TOEFL Manual New

HowtoTeachTOEFLTOEICIELTSandMore
2
HowtoTeach
TOEFLTOEICIELTS
andOtherStandardizedExaminations
SecondEdition
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Allrightsreserved.
Permissiongrantedtoreproducepartsofthis
publicationaslongasattributionisnoted.
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Tohelpusdoabetterjobofhelpingyou,wewouldappreciate
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3
I.Introductionpage9
Reasonsfortakingthiscourse
Goalsofthecourse
II.StandardizedTestingpage10
A.Whatisit?
Whyisitdone?
Whatdothetestspredict?
B.BasicIntroductiontoTestDevelopment
ValidityFace,Contentandmore
Reliabilityhowmeasured
Internalconsistencyoftestsanditems
Howitems(questions)aredeveloped
C.BasicStatisticalConcepts
NormalCurve
"Norming"atestandstatisticalcurvesmoothing
StandardDeviationandStandardErrorofTests
**Beforeyoubegin**
Downloadyourcoursenotesat:
www.TEFLeBooks.com/TOEFLnotes.doc
4
III.TOEFLPage21
[significantlymoretimeisspentherethanwiththeother
testsasmanybasicswillbecoveredthatwillthentakemuch
lesstimewhenstudyingtheothertests]
A.Overviewofthetestwhatitisusedfor
Differentformsofthetest:paper,cBT,iBT
B.Howtoselectastudybookforyourstudents
Thingstolookfor
Currency
Baselines
Scoring
ProgressTests
C.Howtouseastudybook
Baseline
Strategybuilding
BuildSkills
PracticeSkills
ProgressTesting
5
D.Whattakingthetestislike
E.Skillstested
TypesofQuestions:
Reading
Listening
Writing
Speaking
F.PracticeTestingandrecalibratinggoals
IV.IELTSPage30
A.Overviewofthetestandwhatitisusedfor
B.Whattakingthetestislike
C.Skillstesting
TypeofQuestions
Listening
Reading
Writing
Speaking
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V.TOEICPage31
A.Overviewofthetestandwhatitisusedfor
B.Whattakingthetestislike
C.Skillstestingandhow
Typesofquestionsandstrategies
Listening
Reading
Speaking
Writing
D.Progresstestingandrecalibrationofgoals
VI.TeachingGrammarPage37
StructureandAnalysis
FastTrackGrammarReview
Instructionalmethodsfortutorialstudents
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VII.TeachingStudyandExaminationSkillsPage51
PlanningandRealisticGoalSetting
Settingtheenvironment
Gatheringmaterials
Distributedpractice
SQ3R
Homeworkandassignments(forstudents)
VIII.TeachingReadingSkillsPage68
Selectingtextsandmaterials
Survey
Skimming
Scanning
Comprehension
DiscriminationTraining
Buildingreadingspeed
Buildingvocabulary
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IX.TeachingWritingSkillsPage82
Organizationofwriting
X.TeachingListeningSkillsPage84
Reductions
Linking
Soundchanges
Contentandfunctionwordsandstress
Contractions
Wordendingsandbeginnings
Grammarchallengesinlistening
Outlining
XI.RelatedResourcesPage97
9
WhyTakeThisCourse?
ThiscourseisdesignedtohelpnewlytrainedandexperiencedEFL
teachersfurtherimprovetheirskillsandcareeroptions.Teaching
specializedskillscoursesinwriting,reading,andlistening;andtest
preparationcoursesforTOEFL,TOEIC,IELTS,etc.isnaturalprogression
asyoumoveupinyourteachingcareer.
GoalsoftheCourse
Thegoalsofthiscoursearetoprovideadditionalskillsthatwillallow
you,withconfidence,toseekmorevariedanddemandingcoursework.
Itisalsointendedthatincreasedskillswillleadtoincreasedjob
satisfaction.
BottomLine
ManyEFLteachershavenoideahowtoteachthemoredemanding
coursessuchasTOEFLorIELTSPreparation,orevenadvancedwriting.
Thiscoursewillshowyouhow.
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II.StandardizedTesting
A. Whatisstandardizedtesting?
Testsarestandardizedwhentheyaredeveloped,administered,and
scoredusingestablishedproceduresandguidelines.Theseprocedures
andguidelinesensurethatallstudentsaretestedunderthesamecon
ditions,thattheyareallgivenequalopportunitytodeterminethe
correctanswers,andthatallscoresareestablishedandinterpreted
usingappropriatecriteria.Twotypesofstandardizedtestsare:
1. normreferencedtests,usedtocomparestudentperformanceto
thatofotherstudents;and
2. criterionreferencedtests,usedtomeasurestudentperformance
againstadefinedsetoflearningrequirementsorexpectations.
Indevelopingstandardizedtests,testdevelopersfollowestablished
procedurestocreatequestionsthatreflectthecurriculaorthelearning
requirements.Theyalsoanalyzethetesttoensurethatitmeasures
studentperformanceaccuratelyandreliably.Whenstandardizedtests
aregiventostudents,thereareprescribeddirectionsforhowthetestis
tobeadministeredandeverytestgivenineverysettingmustbegiven
underthesameconditionstoensurethatnoonehasanadvantage.
Themoreyouknowaboutthetypeoftest
beinggiven,howitisdeveloped,administered,
scored,andinterpreted,themoreinsightyou
willhaveinunderstandingthetestingprocess,
itsoutcomes,and,ultimately,inmaking
decisionsregardingastudentseducation.
(PearsonEducationalMeasurement)
11
Inscoringstandardizedtests,manualandcomputerassistedanalyses
doublecheckthescoringprocesstoensurethateverystudentsscoreis
accurate.Interpretingstandardizedtestscoresisacriticalprocess
becausethedecisionscanhavesignificantimpactonstudentslives.
Manyguidelinesgovernhowtestresultscanbeappliedandwhat
evidence(usuallystatisticalanalysis)isneededtosupportvarioususes.
(adaptedfromPearsonEducationalMeasurement)
Whyarestandardizedtestsused?Whatdotheteststellus?
StandardizedtestssuchatTOEFLandIELTSandothersareusually
administeredtodetermine,orpredict,astudentslikelihoodofsuccess
inanEnglishspeakingacademicsetting.TOEICisusedtomeasureand
predictthesubjectsskillsusingEnglishinanEnglishspeakingwork
environment.
Someinterestingcorrelations
Controversysurroundsstandardizedtestsastheytendtobeone
dimensionalandmeasureonlycertainaspectsofapersonsability/
skill.Theymaynotmeasureotherimportantaspectssuchassocial
skillsordeterminationtosucceed.IQtests,forexample,canwell
predictthegrossincomeofthesubjectsparents,oreventhenumber
ofbooksinherparentshouse.Thusthetestsometimespossibly
bettermeasureswealthorresourcesavailabletothestudentthan
nativeability.
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B.IntroductiontoTestDevelopment
Validity
Howdoweknowwhetheratestmeasurestheabilityinwhichweare
interested?Evenifatestisperfectlyreliableandvirtuallyerrorfree,
howdoweknowifitismeasuringtheabilitieswewantittomeasure
andnotsomethingelse?Thisistheideaandcentralconcernofvalidity,
andultimatelyinvolvesthekindsofjudgmentsthatcanbedrawnfrom
testscores.
Let'sconsideramathtestconsistingonlyofwordproblems.Thetest
scorecouldappropriatelybeusedtoindicatethestudent'sabilityto
solvemathproblemsthatrequirereading;thatwouldbeavaliduseof
thetestscore.However,usingthetestscoreasarepresentationofthe
student'smathabilityingeneralmightnotbevalid,especiallyifthe
studentwasnotfluentinthelanguageinwhichthewordproblems
werewritten.
Peoplewhodeveloptestsanalyzetheminseveralwaystodetermine
theappropriate(i.e.,valid)useoftestscores.Let'sreviewsomeofthe
issuesconsideredindeterminingthevaliduseoftestscores:
13
Dothequestionsonthetestrepresenttheentiresubjectmatter
aboutwhichconclusionsaretobedrawn?Forinstance,ifatestis
designedtomeasuregeneralarithmeticability,thereshouldbe
questionsaboutaddition,subtraction,multiplication,anddivision.
Iftherearenoquestionsaboutdivision,thetestdoesnotmeasure
theentirecontentofarithmetic,sothetestscorecannotbesaidto
reflectgeneralarithmeticability.
Isthestudentrequiredtodemonstratetheskillthatthetestis
intendedtomeasure?Testsshouldbedirectlytargetedtotheskills
measuredandthatskillshouldaffecttestperformance.For
example,atestdesignedtomeasurewritingproficiencyshouldask
testtakerstowritesomething,andbetterwritersshouldbeshown
toreceivehigherscores.
Arethetestscoresconsistentwithotherindicatorsofthesame
knowledgeandskills?Supposeastudenttakesatestdesignedto
measurewritingability.Ifthestudentdoeswellonwritingassign
mentsinclass,thenheorsheshouldalsodowellonthewriting
test,solongasthetypeofwritingonthetestisconsistentwiththat
doneinclass.Ontheotherhand,studentswhodonotperformwell
onwritingassignmentsinclassshouldnotdoaswellonthetest.
Thevalidityofusingthattestscoreasanindicationoftheperson's
abilityisquestionableifthereisinconsistencybetweenthetest
scoreandclassroomperformance.
14
Reliability
Theconsistencyofscoresacrossdifferentadministrationsorscorersis
knownasreliability.Itiscrucialthattestscoresbeadequatelyreliable
inrepresentingaperson'sknowledgeandskills.Someleveloferroris
alwaysafactorintesting(moreonthislater)andtestscores.Ifa
persontakesthesametestondifferentdays,wecanexpecttheresults
tobeslightlydifferent,butthemoreerrorthereisinthetest's
makeup,themoredifferentthetwotestscoresarelikelytobe.Ifthe
twotestscoresareverydifferent,itisreasonabletoconcludethatthe
differenceisduetotesterrorandthatthescoresdonotreallyreflect
whatthetesttakerknowsandisabletodo.
Inconsistenciesinscoringtestsmightalsoundercutreliability.Some
testsarecomposedofmultiplechoicequestions,whileothersrequire
thatthetesttakerconstructaresponse,suchasanessay.Scoringa
multiplechoicequestionisstraightforward,becausethereisoneright
answer;theanswerprovidediseithercorrectorincorrect.Therefore,
regardlessofwhoscoresthetest,thescoreonthatquestionwillbethe
same.Essaytypequestions,however,requirehumanjudgmentandare
thereforemoredifficulttoscore.Iftwopeoplereadthesameessay,it's
likelythateachpersonwillgivetheessayaslightlydifferentscore.
However,ifthetwoscoresgivenbythetwoscorers,or"raters,"are
verydifferent,thenthescoreonthatessayisnotveryconsistentand
thusnotveryreliable.
15
Themeasureofconsistencybetweenscorersiscalledinterrater
reliability.Thecloserthescoresassignedtoanessaybydifferent
raters,thehighertheinterraterreliabilityofthattest.Whileitmight
seemimpossibletogetdifferentraterstoassignexactlythesame
score,itispossibletotrainraterssothattheyallscoreinaverysimilar
way.Ifthisgoalisaccomplished,therecanbemoreconfidencethatthe
scoreassignedtotheessayreflectstheabilityofthestudent.
BasicStatisticalConcepts
TheNormalCurve
StandardizedtestssuchastheTOEFL,IELTS,andTOEICforcescoresinto
anormalorbellshapedcurvesuchastheonetotheleft.
Intelligencetestsalsodothis.
Anormaldistributionofdatameansthatmostoftheexamplesinaset
ofdataareclosetothe"average,"whilerelativelyfewerexamplesare
atoneextremeortheother.
Let'ssayyouarewritingastoryaboutnutrition.Youneedtolookat
people'stypicaldailycalorieconsumption.Likemostdata,thenumbers
forpeople'stypicalconsumptionprobablywillturnouttobenormally
distributed.Thatis,formostpeople,theirconsumptionwillbecloseto
themean,whilefewerpeopleeatalotmoreoralotlessthanthe
mean.
Exampleofanormalcurveornormal
distributionofscoresonatest
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TheStandardDeviation
Thestandarddeviationisastatisticthattellsyouhowtightlyallthe
variousexamplesareclusteredaroundthemeaninasetofdata.When
theexamplesareprettytightlybunchedtogetherandthebellshaped
curveissteep,thestandarddeviationissmall.Whentheexamplesare
spreadapartandthebellcurveisrelativelyflat,thattellsyouthatyou
havearelativelylargestandarddeviation.
Computingthevalueofastandarddeviationiscomplicated.Butlets
seegraphicallywhatastandarddeviationrepresents(seecharttothe
left).
Onestandarddeviationawayfromthemeanineitherdirectiononthe
horizontalaxis(thefirstareatotherightandtotheleftofthemeanon
theabovegraph)accountsforsomewherearound68percentofthe
peopleinthisgroup.Twostandarddeviationsawayfromthemean
(thefirstfourareas)accountforroughly95percentofthepeople.And
threestandarddeviations(thesixareas)accountforabout99percent
ofthepeople.
