Join me?

I've just signed up for a MOOC!  That's Massive Open Online Course, in case you didn't know.  It's free!  I've been waiting for it to come around since reading about Carol Goodey's experience earlier this year.

The course is Corpus Linguistics: Method, Analysis, Interpretation and the blurb says that it's a "practical introduction to the methodology of corpus linguistics for researchers in social sciences and humanities".  OK, I'm not a researcher in social sciences and humanities!  But I do use a corpus almost daily (specifically, the Corpus of Contemporary American English aka COCA).  I also use and recommend corpus-based dictionaries to my intermediate and higher learners.  However, I would like to expand my abilities in this area.  I'm hoping this course will give me the motivation to focus on the topic more seriously for a while.  In addition to whatever comes with the course itself, I've had an ebook in my queue for some time now and have not had the chance to give it the attention it deserves: From Corpus to Classroom: Language Use and Language Teaching by O'Keefe, McCarthy and Carter (the link is to a PDF with the table of contents and the preface of the book.)

If the idea of using a corpus in English class is new to you, you might want to check some other resources first.  Here are a couple of good ones!

First, Scott Thornbury gives a wonderful short overview of how to use COCA at his extremely informative (if now no longer active) blog.  By the way, the comments on this blog are almost always as rich as the posts, be sure to read them!

Second, Amy Tate and Emilia Seravo share very useful step-by-step instructions for using several popular corpus-based tools in a webinar called Corpus Confidence: quick and easy steps to turn corpus-based language data into language learning.  (Note that the nitty gritty "how to" stuff begins at about the 15 minute mark.)

If you're already psyched about corpora and, like me, want to know more ... maybe you'll join the MOOC too?  See you there!

An Awesome Input Opportunity

Hubby and I went in to town over the holiday weekend for some low-key appreciation of our fair city. We moved slowly because I bruised my foot last week.  This had the positive effect of making us pause for contemplation more often than we already do.  It made details become more apparent, I think.  At Carpenters Hall, I noticed that many (but not all) of the panes in the windows were beautifully wavy ... was it original Colonial-era glass?  Here is a picture of a nearby office building as seen through one of them.

Yes, the theme of "what do I see here?" continues ...

We had wanted to  check out Independence Hall but it was a hotbed of touristic activity on such a fine day, so we sat in a nearby park while I had my morning coffee.  After a few minutes, a young man approached us.  It turns out that we were sitting at one of the "Once Upon a Nation" storytelling benches which were just opening for the summer season.  Storytellers dot the Historic District, each one armed with several tales related to nearby points of interest.  I've been eagerly awaiting their opening because I would like to stop by with a group of learners before the end of June (when our current program ends).

The young man (I failed to get his name) offered to tell us one of his stories and we chose to hear about the Fort Wilson Riot of 1779, which took place only a few blocks away from where we sat.  I watched the story with my learners in mind. Our storyteller did an excellent job, speaking clearly and dramatically, and using a lot of body language to support his story.  I heard only a few words that might give my group pause (muskets, sabers, grievances).  After the story was finished, I asked him if he'd mind if my group (when we come) could ask him questions to be sure they understood. He was all for it.  What a fabulous resource for our class!  I wish it were available all  year round.  After we attend, I'll report here of course.

What I would really love would be to see a learner take independent advantage of this awesome opportunity by visiting all of the benches ... and maybe even hearing the same story more than once.  And it's free -- well, we taxpayers have already paid for it!

A Textbook for Autonomous Learners

I know, I know, the "t" word is something of a no-no for fans of the unplugged approach!  But I don't think that education-oriented books should be banned completely from the lives of English learners.  (Deep breath ... hear me out!) I read textbooks for information and inspiration as I work on improving my teaching skills.  Why shouldn't English learners use them to support their efforts as well?

Four pages of this.

Of course, I'm using a broad definition of the word textbook.  I'm NOT referring to those books with a "scope and sequence" at the beginning!  In my opinion, those are written for teachers and administrators.  Just skim the 10-20 pages at the beginning of one such book -- if they were addressed to a language learner, they would be in L1, no?  They basically promise that if you follow the steps in the teacher's guide and the student follows the steps in the student book, the student will produce something that correlates to the requirements of funding providers. (I accept that that something will include some learned English.  My point is that the book is written to serve teachers, not learners.)

What I'm thinking of is the kind of book that has readable chapters with questions and other activities for discovery and reflection, suggestions for trying out new ideas, and a good list of references. These are the books that I (a dedicated self-motivated learner) use myself.  They can be used alone for reading and reference, they can be used as a textbook in a formal class, and they're very effective in an informal book circle arrangement.

