Director of Education, Education Department, HKSAR Government 20 May 2000
I am very pleased to write a brief introduction to this publication on exemplary practices by NET teachers.
The content of ‘NET – Working’ epitomizes the impact that such teachers are making in Hong Kong schools. As well as helping to enhance the English language proficiency of individual students, NETs are a source of inspiration in the on-going instructional review of teaching and learning of English in our classrooms. As an extension to the on-going professional collaboration, this publication highlights some of the good practices for sharing among many more teachers.
The emphasis on school self-evaluation in ‘NET – Working’ is important. As both a curriculum and a staff development innovation, the scheme’s impact should be reviewed on an on-going basis at the school level. Feedback from this evaluation should help to inform subsequent developments in the school curriculum and strategies to meet the different ability needs of students.
A key factor in the successful implementation of the NET scheme is professional collaboration between the NET and other colleagues within the school, which must always be viewed as a mutually supportive process. This is the main theme of this publication.
While not giving us all the answers to professional questions relating to the scheme, this publication aims to provide a window for discussion, culminating in the nine seminars planned to disseminate the best practices. The opportunity will also be provided for all schools to contribute additional ideas which will liven up deliberations in our education reform.
The content of what follows is testimony to the hard work and professional commitment of the writing team and the many unsung heroes who have given advice at various stages in preparing the publication. Their ardent support indicates our belief that preparing for the NET scheme is succeeding in helping our children to improve their language proficiency.
In closing let me salute the efforts of Mr. Trevor Higginbottom and his team and we look forward to our continued partnership in the years ahead.
Mrs. Fanny LAW Director of Education
NET-WORKING
WRITING TEAM
• Andrew Poon, Assistant Director (Planning and Research), Hong Kong Education
Department.
• Trevor Higginbottom, Education Consultant and Co-ordinator of a research
project on good practice within the NET scheme.
• The following NETs:
Perry Bayer
Ju Ching Chu Secondary School (Kwai Chung)
Philippa BeckerlingHKTA Ching Chung Secondary School
Craig Boswell
FMO Aberdeen Secondary Technical School
Pauline BunceHKWMA Chu Shek Lun Prevocational School
Leonie CotterSt. Francis Canossian College
Gina Green
NTHYK Tai Po District Secondary School
Luana HasellHKMA K S Lo College
Jenny Lynd
Cognitio College (Kowloon)
Mary Salter
GCC and ITKD Lau Pak Lok Secondary School
Sungeeta SinghPrecious Blood Secondary School
Lin Turley
Lingnan (Hang Yee Memorial) Secondary School
Helen TysonCCC Kei Heep Secondary School
Joss Williams
CMA Choi Cheung Kok Secondary School
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The following colleagues gave helpful advice on the publication:
Benedict Ng, Principal, Jane Chew, English Panel Chair, Rebecca Alderton, NET: Cheung
Sha Wan Catholic Secondary School. Teddy Tang, Principal: HKMA K S Lo College.
Jonie Tse, English Panel Chair, Cognitio College (Kowloon). David Stead, NET, and Eva Leung, English Panel Chair, TWGH’S Chang Ming Thien College. Bill Henderson,
NET, De La Salle Secondary School. Natalie Shaw, NET, Munsang College, Hong Kong
Island. Michael Wood, Educational Psychologist, English Schools Foundation.
NET-WORKING
THE AIMS OF THIS PUBLICATION ARE:
• To disseminate good practice in various aspects of the NET scheme:
➢ in teaching and learning; and
➢ in professional collaboration, both centrally and at the school level.
• To provide schools with guidelines on self-evaluating the NET scheme.
• To provide a catalyst for discussion relating to the NET scheme, particularly with Principals.
THE AUTHORS BELIEVE THAT:
• The NET scheme can play an important role in enhancing English language proficiency in Hong Kong, and therefore in furthering the city’s status as a world- class international centre.
• The key roles of the NET are:
➢ to enhance the English language proficiency of individual students;
➢ to demonstrate contemporary approaches to the teaching and learning of English in their work with students; and
➢ to share professional ideas with their fellow English
teachers.
CONTENTS
PAGE
1.0 GOOD PRACTICE IN TEACHING AND
LEARNING WITHIN THE SCHEME 5
1.1 Using integrated, issues-based approaches with upper forms 6 1.2 Promoting language development through creativity 8
1.3 Learning through poetry 10
1.4 Introducing drama to support language work 12
1.5 Integrating IT into English teaching and learning 14
1.6 Motivating the hard-to-teach 16
1.7 Establishing an English Corner 18
1.8 Developing a self-access learning centre 20
1.9 Using extra-curricular activities to support language development 22
2.0 GOOD PRACTICE IN PROFESSIONAL
COLLABORATION WITHIN THE SCHEME 25
2.1 Teaching together in the classroom 26
2.2 Joint planning for individual classes 28
2.3 Devising school-based materials 30
2.4 Supporting colleagues’ English language development 32 2.5 The work of the NET Behavioural Support Group 34 2.6 NETs’ contributions to the experience-sharing workshops 36
3.0 THE USE OF SELF-EVALUATION IN PROMOTING
GOOD PRACTICE WITHIN THE SCHEME 39
3.1 School self-evaluation enquiry 40
3.2 Evaluating our teaching and learning in school 42
3.3 Observation of three excellent lessons 43
3.4 Criteria for evaluating the NET scheme in individual schools 46
3.5 The deployment of the NET within the school 50
4.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY 54
1.0 GOOD PRACTICE IN TEACHING AND LEARNING WITHIN THE SCHEME
• This section includes some of the good practice in teaching and learning currently being adopted within the scheme in a number of Hong Kong schools. This good practice both motivates and challenges students, and thereby enhances their English language proficiency. Most of these approaches can be used as extra-curricular activities as well as in mainstream curriculum work.
• ‘FURTHER IDEAS’ are included throughout the section to enable the reader to follow up the approaches suggested.
We enjoy the more relaxed atmosphere in our English lessons and the greater flexibility in our learning. Using TV, singing songs, writing poetry and visiting museums is more interesting than always using the text book. We apply English to issues in our daily lives.
Andrew Kwok, David Shum, Simon Chan, Steven Yip, Form 2 students.
1.1 USING INTEGRATED, ISSUES-BASED APPROACHES WITH UPPER FORMS
Arguably, at the moment in Hong Kong schools there is limited integration of skills and activities in the teaching of English. Many teaching programmes consign the four skills to separate time slots and prescribe different text books for each. Students would benefit if given the opportunity to spend more time on any one topic to enable them to ‘recycle’ vocabulary and reinforce their learning.
WHY INTEGRATE THE FOUR SKILLS?