Ifthiscurvewereflatterandmorespreadout,thestandarddeviation
wouldhavetobelargerinordertoaccountforthose68percentorso
ofthepeople.Sothat'swhythestandarddeviationcantellyouhow
spreadouttheexamplesinasetarefromthemean.
17
Whenyouthinkaboutit,that'sjustcommonsense.Notthatmany
peoplearegettingbyonasingleservingofkelpandrice.Oroneight
mealsofsteakandmilkshakes.Mostpeopleliesomewherein
between,closertothemiddle.
Ifyoulookedatnormallydistributeddataonagraph,itwouldlook
somethinglikethechartontheleftofthispage.
Thexaxis(thehorizontalone)isthevalueinquestion...calories
consumed,dollarsearnedorcrimescommitted,forexample.Andthe
yaxis(theverticalone)isthenumberofdatapointsforeachvalueon
thexaxis...inotherwords,thenumberofpeoplewhoeatxcalories,
thenumberofhouseholdsthatearnxdollars,orthenumberofcities
withxcrimescommitted.
Now,notallsetsofdatawillhavegraphsthatlookthisperfect.Some
willhaverelativelyflatcurves,otherswillbeprettysteep.Sometimes
themeanwillleanalittlebittoonesideortheother.Butallnormally
distributeddatawillhavesomethinglikethissame"bellcurve"shape.
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Whyisthisuseful?Here'sanexample:Ifyouarecomparingtestscores
fordifferentschools,thestandarddeviationwilltellyouhowdiverse
thetestscoresareforeachschool.
Let'ssaySpringfieldElementaryhasahighermeantestscorethan
ShelbyvilleElementary.Yourfirstreactionmightbetosaythatthekids
atSpringfieldaresmarter.
Butabiggerstandarddeviationforoneschooltellsyouthatthereare
relativelymorekidsatthatschoolscoringtowardoneextremeorthe
other.Byaskingafewfollowupquestionsyoumightfindthat,say,
Springfield'smeanwasskewedupbecausetheschooldistrictsendsall
ofthegiftededucationkidstoSpringfield.OrthatShelbyville'sscores
weredraggeddownbecausestudentswhorecentlyhavebeen
"mainstreamed"fromspecialeducationclasseshaveallbeensentto
Shelbyville.
Inthisway,lookingatthestandarddeviationcanhelppointyouinthe
rightdirectionwhenaskingwhyinformationisthewayitis.
Thestandarddeviationcanalsohelpyouevaluatetheworthofall
thosesocalled"studies"thatseemtobereleasedtothepress
everyday.Alargestandarddeviationinastudythatclaimstoshowa
relationshipbetweeneatingTwinkiesandkillingpoliticians,for
example,mighttipyouoffthatthestudy'sclaimsaren'tallthat
trustworthy.
CredittoRobertNilesforhis
excellentdescriptionofthese
statisticalconcepts.
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"Norming"atestandstatisticalcurvesmoothing
Teststhatdontnaturallyfitintoanormalcurvecanbeforcedor
adaptedtoanormalcurveviatheuseofstatisticalmethods.
Errorintestscores
Asweexplainedatthebeginningofthissection,someerrorisalwaysa
factorintestscoreinterpretation.Infact,testssimplycannotprovide
informationthatis100%accurate.Thismightsoundsurprising,butthis
istrueformanyreasons;forexample:
Theextenttowhichastudenthaslearnedthebreadthanddepthof
asubjectwillinfluencehowsheorheperformsonatest.Ona
readingtest,forexample,astudentmightdowellwithquestions
aboutwordmeaningandfindingthemainideaofapassagebut
havehadlesspracticedistinguishingfactfromopinion.The
experience(orlackthereof)thatatesttakerbringstothetest
representsasourceoferrorintermsofusingthetestscoreto
generalizeaboutthestudent'sreadingability.
Sometimesastudenttakingatestisjustplainunlucky.Ifastudent
istired,hungry,nervous,orevenjusttoowarm,heorshemightdo
worseonthetestthanifthecircumstancesweredifferent.
Atestmighthavequestionsthatseemtrickyorconfusing.Ifa
studentisnotclearaboutthemeaningofaquestion,heorshewill
havetroublefindingthecorrectanswer.
20
Standarderrorofmeasurement
Thescoreapersongetsonthetestismeanttoindicatehowwell
thatpersonknowstheinformationbeingtested.Onewayof
lookingatatestscoreistothinkofitasconsistingoftwoparts.
Onepartrepresentstherealbutunknowabletrueabilityofa
person.Thispartisunknowablebecauseitisneverpossibletoget
insidesomeone'sheadandhaveaperfectmeasureoftheirability
intheareaofinterest.Theotherpartofatestscorerepresentsthe
error,allthethingsthatmakethetestalessthanperfectsnapshot
ofsomeone'sknowledgeatonemomentintime.Unlikethewaywe
canmanufactureayardstickthatisexactlythreefeetlongto
measurelength,eventhebesttestscanprovidescoresthatareonly
approximationsofthetrueability.
Unfortunately,itisimpossibletobreakthesetwopiecesofatest
score(thetrueabilityanderror)apart.Butitisimportantto
understandthatanytestscorecontainsacertainamountoferror,
andaswe'veillustratedtheerrormightbeduetothingsthatare
goingonwiththetesttakerorthingsthatinvolvehowthetestis
createdorscored.Errorsintestscorescannotbecompletely
eliminated,butfortunatelytherearetechniquesthatcanbeused
toprovidesomeideaabouthowmuchthescoreisaffectedby
error.
Testingspecialistscancalculatethe
standarderrorofmeasurement,whichcan
bethoughtofastherangeofscores
obtainedbythesamepersontakingthe
sametestmanytimes.
Thestandarderrorofmeasurementisa
"bestguess"abouthowclosethetestisto
measuringaperson'sknowledgeorskill
with100%
accuracy.
Thestandarderrorofmeasurementisa
statisticalestimateofhowfaroffthetrue
scorethetestscoreislikelytobe.
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III.TOEFL
A. Overviewofthetest
TOEFLstandsfortheTestofEnglishasaForeignLanguage.Thistestis
designedtomeasuretheEnglishlanguageabilityofpeoplewhodonot
speakEnglishastheirfirstlanguageandwhoplantostudyatcolleges
anduniversities.
AbouttheTOEFLTest
TosucceedinanacademicenvironmentinwhichEnglishisthe
languageofinstruction,internationalstudentsneedtonotonly
understandEnglish,butalsotocommunicateeffectively.TheTestof
EnglishasaForeignLanguage(TOEFL)isatestthatassessesallfour
basiclanguageskills:listening,reading,writing,andspeaking.The
TOEFLiBT(Internetbasedtest)helpsindividualsdemonstratethe
Englishskillsneededforacademicsuccess,aswellashelpinstitutions
makebetterdecisionsaboutprospectivestudents'readinessfor
academiccourseworkincollegesanduniversities.
Morethan6,000institutionsand
agenciesin110countriesrelyon
TOEFLscorestoselectstudentswith
theEnglishskillsneededtosucceedin
anacademicsetting.
22
WhoShouldTaketheTOEFLTest?
ETS,thecompanythatdevelopedtheTOEFLtestrecommendsthat
nonnativeEnglishspeakersatthe11thgradeleveloraboveshould
taketheTOEFLtesttoprovideevidenceoftheirEnglishproficiency
beforebeginningacademicworkinEnglish.Thetestcontentis
consideredtoodifficultforstudentsbelow11thgrade.
SomeinstitutionsdonotrequireTOEFLtestscoresofthefollowing:
Nonnativespeakerswhoholddegreesordiplomasfrom
postsecondaryinstitutionsinEnglishspeakingcountries(e.g.,the
UnitedStates,Canada,England,Ireland,Australia,NewZealand)
nonnativespeakerswhohavesuccessfullycompletedatleasta
twoyearcourseofstudyinwhichEnglishwasthelanguageof
instruction
transferstudentsfrominstitutionsintheUnitedStatesorCanada
whoseacademiccourseworkwasfavorablyevaluatedinrelationto
itsdemandsandduration.
nonnativespeakerswhohavetakentheTOEFLtestwithinthepast
twoyears
nonnativespeakerswhohavesuccessfullypursuedacademicwork
atschoolswhereEnglishwasthelanguageofinstructioninan
Englishspeakingcountryforaspecifiedperiod,generallytwoyears.
WhyTaketheTOEFLTest?
MostpeopletaketheTOEFLtestasa
prerequisiteforadmissioninto
collegesanduniversitieswhere
Englishisusedorrequired.In
addition,manygovernment,
licensing,andcertificationagencies,
andexchangeandscholarship
programsuseTOEFLscoresto
evaluatetheEnglishproficiencyof
peopleforwhomEnglishisnottheir
nativelanguage.Thetestpredicts
successinanacademicsettinginan
Englishspeakingcountry.
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FormsoftheTest
ThetestcomesinthepBTandiBTformsmeaningthepaperbased
test(beingphasedout)andtheInternetbasedtest(tobecomethe
standard).ThecBTorcomputerbasedtesthasbeenphasedout.
Wewillfocusonthetestitselfhereandnottheforminwhichitis
administered.
B.Howtoselectastudybookforyourstudents
Lookforastudymanualthathasabaselineexaminationandatleast
three,preferablyasmanyassixormore,practicetests,aswellasgood,
clearexplanationsofthetestandtestitems.Thestudymanualshould
becurrentandpublishedwithinthelasttwoyears.
Abaselineexaminationwillhelpyouandyourstudentstogetagood
senseoftheircurrentstrengthsandweaknessesontheareasofthe
test.Thiswillhelpyouknowwhatthestudentsneedtoworkonmost
toimprovetheirscores.
Progresstestswillhelpyouandyourstudentsmeasuretheir
improvementasyouguidetheirstudies.
Agoodmanualshouldhaveaclear
explanationofthescoringsystemof
theexaminationtohelpyouknow
justhowfaryourstudentsarefrom
theirgoal.
Studentsshouldknow,oraskyouto
helpthemdiscover,thescorethey
needforadmissiontotheuniversity
orinstitutiontheywishtoattend.
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C.Howtouseastudybook
Onceyouhavechosenastudymanual,readthedirectionscarefully.
Typically,thefirst1040pagesofamanualwillgiveverydetailed
instructionsonhowtobeststudyforthetest,testtakingtips,and
basicinformationaboutthetest.Asmartinstructor[you]willtakethe
testatleastoncesotheyknowexactlywhatisentailed.
Buildingagoodstudyplanisanessentialfirststepinhelpingyour
students.But,first,youmustknowtheskilllevelofyourstudentsand
wheretheirskillsarestrongandweak.Thiswillrequiregivingyour
studentsabaselinetesttodeterminetheircurrentskilllevels.
Onceanestimatedbaselinescorehasbeenestablished,carefully
reviewyourstudentsskilllevelsanddevelopastudyplanthatwill
helpraiselowerscoresandstrengthenthehigherscores.
Irregularityofskilllevels(strongverbalskillsandveryweakwriting
scores,forexample)arenotuncommonandworkingonraisingthe
lowerlevelskillswill,mostlikely,yieldthequickestresults(ETS
researchsuggeststhisistrue).
Studentswilloftenwanttostudyintensivelyforshortperiodsoftime,
buttheywillgenerallybemoresuccessfulwithdistributedpractice
overlongerperiodsoftime.
Baseline,practiceand
progresstestsshouldbe
takenunderconditions
ascloseaspossibleas
thoseatatestingcenter.
25
Itisnotuncommonforstudentstowanttotakeamajorexamination
infourweeksorevenlessandexpectthattheycansignificantlyraise
theirscoresinthatperiodoftime.Suchanapproachisusually
selfdefeatingandshouldbediscouraged.
Manymajortestsrequireaminimumofthreemonthstopassbetween
examinationsastheyhavegoodresearchthatindicatesthatstudent
scorestypicallydonotchangesignificantlyiflesstimeisinvolved,
Oncethestudyplanisimplementedandthestudentsareworking
regularly,administerperiodicpracticeteststomeasureimprovements.
Thepurposeofthisistogivethestudentfeedbackontheir
improvementandtogivethempracticeintheactualtakingofthetest.
Thereisalsoapracticeeffectwithsuchtestsandstudentscanimprove
theirscoresslightlywithonlypractice.
Familiaritywiththetestwillhelpstudentsbetterjudgehowmuchtime
isallowedforeachquestion,forreading,fordraftingandcorrecting
theirwriting,fortakingnotesforconversationalcomponents,for
doublecheckingthateachquestionhasbeenanswered,etc.
26
D.WhattakingtheTOEFLtestislike
Photocopyandtakethefirstbaselinetestinthemanualthatyou
purchased[seeaccompanyingnotes].Takethetestunderstandardized
conditions,takingonlytheallottedamountoftimeforeachsection.
