Hicham`s blog

2009-10-31T08:15:00.000-07:00

Partnership for Teaching
English as a Foreign Language Teacher Training Program
Follow-on conference – May 6-8, 2009 – Rabat - Morocco
Exploiting Songs to Promote Learning.
By: Hicham Sadiki
E-mail: sadhicham@yahoo.com
Blog: sadhicham.blogspot.com

Introduction
Poetry and music are elements of each human society. They show many aspects of its culture, they contain authentic language, and they are easily obtainable. In addition, they can provide valuable speaking, listening and language practice in and out of the classroom. Music and poetry have immanent powers, for example they give people energy and help them change their mood. They occur in all phases of one’s life from birth to death. So they play an important role in the process of learning and using language. In this presentation, I am going to talk about the importance of using songs in teaching English as a foreign language, types of songs that can be used in the EFL classrooms and, beside these theoretical points, I am going to give practical teaching tips for how to use songs in EFL classrooms.

1- Why do teachers and researchers find using songs in EFL classrooms valuable?
There are many reasons for using songs and rhymes in teaching English as a foreign language. Naturally, students really enjoy learning and singing songs and have fun doing rhythmic activities while reciting rhymes. But there are deeper affective, cognitive and linguistic reasons.
1.1- Songs can help in weakening the student’s affective filter. Teachers have long recognized the need for students to have a positive attitude in regard to learning. Krashen (1982) explains that for optimal learning to occur the affective filter must be weak. A weak affective filter means that a positive attitude towards learning is present. If the affective filter is strong the learner will not seek language input, and in turn, not be open for language acquisition. The practical application of the Affective Filter Hypothesis is that teachers must provide a positive atmosphere conducive to language learning. Songs are one method for achieving a weak affective filter and promoting language learning. Saricoban and Metin (2000) have found that with the affective filter weak, songs can develop the four skill areas of reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
1.2- The holistic approach: Songs and rhymes stimulate the hemispherical interaction. Busy with songs and rhymes the left hemisphere (vocabulary, structure of the language) and the right hemisphere (rhythm, feelings, mimic, gesture, senso-motoric etc) work together and make learning more effective. So, it is small wonder how quick students are at learning songs and rhymes.
1.3- Songs also present opportunities for developing automaticity which is the main cognitive reason for using songs in the classroom. Gatbonton and Segalowitz (1988, p.473) define automaticity as "a component of language fluency which involves both knowing what to say and producing language rapidly without pauses." Using songs can help automatize the language development process. Traditionally, it was believed that automatization would occur through repetitive exercises in a non-communicative environment. However, the major shift towards the communicative teaching methodology requires that automatization occur in a different manner. Gatbonton and Segalowitz (1988, p.476) state that we must "place students in an environment in which it is appropriate to use target utterances in a genuinely communicative fashion." The nature of songs is fairly repetitive and consistent. For example, a song such as "Sailing" by Rod Stewart provides ample opportunities for students to focus on the present progressive tense.
1.4- Songs and poems are important elements of each culture. Learning this authentic material, students get to know parts of a foreign culture. It satisfies their natural curiosity about everything new. Being familiar with songs and rhymes in a foreign language, students feel closer to the foreign culture and its language. If students hear the same melodies or similar rhymes they are astonished at the parallels between their own culture and the foreign one.
1.5- Besides automatization, there is also a linguistic reason for using songs in the classroom. Some songs are excellent examples of colloquial English, that is, the language of informal conversation. A song such as "My Best Was Never Good Enough" by Bruce Springsteen is a prime example of a song that demonstrates colloquial language use. This song is full of phrases like "Every cloud has a silver lining." and "Every dog has his day. " Of course, the majority of language most ESL students will encounter is in fact informal. Using songs can prepare students for the genuine language they will be faced with.
1.6- Poems, rhymes, chants and songs could be used to give a feeling for the rhythm of the spoken language. Many well-known rhymes make use of the iambic pentameter, the natural rhymes of the English language. Practicing intonation through reciting rhymes and poems is mostly funny and very effective. To vary the sometimes boring pronunciation teaching it is a proven remedy using rhymes and rhythmic chants, e.g. with minimal pairs.

2- Types of songs
2.1. Finger play songs: The content of these songs can be illustrated by the children′s finger movement. They support the acquisition of gesture meaning and the use of nonverbal expressions. They also develop the children′s senso-motoric abilities. Example: Hickory dickory dock
2.2. Counting songs: These songs support the learning of numbers and are often connected with using fingers. Most of them train the numbers from one to ten. Example: Ten little Indians
2.3.Spelling songs: They are useful to train the sounds of the English alphabet. The separate letters mostly sound different from their pronunciation in words. Therefore the pupils need help for learning the individual letter sound. Example: Farmer Brown has got a dog
2.4. Action songs: The biggest group of songs aims at associating words with movements of their body. They also "internalize the sounds and rhythms of English, ... develop a sense of rhythm [and] ... give the children a chance to let off steam. Example: If you′re happy
2.5. Songs for special occasions: These songs are suitable for deepening the special vocabulary and for celebrating these occasions in the school. They emphasize the cultural aspect of songs. Example: Black and gold (for Halloween)
2.6. Spirituals: Spirituals are religious songs. They are connected with the Christian culture and often very traditional. Singing simple spirituals the children enjoy the sound and the special rhythm of gospels. Example: Kumbaya, my Lord
2.7. Drop-a-word songs: These songs train the children′s concentration. They are often combined with actions instead of the dropped words. Drop-a-word songs encourage internalization of language (Murphy 1992: 130). Example: My hat it has three corners
2.8. Role-play songs This type of song «contextualizes vocabulary and make the transfer from singing to meaningful referents." (Murphey 1992: 129) They use the children′s love for stories and role playing. Example: There was a princess long ago
2.9. Topic songs: Many songs support the acquisition of vocabulary according to a special topic like "The days of the week", "The weather" or "The family". If they do not fit in with other categories they are called "topic songs". Example: Look outside (for the topic "The weather")

3- Ways to exploit Songs in the EFL Classroom.
Cloze or Fill-In-The-Blank Worksheets: One of the simplest ways to introduce a song is to remove all appearances of the grammar point from the lyrics. For example, if the grammar point is adjectives, and the lyrics are, "I'm so tired," the fill-in-the-blank worksheet will show, "I'm so ______." Give your students the worksheets and have them try to fill in the blanks while listening to the song.
Scrambled Lyrics: Another popular activity is to cut up all the lyrics. Most people separate them by line, but you could even do it by phrase, that's your choice. Divide the class into teams and give each team a set of lyrics. Play the song and have them try to put all the lines in the correct order.
Act Out The Verb: If the song you are playing uses a lot of verbs, play the song for them once without any lyrics. Every time the students recognize a verb, they have to act it out. This can be a lot of fun and gets the class relaxed.
Listening for Points: To introduce a song to the class, divide them into two teams. Explain that the song contains a certain grammar point that you have been studying. If someone hears that grammar point, they must raise their hand. If they identify it correctly, their team gets a point. It's a good idea to pause the song at this point so that you don't miss anything.
Theme-based Songs: If the song you are using is not related to a specific grammar point, but instead to a theme, that's okay! Play the song first and have students write down anything they hear that is relevant to the theme: nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.
Combinations of Topics: Of course, the above activities can be combined or altered to make different activities. For example, Act Out The Verb and Listening for Points could be combined to make a fun and competitive activity. I find that students often get more involved when it is a competition, even if there isn't a prize!
Sing the Song!: After any activity, remember to take a few minutes and sing the song as a class! The students’ enthusiasm will be influenced by yours, so be excited about it. Singing the song after these games will give your students a sense of accomplishment. They have just learned some authentic material and are proud of it!

