Oxford's teachhing methods of english language

4. f ., to be led by the nose

5. b ., to be all eyes

6. c ., to be two-faced.

II. Translate into English (the translated sentences should be the

following):

1. He is soft in the head.

2. She is two-faced, always criticizes me behind my back.

3. Mark has a sweet tooth, so he is not too slim.

4. Will you hold your tongue if I tell you something?

5. Why are you such a loose mouth?

6. Don't be nosy! This is none of your business.

Analysis of the results. Group I received an average mark of 3.9 as

compared to 3.4 obtained by group II. In other words, the group which had

learned vocabulary through games performed significantly better. However,

it is especially interesting and surprising that group II also received

high scores for the game. Even though learners in group I had the material

presented by means of translation, most students got better marks for the

game.

Summing up. Even though the results of one activity can hardly lead to

informative conclusions, I believe that the results suggest that the use of

games for presentation of new vocabulary is very effective and enjoyable

for students. Despite the fact that the preparation of a game may be time-

consuming and suitable material may be hard to find, teachers should try to

use them to add diversion to presentational techniques.

Revising vocabulary

Many sources referred to in this article emphasise the importance of

vocabulary revision. This process aims at helping students acquire active,

productive vocabularies. Students need to practise regularly what they have

learnt; otherwise, the material will fade away. Teachers can resort to many

techniques for vocabulary consolidation and revision. To begin with, a

choice of graphs and grids can be used. Students may give a definition of a

given item to be found by other students. Multiple choice and gap filling

exercises will activate the vocabulary while students select the

appropriate response. Teachers can use lists of synonyms or antonyms to be

matched, sentences to be paraphrased, or just some words or expressions in

context to be substituted by synonymous expressions. Doing cloze tests will

show students' understanding of a passage, its organisation, and determine

the choice of lexical items. Visual aids can be of great help with

revision. Pictures, photographs, or drawings can facilitate the

consolidation of both individual words as well as idioms, phrases and

structures. There is also a large variety of word games that are "useful

for practising and revising vocabulary after it has been introduced"

(Haycraft). Numerous puzzles, word squares, crosswords, etc., are useful

especially for pair or group work.

I shall now present the games I have used for vocabulary revision.

Description of the group. I gave teachers a questionnaire to determine

their view of using games for vocabulary teaching. In response to the

questionnaire, many teachers said they often used games for vocabulary

revision. Some claimed they were successful and usually more effective than

other methods. To see if this is really true, I decided to use a crossword

puzzle with a group of first year students.

The crossword puzzle. After completing a unit about Van Gogh, students

wanted to expand their vocabulary with words connected with art. The

students compiled lists of words, which they had learnt. In order to revise

the vocabulary, one of the groups had to work out the crossword puzzle.

Students worked in pairs. One person in each pair was provided with part A

of the crossword puzzle and the other with part B. The students' task was

to fill in their part of the puzzle with the missing words known to their

partner. To complete the activity, learners had to ask each other for the

explanations, definitions, or examples to arrive at the appropriate

answers. Only after getting the answer right could they put it down in the

suitable place of their part of the crossword. Having completed the puzzle,

students were supposed to find out what word was formed from the letters

found in the shaded squares.

Students enjoyed the activity very much and did not resort to

translation at any point. They used various strategies to successfully

convey the meanings of the words in question-e.g., definitions, association

techniques, and examples. When everyone was ready, the answers were checked

and students were asked to give examples of definitions, explanations,

etc., they had used to get the missing words.

The other group performed a similar task. Students were to define as

follows:

I. Define the following words: shade, icon, marker, fresco, perspective,

hue, daub, sculptor, still life, watercolor, palette, background.

II. Find the words these definitions describe:

1. a public show of objects

2. a variety of a colour

3. a wooden frame to hold a picture while it is being painted

4. a pale or a delicate shade of a colour

5. a picture of a wide view of country scenery

6. an instrument for painting made of sticks, stiff hair, nylon

7. a painting, drawing, or a photograph of a real person

8. a piece of work, especially art which is the best of its type or the

best a person has made

9. painting, music, sculpture, and others chiefly concerned with

producing beautiful rather than useful things

10. a line showing the shape (of something)

11. a person who is painted, drawn, photographed by an artist

12. a picture made with a pen, pencil, etc.

