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Teaching Matters: How to Add Student Voices to Classroom Discussions
“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.”
-Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), British author and Nobel laureate
This Teacher Edition Tuesday post, a weekly series based on ten teaching tips from the recently released Compelling American Conversations – Teacher Edition, addresses classroom participation and bringing more international student voices into community college and university class discussions.
In our first Teacher Edition Tuesday post, we discussed how to design your classroom into a conversation-friendly space. Set-up, however, remains only one aspect of the issue. For a wide variety of reasons, many international and ESL students remain relucant to share their experiences, speak up, and fully participate. How do we encourage more voices to contribute to classroom discussions? How do we help diverse classes realize their potential to become real global classrooms?
Achieving this openness within the classroom often takes some prompting. Students need to feel safe, welcome, and supported. I find that the best prompts engage each student as an individual.s and cultural informants. Ask your English students about their experiences, home towns, best languages, and cultural traditions. I also urge them to share the historical experiences of their nations. You will get many different answers, some similar and some markedly different. Yet each of these answers could propel a new conversation forward!
Let’s take a look at a worksheet I originally developed as a workshop for international graduate students in the USC Price School of Public Policy,. Many international students – sometimes coming from less open socieites – felt uncomfortable discussing current events and public policy issues. Sometimes they preferred to listen to the professors and find out the “right” answer. The classroom atmosphere where students ask, challenge, and sometimes even debate issues can feel awkward, confusing, and chaotic. Consequently, some faculty felt that American students dominated discussions and international perspectives were sometimes ignored even when 50% of the students came from outside the United States
Yet we need to hear those silent voices in our global classrooms to better understand the modern world. This worksheet was designed to emphasize that all the international students had important information to share on topics with their college classmates. I later included it in the Teacher Edition for Compelling American Conversations . You might want to ask similar questions to ask your English language learners. Sometimes we forget what we know, and what we can contribute to our class discussions.
Adding Your Voice to Class Discussions
What are three barriers to integration into university classroom discussions?
1.
2.
3.
What are three common misperceptions about your country and culture? What should your American classmates know about your country or culture? Why?
1.
2.
3.
If a fellow college student from another country visited your city/region/country, what would you want to share with this international visitor/tourist? Why?
What are three important events in your native nation’s history? Why are these events important and significant?
1.
2.
3.
Let’s travel back a bit in time. What were some important public policy issues, concerns, debates, or problems in the following years? (If you don’t know the exact year, consider the surrounding five year period.)
2014:
1964:
1914
What are three important values for you? Can you give an example to support each value?
1.
2.
3.
Many American college campuses have successfully attracted bright young students from across the planet. Now we need to find more ways to integrate these internationa students in our college classrooms so everyone can benefit from their experiences and insights. The “internationalization of American colleges” has become a huge topic in higher education in the last decade. Yet, from my perspective, this noble goal will only happen when international students add their voices to our class discussions – and we hear them.
What advice would you give to international students wanting to more fully participate in university class discussions? How can we help ESL and EFL students better prepare for American university class discussions? How do you prefer to engage the international students in your English classroom?
Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit www.CompellingConversations.com
Teacher Edition Tuesdays feature material introduced in Compelling American Conversations – Teacher Edition, the companion text to the original Compelling American Conversations. Sample chapters of each are available on CompellingConversations.com and ChimayoPress.com. We also offer a free copy of the Teacher Edition with class sets for adult ESL schools, literacy centers, Intensive English language programs (IEP) , church and other non-profit groups offering ESL classes to immigrants and refugees. Contact Eric Roth here for more information.
Teaching Matters: How to Add Student Voices to Classroom Discussions
“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.”
-Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), British author and Nobel laureate
This Teacher Edition Tuesday post, a weekly series based on ten teaching tips from the recently released Compelling American Conversations – Teacher Edition, addresses classroom participation and bringing more international student voices into community college and university class discussions.
