آموزش زبان انگلیسی

گروه آموزش زبان انگلیسی ناحیه ۱ زنجان

آموزش زبان انگلیسی

گروه آموزش زبان انگلیسی ناحیه ۱ زنجان

چگونه Essay بنویسیم؟

 Essay به روشی از مقاله نویسی گفته میشه که سازمان یافته است.آغاز و پایان مناسب، عنوان های جذاب و....داشته باشد ادامه مطلب ...

Self-correction,. Group correction and Student-to-student correction

. This article will explore and explain the positives and negatives of these different types of corrections

  Self-correction: In a classroom that focuses on conversation and self-responsibility, students should correct their English quite frequently. In doing so, they increasingly notice and correct problem spots, both individual weak points and ones connected to their native language. For example, Japanese learners often drop articles (a/an/the) and plural "s," as well as confuse gender pronouns (he/she). Even higher-level learners have this problem. But with repeated self-correction, students better remember the right language and use it... which leads to establishing the right pattern, or habit... which leads to correct use of the language over time. In addition, when students' confidence increases with self-correction because they catch and correct their own mistakes.

Students may correct themselves in the middle of a conversation, such as, "I goed to... I mean, I went to the beach yesterday." This is obviously ideal. Although you want to strive for little to no intervention on your part, students may require a minor prompt. You could raise an eyebrow, for example, or say, "Excuse me?" This signals a mistake was made, and the speaker should review and correct what he just said.

Self-correction should take place quickly, hardly affecting the flow of the conversation. If students correct themselves too much, it can have the opposite affect. It hinders fluency. You also can't always rely on students to catch their own mistakes. These may go uncorrected.

positives: encourages recognition of mistakes; builds confidence; aids retention.

negatives: students may not be able to recognize mistakes; overuse hinders the flow of conversation.

...confidence increases with self-correction


Group correction: A student doesn't always catch his own mistakes, though, no matter how skilled he may be. Or perhaps you don't want to interrupt an activity. Or maybe you feel as though you have corrected too much during the lesson already, so teacher-to-student correction is out, too. Group correction is an alternative, with peers in small groups pointing out mistakes.

The idea is that groups of students work together to help one another. Because large groups can prove intimidating, five students or fewer together end up as ideal.  With role-plays, presentations, interviews, debates, or any other type of group activity, students note mistakes for a feedback session later. Similarly, one student can sit out, observe the conversation, and jot down notes. Other students then rotate out to observe as the activity continues. A correction session follows in which your English learners play the role of the teacher. Always stress that feedback should be positive, and that everyone benefits by pointing out and correcting mistakes together!

Group correction has the potential to foster teamwork, as well as a sense of support in the classroom. Both are important in creating a positive learning environment where students can feel comfortable experimenting with the language. It also provides the opportunity for learners to notice language problems without help or interruption by the teacher. Unfortunately, this also means that any errors (unfamiliar language, or language above the class's ability level) will remain uncorrected. As I wrote in "Mistakes, Errors, and Correction," you don't always want to spend time teaching new material outside the scope of the lesson. And what of the times you do want to take a little detour, though? Unfortunately with group correction, you'll miss opportunities to fine tune your learners' abilities.

Two final points: stronger students will help weaker students in the group, yet everyone benefits. Chances are high that other people in the group made similar mistakes, including the more adept students--just no one noticed. Hence everyone gets reinforcement of the correct language. Student talking time also rises, because learners must point out and discuss the problems.

positives: fosters teamwork and support; stronger students help weaker students; increases student talk time, as everyone talks about the mistakes.

negatives: students may not catch mistakes; errors (unfamiliar language, or English not known to be unnatural) will go uncorrected.



Student-to-student correction: This isn't so dissimilar from group correction. It has many of the same advantages and disadvantages.  The primary difference, though, comes with students working in pairs rather than groups.

You can use this type of correction in any conversational activity. As with all conversations, the primary objective is to exchange ideas and/or information. Assign a secondary objective of listening for, identifying, and correcting any mistakes. Students could also work in pairs with a worksheet, discussing and correcting sentences with mistakes that you have purposely made. Both encourage high student talk time, and fosters comprehension and teamwork.

On the negative side, students could miss problems with the language, or even correct something that doesn't need correction. In group correction, these problems are less likely, because everyone benefits from more than one person's knowledge of English. Student-to-student correction also has a tendency to eat up a lot of time.

positives: encourages high student talk time, comprehension, and teamwork.

                                                    

negatives: students might not identify the mistakes, or might try to correct language that isn't wrong; can be time-consuming.

If any of the techniques for correction get overused, you limit their effectiveness.In a typical class, some combination of teacher-to-student, self-correction, and peer-to-peer correction provides the most benefit. It ensures that you have the chance to point out problems with the language. It also allows students to build confidence and responsibility through self-correction, plus language recognition skills while correcting a partner or a group member.  When employed together, we produce proficient speakers of English.

