Buckland Weekly #13: The secret of good comedy

I'll return to the differences in Chinese and Western approaches with my next post. This post has been prompted by a number of the current orientation group asking a very similar question - how do you get the timing right in your lesson?

The secret of good teaching is the same as the secret of good comedy – timing. We're in the middle of the orientation and training period for new teachers at the moment so I'm seeing lots of demonstration lessons and timing is the issue that's causing the most problems. Clearly timing problems can go both ways. Lessons can run too long or too short but the recent problems have all been in one direction. Most of the teachers lessons have run too short. For some it's been a matter of a few minutes but others have been as much as 50% too short. There are two things we need to consider. Why are they running short and what can we do about it?

Without naming any names lets list a few of the issues that have led to short lessons this week. We can analyse them later.

1. The planned material isn't enough for the length of the lesson.
2. The teacher has unrealistic ideas about how long tasks will take.
3. The class are stronger than expected and complete tasks more quickly than expected.
4. The teacher delivers the material too quickly.
5. The teacher doesn't spend enough time on comprehension checking or reinforcement activity.
6. The plan is fine but when delivering it the teacher misses out something that was planned.
7. Things don't work as expected and the teacher panics.

These divide into two groups – problems with the planning and problems with the execution. Let's begin with the planning stage. Most of our new teachers are very new to the profession, many have never stood in front of a class before so good planning is vital. I've been teaching for a long time but when I plan a lesson on a new topic I still prefer to go back to basics. My routine goes like this.

1. Have the concept for the lesson.
2. Think about it for a while. Examine the idea to see if there is enough that can be done with it, especially looking at what language aims can be achieved with this topic.
3. Write a very quick and very rough running order outline. At this stage all I'm considering is what kind of task would make a good introduction to the lesson, how I'll progress from there to the main task of the lesson, what kind of task would make a good main task, how I can end the lesson. Note I didn't specify any detail – just the type of task. At this stage I may be thinking of an information gap task or a discussion task or something as simple as a game of hangman. Essentially it's a bullet point version of the lesson concept.
4. Flesh it out a little. Add some detail to the tasks. Estimate approximate timings for how long each thing should take and make sure they add up to 40 minutes (the length of a Chinese Middle School Lesson.)
5. Write the detailed plan, adjusting the timings as I add more detail.
6. Run through each individual part of the lesson to check the timings. Make tasks more or less complex if they need adjustment.
7. If the whole lesson is too short by more than a minute or two, think of an extension activity that can be used as needed.
8. Rewrite the plan with newest timings.
9. Repeat steps 6 to 8 as required.

This should take care of issues at the planning stage. The crucial thing is to look realistically at the timings for each stage. Let's give a more concrete example.

If you are, for example, planning a lesson on visiting London, there are various types of activity you could use with different level classes. You could, for example, brainstorm places they know in London. That's what I'd write on my bullet point version but just how long it will take will depend on how you set it up (and remember the set up time is included in the timings!). You could toss a ball around and ask each student for something they could see in London and write the answers as they come. That's unlikely to take more than two minutes to generate a dozen answers. Alternatively you could put them into groups and give them two minutes to write as many as they can think of, then go from group to group getting ideas and writing them on the board. That's a little slower and needs more set up and might take five or six minutes. Or, instead of going group to group you could get one person from each group to come to the board and write their answers with the groups racing against each other. When you add on time to mark it, that's about ten minutes. Which one you use depends partly on the class and partly on how much time you have. Whichever it is, you need to get the estimate at least approximately right. If you think a two minute activity will take ten then your lesson will run short.

What about the delivery of the lesson? Even the best planned lesson can fall to pieces if the execution isn't up to scratch. The most common problem here is that the level of the class hasn't been properly assessed and they complete tasks much more quickly than you thought they would. There is only one good solution to this. Make sure, when you plan the lesson, that you have one or maybe two related extension tasks that can be used or omitted as required. This also helps if you have some groups that complete tasks quickly and some that complete them slowly – you can give the task just to the quicker groups.