• It enables students to develop and consolidate skills through the repetition of similar materials in different forms.
• It facilitates students’ engagement with the materials and the activities.
• It enables students to become intellectually involved, so that higher-order skills such as critical thinking and creativity can be developed.
• It allows students to progress from lower- to higher-order skills in an interesting and absorbing environment, involving analysis, synthesis, criticism and creativity.
WHY ISSUES?
• Teaching through social issues is learning for life and about life. It involves the students in the world outside the classroom and it stimulates thought as well as interest through all the four skills.
• This approach to learning helps to develop students as responsible citizens.
• It stimulates the students’ curiosity about the things that they read.
• Today’s students are surrounded by media of every kind: for example, radio, television, newspapers, the Internet. They are constantly confronted by world events and issues.
By bringing these into the classroom as the basis of learning about language, we are providing continuity between their private lives and their school lives.
• With an issues-based approach, learning becomes natural and constant. It is not just school work, it is life. If you are interested and engaged by an issue, and you have an opinion on it, you are going to talk, listen, read and write. This will happen because the students want to communicate!
The opposite page contains a summarised example of an issues-based approach, involving the integration of the four macro-skills. The issue is based on the ‘Sixth Billionth Baby’, born on 12 October, 1999. (see below).
AN ISSUES-BASED TEACHING CYCLE: FORM SIX.
THE SIX BILLIONTH BABY BRIEFING ON WORLD POPULATION
Six Billion ... and Counting
On Oct. 12, give or take a few days, the world's population reaches an alarming milestone. But the growth rate has begun to ease, and next century’s rise will not be as steep as modern-day Malthusians once predicted.
The worst crunch is coming to the poorest regions
Paper C
Resources and Tasks
A reading comprehension exercise could be based on the editorial from the SCMP dealing with the topic of overpopulation, an analysis piece, or even a news story. An exercise could involve: (i) the rearranging of paragraphs from news stories on the topic; (ii) a cloze activity:
blanking out some words in one of the articles; and (iii) summary cloze. These need to be devised by the teacher, but if teachers can share their teaching materials, then the load can be shared. It is helpful to get the students to set the exercises, to exchange them with each other, and to mark those that they set. Similar activities can be set for the other skills in Paper C.
Paper D
Resources and Tasks
Paper D targets oral skills, with students preparing presentations on the materials they have been working with, and engaging in a focused discussion on the topic. Other activities might include debating, speeches, news reports, short plays or dialogues, interviews, and so on.
Here, the same issue can be used in a variety of forms, so that the students can become quite familiar with it.
Paper E
Resources and Tasks
Various resources can be collated for this paper: for example, newspaper photos, editorials from the SCMP, graphs on population distribution, or articles on population pressure. Tasks can then be set which are relevant to the Practical Skills Paper.
TRY THIS IDEA
Look at the editorial and the front page of today’s newspaper. What issues are covered? Choose one issue and develop a range of activities based around it.
1.2 PROMOTING LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH CREATIVITY
WHY CREATIVITY?
• Students who enjoy their learning will learn and retain more.
• Students’ different learning styles can be catered for, so more students will succeed.
• Students are actively involved, so they are more likely to learn and retain what they learn.
• Students have opportunities to be involved in decision-making.
• Students’ confidence is increased.
• Students are engaged in the task.
• Students are extended.
• Teachers feel more satisfied.
WHAT IS CREATIVITY?
• Using flair and imagination.
• Making something new or adapting something.
• Using all our senses.
• Taking risks.
SOME IDEAS TO TRY
These ideas all relate to the use of words in an active way. Decide on your focus - meaning, form (vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation) or fluency - and be very clear about your expected outcomes. You can adapt these ideas to fit a wide variety of tasks.
✎ Put a word on the board. Choose an active verb like scratch, push, or stroke. Have the students repeat the word and perform the action simultaneously. The teacher should model the activity, giving examples of nouns to combine with the verbs. Notice that the sound and energy will change according to the noun being used - Are you pushing an elephant or a piece of paper?
✎ Write a sequence of words on the board. Try “slip”, “slide”, “topple” and “bump”.
What do the words suggest? Adverbs can be used too.
✎ Write a theme, such as weather, on the board: have the students brainstorm the topic.
For example, there could be a violent wind, blowing, tossing, howling, battering, flattening. In groups, the students can speak and move simultaneously.
Use a word with an -ing ending to develop a group story or an extended description.
Provide a starter such as “I saw a ...” An example might be “I saw a feather floating”.
Ask the students to add to this in round robin fashion.
STORY-TELLING IN THE CLASSROOM
WHY TELL STORIES?
Story-telling is creative, enjoyable and useful as a starting point for other language work and it gives students listening and fluency practice.
CASE STUDY: THE ENORMOUS TURNIP
A folk tale is reproduced below. Story-telling is different from reading aloud. If you intend to re-tell a story you need to know it thoroughly, and feel sufficiently at home with the characters to be able to use their voices. Use movement and gestures if you wish. Pace, pauses and vocal variety are important when story-telling.
When the story has been told, ask the students to re-tell it orally or to write it down as they remember it. Story-telling can also be an end in itself. Many other language activities can be devised using the same material. Several groups of students could produce a play based on the story: one group writing a script, another group improvising (acting without a script).
“Once upon a time in a far-away country, an old man and an old woman lived in a little old house in the country. Sometimes their grand-daughter visited them. They had a dog and a cat. A little grey mouse lived in the house, too.
One day, the old man planted some turnips. Every day, he watered those turnips and said “Grow, grow, little turnips, grow sweet. Grow, grow, little turnips, grow strong.”
One turnip grew very big and strong, so one day, the old man went out to pull the turnip up for dinner. But that turnip was too big and strong for him to pull up, so the old man called the old woman : “Wife! Wife!
Come and help me pull up this turnip!” The old woman held onto the old man and he held onto the turnip, but still they could not pull it up, so the old woman called the grand-daughter.
The grand-daughter pulled the old woman and the old woman pulled the old man and the old man pulled the turnip, but still they couldn’t pull that turnip out of the ground.”
Keep telling the story in this way until the dog, the cat and the mouse have all joined in.
It’s the mouse that makes the difference, and they all have turnip for dinner!
TRY THIS IDEA
• Find another folk tale to use in your class. Ask your students to ask their elderly relatives to tell them an “old story”. They can then re-tell it in English.
B U T T E R F L Y
HIGH LIGHT FLOATING
ZIGZAGGING GREEN EXPLODING
GLASS BENDING BAMBOO
PUSH ELASTIC WHISPERING
FIRE SOFT DANGEROUS
SMASHING GREEN SMASHING
SILENT MONSTER BUILDING
COLOURED BANGING SHINING
T Y P H O O N
S N A K E
D R A G O N
D R E A M
1.3 LEARNING THROUGH POETRY
WHY POETRY?