Aftertakingthetest,computeyourscoreandthinkabouttheoverall
testingexperienceandsuggeststrategiesforimprovingyouroverall
andsectionalscores.Theexercisewillhelpyouknowwhattodowith
yourstudentsatthatpoint.
E.Skillstested
TheTOEFLiBTtestsallfourlanguageskillsthatareimportantfor
effectivecommunication:speaking,listening,reading,andwriting.
Thetestisnowaboutfourhourslong.
Allsectionswillbecompletedin
oneday.
27
Somequestionsrequiretesttakerstocombinemorethanoneskill:To
succeedacademicallyinEnglishspeakingcollegesanduniversities,
studentsneedtobeabletocombinetheirlanguageskillsinthe
classroom.
Integratedquestions,ortasks,inthetesthelplearnersbuildtheskills
andconfidenceneededtocommunicateeffectivelyintheacademic
environmentstheyplantoenter.Theintegratedtasksasktesttakersto
(1)read,listen,andthenspeakinresponsetoaquestion(2)listenand
thenspeakinresponsetoaquestion,and(3)read,listen,andthen
writeinresponsetoaquestion.
TheTOEFLiBTincludesaSpeakingsection.Thissectionincludessix
tasks,andtesttakerswearheadphonesandspeakintoamicrophone
whentheyrespond.
TheresponsesaredigitallyrecordedandtransmittedtoETSsOnline
ScoringNetworkwherehumanscorersratethem.Thescorersare
carefullymonitoredforaccuracy,sotesttakersandscorerecipientscan
beassuredofthereliabilityofthespeakingscores.
TheWritingsectionhasbeenexpanded.Thetestrequirestesttakersto
writearesponsetomaterialtheyhaveheardandread,andtocompose
anessayinsupportofanopinion.
28
F.PracticeTestingandrecalibratinggoals
Afterareasonableperiodofstudy,haveyourstudentstakeaprogress
testandreevaluatetheirgoalsbasedontheirperformance.Notwo
studentswillbeexactlythesameandgoalsshouldbeindividualized.
G.Resources
Downloadthe76pagePDFfileTOEFLiBTTipsbyETSat:
http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/TOEFL/pdf/TOEFL_Tips.pdf
ETSwillupdatethepublicationfromtimetotime,sothenumberof
pagesmayvary.
ETSoffersavarietyofpaidandfreepreparationmaterialstohelp
studentsgetreadyfortheTOEFLtest.Itisworthseeingwhich
materialsmyhelpyourspecificstudents.
29
IV.IELTS
A. Overviewofthetest
TheIELTS(InternationalEnglishLanguageTestingSystem)testprovides
anevaluationofEnglishforthosewhowishtostudyortrainatthe
tertiarylevelinEnglish.ItisverysimilartotheTOEFL(TestofEnglishas
aForeignLanguage).IELTSisajointlymanagedtestbytheUniversityof
CambridgeESOLExaminations,BritishCouncilandIDPEducation
Australia.Thetestisacceptedbymanyprofessionalorganizationsin
TheUK,Canada,AustraliaandNewZealand.
B.WhattakingtheIELTStestislike
Photocopyandtakethefirstbaselinetestinthemanualthatyou
purchased(seeHowtoSelectaStudyBookintheprevioussection).
Takethetestunderstandardizedconditions,takingonlytheallotted
amountoftimeforeachsection.Aftertakingthetest,computeyour
scoreandthinkabouttheoveralltestingexperienceandsuggest
strategiesforimprovingyouroverallandsectionalscores.
30
C.Skillstesting
StudentstakeeithertheAcademicorGeneralTrainingsectionsin
readingandwritingthelisteningandspeakingsectionsarethesame
forbothformsofthetest.Thetotaltesttimeisabout2hoursand45
minutesandconsistsofthefollowing:
Listening(30minutes)
Reading(60minutes),
Writing(60minutes)and
Speaking(1114minutes).
TheListening,ReadingandWritingtestsaredoneinonesitting.The
Speakingtestmaybeonthesamedayoruptosevendaysbeforeor
aftertheothertests.
D.PracticeTestingandrecalibratinggoals
FreeResourcesfromIELTS
DownloadavarietyofPDFfiles
thatprovideassistanceand
instructionforallthesections
oftheIELTSexaminationaswellastheIELTS
GuideforTeachersat:
http://www.ielts.org/teachers.aspx
31
V.TOEIC
A. OverviewoftheTest
B. TheTestofEnglishforInternationalCommunication
(TOEIC)isa
benchmarkofEnglishlanguageskillsinlisteningandreadingand
measurestheeverydayEnglishskillsofpeopleworkinginan
internationalenvironment.Thetestiswidelyacceptedby
corporations,Englishlanguageprograms,andgovernmentagencies
aroundtheworld.
CorporationsuseittodocumentprogressinEnglishtrainingprograms,
recruitandpromoteemployees,andputstandardmeasurementsin
placeacrosslocations.
EnglishProgramsuseittoplacestudentsatthecorrectlearninglevels,
andshowstudentprogressandprogrameffectiveness.
GovernmentagenciesuseittodocumentprogressinEnglishtraining
programsandtorecruit,promote,andhireemployees.
B.WhattakingtheTOEICtestislike
Takeapracticetest(seeHowtoSelectaStudyBookintheTOEFL
section),computeyourscoresandconsiderstrategiesfor
improvement,aswiththepreviousexaminations.
32
C.Skillstesting
TheTOEICtestcomesintwoforms,theoriginallisteningandreading
componentsandthemorerecentlydevelopedwritingandspeaking
section.Listeningandreadingisstillapaperandpencil,
multiplechoiceassessmentwithtwoseparatelytimedsectionsof100
questionseach.Thespeakingandwritingformoftheexamistaken
onlyovertheInternet.Besuretoaskyourstudentifsheintendsto
takebothformsofthetest,ormorecommon,totakeonlythe
ListeningandReadingform,asthewritingandspeakingformisnotyet
availableworldwide.Becarefulwhenyousearchforastudymanual,
thatyoufindonethathasBOTHtestsinit(ifavailableinyourarea,
again,checktheETS
website).
TheListeningandReadingTest
SectionI:Listening
Testtakerslistentoavarietyofquestionsandshortconversations
recordedinEnglish,thenanswerquestionsbasedonwhattheyhave
heard(100itemstotal).
Part1:Photographs
Part2:QuestionResponse
Part3:Conversations
Part4:ShortTalks
33
SectionII:Reading
Testtakersreadavarietyofmaterialsandrespondattheirownpace
(100itemstotal).
Part5:IncompleteSentences
Part6:ErrorRecognitionorTextCompletion
Part7:ReadingComprehension
TheSpeakingandWritingTests
TheTOEICtestsassesslanguageskillsthatareusedindailylifeand
theworkplace.TesttakersspeakandwriteinEnglishtheirresponsesto
realworldquestionsandscenarios.Thetestsusecommoneveryday
vocabulary,phrasesandkeyexpressionsusedinbusiness.Testtakers
donotneedspecificbusinessknowledgetodowellonthetest.
TheTOEICSpeakingTestFormat
Content:11questions
Time:approximately20minutes
Scorescale:0200
OnthefollowingpageisanoverviewoftheTOEICSpeakingTest,which
includes11questionsthatmeasurevariousaspectsofspeakingability.
Foreachquestion,specificdirectionswillbegiven,includingthetime
allowedforpreparingandspeakingtheresponse.Itistothe
testtakersadvantagetosayasmuchastheycaninthetimeallowed.
Itisalsoimportantthatyouspeakclearlyandanswereachquestion
accordingtodirections.
TheListeningandReadingtesttakes
approximately2hours,with:
45minutesforListening
75minutesforReadingand
approximately30minutestoan
swerbiographicalquestions
34
FreeResourcesfromTOEIC:
TOEICListeningandReading
SampleTest(PDF)
35
TheTOEICWritingTestFormat
Content:eightquestions
Time:approximately60minutes
Scorescale:0200
OnthenextpageisanoverviewoftheTOEICWritingtest,which
includeseightquestionsthatmeasuredifferentaspectsofwriting
abilityandtakesaboutonehour.Foreachtypeofquestion,the
testtakerwillbegivenspecificdirections,includingthetimeallowed
forwriting.
36
D.PracticeTestingandrecalibratinggoals
FREEResources:
ReviewtheSampleTests(PDF)and
takealookatthe
TOEICSpeakingandWriting
ExamineeHandbook(PDF).
37
VI.Grammar
GoalsandTechniquesforTeachingGrammarfromthe
GeorgetownUniversityLanguageResourceCenter
Thegoalofgrammarinstructionistoenablestudentstocarryouttheir
communicationpurposes.Thisgoalhasthreeimplications:
Studentsneedovertinstructionthatconnectsgrammarpointswith
largercommunicationcontexts.
Studentsdonotneedtomastereveryaspectofeachgrammar
point,onlythosethatarerelevanttotheimmediate
communicationtask.
Errorcorrectionisnotalwaystheinstructor'sfirstresponsibility.

OvertGrammarInstruction
Adultstudentsappreciateandbenefitfromdirectinstructionthat
allowsthemtoapplycriticalthinkingskillstolanguagelearning.
Instructorscantakeadvantageofthisbyprovidingexplanationsthat
givestudentsadescriptiveunderstanding(declarativeknowledge)of
eachpointofgrammar.
Downloadthegrammarebookfor
thiscourseat:
www.TEFLeBooks.com/grammar.pdf
andworkallthewaythroughit.
38
Teachthegrammarpointinthetargetlanguageorthestudents'
firstlanguageorboth.Thegoalistofacilitateunderstanding.
Limitthetimeyoudevotetogrammarexplanationsto10minutes,
especiallyforlowerlevelstudentswhoseabilitytosustainattention
canbelimited.
Presentgrammarpointsinwrittenandoralwaystoaddressthe
needsofstudentswithdifferentlearningstyles.
Animportantpartofgrammarinstructionisprovidingexamples.
Teachersneedtoplantheirexamplescarefullyaroundtwobasic
principles:
Besuretheexamplesareaccurateandappropriate.Theymust
presentthelanguageappropriately,beculturallyappropriatefor
thesettinginwhichtheyareused,andbetothepointofthe
lesson.
Usetheexamplesasteachingtools.Focusexamplesonaparticular
themeortopicsothatstudentshavemorecontactwithspecific
informationandvocabulary.
39
RelevanceofGrammarInstruction
Inthecommunicativecompetencemodel,thepurposeoflearning
grammaristolearnthelanguageofwhichthegrammarisapart.
Instructorsthereforeteachgrammarformsandstructuresinrelationto
meaninganduseforthespecificcommunicationtasksthatstudents
needtocomplete[thesetasksaresometimescalledfunctions].
Comparethetraditionalmodelandthecommunicativecompetence
modelforteachingtheEnglishpasttense:
Traditional:grammarforgrammar'ssake
Teachtheregularedformwithitstwopronunciationvariants
(seeFastTrackGrammarReview)
Teachthedoublingruleforverbsthatendind(forexample,
wedwedded)
Handoutalistofirregularverbsthatstudentsmustmemorize
Dopatternpracticedrillsfored
Dosubstitutiondrillsforirregularverbs
40
Communicativecompetence:grammarforcommunication'ssake
Distributetwoshortnarrativesaboutrecentexperiencesorevents,
eachonetohalfoftheclass
Teachtheregularedform,usingverbsthatoccurinthetextsas
examples.Teachthepronunciationanddoublingrulesifthose
formsoccurinthetexts.
Teachtheirregularverbsthatoccurinthetexts.
Studentsreadthenarratives,askquestionsaboutpointstheydon't
understand.
StudentsworkinpairsinwhichonememberhasreadStoryAand
theotherStoryB.Studentsinterviewoneanother;usingthe
informationfromtheinterview,theythenwriteupororallyrepeat
thestorytheyhavenotread.
ErrorCorrection
Atallproficiencylevels,learnersproducelanguagethatisnotexactly
thelanguageusedbynativespeakers.Someofthedifferencesare
grammatical,whileothersinvolvevocabularyselectionandmistakesin
theselectionoflanguageappropriatefordifferentcontexts.
41
Inrespondingtostudentcommunication,teachersneedtobecarefulnotto
focusonerrorcorrectiontothedetrimentofcommunicationandconfidence
building.Teachersneedtoletstudentsknowwhentheyaremakingerrorsso
thattheycanworkonimproving.Teachersalsoneedtobuildstudents'
confidenceintheirabilitytousethelanguagebyfocusingonthecontentof
theircommunicationratherthanthegrammaticalform.
Teacherscanuseerrorcorrectiontosupportlanguageacquisition,andavoid
usingitinwaysthatunderminestudents'desiretocommunicateinthe
language,bytakingcuesfromcontext.
Whenstudentsaredoingstructuredoutputactivitiesthatfocuson
developmentofnewlanguageskills,useerrorcorrectiontoguidethem.
Example:
Student(inclass):Ibuyanewcaryesterday.
Teacher:Youboughtanewcaryesterday.
