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EF reports decline of French EPI
Declining EPI attributable to lack of exposure
“French students report lower levels of exposure to English in everyday life than any other Europeans polled. Exposure to a foreign language has been found repeatedly to be one of the strongest contributors to increased fluency.”
Education First (EF), an international education company, compiled its third EF English Proficiency Index (EPI) report, using test data from 750,000 adults yearly from 2007 to 2012. Most countries in Europe increased or only slightly changed their scores on these tests. France, however, scored 2.63 points lower on the index, making it the lowest scorer in its region.
In its country spotlight on France, the EF analyzes several components of France’s poor performance. It notes that even after eight years of English study, 70 percent of students remain at pre-beginner or beginner level.
WHY FRENCH SCORES DECLINED
The EF isolates lack of exposure to English as the prime reason. Laws there restrict foreign languages in media. In addition, only 11 percent of students said their school had a language lab. Listening and speaking English is thus discouraged in France, for mostly cultural reasons.
The EF’s analysis further highlights the importance of conversation-essentially, listening and speaking-when learning new languages. Perhaps these declining test results will motivate the French government to fund more English-exposing activities, whether it be through media legislation or education reform. Naturally, I expect scores to improve when there are more conversations in English taking place.
Curious to see how your students score on the EF’s English Test? Click here. How has exposure to conversations contributed to their score?
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Photo Source: “Paris Eiffelturm” by User:MarkGGN. Uploaded by – Own work. Licensed under
CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Duolingo: learning through translation
Effective language-learning program with a unique approach
“We come together from across the world at varying language levels with the same goal in mind – to learn. Curiosity, questioning, and cultural understanding are something we celebrate.”
Why do so many people yearn to learn English and other languages? The reasons–whether for work, friendships, travel or challenge–originate from a desire to understand each other. Duolingo brings this concept to life through its translation-based language learning program. With millions of learners across a dozen or so languages, Duolingo has emerged as a popular website and app for learners.
This free service focuses on translation of the internet. Students learn lessons in a “game” scenario; they have three ‘hearts’ throughout lessons, collect XP points and restart lessons once they run out of lives. Learning vocabulary, phrases and grammar centers around translation. A separate part of the website focuses on translating for other real websites, like Buzzfeed and CNN, which Duolingo recently partnered with.
Duolingo encourages language-learners with its online platforms for discussion among users. Members can post on forums, ask and answer questions and support each other’s progress.
EFFECTIVENESS
In 2012, Roumen Vesselinov, PhD of the City University of New York and John Grego, PhD of the University of South Carolina conducted an eight-week independent study with English native speakers learning Spanish using Duolingo. The results found that 34 hours with Duolingo boost language test scores the same amount as one semester of university study. Clearly, these results reflect strong indications that Duolingo implements effective language-learning methods. The full study can be found here. Isn’t it amazing how technology can transform ancient activities like language learning?
DRAWBACKS
Duolingo emphasizes reading, writing and listening skills. However, conversation skills matter. Duolingo, like too many language classrooms, neglects actual speaking skills. Practicing conversations, refining pronunciation and role-playing real-life situations remain essential aspects of learning a language. After all, the Compelling Conversations book series centers around learning English through sparking conversations. After all, knowledge of new vocabulary and basic phrases only proves important and useful if it can be employed between living human beings!
BOTTOMLINE
Duolingo represents a glimpse into the future of language learning. It has helped millions of people become autotelic (self-directed), learn new languages and offer real-world translation of authentic internet materials. And free of charge, what’s not to like?
Read more about Duolingo on Wikipedia or check out Duolingo CEO Luis Von Ahn’s Tedtalk. If you plan to use this Tedtalk in your ESL class, you might want to take a look at the TED worksheet I use in my advanced oral skills classes.
Do your students use Duolingo? What other sites and apps do they like?
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Create Compelling Conversations.
www.compellingconversations.com
Photo source: “Duolingo logo”. Via Wikipedia -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Duolingo_logo.png#mediaviewer/File:Duolingo_logo.png
Newsmart: ESL Wall Street Journal
Language learners absorb English, journalism and current events
““To look at the paper is to raise a seashell to one’s ear and to be overwhelmed by the roar of humanity.”
