Professional Development Workshop: Best Practices in ESL/EFL Teaching

July 18 – 29, 2011Presented at SINAV Koleji

Ankara, Turkeyby Helen Harper and Angelo Pitillo

The American Language InstituteSchool of Continuing and Professional Studies

New York University

Monday, July 18, 10:00 am -1:00 pm

Agenda

1. Introductions

2. Characteristics of good teachers

3. Workshop #1: Approach, Method, Technique

4. Beliefs about teaching

Overall goals:

• Review current thinking about ESL/EFL teaching

• Apply this thinking in hands-on activities• Encourage the practice of reflection and

collaboration• Encourage the development of a community

of mutually supportive teachers

Introductions

• Your name?• Where are you teaching?• What skills/levels/grades have you taught or

will you be teaching?• Tell us one thing about yourself not related to

teaching.

Warm-up activity:

Freewriting:Who was your best teacher?What made him/her a great teacher?

Small groups discuss:Choose a secretaryMake a list

Characteristics of good teachers

Personal Qualities: Bottom line: Be yourself.

Techniques/skills/behaviors:Can be learnedExpanded your entire teaching life

-- BREAK –10 minutes

Workshop 1:

Approach Method Technique

Approach:

Begins with our beliefs about language and teaching.

Beliefs about teaching: Activity

• Complete Handout• Discuss in small groups

• List some beliefs which guide your teaching• Discuss

Sources for our beliefs about teaching:

• Your own experience learning English• Your own classroom experience• The expectations of your school• Your own personality• Your own education

(degrees/diplomas/certificates/workshops, etc)• Following a specific approach

[from Emilson, E., Munoz, T., Payant, C., Barron, F., Maldonado, C., Loreto, D., Siders, N., Otero, D., Molina, J., & Bunting, J. (2011). An online EFL teacher training course. Universidad Pedagogica Nacional.]

Lunch

Monday, July 18, 1:00 -4:00 pm

Agenda

1. Survey of historical methods

2. Communicative Language Teaching

3. Program overview

4. Course website

5. Reflection

Methods: A personal history

• Grammar Translation Method• Audiolingual Method• Direct Method

Grammar Translation Method• Main goal of language learning: reading works of literature in

the target language • Language learning: memorizing rules and facts + manipulating

syntax and morphology• Correctness highly valued, emphasized, and enforced • L1 a reference for analysis and medium of instruction• Grammar taught deductively: rules + mechanical practice. • Teacher the authority in the classroom; students passive

[from Larsen-Freeman, D. (1986). Techniques and principles in language teaching. Oxford, Oxford University Press, p.4-17 in Emilson, E., Munoz, T., Payant, C., Barron, F., Maldonado, C., Loreto, D., Siders, N., Otero, D., Molina, J., & Bunting, J. (2011). An online EFL teacher training course. Universidad Pedagogica Nacional.]

Discussion:

Does this sound familiar?

Audiolingual Method• Goal: to reach native-like proficiency• Use of L1 prohibited• Heavy use of memorization and drills• Grammar focus on repetition and internalization of

structures, not analysis• Order of instruction: listening, speaking, reading, then

writing

[from Larsen-Freeman, D. (1986). Techniques and principles in language teaching. Oxford, Oxford University Press, p.31-48 in Emilson, E., Munoz, T., Payant, C., Barron, F., Maldonado, C., Loreto, D., Siders, N., Otero, D., Molina, J., & Bunting, J. (2011). An online EFL teacher training course. Universidad Pedagogica Nacional.]

Discussion:

Does this sound familiar?

Direct Method

• Content focus on the ‘here and now’• Use of L2 forbidden• Complete and meaningful input (Q & A)• Pronunciation central• Reading texts introduced orally

[from Larsen-Freeman, D. (1986). Techniques and principles in language teaching. Oxford, Oxford University Press, p.18-28 in Emilson, E., Munoz, T., Payant, C., Barron, F., Maldonado, C., Loreto, D., Siders, N., Otero, D., Molina, J., & Bunting, J. (2011). An online EFL teacher training course. Universidad Pedagogica Nacional.]

Discussion:

Does this sound familiar?

Communicative Language Teaching• Goal: Communicative Competence • Authentic materials• Students: communicators (small groups)• Teachers: facilitators, advisor, co-communicator• Student autonomy encouraged• Function over form • Integrated skills

[from Larsen-Freeman, D. (1986). Techniques and principles in language teaching. Oxford, Oxford University Press, p. 131-135.]

Assignment for Tuesday, July 19

1. Read article “Communicative Language Teaching Today” by Jack C. Richards, p. 1-5, 23-27, and 45-46. (Link on course website)

2. Be prepared to discuss the article and your reaction to it. Bring:

3 reactions/opinions3 questions

Other methods

• Total Physical Response (TPR)• The Silent Way• Community Language Learning• The Natural Approach• Suggestopedia

Resources for more details about methods:

Larsen-Freeman, D. (1986). Techniques and principles in language teaching. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Brown, H. (2001). Teaching by principles: an interactive approach to language pedagogy (2nd ed.). White Plains, NY, Longman.

