qualitytime-esl: the digital resource book

VOLUME 5 | ISSUE 3 | SEPTEMBER 2008

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FROM THE EDITOR ...............................3

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE........................5

COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICECircle Time: Holding Effective Parent Conferences.............................................6by Judie Haynes

Home Room: Out of the Corner......................7by Linda New Levine

The Road Taken: Joinfostering the Missing ...9by Debbie Zacarian

Multilingual Momentum: Ten Years in China as an EFL Professional...........................10by Ke Xu

Culture/Cross-Culture: Implementing Cultural and Intercultural Exploration ............12by Alvino E. Fantini

An Approach to Teaching Multiculturalism in the ClassroomSharon Switzer relates the story of a preserviceteacher whose pride in her cultural heritage wasreawakened by literature, an experience she used toinform her own approach to multicultural teaching.

From A to Z: That’s Cheating! ......................13by Dorothy Zemach

OUT OF THE BOXAn Autoethnographic Reflection of a Colombian Language Teacher in the Making ...............................16by Ligia López

Teaching English in Mexico: What’s Going On?Julie Mijangos-Guzzardo discusses the state ofEnglish language teaching in Mexico as well aspossible solutions to existing problems.

Fishing for Hearts ........................................19by Sara White

SOS! I’m Having an Identity Crisis............22by Cara L. Preuss

A Teacher Becomes a Student and Learns That Teachers Say More Than They Think ...............................25by Kevin McCaughey

PORTALA Critical Glance at Romance, Gender, and Language Teaching .............28by Ryuko Kubota

The Vocabulary-Building Power of Story Creation.............................31by Fang Ying

Word Choices: Developing Vocabulary in Creative WritingThrough activities in her creative writing class,Lora Yasen helps students realize that they are far more creative and capable than they think.

An Unconventional Classroom for Adult ESOL Literacy ..............................34by Kathleen Klose

How Differing SociolinguisticRelationships Impact Language Acquisition .................................37by Colby Toussaint Clark and Ian Clark

REFERENCES & RESOURCESEncounters Book 1.......................................40Reviewed by Jamar A. Miller

Pragmatics .....................................................40Reviewed by Azadeh Nemati

QualityTime-ESL: The Digital Resource Book ..............................................41Reviewed by Grace Willson

Reading A-Z ..................................................42Reviewed by Ayanna Cooper

Reader’s Theater for Reading ImprovementCindy McPhail describes how she helped a class of bilingual sixth graders significantly improvetheir reading comprehension and become morewilling to speak in front of the class.

ASSOCIATION NEWS..........................43A Resource Center for TESOL Educators

VOLUME 5 | ISSUE 3 | SEPTEMBER 2008

COMPLEAT LINKSCompleatLinks isthe onlinecomponent ofEssential Teacher.Go tohttp://www.tesol.org/et/,click on CompleatLinks, and readextensions of thethemes and topics in this issue.

GrammaticallySpeakingWhat is the differencebetween adverbs offrequency and adverbsof degree? Why is im-the correct prefix forsome words when il-and un- seem to meanthe same thing? Whenis it better to use pas-sive voice instead ofactive voice? RichardFirsten answers thesequestions and offers anew Brain Teaser.

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http://www.tesol.org/s_tesol/sec_document.asp?CID=1929&DID=11491





EditorEileen N. Whelan Ariza ([email protected])Florida Atlantic University

Compleat Links EditorMichael Fields([email protected])Abu Dhabi Men’s College

Out of the Box EditorLinda Gerena ([email protected])York College, City University of New York

Portal EditorHanizah Zainuddin ([email protected])Florida Atlantic University

References & Resources EditorVanessa Caceres ([email protected])Fairfax County Public Schools

ColumnistsRichard FirstenMiami-Dade County Public Schools

Judie HaynesRiver Edge Public Schools

Linda New LevineESL/EFL Consultant

Ke XuBorough of Manhattan CommunityCollege, City University of New York

Debbie ZacarianCenter for English Language Education,Hampshire Education Collaborative

Alvino E. FantiniMatsuyama University

Dorothy ZemachMaterials Writer

Consultant Staff EditorSarah J. Duffy

Editorial AdministrationTomiko ChapmanTESOL Central Office

AdvertisingCindy FlynnTESOL Central [email protected]

Graphic DesignSans Serif GraphicsFairfax, VA USA

PrintingUnited Litho, Inc.Ashburn, VA USA

OfficersShelley Diane Wong,PresidentGeorge Mason University

Sandy Briggs, Past President Educational Consultant

Mark S. Algren, President-Elect The University of Kansas

DirectorsDeena BoraieThe American University in Cairo

Andy CurtisChinese University of Hong Kong

Ester de Jong University of Florida

Marcia Fisk Ong Independent Consultant

Elizabeth A. Franklin University of NorthernColorado

Jane Hoelker Qatar University

Joyce KlingCopenhagen Business School

Gabriel Díaz Maggioli The British Schools

Suzanne Panferov University of Arizona

John SchmidtTexas InternationalEducation Consortium

Jim StackSan Francisco Unified School District

Yilin SunSeattle Central Community College

Gertrude Tinker SachsGeorgia State University

Charles S. Amorosino, Jr. Executive Director/CEOAlexandria, Virginia USA

Essential Teacher (ISSN 1545-6501) is publishedfour times a year by Teachers of English toSpeakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL).

For submission guidelines, seehttp://www.tesol.org/et/. Send correspondence to [email protected]

orEssential Teacher, TESOL, 700 South WashingtonStreet, Suite 200, Alexandria, VA 22314 USA

Essential Teacher is copyrighted to TESOL. All requests for permission to reprint should bemade through Copyright Clearance Center(http://www.copyright.com/).

Member Services-Please direct allmembership queries to TESOLMembership Department at the addressabove or to [email protected].

TESOL’s mission is to ensure excellence inEnglish language teaching to speakers ofother languages.

Names of teachers and students arepseudonyms or are used with permission.

Officers and Board of Directors, 2008–2009

2 | ESSENTIAL TEACHER

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A powerful component of becoming an educator is the opportunity for reflection. A great part of this issue is dedicated toeducators in various teaching contexts around the world who reflect on topics such as their own professional development inforeign countries or seeing things from the point of view of foreign language learners themselves. Perhaps one of these arti-cles might spark a memory or trigger an epiphany of your own.

• Communities of Practice: Judie Haynes suggests how teachers might avoid cross-cultural misunderstandings when con-ducting parent conferences. Linda New Levine writes about the issue of English language learner (ELL) placement andthe often-reluctant mainstream teachers who are forced to work with ESOL teachers. Debbie Zacarian shares an interest-ing story about trying to make meaningful connections with a few mainstreamed ELLs who come to school for breakfastand lunch but skip the rest of the day. Ke Xu recounts memories of the camaraderie and false starts he and his colleaguesshared as they began their English language teaching careers in China. Alvino Fantini continues his discussion of incorpo-rating cultural and cross-cultural classroom activities by using a process approach framework. Dorothy Zemach tacklesthe delicate subject of cheating, proposing that students often cheat due to an exaggerated fear of failure or loss.

• Out of the Box: Ligia López discusses the epiphany she had as a Colombian teacher of Hispanic children from variousbackgrounds in a mainstream U.S. classroom. Sara White shares a heartrending story that is nominally about consideringstudents’ complex personalities in an attempt to match them with a particular book that will help them develop a love ofreading. Cara Preuss ponders the labyrinth of acronyms and initialisms in English language teaching and suggests thatshort forms of communication can actually impede the messages we try to impart. Kevin McCaughey describes what it’slike to shift from being a teacher to being a student, recognizing his teacher’s missteps as ones that he has also made.

• Portal: Ryuko Kubota responds to an article about “English for dating purposes” and discusses the intricacies and issuesinvolved in searching for cross-cultural, cross-linguistic dating partners. Fang Ying criticizes vocabulary exercises thatinvolve memorization and decontextualized strategies, instead encouraging vocabulary enhancement through story cre-ation. Kathleen Klose facilitates a classroom of multicultural adult students who help each other prepare for successfulEnglish interchanges in citizenship classes, college classes, and the everyday life of immigrants. Colby Toussaint Clarkand Ian Clark maintain that anecdotal evidence from practitioners suggests that second language acquisition is best sup-ported by the use of clearly structured pair work or small-group tasks.

• References & Resources: Jamar Miller reviews a book that focuses on oral communication for natural speech conversa-tion. Grace Willson reviews a digital book with hyperlinks that expose the reader to a world of resources. AzadehNemati reports on a starter book that explores the relationships among linguistics, semantics, and pragmatics, and com-bines theoretical knowledge with real-world examples. Ayanna Cooper takes a look at a Web site for Grades K–8 thatoffers leveled readers, reader’s theater scripts, fiction, nonfiction, wordless books, and comic books.

• Compleat Links: Sharon Switzer writes about the issues that multicultural individuals face as they struggle with theconflict between their school self and home self. Julie Mijangos-Guzzardo comes to grips with the multifaceted issuesinvolved in English language teaching in Mexico and encourages the implementation of national standards to improvethe overall quality of instruction. Lora Yasen describes the writing techniques that she uses with her Japanese studentsthat prepare them to spend a month writing a short novella. Cindy McPhail argues that expressive reading can boostreading comprehension when English language learners are able to accurately interpret an author’s meaning. InGrammatically Speaking, Richard Firsten demystifies adverbs of frequency and adverbs of degree, explains the inequali-ty of prefixes, clarifies the use of passive voice, and leaves us with another brain teaser to ponder.

I invite you to share your insights as we venture toward a better understanding of teaching and learning English through-out the world.

Eileen N. Whelan Ariza [email protected]

From the Editor

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What does it mean to be a member of a professional community committed to excellence in teaching English to speakersof other languages? Over the years, I have found that it means many things. Like many of you, I expect TESOL to deliverresources to help me expand my professional knowledge. Whether I am mentoring students, facilitating a teacher trainingworkshop, or presenting a paper on support for heritage languages, it’s very important that the information I communicatebe both relevant and engaging to the audience.

If you haven’t had a chance, I highly recommend that you visit the online TESOL Resource Center (TRC), which is whereI often turn to find much of that information. Launched in 2007, the TRC is a member benefit that currently houses nearly200 resources useful for both classroom practice and professional development. In addition, currently posted are video linksfor the plenary sessions from the 2008 TESOL convention as well as notes from some of the convention presentations.

To make sure that you get access to useful, high-quality resources, TESOL has adopted a number of resource submissionstandards. The use of templates and guidelines ensures that each resource is adequately detailed and consistent.Submission templates are available for lesson plans, activities, teaching tips, quizzes, and assessments, and there are sub-mission guidelines for papers, articles, presentations, multimedia resources, Web links, and software.

A three-round review process includes the Central Office professional development staff specialist and two TESOL mem-bers who are experts in the field. They use the TRC review criteria to record their feedback and to ensure that the resourcesare clear, appropriate, relevant, and accurate. The reviewers either approve resources as they are or provide helpful feed-back to the submitter to make the resource ready for online posting.

With my colleague Nader Ayish, I recently had the opportunity to post a resource titled “The Cultural Heritage Project.”This lesson plan model enables teachers to draw on students’ cultural backgrounds to teach various language skills by uti-lizing online search engines. Because so many members have taken the time and effort to submit resources such as this, theTRC has become a valuable tool for the TESOL community in helping us meet the professional needs of our members.

Seeing the variety of resources currently posted reminded me of how much I value the diversity of TESOL’s member-ship. As a community of learners, we empower each other by sharing high-quality professional and classroom resources,which is one of the key ways to connect and have a professional exchange of work and ideas. As the number of resourcesin the TRC continues to grow, so do the breadth of topics and the value of this benefit.

Please do yourself a favor and check out the TRC for yourself at www.tesol.org/resourcecenter. A detailed article aboutit can be found in the Association News section of this issue (p. 46). The article provides specific information on navigatingthe site, locating resources, and submitting new resources.

I hope you take time to visit the TRC to expand your professional knowledge by finding novel and practical resourcesthat suit your needs.

President, 2008–2009 [email protected]

President’s Message

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Mrs. Crain, a third-grade teacher,was conferencing with Akiko’s parentsin October. Her concern was Akiko’slack of progress. She explained thatAkiko needed to spend more time com-pleting homework and studying fortests. The parents nodded in apparentagreement. During the weeks after theconference, though, Akiko’s efforts didnot improve. Mrs. Crain was at a lossto understand why.

As it turns out, she was unaware ofsome important cultural differences.In many Asian countries, to nod inagreement means “Yes, I hear you,”not “Yes, I agree.” Mrs. Crain was alsounaware that Akiko spent quite a bitof time completing homework fromher Japanese Saturday school. Hermother was concerned that if Akikodidn’t keep up with her Japanesestudies, she would return to thecompetitive environment inJapan at a great disadvantage.

General education teachersneed to learn how to better com-municate with the increasingnumber of linguistically and cul-turally diverse families in theirschools. Our goal as ESL teachersshould be to help our colleagueshold productive conferenceswith the parents of English lan-guage learners. To do this,these teachers should try tolearn something about the cul-ture of the families with whomthey are conferencing.

Conferences with parentsfrom other cultures require addi-tional preparation. In this articleI offer guidelines for ESL teach-

ers to use with classroom and subjectarea teachers in their schools.

Conference preplanning. Contact atranslator for parents who need one.This is extremely important. Manyparents do not speak English wellenough to understand what the teacheris saying. A parent once told me thatwhen she first came to the UnitedStates, she faked her way through herchild’s conferences without under-standing a word. If your school doesnot provide translators, ask parents tobring a bilingual family member.Siblings or, worse yet, the child who isthe subject of the conference should nottranslate for the parents.

Plan in advance how you are goingto conference. If there is no translator,speak in short, simple sentences.Refrain from using educational jargon.

Visuals, like work samples, are morepowerful than the words you speak.Try to have report cards and rubricstranslated. I once sat in a conferencewith a kindergarten teacher who illus-trated the problems the child was hav-ing in math by using the math manipu-latives from her classroom.

Try to schedule your conferences sothat both parents can attend. In somecultures, the father must be includedbecause no important decisions aremade without his agreement.

Parents from many cultures haveunrealistic expectations for their chil-dren. If their children were good stu-dents in their home countries, parentsmay push them to work on gradelevel in English in a relatively shorttime. General education teachersshould be able to explain the differ-ence between academic and social lan-guage. They should be able to talkabout how long it takes children towork on grade level in English. Theyshould know why they shouldencourage parents to speak theirnative language at home. This mustall be part of professional develop-ment programs presented in advanceof the conference.

There are cultural differences in theuse of space, so consider the physicalsetup of your conference space. Adirect face-to-face setting may be tooconfrontational or intimate for parentsfrom some cultures. Think aboutarranging chairs so that your body isat a 45-degree angle to the parents.

Greeting parents. Although manypeople from other cultures have adopt-ed the Western manner of shaking

Communities of Practice

CIRCLE TIME

Holding Effective Parent Conferences by Judie Haynes

Siblings or, worse yet, thechild who is the subject ofthe conference should nottranslate for the parents.

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hands, in some cultures this manner ofgreeting is not the norm. Asian women,for example, generally do not shakehands. It is more comfortable for them tonod and bow slightly when introduced.Teachers need to know what the normsare for the cultures of their students. It isalso wise to find out how names areused in different cultures. If necessary,ask parents what you should call them.

Pay attention to your body lan-guage. Smile and present a friendlydemeanor. Crossing your arms in frontof you may send the wrong message.

Avoiding cultural misunderstandings.In the United States, verbal communi-cation is usually direct and there is lit-tle need for nonverbal cues in order forus to understand each other. We live ina low-context culture; the conventionsfor communication are not writtendown, and we assume that everyoneknows them. When families fromdiverse cultures come into our schools,they don’t know our hidden rules.Most of these immigrant families comefrom high-context cultures; they do not

like disharmony and will, like the par-ents in Mrs. Crain’s conference, oftenavoid expressing a clear “no.” I knowof many incidences when parents havemoved their children to a differentschool rather than express their dis-agreement with a school.

Saving face, or avoiding shame orembarrassment, is crucial in high-con-text cultures. That doesn’t mean thatpeople from the United States neverattempt to save face, but it is much lessimportant in low-context cultures.Parents may experience a loss of face ifteachers are opposing an importantcultural value or making them feel per-sonally inadequate. And parents mayexperience shame or disgrace if theybelieve that they are making a conces-sion unwillingly. Some parents will doall that they can to evade situationswhere overt disagreements occur. Weas teachers often feel that there isagreement because parents do notvoice disagreement. What we have tokeep in mind while conferencing is thatparents are focused on building group

harmony, whereas we may just want tosolve problems and move on.

Another area for misunderstandingis in different cultures’ attitudes towardtime. People from the United Statestend to see time as being highly struc-tured, logical, exact, and sequential.Lateness is considered rude. Peoplefrom many other cultures, however,like to keep their time unstructured. Ifa parent arrives at a conference 45 min-utes after the appointed time, he or sheis not necessarily trying to be rude;rather, it may be because arriving up to45 minutes after the designated time isnot considered late.

Our goal as ESL teachers should beto ensure that English language learn-ers have a positive educational experi-ence. Establishing positive relation-ships with the parents of our studentsfurthers this goal. So we need to learnabout the cultures of our students andapply that knowledge to our communi-cations with parents.

[email protected]

HOME ROOM

Out of the Corner by Linda New Levine

Nina and Lisa were best friends.They taught second grade side byside in our 100-year-old schoolbuilding. Their classrooms wereenormous, with large sliding doorsthat allowed them to combine theirtwo classes into one large group.Throughout the day, their studentsintermingled as Nina and Lisacotaught the lessons that they hadplanned during the long, amblingwalks they enjoyed at the end of theschool day.

For some reason, Nina and Lisa hadnever had English language learners(ELLs) placed in their classrooms;ELLs were usually placed in the class-rooms of the newer and less experi-enced teachers. But as our town beganto attract more immigrant workers,

the numbers of ELLs increased andsoon most teachers in our school hadseveral language learners in theirclasses—even Nina and Lisa. Theywere not pleased.

One afternoon, they went to talk toJim about the problem of ELL place-ment. As a principal, Jim was old-school but well respected in the com-

munity. His fellow administratorsdidn’t think he was as capable as theywere, but the teachers in his buildingliked him and flourished under hissupervision, which was at timesdescribed as benign neglect.

Nina was one of Jim’s favorites.They had worked together for a longtime. Nina generally got what she

The first-grade teachers weretalking about whole languageand borrowing big booksfrom the ESL collection.

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wanted from Jim, but not this time.Jim wouldn’t remove the ELLs fromNina’s and Lisa’s classrooms. The poli-cy in the district was to spread themevenly throughout the grade. In thatway, the children received more lan-guage input from English-speakingfriends. It was thought that thisEnglish immersion would speed thechildren’s language acquisition.

“What I’m doing doesn’t work withthese kids,” Nina explained. “And Ican’t take time to work with them andlet the other kids suffer.”

“You and Lisa are right next door toeach other,” Jim reminded her. “Thatshould make it easy for you to groupthe ELLs from both classes for math,science, and social studies.”

“What about reading?” Lisaasked. “How can I handle anotherreading group?”

“I’m sending the ESL teacher intoNina’s room every day to teachreading and language to the ELLs,”Jim explained.

