Homework – is it a waste of time?
YES..
When students lack the support to do it well.
If we
don’t plan for success, we’ll have a lot of correction to do.
When students are so
overwhelmed with studies, they are too tired to do it well.
When it’s learning by rote.
When it’s just easier to copy off your friend tomorrow..
Or when mummy will do it..
When the
work benefits from collaboration
When we haven’t actually
planned how it links with what is done in class or considered its value.
NO!
When students are well prepared in class to do it on
their own.
Writing a composition - Have you?
brainstormed vocabulary
pretaught useful vocabulary
reviewed grammar to be used
presented ideas
discussed ideas
drawn up plans together
When they see a point in doing it...
e.g.
Letters to teacher
Preparing input for next lesson e.g doing
research, collecting materials, rehearsing dialogues for taping
Part of an ongoing scheme of work e.g.
extensive reading, a project, portfolio work
When the medium is appealing
When homework tasks can be chosen
When parents can help
and encourage their children at home
When parents are
trained/advised how to help their children
When it’s a pleasure to do
Checklist: does the homework:
maximize use of time?
provide pre or post lesson
support
encourage independence?
allow for personalisation?
Teaching
Exam Classes
Why do we learn a new language?
ü
To be able to express our ideas in
it
ü
To be able to understand others
ü
To have access to language arts
through it – songs, literature, film etc.
ü
To increase our ‘knowledge capital’
ü
To study abroad
ü
For pleasure
ü
To pass an exam in it
Washback effect - the extent to
which a test influences teachers and learners to do things they would not
otherwise necessarily do
Dangers of exam driven classes:
Practice tests ad nauseum
Lots of individually done exercises
No learning taking place
Rote learning
Sense of failure
Boredom
Idea of ‘finishing English’
WE have to:
Continue to develop skills and language as
well as examination techniques
Challenge
and engage students
Keep
students motivated – in the short and long-term
Ensure
students see connections between class work and exams
Plan exam preparation lessons accordingly
Exam skills
Recognise question types
Understand rubric
Know what is required to
do well
Avoid common pitfalls
Ability to study on their own
Make an ‘educated guess’
Be confident and prepared!
Writing – assessment criteria
Content
Organisation and cohesion
Appropriacy of register
and format
Range
Accuracy
Target reader
Register task-
•
Once upon a time……….
•
I regret to inform you……………
•
In conclusion, it must be stated that………….
•
She grabbed the gun and pointed it at Dillon.
•
The windows are large and look down onto a
flower-filled garden
•
All this can be yours for only $999, if you
call this number…………
•
Add two tablespoons of sugar and stir………
•
I look forward to your prompt reply…
Predict – before listening
You hear a woman talking to
her son.
Why is she talking to him?
A to give him a warning
B to give him permission
C to make a suggestion
Don’t
listen
What
feature of the cable car makes it particularly good for seeing wildlife in the
rainforest?
a.
the speed at which it moves
b.
the height at which it travels
c.
the distance that it covers
What is
the main aim of the cable car project?
a.
to educate local people
b.
to persuade people to save the rainforest
c.
to raise money for other conservation
projects
What is
the advantage of the project for the local people?
a.
They can use the land if they want
b.
They can sell forest products to visitors
c.
More work is available to them
Problems speaking in exams:
Nerves
Not used to speaking in
English
Worried about making mistakes
Don’t understand examiner
Don’t have sufficient
vocabulary for task
Make lots of grammar
mistakes
Make one word responses
Students need:
English-rich environment
Speaking integrated with other
skills
Speaking planned in the lesson
Regular varied speaking tasks
Lots of opportunities to speak
together
Pair and group
work
Focus on fluency not just
accuracy
Focus on phonology
To
prepare for exams effectively:
Make clear to
students what skills / strategies are needed to do well
Break down and
practise individual skills
Reduce the stress
Make it
success-oriented
Make it fun – why
not?
Face
to face with the five language skills
Pronunciation impacts on:
Speaking: comprehensibility & confidence
Listening: e.g. Who hasn’t finished? /
Festival …
overloaded by extensive
listening
Writing: sound spelling relationship e.g. I
slept under a ‘shit’
Reading: sub-vocalization leads to poor processing
of input /bad memory of what is read
Robin Walker, English
Teaching Professional, January 2014
Sound plays an
important role in recalling a word from its meaning…we often have a feeling
about the sound on the word… the left pre-frontal cortex is activated when
subjects correctly retrieve a word
The Learning Brain, Blakemore & Frith, Blackwell
Before reading:
Share / brainstorm ideas (spidergrams)
Set a research task for homework
Ask students to interview each other on the
topic
Show a relevant clip from youtube
Tell students something about the topic
Ask students to predict the text from
title/pictures
Ask students to set own questions
