Effective Strategies for Presenting Phrasal Verbs
Effective Strategies for Presenting Idioms
Effective Strategies for Presenting Polysemous Words
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Rise to Challenges of Teaching Lexis at Tertiary Level through Effective Teaching Strategies
Effective Strategies for Presenting Phrasal Verbs
Effective Strategies for Presenting Idioms
Effective Strategies for Presenting Polysemous Words
Monday, January 4, 2016
New Method of Teaching Grammar
An Integrated Method to Teaching Grammar
By Ossama M. Sayed
English Lecturer at Shinas College of Technology, Oman
The latest
method to teaching grammar aims at striking a balance and drawing benefits from
both methods of teaching grammar: direct instruction and discovery learning. It
mixes guidance with exploration as needed because discovery and direct
instruction have something to learn from one another.
The Introduce,
Discover, Study, Produce Method (IDSP) includes four stages as follows:
1. Introduction: set the stage for learning
This Introduction
Stage includes the following activities:
Ø Engagement: the teacher’s
effort is to awake the students’ interest, arouse their curiosity, and engage
their emotions, employing numerous means, such as games, pictures, audio or
video recordings, or dramatic stories.
Ø Pre-teach vocabulary: The teacher presents unfamiliar words that
will appear in the reading passage.
Ø
Reading Tasks: Students
read a passage which contains the target grammar items. This is to
familiarize them with the passage information as well as the grammatical items.
Give them reading tasks (global task and detailed reading tasks).
2. Discover the grammar item
Teacher’s Roles
|
Students’ Roles
|
Format of Activities
|
ØTeachers direct the students’
responses using induction and/or deduction to refine and focus
generalizations.
ØThey present sets of stimuli and
students are asked to find out relations and draw conclusions.
For example, they make conclusions and generalizations
or to find pattern of relationships.
ØThey plan extra time. They must
understand that discovery takes time.
Ø After an activity is completed,
they promote and moderate discussion to firm up and extend generalizations,
and give feedback.
ØThey might have students repeat
the activity if necessary and give assistance and guidance as appropriate.
|
ØThe students must have perquisite
knowledge related to the target grammar item.
ØThe students construct their own
knowledge by experimenting, and inferring rules from the results of these experiments
ØThey work in small groups to
discover the target grammar items.
ØThey participate in the discovery
process by observing relations, experimenting, inferring, generalizing,
concluding and solving problems.
ØThey reflect on their previous
knowledge to learn new information.
|
ØThe well- prepared discovery
activities help the students to observe the grammar item in context, provide them
with the overall picture and enable them to integrate new knowledge into
their existing knowledge base.
ØActivities must be constructive,
inductive and/or deductive.
ØActivities begin with the students
observe of a specific grammar item and end with a conclusion about how the
grammar item takes place.
ØThe process of learning is inquiry
(using questions to guide discovery), the result is discovery, and the
learning context is a problem.
ØAll activities must be
learner-centered.
|
3. Study the grammar item
The Study Stage activities focus on explanation, guided practice, personalization and feedback on the grammar items. Although the teacher explains
the grammar item, they can choose student-cantered activities that help
students learn the grammar items and get them engaged.
First,
the teacher gives an explanation of a grammatical item or
employs student centred activities .The teacher is supposed to provide the students with a wise blend of interesting activities that
lead to conscious and subconscious learning of the grammar items. Then, students practice the grammar items under the
guidance of the teacher. After that, they use the grammar items to talk about
themselves. Finally, the teacher gives feedback.
For example, the teacher explains the form of the Present Continuous Tense and then encourages the
students to describe various pictures using
this tense. By
choosing appropriate pictures, the teacher is able to achieve the goal of
presenting the Present Continuous Tense without the students having an
unpleasant feeling that they are being controlled by the teacher or forced to
learn the particular grammar item.
4.
Production
The objective in the Production Stage is to use “the target language communicatively. In this way,
students get chances to try out real language use with little or no restriction
– a kind of rehearsal for the real life.”