Program overview:

• Content• Activities/assignments• Schedule• Teams

American Language InstituteSchool of Continuing and Professional Studies

New York University

SINAV Koleji

Professional Development WorkshopJuly 18-29

Program Title: Best Practices in ESL/EFL Instruction

Schedule: Mon-Fri, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm and 2:00-4:00 pm

Program Overview:This Teacher Training Course will provide participants with a review of issues in the theory and practice of ESL/EFL instruction. Using the example of NYU’s American Language Institute, the course will give participants an introduction to best practices in one of the oldest and most respected University-based English language programs in the US. They will also be given opportunities to expand their knowledge of key issues in ESL/EFL pedagogy and to apply this knowledge in a series of hands-on workshops. In each of these workshops, participants will be encouraged to relate the issues discussed to their own classroom practice, and to develop materials which relate to the courses they will be teaching in the coming year. At the end of the program participants should walk away with a broader understanding of the current thinking in the field as well as a set of materials they have developed themselves which they can implement in their classrooms.

The program will consist of four workshops:

Approach, Method, and Technique: We will discuss the importance of articulating an overarching theoretical approach to teaching ESL/EFL appropriate to a particular linguistic and cultural context, as well as how to apply such a theoretical framework in curriculum development, syllabus design, and lesson planning.

Interactive Skills: We will explore various ways to construct communicative activities for teaching all language skills. We will look at group work, task-based, and information-gap activities. Participants will work individually and in small groups to develop activities they can use in their classes in the coming year.

Assessment: We will examine various types of assessment and then develop guidelines for selecting appropriate assessment techniques for particular learning contexts. We will then engage in hands-on practice constructing effective assessment tools.

Technology: We will examine some of the current technologies available for use in the classroom and try to identify contexts in which technology may enable teachers to improve the learning experience for their students. The emphasis will be to find the appropriate tools for each teacher’s level of technological comfort and expertise.

Course activities

• Readings• Discussions• Reflections• Activity planning• Textbook evaluation• Microteaching• Final project/presentation

A and B Teams

We will divide the class into two teams for many activities so that everyone has more opportunities to participate.

Helen and Angelo will alternate between the two teams when they are separated.

We will both join the class when we are all together

Course configurations:

“Class” – All of us

“Team” – A or B, about half the class

“Group” – Smaller configurations of 2-6

A Team members:

•BURCU UNSAL•EFSUN ELMAS•EZGİ KARACA•FUNDA SEZGİN•GANİME ARDA•İNCİ KOCAİŞLER

•MERVE AKTAR•NAZLI MUTLU•NESLİHAN AVCI•NESLİHAN FERİK•OSMAN BALTACI•SAM SAID•VİLDAN ŞENGÜL

B Team members:

•ASLIHAN PULAT•AYŞEGÜL DÜZGÜNEL•BURCU YEDİER•EBRU ASLAN•EMEL YALMAN•GÜLÇİN BORAN•GÜLŞAH IŞIK

•HAYRÜNNİSA EROGLU•HENRY FADL•TÜRKAN ITIR BAYAZIT•ONUR ÇELİK•REZEDA KHAZINA•SEZEN DENERİ

Course Website

http://sinav-best-practices-course-site.wikispaces.com/

Accessing website

• Accessible via the email you received • Requires joining Wikispaces• Ignore request to join wiki

Joining Wikispaces:

Create a Wikispaces account:

Team Blog Sites: Reflections

• Each team has its own blog site

• This is where you will reflect on each day’s workshops at the end of each PM session.

• Assignment each evening: Read all reflections in your team and respond to at least three.

Team Blog Sites:

• Team A members, use this link: http://sinav-team-a-blog.wikispaces.com/

• Team B members, use this link: http://sinav-team-b-blog.wikispaces.com/

Team Blog Site:

Team Blog Site:

New post subject: “Reflection #1”

Write your reflection:

Post:

Reflection #1:

Write about your experience of our first day working together. You can write about anything. You could begin with a question a comment, or a suggestion. You could continue with the theme of characteristics of great teachers or focus on something else.

Homework

• Write a comment about at least three of your team members’ reflections on the team blog page.

• Read “Communicative Language Teaching Today” pp. 1-5, 23-27, and 45-46 and prepare comments and/or questions. (Link to article on course site.)

Comment on a blog post: Select the post in “DISCUSSIONS”

Type your comment in “Reply” and hit “Post”

Course website: Readings

Reflections: The goal

To encourage the practice of reflective teaching

To begin a conversation which may nurture the creation of a community of mutually supportive instructors