Such a book does not pretend to be teaching English.  It can be in the learner's L1 (although, if it's addressing advanced learners it might be in English).  What it offers is support for a transition from student to learner. Some ideas:

How to be a learner.  For those who are not already skilled at self-directed learning (any kind, not just language learning).  Especially for those who have many years of training as "students" and who believe that a tutor or teacher must tell them how to reach their goal. It might address identifying personal goals; noticing, evaluating and taking advantage of resources; finding and asking for help; reflection and self-assessment; learning from undesired or unexpected experiences; setting up a network of supporters; making time for practice, etc.

Two pages of this.

How to be a language learner. The learner applies the skills above directly to language learning.  What are the habits of a successful English learner and how can they be acquired?  Is a language class necessary?  If so, what kind of class?  What do you intend to get out of it?  How can you check that you are getting what you need?  How can you help the teacher, other learners, and even administrators to help you reach your goal?   If language class is not needed (or not available), what resources do you have available and how can you take advantage of them?  What is the best dictionary?  How do you use a corpus?  How can you analyze a text for readability?  What is the pedagogical relevance of certain activities and drills?  And so forth.

How to be a [particular L2] learner. This should explicitly address issues that are unique to various kinds of learners (for English: EFL, EAP, ESP, ELF, ESL, etc.).  In the US, for example, folks who are here on an F-1 visa should know that they can't attend free government-funded classes (it's illegal).  They would do better to find (or contribute to setting up) a conversation "meetup" in a coffee shop.  Wouldn't it be nice if they had tips for going about doing this and the confidence to try?   Hmmm, learners might be better served if this were a subscription e-periodical so they would get access to regular articles and advice on different topics and learners could discuss with each other, share tips, etc.

I've been mulling over ways to untrain students into learners for a long time.  The motivation to put it in writing came a week or so when I stumbled on a book that is effectively a prototype for How to Be a Language Learner.  It's a Peace Corps document called On-Going Language Learning Manual (free PDF!).  It's written for people who are in a foreign environment and want to learn the language, even though they don't have access to a teacher or class.  In other words, it's a set of instructions for autonomous learning!

Four pages of this.

One gem:

Try to learn grammar every day from listening to people talk. You will come to recognize patterns of sounds and the meanings they carry. You can begin to figure out the rules from the many examples you hear in everyday speech. In fact, eventually you will become aware that you are internalizing many of the rules without giving conscious thought to them.

Another priceless aspect is the idea of having a "language helper".  A volunteer might find a native speaker who is willing to answer questions, model authentic speech, etc.  The learner is clearly directing and controlling what he or she wants from the helper.  For example, here is one tip:

Ask your language helper to accompany you on your learning adventures to observe or “coach” you, but only when you need and want help.

This book could be edited slightly, translated to other languages and offered to every learner who finds themselves in a place where a new language is spoken and who wants to join in.  And its ideas can be used for untraining now.  I will be borrowing from it for my lessons as soon as possible.

Just to set the record straight: I think teachers and English classes play a valid role in the learning process.  In fact, classes would be more effective if learners and teachers know from the outset what they want and need from each other and everyone in the room is working together to make it happen.  Even books like the one pictured here could play a role (thought neither the teacher nor the learners would be snaking through it mindlessly, hoping to push other-defined "success"  out at the end)!

When Cross Words are a Good Thing

OK, I really meant "crosswords"!

Thanks to Brian Aydemir

Lately, crossword puzzles are playing more of a role in my classes and in my reflections.

Just as in my experience with timelines, I've progressed from using crosswords in a fairly superficial way to seeing them as a useful tool -- and one that learners enjoy!

We've all encountered ready-made crossword puzzles, either in a textbook or offered as worksheets online.  I've used them to fill out the last 15 minutes of a lesson or to occupy learners who finish a test early.  Higher level learners are usually familiar with the format and don't seem to mind working on them. Naturally, I would choose a puzzle topic that's related to what was happening in class so that many of the clues or answers would be language that we'd seen recently.  If a learner didn't know some language, it could be a good opportunity for expansion.  But much of the time, the unknown words are relatively unimportant: in a Thanksgiving Day puzzle, "What does a turkey say?"  Other times, the word is not one that I care to reinforce: while we discuss both "Indian" and "Native American" in class, the latter is what I would prefer to recycle in later activities.

from Andreanna Moya

Online crossword-creators are a much better option.  You can make sure that every clue is directly relevant to a particular group of learners.  You can include clues that exercise a noticed weakness (spelling of irregular past verbs?).  You can include incidental vocabulary, recycle older vocabulary, introduce variations on known words, etc.  And who says that you have to make the puzzle?  What if you ask each learner to submit three clues based on recent vocabulary, then brought in a puzzle made from their submissions?  What if small groups worked together to make a list of clues and generate a puzzle, then swapped their puzzles with other groups?  Here are a couple of online puzzle-makers I have used.  Since my beginners are not comfortable on computers, I like generators that can produce PDF:

The Teachers Corner Crossword Puzzle Maker lets you save to PDF and allows you to add pictures for illustration.  You also get some formatting options.

Armored Penguin Crossword Puzzle Maker  also allows PDF and gives you many different formatting options.  If you don't like the way a puzzle looks, generate it again for a new arrangement.

