How do you help your ESL students recognize their errors in speaking English? What techniques do you use to make their mistakes “psychologically real” to them?
One technique I’ve found effective may seem rather counter-intuitive: encourage them!
While I have never consciously “celebrated” mistakes, I do consistently encourage students to make “good mistakes”, defined as natural errors that we can learn from, so we can continue to improve and new, different, and better mistakes. Creating a classroom atmosphere of tolerance, understanding, and constructive criticism remains a constant challenge.
Yet modern technologies, such as video cameras and smart phones, make video recordings of English language learners an accessible, affordable option. As 21st century English teachers, we can deploy some practical tools in our ESL and EFL classrooms. Videotaping English students certainly helps here since they can watch their own presentations or discussions. Sometimes having students transcribe their own speech yields surprises, but often you don’t even need to resort to such rigorous examination. Students can often see where they have made verb tense errors, searched for vocabulary, or used the wrong word form on their own. Uploading videos to a class website encourages self-awareness and reflection. Seeing, in this case, is often believing.
Further, videotaping student presentations makes our classrooms more democratic since our students can speak – and share their words with friends and relatives beyond the classroom if they choose. Sometimes English language learners, recognizing that they can share their work outside the classroom and reach core peer audiences, will practice more than usual. As ESL students step up their game and perform for the camera, they sometimes make fewer mistakes – and excel!
And if students, as usual, do make mistakes? Let’s call that a learning opportunity. “Don’t be afraid to make a mistake, ” advised legendary Sony Chairman Akio Morita. “But make sure you don’t make the same mistake twice.” While learning English requires us to be more understanding and patient of “good mistakes”, this quote emphasizes the value of making mistakes – outside and inside our English classrooms.
How many good mistakes must English students make on the road to English fluency? I have no idea, but students will get to their linguistic destination sooner if they start more making good mistakes in our English classes today. Staying silent out of fear of making mistakes almost guarantees students will never become fluent English speakers.
The videotape allows our students to see – and learn – from that bad mistake too.
Time flies – especially when focusing on taxes, grading papers, and browsing the internet!
Somehow, the calendar reads April 15. Everybody knows that this is America’s tax day. Yet California English teachers might also remember that April 16 marks the opening of our annual CATESOL conference too.
For better or for worse, that also means I have less than 60 hours before presenting my workshop for ESL teachers too. Time to review the worksheet materials and update my presentation to include insights gained interviewing English teachers and students in Vietnam. Curious about my presentation?
Here is the CATESOL program description:
Techniques and Practices for a More Democratic Classroom
Eric Roth, USC
Demonstration C/U
11:00 – 11:45 a.m. Convention Center 207
A more democratic classroom encourages student speech, features student created content, allows student choice of assignments, reflects student interests, and includes peer evaluations. Democratic classrooms create autotelic, or self-directed, students where everyone learns by stumbling and making “good mistakes.” Includes handouts.
———————————————
If you are visiting Pasadena or Los Angeles, teach English, and want to discover new teaching ideas and find the latest ESL materials, please consider attending the 2009 CATESOL convention this week. http://www.catesol2009.org/confprogram.html
Consider me psyched.
By the way, a smile crossed my face while reading through the detailed CATESOL 2009 conference program. CATESOL, and the ESL field, continue to attract many dedicated teachers and ESL professionals who enjoy sharing their insights and teaching experiences. As so often before, I will learn a great deal. One presentation title, however, caught my eye. How to be a Benevolent Dictator! Naturally, it’s lead by a friend and fellow USC instructor.
As so often in live, variety adds spice. Perspectives differ – especially among friends and English teachers!
Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit www.CompellingConversations.com
Do you want to create a more student-centered, democratic ESL classroom? How do you tailor assignments to individual students? What websites and resources do you incorporate in your classes to help students improve their speaking and listening skills? Finally, are you an English teacher working in California interested in these topics?
If so, my CATESOL workshop titled “Techniques and Practices for a More Democratic ESL Classroom” should appeal to you. The 50-minute presentation/workshop will include a dozen flexible, reproducible worksheets to create more student-centered lessons. I will emphasize a few familiar themes, including the need to create classroom rituals that allow students to share their interests and experiences. From my perspective, a democratic classroom is one where everyone feels comfortable speaking and listening – and has the power to choose their assignments and content. Let’s help our students become autotelic (self-directed) learners!
Model lessons will include using YouTube to teach stress patterns and job interview skills, choosing radio segments for listening comprehension, and teaching students to become “reporters” on their personal interests. The hands-on teacher’s workshop will also allow participants to exchange their most successful, student-centered lessons. I will also include feedback on how student reactions from my university students and EFL students in Vietnam using Compelling Conversations. (Asia Pacific University of Vietnam has adopted Compelling Conversations as a core textbook for their new Practical and Academic English Language program for university and graduate students needing more English.)
Naturally, I’m quite psyched since this will be my first state CATESOL presentation. The 2009 CATESOL conference will be in the Pasadena Convention Center, April 16-19 with the theme “Whole Learner, Whole Teacher.” Visit www.catesol2009.org for more information. My section, #15686, is on Friday, 11:00-11:45 A.M. in Rm. 207 of the Pasadena Convention Center. If you are attending, please consider dropping by. It will be worth your time!
Who gets to speak in class? Whose ideas count? Who chooses the assignments? How do students receive feedback? Do students have a chance to conference with their instructors? Can YouTube be a valuable source for homework assignment? Do you want your students to become self-directed – or autotelic – in their studies?
Here’s a quick checklist that ESL teachers that I created for a recent CATESOL workshop called “Techniques for a More Democratic Classroom”. My core assumption remains that giving students more opportunities to literally speak, write, and share their insights leads to a more engaging, dynamic, and valuable classroom experience. I will write more on this topic in a few days, but here are some questions to consider.
Who do you currently teach? How would you describe the students?
What are some of their personal interests?
How can student interests be better incorporated into the curriculum?
Which assignments do students currently choose? Which seems most successful? Why?
What are some benefits of greater student participation?
What are some risks of greater student participation?
Do you want to increase the number of choices students make?
What critical language skills can be taught by tapping into their interests?
How can you tweak current material to better individualize instruction?
What internet resources can you use to augment the current curriculum?
Which exercises or activities do you find most successful in your classroom?
What decisions do you keep as your prerogative as the instructor?
Will your students become self-directed learners?
How can you encourage that possibility?
How can you create a more democratic classroom?
What are some obstacles to a more democratic classroom?
How does technology encourage a more democratic classroom?
“Education is a kind of continuing dialogue and a dialogue assumes, in the nature of the case, different points of view.” Robert Hutchins (1899-1977), former President of University of Chicago and educational philosopher
Do you agree? Disagree? Why? Feel free to let me know.
I’ll post an article in a few days outlining some of my thoughts and sharing some materials.