At that, Nina walked out of theoffice, slamming the door behind her.Soon everyone in the building knewthat Nina and Lisa were forced toaccept the ESL teacher into a corner oftheir classroom to teach reading. Thetwo of them didn’t hesitate to com-plain about the intrusion to the entire

staff. People started taking sides, andfew were taking the ESL teacher’s side.

I was that ESL teacher.A week later, I set up my table,

chairs, and materials while Nina andLisa were out walking. I was trying toavoid a confrontation, but it wasinevitable. On my first day in herroom, Nina told me that she didn’twant me there, and I told her that Ididn’t want to be there either. I hadmy own classroom and could havepulled the ELLs out for readinginstruction. Why was Jim causing allof these problems?

That year I had learned about wholelanguage reading instruction at aTESOL convention. I began to pur-chase big books and learn more aboutwhole language literacy through read-ing and discussions with colleaguesfrom other schools. No one in myschool had used big books or knewabout whole language.

In spite of the discord in the second-grade classroom, I was excited andhappy about the direction my readinginstruction was taking. I saw that thechildren responded with excitement tothe big books, the colorful pictures, andthe many language activities that pro-pelled their literacy development. Soonmy second graders were reading manybooks and even writing their own ver-

sions of the big book stories. Idisplayed these stories in the

ESL corner of Nina’s room.Nina’s and Lisa’s other

students often wanderedinto our corner during

class to listen to thestories from the big

books. Nina andLisa began to

notice that the ESL corner was attract-ing more and more of their studentsaway from the workbook pages thatformed the basis of the second-gradereading program. They also noted thatthe first-grade teachers were talkingabout whole language and borrowingbig books from the ESL collection.Conversations in the lunch roomveered away from complaints aboutunruly youngsters to discussions aboutreading instruction. The younger teach-ers in the school were more knowledge-able about this new method than theirexperienced colleagues and more eagerto experiment with new techniques. Jimwandered in and smiled, pretendingnot to notice the discussions.

By the following summer, Jim hadfound money to support staff develop-ment in our school for whole languagereading instruction. All of the kinder-garten through second-grade teachersparticipated. Lisa and Nina signed uplast—when they discovered that theywere the only teachers who had not yetdone so. The summer workshops wereexciting for all of us. We rarely had anopportunity to talk about instructionalstrategies during the school year. Weenjoyed the relaxed nature of the train-ing and the fact that the trainers wereteachers from a neighboring school dis-trict who had gone through a similarlearning process the year before. Theydidn’t know all of the answers to ourquestions, but they encouraged us toexperiment in our classrooms to devel-op strategies that would work with ourstudents. By September, all of us wereworking with whole language reading,each in our own way.

As I recall those difficult and excit-ing days, I have a renewed respect for

Jim. He took a big risk by chal-lenging Nina and Lisa and a bigrisk in trusting an inexperiencedESL teacher. But in the end itpaid off in renewed professionaldevelopment for the staff andimprovement in reading instruc-tion for all students in the build-ing. And I finally got out of thecorner in Nina’s classroom.

[email protected]

All of us wereworking with wholelanguage reading,each in our own way.

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Hevy came to his high school intime for breakfast. His school served afree or reduced breakfast and lunch tothose whose family’s income qualifiedthem to receive a free meal.

“Hey, Jorge. How’s it goin’?” heasked his friend as they both sat downto eat. When the school bell rang, theyfinished their meal, walked quietlyout of the building, and went toHevy’s apartment. At exactly 11:30,they returned to school, listened forthe bell, walked to the cafeteria, atelunch, and once again snuck out of theschool and back to Hevy’s apartment.Skipping school had become close to adaily ritual for them.

The school had a policy of contact-ing the parents or guardians of stu-dents who had missed more than aday of school. A voicemail messagewas left, and a letter was sent home.In addition, students who missedmore than 4 days were contacted bythe school personnel. Hevy and Jorgewere members of the second category.They were also aware of the school’spolicies and made sure to erase thevoicemail messages and destroy theletters that were sent home. Theirparents were unaware that the boyswere skipping and failing school.Although theymay have suspect-ed as much, theparents workedmore than 12hours a day andassumed that their childrenwere responsible.

At midtermduring the first semester, the district’selementary, middle, and high schoolESL staff met during one of theschool’s teacher work days. While thegroup was readying to meet, Haley,one of the middle school teachers,asked how her students were doing

now that they had moved on to thehigh school. The high school ESL staffresponded about the progress of sev-eral of her former students.

“How about Hevy, Maria, Dimitri,and Jorge?” Karl, one of the elemen-tary ESL teachers asked. “They wereso hard working.”

The high schoolstaff members thoughtfor a minute. Theyresponded that theydidn’t have any stu-dents with thesenames. Almost in uni-son, they said thatthey didn’t work withor know the students

who had exited the ESL program.“If you worked with them during

elementary school and they becameproficient in English, we wouldn’treally have the opportunity to workwith or know them,” one of theteachers said.

“Give me their first and last names,and I will check and let you know howthey are doing,” another responded.

When the high school ESL teacherreturned to her school, she checked onthe students that her colleague hadasked about. Hevy and Jorge, shefound, had missed 21 out of 40 days!She also learned that the guidancecounselor had made several unsuccess-ful attempts to keep them in school.

“I have met with them severaltimes,” the guidance counselor told her.“They listen politely, promise me thatthey will return to school, and doreturn in a short spurt of steady atten-dance. Then they resume skippingschool. Their teachers and I don’t knowthem well. Hevy and Jorge don’t seemconnected here. They aren’t participat-ing in class or afterschool activities. Wecontinue to seek ways to help themreturn to and stay in school, and we seethem sneaking into breakfast and lunch.We try to keep them in school, but they

THE ROAD TAKEN

Joinfostering the Missing

The guidance counselor had made severalunsuccessful attempts to keep them in school

Hevy and Jorgehad missed 21out of 40 days!

by Debbie Zacarian

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Shortly before the 2008 TESOL con-vention in New York, a friend of mineon the TESOL Board asked me to givesome tips to new TESOL memberswho had just entered the field of EFL,which I did with pleasure because itreminded me of when I worked inChina as an EFL professional.

In the early 1980s, upon graduationfrom Jiangsu Teachers’ College, I wasassigned to work as an EFL programcoordinator in the Education

Department of Jiangsu Province. I wasyoung, ambitious, proud, yet nervous-ly aware of my lack of teaching experi-ence. To help me gain the teachingexperience required for the job, thedepartment sent me to teach Englishin a middle school in Nanjing. I taughtthree different classes at three differentlevels each semester so that I couldbecome familiar with the curriculumand methodology used at each of thesix grade levels.

Each class I taughthad more than 50students. I stillremember how shyand nervous I waswhen I taught myfirst class and thetotal panic I experi-enced when a gust of

wind blew my lesson plan sheets outthe window. (My students told melater that I actually did a better jobwithout the sheets.) But I survived,found my own way, and started to likethe job. The good thing about beingyoung and single was that I had agreat deal of time and energy. I spentmuch time with my students—jog-ging, playing volleyball, teaching themEnglish songs, watching Englishmovies, listening to English radiobroadcasts. And soon we all becamegood friends.

I also enjoyed working with my col-leagues, learning from them, observ-ing their classes, and chatting withthem. As is still the case now, when itcame to professional development,most teachers in China were groupedby the subject(s) they taught. Teachers

MULTILINGUAL MOMENTUM

by Ke XuTen Years in China asan EFL Professional

manage to find their way out of thebuilding. At this point, they are failingevery subject, and it doesn’t look likethey are making a real turnaround.”

Sadly, the high school ESL teacherreported this information to Karl, theirelementary ESL teacher who hadworked with them for several years.Karl thought about the steps that hewould take to reconnect with Hevyand Jorge. The first thought he hadwas to go to the high school duringlunch time and speak with them ifthey were there. With permission fromhis principal, he headed to the highschool one day on a mission to findand admonish his former students.The high school cafeteria, like many, isa huge room that seats hundreds ofkids. Ten minutes into his search, hefound them. He walked directly towhere they were sitting.

“Hevy and Jorge?” Karl asked.They turned around, stood up, and, infront of everyone in the cafeteria,hugged Karl. What made the momentparticularly special was that the twoboys had grown over a head tallerthan Karl, and they both had to leanover to hug him. During the rest ofthe lunch period, they sat in the cafe-teria and spoke with their belovedelementary ESL teacher.

Within a few short weeks, bothHevy and Jorge began attendingschool regularly. Two to three days aweek, after school, they took a bus tothe elementary school, where they metwith Karl. The high school staff wereamazed at the elementary teacher’sability to get these students back ontrack; it was the power of the longrelationship that Karl had built withthem that made it possible.

Key to this turnaround was the prin-ciple of joinfostering: “an organizationand implementation of social practicesto enable students who speak a lan-guage other than English to join in andparticipate in all aspects of English-medium classroom life” (Faltis, 2001, p.1). Students who are learning Englishbuild connected relationships withtheir ESL teachers that often spanyears. Seeking ways to maintain theserelationships can be a powerful mecha-nism for building the active participa-tion that all teachers seek.

[email protected]

ReferenceFaltis, C. (2001). Joinfostering: Teaching

and learning in multilingual classrooms(3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:Merrill/Prentice Hall.

I was young, ambitious, proud,yet nervously aware of my lackof teaching experience.

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who taught at the samelevel met regularly tocollaborate on their les-son plans, read articles,share experiences inteaching, discuss issuesof common concern, andfind solutions to theproblems they identified.Teachers also regularlyattended workshopssuch as the Best PracticeShowcases hosted by theNanjing City Bureau ofEducation and theNanjing City College ofTeacher Education.Many teachers also lis-tened to the radiobroadcast of Englishteaching programsoffered by RadioNanjing, which helpedthem prepare their les-sons. I personally foundthe broadcast very help-ful because it offered practical assis-tance to teachers.

Unfortunately, China’s educationalsystem then was still very centralized.Schools across the country were usingthe same set of textbooks, following thesame curriculum guidelines, offeringthe same amount of instruction hours,and moving forward at the same pace.(Five years later, when I read about themilitary model of educational adminis-tration in a course I took at MelbourneUniversity, in Australia, I thought ofChina’s system right away.) The domi-nant teaching model was book based,teacher centered, and test driven. Theteaching moved so fast, and there wasso much content to cover, that teachershad barely any time left to reflect ontheir teaching.

I spent several weekendsin the school library search-ing for storybooks, comicbooks, magazines, newspa-pers, and cassettes for mystudents. Another advantageof being young was that I hadnothing to lose and thereforedared to take risks and trynew things. I was the firstteacher in the school to use

imported textbooks and audiocassetterecording in the classroom, and thefirst to conduct a class in the languagelab. I also organized the school’s firstEnglish conversation club for stu-dents, which met once a week.

Six months after I started this job, I moved to live on campus so that Icould spend more time with my stu-dents, especially those who lived oncampus. I lived in an old building thatwas waiting to be demolished; myroom was a big classroom with holesand cracks in the roof and in thewalls. Without a heater or even astove, it was freezing in winter. Whenit was too cold, I would fill a bucketwith hot water from the schoolkitchen and wrap my arms around itto keep myself warm while grading

students’ work orpreparing lessons. Yet Ididn’t complain about it.In fact, compared withmy overheated apart-ment in New York City, Iwould rather stay in thatroom if I could choosenow, because the cold,refreshing air kept mymind working.

It was during thisperiod that I read manybooks and did a lot ofthinking about teachingmethodology and peda-gogy. I made the best useof my large room, whichsoon became a multipur-pose activity room thathoused a space for mystudents’ reading cluband conversation club inrainy weather, an officeand newsroom for theeditors and reporters

from the school’s English newsletter,and even a rehearsal room for theschool’s English drama team.

In addition to the heavy teachingload, I also worked as a student super-visor and counselor of one of the class-es I taught. This was actually requiredof every new teacher in China. If a stu-dent cut two to three classes in amonth, I would visit that student’sparents, find out what happened, andget the parents involved in helping thestudent. I actually benefited from thesevisits as well because they helped meunderstand my students.

My hard work paid off. By the endof the 2-year internship as originallyplanned by the Education Department,the school asked the Director Generalfor a favor: to “borrow” me for anoth-

er year. The request wasapproved, and the total of 3years I spent teaching at sixdifferent levels laid a solidfoundation for my futurecareer as a teacher andresearcher in the field of EFL.I will discuss this topic furtherin my next column.

[email protected]

I spent several weekends in the schoollibrary searching for storybooks,

comic books, magazines, newspapers,and cassettes for my students.

I was the first teacher in theschool to use imported

textbooks and audiocassetterecording in the classroom.

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Previously in this column, I madethe case for expanding the goal ofESOL to include the development ofintercultural competence (see“Expanding the Goal of ESOL,”Essential Teacher, March 2008) and pre-sented a model for course redesign tohelp further this goal (see “Redesign-ing ESOL Courses to Address Culturaland Intercultural Aspects,” EssentialTeacher, June 2008). This column fol-lows up with frameworks and activi-ties to aid in implementing culturaland intercultural exploration in anexpanded course design.

ESL and EFL contexts present differ-ent possibilities for cultural exploration.In the ESL context, learners are imm-ersed in an English-speaking milieu andclassroom work is naturally bolsteredby continuing exposure to English, evenafter classes are over. In the EFL con-text, however, English is often limitedto the classroom itself, with feweropportunities for real-life exposure.Nonetheless, in both situations culturaland cross-cultural exploration is essen-tial for furthering students’ develop-ment of intercultural competence.

The process approach framework(A. E. Fantini, 1999) can help ensureinclusion of cultural and cross-culturalactivities in the classroom. This frame-work posits seven stages to guide les-son plan development:

1. Presentation of new material2. Practice in context3. Grammar exploration4. Transposition (or use)5. Sociolinguistic exploration6. Target culture exploration7. Intercultural exploration

Whereas most teachers are familiarwith Stages 1–4, the latter stages are

less common. But including these threeadditional stages ensures that languageexploration is complemented byexplicit attention to sociolinguistic, cul-tural, and intercultural aspects.Textbooks generally focus on languagestructure and, increasingly, communi-cation (Stages 1–4), but pay little atten-tion to Stages 5–7, and teachers mustoften develop such activities on theirown (or not).

This model establishes an explicitprocess that clarifies objectives andactivities that are appropriate for eachof the seven stagesof a lesson unit. Italso helps teachersselect, sequence,and evaluate learn-ing and teachingactivities that arechosen because oftheir match withlearning objectives.Most important,when developingthe course syllabus and lesson plans,teachers are reminded that Stage 5–7activities form part of each lessoncycle. Of course, not all stages may becovered in a single lesson; rather,together they may form a unit of mate-rial in which the cycle from Stages 1 to7 is completed before going on to pres-ent new material. In the end, whatremains important is that language,cultural, and cross-cultural explorationare integral parts of each unit andtogether enhance development ofintercultural competence.

A second framework that aids incultural and cross-cultural explorationaddresses relationships among arti-facts, sociofacts, and mentifacts (ASM;B. Fantini & Fantini, 1997), a modeladopted by the American Council on

the Teaching of Foreign Languages aspart of the National Standards forForeign Languages. Based on a socio-logical concept, this framework interre-lates three cultural dimensions: arti-facts (things people make), sociofacts(how people come together and forwhat purpose), and mentifacts (whatpeople think or believe). This schemereminds us that whatever dimensionone begins with, the other two are alsopresent and available, and their explo-ration helps deepen understanding ofthe target language–culture paradigm.

For example, if we consider anyobject or item—say, a sandwich—wecan investigate, first of all, what asandwich is (e.g., lunch, snack, breadand cold cuts); then what types of peo-ple use a sandwich, and how (e.g.,working people, students, for picnics,bite size to accompany cocktails); andfinally, what the notion of sandwichrepresents or means (e.g., portable,inexpensive, quick, common fare). Thisexploration goes beyond merely con-sidering cultural items; it encouragesthe consideration of their social usesand significance. In addition, compar-ing the artifacts, sociofacts, and men-tifacts of host culture items with thoseof the learners’ cultures (e.g., sand-wiches with tacos or rice balls) permitscross-cultural investigation.

CULTURE/CROSS-CULTURE

Implementing Cultural andIntercultural Exploration by Alvino E. Fantini

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Many varied, interesting, and excit-ing activities exist to help address thecultural and cross-cultural aspects oflanguage. Some have been developedwithin the intercultural field yet fitnicely into Stages 5–7. For example,New Ways in Teaching Culture (A. E.Fantini, 1997) contains 50 activitiesselected from submissions sent by edu-cators from around the world andgrouped according to their focus onsociolinguistic, cultural, or intercultur-al exploration.

Of the many possibilities, I willdescribe one class of techniques—operation—which are essentially ordi-nary activities from everyday life thatreveal cultural information. One exam-ple is how to prepare a peanut butterand jelly sandwich, something thatevery young (and even older)American is familiar with.

Have students sitin a semicircle so thatthey can all witnessthe operation andprovide some back-ground or context forthe event. Then,using real props,make a peanut butter

and jelly sandwich, explaining theprocess one step at the time. Aftercompleting the operation, ask studentsto recount what they experienced andto narrate the precise steps insequence. Then have the class giveinstructions to a volunteer for makinga second sandwich. When completed,students can taste small pieces of thesandwich and comment on their reac-tions. Cross-cultural exploration can beaccomplished by then having studentsdiscuss comparable snacks in theirown cultures. Innumerable operationsand variations are possible as follow-up activities.

Helping students develop intercul-tural competence is not only fun, it isalso essential. Frameworks like theprocess approach and ASM modelscan help teachers develop lesson plansthat include activities that explore cul-

tural and cross-cultural aspects ofEnglish. These activities add newdimensions to the traditional languageclass while helping students developthe knowledge, attitude, skills, andawareness that will foster develop-ment of the competence they need forEnglish-speaking contexts.

ReferencesFantini, A. E. (Ed.). (1997). New ways in

teaching culture. Alexandria, VA: TESOL.Fantini, A. E. (1999). Comparisons: Towards

the development of intercultural compe-tence. In J. K. Phillips (Ed.), Foreign lan-guage standards (pp. 165–218).Lincolnwood, IL: National TextbookCompany.

Fantini, B., & Fantini, A. E. (1997). Artifacts,sociofacts, mentifacts: A socioculturalframework. In A. E. Fantini (Ed.), Newways in teaching culture (pp. 57–61).Alexandria, VA: TESOL.

[email protected]

A lion and a cheetah decided to havea race. The cheetah was faster, but thelion ended up winning. How? I solicitguesses from the class. Invariably, astudent suggests that the lion musthave cheated, which gives me myopening: “Oh, no, because you see—winners never cheat, and cheetahsnever win.”

We could do a lot with that joke. Wecould work on pronunciation(cheater/cheetah) or discuss what itteaches us about a form of humor(manipulating a few words of a com-mon phrase), but I prefer to use it as theopening of a discussion on cheating. Is

it true that winners never cheat? Is ittrue that cheaters never win?

Students are usually quick to con-clude that the saying is false (and here’sa good opportunity to slip in a lesson onsupporting your opinions with concreteexamples) and move on to discuss whypeople cheat and why (or whether)doing so is bad. If you have low-levelstudents who won’t be able to follow thelion/cheetah opener, start by askingthem to list different ways one couldcheat on a test. This is a good exercisefor any level, actually, because oncethey’ve shared the methods they know,they’ll be too embarrassed to try them in

your class or you’ll at least know whatto watch out for!