Analysis of results. The results show that the crossword puzzle, though

seemingly more difficult since it required the knowledge of words and their

definitions and not mere recognition and matching, was easier for 27.4% of

the learners and granted them more points for this part of the test. For

the majority of the students (nearly 60%) both activities proved equally

easy and out of the group of thirteen, eleven students had the highest

possible score.

Summing up

These numbers suggest that games are effective activities as a technique

for vocabulary revision. Students also prefer games and puzzles to other

activities. Games motivate and entertain students but also help them learn

in a way which aids the retention and retrieval of the material (This is

what the learners stated themselves).

However, the numbers also show that not everyone feels comfortable with

games and puzzles and not everyone obtains better results.

Although one cannot overgeneralise from one game, student feedback

indicates that many students may benefit from games in revision of

vocabulary.

Conclusions

Recently, using games has become a popular technique exercised by many

educators in the classrooms and recommended by methodologists. Many

sources, including the ones quoted in this work, list the advantages of the

use of games in foreign language classrooms. Yet, nowhere have I found any

empirical evidence for their usefulness in vocabulary presentation and

consolidation.

Though the main objectives of the games were to acquaint students with new

words or phrases and help them consolidate lexical items, they also helped

develop the students' communicative competence.

From the observations, I noticed that those groups of students who

practised vocabulary activity with games felt more motivated and interested

in what they were doing. However, the time they spent working on the words

was usually slightly longer than when other techniques were used with

different groups. This may suggest that more time devoted to activities

leads to better results. The marks students received suggested that the fun

and relaxed atmosphere accompanying the activities facilitated students'

learning. But this is not the only possible explanation of such an outcome.

The use of games during the lessons might have motivated students to work

more on the vocabulary items on their own, so the game might have only been

a good stimulus for extra work.

Although, it cannot be said that games are always better and easier to cope

with for everyone, an overwhelming majority of pupils find games relaxing

and motivating. Games should be an integral part of a lesson, providing the

possibility of intensive practise while at the same time immensely

enjoyable for both students and teachers. My research has produced some

evidence which shows that games are useful and more successful than other

methods of vocabulary presentation and revision. Having such evidence at

hand, I wish to recommend the wide use of games with vocabulary work as a

successful way of acquiring language competence.

Note-taking

A Useful Device

by Clara Perez Fajardo

Has it ever happened that you read or listen to something, and

shortly afterwards when you want to recall it, you can only remember

a small part? Have you ever thought of how many interesting ideas you

have missed, just because you have not taken a few seconds to note

them down as they occurred to you? Everyday happenings pass through

time and can never be recalled again if they are not recorded either

on a tape or with a video camera. But, not many of us have these

devices always handy. What we do have available is a simple sheet of

paper, a pencil, and our five senses. Taking notes on what takes

place not only permits us to remember but also facilitates our oral

and written communication.

Regardless of their age or level, students tend to rely too much on

their memory, instead of taking notes. For this reason, I began

devising different tasks which demand the recall of facts that the

students would have only if they had taken notes. The results have

motivated me to do further research on the topic through interviews,

reading, and analysis-all the time noting down the information I was

obtaining.

The note-taking process

In order to reconstruct a complete account of what one perceives through

listening, reading, observing, discussing, or thinking, it is necessary to

take notes either simultaneously with the act of perception or after an

interval of just a few seconds. We cannot expect to remember everything we

perceive, and despite the advantages of training our memory, it is better

to have notes taken at the moment things happen.

Language educators have approached note-taking from different perspectives.

McKeating (1981) sees note-taking as a complex activity which combines

reading and listening with selecting, summarizing, and writing.

Grellet (1986) advises helping students to establish the structure of a

text so they can pull out the key ideas and leave out nonessential

information. Nwokoreze (1990) believes that "it is during the note-taking

stage that students reach the highest level of comprehension."

