What does -ish suffix mean?

Do you know when and why ‘-ish‘ suffix is used? I was surprised with how widely (and sometimes unexpectedly) it appears in speech. The suffix ‘-ish‘ is particularly popular with British (less so with Americans). It may mean: kind of, sort of, around, approximately, look like, a little, somewhat, to some extent.

Let’s look at some examples to make it clear:

-What time will you come by?
-5:00.
-5:00?
-Ish. (meaning, around 5)
-Ok, great. I’ll be waiting for you at 4:50ish (meaning, at around 4:50)

My laptop is becoming slowish. (meaning, somewhat slow) Can you check it?

-Do you like my new dress?
– It’s okayish. (meaning, it’s kind of OK but I don’t really care 🙂)

-What colour was his shirt?
-Well it was blue … ish. (meaning, it seems to me that it was blue but I’m not sure)

-Hey, let’s play some football in the yard.
-Sorry, I’m tired-ish. (meaning, a little tired but not exhausted)

As you can see ‘-ish‘ can not only go after different types of words (not only adjectives), but also be stand-alone.

I hope I made the use of ‘-ish’ clearish 🙂

L1 use in L2 classroom

The debate on relevance of L1 use in L2 teaching might be one of those “holy wars” like Windows vs. Linux, BMW vs. Mercedes-Benz or vegetarianism vs. meat-eating. These will never be settled but will rather enlarge the armies of their proponents. No-one will probably provide a 100% sound proof of complete inappropriateness of either approach. It will always be up to every particular teacher (in worse case, up to someone above them who issues regulations) whether to stick to one or another side.

What I want is to present a list (2 lists) of arguments to keep in mind when making the choice.

L1 use advantages	L2-rich environment advantages
For students
safe environment for comfortable understanding of situation in the classroom (instructions, explanations, etc.) for expressing themselves for vocalized intrapersonal speech	being exposed to L2 continuously student doesn’t lose confidence and interest in L2 and therefore will not be afraid to experiment with the language
anxiety-free collaboration: maintain each other’s interest in the task draw each other’s attention develop strategies to complete the task discuss methods of solving problems negotiate meaning	as L2 is supposed to be used in a range of classroom situations, this promotes spontaneous communication in different contexts (which might imitate real-life usage)
scaffolding tool: for retaining semantic meaning of L2 for access to L2 forms for translation and dictionary search inevitable (sub)conscious associations with L1 occur anyway, so why not verbalize and make use of them	the more exposure students receive, the more and the faster they learn present L2 in different contexts and for different purposes L2 in instructions helps avoid dependence on L1
For teachers
easier and quicker to manage and discipline the class, give and get feedback (especially in mixed-ability classes)	exposure in the classroom may be the only L2 input students get, thus teachers must deliver as much of it as possible

If look closer, all arguments in the right column convey quite the same idea: as we teach/learn L2, the more L2 is used, the better. However, this affirmation is largely based on belief that learners acquire L2 in the same way as L1, which to my mind is totally wrong. I haven’t performed a thorough research of this issue yet, but what seems obvious and logical to me is:

• L1 acquisition is a genetically predefined process which occurs on a certain stage of child development when the need to socialize can no longer be satisfied in other ways
• children never resist L1 acquisition
• children don’t need motivation to learn L1, it’s a survival instinct that drives them

Clearly, these points are not true for L2 learning. There must me something else I missed but I guess it’s enough to feel the difference.

As for the foregoing table, I will extend it when I find new details about L1/L2 acquisition.

Please comment with your views, supporting arguments or contradictions.

Dictogloss – what it is and how it works

Dictogloss was a new word for me, so I decided that giving some info on this notion might be helpful for the starting teachers like me who strive for making there classes more diverse and effective.

