[etni] Re: MORE ABOUT-I'm asking: what REAL language acquisition can take place in such huge groups?
- From: Sandra Yosef-Hassidim <hassidim@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: ask@xxxxxxxx, Etni <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 08:18:24 -0700 (PDT)
I'm not so sure if 22 out of 35 is such a bad score given the circumstances. I
am a high school teacher and have no experience in teaching technical reading,
but it seems like a mission impossible to teach 35 children how to read a
foreign language. If 22 still manage to learn how to read, wow-that surprises
me. I suspect that most of those kids come with some level of prior
knowledge-either from home teaching (pc games or parents) or private teaching.
Personally, I find it quite impossible to teach groups of 35 high school kids.
And I'm considered an experienced, well-appreciated teacher at my school. It
depends, of course, on one's definition of teaching or learning. Let's be
honest: there can't be any real language acquisition in such huge groups. It's
a farce.
Sandra
----- Original Message ----
From: Ask Etni <ask@xxxxxxxx>
To: Etni <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, September 22, 2008 5:15:12 PM
Subject: [etni] Fw: MORE ABOUT
----- Original Message -----
From: Dr. Rachel Segev-Miller - aki_seg@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: MORE ABOUT
MY TEXT IN CAPS BELOW FOR EASE OF REFERENCE
----- Original Message -----
[1] From: byk - byk@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Return to the question of reading
"Now I know this is not true in every class, and I am certainly not blaming
the teachers for this state of things. Many of them are barely trained, and
are thrown in at the deep end"
OF COURSE TEACHERS ARE NOT TO BLAME
"with no real guidance from their text books"
THE PROBLEM IS THE TEXTBOOK HAS BECOME THE SYLLABUS FOR MANY TEACHERS WHO
FOLLOW IT BLINDLY. A RECENT ISSUE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP HAS BEEN DEVOTED
TO THE ISSUE.
"(And no guidance or knowledge as to how to choose a text book)"
I TEACH TWO COURSES ON TEXTBOOKS: ONE IN THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT, THE OTHER
IN THE ME.D. PROGRAM IN HEBREW. BUT IT'S CERTAINLY NOT ENOUGH [ONE SEMESTER
EACH], AND PEDAGOGICAL INSTRUCTORS SHOULD ALSO DO STH ABOUT IT. I ALSO KNOW
SUCH A COURSE IS NOT OFFERED BY ALL THE COLLEGES.
Of course you may all disagree with me. And of course there are many
different strategies for teaching language. But it should be obvious to
all, that when we have reached 22 pupils out of a class of 35, who need to
be read to, that something is wrong with the way technical readiing
(decoding), is being taught. I am suggesting that much more attention
should be paid to it in the early grades, when the children have the
patience to practice what might later be considered boring.
I AGREE: THERE IS NO READING WITHOUT DECODING [AND VOCABULARY].
[2] From: "Leah Urso" <morahleah@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [etni] Re: teach them to read
"After reading all the responses to Jennifer's letter, I'd like to throw out
a question - doesn't seem clear that a mixture of strategies is the only way
to teach reading? Just as readers use various strategies to understand what
they are reading"
OF COURSE, EXCEPT MOST EFL TEACHERS DON'T KNOW/TEACH THAT MANY READING
STRATEGIES. MY MORE RECENT SURVEY HAS INDICATED 8-10, WHICH IS AN
IMPROVEMENT ON AN EARLIER ONE WHICH INDICATED 5-7. HOWEVER, RESEARCH TO DATE
HAS INDICATED GOOD READERS MAY USE AS MANY AS 140.
"a teacher should expose students to a variety of learning strategies"
READING STRATEGIES CONSTITUTE A SUBCATEGORY OF LEARNING STRATEGIES, AND
SHOULD NOT BE CONFUSED WITH THESE. SEE:
Cohen, A. D. (1998). Strategies in learning and using a second language. New
York: Longman.
AKI
Dr. Rachel [Aki] Segev-Miller
The English Department, The Center of Academic Literacy,
& The M.Ed. Program in Interdisciplinary Education
Kibbutzim College of Education, Technology, and the Arts;
& The M.Ed. Programs in Language Education & Learning and Instruction
Levinsky College of Education
Tel-Aviv, Israel
tel. (w) +972-3-6902362; (h) +972-9-9571560; (mobile) 050-7225822
email: aki_seg@xxxxxxxxxx; aki.segev@xxxxxxxxx
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