“A word is dead when it is said, some say.
I say it just begins to live that day.”
Emily Dickinson
Cheap pleasures can sometime be the most satisfying.
Reading, an activity that often costs nothing, falls into that category. Reading provides many pleasures and many insights. So does talking about reading.
Following a December ritual, I’ve been reviewing the year and find many reasons for satisfaction. Co-writing a monthly column called “Instant Conversation Activity” in the newspaper Easy English Times makes the list for the third straight year. Each monthly newspaper column in the Easy English Times, modifies and expands a thematic chapter from Compelling Conversations, an advanced ESL textbook, for lower level English language learners. The August issue, for example, talked about watching television and favorite programs; the November 2010 issue celebrated the American tradition of choosing leaders in elections. (Immigrants, refugees, new citizens, and potential citizens often appreciate voting while too many American citizens fall into apathy.) It’s an honor to have the lessons used in ESL, EL/Civics, and literacy classes.
In reviewing the 2010 clips, however, my favorite column this year remains “Reading Pleasures and Tastes.”
Reading can be a great – and overlooked – pleasure. Reading allows us to imagine life in distant lands and times – and better understand our own lives and climates. It broadens our imagination, highlights absurd situations, shows new possibilities, and can deepen our sympathy. Since urban Californian classrooms often resemble a mini-United Nations, reading provides a passport to better understand our classmates and our ever-changing world. .
Yet too few American adults – including adult education students – allow themselves the pleasure of reading books and newspapers in English. We can see and hear on adult school campuses how the inability to read causes real problems. We know the many studies that document the links between illiteracy, poverty, and criminal activity. One reason might be that reading builds empathy and instills information. Reading can also provide solace, inspiration, and perspective. Celebrating the pleasure and power of reading to the Easy English Times column audience, including adult immigrants, GED students and some prisoners, seems appropriate. Perhaps it could have been called “Three Cheers for Reading – Even if Life is Hard.”
Yet I also like the Reading Pleasures column because discussing books has created some of my most poignant classroom moments. During a decade of teaching advanced adult ESL, we often read short stories, memorized proverbs, and wrote about living in Los Angeles and Santa Monica. Many ESL students also demonstrated their passion for literature. A Polish student sought help translating romantic poems, a Mexican immigrant constantly recited lines from Cervantes, and an Iranian woman journalist discussed her fear of reading banned books – even while in the United States.. Reading matters and transcends borders.
Let me give another example from a global classroom with a dozen or so different best languages. Each evening we would have a “brave volunteer” give a short oral presentation at 8:30 as a closing activity. I wanted everyone to be a volunteer, but I left the choice of presenting to students. Some students introduced their hometowns, a few gave product reviews, and many recommended movies. Topics and styles varied.
One night an older Korean woman gave an eloquent, moving book review of To Kill A Mockingbird that combined personal biography and literary criticism. Chloe, not her real name, began smiling because she had just finished rereading her favorite book in its original language – English. She joked about how long it took, but she had patience. Chloe went on to confess that she often had racist feelings like some ugly characters in the novel. “But I learned from the noble character too”. Chloe stated that living in Santa Monica and studying English she had learned to overcome racism. Her daughter was going to marry a non-Korean – something once unthinkable. Then, returning to the novel, she concluded by quoting her favorite character. “I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks. ” Her daughter visited our class that night, and cried. She was not alone. Powerful. Poignant. Unforgettable.
Reading remains a great pleasure and a helpful guide. Literature can also enliven our ESL classrooms, and discussing our favorite books opens up new possibilities. The humanities should be for everyone – including English language learners. Let us, as Emily Dickinson advised, “dwell in possibility” and bring more literature into our English classrooms.
Have you heard about the international bestseller How English Became Globish“>Globish by Robert McCrum? Suddenly the term Globish seems everywhere.
McCrum, who wrote the influential book “The Story of English”, argues that English has become Globish because it is the world’s international language. Partly descriptive and partly prescriptive, the author reviews the astonishing spread of English, its many changes over time and space, and points out the many advantages of English as a global tongue. McCrum also suggests that English, as a language, carries cultural values such as individualism, greater sexual equality, a democratic sensibility, and empiricism.