Conclusion:
Songs and rhymes have an important function in teaching English as a foreign language. By virtue of their typical characteristics, they support the language acquisition for young learners. Songs and rhymes combine important didactic claims like the holistic, the monolingual and the contextual approach with fun, activity and motivation. Almost incidentally, the learners become familiar with parts of the foreign culture and see them as enrichment for their own life. The English teacher can choose from among a lot of types of songs and rhymes with special characteristics and different actions. Each teacher should collect useful songs and rhymes on which he can fall back. As EFL teachers, we know from our experience that young learners love English songs and rhymes. Therefore, we all should see this big advantage and use songs and rhymes as a permanent part of our lessons.

References:
http://www.songfor/ teaching.com
http://www.eslsongsource.com
http://http://www.real-english.com/
Murphey, T. (1992): Music and Song. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Phillips, S. (1993): Young Learners. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
David, N. and Norman, W. (2001): Dream Team. Oxford University Press

Thank you

About motivation

2008-12-06T15:42:00.000-08:00

What’s motivation?
The word MOTIVATION is derived from the Latin term « motivus » which means «a moving cause”.

Motivation is the key to learning. It’s a value and a DESIRE for learning.

Motivation is the characteristic that is required in order to achieve anything in life; without it one will give up at the first sign of adversity. It means to inspire, instigate and encourage a person to do their best. Motivation will compel a person to think and will cause them to do whatever it takes to become successful.

Motivation is the inner power or energy that pushes one toward performing a certain action.

What are the types of motivation?
Psychologists say that there are two types of motivation:
1- External, outer or imposed motivation: if the student is externally motivated, his parents and / or teachers are forcing him to learn.
2- Internal or inner motivation: this is the case where the student simply has a desire to learn the language. Maybe he likes the culture of an English-speaking country, or he likes the language / languages in general.
Internal motivation is much more useful in terms of moving students towards fluency in the language they are learning.

What’s the role of motivation?
Motivation is vital in language learning. It makes language learners positive about their own learning. It also creates the drive in them to acquire the targeted language and enjoy the learning process.

What can we do to enhance our students’ motivation?
To improve our students’ motivation and awaken the power that will push them toward achieving their goals, which is learning English, we should:
1- Help students set a goal. It’s important to help each student set goals and to provide informative feedback regarding process toward these goals. Setting a goal demonstrates an intention to achieve and activates learning from one day to the next. It also directs the students’ activities toward the goal and offers an opportunity to experience success.
2- Create warm and accepting atmosphere, which will promote persistent effort and favorable attitudes toward learning. Interesting visual aids, such as booklets, posters, or practice equipment, motivate learners by capturing their attention and curiosity.
3- Repeatedly reinforce our students’ internal motivation by incentives, praise and / or concrete rewards. The use of incentives is based on the principle that learning occurs more effectively when the student experiences feeling of satisfaction.
4- Develop a mutual relationship with our students. To do so, we need to understand students who are from different backgrounds, have different interests, future goals, and most importantly, different personalities. Once we understand our learners better, we are able to apply specific teaching and communicating strategies “tailored” to each student, thereby creating a trusting relationship between us and our students. If this objective is reached, the classroom will undoubtedly become comfortable and enjoyable enough for our students to learn positively from us without any hesitation.

Makiko Ebata (Digital Hollywood University - Tokyo , Japan ) did a survey on motivation using the students in his class. Sixteen college freshmen were interviewed regarding the class contents, materials and the ideal teacher. The students answered the question, “What kind of teachers do you prefer?” like below.
A teacher who knows how to deal with students, especially teenagers.
A teacher who does not force ideas on the students.
A tolerant and responsible teacher with a sense of humor.
A funny teacher who can be serious when necessary.
A caring teacher.
A friendly teacher.
An active teacher.
A teacher who can understand what students' expectations are.
A trustworthy teacher.
We need to know what students pursue in teachers in order for them to be motivated in language learning. It’s understood that a teacher’s personality and behavior toward students have a strong influence. In order to produce successful language speakers, teachers should devote themselves to teaching.

The Use of the Mother Tongue to Teach a Second / Foreign Language.

2008-11-04T15:08:00.000-08:00

The Use of the Mother Tongue to Teach a Second / Foreign Language

The issue this article is going to tackle is whether or not the use of students’ L1 in the classroom by the teacher, the students, or both, hinders the learning of a second / foreign language (in our case English) or, on the opposite, can facilitate it. This debate, as our Egyptian colleague Shaima Nasr said, is not a new one. Still, there has been little research which has measured the exact effects of L1 use in the English classroom due to the difficult nature of measuring, and gathering evidence to answer such a complicated question.
When we surf the Internet, we find that proponents of the English-only policy are referred to as the Monolingual Approach. Those advocating the use of L1 in the classroom are known as the Bilingual Approach.
So, what are the reasons that supporters of the Monolingual Approach advance to justify the English-only policy? And what arguments do supporters of the Bilingual Approach offer to rationalize the use of L1 to teach L2?

Support for the Monolingual Approach:
There is a strong support for the Monolingual Approach to teaching in the literature and advocates usually organize their support around three claims:
1- The learning of an L2 should model the learning of an L1 through maximum exposure to the L2.
2- Successful learning involves the separation and distinction of L1 and L2.
3- Students should be shown the importance of L2 through its continual use.

The Monolingual Approach considers that L2 acquisition is similar to L1 acquisition, which is mainly based on the notion of exposure as being the determining factor for learning. Children learn their first language through listening and copying what people around them say, and, undoubtedly, exposure to the language is vital in the development of their linguistic skills. The Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) generally favored a monolingual approach with learners for similar reasons, justified on the pretence of maximizing communication in L2.

In regards to the second point, supporters of the Monolingual Approach have stated that translating between L1 and L2 can be dangerous as it encourages the belief that there are 1 to 1 equivalents between the languages, which is not always true. They believe the two languages should be distinct and separate.

According to the Monolingual Approach, it is considered likely that the use of L2 only in the classroom does help demonstrate the L2’s importance and can portray the usage of the language being studied.

Support for the Bilingual Approach:
However, supporters of the Bilingual Approach believe that the use of L1 could be a positive resource for teachers. For them, there is strong evidence that the use of L1 to teach a second / foreign language is popular and students tend to PREFER teachers who speak or, at least, understand their students’ mother language.

Many attempts to discredit the Monolingual Approach have focused on three points:
1- It’s impractical.
2- Native teachers are not necessarily the best teachers.
3- Exposure alone is not sufficient for learning.

Supporters of this approach say that the Monolingual Approach is impractical because of many reasons. The most important one is that to enforce the sole use of English can often lead to a reduced performance on the part of the teachers and the alienation of students from the learning process. They also think that the Monolingual teaching can create tension and a barrier between students and teachers, and there are, for them, many occasions when it’s inappropriate and even impossible to use the language being taught.

