Dear Colleague,

Please refer to the First Page of Action Pack 8 Training 

This is the 2nd page of training material for the Action Pack 8. It has more text versions of the PowerPoint presentations which can be used as starting points for discussions.

Action Pack 8

Slides text version

JOINING FORCES

======================================

Slide 1

Sample:

JOINING FORCES:

Combining grammar and skills work

A picture of Action Pack 8, Student's Book cover page

Comments:

Joining Forces: combining grammar and skills work

One of the greatest challenges for language teachers is

getting the right balance between grammatical input and

practising language skills. A lack of range and variety in

grammatical structures will limit a learner’s ability to

operate in the foreign language. Conversely a language

learner with a deep awareness of structure is not always

able to use the language. This session will try to resolve

why one just doesn’t seem to work without the other.

=======================================       

Slide 2

Sample:

The past perfect

Simon where Petra had had had had had had had of

course had had had been the right answer.

Simon, where Petra had had ‘had’ had had ‘had had’:

of course ‘had had’ had been the right answer.

1. Who got the grammar question right?

Simon, who had had ‘had had’.

======================================

Slide 3

Sample:

What is language?

Language is a way to transfer a pattern from

      our brain to another person’s brain

It involves two brains, not just one

Communication is pervasive in nature, language

      being just one aspect of it

Comments:

Communication establishes relationships and makes

organizing possible. Every message has a purpose or

objective. The sender intends -- whether consciously or

unconsciously -- to accomplish something by communicating.

Grammar  is  described  as  ‘a  set  of  shared  understandings 

that  enable  people  to  communicate  successfully.  It  is  a 

resource  used  for  making  meaning  in  texts  and  it  is 

always  related  to  acceptance  and  intelligible  meanings 

made  in  a  particular  context’ (Geslin  et  al.  1998 : 3).

In  teaching  grammar,  the  context  is  used  to  unify 

the  various  language  structural  elements. 

======================================

Slide 4

Sample:

Language is infinite

The cat

The woman talked to the boy.

I said that the woman talked to the boy. 

The newspaper reported that I said that the woman

      talked to the boy.

John doubts that the newspaper reported that I said that

      the woman talked to the boy.

Comments:

If you interrupt a sentence at any given point, there

is an average of 10 different words that could come next.

In a 90 year lifetime: 2,838,240,000 or 2.8 x 109 seconds total

Compare: 2.8 x 109 seconds in your life, 1020 possible sentences…

=========================================

Slide 5

Sample:

SB, Module 1, page 15

Grammar in context  When, while

4 A number of pictures illustrating

the use of when, while 

Comments:

Take this simple example from Action Pack 8

       Module 1 Lesson 2. Students are learning past

simple and while and when. These simple pictures

provide a context for the new language. Students will

process the pictures visually making sense and meaning

in their own language. Our job as language teachers is to

provide comprehensible input which highlights clearly

the linguistic limits of the new language. In other words

 we can help our students by showing them what is

appropriate and effective to say/write in different contexts.

Over to You sections are an opportunity for students

      to express their own ideas within the context of

 the lesson.These exercises allow students to experiment

with the possibilities of the new language that they

 are learning.

===========================================

Slide 6

Sample:

Generative grammar

We understand sentences that we have never

       heard before

The number of sentences in a language is

       potentially infinite, but there is a finite system

      of rules that defines which sentences can be built

Grammar = rules that account for all valid

       sentences of the language

Comments:

Generative grammar (Noam Chomsky)

Application of formal logic to linguistics

Language = set of sentences

Sentence = finite string of words from a lexicon

Grammar = set of rules that determine whether a sentence

belongs to the language

A language is "recursively enumerable"

Deductive approach to language: how to derive all possible

sentences of a language  from an abstract structure

The  teaching  of  grammar  is  referred  to in  different  ways.

 When  it  is  seen  as  ‘structure,'  the  focus  of  teaching  is 

on  the  way  in  which  the  language  is  structured  and  not 

the  way  in  which  it  is  used  on  daily  basis.  Of  importance

 to  note  here  is  that  structure  should  ultimately  lead  to 

functionality, that is  how  that  structure  ought  to  be  used.

In  other  cases,  a  distinction  is  made  between  the  form 

of  language  and  its  function  and  meaning.  This  becomes 

quite  evident  through  various  classroom  activities,  covering 

a  wide  range,  from  purely  formal  to  more  functional 

activities.  In  other  words,  from  activities  that  focus  on

 correct  grammar  to  those  that  are  more  concerned  with 

using  the  language  for  communication  purposes.  In  

some  instances, ESL  educators  use  activities  which  ---are 

mainly  targeted  at  manipulating  the   language  structures 

rather  than  on  activities  that  communicate  information.

