Food for Thought

In an email titled: "TBL: DOA and RIP" my tutor said:

Yes, I do believe that TBL is dead. What we are seeing is the unraveling of the concept as it becomes diffused throughout the field. You will find just about any practice out there begin called “Task Based”, which is the same thing that happened to the “communicative” method. Actually, most of the communicative practices were codified in some form in TBL, IMHO.

This was after I read his 1998 article, Returning Full Circle: A Survey of EFL Syllabus Designs, where he predicts that TBL is on it's way out the door.

I found this particularly interesting considering our little study group has been grappling with this for tha last few months and trying to figure out how much TBL we do, what it really looks like, how we can incorporate it more into our classes and whether or not an ALL TBL syllabus could be effective in our learning contexts.

I think, as with most things, one needs to be cautious of an ANSWER to a problem like "how to teach English most effectively?" Obviously, (or maybe not) there isn't one right learning style for every student. And there isn't one right teaching method for every teacher. Balance people...BALANCE!!

Dissertation Idea #2

I've just read these two articles:

1) An Interview with Prabhu

2) A Review of his book, Second Language Pedagogy

In the interview he did with Alan Maley, here is what Prabhu had to say:

What I want to do when I get abck to India is keep an open house for any teacher who wants to walk in and talk about teaching. It doesn't matter if it's only two or four teachers. I want to try to get the teachers to state on paper what they've said. Trying to write things down, clarifies things. It straightens one's thinking. It reveals and develops new thoughts. This is the 'process writing' philosophy. So, a small number of teachers trying to state their perceptions, and then other teachers trying to state their perceptions but taking in the perceptions of the first group - this can not only help those teachers immediately but it can also reveal to us some of the processes by which teachers' perceptions work and form. Perhaps there's room for something like a journal - not inthe sense of learned articles - but of teachers' statements circulated to other interested teachers.

So where is Prabhu now?? And does he really have an open door policy? Like I said, it would be fascinating to sit down over a cup of chai and chaat and talk with him about his experiences but I'd also like to hear about what he thinks about "International English." I'm particulary interesed in IE and developing countries and their socially and politically marginalized communities. It seems like what is often lacking in all these discussions of syllabus design is context! Maybe I should read his book!

Lesson Reflection #2

In the struggle to identify task-based lessons at the lower levels, I'm being mindful of what I do do with my classes in an effort to continually adjust and readjust lessons to move towards a more task-based learning environment. And it is an adjustment, because as I'm learning, I'm also teaching and training my co-teachers as well. Task-based lessons are not always the norm, but they do seem much more popular with the students as well as the teachers if that first step can be taken!

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6小-3中学校　Typhoon Review Game

I've played this game with students from 6th grade to 9th grade. And everyone has loved it. It's a great review game and can be used with just about anything. But I've found the best way to use it is by requiring the students to answer questions and/or complete mini-tasks in order to score points. Depending how you structure it, it might be considered a mulit-mini-task lesson, if there is such a thing. The junior high students are divided into groups of 4, and each group is given a small white board. They are told to take turns writing their answers on the white board if that's what the task asks of them. But because each group has members of various levels this requires the group to work together if they want to be successful and have a chance at the typhoon score board.

Everytime the group performs/answers the task correctly they can pick points from the typhoon board. For example, "F4." I pull the sticky paper off and announce the points they are awarded for completing their task. The papers are labeled with points from 1-20 (5 points=1 house). And then there are "Typhoon" cards. If a group gets a "typhoon" they can erase the points of any other group--or blow their houses off the map! So sad, I know, but it's popular! And there are a few "Double Typhoons," allowing them to erase the points from two groups.

Here are the types of questions/tasks I've used with this age group:

• Simple word translation (good as a warm-up to the game or if time is running out)
• Unscramble the sentence
• Who am I? quiz (listen and they write the answer)
• Geography quiz
• Prepare a speech (self-introduction, favorite food, favorite sport, etc.)
• Word search (3 fastest teams get points)
• Complete a puzzle
• Finish a maze (spelling, ABC's, etc.)
• Olympic Medals--printed from the internet and I asked questions about the information on the page (i.e. How many gold medals to Australia get?)
• Put a Map on the board and ask them how to get from Point A to Point B
• Speed Reading Activities
• Look at a picture and make a few sentences

The elementary school students haven't practiced writing, so I focus on speaking, listening activities with them. And depending on the class and their confidence, I have done a pure vocab review. But with other classes, I've assigned them to give a speech, answer questions, etc. If the student representative for that round doesn't know the answer, they are supposed to ask their group for help! It's fun to watch them work together and teach each other!

Dissertation Idea #1

Here is a link to an article in The Hindu about the 34th English Language Teachers' Association of India (ELTAI) in 2003. N.S. Prabhu, famous for his task-based Bangalore Project, gave the keynote speech. I'd love to sit down and with some chai and chaat with this man. Anyone know where I can find him? Is he still in Bangalore?