The Monolingual Approach also supports the idea of the native teacher as being the ideal teacher. Supporters of the Bilingual Approach see that this is not the case as being a native speaker does not necessarily mean being a better or a more qualified teacher. Actually, non-native teachers are possibly better teachers as they themselves have gone through the process of learning the L2 they are teaching now, thereby acquiring for themselves a perspective on learning the language.

Another problem with the Monolingual Approach is its belief that exposure to language leads to learning. Excluding students for the sake of maximizing their exposure to the L2 is not necessarily productive. Obviously, the quantity of exposure is important, but other factors such as the quality of the text material, the well trained teacher and sound methods of teaching are more important than the amount of exposure to L2.

Some researchers have attempted to demonstrate the positive effects of using L1 and have categorized when it should be used. These categories can be summarized as follow:

1- Students should be allowed to express themselves, and while they are still learning a language it is natural that they will periodically slip back to their mother tongue.
2- Students will naturally equate what they are learning with their L1. So, trying to eliminate this process will only have negative consequences and impede learning.
3- The use of L1 to explain grammar is acceptable, especially with beginners.
4- It’s also suggested to use L1 in situations such as eliciting language, checking comprehension, giving instructions and helping learners cooperate with each other.

Harold, 1992, concluded that there are three reasons for using L1 in the classroom.
Ø Facilitating communication.
Ø Facilitating teacher-student relationships.
Ø Facilitating the learning of L2.

In conclusion, researchers have found that evidence for the practice of English-only policy is neither conclusive nor pedagogically sound. In fact, it is often harmful to the learning process. The findings presented above indicate that the use of L1 to teach a second / foreign language can be effective and is even necessary in some situations. However, while arguing for the option of using L1 in the classroom, most researchers have at the same time cautioned against the overuse of it. They believe that this can create an over reliance on the mother language, oversimplify differences between the two languages and create laziness among students.
Therefore, dear Moroccan, Jordanian and Egyptian colleagues, we are allowed to use Arabic to teach English to our students, but we have to show great caution and attention in doing that. A good teacher is the one who knows when, how and how much Arabic he should use to reach his objective, which is making his students able to communicate in English.

References:

§ Cook, V (2001). Using the First Language in the Classroom, in the Canadian Modern Language Review / La Revue Canadienne des Langue Vivantes.
§ Lewis, M (1993). The Lexical Approach. Language Teaching Publication: London.
§ Mitchell, R (1988). Communicative Language Teaching: in Practice CILT: London.
§ Harold, J (1993). The Use of the Mother Tongue in the classroom. ELT Journals.
§ Schweers, Jr, C.W. (1999). Using L1 in the classroom. Forum 37.

telling some EFL teachers about P4T

2008-10-08T13:06:00.001-07:00

with the Inspector, Mr Mohamed Snousi, during the workshop I conducted about "the use of songs in EFL classrooms"

2008-10-07T17:12:00.000-07:00

telling some EFL teachers about P4T

2008-10-07T17:01:00.000-07:00

telling some EFL teachers about P4T

2008-10-07T16:42:00.000-07:00

Some of my students rehearsing a play - Flowers' High School

2008-09-04T18:16:00.000-07:00

Some of my students rehearsing a play - Flowers' High School

2008-09-04T18:07:00.000-07:00

Some of my students rehearsing a play - Flowers' High School

2008-09-04T18:00:00.000-07:00

Student-Centered Learning

2008-09-04T17:42:00.000-07:00

When you google the term Student-Centered Learning, you will find that it is widely used in the teaching and learning literature. Still, many terms may refer to the same meaning, such as Self-Directed Learning, Flexible Learning and Experiential learning. So, what is Student-Centered Learning?

We understand from the literature concerning Student-Centered Teaching (SCT) that in this approach teachers focus their planning, teaching and assessment around the needs and abilities of students. The main idea behind this approach is that learning is most meaningful when topics are relevant to the students’ lives, needs and interests. Unlike Teacher-Centered Teaching (TST), in SCT the teacher is not the only source of information. The teacher works as a monitor and a facilitator. Teachers cannot simply lecture and let students take a passive role. On the opposite, they have to design activities that let their students take initiative and discover meaningful information for their own lives. In SCT, the teacher helps students to discover their own learning styles, to understand their motivation and to acquire effective study skills which will be useful throughout their lives. For this approach to be practiced, teachers help their students set achievable goals, encourage them to assess themselves as well as their peers, help them to work in groups and, more importantly, to ascertain that students know how to manipulate and make good use of all the accessible resources for learning.

The main principles of SCT are:
Ø The learner is fully responsible for his/her learning.
Ø The teacher becomes a facilitator
Ø Errors are seen as a constructive part of the teaching/learning process.

P4T Teachers Training Program... What a wonderful experience!

2008-08-18T16:29:00.000-07:00

P4T2008 Teachers Training Program.
What a wonderful experience!
By: Hicham Sadiki
Email: sadhicham@yahoo.com
Blog: sadhicham.blogspot.com

The Partnership for Teaching (P4T) program is a teachers training program which was incepted in 2004 at the University of Delaware, funded by the US Department of State – Bureau of Cultural and Educational Affairs, and administered by the University of Delaware – English Language Institute (ELI). The aim of this program is to support the efforts of the ministries of Education in Morocco, Egypt, Syria and Jordan to enhance and strengthen the English Language capacity in these countries and to support the development and implementation of an English as a Foreign Language curriculum that emphasizes new teaching methods and delivery mechanism at the Junior High School level. Since 2004, The Moroccan Ministry of National Education announces every year the selection for P4T program. In 2008, nearly all Moroccan teachers of EFL (about 2000 teachers) sent their applications. A pre-selection was launched and twenty six (26) teachers were called for an interview on April 23 in Rabat. The final selection was made by a jury which consisted of Mr. Dawoud Casewit (MACECE Executive Secretary), Mr. Mohamed Chrayah (MACECE Deputy Executive Secretary), Mr. Mitchell Cohn (Cultural affairs officer, the American Embassy) and Mr. Ali Slitine Alaoui (Training Projects Supervisor, Ministry of National Education). Finally, only eight teachers were retained to participate in the pre-departure orientation session. This session took place at MACECE and was animated by three teachers who took part in P4T2007. During this meeting, we discussed the program’s overall objectives in detail, we shared many ideas about the training program and we were given some useful tips and information which helped us prepare for our trip and during our stay in America.

On the academic level, we were exposed to the latest innovations concerning methodologies of teaching EFL. Adept teachers introduced us to interesting teaching techniques which we can use in our classrooms to develop our students’ communicative competence and which are especially useful in improving their four skills. To my mind, all the workshops I attended were interesting, but the workshop conducted by Dr. Scott Stevens and in which he introduced the use of PUPPETS to teach English as a Second / Foreign Language was the most benevolent and beneficial. I always have students who are afraid to speak or act in front of the class, but thanks to this technique they will enthusiastically emote in the characters of the puppets and will certainly forget to be self conscious. I am impatiently waiting to meet my students and use this technique with them. They will definitely enjoy using the puppets with their classmates.

The class observations and the two days we spent in Dover with a number of American teachers of English as a Second Language allowed me to liken teaching in America to teaching in Morocco. All Moroccan teachers would agree with me when I say that the methodologies and approaches our American colleagues adopt in their classrooms are the same as those practiced by most Moroccan teachers. This is not an overstatement, believe me.

