TESL Malaysia

Teacher, Y U NO TEACH GRAMMAR?

Chuah Kee Man — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 06:58:30 +0000

I considered myself lucky (though some would say I am crazy) to be given the chance to teach English language to several groups of foreign students at a local university. Not because I get to know students from different countries, but it allows me to cope with diverse challenges in English language teaching. The students that I have taught thus far, are mainly with low proficiency level since their country of origin does not have proper English language education due to several political and social issues. Some are keen learners, some are simply lost (perhaps due to cultural shock). Yet, I tried my very best to ensure they can at least communicate sufficiently in English.

In was not long ago, one student came to me during the first week of class and asked this question “Teacher, why you no teach grammar?”. It’s pretty hard for me to justify my teaching methodology to her, so I answered “Well, you are learning it every second in my classes“. Not convinced, she showed me a thick book on English grammar and asked me to check the exercises that she did after class. I checked for her but told her that it’s good to do exercises but there is limited room for improvement if she does not practise those “rules” in context. She was still a bit pessimistic since in her country, everything needs to be memorised and the learning environment is rigid.

However, after spending several weeks with me, she noted improvements in her use of the language, particularly in speaking and writing. The same with other students. To me, while it is possible to highlight the sets of English grammar rules (e.g. the difference between adjectives and adverbs), it is always good to embed them according to skills and context. In teaching the students how to write a specific academic genre, for instance, students are explicitly told to focus on certain sets of language features salient in that genre. This is better than forcing them to do pages and pages of grammar exercises without knowing its proper use in context. The same with vocabulary. Highlighting list of words commonly used for a context helps students to practise them properly. Of course, it can always be mixed-and-matched with other activities in the classroom in order to engage the learners.

A lot of patience is needed when teaching beginning learners, particularly when the motivation to learn is low and they come from diverse countries. I am deeply humbled by some of their comments upon completing the intensive course with me, not their “thank you” or compliments, but the way they convert their thoughts into comprehensible English sentences when talking to me by the end of the course. Some may not be sufficiently ready for undergraduate studies but they have improved from perhaps a level of Primary 3 English to Form 3. They just need more time and hard work.

“Y U NO Teach Grammar” or not, U Cannot Give Up on Them!

Well, I think many of you out there may have similar experience, and I would love to hear your stories too.

Palabea: Free Social Network for Language Learning

TESLMalaysia Admin — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:42:57 +0000

Palabea is not just a social network to make friends. It is an online platform for language learning via its virtual classrooms. Users can find friends and interact with them through several ways e.g. engage in audio or video conferencings, receive video or podcast lessons or even record their own videos and upload them online. Palabea proudly claim that they have invited only accredited education institutions to develop partnerships with them in order to ensure high-quality learning contest.

It offers a fresh and fun environment to learn a language (English, French, Spanish, German, Chinese, you name it!). The interface is very attractive and this website would serve as a good platform for novice learners.

Instead of spending hours on Facebook, students can also sign up on Palabea and start learning the language more. You can take a quick tour of Palabea via this page.

ASPIRE Model for Academic Writing

Chuah Kee Man — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 15:18:35 +0000

Writing academic essays can be rather difficult as it requires some necessary “skills” in ensuring a piece of work remains “academic”. I would like to share a simple model (or guide) that would help you write academically. Of course, this is not “the” model that would transform you into a proficient academic writer overnight. It still takes a lot of practices to be good in academic writing. Reading more academic articles would also help.

ASPIRE for academic writing

Academic Voice
Scholarly Citations
Precise Descriptions
In-depth Elaborations
Reduce clichés/redundancies
Effective Structure

Details on this can be obtained in the following slideshow:

You can also download the slides from My SlideShare Page

Why Creative Writing is as Important as Math

TESLMalaysia Admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 22:12:52 +0000

In the halls of high schools across the world, math, science, and engineering courses are given a clear emphasis over the humanities and liberal arts. While these programs need large budgets to stay competitive, school administrators often overlook the learning management system for creative writing courses as a somewhat useless waste of class space.