Most classes eventually consolidate thereasons for cheating into two categories:

1. The cheater feels unequal to the task.2. The cheater doesn’t respect

the assignment.

I think the first is more common.Tests and major assignments inducefear. Even students who are well pre-pared worry about their performance,and for university students there areobvious consequences to not doingwell: a lowered grade; then a lowered

FROM A TO Z

That’s Cheating! by Dorothy Zemach

See also “An Approach toTeaching Multiculturalism

in the Classroom,”http://www.tesol.org/et/.

Helping students developintercultural competence is notonly fun, it is also essential.

ET Sept 2008_6 8/15/08 4:25 PM Page 13


grade point average; thenthe loss of opportunity toenter graduate school, landa good job, and live happilyever after. This last point isexaggerated, but the percep-tion is there nevertheless.

The best way to combat thisform of cheating is to suffi-ciently prepare students. Farbetter that you limit your syl-labus and teach a moderateamount solidly than cover toomuch too quickly. Additionally,teachers sometimes feel pressure tobe entertaining and fresh at theexpense of reviewing material thor-oughly enough. It’s OK for studentsto be a little bored sometimes if thatmeans they’ve truly mastered yourteaching point.

However, you also need to admitthat you can’t force students to learn.Although you can—and must—pro-vide every opportunity for students tolearn and practice, there comes a timewhen you have to acknowledge theirrole in taking responsibility for master-ing the material. ESL classes are typi-cally smaller than other universityclasses, and we ESL teachers get toknow our students well. It’s hard towatch students not live up to theirpotential or actually fail. So prompt,praise, encourage, goad, (gently)threaten, push . . . but accept that youcannot, in the end, do students’ learn-ing for them.

The second form of cheating is tricki-er to address. Your best defense is trans-parency: Be crystal clear in your expla-nations about why you have given aparticular assignment and what itsvalue is. Explain why you are teachinga particular point and what you hope toshow students by assessing theirachievement. Again, though, not all stu-dents will accept your expla-nations. It’s partly age, I think.Come on, show of hands: Didany of you ever cheat in highschool or university? I thoughtso. And was it ever, perhaps,not because you hated learn-ing or didn’t understand theassignment, but just, well,because you could?

It’s like a challenge to The System,which—because it is set up to beauthoritarian and controlling—almostbegs some clever students to circum-vent it. You can’t cause your studentsto age any faster. But you can helpthem recognize whether they’re tempt-ed by this type of cheating and thendiscuss the consequences.

Regarding the consequences, wewant students to believe that cheaters“only cheat themselves” and that thetrue punishment to dodging the assign-ment is missing the knowledge.Therefore, make that true in your classby placing less emphasis on punish-ment and demonstrating what learnerscould do with the skills being offeredand what they’d be missing if theydidn’t acquire these skills.

I’ll finish with the incident from myyouth that led me to this conclusion.My high school German teacher was awonderful man who loved languages.He spoke 17 languages fluently, butthis made it hard for him to understand

students who were only there becausethey had to take 2 years of some lan-guage to graduate. He was, to put itmildly, overly trusting. His room wasnever locked, and he would actuallyleave the classroom during tests.

During my second year, I stole thetest booklet off his desk, photocopiedit, and returned it. (Sorry, Mr.Cernicek!) It became my job, beforeeach test, to fill out the tests as if theywere worksheets and make copies formy friends. I would make differentplausible mistakes on each friend’scopy—enough so that our papers weredifferent but we all got an A. Thenwe’d bring the completed tests intoclass with us and swap them with theblank tests when he wasn’t looking.

In the spring, the teacher announcedthat he had registered us all to take anational high school German proficien-cy exam. Although my friends did poor-ly on the exam, I scored in the 90th per-centile. Filling out the tests and choos-ing the “mistakes” had actually taughtme quite a bit of German—not in thesame way that my teacher had intend-ed, but at that moment I realized howpleased I was to have learned someGerman. This realization changed me,and I can honestly say I never cheatedin college, even though I attended onethat frequently gave closed-book,unmonitored take-home exams.

I encourage you therefore to spendless time trying to prevent cheating(and much less time beating yourselfup if someone manages to cheat) and

more time preparing students fortheir tasks, pointing out the valueof what they’re learning and help-ing them understand the broadervalue of being in school and gain-ing an education. But I’d stilladvise you to lock your office andstay in the room while your stu-dents take tests.

[email protected]

Tests and major assignmentsinduce fear. Even studentswho are well prepared worryabout their performance.

Is it true that winnersnever cheat? Is it truethat cheaters never win?

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When I left after 3 years of teachingESL in a public elementary school inthe United States, I wrote a letter tomy colleagues to raise their awarenesson issues of language, family, injustice,and race. I wrote the message hopingthat, through my experience, theywould transform their thinkingtoward English language learners(ELLs) and immigrant children. In thelast staff meeting before my departure,I did not have the courage to read myletter out loud; a tight knot in mythroat would not allow me to do so. Ihope they found the letter in theirschool mailboxes and read it. I hopethe message still resonates.

Adjusting to a New ContextBefore I taught in the United States,

I had been teaching in Colombia. InMay 2004, when I flew to Bogotá torequest a U.S. visa, my fourth-gradestudents in Colombia united in faithand prayed that it would be denied sothat I could stay with them. But Ireceived my visa and moved to theUnited States to begin teaching. I hadlearned much from my Colombian

students, but the lessons I learnedfrom “those Hispanic” students in theUnited States are joyful, innumerable,and invaluable.

Yes, “those Hispanic children” whoare just learning English or “don’tknow any English,” who are blamedfor “messing up the test scores of theclassrooms,” who are mischievousonce in a while and get suspended,who cannot spell the high-frequencywords, whose parents never show upat conferences or school events, andwho eat tamales and smell like chiles.Those “Spanish people,” “Mexicans,”“Hispanics,” or whatever they arecalled, were now “my children”—my

students who ignitedin me a passion forlifelong learning (asthe school missionsays) by opening myeyes to seeing howincomplete I was as alanguage educatorand as a human being.

Nowhere in theelite Colombian edu-cation context where Ihad worked and

where my teacher identity had startedemerging would I have realized thepain, injustice, and inequity that livewithin the mainstream. In the UnitedStates, Julio, Ely, Oriana, Alondra,Hector, and Leslie, like all of my stu-dents, taught me that teaching ESL ismore than language teaching. It isabout teaching values, fine motorskills, imagination, science, socialstudies, the brain, tolerance, identity,

critical race theory (Ladson-Billings,1994)—teaching about life and for life.At many points during my ESL teach-ing experience, I wondered why chil-dren were called limited English profi-cient when it would be more accurateto refer to them as having limited lifeexperience—or so I thought.

Learning From StudentsOne second grader whom I taught,

Alondra, almost failed her readingrunning record test because she couldnot answer a “making connections”question from a storybook about ananimated snow truck that got stuck.It was not the language that con-strained Alondra’s answer; she justhad limited experience with snowand was unable to relate a personallife event in order to earn the neces-sary points to pass the test. But whenit was time to sequence and followsteps in a process, Alondra couldmake connections easily and teachme how to prepare arroz con leche andeven write the recipe.

It felt wonderful to be able to drawfrom my students’ rich life experienceslater on, like when I learned about thetraditional Dia de los Muertos and itscultural and social significance. It wasso rewarding to see a bunch ofMexicanitos beaming in surprise thatMs. López didn’t know anythingabout this holiday, not even the con-cept that a flower path needs to bemade so that infant souls can findtheir homes.

I remember when I realized thatNaguatl was the language that many

OUT OF THE BOXEdited by Linda [email protected]

Nowhere in the elite Colombianeducation context would I have realizedthe pain, injustice, and inequity thatlive within the mainstream.

An Autoethnographic Reflection of a Language Teacher in the Making

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17SEPTEMBER 2008 |

of my students’ parentsspoke at home. It was the rea-son why most of them couldnot read either the Englishfield trip permission slipsthat were sent home or theirSpanish translations inwhich I had put so mucheffort and time.

Leslie could differenti-ate between the words girland boy even though thesketch she drew, and insist-ed was a /hirl/, was in myrelatively sexist and traditionaleyes a boy. “Es una /hirl/ con pants ypelo corto, Ms. López.” Certainly—itwas a girl who resembled her withshort hair and pants. Leslie also taughtme about creatures that live in theSonora dessert, the nocturnal ones thatstrategize to hunt and survive, just likeshe did as she hid in a cuevita (cave)when her grandma tried to chaseaway dangerous beasts to protect her.It was a “long journey through thedessert,” she wrote in a personalaccount in Spanish with some emerg-ing words in English. Through Leslie’swriting, I learned about all the possi-ble means of transportation betweenAcapulco and Texas, about aspirations,and about welfare.

My students experienced the powerthat comes from feeling that they couldeducate the teacher about their cul-tures, histories, and identities, whichare often ignored and undervalued. Itwas painful to realize how limited Iwas, and still am, in knowing aboutthese kids’ experiences and how long Ihad ignored it, thinking they had onlylimited life experience.

Besides being a translator, inter-preter, graphic designer, painter,dancer, choreographer, and driver(because I took students on my ownESL field trips and to dance perform-ances on weekends and in theevenings), I also turned into a social

worker, psychologist, marriage coun-selor, and even lawyer. There is nodoubt that I am deeply indebted to mystudents and their families for leadingme to stretch my psyche, as I imagineda fairer and more just school and reali-ty for them and for me.

The Silver Lining of a Painful Experience

Teaching in the United States andserving this linguistically and raciallymarginalized population has been apainful experience. But pain isnecessary to start transformation, tofeel the need to act, and to build a bet-ter and fairer society. I am more

human now than before I camehere. I am aware of and value themultiplicity of languages andidentities—even within the Latinocommunity—that one brings tohuman interaction. I can see themultidimensionality of experi-ences that are intertwined in alanguage classroom. I can see life

of a Colombian

OUT OF THE BOX

My students experienced the power that comes from feeling thatthey could educate the teacher about their cultures, histories,and identities, which are often ignored and undervalued.

By Ligia López

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and the Hispanic experience as plu-ral, and I enjoy that plurality. I havelearned to become more tolerant ofambiguity and to ask why before Imake conclusions or pass judg-ments on my students’ lives.

I am more critical and I value lifeexperience and education morethan ever, and it is all because ofmy students and their families. Ihope that education grants these chil-dren the opportunity to read the wordand the world (Freire, 2005) so thatthey can project their voices and advo-cate for themselves and their parents,as some of my fourth graders alreadydo when they indicate to their parentswho are illiterate in both English andSpanish where they should sign whenthey receive their food stamps.

Listening to stories of suffering andabuse that desperate mothers likeJennifer’s told, after the children wereabsent from school for 4 days becausethey were sleeping on the streets, leftme with a bitter taste of injustice andthe need to denounce such atrocities.Making arrangements for the family tobook a space at a nearby women’s shel-ter was not enough. I had to problema-tize (Freire, 2003, 2005) anotherteacher’s decision to give Jennifer(right after she was back in school) themath test that she missed while shewas absent. That would not do justiceto the girl or her learning process,despite compliance demands andschool deadlines.

In the face of these realities, myteacher identities became more com-plex. Romanticizing teaching andthinking of educating as a matter ofsimple methods was no longer the par-adigm. English language teaching is nolonger a matter of mere linguistics, buta matter of well-being, values, and con-structing society. I can no longer say

that I am an ESL teacher. I wouldrather think of myself as an educatorwho supports literacy development,intercultural communication, multicul-turalism, social justice, and investment(Kanno & Norton, 2003; Norton, 2000)within the confines of learning lan-guages at a young age.

I am more incomplete now than Iwas in August 2004. I can recognize theuniverse of implications of teachinglanguages and the challenges that lieahead in my career. But now, as thesong goes, “I believe I can fly. . . . I seeme [and you, dear colleagues] runningthrough that open door” (Kelly, 1998)of the hearts of children eager to be val-ued, recognized, respected, andempowered, to transgress their hostilerealities (hooks, 1994). We as teachersneed to not only hold high expectationsfor these students, but also believethese expectations deep within ourown hearts and beyond our own sub-jectivities and positionalities. Childrencan read us better than we can everimagine, and they know whether webelieve in them or not.

I know this is cliché, but we aremore similar than we are different(Kubota & Lin, 2006). And the differ-ences? Let’s recognize and value them,not only in words, but in our souls andin our genuine actions. Let’s accept theopportunity to be diverse in episte-mologies, perspectives, and languages.Let’s give ourselves the opportunity to

be educated by our students. AsGreene (1995) says, let’s release ourimagination and allow our studentsto lead us to unexplored paths,where we all truly learn in plural,sociocultural discourses. Let’s trulybelieve that we can touch the skies,spread our wings, and fly.

ReferencesFreire, P. (2003). Education for critical

consciousness. New York: Continuum.

Freire, P. (2005). Pedagogy of the oppressed.New York: Continuum.

Greene, M. (1995). Releasing the imagina-tion. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

hooks, b. (1994). Teaching to transgress:Education as the practice of freedom. NewYork: Routledge.

Kanno, Y., & Norton, B. (2003). Imaginedcommunities and educational possibilities:Introduction. Journal of Language, Identity,and Education, 2, 241–249.

Kelly, R. (1998). I believe I can fly. On R. [CD].New York: Jive.

Kubota, R., & Lin, A. (2006). Race and theo-ries: Introduction to concepts and theories.TESOL Quarterly, 40, 471–493.

Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The dreamkeepers:Successful teachers of African Americanchildren. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Norton, B. (2000). Identity and languagelearning: Gender, ethnicity and educationalchange. Harlow, England:Longman/Pearson Education.

Ligia López is a graduate student in the Department of Education at

Wake Forest University, in Winston-Salem,North Carolina, in the United States.

OUT OF THE BOX

See also “Teaching English in Mexico:

What’s Going On?”,http://www.tesol.org/et/.

Romanticizing teaching andthinking of educating as amatter of simple methodswas no longer the paradigm.

ET Sept 2008_6 8/15/08 4:26 PM Page 18

Feng didn’t want to be in my class.He had just arrived from China withEnglish language test scores thatshowed he was not quite ready for hisgraduate program without ESL sup-port. Sure, he was courteous andmature enough to comply, but he feltthat my class was unnecessary. Sothat is how we started our semestertogether—Feng acquiescent butunenthusiastic, and me wonderingagain how to not onlyteach my studentsEnglish, but also helpthem learn to love it.

Of Beliefs and Visions

Since my earliest daysas an educator, I havebelieved that getting caught upin a great story can overcome any barri-ers of language and disinterest a stu-dent might present. Not only do higherlevel thoughts and responses comemore effortlessly from readers of books,but also linguistic study can be moreappealing to readers when coupledwith literature (Long, 1986).

So as a teacher I picture myself fish-ing on an ocean sparkling with possi-bility, with the hope that I can drawstudents into language developmentthrough the enjoyment of literature. I

bait my hooks with stories,trying to pair students withbooks that will grab hold ofthem—understanding that,for some, these might be theonly novels they will everread in English.

I began my search for theright book with Hsiu-hao, aTaiwanese student inShenandoah University’sESL Certificate Program whohad a hunger for vocabu-lary. At the beginning of thesemester, his word listswere as long as his studyhours. I had never met,

much less taught, such amotivated student! Still, I

wanted him to embrace the ideathat learning words in isolation is notnearly as effective as building vocabu-lary through context (Nagy, Herman, &Anderson, 1985).

Hsiu-hao was not convinced of thisuntil I handed him The Giver, by LoisLowry (1993). After the first two chap-ters he confided in me, “I know I shouldbe looking up all the vocabulary I don’tknow, but I just want to keep reading!”

“It’s OK,” I told him, smiling inside.“Just read and enjoy.”

When he came to the end, he wasactually disappointed that the storywas over. I said, “Guess what? Thereare two more books by Lowry with thesame characters.”

“Really?” he asked. “Can I borrowone to read over the winter break?”This time my smile broke through tothe outside.

Matching Novels to StudentsBecause links to their own culture aid

ESL students in crossing over to English(Post & Rathet, 1996), I often try to picknovels that will speak to students from abackground that they can understand.For Karla, a cellist from the DominicanRepublic, I chose I, Juan de Pareja (deTrevino, 1965), the painfully beautifulNewbery winner about a Black artistwho was the slave of the famous painterVelasquez. Because Karla is a musician, Iknew that a book about the arts wouldlure her. And because the story is set inSpain, I hoped that the connections toher Spanish heritage would engage her.But Karla’s difficulties involved morethan just learning another language.

Karla was acourageous sin-

gle mother whomoved away from

her home country

OUT OF THE BOX

I often try to picknovels that will speakto students from abackground that theycan understand.

Fishing for Hearts By Sara White

19SEPTEMBER 2008 |

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to work toward her music educationdegree. Between playing in the sym-phony, taking care of her young daugh-ter, and working as a caterer, readingfor my course was understandably lowon her list of priorities. But even if shehadn’t fully finished the assignments, Icould always count on Karla to gener-ate strong class discussions. She neverhesitated to share her opinions. Yet Iwas taken by surprise one day whenshe walked through the classroom doorand enveloped me in a hug.

“Now you have done it to me,” shesaid. “I love this story. You have mademe want to read more books in English.”

“No, Karla,” I thought. “It was notme. The story itself has cast its spell,and now you will be under its thrallfor your whole life.” This was fishingat its best.

Jing was not as easy a catch as Karlaor Hsiu-hao. She was like a tiny redsnapper flopping at the end of my line.Her father was afraid that she wouldnot be accepted into our program, sohe hurriedly put her on a plane. Noone was expecting her. After flying allnight from China, Jing was depositedfrom a taxi onto our campus at 4 a.m.She cried through the Test of English asa Foreign Language that day, unable tospeak enough English to communicateher culture shock.

This 18-year-old was theessence of unpredictability.

When the faculty tookthe international stu-dents to Washington,DC, Jing left the groupand hopped on a busby herself. Fortunately,they were able to findher again soon after.Some days she would

bring me gifts and tell me that I was awonderful teacher. Other days shecame in angry that she was not pro-gressing as fast as the other students,demanding to transfer to somewhereelse. At times I found myself wishingthat I could let this little fish go swimin another school.

Most of the books I tried with Jingfailed to reel her in, and toward theend of the semester I handed her TheMouse and the Motorcycle (Cleary, 1965)with little hope. But somehow Jingidentified with “that mouse” andbegan to really read. After that story,she told me she was ready for a newstart and that next semester would bebetter. So I found that Jing was a keep-er after all.

For different reasons, I wasn’t surewhat novel to choose for Feng. He wasnot difficult like Jing, outspoken likeKarla, or eager like Hsiu-hao. Fengseemed pragmatic in his approach tolife. In his native China, he had earneda degree in computer science, not outof passion for it but because he had feltthat it would be a solid career. Yet therewas a depth to Feng that I was hopingto plumb in English class throughexposing him to literature.

Finally, I chose Hemingway’s (1952)The Old Man and the Sea, in which an

ancient fishermanstruggles for

days to master

the huge fish at the end of his line.Eventually he conquers his prey, but hemust tie it to his boat because it is toobig to haul aboard. The old man thenbattles sharks that eat all the meat offthe bones of his great catch, leavingnothing for his efforts except the dis-play of perseverance and courage. Ihoped that this gritty novel wouldappeal to Feng’s underlying thought-fulness and strong work ethic. It did.