The program also allowed me to learn how to overcome fear of Public Speaking. All the story telling and the warm-ups we practiced were a great opportunity to acquire how to get my attention off myself, how to build self-confidence and how to train myself before facing an audience.

Designing and conducting a workshop is another worthful thing that I learned. It’s true that I conducted many workshops before, but the program was an opportunity to find out about the four phases of the process of designing and conducting an effective and successful workshop: planning, preparation, implementation and follow up.

On the cultural side, this training program enabled me to attain a better understanding of the American Culture. It gave me the chance to get involved in many activities and be exposed to different events and people over the six weeks which has really led to an increase in my knowledge and skill.

Living with a host family in America for two weeks truly authenticated my experience. I, like all the other participants, was received warmly by my host family. Through this homestay, I was given the opportunity to know more about the American way of life. I was able to realize what living in America might be like. The experience has really destroyed all the stereotypes about the American daily life that I previously held. In addition, it gave me the opportunity to experience first-hand the real similarities and differences between American and Moroccan lifestyles. Moreover, the homestay helped me to improve my English and to learn the American accent.

The trips to Philadelphia, New York, Washington and Rehoboth Beach were very pleasant and enjoyable. They were tremendous opportunities for fun and discovery. Our visits to these cities gave us a better understanding of the people living there. We discovered the similarities they have with us as well as their differences from us. The journeys explained to me why America is referred to as a “pot of stew”.

The excursion to the Amish community allowed me to know about some Americans who are different from most Americans. The Amish or the “Plain People” have long preferred crafting and farming as a way of life. They feel their life style and their families can best be maintained in a rural environment. In the most developed country in terms of technology, the Amish do permit the use of tractors in their fields. Instead, they still use horses and mules. It’s really implausible.

The People to People dinner was very exciting. The Moroccan and Jordanian teachers had the pleasure to have dinner with members of PTPDE. Some Koreans also were there. It was a very enriching meeting as it gave me the chance to know, chat and exchange ideas and experiences directly with people from different countries and diverse cultures. In addition, we were given valuable books that can enhance our students’ learning and improve their English.

Going to the Church with my host family was another extraordinarily good experience. I never imagined myself in the building where Christians gather for religious purposes. It allowed me to know how they worship. I was amazingly surprised when I found a group of musicians playing music and singing. In fact, I had a particular image of what a church is, but it turned out that it is not what I imagined. People there are very nice. They welcomed us warmly and delightfully. It was another event which proved to me that the Americans are very courteous and gracious.

On the human level, it’s no wonder that the P4T Teachers Training Program was beneficial. It was an opportunity to break out of my shell, to discover a lot about myself and to enjoy life like never before. In addition, it allowed me to make new friends from different parts of the globe, from Jordan, Egypt, America, Haiti, Mexico, etc… and also from my country, Morocco. Moreover, it helped me recharge my batteries and enabled me to handle better the stress I experienced at work. After these six weeks in America, I really feel energized and vigorously active.

The P4T Teachers Training Program is not over. It’s true we have left the University of Delaware and we are now in our countries, but we should always remember that there is something called P4T yahoo group which we have to manipulate and exploit to the greatest possible extent. It will undoubtedly help us to exchange our ideas, deepen our knowledge and consequently better our classroom performances. Furthermore, we all know that the main focus of the P4T Teachers Training Program is on its multiplier effect. Therefore, we are considered pioneers and we are expected to transfer our knowledge, our experiences and all what we have learned to our colleagues in Morocco, Jordan and Egypt.

In the end, I would like to thank all my dear colleagues from Morocco, Jordan and Egypt for the love, kindness and charity they showed to each other. My heartfelt thanks to the teachers and the program coordinators who treated us with consideration and respect, provided us with all types of help and support and answered all our questions. I also want to give my sincerest thanks to the program manager Ms. BAERBEL SCHUMACHER for her loyalty and all the time and energy she devoted to this program to make it a success.
I am very grateful to all of you for the wonderful time you gave to me.

The People to People dinner.

2008-07-29T19:14:00.000-07:00

People to People International was originally founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 to foster contact, communication, and the exchange of ideas between citizens of the United States and other lands; to improve individual understanding, to bridge international barriers; and to establish a force for friendship to assist mankind in his quest for peace.

The purpose of Delaware Chapter of People to People International is to enhance international understanding and friendship through educational, cultural and humanitarian activities involving the exchange of ideas and experiences directly among people of different countries and diverse cultures.

Today, the Moroccan and Jordanian teachers had the pleasure to have dinner with members of PTPDE. Some Koreans also were there. It was a very enriching meeting as it gave me the chance to know, chat and exchange information with friends of the world, members of the People to People association, and taught me that whatever our country or nationality is, we can share the same interests and worries about the world.

16- In a nutshell / Digital storytelling

2008-07-27T19:04:00.000-07:00

What is Digital Storytelling?
Digital Storytelling refers to using new digital tools to help students to tell their own real-life stories in a compelling and emotionally engaging form. It's a fantastic way to engage students and motivate them to use English. It's an extremely important oppurtunity for students to combine the longstanding art of telling stories with any variety of available multimedia tools, including graphics, audio, video animation and web publishing.
For Daniel Meadows, an academic photographer and storyteller, digital stories are "stories, personal multimedia tales told from the heart. (...) They can be created by people everywhere, on any subject, and shared electronically all over the world.

What are the benefits of Digital Storytelling?
Digital Storyytelling has a lot of benefits:
1- It helps students learn to use the Internet to research rich, deep content while analyzing a wide range of content.
2- It increases the students' computer skills.
3- It helps students learn to use the Internet to research rich, deep content while analyzing a wide range of content.
What are the elements of a Digital Story?
If we check The literature related to Digital Storytelling, we will find that the elements of Digital Storytelling can be summarized as follows:
1- Overall purpose of the story.
2- Narrator's point of view.
3- A dramatis question(s).
4- Choice of content.
5- Clarity of voice.
6- Pacing of voice.
7- Meaningful soundtrack.
8- Quality of the images.
9- Economy of the story's detail.
10- Good grammar and language usage.

15- In a nutshell / Using PUPPETS in EFL classrooms

2008-07-20T13:45:00.001-07:00

Most teachers do their efforts to keep children quiet in the classroom. Nevertheless, we must remember that children do learn by talking, both to the teacher and to each other. When our students talk about their ideas, they clarify their thinking and develop their reasoning skills. Such skills are required for the analysis of data, interpretation of results and conceptual development. Unfortunately, this type of talk is frequently absent in lessons and time is limited for discussions. Various reasons may account for the lack of time devoted to our students talking, including our limited knowledge of appropriate teaching methods. So, how can we bring reticent and shy students out of their shells? Actually, there are many ways to do that but Dr. Scott Stevens suggests using PUPPETS in EFL classrooms to reach yhis objective.
For Dr. Scott Stevens, the PUPPETS Project has been set up to help teachers develop teaching methods that generate learning conversations amongst students. He says that he uses puppets a great deal in his drama classes as they help his students become more expressive.
Students who are afraid to speak or act in front of the class will often enthusiastically emote in the character of a puppet. When a student operates a puppet, the focus is on the puppet, rather than on the puppeteer, and the student forgets to be self conscious. If you watch a student operating a puppet, you see that every emotion and every movement of the puppet is mirrored in the puppeteer. The student really is "acting." The puppet simply provides a safety net--an extra level of reality between the performer and the audience. Even the shyest students will perform loudly and boldly when using puppets. We can get puppets from a variety of sources, toy stores, book stores. However, often the best puppet experiences come when students make their own puppets. That way the puppet characters are personal to their operators, and the sense of ownership that comes from making the puppets invests their manipulation with added importance. Plus, by introducing "arts and crafts" into the drama classroom the teacher begin to explore the connected nature of all the arts, and he gives his students another way to excel. Sometimes the most creative puppet comes from a surprising source--that student we have been worried about all semester, who seems so unsure. Puppets in the classroom are a great way to boost self esteem and to bring the class to a better sense of unity and cooperation.

