Clerici_Catering for MI VAK and Other Students of EFL

8/10/2019 Clerici_Catering for MI VAK and Other Students of EFL

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Humanising Language Teaching Magazine; Year 16; Issue 1; February 2014, ISSN 1755-9715 http://www.hltmag.co.uk/feb14/less01.htm 1

Catering for Learner Differences: MI, VAK and Other

Carolina Clerici, Argentina

Carolina Clerici is an English teacher and researcher at Facultad deBromatologa, Universidad Nacional de Entre Ros, Argentina.E-mail: [email protected], [email protected].

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IntroductionBackgroundFor visual students For auditory students For kinaesthetic students For other studentsFinal wordsReferences

Introduction

It is not easy to be original in the field of ELT since a lot has already been written. However, it isworth recycling easy techniques to make lessons interesting for different kinds of students and

without spending too much time and money. During my last year in college, I noticed traineeteachers depend on ready-made activities and photocopies for lesson planning. It is true that theyare an easy way to work since you only need to find a good activity to photocopy and hand it out tostudents. I am not denying how useful they are, especially nowadays, when teachers seem to rushfrom school to school and have hardly any time to plan. I do not mean the activities in course-booksor photocopies should be banned. I just want to show my experience in making the most of them.Activities that help save up money and time is nothing new, in fact Widdowson (1978, p.55) oncesaid they can be used at any level, an important factor to consider for teachers, who often havelittle time for preparin g lots of new materials.

Background

This article relies on Howard Gardners theory of multiple intelligences. Gardner stated thatintelligence is not a singular phenomenon but rather a collection of seven distinct intelligenceswithin every individual: linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily kinaesthetic, interpersonal,intrapersonal and musical (Gardner, 1983). Besides, Visual/Auditory/Kinaesthetic model forlearning preferences complements the understanding of Garners theory. NLP presupposi tions arefound along this work, as well.

For visual students

Visual aids and visualization turn teaching more real and alive, and they help convey meaning. The

value of visual aids depends on how much they contribute to the learning process. Their fu nction is
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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not to make the lesson more colourful or to demonstrate the teachers versatility either inconstructing or handling them, but to make learning more effective (Byrne, 1976, p.128).

1. Cards

They are a good resource when courses are not very crowded. With large classes, it may take sometime to get organized and a great number of copies.

1.1. Flashcards and pictures

Flashcards are good for teaching vocabulary, guessing games, oral compositions, etc. They areuseful for the production stage, since they are non-verbal frameworks for language practice. They

prompt dialogue production and role-playing. They stimulate interpretation and discussion and helpstudents get their own viewpoints. Students can go beyond what can actually be seen in the pictureto whats implied by it. (Byrne, 1976, p.84). Flashcards and pictures should be large enough forstudents to be able to see them from the back of the classroom. They can be drawn using a thick

felt-tip pen or cut out from magazines. The simpler they are, the more useful they will be for lateractivities. Students can draw pictures themselves, this is suitable for those with spatial intelligence.

1.2. Why are flashcards, pictures and visualization so important in learning a foreign language?

Tak ing into account Saussures linguistic sign, we know every sign is made up by a significant anda signified, i.e. a concept and an acoustic image. Picture 1 illustrates what happens in Spanishspeakers minds when they learn a word, in this case tree:

Since there is a tendency to associate the mother tongue directly to the foreign language, we couldassume that the process in the mind of a Spanish speaker studying English could be the following(picture 2):

Flashcards and pictures may help associate directly the concept in English with the acoustic image,without going through translation. So making good use of visual aids may have a very positiveeffect on teaching vocabulary, and the result may be illustrated in picture 3:

1.3. Cue cards and role cards

Cue cards and role cards guide students for pair work and role-play (see picture 4). These cards

could be written on posters. Students can read them from the board and act out the situation.


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For higher levels, cards can contain more complex instructions and they can guide more complexand longer dialogues (see picture 5).

2. Charts

It is quite easy and quick to copy a chart on the board. Charts and visual displays in general helpstudents with spatial intelligence. The information on the chart can be used for different purposes:

2. 1. Talking about routines

The teacher can design a chart (see picture 6) on the board and ask students to fill in the firstcolumn with their own answers and the second column with their partners information. For thisactivity, students have to make an appropriate question to be able to get the information they need.

To check the activity, the teacher can ask students to make an oral report. They can use first or third person singular, according to the structures they are drilling.