• Poetry is language at its most inspiring.
• Poetry is capable of conveying meaning on many levels, from the simplest to the most abstract. This enables students to engage in “higher” levels of thinking.
• Poetry is “a new way of seeing” and as such it fosters the development of creativity and originality. At the same time it can stimulate the joy of experimenting with language.
• Poetry can produce strong feelings in the reader/writer. Such responses have been shown to assist in language retention over longer periods of time.
• The poetic form can be used with all students: from those who have the most basic language knowledge to senior students who may have advanced levels of language.
• Creating poetry helps students to find, learn and retain new vocabulary, because the desire to express comes from within themselves rather than being imposed from without.
GETTING STARTED
The following exercise helps students to create simple images which form the basis of all good poems: try asking them to link as many of the words in the table as possible by drawing lines between them. For example, BUTTERFLY could be linked to SILENT, SOFT, LIGHT, SHINING etc. The blank spaces could be used for new words created by the students.
FOLLOWING UP
Students can then be encouraged to use the following form as a model for their own poems.
They can be illustrated, decorated and displayed or put into a class poetry folder.
Did you ever see a snake?
Zig-zagging, fork-tongued, elastic-jawed.
SOME OTHER IDEAS TO TRY
HAPPINESS IS:
SLEEPING, HAPPINESS IS BEING WITH YOU
EATING, HAPPINESS IS A SMILING FACE
DREAMING, HAPPINESS IS THE SCENT OF SPRING
HOLIDAYS. HAPPINESS IS HIDING IN THE CLOUDS
Interesting poems which students enjoy creating are experiments with the form of a poem. Try getting students to write words so that together they make the shape of the object being described, such as rain, a star. An example is given below.
Jelly fish This simple idea can be used to describe
anything. A poem can consist of a single word per line, or a complex idea can be expressed with many words per line. Try:
LOVE is, FRIENDSHIP is, WINTER is etc.
or, LOVE is:
L aughter O penness V aluable E verlasting
1.4 INTRODUCING DRAMA TO SUPPORT LANGUAGE WORK
WHY USE DRAMA?
• Drama offers the chance for authentic and enjoyable communication.
• No special environment is needed. The classroom can be your stage.
• A few minutes of drama can give life to a lesson.
• Children often learn best when they do not know they are learning.
• Drama resources are easy to find and are plentiful.
SOME IDEAS TO TRY
Problem, crisis, solution - - - one student from a group of three states an imaginary problem. “It is raining”. The second adds to this problem, creating a mini crisis. “I have no umbrella”. The third solves the problem. “You can both share my umbrella”. They take turns and the game continues.
Expert: yes, and - - - is also a lot of fun. In pairs students pretend to be experts on a subject, for example juggling. They then hold a conversation for the benefit of an imaginary audience, a kind of workshop. Everything they say must begin with “Yes, and ...” and reinforce what their partner has said. “Today we are going to talk about juggling and the most important thing about juggling is concentration”. “Yes, and concentration will help you keep all of your balls in the air together. Practice is also important”. Each speaker has to pick up and elaborate the point made by the previous speaker.
Improvisation from a strip cartoon - - - photocopy a strip-cartoon from the newspaper, either with or without the given dialogue. Students can then build a story around the
“scene” in the cartoon, or dramatise it as it stands.
Four-line dialogues - - - simple dialogues, taken from every day conversation, can be readily created. Try not to make it too obvious what the context is or even the subject under discussion. Have pairs of students study the dialogues and try to put in enough emphasis, intonation and action to communicate to an audience what is going on and the relationship between the speakers. As preparation, you can show brief television excerpts and ask students what is happening. They will pick up on verbal and visual clues and learn how to incorporate them into their dialogues. Later, give slips of paper to the students with emotions written on them and ask them to perform their dialogues using that emotion. Other students can try to guess what was written on the paper.
THEATRE SPORTS
You could try ‘theatre sports’ or improvisational games in the classroom. There are many theatre sports sites on the Internet. You could start by looking at www.theatresports.com. Theatre sports activities do not require any alteration for use in the classroom and they can easily be taught by demonstration. Such games can be used to prepare students for their HKCEE and UE English oral examinations, especially in the area of listening and responding to other students’ comments.
Theatre sports work well with senior and middle- level students and can lead to the possible introduction of a theatre sports club after school.
Junior students often respond well to action songs and poems. Combining speaking and action helps to reinforce the memory and understanding of language items. One could use onomatopoeia, verbs of action and narrative poetry to explore meaning.
STORY-TELLING AND DRAMA
Story-telling and drama can be combined in the exercise, “So I’ll...”. The first player makes any kind of statement. For instance, “It is a lovely day out.” The next player in the line says, “WHAT YOU ARE SAYING IS THAT it is a lovely day out, SO I WILL go for a walk.” The goal is to say something logical which moves the story along.
The next player would say “WHAT YOU ARE SAYING IS THAT you’ll go for a walk, SO I WILL come too.” The teacher can always add an idea if the group is stuck or model the first half of the next sentence to keep things moving.
The object of “Speaking With One Voice”, is to have the group speak as if they were one person.
This is done, not by having one person take the lead, but by having the group share each word as it is formed. The players need to all be looking at each other, especially the mouths and eyes of the other students, and concentrating hard. Give the students a familiar story to tell the first time and model the activity by using mime and gesture until they get the idea.
Another way of telling a story is to have each player in the circle contribute a word at a time.
If the first person to speak says “Johnny” the next person could say, “is”, the next person would say “lazy”. And so on. The best way to
help the players build stories is to try and keep them in the present tense. The word-at-a-time stories should also make sense. Again, start them off with a familiar story to build confidence.
Instead of offering the witty word that will make everyone laugh, they should add the next most logical word. One can take a turn by adding punctuation. Simply say, “full stop”, or whatever is appropriate. Banning “and” and “but” are good ways to keep people thinking and working hard.
If the students feel comfortable working with a small audience comprised of the rest of the group, activities where each student in the group takes a turn can be useful. Create an information desk and have one student be the person who works there. Each student then approaches the desk and asks for things that one might find in a department store. They are expected to make strong character choices, and make inquiries related to their characters. The help desk person is neutral and helpful to all the players who come along. This activity helps the students create a physical sense of their verbal request and develop the use of body language. It can be something as simple as someone who has a headache and needs a pill, or someone who cannot see very well who needs glasses.
1.5 INTEGRATING I.T. INTO ENGLISH TEACHING AND LEARNING USING SOFTWARE
WHY USE COMMERCIAL SOFTWARE?
• It has far more patience than you do!
