I challenge the prevailing orthodoxy--in my head.

In practice, I try to locate a student's interest and expand on it.   
Not hard when the student is trying to succeed academically.  2 thoughts

1.	This summer I am working with 2 more Thai students, they are  
studying English word meanings for the GRE.  They ask me questions  
about words and word usage. and I help them out with simple  
definitions, sentences which use the words, or full explanations   
when an understanding of  context will help them use English words  
properly.  They are both in the sciences, which translate more easily  
across cultural linguistic boundaries.

2.	Teaching low literate American students brings a lot of other  
issues with it, for example, why are these students low literate?   
Where did they go to school? Were they tracked?  This doesn't have to  
come up in lessons, but it may influence how they feel about coming  
to class--are they afraid?  How do I work with that so the student  
stays in school?

Andrea


On Jul 29, 2009, at 6:04 PM, Steve Kaufmann wrote:


> I like to explore the language and culture myself, and ask about  

> things that interest me. I have had the experience of teachers  

> telling me about things they think are important in their culture,  

> like some summer festival, or other aspect of the culture. Usually  

> these things are of no interest to me at all.

>

> I do not place much stock in socio-linguistics, which I consider  

> just another distraction from the task of helping learners acquire  

> a language.

>

> Among the most popular items in our library at LIngQ are Dr.  

> Laura's radio programs. I do not  necessarily share her views on  

> things. I once got a complaint form one of our gay learners so I  

> assume she is rather conservative. The point is that it is not for  

> me to change the social or political views of our learners.

>

> If I have a learner from Saudi Arabia who does not think women  

> should drive, or that we should not vote for legislators because  

> laws come from Allah, I am not going to try to persuade him to  

> apply critical thinking to his religious beliefs. I may discuss the  

> point but only to force him to use the language to defend his  

> views. I would not tell him what I really think of his religious  

> views. I would certainly not bother him with my views about  

> lobbyists in Washington.

>

> I would not, Bonnie, tell French language students that the French  

> are rude, or similar personal views. I would focus on helping them  

> find things of interest to read and listen to about the country and  

> region they were planning to visit.

>

> Janet, the attitude of the learner toward the language, and the  

> proximity of the learner's language to the language being studied,  

> are more important than distinctions between EFL and ESL. I find  

> appalling the degree to which people on this listserve, and other  

> language teachers I have come across, are focused on matters that  

> have little to do with language learning. I hang around this  

> listserve to try to stimulate a little critical thinking, in the  

> hope that some people might challenge the prevailing orthodoxy.

>

> Steve

>

>

>

>

>

> -- 

> Steve Kaufmann

> www.thelinguist.blogs.com

> www.lingq.com

> 604-922-8514

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