  
Written by Chris Cotter

Some English animal idioms

Like most languages, in English animals are used in many idiomatic expressions.  we take a look at some basic, widely used, expressions:

 


 Are you bull-headed?'  What does that mean?

Here are a few natural English expressions (idioms) using animals. Like most languages, in English animals are used in many idiomatic expressions.  we take a look at some basic, widely used, expressions:
 1.to pig out  : To eat too much:
Example:'I really pigged out at the barbeque. I've never eaten so much.'


2.to chicken out:To be too scared to do something usually after previously agreeing to do it:

Example: 'I was going to do a parachute jump, but I chickened out on the day.'


3.to be a dark horse : A person who keeps their interests and ideas secret, especially someone who has a surprising ability or skill:

Example: 'I didn't know that Sandra could play the drums. She's such a dark horse .'


4.to be a pussy cat: A person who is very gentle.
 Example:'Don't worry. He looks frightening, but really he's a pussy cat.'


5.to be bull-headed:This adjective is used to describe a person who is stubborn:
Example : 'Stop being so bull-headed and come to the cinema with us. Everyone is going except you.'


6.to be in the dog house:This expression means 'to be in trouble':

Example :'I'm in the dog house with my wife after I forgot out anniversary.'


7.to smell fishy:When a situation 'smells fishy' we think that it is dishonest or suspicious:
Example : 'My son's story smells fishy. He said that he'd been in the library all day, but I think it's closed today.'


8.to be a rat:This negative noun is used to describe a person who deserts his friends or associates, especially in times of trouble. Someone who is not loyal:
Example : 'Michael is such a rat. He left as soon as the trouble started.


9.to be like a bull in a china shop:When someone is like a bull in a china shop they act carelessly in the way they move or behave.
Example :'The footballer ran around like a bull in a china shop until he was sent off.'

10.to talk the hind legs off a donkey:This expression is used to describe a person who talks too much:
Example : 'Her speech seemed to go on for ever; she could talk the hind legs off a donkey.


11.To have ants in your pants :To be unable to keep still because you are very excited or worried about something.
 example :There's a test tomorrow, and he can't concentrate or keep still. He looks like he's got ants in his pants.

12.To badger someone: To pester someone into doing something.
 example:Don't let people badger you into having a drink. 


13. Bark worse than bite.Used to describe someone who makes threats but never carries them out

For example:Oh don't worry, he's always shouting at people, but his bark is worse than his bite.

 

How to correct the students` mistakes

 Let the students make mistakes. They need to. We all learn best through making mistakes. 
Trial and error is the name of the game .


 


Let the students make mistakes. They need to. We all learn best through making mistakes. 
Trial and error is the name of the game .
1. 
Give the students time to realise they've made a mistake and try to correct it themselves. If 
they can't, maybe someone else can help them. If nobody can help then you can either step 
in and give the correct form or make a note of it for later. 
2 .
As far as possible, correct mistakes anonymously. Do this by making notes of students' 
mistakes as you monitor (see TT10 for further explanation) then putting them on the board 
later and give the students themselves the opportunity to correct them, in pairs or small 
groups. If no one knows the right answer, give it to them, but only as a last resort. 
Anonymous error correction is a kind way to deal with mistakes. It isn't important who 
made the mistake originally -the point is, can the students all correct it? 

3 .

Extra Info: 

Mistakes are good things and students need to know that they are. I explain like this: "Please make 
lots and lots of mistakes in my lessons - new mistakes, mind you, not the same old ones over and 
over. I like mistakes because we can all learn from them and because if you don't make any I won't 
have a job”. If I find a student who doesn't make any mistakes in my lesson I will move that student 
to a higher level class because she/he obviously isn't learning anything at this level 

Learning English is like learning to ride a bike - you fall off a lot, but you get the hang of it in the 
end. You will make a lot of mistakes but you will be able to communicate effectively in the end. 
Very few people become successful international cyclists and the chances are that even though you 
can ride a bike you are not a professional cyclist. Very few students reach mother-tongue 
(supposedly error-free) level but many students learn to communicate very well in English in spite 
of this. You will probably never have error-free English so accept that you will always make some 
mistakes -just try to learn from them and learn to live with your linguistic imperfections. 

When a student makes a mistake it is usually counter-productive to say "No!"/"That's wrong!"/"Are 
you serious?"/"How long did you say you've been studying English?" etc. It's often kinder to say 
"Not bad"/"Nearly"/"Good try"/"That's an interesting mistake" etc .

