I absolutely love watching Dr. Larsen-Freeman speak! I had the privilege of being in her Second Language Acquisition class and it changed my view on my role as a language teacher. She has motivated me more than anyone else to learn from my students and be the best teacher and researcher possible.
I just had an Arabic student ask when do we use who or whom... 😅 i stressed out. I actually watched a RU-vid video and then told her that I don't think that we use whom anymore which is why I as a native speaker couldn't tell her why. Now I don't feel bad. It is about language progressing. I'm learning stuff in grammar especially that I learn as I teach. It's quite something to learn the rules behind how we've just been talking and naturally been writing all our years. When I teach pronunciation, I type out the words even leaving out the silent sounds that we swallow as native speakers.
Hi.. I am an English Language Learner from Indonesia. I just want to clarify that Five-hundred Miles is not Lima Ratos Batos. But Lima Ratus MIl (in Bahasa Indonesia)
Great talk, really informative and well organized presentation. Really gets the listener thinking about the role of learners in our classrooms. Thanks for sharing :)
O my God Lovely Diane You wre great Thank You some much I am reading You book actually and I am really enjoying it . Your way of explaining the language system is really a logical one and the way You have explained the course was really excellent Thank You again
To answer a question near the end, Mandarin Chinese speakers don't necessarily always pronounce the same tone exactly the same way. For example, two flat tones one after the other might be at different pitches. Falling tones can be sharp one time and gradual another. Some of this is on purpose (for example, when emphasizing a word or asking a question) and some of it just happens. This is what I observe, anyway, as a learner of Mandarin listening to "native" Mandarin speakers as they demonstrate the language.
Hi Andy, how's your day been? Thanks for your replies. If I am a good Teacher it is because my wife (Chinese) is an excellent English Teacher, and whenever she helps me, I can only get better. :) Yes, you are right my wife and I care a lot about how and what we teach our students. My wife and I have our own small teaching business in our home. We rented two apartments side by side, and used them to teach students seven days a week. At the beginning we did not have so many students, but as the years went by, we now have between 30 -40 students per week. 1. Because there is a primary school near by, we have students from this school for both lunch and dinner. The schools have a break from 11: 30 - 2: 30 p.m. each day. During this time we help our students with their school work, teach them some English, and feed them lunch, they then have a nap for one hour, then go back to school. We repeat most of these steps at dinner time, but after teaching them in the evening they go home. 2. We have classes for our students on Saturday morning, and afternoon, and again on Sunday morning. 3. A number of our students come to us because their parents wanted their child to improve in English, and to get a higher grade score the next time around. Without fail every student in this case after coming to our home for help, increased their grade level considerably. 4. We also teach our students manners,
David Bentley Yes, your approach makes sense now that I understand the goals of your teaching. You aren't focused on getting them ready to converse with a wide variety of native speakers as much as helping them to do better at school. So the prescriptive approach makes much more sense. Also, you mostly teach children. I mostly taught adults who already had 6 years of prescriptive English in school and wanted to move on, so I included some descriptive English mixed with the prescriptive. Different situations and goals suggest different approaches. In your shoes, maybe I'd take the same approach as you.
David Bentley to be responsible, respectful, and we also taught them a good behavior. Parents have told my wife that they are happy about their child's improvement in English, and that they are especially happy about the way their child behave's for the better at home. So lets say my wife and I have made ourselves a good name. And I love her so (you know the song) 5. During my stay in China (8 years), I have taught every grade level from kindergarten to University students. I prefer to teach young children from kindergarten to grade six. In University or College, unless you are teaching English Majors, you are now encouraged to be more concerned about teaching your students how to pass an English exam (the exam is necessary), never mind caring about your students learning good English. I have been told by some of my students (not English majors) that the mark I would give to them at the end of the year, would mount to less than a hill of beans. Then there was the time I taught Middle School (High School) students for a year. For whoever is reading this, get ready now! The classroom was small, small, small, small. On top of that there was always more than 50 students per class. Whewwww :( And what takes the prize..........I was alone, all alone, no there was no assistant to help me :( I made it through though. I believe what helped me besides trusting in God, is that I was not only a Teacher to my students, but I was also their friend. Well I am rambling on here, and I am getting out of breath :) Are you still there Andy? I am home now, here in Canada, and my wife and daughter should be joining me this year. I hope my wife and I can carry on here. If you have read my episode :) feel free to ask me questions. Yes Andy we may have our disagreements, but we share a good profession. David +
Thank you so much with your free session of language talks. It was very fruitful. I'm Malaysian but I dont mind about the sound 's' when you speak dua rumah's' or what ever. It just simply they way that you've been thought in ur language all this while. Anyway, she is English Guru not bahasa or indonesia teacher righy...
It is, however, equally important that there are some linguistic aspects that are more/less susceptible to change. And we always need to differentiate between "competence" and "performance".
I find that the huge number of ESL/EFL speakers and their lower levels of proficiency in English have a notable effect on how native speakers use their own language.
1:27:29 She's weaving a spell! I look at like speech changes more quickly, some words drop off because the written language is more solid a reference/foundation, for whatever reason. I won't say snobbishness but maybe because it's viewed as 'proper', that conservative viewpoint. The 'the' - how the lady questioning describes it sounds more English-English to me. I wonder if this is just coincidence.
For a teacher her instructions are lack lustre. Was this a show to bolster the ageing croneys? This was nothing more than the patting of backs and publish before you perish attitudes. I agree methodologies should be used in connection with each other, and for different types of learners. This unfortunately makes one want to run screaming from education.
This was truly a waste of time. I thought when you teach the students, you teach them all the same, so when they speak back to you, they speak all the same.
But native speakers don't all speak the same, so learners usually can't converse with native speakers outside of the classroom. Furthermore, such rote learning is demotivating and leads to a high student dropout rate in foreign language classes. On the other hand, some people go to a foreign country and work as a bartender or something and can start conversing and using the language within weeks, supposedly without studying--not because they're smarter than students who learn in the classroom, but because they learn dynamically and use the language a lot with native speakers. "Sink or swim" tends to get better results than "repeat after the teacher."
Andy Roberts Why would you teach students of other countries to speak English? So that they could speak English outside of the classroom. What would you have your students learn first. 1. Correct English or 2. Would you teach them slang right away? For a student to learn the proper words to say when it comes to manners (yes please, no thank you, may I...) can only help them.
David Bentley It doesn't have to be either-or.You can teach students what we're supposed to say and then what we actually say. This will prepare them for all situations. The problem is that, in many educational systems (such as in Japan and South Korea), students learn "correct" (i.e. bookish) English for 6 years and never learn any natural, colloquial English. Therefore, they can't understand native speakers, and therefore they can't use English in any functional capacity. I know because I taught English in those two countries for 5 years.
Andy Roberts Hello Andy, hope you have a good day. I also have taught in other countries; China 9 years, and a few months in Japan. It was a tremendous experience. I have found that what English i taught in class, my students could speak to me when they saw me on the streets. I like to teach students correct English because I speak it myself. I will not teach slang, or swear words. When a teacher does this I believe it belittles the teachers profession. And if your students cannot speak what English you taught them, outside of the class, than what does that tell you about your teaching?
David Bentley Another thing Andy. At times I used the text book provided but, I expounded on the lesson to be taught. Other times I was glad to use my own material.
