What a great idea!  I have students read aloud to practice pronunciation and to get a group identification of new words, but this is certainly a less "threatening" way of doing it.

I have found that many students "know" a word when they hear it spoken, but don't reconginize it in writing.  I have developed a "How Do I Spell It?" handout from several pronunciation keys as a tool for using the dictionary and sounding words out.  It is a great "ah ha" for both ESL and native English speakers becasuse it clearly shows the at least one of the reasons English is such a confusing language to learn!  The number of ways "ai" "ea" and "ou" are pronounced is enough to give one a headache, let alone the number of ways the /sh/ sound is spelled!

Thanks for your idea!

Mikal Steinbacher
Associate Faculty ESL
Cascadia Community College
________________________________
From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov [englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Ted Klein [taklein at austin.rr.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2007 7:20 AM
To: Adult English Language Learners List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 1988] Students as Sources; Vocabulary Development in ESL

I keep hearing mention of "student-centered teaching activities" as well as various sources of vocabulary development. Several years ago I made what should have been an obvious discovery. The students themselves are the very best source of the vocabulary that they need. I observed several classes in which I felt that ESL teachers were truly inflicting too many of their own interests in vocabulary presentations. One instructor was an audio buff. He spent an hour teaching audio equipment/high fidelity terminology to students, who I felt were not getting the message because of their comprehension levels and also disinterest. Their needs were quite basic. They wanted to communicate in the real world in which they were coping with a new language, a new culture and lots of surprises. What I do once a week with my adult immigrant students is have vocabulary day. The good news is that the students provide the vocabulary and I do my best to fill the gaps that they have discovered. The bad news is possible instructor embarrassment at some of the words that the students have encountered! It's good that we're all adults.  Here is the form that we use, as well as the procedures:



                                    NEW VOCABULARY WORDS


Name____________________________           Date_________________


Make a list of five new vocabulary words that you have heard or seen this week. If you know a word and don't know how to use it, put it on your list.  Make a note on where you found this word and what sentence it was in.

                                                                                                            NOTES:
1.­­­­­­­­­­­­­­____________________________________


2.____________________________________


3.____________________________________


4.____________________________________


5.____________________________________


Put the above words in a sentence after your instructor has explained them.


1.___________________________________________________________


2.___________________________________________________________


3.___________________________________________________________


4.___________________________________________________________


5.___________________________________________________________


PROCEDURES:

1. The students turn in the above form with their new words.

2. The instructor puts all of the words received on the marker board, each with primary stress marked above written vowels and digraphs; e.g.  "phótograph, photógrapher, photográphic photógraphy."   Familiarity with primary stress is a critical feature if students are to be understood in the real world.

3. After all of the words are up, each word is explained is simple written English, "acted out" or illustrated with a sketch. Many nouns can be drawn and most verbs can be acted out. Use of L2/L1 dictionaries is discouraged. Functional words such as "only" are put in parentheses for special treatment and explanation after the basic list is covered. Meanings are discussed in simple English, even though I'm functional in some other languages. Short simple sentences are made with the words.

4. Next is repetition time. Each word is repeated at least twice by class members. At this time students are asked to identify vowel sounds numerically, as I talked about in a previous letter; heed 1,  hid  2, hayed 3, head 4,  had 5,  hod 6,  hawed 7,  hoed 8,  hood  9,  who'd  10,  Hud  11,   hide  6+2,  howl  6+9,  boil   7+2.


ADVANTAGES

1. Students come in with words that they have heard at work, from friends and have read on signs, in newspapers and books. These are the words that they want to know and that they need. Most enjoy the process.

2. All of the class members get to share in new words that their classmates have picked up.

3. Sounds are identified and reinforced, including suprasegmental primary stress.

4. Reading skills are enhanced by recognition.

5. Discussions of meanings among students and with the instructor are high value catalysts for communication.


      Theodore A. (Ted) Klein, Jr.
  Independent Consultant in Language
         and Intercultural Training
              Austin, Texas
       taklein at austin.rr.com<mailto:taklein at austin.rr.com>
      www.tedklein-ESL.com<http://www.tedklein-ESL.com>























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