TESL E-Zone Malaysia

Teach English Using Harry Potter Movies

TESLMalaysia Admin — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:02:30 +0000

Without doubt, using movies to teach English can be fun and engaging to students. With visual and audio appeal factor, students will be easily hooked. However, it largely depends on the type of movie as well as the connection to the objectives of a lesson. Here, there are three simple worksheets on vocabulary and comprehension questions worksheets which can be modified to suit students of lower-intermediate level. These worksheets are collected from ESLGalaxy.com. Do visit the site for more useful worksheets.

Grammar Games for Verbs in Simple Past

TESLMalaysia Admin — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:01:38 +0000

This is one of the activities taken from the book “Games for Grammar Practice: A Resource Book of Grammar Games and Interactive Activities”. It’s a good activity for students to practise wide range of verbs in the simple past and habitual past with used to. It also helps to enhance student’s speaking and listening skills since conversations are needed to play the game.

This lesson is free to be downloaded and photocopied as long as it is not used for commercial purposes. Of course, feel free to generate more activities from this lesson idea.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Grammarly: A tool to Check Grammar Errors

TESLMalaysia Admin — Mon, 17 May 2010 13:48:28 +0000

Though it would be almost impossible for a machine to check your English grammar for 100% accuracy, sometimes a little bit of help and advice would be very beneficial. Now, Grammarly is just what you need. Grammarly is a free Microsoft Office 2010 add-in which assists in identifying spelling and grammatical inaccuracies to ensure your documents are edited and proofread before they are read by your readers.

Download via the link here, Grammarly, a useful proofreading and grammar checking tool that uses powerful grammar checking technology to trace and find mistakes in users’ writing and gives direct to the point explanations and suggestion to improve it. Once it is installed, users will notice there is an additional Grammarly tab added in the menu bar.

To check and analyze grammar mistakes, users just need to click on the “Check Grammar” button and the checker will do the checking and analyzing online instantly. It will give users a comprehensive report on their grammar as well as problems in spelling, plagiarism, vocabulary, etc. This grammar checking tool’s report is quite comprehensive and detailed. However, it doesn’t correct or rectify your mistakes. Users need to subscribe and pay to get the grammar checking tool to correct errors for you. Grammarly is compatible with MS Office 2003, 2007 and 2010.

For more info: http://www.grammarly.com/

40 Hepful Tips for Making Your ESL Teaching Easier and More Fun!

TESLMalaysia Admin — Thu, 06 May 2010 14:17:29 +0000

ESL Teaching can be a daunting task. Occasionally, teachers need some guidance and inspiration to make sure they are on the right track and not teaching merely to fulfill routine chores. Here are 40 tips from Handsonenglish.com that could help you make your ESL teaching easier and more fun.

1. Join a professional organization
Teaching can be a lonely occupation. Connect yourself to a network of people who do what you do and who share your concerns. You’ll usually receive newsletters and reduced fees at conferences as a benefit. But consider joining also as a way of lending strength to an organization that can speak up on behalf of immigrants’ rights and educators’ concerns!

2. Attend workshops and conferences
Even if you haven’t joined an organization, you can still go to conferences, and there’s no better way to meet fellow teachers, get some inspiring ideas and see ESL books and materials on exhibit. (Note: if you only want to see the book exhibit, some larger conferences will sell you an exhibit pass for a reduced fee.) If you can’t make it to a conference, try at least to attend some teachers’ workshops. Most school districts and community colleges offer training sessions or workshops you can attend. But don’t limit yourself just to ESL! You can get good teaching ideas from other areas as well.

3. Start your own support group
Find some fellow instructors who are willing to meet occasionally or have lunch together for the purpose of exchanging thoughts and ideas. A long-term relationship with other teachers can be very beneficial! The members of your group don’t have to be from the same school–in fact it some times works better if they are not.

4. Get online
If you have access to the Internet through work or through a commercial e-mail service, sign up for some discussion groups, called “lists.” One that we know about is called TESL-L, which provides an opportunity to talk with thousands of ESL professionals internationally.

5. Get a pile of catalogs
Finding just the right ESL materials for your students can sometimes be a challenge! Get yourself on the mailing list with lots of different publishers so you’ll receive their ESL catalogs. You’ll find it useful to have a library of catalogs to browse through when you need to.

Read the rest of the tips here.

TESLMalaysia Share and Win Contest 2010 Winners

TESLMalaysia Admin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 12:54:51 +0000

The wait is over. Sorry for the late announcement as we were sorting out some protocol issues with our sponsors. Upon thorough evaluation and deliberation, the judges (4 of them) have chosen the following winners for the 1st TESLMalaysia Share and Win Contest 2010. In addition to that, our sponsor has also decided to give out an additional consolation prize (from the initial 3) due to the overwhelming response.

