English Central – modeling and assessing students’ spoken English

My year 11 (VG1) class did their first podcast project using Audacity last week. I have enjoyed listening to their recordings and have been pleased with the creative way in which they solved the task.  One area where many of them have some room for improvement is in pronunciation and intonation of spoken English. Interference from their mother tongue  in the form of rising intonation at the end of declarative sentences and a tendency to use Norwegian phonemes like /ø/ in words such as cut, are just a few giveaways that these are not native speakers.

Today I came across (via The English Blog) an interesting new service: English Central promises to help students learn how to speak by modeling native English usage in videos and then allowing students to record the same sentences that are spoken by the people featured in the videos. The app scores every sentence you speak and adds it up to a grade.

I tried the latest video added, a speech on health care reform by President Obama. Of course I was pleased to be given an A for my imitation of the president!

There are currently about 200 videos on the website. I think I will let my students try this to see if they can pick up some useful speech patterns.

Studying controversial current issues: Afghanistan and Iraq wars

The year 13  (VG3) Social Studies English course includes the following curriculum objective:

…enable students to:

• analyse a regional or international conflict in which at least one English-speaking country is involved

This makes it possible to study current issues that may be of great interest to students. However, it also entails certain risks when it comes to bias and an unbalanced presentation of the conflict in question. I have pondered whether to help students find sources or to leave them to their own devices.  I ended up collecting a few, but adding a disclaimer about any neutrality in the selection. Critical skills in assessing the sources will be and important part of the assignment.

Day 1: Introduction: brief lecture on main trends in US and UK foreign policy (20 minutes)

Day 1: Watch the film Charlie Wilson’s War.  Briefly discuss: what is the message of the film? How is the message brought across?

Day 2: Introduction: Afghanistan – the current situation: a CBS report for “60 minutes” from September 2009.

Day 2: Your task for today and next time is to prepare a presentation that will enable all of you to form an informed opinion on, and also write a persuasive formal essay on, the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. I suggest that it should contain at least the following (feel free to add other elements if you find something of interest):

1. A rough timeline of important events in the conflicts (limit the number of events you include to avoid too many details). Make sure you note any change in US and UK policy towards the countries in question (switching of allegiance, etc).
2. For Iraq: at least  two-three explanations for the war (possibly relevant terms: WMD, neoconservatives, oil, liberators, tyranny, democratization) . Try to find opposing views and see how proponents of  these argue their case; at least a couple of different views on the results of the war; some ideas on what the future holds for Iraq.
3. For Afghanistan: a clarification of the respective roles of the United States and ISAF in the conflict;  at least two-three different views on what the US and NATO should do in Afghanistan. (Possibly relevant terms: containment, counter-insurgency, afghanization, AfPak strategy, ink spot strategy, nation-building)
4. For both conflicts: an outline of how these conflicts are similar to  or different from other conflicts that the UK and the US have been involved in.

Below are links to some sources on the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq: These are links I have collected in my Diigo account. Remember, these are highly controversial conflicts and there is no neutral, unbiased way of looking at them. Although I have tried to include sources that represent differing angles, you need to pay particular attention to who the sources are and what biases they may harbor. Assessing the reliability and possible bias of the sources is part of the assignment.

Links on Afghanistan conflict.

Links on Iraq conflict.

Day 3: Presentation to class.

Assessment will be on the scale of high – medium  – low level of attainment according to the following rubric:

	High	Medium	Low
Content	Ample, well-supported, processed	Adequate, sometimes supported, reproduces sources	Barely adequate response to questions
Structure	Logical, easy to follow	Some attempt at structure	Little or no structure
Language	Precise, varied, idiomatic	Adequate for communicating, though with some lack of idiomaticity and precision	Communicates, but with major problems of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and/or idomaticit

Day 4: Writing (essay)

First oral exams – social studies English

I didn’t really get started on my blogging here, did I? So, I thought I would just jot down an entry before summer vacation starts in a couple of days – and before I forget the impressions of this week’s oral exams altogether.

It’s actually been a few years since any of my students have been selected for orals, but the whole process went smoothly and without too much stress. I definitely like the format of the exams that we are using now: a short presentation (I suggested 7-8 minutes) on a topic that the student has defined from a wider theme assigned by me, followed by a Q/A (12-15 minutes. In addition I had decided, after consulting with the students about it, that a talk about a listening comprehension test on a current issue would be a good complement. That took up about 5 minutes.