2. 2. Writing about routines

Charts are useful prompts for writing. Picture 7 shows a chart, which takes very short to build onthe board, can guide students to write about someone else. Thus, they practice routine and third

person.


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Possible outcome (PO): On Thursday, Tony gets up at 6:30 and has breakfast. He goes to school at7:30. He has lunch at school at 1. Then, at 2, he goes to the club with John and Paul...

An alternative would be to ask students to fill out the chart with their own information, swap chartswith their partner and describe his/her routine according to the information on the chart. Using their

own lives to write about could motivate them. This kind of activity is good to help students withlinguistic intelligence.

2. 3. Making comparisons

The following chart is useful to work on comparisons. They have to fill in the chart with theiropinion (see picture 8):

PO: Buenos Aires is bigger and more modern than Paran.

For comparisons to be authentic, it is a good idea to use charts with students information. Thefollowing example (picture 9) starts as pair work, where students collect information about their

partner/s. The follow up activity may be a report, using the comparative or superlative formsaccording to the number of students participating in the activity.

PO: Mary has more sisters than I have. John has the most sisters.

2. 4. Games

A well- known game students love to play is Battleship. The teacher can ask students to draw the achart on the board (see picture 10) while he/she explains how to play the game:

Class can be split into two teams. Students choose a combination of letter and number, where there


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is a question to answer or a true/false statement. If they answer correctly, they have a point. Analternative for this game is to hide pairs behind the squares, as a memory game. It is an interestingway to consolidate verb forms, especially irregular verbs. It is also useful to work with oppositeadjectives, minimal pairs (phonetics), etc. These activities are very useful for students with logicalmathematical intelligence.

3. Written posters

If material is well -made, it is not only more motivating for the students to work with, but it is alsomore durable and can therefore be used wit h a number of different classes (Hubicka, 1980, p.9).Picture 11 shows a gap-filling exercise on a poster could be designed in order to make it reusable.

PO: 1- is 2- from 3- in 4- a 5- work 6- old

In the case of matching exercises, the teacher could prepare independent posters for the columns to be joined and stick them separately (see picture 12). In this way, students draw the lines on the board.

Visual aids are good for visual people, but they are not the only kind of students we have in theclassroom, so it is good to keep in mind that auditory and kinaesthetic people do not always profitthat much from visual aids.

For auditory students

1. Dictation

Although dictation has long been criticized and banned from the English classroom, it should not beconsidered a bad thing. Dictation is useful if we make good use of it. It is helpful to developlistening skills. Students are exposed to chunks of language and they are able to understand thegeneral meaning.

Byrne (1986, pp.20-21) claims that dictation involves both listening comprehension and writing andit is more difficult than we consider. He suggests we should use it to practice specific

pronunciation; such as minimal pairs and homophones. For this purpose, it is better to use sentencesrather than whole passages. When using passages, he admits that they should not be too long orinclude sentences that cannot be split into meaningful units. If there are long sentences, we couldrepeat them as many times as necessary instead of dividing them up. While Byrne considers thatdictating isolated words is bad, Revell and Norman (1997, p.37) do not seem to agree with him.They suggest column dictation as a good way to integrate the four skills. An alternative: give each


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student half of the dialogue to dictate to one another (p.139).

I tried the technique with a small group of advanced students. I told them to make five columns, onefor each of the senses. Then I dictated some isolated words they had to put under the column theyconsidered appropriate. I started with things like hamburger and TV which relate more directly to

one of the senses and then words which are harder to classify, such as love and learning . When Itold them to write their own names, they felt really surprised but they managed to put it under oneof the columns. In pairs they explained what they had written. This exercise suits both interpersonaland intrapersonal intelligence. Dictation helps save time when we need some sentences or questionsfor students to work later on. It takes short and it allows working long. Picture 13 shows a gap-filling exercise as the introduction for a dialogue to produce in pairs, to revise simple past tense andlocation of places.

2. Songs

Songs are real English input easily found outside the classroom and they are usually verymotivating. Songs are helpful for students with musical intelligence. They think via rhythms andmelodies and they remember complex structures they have heard in songs. They can even makesense of complex abstract lyrics.

As Byrne thinks (1986, p.92) they are real and once again provide a link between the classroomand the outside world. They are enjoyable and therefore memorable. Even if they presentdifficulties of comprehension, there is an inc entive to overcome them . Revell and Norman (1997,

p.110) share this view, in the sense that they consider that songs help create a good rapport in theclassroom since it maximizes similarities between teacher and students. Whenever the teacher isinterest ed in something they like and knows about it, she is felt closer. She meets them at their mapof the world. Once we match, we can begin to influence, if we choose to, and if it is appropriate. Infact we can only influence from a matching position from a position of rapport.

