Teachers Diary Experience In Task Based Education English Language Essay

Teachers Diary Experience In Task Based Education English Language Essay Many areas of education are undergoing changes in the way teaching and learning is perceived. Teacher-centered lecturing and structural-syllabus instruction are giving way to a more student-centered, hands-on, practical, and flexible approaches (Shank and Cleary, 1994). The field of English language teaching is no exception in this paradigm shift. One of the areas, which came under this paradigm shift, is the traditional Present-Practice-Produce method of teaching English. It has been replaced by Communicative Language Teaching. An offshoot of Communicative Language Teaching is Task-Based Teaching. The teacher has been identified to be a learning facilitator. He does this largely through the medium of communication, verbal and non-verbal. The quality and effectiveness of such communication have a lot to do with the amount and quality of learning that takes place. This paper talks about a teachers experience in a mixed/heterogeneous classroom situation. Introduction The classroom, a small social structure, but sometimes large, is a working group of students coming from different socioeconomic background, tribes and cultural affinities, mixing with some friends, some strangers and the indifferent. These differences become complex in pluralistic societies including India. Their common task is learning a given content. It is the teacher who is the enabling agent for these socialization and learning. The teacher is the expert (at most in his field), the leader, the more mature mind and wiser. This is the idea of traditional pedagogy. During instruction in the classroom, it is the intent of the teacher to impact information and knowledge to the students and on many occasions such information and knowledge are designed to change the behavior of the learners. However, before a teacher can change the behavior of his students, he must not only possess adequate knowledge of the subject matter, he must be able to communicate his massage effectively. The teacher must have the ability to persuade his students to accept his ideas and arguments and not to leave them wondering at the end of the lesson whether to accept or reject them. The teacher should be able to use the classroom as a social system that breads atmosphere for meaningful social interactions and conducive learning environment. This brings us to the question, What is Communication? There dare many definitions of communication, as there are experts in the field. Oxford English Dictionary defines communication as the imparting, conveying or exchange of ideas, knowledge etc. (whether by speech, writing or signs). It has also been defined as the process of attempting to share with another person or other persons, ones knowledge, interests, attitudes, opinions and ideas (Ralph, Hance, and Wiksell 1975:4). Farrant (1980) also defined communication as the process of passing an understandable message from one person to another (P. 186). Every language teacher today realizes the importance and the relevance of the student-centered, hands-on, practical and flexible approach (Shank and Cleary, 1994), and the worldwide demand for Communicative Language Teaching, which helps to understand the language in context and to use it effectively in situations outside the classroom. As a result, changes have been taking place in many areas of education. The field of second/foreign language teaching is no exception in this paradigm shift. But for ELT, it has become a challenge to accommodate the changes due to various reasons. The most important factor is that one cannot ignore the practical aspect of every existing education system. This paper deals with students from mixed backgrounds who come under one roof to learn English. This paper deals with teaching methodology undertaken in CELT, O.U, Hyderabad, India, to see how a short term program can benefit students improve their communication skills. As they are mixed background students it became necessary to see how the merits of different language learning frameworks like Communicative Language Learning and Task-Based Learning can be put together to achieve the best result. As Joanne Pettis, quoting Henry Widdowson comments, If you say you are eclectic but cannot state the principles of your eclecticism, you are not eclectic, merely confused. (Pettis, 2003). Roger Dunne from Universidad Veracruzana, Mexico rightly states, In any event, most language teachers are probably influenced more by course books than by manuals and training courses and most popular course books are decidedly eclectic in their approach. It is probably these pragmatic market forces that will determine the future direction of language teaching in many parts of the world rather than a fight to death between academic fundamentalists (Dunne, 2003). This paper was set within the dual framework of Communicative Language Teaching and Task-Based Learning. Theories of language use in context play important roles in Communicative Language Teaching and theories of language learning play important roles in Task-Based Learning. Hence, the merits of both were used. Howatt (1984) distinguishes between the weak and the strong versions of Communicative Language Teaching. The weak version stresses the importance of providing learners with opportunities to use English for communicative purposes and therefore attempts to integrate communicative activities into the programme of language teaching. This is the version followed in most learning contexts, especially in Asian countries. As different from this, the stronger version of communicative language teaching claims that language can be acquired only through communication. This would mean that teaching involves not just activating an existing knowledge of the language, but stimulating the development of the language system itself (Howatt, p. 279). However, whether it is the weak or the strong version, the proponents of Communicative Language Teaching have always viewed learning a second/foreign language as acquiring the linguistic means to perform different functions. Some principles of Communicative Language Teaching include: 1. Language should be a means to an end and the focus should be on meaning, not on the form. 2. The learner has to formulate and produce ideas, information, opinions and so on. 3. Teacher intervention to correct mistakes should be minimal as this distracts from communication. (Richards and Rodgers, 1994) As David Nunan (1989) says, Task based teaching and learning is teaching and learning a language by using language to accomplish open ended tasks. Learners are given a problem or objective to accomplish but are left with some freedom in approaching this problem or objective. A task is defined by David Nunan as, an activity (or