Winners List
1st Prize: Lee Sze Leing, Student from Universiti Putra Malaysia

Consolation Prizes (4x):

1. Murni Salina Binti Saharudin, Student from Universiti Industri Selangor (UNiSEL)

2. Hung Yu Ling, Teacher from SMK Seri Patiambun, Limbang

3. Nuramirah Zaini, Student from Universiti Teknologi Mara, Shah Alam.

4. Ang Julee, Student from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai.

Congratulations to all winners.

Winners, please check your email. If you do not receive our email, please notify us as soon as possible.

On another note, we only received 3 entries from male participants out of the 40 entries. Perhaps, they are not attracted with the prizes? Anyway, keep on supporting TESLMalaysia.com and we will strive to provide more useful materials and interesting contest.

The next contest will be in May. The grand prize is cash prize of RM200+books! So Watch Out!

Common Errors in English Usage Part 1

TESLMalaysia Admin — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 10:29:37 +0000

As promised, this is the first of our “Common Errors in English Usage” series. The definition of errors can be very complicated and controversial, hence we will not elaborate on this technical term. Rather, we are more concerned with some usual deviations from the standard use of English, especially by ESL students. In this part, we’re looking at the errors in word usage.

ADVANCE vs. ADVANCED
When you hear about something in advance, you get notice or information ahead of time. Advance also means to move forward or to make progress. Advance can also function as adjective, as in the case of “an advance payment”, which means payment made ahead of time/before hand.

When you say something is advanced, it means “complex or sophisticated” and should not be confused with the past tense form of “advance”.

Note: We often see advertisements use “Advance Level”, which should be “Advanced Level”.

ALPHABET
A, B and C are called letters of the alphabet, NOT alphabets. Alphabet is a character set that includes letters and is used to write a language.

AWHILE vs. A WHILE
When “awhile” is spelled as a single word, it is an adverb meaning “for a time” (“stay awhile”); but when “while” is the object of a prepositional phrase, like “Lend me your monkey wrench for a while” the “while” must be separated from the “a.” (But if the preposition “for” were lacking in this sentence, “awhile” could be used in this way: “Lend me your monkey wrench awhile.”)

BACKUP vs. BACK UP
To “back up” is an activity; “back up your computer regularly”; “back up the truck to the garden plot and unload the compost.”

A “backup” is a thing: “keep your backup copies in a safe place.” Other examples: a traffic backup, sewage backup, backup plan, backup forces.

COMPLEMENT vs. COMPLIMENT
Most of the time the word people intend is “compliment”: nice things said about someone or praise.

Complement, on the other hands, means supplement each other or making something complete.

e.g. vs. i.e.
“e.g.” is the short form for exempli gratia, and means “for example”. “i.e.” is the short form for id est, and means “that is”. Use “e.g.” when you want to give an example (or several examples) of something just mentioned. Use “i.e.” when you wish to explain briefly or to clarify what you just said, or say the same thing in other words.

PRINCIPLE Vs. PRINCIPAL
A principle is a formulation regarded as a basis for thought or action. For example, the principles of liberty.

A principal is the person you see in schools, who leads the school administration. As an adjective, “principal” means “foremost, first, primary, main”, as in “the principal reason I am here is …” or “the principal cause of this phenomenon is …”

LOSE Vs. LOOSE
Contrary to normal rules of English, the single ’s’ in loose is pronounced like an ’s’ – as in wearing trousers that are too loose. Lose on the other hand, relates to loss – for example: “I hope we don’t lose this game”. A good way to remember this is that in the word “lose” you have lost the second ‘o’ from loose.

BORED Vs. BORING
Students often use “I was very boring at the party”. It should be “I was very bored at the party”. Adjectives that end with -ed talk about one’s own feelings, whereas adjectives that end with -ing talk about a person, a thing or a situation that causes one’s feelings. Examples: The movie was boring (so I felt bored). My boyfriend has a very annoying habit (so I am annoyed).

IRREGARDLESS Vs. REGARDLESS
Irregardless is an informal term, which is technically incorrect. The suffix “-less” in regardless has already indicated the meaning of “without”. By adding “ir-” as prefix (means “not”), it creates a “double negative”, which shows the opposite meaning instead.

We’ll explore more errors in Part 2. If you would like to contribute, please email us.

Technology in the ESL Classrooms: Beyond the “Wow” Factor

TESLMalaysia Admin — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 12:35:14 +0000

Recent advancement in technological innovations has indeed transformed our ESL classrooms. Various multimedia teaching tools and other gadgets are introduced into the classroom with the ultimate goal of improving teaching and learning. However, many teachers fail to use such tools effectively, as they are unable to grasp the fundamental skills of technology integration.