Of Heroes and HeartsFor their final project, my stu-

dents must composeand present a bookreview. I allowthem severaldrafts, to bereviewed byme or some-one at ouruniversityWritingCenter if theyneed helpwith theirediting. I willnever forget theday Feng broughthis paper about TheOld Man and the Sea tome for my first look.

“The old man said in thebook, ‘Man is not made fordefeat; man can be destroyed butnot defeated,’” Feng read, two-thirdsinto his essay. “Undeniably, everyonehas defects. When someone strives todefeat his weakness that he has alreadyrealized, then it is not importantwhether or not he remains the full fishor the skeleton in the end, because thevalue of life has already been embod-ied by the process of pursuit.”

I will never forget the day Fengbrought his paper about The Old Manand the Sea to me for my first look.

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Feng reached the finalsentence of his paper:“Hemingway is a hero inthe spirit of the world, and he isconsidered as the real old man who isfishing in our hearts all the time.”

I was dumbstruck.“Feng,” I said, after a long pause.

“You have learned English well enoughto really discuss your thoughts. Andnow I know they are deep.”

“Yes,” he replied, in his under-stated way. “Yes, they are.”

The last presentationswere over, along with the

semester. Some of the stu-dents would not be return-

ing to me because they werenow able to navigate through

their college and graduate pro-grams on their own. Feng was

one of these. The irony of my jobis that once my students have

enough of a grasp of English tobegin to really share their complex

personalities, I have to let them go.I told this to Feng as we parted at

the classroom door.“But don’t worry,” he said. “I will

be here on campus for the next 2 yearsfinishing my MBA. I will visit you inyour office.”

“Please do,” I whispered as Isqueezed his hand goodbye.

Fishing for HeartsAll along I believed that I was the

one who was fishing for my students’hearts. I wanted to feel that I am a littlelike Hemingway in teaching them thatthe process is what’s most important. Iached not only to catch them up intoEnglish language proficiency, but also tohook them deeply into loving whatwords mean.

But I know now that there wasmuch more. Each one of my studentswas stealthily fishing for me—Hsiu-haowith his smiles as he conquered newwords, Karla with her hugs as sheappreciated her own culture in a differ-ent language, Jing with her new start,and Feng with his depth that I willnever fully have the opportunity todelve into.

They hooked me, and then theyreeled me in. They were the master fish-ers. And I found in the end that it wasmy heart that was captured after all.

ReferencesCleary, B. (1965). The mouse and the motorcy-

cle (Harper Trophy ed.). New York:HarperCollins.

de Trevino, E. (1965). I, Juan de Pareja. NewYork: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Hemingway, E. (1952). The old man and thesea. New York: Scribner.

Long, M. (1986). A feeling for language: Themultiple values of teaching literature. In C.Brumfit & R. Carter (Eds.), Literature andlanguage teaching (pp. 42–59). Oxford:Oxford University Press.

Lowry, L. (1993). The giver. New York: BantamDoubleday Dell.

Nagy, W. E., Herman, P. A., & Anderson, R. C.(1985). Learning words from context.Reading Research Quarterly, 20, 233–253.

Post, R., & Rathet, I. (1996). On their ownterms: Using student native culture as con-tent in the EFL classroom. English TeachingForum, 34(4), 12. Retrieved January 6, 2008,from http://exchanges.state.gov/forum/vols/vol34/no4/p12.htm

Sara White is an ESL instructor at Shenandoah University, in Winchester,

Virginia, in the United States.

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Stealthy Short FormsI’m having an identity crisis (IC),

and I don’t see any resolution in mynear future. I am a returning student(RS) to higher education (HE) in pur-suit of a doctor of philosophy degree ineducation, focusing on language andliteracy (PhD of Ed in L&L) atWashington State University, Pullman(WSU-P, or simply WAZZU). It is herethat I recently caught myself drowningin alphabet soup.

Although acronyms and initialismsare important in helping peopledescribe and communicate, we some-times find ourselves in contexts wherethey cease to be helpful or accurate. Inour efforts to communicate more effi-ciently, the short forms—whichstealthily permeate our personal andprofessional lives—often limit ouraudiences, impede the messages weare trying to communicate, and there-fore need to be exposed.

Nunberg (2003) chronicles the use ofacronyms through time. Many wereoriginally created for use in a militarycontext, but the trend of makingacronyms and initials has become com-monplace in the home as well: PB & J(peanut butter and jelly), SUV (sportutility vehicle), VCR (videocassetterecorder), and TP (toilet paper). Someof them are so commonly used aswords that we don’t know or remem-ber what they stand for. For example,we all know what OK means, but whatdoes it stand for? Grant (2002) reportsthat the most commonly acceptedexplanation is “A #1 OK,” where OKstood for all correct and, at the time,was simply a KEWL (cool) spelling ofthe word.

My point is that acronyms andinitialized words have become

common to us and are individualizedto our particular social circles. Wedon’t see them, we don’t think abouttheir use, and we especially don’tthink about their origins. Neither dowe think about how they affect us orour students, for whom they may notbe so common.

If I, as a native English speaker, getconfused, I can only imagine how dif-ficult the world of acronyms and ini-tialisms might be from the perspectiveof a nonnative speaker (NNS). Theycan be a major headache for studentsin general, but especially those learn-ing English as a second or additionallanguage (ESL/EAL). Anyone whohas attempted to decipher textmessaging can attest to this. Text mes-saging is one format that English forspecific purposes (ESP) studentsmight be confronted with, althoughone wonders if it is really English.Here is a short list of common phras-es: BRB, JK, LOL, OTP, NP, TTYL,ROFL (translation: be right back, justkidding, laughing out loud, on thephone, no problem, talk to you later,rolling on floor laughing; Ulaby, 2006).Are you familiar with these? Somestudents may use this language withease, but for language learners (LLs),it could pose an extra challenge.SWIM? (See what I mean?)

Text messaging is not the onlyexample of short forms found inschools. In our efforts to help studentslearn (or, as in the following examples,perform better on standardized testsand writing prompts), we teachersinvent and inundate them with evenmore acronyms. The following Englishfor academic purposes (EAP)acronyms, FATPIG and CHEXMIX,are from a fellow teacher in Maryland:

F: FormatA: AudienceT: TopicP: PurposeIG: Information guide (what theprompt required students to writeabout; usually a list of three things)

This example is reasonable, and I’msure you could add more to the list, butthis same teacher expresses her frus-tration at another “really dumbone” that is “way too long” and“redundant.” Moreover, theexpectation was that theteachers in the school useclass time to teach and teststudents on it. She wasreferring to this:

Check your answers.Help yourself by reading

the questions first.Extend your response.X-tra time should be used to

review work.Make sure you bubble in completely.Interpret graphs and pictures.X-pect success.

This teacher hopes she got it correctand concludes by saying, “You canimagine how such a fulfilling activityfostered creativity and encourageddivergent thinking.” We intend forshort forms to be helpful; sometimesthey are not.

Background ScrambleThe story of my current crisis began

the moment I became horrified by thesudden realization that I had thought-lessly misapplied a short form—threeseemingly innocent capital letters—tosome of my students. Before we get to


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SOS! I’m Having an Identity Cr

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that moment, however, I need to pro-vide some background.

As a doctoral student, I know Ishould be attending professional con-ferences. It seems that part of my pro-

fessional socialization is to learndiverse epistemologies, becomesteeped in my field, and discover mycommunities of practice (COPs; Pallas,2001). Conference attendance is oneway to do that. To assist with thisendeavor, some schools are creatingconference courses for academic creditin the hopes that graduate studentswill go (Fiorentino, Manson, &Whalen, 2005). Conference Alerts

(http://www.conferencealerts.com/)is a general interest Web site that

contains an enormous list ofacademic and professionalconferences, although theeducation postings arenoticeably sparse incomparison to other fields.

Conferences are important;that message is clear. And Iwill attend. But which ones?

Here is my teaching back-ground; maybe you can help

me decide:

• Spanish as a foreign language(SFL) to high school students viasatellite programming (SP)

• General elementary education(GEE)

• English as a second language toadults (ESL-A)

• English as a foreign language touniversity students (EFL-U) inAzerbaijan

• English as a second language toelementary students (ESL-E)

• Spanish (and English) to first-grade students (dual language[DL], two-way instruction [TWI],language enrichment [LE],heritage language maintenance[HLM], bilingual education[BE], and second language acqui-sition [SLA])

So, I am an SFL, GEE, ESL-A, EFL-U, ESL-E, DL, TWI, LE, HLM, BE, andSLA instructor and have studied, tovarying levels of competency, Spanish,American Sign Language, Bislama,Azerbaijani, Russian, and French. Ihave attended conferences of theAmerican Council on the Teaching ofForeign Languages (ACTFL) andTeachers of English to Speakers ofOther Languages (TESOL). I have con-sidered attending the NationalAssociation for Bilingual Education(NABE) and Modern LanguageAssociation (MLA) conferences but forvarious reasons have not. Nothingseems like a good fit.

Multilingual Language Educator

I tell you my background because Iam having an identity crisis, and I haveproblems deciding which conference toattend for the very reason that I consid-er myself a language educator (LE) andI advocate for multilingualism (ML).That would make me a multilinguallanguage educator (MLLE). I strugglewith the structure of the language edu-cation field because there seems to bean assumption, at least in my experi-ence, that educators and scholars natu-rally fall into one camp or another.Depending on what camp you fall into,you join with the people who are likeyou (your COP), attend the same con-ference, and gain sustenance from theirfavorite variety of alphabet soup. Thefact remains that I don’t yet belong toone COP, let alone many, and I don’tknow what I would/could/should be.

Student Labels and the Minicrisis

I am not the only one with a confus-ing identity or the lack of an appropri-

23SEPTEMBER 2008 |

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ty Crisis by Cara L. Preuss

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ate label; students suffer as well.Within the language education field,student labels come and go. Which ofthem are useful? The term English as asecond language has been a popular onefor describing LLs and continues to beso—a welcome alternative to limitedEnglish proficient (LEP).

Things have slowly evolved, howev-er, with the realization that many stu-dents already come to the table know-ing multiple languages and study EAL.In response, many educators haveadopted the term English languagelearners (ELLs) for these students.Assuredly, this is an improvement, butstill not very helpful during my recentminicrisis about how to label my stu-dents—which short form to use—for apaper I was writing.

I recently submitted a manuscriptfor review to the California Teachers ofEnglish to Speakers of OtherLanguages (CATESOL). In a moment ofpanic, I realized I had thoughtlesslyand carelessly been referring to all thestudents (Ss) participating in a duallanguage program (DLP) as ELLs,which they clearly were not. American,blond-haired, blue-eyed Quinton andAnton came to mind (names have beenchanged to protect the innocent). Gasp!

How do we label a child whose firstlanguage (L1) is English and who islearning a second language (L2) in aDLP? (Everybody has a label, right?)Certainly we do not refer to them asELLs or ESL students, the most com-mon descriptors at this time for stu-dents in language education pro-grams. But these fluent English speak-ers are part of a bilingual program(which is mistakenly considered bysome as an ESL program and by oth-ers as a Spanish-only language pro-gram). As a professional, I am now alltoo aware of how, at times, we

thoughtlessly(mis)use ourextensive yetinadequatesupply of acronyms andinitialisms to communicate.

Boxed and ReferencedSo it seems that when

talking of acronyms and theirappropriate use, I’m not theonly one who is drowning.The context may change, butthe problems remain.Acronyms are easily confusedwith initialisms, abbreviations,and short forms, and they canall be confusing. I recentlyGoogled “acronym list” and came upwith 842,000 hits, one of which is aWikipedia page that has acronyms, ini-tialisms, and pseudoblends. That list ishardly complete, but it is sure to growover time; I just added ELL.

It seems that, in addition to the stan-dard reference materials of dictionary,thesaurus, and spell checker, we nowneed a thorough acronym, initialism,and short form book. A multidiscipli-nary Acronym Finder can be found athttp://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/although it may result in more confu-sion than clarification. This kind ofresource might be just what the profes-sional discourses need, but it is alsosomething that LLs could benefit from.

To return to my current identity cri-sis, I, for one, would like to be part ofthe field of language education. To doanything else feels too confining. Iwould like to be able to attend a confer-ence that encompasses all of theseareas—all of my interests regarding lan-guage learning and teaching—and hasinsightful paper presentations andprovocative discussions in which I canparticipate. I would like this field to

come togeth-er so that wecan streamline

our terminolo-gy and conver-

sation, in effect,sending clear mes-

sages to policy makersand the public that will

have a positive impact onlanguage learners.

Is it possible to take our-selves out of the professional

boxes in which we have put our-selves and to do the same for ourstudents? Can we stop classifyingand simply realize that we are allLEs and LLs?

ReferencesFiorentino, L. H., Manson, M., & Whalen, S.

(2005). Encouraging students to attendthe national convention. Journal ofPhysical Education, Recreation & Dance,76(6), 46–50.

Grant, N. (2002, April 1). The origin of OK.National Public Radio. Retrieved January29, 2008, from http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/ok/

Nunberg, G. (2003). Linguist Geoff Nunbergon acronyms. National Public Radio.Retrieved January 29, 2008, fromhttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1292701

Pallas, A. (2001). Preparing education doctor-al students for epistemological diversity.Educational Researcher, 30(5), 1–6.

Ulaby, N. (2006, February 18). OMG: IMslang is invading everyday English. NationalPublic Radio. Retrieved January 28, 2008,from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5221618

Cara L. Preuss is a graduate student in the Department of Teaching and

Learning at Washington State University,Pullman, in the United States.


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25SEPTEMBER 2008 |

In the 5 years I spent teaching inMoldova and Russia, I became accus-tomed to having the biggest desk inclass. I needed it. I had books andhandouts, audiovisual tools, and mycoffee. Then I came back to Californiaand enrolled in an intensive Russiancourse. I was eager for a chance toplay student. I’d seen my Moldovanstudents make progress in 2-monthcourses and have fun doing so, andnow it was my turn.

Ten other students and I waited inlittle chair-desk combos. The teacher, anative Russian speaker and graduatestudent in the university’s film studiesprogram, entered the room. She tookher coffee to the big desk.

I lasted only 2 days. Was it the teacher’s fault? Well, yes,

to a degree. But the troubling thing forthe teacher inside me was that I recog-nized all her missteps, had made themmyself, and, in some cases, was stillmaking them. What follows is anaccount of what I learned when Ibecame a student again.

First-Day Syndrome “This is the first day,” our teacher

said, “so . . . .” And in the pause that followed, we

understood not much learning wouldbe asked of us that day. I had done thesame thing as a teacher on the firstday of school. Why not? My studentshad never protested having an easyday. I would have bet that they liked

taking it easy. Although it’s true that Ihad never actually asked them.

I don’t know why I expected thisRussian class to have an action-packedopening. Probably because I needed it.

To get to this class, I had traveled50 miles by car and train, a journey of2 hours. Speculating that learningRussian would be great, I was plan-ning to rent a room in the dormitory.But if I were dis-appointed, I couldstill drop the classin the first weekand receive arefund for most ofmy $2,000 tuition.Those unwelcomewords—“This isthe first day”—implied that todaywould be unrepre-sentative and that I would have towait until the following class sessionbefore forming an opinion. I thoughtof my private school in Moldova,where I had taught for nearly 3 years.On first days I saw students in littlechairs, waiting for my entrance; I didnot imagine how far they had come,in what conditions, leaving at homeany number of problems.

Tongue-Tied (to Students’Native Language)

Although this was intermediateRussian, the first hours of the courseoffered no Russian. T (our teacher)

believed that it was necessary to goover the syllabus and the structure ofthe course in English. What messagedid this send to us students? ThatRussian was merely a subject, not a lan-guage used for serious communication.

Perhaps no other student was dis-mayed by an English syllabus, but Ihad entertained notions of forming ahabit with my fellow students: speak-

ing Russian together.If we were not expect-ed to understandRussian in the class-room, what chancedid we have of con-versing in the dorm,during lunch orbreaks, or at the pub?

“If we give expla-nations in English,” Ihad heard English

teachers overseas say in defense, “stu-dents won’t understand.” But that isunfair. The onus of understanding thetarget language is not entirely on thestudent. It is equally the teacher’s jobto be understood.

About the TextbookT introduced us to our required

textbook. There were some mistakes,she said, but the book wasn’t too bad.The cost of this textbook, which“wasn’t too bad” either, was morethan $80. During break, a miffed class-mate said, “Can’t they find a bad bookthat’s only $20?”

OUT OF THE BOX

A Teacher Becomes a Studentand Learns That Teachers Say More Than They Think

By Kevin McCaughey

I recognized all hermissteps, had madethem myself, and,in some cases, wasstill making them.

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In the past, I’d disparaged textbooksor particular drills to my students, too.Why had I drawn attention to deficientsections rather than ignore them? Tosuggest to the class that I was smarterthan the textbook writers? If that wasthe case, why not adjust the materialsor make up my own?

Introductions: TargetLanguage Again

After the syllabus reading, T askedus to introduce ourselves, in Russianor English. Most students were nerv-ous, so they chose English. Two of us,including myself, tried Russian. T lis-tened, but her responses soon rolledinto English. Perhaps she hoped toavoid alienating the students who feltthat their Russian was inadequate—anoble goal, I suppose, except that thepurpose of any language course isto engage learners in the lan-guage, not to shield them from it.

In reverting to English, T broad-cast messages that were probablyunintentional. First, I understoodfrom her that our Russian was not asgood as her English, from which wecould easily extrapolate that it neverwould be. This did little for our confi-dence. Second, I understood that thereis a rule of expedience in bi- and multi-lingual exchanges: Conversationsshould be carried out using the lan-guage that leads most quickly toresults. This, of course, is how thingsare done in international business andeven in authentic discourse on thestreets. But in a language learningenvironment, the results that matterare student practice and confidence.

Monitor MeT warned us that when she taught

Russian, her students claimed she

spoke in English too much. Most lan-guage teachers speak more than theyshould, whether in the local languageor the target language. (For me, it’sonly English, but I still talk too much.I am always trying to cut down,admonishing myself for wanderinginstructions or making an observationjust to fill the silence.)

“So,” T said, “if I talk too much, letme know.”

On the surface this sounds fairenough. The teacher acknowledges afault and asks for student monitoring.But the teacher provides no real for-mat: How do we let her know?When? What is too much? (For me,any English was too much). Morepatently, why assign students theresponsibility?

Why?Aside from introductions, the only

activity we did on the first day wasconjugating verbs. We had a list on ahandout: to bake, to run, to crawl, tohide. From left to right, around ourcrescent of little desks, one by one,each of us conjugated one verb on thelist. We went around the class twice,and I bungled both of my opportuni-ties. This felt unjust because I knewthe other verbs. But in the restrictivedesign of the activity, there was nochance to offer other answers or toexplore the language in any way. Nochance for redemption, either.

I was still a little rankled atlunch, and I complained aboutthe activity to a bright classmatein whom I’d noticed teacherly


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instincts. “Those verbs,” she said, “hadnothing in common. There was notopic, and they mixed perfective andimperfective. What the hell?”

Which led to the question: Whywere we doing that activity? An activi-ty needs justification (Ur, 1996).Students deserve to know how theycan benefit from the task.