technique) where students are urged to accomplish something or solve some problem using their language. Preferably, this activity is open-ended; there is no set way to accomplish their goal (1989). According to Jane Willis, a task is a goal-oriented activity with a clear purpose. Doing a communication task involves achieving an outcome, creating a final product that can be appreciated by others. Tasks can be used as the central component of a three-part framework: pre-task, task cycle, and language focus. These components have been carefully designed to create four optimum conditions for language acquisition, and thus provide rich learning opportunities to suit different types of learners (Willis, 1996). Learners get exposure at the pre-task stage, and an opportunity to recall things they know. The task cycle gives them speaking and writing exposure with opportunities for students to learn from each other. The task cycle also gives students opportunities to use whatever language they have, both in private (where mistakes, hesitations, and approximate renderings do not matter so long as the meaning is clear) and in public (where there is a built-in desire to strive for accuracy of form and meaning, so as not to lose face). Motivation (short term) is provided mainly by the need to achieve the objectives of the task and to report back on it. Success in doing this can increase longer term motivation. Motivation to listen to fluent speakers doing the task is strong too, because in attempting the task, learners will notice gaps in their own language, and will listen carefully to hear how fluent speakers express themselves. A focus on form is beneficial in two phases in the framework. The planning stage between the private task and the public report promotes close attention to language form. As learners strive for accuracy, they try to organize their reports clearly and check words and patterns they are not sure of. In the final component, language analysis activities also provide a focus on form through consciousness-raising processes. Learners notice and reflect on language features, recycle the task language, go back over the text or recording and investigate new items, and practice pronouncing useful phrases. Components of a Task Tasks contain some form of input that may be verbal (a dialogue/role play/reading) or, nonverbal (pictures/a gesture) followed by an activity, which is in some way derived from the input. This activity sets out what learners need to do in relation to the input. Tasks have also goals and roles for both teachers and learners. Components of a Task (Nunan: 1989) From the above diagram, a task can be viewed as a piece of meaning focused work, involving learners in comprehending, producing and/or interacting in the target language. Before taking up the task of converting the textual content into various tasks, the following points were noted and kept in mind by the investigators: -The objective of the task must be stated very clearly -The task must be appropriate for the level of the learners -The task must equip the learners with the ability to apply classroom learning in new situations. -Tasks must be interesting and motivating to the students -The form the input takes, must be clear to the teacher -The roles of teachers and students must be specified clearly -Through the task, learners must be encouraged to negotiate meaning -The language that will be generated by the task must be predicted -There should be variety and flexibility in the tasks Few strategies for classroom practice to improve verbal, non-verbal and interpersonal communication Materials needed: Paper and pencil for each participant. I am going to describe a drawing I have made of a bug. Without seeing the drawing, you are to draw the bug that I describe. You may not ask questions or talk to each other. Describe the bug. The bug is round. The bug has eight legs, grouped in pairs with four legs on the left and four legs on the right. In the pairs, one leg is longer than the other. The bug has two eyes on top of the body. The bug has two squiggly antenna. The bug has two pea-pod shaped wings. The bug has a spot next to each wing. The bug has a triangular stinger on the bottom of the body The bug has two feelers on each foot one longer than the other, both coming from the same side of the leg. The bug has a round mouth, placed between the two eyes. The bug laid five square eggs to the left of the stinger. After everyone is finished. Hold up your bug so others in your group can see. Note some of the similarities and differences. Show the drawing to the entire group. Discussion questions: -Why dont all the bugs look like mine? (Interpretation: everyone has a different interpretation, based on his or her experiences.) -What did you think of first when you were told to draw a bug? What did you see in your mind? -What could we have done differently so that your drawings and mine would have looked more alike? -What would have been the advantages of allowing questions to be asked? -How many of you wanted questions to be asked? Adapted from A Kaleidoscope of Leadership, Minnesota Extension Service Words Alone Purpose: To demonstrate how important words are when the person talking and the listener cannot see each other. Materials Needed: Small pieces of paper with one of the following words on each: Procedure: Ask one person from the group to take a paper with one of the words on it and give a verbal description of what is on the paper (no hands allowed). Tell them to concentrate on the careful choice of words, avoiding non-verbal signals. Use descriptive words relating to all five senses (smell, touch, etc). Example: ice cream cold, smooth, soft, fluffy- looking, sweet, flavors. Process Questions: 1. How efficient were words alone in expressing ideas? 2. How did you feel doing this activity? (talker and listener) 3. What does this remind us to do in our own communication? Reference: Internet Conclusion Students showed interest in learning English. The reasons they gave were, classes are full of activities and play. Noted that students started talking in English openly without any apprehensions. They were highly motivated by the tasks and were encouraged to participate in doing the tasks. Though it is time consuming it is quite a rewarding experience as they gain useful insights by working through activities. They improve in their language as well as personality traits like team building, interpersonal relations, adaptability etc. Even with the existing constraints, classroom teaching can be given a communicative orientation, giving enough opportunities to students to use the language creatively. Teaching can be made learner-centered; with more emphasis on the learning process any given text may be re-created into various tasks and activities. Task-based teaching enhances the language proficiency of learners.

