How can English teachers encourage adult and university students to expand their language skills and improve their employment opportunities in a difficult economic climate?
Personally, I’ve slightly modified my oral skills course this semester to provide greater emphasis on interviewing skills. Students interviewed each other for 10-15 minute videotaped mock job interviews for their first assignment.
The use of videotaping students in class has gained far more acceptance in the last few years, partly due to the technological advances. OTAN, the adult education website established by the California Department of Education, even created an entire section devoted to using videotapes and videocameras in the adult ESL classes.
Another factor has been the increasing popularity of YouTube videoclips by students seeking practical information. I’ve combined those two trends by requiring students to find and review YouTube clips on vital employment skills and speaking skills. Students found and reviewed videoclips, and emailed them in as homework. Afterwards, I combined all the student evaluations into a single email that I sent to the entire class with a few editorial comments and minor editing.
Here is the homework sheet for that assignment. As with the reviews, “use or lose.”
Getting Job Interview Advice from YouTube!
Student Name:
Class:
Teacher:
School:
Date:
Please find an YouTube videoclip that helps people successfully interview for jobs – in English – that you would like to share with your classmates. Watch the video, take notes, and review it for your classmates.
Video title:
Web address:
Length:
Creator:
Please describe the video.
What interview tips did the video provide?
Where do you think the video was produced? Why?
How practical did you find the advice? Why?
What was the strongest part? Why?
What was the weakest part? Why?
Who do think is the target audience for this video?
Why did you choose this video?
How would you rate this video 1-5 stars? Why?
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This simple worksheet combines research, critical thinking, and language skills. As English teachers, we can use simple technology to help English language learners develop their language skills, especially when they are motivated to learn and search out new sources. Instead of dismissing YouTube searching as a waste of time, let’s turn their interests into productive learning opportunities and share insights. After all, employment interviews often serve as a real-world language tests for our ESL students.
Let’s make sure we give them the tools to pass those crucial tests.
Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit www.CompellingConversations.com
Talking about money remains problematic, but this conversation topic is more for self-reflection than classroom application. But please bear with me.
How rich are you? How much money would satisfy you? Americans, and many other people in consumer societies, sometimes seem to be pursuing a moving mirage of material happiness. The luxuries of one year become the perceived necessities the next year.
English teachers – and English language learners – are not immune to this problem. How rich are you on a strictly material level? Where do you stand from a global scale? ESL teachers continue to work part-time or hold two jobs, or even tutor English for extra cash. The economic crisis has only increased the sense of unease for many English teachers and English students.
Yet for Americans and English teachers feeling rather blue about our declining home values, vanishing retirement accounts, and questionable job security, this chart provides some useful perspective.
My score initially stunned me. (I was in the top 1% worldwide). While I have often been nervous about money, this chart reminds me to keep perspective. Of course, commonsense and a growing body of psychological and sociological research has documented the very, very loose correlation between material wealth and happiness – once the basic necessities of life are met. Satisfying personal relationships, long conversations with relatives and friends, and meaningful work remain vital essential for a truly rich life. The good life, as all the wisdom traditions remind us, means more than going to sleep surrounded by luxury goods.
So let’s make sure we find ways to create healthier, saner, and more satisfying lives and English classrooms in 2009 than 2008.
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?
Cities attract the young, the strong, the ambitious, and the hungry.
Millions move from countryside and across the globe to live in new cities every year. Cities provide jobs, culture,and education. Cities are exciting. Yet, sometimes danger also lurks in cities. Do you like living in cities? Which cities have you visited? Which cities you found most satisfying? Why?
Teaching English in Los Angeles and Santa Monica I’ve found that students, who come from across the globe, enjoy talking about cities. Some English students share stories about moving from rural areas and small towns to an international city; other students enjoy talking about their travel experiences. Discussions naturally touch on housing, employment, and lifestyle choices – or what education bureaucrats call “life skills”. English language learners – whether adult immigrants creating a new home or university students living abroad – can reflect on their experiences and share insights discussing urban life.
This month Exploring Cities, one of my favorite chapters, is highlighted as a free, reproducible chapter on the Compelling Conversations website. Like the other 44 chapters, this chapter includes over 30 questions, five proverbs, a dozen quotations, and five classroom activities. Meeting new people, seeing new sights, and holding satisfying conversations are classic urban experiences. Why not bring those discussions and experiences into your English classroom too?
Ask more. Know more. Share more. Speak more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit www.CompellingConversations.com .
Easy English Times, an adult education newspaper for English language learners published in California, adapts a chapter from Compelling Conversations each month. The editors selected “Reading Pleasures”, one of my favorite chapters, to run in their November-December issue. Since Easy English Times focuses on the needs of beginning and intermediate ESL students, the editor selects the most accessible sections and adds dictionary definitions, creating a satisfying instant conversation activity.
Here is the Easy English Times Instant Activity for November-December.
Instant activity: Conversation
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Reading pleasures and tastes
The activities below come from a book for English as a second language learners by Eric Roth and Toni Aberson. The title is “Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics.” (See ad on this page.)