The challenge was to define a theme that was wide enough to cover a broad range of curriculum objectives. I set out to make assignments that covered at least three such objectives each. Emphasizing the focus in this course on current issues, I decided to include in all assignments the curriculum objective that students should be able to  “elaborate on and discuss current debates in the English-speaking world”. Besides, they were all designed to test the following objectives from the ‘Communication’ area of the curriculum:

• use a nuanced, well-developed vocabulary to communicate on social and political issues
• use suitable language appropriate to the situation in a variety of oral and written genres
• have a command of formal and informal language in a variety of contexts
• summarize, comment on and discuss differing viewpoints on social and political issues

Thus, one of the assignments looked like this:

This assignment specifically tests the following curriculum objectives:

• interpret at least one major work of fiction, one film and a selection from other English-language literature from the 1900s up to the present
• elaborate on and discuss questions related to social and economic conditions in some English-speaking countries

and/or (depending on the subject matter of your novel)

• elaborate on and discuss political issues and systems in the English-speaking world, with a special focus on Great Britain and the United States
• elaborate on and discuss current debates in the English-speaking world

Assignment:
Give a presentation lasting about 7-8 minutes of one of the major themes from the novel that you have read this year. As part of your presentation, suggest how these themes are relevant to a current issue that is being discussed in an English-speaking country today. Be prepared for a follow-up discussion of the novel and the current issue.
Use material studied in class this year and any other sources that you may find useful. Remember to state your sources.

One student very successfully went from a presentation of the theme of evil in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies to a discussion of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. This, of course, also led to a discussion of US politics under Bush and Obama.

Another assignment started with the curriculum goal of analyzing a film. Using Michael Moore’s Sicko as her chosen film, one student gave an overview of health care systems in the US and other countries.

This latter assignment also included the curriculum goal of looking into the historical roots of the current situation. In this case the student was able to handle it deftly with references to American ideals of the self-made man, the original links of health care coverage with employment contracts, etc. But generally this was the aspect of the assignment design that I was the least satisfied with. I felt that particularly with the not-so-strong students I had left them out on a limb when it came to what exactly I was expecting them to prepare. I had asked to see preliminary versions of the presentations the evening before the examination to enable me to prepare follow-up questions. But I still think I should have narrowed down the myriad ways in which a discussion of history could be linked to the issues in question. Perhaps next time I will ask students a question like: on the last slide of the presentation, can you give me five keywords that you think are relevant to the history of this issue? These would then be the starting point of  our discussion.

All in all I think things went pretty well. I was proud of how my students performed (although I did not entirely agree with the all the grades set by the external examiner). The format of the exam worked well  – now I just hope  the powers that be do not decide to revert (as they are threatening) to the old system of panicky 30-minute preparation periods with no use of prepared presentations. Exams are too important for them to be reduced to a “stress test” – whoever can handle the pressure the best, “wins”.

For the assessment I had given the students and the external examiner a rubric. I am not sure how helpful it was, but this is a tool that I intend to use more systematically in the future:

Oral exam rubric Student name: _________________________

CATEGORY	6-5	4-3	2	1
Preparedness	Student is completely prepared and has obviously rehearsed.	Student seems pretty prepared but might have needed a couple more rehearsals.	The student is somewhat prepared, but it is clear that rehearsal was lacking.	Student does not seem at all prepared to present.
Stays on Topic/ Structure	Stays on topic all of the time. Structure of presentation is clear and logical.	Stays on topic most of the time. Presentation has some structure although some elements appear random.	Stays on topic some of the time. Presentation is sometimes confusing because of a lack of structure	It was hard to tell what the topic was.
Content/ Comprehension	Content is relevant to the assignment. Student shows complete understanding of topic and is able to accurately answer almost all questions posed by teacher about the topic.	Content is mostly relevant to the assignment. Student shows some understanding of topic and is able to accurately answer most questions posed by teacher about the topic.	Student mostly fails to show relevance of content to the assignment. Student shows limited understanding of topic and is able to accurately answer a few questions posed by teacher about the topic.	Content is irrelevant to the assignment. Student shows no understanding of topic and is unable to accurately answer questions posed by teacher about the topic.
Vocabulary and grammar	Reflects a high level of mastery of pronunciation and intonation that follows the general patterns of a range of native speakers. Presentation includes a wide range of vocabulary and sentence structure. Language precisely expresses the idea of the speaker. Mistakes are rare.	Mastery of   pronunciation and intonation somewhat follows the general patterns of a range of native speakers. Sometimes problems may lead to a breakdown in communication. Presentation includes some variation in vocabulary and sentence structure Mistakes might go undetected.	Clear attempts in pronunciation and intonation to match the general patterns of a range of native speakers. Unfortunately at times problems may lead to a breakdown in communication. Attempts to vary the vocabulary and sentence structure, but the range of this variation may be limited, and mistakes are noticeable.	Pronunciation and intonation generally do not match the patterns of a range of native speakers and communication frequently breaks down. Lack of appropriate vocabulary leads student to go silent or resort to Norwegian.
Props and visuals	Student uses several props that show considerable work/creativity and which make the presentation better.	Student uses props that show some work/creativity and which make the presentation better.	Student uses props that make the presentation better.	The student uses no props OR the props chosen detract from the presentation.

