“Hey, David. Did you notice the two semi-colons that I used in my essay?” Alvin asked me as he entered the classroom.
It’s easy to think that ESL students can live without semi-colons. However, after doing a brief lesson with them, I found that they not only can understand what they are, but also, how useful they can be.
This post may sound like I am contradicting a previous post, “Integrated vs Discrete Skills ESL Courses: Advantages of Discrete Skills” Despite my support for segregated skills in general, an integrated skills course with higher-level students who are more homogeneous in ability can be effective and practical.
For an integrated skills 1 course to be effective and engaging to the students, the subject should be something which is inherently appealing to the majority of the students. After all, the students will be spending the course time reading, writing, and talking about the subject.
One subject which has been enthusiastically received by both students and instructors is culture, and more specifically, differences in cultures and the reason for these differences.
-Why are people in western cultures more likely than people from Eastern cultures to smile at a stranger standing at a bus stop than?
-Why do people in some cultures tend to be less direct in saying their opinions than in other cultures?
-In a study of 4-year-olds, why did the Asian children spontaneously share their candy with another child but the American children only reluctantly share when asked?
Common Sense Teaching ESL 