2. 1. True/False exercises

The following activity is a consolidation lesson for modals to indicate: prediction, permission,advice and obligation. Students listened to the song Father and Son by Boyzone and said whetherthe statements were true or false.

1. The son shouldnt make a change now. 2. The son should relax.3. The son should take a vacation.


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4. The son is allowed to get married.5. The son should react quickly.6. The sons dreams will be there tomorrow. 7. The father had to listen to his parents.8. The son will die.

9. The son has to learn a lot.10. The father was allowed to cry

I checked this activity with a technique called pose-pause-pounce (Beaver, 1998, pp.33-34). Iposed the question, I paused to have everyone think at the same time and then I pounced onsomeone for the answer. It is useful to keep them all on their toes. Harmer (1991) seems to agreesince he considers that asking questions in a predictable order is demotivating and a possible reasonof disruptive behaviour. However, in cases where questions are harder to answer, this techniquecould make students affective filter go up, for students might be under pressure. In this case theycan volunteer to answer or they could be told in advance to think of it and take the time they need toget ready.

2. 2. Answer the questions

This activity was used to revise WH- questions. First, students listened to the song Frozen byMadonna and answered a set of questions that had been dictated. Although the language in the songwas complex from the grammatical viewpoint, the activity was designed to be easy to understand atthe first listening since the answers and the questions were the same as the words in the lyrics.

1. What does he only see?2. When is he frozen?3. What is he consumed with?4. What does he waste his time with?5. When is he broken?6. What would happen if she could melt his heart?7. What should he know?8. What will happen if she loses him?9. What is love?10. What does she need?

At a higher level, where students are ready to listen to the song and process the information at thesame time, the following activity can be successful: students listen to the song Nothing comparesto you by Sinead OConnor and answer the questions. Follow-up: students work in pairs to tell thestory with their own words.

1. When did he go away?2. What does she do every night?3. What does she do all day?4. Where does she have dinner?5. How does she feel without him?6. Where did she go for a solution?7. What did the person say?8. What happened to the flowers?9. What is living without him like?10. What does she want to do now?


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2. 3. Tell the story

Story-telling is motivating for students with linguistic intelligence. To develop writing skills, a goodactivity could be the following. Students listen to the song Norwegian Wood by the Beatles andtell the story, the teacher may help them by providing some verbs in the infinitive.

have be good ask stay tell sit look notice be not sit bide drink talk say betime tell work start laugh tell crawl out sleep wake be alone fly live be good

2. 4. Listen and do

Students may listen to a song and have to do activities without actually producing any language.They may arrange paragraphs or put words in the correct place. In this activity with AlanisMo rissettes song Hand in my Pocket students are given the following chart and the words thatappear below it. Their task is to think beforehand where the words go according to their meaningand then check as they listen to the song.

Im broke but Im p oor butIm short but Im high but Im sane but Im lost but

What it all comes down to. Is that everythings gonna be fine, fine, fine. Ive got one hand in my pocket and

I feel drunk but

Im young and Im tired but I care but

Im here butIm wrong but

What it all comes down to? Is that everythings gonna be quite all right? Ive got one hand in my pocket and What it all comes down to? Is that I havent got it all figured out just yet? Ive got one hand in my pocket and

Im f ree butIm green but Im hard but Im sad but

Im brave but Im sick but

What it all boils down to? Is that no ones really got it figured out just yet? Ive got one hand in my pocket and

What it all comes down to, my friends? Is that every things just fine, fine, fine? Ive got one hand in my pocket and

Im chickenish - Im focused - Im friendly, baby - Im grounded - Im happy - Im healthy, yeah -

Im hopeful, baby - Im kind - Im laughing - Im overwhelmed - Im pretty, baby - Im really gone - Im restless - Im sober - Im sorry, baby - Im underpaid - Im wise - Im working, yeah - the other


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one is flicking a cigarette - the other one is giving a high five - the other one is hailing a taxi cab -the other one is playing the piano - the other ones giving a peace sign

3. CDs

Workings with CDs may be boring if the lyrics are too long and students lose the gist. It is better touse shorter songs, split them up, or make pauses. It is possible to ask students to listen to the songand tell later what they remember. Littlewood (1990, p.68) offers an interesting classification oflistening activities.