In our first Teacher Edition Tuesday post, we discussed how to design your classroom into a conversation-friendly space. Set-up, however, remains only one aspect of the issue. For a wide variety of reasons, many international and ESL students remain relucant to share their experiences, speak up, and fully participate. How do we encourage more voices to contribute to classroom discussions? How do we help diverse classes realize their potential to become real global classrooms?
Achieving this openness within the classroom often takes some prompting. Students need to feel safe, welcome, and supported. I find that the best prompts engage each student as an individual.s and cultural informants. Ask your English students about their experiences, home towns, best languages, and cultural traditions. I also urge them to share the historical experiences of their nations. You will get many different answers, some similar and some markedly different. Yet each of these answers could propel a new conversation forward!
Let’s take a look at a worksheet I originally developed as a workshop for international graduate students in the USC Price School of Public Policy,. Many international students – sometimes coming from less open socieites – felt uncomfortable discussing current events and public policy issues. Sometimes they preferred to listen to the professors and find out the “right” answer. The classroom atmosphere where students ask, challenge, and sometimes even debate issues can feel awkward, confusing, and chaotic. Consequently, some faculty felt that American students dominated discussions and international perspectives were sometimes ignored even when 50% of the students came from outside the United States
Yet we need to hear those silent voices in our global classrooms to better understand the modern world. This worksheet was designed to emphasize that all the international students had important information to share on topics with their college classmates. I later included it in the Teacher Edition for Compelling American Conversations . You might want to ask similar questions to ask your English language learners. Sometimes we forget what we know, and what we can contribute to our class discussions.
Adding Your Voice to Class Discussions
What are three barriers to integration into university classroom discussions?
1.
2.
3.
What are three common misperceptions about your country and culture? What should your American classmates know about your country or culture? Why?
1.
2.
3.
If a fellow college student from another country visited your city/region/country, what would you want to share with this international visitor/tourist? Why?
What are three important events in your native nation’s history? Why are these events important and significant?
1.
2.
3.
Let’s travel back a bit in time. What were some important public policy issues, concerns, debates, or problems in the following years? (If you don’t know the exact year, consider the surrounding five year period.)
2014:
1964:
1914
What are three important values for you? Can you give an example to support each value?
1.
2.
3.
Many American college campuses have successfully attracted bright young students from across the planet. Now we need to find more ways to integrate these internationa students in our college classrooms so everyone can benefit from their experiences and insights. The “internationalization of American colleges” has become a huge topic in higher education in the last decade. Yet, from my perspective, this noble goal will only happen when international students add their voices to our class discussions – and we hear them.
What advice would you give to international students wanting to more fully participate in university class discussions? How can we help ESL and EFL students better prepare for American university class discussions? How do you prefer to engage the international students in your English classroom?
Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit www.CompellingConversations.com
Teacher Edition Tuesdays feature material introduced in Compelling American Conversations – Teacher Edition, the companion text to the original Compelling American Conversations. Sample chapters of each are available on CompellingConversations.com and ChimayoPress.com. We also offer a free copy of the Teacher Edition with class sets for adult ESL schools, literacy centers, Intensive English language programs (IEP) , church and other non-profit groups offering ESL classes to immigrants and refugees. Contact Eric Roth here for more information.
Teaching Matters: Discussing Stress in the Classroom
“People who want to do everything all at once generally don’t get anything done.”
—Jerry Brown, Governor of California
This Teacher Edition Tuesday post, a weekly series based on ten teaching tips from the recently released Compelling American Conversations – Teacher Edition, deals with the concept of stress and how to talk about it – in English.
When was the last time you were “stressed”? At home? In the classroom? How did you manage? Conversations about stress are an important means of self-expression and self-evaluation. Consequently, reviewing the concept of stress and its grammatical use in American English can be an engaging topic for hectic ESL students.
It’s noteworthy that Americans often use this term differently than many international students may expect. While typically used as a noun, stress also has an idiomatic use as a verb too. (“I’m really stressed at work right now”). Try beginning this topic in the classroom with an article about reducing stress. Short, contemporary articles on this topic usually connect the modern American idea of “stress” to the biological “fight or flight” response, a powerful human instinct widely believed to be an artifact of our time as cave people and hunter-gatherers.