14- In a nutshell / Workshop: BaFa BaFa

2008-07-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

Workshop: BaFa BaFa

Materials used to teach cross-cultural awareness typically fall into one of several categories: texts on theory, case studies, role plays and simulations. In the category of simulation by far the best-known is BaFa BaFa designed by R. Garry Shirts. BaFA BaFa was originally designed for the American Navy to increase the cultural awareness of the sailers in hope of reducing the number of often diplomatic incidents between US sailers and the local population.
Two fundamentally differing cultures, Alpha and Beta, are established and then members of each are exchanged on a 'tourist-like' basis for very brief periods of time. It is not allowed to explain the rules of either culture to visitors. the only means of understanding is observation and trial and error participation. the resulting stereotypes, misperception and misunderstanding becomes the grist for debriefing.
The basic approach of BaFa BaFa is to create a problem for everyone in the simulation. we were required to 'live' in another culture. Then, we were asked how we felt in that culture. The answers were: we felt lost, confused, etc.
The next step was to identify the rules of the two different cultures. Then, the we talked about how we solved the problems that we faced during the activity and how we can apply what had had learned from the activity to our real life acculturation.

What makes BaFa BaFa so powerful?

Among the different objectives of this workshop I can mention the following:

Build awareness of how cultural differences can impact people in an organization.
Motivate us to think about our behaviour and attitude toward others.
Identify diversity issue within the organization that must be addressed.

13- In a nutshell / Teaching Grammar through Video.

2008-07-18T13:46:00.000-07:00

During the last decades, the use of technical innovations, such as television, computers, and audio-tapes, have become widespread in professional fields, and of course, education has not been an exception. One of these innovations is video, which facilitates many aspects of foreign/second language teaching. Video has been proved to be an effective method in teaching English as a foreign/second language (EFL/ESL) for both young and adult learners. Video can be used in a variety of instructional settings—in classrooms, in distance learning sites where information is broadcast from a central point of learners who interact with the facilitator via video or computer, and in self-study and evaluation situations. It also can be used in teacher’s self and professional development or with students as a way of presenting content, initiating conversations, and providing illustrations for various concepts.
According to Mr. Grant S. Wolf, videos should be used in EFL/ESL classrooms for many reasons:
Learners can easily remember grammar rules and patterns when 'anchored' in a rich, engaging and memorable context.
Video provide learners with shared experience to communicate about and concequently practice grammar.
Video give students an ideal basis for using the language in an engaging and meaningful context.
Entire movies should not be shown in class. It may be a waste of time. Nevertheless, carefully selected films with a strong cultural and/or historical content can be watched by students for homework or as an extra-curriculum activity. It can also be accompanied by "movie notetaking" diaries in which students take notes about what they have learned, both content and language wise. Films should have English subtitles. Student "movie diaries" and carefully edited extracts from the films can be the basis for class activities.
How to use video in the classroom?
Mr. Grant S. Wolf gave us important teaching tips for the use of video in EFL / ESL classrooms.
- We should choose excerpts from movies which most students have seen and liked.
- We should spread the activities out, over many days to provide repetition over a period of time.
- We can use subtitles to help students understand the scenes.
- We should choose scenes which have a lot of action in order to componsate for the difficulty of the language.
Mr.Grant S. wolf gave us many other suggestions to solve the problem of difficult language:
- We should choose scenes where the characters are speaking slowly and clearly.
- We can develop a viewing guide which will help students figure out the story.
- We can also explain the scene in English, or even Arabic, before showing it.
In the practical part of his presentation, Mr. Grant S. Wolf showed us a sampling of some materials that he has developped to teach some grammar structures through video. I really enjoyed it and I will certainly use this technique with my students.