The other common errors in the list at the top of the page are all down to the teacher and need adjustments in the teachers style. If you deliver the material too quickly – either by speaking so fast that you sound as if you are on drugs or by moving tasks on too swiftly and not giving students enough time to answer then the solution is simple. Slow down. Learn to pause. Learn that silence isn't necessarily a bad thing. Give the students time to answer.

As for comprehension checking and repetition, in a Chinese classroom with up to eighty kids you need to do a lot of it. Don't ask the question “Do you understand what you have to do?” ask the question “What do you have to do”, and ask more than one student. Don't just ask the kid with his or her hand up in the front row. Pick a few students from around the class. When you write and drill a new vocabulary item, don't just write it and say it, get the class to say it. More than once. Then get a couple of individual students to say it. Not only are these important techniques to verify understanding, they also help with the pacing of your lesson. Without them an activity supposed to take five minutes might take thirty seconds.

The last two go hand in hand. Over the years I've seen this happen more times than I can count. It's happened to me. It will happen to you. You have planned a lesson with accurate timings, you have worked it out to the last detail and delivered it perfectly and as you approach the final summary you glance at the clock and realise that you are ten minutes short. What, you ask yourself, as panic grips your heart, has gone wrong? You look down at the lesson plan and realised that you have accidentally left out a whole section somewhere in the middle. There are other things that could have caused the underrun but whatever the cause you are at the end and have nothing left to teach.

There are a few things that you can do. If the missed out section is reasonably self contained you can go on to teach it anyway. Nobody in the class will know that wasn't the plan all along. Or, if you have planned well and have extension activities then you can use them. Again, no one will even notice. I also like to keep a number of adaptable games in mind that I can throw in if I need them and once again they won't notice. What they will notice is the rabbit-in-the-headlights panic in your eyes if you let the setback get to you. You have to learn not to let the fear show and if you are well prepared with back up plans in mind then the fear won't show. A momentary hesitation is all there needs to be as you switch to a new track.

And that's it. Sometimes, whatever you do, the lesson will run too long or too short. You just need to be prepared for it.

Buckland Weekly #12: Differences in Chinese and Western Techniques Part 2

So, time for the second in the series about differences in approach between Chinese English teaching and western English teaching. In the last post I listed some differences that I have noted either in observations or in conversations with colleagues and looked at a couple of questions relating to vocabulary acquisition. Before I go on to the next couple of questions, I want to be clear that you as a a foreign teacher aren't expected to use the same methods that the Chinese teachers use. Partly, this is because they wouldn't need to hire you to do that, but mainly it's because you are here to teach oral English. Of course vocabulary and grammar will crop up in your lessons – it's inevitable – but primarily your job is to coax spoken English from the students and to improve their communication skills. This requires a completely different approach to the simple learning of grammar rules and word lists.

So what are the questions I'll look at today? The two propositions are.

Reading aloud is a useful tool in learning a language.

And

Rote memorisation of text passages is a useful tool in learning a language.

Lets look at the first one. Is reading aloud really all that useful?

Apart from a brief Summer school, my first job as a full time teacher was in South Birmingham College where I was teaching refugees and asylum seekers. It was very different to my job here in China. I hadn't been working there all that long when I had the dreaded “observed lesson”. Now personally, as I've said before, I actually quite like observed lessons – providing the observer is competent – because I find the feedback useful. In this lesson I had a class of about a dozen adults from various countries. They were quite a high level and as part of the lesson I had a passage which we read out loud, around the class, with each student taking about a paragraph. We followed it with some comprehension checking and some discussions and I felt that the lesson had gone well. For the most part the observer agreed with me. Then he asked me what had been the purpose of reading aloud. In educational terms, what had been achieved by that particular exercise. I said it had practised their reading comprehension and their spoken pronunciation. He disagreed. Their reading comprehension, he said, would have been better tested by silent reading. Pronunciation when reading aloud also, he said, bears little relation to pronunciation in natural, unforced speech. He went on to add a couple more points. In the task one student was reading at a time and the others listening and following but if the reader made mistakes then it would become harder for the listeners to understand. And, finally, reading aloud is not a normal task. If you become a newsreader it's a skill you need but for most people reading aloud is restricted to bedtime stories for the kids.