At this stage, exercises and activities are designed to
make students use the target language
communicatively and enable them to use their full language knowledge in the
selected situation or task.
Activities may include writing paragraphs, role playing, discussions,
advertisement design, debate, describing and drawing, story and poem
writing/reading/telling, and group writing.etc.
For more details about the new method, click on the link below:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6Wrm3i1dC0cYk16RXB5NExsWEE
To check one model lesson, click on the link below:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6Wrm3i1dC0cNnZ1NVZTRnRTWGc
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Writing ( ch.2) Sentence Patterns
1. Subject + Verb (S-V)
This is the simplest kind of sentence. It consists of a subject, a verb, and possibly some adjectives, adverbs, or prepositional phrases. There are no direct objects, indirect objects, or complements.
-Abraham speaks fluently. (subject, verb, adverb)
-Many of the class members write well in class. (subject, verb, adverbs) (The "complete" subject is "Many of the class members"--a noun phrase.)
2. Verb + Subject (V-S)
Sentences in English usually have the subject come first, followed by the verb. But when a sentence begins with there is, there was, there are, there were, the verb comes first, followed by the subject. The word There is never a subject!
-There is a strange shadow in the woods. (verb, subject--the complete subject is the noun phrase a strange shadow, verb)
-There were no leftovers after the buffet. (verb, subject, adverb)
3. Subject + Verb + Direct Object (S-V-DO)
-Andrew composes music. (subject, verb, direct object.)
-Matthew helps others in several English practice rooms. (subject, verb, direct object, adverb)
-Helen tells jokes to make people smile. (subject, verb, direct object, adverb)
4. Subject + Verb + Complement (S-V-SC)
A complement is a word or group of words that describe or rename the subject. Complements follow a linking verb. There are two kinds of subject complements: 1) predicate nominative, which is a noun or pronoun that renames or classifies the subject of the sentence and 2) predicate adjective, which is an adjective that describes the subject of the sentence.
• Mother looks tired. (subject, verb, complement--predicate adjective)
• Some students in the class are engineers. (the noun phrase Some students in the class is the complete subject, verb, complement--predicate nominative)
• The men are handsome, the women are clever, and the children are above-average. (compound sentence of three independent clauses, so three subjects, three verbs, three complements--all predicate adjectives)
5. Subject + Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object (S-V-IO-DO)
An indirect object tells for whom or to whom. If the indirect object comes after the direct object (in a prepositional phrase "to ________" or "for _______"), the sentence pattern is shown as S-V-DO-IO. Pronouns are usually used as indirect objects (but not always).
• I sent her a birthday present. (subject, verb, indirect object, direct object)
• Jay gave his dog a bone. (subject, verb, indirect object, direct object)
• Granny left Gary all of her money. (subject, verb, indirect object, direct object)
• Granny gave every last asset to Gary. (subject, verb, direct object, indirect object in a prepositional phrase)
6. Subject + Verb + Direct Object + Object Complement (S-V-DO-OC)
This pattern isn't as common as the others, but it is used. An object complement is a word or group of words that renames, describes, or classifies the direct object. Object complements are nouns or adjectives and follow the object.
• Debbie left the window open during the rain storm. (subject, verb, direct object, object complement, adverb)
• The class picked Susie class representative. (subject, verb, direct object, object complement)
Monday, January 16, 2012
Writing (ch 2) The Differences Between Paragraph, Topic sentence, Topic, Main idea & Supporting Detail
The differences between paragraph, topic sentence, topic, main idea, and supporting detail
Topic sentence describes the sentence in an expository paragraph which summarizes the main idea of that paragraph. It is usually, but not always, the first sentence in a paragraph. The topic sentence acts as a kind of summary, and offers the reader an insightful view of the writer’s main ideas for the following paragraph. It adds cohesion to a paper and helps organize ideas both within the paragraph and the whole body of work at large. A topic sentence (also known as a focus sentence) encapsulates or organizes an entire paragraph, and a writer should be careful to include one in most major paragraphs. Although topic sentences may appear anywhere in a paragraph, in academic essays they often appear at the beginning.