Two main aspects concerning note-taking:

It involves the combination of different skills, i.e.; listening or

reading, selecting, summarizing, and writing.

It requires the selection of relevant information from the nonessential.

Moreover, most authors see note-taking as a complex activity which must be

approached gradually. When teaching the skill, Raimes suggests that

elementary-level students can be given a skeleton outline to work with when

they take notes, so that their listening is more directed. Advanced

students can listen to longer passages and make notes as they listen.

Murray refers to a "rehearsal for writing," which begins as an unwritten

dialogue within the writer's mind: what the writer hears in his/her head

evolves into notes. This may be simple brainstorming-the jotting down of

random bits of information which may connect themselves into a pattern

later on.

Note-taking involves putting onto paper the data received through any of

our senses. These data could range from simple figures, letters, symbols,

isolated words, or brief phrases to complete sentences and whole ideas.

Most teachers instruct students to take notes while perceiving . However,

Nwokoreze insists on the need for first listening long enough to make sure

the essence of the information is perceived before taking notes. The

decision on whether the notes are to be taken at the moment of perception

or shortly afterwards depends on the complexity of the task and the ability

of the note-taker. Consequently, if we are to take notes with figures,

letters, or single words to fill in a pre-designed skeleton, we can do it

at the same time we receive the information; whereas notes which require

selection, summarizing, and organization ought to be taken later.

Guided note-taking

As teachers, we must decide what sort of help our students need for every

task we assign. The guidance we give for taking notes will depend on

various aspects. One of them is language level. Raimes suggests providing

beginners with a skeleton outline to fill in or expand to make their

listening more directed. She also proposes letting the advanced students

listen to longer passages and make notes as they listen.

Guidance provided will depend on the degree of difficulty of the task

involved. The reasons for taking notes and the follow-up activities are

also important. If the students only take notes of simple figures, letters,

or single words as the basis for a discussion to take place immediately,

they will not need much guidance. But if they are supposed to take notes of

a higher complexity to use in writing a report for homework, they will need

more preparation.

Using note-taking in our classes

Assuming an extreme position when defining the concept of note-taking, we

can say that even checking or ticking items on a list is a form of note-

taking, as long as what students have to "tick" represents the content of

the reading or listening passage. If we give students a multiple-choice

exercise, a list, or Yes/No questions, and ask them only to tick the

correct answer, they will be taking notes. This could be considered the

most basic form of note-taking. Nevertheless, if we analyze the task in

detail, we find it is not as simple as it seems. To answer accurately, the

students will first have to understand the statements and determine whether

their choices are correct or not. Furthermore, they have to predict and

speculate about what they are going to perceive.

When revising any topic we may practice it and use this technique giving

students a skeleton to fill in while listening. Example:

|Hypertension |

|Instructions: |

|Listen to the interview with the patient and tick (v) the correct |

|answer: |

|Patient's |Mrs. Kelly. | |

|name: | | |

|Main |high blood pressure headache | |

|Symptoms: | | |

|Any other information? |

With this last question, we are prompting the students to note down

other information, not limiting them only to what the chart asks for. Not

all the students will be able to take further notes, but the most skilled

will not get bored while their classmates are engaged at a more elementary

level.

Another instance that calls for note-taking is reporting on medical cases.

To do this, the class may be divided into teams of three or four students.

Each team prepares a case for the others to analyze. One variant would be

having each team first brainstorm, then prepare a skeleton outline with the

sort of information they need the other team to provide in order to write a

full case report. Once ready, they exchange skeletons, brainstorm again,

and note down the information the skeleton forms ask for. The teams should

give neither the diagnosis nor the treatment. As soon as they finish, they

swap these "problem-cases," analyze them, and confer on the diagnosis,

treatment, and prognosis of the patient. Next, they write a full case

report that everyone reads and discusses. The class then moves around,

reads, and comments on them. Finally, they decide which of the skeleton

forms are better and which reports are the most coherent and faithful to

the information provided.

A simpler variant would be having each team ask for the information orally

from one another, take notes on it and then report on the case orally or in

writing.

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Oxford's teachhing methods of english language