T advised us to memorize conjuga-tions for half an hour every day. Thatwas how she had learned languages,she explained. I will memorize conjuga-tions until the cows come home if Ithink it’s worthwhile, if I am convincedthat doing so has a strong correlationwith language acquisition and usage.Teachers don’t need to write a thesis toprove the value of every activity, butstudents deserve to know if what they

are doing is useful.“That was how Ilearned” is not suffi-cient justification.

It Isn’t EasySeveral times on

the second day of thecourse, T pointed outthe richness of theRussian language,the large number ofexceptions, and theoverall difficulty thatnonnative speakershave in masteringthis language. I didnot doubt it. But did Ineed to be reminded?Did I need to knowthat I might neverspeak beautiful

Russian, no matter how much time Idevoted to learning it? I preferred travelwriter Paul Theroux’s (1995) assessment

that “no language isdifficult. . . . Languageis an activity, learnedthrough practice” (p. 118).

But in my teachingcareer, I had done this,too. I had pointed outsome of the tougherareas of English. NowI wondered why. Usually I had doneso as if we all shared an inside joke, asif the idiosyncrasies of language, likethe behaviors of an embarrassingcousin, could take years to accept.

Learning a language is a lifelongendeavor, but that’s not the point. Oneis always improving, making progress,reaching goals, and reaping rewardsalong the way. Shouldn’t that be thefocus of our teaching?

I left the intensive summer sessionin Russian after 2 days. In my note-book I’d scribbled notes on severalpages—mostly about teaching. Someof what I describe in this article I hadalready read about in PracticalTechniques for Language Teaching (Lewis& Hill, 1985), which we were fortunateto have in the office at my Moldovaschool. But the advice hadn’t sunk in.It took a stint—even a brief one—inthe student chair to really understandhow what comes from teachers’mouths has more impact than we mayrealize, how we transmit to studentsall sorts of messages that we’reunaware of.

I didn’t quit Russian completely.That same summer I flew to theMidwest and enrolled in a larger pro-gram. Some of the instructors wereold-school, but mine was creative andinspiring. You cannot truly assess ped-agogical tactics as a teacher observing

another teacher’s class, not the wayyou can as a student sitting in one ofthe little desks. From that vantagepoint, you are privy to the straightdope from your fellow students. Ifthey find a teacher boring, they share itwith you. If they adore a teacher, theytell you that, too.

Since that time, I’ve enrolled inother courses: Russian, Japanese,Spanish. I don’t always finish them,but then again, who says I have to?

TESOL professionals attend confer-ences, read journals, join training ses-sions—all of which is of great value.But now and then, when it comes toteacher development, there’s nothinglike the little desk.

ReferencesLewis, M., & Hill, J. (1985). Practical tech-

niques for language teaching. Hove,England: Language Teaching.

Theroux, P. (1995). The pillars of Hercules: A grand tour of the Mediterranean. NewYork: Putnam.

Ur, P. (1996). A course in language teaching.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Kevin McCaughey is a freelance materials developer and teacher trainer.

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Teachers don’t need to write a thesisto prove the value of every activity,but students deserve to know ifwhat they are doing is useful.

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Man #1: Wow! That’s the 4th dateyou’ve been on this week?

Man #2: I’ve been on this newonline dating site. It’s free for girlsand guys pay about 30 bucks amonth for a premium membership.There are tons of girls on there.

Man #1: They must be prettydesperate though. And theywouldn’t need to be on there ifthey were a decent catch.

Man #2: That’s what I thought,but there are a lot of good-lookinggirls who hate the bar scenebecause they get hit on constantlyby slimy guys. This way they cansee your profile and see if youhave anything in common. (034—Online Dating, 2007)

This dialogue appears on China232, a podcast for learning English.For many ESOL students, a dialoguelike this is entertaining and motivat-ing for learning new words andphrases. Dating is indeed a populartopic of discussion in a languageclassroom. It is something thatalmost anyone can relate to, oftenwith bittersweet experiences.

As English language teachers orformer ESOL students, many of us

probably have talked about variousissues related to dating and marriagein our classrooms. Students can learnabout cultural expectations and per-sonal challenges through reading liter-ature, viewing films, and engaging inclass discussion. This theme alsoaddresses diversity of sexual identi-ties, helping us develop sensitivityand critical understanding of sociopo-litical debates as well as normativeassumptions about sexuality in termsof dating and marriage (Nelson, 2008).

Discussions of dating in the ESOLclassroom become quite real whenstudents find or want to find a cross-cultural, cross-linguistic dating part-ner with whom they can communi-cate in English.

English for Dating PurposesIn the December 2007 issue of

Essential Teacher, Elena Webb dis-cusses her fascinating experience ofteaching English for dating purpos-es (EDP; see “A Foreign Languagefor a Foreign Affair”). She describesher experience of developingEnglish lessons in Russia inresponse to the needs of single ordivorced Russian women who sub-scribe to an online dating service. Ibegan reading this article with inter-est, partly because I myself had beenon some online dating sites.

As a nonnative-English-speakingJapanese woman living in the UnitedStates, I can empathize with thepotential communication challengesdescribed in Webb’s article. Evenwith English language proficiency, Ifound it hard to navigate the nuancesbetween lines on the screen and sub-tle cultural undertones. Sometimes Ireceived messages from Chinese menin China, written in Chinese, whichunfortunately I can neither write norspeak. Perhaps these men found myphoto, thought I looked Chinese, andwrote to me without reading my pro-file in English.

Having such experiences made mespeculate on how hard it could be fora Russian woman with little Englishproficiency to try to communicatewith a potential partner in English.The example of Chinese messagessent to me also points to the frivo-lousness of online dating communica-tion, which can be seen when oneperson contacts another and neglectsto carefully scrutinize the personbeing contacted. This indifference hasthe potential to expose people to seri-ous personal risks.

Online Dating Not So RosyWebb’s article reminded me of one

of the American men I met online. Hetalked about mail-order bride servicesthat cater to American men looking forRussian women. His friend joined atour of Russia that was arranged byone of these mail-order agencies, andin Russia he was introduced to womenat parties arranged by the agency. Hefound a partner, and the agency pro-vided support for her visa application.

I wondered how American menand Russian women would commu-

A Critical Glance at Romance, Gender, and Language Teaching By Ryuko Kubota

PortalEdited by Hanizah [email protected]

As English language teachers or former ESOLstudents, many of us probably have talkedabout various issues related to dating andmarriage in our classrooms.

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nicate in thosesocial situationsand in their onlinecorrespondence. Ofcourse well-educat-ed Russian women,like the ones inter-viewed by Johnson(2007), would likelybe able to use English. But what aboutwomen who did not know much, orperhaps any, English? The Web site ofAnastasia International, a major U.S.-based mail-order bride service, statesthat the company provides translationand interpretation service for e-mailand telephone calls. Even with suchservice, though, dating or marryingsomeone without a shared language isbeyond my imagination. It seems thatEDP, as described by Webb, is indeeduseful for someone seeking anEnglish-speaking partner.

But do all the stories of women oninternational online dating sites endhappily? Unfortunately, the answerseems to be no. Some of them sufferabuse, violence, and even human traf-ficking. In response to repeated inci-dents of this kind, the U.S. Congresspassed the International MarriageBroker Regulation Act (IMBRA) in2005, which requires backgroundchecks for anyone using mail-orderbride services. With regard to humantrafficking, the former Soviet Union,Southeast Asia, and other regions havea rising trade in women for the sexindustry. According to Erokhina (2004),one of the methods of recruitingwomen is through mail-order brideagencies that provide their clients withno guarantee of safety. Another recruit-ing method involves offering interna-tional jobs to women and trappingthem in sex work.

Although smuggling of sex workersis conducted on a worldwide scale andthe victims do not necessarily land inEnglish-dominant countries, we needto remind ourselves that the innocuouscustomers of EDP could become easyprey for a violation of human rights.

Construction of Femininity of Non-Western Women

Perhaps the victims of such horrificcrimes are not the majority. So, then, isintercultural and transnational onlineromance harmless and exciting? Yesand no. As long as a woman is being ascareful as she is with her fellow citizens,she can have a fascinating interculturalexperience. However, I am concernedabout the way in which online dating isperpetuating the image of submissivenon-Western women—women with alower status than men or, in fact, peoplein the West in general.

Before addressing my concern, Iwant to point out that even with onlinedating services, which are distinguishedfrom mail-order bride services in thatmember contacts are not moderated bythe agency, you see a specific pattern ofsupply and demand. For instance, inone U.S.-based online dating servicetargeting Asian clientele, the over-whelming pattern is non-Asian men(many of whom are Caucasian) seekingAsian women and vice versa. There arevery few Asian men or non-Asianwomen on the listings, except in China,

where mostmale listings areby Chinesemen. This indi-cates that, ingeneral, inter-national onlinedating servicescater to Western

men seeking non-Western women. Thisdemand for non-Western women natu-rally contains an underlying assump-tion that perpetuates a particular imageof these women.

For instance, an online dating Website called ChanceForLove Dating Network(ChanceForLove Online Russian DatingNetwork, 2003–2008) states:

The Russian woman’s attitude aboutherself is feminine. She expects to betreated as a lady, she is the weakergender and knows it. The Russianwoman has not been exposed to theworld of rampant feminism thatasserts its rights in America. (¶ 3)

This depicts Russian women as femi-nine and submissive, positioned oppo-site to feminism in the United States(for a different interpretation of femi-nists among Russian women, seeJohnson, 2007). Familiar gendered cul-tural stereotypes are projected ontothese women, producing certain powerrelations among Western men, Westernwomen, and Russian women.

In her critical appraisal of the main-stream scholarship of interculturalcommunication, Piller (2007) arguesthat the popular notion of cultural dif-ference exists against a backdrop ofglobal inequality and injustice. Citing amail-order bride Web site that describesFilipina, Russian, and Thai womenwith traditional female qualities such

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as being loyal, shy, devoted, familyoriented, feminine, submissive, self-less, and having traditional values,Piller points out that the economicgap between the global North andthe global South spurs women intomail-order international marriages.These women are associated withfamiliar cultural labels that attractmale clientele and sustain the onlinedating and marriage business.

I am sure that many women fromthe global South who are on onlinedating sites are indeed a “decentcatch,” though perhaps many ofthem are also desperate to find bettereconomic conditions. Furthermore,they might support these culturallabels themselves, which ultimatelyworks to the advantage of men. Notall of the women from the globalSouth suffer from abuse and violence,but they can easily become victimsand perhaps perpetrators of genderand cultural stereotypes.

The Role of English Language Teachers

When I am on online dating sites, I do not usually imagine myselfbecoming a silent victim of sexualabuse and violence. This is because Ican communicate in a language I amcomfortable with and I am no longera totally naïve newcomer to theonline dating scene. I am also profes-sionally and economically stable andhave legal protection.

However, many women in theglobal South perhaps come to thisonline experience with limited sec-ond language proficiency or knowl-edge of online culture, not to mentionalmost no legal protection (IMBRAmight help in this respect).Furthermore, many of these women,perhaps uncritically, accept the spe-

cific gender and cultural identitiesconstructed for them, which repro-duce relations of power between menand women and among people fromWestern and non-Western societies.

Some ESOL students may be seek-ing a romantic partner online. So asTESOL professionals, we need to beaware of the social, cultural, and ide-ological consequences as well as thepossibilities of teaching and learningEnglish for dating purposes, or anyother purposes for that matter.Certainly, acquiring linguistic skillsand cultural knowledge wouldempower women from other coun-tries who are trying to connect withWestern men. Marriage to a Westernman may be liberating for a womanwho wants to escape oppressive localconditions, but is it liberating if shejoins a partner who believes that awoman from her culture is “theweaker gender” unexposed to “femi-nism that asserts its rights inAmerica”? Of course, not all menseeking women from other countrieshave this belief.

It could also be argued that teach-ers cannot or should not try to controlESOL learners’ personal lives.However, wouldn’t this stance merelyfuel existing gender and racial/ethnicstereotypes and inequalities?

Teachers who take a criticalstance can challengegender/race/economic inequalitieswhile helping students seek a betterpersonal life. Teachers can workwith students on not only needsanalysis, but also rights analysis—exploring ways to respond to unfa-vorable conditions (Benesch, 2001).Teachers can empower students byhelping them become aware thatlearning a language is not just aboutacquiring words and phrases, but

also about understanding howlanguage use is linked to a web ofideologies that perpetuates inequali-ties and yet provides enormousopportunities for personal andsocial transformation.

References

034—Online dating. (2007). Retrieved June13, 2008, from http://www.china232.com/034-online-dating-esl-podcast.php?id_art=35

Benesch, S. (2001). Critical English for aca-demic purposes: Theory, politics, andpractice. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

ChanceForLove Online Russian DatingNetwork. (2003–2008). ChanceForLoveDating Network: Why dating Russianwomen? Retrieved June 17, 2008, fromhttp://find-russian-bride.com/

Erokhina, L. (2004). Trafficking in womenin the Russian far east: A real or imagi-nary phenomenon? In S. Stoecker & L.Shelley (Eds.), Human traffic and transna-tional crime: Eurasian and American per-spectives (pp. 79–94). Lanham, MD:Rowman & Littlefield.

Johnson, E. (2007). Dreaming of a mail-order husband: Russian-AmericanInternet romance. Durham, NC: DukeUniversity Press.

Nelson, C. (2008). Sexual identities inEnglish language education: Classroomconversations. New York: Routledge.

Piller, I. (2007). Linguistics and interculturalcommunication. Language and LinguisticCompass, 1, 208–226.

Ryuko Kubota is a professor in the School of Education and theDepartment of Asian Studies at

the University of North Carolina atChapel Hill, in the United States.

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Many of my Chinese EFL studentshave believed that the more wordsthey are exposed to, the better theirvocabulary will be. Therefore, theyhave spent much time and energy onsheer memorization of new words.Although I greatly admire their dili-gence and hard work, I feel that theyare not getting the results that theyshould be getting for all of their efforts.

EFL studies on vocabulary (e.g.,Huang & Gu, 1996) reveal that vocab-ulary exercises that involve memoriza-tion of long lists of words and tediousword-by-word phrase translation areusually not effective due to theirdecontextualized and fragmentednature. That may be one reason thatmany hardworking nonnative-speak-ing English majors still cannot speakand write the language effectivelyafter several years of study. That iswhy I have become interested in help-ing students enhance their vocabularythrough the creation of stories.

Skehan (1998) holds that meaning-embedded activities can speed up therate of students’ language develop-ment. Thus, as an EFL teacher, I nowstrive to devise activities that empha-size context and meaning. Cook (1991)points out that students should beasked to explain new words throughrelevant content. This method is par-ticularly effective when students tellstories to each other using their newvocabulary (Richards, 2001).

Story Creation During ClassI teach English reading to a

class of second-year Englishmajors at the School of ForeignLanguages of YangzhouUniversity, in China. The classconsists of 30 students whoseaverage age is 21. They havebeen learning English for 8–10years and have different Englishproficiency levels. But they have

one thing in common: The vocabularyreinforcement exercises they havedone in the university are mostlyvocabulary memorization or transla-tions. To inspire them to approachnew words with enthusiasm andinterest, I have them create storiesusing newly learned vocabulary.

Take the word turn, for example.First, I help students familiarize them-selves with various usages for theword by dictating a few sentences thatappear in their textbook, CollegeEnglish (Yang & Xu, 1996, pp. 124–125):

This was only a minor victory, but itturned her head and made her proud.

At that time, she turned a deaf earto all these warnings.

Her request was turned down.

She thought this job would be easy,but it turned out to be extremelydifficult.

She turned over a new leaf.

She turned it over in her mind.

Then I ask students to create storiesusing turn in its many contexts. Somestudents create stories about theirown or their friends’ experiences, asin the following example:

Alice got the first prize in the sportsmeeting. This was only a minor vic-tory, but it turned her head and madeher proud. She thought that she wasa gifted player and unnecessary to

train with other players any longer.However, Lucy, as her best friend,often reminded her of calming down.But Alice turned a deaf ear to allthese warnings. She thought thatLucy envied her success.

One month later, their school sentAlice to take part in a match to com-pete with many good players fromother schools. She thought this jobwould be easy, but it turned out notto be so easy. Because of so manydays’ without training, she got thelast place. It’s a great disgrace to her.

“Nobody will believe in me any-more” she thought, “How can I facemy classmates?” But to her surprise,Lucy said to her “We are friends, sowe will share happiness and sor-rows no matter what happens. I’msure you will have a bright future ifyou consider yourself properly.”

Alice turned Lucy’s words over inher mind. Eventually, she realizedfriendship is so precious that no onecan do without it. Early next morn-ing, there’s a girl running in theplayground. That’s Alice. She turnedover a new leaf from then on.

Other students create stories aboutfamous stars, as in this example:

As Zoe Zhang dreamed, she wonthe award because of the movie sheperformed “My Father and MyMother.” This was a minor victory,but it turned her mind and made her

Story creation helps students break away fromtraditional word translation exercises andprovides them with many opportunities to beactively involved in their own language learning.

Portal The Vocabulary-Building Power of Story Creation By Fang Ying

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proud. She wasnot as pure asbefore. Many ofher friends suggested that sheshould get further professionaltraining, because there was greaterchallenge on the international stage.However, she turned a deaf ear toall the warnings. She thought shewas the greatest actress in the main-land. She asked the director forexpensive dress and precious jewel-ry to attend the Oscar AwardCeremony. But her request wasturned down.

As she faced the foreign journalist,her poor English made her laughedat by many people. She thought thisjob was easy, but it turned out to beextremely difficult. The road is notalways paved with roses. Shebecame more patient. She began tokeep in touch with her friends, andlistened to their suggestions. Sheturned over a new leaf from thatday on.

After students write their stories,they share them with their classmates.The works are refined and modifiedthrough peer editing and teacher eval-uation until they are deemed goodenough for public display.

Story Creation After ClassDuring class, I usually provide

students with a context for their newwords. For homework, I encouragethem to create their own context. Forexample, sentence translations fromChinese into English do not usuallycapture my students’ interest, but Iencourage them to look for contextu-al connections among the sentencesto create a semantic, relevant context(see “The Most Dangerous Game”Sentence Translations). Studentsfocus on different sentences in theexercise based on their interests,

previous knowledge, and experi-ences. One student created a movingstory using 7 of the 14 sentences in aslightly modified way:

I was the wife of a soldier who lostboth his legs in a war. Although lifebecame more miserable to me afterhis tragedy, I was not going to leavehim on that score. He was still a hero

in my heart.At the begin-ning, mental

strain was so much that he often losthis temper for no reason. But gradu-ally with my help and assurance, hegained hope and began to tell mewhat happened to him in the warthat claimed 10,000 people. He saidthat but for the wild plants, many of thesoldiers would have starved to deathwhile crossing the marshland. One day,the visibility was so poor that no matter

“The Most Dangerous Game” Sentence Translations1. A peasant woman found him lying unconscious in the grass. She

carried him home, dressed his wound, and hid him in the attic.

2. We should focus our attention on the development of science and education.

3. This photograph is out of focus.

4. This camera is easy to handle because it has an automatic focus.

5. Visibility was poor that day and no matter how you strained youreyes, you still couldn’t see very far.

6. The mental strain was too much for him, and he began to lose sleep.

7. But for his wife, he would never have been able to finish college.

8. But for the wild plants, many of us would have starved to deathwhile crossing the marshlands.

9. It was a close match. The final score was 89 to 96 in our favor.

10. Her husband lost both his legs in an accident, but she was not goingto leave him on that score.

11. We must admit that they have scored a point. Now the ball is in our court.

12. She found a wallet near the booking office. She decided to stay therein case someone might come to claim it.

13. They claimed to have found proof for their theory that dinosaursbecame extinct because of a global fire caused by the collision of aheavenly body with the earth.