On reflection, it was hard to disagree with him.

Now I'm not saying that reading aloud is never a good idea. Sometimes, especially in my junior classes, I will have a couple of students read a dialogue aloud while others follow a printed copy, but I always keep the dialogues short and simple, choose students I know are confident, and sometimes re-read the dialogue aloud myself afterwards. The purpose of doing this is to encourage the others to follow the printed text because I know that if I just hand them out and say “read this” half the class won't bother. Having to follow while it's read aloud focusses their attention. It would be just as effective, perhaps more effective, to get a friend to record the dialogue and then play it in class. You don't always have the opportunity to do that whereas you do always have students. The real message here is that if you use reading aloud in class, use it sparingly and always, as with everything in your plan, ask yourself the question “Why am I doing this? What is it for?”

The related question is whether the rote memorisation of texts is useful. Useful or not it is extremely common over here. If you spend any time in the office you will often see groups of students gathered around one of their teachers reciting, either individually or in unison, long passages from their text books that they have had to learn for homework.

Last summer I taught a group of Chinese teachers from Chengdu. They were all English teachers and all very competent. One of the things I had to show them was the difference between Western and Chinese techniques. I started by describing what I'd seen in Chinese classrooms and asking if they taught that way and if they thought it was effective. The answer to both questions was, "Yes."

Then I did this. I wrote on the board

“Guten Nachmittag. Jetzt werden wir ein bisschen Deutsch lernen. Spricht jemand hier schon Deutsch? Nein? Dann, fangen wir an.” *

and explained that I was going to teach them a little German.

Without explaining what it meant, I drilled them in the pronunciation for a few minutes until they could recite it. They all got it fairly quickly.

Then I asked them what it meant.

Obviously no-one could answer because I hadn't told them.

“That”, I said, “Is what you are doing when you simply ask students to learn and recite a passage. It isn't teaching them to understand English or use it, just to repeat without comprehension.”

They all agreed that the technique was flawed, though whether any of them changed their own teaching practice, I couldn't say.

And that's the problem with the read (or listen), learn, recite approach. It's a good way to teach a parrot but not so good with people.

In the next post, I'll look at some slightly more vexing questions – whether punishing mistakes is effective and what should be done with students who refuse to participate.

(*Apologies to German speakers if I made any mistakes in that, I am a bit rusty.)

Buckland Weekly #11: Differences in Chinese and Western Techniques: Part 1

A second post this week to make up for the couple of weeks that I was away on holiday. As always, it's all just the author's opinion etc.

This week's post is the first of a series and has been prompted by two things. First of all, I recently had a long chat with a Chinese colleague (who is also a good friend) about differences in approach in Chinese Schools and English ones and discovered that we have serious differences of opinion on many aspects of educational theory, particularly language education. He's a good friend and a good teacher but his opinions are, in many respects, radically different from anything we would do in the west. I started to write a post on it but set it aside.

Then, yesterday, I watched episode one of Are Our Kids Tough Enough in which five Chinese teachers try to use Chinese methods in a British school. It didn't tell me anything that I, as someone who has taught in both situations, didn't already know, but it was interesting. The approaches of our different cultures are very different indeed, for many reasons – historical, philosophical and pragmatic reasons. Nothing in here is intended as a criticism – there are good and bad points in both systems and while I may not agree with my colleague's views, I do respect them.

So, in today's post I want to introduce a number of questions and to discuss two of them in detail. The rest will follow over the next couple of weeks. These questions have all arisen out of the discussions with my friend – and other teachers – and out of watching that TV program. Other questions may come up when I see the remaining episodes of the series.

Here are some topic statements that I'll be considering.

Learning long word lists is an effective strategy for vocabulary acquisition.

Reading a dictionary is an effective strategy for vocabulary acquisition.

Reading aloud is a useful tool in learning a language.

Rote memorisation of text passages is a useful tool in language learning.

Punishment is an effective way to correct mistakes.

Students who do not wish to learn should be ignored as long as they are not disruptive.

Solitary learning is preferable to group activity.

Some students cannot or will not learn.

Passing an Exam means your English is good.