Useful sites for TEFL/TESL teachers

Internet is flooded with all sort of info on all topics you can think of, but at times distinguishing pearls from crap takes time and effort. To ease this task for TEFL teachers, I’ve tried to distill some worthy sites to visit:

• http://www.tefl.net/
• http://www.onestopenglish.com/ – Macmillan-forced resource (some sections are free, some require paid membership)
• http://busyteacher.org/ – great site with tons of free worksheets and tasks; has well-organized search
• http://www.dailywritingtips.com/ – the domain name says for itself – helpful articles to hone your writing skills
• http://bogglesworldesl.com/ – although looking somewhat not serious the site offers a bunch of lesson plans, tasks, activities and useful vocabulary for different occasions

To be continued…

How to make students undertake obligations and then fulfill them

I’m working in a private language school with the students of different age groups. No surprise that the most troublesome ones are teenagers. One thing that bothers me the most and that makes me feel unwell is lack of leverages that would force them to do what I ask them to do as a home task. While I can act as a kind of leverage in the classroom engaging and involving them into activities, I can do very little to activate their work at home. Competing with social networks and other more exiting activities is tough. Their inability to manage time efficiently adds to the problem.

They don’t need to get good marks. I don’t want their parents to push them (they’ve already done that when brought them to our school). I definitely can’t punish them and drive out of the class. I’m not going to shout at them nor abuse them. I can’t move on without being sure they more or less got the topic—I want them to grow, not just move from unit to unit. I know they can do better and I want them to do so.

No-one says I am a perfect teacher, but I do try to engage them in a number of different ways. What hinders my efforts is that they only last 3 hours a week whereas the degrading environment surrounds them for the rest of time. I don’t want to change them, I simply want to make them think. Think about something else than fun and pleasure.

Now to the essence. The idea is taken from the psychological book and lies in putting their obligations (e.g. to do the home task) in written with witnesses present. This might appeal to their pride and hopefully will teach them keep their word. This is so very important in the adult world they are striving for. So, I suggest something like:

“I, First name, Last name confirm that I have written down the home task for dd/mm/yyyy and promise to do it in full under any circumstances dependent on me (force-majeure excluded).

If for any reason I fail to fulfill this promise, I—

– will not put blame on the circumstances or other people and agree to bear all responsibility herein.

– will state that my word is worth nothing and I don’t deserve to be trusted.

– will apologize to the classmates and the teacher and explain the true reason for not following my promise.

– will ask my classmates not to talk to me in the next lesson, nor will I talk to anyone without being given permission to do so.

– will complete this home task for the next lesson (on dd/mm/yyyy). If I miss the next lesson(s), I will show the completed task on the first lesson I will attend.

– will ask for an additional project task that I will have completed in a 1-week period (by dd/mm/yyyy). If I miss this  lesson, I will present my project on the first lesson I will attend.

Date/Signature”

This may give students (especially teenagers as they pretend to be adults) some understanding on how business relations are built and how valuable the promises are! And of course this will make them think about the consequences of their actions and undertake responsibility for them.

Comparing functions of teacher’s language in the classroom (TKT)

Today I want to talk about some controversial or slightly vague and confusing notions I’ve come across during my TKT prep course. They all relate to functions of teacher’s language in the classroom. Here are some pairs:

Concept checking vs. Eliciting

Very tricky pair as both techniques are used for extracting the info learners already know. But while concept checking (concept questions) usually follows newly explained material (e.g. “If it’s clear, please compose a pair of sentences to illustrate the difference between Present Perfect and Past Simple.”), eliciting deals with the information obtained some time ago (e.g. “What was the previous unit devoted to? What key words did you learn? Which of them fits into the gap?”).

Prompting vs. Encouraging

This one is easier—prompting refers to language (e.g. giving clues to help learner recollect a word or phrase) and encouraging addresses emotions (e.g. giving students some additional ideas during brainstorming if they are stuck).

Monitoring vs. Checking

Although seemingly different, those two have something in common. Both imply some kind of control. But monitoring is more about things going the right way (e.g. discipline, task completion, equal participation in a discussion), and checking is something more language-oriented (e.g. task correctness, understanding).

Conveying meaning vs. Explaining

We can convey meaning of a word or phrase, but we usually explain rules or peculiarities of language use.

Explaining vs. Eliciting

Explaining is feeding the info to the student, whereas eliciting is making learner come and take the info from his mind.