A paragraph is a series of sentences that are organized and coherent, and are all related to a single topic. Almost every piece of writing you do that is longer than a few sentences should be organized into paragraphs. This is because paragraphs show a reader where the subdivisions of an essay begin and end, and thus help the reader see the organization of the essay and grasp its main points.
A topic is a broad, general theme or message. It is what some call the subject. The topic answers the question,” What or who is it about?” The topic is usually a word or a short phrase.
A main idea is the "key concept" being expressed. It answers the question, “What does the author want me to know about the topic?” It’s the author’s most important point about the topic.
Details, major and minor, support the main idea by telling how, what, when, where, why, how much, or how many. Locating the topic, main idea, and supporting details helps you understand the point(s) the writer is attempting to express. Identifying the relationship between these will increase your comprehension.
Paragraph Structure
Most paragraphs in an essay have a three-part structure—introduction, body, and conclusion. You can see this structure in paragraphs whether they are narrating, describing, comparing, contrasting, or analyzing information. Each part of the paragraph plays an important role in communicating your meaning to your reader.
I-Introduction: the first section of a paragraph; should include the topic sentence and any other sentences at the beginning of the paragraph that give background information or provide a transition.
II-Body (supporting details): follows the introduction; discusses the controlling idea, using facts, arguments, analysis, examples, and other information.
III-Conclusion: the final section; summarizes the connections between the information discussed in the body of the paragraph and the paragraph’s controlling idea.
The following paragraph illustrates this pattern of organization. In this paragraph the topic sentence and concluding sentence (CAPITALIZED AND UNDERLINED) both help the reader keep the paragraph’s main point in mind.
SCIENTISTS HAVE LEARNED TO SUPPLEMENT THE SENSE OF SIGHT IN NUMEROUS WAYS. In front of the tiny pupil of the eye they put, on Mount Palomar, a great monocle 200 inches in diameter, and with it see 2000 times farther into the depths of space. Or they look through a small pair of lenses arranged as a microscope into a drop of water or blood, and magnify by as much as 2000 diameters the living creatures there, many of which are among man’s most dangerous enemies. Or, if we want to see distant happenings on earth, they use some of the previously wasted electromagnetic waves to carry television images which they re-create as light by whipping tiny crystals on a screen with electrons in a vacuum. Or they can bring happenings of long ago and far away as colored motion pictures, by arranging silver atoms and color-absorbing molecules to force light waves into the patterns of original reality. Or if we want to see into the center of a steel casting or the chest of an injured child, they send the information on a beam of penetrating short-wave X rays, and then convert it back into images we can see on a screen or photograph. THUS ALMOST EVERY TYPE OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION YET DISCOVERED HAS BEEN USED TO EXTEND OUR SENSE OF SIGHT IN SOME WAY.
SOME USEFUL TRANSITIONS
To show addition:
again, and, also, besides, equally important, first (second, etc.), further, furthermore, in addition, in the first place, moreover, next, too
To give examples:
for example, for instance, in fact, specifically, that is, to illustrate
To compare:
also, in the same manner, likewise, similarly
To contrast:
although, and yet, at the same time, but, despite, even though, however, in contrast, in spite of, nevertheless, on the contrary, on the other hand, still, though, yet
To summarize or conclude:
all in all, in conclusion, in other words, in short, in summary, on the whole, that is, therefore, to sum up
To show time:
after, afterward, as, as long as, as soon as, at last, before, during, earlier, finally, formerly, immediately, later, meanwhile, next, since, shortly, subsequently, then, thereafter, until, when, while
To show place or direction:
above, below, beyond, close, elsewhere, farther on, here, nearby, opposite, to the left (north, etc.)
To indicate logical relationship:
accordingly, as a result, because, consequently, for this reason, hence, if, otherwise, since, so, then, therefore, thus
Directions: Read each paragraph. Then select the most appropriate topic.