If your English is good you will pass your exam.

In a fast paced lesson students will be forced to learn.

This week I want to look at just the first two.

The basic question behind both of them is this: what is the best way to learn new vocabulary? My colleague suggested, and I have often witnessed, two approaches – learning word lists and reading a dictionary. Let's look at the first one.

Learning long word lists is an effective strategy for vocabulary acquisition.

On the face of it this might sound like a good idea, but is it really? I have seen students here trying to memorise pages of unrelated vocabulary. They are often presented in a context-free form as a list of English words and their Chinese translations which must read over and over and memorised. When they are tested the students mostly remember a good percentage of them. It's a task they are practised in.

I'd argue against it for two reasons. First of all learning this way is like a chef learning long lists of ingredients but nothing about cooking. If you don't learn how to combine the ingredients correctly you might be able to scramble an egg but you will never make that perfect soufflé.

The second reason is more pragmatic and more important. They may well pass a test the day after they learn the list but how much will they recall a week later or a month later? In all likelihood, very little. This is because the vocabulary is being learned for the wrong reason. It's being learned solely to pass the test and not to be used.

What about the second proposition?

Reading a dictionary is an effective strategy for vocabulary acquisition.

When I was teaching in college in England I once had a student proudly inform me that he was learning his dictionary at a rate of one page a day. I tried very hard, though mostly unsuccessfully, to dissuade him. What, you may ask, is the problem? The dictionary will give him new words to work with, often presenting examples and usage notes and so reading it must be useful. Well, let's consider the Chinese/English dictionary that I have on my telephone. From the first fifty words, all perfectly legitimate English words, I only recall ever using nine and even then I have to ask just how likely “a priori”, “aardvark” and “aardwolf” are to be needed in casual conversation. And that's the problem in a nutshell. Dictionaries present all words with no real indication of how important they are or their relative frequencies in the language. It's all very well knowing that “aal” is “the Indian mullberry” or “aasvogel” is a South African vulture, but when are you ever going to need those words? I'd venture, never. Reading a dictionary is a very poor way to go about increasing vocabulary.

Of course that brings us back to the real question. What are the effective ways to learn vocabulary? And, from our point of view, what are the effective ways to teach it? Well, there are many but I'd suggest that the essential elements are this.

Don't present too much vocabulary at one time.

Present connected vocabulary rather than random word lists.

Present vocabulary in context.

Present useful vocabulary rather than obscure vocabulary.

I realise that those are very vague and general suggestions but there are also a few practical things you can do in your lessons.

Keep an area of the board clear for new vocabulary. Either add to it as you go or present the new vocabulary at the start and refer to it as you go.

Explain about word-building. You don't need to get technical, just practical. If the new word is “happy” consider showing how to ad “un-” to get the opposite or turn it into “happiness” to get the noun. Do this whenever you get a word that can have these changes. Let the students get the idea that learning one new word may automatically give them others.

Let new vocabulary come from the class. If a student offers a good word that you hadn't put in your plan, add it to the others on the board. Don't assume that because one knows it they all do.

Use the new vocabulary yourself. Encourage students to use it. If they get it wrong, or over-apply a general principal (maybe producing “unsad”, for example) just point out the error.  

In the next post I'll consider the effectiveness of reading aloud and rote memorisation of texts and also whether punishment is an appropriate way to correct student mistakes.

Buckland Weekly #10: Pick'n'Mix

As always, the information and descriptions in this post should be treated as being my opinion only. Far more information about all of this - both pro and con - can be found by a little internet research.

One of the things that will be mentioned and then rapidly passed over in the orientation is the existence of many different methodologies for English teaching. A few of them will be given one sentence definitions but that’s about it apart from the advice to look them up on the internet. This article will give a little more information about each for those who are curious but it’s not intended a substitute for your own research. It’s just a brief overview. By all means read up on it all elsewhere.

First I need a caveat.

I’m not actually suggesting that you should use these methods. What you should use is your professional judgment to select the elements of various techniques that are suitable for your lessons. I’ve heard this called informed eclecticism – I prefer to think of it as pick’n’mix. Our preferred methodology will be covered in greater detail during the orientation.