3. 1. Performing physical tasks

This kind of activity is usually associated with Ashers Total Physical Response. However, it is notthe only way of having students do things after verbal and non-verbal prompts.

Identification and selection : Students need a set of pictures, they listen to the tape and haveto decide what picture is being referred to.

Sequencing : Students can be given pictures and, while they listen to the tape, they place the pictures in the correct sequence.

Locating : Students place items into their appropriate location according to the tape. Theycan use linguistic reference from the lyrics to locate the song or the singer. They can workwith the singers biography or they can place songs in time.

Drawing and constructing : While students listen to a description or discussion, they candraw something. They can create a whole comic strip after listening to a song or story. Theycan turn it into drama.

3. 2. Transferring information

Students can listen and put the information into a different format, like a chart or a gap-fillingexercise. I used this technique with adults at a private institute. I made them listen to a tape where a

person described his meals and students had to draw the tables with the food they heard. Then theycompared pictures.

3. 3. Reformulating and evaluating information

Students reformulate the text in their own words, they can make a summary or take down notes.

For kinaesthetic students

1. Simulation

Littlewood (1981, pp.49-62) grades activities taking into account teacher-control and learner-creativity As this control becomes less tight and specific, so there is increased scope for thelearners creativity. In this respect, the activities can be viewed as part of a single continuum which

links pre- communicative and communicative activities.


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For other students

And those who do not seem to learn?

There are five questions that are essential when we deal with learning:Where? People learn everywhere.

When? People learn all the time.What? Things that touch us in some way.Why? Because we are curious about the world.How? We get the information through our senses and then the brain takes over.

If we want our students to learn English, we should do interesting things to touch them, appealing toall senses at the same time. If students do not seem to learn the foreign language we are trying toteach, it might be because we are not teaching it in the same way they acquired their mother tongue.Beaver (1998, p.122) makes some suggestions:

We were born with a need to communicate in order to survive.

Our attention was on the communication, not upon the language itself.


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We modelled other members of our family.We used trial and error until we were understood.All verbal communication was greeted with pride, joy and encouragement.We were learning in a safe environment.We were not constantly corrected.

We have an inborn understanding of how language works.We did not have to learn regular verbs before being allowed to talk.We were allowed to learn in our own way.

Final words

There is no method that can work at perfection. There is only a teacher with ideas and students. Andthere are some principles that govern the classroom:

Mind and body are interconnected, and we should bear this in mind every time we plan aclass.Everyone has a different map of the world, people have different ways of learning.Being wrong means that there is still a choice to be better. There is no failure, onlyfeedback... and a renewed opportunity for success.The resources we need are within ourselves. Teaching can take place even without anyresources at all. We need imagination and will; the rest comes alone.Communication is non-verbal as well as verbal. Drama, games and songs are included underthe heading of non-verbal, which sometimes is put aside in the classroom.All behaviour has a positive intention, so when students do not behave properly, they might be trying to let us know that our ways are not their ways. Time to change.

My work is not meant to be a recipe but a humble contribution, bearing always in mind that beingcreative is the only way to success in teaching. As Widdowson once said I am not trying to presenta conclusive case but to start an inquiry. (Widdowson, 1978, p.x)

References

Beaver, D. (1998). NLP for Lazy Learning . New York: Element Books limited.

Brumfit, C.J. and Johnson, K. (1979) The Communicative Approach to Language Teaching .London: OUP.

Byrne, D. (1976). Teaching Oral English . London: Longman.

Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind. New York: Basic Books.

Harmer, J. (1991). The Practice of English Language Teaching . London: Longman

Hubicka, O. (1980). Group and Pair Work. Practical English Teaching 1. Publicao da RoyalSociety of Arts Certificate in the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language.

Littlewood, W. (1990). Communicative Language Teaching (12th printing). London: CambridgeUniversity Press.


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Maley, A. and Duff, A. (1978). Drama Techniques in Language Learning . London: Longman.

Revell, J. and Norman, S. (1997). In Your Hands . London: Saffire Press.

Widdowson (1978). Teaching Language as Communication. Oxford: Oxford University Press .

Willis, J. (1995). Teaching English through English (16th impression). London: Longman.

How to cite this article:

Clerici, C. (2014). Catering for Learner Differences: MI, VAK and Other. Humanising LanguageTeaching Magazine, 16 (1). Retrieved from http://www.hltmag.co.uk/feb14/less01.htm
http://www.hltmag.co.uk/feb14/less01.htmhttp://www.hltmag.co.uk/feb14/less01.htm

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