Lesson Reflection #1

I'll be posting reflections and observations on lessons sometimes. I used to keep track of each lesson when I first started teaching, but that became too time consuming. However, I think part of improving is taking time to reflect on what worked and what didn't. I'm also trying to determine how often I use TBL vs. PPP. Before I started teaching in Japan, I took a TEFL course in Prague and they hammered PPP into us. They said there were other styles but PPP was the easiest to master as a teacher and was effective. All our submitted lessons had to have the three P's while teaching a specific skill (i.e. reading, writing, speaking or listening). So, when I first started, my lessons reflected that. Since starting the MA, I've tried to move away from that. I know my lessons have changed significantly but I'm not sure my lessons can be called TBL. I guess I'm striving for a balance of methods because I'm not totally convinced that there is one right way. I think there are many right ways and many good lessons. And that context is everything!

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小学校 　４年生 Shopping Game

We repeated this lesson again because it was such a big hit the first time. But the second time we added money into the equation. Playing with money was VERY popular. The first time the shopping game was set up so that students would be able to practice and use

A: ____please

B: Here you are

A: Thank you

B: You're welcome

There were 6 groups with 6 shopping lists (6 items each: 2 fruits, 2 vegetables, 2 supermarket items). There are 3 shops: Fruit Shop, Vegetable Shop and the Supermarket (the flashcards are the shopping items). The students have practiced and studied all the vocab, so this was a chance to use it in a game. Each group decides on an order (janken works best) and the first person gets to be a shopkeeper. There are two shopkeepers per shop. And of course it's all about speed...the fastest team to finish shopping gets, well, they get the grand prize of being the fastest! This worked great the first time, with both 3rd　& 4th grade.

Second time around, I put prices on all the food items. Now each team was given $20 (www.mes-english.com). The prices were rigged so that each shopping list required $19. If the group got all the items on the list and had $1, they successfully completed the shopping task. Giving a specific dialogue gets more complicated with money involved. So I decided to let them work it out and see what happened. They already knew the basics...now they needed to figure out how to pay for it. We had to practice "four dollars" because they were falling back on "四ドル” but most of them got it. So once they started shopping, the typical conversation went something like this:

A: _____ please

B: $4

A: Here you are (giving money).

B: Here you are (giving the flashcard)

A: Thank you

B: You're Welcome

And there were lots of other variations, especially when kids needed change or didn't get the change they needed. It always cracks me up when, even thought it's a race, the kids refuse to leave the shop until the shopkeeper says "You're welcome". After each group has completed their list, we trade lists and new students get to be shopkeepers until the class ends.

Is this TBL?? I guess there were some pre-task lessons throughout the year...practicing the vocab and learning the dialogue. And now we are building on it with this shopping game. Using the money and letting them come up with their own conversations seemed to work well. Although there wasn't a focus on form or anything like that at the end. The bell rings and well, they keep shopping, but I gotta get to another class. Also, I'm not sure how necessary that step is in the elementary eikaiwa class.

I hadn't really given them the opportunity to discover their own dialogue (I know it's not much, but baby steps) in elementary lessons before because the plans that I work with don't allow for it and many homeroom teachers won't allow it. And the plans I work with have NO TBL type lessons. They are all grammar-translation stuff! It's horrible! So, I've been trying to add in stuff here and there. This is one lesson that I've done with several classes and grades now....and it's a super big hit! In one class students were chanting, "もう一回。” We had to promise them we'd do it again! So, I think the students are ready for more TBL-style lessons and frankly, so am I. But it's the thinking and planning that's the hard part. Oh...and communicating it to the homeroom teacher.

Let's Get Going

I considered starting this blog when I started the first module last April, but being the shy, timid, independent, feminist woman that I am...I was hesitant. But a colleague of mine has started a similiar blog, Japan Action Research, and has inspired me to get my butt into gear and start reflecting more on what it is that I'm studying and hopefully learning--how to teach english!

Thankfully, I'm not doing the distance study course alone. I have 3.5 fabulous cohorts that meet up every Monday night on Skype to discuss the readings, upcoming essay assignments, and reflect on what it is that we're trying to accomplish. It's been a lifesaver to have this little group to chat with every week. Especially because they are all much more experienced than myself and I'm learning a lot just from talking to them about their teaching experiences and how they intrepret and interact with the materials we are reading.

Actually, I'm a bit surprised I was even accepted to the program. I technically didn't have the two year teaching requirement (short 4 months) and everyone else is a non-JET. In the academic EFL/ESL world, JETs are slim scum, the bottom of the barrel, the slackers that can't teach and are just in Japan to read manga and pay off their student loans. Okay...well, I know that's not really the case, but admitting that I'm a JET to fellow Bham students is a bit embarrassing!

But I'm trying to make the most of my last JET contract year by devoting my off periods (I do in fact work) to studying. I didn't want to stay three years and have nothing to add to my resume except that extra year. I wanted to start making progress toward something else. That and my next destination is the middle east...so that's another reason why I'm doing the MA. I want to be qualified to get a job there! And after that, I want to get another MA in International & Comparative Education. This is all part of a bigger plan and future life goals. I don't plan on teaching forever. But while I'm teaching, I want to be the best I can be! Studying and doing the MA has helped me actively work towards that! I rarely use old lessons because I know there is something better I can and should be doing! Trying new things, learning new approaches, and testing new ideas is one of the greatest benefits of the MA course so far.

So, I better get going....one more unit and I can be "done" with the Module 3 coursebooks. It's time to get going on that next paper. Oh my!