In New York

2008-07-17T17:22:00.000-07:00

In New York

2008-07-17T17:19:00.000-07:00

In New York

2008-07-17T17:13:00.000-07:00

12- The Big Apple is really very big

2008-07-17T16:48:00.000-07:00

New York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States, and is the country's third most populous state. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and shares a water border with Rhode Island as well as an international border with the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario. New York is often referred to as New York State to distinguish it from New York City.
New York City, which is the largest city in the United States, is known for its history as a gateway for immigration to the United States and its status as a financial, cultural, transportation, and manufacturing center. It was named after the 17th century Duke of York, James Stuart, future James II and VII of England and Scotland.
When we went to New York City, we visited six famous places: the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the Empire State Building, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Chinatown and the United Nations. Here are some more information about these places and some photos which I took during the trip.
1- The Statue of Liberty:
The Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World was a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of the United States and is a universal symbol of freedom and democracy. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on October 28, 1886, designated as a National Monument in 1924 and restored for her centennial on July 4, 1986.
A "Monument Access" reservation system has been implemented by the National Park Service for visitors who plan on entering the monument. The "Monument Access" Reserved Ticket enables you to visit the museum gallery and pedestal observation levels only. There is no access beyond the top of the statue's pedestal.
2- Ellis Island - Part of Statue of Liberty:
Ellis Island is part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. It was added to the National Park System in May of 1965 and through extensive restoration, its main building opened over a quarter century later on September 10, 1990 as a national museum of immigration. Ellis Island is federal property partly within the territorial jurisdiction of the both the States of New York and New Jersey.
3- The Empire State Building:
At Fifth Avenue and 34th Street stands New York City’s most famous fixture - starring in over 90 movies, a star of gigantic proportions.
Once again the world’s tallest skyscraper in NYC (it was for 40 years until they built the World Trade Center) the symbol of this city was constructed in only two years - 1930 to 31 and the 1,453 foot colossus instantly became a tourist magnet. Even King Kong came to visit!
The epitome of big buildings, billed as the Eighth Wonder of the World at its opening, the Empire State Building broke records in many categories, including height (1250 feet) and construction time (it took only one year and forty-five days to build).Planned during the booming 1920's, it was constructed during the Depression. Largely vacant in its early years, it was said that the building relied on the stream of sightseers to the observation decks to pay its taxes.On July 28, 1945, a ten-ton B-25 bomber, lost in the fog, slammed into the north wall of the 78th and 79th floors. The plane's wings were sheared off by the impact, while the fuselage and other parts tore through inner walls, some parts coming out the opposite side of the building. Despite massive holes in those two walls, as well as damage to two supporting steel beams, there was no important structural damage done to the building.
Details
102 floors / 1252 feet (381 meters) high / Built in just 16 months.
4- Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Met is a universal museum: every category of art in every known medium from every part of the world during every epoch of recorded time is represented here and thus available for contemplation or study -- not in isolation but in comparison with other times, other cultures, and other media.
There are several large museums in New York but the Metropolitan Museum of Art is truly gigantic. From the sidewalk on Fifth Avenue, the Met, with its tall columns and windows, immense stairways and water fountains, looks like it could be an emperor’s palace. The size and diversity of the artwork on display is even more impressive; the museum’s collection contains works from every part of the world, spanning the Stone Age to the twentieth century. The Egyptian Art gallery includes a whole temple that was shipped to America as a gift.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art opened on February 20, 1872, and was originally located at 681 Fifth Avenue. John Taylor Johnston, a railroad executive whose personal art collection seeded the museum, served as its first President, and the publisher George Palmer Putnam was its founding Superintendent. In 1873, occasioned by the Met's purchase of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriot antiquities, the museum took up temporary residence at the Douglas Mansion on West 14th Street; after negotiations with the City of New York, the Met acquired land on the east side of Central Park, where it built its permanent home, a red-brick Gothic Revival stone "mausoleum" designed by American architects Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould.[5] The building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986.[6]HYPERLINK \l "cite_note-nrhpinv-6"[7]HYPERLINK \l "cite_note-nrhpphotos-7"[8]
5- Chinatown :
New York City’s Chinatown, the largest Chinatown in the United States—and the site of the largest concentration of Chinese in the western hemisphere—is located on the lower east side of Manhattan. Its two square miles are loosely bounded by Kenmore and Delancey streets on the north, East and Worth streets on the south, Allen street on the east, and Broadway on the west. With a population estimated between 70,000 and 150,000, Chinatown is the favored destination point for Chinese immigrants, though in recent years the neighborhood has also become home to Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Burmese, Vietnamese, and Filipinos among others.
Today’s Chinatown is a tightly-packed yet sprawling neighborhood which continues to grow rapidly despite the satellite Chinese communities flourishing in Queens. Both a tourist attraction and the home of the majority of Chinese New Yorkers, Chinatown offers visitor and resident alike hundreds of restaurants, booming fruit and fish markets and shops of knickknacks and sweets on torturously winding and overcrowded streets.
6- The United Nations:
The United Nations was founded as a successor to the League of Nations, which was widely considered to have been ineffective in its role as an international governing body insofar as it had been unable to prevent World War II.
The term "United Nations" was decided by Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston ChurchillHYPERLINK \l "cite_note-0"[1] during World War II, to refer to the Allies. Its first formal use was in the 1 January 1942 Declaration by the United Nations, which committed the Allies to the principles of the Atlantic Charter and pledged them not to seek a separate peace with the Axis powers. Thereafter, the Allies used the term "United Nations Fighting Forces" to refer to their alliance.
The idea for the UN was adopted in declarations signed at the wartime Allied conferences in Moscow, Cairo, and Tehran in 1943. From August to October 1944, representatives of the Republic of China, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union met to elaborate the plans at the Dumbarton Oaks estate in Washington, D.C.HYPERLINK \l "cite_note-UN-History_of_the_UN-1"[2] Those and later talks produced proposals outlining the purposes of the organization, its membership and organs, and arrangements to maintain international peace and security and international economic and social cooperation.
On 25 April 1945, the UN Conference on International Organization began in San Francisco. In addition to the governments, a number of non-governmental organizations were invited to assist in drafting the charter. The 50 nations represented at the conference signed the Charter of the United Nations two months later on 26 June. Poland had not been represented at the conference, but a place had been reserved for it among the original signatories, and it added its name later. The UN came into existence on 24 October 1945, after the Charter had been ratified by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — the Republic of China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States — and by a majority of the other 46 signatories. That these countries are the permanent members of the Security Council, and have veto power on any Security Council resolution, reflects that they are the main victors of World War II or their successor states: the People's Republic of China replaced the Republic of China in 1971 and Russia replaced the Soviet Union in 1991.[3]
Initially, the body was known as the United Nations Organization, or UNO. However, by the 1950s, English speakers were referring to it as the United Nations, or the UN. In many other languages it is called ONU (Organisation des Nations Unies in French, Organización de las Naciones Unidas in Spanish, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite in Italian, Organização das Nações Unidas in Portuguese, and Organizaţia Naţiunilor Unite in Romanian).

My host mother

2008-07-16T18:37:00.000-07:00

My host family

2008-07-16T18:35:00.000-07:00

11- Living with a host family: a real first hand experience.

2008-07-16T13:13:00.000-07:00

The homestay: a real first hand experience.

Living with a host family in America for two weeks truly authenticated my experience. Through this homestay, I was able to realize what living in America might be like. The experience has really destroyed all the stereotypes about the American daily life that I previously held. In addition, it has given me the opportunity to experience first-hand the real similarities and differences between American and Moroccan lifestyles.

My host family consisted of three members. My host mother, Gail Rowan is a radiological technologist . She is a very kind and compassionate woman. She did not only cook and but she also took me and my roommate on outings, helped us locate people to exchange information about our cultures and, most importantly, had long conversations with us about different topics. I think I learned a lot about attitudes and culture through listening to her talk.
My host father, Bob Rowan, is a Chemist and a piano player. He’s a well mannered man. He immediately accepted me and my roommate as members of his family. He, and all the members of the family, did a lot to expose us to the American culture. I can’t forget the day when they took us to the church. It was an extremely new experience for me. I had never been in a church before. People there were very nice and friendly. They welcomed us and even gave us gifts.
It’s a truism that I did get a little homesick towards the second week of my stay, but whenever I came home from the University, I felt better because my host family welcomed me in a way that made me feel at home.
My host brother, Jeff, is a cheerful and outgoing boy. He’s a produce worker . He was proud to share with us the American culture and lifestyle and he was also interested in learning about our culture. We often went for a walk and played basketball. I will never forget the delicious popsicles that he offered to me every night.
I should not forget the good-natured hairy dog, Nick. He was very pleasant and he straightaway became used to our presence at home.

Thank you Bob,
Thank you Gail,
Thank you Jeff,
for giving me the opportunity to know more about the American way of life. Thank you for helping me to improve my English and to learn the American accent. Thank you for providing me with such a rich menu of unique and truly “American” experience.

10- In a nutshell / Teaching vocabulary.

2008-07-11T16:02:00.000-07:00

Teaching vocabulary... Why & how?

Vocabulary is the knowledge of words and word meanings. As Steven Stahl (2005) puts it, "Vocabulary knowledge is knowledge; the knowledge of a word not only implies a definition, but also implies how that word fits into the world." Vocabulary knowledge is not something that can ever be fully mastered; it is something that expands and deepens over the course of a lifetime. Instruction in vocabulary involves far more than looking up words in a dictionary and using the words in a sentence. Vocabulary is acquired incidentally through indirect exposure to words and intentionally through explicit instruction in specific words and word-learning strategies.
According to Mrs. Beth Worrilow, numerous studies that have been done on vocabulary learning strategies by linguists, ESL/EFL experts, psychologists, educational researches… agree that in order to make progress in the language, learners need to be able to understand what they are hearing and reading. Learners must have comprehensible input in order for communication to be useful and meaningful.
Believing that vocabulary is an essential part of second / foreign language acquisition and that it is always at the heart of language learning and communication, Mrs. Beth Worrilow has developed an effective technique in teaching and learning vocabulary in Reading/Writing classes.
1- The teacher allows his students to choose which words will be studied.
2- Teacher creates an official vocabulary list.
3- Students practice the words orally and aurally.
4- Vocabulary words are reinforced during interactive card game.