Other linguists, including many working for international software firms, have recently adopted the word Globish too. The term, it seems, has escaped the narrow confines of linguistic jargon to become a mainstream term. Yet linguists and other folks strongly disagree about the meaning of Globish. Few doubt, however, that a majority of English speakers are actually speaking English as an additional language.
Here is a group of video clips supporting the idea that communication matters most as a majority of English speakers use the language as a second tongue. Precise grammar and pronunciation rules become less important in a global context. If all the English speakers in the room are really English language learners, unconventional English grammar and heavy accents become more acceptable. Globish, so the argument goes, provides more freedom for more varieties of English.
Provocative, if not completely persuasive, some of these linguists favor reducing the cultural roots of English and emphasizing a simpler, smaller, and more universal form of essential Globish. (This movement, also known as English as a Global Language, focuses on the business advantages of a shared language.) Other linguists both predict and favor a flourishing of local languages linked to British English, American English, or Australian English. These linguists, such as Andy Kirkpatrick, see the emergence of “World Englishes“.
All these competing arguments emphasize, for me, the importance of context. As American writer teaching international graduate students at an elite American university in the American Language Institute, I emphasize the importance of professional and academic success. Accuracy, clarity, and detail still matter so we maintain high standards, traditional grammar, and mainstream spelling matter.
A hotel clerk working with European tourists vacationing in Mexico, however, might find a more casual Globish works just fine. Academic English and workplace English often have quite different definitions of success. Context, as ever, matters. Why do our students want to learn English? How will they use English? Can we both teach specific language skills and humanistic values in our English classrooms? As English teachers, it also behooves us teach the English that our students need and want.
Anyway, here are some informative and some funny video clips mocking the notion that a small island nation should be the standard for how people speak across the globe. I’m including links to the NPR feature on Globish, the video collection, and Amazon.
A new semester begins, new students enter our classes, and returning colleagues greet us. What can talk about that will go beyond the work-related activities?
Books.
Teachers, especially English teachers, love to talk about their summer reading. Reading remains a cheap pleasure and an excellent conversation starter.
* Can you recommend a good book?
* What did you this summer?
* What are reading these days – besides student papers?
Books and ideas still matter in our 21st century global culture of blogs, especially for starting conversations. Discussing books, sharing ideas, and exchanging tips helps elevate casual office chit-chat into more satisfying verbal exchanges.
In the past few weeks, I’ve enjoyed several satisfying conversations with my teaching colleagues – and a few more memorable conversations with strangers about books. How?
I looked around, noted the reading choices of folks, and asked a friendly question.
• Is that a good book?
• How did you choose that book?
• Can you recommend a good book?
Likewise, talking about books and reading pleasures gives us new information about our world – and insights into our friends and students. For longer, better conversations, you can ask the following questions:
• What’s the best book you’ve read this year?
• Who is your favorite author, anyway?
* How have your reading habits changed?
• Are you still reading Alain de Botton?
* What are you reading these days?
If you have time to listen, the answers might surprise you.
Our English students also enjoy talking about their favorite books and reading experiences. Here’s a link to a conversation lesson that I’ve had success with in high intermediate and advanced ESL/EFL classes. http://compellingconversations.com/pdf/reading_pleasures.pdf
English Teaching Professional, a glossy magazine for ESL teachers and language school directors, gave a glowing review and strong recommendation to Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics.“In sum, Compelling Conversations is a recommended resource for teachers who want to make their conversation classes more learner-centered,” wrote reviewer Hall Houston. “It should be especially appealing to those who who to escape the confines of the Presentation-Practice-Production approach and do without a formal grammatical or functional syllabus. It reflects the authors’ considerable professional experience, and would be a notable addition to any English teacher’s bookshelf.” The review also features a large copy of the book cover. Wow!
Houston also writes, “In my own teaching, I have found questions and quotations to be highly effective in promoting student discussion.” The review continues. “Questions are useful in that they require a response from the listener. Asking them also helps students master the tricky rules of the interrogative.”
“Quotations are brilliant flashes of wit expressed in the shortest space possible, often just a sentence or two,” observes Houston. “The authors have compiled a formidable collection of quotations by famous people from Napoleon and Aristotle to Tom Cruise and Sylvester Stallone. Some will have the students roaring with laughter ‘My movies were the kind they show in prisons and airplanes because nobody can leave.’ – Burt Reynolds), while others require careful introspection (‘Love is not just looking at each other; it’s looking in the same direction.’ – Antoine de Saint Exupery).”
