Winter 1999 35

ESL students are often reluctant to readauthentic English texts (e.g., magazines,newspapers) because they feel the material isbeyond their reach. Current events portfolios,however, help students focus on the mainpoints of such texts and draw their attentionto what they do understand—rather thanwhat they do not understand—therebyincreasing their confidence significantly.Once students realize they are, in fact, capa-ble of reading and understanding theseauthentic texts, they will discover a wealth of

interesting and entertaining information attheir fingertips and a continuous source ofsecond language input.

Procedure1. Have students select a short newspaper

or magazine article that is of interest to them.I require the article length to be at least half amagazine page or its equivalent, if from anewspaper. Bring a sample of sources toclass, including local and regional newspa-pers, magazines of general interest, and mag-

azines on specific topics, such as sports ormusic. Encourage students to bring their owntexts from home. By allowing students togenerate the content of the course throughtheir text selection, they become moreempowered readers.

2. Ask students to read their articles athome and complete the first four sections ofa portfolio worksheet that you have prepared(see sample worksheet, p. 36). In Section I onImportant Vocabulary, students should writea few words that are important to understand-

of the sport and learn about the game fromthis student through a question-and-answerexercise. For speaking or writing, studentscan describe their impressions of the U.S. ver-sion of the game and compare and contrast itwith the brand played in their home countries.Finally, for a culture lesson, students can betaken to local games or even practices (e.g.,little league or high school) to experience theU.S. sporting tradition firsthand.

ConclusionThis activity proved to be successful in

helping students recognize and isolate namesin discourse. It was also an enjoyable andinstructional experience for them and veryeasy to implement. This would be a suitableactivity for beginning- to low intermediate-level students from junior high or middleschool age and up. Go Yankees!

Note1 For copies of the handouts needed to

complete this activity, please go to www.u-aizu.ac.jp/~luther or send an e-mailrequest to luther@u-aizu.ac.jp. Copies willbe sent as attached files. Please specify apreference of file type, either .txt or .wpd.

AuthorLuther Killebrew currently teaches

EAP/ESP (computer science) at theUniversity of Aizu in Fukushima Prefecture,in Japan. Since coming to Japan in July1988, he has taught in a variety of settingsand levels within the Japanese education sys-tem. His primary research interests includecomputer assisted language learning (CALL)and the creation of materials for false-begin-ner adult students in Japan.

Visitors: ___________________

Player Position1. ________________ __________2. ________________ __________3. ________________ __________4. ________________ __________5. ________________ __________6. ________________ __________7. ________________ __________8. ________________ __________9. ________________ __________10. ______________ __________

Home Team: __________________

Player Position1. ________________ __________2. ________________ __________3. ________________ __________4. ________________ __________5. ________________ __________6. ________________ __________7. ________________ __________8. ________________ __________9. ________________ __________10. ______________ __________

Sample Exercise: World Series Name RecognitionStarting Line-up

Batter

1. _____________

2. _____________

3. _____________

How did they get out?

❑ Ground out❑ Fly Ball❑ Strike-out

❑ Ground out❑ Fly Ball❑ Strike-out

❑ Ground out❑ Fly Ball❑ Strike-out

Fielder(s) Position

______________ to ___________________________ to ( )______________

______________ to ___________________________ to ( )______________

______________ to ___________________________ to ( )

How did each team make their outs in each inning? Fill in the correct information.

Top of the 1st

Batter

4. _____________

5. _____________

6. _____________

How did they get out?

❑ Ground out❑ Fly Ball❑ Strike-out

❑ Ground out❑ Fly Ball❑ Strike-out

❑ Ground out❑ Fly Ball❑ Strike-out

Fielder(s) Position

______________ to ___________________________ to ( )______________

______________ to ___________________________ to ( )______________

______________ to ___________________________ to ( )______________

Bottom of the 1st

Note: Continue outs list for each inning, for example, for Top of the 2nd, Bottom of the 2nd,and so on.