In the practical part of the presentation, Mrs. Beth Worrilow divided us into groups of four teachers. She gave each group an envelop full of vocabulary cards. Words were on pink cards and definitions on white cards. Students had to match the words with their definitions. They turn over all the games cards and mix them up. The first player turns over a word card and definition card. If the two cards match, the student takes another turn BUT if he doesn’t succeed, he loses the turn and give chance to another student.

Consider the following words/expressions:
It’s your turn. Go!
No, I went. It’s yours now.
I’ve got a match!
Awesome!
Bummer!
Oh my goodness.

9- In a nutshell / Strategic interaction

2008-07-09T18:15:00.000-07:00

Strategic Interaction

An Overview
Strategic Interaction (SI) is a teaching method that was devised by Robert Di Pietro at the University of Delaware in 1987. It involves the use of interactive scenarios to develop better communicative competence in the target language.
The SI exercises take place in three stages. The first stage is known as the Planning stage. During the planning stage, the teacher or the facilitator splits the class into two or more groups. Each group is given a different role to play within a given scenario. Then the students are given some time in which to plan their given role in the scenario.

The basic scenario is the Two-Role type, which is suitable for one encounter. In a group situation, there are two groups, and each group has a spokesperson that interacts on behalf of the whole. There are also Multiple-Roles scenarios, Group scenarios, and Open-Ended scenarios

In these exercises, the scope of the role is only limited by the students' abilities. The role is dynamic, and never plays out the same way twice. Also, the roles given to each group are unknown to the members of the other group(s) until the Performance stage of the exercise. This is important to the theme of the exercise, because the roles given to each group are slightly different in focus and/or goals. These differences produce a "twist," or point of conflict, that appears in the Performance stage.

When the students have prepared their roles, a spokesperson is appointed, and the Performance stage begins. Students' expectations of what they were going to say quickly disappear. Tthe students must attempt to maintain communication in the target language while trying to resolve the conflict that has arisen. The goal of the exercises is for the students to work creatively in the target language to resolve the conflict successfully. The end result is that no scenario has the same ending.

The third stage of the exercise is known as the Debriefing stage. Now, the teacher or the facilitator regroups the class, and discusses the events of the Performance stage. There may be a discussion of discourse, cultural, or grammar problems that appeared during the performance. In this stage, the teacher can also provide feedback on how to improve communication and/or performance at key points in the scenario, so the students will be better prepared to perform in future scenarios.

For further details, please refer to Mr. Joe Matterer`s handouts or visit thfollowing websites:
www.amazon.com/Strategic-Interaction-Languages-Scenarios-Cambridge/dp/0521324254
www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/714.html

8- In a nutshell / The Amish... Who are they?

2008-07-08T19:15:00.000-07:00

The Amish people.

Today we went on a trip to discover the Amish community in Pennsylvania, to know who the Amish are, how they live, and what make them special.

The Amish movement was founded in Switzerland in Europe by Jacob Amman (1644 to 1720 CE), from whom the name Amish is derived. This movement started as a reform group within the Mennonite movement. It was an attempt to restore some of the early practices of the Mennonites.

The beliefs and practices of the Amish were mainly based on the writings of the founder of the Mennonite faith, Menno Simons (1496-1561), and on the Mennonite Confession of Faith. The Amish who split from Mennonites generally lived in Switzerland and in the Southern Rhine river region. During the late 17th century, they separated because of what they perceived as luck of discipline among the Mennonites.

In the early 18th century, some Amish migrated to the United States. They initially settled in Pennsylvania. Other waves of immigrants became established in New York, Indiana, Missouri and other states.
For more information, please refer to the following websites:
www.800padutch.com/amish.shtml
www.phmc.state.pa.us/ppet/amish/page1.asp?secid=31

In Philly

2008-07-07T20:32:00.000-07:00

In Philly

2008-07-07T20:30:00.001-07:00

In Philly

2008-07-07T20:28:00.000-07:00

7- In a nutshell / Storytelling and story making.

2008-07-07T19:34:00.000-07:00

Storytelling and storymaking.

Why storytelling?
First, Mrs. Debra Darrell welcomed us and introduced herself. Then, she tackled the topic starting by talking about the importance of using stories in EFL classrooms. Storytelling provides students with opportunities to listen to language in context rather than in bits and pieces. It lets students have an experience with the powerful language of personal communication, not the usual teacher-talk. It also helps learners make sense of the world and gives them a sense of community.

Language skills practice with storytelling.
Through storytelling, SS can practice different language skills. They learn new vocabulary, language forms and grammar. They have an opportunity to practice listening comprehension. In addition, students are provided with practice for all aspects of oral intelligibility: rhythm, stress, intonation, etc.
After that, Mrs. Debra Darrell moved to the practical part of her presentation. She gave each teacher a piece of paper and she asked us to draw an oval in the center, a triangle up left, a square up right, a rectangle down left and a heart down right. Then she told us to write our names in the ovals, the name of a place which we like best in the triangle, a good or a bad event in the square, something we would like to do in the rectangle and something we liked to do in our childhood. Then, she asked us to choose one of the events and talk about it to our colleagues.

Mrs. Debra Darrell told us a very funny story entitled “The Three Dolls”. She gave us handouts and asked us to fill in the blanks. Then we did a whole class correction.
“The Two Donkeys” was also a very amusing story. We did many other activities that intended to improve our storytelling and story making skills.
Mrs. Debra Darrell did really well in this presentation and she was able to communicate her ideas very clearly.

In the afternoon, we started at 2:30 pm. Mrs. Baerbel Schumacher divided us into groups. Each group consisted of two teachers, a Moroccan and a Jordanian. At the beginnig, teacher A told a story to B. Then B had to retell the story using his own words. After that, teacher B told a story of his own then teacher A had to retell it. It was really an interesting activity which can be used to improve our students` listening skill.

In the next activity, every teacher had to tell his story in front of all the class. That was not easy but it really was very amusing. When a teacher ended his performamce, the others had to say what he made good on it and what needed to ameliorate.

The objective of this activity was to improve our public speaking skill and to lessen our public speaking fear.

6- Reflection...

2008-07-06T19:49:00.000-07:00

Wrath of Grapes: Yelling for a good reason

When Andrei Codrescu was flying to his adopted home town New Orleans, he found himself subjected to a loud-mouthed passenger, who was offering grapes to her parents and all the passengers next to her. Codrescu got very angry as the woman was speaking in a bad, loud and annoying voice. After a while, he found out that the woman was speaking loudly because her parents were hard of hearing. He felt SHAME.
The lesson we can learn from this event is that one should always find excuses to others. One should be aware of the causes and consequences of any behavior before taking a reaction. Codrescu thought that the woman was an annoying person but she, actually, was not. She was speaking in a loud voice for her old parents to be able to hear her. She was yelling for a good reason.

5- In a nutshell / oral intelligibility

2008-07-06T12:47:00.000-07:00

Oral intelligibility

This is to summarize the presentation that was delivered by Dr. Scott G. Stevens (July 2, 2008, from 2:37 to 5:05 / CSB 002)

Intelligibility: comprehensibility
Intelligible: understandable, capable of being understood.