14. The earthquake claimed 25,000 people.

Note: From Yang & Xu, 1996, p. 337.

To create the beginning, conflicts, suspense,and ending for their stories, students have to think in imaginative and unique ways torecreate their experiences and ideas.

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how much he strainedhis eyes, he still couldnot see very far. Hedid not recognize the enemies until hislegs were shot. When he came to him-self, he found he was lying in the bedof a peasant woman. The woman foundhim when he lost consciousness and carriedhim home. Then she dressed his woundand hid him in the attic until the warwas over. I couldn’t help crying when Iheard everything. We decided to tryevery means to find that woman andthank her with all our hearts.

Accurate Word UseAs Skehan (1998) remarks, activities

aimed at promoting awareness of lan-guage form, making students consciousof particular language features, andencouraging them to use these featuresare more likely to yield long-lastinglanguage learning. Story creation activ-ities give students opportunities to uti-lize their new vocabulary in interestingand personalized ways, as shown insome of my students’ reflections:

Story-creation activity is designed insuch a way as to force the use of par-ticular structures.

The phrases used in that story arecarved in my mind, because our sto-ries are so interesting that they help usremember the sentence patterns easily.

In daily life, some of the patternscome out of our mouth unconsciouslyand often give us a big surprise.

Story creation activities also requirestudents to organize their thoughtseffectively and logically. For example,they are more able to create an interest-ing plot by learning and improving onskills such as exemplification, classifi-cation, cause and effect, and compareand contrast.

In addition, because the stories willbe presented in spoken and written

form to classmates and students inother classes, students are motivated topay special attention to accuracy ingrammar and word usage. This out-come is supported by Skehan (1998),who asserts that language learners whoare pushed or challenged to “go pub-lic” will strive harder to reach a higherlevel of accuracy.

Active LearningStory creation helps students break

away from traditional word translationexercises and provides them withmany opportunities to be activelyinvolved in their own language learn-ing. It also ensures maximum classparticipation, as revealed by the fol-lowing student reflections:

This activity can make the class morelively and full of vitality.

This activity makes me quick-wittedand requires me to be imaginative.

It stimulates my interest in learningnew words and phrases.

Storytelling is like a stone that cankill two birds. On one hand, it enablesstudents to put what they have learnedinto real use. On the other hand, it is away of being creative. To create thebeginning, conflicts, suspense, and end-ing for their stories, students have tothink in imaginative and unique waysto recreate their experiences and ideas.Creating stories also activates theword-building process because themore words that are accumulated, themore creatively they can be used.

Stories as MotivationCompared to conventional word rep-

etition and translation activities, storycreation is more effective in puttingnew words into rich contexts and devel-

oping students’language skills.Through

exchanging stories, students not onlybroaden their horizons and improvetheir insights, but also stretch theirimaginations and keep their creativespirits alive. Because stories are funda-mental to students’ personal experi-ences and sense of identity, creating sto-ries fosters a classroom community ofmotivated learners. This holistic, inte-grative, and collaborative techniquecontinually helps my students becomeconfident and successful learners.

References

Cook, V. (1991). Learners as individuals. InSecond language learning and languageteaching (pp. 72–88). London: EdwardArnold.

Huang, Y. Y., & Gu, Y. G. (1996). Integratingclassroom instruction with self-access learn-ing. Foreign Language Teaching andResearch, 2, 9–13.

Richards, J. C. (2001). Beyond methods. In C.N. Candlin & N. Mercer (Eds.), English lan-guage teaching in its social context (pp.167–179). London: Routledge.

Skehan, P. (1998). Task-based instruction.Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 18,268–286.

Yang, L. M., & Xu, K. R. (1996). CollegeEnglish. Beijing, China: Foreign LanguageTeaching and Research Press.

Fang Ying is a teacher of English in the School of Foreign Languages,

Yangzhou University, in China.

See also “Word Choices:Developing Vocabulary

in Creative Writing,”http://www.tesol.org/et/.

Through exchanging stories, students not only broaden their horizons and improve theirinsights, but also stretch their imaginationsand keep their creative spirits alive.

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An Unconventional Classroom for Adult ESOBy Kathleen Klose

It’s approaching noon. Ying,from China, is helping a literacystudent from Ethiopia. Anna, fromRussia, is working with a studentfrom Vietnam. Fatiha, the Algerianteaching assistant, is helping aHaitian student prepare for her citi-zenship interview. Khadija finishesa half-hour tutoring stint andleaves for her afternoon class asMaureen, a doctoral student inintercultural relations at LesleyCollege, arrives, soon to be joinedby two young Mormon missionar-ies and a Buddhist monk, all ofwhom volunteer every Tuesday inour large ESOL literacy class foradult immigrants.

The students enter one by one,greet each other, hang their coats inthe closet, and settle down to studyor chat before class. This room hasbecome their second home. At noon,Fatiha steps behind a curtain in thecorner of the room to pray. Later,during break time, a few Muslimstudents will do the same. Theclassroom is warm and inviting toall—teachers, tutors, and students.

Our StudentsThe students in our school are

from Asia, Southern Europe, NorthAfrica, and Central and SouthAmerica. Childhood illness orpoverty deprived them of educa-tion. For some, this is their firstschool. Others attended a few years

of school sporadically between peri-ods of farm work, political disrup-tion, or illness. They may haveworked full-time from the age of 5.Their adult lives of long work hoursand child rearing have left no timefor classes, forcing them to rely onchildren or spouses to read andwrite for them. Some cope with avariety of learning challenges, mak-ing literacy difficult in spite of highmotivation and intelligence. Itwould be difficult to find a moremotivated and appreciative groupof students. Their determination istruly inspiring.

The literacy students range fromthose who are nonliterate with noEnglish skills to fluent Englishspeakers and readers with low writ-ing skills. The latter may spend anaverage of 6 months in the literacyclass. The former, and those withlearning challenges, may continuethe class for a few years.

Our VolunteersOur one-room schoolhouse is on

the second floor of the ImmigrantLearning Center (ILC) in the heartof Malden, Massachusetts, in theUnited States, and is funded bydonations from banks, corporations,and private foundations. Our stu-dent body, volunteers, and staffreflect the diversity of this area,representing dozens of nationalities.Currently, 24 community members

and advanced ILC stu-dents volunteer on aweekly basis, substantiallyaccelerating the readingand writing progress ofthe students they help.Imagine learning to readChinese or Arabic for thefirst time as an adult. Itwould take countlesshours of study and prac-

tice. The value of a one-on-onereading tutor for an adult who islearning to read for the first time isincalculable.

What attracts volunteers? Theylove to be here. For community vol-unteers, it’s a wonderful way tomeet people from all over theworld, to learn about the differentcultures in our “Mini UnitedNations of Malden.” And the senseof satisfaction that they get fromhelping another adult learn to readis immeasurable. For ILC studentvolunteers, working here is a way togive back to the school and the com-munity and to reinforce their ownEnglish knowledge and confidenceby helping others. This use ofadvanced students as peer tutors isa return on investment, and theyield has been high.

Two of these student volunteershave joined the teaching staff. Fourand a half years ago, Fatiha, anexperienced high school mathteacher, began to volunteer 12 hoursa week. Her work with the studentswas so effective that a year later shewas hired as a teaching assistant.Today she continues as my assistantteacher. She also teaches beginningconversation and sits on our boardof directors. Galina, from Ukraine,entered our Level 1 ESOL class afew years ago and progressedthrough Level 5. She now workspart-time as a teaching assistant.Today, with the help of Fatiha,Galina, and two dozen volunteers,we are able to work with 35 stu-dents at a time.

New volunteers learn first byobservation, then by guided andsupervised work with individual stu-dents. The use of volunteers allowsme to customize instruction for indi-vidual students and to observe,assess, and adjust as needed.

Portal

As a student once commentedabout my teaching style, “Youdo anything that works, shortof standing on your head.”

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Class StructureA program like this needs

ample space. Our classroomis very large and has manylearning areas, which enablesus to regroup easily withouttripping over each other. Theclass runs from noon to 2p.m., but some readingtutors arrive at 11:30 a.m. towork with students whoarrive 30 minutes early forextra reading practice. Fatihapairs the tutors with stu-dents, trying to giveequal access to all whoarrive early.

Once class begins,Fatiha and Galina leadthe two larger groups.For writing activities, Iuse volunteers to subdi-vide each group in orderto accommodate studentswho need more time. Volunteers workone on one with students who needindividual help with reading lessons,dictations, and specific skill-relatedtasks. During this time I am able tocirculate, observe and monitor theactivities, or to sit with groups or indi-viduals to focus on their needs.

MaterialsIt’s not easy to find appropriate

materials for adult ESOL literacy stu-dents. Some phonics-based materialsdesigned for preliterate adult Englishlanguage learners rely too heavily onforced and artificial language to usewords that rhyme. Other materialsdesigned for adult literacy are unsuit-able because they assume familiaritywith vocabulary that is far beyond thelevel of beginning English languagelearners. Material for young childrenis rarely suitable for a number of rea-sons, although there are exceptions.

For example, our students have thor-oughly enjoyed Dr. Seuss for supple-mentary reading; the vocabulary issimple, phonics based, repetitive, andamply illustrated, and the humorappeals to all ages.

Finding effective materials for stu-dents with no English skills and nounderstanding of the sound–symbolassociation is a challenge, so I use avariety of methods and materials. Forfirst-time readers with no Englishskills, I use real objects such as maps,hats, and fans for the initial vocabu-lary. Then we build from that usingthe following:

• Color: We use colored indexcards, sentence strips, and Post-Itnotes. Depending on the lesson, Imay use different colors for vow-els and consonants; for wordroots and suffixes; for adjectivesand nouns; or for subjects, verbs,and complements. This makes it

easy to see, for exam-ple, that a wordalways has a voweland a sentence alwayshas a verb.

• Rule-lined wipe-off charts andsentence strips: The large wipe-off charts are used for coopera-tive dictations, with two to threestudents working together.Sometimes I have students writewith markers on wipe-off sen-tence strips so I can look aroundthe table and observe as theywrite. Thus, I can help them self-correct as they write, which ismore effective than handingback their papers to correct afterthe fact.

• Pocket charts: These are usedwith index cards for many pur-poses, including word construc-tion, sentence construction, sort-ing and classification, arrangingby alphabetic order, and vowel-sound matching. For the latter,each row of the chart representsone vowel sound, as indicated bya one-syllable cue word contain-

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ult ESOL Literacy

The value of a one-on-one readingtutor for an adult who is learning toread for the first time is incalculable.

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ing the specific vowel sound forthat row (e.g., face for the long asound). I hand each student aone-syllable word card and askthem to match their words tothe cue word that has the samevowel sound (e.g., man shouldgo with the cue word cat). Whenall students have placed theirwords in the pocket chart, weevaluate the vowel sound ofeach word in a given row to seeif they all have the same vowelsound as the cue word. For mis-matched cards, we listen to thevowel sound in the misplacedword and compare it to the

vowel soundin each of theother cuewords. Thisreinforcesrecognition ofspelling pat-terns associat-ed with specif-ic vowelsounds andhelps studentsdevelop vowelsound discrim-

ination. Repeating this activityregularly with different sets ofwords helps develop students’ability to discriminate amongthe many vowel sounds inEnglish and reinforces thespelling patterns of English.(This activity is also useful foradvanced students.)

For pronunciation practice, I keepsets of minimal pairs specific to dif-ferent nationalities (e.g., met-mess andpan-fan for Vietnamese students). I

also have amodel mouth(molded withair-dryingclay from aplastic modelborrowedfrom my den-tist) that we

often use to show the tongue posi-tions for the sounds of various letters.

For writing and spelling practice,I use lists of the most commonwords, introducing 10 new wordsplus 10 phonics-based words (e.g.,hat-hate, man-main) each week.Students are guided to create sen-tences with each of the 20 words onthe list and quizzed on spelling atthe end of the week. We also use alanguage experience approach towriting—sharing, writing, and thenreading personal stories.

Instruction for Functional Literacy

The results of the literacy programhave been exciting. Students arethrilled to finally achieve functionalliteracy. But an unconventional class-room may defy conventional wis-dom. Our goal is literacy, our meth-ods vary from student to student,and our outcomes are the ability toread street signs, labels, and notices;to write checks and fill out applica-tion and registration forms; and toobtain jobs, higher levels of educa-tion, and even citizenship.

You will find no lesson plans onmy desk. Our student-centered les-sons and objectives are created andmodified dynamically in accordancewith students’ progress and difficul-ties. It is our respect for the students;our familiarity with their personali-ties, needs, and abilities; and ourflexibility in meeting their individuallearning styles that make learningpossible. Assessment is ongoing fromdirect observation and daily feed-back. Students may be pulled out forindividual help, and larger groupssubdivided as needed. Materials and

lessons are adjusted dynamically toprovide more practice or depth ofinstruction. Objectives may be resethigher or lower to accommodate thepace of each student.

The process is fluid and flexible; itbends to the needs of the students,and it would not survive the encum-brance of standardized testing andlesson plans.

Respect for Students and Teachers

With respect to educationaltrends, I believe in our students’ability to recognize what helps themlearn. Phonics may go in and out offashion, but we observe what worksfor our students, and that is ourguideline. We use phonics instruc-tion, word analysis, sight wordrecognition, and whole language. Asa student once commented about myteaching style, “You do anythingthat works, short of standing onyour head.”

I am able to follow this generalapproach to student learningbecause the school respects theteachers’ abilities to choose themethods and materials that aremost effective for our individualteaching styles. With private fund-ing sources, Fatiha, Galina, and Ihave the freedom to exercise themethods that best serve our stu-dents without the burdens imposedon publicly funded teachers. We areaccountable to our students and oursponsors. Our biannual progressreports to our sponsors testify tothe results of our efforts.

During the current session, twomore students took the oath ofcitizenship. In our one-room school-house, we help each other achieve ourdreams. As our students often say, “InAmerica, all things are possible.”

Kathleen Klose teaches ESOL literacy and theater at the Immigrant

Learning Center in Malden,Massachusetts, in the United States.


The school respects the teachers’abilities to choose the methods andmaterials that are most effective forour individual teaching styles.

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37SEPTEMBER 2008 |

Portal How Differing SociolinguisticRelationships Impact Language Acquisition

A wealth of anecdotal evidencefrom practitioners suggests that sec-ond language acquisition (SLA) isbest supported by the use of clearlystructured pair work or small-grouptasks. However, within theVygotskian concept of social con-structivism, the field of sociolinguis-tics remains a much understudiedfield of classroom research.

One explanation for this dearth ofresearch is the manner in which neo-Vygotskian second language (L2)studies have been restricted by thenarrow purview of mainstreamresearch. Against this backdrop,Gebhard (1999) argues for a “socio-cultural perspective” that takes as astarting point “an understandingthat the origin and structure of cog-nition are rooted in the daily socialand cultural practices in which anindividual participates” (p. 544).Although a few mainstream journalspublish articles that focus on thesociolinguistic approach, studies thatrobustly investigate social context,power, and identity remain relativelydifficult to locate.

The crucial question is: Do practi-tioners really understand why andhow peer interaction facilitates (orfrustrates) language acquisition froma sociocultural perspective?

The Sociocultural Research Perspective

Classroom practice has evolvedrapidly since the importance of peer

interaction was acknowledged at the1972 International CommunicationAssociation convention, whichfocused on interaction and learning.The benefits of peer interaction acrossthe curriculum have been com-pellingly expressed (see, e.g., Johnson& Johnson, 1996). Consequently,teachers are structuring their teach-ing methods to engage students incommunicative tasks by arrangingthem into small groups or pairs.Using the term cooperative learninggroups, Johnson and Johnson list thefollowing benefits of peer interaction:

• positive independence• individual accountability• face-to-face promotive interactions• appropriate use of interpersonal

and small-group skills andgroup processing

Such learning arrangements act aspowerful catalysts for higher achieve-ment, more positive relationshipsamong students, and greater psycho-logical health. Classroom discoursehas been recognized as a complexsociocultural activi-ty in which mean-ing making is anintegral process inthe creation of thesocial identity oflearners. Theoristsand practitionersalike almost unani-mously emphasise a

communicative framework of onekind or another. Thinking comesalong as a necessary element of thisprocess. The form and functions ofthought arise from social context;therefore, human thought can bedescribed as fundamentally social inits origin.

The internalisation of experiencearising from social interaction is cru-cial to a person’s understanding ofhis or her role as a participant in apostmodern society typified bystates of flux, dynamic change, andcomplex uncertainties. As Eisnerand Peshkin (1990) observe,“whether we are talking about uni-corns, quarks, infinity, or apples, ourcognitive life depends on experi-ence” (p. 31). In the microcosm ofthe classroom, and in the smallercollective of the group or pair, thisobservation is also true.

Many foundation studies havedemonstrated that interaction isessential if effective learning is totake place. It is therefore inevitablethat even a perfunctory search onSLA and interaction reveals a

By Colby Toussaint Clarkand Ian Clark

Studies that robustlyinvestigate social context,power, and identity remainrelatively difficult to locate.

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proliferation of research thatavers the notion that languageis acquired due to interactionbetween the learner and a moreproficient speaker. Long and Porter(1985) have summarised the mainpedagogical arguments in favourof a collaborative learning frame-work as the following:

• increasing opportunities forlanguage practice

• assisting in the individualisa-tion of instruction

• advancing the quality andquantity of student talk

• encouraging a positive affectiveenvironment

• increasing the students’ motiva-tion to learn

It is worth remembering thatalthough Vygotsky’s most produc-tive years at Moscow’s Institute ofPsychology were between 1924 and1935, the most often cited text onhis theories, Mind and Society, didnot become accessible to a massinternational readership until 1978.Furthermore, Vygotsky’s work,although enormously influential, islimited by a focus on novice–expertinteractions. Consequently, it hasonly been in relatively recent yearsthat the potential benefits of peerinteractions have become widelyacknowledged.

Pedagogical Implications of Sociolinguistic Research

A particularly interestingfoundation study that takes asociolinguistic perspective on peerinteraction and informs L2 practicewas conducted by Porter (1986).This study contrasted native speak-er–native speaker, nativespeaker–nonnative speaker, andnonnative speaker–nonnativespeaker interactions based ongrammatical accuracy, interactionalfeatures, and sociolinguistic appro-priateness of the input between avariety of such dyads. Porter foundthat there was no clear advantagein having a native speaker as aninput provider because input froma nonnative speaker could be justas comprehensible as input from anative speaker.

Porter (1986) also found fewindications that nonnative speakersfrustrate SLA by giving each othermiscorrections and error incorpora-tions. Numerous studies seek toillustrate how learning takes placein social settings by analysing thediscourse for evidence of collectivescaffolding. The essential outcomeof such research is the fundamentalunderstanding that social or groupconstruction of new knowledge

achieves much better learning out-comes than the individual internali-sation of knowledge.

Ohta (1995) undertook a studyon complex linguistic problems andfound that peer dyads displayedgreater linguistic accuracy than didtasks fronted by the teacher. Shealso observed that the socioculturalroles of expert and novice alternat-ed between the participants. Ohta’sfindings support the propositionthat structured pair work enableslearners to acquire language bysharing their strengths in the zoneof proximal development(Vygotsky, 1978).

