Tag Archives: handouts

• Most Confusing ESL Pronunciation Mistake (Includes Interactive Exercises)

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Cover pron shot

(This posting includes a handout which you are welcome to use with your students.) *

There has been a consensus among the many professionals that I have asked that dropping the final consonants on words causes the most communication breakdowns. I’ve had to decipher things like:

“I cou-n do my homewo cu I fe si.” (I couldn’T do my homeworK because I felT sicK.)

“Do you wan ah to chew a new topi?” (Do you wanT uS to chooSE a new topiC?)

If we just respond by asking, “What did you say?”, the speaker will merely repeat what s/he had said, perhaps a bit louder.

I developed a set of exercises that have proven to be effective in developing students’ self-awareness in the cause of some of their communication breakdowns. So now, if we ask “What did you say?”, the speaker will have a sense of the cause of the breakdown and of a way to adjust what they had said.

What you’ll find in the downloadable exercises

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• Short, High-Interest Readings: # 2 “Animals Understand Fairness”

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Cover fairness shot

(This posting includes a handout LINK AT THE END OF THIS POST which you are welcome to use with your students.) *

1 Imagine that you and your friends have just arrived at a popular restaurant.  Unfortunately, you are told by the hostess that you’ll need to wait in line for about 30 minutes to get a table because there are many other customers who had arrived before you.  After about 10 minutes, a man and woman arrive and talk to the hostess.  You notice that he secretly hands her some money.  Immediately, she takes them to a table.  Most of us would feel that this was unfair and will feel resentful toward the hostess.

2 Some researchers have recently become interested in finding out if the idea of unfairness is a unique emotion only felt by people or is it also experienced by animals.  A study looked at how dogs react when a second dog is rewarded in an unequal way for doing the same trick.  The researchers shook hands with two dogs, and the dogs were happy to do that whether they got a reward or not.

3 Next, they asked the dogs to “shake hands” and gave one a reward of a tasty sausage, and the other one a dull piece of bread when they did. Interestingly, the dogs didn’t seem to notice the difference and continued to follow the command and shook hands even though one got a tastier reward than the other. (See complete article below.)

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• Introducing “Short, High-Interest Articles for Extensive Reading” (#1 “For More Happiness, Keep Your Good News Secret for a While.”)

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(This posting includes a handout LINK AT THE END OF THIS POST which you are welcome to use with your students.) *

Beginning with this post, I plan to share short, high-interest articles that you can use with your ESL students for extensive reading. I’ll be adding them to the right-hand column: ESL Reading> Short, High Interest Articles for Extensive Readings

The driving force behind these articles: I wanted to motivate students to want to read. By focusing on high-interest topics no matter what the subject area, I believe that I’ve accomplished that goal.

In addition, these have been successfully used these with students at many different reading-skill levels. There is a research-based reason why this has been possible. A group of researchers investigated the factors that helped students remember what they had been reading. They found that how interested the students were in reading the passage was thirty times more important than how “readable” the passage was.

Options for using these materials with students.

  • You can make these available to students who would just like to read more.
  • You can assign the brief True-False Comprehension Questions that are included at the end of the articles.
  • You can assign the short Paraphrasing Exercise that is also included.
  • You can have students write the brief Reflection Exercise, also at the end.

Here is the first article. You can download the article for your students by clicking on the link at the end. 

For More Happiness Keep Your Good News Secret for a While

1 You just received a letter in the mail from a college that has been your first choice to attend.  The letter will inform you whether or not you have been accepted. Nervously, you open the envelop. The letter begins, “It is our pleasure to inform you that you have been accepted to our college.” You smile hugely with overwhelming happiness. Immediately, you want to share this great news with your family and best friends. But wait. To really experience this feeling of joy, according to research, you should keep this news to yourself for several minutes.

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• Final ESL Conversation Speaking Tasks:  Most Meaningful Evaluation Forms

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Oral exams PART 3 COVER REV

(This posting includes a handout which you are welcome to use with your students.) *

In Part 1,   • Common Challenges and Goals for Final ESL Conversation Speaking Tasks , I described the challenges Conversation teachers face when deciding which students should be promoted to the next level. In Part 2, • Final ESL Conversation Speaking Tasks: Rating Three Methods I compared three different methods for determining this.

In this Part 3, I’ll share some final tasks for pairs and triads and evaluation forms that teachers can use to help them make the decision about the level each student should be in the next term.

My colleague was totally dumbfounded early in the term. Somehow some unprepared students in her Level 4 Conversation Class had been passed from Level 3. Then we found out how this happened. For the final task in Level 3, the teacher had students do presentations. Their final grade was mostly based on how well they had prepared and memorized their presentation monolog. Thus, students who had not developed actual conversation-skill techniques, like asking questions, using rejoinders, responding with details, and asking for clarifications, were able to pass Level 3.

In a truly student-centered Conversation class, most activities will revolve around students working in pairs, triads and small groups. Also, during the activities, they will be practicing techniques that will help them develop their conversation and discussion skills. Thus, it makes the most sense that their final task should mirror those two points.

Sample final task formats and evaluation forms.

(Notice: These could be used as a midterm and/or final exam.)

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