Dr. Stevens was extremely successful in putting his ideas across and his presentation was really interesting and informative.
At the beginning, Dr. Stevens talked about the dichotomy of fluency and accuracy. Which one is more important than the other? For him, they are all equally important. When speaking a language, one has to be confident as well as competent. He has to know what to say and how to say it.
After that, Dr. Stevens talked about the aspects of oral intelligibility. He summarized them in six points:

1- Pronunciation: phonemes and phonetics
A phoneme is the smallest unit that can carry meaning. It is a speech sound that distinguishes one word from another, e.g. the sounds “d” and “t” in the words “bid” and “bit”.
Phonetics is the system or pattern of speech sounds used in a language. It’s also the scientific study of speech sounds and how they are produced.

2- Stress: Dr. Stevens defined stress as the emphasis placed on a sound or a syllable by pronouncing it more loudly or forcefully than those surrounding it in the same word or phrase. It’s so vital in oral intelligibility. Dr. Stevens kept saying during the presentation that English, Arabic and German are stress-timed languages. Other languages like Italian and Spanish are syllable-times languages. Consider the stress placement on the words “geography” and “geographic” which changes as a suffix is added.

3- Intonation (tono): It is the rising and falling pitch of the voice when somebody says a word or a syllable. It’s the music or melody of a language. It is extremely important in oral intelligibility. Consider this example: “She wants me to talk to her”. The meaning change depending on how you read the sentence and the melody you give it.

4- Rhythm: It is defined as the pattern of sounds that characterizes a language, dialect and accent. Look at the following sentences; they have three “beats” no matter how many words they include:
Ø Birds eat worms.
Ø The birds ear the worms.
Ø The birds will have eaten the worms.
In this regard, Dr. Stevens shed light on linking. He said that linking is the blending of words within a sentence or a phrase. But this blending is not done at random. He also talked about reduction which means the decreasing of something in size, number, etc. and it also means simplification. So, when we reduce something, we make it simpler. Dr. Stevens urged us to teach our students reduced forms and he said that reduced forms are not informal as most EFL teachers think. In fact, when he was talking to us, he was using reduced forms all the time.

5- Projection or volume: This refers to the loudness of sound. It is highly expressive and significant. As a matter of fact, we, teachers, should pay a great attention to the volume of our voices and give more eye contact to our students and teach them to do so as well.

6- Nonverbal communication: It is communication by other means than by using words, e.g. through facial expressions, hand gestures and tone voice. But a great attention and care must be given to this aspect of oral intelligibility. Nonverbal communication is not the same wherever you go. A gesture may acceptable in one culture but offensive in another.

Proxemics has to do with the distance individuals maintain between each other in social interaction and its significance. This also differs from one culture to another.

At 4:00 pm, we had a break of 10 minutes then the second part of the presentation was very practical. We were given a lot of applications about oral intelligibility. What I enjoyed most in those workshops was playing with kazoos. It was very funny. We really learned and played. At the end, Dr. Stevens gave us some handouts containing interesting and useful materials for both elementary and secondary school EFL teachers.

Thanks so much Dr. Stevens. I learned a lot from you. I am looking forward to meeting you again.

4- Moroccan teachers participating in P4T 2008, University of Delaware, USA.

2008-07-04T20:48:00.000-07:00

3- Student-Cenered Teaching (SCT)?

2008-07-04T14:53:00.000-07:00

Student-Centered Teaching
(SCT)

We understand from the literature concerning Student-Centered Teaching (SCT) that in this approach teachers focus their planning, teaching and assessment around the needs and abilities of students. The main idea behind this approach is that learning is most meaningful when topics are relevant to the students’ lives, needs and interests. Unlike Teacher-Centered Teaching (TST), in SCT the teacher is not the only source of information. The teacher works as a monitor and a facilitator. Teachers cannot simply lecture and let students take a passive role. On the opposite, they have to design activities that let their students take initiative and discover meaningful information for their own lives.
In this regard, I sometimes start a unit by asking the students what they want to learn about in that unit. If they want to learn about the American music, for example, I would look for an activity (or design one if I don’t find any) which is based on various aspects of this music. We could also discuss the different lexical items they think they would need to know (names of instruments, different types of American music…etc.) and I would even let them do some planning how they want to learn in the unit. Sometimes we do this in Arabic.

What do you think guys... Is this how you do things in your classrooms?

2- A very long trip

2008-07-04T14:42:00.000-07:00

Casablanca - Philadelphia
A very long trip.
New people to know and new culture to discover

I was one of the eight lucky teachers of English as a foreign language at Moroccan public junior high schools who were selected to take part in the Partnership for Teaching (P4T) program, in Delaware, USA.
On June 27, 2008, at 5:29 pm, I took the train to Casablanca Airport. The trip lasted about five hours. When I reached there, I met the other participants. We were seven teachers because one teacher had not been issued a US visa and no one knows why.
On June 28th, at 1:10 am, we flew to Frankfurt Airport. We arrived there at 6:35 am. We were supposed to fly to Philadelphia after four hours, but we were really shocked when we were told that the flight was postponed because of some technical problems and, therefore, we had to wait in the airport for sixteen (yes 16) hours. You can’t imagine how hard it is to spend such a long time in an airport. Frankfurt now isn’t a good word for me.
At 10:45 pm, we left Frankfurt airport and after eight long hours we found ourselves in Philadelphia. It was about three 3:00 pm. We were very happy when we arrived in Philadelphia, but our happiness didn’t last long as no one from the University of Delaware was waiting for us. We spent 5 hours in the airport before we were taken to a hotel in Newark.
We were there at about 8:30. At 11:00, after we rested our bodies and had breakfast we met our host families… New people to know and new culture to discover. I hope the best for me and my friends..

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2008-07-02T07:44:00.000-07:00

I’m Hicham Sadiki. I was born in 1969 in Meknes, Morocco. I graduated from the University of Moulay Ismail in Meknes in 1993 with a BA degree in English. From 1995 to 1997, I worked as a Sales and Public Relations Manager at an Import-Export Company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In 1997, I came back to Morocco for good.

From 1997 to 2000, I thought English at a number of private senior high schools in Meknes. In 2000, I was assigned to teach English at public schools. I worked at public high schools in Azilal and Khenifra. Since 2007, I have been teaching English at a public junior high school in Sebaa Ayoun, Delegation of El Hajeb, as well as a private high school and a center of languages in Meknes.

I participated in many workshops and seminars and I took part in the Partnership for Learning (P4L) Follow-on Conference in the spring of 2007, in Rabat. One year later, I was called to take part in P4T teachers training program which is taking place at the University of Delaware from June 28 to August 08, 2008. Therefore, I am now enjoying very interesting presentations and workshops conducted by American teachers of very high quality.

The Partnership for Teaching (P4T) teachers training program is funded by the US State Department, Bureau of Cultural and Educational affairs, and administered by the University of Delaware, English Language Institute (ELI). The program was incepted in 2004 at the University of Delaware. Its aim is to support the efforts and provide assistance to the ministries of education in Morocco, Egypt, Syria and Jordan to enhance and strengthen the English language capacity in these countries and to sustain the development and implementation of English as a foreign language curriculum that emphasizes new teaching methods and delivery mechanisms at the junior high school level. To reach this objective, teachers participating in this program are exposed to the latest innovations concerning methodologies of teaching EFL. They are also given the opportunity to practice the English Language, to observe, participate and enquire about US culture.