• It is kind and consistent in its treatment of errors.
• It has an enormous capacity for storing and manipulating information.
• It provides a wonderful change of scene for teachers and students alike.
Choose your software carefully
• Beware of gimmicks and products that have not been widely trialled and tested.
• CD-ROMs are best suited to extension work. They were never intended to be used by an entire class, like textbooks. (The major exception is the use of keyboarding-skills programs.)
• Double-check the hardware and system requirements of all purchases, as many commercial packages will not run on Windows NT.
• Beware of the native-speaker language demands and the idiomatic speech used in many North American packages. Choose “grade levels” carefully. Try before you buy.
• Budget ahead for software purchases, and consider purchasing a cupboard to house all your Panel’s software in the computer room itself.
Classroom management issues
• Plan your Panel’s IT-focus, level by level. All students need efficient English language keyboarding skills. This is best built into every Form One learning programme, either as a part of English, or as a separate class. Form Two or Three could have a focus on extended writing, with a double-period allocated to word-processing every week. Upper forms can be required to submit their assignments in typed form, or to submit them via e-mail.
• Seat the “experienced” computer users among the “less experienced”.
• Promote laboratory layouts in which the teacher can see the screens, not the faces. Place computers in “islands” and around the walls of the room.
TRY THIS IDEA
• Progressive stories: once students are familiar with word-processing commands and skills, ask each one to write the opening sentence of a story.
Then ask each student to move to the next terminal, where they type the second sentence of another story. Gradually rotate the students around the room, allowing an increasing amount of time for reading, until you ask them to end the story in front of them with one final sentence. The finished products can be saved, printed or read aloud.
USING THE INTERNET
WHY USE THE INTERNET?
• It is the ultimate ‘self-access’ facility for both teachers and students.
• It is an infinite source of information, the vast majority of which is in English.
• It provides a wealth of international communication possibilities.
Where to begin?
The most important starting point for teachers wishing to learn more about using the Internet is undoubtedly Dave’s ESL Cafe. The address of this website is: www.eslcafe.com. Here you will find links to the complete A to Z of English teaching and learning. “Dave” is Dave Sperling, who is also the author of a most comprehensive guidebook to the Internet for English teachers.
Other websites to try
If you would like to devise a puzzle for your class using your current vocabulary lists, then try www.puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com. Here, you will be able to produce custom-made crosswords and word-search activities for your own classes. Another “goldmine” of class activities is to be found at www.englishclub.net.
An excellent local web-resource for all English teachers is the University of Hong Kong’s Telenex.
This site can be found at www.telenex.hku.hk/telec/mainmenu.htm.
Keep your eyes open for children’s Internet guidebooks. These contain a wealth of websites that are well-suited to the ESL learner.
Classroom management issues
If your entire class is ‘surfing’ the Internet at the same time, there may be considerable delays in downloading time, as most school networks are not designed for such ‘heavy traffic’. Try downloading entire sites onto a number of computers, so that some students can work on these sites ‘off-line’. Make sure that your school has installed a ‘filter’ program, such as Net Nanny, to keep students away from undesirable websites.
TRY THIS IDEA
• Keep an Internet-site notebook beside your computer.
1.6 MOTIVATING THE HARD-TO-TEACH
WHY MOTIVATE?
• The well-known applied linguist, Pit Corder, once said, “Given motivation, anyone can learn any language.” Motivation to learn is absolutely essential in language learning.
• Low-achievers are probably students whose previous language-learning experiences have been unsuccessful and discouraging.
• When low-achievers are grouped together, their lack of motivation can be compounded by other self-esteem and peer-related factors, lowering their overall motivation to learn.
• Research has shown that the relationship between motivation and successful learning is actually a two-way process. The experience of successful learning is, in itself, motivating.
QUOTES FROM THE NEW ENGLISH SYLLABUS
• “Language learning activities must be related to learners’ needs, interests and daily life experiences; they must be authentic and purposeful, as well as engaging the learners in genuine acts of communication.” (Section 1.4.3)
• “Teaching efficiency is improved when the learners and their learning are the focus of attention, instead of the teacher and his/her teaching.” (Section 1.4.4)
• “All English teachers must take on the responsibility for selecting and adopting suitable tasks from different materials, or designing tasks for their own learners.” (Section 4.2.5) English Language Syllabuses for Secondary Schools (Secondary 1-5).
SOME IDEAS TO TRY
• Low-achievers are, generally speaking, not interested in the types of coursebooks that have “let them down” in the past. Some commercially available textbooks make use of language and situations that are beyond the life-experiences of typical low-achieving Hong Kong students.
• Realia, real-life reading and imagery from consumer- and popular-culture may be far more appealing to them. Ask students to bring along an everyday item that has some English words in it. Supplement these materials with anything else that you can find at home: for example, instructions for assembling a toy, song lyrics, pamphlets, menus, flyers, maps, tickets, bank forms, postal charges tables, receipts, weather forecasts from the newspaper, cartoons etc.
• With student assistance, laminate these everyday items and turn them into workcards.
Gradually build up a class-kit of student-produced materials.
• Make greater use of drawing, especially in vocabulary development (rather than using translation). Ask students to convert a simple story into a comic strip. Display their efforts!
• Try using the newspaper. Simple exercises with the newspaper can help students to develop their English ability in many dimensions: for example, interpersonal, knowledge and experience.
TWENTY TIPS TO BOOST SELF-ESTEEM, BOTH IN AND OUT OF CLASS
✎ Use gestures that communicate praise - high fives, thumbs up, OK hand-sign.
✎ Notice little things - watches, sports shoes, new glasses, haircuts, pencil cases.
✎ Smile more often - look pleased to see students; walk into class with a smile.
✎ Get up close - go down to desk-level; get right into groups; proximity breaks barriers.
✎ Seek out quiet students from the crowd and acknowledge them.
✎ Be consistent in your approach to individuals. Start afresh after any clash.
✎ When you hear or notice something praiseworthy about a student, acknowledge it.
✎ Greet students everywhere and say, “Thanks”, often.
✎ Make praise in class simple and private - “Nice pen”, “Good work”, “I like that”.
✎ If the culture permits it, tactile praise is quick and easy - a pat on the back, a handshake.
✎ Wish students, “Good Luck”, for example for tests and sports.
✎ Accidentally on purpose allow students to overhear praise spoken to others.
✎ Acknowledge observed strengths regularly, e.g. helpfulness, athletic prowess, neatness.
✎ Be available for any personal approach by the less confident, even if it’s
“inconvenient”.
✎ Don’t engage students for too long in conversations.
✎ Distribute objects of value occasionally (e.g. photos), rather than token objects often.
✎ Let students feel as though they are controlling your informal conversations with them.
