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"A Teacher's Prayer" by James J. Metcalf

A Teacher's Prayer by James Metcalf

James J. Metcalf


I want to teach my students how--
To live this life on earth,
To face its struggles and its strife
And to improve their worth.

Not just the lesson in a book,
Or how the rivers flow,
But to choose the proper path,
Wherever they may go.

To understand eternal truth,
And know right from wrong,
And gather all the beauty of
A flower and a song,

For if I help the world to grow
In wisdom and grace,
Then I feel that I have won
And I have filled my place.

And so I ask your guidance, God
That I may do my part,
For character and confidence
And happiness of heart.

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Posted December 5, 2009
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CAL: Digests: Culture in Second Language Teaching

Authentic Materials

Using authentic sources from the native speech community helps to engage students in authentic cultural experiences. Sources can include films, news broadcasts, and television shows; Web sites; and photographs, magazines, newspapers, restaurant menus, travel brochures, and other printed materials. Teachers can adapt their use of authentic materials to suit the age and language proficiency level of the students. For example, even beginning language students can watch and listen to video clips taken from a television show in the target language and focus on such cultural conventions as greetings. The teacher might supply students with a detailed translation or give them a chart, diagram, or outline to complete while they listen to a dialogue or watch a video. After the class has viewed the relevant segments, the teacher can engage the students in discussion of the cultural norms represented in the segments and what these norms might say about the values of the culture. Discussion topics might include nonverbal behaviors (e.g., the physical distance between speakers, gestures, eye contact, societal roles, and how people in different social roles relate to each other). Students might describe the behaviors they observe and discuss which of them are similar to their native culture and which are not and determine strategies for effective communication in the target language.

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Posted December 5, 2009
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CAL: Digests: Culture in Second Language Teaching

Teaching Culture Without Preconceptions

Cultural information should be presented in a nonjudgmental fashion, in a way that does not place value or judgment on distinctions between the students’ native culture and the culture explored in the classroom. Kramsch (1993) describes the “third culture” of the language classroom—a neutral space that learners can create and use to explore and reflect on their own and the target culture and language.

Some teachers and researchers have found it effective to present students with objects or ideas that are specific to the culture of study but are unfamiliar to the students. The students are given clues or background information about the objects and ideas so that they can incorporate the new information into their own worldview. An example might be a cooking utensil. Students would be told that the object is somehow used for cooking, then they would either research or be informed about how the utensil is used. This could lead into related discussion about foods eaten in the target culture, the geography, growing seasons, and so forth. The students act as anthropologists, exploring and understanding the target culture in relation to their own. In this manner, students achieve a level of empathy, appreciating that the way people do things in their culture has its own coherence.

It is also important to help students understand that cultures are not monolithic. A variety of successful behaviors are possible for any type of interaction in any particular culture. Teachers must allow students to observe and explore cultural interactions from their own perspectives to enable them to find their own voices in the second language speech community.

Instructional Strategies for Teaching Language and Culture

Cultural activities and objectives should be carefully organized and incorporated into lesson plans to enrich and inform the teaching content. Some useful ideas for presenting culture in the classroom are described in this section.

Authentic Materials

Using authentic sources from the native speech community helps to engage students in authentic cultural experiences. Sources can include films, news broadcasts, and television shows; Web sites; and photographs, magazines, newspapers, restaurant menus, travel brochures, and other printed materials. Teachers can adapt their use of authentic materials to suit the age and language proficiency level of the students. For example, even beginning language students can watch and listen to video clips taken from a television show in the target language and focus on such cultural conventions as greetings. The teacher might supply students with a detailed translation or give them a chart, diagram, or outline to complete while they listen to a dialogue or watch a video. After the class has viewed the relevant segments, the teacher can engage the students in discussion of the cultural norms represented in the segments and what these norms might say about the values of the culture. Discussion topics might include nonverbal behaviors (e.g., the physical distance between speakers, gestures, eye contact, societal roles, and how people in different social roles relate to each other). Students might describe the behaviors they observe and discuss which of them are similar to their native culture and which are not and determine strategies for effective communication in the target language.

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Posted December 5, 2009
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CAL: Digests: Culture in Second Language Teaching

The Importance of Culture in Language Teaching

Linguists and anthropologists have long recognized that the forms and uses of a given language reflect the cultural values of the society in which the language is spoken. Linguistic competence alone is not enough for learners of a language to be competent in that language (Krasner, 1999). Language learners need to be aware, for example, of the culturally appropriate ways to address people, express gratitude, make requests, and agree or disagree with someone. They should know that behaviors and intonation patterns that are appropriate in their own speech community may be perceived differently by members of the target language speech community. They have to understand that, in order for communication to be successful, language use must be associated with other culturally appropriate behavior.

In many regards, culture is taught implicitly, imbedded in the linguistic forms that students are learning. To make students aware of the cultural features reflected in the language, teachers can make those cultural features an explicit topic of discussion in relation to the linguistic forms being studied. For example, when teaching subject pronouns and verbal inflections in French, a teacher could help students understand when in French it is appropriate to use an informal form of address (tu) rather than a formal form of address (vous)—a distinction that English does not have. An English as a second language teacher could help students understand socially appropriate communication, such as making requests that show respect; for example, “Hey you, come here” may be a linguistically correct request, but it is not a culturally appropriate way for a student to address a teacher. Students will master a language only when they learn both its linguistic and cultural norms.

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Posted December 5, 2009
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Teaching_in_a_Computer_Lab_US.pdf (application/pdf Objeto)

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Posted November 29, 2009
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SURVEYLEARNING

Here's all you have to do:

  1. Login to this site
    Start by creating yourself a username and password - it's free and easy!

  2. Choose a survey instrument
    We have a number of validated instruments you can use.

  3. Edit your survey
    You can customise the introduction text and parameters like time limits, access password and your course URL

  4. Give access to your students
    Include the URL in your course so your students can come here to fill out the survey

  5. View reports and analyse the results
    See graphs of results, or download the data as a text file or Excel spreadsheet.

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Posted November 29, 2009
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A journey into Constructivism - Martin Dougiamas

INTRODUCTION

During the past three months, I've been learning about constructivism by reading scholarly texts, discussing them with my class and my friends, journal keeping and personal reflection. Through this interesting time, I feel my understanding has grown considerably and have already proved useful. I've constructed this text in an attempt to demonstrate my current understandings of constructivism, as well as the process by which my knowledge developed.

I had some trouble with the self-referential nature of the material. Since the subject is the "meaning of meaning" at various levels, it's easy to become confused and fall into a "black hole" where text seems meaningless. How can I know from reading texts what authors think, and what works? How can I realise my own understanding? How can I communicate my understandings to you?

Despite this, I feel the struggle to construct this text to try and represent my learning as a result of interacting with a wide diversity of other texts has been a rewarding one. It has helped me develop constructivism in my mind as a referent to apply to my own day-to-day practices and research in communication, teaching and learning.

I hope that reading this will also help you, the reader, reflect critically on your own life, and perhaps increase your own satisfaction with your educational activities.

A word about the writing styles I've chosen to use in this essay. For the most part, I've written in the first-person, since this essay is an expression of my thoughts (Ellis, 1996). However, I often use a third-person style, which is not intended to impart a sense of objectivity, but to make it easier to read passages describing the ideas of others.

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Posted November 29, 2009
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Dougiamas.com: EDMEDIA 2003

This paper summarizes a PhD research project that has contributed towards the development of Moodle

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Posted November 29, 2009
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THE WHITEBOARD CONUNDRUM

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Posted November 29, 2009
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Dougiamas.com: Home Page

Home Page

Hi, I'm Martin Dougiamas

.

These days I'm best known as the guy who started Moodle, the open source course management system that is used by thousands of institutions around the world. Most of the information about that is all at Moodle.org and Moodle.com, except for my writings on this site which talk about my early research that led to Moodle being created.

Moodle keeps me so busy that this web site is starting to get old and out of date. Probably the most interesting areas are the pictures of my kids, Tui and Tommy (these pages are made with Photoframe, another bit of software I made once).

Anyhow, have fun clicking on my brain to the left. Every time you click there I hear a small buzzing sound in my skull so please be gentle!

If you really want to get in touch with me about Moodle business please use the Moodle helpdesk. If it's more personal then please try emailing me using the address below. I get an incredible amount of junk in that mailbox these days and rarely have time to check it so please don't feel bad if you don't get a reply - I probably lost it in the torrent somewhere!


martin@dougiamas.com

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Posted November 29, 2009
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