The reviewer goes on. “The authors also add some wise proverbs here and there. My two favourites were ‘Recite “patience” three times and it will spare you a murder’ and ‘When money talks, truth keeps silent’, which are from Korea and Russia.” Houston, by the way, is the author of the outstanding ESL textbook The Creative Classroom: Teaching Languages Outside the Book. Coming from Houston, these words are especially pleasing.
My co-author Toni Aberson also appreciates that Houston, an English teacher working in Luzhu, Taiwan wrote the review in a British magazine with British spellings about an English textbook published in the United States. This international element adds a special delight to a long, three column review. “I just love it!”, exclaimed Aberson. We certainly live in a wonderful time to be English teachers.
While I my copy of English Teaching Professional two days ago, the January 2009 issue has been out for at least a week. The review appears on p.44 in Issue 60. Subscribers can access the full review at http://www.ETProfessional.com.
This positive book review might help explain the recent surge of class set orders. It also helps explain the sudden collection of emails and calls from Vietnam, Russia, Italy, and Canada in the last week about Compelling Conversations and possible collaborations. The appreciation of fellow ESL professionals gives me additional confidence, joy, and popularity. Sweet!
Santa Monica, California attracts artists, scholars, busboys, maids, actresses, models, sales people, mechanics, and film directors from around the world. Naturally, this upscale, coastal city provides many adult education classes, private language classes, and hosts English as a Second language workplace programs. The local newspaper, The Santa Monica Daily Press (SMDP), also covers immigration issues in great depth and publishes articles offering advice to new Americans and citizens.
Last week book editor SMDP Dane Robert Swanson wrote a very positive book review, in simple clear prose, directed at Santa Monica immigrants. Noting the importance of literally speaking English to achieve the American Dream, Swanson suggested immigrants practice their conversation skills and build their vocabulary using Compelling Conversations in their classrooms and in local cafes.
Naturally, I’m very pleased with this long, strong book review written in a simplied English style. As an ESL writing instructor, however, I wish the reviewer had used more transitions between paragraphs to add greater cohesion. English students can read more than simple sentences when collecting information on new books. Still, Swanson’s instincts to write short sentences is spot-on for local immigrants. Consider me grateful and pleased!
Here, without editing, is the entire July 16 book review.
Visit us online at smdp.com FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2009 9
Call us today at (310) 458-7737
B Y D A N E R O B E R T S W A N S O N
BOOKREVIEW
‘Compelling
Conversations’
Eric H. Roth and Toni Aberson
Chimayo Press
America is a great land of opportunity. I am sure we
all want to get ahead in this country. We want to find the
type of employment that is suited for us. We wish to
advance in the work world. We wish to make friends.
The best way to get ahead in the world is to speak the
mother tongue of the country you are living in. In this
case, we are talking about English. With so many
“English as a Second Language” courses being taught
there is no excuse for not learning. The problem is, what
book do you use to learn from?
Have you been looking for a good ESL manual? If you
have, I think this is one to consider. The topics cover:
Your Life, The Civic Life, along with the everyday aspects
as dating, enjoying money, handling stress.
The editors put it together in an easy to use form. You
have conversation starters such as, “How much time do
you spend each week in cars? Why?”
There is a section in each chapter for vocabulary
building. A section on common sayings is included, as
well. To increase the conversation we have such questions
as this: “Do you prefer to drive in the city or the
country? Flat or hills?”
Each chapter in the book concludes with quotations.
An example is this one by Woody Allen, “I have bad
reflexes. I was once run over by a car being pushed by
two guys.”
This manual helps conversation by giving common
subjects to talk about. Since English is one of the confusing,
difficult and strange languages for a foreigner to
grasp and be comfortable conversing in, the compilers
pack in 45 chapters over 30 questions, 10 or more targeted
vocabulary words, some proverbs, and quotations
per chapter.
Each chapter focuses on a promising conversation
topic. They start with easy questions and continue on to
questions a bit more abstract. Each question is there to
allow the speaker to share his life experiences along with
his insights.