✎ Wave to students outside school.
✎ Animate English conversations with supportive gestures.
✎ Don’t be a purist - a two-word conversation is better than none at all.
PUPILS LEARN BEST WHEN THEY:
• are challenged in their thinking;
• are involved in problem-solving and investigation work;
• take responsibility for their own learning and become increasingly self reliant;
• work collaboratively and co-operatively;
• use a range of resources;
• plan, review, evaluate and modify their work;
• build on previous experience and make links between different areas of learning;
and
• draw on their experiences outside the classroom and relate their learning to real life.
A newspaper ‘scavenger hunt’ is highly
motivating if set at an appropriate level
of language and interest.
1.7 ESTABLISHING AN ENGLISH CORNER
WHY HAVE AN ENGLISH CORNER?
English corners are proving to be very useful in many Hong Kong schools. They can be used to promote good teaching and learning practices and also to enhance professional collaboration amongst English teachers. For example, the English corner at Ju Ching Chu Secondary School (Kwai Chung) is used for the following.
• As a teaching area for the NET’s Form 5 and Form 6 oral classes and for the NET’s after school Form 6 and Form 7 writing classes. Other teachers also use the English Corner occasionally, especially for group discussions.
• As the NET’s office (an adjacent room).
• As a drama rehearsal space.
• As a games activity centre: for example, Scrabble/Hangman/Monopoly/Cluedo.
English Club (seniors) lead juniors.
• For speech (verse-speaking) practice during recess and lunchtimes.
• For English Panel meetings.
• For English Club meetings.
• As an English video screening centre. For example, “Titanic” for Form 3, ”My Best Friend’s Wedding” for Forms 6 and 7.
• As a centre for drama games and a preparation area for performances: for example drama, music and dance.
KEY FACTORS IN DEVELOPING A SUCCESSUL ENGLISH CORNER
➢ The COMBINED SUPPORT of a senior manager, the English Panel Chair and the NET is essential in creating a SHARED VISION for the development of the school’s English Corner.
➢ This shared vision must be PROMOTED effectively within the school, to both students and teachers.
➢ A PLANNED rather than an IMPROVISED approach is essential.
➢ A SEPARATE ROOM is needed. NOT a part of the library, or a storage space or a changing room or a sun umbrella by the canteen, which happens currently in some Hong Kong schools.
➢ The English Corner must be appropriately RESOURCED, both in terms of audio-visual aids and learning resources.
➢ Teacher(s) in charge of the English Corner should be given a REDUCED TEACHING LOAD.
➢ It should be appreciated that a successful English Corner can become an IMPORTANT FOCUS
for the development of the school’s English programme.
At Ju Ching Chu Secondary School (Kwai Chung), a separate English Corner and adjacent office have been created by adapting the space used for the school’s discipline room, as shown in the photograph below.
SOME RECOMMENDATIONS ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE CORNERS
At an experience-sharing session held in October, 1999 (see Pages 36 and 37), attended by local English teachers and NETs, the colleagues involved agreed on the following recommendations regarding English Corners.
• That all schools should have a policy regarding the development of their English corners, the implementation of which should be monitored and evaluated.
• That students should be required to visit the English corner and, where feasible, receive support from senior students as well as teaching staff.
• That every school’s English corner should be in a room containing sufficient space and air conditioning.
• That there should be timetabled staff in charge, not just the NET.
• That funds should be made available for equipment, such as video machines, cassette recorders, headphones and computers.
• That appropriate technical assistance should be provided to support the resourcing of the English corner.
• That English Panels should be updated annually on developments relating to English corners in Hong Kong’s schools.
1.8 DEVELOPING A SELF-ACCESS LEARNING CENTRE
WHY DEVELOP A SELF-ACCESS LEARNING CENTRE?
• To cater for the needs of individual students, allowing them to work at their own level and reach their own potential, rather than that of the class average.
• To develop in students a life-long learning interest as they become independent learners.
• To foster a sense of control over academic success through independent study as students focus on their specific areas of need.
• To create a fundamental shift in focus from teacher-centred learning to student-centred learning.
• To develop language and IT skills through focused tasks, interactive CD ROMS, video, tape, teacher support and diagnostic testing.
WHAT SHOULD SUCH AN IDEAL CENTRE CONTAIN?
✓ A bank of computers (just a few will do) with connections to the Internet.
✓ A range of software, in particular CD-Roms, which focus on language learning.
✓ A display of websites which offer relevant tasks in language learning.
✓ A mini language laboratory for students to enhance their listening skills.
✓ Video/TV units through which students can access interactive video learning.
✓ An extensive range of varied written activities (listening, writing, grammar and tenses, vocabulary, reading, comprehension) divided into levels according to language level, not form level. All tasks need to have an answer key or offer some form of self- evaluation. Consider a common format that supplements/complements classroom teaching or offers tasks beyond such constraints. Tasks need to be achievable within limited time periods (i.e. half an hour) and to appeal to the students. This constitutes the main workload and requires extensive time commitment.
✓ A facilitator/co-ordinator/teacher to direct students, administer diagnostic testing where required, supervise activities, assist students, record self-access use, review materials and procedures, and respond to the ever-changing needs of students, staff and cross-curricular dimensions. This role can be shared amongst all members of the Panel if support from the Principal has first been assured. The role may be defined by the opening hours. Consider whether self-access learning will be timetabled into the English course or operate out of class hours.
✓ Vocabulary worksheets focusing on a different topic each week.
✓ A suggestion box for students’ input regarding centre procedures and materials.
✓ A display promoting new learning materials, their applications and relevance.
✓ A referral system for students who need extra help with language learning.
✓ A record-keeping system for the signing in/out of students, tasks completed and other administrative tasks (to be used to assess future directions of the centre).
✓ A monthly timetable of activities with particular emphasis on spoken language.
WEBSITES FOR STUDENTS
The following websites are useful for student self- access use:
• www.uitech.ac.ip/~itesli/quizzes
• www.edunet.com/english/practice.html
• www.but.ff/~rvilmi/help/grammar
• www.pacific.net/~sperling/quiz#grammar
THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
Establishing such a centre may take months, or the best part of a year, depending on the support of the school, the involvement of colleagues and the facilities available. Yet its impact can be far-reaching, as it should become a permanent facility within the school long after the NETs have returned home. Its future success will largely depend on an understanding of its aims by all the members of the school community, and on the ability of teachers to produce relevant learning materials and to stay abreast of new technology in language learning. Both of these areas need appropriate and continual professional development, promotion and evaluation. The photographs below were taken in the self-access learning centre at St. Francis Canossian College.