======================================

Slide 7

Sample:

On teaching a language

The majority of bilinguals in the world acquire a second

 language in naturalistic environments, not in classroom settings.

 They acquire speaking and listening skills and develop some

form of linguistic competence in the L2 through exposure to

a target language in language contact situations.

Comments:

The social-pragmatic view of language acquisition has had a

long and not particularly successful history.  For about twenty

years now people have been claiming that language is acquired

 as a means of communication, and that it is possible to explain

the process of language acquisition as part of a process of

acquiring communicative competence.  In the best Vygotskian

tradition, it has been pointed out that the ability to communicate

verbally must be learned in the context of interaction between

the child and his or her social environment, and that such an

intersubjective, culturally determined medium of social exchange

as language cannot but be culturally transmitted (cf Bates, 1976;

Bruner, 1974; Ryan, 1974; and Snow, 1979).

First language acquisition, or what does a baby need in order to

start speaking. Innate capacities and learned behaviour. Role of

the environment and social interactions.

Second language acquisition. Cognitive approach and justification

for the "play-and-learn", role-based techniques. A sample model

 imitating first-language-acquisition process..

========================================

Slide 8

Sample:

Grammar strain

LearningèçAcquisition

PerformanceèçCompetence

KnowledgeèçUse

GrammarèçSkills

Comments:

Krashen’s Hypotheses

“Acquisition” is unconscious with respect to the rules

“Acquisition” requires meaningful interaction in the target

language

“Learning” is a conscious activity that proceeds by formal

instruction and results in knowledge about the language

“Acquisition” is more important than “learning Grammatical

competence (Unconscious knowledge of possible grammatical

structures in an idealized speaker)

*What eats John?

What does John eat?

Performance (Actual production and comprehension of language

in specific instances of language use)

Whe..When are you coming?

I don’t…  well uhm,  maybe tomorrow

WHOLE  LANGUAGE  APPROACH  TO  TEACHING

  GRAMMAR.

As  the  name  indicates,  whole  language  approach  assumes 

that  language  must  be  seen  as  a  whole,  despite  the  fact

 that  an  educator  might  decide  to split  it  in  bits  and 

pieces  during  various  teaching  sessions.  The  context

 within  which  various  linguistic  structures  are  placed, 

finally  determines  the  sense  or  meaningfulness  of  these 

linguistic  structures.

=====================

Slide 9

Sample:

The notion of proficiency

Language competence develops through language use.

Proficiency: development of language competence

      through language use.

Basic language use skills:

Speaking, listening, reading and writing

Comments:

Communicative competence Hymes (1972): Knowledge of

the appropriateness of an utterance to a particular situation or

context and of its sociocultural significance.

The Social-Constructivist Model

emphasizes that learning always has a social purpose

connects very well with the communicative approach

student-centered classroom

emphasis on fluent communication

grammar explanations and grammar correction kept to a

strict minimum

Rather than “teaching” a language we are facilitators in the

process of language acquisition.

Our main role is to provide adequate input and a positive

environment for acquisition to take place.

====================================

Slide 10

Sample:

SB, Module 1, page 5 

OUTCOMES

You will be able to:

Talk about sport and activities

Discuss the Olympics

Talk about the past

Give opinions

Comments:

Action Pack 8 takes the view that a child’s proficiency

     in the language can only be extended by increasing the

     range of language skills which the child can successfully

     perform. As we can see from this opening page from

     Module 1 the outcomes for the module are expressed

    in terms of skills development e.g. Discuss the Olympics

     or give opinions.

The language input such as grammar and vocab are

       included so that these skills can be achieved. In other

       words the input we will give will provide acquisitional

        possibilities for the students.

=================

Slide 11

Sample:

Examples to explore

”I’ve chopped the onions.”

Focus on the result of the action.

They are ready to fry.

”I’ve been chopping onions.”

Focus on action to explain the result.

That’s why I am crying.

Comments:

The purpose of this stage of the grammar lesson is

to help students explore the depth of the grammar point,

and to begin to differentiate between structures. This is

 the first stage of inductive learning where students

begin to see patterns and rules from examples they are

given. With the help of their teacher, students should be

able to recognise how a grammar pattern works. Students

 also prefer this kind of active learning. As they mentally

process the grammar point they learn more about it and

have a deeper understanding of it.