1-Increasingly prevalent food allergies in children are beginning to create tension in schools. The number of allergies to foods such as peanuts, dairy products, soy, wheat, corn, fish, and shellfish has been increasing over the last decade. Up to about 3 percent of children are now experiencing life-threatening reactions to such foods; some must be rushed to the hospital if they so much as touch an allergen. As a result, their parents are doing everything they can to prevent exposure of these children to the problem foods. They carefully check labels on food packages, they pack special lunches for their kids to take to school, and they try to keep them away from places that serve foods that cause allergic reactions. But some parents want to go even further: they want their children’s classmates to be prohibited from exposing their allergic child to problem foods. They have consequently persuaded some schools to impose limitations on what kids can bring in their lunchboxes. Any food or snack that is not acceptable is confiscated. Many parents of non-allergic children, however, are objecting to what they believe are ridiculously unfair precautions.
Topic:
a. Controversy over the handling of children’s food allergies
b. The increase in food allergies among elementary school children
c. Life-threatening reactions to food allergies
2-Although funeral customs in England and America are similar in many respects, they also differ significantly in other ways. In both countries, preparation of the body occurs at a funeral home, a funeral service is usually held in a church or chapel, and burial occurs in a cemetery. However, the custom of embalming is not the same. In the United States, treating a corpse with preservatives is routine. In England, though, that procedure is rare. Other pre-funeral customs differ, too. In America, it is customary for mourners to go to the funeral home a day or two before the actual burial for a "wake," a ritual during which people pay their respects to the deceased and to his or her family members. At the wake, the body is laid out in a coffin, and mourners go look at it. In England, however, there is no pre-funeral wake. The funeral director places the body in a chapel, and people can go see it if they like. But they usually don’t. Finally, the actual funeral service differs slightly. The services in both countries typically involve hymns and prayers, but those in England last only about fifteen minutes. American funeral services are usually much longer.
Topic:
a. Funeral customs in England
b. Funeral customs in America
c. Differences between English and American funeral customs
3-What makes a person’s personality unique? According to Steven Reiss, author of Who Am I?: The 16 Basic Desires That Motivate Our Action and Define Our Personality, each individual’s desires determine who he is and what he does. Specifically, Reiss claims that humans experience sixteen distinct desires. They are power, independence, curiosity, acceptance, order, saving, honor, idealism, social contact, family, status, vengeance, romance, eating, physical exercise, and tranquility. The amounts of each desire in an individual determine what kind of person he or she will be. A workaholic, for example, is often a person whose desires for power and status outrank most of the other desires. Conversely, a bright child who performs poorly in school may possess little curiosity, the desire to learn new things.
Topic:
a. Becoming a workaholic
b. The origins of personality
c. Personality and the lust for power
4-About 90 percent of those who try to climb Mount Everest fail to reach the summit, and at least 165 people have never come back at all. But Erik Weihenmayer was determined to be among the 10 percent who have stood atop the world’s tallest mountain. To do that, he had to overcome all of the standard obstacles faced by every Everest climber. He had to avoid being buried in an avalanche or falling into unexpected crevasses. He had to meet the intense physical demands of climbing with the huge amount of equipment required for an ascent. He had to avoid freezing in icy winds and driving snowstorms. He had to conquer the inevitable fever and nausea that overtake climbers who are breathing thin air and ingesting dirty food and water. In addition, Erik had to overcome one other obstacle his fellow climbers don’t face: his own blindness. Erik lost his sight at age 13 due to a rare disease of the retina. In May 2001, though, he triumphed over all of these adversities. With a combination of mental toughness and physical strength, he became the first sightless person to climb to the top of the highest mountain on the earth.
Topic:
a. Erik Weihenmayer’s successful ascent of Mount Everest
b. The obstacles to climbing Mount Everest
c. The dangers of avalanches on Mount Everest
Topic sentence describes the sentence in an expository paragraph which summarizes the main idea of that paragraph. It is usually, but not always, the first sentence in a paragraph. The topic sentence acts as a kind of summary, and offers the reader an insightful view of the writer’s main ideas for the following paragraph. It adds cohesion to a paper and helps organize ideas both within the paragraph and the whole body of work at large. A topic sentence (also known as a focus sentence) encapsulates or organizes an entire paragraph, and a writer should be careful to include one in most major paragraphs. Although topic sentences may appear anywhere in a paragraph, in academic essays they often appear at the beginning.
