Scribd
Upload
84 views5 pages

Shaping The Way We Teach English:: Successful Practices Around The World

This document provides an introduction to the teacher training series "Shaping the Way We Teach English: Successful Practices Around the World". The series uses a constructivist approach and includes classroom videos from Costa Rica, Egypt, Thailand, and the US. It aims to build teachers' pedagogical foundation and improve classroom practices. The introduction outlines the goals and rationale of the series, describes the module contents and format, and provides suggestions for effectively using the videos and accompanying materials.

Uploaded by

Cristina Diaconu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
84 views5 pages

Shaping The Way We Teach English:: Successful Practices Around The World

This document provides an introduction to the teacher training series "Shaping the Way We Teach English: Successful Practices Around the World". The series uses a constructivist approach and includes classroom videos from Costa Rica, Egypt, Thailand, and the US. It aims to build teachers' pedagogical foundation and improve classroom practices. The introduction outlines the goals and rationale of the series, describes the module contents and format, and provides suggestions for effectively using the videos and accompanying materials.

Uploaded by

Cristina Diaconu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

Shaping the Way We Teach English:

Successful Practices Around the World


Publication Information
Shaping the Way We Teach English:
Successful Practices Around the World

Authors: Leslie Opp-Beckman and Sarah Klinghammer, University of Oregon


5212 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-5212 USA
http://www.uoregon.edu
e-mail: aei@uoregon.edu

Published by the Office of English Language Programs


United States Department of State
Washington, DC 20547
2006

For information about the Office of English Language Programs and this product, use the Web site:
<http://englishprograms.state.gov> rather than the Web site as shown on the video, DVD, and CD.

Acknowledgements

A special thank you for videotaping support to US school districts and government agencies in
Oregon, Virginia, and Washington, DC; and to overseas schools, training centers, Ministries, and US
Embassies in Egypt, Costa Rica, and Thailand.

United States Department of State


Washington, DC 20547
http://englishprograms.state.gov

University of Oregon
http://www.uoregon.edu
Table of Contents
Introduction
Introduction 7

Approaches to Language Teaching: Foundations

Module 1: Contextualizing Language 11


Module 2: Building Language Awareness 19
Module 3: Integrating Skills 27
Module 4: Pairwork / Groupwork 37
Module 5: Learner Feedback 45

Approaches to Language Teaching: Extension

Module 6: Managing Large Classes 57


Module 7: Learning Strategies 67
Module 8: Authentic Materials 73
Module 9: Critical & Creative Thinking 85
Module 10: Alternative Assessment 93

Focus on the Learner

Module 11: Individual Learner Differences 103


Module 12: Younger Learners (K-5) 111

Teacher Development

Module 13: Peer Observations 121


Module 14: Reflective Teaching 131

Appendix
Appendix A, Additional Handouts
Introduction
Welcome to the teacher training series Shaping the Way We Teach English: Successful Practices
Around the World. It is made up of 14 modules in a video format with a supporting manual and ad-
ditional resources. The modules are structured in such a way that you can use them in order or one
at a time, depending on your needs and interests.

Goals for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Educators

These introductory materials are designed for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) educators who
share the following two goals:

1) To build an academic or “pedagogical” foundation in language teaching.

2) To improve language teaching classroom practices.

Rationale

English teachers, trainers, and researchers have long recognized the value of not only reading
about but actually observing experienced, effective teachers in the classroom as a form of profes-
sional development. However, professionally produced multimedia (video-based) English language
teacher training materials have been in somewhat short supply. Historically, many of those that do
exist have taken a “talking head” lecture approach and have not necessarily included examples from
an EFL context.

Shaping the Way We Teach English: Successful Practices Around the World uses a constructivist,
inquiry-based approach, giving viewers opportunities to adapt materials to their local context. It in-
corporates authentic classroom scenes and interviews with teachers from countries Costa Rica, Egypt,
Thailand, and the United States.

Contents of the Modules

At the heart of each module is a 10- to 15-minute video segment with examples from classrooms
and educators around the world. Each module also has corresponding readings and support materi-
als for you to print and copy.

In the video, you will have an opportunity to observe other teachers’ practices. Some of these
examples are from primary level classes, while others are from secondary level and post-secondary
level classes. A variety of teaching styles and cultures are reflected in these examples.

Page 7 Shaping the Way We Teach English


Introduction
Suggestions for Success Use of These Materials

Many factors can have an effect on the results that you obtain from using the video and manual
resources, including:

• Your own personal reasons and motivation for using these materials.

• How closely the materials fit with current practices and the curriculum in your educational set-
ting.

• The degree of flexibility and creativity that you bring to the task of making innovations and
changes in your classroom practices; in other words, your willingness to experiment with and seri-
ously try to use different ideas and techniques in your classroom.

The following suggestions can help increase your success with these materials:

Use the pre-viewing materials, readings, and supporting resources. We strongly recommend
that you go through the pre-viewing activities, readings, and the supporting resources in the manual
and on the disks before you view the video.

Use the observation guides in the manual. The manual provides observation guides and reflec-
tion questions for each module.

View the video as many times as needed. The video segments contain very rich examples of
actual language classes. We encourage you to stop the video at any point to view it again or discuss
what you see. This will help you interact more fully with the video materials and come away with a
deeper understanding of each content area.

Think flexibly. As you observe other teachers in action and listen to their reflections on teaching,
think as flexibly as possible. Look for answers to these questions:

• What new ideas does this classroom example offer me?

• How might I adapt this example to my students’ language and age level? My curriculum and my
institutional setting? My teaching style and my culture?

Conclusion

We invite you to approach your interaction with these materials as a personal challenge to “think
outside the box.” You can creatively “shape the way you teach English” as you experiment with ways
you can adapt suggestions or techniques from the video to your own educational settings.

Shaping the Way We Teach English Page 8

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy