Received: from sccdmail.sccd.ctc.edu (sccdex01.sccd.ctc.edu [168.156.84.44]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with ESMTP id h1Q0g5P29698 for <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov>; Tue, 25 Feb 2003 19:42:05 -0500 (EST) Content-Class: urn:content-classes:message Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft Exchange V6.0.6249.0 Subject: [NIFL-ESL:8639] RE: RE: War as a cross-cultural issue Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2003 16:43:36 -0800 Message-ID: <4B73F518F0F98A4EA67DDAA3DB84941A2B0F21@SCCDMAIL.SCCD.CTC.EDU> X-MS-Has-Attach: X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: Thread-Topic: [NIFL-ESL:8638] RE: War as a cross-cultural issue thread-index: AcLdKR7hHzxw4pqjQVqjjjwzfNfcsgABAQfg From: "French, Allan" <afrench@sccd.ctc.edu> To: <nifl-esl@nifl.gov>, "Multiple recipients of list" <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by literacy.nifl.gov id h1Q0g5P29698 Status: O Content-Length: 2874 Lines: 39 I generally teach intermediate-level students. I often have my students do a homework assignment about the news. When they talk about these assignments in class, it is generally the case that the other students don't understand very well at the outset. The problem involves more than grammar, though that is an important tool. It is also pronunciation, it is vocabulary, it is organization of ideas so that they are clear and make sense, it is learning to listen carefully and even take simple notes, it is the ability and willingness to ask simple questions (especially if one doesn't understand). I have learned that many things that happen in the world that are of great interest to me, just are not on my students' radar screens. They want better jobs and need to communicate better to get those jobs. They want to be able to read with their children, and to communicate with the teachers. So yes, communication at this level is indeed more important than any particular content area. However, if a topic is presented carefully, gradually, and with sufficient time and direction from me (on the language aspects of the lesson), then comprehension (of both the topic and of their classmates)is improved and student participation is better. Content is a vehicle for improving communication competency. If the content proves especially engaging, then so much the better for all involved. Allan French ESL Instructor South Seattle Community College afrench@sccd.ctc.edu -----Original Message----- From: Sylvan Rainwater [mailto:sylvan@cccchs.org] Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2003 3:51 PM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [NIFL-ESL:8638] RE: War as a cross-cultural issue At 03:50 PM 02/24/2003 -0500, Susan Ryan wrote: >Do we need to get so deep into subject matter to teach the English >language? My students are just struggling to put the adjactive before the noun! Obviously, we don't *need* to get so deep into subject matter. But sometimes it's useful. When people get interested in something that is meaningful to them, they quit thinking so hard about using the language and just communicate. I teach computers 1 hour a week, and even though it's all in English, most of them get it, and enjoy it, and forget that they are also learning English in the process. If you can have a discussion of a topic that affects everyone, and if war isn't it right now, I don't know what is, then sometimes that's fruitful to meet more than one need, and sometimes more useful than simply to practice a particular grammar point. Sure, you need both content and grammar, and how to balance them is part of the art of teaching. -------------------------------------------------------------- Sylvan Rainwater . Family Literacy Coordinator Clackamas County Children's Commission / Head Start Oregon City, OR USA . mailto:sylvan@cccchs.org
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