Let's Act!

Learning any language is a lifelong experience. The trick with such experiences is that you always have to find fresh approaches to them, so that they don’t become tedious and a mere duty rather than an enjoyable process, which they certainly should be. However, by language I do not mean only the verbal code and the words we utter, but also some other means of communicating ideas, thoughts, attitudes or emotions, such as body language or the language of signs and pictures all around us, which can speak volumes about numerous things. Since classrooms don't always lend themselves to learning and practicing all these ‘languages’ (which are inevitable in life) in addition to what we traditionally mean when we say ‘language’ (the verbal code) and since classrooms are meant not only for mere learning and reproducing, but also for building new, strong, fresh personalities who will one day take the stage of life and perform their own roles as parents, friends, lovers, or enemies, all these can merge into one and be practiced in a single way: through acting. Drama is the key to fighting potential dullness as well as a way to more complete and profound self-discovery.

The moment we are born, we take some roles. As we grow up those roles multiply and we face new situations and challenges and gradually learn how we should or should not behave, what to say on certain occasions etc. This being the case, the foundation for these processes, apart from the parental part, should be in classrooms. A classroom should be a mini-stage where many roles can be tried out before the real thing happens. This is especially important for language classrooms, as languages are meant for communication, which should be practiced constantly. Acting out small sketches and simulating real-life situations in a safe environment is an integral part of enabling an individual to set off on a communicational journey and return with pleasant experience. Moreover, sketches can be enriched with corresponding scenery, background music or costumes, so the students’ creative side can find its way to the world. By implementing drama as a regular part of the classroom routine the traditional ways are not neglected, but just balanced with something new, unusual and almost always exciting. “Drama is like life, but with the dull bits out”. This is what Hitchcock said. So, why don’t we minimize all the dull bits and learn in an enjoyable way?

There is also one more important aspect of introducing drama into language learning: fighting inhibition. Everyone who has already had the task to deliver a speech or perform something in public knows how inhibition can be destructive and discouraging. Learning how to lower your emotional filters and overcome the fear of being criticized, or, at least, accept remarks and use them to progress, is a vital thing, especially in life.  And acting is one of the best ways to do it.

One can never know what will happen tomorrow. Therefore, taking as many roles you can both in classroom and in life can only be to your advantage, no matter how pleasant or sad your role was. Teachers, students and people in general should feel free to experiment with new things, be open-minded and embrace the numerous roles that life generously offers every day. "All the world's a stage". So let's act, learn, play, and, above all, enjoy.

How to Teach 'Going'To'

Once you start teaching, choosing a suitable approach is one of the challenges you will certainly face. I have been teaching for two years now and I have tried out many different strategies for teaching 'going to'. I would like to share my view of how 'going to' can be taught.

I tried this activity out a week ago with a group of eleven-year-olds, and they liked it. My goal was to engage them as much as I could, and, guiding them through the activity, teach them 'going to' for plans and intentions.

Activity goals: presenting 'going to' (the focus is on the affirmative form, along with the use of this grammar item) , revising days of the week

Timing: app. 20 munutes

Material: board, chalk , possibly a picture of a boy

Age: 11

Procedure:

The teacher draws a figure of a boy on the board, or shows a picture of one (it can be a stick man) and gives him a name (John, for example) . The teacher then introduces John to the class: "This is my friend John. He is a pupil, he is eleven years old and he has got a week off. John is very happy and has made some plans for the following week." The teacher writes the following construction on the board:

John's plan:

- I am going to play in the park next week.

- I am going to visit my grandmother next week.

The teacher now elicits more possibilities for the plan and the students are encouraged to use the new construction for completing John's plan. After adding five or six more sentences to the list, the students are asked to do a follow-up exercise.

The exercise: The students have to write seven sentences, including seven days of the week, and plan John's week off. The teacher writes a sentence on the board and provides an example.

On Monday, John is going to play in the garden.

Each student should now write his/her own list of the things John is going to do. Constant repetition of the 'going to' form, as well as repeating that all these things are parts of a plan should make the students aware both of the form and use of this grammar item.

Finally, the teacher nominates several students to read what they have written, thus correcting possible mistakes.

As for the interrogative and negative form, my original intention was to introduce them during the same lesson, but then I realized that it was too much for them. This activity proved to be just enough. After this, we moved to another activity, and continued with 'going to' the next time we met.

This activity was a success in the classroom I tried it out in. I hope that it will also be a success for many other teachers who can build it up and modify it for their classroom needs. :)

Correcting Mistakes - A Buried Treasure

“Mistakes are the portals of discovery” This is what James Joyce said and it is more than evident that this quote can be applied to almost any sphere of life. When it comes to the process of language teaching and learning, an abundance of mistakes is simply one of the fundamental parts of it, and the one who in most cases ‘takes care’ of mistakes is no one else but – the teacher. The teacher is the one who can actually transform any mistake into a discovery portal. Therefore, it is important to know how to handle mistakes, that is, how to correct them.

Instead of classifying mistakes and then suggesting remedial actions, let’s start with the ways of correcting first, as one way of correcting can be applied to more than one kind of mistake. My favourite is peer correction. There are always some students who know slightly more, or who are more interested in the subject, and the ones who are not. If a peer corrects another peer, it is ‘correcting in a safe environment’, that is, without exposing the mistake to the whole class, and thus getting embarrassed and wanting to run away. Groupwork is the interaction pattern suitable for this way of correcting and the teacher who knows the students very well may form such groups where the students will be at different knowledge levels so as to help each other and advance together – the ones who help will consolidate their knowledge even more, and the ones who listen will learn.

When it comes to writing, sometimes students make so many mistakes that the teacher doesn’t know where to start from. One of the possible solutions is to focus on only one type of mistakes (for example spelling) and, for the time being, neglect. for example, punctuation or tense mistakes. However, the teacher should inform the students about the way he/she corrected their work, so as to indicate that there could be more problems than it seems. If the teacher simply has to correct many things or to grade a paper, using a green pen may help: psychologists have proven that the students whose papers are corrected with a green or a blue pen instead of a red one give a positive and constructive response to the mistakes they have made: they are eager to learn more. On the other hand, we have the ones who get their papers back full of red, annoying signs which do indicate mistakes and things to work on, but also put off. A brief comment next to the number indicating the mark suggests that the teacher has really paid attention to the work and that the teacher really cares about that particular student. It is always encouraging to know that somebody cares about you, so, why not transform the correcting process into an encouraging experience?

Finally, what exactly should the teacher do when faced with mistakes? Asking for clarification is one of the good strategies: if a student makes a mistake, the teacher may pretend he/she hasn’t heard what the student has just said and thus give the student a chance to correct him/herself. The main thing is: don’t just say “No, that’s wrong, anyone else? “ Try to make the student do his/her best to provide you with the correct answer. Correct answers breed confidence, and confidence in turn breeds enthusiasm and motivation which, again, lead to correct answers. Explain why something is a mistake, guide the students to realize the mistakes themselves by asking them well formulated questions or letting them say what they think. The teacher’s feedback is a golden thing, but it is golden only when it is used right.

Written with reference to: How to Teach Grammar, Scott Thornbury