The Wall Street Journal remains a popular source of news in the United States, teeming with a variety of breaking and analytical pieces. I first heard about Newsmart at the 2014 TESOL convention in Portland, and immediately appreciated its potential for both Business English students and international English language learners. Newsmart essentially manages to provide insightful, timely WSJ articles to Intermediate and Advanced ESL students within a safe, comfortable English language learning context.
HOW IT WORKS
On its aesthetically-pleasing, simple website, Newsmart presents some top stories of the day. To serve a diverse set of readers, these articles fall into several categories: Featured, What’s News, Business, Technology, Markets and Life & Culture. Each short article displays a headline, summarizing sentence photo and exercise points.
These exercise points are unique to Newsmart; they indicate the number of Vocabulary, Grammar and Comprehension lessons within each article. Students accumulate points by reading the articles and completing each exercise point along the way in reading and listening comprehension exercises. These points can come in the form of multiple choice questions or even video activities. Ultimately, students track their point progress in each category and win badges.
Visitors can engage with the articles in some other ways. Any clicked-on word will display a definition with an audible voice clip, helping listening comprehension and vocabulary. Users can also leave comments and discuss with other readers in 92 countries, providing another opportunity to use English in an authentic global context.
STRENGTHS
Several levels of English language learners could benefit from Newsmart. Upon sign-up and anytime afterward, students can take a Newsmart level test to demonstrate their reading comprehension skills. The article’s level of difficulty as a result, adjusts to reflect their scores. Although the site seeks to engage all levels of English learners, it’s clearly far more suited for high intermediate and advanced English language learners – and future MBA students and potential entrepreneurs.
Keeping up with current events results in several desirable outcomes. Newsmart readers should become more aware of current events and business trends, expand their working vocabulary in English, and have more information to share in English. Naturally, I hope readers will choose to share some of that information in English conversations. With the added bonus of sharpening reading ability, what’s not to like about Newsmart?
WEAKNESSES
It seems as if Newsmart comes with no obvious drawbacks. The free membership, high-quality content and numerous advantages appeal to many audiences. Some articles, however, may be too difficult of a read for beginning and intermediate learners. They may want to wait later in their studies to begin using Newsmart. For these students, I recommend starting with the Easy English Times and Breaking News.
BOTTOM LINE
Newspapers certainly shape our perception of the world. It behooves ESL teachers to encourage their English language learners to read them. Newsmart serves as a natural step for students wishing to one day read papers like the actual Wall Street Journal, New York Times or Christian Science Monitor in a more natural context without vocabulary assistance.
Do you encourage your students to read the news? How do you students get “news smart?”
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Visit www.compellingconversations.com
Spring ESL: “One Stop Connection to ESL, EFL, ELD, ELT, and ESOL instructional materials”
Book center hosts a wealth of ELL materials
“Spring Book Center strives in three basic principles: Service, Responsibility and Lower Prices.”
We live in a Golden Age for teaching English. We can find resources from around the globe to fit the needs of the language learners in our classrooms. Yet this overwhelming plethora of choices can cause headaches. Where do you go to find carefully selected, learner-focused ESL EFL and other ELL textbooks and resources?
Spring ESL remains a personal favorite. Luis Coloma, curator and owner of this valuable “one stop connection” has created a curated, selective catalog of valuable materials for English teachers. His eclectic catalog and website features titles by English educators with special sensitivity for the needs of native Spanish speakers, adult immigrants and independent learners. The catalog also carries the leading titles for ESL instructors, tutors and their students.
The colorful yet simple site is easy to navigate through, providing an easy way to find appropriate materials for English language learners and English teachers. Spring ESL offers free shipping on orders over $100 and a 30 percent discount on items of the month. Another nice attribute? Whenever possible, the company uses recycled paper materials, and only distributes paper catalogs upon request.
