Learning a Language

In the last few years the biggest lesson I have learned is that the English lessons that I give are too difficult. The problem arose because I was bored when I presented a lesson. Sometimes I would present a simple lesson but I would move through it much too quickly.

Now I realize how important it is to present a simple and digestible lesson to students. The lesson may be, "What do you eat for dinner?" After going through that lesson, the next step would be a slight variation, such as, "What does she eat for dinner?" That can be followed up with a lesson that asks, "What do you have for lunch?" Then one can move on to, "What is your favorite food?"

Anyone can watch "Lost" or "Heroes" or "Desperate Housewives" and listen to an English speaker that they don't understand. A teacher needs to be understood by their students or everyone is wasting their time. So it is important to present a lesson that is digestible and that reinforces itself. It is important not to overwhelm someone. In pedagogy, this has been described as one's "Zone of Proximal Knowledge."

It is a big challenge for teachers. I am still guilty of doing it. Either I am bored and want to move to quickly or I don't spend enough time creating a suitable lesson.

As I study the Korean language I encounter the same thing. As Koreans try and help me they go so fast. "What was that?" I say and they are already on to something else. Do they think it is helpful if they just keep on talking?

I did have a good lesson from a Korean friend 5 months ago. That is the last one that I think was appropriate to my level. We kept going over one question and just came up with a variety of answers. I was amazed that I was learning something tangible immediately.

Of course I should prepare Korean material that I want to study. I need to be proactive and just get someone to help me with what I have already reviewed or prepared. I have done that and it is invariably a case where I am telling or showing someone something that needs to make them slow down. I have a children's dictionary and that usually is helpful to get someone to slow down and help me at my level.

When I study Korean I watch Korean DVDs. It might be a movie. However, I am currently watching "Winter Sonata" with Bae Yong Jun. It is on DVD so I can avoid the commercials. This gives me good listening practice. It also helps me learn about Korean culture. Culture is an experience that people share. If a Korean has watched "Winter Sonata" or even heard of it, then I have a great conversation starter with them because we are talking about a "shared experience."

I also read Korean Children's stories. I learn vocabulary from these books by learning the word first. After I know the word, then I look up the meaning. I have seen the word many times and I say it and use it. But only later do I try and discern the meaning. The meaning is secondary. It is better to know the word first and use it before you associate it with a meaning from your first language. Reading Children's stories out loud is also a great way to improve one's pronunciation.

Lately I have been reading "Kong Ji Paht Ji." This story is remarkably like "Cinderella." Knowing a Korean story is also a great conversation starter. Culture is shared experience so if you know the title and plot of a Korean story then you will have a great conversation with a Korean about a shared experience.

I hope you all have a great Chuseok! Cheers, Chad

Swales' Article

In the extract from Swales' book we looked at Unit 1, "An Approach to Academic Writing." The author gives some good tips about how to get started writing and revising. The author is particular about how someone should write. This is not a free writing exercise. The student must be conscious about who they are writing for. After a first draft is ready then the student must clean up their paper. They can do this by using the words: assist, establish, reduce, create, determine, investigate, fluctuate, increase, and eliminate.

To this list I would like to add: "Research shows", "The author intends", "Research suggests", "The author goes on to say", and "The author continues."

A big part of doing a research paper is quoting and citing the research of others. If you would like to express yourself more then let me suggest that you do an Ethnography. This acceptable writing format allows you to engage in 'participant observation.' You can observe a situation, classroom, and/or phenomenon and make your own observations. Your own thoughts then become a focal point of your research as you record your experience.

Otherwise, you will be researching other people's work and then organizing the data. You will be able to express your own ideas in the conclusion but more often than not it will be a reflection of your source material. Good luck!

Critical Incident Protocol

Critical Incident Protocol

Objective

In 2004, I was teaching at a Kindergarten Hagwon in Hwa Jeong, Goyang Shi, Gyeonggi Do, South Korea. I had twelve students in the class. I asked each student a question. If they answered correctly I gave them a ‘check’ by their name. At this point all the students had six checks by their name.

One student named Thomas started joking around. I told him to be quiet and he continued to disrupt the class. I then took the white board eraser and erased 3 of his stars. He was so distraught by this that he collapsed on the floor in a pile of despair.

I had to spend the rest of the class trying to console him.

Semi-Objective

Why had my lesson gone array? What terrible punishment had reduced this student to mush?

Meaning?

I had failed to notice just how important the ‘checks’ were to the students. If they received 3 checks then that would lead to a sticker. They would put the sticker on their sticker chart. Once they completed their sticker chart then they would receive a gift.

For a Korean seven year old (five years international age), this was a big part of their self-esteem and self-image. I failed to recognize that their status in the classroom was based in large part by ‘checks’, stickers, and the teacher’s approval.

Implications?

Now I recognized the value of this system and how it should be applied. I still gave the students’ ‘checks.’ Three ‘checks’ still meant a student would get a sticker to put on their sticker chart.

However, now I took a different approach to discipline. If a student disrupted the class then I would pick up the white board eraser and hold it over their ‘checks.’ I would call out the student’s name. “Thomas!” He would see my intention. Then he would prostrate himself and say, “Sorry, sorry, sorry.”

That was enough to get him back on task. I avoided an emotional meltdown that would have disrupted the class further. Instead we could continue with the lesson unabated.

Reflections of Week 1's Readings

Reflections on the first week’s readings

By Chad Pozsgay

The first article we read was called, “Reflection is at the heart of practice.” I was impressed when it stated that “Split-second decision making is a crucial aspect of teaching.”