Remember,thepasttenseofbuyisbought.
Whenstudentsareengagedincommunicativeactivities,
correcterrorsonlyiftheyinterferewithcomprehensibility.
Respondusingcorrectforms,butwithoutstressingthem.
Example:
Student(greetingteacher):Ibuyanewcaryesterday!
Teacher:Youboughtanewcar?That'sexciting!Whatkind?
42
StrategiesforLearningGrammar
Languageteachersandlanguagelearnersareoftenfrustratedbythe
disconnectbetweenknowingtherulesofgrammarandbeingableto
applythoserulesautomaticallyinlistening,speaking,reading,and
writing.Thisdisconnectreflectsaseparationbetweendeclarative
knowledgeandproceduralknowledge.
Declarativeknowledgeisknowledgeaboutsomething.
Declarativeknowledgeenablesastudenttodescribearuleof
grammarandapplyitinpatternpracticedrills.
Proceduralknowledgeisknowledgeofhowtodosomething.
Proceduralknowledgeenablesastudenttoapplyaruleof
grammarincommunication.
Forexample,declarativeknowledgeiswhatyouhavewhenyouread
andunderstandtheinstructionsforprogrammingtheDVDplayer.
Proceduralknowledgeiswhatyoudemonstratewhenyouprogramthe
DVDplayer.
Proceduralknowledgedoesnottranslateautomaticallyintodeclarative
knowledge;manynativespeakerscanusetheirlanguageclearlyand
correctlywithoutbeingabletostatetherulesofitsgrammar.Likewise,
declarativeknowledgedoesnottranslateautomaticallyintoprocedural
knowledge;studentsmaybeabletostateagrammarrule,but
consistentlyfailtoapplytherulewhenspeakingorwriting.
43
Toaddressthedeclarativeknowledge/proceduralknowledgedichotomy,
teachersandstudentscanapplyseveralstrategies.
1. Relateknowledgeneedstolearninggoals.
Identifytherelationshipofdeclarativeknowledgeandproceduralknowledge
tostudentgoalsforlearningthelanguage.Studentswhoplantousethe
languageexclusivelyforreadingjournalarticlesneedtofocusmoreonthe
declarativeknowledgeofgrammaranddiscoursestructuresthatwillhelp
themunderstandthosetexts.Studentswhoplantoliveincountryneedto
focusmoreontheproceduralknowledgethatwillhelpthemmanagedayto
dayoralandwritteninteractions.
2.Applyhigherorderthinkingskills.
Recognizethatdevelopmentofdeclarativeknowledgecanaccelerate
developmentofproceduralknowledge.Teachingstudentshowthelanguage
worksandgivingthemopportunitiestocompareitwithotherlanguagesthey
knowallowsthemtodrawoncriticalthinkingandanalyticalskills.These
processescansupportthedevelopmentoftheinnateunderstandingthat
characterizesproceduralknowledge.
3.Provideplentifulandappropriatelanguageinput.
Understandthatstudentsdevelopbothproceduralanddeclarativeknowl
edgeonthebasisoftheinputtheyreceive.Thisinputincludesbothfinely
tunedinputthatrequiresstudentstopayattentiontotherelationships
amongform,meaning,anduseforaspecificgrammarrule,androughlytuned
inputthatallowsstudentstoencounterthegrammarruleinavarietyof
contexts.
44
4.Usepredictingskills.
DiscourseanalystDouglasBiberhasdemonstratedthatdifferent
communicationtypescanbecharacterizedbytheclustersoflinguistic
featuresthatarecommontothosetypes.Verbtenseandaspect,sen
tencelengthandstructure,andlargerdiscoursepatternsallmaycon
tributetothedistinctiveprofileofagivencommunicationtype.For
example,ahistorytextbookandanewspaperarticleinEnglishbothuse
pasttenseverbsalmostexclusively.However,thenewspaperarticle
willuseshortsentencesandadiscoursepatternthatalternatesbe
tweensubjectsorperspectives.Thehistorytextbookwillusecomplex
sentencesandwillfollowatimelineinitsdiscoursestructure.
Awarenessofthesefeaturesallowsstudentstoanticipatetheforms
andstructurestheywillencounterinagivencommunicationtask.
5.Limitexpectationsfordrills.
Mechanicaldrillsinwhichstudentssubstitutepronounsfornounsor
alternatetheperson,number,ortenseofverbscanhelpstudents
memorizeirregularformsandchallengingstructures.However,
studentsdonotdeveloptheabilitytousegrammarcorrectlyinoral
andwritteninteractionsbydoingmechanicaldrills,becausethesedrills
separateformfrommeaninganduse.Thecontentofthepromptand
theresponseissetinadvance;thestudentonlyhastosupplythe
correctgrammaticalform,andcandothatwithoutreallyneedingto
understandorcommunicateanything.Themainlessonthatstudents
learnfromdoingthesedrillsis:Grammarisboring.
45

Communicativedrillsencouragestudentstoconnectform,
meaning,andusebecausemultiplecorrectresponsesare
possible.Incommunicativedrills,studentsrespondtoaprompt
usingthegrammarpointunderconsideration,butproviding
theirowncontent.Forexample,topracticequestionsandan
swersinthepasttenseinEnglish,teacherandstudentscanask
andanswerquestionsaboutactivitiesthepreviousevening.
Thedrilliscommunicativebecausenoneofthecontentissetin
advance:
Teacher:Didyougotothelibrarylastnight?
Student1:No,Ididnt.Iwenttothemovies.(toStudent2):
Didyoureadchapter3?
Student2:Yes,Ireadchapter3,butIdidntunderstandit.
(toStudent3):Didyouunderstandchapter3?
Student3:Ididntreadchapter3.Iwenttothemovieswith
Student1.
46
DevelopingGrammarActivities
Manycoursesandtextbooks,especiallythosedesignedforlower
proficiencylevels,useaspecifiedsequenceofgrammaticaltopicsas
theirorganizingprinciple.Whenthisisthecase,classroomactivities
needtoreflectthegrammarpointthatisbeingintroducedorreviewed.
Bycontrast,whenacoursecurriculumfollowsatopicsequence,
grammarpointscanbeaddressedastheycomeup.
Inbothcases,instructorscanusetheLarsenFreemanpiechartasa
guidefordevelopingactivities.
Forcurriculathatintroducegrammaticalformsinaspecifiedsequence,
instructorsneedtodevelopactivitiesthatrelateformtomeaningand
use.
Describethegrammarpoint,includingform,meaning,anduse,
andgiveexamples(structuredinput)
Askstudentstopracticethegrammarpointincommunicative
drills(structuredoutput)
Havestudentsdoacommunicativetaskthatprovides
opportunitiestousethegrammarpoint(communicativeoutput)
47
Forcurriculathatfollowasequenceoftopics,instructorsneedto
developactivitiesthatrelatethetopicaldiscourse(use)tomeaningand
form.
Provideoralorwritteninput(audiotape,readingselection)that
addressesthe topic(structuredinput)
Reviewthepointofgrammar,usingexamplesfromthematerial
(structuredinput)
Askstudentstopracticethegrammarpointincommunicative
drillsthatfocusonthetopic(structuredoutput)
Havestudentsdoacommunicativetaskonthetopic
(communicativeoutput)
Wheninstructorshavetheopportunitytodeveloppartorallofthe
coursecurriculum,theycandevelopaseriesofcontextsbasedonthe
realworldtasksthatstudentswillneedtoperformusingthelanguage,
andthenteachgrammarandvocabularyinrelationtothosecontexts.
Forexample,studentswhoplantotravelwillneedtounderstand
publicaddressannouncementsinairportsandtrainstations.
Instructorscanuseaudiotapedsimulationstoprovideinput;teach
thegrammaticalformsthattypicallyoccurinsuchannouncements;
andthenhavestudentspracticebyaskingandansweringquestions
aboutwhatwasannounced.
48
UsingTextbookGrammarActivities
Textbooksusuallyprovideoneormoreofthefollowingthreetypesof
grammarexercises.
Mechanicaldrills:Eachprompthasonlyonecorrectresponse,
andstudentscancompletetheexercisewithoutattendingto
meaning.Forexample:Georgewaitedforthebusthismorning.
Hewillwaitforthebustomorrowmorning,too.
Meaningfuldrills:Eachprompthasonlyonecorrectresponse,
andstudentsmustattendtomeaningtocompletetheexercise.
Forexample:WhereareGeorgespapers?Theyareinhis
notebook.(Studentsmustunderstandthemeaningofthe
questioninordertoanswer,butonlyonecorrectansweris
possiblebecausetheyallknowwhereGeorgespapersare.)
Tousetextbookgrammarexerciseseffectively,instructorsneedto
recognizewhichtypetheyare,devotetheappropriateamountoftime
tothem,andsupplementthemasneeded.
RecognizingTypes
Beforetheteachingtermbegins,inventorythetextbooktoseewhich
type(s)ofdrillsitprovides.Decidewhichyouwilluseinclass,which
youwillassignashomework,andwhichyouwillskip.
49
AssigningTime
Whendecidingwhichtextbookdrillstouseandhowmuchtimetoallot
tothem,keeptheirrelativevalueinmind.
Mechanicaldrillsaretheleastusefulbecausetheybearlittle
resemblancetorealcommunication.Theydonotrequire
studentstolearnanything;theyonlyrequireparrotingofa
patternorrule.
Meaningfuldrillscanhelpstudentsdevelopunderstandingof
theworkingsofrulesofgrammarbecausetheyrequirestudents
tomakeformmeaningcorrelations.Theirresemblancetoreal
communicationislimitedbythefactthattheyhaveonlyone
correctanswer.
Communicativedrillsrequirestudentstobeawareofthe
relationshipsamongform,meaning,anduse.Incommunicative
drills,studentstestanddeveloptheirabilitytouselanguageto
conveyideasandinformation.
Supplementing
Ifthetextbookprovidesfewornomeaningfulandcommunicative
drills,instructorsmaywanttocreatesometosubstituteformechanical
drills.
50
AssessingGrammarProficiency
AuthenticAssessment
Justasmechanicaldrillsdonotteachstudentsthelanguage,
mechanicaltestquestionsdonotassesstheirabilitytouseitin
authenticways.Inordertoprovideauthenticassessmentofstudents
grammarproficiency,anevaluationmustreflectreallifeusesof
grammarincontext.Thismeansthattheactivitymusthaveapurpose
otherthanassessmentandrequirestudentstodemonstratetheirlevel
ofgrammarproficiencybycompletingsometask.
Todevelopauthenticassessmentactivities,beginwiththetypesof
tasksthatstudentswillactuallyneedtodousingthelanguage.
Assessmentcanthentaketheformofcommunicativedrillsand
communicativeactivitieslikethoseusedintheteachingprocess.
Forexample,theactivitybasedonaudiotapesofpublicaddress
announcementscanbeconvertedintoanassessmentbyhaving
studentsrespondorallyorinwritingtoquestionsaboutasimilartape.
Inthistypeofassessment,theinstructorusesachecklistorrubricto
evaluatethestudentsunderstandingand/oruseofgrammarin
context.
Mechanicaltestsdoserveone
purpose:Theymotivatestudentsto
memorize.Theycanthereforeserveas
promptstoencouragememorization
ofirregularformsandvocabulary
items.Becausetheytestonlymemory
capacity,notlanguageability,theyare
bestusedasquizzesandgiven
relativelylittleweightinevaluating
studentperformanceandprogress.
51
VII.TeachingStudyandExaminationSkills
EffectiveStudySkillsDr.BobKizlik
HowtoStudyandMaketheMostofYourTime
Notwopeoplestudythesameway,andthereislittledoubtthatwhat
worksforonepersonmaynotworkforanother.However,thereare
somegeneraltechniquesthatseemtoproducegoodresults.Noone
wouldarguethateverysubjectthatyouhavetotakeisgoingtobeso
interestingthatstudyingitisnotworkbutpleasure.Wecanonlywish.
EffectiveStudyskillsareaboutmorethanunderstanding
Effectivestudyskillsmustbepracticedinorderforyoutoimprove.Itis
notenoughtosimply"thinkabout"studying;youhavetoactuallydoit,
andintheprocessuseinformationfromwhatyoudotogetbetter.This
isthecentralideaofthispage.Allthatfollowsdependsonthissingle
concept.Thereisasayingthatgoeslikethis:"Practicedoesn'tmake
perfect;perfectpracticemakesperfect."Ifyouwanttobeanachiever,
takethissayingtoheart.
52
Thevalueofaschedule
Beforeyouevenbegintothinkabouttheprocessofstudying,youmust
developaschedule.Ifyoudon'thaveascheduleorplanforstudying,then
youwillnothaveanywayofallocatingyourvaluabletimewhenthe
unexpectedcomesup.Agood,wellthoughtoutschedulecanbea
lifesaver.It'suptoyoutolearnhowdevelopaschedulethatmeetsyour
needs,reviseitifnecessary,andmostimportant,followit.
