All the learners are elementary level young adults (between 16-21years) of Sri Lankan origin and have Sinhala or Tamil as their first language. They are still in fulltime secondary or post-secondary education. Though these learners have learnt English at school from an early age, their past language learning experiences seem to have not helped them due to lack of a language-rich learning environment with communicative focus. They have little exposure to English outside the classroom and few opportunities to practice English in real-life situations. Their reasons for learning English reveal that the majority is extrinsically motivated by the dominant role of English as a language of education, employment, international communication, opportunities and social status. Learners are different from each other in terms of intelligence-types but many have active or passive experiential learning styles. Many have stated their preference for games, oral communication, pronunciation, and group/pair wok in English classes. As per my observations, their strengths were grammar and reading, while many found listening tasks difficult. Although they have a postitive attitude towards learning, they largely depend on the teacher due to low levels of learner autonomy.
1.2. The Selected Learner
Geeth, a 17 year old school student from Kottawa, is a native speaker of Sinhala. Like many children from families with upward social mobility, he receives a great deal of support, encouragement from his parents to improve English. While he shares most of the characteristics stated in Section 1.1, it was felt that his intrinsic motivation is stronger than the extrinsic factors of his motivation. Geeth is a kinaesthetic-interpersonal learner with an active-exp...
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...g controlled and process approaches to writing, this activity will help the learner practice writing relevantly by manipulating a model as well as by gathering language resources and ideas prior to writing. This activity will be suitable for elementary learners because it is from a recently published elementary course book.
Works Cited
Raimes, A. (1983). Techniques in teaching writing. 1st. ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Scrivener, J. (2005). Learning Teaching. 2nd.ed. Oxford: Macmillan Education
Shackle, C. (2002). Speakers of South Asian Languages. In: M.Swan, (Ed). Learner English, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp227-243.
Silva, T. (1999). Second language composition instruction: Developments, issues, and directions in ESL. In: B. Kroll, (Ed). Second language writing: Insights for the classroom, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp11-23.
This paper will target ELL students of a secondary age level. It will be assumed they are between levels 3 and 4 of the Ministry of Education ELL/D Performance Standards. This level of student will often need help to elaborate on certain ideas. Sequencing is generally good at this stage, as is accessing prior knowledge, however, a graphic organizer can always benefit a student no matter what level. Grammar is improving greatly through these stages, but things such as homonyms and figures of speech will still be difficult (BC Performance Standards, 2001). Having the students learn how to write a narrative will complete a Prescribed Learning Outcomes for English 10: writing in a variety...
Flynn, K. & Hill, J. (2005). English language learners: A growing population. Mid-Research For Education And Learning, 1-11.
English Composition II has unexpectedly improved my writing into an academic level. As I studied various English reading and writing courses, this class “English Composition II” did not immediately caught my eye. However as I researched about the concepts of this class, the decision to make was not so difficult since I was lacking in critical thinking and the interpretation of works. Also as a Business Major, it made sense that the subject of English would be of interest to me and as a career requirement. During the first weeks, I thought that I would be fully prepared for this course after taking an accelerated course in English during the spring semester. However, after attending class for about a month, I certainly did not expect to learn an entirely new process of writing
Encouraging writing, Methuen & Co. Ltd, London, U.K. Ferneaux, C. Process writing, http://www.rdg.ac.uk/AcaDepts/cl/slals/process.htm (26.11.01) Writing Development, http://www.english.uiuc.edu/405/Witt/Writing_Project/writing_development.htm (26.11.01)
English Language Learners range from Newcomers learning survival English and developing foundational literacy skills to Long-Term English Learners who have had 6 years or more of their education in English yet continue have significant language gaps. These students may speak English with little or no accent and still lack the vocabulary, grammar and grade level literacy to be successful in school. English language learners may remain silent in the classroom as they adjust to a new school, environment, and culture unless he is a native language comrade to interact with. The English language learners are concerned about decoding verbal and non- verbal communication as well as understanding the social culture framework of the school. Most of the time English language learners are observing during instruction, trying to repeat words used by others, memorizing simple phrases and sentences, tired by midday or be frustrated attending long lectures unaccompanied by visual and gestures, relying on first language translation used peer translation or bilingual dictionary, as the students begin to learner they become more involved in the classroom, they can respond non-verbally to commands, statements, and questions in simple form. As their oral comprehension increases, they begin to use simple word and phrases and may use English spontaneously. They can understand short conversation on a simple topic when reading students can understand a narrative text and authentic materials, although they will be below
O’Neill,S., Gish, A. (2008). Teaching English as a second language. South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press.
In our country, learning a language is seen as impossible. This thought results in problems in classes for teachers because most of the students restrain themselves from learning English. It means that we, as teachers, must know how languages are learned and which factors affect learning a language. Learning a second language is parallel with first language acquisition from various aspects. There is a marked difference between learning and acquisition. Children acquire language through a subconscious process during their childhood when they aren’t aware of grammar. This is for the first language of the children; we can say it is for the native language. There is a natural communication in this process in contrast to learning. Learning a language is a conscious process, it consists of rules and principles. The students have conscious knowledge and s/he need to talk about that knowledge, that means it is not communicative. It can be said that while acquisition is a natural process, learning is an artificial process.