So, let’s get to it and let’s begin with Suggestopedia.

Suggestopedia was a methodology devised by a psychotherapist named Georgi Lozanov. Most educational theorists nowadays consider it discredited. The primary element of the method is to present material in comfortable surroundings perhaps with soft music, comfortable chairs and a pleasant environment. (Right there you can see how it would never be possible in a Chinese school with eighty kids in a cramped classroom.) Teaching is done with mother tongue explanations of grammar and vocabulary. There is an implied belief in passive learning – the idea that simple exposure to a language will somehow cause the students to absorb it. Input is provided by the teacher reading over a relaxing musical background. Students use singing and games to reinforce what they have learned. The teacher is encouraged not to separate himself or herself from the class and to participate in a more student-like manner and to guide the lesson rather than to instruct it.

Lozanov believed that this technique could only be delivered by teachers who had been specifically and highly trained in the methodology and that those not trained should not attempt it because it would be ineffective or actually counter-productive.

Moving on we have The Silent Way.

Two things immediately come to mind about The Silent Way. First it isn't, in spite of the name, completely silent, though the teacher does far less talking than in any other methodology. Second is that, when done as intended, it would be next to impossible to mix with any other methods as it uses proprietary materials in the form of coloured wooden rods (called Cuisenaire rods), a colour to sound correspondence chart and various other charts for words and pronunciation. Teacher input is often done by pointing to things on the chart and having the class learn to associate colours with sounds so that they can learn words. When the teacher does speak it is usual to say things only once with no teacher repetitions so that, in theory, the students are forced to focus all their attention on every word. Grammar is not explicitly presented though the teacher does indicate (silently of course!) whether the students are right or wrong. They are expected to self-correct or peer-correct by a trial and error approach.

The Silent Way was the brainchild of Caleb Gattegno who believed that the teacher's role is to simply focus the students on what needs to be learned and provide materials that will help them learn it.

While few teachers would want to adopt the method (and fewer still would ever be in a position to adopt it, even if they wanted to) there are some elements that correspond to more general teaching practice. For example, there is the idea of remaining silent when a student makes a mistake and indicating by gesture that something was wrong so that it can be self-corrected. I make use of this a lot.

Also, where we have had vocabulary earlier in the lesson that is still on the board I will often reinforce it by pointing and waiting rather than repeating it. Sometimes with grammar I will use a finger counting method to indicate that words have been omitted or that a particular word is wrong. These are all elements of the Silent Way but as a complete methodology it requires extensive use of proprietary materials and would be difficult to implement in any large class.

So, let's take a look at CLL (Community Language Learning)

CLL was developed by a psychologist and counselor rather than an educator and it shows. His name was Charles Curran. The stages of language development, as described, mimic the stages of child development: create a feeling of belonging, develop confidence and a measure of independence, become independent, become secure enough to accept criticism, adopt the “adult” role instead of the “child” role. Basically the idea is that students are not only responsible for learning, they are responsible for deciding what is learned. Instruction must be done with small groups (no more than a dozen) and must be done in monolingual classes. The teacher must be fluent in both the mother tongue and the target language as his role is that of a facilitator and counsellor who will translate and correct whatever sentences the students wish to know and guide them towards understanding. This is emphasised by the fact that in the terminology of the method the word “teacher” is replaced by the word “knower”.

And then there is TPR (Total Physical Response)

As with the other methods this was developed by one man, James Asher and as with the other methods he was not a teacher but a psychologist. Surprising how many psychologists thought they were better able to teach than teachers were! Fundamentally the teacher gives instructions and the students respond by physically obeying them. The drawbacks are immediately obvious. The lessons are essentially one long game of “Simon Says” and while it can be used for teaching basics of the language (especially imperatives), it's hard to see how more complex topics at higher levels would work. This has been the main criticism levelled at it by accademics though its supporters claim that it can be used for all levels. In our Chinese classroom more practical considerations come into play. First there simply isn't space to do it. The limit of commands that could physically be obeyed would be “Stand Up” and “Sit Down”.

Finally we have another one-man's-vision method and in this case the man was Robin Callan, creator of the Callan method.