Some say that you shouldn't laugh at students' mistakes but I often do. They're often very funny so 
why shouldn't I? I find it breaks the "mistakes taboo" and makes linguistic risks and disasters an 
acceptable part of the classroom culture. Students catch on very quickly and we have a good giggle 
together when someone messes up. 

The ability to correct themselves when they make a mistake is an important one for students to 
develop. Encourage it and give them time to correct themselves - don't jump in immediately to 
correct them, keen though you are to prove that you are doing your job. Most students (and indeed 
some teachers) seem to think that it is the teacher's job to correct students mistakes but this is not 
necessarily so. Yes, teachers can correct their students endlessly but how will that help the students' 
when they go out into the big wide world - who will be there to correct them then?  


It's much better for the students if they get into the habit of listening to themselves when they are 
speaking and correct themselves as they go along. Obviously they won't be able to correct all the 
mistakes they make but they will be able to correct a lot of them .

 

(Present Practice Produce (PPP) and Task-based approach(TBL

 A PPP  and TBL are two approaches for learning.

 A PPP lesson would proceed in the following manner.

·         First, the teacher presents an item of language in a clear context to get across its meaning. This could be done in a variety of ways: through a text, a situation build, a dialogue etc.

·         Students are then asked to complete a controlled practice stage, where they may have to repeat target items through choral and individual drilling, fill gaps or match halves of sentences. All of this practice demands that the student uses the language correctly and helps them to become more comfortable with it.

·         Finally, they move on to the production stage, sometimes called the 'free practice' stage. Students are given a communication task such as a role play and are expected to produce the target language and use any other language that has already been learnt and is suitable for completing it.


The problems with PPP
It all sounds quite logical but teachers who use this method will soon identify problems with it:

·         Students can give the impression that they are comfortable with the new language as they are producing it accurately in the class. Often though a few lessons later, students will either not be able to produce the language correctly or even won't produce it at all.

·         Students will often produce the language but overuse the target structure so that it sounds completely unnatural.

·         Students may not produce the target language during the free practice stage because they find they are able to use existing language resources to complete the task.


A Task-based approach(TBL)
Task -based learning offers an alternative for language teachers. In a task-based lesson the teacher doesn't pre-determine what language will be studied, the lesson is based around the completion of a central task and the language studied is determined by what happens as the students complete it. The lesson follows certain stages.

Pre-task
The teacher introduces the topic and gives the students clear instructions on what they will have to do at the task stage and might help the students to recall some language that may be useful for the task. The pre-task stage can also often include playing a recording of people doing the task. This gives the students a clear model of what will be expected of them. The students can take notes and spend time preparing for the task.

Task
The students complete a task in pairs or groups using the language resources that they have as the teacher monitors and offers encouragement.

Planning
Students prepare a short oral or written report to tell the class what happened during their task. They then practise what they are going to say in their groups. Meanwhile the teacher is available for the students to ask for advice to clear up any language questions they may have.

Report 
Students then report back to the class orally or read the written report. The teacher chooses the order of when students will present their reports and may give the students some quick feedback on the content. At this stage the teacher may also play a recording of others doing the same task for the students to compare. 

Analysis
The teacher then highlights relevant parts from the text of the recording for the students to analyse. They may ask students to notice interesting features within this text. The teacher can also highlight the language that the students used during the report phase for analysis.

Practice
Finally, the teacher selects language areas to practise based upon the needs of the students and what emerged from the task and report phases. The students then do practice activities to increase their confidence and make a note of useful language.

The advantages of TBL
Task-based learning has some clear advantages

·         Unlike a PPP approach, the students are free of language control. In all three stages they must use all their language resources rather than just practising one pre-selected item.

·         A natural context is developed from the students' experiences with the language that is personalised and relevant to them. With PPP it is necessary to create contexts in which to present the language and sometimes they can be very unnatural.

·         The students will have a much more varied exposure to language with TBL. They will be exposed to a whole range of lexical phrases, collocations and patterns as well as language forms.

·         The language explored arises from the students' needs. This need dictates what will be covered in the lesson rather than a decision made by the teacher or the coursebook.

·         It is a strong communicative approach where students spend a lot of time communicating. PPP lessons seem very teacher-centred by comparison. Just watch how much time the students spend communicating during a task-based lesson.

·         It is enjoyable and motivating.


Conclusion
PPP offers a very simplified approach to language learning. It is based upon the idea that you can present language in neat little blocks, adding from one lesson to the next. However, research shows us that we cannot predict or guarantee what the students will learn and that ultimately a wide exposure to language is the best way of ensuring that students will acquire it effectively. Restricting their experience to single pieces of target language is unnatural.

For more information see 'A Framework for Task-Based Learning' by Jane Wills, Longman; 'Doing Task-Based Teaching' by Dave and Jane Willis, OUP 2007. 
Also see www.willis-elt.co.uk

Richard Frost, British Council, Turkey