MATERIALS
When developing materials, consider a common cover sheet which states the:
• Title
• Level
• Aims
• Instructions
• Time and materials required
• Reference to materials producer(s)
1.9 USING EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES TO SUPPORT LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
As an exta-curricular activity, the NET and a local Chinese English teacher from NTHYK Tai Po District Secondary School took a group of twenty-five Form Two and Three students to Chek Lap Kok International Airport.
The students had to complete a survey sheet after interviewing several foreign visitors in English in the airport departure area. They worked in pairs or threes in order to enhance their confidence in approaching the visitors.
They were also asked to identify various signs and features in the airport written in English.
Comments afterwards from the students suggested that they had greatly enjoyed this English immersion exercise, particularly after they had overcome their initial shyness in approaching the visitors.
In many Hong Kong schools the NETs are involved in extra-curricular activities with the aim of enhancing their English language proficiency. Examples from four schools are included on these two pages.
AN AIRPORT VISIT
“This activity was very novel. It was a good chance for me to try to speak in English to foreigners”, said Wendy Cheuk, Form 2D.
LEARNING ENGLISH THROUGH POTTERY MAKING
Polly Cheng, Form 4A
In January, 2000, members of the Pottery Groups decided to gain some inspiration by looking at the works of celebrated potters.
These were found in the Flagstaff House Museum of Teaware in Hong Kong Park, and in the Chinese Antiquities Gallery of the Hong Kong Museum of Art.
Two Form 4 Pottery Groups meet once a week in the art room at Munsang College. We have had strong support from the Principal, who sees it as a cross linguistic activity.
Colleagues in the Art Department have also been very helpful. I was fortunate in being able to purchase a new kiln.
We began with hand building: pinch pots, coiled pots, slab, building and free form, getting used to the characteristics of the clay, and to techniques and tools. Getting messy was the biggest feature, and very therapeutic too!
As far as possible, I encourage the Group to speak in E n g l i s h a n d t h e y t r y t o t e a c h m e C a n t o n e s e ! Communication is of course vital in a hands-on activity like this, so the full range of communicative techniques have to be used. Both Groups are very happy and I feel they learn English in a very creative way.
We learned a lot from both exhibitions and really enjoyed the afternoon’s excursions.
We were very grateful to our teacher for organising them.
Soccer helps English goal
Having enthusiastic foreign teachers as football coaches is motivating students at one school to take a greater interest in language lessons, writes MICHAEL TAYLOR
Mr Henderson agreed, saying familiarity on the soccer pitch was creating a desire among his students to communicate with him in English.
Students at the school have traditionally had little first-hand contact with people from other countries.
“At first they were a little afraid of them,” Mr Chow said of their reaction to the foreign teachers.
“But now, they have become really interested. They’ve asked from time to time if we could arrange more training for them after school.”
Mr Chow said linking English to soccer had changed the way the students regarded learning another language.
“In the past, they just learned v o c a b u l a r y a n d grammar,” he said.
“Now they are l e a r n i n g t h e l a n g u a g e t o communicate with others and also to learn something that they are interested in.”
Form Two student Chan Ka- chun said having a NET as his football coach had increased his interest in learning English.
“I am more attentive in the classroom now and I can also answer questions in English,” he said.
Since the NETs arrived, the students had been more willing to speak out, third-former Chan Man- kit said.
To Tsz-wai, a student in Form T h r e e , s a i d M r L o h a d b e e n nicknamed “Owen” because he l o o k e d l i k e P r e m i e r L e a g u e footballer Michael Owen.
“Just like Owen, he runs very fast and he’s a very skilful player.”
De La Salle lost its match against La Salle College 2-1. Now if they could do something about that weak defence...
DRAMA BUILDS A LANGUAGE BRIDGE
The NET at CCC Kei Heep Secondary School started a Drama Group, an offshoot of the English Club, which is one of her extra-curricular responsibilities.
Students flock to join. The Group meets for an hour each week. During each session there are warm-up activities, relaxation, voice and speech exercises. Improvised drama activities follow and, finally, there is a rehearsal of a short play. The Group's activities have greatly enhanced the students' English language proficiency.
‘
‘
I perceived this as a means of making English
more relevant
SOUTH CHINA SUNDAY POST 22 NOVEMBER 1998 When Bill Henderson, a native
English-speaking teacher (NET) at De La Salle Secondary School in Sheung Shui, learned some of his Form Two and Form Three students were playing against La Salle College in Kowloon City, he asked if he could watch.
A n a v i d f o o t b a l l f a n , M r H e n d e r s o n s t a r t e d y e l l i n g encouragement to his students from the sidelines. To his surprise, they seemed to understand what he was saying - even though they didn’t understand him in class.
“I noticed that they were actually responding to some of the suggestions that I
w a s c a l l i n g i n English, like ‘up the w i n g ’ , ” h e s a i d .
“They seemed to understand what I was saying because of the context.
“So I perceived this as a means of m a k i n g E n g l i s h
more relevant to the junior form students who had very low English levels, poor motivation, and little exposure to the language.”
Mr Henderson and fellow teacher Marcus Lo were asked by school principal Chow Shek-fai to coach the school’s junior soccer team. They jumped at the chance.
“I think that both soccer and E n g l i s h a r e i n t e r n a t i o n a l languages,” Mr Lo said. “Although the students don’t understand English, soccer is something they do understand. This has helped to break down language barriers and encourage teamwork,” he said.
The results have spilled over into the classroom.
“I’ve seen a change in the students. Now they are more e n t h u s i a s t i c w i t h r e s p e c t t o learning English. I perceived this as a means of making English more relevant,” Mr Lo said.
On the ball... Bill Henderson with his De La Salle students
If we treat the NET as an additional English teacher to reduce the general workload of the English Panel, a local teacher might do equally well, and that defeats the purpose of the scheme.
We hope to take full advantage of our NET, not only as an English teacher to benefit our students, but also to bring innovative ideas to our English panel, and to serve as a human resource to support the professional development of all our teachers.
Benedict Ng, Principal, Cheung Sha Wan Catholic Secondary School
2.0 GOOD PRACTICE IN PROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION WITHIN THE SCHEME
• One significant outcome of the NET scheme should be its influence on the teaching and learning of English in Hong Kong's schools. This section includes a summary of the ways in which the scheme can stimulate professional discussion and collaboration, both within and between schools.
• ‘TALKABOUTS’ are included in the section as discussion
points to enable Principals and teachers to review aspects
of their current practice with respect to the NET scheme.
Team teaching at HKMA K S Lo College 2.1 TEACHING TOGETHER IN THE CLASSROOM
At HKMA K S Lo College the NET team-teaches with other members of the English Panel in virtually all her lessons. All parties were involved in the initial planning. The previous NET was involved in oral lessons with a very large number of classes. The senior management team felt that this had not worked, so the new NET now concentrates her teaching in Forms One, Four and Six. In this way the NET can model what she feels is good practice in teaching and learning in English. She feels that she gets to know her students better, which means that their individual learning needs are being met much more effectively.