Thus, the book answers numerous practical questions that teachers have often struggled with; for example, how to increase the chances of academic success for language learners, how to use technology to teach language effectively, or how to teach language and content material concurrently. From the preface, the author makes it very clear that the book is designed to support language teachers in their journey as new teachers and throughout their teaching careers. In total, the book contains eleven chapters, which have been divided into four parts. The first part, "What Do Language Teachers Think About?" includes topics of foreign/ second language acquisition theories and language teaching methodologies. This part introduces the background knowledge readers will need in their journey as language teachers. The second part, "How Do You Teach a Language?" introduces approaches to teaching and learning that improve students’ writing, listening, speaking and reading abilities. Each chapter in this part includes suggestions for how students can be motivated and describes teaching and testing approaches to assess students ' language skills and academic literacy. The third part, "How Do I Know What to Teach?" is instrumental in helping teachers adopt teaching practices to particular teaching settings. The fourth part, "Where Do I Go from Here?" helps teachers gain a clearer perspective of what language teaching is all about; this section also considers teacher 's self-assessment and personal
The ability to write well is not a naturally acquired skill; it is usually learned or culturally transmitted as a set of practices in formal instructional settings or other environments. Writing skills must be practiced and learned through experience. Writing also involves composing, which implies the ability either to tell or retell pieces of information in the form of narratives or description, or to transform information into new texts, as in expository or argumentative writing. Perhaps it is best viewed as a continuum of activities that range from the more mechanical or formal aspects of “writing down” on the one end, to the more complex act of composing on the other end (Omaggio Hadley, 1993). It is undoubtedly the act of
This research paper highlights the need to acquire spoken English skills in India at a time when India is high on globalization and the positive role played by Spoken English classes in urban India. The process adopted was to meet people attending such classes and seek responses to a questionnaire designed to understand as to why they have joined Spoken English classes. Analysis of the responses to the questionnaire brings to the table, deep insight into reasons for learning to converse in English. It also reveals the urgency for people to learn the language to keep pace with changing times. It very clearly brings out that the new generation looks at proficiency in Spoken English as a much required skill when it comes to employability or better
The development of the global community as a result of advances in technology and transportation has rendered ability to speak and write in a second language increasingly important for educational, business, and personal purposes (Wiegle, 2002). Today, writing is considered a unique language skill with its own features and conventions. The difficulty of learning and teaching L2 writing is now appreciated by educators. Teaching L2 writing to second language learners, on the other hand, is important because mastering writing skill is especially difficult for second language learners, yet it is a vital skill for academic or occupational success. Moreover, writing has a positive effect on academic language proficiency, as it involves exploring advanced lexical and syntactic expression (Warschauer, 2010).
Furthermore, writing helps learners to think in an observable way, it makes them discover their manner of reflection instead of keeping it in their minds. In genera writing has several purposes, in EFL classes writing aims to improve learning as it is claimed by Hedge(2000,p.300) : « these purposes are to enhance learning and to consolidate structures and vocabulary ».
English language as a universal language and it is very important. Every people are urge to learn English language. Especially for university students who are going to enter society after graduation, English is perceived to be crucial for communication at work with regards to employment. But in Malaysia, the proficiency of English language among youth is declining. Start in the 70s, many concerned stakeholders from employers, linguists and educationists to parents have voiced their concern. (Azizan Haraiti, &Lee, Y.M., 2011) Low levels in English proficiently means youth are missing out on current and important issues. Mahathir Mohamad (2011) hopes young Malaysians to master the English language if they did not want to be left behind. Therefore, youth need to arrest this decline has never been more urgent. Youth can improve their English language by setting a goal, motivation and one's attitude, some English courses or classes can be taken and mass media also can help youth to enhance their English language.
In most institutions of learning today, the classes are made up of students from different ethnic backgrounds. These have different traditions and also speak different languages. In a typical classroom, the majority of the students will speak the same language. The teacher must then employ strategies which will accommodate all the students in the class. This will ensure that every learner gets the best quality of education. This will enable them to be better prepared for career and expressing themselves. In this paper, strategies to assist learners of the English language in their literal development for third grade learners. In the paper, three strategies that can be used by the teacher will be discussed. New strategies and research that will help the English language learners to gain in depth mastery of the language will also be discussed. Due to the widespread learning of the English language in most schools, addressing issues of the language learners is of vital importance. Teachers should have the understanding that cultures are what give someone identity and therefore no student should leave their culture for another. Instead, there should be the blending of different cultures so that students can appreciate and learn from each other.
Furthermore, it is a process of thinking to invent ideas, exploring and arranging them into statements and paragraphs, rather than a mere production of graphic symbols Nunan (2003). The ability to write a second/foreign language is essential skill for educational, occupational and personal reasons. One of the main goals of learning is to involve the students in the extensive writing. Moreover, at the university level, writing is used as a tool for learning. However, some EFL learners view it as a difficult activity, since it requires different abilities such as: mastering grammar, vocabulary, punctuation and higher level of productive language than speaking i.e. the written language needs to be more explicit, accurate, appropriate, and effective than the spoken discourse. Hence, the writer has to structure and integrate information into cohesive and coherent paragraphs in order to generate and organise ideas and translate them into a readable text. Hence, adequate information about the language is essential because the process of text generation, or programming internal ideas into written text, may be disturbed by the requirement for the lengthy searches for suitable lexical and syntactic choices. Thus, the written item may not match the writer’s original intention (Weigle,2002:36)