LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

I have been working with speakers of other languages in Scotland since October 2007. The children average ages are from 6 to 12 in primary and secondary schools, and adult migrant workers are from 26 to 50 years old.

Different approaches and provisions have been delivered showing deliberately the result of the Stage of English Language Acquisition after one year participating in the learning process. Most of them belong to the Stage 1 in the beginning of the process, with very few vocabulary in L2 and low ability to communicate. They use L1 (native language) to express themselves and they tend to live in small communities originally from the same country.

Nationalities involved in the process of L2 learning acquisition: Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian, Russian, Indian, Pakistani, Chinese, Mexican.

GLAMIS CASTLE

It was a beautiful day, sunshine and warm. A tour in Glamis Castle is a must! Enjoy the culture, the history and the nature.

PLANNING A TRIP

Bring a brochure of a touristic place in the town.

Eg; The Broughty Castle.

Ask the participants to answer the questions using the brochure:

a) When was The Broughty Castle built?

b) When was it rebuilt?

c) What are the opening hours?

d) How much is the entrance fee?

e) What are the facilities in the Castle

f) What can you see there?

The readers don't need to understand every single word in the brochure, but they are supposed to be able to understand and answer the questions.

Before checking the answers the tutor can prepare a listening activity using the brochure, to improve the pronunciation and speaking skills.

Provide them a copy of the timetable sheet of the local bus. Ask them to use the timetable and according to the instruction in the brochure, prepare a trip to visit the Broughty Castle.

To check their understanding, tell them that you want to visit the Castle on Monday at 2:30pm in April.

They have to answer the questions:

a) What time does the bus leave the bus station?

b) What is the number of the bus?

c) What time does it arrive in Dundee?

d) Do I need to take another bus? At what time?

e) What time does it arrive at the Broughty Castle?


It is a lovely activity. They are going to enjoy, and probably they are going to visit the Castle as I did. Gorgeous!!!!!

DESCRIBE YOUR LOCAL AREA

Prepare a vocabulary list – directions, places of interest and services shown on map;

Hand out local information brochure with a map and ask participants to give each other directions to a point on the map;

In large group discuss local places of interest.

BILINGUAL SUPPORT

I would like to start writing down all the experiences I have had at schools in Scotland as a bilingual teacher support.

I have developed my own material and activities to work the English language with the pupils, and I am very happy with the result.

When I worked the activity "PIZZA", I found out that 2 of them didn't know what it was. It has just confirmed that English teaching is an exchange of cultural knowledge. I had the chance to bring them a taste of a delicious meal that is eaten "almost" every where, but in Indian and in Thailand, these 2 kids hadn't tried it yet. I don't need to tell you that when they went to the supermarket after that day, they not only saw it, but bought and ate pizza for the first time.

I hope I can bring them all the new and good for their future as human being.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Dusky scene from a Scottish coastal cave

HAVE FUN

I believe everybody has a good story to tell about teaching. Take a look at this one...

School Kids

"If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale, and gave all my money to the church, would that get me into heaven?" I asked the children in my Sunday school class.

"NO!" the children all answered.

"If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and tidy, would that get me into heaven?"

Again the answer was,"NO!"

"Well, then, if I was kind to animals and gave candy to all the children and loved my wife, would that get me into heaven?" I asked them again.

Once more they all answered, "NO!"

"Well," I continued, thinking they were a good bit more theologically sophisticated than I had given them credit for, "Then how can I get into heaven?"

A five-year-old boy shouted out, "YOU GOT TO BE DEAD!"

IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS

As a foreigner, if you want to speak more naturally and understand better the meaning of a native English life, it will be a great help if you you learn some idiomatic expressions.

It is not common for writing, but it is quite often used in everyday conversation for native speakers.

You can also compare the idioms in English with the ones in other languages. You can have great fun.It is a nice idea to take to your class a local newspaper and organise some small groups to find the idioms. You can easily find them on the letters to the editor, or if you wish to plan something different, the book Essential Idioms in English by Robert J. Dixon, can help you.

Ex:

He plays the cards very close to his chest.

That car cost me an arm and a leg.

Pray in English

" 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."

Amen

Realia

I have had a lovely time in Scotland and I would like to share some of my experience. 

We all have an idea of what interdisciplinary means. We bring a topic to the classroom and through some other subjects, we work on it. 

Lets give an example: EXCURSION. 

This topic can be very good to teach English. We can include Geography as the parallel discipline to bring up some knowledge about the place we are going to visit, for instance, reading a map, searching for location, population, roads and distance. History will help to develop our knowledge about time, facts, people and relevance of the area. Through Science we are going to find out how to preserve the environment, and exactly how we should behave ourselves. 

I could extend this topic as much as I need, but I want to register the brilliant idea the TESOL teachers in Scotland are offering to the students. We went to Glasgow to visit The People's Palace, The Oldest House, and St Mungo's Museum of Religious Life and Art. As part of the program, we also were in Edinburgh to see the Castle and The Parliament. We walked around those gorgeous streets of Edinburgh and we were delighted with such  magnificent architecture. If you are surprised, I will tell you more. We visited the spectacular exhibition and the recreation of the voyages of the Royal Research Ship Discovery, built in Dundee to take Captain Scott to Antarctica,  the Discovery Point. The Verdant Works a heritage museum tells the story of Dundee's jute industry, the glorious Jute time, that represented a lot not only for the development of Dundee, but also of the world. 

Are you wondering about "Realia"? That's right!!! "Realia" in EFL (English as a Foreing Language) terms refers to any real objects we use in the classroom to bring the class to life. How rich is the unique experience to live the environment in its real sense. I can't forget to mention about the occasion when a Scottish Policeman came to introduce himself, and talked about his job, his career, and informed foreigners about basic British law, which everybody should know. Talking about career, The Career Centre can help you to find the way. Astonished!!!! Next week we are watching a play in a Theatre. Brilliant!!! This is "Realia". Enjoy yourself and make your class fun, educational, and motivating. This way you expose the students to more language than simply destinations.