However, these old instincts can be counter-productive in modern societies too. Unfortunately, violence in schools and the workplace remain far too common in the United States. Employees are not allowed to pick up a heavy rock and smash co-workers while feeling overly pressured. Thus, in modern America “stress management,” or dealing with and reducing stress remains an important workplace safety issue. After establishing and defining the concept of stress, you can further develop your ESL students’ understanding by asking them what sort of events can be stressful in their daily lives.
- Does speaking English cause stress? When? Why?
- Does traffic cause stress? Do they know the term ‘road rage’?
- When do they feel great pressure or stress?
- How do they know if someone is feeling stressed or overwhelmed?
- Do they care for young children or ailing parents?
After asking these types of questions, you may have your students write a short entry about a stressful event and share with the class. If you are using Compelling American Conversations as your in-class text, you can assign the “Reducing Stress and Increasing Happiness” worksheet from the Handling Stress chapter for homework.
Talking about stress in the English classroom can foster more emotionally articulate students and creates compelling conversations. It’s also a chance to share survival tips and re-enforce healthy habits. How do you address stress in your classroom?
Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit www.CompellingConversations.com
Teacher Edition Tuesdays feature material introduced in Compelling American Conversations – Teacher Edition, the companion text to the original Compelling American Conversations. Sample chapters of each are available on CompellingConversations.com and ChimayoPress.com. We also offer a free copy of the Teacher Edition with class sets for adult ESL schools, literacy centers, Intensive English language programs (IEP) , church and other non-profit groups offering ESL classes to immigrants and refugees. Contact Eric Roth here for more information.
Talking About Fun with Phrasal Verbs
“Great minds discuss ideas;
average minds discuss events;
small minds discuss people.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 – 1962), American politician, activist and chairman of the drafting committee for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
This Teacher Edition Tuesday post, a weekly series based on ten teaching tips from the recently released Compelling American Conversations – Teacher Edition, shows how to introduce phrasal verbs related to the common verb “talk”.
Talking About Fun with Phrasal Verbs
“Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about things,
and small people talk about wine.”
-Fran Lebowitz (1950- ), American author, comedian and public speaker
Let’s talk about “talk” about phrasal verbs.
Context remains crucial for understanding many conversations, and phrasal verbs can go a long way in establishing context. In English for example a fundamental difference exists between ‘talking back’ and ‘talking behind someone’s back’. Talking back implies a direct confrontation, while “talking behind someone’s back” suggests distance, gossiping, and breaking confidentiality. Likewise, the tone of voice and body language also play a role in affecting meaning. When someone “talks back” they challenge authority, and often seem aggressive. Compare this action to talking “behind someone’s back,” which indicates hushed exchanges and quick glances around the room to make sure the conversation isn’t picked up by eavesdroppers. Teaching phrasal phrases – or two-and three-word verbs – remains an effective way to expand English language learner’s vocabulary – and handle those pesky prepositions.
Let’s review a list of common American phrasal verbs involving “talk” to go over in class:
To talk about – Discussing a topic
- Speak of the devil.. We were just talking about you.
To talk back – Replying rudely instead of being polite
- Don’t talk back to the police. Please politely listen, nod your head, directly answer questions and stay out of trouble.
To talk down – Reducing the importance of something, to make something smaller than it is
- They talked down the success of our project out of jealousy.
To talk down to – Speaking to someone as if they were inferior to you
- We’re co-workers, but she talked down to me as if I was a child.
To talk someone into – To persuade someone to do something
- He doesn’t want to go to the concert, but I think I can talk him into it. He likes to make me smile…
To talk someone out of – To persuade someone not to do something.
- Do you really need $250 ice cream maker? How do I talk you out of this silly purchase?
To talk over – Discussing a problem or situation before making a decision.