One example might be the sentences given here

containing the present perfect simple and present perfect

continuous. One piece of advice that we might give to

students to distinguish these 2 is that Pres. Perf. Allows

us to focus on the present result e.g. in this sentence

that the onions are ready to fry. Often it is said  that

Pres. Perf. Cont. Focuses on the activity. This has to

 be handled carefully though as focusing on the activity

is only relevant if it explains to result – here that is why

 the person is crying.

Examples : My face is red. (I’ve been running), I’m

sorry the house is such a mess (We’ve been decorating),

Here you are (I’ve brought the CD you asked for).

======================================

Slide 12

Sample:

SB, Module 4, page 50  Making Plans

A conversation accompanied by a picture of Jaber

and his friends making plans.

Comments:

Action Pack 8 provides lots of functional language in

the form of dialogues too. Here is a good example from

Module 4 lesson 7 Ideas and Thoughts. Students are

learning present continuous for future and the dialogue

between Jaber and his friends provides a good context

for the structure as it would be used in everyday life.

Students are asked to make notes about the different

plans of the boys in the dialogue. In other words

they pick out the target structure in a meaning full

and purposeful way.

===========

Slide 13

Sample: 

Speaker (Writer)

Encodes Message-----—Sends Message

What I want to say        What I say

Listener (Reader)

Receives Message—-----Decodes Message

I hear him/her/ say        I think he/she means

Comments:

We have talked often of what commuication entails. This

is an important concept for language teachers. Often we

mention the need for an exchange of information. However

usually people are interacting for some purpose which

leads to some kind of outcome.

The cultural ways in which we achieve this are numerous

and often contradictory. Take for eaxmple a service exchange

in North Africa or the Arab world and one in western Europe.

The exchange of a message across a communication channel

from one person to another

Three problem areas.....

Michael Reddy (1979) has noted our extensive use in English

of 'the conduit metaphor' in describing communicative acts.

In this metaphor, 'The speaker puts ideas (objects) into words

 (containers) and sends them (along a conduit) to a hearer who

takes the idea/objects out of the word/containers'

 (Lakoff & Johnson 1980: 10). The assumptions the metaphor

involves are that:

Language functions like a conduit, transferring thoughts bodily

from one person to another; in writing and speaking, people insert

their thoughts or feelings into the words; words accomplish the

transfer by containing the thoughts or feelings and conveying them

to others; in listening or reading, people extract the thoughts

and feelings once again from the words. (Reddy 1979: 290)

=========================================

Slide 14

Sample:

Problem Area 1

Intended Message Versus Message Sent

Think about what you want to communicate – choose grammar and vocabulary

Practice what you want to communicate

Comments:

As Reddy notes, if this view of language were correct, learning

 would be effortless and accurate. The problem with this view

of language is that learning is seen as passive, with the learner

simply 'taking in' information (Bowers 1988: 42). I prefer to

suggest that there is no information in language, in books or in

any medium per se. If language and books do 'contain' something,

this is only words rather than information. Information and meaning

arises only in the process of listeners, readers or viewers actively

making sense of what they hear or see. Meaning is not 'extracted',

 but constructed.

Thought: First, information exists in the mind of the sender. This

can be a concept, idea, information, or feelings.

Encoding: Next, a message is sent to a receiver in words or other

symbols.

Decoding: lastly, the receiver translates the words or symbols into

a concept or information that he or she can understand.

During the transmitting of the message, two processes will be

received by the receiver: content and context.

Content is the actual words or symbols of the message which

is known as language - the spoken and written words combined

into phrases that make grammatical and semantic sense. We

all use and interpret the meanings of words differently, so

even simple messages can be misunderstood. And many

words have different meanings to confuse the issue even more.

Context is the way the message is delivered and is known

as Paralanguage - it includes the tone of voice, the look in

the sender's eye's, body language, hand gestures, and state

of emotions (anger, fear, uncertainty, confidence, etc.) that

can be detected. Although paralanguage or context often

causes messages to be misunderstood as we believe what

we see more than what we hear; they are powerful

communicators that help us to understand each other.

Indeed, we often trust the accuracy of nonverbal behaviors

more than verbal behaviors.

======================================

Slide 15

Sample:

SB,  sample Pronunciation  rubbish, food, visible

Exe.5 Listening 6.4 Reading aloud

Comments:

Therefore one of the first steps in successful

communication is to wrap up your thoughts and ideas

 in the write words and structure and vocalise them using

pronunciation that is  clear and thus interpretable.