Merriam-Webster Visual Dictionary – a great tool

My students tend to prefer bilingual dictionaries online. These are allowed at tests and exams and, of course, provide useful information most of the time. But sometimes they lead to mistakes and misunderstandings. Faced with a Norwegian term that has a number of equivalents, they rarely have the patience to go to a better dictionary to see the terms used in context.

The Merriam-Webster Visual Dictionary is a tool that can sort out a least some of these problems. Say you wanted to write about an athlete participating in the high jump. What is that thing that he or she is trying to clear or jump over? In Norwegian it is ‘list’. Obviosuly, if you look up that word in a bilingual dictionary you will get some very different alternatives. Tritrans, a favorite of my students, gives you foxiness, guile, shiftiness, none of which is very helpful!

In the M-W Visual Dictionary you look for the sport, look for the picture of the jumping events, and then find a nice drawing of an athlete clearing the crossbar.

Lincoln Bicentennial – an assignment for social studies English

Today, February 12, 2009, marks the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. This takes place as the 44th occupant of the White House points to Lincoln as the one predeccor that has inspired him the most. Not only did Obama announce his candidacy for president from the same place in Springfield, Illionois where Lincoln did so in 1860. One of the first things Obama did after arriving in Washington as President-elect was to visit the Lincoln Memorial with his family. Upon taking office on January 20, 2009, the Bible on which he took the oath was Lincoln’s own. And he has even stated that other than the Bible, his favorite book is a biography of Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln very often makes it to lists of “The Best US Presidents”.

Assignment: Why is Lincoln considered a great president?

Use the net and other sources. Find five positive qualities about Lincoln that these sources list. Can you also find at least one critical comment about Lincoln? For each of the sources: write an assessment of how reliable the source is, and what criteria you use to decide this.

CNN Student News – a great resource for social studies English

For my Year 13 social studies English class the CNN daily student news (h/t: The English Blog) is spot on when it comes to these curriculum objectives:

… enable pupils to

* elaborate on and discuss political issues and systems in the English-speaking world, with a special focus on Great Britain and the United States
* elaborate on and discuss questions related to social and economic conditions in some English-speaking countries
* elaborate on and discuss current debates in the English-speaking world

In addition  to the videos (with transcripts) there is a set of study questions.

Today’s news (again, embed does not work in WordPress …)  focuses on Obama’s  economic stimulus package, but also includes a couple of other segments. My students found them interesting, but the language of the news segments as well as the questions are fairly advanced.

Inaugural poetry – interpreted by Stephen Colbert

I have to admit Elizabeth Alexander’s occasional poem for Obama’s inauguration didn’t do much for me. Maybe I have to read it a few more times.

In the meantime, here she is, discussing that poem as well as poetry in general with Stephen Colbert. Considering the fact that he seems to take nothing seriously, I can think of worse 5-minute introductions to Poetry 101.

more about “Inaugural poetry – interpreted by Ste…“, posted with vodpod

Studying novels with literature circles

My student VH in Social Studies English (year 13), who was an exchange student in the US last year, suggested I look into the concept of literature circles for our upcoming work on novels. She brought some materials from her high school English class, but unfortunately there are no names or references, so I cannot quote any of it. Instead, I have spent some time on the net researching the concept, and found a useful brief overview at abcteach.

So what are literature circles? In my understanding, they are structured group work on literary texts, where students who read the same books are assigned specific roles (or ‘jobs’) to make sure they actively engage with the text. Students take turns playing the various roles, and after finishing the book are responsible as a group for presenting “their” book to class.

Based on some ’jobs’ suggested by Julie Lorne at abcteach, a five-week unit on novels might look something like this:

Jobs:

Connector: Your job is to find connections between the book you are reading and life outside the book. This could be connections with your own life, with your school or community, with similar events or circumstances in other places or at other times, or in other works of fiction. You begin by explaining what passage of the book you are referring to and then explain the connections you have found. Next, the other group members are encouraged to contribute connections that come to mind for them.