With English becoming the predominant method of communicating business terms in every country, most TESL programs are focused on getting the basics in and letting the students find the best ways to use the language. While it is important to learn the fundamentals, students also need to learn how to think in English in an abstract manner. With its rigid rules, verb tenses, idioms, exceptions, and immense vocabulary, communicating in English in a human way is a difficult concept for foreign speakers to grasp.

In the US, a non-profit center called 826 is opening locations across the country in mostly Latino neighborhoods. Because their parents can’t speak English well, they can send their children to the centers in order to get creative tutoring and help with homework. These centers stress the importance of viewing creative writing as an expression of feelings and try to distance themselves from traditional tutoring services.

The idea of teaching English in Malaysia is not up for debate anymore, but is a staunch reality that needs to be better implemented. By learning more of the core concepts and getting a feel for the depth of the knowledge, future generations will fare much better in all fields. According to an opinion article on New Straits Times, English should be seen as an upward mobility and development tool which gives access to greater things.

While it may be easy to learn and practice in the maths and sciences with a rudimentary and structured understanding of English, it will be harder for professionals to communicate ideas with English speaking co-workers and give presentations with fluidity. Learning how to think creatively will also give students the skills needed to explore ideas off the beaten path; a major skill the big tech companies are looking for in new hires.

If college graduates reach the workplace without knowing how to express themselves, they could face stagnant wages, a lack of promotion opportunities, and even a lack of respect from coworkers. Those who can take the English language and manipulate its inner workings will be the ones to succeed in an extremely competitive job market.

Inspire Your Students to Speak Up

TESLMalaysia Admin — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 14:27:30 +0000

Not many know Severn Cullis-Suzuki, but she is one of the few bold environmental activists who have inspired many people across the globe. In 1992, at age 12, Cullis-Suzuki raised money with members of ECO to attend the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. She delivered a very inspiring speech that not many children would dare to do.

Her video can be used in your classes in order to inspire your students to speak up, especially when the topic is related to the environment.

More about Severn Suzuki at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severn_Cullis-Suzuki

Win A BlackBerry Smartphone in TESLMalaysia.com 1Word 1Malaysia Challenge 2011

TESLMalaysia Admin — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 05:53:32 +0000

Now, here’s your chance to win a BlackBerry smartphone! In conjunction with Malaysia Day, TESLMalaysia.com will run the 1Word 1Malaysia Challenge 2011. The contest is simple, think of ONE word that you think best describes Malaysia. Then provide a short a description why the word is the best! It’s all up to your creativity! Oh yeah, it has to be a valid English word (exists in major dictionaries, not a self-coined word).

Before that, read the following terms and conditions:

This contest is open to all Malaysians age 15 years old and above.
TESLMalaysia admin team members are not allowed to participate.
You must Like our Facebook Page in order to qualify.
This contest runs from 9 September 2011 to 9 October 2011 (ends at 11.59p.m., GMT+8)
The winners will be announced on 20 October 2011.
You can submit a maximum of 3 entries per person.
Your entries must be original.
You also agree not to post any abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, threatening, sexually-orientated or any other material that may violate any applicable laws.
The entries will be judged by TESLMalaysia’s appointed judges (consisting 4 lecturers from local universities).
The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence in regard of the decision will be entertained.

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THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.

The Winners

After receiving more than 350 entries, here are the lucky winners!! The winners are chosen by our selected judges and their decision is final. An interesting note is that the word “home” is the most popular word, followed by “beautiful” and “harmony”. Of course selecting the word is one thing, but the description or explanation given is the decisive factor. Anyway congratulations to all winners and thank you all for participating. We’ll have another round of contest coming in January 2012! Watch out!

The New PMR English Language Paper 1 and Paper 2 Format (Starting 2012)

TESLMalaysia Admin — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 11:22:19 +0000

The ministry has released a circular in mid July on the new format for PMR English language paper, which will be implemented in 2012. There are changes to both papers with objective questions for literature component removed from Paper 1. The marks for the literature component in Paper 2 have been increased, allowing subjective responses from the students to be used as a measurement of their understanding and appreciation of the literary works.