If you are working with beginners or others who have never done this kind of puzzle, be prepared for a big learning curve.  It might be good to start with small puzzle with 6 or 8 obvious and easy words so they can focus on learning the format.  New puzzlers need to know:

- what across and down mean
- that you can write a letter in the numbered squares
- that two words SHARE a letter where they intersect

New puzzlers are also unsure what to do with clues that are written in traditional crossword language, such as "a small boat made from a tree".  I would rewrite as "What is a small boat made from a tree?"  Writing the clues in question form also offers meaningful exposure to question words in use.  And if students write their own clues, they will get good question-writing practice.

Some learners may also discover these important concepts:

- that a letter from one word can be a hint for the intersecting word
- to look carefully at the clue (it will probably tell you if a word is plural or singular, for example)
- that if you KNOW a word but the letters from an intersecting word don't match, maybe you should double-check your answer for the intersecting word

This is highly-valuable practice in general problem-solving skills!

courtesy of Justin Grimes

When I write a puzzle, I tend to focus on vocabulary rather than testing of factual information ("On what day is Thanksgiving celebrated?").  I'm always looking for ways to give productive vocabulary practice -- where the learner must try to recall the word and its spelling.  That's not to say that fact-checking can't be included, of course!

For the last year or so, I've been doing crosswords for my own entertainment on an almost-daily basis and this has provoked even more thoughts on how this activity might be used in class.  I'm using the New York Times Crossword app, which provides a new puzzle every day, gives access to a vast number of past puzzles, and offers puzzle packs on various themes.  The New York Times puzzle, for those who are not familiar with it, progresses in difficulty during the week.  The Monday puzzle is pretty easy, with many answers that are common knowledge to a person who's well-embedded in this culture.  For me, the Tuesday puzzle is also pretty easy.  The Wednesday puzzle sometimes requires a little homework (looking something up or asking a friend ... no it's NOT cheating to learn something new!).  I haven't progressed to later days of the week yet -- I like the gratification of finishing in less than an hour.

One aspect of these "real" crossword puzzles that we don't see in a typical classroom puzzle is the wordplay.  Collocations, puns, and ambiguous clues play a big role.  Examples from recent NYT puzzles:

collocation: "it's impressive" is the clue ... the answer is "feat"

pun: "punch lines?" ... "ows"

ambiguous clue: "series opener" ... "part I" (in the US, "series opener" is a baseball collocation so you might be misled into thinking about baseball terms)

I haven't tried it, but I don't see why I couldn't add some rudimentary word play to a puzzle for higher level students.  Maybe title the puzzle "Give me an S" and have every answer begin with the letter, be a regular plural, or be a third-person singular -- I certainly don't have time to do anything fancy!

ETA: I just remembered the source of inspiration for expanding my use of crossword puzzles.  Carol Goodey posted about them some months ago.  My thanks to her!

Helpful Sites for Advanced Learners

A couple of recent discoveries that I will be recommending to my higher level learners (and using myself):

simple.wikipedia.org: Did you know this existed?  I didn't!  If you send learners off to a laptop to research a topic, as I sometimes do, they often go to Wikipedia proper and discover that it's too dense to comprehend. At that point, they might shift to a first language to get the information and then work on translating it in order to share with the class.  That's OK with me, but an alternative would be to send them to this link first.  They may be able to find the desired information right away.  They may also encounter related chunks of language that would be useful to examine as we review their answers.

Another thought: it looks as if this site is relatively new.  Perhaps learners will discover that the information they need does not have an entry yet.  Mightn't it be an interesting project for them to write an entry and submit it themselves?

One block from our classroom, a long time ago.*

I looked up "Philadelphia" and ran the text for the city's history through the algorithms at  www.readability-score.com.  Its score is 8.0.  The equivalent text at the regular Wikipedia site scored 13.0.  I've been checking readability of learner texts for a while and I know that my group can usually handle a score of 10 or 11 with some help.  So, the "simple" text would probably not drive them to L1.

Of course, these are not "authentic" texts.  They've been written with a learner in mind, just as textbooks and learner's dictionaries are.  So, I guess their usefulness as a source of natural chunks of language may be limited.

www.prefixsuffix.com: I'm focusing on vocabulary with my learners, but of course we can't possibly cover all of the thousands of words they need to know to be fluent. My learners from South America, France, etc., have a big advantage because their languages share many cognates with literate English.  Learners from other parts of the world can strengthen their ability to make educated guesses about Latin-derived words, too, with the help of this site.  And, of course, I can brush up on my familiarity with these word parts as well. The site offers an app and I can see giving some assignments to look for Latin-based words "out there" and take them apart using the app (or site) for guidance. Seems as if learners should always try this first before (or instead of) looking a word up.  Strength in this area would really boost their vocabulary knowledge!

*Credit to Wikipedia for today's image of President's House.