Action Pack provides regular Pronunciation sections

which provide students with practise in the areas Arabic

speaker sometimes find difficult. There is plenty of

practise in distinguishing between like sounds which

are difficult sometimes to tell apart.

Minimal pairs are a more serious problem than simple

 poor pronunciation or listening skills on the part of a student.

 This is because mistakes with minimal pairs do not simply

impair understanding; they can lead students to believe that they

understand when in fact they are quite mistaken. These kinds

of mistakes can hamper their conversation skills in the obvious

way that they are difficult to understand, but it can also affect

their confidence and thus their inclination to even try to

communicate in the first place.

=================

Slide 16

Sample:

Problem Area 2

Message Sent Versus Message Received

Actual words/sentences used

Nonverbal cues

Amount of information

Comments:

Nothing is so simple that it cannot be misunderstood. –

Freeman Teague

Human beings pay attention to incoming messages selectively,

and base their responses on prior experience and anticipation

of future events.

Anything that prevents understanding of the message is a

barrier to communication. Many physical and psychological

barriers exist:

Culture, background, and bias - We allow our past experiences

to change the meaning of the message. Our culture, background,

and bias can be good as they allow us use our past experiences

to understand something new, it is when they change the

meaning of the message then they interfere with the communication

 process.

Noise - Equipment or environmental noise impede clear

communication. The sender and the receiver must both be

able to concentrate on the messages being sent to each other.

Perception - If we feel the person is talking too fast, not fluently,

does not articulate clearly, etc., we may dismiss the person. Also

our preconceived attitudes affect our ability to listen. We listen

uncritically to persons of high status and dismiss those of low status.

Message - Distractions happen when we focus on the facts

rather than the idea. Our educational institutions reinforce this

 with tests and questions. Semantic distractions occur when a

word is used differently than you prefer. For example, the

word chairman instead of chairperson, may cause you to focus

on the word and not the message.

================

Slide 17

Sample:

SB, Module 4, page 49

Exe.4 Grammar in Context:

present continuous as future

exe.5 Talking about future plans

Comments:

Students need plenty of chances to try out the new

language items. They need to be allowed to formulate

sentences that hopefully contain the correct and effective

communicative force.

I am convinced that one reason our traditional teaching

of grammar has little transfer to writing situations is the

underlying behaviorist learning theory. We have simply

taken for granted the behaviorist ideas that practice makes

perfect and that skills practiced in isolation will be learned

that way and then applied as relevant. We have assumed

that this is the way teaching and learning should work,

despite the overwhelming evidence that it doesn't. With

respect to grammar, Harris and Rowan (1989) show quite

convincingly that a conscious grasp of grammatical concepts

requires a depth of understanding that is not often gained

through practice exercises alone.

Action Pack tries to provide this more challenging

practise

by personalising  the structures through interaction as

Krashen suggests.

========================================

Slide 18

Sample:

Problem Area 3

Message Received Versus Message Interpreted

Listening skills

Emotional state

Bias/prejudice/pre-conceptions

Comments:

People speak at 100 to 175 words per minute, but they can

listen intelligently at 600 to 800 words per minute (WPM).

Since only a part of our mind is paying attention, it is easy

to go into mind drift - thinking about other things while

listening to someone. The cure for this is active listening –

which involves listening with a purpose. It may be to gain

information, obtain directions, understand others, solve

problems, share interest, see how another person feels,

show support, etc. It requires that the listener attends to

the words and the feelings of the sender for understanding.

It takes the same amount or more energy than speaking.

It requires the receiver to hear the various messages, understand

 the meaning, and then verify the meaning by offering feedback.

The following are a few traits of active listeners:

Spends more time listening than talking.

Do not finish the sentence of others.

Do not answer questions with questions.

Are aware of biases. We all have them...we need to

control them.

Never daydreams or become preoccupied with their

own thoughts when others talk.

Plans responses after the other person has finished

speaking...NOT while they are speaking.

Provides feedback, but does not interrupt incessantly.

Analyzes by looking at all the relevant factors and asking

open-ended questions. Walks the person through your

analysis (summarize).

Keeps the conversation on what the speaker

says...NOT on what interests them.

=======================================

Slide 19

Sample:

The importance of listening

70% of a manager’s job is spent communicating

Of that time:

9% is spent writing

16% is spent reading

30% is spent speaking

45% is spent listening

Comments:

Dictation can really help your students' spelling in English.

It is therefore a good idea to give a dictation task every week.

Choose four or five lines from the input passage of the lessons

for dictation. Tell your students to listen to these lines at home

several times on the Class cassettes and read the lines from

the Students' book at the same time. They can then compare

the oral and written form. If your pupils do this, you will

see that they will be more successful when you give them

the dictation.

