Students often need solid TOEFL scores to study abroad, including the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Naturally, this need – and ambition – often makes reaching a certain number on the TOEFL exam as the goal of their English studies.
Unfortunately, sometimes these imperfect standardized exams – all attempts to measure language ability of English language learners – become a goal in and of itself. Consequently, some students and stressed parents want all their English classes to primarily focus on test preparation. “We just need a good TOEFL score” mantra can lead to pressure on private high schools and language programs to exclude material unrelated directly to the influential ETS exam.
Let me suggest that this worshipping at the altar of standardized test scores can distort, even pervert, English language instruction. While excellent, specialized test preparation courses serve a vital purpose, they should be small parts of a larger English curriculum. The main focus of language programs, especially in high schools, should be helping students develop authentic language skills so they can actually read, write, listen, and speak English – both inside and outside the classrooms and away from multiple choice exams.
Edgar Allen Poe, Shakespeare, John Steinbeck, and Jack London may or may not appear on the next TOEFL test, but high school and older English students should be exposed to their writings. We do not want to throw away our humanistic cultural heritage and reduce our English and ESL classes into mere test training. The TOEFL exam is a means, not an end in and of itself.
Likewise, we need – as English teachers – to remember that ideas matter, celebrate our dynamic language, and avoid the temptation to become grammar fundamentalists or mere language technicians. Learning English, a global tongue, allows students to move beyond the narrow confines of their local language and more easily join the global village. Let’s keep those larger goals – and the humanities – in the English curriculum.
Today is a good day.
For the first time ever, an English teacher used Compelling Conversations for English Language Learners in Vietnam in an EFL/ESL classroom. Emily, a close friend and fine teacher, used the modified “going beyond hello” chapter with advanced English students with considerable success. Consider me pleased.
Second, I had a chance to actually review a physical copy of the latest edits – including the inclusion of many local photographs. Although the images are rather small, they do make a big difference.
On the other hand, editing with a less than perfectly fluent staff also lead to some additional editing work, especially on the three new chapters for Vietnam. So I’ll do another round of edits – and add more proverbs and quotes from Vietnamese writers and poets. Doing it right is more important than just finishing it. Hopefully, the conversation textbook will help students learn to ask more and better questions in English – and allow students to reflect on their experiences and ambitions in a rapidly changing Vietnam.
The addition of an index of authors quoted with nationality, profession, and birth/death dates should also help English teacher and tutors here. But every part has taken far longer than expected.
Still, patience remains a virtue. Step by step, we climb the mountain!
Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit www.CompellingConversations.com
As always, writing means rewriting.
What do you look for in an apartment? How do you turn a physical space into a home?
Everybody lives somewhere. Yet, as we know, not all homes are created equal – especially in the developing world with vast inequalities. Since I don’t speak the local language in Ho Chi Minh City, I have become far more reliant on fellow English teachers, co-workers, new friends, and real estate experts than usual in finding housing.
Ask more. Know more. Share more. Speak more.
So following my philosophy of seeking information through conversation, I’ve been asking many Vietnamese for advice as I hunt for a new apartment. Here are some useful questions.
– What districts/neighborhoods do you suggest? Why?
- What seems like a reasonable price for a two-bedroom?
- Can I walk around at night?
– Is the area safe?
– Should I pay in dollars or Vietnamese Dong? Why?
– What do you look for in an apartment? Why?
– Do you have a checklist of essential services? What’s on that checklist?
These last questions, by far, have lead to the most interesting conversations. One young office assistant instantly blurted out “money!” emphasizing the importance of price in her decision. Another young assistant focused on “privacy” and warned against renting a room with a family. ”What if you come back late at night? Will they give you a key? Will they say you make too much noise?” She proceeded to share some personal stories emphasizing the advantages of a private apartment. Note: she lives with her cousin now and can’t imagine living with her nuclear family or non-relatives. Interesting.
A rental agent offered some other advice. “You can change a home, but you can’t change a neighborhood so you choose the neighborhood first.” This agent, a friendly upworldly, mobile woman felt safety, quiet, and the comfort of living with international workers and “high class people” were most important. I agreed about safety, but observed that not all wealthy people were good people. “Yes, but they safe.” I later noted the luxury hi-rise seemed quite quiet. “Are you afraid of quiet?” she asked in surprise. In noisy Saigon, the idea seemed absurd. The sales agent asserted that this building complex is Vietnam’s future.