You will find it difficult to get objective information about this method as virtually every internet source is from someone promoting the method, from a teacher or a school using the method. There are however a few youtube videos you could watch to get an idea and while grand claims are made for the method to me it looks very much like the way you would teach a parrot to say “Who's a pretty boy then.” Absolutely no teaching skill is required and lessons can be delivered by anyone who can read the target language out loud. Lessons are taught entirely from a series of scripts devised by Robin Callan and deviation from the scripts is not allowed. Lessons are taught at breakneck speed with the teacher reading from the script and then requiring exact responses from the students. Like this

“Today is Wednesday, today is Wednesday. What day is it today?”

“Today is Wednesday.”

“Yesterday was Tuesday, yesterday was Tuesday. What day was it yesterday?”

“Yesterday was Tuesday.”

Creative use of the language is virtually non existent. Answering “Yesterday was my Birthday.” would be considered wrong and the exercise would be repeated. Lesson preparation consists solely of bookmarking the appropriate page in the (very thick) teachers' binder where all the scripts are printed.

Well that's it. A round up of the methods we don't use. This might strike you as an irrelevant post. You want to know how we encourage teachers to teach. Generally we like the more mainstream communicative methods. We are oral English teachers and our job is to get the students using the language they have already learned in a natural way to communicate with each other.

So what was the point of this post? Maybe there wasn't one but personally I think it's useful to know some of the theory and that includes theory that I don't agree with. Also I can find something useful to take away from most methodologies. Even the quickfire call-response routine of the Callan method can be used occasionally in class to reinforce points made in another way or to introduce sets of related vocabulary though it would be boring and exhausting to make it the basis of the whole course.

In short, I approve of a pick'n'mix approach to individual tasks within a lesson but overall I'd encourage a communicative approach. These novel methods are all very well but we have the practicalities to consider.

Lesson Plan: UK and Chinese Schools

Lesson Level:   Junior                     Duration:  40 Minutes

Lesson Title:     UK Schools and Chinese Schools

(American teachers etc should go through the material carefully and adapt the sections on their schools according to their countries' practices.)

Grammar and Vocabulary

(words associated with feelings)

Unexpected, nervous, comfortable, relaxed. Helpful, exciting, boring, adventurous .

Lesson Objectives

 Students will learn words associated with feelings.

Students will be able to understand and discuss differences between UK schools and Chinese schools.

Materials Required

Dialogue and reading text¹

Preparation

Prepare enough copies of the dialogue and reading text to give one copy to each group of four students.

Procedure

1

Write lesson title on board – “School Life in the UK and China²”

Ask students if they like school.

Ask students what they know about differences between the two school systems.

(Use ball toss to select students. At this stage DO NOT correct misconceptions about UK schools, just tell students that we will see later if they are right.)

2

Put students into groups.

Write instructions on the board

            Read the dialogue.

            Try to find as many words as you can about how Bob and Ray feel.

Allow students two minutes only.

3

Select two strong students to read (or read one part yourself and have one strong student read the other part.)

Write on board “Shout ‘STOP’” when you hear a word about feelings.

Demonstrate reading and shouting STOP.

Have the two students read the dialogue. (You shout STOP if students miss a word.)

Write the feelings words on the board.

When first reading is complete elicit and add the meanings of the words³.

4

Write these questions on the board.

1. Who is Bob calling?
2. Was he surprised to hear from Bob?
3. How did Bob feel when he first started teaching?
4. How does he feel now?
5. How does his brother feel about England?
6. Why doesn't he want to go to China?

Have two more students read the dialogue.

Ask groups to write answers to the questions. Elicit answers from class.

5.

Write new instructions on the board.

           

Read “My School”

Write down as many differences as you can between UK and Chinese Schools

6

While class are doing that clear the board and divide into three columns. Put headings on columns 2 and 3 (UK Schools/Chinese Schools)

Ask class  these questions. For each one write a title in column one and the UK/Chinese answers in Columns 2 and 3.

What time do students start school?

What time is the first lesson?

What time does lunch begin?

What time does lunch end?

What time does school end?