Leadership: Lord Of The Flies Essays -- essays research papers fc

Comparison of Leaders Throughout the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding is able to touch on the many aspects of our civilization through the various characters he creates. Leadership plays a very important role in the novel as it does in real life because the characters need to feel some sense of security in order for them to survive. The two main leaders in the story, through their similar and different leadership characteristics and objectives fight back and forth to gain the discipline of the other boys on the island and generally the power to make the decisions that they feel should be made. Both leaders, Jack and Ralph, experience leading the group in their own style, which is similar in their desire for control yet different pertaining to their leadership qualities and their objectives while on the island.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ralph was amongst the first few characters mentioned in the story and he quickly takes to the role of gathering the surviving boys by calling out to all that are in the area. He believes in leading with a democratic style, which gives people freedom of opinion, as well as equality to all group members. This is seen as Ralph uses Piggy’s idea for the conch to gathers the boys together in order to Dean 2 express ones ideas or opinions (Golding 12). However, Ralph is not the only boy on the island who is looking to lead the boys, and he finds that out when Jack marches his band members in a militant style to the platform where Ralph is deciding what needs to be done for their survival (Golding 15-16). Jack quickly became a cruel and dominating person who tries to impose fear onto the boys in order to gain his own control. This is evident when he begins opposing Ralph’s ideas about building a fire and picking fruit, to make himself look bigger and somewhat tough (Golding 22). However, a vote is thought up by one of the boys and Ralph’s democratic and orderly style of leadership is elected and he becomes the leader of the group (Golding 19). Ralph begins by organizing the boys to branch off in-groups and work for their benefit, such as keeping the fire going, building huts and scanning the island for anything worthwhile (Golding 38). He believes that if everyone contribute s by taking on one of the roles for survival, the entire group will benefit and hopefully be saved. Again, Jack opposes to the ideas of Ralph. He h... ...ectives by hunting down Ralph, and nearly catch him, until they come across the Navy ship which is there to rescue them (Golding 223-225). Both Ralph and Jack have objectives, which are completely opposite to each other’s which cause for much of the conflict throughout the story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout the story, Ralph and Jack are two of the characters who probably have the least in common mainly because they are trying to outdo each other by making the others ideas and beliefs seem obscure. They are similar in their desire for control over the group, however they are completely opposite pertaining to their leadership qualities and their objectives. Author William Golding creates these characters as opposites so he could have a general conflict, which is based on man against man to contribute to his other conflicts of man against environment and man against himself. Personal reflections of this author conclude that the bizarre setting and plot are difficult to comprehend upon the first reading yet further readings would create a more enjoyable story to understand. Dean 7 Works Cited Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Boston, Mass: Faber and Faber Limited, 1958

Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick was born in Kilpatrick, Scotland, in the year 387. His parents are Calphurnius and Conchessa. When Patrick was sixteen, he was carried off into captivity by Irish marauders and was sold as a slave to a chieftan named Milchu in Dalriada. In Dalriada, he tended his master’s flocks in the valley of the Braid and on the slopes of Slemish. When he was working the fields, he acquired a perfect knowledge of the Celtic tongue. His master was a druidical high priest, in which gave Patrick an opportunity to become familiar with all the details of Druidism from whose bondage he was destined to liberate the Irish race. Warned by an angel after six years, he fled from his cruel master and bent his steps toward the west. He traveled about 200 miles to Westport. He found a ship ready to sail and after some rebuffs was allowed on board. In a few days he arrived in Britain, but now his heart was set on devoting himself to the service of God in the sacred ministry. After wandering in dense forest for twenty-eight days they were found by others and eventually Patrick made it home to his family. He remained with them for a few years, and then decided to pursue the priesthood in answer to dreams he had about returning to Ireland. After a number of years, while he was on a short visit to the continent, probably Gaul, his name was proposed to lead a missionary expedition to Ireland. He set out around the year 432 as a bishop, and went to the headquarters of the Ulaid in Emain Macha, and there established his first church at what is now Armagh. From there he traveled predominantly in the north and west and made many converts, and trained many priests. After some time, his integrity was questioned, resulting in an inquiry at the hands of the British bishops, but he was subsequently vindicated. As the Ulaid were pushed out of more and more territory, Patrick moved with them to spend his last days in Down, from which he wrote his Confession. He died March 17, 461, in Downpatrick, Ireland. Kilpatrick still retains many memorials of Saint Patrick. His feast day, St. Patrick’s Day, is March 17, or the day he died.