The stories in the Action Pack series are usually in two or

three parts. Ask your students to listen to the appropriate part

of the story in advance of the reading in class. You will find

 this cuts down enormously on the time you have to spend

 on the presentation of the story in the class.

=====================================

Slide 20

Sample:

SB, Module 4, page 45

Listening

Exe.4 Listen to an interview with Bill Ross.

Comments:

They key to helping students improve their listening skills is

to convince them that not understanding is OK. This is more

of an attitude adjustment than anything else, and it is easier for

some students to accept than others. Another important point

that I try to teach my students (with differing amounts of success)

is that they need to listen to English as often as possible, but for

short periods of time.

I like to use this analogy: Imagine you want to get in shape.

You decide to begin jogging. The very first day you go out

and jog seven miles. If you are lucky, you might even be able

to jog the seven miles. However, chances are good that you

will not soon go out jogging again. Fitness trainers have

taught us that we must begin with little steps. Begin jogging

short distances and walk some as well, over time you can

build up the distance. Using this approach, you'll be much

more likely to continue jogging and get fit.

Students need to apply the same approach to listening skills.

Encourage them to get a film, or listen to an English radio

station, but not to watch an entire film or listen for two hours.

Students should often listen, but they should listen for short

periods - five to ten minutes. This should happen four or five

times a week. Even if they don't understand anything, five to

ten minutes is a minor investement. However, for this strategy

to work, students must not expect improved understanding

too quickly. The brain is capable of amazing things if given

time, students must have the patience to wait for results.

If a student continues this exercise over two to three

months their listening comprehension skills will greatly improve.

======================================

Slide 21

Sample:

Joining grammar and skills

skills are the priority - grammar to assist

communicative repertoire

relevance - helping students to see how skills can

be applied in the real world

moderate amount of discrepancy or incongruity -

stimulate students' curiosity, an intrinsic motivator

defining tasks in terms of specific, short-term goals -

helps students to associate effort with success

Comments:

Grammar points can only be successfully mastered id students

become confident in integrating them to achieve skills goals

e.g. mastery of the passive voice will only be useful if students

can write better descriptions of processes or describe

historical events.

Various task dimensions can also foster motivation to learn.

Ideally, tasks should be challenging but achievable.

Relevance also promotes motivation, as does "contextualizing"

learning, that is, helping students to see how skills can be

applied in the real world (Lepper). Tasks that involve

"a moderate amount of discrepancy or incongruity" are

beneficial because they stimulate students' curiosity, an

intrinsic motivator (Lepper).

In addition, defining tasks in terms of specific, short-term

goals can assist students to associate effort with success

(Stipek). Verbally noting the purposes of specific tasks

when introducing them to students is also beneficial

(Brophy 1986).

Extrinsic rewards, on the other hand, should be used

 with caution, for they have the potential for decreasing

existing intrinsic motivation.

========================================

Slide 22

Sample:

What’s wrong with the sign?

Jonesandson

There are no gaps between Jones and ‘and’ and ‘and’ and son!

Comments:

REFERENCES.

Adair-Hauck,B; Donato,R. and Cumo.P  Using a

Whole Language Approach  to  Teach  Grammar:  In

Teacher’s  handbook. Boughey, C 1997. Learning  to 

write  by  writing  to  learn: a groupwork approach:

ELT journal 51/2 126 - 134.

Cornish, S 1992.  Community access: Curriculum

 guidelines. New  South  Wales: Ames.

Dubin, F  and  Bycina, D 1991.  Academic reading 

and the  ESL/EFL  teacher. In  Celca-Murcia, M (ed).

Teaching English as a second or foreign  language,

second  edition, pp195 -215. New York: Newbury House.

Geslin,N and Wade, R 1991. Some practical and pedagogical

teaching. (http://www.und.ac.za/und/ling/archive/gesl-vl.html).

Kilfoil,W.R. Van der Walt,C.1989. Learn 2 teach. A guide to

the communicative  teaching  of  English as  a  second  language.

Second edition: Academica.

Krashen, S 1982. Principles  and  Practices  in  Second  Language 

Acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon.

Richard, J, C, and Rodgers, T.S. 1986. Approaches and  methods

 in  language  teaching.  A  description  and  analysis.  New  York:

  Cambridge  University  Press.

========================================

Slide 22

Sample:

Language

Killer sentenced to die for second time.

The dishonest mayor wins on budget but more lies ahead

=======================================