Makingeveryhourcount
Ascheduleshouldtakeintoaccounteveryclass,laboratory,lecture,
socialevent,andotherworkinwhichyouengage.Therearegivenssuchas
classesandsoonthathavetobeincorporated.Youmustfocusonthe
other"freetime"availableandhowyouwilluseit.Makeaweekly
scheduleandblockoffthe24hourdayinonehourincrements.Indicate
timesforclasses,labs,lectures,social,andworktime.Alsoblockoffa
periodforsleepingeachday.Withwhatisleftover,plantimeforstudy.
Thisgivesyouaroughroadmapofthetimeavailable.Ofcourse,youcan
reviseyourscheduleascircumstanceswarrant.
Whentostudy
Theproblemofwhentostudyiscritical.Agoodruleofthumbisthat
studyingshouldbecarriedoutonlywhenyouarerested,alert,andhave
plannedforit.Lastminutestudyingjustbeforeaclassisusuallyawasteof
time.
Allschedulesshouldbemadewiththe
ideathattheycanberevised.Agood
schedulekeepsyoufromwanderingoff
course.Agoodschedule,ifproperly
managed,assignstimewheretimeis
needed,butyou'vegottowanttodo
it!
53
Studyingforlecturecourses
Ifyourstudyperiodisbeforethelectureclass,besureyouhaveread
alltheassignmentsandmadenotesonwhatyoudon'tunderstand.If
thestudyperiodisafterthelectureclass,reviewthenotesyoutook
duringclasswhiletheinformationisstillfresh.
Studyingforrecitationcourses
Forclassesthatrequirerecitation,suchasforeignlanguage,besureto
scheduleastudyperiodjustbeforetheclass.Usethetimetopractice.
Sometimes,practicewithotherscanhelpsharpenyourskillsinabe
foreclassstudyperiod.
TheProcessofStudy
Howtouseyourtime
Timeisthemostvaluableresourceastudenthas.Itisalsooneofthe
mostwastedofresources.Thescheduleyoudevelopshouldguideyou
inhowtoallocatetheavailabletimeinthemostproductivemanner.
Stickingtoyourschedulecanbetough.Don'tdribbleawayvaluable
time.Avoidingstudyistheeasiestthingintheworld.It'suptoyouto
followthescheduleyouprepared.Agooddealofyoursuccessinhigh
schoolorcollegedependsonthissimpletruth.
Don'tbeafraidtoreviseyourschedule.
Schedulesarereallyplansforhowyou
intendtouseyourtime.Ifyoursched
uledoesn'twork,reviseit.Youmust
understandthatyourscheduleisto
helpyoudevelopgoodstudyhabits.
Onceyouhavedevelopedthem,sched
ulebuildingbecomeseasier.
54
Wheretostudy
Youcanstudyanywhere.Obviously,someplacesarebetterthan
others.Libraries,studyloungesorprivateroomsarebest.Aboveall,
theplaceyouchoosetostudyshouldnotbedistracting.Distractions
canbuildup,andthefirstthingyouknow,you'reoutoftimeandout
ofluck.Makechoosingagoodphysicalenvironmentapartofyour
studyhabits.
Strategies
Thinkingskills
Goodthinkersseepossibilitieswhereothersseeonlydeadends.If
you'renotagoodthinker,startnowbydevelopinghabitsthatmake
youaskyourselfquestionsasyouread.Talktootherstudentswhoyou
feelaregoodthinkers.Askthemwhatitistheydowhentheythink
criticallyorcreatively.Oftentimes,youcanpickupvaluableinsightsto
helpyoubecomeabetterthinker.
TheSQ3Rmethod
TheSQ3Rmethodhasbeenaprovenwaytosharpenstudyskills.SQ3R
standsforSurvey,Question,Read,Recite,Review.Takeamomentnow
andwriteSQ3Rdown.Itisagoodslogantocommittomemorytocarry
outaneffectivestudystrategy.
Everybodyhasthinkingskills,butfew
usethemeffectively.Effectivethinking
skillscannotbestudied,butmustbe
builtupoveraperiodoftime.
55
Surveygetthebestoverallpictureofwhatyou'regoingtostudy
BEFOREyoustudyitananydetail.It'slikelookingataroadmapbefore
goingonatrip.Ifyoudon'tknowtheterritory,studyingamapisthe
bestwaytobegin.
Questionaskquestionsforlearning.Theimportantthingstolearnare
usuallyanswerstoquestions.Questionsshouldleadtoemphasison
thewhat,why,how,when,whoandwhereofstudycontent.Ask
yourselfquestionsasyoureadorstudy.Asyouanswerthem,youwill
helptomakesenseofthematerialandrememberitmoreeasilybe
causetheprocesswillmakeanimpressiononyou.Thosethingsthat
makeimpressionsaremoremeaningful,andthereforemoreeasily
remembered.Don'tbeafraidtowriteyourquestionsinthemarginsof
textbooks,onlecturenotes,orwhereveritmakessense.
ReadReadingisNOTrunningyoureyesoveratextbook.Whenyou
read,readactively.Readtoanswerquestionsyouhaveaskedyourself
orquestionstheinstructororauthorhasasked.Alwaysbealerttobold
oritalicizedprint.Theauthorsintendthatthismaterialreceivespecial
emphasis.Also,whenyouread,besuretoreadeverything,including
tables,graphsandillustrations.Oftentimestables,graphsand
illustrationscanconveyanideamorepowerfullythanwrittentext.
56
ReciteWhenyourecite,youstopreadingperiodicallytorecallwhat
youhaveread.Trytorecallmainheadings,importantideasorconcepts
presentedinboldoritalicizedtype,andwhatgraphschartsor
illustrationsindicate.Trytodevelopanoverallconceptofwhatyou
havereadinyourownwordsandthoughts.Trytoconnectthingsyou
havejustreadtothingsyoualreadyknow.Whenyoudothis
periodically,thechancesareyouwillremembermuchmoreandbe
abletorecallmaterialforpapers,essaysandobjectivetests.
ReviewAreviewisasurveyofwhatyouhavecovered.Itisareview
ofwhatyouaresupposedtoaccomplish,notwhatyouaregoingtodo.
Rereadingisanimportantpartofthereviewprocess.Rereadwiththe
ideathatyouaremeasuringwhatyouhavegainedfromtheprocess.
Duringreview,it'sagoodtimetogoovernotesyouhavetakentohelp
clarifypointsyoumayhavemissedordon'tunderstand.Thebesttime
toreviewiswhenyouhavejustfinishedstudyingsomething.Don't
waituntiljustbeforeanexaminationtobeginthereviewprocess.
Beforeanexamination,doafinalreview.Ifyoumanageyourtime,the
finalreviewcanbethoughtofasa"finetuning"ofyourknowledgeof
thematerial.Thousandsofhighschoolandcollegestudentshave
followedtheSQ3Rstepstoachievehighergradeswithlessstress.
57
Reading
Aprimarymeansbywhichyouacquireinformationisthroughreading.
Incollegeyou'reexpectedtodomuchmorereadingthaninhigh
school.Don'tassumejustbecauseyou've"read"theassignmentsthat
istheendofit.Youmustlearntoreadwithapurpose.Instudying,you
mayreadthesameassignmentthreeorfourtimes,eachtimewitha
differentpurpose.Youmustknowbeforeyoubeginreadingwhatyour
purposeis,andreadaccordingly.
GettingtheMainIdea
Gettingthemainideainreadingiscentraltoeffectivestudying.You
mustlearnwhattheauthor'scentralideais,andunderstanditinyour
ownway.
Everyparagraphcontainsamainidea.Mainideasareperfectfor
outliningtextbooks.Makeitahabittofindthemainideaineach
paragraphyouread.
ExtractingImportantDetails
Extractingimportantdetailsmeansthatyoulocateinyourreadingthe
basisformainideas.
Thereisusuallyoneimportantdetail
associatedwitheverymainidea.The
moreimportantdetailsyoucan
identify,theeasieritwillbetoreview
forexaminationsbecauseyouhave
madealinkbetweenanideaand
informationthatsupportsit.Themore
linksyoucanmakebetweendetails
andideas,aswellasideasthemselves,
themorepowerfulwillbetheefforts
ofyourstudy.
58
TakingNotes
Likereading,notetakingisaskillwhichmustbelearnedandrefined.
Almostinvariably,notetaking,orthelackofit,isa
constantdeficiencyinthestudymethodsofmanyhighschooland
collegestudents.Learningtheingredientsofgoodnotetakingisrather
easy;applyingthemtoyourownsituation
dependsonhowseriousyouareinbecomingasuccessful
student.
WheretoKeepNotes
Youmustlearntokeepnoteslogicallyandlegibly.Remember,ifyou
can'treadyourownwritingafewdaysaftertakingnotes,theyareof
littleuse.Byallaccounts,thebestplacetokeepnotesisinalooseleaf
notebook.Usedividerstoseparatethedifferentclassesyoutake.
MakeitahabitofusingyournotebooktorecordALLyournotes.If
you'recaughtwithoutyournotebookandneedtotakenotes,always
haveasupplyoflooseleafpaperwithyou.Insertyournotepapersinto
thenotebookassoonasyoucan.Besuretobuyagoodnotebook,asit
willgetalotofwearandtear.
Don'tReadAloudtoYourself
Generally,readingaloudtoyourself
doesnothelpyoustudymore
effectively.Ifyoumoveyourlipswhile
youread,you'renotreading
efficiently.Ifyoureadaloudormove
yourlipswhileyou'rereading,youare
readingslowly,sostopmovingyour
lips.Tryputtingafingeroveryourlips.
Yourfingerwillremindyounotto
moveyourlips.Makeanefforttoread
fasterandretainmoreafterawhile,
you'llbesurprisedhowlittleeffortit
willtake.
59
TakingLectureNotes
Surveying,Questioning,Listening
Takingaccurateandconciselecturenotesisessential.Developthe
habitoftakingnotesusingappropriatemethodsdescribedearlierin
theSQ3Rtechnique.Forexample,whenyoulistentoalecture,
formulatequestionsasyoulisten.Yourmainjobintakinglecturenotes
istobeagoodlistener.Tobeagoodlistener,youmustlearntofocus
andconcentrateonthemainpointsofthelecture.Getthemdown,and
thenlaterreorganizetheminyourownwords.Onceyouhavedone
this,youhavesetthestageforsuccessfulreviewingandrevising.
ReviewingandRevising
Asyouprepareforexaminations,tests,orotherassessments,you
shouldspendtimereviewingandrevisingyourlecturenotes.Beginthe
processbyreviewingyournotesrightafteralecture.Ifyouwaittoo
long,youmaydiscoverthatthenotesjustdon'tmakesense.Don't
hesitatetoreviseyournotesbasedonthereviewprocess.
OutliningTextbooks
Firstofall,don'tunderline.Usea
highlighter.Experiencehasshownthat
textpassageshighlightedaremore
easilyrememberedthanthesame
passagesunderlined.Inoutlininga
text,don'tjustreadalongand
highlightwhatseemtoimportant
words.Thattechniquerarelyworks.
Theactofoutliningworksmuch
better.
60
ResearchNotes
Anyformofnotetakingthatrequirescompilationofinformationby
categories,ratherthaninnarrativeformisbestdoneusingindexcards.
Youcansort,editandarrangeindexcardstosuityourparticularstudy
needs.Themostimportantpointinusingcardsistoindicatethecorrect
referenceortopicatthetopofthecard.Usethecardsforstudy,review,
tohelporganizeinformationforpapers,reports,orprojects.Aneven
betteridea,ifyouhaveapersonalcomputer,istoorganizeyour
categoricalinformationinadatabase.Onceyousetitup,finding,updating
andaddingnewinformationisquiteeasy.Ifyouhaveaprinter,youcan
printoutyournotesinavarietyofways.
TakingExaminations
ObjectiveExaminations
Surveying
Surveyanyobjectiveexaminationtofindoutwhattypesofquestionsare
beingasked.Surveyinghelpsyoutoknowwhattoexpect.
AnsweringEasyQuestionsFirst
Answeringeasy(toyou)questionsfirstisthebeststrategy.Ifyoustumble
overdifficultquestionsfortoolongatime,youmaynotbeableto
completetheexam.
KnowingtheGroundRules
Alwaysreaddirections!Indicateyour
answersexactlythewaythedirections
state.Makesureyouranswersare
clear.Determinewhatthescoring
rulesforthetestareandfollowthem
toyouradvantage.Forexample,if
wronganswersarepenalized,don't
guessunlessyoucanreducethe
choicestotwo.
61
PickingoutKeyWords
Objectiveexaminationquestionsusuallycontainoneormorekeywords.
Akeywordorgroupofwordsarethoseonwhichthetruthorfalsityofa
statementhinges.Learntospotthekeywordsinthestatementthat
definethemeaning.Ifastatementcontainstwoclauses,oneofwhichis
false,thewholestatementisfalse.Usually,twostatementtruefalse
questionsareeitherbothtrueorbothfalse.