Current Events Portfolios

Nicole King

36 TESOL Journal

ing their articles, identifythe parts of speech, andgive the meaning of thewords in the context of

their articles. For example, one of my stu-dents who selected an article on a proposedtrigger-lock for handguns chose trigger asone of his vocabulary words. He identified itas a noun in this context and defined it as alever or button that is pushed to fire a gun. Inthis section, students may use dictionaries ifthey wish, but they must write their defini-tions using words that their classmates canunderstand easily.

Section II, Important Information, isdesigned to help students identify the keyideas in their articles by responding to wh-questions about their content. They shouldthen use this information to write short syn-opses of their articles in Section III, theSummary section.

In Section IV, the Opinion section, stu-dents give their opinions of, or reactions to,the articles. They also ask my opinion aboutsome aspect of their articles or about arelated topic.

Section V, the final section of the work-sheet, is left blank for my use. Here I writecomments to the students about their articlesand worksheet responses. This section isexplained further in Step 3 below.

3. Once a week, ask each student to sub-mit a new article (original or photocopy),accompanied by a worksheet. I skim the arti-cles, read the worksheets, and respond in thelast section. My responses are based on thecontent of the articles and the questionsposed by the students on the worksheets. Isometimes give my reasons for agreeing withthe students’ opinions or sometimes playdevil’s advocate. For instance, the studentwho wrote about the article on trigger-locksdid not think that the devices were a goodidea because if he needed to use a gun todefend himself, he would want to be able todo it as quickly as possible. I agreed withhim on this point, but added that carryingguns does not necessarily keep people safebecause their own guns are often used againstthem. If a student has misunderstood anymajor point, I also try to provide clarifica-tion. Each student keeps a collection of his orher articles together in a folder throughoutthe course.

4. Approximately every 2 weeks, groupstudents into threes to discuss their articles.They are not to discuss every article theyread, but should choose one recent articlethat they feel would interest their group.Students should take turns spending approxi-mately 7 min each discussing their articles.For the first 2 min, they should summarizetheir articles. For the next 2 min, they should

add their opinions on the topics of their arti-cles. For the final 3 min, they should leadminidiscussions of their topics and elicitfeedback from the other two group members.The student who chose the trigger-lock topic,for example, questioned his classmates aboutgun-control laws in their home countries andasked whether they would vote for or againsta trigger-lock law.

I usually offer several general questions asexamples for students who feel unsure aboutleading the discussion. This 7-min process isrepeated so that every student has a chance tolead a group discussion. Finally, the groupsdisband and all students write a brief sum-mary of the feedback they received from theirclassmates on the articles that they presented.

SuggestionsI have used this activity with intensive

English program students from intermediateto advanced levels. However, I believe itcould be used successfully with secondary

school students or adults as well. I generallylead the students through completing theworksheet the first time using an article thatwe all read together. This helps to clarify myexpectations for the assignment.

ConclusionThis activity is designed to be an ongoing

process that increases students’ confidenceand skills with each article they successfullydigest and discuss. They are motivated tofind high-interest articles because the successof their group discussions depends on theirchoice of articles and on their effective com-munication of the content.

AuthorNicole King is currently an instructor in

the Intensive English Program at PittsburgState University in Kansas, in the UnitedStates. She has also taught ESL in SanDiego, California, and EFL as a PeaceCorps volunteer in Chad, in Central Africa.

Name: _______________________________ Today’s Date: ____________________Title of Article: _______________________ Title of Newspaper/Magazine: ______________________________________________ __________________________________Date of Publication: _____________I. Important Vocabulary : Choose 2 to 5 words from the article.

Word: Meaning:1. ___________________ ( ) ______________________________________________2. ___________________ ( ) ______________________________________________3. ___________________ ( ) ______________________________________________4. ___________________ ( ) ______________________________________________5. ___________________ ( ) ______________________________________________II. Important Information : Write key words (NOT complete sentences).1. Who? _____________________________________________________________________

2. What? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. When? ____________________________________________________________________

4. Where? ____________________________________________________________________

5. Why? ______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

6. How? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. Other Information: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

III. Summary : Explain the article in your own words. Use the information in Section II.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

IV. Opinion : Give your thoughts on the article. Include a question for your instructor.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Question: ____________________________________________________________________

V. Instructor’s Comments: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PTi S Sample Current Events Portfolio Worksheet