Advantages of Online Shopping

Advantages of online shopping: Online shopping is accessible round the clock. You can buy whatever you want even at 3 a. m. in the morning. You can choose from a wider variety of things available for you to shop which may not be available in the local brick and mortar stores. You also have the benefit to do all from the comfort of your own home. When you buy from online store you have the comfort to take your time while checking for the things of your choice, this will lead you to a simple and quick way to perform price comparison unlike the dissatisfied and hurried shopping you do in the local stores.In addition, unlike local stores, you can avail discount coupons and get a thing at a lower rate when shopping online. Besides, when shopping online you can also avoid long lines to wait in and the unnecessary contact with cranky people. If you feel uncomfortable dragging your kids for shopping, online shopping is the best way to counter that. Most of us are sometimes concerned with pri vate shopping; online shopping offers you a great platform to do so with comfort. Also, when you are buying gifts, online mode is the perfect way to send your distant friends or relatives the gift you wanted to send.When it comes to payment, you can use anyone's credit card when shopping online. A lot of us are concerned about the identity theft when hear about online shopping. Identity theft cases take place in reality in brick and mortar store itself and not online. Websites are secure these days with powerful encryption procedures that keep your identity safe and secure. Although there are a few where your information may not be secure, you can take a peaceful breathe when dealing with the vast majority of online shopping website.Consider websites that offer free shipping and this is definitely the way to go. As the price of gas is increasing, shipping and handling might be cheaper anyway. Disadvantages of online shopping: Although online shopping is 24/7 available, you cannot fe el or touch items rather can just see what is present on a webpage whereas in brick and mortar stores you can see many things at a glance and buy after you feel or touch the product. As the term suggests, online shopping is only possible through the internet, therefore, the connection speed matter a lot here.Unlike conventional stores which don't close unexpectedly, online stores incurs frequent malfunction. The most common grumble people have with online stores is regarding warranties and some sort of guarantees, which they fail to offer in most cases. Apparently, these would mean nothing if the online store went bankrupt. Similarly returns are also very much difficult on online stores than in local stores. It very normal that many online stores don't accept cash or checks, although some sites do, you still have to use the credit cards.When purchasing online, billing errors are the common things you may encounter whereas in local stores these errors are nearly impossible. The very big disadvantage an online website may have is the credit card security issue, despite the fact that how secure the website claims to be, you can not always trust them. There have been many cases where people realized that their credit card number has been stolen and has been used by others. The bottom line is, online shopping is the ultimate solution people are finding today, but conventional stores are still here to stay.

Free Essays on Black Elk Speaks

Black Elk Speaks Greed is a large part of the American culture whether we realize it as a society or not. Many countries around the world view the United States as a selfish country that does what it wants on a global scale, and does not share or allocate its predominate wealth. I am very thankful and proud to be a citizen of this country. Even though I would risk my life to protect our country and its freedom, there are aspects about our civilization that I wish could be different. Black Elk, â€Å"a holy man and a warrior of the Lakota Nation Indians,† was a member of the Oglala Sioux tribe during the most horrific period for Native Americans in the Western part of the United States. In excerpts from the novel of his life story Black Elk Speaks, he is able to relate the differences in the ways of life from his people and the white settlers. Although he lived in the late 1800s, he is able to make reference to issues that are relevant to us today. His observations display issues such a s human bonds, ethics, economics, and politics. He describes how the excessive acquisitiveness of one society led to the cultural displacement of another. The Native American culture revolved around a circle, or what black Elk referrers to as their nation’s hoop. The flowering tree is the center of the hoop. The flowering tree is symbolic of growth and prosperity for all the people in the tribe. It is equally shared between all the members of the tribe. â€Å"Everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the power of the world always works in circles, and everything tries to be round† (APT 315). The flowering tree at the center of the circle was nourished by the seasons, which also occur in a circular pattern. Black Elk also makes reference to the sky and the earth being round, the moon and the sun setting in a circle as well as both being round. The wind blows in circular whirls. A person’s life from childhood to dea... Free Essays on Black Elk Speaks Free Essays on Black Elk Speaks Black Elk Speaks Greed is a large part of the American culture whether we realize it as a society or not. Many countries around the world view the United States as a selfish country that does what it wants on a global scale, and does not share or allocate its predominate wealth. I am very thankful and proud to be a citizen of this country. Even though I would risk my life to protect our country and its freedom, there are aspects about our civilization that I wish could be different. Black Elk, â€Å"a holy man and a warrior of the Lakota Nation Indians,† was a member of the Oglala Sioux tribe during the most horrific period for Native Americans in the Western part of the United States. In excerpts from the novel of his life story Black Elk Speaks, he is able to relate the differences in the ways of life from his people and the white settlers. Although he lived in the late 1800s, he is able to make reference to issues that are relevant to us today. His observations display issues such a s human bonds, ethics, economics, and politics. He describes how the excessive acquisitiveness of one society led to the cultural displacement of another. The Native American culture revolved around a circle, or what black Elk referrers to as their nation’s hoop. The flowering tree is the center of the hoop. The flowering tree is symbolic of growth and prosperity for all the people in the tribe. It is equally shared between all the members of the tribe. â€Å"Everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the power of the world always works in circles, and everything tries to be round† (APT 315). The flowering tree at the center of the circle was nourished by the seasons, which also occur in a circular pattern. Black Elk also makes reference to the sky and the earth being round, the moon and the sun setting in a circle as well as both being round. The wind blows in circular whirls. A person’s life from childhood to dea...

