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| On Edge by Miss Tan |
Alright....I need to vent.
This time, I have decided to post about what has been on my mind for a couple of weeks now...two things actually: one, the importance of language awareness and, two, pronunciation practice in lessons.
On language awareness, I recently read the introductory pages of Scott Thornbury's Äbout Language, where he emphasizes the importance of having explicit knowledge of the language you are teaching. This hit a nerve for me, and I began nodding my head as I read on, about the need to not only understand grammar rules, but why, for example, verbs remain in the infinitive after modals. This came up in a recent class, while we were comparing the first and second conditional. One of the students asked me..."so what exactly is a 'modal' verb?" OK, if I were not aware of the reason, I might try to get by and say something rudimentary like "Well, because that is how modals work... when you see one, be sure to follow with an infinitive," and pray that that would be the end of it. But because I like to have these questions answered myself, I was happy to be able to explain to him that 'modal' forms alter the mode (way/sense/meaning) of the given verb, giving it a sense of permission (may, might, can), possibility (can, could, might), or obligation (must, should, have to). Undoubtedly, because I was able to pass on this information to this student, I got an added bonus: a smile and a nod, as if saying "yes, that makes sense." :) Sigh.
To me, this is awesome for another two reasons: one, because I feel I am responsibly carrying out my role as an educator, and two, because it is rewarding to be able to assist my learners in this way ... take them a step further, rather than just have them memorize and eventually regurgitate grammar rules. My job becomes much more meaningful to me, and rewarding, when moments like this take place.
At another point in the same lesson, the issue at hand became Pronunciation. While I am a keen observer of how sounds and words combine, I understand that not many of my colleagues or students feel the same. While I feel there is always time to approach the topic in some way (even if through a short task or activity...as a sort of 'daily dose' of their pronunciation medication), I am aware that some learners find it tedious to work on something like this for longer than 5-10 minutes time. So now I would like to know how YOU, my dear reader, approach this. How often do you practice pronunciation in your lessons? How do you feel about this? Your learners? Do you make time for a short task, say weekly or whenever the opportunity comes up?
Hi Lu,
ReplyDeleteA great post and I couldn't agree more. In my learning of Portuguese if somebody can give me a quick explanation for the question 'why?', even if I can't remember it in the future, I feel satisfied. I try to carry this over into my English teaching.
I guess the only problem comes when this explanation starts to meander and takes forever.
In terms of pronunciation, I like to incorporate it into almost everything that I teach. I find that if I do a quick 30 seconds or a minute at a time people don't realise they are practising pronunciation. For me, it is not just about producing language, but also about hearing it and even reading it.
Thank you for 'stopping by.' :)
ReplyDeleteI always consider student questions of great importance because they "challenge" us to further understand our craft. Way I see it, it is always a welcome opportunity for both student AND teacher development.
As for pronunciation, I try and do the same as you. There is a wonderful book called 'Pronunciation Games' (by Mark Hancock: Cambridge) which I use often, and helps to take care of the subtleties in pronouncing certain words (Mum and Ma'am, for example).
Cheers,
Lucia
I know a great deal of teachers who don't know this type of explanation. Of course, the need for explicit understand of grammar is heavily focused on in our teacher training courses that it gives trainees the mistaken impression that language teaching is largely based on a grammar syllabus. Sigh. Rant over.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, it is definitely helpful to understand this stuff as teachers if we keep it in perspective. Now, did they follow it up with 'why are modals in front of verbs and not behind them?' ;)
Hey Ty,
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting. Nope, they did not ask about the position. This, to me, might be because in the Portuguese language, it follows the same word order. Guess I'll have to look up that one as well...just to be prepared. :) Food for thought.
Sad that other Ts misinterpret this need for explicit understanding. It makes our work so much more gratifying and complete when we can pass on these explanations with a good degree of confidence. Makes me feel like I'm doing my job. :)
Cheers.