The Changes

Paper 1

Section A
Graphics/Stimuli
(short texts, charts, notices)
10 questions

Section B
Relational Cloze
10 questions

Section C
Closest in Meaning
6 questions

Section D
Comprehension
• non-linear (1 text) – 6 questions
• Linear (1 text – factual, narrative, etc) – 8 questions

Total: 40 questions (1 mark for each question)

Paper 2

Section A
Guided composition (non-linear and/or linear)
1 question – 25 marks

Section B
Literature components
• Poems – open-ended questions (2 questions – 3 marks)
• Novel – open response with textual evidence (1 question – 12 marks)

Section C
Summary writing
1 question – 10 marks

Total questions: 5
Total marks: 50

The New Format in Full

PMR English Language New Format 2012

[notification type="info"] Your views teachers?? [/notification]

Worksheet on Guided Writing – The Benefits of The Internet

Chuah Kee Man — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 04:45:23 +0000

Process writing approach can be a good way to help beginners in producing an essay. It gives students a systematic structure in organising their ideas. This is a simple worksheet that shows how the process writing approach is used in teaching students guided writing. The topic for the worksheet is The Benefits of The Internet. Teachers can modify it to fit other scopes or topics. The key is to give students proper scaffolding before allowing them to write independently. Repetition of this approach (with different topics) would help students to at least learn how to organise their points and elaborations properly. Teachers should guide them in terms of language accuracy as well.

Of course, hopefully your students do not attempt what Calvin is doing as shown in the comic strip below. Haha.

The Worksheet

You can download the worksheet here.

Clockwords – A Fun and Speedy Vocabulary Game

TESLMalaysia Admin — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 05:18:17 +0000

Clockwords is a flash-based game that test one’s vocabulary as well as typing skill. It is supported by Dictionary.com. Set in a Victorian age, your task is to think and type as fast as you can to fend off invaders that attempt to steal your secret machine. The game is fun and engaging for learners to learn vocabulary and at the same time practise their spelling ability since they need to type the word accurately in a short period of time.

This game can be used as part of a game-based lesson or simply introduce it to the students to play it at home.

Note: The introduction part of the game can be quite lengthy.

Try it Now

Will Human TESL Get Terminated?

TESLMalaysia Admin — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 04:05:31 +0000

There’s great hope throughout much of the industrialised world in the ability for robots to one day take control of educating children and adults when it comes to basic learning principles. Reading, writing, and arithmetic instructions can be easily duplicated by A.I. The interaction between teacher and students can be replicated with advanced voice identification and a yet-to-be developed advanced sense of on-the-spot correction inside the robotic mind. In nations and districts where money for education is tight, the one-time expense and long-term savings of “teacherbots” is incredibly tempting.

(image from AFP/Getty)

In the meantime, however, consider the ramifications of online learning experiences on the demand for TESL work. Some of the best online colleges offer programs related directly with education and literacy simply because these emphases almost go hand-in-hand with the online college experience. Perhaps you’ve even seen TESL programmes available online. If you’ve partaken, then you know how easy language-learning comes to people on the computer.

If you haven’t taken any online TESL classes, then consider the success of Rosetta Stone and other highly interactive independent language learning software. If you wanted to learn English as a second language, wouldn’t you forgo being taught by an instructor in exchange for giving some software or otherwise online means a try first? This might be where the TESL industry is headed – down the drain that is.

Or this is being looked at all wrong. The inability for someone to communicate with other individuals can be pretty inhibiting when it comes to learning a foreign language. Rosetta Stone and similar software is incredibly popular, but does such stuff replace the importance of real world conversation in developing new language skills? Let’s hope so, for the sake of all those people out there who want to make a living teaching English as a second language.

The reason we don’t simply have a HAL 9000-esque computer at the head of every classroom or ever will is because no matter how much we try to spin the revolution of online education, without the interaction of an active being, especially when it comes to language learning, there’s little hope of establishing permanent knowledge wells in the minds of individuals. But don’t get too cozy, because the aforementioned future teacherbots could provide the interaction simple computers can’t replicate. Who knows though, maybe the robots will need real life ESL before they can teach it?

So, what do you think?