This manual will go best with the advanced ESL student
or even at coffee shop conversation clubs. It will
bring about authentic, not stilted communication, which
should be the purpose of an ESL course. It is easier for a
person to learn a language through conversation rather
than by a given list of vocabulary words. That is what
makes this a welcome addition to the material which can
be used for the immigrant who must learn English to
advance in the world.
Eric H. Roth has taught many ESL courses at Santa
Monica College, UCLA Extension, Cal State Long Beach’s
American Language Institute. Toni Aberson has taught
English and supervised teachers for over 35 years and
holds to the view that when you have a lively classroom
you have optimal learning going on.
This manual is available at Amazon.com. It can also be
purchased on the Web site: www.CompellingCoversations.com.
There is a substantial discount available for schools and bookstores.
DANE ROBERT SWANSON is the best looking book reviewer in Santa Monica and wishes to get feedback from you.
Smdp_review@yahoo.com.
——————————————
Thank you Dane, for the wonderful review.
“Gratitude is the memory of the heart.” French proverb
This simple question has been posed twice in emails this week.
Both ESL students and teachers know that too many textbooks fail to engage readers. Yet rather than focusing on the many sins of the many boring textbooks, let’s focus on those few informative, practical, and interesting ESL books that we like.
Here is a quick, superficial, and by no means comprehensive list of English as a Second Language books that I personally have found successful in teaching English
Academic ESL/intensive English programs
Cambridge Vocabulary in Use series – An excellent supplemental text, especially for the more academically inclined. The self-contained two page format allows students, teachers, and tutors to pick and choose materials.
Cambridge Grammar in Use series – This series is the only grammar series that I’ve ever felt comfortable using in the classroom. Again, the accessible, clear format with self-contained lessons allows both self-study and effective use as a supplemental text.
Adult Education:
Side by Side – This classic series, now in its 3rd edition, particularly appeals to English language learners with limited literacy in their own best language. Given the appalling educational policies in some nearby poor countries, this textbook series has become extraordinarily popular in California and Texas.
Day by Day – Simple, clear communicative textbook for workplace instruction. Low intermediate- intermediate
Word by Word – This visual dictionary focuses on verbs, and shows English language learners how to describe their everyday activities in English. This book taught me the power of process descriptions to build language.
Oxford Picture Dictionary and workbook – excellent for beginning and intermediate English language learners. Some pages, inevitably, are more practical than other pages. Isn’t that always the case?
Writing
Writing Academic English, by Alice Oshima and Ann Hogue, provides practical techniques for students planning to attend community college or university. I think the latest version is the fourth. I’ve used it in several programs with considerable success.
In Focus: Strategies for Academic Writers by Myra Ann Shulman, however, is my current choice for intermediate ESL students.
The clear, detailed exercises allow students to learn academic writing by actually writing short, focused pieces.
Any Longman Dictionary – For whatever reason, Longman dictionaries seem much more accessible and practical in their design than other series. I’m particularly impressed with their Business Dictionary for English Language Learners.
Speaking Skills: Giving Academic Presentations, by Susan Reinhart, stands heads and shoulders above the other ESL textbooks for public presentations. Students learn how to give clear, systematic oral presentations including problem-solution and process descriptions.
Communicating in Business by Simon Sweeney -Yet another outstanding Cambridge title, this Business English textbook includes helpful materials on nnegotiating and socializing as well as presenting.
Speak English Like an American by Amy Gillet. This fine book, which includes a strong CD, introduces over 300 American idioms in context. Engaging and informative, the bookis almost perfect for an idioms class.
Last, but not least, I naturally recommend Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics, by Toni Aberson and Eric Roth, as a supplemental text for advanced ESL classes, conversation clubs, and tutors.
Other special interest ESL books of quality.
Film is Content: A Study Guide for the Advanced ESL Classroom by Julia A. Williamson and Jill C. Vincent- This underappreciated University of Michigan textbook deserves a much wider audience. Although slightly dated, students learn critical thinking skills, academic vocabulary, and modern film.
The Creative Classroom: Teaching Language Outside the Box, by Hall Houston, contains dozens of bite-sized exercises to spark authentic language and creative discourse, This slim book, published by Lynx, should especially appeal to ESL students with a background or interest in engineering, science, and the arts.
What are your favorite ESL textbooks? What books have you enjoyed sharing with students? What books do you wish your ESL department, adult school, or language institute adopted? Why?