Hope someone needs this 🙂

Motivating students – links pack

Being a “green”  teacher I’m continuously seeking for the ways (which are many) to improve my classes. What I believe lots of students lack and what is however of paramount importance for successful learning is motivation. Earlier I’d thought that motivation is an intrinsic thing, but after I read the resources below I began sticking to the idea that use of certain techniques may help it grow.

“Lack of motivation” – provides basic guidelines to boost students’ motivation.

“Motivational tools” – gives principles and examples of effective reward systems.

“Motivation in the ESL Classroom” – distinguishes intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and explains how these can be developed.

“Some Ideas for Motivating Students” – offers a bunch of clear, simple and effective hints to make your students feel comfortable and engaged.

“Sustaining an Interest in Learning English and Increasing the Motivation to Learn English: An Enrichment Program” – gives suggestions based on the study and research conducted in Malaysia; addresses the problems of motivating ESL students in non-English environment.

“Motivation as a Contributing Factor in Second Language Acquisition” – Gardner’s theory of motivation (integrative and instrumental) and other factors influencing success of L2 learning.

The list will expand as I’ll come across something worthy on the topic! So check for updates.

Classroom management resources for teachers

Hi, friends

As an amateur teacher I regularly come across sources that I consider favorable to my professional expertise. As I’m now in the process of comprehending classroom management theory in the framework of TKT Module 3, I’ve downloaded myself some extra reading on this matter, which I want to share with you.

Here’s the link to the archive (63,7MB) with the following 12 books in it:

• 8 Steps to Classroom Management Success
• An Educator’s Guide to Effective Classroom Management
• Classroom Management. Sound Theory and Effective Practice. Fourth Edition
• Classroom Management That Works. Research-based Strategies for Every Teacher
• Constructive Talk in Challenging Classrooms
• Effective Classroom Management. A Teacher’s Guide
• Emotional Literacy – The Heart of Classroom Management
• The Key Elements of Classroom Management Managing Time and Space, Student Behavior, and Instructional Strategies
• The Classroom Teacher’s Survival Guide
• Transformative Classroom Management
• Understanding Pupil Behaviour
• Winning Strategies for Classroom Management

Happy if it’s gonna be of use to someone!

L1 learning specifics

At the moment I’m getting prepared to TKT Module 3 exam devoted to classroom management. During one of our lectures I’ve learned a surprising though rather obvious fact about L1 learning of English language… It just never occurred to me.

Children in English-speaking countries (meaning they are brought up in English) learn to read at about 7 years old! For me (a Russian/Ukrainian-speaking person who learned to read at 3) it’s unbelievable and weird. But the explanation makes it more logical.

In most languages (e.g. Russian, Spanish, German) you learn to read in syllables and putting the syllables of the word together makes up the pronunciation of the word. But that is not the case with English… L1 learners of English learn to read in words, not syllables! Because the same combination of letters produces different sounds in different words (e.g. read (present form) and head are pronounced differently, while the same read has several pronunciations (present and past form); lead – can sound different depending on the meaning etc.), consequently there are no exact reading rules in English. There are some, but they are not enough to teach you sound correct. That’s why almost every English-speaking family has a dictionary in their possession which they consult whenever they feel uncertain about pronunciation; if you see the word for the first time, you might not know how to utter it correctly. What I usually check in a monolingual Russian dictionary is word stress. And in Spanish, with its stress rules and graphic stress in case of exclusions, there’s hardly any chance for mistake.

According to everything stated above you probably understand how uneasy it is to teach English pronunciation to L2 learners, as they are not exposed to the language they learn in everyday life and only perceive bits of it in the classroom.

What a precious thing English pronunciation appears to be…

Impressive GRE Math task

GRE Math section sometimes offers so tasty tasks that I can’t but share them with everyone. So, switch on your brains!

A certain clock runs 48 minutes slow every 12 hours. 4 hours after the clock is set correctly, the correct time is 4:00. In how many minutes, to the nearest minute, will the clock show 4:00?
(A) 16
(B) 17
(C) 18
(D) 19
(E) 20

Keep in mind that originally you have around 2 minutes to crack this task on the test.