Naturally, I’m also pleased to note that Compelling Conversations and Compelling American Conversations has been sold through Spring ESL to many teachers in California and Texas for several years. I look forward to seeing Luis at CATESOL State Conference on Oct. 23-26 in Santa Clara, and browsing through his latest discoveries.
Where do you find your curated, quality ESL resources?
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Create Compelling Conversations.
www.compellingconversations.com
‘Teaching History With Film’ encourages use of film through examples, lesson plans
How and when to use film in classrooms, and why
“The difference between life and the movies is that a script has to make sense, and life doesn’t.”
Film remains a powerful, if imperfect, tool for providing revealing glimpses into historical events, foreign eras, and distant lands. Yet, as experienced English and Social Studies teachers know, using films in classrooms requires preparation and reflection.
What is lost and what is gained in using film – historical fiction – to portray history? How do popular films recreate the emotional context of historical events, and how do they sometimes impose misleading narratives? What are some effective techniques for exposing and disclosing the tension between accuracy in real history and the need for drama in reel history? How have historical eras, such as reconstruction after the American civil war in Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind – been misrepresented in popular Hollywood blockbusters? Which definitions of accuracy matter most in using film to teach history?
TEACHING HISTORY WITH FILM
Teaching History with Film: Strategies for Secondary Social Studies by Alan S. Marcus, Scott Alan Metzger, Richard J. Paxton and Jeremy Dr. Stoddard illuminates some of these questions. The book emphasizes through five distinct reasons why social studies teachers should use film to teach. The book itself presents convincing reasons, backed by specific examples, lesson plans and chapter reflections.
Each part focuses on a reason that film can teach history: for instance, Part I highlights its historical value while Part III focuses on development of analytical or interpretive skills. Though the overall theme in each part is applicable to a wide range of movies, the book provides a specific historical timeline or topic as well. For instance, to display film’s ability to teach the “empathy for caring,” the case descriptions, lesson plans and activities focus on Southeast Asian events, particularly the consequences of the Vietnam and Korean War, with films like “Gran Torino” and “The Killing Fields.” At the end of each section, a “Reflection on the Case” follows to analyze and portray the advantages and drawbacks of using film to teach a particular lesson.
LIMITATIONS OF USING FILM
The book’s unique viewpoint flutters in and out of the chapters. The authors are careful to acknowledge the limitations to using film as a teaching tool, such as historical accuracy, film selection and passivity of watching film. In this manner, the book does not serve to prescribe that teachers follow its lesson plans exactly, or use film to teach every historical subject. Rather, its logical organization, balance of pictures and text and specificity of examples serve to supplement or guide teachers curious about using film in their classrooms.
The strong book, however, would have been even more useful if it directly dealt with how to the actual consequences of such distorted films as The Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind and Mel Gibson’s Revolutionary War film The Patriot deserve more attention. When 12 Years a Slave won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2013, it marked a profound turn toward realism in the popular culture’s treatment of American slavery. Adding a chapter detailing some controversies and consequences over blockbuster films would have strengthened the book. One could, I would suggest, create a fascinating course tracing the depiction of Americans held in slavery in American cinema over the last century. Everyone should be able to see the social progress in human rights from President Wilson hosting the Birth of a Nation to President Obama hosting a preview of 12 Years a Slave at the White House. Shall we compare and contrast?
As mentioned previously in a blog post reviewing Journeys in Film, a non-profit organization that also uses film to teach, movies and documentaries do not always fit perfectly into the ELL classroom. Teaching History with Film targets social studies curricula more than language classes. However, its approaches, activities and cultural movie selections can be of value in many types of English classrooms. Time may also be a factor–after all, the lesson plans set aside two to three days for film-viewing. Perhaps the best route involves finding a balance between using film and focusing on other English-learning activities.
Do you use film to teach history or language? What are some of your favorite films to learn from?
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Create Compelling Conversations.
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Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons
“Poster – Gone With the Wind 01” by Employee(s) of MGM – http://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Summaries/G/Gone%20With%20the%20Wind.htm. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
“Birth of a Nation theatrical poster” by Unknown; distributed by Epoch Film Co. – Chronicle of the Cinema. (London: Dorling Kindersley), p. 111.. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