Storch’s (2002) study is a rareexample of robust research thatclearly illustrates how a sociolin-guistic approach to language learn-ing may create measurable increasesin performance. She analysed tran-scripts of student discourse by look-ing for significant features exhibitedby pairs of pretested learners whohad passed either the universitythreshold level of 6.5 on theInternational English LanguageTesting System or 570–580 on theTest of English as a ForeignLanguage. The similarity betweenthe students’ proficiency levelsmade it possible for the participantsto self-select their partners.

Storch (2002) observed fourdistinct patterns of interaction: col-laborative, dominant/dominant,dominant/passive, andexpert/novice (see A Model ofDyadic Interaction). She points outthat a collaborative relationship meansmuch more than two or more learn-ers working together. From the

It has only been in relatively recent years thatthe potential benefits of peer interactions have become widely acknowledged.

Social or group construction of new knowledgeachieves much better learning outcomes thanthe individual internalisation of knowledge.

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39SEPTEMBER 2008 | 39

arguably deeper perspective of soci-olinguistics, students take on collabora-tive roles in an interaction when theyassist each other equally while attempt-ing to solve a particular linguistic chal-lenge or problem. For this reason, theword collaborative in all its forms hasbeen avoided here unless it meetsStorch’s definition in terms of a collab-orative relationship.

Storch (2002) blended her frame-work with the notion of equality andmutuality discussed by Damon andPhelps (1989). Equality is defined asthe level of authority or control overthe task; pairs exhibiting a high level ofequality have the ability to take direc-tion from each other. Mutuality meansthe extent of engagement between eachother’s contributions; pairs that exhibita high level of mutuality share ideasand give reciprocal feedback. As onewould expect, the collaborative quad-rant in the Model of Dyadic Interactionis characterised by both high mutualityand high equality.

Storch (2002) found that studentswho worked collaboratively learntmore than pairs who were observedadhering to any of the other three pat-terns of interaction. Expert/novicerelationships of the Vygotskian typealso performed well, but less so thantheir collaborative counterparts. Thissuggests that the existence of highmutuality in peer interactions is more

important than a relationship thatemphasises high equality. If one inter-prets the terms expert, novice, and col-laborative to refer to different levels ofknowing and comprehension, thenthese components become cognitiveelements. When applying this inter-pretation, it is to be expected thatpairs exhibiting cognition-type rela-tionships (those dedicated to acquir-ing and transmitting knowledge) willshow evidence of better learning.

The essential pedagogical pointarising from Storch’s (2002) findings isthat teachers should be acutely awareof how the different social roles andsubsequent relationships arising fromclassroom interactions facilitate or frus-trate learning processes as well as out-comes. The highly effective languageteacher will create conditions in whichdyads and groups experience learningrelationships typified by positive cor-rections, positive confirmations, com-pletion of their partner’s sentences, anddirect clarifying questions.

References

Damon, W., & Phelps, E. (1989). Critical dis-tinctions among three approaches to peereducation. International Journal ofEducational Research, 58, 9–19.

Eisner, E., & Peshkin, A. (Eds.). (1990). Qualit-ative enquiry in education: The continuingdebate. New York: Teachers College Press.

Gebhard, M. (1999). Debates in SLAstudies: Redefining SLA as an insti-tutional phenomenon. TESOLQuarterly, 33, 544–557.

Johnson, D., & Johnson, R. (1996).The role of cooperative learning inassessing and communicating stu-dent learning. In T. R. Gusky (Ed.),1996 ASCD yearbook: Commun-icating student learning (pp.25–46). Alexandria, VA: Associationfor Supervision and CurriculumDevelopment.

Long, M., & Porter, P. (1985). Group work,interlanguage talk, and second languageacquisition. TESOL Quarterly, 19, 207–228.

Ohta, A. (1995). Applying sociocultural theo-ry to an analysis of learner discourse:Learner-learner collaborative interaction inthe zone of proximal development. Issuesin Applied Linguistics, 6, 93–121.

Porter, P. (1986). How learners talk to eachother: Input and interaction in task-centered discussions. In R. Day (Ed.),Talking to learn: Conversation in secondlanguage acquisition (pp. 200–221).Rowley, MA: Newbury House.

Storch, N. (2002). Patterns of interaction inESL pair work. Language Learning, 52,119–158.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind and society: The development of higher psychologicalprocesses. Cambridge, MA: HarvardUniversity Press.

Colby Toussaint Clark is a teacher in theUnited States and is currently continuing

her research into sociocultural learninginteractions at Portland State University,

in Oregon, in the United States.

Ian Clark is currently pursuing a PhD ineducational psychology at WashingtonState University, in the United States.

A Model of Dyadic Interaction

High Mutuality

Expert/Novice Collaborative

Dominant/Passive Dominant/Dominant

Low Mutuality

Low Equality High Equality

Source: Storch, 2002, p. 128.

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Making lessons more applicable tothe lives of students has become preva-lent in today’s language classrooms.An increasing number of English lan-guage teaching texts aim to relate tostudents’ interests in some form inorder to help encourage and sustainthe desire to learn a new language.Encounters Book 1, which uses a reality-focused approach, presents standardcontent in a way that is differentenough to offer an alternative to thesame textbook that one might userepeatedly in class. It is aimed at falsebeginners (students with about an 800-word vocabulary but very little gram-mar structure; Helgesen, 1987; Peaty,1987; Richards, Platt, & Weber, 1985;Ur, 1985) or students at the lower inter-mediate level, and it can be used andadapted easily for learners in highschool, college, or adult education.

The color photos, diagrams, andcartoons strike a good balancebetween seriousness and fun whilealso providing useful lesson pointsand language. And the book is accom-panied by a corresponding CD thatcontains the dialogues used for the lis-tening exercises in the text. Therefore,Encounters Book 1 has the potential to

keep students actively participating inclass and effectively learning the skillsthat are presented.

Encounters Book 1 gradually increas-es in difficulty and introduces studentsto basic conversation situations such asgreetings and introductions, statingand resolving problems, and givingopinions. What makes this book partic-ularly useful is that its chapters mimican actual conversation and build oneach prior chapter so that studentslearn to greet each other, start and con-tinue a conversation, then give opin-ions, and, finally, say goodbye. Thisway, students can role-play at differentstages throughout the book.

The following principles are impor-tant to help understand how EncountersBook 1 can be used in an oral communi-cation class. First, the text highlightspossible new words with a red high-lighted number. Second, the text pro-vides students with helpful advice sothat their speech is natural, concentrat-ing on openings and closings that arenative-like. Third, learners are givenample opportunities to perform theirconversations based on the lessonwithin the Role Plays section of eachchapter. A full lesson can take up to 130

minutes in one class session, or it canbe adapted and spread across twoclasses, especially if the Role Plays sec-tion takes up most of the second class.

The students in my high school, uni-versity, and adult education classes allhave responded well to Encounters Book1. It provides a good alternative to theusual ESOL texts because it presentsmaterial in a slightly different yetequally appropriate way, which is sureto energize any classroom context inwhich it is used.

ReferencesHelgesen, M. (1987). False beginners:

Activating language for accuracy andfluency. Language Teacher, 11(14), 23–29.

Peaty, D. (1987). False beginners: Who arethey and what to do with them. LanguageTeacher, 11(14), 4–5.

Richards, J., Platt, J., & Weber, H. (1985).Longman dictionary of applied linguistics.London: Longman.

Ur, P. (1985). Teaching listening compre-hension. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press.

Jamar A. Miller is an Englishlanguage lecturer at the FukuokaInstitute of Technology, in Japan.


&REFERENCES RESOURCESEdited by Vanessa [email protected]

Encounters Book1

I had been looking for a simple bookto introduce pragmatics to novice stu-dents who will teach EFL. Fortunately,I came across the workbook Pragmatics,which explains technical conceptsclearly and simply, and teachesthrough hands-on language analysis.Combining theoretical knowledge withclear examples in different real-worldsituations, the book is a good startingpoint for all students.

With the use of intriguing examples,chapter 1 explores the relationshipamong linguistics, semantics, and prag-matics. Consider this example from thefirst page of the book:

A little boy comes in the front door.Mother: Wipe your feet please.He removes his muddy shoes andsocks and carefully wipes his cleanfeet on the doormat.

According to Peccei, the child’sknowledge of vocabulary and gram-mar does not appear to be the prob-lem. The problem is that the childappears to have understood what thewords mean, but not what his mothermeant. In the same vein, semanticsconcentrates on meaning that comesfrom purely linguistic knowledge,whereas pragmatics concentrates onthose aspects of knowledge that can-

Maria Shiguemi Ichiyama, Michael Critchley, Reza Fiyouzat,Yuka Iijima, Teri Suzuki. Tokyo: Nan’Un-Do, 2007.

Pragmatics Jean Stilwell Peccei. London: Routledge, 1999.

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41SEPTEMBER 2008 |

This is a digital book, so you read iton a computer. When Raynaud men-tions an exercise or activity, you justclick on the hyperlink, and the fileopens on your screen. The DocumentAnnex includes a catalogue of morethan 1,500 ready-to-use documents.Listening comprehension exercises areMP3 files for use in the classroom, incomputer labs, or on digital music play-ers such as iPods. All text documentsare in A4 format and may be freely pho-tocopied for use in the classroom. Manyof them also are Microsoft Word filesand thus can be customized to suit theneeds of each institution.

Samples of students’ written work;Microsoft PowerPoint presentations bystudents; and excerpts of films written,directed, and produced by Raynaud’s stu-dents should motivate students aroundthe world to carry out similar projects forpresentation in their English classes.

Although some exercises are designedfor science students at universitieswhere English is compulsory, most ofthe materials are appropriate for anyadvanced-level English language learn-ers age 16 and older. Other materials canbe used with any level, from preinterme-diate to advanced, and are particularlyuseful in multilevel classes.

QualityTime-ESL is the result ofRaynaud’s 24 years at Institut NationalPolytechnique, in Grenoble, France,teaching in three engineering schools.Her intensive English course becamewell known partly because all of her stu-dents scored at least 750 on the Test ofEnglish for International Communication(TOEIC); many scored over 850 and even900. In addition to performing well onthe TOEIC, the students would speakenthusiastically of the progress they had

made in just a short period, speakingsolely in English in class. Raynaud likesto use exercises that optimize class par-ticipation and customize teaching to suitthe needs of the students without havingto spend hours preparing.

QualityTime-ESL is written as aseries of interviews with Raynaud,who has just retired and wishes to passon her ESL teaching expertise. Theseinterviews are conducted by a new vir-tual member of her team, who asks allthe usual pertinent questions thatteachers have about topics such asmotivation, guidance, discipline, andevaluation. Raynaud discusses herteaching philosophy and the tech-niques she has used over the years,including tutorials, personalized inter-views, professional presentations,teamwork, effective testing, intensivepair work, interactivity, computerizedreview sheets, and much more.

The content in Quality Time-ESL isvaried and timeless. Furthermore, itsemphasis on global English makes itinteresting for teachers in a variety ofsettings around the world. I have usedthis digital resource book both as asource of teaching materials and asinspiration to implement methods thattruly help students gain fluency in spo-ken English. What is unique about thisbook is the way it helps teachers puttogether their own personalized courses.

I have learned a great deal fromworking with such an inspiring teacheras Raynaud, and I am happy to have allthese examples of her work to use inmy classes.

Grace Willson is an English professor at the University

of Joseph Fourier, in France.

QualityTime-ESL: The Digital Resource BookMarianne Raynaud. 2008. Available at http://www.qualitytime-esl.com.

not be predicted by linguisticknowledge alone and focuses onthe meaning of the speaker’sutterance by considering physi-cal and social worlds.

In chapters 2–9, some of thebasic techniques and key con-cepts of pragmatics (e.g., Grice’sMaxims, speech act theory,felicity conditions) are dis-cussed. Chapter 10 provideslearners with ideas and guide-lines for conducting shortresearch projects involvingpragmatics analysis.

In each of the book’s 10 chap-ters, after some explanation,there is an exercise accompaniedby a comment; answers to theexercises are provided at the endof the book. There is also a sum-mary at the end of each chapter.In addition to the exercises ineach chapter, all of the units pro-vide useful supplementary exer-cises and discussion questionsthat require more independentwork. Answers are not providedin these sections, so studentsmay find it helpful to discusstheir answers with each other.

The book’s bibliography alsois helpful because some titlesare marked by an asterisk (*).Peccei explains that these refer-ences are particularly suitablefor learners who are new to thestudy of pragmatics.

Even though Pragmatics iscomparatively short at 96 pages,it brings together a number ofimportant issues. I highly recom-mend this book as a generalintroduction to this field,especially because of its clear,user-friendly structure.

Azadeh Nemati is a facultymember at Jahrom Azad

University, in Iran, and a PhDcandidate in TEFL at the

University of Mysore, in India.

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&REFERENCES RESOURCES

“How can I teach Englishlanguage development, con-tent area subject matter, andreading?” This is a questionthat many ESOL teachersask themselves daily. Withthe push for languagethrough content, ESOLteachers are having tobecome content area andreading specialists overnight,which can be especially challeng-ing for educators with limitedresources, teaching space, andtime. But help can be found atReading A-Z, which providesaccess to a plethora of literacyresources for an annual member-ship fee of $79 for use in up tonine classrooms.

Specially geared toward stu-dents in Grades K–8, this Web siteoffers resources that could easily beadapted for high school studentsand adults. Leveled readers, read-er’s theater scripts, fiction, nonfic-tion, wordless books, and comicbooks are just a few of the avail-able resources. These resources aredivided into 26 lettered categoriesthat progress from easiest to mostdifficult—literally, an a-to-z classi-fication. The books can be down-loaded, printed, and folded for use,making the reading material highlyinstructional. Students can high-light or circle text and write notesor word lists in the margins.

What makes this site particular-ly helpful is the variety of nonfic-tion content area topics, includingbiographical books about MarcoPolo, Amelia Earhart, and César

Chávez, to name just a few. Theleveled readers make the contentaccessible to students with lowerreading ability while engagingthem with high-interest topics. Forexample, while teaching a readingclass at a community college, Iused Reading A-Z’s book The Legacyof da Vinci, which provides interest-ing facts about the artist’s life. Mystudents and I were able to havecritical discussions about the bookand then watch the movie The DaVinci Code, which was in theaters atthe time. I had two nursing stu-dents in that same class, and tohelp the other students learn moreabout their course of study, weread Influenza, a Reading A-Z bookabout the flu.

I also used Reading A-Z when Iworked as an elementary schoolteacher, and I noticed that my stu-dents’ favorite read-alouds werethe reader’s theater scripts. Oneyear we read “The Three LittlePigs” countless times, with every-one wanting to read the part of thewolf, probably because he had themost speaking parts. To witnesssecond-grade English languagelearners wanting to read aloud, notembarrassed about their accents or

pronunciation, helps us asteachers remember whywe teach.

The assessment page ofReading A-Z providesaccessible and easy-to-understand informationabout reading conceptssuch as comprehension,fluency, and phonemic

awareness for teachers who do nothave in-depth training in this area.

One suggestion, though: If youhave a limited supply of paper,you may be at a disadvantage interms of getting the most out ofthis Web site. However, this can beovercome by reusing books thatyou are able to print; using recy-cled paper for printing; or limitingthe amount of paper needed byprinting Reading A-Z’s smaller“pocketbooks,” which require halfthe amount of paper as the otherbooks and fit in your pocket.

I recommend using Reading A-Zto complement your English lan-guage development program. It iswell worth it.

Ayanna Cooper is an instruc-tional coach of English languagelearners with the Dekalb County

School District, in Atlanta,Georgia, in the United States.

Reading A-Z www.readinga-z.com

See also “Reader’sTheater for Reading

Improvement,”http://www.tesol.org/et/.

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Association NEWS

43SEPTEMBER 2008 |

On June 18, 2008, 13 TESOL membersrepresenting 12 U.S.-based affiliates met inWashington, DC, for TESOL Advocacy Day2008. The third such event held by TESOL,the day featured issue briefings and work-shops, capped by members visiting congres-sional offices on Capitol Hill. The goal ofAdvocacy Day was not only to lobby on keyissues for TESOL, but also to provide aninteractive learning experience for affiliaterepresentatives focused on elements ofadvocacy. By the end of the day, TESOLmembers had visited more than 40 represen-tatives and senators.

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) isscheduled to go through a legislative renew-al, or reauthorization, during the 110thCongress. Because of the dramatic impactthat NCLB has had on the education ofEnglish language learners in the UnitedStates and because of the many criticalissues stemming from its implementation,TESOL Advocacy Day 2008 was focusedexclusively on this law.

To maximize the impact of TESOL AdvocacyDay, key members of Congress serving on theeducation committees in the U.S. Senate andHouse of Representatives were identified formeetings. In turn, affiliates representing theconstituencies of those members of Congresswere selected and invited to send a represen-tative to Advocacy Day.

With guidance from TESOL,participants set up their own indi-vidual meetings with these keymembers of Congress.Participants received talkingpoints and background informa-tion on the topics they would beaddressing so that they couldbegin to familiarize themselveswith the issues in advance. To help maketheir congressional meetings more effective,participants were encouraged to find exam-ples from their own states and districts toillustrate the talking points.

TESOL Advocacy Day commenced with awelcome from TESOL President ShelleyWong. The participants were also joined byPresident-Elect Mark Algren and PastPresident Sandy Briggs. The morning work-shop was led by John Segota, TESOL’s advo-cacy and professional relations manager, andcomprised three briefings. The first featuredcongressional staff from both the House andthe Senate discussing the “view from theHill” on NCLB reauthorization and the keyissues under debate. The second briefing fea-tured the education staffer from Sen. BarackObama’s office discussing a bill on middleschool reform that the senator has proposed,Success in the Middle Act. In the final brief-ing, the acting director of the Office ofEnglish Language Acquisition provided anupdate from that office.

“Hearing from the advisors for Sen.Kennedy, Sen. Enzi, and Rep. Hinojosa, aswell as the advisor for Sen. Obama helpedme a great deal,” said Ruth Hoenick, whorepresented Wisconsin TESOL. “I have a muchclearer idea on their role in Washington, DC,mine as a member of TESOL, and how all ofus can work together.”

Following these briefings, an interactiveworkshop was held on how to have aneffective meeting with one’s congressionalrepresentative. This workshop was led byEllen Fern and Krista Heckler of WashingtonPartners, LLC, who serve as TESOL’s legisla-tive consultants. Participants were providedwith key information to prepare for their

meetings and given the opportunity to role-play. The purpose of the briefings and theworkshop was to help the participants prac-tice and prepare for their meeting on CapitolHill that afternoon.

The afternoon was set aside for individualmeetings with members of Congress.Participants were required to set up threeindividual meetings with members ofCongress identified by TESOL, though sometook the initiative to set up more. Althoughmost participants met with key congressionalstaff, some had the opportunity to meet withtheir members of Congress directly. Thosewho did not get a chance to meet directlywith their representatives were not disap-pointed; members of Congress depend ontheir staff, so in speaking to the appropriateaide, participants knew they had the ear ofthe representative.Jackie Moase-Burke of Michigan TESOL meets

with Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI).

“I have a much clearer idea ontheir role in Washington, DC,mine as a member of TESOL, andhow all of us can work together.”

