The Neglected Tools Can Work For You

Of all the resources and techniques available to the classroom teacher of English as a second or foreign language, none are more neglected than audiovisual aids, such aids can help not only to improve the overall language program but also to enhance the classroom atmosphere and to ensure greater student participation.

In this article I would like to share some of the ideas will help you put these tools to work more effectively in your classroom.

The psychology of the visual aid

The native speaker of a language, by means of a kind of mental photography, quickly learns his language by visual and word association. Later he can refer to those mental pictures when he focuses on a like situation. Suppose a child’s first encounter with a dog is unpleasant. Thereafter, his mind will remind him of that first meeting. Most language teachers will agree with this basic premise. For the strengthening of learning by visual aids should be available to all students, starting with the beginner level of English and continuing as long as the student studies the language

The starting point.

each school can most effectively begin its drive to increase the impact of its visual-aids program by appointing a Visual Aids Committee to evaluate the existing program of the school and recommend practical steps to improve it. This will include plans for making all visual aids available to all teachers in the school.

A committee at work.

An effective Visual Aids Committee consisted of five teachers of English. The group was divided into two teams of two teachers each, with the fifth member designated as coordinator of the Project.

Team Number One was to make a list of all visual aids currently at the school and come up with recommendations for additions to those aids.

Team Number Two was to assemble all book and printed materials used at the school.

What the visual aid should be

 1.      The Visual Aid should be directly relevant to a specific teaching objective

 2.      The Visual Aid should be a convincing representation of the actual object

 3.      The Visual Aid should be of suitable size for teaching

 4.      The Visual Aid should conform to some agreed-upon standard for size.

 5.      The Visual Aid should be simple, graphic, and easy to use or manipulate.

 ·  The blackboard: The basic and indispensable—and probably the most misused—visual aid is the blackboard. Under certain conditions, the blackboard may be the only visual aid the beginner teacher has to work with.

Flip charts: A flip chart is a stand with large sheets of paper which is used when presenting information in a meeting.

· Slip charts: They are simple to construct and extremely useful in drill work.

· Catalogs and magazines: Catalogs serve as convenient illustrated dictionaries, and magazines can keep the class abreast of the latest cultural trends.

·  The mock-up: It helps to familiarize the student with cultural situations in the countries in which the language he is studying is used. The object of a mockup is to duplicate as accurately as possible an object found in a common setting in order that it may.

   ·  Language films: They can bring to the students activities that they could not otherwise observe or become involved with.

SLIDESHOW

Designing Materials

for Teacher Autonomy

by Ingrid Wisniewska

Teachers who are relatively inexperienced often believe that a handful of exciting new games is what they really need to liven up their lessons.

In the short term, the benefits of presenting ready-to-use teaching techniques and materials seem to be very high. They are motivating, they meet teachers' perceived needs, and they are exciting to try out with a group of teachers. At the end of the session, the teachers walk happily away with a collection of new activities, and the trainer feels the satisfaction of having "given" them what they wanted. 

Here is the basic framework for the workshop:

1. Teachers try out the language activity. They comment on its advantages and the potential problems of using it with students.
2. Teachers brainstorm possible themes or grammar/vocabulary areas for which the activity could be used with students.
3. Each pair or group of teachers selects one theme or area to work with, and they adapt the activity for use with their students.
4. The completed work is passed around to other groups for comments, corrections, and improvements.
5. The variations of the activity are displayed on the wall and/or copied for all participants.
6. Teachers reflect on aspects of learner autonomy experienced in the session and how they could introduce more learner autonomy into their English lessons.

Here is an example of an activity which illustrates this procedure (the numbers below correspond to those above):

Each teacher receives a task sheet such as the one below. Their task is to walk around the class and ask questions to fill in the blanks with the names of other people in the group: After completing the activity and commenting on its advantages and disadvantages, teachers brainstorm different topics which could be used for practice. They came up with the following ideas: grammar -past tense, future tense, present perfect, prepositions; themes -hobbies, animals/pets, food, summer holidays, Christmas/New Year, language learning habits. Here is an example of a task sheet prepared by teachers on the topic of Christmas: For this activity, each group or pair had to produce 10 to 15 sentences or sufficient for the number of students in their class. Producing the worksheet together is much more interesting than sitting alone at your desk and trying to come up with 15 different ideas! And many of the ideas are specific to the local cultural context, which makes them more relevant and more interesting than those found in foreign textbooks. Commenting on each other’s' work enables teachers to draw on the pool of experience in the group. Practical queries can come up and be discussed without the trainer having to step in. Many further suggestions and additions can also result from this. Teachers can make a neat copy of their work (adding pictures if they can) and these may be displayed for other teachers to copy or, if facilities are available, they can be photocopied for everyone. This is an important stage of the session as it validates the results of the teachers' work. At this final stage, teachers reflect on the elements of learner autonomy they have experienced in the workshop: students (in this case, teachers) initiate and choose the topics they want to work on; students produce materials which help them in their further learning; peer and self-evaluation of student-produced work is encouraged; the activity develops skills which are transferable without the aid of a teacher. If this has been a positive experience for them, why not for their students also? How can students be more actively involved in designing materials for use in their English lessons?

Advantages and disadvantages of teacher-produced materials

The advantages of this approach for teachers are:

·         It is empowering. Many teachers lack confidence in using their own ideas. ·         It is memorable. Teachers have made a personal investment of time and energy. ·         It is creative. Teachers working together can come up with many more ideas than any single trainer or textbook author and the ideas are more relevant to the teachers' own context. ·         It encourages critical evaluation of teaching materials. ·         It takes up more session time, which means a reduction in the number of "new" ideas presented. As with any type of group work, it is not always possible to ensure that everyone is involved. Teachers, like students, can exercise their right to withdraw from group activities if they feel it is a waste of time.

The advantages for the trainer are:

·         You can see how well the teachers have grasped the communicative principles behind the activity as well as its mechanics. ·         You can see concrete and visible results of teachers' applying a new idea to their own context. ·         The sessions are more creative (and therefore more unpredictable!). ·         You may feel that you are not fulfilling the expected role of "giver." Especially on short, intensive courses, it may seem that you are "wasting time."

For these reasons, it is probably a good idea to explain the principles behind your choice of this process approach and what you hope to achieve by it.   DISCUSSION QUESTIONS The Neglected Tools Can Work for  You and  Designing Materials for Teacher Autonomy GROUP #6 Instructions: Answer the following questions orderly. 1.- Which are some neglected tools? 2.- How can neglected tools help us in a classroom? 3.-Mention at least, three of the characteristics that the visual aids should have. 4.- Do you think it is useful to create our own didactic material? Why? 5.- Which are some advantages and disadvantages of teacher-produced materials? For teachers. 6.- What are some advantages and disadvantages of teacher-produced materials? For trainer. References https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/1624693b5d10d4bd?projector=1&messagePartId=0.2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epYnuaQ5k9Q&feature=yout https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/162460aa523ffa83?projector=1&messagePartId=0.1

Thanks for Visiting Us!