- Can we talk your idea over? We really should discuss this decision together, and make a common decision for our future.
After introducing a vocabulary list, we recommend giving ESL students a chance to immediately use the language. Asking our students to write three questions with the phrasal verb remains a simple, time-tested technique. Compelling American Conversations uses this exercise after all vocabulary expansion techniques.
Please write 3 new questions with a phrasal verb connected to “talk”
As students write their questions, you can circle the room and provide casual feedback. After 10 minutes or so, students can work in small groups or pairs and ask each other the questions above. This flexible ESL exercise allows English students to activate new vocabulary in a meaningful, communicative activity.
How do you “talk about” phrasal verbs with your English language learners? As ever, we greatly appreciate your tips and feedback.
Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit www.CompellingConversations.com
Teacher Edition Tuesdays feature material introduced in Compelling American Conversations – Teacher Edition, the companion text to the original Compelling American Conversations. Sample chapters of each are available on CompellingConversations.com and ChimayoPress.com. We also offer a free copy of the Teacher Edition with class sets for adult ESL schools, literacy centers, Intensive English language programs (IEP) , church and other non-profit groups offering ESL classes to immigrants and refugees. Contact Eric Roth here for more information.
Bridging the Gap: How English for Professionals courses aid international engineers
As both lecturer and master lecturer, respectively, in the Engineering Writing Program and American Language Institute, I have worked with many international engineering students at USC (home of award-winning engineering publication, Illumin). To my knowledge, engineers sometimes find it difficult explaining key concepts to non-specialists, and speaking English as a second language often adds to the communication challenges.
Today’s guest blog by Anabela Barros of the Nacel English School in London outlines the advantages for international engineers in choosing ESP – English for Specific Purposes – to advance professionally and minmize miscommunication.
Shalom,
Eric
Bridging the Gap: How English for Professionals courses aid international engineers
by Anabela Barros
“Success is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration.”
– Thomas A. Edison (1847-1931), American inventor
In the innovative and often changing world of engineering, globalization is a reality. Many who enter this field find that their jobs depend on a clear understanding of the English language, and while some accomplish certain professional goals without technical fluency, reaching the next level is often difficult or impossible.
Engineering professionals often work with other individuals who speak English, and if they want to succeed in managing a project or get their ideas across, learning the language holds great advantages. While even a traditional English class offers some level of fluency, the highly specialized nature of engineering makes it so that these individuals need a different kind of training – one that helps them understand or even master industry-specific words, phrases and ideas. Often, the best option is an English for Professionals Course (ESP).
ESP courses for engineers provide a more in-depth training that gives participants the skills they need to understand context. They are well suited to individuals already familiar with the basics of the English language, since grammar and language structure are not the focus.
With an ESP course, engineers leave prepared to understand and explain logistics regarding specialized products, data analysis and specific terms, as well as nuanced vocabulary related to their field. As a result, they are able to converse with clients and coworkers and participate in, or manage, complex tasks with relative ease. This vocabulary expansion assists students as in sounding knowledgable as they continue their studies, and interview for new jobs or promotions.
Most ESP courses for engineers include two components. First, students learn sub-technical terms and context that relate to all fields of engineering. Next, they continue on with more specialized training. With the completion of the course, engineers leave with a greater understanding of highly specialized text, industry-specific vocabulary and the ability to read, write, and converse appropriately using this expanded vocabulary.
An effective ESP course opens up a world of opportunity for the engineering student or professional. Many universities are incorporating these courses as part of their learning program, and specialized language schools also offer programs to assist international engineers in furthering their careers and realizing their full potential. Tutors and English teachers offering this specialized course provide a valuable service not only to their students, but to society at large, where qualified engineers with a globalized approach to innovation are essential.
About the Author
Anabela Barros is a professional who runs nacel London, a popular language immersion program offering students opportunities to live abroad and learn English as a second language. To learn more about these exciting programs, visit nacelesl.co.uk
Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit www.CompellingConversations.com