TESOL Advocacy Day 2008

Cornelia Randolph of New York State TESOL meets

with Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) and presents him

with the TESOL Advocacy Leadership Recognition

plaque from the 2008 TESOL convention.

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Over dinner at the end of the day, all ofthe participants shared their experiencesand what they had learned. They all agreedthat, overall, this event was a very positiveexperience for them and for TESOL.

“TESOL Advocacy Day 2008 was anabsolutely fantasticevent!” exclaimed JorySamkoff-Oulhiad, whorepresentedNJTESOL/NJBE. “I par-ticipated in the firstTESOL Advocacy Day in2006, and this eventhas come so far in sucha short time. It waswell organized, and Iwas well prepared withall the information sentout ahead of time.”

All participantswere provided withmaterials about theevent to take back totheir affiliates, includ-ing information sheets

on the issues and grassroots advocacy tips.In addition, the participants agreed to sharethe experience with their affiliates throughtheir affiliate newsletters and Web sites.

More information about TESOL AdvocacyDay, including additional photos and videos

of the event, is available on the TESOL Website. If you are interested in learning moreabout your congressional representativesand the legislative issues that TESOL istracking, go to the TESOL U.S. AdvocacyAction Center at http://capwiz.com/tesol.

Front row (from left to right): Ariadna Clare (Penn-TESOL East), Robyn Dowling-Grant (MATSOL), Naomi Elliott (WAESOL), TESOL

Past President Sandy Briggs, Jackie Moase-Burke (MITESOL), Ruth Hoenick (WITESOL), Jory Samkoff-Oulhiad (NJTESOL/NJBE),

Rachele Lawton (MDTESOL); back row (from left to right): Laura Grace Curtis (GATESOL), Nancy Dunlap (TexTESOL II), Julie Nora

(Rhode Island), Alberto Lozano (CATESOL), TESOL President Shelley Wong, Cornelia Randolph (NYS TESOL), TESOL President-Elect

Mark Algren, Maja Teref (Illinois TESOL/BE)

The Global Professional IssuesCommittee (GPIC), a standing committee onpolicy, was formed in August 2006 with

seven members from around the world(Pakistan, Venezuela, Russia, China, Italy,Croatia, and Canada). The committee,

focused specifically onaddressing worldwide issuesand trends, complementsTESOL’s U.S.-oriented advo-cacy and helps advanceTESOL’s global initiatives.

As a global entity,TESOL’s mission includesincreasing the association’sawareness of issues thataffect the field of Englishlanguage learning andteaching worldwide. TESOLis also interested in increas-ing its effectiveness in deal-ing with these issues to thefurthest extent possible, con-

sidering political and cultural implicationsand restrictions.

The GPIC is currently developing theTESOL Survey on Global Issues in EnglishLanguage Teaching, with a more wide-spread dissemination than its initial pilotsurvey, to go out to professionals world-wide. After analyzing the results, the com-mittee will recommend action in the area ofprofessional development to the TESOLBoard of Directors. The GPIC’s goal is topinpoint specific needs in particular regionsand provide recommendations to the TESOLBoard on how TESOL can address the needsof the field.

In addition to the survey project, theGPIC periodically reviews and revises exist-ing TESOL position statements and resolu-tions, and drafts new statements to reflect amore global perspective for TESOL.

Addressing Global Concerns: The TESOL Global Professional Issues Committee

The members of the Global Professional Issues Committee (from

left to right): Bozana Knezevic (Croatia), Lucilla Lopriore (Italy), Chair

Julio Prin (Venezuela), Zakia Sarwar (Pakistan), Past Chair Virginia

Christopher (Canada), Evian Ho (Macau, China); standing with them

is TESOL Board of Directors member Joyce Kling

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SEPTEMBER 2008 | 45

Spotlight on TESOL Communities:Growing Recognition: The New Nonnative English Speakers in TESOL Interest Section

TESOL’s newest interest section, the Nonnative English Speakersin TESOL (NNEST) Interest Section, begins with an established his-tory. It has its roots in the NNEST Caucus, proposed by GeorgeBraine in 1996 and founded in 1998. The caucus’s overarchinggoal at that time was to create a positive professional identity fornonnative-English-speaking teachers by building a community thatwould provide advocacy for them, emphasize the benefits thatthey bring to English language teaching, foster their leadershipdevelopment, and support caucus members’ efforts to publish.

A decade later, the caucus had more than 1,700 primarymembers. CATESOL and WATESOL had nonnative English speakerentities in their governance, and NNEST Caucus members wereactive in TESOL leadership, including several who served asTESOL Board members—most notably Jun Liu, TESOL’s first non-native-English-speaking president (2006–2007). Even more sig-nificant was the caucus’s contribution to the creation of anentirely new field of research: nonnative-English-speakingteacher studies. The seminal work in this field is usually identifiedas Péter Medgyes’s 1994 text, The Non-Native Teacher. Today,five major anthologies are either in print or in press, and morethan 200 articles related to issues in this field have been pub-lished. The 2008 TESOL convention in New York saw more than25 presentations related to nonnative-English-speaking teachers,and numerous unpublished dissertations and theses have exam-ined related concerns.

Due in large part to this robust research growth, when theTESOL Board announced the dissolution of caucuses this year, thepath was clear: apply for interest section status. The applicationwas approved at the June Board meeting, and the NNEST InterestSection was formed.

As nonnative-English-speaking teachers have achieved therecognition that they sought, in their careers and in the TESOLorganization, there has been a change in both the outreach andthe research focus of the entity. Outreach today is less about dis-crimination (although certainly this is still a concern) and moreabout working across specializations and coming to terms withEnglish as a lingua franca. Current research focuses less on hownonnative-English-speaking teachers are perceived and looks moreto professional issues such as effective classroom practices andappropriate professional development in local EFL settings.

The NNEST Interest Section actively welcomes native- as well asnonnative-English-speaking TESOL members. It intends to continuethe NNEST Caucus traditions of actively supporting members’ pub-lication efforts and preparing them for leadership roles. Lookingahead, its aim is to be at the forefront of research on English andEnglish language teaching in a world where English is used bymany—and in many different ways.

For more information on the NNEST Interest Section, pleasevisit http://www.tesol.org: Communities: Interest Sections:Nonnative English Speakers in TESOL.

Caucus Transition UpdateThe Board-approved transition of caucuses to forums was

completed as of July 31, 2008. Forums are described as inde-pendent, informal groups. They may be organized to conductspecific, defined activities at each TESOL annual convention orform on their own without any activities associated withTESOL. Forums share common social, cultural, or demographicidentities; they are different from interest sections (ISs), whichshare specific professional interests. At the 2009 annual con-vention, eight forums will have a presence through hostingbooths, social meetings, and academic sessions. Forms to applyfor forum status are available at http://www.tesol.org/forums.

Caucuses also had the option of applying to become ISs. InJune 2008, the TESOL Board of Directors voted to approve theNonnative English Speakers in TESOL (NNEST) Caucus’s transi-tion to an IS.

Members of the former NNEST Caucus will need to rejoinNNEST as an IS. To join the new NNEST IS, and to review yourISs, go to the TESOL Web site, log in, and click on the MyCommunities link on the left.

Member Directory EnhancedA new search option has recently been added to the TESOL Member

Directory. Members may now search for other members by area ofexpertise. This option may be used to find someone to use as a speaker,to write an article, to discuss a topic on an e-list, and so on. Membersself-select what they view as their own areas of expertise. TESOL doesnot represent or endorse the accuracy, reliability, or quality of the infor-mation provided by members.

To use the Member Directory, log on at www.tesol.org (username isyour ID number; password is your last name unless you have changedit), then click on Communities, and scroll to Member Directory. The Areaof Expertise category has been added to the Search by Category section.

Board Approves New Position StatementAt its recent meeting, the Board of Directors approved a new positionstatement on the status of the TESOL profession. The full text ofTESOL’s Position Statement on the Status of, and Professional Equityfor, the Field of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages isavailable for download at www.tesol.org/positionstatements.

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TESOL educators often contact the Central Office to find out howthey can find resources for their classes or where they can accesspapers on various topics. The answer to these questions is theTESOL Resource Center (TRC).

The TRC (www.tesol.org/resourcecenter) is a Web page that wascreated in response to the diverse needs of TESOL practitioners andis designed to promote the use of educational technology. After ayear of intensive planning and designing, it went live and is now aplatform where members can access and explore a variety of toolsand resources. The TRC offers the opportunity for users to

• access many classroom materials• access papers and presentations• expand professional knowledge• publish resources online• receive recognition for contributing• participate in annual TRC contests

The TRC main page has four sections: Find a Resource, Submit aResource, Review a Resource, and theTRC Contest. To access resources, mem-bers need to use their TESOL ID and pass-word to log in.

ResourcesThe resources on the TRC are varied in

type and topic. They include resources forboth classroom and professional develop-ment purposes. The TRC is constantlyexpanding and will continuously offer newtypes of resources. For example, some ofTESOL’s convention papers and video clipsof all of the 2008 convention plenaryspeeches have been added to the site.

Once logged in, finding and accessingresources can be done easily by using theFind a Resource section. You can search and browse resources by type, audience,level, skills, content and subject matter,geographical relevance, and interest sec-tions. You can also view a comprehensive list of all postedresources. Because each resource is submitted using a template,every resource posted on the TRC has a similar format for ease ofuse, and each posting lists the basic necessary information aboutthe type of resource.

Submission and ReviewUnder the Submit a Resource section, you can find information

and forms pertaining to submission and copyright (contributorsretain copyright for their resources).

Once resources are received by the TRC, they go through a three-fold blind review process, which ensures that they are both of highquality and useful. Each resource is reviewed by a specialist at TESOLCentral Office, a member of TESOL’s Professional DevelopmentCommittee, and an interest section member who specializes in therelevant topic. The reviewers may approve, provisionally approve, ordecline a resource. With a provisional approval, the reviewers makesuggestions and recommend changes for the improvement of theresource to maximize its usefulness to TESOL members.

To ensure that all resources are reviewed objectively and in asimilar manner, the reviewers use the TRC review criteria designedfor each type of resource. These criteria and the reviewers’ agree-ment forms are placed in the Review a Resource section on the TRCmain page.

TRC submitters and reviewers are TESOL members who havechosen to support their peers and contribute to the field. They havevolunteered their expertise and time to help create this collection ofvaluable resources for their peers.

ContestsThe last section of the TRC site is the

Contest section. TRC contests give contribu-tors a chance to win 2 nights’ free accom-modation during the TESOL convention. Toparticipate in the contest, members mustsubmit at least two approved resources dur-ing the year. Last year, the contest enabledone TESOL member to attend the annualconvention for the first time; she found theTRC contest to be excellent encouragement.Second-prize winners receive credit towardTESOL publications. All contest participantsreceive TESOL’s Certificate of Appreciation.

Visit the TRCIn just a short time, the TRC has proven

to be a valued and popular benefit of TESOLmembership. On average, the TRC receives844 hits per week. TESOL continues to workhard to improve the TRC and expand its

resources, and welcomes members’ suggestions and involvement inthe growth of this benefit.

Visit the TRC at www.tesol.org/resourcecenter. Use the resourcesin your classrooms or for your own professional development.Recommend the TRC to your peers, and join the many memberswho have contributed to this professional activity by submitting andreviewing resources.

Minoo AsdjodiTESOL Education Projects Manager

[email protected]

A Resource Center for TESOL Educators

The resources currentlyposted on the TRCinclude the following:• lesson plans• activities • assessment tools• teaching tips• papers and articles• presentations and

multimedia resources • Web links and software

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Forging a Path Toward TESOL Leadership: TESOL AwardsLooking back at the TESOL awards archives through the years, I came across the names of TESOL award winners who are current and

former members of the TESOL Board of Directors, chairs of committees, TESOL presidents, and current and past leaders in TESOL in vari-ous capacities. Many of the recipients I’ve spoken with have told me that winning a TESOL award was the first step in becominginvolved in the organization and cultivating relationships that helped them grow and develop professionally.

This past year, I was the coordinator of the 2008 TESOL Leadership Mentoring Program Award and was involved in the process offinding future leaders for our association. The Leadership Mentoring Program is one of a few awards that require a nomination processas opposed to an application. A candidate must be nominated by a TESOL member, and the winners are then matched with individualmentors who help and guide them throughout the year. An impressive group of candidates was nominated this year, from which threeterrific winners were chosen. The nominators and the mentors were all familiar names because of their high level of involvement in theassociation, and I was struck by the dedication of those who agreed to serve as mentors. Two were plenary speakers from the 2008convention, and the third is a former TESOL president.

Most TESOL awards, though, are adjudicated through an application process. From the list and descriptions of the awards on theTESOL Web site, you can choose the award that you think you are most suited to win. Some come with a monetary prize and make con-vention attendance possible for members who might otherwise not be able to attend. For example, the TESOL/TEFL Travel Grant is specif-ically for TESOL members outside of the United States and Canada; TESOL provides each winner with US$2,500 for convention-relatedexpenses. Although you must be a TESOL member to apply for these, you may be eligible for a reduced global membership fee depend-ing on your country of origin.

The Awards Committee is happy to announce a new travel grant generously supported by Betty Azar. The Professional DevelopmentTravel Grant for Practicing ESL/EFL Teachers offers grants to teachers and teacher trainers who need financial support to attend theannual convention. This year, we hope to award 10 recipients US$1,500 each to enable them to attend the 2009 TESOL convention inDenver, Colorado, in the United States.

No more excuses! Take the time to nominate someone or to apply yourself for a TESOL award. November 1, 2008, is the dead-line. Refer to the Awards & Grants page in the Career section of the TESOL Web site to view the entire list of awards and grants:http://www.tesol.org/awards.

Rosemary OrlandoChair, TESOL Awards Standing Committee

47SEPTEMBER 2008 |

Conduct TESOL Business OnlineYou can join or renew your membership, subscribe toTESOL serial publications, and purchase TESOL publi-cations online. TESOL members get an average discountof 25% on publications.Main ............................................................info@tesol.orgAdvocacy.............................................advocacy@tesol.orgConvention Services ......................conventions@tesol.orgExhibits..................................................exhibits@tesol.orgEducation [email protected] Services [email protected]

Affiliates...........................................affiliates@tesol.orgAwards ................................................awards@tesol.orgCareer Services....................................careers@tesol.orgInterest Sections [email protected]

President (Board of Directors) [email protected] [email protected]

Advertising ......................................advertise@tesol.orgOrdering......................................tesolpubs@tasco1.comEssential Teacher.........................................et@tesol.orgTESOL Quarterly [email protected]

2008 TESOL AcademyThe 2008 TESOL Academy was held at Roosevelt University, inChicago, Illinois, in the United States, June 20–21. The academy fea-tured seven 10-hour workshops with a particular emphasis on theprofessional development needs of K–12 ESL educators. The acade-my attracted 114 ESOL professionals from around the United States.

Karyn Niles led the workshop “Teaching Reading Across ContentAreas” to a group of teachers at the TESOL Academy, RooseveltUniversity, Chicago, IL, USA, June 20–21, 2008.

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The 2009 Board of Directorsand Nominating Committeeslate shown below has been posted.

Visit http://www.tesol.org.Voting will begin in October2008 and end in earlyJanuary 2009.

President-Elect, 2009–2010(to become President,2010–2011)

Brock BradyAmerican UniversityWashington, District ofColumbia, USA

Christine CoombeDubai Men’s CollegeDubai, United ArabEmirates

Board of Directors,2009–2012Elke Apelbaum Savoy

New York City Departmentof EducationNew York, New York, USA

Maria Estela BriskBoston CollegeChestnut Hill,Massachusetts, USA

Maria MakrakisOttawa Catholic SchoolBoardOttawa, Ontario, Canada

Anne V. MartinLyndon LanguageConsultingFayetteville, New York,USA

Dudley ReynoldsCarnegie Mellon UniversityEducation City, Doha, Qatar

Lynn Stafford-YilmazAvant AssessmentEugene, Oregon, USA

Nominating Committee(2009–2010) Representingeight major groups

Adult EducationPrograms:Gretchen Bitterlin

San Diego CommunityCollege DistrictSan Diego, California, USA

Miriam BurtCenter for AppliedLinguisticsWashington, District ofColumbia, USA

Affiliates:Suchada Nimmannit

Chulalongkorn UniversityLanguage InstituteBangkok, Thailand

Bruce RogersIndependent MaterialsWriterBoulder, Colorado, USA

Caucuses:Shondel Nero

New York UniversityNew York, New York, USA

Karen L. NewmanOhio State UniversityColumbus, Ohio, USA

Elementary and SecondaryEducation Programs:Margo Gottlieb

The Center, IllinoisResource CenterArlington Heights,Illinois, USA

Cheryl J. SerranoLynn UniversityBoca Raton, Florida, USA

Higher Education Programs:Dwight Atkinson

Purdue UniversityWest Lafayette, Indiana,USA

Karen StanleyCentral PiedmontCommunity CollegeCharlotte, North Carolina,USA

Intensive English Programs(IEPs) and Bicultural Centers:Fernando Fleurquin

University of MarylandBaltimore County,Baltimore, Maryland, USA

George ScholzU.S. Department of StateCairo, Egypt

Interest Sections:Ulrich Bliesener

University of HildesheimHanover, Germany

Pindie StephenInternational Organizationfor MigrationMakati, Philippines

Researchers:Neil Anderson

Brigham Young UniversityProvo, Utah, USA

Tom ScovelSan Francisco StateUniversitySan Francisco, California,USA

The 2009 Board of Directors and Nominating Committee Slate

Revitalizing a Curriculum for School-Age Learners(Editors, David Hayes and Judy Sharkey)

At its core, a curriculum is what happens among learners and teachers in the classroom. TESOL’sLanguage Curriculum Development Series describes how teachers, curriculum developers, and adminis-trators have developed, adapted, or renewed a language curriculum. In doing so, they have respondedcreatively and realistically to learners’ needs.

The contributors to this volume used creative approaches to breathe life into outdated or underde-veloped curricula for school-age English language learners. Through collaborative work with students,other teachers, administrators, and researchers, the contributors enhanced English learning throughlanguage arts, math, technology, and other subject areas.

JUST OFF PRESS

To order, visit the Bookstore at http://www.tesol.org/

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SEPTEMBER 2008 | 49

BRONZE

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CambridgeUniversity Press

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New York Times KnowledgeNetwork

THANKS TO OUR 2008 SPONSORS

On July 9, 2008, 95 participants gathered at the AliceSpring Convention Centre, in Alice Springs, Northern Territory,Australia, for the TESOL Symposium on Keeping LanguageDiversity Alive. The featured speakers wereJoseph Lo Bianco, University of Melbourne,Melbourne, Australia; Stephen May, Universityof Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand; and

Veronica Dobson, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia.The closing session was led by Michael Christie, Charles DarwinUniversity, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.

(from left to right) Michael Christie; Veronica Dobson; Misty Adoniou, President,Australian Council of TESOL Associations; Shelley Wong, President, TESOL; Stephen May;Joseph Lo Bianco

Veronica Dobson during the morn-ing introductory presentation

2008 Symposia The TESOL Symposium on Keeping Language Diversity Alive

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Teachers of English to Speakersof Others Languages, Inc.700 South Washington Street, Suite 200Alexandria, Virginia 22314 USA

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qualitytime-esl: the digital resource book

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