QLC

I was interested to read the style of writing that I and a lot of you do…which is writing in the same way as we speak, is called blackberry?

Mike McCarthy is one of the key speakers at CLESOL 2008 in and he has written a short article on the subject of language called “Grammar as she spoke.”

Anyone interested I`ll put a copy in your pigeon hole.

Jamie Oliver and Jeremy Clarkson do blackberry with great success.
eg Recipes by Jamie “simple you may think …So, you got you`ve got your bacon and bread.Lovely.”

Or Jeremy, “It doesn`t feel like a car this.”

He also mentions how vague we are becoming and using language which includes words and phrases such as… thing, stuff or so something and sort of.

Vague language avoids information overload and invloves the reader.

He says email has had a lot to do with blackberry style….so the question one ESOL teacher asked is there any point in teaching formal or standard letters in our ESOL classes?
He replied that he thought the formal letter was a dying breed, though there may be contexts where people might still need it in professional life. He said his answer would be the one he would always give…consult your students as to their desires and needs as regards to particular skills.

As I said if you are interested just ask me for a copy of the article.

Julie.

It came to my attention at a QLC meeting that most of you had forgotten or never been introduced to the korean and chinese cultural boxes.

I have been gathering things and trying to improve these boxes since June 2002 when I started in the ESOL Teacher role. Each year I have set up displays in different classrooms with Chinese or Korean chn. They are usually ones with beginning English chn. eg Habin when he first started,

The cultural boxes are kept in my room and hold treasures from the Korea and China/Hong Kong/Taiwan donated by parents and collected by me and Mrs Clark( when she went on a trip to Hong Kong)

Please let me know if you are going to any of these destinations where you would be prepared to do a bit of tourist shopping for me.

The boxes are supposed to make a chinese or korean child who is new to our country feel a bit more at home with some familiar paraphernalia around them…this can include books, magazines, toys, clothing,hats, dolls in national costume, money, posters, plates, lanterns, greetings…anything that is from their home country.

From my experince the children do get comfort from these displays and when the displays are well recieved by other children in the ESOL child`s home class, your ESOL child gets a feeling of worth and pride.

Usually I approach teachers with chn. who have beginning English needs (as they are usually the most fearful or unconfident chn)

Last year you may remember a Korean display in the Library with the centre piece being the chn`s national costumes on the wall….
or
in Adele`s room the chinese cultural box was used to make the twins Kathleen and Kerry feel welcome.
You may also have seen a korean display in Chris Tapp`s room last year or Katy and Rob were some others I di displays for.

Anyway…if you do have a child who is new to the country and you feel he is/she is in need of some of these things…let me know.

At present I only have Korean and Chinese boxes and a few Japanese things.

I tried to start up something for our Russians…but it was not a great success…one little Russian stacking doll and Maxim and Kristina didn`t even think it came from there…lol.

In the past I have asked parents from different cultures to donate any items they think might be useful for the cultural boxes and have recieved calenders and reading books.

In the Library Denise also has some books in a varierty of different languages…it may pay to ask her about these again too.

I`d love to get some more dolls from around the world, any place any costume, so if any of you have any dolls you no longer want or would like to donate, I`d be very grateful.

thanks

Julie

I recently noticed that when asked what the students liked best about our school all our FFP students loved the games at lunch time with our male teachers or the lessons with the male PE teacher. The male teachers` names all cropped up.

Having once been a solo mother and recognising the need for more male role models in our schools for our/my boys,especially with the rise of one parent families, I thought there might be some similarity with the students who come to NZ with Mum, and leave Dad back in the home country.

Are these children missing the male figure/role model and finding some comfort in the games and lessons with the male teachers?

Language was not a barrier to gender style?

I asked one of my yr 6 korean boys, what the ratio was for male teachers to female was in Korea and he replied same as here…not many males.

Has anyone any thoughts on this subject?

I just love picture dictations and there is such a wide range available to suit all ages and langauge development.

They help the chn to really listen and with a hands on, fun approach.
It is often s hard to assess where a child is at with their listening skills and word knowledge. Is there a difficulty with understanding,sentnce structure,speed, concentration, or accent. Picture dictations with a small group give great insight to the teacher.

Although I mainly use them for ESOL students I would recommend using them for all ages. They help the children to practise active listening.

Kohia has a picture dictatiion photocopy friendly book for Juniors, which I use for older children as well.
This book gives you a picture which you add to or colour depending on the instruction.

Listening can appear such a passive part of learning…some children hide behind it ie they appear to be listening but in fact are just being quiet, not troublsome … with these you hit to the chase and quickly acknowledge where weaknesses are….wether they are language, understanding, hearing, maturity or concentration. Kids get enthused and learn as they go vocab and how to follow different instructions etc

With ESOL I love the propositions that naturally crop up.