What is the students’ lunch? (May need to explain “packed lunch”)

What do the students do before first lesson?

What foreign languages do students learn?

What other things do they learn? (This question has to be last as it needs more space to answer.)

When writing answers make sure there is a little space left on board to write instructions for last activity.

7

(Extension activity.)

Write instruction on board.

“In your groups, answer these questions.

            Which country’s school do you think is better?

            Why?

            Would you like to go to school in the UK?

            Why?

           

Give students almost all the remaining time to discuss. Monitor and assist the discussions.

Allow final minutes of lesson to ask class their opinions.

Notes

1

This dialogue and reading text come from Practical Oral English Junior 1, Volume 2.

Other dialogues and reading texts may be substituted.

	Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.
Ray	Hello?
Bob	Hello, is that Ray?
Ray	Yes. Hi, Bob. This is unexpected. Where are you now?
Bob	Still in China, but I thought I'd call you for a chat.
Ray	It's good to hear from you. How is it all going?
Bob	Great. I was a bit nervous at first. Teaching here is very different to England.
Ray	How is it different?
Bob	Well, for a start, there are eighty kids in some of my classes.
Ray	Eighty?
Bob	I'm more comfortable and relaxed now. I've got used to it. The kids are all great. They work very hard. And all the teachers are so helpful.
Ray	So, are you enjoying it?
Bob	Of course. It's great. I love living here. I have my own apartment and lots of friends. It's very exciting.
Ray	Here in England it's just the same as always. Same weather. Same food. Same job. Same everything.
Bob	Why don't you come to China and teach English?
Ray	Oh, I like it here but it sometimes seems a bit boring.
Bob	It's not boring here.
Ray	Too adventurous for me. I like everything to be the same.
Bob	OK. I'll say goodbye now.
Ray	Goodbye.
Bob	Goodbye.

My School

The students arrive at school at about 8:45 am. They wear a school uniform and carry their homework and a packed lunch in a school bag. School begins at 8:55 am. The teacher blows a whistle and the children go to their classrooms.

The teacher reads out each child’s name in turn. The children reply “here” and the teacher writes down whether the child is in school or not.

At 9:10 am the children go to assembly in the main hall. In assembly the head teacher talks to the children and tells them any important notices for the day.

The first lesson of the day begins at 9:30 am and lasts for an hour.

The children have their morning break from 10:20 - 10:35 am. They can bring a snack from home to eat in the playground.

 After break it is time for more lessons. Lunch time is from 12 noon to 1:10 pm. Most children bring their own packed lunch from home. Some children will have a school dinner cooked in the school kitchen.

There are more lessons in the afternoon until 3:15 pm when the children go home.

In school the children learn English and mathematics, history and geography and science. Some of them also learn to speak French or German. There are also lessons in music and art and every week there are games and PE lessons where the children do many different sports.

2

Teachers from the USA/Australia etc may need to substitute a different reading text describing schools in those countries.

3

Always make sure definitions are in simplest possible language.

I use these definitions for this lesson.

Unexpected – something you didn’t know would happen

Nervous – not sure of yourself

Comfortable – feeling calm and good about yourself

Relaxed – not worrying about anything

Helpful – wants to help people

Exciting – something interesting that makes you very happy

Boring – not exciting

Adventurous – Likes to do exciting things

Lesson Plan: Studying Abroad

Lesson Level:    Senior                    Duration:  40 minutes

Lesson Title:     Studying Abroad

NOTE - Although I used this lesson it proved to be too difficult for all but the highest level class. Therefore it will need to be simplified before using it again.

Grammar and Vocabulary

The following phrases and phrasal verbs:

“broaden the mind”, “study abroad”,  “academic requirements”, “adjust to”, “fit in”, “pros and cons”, “choose wisely”.

Lesson Objectives

Students will be able to compare and evaluate texts and to discuss pros and cons of different Universities.

Students will be able to discuss possible problems and solutions when travelling.

Materials Required

Prepared audio or text to read.¹

A handout containing information about three fictional Universities.²

Preparation

Record the audio or prepare a text to be read in class.

Prepare enough handouts for the groups in class.