Discussion director: Your job is to write a series of questions that your group may want to discuss about the part of the novel that you have read (you also have to think of answers to these questions). You will also be leading the discussions in the group.

Summarizer: Your job is to write a summary of the part of the novel that your group has read. List key events, not all the details.

Illustrator: Your job is to find images to illustrate certain parts of the story that you have read. This would be a good opportunity to practice looking for images with creative commons licenses, e.g. at CC Search. Images could be presented to the group in several different ways: you could show them images and have the group talk about how they think they might relate to the text, or you may talk about the ideas behind your selection and ask for comments from group members.

Vocabulary enricher: Your  job is to look for a few key words in the part of the text that you have read. They could be words that are puzzling or confusing, but mainly they should be particularly significant words. You have to research the meaning of the words. Present the words to the group in either of the following ways: tell them the word and ask if the others know what they mean and why they are significant in the story; or, give a definition of the word, and ask them if they know what word you have in mind.

I think the last two jobs can be done by one and the same person, so that we get a group of four. The novel in question should be divided into four roughly equal “chunks” to be studied per week. This gives us the following rough schedule: 

 

	Student 1	Student 2	Student 3	Student 4
Week 1	Connector	Discussion director	Summarizer	Illustrator/vocabulary enricher
Week 2	Discussion director	Connector	Illustrator/vocabulary enricher	Summarizer
Week 3	Summarizer	Illustrator/vocabulary enricher	Connector	Discussion director
Week 4	Illustrator/vocabulary enricher	Summarizer	Discussion director	Connector
Week 5	Presentation of book to class

Part of the ‘ideology’ behind the literature circles is to make students responsible. This extends to assessment as well: each weekly session ends with groups assessing how well each group member and the group as a whole did their assigned jobs.

It strikes me that if I want to make the whole process transparent, a discussion forum  in it’s learning (our LMS) would be a highly useful tool. Any written material produced by group members can be published on the forum in advance of group discussions, and group assessments can be written at the end of the day. Discussion directors would be responsible for starting a new thread for his/her group every week, and the other contributions would be added as comments to that post.

Correcting student errors – a Sisyphean task?

Sisyphus (image from Wikimedia Commons)

25 years after collecting my first pile of student papers I have to admit: I still don’t know how to effectively correct papers. ‘Effectively’, that is, as in ‘having an effect.’ The impact of my conscientiously scribbled annotations on the lack of agreement or the confusion of adjective and adverb turns out to be negligible. Students eagerly await their grades, which are greeted variously with whoops of joy or sighs of resignation as the case might be. As for the carefully weighted positives and negatives that led me to give the grade, they usually couldn’t care less.

Should I care? Is correcting student errors a meaningless task? I don’t know what the currently accepted conventional wisdom is, but I find it hard in an EFL/ESL classroom to just ignore mistakes in spelling and grammar.

I downloaded Markin a couple of weeks ago. At least this software makes it easier to insert the sort of routine comments that I make on typical errors. It probably saved a couple of hours on the pile (figuratively speaking; it’s a digital ‘pile’) of term papers I corrected for year 11. But when I returned it, the same thing happened: most students looked at their grade, very few were interested in finding out what the trouble was with spelling or grammar or other parts of the mechanics of their English.

In 2009 I will try to offer the following incentive to encourage a more active approach to improving mechanics: I will mark up the papers using Markin, hand tests back to students without a grade and tell them they can submit a final version with all their corrections. 

Perhaps I will have to reconsider and make the final grade an average of the two versions. But submitting texts that are reasonably free of basic mechanical errors should also enable students to focus on other, more important, aspects of good writing: interesting content, a clear structure, effective cohesive devices, etc.

Thoughts on teaching English

Ta-da! This marks the beginning of my English-language blog. Over at my Norwegian blog, Mitt hJØRNe av web’en, I have occasionally posted on things that were mosty relevant to my teaching of English. My plan is to make this the new home of such posts, while my rambling on ICT in education in general will continue to appear over at the other ‘corner.’

Innumerable bloggers have influenced me over the past few years – so many, in fact, that I have not been able to select links for a blogroll at my Norwegian blog. At this new site, however, I have made an effort at creating a fairly extensive list of blogs and other resources that I think may be useful. As I come acrosss new tools and links I will keep adding to the list.

Above all, though, this is simply going to be a place to reflect on teaching English as I am entering 2009 and thus heading for the 25th anniversary of my first teaching job. Hopefully, I can still learn a trick or two.