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This presentation was given at the 2014 ALT Skill Development Conference in Aomori, Japan. The audience consisted of Assistant Language Teachers (ALT) and Japanese Teachers of English (JTE) from around Aomori prefecture. The content is about improving students' confidence in English and provides some suggestions for engaging students in learning activities to instill confidence.
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By Prof. Edo Forsythe
Hirosaki Gakuin University
Navy Russian Translator
English and American Studies
Professor
Building students’ confidence in English
Classroom techniques
Technology for English study
What is confidence in a foreign language?
Confidence is built through:
- use of authentic materials
- an alert learning situation
- development of communication skills
- students exposed to culture.
(Garcia & DeFeo, 2014)
Today’s students need to know
WHY English???
“Engage them or enrage them”(Prensky, 2009)
English: not just another school subject
English is a muscle!
English is like cotton candy.
English is a toy—
PLAY WITH IT!!!
Language learning = sociocultural activity
Development must be scaffolded for maximum effect
(Vygotsky; Lantolf & Thorne, 2007)
Authentic materials provide sociocultural relevance to lessons
(Brown & Yule, 1983)
Confidence
Motivation
Practice
Providing practice opportunities leads to confidence
Teachers need to model confidence
3 Types of Activities
• Total Physical Response (TPR)
• Shadowing
• Storytelling
Total Physical Response (TPR)
-Get the students moving
-Reinforces language
-Allows practical use of the language
Knowledge = Confidence
Shadowing Immediately repeating after someone else
-Improves listening skills
-Reinforces pronunciation
-Speeds up fluency(Murphey, 2001)
Fluency = Confidence
Shadowing From a high school English textbook:
Storytelling Students put new words & grammar into
practice about a topic they know about
- Realistic use of the language
- Reinforces vocab & grammar
- Activates learning
Language use= Confidence
After teaching the dialog and practicing the grammar, have the students create dialogs of their own.
Storytelling
-Create a story about a picture
“The woman is walking her dog. She is going to the store to buy ice cream…”
Total Physical Response (TPR)
Shadowing
Storytelling
Active learning OUTSIDE the textbook.
Engage your students & build theirCONFIDENCE!!
Now let’s practice thinking of activities to engage our students to build their confidence.
Who has a cell phone?
Technology brings the world to you!
Connect with the English-speaking world to improve your English
Tools for practicing English:
YouTube
Smartphone Apps
When discussing culturally relevant topics, find an appropriate YouTube video to show or recommend.
Halloween
Thanksgiving Day parade
Holiday decorating & parties
Independence Day
celebrations
Smartphone Apps to practice English:
Duolingo Hello-Hello
(Free) English
(Lesson 1 Free)
Can use in class with the students or suggest they download them.
As schools get technology, ask them to install these (or other) apps
THOROUGHLY check out apps before you try to add them to classes.
YouTube
- English Videos; Cultural information
Smartphone Apps
Building students’ confidence in English
Practice Confidence Motivation
Classroom techniques
TPR; Shadowing; Storytelling
Smartphone Apps
Duolingo; Hello-Hello
Slides available at:www.slideshare.net/EdoForsythe/
Contact me via email at
Questions?