Given the humidity and tropical heat, air-conditioning remains a must too. Cable television, providing access to international channels and English language programs from around the world and adequate internet cable access have become defacto requirements too. These modern luxuries were added to my actual housing checklist as I visited more potential homes away from home.
I also like space and often miss the view from my father’s New York fantastic apartment. So I’ve retained a soft spot for terraces overlooking urban areas. The hi-rise resembles Century City skyscraper in a crowded neighborhood of “traditional” buildings with narrow streets. The second apartment that I saw in the hi-rise offers magnificent views and a warm breeze. The attractive price remains only 10% of my monthly salary. I took the apartment. The place evokes, in an odd sense, a familiar feeling. This could become my home away from home.
Like so many other English teachers, I begin teaching with student interests and habits in mind. Of course, I also want to take them from the old and familiar to new and unfamiliar while improving their English language skills. You Tube remains a powerful classroom tool to achieve that goal.
I’ve used YouTube to have students research job interview tips, stress patterns, pronunciation problems, and informational interviews. The results have been consistently positive as I have students write concise video reviews and email me their reviews for homework before the next class.
Then I slightly edit the reviews, watch the videos and add my own comments in blue ink, and combine the reviews into a single document that is emailed to all class members. “Use or lose” I say, but here are the reviews from your classmates. Result: almost every student watches every video recommended and spending far more time on the topic than I could allocate in class. It’s both popular and quite effective.
As English teachers, we are truly blessed to be working in the YouTube era.
How do you revise a conversation textbook designed for American immigrants and international students in the United States for high school English language learners in Vietnam? Carefully!
Naturally, the new version of “Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics” will emphasize aspects of Vietnamese culture, avoid taboo subjects, and include local folk sayings and proverbs. The chapter called, “Driving Cars” becomes “Riding Motorbikes.” Other chapters get deleted altogether. Religious quotes are lost and some touchy questions remain unasked. So it goes – even in the 21st century.
Today, after weeks of collecting proverbs, talking with EFL teachers in Vietnam, and editing my original ESL for a particular EFL audience, I have a close to finished version. I feel quite satisfied with Compelling Conversations for English Language Learners in Vietnam. The new edition will be out within a month!
During the last hectic week of international travel and professional development presentations, I’ve been heard a few simple questions over and over.
Are you ready?
Are you prepared?
Aren’t you nervous?
Do you have enough time to do that?
When are you going to sleep?
Friends – and close relatives – ask these questions out of concern and curiosity. I appreciate their questions and enjoy our discussions. My confidence can lead me to underestimate the difficulty of projects, tasks, and chores. I should manage time better, probably reduce my commitments, and prioritize more. Yet that’s easier said than done when pursuing multiple projects and working with people on different continents. I also like my work, and appreciate new challenges. And I can draw on a considerable amount of experience as a world traveler and English teacher. Despite approaching deadlines, I tend to feel strangely comfortable.
For instance, this week I left Los Angeles to begin a new position creating a Practical and Academic English program in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Packing for a ten-week summer trip takes considerable time. So does writing up detailed course descriptions, planning professional development workshops, and writing a high school graduation speech. Tracking Compelling Conversations book orders, planning website and blog changes, and interviewing ESL/EFL teachers also takes time. So sleep becomes a lower priority and friends keep asking those few simple, reasonable questions.
They are good questions and fine conversation starters too. In our often-hectic world, many people make the same “good mistakes” as me. As a result, these simple questions seem about time management seem timeless. English teachers can – and I’d suggest should – introduce these practical questions to their students. Business English teachers and workplace instructors, of course, frequently include entire lessons to personal time management skills. Letting students ask these questions and interview each other will also lead to interesting classroom conversations.
By the way, despite my last minute style, I was actually quite prepared. I quickly packed, arrived safely in Vietnam and lead an engaging workshop on creating autotelic materials for EFL students. Experience and expertise help – even on limited sleep!