A paragraph is a series of sentences that are organized and coherent, and are all related to a single topic. Almost every piece of writing you do that is longer than a few sentences should be organized into paragraphs. This is because paragraphs show a reader where the subdivisions of an essay begin and end, and thus help the reader see the organization of the essay and grasp its main points.
A topic is a broad, general theme or message. It is what some call the subject. The topic answers the question,” What or who is it about?” The topic is usually a word or a short phrase.
A main idea is the "key concept" being expressed. It answers the question, “What does the author want me to know about the topic?” It’s the author’s most important point about the topic.
Details, major and minor, support the main idea by telling how, what, when, where, why, how much, or how many. Locating the topic, main idea, and supporting details helps you understand the point(s) the writer is attempting to express. Identifying the relationship between these will increase your comprehension.
Paragraph Structure
Most paragraphs in an essay have a three-part structure—introduction, body, and conclusion. You can see this structure in paragraphs whether they are narrating, describing, comparing, contrasting, or analyzing information. Each part of the paragraph plays an important role in communicating your meaning to your reader.
I-Introduction: the first section of a paragraph; should include the topic sentence and any other sentences at the beginning of the paragraph that give background information or provide a transition.
II-Body (supporting details): follows the introduction; discusses the controlling idea, using facts, arguments, analysis, examples, and other information.
III-Conclusion: the final section; summarizes the connections between the information discussed in the body of the paragraph and the paragraph’s controlling idea.
The following paragraph illustrates this pattern of organization. In this paragraph the topic sentence and concluding sentence (CAPITALIZED AND UNDERLINED) both help the reader keep the paragraph’s main point in mind.
SCIENTISTS HAVE LEARNED TO SUPPLEMENT THE SENSE OF SIGHT IN NUMEROUS WAYS. In front of the tiny pupil of the eye they put, on Mount Palomar, a great monocle 200 inches in diameter, and with it see 2000 times farther into the depths of space. Or they look through a small pair of lenses arranged as a microscope into a drop of water or blood, and magnify by as much as 2000 diameters the living creatures there, many of which are among man’s most dangerous enemies. Or, if we want to see distant happenings on earth, they use some of the previously wasted electromagnetic waves to carry television images which they re-create as light by whipping tiny crystals on a screen with electrons in a vacuum. Or they can bring happenings of long ago and far away as colored motion pictures, by arranging silver atoms and color-absorbing molecules to force light waves into the patterns of original reality. Or if we want to see into the center of a steel casting or the chest of an injured child, they send the information on a beam of penetrating short-wave X rays, and then convert it back into images we can see on a screen or photograph. THUS ALMOST EVERY TYPE OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION YET DISCOVERED HAS BEEN USED TO EXTEND OUR SENSE OF SIGHT IN SOME WAY.
SOME USEFUL TRANSITIONS
To show addition:
again, and, also, besides, equally important, first (second, etc.), further, furthermore, in addition, in the first place, moreover, next, too
To give examples:
for example, for instance, in fact, specifically, that is, to illustrate
To compare:
also, in the same manner, likewise, similarly
To contrast:
although, and yet, at the same time, but, despite, even though, however, in contrast, in spite of, nevertheless, on the contrary, on the other hand, still, though, yet
To summarize or conclude:
all in all, in conclusion, in other words, in short, in summary, on the whole, that is, therefore, to sum up
To show time:
after, afterward, as, as long as, as soon as, at last, before, during, earlier, finally, formerly, immediately, later, meanwhile, next, since, shortly, subsequently, then, thereafter, until, when, while
To show place or direction:
above, below, beyond, close, elsewhere, farther on, here, nearby, opposite, to the left (north, etc.)
