falling into the same trap in the future. And teachers think about their students- the thirty, or forty, or fifty or more students that demand significant chunks of their time and energy. Where's the ME time? Sadly, for some teachers it doesn't seem to exist.
Personally, I do not view my career in education as a one-way street. I design lesson plans that allow me to learn from my students as much as the lesson aims to instruct them in some new way - a recent grammar exercise required students to rewrite (see Copying exercise) sentences that expressed less commonly known aspects of their cultures. To be sure, I learned some new things, but I also left the class feeling that I had attained a reasonable balance between what I "give" as a teacher and what I "receive" in return as a person interested in learning about other cultures.
Maybe I'm just selfish to think that I deserve get something out of my teaching experience beyond a paycheck and an often vague notion that I'm doing some good in the world. I really dont know, but I'd be glad to hear what you think about it. Feel free to respond to this blog and start a discussion.
Posted by Marc Roberts
Although many publishing companies spend a lot of time trying to find and present the kinds of topics that will sincerely engage ESL students in writing and conversation, the topics they choose tend to be very general. ESL teachers must be willing to keep and open mind about the kinds of topics that their students are interested in and be prepared to redesign lesson plans accordingly.
So what's a teacher to do? If the textbook and supplementary materials are not a perfect fit, then the teacher needs to spend additional time preparing new lessons, right? Not necessarily. Some ESL instructors (myself included) find it useful to let the students determine particular aims of the course by having them suggest topics that will prove interesting to the whole group.
A good exercise that I have used is to let the class know that they will have to figure out which topics might be good for writing or conversation for everyone (or at least the majority) in the class. Set the students on the task of learning as much as possible about their classmates interests, field of study, favorite books, TV shows, movies, etc. Have them take notes like reporters. When they are finished, have them come to the next class prepared to propose some topics that might be interesting to their peers.
Posted by Marc Roberts
Like all publishing representatives ESL reps have a specific goal in mind, which is to get their products into your and your students' hands; however, while many teachers will wave off a rep's visit to their office as an imposition or nuisance, others have learned that maintaining good relationships with reps from various companies can lead to greater access to materials, more opportunities for training in technology, and the chance to enhance one's career through writing and reviewing projects.
The fact is that the publishing world is extremely competitive, and publishers' reps will do everything they can to win your confidence (aka: your business), so ESL instructors should feel comfortable taking advantage of the opportunites offerered by their friendly, if persistent, educational counterparts.
Educational counterparts, you say?
Sales reps want you to use the products their company has to offer as much as you want your students to utilize the language instruction that you impress upon them, and why shouldn't they? The authors, editors, and designers that these reps support often care as deeply (in many cases more deeply) about the potential success of students as the students' own instructors do. In fact, it is oftentimes the reps who will report back to these editors and designers the comments and interests of instructors regarding particular books so that they can produce the best materials possible.
Not every rep is going to be your cup of tea, but keep the door to your office open - opportunity doesn't always knock twice.