WHY TEAM-TEACH?
Benefits for the students
• Students seem to gain a great deal from gathering information and being given examples and explanations in two languages.
• Students are given quick feedback and attention because there are two teachers present at all times. This certainly helps when you have large classes.
• Students can become more easily involved in small group and pair activities and quickly recognise that communication between their teachers and peers is a natural part of the language learning process.
Benefits for the teachers
• Teachers can monitor and give immediate feedback to students.
• Discipline problems are lessened when there are two people to deal with classroom issues, particularly when one of them speaks the student’s first language.
• Staff share ideas and different approaches in a natural way. Professional development occurs during every lesson.
• New staff can learn a great deal about school culture when working closely with a staff member who has been there longer. A feeling of ‘belonging’ develops more quickly.
LOOKING BACK ...
“As a new NET coming into the Hong Kong system, team-teaching was a great way to start my experience. It meant that, from the beginning, I was treated as the member of a team. At our school, all the English Panel members are given the opportunity to voice their opinions and to discuss ideas, so from the outset I had no feelings of alienation or isolation.”
The NET, HKMA K S Lo College.
THE DEVELOPMENTAL SEQUENCE AT HKMA K S LO COLLEGE, AS SEEN BY THE NET
Stage 1: Getting to know one another
“In the beginning there was a lot of trial and error as we became used to our different styles within the classroom. At this stage, I did all of the planning and most of the delivery with the local English teacher monitoring, explaining in Cantonese and taking an equal responsibility for classroom management. We exchanged ideas and talked about what would work with each class. Gradually, we began to use the strengths that each of us had in order to direct our lessons in an interesting way. A feeling of trust and co-operation developed.”
Stage 2: Developing the team-teaching process
“After a number of months, the teamwork aspect of the teaching became more of a reality. Both teachers in each lesson participated in an active way within the classroom and began to take a lead with some of the content. It was a much more balanced approach so that the students saw their teachers reversing roles. At some point I would be leading the class and at other times the regular teacher would take over this role. This was a gradual process, developed over a period of months. This co-teaching did not occur naturally. We discussed different approaches and were keen to try out certain activities and methods in other classes.”
Stage 3: Ensuring more systematic collaboration
“Having learnt to trust one another and to value our respective approaches, we are now beginning to collaborate much more systematically. We recognise the need to pre-plan our lessons carefully in order to ensure effective classroom management, and also to find time to review our work together after the lessons. To achieve this final stage, I feel it might be better for me to work with a smaller number of teachers.”
TALKABOUT FOR TEACHERS AND PRINCIPALS
• Discuss whether team teaching might usefully be introduced, or further developed, in some of your school's English lessons.
Joint planning for individual classes is a n o t h e r s t r a t e g y f o r p r o f e s s i o n a l collaboration within the NET scheme. In the current academic year the NET and the English Panel Chair at Cheung Sha Wan Catholic Secondary School have planned collaboratively for two Form 2 classes, one of which they share, the other of which the NET teaches for all their English lessons.
Their planning has involved the preparation of school-based materials which both supplement and extend the content of published text books used by the English Panel. These materials include packs of videos, songs, poems and computer-assisted learning aids which are thought to be particularly relevant to the individual needs of the Form 2 students.
The NET has greatly appreciated the English Panel Chair’s willingness to develop teaching ideas and strategies outside the confines of the textbook. Their collective aim has been to integrate the four English language skills whenever appropriate.
The two classes have some concurrent lessons so that they can participate in information gap activities. Each class is given different information and students are paired to swap this in English. The two classes also take part in combined visits outside the school.
The Form 2 materials the two colleagues have prepared during this academic year will be a particularly useful resource bank for the English Panel to use in subsequent years.
SOME BENEFITS OF PROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION
THEIR SHARED VIEWS
• “Collaboration saves so much time. We can both search for relevant teaching materials”
• “Collaboration is rewarding and stimulating”
• “There is mutual support”
• “Ideas and strategies come through sharing and just chatting”
• “Collaboration is fun”
THE NET’S VIEW
“I value my colleague’s local perspective. She obviously has m u c h m o r e k n o w l e d g e , understanding and sensitivity to the local situation”.
T H E E N G L I S H P A N E L CHAIR’S VIEW
“I value the contemporary Western approaches to English l a n g u a g e t e a c h i n g m y colleague brings to the school.
T h i s p r o v i d e s u s w i t h a n e x c e l l e n t c a t a l y s t f o r discussion”.
2.2 JOINT PLANNING FOR INDIVIDUAL CLASSES
AN EXAMPLE OF COLLABORATIVE PLANNING ON THE THEME OF CHARITIES
During the current academic year, the NET and the English Panel Chair have undertaken joint planning for Form 2C and 2B at Cheung Sha Wan Catholic Secondary School. The NET takes 2C for all their lessons and 2B for half their lessons.
They prepared an alternative case study on charities to the one included in their textbook.
Their Form 2 materials were based on community work undertaken by Cheung Sha Wan's Form 6 students at the Caritas Lok Yan Sister School. The framework of learning objectives included in the textbook informed their curriculum planning.
The NET and the English Panel Chair took the view that their case study would be good motivator and more relevant for the Form 2 classes. An additional bonus was that the six Form 6 students involved in the community work joined the two classes to talk about their experiences at Caritas and to provide English language support.
TALKABOUT FOR TEACHERS
Consider how your school’s current English language textbooks could be adapted to meet your students’ needs and interests.
Cheung Sha Wan students at Caritas Lok Yan Sister School. These students also support Form 2B and 2C students in their English lessons.
EXTRACTS FROM A FORM 2 WORKSHEET P R E P A R E D B Y T H E N E T A N D T H E ENGLISH PANEL CHAIR
CARITAS LOK YAN SISTER SCHOOL SCHEME
• What is the target group that our school serves?
• What activities have we organised for them?
• We re a n y f u n d - r a i s i n g a c t i v i t i e s organised?
• What do volunteers feel about their experiences?
• What kinds of people are suitable for volunteer work?
• What can we learn from volunteer work?
• Are our students enthusiastic about helping others?
• What can we do to help the needy?
• Which organisations would you like the school to help next year? Why?
2.3 DEVISING SCHOOL-BASED MATERIALS
WHY DEVELOP YOUR OWN MATERIALS?
• All schools have individual schemes of work.
• Published resources do not always cover relevant topics, nor are they always appropriate for the ability and interest levels of our students.
• We want to enjoy English lessons!