World history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

World history - Essay Example By the time of the Revolution, they numbered about 10000 in number but regardless of this, they were the largest landowners in the country. Most of the land that the clergy held was done in the name of the Church and given that, this institution was recognized to be supreme in the state, all its members were exempted from payment of tax. The nobility, whose titles were hereditary and, passed down from generation to generation, formed the Second Estate and they too were exempt from taxes, despite their large number. The Third Estate consisted of those people who were from the lower classes of the society and at the top of this group were the bourgeoisie. These tended to find ways of escaping the burden of taxation in various ways and this left the burden on the poorest elements of French society. Moreover, these elements were for a large part responsible for the development of the Revolution because of the oppression they felt from the other Estates. This body was formed during the transitional period of the Revolution after the collapse of the Estates General. The members of the Third Estate, who after growing dissatisfied by the ineffectiveness of the Estates General chose to take matters into their own hands, mainly dominated it. As a result, by means of this dominance came political power and this made some members of the First and Second Estates to join them eventually for their own survival. The formation of this assembly met with stiff resistance from the king, who felt that his power was being eroded. On the other hand, despite this resistance, the assembly continued to meet until it finally came to be officially recognized. This assembly declared the right of man and citizen in France, stating that all men born within its territory was free and equal. This body was later on reconstituted and in its place, the National Constituent Assembly was formed. This idea is a legacy of the Revolution that was inherited from the ideas of the

Evaluation of Three Different Types of Spectroscopy Lab Report

Evaluation of Three Different Types of Spectroscopy - Lab Report Example The sample is then heated via flame, plasma or electricity; this causes desolvation, liquefaction, vaporization and finally atomization (Sagi & Rathnam, 2013). Components include; a) The light source which is usually a hollow cathode lamp. Atoms of different elements absorb specific wavelengths of light therefore in order to analyse a sample for a specific element, the light source used must correspond to the wavelength of that element. b) A compartment in which samples are atomised via (flame, graphite furnace, MHS cell, FIAS cell, FIMS cell). c) A monochromator that disperses the light. d) A detector, which measures the light intensity and amplifies the Signal. e) A display that shows the reading. AAS has various uses such as analysis of bodily fluids like blood and urine for heavy metal poisoning and monitoring of the environment by measuring levels of certain elements in lakes, food like fish and the air (Karabegov, 2011). Fluorescence is a photon emission process. Absorption of light by some molecules causes movement of electrons from the ground state to an excited state. This excited molecule will return to a lower energy level by dispersing part of its energy. It will then return to the ground state by emission of a photon (fluorescence). As a result of this loss of energy, stokes shift is observed. Stokes shift is when there is a difference in wavelength of the absorption and emission spectra (Ge, et al., 2010) Only molecules containing a functional group which has the ability to absorb energy of a certain wavelength and re-emit it at a different but specific wavelength (fluorophore) will exhibit fluorescence (Ge, et al., 2010) a) The light source, an example of the first type used is the tungsten-halogen lamp and later on, mercury lamps were used. However, now xenon lamps are mainly used. b) A Monochromator used to select both the excitation and emission wavelength. c) Sample holders, the cuvette is placed in