Exchanging views: Reading is a solitary* activity, yet it can bring people together in conversation. Interview your partner and exchange reading experiences.
1. What are some books that you have read and enjoyed?
2. Have you ever re-read a book? Which? Why? How many times?
3. Do you have a library card? Do you like to browse* in bookstores?
4. Have you ever been in a book club? What kinds of books do/did you read in the book club?
5. Did your mother or other family member read to you as a child? Did you have a favorite story? What was it?
6. Where did you first learn to read? At home? At school?
7. What were your favorite books as a child? Who was your favorite author? Why?
8. As a teenager, did you have any favorite books, comics, or magazines? Can you describe them?
9. Which magazines or newspapers do you scan now*? Why?
10. Who are some famous writers from your country?
11. Can you think of some movies that are adapted from novels?
12. Do you prefer reading fiction or non-fiction? Why?
13. Do you have a favorite writer or poet? Who?
14. Did you have to memorize any poems in school? Which?
15. Have your read any good biographies? Memoirs*? Self-help books?
16. Are you reading a book now? What is it? Can you describe it?
17. Do you think books and magazines make good gifts? Why?
18. What book are you planning to read in the near future?
Quotations: Memorize your favorite quotation and author’s name. Share it with someone.
1. “Reading is to the mind, what exercise is to the body.” –Richard Steele (1672-1729), Irish writer
2. “No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting*.” –Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762), British author/critic
3. “The pleasure of all reading is doubled* when one lives with another who shares the same books.” –Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923), short story writer and poet
4. “However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act upon them?” –Buddha (563-483 BC), founder of Buddhism
5. “Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them all.” –Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), essayist
6. “I would rather be poor in a cottage* full of books than a king without the desire to read.” –Thomas B. Macaulay (1800-1859), historian
7. “A book should serve as the ax* for the frozen sea within us.” –Franz Kafka (1883-1924), novelist
8. “Any book that helps a child to form the habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.” –Maya Angelou (1928-), American poet
9. “A truly great book should be read in youth*, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight.” –Robertson Davies (1913-1995), Canadian novelist
On your own: Bring in a book which is important to you. Show the book to the class. Tell them the author, the title, and the reason why this book is important to you.
VOCABULARY HELP*
ax – An ax is a tool for cutting wood.
browse – If you browse in a store, you look at things in a casual way, in the hope that you might find something you like.
cottage – A cottage is a small house, usually in the country.
doubled – When something doubles or when you doubled it, it becomes twice as great in number, amount, or size.
essays – Essays are short pieces of writing on a particular subject.
lasting – You can use lasting to describe a situation, result, or agreement that continues to exist or have an effect for a very long time.
memoirs – A person’s memoirs are a written account of the people who they have known and events that they remember.
scan – When you scan written material, you look through it quickly in order to find important or interesting information.
solitary – A solitary activity is one that you do alone.
youth – Someone’s youth is the period of their life during which they are a child, before they are a fully mature adult.
I love these monthly columns because they keep me connected to adult education and my decade of teaching immigrants and refugees in Los Angeles and Santa Monica. The atmosphere in those classrooms, where everyone volunteered and no one worried about grades, is something quite special. We were just adults sharing our experiences, insights, and languages.
Who makes the rules? Who chooses the rulers? Can citizens peacefully replace ineffective, unpopular leaders?
Yes, we can!
In the United States of America, voters enjoyed their opportunity to hire and fire their President. People voted, machines counted the votes, and millions of people around the nation smiled, laughed, and felt hopeful again. Senator Obama, as so often, captured the power and beauty of the peaceful transfer of power in his eloquent speech Tuesday.
“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. “
Barack Hussein Obama (1961- ), President-elect of the United States
What a patriotic quotation celebrating freedom! Cara Fulton, at www.maestrousa.com and ESL maven, suggests adding Obama’s quote to the list of great quotes and next edition of Compelling Conversations. Cara, who helps students develop the full spectrum of English language skills, sees the power of Obama’s election as a celebration of America. Reka, another friend and ESL teacher is addingexcerpts from Obama’s speech to her oral skills course for international students. (Note: Reka watch the two times – back to back – on election night.) Americans, across the country, felt united in a shared moment of hope and pride.Our system, the democratic system, still works! Voting counts.
We are coming back – to our ideals, our citizens, and our best traditions! The United States, the first nation explicitly created on enlightenment ideals, will become an inspiring 21st century nation.
This surprising election seems like a very teachable moment. Immigrants and international students can rest assured that they made the right decision to come to the United States. English language learners around the world should feel the enlarged possibilities that come with our strange tongue. European sceptics and Arab critics should candidly reassess their prejudices about Americans and the American government. After all, Obama – the son of an international African student and an adventurous Midwestern scholar – has just won the Presidency of the United States. Where else could that happen?
ESL teachers, especially in the United States, can and should celebrate this democratic tradition in our classrooms. Immigrants, refugees, and international students – in the United States and other western democratic countries – often understand the power of democracy on a deeper level than many jaded Americans. The passion of students for good government, justice, and voting will lead to an engaging discussions. Let’s give students a chance to speak up in our classes, and marvel at the election of Obama.
