If computers are available, your students can make use of the synonym
function of Word (highlight "nice" for example, right click on top of the
highlighted word, click on "synonym" in the list that appears).  This will
offer them alternatives that they can explore further.

 

Pat Olson

Literacy Coordinator

Kishwaukee College

21193 Malta Rd.

Malta IL 60150

(815) 825-2086, ext. 320

Adult Volunteer Tutoring

 

  _____  

From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Sheryl Rogel
Sent: Monday, May 12, 2008 12:19 PM
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2381] Re: advancing competency

 

Interesting.  Good starter for a conversation with students as we talk about
seeking out "other" words while editing their writing, like 'good' and
'nice' and such words learned when first acquiring language.  This is not
too different from writers for whom English is their first language as they
often choose words that they learned when first acquiring language.  I am
thinking that when they are more careful about using words that are more
specific, like jog or sprint instead of run, that they will be thinking in
those terms more naturally.      

 

Sheryl Rogel
English Instructor
Bates Technical College
1101 Yakima Ave S
Tacoma, WA   98498
253-680-7267 

"Every study of young writers I've done in the last twenty years has
underestimated what they can do; in fact, we know very little about the
human potential for writing."  Donald Graves

 

  _____  

From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Steve Kaufmann
Sent: Monday, May 12, 2008 9:46 AM
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2380] Re: advancing competency

 

Goals can be different for different learners. To me, one universal goal,
and a good measurement of one's level, is the number of words known, and I
mean just passively known. This can be relatively easily measured with cloze
tests. If these words have been acquired honestly,  through reading (and
listening) , it usually means that a large number of them have been acquired
incidentally, and that the learner is on his/her way to acquiring more words
in the same way. Eventually, given the opportunity to speak and write, more
and more of these passive words will become active. But passive vocabulary
is the foundation of language growth, and an excellent measurement of
progress, in my view.


Steve

On Mon, May 12, 2008 at 9:16 AM, Sheryl Rogel <srogel at bates.ctc.edu> wrote:

Very nicely explained Wayne.  I will be thoughtful about sharing your
thoughts with our students.  I think this description would be most helpful
for students in understanding their own language acquisition struggles so
they can proceed with confidence when setting explicit goals.   Thank you

 

Sheryl Rogel
English Instructor
Bates Technical College
1101 Yakima Ave S
Tacoma, WA   98498
253-680-7267 

"Every study of young writers I've done in the last twenty years has
underestimated what they can do; in fact, we know very little about the
human potential for writing."  Donald Graves

 

  _____  

From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Wayne Hall
Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2008 1:46 AM


To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List

Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2371] Re: advancing competency

 

A paradigm that I have used with advanced adult students of English in Korea
is to tell them that learning a language is a bit like being in a small boat
on a body of water. When students first begin learning a language, it's a
bit like being in a small boat that is passing midway down a narrow stream.
As the boat moves forward, the banks of the stream are passing by, so it is
easy for the learner/traveller to have a sense of progress, and a sense of
where they are going. 

 

When you become an advanced student, however, you have a problem...the small
stream has opened up into an "ocean" of English. There are no "banks of the
stream" anymore; nothing to give you a reference point or a sense of
direction. The language you've learned is now an ocean...it goes on forever,
and you can "move" and "see" in any possible direction. However, it is now
very difficult to have a sense of progress or a sense of direction. You can
move your boat over to the region of legalisms and legal English, for
example, and study those for a while...but when you finish, there is still
something else to learn. And there always will be. 

 

So what does an advanced learner do? They have to develop new tools to give
themselves a reference point and be able to determine where they are going
and how they are progressing. They need a "nautical chart": a set of
explicit goals, means to achieve those goals, and ways or milestones to
measure your progress. Then we go through an exercise where the students
have to develop five very explicit, specific goals ffor language
acquisition, and how they will achieve those goals. For example, one student
decided she wanted to learn the names of all the Italian spices, and what
dishes they are used in.

 

Wayne Hall

Global Language School

Gumi, Korea



Holly Dilatush <holly at dilatush.com> wrote:

Hello Sheryl, all,

a quick response now, maybe more later --

But setting written specific goals and then developing a rubric (with input
from learner and facilitator/instructor on observed error/challenge
patterns) --

then ensuring that the rubric is understood, then editing paragraphs with a
focus on ONLY one rubric item at a time, repeatedly -- 

challenge the learner to take one paragraph, edit it looking ONLY for ONE of
the errors she/he is trying to correct, 

then have it reviewed by instructor, then edited / perfected again for that
ONE error only.

Then repeat with another paragraph and another and another until learner
feels more confident in that skill (this may be a day, days, weeks; varying
per learner), then POST a written dated track record of progress, and tackle
the next item -- I've noticed in informal research that this method yields
positive results, measurable results, and is a motivator, and often rapid
incremental progress noted, with fewer backslides than other approaches.

 

must dash, hope this makes some sense and is helpful in some way -- will try
to post/share a sample rubric later,

Holly 

On Fri, May 9, 2008 at 3:29 PM, Sheryl Rogel <srogel at bates.ctc.edu> wrote:

Greetings.  I am new to this blogging world; thus, I may be not applying

this form correctly as I am just 'replying to all' via my email.

I am quite interested in the how teachers advance the language of higher

level learners of English.  In my regular college prep English courses,

I work with a few students each quarter at this level, and in the last

week I have been introduced to two young, 14 year old, Chinese students

attending a local private school who want to advance their English this

summer.



They have been excellent students in their Chinese schools and their

thinking shows depth and much of their speaking and writing in our

language is delightful --- similar to our high school and adult

students.   However, their writing also reflects a variety of

misunderstandings about sentence structure and verb and preposition

choices, as well as a lack of depth in vocabulary, i.e. overuse of words

such as 'good' - 'nice' - words that appear in primary school readers.

They are asked to write page+ long assignments and the misunderstandings

continue to pile up until we must ask,  "Where do we start?"

Any suggestions focusing on strategies, lessons, and/or ideas that have

been successful in advancing English competency would be welcomed.

Thank you.




Holly (Dilatush)

holly at dilatush.com

(434) 960.7177 cell phone

(434) 295.9716 home phone

[OK to call 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. EST / GMT -5 time]

"As soon as we begin to generalize, we fail to have meaningful dialogue."
(Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt, 2008)

"Live with intention. Share inside~out smiles, inspire hope, seek awe and
nurture in nature."

www.tales-around-the-world.blogspot.com
<http://www.tales-around-the-world.blogspot.com/> 

www.abavirtual-learningcenter.org
<http://www.abavirtual-learningcenter.org/>  

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