Procedure

1

Write on board. “Studying abroad”

Ask various students these questions.

            Do you think studying abroad is a good idea?

            Would you like to study abroad?

            What would you like to study?

            Where would you like to study?

Ask about three or four students for each question. Follow up each question with “Why?”

2

Put students into groups of four.

Write these instructions on the board.

You will see information about three (fictional) Universities.

Read the information.

In your group, talk about which University you would choose.

Say why you would choose it.

3

Explain the task and give each group a copy of the handout of University information.

Give students ten minutes to discuss.

Monitor and assist. When assisting be sure that students in groups understand the basics of the text but DO NOT take time to explain ALL vocabulary.

4

Feedback. Ask each group in turn which University they would choose to attend and ONE reason why they chose it.

5.

Write these instructions on the board.

You will hear a description of life at an overseas university.

Listen for these phrases.

Try to write down the meanings of each phrase.

“broaden the mind”, “

study abroad”,

“academic requirments”,

“adjust to”,

“fit in”,

“pros and cons”

“choose wisely”

6

Read or play the prepared description².

Elicit the meanings of the phrases and write them on the board.

Ask various students questions about the text to check understanding.

7

Write on the board.

            In your groups

make a list of any problems or difficulties when living in another country.

Try to think of at least five.

What would you do to solve these problems?

Explain the task and check understanding.

Give an example of a problem (“don’t understand the local culture” and elicit solutions).

Monitor and assist the discussions

8

Ask for feedback of one problem and solution from each group. Ask other groups if they have any other solution to the problem.

Notes

1

University 1 (Lowlands University, United Kingdom)

Lowlands University is located in Birmingham in central England.

The University was established in 1910 and has an excellent reputation in all subjects. It is in the top ten UK Universities for science and engineering.

Academic Requirements for Chinese Students:

Students must have completed the Chinese University entrance exam (gaokao) and achieved a passing grade for entry to a Chinese tier 2 University

and also completed a one year foundation course at one of the following Chinese Univerities: Beijing, Changsha, Chendgu, Chonqqing, Guangzhou, Kunming, Lanzhou, Qingdao, Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuhan or Xi'An

Alternatively students may have completed a first year of study at a Chinese University in their chosen subject.

English Requirement: IELTS 5.5 or higher.

Students will be required to submit, in English, a 500 word description of why they wish to attend Lowlands University and why they have chosen their academic program.

University 2 (Home State University, USA)

Home State University is located in Wisconsin in the USA.

The University was established in 1956 and focuses primarily on studies in arts and languages. Courses are also available in other disciplines.

Academic Requirements for Chinese Students:

Students must have completed the Chinese University entrance exam (gaokao) and achieved a passing grade for entry to a Chinese tier 2 University

and also completed additional international qualifications in their chosen subject (eg. A-levels or Baccalaureate)

English Requirement: IELTS 6.5 or higher.

Students will be required to submit, in English, a 1000 word description of why they wish to attend Home State University.

University 3 (Central Victoria Technical University, Australia)

Central Victoria Technical University is located in Melbourne, Australia.

The University has an excellent record in technical subjects as well as mathematics, science and engineering. It was expanded in 1989 to include faculties of arts and music.

Academic Requirements for Chinese Students:

Students must have completed the Chinese University entrance exam (gaokao) and achieved a passing grade for entry to a Chinese tier 2 University

Alternatively students may have completed a first year of study at a Chinese University in their chosen subject.

English Requirement: IELTS 6.0 or higher.

Students will be required to a personal statement of no less than 1000 words in English.

2

People say that travel broadens the mind. They mean that when you travel you gain a better understanding of the world we share. This is one reason that it is good to study abroad, in a country that is not your own. Of course first you must meet the academic requirements of the University where you wish to study. However that is not the only thing you may find difficult. When you go to live in another country you will find many things are different to your own culture. You will need to adjust to a new way of life and learn to fit in with your new surroundings.

As with any big decision in your life you need to consider the pros and cons before jumping in. You need to think of what are the advantages and disadvantages of your choice.

Studying abroad can be a wonderful opportunity, as longas you think carefully and choose wisely.