When I first started teaching I made a lot of mistakes. Usually I made an error but once I had made that decisions I could not quickly readjust and implement an alternative teaching direction or classroom management technique. I felt rigid. I felt like I had to lay down the law in the classroom. That meant that I could not even allow myself alternative options in my approach to something.

Over time, I started to realize that I needed to adapt quickly in the classroom. If a particular activity sparked the students’ interest then I needed to extend the time devoted to it. If an activity floundered then I needed to quickly adapt it or move on to something else that might be more stimulating.

In the “Reflection is at the heart of practice”, the authors talk about deliberately reflecting upon one’s experience and teaching practice. They give some examples of teachers reflecting on their experience and trying to learn from it. Letting the students sort through their emotions is a good way for the teacher to get the response they desire.

In Yamada’s article, “How to Avoid Plagiarism,” the author discusses the issues regarding stealing other people’s words or ideas. One remedy that the author offers is for there to be extension training in so far as people are taught how to cite other people’s work.

In the TESOL-MALL program the APA style is the required program to adhere to when citing sources. The APA style is updated quite often. Therefore, yesterday’s way of citing a source may be different today. That makes it more difficult to be completely accurate. However, the method of citing a source does not change that dramatically. That way, usually only a minor change or readjustment can be made in order to cite a source accurately.

In North America, students start to write at a very young age. They are encouraged to share their thoughts. Accurately giving credit to an author or source is taught very quickly.

In Korea, people are many times taught to emulate the teacher. They are suppose to do something the exact way that they are told. Therefore, when a Korean takes a TESOL-MALL course they are usually surprised to find so much attention being focused on the APA format and doing proper citation.

We will soon use the APA Sixth Edition guidebook in our academic writing class. That will help all the students avoid plagiarism.

In the optional reading, “Reflective teaching in EFL: Integrating theory and practice,” the authors talked about ways to close the gap between theory and practice. They make the observation that many teachers come out of university and they do not see how educational theory is related to educational practices. The future classroom teachers do not see how to implement educational theory into their classroom teaching.

I think this article makes a good point. I have been studying TESOL-MALL for two years and it is not often that I come across something that I can use in the classroom. I don’t know why it has to be so impractical. A major part of the problem is that I don’t understand the theories that are being put forth. But I do think more of an effort could be made to translate educational theory into practical classroom activities.

I have heard from people who study Adult Education that the primary focus is to make the classroom experience better for the teachers and the students. Less time is spent on theories that do not have or are in want of a practical classroom application. In that respect, Adult Education seems to be a more practical program to study.

Academic Writing

Hello Everyone! September is here and that means that the fall semester has begun. This fall I am taking "Academic Writing" with Professor Eric Reynolds.

We will be writing about our experiences and we will be doing some research. We will look at different types of writing styles and we will be practicing those. I am excited to get started.

I am looking forward to sharing ideas in our classroom meetings. It is good to get other people's point of view. Getting someone else's point of view can change our perspective completely.

The sun will go below the equator in three weeks and then there will be a lot less daylight. That isn't all bad. That means the weather will cool off. That should be nice after such a hot summer.

I hope you like using blogger. I look forward to following your blog soon. Take care.

Cheers,

Chad

Validation in Qualitative Research

There are different ways to validate one's research. Getting help from a peer can help. A peer review is a good way to find out if someone similar to you feels the same way. When they look at your data do they come up with the same observations and conclusions? If so, then the researcher can look at this as an affirmation of their study.

Another way is to do member checking. After gathering information from your study and analyzing it, it is good to check with the participants to see if they agree with you. Can the members validate what you said? If the members of the study think that you are on the right track then the researcher can feel good that they are drawing the proper conclusions.

Is there a pattern in your data and observations? If there is, then that can be seen as a way to validate your data. Triangulation is possible if the data frequently points to the same conclusions.

Before a study a researcher tries to predict the outcome of research or what the study is hoping to find or reinforce. But the results might point to something else. If it appears often enough, then this 'rigor' points to another conclusion. The researcher did not initially expect this result but it has been found often enough to now be deemed important.

The researcher should look at this closely and see why an unexpected pattern occurred. There may have been a flaw in the methodology. There could be an unexpected result that requires more attention and analysis. The researcher should step back and try to explain why an unexpected result occurred. This could help the researcher find a new insight.

Validation is important so that the researcher can feel confident that their study is an accurate picture of the world around them. If the study is an accurate portrayal of the results that came from their research then it might provide insights that are useful and practical.

Interpretation of Culture by Clifford Geertz

I read the first chapter of Interpretation of Culture by Clifford Geertz. It is actually a collection of essays that he wrote over a number of years. He says himself that it is a very roundabout way to make a book. First, he wrote the essays and then he came up with the title.

That is kind of how he does ethnographic research. He observes and then makes a thick description. He is weary of theories that can be stifling or that oversimplify.

So that is the dilemma of the anthropologist. How do they keep an open mind when they have to pass judgement upon a subculture or a people group?

Well, they write and write and write and hope that that will shed light upon what is happening. They try and make sense of the cultures around them.

But as soon as they try and come up with an all encompassing theory then they are in a bit of trouble. They are not dealing with a hard science. They are dealing with human behavior which is very complex. The origins of someone's actions are hard to pinpoint.

As the author says, "Finding our feet, an unnerving business which never more than distantly succeeds, is what ethnographic research consists of as a personal experience; trying to formulate the basis on which one imagines, always excessively, one has found them is what anthropological writing consists of as a scientific endeavor."

The author goes on to say, "The ethnographer "inscribes" social discourse; they write it down. In so doing, they turn it from a passing event, which exists only in its own moment of occurrence, into an account, which exists in its inscriptions and can be reconsulted."

I hope to record some of my experiences in Korea and make some observations. Then I will hopefully learn more about this fascinating country.