ReadingMultipleChoiceQuestions
Multiplechoicequestionsareessentiallytruefalsequestionsarrangedin
groups.Usually,onlyonealternativeiscorrect.Yourjobistopickthe
alternativethatismorenearlytruethantheothers.Readmultiplechoice
questionsthesamewayasfortruefalse.Eliminateobviousfalsechoices.
ReadingOtherTypesofQuestions
Themethodsusedtoanswertruefalseandmultiplechoicequestions
applytomatchingquestionsaswell.Alwaysscantheentirelistof
alternativesbeforematchingany.Asintheothertypesofquestions,try
toidentifykeywordsineachlistandtestthem.Completionquestions
requireyoutoprovideawordorphrase.Whenyouencounter
completionquestions,chooseyourwordscarefully.Ifyoudon'tknowthe
answer,giveityourbestguess,asoftentimessuchresponsesgetatleast
partialcredit.
62
EssayExaminations
Planningyourtimeinansweringessayquestionsismoreimportant
thaninobjectivetypetests.Thegeneralruleisnottogetcarriedaway
ononeortwoquestionstotheextentthatyoucannotanswerthat
otherquestionsinthetimeallowed.Readthroughtheentire
examinationfirst.Getafeelforthequestionsyouareexpectedtoan
swer.Iftheexamallowsyoutochoosefromanumberofquestions,be
suretonumberyouranswersexactlytomatchthequestions.
Whenyoufollowdirectionsforanessayexam,payattentiontothekey
wordstheinstructorhasincluded.Suchwordsas"list,""describe,"
"compareandcontrast,"and"outline"havespecialmeaning.Don't
"writearound"thequestionbutansweritdirectly.Ifaquestionasks
youtolistsomething,don'twriteanarrativeaboutit.Answeringessay
questionsdirectlyisalwaysthebestpolicy.
Afterscanningthelistofquestionstobeanswered,choosetheones
youknowmostabout.Agoodideaistoprepareanoutlineofyouran
swers.Theoutlinewillhelpyourememberimportantideasandfactsto
beincludedinyourresponse.Anothertechniqueistodoa
"memorydump."Thistechniqueisdiscussedinthelastsectionofthis
guide,"PowerStudyTips."
Goodhandwriting
Goodhandwritingisanabsolute
essentialforessayquestions.Ifyour
cursivewritingisveryhardtoread,try
printinginstead.Mostinstructors
valueclearhandwriting.Grammar,
punctuation,andspellingalsocount.
Wellwrittengrammaticallycorrect
answersalmostalwaysreceivehigher
gradesthanpoorlywrittengrammati
callyincorrectanswers,eventhough
theanswersthemselvesarethesame.
63
WritingThemesandReports
ReviewingtheTopic
Studentsusuallyhavesomefreedomtochoosethesubjectofthemes
orreports.Whenyoumakethischoice,besurethatthetopicis
acceptabletotheteacher,andisasinterestingtoyouaspossible.
Anotherconsiderationisthatofavailabilityofresourcematerial.Your
taskismademucheasierwhenthereisagoodamountofreference
andresourcematerialavailable.
UsingCorrectPunctuationandGrammar
Asinwritingessaysquestions,goodgrammarandpunctuationarea
must.Moststudentsusewordprocessorstowritepapers.Besureto
usethespellcheckerthatalmostallwordprocessorshavebuiltin.
Manywordprocessorsalsohavesomesortofgrammarchecker.Learn
touseagrammarchecker,asitcanpointoutseriousflawsinyour
writingandhelpyoubecomeabetterwriter.Mostgrammarcheckers
explainthegrammarrulesthatapplytothesuggestedcorrectionsto
yourwriting.
GatheringMaterialsBeforeYouWrite
Beforeyoubeginwriting,assemblethe
materialsyouwillneed.Useindex
cards,notes,bibliographies,summa
ries,reportsandreviewsaspartof
yourpreparationprocess.Usingindex
cardsforreferencesisanexcellentway
toorganizeyourmaterials.Computer
databaseprogramscanalsohelpyou
classifyandorganizereference
materials.
64
PreparinganOutlineandWritingthePaper
Onceyouhaveyourtopic,havegatheredandorganizedyourmaterials,
itistimetooutlineyourpaper.Putyouroutlineonpaper!Don'tmake
themistakeoftryingtokeepeverythinginyourhead.Makeyour
outlineintheformofmainheadingsorideaswithsubheadings
fleshingouttheflowofthepaper.
Usingtheoutlineasaguide,beginwritingbyaskingyourselfwhatthe
paperisgoingtosayandwhatconclusionsyouwanttoreach.Doing
thisaheadoftimewillhelpkeepyoufocusedandpreventyoufrom
strayingfromthepurposeofthepaper.Makinguptheoutlineasyou
goalongalmostalwaysresultsinalessthansatisfactoryproduct.
Writingisimportantinhighschoolandisakeytosuccessincollegeand
inmanyprofessions.
Becomeagoodwriterbywriting,revising,andreviewingyourwork.
Don'tbeafraidtoaskotherstudentstocritiqueyourwork.Trytowrite
inyourownnaturalstyle,beawarethatmostgoodwritersgothrough
manyrevisions,andbepreparedtodothesame.Writingandtest
takingaretheendresultsofdevelopinggoodstudyskills.Thereisno
magicformulaforsuccess.Ifyoufollowthesuggestionsinthisguide,
applythemandthinkaboutthem,you'llhavetakenagiantstep
towardbecomingasuccessfulstudent.
65
PowerStudyingTipsforCollegeStudents
Thefollowingtipshaveproventobeextremelypowerfulguidesfor
organizing,thinking,studying,andlearningincollege.Theyrepresent
thebestadviceofsuccessfulcollegestudents.Thecanalsoworkfor
highschoolstudents.
StudySpace
Tip:Yourstudyspaceshouldbeasquietandcomfortableaspossible.
Avoidstudyinginnoisyplacessuchascafeterias,recreationrooms,or
lounges.
Tip:Whenstudying,keepawastebaskethandy.
Tip:Haveaconsistentplaceforeverything,andaboveall,keepitthere!
Tip:Haveeverythingneededforstudyhandybeforehand.Don'twaste
valuabletimelookingforbooks,notes,ofotherinformation.Afteryou
haveassembledtheitemsyouneed,putthemwhereyoucanreach
themeasily.
StudyHabits
Tip:Beginstudynolessthan3090minutesafterameal.
Takeabreak!
Tip:Ifpossible,studynomorethan
3040minutesatastretch.Many
studentsretainmorebystudyingfor
shortperiodswithbreaksinbetween.
Italldependsonwhatyou'retryingto
study,butgenerally,afteraperiodof
study,takeabreak.
66
Tip:Neverstudywithin30minutesofgoingtosleep.
Tip:Prioritize!Makealistofwhatyouintendtostudy,prioritizethe
list,andsticktoit!
Tip:Takestudybreaksawayfromyourdeskorwhereveryouare
studying.Letthebreakbeatimetothinkaboutotherthings.Usesome
breaktimetoreflect,notconstantlyreviewwhatyouhavejuststudied.
TheClassroom
Tip:Distractionsintheclassroomaredeadly.Tohelpavoiddistractions,
sitnearthefrontoftheclass.You'relesslikelytomisssomethingim
portant,andtherearefarlessdistractionsatthefrontthananyother
location.
Tip:Think!Thinkingisoneofthemostimportantthingsyoucandoin
class.Ifyoujustsittherepassively,andnotthink,classcanbedeadly.
ThinkaboutwhattheteacherissayingBEFOREwritingdownanything.
WritingdowneachwordisaWASTEOFTIME.Reorganizeinyourmind
whattheteachersays,andthenwriteitdown.Thiswayyouwillbe
connectingtheteacher'swordswithHOWyouthink.Ifyoudothis,
yournoteswillmakealotmoresenselateron.
ACluefromtheCourseInstructor
Tip:Payattentiontothecourseoutline
orsyllabus.Generally,important
pointsandmaterialsarereferenced
hereandrepeated.Don'tbeafraidto
asktheteacherifthereissomething
youdon'tunderstand.Mostteachers
willbegladtoclarifyforyou.
67
PreparingforClass
Tip:Readthetableofcontentsofyourtextscarefully.Ifthetextbooks
havechaptersummaries,readthemfirst!Ifyoudon'tunderstandthe
materialfromthesummaries,gobackandhighlight.Takenotesonwhat
youhavehighlightedandreviewyournotes.Tip:Breakstudymaterialinto
shortsegmentsoflengthdependentonitsdifficulty.Remember,concise
notesaremorepowerfulthancopiousnotes.Thinkaboutthematerial!
Thentakenotesonwhatyoudon'tknoworarenotsureof.
TestTaking
Tip:Foressayexaminations,trythe"memorydump"technique.If
permitted,writedowneverythingyou'vememorizedfacts,names,dates,
ideas,events,andsoonBEFOREyoudoanythingelse.Sometimesreading
throughtheessayquestionscandistractyoufromwhatyou'vestudied.
The"memorydump"techniquerequiresthatyouwritedowneverything
possibleBEFOREyoubeginwritingessayanswers.Thisway,youareless
likelytoforgetsomethingimportant.
AFinalWord
Thestudyskillspresentedheredependononething,andthatiswilling
nesstoWANTtoimproveanddowell.Withouttheeffortandsacrifice,no
amountofsuggestions,ideas,oroutlinescanhelpmuch.TheStudentis
theonewhoisresponsiblefortheireducation,andeffectivestudyskills
canhelp.Worksmart,nothard.
DontUnderline
Tip:Efficientstudentsdonot
underline!Underliningisnota
productivewaytoemphasize
textbookmaterial.It'sbestto
useahighlighter.
68
VIII.TeachingReadingSkills
StrategiesforDevelopingReadingSkills
UsingReadingStrategies
Languageinstructorsareoftenfrustratedbythefactthatstudentsdo
notautomaticallytransferthestrategiestheyusewhenreadingintheir
nativelanguagetoreadinginalanguagetheyarelearning.
Instead,theyseemtothinkreadingmeansstartingatthebeginning
andgoingwordbyword,stoppingtolookupeveryunknownvocabu
laryitem,untiltheyreachtheend.Whentheydothis,studentsare
relyingexclusivelyontheirlinguisticknowledge,abottomupstrategy.
Oneofthemostimportantfunctionsofthelanguageinstructor,then,is
tohelpstudentsmovepastthisideaandusetopdownstrategiesas
theydointheirnativelanguage.
Effectivelanguageinstructorsshow
studentshowtheycanadjusttheir
readingbehaviortodealwithavariety
ofsituations,typesofinput,and
readingpurposes.Theyhelpstudents
developasetofreadingstrategiesand
matchappropriatestrategiestoeach
readingsituation.
69
Strategiesthatcanhelpstudentsreadmorequicklyandeffectively
include:
Previewing:reviewingtitles,sectionheadings,andphotocaptions
togetasenseofthestructureandcontentofareadingselection
Predicting:usingknowledgeofthesubjectmattertomake
predictionsaboutcontentandvocabularyandcheckcomprehen
sion;usingknowledgeofthetexttypeandpurposetomake
predictionsaboutdiscoursestructure;usingknowledgeaboutthe
authortomakepredictionsaboutwritingstyle,vocabulary,and
content
Skimmingandscanning:usingaquicksurveyofthetexttogetthe
mainidea,identifytextstructure,confirmorquestionpredictions
Guessingfromcontext:usingpriorknowledgeofthesubjectand
theideasinthetextascluestothemeaningsofunknownwords,
insteadofstoppingtolookthemup
Paraphrasing:stoppingattheendofasectiontocheck
comprehensionbyrestatingtheinformationandideasinthetext
70
Instructorscanhelpstudentslearnwhenandhowtousereading
strategiesinseveralways.
Bymodelingthestrategiesaloud,talkingthroughtheprocessesof
previewing,predicting,skimmingandscanning,andparaphrasing.
Thisshowsstudentshowthestrategiesworkandhowmuchthey
canknowaboutatextbeforetheybegintoreadwordbyword.
Byallowingtimeinclassforgroupandindividualpreviewingand
predictingactivitiesaspreparationforinclassoroutofclass
reading.Allocatingclasstimetotheseactivitiesindicatestheir
importanceandvalue.
Byusingcloze(fillintheblank)exercisestoreviewvocabulary
items.Thishelpsstudentslearntoguessmeaningfromcontext.
Byencouragingstudentstotalkaboutwhatstrategiestheythink
willhelpthemapproachareadingassignment,andthentalking
afterreadingaboutwhatstrategiestheyactuallyused.Thishelps
studentsdevelopflexibilityintheirchoiceofstrategies.
Whenlanguagelearnersusereadingstrategies,theyfindthattheycan
controlthereadingexperience,andtheygainconfidenceintheirability
toreadthelanguage.
71
ReadingtoLearn
Readingisanessentialpartoflanguageinstructionateverylevel
becauseitsupportslearninginmultipleways.
Readingtolearnthelanguage:Readingmaterialislanguageinput.