To indicate logical relationship:
accordingly, as a result, because, consequently, for this reason, hence, if, otherwise, since, so, then, therefore, thus
Directions: Read each paragraph. Then select the most appropriate topic.
1-Increasingly prevalent food allergies in children are beginning to create tension in schools. The number of allergies to foods such as peanuts, dairy products, soy, wheat, corn, fish, and shellfish has been increasing over the last decade. Up to about 3 percent of children are now experiencing life-threatening reactions to such foods; some must be rushed to the hospital if they so much as touch an allergen. As a result, their parents are doing everything they can to prevent exposure of these children to the problem foods. They carefully check labels on food packages, they pack special lunches for their kids to take to school, and they try to keep them away from places that serve foods that cause allergic reactions. But some parents want to go even further: they want their children’s classmates to be prohibited from exposing their allergic child to problem foods. They have consequently persuaded some schools to impose limitations on what kids can bring in their lunchboxes. Any food or snack that is not acceptable is confiscated. Many parents of non-allergic children, however, are objecting to what they believe are ridiculously unfair precautions.
Topic:
a. Controversy over the handling of children’s food allergies
b. The increase in food allergies among elementary school children
c. Life-threatening reactions to food allergies
2-Although funeral customs in England and America are similar in many respects, they also differ significantly in other ways. In both countries, preparation of the body occurs at a funeral home, a funeral service is usually held in a church or chapel, and burial occurs in a cemetery. However, the custom of embalming is not the same. In the United States, treating a corpse with preservatives is routine. In England, though, that procedure is rare. Other pre-funeral customs differ, too. In America, it is customary for mourners to go to the funeral home a day or two before the actual burial for a "wake," a ritual during which people pay their respects to the deceased and to his or her family members. At the wake, the body is laid out in a coffin, and mourners go look at it. In England, however, there is no pre-funeral wake. The funeral director places the body in a chapel, and people can go see it if they like. But they usually don’t. Finally, the actual funeral service differs slightly. The services in both countries typically involve hymns and prayers, but those in England last only about fifteen minutes. American funeral services are usually much longer.
Topic:
a. Funeral customs in England
b. Funeral customs in America
c. Differences between English and American funeral customs
3-What makes a person’s personality unique? According to Steven Reiss, author of Who Am I?: The 16 Basic Desires That Motivate Our Action and Define Our Personality, each individual’s desires determine who he is and what he does. Specifically, Reiss claims that humans experience sixteen distinct desires. They are power, independence, curiosity, acceptance, order, saving, honor, idealism, social contact, family, status, vengeance, romance, eating, physical exercise, and tranquility. The amounts of each desire in an individual determine what kind of person he or she will be. A workaholic, for example, is often a person whose desires for power and status outrank most of the other desires. Conversely, a bright child who performs poorly in school may possess little curiosity, the desire to learn new things.
Topic:
a. Becoming a workaholic
b. The origins of personality
c. Personality and the lust for power
4-About 90 percent of those who try to climb Mount Everest fail to reach the summit, and at least 165 people have never come back at all. But Erik Weihenmayer was determined to be among the 10 percent who have stood atop the world’s tallest mountain. To do that, he had to overcome all of the standard obstacles faced by every Everest climber. He had to avoid being buried in an avalanche or falling into unexpected crevasses. He had to meet the intense physical demands of climbing with the huge amount of equipment required for an ascent. He had to avoid freezing in icy winds and driving snowstorms. He had to conquer the inevitable fever and nausea that overtake climbers who are breathing thin air and ingesting dirty food and water. In addition, Erik had to overcome one other obstacle his fellow climbers don’t face: his own blindness. Erik lost his sight at age 13 due to a rare disease of the retina. In May 2001, though, he triumphed over all of these adversities. With a combination of mental toughness and physical strength, he became the first sightless person to climb to the top of the highest mountain on the earth.
Topic:
a. Erik Weihenmayer’s successful ascent of Mount Everest
b. The obstacles to climbing Mount Everest
c. The dangers of avalanches on Mount Everest
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