• Learning should model language acquisition through communication, not just with the aim of communication.
• Overly high expectations of prior knowledge can bring about failure, while overly low expectations can ignore prior knowledge and be patronising.
The challenges of task-based learning
The new English language syllabus for secondary schools suggests that Task-Based Learning (TBL) will be introduced in 2001 and that TBL will be highly dependent on school-based resources and learning materials.
School-based learning materials serve many purposes. They may allow for the spontaneity of a single lesson or enhance a series or block of lessons. It is important, when materials are produced over a period of time by numerous different individuals, that a collective “ownership”
of the materials is fostered within the English Panel. Some thought needs to be given to creating a “central resource area”, in which all the English resources are stored.
Why make materials of our own when “it’s all in the book”? The answer is, quite simply, that it is not any one book, and that all our students are different. Materials that “strike a chord”
with one learner may not do the same for another. By presenting as wide a range of activities as possible, we will have a better chance of ensuring that all students gain something from them.
When devising learning materials, it is important that the design team keep the following pointers in mind.
➢
Materials should be of interest and relevant to our learners.➢
Open-ended activities are preferable to one-answer exercises.➢
A sense of audience should be fostered by the proposed activities.➢
There needs to be an emphasis on active learning and research.➢
The purposes and assessable outcomes should be made clear to the students.➢
The materials can be used again and again.➢
Sufficient “mileage” should be gained from any one set of stimulus materials.➢
Students should have a record-keeping, filing system for printed materials.A good quality laminating machine is a very worthwhile investment for any English Panel about to embark on school-based materials development.
SOME IDEAS TO TRY: USING PICTURES
Continually collect pictures of people and places from newspapers and magazines. One picture can become the source of dozens of learning activities. Photography magazines are excellent sources of “mood” photographs.
Keep a box in the staff room into which teachers can drop pictures at any time. Roster people to laminate them from time to time. Distribute them at Panel meetings, when everyone can take a few minutes to write some suitable activities for a handful of pictures. Place the pictures and their associated activities into plastic sleeves, and devise a filing system. Any one photo might have a whole collection of activities filed away behind it. Try to avoid “one picture - one activity”.
➢
Autobiography/biography. Write about the person’s life. Each member of the group concentrates on a different age, and then they work together to try to fit the different accounts into a coherent life story. Two students could imagine the same period in the person’s life, and then compare notes. Who does the person remind you of? Does their“mood” remind you of times when you felt the same way? What is happening just outside the picture? Fold or cover the picture and show it to someone else; ask them to comment on the character. Lead into other types of “biographies”. Interview a relative, a friend, a teacher, and write their biography.
➢
Pairs of photographs. Obtain two copies of the same newspaper/magazine and make two identical sets of photographs. In pairs, students describe the person they are looking at, and their partner has to guess which particular photograph they are describing.➢
Blind date. You are going on a blind date with the person in the photograph. What will you wear? Where will you go? What will you talk about? How do you feel about it?➢
Action photographs. Sports and news photos are useful for describing actions, conflicts and interactions between people. You are one of these people. How do you feel right now? How would you react if you were in this situation? How will you relate this incident to your parents when you go home?➢
Places. Extremes of weather, unusual landscapes, other cultures, natural disasters. Describe the scenery, both favourably and unfavourably. Design some creative writing activities.➢
Animals. This animal is your pet. Where will you keep it? How will you feed it? How will you exercise it? How did you acquire such a pet? This animal is unwell. You are a vet.What is wrong with it? How will you treat it?
A picture is worth a thousand words ...
TALKABOUT FOR TEACHERS
Review the ways in which you devise and collate school-based materials.
Could this be done more effectively?
At Cheung Sha Wan Catholic Secondary School the NET has led an English language proficiency course for both teaching and support staff. There have been weekly one- and-a-half-hour sessions on Monday evenings since September, 1999. The course is strongly supported by the Principal, who has attended many of the sessions.
On average, twelve members of staff have attended each session. Cakes or other refreshments are an essential part of the introduction on each occasion! The venue is a recently-refurbished small conference room which provides an excellent base for language work.
The NET’s approach to language teaching with the group is based on a wide range of teaching and learning strategies. She bases much of the work on group discussion of contemporary social issues. Significantly, several members
reported that their approach to teaching and learning has been infuenced by the NET’s approaches to teaching and learning on the course.
The Principal has made an allowance for the NET’s commitment to the course by increasing the amount of non-contact time in her mainstream teaching programme.
The course will continue until the end of May.
A summative evaluation is planned, as well as an end-of-course party!
The NET supports her colleagues’ English language development in other ways. For example, at their request, by checking the model answers they provide for Form 6 students to essays and follow-ups for science experiments. She also clarifies for them the pronunciation of key words in subject text books.
The course in action at Cheung Sha Wan Catholic Secondary School
2.4 SUPPORTING COLLEAGUES’ ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
The NET’s teaching m e t h o d s a r e v e r y interesting and have influenced my own classroom practice.
I enjoy the course as the NET is friendly and pleasant and everyone can speak freely. I have l e a r n t m a n y u s e f u l colloquial expressions.
Participants are actively involved in the session in various activities, for example group discussion and presentation. It’s a good English-speaking e n v i r o n m e n t , s i n c e Chinese is not allowed.
A TYPICAL COURSE SESSION...
The sessions I enjoy the most are the discussions on issues. I feel the urge to express myself. I’m happy that what I say can be understood by others.
WHEN THE PARTICIPANTS WERE ASKED TO COMMENT ON THE COURSE, THIS IS WHAT THEY SAID:
The course helps a lot in building my confidence to speak English. I enjoy the cozy, convivial atmosphere.
S p l e n d i d ! A g o o d c h a n c e f o r c u l t u r a l exchange in a friendly, relaxing climate.
1 In the introduction, the NET asks the course members to explain some of the colloquialisms they discussed in the last session. For example, “I have itchy feet”, “to do something in cold blood”,
“I’m having cold feet”.
2 They then work in pairs, finding their partner who has an opposite word written on paper. Partners write their words on the whiteboard: for example (lethargic/energetic, serious/frivolous).
3 There is then whole class discussion on a poem suggested to the NET by a course member. This reflects on the need to enjoy life’s many opportunities.
Members take turns to read the poem a l o u d . U n f a m i l i a r w o r d s a r e highlighted by the NET.
4 Groupwork follows on a worksheet prepared by the NET.
Life is short: enjoy it!
• What is your favourite way of unwinding?
• How often do you indulge in this activity?
• Do you think you really listen when people talk, or are you too busy?
• W h a t a r e s o m e o f t h e b e s t experiences you’ve had?
5 In a concluding plenary session the course members share their responses to the worksheet.