Bygivingstudentsavarietyofmaterialstoread,instructorsprovide
multipleopportunitiesforstudentstoabsorbvocabulary,grammar,
sentencestructure,anddiscoursestructureastheyoccurin
authenticcontexts.Studentsthusgainamorecompletepictureof
thewaysinwhichtheelementsofthelanguageworktogetherto
conveymeaning.
Readingforcontentinformation:Students'purposeforreadingin
theirnativelanguageisoftentoobtaininformationaboutasubject
theyarestudying,andthispurposecanbeusefulinthelanguage
learningclassroomaswell.Readingforcontentinformationinthe
languageclassroomgivesstudentsbothauthenticreadingmaterial
andanauthenticpurposeforreading.
Readingforculturalknowledgeandawareness:Readingeveryday
materialsthataredesignedfornativespeakerscangivestudents
insightintothelifestylesandworldviewsofthepeoplewhose
languagetheyarestudying.Whenstudentshaveaccessto
newspapers,magazines,andwebsites,theyareexposedtoculture
inallitsvariety,andmonolithicculturalstereotypesbegintobreak
down.
72
Whenreadingtolearn,studentsneedtofollowfourbasicsteps:
1.Figureoutthepurposeforreading.Activatebackground
knowledgeofthetopicinordertopredictoranticipatecontentand
identifyappropriatereadingstrategies.
2.Attendtothepartsofthetextthatarerelevanttotheidentified
purposeandignoretherest.Thisselectivityenablesstudentsto
focusonspecificitemsintheinputandreducestheamountof
informationtheyhavetoholdinshorttermmemory.
3.Selectstrategiesthatareappropriatetothereadingtaskanduse
themflexiblyandinteractively.Students'comprehensionimproves
andtheirconfidenceincreaseswhentheyusetopdownand
bottomupskillssimultaneouslytoconstructmeaning.
4.Checkcomprehensionwhilereadingandwhenthereadingtask
iscompleted.Monitoringcomprehensionhelpsstudentsdetect
inconsistenciesandcomprehensionfailures,helpingthemlearnto
usealternatestrategies.
73
DevelopingReadingActivities
Developingreadingactivitiesinvolvesmorethanidentifyingatextthat
is"attherightlevel,"writingasetofcomprehensionquestionsfor
studentstoanswerafterreading,handingouttheassignmentand
sendingstudentsawaytodoit.Afullydevelopedreadingactivity
supportsstudentsasreadersthroughprereading,whilereading,
andpostreadingactivities.
Asyoudesignreadingtasks,keepinmindthatcompleterecallofallthe
informationinatextisanunrealisticexpectationevenfornative
speakers.Readingactivitiesthataremeanttoincreasecommunicative
competenceshouldbesuccessorientedandbuildupstudents'
confidenceintheirreadingability.
Constructthereadingactivityaroundapurposethathassignificance
forthestudents
Makesurestudentsunderstandwhatthepurposeforreadingis:toget
themainidea,obtainspecificinformation,understandmostorallof
themessage,enjoyastory,ordecidewhetherornottoreadmore.
Recognizingthepurposeforreadingwillhelpstudentsselect
appropriatereadingstrategies.
74
Definetheactivity'sinstructionalgoalandtheappropriatetype
ofresponse
Inadditiontothemainpurposeforreading,anactivitycanalsohave
oneormoreinstructionalpurposes,suchaspracticingorreviewing
specificgrammaticalconstructions,introducingnewvocabulary,or
familiarizingstudentswiththetypicalstructureofacertaintype
oftext.
Checkthelevelofdifficultyofthetext
Thefactorslistedbelowcanhelpyoujudgetherelativeeaseor
difficultyofareadingtextforaparticularpurposeandaparticular
groupofstudents.
Howistheinformationorganized?Doesthestoryline,narrative,or
instructionconformtofamiliarexpectations?Textsinwhichthe
eventsarepresentedinnaturalchronologicalorder,whichhavean
informativetitle,andwhichpresenttheinformationfollowingan
obviousorganization(mainideasfirst,detailsandexamplessecond)
areeasiertofollow.
Howfamiliararethestudentswiththetopic?Rememberthat
misapplicationofbackgroundknowledgeduetoculturaldifferences
cancreatemajorcomprehensiondifficulties.
75
Doesthetextcontainredundancy?Atthelowerlevelsof
proficiency,listenersmayfindshort,simplemessageseasierto
process,butstudentswithhigherproficiencybenefitfromthe
naturalredundancyofauthenticlanguage.
Doesthetextoffervisualsupporttoaidinreadingcomprehension?
Visualaidssuchasphotographs,maps,anddiagramshelpstudents
previewthecontentofthetext,guessthemeaningsofunknown
words,andcheckcomprehensionwhilereading.
Rememberthatthelevelofdifficultyofatextisnotthesameasthe
levelofdifficultyofareadingtask.Studentswholackthevocabulary
toidentifyalloftheitemsonamenucanstilldeterminewhetherthe
restaurantservessteakandwhethertheycanaffordtoorderone.
76
Useprereadingactivitiestopreparestudentsforreading
Theactivitiesyouuseduringprereadingmayserveaspreparationin
severalways.
Duringprereadingyoumay:
Assessstudents'backgroundknowledgeofthetopicandlinguistic
contentofthetext
Givestudentsthebackgroundknowledgenecessaryfor
comprehensionofthetext,oractivatetheexistingknowledge
thatthestudentspossess
Clarifyanyculturalinformationwhichmaybenecessaryto
comprehendthepassage
Makestudentsawareofthetypeoftexttheywillbereadingand
thepurpose(s)forreading
Provideopportunitiesforgrouporcollaborativeworkandforclass
discussionactivities
Sampleprereadingactivities:
Usingthetitle,subtitles,anddivisionswithinthetexttopredict
contentandorganizationorsequenceofinformation
Lookingatpictures,maps,diagrams,orgraphsandtheircaptions
77
Talkingabouttheauthor'sbackground,writingstyle,andusual
topics
Skimmingtofindthethemeormainideaandelicitingrelatedprior
knowledge
Reviewingvocabularyorgrammaticalstructures
Readingoverthecomprehensionquestionstofocusattentionon
findingthatinformationwhilereading
Constructingsemanticwebs(agraphicarrangementofconceptsor
wordsshowinghowtheyarerelated)
Doingguidedpracticewithguessingmeaningfromcontextorchecking
comprehensionwhilereadingprereadingactivitiesaremostimportant
atlowerlevelsoflanguageproficiencyandatearlierstagesofreading
instruction.
Asstudentsbecomemoreproficientatusingreadingstrategies,you
willbeabletoreducetheamountofguidedprereadingandallow
studentstodotheseactivitiesthemselves.
78
Matchwhilereadingactivitiestothepurposeforreading
Inwhilereadingactivities,studentschecktheircomprehensionasthey
read.Thepurposeforreadingdeterminestheappropriatetypeand
levelofcomprehension.
Whenreadingforspecificinformation,studentsneedtoask
themselves,haveIobtainedtheinformationIwaslookingfor?
Whenreadingforpleasure,studentsneedtoaskthemselves,DoI
understandthestoryline/sequenceofideaswellenoughtoenjoy
readingthis?
Whenreadingforthoroughunderstanding(intensivereading),
studentsneedtoaskthemselves:DoIunderstandeachmainidea
andhowtheauthorsupportsit?DoeswhatI'mreadingagreewith
mypredictions,and,ifnot,howdoesitdiffer?Tocheck
comprehensioninthissituation,studentsmay:
Stopattheendofeachsectiontoreviewandchecktheirpredictions,
restatethemainideaandsummarizethesection.
Usethecomprehensionquestionsasguidestothetext,stoppingto
answerthemastheyread.
79
AssessingReadingProficiency
Readingabilityisverydifficulttoassessaccurately.Inthe
communicativecompetencemodel,astudent'sreadinglevelisthe
levelatwhichthatstudentisabletousereadingtoaccomplish
communicationgoals.Thismeansthatassessmentofreadingability
needstobecorrelatedwithpurposesforreading.
ReadingAloud
Astudent'sperformancewhenreadingaloudisnotareliableindicator
ofthatstudent'sreadingability.Astudentwhoisperfectlycapableof
understandingagiventextwhenreadingitsilentlymaystumblewhen
askedtocombinecomprehensionwithwordrecognitionandspeaking
abilityinthewaythatreadingaloudrequires.
However,readingaloudcanhelpateacherassesswhetherastudentis
"seeing"wordendingsandothergrammaticalfeatureswhenreading.
Tousereadingaloudforthispurpose,adoptthe"readandlookup"
approach:Askthestudenttoreadasentencesilentlyoneormore
times,untilcomfortablewiththecontent,thenlookupandtellyou
whatitsays.Thisprocedureallowsthestudenttoprocessthetext,and
letsyouseetheresultsofthatprocessingandknowwhatelements,if
any,thestudentismissing.
AboutReadingAloud
Readingaloudisataskthatstudents
willrarely,ifever,needtodooutside
oftheclassroom.Asamethodof
assessment,therefore,itisnot
authentic:Itdoesnottestastudent's
abilitytousereadingtoaccomplisha
purposeorgoal.
80
ComprehensionQuestions
Instructorsoftenusecomprehensionquestionstotestwhether
studentshaveunderstoodwhattheyhaveread.Inordertotest
comprehensionappropriately,thesequestionsneedtobecoordinated
withthepurposeforreading.Ifthepurposeistofindspecific
information,comprehensionquestionsshouldfocusonthat
information.Ifthepurposeistounderstandanopinionandthe
argumentsthatsupportit,comprehensionquestionsshouldaskabout
thosepoints.
Ineverydayreadingsituations,readershaveapurposeforreading
beforetheystart.Thatis,theyknowwhatcomprehensionquestions
theyaregoingtoneedtoanswerbeforetheybeginreading.Tomake
readingassessmentinthelanguageclassroommorelikereading
outsideoftheclassroom,therefore,allowstudentstoreviewthe
comprehensionquestionsbeforetheybegintoreadthetestpassage.
Finally,whenthepurposeforreadingisenjoyment,comprehension
questionsarebesidethepoint.Asamoreauthenticformof
assessment,havestudentstalkorwriteaboutwhytheyfoundthetext
enjoyableandinteresting(ornot).
81
AuthenticAssessment
Inordertoprovideauthenticassessmentofstudents'reading
proficiency,apostlisteningactivitymustreflectthereallifeuses
towhichstudentsmightputinformationtheyhavegainedthrough
reading.
Itmusthaveapurposeotherthanassessment
Itmustrequirestudentstodemonstratetheirlevelofreading
comprehensionbycompletingsometask
Todevelopauthenticassessmentactivities,considerthetypeof
responsethatreadingaparticularselectionwouldelicitina
nonclassroomsituation.Forexample,afterreadingaweatherreport,
onemightdecidewhattowearthenextday;afterreadingasetof
instructions,onemightrepeatthemtosomeoneelse;afterreading
ashortstory,onemightdiscussthestorylinewithfriends.
Usethisresponsetypeasabaseforselectingappropriatepostreading
tasks.Youcanthendevelopachecklistorrubricthatwillallowyouto
evaluateeachstudent'scomprehensionofspecificpartsofthetext.
82
IX.TeachingWritingSkills
Teachingwritingisoftenaboutteachinggrammar.Ifgrammarcomes
upanywhereinEFL,itisinthewritingclassroom.MostEFLstudents
willhavesomewritingskillswhenyougetthem.Buttheywilloften
haveanideathattheirwritingisquitegoodandgenerallyitwillbe
quitepoor.
ManyEFLstudentswillhavehadsomeexperiencewithparagraphand
essaywriting,but,infact,willhavequitepoorwritingskillsatthe
sentencelevel.Therefore,youwillneedtotakethembacktosentence
levelandbegintoteachthemverybasicstructureandhowtowrite
simply.Runonandfragmentedsentenceswillbeverycommonuntil
youcorrectthoseerrors.
Themorebasicyougetwithyourwritingstudents,thebetter.Once
agoodfoundationisbuilt,youcanmoveontobasicparagraph
writingandontoessays.Theseskillstaketimetodevelopthough
andyouwillfindthatmosttextbookswillmoveyourstudentsforward
tooquickly.
83
TwomanuscriptsdevelopedspecificallyforEFLstudentscanbe
downloadedforthiscourseat:
http://teflebooks.com/SentenceWriting.pdfand
http://teflebooks.com/AdvancedWriting.pdf
Examinebothofthesemanuscriptsandnoticetheprogressionfrom
teachingsentencewritingskillstobuildingparagraphs,andeventually
towritingessays.Usetheformatofthesetwobookstohelpyouteach
writingtoanygroupofstudents.Thetwobooksdemonstratethe
correctmethodforimprovingyourstudentswritingskills.
Ifyouhavenopreviousexperienceteachingwriting,workthroughboth
ofthebookstodeepenyourunderstandingofthetechniquesinvolved.