Using technology in the classrooms is not solely about creating the “wow” factor, in which students are left amazed but with minimal learning. A typical example would be showing students a 20-minutes video clip that they would go “wow” because of the animation but they learn nothing on learning content. This leads to the need for teachers to consider the pedagogical aspect of each technology. Careful planning and attention are needed in order to maximise learning via technology. Decide and evaluate whether such technology is necessary before using it. In this digital age, sometimes the chalk and the blackboard may be far more effective than a PowerPoint presentation! What matters is how a technology is used!

Here are some useful resources for your reading:

[Debate] More English Classes for All Schools by 2011

TESLMalaysia Admin — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 08:21:58 +0000

As published in The Star, the Ministry of Education Malaysia stated that all schools will have increased hours of English lessons per week by 2011. This is a measure taken by the ministry after the decision to abolish the implementation of Teaching Mathematics and Science in English programme beginning 2012. The ministry has recently announced changes to be made to the English curriculum or syllabus as well.

So English language teachers, do you think this is a good move? Will there be complaints later on that other subjects are getting lesser attention particularly our national language, Bahasa Malaysia? What should be prioritised then? Share your thoughts and let your voice be heard.

TESLMalaysia Share and Win Contest 2010

TESLMalaysia Admin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 03:25:22 +0000

Hi TESL teachers and students, TESLMalaysia.com is celebrating its second anniversary and this year we’re going to have three contests for you to win interesting prizes. This is the first of the contests. Stand a chance to win 1-year subscription of Reader’s Digest, delivered directly to your doorstep. Read more for the instructions and rules.

Contest Instructions:

The contest is fairly simple. Just share one of your activities or ideas in teaching a specific language content or skill. For teachers, you can even share what you have done in your classroom. Inclusion of pictures and materials would be an added bonus. Note: You don’t have to come up with a full lesson plan. A description of your idea would be sufficient.

There are no specific format to follow. Just share your ideas/activities in whatever ways you like. Be creative and innovative. Each winning entry will be published here with your name acknowledged.

For those with blogs, you can also post your entry in your blog and send us the link of the post. Make sure you link back to us on your blog entry as well.

Submit your entry to teslmalaysia@gmail.com with your name, phone number, school/institution name, blog URL(if you have one) with the subject “TESLMalaysia Share and Win Contest”

Contest Rules

This contest is open to all TESL teachers and students residing in MALAYSIA only
You will need to provide the name of your school and institution (university, colleges, etc) in order to be qualified
Contest ends 7 April 2010, 11.59p.m. (GMT+8)
Entry must be ORIGINAL and only in ENGLISH

Questions? Ask in the comment section.

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. Winners will be announced within 1 week.

Teaching English as A Second Language Using Alice In Wonderland

TESLMalaysia Admin — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:03:05 +0000

We all know Tim Burton’s version of Alice in Wonderland 3D movie is hitting cinema across the world. Based on Lewis Carroll classic novel, Alice in Wonderland can be used as a good resource to teach ESL especially literature component. It’s always a good idea to start with something close to students’ heart before going into something “heavy”. Tim Roberts wrote a very interesting article on how to use the book as a teaching material. Perhaps, you can even think of ideas on using the movie clips to spur students’ imagination.

ESL teachers are constantly in need of interesting material for their students, whether those students are first-graders, teenagers, or adults. There is a wide range of lesson planning material available for ESL lessons on the Internet, provided by experienced ESL professionals. But much of it lacks the vital spark needed to ignite a student’s interest and wonder. How many sentences would you want to diagram during a lesson, and how often would you want to review the vocative as compared to the nominative? Useful language tools that sparkle with easily-understood humor are abundantly available in one of the greatest children’s books of all time, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

The book has been translated into nearly 200 languages world-wide and has been made into movies, cartoons, and comic books. It is known in some form or other from Valparaiso to Ulaanbataar. Another plus is that the book is now in the Public Domain; there are no pesky copyright issues to deal with. You can easily download an entire copy of the book at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11/11.txt

To call this wonderful text a mere “children’s book” is a misnomer; it is an immemorial saga of mankind’s struggle to discern between dream and reality, comedy and tragedy, farce and force. It speaks directly to the heart of a child or wizened elder, bypassing the barrier of language as blithely as the Cheshire Cat bypasses Alice’s vision. The literary critic Leone Kathanthos described the book as “written beyond the comprehension of all, and thus accessible to all.”

Read the full article by Tim Roberts here.