Takeparticularnoteofwhatskillscomeinwhatorderandhowthe
manuscriptsusethepreviouslytaughtskillsrepeatedlyinthefollowing
lessonstoreinforcethestudentsmemoryandskill.
Learnhow...
ManyEFLTeacherseitherdontlikeor
dontknowhowtoteachwritingskills
effectively.Withjustabitofthought
andplanningyoucanhaveaprofound
impactonyourstudentswritingskills
andthustheirexaminationscores.
84
StrategiesforDevelopingListeningSkills
Languagelearningdependsonlistening.Listeningprovidestheaural
inputthatservesasthebasisforlanguageacquisitionandenables
learnerstointeractinspokencommunication.
ListeningStrategies
Listeningstrategiesaretechniquesoractivitiesthatcontributedirectly
tothecomprehensionandrecalloflisteninginput.Listeningstrategies
canbeclassifiedbyhowthelistenerprocessestheinput.
Topdownstrategiesarelistenerbased;thelistenertapsinto
backgroundknowledgeofthetopic,thesituationorcontext,thetype
oftext,andthelanguage.Thisbackgroundknowledgeactivatesaset
ofexpectationsthathelpthelistenertointerpretwhatisheardand
anticipatewhatwillcomenext.Topdownstrategiesinclude:
listeningforthemainidea
predicting
drawinginferences
Summarizing
Effectivelanguageinstructorsshow
studentshowtheycanadjusttheir
listeningbehaviortodealwitha
varietyofsituations,typesofinput,
andlisteningpurposes.Theyhelp
studentsdevelopasetoflistening
strategiesandmatchappropriate
strategiestoeachlisteningsituation.
85
Bottomupstrategiesaretextbased;thelistenerreliesonthelanguage
inthemessage,thatis,thecombinationofsounds,words,and
grammarthatcreatesmeaning.Bottomupstrategiesinclude
listeningforspecificdetails
recognizingcognates
recognizingwordorderpatterns
Strategiclistenersalsousemetacognitivestrategiestoplan,monitor,
andevaluatetheirlistening.
Theyplanbydecidingwhichlisteningstrategieswillservebestina
particularsituation.
Theymonitortheircomprehensionandtheeffectivenessofthe
selectedstrategies.
Theyevaluatebydeterminingwhethertheyhaveachievedtheir
listeningcomprehensiongoalsandwhetherthecombinationof
listeningstrategiesselectedwasaneffectiveone.
86
ListeningforMeaning
Toextractmeaningfromalisteningtext,studentsneedtofollowfour
basicsteps:
Figureoutthepurposeforlistening.Activatebackground
knowledgeofthetopicinordertopredictoranticipatecontent
andidentifyappropriatelisteningstrategies.
Attendtothepartsofthelisteninginputthatarerelevanttothe
identifiedpurposeandignoretherest.Thisselectivityenables
studentstofocusonspecificitemsintheinputandreducesthe
amountofinformationtheyhavetoholdinshorttermmemory
inordertorecognizeit.
Selecttopdownandbottomupstrategiesthatareappropriateto
thelisteningtaskandusethemflexiblyandinteractively.Students'
comprehensionimprovesandtheirconfidenceincreaseswhenthey
usetopdownandbottomupstrategiessimultaneouslyto
constructmeaning.
Checkcomprehensionwhilelisteningandwhenthelisteningtask
isover.Monitoringcomprehensionhelpsstudentsdetect
inconsistenciesandcomprehensionfailures,directingthemto
usealternatestrategies.
87
DevelopingListeningActivities
Asyoudesignlisteningtasks,keepinmindthatcompleterecallofall
theinformationinanauraltextisanunrealisticexpectationtowhich
evennativespeakersarenotusuallyheld.Listeningexercisesthatare
meanttotrainshouldbesuccessorientedandbuildupstudents'
confidenceintheirlisteningability.
Constructthelisteningactivityaroundacontextualizedtask.
Contextualizedlisteningactivitiesapproximatereallifetasksandgive
thelisteneranideaofthetypeofinformationtoexpectandwhattodo
withitinadvanceoftheactuallistening.Abeginningleveltaskwould
belocatingplacesonamap(oneway)orexchangingnameandaddress
information(twoway).Atanintermediatelevelstudentscouldfollow
directionsforassemblingsomething(oneway)orworkinpairsto
createastorytotelltotherestoftheclass(twoway).
Definetheactivity'sinstructionalgoalandtypeofresponse.
Eachactivityshouldhaveasitsgoaltheimprovementofoneormore
specificlisteningskills.Alisteningactivitymayhavemorethanonegoal
oroutcome,butbecarefulnottooverburdentheattentionofbeginning
orintermediatelisteners.
88
Recognizingthegoal(s)oflisteningcomprehensionineachlistening
situationwillhelpstudentsselectappropriatelisteningstrategies.
Identification:Recognizingordiscriminatingspecificaspectsofthe
message,suchassounds,categoriesofwords,morphological
distinctions
Orientation:Determiningthemajorfactsaboutamessage,suchas
topic,texttype,setting
Mainideacomprehension:Identifyingthehigherorderideas
Detailcomprehension:Identifyingsupportingdetails
Replication:Reproducingthemessageorallyorinwriting
Checkthelevelofdifficultyofthelisteningtext.
Thefactorslistedbelowcanhelpyoujudgetherelativeeaseordifficulty
ofalisteningtextforaparticularpurposeandaparticulargroupof
students.
Howistheinformationorganized?Doesthestoryline,narrative,or
instructionconformtofamiliarexpectations?
Textsinwhichtheeventsarepresentedinnaturalchronologicalorder,
whichhaveaninformativetitle,andwhichpresenttheinformation
followinganobviousorganization(mainideasfirst,detailsand
examplessecond)areeasiertofollow.
89
Howfamiliararethestudentswiththetopic?
Rememberthatmisapplicationofbackgroundknowledgedueto
culturaldifferencescancreatemajorcomprehensiondifficulties.
Doesthetextcontainredundancy?
Atthelowerlevelsofproficiency,listenersmayfindshort,simple
messageseasiertoprocess,butstudentswithhigherproficiency
benefitfromthenaturalredundancyofthelanguage.
Doesthetextinvolvemultipleindividualsandobjects?Aretheyclearly
differentiated?
Itiseasiertounderstandatextwithadoctorandapatientthanone
withtwodoctors,anditiseveneasieriftheyareoftheoppositesex.
Inotherwords,themoremarkedthedifferences,theeasierthe
comprehension.
Doesthetextoffervisualsupporttoaidintheinterpretationofwhat
thelistenershear?
Visualaidssuchasmaps,diagrams,pictures,ortheimagesinavideo
helpcontextualizethelisteninginputandprovidecluestomeaning.
90
Useprelisteningactivitiestopreparestudentsforwhatthey
aregoingtohearorview.
Theactivitieschosenduringprelisteningmayserveaspreparationfor
listeninginseveralways.Duringprelisteningtheteachermay
assessstudents'backgroundknowledgeofthetopicandlinguistic
contentofthetext
providestudentswiththebackgroundknowledgenecessaryfor
theircomprehensionofthelisteningpassageoractivatethe
existingknowledgethatthestudentspossess
clarifyanyculturalinformationwhichmaybenecessaryto
comprehendthepassage
makestudentsawareofthetypeoftexttheywillbelisteningto,
theroletheywillplay,andthepurpose(s)forwhichtheywillbe
listening
provideopportunitiesforgrouporcollaborativeworkandfor
backgroundreadingorclassdiscussionactivities
91
Sampleprelisteningactivities:
lookingatpictures,maps,diagrams,orgraphs
reviewingvocabularyorgrammaticalstructures
readingsomethingrelevant
constructingsemanticwebs(agraphicarrangementofconceptsor
wordsshowinghowtheyarerelated)
predictingthecontentofthelisteningtext
goingoverthedirectionsorinstructionsfortheactivity
doingguidedpractice
Matchwhilelisteningactivitiestotheinstructionalgoal,thelistening
purpose,andstudents'proficiencylevel.
Whilelisteningactivitiesrelatedirectlytothetext,andstudentsdothem
duringorimmediatelyafterthetimetheyarelistening.Keepthesepoints
inmindwhenplanningwhilelisteningactivities:
Ifstudentsaretocompleteawrittentaskduringorimmediatelyafterlis
tening,allowthemtoreadthroughitbeforelistening.
Studentsneedtodevotealltheirattentiontothelisteningtask.Besure
theyunderstandtheinstructionsforthewrittentaskbeforelisteningbe
ginssothattheyarenotdistractedbytheneedtofigureoutwhattodo.
92
Keepwritingtoaminimumduringlistening.
Rememberthattheprimarygoaliscomprehension,notproduction.
Havingtowritewhilelisteningmaydistractstudentsfromthisprimary
goal.Ifawrittenresponseistobegivenafterlistening,thetaskcanbe
moredemanding.
Organizeactivitiessothattheyguidelistenersthroughthetext.
Combineglobalactivitiessuchasgettingthemainidea,topic,and
settingwithselectivelisteningactivitiesthatfocusondetailsof
contentandform.
Usequestionstofocusstudents'attentionontheelementsofthetext
crucialtocomprehensionofthewhole.
Beforethelisteningactivitybegins,havestudentsreviewquestions
theywillanswerorallyorinwritingafterlistening.Listeningforthe
answerswillhelpstudentsrecognizethecrucialpartsofthemessage.
Usepredictingtoencouragestudentstomonitortheircomprehension
astheylisten.
Doapredictingactivitybeforelistening,andremindstudentstoreview
whattheyarehearingtoseeifitmakessenseinthecontextoftheir
priorknowledgeandwhattheyalreadyknowofthetopicoreventsof
thepassage.
Giveimmediatefeedbackwheneverpossible.Encouragestudentsto
examinehoworwhytheirresponseswereincorrect.
93
Samplewhilelisteningactivities
listeningwithvisuals
fillingingraphsandcharts
followingarouteonamap
checkingoffitemsinalist
listeningforthegist
searchingforspecificcluestomeaning
completingcloze(fillin)exercises
distinguishingbetweenformalandinformalregisters
UsingTextbookListeningActivities
Thegreatestchallengeswithtextbooktapeprogramsareintegrating
thelisteningexperiencesintoclassroominstructionandkeepingup
studentinterestandmotivation.Thesechallengesarisefromthefact
thatmosttextbooklisteningprogramsemphasizeproduct(rightor
wronganswer)overprocess(howtogetmeaningfromtheselection)
andfromthefactthatthelisteningactivitiesareusuallycarriedoutas
anaddon,awayfromtheclassroom.
94
Youcanusetheguidelinesfordevelopinglisteningactivitiesgivenhere
asstartingpointsforevaluatingandadaptingtextbooklisteningpro
grams.Atthebeginningoftheteachingterm,orientstudentstothe
tapeprogrambycompletingtheexercisesinclassanddiscussingthe
differentstrategiestheyusetoanswerthequestions.
Itisagoodideatoperiodicallycompletesomeofthelabexercisesin
classtomaintainthelinktotheregularinstructionalprogramandto
checkontheeffectivenessoftheexercisesthemselves.
IntegratingListeningStrategiesWithTextbookAudioand
Video
Studentscanusethisoutlineforbothinclassandoutofclasslisten
ing/viewingactivities.Modelandpracticetheuseoftheoutlineatleast
onceinclassbeforeyouaskstudentstouseitindependently.
1.Planforlistening/viewing
Reviewthevocabularylist,ifyouhaveone
Reviewtheworksheet,ifyouhaveone
Reviewanyinformationyouhaveaboutthecontentofthetape/
video
95
2.Previewthetape/video
(tape)Usefastforwardtoplaysegmentsofthetape;(video)viewthe
videowithoutsound
Identifythekindofprogram(news,documentary,interview,drama)
Makealistofpredictionsaboutthecontent
Decidehowtodividethetape/videointosectionsforintensivelistening/
viewing
3.Listen/viewintensivelysectionbysection.Foreachsection:
Jotdownkeywordsyouunderstand
Answertheworksheetquestionspertainingtothesection
Ifyoudon'thaveaworksheet,writeashortsummaryofthesection
4.Monitoryourcomprehension
Doesitfitwiththepredictionsyoumade?
Doesyoursummaryforeachsectionmakesenseinrelationtotheother
sections?
5.Evaluateyourlisteningcomprehensionprogress
96
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InternetResourcesforLearningMoreaboutTeachingEnglishAbroad
CheckouttheFREETEFLtrainingprogramatTEFLBootCamp.
TEFLInternshipshasagreatinternprograminChinaand
othercountriesarecomingsoon.
TeachingResourcescanbefoundatTEFLeBooks.com.
TEFLJobsNowhasagoodsamplingofTEFLjobsaroundtheworld.
TEFLdaddy.comhasa100+pageFAQaboutteachingEnglishabroadIs
itforyou?
ThebiggestJobsinChinajobsboardisatDavesESL.
MoreJobsinKoreathanlistedanywhereelse.
Nothingisimpossible,theword
itselfsays'I'mpossible'!
AudreyHepburn

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